The Reason

It’s a common Christian shorthand nowadays - ‘the reason for the season.’ Not sure I like it much as a phrase. But there is a reason, that’s for sure.

Christmas is not a Christian celebration originally- it was ‘adopted’ by Christians as a useful anchor date for celebrating Christ’s birth.

But is Christ’s birth worth celebrating? Well, that’s the ‘reason’ bit.

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ lived and died in Palestine around 2000 years ago. This blog is not the place for the research proof, but you will find plenty on this if you look for it. Even Christ’s enemies didn’t try and claim he didn’t exist (excuse the double negatives there).

So, He existed. What next? Just a good man who preached well? Not really. Because again, both in the Bible and through external sources, we know He was crucified for claiming to be God’s Son, the Messiah.

That means he can’t have just been a good man. One of my favourite teachers at school was Mr Baston, my Geography teacher. But if he had started claiming to be the Son of God, he would no longer be just a good man and a geography teacher. He’d have to be put into another category.  Either mad. Or deliberately bad. Or true.

With Christ, we face the same challenge. He can’t have just been a good man. Good men don’t claim to be the Son of God and get hung on crosses. He has either to be mad- thinking he was God’s Son. Or bad - claiming it, but knowing he was a fraud. Or …. He was who He said He was.

Mad men don’t speak as well as Jesus spoke - just look at the ‘beatitudes’ (Matthew 5: 1-12). Bad men - claiming to be something else - don’t go to crosses. All they would do would be to apologise. No cross; no loss.

Jesus said He was the Son of God. He died on a cross. Fact. (in the Bible and in other external sources.)

But was He then God’s son? Well, if he wasn’t mad and he wasn’t bad….

And there’s one more thing. He rose from the dead. He broke death’s hold. Fearful disciples suddenly became fearless. The Christian faith spread faster than any other belief in its time. It’s hard to find another explanation for the change in Christ’s followers.

Today 2.3 billion people agree with these words. The biggest faith movement in the world. Ever.

There’s a reason for the season.

Listening to the Silence

Officially it’s called the Bryniau Glo Walk. I call it the Hidden Valley Walk.

You climb up a long way on a well-defined trail, through a forest, over the hills and into a hidden valley. It’s protected on three sides by higher hills, with a view out to the rest of Snowdonia.

I guess it’s because of that protection that it’s so silent.

I stopped in the valley and listened. Nothing. No bird song. No wind. Just silence. The most perfect silence.

For a moment in time, I was part of that silence. Transfixed by it. Such a perfect moment. Listening and hearing nothing. Looking out onto such stillness and beauty. Worshipping.

Silence is not always welcomed. One of my favourite songs is The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel (check out the version by Disturbed – amazing!) But the lyrics are slightly depressive: ‘Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again, because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping.’

Too often we shut out silence. We surround ourselves with noise and activity. The TV drones in the background even if we are not watching it. Music plays through our headphones as we travel. The car radio is on. The mobile has its own playlist.

But what if for a moment we stopped and listened? Listened to the silence. Relaxed for a moment, with our breathing as the only sound. And maybe pray a prayer - thanking God for a moment of complete silence; for a moment of complete peace in a noisy world.

Thirty-Eight Plus Two

Ethiopia is directly mentioned thirty-eight times in the Bible. Probably the most famous reference is that of the Ethiopian eunuch who is baptised by Philip (Acts 8:27). In addition, there’s plenty of references to the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10) with many scholars believing that Sheba is also Ethiopia.

I’ve recently returned from Ethiopia and the annual Leprosy Mission conference, held in Addis Ababa for the first time. When I think of Africa I think of heat. But most of Ethiopia is on a high plain – Addis Ababa is 7,200 feet above sea level. No wonder I was feeling it walking up the stairs at the hotel!

As part of the Leprosy Mission conference, we celebrated the Wellesley Bailey Awards. These are annual awards given to celebrate the life and work of Wellesley Bailey, the founder of The Leprosy Mission. The Awards honour those who have made extraordinary contributions to society through overcoming the social stigma and physical challenges of leprosy. 

