The Manse, Knaphill

I was in the supermarket just before Christmas and they were playing all those cheesy ‘Christmas Songs’ (that you either love or hate). Driving Home for Christmas by Chris Rea was the current single being aired and it set me thinking about our forthcoming return to Rodden in West Dorset where, prior to our recent move to Knaphill in Surrey, we had been living for the previous five years. Would we be ‘driving home for Christmas’ or actually leaving home for Christmas, I wondered?

Well, now we are back in Knaphill and I am reflecting on where ‘home’ actually is for Julia and myself now? Once I had adjusted to the virtual isolation of living in an extremely small hamlet (just a dozen or so houses and cottages and a couple of farms at either end of the village), the peace and quiet (well, when the tractors and farm equipment were not passing, that is), and the fact that (after living a hectic life as a Baptist Minister of a largish church in a London suburb) I virtually had little or nothing to do on any given day … I actually began to enjoy life as a country gent. After a time, however, I began to get really bored with life in the country. Although officially classed as a ‘retired Baptist Minister’ (a complete misnomer by the way since you cannot really ‘retire’ from a vocational calling such as God’s call to ‘minister the Gospel’) I had never felt that my ‘ministry had come to an end’. I never for one moment believed that (as far as ministry was concerned) ‘this was it’. Quite how we had come to leave Beckenham Baptist Church (a church we loved, and continue to love, and where we felt so ‘at home’) remains a ‘mystery’ to us but nevertheless was a sad reality for us. I knew, however, that ‘God hadn’t finished with us yet’, and that Julia’s official ‘leave of absence’ from the Baptist Ministry was only temporary not permanent. I recognised that (despite everything that had happened) we still had that same passion and enthusiasm for the work of ministry, for sharing the Good News of Jesus with others!

Leaving what had been our ‘home’ in Beckenham for a number of years, to ‘house share’ with Julia’s elderly, widowed mother in Rodden was to be given the opportunity to live in a beautiful five bedroom, three reception room, two bathroom, thatched cottage set in its own substantial grounds in idyllic countryside. In many ways this was a ‘win-win’ situation for all of us. We had a beautiful home to live in and Julia’s mother had someone to care for her. Of course we knew the house well. We have been coming down to Rodden several times a year for 20 years or so ever since Olivia (Julia’s mother) and Ken (Julia’s late father) had moved down to Dorset. Once the move was over we all settled in well and (what turned out to be) our five year sojourn proved to be a very happy period in our lives. Of course, we never expected to actually live there for five years. We anticipated that (once Julia had fully recovered from the bout of illness that had partially generated the premature conclusion of her ministry in Beckenham) we would return to ‘ministry’ somewhere or other in the not too distant future.

Every Christmas (with just one exception), whilst we were in the Baptist Ministry, for the last umpteen years we had driven down to Rodden to spend Christmas with Julia’s family. As soon as the Christmas Morning Service was finished we would say our ‘Goodbyes’, jump in the car (already packed with cases and presents), and drive down to West Dorset as quickly as possible. The aim was to get down before the rest of the family (who had already arrived by Christmas Eve) consumed all the champagne and caviar with which we traditionally begin our family Christmas celebrations. It was easier in the days before everybody had mobile phones. A normal three and a half hour car journey could often be accomplished in under three hours on a Christmas morning with little traffic on the roads so we often managed get to Rodden before the rest of the family had actually started on the ‘goodies’. With the advent of mobile phones however, they got into the habit of ‘checking up on us’ en route … just to make sure we were ‘making good time’ of course … so that surreptitiously they could ‘squeeze an extra bottle in’ before we arrived (and then hide the evidence)?

For us to actually be ‘living at Rodden’ radically changed the dynamic of everybody ‘coming home for Christmas’ however. On the plus side it meant that Julia could ‘take over’ from her mother in ‘doing Christmas’ for the rest of us (Julia is a marvellous cook, by the way), and we were thus enabled to imbibe our fair share of the champagne? We were also able to bring the rest of the village together by inviting everyone who lived in Rodden to come to our cottage for ‘Christmas drinks and nibbles’. In this way everybody got to known everybody else (which strangely they hadn’t before) and this has now become an ‘annual event’ in the village with different Rodden residents ‘hosting’ the ‘party’ each year. Christmas remained still ‘fun’ for us what with putting up the Christmas trees, setting up the Christmas lights, making the Christmas puddings, and so on.

This year, however, the dynamics have changed yet again. Back in the summer Julia received an approach from Knaphill Baptist Church, Woking, Surrey, and … cutting a long story short … eventually accepted a call from the church to be their new Minister. Julia’s younger sister, Livy (and her husband, Jack) had earlier moved from London to a village the Dorset side of Salisbury only an hour or so from Rodden. The whole of Julia’s family were adamant that Julia should fulfil God’s call, and return to the Baptist Ministry, and Livy was willing to take on the role of ‘principal carer’ for Julia’s elderly mother. This, in turn, freed us up to look somewhat wider than the limits we had set ourselves for settling in another church. Although Julia had had a number of ‘possibilities’ for settlement during our time in Rodden none of them had ‘worked out’ for various reasons. Some situations were not right for Julia, or Julia was not right for other situations. The call to Knaphill, however, was very clear cut and everybody concerned felt ‘God’s seal of approval’ on the whole thing. The church very generously redecorated and re-carpeted the Manse for us, and invited us to move in (with full pay) a month early (in December) so we could ‘get straight’. So a week before Christmas we found ourselves ensconced in our new home – a lovely, bright, warm, modern, little three-bedroom end of terrace house – which we just love!

Because Julia doesn’t commence her ministry at Knaphill until the beginning of January she had the whole of Advent and Christmas off! This meant that (much to Julia’s family’s relief) we could return to Rodden to ‘do Christmas’ for everybody else once again! Julia’s mother (and her sisters) were regularly on the phone in the ‘run up’ to Christmas enquiring, “When are you ‘coming home’ for Christmas?” To be honest, as much as I have loved Christmas in Rodden over the years, this year I really didn’t want to go! I really wanted to stay in our own little house in Knaphill. Although we had been here less than a month it was ‘home’ not Rodden! We both felt that finally we were ‘back on track’. Finally, we were home!

Christmas in Rodden went well. We arrived early in the week before Christmas and set everything up. We did our best to ‘make Christmas an enjoyable time’ for everybody who came. We left a few days beyond Christmas (after the rest of the family) so that we could ‘clear up’, take down the decorations, etc. But celebrating Christmas at Rodden this year never for one moment felt like ‘coming home for Christmas’? We were so pleased to get back to Knaphill. To our lovely little bright, warm, house … and the adventure awaiting us in the New Year as Julia takes up her role as Minister of Knaphill Baptist Church (and I take up my new role as unofficial ‘Assistant to the Minister’). Why do we feel so ‘at home’ here in Knaphill? Well, as the old saying goes: ‘Home is where the heart is!’ And our heart is in being where God wants us to be … back doing what God called us to be as ‘ministers of the Gospel’ in the place where God has called us to ‘minister’ in Christ’s name!

In some ways our ‘journey’ over the last few years resonates with certain aspects of the Christmas story. Joseph and Mary forced to go firstly, to Bethlehem (despite Mary being heavily pregnant) because of the demands of the Census, and then secondly, to flee to Egypt because of the slaughter of the innocents at the hand of King Herod fearful for his throne. How relieved the Holy Family must have been when eventually they found their way to Nazareth. Matthew tells us (in his Gospel) that ‘After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So [Joseph] got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene’ (Matthew 2:19-23).

Nazareth and the Galilee is my favourite part of Israel. The city of Nazareth pulsates with life and activity and the Galilee boasts so many wonderful sites. It is difficult to actually put into words but there is just something about this whole area. Nazareth was ‘home’ for Jesus for the vast majority of his earthly life and it was the launch pad for his ministry. Perhaps my favourite place in Nazareth itself is the reputed site of the old synagogue (now a Christian Church) where Jesus preached his first recorded sermon (Luke 4:14-30). But Jesus did not just love Nazareth because it was his home town. He loved it because (at that time) it was the place where God wanted him to be and where God wanted him to both reveal himself as ‘God’s anointed’ and commence his ministry. For Jesus too, ‘home is where the heart is’ and for Jesus (and for Julia and myself) the ‘heart of the matter’ is found in being where God wants us to be … doing what God calls us to be and do as ‘ministers of the Gospel’ in the place where God has called us to ‘minister’ in his name!

Jim Binney

The First Sunday in Advent 2015

One of my favourite characters in Christian history is Billy Bray (1794-1868), the unconventional Cornish Evangelist. The story of his life and activity is well worth a read. It is both poignant and amusing, containing numerous humorous and moving anecdotes. Born in 1794 in the village of Twelveheads, Cornwall, Billy was the eldest of three children born to William Bray, a tin miner, and his wife Ann. William Bray died when his children were young and they were cared for by their grandfather, who was a pious Methodist. After leaving school, Billy Bray worked as a tin miner himself, in Cornwall and, for a short time, also in Devon. In 1821 he married Joanna (a lapsed Methodist), and they eventually had seven children. During this early period of his life Billy was well-known for both being a drunkard and prone to riotous behaviour. In 1823 he had a close escape from a mining accident and began to ponder the meaning and purpose of his life. He began reading John Bunyan’s book, Visions of Heaven and Hell, and as a result committed his life to Jesus Christ in the November of that same year. His life was immediately transformed to such an extent that his wife also re-committed her life to Christ. Billy attached himself to a group of Methodists known as ‘Bible Christians’ and became a well-known but unconventional preacher – his sermons being enlivened by spontaneous outbursts of singing and dancing. Billy did not restrict his activities to preaching. He raised two orphans along with his own children, was generous in giving help to other people, and also raised enough funds to build three new Methodist chapels in the area where he lived.

