Showing posts with label stealing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stealing. Show all posts

Wednesday 8 November 2017

Only six of ten commandments of God still important to British Christians

A YouGov pol has revealed that only six of the ten commandments of God are still important to British Christians.
Not to our surprise most Britain's the four which have fallen by the wayside are the requirement not to worship idols, use the God His name in vain, to worship no other God, and to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Concerning the Sabbath or the Sunday since the 2012 ruling by a High Court judge - the first on the issue in nearly a decade - Christians have no right to decline working on Sunday as it is not a “core component” of their beliefs. The fact that some Christians were prepared to work on Sundays meant it was not protected, the court said.
In 1994, when Sunday trading in England was liberalised shopworkers were given a guarantee that working would be strictly voluntary, but the guarantee did not apply to people in other sectors.
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, published in 2003, say employers must justify Sunday working as a “legitimate business need” and does not give a blanket right to Christians not to work.
If employers fail to treat staff fairly and proportionately, the employee may be able to claim discrimination, the rules add.
The last ruling by judges was when a quarry worker claimed his Christian beliefs had been treated with “contempt” by employers who tried to force him to work on Sundays in 2003.
Stephen Copsey lost his case at the Court of Appeal in 2005, with judges ruling his employer had “compelling economic reasons” for insisting that he worked on Sundays.{Christians have no right to refuse to work on Sundays, rules judge}
When we look at lots of Christians and see what they do on Sabbath and / or on the Sunday it is no surprise courts consider it not of any religious importance.

Keeping the Sabbath Day holy is seen as the least relevant of the Commandments in the modern era. Fewer than one in five (19%) Britons say keeping Sundays holy is still an important principle to live by, including fewer than a third of Christians (31%) and 7% of the non-religious. Almost half of Catholics said they supported keeping the Sabbath day holy nut by that they mostly mean keeping the Sunday as rest day. Just 29 per cent of Protestants said they felt the same. 

Concerning the first commandment a real Christians must recognise that the majority of Christians do worship more than one god and mostly do not even know the Name of the Holy Father. As such they do not mind swearing or using one of more tittles of God to make their words stronger or to show their disgust over something.
Just under a quarter (23%) of the overall population say that you may not use the word "God" in or as a curse, including 38% of Christians and just 7% of the non-religious.

Less than one in three Christians believe in preserving Sunday as a day of rest, with 38 per cent against using the Lord's name in vain and 43 per cent condemning the worshipping of idols, though lots of them do not worry to bow down in front of graven images or statues and pictures of gods and saints.

On Tuesday the Archbishop of Canterbury signalled support for a day of rest, tweeting that he was "encouraged" by the Chief Rabbi's campaign for people to spend time offline over the Sabbath.
While almost half of Catholics said they supported keeping the Sabbath day holy, just 29 per cent of Protestants said they felt the same.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, said: " In an age as busy, frantic and feverish as ours I would have thought that keeping the Sabbath, or at the very least observing a balance between work and rest and play was more important than ever.
Sabbath is both a radical idea and a practically useful idea for it simply acknowledges that we need to rest and we need to play. Indeed, it says this is what we are made for."

The Rt Rev David Walker: 'Believers and non-believers alike support the simple, ancient statements which continue to provide the foundations of our legal system and our shared sense of right and wrong.'
The Rt Rev David Walker: 'Believers and non-believers alike support the simple, ancient statements which continue to provide the foundations of our legal system and our shared sense of right and wrong.' Credit: Martin Rickett/PA
He also lamented Christians' abandonment of the commandment about idolatry, saying:
 "Whether it is celebrity, wealth, a certain designer label pair of jeans jeans or a make of car, we have all construct a sense of worth in the desire to own and possess certain things that we believe will give value.
Today we do find lots of christians spending more time on their idols than on the Divine Creator God. In the United States we see a similar trend having 'money' or 'wealth' having become the most important god. There even in mega-churches people have special services to offer them more wealth.

