current events

Doomsday Clock

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The Doomsday Clock has been in the news quite a bit lately. The Clock, run by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, assesses what they believe to be the chance of human initiated world disaster (e.g. nuclear war). It has been frozen at the highest level since 1953 during the Cold War (it began keeping time in 1947). New rivalries between powerful nations, militarism, climate change, tensions in Europe, uncertainty in the USA, a lack of interest in facts; these are just some of the reasons they’ve left the clock at 2 minutes to midnight (midnight representing Doomsday).

Whilst these are real concerns, the clock is the opinion of a select group of scientists. What humours me, in the most serious sense of that saying, is a) the confidence placed in their timing, and b) what their clock fails to take into consideration.

Confidence: Their clock is always moving, when it is near mid-night some people tremble and when it is far away people lose all concern. We shouldn’t place our confidence in the subjective timing of mere humans, but rather the Lord’s clock-watch.

Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour [of His return and the final judgement].” (Matthew 25:13).

The Lord’s Doomsday Clock is always set at 23:59:59.

This is not mean to engender fear or complacency, but rather to propel us to trust in Him for salvation and so be ready for that great day.

Shortcoming: All of the things that the Clock focuses upon are mere symptoms of the problem (i.e. sin). It is also curious that they didn’t name godlessness, immorality and vice. Sure we should look to apply what God’s Word has to say about modern issues, but more importantly we should seek to apply what it says about the disease of sin and the cure of Christ. It wasn’t because of symptoms that God judged the earth in Noah’s day but because of heart issues and wickedness:

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found Favour in the eyes of the LORD.” (Genesis 6:5–8).

2 Peter 2 makes clear as well that when the Lord’s clock strikes midnight it will be at a time of His own choosing, and the Judgement will fall not merely on sinful deeds (many of which the world no longer consider sinful!) but rather upon ungodliness.

What shall we do to prepare ourselves for the day the Lord’s clock does strike midnight – for unlike the Doomsday Clock which can be reversed by human effort, nothing can retard the advance of God’s eternal clock?

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near” (Isa 55:6)

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

 

Wisdom for Politics

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My default Bible translation is the English Standard Version (ESV). However, as I read the Bible to my 6 month old son I am reading from the International Children’s Bible (ICB) at his bedtime readings. At the moment I am reading to him the wisdom of Proverbs. This book has a lot to say about leadership and politics, from a spiritual perspective. One proverb that had never registered with me before, and perhaps did so because I re-encountered it in a children’s translation, is Proverbs 28:2a. This is what says in the ICB:

When a country is disobedient, it has one ruler after another.

[The ESV renders this verse: When a land transgresses, it has many rulers.]

Another way of putting this would be:

“When a country so blatantly sins against the Lord, its politics will be unstable.”

A child is wiser than a godless leader. Such is the case we find our Parliament in at this juncture in history—political deadlock, little faith in its leaders, instability, little seeking of the King of kings. How much good it would be for each Parliamentarian to have a Bible, read Proverbs, believe what it says and in faith put it into practice.

Years ago I read in Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President how former President Jimmy Carter (1977–81) read the book of Proverbs each month (that’s a chapter a day), every year for the four years that he was in office (He also wrote: Through the Year with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President, which though it has been some time since I read both books, I did generally profit from reading them).

The pursuit of the wisdom of this world has clearly proven how inferior it is to the wisdom that is from above.

The verse, however, not only speaks to leaders who’ve enacted a string of godless legislation in recent years but also the wicked populace who’ve elected them. Saving faith in Jesus is at, arguably, an historic low. We have the Parliament that we deserved. I expect that the last time an official national day of prayer was called was probably during WWII. When will we cease to seek the face of our rulers and know that justice comes from the Lord? (Prov 29:26).

Yet despite all this, as Christians, even though we be in the minority as Abraham and Lot were in Sodom, may we call out to the Lord to have mercy on our land for the sake of His faithful remnant. May the Lord raise up strong and godly leadership (read the second half of our verse).

