Warning: Strong language.
My spirit groans within as I resign myself to two major issues to come within the next month. The first is to do is the reality that Britain will leave the European Union as a result of the referendum which is due, from this time of writing, in less than two weeks. Polls indicate that the Outers - consisting of both Brexit and Vote Leave - are at present in the lead by 10% over the Remain campaigners. And the gap looks set to get wider as Tory-leaning newspapers and TV interviews continue to plead with undecided voters to vote out. And to add to this, a large percentage of traditional Labour voters up in the industrialised North are voting out as well, despite their representatives at Westminster pleading with them to vote Remain. The other issue is about the opening of the European Cup football tournament, and perhaps with a level of justification.
Because even 24 hours before England kicks off against Russia in Southern France, trouble among fans of both sides had already brewed. English fans, over the top with drink, shouting, Isis Isis, where are you? At another point they were chanting, Fuck off, Europe! We are all voting out! Little wonder that the French (and other Continental citizens) could have angrily responded with, Well, fuck off out then! You're not welcome any more! Russian fans were so infuriated with such behaviour from the English side, that they laid into them, resulting in a street brawl which hastily brought in the police and security officials to the scene. Afterwards, the same English fans lay the blame squarely on the Russians for initiating the violence. Meanwhile, back in the UK, the nation rejoice over the official 90th birthday of the Queen, consisting of the Trooping of the Colour at the Mall, a pageant performed by all the military regiments of both Britain and the Commonwealth, and watched by the adoring public, a large number having the same abusive Euro-septic mentality as the English fans in Marseilles.
The spirit of national pride, with all the inter-tribal hatred existing between them. And the West claim to be Christian. It does make me wonder on how such citizens of Western Christendom would have responded if they opened the Bible at 1 John 3:14-15. They would have read:
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in them.
I'm aware that some Christians refers to only fellow believers as brothers. But according to verse 15, any fellow human can be a brother, as we are all of God's universal paternity. As Luke 11:13 indicates, even an evil man can approach his Father in heaven and ask for the Holy Spirit, and his request will be gladly granted. It is what we call "the sinner's prayer" in our day. Little wonder that when Muslims enter the UK and witness for themselves various levels of national prejudice, they fail to convert to Jesus Christ, and instead build their own mosques, and continue on in their Islamic faith.
And here lies the bone of contention. Perhaps the one main reason why the Outers are ahead in the polls is the issue of immigration, and the slow destruction of British culture as we have always known it. Only earlier in the week there was a video posted on Facebook about this white, elderly Englishman, probably in his late seventies, ordering a young Muslim to "go back to your own country!" The rhetoric was so insulting that, after about five minutes of abuse, the staff at the superstore where all this took place had to intervene. The truth being that the young man was born here, as with his parents, and therefore as much British as his oppressor. According to the Outers, it was the European Union who had allowed in multiple thousands of refugees from Syria and other Middle East Countries, with the false belief that the UK is their prime destination, due to the law of Freedom of Movement within the EU.
To be honest, I'm just about sick of it all! Every day there is a debate on the news bulletins and on online newspapers. Both sides firing at each other with rather unconvincing arguments over the future of the Economy. To and fro, to and fro, heaven help me, I'll be glad when this is all over, even as a defeated 'In' voter, after my affiliation to the losing side, I can rest my cheeks within both my hands and sulk a little, knowing that the referendum issue had missed the whole point. And that is, Jesus Christ is, and will be, the only way, the truth and the life. No man can come to the Father in heaven except through him.
Because it is here in the West, including the United Kingdom, where a far better chance of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is possible. Instead of looking at the Islamic world with fear, trepidation and hate, why not try love? The love which only the Holy Spirit can bestow on the believer in Jesus. Paul, once a devoted Jew, a Pharisee, and a son of a Pharisee, who believed that all non-Jews were unclean, had this to say:
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ has clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26-29.