This year the two winners were Birke Nigatu Teka from Ethiopia and Kofi Nyarko from Ghana.

Birke overcame the stigma of the disease and the belief system of her people that considered it untreatable. She saved her own money, secretly went to the hospital and underwent two and a half years of treatment. She faced many other problems, including attempted rape, but refused to give up, acting as an ambassador for others with leprosy. She has established a leprosy women’s association and has developed working groups, producing local handicrafts. She serves on a number of national associations and boards and in her own words, is ‘proud of my up and down life’. Those ups and downs have changed many other lives.

Kofi was abused as a child, and neglected by his family. It was a stranger who recognised he had leprosy and helped him escape to a leprosy hospital. Today Kofi is a spokesperson for those with leprosy and is a member of a number of national and international agencies. He says that it is because of his leprosy that he has become so popular!

There are thirty-eight mentions of Ethiopia in the Bible and it’s not possible to add to scripture. But there are two more stories worthy of inclusion.

Philosophical Walking

Did you know there is such a thing as ‘philosophical walking’? You do now.

There’s even a group in Yorkshire who arrange such walks, complete with a friendly walking philosopher.

But if we think for a moment, all walks can be philosophical – especially those away from our daily routines. We see new things, we plan to get somewhere, we consider routes, we observe the new things around us. All that adds to a philosophical walk.

I’m just back from one of my favourite places – Dolgellau, just south of Snowdonia. Walking in the foothills there is invigorating, uplifting, challenging, tiring…. all these things and more.

One day I went out on my own on what is called the ‘bird sanctuary walk’- basically climbing half way up a hill and walking through a nature reserve. The only bird I saw was a crow! But there was plenty to enjoy, consider – even meditate on.

Those that know me will know that for me there is a ‘God connection’ too. To appreciate the creation made by God is special. There’s a favourite song of mine at the moment that says ‘Every painted sky, a canvas of Your grace. If creation still obeys You so will I.’

For me, that’s what walking does. I see the sky, the plants, the birds. And I worship.

Faith and Politics

I read a comment on Facebook the other day that annoyed me.  (I know - Facebook is not the place for reasoned comment in the first place!)

The writer was lamenting that there should ever be a link between faith and politics and believed that where there was, disaster followed.

I believe the opposite is true. Especially as regards the UK.

.

Take a look at our last four Prime Ministers. Three have a faith. One does not. Three managed our nation with reference to our past, our heritage and our beliefs. One did not. Three tried to hold us together as a nation. One destroyed our nation.

Two of the four Prime Ministers are children of the manse. One is the son of a Presbyterian Minister. One is the daughter of an Anglican Vicar. The third has a clear Christian belief which includes reading the Bible every night.

The other has no such belief system. In two short terms of office, he destroyed our concept of Christian marriage and sent the nation into an isolationist and economic spiral that will take decades to recover from.

In attempting to deal with an unruly right wing in his party, he played politics with our future. He took an inappropriate referendum to an ill-informed people and with little fact and considerable rhetoric, the vote was for isolationism. More seriously, it opened us up to extreme right wing views and made them appear acceptable - something we are seeing in a number of nations.

The Prime Minsters that had a Christian faith kept us within the bounds of decency and applied their faith (knowingly or not) to the decisions they took. The Prime Minster without a faith played politics with the nation.  And we all lost.

Ready to Climb?

I don't often post my own preaches, but this one is to do with mountains. Preached in Cape Town in July 2018. Enjoy the climb.

ACCESS FROM SITE (Click back to 22/7/18 or type my name next to 'search'):

JoshGen Sermon Site

Looking for my Telescope

I live in a beautiful place. On the edge of a village, our house looks over open fields with an ever changing landscape of sun, sky and clouds. The photo’s illustrate – but don’t do justice – to God’s creative grandeur.

