Blessing

One of the most exciting and moving stories to emerge in recent years, concerns Ffald-y-Brenin, a remarkable House of Prayer and Christian Retreat Centre set in the hills near the sea in West Wales. You can read the amazing story of God’s work at Ffald-y-Brenin in Roy Godwin and Dave Robert’s very readable book The Grace Outpouring. The particular thing I want to single out in this blog, however (which I believe is particularly relevant for us at Knaphill at this time), is summed up in the strap line of the book – Blessing Others Through Prayer.  There are several different Biblical words for ‘blessing’ but essentially the word means ‘the good will, the favour, of God, and the happiness that we enjoy as a result’. In effect, the story of Ffald-y-Brenin, is the story of how a local community prospered under the blessing of God as a result of the prayers of God’s people.

Ffald-y-Brenin has a long history of being a place of prayer but when Roy and Daphne Godwin became Directors of this beautiful Welsh Christian Retreat Centre a few years ago they began to seek God for his direction for the Centre. Several patterns began to emerge over the months that followed including a strong conviction that God wanted them to pray God’s blessing on the surrounding community which was going through hard times. The story is too long, and complicated, to fully tell here, but essentially it gradually became clear that God was calling Ffald-y-Brenin to become ‘a house of prayer’ (Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 21:13), with a particular remit to specifically pray God’s blessing into the lives of those who visited the Centre seeking help but also into the surrounding community.

Writing about the ‘pattern’ of prayer that emerged at Ffald-y-Brenin, Roy Godwin says: ‘We turned our sights outwards and began speaking blessings into the local community … we pray for people and we pray for households. We speak into every household, blessing it in the name of Jesus … we bless every household, we bless every marriage, we bless the relationship between family members of different generations and we bless their health and we bless their wealth. We bless the work of their hands. We bless every wholesome enterprise they’re involved with, that they may prosper. Because we are an agricultural community, we bless the flocks and the herds, and we bless the grass so that it will be nutritious in winter – which it would not normally be – and will not need to be supplemented in order to strengthen the animals. We bless supportive networks of friendship that run through the community, because they’re a sign of the kingdom. We bless the pupils of our rural school and ask God to aid their learning. We bless the teachers and pray that the school may be a safe and wholesome place, where simple childlike trust and belief in God and in Jesus can be comfortably maintained. We pray for both places of worship in the valley, that the Word of God and the Spirit of God may flow out from both. Then we speak to the hearts of all the people who are in the community. We bless them to be safe and to be softened, so they become more and more responsive to the voice of God. We bless them with the overspill of the kingdom of heaven being made manifest here in Ffald-y-Brenin.’

Over time, the fruit of these prayers has been quite marked. For example, a man who rented a small stable and did agricultural repairs, who had been finding things difficult, suddenly found that his business began to take off … to such an extent that he was able to take on larger premises and employ more staff. A farmer was absolutely stunned by the number of quads and triplets born to his ewes when previously the best he had hoped for was at least some twin births. Yet another farmer (who had struggled in the past) was blessed by the birth of a calf which clearly would develop in time into a bull of exceptional quality. A lady who ran a farmhouse bed and breakfast was suddenly awarded ‘AA Landlady of the Year for Great Britain’ which led to unexpected publicity in the media and a welcome increase in business. Not only did the community experience material blessing however, but also spiritual blessing. One chapel, which had not had a baptism for a good few years, suddenly experienced a breakthrough resulting in a number of professions of faith and baptisms. In addition to this there is a continuous stream of ‘arrivals’ at Ffald-y-Brenin – from all walks of life – of people sensing their need of God being drawn to the place for some unaccountable reason.

‘Great story!’ you say, ‘But what has this to do with Knaphill?’ Well, I would suggest that it has a lot to do with Knaphill. Julia and I love living in Knaphill. Although a suburb of Woking these days, Knaphill has somehow managed to avoid being absorbed into the urban sprawl of its much larger neighbour and retain its identity as an ‘urban village’. Knaphill may not be as ‘pretty’ as some of the ‘chocolate box’ villages scattered elsewhere throughout Surrey, but it has a great atmosphere. It has a fascinating history of its own, and quite a number of its residents have lived in Knaphill all their lives. Knaphill commands a certain ‘loyalty’ from those of us who live here and we love the place. There is a certain ‘civic pride’ and a determination to ensure that Knaphill survives the constant pressures from big business and greedy entrepreneurs to overwhelm it and sell it off bit by bit for profit. Julia and I have encountered a really warm and friendly welcome from just about everyone we have met, not only from ‘church people’ but from ordinary members of the community, the shopkeepers, neighbours, members of the Residents Association, and so on. We feel like we have lived here for ages, and just love being here.

Knaphill has its problems, however, not least the threat to local businesses and shops etc. The site of the Old Library remains an eyesore that blights the centre of the village with the building growing more and more dilapidated as the days go by. At a recent meeting of the Residents’ Association Committee (of which I am a member) we were told that assurance had been given (yet again) that work would be starting on the site in a few weeks. When I repeated this to someone a few days later my comment was greeted with derision. ‘We have heard it all before!’ they said (obviously feeling that as a comparative newcomer to Knaphill) I had fallen for the same old deception that continually does the rounds? Several of the shops in Knaphill are in the process of closing down as well. The reason given is that the rents they are now being asked to pay have risen considerably despite the fact that business is falling off for these shops. One wonders what will happen to these shops? Will each of them become yet another ‘fast food’ outlet? I love food (as my friends know), and there are some great ‘eateries’ in Knaphill, but the last thing Knaphill needs is yet more ‘fast food’ outlets! The largest pub in Knaphill is also about to close and the rumours are that it is going to be turned into flats and/or shops? Most of the shops and businesses are already suffering because of the impact of the nearby giant Sainsbury Supermarket. As things stand at the moment we still have a couple of banks, Boots the Chemist, a library, and a Post Office … but there is still an imbalance of the types of shops we need in Knaphill. We could do with a better balance … maybe a hardware store, a proper toy shop, a butchers and so on would be welcome additions. The reality is, however, that without an up rise in business we are likely to see more shop closures in the future.

What then, is the solution? Well, one thing we could do is to use our local shops and businesses more than we do. I quite understand why people shop at the big supermarkets, and I am not suggesting for one moment that we cease to do so, but we could also make a deliberate point of using our local shops and businesses. Julia and I make a point of regularly shopping at our local grocery stores, newsagents, chemist, electrical shop, and so on. We buy flowers from the florist each week. We make use of the library, and the Post Office. We eat breakfast one day each week in our local café. We buy clothes from our local outfitters. Few of us who live in Knaphill (judging by the number of Mercedes cars around) are so poor that we really cannot afford to buy some stuff from our local shops. If Knaphill Village is to survive, however, I suspect we need to do more than this!

This is where I think we can learn something from the Ffald-y-Brenin situation. Roy Godwin’s vision is not just that Ffald-y-Brenin should to be ‘a house of prayer’ praying God’s blessing into the local community, but that God would raise up other ‘Prayer Houses’ throughout the UK (and around the world) praying for God’s blessing to be upon the people, shops, businesses, families, schools, churches, etc. of their local communities. Those of us who have a heart for Knaphill – especially those of us who profess to be Christians – need to really take our community to heart and start to pray for God’s blessing to fall on our community. Can I suggest that you re-read the quotation in italics given above concerning the ‘pattern’ of prayer employed by the good folk at Ffald-y-Brenin and use it as a basis for your own prayer for Knaphill (or your own community). As Christians we are not here primarily to condemn our communities and the people who live there. There will always be stuff going on that we ‘struggle’ with as Christians, but primarily we believe that the Christian Gospel is ‘good news’ and that God ‘desires everyone to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4). So we need to start to pray positively for our village, its shops, businesses, schools, institutions, churches and people. Praying that God, in his love and mercy, will be pleased to pour out his blessing on our community … not just that our community might prosper materially, but that it might turn afresh to the Living God and experience spiritual blessing as well!

God bless you and keep you,
God smile on you and gift you,
God look you full in the face
and make you prosper.
~ Numbers 6:24-26 (The Message)

Jim Binney

Some years ago I knew a Baptist Minister who had been the Minister of his church for well over 20 years. He told me, just before Palm Sunday one year (facetiously I hope) that he had preached so many ‘Palm Sunday Sermons’ over the years that he had finally run out of ‘original things’ to say on Palm Sunday … so this year he was reduced to preaching on the subject of ‘Jesus … from the donkey’s point of view’.

