First Time Disaster - Then Success.

Yes, I have resumed my weekly rendezvous with the staff at our local Starbucks Coffee on a Saturday morning after several months of abstinence due to the Covid-19 closure. And afterwards, as I was walking home, staring at the ground ahead whilst pondering on what I shall write about this week, an elderly gentleman approached, heading for the superstore where the coffee house is annexed. 

Excuse me, he asked, stopping me in my tracks, But are you the one who had organised all these Triathlons in Bracknell, years ago?

"Yes, I am the one."

His face lit up at my confirmation. Your Triathlons were magnificent. You certainly have done a good job.

Through his thick facial hair, I thought I could remember him as one of the partakers as I thanked him for the compliment. Bracknell Triathlon? Indeed, I remember them, seven events in all, in a space of six years between 1987 and 1992. We even experimented with staging two events in 1990 but proved to be too much. Hence we resumed with just one event a year. It was enough.

But what is a triathlon anyway and how did I become involved?

It all started with three athletes sitting in a bar in Hawaii back in 1977, the same year I took my first-ever transatlantic flight from London to Toronto. In that bar, a discussion was taking place. Which athlete could be credited with the greater fitness - a swimmer, a cyclist or a runner? The discussion was inconclusive, so one of them, a US naval officer John Collins, thought up the idea of stringing all three together into one event - an ultimate endurance race consisting of the 2.4-mile Waikiki Rough Water Swim, the 112-mile Around Oahu bike race, and the Honolulu Marathon. These three annual events were already in existence at the Hawaiian Archipelago, and therefore familiar to everyone. Thus, later at a banquet, where such an event was proposed, so it was said, everyone present rolled on the floor in complete laughter! 

However, Collins and his mates organised the first multi-disciplined event with fifteen competitors. At 07.19 on February 18th, 1978, they plunged into the ocean surf at Waikiki. Nearly twelve hours later, a 27-year old naval officer Gordon Haller was the first to cross the finish line. He received an odd-looking home-made trophy consisting of pipes welded together. Thus, history was made with the first Ironman.*

The fame of the event exploded across the USA and over the next few years, the scaled-down version of the Triathlon became known worldwide. Back then, the sport competed with a high level of camaraderie. Sedate people including balding men, doctors, students, housewives, office and manual workers who had never competed in any other sport "caught the bug" as they all challenged themselves on how far they can endure such a bizarre race. Even a veteran in his seventies was seen on his heavy roadster, complete with mudguards and with a wicker shopping basket fixed to his handlebars.

In the meantime, throughout the mid-eighties, I was running half-marathons to raise funds for a League of Friends charity. It was in 1986, after completing one half-marathon, when someone approached with a suggestion on why not try my hand at a triathlon. There was one to be held at Wokingham, the next town on the map to ours. Therefore I entered and competed. Immediately I was hooked. I then joined Thames Valley Triathletes, the triathlon club based in Reading, which had organised the Wokingham event specifically to attract new members.

After this, I competed at various locations. Due to their early morning swim start, many venues requiring an overnight stay at a hotel - Winchester, Swanage, Eastbourne, East Grinstead, Romford, Upminster, Farnham, Newbury, among others. It was while at an event in Winchester, with my brain on full alert as well as in physical endurance, that I had a vision. How is this triathlon funded? Through competitor's entry fees (although Winchester also had a sponsor) and there was no triathlon event for Bracknell. Suddenly, with God's help, nothing seems impossible.

So after consulting my friends, all members of what was then Bracknell Saints Football Club, I shared my vision, which was received by some but held in doubt by others. However, the biggest obstacle I had to overcome was to convince the Leisure Centre management team for the hiring of the swimming pool and to enlighten them about this new sport, using part of the Bracknell Half Marathon route. At first, I was refused point-blank. Then after persistent negotiation, they gave me just one lane of the pool. Eventually, I managed to agree with them for full hire of the pool at a set date, and after that everything else fell into place.**

That is - until we had to ask people to volunteer as course marshals, a role which I eventually found out, was a very undesirable responsibility, especially so early on a Saturday morning! - And that despite I have marshalled events in Reading several times already. I asked my brothers in Christ at my former church for their help. No one agreed. One family man, who I thought was a good mate, squared up to me and in my face, quite aloud, said No!

This has always been an interesting phenomenon - why this refusal, even edging towards anger for daring to approach them with such a request? Is it because of me? A labourer who has never seen inside a university or had never risen to prominence? It was exactly this which has tested my devotion to them as brothers to the limit. Had a famous celebrity approached them with the same request, then how would they have responded? With greater favour?

A souvenir for a willing Marshal

We eventually approached a secular charity, whose members were willing to marshal. On our first event in 1987, too few turned up, leaving both the cycling and running routes unmanned. Furthermore, late-night hooligans tore off our direction arrows from their place, leaving both the cyclists and runners in doubt which direction to take, with even some failing to finish. Our maiden event was a disaster! After everyone had gone home, we packed away and afterwards, sauntered home in an emotionally heavy state.

Feeling crushed, beaten, defeated, I lay on the single bed in my apartment, looking up at the ceiling. Should I give up? Maybe those Christians were right, after all. Especially the Elders, who knew how to put me in my place. Of course, I will fail! If they said that I wasn't capable of such responsibility, then I wasn't capable. End of. Indeed, modern Christianity looks to be a religion for graduates. Fail at school and I'll never hit the mark. How the heck did those eleven disciples of Jesus Christ, after His Resurrection and Ascension, manage to turn the world upside down without a degree among them? And that after the company treasurer, the cleverest in the group, top himself? 

Suddenly, I arose from my bed and headed for the phone. No, no mobiles back then. To make a phone call, I had to lift my butt from the comfort of the bed. I contacted two of my mates who were living together. I told them that next year's event was ON! We aren't giving up. Suddenly, all my negative feelings fell away like scales from St Paul's eyes, and I was able to look ahead with determination.

And they all happened, all further six of them. We redesigned the two courses to make them simpler, we made sure all our direction arrows were well above the reach of anyone without a stepladder, and we contacted secular charities to marshal our routes. With the promise of a souvenir for their efforts, a greater number volunteered, manning our routes efficiently, and the acquirement of a walkie-talkie made our roving marshals' task a lot easier. On the day a couple of stalls arrived and were set up, so competitors can make a last-minute purchase, including crash hat hire. We also hired a commentary caravan from a firm in Camberley, and the announcements over the loudspeakers gave the whole event an air of professionalism - on the par with any international championship triathlon.

And we were happy because the competitors were also happy, having given us a second chance after the disaster of the first. Also, the numbers grew year by year until were squeezed by the turnout. Thanks to the British Triathlon Association, to which affiliation is mandatory, our event became known right across the nation, and further on as far as the USA and Australia.

Indeed, I wanted to glorify God and give Him the credit for our success. It's nice to know that if God is for us, who can be against us?

