A sad story of Christian England

Many Christians do not realise the depths of ignorance of the Bible in Britain today.

A new poll by Pew Research shows that 73 per cent of Americans believe in the virgin birth (including 97 per cent of white evangelicals, 94 per cent of black Protestants, 88 per cent of white Catholics, 81 per cent of Hispanic Catholics and 70 per cent of mainline Protestants).

By contrast, about a third of British people believe in the virgin birth.

According to a YouGov poll, only 17 per cent of Britons believe in a personal God, compared with 41 per cent in 1957. Twenty-three per cent are agnostic (compared with 16 per cent in 1967), and atheists are up from six per cent to 28 per cent. Only 27 per cent believed that Jesus was the Son of God (71 per cent in 1957).

But even that is not as bad as the figures in a new ComRes poll. Twelve per cent of Londoners think the Bible features Father Christmas. And one in 10 young people aged from 25 to 34 thinks Father Christmas makes an appearance in the biblical account of the nativity.

Can you believe it? 

 God is a good God, full of grace and mercy; a personal God, willing to reveal Himself to all who seek Him. There is nothing to be compared to a personal knowledge of Him.

Duck Dynasty and homosexuality

There can't be too many people who don't know that there's a programme called Duck Dynasty on American TV, described as "the biggest reality-TV hit in the history of cable television." It's about a family from Louisiana who have a  company which makes products for duck hunters, where all the menfolk have long beards and speak openly against abortion and for the family. Some 14 million people have taken the programme to their hearts and watch each episode.

Says Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the family: “I myself am a product of the 60s; I centred my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Saviour. My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the Bible teaches." So far so good.

The trouble came when he was asked in a wide-ranging magazine interview what sin was. He said homosexuality, among a number of other things, was sin, and quoted 1 Cor 6:9, 10, which says that fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers and extortioners will not inherit the kingdom of God.

For that, the TV company suspended Phil Robertson indefinitely, which presumably meant he wouldn't be making any more television programmes.

Fallout from the spat has been considerable.

Says Bill Muehlenberg: "Daring to publicly criticise homosexuality. . .  the only crime in the West that will land you in real hot water every single time. Not even being a murderer or rapist is guaranteed to result in so much backlash as being willing to speak against the homosexual agenda.

"This is unquestionably the greatest and most heinous sin imaginable in the West today. Nothing compares with it, and nothing meets a swifter and more hate-filled reaction. With thousands of such cases now at our disposal, we can safely say that there is no greater threat to freedom and democracy than the militant homosexual lobby."

Says Alan Snyder: “Nothing he said in that statement was outside orthodox Christian belief. . . What is occurring in our society is an all-out attack on biblical standards of morality. Those who say it’s a figment of evangelicals’ imagination are not paying attention. The goal will be to outlaw any public expression of Christian belief that directly contradicts newly accepted societal norms." 

Says David Limbaugh: "When he identified homosexual behaviour as a sin, he might as well have robbed a bank on live television. But when he cited the New Testament book of 1st Corinthians as including homosexuality in a list of sins, he had passed the point of no return. 

"As many are now belatedly realising, the option of sitting out the culture wars is increasingly closed to us if we value our liberties, as we conservatives claim we do. Despite all of its sermonising, the militant left will not live and let live. They demand uniformity of thought, and those who dissent from their PC standards are to be shunned and silenced.

"Christians don’t believe they are the arbiters of sinful behavior, but that God is. But we’re approaching that time - we already may have arrived - when the belief in certain Scriptures will be deemed intolerably sinful and the believer outcast as a hater."

As Phil Robertson also said, God loves us all, and wants to forgive all our sins - but He can't forgive sins we won't acknowledge.

People are wondering what will be the effect of this sort of thing on lukewarm Christians. They will accept a form of sexual behaviour which God abhors, or stand up for what God believes and be vilified by the world.

Says Albert Mohler: “The controversy over Duck Dynasty sends a clear signal to anyone who has anything to risk in public life: Say nothing about the sinfulness of homosexual acts or risk sure and certain destruction by the revolutionaries of the new morality. You have been warned.”

So now you know.

Happy Christmas!

A Jewish girl I know of - not a practising Jew, it's true, but a girl who was well aware of her Jewishness - was challenged by the testimony of a Christian. So she bought herself a Bible.

In it, she found the following verse:

For unto us a child is born,
  Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon his shoulder.
  And his name will be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,
  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

She had seen the verse before, on Christmas cards. She had assumed it was from the New Testament. She was shocked to find it was from the Old Testament, spoken by the prophet Isaiah some 700 years before Jesus was born - one of the many verses in the Old Testament which speak of Jesus.

