Sunday, 21 February 2016

Not Until

Not until
Albert Einstein wrote,
“Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all men are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all men and all countries—not until then shall we, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of mankind as civilized.”
                                                                                                                 Albert Einstein.
Man calls himself civilized but is far from it. The twentieth century began in the middle of the Boer War and proceeded to see two world wars, along with it seems hundreds of small wars. Some historians have said more people have died in the twentieth century due to war than in all the other centuries combined. And it seems like the twenty-first century is starting where the last one left off.
Now while it is true war is causing the death and suffering of millions in the world today. Millions more are suffering, dying and are in need in every country in the world today whether they are at war or not.
Throughout the third world men women and children are dying from curable illnesses and starvation.
In the western democracies with all their wealth there are still people living on the streets. Living well below the poverty line.
In the United States millions are without affordable health care despite the affordable health care act.
In Canada people have to choose between paying rent or utility bills and putting food in the mouth of their Children.
The sad thing is with the right political initiative people could get affordable health care. People need not choose between bills and food. Those living on the streets could be housed and given the help they need.
The trouble is politicians don’t have the motivation to end it. The poor after all don’t contribute to their political campaigns. While corporations can get billions in bail outs the poor are given a subsistence living.
There’s an election campaign going on in the United States. The politicians are saying many fine things, as all politicians do in every country in the world when they want to be elected.
The question however I would ask of all politicians anywhere in the world is are you obeying the words of Jesus who gave us a universal truth we all should live by when he said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” 
           Matthew 7:12.
In other words if you have a good health care plan, enough food to eat and a good place to live are you willing to use your place of power and influence to give that to every citizen of your country.
The Talmud makes an interesting statement I believe we all should be doing especially politicians. The Talmud states,
“When a man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, “Have you believed in God?”  Or “Have you prayed and observed the ritual?  “He is asked: “have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?”
                                                                                                                 The Talmud
   Both individuals and politicians of every stripe need to be asking themselves are you doing to others as you would like others do to you?
Please think about it.

Saturday, 20 February 2016

Some Foolishness

Some Foolishness.
The Apostle Paul writes,
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”  Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,  but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. 
        1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
Over the years I have met many people who do not believe in God or that Jesus is the Son of God. That is their right and I respect their opinion.
But I do ask people to look at the Bible and the New Testament in particular and ask the question “why did they put some of the things they did in the New Testament if it was a lie or so outrageous to possibly be true?”
Think about it. Christians believe first of all that Jesus is the Son of God. God incarnate. We Christians believe that God entered the world He created to show man the extent of His love. To show man in human terms how far He would go to reconcile man to Himself.
Christians believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead. Then ascended into heaven. Again another thing that could be considered outlandish.
The new Testament tells of many miracles including healing the sick and even raising someone from the dead.
All of this was written within living memory of the events. If they were not true and found to be lies it would have ruined the fledgling Christian movement.
Even today Christians ask people to believe all of this by faith which I believe is even harder to do than seeing the actual event.
Still people are believing what the Bible says. Christianity is still growing in every part of the world despite being the most persecuted faith in the world.
Likewise many sadly do not believe. That however as I said is their choice.
The apostle Paul said,
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Jesus speaking to Martha asked her a question we all must answer,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world, 
John 11:25,26.
What about you, who do you think Jesus is?
Please think about it.

Friday, 19 February 2016

On God

On God.
Galileo said,
“The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go.”
                                                                                                           Galileo Galilei.
Galileo got it right. The bible is a book of faith not science.
I also believe the Bible when says,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 
                                                                                   Genesis 1:1.
I believe it is a statement of fact. Whether God created the heavens and the earth in six day, six years, six billion years has no effect on my faith.
Whether God used the Big bang or something else it has no effect on my faith. I believe God created the heavens and the earth and man.
The Bible does not debate the existence of God. After all it is a book of faith written to those who believe in God. It is a book used by believers to point man to God and has no need to explain God’s existence.
What is important to me is that God gave man a free will to believe anything he wishes to believe. Even in God or the non-existence of God.
For in order for man to be completely free God had to give man the right not to believe in Him also. Such is the nature of true freedom.
I do however believe that the Bible does show man He is real. The Psalmist saying,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” 
                                                                                             Psalm 19:1-3.
The perfection of the Universe from the smallest subatomic particle to the biggest galaxy show to my mind the hand of a creator. I cannot believe such a thing happened by chance.
Still it takes faith to believe in someone you cannot see or touch. It takes true faith.
 The writer of Hebrews states,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’”
                                                                                                    Hebrews 11:6.
Scientist act in faith all the time.
As I write this scientists have just discovered and heard for the first time gravitational waves predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago. Einstein believed in his theory all his life.     After all he had looked at the world around him, postulated a theory and done the math. All of which convinced him that gravitational waves existed.
So it is when it comes to God. We simply have to look at the perfection of the world around us to see God’s glory.
I don’t know whether or not Albert Einstein believed in God but he made an interesting statement once. He said,
“Human beings vegetables  or cosmic dust. We all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”
                                       Albert Einstein.
I believe whether he knew it or not he got that right also. I believe “we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” That player is God.
And God’s call to all men is stated in the words of Jesus who said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
                                                       Matthew 11:28-30.
Please think about it.

