Unto Us A Child Is Born...

As I sat at Starbucks this Saturday morning, with my weekly dose of Cappucino Grande having now developed into a tradition of its own, I just had to break into a smile while as I read The Daily Mail newspaper sprawled out in front of me with the page edges overhanging the rather small circular table. Smiling at such promises of "...restoration of our institutions to their right places as instruments of self-governance...and to open up oceans of opportunity...as one invigorated nation, one United Kingdom filled with renewed confidence in our national destiny and determined, at last, to take advantage of the opportunities that now lie before us..." - all to happen after Brexit.

And on the same spread, without having to turn over the page, was an article with a headline which read,

Council Tax bills to rise by £70.

So this is the start of this utopian "oceans of opportunities as one invigorated nation" post-Brexit! Not much fun for low-income earners after all.

Wait! This blog was originally meant to be non-political. After all, it's Christmas. Surely, there are other things I can smile about - things that are far grander, far more glorious than the apparent contradictory news.

For many families, Christmas is a time of enforced joy, according to one newspaper journalist who wrote to The Sun, more than a couple of decades earlier. That's rather different from the amusement I felt while sitting at Starbucks. Here, I was genuinely amused. But on Christmas Day, there are always those niggling bits, such as the unwrapping of brightly-coloured paper to reveal an unwanted present and the utterance of Oh, that's what I always wanted, with a pretence which might have impressed Hollywood. 

Children squeal with delight at their newly-unwrapped powered toys, until, that is, realising that Father Christmas had forgotten to include the batteries. Mums are busy in the kitchen, monitoring the slow cooking of the turkey while preparing the roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts. And this despite Mum has already foreseen that this little green vegetable will be the bane of the children, who will be kicking up a fuss over them, and their tearful protests will dampen the joyful atmosphere the festivity is meant to create. Yet to boil up the sprouts is essential for Christmas dinner, simply because it's traditional. Christmas without sprouts? That's unheard of.

In the afternoon, a quarrel could well erupt among the extended family members as Dad and his visiting older brother will avoid the mountain of dishwashing, leaving the task to the already stressed-out Mum, even with Auntie's help, while the grown-up brothers either relax in the armchair and smoke their Havana cigars, filling the room with that aroma - characteristic of Christmas - or with their teenage sons, engage in the board game of Monopoly, where sedate men metamorph into ravenous property-owning monsters whose hotel on Park Lane and Mayfair will guarantee a wipeout of all the teenagers' assets, money and property alike until Uncle has bankrupted all his opponents, Dad included.

Then by nightfall, it's all over. It's rather like a firework. It's made in a faraway factory, then shipped to the store and eventually purchased by the customer, who may store it away for weeks on end until that one evening, Bonfire Night, when the firework is at last lit, only to brighten the dark sky for just a few seconds before ending up as a burnt-out shell, ready for the trash can. Christmas follows the same pattern as the firework. After weeks, maybe even months of preparation (eg, gift purchasing) it's all over after just a day. As for me, it can feel like an anticlimax.

At least not for the children, who would play with their presents for days, weeks or even months until the novelty has worn off. If Mum is lucky enough, Dad might wear that tie she bought for him, at work in the office, at least for a while anyway. Else, I wonder how many ties received at Christmas across the nation, end up forgotten in the bedroom wardrobe, never having seen a shirt collar?

This long wait for a sudden, momentary spark seems to be what the Old Testament of the Bible looks to resemble. For example, around 700 years before the birth of Christ, a prophet wrote:

Even the Lord will give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and he shall be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14.)

It's indeed a very long wait - 700 years for an event which probably took no more than a couple of hours, including the start of labour pains following the breaking of the waters. Or even less than an hour altogether. Indeed, giving birth to the Son of God might have been very quick. The Bible doesn't tell us how long the birthing process took. But God took up to 4,000 years to accomplish it! That is, from the Promise delivered immediately after the Fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) to the moment of conception and birth of Jesus Christ.

But there is a massive difference between the preparation for Christmas (or Bonfire Night) and the preparation for the Virgin Birth. While the first two are annual events which don't change anything except for a short time of euphoria, the long-anticipated birth of the Messiah changes the eternity of all believers, both alive during Old Testament times and in the New, along with the fate of all Creation itself. And that includes the fate of all the stars and galaxies in the Universe. I find it amazing that the entire Universe, made on the fourth day of Creation Week, will be affected by the birth of a baby boy in an insignificant Judaean village of Bethlehem. 

It is the birth of this man-child which will turn death into life, mourning into joy, enmity into friendship. This baby will result in the atonement for sin, the Resurrection from the dead, and the final defeat of the Devil. This birth will bring about the glorious marriage of the Bride, which is the Church, to her beloved Groom. I would venture to say that in the past there were three great redemptive events ever to have taken place in history - the Nativity, the Death and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As for the Second Advent, this is still future and therefore not yet recorded in history, except having been foretold in prophecy.

