The Decay of the West.

Have you taken a look at those in charge of individual Nations and their Governments? The American Presidential elections is taking front and centre attention of moral, ethical and character values and we forget leaders elsewhere. Whoever wins the coming U.S.A Presidency the Nation will actually lose! On what assessment is that made? Proverbs 14:34: ‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.’ The word for ‘sin’ points to the evil nature of a person which has no Godly restraints on it.

What is meant by Righteousness?

Being an Israelite the writer views it from a covenant relationship and the Pentateuch.  That meant amongst other things observing the Law, statutes and judgements given by God to and through Moses. This is beautifully summed in the Ten Commandments.  When the Western Nations turned to Christianity they wove these Commandments into their National psyche. The best summary of these is actually from the lips of Jesus. Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Righteousness therefore isn’t a theory but an inner condition lived out in a social context.

What is being demonstrated today in many nations previously influenced by the Christian faith is a repudiation of the Ten Commandments. With that emerges a society without a cohesive framework of relationships. In fact, the best description of what is emerging is found in Judges 21:25: ‘In those days there was no King in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.’ The result as recorded was chaotic and depressive. May I be allowed to paraphrase that verse for our scene today. ‘In our day there was no Ten Commandments in operation in our Society. Governments and individuals did as they pleased.’

Another aspect of Righteousness which exalts according to the Bible is found in Genesis 12:2-3. ‘I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’  Nations bear testimony to this truth in their histories.  As Israel is being isolated more and more and that even by some Christian Denominations so too the downside of what God said to Abram is evident.

Proverbs 14:34 is stressing more than personal responsibility. It confronts corporations, National Governments and communities regarding true righteousness. Therefore this requires leadership from Governments founded on principles of Justice and Truth from a higher authority than pressure from lobby groups. The Nations who once held individual lives as sacred from the womb to the tomb have surrendered to abortion and euthanasia. Why? Evolution has usurped the mystery of Creation according to Genesis. The complex issue of refugees is compounded by terrorism and mass infiltration which changes national culture. However, the delays in processing claims and the neglect to provide for their basic needs is an indictment on the World. In saying that, it must be stressed that it is those nations influenced by the Christian faith who are in the forefront of caring. More could be said about marriage, family, morality, child abuse, corruption in high and low places and family violence. Whether we want to admit it or not these are symptoms arising out of a walking away from righteousness, truth and justice.

As Christians we live in a morally and spiritually decaying world. In facts, according to 1 John 5:19 it is a world under the dominance of the Devil. Can you wonder, therefore, why righteousness, justice, truth and Bible based morality are frowned upon and undermined! In such circumstances we have a choice. Capitulate or agitate! Silence is safe but is frowned upon by our Heavenly Father. Not all of us can articulate our convictions but we can live out those famous words in Joshua 24:15b “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

©Ray Hawkins October 16 2016.

Constantine's Curse

‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’ still holds true. To choose some other music means losing out of a guaranteed subsidy. Within Church history this arrangement can be recognised as taking place between Church Denominations) and State.

In the first two and half centuries Jesus was the ‘paymaster.’ He was the Church’s theme and the guarantor of its funding. During that time the Church thrived in the face of opposition, pagan religions, infiltration by false teachers and Imperial edicts branding it as a threat. The melody of the cross sounded out with grace and glory. Then came Constantine. As he faced Maxentius at Milvian Bridge for the throne of Rome he had a vision. It was of a cross with the inscription ‘by this conquer.’ He had his soldiers stitch a sign of the cross on their shoulders as they prepared for battle. I wonder how many – if any – had the cross in their heart.

When he was Caesar in 313 he made Christianity legal and the State religion. The title ‘catholic’ appeared in edicts in 324. Bequests were allowed to the Church and Sunday services were officially endorsed. Constantine’s purpose was clear. Keep the Roman authority and State in unity and harmony in the face of Barbarian attacks. The pagan State was now the ‘paymaster.’ An unequal yoking of the State and Church took place. Christendom was ‘hatched.’

Slowly but surely across the centuries this yoke lingers. Its effect on the spiritual, moral and ethical life of the Church has been devastating. For those in Government care little for Biblical truth, Biblical morality and Biblical ethics. They require compliance and assist this with subsidies to clergy, buildings and charitable works. What appears within Church history is the horror of corruption within the Papacy and gross immorality and dereliction of Christ’s call to service. When the Reformation began hopes were high for a new beginning but the Church and State yoke remained even for the Reformers. There were those who heard the music of the Cross and the melody within Scripture and sought to live to its beat. They paid a high price as Christendom reacted to their threatening ‘music.’

The West is considered a mainly Christian influenced world. The message of Christ has had a great impact over the centuries and has reached-out beyond its borders. However the price of compliance and infiltration by the ungodly into the Church still took place and still does. When you read of atheist priests, ‘Gay’ preachers and theologians who reject the Bible or even the historicity of Jesus it makes people wonder about the Christian Faith. In recent decades various Governments around the World have tried to deafen the music of the Scriptures. Seemingly worthy laws such as the ‘anti-discrimination bill’ have been used to bluff, frighten and silence dissent to practices contrary to the teachings of Christ and His Scriptures.

