Advice from a 7-year-old!?!

So! If further proof were needed that the world has gone completely mad, it must be the reports that a local radio station (Mercia FM, Coventry, England) has invited a seven-year-old girl to be its “agony aunt”, after she ’phoned in with some advice for a caller who wanted to dump her boyfriend! The broadcaster was apparently so impressed with her advice - to go bowling with friends and drink a mug of milk – that she was offered a weekly slot to give tips to thousands of adult listeners. Breakfast host Andy Goulding said adults responded to the child's straight-talking attitude.

Interestingly, on the same web page from which I gleaned this information, there was a link to an article that showed how the State examinations for schools in England (and Wales and N.Ireland) have been “dumbed down”. One has to ask if our society can be dumbed down any further than having a seven-year-old provide “advice” for adults. The very fact that so many appear to think that this is an acceptable state of affairs surely confirms that, as a nation, we are suffering from something much more serious than a credit crunch/recession. We are suffering from an increasingly steep decline in standards of morality, intellect, and plain old common sense! There is also, surely, a hint of cynicism about the whole situation. Are adults really taking this “advice” seriously, or is it more of a case of a certain type of adult finding it all very amusing that such a “cute” little girl should be coming out with seemingly adult responses?

Personally, I blame the parent(s) for permitting this little girl – who should be out playing with children of her own age group – to be exploited in this way. According to the writings of the Biblical Book of Psalms, “Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from Him.” (127:3). Those same children should be raised up “…with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.” (Eph.6:4).

Perhaps someone, with sufficient influence, will act as “agony aunt” to the parent(s) of this little girl, and offer the advice that childhood is short enough and should be enjoyed as a child!

Manipulating the system!

Michael Martin, Speaker of the House of Commons (Lower House of the UK Parliament) is reported as having expressed his anger at the leaking of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's expense claims, saying that he was "deeply disappointed" the details became public.

However, it could be argued that part of the reasoning behind such a “leak” is the abject failure of certain of the “honourable” members to act in an honourable fashion. In the specific case of Ms Smith (aka Mrs Timney) she has apparently manipulated the system so that a room in her sister’s home in London has been designated as her main residence, while her family home near Birmingham (where her husband watches pornographic films) is her second home. She has claimed, not only for an antique fireplace, plasma screen television, stone sink – at some £600 – etc. for this “second” home, but also for such “normal” household expenses as her broadband connection, and her Sky package (through which, undoubtedly, her husband ordered those offensive films). I have been using my own internet connection for school-associated work for years – but have never even considered claiming for it as a tax-deduction, let alone as a legitimate expense. On top of all of this, she employs her husband as her parliamentary assistant. Her total cost to the UK taxpayer (including yours truly!) has been some £300,000 in the past year. Nice work if you can get it, as the songwriter once put it! Almost forgot – this is the woman who reneged on an agreement over the salaries of police officers in England and Wales (not certain about N.Ireland). The words “sauce” “goose” and “gander” come to mind!

But the truth is being revealed. I am reminded of some words of the Lord Jesus: “The time is coming when everything will be revealed; all that is secret will be made public. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!” (Luke 12:3-4).

This is, of course, a salutary reminder to all of us – not just to politicians who “play the system” to their own greedy advantage. Only Jesus could, with total confidence, ask the question “Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin?” (John 8:46). To the rest of us, He says, as He said to a crowd of men, long ago, “…let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!"

Mrs Timney may, in the current context, pay with her ministerial post. All, who do not accept the salvation that Jesus won for us at Calvary, will pay with an eternity cut off from Him.

An interview with God!

I have just picked up the following from a Premier Radio website. My thanks to Yemi Awolola who submitted it there.

I dreamed I had an interview with God.
“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.
“If you have the time,” I said.
God smiled.“My time is eternity… what questions do you have in mind for me?”
“What surprises you most about human kind?”
God answered… “That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again. That they lose their health to make money… and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die… and die as though they had never lived.”
God’s hand took mine… and we were silent for a while.
And then I asked, “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”
“To learn they cannot make anyone love them. All they can do is let themselves be loved. To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness. To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them. To learn that a rich person is not who has the most, but is one who needs the least. To learn that there are people who love them dearly, but simply do not yet know how to express or show their feelings. To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently. To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”
“Thank you for your time,” I said humbly. “Is there anything else you’d like your children to know?”
God smiled and said…“Just know that I am here. Always.”
(Author unknown)

A passion for Holiness.