One of my favourite stories concerning Billy Bray (relevant to the First Sunday in Advent this year) is concerning his attempt to evangelise a certain village, well-known for its hard-hearted attitude towards the Gospel and the claims of Jesus Christ on their lives. They refused to give Billy a hearing so … never one to give up easily … Billy waited until midnight and then ran through the village ringing a large hand-bell and shouting (he had a very loud voice apparently): ‘Fire! Fire!’ The whole village turned out in response to the alarm call and, when they had all gathered on the village green, they turned to Billy and asked: ‘Where is the fire? Where is the fire?’ ‘Hell fire!’ Billy responded … and preached the Gospel to them! One would have thought that such a tactic would have been counter-productive … its probably not one we would employ today in order to reach people for Christ … but apparently quite a few of Billy’s hearers were actually converted as a result!

This coming Sunday, the last Sunday in November, is the First Sunday in Advent. Advent is that Season in the Christian Year, comprising of the four Sundays prior to Christmas Day itself, during which the Church seeks to prepare its people for Christmas. It is a time when we are reminded that, with the birth of Jesus Christ that first Christmas Day, God changed everything – for us and for the world! The Incarnation – the stupendous act in which God took human form in the Person of that tiny baby born in Bethlehem’s manger – is indeed ‘the hinge of history’ for humanity, for the world, for the entire universe! We can easily miss the tremendous significance of this event amidst all the clamour and commercialism of the Christmas season. It is for this reason that the Church attempts to make use of the Advent Season to help prepare us, to help us to understand, the vital significance of Christmas.

Each of the four Sundays in Advent have a different theme … ‘Hope’, ‘Love’, ‘Joy’, ‘Peace’ … although each Sunday is often given a particular ‘sub-theme’ based on the Lectionary Gospel Reading for the particular Sunday in question. Thus this year (2015), although the overall theme for the First Sunday in Advent remains as ‘Hope’, the sub-theme is ‘Be Alert!’ Traditionally, on the First Sunday in Advent, the Church reminds itself not only of Christ’s First Advent or Coming, but also of the fact that he will one day return again – his Second Advent or Coming! When Jesus comes again it will not be in order to be born in a manger or die on a cross … but as Lord of lords, and King of kings, coming with all his angelic hosts, in order to conclude this stage in our world order, to judge the living and the dead, and to take those who are truly his to be with him in Glory!

The Gospel Reading for this First Sunday in Advent is taken from the end of Luke’s Gospel, and reflects the exhortation of the adult Jesus for us to be ready for his return … because it will happen at a time when it is least expected … rather than a passage from earlier in Luke reflecting on something to do with Jesus’ birth. In this passage Jesus tells us that immediately prior to his Second Advent: ‘There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’ (Luke 21:25-28).

Luke goes on to explain that because Jesus’ teaching here was couched in mystery he went on illustrate the essence of what he was attempting to teach them through the use of story drawn from nature: ‘He told them this parable: “Look at the fig-tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”‘ (Luke 21:29-30). Just as the first signs of Spring – the early tinge of green on the trees – awake us to the fact that Summer is coming, so these climatic events in the world of nature and humankind warn us that the end-time is almost upon us!

According to Luke, Jesus went on to underline his earlier word and illustration by warning his hearers not to be distracted, by either ‘eat, drink and be merry’ escapism, nor mind-numbing anxiety at the state of the world, from getting our priorities right! ‘Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”‘ (Luke 21:31-36). Seemingly, being spiritually distracted and deadened by ‘the dread asbestos of other things’ (as one writer once put it) was not only a 21st century problem?

So Jesus’ exhortation to us to ‘Be Alert!’, which we reflect on during this First Sunday in Advent in 2015, is a salutary reminder to us of the importance of getting our priorities in life right! But is it really a ‘sign of hope’? At first glance this Gospel Reading seems rather negative, driving us to despair rather than inspiring hope? And yet it is actually full of hope! ‘Hope’ in primitive Greek (the language of the New Testament) is very different to our English language idea of ‘hope’? When we speak of ‘hope’ we often mean ‘fingers crossed’, ‘hope against hope’ type of thing! When the New Testament speaks of ‘hope, however, it is a much more positive thing. It means ‘absolute certainty’, ‘a guaranteed future’, etc. Thus for the Christian, the Second Coming of Christ is not something to be feared but to be welcomed. It brings with it a righting of everything that has been wrong, and end to all suffering and pain, a re-uniting with our loved ones in Christ, and an eternity spent in the immediate Presence of the Living God! The promise of Christ’s Return is also a message of hope for all those who have not entrusted their lives to Christ because it heralds the fact that there is still time, still an opportunity to turn back to him, to commit our lives to him, to discover the real meaning and purpose to life – something that can only be found in a living relationship with Jesus Christ! For the Apostle Peter, the thing that he was most grateful to God for saving him from (in and through Jesus Christ) was not primarily saving him from the power of Satan, sin, or death … it was for saving him from an ’empty or wasted way of life’ (1 Peter 1:18).

One of the most striking things about Billy Bray was his continual excitement and joy at his salvation. Just like today, many religious people Billy saw were often gloomy and sorrowful. ‘If they were truly born-again,’ Billy thought, ‘you would never have known it by their lives!’ One of his most endearing features (or most annoying, depending on your outlook) was that Billy Bray was always smiling, singing, and shouting praises to God. ‘I can’t help praising God’ he insisted, ‘As I go along the street I lift up one foot, and it seems to say, “Glory!” .. and as I lift up the other foot it seems to say “Hallelujah!” and so all the time I am walking along it is forever “Glory! Hallelujah!”, “Glory! Hallelujah!” ‘If they were to put me in a barrel,’ he once said, ‘I would shout “Glory!” through the bung-hole!’

At the end of Billy Bray’s life, his doctor was present at his bedside. With little tact, he told Billy Bray that he was going to die. Billy, considering his words for a moment, and then responded, ‘Glory! Glory, be to God! I shall soon be in heaven!’ Then he asked the doctor a final question, ‘When I get up there, shall I give them your compliments, doctor, and tell them you will be coming too?’ This really touched the hard-hearted doctor’s heart. Even near death, Billy’s joy was a powerful witness to the love of Christ. His dying word was, ‘Glory!’ Yet right before he died, he said of death, ‘What, me fear death? Lost? Why, my Saviour conquered death. If I was to go down to hell I would shout “Glory!” Glory, to my blessed Jesus until I made the bottomless pit ring again, and that miserable old Satan would say, “Billy, Billy, this is no place for thee: get thee back!” Then up to heaven I should go, shouting “Glory! Glory! Praise the Lord!”‘

Jim Binney

Billy Bray

The Light of Christ

There is a story told of a Chinese artist in the third century BC who, having spent many years in carving dragons, birds, and horses upon a cherry-stone, offered his finished work to a royal prince. The prince could see nothing in it at first except a mere stone, but the artist bade him ‘have a wall built, and make a window in it, and observe the stone through the window in the glory of the dawn.’ The prince did so, and then perceived that the stone was indeed very beautiful.

The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer suggested that ‘the early mornings belong to the Church of the risen Christ. At the break of light it remembers the morning on which death and sin lay prostrate in defeat and new life and salvation were given to mankind.’ Although in some ways this quotation is more appropriate for Easter than Advent, there is a sense in which the dawning of God’s light in this new and unique way in which it is revealed to us in Jesus Christ begins that first Christmas. As that particular prophetic reading from the Book of Isaiah, foretelling the coming of Christ, informs us: ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned’ (Isaiah 9:2).

In the Christian Calendar, the last but one Sunday in November is celebrated as ‘Christ the King Sunday’. The ‘Feast of Christ the King’ is a relatively recent addition to the western liturgical calendar, having been instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in response to what he saw (at the time) as growing nationalism and secularism.

When Pius XI instituted The Feast of Christ the King he did so not only for the Roman Catholic Church but also in the hope that this celebration of Christ as King would be taken up by the universal church. He saw a connection at the time with an increasingly denial of Christ as King to the rise of secularism. At the time many Christians, of all denominations, had begun to question Christ’s authority and existence, together with the relevance of the Church as the Body of Christ in the world. Pius XI, and the rest of the Christian world, witnessed the rise of non-Christian dictatorships in Europe, and saw Christians being taken in by these earthly leaders. These dictators often attempted to assert authority over the Church. Just as the Feast of Corpus Christi was instituted when devotion to the Eucharist was at a low point, the Feast of Christ the King was instituted during a time when respect for Christ and the Church was waning, when the feast was needed most.

Pius hoped that the institution of the Feast of Christ the King, with its emphasis on the Lordship of King Jesus, would have various effects at a time when the universal church still carried some weight and authority. He hoped that the nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state, and that world leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ. He hoped that, at the same time, all those who ‘named the Name’ of Christ would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the Feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies.

How successful Pius’ efforts were remains questionable. He is to be commended, however, for his desire to emphasise, to draw attention to, to place firmly in the foreground of Christian (and secular) thinking, the supreme place of Jesus Christ as ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ (Revelation 19:6). Today, the same distrust of authority exists, although the problem has got worse. Individualism has been embraced to such an extreme, that for many, the only authority is the individual self. The idea of Christ as ruler is rejected in such a strongly individualistic system. Many balk at the idea of kings and queens, believing them to be antiquated and possibly oppressive. Some even reject the titles of ‘King’ or ‘Lord’ for Christ because they believe that such titles are borrowed from oppressive systems of government. However true these statements might be (we have to confess that some kings have been oppressive), these individuals miss the point!

Christ’s kingship is one of humility and service. Jesus himself said: ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:42-45). The Gospel record also records that when Jesus was taken before the Roman Governor, ‘Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” … Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth”‘ (John 18:33b, 36-37).

