At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students shared a story of what had happened to his son. Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, “Do you think they’ll let me play?” Shay’s father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Shay’s father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, “We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.”
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in London on Friday. He came to make a programme for the BBC. It was to mark the 70th anniversary of another BBC programme made for France by Charles de Gaulle on the 18th June 1940. The general had fled his country the day before as a new administration, headed by Philippe Petain, sought an armistice with Hitler. In the stirring radio appeal Gen de Gaulle declared himself leader of the “Free French”, spawning the French Resistance, which went on to play a crucial role in defeating the Germans. He told his nation that “the flame of the French resistance must not and will not be extinguished”. Posters displaying his words were put up all over London in the days that followed the broadcast, to galvanise French exiles.
Although it may seem hard at times to believe it, we are at war.
We are part of the resistance against the evil powers at work in our world. That is one of the reasons we meet every Sunday – to train and prepare ourselves for battle. This morning Archbishop Edmund from Kebbi in Nigeria described the very real war going on there between the Christian south and Muslim north. It is a conflict being played out in a number of African countries. But we make a profound error of the first order if we equate this as a war between religions or peoples. In Toronto recently I gave a presentation on the Christian Jihad at a conference of evangelical and Muslim leaders. Jihad is translated in English as “Holy War”. It literally means “struggle”. In the New Testament, the language of conflict and warfare is used to describe the struggle Christians face in living the holy life as God intends. In the first instance, the ‘Holy War” or struggle faced is internal not external. It is personal and not political. The apostle Paul’s two letters to a young disciple called Timothy provide a fascinating insight into Christian jihad as Paul employs the metaphor of the ‘soldier’ to describe the Christ follower. Here are the verses:
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12)
“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs; rather, they try to please their commanding officer.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
Toward the end of his life the apostle Paul couple look back confidently and say, past tense,
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)
When you were young, who were your heroes? Who did you want to become? Who did you pretend to be? Whose posters did you have on your bedroom wall? My first recollection was wanting to be the Lone Ranger. Then it was Scott Tracy of Thunderbirds.
Then it was David McCullum as the Man from UNCLE. Then I finally grew up, and simply wanted to be James Bond. What about pop stars? Who did you idolise? While my mother probably wanted me to grow up to be like Cliff Richard, I wanted to be Paul McCartney of the Beatles. But, strumming a tennis racket and growing my hair long didn’t make me a rock star. In the 1970’s I graduated to the Beach Boys and made myself a full sized surfboard at school.
The problem was it didn’t float… In the 1980’s when Steve Ovette and Sebastian Coe were competing for an Olympic place, I bought myself a tracksuit and went through a jogging phase but it didn’t last more than a fortnight. In the 1990’s when Tiger Wood was winning every golf tournament, I bought myself a new cap and putter to try and improve my game, but it hasn’t worked, yet. Aspiring to be like someone else is natural. Whether it’s a positive or negative role model seems to depend on whether you are a parent or a child.
Archbishop Edmund visited Virginia Water yesterday. He serves in the Anglican Diocese of Kebbi in Nigeria. In this interview he speaks about some of the challenges the church faces in northern Nigeria today.
Today we are going to talk about marriage. If you are married I hope you can take away at least one practical insight that will improve your relationship. If you are single, save this for the future, or it may just give you good reason for staying single. Seriously, apart from your relationship with God, nothing on earth is better than a good marriage.
On the other hand, nothing on earth is worse than a bad marriage. Unfortunately, over half of all marriages today end up in the latter category. Now it may surprise you to learn that Joanna and I do not have a perfect marriage. That’s largely down to me. I am therefore not presuming to be your guide to finding a heavenly marriage this morning, but I know someone who can. Probably like yours and mine, Solomon and his wife went through bad spells in their marriage.
Jesus.net is an exciting ministry presenting the Good News of Jesus Christ via the internet in many different languages.
The website for seekers is called KnowingGod.net. The site for new believers is called WhyJesus? To find out more about getting involved, see WhyJesus?
A series of videos recorded at the Orle Gniazdo Conference Centre near Beilsko Bala in Southern Poland during a training conference for church leaders. At the SzukajacBoga conference, Rico Tice launched the Polish edition of Christianity Explored. For more information on the Polish ministry see szukajacboga.jesus.net/
The first time I visited Poland was in 1977. As a young missionary with Campus Crusade, I went to help evangelise and disciple young people through the Oaza movement (Light and Life) within the Roman Catholic church. But I was arrested within minutes of entering the country. It was dawn and as we were leaving the station at the border crossing with Czechoslovakia, I saw a beautiful steam engine. The rays of sunshine were piercing the clouds of steam. But as I extended my camera out of the open window to capture the picture, I was seen. There was a loud whistle. The train screeched to a halt. It reversed back into the station. On rushed the guards. They entered our compartment, took my passport and camera, removed the film and exposed it. I got off with a warning but it fuelled my passion to take photos of Polish trains (I took some last weekend too). The venue for that project was Beilsko Bala in Southern Poland, the very location for the launch of Christianity Explored in polish. The following year (1978) I returned for the Summer to help with the Oaza camps which by then involved thousands of young people right across Poland.
