"ULSTER SAYS NO"

“Ulster says NO!” is a well known slogan which many in this community have heard and said. The question is, what do we say “No” to? Here are three suggestions:

Firstly we say no to creeping secularism. There is something like 36 churches around the Shankill but how many are full on Sunday morning? How many have a significant number on Sunday evening when the opposition is the TV? Secularism is when we say no to God and declare our independence to God. Secularism is when we believe we can do as well, if not better, than God.

Secondly we say “No” to the retreat of the Church. The church has allowed herself to be intimidated by those who say that Church and politics are to be kept separate. We have been intimidated into a retreat into our places of worship, closing the doors behind us and going into the safety of the sanctuary. The Great Reversal of the early part of the twentieth century resulted in a walking away from our calling to incarnate the Gospel. The well known theologian Carl Henry said that the Church was central to the well-being of any society and Jeremiah and Nehemiah and many others in the Old Testament agreed. He went on to say that “it is time for church-goers to take a rightful place in American society.” Saying “No” to secularism and to the retreat of the church means that we decide to take our rightful place in Ulster society.

Thirdly, saying “No” means an end to Christian flight from our streets. We have to say that this is not the time to retreat. Not the time to stay in our locked churches. It is time to be pro-active and to engage with men and women that we may serve them as Christ served the church.

Why would we do this? Quite simply because Christ has called his people to a live of love and service. Quite simply because this was what he did himself. For a while he lived among us and became one of us. We are living at a time when Britney Speers is considered more inspirational than Jesus Christ and we, the Christians, are to blame because we have remained asleep on the job. We have taken our eyes of the ball and allowed secularism to be crowned sovereign.

Someone has said that Christians are literally “lucky bastards” because they have received forgiveness and new life. No longer illegitimate but now legitimate sons of God. Too true we are but this gift is not for the in-crowd, it is to be shared with others. While politics has let us down Christ has not and he wants his church to get her hands dirty in service. Can you say “No” to this?

Good Leaders

To many people today the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, is so remote as to be useless for modern living. It may well fascinate actors and authors by its Shakespearian language but it remains a dust collector when it comes to any modern application. Yet the other day I was looking at the prophet Jeremiah and found some very sound instruction for all leaders.

Every leader will work for and be an example of justice and right living.

The New Testament tells us that every leader from PM down is a minister of God and not just state. According to Romans 13 whenever elected that leader is no longer just a private citizen they are role models.

Are we to be concerned when our political leaders lie to us as has happened in Westminster in recent days or been economical with the truth? Yes, I think what is happening to the United Kingdom of GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland is a cause of great concern: “RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION”

Taking this onboard will have its affect upon how I use my vote and how I live my life. What it means is that I should vote for the people who will uphold righteousness and justice even if they are not in the party I usually support since God is in control and he uses all men to do His will.

Secondly leaders are to do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless and the widow. It is often said that a good way to judge a nation is by looking at the way it treats its minorities. Today the demographic shift in a place like North Belfast mirrors what is going on in much of these islands and indeed in Europe- today the church is challenged by the arrival on our doorstep of Africans and Asians, along with people from Eastern Europe and how are we to react?

Finally leaders are to make sure that the courts honest and just. We need a justice system which is both fair and is seen to be fair. This was to apply to both King Zedekiah and the foreigners who were invading the nation and its still true.

Even when the nation was suffering financially the king made sure that he had a mansion to live in, even when the temple was looted he had his big house. In our society we know of examples where this has happened but it must not happen when God’s people are in leadership. God used the great enemy from the north to discipline his people and He never failed to be in control. What is our hope for our children? That this same God is still in control and has set sound principles of leadership, which are as relevant today as in the far off days of Jeremiah.