Sacrifice

I've been absent from my blog for the past week, because to be honest... how do you follow news like that covered in my last post?

Now seems an appropriate time to reflect on other things, whilst still bearing in mind the events of the last week.

Today is Remembrance Sunday... the day when we traditionally call to mind the horrors of the last century's wars (and of course, more recent and even current conflicts). We think about those who laid down their lives, those who suffered due to the loss of loved ones, and those who came back and somehow tried to put the pieces of their lives back together in the aftermath of the harsh events they had witnessed.

For me remembrance is less about the war itself, and more about showing respect for people who had the courage, conviction and willingness to sacrifice their own lives (in life or in death), to preserve the freedoms and relative well being that I can experience in this country today. Today for the first time in my living memory, Alcester called out the names of men who had not died due to military conflict - the names off course, were the names of the firefighters: Ashley Stephens, Darren Yates-Badley, Iain Reid and John Averis. They may not have died to save their country from a foreign threat... but nobody, NOBODY can deny that the sacrifices they made in life and in death... preserved people's freedom and well being as well. How many people today enjoy liberty and life due to the work of those men... and for that matter all this world's fire, rescue and emergency workers? So it is all the more fitting that they also were remembered along with the war dead today (read more about their lives here).

Many of the tributes that have poured in to Alcester and indeed Stratford-upon-Avon over the past week, have included condolences from teams of firefighters in other nations. Most notably and poignantly among those, have been the words of the Firefighters of New York. They (and several others) quoted a passage from the Bible:

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13

Those were Jesus words to his disciples. I am also reminded of something Paul wrote to the Romans:

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:7-8

So when I read of the sacrifices made by others... irrespective if it is with respect to the Christian faith, it always reminds me of the sacrifice Christ made for the salvation of mankind - you and me.

How then, should we respond to the sacrifices made for us... be it those of servicemen, the emergency services... or ultimately the sacrifice made by Christ for our redemption?

As I passed by the war memorial to look at the names inscribed on it... and at the wreaths, I also read one of the adjoining plaques... and the words (pictured below) resonated especially with me at this time:

Live as nobly as they died. It's a big ask isn't it? However, if we continue to live only shallow lives, do we not dishonour the sacrifices that all those people made on our behalf... in good faith?

Remaining on the theme of sacrifice, I'd like to conclude with an idea of what I believe from the Bible, is a good way to "live nobly" as the memorial suggests. It is the 12th chapter of Romans, the first section of which is fittingly entitled "Living Sacrifices":

Living Sacrifices

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Love

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Romans 12

We will remember...

To find out more about the work of The Royal British Legion and the Poppy Appeal, follow this link.

To find out how to write condolences for the Alcester and Stratford-upon-Avon firefighters or to donate funds towards the support of their loved ones, click this link to the Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service.

Fire and Tears

This blog entry is dedicated to the brave firefighters who have been tackling the recent warehouse blaze at Atherstone... and the grievous aftermath that has followed. One fireman has died and three others remain missing after over 24 hours. Two of the four come from my hometown... which is understandably in a state of some shock. Alcester's firefighters are retained and not "full time".

If the worst case scenario proves to be reality, this will have been the worst loss of life in the fire service for over thirty years. It is a testimony to the skill, teamwork and dedication of our fire and rescue teams, that this figure has remained so low for so long; especially when you consider the quantity and frequency of call outs they receive... and the variety of hard situations they willingly put themselves into and jeopardise themselves on our behalf. None of this can be much comfort to the families, friends or colleagues of those men today; however it is important we recognise those sacrifices... and acknowledge the cost when it is high.

Police have described the fire as "suspicious" and it is being treated as an arson attack. An early witness report has suggested a possible suspect fled from amongst bushes not far from the scene. Search teams have been sent in...but the building is still extremely unstable and has not yet finished collapsing. It may take up to 36 hours to clear the scene and gather evidence... and more importantly to discover what happened to the other three firefighters (and for that matter anyone else who may possibly be in there).

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who are suffering as a consequence of the tragic events. The image below comes from one of the many tributes to the emergency services in the wake of 9/11. However, I think it is just as appropriate for this smaller local tragedy. We all need to support and pray for those who are prepared to risk their lives for us.

A Chance Encounter with Sadness

It was an ordinary if hectic day yesterday; exhausted from working extremely hard I arrived at my car where Rob was waiting... I started the car and set off at the helm expecting nothing more than the usual Friday routine of friendly discussion regarding theology and events within our circle of friends. At that point in time the only thing bothering me was the fact that I hadn't had opportunity to say hello again to that girl from the estate agents I'm quite fond of (it's the girl I'm fond of... not the estate agents).

Unbeknown to us, things were about to take a darker turn.

Driving back along the country road, I turned off taking note of the signs warning us about a horse ride taking place that day... a minute or so later, on approach to a narrow S bend by a weir, I saw a different sign - "POLICE SLOW". On approach I assumed there had been an accident in the road ahead.

Rob and I cruised gently through the narrow gap between the roadside and two police cars and wondered what it could be that was so wrong? It couldn't be a car accident because there was no debris or wreckage. Whatever it was was significant because there were two television crews on the scene as well. I hypothesised that it was either a cache of drugs or in the worst case, a body that had been discovered.

I didn't know how close I was to the truth, and I wish now that I hadn't been. Rob doesn't normally watch the news and he had wanted me to text him to let him know what it was, but in the end.... I didn't have the heart to do it, the news was too grievous for me to pass on like that.

I asked Mum and Dad to turn on the news and it was then that I learned the awful news that a newborn baby girl, sealed in a Mothercare bag was the source of the investigation. She had been found in the river by a family of walkers... how terrible they must have felt.

Autopsy results on the child reveal that she was delivered fulll term... but whether or not she was stillborn or died of other causes is as yet unknown.

Police are making enquiries after the mother... they are naturally concerned as to her physical, emotional and mental wellbeing at the moment. Despite the fact that the babe was found near Great Alne, just a stone's throw away from where I go to church, the police are stating the discovery as being in Aston Cantlow... they must be assuming a certain amount of drift from the nearest large settlement.

I hope and pray the mother turns herself in and that she can get the help she needs. I pray things don't have to turn any darker with this story then they already have. I just hope it is a case of the mother not being able to get to medical help and suffering from a state of confusion and post-natal depression after finding her newborn child had not survived. It sounds strange to hope for the least worse possibility, but I'd rather not entertain the thought that this was an act of wilfiull neglect or cruelty.

One mistake I believe the police made when issuing the press statement, was getting a man to deliver it. they should have asked a female officer to make the appeal... preferably a mother herself. If this lady is to turn herself in, I feel it will be to empathic arms and not authoratitive ones.

Pray for the mother, whatever she has done.... pray for her.

N

Pride & Prejudice

On the news this morning, the presenters were talking about a new film adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice". I can't believe it; this must be the umpteenth time in recent years, that this particular book has been adapted for TV/Film.

I'm not a great fan of Jane Austen literature, its not that I don't like a romantic story... I just don't like the setting. I dislike English culture from Georgian through to Edwardian times... the people were far too repressed. The language was wrong, the clothes were wrong... everything was just plain wrong. Those people needed soul! Generally, cultures seem to start descending downhill when the men start wearing tights! I think the rot probably started with the Norman invasion, prior to that the Celts and Saxons had been pretty passionate about their art, music and beliefs. After that with the aristocracies taking over... everything became about control.

Anyway, watching this news triggered an odd debate between me and my father (at 8:25am is an odd time for these things to happen).

It started with me moaning about the film and asking why it was so popular that it could be done to death again and again without people noticing. Dad believes that it is because the plot deals with the rights and wrongs of people living in a "have/have not" society, the poor being denied anything be it jobs or relationships... simply because of their station in life, which is always relevant to any audience.

That took us on to Hurricane Katrina, and how all the rich people got out... but the poorer ethnic communities by and large were the ones left behind to suffer; be they black, Cajun, Latino or native.

Then we hopped on to church matters. Dad pointed out that there are people in his church who are on a mission committee, but that they spend a lot of their time making contacts with people who are wealthy, using it as an excuse for hob-nobbing. Dad sees that as hypocritical as they are what he calls the "church, church" the people who make out that they are the most devout and yet they talk to the popular cliques, rather than reaching out to people who have no-one. When the money from that clique dries up... they move on to the next bunch.

I then spoke of my disgruntlement with the church. How I saw our diocese as being highly Pharisaical and corrupt. The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged Anglicans to "think global, act local". How can we do this, when the diocese keeps ratcheting up the parish share every year, it is THEY who are spending money doing the global stuff. We have to pay more and more to them... leaving practically nothing for community work or outreach in our own areas. If that wasn't bad enough, a year has passed and they still haven't appointed a new vicar... and yet they still insist on taking full payment for clergy personnel! Meanwhile, John and Trish are forced to provide constant leadership, which is an unfair burden for them. Hopefully as time goes on, more of us will be able to help them.

Proverbs 30:15 says the leech has two daughters, "Give! Give!" they cry. how is it any different with these people? I sincerely pray God convicts the General Synod and every diocese, I am getting so upset about it i am preparing to write an assertive letter to the higher echelons of church leadership. It's time the Anglican church got back to basics - early church basics.

After all this it was 8:40am and I had to scoot fast, as I had work.

A Response

Author's note (05/01/07) The following post was initially a response to a comment left on my MSN Space. The person leaving the comment had been abusing my space by posting obscenities. I deleted the pure abuse, but when he finally got round to raising a valid point, I decide to be curteous. It seemed to pay off as their was a genuine dialogue that lasted for a couple of posts:

In response to:

"no offence but stop wastin ur life!! if god exists then howcum such bad things happen to gd ppl?? god dosent exist gt it through tht thik skull of urs!! my grandad died of cancer no matter how much prayer i went thru and church servises i went to. he died!! sure god exist. yeh and monkeys mite flie outa my butt!! jesus roks he was a rly old dood hoo live a mmillion yrs ago get the hell over it!:@:@"

Firstly, I want to make one thing very clear. Despite the fact you posted this in "Abusive Comments Part 2", I don't consider a large part of what you typed as offensive, the rest I believe comes from hurt. So, I'll treat it your post with respect and respond accordingly..

I naturally sympathise over your loss, but with all due respect, you need to get some perspective. You are not alone in knowing people who have suffered died from cancer. Several of my uncles and aunts have as well. Many years ago, I had an aunt, uncle and cousin who died in a car crash... leaving two cousins orphaned. This broke my grandparents hearts. My grandfather died of a heart attack that very year, and my grandmother was a shell of herself for the several years she lived on. My grandfather on my mother's side died before I was even conceived, I never knew him. I would encourage you to be grateful for what time you had with your grandfather, rather than be bitter over what you have lost.

People who have a belief only because they think it's some magic charm to protect them from life's trials need to grow up. As human beings living in a fallen world, we all suffer, that much is clear. In fact, if you have a faith in Christ Jesus, you are likely to come in for more. Jesus only promises to not let us be exposed to more than we can hack. He doesn't say you are immune to pain. Though he is a balm for suffering and the ULTIMATE cure for our fallen condition, he is not an inoculation against the circumstances of this world. How can Christians be a witness to those suffering, if they themselves have not suffered?

No, apart from our need for salvation, the other reason Jesus suffered, was so that he would be able to help us when we ourselves suffer. By his wounds we are healed!

We need to lean on Jesus all the time, not only to get us through the bad times, but also to acknowledge him in the good times.

I'm assuming your comment about Jesus was hyperbole, because as we know, he only lived two thousand of our Earth years ago. He also was NOT a "rly old dood". Most people believe he died around the age of 33. That's not old... at least i hope not, or I'm in BIG trouble LOL! No, Jesus died young... and that's how he remains. He was raised in a resurrection body (some people think that means scientifically changed at the atomic level). He does not age, and he is not on Earth anymore. so yup two millennia later he's still in his thirties. Lucky bloke... but then he is God! :-)

I'd like to challenge you to pray again, though hard it be. I'd also like to ask you something if you do. When you pray, do you just talk, or do you listen as well. I'd like to encourage you to take that path, because it makes a difference. I'd also encourage you to pray along with people who have experience. no, I don't mean people who read from a text book, I mean people who pray from the heart.

Finally, to those of us who do believe in Jesus, a warning:

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

And:

"These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

If we seem to be having an easy ride, we should always be ready and prepared for God to use in difficult situations/circumstances.

We have been entrusted with much, lets not be lazy with it!

N

Death of a Postman

I heard on the news last night that a lad I used to play football with was knocked down and killed while riding his postman's bike along the A46. The lorry driver from Leicester who was responsible, is being charged with manslaughter.

Nicky was a decent lad, he enjoyed being a postman, and he always treated me with respect, never failing to say hello on the infrequently occasions we passed in the street. He was two years my junior, at 28 years of age.

You can tell how strongly his colleagues feel about his loss, because before the sun had even set on the news, there were many flowers placed outside the town's post office.

My mind keeps coming back to a tough verse in the Bible I had to brush up on before the Maze last year. It concerns Jesus teaching on suffering.

"Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.""

In the ancient world, people often thought that disaster only came upon people who had offended God in some way. There was a belief that whatever your circumstances, you always got what was coming to you. This isn't what Jesus preached.

Jesus isn't saying that bad things only happen to bad people, he's not judging the people who have suffered. He's actually saying something quite different indeed. He's pointing out that the apparent random suffering in life (unfair as it often can be), ISN'T necessarily a reflection of anything we have done, BUT it should make us take our future lives seriously, and use the time we have wisely, while we still have it. It doesn't matter that before we weren't right with God... what's important is that we make sure we are right with him from this day forwards.

We don't know when our time is up. We have to make sure we know God more than him just being our maker. We have to know him as friend and saviour. We have to make the most of every opportunity. Living our life to the full (which includes having fun wherever possible, in the context of what God's OK with).

Similarly, don't make the mistake that I am judging Nicky, I'm not. I had a lot of respect for him as a person, and I shall miss not seeing him around town... as it stands i can't quite believe he's gone!

No, it's not my place to judge anyone, so I am not so foolish as to pronounce a theory on his fate. I prayed for him last night, and hope even now that the light he received in life was enough to welcome him into heavenly hands.

May God be with you all.

N

Common Misconceptions

The newspapers today are all full of the news of Jeff Weise, the Chippewa tribe American boy who gunned down his grandfather, grandfather's girlfriend and 7 of his classmates in cold blood. The press are focusing on his suspected Nazi sympathies as being what drove him to act in this manner. If this is so, I find the news all the more tragic. The native American tribes do not fit the criteria for being of the "master race", so almost certainly would have suffered had Hitler ever had access to them. Even more important than this, the native American tribes in their own way, had a taste of what to expect from Nazism when the colonial powers oppressed and suppressed them all those years ago.

Some of the tabloids are focusing on the question Weise apparently asked one of his victims, before slaying him... "Do you believe in God?" We have to be careful when analysing this. Nazism, wasn't just a warped political ideology, it was a belief system, and it wasn't compatible with Christianity, as Hitler himself publicly declared. In fact, the heart of Nazi ideology is suggestive of extremist Darwinism being applied itself as religion, which is far more than the scientific community would have ever wanted it to go.

During the Nazi Party reign, Christians such as Maximilian Kolbe (see on my historical party guest list), and Martin Niemoeller were persecuted for adhering to Christian principles and promoting the Gospel of love, Niemoeller was jailed, and Kolbe was martyred in Auschwitz.
Furthermore, the youth of Germany were exposed to brainwashing literature that condemned Christianity and played to ethnic fear and insecurity. I don't even want to repeat some of the filth they were expected to learn.

I feel great sympathy for those who have lost loved ones, as well as the Chippewa Community (and the wider Minnesota community affected by this). In looking at what happened, I just wanted to clarify that there is no link between Christianity (or for that matter theism in general), and the Nazi party.

My prayers naturally go out to those who have suffered.

N