Fewer than a third of Britons (31%) say that people should not worship idols (defined in the survey as statues or symbols). Christians are split on whether they still consider this to be an important commandment, with 43% saying it is and 44% saying it is not. Meanwhile, only one in five non-religious Brits (20%) say it is still an important rule, though most, not to say all, of the respondents who claim to be Christian worship a triune god and as such go in against the first commandment of God.

Only one in five Britons (20%) still believe that the Christian God’s monopoly on worship is still relevant in modern Britain (including 36% of Christians and just 5% of non-religious Brits).


The survey shows that believers and non-believers alike support the simple, ancient statements which continue to provide the foundations of our legal system and our shared sense of right and wrong.

Having been central tenets of Biblical teaching for several millenia 6 from the 10 commandments are still considered of value today.

"Thou shalt not kill" receives 93% of the votes. Most Brits think it is still important to live by this and by the command "thou shalt not steal". In the case of both Commandments, they were seen as still important by 94% of Christians and 93% of those with no religion.

Being honest about certain matters seems surprisingly still important for 87%, though we can see a lot of boasting and hear lots of fake stories and hear a lot of people not telling the truth.
Not bearing false witness (telling lies) about others came third among all groups, with 87% of all Brits, 90% of Christians, and 86% of those without a religion saying that it is still important to live by.

Honesty has also to do with how we treat others and how we behave ourselves in relationships. Though we hear a lot about people having good fun with different people of the opposite or even same sex, close to three quarters (73%) of the population at large say that not committing adultery is still a top life principle, including 69% of non-religious Brits and 76% of Christians. Which is strange that it is so high on the roster because we encounter lots of divorces and mixed families.

Today we also find lots of elderly people left alone in homes. Police also often have to come to help by violence against parents. Though the poll shows that "Honouring thy father and thy mother" is still an important rule to follow for 69% of all Britons, including 78% of Christians and 60% of the non-religious.



The Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, said:
 "This survey shows that the practical morality which has lain at the heart of the Judeo Christian tradition for the last 3500 years still finds favour with most British people today, even where explicitly religious commandments gain less support. 



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Additional reading

  1. A New Reformation
  2. The Anti-Reformation in Todays Evangelical Church
  3. Let us make sure we now believe
  4. Hoogdag voor vele protestanten
  5. Gewortelden in Christus en factoren voor het succes van de reformatie
  6. Relevantie van de de Tien Geboden bij Britten anno 2017
  7. Zijn Beelden een Gevaar of de Redding voor het Geloof?
  8. Hedendaagse protestanten tegenover Katholieken of de Antichrist

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Monday 8 February 2016

Faith, storms and actions to be taken

Today it is very windy. Storms are coming over West Europe. With winds up to 150 km per hour and hail going against the windows we do hear a lot of noise.

In the past Jesus once stilled a storm and got the other men in the boat surprised, wondering who such a man could be that he had control over the weather. they were afraid of the storm but we can imagine that they also could get some fear from that man who could use his voice in such away that even wind and sea obeyed him. (Mark 4:41).
Tempestad Calmada.jpg

We have already read in Mark of Jesus doing many marvellous healings; a paralysed man, a leper, a man with a withered hand, etc., so that “his fame spread everywhere” (1:28): yet when he stills the storm and “the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (4:39) the  disciples of Jesus then asked each other “Who then is this?”.

Jesus had asked those fishermen to follow him and they had trusted him, being convinced this was a special man sent from higher regions, namely the promised Messiah. though at that time they probably still thought he would come to fight the Romans and get them liberated from this worldly oppression.

Knowing the risks at sea, that storm seemed to have come like not foreseen or not announced. They were very familiar with the lake, so we can imagine that they also knew how the water was behaving. But that time it seemed so different and they were really frightened. Surely they had learnt when there was a risk of weather of this this nature they would not venture out. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record this dramatic event, it was etched in their memory. It is described as “a great windstorm” and the “waves were breaking into the boat”.

As Jesus dramatically stills the storm, he asks, “Have you still no faith?” (verse 40). Faith is something which seems difficult to blend with mankind. People seem to have faith in lots of things, like being it dangerous to walk under a ladder, or to live on the 13th floor, having faith in a lot of people even making some of them into their gods. But having faith in God is a total different matter. who wants to believe in some one or something which can not be seen nor heard, nor felt?

