Five Questions

Five Questions

Why are there so many problems in the world?

We don’t need to persuade you that the world is not perfect. Wars, brutality, and crime. Hurricanes earthquakes and other ‘natural’ disasters – the list seems endless. A major misunderstanding of the Bible is that it promises to make the world a better place but, in fact, the Bible doesn’t promise a better world – it makes it clear that these events will happen and that things will gradually get worse.

The illustration is often given of a ship crew that commits mutiny and throws the captain overboard. The once calm journey is brutally disrupted and chaos ensues on board. Why? Because they got rid of their captain. The Bible makes it clear that the problems of this world stems from our rejection of God. Want to know more? Then read on…

What has become of Britain?

The problems of this world have a knock-on effect in our own country. What has become of Britain? This question is asked by many. Some say it’s the politicians, others blame immigrants. It’s very rare that you hear somebody say, the problems in my country could have something to do with my own conduct. Do I steal from my place of work (whether time or resources?) Am I a model citizen? Do I try to get on with my neighbours? Am I faithful in my relationship with my spouse? These are general questions any British citizen could ask themselves. However, to get a more precise answer we need to dig a bit deeper. What is the general attitude of the British towards God? This is a nation that birthed great men of God like William Wilberforce and John Wesley, yet the majority in our country today have no time for God but we have time for our TV, internet, football and the like, yet no time for God. In the book of Proverbs found in the Bible it says:

‘Righteousness exalts a nation,

But sin is a reproach to any people’

In other words, people living holy lives make a nation great, but a rejection of God and going against His word (sin) disgraces a nation. How do we deal with this sin? We’ll find out in a moment, first, we need to ask a couple more questions…

Why do we have to die?

Lost somebody close to you? Uncle, sister, parent? No matter who you are, your education, ethnicity, wealth – you must die. As is often quoted; ‘Death is a great leveller.’ The greatest minds are unable to answer this basic question, ‘Why do we have to die?’ In his famous book ‘Does God believe in Atheists?’ John Blanchard quotes the words of murderer Robert Alton who was about to face the electric chair:

“You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everybody dances with the grim reaper,”

 

Yes, you have to die. Whether in a hospital ward or an electric chair, death awaits us all. The vast majority of people face death unprepared. Brain-washed by prominent atheists, people drink in the lie that we are just a highly evolved lump of flesh with no purpose in life. Suddenly we face death and God’s judgement, and we are thrown into an eternity away from Him  forever. We all face physical death yet we are already spiritually dead.  Being spiritually dead means that we don’t know God, cannot relate or respond to Him. Being spiritually dead means that we carry the load of our sin and shame. Why do we have to die? Death is a result of when man rebelled against God. All will experience physical death, but we can now be made alive spiritually, able to know God and relate to Him, the question is how? Read further.

Why do so many dismiss religion?

Why do people react in this way? Do religions cause wars and divisions? This writer believes that it would be foolish to deny that religion can cause strife, but is that enough to deny the existence of God? Hardly. Imagine somebody reasoning that Queen Victoria never existed because they have a distaste for the British colonial empire. That would be foolish reasoning. To deny God’s existence because you cannot understand His ways is simply living a lie. This writer has a friend suffering with cancer. The family of this friend are carefully considering the options available in terms of treatment. They didn’t just throw their hands in the air and say there is no adequate treatment or they didn’t say, we’ll take any treatment, they’ve looked and evaluated the different options available and decided on the best course of treatment that could possibly cure the cancer. For them to leave and ignore the cancer would mean certain death, Have you ever considered the best course of action to deal with your sin? The worst thing you could do is ignore it or simply pretend that sin does not exist. There is a cure for sin and the answer is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Read on…

Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up! (Who is He?)

Would you spend hours in a history GCSE textbook if you were preparing for a maths exam? Would you speak to a left-wing politician if you wanted an accurate representation of the right-wing (or vice versa)? Then you must understand that the only way you will get accurate information about the Lord Jesus Christ will be found in His book, the Bible – not from the media, other faiths or other so-called experts. The Lord Jesus is not on a mission to make the world a fine place to live – rather, he is on a mission to save people from this world and their own personal sin. This is the real Jesus. Remember the illustration under the first heading where there is a mutiny on a ship and the captain is thrown off? Christ is the one who stops the mutiny of individuals. We have turned against God and the only way forward is that we sincerely ask Him for forgiveness and put our trust in Jesus Christ. I urge you, ask God to help you understand these weighty spiritual matters, ask Him to forgive you of your sins and make you a new person in Him.

 

If you want to know more we recommend that you attend a Sunday afternoon service at 5.30 pm