Somewhere in eternity past, before Creation of any kind, the three Persons of one Almighty God were having a discussion among themselves. God the Father asked,

Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?

To which God the Son answered,

Here am I, I will go. Send me.

To which all three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rejoiced greatly in full agreement.

And therefore, God the Son, having the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (Philippians 2:7) - and chose to be born in a stable rather than in a palace. It is because of this birth having taken place in a stable and not in a palace, that Almighty God, this incarnated Second Person of the Trinity, had the most humble of beginnings.

Eight days after he was born, and keeping with the law delivered to Abraham and to all his descendants, this baby let out a scream the moment his foreskin went under the knife, as circumcision had to be carried out on all Jewish boys. This Jesus, this Son of God, had become familiar with physical pain right from the start of his life as part-fulfilment of the prophecy written by Isaiah:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed.

Isaiah 53:4-5.

Of course, this prophecy was fulfilled at the Crucifixion, but I venture to say that the pain he had to go through as an eight-day-old infant was part of that fulfilment, as he was without sin, and therefore, during that heavenly council during eternity past, it was agreed that he gave himself to be circumcised to fulfil all righteousness.

It's because this child was born in a stable and then placed in a feeding trough that we as believers are able, through his death and Resurrection, to have the righteousness of Christ imputed into our souls. It's this Nativity marking the beginning of the New Covenant, the Covenant of grace ratified, even though every Old Testament saint was saved by grace, as with Abraham, having the righteousness of Christ imputed into their accounts. There is no other way. It's impossible to work for salvation since we are all tainted with sin. And if salvation can be lost or forfeited, as some Christians believe and teach, then it would be utterly impossible for any believer to enter Heaven, for the Law is already transgressed at the slightest stumble, according to James 2:10.

So special was his birth that he was, and will be, the fulfilment of another piece of Scripture, which reads:

Unto us a child is born, unto us, a son is given: and the government will be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, the mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7.

With the angel announcing to the shepherds that to them this day a child is born, who is Christ the Lord, (Luke 2:11) - this leaves no doubt that at his birth, this baby is already the Christ, the Jewish Messiah. 

Putting it all together, Christmas is a very special holiday for us, it should be celebrated with joy and thanksgiving, and it should not be compromised, such as referring to it as Winter Holiday or anything similar in order not to offend Muslims or of any other faith. Christmas is about the birth of Christ. Christmas is also about Easter, for the primary purpose of his birth was to die to atone for our sins and to defeat death by His bodily Resurrection.

The birth of Jesus Christ is about the birth of a new Government, which will come into power at his Second Advent. So perfect this Government will be, where peace, longevity and perfect health will be the hallmarks no present Government could ever deliver, regardless who resides at #10 Downing Street.

On behalf of my beloved wife, Alex and I wish you all a very merry Christmas. May God bless you richly in the week to come. 

A Controversial Prayer...

A Typical Saturday morning, sitting alone at a Starbucks Coffee table with a newspaper spread out in front, concentrating on an article, when I heard a hello from almost directly above. Looking up, I recognised one of my newly-made friends as he took a seat on the opposite side of the next table but still facing me.

The actual Starbucks where I frequent.

He was one of a group of athletes who calls at the same coffee bar after their morning park run. I have known this chap for several months, as he often makes the call here with his mates after his exercise. Presently his mate joined and being just the two of them this week (it's often as many as four) the three of us started talking. After various topics, including political issues, it was the second guy sitting directly opposite me who turned to spiritual things, stating his belief in reincarnation after death, and his Buddhist belief that many reincarnations have to occur before he can be free to enter Nirvana, their version of Heaven - even though he didn't admit to being a Buddhist himself.

To this, I made my faith in Jesus Christ known, although I'm sure that I might have said something about this some time ago. After saying the obvious, which was that there isn't a human in all the Earth who had managed to free himself after repeated incarnations. I then emphasised that this Jesus Christ is the only man ever to rise physically from the dead, there has never been anyone else to make such an achievement, and certainly by no other religious leader or founder.

I then quoted Scripture, John 14:6, and actually said,

"It was Jesus Christ who once said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can come to the Father except through me. Jesus himself said that, not me. Jesus emphasised that the only way to God is through faith in Jesus."

I then continued:

"Jesus himself had said that he is the only way to God. Either he is telling the truth or he was lying. Believe me, if Jesus had lied, then how can I trust him?"

I was taken back by his response. Why - I never saw it this way before.

Did I plant a seed into his heart that morning? If I did, then I long for someone to come along and water it, because only God could cause the seed to actually germinate and grow.