For unto us a child is born, Unto us a Son is given. Not unto us a Son is born, unto us a child is given. Jesus is eternally the Son of God. How marvellous that God should present His greatest Gift in the person of a little child!

And the government will be upon his shoulder. He's coming back to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Every eye will see Him. Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess Him Lord.

Wonderful. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Counsellor. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Mighty God. He was there at Creation. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not made any thing that was made.

Everlasting Father. Jesus said I and my Father are one. Prince of Peace. When He comes, He will rule with a rod of iron, and people will not learn war any more.

In the meantime, you can recognise Him for who He is, and ask Him into your heart. He will come in, and you will know Him personally in a way that's hard to imagine if you haven't done it. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name.  John 1:12.

May you have a happy, blessed, Christ-filled Christmas.

The first ever abortion pill reversal

Here's a remarkable story. It's described as the first ever abortion pill reversal.

Ashley was 20 years old and in love. She was surprised when she became pregnant. She knew her Christian parents would be disappointed, but her boyfriend had promised her he would take care of her and the baby if ever it happened.

Instead, he insisted she get an abortion. He convinced her her parents would throw her out. If she had a baby now she wouldn't be able to go to nursing school, and he wasn't going to support a baby he wasn't ready for. He said he wouldn't be able to get time off work to go with her.

She felt she had no option. She went to the abortion clinic. They confirmed the pregnancy at seven weeks, but didn't let her see the baby on ultrasound or hear the heartbeat. They gave her RU 486, and watched her while she took it.

Immediately, she realised that what she had done was contrary to all that she believed in. She didn't want an abortion, she wanted love and support. She asked the abortionist what she could do if she changed her mind. She was told if she didn't take the later pill in the RU 486 procedure to induce labour, the baby would still die, and if it didn't, it would be born deformed or mentally defective.

Ashley was heartbroken. She told her mother what had happened and what she had done. Her mother gave her a big hug. They telephoned the local crisis pregnancy centre, who telephoned a doctor. The doctor, Dr Matt Harrison, asked them to send her over.

"She came, shattered," he said. "It was about 36 hours since she had taken the abortion pill, and she wanted to do whatever it would take to reverse it and save her baby. I consoled her and then excused myself. to my office. I prayed, 'God, what can I do?'" This was not something taught in medical school - but Dr Harrison had a feeling that something could be done.

"I started leafing through some textbooks and started thinking about how RU 486 worked. It is a progesterone counterfeit. It tricks the body into thinking that it is progesterone, fills the progesterone receptor with a key that will not turn the lock. It is a very effective blocker, and there was no known antidote. The placenta blood vessels act as if the mother is having a menstrual cycle and the placenta is starved and sloughs off, along with the baby, causing an abortion.

"God placed in my mind memories of my research in basic protein receptor biology. If we could flood Ashley's system with progesterone, with 'good' keys, then we might be able to out-compete the RU 486 and fill the receptors with working keys that will support the baby's life like God designed.

"We kept progesterone in our office for fertility treatments, so I told Ashley and her mother my plan and told her the risks. This had never been done; I doubted that it would work. She didn't care about the risks to her. Ashley was ready to do anything to save her baby's life. So I injected her with 200 mg of progesterone. It was a Friday and I told her to come back on Monday."

That weekend Ashley went to A&E. They found a heartbeat and Ashley got to see her baby. She was so thankful and felt that even if the baby died, she had done what she could.

 She went back to the doctor's surgery and had progesterone injections twice a week. She became cautiously optimistic with each week that went by.  She had her 17-week ultrasound. The baby looked completely normal.

 At full term, Ashley gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

The baby, Kaylie, is now six years old. Ashley is now a respiratory therapist at a major children's hospital. She has her own home, and is going to college to get a nursing degree.

Shot in the head, and lived

Nigeria is suffering. A terrorist organisation named Boko Haram - its aim is to see the north of Nigeria placed under strict sharia law - is killing Christians. Two years ago it gave Christians three days to leave or be killed. More than 3,000 are said to have died since 2010.

Out of the killing comes this remarkable story from a Christian named Habila Adamu. He was shot in the head and lived - to tell the world, he says, that to live in this world is to live for Christ, and to die is gain.

And to plead for an end to the ruthless religious persecution in northern Nigeria.

Habila was at home with his wife and children when visitors called. He opened the door and was shocked to find men wearing masks, armed with AK47s.

They demanded he step outside. What was his name? Habila Adamu. Was he a member of the Nigerian police? No. Was he a soldier? No. Was he a member of the state security services? No. He told them he was a businessman.

"OK, are you a Christian?" they asked. "I am a Christian," he said. Initially afraid, he realised they were going to kill him. He began to pray for strength and forgiveness.