For me, such beauty always points me to the Creator behind it. I find it incredulous that someone can say for a moment that all we see, from the snowflake to Everest, from the flower to the flowering of the Grand Nebula are simply the chance encounters of atoms. No. There is a Creator. And He is to be worshiped.

We only worship Him in an incomplete way. As C S Lewis put it:

‘We are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.’

So, we don’t fully understand or see. But what we do see is sufficient to worship. Enough is on show to thank Jesus Christ for His life that points to the next. We can look to the skies and say ‘hallelujah!’

Sam Stones says:

‘Each of us is under a divine mandate to become an amateur astronomer, to peer into the incalculable depths of sky and space and behold the handiwork of our omnipotent Creator.’

I’m looking for my telescope.

The Unforced Rhythm of His Grace

I’ve been pondering God’s grace a lot lately, and came across this passage in my daily Bible reading today:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11: 28-30, The Message Version)

If our faith is in religion, we will get burned. If our faith is in meetings, we will tire. If our faith is in leaders, no matter how good, we will wear ourselves out.

But faith in God is something else entirely. As we keep company with the one who made the stars. As we speak with the one who spoke first. As we walk hand in hand with the Son Who Came, we are refreshed.

The Hebrew word for grace in the Old Testament is ‘Chesed’. It has the feel of being delivered from our enemies, of being protected, and guided; being free and forgiven.

In the Greek of the New Testament, the word for grace is ‘Charis’. Such a beautiful word. It speaks of salvation; of God doing for us what we could not do on our own.

Who persuaded us that this changes and we can ‘do things’ when we get ‘saved’? Who suggested it was to do with work, with hours spent, with money given or with services provided? It’s not. It’s grace. It’s pure grace.

Pure grace.

I don’t deserve my relationship with God, but he reached out to me in grace. He protects; He guides. He sees what we can’t see down the road and he delivers us from our enemies.

And if I understand this, I can indeed work, give, serve… but from a walk that is in the ‘unforced rhythm' of His grace. And that’s just beautiful.

Friends in Strange Places

I was driving through Ashby de la Zouch yesterday when I saw her. It looked exactly like Suzy. I almost shouted out a greeting- until I realised how silly that would have been. Suzy lives in Nova Scotia,  Canada and is very unlikely to be walking through an East Midlands town in the UK.

But it did get me thinking. How I have found the most wonderful friends in the strangest of places.

I belong to the biggest family in the world. 2.3 billion and counting. It means I am never alone. I can be anywhere in the world and find a friend that shares my Christian faith.

The taxi driver in Auckland. The Pensions Manager at Cleanaway. The hiker in Snowdonia. The barista in Leicester.

I was caught in a snowstorm in the United States once and our plane ended up being diverted to Minneapolis St Paul’s airport. I had been sharing my Christian faith with the guy next to me on the flight- but seemingly with no interest from him. So as we arrived at an airport I didn’t want to be at in the middle of nowhere (Sorry Minneapolis St Paul’s, I’m sure it’s a great place!), I was feeling a bit low. I cried out to God, complaining. I was on my own, miles from home, in a place I didn’t want to be and in the middle of a snowstorm.  

It was then that the guy in the seat behind me leaned over and whispered in my ear. It seems he had been listening to my conversation.

‘I know Him too.’

It’s all he said. But it was enough.

I wasn’t on my own of course. God was with me. And in the loneliest of moments, there was someone there. One of my family.

My message is simple. You need never be alone. You can know God with you through Christ. Have a read of St Mark’s gospel and find Him. And you’ll find others on the same journey in the strangest of places. They know Him too.

And Suzy. If it was you, sorry I didn’t wave.

In Play At Little Games

These are the final lines of a poem written in 1938 by Robert D Abrahams. He is reflecting on wars around the world whilst he and his wife, safe at home,  drive to a game of bridge:

Tonight Shanghai is burning,
And we are dying too.
What bomb more surely mortal
Than death inside of you?

For some men die by shrapnel,
And some go down in flames,
But most men perish inch by inch,
In play at little games.