It looks to me that this is the crux of the matter, a heart belief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ which leads to salvation, together with an oral confession that if he rose physically from the dead - and the only man in all of history to do so - then he must be Lord, and Lord in a sense that he is God and the Anointed One rather than mere employer, so Paul writes in Romans 10:9-10. John backs this up by writing that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God...(1 John 5:1).

I find John's statement at the beginning of his fifth chapter intriguing. Linking this to Paul's statement in his letter to the Romans, it looks to all the world that his physical Resurrection took place because he is the Christ, the Anointed One, his rising from the dead being proof of the reality. What I have also found intriguing was that when Paul wrote those two verses to the church in Rome, the apostle didn't mention anything about the Atonement for sin having been made by dying on the cross, nor his burial either, but all emphasis on his Resurrection. By believing in the heart the truth of his rising from the dead and orally acknowledging this fact is enough for salvation. 

This is what repentance is all about. Paul tells us that God wants all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). Peter backs him up when he also writes that God is very patient, not wanting anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). The New Testament Greek for Repent is Metaneo, a change of mind. A change of mind from thinking that this Jesus of Nazareth is some imposter or merely a Jewish teacher, to believe that he is the Christ, the Messiah by rising physically from the grave. It's so straightforward and simple. Such simplicity is the grace of God needed by every person who is otherwise completely helpless in any attempt in reconciling himself to God, his own works being ineffective. 

As such, the evening before the morning meet at Starbucks, a Christian bulletin had dropped through our front door. Titled, Good News, and looking to be a free paper which dropped through all the homes in our estate. Inside was a testimony of one ex-paratrooper who cried out, Please God, No! as his parachute failed to open during one training session. Fortunately, his stand-by 'chute opened in time to give him a landing soft enough to not only save his life but also escape from serious injury. Afterwards, he believed and asked Christ to come into his heart and life. Now he is a church leader, when before he was an agnostic, if not an atheist, believing that all churches were weird.

Parachute fails. The participant was saved by the second 'chute.

Reading this has taken me back to that pub just off the Strand in London, on one wet December Saturday in 1972. After buying a couple of young guys a drink each, I was shown a Bible. Afterwards, I was exhorted to "invite Jesus into my heart" - sometimes known as "the sinner's prayer". It was taken from Revelation 3:20 which reads,

Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come into him and sup with him, and he with me.

For many years afterwards, I have used this verse to back the idea of asking Jesus into the heart as the de-facto, one-fits-all requirement for one to be saved, even believing that one cannot be saved without first saying this prayer. However, it does have a beautiful illustration. Even back at that pub, when I first read this verse, I was able to picture Jesus sitting on one side of the table, and myself on the other, very much like that fellow and myself at Starbucks.

It was thanking God for my good friend Dr Andrew Milnthorpe, who invited me to Encounter, the midweek lunchtime meeting at the Kerith Centre when a preach about sitting at a table with the Lord was emphasised. It was actually a video recording of an American preacher who even had a table laid among his audience as a visual demonstration. The sermon was based on Psalm 23:5, where David was promised to eat at a table with God himself even amid his enemies.

The parallel between Psalm 23:5 and Revelation 3:20, I find remarkable. Maybe that may be why, since way back in 1975, I was told that Revelation 3:20 applied only to believers and not to unbelievers. Even to this day, more than forty years later, this application of the verse for unbelievers to repent is denied by our Elders. They all may have a point. But I prefer to leave the option open as an invitation for unbelievers to repent. After all, if Jesus is a friend of sinners, then how much more would he be willing to dine with anyone willing to invite him in? Therefore, although the prayer to "ask Jesus into the heart" is so controversial, really it shouldn't be. Instead, such a prayer should be a demonstration of the faith of a new believer, which God seems to readily accept, according to the testimony of the paratrooper among many others over the years, myself included.

As for the video at the Encounter meeting, indeed it was about dining at a table set up by the Lord himself amid his enemies. Being from an American preacher, while I was watching, I tended to wonder whether he would close his sermon with an appeal for funds to pay for the hire of the auditorium or to promote some other sales tat, I would never know for sure. He might have done, which, in this case, was carefully edited out, or maybe not at all, which would have come as something of a surprise by us Brits, who tend to visualise American "televangelists" as natural-born salesmen.

But I was taken in by what he preached. The Lord sets up a table to dine among enemies. And as expected, the chief of all enemies takes his place at the table, sitting between the Lord and the believer. One of the enemy's tactics to the believer is that love and hospitality has a tag to it. And that tag is somehow is that works have got to be performed to keep this love secure, hence even subconsciously, doubting the Lord's sincerity. Or it could be something else, such as the illness or even the death of a loved one. Even the word cancer was mentioned in his preach. This hits home. My wife is going through treatment for cancer, and to see her in such a condition can be very upsetting. Indeed, I have had Christians asking how I cope in such situations.

