The press - leading the way or following the public?

Thoughts on the Leveson Inquiry

I don't know if anyone else has been following the Leveson Inquiry, currently taking place, inquiring into the practices and ethics of the press. I certainly have been. And I hope some of the foul people involved get what's coming to them. I really do.

The stories have been heart-wrenching: the McCann family with their 2-year-old twins, being set upon by photographers, frightening the children, banging on car windows, hiding in the bushes outside their house. The Dowler family who mistakenly thought that Milly was still alive when they discovered new space on her voicemail, when the messages had actually been deleted by NoW reporters. Also "celebrities", some of them among our most creative and talented people, having every aspect of their private lives out there for the public to chew over on a daily basis.

A mouthy paparrazo was on the radio, defending their intrusive practices in a delightfully obnoxious manner. Noone needed to challenge him. He condemned himself.

Interestingly (providentially?) I gained perspective on this in preparing our weekly ladies' Bible study on James ch.3 using some great notes by Philip Jensen and Kirsten Birkett. See the following:

"The gutter press exists not because of particularly evil publishers, but because the public buys it. We love gossip. We love hearing it, we love spreading it, and we especially love being the first with the news so we can shock others."

Outrageous! Is this really us?

I think it is.

Shame on us, who are so proud and at the same time insecure, that we need to know the details of other people's lives so we can feel superior. Shame on us for our nosiness, and voyeurism. Why do we need to know everything about everyone? It is the mature person who walks away from the opportunity to find out some juicy titbit about someone else.

We hypocrites would like to know about other people, but would rather die than reveal similar intimate details about ourselves.

It is overwhelmingly wonderful to know a God who knows all the intimate and humiliating details about our lives and minds, and yet still gives us the dignity of being worth everything to him. At the heart of the universe is one who sacrificed himself more than we will ever understand to rescue people like us from the depths of our own sin, from condemnation and judgement.

So let's give other people a break. After all, God gave us one. Don't buy gossip mags (doesn't the title tell you something might be wrong there?!). I don't want to be a part of the world which pays the wages of the paparazzi. We've got better things to fill our minds with.

Why bother with church?

'You don't have to go to church to be a Christian.' So goes the saying. Actually, for most people, the first half is enough: 'You don't have to go to church'! No. I suppose not. Most of us have not always been 'church-goers'. (In fact, I can remember throwing my rubbish at a couple of 'church-goers' along with everyone else on the bus home from school. They were the definite losers in my mind.)

Plus, there's plenty of reasons why not to go: - it's boring; it's outdated; there's better things to do (like stay in bed. Or watch TV. Or poke your eyes out with a pencil, for that matter.) But don't let past experience or preconceptions or what you saw of it on TV or what people have said put you off. Here's some reasons why it's well worth paying us a visit one Sunday morning, if you don't already come:

[1] You look at the bible. When else would you ever do that? It's a book that's changed the world, shaped so much of our culture, turned countless lives around. To read it and hear it explained, to question it and talk about it - what an opportunity!

[2] We deal with the biggest questions of life - because that's what the bible deals with. Answers to the meaning of life, life after death, why the world is the way it is, why we are the way we are ... and answers that add up. Why shy away from that?

[3] You meet God. ('...Sorry... What? You don't really mean that...') Yes - when 'God's people' get together, God's with them; he speaks through the bible; he hears prayers; he changes our hearts. The first time I was brought to a 'real' church, I was blown away by this. These people really knew something - they really connected with their God - and not in a spooky way, but a warm and strangely natural way. I'd been in churches, cathedrals and all sorts before. But a church where people really engage with God in the bible is something special.

[4] It's not boring. It's the highlight of my week. Our kids, too, look forward to it. In fact, I don't think anyone at Wellfield would say otherwise. (Correct me, if I'm wrong.)

So why not come along soon?!

Making the most of Christmas

There’s lots of stuff to get ready for Christmas isn’t there? Cards, presents, decorations, food, travel plans. Have you started? Are you panicking?


Christmas has become a big thing in this country. Everyone goes through the motions of preparing all of these things. But what are people celebrating? As Christians we’re fortunate enough to know what we’re celebrating – that God was loving enough to send his son Jesus to become like us, so that he could die for us.

Since we know why Christmas really is good news, and why it’s worth celebrating, we have a real opportunity. It’s a good opportunity because we’re doing the same thing as everyone else, and it’s a good opportunity because we can do things differently to everyone else.

Most people send Christmas Cards, but the majority have cuddly penguins or trees or santa or robins on them. Why not give a gentle reminder that Christmas is about Jesus with the cards that you send? You might like to look here http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/christian-living/gifts-and-cards-1/christmas-cards

People like to give each other presents. Increasingly, people seem to want to buy more and more presents. Presents aren’t bad, they are one way of showing people you love them. But they’re certainly not the only way. Don’t go over the top, don’t feel you need to compete and buy people bigger and better presents. You might also want to take the opportunity to be direct to family members and say “there are more important things than presents. Please don’t buy lots of expensive things for us, or for our kids” That’s not to say that we can’t spend any money at Christmas – there’s lots to be enjoyed, just think carefully about it.

Christmas is really exciting for children. There’s a lot of hype, and at school they start doing Christmassy things weeks if not months before! Get them excited about the real meaning of Christmas. Think about looking at the Christmas story together through December. Chat about what’s most important about Christmas, because it’s easy to be dazzled by the celebration, and forget what you’re celebrating.

Spend good time with family over Christmas. Extended family can be really easy to spend time with, but some of the hardest people to talk about the gospel with. Invite them to come to church with you on Christmas day, whether you’re here, or staying away – they might just say yes because of festive spirit! And if you’re looking at the Bible story with your kids, invite them to listen in on that too.

Christmas is a great time to show real hospitality. If you can’t have people round at Christmas, when can you? Invite your neighbours round for Mulled Wine and Mince pies – be generous, and get to know them better. Or if big gatherings aren’t your thing, why not have some close friends round for a practice Christmas dinner?

Whatever you choose to do to make the most of Christmas opportunities, make sure you’re prepared. In 2 Timothy 4 v 2, Paul says “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season” and in 1 Peter 3 v 15 Peter says “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” If we want to make the most of Christmas, we’d better be prepared to tell people why we think it’s worth celebrating.

(By Helen)

Machine Gun Preacher - Review

Wow. The most harrowing film I have seen in a long time. It is the gritty true story of Sam Childers, tough bad-boy biker from a trailer park in Pennsylvania. Released from prison, he arrives home to find his wife's 'found Jesus'. What follows is the gripping account of his own conversion, the establishment of a church for trailer park and biker types, and his transformation into a man with an intense passion for the victims, especially children, of the appalling civil war in southern Sudan. So involved and driven is he by his mission, that he gives up all at home, becoming increasingly absorbed by his cause. By the end, he is waging a mini war against the oppressing 'LRA', freeing as many captive children as he can manage.

The final credits show pictures and video of the real Sam Childers, the last of which is him asking the pertinent question:

'If your family member or child was abducted, and I could get them back for you, would it matter how I did it?'

This is the message of the film. In the face of such evil, does not the end justify the means? Can you really sit back and criticise the actions of a man who cares as much as this?

The graphic scenes of the film leave no room for armchair critics (because they are the scenes of real life - and death - in Sudan). There is so much to think through - and neither the images nor issues raised will leave my mind quickly. And yet I think the following are lessons for us to learn straight away:

• We ought to be ashamed about our complacency whilst evil rampages in the world. In one scene, Childers is ranting at his church back home, saying Jesus does not want sheep, but wolves - with teeth! Leaving aside the questionable handling of scripture there, the sentiment is challenging: are we comfortably roaming around, or are we driven and fighting?
• Then, the next big lesson becomes identifying the enemy. Atrocities in Africa are sickening. But they are just a symptom of the fallenness of the human race. It is important to oppose the symptoms, but it's the root causes that must occupy our greatest efforts. How telling that through 30+ years of horrendous civil war, the church in Sudan wasn't asking for guns, freedom or even food so much as bibles, training for pastors in preaching the Word, and prayer. The work of our mission partners in Nairobi is even more significant than relief work for the traumatised children. (I say that soberly.)
• It is vital to support our brothers and sisters in their terrific needs around the world. Yet God has placed us in families and communities where we are. He has commanded us to care for these. Though it is right for some to be sent to where certain needs are greater, we must fight with passion where we are now. You don't need to go to toughest Africa to be a 'wolf'.
• The need for the right people to lead. Childers shames us by his drive. But so many of the frustrations of his story are because he was not grounded in his faith nor stable as a character. People need grounding to do the real work well.
• Accountability. Self-appointed pastors and missionaries are dangerous. Plenty of people in the film pointed out enormous dangers of Childers' approach. They were not all armchair critics. Frustrating as it may be for the more visionary among us, when we move forward, we move together. (Though, let's be sure to move forward.)

Gratitude

"O Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my receivings and my deservings,
between the state I am now in and my past gracelessness,
between the heaven I am bound for and the hell I merit ...
O that such a crown should fit the head of such a sinner!
such high advancement be for an unfruitful person!
such joys for so vile a rebel!"
(Taken from "The Valley of Vision: a Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions".)

Look how far we've come!

How have things changed at Wellfield in the past 18th months or so?

It's important to ask the question. We don't want to become stale in the way we do things, in our membership, or in our individual lives. Our church was set up by St Andrew's to reach harder-to-reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So how are we doing?

I want to say that I am hugely encouraged. It's been amazing to see a few people with very complex lives come to faith in Christ from the first time (people who wouldn't have heard the good news without Wellfield), and all sorts of people have come into contact with us and the message of Jesus who are further away from being saved at the moment.

This is great!

I remember times when the Wellfield Sunday meeting has felt a bit pointless (even though it is NEVER pointless to meet around God's word to hear from him!)... It never feels pointless now. It feels like a real community and our Sunday meetings are the highlight of the week. Our music may be naff (singing to a CD is a just a tad hilarious...but at least we can all stay in our seats for it...) but it is always great. Our monthly lunch gatherings after church are a high point for our children, certainly. And there are some great cooks at Wellfield!

I think "doing our own thing" on a number of occasions instead of running back to our "parent" church St Andrew's for all the big celebrations (Christmas- see picture-, and holiday club) has really served to make us feel like a family. And that draws people in. It might seem small, but it is hugely significant in eternity.

When I was still involved at St Andrew's, I longed to make spreading the gospel to people outside church a greater priority. But when life is so busy with church activities, it just doesn't happen so easily. The people who are drawn into a big church like that are totally different to the sort of people who are drawn into a little church like ours. Our new people would perhaps have sat on the sidelines of a big church and left after a while without anyone noticing. At our church they are at the heart of things.

So let's keep on changing and growing. Not getting stagnant and boring. Let's be excited about the best news in the world, which is ours to share with Leyland.