Thoughts on the New US President

President Barak Obama’s virtual fairytale journey to the American presidency mirrors the hopes and dreams for betterment, not just of African-Americans but of all aspiring peoples around the world. Very many people in all nations have invested their dreams, hopes and expectations for world betterment in him but no matter how well meaning and able President Obama is, there will be social, political and other incidents taking place completely outside of his control. As a consequence he will inevitably disappoint people. This virtual Messianic excitement and expectation mirrors humanity’s deepest desire for world betterment and peace, which can be satisfied not by President Obama but only by Jesus of Nazareth-the Prince of Peace.

 

A Call to Personal Purity

In Birmingham the black community is disproportionately affected by the rise of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust (HoBPCT) presented facts which graphically highlighted this fact. The African Caribbean population is half the size of the white population in the HOB yet; there are more than three times as many Chlamydia cases diagnosed among African Caribbean people in the HOB as there are among white people in the same area. There were more than 4 times as many African Caribbean people with a gonorrhea diagnosis compared to the number of white cases. Also at the end of 2003 heterosexual transmission of HIV was more than three times higher amongst African Caribbean people than that among the white population. (Ref. Health protection Agency: STIs in Birmingham and Solihull 1996-2003)

Young people in the 16-25 age range are the most active sexually in society and have the largest number of partners hence their prominence in the statistics but the reason for the disproportionate rates of presentation of African Caribbean people are not clearly evident. Anecdotal evidence suggests that African Caribbean men have an aversion to the use of any physical barrier which might to some degree lessen their experience of sexual pleasure, hence the apparent high rates of unprotected sex resulting in the above statistics.

We can no longer abdicate our duty of moral and sexual education to the school system and the media, which teaches sexual education and practice devoid of any moral and ethical framework. As a church we must call our members and the wider community to recommit to true Biblical chastity and to a higher level of marital fidelity. Young people and courting couples must be brutally honest in inquiring into the sexual history of their potential partners not taking anything for granted. Further, teens and other young adults must despite the pressures of society choose to be loyal to their Christian commitment and remain chaste, realising that to share their body with someone is often to put their health and future at risk.

The Evidence before your very Eyes

When General Berthier led the French forces into Rome and took the pope prisoner in 1798, to most people in Europe this was the end of the papacy as a political force. The pope was taken prisoner to Avignon in southern France and the Papacy was effectively under the control of the French government. As a consequence you had popes and anti-popes firing salvos of invective, bulls, counter bulls and interdictions at one another. The papacy was dead many thought, but the words of scripture was there to be heeded by all true believers.

John the Revelator had predicted that “he who takes captive will himself be taken into captivity.” One of the heads of the Beast would receive a deadly wound and apparently be dead. The prophecy did not end there however, because the Seer of Patmos said that the deadly wound would be healed and the whole earth would wonder at the Beast. The resurgent beast would again rule and dominate in matters of religion and politics until human history came to an end in the glorious return of Jesus Christ.

 

Still the Groom Waits!

Yet to be true to the words of Christ his pronouncements relating to the nearness of his return were invariably tempered with warnings of apparent delay. In one of Christ’s parables the unwise servant concluded, “My master is delaying his coming” (Matt. 24:48), and he began to eat and drink with the drunkards, while the master will return at an hour when he is not looking for him at an hour he is not aware of. This is also similar to the experience of the Ten Virgins who all fell asleep due to the delay of the bridegroom. The parables are concluded with a call to watchfulness; “Watch therefore, for you do know neither the day nor the hour in which the son of man is coming.”(Matthew 25:13) Our generation must take heed to our danger of loss of vision and not be distracted by the apparent delay of the Advent but rather arise to the challenge of the proclamation-“Behold the bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him.” Still the Groom waits patiently.