Something strange however is happening. Heaven’s melody is getting louder. A willingness to stand with the Lord means a dependence upon Him rather than being compliant. Such a stand brings its hardships and misrepresentations. We are threatened with breaching discrimination laws because we hold to Biblical teaching on same sex marriage, sexual practices contrary to Scripture and the uniqueness of Christ for salvation. When the Church speaks against abortion, inhumane treatment of refugees or the impropriety of transgender toilets it is opposed or ignored.

A price may have to be paid by those who hear and heed the music of the Lord and trust Him to meet their needs. One thing is certain, within Christendom there is a sifting going on. The ‘music’ to which people will dance will be dictated by whom they accept as ‘Paymaster.’ Will it be to the Mammon offered by Constantine’s successors or to the accepting of the Communion of Christ Jesus? Will it be the Hallelujah Chorus or ‘Money, Money, Money, it’s a rich man’s world?’

©Ray Hawkins August 2016.

Is Tolerance a one way street?

To be tolerant is a current ‘buzz’ word being asked mainly of people from the Christianised western cultures. This is especially due to the avalanche of refugees storming into Europe. Tolerance is meant to be a two way street if it is to endure the pressure of clashing beliefs, morals and expectations. When only one side is expected to be tolerant such a one lane road ends in a precipice.

This is happening in Europe, especially Germany at the moment. Genuine refugees with desperate needs are being overshadowed by Islamic intolerant and arrogant infiltrators. Because of their views about women, culture, sharia law and infidels they have violated much of their hosting countries. The results of their belief system is to be intolerant while grasping all the benefits possible. Meanwhile, the desperately needy suffer. A strong backlash is surging within some of the host countries which can only bring more sorrow to all concerned.

What is the Christian response to a one-sided tolerance?

Are we to compromise our faith and heritage for some perceived niceness to the ungrateful? Is tolerance merely compromise leading to surrender? Our Christian faith calls on us to care for those in need. It requires us to try and understand and in a much abused word ‘to love’ them. This demand places us under strong pressure to be patient and make allowances. We are facing this in regard to Christmas, Australia Day, Anzac day, Easter, planning permission for mosques and halal certification. It is a big galling I must admit when this is demanded but not reciprocated in Islamic countries. Tony Abbot had his faults but he recognised a problem from a belief system which wanted our agreement to their demands. It was a one way street. They didn’t want to adopt or tolerate our way of life. What is brewing? Strife!

Some may ask how Jesus would handle this matter! We know He was tolerant but He had a cut-off point. He warned certain cities about future judgement because of their abuse and rejection of His grace (Matthew 11). Also there is the dramatic episode of Him overturning the table of the merchants in the Temple. Towards us the Lord has been patient over many years but we also know He will and has acted with discipline. What then is to be expected when His Name, His word and His people are violated and exploited? Judgement! The book of Revelation is a no compromise comment on that.

While we believe vengeance belongs to the Lord we are not excused from defending and declaring our faith and morality. Nor should we be silent in urging our Government to stand true to our Christian heritage, values and history. If the Government puts tolerance before truth and votes before virtue then our society is sold-out. The tyranny of the toughest will dominate and humiliate.

Grace is still to motivate tolerance with long-sufferance. This doesn’t mean silence or

surrender. I wonder what the Good Samaritan would have done if the robbers had jumped on him, using the wounded man as a trap? I think he would have defended the wounded and resisted the attackers. Surely that is where tolerance and justice meet.

 Ray Hawkins Jan 25 2016.

Christmas - No Compromise

There’s a madness spreading across the world breeding antipathy and hostility to the Christian faith. This plague is infecting countries and community with a long history of Christianity. Civic and Church leaders are losing moral strength as they are confronted by an influx of people with this antichrist fever. Not wanting to offend such people, those in Government make excuses for expressing sympathy by undermining their Christian Heritage. As the Christmas season draws near this well-meaning empathy is actually desecrating the name of Christ.  Some areas of Germany are calling the Christmas season ‘Festival of Lights.’ In Australia Christmas Nativity scenes in some communities are banned. It is politically incorrect to wish someone “Merry Christmas”.  A Muslim cleric said to be part of the Christmas celebration and wishing another “Merry Christmas” was worse than murder.

 Some well-meaning and ‘nice’ Christians are going along with this nonsense. Such ‘jellyfish’ believers are in actual fact betraying the Faith.  We may debate the date but not the fact of the birth of Jesus. Our authority for this event and who it reveals are *Prophetic Scriptures *Eye witness accounts in the Gospels.  *The Church, which, without the other two and the historical facts of Christ’s birth, life and resurrection, wouldn’t exist. We also have to remember the apostles and many first century believers in Christ paid for their faith with their blood. Our response, as Christians should be similar to those over the centuries who called Jesus Lord, ‘No Compromise.’

