simple trust

A new book of 70 pages caled 'In Simple Trust' is now available from Rev Ian Gregory, at 16 Grice Road, Stoke on Trnt ST4 7PJ. It is intended to help people whosefaith is shaky, as they go through difficult times of life.  It suggests that there is a spiritual dimention from which each of us has a 'guardian angel' who follows us through life and death into the new life of spirit.  £7 inc p&p. Not for people stuck in ancient prejudices and medieval beliefs.

children

The Congregational church of which I was minister for almost 20 years (2003) is a strong feature of the local community life. It is still so, although old hands tell me that it was once much more so. On Sunday afternoon hordes of children from ages five to 14 would come down the main road from the fairly mean houses 200 yards away to attend Sunday School. Indeed my forebears had created halls and rooms to accommodate some 500 children in various classes, and these children were taught by enthusiastic leaders and teachers in well-organised classes, and with well-prepared teaching. We are still fortunate in that children come, and when we have a dozen on a Sunday morning we think we are doing quite well; many churches have fewer than that, if any children at all. There is no Sunday afternoon event for them, although there are weekday events which attract small numbers.  The Sunday School movement flourished in nonconformist churches in the early years of the last century, but perhaps two world wars reduced an almost automatic belief in the Christian faith, and Sunday Schools declined in common with church attendance.  It is interesting that the behaviour and confidence of young people seems to have deteriorated in almost exact proportion to the decline of Sunday Schools. Children have been cut off not just from teaching about Christian faith, but contact with the kind of Christian people who taught it and influenced them in our churches. I see a definite link betwen the decline of one and the increase of the other, to the general dismay of the community.

Prayer

Suddenly, prayer is a live subject. People you would not imagne engaging in heartfelt prayer are asking God to help a premiership footballer survive heart failure. Patrice Luamba, aged 23, collapsed while playing for Bolton Wanderers and was rushed to hospital, the watching crowd at Tottenham, Hotspur's ground stunned into silence as he was treated on the pitch. Players from both sides were on their knees in prayer when they realised how serious his condition was. Muamba's heart stopped working for some hours, and at the time of writing there are reports that he is beginning to show signs of recovery, and has started talking again. Everybody concerned is at prayer for him, because that is all that people feel they can do to help. The professional skills of surgeons at the London Chest Hospital have obviously been effective so far, although their patient is seriously ill. Everybody else is still praying. One of the most moving messages is from his fiancee Shauna Muganda, writing on twitter: 'All your prayers are working, people.Thank you so much. Every prayer makes him stronger.'  A fellow footballer, Gary Cahill, unveiled a message on his tee shirt after scoring a goal. 'Pray 4 Muamba'. It is clear that prayer is still a huge part of people's lives when they face uncertainty about what else might help. Those of us who promote prayer as a normal part of the life of faith may be encouraged to see all this, and while joining their prayers for a young man in desperate trouble, will be intrigued to see that thousands who do not  appear to be people of prayer turn to it in extremity. Irrespective of  belief or religious commitment, they obviously think prayer 'works'.

Hammer

Morning prayer for me often centres on the BBC programme 'Homes under the Hammer'. It is a perfect illustration of the way God can take and transform a property, in my vision, the property being a human being.Two delightful 'priests' being Lucy Aexander and Martin Roberts find property in various stages of disrepair or even dereliction.  They attend an auction at which somebody puts in an offer for it. They discuss what needs to be done to make it habitable and how much it might cost. Later they go back to the property to see how far the transformation has progressed. Often what had appeared to be a hopeless house has been improved beyond belief, so that it is now 'fit for purpose'.  I picture the auction room in which  God makes the top bid so that the property becomes his own. The cost is what God pays for the property in suffering on the cross. Now it can be transformed and made a thing of use and beauty. A troubled person, in disrepair, can place their lives 'under the hammer' and  undergo a complete transformation after our Father puts in a top bid to make them his own. 

wind

The huge amounts of money being invested on wind farms is now making the government think again about the wisdom of extending the idea. An article in The Spectator by Matt Ridley questions whether wind power as an energy resource for the nation will ever work. Despite all that has been spent world-wide so far, 'the total energy generated each day by wind has yet to reach half of one percent... If wind power was going to work it would have done so by now.'  There are signs, says Ridley that the government is 'coming to its senses about the whole fiasco'.  One reason why wind power cannot be relied on to provide sufficient energy to replace other forms of fuel is that the wind cannot be relied on to blow with sufficient force. I am reminded of events in the Bible which speak of the importance of wind. Elijah at Mount Carmet was hiding in a cave at Horeb when he heard a gale so powerful that it split rocks. (Useful to find shale gas?) Isaiah was aware of the power of God that would sort out disobedient people through a 'scorching wind coming down from the heights'. Pentecost was anticipated by 'the blowing of a mighty wind from heaven' on the cowering apostles. Terrified disciples were threatened with a  'furious squall' on Galilee. Revelation 6 speaks of a strong wind removing mountains and islands. Are the 3,500 turbines now despoiling land and seascapes like the Golden calf which Aaron erected in defiance of God - a totally useless pieceof  idolatry. The Lord 'struck the people with a plague', it is reported. We are not told what it was... perhaps a total loss of power.

sparkle

Starting work aged 16 in the offices of the Derby Evening Telegraph, I was one of eight young hopefuls looking for a career in journalism. There was no such thing as work experience, or job seekers' allowances. We were told that if after six months we showed signs of understaning the way newspapers worked then four of us would be taken on as juniors, and four would be told to find something else to do with their lives. Four were discharged, before the six months were up, for incredible stupidity; one was to take down racing results from a phone service, but went to sleep. He was found with his head on the desk by frantc printers wondering where the result of the 300pm at Kempton Park had got to. The rest of us clung on in spite of furious sub-editors, and a news editor who wore his ulcer like a badge of office. My first reporting job was a meeting of Derby Groundsmen's Association, and I produced  100 words on the problem groundsmen were  having with moles under cricket pitches. The sports editor threw my 'copy' back at me, and said: 'mek it sparkle, lad!'  I gradually discovered ways in which even the most tedious subject could be made interesting. In 550 The academic Muretus fell on hard times financially and physically. He was taken to hospital, where surgeons said, thinking he was unable to understand:. 'There's nothing we can do with this nobody. Let's experimentt with his bones'. Muretus looked at them and said in perfect Latin: 'Don't call any person for whom Christ died a "nobody".' In faith even the dullest can sparkle

creeds

Millions of people go to church n Sundays to worship an oxymoron. No, that's not the name of the preacher! Ir's a god who is said to be two quite contrary things. The Apostles' Creed sys he is 'Almighty', while all the way through the New Testament we think of God as 'love'.  How can this be?  'Almighty' implies omnipotence - tortal power to intervene in all things. But many of the things that happen in real life are bad. Would not an all-powerful father intervene if it were seen that his family were suffering in earthquales, wars, famine? The God we speak of cannot be almightty AND love, because the two words mean contrary things and so constitute an oxymoron. Progressive Christians see the point of ceasing to refer to God as 'Almighty'. He not only fails to prevent bad things happening, he is absolutely vulnerable to them himself, viz in Jesus having to face the cross without any intervention. God is 'love' in that he somehow enables people to cope with the worst that life can throw at them.  We are all vulnerable to the perils and dangers of mortal life, but reliance on the ever-present Christ spirit we can face whatever comes with what the old hymn rightly calls 'blessed assurance'. So no more praying to 'almighty' God to change the weather or find us a car park space.

Prepare

Preparation is everyrthing. When Andy Flower was explaining the way England lost all three cricket tests against Pakistan he said the team had not been properly prepared. Flower is the team's coach, and peparation was his reponsibility, so in what way did they fall short>? When my wife heard him blame  poor preparation she was surprsed. These men had been playing cricket, she said, since they were first able to hold a bat and ball, and so had been playing the game for say 20 years, What better preparation could they have had? True enough: they were fit, young, well paid, and had reached a goal to which thousands of young men aspired. Did they suffer from a condition which holds back so many people in sport, business, and personal relationships, called confidence deficit?  Obviously financial reward, physicall fitness, youth, experience and even the personal support of a wife or partner is not enough to assure self-belief. Nor in the case of test cricketers or top footballers is the adulation of the masses. There can be no greater peparation  for any human endeavour than in the words of the man who wrote Philippians 4.13: 'I can do all things through him who gives me strength'. Who is he? Surely worth finding out.

deficit

Politicians are feeling about for a formula that may restore moral values and economic hope to the nation. We should not distinguish between these two ambitions: they are firmly linked, and depend together. Our leaders speak of the big society and now 'responsible capitalism', and nobody is sure what they mean. Jesus Christ does not speak in riddles; we all know what he means when he speaks about loving our neighbour and behaving responsibly. The University of Essex has produced a report which talks about a boom in dishonesty, and a nation heading for an 'integrity crisis'. As if we didn't know ! If there is to be hope for the nation it will not be through the pronouncements of politicians grimly tackling our immense 'trillion pound deficit'. There is a far greater deficit: of love, integrity, and faith. The transformation we all hope for will not begin in stately halls at Westminster or even Brussels. It will begin at ground level in the thousands of little cells of love which we call churches. To say 'Jesus is Lord' is not a bland religious motto: it is the most powerful political manifesto we can sign and promote.

Blessed

Sunday mornng: to an exquisite village church at Oakamoor, Staffordshire for simple Free Church worship. Home for superb lunch prepared by smiling wife. Sunday evening: to the parish church for compline. The lay reader arrives in the nick of time, and gallops through the prescribed order for evening prayer. It takes 20 minutes, and we are not led to think prayerfully about Christians in Nigeria, under heavy attack from a ferocious Islamic sect. Many dead. Feel guilty because I will now sit secure and safe for at least four hours doing nothing except drink tea, and be conducted round the nation on TV. First to the glorious British countryside in 'Countryfile', then to the Alexandra Palace to see breathtaking snooker. Then to Mancheter to see Man City play Tottenham. Then to the Emirates to see Man United against Arsenal. To travel to all these events in person would cost more than the annual TV licence (But hang on....  I do not have to pay it, being legally ancient). To access these events by buying tickets would be a cost beyond  all possibility. To get ringside seats and hear commentators explain what's going on - no chance. I just sit and drink tea. 'We have a better view here than we would have actually being there' I reflect. All this, plus not having to face Islamic Terrorists...... To prayer, and to bed, richly blest. What have we done to deserve all this?

Speed

Our political masters (that includes you, Ms Greening) appear to think that we can only embrace the future by investing untold sums of money in a primal need to hurtle about the face of the earth at ever faster speeds. It is a fallacy, The real need is to discover better ways of working together using all the far cheaper means of communication. With all the gizmos now available to us we do not need to leave home, never mind the office, to attend fruitless meetings.The Bible holds no brief for high speed anything. It wants us to slow down. 'Lie down in green pastures' (Ps 23), 'Be still' (ps 46) 'Let us walk in the light of the Lord' (Isaiah 2.5). The greatest characters of Old and New Testaments pottered about the ancient world on camel, horse, or on foot. Their chief concern was not high speed rails, but proper shoes. A name from Isaiah (8.1) indicates the scorn in which the urge to move faster was held by the prophet. 'The Lord said to me, take a large scroll and write this name on it: 'Maher-shalal-hash-baz'. It's the longest name given to anybody throughout scripture. It is an HS2 slogan, which should be written on every 250mph ticket, for it means; 'Quick to the plunder; swift to the spoil'.

literal

It is a troubling thought that four out of every ten people in America believe that the Bible's account of creation in the mythical book of Genesis is literally and historically true. Apparently five of the six  Republicans who are possible candidates for the November election are among those who deny evolution and think mankind was created in the last 10,000 years. What is troubling is that so many Americans in positions of authority - airline pilots, doctors, teachers among them - reject the most obvious findings of science. How can a nation of such massive influence and power live in denial of truth? Not long ago a professor of theology, John Schneider, was obliged to resign his post at a 'Christian' university in Michigan because he questioned the creationists' belief that all humans desceneded from a real Adam and Eve, and denied that the 'fall' of man was an historical event. Evangelical Christians rose up in wrath to demand that he and a colleague should be fired. and he resigned being 'pressured to leave'. America is producing some profound theological thinkers who embrace evolutionary science as the only possible reason for us being here. But they face strong opposition from fundamentalists who insist that Charles Darwin was misguided. The idea that some of the most influential and powerful people on the planet are so opposed to enlightenment science is literally beyond belief. That there is a large element of churchgoing Brits who hold the same blind convictions indicate just how much the church and the education system have yet to do to explain how faith and science can live together in constructive harmony.

judgment

Look, all you football club managers, 'not guilty' pleaders, and family squabblers: just face up to it: somebody has got to be the judge. Technology may or may not provide absolute definitions of what actually happened- did the ball cross the line? Was the accused really the man caught in a camera? Did  the tipsy husband really say that to his weeping wife? In the end we only have human judgment to offer in every hunman dispute. Is Iran making a bomb? Is Cameron taking us too far, too fast over the UK deficit? Given that we cannot turn to an all-knowing Wizard at the end of the yellow brick road, all we cn do is appoint the best qualified people we can find to be referee, umpire, arbitrator and moderator to judge human disputes. Then we must abide by their decisions. It is tiresome to hear arguments about penalties, sendings off, and offside flags after almost every high-profile football match. Fatuously,I know, millions of pounds depends on these decisions. Teams go up or down, players lose ridiculous sums in 'wages' and reputations are ruined or enhanced by what referees and their assistants say and do. Of course, they get things wrong. and the watching hordes become furious. But we are stuck with a system that can only be human, and human beings are at their best, fallible.  There are things that only God knows. 'Will not the judge of all the earth do right?' asked weary Abraham over the wickedness of Sodom, and no technology coud have helped Old Isaac to sus the deceit of his son Jacob in stealing his blessing from his brother Esau. You see how complex life is, all you ref maulers. Just count your blessings, and your money. Get over it, and get on with it. 

Insights

Insights into the mysteries of faith might be expected to come mainly from notable pulpits, where our trained theologians and men and women of religious eminence offer their views on life and belief. Of late, though,  I have been blessed with Godly insights from people with no obvious right to speak of holy things. It is as if those who are very busy in the secular world, pause for a moment - perhaps it has to do with Christmas - and reveal a light granted to them in their daily labours. They do not seek it, but it descends on them en passant and is the more powerful as a result than anything we professional God-botherers know. Here is that very worldly man Taki in the Spectator magazine: 'Although the Gospels were written by non-professionals, they exude more truth and power than you find in Homer and Dante and Milton put together.... People like Dawkins have never engaged with religion in a serious manner. They are shoddy self-proclaimed scholars who can only doubt and proclaim their doubts as proof of the absence of God and Christ. Give me a real scholar like Pascal, who proved mathematically that one cannot go wrong by believing in God. Then I happened on finance expert Martin vander Weyer writing that he waa asked to preach a sermon in his parish church at Helmsley, Yorkshire - 'A thing I was certain I would never be asked to do'. It was about Godliness and economics, setting out things 'the City must learn to avoid if its professionals and companies are ever to be trusted again.'  He pointed to a blistering report by a law firm on 'The Trust Deficit' which contains more ethical wisdom than anything I have read lately in the religious press. So 'Where can wisdom be found?' asks Job (28.12) In unexpected places, and do not forget anything by Matthew Parris, a reluctant atheist who writes like a prophet in The Times and elsewhere.

Practise

The Prime Minister has created a pre-Christmas stir by calling on the nation to r


The Prime Minister has created a pre-Christmas stir by calling for a revival of 'Christian moral values'.The nation's 18,500 clergy in the main Christian churches will be calling for this every week, but it takes the PM to get the idea onto the front pages. Mr Cameron says that he is personally only a 'vaguely practising Christian' and is 'full of doubts' about theology.  That leaves him where most non-churchgoers stand, and begs the question of 'what is a practising Christian'?  What changes a nominal Christian into a practising one? The immediate answer is that a practising one attends a church regularly and takes part in the prayers, and sings the hymns, and listens to the sermons. Can you be a Chistian withluout actually doing all that? Increasingly, the answer is  that perhaps you can, because church is what has been manifestly rejected. Dietrich Bonhoeffer asked: 'Can Christ be Lord, even of those with no religion?' What a good question !!Christian Research tells me that in 2010 there were 1.3m Anglicans, 1.5m Catholics, and other categories, adding up to roughly seven percent of the population. That hardly makes a 'Christian country' if the criteria is churchgoing. But perhaps the meaning of 'practise' is to have a general belief that there must be a God and that Jesus told us as much about him/her/it as we can hope to understand, but it matters as much as it matters that the sun has risen again. Do we derive moral values from a nominal God, or from one who has offered us a recognisable code from which we get moral guidance? And if he has, how can we neglect it? Practising surely means taking seriously what we have been shown about the nature of God and what he requires of us.  TWO Addenda: Matthew Parris, an atheist Christian prophet, writes brilliantly in The Times today (December 17), and I have heard a scientist say of his new-born child that she is all he will ever see of the 'God particle.' Brilliant !!










The

Nativity

There is no point in letting the facts spoil a good story.I will sing the old Christmas hymns again this year with my fingers crossed, because of course they contain ideas about Jesus the Christ and his coming among us that cannot possibly be verified or justified. As with many things about the nativity record in the Bible,  historical credibility is sparse. Very few clergy 'believe' the literal truth of a star, a stable, a virgin birth. But the story is so charming, and sits nicely on Christmas cards, and in children's presentations, that it would be a shame to argue about it. We love to hear the story every year. It is the ultimate 'repeat' about which we never tire, as successive generations learn and celebrate it. As a church minister I once re-wrote two or three of these familiar songs, thinking to make them more 'believable. I was pleased with them, but there was a strong pew-based revolt, because people in the church did not want to give up the virgin birth, swathing bands, or even, oddly, children 'all in white waiting around.' I surrendered, and will again join the choir singing the tuneful mythologies of Christmas with all the other carol addicts. We like things to be the same at Christmas. It is great to see that of 656 films being offered on TV during three big days only 13 will be new. It was Browning's 'wise thrush' who sang his song twice over to 'recapture his first fine careless rapture'  Just so: we like repeats. We may have heard it all before, but as Humphrey Bogart requested of the night club piantist in Casablanca, 'play it again, Sam'.

correction to in difference

last sentence: 'We should be more selective about the people to whom we are indifferent. Like the other JC'

Indifference

We all have strong opinions about something or other. Jeremy Clarkson has many, and is never slow to express them. The media takes notice because the man is a celebrity. When the Duke of Edinburgh says he has no time for power-generating windmills it is widely reported. My opinions are also robust, but nobody will hear of them, because I am a nonentity: who cares what I think about anything? Clarkson has made a fool of himself, perhaps deliberately because his income depends on the sale of his books etc. In our time there are many opportunities for expressing opinions, and on Facebook no doubt millions of people are doing so all the time. The only other way to say what we really think - and we should do it more - is in conversation with close friends, who understand whether we are joking, or in earnest. Among strong opinions I hold is that Donald Trump should even now be prevented  from despoiling the north east of Scotland with a lot of unwelcome development. What else? And what about those who steal railway cable, memorial plaques and manhole covers for scrap metal? I would lock them up, and melt the cell key down for scrap..... English football needs an English manager..... Fundamentalist religion of any kind is inimical to humanity. Studdert Kennedy wrote: 'When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed him by: they would not hurt a hair of him, they only let him die. For men had grown more tender and they would not give him pain. They only just passed down the street and left him in the rain.' His poem was called 'Indifference'. We should more selective about the people to whom we are indifferent. Like the other JC.
 

quality

What is it that makes one person worth employing for £1m plus a year, while the masses have to get by on less, some very substantially less? The argument goes that there is a special band of superhuman beings who unless they are paid very large sums will leave the country and ply their expensive trade in some other part of the world. We cannot, apparently, afford to lose 'top quality' people to head up the really important commercial organisations, and public bodies that sustain our national life. There are some who follow the example of the wealthy people described recently by Ian Hislop on a BBC programme 'When Bankers were Good''. But the rest can go, and see if they really can con some offshore organisation willing to shovel money their way: I for one doubt it.  The people of real quality who undergird this nation are not necessarily the super-wealthy, and our future as a nation doesn't depend on them. Whether or not we thrive depends on more than financial tactics by governments of left or right. It depends, as Abraham found pleading for Sodom, on whether there were as few as ten 'righteous' people' in the city (Genesis 18). That may or may not include moral purity: it certainly includes people of compassion, and obedience to God's commandments.

Handshake

But quite a lot can be said, or left unsaid, in a handshake. I have watched Sepp Blatter offer a peremptory hand for someone to shake. To others he has offered a casual hand, unaccompanied by a glance. These gestures mean nothing, except as a means of dismissing the other person as of no account, They convey all the dignity of footballers going through the formalities at the start of a game, greeting their opponents with no interest at all. A genune handshake, accompanie by a gracious look, is something else. It conveys a meaning  that words cannot: admiration, appreciation, recognition, and yes, even apology. Mr Blatter was not surely asking for footballers to exchangec cursory handshakes as gestures of  casual greeting. A proper handshake is enough to seal a strong and warm basis for friendship, which is surely what he intended in his recent misunderstood comment. Thus a fragile relationship is being renewed on a quite different footing from anything that may have been the case before. The handshae which offers this message does not even have to be the double grip, so often  noted as between clergy and their flock, or business people. Not does it have to be coupled with a hug, which prevents eye-contact. I cannot see any better way to create or restore a good relationship between people than a proper handshake. Not the artificial ten-second job favored by politicians for media photographers, but the five-second, face to face, act of genuine communication that says all that needs to be said.