Do they really believe in climate change?

Climate change. The new orthodoxy. Fail to believe and you're damned as a heretic - not yet burned at the stake (using sustainable energy!), but certainly the modern equivalent: the BBC will ensure that you're ridiculed and the PM will publicly condemn you as a 'flat earther.'

So fervent are these believers in climate change that 15000 of them went to Copenhagen to forge a legally binding treaty which would limit global warming to 2 degrees.

And they believed their message so wholeheartetdly that 120 of the 193 countries went home before an agreement could be reached. And then 5 countries agreed a statement that, "deep cuts in emissions are required". So, that'll sort it out then, won't it?! They can all get back on their planes and fly home...

If we Christians really believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, that his glory matters above all else, that salvation is found in no-one else, that those who reject him are heading for 'weeping and gnashing of teeth', then what will we do about it?

Try not to kick the cat? Join the church cleaning rota? Be nice to the man who parks across the drive in the hope that he'll ask about the 'reason for the hope that is in you?' Give £5 to the missionary gift day appeal?

Surely if we really believe that Jesus is Lord and Saviour, we will be giving all we can - time, money, skills, energy. We need Christians who will put the Climate Change believers to shame and put their money where their mouth is!


(PS I'm actually a climate change agnostic: I'm not sure if it's caused by man or a natural cycle.)

The God Confusion

If you've not yet heard about the joint convention in London on March 13, get it in your diary now!!

The day, entitled, 'The God Confusion' is for men & women to hear clear, accessible & passionate explanations of the gospel. So start thinking & praying about who you can invite.

For more info: http://www.christianconventions.org.uk/lmc/index.php

(Originally, the plan was to have one session for men, one for women and some children's work. But by popular demand this has been changed, and the whole day will be for men & women together, with no children's work).

Persuading men, pleasing God

Am I now persuading people or God? Or am I trying to please people? If I was still trying to please people I would not be a slave of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

The task of the Christian is to persuade people and please God, not to persuade God and please people.

But this leads to some difficult moral predicaments. For Paul, it meant not insisting on circumcision and yet asking Timothy to be circumcised. He wouldn't insist on it because it wasn't needed to be right with God - he is the God of gace, not of religious works. And yet, because Timothy was working with Paul amongst Jews (Acts 16), it was better for him to be circumcised - not to please people, but to gain a hearing for the gospel and so persuade them about Christ.

But this meant Paul was open to the accusation of inconsistency. He was furious with the Galatians for forcing Christian men & boys to be circumcised. But at the same time, he himself asked Timothy to be circumcised. Isn't he being hypocritical?  No, because the Galatians were insisting on circumcision as a means to persuade God to be pleased with them., Paul was requesting it in order to persuade people.

We too face difficult decisions which may lay us open to accusations of hypocrisy. But the principle is clear - do what you need to do to gain a hearing for the gospel and persuad people about Jesus. But always and only do what pleases God. We're slaves of Christ and not of people.

Envy

I often start Sunday mornings with a Psalm, and this week it was 73.

Asaph, the author, begins, 'Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.' But then he realises that he's just had a close shave, 'But as for me, my feet had almost slipped... for I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.'

And he goes on to list the ways in which life is easy for the rich - they don't have struggles, they have health & strength. They're free from the burdens of others. They don't worry about what God thinks of them - they're carefree and their wealth just goes on increasing. Asaph wonders if he hasn't kept himself pure for nothing, foregoing the pleasure of wealth for no gain.

But then he entered 'the sanctuary of God'. Then he, 'understood their final destiny'. In God's presence (in the OT, the sanctuary was where you came near to God), his perspective changed. 'Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!' The rich are but 'fantasies' (dreams which disappear without trace). The rich cannot prolong life nor escape death and judgement.

But, realises Asaph, 'I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterwards take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven besides you?'

When you're tempted to envy the rich - when they drive past in the Aston Martin DB9, when you see them arriving at the Neville Golf Club, when you can't afford to shop in Fenwicks or Hoopers - when you're tempted to envy, tell yourself, 'I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.'