I watched two programmes recently, one on homosexuality, a documentary by Stephen Fry and immediately after that (coincidence??) there was a programme on divorce from the kids’ point of view. I felt compelled to write a blog and here it is…

For some time now, probably years actually, I have longed to see more than I see in the church. I read the Bible, I see the miracles that Jesus, the disciples, the apostles did, I read that His DIVINE POWER has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3), I read that we can participate in the divine nature…. and then I look at the church. The two, generally speaking, don’t equate. The church in the UK, I believe, is so far away from what God intended, that there has to be some major changes if we are to be taken seriously in this ever changing world.

Stephen Fry went to interview a pastor in Uganda who believes that homosexuals should be hanged – Fry even showed a clip of this happening. How can this be right? He interviewed a young woman who had been raped at the age of 14 to ‘shake her out’ of her homosexual feelings, their belief was that if she had sex with a man, she would be ‘cured.’ She was broken.

The kids on the divorce programme were broken.

Here is the point I feel duty-bound to bring to the churches attention, we know what the Bible teaches about homosexuality, we know what the Bible teaches about divorce, we know what the Bible teaches about other religions and so on. We have become very good at shouting and disagreeing with our world, signing petitions against all these kinds of things and more, and, in some places, we have justified killing people who don’t live to our moral code, or burning other religion’s holy books. In fact, we are known for it – ‘Christians’ are labelled as homophobic, intolerant and out of touch with a changing society. Speaking for myself, I need to say that I don’t agree with the act of homosexuality because of my religious beliefs – surely that’s my right? However, neither do I hate homosexuals (Stephen perception). I simply believe the church has bigger fish to fry right now in our nation.

The world is not listening to our opinions – they are not interested in what we think, why? I believe that one reason is because, generally speaking, they see nothing or very little that attracts them to what we have got.

I think that we have to turn our attention away, at least for a while, from what we don’t agree with in our world, (let’s face it, all the above issues aren’t going away) and concentrate on becoming a strong church that is truly walking in the divine power of God and not in so-called miracles that wouldn’t pass the trades description act! I have seen genuine miracles and I know friends who have been healed from serious illnesses but, the truth is, I could probably count these on one hand. We have turned so much of church into a farce as if God needs defending and, from where I am looking from, it’s not working, by and large. Of course, God is still saving souls today and individual lives are being changed but I am talking on a larger scale. Where is our voice?

Can you imagine, for instance, if an army vet came home from Afghanistan with no arms or legs and was healed…..I think we would get the world’s attention? I think people would look on in amazement – there could be no argument with a miracle of that magnitude (I am praying for it to be so)

Can you imagine if Christians were known to not suffer depression, bi-polar, mental health issues? I think we would get the world’s attention?

Can you imagine if every Christian attended their church prayer meeting (Oh wait… if there was one!!) Is it even possible to change our world through prayer? Absolutely, but we have to do it. Muslims pray 5 times a day…

Can you imagine if every Christian read the word of God every day? (only 20% do)

Can you imagine if Christian men weren’t being bled from the church because of pornography?

Can you imagine if Christians didn’t carry unforgiveness and bitterness from one church to the next?

Can you imagine if pastors and their wives got the respect and honour they deserve for slogging it out on the front line year after year?

I could go on and on but I trust you get my point. We have so much to do. But here’s the biggest thing we have to do. Jesus told us, THE WORLD WILL KNOW THAT YOU BELONG TO ME THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR ONE ANOTHER. What other religions teach me and what the Israelites teach me is that these groups had/have certain standards by which they live, which give them solidarity and unity that the church doesn’t have any more. The Israelites, as bad as they were, had certain things they had to do if they wanted to be holy and acceptable to God. Granted most of them didn’t do it, but they suffered for that choice!
By and large, there are no such standards for the Christian church today: go to church, or have church for one, have too much alcohol, don’t have too much alcohol, pray, don’t pray, read the Bible, don’t read the Bible and so on….
If we want to be heard in our nation, then we simply have to get our house in order first. The church is THE BEST IDEA God ever had and we could be a powerful force. I love the church which is why I am passionate about making a difference. We must raise our standards and then we can begin again to sign the petitions and make our protests heard but from a position of strength and not from a position of weakness.