Sitting At A Coffee Bar...

Sitting at a coffee bar, a large cappuccino and a croissant on the table directly in front, all three having their origins outside the United Kingdom. The restaurant itself, whether it would be Starbucks or Costa Coffee, both had originated from the USA, the cappuccino from Italy, and the croissant from France. It's from this comfy seat in an agreeable atmosphere where I allow my thoughts to manifest unhindered within my head.

Thoughts from the past, plan for the future, looking for ideas to solve a problem, and there is prayer. Yes, sitting at a coffee bar with my elbows on the table and both my hands forming a cup over my face, like this I can pray without attracting attention. Anyone taking a glance would conclude that I'm deep in thought, which truly speaking, I would be.

What are the thoughts that I ponder on as I sip at the froth of the coffee? One is reminiscence. Looking back at the past, especially all the good things. Like that time in 1997 when I was backpacking Australia. What was I doing during one particular moment? Snorkelling over the Great Barrier Reef? No, I had already done that at Green Island, off Cairns and also at Low Isles, off Port Douglas. These were both coral cays reached by catamaran from the northern coast of Queensland, and there is still more of the same to do at the Whitsunday Islands, which, as I will find out, features a continental fringe reef at Heron Island, off the coast of Arlie Beach.

So what was I doing at that particular moment? Yes, sitting alone at a table at a coffee bar in a service station. This was one of many which dot the Pacific Highway while the Greyhound bus I'm travelling in, was at its one-hour service and refuelling, to eliminate any chances of a possible breakdown in the middle of nowhere. There I was, minding my own business, sipping coffee and next to it, a bread roll, somewhere between ten and eleven thousand miles away from home, on an island continent separate from the Eurasian landmass, and therefore I was unknown to anybody across the whole land - the whole of the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps.

Hey, Frank!

I looked up to see a smiling stranger standing there, looking at me as if he had recognised me, and no doubt having gotten my name right, there must be some credit to this.

"How do you know me?" I asked, feeling rather shocked.

Don't you remember? I gave you that map at that hostel in St Louis?

"Oh my!" I gasped. We then started talking. Yes, I remember the incident some twenty months previously. The privately-owned backpacker's den on the residential outskirts of the Missouri city of St Louis. How the HI USA managed to affiliate such property onto its list of Recommended Hostels is something of a mystery. Desperation, perhaps? No other hostel in the whole of Missouri? For a start, the toilet cubicles had the western bar type swing doors which deprived the user of any privacy. Woe be if you needed to defecate! Any passerby can just look in. Then the kitchen harboured a live mouse which was seen scurrying across the floor. And then to top it off, I had to keep all my groceries stored away in my rucksack next to the bed. The kitchen food pigeonholes had dead cockroaches in them which gave an unpleasant smell as well as an unappetising feel. Indeed This was the worst hostel I have ever visited, worldwide, and that is saying something.

It was in this iffy kitchen where I met and made friends with this German chap while we were cooking our evening meals. He wasn't alone back then but one of a group of two or three. We talked about our individual itineraries, and I realised that by mistake I had left the Greyhound USA map at home when I packed away all the documents and traveller's cheques. He then gave me a spare map to use throughout the rest of the trip. Furthermore, I was referred to as that crazy Englishman. All good-natured, of course. And now here we are, two years on, at a cafe on the other side of the world, by sheer chance we meet again. Indeed, God must have a sense of humour! 

I am aware that, to some of my older regular readers, I have blogged this story before. But I repeat it here for the benefit of newer readers. Then again, I can't help writing about it. A billion-to-one chance for the same two travellers to randomly meet at two different locations and at two different times, yet it has happened. The second meet happened while I was sitting at a cafeteria table sipping coffee, down under.

And such the Costa Coffee provides the ideal environment for such indulgence. And such thinking can change to the present issue, Coronavirus. Indeed, I'm aware that I have written so much about this already, but here is something new - and shocking.

Announced on last night's news bulletin:

To ease the strain on the NHS due to the pandemic, it's on the cards that admission to A&E will require pre-booking...

Both Alex and I laughed. Then I thought up this little scenario:

Alex rings the A&E Department at a nearby hospital. 

Hello, is that Accident and Emergency?

"Yes, it is. What can we do for you?"

Well, I need to make a booking for an ambulance to arrive to take my husband to A&E next Tuesday at 14.00 hours. 

"Okay, may I ask why?"

Because that's when he'll go down with a sudden, unexpected heart attack.

"Just a moment - hmm - yes, we do have an ambulance available. Oh-okay, I have booked your husband to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency procedure. Pick-up will be at your home at 14.00 hours. Bye."

Of course, the news reporter, realising the sheer impracticality of such a proposal, hastens to add:

But of course, anyone can still turn up whenever required.

Then a middle-aged male patient was interviewed in A&E at a Portsmouth hospital, testifying on what a wonderful idea this pre-booking was, explaining that he did not have to wait for the usual four hours to see a doctor, but was seen to straight after admission. How all this could work out in practice is still a mystery to me, but again, I have never claimed to have an academic thinking pattern.

And so I sit at a Costa Coffee in the town centre, watching the passerby through the wide, floor-to-ceiling windows. I feel intrigued as I watch them sauntering to-and-fro, with a few pacing as in a hurry. As for the hundreds maybe thousands over a ninety-minute period, not a single suit and tie to be seen, that is, except for any passing school uniform worn by both genders. And it wasn't even warm outside. Could these highly intelligent men be hiding as if in embarrassment? After all, this pre-booking for A&E was their idea, not from the doctors or nurses. And today, as I write, London, along with other towns across the land gets tighter restrictions in the fight against the virus.

Where we live, we are at the moment, on medium restrictions. There is no "Low". Instead, there is Medium, High, and Very High. Therefore, we are living with minimal restrictions. For now. That means I have to wear a facemask when I enter Costa Coffee or Starbucks. I must order my coffee with the facemask on. But I can remove it when I sit at the table (thank goodness!) It's as if the virus either won't or cannot reach the seating area, therefore cannot be breathed in. Or a case of a colleague and I at work together all day in an office (without wearing facemasks) but cannot have a drink together in an (air-conditioned) pub. Indeed, the virus knows exactly when and where to strike!

Only yesterday I had my normal Friday afternoon swim. Pre-pandemic, I used to follow the swim with a sauna. But not anymore, as such facilities are considered "too dangerous." Never mind that the heat in the sauna would kill the virus, and such hot air is even breathed in, therefore making unhappy any virus which could be lingering in the trachea or lungs. After all, they say a good hot sauna is good for treating a cold (another virus, apparently) but not Covid. Anyway, at the men's changing room I got talking to this other swimmer who was also towelling himself. Eventually, after he had dressed, I reached out my hand with the intention of introducing myself by means of a very British handshake, but instead, this guy retreated, as if I was the disease itself, despite that we were both very healthy and showing no signs of symptoms. What have those smartly-dressed top nobs done to our national psyche?

