A spiritual lesson from Carousel!

I cried this afternoon! Yes, it's okay for a man to do so. The reason for my tears was, however, a wee bit unusual. I had watched a video of the musical "Carousel", in which my younger daughter was the female principal - Julie Jordan. This is not the place to provide the full story-line but, undoubtedly, if you don't know it, you will find it on the internet!

Julie falls in love with a fairground worker named Billy Bigelow, but the story of their relationship is tragic. Suffice to say that that relationship ends when Billy commits suicide rather than face a lengthy jail sentence, and leaves Julie with an unborn child. Some of the scenes are very moving - hence my tears!

It was the next part that started me thinking more theologically. Billy is taken to heaven to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official and arrives at some gates. When he asks if these are the "pearly gates" he is informed that they are not. They are the "back gates". The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps Louise - the daughter that Julie bore after his death. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her. Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracise her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. Billy, who had earlier rejected the offer to return, is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, something the Starkeeper pretends not to notice and is taken back to earth by a guardian.

He invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The town's elderly physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper!) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). He then prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy then goes to Julie, and speaks the words that he had never had the courage to speak in life - that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, he is taken to his heavenly reward.

Of course, this is a mixture of the popular view that I gain eternal life by my own good deeds, and of reincarnation by which I am able to make up for past bad deeds by doing better in another life!

This is not the message of the Bible, the written Word of the Creator. It is much less complicated, more straightforward! I was born as a sinner. I may not have lived the life that the fictional Billy Bigelow lived, but I am every bit as much a sinner as he. My major problem is that my sin has made a great gulf between me and Father God - a gulf that I can never span by my own efforts. I can never "make up" for my sins by doing good deeds. Paul puts it like this: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8-9). It is only by the grace* of God that I can receive eternal life. I do not deserve it; I cannot earn it; I cannot purchase it.

Only the sinless unique Son of God was able to pay the price for my sins. And He did! Jesus of Nazareth was the incarnation of Almighty God. He entered the world that He had created, in human flesh that He had created. He died the cruel death by crucifixion, because "... without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Heb 9:22). As someone has written: 'He paid a debt He did not owe; because I owed a debt I could not pay.'

There is, nevertheless, a cost to me - and to you if you take that step of faith, and receive the new life that Jesus. Immediately after writing those words already quoted, to the disciples of Jesus in Ephesus, Paul writes: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:10; emphasis added). As I live my life in, and for, the Lord Jesus, I will seek to do the good works that He wants me to do. However, I am doing them, not to try to attain salvation, but out of gratitude for the salvation that I have so freely received!

Are you depending on your own 'good works' for salvation? Do you think that you might have 'another chance'? Do not let the enemy deceive you. This life is not a dress rehearsal - it is the only mortal life you will live. 

If you wish to know more, please feel free to contact me at the e-mail address given at the top of the page. I don't check it every day, but I shall get back to you before too long! Alternatively, you might wish to check out some of the relevant links in the right-hand-side of the blog (scroll down!). Whatever you do, don't do nothing. Your eternal destiny is at stake.

* This is one of the words dealt with in my first book "Great Words of the Faith".  There are three books in the series (vol 4 is 'in preparation'!) all of which will help you in understanding the Christian Faith and answering those who question you about it. Remember, ALL royalties are sent directly to Release International to support the persecuted church. I receive nothing!

Postscript

In an unexpected situation, the following information was delivered to my Inbox, today. It has a direct application to the early part of the previous post, even if it deals with an different substance. However, as I doubt that very many teenagers access my blog, may I suggest that those who have direct access to that age group pass on the information to them?

"Using cannabis as a teenager increases the likelihood of depression and suicidal behaviour, new research has confirmed.

Doctors analysed eleven previous studies, covering more than 23,000 young people.

They warned that cannabis has a “devastating impact”, and urged teens to avoid using the drug.

Depression

In the largest study to date, researchers from the University of Oxford and McGill University in Canada found that using cannabis before the age of 18 increased the chance of developing depression by 37 per cent.

Published by the American Medical Association, the study found that around 60,000 cases of depression in the UK could be attributed to cannabis use in teenage years.

Researchers said the findings highlighted an important public health problem.

‘Devastating’

The team emphasised that teenagers should stop using the drug, and said greater education is needed for parents who have a relaxed attitude to it.

Professor Andrea Cipriani, the study’s co-author, said: “The number of people who are exposed to cannabis, especially in this vulnerable age, is very high”.

He added: “Now we know that, especially for teenagers, there may be an effect which is biological, with some consequences which can be devastating”.

More attention

The Times editorial welcomed the findings, saying: “The new study creates the most robust link between youthful cannabis use and depression.”