At last week’s meeting of the Home Group that I attend, one of the members quoted the title of a book by J.I.Packer – A Passion for Holiness. Holiness, of course, is one of those qualities about which there are many misconceptions.

Many have the idea that it is something to be shunned – having heard/read the words that Robert Burns puts into the mouth of “Holy Willie” in Tam O’ Shanter. However, this is a poem that was written about a certain Willie Fisher who was an elder in the Parish church of Mauchline, in Ayrshire. Fisher was a hypocrite and himself a sinner who spied on people and reported them to the minister if he thought they were doing wrong. The poem is, in fact, a condemnation of religious hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

Others see holiness as something that may, indeed, be acquired by dint of our own efforts to keep the law – both of man and of God.

Yet others consider holiness to be synonymous with perfection and, therefore, to be totally unobtainable by “ordinary” men and women.

However, the basic meaning of holiness is “separated-ness”. Thus, the vessels used in the services in the Jewish Temple were holy, because they were separated – set apart – for that particular use, and no other. They were separated to YHWH. We refer to the Bible as the Holy Scriptures – literally, the writings that are different because they are the Word of God. The Jewish Sabbath is a holy day – a day that is different from the other days of the week.

The same is true of the disciple of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We are called to be holy – different from the world (society that has rejected/ignored God). Peter’s first letter to the church has much to say about holiness. For example, he writes: "But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God – Who chose you to be His children – is holy. For He Himself has said, ‘You must be holy because I am holy’." (I Pet.1:15-16)

One problem that I see about much of even the evangelical church, is an emphasis on “conversion” that does not lead to discipleship and holiness. Perhaps we, who dare to call ourselves Christian, need to develop a passion for holiness, that we might be seen to be different. Is this, perhaps, one of the reasons why the church grows in situations in which it is persecuted – because those who acknowledge the Lordship of the Christ are seen to be “different”?

I have heard church members state that they don’t say much about their beliefs because they don’t want to “stick out like a sore thumb”! Perhaps that is the very thing that we should be doing – displaying our holiness, not that we might be praised (unlikely, anyway!) but that glory be given to the Father in heaven (see Matt.5:16; I Pet.2:12).

For a much deeper consideration of Holiness, I commend this link http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/holiness.iii.iii.html (copy and paste!)

On death and stardom

The media circus should soon be over. Jade Goody is dead. I had every sympathy for her, as I would have for any young woman with any terminal condition, but I know two other men who, at this moment, have been given only a short time to live, yet who are unknown to anyone outwith their own circle of family, friends, and colleagues.

There is another major difference between the late Jade, and Ronnie and Neil. To the best of my knowledge, and basing any conclusion on a combination of the reasons for Jade Goody’s “celebrity” status, and her reported lifestyle, she had never made any profession of faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ – confessing her own sinful nature, and accepting the salvation that He won at Calvary, and that He offers to all. Both Ronnie and Neil, on the other hand, are believers whose hope is set firmly on that same Lord Jesus.

The story is told of the religious sceptic at the famous Speakers’ Corner (Hyde Park, London, England), who was ridiculing the very idea of the existence of the Biblical God and, hence, of the reality of either heaven or hell. He spoke from a position of some erudition, and did so with passionate conviction. However, in the crowd that had gathered around him was a flower-seller – a woman of considerable age, and of no formal education. When the sceptic stopped for breath, she called out that she had a question for him.

“And what is your question, madam?”, he responded. It was simple, and straightforward. “I, sir, am a follower of Jesus Christ. He has assured me, in His word, that there is both a heaven and a hell, and that only by placing my trust in Him, can I have assurance of spending eternity in heaven. Following Him has brought me great peace, and I have enjoyed His companionship for many years. If, when I die, I discover that I have been wrong, what have I lost? However, sir, if when you die, you discover that you are wrong, what will you say as you stand before the judgement throne of Almighty God, with no Jesus to be your Advocate?” The sceptic had no answer – because there is none that is satisfactory.

That same Jesus made it clear that each of us has a choice to make – and it has nothing to do with media exposure; financial wealth; or even living a “good” life. It has to do with following Him. A lot of what I have heard on the news programmes, yesterday and today, with regard to Jade Goody, has been sentimental nonsense. Whether we enjoy fame and fortune, or live our lives in relative obscurity, our eternal future is decided by what we have done with Jesus.