CAN MEN AND WOMEN BE ‘JUST FRIENDS’?

Amanda Edmondson » Scripture Dating Wisdom Culture

“Can men and women be just friends?”

As a single woman, I have wrestled with the question a lot over the past 10 years. 

When Harry Met Sally made the question famous, but it’s been one we’ve been throwing around for at least the last century. Society’s changing: the days of men in the field and women in the kitchen are by and large distant memories, and today, men and women are side by side in just about every arena. For the first time, men and women weren’t just meeting to get married and have babies but to become co-workers and equals in the business world. Men and woman had to learn to interact with one another outside of romantic relationships.

This is the world we live in now. From school to work to the gym, men and women mix company. But can they really be friends?

Yes, according to the Bible. But having some guidelines and boundaries is wise.

The Apostle Paul gives us a simple guide for how men and women can be friends in 1 Timothy 5:1–2, “Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, in all purity.” So, treat younger men and women as siblings, and older men and women as parents, “with absolute purity” to use the phrase in the NIV.

The church should still be exercising these boundaries in friendships today, especially between single men and women.

First, ladies:

·         Stop dating guys in your head. Don’t assume a guy wants to be more than friends until he communicates that.

·         Don’t manipulate. Don’t go out of your way to grab a guy’s attention.

·         Stop flirting. The way you interact with men should make them want to be more like Christ, not pursue you more than the Lord.

·         Don’t wear your heart on your sleeve. Your brothers around you aren’t your accountability partners. If what you are sharing with them (suffering or celebration) doesn’t bring glory to God, don’t share it.

·         Dress modestly. Don’t be a distraction to your brothers; they have enough of those in the world. 

And to the men:

·         Communicate clearly. This means all forms of communication: texting, Twitter, Facebook, face-to-face, etc. Women should not have to question your intentions every time they are around you or receive a text from you. If you intend to just be friends with a woman, let her know. I promise you she won’t break.

·         Let your actions echo your words. Don’t single a woman out unless you want to pursue her.

·         Don’t crave submission. The women around you aren’t called to submit to you unless you are their husband, father, or pastor.

·         Be a one-woman man. Not just sexually, but also emotionally. If you are dating a woman, honor her by how you communicate and interact with other women.

·         Don’t be a creep. Treat women as you would your own sister or mother. Don’t single a woman out over a season and then just disappear.

Can men and women be just friends? Absolutely, when we treat each other as our brothers and sisters in all purity, give up our own selfish gain, and honor each other as we do our own family.

Home is where the Heart is

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I in the last few weeks, I have found myself looking for a new job, last week I had my first interview in several weeks, I was hoping to hear earlier this week if I had this particular job and I’ve made several phone calls to the employment agency that got me the interview and kept being told that they were hoping to hear by last Friday, last Friday then become they were hoping to hear last Monday then when I rang on Monday,  there was still no news and was told to call on Wednesday, when I rang on Wednesday I was told no news and to call back today, Friday.  Last night I had a dream in this dream I was talking to one of my friends at church,  and was asked was I was still staying in Southport despite the disappointment of not getting this job,  my answer was of course yes. 

I have since been offered a new job last week,  I felt I needed to contact my ex-employer this was last Friday, over that weekend The Lord reminded me several times that I needed to contact them on Monday.

On Monday morning, I decided to do an online job search, during this job search,  I saw a job advertised for my ex – employer,  I decided to bite the bullet and call them,  I spoke to my contact there, who told that they had rang me the previous Friday to see if I was interested in working for them on a 6 Month Fixed Term Contract starting on the 1^st of October, I readily agreed to rejoin my ex-employer, I didn’t actually apply nor have an interview for my new job,  but because I had gained a great reputation when working for ex-employer previously they offered me this job.

Although I was secretly hoping that the interview I had the previous week would give me the job I applied for,  I had spoken to one of  my of many friends at Church last Sunday and told her that I was confident that the job I had the interview for. This week I decided that working for my ex-employer was plan b and the other job was plan a, I reviewed the evidence about both jobs,  plan a was £1,000 more a year than plan b,  and full time permanent and plan b was full time but a fixed 6 month contract, plan a was 5 days out of 7 days, and involved flexible start and finishes between 8am – 9pm, plan b is Monday to Friday 9am -5pm. I’m involved a great deal in my home church,  and I knew that if I took plan a  I wouldn’t be able to serve as much if I was working evenings and weekends.  I heard last Thursday that I wasn't offered plan a,  and once past my initial disappointment,  I thanked the Lord for providing me with his choice of job for me.