Thursday, 18 February 2016

Grass

Grass
“A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” 
“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” 
                                                                                                                       Isaiah 40:6-8.
Being a Christian I make no excuses for believing in God. I also believe man is an eternal being. That in this life,
“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass”. 
I believe that all people everywhere must make a decision in this life as to where they will spend eternity.
I believe what Jesus when he said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. 
                                                                                                                                John 3:16-18.
God I believe gives people throughout their lives the opportunity to accept Him or reject Him.
So the question is what do you believe.
Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God the saviour of mankind or do you dismiss Jesus as simply a good man?
Please think about it.

Wednesday, 17 February 2016

Will you be happy?

Will you be happy?

“When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
                                                                                                               Tony Campolo
How certain are you in your belief? If you are an atheist or a non-Christian are you certain that what you believe is true.
What Christians believe is simple. We believe Jesus as Martha did in John’s gospel.
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” 
John 11:25,26
We believe Jesus when speaking about himself he said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. 
                                                                                                               John 3:16-18.
We believe the apostle John when he wrote this about Jesus,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” 
                       John 1:12,13.
The Gospel of Luke records a conversation that happened between Jesus and the two criminals He was crucified with. Luke records,
"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” 
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
                                                                                                                          Luke 23:39-43.
The one criminal rejected Jesus and did not believe Jesus was the Son of God the Saviour of the world.
The other believed that Jesus was who He said He was. He admitted that he was a criminal deserving of his punishment. Or as Christians say, he confessed his sins to Jesus.
As a result Jesus forgave the man and told the man that, that day he would be with Jesus in paradise.
Telling a person they would be in paradise or heaven was something only God could do and Jesus did it.
It is because of the above statements and more throughout the New Testament that we Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God who came to save each and every person on the earth.
C. S. Lewis wrote about Jesus saying,
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.” 
                         C.S. Lewis.
Christians do not believe that if your good out weighs your bad you will get to heaven. Christians believe it is impossible for man to live a life good enough to stand before a holy God. That is why God in the form of His One and Only Son Jesus entered the world.
To quote C. S. Lewis Again.
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” 
                                            C.S. Lewis
The Apostle John writes,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 
1John 1:9-10.
Christians believe getting to heaven is a simple act of faith and confession.
As I quoted above the apostle John said if we confess our sin to Jesus He will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.
And the apostle Paul tells us,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” 
                                                                      Ephesians 2:8,9.
Faith defined by the writer of Hebrews who said,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 
                                                                                                                            Hebrews 11:1.
The writer of Hebrews also telling us,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
                                                                                                         Hebrews 11:6.
This is what Christians believe.
So the question I ask are you sure in your beliefs?
If you were to die today are you certain where you will spend eternity?
As Tony Campolo asked,
“...when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
                                                                                                 Tony Campolo
Please think about it.

Tuesday, 16 February 2016

An Eternity Poem

An Eternity Poem
The poet wrote,
Where are the people?
Where?

Are they but shadows in the mall?
Are they?

Are they shadows in time,
Shadows wandering looking for the latest trinkets, bobbles and beads.

What is life?
What?

Is life but a wisp of smoke carried in the air?
A wisp in the eternal ether 

Are people wisps?

What of man’s or woman’s! accomplishments?
What of them?

Is the sum total of all ones life simply a pile of shinny tin, brass, and wood?
Is that life?

Is life simply a cacophony of sounds travelling through endless time?
Is it?

Or 

Is a life.
Yours or mine, 
more?

Is it a divine opera?
An opera played out on a high mesa 

A stage suspended between heaven and hell.
Are we as Shakespeare said simply actors?

Life is real,
 an opera, 
Played out before God.
On a high mesa between heaven and hell.

We are but actors in a play?
Actors awaiting the final curtain call 
sending us to eternity?

Are you ready for the final curtain call?
Are you?

What is the sum total of your life?
What?

A man lives in deeds,
What will your deeds say about you?

What will “they” say about you as you pass on?
What will God say?

