An atheist advocates the faith

Matthew Parris had a fascinating piece in Saturday's Times (27th December) on why Africa needs God. Parris is a self professed atheist. In the article, however, he argues that the Christian faith is truly liberating and gives individuals the confidence to tackle life head on.

Finding your true home

Where is home for you? If you have moved away from the place where you grew up, you might find yourself asking that question. When you have moved a few times to different areas you do think about where you really are at home.

I had this discussion with a couple who are in full time itinerant ministry. I commented that having moved so many times - their most recent one being from the dream home to a comfortable but much less spacious semi - it couldn't be easy to feel settled. A sense of rootlessness must surely accompany such moving around.

Usually people talk about such challenges in terms of sacrifice and the emotional and psychological upheavel of such a lifestyle.

Their answer was one I hadn't expected - though I should have. They said that as far as they were concerned, their home was in heaven and their reward was in heaven. Like Abraham, they went out not knowing where they were going (Hebrews 11.8). And like Abraham they are looking for the city built by God (Hebrews 11.10).

I haven't heard anyone make that kind of statement in years. It is so refreshing. It is what Christians used to believe. Perhaps we still do but just don't talk about. It wouldn't do us any harm to talk about it a bit more often. Hope you had the privilege of at least one conversation like this over the holiday season.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...well...it's obvious isn't it?

You might well have heard this before, but it's one that's worth playing over and over again. You can check out a longer version on YouTube

A big, happy, Jesus-filled Christmas to all my readers!

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...Dickens

A Christmas Carol just has to get a mention if we're talking Christmas essentials. Nothing - apart from the Bible - like A Christmas Carol to make you think about your life.

In this version, in which Alistair Sim plays Scrooge, the old miser has the superb line "I haven't taken leave of my senses; I've come to my senses!" Brilliant. Repentance in a nutshell!

Person of the Year

Time Magazine chooses a Person of the Year every year. The 2008 choice is Barack Obama.

I think you can make a good case for the President -Elect being Person of the Year. It is a remarkable achievement for an African-American to become president considering that segregation was still the practice in some states in fairly recent history.

It is also a remarkable testimony to American democracy and its capacity for self-renewal and the willingness of its electorate to show itself a world leader in its choice of president. Many European nations look down their noses at America and its people, but I can't think of a single state in Europe - Britain included - where a non-white would have had a ghost of a chance of becoming president or prime minister. Well done America.

You might have read that Rick Warren has been asked to pray at Obama's inauguration. I'm sure he has good political reasons for inviting Warren to pray on such a big occasion. In doing so, he has upset some of his own supporters who dislike Warren's stances on marriage and abortion.

Perhaps Obama is showing himself a leader who wants to be president for all Americans, not just his own supporters. He can only be commended for that. Let's pray that God will give Rick Warren wisdom on this occasion and whenever he has opportunity to talk to the new president.

The Seattle Times has a write up on the choice of Warren to pray at Obama's inauguration.

A few links

A few links before Christmas.

Graeme Arthur, our chief techie, has a great post on using Facebook in a godly way. Well done G.. Very thoughtful piece.

Between Two Worlds has a review on The Tale of Desperaux . Anyone seen the movie? What do you think?

Mark Driscoll reflects on his lowest church attendance for years.

Interesting article in The Mail about believing scientists. The quote below from Professor Stuart Burgess of Bristol University will give you a taste:

'The most moving evidence for Christianity I have seen is when a person with a broken life puts their trust in the Lord Jesus and finds healing, peace and purpose.'

According to Professor Burgess, a spacecraft specialist who designed the solar panels of a £1.4 billion satellite: 'This is what the Christmas message is really about.' Exactly.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...Irving Berlin

In it's own way it's a song of hope mixed with a yearning for the old certainties. They say Berlin wrote the background music to Western civilization. He certainly tapped in to some of the deep emotions of our culture. And yet, when you listen and enjoy, you feel that hopes and dreams need a firmer foundation. Anyway, thanks Irving for giving us an enduring Christmas song. (Chose this version because I thought you might like the gentle crackle of the 78 under the stylus)

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...people you'd least expect falling under its spell

It's not my favourite version of In the Bleak Mid-Winter. I'd rather have a choir singing it to the other tune. I've posted this version because it highlights once again how Christmas is a time when people will think about what's really important and the really important One. Let's face it, most of us don't associate ABBA with Christmas carols.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...a movie with a moral

What would the world be like if you had never been born? George Bailey (played by James Stewart) gets the chance to have a look at what a world without him would have been like.

Touching tale and a little thought provoking to boot.

Consumers & Culture Makers

Andy Crouch makes the following comment on a post at Seth Godin's blog:

"We are exiting the consumption era, where people defined themselves by what they consumed (and took whatever job would pay for it) and entering the era of culture making, where people define themselves by what they contribute to the world."

Crouch's comment deserves some reflection. If he's right, church's that have bought into the consumerist mentality might find they have some rethinking to do. Perhaps this kind of cultural change gives us all some rethinking to do!

I've been tagged

I don't usually get into e-games. On Facebook, I don't respond to anything other than messages and writings on my wall.

However, this time I will make an exception because it has come from Graeme Arthur and Richard Slater. Apparently, I've been tagged. That means I have to share seven things about myself - presumably they have to be interesting. So here goes...

