FAITH PUT ME INTO THE SPOTLIGHT

FROM Shakespeare plays to parts in BBC 1 dramas and Corrie, Christopher Lee Power has enjoyed many years as an actor rising through the ranks. But his life now is a million miles away from where it started.

IT was a time when the rich got richer and the poor were worse off. The north south divide was widening, as the City Yuppies boasted Porsches and the latest fad – mobile telephones.

Meanwhile, spiralling inflation hit the poorest, which was coupled with rising unemployment, and desperate people in the most deprived places began to riot as a recession showed its teeth and bit deeply.

It sounds all too familiar, but this was the 1980s. In the north mine closures and shutting shipyards led to the desperation of the working classes, as whole families were ripped apart by job losses and infighting about the miner’s strikes.

And in Merseyside, a young Christopher Lee Power (pictured above) was addicted to sniffing anything that would give him a temporary high and an escape from a life that had been one, long nightmare.

Christopher, from Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, was in his teens, and his life had been one of incredible struggle: he had a speech impediment; his dad was in and out of prison; he’d started stealing from the age of five to survive and he’d also suffered abuse.

“I was angry and had an anger towards adults because of my abuse,” remembers Christopher. “I was 17 or 18 before I told my mum what had been happening, but it was very painful and embarrassing.”

School for Christopher was one of trouble, as he took out his frustrations on teachers while hiding his secret of abuse that was slowly eating away at him. It meant he wasn’t being given the education he needed.

It was the height of the Ska scene and Christopher found he had an affinity with the songs that reflected the mood of the nation.

“I was growing up in an era of anger and with likes of The Specials and their song Ghost Town. I escaped by using solvents, glue, butane and eventually I found alcohol as a way of escape,” he says.

The stealing that began from the age of five spiralled out of control as Christopher then started using his money to gamble in the hope of raising enough cash to help him buy the solvents he was addicted to. But then he got caught.

Christopher remembers: “I know it was wrong. I took the wrong choices and got sent to a detention centre. This was the 80s and it wasn’t like young offenders institutes of today, detention centres were like boot camps. They gave you a short, sharp shock as a deterrent.”

It was while he was at the detention centre that the slow process of his anger and frustration began to ebb away as Christopher was presented with a Bible from the Gideons.

“I started to read it and I did pray,” he says. “From doing that, things started to change, even the guards started looking after me.

“After prison I met a friend through reading the Bible and I believe God knew I needed to be educated.”

Christopher, who is now married to Pauline, says from that moment, God began to introduce people into his life who would help and not hurt him and his path of life would begin to change.

“I started to be taught drama and I prayed that God would help me become an actor,” adds Christopher.

Entertainment was in his blood: his mum was a Country and Western singer, while his dad was a compere. So against the odds of his earlier life, Christopher began to go to drama school.

At the age of 28, Christopher’s dreams of following his passion and becoming an actor started to be realised. He was taught in a number of drama schools, including Richmond Drama School and RADA.

And as he looks back on his rise through the ranks of acting, from stage to small screen with parts in high profile dramas and soaps, Christopher knows one thing: he wouldn’t be where he is today without his faith in Jesus.

“Until the time I turned to God, my life was out of control,” remarks Christopher, “and when I started to allow him into my heart the hurts of the past began to ease.

“The Bible is full of stories of people with a sinful nature and I want to use my acting to reach out and convey the message of hope that comes through knowing Jesus.”

Even when he played a Nazi solider to Adolf Hitler in The Mystery Files, a docudrama for The Geographic Channel, Christopher, 47, believes he was able to convey his faith to his colleagues.

“From a Christian point of view I had to think and pray about playing him. I was able to reveal to those I was working with that some of the things that happened were of a similar nature to the Bible stories, where there is some good and some bad. Some of it was shocking and very dark,” he says.

Ironically, he auditioned to play the part of Hitler in Martin Scorsese’s film Hugo and says his earlier foray of portraying the dictator’s soldier helped him.

So what next for this versatile actor? Well, he hopes to continue to be “salt and light” and set a good example in whatever he does.

“I’m trying to be the best actor I can be, and also be the best Christian I can be. I want to show I am polite and I want to set a good example. Since I submitted my life to Christ I got a new beginning and I know that no matter what happens next, he will be there for me,” adds Christopher, who is dad to son Christopher.

For a young boy who struggled with a speech impediment and spent time in a detention centre, Christopher Lee Power is growing to be a super role model. © News of the Word

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT IS NO WALK IN THE PARK
By Hugh Southon
THE idea of “walking in the Spirit” among Christians usually produces a picture of calm serenity as the Lord leads us beside still waters!
Time to take a rain check for when Jesus "full of the Spirit" he was led by that same Spirit into an horrendous 40 day confrontation with the devil.
Luke says:  "Jesus full of the Spirit was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit..." who therefore became responsible for the temptation of our Lord.
Let's get something straight right away. Temptation is not sin – giving into it is and on this occasion the Holy Spirit was going to lead our Lord into the toughest place he was going to find apart from the Cross itself.
Why would the Holy Spirit do that. Simple really...Jesus had to be tested to the limits of his endurance to show us how to cope when Satan and his demons stage his and their attacks on us.
So when we are led to those hard places we should first check on whether
we are there because of our sin or by bad choices.
If it's neither we should be very pleased that the Spirit has chosen to take us through a testing so we can become more Christ-like through survival.
At this point our response should be to ask the Lord to strengthen us and follow the Holy Spirit wherever he leads us because God wants to do something with us that can only be done in times of testing. Be proud that he trusts you so much!
Jesus's confrontation with the devil was very real - he wasn't facing a concept or a theory. He was meeting with the most evil created fallen angel who knew scripture very well indeed.
But Jesus used scripture to defend himself against every ploy Satan had up his sleeves quoting significantly from Deutoronomy 6: "Do not test the Lord your God”.
That's how Jesus beat satan and it's how we beat him and his demons. So there shouldn't be a day go by when we don't have our noses in his word as we are led by his Spirit.
Read onwards from Luke 14 and we see the blessings that fell upon the Anointed one as he declared himself Messiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
“He has sent me to proclaim freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, release the oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”
The comes the punch line of punch lines: Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
Total victory followed the most vicious testing for Jesus. As his followers we can therefore be assured that as we overcome temptation and survive testing we will experience a wonderful level of blessing and victory.
So are you in a place of testing? Take heart rich blessings are on the way!