If ever there was a melting away of tribal and national warfare, this must be it. Faith in Jesus Christ. That is why, instead of driving away Islamic immigrants out of the country, why not invite them in, so they can see for themselves that the Resurrected Jesus is far superior to the long-dead Mohammed, whose bones rests inside a tomb in Medina. Jesus is risen! He is alive! More than that, he is ready and willing to bestow eternal life to everyone who, by faith, calls on his name. What a wonderful alternative to all the tribal differences between nations and the ongoing political dispute over the coming referendum.
Because there is only two groups of people alive in this world, as was always the case since the dawn of history. The saved and the lost. Those who believe that salvation is a free gift given to all who has faith, versus those who believe that salvation must be earned through works and religious devotion. Nationalism is based on works and merit, not free grace. The triple-fold result of nationalism is ethnic pride, together with the feeling of racial superiority, along with hostility towards neighbouring nations, such as with the English towards the Scots to the north and towards the French to the south. Such hostilities, amazingly enough, has shaped England to what it is today, with a rich history to show. On the political front, the European Union has helped unite such nations, including that of Britain's former enemy - Germany - which disputing has been the cause of two world wars with millions of lives lost. Nationalism can also bring hostility to the Jews, as was the case of Nazi Germany which had some 6,000,000 Jews slain in the Holocaust. Even at present, there is a general dislike for the Jews among the far-right, the most fervent advocates of Outers.
How the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ had demolished all the barriers which are the bottom causes of hatred, fear, and warfare. The European Union can only provide a social unity, resting on political co-operation. But it still leaves the human spirit unregenerated. The free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is far better, and in theory, it should result in a far greater sense of unity and brotherly love which is divine and eternal. And the crunch of the matter is that this free gift is available, including all Muslims, taking in the terrorist groups such as Isis and the Taliban.
Yet our churches here in England seems to hang on to the status quo. As long as all attendees conform to Britishness, then we'll remain within the safe zone. Vote to leave the EU. Slow immigration down, better still stop it altogether. Then send all the illegals back to their own countries. At last, public bodies such as the NHS will be relieved of such a heavy burden of overpopulation. Employment will be freed up from foreign employees, and jobs can go back to British workers, who will demand higher wages. And not to forget the return of the traditional tea break. But as the foreigners return to their countries, the chance of finding faith in Jesus Christ diminishes, particular among the Muslims, as a typical Islamic country is very hostile to Christianity. In short, our churches unwittingly approve of the Muslim's eternal doom for the sake of Britishness.
Recently we at Ascot have dispatched a small team to India. The team included one of our church elders. They were in India for just over a week, helping to set up a large church conference and festival, a little like our annual Spring Harvest and New Day Christian festivals. Hundreds of Christian believers attended the conference, and returning home with changed lives. It was a wonderful move of the Holy Spirit in a faraway tropical sub-continent. Over here, one conference held, I think, is the New Frontiers International Conference. These mass meetings attract thousands. What an ideal venue for Muslims to integrate freely, and seeing for themselves the freedom resulting from the free gift of grace through faith in Jesus. Eternally saved without works or compulsory religious devotion. Only through faith alone, and the joy overflowing from the heart of believers. Yes, I wish that thousands of Muslims would enter the European Union, including the UK, to see the love of Christ, and be saved. But not only Muslims but Hindus and Buddhists as well.
It is not the will of God that anyone should perish, but all should come to repentance, so Peter writes in his letter (2 Peter 3:9) - and God commands all men everywhere to come to repentance (Acts 17:30). Out in the East there are whole nations consisting of the lost, hearts of those who had never seen the love of Christ in us. Yet while these populations slowly perish without hope, we bicker over the referendum and our national sovereignty. We represent our country whilst at a football tournament and end up causing trouble and stirring fights. All for the sake of patriotism, while one after another, including all the football supporters and the unbelieving British, slip into a lost eternity. What a sobering thought!
