Church Resurgent

One of Liverpool’s most enigmatic landmarks warranted a warning on my work's laptop as I attempted to search its name. The former Lewis’ building, destroyed in the Blitz and rebuilt in the 1950s, has upon it the statue of a nude man, entitled Liverpool Resurgent, but referred to as Dickie Lewis by locals. Liverpool is currently recovering- very successfully- from a move away from heavy industry and huge ports, with its resultant loss in traditional jobs. As Peter McGovern's lyric puts it:

We speak with an accent exceedingly rare,

Meet under a statue exceedingly bare.

Just as large English cities grow and decline, expand and contract, so too the church of God. In Britain, the church was once strong, but is now fairly weak. The mainl denominations have surrendered to secular morality while the most 'successful' churches teach that God wants their members to be materially rich and to never fall ill. The proportion of people with no or little Christian belief has not been so large since Saxon times and the state’s agents have begun prosecuting preachers and expressing hostility towards conservative churches. Yet the gates of hell will not prevail against her; though we Bible believers are few in number, the Lord has reserved for Himself more than the seven thousand he mentioned to Elijah. Furthermore, the church of the global east and south has never been stronger.

Christ's bride, the church, is not naked and shivvering, but attired in her acts of service:

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Rev 19:7-8, NKJV)

Be encouraged, therefore.