The times they are a-changing --- Is REVIVAL coming?

As the economic downturn bites even deeper so each day brings more and more news about it, some of which is news that we would rather not have to hear. Generally speaking, even the more adventurous amongst us enjoy the stability of knowing that certain things never change. Well, what I should say is that we like to think that they never change. But when change comes in areas that we had previously believed to be permanently inscribed on stone then it is often painful for us to accept.

One such situation was the recent news that, here in the UK, Woolworth's was placed into Receivership. Imagine the horror with which many greeted the news! After all, Woolworth's has been around in the UK for over 90 years, and we have grown up in the security that it was one of the faces on the High Street that would be there for ever. Spare a thought for the employees, almost THIRTY THOUSAND of them, and just imagine for a moment the dismay, shock and trauma that the news has brought into their lives. Many of them had worked for the Company for well over 25 years.

Yet change comes, even when we don't want it too. My first job after leaving school was for the men's tailoring company, Weaver to Wearer, and I worked for them for several years, enjoying almost every moment of it. The company had over 500 stores, so it was as 'safe as houses'. However, after a few years I learned just how safe some houses were NOT! Almost overnight the familiar name of the company disappeared from the High Street, shop signs being replaced so quickly that you hardly had chance to catch your breath.

I remember that when I was first thinking about jobs I was being advised to work for one of the recognised 'safe' employers such as Banks or Civil Service. Well, jobs in the Banks have long changed from being the safe jobs that they once were! And for further proof, should proof be needed, witness the number of ex-Bank employees that are looking for work at present with all that has happened in the Banking Industry over recent months. As for the Civil Service, well, many jobs are not contractually based and therefore, by their nature, for a specific term. There is no more security in the work-place, no matter who you work for.

Nobody can deny that the present economic problems are the worst that the world has experienced since the Great Depression of the late 1920's and early 1930's. I think that one of the problems behind it is that the Western World in particular has become focused on greed and self-centredness. Nobody likes to admit that there is a 'greed' problem but unfortunately it's rampant. I guess that when people put themselves at the centre of their lives then greed is pretty well automatic in one form or another.

For example, just consider the massive salaries that are given to many people in the banking and business world. Only this week the news came through that Goldman Sachs, part of the International Investment Banking Group, are to distribute FOUR point THREE BILLION POUNDS in bonuses to their City workers, an average of £142,600 each! This news is particularly distasteful when you consider that this week the firm posted its first loss for a decade, and that earlier this year the company was forced to accept a £6.5 BILLION lifeline from the US government as a result of the Credit Crunch.

The thing for the ordinary members of the public to consider is this: these bail-outs by the government, both by our government here and other governments elsewhere, come from money paid by the taxpayers, and that means that some of the money that YOU and I pay in taxes is being used to bail these businesses out. In a manner of speaking that means that we are shareholders in their businesses, and that the government have our proxy. Considering that, how do you now feel about the massive and outrageous bonuses being paid out?

Another facet of the 'greed culture' that we have often seen over the past few years is that high-flying managerial level employees who are removed from their jobs because of incompetence and failure, still walk away with massive financial rewards. How can that be justified? It is equivalent to paying losers the same as winners in a competition. Perhaps the nonsense of the PC brigade who believe that 'it's wrong to tell people when they are incorrect in case it upsets them' is the real culprit in all of this. You know what I mean I'm sure. If a child gets their sums wrong at school you mark them as being 'almost right' rather than telling them that they are wrong. We see the same thing on TV when contestants of talent shows who should never have got past the initial form-filling, are told that they are better to stick to their day-jobs, and then the public dare to deride the critic for pointing it out to them!

What an upside-down world we have created!

One good bit of news that filtered through to me this week was the news that many churches in the US are experiencing a boom in terms of the numbers turning up for services as a result of the Recession (Depression?).

It is my belief, based upon many years experience, that when nations have too much wealth then invariably its people turn away from God, lulled into believing that they have no need of God in their lives as they chase the pound or the dollar or whatever. I believe that the current crisis is the result of God saying that 'Enough is Enough!' So often in the past it has been just this sort of crisis that has brought about Spiritual Revival, and perhaps that is what we will see once more. Certainly, there can be no doubt that such a Revival is long overdue if people are to be saved from themselves. There is a need for God to be placed firmly in the centre of people's lives and for that to happen they must remove themselves from being the central focus.

My prayer for everyone as we approach the New Year is that they will look at their lives in retrospect and either confirm or re-confirm a commitment to God being central to their lives from now on.

Of course, many churches, having been inwardly-focused to a point of exclusiveness for so long, must change as well, recommitting themselves as a church to serving God through Christ. Seeking to be churches whose focus is not financial stability for the congregation but rather spiritual stability in the world at large.

So, where does this change start from, and with whom? That's easy to answer dear reader, for it starts with you and with me. When we choose to reconfirm our commitment to God and to honour His Word and honour the task that we are called to then change will come.