I was in my connect group (home group) last Wednesday, and previously Geoff Grice sent a Text asking us to bring a Bible Passage that has spoken to us recently,  I had prepared something from 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 however about an hour before leaving, the Lord bought my attention to this.

Habbukuk 3:17 -19 New American Standard Bible.

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom

And there be no fruit on the vines,

Though the yield of the olive should fail

And the fields produce no food,

Though the flock should be cut off from the fold

And there be no cattle in the stalls,

18 Yet I will exult in the Lord,

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

19 The Lord God is my strength,

And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,

And makes me walk on my high places.

I now live in Southport, Merseyside having moved here just over 2 years ago from Neath, South Wales I’ve settled here and for the last two years Southport has been my home,  and I’ve committed myself to staying here until I die or until the Lord calls me to be with Him.   I have wandered previously and made a mess of thinks, but thanks be to God who has settled me here in Southport, my heart is here because this is now my home.

I remember visiting here just over 2 years ago,  and being in a mess and my good friend Dave Gregg (one of our Elders) was speaking on a Sunday morning at my church (now) The Community Church, Southport and he quoted at the end of his message he quoted

Numbers 10:29  New American Standard Bible (NASB)

29 Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you’; come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel.

When I returned back to Neath, while I was praying whether or not to stay there or move here, the Lord bought my attention to some scriptures and because I had moved from pillar to post and back again several times, I told the Lord I would either settle in Neath or move to and settle here in Southport, the Lord reminded me of the story of Isaac and the wells.

Genesis 26:17-25  New American Standard Bible (NASB)

17 And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.

Quarrel over the Wells

18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarrelled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,

“I am the God of your father Abraham;

Do not fear, for I am with you.

I will bless you, and multiply your descendants,

For the sake of my servant Abraham.”

25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Deuteronomy 8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

God’s Gracious Dealings

8 “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. 2 You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

 5 Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

When I moved here, the Lord made me several promises,  and give me the following scripture verses and I had some solid advice from an amazing friend in Swansea, Ralph Bettany who advised me to stay in Southport for at least 5 years and settle down rather than wandering around as I had done previously.

Ezekiel 40:4 New American Standard Bible

he man said to me, “(K)Son of man, (L)see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. (M)Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.”

Jeremiah 29:4-7 and verse 11 New Living Translation (NLT)

4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

I would like to say a heart full thank you to my church family,  The Community Church,  Southport and my many dear friends there, thank you for welcoming me and making part of your church family, I love you all, and I wouldn’t be who I’m today without you, I would like to thank especially Geoff and Pam Grice, Dave and Su Gregg, Steve and Miriam Smith,  David and Gwen Raynor and John and Julia Sutton-Smith for your love, friendship, sound advice and your prayers.

                                     

Blackpool is 'most deprived seaside town' BBC News Report

Blackpool is the most poverty-stricken out of 31 seaside towns, the study found. Blackpool is the poorest of England's larger seaside towns, despite attracting the most visitors, a study has found.

The Office for National Statistics said it had the highest level of deprivation of 31 seaside towns analysed.Of the 31, 25 had a higher level of deprivation than the average for England as a whole.

The study, which has just been published, considered data on health, housing and employment from 2010. Among the 31, 26.9% of areas were considered deprived, compared with 20% of England overall.

Most deprived English seaside towns

Blackpool

Clacton

Hastings

Ramsgate

Margate

Hartlepool

Great Yarmouth

South Shields

Barrow-in-Furness

Sunderland

Source: Office for National Statistics study (based on 2010 data)

After Blackpool, the next most deprived towns were Clacton in Essex and Hastings in East Sussex . A spokesman for the ONS said: "Analysis has considered levels of deprivation in larger English seaside destinations, which may have once thrived on seaside resort tourism.

