The Shofar is the ancient trumpet which called the people of God to prayer, repentance, sacrifice and war.

TEXT FROM LEAFLET

Text of a leaflet given out to Muslims at Alum Rock , Birmingham (UK) on Saturday 14th June 2008.  ('A Salaam Alechem' is a rough English translation of an Arabic expression meaning 'Peace to you'.)

WHAT'S WRONG WITH BRITAIN ?

A Salaam Alechem. Britain today is in decline. Secularist politicians have passed laws against Christianity and the Bible to encourage sin and depravity. We see the effects all around us.

In 1967, Parliament passed the Sexual Offences Act, which legalised homosexuality in opposition to the righteous laws of God, leading to today's 'Gay Pride' exhibitions of perversion in our cities. Birmingham 's was even supported by the police!

The 1960's also saw laws to allow divorce for any reason, which Jesus Christ in the Bible specifically ruled against (Matt 19:3-9). Letting families break up and encouraging teenagers into illicit sex means half a generation of children now grow up with no contact with their father.

Lack of morality led to crime

The destruction of the family, which the powerful Elite brought to pass, has led to young people looking to their peer group for a moral compass and finding nothing but a 'do what you want' idea in which drunkenness, drugs and fornication are paraded night by night on the streets.

We can all see how the lack of morality spawned by the lack of fathers has led to crime and antisocial behaviour. Prisons are full of young men from broken families.

In killings we reap what we have sown

At the time of writing, 16 young people had been killed this year in London alone. In the West Midlands , there are 40 knife crimes a week. Why is there such contempt for life? Well, the Bible says 'As a man sows, so shall he reap' (Gal 6:7).

In the 1960's, with the abolition of the death penalty and then the Abortion Act, Parliament took away the death penalty from the guilty, by the state, where it belongs, and imposed it on the innocent baby in the womb, in the family, where it does not.

In that way we devalued innocent human life, and the Torah says mankind is made in the image of God. Can we wonder why our young people now have no respect for the lives of others when we allow their brothers and sisters to be torn limb from limb in abortion clinics, ripped out from what should be the safest place on God's earth? It is sowing - and reaping.

Our Christian Constitution

Who could tell from the way our politicians have behaved over the last fifty years, passing wicked anti-God laws that have brought misery in their wake, that our Queen promised at her coronation to 'maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel'?

Who would ever guess she was given the Orb with a Cross from the Crown Jewels and told to 'Remember that the whole earth is subject to the power and empire of Christ our Redeemer'? It would never occur to anyone from the way the Christian faith is trampled on today that Britain actually has a Christian constitution.

The Church should take some blame

Clearly the Church must shoulder a lot of blame for the state of Britain today. We have been too lax and lazy in the past. We have failed to stand up for Jesus Christ and the righteousness of the Bible. We have let down those from other lands who thought they were coming to a Christian country. We have left a moral vacuum.

No wonder Muslims say that Islam could do better than the secularism rife in Britain today. But Christians are now starting to stand up and be counted. Muslims will expect those who follow Christianity, the historic faith of these islands, to proclaim that we need to return to the Christian Faith and the Bible. And that is just what we say!

So what do Christians believe?

As Christian Voice is a Christian group, standing up for righteousness and for Jesus (Yeshua, Isa) you will expect us to tell you about our faith. Christians believe God is the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. He is self-existent, the loving, divine intelligence behind all creation, including us. Since God created us, He needed to lay down the laws by which we should live. Jesus Christ (Christ means 'Messiah' or 'Anointed of God') said: 'Keep the Commandments': worship nothing and nobody except God, do not blaspheme, disrespect parents and those in authority, and do not commit murder, adultery, stealing, lying or envy.

We can't keep Commandments!

The trouble is, we can't live up to Jesus's example or teaching, because we are only human. We have all done wrong by God's standards, so we are all out of fellowship with God and destined for hell. God is loving and merciful. He wants fellowship with us. But as He is righteous and holy, our sin prevents it. How can a holy God forgive us all the wicked things we have done in our lives and bring us into His presence in heaven?

A bit of good news for a change

By being born of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit in the person of Jesus, that's how, born to die on the cross so we could be forgiven.

In Jesus, who did no wrong, God Himself died for us and rose again. God's justice demands blood be shed for the forgiveness of sins. In His mercy and love for us He provided the only worthy sacrifice.

One day we shall all appear in the Court of Heaven. We shall all be guilty and deserving of punishment. But to those who believe in Christ, when sentence is passed, the Judge will say, 'I have already paid the penalty for you myself.' Because Jesus carried no burden of sin, he could take our sins on Himself and be our ransom. Us Christians know we are saved and forgiven. We are justified by the blood of Jesus. That is what sets us apart; not that we are better people, but that we are forgiven people. 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Rom 6:23).

The Angel Gabriel gave the word

We believe Jesus was born of a virgin, Mary, just as the angel Gabriel said: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy one which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God' (Luke 1:35). That is not to say that God begets as men do, but that the only way for a virgin to be with child was by the power of God.

It was also an angel who met the women at the tomb of Jesus three days after His crucifixion. He said: 'I know ye seek Jesus who was crucified; he is not here, for he is risen as he said' (Matt 28:5-6). The new life every Christian lives is the risen life of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit by the love and grace of God.

'I am the way' says Jesus

Unlike any prophet, Jesus had power to lay down His life and power to take it up again. So the Bible says: 'Neither is their salvation in any other; for their is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved' (Acts 4:12) The first public words of Jesus were: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye and believe the Gospel' (Mark 1:15).

May God bless you and meet you in Jesus as you call out to Him for salvation and forgiveness.