The gunmen twice told him they were willing to spare his life if he renounced his faith. He told them he would rather die as a Christian.

They shot him in the face. The bullet went through his nose and came out at the back of his head. They began shouting "Allah Akbar." His wife was sobbing. Habila waited for an angel to come and take him to heaven.

He lay bleeding from 11pm until 7am before he was taken to hospital. Doctors asked him how he came to survive. What power was behind his survival? He told them "The power behind my survival is Jesus Christ."

"What can separate us from the love of Christ?" says Habila. "Is it hardship? Is it persecution? Is it sword? No. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

"We are sinners. We are condemned criminals. We are supposed to die. He took all those burdens. He paid for our debts. He died for us.

"Why can I not submit to Jesus? That is what I did. I stood for Him."

Euthanasia for children now

The Belgian Senate has voted by 50 votes to 17 to allow euthanasia for sick children. Some say that children are not old enough to understand what's involved in giving up their lives, but the majority of Belgian senators seem to consider that serious illness gives them an understanding. The measure will also extend the right to request euthanasia to adults with dementia.

It will now go before the House of Representatives, and is likely to be approved.

In Belgium, deaths by euthanasia have increased by almost 500 per cent since euthanasia was legalised in 2002. It is said that 47 per cent of all assisted deaths in Belgium are not being reported, and 32 per cent of all assisted deaths are being carried out without request.

In the Netherlands, euthanasia of children under the age of 12 remains technically illegal, but a number of infants have been euthanised without prosecution under the Groningen protocol.

Nearer home, in Northern Ireland, where abortion is illegal, justice minister David Ford says he is going to consult on changing the law to allow women carrying babies with "fatal foetal abnormalities" to have an abortion.

Once upon a time adults seemed pretty well agreed on the need to protect children. Now they seem to be getting pretty well agreed on the need to kill them (in the children's best interests, of course.)

What are we coming to?

Here's another question you may wish to consider: Are you and I doing all that we are able to present a godly alternative?

Watch out for 'a genderless mush'

When the Government legalised same-sex marriage, some supposed that the divorce rate in same-sex marriages would be similar to the divorce rate in traditional marriage. Others supposed that divorces in same-sex marriages would be much higher. We may never know.

The Office for National Statistics, which keeps records of marriage and divorce, is considering including marriage, same-sex marriage and civil partnerships without distinction in the same definition of "legally recognised partnerships." The break-up of relationships in the three classes would then be listed in the same single figure.

Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, says "It is vital that the ONS is completely open and transparent about the statistics it publishes on marriage, civil partnership and divorce. If we are going to be able to assess the impact of same-sex marriage on traditional marriage, the figures will need to be published separately and not merged into a genderless mush.

“Decades of research have demonstrated that a marriage between a man and a woman is considerably more stable than other types of relationship and produces better outcomes for children. The Prime Minister and some other supporters of the recent redefinition of marriage are assuming that same-sex unions will produce identical results, but without separate figures the argument cannot be settled one way or the other.

"To adopt a gender-blind approach to marriage and divorce would severely limit the ability of researchers to assess the relative benefits of different types of registered relationships and stifle healthy debate in a key area of public policy.
 
“If the Government is serious about pursuing family policy based on sound evidence, it is of the utmost importance that all the relevant statistics should be readily available and not hidden from view.”

William Oddie, of the Catholic Herald, produces figures from somewhere where same-sex marriage has been available for some time. After eight years, he says, 82 per cent of marriages of a man and a woman are still intact, 60 per cent of opposite-sex cohabiting couples are still together, but only 25 per cent of same-sex couples are still together. 

It is vital that the ONS doesn't muddy the waters, he says. "It's something we HAVE to know about." 

The ONS quietly launched a consultation on the matter on the same day it issued a report showing that female couples were almost twice as likely to end a civil partnership as male couples.

To take part in the consultation, click here, then under the heading Downloads, click on "Consultation document." Your response to the consultation can be sent by e-mail. The consultation closes on December 17.

Supreme Court to rule on 'right to die'

Nine of Britain's most senior judges will meet within the next few days to hear attempts to introduce a ”right to die” under human rights legislation.

A full panel of Supreme Court judges, headed by Lord Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court, will hear the culmination of three separate legal challenges to the current ban on assisted suicide. The three cases have been put into one “super case,” the Telegraph reports, to allow a sweeping judgment on the current state of the law in England and Wales.

Tony Nicklinson, a 58-year-old father of two who was almost completely paralysed after a

 stroke, fought a long and public campaign for a doctor to be allowed to help him end his life. He died  last year after refusing food following the rejection of his case at the High Court. His wife, Mrs Jane Nicklinson, was granted special dispensation to continue the case in his place, taking it to the Court of Appeal and now the Supreme Court.