TIME IS PRECIOUS
By Hugh Southon
IN his letter to the booming Ephesian church Paul – In Chapter Five – was at pains to impress on the members how important it was to use their time correctly.
He writes: “Be very careful then how you live – not as unwise but as wise making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.”
He goes on to urge them to understand what the Lord’s will is and then warns against debauchery and drunkenness insisting instead church ‘members’ speak to each other with psalms and spiritual songs.
He says they (and us) are to sing and make music in the name of the Lord in our hearts.”
Ephesians by the way was a very strong church which was making an impact across the known world but Paul knew that when things are booming they are at their most dangerous.
Complacency can creep in and the devil can get right under our guard – it was a very necessary warning then and NOW when things are probably even more evil than ever before.
Let’s be honest with ourselves. Before we knew Christ we were all pretty passionate about the world and what it had to offer – are we as passionate about the things of the kingdom and what he has called us to since we gave our lives to him?
Scripture tells us that our lifetimes are about the width of his hand…how quickly the kids have grown up, how many years have passed since we got saved. Time is short - he’s coming again and we have to make every minute count for him.
Jesus made absolutely every moment count – every one. His eyes were set on Jerusalem and what he had to do. He refused to be distracted by events and people who were trying to get in his way.
He avoided everything that wasn’t worth his time and he lived accurately. We have to do the same. That may mean ending some relationships because they are bad for us and avoiding going places where there are distractions to what he has given us to do.
God does close doors. You may agonise over the fact that you aren’t making progress in a particular area. Has it occurred to you that God may just be saying “No”!
Is there somebody you really feel you want to get to know but can’t or somebody who has been in your life that is slowly becoming more distant? Stop trying to sort it out.
If God wants those people in your life it will happen. If he doesn’t it’s because you are to walk with different people.
Don’t try to force issues open that God is trying to close. He will help you on the journey that actually is of equal importance to the destination. 
Time is precious – don’t waste it – there’s a world to reach for Christ and it starts with each of our own individual journeys.

WE'RE MORE SHEPHERDS THAN MAGI!

By Hugh Southon

IT was the shepherds – outcasts in first century Israel – who received a Royal invitation to the greatest event in history: the birth of the king of kings.
And it always amuses me that whilst these scallywags were being  guided to the stinking stable by the greatest heavenly stage show ever, the three Kings loaded with expensive gifts were - by comparison - being left to their own devices. No Royal invitation for the Magi!
Shepherds at that time actually LIVED in the fields tending the sheep and keeping them from wolves and raids by their 'brother' shepherds who didn't think twice about stealing from another flock.
Ok, some of the greatest biblical heroes – King David and Abraham among them - were shepherds but there were some very bad ones indeed. And if Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd that suggests there were bad ones too. 
Shepherds by and large were a hated breed and often found it difficult to sell to the religious pious who saw them as common criminals.
So from the very start God – through Jesus – was showing his heart is for the despised 'sinners' - they were getting very special treatment and like everyone who has a personal meeting with Christ it changed their lives.
Despite being so concerned for their sheep that they lived with them day and night, Luke's telling of the story reveals they dropped everything and rushed to Bethlehem. This means the sheep – their livelihood – were left behind although I have no doubt God cared for them.
When you feel something serious going on in your spirit you tend to do that – drop everything and run to Jesus...nothing else matters.
Then came that wonderful moment when in a stinking stable next to a noisy pub filled with those arriving for the census, the Saviour of the world was born.
And as he opened his eyes the first people that helpless babe would have seen were the despised and hated sinners – the ones he came to save.
We're told that as they left they "spread the word about him and all who were heard were amazed." 
The shepherds were changed from the day job to evangelists at a stroke...that's what happens when we meet Jesus. You have to tell everybody!
And the story concludes by saying they gave glory to God for all the things they had been told came about – give thanks and praise this Christmas that everything Jesus has told us about himself is true.
A Happy and Blessed Christmas to you all!

GIVING A SPIRITUAL DIMENSION TO RECOVERING ALCOHOLICS

THE leader of a Christian organisation set up to give an extra spiritual dimension to sobriety programmes believes recovering alcoholics are worst hit after Christmas.
Adrian* – who is the London co-ordinator of the Calix Society – says that experience taught him that the post-festive period was a time when he “used up most of his credit in the sobriety bank”.
The Calix Society was founded in 1947 by recovering alcoholics who were also Catholics taking part in the AA’s 12-step recovery progamme.
While they recognised it was essential to coping with their addiction, they wanted to include their faith to help them maintain their sobriety.
Adrian explains: “Although Calix is routed in the Catholic faith, any denomination is most welcome to join the Society.
“To join or visit a Calix group, some respite from the addiction is necessary and it is preferable that they are a member of an existing 12-step programme group – but it is not essential.’’
While many people will be raising a glass this Christmas and New Year, Adrian says it’s wrong to assume that it’s the toughest time for recovering alcoholics.
“I was an alcoholic for 23 years and have been part of AA for 22 years, so I have first-hand experience of life where drink becomes your life and you cannot function without it on a daily basis.
“For me it was worst after Christmas as I had used up most of my credit in the sobriety bank.”

He says that Calix Society meetings include a group discussion and one group also discusses gospel readings.
“Those of other beliefs are invited to receive a blessing from the Priest during the Sacramental celebration,” he adds.
“This is followed by a group discussion which is generally focused on the spiritual concepts of the 12 step programme but there is one group that discusses mainly the gospel readings.”

Adrian says that when an alcoholic begins to experience some of the benefits of sobriety andthe love of God manifested through the concerns of fellow alcoholics or other addictions, they experience a sense of belonging.
“A deep thirst for the spiritual is awakened,” he explains “and he Calix Society helps people to discover a spiritual element in their recovery and become the person God wants them to be.”

Adrian says that the Calix Fellowship is now an essential part of his recovery and coping with his share of the daily ‘isms’ of his addiction and has established a new meaningful relationship with the God, and deeply grateful for the gift of Sobriety.

The Calix Society’s three objectives are to:

Sobriety and freedom from Substance Abuse –is a requirement not an option

Participation - in Holy Mass and group discussion

Becoming – the person that God wants us to be

With the permission of the Archbishop, Calix meetings are held at St Pius X Church, St Charles Square, London, W10; The Good Shepherd in Surrey; Our Lady’s Church in St John’s Wood, London, NW8 and Westminster Cathedral, Hinsley rooms.

For further information, email calixinlondon@btinternet.com, or call 0776 2570361.
* Adrian’s surname held by request.

THE BIBLE AND POP MUSIC

POLITICS, drugs, love, fast cars, faster women – all are instantly recognisable themes from classic pop songs. But, for the past 50 years, one vital ingredient has been missing from that list: the Bible.
A new BBC Radio 4 documentary marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, Pop Goes the Bible!, traces popular music’s fascinating, fruitful, but often overlooked relationship with the good book, from the Byrds to U2.
But it also highlights a waning trend. How often do you hear a hallelujah in contemporary pop songs?
Back in the pop’s golden era, the 60s, the Bible was a wellspring of inspiration for some of the decade’s finest music.
Some artists reimagined characters and stories from the Bible: Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, for instance, retells the story of Abraham and Isaac.
Others subverted biblical imagery, such as the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil, sung from the point of view of Lucifer himself.