Jesus was well aware of the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, he described his role as King as one of humble service, and commanded his followers to be servants as well. In other passages of Scripture, his kingdom is tied to his suffering and death. Whilst Jesus Christ is coming to judge the nations, his teaching spells out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness. When we celebrate Christ as King, we are not celebrating an oppressive ruler, but one willing to die for humanity and who’s ‘loving-kindness endures forever’ (Psalm 136). Jesus Christ is the King who gives us true freedom, freedom that comes to us in and through him. Thus we must never forget that Jesus Christ radically redefined and transformed the concept of kingship.

Today, the Feast of Christ the King is enjoying a renaissance amongst Christians and churches of all denominations. When Pius XI instituted the Festival in 1925 it was celebrated in October, but in 1969 Pope Paul VI moved the date to the last Sunday in the liturgical year, before a new year begins with the First Sunday in Advent. For me, it is both very fitting, and very appropriate, that the Feast celebrating Christ’s Kingship is observed right before Advent, when we liturgically wait for the Advent of the Promised Messiah or King. As the Advent Season (the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day) is itself a preparation for Christmas, so the celebration of Christ as King is a preparation for Advent. Indeed we could perhaps learn from the example of the Church in Wales (part of the Anglican Communion) who observe the four Sundays before Advent as ‘the Sundays of the Kingdom and Christ the King’ thus taking this vital theme of Christ as King as a season and not just as a single festival.

Rather than be engulfed by the all the secular attractions of this time of the year, or overwhelmed by all the anxiety, tragedy and fear generated by the days we live in, perhaps we could take time out, as we approach Advent and Christmas, to reflect on the wonderful fact that that Child who was born in Bethlehem’s manger all those years ago was no ordinary child but One who was no other than the only begotten Son of God, One who was indeed ‘King of kings, and Lord of lords.’

As we read right at the beginning of this blog, in the old story of the artist and the prince: ‘The prince could see nothing in it at first except a mere stone, but the artist bade him “Have a wall built, and make a window in it, and observe the stone through the window in the glory of the dawn.” The prince did so, and then perceived that the stone was indeed very beautiful.’ If we are to really get to grips with Person of Jesus Christ and just why this question is of such vital importance to us all … we really do need to take time out to think seriously, to ‘observe (what happened 2,000 years ago) through the window (God has provided for us) in the glory of the dawn!’

JESUS IS KING and I will extol Him,
Give Him the glory and honour His name.
He reigns on high, enthroned in the heavens,
Word of the Father, exalted for us.

We have a hope that’s steadfast and certain,
Gone through the curtain and touching the throne.
We have a Priest who’s there interceding,
Pouring His grace on our lives day by day.

We come to Him, our Priest and Apostle,
Clothed in His glory and bearing His name,
Laying our lives with gladness before Him,
Filled with His Spirit we worship the King.

O Holy One, our hearts do adore You,
Thrilled with Your goodness we give you our praise.
Angels in light with worship surround Him,
Jesus, our Saviour, forever the same.

~ Wendy Churchill

Jim Binney

Christmas Pudding

‘Stir-Up Sunday’ is an informal term, in many churches, for the last Sunday before the season of Advent. Originally the term ‘Stir-Up Sunday’ came about as a result of our love in the UK of Christmas pudding! The Christmas pudding is one of the essential British Christmas traditions and is said to have been introduced to the Victorians by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, although the reality is that the meat-less version was introduced from Germany by George I in 1714.

Traditionally, families gathered together in their kitchens on Stir-Up Sunday to mix and steam the Christmas pudding. Parents taught their children how to mix ingredients for the pudding, everyone would take a turn to stir the pudding mix and each person involved would make a special wish for the year ahead. Practically, stirring the mixture was hard work, therefore as many people as possible were involved. By tradition the pudding mixture was stirred from East to West in honour of the three wise men who visited the baby Jesus. When I was a child silver sixpences were added to the pudding mix. It was believed that finding a coin in your serving of the pudding on Christmas Day brought good luck for the year ahead. We always ate our Christmas pudding very carefully as a result, in order to avoid choking on a swallowed sixpence or avoiding the necessity of an emergency visits to the dentist? Today this practice has largely gone out of fashion and a recent survey revealed that two-thirds of British children had never experienced stirring Christmas pudding mix. It is suggested that this is a direct result of a preference for ready made puddings available in grocery stores today.

‘Stir-up Sunday’ however, also has a spiritual (as well as a practical) emphasis, and it is this ‘spiritual’ emphasis that is currently enjoying a renaissance in many churches today. The idea stems from the opening words of the collect for the day found in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer: ‘Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’ In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer this collect is listed for ‘The Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Trinity’, with a rubric specifying that this collect ‘shall always be used upon the Sunday next before Advent’. This reinforced the significance of this day as forming part of the preparation for the season of Advent. The rubric is necessary because the last Sunday before Advent does not always fall on the twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity Sunday is a moveable feast and the Advent season is fixed, so the number of weeks in between varies from year to year).

Thus, this collect was always read just before Advent. Since most recipes for home made Christmas puddings call for the pudding to be kept for several weeks to mature, the day subsequently became connected with the preparation of Christmas puddings in readiness for Christmas. Allegedly, people would go to church (churches that used the Book of Common Prayer, that is), hear the words ‘Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord …’, and be reminded, by association of ideas, that it was about time to start stirring up the puddings for Christmas!

In recent years most provinces of the Anglican Communion, and many Nonconformist Churches as well, have adopted the practice of the Roman Catholic Church in observing this Sunday as ‘Christ the King Sunday’. Popular attachment to the ‘Stir Up’ collect has, however, caused it to be retained (in contemporary language) in the liturgies of several churches, and the idea of using the Sunday immediately prior to Advent in order to attempt to ‘stir up’ the members of the church and congregation has become ‘in vogue’ in many places!

Now, in one sense, those of us who ‘name the Name’ of Christ should not need to be ‘stirred up’ to follow and serve the Lord Jesus Christ as true disciples. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Church in Rome, exhorts them: ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship!’ (Romans 12:1). As the last verse of one version of Isaac Watt’s great hymn suggests: ‘Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all – Shall have my soul, my life, my all!’ For Paul, to contemplate all that God has done for us in Christ, particularly in the death of Christ on the cross for each one of us, to genuinely ‘come to grips’ with the ‘mercy of God’ revealed to us in this way, can only result in one thing – a laying of our all on the altar of life for God! As C T Studd (the former England cricketer, and missionary) once said: ‘If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him!’

The reality, however, is that oftentimes we do need to ‘stir ourselves’ when it comes to giving Jesus Christ his rightful place in our lives, and serving our day and generation in a godly and gracious way. Writing to his young protégé, Timothy (the youthful Pastor of the numerically large and spiritually significant church in Ephesus), the Apostle Paul (sensing that Timothy is no longer as ‘on fire’ for God as he once was) and exhorts him ‘to stir up the gift of God which is in you … for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:6,7)! The actual word Paul uses here for ‘stir up’ in the original Greek language literally means ‘give yourself a good poke’. It is more commonly used to describe the action of poking a fire that has been ‘deadened’ by the accumulation of ash and clinker, with a poker in order to cause the ash and clinker to fall away thus enabling the fire to burn brightly once again! And … if we are honest … there are times when perhaps we all need to ‘stir ourselves up’ spiritually in this way.

As a young ministerial student, studying at Spurgeon’s College back in the 1960s, I was often invited to preach at various churches around the UK in order to represent the college. One Sunday I was preaching, morning and evening, at Newbury Baptist Church (which in those days was a numerically very large and significant church). I was given hospitality for the day by the Church Treasurer, a prominent local Bank Manager. At lunch we all sat round the dining room table, all dressed in our ‘Sunday best’ – the Church Treasurer in his best suit, complete with waistcoat, matching tie and pocket handkerchief. Very formally he announced that he would say ‘Grace’ and as we all solemnly bowed our heads he prayed a prayer that I have never forgotten (and which I still laugh at today 50 plus years later) … and which makes a point relevant to ‘Stir Up Sunday’: It went like this: ‘As Thou didst bless the loaves and fishes, Bless this food upon our dishes. And as the sugar’s in the tea, May we all be stirred by Thee!’

Jim Binney

Remembrance

One of the benefits of not having been in pastoral charge of a church for the last five years is that, on Remembrance Sunday, Julia and I have been able to ‘play hooky’ from the church where we are now members, and attend the annual Remembrance Day Service on the seafront at Weymouth near to where we currently live. In some ways it is quite a formal occasion with the Mayor, local Councillors, various dignitaries, and members of the armed forces, police, emergency services, and representatives from key local charitable causes, all present. There is always a ‘march pass’ involving various youth organisations such as the Scouts, Guides, and Cadets … and of course the ‘veterans’ from the armed forces who have served King or Queen and country. At the heart of the occasion, however, is a short Religious Service incorporating Bible Readings, Hymns and Prayers … and the solemn two minute Act of Remembrance itself. The Mayor’s Chaplain leads the proceedings in a thoughtful and helpful way; the Salvation Army Band provide the music, somehow managing to combine both enthusiasm and sensitivity; and the poignant act of silent remembrance and laying of the various wreaths is always very moving. There are always hundreds of people present on this occasion, whatever the weather … and I will miss all this now that Julia is returning to the Pastorate.

One of the reasons why I love the Remembrance Sunday Service is because I spend a lot of my time remembering my late father. Remembrance Sunday was the only day in the year when he would attend any kind of ‘religious ceremony’ (apart from the odd ‘christening’, or wedding, or funeral). He never missed Remembrance Sunday at the War Memorial in my home town of Greenford in all the years I knew him. He was an ‘army man’ at heart. He was born at the end of the 19th century, ran away from home at the age of 14 and enlisted (lying about his age) and fought in France throughout the First World War. He never spoke about his time in the trenches but clearly remembered everything about it. Following the end of the First World War he stayed on in the army and served in India for a further 10 years. The only reason he left the army was because he was not allowed to stay in India, a country that he loved. This was fortunate for me because it was only after he returned to the UK that he met my mother, married … and I came along as a result!