In 1984 when a curate in St Leonards, Poland came under Russian martial law. Conditions were bleak and so six of us drove three trucks of medical supplies, food and clothing to Poland via West and East Germany for distribution through churches like St Stephen’s Katowice. On that occasion we were kicked out of the country (thankfully on the way home) for not having had our documentation correctly stamped by the authorities. They thought we were working with Solidarity.
Sami, Ahmad, Yonatan come from radically different backgrounds in a land of unending war. Yet, against all odds, including some within their Israeli and Palestinian communities, they are able to find common ground. They walk a path of nonviolence struggle in lockstep with Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. For them courage is found not in taking up arms, but setting them down once and for all and extending a hand in peace.
From the award-winning team that brought you End of the Spear (2006) and Miss HIV (2007) comes director Jim Hanon’s latest documentary, Little Town of Bethlehem. Unscripted and unrehearsed, discover the humanity lurking behind an ancient cycle of violence.
Featuring: Sami Awad, Ahmad Al’Azzeh, Yonatan Shapira. Music Produced by: Kirk Whalum. Film Design by: Mike Galloway and Mark Arnold. Produced by: Mart Green. Written, Directed and Filmed by: Jim Hanon. Feature running time: Approximately 77 minutes. This film is rated PG-13, Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13, for some violent and disturbing images.
The billboard and TV adverts exhorting us to obtain a Sky HD box in time for the World Cup proclaims: “50 million believers”. Imagine…. I don’t mean England winning the world cup. That will take more than a miracle. No, I mean, imagine Britain with 50 million believers. What would it be like to live in a country where 85% of the population are believers?
50 million believers. Would there be less crime? Fewer burglaries? Less vandalism? Lower stress levels? Less domestic violence? Fewer divorces? Less drug addiction? Lower suicide rates? Fewer abortions? Less child abuse? Lower terror threats? Fewer police? Less social workers? More security? Stronger marriages? Greater harmony? Happier people? A more desirable place to live? Heaven on earth? Possible? Achievable? Could the change of government last week achieve it? I wouldn’t hold your breath. But could the Spirit of God do it working through 5 million believers and around 40,000 churches in the UK?
How many people do you know well? In your circle of family, your friends, your work colleagues, your neighbours? I bet you know at least ten people well enough to have an honest in-depth open conversation about what matters most in your life. At least ten people that should be on your prayer list, your watch list, your Christianity Explored invitational list, your ‘please come with me to this special event’ list.
You see when Christ ascended to heaven, having died to save the world, he entrusted that message to eleven ordinary men.
The fate of the world, humanly speaking, rested in the hands of those eleven 1st Century men. What did he tell them to do? “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Let me ask you. Has the assignment changed in 2000 years? Do we have the same Holy Spirit that they received on the Day of Pentecost? So what has changed? When you think of ‘church’ what comes to mind? On a spectrum of community groups where would you place the church, say between, Wentworth golf club and say a… Taliban training camp in Afghanistan? I can guess which you would feel most comfortable in, but which is closest to the biblical church?
I’m not talking about methods. I am talking about vision, about dedication, about intentionality, about impact, about sacrifice. If you asked a Taliban leader what his vision is, what do you think he would say? They want to bring the whole world into submission to Almighty God, obedient to the Law of God.
And they are waging a war, a literal war against those they deem as decadent, immoral, disobedient and unbelieving. While we totally repudiate their methods, do we not long to live in a world where at the name of Jesus every knee should bow? Voluntarily? Willingly, freely, joyfully, in grateful thanks for all Jesus has accomplished for us in his death in our place?
Then what are we doing to achieve it? If you are not sure, read my paper on the Christian Jihadist which I gave in Toronto last weekend at a gathering of evangelical and Muslim leaders.
The church is the hope of the world. The only hope of the world. It was true on the Day of Pentecost. It is true today. Please turn with me to Ephesians 3 and lets consider three simple, memorable reasons why you should value your Church – if you want a closer walk with Jesus, if you want to fulfil God’s purposes, if you want to change the world.
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