The donkey is, of course, one of the two central characters in the ‘Palm Sunday Story’ (the other being Jesus). Palm Sunday falls on the Sunday before Easter and commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four Gospels (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44 John 12:12-19). According to the Gospels, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, and the celebrating people there laid down their cloaks and small branches of palm trees in front of him, and sang part of Psalm 118: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’. It is suggested that this was a ‘prophetic enactment’ fulfilling the words of the Prophet Zechariah: ‘See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey’ (Zechariah 9:9). In this way Jesus openly declared that he was indeed the promised Messiah, and forced the Jewish Sanhedrin to ‘show their hand’ so to speak.

The story itself is full of incident and significance and leaves us with much to ponder. Reading it once again this year, however, I was reminded of a poem that we were forced to learn at school as children. I did not appreciate poetry that much in those days, and it is only in later life that I have come to enjoy poetry, and even write the odd poem or six myself. I certainly did not appreciate, or understand the meaning behind, this particular poem. It was C K Chesterton’s poem, The Donkey:

When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.

~ G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

The poem itself is, of course, Chesterton’s ‘take’ on those events that first ‘Palm Sunday’ – ‘Jesus … from the donkey’s point of view’, if you like. Gilbert Keith Chesterton, better known as G. K. Chesterton, was an English writer, lay theologian, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, literary and art critic, biographer, and Christian apologist. He is often referred to as the ‘prince of paradox’ and it has been suggested that ‘Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories – first carefully turning them inside out.’

Chesterton’s poem The Donkey is a classic of reversed perspectives – ‘unexpected prophecy in the mouth of a donkey … highly suitable for celebrating Palm Sunday, the festival of the king who rides humbly on an ass, rather than on a war horse like the Roman conquerors’ as Janet Morely puts it in her excellent book, The Heart’s Time – a series of mediations on various poems for Lent and Easter. The whole poem is written with the donkey as the narrator and never really moves beyond that perspective. A lot is implied about the Person the donkey is carrying although Jesus is never actually mentioned by name? The reader is expected to be familiar with the Palm Sunday story and therefore able to ‘fill in the gaps’ or ‘join up the dots’ so to speak. The ability to do this would have been much more common in Chesterton’s day than today, although hopefully the poem itself is intriguing enough to make the reader who is ignorant of the Palm Sunday story delve deeper into the background of the poem. But even for those of us who are familiar with the Palm Sunday story there is much here to make us think more deeply and radically about the significance of the events on that unique day 2,000 years ago. Those of us who are familiar with the Bible are perhaps reminded of another donkey that spoke in the Bible – Balaam’s ass (Numbers 22) who saw and responded to an angel while his master remained oblivious?

Time does not permit us to unpack every nuance that Chesterton finds in the events of that first Palm Sunday, and subsequently expresses through the words of the donkey. I would suggest that getting hold of Janet Morely’s little book (mentioned above) would be a worthwhile investment – not only for her penetrating observations on this particular poem, but also on several other poems with biblical and theological connotations. There is, however, one particular aspect that seems to stand out for me – one that is well worth sharing. It has to do with the fact that God can use even that which has a self-esteem that is so low that it is several degrees sub-zero, that which everyone and everything else completely dismisses as ugly, ludicrous, useless, unimportant, and so on and so forth!

Throughout the poem the donkey constantly refers to itself as seen to be ‘monstrous’, ‘the devil’s walking parody’, etc., and sees itself not only as mocked, derided, and dismissed by society in general but also by the donkey itself. However, it has a ‘secret’ that it largely keeps to itself. It had its ‘hour’, its moment in the sun, if you like. There was a day, a time, when Jesus himself, chose the donkey. The One who was ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ (Revelation 19:6) chose to ride on a humble donkey, into the streets of Jerusalem, in declaration of who he truly was. And in that moment the humbly donkey – dismissed by the majority and full of self-loathing – was elevated to a position way above anything that it had previously considered possible in the extreme! No wonder the donkey – now full of the kind of confidence and rightful self-esteem that comes from knowing that God can use even the humblest of creatures – considers those who are so dismissive of him ‘Fools’ who know nothing of the way God works, time and again. Using a poor widow woman with two copper coins (Luke 21:2-4), or a small boy with a few loaves and fishes (John 6:1-14), rather than rich men with bags of gold or ‘grown ups’ who keep their ‘food’ for themselves? As the Apostle Paul tells the Corinthian Christians: ‘God deliberately chose men and women that society overlooks and exploits and abuses … chose “nobodies”’(1 Corinthians 1:27) in order to fulfil his great plans and purposes for the world!

Gladys Aylward (1902-1970) was a British evangelical Christian missionary to China, whose story was told in the book The Small Woman, by Alan Burgess, published in 1957, and made into the film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, starring Ingrid Bergman, in 1958. Born to a working-class family in Edmonton, North London, she worked as a housemaid at an early age but always had an ambition to go overseas as a missionary and studied with great determination to be fitted for the role, only to be turned down because her academic background was inadequate, and the China Inland Mission to which she applied was convinced that it was not possible to learn the language at her age. In 1932, completely ‘off her own back’, she spent her life savings on a train passage to Yangcheng, Shanxi Province, China. The perilous trip took her across Siberia with the Trans-Siberian Railway, where she was forced to get off the train she was on and walk to her destination … and ‘the rest’, as they say, ‘is history’! So … if you think that you are useless, that you have nothing much to offer, that everybody else dismisses you, that you actually don’t even think much of yourself …be encouraged! You may very well be just the person God is looking for … right here, right now!

Jim Binney

I am a self-confessed ‘foodie’! I cannot deny it, all my friends know it to be true … especially my Facebook friends who are often treated to photographs of meals that I have enjoyed in various parts of the world. According to Wikipedia (that font of all human knowledge) ‘a foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food and alcoholic beverages’. In my defence I have to say that a ‘foodie’ seeks new food experiences as a hobby rather than simply eating out of convenience or hunger. True, I may be somewhat overweight as a result, but I am not grossly overweight (only about 7lbs or so) although Julia constantly nags me about the need for me to undertake more exercise. In response I have now actually moved the exercise bike from the garage into the junk room in our house?

So, given the fact that I am without question a ‘foodie’, when we came to live in Knaphill just before Christmas 2015 … I honestly thought that I had died and gone to ‘food heaven’! We love living in this ‘urban village’ on the outskirts of Woking for lots and lots of reasons, but one of those reasons is the vast number of excellent cafés, eateries and restaurants that exist here. And what a wonderful choice of cuisines? There is something for every occasion, every taste, and every mood! Stef’s Café has got to be just one of the best places ever for a ‘Full English’ breakfast (it even rivals Café Blue in Weymouth) and one of our (almost) weekly delights is to slip in for breakfast after our early morning (well early enough for us) Prayer Meeting at the Church on a Friday. Julia (as you would expect) always chooses the ‘healthy option’ (salmon and poached eggs) whilst I (as you would also expect) always chooses the ‘unhealthy option’?! Valentino’s Coffee and Juice Bar serve up the most wonderful Italian pastries to go with the coffee of your choice, whilst the Forbidden City Chinese Restaurant has just got to be the best Chinese restaurant ever with its wonderful ‘all-you-can-eat’ menu, brilliant ambience and friendly service. The pizzas from Milano Pizza are superb, and lunch at the Garibaldi pub is a real treat. And these are just a few of the places we have managed to visit in the three months we have been in Knaphill!

We are really looking forward to slowly but surely visiting all the other cafés, eateries, restaurants and pubs in turn … everything from the two fish and chip shops to the posh Italian Restaurants! I have ‘toured’ the village and made a note of the 18 or so places I want to visit … and I haven’t even managed to venture down the hill towards Woking yet, even though I know that there are various other places down there that are probably also ‘calling my name’?!

However, as Jesus reminds us, ‘People cannot live by food alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Matthew 4:4). The context of this saying of Jesus is his temptation in the desert following on from his baptism and anointing with the Holy Spirit. One of the temptations that Satan put before Jesus was to use his divine power to ‘feed all the world’s hungry’ – which on the face of things seems like a jolly good idea?! Jesus knew, however, that ‘feeding all the world’s hungry’ would not really solve the bigger problem of ‘man’s inhumanity to man’. In Jesus’ day, as in our own day, the problem of ‘world hunger’ could easily have been solved simply by a ‘fairer distribution of assets’. In one sense we do not need ‘divine intervention’ to solve the problem of hunger in the ‘two-thirds world’!? All that is needed is for the ‘haves’ to share what they have with the ‘have not’s’. The rich to share their possessions equally with the poor. There is more than enough food to go around if only that third of the world with more than enough shared what they have with the two-thirds of the world that don’t have enough. A recent Oxfam report revealed the startling fact that ‘the richest 85 people on the globe, between them, control as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population put together’!

