Israel: It's more nuanced than you might think

The tragedy in the Middle East right now brings out interesting political views within the Christian community. This blog (a little longer than my usual ones, sorry) tries to bring some balance to the debate, and to the prayers.

Much of what is being published on Chrisitan social media seems to assume a rather black and white picture – Israel good, Palestine bad. But as in all conflict, there’s good and bad on both sides.

So when Christians pray for Israel, it needs to be with compassion and with awareness. Awareness for example that the current Prime Minister is subject to investigations relating to bribery and fraud.

He has tried to maintain power, hence avoiding charges, by embracing some extreme right wing political groups within his government. This has led to more extreme positions on the rights of Palestinians and an extension to the policy of forced removal of Palestinians from their land.

The continuing Israeli efforts to displace Palestinian residents of the occupied Palestine territories and to settle Israeli citizens in their place has brought their ‘policy’ to the attention of the United Nations. The UN statement in April 2023 says that what Israel is doing is in ‘blatant violation of international law.’ This, together with continuing blockades of the Gaza Strip has resulted in an armed Palestinian response. That is to be deplored, but it would be healthy as Christians to see there are significant political reasons for the uprising, not least the deprivation of citizens in Gaza.

Water is in short supply, electricity is intermittent, goods are effectively rationed due to Israeli controls. All this has been reported in the press, not least by Christian organisations. Some praying for Israel comes from a dodgy end-times theology. If we accept the Dispensational teaching (popular in America in the 1970s) that there is some kind of secret rapture and that God is focussed on the current geographic Israel as His people, then prayers become rather skewed. Everything looks to Israel.

 If you think I’m on my own in this view, I refer you to scholars with much greater understanding than me – See Tom Wright, ‘Surprised by Hope’, Simon Ponsonby ‘And the Lamb Wins’, and Ian Rossol’s ‘Win the World or Escape the Earth?’, to name but three of many. I’d like to suggest that a rather more balanced end-time view would see the Church as the new Israel.

Hence the Church can legitimately appropriate Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah’s ‘Enlarge the place of your tent’ to the Church and not to geographic Israel. God still has plans for his original people. Paul makes that clear in Romans. But his people today are the Church, not those in geographic Israel. And that brings us back to prayer. We need to pray for Israel. And for Palestine.

Don’t forget Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Myanmar…. Pray for peace. Pray for those Christians on the front lines sharing the gospel. Pray for an end-time harvest. Pray for a bride of Christ on that final day, made up of every tribe and every tongue, every nation and every people. God’s plans include current Israel, but are so much bigger, so incredibly glorious. Keep praying.

The King and the King

On Saturday we saw a rare event - the coronation of a British king. Full of pomp and circumstance, we do ceremony so well.

At the heart of the ceremony is a commitment to God. A commitment of service to a people and to God Himself. Having said that, some of the words were a bit over the top - we can’t really declare Charles III should live forever. Nor can we claim him to be the ‘Lord’s Anointed’!

There is a vulnerability to some of the ceremony, not least the disrobing from royal robes to a plain shirt in order to receive (behind a screen) the anointing of oil – what is termed the Act of Consecration.

And so we have a king.

But we already have one.

His name is Jesus.

This is what the Archbishop of Canterbury said in his coronation address:

‘His throne was a cross, His crown was made of thorns, His regalia were the wounds that pierced His body.’

One day Charles III reign will end. But Jesus’ reign which began at the moment he broke the chains of death and rose from the dead, will be a reign that never ends.

We are invited to reign with him. Commoners, poor people of no consequence, we are invited to ask Jesus to forgive us and to change our lives. In doing so, He comes to live in us and through us. Him in us, us in Him, reigning with Him.  

If you choose to reign with Jesus, here’s a prayer you can pray:

Lord Jesus

I know you are alive and are still changing lives today. Please change mine.

Forgive me Lord for my life lived without you.

I invite you in right now as my Lord and Saviour. Please come and change me.

Amen.

Reflections

The first picture is the view from my sister’s holiday house. We are frequent visitors and the seat by the window with this view is my favourite place to sit.

The second picture is the view from our kitchen. Most days I start by sitting and looking at the beauty of God’s creation with this view in front of me.

Starting right is important. A time of reflection at the beginning of the day. Thinking through the day before us, looking to the day ahead.