The sermon provided the answer which was a confirmation of what I believed for a long time, to give thanks to God in all situations. Note that I didn't say for all situations. There is a big difference. To give thanks to God in a present situation is to acknowledge the greatness and the goodness of God, who is willing to dine with an undeserving sinner. Being human, there are plenty of times when I just don't want to praise God, especially if my wife is languishing in a hospital. But I also realise that by giving thanks to God in all things does open the door to praise.

The same applies to not knowing what to pray for, or as in my case, to doubt the reality of answered prayer. The sort of prayer asking for my wife to be restored to perfect health as a slim athlete I once married. But I have come to realise that such a desire remains unfulfilled, and not only that, witness the development of cancer, together with more hospital appointments. It can be a cause for discouragement, to give up on prayer altogether.

But instead, I give thanks to God for all the good things we have. First and foremost, we have each other. I always thank God for that. Then everything else follows - financial security, a roof to keep the rain out, adequate clothing and no lack of food. And even for the niceties surrounding us, items which are not life-essential but enhances our way of life. And most important of all, easy access to a Bible and our salvation. These are all to be thankful for.

It's perfectly true that when John wrote those first three chapters of Revelation, he was addressing seven churches, most likely he knew all of them. They were all believers, even though five of the seven churches had to be rebuked by the risen Christ. Then he ends by saying whoever overcomes shall not see death but will sit with him in Heaven, although each church gets a slightly different version, one appropriate for each church. Who is it who overcomes? According to Romans 8:37, which says that every believer is more than a conquerer which in itself is higher than a mere overcomer, therefore an overcomer is one who has invited Christ in to dine with him. In other words, the true believer is already an overcomer, because it's not the believer who overcomes but Christ himself who already overcame, as he finally admits in Revelation 3:21. 

What Lies Behind My Convictions?

Every Saturday morning I can be seen sitting at a corner table at Starbucks. Corner table because that's the one next to a large, double-glazed window, therefore maximising the illumination. And that can be quite helpful when considering that spread out in front of me is the latest edition of the Daily Mail national newspaper. Not that I am able to get to that particular table all the time. From time to time I'm beaten by a regular elderly gentleman with a laptop. Perhaps whenever he beats me to it or not depends on whether he has remembered to set his alarm clock the night before. Who knows? After all, I usually arrive at or just before nine o'clock, when the queuing up for the counter service is at its minimal.

But this morning, not only that the table was vacant, but the whole restaurant was just about deserted. Therefore I was served at the point of entry, a very unusual feat! But it was afterwards when families began to queue up at the counter that the environment began to bustle with life. And that includes very young children, including a newborn directly in front of me. And I could not help but feel for this baby girl, the way she was dressed, or at least, her headwear. For her white woollen cap was decorated with two rather large fluffy pom-poms, giving the poor child a ridiculous appearance of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse. Oh dear. The choices some parents make!

Then another family sat just two tables from where I was sitting. Dark skinned, this baby boy in a pram, I estimate to be up to a year old, kept on looking at me as I turned and smiled, bringing laughter to both of his parents. By then the restaurant became rather crowded, with the queue snaking into the Sainsburys superstore, to which Starbucks is annexed.

But rather than continually reading the paper, I looked upon these children. And this led me to reason within myself: Why do I believe the way I do? And why do I push my opinions at an intensity which one can consider as forceful? My anti-Darwin views and emphasis in Creation, for example?

Perhaps I need to go back to the Gospel. When Adam and Eve disobeyed a simple commandment God has given to them in the garden, their sin meant that I was born with a serious problem. Just as on that day they both died spiritually, followed by a physical death, so I too, was born with this inherited sin, already dead spiritually, and I still am destined for the grave. But in his love for us, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, also known as the Second Adam, to suffer a horrible death on the cross to atone for my transgressions, he was buried, and on the third day, he rose physically from the dead. His Resurrection proved not only that He is the Son of God, but able to give eternal life to all who believe.

When I first believed, I was not only forgiven but was actually acquitted, or justified, and the righteousness of Christ was imputed or credited, to my account. Therefore, God the righteous Judge not only sees me as one merely forgiven but also sees me in the way he sees his only Son, Jesus Christ - absolutely righteous and fit for Heaven! That is the truth - I am now a son of God. But because while I'm still at this side of the grave and therefore remaining subject to sin, as a son I'm also a recipient of God's discipline, as forewarned in the 12th chapter of Hebrews. 

Oh, the wonders of Salvation! After God foreknew, he predestined, then called me to conform to his Son, to receive glory at some future date, known only by God himself. Furthermore, because of the dreadful suffering Jesus had to go through whilst on the cross, I am a gift, or reward from the Father to the Son, as specified in John chapter 17. Therefore, because I don't believe that the omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God is capable of erring, I can be assured that once saved, I will always be saved. Eternal Security is one of the bulwarks to withstand any of life's trials.