The newspaper also encouraged parents to be better informed about the danger the drug poses for their children.

It concluded that “too little attention has been paid to the drug’s far wider psychological impact, which is anything but benign”."

A personal testimony.

Some time ago I discovered that, although I had enabled "Comments", none were showing up.  I decided that no-one wished to make a comment about any of my posts!!!   However, one of my brothers wondered why I had not allowed a comment that he had posted to be published!  It appears that I have simply not being advised of comments that may have been made.  If you have made a comment that has not appeared, please accept my apologies - I wasn't ignoring you, or refusing to publish - I was simply unaware of your comment!

Anyway, the comment from my brother is longer than most of my posts.  It is extremely personal, but reminds us that what we see on the surface is not always the whole story!  It also reminds us that Almighty God is interested in each one of us; but that we need to place our trust in Him, regardless of the outcome!

"Growing up with multiple seizures was no picnic. At the age of seventeen, it was 'tough' to say the least. While I had resigned myself to never being allowed to drive, when all my peers were learning and then began driving and talking about their cars, I felt SO isolated. It was just as hard when my friends  three or four years younger than me began learning to drive, and also years later, when my nephews / nieces were learning while I was still depending on public transport or my bicycle. I was a 2nd class citizen, I felt shunned by many of my peers, EVEN in the Church youth group, of which I assisted in leading.

It was at a time like this that I almost ended it all.

I was working at a dead end menial job, listening to my peers talk about their careers and big wages. I was in my mid twenties, still single, living with my parents, many of my peers were dating - well they had their cars, they could find people from different churches; who was going to be interested in someone who had to rely on public transport all the time?.

To try to counteract being side stepped when my peers were talking about their cars or careers, I busied myself with preparing the coffee and tea we served and cleaning up afterwards. I then went out to the church hall to find a chair at one of the tables I had previously set up

On one evening I had come out and sat at a table, only to be told by a peer that someone else was going to be sitting there. Moving to another seat, another person asked me why I was sitting in their seat. This happened a third time, and I got the message; and walked out. Fortunately, the other assistant leader noticed  me and followed enquiring what had happened. I explained everything that had occurred. He persuaded me to return back but that he was going to speak to the group prior to me going in. All concerned did apologise profusely.

The evening I am alluding to, I am not sure if something similar had happened at the church youth group or even whether it was that same night, but I, who normally slept very soundly, was having a struggle getting to sleep. I was tossing and turning reflecting on my existence and various instances that had occurred.  It was so bad that, knowing my mother had sleeping pills that were readily available, I contemplated going downstairs, getting the pills and downing them all. 'Everyone would be better off not having to worry about me', or so I thought.

THEN I heard that "still small voice" saying to me "What will your father think when he comes in, in the morning, to get you up for work?" "What will your mum think when she realises it was her sleeping tablets that you used to end it all? She will blame herself for having them readily available and they will blame themselves for not realising anything was wrong. Their lives may be cut shorter than would naturally be, due to the stress of losing a child" Now I loved both my parents and just couldn't put them through that pain, so I decided not to pursue the matter.

For someone whose mind was in such turmoil less than an hour beforehand, I was able to turn over and fell into a deep sleep. Only HE could make THAT happen.

The second encounter was much different and occurred about 6 years later and just twenty one months after I had been married. I had been offered the chance of neurosurgery. HIS timing, not mine. I contemplated the pros and cons of having the surgery and thought "what if?"

What if I DONT go for it.? I would still be taking over 6,000mg of medication per day, I would still be having, on average one seizure every two weeks, I would still be working in my dead end job and still relying on public transport. THEN, in about five years time, I would be thinking "what if?" - what if I HAD gone for it. So, I started to think "what if?"

What if I DO go for it.  There were seven things that could have occurred.

1- As in all major surgeries, I COULD die

2- At the other end of the spectrum, I COULD come out 100% healed

3- I COULD end up paralysed on one side while still having the seizures. (they had to see if they could shut down my brain and restart it again. - had it not restarted I would have had the same effects as someone who had a 'stroke')

4- I COULD end up in a vegetative state.

5- I COULD end up with a vast reduction in the number of seizures

6- I COULD end up with memory loss.

7- Hmmmmmm I can't seem to remember what the last one was. :D

Friends and family, - even strangers to me, were praying about it, and I went in for initial tests to see if I was a suitable candidate, after all, if I wasn't, at least I tried and no harm in seeing the outcome It was while I was in for the tests, that my daily Bible reading was Judges 6, where Gideon feared that he was going to die because he had looked on the face of an angel. I came upon verse 23, and felt that God was speaking directly to me. This verse says "And the Lord said, My peace I give unto you, do not fear, you will not die"

In the hospital ward, I just put my Bible on my lap, and with tears in my eyes, looked Heavenward and said "Thank you Lord"

I started looking at the passage closer and the first thing I noticed was WHO was speaking; It wasn't my dad, it wasn't my neurologist, it wasn't even my surgeon, It WAS however the HIGHEST authority you could get, The LORD, "El Shaddai".

