TRUTH :

Sometimes a tiny seed of truth can appear in a most unexpected place, as occurred for me recently when reading a crime novel. Whether the quotation was the novelist’s own or from some other place, I have no idea but it was this. ‘Woman is the stronger sex, because man’s weakness is the weaker sex’. Sadly, as things seem to stand, it is true. Man’s need of woman is very real and natural, after all - she was created for him by Almighty God to be as one flesh with him, but surely man’s weakness and his strength should be Our Lord and the woman, as his Helper, should love him for it , support him in it and worship with and through her man.. If she sees the beauty of Christ in the character of her husband, she will find ’submission’ is no longer an appropriate word, because the union becomes Joyful sharing, not just a question of sticking it out and ‘putting up with it‘ for sixty odd years.

What a way to live, when Christ came to give us Life and give it more abundantly. Woman is the prime target for the serpent because of her vulnerability, and for generations we have had women of incredible courage and integrity whose lives have been misery which without faith in Christ who became the man of their dreams in place of their lawful husband, would hardly have been worth living at all. I’m not talking of heroines or publicly acknowledged figures - you wont find their names in books or being awarded medals - I am talking of very ordinary mothers and grandmothers who instead of finding themselves tied to the Prince of their dreams, have found themselves tied to an utterly selfish brute who totally lacked any sensitivity to their feelings or needs. Girls and boys are different, not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, and we need women, not ladettes doing the job and Christian men who understand and are sensitive to and protective of them. It is a great job for both parties. The woman who has to constantly nag her husband is not likely to be very happy , and the Bible has something to say about a nagging wife

For women there were all too often only two options, marriage or going into service. Today we have liberated young women and a good thing too, but the emptiness of sexual relations without a higher meaning should not be equated with one that is a perfect triangle with Almighty God and a most joyful witness to His Love as Holy Matrimony could and should be . There was a newspaper article recently about the ‘Ladette culture’ , highlighting the increase in single motherhood, abortion and sexually transmitted diseases. It took an expensive survey - as always - for a group of brain heads to come to a realisation that has been obvious to anyone with any savvy for years . Man has always been the hunter - for him love is a thing apart, ’tis woman’s whole existence and nobody seems to have taught these girls that some men (to call them ’men’ is a misnomer) will say anything to get what they want. These young lasses needed protection from themselves - all too often even from male members of their own family, which is something the Muslims seem to have understood - although they too have taken it far too far in quite the wrong and utterly cruel direction. There is balance in all things that Our Amazing Creator God gave us and to come into the Christian faith the most wonderful privilege of all as he truly sets us free from all past baggage - yet not from our responsibilities. .

The paragraph in the Epilogue of Steve’s latest book ’How the Church has lost the Truth’ , and to which I refer in my comment under ’New Book’ is as follows :-

‘ So where are the true Men of God? Can you imagine what could happen if there was a real, authentic, move of God, fuelled by correct understanding of the Bible (rather than formulae, campaigns and strategies), backed up by prayer and sensitivity to the leadings of the Holy Spirit and led by true servants without a whiff of secret agendas or personal ambition, save for the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ?

An admirable question - well done Steve - and one that I responded to by quoting what is written in that most beautiful chapter of the Holy Bible - 1 Corinthians 13. ‘….. And the greatest of these is Love ‘ - the Divine Love exemplified by Jesus Christ . He was to have been the first of many Sons. Such men do exist - but the gate is narrow and it is not always he who shouts the loudest who will be heard for to many he will say ‘I do not know you‘.

- May man and woman alike learn to hear and be in obedience to the Holy Spirit in Witness for Our Beloved Lord , helping our precious young people to a better understanding than to date has generally been exhibited in this very sick world, even in spite of the enormous sacrifice paid for us by Christ. Shame upon us, every one.

I have no ambition or hidden agenda in writing these words - my life is done and my work is done. It has been no bed of roses, but my days now, God willing, are gladly to live at peace in Him, to be able to pay my bills, to be in peace with all my neighbours, and dealing only with what knocks on my door demanding response, remaining in prayer for my family that in God’s Grace and Mercy we may be united before I leave this mortal coil , about which He alone knows all, as indeed He knows the hearts of all.. Thanks for taking the time to ‘hear’ me. God Bless.

MUSTARD SEED