For Jesus, using his divine power to ‘feed the hungry’ would only mask the real problem behind ‘world poverty’ (and all the other ‘evils’ of this world) which is ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ (and I don’t apologise here for using non-politically correct language because it normally is ‘men’ who lead the way in these evils). Thus, in response to Satan, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3: ‘People cannot live by food alone … they live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God!’ In other words, the only way we are going to change this world for the better is by taking seriously the way God wants us all to live, as laid out for us clearly in the Bible … and if I may so, particularly in the New Testament and in the teaching of Jesus that we find in the Gospels!

In our church, Knaphill Baptist Church, we are currently working our way (during Lent) through a series of studies on the theme of ‘Taking God Seriously’. We have based this series initially on a verse from the Book of Micah where the Prophet exhorts us: ‘Don’t take yourselves too seriously … take God seriously!’ (Micah 6:8 The Message). In the same verse Micah goes on to ask: ‘What does the Lord require of you?’ and answers this question by suggesting such things as: ‘To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God’. In our series we are looking at what this really means, but in addition we are looking at some of the things Jesus also suggested in answer to this question. We are deliberately ‘bringing Jesus into the equation’ because it is only in and through him that we can find the ‘life changing power and purpose’ which enables us to ‘make a real difference’. As Saul of Tarsus (who eventually became the Apostle Paul), a high ranking Jewish Pharisee (who recognised that ‘religious legalism’ didn’t ‘cut the mustard’) discovered: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13).

Introducing ‘foodie’ talk during Lent may seem somewhat ‘improper’, especially for those who have chosen to ‘give up’ certain things for Lent. Certainly the ‘traditional’ understanding of Lent was that it was a time for ‘fasting’ – giving up certain things such as favourite foods, or drink etc. in order to devote more time to prayer and contemplation, thought and decision, in preparation for the ‘serious events’ and challenges of Easter Week. For a number of years now I have adopted a somewhat different approach which is to use the Lent period to prayerfully think through areas where God might want me to ‘add something’ to my way of life, in the light of all that Jesus did for us on the Cross and through the Resurrection. Something that would glorify God and bless others rather than something which would simply ‘benefit me’ selfishly. Such things might be to give more to charity (to help the disadvantaged in the two-thirds world, perhaps), or to give time to work in a charity shop, or with young people, or … well the possibilities are endless (and in reality this is between you and God and your conscience)! For me, of course, as a self-confessed ‘foodie’ ‘feasting’ is to be preferred to ‘fasting’ any day … although perhaps the two really do go together … and perhaps we also need to have a different kind of ‘food’ in mind …

Fast from criticism and feast on praise.
Fast from self-pity and feast on joy.
Fast from ill-temper and feast on peace.
Fast from resentment and feast on contentment.
Fast from jealousy and feast on love.
Fast from pride and feast on humility.
Fast from selfishness and feast on service.
Fast from fear and feast on faith.

Jim Binney

Accentuate the Positive

I grew up in the late 1940s/early 1950s. When I was a child we didn’t have things like a car, central heating, a telephone, a television … and all the other things my grandchildren take for granted today. We did have ‘steam radio’ however, and it was constantly on when we were at home. I remember that there seemed to always be lots of popular music programmes on the radio in those days … and I still remember a number of the songs. One very popular song back then was ‘Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive’. The music was written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and it was published in 1944 (the year after I was born). It was sung in the style of a sermon, and suggested that ‘accentuating the positive’ was the key to happiness. Describing his inspiration for the lyric, Mercer explained that he went to hear Father Divine (a popular preacher of the day who began life as a Baptist but eventually became very ‘odd ball’). Apparently Father Divine preached a sermon, when Mercer heard him, which included the phrase: ‘you got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.’ Mercer’s response was, ‘Wow, that’s a colourful phrase!’ Mercer then went home and wrote a song about it … in which the words, ‘You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative’ form a recurring refrain.

In the Church Year we are currently in the Season of Lent. Lent is a period of six weeks, 40 days (not including Sundays) leading up to Easter (the most important festival in the Christian calendar). Lent starts on Ash Wednesday in western Christian Churches, and comes to its climax during Easter Week. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week. During the 40 days of Lent, Christians remember the time when Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray, following his baptism, before beginning his public ministry and ultimately fulfilling his divine purpose in taking human form – his sacrificial death on Calvary’s cross in order to redeem us from sin and its damning effects. During this time Jesus was severely tempted by Satan, but was able to resist (Luke 4:1-13).

Lent is therefore seen, by many people, as a time for giving things up for a season. For Christians, it is one way of remembering the time Jesus fasted in the desert and is a test of self-discipline. There are many foods that some Christians do not eat in Lent, such as meat or fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods. Some Christians just give up something they really enjoy such as cakes or chocolate or alcohol. In western Christian Churches, the day before Lent starts is called ‘Shrove Tuesday’ or ‘Pancake Day’ and traditionally is the last chance to use up the foods Christians would not be eating during Lent. Today people often give up chocolate or alcohol. The following day, the first day of Lent, is known as ‘Ash Wednesday’ and many western Christian churches hold Services in the course of the day during which Christians are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes (that come from burning the palm crosses from Palm Sunday of the previous year). This is a sign of ‘Penitence’ or saying ‘Sorry to God’ for any wrong doing and marks the beginning of ‘Lent Fasting’.

In latter years, however, it has become popular to use Lent as a kind of ‘spring board’ or ‘launch pad’ in order to ‘take on something’ rather than ‘give up something’. To ‘accentuate the positive’ and ‘latch on to the affirmative’ if you like, rather than just ‘eliminate the negative’! Now in many ways, there is nothing wrong with ‘giving up things’ for Lent. We know of one particular Christian friend who always gives up chocolate for Lent and she says that this is the only way she can annually get her ‘chocolate habit’ under control (after the excesses of Christmas). Others have found that ‘giving up smoking’ for example, initially during Lent, has enabled them to ‘break the habit’ completely. If, however, ‘giving up something for Lent’ is only done in order to ‘lose weight’ or ‘dry out’ etc. then we are in danger of ‘missing’ the whole ‘reason for the season’.

This year at our church in Knaphill we have taken the theme of ‘Taking God Seriously’ for Lent. We have based the various sermons, small group studies, etc. for this season on a verse from the Book of Micah where the Prophet exhorts his hearers (and us readers) with the words: ‘Don’t take yourself too seriously – take God seriously!’ (Micah 6:8 The Message). The 40 days of Lent are best used – and this is why we ‘fast’ or ‘abstain’ from certain other things that otherwise may distract us – as a prolonged period given over to prayer and meditation, thoughtfulness and (ultimately) possible decision-making, in which we seriously ponder the claims and call of Jesus Christ on our lives.

The fruit of ‘taking God seriously’ over the period of Lent should not find its fulfilment in simply some kind of ‘short-term fix’ – losing a few pounds in weight (before putting them all on again) or giving up smoking for a few weeks (before smoking ourselves to death once again) once Lent is over? We need to use this period to genuinely, prayerfully examine ourselves, our life-style, our purpose in life even, in the light of Christ and his claim upon us.

Perhaps this is why I am inclined to favour this new approach to Lent in which we seek to deliberately ‘take on things’ – to ‘accentuate the positive’ and ‘latch on to the affirmative’ – rather than just ‘give up something’ – ‘eliminate the negative’. Now by this I don’t mean ‘taking on anything and everything’ just for the sake of it or just because we ‘spot a gap’ somewhere or other and decide that we will fill it. The Apostle Paul – someone who was very used to the Jewish ‘work ethic’ from his days as a Pharisee and key member of the Jewish Ruling Council – was very aware of the danger of being caught up in a kind of ‘driven-ness’ or ‘ought-ness’ (either self-imposed or imposed on us by others or the situation in which we find ourselves at the time) that simply serves to ‘drain us’ rather than ‘energise us’. Writing to the Christians in Rome he reminds them that we are ‘called according to God’s purpose’ (Romans 8:28), and writing to the Christians in Ephesus he reminds them that although we cannot be saved by good works we are ‘saved for good works’ but immediately qualifies this by telling us that these are not just to be any kind of good works but rather ‘those good works God has prepared beforehand for us to do’ (Ephesians 2:10). In both these Letters Paul is at pains to express the idea that God has a ‘specific purpose’ in life for each one of us. Our job is to discern that particular purpose … and then seek (with God’s help) to fulfil it. As the old hymn says: ‘There’s a work for Jesus ready at your hand, ‘tis a work the Master just for you has planned!’ Lent (used properly) is the perfect time for us to deliberately ‘take time out’ to prayerfully discern (and commit to) that which God wants for us in the future. Ultimately, God has a ‘life plan’ for us … but more often than not that plan and purpose consists of ‘bite sized chunks’ that we can take ‘step by step’ and ‘one step at a time’ (if you will allow me to mix metaphors)!