For me as a Christian, it involves a short study from the Bible and some prayer. But whether you have a faith or not, a time of reflection is a good start to any day. I appreciate it’s easier for me nowadays with the kids away from home, but even five minutes reflection will help with the day ahead and bring context to the daily pressures of life.

And last thing at night too- just to be able to look back at the day, maybe to say a prayer of thanksgiving for another day. I reflect in a different way too – I keep a daily diary. And that’s the other rather boring looking photo here – I started writing a daily diary at Christmas 1977, when someone bought me one as a Christmas present. I thought I’d give it a go – I’m still giving it a go.

Diary writing, or an occasional piece in a journal, helps in the same way as a morning reflection – it gives time to consider the day, to record thoughts, thanks, anxieties, prayers, hopes and dreams. It takes us away from a cycle of work, sleep, TV and smartphones to an age-old tradition of crafted words, sentences that reach out beyond the daily rhythm of life.

And that leads to this blog. Just another way of recording and reflection – this one a bit more public. I started the blog when Elspeth, our oldest daughter, got married. It seemed a bit of a watershed moment. And it practically coincided with my 50^th birthday. Hence the 50 in the blog address. Seventeen years later – I’m still giving it a go.

So why not give it a go too? Reflect on the day. If you’re a Christian, pray and thank God for the day ahead and the day ended. If you don’t have a faith, why not try praying anyway? Or perhaps start that journal you always thought you should write.

My blog calls it climbing the mountains of life. The writer Eugene Peterson calls it a ‘long obedience in the same direction’. Our walk of life can mean so much more when we take time to reflect, to adjust course, to record, to say ‘thank you’ to the God who created the view, the day…. the years.

Cancel Culture, Woke and Christian Nationalism

I’ve been quite outspoken with regard to Black Lives Matter. I believe we are all racist to a degree – a reflection of our upbringing in the UK. But I struggle with cancel culture. Our history is our history. Warts and all.

So when a statue of a philanthropist who was also a slave owner is pulled down, we are trying to change our history. We can celebrate the philanthropist whilst denouncing the slave owner, without the need to ditch the statue.

We have a couple of strong narratives in our society at present. One is ‘woke’ culture. And the other is Christian Nationalism.

The BBC are the very biased promoters of wokeism. ‘Woke’ is the past participle form of ‘wake’, or ‘to awaken’. It suggests a need to wake up and see things differently. And there has been much we need to wake up to. But in recent times, it has become synonymous with a cancel culture. If a point of view doesn’t fit well with woke views, it should be cancelled, it should not be debated. Back to that statue again.

It can be seen in the appalling treatment of J K Rowling. She pointed out that a man in a dress shouldn’t be using the women’s loos. And for that she was cancelled from her own show. It can be seen in the prevalence for minority actors being given the lion’s share of roles. Actor Christopher Ecclestone comments that ‘white, straight, middle-aged men are [the] ‘new pariahs’’. It can be seen at the BBC with over 11% of staff relating to ‘other than heterosexual’ when the percentage in the UK as a whole is less than 2%.

And in case I’m accused of becoming right wing and reactionary (I vote Labour usually), there’s a similar problem with the Christian Nationalists. This is seen more in the US than over here, and is highlighted with the worship of Trump, so to speak. He was seen as the Christian messiah for US politics, despite his less than pure character and his tendency to belittle his enemies with the cruellest of taunts.

That Christians in the US still believe that the US election was stolen reflects on how far Christian Nationalism has had a hold. Christian Nationalism looks to see Christian principles in government at every level. What’s wrong with that? Nothing were they to be reflective of the Bible. But they’re not. They are reflective of an often-extreme right-wing view of politics, as shown with the storming of the Capitol building. People died for that warped view.

Woke and Christian Nationalism. Two narrative cultures of the current age. I’d like to suggest that neither is right. Both are extreme and lead to extremes. Against this is a 2000-year Christian view. It may not be popular with the cancel culture brigade, but it hasn’t changed. The narrative of the Bible has been expounded through the last 2000 years by people such as Tertullian, Athanasius, Martin Luther, right through to Billy Graham and Mother Teresa. Neither Woke nor Nationalist, it speaks up for the poor and downtrodden. It declares the values of marriage and community. It shouts from the rooftops that there is a God, that He came into our world through Jesus Christ, and that He still changes lives today.

It's a 2000-year narrative. And it can’t be cancelled.

