A blessing or a curse?

It has become clear that the plane crash over the French Alps which killed 150 people was caused deliberately by the co-pilot.  He locked his chief out of the cockpit and put the plane into descend mode taking his own life and 149 others.

It also appears that the Pilot was banging furiously on the door and would have known that the plane was going to crash.  He would have had advanced notice of his death, but did the passengers know that death was only minutes away?

The general consensus among aviation experts is that the passengers probably didn't know the plane was in danger until the last second.  They were, it seems, blissfully unaware that their lives were about to end.  Is it a blessing or a curse not to know you are about to die?

Many will argue it is a blessing, because to know one is going to die is a terrifying experience, but there is one drawback - if you don't know you are about to die you don't have time to prepare for eternity.  If these passengers did not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and they didn't have advanced warning of their deaths, then they will have passed into eternity completely unprepared and will face what the Bible calls eternal punishment.  Therefore, that "blessing" of ignorance will prove to be a curse.

However, if they had known of the impending crash, that terrifying knowledge could have been put to good use by their repentance and faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour.  The curse of knowing you are about to die will be to your eternal blessing if you use that remaining time to turn to Christ.

In the annals of human history there have been numerous occasions when people, knowingly facing death, have found Christ as their Lord and Saviour.  An example being Von Ribbentrop, the Nazi war-criminal, who got saved during the Nuremberg trials. Many other condemned prisoners have testified to having made their peace with God before being executed.

Moreover, when the Titanic was sinking, there were many people praying and seeking after God.    An evangelist named John Harper called many other passengers to repentance and faith in Christ before passing on to higher service.  It is inconceivable that no-one would have heeded his warning.

However, for many poor souls there is no warning of death but their lives have been cut short due to an accident that killed them instantly.   None of us can be sure when we will die, that is why we need to be ready now - as the Bible says:  "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation" (2nd Corinthians 6 v 2).

Food banks - an excellent opportunity for the Gospel

In recent months I have come across a number of articles by people bemoaning the fact that "Food Banks" have become more prevalent since the start of the current government.   I also notice that, in my local Waitrose store, there is a large box set aside for customers to make donations of food - tins, cereal packets and so on.

I have mixed feelings about these food parcels; on the one hand it is sad that people who have fallen on hard times have to rely on such handouts.  On the other hand this represents an excellent opportunity for the Gospel to be spread.

I believe that a number of churches are involved in preparing and distributing this help; the question is - are they placing Gospel tracts and booklets inside these food parcels?  If not, then they are missing out on the chance to reach people with the help that they really need.

It is good to help people in need of food and other necessities of life, but what about the Bread of Life being presented to them?  If a church gives practical help in this way, the recipient should be so grateful for this that they would (we hope) be more amenable to read about their need of eternal salvation.

The kind of booklets to be included in this outreach could be one (or a combination) of the following:

1.   A complete New Testament, say provided by the Gideons.

2.   A Gospel of John.  (The 4th book of the New Testament and an eye-witness account of the teachings and miracles of Jesus). I wrote an article recently about the effectiveness of such a booklet in evangelism.

3.  A good selection of well written Gospel tracts.

4.  A chick book, especially "This was your life" - which interested readers can access online.  Simply google "This was your life" chick book.

It could be that the Lord has permitted this situation (the need for food banks) to come about so that churches can avail themselves of the opportunity to spread the word of the everlasting Gospel.

"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel..."   Mark 16 v 15.

Where are they now?

News has come through of the death of Sam Simon, the creator of the cartoon characters known as "The Simpsons", and also the death of Terry Pratchett.

Mr Simon was not only known for his "artistic" talents but also for his atheism.  He was a member of a group called "American Atheists" and was active in promoting this folly.

I have every sympathy for the fact that he died fairly young (at 59), and from cancer, but have no sympathy for his atheist views, nor for the fact that he chose to be so vocal in expressing this line of "thinking".

Moreover, I truly and sincerely hope that he came to his senses before he died.  One advantage that  terminally ill cancer patients have is that they know they are going to die, and have every opportunity to get right with God before doing so.

I well remember about 15 years ago sending an e-mail to a journalist who was suffering from throat cancer.  In this missive I outlined the truths of the Gospel and warned him of the eternal consequences of dying without Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.  I don't know if he was an atheist but he certainly wasn't a Christian, and I was deeply concerned about his soul.  He used to write articles in the Saturday magazine of The Times about his treatment, and how Christians were sending him tracts and scriptures "in order to bring me round before the big day".

To be fair to him, he did reply to my e mail in a respectful tone and even commended me for my honesty.  In his words "the teaching that those who are not believers are heading for eternal damnation is refreshingly honest".   In an age when people engage in pleasant platitudes instead of speaking truth it impressed him to come across one, such as myself, who was prepared to speak truth even if it caused offence.

I don't know if he did repent and accept Christ before he died, I truly hope he did; but coming back to Mr Simon I strongly suspect that he would have had some knowledge of the Gospel, especially living in a country like the US where Bibles, evangelists and Gospel tracts are everywhere (think: "Chick Books").

If Mr Simon did repent of his atheism and sincerely accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, before he died, then God has forgiven him and, he is even now  enjoying the presence of the Saviour who died for his sins.  However, if he did not so repent then he now knows there is a God and that he will pay for his rebellion and unbelief for all eternity.

The same applies to Terry Pratchett the writer of fantasy books.  He not only wrote fantasy books but dealt in fantasy as he was an atheist.  I sincerely hope that he repented and accepted Christ before he died.  Again, if he did not so repent then he is also facing an eternity of bitter regret.  As the Bible says: "God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" - Galatians 6 v 7.

Israel - proof God exists and that the Bible is true.

I watched excerpts from the Israeli PM's speech before the US congress yesterday and was thrilled to hear him say "Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel WILL stand".

Looking at the title of this article many will ask "How does a political speech prove that God exists and that the Bible is true?".  That is a fair question and I will answer it.

In the Old Testament we read of the historic link between the land of Israel and the Jewish race.   God gave the Jews this land but, sadly, through disobedience to His laws they were uprooted and taken into exile.  However, God's love for the Jews never diminished and He promised, in the last 2 verses of Amos, that the Jews would return to their land "and never again be uprooted".

During the 1800s Jews migrated to the land we know as Israel and, in time, the trickle became a flood and, in 1948, Israel was created as an internationally recognised state.  Immediately the Arab nations set out to destroy it but failed in their aim.  (This, in itself, was a miracle when one considers that Israel had no proper army and many of the Jews couldn't even understand one another as they had come from all parts of Europe).

Over the last 7 decades Israel has endured constant attacks from terrorist groups and the Jews, as a people, have suffered huge persecution.  However, despite all this, Israel continues to stand.  It is the only democracy in the Middle-East and the most powerful country in the region.

All of this was only possible because there is a God who keeps his promises.  Humanly speaking, when the Jews were uprooted and dispersed they should have eventually disappeared as a race but they have survived and their own country has survived.

This not only tells us that there is a God who keeps His promises but that the Bible is true.  During the wilderness centuries when the Jews were without a homeland it looked impossible for this Biblical prediction to come true; and yet, against all odds, it did so.

Truly, there is a God, and truly, the Bible is His inspired, inerrant and infallible Word.

"... and I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God."  Amos 9 v 15