Jim Binney

The Spice Girls

One of Knaphill’s many ‘claims to fame’ is that it was the birthplace of the Spice Girls during the mid-90s. Today the Spice Girls have sold over 80 million records making them the best-selling female group of all time and one of the best-selling pop groups in history. They are all multi-millionaires in their own right, but ‘back in the day’ things were very different. Responding to an advertisement for young, female singers and dancers to form a ‘girl band’ (to compete with the various popular ‘boy bands’ of the day) the girls worked on various dance routines at the Trinity Studios in Knaphill (now known as the Woking Youth Arts Centre owned by Peer Productions, a large theatre company that provides dramatic education for students of all ages). Because they were comparatively poor in those early days,  the girls (during a break in rehearsals) would take the short walk up to Knaphill Village and buy lunch in ‘The King’s House’, a café run by some of the Churches in Knaphill, which was set up to serve the local community by providing good quality food and drinks at reasonable prices, together with social contact in a welcoming and non-threatening environment. Sadly, ‘The King’s House’ no longer exists as a café run by the Churches in Knaphill today (although the café still exists, now called ‘Stef’s’, it remains very popular with the locals).

The Spice Girls debut single was a song called ‘Wannabe’ in 1996, which hit number one in 37 countries. Today, most of us (even if we are not pop music lovers) are familiar its catchy oft-repeated refrain: ‘So tell me what you want, what you really, really want. I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!’ There is a humorous anecdote told about one of the various documentaries filmed about the Spice Girls some years later. In this particular documentary the film company wanted to ‘reproduce’ a scene showing the Spice Girls ‘lunching’ in ‘The King’s House’ aka those early days. One of the ‘extras’ used during filming, was a member of the local Methodist Church who ‘helped out’ in ‘The King’s House’ (in a voluntary capacity) in those days, was a retired Professor of Anthropology (or something really clever like that). For the particular ‘film scene’ he was asked to serve the Spice Girls as they sat at their ‘usual table’. Being somewhat ‘other worldly’ he didn’t really have a clue who the Spice Girls actually were, nor the significance of the ‘line’ he was given for his ‘big part’ in the scene? As the girls sat at their table he approached them to take their food order with the words: ‘So tell me what you want, what you really, really want?’

So, here’s a question for you! What is it that you want, what you really, really want … from life? I guess that amongst the various responses to this question would be things like: wealth, health, happiness, a happy marriage, a good job, a nice house, a nice car, etc. Other people (more outward looking people) might plump for things like: an end to world poverty, the cessation of war, world peace, a cure for horrendous diseases such as cancer, and so on. Yet others (more realistically) might suggest things that might put them ‘in the frame’ so to speak, in terms of trying to ‘make a difference’. Things such as: ‘I want to be … a really good school teacher … a clever, compassionate doctor … a patient, caring nurse … a genuine politician who makes a real difference …’ The list of ‘vocational’ careers, where people can be (and be seen to be) authentic is endless. Personally, I like the idea of what someone once termed ‘a life lived for others, life’ rather than a ‘what’s in for me’ type of life. I was struck some years back (and remain struck) by a phrase that the Apostle Peter uses to describe that which he is most grateful to God for saving him from when he became a Christian. It is not so much that God has saved Peter from the power of sin, or Satan, or even death (although all this is true) but, most important of all, God saved him from ‘an empty or wasted way of life’ (1 Peter 1:18). Peter was a fisherman … and probably a very good fisherman at that (possibly running a small business enterprise on the Galilee along with his brother Andrew and his friends James and John) but God had something much better for him. There is a very true saying that ‘The enemy of the better is the good!’. The fishing business was ‘good’ for Peter but it was not a satisfying occupation. God had something ‘better’ for him. Everything changed for Peter (and his brother) when one day Jesus came alongside them and said: ‘“Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed’ (Matthew 4:19). Getting alongside other needy people and helping them find God for themselves, and God’s plan and purpose for their lives, was far more satisfying than anything Peter had ever done before with his life!

Another Apostle, the Apostle Paul … who was also seemingly very ‘successful’ in his early life (when he was known as Saul of Tarsus) but in reality was extremely dissatisfied until he met Jesus and got completely ‘turned around’ … put his new found purpose in life this way: ‘I want to know Christ … I want to know his resurrection power … I want to know what it is to somehow share his sufferings … I want to becoming like him’ (Philippians 4:10). Paul found his raison d’être through coming to know Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord. Paul realised that it was not through becoming a ‘successful businessman’ (he was a skilled tradesman and the proprietor of a successful leather business) or achieving ‘prominence’ within his own community (he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Ruling Council), that a genuine sense of purpose and satisfaction in life came. It was only through coming to know God in Christ that he discovered what the real plan and purpose – God’s plan and purpose – for his life was! As Paul tells the Ephesian Christians, on another occasion: ‘We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works … but not just any kind of good works … those good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do’ (Ephesians 2:10). As the old hymn reminds us: ‘There’s a work for Jesus ready at your hand, ‘tis a work the Master just for you has planned!’ Happy …really happy … is the man or woman who genuinely finds their God-given purpose or vocation in life!

So, what is it that you want, what you really, really want … from life? Sometime ago I was speaking at wedding and after the ceremony was over, and the bride and groom were having their photographs taken, I was approached by one of the wedding guests. He was a man in his late 30s I would guess, and he had a question for me. ‘Did I understand you right?’ he asked. ‘Did you suggest in your address that we only find our real purpose in life through committing our lives to Jesus Christ and following him through life as our Saviour and Lord?’ Now I confess that I was somewhat hesitant in responding to this man’s question. I hoped I hadn’t ‘put him off’ the Christian life by being too blunt? He wasn’t going to ‘let me off the hook’ however. ‘Did you or did you not say that we only find our real purpose in life through committing our lives to Jesus Christ and following him through life as our Saviour and Lord?’ he asked again. I decided to ‘bite the bullet’. ‘Yes!’ I said, ‘I did suggest that we only find our real purpose in life through committing our lives to Jesus Christ and following him through life as our Saviour and Lord?’ ‘Good!’ the man replied … ‘That’s exactly what I have been looking for!’ He went on to tell me his story. As a youngster he had heard the Christian Gospel but had rejected it because he had his heart set on other things. He was intent on going to university, getting a good degree, getting a good job, becoming a ‘partner’ in his chosen profession, earning a lot of money, meeting a nice girl, getting married, having a family, buying a lovely house, having a nice car … etc., etc. ‘I thought that all that would bring me happiness and a real sense of achievement in life!’ he told me. ‘I have all those things now’ he continued, ‘but I still don’t have that happiness and sense of real achievement that I hoped for. I know that there is something still missing in my life … but today you have shown me what it is, I intend to rectify my earlier mistake!’

So, in conclusion … here’s that question for you again! What is it that you want, what you really, really want … from life?

Jim Binney

Knaphill Baptist Chapel

The earliest reference to Knaphill dates back to 1225, but little of historical note seems to have disturbed the village for the next 500 years. The 18^th century saw the establishment of the first garden nurseries and, at about the same time, the foundation of the Knaphill Brickworks. The village developed further with the construction of the Basingstoke Canal in the 1790s and the London & South Western Railway in the 1830s. In Victorian times, the local area gained the reputation as ‘the home of the mad, the bad and the sad’. The ‘mad’ could be found in Brookwood Hospital, the second County Asylum, in Knaphill. The ‘bad’ were held in the Woking Invalid and Women’s Prisons, built on the outskirts of Knaphill. And the ‘sad’ were the mourners at Brookwood Cemetery and the nearby Crematorium in St Johns, the first custom-built crematorium in the country. Most of these are ‘long gone’ now. The Invalid Prison was converted into the Inkerman Barracks at the end of the 19^th century, but the prisons, barracks and hospital have now all closed. Knaphill itself has been assumed into the sprawl of ‘Greater Woking’ although it still somehow manages to retain something of its independence and charm as an ‘urban village.