Giving It A Go

This is the first picture that comes up on my screensaver each day. It’s a picture of a holiday brochure from 1970, for various boys Crusader camps.

It’s first on the screensaver for a reason. Nearly fifty-two years ago at one of those camps - St Davids, Wales - I prayed a prayer and asked Jesus Christ to come into my life. As a teenager, I remember thinking ‘I’ll give this a go’. Fifty-two years later, I’m still giving it a go. It remains the most profound moment of my life.

If you’re reading this and don’t have that Christian faith, can I encourage you to pray the prayer I prayed:

Lord Jesus

I know you are alive and are still changing lives today. Please change mine.

Forgive me Lord for my life lived without you.

I invite you in right now as my Lord and Saviour. Please come and change me.

Amen. 

Some friends find a faith in Christ at a moment of crisis. Some in floods of tears. For me it was pretty unemotional. I just gave it a go. Please do the same. Your life will be changed forever.

Provocateur. Prophet. Pioneer. 5 lessons from the life of Gerald Coates

My thanks to Premier Christianity Magazine for the invitation to write this article. Below is the shorter version - you can find the full article here.

Provocateur. Prophet. Pioneer. Gerald Coates has gone home.

It’s hard to be neutral when it comes to Gerald. Unafraid and unapologetic, there is no doubt he could cause one listener to become apoplectic over his apparent criticisms, whilst another would be on their feet applauding.

As Gerald’s biographer I learned to appreciate a man who gave everything to the cause of Christ, uncompromising and generous hearted in equal measure.

What can we learn from his life? Here are five lessons from the life of Gerald Coates.

 

1.       IT’S ALL ABOUT KINGDOM

Gerald was spoilt for anything else. As a young man, leading what was one of the first of the modern-day house churches, he met with many fellow travellers. Their influence on his theology was considerable. There was a bride for a bridegroom. The Church was not to cower in the corner, waiting for some kind of secret rapture. They were called to be a radical people, influencing every area of society. To be God’s people, speaking and prophesying into a broken world.

It was this clear understanding of reaching every area of society that caused him unashamedly to pursue friendships with the rich and famous. He was criticised for this, but lives were changed because of his persistence. That same ‘never say no’ attitude brought him to worldwide influence, particularly with the March for Jesus.

He was extremely prophetic both as regarded national events and individual lives. He had an expectation that God would speak.

For Gerald, it was all about the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God had come with Christ’s death and resurrection. The Church was called to be Christ’s body, filled with the Holy Spirit and uncompromising in their message of salvation.

 

2.       AVOID RELIGION

If the Church was to be the Church, it had to clean up its act. There is a difference between Christianity and religion and Gerald was hot on this. Spotting religious pretence at a hundred paces, he dealt with it ruthlessly.

Noel Richards, his worship leader and travelling companion for many years, recalls a meeting in New Zealand. The Saturday night had been glorious. The Holy Spirit moved, lives were changed. But come Sunday morning and things got very religious. Smart dress, whispered greetings and a Lord’s Table ornate in its arrangement.

Part way through his preach, continuing as if nothing untoward was happening, Gerald threw off the white sheet from the bread and wine, and began to eat the bread as he spoke. People were offended of course. But that was the point. Traditionalists hated it. A whole new generation of young Christians loved it.

 

3.       IT’S ONLY NOISE

How did Gerald deal with the inevitable criticism? He pretty much ignored it! In all my interviews for the book, I never came across a single time when he expresses a dislike for someone. A dislike for their religious practices, sure, but Gerald’s spirit was always pure as regarded the person themselves.

Remembering that criticism is only noise is a great way to deal with it. A great way to keep the main thing the main thing. To avoid hurt and bitterness. To maintain a clean heart.

There is a bit of a downside though – and maybe another learning here. Gerald was largely unaware as to how upset others were with his seeming criticism of their traditions and practices. But this certainly affected others around him. Friends and fellow leaders were left to deal with denominational executives accusing them of error or exaggeration.

 

4.       TELL THE STORIES

Gerald was a storyteller. Never a theologian, though widely read, it’s important to record that his seemingly off-the-cuff preaches were laboured over, well prepared and prayed through. There is no doubt though, that he is at his best telling stories and applying them to the Word. Often hilarious and many times at his own expense, he captured the listener. Too late for the hearer, they would inevitably realise that the story spoke to their own lives, their own attitudes, their own sins.

Later in life, Gerald would forget in conversation, the stories he had previously told. And if you dared to interrupt, he’d start again!

 

5.       LOVE WELL

Gerald leaves behind the love of his life, Anona, along with three sons and their families. He loved well. In an age when leaders fall, Gerald stayed faithful.

He loved his friends well too. The door was always open. The bottle of red wine was always available. Until his final illness, he would always reply to emails, always answer the phone: ‘Gerald here.’

Not everything Gerald did should be copied. That canary yellow suit. Really?

But we would do well to remember it is God’s Kingdom, and as His children we have the authority to bring change to the world we live in. Gerald did just that.

The Offence of Christ

Christianity claims that there is only one way to God. And that has become a problem.

Let’s look at the offending words in the Bible. Jesus is speaking and says ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

There it is. Black and white. No room for manoeuvre on that one.  

It looks offensive, arrogant even. And as a Christian, it’s one of the main challenges I get from those of other faiths or of no faith.

But there is another scripture I need to highlight. Jesus is speaking again: ‘the one who seeks finds.’

That’s clear too.

And it’s the key to this particular riddle. Yes, Jesus is exclusively the way to God. But yes, everyone can find Him.

The claims of Christianity would indeed be arrogant were they to be claimed as some secret way achievable only to a few (in much the same way as a secret society might claim). But the opposite is true. He is there for all and if you seek Him you will find Him.

If you’re reading this with doubt as to whether this is true, let me encourage you to carry out a little experiment over Christmas. Read Mark’s Gospel. It’s the second book in the New Testament and it’s the shortest and easiest to read of the gospels.

As you read, start with a prayer, asking Jesus to reveal Himself to you. He will. That’s His promise.

Now back to the problems Christians face today. Certainties are offensive in today’s post-modern world. The dear old BBC avoids Christian content and promotes alternative values. It’s uncool to have values that appear to be certain. Live and let live. Don’t claim to know the truth.

But that’s what I do claim. Not built upon my own knowledge but on the basis of what the Bible says.

For centuries the views I have expressed above have been the foundation stones of our nation. It is a comparatively recent phenomenon to accuse Christianity of being offensive and arrogant because of the certainty of its beliefs.

It’s Christmas, a time for carols. This is one of my favourites:

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered
Will soon deliver you

Wonderful words. And not just for Mary of course. For all of us.

There is only one way. And it’s not arrogant to say that. Because that’s not the end of the story. Thankfully, there is life for all. That baby boy grew up, lived, died, rose again and offers us new life.

All who seek Him will find Him.

Destroying Fear - A Call To The Church

It was the newscaster Martyn Lewis who suggested our news diet was too grim and too filled with fear. That was back in 1993.  Nothing has changed. In fact if anything, it’s much worse.

More recently, Martyn Lewis said this:

“How ironic… that a profession so committed to fairness and accuracy in the stories it [covers], does not fully extend those qualities to the news agenda - the choice of television news stories.

Good stories are there ….. But too frequently they are given low priority. News editors across the world stress the need for young reporters to hunt for conflict and criticism. If they don't find it, fewer of their stories are used. So another generation of journalists is infected with old standards and judgements.” (USA speech, 2011)

Our headlines are fear related. Pretty much each day and every day. The television news starts with the latest riots, the government failures, the lack of food, the lack of transport, the lack of petrol, the lack of toys for Christmas…. You can fill in the blanks I’m sure. Much of this is fear-mongering. The promotion of stories to provoke fear… to provoke an audience.

Many have fallen prey to fear as a result. I heard a business woman recently charging the Church to live without fear, because there was a wave of fear affected people in need of prayer, coming their way as a result of Covid.

The Bible tells us that ‘God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.’ (2 Timothy 1:7).

There it is. That’s how we live as Christians. We appreciate the need for care. We keep to the rules. But we don’t live in fear.

No more so than with our response to Covid. It’s serious but there need be no fear. There is a significant difference between a measured and careful response to the virus when compared to one borne of fear that leaves the Church paralysed just at the point when it is needed most.

It’s time for the Church to be opening its doors wide, welcoming all, praying for those affected by Covid and seeking God and His purposes, which are way beyond the fears propagated in the press. It’s time for Christians to be back worshipping together. Online services can only take you so far. There is a need to meet, to pray, to encourage in a way that is forever limited on a TV screen.

I’m not sure the BBC or the Daily Mail are about to move away from their fearmongering. But the Church can. Let’s step into all that God has planned for us. We are the body of Christ, we are a voice for the lost, a healing hand for the hurting. And a declaration of faith in the future for those chained in fear.

The Decline and Fall of the BBC

I love the BBC. It’s all I was allowed to watch as a child- ITV had adverts and that was frowned upon in our house!

But the BBC today is a shadow of its former glory. Partly this is to do with competition but partly it’s to do with an extreme liberal agenda.

I need to qualify my blog at this point…. Those that know me will know that I am generally left wing, regularly vote Labour and have never voted Tory.

There. That’s got that out of the way. Important to say though as I may be judged to be a right wing Trump supporter in what I’m about to say.

The Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer commissioned a survey carried out by pollsters Savanta ComRes. This identified that 49% of the younger generation are praying regularly.

The BBC reported on this and then interviewed Muslims and Hindus. Despite the fact that in covering a representative slice of the population, the report mainly interviewed those leaning towards a Christian faith or no-faith.

But no mention of Christianity from the BBC. None at all. [The link to the article is here- the on camera report was worse still!] No interviews with church goers. Just Muslims and Hindus. The Muslim population in the UK is around 6%. The Hindu population is around 2%. So, BBC, where are the other 92%? Why did you ignore them?

The answer is not hard to find. The BBC is no longer the unbiased bastion of broadcasting it once was. Did they invent ‘Woke’? Probably.

I love some of their left wing slant. I love their inclusiveness. But to deliberately exclude Christianity on a poll that was commissioned by Christians and shows that church going and prayer (in person and online) is growing is appalling.

I laughed at their super inclusive Doctor Who stories at first. Until it became so invasive, the plots no longer mattered.

But this is far more serious. This does matter. A good news story about Christians has been buried. And the BBC appears to have done it deliberately.

Maybe that licence fee I have defended for so long should no longer be defended. Shame on you BBC.

Don't Ask me For The Answer, I've Only Got One

I was singing an old Larry Norman song this morning. One phrase has stuck with me through the day:

Don't ask me for the answer, I've only got one: 

That a man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son. 

Yep. That’s pretty much sums it up as I look around me. A world pandemic. The killing of George Floyd. Climate change. And now the Taliban. 

Add to that earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes and forest fires. Myanmar, Hindu fundamentalists, terror attacks, random shootings.

To claim to have answers to the politics, the science or the religious hatred is to claim to be foolish.

I have no answers. But one.

Yet that answer overcomes every political motive, every advance of violence, every voice of hatred.

That answer is Jesus.

He had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

He had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.

He had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.

He had no army, yet kings feared Him.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

 

His name is Jesus.

He came as God’s Son. He died for you and me. And He’s still changing lives today. Ask Him to change yours.

Hope To Inspire

 My thanks to the Eternal Wall for inviting me to speak as part of their Hope To Inspire series. 

I hope you enjoy the talk and that you will be inspired to keep on with the small things that so affect the big picture.

The God of the Rocks on Mars

Take a look at the picture for a moment. Pick a rock and look more closely. Observe its shape, how it fits to the ground.

Now consider that as someone who lives in the 21^st century, you are looking at something no one from centuries past has been able to see. The estimated 108 billion people that lived before you never got to see that rock.

What you’re looking at, of course, is the amazing view from the latest NASA Perseverance Rover which landed on Mars earlier this month.

Those rocks on Mars have always been there since creation, waiting to be discovered. Waiting for you to look at them through the window of a space probe.

When the Bible talks of God making the heavens, it’s almost a throwaway line in Genesis. As the passage describes Him making the sun and moon, it says ‘He also made the stars’.

And not just the stars. The planets, the solar system, the fringes of space. And that rock you have chosen to look at.

God is a creative God. Just as he made the stars – and the rocks on Mars – so He made you and me. Not only that, he made a way for us to know Him. Despite our best efforts to ignore Him and do our own thing, He made us to love Him and showed His love in sending His Son, Jesus.

God, who is from eternity, was born in Palestine, lived and died a man, and created a way for us to know Him, through death on a cross. The tragic moment was also a creative moment. As Jesus rose from the dead, His enemies were defeated and even today, even in the fast tempo, know-everything 21^st century, the invitation is the same.

The God who made the rock you are looking at made you. Made you to know Him as a Father, made you to be loved and cared for as a child. He shaped you, formed you, made you. Loved you.

And still loves you.

At the same time as that rock is being viewed for the first time, each of us have faced a year when all around us became seemingly less solid than that rock. A time of contagion, of economic breakdown, of separation and loneliness.

But there is One, steadier than a rock, who still cries out: ‘Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord?  And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none besides me.’ (Isaiah 45: 21)

During this time of lockdown, with a realisation that there must be more to life, thousands have prayed a prayer for the first time, asking for forgiveness and for a new life. You can pray it too:

Lord Jesus, I know you are alive and are still changing lives today. Please change mine. Forgive me Lord for my life lived without you. I invite you in right now as my Lord and Saviour. Please come and change me. Amen.

May the God who formed you and who made the rocks on Mars be your Father too. May the God who sent His own son Jesus be your Lord. May the God who loves you be known by you.

And if you prayed that prayer, do message me and let me know.

End-Time Theology, Trump and the Church

It is a new theology of the end-times in the 1800s that is at fault. This may seem a long time ago, but in history terms, it is ‘yesterday’. The theology proposed a literal meaning to much of the final book of the Bible, Revelation, and linked it to various Old Testament prophecy to come up with a time line – different ‘dispensations’ from which we could grasp a clearer understanding of when Jesus will return for the last time.

This theology is not one that was ever seriously considered by the Early Church Fathers. And there’s a reason for that – it is riddled with assumptions, exaggerations and misunderstandings. Yet because it took off big time in the 1970s and 1980s it is still largely viewed as undeniable truth by many in the Church, especially in America- which is where it took off.

The book ‘The Late Great Planet Earth’ by Hal Lindsay has a lot to do with the recent rise of this theology, supported by a tranche of tele-evangelists, past and present, and by a set of fiction books by Tim LaHaye called the ‘Left Behind Series.’

Too many have based their Christian views of the end-times on this material with little thought to its lack of foundational truth.

I say all this, in order to make sense of the crazy politics and conspiracy theories (a topic for deeper study on another day) in America at this time.

If you believe that there is a timeline, a secret rapture and that Jesus is coming back at any minute, it negates a belief in a triumphant gospel preaching Church. It pretty much ignores all the scriptures about the Church being Christ’s body and being prepared as the bride of Christ. Instead it looks to a geographical Israel and to current world events - and then translates them into end- time dodgy ‘doctrine’.

That’s why we have Christians believing in QAnon conspiracies such as Hilary Clinton killing babies in a ritual underneath a pizza restaurant (yes really!) and there being a secret evil cult running the planet.

That’s why many Christians have made a cult hero of Donald Trump. They have forgotten that the Church is in the world but not of it. They have forgotten that Jesus came to bring a different kind of Kingdom and they have placed all their faith in a tragi-comedy President who has said the right things and done the opposite. It’s why to this day – to this hour – there continues to be multiple conspiracy theories about the election being rigged. It didn’t help that we had a load of false prophecies for the more gullible to swallow wholesale, predicting a Trump victory.

But the victory is the victory of the Church; the body of Christ. It declares the gospel; the real truth - and the Holy Spirit does the rest. Hence, it’s not to do with present day political leaders (though we are called to pray for peace and I would always encourage Christians to vote) but it is to do with the Church at work in the world.

One of the fastest growing churches in the world today is in Iran- where the church is practically banned. The most vibrant churches are often in the hardest political environments.

I’m grateful for peace and democracy, for good presidents and prime ministers, but I hold to a more orthodox view of the end times. There will be wars and rumours of wars. There will be good and bad rulers. But there will also be a triumphant Church that will herald the return of Christ, with a new heaven and earth.

And until then, let’s pray for our rulers, avoid the conspiracies and preach the gospel.

Fifty Years a Christian - Part 2

 I'm very grateful to Pam Rhodes for inviting me onto her show Sunday Night Live. I share here my story of 50 years ago. It seems like yesterday.....

Once Upon A Time In The West - Fifty Years A Christian

The city of St Davids is as far west as you can go in Pembrokeshire, Wales. In August 1970 a group of boys stepped down from a coach for a camping holiday in the fields just outside Britain’s smallest city.

The camp had been arranged by the Crusaders - a Christian organisation specialising in activities for boys and girls.

For one of the boys stepping off the coach, this was to be the defining point in his life. That boy was me.

I was aware that the Crusaders (now renamed as Urban Saints) was a Christian organisation and I had even been to a few of their local meetings where I lived in Streetly, near Birmingham. The fact the organisation was Christian was not a problem to me - after all I was a Christian anyway, right? That’s what my parents told me - we were born in a Christian country and were therefore Christians already.

But that week I heard something new. In amongst the games, the hiking and the camping was a message. Jesus, God’s son, died on a cross for me. For me. A geeky 15 year old kid with glasses and acne.

It was hard for me to take it in. And hard to respond as well. We had meetings most nights and at one of those there was an invitation to ask Jesus to come into our lives, but I was far too shy to put up my hand.

Back in the tent as my fellow campers slept, I kept returning to what had been said. God loved me? So much He sent His own Son? Why had I never heard this before? Why had no one told me? Before I slept that night, I decided to pray, to invite Jesus into my life. In my thinking at the time, I decided to give this Christian thing a go.

Fifty years later, I’m still giving it a go! Fifty years. Where did the time go?

A family - a wife, four kids, two grandkids. Churches planted, mission trips completed. Books written and other lives changed.

All because of that night 50 years ago.

That ‘once upon a time in the West’ moment radically changed my life. I am not the same because of that prayer. It was the best thing I ever did.

If you are reading this and have never prayed to ask Jesus into your life, is there any reason not do so now? What better than to know why we are here, to have purpose and direction in life? Most of all, to know the God who made us. What’s not to like?! Here’s a prayer to pray- you can say it out loud or under your breath -God will hear you either way.

Dear Lord

Please forgive me for living my life without you, for living my own way. I’m sorry for all the things I’ve done wrong. I ask you today to come in to my life. Please live in me, help me and be in charge of my life. Thank you for answering this prayer. I choose to live Your way. Amen.

And there it is. The most important prayer you will ever pray. The most important step you will ever make. (And if you did pray this prayer for the first time, let me know - I’d like to help).

Thank you Crusaders/Urban Saints for that camp all those years ago. Thank you for your faithfulness in sharing the good news about Jesus. And most of all - thank you Jesus for your faithfulness through these 50 years together.

Here’s to the next 50.

Guest Blog: There is a Time for Change

A couple of years ago I ghost-wrote an autobiography for a leading black church leader in the UK. (For reasons not related, it has yet to see the light of day, so I can't say who it is). As I wrote it I became more and more aware of the racism in our country - not just 'then' but 'now'. I was appalled at my own blindness. As a caring Christian, I should have done better.

I'm concerned that in this current race crisis, many are missing the point. I've tried to write myself, but came across this from my friend Malcolm Magee. It says it better, so this time around, I'm 'blogging a blog'.

Please read and pray. To My Fellow White Folk Please Hear Me!

There is a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Today is the day to turn the money changers tables over. 

Words of Truth in a Time of Fear

He’s got you. And He’s not letting go.

He knows when you sit down and when you get up. He knows what you’re thinking and wants you to know He is protecting you. In fact He’s got you hemmed in with his love and kindness. He is your refuge – you are sheltered under His wings.

There’s a path set out for you and nothing is going to push you off track. No sickness or virus can be greater than His purposes for you. He restores health and heals wounds. He delivers you from the deadly pandemic. He has already rescued you from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons.

He knew you before you were born; chosen before the foundation of the world. He formed you – you are wonderfully made. You were chosen by Him before your first breath. He made you, loved you and wanted you as His child. You are wanted and loved; you are not a mistake or a surprise.

He has blessed you with every spiritual blessing. You are chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven. He took all the broken and dislocated pieces of your life and fixed them together in vibrant harmonies. Grace has been lavished on you. He has sealed you with his Holy Spirit within you. His Spirit in you confirms who you really are.

Don’t be anxious about your life. He cares for the sparrow – how much greater is His care for you! He clothes the fields with beauty – how much more will he care for you and clothe you! You are not forgotten. On the contrary, he knows all about you, even to the number of hairs on your head.

His plans for you are good – you have a hope and a future with Him. He has abundant life for you. This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant. His thoughts are for you and are more than the sands of the sea.

Where could you go? He’s there – wherever you go.

He’s got you. And He’s not letting go.

If you have a Christian faith, every word above applies to you. If you are on a spiritual journey, every word written can also be true for you.

The words are from the Bible: Psalm 139, Ephesians 1, Psalm 91, Deuteronomy 7:15, Jeremiah 29:11, 30:17, John 10:10, Colossians 1:13, 18-20, Romans 8:15-17, Luke 12:6, Matthew 6: 25-31.

Take time to think on them. In this time of fear and pandemics, allow the truth to bring assurance.

Turn off the phone and tv. Find a comfy chair in a quiet corner. Read aloud the Bible words set out above. And let God’s blessing rest on you.

And remember. He’s got you. And he’s not letting go.

Flowers on the Grave

Her name is Olive. And she’s in Jesus’ arms. The church prayed for her resurrection. I love that. I love the raw faith. But she wasn’t resurrected and a few weeks back a small baby was laid to rest.

I don’t know the name of this baby, but this is a report from evangelist Daniel Kolenda, just this week:

Tonight was very special. It started when I arrived on the field and heard from the crusade chairman about a report circulating around town. Last night, while I was praying for the sick, I saw a crippled man being powerfully touched by God in his seat. I went down to pray for him. While I was down there, a mother put a dead baby in my arms. She had been brought by the doctor for prayer. The baby’s little eyes were rolled back in its head, its body was limp and smelled very bad. I held the baby for a short time and then gave the body, still limp, back to the mother. The chairman told me that later that night, the baby resurrected! The word has spread all around.

Two babies prayed for. One resurrected, one in the arms of Jesus. We don’t know the why’s and wherefores’ of moments like these. But we celebrate with one family and support the other.

And that’s what Olive’s church did. If you were to walk through the cemetery near to Bethel Church in Redding, California a week after the burial, you will see flowers on the grave.

In fact you will see flowers on the graves around as well. And take a step back – there are flowers on every grave in the cemetery! What a beautiful response from a church in mourning for a baby’s death, to declare their love and prayers for every family going through the grief of a lost loved one.

Well done church.

Living Globally

This is not meant as a political comment, but Brexit will not keep us out of Europe. Nor will building walls stop Central America from being next to the United States.

More importantly, nothing can stop clear and easy communication from taking place between these nations. We live in a Global World. That world is facilitated by the Internet and social media. If it’s blocked, it going to get through anyway.

Much of the recent popular protests in countries as diverse as Hong Kong and Lebanon started life on WhatsApp, Facebook and other forms of social media.

We trade globally too. If my wife (who is of Indian heritage) wanted to buy a new sari a few years back, she would go to the Melton Road (‘Little India’) in Leicester. She’d pay a premium for it. The shopkeeper had had to pay a wholesaler. He’s had to pay transport costs as well as dealing with wholesalers in India. Today she can go online and buy directly from the factory in India.

Sure, there may be tax and tariffs -the financial equivalent to a wall- but it doesn’t stop the trade.

And all that brings me to another thought. As a Christian, I hold in my hands the Book of Life. When people read the Bible, lives change. There’s power in the words. It’s God speaking with lives changed as a result.

I love that we no longer have to smuggle Bible’s into China. Even if Bible’s were banned, they’d still get through – thanks to the Internet. Electronic versions -legally and illegally- get through any barriers that nations and ideologies may care to put in its way.

I love that in Iran, a nation that outwardly prohibits Christian conversion, there’s one of the biggest Christian revivals taking place right now. 

I love that one of the major celebrities of our age has found a faith in Christ and is reading his Bible every night before he sleeps. There’s power in God’s Word.

I love that in our own family we are spread around the world. Our oldest son and daughter in law are in China. Our youngest daughter and son in law are in Africa. Our ‘adopted daughter’ and husband are in New Zealand. Our sponsored child is in Ghana. I can -and do- travel globally and find Christian friends and family wherever I go.

We live globally. We trade globally. And we share our faith globally. God does not recognise geography, politics or ideologies. I’m part of the biggest family in the world – one that transcends every barrier.

Give Me 20 Minutes of Your Time

11-08-2019 | Leading People to Jesus | Ralph Turner from Chroma Church on Vimeo.

You're a Christian. You're keen to share your faith, but not sure how.

Here's five points and some encouragement to do just that. Give me 20 minutes of your time. It could bring eternal rewards.