How important is the Bible?!

In my study, I have a large number of copies of the Bible, in many versions and translations. The vast majority of them were gifts, which is one reason why I retain them. However, in all honesty, whilst I sometimes find it helpful to check out a verse, or passage, in something other than my favoured RSV (Revised Standard Version), there are a number of those Bibles that are very rarely used.

So, if I were to receive yet another gifted Bible, I would be grateful; I would say "Thank you" to the giver; and then I would add it to the long line of Bibles that stretches only inches short of the width of my study desk (all 5' of it!).

What a difference if I were a Chinese disciple of Jesus like those in the video-clip below. They are students, receiving their first ever copy of the Bible. When, as you will see, they kiss it, it is not in any form of bibliolatry (worship f the book as an object), but because of what it represents to them.

The video is from International Christian Concern, one of a number of Christian Ministries that support those who are persecuted for their Christian faith, in more than 50 countries in the world today.  

The Gate of the Year!

It may not be altogether wise to refer to the Chinese at this time, but I believe that they are the only nation to give specific names to each calendar year. The year 2020, that is now coming to an end, was named "The Year of the Rat". Rats are powerful symbols of fertility, wealth and plenty, so people born in the Year of the Rat are considered to be optimistic, easy-going and kind, if a bit too direct. I wonder if the year will be looked back on as The Year of the Mask! I should note, by the way, that the Chinese New Year is a movable event, and that, for the Chinese, 2021 will not commence until Feb.12th!

I end the annual newsletter that my wife and I send out at this time, with these words: “So another, and most unusual, year has come to an end.  It would be a brave person who, with the evidence of the past 12 months to recall, would forecast anything about 2021. However, this is where we believe that our Christian faith is of great importance.  As someone once said: “We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.”

Of course, 2020 has not been the only year in which there has been a worldwide crisis. In September 1939, Great Britain had entered what was to become the Second World War - just 21 years after the war to end all wars! The current Queen was, at that time the thirteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth. Her father, George VI was the reigning monarch and, as had become the custom, he spoke to the nation, by radio, on Christmas Day. In those uncertain last days of 1939, the king spoke words of peace that sought to calm the nation. He reminded them of the only true King, the One Who, alone, can provide true peace and real rest in such troubled times.  As he concluded his message of encouragement, he read the preamble of a poem that had been brought to his attention by the young Princess Elizabeth.

The poem that the Princess brought to her father’s attention was written by British poet Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957).  Published in 1908 it was titled God Knows. Years later, the poem gained popularity with a new title, The Gate of the Year, taken from the poem’s first line. It reads:

"And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the Hand of God.  That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East."  

King George read the poem to reassure the British people that their future was secure - in the hands of God. That wisdom that was true for the British people then, is also true for all of us today!

As the new year dawns, let us remember that God is our only safe harbour. He is our only true hope. He will lead and direct our lives when we put our trust in Him.  If we are willing to allow Him, He will light our path, and direct our steps, as we enter this new year.

We may not know what the future holds - but we may, through a saving faith in the Lord Jesus, know Him Who holds the future.

May all who read this blog post enjoy that relationship, and have a very good New Year. 

I'm a male today; tomorrow, I may decide to be a female!

The heading is, I hope anyone would realise, something of a parody! However, it would appear that my contemporary society would be willing to accept such a statement. After all, why shouldn't I choose my own identity?!  Tomorrow, I may decide that I am something else; and I may change again on the following day!

I was alerted to this matter by David Robertson - who has been quoted before on this blog.  Last week, he reported that a debate had been held, in the UK Parliament, on a report from the Women and Equalities Committee which was the first "Transgender" debate in the Parliament.  David comments: "As I watched the debate it dawned on me that there really was no debate. A minority of people are going to drive through something that will cause a profound degree of harm within this country and make the fuss over same-sex marriage look insignificant (incidentally one of the reasons I opposed SSM was because I thought it would lead to further consequences such as this. At the time I was mocked for the ‘slippery slope’ argument but it turns out to have been right – we are not on a slope, we are on a helter-skelter to the pit)."

What is "transgenderism"? Well, if I understand the situation correctly, it is a 'popular' term for a recognised condition known as "gender dysphoria".  People who have gender dysphoria feel strongly that they are not the gender they physically appear to be, and the condition was earlier referred to as "gender identity disorder".