1. Grew up on a farm
2. Lived in the capital of Ireland for four years
3. Spent a summer selling fruit and veg out of the back of a van
4. Once slept rough in a park in Italy
5. Have never been to the U.S..
6. Shared a compartment on a nineteen hour train journey through Ukraine and Crimea with an ex-Red Army paratrooper
7. Never tasted Guinness - it's hard to explain this to people

Don't know enough bloggers to tag!

Hope this is the sort of thing your after guys.

Those carol services again!

It must be important if I am willing to put myself through the stress of making a video!

Monday Fun

You think the London Underground is overcrowded? Take a look at this.

Thanks to Jon Sumner for this one.

Coffee Lessons

Apparently I have gained a reputation for frequenting various coffee outlets. So I thought I'd give you an opinion on them. I'll be as biblical as possible.


Let's start with Starbucks. Big brand, big reputation. But in biblical terms I sometimes find their coffee a bit Laodicean (See Revelation chapter 3 for the biblical allusion). I mean by that "lukewarm". The coffee they churn out just isn't hot enough. They say that's the way it's meant to be. Whatever.



Costa, well I can't think of any criticism that I would make of Costa that I wouldn't make of any of the other big outlets, namely prices and the bewildering variety of caffeine fuelled beverages they offer. Frappas and Mochas with weird flavours all feels a bit like the altars of Damascus when all you really need is the black stuff on its own.




A recent vist to Bella produced a new surprise. An Americano served as two shots of espresso in a cup accompanied by a little jug of scalding hot water so that you could determine the strength for yourself. I really can't think of a biblical allusion, but I guess you could add or withold water according to your faith. A very seeker friendly way to serve an Americano.





Cafe Nero is my coffee outlet of choice. Unfortunately it hasn't arrived in Crawley yet. A bit like revival. It's happening elsewhere but not in our patch at the moment.






Now for the shock. If you want a reasonably priced cup of coffee that tastes good, a MackeeDees latte is hard to beat. Honest. A bit like the local church, really. Always there. Open to all. Sometimes taken for granted.


Some people have even got two for one McD's coffee cards. Who'd have thought the golden arches could compete in the big time coffee league? Golden arches. Reminds one a bit of heaven, eh?

Managing your time

A thoughtful article on time management by theologian R.C. Sproul posted at C.J. Mahaney's blog. Some practical and provocative reflections. His third and fourth points are a good reminder that what we might think of as a waste of time can sometimes be time redeemed.

Support your local carol service!

Christmas is a great time to tell people about Jesus. Don't miss the fantastic opportunities that carol services give us for inviting friends to hear the gospel.

Grace and Evangelism

"I am more convinced that it is only when you and I and others who are members of the Christian Church, are rejoicing in this abounding grace as we ought to be, that we shall begin to attract the people who are outside the Church. That is my understanding of evangelism. If you and I and all other Christians walked through this world as men and women who are experiencing the 'abundance of grace' and this 'much more', we should find that people would stop us at work, and in the business and or the profession and they would say, "Tell me, what is this? I want to know about it I want it for myself." " Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans 5.15 (taken from Romans - Exposition of Chapter 5, Assurance, published by Banner of Truth, pp.238-39)

It's not the whole story on evangelism, but the "Doctor", as he was affectionately known, was on to something here.

What's out there

A few links.

Discovered Bobby Clinton'swebsite. Clinton (no relation to Bill) has written a lot about Christian leadership over the years. There are some pdfs available to download. It's good stuff. Worth a look.

Haven't had much chance to watch tv of late, but did manage to see most of an episode of Wallander, the Swedish detective drama. Kenneth Branagh plays Wallander. It's been dubbed the "Norse Morse" and with good reason. The whole thing was shot in Sweden, so look out for some great scenery. You can see it again on iPlayer .

Niall Ferguson is doing a worthwhile series called The Ascent of Money on Channel 4. Watched the second in the series on Channel 4's catch-up service.

On the subject of money, Peston's Picks the blog of the BBC's Robert Peston is informative when it comes to what's happening in the world economy.

And if you're really desperate to get away from it all, there's always the the French Foreign Legion .

Catching Up

Missed blogging last week. I had wanted to post today's video last Monday, but for some reason couldn't upload it. Must have been the devil trying to prevent such wise advice hitting my blog!

It was a busy week. I had two days in Ireland -Tuesday and Wednesday -and got back to Crawley 7.30 a.m. Thursday. I try to spend a couple of days with my parents every four months or so. EasyJet makes that a bit more straightforward for me.

We're pressing ahead with our plans for Christmas and I'll post a video later in the week to remind everyone about our Community Carol Service. Christmas is a fantastic opportunity to invite friends to events and a great opportunity to preach the gospel.

I've mentioned Street Pastors on this blog before. We're making lots of progress with that one. Sarah Davis is now our co-ordinator and she's doing a fine job. Sarah did a short presentation at the inter church meeting at Crawley Baptist Church last night and we prayed for those training to be street pastors.

We had the privilege of a visit from David Campbell, our regional leader, yesterday morning. Good to hear David and spend time with him and his wife Mandy afterwards.

Monday Fun

Some wise marriage advice.