Abraham is one example of faith we do have who showed what happens when a person has the right faith and does the right works. Lots of Christians do not want to believe we need to have works of faith, but in the Holy Scriptures we get many examples of people who showed their faith and got called righteous also because their works. We even find people like the prostitute Rahab and king David who had killed some one to have sex with his wife.

Though at moments going into the wrong the Old testament (and the New testament with Peter for example), shows us how they were taken by faith and regretted their wrongdoing. They repented and took the path of God.

Today we also see lots of people who live like the nation of Israel which had witnessed miracles, the plagues, walking through the sea on dry land and the destruction of the Egyptians armies at the hands of their all-powerful God – the one whose name / reputation was being established by these events, grumbling like their ancestors did against Moses [because of the lack of food (verse 2)]. Moses then could have said, “Have you still no faith?” and we also could ask those who got to know about those miracles and who received so many blessings if they still have no faith.

When we look at how the world is going we can see many who call themselves Christian, but have a life which is not worthy of a Christian. so called Christians do enjoy having sex with more than one person of the opposite or even same sex. Lots of them do not mind telling lies (so called for the good), or taking things from others (it is from work and as such does not belong to a person or would not do any harm, they say as excuse). They use public transport trying to avoid paying for their fair. They look for the cheapest bargain,no matter if their had to be children or other slaves working for it. they do not mind using articles with a big ecological footprint. Many of them also do not mind bullying others at work or in their club. They think they have to live today and not to worry about tomorrow.

Such attitudes we can hardly call an attitude of a real Christian.
Jesus in his parables also warns his listeners about the danger when we do not do the right works that we can miss the entrance of the gates of the Kingdom of God.

Are we willing to here that story or do we prefer to enjoy our life like we have ever done before? do we prefer to follow those teachers who mislead the world saying Christians are saved for ever?

We better listen to what is written in the Holy Bible and see that the storms of God’s judgements are starting to break out on this world. They are going to get worse. News bulletins are full of the detail of countries with problems and catastrophes.
We all need to really get to know our Lord and develop such a measure of faith that makes us certain God is in control whatever may come on this earth.

Meditate on James 1:5-8 and on the second chapter about faith and works.

Please also look at our series on From Guestwriters:


  1. Leading people astray!
  2. Restitution
  3. Comments to James remarks, about Faith and works
  4. Luther’s misunderstanding
  5. January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works
  6. Our life depending on faith
  7. Romans 4 and the Sacraments
  8. Is Justification a process?
  9. Justification – salvation is by grace through faith – JI Packer
  10. Faith itself not the cause of justification – Louis Berkhof
  11. Letter to the Romans, chapter 3
  12. Letter to the Romans, chapter 4
  13. Additional comments to the 3rd Letter to the Romans
  14. Additional comments to the Letter to the Romans 4
  15. Which is worse–works without faith, or faith without works?
  16. James 2:14-23 — Justified Dynamic Faith & works
  17. James 2:24 – You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
  18. James 2:25. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

and read also other articles as:
  1. A god who gave his people commandments and laws he knew they never could keep to it
  2. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
  3. Christ’s ethical teaching
  4.  Being Justified by faith
  5. Faith Alone Does Not Save . . . No Matter How Many Times Protestants Say It Does
  6. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
  7. A Living Faith #6 Sacrifice
  8. Faith and works
  9. Bearing fruit
  10. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
  11. The first on the list of the concerns of the saint
  12. Be holy
  13. She who sows thistles will reap prickles
  14. Love for each other attracting others
  15. Outflow of foundational relationship based on acceptance of Jesus


Friday 27 February 2009

How do you keep people from stealing your joy?

"Q: How do you keep people from stealing your joy?
A: Give it to them"
- Joshua deKoning


"May the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope."
Romans 15:13


I know that the Kingdom of The God not eating and drinking is
but righteousness and peace and joy united in holy Pneuma.

Dear God give that I can have a positive attitude
and that I shall be full of joy
and thankful for all the blessings I can enjoy
and let me share them with others
in Christ his name,
amen.