This is a kind of story I have heard about before, especially with starting up missionaries. Tales of initial failures before rising to success had made fascinating testimonies, namely, that the natural reliance on our own strength or merit need to be replaced with a dependency on God. Moses was a classic case. He grew up with a knowledge that he will deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. He tried his own way first. He killed an Egyptian guard who was assaulting a fellow Hebrew. As a result, he spent forty years as a fugitive in the desert after he was rejected by his own fellowmen.

So bitter did Moses feel towards his countrymen that in order to be convinced, God had to appear as a flaming bush and then the need to persuade him to return to Egypt with the rod of God's power. However, even after God's revelation from the bush, Moses' continual bitterness and stubbornness against the Hebrews had very nearly cost him his life had his wife not acted quickly enough.

David was another failure after receiving the promise of the kingdom. He was spectacularly successful in defeating Goliath, and soon afterwards the Hebrew women were singing a song of victory, and declared David as the rightful king, much to King Saul's anger which was behind the younger man fleeing to a cave and living in seclusion for the next twenty years. It was during those years when the prince had to learn the reality of dependency over his pride in his battle skills.

With this present Coronavirus crisis, it would be easy to be tempted to ask where is God in all this? The latest news to reach us is about a total lockdown in Wales, with just one man, Labour Mark Drakeford, ordering all prohibition of buying non-essentials, and therefore Tesco and other superstores in Wales have literally covered all their hardware stalls with plastic sheeting. That means you can buy alcohol but not a bedsheet or a quilt. You can buy a chocolate Santa but not a saucepan or a spare woolly for the coming winter. The element in your kettle has blown? Or even your washing machine has broken down beyond repair? Then better to boil water in a saucepan or wash your clothes by hand.

Not used to any of that? Well at least, during my bachelor days, I have done plenty of both. However, if you're unfortunate enough to let all the water boil away and burn a hole at the bottom of the saucepan - like my Mum once did when she was young - well, you can try Sellotaping over the hole. No good? Well, you can always depend on good old Santa. After all, Christmas is not far away, is it? Wait! You have already eaten him! No presents for the kids this year, as toys, games and computers are non-essentials.

Hence the crushing absurdity this hysteria over the virus and how it has overtaken the Welsh. At this moment we are living in the medium zone. The only restrictions are that pubs must close by ten in the evening and there must be no more than six coming together. Not to forget social distancing and the wearing of facemasks - which makes me think - if the rate of infection is rising that fast, then, is the facemask working? After all, when I enter a shop, bus, train or any other public venue, I hardly see anyone without a mask. Then why this rise of cases? And now, like some alien weed creeping and crawling towards us, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this third stage lockdown begins to cover our area.

Yes, our first triathlon was a failure. But not those which followed, year by year. But even our failure pales to insufficiency when compared to those we call our leaders. 

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*Alek Hunter & Erik Kirschbaum - Swim+Bike+Run: Triathlon the Sporting Trinity, 1985, George Allen and Unwin publishers.

**You can delve into the full details on how I came about in organising the Bracknell Triathlon under the title, Alan Sugar at the Kerith? by clicking here.

Airlines and Computers in the Bible?

Do you find yourself going through an evening where you're stuck at home and don't know what to do? You take a look at the TV guide, only to find that there is not much on which is worth watching on either BBC channels. Oh, there is a movie, an exciting drama on one of the commercial channels, but what's the point in watching a movie so frequently interrupted by commercial breaks, when you already have your own DVD recording of the movie? So shall it be watched again? Not really. You have watched it already only last week, and that was the third time after purchasing it.

I have to be honest here. I despise commercial channels! For me, anyway, I find nothing more frustrating than to be deeply involved with the plot of the film, and just when an exciting bit arrives, there is this sudden silence followed by an advert on Kitekat (we don't have a cat) or Chunkie dog food (we don't have a dog either) or this geyser driving a flash sports car as he passes a lone young female at an exotic location and tries to impress her. Not very relevant to me here either, for I don't have a driving license. The only appropriate advertisement is the one on Cadbury's Dairy Milk. After all, who doesn't like chocolate? But alas, there's no chocolate in the house and either the superstore had closed for the evening or I'm too tired or not bothered to go back out. Furthermore, I'm waiting for the movie's climax.

Thus, the wonder of the Internet! So useful it has been during this pandemic lockdown. Indeed, I'm beginning to wonder how the generation which had to endure the Bubonic Plague in the 13th Century managed to cope? Okay, there may be some bad things online, but it's also an unlimited storehouse of useful knowledge. Trivia which I had missed out at school is now easily accessible with just one or two clicks of the mouse.

And that also includes virtual reality. Yes indeed, I have moaned about our virtual church service over the weeks. But I have always agreed to the principle during these critical times: to be able to worship God and to listen to the preach from the speaker on screen. I certainly can see him as he stares back at me, only that he cannot actually see me, nor, for that matter, can he see anyone else gazing at him, but instead, he looks into a camera and at the same time keeping track on how many are tuned in. But it's the bit after the service is over when chatting rooms come on screen. Here, not only can I literally talk to the person on screen but we can actually see each other as well. It was as if talking through a windowpane.

About nothing worth watching on TV. Here we have two other channels we can rely on. One is the BBC Iplayer, where I can watch the hour-long travel documentaries presented by Simon Reeve which I normally miss on TV, along with other programmes. The other website is YouTube. And one set of videos has recently caught our attention and that is by Prowalk Tours. Unlike most travel presenters, who love to stare into the camera and narrate, this fellow simply walks along, holding his video camera aloft on a pole. This gives the impression that as he walks, it's as if the viewer himself is walking and filming. There is no vocal narration nor any background music. Instead, his footsteps can be heard crunching on the gravel, along with the voices of talking passersby.

One of his videos was about his ascent to the crater of Mt. Vesuvio, with the walk starting and finishing at the car park. It was very enlightening. The modernisation of such a tourist attraction has become well-advanced since my actual visit to the volcano in 1973. Where in my day the footpath leading to the rim was nothing more than a band of light dirt streaking along the barren, ash-laden slope, now there is a proper trail, fenced in on both sides with a trestle of logs and wide enough for up to six people to walk abreast. Where in 1973 I was practically the sole walker, in the video the path was very busy with mostly families walking in both directions.

But then, such a video looks to be almost too perfect. I guess it has to be for public viewing. Not like in my day when nearing the crater, the heavens opened, and the torrential downpour, consisting of marble-sized raindrops, had soaked me in seconds before I spotted a natural alcove in the lava cliff, where I had taken refuge before some kind driver offered me a lift back to Naples. Not to worry. I managed to successfully reach the crater on the next day after another hiking attempt from sea-level.

In reality, such mishaps such as a sudden rainstorm make the adventure so much more exciting! Too bad such don't show on YouTube videos. After all, there are no mountains of real success without valleys of failure in between.