Some even lifted verses of scripture and attached them to a catchy tune, notably Turn Turn Turn, originally adapted almost entirely from the Book of Ecclesiastes by Pete Seeger, before becoming a hit when covered by the Byrds.
According to Dr Diana Lipton, an Old Testament scholar, much of the power of these songs is derived from placing well-known plots in a new context.
Talking on Pop Goes the Bible!, she says: “Songwriters would use biblical names and stories because we have such a rich treasury in our minds of resonances and images connected with them.”
Lipton believes that Tom Jones’s Delilah, in which a betrayed lover stabs his sweetheart in a fit of insanity, is a prime example of where a Bible story is enriched by its appropriation: “In our rush to make Delilah into the evil temptress figure, we forget that Samson must have fallen in love with her – there’s no other explanation for what he risks.”
Veteran broadcaster Paul Gambaccini, who presents the programme, agrees that the crossover works thanks to the power of the stories: “Even people who weren’t religious found that these characters were interesting and were worth telling stories about. It’s a deep and gripping subject.” Or at least, it was.
As Pop Goes the Bible! suggests, somewhere around the Eighties that close association began to rupture. U2’s Yahweh (2004) is the last example used, but that is about 20 years after the previous example, Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

MUPPETS SHOW CHRISTIAN CHARACTER

By Hugh Southon

THE Muppet Show creator Jim Henson died 21 years ago but the “Christian legacy” promoted via the likes of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy lives on.
A new movie – The Muppets – hit American screens this week, and is expected in the UK in February next year/
And as a result, Henson's work has been put under the Christian microscope. 
Henson (pictured left) didn't set out to preach Christianity with such as Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo, but he does come awfully close to some important biblical themes, writes David Zahl at Christianity Today.
The articles author adds: "The Muppets are irreverent but not cynical, childlike without being childish, playful at all costs (except that of others), sincerely self-effacing, hopeful but never saccharine. Sound a little like the fruit of the Spirit?”
And whenever Muppet “moralism threatens to suck the fun out of the proceedings, a character wryly breaks the fourth wall and winks at the adults, as if on cue,” he writes. 
“The Muppets may not be explicitly Christian, but one would be hard pressed to find another system that affords the same life-affirming hilarity in the face of human striving and sin.”
Zahl also notes that the Muppets are not mean-spirited.
“They predate the gulfing cultural divide that has appeared in this country over the past 20 years,” he writes. "In fact, Henson's skills as an ideological bridge-builder are sorely missed.”
Whether the new Disney film will have the same message and impact as Henson's did, he writes, there's nothing stopping people from re-watching the films – in order, if at all possible – getting reacquainted with our inner Muppet/child, and, most important, laughing ourselves silly.

GOD’S OVERWHELMING LOVE FOR US ALL
By Hugh Southon
IT’S always a huge and humbling privilege when the Lord gives us a new

revelation of himself and his all-loving nature.
He often uses  a passage of scripture  with which we are incredibly familiar as he did with myself a couple of nights back to demonstrate the many layers of his nature which lay beneath the words on the page.
In John 17 we read some of the most uplifting lines in the Bible from Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane just hours before his death.
As I turned to the passage I was looking for our Lord’s words on unity – the theme I believed he wanted me to talk  about to my life group of young believers..
Instead, as I read through this - surely the greatest prayer in the Bible with the exception perhaps of The Lord’s Prayer - he gave me an overwhelming vision of the all embracing love for every single one of us.
Here was Jesus hours from suffering the most agonising death possible – a fate he could not escape, nor wanted to, as he came to the end  of his journey from heaven’s glory to Planet Earth.
He came of course to save mankind from the sin in which it was trapped and in this prayer we  find our Lord – despite an overwhelming situation in his own life – with nothing on his mind but US.
When we face the most serious of situations in our life and go to the prayer closet we pray for US – it’s all about our problem and deliverance from the problem we face.
But when Jesus faced his, he wasn’t thinking about himself – it was all about us.
Praying for future believers he said this: ‘May they be brought into complete unity to let the world know you have sent me and have loved them as you love me. (John 17 v 23)

He prays:

• Protection from the evil one
• For those who believe in him through the message
• And for  those the Father has given him to be “where I am”

It’s an astonishing and glorious prayer in every detail yet the Lord continued to impress one central issue.
He wants us to know that even at his darkest hour you, me and all who believe in him were the only thing on his mind…not the beating at the whipping post, not the death on a cross, not the agony he would suffer but just that that he loves us with an overwhelming love.
And secondly in an enormous revelation he wants us to know that God the Father loves us as much as he does Jesus himself in verse 23 where he says: “…to let the world know you have sent me and have loved them as you love me.”
Extraordinary, mind blowing! The man who said in verse 24 that he wants us to see the glory the Father gave him before the creation of the world is saying ‘You, everyone of you means as much to my Father in heaven as I do myself.”
I thank God for this revelation direct I believe direct from the throne room! Be encouraged. Our Jesus knows everything we are going through.
He knows all the discouragement and growing persecution from a secular world yet in Gethsemane he demonstrates that he will always put us before himself and that the Father’s love for us is exactly the same as it is for him.
Wonderful…we truly are more than conquerors through him!

THE beloved Sunday School picture of 'gentle Jesus meek and mild' is as furstrating as it is downright annoying.
Yes he had enormous grace, love and compassion but that only gives one unbalanced side of the story.
He was harassed, hounded, harangued and hung on a cross - that doesn't happen to nice people...only to those who are changing things in a big way.
In the outstanding article here, from Christina Today, the often un-discussed side of our Saviour is given a much needed airing and one quote from author Dorothy Sayers quoted within it sums it up very neatly indeed.
We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him "meek and mild," and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. To those who knew him, however, he in no way suggests a milk-and-water person; they objected to him as a dangerous firebrand." 
Click on this link to read this outstanding article
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/septemberweb-only/jesus-is-not-nice.html?start=2#.To3hibY7BdI.facebook

ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ GIVES WARNING OVER WORLD EVENTS
THIS story appeared in Christian Today just 24 hours before the earthquake that shook America sending after-shocks as far as New York.
We feel that particular event may give the story even more relevance and reproduce this article given that we pointed to the same theme in yesterday's Our View comment.
THE daughter of Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, believes recent world events are proof that Jesus’ return is nearing.
In her book, Expecting to See Jesus: A Wake-Up Call for God’s People, Lotz details the signs of the Second Coming and the implications it could have on the world.
Lotz (pictured left) wants the nations to realise that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 ten years ago were a wake-up call from God.
She said: “The signs that Jesus gave and the headlines in the news are coming together in a dramatically sobering way."
I have held the conviction with intense focus since I was in my early 20s that if I live out my natural lifetime, I will live to see the physical return of Jesus to earth!”
Lotz remembers how September 11 personally transformed her own faith and instilled in her a passion to share her convictions with others.
“On that day, God woke me up and set my heart on fire to tell other people the glorious good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Within my lifetime, I have seen the fulfillment of every sign Jesus gave his disciples 2,000 years ago.
"Not only have I seen the signs but I have observed the local, national and global ‘birth pains’ increase in astonishing frequency and intensity.
"I am convinced that the kingdoms of this world are about to give birth to the kingdom of God.”
Lotz launched her own ministry in 2000 and has spoken on seven continents, in more than 20 foreign countries, proclaiming the Word of God in arenas, churches, conferences and prisons.
Her father, Billy Graham, is arguably the world’s most famous evangelist of all time.
Now aged 92, he is suffering from ill health and rarely leaves his home. It is estimated the legendary preacher led more than 2.5million to Christ during his lifetime of preaching.
SHOWING LOVE IN THE MIDST OF VIOLENCE
NEWS of the Word is grateful to have found this  item on the excellent Cranmer website in the wake of the riots in London.
It demonstrates the Church of England doing what it's always done – showing the love of Christ in practical and pragmatic ways.
With the riots that started in Tottenham spreading across the United Kingdom the The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Lansdowne Road, Tottenham is currently in an interregnum and so without a parish priest. 
It has therefore fallen to Assistant Curate Fr Simon Morris to lead his parish ministry at this time. Yesterday he sent out this, which requires no further comment from His Grace.

Subject: This Week 
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2011 

Dear Friends, 

This is to assure you all that Masses and other services will happen at both churches as normal. 

At St Mary's we are currently providing food and drink to people who have lost homes, who have had no electricity and who are working on the old Carpet Right building. If people feel able to help, then please make your way to St Mary's. I am very grateful to those who have kept this going since yesterday morning. 

On Sunday 14th August, we will have a procession during the 10am Mass to make God's presence known on these streets that have seen such violence. 

10am Mass will be followed by a Bring and Share lunch to cheer us up and to demonstrate that we are not broken by the violent acts of others. Please make every effort to come along. I do not know whether the crossroads at Lansdowne Road will be open or not, but entry to the Church is still possible from the other side of Lansdowne Road. 

Wishing you very blessing. 

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO COME ON SUNDAY FOR MASS AND LUNCH!!! 

 Visit: http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com 
MAKE YOUR HOME A HOUSE OF PRAYER

By Hugh Southon

IF you are fortunate enough to have a house which requires a name, one thing is certain - you will spend a lot of time deciding what that name will be!
You may want it to tell people something about what and who you are – names are relevant and important – they can give us a taste of the person behind it.
Jesus left us in no doubt what he was all about when naming his a “House of Prayer”, which may not be entirely comfortable for those who would prefer it to be a house for sermonising, youth activities, discos, bingo or hiring out for any number of social activities.
Read Matthew 21 and we see Jesus moving into the capital of the known world at that time - Jerusalem - and we are told a “very great multitude” were there. A multitude is pretty big - a very great multitude is pretty humungeous.
Indeed its fair to say that every eye in that “very great multitude” was upon him as he entered on a donkey yet what happened was totally out of the norm.
Instead of giving them all a great preach, Jesus treated them to the greatest outburst of anger recorded in the New Testament.
He took a whip to the market traders and all the rest shouting: “It is written, my House shall be called a House of Prayer but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
He did - to put it in the words of one great preacher “ rearrange the furniture” to make his temple a fit place for the devout to pray: WE MAY NEED TO DO THE SAME.
Later in Gethsemane our Lord berated his disciples for not being able to stay awake and pray for an hour - how many of us pray for an hour a day!
Jesus was always in prayer and thus his Father in heaven listened, answered and performed what we call miracles but which in his terms are the norm!
Are we ready to rearrange our lives, homes and churches to make them fit to become houses of prayer. 
When we do we’ll see the miraculous become the norm too for didn’t he say: “You will do greater things than these.
Yes we will but we need surely to get our prayer lives organised first.

A BIG WELCOME TO ALL READERS NEW AND OLD!

IT'S an enormous pleasure to say a big “hello” to so many new people who have joined News of the Word this morning: WELCOME!
Something extraordinary happened over the weekend and thus we see many new faces liking us on Facebook and visiting our site.
As the News of the World died after 168 years News of the Word arrived at the centre of many people's thinking.
So if we ever doubted that God has a most wonderful sense of humour (which actually we didn't) he showed on July 9 and 10 2011 that we couldn't have been more wrong.
You can read on here how News of the Word was the title given to us by the Holy Spirit and after the events of the weekend with the tabloid paper dying one scripture comes to mind:  Corinthians 1: 27 'But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.'
There is little more foolish than the dead tabloid newspaper and maybe "the wise" would be unable to see how he could ever use such a newspaper to turn people's minds towards himself.
But that's what happened when our new friends decided to become friends of this website.
United Christian Broadcasters decided to tell their legions of followers that on the death of the NoTW they should turn to News of the Word. We knew nothing of this endorsement, so thanks UCB.
We are delighted that the God-breathed name of this site has now been used by the Lord in such a wonderful way.
We dare to believe that something extraordinary is going on in heavenly realms right now and that 2011 is a year of great importance in the UK as God moves in this nation.
The death of the News of the World and the massive fall in ratings of a one-time top soap (see Our View) suggests strongly that there's a clean up going on from God in this nation.
So to quote a visiting pastor to one of our staff's churches yesterday: "Let's forget the theology and get involved in some serious 'kneeology’."
So a big welcome … we won't let you down. Let’s start praying for God to revive this nation - together we can move that mountain of unbelief in the UK.
SLEEP THROUGH THE STORMS
THIS sermon - from the pastor of Living Waters Church Paignton, Tony Williams, was preached last night (Sunday, May 8, 2011). We trust it will bless you as it did us.
LUKE 8:22–25

JESUS can still the storms in our life. He did it 2,000 years ago and he can still do it today.
In this story recorded in the verses above, Jesus and the disciples are going on a journey with a specific purpose that we will come to later. They were people of destiny determined to reach that destination so when this colossal storm kicked up can you imagine the fear and alarm. And as this storm of epic proportions was going on what was Jesus doing - SLEEPING!
We may get accustomed to storms in our life but sometimes something arrives which is just too big for us and it’s then we need to learn and remember later that we have a captain on our vessel who can change everything.
Jesus - even while he was asleep remained in full control - how amazing is that and that’s the Jesus we serve. Privilege. RESULT!
Somebody once said: “You will never know how to overcome your storms until you have learned how to sleep thru them. You do that by building your faith to the point where you can say: “This isn’t a problem - Jesus is in total control.”
His aim is to build your faith to the point where you say this without even thinking about it.
The more you worry, fret about personal circumstances, lack of money as you perceive it and most else the more immature you are as a Christian. The less able you find yourselves, like the disciples, to cope with those storms, the less use you are to the kingdom of God. If you think I’m being hard, remember how heavily Jesus reprimanded those dearest to him…his disciples for their lack of faith
Don’t despise your storms – its where you grow up…its where our precious Lord teaches you stuff.
Natural storms become as a result of the atmosphere and various weather fronts coming together. When Jesus decided to act the atmosphere changed. We are called to do the same - we can change atmospheres in the name of Jesus. Where there is trouble and strife we bring peace and calm because Jesus walks in us. Just as was the case in that boat, atmospheres change, storms cease. This is the power in you - to speak to your storms IN THE NAME of Jesus and watch them cease.
We can do one of three things as they could have done on that boat

