Is Sunday Really the Most Miserable Day of the Week?

14 July, 2015 Ross Rennie Opinions

Minister of State (Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise) for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Rt Hon Anna Soubry declared to listeners of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that prior to the introduction of Sunday trading, Sundays had been ‘the most miserable day of the week’.

Rt Hon Anna Soubry MP

Ms Soubry added, “The only thing to look forward to was Sing Something Simple on the radio. Goodness me, if that didn’t sum up a miserable Sunday.”

How sad! One can imagine Ms Soubry pacing restlessly up and down in the front parlour in the early 1990s, the only sound the ticking of the grandfather clock and a bluebottle buzzing at the window, endlessly repeating, “I can’t take much more of this! If only it were Monday. I’m desperate for a fix from Woolworths.”

Ms Soubry is not satisfied with the six hours of ‘retail therapy’ she has been able get at the temple of Mammon since 1994. She is now supporting Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s plan to hand responsibility for Sunday trading laws in England and Wales to towns and cities, allowing them to decide how long shops can stay open.

Rev Ross Rennie writes:

It is a sad day when a politician says Sunday is the most miserable day of the week.
There are many instances in the Bible that show how man has done that which is right in his own eyes, such as when Abraham tried to help God by taking Hagar. We know the result: Ishmael.

There is also the account of Abraham pleading for just ten righteous people in Sodom (Genesis 18: 23-33).

But there is a passage that is seldom read in our churches about what happened to Lot and his two daughters (Genesis19: 30-38). I suggest you read it for yourself and see the depths of depravity that man can descend to.

Last year we saw the unravelling of marriage as we know it. Some may say it is good thing, but I as a fundamental Christian know that it is not, and what mankind sows that shall he reap: a harvest of destruction. I understand grace, that God forgives us our sins through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I do know to my own cost there is a consequence to sin. As Jesus said, we become slaves to sin, and if sin is our master then it is a terrible master and it can destroy Christian and non-Christian alike. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14: 6).

We now have so-called ministers of the gospel debating on what Jesus said.

Many years ago I was a member like many of us of Keep Sunday Special. It was only the power of the multi-nationals and I would say the corruption of politicians allegedly that overturned the most sacred day of the week. Life now, as many of us know, is so pressured. Families do not even sit down for one meal in the week. They are glued to the television, their tablets or their smartphones, and even in some households they are playing on their phones while eating their meals.

This, I believe, is the start of the new order. George Bush first spoke about it many years ago and many politicians have spoken about it since. Our dear brother Barry Smith, who has gone to be with the Lord, spoke about this and people laughed at him and ridiculed him, but some of us listened.

Now we have a government minister saying that prior to the introduction of Sunday trading, Sunday was the most miserable day of the week. I would say the problem was not with Sunday but with the person, as God’s creation has never changed. The beauty of walking with your family or your friends in the countryside or by the sea or even in a park has all been wiped away by commercialism.

Unfortunately, whether you believe it or not, this is part of Satan’s master pan to homogenise the world into a one-world government and a one-world religion.

But as Isaac said (Genesis 22: 7) when his father took him up the mountain, “Where is the lamb?” There is only one Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world and His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.

So, my brothers and sisters, I will pray for your countries and your leaders, that they turn back to God, as unless they do they are leading mankind to destruction. John Bunyan wrote about this in the 17th century. I suggest you read the book The Pilgrim’s Progress.

I would also ask, where are the leaders of the body of Christ? The Bible also says even the elect will be led astray (Matthew 24: 24). So, my brothers and sisters, we need to watch and pray as the Lord will be back soon to take us all home.

God bless you all

Rev Ross Rennie

Leave a comment Business, Politics, Sunday

Companies Not To Trade With

23 August, 2013 Ross Rennie Information, Opinions

In this article I share with you some bad experiences with companies I have dealt with in personal and business life. I recommend that you and your family, friends and colleagues do not trade with these companies.

Vodafone

I used to be a satisfied customer of Vodafone. Then in 2011 their representative persuaded me to sign up to a contract that he promised would cost me no more than £50 per month.