But the near-perfection of video shooting can be appreciated more so if it was shot at a location where I had never set foot. Capri is one such location. Yet as a fledgeling backpacker of the early seventies, after arriving by train into Stazione Napoli Centrale, I couldn't help notice the posters featuring I Faraglioni on display around the terminus. These are natural stacks jutting out from the south coast of the island, and it's one of the main features symbolising the whole of Italy throughout the tourism industry. But back then, I wasn't aware that they were not part of the mainland. Instead, I thought that these stacks were of nearby Sorrento. 

I Faraglioni Stacks, Capri.

After finding a hotel at the Piazza near the station and asking whether there's a room available, I settled in, intending to check out the city itself. But more importantly, I Scavi di Pompeii was a must for my visit, along with a must-see of the crater of Vesuvio. Sorrento can wait until another day. 

And this is how Prowalk Tours had shone quite a light on Capri. As the cameraman walked along through the maze of narrow streets, I began to get acquainted with the island until I began to feel that I have actually visited. However, there are some setbacks. One is looking at those stacks from a height without walking down to the very foot of the stack which nearside is still part of the land. Nor was seen the second stack, out at sea, which had a natural arch through where cruise boats carrying tourists passed under.

I happen to be very fortunate to have travelled in a way I did. I guess I'm one of the fulfilment of Holy Scripture where it says that in the latter days, men shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase, Daniel 12:4 KJV. The advance of technical sciences along with skyrocketing travel seems to have come as no surprise for the Holy Spirit.

But I was equally intrigued by King David's cry of despair when he expresses his wish to grow wings like a bird so he could fly away to rest and take respite. He actually wrote,

Oh, that I had wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. (Psalm 55:6.)

If only David knew what the Holy Spirit had already known, some three thousand years before fulfilment! Indeed, we do "have wings like a dove and have flown away to find rest." The tourism industry is fixed on that very purpose - to find rest from the day-to-day stresses of modern living. Of course, David visualised having his own pair of wings resembling that of a bird (or even an angel) yet would have never imagined a metal tube with two huge metal wings and with a capacity to hold more than a hundred passengers. But the Holy Spirit had already known.

And there is another very astonishing prophecy found in the Revelation of St John, and that is of the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11. John records that during their ministry "the beast out of the Abyss" attacks and kills them. Whether this "beast" is the Antichrist himself or his agents, we cannot be sure. The crunch of the matter is that whilst the two bodies lying dead in the streets of Jerusalem, they are observed by the whole world all at once. This would include people living in Australia, North and South America, Africa, all of Europe and Asia, everybody will be able to see the two bodies simultaneously, verses 8-10.

Although many interpreters believe that the two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah, I tend to believe that one of them will be Enoch rather than Moses. In the Old Testament, Enoch and Elijah were the only two men in the whole of history to have been taken to heaven alive, without facing death. Moreover, if the one was Moses, he would have needed to die twice, the first time at Mt Nebo as recorded in Deuteronomy 34. As physical death is the gateway for every believer into the eternal presence of God, both Enoch and Elijah must face death sometime within human history.

For many centuries, commentators were baffled on how could the whole world observe these two lying at a specific location. Then in the 1970s, author Hal Lindsey was sure that this problem was solved by the development of Telstar Television. This was a big leap forward. But with his prediction that the 1980s was the countdown to Armageddon, the turn of the new millennium came and went with no divine intervention, as Lindsey had never thought of the idea of the internet in his time.

As far as we presently know, it does look as if the Internet will be the media used for the observance of these two witnesses by the entire global population. It will be an act of God's grace for, at their resurrection and ascension into Heaven, many in terror will turn in repentance to God, a demonstration of worldwide salvation which by then only modern technology can help bring about.

"If only I had wings like a dove, I'll fly away..."

However, this scenario is based only on what I can see and observe at the present. Nobody knows when the coming of Christ is due, and who knows, there could be even greater wizardry in service before he returns, gadgets that may not be around until after my own passing, and technology I cannot at present imagine. But neither was any of our own technology ever imagined by past generations, let alone by the Romans.

Nor by the ancient Israelites who were camped near Mount Sinai, and were ready to receive the Decalogue. While the Ten Commandments were given out, God knew everything about modern technology which will not arrive until some 3,500 years later.

Just as God has every day of our lives marked and a specific number of them to be lived by every individual, according to Psalm 139, then while we all thread through this pandemic, we can be assured that it was all written down long before the beginning of time, and thus, we can trust him.

And that includes the moment when I stood at the rim of Vesuvio's crater, trusting it would not suddenly erupt.

A Word of Encouragement...

In many ways, I can be thankful for being a UK citizen, having been born here, even from wholly Italian parents who were both post-war immigrants. For example, we have the National Health Service, or the NHS, a free-to-the-point-of-use institution readily available to offer treatment to all kinds of illness, disease and infirmities. And we live under a democracy, a system where all its governing policies are directed by the will of the people, in direct contrast to a top-down dictatorship. And we enjoy the freedom of religion, unlike in Islamic countries where if someone was to differ in opinion would result in flogging, imprisonment or even a death penalty.

But no country is perfect as, in a fallen world, such idealist perfectionism cannot exist. And as such, for example, our densely-populated land contributes to air and sea pollution, mainly from transport and discarded waste, which many say is adding to climate change. But at least, on the good side, there is always a shop nearby (or in my case, two superstores) where groceries and other essentials can be bought and stocked up. And water, fuel and electric power are as easy to use as turning on a tap or plugging into a socket. And a more recent innovation is the Internet, with which I'm now able to express my thoughts into worldwide public readership, which was nothing but a dream, a product of wishful thinking only up to a generation ago. 

But does all this really make us feel happy and content? No doubt, many are happy. But anyone can feel sad, lonely, depressed, helpless, even if their homes are well-stocked with everything they need and their bank balance is reasonably healthy. As one U.S. medical doctor once wrote, most illnesses and diseases, including cancer and heart failure, are caused initially by excess stress, worry, fear, hatred, bitterness, resentment, and prolonged anger. If all this is true, and this doctor received plenty of support from his colleagues across America, then it's no wonder that over here, the NHS has been stretched to its limits throughout the past few years.

Like one recent afternoon when my beloved developed a severe, stabbing pain at her chest region, close to where she had cancer. It was not long after her chemotherapy treatment had ended, and we both suspected that this pain may be connected with her cancer treatment. So an ambulance was called and she was taken to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department of the same hospital where she was being treated for her cancer. I was horrified when we were confronted with a long line of gurneys lining the corridor leading to the Majors cubicles, all of them each occupied by a patient waiting to be seen and treated. Therefore, it was several hours before she was seen by a consultant, although much praise goes to the team of nurses who looked after all the patients in the queue whilst waiting.

Of course, if an elderly lady or gent fell down the stairs and fractured a bone in doing so, that does not mean that the patient was in any negative mood at the time of the accident. He or she could have been in a more jovial mood before the fall. But I couldn't help thinking that the majority of patients in that queue are there as a result of an initial upset mind, some of them stretching over many years. Fortunately for my wife, the cause of the pain was not too serious and wasn't connected with the cancer treatment.