Despite moving to Knaphill … this ‘home of the mad, the bad, and the sad‘ … Julia and I are really glad to be here! We have been here for a month and a half now, and we really, really like it. For a start we now have a home of our own again. Now don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed living in Rodden in rural West Dorset and really appreciated Julia’s mother’s generosity and kindness in opening her home up for us to stay with her (although I’m not sure any of us expected it to turn out to be for five years) … but it was not our home, it was hers. As a result we always felt a bit ‘uncomfortable’ about having people call round to see us, or having friends come and stay for a few days. The problem was that although Chipps Barton was a beautiful home … a large detached thatched cottage set in its own grounds … it was not ‘a home of our own’. Now we are in Knaphill we have our ‘own home’ again. Well, it is a ‘Manse’ of course, and actually belongs to the church, but to all effect and purpose it is ‘ours’, so to speak, and we can invite round whoever we want, and have friends ‘come and stay’ (when we have finally extended the downstairs study and therefore released one of the upstairs bedrooms as a ‘guest room’, that is). ‘Practising hospitality’ is something the New Testament commends. Both the Apostles Paul (Romans 12:13) and Peter (1 Peter 4:9) suggest that it is something all of us who ‘name the Name’ of Christ should practice (if we possibly can), and the Writer to the Hebrews even goes as far as to suggest that by ‘not neglecting to show hospitality to strangers … some have even entertained angels without knowing it’ (Hebrews 13:2). We have always loved to use our home not only as a place to ‘host meetings’ or a ‘home group’ but as a place where people can drop in for a coffee, share anything on their hearts, and find counsel, friendship and prayer if needed. We also love to have people come and stay … for a couple of days or even longer when necessary.

We are also glad to be in Knaphill because it means that Julia has been able to return to the Baptist Ministry and resume the very effective teaching and pastoral ministry God has gifted her with. She really is extremely gifted. She is an excellent Preacher, a caring and compassionate Pastor, a very Prayerful Person and a sensitive Worship Leader, who somehow manages to maintain a good balance between preserving that which is good within the local church and enabling the church to move on into the ‘new things’ God has for us. Now, every Christian, whether ‘ordained’ or not has a ‘ministry’ of some description. God ‘gifts’ every Christian with at least one particular gift that they can use for the glory of God and the benefit of others. There are several places in the New Testament where ‘sample lists’ of typical giftings are given. Thus the Apostle Paul writes to the Roman Church and tells them: ‘We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully’ (Romans 12:6-8). This is not an exclusive list, but simply several examples of what God’s giftings may look like. We may want to add all sorts of modern equivalents for today, to go alongside the prophetic preaching, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, and compassionate caring listed here. When I was at Slough, W T H Richards (the Senior Pastor) used to say that ‘The job of the church is not to ‘appoint’ people (to leadership or other positions in the church) but to ‘recognise’ those whom God is clearly raising up!’ Part of the job of Pastors in particular (and the church meeting in general) is to ‘enable’ the various members of our church and congregation to discover their particular ‘gifting’ and then ‘grow and function’ in that gifting. As the old hymn goes: ‘There’s a work for Jesus, ready at your hand, ’tis a work the Master, just for you has planned!’ Julia’s ‘gifting’ is to be a Pastor-Teacher and Knaphill Baptist Church have recognised this. They are still in the process of trying to ‘work out’ what to do with me, by the way (answers on a postcard to the Church Secretary)?  Let me conclude this paragraph, however, by asking you what your God-given ‘gifting’ is … and if you are using it for God’s glory and the benefit of others?

We are also glad to be in Knaphill because of the church and the people. Knaphill Baptist Church may be numerically small (at the moment) but it is a very warm, welcoming and enthusiastic bunch of people of all ages. Since we started to seriously think and pray about Julia returning to the Baptist Ministry she has had a number of possibilities come to the fore, including one or two quite large churches numerically, but we  were really looking for the ‘right’ situation – the one God had already chosen for us. For a number of reasons we wanted to go to a ‘small church’ … although a small church with potential … where we could give something back and really make a difference. The ‘Knaphill Baptist Church Story’ is a fascinating one (you can read some of it on the church webpage at http://www.knaphillbaptist.org.uk) and they were looking for someone who could help them ‘move forward’ to the next stage in their journey. They are such a warm, supportive, appreciative bunch of people and deserve the kind of primary ‘leadership’ that will help them to achieve their Christ-centred goals and ambitions, which hopefully Julia (with myself and others in support) can provide. Everyone is so friendly. Whether it is at church on a Sunday, or at the Parents and Toddlers Group on a Tuesday, or just walking round the village during the week … everybody is so cheery and chatty. I ‘popped in’ to the Parents and Toddlers Group earlier this week (Julia goes every week) and the parents (mostly non-church people) were all coming up and introducing themselves to me and seemed genuinely pleased that we had moved to Knaphill. It is the same in the shops … we now know ‘Steve’ in the electrical shop, ‘Amber’ in the hairdressers, ‘Pam’ in Homebase, and ‘Emmy’ in Argos … which is great when (like us) you are into genuine ‘Friendship Evangelism’ and ‘Relational Church’. We are not really into what has been called ‘Primitive Church’ – the obsession with getting back to the ‘methodology’ of the so called ‘New Testament Church’ – but do believe that there are certain ‘principles’ that can be found there which we certainly could learn a lot from. One of these principles … and one we would like to see extended in Knaphill … is the radical nature of the early church in Jerusalem. Luke tells us that this church ‘devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’ (Acts 2:42-47).

So for these reasons (and lots of other reasons as well) Julia and I are really glad to be now living, and ministering, in ‘mad, bad, sad Knaphill’. Please continue to pray for us. Do feel free to come and pay us a visit any Sunday morning (we meet at 11.00 a.m.) and support us from time to time if you can (we are very short of musicians, for example). And … if you feel that you are ‘marking time’ as far as your life and ministry goes, and God puts it into your heart, why not come and join us and share in the exciting adventure that we believe God is enabling us to embark on here in Knaphill? We can assure you that you will receive as warm a welcome from the ‘Knaphillians’ as we have ourselves!

Jim Binney  

Religion or Relationship

I love painting – not walls and skirting boards – proper art! I love visiting art galleries, and I love actually painting myself. Water colour is my favourite medium, although I have started to dabble a bit with acrylic. I love photography, and usually have a camera somewhere within easy access, either in my pocket or in my haversack, but nothing quite beats actually painting a scene. When it comes to portrait painting I am not very good – perhaps cartoons are nearer my mark than proper portraits. But when it comes to ‘scenes’ … a country cottage or fields hedges and trees, or a harbour or a market place … there is just something about actually putting it down on paper with pencil and paint. ‘Proper Art’ I call it … not this ‘Painting By Numbers’ nonsense that seems to be growing in popularity by the day?

‘Painting by Numbers’ describes kits having a board on which light blue or gray lines indicate areas to paint, each area having a number and a corresponding numbered paint to use. The kits were invented, developed and marketed in 1950 by Max S. Klein, an engineer and owner of the Palmer Paint Company of Detroit, Michigan, and Dan Robbins, a commercial artist. In 1951 Palmer Paint introduced the Craft Master brand which sold over 12 million kits. This public response induced other companies to produce their own versions of paint by number. The Craft Master paint-kit box tops proclaimed: ‘A Beautiful Oil Painting the First Time You Try!’ The rest, as they say, is history? But however good some of these ‘paintings’ may look … and they are even finding there way into ‘collections’ and Art Galleries these days … for me they are not ‘art’ in the proper sense of the word. All that is needed is the ability to follow ‘the instructions’, choose the ‘correctly numbered paint pot’ and have the ability to ‘copy’ with a steady hand. There is no need for original thinking, artist flare, developing any God-given artistic talent, and so on.