"There is a perception that these economies have declined and are enduring high levels of deprivation as a result of people going on holiday abroad rather than in England."  Earlier in the month government think tank the Centre for Social Justice released a report which found some seaside towns were stuck in a cycle of poverty with "severe social breakdown".

Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, Christchurch and Poole in Dorset, Worthing in West Sussex, Southport in Merseyside and Bognor Regis in West Sussex were the six towns to buck the trend with lower than average levels of deprivation.

Some thoughts for Today, Follow Jesus

Lord, I will follow You, but . . . —Luke 9:61

Oswald Chambers

I’ve just started to read a book called ,  “ Follow Me” by David Platt, David quotes this in the above book,  it’s from “ My utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers.

Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”

Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.

By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.

Enduring Gut-Wrenching Pain to Find Your New Beginning

9:23AM EDT 8/22/2013        JENNIFER LECLAIRE

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Is. 43:19).

That rhema word from Scripture nearly four years ago kicked off a season of change in my life that hasn’t quit. I’m convinced that I’ve seen more changes in my life over the past few years than many people see in two decades. I’m talking major life changes. Some of those changes produced immediate joy. Others produced prolonged pain before producing joy.

I’ve noticed a cycle, if you can call it that, where one change comes at the heels of another and then another—finally followed by the avalanche. Some of the changes are welcomed while others are gut-wrenching, even when you know it’s God’s will. I still don’t like change, but I’ve learned to embrace it because I’ve seen the fruit of faithfully following God through life's transitions—and that fruit is good!

Facing Sweeping Changes

Maybe you are seeing sweeping changes in your life even now. Whether they are welcome changes, like getting married and having a baby, or unwelcome changes, like getting divorced and losing a loved one to death, change can cause confusion, stress, delight, anticipation, fear, joy—a whole range of fickle emotions that ebb and flow with what seems like the powerful rush of a rolling tide.

Before we go any further, understand this: The only thing that doesn’t change is God. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8). Everything else—I said everything else—is subject to change. I won’t recite all the words of Solomon here, but suffice it to say that “to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1).

So if you are going through a season of change—especially gut-wrenching changes—how do you position yourself to walk worthy of your calling? How do you yield to God’s will while resisting the enemy? How do you embrace the change that will produce more of the character of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit in your life—and perhaps in the lives of others involved?

Learning to Let Go

Keeping your eyes on God, who doesn’t change, is the critical first step (Heb. 12:2). The Lord really is your rock, your fortress and your deliverer (Ps. 18:2). His hope is the anchor of your soul (Heb. 6:19). When you keep your mind on Him, you’ll remain in perfect peace even amid the most stormy changes (Is. 26:3). When you keep your eyes on Him, you’ll find that road in the wilderness and the rivers in the desert that Isaiah prophesied (Is. 43:19).

Next, you’ve got to be willing to let go of what the Holy Spirit is showing you to let go of. If you want that new beginning—if you want that new thing God has in store for you—then you must let go even if it feels like it’s going to kill you; even if you have to do it through tears; even if other people don’t agree with you; even if you can’t see where to go next. When you let go, He’ll show you what to do next, just like he showed Abram what to do when he left everything behind to follow God (Gen. 12:1-3).

The letting go part is probably the hardest part of the change process. I’ve written several articles—including "How to Forget Those Things Which Are Behind," "Burning the Bridges to Your Past," and "Are You Willing to Leave Your Baggage Behind?"—on this topic because it’s a real pain point for people. I had to learn that lesson and learn it well, and you should too.

Sometimes there are soul ties with people, churches or even things that you need to break. The pull you feel to keep going back to the same people and things God has told you to leave behind is often a soul tie. A soul tie is a deep emotional bond. When David met King Saul’s son Jonathan, there was an immediate bond between them. The Bible says, “The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Sam. 18:1). That’s intense. When you move on, sometimes you have to break soul ties, in the name of Jesus, before you can move forward full speed.

Pursuing the New Vision

Once you’ve let go of the people, places and things holding you back, ask God for a new vision. What does God have next for you? I assure you, He has a new thing in mind. God may even resurrect an old dream you thought was dead. You won’t see this spiritual vision come to pass overnight—there is a time of transition between the old and the new—but with clarity, you’ll have the discipline you need to keep pressing forward (Prov. 29:18).

