Thursday, 22 August 2013

Britain’s rundown seaside towns: How our coastal towns are among the poorest in the country with deprivation levels of nearly 27 per cent Daily Mail

Britain’s rundown seaside towns: How our coastal towns are among the poorest in the country with deprivation levels of nearly 27 per cent

Government figures show rundown seaside towns continue to deteriorate
Twenty five of the larger resorts have higher than average deprivation
Blackpool has suffered the most, with Clacton and Hastings not far behind

PUBLISHED: 16:28, 21 August 2013 | UPDATED: 04:04, 22 August 2013

English seaside resorts are among the most deprived places in the country, blighted by high unemployment, poor health and riddled with crime, official figures revealed yesterday.

The report, from the Office for National Statistics, lays bare the crisis facing resorts from Blackpool to Clacton, Ramsgate to Margate.

It comes after a recent report, from the Centre for Social Justice, said seaside towns have become ‘dumping grounds’ following the destruction of their economies by cheap foreign travel.

Attraction: While Blackpool remains England's most popular tourist destination, it is a shadow of its former self

Better days: The once glorious Regency Hotel in Ramsgate is badly in need of a facelift

A fish and chip shop in Blackpool which has the highest level of deprivation than any other coastal town

Signs at the entrance to a typical Bed and Breakfast guest house hotel in Blackpool

Resorts which used to be thriving have become heavily populated by welfare claimants, those with substance abuse and mental health problems and patients leaving the care system, it said.

The ONS looked at England’s 57 biggest seaside resorts, based on the size of population. To be included in the list, the resort must have a resident population of at least 15,000.

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Towns which it investigated include the ‘big two’ - Brighton and Bournemouth - as well as many other household names such as Weston-super-Mare, Scarborough, Skegness and Whitstable.

Many popular seaside resorts, such as the Prime Minister’s current holiday destination, Polzeath, and other idyllic Cornish resorts, were not included due to their small resident population.

Seen better days: Pier Avenue, in Clacton on Sea, Essex, could do with a sprucing up

Run down: Homes in Jaywick near Clacton-on-Sea in Essex

‘The likely size of the tourist population on a sunny, summer weekend’ was ignored, the ONS said.

Overall, larger seaside destinations, such as Clacton, Ramsgate and Hartlepool, are more deprived than the rest of England typically is. ‘Larger’ resorts have a minimum population of 40,500 And Blackpool is the most deprived of them all, based on the ONS’s assessment of key measures of deprivation such as higher unemployment, lower incomes, poor health and more crime.

Among smaller seaside destinations, Skegness and Ingoldmells, the site of Billy Butlins’s first holiday camp in 1936, is the most deprived resort.

The ONS’s report highlights how pockets of deprivation exist in England, next door to exclusive and much-coveted destinations.

Skegness was also among the 57 seaside resorts the ONS looked at

Among smaller seaside destinations, Skegness and Ingoldmells, the site of Billy Butlins's first holiday camp in 1936, is the most deprived resort

For example, Blackpool is a short drive from Lytham St Annes, which is one of the least deprived of the 57 seaside destinations beaten only by the more exclusive Christchurch in Dorset.

Lytham St Annes is internationally renowned for golf, particularly the Royal Lytham and St Annes Gold Club, one of the host courses for the Open Championship.

Meanwhile, Blackpool has introduced a free school breakfast for all its 12,000 primary school pupils following fears they were arriving for school too hungry to concentrate properly.

The Centre for Social Justice’s report found more than 40 per cent of children were fatherless in areas of Blackpool, while house prices have plunged to an average price of just £77,000.

Old fashioned: An amusement arcade in Clacton-on-Sea which was the second most deprived coastal town

A pie shop in Clacton-on-Sea which is considered the second most deprived town in the UK

A Treasury spokesman said: ‘These 2010 statistics show that, under the last administration, too many seaside towns and villages suffered from economic decline and neglect.

‘There is huge potential for our coastal towns to welcome new industries and to diversify their economies so they can become year-round success stories.

‘The Government’s Coastal Communities Fund was set up in 2011 to help these towns tap into new business opportunities that will create jobs and boost skills that benefit the whole community.’

Shabby: Pelham Arcade in Hastings which came in third of most deprived coastal towns in the UK

Derelict: The once popular beach huts of St Leonards in Hastings are now boarded up and abandoned

CT Studd.

Studd, C.T. – In 1884, C.T. Studd, one of the Cambridge Seven, felt convicted, “How could I spend the best hours of my life in working for myself and for the honour and pleasures of this world while thousands and thousands of souls are perishing every day without having heard of the Lord Jesus Christ, going down to Christless and hopeless graves?” (John Pollock. The Cambridge Seven, 2nd ed. Great Britain: Marshalls, 1985, 75.)

“Some want to live within the sound Of church or chapel bell;

I want to run a rescue shop, Within a yard of hell.”

Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God's Holy Name let us arise and build! 'The God of Heaven, He will fight for us', as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.

If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.

Should such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man.

Amy Carmichael.

Does it not stir up our hearts to go forth and help them, does it not make us long to leave our luxury, our exceeding abundant light, and go to them that sit in darkness?" - Amy Carmichael

William Booth.

Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world." William Booth.

“While women weep, as they do now,

I'll fight

While little children go hungry, as they do now,

I'll fight

While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now,

I'll fight

While there is a drunkard left,

While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets,

While there remains one dark soul without the light of God,

I'll fight-I'll fight to the very end!”

― William Booth

Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Calling All Jonahs: Don't Run if You Are Called to Speak!

Ordinary Christians in the Hands of the Extra-Ordinary God. Part 3

I Corinthians 1:12-13 and 3:4-11 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.” 13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! …… 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. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. 10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.11 for no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ

Today when we walk in the places we live, we see buildings that are used for various purposes, some buildings are where we live, other buildings are where we work, shop, rest and relax, there are specialist buildings such as Train Stations, Churches and Hospitals, each building has a specific function and role to fulfil that more often is unique to that building, sometimes buildings can be adapted and changed to serve a different purpose than their original purpose, some buildings have been left desolate and have become ruins and monuments, some buildings are empty because no one can find a use for them anymore. Each building we see regardless of its use and purpose needs a foundation.

The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7:24 NLT, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock” see Matthew 7:24-27 and Luke 47- 49 for the context. Luke 6:47-48 NLT says , “47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house that digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.

Today in 2013, we see various versions of the Bible, that are available for us to read and study, I do use the New American Standard Bible, and when I write I use Bible Gateway which has dozens of Bible Versions. I’ve used various versions of the Bible since I was saved at 11 but at the end of day as The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3: 15-17 NLT, “15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

To develop and progress in our Christian walk and witness, to be more effective disciples of our Lord and Saviour we must read and study God’s Written Word daily. When I was in Sunday school, I remember singing this song “Read your Bible, Pray every day, if you want to Grow “If that was important for me as a child how much more important is for me as a more mature Christian today?

When someone builds a foundation for a building, if they decide to use cheap or substandard building materials wouldn’t that building look strange or be dangerous and likely to collapse, yet if we don’t as Christians build using the correct building materials wouldn’t our lives and our Christian Witness look equally strange, look dangerous or likely to collapse see 1 Corinthians 3:12-13 NLT.

We build our Christian Life and Witness not on the latest fads or fashions, the opinions or perspectives of others however appealing or relevant they seem, we don’t build on what the non-Christian or anti-Christian demands of our Society are. We build on God’s Word the Bible that has been and still is God’s Inspired Word; there is nothing more relevant to us today than God’s Word

The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20 NLT, “20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.”

To lead His Church into the fullness and completeness that He always intended it to be, Our Lord Jesus set apart Leadership Gifts, that this He has called in the past and is calling today specific individuals to positions of Leadership in His Church, today we have various names, titles and badges and descriptions of Leadership that vary from Church to Church!.

We have built man-made structures and systems from the early days of the Church to co-ordinate what happens in the Church, I’m not against co-ordination or structure and systems but the organization of Church isn’t the central purpose of the Church, in many cases we have made a god of organization. The Church is a living and breathing organism, the organization is the servant of the organism but more often or not the organism has become the servant of the organization.

I’m not saying that the Church and our Church Meetings become a free for all, the place of gossip and chat, good ideas and the downright weird and wacky, although it can happen, however, there is a divinely inspired framework for the correct method of Church Structure.

In the New Testament especially Paul’s epistles, we see God’s structure for the Church and how the Church should be organized and lead. Today we have Vicars, Priests, Bishops, Archbishops, Reverends etc. etc., we give people titles and badges and recognition, but are they God given titles, badges and recognition or are they man given?

We see both in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, part of God’s structure and framework for the church, 1 Corinthians 12:28 ESVA, “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. For the context see 1 Corinthians 12:27-30, and Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT, “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. For the context see Ephesians 4:11-16.

The first part of God’s structure for the Church are The Apostles, The Prophets, The Evangelists, The Pastors or Shepherds and The Teachers which are five distinct ministry areas given to certain individuals in the Church, these Men and their ministries are gifts given by our Lord and Saviour as gifts to His Church, the second part of God’s structure are the Elders and Deacons, I believe that all the other ministry areas here are given to Men, and although I respect and honour the role/s of the Ladies in the Church, the biblical example of Leadership in the Church is uniquely for Men. The descriptions of the roles of The Elders and Deacons in the Church are found in 1 Timothy 3:1-13. Firstly Elders In 1 Timothy 3:1-2 NLT, “This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be an elder, [a] he desires an honourable position.” 2 So an elder must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. [b] He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. Then Secondly Deacons in I Timothy 3:8 NLT, “In the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity.”

I believe that the correct indeed the only way for His Church to move forward in the 21st Century and face all the challenges and opportunities that it brings is firstly live as disciples, be in relational covenant with each other and follow Our Saviour’s leadership and direction in our lives, and follow the example and influence of those God has called to lead us, I would describe this a restoration or renewal of Apostolic Christianity. For my American readers, I mean New Testament Christianity, not Apostolic in the context of the Oneness Gospel.

Yours in His Grace

Blair Humphreys

Southport, Merseyside

Views, Visions and Values.

Thursday, 22 August 2013