No longer a Christian country. ( Romans 10 v14 - 15 )

A leading church of England minister said recently, '' That England is no longer a Christian country'',I could have told him that years ago. Yes there is a church in England,many fine churches,but things are not what they used to be,the moral values of yesterday are crumbling,and the authorities frown upon those who  express any view that is contrary to theirs. We should not be surprised at what is happening,as mans fallen nature loves darkness rather than light. We do have freedom of religion, nobody hinders us,so what is the answer?,first of all we must remain faithful. Yes faithfulness is very important,faithfulness to Jesus,faithful to the word of God, unfortunately there is within the visible church,those who are departing from the truth.Without truth we are lost,we are going away from the God of truth,the blessed trinity,Our lives should reflect holiness,by our actions and by our words, I used to work with a professing Christian,who insisted in telling jokes that were not appropriate.We should be burdened for the souls of men and women,it saddens me as regards the youth of our country,and the children of our country. The dangers they face are very serious ,and without Christ they are lost. All these things should call us to action, to pray, let us never underestimate the power of prayer, whatever country you are in there are lost people,so pray not in despair but to our powerful God,who alone can raise up those who are dead in trespasses and sins.There is something else we can do ,we can tell people about Jesus, if we don't, how shall they hear, the answer is they won't.

Fear . ( Hebrews 10 v 31 )

Is fear a good thing? ,yes often it is,I am afraid of getting a ticket for speeding,so I watch my speed,I get inoculated for I am afraid of getting some illness.What should you and I fear most? or whom shall we fear most?. the answer is God.,in Matthew 10 v 28 we read,'Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell'. Yes fear God, don't fear men, they can only affect us as regards to this world, God's power to punish reaches into eternity,for we read after death the judgement. Hebrews 9 v27. God is a God of love but he is also the righteous judge,we must not forget this,someone has said ,' it is God's business to forgive sin,' that may be so , but it also His business to judge sin, with the severity it deserves.God is not sentimental as regards sin, He takes no  sin lightly,we just have to look at the cross to see this, the question is how serious do we take sin ?The awful suffering our Saviour endured on the cross,shouts with a deafening roar,'take sin  serious', look not kindly on it,In our unsaved days we acted so carelessly.I was only 15 and I was in the army boy service,some of the young lads went into a local town,when they came back,a young lad shouted out that he had intercourse with some girl.I also remember one of the adult soldiers boasting how he raped two women,one in Germany and one in Kenya,he laughed as he told us young lads.We must take sin seriously,for God does,on judgement day there will be no one laughing as regards sin, on that day there will be no mercy shown , none.Only those who have trusted Jesus as their Saviour  will escape God's wrath.

Trust worthy. ( Genesis 39 v 4 )

I read this story recently,'Constantius the father of Constantine tested the character of his Christian servants, by the imperative command to offer sacrifices to his god's.Some sunk under the trial.Those who had really ''bought the truth,'' would sell it for no price.( Proverbs 23 v23) They were inflexible. He banished the base compliants from his service. The true confessors he entrusted with the care of his own person. 'These men', said he,I can trust. I value them more than all my treasures'. This was sound judgement. For who are so likely to be faithful to their king, as those that proved themselves faithful to their God?. I remember my manager asking me to do something because she said  I could be be trusted to do it. A nice compliment but surely as Christians of all people we should be trust worthy . Let me say this our great triune God can be trusted, He is absolutely trust worthy, and He expects His children to be likewise,with money,with our wives and husbands,and with truth, alas many people are failing in the latter. May the Lord help us all, to be trust worthy in all things.

Watchmen . ( Ezekiel 3 v 18 )

 I attended a Christian meeting where a man and wife told of their ministry in Romania,but it also touched on Moldovia ,Ukraine.They ministered to the practical needs of the people in those countries,and helped so many people in dire straits.Many people don't realise the tremendous ministries like that mentioned ,that are involved  in helping so many needy people in so many needy places.Being a Christian brings with it a tremendous responsibility, that is in helping people,by our giving and our doing. No Christian can op out of that,or ignore it,it is our duty to do good works,but as I have pointed out often ,that that none of those good works save us Ephesians 2 V 8-9 , But they are the evidence of us being Christians, James 2 v 18. But another thing that impressed me as regards that couple,was their clarity in speaking about the gospel. They told of people being saved, and being baptised, and it made me think of days long ago in my beloved Ulster ,where the Gospel was faithfully proclaimed, in a clear manner.It appears to me that in the land that I now live in,many preachers have lost  that clarity and simplicity in relation to people as regards  being saved, I wonder why?. Well I suppose they don't want to offend people,or they may find the gospel  offensive to  them, so they avoid preaching it,or they camouflage it,such a dreadful thing to do. When we think of  the consequences of not being saved,shut out from heaven ,and shut in to hell for ever, I call it soul murder,and they will be held accountable before God.