I then started to look at what HE was saying to me and there were three things:

'My peace I give unto you' and when God gives His peace, it's the peace that passes ALL understanding  Phil,4 v 7  "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

From that moment I could feel calmness about the whole ordeal, just as I had felt years earlier when I didn't go for my mums pills and fell into a deep sleep.

The next thing He said was "do not fear"

Well, if I wasn't to fear, then I presumed that I was NOT going to come out of the surgery any worse than I had gone in, SO, 3,4, and 6 (above) were not options to be considered.

Since Phil 1 v 21 reads  "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." I had three possible positive outcomes.  However, I then read the four words "you will not die" - number 1 was out of the running, leaving 2 positive outcomes.  I could end up with a vast reduction in the number of seizures or, I could come out 100% healed.

I was informed that I was a suitable candidate by my neurologist, was sent home until they were ready for me. I was actually looking forward to having it performed. A few weeks later, I was called back to the hospital.  I was at such a peace, that on the morning of the surgery, when the orderlies were bringing the breakfast around for the fellow ward buddies, I started joking with them, acting out a parched man in a desert "water, water" They couldn't understand how I could be so upbeat minutes before going under the scalpel.

Ten hours later I came out of surgery, was transferred back to my ward, then released from hospital 11 days later - which just happened to be 'Mother's Day'.

Now, 24+ years later, not on any meds, driving and in a career I love, - being able to help people, some of whom have seizures, have had strokes or acquired brain injuries. I love my work but all this would have been missed if I hadn't had that initial 'still small voice' experience and had ended it all, or if I hadn't gone in for the tests and received the assurance from El Shaddai."

Consequences

It is a simple fact of life that all actions have consequences - often unintended.  This is something that two young Radio Presenters in Australia have recently learned, and done so in a very hard way!

I find myself more than a little confused about the account of the prank telephone call that is claimed to have led to the suicide of a senior nurse who, by all accounts, was a true professional.  Like most people, I heard the edited recording - and had to agree that the accents were terrible.  No acting career for those two!  I can understand why the nurse was embarrassed at having been "taken in".  However, we are assured by the hospital authorities, she was not being disciplined, or even reprimanded.  Indeed, the spokesman informed us that the hospital was being very supportive of her.

This makes me wonder if there was anything else playing on Jacintha Saldanha's mind.  Would embarrassment, however real, be sufficient for her to leave behind a husband and two teenage children?  Was the spoof telephone call not the reason for her tragic death, at her own hand, but merely the straw that finally broke the proverbial camel's back?

Today, it has been reported that a suicide note was left for her family.  I would hope that it might be possible for the contents of that note to be revealed or, at least, the gist thereof.  For the sake of Michael Christian and Mel Greig, who are also victims (albeit of their own making), as well as the family, the truth must be allowed to come out.

Of course, other actions, and inactions, have their own consequences - sometimes even more tragic than the untimely death of a dedicated nurse.   As we approach the Christmas season, many seem to be unaware that the first syllable in that word is "Christ"!  He truly is the centre, the focus, and the reason for the season.  However, if we stop at Christmas, and the Babe in the manger, we do ourselves a great dis-service.  For that same Babe became the Christ of the cross, hanging there to pay the penalty for my sin, and for yours. 

Pilate asked the chief priests and the elders of the Jews, "... what shall I do with Jesus Who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let Him be crucified." (Matt 27:22).  What is your answer to that question?  The consequences of your answer are of eternal significance!

The Plight of Women

She was an intelligent 14-year-old Asian girl with a very bright future.

But Sena, like many women in Asia, was merely considered a toy for men to use. She faced harassment, was stalked and subjected to lewd comments and indecent exposure. Finally she was thrown to the ground and sexually assaulted by a group of men. Neighbours saw it happen—and did nothing.
Tormented, and unable to bear the humiliation, Sena turned to the only escape she knew— Suicide.

Jalem was headed toward the same fate…
Her family considered her a curse. As a child, Jalem was forced to perform manual labour. She was beaten, deprived of food and, at times, chained in her room. Why? She was a girl. Jalem also considered suicide as an escape.

But she met a Gospel for Asia supported missionary

She learned of the hope and dignity she could find in Jesus, and she would never be the same. Suddenly she discovered value that only comes from knowing Christ.
Jalem found a family in a loving church. They cared for her and helped her to build a new life. Today she shares how God miraculously changed her life with other hopeless women. She serves as a missionary, dedicated to reaching other Asian women as desperate as she once was.