And so, it's this present Coronavirus pandemic which has, in a way, brought me to my senses on how fortunate we all are compared to previous generations. To read or to hear that several hundred more had died of the disease each day is very distressing. For the rest of us who might have had a very mild form of the illness, along with those who haven't had it (yet) - the suppression of our personal freedom is something of a culture shock. To be told by the Government to stay indoors and not travel to the coast or to a national park, especially under a burst of warm Spring sunshine, is certainly not the British way of living! Neither is the long queue outside the superstore doors or to stand or sit not less than two metres apart. Thus, a friendly or respectful handshake, let alone a hug, is seen as equally dangerous, as if risking a bite by a dog infected with the rabies virus.

As the pandemic takes hold across the land, churches are no longer meeting together physically at a given venue. Instead, "virtual services" broadcast live on the Internet has replaced proper services. Scripture quotes begin to appear frequently on Facebook. Of all quotes, it looks to me that Psalm 91 is the most often quoted. It details the great protection given by God himself to anyone who trusts in him. It contains the verses:

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

Psalm 91:7-8.

It's the same kind of wording which is also found in Psalm 139:19-24, and within many other psalms, where David in particular, cries out for vengeance upon the wicked and to let them face justice whilst, at the same time, prays for his own deliverance from his enemies, the forgiveness of his sins, and his own salvation. Indeed, anyone reading such psalms can be forgiven for accusing him of a kind of self-righteousness, a Pharisaic attitude involving self-piety whilst judging and cursing everybody else. 

King David the Psalmist.

However, the evil people he's referring to are haters of God with a seared conscience, and since they are without any moral guidance, are out to exploit and steal from others, especially the defenceless poor, forcing them to suffer loss, bringing on physical and mental pain, and even be killed, while the villains are benefiting and getting rich from their victim's spoils.

Yet I can identify how David might have felt. The sort of people who annoy me most are scammers, those fraudsters who trick their victims into parting with their hard-earned savings by using sophisticated methods, usually over the phone, to deceive. And thus gathering wealth by dishonest means, causing their victims, mostly senior citizens, to suffer agonising losses. Then these thieves go on expensive holidays, party, and buy top-of-the-market cars such as the Lamborghini. Like David, I too wish them to be brought to justice.

Wishing such scammers to be brought to justice is one thing, but for the believing saint, will he be fully protected by God from any threat or affliction? Is Psalm 91 a guaranteed protection against general suffering?

Last Sunday, a preach at Ascot Life Church was delivered through the Internet, focusing on Psalm 91, probably as a result of the constant appearing of this psalm on Facebook. The question was: Will God really protect from all harm those who trust in him, worship and depend on him? Yes? - Er, No. And he was absolutely correct.

I have only my own testimony to prove that true believers are not immune to harm. Where the hospital has risen to the point of being our second home, one has only to read 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 and 6:3-10, where Paul the apostle lists his sufferings, including being flogged, while he was on his mission to preach the Gospel and form new churches across the Roman Empire, and visiting other, already established churches, particularly in the Macedonian area of northern Greece. In turn, Hebrews 11:35-38 lists the sufferings many Old Testament saints had to endure as they ministered to the ancient Israelites, even to the point of being stoned to death.

Then there is the case of Job in the Old Testament. He lived approximately at the same time as Abraham, and like the Hebrew patriarch, Job was a righteous man with a strong and reverent faith in God, who showed hospitality to strangers and always interceded for his sons, lest they fall into sin. He could be classed as a Bedouin, a man who lived in a desert tent, yet he was also very rich, possessing many flocks and herds.

Then one day all his livestock was stolen from him by a gang of marauding bandits, with only one shepherd left to tell him of his loss. Soon after this, another arrived to announce that all his sons were killed by a collapsing roof of the house where they were partying. Yet, when his grieving wife and mother advised him to curse God and die, his response was to rebuke her, telling her not to be such a foolish woman, and then acknowledged that God has every right to give and to take away. Soon after this, he fell ill, and his ailment worsened to the point where he was at death's door. Yet he did not waiver on his faith. 

During his distress, three friends arrived at his tent to grieve with him. At first, all four sat in silence. Yet when a discussion between them eventually arose, neither could understand why such a righteous man had to suffer such intensity as he did. As Job began to protest his innocence, the three friends began to accuse him of some secret sin or willful wrongdoing. Yet while all four agreed that God's thoughts are way above any human thinking and utterly beyond reproach, yet amid his sorrow, intensified by the accusations thrown at him by his three friends, he declared:

I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end, he will stand upon the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed yet in my flesh I will see God.

I will see him - with my own eyes - I, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!

Job 19:25-27. 

When reading such testimonies, whenever we are going through distress, and both of us have been through many such occasions, Job is always the one who has set an example. Other than Jesus Christ himself, whenever Alex is lying on a hospital gurney at A&E, Job often comes into my mind, especially during the long wait before the consultant eventually arrives.

When considering all these things - the suffering believers have to endure, then how truthful is Psalm 91 when it promises full protection from every kind of calamity which befall unbelievers? Last Sunday's preach has shed some light on this, which I have found to be helpful. The ultimate victory of Psalm 91 lies in our eternal state, an eternity in God's presence in Heaven.

As I write, a definite pattern emerges. The pattern is this: When a believer in Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen, has to endure sufferings, whether physical, mentally, or emotionally, they will always end in victory for the believer.

Final Victory.

Therefore, does God offer protection to the believer against all adversity? The answer is a resounding Yes, but it applies to the soul and spirit. For once the sinner confesses with his mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believes in his heart that God has raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-13) - he becomes a new creation, a child of God, forever adopted into his family. Yes, the body will die and goes to the grave, but the spirit and soul will go to be with Christ.

Once saved always saved.

And physical death is the believer's final victory.  

Self Worth? The Three Zeroes...

When retired, there are things I could do midweek which I had no time for throughout my years as an earner. Such as sitting at table at the Santa Fe Coffee bar located within a bookstore at the newly-developed Town Centre shopping precinct, with a newspaper spread out in front. This week was of no exception. One afternoon, I took a fleeting glance at a fellow customer sitting two tables away, facing me. Then I dug into reading the newspaper when a young and rather pretty waitress from Eastern Europe (going by her accent) arrived at my table to deliver my order. She was smiling with politeness, which is part of her duty etiquette. When all the items were set in place, she quickly left.

Then she went over to the other table to deliver the other customer's order. A conversation struck up between the two and remained ongoing for what could be for up to ten minutes. I couldn't help feel a pang of jealousy as the conversation progressed, with the waitress apparently swooning at the fellow's charms. I had to look up. The man, about half my age, sported some facial hair and was wearing a business shirt unbuttoned at the neck and without a tie. I could see straightaway that he has a university degree. His facial features radiated high intelligence and a scholarly expression - a far cry from my own working class background as a retired Window Cleaner. On his table, beside the coffee mug was a small laptop - most likely that one gadget which fired up the waitress's admiration, as if a confirmation of the fellow's intelligent facial expression.