Why is Christmas so offensive? Depending upon the belief of the person the celebration of the birth of Christ upsets their tolerance. Atheists are rankled by anything which points to the creator, redeemer God. Muslims deny the claims of Jesus, especially about Him being the Son of God. Jews reject Jesus as their promised Messiah. In the final analysis all this angst is directed to the Church and the Bible. The books of the Bible have one major theme – Jesus! In the 39 books of the Old Testament He is the promised someone who is coming. In the four Gospels, Jesus is the promised someone who has come. In the twenty-three other books of the New Testament Jesus is the promised someone who is coming again.

Every Christmas and every Easter and Passover the non-Christian belief system is given a pounding. This happens at Christmas through church services, greeting cards, nativity scenes, music and the church providing Christmas cheer to the hungry and destitute. Handel’s marvellous music of the ‘Messiah’ must disturb those who reject the coming of Jesus to be the Saviour of the World. This would be especially true of militant Islam which disallows music in their culture. Who can blame them! They have nothing to sing about, either to their god, his interest in them, or about their hope of being accepted by him!

It is time for Christians to stand their ground. It is time to be gracious in the face of being charged as bigots. It is time to challenge political correctness when it tries to silence our voice from speaking the truth of God’s Word. It is time to pay the price for teaching the message of grace, mercy, judgement and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. It is time to pray for those who are intent upon nullifying, undermining and destroying Christ and His Church. It is time to cancel out compromise.

May the Lord bless you this Christmas! As you celebrate the birth of the Son of God may He fill your heart with wonder! In wishing others, friend, family or foe, “Merry Christmas” let it be our expression of faith in the Christmas event.

©Ray Hawkins November16th 2015.

If anyone is interested in finding out more of what the bible says on Christmas get ‘Bethlehem’s Warrior Baby’ by Ray Hawkins. Available in Christian bookshops and also as an Ebook from Amazon and Goodreads. RRP $10:00.

Hope Even When Despair's Tear Fall

To look into the eyes of the displaced people from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, what has God got to offer them? Does the Bible speak to their situation? Do all we have to say merely sounds like pious but hollow words?

There is a book in the Old Testament written especially for people caught up in war. It was written by the prophet Jeremiah after the destruction of his beloved city, Jerusalem. The book is called Lamentations. In any conflict the innocent suffer. The causes of the conflict will vary from that of Israel in Jeremiah’s day. You read of his anguish, his identification with its destruction and even his questioning of God. However in the midst of this book of tears the radiance of Hope bursts through. This isn’t a whistling in the dark, fingers crossed type of hope. It is founded on the rock solid faithfulness of God to His promises.

Jeremiah was distraught by the apparent hopelessness which the burning rubble of city and temple presented. He believed God had promised through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a Messiah and King would come through the tribe of Judah. Was all that now abandoned by God because of human faithlessness, failure and folly? The nation was in captivity in Babylon. The city destroyed. God’s promise seemed null and void. Had the ungodly won the battle?

Even today this scenario is being played out, especially in Islamic countries. Rival Islamic militants are intent on destroying each other. All of those Islamic groups also have the desire to eliminate Jews and Christians. Where is the Lord Jesus Christ in all of this? The United Nations relief agencies are in the camps supplying food and shelter but where can hope be found? Where will the heart find comfort that truth, righteousness and justice will ultimately one day come? When the Christian suffering refugees bury their dead what will sustain their faith? What can they offer to the children who are hungry, naked and confused?

There can only be the promises of God spelt out in the Bible. These are not wishful thinking words. The promises of God are verifiable and tested by time and fulfilment in a number of areas. Jeremiah wrestled in his pain, poverty and loneliness with wondering if God would succeed in doing what He promised. The prophet wrote down his convictions in Lamentations 3. (see below). He also declared that God would bring back the nation to the Land after seventy (70) years. It happened! We also know that God kept His word in the sending of His son Jesus to be the Messiah. Christmas and Easter are testament to that.

Therefore, what hope can we offer to those who sit in the rubble of their world? What can we say when injustice, cruelty and corruption flaunt themselves and defile the Name and Word of God? ‘(God) has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead’. (Acts 17:31 speaking of course about Jesus Christ) Compare also Jude 15-25 Revelation 20.

The Bible is actually a book written to refugees assailed, expelled or threatened for their faith in Jesus as God’s Son, our Saviour. Those of us in the more stable countries at this moment need to pray for those who are suffering and dying for their faith, now. We may well be next. Therefore each of us needs to reconnect and take to heart the wonderful words of faith which held Jeremiah together even as his tears of despair flowed.

‘My soul … is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope; The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to and end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lamentations 3:20-26)

Hope is founded on God’s character, integrity and track record in fulfilling what He promised. Now is the time to be strengthened in it through reading, believing and obeying His word. Now is also the time to make His promise of forgiveness and a new destiny by putting your trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. He is the One who will one day come to judge the world in righteousness. That’s hope sustained by God’s faithfulness!