Child sex exploitation: We're to blame too

Realisation is beginning to sink in.

When the news broke about the sexual exploitation of young girls, vast numbers of them, by Asian gangs in Rochdale, in Rotherham, in Oxfordshire, it was a matter of finding someone to blame. It was the Muslim culture. It was the police, who hadn't done their job. It was social services, who didn't care.

There was criminal activity. Of that there is no doubt. The police had failed to take action, as a result of decisions by senior police officers. Social workers had chosen to ignore the situation, for whatever reason.  But it's now admitted that society was to blame too in making it possible. Society. That's you and me.

We said yes to easy divorce. We pretended cohabitation was as good as marriage, when all the evidence was to the contrary.

There was never enough sex education. We insisted  - and still insist - on explicit sex education to younger and younger children. We failed to prevent access to pornography. We provided free contraception and the morning-after pill for children long before they were old enough to consent to sex. When children became pregnant, we provided free abortion, and counsellors to see them through the abortion process so their parents wouldn't have to know.

We are reaping what we have sown. We have scorned Christian principles and gone for the opinions of secular humanists who pretend to be experts.

It's too late to undo the damage that has been done. But it's not too late to start again - with principles that work.
    

So how did we get in this state?

Where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old. . . But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities come from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different. This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

In light of recent events. . . terrorists attack, school shootings etc. . . I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. . . The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbour as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about, and we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "We reap what we sow."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it. . . no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

The above was written and recited by Steven Levy on America's CBS Sunday Morning Commentary. It could apply equally to the UK.

Just thought you might like to think about it.
   

Widow forgives husband's killers

You may remember Alan Greaves, the 68-year-old church organist from Sheffield beaten to death as he walked to a church service on Christmas Eve.

His widow Maureen told this story at her church on the Sunday after her husband died:
  

In the midst of our deep grief, I was sitting in the [hospital] waiting room and a lady came in, and it irritated me, because I wanted to be by myself. I suddenly looked at her and thought "She's grieving like me." So I went over to her, and I said "What's wrong?"

She said "My husband's got a brain tumour."

I said "How are you feeling about that?"

She said "I don't believe in a God at all that could allow this to happen."

God gave me a wonderful moment, when I was able to say that "I believe in a God, because at Christmas time He sent us a Saviour, and He can be your Saviour too through all of the grief that you're going through."

Later on she got her results for her husband, and it was a benign tumour. She came to me and she hugged me. She said "I'll leave this place thinking about the fact that there's a Saviour of this world."

And for me that was a great joy in the midst of my pain, because Alan only died a few hours later.

At her husband's funeral, Mrs Greaves said she had decided to forgive the two men who were responsible for his death, as it was what her husband would have wanted: 

It has to be a daily act of saying "I place them in your hands, God," so that I don't have to worry about them. I don't have to hate them. After the massive shock and heartbreak, this was probably the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. . . I have to do it every day so I don't lapse. It's not an easy journey to look two men in the face who have killed the person you love most in the world.

One thing I have comforted myself with is that the God I believe in had a Son who was beaten as Alan was beaten. The God I believe in was resurrected as I believe Alan will be resurrected.

Last week as Ashley Foster was found guilty of manslaughter - Jonathan Bowling had already pleaded guilty to murder - Mrs Greaves wept in the public gallery. Foster was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment and Bowling was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years.

After the hearing Mrs Greaves said:

Alan was a man who was driven by love and compassion and he would not want any of us to hold on to feelings of hate and unforgiveness. So in honour of Alan and in honour of the God we both love, my prayer is that this story doesn’t end today. 

My prayer is that Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster will come to understand and experience the love and kindness of the God who made them in His own image and that God’s great mercy will inspire both of them to true repentance.

She added:  "I am so truly thankful to have loved and been loved by Alan. I am so proud of the man he was and of the life he lived."

Abortion horrors 'not unique'

Illness prevented me from commenting on the result of the case of Dr Kermit Gosnell.

Dr Gosnell  was an abortionist. He was estimated to take $10,000 to $15,000 for a few hours' work each day. His abortion clinic in Philadelphia was dirty and reeked of urine. There were cat faeces on the stairs. There was blood on the floor, and furniture and blankets were bloodstained. The emergency exit was padlocked and no one knew where the key was.

Medical equipment, according to the grand jury report, was generally broken, and when it worked, it wasn't used. Disposable medical supplies, intended to be used once, were used until they broke. Venereal disease was spread with infected instruments. Bowels, cervixes and uteruses were perforated and women left sterile.

Gosnell had staff, but there was not a qualified doctor or a qualified nurse among them, and they were allowed to give repeated doses of drugs at their discretion. He would seldom arrive at the clinic before 8pm. Foetal remains were stored haphazardly in milk jugs, orange juice cartons, cat food containers and plastic bags. Dead foetuses were stored in paper bags in the employees' lunch refrigerator.

