Prayers banned in council meetings

As an Arminian, I believe that God has graciously given man free will and man can use that free will to deny the existence of God and exclude Him from their lives. As Christians, I believe that we should try to persuade men, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:11, but always accepting that they may choose to reject the gospel which we bring. Christianity cannot be imposed on people - to do so goes against everything the Bible teaches us. In that context, I was interested to read today about the decision on prayers in council meetings in England and Wales handed down by the courts. It seems that the matter hinges on whether the time of prayer is part of the agenda of the meeting, in which case councillors are summoned to attend that part of the meeting, as opposed to prayers being apart from the official business of the council, in which case atheist councillors need not attend. Today's ruling states that having prayers as part of the agenda is unlawful, however the judge said 'prayers could be said as long as councillors were not formally summoned to attend'.

I have to say that I am in agreement with the judgement as reported. I would not like to be forced to attend prayers to non-Christian gods. I therefore think that we as Christians should extend the same courtesy to those of other religions, including atheists and humanists. We are currently seeing a rise in militant atheism, militant humanism and militant Islam. All seek to force their viewpoint on others. Christians should not be like that - we should seek to share the Truth in love, without force, and so try and win people to Christ. Militant Christianity is also on the rise these days and it is as much to be deplored as the other militant religions I have listed above. We do not fight force with force. We should stand fast in what we believe, always being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15) but also being prepared for the fact that they may not accept what we say. In that case, we pray for them and leave them with God. Only the Holy Spirit working within someone can ultimately bring them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You couldn't make it up

If someone had told me 30 years ago that the line between christianity and science fiction would become blurred, I would not have believed it. Back then, sci-fi was about Star Wars, Blade Runner, Dune and Close Encounters of the Third Kind while christianity was the Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Not any more. Now we have books like Nephilim Stargates by Thomas Horn which attempts to marry Bible stories with mythology and modern science (and human women with fallen angels/aliens from outer space) and christians are just lapping it all up. Somehow the Bible isn't enough any more - it's boring. Extra-terrestrials and UFOs and Watchers from beyond the world are much more exciting, as are conspiracy theories and mutant trans-humans. Just type 'nephilim' into google or Amazon and you will see what I mean. (The Daniel Project movie which I reviewed in an earlier post also includes mentions of communication from beyond our world and the Nephilim.)

Don't get me wrong - I think that there are things going on in labs around the world that christians should be concerned about because man always has a tendency to play god. Embryo research is one of them, however I don't believe we are about to see any mutant humans or resurrected Nephilim. Such theories are based, in my opinion, on extremely suspect interpretation of a few verses in Genesis, bolstered by non-biblical texts and a good dose of unsanctified imagination! Herescope does a good job of debunking a lot of what Horn has to say. The sad thing is that far more christians will read Horn's books than read Herescope.

Another interesting marriage happening now is that of quantum physics and new age spirituality. I studied quantum mechanics at university. It is a way of describing the behaviour of sub-atomic particles, just as classical mechanics describes the behaviour of larger things such as cars and planes. Now, however, we have 'quantum spirituality'. I'm not exactly sure what it is but it appears in books as diverse as Soul Tsunami by Leonard Sweet and The Shack by William Young. It seems to mean that 'God is in everything' or, in other words, panentheism. This is not biblical - according to the Bible, God created everything and He sustains everything but He is not IN everything.

I also came across fractals a few years ago when a fellow computer programmer showed them to me. There's nothing special about them - they are just a pictorial representation of a mathematical formula - however they are now being endowed with spiritual significance. According to Jean Huston, a New Age advocate of human potential, “Fractals show a holistic hidden order behind things, a harmony in which everything affects everything else, and, above all, an endless variety of interwoven patterns.” They are being used to support the non-Biblical theory that order evolved out of chaos. There is a hidden order behind things - He is called God and He is a person, not an impersonal force. Again, Herescope has some very good articles on both fractals and quantum spirituality and the flawed theology of The Shack.

When people stop believing in the God of the Bible, they will believe in anything, including aliens, ghosts, messages from outer space and superhumans. Sadly, it now seems that some christians have also started to abandon the Word of God and believe in such things. Science fiction is just that - fiction. It should not be confused with the Truth.

For Him

One of the pitfalls of writing a blog like this is that it can become just an endless list of criticisms, especially in these days of widespread deception. It is easy to lose sight of the reason I do this. I am therefore glad for articles like this one on Reformed Arminian blog. It reminds me why I do what I do and why I should do what I do. Because every false gospel and every deception has but one aim - to replace the real gospel and the real Christ within the hearts of believers with a false one, an anti-christ.
'Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.' 1 John 3:7a (NIV)

Dog in the manger

As I said in an earlier post, a denomination is not a denomination when members do not feel that they can freely worship in all churches belonging to that denomination. That is certainly the case now with the Church of Scotland, given that some members still hold to the Bible as being not only the Word of God but our rule for living, while others have decided that they know better than the Bible and can dispense with some (all?) of its teachings. The CofS is now too broad a church to continue in its present form, which is why some congregations and ministers have already left and others are considering doing so. It would be good if the split could happen amicably however it would seem that 121 (George Street - HQ of the CofS) is determined to make it as difficult as possible. They are desperate to hold on to church buildings and manses, with the result that they are going to end up with a lot of empty buildings with no congregations or ministers and no money for the upkeep of said buildings. We have already seen the transformation of empty churches in Edinburgh into pubs and clubs and carpet warehouses over the years. Sadly, it seems that we are going to see a lot more of the same if the CofS continues with its present dog-in-the-manger attitude. It will be a pretty poor witness if Gilcomston South in Aberdeen ends up turning into a pub through the intransigence and pettiness of 121. And does 121 really think that they are going to be able to keep High Hilton going now that the minister, associate minister and a large part of the congregation have left?

The church is the people, not the building, and God will build His church in Scotland regardless of what the leadership of the CofS does, however they will still have to answer for their actions.

'Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows' Galations 6:7 (NIV)