During this transition time, pursue any emotional healing you need. We all suffer wounds from the words and actions of others, from the work of the enemy, from our own sinful mistakes, from disappointing life events and even from doing the work of the ministry. Sometimes we have to suffer for Christ (Phil. 1:29). It’s easy enough to get resentful, bitter and unforgiving. But walking toward your new beginning means letting go of these things also. Be assured that God is using it all for good (Rom. 8:28).

Many men in the Bible suffered great losses on their way to greatness. Just look at Job, Joseph and David. But all of these men endured the enemy’s best shot and took back what he stole—and then some. Each of them had a new beginning that brought glory to God. They persevered, kept their eyes on God and waited on His deliverance. So while you are enduring gut-wrenching pain, take comfort in God’s Word: “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Is. 43:19). Amen.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Spiritual Warrior's Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can email Jennifer at   jennifer.leclaire@charismamedia.com or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

Thatcher's spin doctor says fracking protestors want UK to live in 'tepees and wigwams'. Daily Express

ANTI-FRACKING protestors are "blinkered totalitarians" who want "us all to live in their yurts, tepees and wigwams" according to Margaret Thatcher's former spin doctor Bernard Ingham.

By: Owen Bennett

Published: Thu, August 22, 2013

5Comments

Bernad Ingham has severly criticised the anti-fracking lobby

The problem with anti-fracking fanatics is that, like other zealots, they are blinkered totalitarians.

Bernard Ingham

The 81-year-old has also claimed modern environmentalists are showing "hypocrisy, utter stupidity and exaggeration" over fracking, arguing it has far less impact on the countryside than wind farms.

The former Downing Street Press Secretary made the comments just days after the Green MP Caroline Lucas was among protesters arrested at a site in Balcombe, West Sussex where energy firm Cuadrilla is drilling for oil.

Writing in the Yorkshire Post, Mr Ingham said: "The problem with anti-fracking fanatics is that, like other zealots, they are blinkered totalitarians.

He added: "Fracking for shale gas is merely the latest example of their hypocrisy, utter stupidity and exaggeration."

Mr Ingham, who served as press secretary to Mrs Thatcher for 11 years, argued so-called green energy such as wind and solar power had failed to reduce C02 emissions, and are hampering the British economy.

Green MP Caroline Lucas was arrested during the anti-fracking protests

"So much for the average environmentalist’s tender loving concern for the poor, for the unemployed, for the ability of the nation to compete in the world and for a healthy economy capable of looking after the health and welfare of its citizens," he said

"It seems they want us all to live in their yurts, tepees and wigwams in a sort of glorious, save-the-planet pre-industrial squalour – regardless of our manifest objections. If that is not totalitarianism, I don’t know what is.

"As for stupidity, their entire approach to energy is to plump for everything that does not work and exclude everything that does – coal, gas, oil and especially nuclear power which emits next to no CO2.

"Worse still, their long campaign has captured our limited politicians. The result is that, short of an early shale gas bonanza, we can no longer rely on any government of whatever political complexion to provide secure supplies of energy at affordable cost."

Green Party London Assembly Member Jenny Jones said: “As well as being offensive to local communities concerned about fracking, Mr Ingham’s ill-judged comments show he hasn’t done his homework. 

“The debate isn’t one between proponents of progress on one side and ‘green zealots’ on the other. It’s not totalitarianism to want the Government to invest in clean, renewable energy technologies.  You don’t have to live in a yurt to want to avert dangerous climate change.

“As for exaggerating the risks of fracking, the International Energy Agency – not known for hype – has warned of a range of impacts on local communities, including the potential contamination of groundwater.

“And the effect on fuel bills would be minimal at best. Ofgem and Deutsche Bank both say that the widespread use of UK shale gas is unlikely to bring down prices”

No Dash For Gas, which organised the Balcombe camp, said they would return to Balcombe in the future, calling the campaign a "marathon" not a "sprint".

Protesters believe the drilling could lead to fracking, which they claim imposes environmental risks including water contamination and small earthquakes.