All this is due to the fact that, unlike the first Adam, the second Adam spent more than thirty years on this planet as a man - without committing a single sin. Therefore, if the Son of God went through life without a single sin committed, and God sees me as he sees his Son, then it stands to reason that he sees me as without sin either. Very hard to believe? Indeed, especially when I look upon day-to-day life, riddled with imperfection. Such as not showing enough love or charity to those who may be in need of it, or to do good things but with the wrong motives. Or to get my own way to the cost of another person. Waiting in the queue for what seems to be such an unnecessarily long time has tested my patience many times before now. Maybe I can thank God that I don't drive a car or any other motorised vehicle. What I have seen, the driver's seat can be a hotbed for foul tempers!

Yes, of course, God wants me to live a holy life on a day-to-day basis. How I live as a Christian believer is very important to God. It is the only way that he can be glorified. And the glory of God is other people repenting, changing their minds, and turning to Christ for salvation. Jesus instructed to let our light shine before men, so that they may see what we do and glorify the Father (Matthew 5:16). As Paul later wrote, we are to shine like stars in heaven for the benefit of other men (Philippians 2:12-16). By living to please God, unbelievers are more likely to take note and change their minds about Jesus Christ.

However, the fact stands that I am a son of God, adopted into his family. What a wonderful state to be in. But for this to be real, a belief in six literal days of Creation, along with the reality of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as history is absolutely essential to my faith in Jesus. The accepting as history our first parents, their supernatural creation from the soil of the ground, their disobedience and Fall, the Flood of Noah some 1,656 years after Creation, are all as important and historic as the call of Abraham, the nation of Israel, and King David, who was the ancestor of Jesus Christ himself.

There was a time that I was a devout evolutionist. I certainly was one during my teenage years. Then at age twenty, it was as if God himself was standing in front of me during one stormy night at my parent's house. He gave me a choice. Keeping my belief in evolution? Or change my mind and accept his revelation of his divine Creation? After reading the first three chapters of Genesis for the first time ever, I knew whose side I was on.

Creationism has ever since been the bedrock on which my faith in Christ rested upon. Creationism is a rock, evolution is sand. And it is a crying shame that all unbelievers had built their faith on the sand, and not only unbelievers but Christian graduates had also based their faith on the sand, that is to say, Theistic Evolution, the "halfway house" with which God gave me no option for me to indulge in. It was one or the other. There was no third way.

A bedrock of my faith - Grand Canyon Hike, taken 1995

Therefore going back to Starbucks. As I sat at that corner table, watching young children with their parents, I was thinking on what will they learn as they grow up. Too bad, evolution will be presented to them as a scientific fact. If Creationism is mentioned in the classroom, then it will be relegated as one of many mythologies that makes up classic literature. But it would not be taught as historic.

This would have dire repercussions. Because, when I see children, I don't ponder on their potential level of education. Nor do I wonder which career they will want to pursue. Instead, I ponder on whether they will know Jesus Christ personally and spend eternity in God's Kingdom. I don't want to think of the alternative - a lost eternity. But that is what Darwin's theory does. It puts a wedge between the person and knowing God. Evolution does lead to atheism. It would not bring such a person to Christ. Unless, as it was the case with me, the light of God's grace had pierced the veil, and illuminated my heart enough for the need to repudiate evolution.

My late father was an evolutionist, and he was also a self-confessed agnostic. After rebuking me to come to my senses (ie to return to Darwinism) and failed, I think he had a sense of embarrassment while he was with his friends. There were times when I prayed for this nominal Catholic, but with no avail. The day I attended his funeral was a day without much hope and a temporal loss of a belief in the power of prayer. Now my mother, who is approaching ninety, has severe dementia and in need of daily care. After spending years in prayer and "attempting to convert her" I watched as she remained steadfastly loyal to her Catholic religion, after making a promise to her mother in Italy never to change religion, immediately before emigrating to London around 1950. 

Sure enough, during her later years, and especially during her earlier widowhood, she always made an effort to pray each night before lights out. But her prayers has always been ritualistic: set prayers such as Our Father (Padre Nostro) and Hail Mary (Ave Maria) - as she always prayed in Italian. Her prayers have always been within the Catholic tradition - that is, with a hope that such efforts will cleanse her soul from sin - when the reality is that prayer should be the result of an already acquitted soul. As such, I have to conclude that only God knows her spiritual state, and who knows, I may even be in for a pleasant surprise when it's my time. However, Mum was not committed to evolution in the same way Dad was, but as I believe, she still leaned in favour of it.