1) Put down anchor; 2) Abandon ship or 3) Go back.
If they, or we, had put down anchor the ship will probably ultimately break up and us with it. If we abandon ship the likelihood is they/us would have sunk. And going back means we never get to where we should be.
So we go on shouting out and changing atmospheres in the name of Jesus watch things calm down and reach the destination we have set for our personal lives.
Jesus’s journey eventually took him to the other side where he freed a man from demonic oppression. That man went on to become a great evangelist and change many lives.
There was a purpose for their journey - there’s a purpose for ours and we trust and praise through all the storms to ensure we reach the place Jesus has called us to go.
EVERY MORNING WHEN WE WAKE UP GOD HAS ORDAINED ONE THING FOR US - GREATNESS. GOD CALLS US TO BE PEOPLE OF DESTINY AND PEOPLE OF DESTINY TRUST HIM IN EVERY STORM - NOT BUCKLE BEND AND RELY ON EVERYBODY ELSE TO HELP THEM OUT WHEN IT GETS A LITTLE BIT TOUGH.

TRUST JESUS …THAT IS THE HOPE FOR YOU AND THE HOPE FOR THE WORLD.
• Adapted by Hugh Southon
 

 The works Dad began outlive him

By Gary Wilkerson

“David served the purposes of God in his generation, then he died” (Acts 13:36).

On Wednesday afternoon my father, David Wilkerson, passed away in a car accident. We grieve the loss of a beloved father, a faithful husband and a holy man of God. My mother, Gwen, his wife of 57 years, was in the car also, but we are told she will recover fully.
Dad’s 60-plus years of ministry have impacted the lives of those closest to him and extended to millions around the world. Today we feel a personal loss, but at the same time we rejoice knowing Dad lived life to the fullest, obeying God with devotion and loving Jesus radically.
He was known for his unlimited faith. He believed God could change the lives of gang members and transform the most desperate drug addicts. He believed that a dynamic church could be launched in the heart of Times Square, New York City. He believed he could be a man who loved his wife and children well. And he did.
Dad was not one for fanfare, acclaim or ceremony. He turned down invitations to meet with world leaders yet would give everything he owned to support a poor orphan or a widow in distress.
Like King David of old, Dad served God’s purposes in his generation. He preached with uncompromising passion and relentless grace. He wrote with amazing insight, clarity and conviction. He ran his race well and when his work was done, he was called home.
I don’t think my father would have retired well. I don’t think he was one to sit in a rocking chair and reminisce about times past. I believe that Jesus, knowing this, graciously called him home.
Dad’s last mission on earth was to be an advocate for the poorest of the poor—to provide relief and support for hungry children and widows and orphans. After founding Teen Challenge, World Challenge and Times Square Church, he sought to feed starving children in the most impoverished countries in the world. Today, Please Pass the Bread is saving the lives of thousands of children, through 56 outreaches in eight countries.
Like King David of old, after having served God’s purpose, he died. I know if my father were able to encourage you with his words today, he would invite you to give your all to Jesus, to love God deeply and to give yourself away to the needs of others.
The works he began outlive him. We can all attest to his impacting us—not only in his preaching, writing and founding of world-changing ministries, but in his love, devotion, compassion and ability to stir our faith for greater works.

David Wilkerson, May 19 1931–April 27 2011
THE Reverend David Wilkerson is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. The story has been read by over 15 million people in some thirty languages since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.
Reverend Wilkerson served as pastor in small churches in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until he saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was then that he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth."
That same year, Reverend Wilkerson founded Teen Challenge ministries in Brooklyn, New York, which has reached youth and adults with life-controlling problems worldwide through its 414 centers. The ministry's biblically based recovery program for drug addicts has been recognized as one of the most effective efforts of its kind.
In 1967 he began David Wilkerson Youth Crusades, an evangelistic ministry characterized by Reverend Wilkerson's efforts to reach teenagers he called "goodniks" — middle-class kids who were restless and bored — to prevent them from being seduced into a life of bondage to drugs, alcohol, violence or lawlessness. Through this ministry, CURE Corps (Collegiate Urban Renewal Effort) was founded, in an effort to harness the idealism and sacrificial zeal of many Christian young people who knew about the Peace Corps and Vista but wanted to give their lives to Christ-centered efforts.
In 1971, Reverend Wilkerson's ever-expanding ministry moved its headquarters to Texas, where he founded World Challenge, Inc.  The ministry's mission is to promote and perpetuate the message of Christ through public teachings.
In 1986, while walking down 42nd Street in New York City at midnight, Reverend Wilkerson's heart broke yet again for God to raise up a ministry in Times Square. He cried out to God to do something, and at one o'clock that morning he sensed the Lord speaking to his heart, "You do something. You start a church. You know the city and you love it." At that moment, Times Square Church was birthed in Reverend Wilkerson's heart. The church opened its doors in October 1987, first in rented auditoriums in Times Square and eventually in the historic Mark Hellinger Theater, which the ministry purchased in 1989. Today, Times Square Church, with a missions-focused congregation, is a virtual microcosm of New York City. Nearly 8,000 people representing over 100 nationalities worship together under one roof.
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest among us with help for both body and soul. He has authored over 30 books including, The Cross and the Switchblade, The Vision, Revival on Broadway, Hungry for More of Jesus, Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately?, and The New Covenant Unveiled.