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

What does the Bible say about the Death Penalty?

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This was not a question raised in this summer’s People’s Choice sermon series but one that a news article I read about the Pope sparked. Pope Francis, a progressive and liberal pope, changed Catholicism’s official teaching on the death penalty to hold that it is now “inadmissible” because it “attacks” the “inherent dignity of all humans.”[1] This has caused praise from some RC’s and criticism from others.

Yet any Pope, who RC’s believe has “papal infallibility” in his pronouncements (1870) should not be our guide to this subject, nor should subjective contemporary feelings about justice, but rather what God has to say about the matter.

Before we turn to that, it is interesting that 2015 was the first year more people in the UK were against capital punishment than for it. Interestingly, when it was officially struck off the books by MP’s in 1998 the popular support for it was much higher than 50% (higher still when MP’s ended the practice in the 1965).[2]

Many Christians have bought into a faulty view of God’s love and justice and divine order for human affairs that would see them heartily agree with the Pope’s decision (forgetting government authorities are appointed by God and “do not bear the sword in vain” [Ro 13:4]). One can interestingly note a corresponding tie between the decline of Christianity and Christian values in the UK and the corresponding decline in support for the death penalty.

Much of our British legal heritage stems from the wisdom of the Law of Moses. Though this was intended for the theocracy of Israel it was applied to national legal systems across the West. It was the bedrock upon which Western civilization was built. Those Christians who oppose capital punishment, however, often cite that Christians are no longer under the Law of Moses, particularly its legal provisions. In this, aside from moral obligations, I would agree as they were fulfilled in Christ. HOWEVER, the biblical mandate FOR the death penalty precedes the Law of Moses, meaning that its application is universal. God instituted the just practice in Genesis 9:6:

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God has made man in his own image.

There is obviously much more that could be said about the Biblical parametres around and wisdom for the practice of capital punishment, but what is ultimately ‘inadmissible’ and something which attacks the ‘inherent dignity of all humans’ is when governments fail to fulfil their God given mandate of bearing the sword as He instructs and thus be His instruments for justice and for the punishment and curtailing of evil.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45042130

[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32061822

The Miracle of Life

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Yesterday in our People’s Choice series we dealt with one of the most important social and moral issues of our day, abortion. Here is a helpful little video followed by a resource link to the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. You may also want to listen to the sermon on our sermons’ page.

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children:

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Remembrance Day 2017

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Today is Remembrance Day (I hope you bought a poppy and that you paused to remember!). This is a photograph of my grandfather, Jack W. Crocker, in 1943. My grandfather was a WWII veteran, many of his friends and countrymen paid an even greater sacrifice than his service by laying down their life for their friends, family and country. In serving as a chaplain in the Canadian Army Reserve for 6.5 year I had the privilege to meet many men and women who likewise sacrificed greatly, and knew of others who had—still today— paid the greatest sacrifice for our peace, their lives.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for their friends.

(John 15:13)

Whilst those who serve, served and have died deserve our respect and honour, and whilst the sacrifices ensured our freedom in the face of tyranny and still today protect and defend the peace we enjoy, it does not have any salvific quality spiritually speaking. Here, at best, these men and women are pointers and reminders of the one who was perfect and God and who gave His life to save us from our sin so we might have life and peace for eternity. Do you know this warrior, saviour and friend (Jesus)? If so, when was the last time you paused to remember and give thanks for Him?

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

ISingPop Ministry

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Hands

By Chris W. Crocker

Presented at the St.Andew’s CE School ISingPop concert at St. Andrew’s Church on September 28, AD 2017, a community event sponsored by St. Andrew’s Church and Cromhall Chapel. This 360 degree reflection of the Christian faith followed the song See Those Hands.

The Lord be with you!

Hands up if you think the students of St. Andrew’s School are doing a fab job this evening! Let’s give them—and ISingPop— a big hand for all their hard work (clap [draw attention to hand actions with each subsequent reference]).