It seems to me that this can be rather similar to the way in which some of us ‘do church’ or ‘do Christianity’? Instead of developing a ‘living relationship’ with Jesus Christ (rather than simply being ‘religious’ Christians), or endeavouring to be a ‘relational church’ (rather than an ‘institutional church’), it is easier to follow our equivalent of the ‘painting by numbers’ model. What do I mean by this? Well, to begin with, I am fascinated by the way in which so many Christians, and churches, feel the need to ‘define’ themselves – often in minute detail – in order to make it absolutely clear (to anyone who may be interested) exactly what kind of ‘Christian’ or ‘Church’ they are? It is no longer enough to describe oneself as ‘Christian’ … the very term ‘Christian’ has to be qualified down to the finest detail. The Social Media is full of this kind of thing: look at almost any ‘Church Website’ or any individual Christian’s ‘Facebook Page’ and you will find examples of what I am saying.

Many churches will include on their web page a ‘What We Believe’ section, which will often be quite long and detail exactly what that particular church in question ‘believes’ (and oftentimes what it does not believe, as well). Every ‘i’ is dotted, and every ‘t’ is crossed … and if an individual church hasn’t got the time or energy or inclination to go through the process of putting together such a statement, they will often simply adopt their particular denomination’s ‘Statement of Faith’ or something such as the ‘Evangelical Alliance Statement of Faith’, for example. Even individual Christians often go to lengths to make it clear just what sort of ‘Christian’ they are. Thus one man I know of recently describes himself in an article as ‘a Christian in the Western Tradition, Reformed in theology, Baptist in ecclesiology, Charismatic in experience, and Evangelical in desire to reach out to others!’

Now in some ways this is unavoidable. We live in a very messy, confused world where seemingly ‘anything goes’. So we need ‘rails to run on’. In some ways the church does need to be ‘institutional’ (hopefully in a small way) as well as ‘relational’. As individual Christians, and as a church, we do need to know what we believe. The problem comes, however, when instead of cultivating a living relationship with God in Christ we start to live out the Christian life by simply ‘ticking the appropriate boxes’ or ‘do church’ by legalistically adhering to the various tenets of our ‘Statement of Faith’ … the spiritual equivalent of ‘painting by numbers’ if you like.

True Christianity is ‘experimental’ (or ‘experiential’ if you like). In other words it is all about a living, personal relationship with God in Christ generated by the active presence of God the Holy Spirit within us. It is not about, and can never be about, simply obeying particular rules and regulations, ticking specific theological or ecclesiastical boxes, or adhering mentally to various points in some belief system or other (however true any of those points may be).

One of the most fascinating stories in the Bible – a story that underlines and affirms the point that I am seeking to make above – is the story of Jesus’ night-time conversation with a man called Nicodemus (John 3:1-15). Nicodemus was an extremely important man in Israel at that time. He was a leading Pharisee, a key member of the Sanhedrin (the ruling Jewish Council), and (if we understand Jesus aright here) he was not just ‘a teacher’ but ‘the teacher of Israel’ (John 3:10), that is, the leading Jewish theologian at the time, the ‘go to’ person for understanding the Jewish ‘belief system’ of the day. The Apostle John tells us here that Nicodemus came to see Jesus ‘during the night hours’ (John 3:2). This was not because Nicodemus was afraid that people might see him discussing things with Jesus but because the ‘night hours’ was the time for ‘serious, deep conversation’ … away from the heat of the day and the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Nicodemus wanted to have a serious conversation with Jesus because he was deeply burdened about the state of his own spiritual life. For all his ‘theological understanding’, his years of religious training as a Pharisee, a life of dedicated religious observance of the demands of the Jewish Law … Nicodemus had no living experience of God! Aware of the real reason for Nicodemus’ visit Jesus cut through Nicodemus’ opening pious, platitudinous greeting and got straight to the heart of Nicodemus’ problem: ‘In very truth I tell you no-one can see the kingdom of God without being born again’ (John 3:3)!

Initially Nicodemus was confused. He thought Jesus was talking about natural birth and couldn’t comprehend how someone could return to their mother’s womb and be born all over again (John 3:4). But, of course, Jesus was not speaking of ‘natural birth’ but rather speaking of ‘spiritual birth’. Jesus unpacked this concept by contrasting ‘natural birth’ with ‘spiritual birth’: ‘In very truth I tell you no-one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water [natural birth] and the Spirit [spiritual birth]. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit’ (John 3:5,6). Just as God breathes life into a human embryo in the womb in order to turn it from a lifeless amorphous mass of cells into a living being, so God breathes spiritual life into a spiritually dead sinner in order to enable them to ‘come alive’ spiritually! This ‘miracle’ is effected by God the Holy Spirit, Jesus tells Nicodemus. It is practically impossible to explain such an experience in a cohesive and comprehensive way. According to Jesus the Holy Spirit is like the wind – he moves wherever he wants to in whatever ways he wants to. What can be seen, however are the effects. Just as we can hear the wind, feel it blowing in our faces, and see how it drives the clouds or bends the trees … ‘So it is with everyone born of the Spirit’ says Jesus (John 3:8). I am not being naïve when I suggest there is an obvious difference between people who are simply ‘religious’ and those who have ‘a living relationship’ with God in Christ as a result of a receiving new life by the Holy Spirit!

We are not told in this story whether this conversation with Jesus resulted in Nicodemus being ‘born of the Spirit’ (John 3:8). Indeed the probability is that initially Nicodemus struggled with what Jesus had to say  (John 3:10-12). However, it would seem that sometime later Nicodemus himself came into such an experience of the living God because later on in Jesus’ story we find him standing up for Jesus before the Sanhedrin (John 7:50,51), and after the Crucifixion providing the customary embalming spices, and assisting Joseph of Arimathea in preparing the body of Jesus for burial (John 19:39-42).

What is very clear throughout, however, is that nowhere does Jesus advocate living the Christian life, or ‘doing church’ for that matter, in a kind of ‘painting by numbers’ way. As another ‘converted’ Pharisee (like Nicodemus), Saul of Tarsus who became better known as the Apostle Paul, was to say later: For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking [following man-made rules and regulations], but about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit [a dynamic experience of the living God]’ (Romans 14:17).

This was something that the Anglican clergyman, John Wesley (1703-91) (a man who went on to found the Methodist Church) also had to discover for himself. Although an ordained clergyman (rather like Nicodemus he had no living experience of God) until one day (he tells us in his Journal): ‘In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.’

Jim Binney

Disney’s animated movie The Lion King, portrays the struggle between good and evil through the adventures of a lion named Simba. Son of the lion king, Simba faces several challenges as he comes to terms with his royal heritage. In the opening scene, the long-awaited announcement of Simba’s birth is carried throughout the valleys and plateaus of Africa. Tribal drums and African chants herald the cub’s arrival. Elephants, gazelles, antelopes, vultures, zebras, giraffes, gulls, even tiny ants journey to receive the new royalty. They climb hills, descend sloping canyons, forge streams, and hike jungle paths. Once all the animals arrive in adoring reverence and praise, the infant cub is presented to the gathered subjects. Rafiki, the monkey elder, lifts the new born high above his head to symbolize Simba’s exalted calling. Symbolically, this is a grand picture of the Son of God, who came into the world as an infant and was exalted as king.

The Feast of Epiphany in the Christian Calendar (held on the 6 January in the Western Church) celebrates the self-revelation of God the Son as a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi or Wise Men to the Christ child, bearing symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Epiphany (which comes from the New Testament Greek word epiphaneia meaning ‘a moment of sudden and great revelation or realization’) however, is not just one day in the Church Year but a whole season (lasting several weeks) between Christmas and Lent. This Season of Epiphany provides us with an opportunity to explore two particular themes that are right at the heart of the Christian Gospel, namely that a) genuine Christian experience is born of a work of God deep within us whereby he breathes new spiritual life into people who previously were spiritually dead as a result of sin, and b) this ‘Good News’ (of what God has made possible for us in Christ) is for all people (not just for Jews).

Traditionally, the Season of Epiphany provides us with the opportunity to explore – to ‘underline’ or even ‘drive home’ – these two great themes in more detail by considering certain ‘happenings’ in the Gospel Story where God reveals himself in Christ to various people in particular situations. The stories themselves can vary, depending on how many weeks there are in the Season of Epiphany (there are many, many differing illustrations one could draw from in the Gospels), but normally there are three specific stories that we come back to year after year. These are the Visit of the Magi or Wise Men to the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12), the Baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:21,22), and the Wedding at Cana in Galilee (John 2:1-11). We could somewhat facetiously sum these up as being about ‘Wisdom, Water, and Wine … Lots and Lots of Wine!’ In reality each story has so much to teach us if we take time to listen and comprehend what is being taught here.