Such people require help.  However, there appears to be a move to make "transgenderism" a "norm"! This is, of course, completely contrary to Biblical teaching. In the beginning, we are informed in Gen 1:27, "... God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them." (emphasis added). Each of us is aware that we are born as either male or female, and what we are is defined, physically, by our genitalia! If a person is born with a penis, scrotum, and testicles, then that person is male; if a person is born with a vagina, then that person is female. Sufferers of gender dysphoria, as already stated, claim not to feel comfortable in the body with which they were born, but "transgenderism" is now pushing this so that I may "decide" my own identity, and gender!

Now, for a very long time we have had such facilities as "unisex hairdressers" where I might go in for a short back and sides, and be seated next to a woman having her hair permed. The difference, here, is that the push for "transgenderism" has led to situations in, e.g., the USoA with regard to washrooms, and showers in public buildings and in schools. The attempt by Barack Obama to enforce this was rightly resisted on the very sensible ground that it was "a pervert's charter"! I want to look at females in the washroom, or in the shower at a sports club? No problem - I just declare that I identify as a female, and I have immediate access to such areas!

This, it would appear, is the kind of situation that some in the UK would now like to see introduced! However, some go even further. It has been reported in the main-stream media (and I know that what is published by them is not always absolutely true!) that schoolchildren are being invited to state the gender, and identity, that they wish to adopt! I want to be a female Chinese ballet dancer.  Okay - I come to school tomorrow in a tutu, and with my eyes made up to look like a Chinese person. I also, of course, use the girls' toilets and showers!

All of this, it seems to me, is part of the so-called "sexual revolution"! It is also, of course, the inevitable result of departure from the Maker's Manual! We have had homosexual/lesbian so-called "marriage" foisted upon us; there are already moves to try to normalise polygamy; I read, not too long ago, of a woman who was trying to legally "marry" her dog! Another woman wants to be "married" to her adult son - a relationship that we used to refer to as "incest" but that she referred to as "genetic sexual attraction"! As David Robertson states: "we are not on a slope, we are on a helter-skelter to the pit."

This is a topic that is much too large for simple blog-posts, and I mention it only to raise awareness of it. However, it is a further moving away from the standards set down by the Creator and, I would contend, a further indication that we are in "the last days" when people do what "I" want - regardless of how it affects other people, especially my own family!    

If you wish to learn more, you may read David Robertson's very full contribution at 

https://theweeflea.com/2016/12/02/the-tyranny-of-the-progressives-another-step-backwards/

Man of the people? Neither is!

Well, I hope that the title will have caught some folk's attention!  It was the best with which I could come up in a hurry, having read two of today's "inside page" news stories.

The first concerned Chinese President Xi Jinping.  It would appear that there had been media reports that he is such a "man of the people" that he was taking rides in taxis, incognito, obtaining the views of drivers, and even giving a tip!  However, the official news agency has now said that these reports were no more than a hoax.  No "man of the people" after all!

The other story was about the aptly-named Barclay's Bank executive, Rich Ricci (pronounced "Richy") who, we are informed, has decided to retire - with a "golden handshake" of some £18million from the sale of shares!  Now he had worked for the banking giant for 19 years.  Even so, that works out at just a little under £1m per year - and, of course, he was being rather handsomely paid during that period.  He apparently forfeited his 'bonus' last year - but still pocketed about £1.5m!  Just to make sure that Mr Ricci doesn't go short, he will also, apparently, receive a bonus every year during his retirement, under a scheme that was already in place!  So, hardly a "man of the people"!

I thought of Almighty God Who, in the Persona (not a typo - see the chapter on The Trinity in my book, available [at no great expense] at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009EG6TJW ) of the Son, took upon Himself human flesh, and walked among us - a Man among men.  I thought of how He listened to people, shared their pain, healed their sick.  I thought of how, at the end of His earthly life, He gave Himself over to be crucified - bearing the punishment for my sin (and yours!).   I thought of how He gave up the wonder, and beauty, of the heavenly dimension - becoming poor, that I might know His riches.

I thought - Jesus: now there was (and is) a true "Man of the people"!