Within my feeling of jealousy, I was thankful for my present status as a well-established married man. By continuing to read the paper following the end of the conversation, I was able to allow my pangs of jealousy gradually melt away. But supposing I was still single? True enough, I have male friends close to my age who remain unmarried to this day. Some of then did attend uni, others did not. But I knew perfectly well that such awareness wouldn't have added a crumb of comfort to a far more intense feeling of jealousy at that coffee bar. Indeed, the waitress was pretty, wearing a top with a low neckline that would stimulate the desire of any red-blooded male. I have often wondered whether such women serving the public deliberately dress provocatively to attract male attention. 

Santa Fe Coffee Bar, Bracknell, UK - where I call regularly.

As with me, I married later in life, in my late forties. Before then, especially in my thirties and forties, the opposite gender never gave me a second look. Any potential relationship which could have started up, especially when I was in my twenties, quickly fizzled out, thanks to my speech impediment and accent, which had nothing to do with having a foreign background. Rather, it was the result of something I was totally unaware of until I was already married and a father of two daughters - Asperger's Syndrome (AS).

AS is something so subtle and so unlike any physical disease or illness. It affects far more boys than girls, and sufferers often have above-average intelligence. I have a good, long-standing friend with AS, whose IQ matches any member of Mensa, and also fluent in at least two languages. Although quite good-looking in facial features, as far as I'm aware, throughout his sixty years of life he remains single to this day, never having an ongoing relationship with a female. 

Going by what I have seen, I don't think he had ever suffered personal rejection either. Although just a guess, I wouldn't put it behind me that my friend's extraordinary high intelligence, his office career and middle class English background each played a role in personal absolution from teasing or verbal assault. Unlike me, as already shared in a previous blog,* the verbal and vitriolic bullying whilst serving as a volunteer in Israel during 1994 was the nadir of rejection, ridicule and assault - an experience my highly intelligent friend would not have suffered had he been where I was at that time. However, my time in Israel was by no means a unique experience. I was teased by two other young women, especially during my mid to late twenties, and in my previous church. Indeed, exactly like in Israel, this verbal assault came from those who professed to be Christians, and one was influenced by the other.

Whether those two were Christians remains debatable. One eventually married, but not long afterwards, they divorced. The other left our church after such a short time and was never seen again. But even to this day, a couple of young married women from our church seem to feel uncomfortable in my presence, as if my tone of voice, caused by AS, is something of an embarrassment to them. Fortunately, I'm far more acceptable by other men, and particularly by the students. And talking about the students - as one who scroll through Facebook on a frequent basis, they often appear photographed in suits and ties, even bow ties for the men and evening dress for the women. Not only as if having an obsession with middle class status, but from a very different planet to the one I grew up on.

If only they realise how fortunate they are! Out of school into college - sorry, university - and then into some high-flying office career with a respectable income. Quite unlike me back in 1968. The year I left school on a Friday and started work in a family-owned furniture factory soon after. And my first task? Yes, picking up the broom handle. And not allowed to forget that I was at the bottom rung of the ladder, the small fry, the lowest of the pecking order, and I was treated as such as I pushed the broom across the floor. Such lowness none of the students at our church will ever be unfortunate enough to experience or even suffer.

No posing outside college in suits and ties for me as a teenager, no evening ballroom entertainment or posh dinners with close friends. And with a self-worth which is close to zero, if not already there. The temptation for suicide came and went but fortunately with conversion towards the end of 1972, such temptations faded and I began to see everything in a new light. This included making good use of my single status instead of moaning about it. Rather, I turned it to my favour. With the experience of being a lowly dogsbody already under my belt and the mental toughness which grew out of it, I was able to fulfil my adolescent dreams with world travel, especially as a lone backpacker.

How our church students appear on Facebook - Stock photo.

However, self-worth seems to be in short supply whenever failure at school occur here in the UK. Television interviews relates well with young teenagers who fear for their future unless they pass their exams and get the grades. What amazes me is that unless they graduate and get their grades, there is absolutely no hope for their future. I can't help thinking: I left school with zilch, but half a century later I'm still here, and with a story or two to tell. According to statistics, in 2016 there were nearly 6,000 suicides committed here in the UK, 75% of these deaths were men, peaking at the age range of 40-44 years of age.** Could a lack of personal worthiness be the bottom cause of these statistics? When considering the numbers being roughly similar year in, year out, such events as a divorce notice posted by wives after their kids fly the nest, or loss of a job, or financial difficulties with debt piling sky-high, addiction to drugs, any of these could link to failure in life and a resulting loss of any self-worth.

Therefore it came as a surprise to me that what I had to share at our church's recent "open" meeting seemed to have uncovered hidden feelings among those listening. An open meeting is a Sunday service without the normal sermon, but instead anyone in the congregation can come to the front and share what God has given. The whole congregation always praising God with such positiveness each week and looking contented, I managed to stand at the front and lifted the lid on what was really going on on a day-to-day basis, away from the church building and away from all other Christians.

I shared on the struggle involved with caring for a physically disabled loved one. Sudden intense pains leading to the need to call the ambulance for a trip to hospital, where she is treated with Morphine and other strong painkillers before discharge and a taxi ride home, often in the small hours. These "downers" - as I call them, are imminent  - each one can occur suddenly at any moment. After watching my wife go down with severe pain whilst on a day trip to London on Easter Monday and ending up at a London hospital, I felt that our planned trip to France later this year on the Eurostar had to be cancelled, as we take the National Health service, which is free to all UK citizens at the point of use, for granted. In France, we may be landed with a bill of several thousand pounds for the same treatment. Also "living on a knife-edge" would spoil the enjoyment of any holiday.

Therefore I shared my failing faith, believing that God has let us down, and prayer was a waste of time and effort. After all, God had more important things to tend to. Why should he deviate from what he is doing just to fulfil our wishes? How worthless we really are! Why on earth should God be concerned about us? I then shared what Abraham, King David and the prophet Isaiah had each said about their own self-worth in comparison to God's glory.

These were three of the greatest men of God recorded in Scripture. Here they were, alive between four thousand and 2,700 years ago, and we not only know their names, their genealogy, and their jobs, but we also know what they said and what they got up to, along with their experiences in their lifetimes. Over thousands of years. Contrast this to deceased celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, David Bowie or Priscilla Black. I doubt that much will be known about them in fifty years from now, let alone what they actually said. And us commoners? Taking myself as an example, nobody would know of me less than half a century after my demise.

Abraham was considered a friend of God. But one day he found himself interceding for Sodom, because God was about to destroy that city along with its sister Gomorrah. As Abraham was pleading, he also felt that he was putting the Almighty's patience to the test, so he confessed that he is nothing more than dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27).