Obviously it is impractical to attempt to unpack each of these three stories in their entirety but perhaps a simple thought from each in turn may be help to reinforce the wonderful twin truths associated with Epiphany: that God reveals himself in a dynamic way to hearts and lives that are open to him, and that this wonderful ‘Good News’ is for every single one of us – not just for some special elite!

In the story of the Visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12) we see that the Magi were indeed ‘wise men’ (even though the story doesn’t use those actual words to describe them). It has been said that the difference between ‘knowledge’ and ‘wisdom’ is that ‘knowledge’ is the accumulation of facts whereas ‘knowledge’ is the ability to make sense of those facts and use them in an intelligent and profitable way. We live in a world that is brimming over with ‘knowledge’ … but seemingly sadly lacking in ‘wisdom’ in so many ways. The world we live in today has never been more ‘knowledgeable’ but so much of our ‘knowledge’ is used negatively and selfishly, to further ‘man’s in humanity to man’ rather than for the alleviation of poverty, disease and violence and the ‘common good’ of all humankind. The ‘Magi’ were definitely men of great learning. The word ‘Magi’ was the title given to priests in a sect of the ancient Persian religions such as Zoroastrianism. Today we would called them ‘astrologers’. Back then astronomy and astrology were considered part of the same overall ‘science’ and went hand in hand with each other. The Magi would have followed the patterns of the stars religiously. They had seen an unusual new star in the sky, and knew (possibly from their study of the Old Testament Scriptures) that it told of the birth of a special king. They also knew something of who this special child was, and what the future held for him – hence their symbolic gifts of gold (a gift for a king), frankincense (a gift for a priest), and myrrh (a gift for someone about to die). Matthew tells us that, ‘On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him’ (Matthew 2:11)! These ‘Wise Men’ (for all their wealth and position) humbled themselves and ‘bowed the knee’ to Jesus Christ … and wise men and women today still do!

The story of the Baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:21,22) once again reveals a lot about who Jesus was. In just a couple of verses Luke tells us that at his baptism ‘the Holy Spirit descended on [Jesus] … and a voice came from Heaven [the voice of God the Father’]: You are my Son, whom I love – with you I am well pleased’ (Luke 3:22). What is particularly intriguing for us, however, is that Jesus was baptised even though he didn’t really need to be baptised? John the Baptist’s ‘baptism’ was ‘a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ (Luke 3:3) and we know that Jesus lived a completely sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). So if Jesus had nothing to repent of, why was he baptised? Well, Jesus went though the waters of baptism partly in order to identify with us, with the rest of sinful humanity, with all the sinful people like us that he had come to save by (in some mystical way beyond explanation) taking our place and atoning for our sins. As the Apostle Peter tells us ‘[Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness … by his wounds you have been healed’ (1 Peter 2:24). Full immersion in running water is associated with bodily cleansing from dirt … and in much the same way ‘baptism’ (as the ‘outward demonstration of an inward reality’) is associated with spiritual cleansing from sin and its effects. How many times have you heard someone say (or maybe even said it yourself): ‘If only I could wipe the slate clean? If only I could start all over again?’ This particular ‘Epiphany Story’ tells us that we can indeed do just that … with God’s help!

The story of the Wedding at Cana in Galilee (John 2:1-11) is one of my favourite New Testament stories (and not just because I am a member of the Wine Society). This story is unique to the Apostle John, and like the rest of John’s Gospel (written c.96 AD, some 30 or so years after the Synoptic Gospels, and the fruit of much reflection as to what was really important in the Christian message) is pregnant with hidden meaning. One could ‘wax eloquent’ on John’s use of the word ‘sign’ (rather than the normal word for ‘miracle’) to describe Jesus’ miracles (not least the miracle involved in turning water into wine) … suggesting that his ‘miracles’ were never meant to be ‘an end in themselves’ but rather pointers as to who Jesus really was! We could discuss whether or not there is a connection between this particular miracle occurring ‘on the third day’ (John 2:1) and the fact that Jesus himself rose again from the dead ‘on the third day’ (1 Corinthians 15:4); or whether this ‘Marriage Feast at Cana’ in Galilee foreshadows the ‘Marriage Supper of the Lamb’ (Revelation 19:6-9) at the end of all things? But what struck me most of all was the simple fact that in this story Jesus ‘turned water into wine’ … and gallons of it at that! According to John, when the wedding reception ran out of wine and Jesus was asked for help, he instructed the servants to ‘Fill [six stone jars] with water … right up to the brim’ (John 2:7). These jars were not your normal clay pots but huge stone jars used for ceremonial washing. Each jar held between 20-30 gallons … signifying that Jesus didn’t just turn water into wine here, not even just good quality wine, but he created gallons of the stuff … far more than it would have been possible for everyone to have drunk (without becoming totally incapable of finishing off the lot before passing out)! John is making a point here. ‘Wine’, in the Bible, is often symbolic of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s heart and life. Thus we find Jesus talking about the importance of being filled with the Spirit in terms of ‘putting new wine in new wine skins (not in old wine skins which might break)’ (Matthew 9:17). So here, John is underlining the wonderful truth that when we open our hearts and lives to Jesus he not only turns drab, watered down lives into the rich wine of new life in Christ but that this new life in Christ is ‘abundant life’ or ‘life capable of being lived to the full’ (John 10:10)!

Here’s an epiphany to have and hold,
A truth that you can taste upon the tongue,
No distant shrines and canopies of gold
Or ladders to be clambered rung by rung,
But here and now, amidst your daily living,
Where you can taste and touch and feel and see,
The spring of love, the fount of all forgiving,
Flows when you need it, rich, abundant, free.

Better than waters of some outer weeping,
That leave you still with all your hidden sin,
Here is a vintage richer for the keeping
That works its transformation from within.
‘What price?’ you ask me, as we raise the glass,
‘It cost our Saviour everything he has.’

~ Malcolm Guite

Jim Binney  

The Merciful God

This year we are being really, really radical at Knaphill Baptist Church! We are dispensing with age-old tradition of beginning the New Year with a ‘Motto Text’ … and instead we are introducing a ‘theme’ which hopefully will characterise us, as individuals and as a church, throughout 2016. The theme is ‘A Year of Mercy’ and the intention is that throughout this New Year we will constantly remind ourselves that we are both recipients of God’s great mercy shown towards us in Christ, and at the same time be a people who show that same kind of mercy to others, whoever they are, whatever they have done, and whatever their need!

There is a saying (taken on board by many a preacher I know of) that ‘The secret of originality is to find a source that nobody else knows about!’ So we might as well confess (since it is ‘out there’ already) that we have blatantly ‘pinched’ the idea from the Church of England Diocese of Chichester who have committed themselves to celebrating 2016 as a Year of Mercy. Now, please do not think too badly of us for ‘pinching’ this idea from the Anglicans … because they themselves ‘pinched’ it from the Roman Catholics? It was Pope Francis who, in 2015, first called on Catholics around the world to use the ongoing Jubilee Year of Mercy to ponder the wonder of the great mercy of God shown to sinners like us and to ‘open wide’ the doors of their hearts to forgive others. Similarly the intention of the Diocese of Chichester is not to approach the mercy of God simply academically but to ask themselves the question: ‘What will that mean for us personally and for the life of our Diocese in practical terms?’

When Julia and I first came across this concept of recognising, celebrating, rejoicing in God’s mercy in this particular way, it instantly ‘rang lots of bells’ with us. The two key questions of theology are ‘What kind of God?’ and ‘So what?’ What kind of God do we believe in? And how does that belief change us? If we believe in a God who is primarily hard and harsh and judgmental … then that will make us hard and harsh and judgmental. But if we believe in a God who is primarily kind and loving, gracious, forgiving and merciful … then that will make us kind and loving, gracious, forgiving and merciful!

‘Mercy’ is a word we are familiar with in our worship. In our corporate prayers of intercession for the church and the world we often use the words ‘Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer’. To ask God for ‘mercy’ is to ask God to have compassion on us in our need and to relieve our suffering. ‘Mercy’ is a constant theme throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament God is consistently shown to be merciful. In Exodus when God reveals his name to Moses at the burning bush he is seen as ‘a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness’ (Exodus 34:6). Throughout the Old Testament God is shown to be merciful to his wayward people as a whole, but God’s mercy is often experienced in a very personal way as when the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 23, ‘Surely goodness and loving mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever’ (Psalm 23:6).