Paul Lamb (57), a former lorry driver, was left quadriplegic by a car accident 23 years ago.

A man known only as Martin wants to go to the Dignitas suicide clinic in Switzerland, but his wife has made clear that she feels morally unable to help him die. All three cases have been rebuffed by lower courts.

“I am hopeful. We would not be doing this if we didn’t think we had some prospect of success,” said Mrs Nicklinson. “I know it is a huge thing we are asking for, but the fact that we are sitting in front of nine judges shows that they are taking it seriously.” 

Legal papers for Mrs Nicklinson and Mr Lamb refer to "the extraordinary and cruel consequences for them of the current law prohibiting assisted suicide in England and Wales under [the] Suicide Act 1961.”

Papers from Martin’s legal team make his case to end his life in stark terms. “He can move his eyes, and communicates, painfully slowly, by spelling out words on the screen of a special computer that can detect where on the screen his eyes are pointing,” they say. “Martin finds his circumstances undignified, distressing and intolerable. 

"He is not going to recover. He wants to end his life. That decision is settled, consistent, and reached with capacity.”

The three people's lawyers plan to draw on legal arguments developed by Lord Falconer, whose private  bill for assisted suicide will be heard in the House of Lords shortly. They will argue that the 1961 Suicide Act, which makes it a criminal offence to assist someone taking their own life, imposes “extraordinary and cruel” limits on individual freedom.
 
They will say the ban has already been partially unravelled by official guidelines issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions four years ago, amounting to “de facto decriminalisation” of assisted suicide for those who take loved ones to Switzerland to end their lives.
 
They will say the current arrangements discriminate against people who are unable to travel abroad, or take other steps themselves to end their lives, because of the severity of their condition.

 Crucially they will argue that a series of previous cases already establish a qualified “right” for people to choose how they die, but one which those with severe disabilities can not use, which amounts to a breach of human rights and renders the ban on assisted suicide “unjustified state interference."

Tribute to a remarkable woman

Alison Davis was born with severe spina bifida. She suffered from hydrocephalus, emphysema, osteoporosis and arthritis. She was doubly incontinent and sometimes had intractable pain.

For years she tried to find happiness without God, but found it didn't work. She attempted suicide several times, until friends persuaded her that life was worth living. The former atheist turned to Christianity and the former abortion advocate became pro-life.

Her pro-life conversion came when a Dr Donald Garrow starved and dehydrated a disabled baby to death. He made a video of the baby's last days, and the video was shown on TV. Alison was horrified. She wrote to Dr Garrow and told him she was disabled in just the same way the baby had been, and she felt he had made a horribly wrong decision.

Dr Garrow invited her to speak to his hospital team. "I can't remember exactly what I said, but I pointed out that life with spina bifida and hydrocephalus could be full and happy, and that it was in any case wrong to deliberately kill any child on grounds of disability."

Alison became head of the handicap division of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, which later became No Less Human. She appeared on radio and TV and her erudite letters often appeared in newspapers.

Despite being confined to a wheelchair, she was widely travelled. She went to India to visit seriously disabled children and became "mother" to 130 of them. She established a charity to support them and learned Telugu so she could write to them in their own language.

She once said: "Sometimes what desperate people, disabled or not, need is to be given hope. What they definitely don't need is to be told they are right to feel so unhappy and that they would be better off dead. This is simply the moral equivalent of the practical example of seeing a person about to jump off a high bridge and giving them a push." 

Alison died this week. She was 58.

Earth's loss is heaven's gain.

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."  Rev 21:4.

Television worth watching

Well, I hope you caught it. The Bible, that is. By which I mean the first almost two-hour TV instalment of the Bible story on Channel 5 on Saturday evening.

The Bible was conceived by husband and wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, who wanted to show how the Old Testament connects seamlessly to the New Testament. "How they are one sweeping story with one grand, overriding message. God loves each one of us as if we were the only person in the world to love."

The series showed in the US in March and became the number one show on cable TV with the biggest  cable TV audience of 2013. The first instalment covered from Creation to the Israelites about to enter into the Promised Land, with the stories of Noah and the Ark, Abraham and Isaac, Moses and Pharaoh, the ten plagues and the deliverance from Egypt. The parting of the Red Sea was spectacular, and Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac had me in tears.

If you missed it, you can see it at www.channel5.com/demand5. I recommend it. The remaining episodes you can see on Channel 5 each Saturday evening to the end of the year. Television worth watching.

Anticipating heaven

When was the last time you heard a sermon about heaven?