As I sit by the window of Costa Coffee, I am grateful, in one way or another, to have much of my life behind me. Approaching seventy, I'm not quite that agile, athletic guy I once was, running half-marathons, cycling miles across the country and competing in triathlons. But I don't want to say that I did it my way, as Frank Sinatra once sang. Instead, I would rather acknowledge God, his grace, goodness and mercy, and say that I hope I did it God's way.

One type of patronage I tend to see quite frequently in the restaurant is the Little People, who tend to make the loudest noise, their wails often shattering my daydreams. Within our present situation, I'm beginning to feel sorry for the up-and-coming generation. What kind of a world will they grow up into? Personally, I'm beginning to think that the world we are passing on to them will be riddled with a national debt which will take many years to recover from, as well as leaving behind a legacy of universal fear felt in the air, even of getting too close to each other, with handshakes frowned upon and a hefty fine imposed on anyone who attempts to hug.

Meanwhile, our oceans are becoming clogged with a new kind of pollutant, the discarded facemasks. Despite what I perceive is a general dislike of them by the public, it does look as if these gags are here to stay. When these men in suits say "Dance" then we all dance. If they say "Jump" then we all jump, no questions asked. If they say, "Wear a mask at all times, even in bed" then woe betide anyone who just might disagree! Already, according to the newspapers, it's already "No sex, please, we're ill."

The virus restriction or the crane?

And it's during times like these when belief in God and his divine creation and redemption are all looked upon with disdain, as the rise in atheist philosophy along with Darwinian evolution pushing the Bible into the realm of pseudoscience and fantasy, and therefore denying the reality of Jesus Christ, his death on the cross, his burial, his Resurrection, and his Atonement for us.

I sit in the coffee bar, a child cries, the enclosure of the restaurant amplifies his wails, which wouldn't be so obvious if outside. What kind of a world would this child grow up in? With this growing rage against God gripping the West, what hope awaits this little one?

I cup my hands over my face and quietly attempt to pray. I see no solution to all this, but I also know that everything is in his hands. Furthermore, God has already known about all this from eternity past, even long before the creation of the world, he already knew. Just as he knew of my birth and the exact number of days I will live for. Not only had he formed me in the secret part of the earth, but he knows my every move, my every thought, emotion, and motives, and I'm aware that in no way can I escape from his presence. How King David's Psalm 139 provides comfort to every believer who feels hopeless and distressed over everything that's going on around him and yet should still be thankful for all the good things God has allowed him to enjoy.

And this certainly includes travel and the chance meeting of a lost friend where no one would ever expect to see again halfway around the world.

I take a final look inside the empty coffee cup where the remains of the leftover froth of the cappuccino had congealed around the inner edge. I push the chair back, arise and make off home to be with my beloved. But I'll be back...

Aged Thirty Years in One Afternoon.

I always perceived the gym as that one place on Earth where an overweight, 65 year old chubby man enters, then to emerge a couple of hours later with a sleek, athletic physique resembling Olympic Gold Medallist Mo Farah. Indeed! Wishful thinking. It is unfortunate that such an imaginative realm remains confined to the Tom & Jerry cartoon fantasy. Because nearly two years ago I was recommended a regular schedule in the gym as the main essence of rehabilitation following a major Cardiac procedure in February 2015.

And I'll be the first to admit: Regular workouts in the gym has proven beneficial. As one who has retired from the daily routine of physical work, there hangs over me the threat of weight gain to the level of obesity. And this comes to mind after reading only this morning that according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the UK takes 6th place out of its list of 34 member nations, with 26.9% of the British population obese. The nation with the overall highest is the USA, with 38.2% overweight, followed by Mexico (33.3%), New Zealand (31.6%), Hungary (30%), and Australia (27.9%). At the other end, the much-maligned, pasta-loving Italians, with a reputation of shouting and gesticulating, enjoys being in the third place from bottom, or at 32nd position overall, with just 9.8% obese, followed by Korea (5.3%) and finally Japan, with just 3.7% of its population obese. The average throughout the whole of the OECD 34-nation membership is 19.4% obese.*

Which has made me ponder if I, a full-blood Italian, was born and grew up in Japan. Would I now be proud of my slim, sleek physique and athletic prowess? Or would I have to battle on a daily and weekly basis to keep my waistline within reason, often with the feeling that I'm not at the winning end of the battle? Would I still end up as one of the 3.7% minority who are unfortunate enough to be fat whilst otherwise living in a very healthy country?

Hence my weekly visit to the gym as advised by my GP. Mainly to keep my weight under control, using a course of exercises first prescribed to me by the National Health Service within ten weeks after the operation. This was at a venue in Windsor which had a contract made with the NHS, meaning that the programme was free to all cardiac patients. Back then each exercise was no more than two minutes long, each arranged as a "station" on a circuit course. And one of the circuit "stations" was the Concept 2 Rowing machine, a superb piece of equipment which exercises just about the whole body. After the three month course of twelve, one-hour sessions had ended, I took a break for the following several months whilst I was preparing to sell my business and settle down in early retirement.

Concept 2 Body-powered Rowing machine

And that was when I noted that I was gaining weight, and went to visit my GP, who immediately advised me to take regular exercises. It was the GP who had to sign the consent form before I was allowed into the local gym here at Bracknell, my home town. At first, I began with the original schedule set by the NHS, as the gym has all the necessary equipment to perform the original circuit. But as the weeks went by, something started to happen. All the exercises became both more intense and of longer duration. And that is especially with rowing. From the initial two minutes, this went up to seven minutes, which I stuck to for the next month or so, before going up to ten minutes. After this, I stabilised at fifteen minutes for a while before moving up to twenty minutes a go. This held for a few months until I felt fit enough to row for thirty minutes. Not long after that I settled for forty minutes, and it is that to this day. Of all the twelve "stations" on the circuit route (including the warm-up and cool-down on the treadmill as well as the lower body stretches), the Concept 2 Rower takes the greatest prominence in the entire session. Over forty minutes of non-stop rowing, I cover 8,000 metres and burn off 400 calories. Pretty good stuff perhaps, at least all four of our permanent instructors seemed to be very impressed, with one of them admitting to me direct that he wouldn't be able to match my performance on the rower. Yet I still admire his athletic build.

It is only within a last couple of weeks that contractors moved in to renovate the roof of the gym. That meant partial closure of the venue, including the upper floor where the rowers are located. With tape stretched across the foot of the stairs along with scaffolding and boardwalks bringing gloominess into the venue, I had to reschedule the programme. That means replacing the Rower with the Elliptical, a piece of equipment I was already familiar with before the operation. Again, as I put in a full forty-minute workout, I did my left leg muscle in. Most likely muscle strain, but enough to make normal walking all but impossible. Suddenly I seemed to have aged by thirty years, and I'm pacing slowly like a 95 year old.

It's ironic, so ironic. The actual name of the gym is Bodyworks Fitness Room. Fitness Room. So by theory I should emerge feeling fitter and with greater prowess than when I entered. Instead I go in as a 65-year-old and come out looking and walking like a 95-year-old. How contradictory to common sense life can be! A sharp pain above the heel impedes my normal walking pace. And so, starting with the closure of part of the gym due to the roof needing renovation, leading to inaccessibility to the rowers, the use of the elliptical instead, the spraining of a leg muscle, the sharp pain, the inability to walk, panic from my wife, who insists that I ought to visit my GP. My response to her suggestion is that I'm wasting the Doctor's time. A sprained muscle is a sprained muscle - a risk every devotee of the gym, athletic, or any other form of intense physical exertion faces all the time. Life in general can be likened to a whirlpool - the water spins around and is sucked down a vortex to the bottom, taking any floating debris down with it. Even anything alive cannot escape the whirlpool, no matter how strong a swimmer the creature may be, whether human or animal, the power of the downward motion is too strong, far too strong, to swim out, and down it goes.

Perhaps human nature is rather like the analogy of the gym. Someone starts with good intentions but not long afterwards something gives, resulting in a horrific painful and terrible tragedy. Or it can be likened to a whirlpool. Once caught in the vortex, there is no other direction but down. And so I felt my emotions sink as I read a report earlier in the week about a gay couple having adopted a young girl, only to be cruelly murdered by one of the men who was meant to care for her and bring her up.

I'm referring to Matthew Scully-Hicks, who killed little Elsie, only eighteen months old. According to the report, whilst his partner was at work, Scully-Hicks stayed at home to raise their adopted daughter. It didn't take long for him to lose patience with Elsie, and having crossed the point of no return where his emotions are concerned, he starts physically abusing her, including bashing her head against the wall, shaking her violently, and shouting at her. She dies after two weeks of the most cruellest form of abuse evil could ever concoct.

18 month old Elsie, Abused and killed.

The article was so distressful that I had difficulty in reading it through. There were some who were unable to read it altogether, other readers started crying. And I felt like crying myself. And I have good reason. Our own three daughters are adopted. They are out of our reach, beyond our seeing and hearing, and bearing a different surname to ours. The adoption was the idea of a rather nasty social worker who, according to her supervisor, already had a questionable record in dealing with families before meeting with us. Yet she was a persuasive talker who was successful in winning the Court to her side of the argument, and had allowed her to have our daughters taken. That was nearly twelve years ago, when neither she or we were aware that we were on the mild end of the Autism Spectrum. The social workers who dealt with Elsie were just the opposite. They either failed to see that she was in distress, or they believed the wicked lies and excuses told by Scully-Hicks. So they let him keep the child, despite her rather glaring distress.

A photo of Matthew Scully-Hicks was posted in the newspaper with the article. I felt my temper rise. How smartly dressed he was as he approached the Courthouse. The kind of figure of respectability which would have been sufficient enough for any passerby in the street to raise his hat to. The ideal individual any church leader would be happy to have as a guest speaker, or to promote to an elder or deacon. Or the right kind of person to see if in need of a solicitor, financial adviser or insurance agent. Maybe his style of dress whilst awaiting sentencing was to his favour after all. He was given a mere fifteen years behind bars, much to the disgust of nearly everyone who commented in the forum underneath. And that despite the fifteen years being the minimum sentence he must serve, which means it could be extended if necessary, but not shortened.

Matthew Scully-Hicks.

My emotion towards such an individual was indeed anger, and want for a more severe form of revenge. Just supposing it was one of our daughters he so cruelly abused and killed. After all, it could easily have been. I guess it was his formal dress which intensified my anger. But although I wished him an eternity in the hottest hell that could ever exist, coming to think of it, none of us, and certainly not myself, is any better when compared with God's holiness.

In a way, all this puts me in a dilemma. I want to see proper justice done for the poor child. I really wanted to see the book thrown at him for what he has done. Yet as I think of these things, I quickly forget the mercy Jesus Christ has shown me. For according to James 2:10, no matter how righteous I may kid myself in believing, no matter how white I may appear to others. If I, who had kept the whole Law, yet have stumbled on just one point, I have broken the Law and deserve judgement. In other words, I am no better in God's pure eyes than Matthew Scully-Hicks, for judgement awaits us both.

If I am truly saved, it is because of God's mercy. Sure, how I long to receive God's mercy. How I want to be assured of God's forgiveness. Yet am I any keen to witness the likes of Scully-Hicks drinking from God's cup of mercy? How would I feel about such a criminal experiencing a new birth and seeing his eternal home transform from hell to heaven? Especially if I might have friends and family members who still don't know the Lord. A criminal such as Scully-Hicks goes to heaven after his death, whilst a devoted Buddhist mother and her daughter both suffer an eternity in hell, because they were unlucky enough to have been born and lived in a non-Christian country, and has never heard the Gospel.

These are the times I tend to feel rotten, the gross injustice, the shocking unfairness about our faith. To be honest with myself, I do not want Scully-Hicks to be saved. Rather I want him to remain lost, and to go to where he belongs. That is where I find evangelism difficult. I much prefer to see my family members or a good friend come to Christ for salvation, but not Scully-Hicks. Not after spending his time abusing and tormenting a distressed child until she dies in her own cot.

God's mercy. Let's face it, we don't deserve it. But it's given by his grace. Grace is a gift received at Christ's expense. He died on the cross so we could receive eternal life and enjoy his love forever. It's wholly of God, and none of us. And whether I like it or not, Scully-Hicks is as much of a candidate for salvation as any devoted believer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*The Daily Mail Newspaper, Saturday November 11, 2017.

A Source of Unneeded Terror

Simon, who has a level of Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, has been a Christian believer for quite a number of years. But having being brought up in the Catholic faith, and becoming deluded with it by the time he reached his late teens. Then one day while killing time in the library, he was suddenly converted after finding a Bible on one of the shelves. Having placed it on a nearby reading desk, it fell open towards the end of the book, on one of the pages with the sub-heading, St John. This is what he read:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; that the world through him might be saved. 

John 3:16-17.

Simon had a more positive feeling about God than he did before he read that passage. He believed that this Jesus, the son of Mary, played a significant role in his salvation, and began to put his trust in him. It was quite a contrast to the Jesus Christ of Catholicism. As he once perceived this long-haired, bearded, Italian-looking fellow to be continuously angry, and constantly critical of the behaviour of those he met and communicated, it was impossible for this lad to see any love within the heart of the man who called himself the Son Of God. If it wasn't for his virgin mother persistently interceding on behalf of sinful mankind, nobody would get into Heaven. To add to this, even the favourites of this Jesus languished in Purgatory, a temporary but a very real Hell where even the smallest of sins committed when alive had to be purged out before being let into Heaven. This purging involved physical suffering to an intensity never experienced by anyone on earth. With threats such as this, little wonder he became disillusioned with his former faith.