On Remembrance Sunday I think about my father a lot. I confess that my thoughts are a strange mixture of gratitude and regret. My father died when I was 23 years of age, a student at Spurgeon’s College, training for the Baptist Ministry. I am thankful for my father’s love, support, sacrifice, and ambition for me. Both my parents gave up a lot to enable me to have a good education, trips abroad, play various sports at a reasonably high level, and so on. It is only in retrospect that I have realised how much they did for me. I have many regrets, however, as well. I did not appreciate my father as much as I should have done at the time. Neither did I spend as much time with him as I should have done. Partly this was due to the fact that I had become a Christian when I was 16 years of age, and the ethos of evangelical Christianity in those days was that you spent far too much time both ‘at church’ and being ‘holy’. I am sure that I am not the only Christian of my generation who regrets this ‘misuse’ of time today. Fortunately things have changed for the better nowadays, and we have learned that we can be just as committed to Jesus Christ without all the legalistic ‘add-ons’ of those days! These days I am far more ‘people-centred’. I have come to see that authentic Christianity is more about being ‘relational’ than being ‘institutional’. A genuine relationship with Jesus Christ and other people is far more important than maintaining all the legalistic, moralistic, institutional claptrap that damns so many church communities!

On Remembrance Sunday I also think about my children, my grandchildren, and the future generations. One of my Facebook Friends commented on her page on Remembrance Sunday evening that she had been to church that very morning … and that there had been absolutely no mention whatsoever of anything to do with ‘Remembrance Sunday’, the sacrifice of those who laid down their lives in either of the two ‘Great Wars’ (or any other war for that matter). There had been no mention of the national significance of the day or even prayers of intercession appropriate for what was going on in the nation elsewhere on this day? She (and several other correspondents) essentially thought that this was rather a good thing. Their reasoning seems to have been because of a perception that observing Remembrance Sunday only served to ‘romanticise’ and ‘glorify’ war and therefore there is a ‘question mark’ about whether it has any place in church at all? Now, I actually have some sympathy for this view … at least it has been ‘thought through’, and I certainly agree that some Remembrance Sunday Services can actually be quite ‘godless’ in the way she describes.

For me, however, ‘The answer to misuse is not disuse but proper use!’ A Remembrance Sunday Service does not have to ‘romanticise’ or ‘glorify’ war but, properly and sensitively conducted, can both comfort the sad and the sorrowing whilst at the same time challenge false conceptions and raise important issues in a thoughtful and intelligent way. Things like the place of ‘self-sacrifice’, the ‘folly of war’, the importance of being a ‘people of peace’, and so on, need to be talked about within the church community. Sadly, the reality is that in many churches Remembrance Sunday is often the only day in the year when these kind of ‘where the rubber hits the road issues’ are even raised? At least my Facebook Friend who has ‘reservations’ about churches ‘doing’ Remembrance Sunday has thought about it … quite a number of churches I know of today either ‘don’t do’ Remembrance Sunday, or only incorporate a brief reference to it, not because they have thought about it and have problems with it, but simply because they don’t consider it ‘relevant’ any more, and see it as ‘getting in the way’ of their usual way of worshipping on a Sunday?

I also think about my children, my grandchildren, and the future generations on Remembrance Sunday, because I think that it is vital that we continue to remember, to recall, the horrific events (as well as the bravery shown by many) of the 20th century. If we don’t study, and learn from, history we will only continue to make the same kind of mistakes for generation after generation! I was born in 1943, right at the end of the Second World War. I recall very little of it … although my earliest memory is of a ‘flying bomb’ falling on the nearby Glaxo factory in Greenford when I was a baby in my pram. I do recall ‘rationing’, however, and many of the other hardships and sadness of the war that lingered on long after the war had ended. I was brought up within a generation for whom the war remained a stark reality. And I was fortunate enough to grow up over a period of time in which we were constantly reminded, both at school and in church, of both the folly of war, the existence of evil … and the bravery of human beings in the face of such folly and evil! I want the younger generations to also learn about these things. To oppose the one and embrace the other … which is why we need to keep these things alive, pertinent, real in a positive, relevant, interesting and challenging way, in the hope that future generations will be able to change things for the better!

Above all I want people to learn the lesson that the way forward for us all is not by being selfish, grasping, treading on others in order to get somewhere ourselves, but by constantly remembering, by deliberately embracing the ‘full salvation’ that Jesus himself made possible for us all, and by following his example, in learning what it truly means to lay down our lives for others. As Jesus himself taught us, and embodied, ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’ (John 15:13)!

November pierces with its bleak remembrance
Of all the bitterness and waste of war.
Our silence tries but fails to make a semblance
Of that lost peace they thought worth fighting for.
Our silence seethes instead with wraiths and whispers,
And all the restless rumour of new wars,
The shells are falling all around our vespers,
No moment is unscarred, there is no pause,
In every instant bloodied innocence
Falls to the weary earth ,and whilst we stand
Quiescence ends again in acquiescence,
And Abel’s blood still cries in every land
One silence only might redeem that blood
Only the silence of a dying God.

~ Margot Krebs Neale (Silent Cross)

Jim Binney

Humiliation

I once knew a man who, for some reason or other, was never able to correctly pronounce the word ‘humility’? He always pronounced ‘humility’ as ‘humbility’! I have to confess that I rather liked this mispronunciation. It always seemed to me to convey a better understanding of the true meaning of ‘humility’.

Humility was high on Jesus’ agenda for ‘How to Live Life to the Full’. Luke tells us that on one occasion when Jesus was invited to dinner he ‘noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honour near the head of the table, [so] he gave them this advice: “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honour. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table! “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honoured in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”’ (Luke 14:7-11). Jesus not only taught the importance of humility but also demonstrated it when he took the place of a servant and washed his disciples feet (John 13:1-17).

Learning to be humble is not easy, however. I recently read some words of Mother Teresa that both helped and challenged me. She suggested that ‘We best learn humility through accepting our humiliations cheerfully!’ The implication here is that we only really learn to be humble as a direct result of experiencing humiliation ourselves … and responding to those times of humiliation positively rather than negatively. I am not suggesting here that we allow ourselves to go through life totally abject, downtrodden, defeated and deflated. But I certainly believe that those times when we feel we have been humiliated – which we all experience from time to time – can have a positive contribution in shaping our lives for the better, not least in this area of learning humility.

Like you, perhaps, I have been humiliated several times in my lifetime: my initial failure to achieve a good number of ‘O’ Levels at Grammar School as a teenager; the failure of my first marriage; not being awarded my PhD after nearly ten years of hard work; having to stand down from the pastorate of my last church following Julia’s illness … these are just a few personal examples, and the memories remain painful. Some of our humiliations are self-inflicted, some are caused by others, and sadly some have been at the hands of fellow Christians and the Church.

What I am experiencing at the moment is not exactly something that I would describe as ‘humiliating’ but it is definitely what I would describe as a ‘healthy humbling’. I have known for a while that this time would eventually come … but now that it is here it is still difficult for me to deal with. For more than 40 years I have been used to being (in the right way) ‘at the centre of things’ as far as ‘ministry’ is concerned … but now I find myself very much ‘on the edge’ of things. Julia has received, and has accepted, a call to the Pastorate of Knaphill Baptist Church, Woking, and … whilst I know this is right, and we have shared the journey prayerfully together, and I intend to support her in this new ministry to the best of my ability … I have felt very much a peripheral figure throughout. Although Julia and I see ourselves as a ‘team’, the church’s call is to Julia, not to me … and at times throughout this particular journey I have felt myself to be almost outside of everything that has been going on. Julia and I have been seen by others very much as a ‘team’ down through the years we have been together. At Dorchester Baptist Church (where we have been members for the last five years) we are ‘Julia and Jim’, joined at the hip, part and parcel of the same package, so it is proving a very strange experience to find myself very much on the fringe of things.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining about this turn of events. As I said earlier, it was inevitable that the time would come when I would have to step out of the picture and allow Julia to truly be herself in her own right and exercise the significant ministry God has called her to, and equipped her for. What is more, I am learning a lot through this whole experience, not least about what it truly means to be humble. The thought that has repeatedly come to mind during this period is ‘She must become greater, I must become less!’ This, of course, is a reflection on the words of John the Baptist concerning Jesus, when Jesus first came on the scene: ‘He must become greater; I must become less’ (John 3:30). Up until that time, it was John the Baptist who had been ‘centre stage’. He was the one with the ‘ministry’! He was the one whose preaching attracted the crowds! He was the one who baptised people in their hundreds! But now Jesus, the Promised Messiah, the Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, had arrived on the scene and it was he who must now have the pre-eminence not John the Baptist. I am not suggesting that giving pride of place to Jesus was easy for John the Baptist. Judging by his later doubt about Jesus (Matthew 11:3) John the Baptist obviously struggled to accept being relegated to a lesser place … but he finally got there!

Humility was also costly for Jesus himself. Writing to the Philippian Church, the Apostle Paul (probably quoting a hymn of the Early Church) encourages his fellow Christians in Philippi to ‘Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross’ (Philippians 2:5-8). C S Lewis, the renowned Oxbridge scholar and Christian apologist, suggests somewhere that ‘True humility is not thinking less of yourself … it is thinking of yourself less’!’ On the cross Jesus was still essentially who he had always been – Son of God, God in his own right, co-equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit – but in the Incarnation he deliberately chose to humble himself: to take human form; to become a servant, a bond-slave if you will; and to die the most agonising of deaths on a cross! And, what is more, he ‘accepted these humiliations cheerfully’ in order to save us … not least from ourselves!