Although I have been a Creationist since 1973, and I have studied historical geology, evolution itself and its effects on history after my conversion, the big move did not arrive until 2016, when Dan, my financial advisor and longstanding Creationist friend, hinted that I should attend the initial Creation Ministries International Conference, held in London. After booking a place for both Alex and myself, together with the hotel reservation, I contacted another good friend of mine, Dr Andrew Milnthorpe, and told him about the conference and its date, covering two days. He too made reservations for both conference and hotel alike, and off we set, the three of us, to the conference.

Although the initial conference was a blessing to attend, where my eyes were opened on several issues, it was at the second conference two years later where I found myself really shaken and stirred. Held at the same venue - Emmanual Centre near the Houses of Parliament - it was the opening discourse delivered which had a soul-shaking impact on my life. As with the first meeting, again it was Dr Andrew Milnthorpe, Alex my wife and I who attended, this time requiring two nights at the hotel, as the first day began as early as nine in the morning.

Creation Ministries International Conference, London, 2018.

I could have easily gone home soon after the opening talk. I was shaken and stirred by that sermon alone. What was it about? Simply this: The theory of evolution has destroyed the authority of Holy Scripture. And when the Bible is no longer taken seriously, then the people perish. It is an awful thought, a dreadful reality. That's why the sight of young children hits me. It hurts. I suppose I do feel for those around me who do not know the love of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet there are academics or simply better-educated people who have won the hearts of both believers and unbelievers alike. That is, of course, a believer such as myself who has an admiration for both David Attenborough and Brian Cox, both evolutionists yet both a good source of genuine scientific knowledge. After all, it was through Brian Cox from where I got a better understanding of the science of entropy.

Without a doubt, David Attenborough is admired by just about everyone who had ever watched his programmes, which is mainly about natural history. He has been known to come up with statements which humbleness had made them unforgettable. During one of his undersea filmings and describing a shark or other marine organism which has come dangerously close to the cameraman, Attenborough quipped, It's not that the sharks have invaded our territory, rather it's us humans who have invaded theirs. Of all BBC natural history presentations, none had ever eclipsed this particular classic. But his constant use of the words, Evolved, Evolution, Evolutionary have always caused a slight cringe within us as we listen. If only Attenborough listens to what God is saying and acknowledges Divine Creation. But instead, he prefers Darwin's worldview, and so to speak, allows himself to go with the current.

And that's a shame. Because as I have already demonstrated here, in addition to the testimony of supernatural Creation, God's salvation and regeneration of the spirit is within easy reach of every one of us, including both David Attenborough and Brian Cox. It is the mercy of God made available to every one of us. It is so wonderful. And God is patient, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8-10) and that God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

Salvation is open to everyone. Anyone can come to Christ and be saved. What a shame, though, that too much respectability is given to the academic instead of to the Bible. And that is the cause of the sorrow which drives my opinions even, at times, to the point of literacy aggression.

When I Question My Faith...

I sit at a Starbucks coffee bar, a newspaper lying open on the table in front of me. I take a momentary break from reading to look up at the people around. A young family sit at a nearby table. Along with father and mother, there sits a three year old daughter, her lovely blond hair glistening like gold, and although acting as if somewhat flustered, her behaviour is by no means irritating to her parents or to anyone else in the restaurant. Next to the mother a Moses basket sits, containing their newborn, sleeping soundly. Just another typical British family. I sigh, as I ponder on their relationship with God, whether such a relationship exists or not. Then I return to the article I was reading in the newspaper.

The actual Starbucks Coffee Bar referred here.

Then again, had it been a Muslim family, or a Buddhist family, or a Hindu family, or even to the extent of a Jewish family, I would have felt more certain of their lack of a relationship with a Christian God, a little fact that would have caused me to sigh in despondence. Furthermore, if they claim to be Christian, then that would raise further questions in my mind. Do they regularly attend church? If they don't, then that rules out any connections they might have had with God. But if they do, then which denomination? If it's Roman Catholic, then I would mentally question their certainty of their salvation - as they repeat, mantra-style, their prayers to the Virgin Mary for her to plead to a rather truculent Son of God to show some mercy on them. Are they Jehovah's Witnesses, or Mormons, or are affiliated with Christian Science, or perhaps Ron Hubbard's Church of Scientology? Then their certainty of salvation would be under doubt, because neither of these groups confess Jesus of Nazareth to be the Christ, at least not in the same sense that he is God come in the flesh.

