Spanish lesson

I recently returned from a fortnight's holiday in Spain. We stayed at a little place called Bena Vista, which is on the southern cost of Spain, situated between Marbella and Estapona. There were 7 of us in the party, and it was lovely to spend some quality family time together. The weather, naturally, was pretty much wall-to-wall sunshine, and the swimming pool was very well used! To be honest, I usually prefer to holiday in the UK, but the benefit of going to somewhere like the Costa del Sol is that the weather is generally much more predictable. We returned to clouds and rain in the UK!

It was a visit to the local supermarket that set off my train of thinking. I noticed as we walked round that a number of products had the word "SIN" in the title. I took my camera along and managed to get a picture of one example, some cheese, which was titled "SIN LACTOSA". This means, "without lactose".

I found it interesting that the Spanish word "sin" means "without". I thought about how this fits in with the word sin as used in the Bible. Basically, what the Bible calls sin is anything which goes against God's will and purpose. When we choose to take a course of action which disobeys God's commands, then we sin. More than that, the Bible states that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). In other words, sin separates us from God, creating a barrier between us and God, leaving us, in a very real sense, without the intimate, close relationship with God which is his desire and purpose for us.

The good news is that Romans 6:23 goes on to say, "...but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." On the cross, Jesus died to pay the price for our sin. By accepting his sacrifice, believing in him, and committing our lives into his control, we are set free from the law of sin and death. We can live a new life, empowered by his Spirit. No more separation, no more being "without", but drawn into loving relationship with him and discovering our true purpose and identity. It's strange the thoughts that can come from a packet of cheese!

Reflections on the riots

I have been deeply saddened by the events of the past few days. TV pictures of gangs of roaming the streets of London and other cities, ransacking properties, causing mindless damage, and setting properties on fire, have been very disturbing. Apart from the physical damage to properties, there has been deep psychological damage caused, not least to those who were innocently caught up in the violence. Many have lost jobs and homes. The consequences will be enormous.

Of course the media have been full of the story, and people have not been slow in coming forward with their solutions (often conflicting!); there has been no shortage of people willing to lay the blame. Those with wisdom, and any real understanding of the situation, however, realise that the issues are far from simple. It's easy to point fingers, but far less easy to come up with meaningful and lasting solutions.

It would appear from reports that many of those who have caused such problems in the past few days have been young people. What has happened in the lives of these young people which has led them to the point where they are willing to be part of such unprecedented violence and destruction? One very interesting and insightful question which was asked in a discussion in which I was involved was, "Where are the role models for young people in our society today?" Parents? I would imagine that the parents of many of those young people have been far from ideal role models. Football stars? Think about recent revelations concerning Giggs, Terry, Rooney etc. Royal Family? Consider the goings on over recent years, and one might consider that the Royal Family are not altogether the best role models. Politicians? Mmmm.. expenses scandals etc. might suggest otherwise. Media? News of the World revelations of recent times point in another direction. The Church? Sadly, even the church has so often failed to provide the kind of role model so desperately needed. Is there any wonder that young people are tempted to go astray when they see so very few examples of how to really live?

Someone said that "the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart". When a society dismissed God from its thinking the consequences become evident very soon. If only our nation would turn back to God and live in his way! I have been reading recently about the Welsh Revival of 1904/5 and how that nation was transformed in such a positive way. In God there is always hope for a better future in him. We as a Church must repent of the mistakes of the past and our bad example, and cry out to God to forgive us, restore us, and heal our land.

The Bible entreats us to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" Let us also work and pray for God's peace in our nation and local communities.

Do they know how much you them?

Last week I took two funeral services. Nothing out of the ordinary, perhaps, for a church minister. What did make me think, however, was that both the people concerned were men in their early 50s (both younger than me!) who had died very suddenly. Apparently healthy, their earthly lives had come to an end without warning. Perhaps it is harder to accept when a loved one dies without warning. On the other hand, the death of someone we love it is never easy to deal with, even when one is prepared. And many have said to me over the years that a quick death is better than a long, lingering one.

These funerals have certainly reminded me of my own mortality, and of the challenge to be grateful for and make the most of each day God gives. And how wonderful to know that if our faith is in Jesus Christ our eternal destiny is assured.

It is normal, when one has been bereaved, to receive condolence cards from family and friends. These often contain messages of care and support, and sometimes also reflections on, or memories of, the deceased person. The widow of one of the deceased men had written out some of the messages she had received from various friends of her late husband. He had obviously been very highly thought of. I must admit to thinking when I read them, "It would be great if things like this could be said about me!" I decided to read them out at the funeral service as part of the tribute to the deceased person.

My other thought with regard to these messages, was that I wonder if the deceased gentleman knew what others thought of him. Did he know how loved and respected he was by his family, friends and work colleagues? It was lovely that people took the trouble to write down these reflections on a card and send them to the man's widow. Perhaps even better if they'd taken the trouble to express the same thoughts to the man himself while there was still opportunity.

The destructive power of criticism

A friend and I experienced an enjoyable day of cricket at the Headingley ground in Leeds recently. Yorkshire were involved in a hard-fought Roses match against their old rivals, Lancashire. Honours after the morning's play went to Yorkshire, who took several Lancashire wickets. It looked for a while as though Yorkshire were placing themselves in a very handy position for victory.

The early part of the afternoon, however, saw a Lancashire fight-back, with Yorkshire struggling to take the final few Lancashire wickets. At a time when the relatively young Yorkshire team needed some encouragement, a chap sitting a few rows behind us began to moan and complain in a rather loud voice. He obviously felt that he knew far more about cricket tactics than the Yorkshire captain, and could bowl far better than most of the Yorkshire bowlers! On and on he droned.

My mind went back to a meeting earlier in the week, where we had been looking at a passage in the Old Testament book of Exodus. The first part of the book relates God's miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. But it didn't take very long for the people's joy to turn sour. The writer tells us, 'The whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron' (their leaders).

In our discussion on this passage we agreed that grumbling and complaining can be a very destructive force. It's so easy to be negative about things, but rarely does a complaining attitude bring about a positive outcome. I have experienced the destructive nature of such negativity on occasions over the years, and even, sadly, within the church. Yet we are told quite clearly in the New Testament letter of James, 'Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged'.

I playfully suggested that one way to reduce complaining would be to say that if anyone complains they should stand on one leg to do so! I think that might cut down the amount of complaining which goes on, though I'm not sure that the idea would catch on. Of course there are going to be times when we can quite rightly point out things we don't agree with, but I think that if we start by seeking out the positives, and try to be as encouraging as possible, it would make a great difference.

Sadly, Yorkshire ultimately lost a close match. Perhaps if my "friend" in the crowd had been a bit more encouraging to the players it might have helped them do better?

Triumphant Grace

Last weekend, Sue and I attended an antique and collectors' fair at Keddlestone Hall, Derbyshire. As I was browsing the contents of one of the stalls, I came across an old photo-postcard which has the image of "Alan Benson, Missionary to North China". The postcard had been signed by Alan Benson. There was a pin-prick at the top of the card, perhaps indicating that at one time a prayer supporter of the missionary had pinned it on a wall or board. I paid the requested £2 and determined that when I got home I would try to discover more about Alan Benson.

The internet was the obvious source for information, and I duly discovered a rather remarkable story...

Alan Benson did indeed serve as a missionary in China. In August 1940 he was arrested by the invading Japanese army, and accused of being a spy. He was presented with a written confession, but he refused to sign it as it was not true. He also knew that if he confessed to being a spy it would implicate others. Benson was therefore subjected by his captors to horrendous torture in order to try and extract a confession from him. He prayed for “grace and strength”; Psalm 71:1 became his constant prayer, 'In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.'

For seven weeks, twelve hours per day he was tortured, and suffered the most terrible abuse. Continually his captors would yell at him “confess, confess, confess!” Remarkably, he prayed for his torturers, telling them that he could not hate them, but that “I will pray for you each night that God will have mercy on you and pardon your sins and lead you to the Saviour.”

Even when he was not being tortured, he found it very difficult to sleep because of the pain he was suffering. On one occasion he asked God to remove the pain. When he rose from his knees he discovered that the pain had gone, and he danced around his cell in celebration!

After seven weeks, the torture came to and end. He was placed in a cell with some Chinese prisoners. They were all instructed to sit facing the wall and not to talk to each other. Nevertheless, Benson did get some opportunities to communicate with his fellow prisoners, and led several to Christ!

His wife had managed to get a Bible to him, and another verse which became special was Psalm 142:7, 'Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.' He was eventually freed, and he wrote a booklet, “Grace Triumphant”, in which he outlined his experiences. In summarising, he wrote, “Looking back over it all, I can truthfully say that it has been worth it all, and in and through it all God has surely been glorified and his 'triumphant grace' has carried me through every trial and testing.”

Alan Benson died in 1998. A remarkable man. I am so pleased that I discovered the postcard and thus revealed this fascinating and inspiring account.

The birth of a Nation

I write this on Friday 8 July, 2011. I wonder how many people in the world realise that tomorrow will see the birth of the world's newest nation state. After decades of civil war with its northern counterpart, and a January referendum in which its 8m inhabitants voted overwhelmingly to secede, Southern Sudan will become the Republic of South Sudan.

No doubt there will be great rejoicing and an amount of optimism as South Sudan takes its place as a nation. Yet at the same time the nation faces enormous problems. It will take a long time to recover from decades of conflict which have taken the lives of over 1.5 million people. As thousands of families have made their way from northern Sudan to the south, so this has put great strain on already meagre resources. Water, food and other resources are in short supply.

Only this week I received a communication from aid charity tearfund, which is launching an appeal to support the people of South Sudan. Amongst the startling statistics are the fact that only about one quarter of the population have access to clean drinking water; less than 10 percent have access to a latrine; perhaps most sobering fact of all is that South Sudan is currently at the bottom of international rankings in terms of infant mortality; tragically, one mother in seven dies during childbirth.

I have found all this deeply challenging, not least in terms of how I should respond. I could make a donation to the work which tearfund is doing in Southern Sudan. I could certainly pray, because prayer does make a difference. I could respond in some other way, perhaps by seeing if there is some way in which I can join others in pressing governments and organisations who can make a difference to do something about the underlying issues of world poverty. One thing I do know, that I can't just close my eyes to the need (like the priest and the Levite did in the Good Samaritan story) - for that is not the way of the follower of Jesus.

No Pain No Gain?

One of my birthday presents this year from my wife, Sue, was a "Sports Massage"! To be perfectly honest, I wasn't too enamoured with the idea when she first told me. I'm not too sure why I was so reluctant, but I was. Sue thought that after my exertions of running the Leeds 10K it would be good for me to have the massage.

The appointment was booked for this week, and I headed off in some trepidation. When the young man who was due to do the massage chatted with me beforehand, he seemed quite keen to let me know that a sports massage was unlike an ordinary massage, and could be "quite uncomfortable" at times. Those words didn't exactly put me at ease, but I obediently laid out and let him get to work!

I soon discovered what he meant, especially when he came to my calf muscles. It was all I could do not to jump up and run out of the room. When the man had finished, he gave me another warning that I would probably feel the after-effects for another couple of days! It certainly got me to thinking about the old saying, "No pain, no gain". I've said it myself many times over the years. I don't think that the saying is true in every situation, but it probably does have an element of truth about it. Certainly if I hadn't put myself through some fairly strict training (and some pain) over recent months I wouldn't have managed a P.B. in the Leeds 10K.

Maybe this gives us some insight into the apparently rather strange instructions of James in his letter in the New Testament: 'Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.' He knew very well that if life is always easy, a person's Christian faith can grow weak and flabby. It is in facing tough and difficult times, when a person's faith is tested and exercised, that faith grows stronger. Food for thought.

Not that I will be rushing back for another sports massage!