Why is there such widespread desperation among Asian women?

Asian women face unimaginable challenges & degradation.
Young girls throughout Asia are abducted and forced into a life of prostitution, with every agonizing day one step closer to an early death from AIDS.
Widows in India bear the blame for their husband’s death. They’re shunned by their communities, rejected by their families and forced into an inhumane lifestyle. Tens of thousands take their own life just to end the pain.
Every year in India more than 7,000 women are doused with kerosene and burned to death—by their husbands. The wife’s crime: an insufficient dowry.

It is no surprise that the suicide rate among young women in India is ten times higher than the world’s average.

These are but a few of the tragic conditions faced by millions of Asian women. They are trapped in a never-ending cycle of misery. Utterly without hope.

Yet today, in the midst of a hopeless situation, there is glorious hope.

Through the heroic efforts of 2000 women missionaries like Jalem who have dedicated their lives to bringing God’s love to the women of Asia, we can reach them. In many Asian cultures, genders rarely mix, so traditional male missionaries are severely limited in ministering to women. However, it is possible to send trained, dedicated women missionaries to reach the millions who still wait to hear that they are precious to Jesus.
After three years of intense training, GFA-supported missionaries like Jalem are driven by a passion: to relieve the pain and suffering of women of Asia by introducing them to the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. They heroically face persecution, beatings and imprisonment to tell hurting women like Sena about a Saviour who offers hope for eternity, and strength for today.
Hundreds of thousands of Asian women’s lives are being transformed by GFA’s dedicated women missionaries, but millions more still wait.
Every day in South Asia, nearly 80,000 precious souls perish without knowing Christ’s love. We must send more missionaries.

Would you consider sending one of these dedicated Women Missionaries today?  You can enable her reach other Asian women with the love of Christ. For just £20 a month you can sponsor a missionary today.  Please go to (copy and paste):

http://www.gfauk.org/sponsor/SearchResults?bt=Missionary&gender=F.

Money, money, money - or the lack of it, or other people's!

As happens so often, two news stories stand in complete contrast to one another.  Over the past couple of days, we have been informed that the "private" wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall actually cost the British taxpayer a cool £400,000 in policing costs!  When my elder daughter was married - admittedly  a little over 11 years ago - her complete wedding didn't cost 1% of that amount!  In my opinion, if over-paid 'celebrities'; sports 'personalities'; and members of the 'aristocracy'; wish to have police protection and/or control, then they should pay for it out of their own well-lined pockets, and not expect Joe Public to have to fork out!

The other news story is of another married couple.  However, that would appear to be where the similarity ends.  This couple were Mark and Helen Mullins.  I say "were", for the simple reason that both are now dead - an apparent 'suicide pact' after having been abandoned by the Welfare State.  According to reports, the couple had been existing on Mark's £57.50/week Jobseeker's Allowance.  The cost of policing the Phillips/Tindall wedding (let alone all of the other costs of that event) would have paid out that amount for approximately 135 years!

The Mullins had a 12-year-old daughter but, because Helen had learning difficulties, the local social services had removed her from the home - having decided that her mother was incapable of looking after her!  This, of course, meant that even the Child Benefit payment was stopped.  Helen was also deemed not to qualify for incapacity benefit, because her condition had not been officially medically diagnosed; Jobseeker's Allowance because her (non-diagnosed) medical condition made her unfit to work; and Mark was denied a Carer's Allowance because his wife's condition had not been medically diagnosed!  Yet at the same time, and especially with the apparently wide-open British borders over recent months, every Tom, Dick, and Harry (or should that be Mumtaz, Abdul, and Umar??) can apparently enter the country; remain on the most dubious of grounds; and receive all sorts of State handouts! 

Please don't misunderstand me.  I have no problem at all in supporting those who are in genuine danger in their own countries.  However, there would appear to be a substantial number who are in no danger at all, and who merely see the U.K. as a "soft touch".  There are also those indigenous folk who have learned how to "play the system" and who continue - in spite of some of the political rhetoric of last year - to maintain themselves to a standard denied to many hard-working families.

Perhaps if a couple like the Mullins had received a similar level of support, they would be alive today.  James writes about a not dissimilar situation in the early Church and writes: "... if you show partiality, you commit sin ..." (2:9: RSV -  see 2:1-17), while Paul doesn't 'beat about the bush' when he states "If any one will not work, let him not eat.  For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work." (II Thess 3:10-11; RSV).

It is to be hoped that the deaths of these two people will serve as a wake-up call (forgive the cliché!) to the relevant authorities; and that their daughter will grow up to be a young girl of whom they would have been justly proud.