Maybe just a word of realism here. It is humanly impossible to encourage huge masses of Muslims and other adherents of different faiths to attend a large Christian conference. It's equally impossible, humanly speaking, to persuade unbelieving Brits to attend such meetings. But with God nothing is impossible. Perhaps if all of us who truly believe can muster a heart for the lost, maybe the Holy Spirit can start moving. After all, if three thousand Jews were saved through the sermon of just one man at Pentecost, who knows what God can do.
The spirit of national pride, with all the inter-tribal hatred existing between them. And the West claim to be Christian. It does make me wonder on how such citizens of Western Christendom would have responded if they opened the Bible at 1 John 3:14-15. They would have read:
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in them.
I'm aware that some Christians refers to only fellow believers as brothers. But according to verse 15, any fellow human can be a brother, as we are all of God's universal paternity. As Luke 11:13 indicates, even an evil man can approach his Father in heaven and ask for the Holy Spirit, and his request will be gladly granted. It is what we call "the sinner's prayer" in our day. Little wonder that when Muslims enter the UK and witness for themselves various levels of national prejudice, they fail to convert to Jesus Christ, and instead build their own mosques, and continue on in their Islamic faith.
And here lies the bone of contention. Perhaps the one main reason why the Outers are ahead in the polls is the issue of immigration, and the slow destruction of British culture as we have always known it. Only earlier in the week there was a video posted on Facebook about this white, elderly Englishman, probably in his late seventies, ordering a young Muslim to "go back to your own country!" The rhetoric was so insulting that, after about five minutes of abuse, the staff at the superstore where all this took place had to intervene. The truth being that the young man was born here, as with his parents, and therefore as much British as his oppressor. According to the Outers, it was the European Union who had allowed in multiple thousands of refugees from Syria and other Middle East Countries, with the false belief that the UK is their prime destination, due to the law of Freedom of Movement within the EU.
To be honest, I'm just about sick of it all! Every day there is a debate on the news bulletins and on online newspapers. Both sides firing at each other with rather unconvincing arguments over the future of the Economy. To and fro, to and fro, heaven help me, I'll be glad when this is all over, even as a defeated 'In' voter, after my affiliation to the losing side, I can rest my cheeks within both my hands and sulk a little, knowing that the referendum issue had missed the whole point. And that is, Jesus Christ is, and will be, the only way, the truth and the life. No man can come to the Father in heaven except through him.
Because it is here in the West, including the United Kingdom, where a far better chance of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is possible. Instead of looking at the Islamic world with fear, trepidation and hate, why not try love? The love which only the Holy Spirit can bestow on the believer in Jesus. Paul, once a devoted Jew, a Pharisee, and a son of a Pharisee, who believed that all non-Jews were unclean, had this to say:
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ has clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26-29.
If ever there was a melting away of tribal and national warfare, this must be it. Faith in Jesus Christ. That is why, instead of driving away Islamic immigrants out of the country, why not invite them in, so they can see for themselves that the Resurrected Jesus is far superior to the long-dead Mohammed, whose bones rests inside a tomb in Medina. Jesus is risen! He is alive! More than that, he is ready and willing to bestow eternal life to everyone who, by faith, calls on his name. What a wonderful alternative to all the tribal differences between nations and the ongoing political dispute over the coming referendum.
Because there is only two groups of people alive in this world, as was always the case since the dawn of history. The saved and the lost. Those who believe that salvation is a free gift given to all who has faith, versus those who believe that salvation must be earned through works and religious devotion. Nationalism is based on works and merit, not free grace. The triple-fold result of nationalism is ethnic pride, together with the feeling of racial superiority, along with hostility towards neighbouring nations, such as with the English towards the Scots to the north and towards the French to the south. Such hostilities, amazingly enough, has shaped England to what it is today, with a rich history to show. On the political front, the European Union has helped unite such nations, including that of Britain's former enemy - Germany - which disputing has been the cause of two world wars with millions of lives lost. Nationalism can also bring hostility to the Jews, as was the case of Nazi Germany which had some 6,000,000 Jews slain in the Holocaust. Even at present, there is a general dislike for the Jews among the far-right, the most fervent advocates of Outers.
