Celebrations in Style!

We have just got home after the most exhilarating  and wonderful trip to the Seychelles where we celebrated our Ruby Wedding Anniversary on the 9th September (40 years of marriage).  It was a triple celebration really.  One was of our relationship which feels more satisfying and fulfilling than it ever has.  We love each other more with every passing day. Two was of the miracle that I am well enough to be able to make this kind of trip after 15 years of incredible pain and illness.  Thank God for His mercy and for your prayers too! Three was the joy of seeing the believers in the Seychelles again after 23 years since we left them.  The growth and maturity that has come to the churches since we served there as missionaries in the 1980's is remarkable and it was a great joy to renew fellowship with the folk there.

On the day itself we went off to church in the morning and when we returned to our hotel room we found that the maids had covered our room with flowers, even decorating the bathroom!  They had created beautiful arrangements of hibiscus and lemon grass to wish us a happy anniversary and provided us with a lovely celebratory cake.

Every part of that day was special to us both and we feel so privileged to have been able to share it together.  Marriage is so much more than a wedding - even than a ruby wedding!  It is about learning to give your all to someone you love in the knowledge that they give their all to you.  As I often tell young couples preparing to wed - marriage is not give and take - it is all give!  You give your all and they give theirs and then both your needs are met!  That has been our experience through four decades and we are looking forward to the future that God has planned for us.

Living Without Limits

Joni Eareckson Tada is one of the world's heroes.  She may not be taking part in the Paralympics in London but she has run the race of life with passion, wisdom, determination and courage.  As a beautiful young woman in her mid teens she dived into water that was shallower than she realised and snapped her spine.  Joni has spent her life in a wheelchair since then and undergone countless indignities, overcoming huge obstacles just to live each day.  Her trust in God has been an example to millions and her books have spread the message of 'living without limits' around the globe.  Her example, together with those of the hundreds of so-called 'disabled' athletes taking part just now in London, speaks loudly to me.  Why focus on what I cannot do?  How come my mind defaults so quickly to my weaknesses or pain?  What about the possibilities that are open to me with the boundaries that God has set into my life?  Such is the attitude of the overcomer.  Joni is just one of those and there have been others in history.

Ludwig Von Beethoven, for instance, continued to write wonderful music after he had become completely deaf in his late twenties.

David Blunkett is one of Britain's best known politicians having served in the very highest offices of state - and he is totally blind.  His guide dogs have become familiar faces at Westminster and in government offices.

What each of these faces tells me is that life is meant to be lived with what we have got, not with what we have been denied.  It is also the case for me as a Christian, that the presence of Christ within is the source of strength hope and inspiration. As St. Paul said: "I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength".

Adjusting our Focus

An Olympic gold medal winner was asked to comment on how long he took running the 7-minute race in which he had just triumphed in London 2012. 'Well, to be honest', he said, 'that race took me 12 years to complete'.  Quite clearly his life has had one specific focus for more than a decade and it was fulfilled in only 7 minutes!  This is the kind of focus that was in the mind of the great Christian leader Paul (aka Saul of Tarsus) when he said 'one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me..'

'One thing I do' is focus.  '40 things I dabble in' - now that's most of us.  The centre of Paul's focus was God's calling on his life. He kept asking himself 'why has God taken hold of me?'  He ran the race of faith and service with this goal constantly in view.  Nothing else mattered as much.  Education, upbringing, tradition, religious duty and trying to please others were all regarded as rubbish in order that he might discover his real purpose and pursue it with all his heart.

Here is Paul again 'I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.' (The Message)

Investing in Freedom

Diane and I have just returned from spending a few days teaching at the Teen Challenge UK School of Ministry.  They now meet in the their new national HQ called Willoughby House on the main road between Leicester and Nottingham.  There, in what was a Best Western Hotel, they now have a men's rehab unit for drug addicts and alcoholics, their national admin offices, and also the 6 month SoM.  It was a tremendous joy to be in the atmosphere of this dynamic place.  The guys on rehab spend about one year getting cleaned up and set free from life-controlling addiction.  The success rate for this ministry is 80% - a phenomenal outcome for people who were so messed up before.  Once they graduate from the programme they have the option to take a further 6 months in the School of Ministry to prepare for Christian service.  This is a real example of the Bible verse that says: 'If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation: the old has gone and the new has come!' Exciting!

One real concern I have is that this organisation is so heavily dependent on gift income to survive.  Each person they take out of an addicted lifestyle is saving the state millions in prevented crimes, released hospital beds, empty prison cells etc.  In fact, I met one guy newly arrived from prison who had been sent there by the courts. Yet there is very little state funding of the programme. Also, when you consider the millions that are recouped from illicit drugs money by the authorities, how come so little of this finds its way into rehab?  So, when I saw an empty gymnasium with no equipment because of lack of funds, and a broken down minibus that will cost £24,000 to replace and so is lying unusable, I was angry at the lack of vision in our society.

I really hope and pray that businesses and even governments will respond to this challenge and make sure that these young people who are no longer part of the victim culture or even the drugs supply chain itself, have the resources they need to start this new life with a flying start.  You can find out more at their website www.teenchallenge.co.uk

Fishing in the Aquarium

Shock horror!  Front page news 3 days running!  Major crime alert in Island community!  The local media are claiming that someone has allegedly stolen a large sea bass from Guernsey's Aquarium and entered it into a Bass Fishing Competition and won first prize of £800.  Can this be true?  Surely this must be a new low in British corruption?  How could this dastardly deed have happened in such a peace-loving society?

The Island Police force is taking a dim view of this event and are following several lines of enquiry.  Their net is drawing in and the scales of justice will soon be weighing in.  Officers have been hooked out of more mundane duties and it is reported that a fish-head has been recovered and is being processed as evidence!  Where the rest of this poor creature has gone goodness only knows - after all, today's front page is tomorrow's fish and chip paper!

Mind you, quite apart from the dishonesty involved, as you would expect a preacher like me spies a moral in this tale.  Fishing in the Aquarium is not real fishing is it?  The warm artificial tanks exist to preserve various species and provide ideal conditions for them to thrive - but not for angling.  Real fishermen ply their trade in the wide open sea where the huge stocks are waiting.  Jesus said 'follow Me and I will make you fishers of men' yet many are doing their fishing inside the equivalent of the Aquarium - the church with its buildings and safe ghetto like glass ceilings and walls.  Maybe we should 'cast our nest on the other side' and start fishing for men where they actually hang out in great numbers?  Tight lines!

Learning to Pace

There is enought time in any one day to do what God wants you to do.  At least, that's the theory, and also the gist of many a bible text.  We are supposed to be people who are led not driven.  Our busy lives need to be ordered in such a way that we can 'catch the ear of God' or hear heaven's whispers, as Diane pointed out last Sunday at our church (www.eldadchurch.org.gg if you want to hear her talk). 

Yet I am not finding it easy to pace myself in these early months of being back in full-time work after some years of pain and ill-health.  I know I need to learn to learn this lesson and learn it well.  Maybe you do too?

Technology was supposed to give us so much more time.  Time to think, to walk around God's beautiful creation, and time to pray.  Instead it has added a host of demanding dings buzzes vibrations and ringtones that cannot go unanswered.  Email is great, but so immediate!  Letters used to take an age to get there and for a reply to be received.  Now we feel obligated to check our emails regularly, even on holiday, just in case someone is expecting an urgent response.

I am determined not to lose ground healthwise by not learning how to pace myself correctly.  I plan in to my day regular breaks and stretches.  I limit my time in front of a screen. I choose carefully before I respond to thoughts of obligation or urgency. But I have a long way to go before I match the standard of Jesus - or even of men like Eugene Peterson in his wonderful classic The Contemplative Pastor.  Still, 'sufficient unto the day' etc... At least tomorrow I can have another go.

Train one: save many

Photo: RNLI

In Guernsey the Lifeboat is more than a maritime institution, it is a prominent local charity dedicated to saving lives at sea.  We who depend upon the sea for  so much are grateful that the RNLI is there when we need them.  Recently the charity ran a campaign called 'Train one: save many' trying to raise awareness of the need to train people for safety at sea and thereby save lives.  When I saw the slogan I thought of another lifeboat I know, only this one is in a land-locked country - Zimbabwe!

When Diane and I lived and worked in that land in the early 1990's we realised the great need for training in the African churches.  There are over a million churches in Africa without trained leadership!  Church growth has outstripped leadership training on a massive scale.  We worked with the Elim Pentecostal Church of Zimbabwe and set up a training programme for young Christian men called 'Project Timothy'.  Today, the EPCZ has just opened a new Bible School in Mutare, the third largest city.  I visited the capital Harare just a month ago and met with the Bible School Board.  The key to the future of this ministry is training.  'Train one: save many'.

Elim Bible School in Mutare

My involvement with the Bible School now is to try and raise the finance over the next 12 months to equip the lecturers with laptops and the College with computer and VOIP facilities.  This will enable the lecturers to teach groups of students in more than one centre at the same time and save long journeys for them.  It will also give them and the students access to rich resources on the Web and enable overseas teachers to have some input.  The medium for teaching is English.  The day of the pith-helmet wearing missionary may be over, but our support and equipping role in the African church context is more vital now than ever. 'Train one: save many'.

Get in touch if you want to know more!

Merry Hearts and Medicine

There must be something a bit odd about us British people - we love to celebrate special occasions in public!  Here I am standing next to Guernsey's Lieutenant Governor (he is the Queen's representative in Guernsey) Air Marshall Peter Walker on my right and church member and friend Trevor Mahy on my left.  It was all part of a tremendous weekend of fun and joy which for us involved a great street party outside the church building in St Peter Port and much hilarity.  The fun continued on Sunday morning as we all tucked into hot bacon rolls and coffee as part of our Jubilee Family Service and welcomed new faces into the building who had been with us at the Street Party.  All this was in aid of Her Majesty the Queen's 60 years on the throne - quite an achievement and worth the celebrating.

It is great when Christians get noticed because of their laughter and joy instead of being against something, isn't it? That was certainly the case last weekend and the more so as we refused to let a little bit of rain get in the way.  It must be quite a while since the Pastor and his wife at Eldad Elim Church were seen dancing in the street outside the building!  Let's hope it won't be quite as many years till it happens again.  There is a Bible verse that says 'the joy of the Lord shall be your strength'.  Even in times of terrible trouble we have found laughter to be such good medicine. In fact the book of Proverbs says that a 'merry heart does good like a medicine'. I know there may not be much to laugh about in your life just at the moment, but thank God for the promise that 'though weeping may endure for the night, joy cometh in the morning!'



Reign Over Us!

Preparations are now well in hand for this weekend’s special celebrations of Her Majesty the Queen’s 60^th Jubilee.  I am part of the organising team for a Street Party in Union Street, St Peter Port, the capital of Guernsey which will take place tomorrow afternoon and we are really hoping that it won’t rain!  60 years on the throne is a tremendous milestone and one worth celebrating.  The reign of Elizabeth the Second has seen so many changes but very early on, when the Queen was still in her twenties, she took a remarkable step of preparation.  Speaking in a live broadcast the young Elizabeth pledged herself to the service of her realm and peoples for the rest of her natural life.  In other words, the Queen made a commitment, public and clear, forthright and forceful, that would affect the direction of her whole life and that of the British peoples.

That kind of self-less commitment may be rare in our day, but it is a powerful illustration of what it means to begin a life of dedication to God and to others.  Commitment is still the foundation stone of Christian discipleship.  Those who respond to the call of Christ must make a clear commitment of their lives to His service.  Whether done in youth or in old age, there is no other way to prepare to both serve and then one day meet – our God.  May He help us to make or to remake that commitment this weekend.  Have a wonderful Jubilee.

Why, Lord?

Europe is facing financial meltdown - banks are facing ruin, governments are in fear of a new anti-austerity mood among voters - yet sometimes these major news stories can seem so remote.  When pain or illness or relationship breakdown happen all these 'macro' scenarios pale into insignificance.  As a pastor, and someone who has been around the block a bit when it comes to suffering, I find my heart strangely moved by the needs of people passing through such personal tragedy.  Someone that Diane and I love very dearly has been plunged into serious ill-health in a matter of weeks and is fading before our eyes.  Christians that we care for are passing through the most difficult and challenging trials.  Why?

There was a moment on the cross when Jesus asked 'why?'.  Some call it 'the cry of dereliction' but I prefer to name it 'the cry of faith'.  At first look it might seem strange that the Son of God would shout ''my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'  After all, did he not know his Old Testament theory?  Had he not warned his followers that he must go to Jerusalem and be put to death?  Yet in the sweltering heat of overwhelming pain and sorrow Jesus asked the 'why?' question.  I am glad that he did for it comforts me today, and I hope it will encourage you too.  You are not alone.  You are in good company.

You see, the 'why' question acknowledges that there must be something deeper going on.  I am not just a collection of nerve endings and cells - and neither are you.  Asking the 'why?' question sets us apart from much of creation and enobles the human spirit.  In the case of Jesus the words that he cried out were taken from a Psalm of honest lament - an outpouring of pain in all its stark horror.  Like Jesus we may not get our answers here and now, or in any kind of easy crib-sheet theology, but we can draw strength from the Christ of the cross and go on for one more set of 24 hours.  It may be Friday - but thank God Sunday's coming!

Overflowing Joy

Just back home after a journey of 30 hours from Zimbabwe my natural tiredness is tempered by joy.  It has been such a privilege to witness first hand that the sufferings and privations experienced by Christians in that land over recent years have not destroyed their infectious joy.  They may have little of what we Westerners would regard as wealth or material goods but oh boy do they rejoice in God!  Despite decades of struggle and isolation due to the antics of their political leaders these people are trusting in God not in man.  Their problems get put to one side when there is an opportunity for fellowship and worship.  The opening and dedication of a new church building seating 1,000 people was just such an opportunity.  It was such a blessing to be there last Sunday and to witness the celebrations.

Early on Sunday morning I woke in my hotel room and gazed out of the fourth floor window.  Below me the street was empty of traffic, but across from the hotel on a large area of wasteland, thousands of people were walking along makeshift paths.  They had left their crowded shanties on the outskirts of the city before dawn.  Each one was immaculately dressed and they were singing as they walked mostly in family groups.  Despite the early hour it was already getting hot, but these were Christians on their way to celebrate. Their joy is our joy too if we know and serve the same God.  May their example inspire us to keep praising Him whatever life throws our way.  Mwari Wakanaka (God is good!)

Eric's Missionary Journey

Can this be me?  Can it be true?  The guy who this time last year was clawing his way out of a 15 year hole is travelling to Zimbabwe in God's service?  But it is - at least it should be if all goes to plan.  I leave Guernsey for London on Friday morning and then depart Heathrow Friday evening to arrive in Harare Saturday morning.  On Sunday I will be part of the celebrations to open a new church in Prospect Park in the centre of Harare.  Early next week I will meet with leaders of the churches in Zimbabwe to discuss the training and equipping of pastors and leaders in that area.  What a privilege!  What a challenge!  What a turn around!

Diane, Matthew and I served in the great nation of Zimbabwe as missionaries in the early 1990's.  We love the country and pray often for its people.  Throughout the years of my desperate illness there was no possibility that I could be involved there directly again.  Just over a year ago I felt God spoke to me again.  It was in the early days after major surgery to implant me with £30,000 of electronics.  My heart was stirred with news of the re-opening of the Bible School down there and a real desire was born to visit and encourage them.  Then a friend prophesied over me in a Sunday service saying that what was in my heart was from God and I should pursue it diligently and fearlessly.  So I did, and I am, and here goes.

Pray that I might be effective to achieve all that God wants me to do.  Please pray also for the church in this amazing nation.  These are exciting days to be alive.  Yes - still alive and not finished yet!

Christian Time Travel

I am discovering the all new Elim Bible Week at Telford in the middle of the UK, just north of Birmingham.  It is great to be back.  The last time I attended one of these events was 16 years ago and in those days they always happened in Pontins or Butlins holiday camps.  Memories of freezing cold chalets and beer soaked carpets come flooding back as I write!  But now the whole event takes place in a thoroughly 21st Century International Conference Centre and all we delegates are staying outside, mainly in hotels.  Very civilised!

It has been great to bump into people I know and remember well as well as meeting hundreds I don't.  Speakers like Mark Bailey (New Wine, Trinity Cheltenham) Jeff Lucas, R T Kendall and others are a great inspiration even though my limited strength precludes me from attending too much. What strikes me as new and interesting is that everyone is so upbeat.  Elim is on the move again and now has over 500 churches in the UK and thousands more in 50 nations overseas.  Church planting is very much at the top of the agenda and we have been inspired by stories of tremendous growth in areas like Cornwall of all places!

Pain is being managed well by means of my implanted spinal neuro-stimulator so I can contemplate even being here.  Strength and stamina will come in time.  For me, this event feels like a Doctor Who moment - as if I have been transported back to my roots but have found them almost entirely renewed and forward looking.  Christian time travel - in the right direction.

For You!

One of the highlights of the last year for me was to visit Israel with our son Matthew.  It was great to spend time once again in the ancient and fascinating city of Jerusalem as well as Massada and Galilee.  Among our many stops in the city we visited 'Gordon's Calvary' or 'The Garden Tomb' where many believe the site of the crucifiction may have been.  Whether the theory is right or not, there are many signs of a first-century garden with its cisterns and a rock grave with evidence that it was a very early place of Christian devotion.

Just down below the rocky hill where it is believed that Golgotha - the place of a skull - may have been situated lies a busy bus station.  There the many nationalities that make up this cosmopolitan melting pot press to and fro in a noisy huddle, all the while in the shadow of the cross.  The very busyness of the place seems to mock the idea that the Saviour of the world died there.  Yet, the shadow of a cross over a bus station seems as right as a king born in a stable.  It was for busy people Jesus died, as well as lonely people and sad.  In fact it was for you - and me!

As I stood in the nearby 1st Century rock tomb I was struck by the inscription on the door. 'He is not here He is risen!'  We did not go there to venerate a site or to see relics of a dead teacher or prophet.  We went because when He died for us He also rose for us and is alive today in the lives of ordinary people - in stables and bus stations and offices and schools.  It was interesting to see where it might have all started, but it is really exciting this Easter to realise where it all ended up.  For us!

Air Freshener or Fly Spray?

We keep our air fresheners in the smelliest places in the house.  There they are, right where they are needed.  Personally I don't like the kind of fragrances they usually pretend to have - lavender, flowers of the field, or lemon.  Why can't they go for freshly baked bread, roasting coffee or Bar B Q?  Mind you, I think some of the good old Anglo-Saxon smells produced in some of the places that we keep them are probably to be preferred to the scented variety!  Never-the-less we do buy air freshener and we keep it right where it is most needed.

Those of us who are recipients of God's grace are called to be grace dispensers right where He has placed us. Like air fresheners we are called to be givers of grace wherever we are.  There is a verse in the New Testament that says that 'Christ through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him'.

Sometimes you might be forgiven for thinking that Christians are more like Fly Killer - they see something moving and ZZZap!  Any previously undiscovered life and Whack!  Sadly our image is dented and some folk think of us as 'the bank that loves to say NO'!  But wait - it was never meant to be this way.  Maybe we need to draw more deeply ourselves from God's well of amazing grace and then we would have enough to give away.  Then we may find that God chooses to keep us right next to the smelliest of places.  So if the whiff where you are is a bit rich, perhaps you have been selected for the unique bit of 'climate change' that only Christ can bring - through you.

Air freshener or fly killer?  Ask those around you.

Does it Matter that we Pray?

Well it certainly seems to matter to these two anyway! Both their faces display such an earnest intensity that I am sure they will get results!  Sometimes, though, we can feel like we are wasting our breath.  When things don't work out as we had hoped - or even become worse than before we prayed - discouragement sets in.  Throughout my long and painful battle with serious ill health I had spells of wonderring if there was any point praying about it any more.  I understood the attitude taken by some (like Jennifer Rees-Larcombe just before she was healed) who say 'enough is enough' and decide not to seek or receive prayer for healing because of their many disappointments.  'Hope deferred makes the heart sick' says the Book of Proverbs and maybe it colours our prayers also.

But wait.  God in His sovereignty has decided to work through the prayers of those who trust in Him.  He didn't have to do that but he did so in order that we might receive 'training for reigning' in this life. Prayer creates a channel for the Holy Spirit to work in both the situation prayed for and the one doing the praying.  It changes things and us!  When I was really ill there were long periods when I couldn't pray for myself.  I was too weak and too sad to do so.  That was when I learned the power of a praying wife!  Also, I was carried on the prayers of loving Christian believers in many lands and churches.  So, let's join dogs and boys to keep on keeping on in prayer.  'People ought to pray always and not to give up'!  Hang in there!

Into the Sunset

A long vigil has ended and the sun has set over the life of a much loved mother and grandmother, Gill.  I spent time with her family around her bed at the local hospice last night, not long before she died. It was impressive to see their devotion to her and their care for one another in their grief.  Their ordeal had gone on over several nights and was preceded by weeks of pain for Gill and increasing awareness that the end was coming. The call that came in the night summonsed me away from my bed and into one of those pastoral situations that are so deeply challenging, especially when the one in the bed is younger than the Pastor!  I think that perhaps the long exposure to serious ill health that I have known has in some ways prepared me to be of more use than some might be in the same circumstances.  I certainly hope so.

One thing has changed this sunset for me, and I know it did for Gill.  Some weeks ago she sent a message to me via her doctor asking me to visit her in her hospice room.  She knew her time was coming and she wanted to get right with God. 'I want to be ready', she said, fixing my gaze with her steady, determined eyes.  She did not need religious ritual or fancy prayers, and I didn't give her any.  She needed Jesus in her trial, and when we bowed to pray she handed her life over to Him, asking for His forgiveness and inviting Him in.  Through our tears it was clear that she understood what she was doing.  She was ready then, because Jesus said 'whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life' (John 5:24).

So, goodnight Gill.  See you in the morning.

The High Price of Pain

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has led tributes from countless people who were shocked and saddened this week by the tragic death of PC David Rathband.  This brave policeman was brutally attacked by a fugitive from justice who had declared war on the police, Raoul Moat. Pc Rathband was shot twice by Moat, in the face and the shoulder, as he sat in his patrol car on the outskirts of Newcastle in July 2010. He spent 17 days in hospital and despite several operations to restore his eyesight he was still classed as being "black blind". Sue Sim, Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, said PC Rathband's life had "changed forever" when he was shot by Moat. "David showed outstanding bravery in what was a terrifying situation," she added. "He was a dedicated officer who acted in the best traditions of the police service."

What strikes me about the case, apart from the fact that David was the victim of a cruel and heartless attacker, was the discovery that he was also suffering immense physical pain since the attack.  I believe that it was this, combined with his devastating loss of sight, that brought him to an end of his resources.  As someone who suffered more than 15 years of chronic debilitating pain I feel great sympathy for this dear man who gave himself in the service of his community.

I hope that the manner of David's death, and the notoriety of his attacker (now also dead incidentally) will not detract from the memory of his self-less bravery and sense of public service.  I also hope that it will not discourage others who are coming to terms with sudden blindness or awful pain and who wonder if they can go on.  Above all, I hope that the publicity surrounding David's case will raise the profile of the problem of chronic pain and bring it back to the gaze of those who control health budgets and public purses.  Certainly in my case, the tens of thousands of pounds spent by my Health Authority to give me pain relief by means of a spinal neuro-stimulator has been a real life-saver - literally.

Hope When Your Situation seems Hopeless

Last Sunday evening my wife Diane spoke at the evening service at Eldad Elim Church in the capital of Guernsey, St Peter Port, where we have the joy of serving God at the moment.  Diane is not a preacher by choice, but she is by gift and anointing (so I tell her!).  In any case she is well qualified to speak about Psalm 42 and the impact that it made upon her life during the 15 years we have battled with serious ill health and the many years in which she also fought crippling anxiety and depression.  It was such a joy for me to listen to her tell how God's Word and His promises were the bedrock of her hope and perseverance under immense pressure.

In this message she told of the significant place of music in her own journey and in particular her joy of singing.  This is something that even our neighbours have commented upon!  She also told of her periods of seeking God in the many hospitals we have been in and how the Lord used her in those difficult situations.

Through it all this talk gave real inspiration to hang in there, no matter tough things are for you today.  If you want to hear the message go to the Eldad Elim Church website and click on the message list on the home page, or to download it go to the resources page and click on teaching.  Whether you do that or not, may her story inspire you to keep on hoping.  'Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him who is the help of my sad countenance'.

To Say Prayers or to Pray?

There is a real hooha going on in Guernsey since an atheistic member of the island's government raised an objection to the recital of the Lord's Prayer at the start of sessions in our legislature.  In doing so, of course, he is typically trying to jump onto a rolling bandwagon, since last week a UK court declared it to be unlawful for Bideford Council to begin its sessions with prayer.  We have an election coming up in Guernsey and some Deputies will do anything to get their name in the media!

But does our atheist elected representative have a point?  In the States of Deliberation here, the Lord's Prayer is recited in French (no longer the native language of this community) and at such a rate as to render it fairly difficult to keep up.  Jesus criticised leaders in his community for perfunctory prayers which he described as 'vain repetitions' and which clearly did not express the deepest longings of their hearts!  In fact, the gospels reveal Jesus as a man of prayer, yet record him being scathing of public prayers and ritual.  Should, therefore, the committed Christian join hands with the atheist to decry this anachronism?  What do you think?

Perhaps those States members who want to pray, and who believe that prayer can make a difference, should attend the monthly prayer breakfast for States' members held in a local hotel on the first morning of each monthly session?  Or, if there is a desire to pray in the debating chamber, maybe it would be better to ask someone who does have faith to pray a short prayer from the heart at the start of business, rather like the opening moments of the Grammy Awards last week in Los Angeles.  If that feels uncomfortable for the majority it may be that the present arrangement offers a nod in the direction of tradition and history.  But a nod is probably only as good as a wink - and we all know how insincere that can be!