American negro slaves sang regularly of heaven ("Swing low, Sweet Chariot, coming for to carry me home"). Former generations sang about heaven ("We're marching to Zion."  "Shall we gather at the river?")

Not quite so these days. In Christianity, there may be less interest in heaven than at any other time in history. Having settled that they'll go there one day (not by living a good life, or going to church, or doing good deeds, but by trusting in the atoning work of the Saviour) Christians seem in no particular hurry to get there. The truth is they seem to be having too comfortable a life down here, thank you.

In a new book about heaven*, Edward Donnelly bemoans the fact that many people who think they are going to heaven aren't.

"There is no evidence in their lives that they are joined to Christ. They are nurturing a false hope. We hear the flippant comments that are passed when famous men and women die. Someone says that they are looking down from above, pleasantly surprised by the large and impressive attendance at their funeral. We hear about how golfers are enjoying playing golf and fishermen are getting huge catches in heaven. They may have shown little interest in the things of God, they may never have professed faith in the Saviour, but it is taken for granted that heaven is where they now find themselves. To suggest otherwise is to be branded a ghoulish bigot. We talk to people who assume that they are going to heaven and yet they have no good reason for their careless assumption. They are facing a most appalling shock."

God offers to sinful, miserable human beings an eternity of unimaginable happiness. Jesus can bring you to glory forever. But Donnelly says we are not telling people that.

He goes on: "Most of the teaching about heaven in Scripture is not for evangelism but for pastoring the people of God. He explains heaven in his Word primarily for his own children's sake, to help and comfort us, to encourage and strengthen us, to make us more holy, to fill us with joy. . . It is an immense blessing to know much more about heaven. And we can know. . . With his Word in our hands we can know about heaven."

The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi:

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labour; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.

For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.  Phil 1:21 - 24.

When David Watson became ill with cancer, David Pawson wrote to him and pointed out that there is a difference between being willing to go to be with the Lord, but eager to stay, and being eager to be with the Lord, but willing to stay. It's said that David Watson took the words to heart, and prayed through until he was eager to go, but willing to stay.

I have no desire to go before my life's work is done, but the moment that time comes I want to experience the glories of heaven, and I long to see my Saviour's face.

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
  Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love him."
But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit.  1 Cor 2:9, 10.

* Biblical Teaching on the Doctrines of Heaven and Hell. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust.

A recipe for disaster?

Iranian negotiators agreed to curb some of Iran's nuclear activities in a six-month interim deal in Geneva at the weekend - in return for £4.3 billion in sanctions relief. The deal, with several world powers, followed secret talks between the US and Iran.

Iranian military forces launched a series of massive military drills across nine provinces codenamed Towards Jerusalem as negotiations were going on.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said "Iran is committed to giving up the prospect of nuclear weapons. It's perfecly clear." US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the deal had made the world a safer place. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he thought Iran was "very sincere."

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal was a "historic mistake."

"Today the world has become  a much more dangerous place," he said. "For the first time, the world's leading powers have agreed to uranium enrichment in Iran while ignoring the UN Security Council decisions that they themselves led. Sanctions that required many years to put in place contain the best chance for a peaceful solution. These sanctions have been given up in exchange for cosmetic Iranian concessions that can be cancelled in weeks.

"We cannot and will not allow a regime that calls for the destruction of Israel to obtain the means to achieve this goal."

Israeli officials seemed incredulous that US President Obama could enter into such an arrangement. Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said the current deal could actually bring Iran closer to the bomb . Middle Eastern Arab nations are also suspicious.

A step towards peace? Or a recipe for disaster?

Time will tell.

Forbidden to ask for help?

Homosexual propaganda seems to have seeped into every aspect of life in Britain.
 
This Friday, November 22. the House of Commons will vote on the Counsellors and Psychotherapists (Regulation) Bill at its second reading. The bill aims to ban therapists from offering assistance to people who want to reduce unwanted homosexual feelings and behaviours.

It would be a ban on the human right of people to ask for help if they wish to do so. It is based on the absolute insistence of the homosexual lobby - without any scientific proof - that a homosexual has the condition from birth and it cannot be changed. It flies in the face of the evidence of the many people who have repented of a homosexual lifestyle and have been set free from it.

Many homosexuals appear angry against non-homosexuals. Their worst anger seems to be reserved for ex-homosexuals. 

People who support the bill claim that practitioners of reparative therapy are motivated by homophobia and do not advance the welfare of the individual. They claim such therapy can cause harm.

People who oppose the bill say reparative therapy is about helping people who voluntarily seek change in sexual preference and expression, and not about coercing people or forcing them to change against their will. Banning therapy would deny them the right to seek treatment and force them to accept a sexual identity they were unhappy with.