Gosnell was known as a doctor who would perform abortions at any stage. Abortions were performed long after the legal limit by inducing delivery of the babies, who were then killed by having their spinal cords cut with scissors. One clinic worker testified that a baby she estimated at 30 weeks had been delivered into a toilet. She had slit the baby's throat.

Officials from the Department of Health had not inspected the premises in 17 years, and ignored complaints against the doctor and 46 lawsuits filed against him, said prosecutors.

Gosnell faced charges of first-degree murder of babies born alive, one charge of third-degree murder of a 41-year-old Bhutanese refugee from an excess of drugs before her abortion, multiple charges of performing abortions past the legal limit, conspiracy, drug delivery resulting in death, infanticide, corruption of minors, evidence tampering, theft by deception, abuse of corpse and corruption - and despite the sensational evidence there was a virtual media blackout on the case, apparently because the case didn't fit the pro-abortion position of the majority of the American media. It was left to a couple of journalists and bloggers to shame the media into some coverage, but the case then apparently receded once more into oblivion until sentence was passed.

(In Britain, there was an occasional story in the Telegraph, the Times and the Guardian. The exception was the Daily Mail, which was said to have printed 26 stories on the case since 2011 - more than all the stories in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, NBS, and CNN combined.)

The prosecution could have asked for the death penalty. But since Gosnell might have died from natural causes by the time he had exhausted the appeal process - he was 72 years old - the prosecution is reported not to have asked for the death penalty in exchange for a promise not to appeal the sentence. He was sentenced to several life sentences without parole.

One pro-life organisation said when given the choice, Gosnell had chosen life. It was a pity, they said, that the children he had killed were not given the same choice.

Leaders of pro-life organisations said the incidents at Gosnell's "house of horrors" were not unique, but reflective of abuses that characterised the entire abortion industry. Other authorities seem slow to prosecute.

A man with a message

Rob Joy, the son of a recovering alcoholic, grew up on a troubled estate. He longed to be accepted by his father - but his father died suddenly one night after a blazing row.

Rob had begun drinking at an early age and was treated for alcohol poisoning at 14. After losing his dad, he decided if he couldn't go straight, he would go for a life of serious crime.

He was nicknamed "Bobby the gun" because he carried a weapon. He was "always drunk, always high and always fighting."

He put two men in a coma in gang violence, allegedly blew £250,000 on drugs and slid into paranoia. People said he was going to wind up dead.

His mother and two sisters had become born-again Christians. Rob wasn't having any of that because he knew that Christians were all brainwashed nutters, but his mother and sisters continued to pray.

One night in a filthy drug den, Rob fell to his knees and pleaded with God to forgive him for a life of crime.

He's now pastor of a church in Wellingborough, Northants, and a gifted evangelist. He's married to a Christian girl amd has two young children. Their story is told in a book, Internal Revolution.

Carl Beech, leader of Christian Vision for Men in the UK, says "Rob is a living testimony that your past, no matter what has happened to you, does not need to govern your future."

Rob's former pastor says of him: "His zeal is real. He loves to see people brought into a new life that only Jesus can give. I thank God that He occasionally releases a man with a message to build His church and encourage us all. I see this in Rob Joy. He's a man with a message, born on time."

You can read his story here.

The life and death of a 'hatchet man'

You will have heard of Chuck Colson.

Colson, trained as a lawyer, became a master of dirty tricks and "hatchet man" for US President Richard Nixon. He was said to be ruthless. "I would walk over my Grandmother for Richard Nixon," he said once.

He described himself as a nominal Episcopalian, but he had no idea who the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son were. "Oh, I think religion is fine," he told one man, "provided one has as little of it as possible."

Colson left the White House after the Watergate scandal, which cost Nixon the presidency. He called on a company executive, hoping to get some work. Instead of talking about work, the executive spent the evening talking about Jesus, reading Colson extracts from a book called Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis, and praying for him.

Later that night Colson burst into tears at the wheel of his car and said a prayer himself. He told his wife he thought he'd had a conversion experience - but he didn't know what the term meant.

While still under investigation concerning Watergate, news leaked out that Colson had become a Christian. "How convenient," many said. Said the Boston Globe: "If Mr Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody."

It's said that Colson could have beaten charges in connection with Watergate, but he chose something he knew he was guilty of and decided to plead guilty. He went to prison. 

In prison one day a fellow prisoner named Archie shouted: "Hey, Colson. You'll be out of here soon. What are you going to do for us?" "I'll help in some way," said Colson. "Bull," said Archie. "You all say that. I've seen big shots like you come and go. They all say the same things while they're inside. Then they get out and forget us fast. There ain't nobody cares about us. Nobody!"

Colson proved him wrong. When he got out, he started Prison Fellowship International, which now operates in 150 countries. He regularly visited prisons to preach the gospel and pray with prisoners on Death Row.