Purgatory of Catholic Catechism

Although he was encouraged by the Scripture, his new-found faith raised questions. Mainly this: Why weren't many more believed, if that is all it takes to be saved? And how can he be so sure that he was saved? Has God really acquit him from his sins? Was his faith strong enough, or pointing in the right direction for it to have taken effect? Then a few years later, Simon was browsing on the Internet at home, and came across the most terrifying video that could ever be made. It had its origins from the works of Jack Chick, an American who was famed for his miniature evangelistic cartoon strips and his emphasis on a physical Hell. The video struck terror into Simon's heart, and as he lay in bed that night, he was silently praying while his wife lay asleep beside him.

If this is to be our eternal destiny after death, then why, oh why, did you create us in the first place? Then he turned to see his wife sleeping soundly, and he felt as if another, an even larger spear piercing his heart even further. The very thought of his wife suffering such an eternal fate not only intensify his fear of her welfare, but also a sense of pleading sorrow. How he loved his wife and felt so devoted to her. And even if there were times she might have been cold or disagreeable to him, he could never, never confine her to such eternal suffering! All these emotions, strong as they were, were from the fact that he was never fully freed from Roman Catholicism, and remained locked in the image of an angry God whose wrath was manifest in a critical Jesus Christ as he ministered here on earth some two thousand years previously.

As he walked through the city streets, Simon observed the daily crowd going on their business. He watched young families, especially mothers escorting their infant offspring. At a cafe, he even watched a mother slowly spooning semi-liquid food into her baby son's mouth. All bound for that dreadful place after death? Then as he walked further along the street, he spotted some Hindus and further on, some Muslims. He began to visualise the huge crowd of Muslims, thousands of them, in and around the Kaaba, the head mosque at the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca. And also the multiple thousands of Hindus assembling at the Ganges River in the far east. And were they all heading for that fiery place under their feet, simply because they are following the wrong religion and showing devotion to it? Then at times when he had to visit his doctor, his dentist, or allowed to be served by the checkout attendant at the supermarket. Then all the men and women he watches daily on television. News anchormen, reporters, chat show hosts and their guests, actors, singers, comedians. Then, worst of all, sitting at table with his agnostic parents and atheist brother. Then his mother wonders why he has no appetite.

But it was the sight of the young mother and her son at the cafe which sent shivers down his spine. All throughout the Hindu world, the Muslim world, as well as the Western world, children are constantly being born to parents who know little or nothing about salvation in Christ. This grieved Simon even more. It was a dreadful anomaly from what meant to be perceived as the God of love who sent his Son to atone for their sins. Simon couldn't help thinking: How effective was the atonement Christ made on the cross? If the apostle wrote that in Christ, God has reconciled the world to himself, not imputing their tresspasses against them (2 Corinthians 5:19), and that he that loves not knoweth not God, for God is love (1 John 4:8) seems to blatantly contradicts this fiery Hell as portrayed in the video, yet it is as if nearly the entire human population are heading towards it, as the video shows, a constant rain of lost souls unceasingly falling into the fires below. Simon reasoned that "not knowing God" is a bit like not knowing Fred Bloggs. How can he love Fred if he doesn't know him? Furthermore, would Fred send him to fry forever, because Simon failed to love him? Such thoughts spun in his head.

If Simon loved his wife so much, he couldn't bear see his wife suffer, not even for a moment, let alone eternally. He then reasoned that the Christian faith, like all religions, is based on fear. Fear of punishment. For Simon grew to believe that the reality of this fiery Hell has prevented him from loving God as his Heavenly Father, because he finds it difficult to love a deity who is capable of condemning billions to relentless torture. Instead, in fear he makes an effort to stay clean. But there is a problem. Although he is happily married and very devoted to his wife, in the church where he attends, there is another female whose presence arouses his sexual desire. He see her there nearly every week, and he goes home and to bed fantasising her with himself, arms entwined. He even uses the fantasy to help him sleep. But he also knows that this is wrong. And it is this aroused desire which makes him doubt his salvation and dreading what could happen if he died right there and then.

Then, as Simon lays on his bed, he ponders: What right has he to be an inheritor of eternal glory when there are so many around him who are not so fortunate? Pretty frightening too, is the thought of being born as a Muslim or Hindu, or from a remote jungle tribe cut off from civilization as we know it, or for that matter, from atheist but well educated parents. So much distress, how can such a mountain of burden be borne solely on one human heart? After all, does this Jesus Christ have any love in his heart, knowing that such a huge percentage of the human population is perishing? Or does he cry out Woe! Woe! Woe! - as he did one day at the Pharisees? But furthermore, how can he prove that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Jewish Messiah, is the Way to eternal life? And not Mohammed or any of the Hindu or Buddhist deities and their scriptures? 

I approach Simon and asked him if watching the video has edified him. He tells me that just the opposite of edify is to terrify, and that has what the video has done for him. He also explained that any love he had for God has been replaced by a deep fear of him, together with an apparently justifiable case that if God has reconciled the world to himself, not imputing their tresspasses against them, how is it that God has prepared such a terrible place for lost souls? I try to explain that the Lake of Fire was never intended for mankind, but was prepared for the Devil and his angels, according to Matthew 25:41. It was never God's intention for any man or woman to go there. Then by testifying that the way to life is through Jesus, I opened the Bible to Isaiah 53, and read out to him these words:

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us turned to his own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:3-6.

I then asked him, "Who have met such credentials?"

Simon replied, "None other than Jesus."

I then advised him never again watch such videos on the Internet, or watch or read anything that does not edify, because unless the material builds up your faith and brings out your love for the Lord, then more than likely, such material is not from God - even if it looks fully orthodox and Biblical. For Jesus died to atone for our sins, to bring us peace, and that we can enjoy life, not tremble in terror. After all, no living person has ever been to Hell, nobody knows what it really looks like. 

"But what about those who do not know the Gospel?" Simon asked.

Well, according to Paul's letter to the church in Rome, he wrote that his voice has gone out to all the earth, his words to the end of the world (Romans 10:18). And that was quoted from Psalm 19:4 which reads:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Their voice go out to all the earth, their words to the end of the world.

Psalm 19:1-4.

The love of Christ is beyond comprehension...

And the Gospel of John opens with the assurance that the true light which shines into every man was coming into the world (John 1:9). Simon then concluded, 

"If a man in Hell asks, 'Why am I here?' then I could answer by asking, 'Why did you reject such a loving God?'"

Then Simon turned and walked away.  

When God spoke to me...

I have arrived at one of the biggest crossroads of my life. This very weekend I officially retire from full time work, a permanent ceasing after 47 years of earning a living since April 1968, including 35 years as a self employed domestic window cleaner. It will feel strange, even if I most likely take on an occasional job from time to time, such as cleaning the windows of a friend's house, or even willing to emulsion the walls of someone's bedroom (the very last paid job completed as a bachelor before I married 48 hours later). Or maybe giving a hand at midweek church arrangement - unpaid, but enjoying fellowship whilst volunteering - really, anything to get out of the house daily. For the idea of retiring from full time work was inspired by the thorough enjoyment I'd experienced while on convalescence from February this year, all three months of it, and to tell the truth, the need to return to work in June had broken my heart. 