This is becoming rather like a computer program flowchart, something akin to this: 

10 Let r = r+1

20 If r = 3 Then Print "Non-Christian": End

30 Let a = ask family

40 Let b = baptist church

50 Input a

60 If a = b Then Go to 80

70 Go to 10

80 Print "A Christian Family.": End

Perhaps you get the idea. The computer shows that only those who attend a Baptist Church can be perceived as truly Christian. An insulting statement? No doubt it is, but in reality, because our Baptist church confessed that Jesus Christ was the incarnate Son of God who died on a cross to atone for our sins, was buried, and on the third day he rose physically from the dead, and he is now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, and that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and the Church is a group of people which God had called to be his own - all this was what I believed to be the utmost necessity, and how I thought during my younger years as a Christian believer! What was the ultimate motive which was behind such a train of thought?

It has all come down to this: the Bible teaching on the universality of sin and the existence of Hell. Drummed into me by Mother since a very young child and further endorsed by the Catholic Church within I grew up, even after conversion towards the end of 1972, I had much difficulty in accepting a God of love. Rather, for many years I had a subconscious idea that my performance must play a role in my salvation, even if this performance consisted mainly in keeping every doctrine and belief as true to the Bible as I possibly can.

But other questions arose in my mind. One question which I actually prayed aloud to God whilst alone was: Why did you create us all in the first place when our eternal destiny after death is in the fires of Hell? I must admit, there have been times when I found the concept of eternal suffering incompatible of a God of love. Very much the thinking of an atheist. Then considering Richard Dawkins' description of God of the Old Testament as a megalomaniac, homophobic, sadomasochistic, malevolent bully, and somewhere within me there is a sense of agreement. The impossible keeping of all six hundred-plus laws, some as petty as forbidding of wearing two or more garments made from different materials, makes any human being utterly impossible to enter heaven after death. And not to mention the potential of failing to love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength, along with not confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord - it is Hell for Eternity. 

And as one atheist had asked, If considering that the love-relationship between Christ and the believer is likened to a husband-and-wife relationship, would the marriage last?

A good point. I can imagine the terrible pressure for the wife if her husband keeps on demanding utter perfection in keeping with his laws, or be confronted with the threat of eternal fire. Would all that engender love for him in her heart? Or would she immediately go after another man who showed her unconditional love and acceptance, and end up with an adulterous affair with such a man? Even as a Christian believer, I have pondered in my mind about the sincerity of Christ's love for me, especially when reading in the Bible about his promises of eternal resurrection and heaven, then come across that awful word if - mainly in the context of: if you stand firm in your faith - such as found in Colossians 1:22-23. This gives the impression of God's love as conditional. Imagine how a wife would feel if even though he loved her to bits, yet still stands as conditional on her remaining faithful. But over the years as a married man myself, I have wondered how I would feel if I caught my own wife in bed. At first I said to her that this would be the only cause for a separation. But as time passes by, I began to re-evaluate the situation would it ever occur.

By reading the story of the Old Testament prophet Hosea, how his wife deserted him for prostitution, and who was eventually sold on the slave market. Hosea bought her back and kept on loving her despite her unfaithfulness. Would I do the same if my wife strayed? Indeed, true love is unconditional. If she would ever stray and became unfaithful, I will ensure that I remain faithful to her and will always love her, and ask her to stay with me. And there will never be a need for all that, for such unconditional love will always result in the wife's faithfulness to her husband.

How is it that God's love appears to be far less stable, and wholly hangs on the believer's faithfulness and performance? And the very existence of Hell? A place where every human being who does not acknowledge God will end up - in an eternal fiery furnace? Looking around Starbucks, along with people everywhere, including those on television, I do find it very hard to swallow the concept that one day they will all roast for eternity for not acknowledging God during their lifetimes. Such thoughts spoil my love for such a God. It is rather like a good-tasting mug of coffee. Add a pinch of salt and the taste would be impaired. I would not be able to enjoy the coffee in the same way like I did before. So with my perception of God and the existence of a fiery hell.

I may indeed believe in Once Saved Always Saved. And there is plenty of proof of this found in both Testaments of the Bible. But just being aware of an eternal hell does spoil my perception of God. Yes, there are times - even to this day - when I feel exactly this way. Taking such ideas and feelings on this subject into consideration - I can't help about my knowledge of God's omniscience. That means he is all-knowing - nothing can take him by surprise. So I imagine a newborn, such as the one asleep in the cot at Starbucks, whom God already knows that this human will spend eternity in hell after death, unless of course, he repents, if so, then God already knows about that - even if its another twenty, or thirty, or even seventy years in the future.

As I gaze on the newborn sleeping in the cot, I can't help feeling crushed if God already knows its eternal state, especially if both parents are unbelievers or follow a different religion. Perhaps I'm wallowing in my own ignorance. After all, the Bible does ask who can understand the infinite wisdom of God. But I can't help feeling the way I do. Then I look up and remember some of my fellow Christian believers - well educated middle-class professionals who were seldom seen smiling but instead always going about their business with stone-cold expressions on their faces.