King David, who was still a Prince at the time, was being pursued by King Saul with his desire to take the young man's life. At one point David felt exasperated, asking a question: Who am I but a flea or a dead dog? (1 Samuel 24:14, 1 Samuel 26:20). I understand that the flea is the smallest living creature which can be seen with the naked eye - just. Furthermore, a dead dog left lying on the ground, and unless consumed by vultures and other scavengers, will eventually stink and become the food for maggots and other disgusting things. So much of his own self-worth before God!

The prophet Isaiah I consider another example. There he is standing at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, and the Almighty reveals himself to him, his glory filling the temple. Isaiah then cries out:
Woe is me. For I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and dwell among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty (Isaiah 6:5).

Along with the Apostle Paul, who wrote: For I know that in my flesh dwells no good thing...(Romans 7:18) - which corresponds well with the testimony of the other three witnesses. And before his conversion to Jesus Christ, Paul was an outstanding and dedicated Jewish scholar who also looked down upon all non-Jews and "sinners", yet his former religion is now considered as excrement compared to the glory of Christ living in him (Philippians 3:8).

This was the general trend I shared with Ascot Life Church during the open meeting. It must have had an impact. Before I returned to my seat, two men came up to me and started praying for me and my wife, and also praised God for my courage in revealing honesty, the truth of my spiritual heart condition. After the end of the service, one or two others came up to me and admitted that they often feel that way before God - that God has let them down or is too far away.

I am but dust and ashes. I am but a flea. And I have unclean lips. Without the Atonement made by Jesus Christ, these would be exactly a good description of myself as I stand before God. It is a dreadful truth but reality nevertheless. It's exactly the same as standing under the shadow of the Cross.

David Bowie (d. 2016) Would we still remember him after 50 years?

Under the shadow of the Cross, it no longer matters whether I voted for Brexit or to remain in the EU. Social class becomes irrelevant, as my occupation in relation to social status. All of these has lost all value or relevance. As with wealth. What use is it once we step off this planet? Or our high level of education. Would that add a single cubit to the afterlife? Like dry ash scattered by the breeze, a shrivelled leaf blown away by the wind, a dead dog's stinking corpse gradually eaten by maggots - what use is it campaigning for the sovereign of our country and the glory of England's future - if that what we really are before God?

Sometimes I question the wisdom of mankind - especially of my own countrymen. We sing for England's glory after Brexit, we also proclaim the salvation of our God through faith in Jesus Christ. But it seems, these are all cover ups of our own inadequacies, our lack of self-worth, regardless of what our education level or profession may be. Indeed, Sunday by Sunday, we may indeed hold our hands up in the air (but in reality we don't even do that - it's not British!) - but afterwards, when we are all alone at home or at work, we may ponder whether God is really with us, or are we after some ecstatic spiritual experience to boost ourselves up?

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*For a more detailed account of this experience in Israel, click here.
** Office of National Statistics.

Sex - So Controversial...

A long-standing friend and I stood at the window of a bar overlooking an indoor climbing gym. At that point he told me about a rebuke he received from a church elder on one of their evening meetings. As expected, it was over the issue of greeting each other with hugs instead of a stiff handshake. I asked him whether my name was mentioned. His answer was yes, the issue was between him and me. This particular case made it more of an annoying issue because I was not present to defend my case nor his, since these Sunday evening meetings were geared more for students and other people generally young enough to be my grandchildren.

In my annoyance I announced that all this began from a complaint made by the son of another one of our church members, and I told my friend directly that this young man, who is no longer with us, is in the closet. Hence all this palaver about such intimacy "spoiling the imagery of our church among unbelievers" and "to be to the likes all men" are so nonsensical and hypocritical. My friend defended his case by saying that hugging is the norm within African churches, as for some years he spent months doing missionary work, which included installing an electric power generator over a local stream, and making possible the building of a hospital. How the elder responded to such an answer I was not told.

The conversation continued about his own experience on how other college-age singletons had admitted to him about their struggles on sexual libido and fetishes when aroused by the appearance of someone of the same gender. His testimony backs my experience in encountering men who may appear godly and devoted to God on the outside but struggle secretly within when another good-looking fellow is in the same room. And too afraid or reluctant to share to others in case this may bring judgement, condemnation and possible feelings of rejection.

And my friend at the bar should know this well. There are some African nations with a Christian constitution where homosexuality is illegal and offenders can receive a death penalty. One good example is Uganda. On You-Tube, you can click on a video about a British presenter Scott Mills, himself openly gay, and investigating on why there is a high level of homophobia in Uganda along with such a fear of the death penalty. His findings has shown that the three main sources of homophobia were the churches, the Government, and politicians. Echoes of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas and its late radically homophobic pastor, Fred Phelps, who enjoyed displaying street placards condemning homosexuals to hell, along with the rest of the USA for tolerating it. With such hatred and with many cases of physical abuse, even murders, it's no surprise that even here in the UK, known for its easier and liberal stance on the matter, people are still too much afraid to leave their tightly-shut closets.

 Scott Mills rebuked by a homophobic church leader in Uganda 

And despite of all this, hugging is as natural as it can get in African churches. And as my friend knows it, we hug each other often. And he is a married man with two daughters, just as I too am married and fathered three daughters. And to add to this, it's often a case of him desiring a hug from me as well as me from him. And about a year ago there was a case of an African visitor, himself a married man with children, who after getting acquainted with me, gave me a prolonged rib-crushing embrace, which took place within view of the English church complainer whose son is a secret gay. Not surprisingly, after remarking about the reluctance among Brits to display such emotion, this black charismatic character soon left our church for another fellowship elsewhere. Without doubt, I guess he was firmly rebuked, which prompted him to leave. 

It is within me to hug other men in the church, whether they are married or single. However, I have a greater caution about hugging women, in case of offending, although there are some women I do hug. But these I know well enough not to take offence. Nevertheless, among countless man-to-man hugs over four decades, only one complained to the elders, which eventually led me to conclude that he is in the closet. And that is without ever suspecting his fetishes whilst he was still with us. And as I have already mentioned, he is by no means alone. There are a number of others found in churches whose libidos clashes with their Christian faith, and therefore struggle in their conflicts.

Yet I know where my elders are coming from. They'll be the first to quote Leviticus 20:13:-

If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them has done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Paul the apostle backs this up when he wrote to the Romans:-

Because of this (idolatry), God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations with unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty (STD? AIDS?) for their perversion.

Romans 1:26-27.

So hugging is condemned! Or is it? Is there a difference between greeting someone with a hug and a scene resembling this:-

Before (Lot and his two guests) had gone to bed, every man from every part of the city of Sodom - both young and old - surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them" (or, we may know them - KJV). 

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who had never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

"Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. But the men reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.

Genesis 19:4-10.