Well done. ( Matthew 25 v 21 )

 I have been doing this blog for about 15 years,and its been an interesting experience,I do not desire any  comments,I just do it and pray the Lord will bless it. I  hope that people will get saved and Christians will be built up in their faith.This year has been interesting as regards numbers, one month I had 47 thousand, click on's ,now the numbers have plummeted to  hundreds .So does one give up because of so few people are  clicking on ?,what would the Lord want me to do,give up, why should I minister to the few?. The answer is if it is His will to give up then one should,But if it is His will to carry on,then that is what we must do. just be faithful.When our dear Saviour was on earth, he ministered to thousands, but He also ministered to  the few. I don't know how fruitful my ministry has been, and so I just leave that with God,after all it is He  who gives the increase 1 Corinthians 3 v 6/ John 4 v 38.

                                        'Won't it be wonderful when we stand before our 

                                         Saviour ,and hear Him say ,''Well done, good and 

                                         faithful servant''.

Painful memories.( Hebrews 4 v14 -16 )

It could be because I'm old, I feel more emotional , and feel past hurts past sorrows,but recently two elderly people whom I know died, and the dying process was painful.When my first wife died I grieved,  thereafter one tried not to dwell on ones loss,but every now and again, the memory resurrects itself, and its painful. I suppose it will always be that way. In Psalm 25 v7, David wrote ,'Do not remember the sins of my youth,and my rebellious ways'.but of course when God forgives us He chooses not to remember our sins, in Jeremiah 31 v 34 we read these words  spoken to Israel ,'For I will forgive their wickedness and will  remember their sins no more'.So it is when we trust Jesus our sins are forgiven there is no remembrance of them (Hebrews 10 v 17 -18). Of course we will always regret our sins,but we should never live under the guilt of them, but rejoice in the grace of God that brought us to Ghrist. Coming  back to where I started as regards the bad memories,the sad memories ,the hurtful memories. That's where Christ our great high priest comes in,Hebrews 2 v 18 reads ,'Since He himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are tested'.Someone has written,'Through His sufferings Jesus Christ  identified Himself with man'. Because He experienced so much suffering He understands what we are going through, no one suffered greater,look at the cross. And so as we can come to Him in all our difficulties and painful memories,He is more than able to help us and to bring us through.

                                                     'No one understands like Jesus,

                                                      Every woe He sees and feels,

                                                      Tenderly He whispers comfort

                                                      And the broken heart He heals'.

                                                             Words J W. Peterson.

Brokenness ( Psalm 31 )

 What a wonderful  world we live in,and of course it is,but we live in a broken world,and you don't have far to look to see its brokenness, in the street I live in I see brokenness,broken marriages and with that brokenness comes a lot of pain. A neighbour who is disabled,whose son never visit her,yet she was a good mother,then there is her grandchildren who will only help if she gives them money.Then their is a elderly mother,who has infected her children with hatred,towards a certain person.Another neighbour  whose mother is an alcoholic and the pain she has brought to her family. Brokenness comes to us in different ways,death of a love one, being violently attacked,robbed,addictions,rejection,so one could on.Think about wars,the wars may finish but for many the brokenness continues,yes we live a broken world,but there is hope in the God of hope, King David had many traumatic experiences,being hunted like a criminal ,by a king who wanted him dead,a son who  led a rebellion against his father to kill him,and become king.He recorded how he felt in his times of trouble.In Psalm 31v12 he writes,'I am forgotten as though I were dead;  I have become like broken pottery'. He further speaks of people whispering and,terror on every side, of those conspiring to kill him and take his life v 13.What can one do in the brokenness of life,here is what David  did,he turned to the only one that could help him ,'God'. This is part of what he prayed,'But I trust in you,Lord; I say,''you are my God''.If you are a Christian and you feel so broken,turn to your God ,He is the one who heals the broken hearted (Psalm 147 v3 )