"...Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life." - Acts 11 V18

"...I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me." - Romans 10 V20

God did not distinguish when He made available the gift of salvation and the free gift of salvation is for every person who believes in the name of Jesus Christ. God is generous, He is merciful, not to one or two or few but to every person who repents and turns to Him with a humble spirit. Come and know the great God of ours for He is your God and my God.

Reverend Doctor Malcolm Brown, the Director of Mission and Public Affairs, has published an article apologizing to Charles Darwin for the hostile reaction of the Church in the 19th century towards the theory of evolution. The apology is being issued as part of the Church of England's commemoration of the upcoming 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his Origin of Species. The full article is available for reading online at the Church of England's website. The Church of England's decision to defend Darwin follows similar moves by the Church of Rome, which is also planning to celebrate the bicentenary of the naturalist's birth and his contribution to science next year. Last year Pope Ratzinger followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Pope John Paul II in declaring that the theory of evolution is compatible with Scripture. This year the Vatican followed that belief to its logical conclusion by stating that if life evolved on planet Earth then it must have evolved elsewhere in the universe. Brown's article praises Darwin's theory of natural selection, which even Creationists agree is a natural biological process. But instead of focusing on how evolutionary belief affects Biblical doctrines, Brown has instead chosen to focus on the social and moral impact of the theory upon today's society. A bit of a cop-out for a Reverend of the Church of England. Only once does Brown question the compatibility of Darwinian evolution with a faith in a Creator God, but then quickly dismisses these thoughts as just an "emotional response" to an unsavoury philosophy...   

Quote: "Darwin's meticulous application of the principles of evidence-based research was not the problem. His theory caused offence because it challenged the view that God had created human beings as an entirely different kind of creation to the rest of the animal world. But whilst it is not difficult to see why evolutionary thinking was offensive at the time, on reflection it is not such an earth-shattering idea. Yes, Christians believe that God became incarnate as a human being in the person of Jesus and thereby demonstrated God's especial love for humanity. But how can that special relationship be undermined just because we develop a different understanding of the processes by which humanity came to be? It is hard to avoid the thought that the reaction against Darwin was largely based on what we would now call the 'yuk factor' (an emotional not an intellectual response) when he proposed a lineage from apes to humans.

I'll give you several reasons why this special relationship between God and man is undermined through a belief in evolution. If God used the process of evolution to create the world, then death is as much a part of creation as life is. There never was a time when death, disease and bloodshed did not exist. The earth did not start out "good" and "very good" like God said. Evolution is a blind process so man cannot be the pinnacle of God's creation, nor could he be created in the image of God. Death is not the natural consequence of Adam's sin. Murder is just survival of the fittest. Rape is an instinct to help ensure the survival of the species. Selfishness and other sins are just leftovers from the evolutionary process. Professor Richard Dawkins said it himself on the God Delusion Debate, the theory of evolution is 'amoral'. Not immoral, but amoral. The concepts of right and wrong cannot arise from a naturalistic process. Society only decides itself what is acceptable and what is not acceptable for the benefit of everyone as a whole. If a politician thinks it is acceptable to kill unborn children for the benefit of society, who is to argue with them? If someone like Hitler thinks it is acceptable to wipe out 6 million Jews because they are an inferior species, who is to tell him it is 'wrong'? The question then must be asked, why did Jesus Christ die on the cross? Did He die for our sins? If I am an evolutionist then I must answer that with another question, what is sin? Did He die to bring us everlasting life? Death is an essential part of the evolutionary process. Did He come to restore our relationship with God? How can you restore something which never existed in the first place?

Praise God that He did not use evolution to create the world! God is a loving Creator Who created everything to be "good" and "very good". He is a God that desires to have relationship with His creatures. It was mankind that broke that relationship. It was Adam's sin that brought death and bloodshed into the world. But it doesn't have to be that way. Jesus Christ died so your sins could be forgiven and your relationship with your Creator could be restored. He bore the curse (Galatians 3:13), He swallowed up death in victory (Isaiah 25:8). Why don't you turn away from the demonic theory of evolution, and turn to your Creator Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).

Source Christian Post, Church of England, Times Online

"For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him." - 1 Thessalonians 5 V9,10

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." - John 14 V3

We believers in Jesus Christ have a blessed assurance from our Lord, so whether we live to see His coming or we die before His coming, we shall be with our Lord forever. Being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5 V8). Let us encourage one another with these words and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Sorry there have been no updates to the website over the past few days. I was attending an archery leaders course in Moira, so I hadn't much time to work on the computer. Javier Solana, the High Representative for the European Common, Foreign and Security Policy, met with King Abdullah II of Jordan yesterday for the final leg of his latest tour of the Middle East. In a press statement, King Abdullah reaffirmed Jordan's support for the role of the European Union in the Middle East peace process, underlining "the importance of the EU role in the maintenance of security and stability in the Middle East and the establishment of peace between the Palestinians and Israel, particularly in the coming months". Solana also made stops in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. His tour of the region follows a recent visit to Damascus, where he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Syrian President Bashar Assad to discuss the peace negotiations with Israel. The purpose of this latest trip was to gauge the prospects of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians before the end of the year. Solana said that progress had been slow since the Annapolis peace conference, but added that a peace agreement would be much more complicated to negotiate in 2009, presumably alluding to the threat of war with Iran.

Quote: "Solana said in an interview on Friday that "it is true that in this process of negotiations, the more determined one is, the better chances of getting an agreement in the [stipulated] time frame .... I think that it has been done too slowly at the beginning and that probably this is the mistake that has been made." Solana arrived in Israel Friday morning and had meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials in Tel Aviv and Ramallah. Solana said he has doubts over whether a deal can be completed by the end of the year, saying that the longer the sides wait to go forward with talks, the less they are likely to succeed. "Because time is shorter, it will more difficult to do," Solana said. "I think we have to maintain the momentum and we will have to see some results before the end of the year". He added that in 2009 "it will be much more complicated to do." 

And on what may be his final address to his cabinet, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that he now believes the idea of a Greater Israel no longer exists. He made the comments during a second cabinet meeting to discuss Vice Premier Haim Ramon's evacuation-compensation bill, which promises monetary incentives for Israelis wanting to voluntarily relocate prior to a second disengagement from Judea and Samaria. He warned that unless Israel was prepared to disengage from these regions, that the international community may conclude that the peace process is doomed, and call for the establishment of a bi-national state.

Quote: ""Forty years after the Six Day War ended, we keep finding excuses not to act. This isn't doing Israel any good. The international community in starting to view Israel as a future bi-national state. We can prove that we have been more creative than the other side through the years, and that they have been more obstinate, but as usual, we will win the debate by loosing sight of what's really important. "We can always find very good reasons for not doing things now, and for why we would be better off postponing everything to a later date," continued Olmert. "We refuse to face reality. Time is not on Israel's side, not because our cause isn't just, but because time has its own repercussions. "I admit – this hasn't always been my position. In the past I've said – and I said it to (Labor Chairman Ehud) Barak at the time – that what he agreed to in Camp David was wrong. "I used to believe that everything from the Jordan Riverbank to the Mediterranean Sea was ours. After all, dig anywhere and you'll find Jewish history. But eventually, after great internal conflict, I've realized we have to share this land with the people who dwell here – that is if we don't want to be a bi-national state," said Olmert.

Olmert actually misquotes this Scripture. God promised to give Abraham and his descendants all of the territory from the Euphrates river to the Mediterranean sea, from the Nile in the south to Damascus in the North. (Genesis 15:18). That land not only encompasses Gaza, Judea and Samaria, but also Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the half of Iraq. This territory is referred to as 'Greater Israel'. For although Israel may not presently occupy this land, they will do so in a coming day when the Messiah returns to set up His Millennial Kingdom. During the Six Day War the Jewish state captured the entire Sinai peninsula within the space of just a few days. They also captured Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem from the Jordanians, and the Golan Heights from the Syrians. But rather than believing in the God who promised to give this land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendents, Israel handed back most of this territory in exchange for peace with their enemies, something they were instructed never to do (Deuteronomy 23:6). And rather than trusting in the Mighty God of Jacob for their deliverance, they are once again seeking to placate their enemies by handing over territory that was never theirs to give in the first place (Leviticus 25:23). But the day is coming when the Jewish people will fully possess the land given to them by God (Psalm 72:8). There will be no Palestinian state, but the foreigners will live in peace in Israel, and they will trust in the name of the Lord (Zephaniah 3:12). What a prospect that will be! A perfect Man ruling in righteousness and peace (Isaiah 32:1) and God dwelling amongst His people (Revelation 21:3). But Jesus Christ said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (Matthew 5:20). In other words, we need a righteousness that exceeds even that which is attained through the keeping the law of God. An impossibility, you say! There is only one way for us to achieve that kind of righteousness, and that is through the Person of Jesus Christ. He took God's punishment for your sins when He died upon the cross of Calvary. And all who believe on Him for salvation can have this righteousness that exceeds what the law can offer us (Acts 13:39). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today.

Isaiah 9:6-7
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Source YNet News, Haaretz, YNet News

"And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." " - Genesis 2 V18

"Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing." - 1 Thessalonians 5 V11

God longs for a relationship with us and so He created us with His nature in us. He gave us family and friends that we can enjoy relationship with. As Christians we are related to our other Christian brethren and it is our duty to love, comfort and edify one another. A Christian is never alone for he is now joined to the family of God and God wants us to support one another and have fellowship with Him in one accord.