The words are a challenge to every one of us. Will we allow ourselves to die inch by inch? Or will we determine to live for a cause? Will we allow others to play little games with our lives? Or will we ignore the fear of shrapnel and fight?

May every one of us reading these words determine to live; and to live for something great, something lasting, something meaningful.

Flawed. Frail. Fanatical.

I’m reading a fascinating book on the life of Larry Norman, the pioneer of Christian rock music. He comes over as flawed and frail – but at the same time as fascinating and almost fanatical. His passion for Christ shines through even the most troubling of times. He knew his God and wanted more than anything to tell others about Christ in the way he knew best – through his music. His albums were many but for me, the standout is Only Visiting This Planet. There’s not a weak track in sight and a challenge to the listener in every verse.

I’m also listening to the news today, on the death of Winnie Mandela. Another flawed, frail, fanatic. She faced prison and death threats on a daily basis. But unlike her husband, she seemed unable to forgive, nor to manage retribution in the right way. Flawed. Frail. Fanatical.

These words are not the worst labels to hang around our lives. You can make a case for the apostle Peter being flawed, frail and fanatical too. His very public failures are reflected later in a passion for Christ that led to martyrdom.

The first two words reflect all of us if we’re honest. The last one gets more of a bad press. Maybe I should use ‘tenacious’ or ‘strong minded’ instead. But my prayer is that although I see my flaws and frailties all too well, I may also be known as someone who is absolutely fanatical about his faith in Christ.

Fake News

I think I first heard the phrase used by President Trump. ‘Fake News’ became the ‘word of the year’ for 2017 according to the Daily Telegraph; despite it being two words!

But the concept has been around forever. Ever since the lies in the Garden of Eden, Fake News has been in existence. The Times comments that ‘a lie is halfway round the world before truth has got its boots on’. Why? Because too many of us love to gossip and are fascinated with the failure of others.

A new study from Science Magazine is extremely thorough. The report indicated that Fake News travels ‘faster, deeper and more broadly’ than the truth. Truth on social media platforms takes six times longer to circulate than lies. Twitter gets the most Fake News, with other social media not far behind. People tweet and retweet what they consider to be a surprise, to be provocative or disgusting. Indeed, it may be disgusting- but was it true?

I remember a debate on the BBC some years ago - I haven’t been able to source it so it may be Fake News! - where these issues were discussed. There was a concern from the Corporation that they were showing drama dressed up as history. I guess the concerns didn’t win. I loved watching Netflix series ‘The Crown’. Claire Foy was amazing as the Queen. But there was so much fiction in there. It made Prince Philip out to be some sort of mad egoist and misogynist. History doesn’t back that up. But how many now have a view of the Royal Family based on this new fiction?

Or take the simplest of lies. I spotted a quote on Facebook the other day attributed to C S Lewis.  In fact it was a quote from a motivational speaker called Les Brown. Does it matter? The quote was a good one, so who cares? But that’s the point! We need to care. Without a truth filter, we are creating a future full of false news for the next generation.

As someone that works with Christian History, I’m taught to verify what I teach. I try and find the original source of a story. If I can’t, I check it out with accepted historians with a good track record. I see whether the story is regularly reported in Christian History books, or is it an outlier in just one or two? I check who is recording the story and as much as possible, whether they have a particular slant on Christian History they want to convey.

We can’t do that with Twitter. So, much as I value free speech, I agree with the conclusion in The Times: ‘[Social media companies]must be forthcoming, transparent and co-operative in helping their users distinguish lies from the truth, and in helping understand why the former should not be so blithely spread.’

We need to care what is true and what is a lie. Or maybe we just prefer to gossip?

Blinded By Your Grace

In musical terms, I’m a child of the 70s. I grew up on the heavyish rock of Argent, Led Zeppelin, Free and Deep Purple. And when I’m feeling nostalgic, that’s still where I return.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that I never really got into Rap, didn’t particularly get along with Punk and as for Garage, Grunge and Grime… it passed me by.