How the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ had demolished all the barriers which are the bottom causes of hatred, fear, and warfare. The European Union can only provide a social unity, resting on political co-operation. But it still leaves the human spirit unregenerated. The free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is far better, and in theory, it should result in a far greater sense of unity and brotherly love which is divine and eternal. And the crunch of the matter is that this free gift is available, including all Muslims, taking in the terrorist groups such as Isis and the Taliban.
Yet our churches here in England seems to hang on to the status quo. As long as all attendees conform to Britishness, then we'll remain within the safe zone. Vote to leave the EU. Slow immigration down, better still stop it altogether. Then send all the illegals back to their own countries. At last, public bodies such as the NHS will be relieved of such a heavy burden of overpopulation. Employment will be freed up from foreign employees, and jobs can go back to British workers, who will demand higher wages. And not to forget the return of the traditional tea break. But as the foreigners return to their countries, the chance of finding faith in Jesus Christ diminishes, particular among the Muslims, as a typical Islamic country is very hostile to Christianity. In short, our churches unwittingly approve of the Muslim's eternal doom for the sake of Britishness.
Recently we at Ascot have dispatched a small team to India. The team included one of our church elders. They were in India for just over a week, helping to set up a large church conference and festival, a little like our annual Spring Harvest and New Day Christian festivals. Hundreds of Christian believers attended the conference, and returning home with changed lives. It was a wonderful move of the Holy Spirit in a faraway tropical sub-continent. Over here, one conference held, I think, is the New Frontiers International Conference. These mass meetings attract thousands. What an ideal venue for Muslims to integrate freely, and seeing for themselves the freedom resulting from the free gift of grace through faith in Jesus. Eternally saved without works or compulsory religious devotion. Only through faith alone, and the joy overflowing from the heart of believers. Yes, I wish that thousands of Muslims would enter the European Union, including the UK, to see the love of Christ, and be saved. But not only Muslims but Hindus and Buddhists as well.
It is not the will of God that anyone should perish, but all should come to repentance, so Peter writes in his letter (2 Peter 3:9) - and God commands all men everywhere to come to repentance (Acts 17:30). Out in the East there are whole nations consisting of the lost, hearts of those who had never seen the love of Christ in us. Yet while these populations slowly perish without hope, we bicker over the referendum and our national sovereignty. We represent our country whilst at a football tournament and end up causing trouble and stirring fights. All for the sake of patriotism, while one after another, including all the football supporters and the unbelieving British, slip into a lost eternity. What a sobering thought!
Maybe just a word of realism here. It is humanly impossible to encourage huge masses of Muslims and other adherents of different faiths to attend a large Christian conference. It's equally impossible, humanly speaking, to persuade unbelieving Brits to attend such meetings. But with God nothing is impossible. Perhaps if all of us who truly believe can muster a heart for the lost, maybe the Holy Spirit can start moving. After all, if three thousand Jews were saved through the sermon of just one man at Pentecost, who knows what God can do.
Dear Frank,
ReplyDeleteIt is so true that the church as a whole, and not just in the UK, needs revival, which begins with each of us loving one another, and witnessing to the lost by speaking Gospel truth in love. As you say so well, there are only 2 groups of people in God's eyes -- the saved and the lost. Or, as I heard a missionary say, "You're either a missionary or a mission field." May we have a heart for lost souls and do all we can to bring them to Him before it is too late.
Thanks for the excellent post and God bless,
Laurie
Great post. I'm not much of a nationalist either, having a lot of Irish ancestry. My instinct is to vote remain but I am not too bothered either way, as God remains sovereign whatever happens.
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