EX-KGB AGENT WHO'S PLANTING CHURCHES
HE once worked for an organisation that executed 200,000 Christians over 70 years.
But now former KGB agent Sasha Tsutserov, who lived a life of luxury, is more concerned with planting churches and telling the world about Christ.
In 1991, as the Soviet Union was disintegrating, Tsutserov was converting to Christianity. By July 1993, he had been baptised, and the transformation was complete.
As a convert, he had to give up his salary, the traveling allowances he enjoyed, the paid groceries – perks that the average Russian lived without. Yet, he doesn't regret leaving that life behind.
From 1917 to 1987, the KGB executed some 200,000 Christian ministers in Russia and destroyed roughly 40,000 churches.
"I feel I owe it to Russia – 200,000 ministers to be trained, and 40,000 churches to be planted," Tsutserov told website indystar.com.
Out of respect for his former colleagues and the sensitivity of the work he once performed, Tsutserov would not discuss the specific nature of his job in the KGB.
But he holds nothing back when talking about Jesus.
Since his conversion, Tsutserov, 47, earned a master's degree of divinity from the Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and a doctorate in the study of the New Testament at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
He is now president of the Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary.
As an evangelical Christian, Tsutserov (pictured left) has given witness at roughly 60 churches throughout the country over the past 17 years.
One might suspect that his work surfaces from a sense of guilt or an attempt to reconcile his past. Tsutserov explained that it's work that he does out of his love for God.
Tsutserov was brought up by an influential family and his parents hoped he would become a solo violinist.
They were disappointed when he pursued a career in the KGB but were comforted that Tsutserov would be provided a good salary flush with benefits.
When he became a Christian and left the KGB, they became worried and suspected he had gone a little crazy.
Since then, he has converted both of his parents and an older sister to Christianity.
Tsutserov first learned about Christianity because of his once-suspicious nature. His daughter, Julia, had befriended an American girl whose father was a missionary in Moscow, and his wife, Natasha, had begun tutoring the family in the Russian language.
Tsutserov, still a KGB agent at the time, recalls that he wanted to investigate the foreigners who had made such an impact on his family.
However, when he returned home with a smile on his face after a church retreat that he had attended in secret in the early 1990s, his wife was struck with curiosity.
"Since I had never smiled before, it gave me away," Tsutserov said. "I didn't know any better than to tell my wife (that) I became a Christian.
"She, in turn, confessed to me that she had become a Christian even earlier than I did."
Natasha had actually converted a few months earlier, but was wary of disclosing her newfound faith because of Tsutserov's involvement in the KGB.
While atheism is still the majority religion in Russia, the political climate has changed considerably, and Christians can live without fear of political persecution.
As leader of the seminary, Tsutserov's mission is to raise awareness of the seminary and encourage donations and scholarships to assist students.
The Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary is Russia's only nondenominational seminary that is both licensed and accredited by the Ministry of Education of Russia. More than 130 students – from Belarus to Uzbekistan – study there. 

MORE THAN CONQUERORS
By Hugh Southon
IT'S a sad fact of life that many Christians fail to live in the victory which Christ won for them at Calvary and which the great apostle Paul declared "made us more than conquerors."
What makes it difficult to understand is that God has throughout history been in the preservation business - it's one of his biggest jobs.
A very quick look at the life of Israel's greatest king - David - shows us clearly that the Almighty will always preserve his children and its a simple truth that once we have given him our lives - sometimes even very half heartedly - he preserves us...he will never let us go.
David - who of course was responsible for the biggest sporting upset in history when defeating Goliath had been preserved through encounters with bears and lions before the main event. Indeed it was part of his training.
The young shepherd boy - considered vain and big headed by his brothers - was God's man and when Goliath appeared the boy born to be king was filled with an holy hatred for the boasting braggart.
He felled him at the start of a journey that was to see him become the greatest king of biblical times but he knew all about Gods preserving power declaring in Psalm 16: "Preserve me oh God for in theee I put my trust."
He was actually saying: 'Put a supernatural hedge of protection and thorns around me...observe my every move - all my comings and goings.
Psalm 121 verses 4-7 showed how he fully believed that God preserves those who love him and obey him rather than themselves and their own abilities.
David is reminding us that God keeps his eye on us wherever we go. That means he also sees all our bad stuff but he will never stop protecting us and loving us.
God is with us everywhere...in church, at work, in school, in the car, while we are doing the shopping - everywhere and will always preserve us,
Just like King David and the |sraelites in the wilderniess, he preserves US from all evil and all weapons formed against us.
Why? What's the purpose of all this presrvation because there has to be one. He does it because he wants to take us somewhere...somewhere beautiful. He wants to achieve something great in you.
He was leading the Israelites to their Promised Land - he's preserving us every step of our journey for the same reason - to take us to ours.
What is the Promised Land? It's Jesus because in him are all the promises for your life and once you find him and dwell in him you will find your true purpose on earth.
He says whatever you ask - so long as its righteous - I will give you. His answer to our questions is always the same "YES" and "AMEN."

 'FALL IN LOVE' ALL OVER AGAIN
By Hugh Southon
RICK WARREN'S worldwide call for Christians to fall in love with Jesus "all over again." couldn't have come at a better time.
He was aiming his comment at Christians who are "lethargic, burned out and living lives no different than those of unbelievers."
Warren (left), author of the world wide best seller The Purpose Driven Life, has absolutely nailed it at a time when many Christians are perhaps more caught up in 'political Christianity' than they are with the Lord himself.
Not a week goes by when we don't find a story about homosexuality and Christianity and we at News of the Word are now adopting a very careful editorial policy on such stories and which of them, if any we will report
Then there's the ordination of women row, which along with the former subject, is savaging the Anglican church.
These are of course massive issues to many and worthy of much loving discussion but 'loving' is the key word because it was Jesus who gave us the greatest commandment of all: "To love one another." He doesn't add "...so long as they agree with you."
Corinthians 13 is one of the best loved chapters of them all in our Bible yet how quickly - when faced with a thorny problem - do we forget our Jesus and the love he spread in every direction.
It's an over-reaction to be moving from one church to another on account of these issues. Why? because they come from the enemy of our souls who is determined to uproot us from the place in the kingdom where were planted by Jeus Christ himself.
Moving, runnning away, call it what you will, has never been a solution. It's time to fall in love with Jesus all over again - to have him at the centre - to worship him heart and soul, get closer to him and tread the path he travelled.
That led him to the greatest confrontation of all and we need to remember that we were never promised a rose garden.
If we fall in love with Jesus again, as Rick Warren declares, we will feel his love, mercy and grace pouring into our hearts enabling us to deal with the problems we face.
He told St Paul - and he tells us - "My grace is sufficient."

'BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS' 
By Hugh Southon
LISTENING to the often very fervent prayers of believers for God to do something about a particular set of circumstances always strikes the wrong chord in my Christian walk.
“Send revival God”… “heal us God”… often proclaimed in very loud voices as if, maybe, God is possibly rather hard of hearing.
I have no problem with the passion and desire to see God change things! And I of course believe that God can produce a mighty move to make the seemingly impossible possible without any help from us.
But I also feel the “do this, do that God” type of prayer is something of a cop-out which allows us to do absolutely nothing – should we choose to.
Surely the facts are that God did his bit through his Son Jesus on that Cross 2,000 years ago where he died that all who believed should go to heaven but prior to that inherit power to “do greater things than these.”
When we are sick - say suffering from a cold - what’s our first reaction? Prayer or the pharmacy for what somebody once amusingly describes as divine healing aids?
In trying to win the lost are we – as Joshua was told to be by God – as he prepared to take the Promised Land: “Strong and very courageous.”
If we are to see revival we have to pray, preach, and evangelise the lost WHERE THEY ARE AT and not where would like them to be…in church! That takes strength and courage.
Whatever we want of God means that we often have to be his hands and feet and not sitting in a corner of the Church expecting his to move on all situations independently of us.
Chiefly we need to be involved in listening prayer…we need to hear from him and then - as the first disciples were – go where we are told to go and get God‘s business done as directed by him.
Twice Joshua – who had seen some of the Old Testament’s greatest miracles including the parting of the Red Sea – had to be told: “Be strong and very courageous.”
As we seek to win this land for God in the 21st century I believe he’s saying the same to us today.
Time to come out of your comfort zones with strength and great courage to change things as my Spirit flows through you via prayer.

THE UNSUNG HEROES  A SERIES BY HUGH SOUTHON

They’re the unsung Biblical heroes. People whose impact is still being felt 2,000 years on even though they made the most fleeting of appearances during Jesus’ ministry.
They are people who never went looking for a place in history but were certain of one thing…Jesus Christ was the king of Heaven…the Messiah and capable of doing anything!
These are men and women who showed extraordinary faith, made sure they praised and thanked God with all their hearts, knew how to give everything and in one extraordinary case became the most powerful evangelist “for a season” in new Testament history.
For they all had one thing in common - they weren’t even named in the Bible. They are the near faceless individuals whose example speaks volumes to each and every one of us.
We too may become heroes without a name.

BARLEY BOY
HE’D been on a shopping expedition but his parents weren’t too well off and he’d only managed to get five barley loaves and two fishes.
It would have given them a meagre meal for the evening and he knew he should be getting back because they were waiting for him.
Like a small boys though he was naturally curious and wondered just why all these people were heading in the same direction. There were hundreds probably thousands of them.
He promised himself to take a quick look at what was going on before heading off home with the evening meal.
Little boys never walk when they can run and that’s exactly what he did knowing that somewhere up ahead of the throng was the focus of their interest.
There were people in front of him climbing a mountain and goodness it was steep but clinging to the previous bread and fish he made it and stood wondering why he’d bothered.
The first 100 or so had gathered around a group of men who by anyone’s standards didn’t look that interesting.
Mind you, the man in the middle of the group had something about him that looked very interesting.
They were obviously here for a reason, why otherwise were more and more people arriving and flopping down absolutely exhausted.
The sun was dipping - it was getting later and later but he could always tell Mum he’d bumped into one of his pals … couldn’t he?
Something was about to happen and having come this far he wasn’t going to miss it.
All around d him people were pointing towards the men and were muttering: “There he is … that’s Jesus.”
The lad had heard his mother and father talk about this Jesus and although he’d never paid that much attention he understood the chap was something a bit special.
Apparently he’d performed miracles and even healed people sometimes without even touching them.
But hold on, someone was coming towards him - one of the men from the group.
As he approached he turned back and said “Hey there’s a lad here with loaves and fish” before asking him if he could have them off him.
“Oh no - what now…I’m going to be late back and have no food … I’ll be in real trouble,” he thought.
But he was hearing from around him that Jesus wanted to give the people something to eat and that his loaves and fish were important.
Then he heard someone laugh: “Oh well – that’s a start, we’ll all p’raps get a crumb.”
Hop did these stories spread so quickly – how could they have found out what this Jesus was up to, probably someone heard the chaps in his group taking and passed the word on.
For whatever reason he handed the bread and fish over and watched nearly despairingly as the men went back towards Jesus. What had he done?
But hold on Jesus was on his feet and turning his head towards heaven thanking God for his barley loaves and fishes and then something happened the little lad knew would stay with him for as long as he lived.
Somehow, there were 10, then 20 then 100 and then goodness knows how many loaves … and the same was happening to the fish.
The men were handing it out to everyone – he'd never seen so much food in his life. It was a feast – an amazing feast.
Who was this man?…How could he do so much with so little? Now the men were clearing up and he counted at least 12 baskets being filled so he took what he had given plus perhaps a bit more to his Mum and Dad.
He had quite a story to tell but would they ever believe him. More likely would they listen, probably he’d be sent to bed without any supper.
Little did they know he ‘d been fed very well and been in touch with a man he would never forget.
• Jesus has always been in the business of making a lot out of a little. He doesn’t do minimum … only more as this little lad was fortunate to discover at a very early age.
He also discovered that although he had only a tiny amount to offer what he did possess was incredibly important and the Lord used it greatly to bless people from generation to generation.
The boy could have held onto what he had and although his story above has been dramatised it is surely possible that he had been send out by his parents to bring home the tea,
Barley loaves were the bread of the poor so we can be assured that if this was the case the family had little money to spare.
But the little lad gave what he had – he was obedient – and saw one of the greatest miracles of the New Testament take place before his eyes.
We may feel we have very very little to offer and there’s a danger that we will want to hold onto it thinking its of little use to our Saviour but as he shows elsewhere in the Bible, God can even fill our emptiness if we are prepared to give it to him.
Let’s learn the lessons of obedience and generosity from a little lad with no name and take the risk of handing over whatever we have – much or little – to the one person who can make it worth a thousand times more and use it for His glory.