Enduring Gut-Wrenching Pain to Find Your New Beginning

Enduring Gut-Wrenching Pain to Find Your New Beginning

I abhor bigotry, but why should we demonise schools that don't want to promote gay lifestyles?, Daily Mail Article

By STEPHEN GLOVER

PUBLISHED: 22:58, 21 August 2013 | UPDATED: 22:58, 21 August 2013

 
 
 

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We now live in a world in which civil partnerships are accepted by most people as perfectly normal and soon we will have gay marriage

The biggest social change of the past ten or 20 years must surely be the general transformation in attitudes towards homosexuality.

It was not very long ago that a homosexual embrace or kiss on television sent some newspapers and politicians into orbit, and a thousand angry pens into hyperdrive. Now we live in a world in which civil partnerships are accepted by most people as perfectly normal. Soon we will have gay marriage.

Most gay MPs no longer huddle beneath the parapet. The ‘gay vote’ is now considered so powerful that David Cameron sought an audience last week with the gay panjandrum Stephen Fry in an East End pub to discuss the ill treatment of homosexuals in Russia.

But some gays, it seems, still feel they are the victims of discrimination. Gay rights activists have identified some 40 schools across the country which allegedly state in their sex-education guidelines that governors will not allow teachers to promote homosexuality, or are ambiguous on the issue.

Stonewall, which campaigns for homosexual rights, is indignant, and suggests that these schools are reviving the language of Section 28, the law introduced by the Thatcher government in 1988 aimed at ‘loony left’ councils, some of which were energetically promoting homosexuality in schools.

Section 28 banned councils from using taxpayers’ money to fund books, plays, films or other material to promote homosexuality. Though its wording was hardly draconian, and no prosecution was ever brought under it, Section 28 has assumed mythic proportions in the minds of gay activists.

Despite opposition from rebels of all parties in the House of Lords, as well as from the Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups, the law was removed from the statute book by the Blair government in 2003. In 2009, David Cameron apologised for the Tories’ original championing of Section 28.

 

More...

• Chris Christie signs law banning therapists in New Jersey from trying to convert gay teenagers to being straight
• Stephen Fry and Cameron hold secret summit on 'gay hate' Olympics... in an East End pub: Actor wants boycott of Winter games in Russia over rights abuses
• PETER McKAY: Why Dave is really cosying up to Mr Fry

How much has changed in ten years. The Department for Education is evidently embarrassed by the reports about the 40 or so schools, and various Tory, Lib Dem and Labour MPs are quoted as saying they must be brought into line, and we must not go back to the antediluvian past.

Many of these schools ‘outed’ by campaigners are self-governing Academies. Some have hastily backed down, while others have gone to ground. None seems to be eager to justify itself in public.

Yet the British Humanist Association, which has somehow got in on the act, huffs and puffs as though a major crime has been committed. Its spokesman speaks of the ‘pernicious’ Section 28, and the need to bring these errant schools to heel.

Meanwhile Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, has circulated an email in which he announces a new series of training events for staff in primary and secondary schools this autumn ‘to equip teachers with the tools and confidence to tackle homosexual bullying’.

The 'gay vote' is now considered so powerful that David Cameron sought an audience last week with the gay panjandrum Stephen Fry in an East End pub to discuss the ill treatment of homosexuals in Russia

In fact, there’s no evidence of any homosexuals being bullied at any of these schools. Perhaps this is just Mr Summerskill’s way of saying that his organisation stands ready to re-educate teachers who show signs of straying from the new orthodoxy.

What strikes me about this story is that some of the representatives of a group that was once undoubtedly the victim of persecution are now showing a degree of intolerance towards people with whom they do not agree.

There are more than 30,000 schools in this country. A mere 40 or so have been identified as being either opposed to the promotion of homosexuality or ambiguous on the issue. This is a minuscule percentage, though of course there may be others.

And yet there is outrage, simulated or not. The campaigner Peter Tatchell, whose bravery in several spheres I admire, declares that ‘this is spookily similar to Section 28 in Britain and the new anti-gay law in Russia’.