For me, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, the Communion Service (whatever name you want to give to this sacrament) is supremely the place where all this is brought sharply into focus for us. I recall attending a devotional evening at Spurgeon’s College nearly 50 years ago when I was a student there. The guest speaker was a rather elderly Minister, who also officiated at the Communion towards the end of the evening. Normally the loaf used at the Table was partially cut through underneath so that the person presiding at the Table would be able to ‘break the bread’ easily. Unfortunately, on this particular evening, the person who prepared the Communion had forgotten to do this. As a result, when this rather elderly Minister attempted to break the bread it proved very difficult for him to do so. Our initial reaction to this elderly Minister struggling to tear the loaf apart was one of horror. ‘How terrible! It is so humiliating for him! It will ‘spoil’ the meaning of this act!’ In reality, however, rather than ‘spoil’ Communion, it ‘made’ it! It really brought home to all of us something of the real ‘cost’, the real ‘struggle’ that Jesus went through to make salvation possible for sinful people like you and me.

The cross, however, was not the end of story for Jesus! As the Apostle Paul goes on to tell us, in the same passage from his Letter to the Philippians I referred to earlier, ‘God highly exalted [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at name of Jesus every knee shall bow … those who are in heaven, those who are on earth, and those who are under earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2:9-11). And any kind of ‘humiliation’ that you or I go through in the course of life need not be the end for us either! In fact such experiences, however hard they may be for us at the time, can often prove to be the making of us.

When the converted Saul of Tarsus suddenly bursts on to the scene as a preacher of the Good News he is seen to be in partnership with another, more mature, Christian in the church in Antioch, a man called Barnabas. Together they are commissioned by the church in Antioch to take the Gospel message out to those who have never heard. At the beginning of their joint ministry they are always referred to as ‘Barnabas and Paul (as Saul has now become known)’ (Acts 13). But within a very short time their roles are reversed as it becomes clear that Paul is the one who has a ‘special anointing’ on his ministry. In the very next chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we see that they are now being referred to as ‘Paul and Barnabas’ (Acts 14). Was this hard for Barnabas to take? We are not told, but one suspects that since Barnabas was known to be a real ‘encourager’ of others (Acts 4:36), he was probably only too pleased to see his protégé develop in such a wonderful way! I was reminded of this recently when I heard of an older Minister, who in his day had exercised a very effective preaching ministry, who had stepped down from much of his public ministry and became more of an ‘encourager’ of other younger Ministers. He still got ‘invites’ to churches and conferences, but more often than not took other younger, gifted preachers with him and got them to do most of the preaching and teaching!

So, just as the advent of Jesus was not the end of John the Baptist’s usefulness; nor the cross the end for Jesus; nor the emergence of Saul of Tarsus as Paul the Apostle the end for Barnabas; nor the development of gifted younger preachers proved to be the end for the older Minister I have just mentioned … so God still has a bright future for you and me! Whatever any of us may have been through in the past, whatever we may actually be going through in the present, however ‘humiliating’ and hurtful some stuff may have been, this is not end for me or for you! Writing to the Christians in Rome Paul reminds us that ‘in everything God is working for the good of those who love him, the good of those called to fulfil his purposes for them’ (Romans 8:28). What we read here is meant to be understood by us as more of a promise than an exhortation. God is working something out, despite the circumstances we may find ourselves in, in order to fulfil the plans and purposes he has for all those who love him!

I do not know what God has planned for me in the future once we move to Knaphill in December. What I do know for sure, however, is that God hasn’t finished with me yet. It may not be the kind of pastoral ministry that I have been involved in previously … but I still have a ‘ministry’. I may now officially be on the ‘retired’ list of Baptist Ministers but God has not ‘retired’ me from service no more than he does any of us who name the Name of Christ. I am looking forward to supporting Julia in her new ministry, but am equally excited about the ‘new doors’ that God is going to open for me as well! God has not finished with me yet … and God has not finished with you either! We need to draw a line under the past (bad and good), learn to leave it at the foot of the cross, and move on into the ‘bright tomorrow’ that God has for every one of us!

Through the love of God our Savior,
All will be well;
Free and changeless is His favor;
All, all is well.
Precious is the blood that healed us;
Perfect is the grace that sealed us;
Strong the hand stretched out to shield us;
All must be well.

Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well;
Ours is such a full salvation;
All, all is well.
Happy still in God confiding,
Fruitful, if in Christ abiding,
Holy through the Spirit’s guiding,
All must be well.

We expect a bright tomorrow;
All will be well;
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All, all is well.
On our Father’s love relying,
Jesus every need supplying,
Or in living, or in dying,
All must be well.

~ Mary B Peters (1813-56)

Jim Binney

Old Tom

There is a story told of a young executive type from Surrey who came down here to rural West Dorset for a weekend break. Sitting in one of our quaint old country pubs he got chatting to Old Tom, one of the locals, who had never set foot outside of West Dorset in all of his 75 years. The posh executive type had only recently come back from a holiday in Italy, where he had encountered the well known lethargy for work displayed by a number of Italian workmen. Recounting something of his experience, the young man posed a question to Old Tom. “The Italians have an expression: ‘Domani! Domani!’ (‘Tomorrow! Tomorrow!’) … Do you have an expression like that down here in Dorsetshire?’ he asked. Old Tom, pondered for a while, and then replied slowly: ‘No … I don’t think we have a saying down here that expresses such a sense of urgency!’

Well, after five years down here in rural Dorset we are making the reverse journey up to Surrey. Julia has received, and accepted, an invitation from Knaphill Baptist Church, Woking, Surrey to be their new Pastor. Knaphill is a suburb of Woking, although it is in fact an urban village in its own right with a population of around 9,000 people (which would be quite a large town in Dorset!). It has a real community feel to it, with lots of shops, schools, surgeries and dentists, its own football and cricket teams, a community web site, several local churches (that work together in a good way), and so on. Knaphill Baptist Church itself has a fascinating history. Founded in 1867 as a ‘Church of Christ’ the church grew steadily numerically for a number of years but by the 1960s had began to decline in numbers. As this steady decline continued the church took the brave decision in 1974 to leave the Churches of Christ and join the Baptist Church. Since that time the church, although remaining somewhat small numerically, has made steady progress and today is a warm and welcoming, close-knit and friendly community of around 35 people of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Having received an extremely warm and enthusiastic reception we look forward to becoming an active part of this community in the near future.

Reflecting on our journey to Knaphill no one could describe it as having been accompanied by ‘a sense of urgency’? Having ‘washed up’ here on ‘Rodden shore’ some five years or so ago (after leaving Elm Road, Beckenham) Julia quite deliberately took ‘a year out’ before even contemplating returning to the Baptist Ministry. She wanted to be quite sure that she had fully recovered from the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that had haunted her during the last couple of years at Beckenham. For myself, primarily I wanted to be sure that Julia herself felt sure (if you follow my drift) that she had recovered enough from her CFS/ME to once again take up the reins of ministry. Personally I have never had any doubt about Julia’s God-given ability and calling. She is an excellent preacher, a sensitive and inspiring worship-leader, a caring pastor, and a very prayerful person. For me it would have been a tragedy if all those gifts had simply been left dormant rather than be used for the glory of God and the blessing and encouragement of others. The important thing, however, was that Julia should be convinced in her own heart and mind that ‘God had not finished with her yet’ and that he was calling her to return to ministry.

For myself, I also wanted to take some time to prayerfully reflect on the future. Some 24 years ago now, God spoke prophetically to Julia and myself concerning returning to pastoral ministry. The exact phrase was that there would be ‘a step, to a step, to a step’. The intervening years between then and now saw this prophecy exactly fulfilled with calls to first, Far Forest Baptist Church, Worcestershire; then King’s Heath and Moseley Baptist Church, Birmingham; and finally Beckenham Baptist Church, Kent. In our time at each church we saw considerable numerical and spiritual growth. For me, these respective ministries were a confirmation that ‘God hadn’t finished with me’ either, and for Julia they were the ‘launch pad’ into her own call to the Baptist Ministry. On reflection, I think I always knew somehow that Beckenham would be my last pastorate as a ‘Senior’ Baptist Minister, and that the ‘mantle’ was slowly but surely passing on to Julia in her own right. Initially we had thought (and hoped) that this ‘transfer’ of roles would take place during our time at Beckenham, but sadly this proved not to be. Quite what my role will be in the new set-up, is not clear as yet? I will obviously be supporting Julia in her new ministry as best I can, and if unofficial ‘assistant to the Minister’ is to be my future role I will undertake that role to the best of my ability. I do have a strong sense, however, that God still has something significant for me to do in terms of ministry, so I wait patiently for this to unfold in due course. It is probably true tom say that Baptist Ministers never really ‘retire’ … they just fade away quietly (or not so quietly in my case)?

Our journey to Knaphill has been as interesting one to say the least. When Julia re-entered the ‘settlement process’ nearly four years ago now, we initially were looking for a church within an hour or so from Rodden so we could continue to care for Julia’s elderly mother. If truth be told we could actually have ‘settled’ two or three times during this early period. None of these situations turned out to be ‘right’ for us however (for varying reasons), but we were able to expand our search area when Julia’s younger sister Livy (together with her husband Jack) decided to move down nearer to Rodden so that she could take over the responsibility to be the main carer for Julia’s mother. In fact the whole family have been very supportive of the idea that Julia should return to the Baptist Ministry when the time was right. Once again several opportunities for settlement came Julia’s way but, for one reason or another, none came to fruition although she came close on one or two occasions. Whilst it is true that we did encounter both sexism and ageism from the odd church or two, and the occasional church ‘stifled’ by a dominant Deacon or Elder, the majority of churches that we talked with were all genuinely prayerfully seeking to discern God’s will for the way forward. In addition we can only speak highly of the genuine concern, support, and patience of the various Regional Ministers who month by month have the unenviable task of seeking to match Ministers seeking settlement with churches looking for a new Pastor. We also cannot speak to highly of the leaders and good folk at Dorchester Baptist Church, who took us to their heart and have supported and cared for us over the last five years since we ‘washed up’ on their shore feeling rather battered and bruised after leaving Beckenham.

We were advised some years ago (by one of these Regional Ministers) not to settle at just any church but always to prayerfully seek to know that particular place where God was clearly calling Pastor and people together for whatever his plan and purpose for them both held. We certainly feel that Knaphill Baptist Church is indeed that special place for us. One of the many biblical promises God has given us during the last five years has been, ‘You will hear a voice behind you saying: This is the way, walk in it!’ (Isaiah 30:21). We believe that in receiving, and accepting, the call to Knaphill, that promise from God has been fulfilled.

We will be sorry in some ways to leave West Dorset although we will be coming back every couple of weeks or so, for a day or two, as part of our own personal responsibility for caring for Julia’s mother. Rodden is only a couple of hours drive away from Knaphill. No doubt there will therefore be other ‘Dorset Tales’ to be told as we continue to discover the various delights of rural Dorsetshire. But for the time being it (to paraphrase the Two Ronnies TV programme) ‘It is goodbye from her … and it is goodbye from me!’

So, back in our quaint old Dorsetshire country pub, our bright young executive is not too sure of the way back to Surrey after his weekend away, so he decides to ask Old Tom for directions. ‘I say, old fellow’ he says, ‘could you possibly tell me the quickest way to Surrey?’ Once again Old Tom (whom you will recall has never set foot outside of Dorset in his entire life) pauses thoughtfully for a minute or two … and then replies in a rich Dorset country accent, ‘You driving or walking, lad?’ The bright young executive quickly replies, ‘Driving.’ Old Tom nods wisely, and says, ‘Oooh aargh, lad … that certainly be the quickest way!’

Jim Binney

Cream Tea

An English ‘cream tea’ is a light afternoon snack consisting of tea taken with a combination of scones, clotted cream, and jam. Traditionally a speciality of Devon and Cornwall, cream teas are offered for sale in tea rooms in those two counties, as well as in other parts of England. There are regional variations as to how a cream tea should preferably be eaten. The Devonshire method is to split the scone in two, cover each half with clotted cream, and then add strawberry jam on top. Traditionally it is important that the scones be warm (ideally, freshly baked), and that clotted (rather than whipped) cream and strawberry jam, (rather than any other variety) are used. Butter is generally not included, and the tea should be served with milk. In Cornwall, however, the warm scone is first buttered, then spread with strawberry jam, and finally topped with a spoonful of clotted cream. Needless to say there is an ongoing historical dispute between the Cornish and Devonshire people as to both the origin of the ‘cream tea’ and which county’s method of layering cream and jam is best?

Here in Dorset, however, us locals have risen above such petty disputes. We too have our own ‘cream teas’ which are very popular especially with visitors during the tourist season. You see them advertised everywhere. Unlike the Cornish and Devon residents we don’t make a fuss about which county has the best cream tea, or in which order you choose to have your jam and cream. In our normal quiet, understated way, we simply know that (despite all the fuss our west country neighbours make), Dorset cream teas are the best!

I was reminded of this (for some reason) the other day when we were worshipping at our home church in Dorchester. One of the church members had heard that Julia had been invited to ‘preach with a view’ to the pastorate of Knaphill Baptist Church, Woking. Now, Julia and I are seen by the good folk at Dorchester Baptist Church very much as a ‘team’, and this good lady was asking if we would both be ‘called’ if the ‘preach with a view’ was successful? I explained that it was just Julia who was being considered, and that I was quite happy with this. It was certainly true that I was viewed in some circles as a ‘BOGOF’ (Buy One Get One Free), and I was happy to act as some kind of ‘Associate Minister’ if the church wanted me to fulfil that role, or simply serve in the background as a ‘normal’ church member. ‘Never mind’ said the lady in response, and (seeking to encourage me) continued ‘cream always rises to the surface, you know!’

Talking of ‘church’ I ought to say that although we are members of Dorchester Baptist Church, and attend regularly, we also ‘play hooky’ occasionally and attend our local Church of England. Julia’s mother, Olivia, is ‘Church of England’ and so we go with her to one or other of the three Anglican Churches in the local Benefice. We know quite a number of people in these churches having worshipped in all of them at one time or another, attended their annual ‘Lent Groups’, and supported their various fêtes and sales. There are three Parishes with one part-time Parish Priest over all three. I say part-time but actually she doesn’t really get paid … she just gets the ‘vicarage’ to live in free of charge in return for serving the three churches. We actually have a new Parish Priest who has only recently started. She is a hairdresser by profession and runs her own business three days a week, and serves the churches the rest of the time. This has led to quite a few jokes about the ‘length’ of the sermon, and the ‘style’ of the various services, and so on? Actually she is quite good and we like her.

Rural church life is ‘interesting’ to say the least. In our Benefice two of the parishes don’t really ‘get on’ with each other and few of the parishioners attend services held in the other parish’s church. Nobody quite knows why this is … something to do with being on ‘rival sides’ during the 17th century English Civil Wars, I believe?

The actual church services are also quite often ‘fun’ … if you like that sort of thing … with all sorts of quirky Church of England ‘traditions’ historical and local? There is the ‘finding your way round the order of service book’ for a start! What a rigmarole? Now, don’t get me wrong … I actually like the thoughtful way in which the various ‘prayer book’ services are arranged. I like the balance of the prayers (prayers of thanksgiving, confession, etc.), the variety of the Bible readings (ensuring a wide coverage of relevant scripture throughout the church year), the prominent place given to Communion (and the fact that they have ‘proper’ wine), the outward looking nature of intercessory prayer for ‘the church and for the world’, and so on. But all too often, in our local churches, nobody seems to know which page in the order of service book we are supposed to be on – even the person officiating? We all scrabble around trying to find the appropriate place. It is the bane of my mother-in-law’s life. Although she has been ‘Church of England’ all her life, she gave up trying to ‘find her way round the book’ ages ago. At 88 years of age she just wants to sit there and listen. But ‘helpful people’ will insist of ‘trying to find the right page for her’ … even if they can’t find it for themselves?

And then there is the organist? I really like our organist! He is not really ‘Church of England’ … his roots are ‘somewhere else’ but he has been attending the local ‘C of E’ for the last 40 years because … well, just ‘because’? He always plays stuff from the old CSSM Chorus Book, or Golden Bells, or Redemption Hymnal before and after the various services. He is a ‘jolly type’ who always manages to find a ‘jolly tune’ for the hymns (unless instructed otherwise). He likes it when Julia and I come to church because we ‘sing up’, and he thinks we are ‘proper Christians’ (whatever that means).

My own ‘pet hate’ however, is the weekly ‘birthday and chocolate time’? This is something that one of the previous Parish Priests started about 10 years ago and has been carried on ever since by the various incumbents. At the conclusion of the service, in the ‘parish notices’ slot, the Priest asks the congregation if anyone has had a birthday the previous week. If anyone is foolish enough to confess that they have, they are summoned up to the front, given a bar of chocolate, and we all have to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to them? It might have been fun once upon a time, and it might be o.k. for any children present, but it has now become excruciatingly embarrassing for just about everyone. We all now keep quiet about our birthdays! The last thing the majority of us do when it actually is our birthday is confess to the fact! We have all learned to not even tell our friends (because there are always those ‘hearty souls’ who will shout out ‘It was so-and-so’s birthday last week!’ … if they are in the know).

In one of the churches there are a group of people who intensely dislike ‘exchanging the peace’ just prior to Communion … the custom of everyone getting up and greeting each other with a handshake, or a hug, or a kiss accompanied by the words ‘The peace of the Lord be with you!’ In this particular church the dissidents all sit in one particular corner of the church building which has now affectionately become known as ‘the peace free zone’? Well, I would like to see the introduction of a ‘chocolate free zone’ or even better the scrapping of this whole embarrassing ‘birthday and chocolate’ thing. By all means let us sing ‘Happy Birthday’ when someone reaches a ‘significant birthday’ like reaching 100 years of age, say … but not every week for any birthday?

So … after all this meandering about recalling what it is like to worship in our local parish church here in rural Dorsetshire … what you really want to know is ‘How did Julia get on when she preached with a view at Knaphill Baptist Church, Woking?’ Well … we don’t know yet? The lady did brilliantly! The entire congregation spontaneously applauded Julia at the conclusion of her sermon! This was because it really was that good … and not because she had finally finished the sermon?! We will know more after the church has had its Special Church Meeting next Thursday to make a decision. We are not anxious about this, however. We are convinced that God has a perfect plan and purpose for us and that this will be revealed in due course. As God tells us through his prophet Jeremiah, ‘I have plans for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11).

We had a great time at Knaphill this last Sunday, however … and the church even asked me how I saw myself ‘fitting in’ if they called Julia to be their new Pastor? I answered circumspectly. The last thing I would want to do would be to get in Julia’s way. I want to support her, not hinder her, after all. I certainly still feel that God hasn’t finished with me yet, and that I still have plenty to offer. But it may be ‘out there’ rather than ‘in here’ as far as the local church is concerned, but we shall see. However, I can’t help thinking about what that good lady in Dorchester Baptist Church said to me the other day in order to encourage me: ‘Don’t worry … cream always rises to the surface, you know!’ ‘Yes’, I think to myself, ‘cream does rise to the surface … but usually in clots!’

Jim Binney

Any Questions, Dorchester Baptist Church

It is Friday night, and Julia and I are on our way to church! No, we haven’t got our days mixed up, or gone silly in the head … we are off to join the audience for the popular BBC Radio Programme Any Questions which this week is going out ‘live’ from the Dorford Centre, Dorchester, the home of the church where we are members, Dorchester Baptist Church. The programme starts at 8.00 p.m. but we have to be there much earlier because we are expecting a ‘full house’ and they are closing the doors at 7.45 p.m. We have our tickets to get in, and I am submitting a question for the distinguished panel to respond to … if my question is fortunate enough to be selected.

We arrive an hour and a half early and park in the public car park opposite the church. There are already people queuing to get in (just like Sunday mornings, of course) and there is even a secondary queue forming to one side for people who haven’t got tickets. The normally very friendly and welcoming stewards on the door have been transformed into rather blunt speaking ‘gruffalos’: ‘Where’s your ticket?’ ‘Got a question, have you … stick it the box with all the other ‘no hoper’ questions?’ ‘No you can’t sit anywhere … go and sit right over there on the far side of the auditorium!’

We meekly do what we are told. I place my question in the ‘no hopers box’. We go and sit where everyone else that has arrived (far too early) is already sitting. We look at the platform area that has already been set up with the names of the chairperson, the producer, and the guest panelists in front of their respective places at the long table. In the chair is Jonathan Dimbleby (looking older and more frail than I remember); alongside him is someone called Lisa Jenkinson (who turns out to be the producer); and on the panel are Nick Gibbs, Amanda Foreman, Alan Johnson and Ken Livingstone. I have to confess that I don’t know who Nick Gibbs and Amanda Foreman are? I have to look them up on my iPad. It turns out that Nick Gibbs is a Conservative MP (and an Education Minister to boot). Amanda Foreman is an historian and author (and has a TV programme about women on at the moment). Alan Johnson and Ken Livingstone I know. Alan Johnson is a Labour MP (and someone who a lot of people would have liked to have seen as leader of the Labour Party over the years), and Ken Livingstone is a former Mayor of London (and member of the Labour Party).

I first met Ken Livingstone getting on for 40 years ago when we were both much younger than we are now. He was leader of the Greater London Council in those days and, although non-religious himself, had been invited to give an address at a fringe meeting of the Baptist Union Assembly in London. There were two speakers at this fringe meeting, Ken and a certain ‘Baptist Worthy’ (who shall remain nameless). I forget now what the subject was, but I do recall that the ‘Baptist Worthy’ was sadly somewhat boring and incomprehensible in contrast to Ken who was lively, humorous, relevant and interesting. Consequently, when it came to a time for questions, following both addresses, all the questions were addressed to Ken whilst the ‘Baptist Worthy’ was completely ignored. Finally, one dear lady (obviously a ‘fan’ of the said ‘Baptist Worthy’) got to her feet and asked Ken what he had thought about the ‘Baptist Worthy’s’ address? I have never forgotten Ken’s diplomatic answer (which had both myself and a colleague I was sitting next to in stitches): ‘Well madam, I can honestly say that I have never heard anything like it before, and I will probably never hear anything like it again!’ His comment was followed by thunderous applause?

After the Fringe Meeting was over I somehow found myself walking back across London with Ken Livingstone. He was on his way back to his office and I was on my way to the station to catch my train home. He was full of questions about what Baptist-Christians believed and we had a very interesting and animated conversation about the Person of Jesus Christ, the nature of faith, the place of conversion, and so much more, as we walked through the streets of central London.

Back in the present, however, the large Worship Area at the Dorford Centre soon fills up and, after we are treated to a medley of radio theme tunes, we are welcomed by Lee Rhodes (one of our church members who has organised the visit of Any Questions to our church). We like Lee, he is our kind of Christian, really keen on the practical application of being a Christian – where the ‘rubber hits the road’ type of stuff – rather than the ‘shallow triumphalism’ so prevalent today. We wonder, however, why the ‘welcome’ is not being extended by one of our ‘Ministers’ from the church? Is it yet another example of the BBC not wanting anything ‘too religious’ or ‘too Christian’ in any of their programmes? We know this happens. A few years ago Julia and I appeared in the popular BBC TV Programme Cash in the Attic. We were warned then (by the makers of the programme) in advance, not to talk too much about the ‘Gospel’ or ‘Jesus’ during the filming of the programme ‘because the BBC don’t like it’!? Interestingly, we still found ourselves involved in a whole series of ‘in depth’, and at times very personal, discussions with members of the film crew, and the two main presenters, who all wanted to know more about why we had committed our lives to Christ, and if they too could find God for themselves? When they filmed the final ‘concert’ in our church/community garden at Beckenham, a member of the film crew spontaneously said to me, ‘Wow! I didn’t know Christianity could be like this!’

Before the programme starts we are treated to the ‘warm up’ act. He is something to do with production – we are not quite sure what – but he is very entertaining in a laid back sort of way. Ostensibly he is running through a list of what we ‘must do’ (applaud a lot) and ‘must not do’ (shout out anything ‘inappropriate’). He manages to make this quite interesting, peppering the instructions with amusing anecdotes, before launching into a final appeal to support the BBC against the threat of government cuts. The warm up act is followed by the arrival of ‘the panel’ from the ‘Green Room’ (a pub just down the road because we are not allowed to serve alcohol at the Dorford Centre). Lisa Jenkinson (the Producer) takes centre stage and calls out the names of the 10 or so persons whose ‘questions’ have been selected from the dozens submitted. Needless to say my ‘question’ is not amongst them.

We are not told what the actual questions are until the programme proper starts and each questioner in turn is invited to read their particular question. I say ‘each questioner’ but in reality we only have time for about half the questions. I have to say that I found the nature of the questions disappointing. Several of them are either bland or biased and designed to make for what the BBC obviously thinks is ‘good radio’. The words of the Queen song ‘Radio Ga Ga’ come instantly to mind: ‘All we hear is radio ga ga, radio goo goo, radio ga ga … radio blah blah’. The first question selected is used as a ‘warm up’ question. It is so trite that it is not broadcast to the public? Basically it is along the lines of: ‘What is the first thing members of the panel would save if their house was on fire?’ The members of the panel (at least those that have been ‘regulars’ over the years) have heard this question numerous times before and can scarcely be bothered to answer. It goes down like a lead balloon!

The first proper question is … surprise, surprise … about the perceived ‘immigration problem’ and is put forward by a questioner who is obviously a Tory but trying not to be too UKIP in posing his question. The reaction of the audience is fascinating. This part of Dorset is politically staunch Conservative – it is a waste of time voting for any other party such is the Conservative majority? Somehow or other, however, the audience tonight turns out to be staunchly Labour – indeed packed with Jeremy Corbyn supporters it seems! The patronising comments of the Conservative Minister and the historian/author are roundly booed whilst the strident call for a urgent and compassionate action by the Labour MP and left wing former Mayor of London are enthusiastically cheered!

Thus, the pattern for the rest of the evening is well and truly set. Nick Gibb’s answers are largely greeted with silence or boos and cat calls. Amanda Foreman doesn’t seem to get many questions put her way, and when she does her responses are given the same treatment as Nick Gibb’s. The only time she seems to get ‘fired up’ is over another really trite question to do with whether children of either sex should be allowed to play with Barbie Dolls or Meccanno? I am sure that I have heard this ‘old chestnut’ on Any Questions at least three time before … and I am not a regular listener to the programme. Come on BBC … get your act together … there must have been much better questions than these submitted? You should have had a proper look in the ‘no hoper questions’ box. That’s obviously where all the good questions were!

Nick Gibbs and Amanda Foreman are disappointing although, in fairness, that might not be entirely just down to them. The audience is clearly very ‘left wing’ and very noisy with it. There is a lady sitting a few rows behind me to my left who is particularly noisy. She is clearly a ‘Corbynite’ and her constant interjections are ‘doing my head in’. I want to get up, go and get a bucket of water, and pour it all over her … but, of course, this would constitute the ‘inappropriate behaviour’ we warned against at the start of the programme! ‘Red Ken’ Livingstone comes out of it quite well … at least he is engaging and interesting even if you can’t go along with all he says. The real star of the show, however, is Alan Johnson who speaks passionately, clearly, and concisely in response to the various questions put to him, and above all makes a lot of sense. I can see why a lot of people would have liked to see him as leader of the Labour party.

I come away from the evening feeling that we have been involved yet again in a carefully managed BBC programme designed to be high on ‘entertainment’ value of a sort, and little in valuable content! ‘Please join us in saving the BBC?’ asked the warm up act man. ‘It needs a bomb under it!’ is my response. Now I love the BBC – it is one of our greatest institutions – but it has really lost its way in a number of direction for sure. Julia and I know (from our involvement in the Cash in the Attic programme we were part of a few years ago) just how much these television and radio programmes are manipulated in order to ‘fit’ a certain ‘politically correct’ agenda. Virtually every scene we were involved in was not only well rehearsed but recorded at least three times and then heavily edited. The BBC needs to recover its original purpose as symbolised by the elegant marble statue of The Sower in the original reception area of Broadcasting House, and its accompanying inscription. As The Sower casts his seed so broadcasting casts its messages and communications to its audiences. The accompanying gilded inscription placed there on the opening of the building reads: ‘This temple of the arts and muses is dedicated to Almighty God by the first Governors in the year of our Lord 1931, John Reith being Director-General. And they pray that good seed sown may bring forth good harvest, and that all things foul or hostile to peace may be banished thence, and that the people inclining their ear to whatsoever things are lovely and honest, whatsoever things are of good report, may tread the path of virtue and wisdom.’

‘What was the question you submitted (which disappeared into the ‘no hopers questions box’ never to see the light of day again)?’ I hear you say. Well it was this: ‘According to the Futurist Patrick Dixon, we best prepare for the future by thoughtfully anticipating what is yet to come. So … it is the year 2020, Jeremy Corbyn is Prime Minister of the UK and Donald Trump is President of the USA. Is there any hope for the world?’ Far too profound a question for the BBC needless to say … and obviously far too long since it contains several words of more than one syllable? The answer to my question, of course, is ‘Yes’ … although I doubt whether any of the Any Questions panellists would agree with the answer I would have given? There is hope for the world because whatever message the media might seek to present, and whatever decisions the politicians might make, God remains ‘the God of hope’ (Romans 15:13) – where the word ‘hope’ means certainty not ‘fingers crossed’ – who is ‘working his purpose out as the year succeeds the year’ (as the old hymn says)! This hope is centred in the Person and Work of ‘the Lord Jesus Christ who is himself our great hope for the future’ (1 Timothy 1:1) … even if today’s BBC don’t really want us to talk much about him!

Although the Queen song Radio Ga Ga may, at first sight, imply that much we hear on the radio is gibberish … the very opposite is true. When Roger Taylor (with some input from Freddy Mercury) penned the words of this song in 1984 he was actually contrasting the potent historical value of radio with the nebulous perceived value (at the time) of music video clips. The song celebrates the ongoing ‘power’ of the radio broadcast and concludes with the refrain: ‘You had your time, you had the power, You’ve yet to have your finest hour’. Let us continue to pray and hope, therefore, that the prayer of the first Governors of the BBC back in 1931 will yet be answered: ‘That good seed sown [through the use of radio] may bring forth good harvest, and that all things foul or hostile to peace may be banished thence, and that the people inclining their ear to whatsoever things are lovely and honest, whatsoever things are of good report, may tread the path of virtue and wisdom.’

Radio – radio
I’d sit alone and watch your light
My only friend through teenage nights
And everything I had to know
I heard it on my radio

You gave them all those old time stars
Through wars of worlds – invaded by Mars
You made ’em laugh – you made ’em cry
You made us feel like we could fly
Radio

So don’t become some background noise
A backdrop for the girls and boys
Who just don’t know or just don’t care
And just complain when you’re not there

You had your time, you had the power
You’ve yet to have your finest hour
Radio – radio

All we hear is radio ga ga, radio goo goo, radio ga ga
All we hear is radio ga ga, radio blah blah
Radio what’s new?
Radio, someone still loves you

We watch the shows – we watch the stars
On videos for hours and hours
We hardly need to use our ears
How music changes through the years

Let’s hope you never leave old friend
Like all good things on you we depend
So stick around ‘cos we might miss you
When we grow tired of all this visual

You had your time – you had the power
You’ve yet to have your finest hour
Radio – radio

~ Roger Taylor (born 1949)

Jim Binney

Café Blue, Weymouth

I am sitting in Café Blue in Weymouth having a ‘Full English’ breakfast – two eggs, bacon, sausages, beans, tomatoes, black pudding, fried bread, etc. As you have already guessed I have been let out on my own again, ostensibly to go to the bank and do some shopping for Julia (who is too busy to come in with me today). As I walk into the café, Pete (the owner) sees that I am on my own and immediately says ‘You’ll be wanting the big breakfast then?’

Julia and I have probably tried all the cafés in Weymouth over the five years we have been here, and Café Blue is definitely our favourite. It is not the cheapest but it is also not the most expensive. It serves good food and good coffee. It is situated on the seafront with great views across the beach and the bay (when there isn’t a lorry parked right outside, that is). There are tables outside if we want to sit in the sun or inside if we prefer shade from the sun (or warmth during the winter months). Pete is a very friendly happy-go-lucky guy and we always have a bit of a laugh and joke whenever we visit. There also seems to be a good number of ‘regulars’ like ourselves who frequent Café Blue … evidence that we are not the only ones who like the place.

I am tucking into my yumacious breakfast when a waitress I have not noticed before – Pete needs extra staff during the summer – comes into the café (from serving those sitting outside) and asks ‘Are there breadcrumbs in my eyebrows?’ Pete and I look at each other … and burst out laughing! Its not that the new waitress actually has lots of breadcrumbs in her eyebrows – in fact she doesn’t have any as far as either of us can see – its just that neither of us were expecting such an unusual question. Indeed I am quite sure that it is the first time in my entire life that I have actually been asked that particular question. I don’t even know the girl … and yet the first thing she ever says to me is: ‘Are there breadcrumbs in my eyebrows?’

Questions are good! Never be afraid to ask questions. When I was at Grammar School I was afraid to ask questions, especially in our Maths lessons. The Maths teacher would always say, ‘Has anyone any questions?’ but he would say it in such a way that nobody dared ask a question. I did manage to pass ‘O’ Level Maths thankfully but probably could have done so much better with a more helpful teacher. I learned from this experience, however, and when I was studying for my first degree determined that if I didn’t understand anything that the tutor was saying I would ask what he or she meant? I didn’t care if I asked a dozen questions in the course of one lecture … and really annoyed the tutor in the process … I was going to ask questions until I did understand what he or she was on about! My fellow students said to me one day, ‘We are really pleased that you ask all the questions that we are too afraid to ask ourselves in case we are thought to be stupid!’ It didn’t matter to me if the tutor thought I was stupid. I wanted answers. And, by the way, I got my degree.

Now I have been asked a number of questions over the years. These range from the ordinary: ‘How do you get to so-and-so?’ or ‘Where is such-and-such?’ to the more profound: ‘What is the meaning of life?’ This happens especially so when people discover that I am an ordained Baptist Minister. They range from the rather supercilious: ‘Do you only work on Sundays?’ to the more serious: ‘How can I find God for myself?’ Quite often these questions are asked by people I have only just met. This seems to happen to me quite a lot when I am on holiday. Whether we are camping, or staying in a gîte or hotel, or even when we are just site-seeing, people ask me questions. I suppose it is a bit like meeting a medical doctor in similar circumstances? When they find out that I am a member of the ‘clergy’ they usually say something like: ‘O good, I have lots of questions I have always wanted to ask someone like you?’ You would think that many of these questions would be cynical: ‘How can you be so deluded as to believe in the existence of God?’ or ‘How can you believe in a God of love when there is so much suffering in the world?’, and so on. In reality the questions people ask are more often than not quite personal and deep seated: ‘My life is in a mess … how can I sort it out?’, ‘Can God really forgive me?’, ‘How can I stop feeling so guilty?’, ‘Is it really possible to start all over again?’, and so on. More and more, however, I am discovering that people’s questions are becoming more outward (and less inward) looking: ‘There has to be more to life than this?’, ‘How can I discover a more meaningful purpose in life?’, ‘I would really like to make a difference … but I don’t know where to begin?’

God doesn’t mind our questions. The Psalmist is constantly questioning God. Recently, Julia and I have been studying the Minor Prophets in our own devotional times together, and we were particularly struck by the dialogue between Habakkuk and God in which the prophet constantly  questions God about his actions (or perceived lack of action in most cases). At least Habakkuk (having asked his question of God) has the sense to wait on God for him to provide an answer (which he always does). In the Gospel Story Jesus does not mind Thomas questioning things … probably because he understands that Thomas is an honest doubter (who genuinely wants answers) and not a dishonest doubter (who just wants excuses for not following Christ).

The girl in the café with her question about possible breadcrumbs in her eyebrows reminds me of a story I once heard. Apparently there was a young man who, desperate for a coffee, went into a crowded café only to discover (once he got his coffee) that the only vacant seat was at a table for two. To his horror he saw that the other person sitting at the table was a clergyman … cassock, dog collar, the lot! The young man was agnostic about belief in God, and somewhat hostile towards religion in general and the clergy in particular, but he wanted his coffee and this was the only seat available, so he sat down. The clergyman’s welcoming smile was ignored as the young man got on with drinking his coffee leaving the clergyman to get on with drinking his cup of tea and reading the book he had with him. He noticed, however, that the clergyman was wearing a rather unusual lapel badge in the form of a question mark. Eventually curiosity got the better of him and he found himself asking the clergyman the question that had been forming itself in his mind for the last few minutes: ‘Excuse me … but what does that funny looking lapel badge stand for?’ ‘Why,’ replied the clergyman, ‘it stands for the most important question in the world?’ … and then, rather annoyingly, he went back to reading his book. A minute or two passed, and then the young man burst out with the obvious second question: ‘What is the most important question in the world?’ The clergyman smiled and turning the pages of his book (which just happened to be a New Testament) to Matthew 27:22, he read  the words of Pontius Pilate (addressed to the crowds in Jerusalem just after the trial of Jesus), ‘What shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?’ ‘That’ said the clergyman, ‘remains the most important question in the world!’ And, looking the young man straight in the eye, he continued: ‘Can I ask you what you are doing with Jesus?’

What think you of Christ? is the test
To try both your state and your scheme;
You cannot be right in the rest,
Unless you think rightly of him.
As Jesus appears in your view,
As he is beloved or not;
So God is disposed to you,
And mercy or wrath are your lot.

Some take him a creature to be,
A man, or an angel at most;
Sure these have not feelings like me,
Nor know themselves wretched and lost:
So guilty, so helpless, am I,
I durst not confide in his blood,
Nor on his protection rely,
Unless I were sure he is God.

Some call him a Saviour, in word,
But mix their own works with his plan;
And hope he his help will afford,
When they have done all that they can:
If doings prove rather too light
(A little, they own, they may fail)
They purpose to make up full weight,
By casting his name in the scale.

Some style him the pearl of great price,
And say he’s the fountain of joys;
Yet feed upon folly and vice,
And cleave to the world and its toys:
Like Judas, the Saviour they kiss,
And, while they salute him, betray;
Ah! what will profession like this
Avail in his terrible day?

If asked what of Jesus I think?
Though still my best thoughts are but poor;
I say, he’s my meat and my drink,
My life, and my strength, and my store,
My Shepherd, my Husband, my Friend,
My Saviour from sin and from thrall;
My hope from beginning to end,
My Portion, my Lord, and my All.

~ John Newton (1725-1807)

Jim Binney