Welcome or Woe? How welcoming are we in the church?

 To hear the good news, the gospel of the trendy progressive church, we might believe that the message of Jesus is always welcome. Are all welcome? Will all be welcomed into His kingdom.

Jesus in fact, before words of welcome, called people to repentance, Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus also did not have welcoming or kind words for people who led others astray.  Jesus said woe to certain people and declared that God would not welcome sinners into His presence and into His abode.

Depart from me you cursed. Not at all welcoming words, but progressive trendy religion would have us believe that the gospel welcomes everyone without any judgment or call for repentance.

The message of the early Church was not welcome to our little friendship groups, to our cosy comfortable meetings or our band of easy believers, but repent and believe the Gospel, repent and be converted, repent and be baptized. These early Christians were persecuted and ostracized for the faith, for following the Way. It could be very costly to be a Christian, and it still is in certain sad lands, bad lands.

John the Baptist preached repentance, not welcome to a happy time of fellowship down by the river.

So are all welcome? Yes, if they are willing and wanting to deal with their sin in repentance.

It would be foolish to say that we welcome people unwilling to put aside their wicked ways. Do we welcome dangerous career criminals,  evil wolves in sheep's clothing who harm the flock of God, known sex offenders who have vile intentions, terrorists, pirates, slave traders and violent people who cannot control their behaviour? If we believe in safeguarding, then of course all are not welcome in certain circumstances. 

It should therefore be, welcome to a message of repentance, welcome to hear the Gospel.  We are sinners in need of the Saviour. He loves sinners and wishes them to avoid the coming wrath, the judgment of the unjust and exclusion of those who reject His salvation. 

Sadly we have welcomed to the UK some very dangerous folk, now called bad actors. They are people who do not share our values at all, but are willing to use violence and dishonest means to achieve their ends. It is an inconvenient truth that we have welcomed people who believe in female genital mutilation, wife beating, child marriage, death to apostates, the preeminence of sharia law, rape gangs, slavery, mendacity to advance religious and political power, support for totalitarianism and forms of fascism, and other ideologies that oppose an open democratic society where there is the freedom of the press and free enterprise.  

It should be a matter of grave concern that in Africa, where there are enormous resources and mineral wealth, there is so much corruption, economic instability, warfare, bloodshed, poverty and deprivation. 

Year after year we hear of wars and alarming conditions somewhere in Africa.  Genocide and revolutions seem to occur frequently. "Black Lives Matter" it is heralded in many places and yet I have heard relatively little about the massacres in parts of Nigeria, Sudan, Hutu tribes, the persecution of Christian unto death in certain areas ,  and other African nations where wars have been happening.

It is no wonder that many people wish to come to our land, but the current rate of immigration is having very sad consequences and conditions, and there will be catastrophes.

Bad Broadcasting Catastrophes

 The BBC has let us down.  The Corporation has failed to uphold high standards. The evidence against the senior management is now clear for all to see, to read about, to understand. There has been a litany of failures and faults. It is a dark day in the history of the BBC, and people are demanding changes and a clear out, a purge and serious review of the damage done by those responsible for the disasters. The resignations have been applauded, viewed as the correct and necessary actions. A good start and steps in the right direction.

There is a loss of confidence in the BBC and folk are questioning whether they should not pay their license fee. Some commentators contend that the BBC had come under the control of a woke and ideologically biased inner core who made dire decisions and dodgy moves.  They had annoyed and alienated staff, journalists, contributors, politicians, and the general public, the viewers incensed by obvious bias and shoddy broadcasting.

Let us hope that we get a better BBC.  Much has been expected of the BBC. It is time for the BBC to give much in return, a much better BBC. They get enough of our money to get it right, to restore and to revive it. Does that mean a reformation or a renaissance?

The Ministry of Justice is a mismanaged and maladjusted

What an omnishambles at Petit France, at the Ministry of Justice where mishaps, mistakes, mismanagement and maladministration take place on a daily basis. What a mess. It is clearly "not fit for purpose". And that is to quote a former Home Secretary who set up the Ministry of Justice. Senior civil servants and the Justice Secretary need to "get a grip". It is beyond a joke, a Yes Minister episode, when the Prison Service is letting dangerous prisoners out into the community, putting lives at risk and failing to protect the public.  Such failures make the Government and the criminal justice system a laughing stock, a field day for comedians and Private Eye magazine. 

Some politicians are clearly not up to the job; they are clearly out of their depth. Changes are needed. They are absolutely necessary. Heads should role. It is time for accountability and responsibility in Government. The current situation is woefully unacceptable.

Who can you trust the tell the truth?

 We live in a time when truth is under attack from false narratives, fake news, fabricated accounts and phony messages. It has been said that when folk believe in nothing, when they have no firm faith and foundations in their lives, then they are susceptible to believing in anything and everything. The moral and ethical vacuum is filled with fantasies and fables; they are open to all sorts of crazy ideas and ideologies.

It is so important to teach critical thinking skills, the ability to spot error and falsehood, to distinguish between fact and fiction, to discern what is based on evidence and tested truth.  History, religious studies and English, when well taught, should explain the difference between interpretation and established attested fact, the difference between primary source material and secondary sources, and the importance of understanding the difference between exegesis and eisegesis. The ability to discern when someone is drawing out what is the meaning of  the text and when someone is inserting their own or fabricated ideas into the text. What is interpretation and what is not an interpretation. A skillful enterprise but necessary.

We should be grateful to scholars who took us through the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the scientific revolution to a refined and well informed understanding of truth, that which can stand the test of time and intellectual scrutiny, and arguably eternity.

Jesus exclaimed that the truth will set you free. Sadly many people, I would argue, are in chains believing in falsehoods, vain hopes and erroneous narratives that will lead them to despair and destruction, and some will walk blindly in the broad way without even realizing the dangers, comfortable in their complacency and spiritually perilous condition.

When politicians and people in the media lie, cloak and dissemble so often and so liberally, we must be on our guard to stand for the truth and the values that serve us well, Christian values and Gospel truth.

Judgment on the House of Windsor?

 With all the problems facing the Royal Family there have been voices raised suggesting that the House of Windsor is now under the judgment of God.  One podcast spoke out against the legislation passed over recent years which has been detrimental to the country and has been part of declension and decline in the nation.

Others have expressed concern over the moral failings of the monarchy, the Firm: adulteries, fornications, sexual immorality, mendacity, allegations of fraud and fiscal irregularities, and a total disregard for transparency, openness and accountability.