Take a look at your hands for a moment. Our hands have done a lot of things we are proud of, and if we’re honest also a lot of things we’re probably not. But our hands are amazing aren’t they! The Bible says they were created by Jesus, just as a potters’ hands shape the clay. Did you know the finger prints on your hands are unique to your DNA. No one else in the world has hands like yours, you are special!

But while we were designed to bless Jesus our creator in worship with our hands (lift them up) and live in a relationship with Him, instead we choose to go our own way and curse Jesus with our hands, we sinned.

BUT God the Father, with loving, gracious, merciful and just hands, sent His one and only Son, Jesus into the world He created so whoever would believe in Him might not perish but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16).

So, Jesus was born of the virgin Mary—that first Christmas—and she held the Rescuer with her hands as she pondered these things in her heart. As Jesus got older, He grew up with His hands in wood, working in the family business as a carpenter.

But there came a day when it was time for Jesus to set His hands to the work His heavenly Father had sent Him for. And as He began that work, and was baptised at the hand of John the Baptist, God the Father stretched out His hand from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

During His 3 year ministry, Jesus laid His hands on people and healed them of illness, stretched out His hands and fed people, calmed the storm, taught them, all to prove who He was, but most importantly to make a way back to God, which He did in the strangest way.

Jesus suffered abuse at the hands of the Roman soldiers, crowds and religious leaders. Finally the soldiers took nails and a hammer in their hands and nailed Jesus’ hands to the Cross. He hung on that cross by His hands and died. And to make sure He was really, really dead, a soldier picked up his spear in his hand, and thrust it into Jesus side. He died the death that all those who’d believe deserved to die.

BUT that isn’t the end of the story, because three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, proving that He was God’s Son, showing He had power over sin and death in His hands.

People don’t come back to life from the dead though, we’ve got a handle on that, and they knew that back then too!

Yet, 100s of people saw the risen Jesus—this miracle—including His disciples, all but one, Thomas. Thomas said, “Unless I see His hands,… and place my hand in His side, I will never [ever, ever] believe.” (John 20:25).

But a week later Jesus appeared to Thomas and said to him, Thomas “put your fingers here, and see my hands; put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe!” (John 20:27) and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who will give you” life and life to the full” (John 10:10).

For the Bible says there is coming a day when Jesus will return, not as a baby or a suffering Saviour, but as a great and mighty King and Judge with justice in His hand. What will be the deciding factor?

Not by the “good works” done by our hands but whether we’ve put up our hand and said, “Yes, Jesus, I believe,” put up our hand and said, “Jesus I’m sorry for my sin,” praising Him with our hands and serving Him with our lives.

This is the message of the Lord to us this evening. Thanks be to God!

Faith + Hope

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Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

So begins the ‘hall of fame’ list of faith in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Given the dark days in which we live—rife with evil, moral decay and unbelief—days in which humanly speaking I resign myself to believe our civilisation is doomed, what is faith, what is hope?

Most people today are hopeless, their lives uncertain, because they have a presumptuous ‘faith’ (trusting in themselves, others or in ungrounded optimism & wishful thinking [a ‘faith in faith’ mentality]) that ‘hopes’ in uncertainties (selfish desires, earthly shifting sands, fallible people). It is a trust in a hope of a feeling of expectation that something good might happen. When this leads to shattered hopes and broken faith—as it almost always does—people invariably despair; over time they give up.

Biblical faith and hope are not so vague, but are described as an “assurance” and a “conviction.” Faith is a trust in a promise made by a faithful God. He is the object of our faith, His promises the basis of our hope. Therefore, whatever He has promised we can trust and as we actively wait for it we hope. In fact, our trust is so firm and our hoping so active, it is as if what is invisible is visible before our very eyes (see: Ro 8:24–5; 2 Cor 5:7; 1 Pet 1:8).