And so by hugging another man to greet him in church places me onto the same platform as these inhabitants of the city of Sodom, according to my elder's perception. Or for short, I can be classed as a sodomite! Incredulous. No, I don't believe this. Because even then there is a world of a difference between those Sodomites and these Christian believers who are struggling with their sexual orientation, their fetishes, and their libidos. And so the Christian singleton who totally abstains from any sexual contact even from his girlfriend or fiancee, he is praised by his colleagues as living a holy life, while at the same time his friend, who has a desire for another man standing nearby, is not only wondering whether he has ever been regenerated or not, but lives in fear of discovery and judgement. The snag is, the "spiritually pure" hetero who is engaged to be married and is perceived as living in godliness, is not necessarily free from a sudden rush of blood if he glances at another pretty female standing nearby.

And where heterosexuality is concerned, there has always this perception within churches that to cohabit outside marriage is wrong and sinful. No, I am not advocating cohabitation. But I am rather surprised, and somewhat relieved too, by not seeing a chaperone whenever a church member pairs off with a girlfriend and start to deepen their relationship. Am I being cynical here? In the church I attended between 1975 and 1990, there was a deacon who was a self-appointed chaperone and always interfered whenever a young man, normally a graduate, gets friendly with a similarly aged female. Fortunately for Alex and myself, there was no chaperone to interfere with us before we married, since this was long after I left that church. Therefore we did cohabit for a few months before we married, including having sex. When a member of my former church - who was chaperoned along with his future partner before they were married - found out about us living together without a wedding ring on our fingers, he got quite cross about it.

He began to lecture me about sex being reserved for married couples only. He then blushed as he attempted to splutter out the second chapter of Genesis. As he was blushing, I could almost see the accusing finger of God pointing at him rather than at me. The reason for this was simple. He was, and still is, a staunch evolutionist, and therefore denied the historicity of pre-Abrahamic Scriptures and in effect calling God a liar. Little wonder if I were to say to any unchurched:- Cohabitation without getting married is against my religion - I would put anyone off seeking faith in God, and be a slippery path towards atheism.

The way I see it, this is rather a delicate subject. Especially when I read things in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. For example, Abraham slept with at least one woman aside his own wife Sarah. He slept with Hagar, who gave birth to Ishmael. Then his grandson Jacob was a bigamist, for he married both Leah and Rachel within a week of each other. And I doubt whether any church at present would endorse bigamy. Then there is the case of King David. And here I read something of specific interest. Yes, we all agree that David sinned against God when he slept with Bathsheba, because she was the wife of another man, Uriah the Hittite, a soldier for Israel who was very loyal to David. But what Nathan had to say in judgement to the King I find interesting:-

This is what the Lord the God of Israel, says:

"I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this has been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord  by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own.

2 Samuel 12:7-10.  

The issue here is that God gave Saul's wives and concubines to David. So apparently David did not sin against God when he slept with all these women. Instead, this was in keeping with Middle Eastern culture and tradition - for a king or rich aristocrat to have a harem of concubines. King David had ten concubines, according to 2 Samuel 15:16 and 20:3. This was perfectly normal. In fact, Jesus himself used the same Middle Eastern custom in his Parable of the Ten Virgins to illustrate the Kingdom of God (Matthew 25:1-13). They were all virgins. Five were wise, five foolish. When the king arrived, he took in the five who were readily available to form his son's harem. They were distinguished from the son's actual bride, the king's legal daughter in law.

So with all I can perceive, it is sinful to lie with another man's wife. And this applies to divorce, about which Jesus says that anyone who marries a divorcee commits adultery (Luke 16:18). Apparently, as God sees it, a divorcee is still married to the former spouse. So according to Jesus' words, to marry someone divorced is to commit adultery. And becomes even worse than that. All the guy has to do is look at a woman lustfully and his has committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28). I suppose this could apply to someone who has a fetish for someone of the same gender:- I say to you, if any man looks lustfully at another man, he has committed sodomy with him in his heart already. Little wonder any Christian with this problem struggles and often falls away.

And this whole matter seems grossly unfair. A man looks at a woman with lust and he is condemned, even if he does nothing to her. Then we read of David having ten concubines, any one of them welcomed to his bed. Or how about David's son Solomon, perhaps the most wise king throughout all history. Not only had he impressed the Queen of Sheba with his wisdom but managed to get a thousand wives and concubines into his bed! That is one woman each night for three years (1 Kings 11:1-4). It is worth noting here that Solomon married and slept with foreign women, those who were not of Israel. Solomon's sin was allowing himself to be led astray into idolatry. If he had kept his harem within the realm of Israeli women, more likely he would have stayed true to God, and the splitting of the nation between Israel and Judah which followed his death might have been avoided.

It's so messy, coming to think of it. So controversial. Here is Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon sleeping around rather freely. Even Jesus used the harem in one of his parables. Then come to the present, and we see the church judging any believer or member having sex outside of marriage. Really, as one of the guilty party myself, where do I stand?

And it's here where the Gospel comes in. Gospel simply means Good News. Very good news indeed. Because as Paul also wrote to the church in Rome, all one has to do is believe in his heart that God raised Jesus physically from the dead and confess him as the Messiah, the Son of God, and he will be saved (Romans 10:9-13). This is the promise of God, that his salvation is open to all believers, regardless of his background or what he has done. Whether a married man faithful to his wife or a pimp with prostitutes or a homosexual out on a cruise - salvation is open to all.

Open to all who believes in his heart the Resurrection of Jesus. He who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God - 1 John 5:1. The Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth regenerates the heart, the threefold revelation brings new desires, which includes a new spirit which cannot sin, and the ability to turn away known sin. But not out of compulsion or legalism. Nor for the fear of punishment. Rather, by the gradual replacement of old, sinful desires with good, God-honouring wishes. The work of grace. 

A Source for Assurance...

As we all have to endure the daily stresses of life, I believe that the majority of the Western population takes for granted that the human world will continue for years, decades, centuries, even millennia of years to come. And so we see ourselves evolving on a gradual upward spiral towards a kind of godhood or divinity, probably not much unlike the Karma of Buddhism or Hinduism where by means of many, many incarnations, one will eventually reach a divine realm of Nirvana. Except that whilst Nirvana may be some heavenly realm of the Blessed, the divinity reached by a typical Westerner remains firmly on the ground through by means of Science and Knowledge.

And so science continues to accelerate. Who would ever believed, merely thirty years ago, that I could send a message electronically to someone living halfway round the world, and the message would be received in an instant, therefore eliminating a trip to the Post Office to buy a stamp for the seven-day journey for my letter to reach its destination. And even then, believing that it would take a week for the letter to reach Australia from the United Kingdom was rather optimistic. Anything could have arisen on its long journey to have caused delays to its arrival. Not so with email. And just as an insight to our present teenagers: Yes, those red cylindrical pillars with an elongated rectangular slot, cemented into the ground at the High Street or shopping mall, is a letterbox, where letters are posted for the start of their "snail pace" journey to their recipients, whether just a block away or as far away from the UK as New Zealand.  

