How Bad ?

We live in a secular country, where the State has won out over the Church, and in fact almost anything to do with God. Our media pushes the ‘godless’ agenda in programming, so much so that you could be forgiven for thinking that ‘God people’ are deranged, misguided, and not in their right mind. When a minister or priest is shown on TV, it is usually with a theme of corruption or not to be a laughing stock.

London has seen a ‘Towering Inferno’ in real life, like no other in our country, and the death toll keeps rising. The seriously injured are spread between several hospitals, and the search for bodies continues. According to emergency services, no further survivors are expected to be found. As I watched the constantly repeated newscasts, I was left with a burning question.

How many of these good people cried out to God when they feared for their lives? How many self confessed humanists, secularists, and atheists found a voice for prayer? How bad does it have to get before we pray? To place the question closer to home, how many lapsed and backslidden Christians, faced with a horrible end, came face to face with the fact that God DID exist, and found themselves calling out for forgiveness, regretting their prodigal lifestyle? God knows that every one affected needs to know and feel comfort, and where better to get them than from God, who is love (1 John 4:8).

These questions troubled me, and still do. Those touched are no different from us, except that an impending disaster may have sharpened their minds, and focussed their thinking to the one thing in this life that’s important, and that is how we finish. Sadly, for most of us it takes a life changing circumstance to make us understand the very importance of life, how we live it, and the legacy we leave behind. The good news of the Gospel is that the story doesn’t end there because we believe in a forgiving God who gives eternal life to all who call on Him, no matter when. Remember the thief on the cross next to Jesus? He is spending his eternity in heaven because of his simple prayer. What about this great promise which is effective for all?.....

“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13  

Secularism?

Definition: Secularism is the concept that government or other entities should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs.

For years I have misunderstood what secularism is. I had equated it to a Godless society, where faith is rejected, and yet by definition, nothing could be further from the truth, so in the past I may have spoken out against it in error. You may be like me, so let’s set the record straight. That is why I started with a definition, and not a verse of Scripture, which will come later.

The USA is a prime example of a secular nation, and we have no problem with this. The nation was born out of a deep desire of the Pilgrims to escape the worst excesses and abuses of the state sponsored religion of Great Britain. Yes, the UK is still a non secular nation because the Church of England has safe seats in the House of Lords for archbishops, and so has a direct influence on government. That is the link between the state and religion. When America was setting out its Declaration of Independence, it wanted and needed separation of church and state, to protect the religious organisations (mainly but not exclusively Christian) from those state abuses which drove them there in the first place. So far so good.

There are other examples of secular societies, like France and Iran. Now we hit different problems, because in France where the religious majority is Roman Catholic, the rights of Muslims have been sidelined, and in Iran which is an Islamic state, no other religion is tolerated. My own problem closer to home is that the ‘Secular Humanists’ in the West have hi-jacked the very meaning and intention of secularism, and for them, and therefore us, it means a Godless society. So we are back where we started. It doesn’t really matter what the word meant initially, it now does mean that Scotland and the UK have a job on their hands to prevent secularism. The best words of advice and wisdom come directly from Jesus, and it does us well to remember, and act on them...

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Luke 20:25 NKJV