The crisp autumn air has swiftly returned to crush any vague delusions of summer, and with the falling of leaves and dropping of temperatures comes the plummetting fortunes of significant banking institutions across the world. Now I’m no expert, but these are troubling times for the financial industry, first Northern Rock; now America has been hit, with the collapse of Lehman and the bail out of AIG and FM & FM. last week, more bad news as HBOS faced a buy out.
Apparently the recession will only last a few months (quite how they know that is another question altogether), but what hope that brings to those who will be joining the multitudes on the global dole-que
ue is debatable. Apparently everyone is to blame as usual. The short sellers, the greedy banks, the oil barons. Oh, and of course, we mustn’t forget Gordon. A quick scan of the news over the past weeks will also tell you that the world’s imminent end has been postponed due to hot electromagnets in the Hadron Collider. On top of that, in a more local sphere, apparently an 82 year old in Wales has an ASBO! An eventful few weeks by all accounts.
Some people might start to pipe up that we’re in the very last days: weird seasons, uncertainty, wars… ASBO grannies. But not I. No, certainly not. I’m a third year Bible college student don’t you know, and my exegesis is far too good for that.
In fact the conclusion I’ve come to, is that the world is either addicted to depressing news and can’t get enough of it. Or, and probably more accurately, the world is fed up, depressed, mildly annoyed (not too mention slightly amused) by the ASBO grannies etc. that are always on the news.
Now, here’s the fruit of the conclusion, and hence the relevance of this ramble to you and I. If the world is indeed addicted to bad news, Jesus was fairly clear that a world without him was hell-bound, destined to lose the providence and blessings of God. conversely, if the world is sick of it all, then the hope of the gospel is the only eternal cure for the temporal diseases of gloom, despair, and hopelessness.
It’s good to remind yourself that whatever state of mind the world is in, the gospel of Christ is the great and lasting hope. It is not irrelevant, it is not past-it. It is a hope for the here and now which is inextricably bound to the eternal hope that belongs to all of those who are found in Christ.
Or, to describe this mindset from another perspective, in the words of the parents who lost their 9 month old baby some years ago.
Life is uncertain, Death is sure, Sin is the wound and Christ is the cure.The contemporaneity of the gospel-hope never ceases to amaze me.
September 26, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Good post. I like this.
October 21, 2008 at 4:34 pm
[...] The authors: Tom Clewer: Seldom heard from but apparently the man whose vision set the wheels in motion. Tom’s posts are usually well thought out and clear to follow. They provoke little disagreement (which goes to show what some planning can do) but are always very timely. For example this little beaut about ASBO Grannies. [...]
December 3, 2008 at 12:58 am
[...] So Tom was nearly there when he blogged about ASBO Grannies. “Nearly where?” I hear you cry (or more likely ’sigh’) [...]