In March 2012 I received a bill for £380. I had exceeded my monthly inclusive voice call allowance and Vodafone had charged me at an exorbitant rate for the excess. They had no system for alerting me to the fact that I was nearing or exceeding the inclusive allowance. I complained, but received no satisfactory answer.

Then in June 2013 I received another astronomical bill, this time for more than £430. I could not afford to pay the whole amount in one sum, so I offered to pay so much per month. Vodafone refused and said they would hand over my debt to a debt collection agency.

Update, early August 2013:

The final bill at the end of my contract was £527. Vodafone have admitted that they have no way for a customer to pay a debt by instalments. Either it is paid in full or they sell it on to a debt collection agency. I find this astonishing. The company is greedy, dishonourable, inflexible and completely lacking in compassion for the victims of its aggressive charging regime. If you are considering using Vodafone’s services, think again. If you are locked into a contract with them, beware, and get out as soon as you can.

Update, late August 2013:

Having been threatened by Vodafone with court action I reluctantly paid the bill. Imagine my astonishment when I then received a further bill for £3.52! A very rude call centre employee in India again threatened me with legal action if I did not pay, but a much more polite and helpful employee, this time in Egypt, resolved the matter to my satisfaction.

Steer clear of this company.

TalkTalk

Some years ago I was trying to resolve a dispute with TalkTalk. Whenever I telephoned I spoke to someone in South Asia who seemed to have no authority to do anything to resolve the problem.

Steer clear of this company.

Tesco

We have written elsewhere about Tesco’s support for the London Gay Pride festival. Tesco have never repented of this action, so, if you disagree with their policy, our recommendation is to do your shopping at another store.

Steer clear of this company.

Tesco and Gay Pride

1 January, 2012 Ross Rennie Information, Opinions

Tesco logo I would like to bring to the attention of my brothers and sisters across the world and in the UK something concerning one of the largest supermarket chains in the UK, Tesco. If you have not yet read this article from Christian Voice I suggest you do so.

We are not against Tesco per se, but we oppose the policy they are adopting at present of supporting the London Gay Pride festival by giving them a gift of £30,000, which could have been spent on better enterprises such as social, medical or other charities. and the fact that Nick Lansley, Head of Research and Development at Tesco.com, has called Christians opposed to same-sex marriage as ‘evil’. I would say that this gentleman, as many of you would believe, is misguided as we are the light of the world and they are living in darkness. I would like to express we are not against gay people but we are against the sin. As we are people of grace it is not our place to judge, as our Lord Jesus Christ told us not to. He said, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6: 42)

But it is our place to be wise with the finances that the Lord Jesus Christ supplies to us as Christians. I with many of my colleagues am boycotting Tesco — their stores, their petrol stations and tesco.com — until they reverse this decision to give £30,000 to what I believe is a sinful organisation. I would hope if you read this that you would tell as many Christians as possible that if we spend our money with this particular supermarket chain we are condoning their actions. As we are a peaceful people and unlike many other religions we do not riot, this is the only course of action I believe the Lord Jesus Christ would want us to take. I would like you to pray and see if you feel as many Christians up and down the British Isles do today.

If you look at the press you will see that we are not a minority; we are a majority because He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. When we as a Christian nation stand up together there is a great power between us and heaven. This has been seen on many occasions such as the time when Jerry Springer the Opera went across our land. Or consider the time when Sir Cliff Richard wrote The Millennium Prayer and the pop industry boycotted it but it still became number one, as many of us know. We have the victory as Christ defeated the powers and principalities and made a spectacle of them at Calvary 2,000 years ago.

My prayer is that the board of Tesco will realise this is not something that they should put the public’s money into and they will relent from involving themselves in Gay Pride or Stonewall. I myself will be writing to the chief executive of Tesco and I suggest many of you who shop at Tesco regularly should do the same.

One comment Gay Pride, Hall of Shame

No Reputation

1 December, 2011 Ross Rennie Opinions

I wonder why…

I wonder why some missionaries are still trying to replicate their home culture in the countries they are working in. I thought we had learned that cultural imperialism was not the way to extend the kingdom of God. Why do some denominations still land in a new country with the aim of building a copy of their home organisation instead of planting culturally appropriate churches? I have always preferred to listen to and work with indigenous churches in Cambodia and Myanmar rather than set up my own empire. How would Jesus do mission?