Christian organisations are asking people to e-mail their MP before Friday to ask him or her to vote against the bill. Contact findyourmp.parliament.org, find your MP's name and click on the name to find his or her contact details.

Protecting the vulnerable

One of the remarkable things about euthanasia becoming legalised in countries in Europe is the rapid rate it increases in numbers and in scope.

In the Netherlands the number of deaths by euthanasia increased by 64 per cent between 2005 and 2010. The population grew by two per cent during the same period. Disabled newborn babies, including babies with spina bifida, are euthanised under the Groningen protocol, on the grounds of "their perceived future suffering or that of their parents." The Dutch are now discussing euthanasia for people with dementia, despite huge concens about informed consent.

Belgium is currently considering extending euthanasia to children. Euthanasia in Belgium has begun for organ donation, and for prisoners.

A new coalition, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of Europe, has just been launched to protect vulnerable people in Europe from the threat of euthanasia.

Says the organisation's co-ordinator, Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick of Not Dead Yet UK: "The UK, France and Germany are currently considering legislation, but overwhelming evidence from jurisdictions where euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is legal, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, demonstrates beyond doubt how quickly and how easily euthanasia is extended to others, especially disabled people and elderly people.

"High profile cases have provoked international outrage, leading communicators to think of Belgium as the new world leader in exploiting euthanasia against those with disabilities and mental health issues."

The coalition's aims are to oppose the legislation of euthanasia and assisted suicide and work to repeal existing laws allowing them; to promote the best care and support for vulnerable people who are sick, elderly or disabled; and to affirm life through helping people find meaning, purpose and hope in the face of suffering and despair.

We wish them well.

When all you have is God

Eric Foley is co-founder of Seoul USA, an American missionary organisation which has dropped 50,000 Bibles into North Korea by balloon this past year.

Bibles are rare in North Korea. Houses are searched by Government officials. If a Bible is found, the family is either sent to a concentration camp or executed.

Christians don't reveal their faith to their spouses until years after marriage. They can't tell their children of their faith until they are at least 15, as teachers are trained to extract such information from pupils.

There are ways, however. One grandfather gathered his family together each week to give them the same 10 pieces of advice. Later, a grandson realised he was passing down the 10 Commandments. Christians can't risk gathering together because spies are everywhere. They worship in their own homes, or walking down the road out of the earshot of others.

When Communism took over and Bibles were banned, Christians chose four pillars of Christianity to pass on to new believers - theology through the Apostles' Creed, prayer through the Lord's Prayer, ethics through the 10 Commandments and worship through the Lord's Supper.

Foley estimates there are 100,000 Christians in North Korea, about a third of them in concentration camps. They regard concentration camps as a mission field, their purpose to carry out the task God has given them regardless of cost.

Foley asked a North Korean believer how he could pray for them. "Pray for us?" the Christian asked. "We pray for you. South Korean and American churches believe challenges in the Christian faith are solved by money, freedom and politics. It's only when all you have is God you realise God is all you need."

Establishing the kingdom (4)

The Bible says that Jesus will return to earth when the Jews are ready to receive Him, to deal with His enemies and set up His kingdom.

(If anyone tells you that God has washed His hands of the Jews, take no notice. It isn't true. Look at Rev 21:10 - 14, which tells how at the end of time the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven:

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

having the glory of God. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal,

Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel, and the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.

If people tell you that God has finished with the Jews, ask them what the names of the 12 tribes of Israel are doing on the gates of the New Jerusalem.)

The glories of Christ's kingdom are described in many places in the Old Testament, for instance Micah 4:1 - 3:

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
  That the mountain of the Lord's house
 Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
  And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.

Many nations shall come and say,
  "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
  He will teach us his ways,
And we shall walk in his paths."
  For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between many peoples,
  And rebuke strong nations afar off,
They shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
  And their spears into pruning-hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
  Neither shall they learn war any more.

We are told to pray that His kingdom will come (Matt 6:10). We are told that His is the kingdom, and the power and the glory (Matt 6:13).

The first five verses of Psalm 2 tell us how the kings and rulers of the earth will seek to shake off God and His anointed, but God will hold them in derision. Then comes verse 6, surely one of the most reassuring verses in Scripture:

"Yet I have set my King
On my holy hill of Zion."

Establishing the kingdom (3)

The Bible says that the Jews are going to become a believing nation. How is this going to happen?

The Bible says there is going to be what is known as the rapture:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  1 Thess 4:16, 17.

After the rapture will come the tribulation, a time of terrible suffering for those who remain on the earth. The Old Testament calls it the time of Jacob's trouble (Jer 30:6 - 9; Matt 24:15 - 28; Rev 7:13 - 17).