One of the benefits of the convalescence period was the strengthening of our marriage. The ability to be at hand whenever Alex needed me gave her a far greater sense of assurance than when I was out of the house from morning to evening every weekday. But I have never disliked my work, especially as one self employed. I now smile at this, but I recall having a chat with one of my clients, and telling him how wonderful to be the human boss of the business, and as such, the underlying secret of its longevity. Human boss? I wonder what my client thought of that statement? I doubt that he had ever met a non-human boss. Or perhaps he has met quite a few! But for me at least, I acknowledged that the true Boss was God himself, and I was merely a steward of the responsibilities the occupation consisted.

But to divorce Mondays from Sundays is wrong, I believe. With many a church-goer, a typical week may looks something like this:

Sunday - Devotion to God. Monday-Friday - Work and responsibilities. Saturday - Day off.

Such a way of living, subconscious as it may be, may surprise a person when the Lord suddenly cuts in during the week. So I recall such an unforgettable Monday morning of October 1992. That was the morning I had a vision to visit Jerusalem during the following year to pray over the city. Up till then, for the last twelve years, I was struggling financially to make ends meet. That year, I was fortunate enough to accompany a mate to the Lake District National Park up north in Cumbria, a typically average break in those days. Then from that very morning onward, I was able to put away £20 every week for ten months. This gave me more than enough to spend a full two weeks in Israel, staying at a backpacker's hostel in the heart of Jerusalem Old City. Since then, I have experienced a dramatic change in lifestyle. From the same line of work, I was able to return to Israel a year later in 1994, where I stood on the summit of the Mount of Olives, overlooking the city from the east. It was at that moment that I had a sudden inspiration to backpack the United States exactly a year later, opening the door to further travel, including Singapore and Australia in 1997.

This is the grace of God expressed through love. Looking back, I am now convinced that the vision I had that dreary Autumn morning was from God, simply because of the resulting change in my life.

Grace - Gift Received At Christ's Expense. What other language can such an acronym be applied to such a beautiful word? That is what grace is about, isn't it? Receiving good things without deserving them, let alone attempting to earn them. And the greatest demonstration of grace is found in Luke 11:13. Here Jesus, who is addressing a crowd he calls evil, promises the Holy Spirit to fill anyone who simply asks. That is grace. For someone with an evil heart to be filled with the Holy Spirit. No if's or but's. God's grace overcomes evil. The Holy Spirit enters an evil, unregenerate heart and regenerates it, making the person a new creation and adopts him into God's own family. That's why I believe in the "sinner's prayer" - asking Jesus to come into the heart. It is synonymous with asking for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three in one Godhead, the Holy Trinity.

I was reading the Old Testament book of Job just the other day, and what his young friend Elihu had to say about God's grace was quite intriguing. For he says,
If it were (God's) intention and withdrew his spirit and breath,
all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust.
Job 34:14-15.

This brings me to mind of a newspaper article about a book recently released, Magicians Of the Gods, by Graham Hancock, who also wrote Fingerprints of the Gods which sold over a million copies worldwide. In Magicians, Hancock uses various ancient prophecies from non-Biblical sources as evidence that within the next twenty years a comet will pass within the Earth's gravitational pull, explode in the upper atmosphere, and its impact on the planet will wipe out all life, including mankind, parallel to the supposed impact of an asteroid which had eliminated all dinosaurs some sixty million years ago.

Perhaps there is only one Biblical reference to this kind of disaster, and it's found in Revelation 8:8-11. Here, two large bodies from space falls to the Earth. The first is "something like a huge mountain, ablaze, was thrown into the sea." The second, "a great star, blazing like a torch" fell on land, most likely in the Middle East, while the first fell into the Mediterranean. This looks to me like one comet or asteroid which broke into two and the friction with the air caused them both to become incandescent. But neither brings the whole of mankind to extinction, but rather only one third of all sea creatures in the Mediterranean, along with just a third of all mariners who were unfortunate enough to be within its impact zone. Likewise, the second fragment poisons the rivers, and according to Revelation 9:1, the impact caused a cloud to cover the land, darkening the sun and moon.

Very much like that of a volcano blowing its top, as with the case of Krakatoa in August 1883. This explosion has killed up to 36,000 people, many by the resulting tsunamis, and darkness lasting for three days covering an area of 275 miles 442 km. For such an event as this, the explosion did not wipe out the whole of the human race, and it looks like the asteroid of Revelation would have a very similar effect, but it will not make the human race extinct. And that is because of the grace of God.

And here is where I believe authors such as Graham Hancock had got it wrong. Because of the grace of God, life on Earth as we know it will never be destroyed by a comet or asteroid impact. And it was both Abraham and the prophet Jeremiah who gives the reasons. Abraham was interceding for Sodom not to be destroyed if there were as little as ten righteous people living in the city. God assured him that the presence of just ten righteous persons would be enough to save the whole city (Genesis 18:16-33).

Jeremiah wrote that the very existence of the Earth and the Universe as a whole hangs upon the promise God has made with Abraham's descendants, the nation of Israel. In Jeremiah 33:19-26 for example, it is God himself who reassures the distressed prophet, who had watched his beloved city Jerusalem fall into the hands of the Babylonians, that unless the divine covenant with the day and with the night can be broken, God will never reject the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the wonderful promise of his grace, that the very existence of Israel guarantees the ongoing life for the entire planet.

To believe the Gospel saves us from such anxieties - comet impact, volcanic eruptions, rising sea levels, tsunamis, a mass pandemic, worldwide famine, or anything that could wipe out the whole of mankind on a universal scale. Because of God's grace, it will not happen. And amazing enough, it was God's grace that had saved my life, literally three times when I was a youth, including a daring challenge to swim out to the end of the pier at a seaside resort. About halfway, it turned out that the tidal current was so strong that I found myself drifting towards the support structs of the pier itself, and I grabbed and held on to a girder, or else the current would have sucked me under. It was only through another swimmer, older and stronger than myself, who gave me line-by-line instructions to get me back onto the beach, which had saved my life. The grace of God has triumphed.

Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
Psalm 25:7.

Since God's grace has sustained me from the day of conception to this day, why should I fear and worry over the future, particularly in the financial area? As this is a huge turning point in my life, it is so tempting, and quite reasonable too, to ask, What now? Experience has already shown that claiming benefit, in this case Pension Credit, as I am still two years under 65, has been a fickle affair, with a maze of clauses and conditions that can trip me up, in this case forcing me back to work after telling all my clientele of my retirement. How embarrassing! How much of a prat would I feel? Trusting in the goodness of God brings peace. Realising that all things work for the good for those who love him, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). If the benefit claim fails, and I have to return to work, I'll be bitterly disappointed, but I will also be aware that God not only knows about it, but he is sovereign. Everything is for a good reason.

May I close with a request for prayer, that all will go to plan, and I indeed can retire from full time work with God's blessing. And may God bless you all.

O.S.A.S - And Hebrews 6:4-6.

One of the best things about blogging on the Internet is that I can express my thoughts on issues closest to my heart and know that someone, somewhere will read and I hope, feel edified. Therefore to share on the love, goodness and mercy of God through Jesus is a wonderful privilege, and blessed be to God for giving me the grace to glorify him here on this site.

 

And one of my core beliefs is knowing that once I'm saved, I have been regenerated in my spirit, I am going through sanctification of my soul, and one day I will have a glorious, immortal body - very much like the risen Saviour has now. All this gotten through grace, I guess, an acronym in the English language for Gift Received At Christ's Expense. It is the righteousness of Christ which is imputed to my life account; my own righteousness is as filthy rags, like a shrivelled leaf blown away by the wind. There is absolutely no way I can have fellowship with the Lord in Heaven based on my efforts. Without Jesus Christ, I have absolutely no hope. Therefore if he is to save me from the well-deserved separation in Hell, he would have to save me fully and completely, without any works or merit on my side. Therefore, common sense in itself should testify that if God has started a work in me, he will finish it. The very omniscience of God, who foreknew me and predestined me to conform to his Son, ought to guarantee that once saved always saved - a work of God, with whom the Holy Spirit within is himself a guarantee.

The Omniscience of God is what I believe to be the strongest argument for Once Saved Always Saved. It means that God is all-knowing. There is absolutely nothing which can happen that will take God by surprise. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then God already knew this long before you were ever born. Long before conception, God not only had each day of your life numbered, but every single deed carried out, every single word spoken, every thought passing through your head, every other person you met, every friend, every foe, all your family members and your parents - all were written in his book long before even your father and mother were born. If you read the prophetic section of the Old Testament, you will see all this come out.

For example, why not read Isaiah chapter 53, and notice that the futuristic prophecy of God's Servant atoning for Israel's sins was written in the past tense, as if these things had already occurred. Or read the whole book of the prophet Daniel. Read about the terrible visions he had about the empires which were still to arise to dominate the Jews long after the prophet's death. Read in particular chapters 10 and 11, and with the rise of the Greek Empire, four sub-kingdoms were to arise after the premature death of Alexander the Great. Read of the conflict between the Northern and Southern kings, with so much intricate detail, that it reads like a newspaper. When I read this, I stood back in awe, speechless.

What a tremendous display of God's omniscience! And why did God take so much trouble  to foretell the ins and outs of a future empire which arose long after the death of Daniel? Could it be because when the prophet died, Israel was still dominated by the Mede/Persian Empire? And during the Greek Empire which was to follow, had God already known that no part of the Bible would be written during that period? Then on the personal side, knowing God to be omniscient, as well as omnipotent, and his omnipresence is an encouraging thought during times when the chips are down, or when afraid, fearful of the future, or when I wish things were better than they currently are. King David must have realised this too, for he penned Psalm 139.

Yet in light of all this, there are many Christian believers who think that one must hold faithful and remain obedient to God in order to "stay saved" - normally known as Arminians, but sometimes this kind of theology is called Conditional Security. In other words, falling away could well mean the loss of salvation. Now if this was true, then the gift of salvation we now have in Christ as believers, would not be a gift at all. Instead we would all be on lifetime probation. In the world of business and employment, a candidate applying for a post is normally given a probational period set by the employer. It may be for a month, or up to three months. During this period, the boss watches carefully the candidate's performance. If he is satisfied, then the candidate is offered the job and becomes a full time employee. But if not satisfied, the company will give him his marching orders. That is what probation in this context is about. Conditional salvation is very much like that. And they would quote a number of verses in the New Testament to prove their point.

And the verses quoted most often by Arminians is Hebrews 6:4-6, which reads:
It is impossible for those who have been once enlightened, who has tasted the heavenly gift, who has shared in the Holy Spirit, who has tasted of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Then Hebrews 10:26-27, 39 may also be taken into consideration:
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God...
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but those who believe and are saved.

If these verses prove that a believer can lose his salvation due to falling away from the faith, or by committing a serious sin, or leading a not-so-godly life, then indeed, the Arminians were right after all. It would have meant that no Christian alive is eternally saved, and that every believer is on a lifelong probation, not knowing the verdict until after death. Furthermore, God himself is watching every move, every work the believer performs, because the Almighty needs to know whether the believer is worthy enough to enter Heaven, therefore denying God's omniscience. That is, God does not know how the believer will perform, and he can be taken by surprise.

The result of all this is more akin to fear of punishment rather than a selfless love for God. Over the last forty years of being a Christian myself, I have noticed that Arminians tend to be stronger prayer warriors, more zealous in Bible study, more enthusiastic in evangelism and handing out tracts, more dedicated in door-to-door (particularly with Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons, who are both Arminians) and during services, louder in praise and speaking in tongues - as proof that they are Spirit-filled. All these things are good in themselves, of course. But if the fear of likely punishment or the possibility of being shut out of Heaven is in the believer's heart, he would make certain that all these works - and more - are all there. The conclusion to all this, at least on what I can make out, is that Arminianism is more likely to be self centred rather than centred on God's glory and his Kingdom. Yet Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-27 are the most oft-quoted verses to disprove eternal security.

Hebrews 6:4-6 points out five phases a person can go through. These were:
1. Having been enlightened.
2. Tasted the heavenly gift.
3. Shared in the Holy Spirit.
4. Tasted the Word of God.
5. Tasted the powers of the world to come.

I find it interesting to note here that the word tasted appears in three out of the five above statements. There is a difference between tasting and drinking. To drink is to consume entirely, but as for tasting, the first picture that comes to mind when tasting something is wine-tasting. Here a small sample of the wine is sucked into the mouth, swivelled over the tongue, than spat out into a spittoon. This is a very good analogy of a person joining a church without being born again and regenerated in the spirit. Over the years, I have communicated with quite a number of people, mostly working school leavers or college undergrads, who attended church for a while, made friends with the regular members, then disappear. When asked how they feel in the spiritual area, they have shown utter hostility towards anything to do with God and the Bible. And I recall at least one of them actually exhorting me with a Scripture verse back in the 1970s when I was going through a period of doubt. Now, if I was to meet him, he would slam the door to my face, demonstrating his heart hardened into rock.

If the theology of conditional salvation does seem to have a point, it's most likely item #3 - Shared, or made partakers of the Holy Spirit. They would argue that if a person shares in the Holy Spirit, then he must already be converted. I don't think so necessarily. First of all, John 1:9 says that Jesus is the true light that shines into every man born into the world. Secondly, in John 16:8, Jesus says that after his Resurrection, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin and judgement. However, when an unbeliever enters a church, he will feel the greater presence of the Holy Spirit among God's people, as 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 so demonstrates.

It is possible for an unbeliever to be convicted by the Holy Spirit and still remain unconverted. If this were to occur, the unbeliever's heart will harden to such an extent, that it would be impossible to bring such an individual back to the point of repentance, no matter how fervently a believer may persuade him. On the other hand, I had attended baptism services where the candidate had testified that he or she had grown up in a Christian home, then deviated from the faith for many years, before coming back and submitting himself for baptism. During all this time away from the faith, was such a person saved? Yes, I believe he or she was saved, and remained saved throughout all that time. This was evidenced by a heart which never hardened to the point that it became impossible to come to repentance. The same can be said of a devout believer who serves God for many years, then comes across a crisis in life which would turn him away from the faith, whether temporary or more permanent. Has he lost his salvation from that moment on? The very omniscience of God should answer that one. If his salvation was so forfeitable, then through his foreknowledge, God would have called him home while his faith was still strong.

As for the case of Hebrews 10:26-27, I think the same idea is taught, maybe with the addition that the whole of the letter was addressed to the Jews. The very title, which is translated, To the Hebrews, suggest that the letter was addressed to all the Jews, whether believers in Jesus Christ or not. The whole letter is about how the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ made on the cross was better than all the Temple ordinances which foreshadowed the Atonement made by Jesus Christ. If a person rejects the Gospel, and then returns to the Temple ordinances, then it becomes necessary for the Lord to be crucified all over again. This is what the verse 26 is talking about, which the King James Version brings out more accurately:
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins.

The one "sin" sometimes referring as the unpardonable sin, is rejecting the Gospel after hearing it, and returning to Temple ordinances. With the sacrifice of Jesus already accomplished, the one who rejects the Gospel not only sins against the Holy Spirit, but will be accountable for all his sins, as they cannot be forgiven unless the Lord Jesus goes to the cross all over again. A good example of this kind of attitude is found in Acts 3, where Peter and John heals a lame beggar, then uses this miracle to demonstrate the Atonement and Resurrection made by Jesus. The members of the Sanhedrin who witnessed the miracle had rejected the Gospel, demonstrated by their imprisonment of the apostles.

Finally, I have included verse 39, as this is still in the context of 10:26. It talks about shrinking back and are destroyed rather than believing and are saved. When reading this, I get a picture of a strong tower, like in Proverbs 18:10, which reads:
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Ancient cities in the Middle East were normally walled and had a tower which served as both watch tower and refuge for the citizens of the city. When the city was threatened by an enemy army, its citizens ran into the tower for protection. I can imagine someone running into this tower and is safe. But another person runs to the tower but stops short of it, and walks away. As a result his life remains in danger. This is a good analogy of someone who was brought by the Holy Spirit to the point of repentance, but turns away just short of it. His heart would begin to harden, and it would then be impossible for him to return to that same point of repentance.

Oh, the foolishness of some.
 

Putting Myself On The Line

Last week I wrote, Lordship Salvation - Fact or Fallacy? and according to input by other bloggers on this site, I think my last blog could have been easily misunderstood. In one sense I could be one labelled as Easy Believism, a label which I'm prepared to accept. But as one who grew up as a Roman Catholic who turned atheist during my later teenage years, I was then converted to Christ in 1973 then aged twenty, and after this accepted Lordship Salvation as a way of Christian living, which dominated the 1980s and into the 1990s, I thought of writing this follow-up blog in a hope of clearing up any doubts, uncertainties or confusion which might have arisen among readers of last week's blog post. 

 

When my father was a boy, not long before the onset of World War II, he was sent for a time to be educated at an Italian Convent. On one occasion, he took Holy Communion without first making confession to the priest. When Mother Superior found out, she approached him and crashed her hand full force onto his cheek. Little wonder, after I was born, I grew up in a "hellfire" environment, a concept enforced by the Church itself in preparation for First Communion every Catholic child was obliged to take.

 

In those days I was aware of Jesus Christ, an exceptionally good man who did no wrong. That was why I wanted to know him, even as a boy. But what I craved was his love. Instead, an image of him constantly displeased with my attitude and behaviour led me, when I got older, to deny his existence.

 

It took many, many years to undo everything I learned and grew up in. But even to this day, rather than to say that I have arrived, it would be more honest to say that I'm still on my way there. One real eye-opener occurred when I attended a Baptist church in my home town around 1975 or '76. As we filed past the door steward, each of us were given a copy of the Baptist hymn book as we made our way to the main auditorium. By pure chance, I was given the large print copy, normally used by the pastor or elder. One of the hymns we sang that evening was To God Be The Glory, which contained this verse, followed by the chorus:

 

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood;

To every believer the promise of God,

The vilest offender who truly believe,

That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

 

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Let the earth hear his voice.

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Let the people rejoice!

O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,

And give him the glory, great things he has done!

 

That evening I was shaken. Because of the large print copy, the verse carried an extra powerful punch. Written in 1872 by Frances Crosby, who had been totally blind since she was a baby, such lyrics were a reflection of her faith. Then the explosion of praise which followed. This is Christianity - a love-relationship between a believer and God his Saviour. It is God who does all the saving and all the keeping, and the believer revels in his free gift of salvation.

Frances Crosby
 

I have discovered by my own experience that Lordship Salvation hardly comes close to such explosive praise as the hymn narrates. As I wrote already last week, I had been involved with a small Pentecostal home group for about a month, which after I left, not being happy with the leader's theology, the structure of service and his intrusion into member's homes to check that there was no television in the house. This attitude, often known as heavy shepherding, I found offensive. I believe that the leader sensed my unease, and he let me go, unlike with the rest of the group which he had a strong hold over.

 

The group soon moved into a chapel near the town centre. For several years he led a growing congregation. Then one day the chapel was vandalised, with windows smashed. A special mesh was put up over the newly re-glazed windows. Shortly after, the leader disappeared as if off the face of the earth. He was never seen or heard of again, according to my knowledge.

 

This Pentecostal leader was a good example of Lordship Salvation. His theology included a fear of  loss of salvation, along with short hair for the men and compulsory head cover for the women, normally with a headscarf. Compulsory long hair for the females did not seem relevant, some of the women were middle aged and preferred their hair permed. It was during this time that I, for once, decided to have my hair cut to satisfy his wishes and, to my belief, pleasing to God.

 

But otherwise, since I was eighteen, I grew my hair long, and I have shoulder-length hair to this day. Perhaps this stemmed from the military attitude of my late Uncle, Dad's older brother. He was Warrant Officer in the Royal Air Force. He was very particular that, as a youth, I always wore shirt and tie all day, even at weekends, and insisted that I had short back-and-sides. Once, when he came to visit, he rebuked my parents for allowing my hair to grow by an inch. No doubt, Mum resented this, and stood up to defend both my younger brother and me. By the time I came of age, Uncle was powerless as he watched my hair grow long whenever he and his wife came to visit.

 

To this day, I feel comfortable with long hair. During the day I have it tied back as a ponytail. Like this, from the front I look as if my hair is short, as well as keeping it away from my eyes whilst at work or in the gym. Therefore, I did not like to be told to cut my hair, although I obeyed, if it meant pleasing God. He took this idea from Paul's letter to the Corinthians that it is against nature for men to have long hair. In a sense that is true. No way would long hair would have suited my Uncle, being chubby-faced as he was. Also with virtually no neck, a shirt and tie was best suited for him as well. 

 

But to read that a man sporting long hair is effeminate and shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, to me, is way out of order, but I believe that there is such a teaching in some groups, including Pentecostals. Do I have a dislike for the Pentecostal denomination or their churches? By no means. To me, every one who truly believes is born of God and is a member of God's family, regardless of group or denomination. But to read or being told that a man with long hair is effeminate, I find so irritable, and does not edify. As a matter of fact, when I had an assessment with a Psychologist some years ago, she commented on my "brutally masculine" character. On top of this, tradition has it that Jesus Christ had long hair. Being from tradition, of course, this can be disputed, and it has been too. But one Biblical character who did have long hair was none other than Samson, one of the judges of ancient Israel.

 

 Samson, with his long hair, might have looked like Jesus Christ, above.
 

Samson was a Nazarite, a special calling from God which required the head to remain unshaven and to refrain from anything of the grapevine. We tend to imagine Samson with huge, barrel-shaped biceps whose strength was the result of years in the gym. Rather, the very fact that the Philistines had to blackmail his wife Delilah on where he had gotten his strength indicates that as a person, he looked like any other man, except with long hair, as his call to be a Nazarite demanded. The word "Nazarite" means "Branch" and it was the same title applied to Jesus. In order to keep the whole Law, Jesus had to have been a Nazarite, which included having long hair and staying off alcohol. That is the reason why I think pictures of Jesus sporting long hair are valid.

So after reading about men with long hair being effeminate, I decided to look into where this idea came from. It turned out to be from the Authorised Version (KJV) of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, which reads:

Know ye that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Puzzled, I turned to the Interlinear Greek/English New Testament to verify exactly what Paul had written here. In fact the Greek word malakoi, translated as effeminate, actually appears as voluptuous persons. With this, the picture changes. A voluptuous person is one who revels in luxury without giving any regard to God, let alone thanks. It had nothing to do with a guy wearing long hair! Yet such a bad translation was the cause of such demeaning messages put out both in writing and orally.

But there is more. Lordship Salvationists, along with groups which insist that salvation can be lost if unconfessed sin accumulate, often quote these two verses as proof text for their position - mainly that an erring believer is in danger of ending up in the fires of Hell. I have read of one British author and pastor teach exactly this, and his books have sold well in English churches and bookshops. Even in my own housegroup back in the 1990s, I was rebuked by other members for calling this chap a "false prophet." But in just about all cases, I have yet to come across the verse which immediately follows:

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. v. 11.

That Paul wrote that we are washed, sanctified and justified speaks volumes. With washing in the blood of Jesus, I imagine a garment washed in soapy water. The solution penetrates between every fibre in the garment, extracting the very last speck of dirt. Then the garment is rinsed. This may explain why the modern washing machine has five rinse cycles. This is necessary to ensure that the last of the soap is removed. But with the garment, once worn over the body, it will start collecting dirt again. But to be washed in the blood of Jesus, the cleanliness is eternal. No dirt could ever pollute the soul again. This is backed by Paul's statement that we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. Another term for justification is judicial acquittal. It means that the whole of our sins are taken away and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to our account. Therefore God the Father see Jesus in us, not our own righteousness. Finally, sanctification means that we have been called by God to conform to the likeness of his Son. Since this take a lifetime, we are in effect, students - or disciples of the Kingdom of God.

So does the content of verse 11 contradict the content of verses 9 and 10? No, not at all, because these two verses were not referring to the believer as Lordship Salvationists thinks. To understand who Paul was referring to, we need to read the whole chapter, and it is one concerning believers taking their disputes to unbelieving judges, barristers and lawyers. Paul sharply rebukes these believers for not dealing with the dispute themselves. "What?" he protests, "you who are in Christ are taking your disagreements to unbelievers? Don't you know that the unrighteous cannot inherit the kingdom of God? Neither the fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, the voluptuous, sodomites, thieves, drunkards, revilers and such like, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. Yet some of you were as them. But you as believers, are washed by the blood, sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus. Yet you go to unbelievers who are unrighteous themselves to resolve your dispute? Are you out of your mind???" That was Paul addressing the unrighteous who cannot inherit the Kingdom. The unrighteous were the unbelieving judicial system of the day, and not the Christians! Paul finally hammers this home with the words:

And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. v.14.

A positive, unconditional promise for all who are in Christ! Those believing in Lordship Salvation just seem to miss out on the joy of such a promise.

An Ancient Fountain, Corinth.

Also in his letter to the Romans, Paul talks a lot about Judicial Acquittal, or Justification by Faith, and he picks out Abraham as an example. In Genesis, God declared to Abraham that he will have a son, from whom his seed will bless many families. Abraham believed this revelation and God's righteousness was imputed to his account. There was no talk about "unconditional surrender to Christ" or "do not sin or else you will perish" or for that matter, "cut your hair and don't go about looking like a woman." No, instead God revealed to him something and by believing he was acquitted from all his sins.

Which leads me to a question which answer would put myself on the line:

Can we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
The answer is, Yes, we can!

But Paul did not write that in Romans 6:1. Instead he wrote:

Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

That is a very different question, to which the obvious answer would be:

God forbid. How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein? v.2

I love the J.B. Phillips' version of Romans 6:2 as if Paul was a posh Englishman - "What a terrible thought!"

But then he asks the question: If we are dead to sin, then how can we continue in it? Dead to sin. That what Judicial Acquittal does, removes our sins as far away as east is from the west, and our iniquities he remembers no more. In other words, God no longer see our sins. Instead in us he sees Jesus Christ.

Yet, going back to 1 Corinthians 6, Paul wrote in verse 18:

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he who committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

For Paul to instruct members of the church in Corinth to flee fornication seem to imply that there was evidence of it going around among the assembly. But there is no indication that any of them were in danger of losing salvation and threatened with Hell. Instead he instructs them to put away fornication, for it is a sin against the physical body, a temple of the Holy Spirit dwelling therein. I have a book written by Dr. McMillen, None of these Diseases, which tells very graphically of the agonising pains suffered by sexually transmitted diseases as being the end result of fornication. God certainly does not want members of his family to go through such dreadful experiences. Therefore, God disciplines his children whenever they go astray. But this discipline has two purposes and neither is a threat of Hell. The first reason for discipline was for their own good. The second was so they would partake in his holiness, the best way for any saint to experience full joy in the Lord.

My heart goes out to anyone who thinks Lordship Salvation is the only way to live the Christian life. But I do get angry with the "guys at the top" who constantly push such nonsense to their followers, depriving them of the fullness of the truth of the Gospel. They were the ones who underwent college training and passed graduation. Because of this, they are seen by their followers as always right, and us plebs who had never seen the inside of a university as hopelessly wrong and deceived. It is at this I at times would wish I could grab these leaders by the neck and shout, "GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER, YOU WHITED WALL!" - as Paul himself had done on one occasion, although he had to apologise afterwards! This is again putting myself on the line, but done for the glory of God.