I wonder why Christians are so keen on criticising and judging others while seeking to justify or ignore their own failings. How would Jesus relate to the ‘tax gatherers and sinners’ of today? How would He deal with Christians who have made mistakes or fallen into sin?

I wonder why church politics are such a hindrance to the work of the kingdom. Why is there so much jostling for power and position in the church? Why is the ‘I did it my way’ attitude so prevalent? How would Jesus run your church?

I wonder why church meetings can so easily degenerate into a performance. Where are the servant worship leaders and musicians whose only desire is to lead us into the presence of God? How would Jesus help us to worship His Father?

Philippians 2: 7 (NKJV) tells us that Jesus ‘made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant’. He left the glory of heaven; as a newborn baby He was placed in an animal’s feeding trough; as an adult on the road He had ‘nowhere to lay His head’; He had to accept the hospitality and generosity of others; He ‘did not come to be served, but to serve’; He submitted to a mistrial, a brutal flogging and the curse of death on a cross.

Because Jesus lived and died in this way, all our sins, past, present and future, and all the sins of others whom we so easily condemn, have been forgiven.

Philippians 2: 5 (NKJV) instructs us, ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus’, or (NLT) ‘Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.

How would Jesus do mission? Humbly, with grace towards the people he came to serve and save.

How would Jesus relate to the ‘tax gatherers and sinners’ of today? The same way as He did to the tax gatherers and sinners whose company He enjoyed in first-century Galilee and Judaea: with love, forgiveness and acceptance.

How would Jesus run your church? As a servant-leader, a gracious, patient pastor and teacher, whose chief desire is for the spiritual health and maturity of His brothers and sisters.

How would Jesus help us to worship His Father? He would turn our eyes away from ourselves, the band, the singers, and help us to give our all in focused adoration.

Which is more important to you and to me: our reputation? Or the glory of God?

Set Free From Law After 30 Years

1 November, 2011 Ross Rennie Opinions

As I look back on nearly 30 years of being a Christian I recall how I have been involved in everything from Sunday school to prayer groups, pioneering churches to door-to-door evangelism, street preaching to mission in other lands. Well, you get the picture.

I now realise most of this was to please God and was based in law. I have been in all kinds of churches: Brethren, Baptist, Pentecostal, Elim, Faith Churches and Church of England high church. Until just recently I have found I have preached hell fire to law, and in the last ten years law and grace. All this has changed since my Senior Pastor Andy Wall from Grace International Church, Bloxwich, has ministered on Galatians and Romans for about six months.

Romans 6: 14-15 declare: “For sin shall not (any longer) exert dominion over you since now you are not under law (as slaves) but under grace as subjects of God’s favour and mercy. What then (are we to conclude)? Shall we sin because we live not under law but under God’s favour and mercy?” (Amplified Bible). Paul says, “Certainly not!” The sad thing is we carry on sinning to the flesh and if we are honest we will till we die. So how can any of us be free?

What I have learned is we can not by our self-effort win brownie points with God our Father. He loves us the same today as He will tomorrow. I had always seen God as the policeman. If I stepped out of line He would punish me. The problem was I had never seen the Father heart of God. He loves the world so much he sent his Son the Lord Jesus to die for all mankind, past, present and future, on the Cross of Calvary 2000 years ago — and here is the rub — not just the church but the whole wide world.

So tell me why most of us are so judgemental in the Church and outside in the world. I too have been guilty of this and I for one have repented. Galatians 3 is one of the keys. Paul writes: “O you poor and silly and thoughtless and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified” (Galatians 3: 1, Amplified Bible). In the whole of the chapter Paul is warning the Galatian church not to go back under the laws of Moses as Jesus has set us free from the law by dying on the Cross. He paid the price for sin to his Father once and for all — for all of us. You can believe it or not; that is up to you. But I know my sin is forgiven: past, present and future.

When you understand this you really have good news to tell the world, and we will stop trying to bully people into the Kingdom. All they need is to be introduced to the Saviour and start their own relationship with Him. That is the good news of the gospel: Christ crucified and raised again to life.

Our mission is to speed this message in the church and to the world as the Holy Spirit allows us.