Really? None of these schools appears to be demonising homosexuals. Grace Academy, which runs schools with a Christian ethos in Coventry, Solihull and Darlaston in the West Midlands, is quoted by The Independent newspaper as saying: ‘The governing body will not permit the promotion of homosexuality.’

Gay rights activists have identified 40 schools across the country which allegedly state in their sex-education guidelines that governors will not allow teachers to promote homosexuality, or are ambiguous on the issue

The two Crest Academies for boys and girls in Neasden, North-West London, have a similar rubric, as does the Castle View Enterprise Academy in Sunderland, though it has now deleted its guidance from its website.

Not one school cited by campaigners denounces homosexuality, or suggests that gays are in any way reprehensible. They simply do not want to promote it on an equal basis with heterosexuality. Of course, there may be schools, particularly Muslim ones, that take a harder line.

In my perfect world, schools would not offer any view about any sexual orientation.  Certainly no teacher ever did in an explicit way at my school. It should really be a matter for parents. But I accept that the State has long since arrogated to itself the right to instruct — I will not say indoctrinate — children in these matters.

What, though, if some parents do not agree with the State on grounds of conscience or religious belief? The whole philosophy behind Academies is that they should be self-governing and independent, and as free as possible from government diktats imposed by Whitehall.

Ben Summerskill has circulated an email announcing a series of training events for staff in schools this autumn 'to equip teachers with the tools and confidence to tackle homosexual bullying'

Most of us, I think, would abhor any educational establishment that encouraged its pupils to discriminate against homosexuals, or any other social group. Apart from being morally objectionable, such an approach would break a number of laws.

If there is evidence of any teachers in a state school — or indeed any school — preaching hatred against gays, or stirring up prejudice against them, they should at the very least be dismissed, and preferably prosecuted.

But shouldn’t parents who have reservations about the promotion of homosexuality on equal terms with heterosexuality be free to send their children to schools where their views are reflected, as well as respected?

Such views were held by a majority of people until quite recently, and they are still held by many decent folk who don’t think that homosexuals are inferior or deviant or to be pitied in any way. Nonetheless, all things being equal, they would probably be happier if their children turned to be straight rather than gay.

Don’t such people have a right to influence their children’s values according to their own beliefs and consciences, rather than having them imposed by gay campaigners or commissars from the Department for Education, who extol freedom so long as it is the kind of freedom of which they approve?

Gays should be free to live and work and play just as non-gays are, and it is a credit to our society that at last they are able to do so. They have been abominably treated in the past, and perhaps a few of them still are.

But those gays and non-gays who believe in freedom of conscience should defend the rights of their fellow citizens so long as their own rights are not threatened.

Section 28 is dead and buried, and rightly so. But prejudice and intolerance live on. And they have a strange propensity to flourish among the people who were once their victims.

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Ordinary Christians in the Hands of the Extra-Ordinary God. Part 4:

 

I Corinthians 1-12:13, 3:4-11, 3:21 – 23  New Living Translation.

12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter, [d]” or “I follow only Christ! …… 4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? 5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.  11 for no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ…. 21 So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you— 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Peter,[g] or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

When we look at the Church today, what do we see and what do we mean by the word Church ? to some the word Church has a negative effect on the other hand, the word Church has a positive effect, to others Church should be consigned to the past, and it doesn’t have any relevance to them and society both today in the present or indeed tomorrow the future, some think of the word Church and they think of a physical building others think of the New Testament concept of God’s people or a spiritual building.

The Church today is divided into various camps or tribal groups, that more often or not have very little to do with other camps or tribal groups, sometimes different churches can be close to each in terms of a physical distance, but miles apart in so many other ways.   Is the Church somewhere we can go to or is it a body of people that we belong to, and are joined alongside each other to work alongside each other to see the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom preached to those without the Good News of Salvation through our Lord and Saviour Jesus.

We are divided into groups or denominations that have more to do with our past, and very little to do with our present or future. We hold onto ways of both doing and being church because of our history and our responsibilities to that history, and the expectancies of others. Sometimes we're divided into seemingly rival tribal groups, because for some our revelation of being and doing church is driven by being the people of God where His Presence dwells, but on the other hand we're divided because of politics and personalties !.