That was, until four months back, when the artist Stormzy appeared as a guest on X Factor on TV, and sang Blinded by Your Grace. I’m told he’s a Grime and Hip Hop artist. What I heard was pure Gospel. In fact, for me, one of the best Gospel songs I’ve heard in many years.

If you’ve not heard it yet, here’s a link:

As I watched, I found myself worshipping:

Lord, I've been broken
Although I'm not worthy
You fixed me, I'm blinded
By your grace
You came and saved me...

You saved this kid and I'm not your first
It's not by blood and it's not by birth
But oh my God what a God I serve…..

Now I'm in a better place
No longer afraid
Blinded by your grace
You came and saved me

It’s been a particularly tough time, especially with regard to local church. I’m a part-time church historian, so I know that even in the most successful revivals in history, there’s often an undercurrent of unrest and disagreement. Even my heroes George Whitefield and John Wesley fell out for a while!

There’s a verse in Proverbs that says:

There are friends who pretend to be friends
But there is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother.

It’s important to focus on line 2, not line 1, and that is what I choose to do.

As I write this, I look out of the window, I see all His creation, I think of all He’s done and I’m blinded by His grace. Amazed at a God who would love me, who saved this kid- and I’m not His first. What a God we serve…

Meeting John

He's smartly dressed in a business shirt and suit trousers. And he's just offered me a cup of tea.

John is a warehouse supervisor during the week. His accent gives him away as coming from the Black Country. And today he's a volunteer at a hospital, making tea's and coffee's, helping with meals and washing up.

Imagine that. Five hard working days in the warehouse and then giving your Sunday away to care for the sick. Wow.

John's not the only one. Jo and Judith are the nurses on duty today, on the men's ward at Burton hospital. Their love, care and attention help these largely older men maintain a degree of dignity and decorum in the most difficult of circumstances.

And that's why I'm here. Dad's had a fall and the care from John, Jo and Judith is helping him make it through.

Could the NHS be better? Sure. Does it need more money? Of course. But because of selfless giving and compassion, it's one of the best and most inclusive healthcare systems in the world.

I read President Trump's comments on the NHS. A bit rich coming from a man who is planning to unravel a first attempt at universal care in his country. He really has no idea.

But then.... he hasn't met John.

REPOST: The Pale Blue Dot

THIS BLOG IS THE FIFTH MOST READ POST ON MY SITE WITH OVER 500 VIEWS. IT'S ONE OF MY FAVOURITES AND A REMINDER OF THE GREATNESS OF GOD.

Look carefully at the image. The pale blue dot is the Earth, captured in a picture from the Voyager 1 spacecraft at a distance of 4 billion miles on February 14, 1990.

Carl Sagan was the one who pushed for the Voyager craft to take the shot, and it’s his quote that follows:

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

With thanks to Professor Brian Cox, speaking at the NAPF conference, October 2012 for pointing out the Pale Blue Dot.

REPOST: Laminin

I love history and geography more than I do science. So that’s reflected in what I watch on TV. Having said that, I found a Professor Brain Cox programme fascinating the other day.

With a touch of scientific theory, Cox investigated how complex our bodies are. Quite amazing. What our blood does, what our lungs accomplish. How we respond to the energy of a meal.

I wont begin to try and explain it as Cox did, but I’m left in awe of an amazing God who created us to work perfectly and in an intricate and detailed way.

One of my most popular blogs on this site is the Laminin one. I repeat it again here, by way of example of the miracles God has performed:


I’d never heard of Laminin until the other day, but it’s been with me all of my life. Laminin, according to Wikipedia, is a protien molecule that ‘is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane. Laminin is vital to making sure overall body structures hold together.’

In other words, Laminin is the vital piece in our body that holds us together. Now have a look at the shape of Laminin:

Wow! Laminin, the essential protien that holds our body together is cross shaped. Paul, writing to the Colossian church says this about Jesus:

‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.’ (Colossians 1: 15-17)

All things hold together by the cross.

Have a look at this short talk. It’s worth your time: