Should Christians be involved in politics?
“WE SHOULD BE IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD.” I have heard this so many times, ever since I revealed my calling to become involved with local elections, and stood for UKIP in the local council elections this May.
On the one side some of my Christian friends are dismayed, while on the other I’m condemned by atheists who don’t want God in any arena, let alone politics!
We have been so blessed in so many ways in this country, and have brothers and sisters suffering terrible affliction in other nations, even giving their lives for the freedom to worship that we take for granted.
So let’s use our God-given freedom to get involved whenever we find our freedom is being eroded. We can be greatly inspired by people such as Clifford Hill and have warnings by Alan and Pat Franklin in “Goodbye America, goodbye Britain”. Wale Babatunde and many others are urging us to get involved while there is time. Wilberforce, for one, used his position as an MP to campaign against slavery.
The three main parties have crossed the line by disagreeing with God’s ruling on marriage. Apart from individual, independent Christians, that only leaves one party dedicated to restoring this nation’s Christian heritage.
I believe that God will guide us and we will soon have a national day of prayer.
John Dawkins
Worthing
Short services for care home residents
MY 93-YEAR-OLD MOTHER developed dementia about four years ago and I finally made the difficult decision to place her in a dementia care home.
I quickly became aware of a huge need for fellowship support among the believers in the home so (with consent of management) I began regular Christian fellowship meetings which last no more than 30 minutes.
We begin by singing traditional hymns which they love and recognise, then move on to a time of shared prayer and then ten minutes or so of “chat” when I remind them of just how much God loves them. We might also talk about where we are in the Christian calendar and share memories of what that evokes for them! We then close in prayer and finish with more hymns.
We laugh a lot and sometimes we cry, but the amazing yet humbling thing is that these wonderful people whose worlds have otherwise so shrunk become alive again. Memories are triggered and sometimes we witness incredible moments when someone who seems totally unaware sits up and joins in the Lord’s prayer or a hymn and is word perfect!
Our Lord is present throughout these times and his Spirit is tangible! If other Christians have a relative, friend or any entrée into a particular home they could easily replicate what I’ve started, so I’m happy to share my experience as it is desperately needed.
Jacky Davidge (Mrs)
Pulborough
kilkeran@mistral.co.uk
Single parent “shame”
HOW GOOD TO HEAR a single mum admitting her shame as a single parent in the last issue (Councillor Donna Edmunds, p4). It is the first time that I’ve heard of an apology from such a one.
As Donna Edmunds said, “I believe that God forgives our sins if we truly ask for forgiveness – even the big ones.” I agree wholeheartedly as it is one of the wonderful parts of his grace.
Gerald Gresham Cooke
Petworth
“Heavy” promotion of Clifford Hill
I was very interested in your articles about whether the recent floods can be linked to God’s punishment of us as a nation, and particularly by the response from Rory McClure, who seems to have a much wider grasp of scripture than the Rev Doctor.
I’m not in any way suggesting that the abandonment of Christianity is a good thing, but I think your newspaper needs to be careful about its heavy promotion of the views of people like Clifford Hill. It’s good that you prominently publish the letters which take issue with him, but it’s clear what your agenda is and I’m sure many Christians see things very differently.
Jesus prayed for us all to be one, so I hope we can agree to disagree about these issues while retaining an absolutely vital prophetic edge. God is just as concerned about justice, and there are many issues, not least that of the rapidly increasing rich/poor divide in the UK and worldwide, which should have a strong claim to your front page, and might strike more challengingly at the heart of a deeply money-driven culture.
John Hawkins
St Leonards
A very large family
I have just finished reading the latest HEART of Sussex (April/May) I picked up from the Shoreham-by-Sea Methodist Church.
I found it a very good Christian read, not afraid to publish challenging and sometimes rather controversial views but as you rightly point out “HEART provides a forum for Christian opinion” and we belong to a very, very large family!
Philippe Quenon
East Preston
No to Noah?
I WENT TO SEE THE FILM “NOAH”, and as a Christian I was amazed by its complexity and its simplicity. The director has tried to make it acceptable to all. Only on reading your article did I realise that he was an atheist.
Sure, he did not use the word GOD in the movie, but referred to him as the “Creator”. I find that acceptable as a lot of believers refer to him as the Creator, because is he not in fact the creator of us all?
I feel that though the director says he is not a believer, he must to some extent believe . He has made the the character of Noah someone we can relate to – as we all want to do what is right but sometimes find it difficult due to cultural, religious and social pressures, so sometimes for an easier life we “go with the flow” rather than fight against it.
The director has interpreted the message in a way that we can all understand and I believe that God will always find a way to let us know what he wants us do.
Leonie Booyse
Crawley