The theme of ‘mercy’ is taken up in the New Testament. It is a prominent feature in Jesus teaching. Parables such as ‘The Prodigal Son’ (which has also be called ‘The Merciful Father’) are all about compassion and mercy. One of the ‘Beatitudes’ focuses on mercy: ‘Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy’ (Matthew 5:7). In his actions Jesus constantly showed compassion and mercy as he healed the sick and forgave those who had sinned. It has been suggested that ‘Jesus is mercy incarnate’ and of course in Jesus we see the Father’s mercy. As Ignatius (one of the early Church Fathers) put it so memorably: ‘Jesus is the door to the Father’s mercy!’

As Christians, however, we are not simply the recipients of God’s mercy … we are also called to be merciful to others! If God is merciful, then we too in our individual lives, and in our shared life as Church, are called to be merciful. As Jesus himself taught us: ‘Be merciful, just as your Father [in Heaven] is merciful’ (Luke 6:36). What might that mean for us in practical terms? In some ways our response to this question could rightly be: ‘How long is a piece of string?’ But perhaps there are three particular areas that could be singled out nevertheless.

The first area is ‘Church Growth’ which we are to understand as both numerical and spiritual as Jesus Christ’s commission to ‘Go and make disciples (not just ‘believers’)’ (Matthew 28:18-20) clearly implies. We must never forget that the message we are called to share with others is ‘Good News’, not ‘legalism’ or ‘morality’ per se but rather that which brings ‘hope for the hopeless’. At the heart of the life and ministry of every local church, therefore, must be our ability to show love, compassion and mercy to all those we seek to reach in Christ’s name. Living in such a way will bear tangible fruit as we help and support those in need, as we comfort the sorrowful, as we forgive those who mistreat us, as we hold before God the needs of others in our intercessory prayer. And all of this, can have an impact upon the numerical growth of the Church. As we grow in the likeness of Christ, and his life is lived out in ours, so we trust and pray that people will be drawn to Christ and his Church through us. Hopefully they will see something in our life which is good and attractive and want that to be part of their lives too.

The second area is ‘Reimagining Ministry’. Fundamental to reimagining ministry is the recognition that every Christian, by virtue of our experience of being ‘born again of the Holy Spirit’ (John 3:1-7), is enabled to share in the ministry of Christ as we are drawn into new life in Christ and empowered with gifts by that same Holy Spirit. The question for us is how can we bring God’s compassion and mercy to bear upon the different contexts and situations that we find ourselves? Whether in the supermarket or on the railway station, at work or walking the dog, in all the different places we find ourselves over the course of the week, there are abundant opportunities if we are alive to them to be channels for God’s grace and mercy.

The third area is ‘Contributing to the Common Good’. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25) spells out clearly how as Christians we are called to engage in acts of mercy and compassion. For us today there are so many opportunities to feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, to visit the sick and bereaved, to visit those in prison, to send money to support migrants and those affected by natural disasters – the list is endless. But there are other less obvious ways in which a focus on mercy can contribute to the common good. Being compassionate and merciful is about breaking down the barriers of mistrust and suspicion that can exist between us. It is about emerging from our well defended opinions and views and engaging with generosity with the views and perspectives of others. It is about entering into dialogue with those with whom we disagree, sometimes profoundly, to see the world in a different light. It is about opening the doors of our hearts and minds.

Dr Ida Sophia Scudder (1870-1960) was a third-generation American medical missionary in India. She dedicated her life to the plight of Indian women and the fight against bubonic plague, cholera and leprosy. One day a Hindu woman, one of Dr Scudder’s patients at the Christian Hospital in Vellore where she was based, committed her life to Jesus Christ. When Dr Scudder asked the woman why she had converted to Christ the woman replied: ‘Because your God is kind and loving, gracious and merciful … and you are like your God!

And finally, a prayer for the Year of Mercy (borrowed from the Diocese of Chichester like a number of the ideas expressed in this blog):

Heavenly Father, as we celebrate this year of mercy: open the doors of our hearts and minds that we may show forth in our lives the mercy and compassion that we see in the face of your Son Jesus Christ who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen

Jim Binney

Time for Change

As part of our daily devotions in recent weeks Julia and I have been reading a wonderful little book called Haphazard by Starlight: A Poem a Day from Advent to Epiphany by Janet Morely. Basically it is ‘what it says on the tin’. The book consists of a carefully chosen selection of poems, written by a variety of authors, together with a biblically sensitive commentary by Janet Morely herself in which she seeks to ‘unpack’ the meaning and significance of the poem in question. Brilliantly written in way that really fascinates and grips the reader, Haphazard by Starlight is a companion volume to Janet Morely’s bestselling Lent book, The Heart’s Time (which we have now ordered to use during Lent). Janet Morely, herself, is a freelance writer, speaker and workshop leader who has worked for Christian Aid and for the Methodist Church. She is the author of several other books, including books of prayers and poems.

Our normal practise for our corporate daily devotions is to read a passage of Scripture together (usually systematically working through a book of the Bible), perhaps read some thoughts about the meaning of the passage in question from a helpful commentary or devotional book, discuss it together, and then spend time praying together – our prayers triggered by the thoughts we have been sharing. Our prayer time consists of time spent ‘waiting on God’ – listening to what he has to say to us – followed by intercessory prayer ‘for the church and the world’.

There are, of course, many ways to read (or teach and preach) Biblical truth. One is to begin with a passage of Scripture, expounding it and applying it in ways relevant for today. Another way is to begin with a theme or idea or question or problem or topic – and then introduce the teaching of Scripture to show how the Bible can so often provide us with answers or direction or advice relevant to the issue in question. Janet Morely’s book takes the latter route – raising a particular issue or problem through the use of poetry and showing how the particular poet attempts to tackle that question. Her commentaries on the various poems she has chosen are fascinating – so well written in a way that both captivates the reader and takes us right into the mind and heart of the particular poet. She does not stop there, however, but develops thoughts and ideas of her own, drawing repeatedly on her own biblical, theological, historical and liturgical knowledge. She also manages to always conclude each short commentary with a thoughtful question you can carry away with you to ponder for the rest of the day.

I have to confess that this whole approach to communicating the Gospel impresses itself upon me more and more. My conviction is that there are a whole host of people ‘out there’ who are actually really, really interested in ‘spiritual things’ but who are not at all ‘grabbed’ by the way we evangelicals repeatedly attempt to ‘communicate’ the Gospel. They are not interested in ‘reading the Bible’ or ‘going to church’ or ‘listening to a sermon’. But they are interested in a ‘good story, well told’ or art or poetry or music or film, and so on. One of the things I would really like to do in 2016 – in my new role as unofficial ‘assistant to the Minister’ at Knaphill Baptist Church – is to develop new approaches to getting alongside people in the community. I can envision myself as part of a ‘story telling group’ meeting on a regular basis at the Garibaldi (our local pub just round the corner) to exchange stories and their meanings? Or perhaps a ‘poetry group’ meeting to share poetry that we have written (perhaps along similar lines to the way Janet Morley shares and discusses various poems in her books). Or a ‘book reading group’ or a ‘film club’ or … well the possibilities are endless. The only condition should be that they ‘scratch where people itch’! We need more ‘off the wall’ stuff to reach those ‘out of the picture’ people!

Coming back to Janet Morely’s book Haphazard by Starlight: A Poem a Day from Advent to Epiphany, her ‘offering’ for the cusp of the year is Ring Out, Wild Bells by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Tennyson (1809-92) was an immensely popular poet in his day, with an ability to articulate an emotional vocabulary that was hugely appealing to the Victorians. It is suggested that Queen Victoria herself derived much consolation following the death of Prince Albert from Tennyson’s poetry. One might presume from this that Tennyson’s poetry is mostly ‘sentimental slush’ but the actuality is that this is far from the case. This particular poem, Ring Out, Wild Bells is a poem for every generation echoing the same mix of anguish and hope that we all seem to express at the cusp of every Old and New Year.

I do not propose to plagiarise everything that Janet Morley ‘draws out’ from her reading of Tennyson’s poem – go buy her book and read her fascinating comments for yourself! Sufficient to say that poem emphasises many of the things we despise and wish (as human beings) we could leave behind us with the passing of the old year, whilst at the same time highlighting many of the hopes the vast majority of us would like to see come to fruition in the coming year! We would do well to take to heart the sentiments expressed here and seek ourselves to ‘Ring out the old, and ring in the new!’ as we move from 2015 to 2016. For Tennyson (and for Janet Morley) however, these aspirations for major changes that will benefit all can only come about as we ‘Ring in the Christ that is to be!’

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92)

Jim Binney