There may be a number of reasons for the tribulation. But one reason certainly is to bring the Jews back to God. How will they come?

In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness  Zech 13:1. What fountain is this?

There is a fountain filled with blood,
 Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
 Lose all their guilty stains.

They will wash as Gentile believers have washed, trusting for forgiveness in the shed blood of the Jewish Messiah. See Zech 12:10 - 14. Then Jesus will return. Jesus cannot come back to earth until the Jews are ready to receive Him. Which seems like a very good reason to pray for the Jewish people. (In speaking of His return, I do not speak of the rapture, which could occur at any time. He does not come to earth at the rapture, but appears in the clouds to take His people home.)


His return is recorded in Rev 19:11 - 16:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on is head were many crowns. He had a name written that no man knew except himself.

He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.

Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations. And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS

AND LORD OF LORDS.

He will come back in power and great glory. All who have refused His forgiveness will find judgment. Those who went to be with Him at the rapture will return with Him. He will set up His kingdom on the earth.

What days!

Establishing the kingdom (2)

When the Jews rejected Jesus, what did Jesus do? Note what He said in Matt 23:37 - 39:

"O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem," - He was talking to the Jews - "the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

"See! Your house is left to you desolate;

"for I say to you, you shall see me no more" - note He did not say you shall see Me no more forever - "you shall see me no more till" - there's an 'until'! - "till you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

Jesus was saying that the Jews would see Him no more until they were prepared to welcome Him.

After the Jews rejected Jesus, God opened the gates of salvation to the Gentiles (Rom 11:11). The good news is that after the fulness of the Gentiles is come to faith, then God will turn again to His Jewish people:

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

And so all Israel will be saved.  Rom 11:25, 26 (but read the rest of the chapter).

Israel is going to become a believing nation. When God turns again to the Jewish people, they will be ready to welcome Him. The Jews must come to faith, because of God's promises. God cannot forget His promises.

Establishing the kingdom (1)

Jesus didn't come to the Gentiles: He came to the Jews. "He came to his own, and his own did not receive him" (John 1:11).

When Jesus sent out the 12 disciples, He told them: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (Matt 10: 5 - 7).

Mark tells how a Syro-Phoenician woman came to Jesus asking for healing for her daughter. Jesus told her: "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs" (Mark 7:27). Why did He say that? Because she was a Gentile. (It's only fair to point out that she got what she asked, but Jesus made it clear His ministry was not to the Gentiles.) 

The Jews were God's chosen nation, through whom He wanted to reveal Himself to the world.

And when Jesus came to the Jews, what did He preach? He preached the kingdom of heaven. "Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" (Matt 4: 17). "Now Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom" (v23).

Look at Matthew 13. "Another parable he put forth to them, saying: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field'" (v24). "Another parable he put forth to them, saying: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed'" (v31). "Another parable he spoke to them: 'The kingdom of heaven is like leaven'" (v33). "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom" (v38). "The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend" (v41). "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (v43)."Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field" (v44). "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls" (v45). "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea" (v47). The kingdom is mentioned more than 50 times in Matthew's Gospel alone.

Jesus came to bring the kingdom. But the Jews couldn't have the kingdom, because they rejected the King.

The common people received Him gladly. Crowds followed Him. The Old Testament contained many prophecies of the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled all the ones that had to be fulfilled at that time. He did what He could to certify His Messiahship. He performed miracles they believed only the Messiah could perform. But the religious leaders of the Jews were another matter. They didn't like His message and they didn't want the man.

The Jews' final rejection came in Matthew 12:

Then one was brought to him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  Matt 12:22 - 24. 

So when the Jews rejected Jesus, what did He do?

It's love that makes the difference

Anglican ministers and lay leaders, concerned at the falling away from biblical orthodoxy in parts of the worldwide Anglican communion, met in Jerusalem in 2008 and formed the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.

The second GAFCON conference is in Nairobi this week. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, was unable to be present because of prior commitments. (No, that isn't the subject of this blog post.) He sent a videod message to the conference. One of the things he said was this:

The gospel has to be proclaimed by a church that is in unity. That's really tough - I don't underestimate the difficulty of that. It doesn't mean being unanimous, all saying exactly the same thing in exactly the same way. It means that, as Jesus prays in John 17, that we demonstrate by our love for one another that Jesus is the Son of God and therefore people are drawn to believe in Him. We've got to find ways of doing that and I don't underestimate the challenge that is to all of us. 

I pray. . . that you will find the determination, together with all other Christians, in passionate unity and love for one another, expressing disagreement graciously yet with powerful truth, to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord and there is no other.

"My word," I said, "he's got it."