Hebrews is speaking about Jesus and His return, but He seems to tarry; we’ve also been promised eternal life, but can feel so dead; we’re promised a happy resurrection, but our bodies know corruption; we are made just, as yet sin dwells in us; we hear the call to rejoice, but are in the midst of miseries; we have the promise of good gifts, but still we hunger and thirst.

What would become of us if we were not supported by true hope and faith, the ministry of Christ’s Spirit and the Word, along with the example of a cloud of witnesses, who together enable us to triumph over the world and endure to the finish line, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (12:2).

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

Initial Reflections from Sharing Jesus at Summer Solstice 2017

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Last year evangelist Jonathan B. and myself led a session on the New Age at the Chapel. We invited Jonathan to speak because he has been attending Stonehenge for 15 years, attending to speak with people about the Gospel. Around the time of that meeting I felt it was an outreach opportunity I should commit to attending. In the end myself and David F. from the Chapel agreed to go with him (so glad he was willing for us to tag along). It was a privilege to serve alongside two men so gifted in “on the spot” public evangelism.

I share these reflections as my mind is still filled with the grogginess of returning home at 0600 not having a proper night’s sleep just in case anyone is interested in what goes on/ or how the Gospel might be shared in places such as these.

The three of us met up in the early evening for fellowship and prayer (so important in evangelism and serving in spiritually dark places). With a willingness to be used by the Spirit, and with tracts, Bibles and Jesus t-shirts in hand (that might seem a tad tacky but they work well as a conversation starter) we set off to seek and save the lost. Given how warm it has been there were lots of people, different sorts of people all searching and thirsting for living waters but searching for it in broken cisterns (Jer 2:13). There were some neo-pagans, druids and witches of varying sorts (some pretend and some real). There were also many neo-pagan and New Age worshippers wishing folks “happy solstice.” Then there was the majority, or those looking for a good excuse for revelry and then those who just came to check things out. There were lots of drugs and alcohol (the air stank of it), dancing, flame tricks, glow sticks and different sorts of music ranging from classic hippy, rock to pagan drumming. I was particularly bothered by how many children were being exposed to such darkness, drugs, false worship and lack of sleep! It was an odd combination of some elements that almost seemed darkly primitive blended with a hippy culture of the 60s. Nonetheless, we were there to love people and minister the Gospel in the name of Jesus.

We journeyed first to:

Avebury

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We arrived here while it was still light out. Given this location is off the beaten path from Stonehenge (though much larger in size) there were less people and a less organised feel. This meant that it had a better atmosphere for engaging with people. Sadly the local URC church had just been sold and nothing was on at the parish church (though I cannot confirm whether they were doing anything or not). After surveying the lay of the land (this was new for 2 of us) we broke off for a time to do some individual sharing. We each had a few conversations with people but it was not until we re-joined a large group within the stone circle that a number of people began being drawn into conversation with us. Chief among these were two teenage boys and some women. We were able to pray extensively for one very lost 17 year old and share with him. It was disconcerting to see how the UKs moral slide away from the Lord is having disastrous effects in real people’s lives and causing so many of the secondary societal issues we are seeing such as broken homes and suicide. With another we were able to share to the extent that he took a Bible and was sincerely interested in considering Christ (once he was not in the state he was). We also shared extensively with a drunk (who we helped get a coffee) who was receptive and will wake up in the morning with the literature he took. Contact details were exchanged with several of these folk so Gospel follow up might take place. It was a good environment for sharing and things seemed to flow very naturally.


Woodhenge

Sadly when we arrived here the party had ended and the campers were hunkering down for bed. That didn’t stop us from looking at Woodhenge in the dark.

