Thursday, 3 April 2014

March 29, 2014 - a date that will live in infamy.

On December 7, 1941 the Japs bombed Pearl Harbour; this brought the Yanks into the 2nd World War and led to their president, F D Roosevelt, to declare that this date would live in infamy.

However, this date has now been overtaken by March 29, 2014; why is this?  Because on that day the Destruction of Marriage Act came into force and people involved in unnatural sexual relationships could legally call themselves married.  The Prime Minister, Cameron, did not re-define marriage when he forced this law through the House of Iniquity (known as the House of Commons), he destroyed marriage.  He went against many centuries of marriage as defined as a union between one man and one woman; he also went against the wishes of huge numbers of people in his own party.

However, what is more serious than going against his own party is the fact that he has put himself against God, and His infallible word - the Bible.  I wouldn't wish any personal harm against Cameron, or anyone else for that matter, but I wouldn't want to be in his shoes on the judgement day.

God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6 v 7).  It is easy for those of us who believe the Bible to be downcast and despondent at yet another plunge in the moral temperature of this nation, but let us remember that God is on the throne.  He allows wicked men to go so far (in order to give them a chance to repent) and then He acts in righteous anger and vengeance. 

We see this in the Old Testament in Egypt.  When Moses told the Pharoah that God wanted him to let the Israelites go from slavery, Pharoah arrogantly dismissed him and boasted that he didn't know the Lord.  When Moses then started to perform miracles to convince Pharoah that he should repent, the magicians could "duplicate" these miracles.  However, there came a point when these magicians could no longer act in such deception and God's power was clearly shown.  The nation of Egypt was virtually destroyed and the first born wiped out.  Only then did Pharoah "get it" and let the Israelites go.

However, shortly afterwards he changed his mind and chased after them.  God opened the Red Sea to let His people pass and then wiped out the Egyptian horsemen.  Truly God showed His power even though He patiently waited for Pharoah to repent and make his peace with Him.

We may wonder why it is that God doesn't act in judgement more speedily. The answer is found  In 2nd Peter 3 v 9  where we read - "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance".

The reason why God hasn't yet judged Cameron for his wickedness is because He is patiently waiting for him to repent.  However, the day of reckoning will come when Cameron will have to give account to God for his wickedness.

Indeed, we can apply this principle right across the whole human race.   Multiplied millions of people are openly living in rebellion against God and His word, and seeming to get away with it.  However, God will "have the last laugh", and His people will be vindicated.

Psalm 73 v 17 - "Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end".  Eternity is a long time to bitterly regret one's sinful lifestyle.

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Reaching French kids with the Gospel.

The country of France is even more secular and godless than the UK (if this was possible!).  An example of this being the fact that the Gideons are not allowed into French state schools with a view to distributing New Testaments. 

This means that multiplied thousands of French kids are not being given the chance to hear/read the Gospel.  This means that their souls are in mortal danger unless someone tells them how to be saved.  Fortunately, in the good providence of God, a number of French kids come to Canterbury every year on school trips, be it for the day or a few days.  When they come there is every chance that they may encounter a street evangelist giving out Gospel leaflets/booklets in French.  I'm am one those evangelists.

Whenever I go to Canterbury to give out English Gospel leaflets I also take with me a pile of French comic booklets that contain a clear Gospel message, and a warning to people of the eternal consequences of rejecting Christ.  The English title of this booklet is "This was your life"; if you want to read this online simply Google "This was your Life cartoon booklet".

On the back of this is written a Paris address and a French language website that explains more of the truths of the Christian faith; there is also a link on this website giving details of churches right across France.

This booklet has been well received by the kids; I've even had some come up to me and ask for copies when they see what their friends have got!  Truly this represents a wonderful opportunity to  spread  the Word of God.

Over the years hundreds of French kids have been reached in this way.  Only eternity will reveal what good has been done in the salvation of precious souls.

What lessons can we draw from this?  Two things in particular:

1.  That God is sovereign.  The devil has attempted to prevent French kids from hearing the Gospel.  The banning of Gideons from going into French schools is a direct attempt by Satan to stop people being saved. This is the kind of opposition we expect from the devil's servants and is nothing  new.  However, if God has his hand upon someone then he, or she, will hear/read the truths that lead to eternal life.  God will providentially cause that person to come across the Gospel.

2.  We need not despair when we are opposed.  Our responsibility is to spread the Word of God no matter what opposition there is.  We sow the seed and God gives the increase.  Our responsibility is to be faithful and leave the results with the Lord.

Let us re-double our efforts to preach the Gospel to everyone remembering that the Gospel has never in any place converted all, but has, in every place, converted some.

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

Friday, 14 March 2014

Germany's Shame

The issue of whether or not to send one's children to state school or home educate has long been a matter of debate and discussion among Christians.  For myself, I sent my boys to state school and have not regretted it. However, I fully respect the views of those who wish to home educate, especially when one considers that education today is even more godless and satanic than it was 20 years ago.   In the 1990s when my sons were at school, the teachers were not obliged to teach sexual perversion to children as they are now.

Moreover, it is wholly wrong for the state to persecute parents who wish to home educate.  In this country parents have the right to home educate but in some countries it is illegal - one such place is Germany. 

In the Nazi era a law was passed making it compulsory for all parents to send their kids to state schools.  This was intended to ensure that they were taught Nazi dogma.  However, this law was never repealed even after Germany lost the war.   Consequently, any parent who does not wish to send their kids to state school risks losing them.  When one considers that state education in Germany is as godless as in the UK this is very serious.  The state obviously wants to indoctrinate children into vile practices and teach them sinful behaviour.

In recent years a number of Christian families have fled Germany rather than lose their kids and have obtained asylum in other countries.  One such family is the Romeikes.  They fled to the US and sought asylum in order to protect their children.  However, the Obama government fought tooth and nail to send them back.  No doubt if they were gays fleeing "persecution" in Iran they would have been fast-tracked to full citizenship, but because they belong to the hated Christian faith their application was blocked.

After a long campaign by many Christians to help this family they have finally been allowed to stay.  This means that the parents can raise their children in the Christian faith without the interference of a godless and satanic regime.. These children can be raised in a godly environment without being forced, by government diktat, to accept sinful and unnatural perversions.

However, this whole issue raises one fundamental question - how can a supposedly tolerant country like Germany call itself  a democracy when it allows, and even encourages, the persecution of a decent family who simply wish to raise their kids in a loving, Christian environment?

What happened to the Romeikes, and others like them, will happen to other families across Europe if the EU becomes even more totalitarian than it has been hitherto.  Moreover, our supposed love of freedom in the UK  will be under serious threat if the EU decreed that all European families must send their kids to state schools, there to be indoctrinated in the ways of abominable behaviour.

As this country, and continent, becomes ever more dark we need to be vigilant in watching out for such threats to our freedoms, and we need courage to stand up for what we believe in.

We are to walk in the ways of the godly, not to succumb to the pressures from the ungodly to be like them.

Psalm 1 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful......."

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

...and yet another atheist now knows he was wrong.

News has come through of the death of Bob Crow, a militant union leader, who passed away this morning at the age of 52.

After hearing of his death I did some research on his life and discovered that, he not only had communist views (which, of course runs counter to the Word of God), but also that he was a convinced atheist.

A review of his life shows that he was a powerful trade union leader and very influential in the field of  extreme, left wing politics. He also earned a huge salary as a union leader.  However, it was his atheist "beliefs" that concern me the most; why is this? For one very simple reason - atheists arrogantly dismiss the notion of a God to whom they must give account.  They think they can live their lives without the constraints of Biblical teaching and morality.  Indeed, I believe that atheists adopt that belief (or should I say non-belief) system because they want to live their lives "their way" and not do what "the man upstairs" tells them to do.

It is for this reason that atheism is the most arrogant of all beliefs.  In effect they are strutting around saying "look at me, I'm master of my own destiny".  Well, I've got news for all atheists - you are NOT master of your own destiny, God is in control of your life and destiny.  He determines the length of your days on this earth, and when He is pleased to take you away from this life and bring you into account then that is what He will do.  What good will your arrogance and self-assuredness do when you  keep that appointment with God.  (Remember Hebrews 9 v 27 -"... it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgement").

One day we will ALL have to give account of our lives to God.  No one is bigger than God, He has the perfect right to require of us total obedience to His inspired, inerrant and infallible Word - the Bible.

As we head towards the 2nd coming of the Lord Jesus Christ then we must expect more expressions of arrogant atheism to manifest itself.  Indeed, in the book of Revelation (Chapter 12 verse 12) we read that the devil has come down "having great wrath because he knows that he has but a short time".  This means simply that, as the devil knows his time is running out he becomes ever more zealous to inspire wickedness in people's hearts and behaviour, hence the reason why atheism is becoming more pronounced in our society.

However, the days of all such people are numbered.  They know that one day they will pass into the presence of God, and they WILL have to account to the One they have spent their lives denying.  There WILL be a day of reckoning.

I will end this article by quoting from  Psalm 37 verses 35-36   "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.  Yet he passed away and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found".

P.S.  Since I posted this article online I have been accused by atheists of "gloating" over someone else's death.  My reply to such allegations is two-fold; firstly, I am not gloating at all, simply pointing out that we must all give account to God, and atheists are in for a shock; and secondly, I seem to remember that, when Maggie Thatcher died, atheist, lefty types were openly gloating over her death and even holding up banners proclaiming that "the witch is dead|".  The words pot....kettle....black come to mind.  

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Do you know why Jesus died?

After having proved the emptiness and folly of atheism in my last article, I turn now to details of a leaflet I am using in the run-up to Easter. It's entitled "Do you know why Jesus died?" and answers that question with the following four points:

1. His death was predicted long ago.

The events of Good Friday were not a chance happening, nor was Jesus caught out by circumstances beyond His control.  This was all part of the plan of God put in place before the world was even created.

The Old Testament contains many prophecies about the coming of a Saviour, and Jesus fulfilled every one of them (further proof that the Bible is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God).  Many of these prophecies relate to His sufferings and death.  An example being Isaiah chapter 53.

2.  His death was punishment for others.

When Jesus was crucified there were 2 thieves also being put to death.  One of them admitted that Jesus had done nothing wrong.  Why then, was He being thus punished? The answer: as a sacrifice for others, as a sacrifice for us, as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.  As 1st John 2 v 2 puts it "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world"

(The word propitiation simply means that the wrath of God against sin was laid upon Jesus, so we can go free).

The Bible also says that Christ suffered for sins "the just for the unjust" 1st Peter 3 v 18.

3. His death provoked 2 kinds of response.

As mentioned earlier there were 2 thieves being crucified with Jesus.  One of these recognised Jesus's claims and expressed faith in Him (this man went to Heaven); the other thief refused to put his trust in Jesus thus ensuring that he would end up in Hell. 

This sums up everyone in the world.  The whole world is on one or other side of the cross.  For those who truly repent of their sins and turn to Christ there is the absolute certainty of eternal life in Heaven.  However, for those who refuse to do this, or simply ignore the call of Christ, there is the absolute certainty of eternal damnation in Hell.

4. His death still demands a response.

The Bible says that the "...message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are saved it is the power of God"  1st Corinthians 1 v 18.

The cross will either draw a person to Christ or repel that person.  Every time someone is confronted with the Gospel (Christ died for our sins........and rose again - 1st Corinthians 15 v 3-4) that person is forced into a situation where they must make a choice, simply ignoring the Gospel is to choose to reject it.

Christ's resurrection after 3 days is the proof that His sacrifice for sin was complete, and that we cannot earn our way to Heaven by good works but through faith in Him as our personal Saviour.

Please pray that, as these leaflets go out, God will draw precious souls to repentance and faith in Christ.

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

An atheist stumped

I've been going to Ramsgate to pass out tracts for some 17 years now and have had numerous conversations with all kinds of people. 

One of my regular contacts has been a man whom I dub "the friendly atheist".  Whenever he sees me he'll come over for an amicable discussion about the existence of God and the Biblical teaching on eternity.   His manner is pleasant and I enjoy speaking with him; however, he remains a strong and committed atheist (poor chap, he has my sympathy). 

One of the oft repeated comments he makes goes like this: "people only believe in God because they were brought up with religious beliefs", the inference being that if they had not heard about the Christian faith then they would not believe there is a God.  This may sound feasible to an unsaved person, but it is a fallacy for one very simple reason - God has written eternity on our hearts and we know He is there (see Ecclesiastes 3 v 11).

One day when speaking with him I asked the following question: " I recently read a book by a man who was a missionary to a tribe in Papua New Guinea.  He found that they had a belief system that acknowledged the existence of God and an afterlife.   As he studied various tribal groups he discovered that they all had beliefs that acknowledged the existence of God and an afterlife.  Of course, these tribal groups were not Christians, and needed to hear the Gospel, but they still believed there was a God despite never having heard the Christian message; how do you explain that?"

He thought for a moment and then admitted that he didn't know the answer, he was stumped!  His bold declaration that people only believe there is a God because they have been taught the Christian message was shown to be the fallacy that it is.  I then went on to explain that every one of us has eternity written on our hearts and we know, instinctively that there is a God and an afterlife.

This truth is further attested to by what we read in Romans 1 v 18-20.  People know from the evidence all around them that there is a God and they desperately try to "suppress the truth" because, once they acknowledge God's existence, they realise that they must get right with Him before they face Him.   This is why so many atheists get so cross when the Gospel is presented to them; it is an unwelcome reminder of a truth they would rather ignore, and  they wish to ignore it because they want to continue in their lives of sin.

As we present the Gospel to people it is as well to remember this fact.  Deep down everyone knows that God exists, that we will face Him, and that there is an eternity to experience in Heaven or Hell.

Incidentally, the book mentioned above is "Eternity in their hearts" by Don Richardson - I warmly recommend it.

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

An atheist v. A Christian view on life.

                                               An Atheist view on life.

I will live my life according these beliefs

God does not exist

It is just foolish to think

That there is a God with a cosmic plan

That an all-powerful God brings redemption and healing to the pain and suffering in the world

It is a comforting thought, however

It is only wishful thinking

People can do as they please without eternal consequences

The idea that

I am deserving of Hell

Because of sin

Is a lie meant to make me a slave to those in power

"The more you have, the happier you will be"

Our existence has no grand meaning or purpose

In a world with no God

There is freedom to be who I want to be

But with God

Everything is fine

It is ridiculous to think

I am lost and in need of saving

For the Christian view on life read the above from the bottom up