Christianity isn't a religion so much as a relationship: a personal relationship with a living Saviour. May those who have this relationship show such a love that the world cannot fail to be moved.

Music saved her life

Alice Herz-Sommer, who lives in London, is the oldest living Holocaust survivor. She is also said to be the world's oldest living pianist.

Born in Prague with a remarkable musical gift, she became a concert pianist. After the Germans invaded, she was sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp, a "show camp" of artists, writers and musicians.

She gave more than a hundred concerts for the starving inmates. They had only a little black coffee and a little watery soup, but music kept them alive. "This was their food," she says.

She survived the war, and moved to London some 25 years ago. She is 109.

I wrote a blog post about her almost two years ago. Now someone has contacted me to tell me of the release of a full-length film, The Lady in Number Six, telling the story of her life.

You can see extracts from the film here.

Seven million lives snuffed out

The number of babies who die in the UK by abortion each day equals two Lockerbie disasters. The number of babies aborted each week is greater than the number of people killed at the World Trade Centre on 9/11. The number aborted in three years equals the casualties in the whole of the Second World War.

More than seven million have been killed by abortion in the UK in the past 45 years - equal to a tenth of the total population.

According to Government figures, 203, 419 babies were killed by abortion in England, Wales and Scotland in 2012. Some 98 per cent were social abortions; one per cent were because of suspected handicap.

A series of studies regarding children with Down's syndrome by a clinical fellow in genetics at a Boston children's hospital produced some remarkable results.

No less than 99 per cent of parents said they loved their Down's syndrome child; 97 per cent were proud of them. Four per cent regretted having them.

More than 96 per cent of brothers and sisters of Down's syndrome children indicated they had affection for them; 94 per cent of older siblings expressed feelings of pride. Less than five per cent said they would trade their brother or sister for one without Down's syndrome.

Of children with Down's syndrome, nearly 99 per cent said they were happy with their lives, 97 per cent liked who they were, and 96 per cent liked how they looked.

Yet more than 90 per cent of babies in the UK found to have Down's syndrome before birth are aborted.

This coming Sunday, October 27, is the National Day of Prayer about abortion, organised by Image, the Christian pro-life organisation. Will you join in? You are asked to pray with friends, in church or at home. You can find details and suggested prayer topics at www.imagenet.org.uk.

Hatred, persecution. . . and love

Why are Coptic Christians in Egypt undergoing their worst persecution since the 14th century, with horrific levels of violence, to the almost complete unconcern of the West?

Pre-planned destruction of scores of ancient churches, monasteries, schools, orphanages and businesses are said to have gone unreported for days across the West. Yet it has been the worst persecution for 700 years of the largest remaining Christian minority in the Middle East.

Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute Religious Freedom Centre in Washington, told a meeting in London organised by Lapido Media and the Henry Jackson Society that US newspapers, asking what difference Islamists winning elections in Egypt in 2011 would make, suggested merely that women would be prohibited from wearing skimpy clothing and Sharm el Sheikh would be closed as a tourist resort. This was "utterly trivial."

The media had failed to ask the most basic questions. Why were the Copts singled out? There was enough evidence to show that the violence was part of a plan to drive out the Copts, to terrorise them into leaving.

Historian Tom Holland said in terms of the sheer scale of hatreds and sectarian rivalries, we were watching something on the scale of horror of the European Thirty Years War.

Dr Jenny Taylor said the media's job had been impeded by "secular blinders." They tended to report the Middle East's religions as a "variant of a Westminster debate" with "left-wing underdogs and right-wing overdogs and Christians getting lumped in with the overdogs, if they get mentioned at all."

The Coptic Church in UK’s Bishop Angaelos said Muslims had often protected Christians. The church and civil society together were against the extremists.  Many Muslims had turned against the Muslim Brotherhood when it became clear there was no economic plan. He agreed there had been what felt like silence from Western churches, governments and indeed Western Muslims after the attacks.
 
Meanwhile 11,000 young people from 250 churches of all denominations were attending a three-day conference in a church conference facility in the desert 70 miles north of Cairo, despite a curfew and the fact that Egypt's railway system was suspended. Many watched the conference sessions live on two Christian TV channels, and thousands more on the internet.

The main prayer for the conference, titled One Way 2013, was that God would set apart these young people as a sacred generation for Himself, ready to do His work on earth.

A Muslim journalist, who visited the conference with Muslim friends out of curiosity, wrote: "We were overwhelmed by the spirit of love that spread out all over the place, from people who have just been facing a severe wave of attacks, burning, looting - people who had been severely suffering by fanatic Muslims. I was surrounded by a massive crowd of people who were taught to love and forgive. Their genuine spirit of love and angelic worship did not leave my thought!"