Stonehenge

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The BBC reported that there were 13,000 people at Stonehenge last night, of which we were but three. We hoped there were other Christians there taking advantage of this opportunity for outreach. By the time we got here it was late (or early) such that many people were sleeping on the ground (and you had to watch you didn’t trip over them! A few of them will have woken up to some tracts in their sleeping bagsJ). After paying £15 to park (that kept some away) we walked the incredibly long distance to Stonehenge, through the security and metal detectors, past the lighting, vendors and armed police. It all had a very commercial and touristy feeling that seemed to cramp the spirit of evangelism. We met a Hindu monk in the enormous car park. He showed us some scary Hindu pictures and wanted us to take a copy of his sacred book. He declined the offer to swap “holy books.” It turned out he had been a “Christian” and was from California. Many people we talked with either thought they knew what Christianity was all about from RE lessons or had tried Christianity and didn’t like it, or had been raised in the church but had not had their questions answered (to such nominal Christians- Ps 34:8, Taste and see that the Lord is good…the trouble is they had never tasted, oh what baggage to faith there can sometimes be). After making it to the centre of the circle and witnessing yet more revelry we dispersed to the edges where opportunities to engage with people were generally greater. Jonathan was able to engage with a druid whilst David and I were able to enter into conversation with a number of people who weren’t high. Sadly, despite repeated attempts to steer conversation to spiritual things and ultimately the Lord we sensed things were not as open to evangelism as at Avebury and wanting to beat the sunrise rush left just prior to sun up.

I am sure we’ll all have further reflections and lessons to apply to future evangelistic attempts at such settings, however, for this tired brain it is time to sign off. Please pray for those we met.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

Post-truth, alternative-facts and fake news

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Post-truth, alternative-facts and fake news

What is truth? (John 18:38)

Those are famous words uttered by Pontius Pilate. Whether he meant them as a retort, a genuine question, or both has been debated, but his question has been echoed down through the centuries.

“What is truth?” Pilate asked Jesus as the Truth himself stood before him. Here was the man who brought truth and reality into being at creation. Here was the man who delineated the bounds of truth (morals) and told us to tell the truth because otherwise we would be acting contrary to His very nature. Here was the man who will judge all people by the truth and whether they knew the Truth at the end of time. It is a perennially good question to ask!

Truth, simply put, is “that which is in accordance with fact or reality.”

Sadly, we are living in an age that relativizes truth, pushes it to the corner, says it is in the eye of the beholder, that it is not relevant. Humanity has moved from knowing the Truth (pre-Gen 3) to a place where very often it is suppressed in favour of our version of the truth.

In 2016 Oxford Dictionary defined their word of the year as post-truth. Here “post” doesn’t mean “after” as in “post-war” but “beyond” or “irrelevant.” They define it as:

Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.

Truly, this signifies that we’ve moved from being a theonomos culture (where the law of God or the law of nature is self-evident), to where we are not even a heteronomous culture (where someone else sets the law, like a king or a dictator) but have arrived at an ever increasingly autonomous culture where each person decides what truth is for them (the irony being that as soon as they disagree with another’s version of the truth they protest and cease to be autonomous but become heteronomous wishing to impose their view militantly on the other. Hence they operate under the guise of tolerance which is really selfishness).

little-golden-bookMost recently we have seen post-truth at play in politics with the coining of another new term: “alternate facts.” This was poked fun at by countless people on social media including by this meme (or spoof) of the old children’s book series Little Golden Book, where a dog is a cat and an egg is soup. It seeks to make the point that post-truth is downright silly.

Fake news has also come into our vocabulary with trust in the mainstream media falling to 32% in the USA. Who are we to believe? Who is telling the truth? What is truth? While I believe in the freedom of speech I cannot help but see that many of those who are “crying wolf” have contributed to the epidemic. The reason why some are using “fake news” is not so much because news has been fake but because it has very often been highly biased and very often interpreted facts narrowly within one worldview (liberal). The very people who have often called evil good and good evil are now upset a similar tactic is being used against them.

It is my prayer all of this post-truth, alternate facts, and fake news nonsense will not drive people into their particular prejudices and result in ignorance but cause us to wake up and ask what is truth?