Jesus said,
‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. 
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, 
I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’ 
                                                               Revelations 3:20
The Apostle Paul wrote,
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—
and this not from yourselves, 
it is the gift of God— 
Ephesians 2:8

The writer of Hebrews wrote, 
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 
and certain of what we do not see...
And without faith it is impossible to please God, 
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
                                                                                        Hebrews 11:1,6

Jesus speaking of Himself said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
 that whoever believes in him shall not perish 
but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
but to save the world through him.  
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, 
but whoever does not believe stands condemned already 
because he has not believed in the name of 
God’s one and only Son”. 
John 3:16-18

Where will you spend eternity?
Where?

Will you accept Jesus Christ into your heart and life today?
Will you pray.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I recognize that Jesus is your one and only Son.
That he came to earth to die for my sins.
I confess I am a sinner and that I fall short of what you want for my life.
Please forgive me of my sins and come into my life.
That I may spend eternity with you

                                      In Jesus name I pray
                                                   Amen.
Please think about it.

Monday, 15 February 2016

Too Late?

Too Late?
Billy Graham said,
“The Bible says today is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation... But there will come a time when it will be too late for you.”
                                               Billy Graham.
There was I believe an eternal question asked by Jesus to Martha that everyone must answer in their hearts. Jesus said,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world, 
       John 11:25,26.
Each and every person who hears the truth about Jesus Christ must make a decision on who He is.
C. S. Lewis said,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 
                                                                                         C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
What I would ask, you the person reading this, is to read the New Testament and see what Jesus said about himself. See what the Apostles wrote and believed about Jesus then make your decision as to who Jesus is. So you can answer the question Jesus asked Martha,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Do you?

Sunday, 14 February 2016

A Simple Truth

A simple truth

C. S. Lewis wrote,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” 
                                                                                 C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.
God exists whether the individual wants to admit it or not.
Peter John Kreeft wrote,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches, look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value”
                                          Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
The nice thing about God is that He gave man a freewill. In order to be truly free however God had to give man the right to believe what he wishes. And if the individual chooses not to believe in God that is their choice.
The bottom line is simple however.
Jesus said about himself,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. 
                                                                                                                               John 3:16-18
If what Jesus said is not true. If what Christians believe is not true that there is a God and Jesus Christ is God’s one and Only Son, then the unbeliever has nothing to fear.
If on the other hand Christians are correct in their beliefs then the non-believer has a great deal to fear.
Are you certain what you believe is true?
Please think about it.

Saturday, 13 February 2016

A Message for you

A Message for you

Luke the writer of the book of acts tells us about this incident in the apostle Pauls life. Luke writes,
“So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.  
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.   Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  
You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”  
(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.  
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” 
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”  
At that, Paul left the Council.  
A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others”
                                                                                              Acts 17:17-34.
The message the apostle Paul delivered that day to the Athenians is the same message God wants the people of the world to here today.
It is the message all true Christians want people to consider.
Please think about it.

Friday, 12 February 2016

You and Eternity

You and Eternity
The American Evangelist Tony Campolo said,
“The Jesus of the Scripture transcends all nations and calls all nations into judgment.”
                                                                                                                       Tony Campolo
Jesus made things very clear. Speaking of himself he said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. 
                                                                                                           John 3:16-18.
In Jesus God reaches down to man. He says I love you so much I entered my creation in the form of my one and only Son Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul explains
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,” 
                                                                                           Colossians 2:9
Writing to the Romans the apostle Paul says,
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
                                                                                                                                           Romans 5:6.
We, every man and woman that has ever lived are those ungodly people. We fall short of God’s ideal for our lives daily. We are far from perfect.
As the apostle Paul puts it,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
                                                                                 Romans 3:23.
Sinning is falling short of God’s ideal. Sin separates us from God.
Paul however gives us hope. To the Ephesians he writes,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” 
                                                                       Ephesians 2:8,9.
It is our faith in Christ that saves us. No one is perfect enough to stand before God. We all sin and fall short of God’s ideal for our lives. That is why we must accept the saving grace of Jesus.
The apostle John writes,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 
1 John 1:9-10.
By accepting by faith that Jesus is the one and only Son of God. By accepting that he died for your sins. Then confessing those sins to God directly you will receive eternal life with God.
The Apostle John telling us,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” 
                   John 1:12,13.
Please think about it.

Thursday, 11 February 2016

God exists like it or not!

God exists like it or not!
           C. S. Lewis wrote,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” 
                                                                                C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
“He(God)  has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;...”  
     Ecclesiastes 3:11a.
Like it or not God exists. Individuals may deny His existence but that’s not to say God does not exist.
There’s an old joke that goes like this.
“A young school boy said to his teacher “Miss I believe in God.” to which the teacher said,
“Joey you can’t see God. Can you?”
“No.” said Joey.
“You can’t touch God can you?” said the teacher.
“No” said Joey.
“Then if you can’s see Him or touch Him, how can you believe He exist.” said the teacher
Joey thought for a moment and said “I cant see or touch your brain does that mean it doesn’t exist?”
Just because we can’t see or touch things doesn’t mean they don’t exist ask any good scientist will tell you that.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society.  Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
                                                                                                                                    Abba Hillel Silver.
Without fear of God’s judgement ultimately man could do anything he wants.
Rabbi Benjamine Blech wrote,
“In the aftermath of Nazi Germany we must once and for all understand that culture and crematoria are not mutually exclusive.  Scientific progress does not ensure moral protection, nor can secular humanism produce saints.  People will always find reasons to justify any kind of behaviour.”
-Rabbi Benjamin Blech, congregational rabbi and ancient professor of Talmud, Understanding Judaism.  The Basics of Deed and Creed (1991).
When God is left out of the picture. When man does not fear judgement, individuals and society suffer.
Hitler and his henchmen did not fear God. Nor do modern day terrorist. Nor for that matter do criminals of any kind. Be they murderers or thieves. These people throw out the moral code I believe God has written on the hearts of every individual. Morals such as do not kill, do not steal and so forth.
They if you will have set themselves up as the absolute moral authority. I’m sure Hitler and those in charge of the death camps believed they were moral people. Even though the rest of humanity would disagree.
Whether individuals believe there is a God to fear or not He is there. I also believe the words of Ecclesiastes that says,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” 
 Ecclesiastes12:13,14.
The choice however to believe in God is up to you the individual.
All I would ask is that you please think about it.

Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Kindness

Kindness
Anne Frank wrote,
“Give of yourself, give as much as you can?  And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!  If everyone were to do this and not be as mean with a kindly word, then there would be much more justice and love in the world.  Give and you shall receive, much more than you would have ever thought possible.  Give, give again and again, don’t lose courage, keep it up and go on giving!  No one has ever become poor from giving!”                                                         Anne Frank.
Anne Frank knew what it was like to experience hate. She spent a good part of her short life hiding from the Nazis in the occupied Netherlands. Anne eventually died in a concentration camp the results of men who simply hated her and those like her because of who they were.
Such hatred is happening in the world today. I don’t see much love coming from the terrorist groups who are promising a better way of living.
You cannot have a better society if even just one person in your society is centred out to hate.
T. H. White wrote,
“There was just such a man when I was young—an Austrian who invented a new way of life and convinced himself that he was the chap to make it work. He tried to impose his reformation by the sword, and plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos. But the thing which this fellow had overlooked, my friend, was that he had a predecessor in the reformation business, called Jesus Christ. 
Perhaps we may assume that Jesus knew as much as the Austrian did about saving people. But the odd thing is that Jesus did not turn the disciples into storm troopers, burn down the Temple at Jerusalem, and fix the blame on Pontius Pilate. 
On the contrary, he made it clear that the business of the philosopher was to make ideas available, and not to impose them on people.” 
                                        T. H. White, The Once and Future King.
Terrorist groups around the world today are using the same tactics Hitler and every despot in history has ever used, the sword.
Napoleon Bonaparte noted,
“You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel.  Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”
                                                                                               Napoleon Bonaparte.
Alexander the great, the Romans, Hannibal, Napoleon, and Hitler tried to rule the world by force. Today they are footnotes in history. Their fame fading their empires gone.
Yet Jesus the man who was born in the back roads of the Roman empire has a following that is represented in every country on the face of the earth.
Jesus who is the Son of God showed the world how to live. How to change the world. Jesus when asked,
 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
This is the first and greatest commandment.  
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 
                                                                           Matthew 22:36-40
Jesus also said,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  
  And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”
  Matthew 5:43-47.
Love for God, your neighbour and your enemy is something that terrorist groups and other groups that spout hate have not learned.
Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“There is one other fundamental difference between love and hate.  Love is always a refuge.  Hate is never a refuge.  Only a mentally sick person can find refuge in his hates.  But love is the enduring sanctuary of life.  Life may rob you of many things.  It often does.  But it can never bereave us of love itself.  That remains.
-Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, rabbinic leader, from a December 22, 1940, sermon, quoted in Therefore Choose Life.
Terrorist groups and others spouting hate will never prevail ultimately they like the emperors and kings before them that have tried to conquer the world will be in the end a tiny footnote in history.
Ultimately those who hate will answer to God and be tried for their hate, and their crimes against God and humanity.
The writer of Proverbs wrote,
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 
Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.” 
                                                                               Proverbs 3:3,4.
This is what we all need to do.
Please think about it.