And that is a shame. As I have written here last week, whilst I visited the Kerith Centre in Bracknell, I was able to observe some regular long-standing members with cold expressions. And the Kerith Centre is by no means unique. Even in my own church at Ascot, there are some of the same stone-cold expressions, who hardly ever smile, and there is one in particular who is very much aware of the existence of Hell, and who is outright hostile towards me and very judgemental - even towards others. And I have been to other churches around London and the Home Counties, and have seen very much the same sort of thing. And going by my own experience in relating with other Christians, I have come to the conclusion that just by the mere existence of an eternal hell may be behind such cool, sombre attitudes.

The universal awareness of the existence of Hell may be one of the base-rocks of the belief in Darwin Evolution. In fact, I would not be exaggerating when I say that the majority of Christian graduates I have met and spoken to over the last forty years believe in Theistic Evolution over Divine Creation. This is quite simple to understand. To embrace Evolution - Theistic or Secular - is to deny the historicity of Adam and Eve and their Fall into sin. And to believe that death reigned long before our first parents had ever existed invalidates the significance of their deaths, and therefore robs the Atonement made by Jesus Christ on the cross from any significance in restoring humanity to eternal life. If death did not occur due to the Fall, but instead, necessarily integrated as vital for Natural Selection to work and for Evolution to progress upward, then sin is not the cause of death, and if sin is not the cause of death, then there is no need for an eternal hell. By dwelling on such a concept, it does not become too difficult for me to realise that the awareness of hell provides that vital bedrock for Darwinism to flourish, and by believing in Evolution as fact provides an escape from such an awareness of hell.

It is rather like the wife who is stuck in a loveless marriage to a law-giving husband. Because of her own imperfections, she feels that she isn't really loved at all, but instead remains under the eye of judgement. When another man arrives who shows none of this judgement, it isn't long before she shares his bed. Evolution is perceived as very much like the suitor. It provides an escape from the dire reality of hell, even in the subconscious, perhaps making the faith more appealing, but at the same time denying its reality.  

Sure enough, I have written enough blogs here to demonstrate the significance of what the Atonement made by Jesus Christ on the cross, followed by his Burial and Resurrection three days after his death, all have in reconciliation and restoring us back to God. And by believing this causes the believer to have his spirit regenerated and becomes an eternal child of God. I think I have been pretty clear on all this. But the Bible also says that the wisdom and knowledge God has is beyond understanding (Job 36:26, Romans 11:33). My knowledge is far from infinite - there is many things about God which I am not aware of, and neither would I ever be aware of this side of the grave. But there is one thing that I have an inkling of awareness - and that Hell exists, its eternal, and such a dreadful place was not initially prepared for human habitation. Instead, it was prepared for the Devil and his angels.

I suppose that it's easier to understand that anyone who deliberately side with the Devil in defiance of God's calling may indeed deserve to suffer with the one he was so consciously keen to follow. But the truth is, the vast majority of humans are totally unaware that they have Satan as their "father". Even the Pharisees weren't aware of this (John 8:44), and they all thought that they were doing God's will. Such a concept, straight out of the mouth of Jesus Christ, makes me aware of the millions of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, alongside followers of all other heretical religions and their eternal destiny. I guess this is part of the wisdom of God which lies outside my finite knowledge. I once looked at a photograph featured in a past issue of The Guinness Book of Records. It showed the world's largest crowd assembled at a public venue. They were all Hindus, men, women and children, who all gathered there for a religious festival. But according to Jesus' own words, recorded in John 14:6, they are all destined for eternal damnation, with most, if not all, totally unaware of this. Indeed, there are times when I question God's love for the world, so popularised by John 3:16.

I don't think it's hardly better here in the UK. For example, were you aware why I was for remaining in the European Union, and against Brexit? I guess the answer to that was concealed in my subconscious, but now, in writing this blog, I became aware of the main reason in my conscious mind. By being part of the European Union was meant for easier access for the Gospel to spread across to the Continent. Instead, we as Christians have become distracted by the want of our island isolation, that we have but forgotten the Gospel altogether. We became so obsessed with our English Bulldog culture, or rather the restoration of it, that we have either forgotten the Gospel, or we were ignorant of the fact that this very Bulldog spirit we hold so dear, is responsible for the blinding of many from the true light of the Gospel.

Perhaps you may argue that throughout the forty plus years we have been in Europe, the Gospel had never spread across the English Channel. Never mind that New Frontiers International, based at a large church in Brighton, had just this in mind, and no doubt efforts were made, but now the need of tougher international barriers to hamper their mission.

This is an unusual blog, I will admit. In general I love to exalt the love of God, his power and his redemption. But this week I wanted to "out" my real thoughts and emotions, to share my doubts which at times plagues me. However, allow me to finish with a bit of Solomon's wisdom:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Ecclesiastes 11:13-14, AV.