God asserts that truth is real and that it matters: “do not bear false witness” (Ex 20:16) and “abhor what is evil; cling to what is good” (Ro 12:9), and that the Bible is God’s standard of truth (Amos 7). Christianity is based on facts (Luke wrote “an orderly [eyewitness] account…that you may have certainty” about Jesus [Lk 1:3–4]). Jesus claimed to be the Truth (Jn 14:6), and that in knowing Him as the Truth would “set you free” (Jn 8:22). That upon believing in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins we would not only be reconciled to God (the greatest reality) but receive the “Spirit of Truth” who would “guide us into all truth” (Jn 16:13). This is not arrogance but a recognition that sin clouds our minds, and that when we have come to Christ and put on Christ we receive a new worldview, a new lens, a new way of looking at things.

It is my hope that as people react against post-truth it might lead them to consider the life giving truth claims of Christianity. The horrible alternate is that we truly are living in a time when people will “turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into lies” (1 Ti 4:4).

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

Christmas Day vs. the Lord’s Day

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This is the second Christmas blog post that seeks to cut through nominalism and encourage true worship of the Lord this Christmas season. The first was titled Christmas vs. Jesus.

A number of years ago at a church I was serving at there was a strong human tradition surrounding Remembrance Day (Nov 11). In the community this day was sacred. At the 11th hour everything stopped and a sizable portion of the village assembled at the cenotaph. Having been in the army I thought that this was very commendable. However, it illustrated an interesting point when Remembrance Day fell on the date and the time of our regular Lord’s Day worship of the Lord (which also had a Remembrance Day element such as a moment silence, etc). This rare occasion pitted one [noble] human tradition against the divine command of worship on the Lord’s Day (Rev 1:10; Ex 20:8–11). Sadly this produced an interesting spiritual experiment: would people choose a human tradition or joyful obedience to the Lord’s command?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Prov 3:5–6).

It saddened my heart because some from our fellowship choose their own way and prioritised a human tradition over faithful obedience to the Lord. In fact one of the roles of the Sabbath command is to reveal our idols for the thing we are most tempted to do on the Lord’s Day (or do in place of worshipping Him) shows where our priorities truly lie (click here to read a blog on this subject).

The same is true of Christmas this year, as Christmas falls on the Lord’s Day. Christmas, a noble event in salvation history that we remember on December 25th (along with things this day has come to mean to people making this the human tradition par excellence) will be pitted against the Lord’s Day, the first day of every week sacred to the Lord. Will people “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”?

In all honesty December 25th, 2016 is a double blessing. We have the joy of not only honouring the Lord’s Sabbath command, not only remembering Christ’s resurrection from the dead and celebrating the new life we have in Him, but also on this rare occurrence of also remembering His incarnation and worshipping Him. After all isn’t Christmas about worshipping Jesus anyway?

But how many will be tempted to skip worship because they think they have too much to do or prepare?

How many will prioritise family, travel or vacation over the Lord?

How many will be lured by using those gift cards and shopping online?

Which day will trump the other? Will we fit Christmas into our Lord’s Day observance, or will the celebration of [a secular?] Christmas squeeze out and overshadow the Lord’s Day?

For Christians in a mixed family environment this can be very tricky. I empathise for those whom December 25 will present a significant moral dilemma between pleasing the Lord or family, but what an opportunity to witness by taking a stand for the Lord and explaining the reason for your position with gentleness and respect. I remember one side of our family always used to have their Christmas lunch on the Lord’s Day before Christmas. Only three families within this wider family were Christian, the rest were either nominally so or not at all and so in their mind no moral dilemma existed. They had no trouble having an early lunch because they didn’t have a greater appointment beforehand. Yet because three families always worshipped the Lord on a Lord’s Day morning that always came into conflict with the timing of this family Christmas meal. Usually the time of the meal was not pushed back to accommodate, though very occasionally it was, which meant that for those who choose worship ahead of family, you got some cold left overs upon your arrival. However, while they had neglected their duty, we had the joy of not neglecting ours.

I hope that this Christmas worshipping the Lord and honouring his day—first and foremost—will come ahead of any planned festivities.

“Let us not neglect to meet together as is the habit of some.” (Heb 10:25)

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris