What's in a name?

The recent activity in Sudan has had the sane world reeling in incredulity. An English woman out there teaching allowed the kids in the class to name a teddy after the Islamic prophet. Someone snitched and she was arrested and jailed. On hearing the jail sentence there was a demonstration calling for her execution. One can only ask, what kind of people are these? The answer is, devoted. They are devoted to their religion. Whatever your opinion of their religion, you have to agree that they are devoted to it.

Contrast that with Christianity. Surely the most maligned, defamed and blasphemed name ever is Jesus Christ. Imagine the ridicule if someone like me were to go to a police station and complain that the name of our prophet had been blasphemed on the TV, or in the movies. I'd be laughed at. After all, the name of my Saviour, the Son of God, Jesus Christ is blasphemed openly every day and no one cares. Well, Christians don't take to the streets crying for blood do they? We don't protest or threaten violence...We don't have to because the Bible says, "At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow." and, "Vengeance is mine," says the Lord, "I will repay." Blasphemers beware.

One of the big questions

There are some questions that Christians are asked with monotonous regularity. One of them is: "Why does God allow tragedies?" There is, of course, no one answer that fits all, but let's take one case in point and see where it leads us.

A few years ago there was a terribly tragedy, Tsunamis hit several coast lines and many hundreds of thousands of people were killed. We were all glued to the news at the time sympathising with the victims and their families. Everyone was moved deeply at the immensity of the disaster. God's heart is always the first to break at such things, but he still gets the blame.

So why does He allow it? It's like this: God sees the bigger picture, we don't. To stop the waves He would have had to stop the earthquake, because the quake caused the waves. To stop the earthquake He would have had to stop the movement of the tectonic plates, because earthquakes are caused by the plates grinding against each other under tremendous pressure. To stop the plates moving He would have had to stop the volcanic action beneath the earth's crust which forms the plates and pushes them apart. To stop the volcanic action He would have had to get rid of the heat that melts the rocks before they are squirted up and onto the sea floor. To get rid of the heat He would have to cool the earth's core so that it did not produce heat. This effectively kills the planet which effectively kills every thing on it, which means all of us. Now aren't you glad He didn't intervene.

Our earth is like a machine, tinker with one part of it and the consequences will almost always be catastrophic.

Who is writing the songs?

Had this thought the other day. Who is writing the songs? What I mean is this...Great men come, and great men go. Some have been immortalised in song, but not many. Who writes songs for Adolph? Who writes songs for Stalin? These men lived within the last 100 years and though not forgotten, they are fading away with the years...No songs, at least, no new songs.

Contrast that with Jesus Christ: Lived some 2000 years ago, and every day, hundreds if not thousands of songs are being written for Him or about Him. Just about every language you can name has songs to Him. What does that say about a humble carpenter who died in His early thirties? What an impact He has had on this world, and is still having. Unlike those who are fading away with time, Jesus Christ's influence is increasing. He is still inspiring human kind to write songs about Him, but then, what else would you expect from the Son of God.

Down the Tubes.

I'm an English man living in England and more than a little concerned at the rate my society is degrading. Things that were truly horrific when I was a child, are now common place and being used as entertainment in TV, computer games and the movies.

Our government and the opposition both verbally agree that the family is the unit on which our society is built, yet they pass laws that directly undermine that unit. How does it help to say the family is important and then pass a law that gives exactly the same rights to common law couples? How does that help the family unit? Or is it that our perception of family has been eroded too? Surely, a family consists of a mum and a dad who have the same surname and have taken vows to be faithful to each other. A couple who have made a life long commitment. How can that extend to a common law couple...Different names, no vows and no commitment.

We are going down the tubes fast. When will we wake up and do something about it?

Change is here to stay

Some bright spark said, "Change is here to stay." Probably true, but mostly, change is gradual. Not so for me right now; I find myself at a crossroads, and it's scary!

You see, for the last 15 years or so, I've been attending a church in Worcester...But I live in Malvern and my heart is here, not there. Well, something new has opened up; a church plant here in Malvern, and I'm a part of it. Just a rag tag bunch of believers, who have a heart for Malvern, coming together to form a new church.
We had our first prayer meeting last Friday, and already we have a building to meet in...Took me by surprise it happened so fast.

So, change is here to stay, and once again I find myself having to say good-bye to friends I've worshipped with for a long time. It has been my experience that saying good-bye to friends is one of the hardest things you have to do as a Christian. It's sadness on the one hand, but excitement on the other at the new things God is going to do in the months ahead.

Change may be here to stay, but we are not, and sometimes, that hurts.

The price we pay...

Here I am at 5am sat up in bed typing. Makes no sense, but none the less, here I am. You see, I went out for a curry last night and it's keeping me awake. Happens sometimes, though not all.

So, why do we do such things? Most of us curry eaters know that this can happen but we still go and do it. For me it's like this: I really enjoy a good curry, and close to me there is a really great Indian restaurant . Add to that the fact that I went with two special friends and it becomes a no brainer. Good food and good company...Some prices are worth paying.

Now as for council tax...Don't get me started!

It still amazes me that God was willing to pay the price of His own Son for such as me. Yes...Even for Him, some prices are worth paying.

Have you ever felt real terror?

The real stuff I mean, not just hiding your eyes from something on the TV. Well I have. It happened almost 20 years ago at night as I lay in bed. I awoke from a bad dream which I can't remember. I was shaking and in a cold sweat. I find it hard to describe the actual feeling other than to say I was truly terrified.

So what was the source of my terror? I felt lost. Lost? But I was at home in my own bed, how could I be lost? I knew I was lost because I had wandered away from my Saviour; left Him behind to go into the pop music world. Bad mistake.

You see, I know my Bible, and it states clearly that Jesus is coming back to claim His own, and I knew that if He came at that instant I would be left behind...Lost forever in an eternity without Him. We call it Hell. Say what you like, it terrified me. Almost by instinct, I said, "Welcome back Lord," and invited Him back into my life. Well, what a contrast. A surge of love hit me like warm sticky goo. The shaking stopped. I went from abject terror to absolute peace in a matter os seconds. I knew in my heart that I was no longer lost. He had found me again. Now, when He does eventually come back, I know I'll be going with Him.

The Bible says, "There is no fear in love," and it's right. When you are loved by the creator of the universe, what's to be scared of?