He founded the Chuck Colson Centre for Christian Worldview. He was awarded 15 honorary doctorates. He wrote more than 30 books, which sold millions of copies. He became a regular columnist and broadcaster. All the royalties from his books, his fees from public speaking and the $1 million Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion he gave to charity.

He influenced an incalculable number of ordinary Americans, as well as countless people who are now Christian leaders themselves.

On Saturday, Chuck Colson died. He was 80.

I mention these details in order to make a point. In the gospels, you read how Jesus spoke to people and transformed their lives. Can He do the same today?

Course He can.

England burns, and people wonder

The banking system has shown itself to be concerned only with what it can get. MPs have fiddled their expenses. The press has been guilty of phone hacking. There has been corruption in the police. If young people had any respect for authority, most of them have lost it.

And as Britain burns, night by night, some people are still wondering what has gone wrong.

Archbishop Cranmer writes: "It is quite moving to read of Sikhs in Southall guarding their gurdwara, and of those three Muslims in Birmingham who died trying to protect their property and community. It is reported that some of those involved in the violence are as young as 10 or 11, and that it is principally being perpetrated by those in their late teens - early 20s. This is the price we pay for moral relativism. Parents and teachers can no longer instruct their children in the difference between right and wrong, and so there is no distinguishing between good and evil. If it feels right and good, do it: the moral course of action is what the individual determines. The truth is what you make it, for there is no universal law of morality; no absolute standard by which all may be judged. And so we must tolerate the beliefs and actions of others even when they impinge upon the rights and liberties of others.

"Our politicians have spent decades dismantling the foundations of our moral order; fracturing and fragmenting the culture that made England cohesive and the United Kingdom coherent. They have created a culture of rootless individualism, for which we are now paying the price."

The cause of the problem, top and bottom, is that we are a nation away from God.

This world runs on laws; natural laws that cause the sun to come up in a morning and go down at night. Laws like the law of gravity. They're called laws because they work every time. If you jump off a high building, you won't break the law of gravity; the law of gravity will break you.

There are spiritual laws which are just as unbreakable. Here's one: as a man sows, so shall he reap (Gal 6:7). This nation is reaping what it has sown. But it has not yet gone so far that it cannot come back.

Christian organisations are pleading this week for Christians throughout the nation to pray. Says the Maranatha Community, in its appeal for prayer: "The current riots across the land hold up a mirror to the moral and spiritual sickness of our nation. The issues facing us today are not primarily political or social but spiritual. This is yet another manifestation of the consequences of our nation turning its back on God and His ways. . .

"We believe that God, in His mercy, is shining the light of His Truth on to the ugly wound of our nation which is in need of cleansing and healing."

The opportunity to pray, Maranatha says, is a God-given opportunity to bring hope to our nation. It is.

Death of an icon

David Wilkerson, a young pastor in rural Pennsylvania, used to watch television in the evenings to see what young people were watching. One day God led him to stop watching TV and dedicate his two hours' TV time to prayer.

That was how it all began.

One night he was sitting in his study reading Life magazine. "I merely turned a page, and at first glance, it seemed there was nothing to interest me. The page showed a pen drawing of a trial taking place in New York. . .

"I started to flip the page over. But as I did, something caught my eye. It was the eyes of a figure in the drawing - a boy. He was one of seven boys on trial for murder. I held the magazine closer to get a better look. The artist had captured a look of bewilderment, hatred and despair in the young boy's features. Suddenly, I began to cry."

Wilkerson drove 350 miles to New York, met violent youngsters on the streets and started Teen Challenge, a ministry for teenagers, including teenage drug addicts. His book describing his experiences, The Cross and the Switchblade, sold 50 million copies in over 30 languages.

In 1971, he founded World Challenge, which eventually covered ministry outreach, literature and video publishing, evangelism, feeding programmes, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres and an 8,000-member church in Times Square, New York.

On Wednesday last week he was driving in Texas when his car veered into the opposite lane and collided head on with a lorry travelling in the opposite direction. Wilkerson, who was 79, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The last blog post he wrote said this: "To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights, and in that darkness you will hear the Father whisper, 'I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident.'"

Wilkerson's wife Gwen, who several times in her lifetime has beaten cancer, was with him in the car. She was taken to hospital critically injured. A report that she had died the following morning was incorrect. She is in hospital, and expected to recover.

Dangerous times

Others will have seen, as I did, a video on the TV news which showed a man in a school board meeting in Florida paint a "V" (for vendetta) on the wall, then pull out a gun and begin shooting at members of the board.

A security guard came in, the two exchanged fire and the gunman went down. The gunman then used his gun to take his own life. No one was hurt but the gunman.

What British TV didn't show was a subsequent interview with school superintendent Bill Husfelt, the first man to be shot at.

"Right before he pulled that trigger, I knew he was going to pull the trigger," he said.

"There was a miracle that I wasn't shot. He literally had the gun pointed right at me. I was very confident that I was going to get shot. I was ready if that was going to happen. I knew where I would go. . .

"God was standing in front of me. I believe that with all my heart."