Email has eliminated much of this, and as a result there were talks of the Post Office going out of business, if it wasn't for the massive rise in both domestic and commercial parcel deliveries, which are made by orders carried out through none other than the Internet. But then again, I remember a time when receiving mail from distant relatives was always something of anticipation. Nothing was more exhilarating for my mother, for example, than to receive that unique envelope with its characteristic green and red striped edge, and then sitting down to enjoy a good read of the ballpoint pen script, handwritten by her parents living in Italy. And then afterwards, having written a response, off she went to post her letter at the local red letterbox, which back then involved some walking.

With the advance of instant communication, I find it sad that such nostalgic simplicity of letter-writing, along with the extra effort required to post it, is now confined to the past, leaving any post arriving at my door arousing anxiety for that dreaded brown envelope which within formal typewritten contents on a single sheet reminding me of a payment now due. But the advance of Science is not all about reminiscence, or the nostalgic simplicity of the past. Rather, it's due to the advance of scientific knowledge which enabled a team of surgeons to literally save my life when I had to submit myself for a major cardiac operation two years ago. And it is amazing that a regular taking of prescribed medicine can allow a patient such as myself to live normally, free of any symptoms. No doubt, I'm so glad that we are living in an age when Science has made our lives immeasurably easier. But there is always the tail side to the coin. Fears of a nuclear holocaust, developed by advanced science, wiping out the whole of mankind to extinction seemed to have aroused anxiety among a large percentage of the population.

Hence the rise of Pseudoscience, which began to make a prominence during the sixties and seventies. This followed the 1962 Cuba Crisis when both the USA and the USSR were a hair's breath from nuking each other, which would have posed a threat of virtually wiping out all human civilisation. This threat over Cuba took place some seven years into the American involvement of the Vietnam War, which was to continue into 1975. With mainstream scientists communicating mainly among themselves, including those in the field of Archaeology, the average man in the street was left wide open for unscrupulous writers, such as Erich Von Daniken, making a mint in writing popular science books intended to attract the public's attention and refute mainstream archaeology. Although Von Daniken had written several books on related subjects, his most famous was Chariots of the Gods? which scored quite a hit in university campuses, as well as in High Street bookshops. The book advocated an alternate theory explaining the existence of various ancient artefacts found around the world of having extraterrestrial origins rather than being the work of humans. This, according to Von Daniken, is the result of ancient astronauts visiting our planet around 40,000 years ago, and along with leaving behind such tell-tale artefacts. It is also thought that these ancient spacemen even tinkered with the genome of some primates, giving evolution a boost towards the rise of Homo Sapiens. The high reception of the book by undergraduates (I guess mainly in the USA) as well as the general public, indicates the need to save us from ourselves as we make a headlong journey towards a global nuclear catastrophe.

Prehistoric rock painting, Tassili - Ancient astronaut?

The Palenque "Astronaut" Mexico, according to Von Daniken

Despite its popularity, such books - and there were quite a number on closely similar themes by different authors - were dismissed as nonsense by mainstream scientists, even to the point of totally ignoring them in their research of their particular disciplines. But the snag was that by the mid 1970's, I was beginning to accept this pseudoscience as proper science and history. And yes, it is possible as a committed Christian believer to swallow pseudoscience as historical fact. For example, concerning the giant statues of Easter Island, in a documentary broadcast some years ago, the BBC has even listed Von Daniken's theory of extraterrestrial origins alongside that of mainstream archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl, who was a specialist on those statues.  

And so as I read this morning's issue of the Daily Mail newspaper, I came across a major article which could be considered as related to Von Daniken's idea, the only difference being that instead of the rise of the Homo Sapiens, this is about when the world may be destroyed by an asteroid impact, as the Earth is due to pass through the Taurid meteor stream around the year 2030. So according to eccentric archaeologist Graham Hancock, a highly advanced civilisation was destroyed by a mini Ice Age following a comet impact around 13,000 years ago. After discovering an ancient site in Turkey, he wrote a book Magicians of the Gods, based on his findings at Gobekli Tepe, which featured limestone pillars bearing ancient carvings of this bygone catastrophe.

A Pillar at Gobekli Tepe.

And this stream of future world catastrophes come and go. From Erich Von Daniken's need for advanced space gods to save us from ourselves, to Graham Hancock's warning from the ancient past that as our planet is due to pass through a meteor belt, to Jehovah's Witnesses and their prophecies with movable dates on the global Battle of Armageddon sent by God to wipe out all civilisation not affiliated with the Watchtower Society. Then not to mention the more realistic extinction of mankind by a global pandemic of a virus or bacteria totally immune to antibiotics. Or for that matter, a nuclear holocaust, perhaps between the USA and North Korea, including a strike at the UK, wiping us all out.

Local disasters? Yes, as living in a fallen world, local catastrophes are part and parcel of everyday life. But something that would annihilate the entire human species? Definitely not! Because the Bible itself reassures us that for a specific reason, such a worldwide annihilation will never occur. And that despite that most mainstream scientists who debunk pseudoscience also debunk the historicity of Divine Creation and the Global Flood of Noah's day. So what is this important reason that I find absolutely reassuring?

It is God's covenant with Israel. In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, we read such wonderful words as these:

And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

Thus saith the LORD; If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and there should not be day and night in their season;

Then also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

And as the hosts of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea be measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister to me...

Thus saith the Lord; If my covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

Then I will cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Jeremiah 33:19-22, 25-26 AV.

Here is the cast-iron promise - God's covenant with the people of Israel. As long as Israel exists, there will never be a worldwide annihilation of all mankind. In fact, there seems to be that the throne of David will be restored in the future, with his son sitting on it to reign. This person cannot be Solomon or any of his past descendants, for this was written after the collapse of the kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, in 586 BC. Then after seventy years, the Jews returned to their land to rebuild Jerusalem under the authority of governors Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah. Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, who was a descendent of David and Solomon, but he was no longer the king of Israel or Judah. Neither was Zerubbabel, nor any of his descendants right down to Joseph husband of Mary. Therefore the promised son of David yet to reign in Jerusalem must be none other than  the risen Jesus Christ himself.   

Jesus Christ reigning on David's throne in Jerusalem! This is the same Lord who was crucified to atone for the sins of the world, was buried, and on the third day risen from the dead, physically - the first person in the whole of history to do so. When his reign begins, the whole planet will be transformed into a paradise, which is the restoration of the Garden of Eden, only this time it will be global. On top of this, according to Isaiah 30:26, the sunlight will be seven times brighter than at present. This will bring physical healing to all, and will also intensify the joy of everyone alive. It will be a far cry from the possibility of total annihilation of the human race. 

I can rest in these promises as every Christian believer can as well. These promises brings wonderful assurance that God is sovereign, and if sovereign then his omniscience also. It is these characteristics of God which allows me to believe in Once Saved Always Saved. 

Let all mainstream scientists debunk the historicity of the Bible, especially the early chapters of Genesis. But the Bible will endure, with all truth and historicity intact. It is like an anvil. It is solid and stable. When struck by a hammer, it it is the hammer that will break, not the anvil itself. Likewise these unbelieving academics will also break eventually if they continue to push away the Bible.