We don’t need another “ new “ expression of Church, being built  out  of people’s own sense of importance ,  and because of their misguided zeal  they will attempt to draw followers after themselves  from established churches, offering false promises and prophecies and they tell  people that if join us, the grass will be greener, unfortunately these “ new “ expressions of  church have no foundations and no covering,  because they think that we will build our own foundations and we will become our own covering,  we need to be built up together as one church,  and not be separated into another tribe or grouping. 

The Church is a movement for change and transformation but for many of us The Church has become a monument to our spiritual forefathers who were a movement for change and transformation !.

We follow men and sometimes women, we follow the traditions that were our spiritual forefather’s doctrines and their distinctiveness from other tribal groups and when someone from another tribe says let’s meet together for fellowship and to share together, we say we can't because we’re group a and your group b and our big chief said in 1920 said that we need to avoid group b because your understanding of church and Christianity is different from way he told us to be the church and to be a Christian and therefore you’re wrong, or we do meet together but in a spirit of reluctance and/or a spirit of mistrust, we’ve created theories,  doctrines, theologies and solutions how we’re to be the church and to life our Christian lives and be a Christian Witness, but many of those theories etc belong in the past, and have become hindrances and obstacles for us today.

Many of our tribes or denominations have become tied to the way we did Church, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or a 100 plus years ago, we look for structure and safety in the past.  

We think that the way we do and are the Church is the right or indeed the only way to be do or be Church,  we mistake our history for our present and future and wonder why despite our best efforts, our prayers indeed our prophecies, we’re unfulfilled !

When our Lord Jesus walked the streets of his homeland,  he saw a fig tree and when he looked for fruit he found only leaves Matthew 21:18-20, 18  In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19  And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?

I would say that so many of our churches are like that fig tree, yes we have life but it has gone to produce only leaves, instead of producing leaves alongside fruit, indeed later in the same chapter, Jesus spoke about the physical nation of Israel, saying that because they trusted in themselves rather than trusting in the Lord, that had lost the Kingdom of God, Matthew 21:43 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.

For many of our churches today, we’ve lost the Kingdom of God because we’ve trusted in ourselves, our systems, structures and strategies instead of trusting Him , our Lord and Saviour Jesus,  we’ve just grown leaves not fruit and God has gone and left us, even then we’ve created a theology and/or theory/or solutions around that, see Habakkuk 3:15-18 17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord!    I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

However there is a message of hope, for those Churches that once proclaimed God’s Message, Haggai 1:6  6 You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes! See Haggai 1, our transformation isn’t due to our living in the luxury houses that  are our own tribal groups/denominations/churches but rather our transformation comes through being part of His Church, or the Temple or the House of the Lord. We’ve become consumed that our way of doing and being Church is also the Lord’s way of doing and being Church, but our ways are not his ways of doing and being Church see Isaiah 55:8-11

We have set in place man made structures, systems and organizations to how to do and be the Church today, we set in place committees, clerical systems and called and commissioned those He’s not called and commissioned to lead us in being the Church and we wonder why nothing is working, we’ve watered down and diluted our message to make it pliable to others, we’ve accepted things that go against Biblical Standards like Homosexual Clergy  and wonder why God isn’t moving amongst us and blessing us

Yet, there is hope for us the Church,  the old wineskins of our ways,  those beloved ways of doing and being the Church aren’t working and if we try to add His way of being and doing Church or the new wine to our old wineskins, our old wineskins are going to tear and break up, instead we need His new wineskins of doing and being the Church, his structure, systems, and Leadership* and following those He has called and commissioned to lead us forward, see Luke 5:37-39.

We notice in Scripture, there is a God Ordained indeed Organized way of being and doing Church, no longer will our man made systems cope with the things, our message should be say no, to the status quo,  We don’t need any other or more denominations or tribes, we don’t need another methodology of doing and being the Church.  We need to be a Movement and not a Monument. We need to see a restoration of Apostolic Christianity, which is a Movement for the 21st Century Church not a Monument to the 1st Century Church.  We need to see Revival through a Renewed Church.

It says in Ephesians 4:11-13* 11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.  See Ephesians 4:11-16 for context.

Yours in His Grace

Blair Humphreys

Southport, Merseyside