THIEF ON THE CROSS

HE’D been a very bad boy but never in a million years did he believe it would end up like this … hanging on a cross with a couple of other fellas on this bleak Friday afternoon.
He was a thief and he’d been warned times up upon number he would come to a bad end. He hadn’t listened and for a lot of years he’d ’earned’ his living and proved all the knockers and doubters wrong.
Crime had paid and he’d done okay thanks very much until he’d been caught and he knew this was only going to end one way in execution.
Here he is, his body slowly dying, perspiring with the agony and the blood dripping. They’d all been right…he had come to a bad end but as that end gets nearer and nearer he still becomes angry at the taunts one of the other blokes is throwing at the man they called Jesus on the other cross.
He knows about the man - who doesn’t? he’s been the biggest news in the area for the last three years and as far as he could see had done nothing but good.
Just what was Jesus doing on a cross alongside a bloke like himself a petty thief who got found out and deserves to die. Yet this other villain is giving him a hard time telling him to “save himself and us” if he is who he says he is.
Well that’s enough of it ... he’s going to put in his two penny worth and with all the energy - and that’s not much - he has left he shouts: “Don’t you fear God,? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He couldn’t have expected a reply - this man had taken a terrible beating … you could see the shocking, shocking wounds all over his body and that was before they’d nailed him up here with a crown of thorns - all no less than 6 ins thick on his head.
What a mess but throughout the whole ghastly thing he’d been talking to his father - God, forgiving the people who were doing this to him and even at one stage screaming out and asking why he’d forsaken him.
The man was incredible … you just had to believe he was who he said he was unless of course you only had the one brain cell of the bloke alongside them both.
And then came the incredible moment when Jesus turned in response to what he had said and declared: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The thief had never experienced a moment like it … this man who had declared himself the Son of God cared about even HIM. It was all going to be over very soon, the pain was totally unbearable and all because of half inching that stuff.
Yet he was happy…deliriously happy - Jesus ‘King of the Jews’ had told him he was on his way to paradise. He drew his dying breath one very happy man.
• The second criminal's insights are remarkable. He understands the fear of the Lord, especially as he knows his hours are numbered. He finds it unthinkable that Christ is under the same sentence as he and the other criminal are. He also admits his own wrongs and accepts that he and the other criminal deserve death.
He knows he is a sinner, and acknowledges that "the wages of sin are death." He is honest with himself and with all around him. One senses a true repentance here.
This criminal is unique in proclaiming the innocence of Christ. There is not one soul there who is recorded as making this brave confession. In fact, this man is confessing Christ before all who will hear.
One senses that the criminal at least knows about Jesus, perhaps even knows him. Amazingly he expresses his faith in Jesus as the Messiah and of an un-earthly kingdom.
However, here is the statement that is the most mysterious. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." This is shocking! The criminal is addressing a naked man who is being executed on a Roman cross.
Blood is dripping from his head, hands, feet, and back. His face has been abused. This criminal heard the challenge given to Jesus that he prove himself to be the Messiah by coming down from the cross . He had seen nothing spectacular happen – Jesus had not come down from the cross, God had not delivered him, there had been no signs, no darkness, no earthquakes--not yet.
In spite of this, the criminal expresses unthinkable faith! He calls Jesus a king, who is about to enter his kingdom! He asks not for any special place in the kingdom; rather, he asks only that Jesus remember him.
Where did this criminal get his faith? Where did he get his information? There were no sermons from the cross. Certainly the other criminal hadn't converted him.
Not even the apostles had this kind of faith – they believed that the kingdom would be earthly, and thought it inconceivable that Jesus would die on the cross. How do we explain how this criminal had more faith than the apostles? Did he know Jesus – was he exposed to his teaching – all very mysterious.
But even if we ignore all of that and see him as just a thief, his witness on the cross speaks of the latest possible salvation and that’s a tremendous encouragement. It almost certainly means we’ll find many in heaven who we could never have expected to see there. So don’t judge anybody eh?
Jesus’ use of the word paradise is also riveting. Many have struggled with the concept of dying and going to heaven when scripture tells us this won’t happen until the Second coming of Jesus.
Perhaps there’s a waiting room called paradise. Take heart from the story of a humble nameless thief whose fleeting appearance at the end of our Lord’s life ensures that hope is never lost – there’s room in paradise/heaven for absolutely everyone.

TOP MAN KNOWS HIS PLACE

HE'D climbed his way to the top of his profession and as a centurion commanded 100 men – he knew about authority … receiving and giving orders.
He’d begun by leading junior centurions before being promoted to leading more senior ones and his name came from the number of men he had under his command.
He also trained legionnaires and knew that on occasions he was called to be merciless in handling the task and was aware that sometimes brutal punishments had to be handed out. Punishments indeed could stretch to executions.
However, the flip side was that he could be punished by his own superiors. Falling asleep on the job, or failing to train legionaries sufficiently could bring such punishment.
Like any other soldier, a centurion caught guilty of such indiscretions could be sentenced to death just as easily as the soldiers under his command.
It was a rewarding life financially and he had the privilege of riding on horseback during marches and, was obviously married because he lived with a family while in garrison.
Keeping order in this outpost of the Roman empire was never easy. There were a lot of religious babblers about and despite a hugely busy life this guy had heard of one in particular who was causing a real stir.
He was impressed, seriously impressed. This chap was a very different kettle of fish to those who were forever going on…and on and on about rules, regulation and what you could or couldn‘t do! His words spoke of freedom, love, care and healing!
With his own servant suffering from a severe illness he was, though, a worried man and had tried everything get see him cured.
Now, finally he sent for this Jesus who had developed an amazing reputation - some were calling him "The Miracle Worker". He had become convinced.
He went as far as to approach elders from among the Jews to find him and here he was, away in the distance coming towards the centurion’s home.
Even at several hundred yards he sensed this was no ordinary man and he found himself compelled to rush out – fall before him – and say: “Lord don’t trouble yourself, I don’t deserve to have you under my roof.
“Just say the word and my servant will be healed. I know all about authority. Whatever I do, they do. I know what goes on.”
Jesus was “astonished” … utterly blown away and immediately healed the sick servant without even seeing or touching him declaring: “I have not found faith like this in the whole of Israel.”
• How would you like Jesus to say of you: “I have never found such faith in the whole of this country? The compliment of compliments…but maybe we wouldn’t be quite so pleased if he decided not to even mention our name for posterity.
It’s a fundamental Biblical principle that honour and promotion in the Kingdom of God comes at a price in human terms - we need to remain entirely humble, near anonymous and rely on God’s grace, seeking nothing for ourselves.
Despite his lofty position this Roman had no problem with any of that. Note that the first word from his lips when seeing Jesus - despite him being a big, big wheel himself - was “Lord.”
He was trained to recognise authority figures and this shows he had absolutely no problem with that recognising Jesus’ kingship.
He will always be remembered for his utter faith but note too, he was seeking nothing for himself. It was all about a highly valued servant…he was doing this out of a heart of compassion for someone else.
Let’s be faithful. Let’s be compassionate. Let’s put others before ourselves and thus qualify for promotion in the Kingdom of God.


WELL …WELL …WELL

 
SHE had plenty of history … all of it of the wrong kind and she was paying a heavy price for some pretty squalid behaviour down the years.
And here she was drawing water from a well in the heat of the day because she didn’t want to be there in the morning or late at night when her abusive neighbours would be drawing theirs and getting in her face.
She was emotionally insecure, had experienced several marriages and was now living with a guy.
And would you believe it, here was another one standing by the well and – oh no – he’s approaching her asking: “Could you give me a drink please?”
Hardly original as a chat-up line, but maybe he knew all about her and didn’t feel he had to be too imaginative.
He was in his 30s and good looking. He was also a Jew so what on earth was he doing talking to her – a Samaritan.
She thought he’d put him straight: “How can you ask me for a drink, me a Samaritan and you a Jew.”
His response shook her to the core as he declared: “If you took the water I could give you would never thirst again.”
Well at least he was showing some imagination now but it was interesting that there wasn’t a hint of arrogance – this sounded intriguing and was certainly a way out of having to make her shameful trek to this well each day.
Suddenly – astonishingly – the guy was telling her all about her personal history including the chap she was living with and her previous husbands!
Embarrassed, she changed the subject and explained she could see he was a prophet and explained that Jews said one should worship in Jerusalem while the prophets pointed out several mountains where it should happen.
Suddenly she was getting a mini preach with him telling her all that mattered was that the true God was worshipped in spirit and truth.
The penny was dropping – this wasn’t a pick up. This man was truly someone special and she found herself saying: “I know the Messiah is coming and when he does he will reveal all things.” Now what exactly had made her say that?
Then astoundingly the man said: “I’m him, the Christ, the anointed one” and she knew he was telling her the truth – JUST KNEW IT.
Suddenly, leaving the water jar behind she rushed to the village and without a hint of that former shame pleaded with them to come and meet the man “who told me everything I’d ever done.”
Such was her passion and insistence and despite their loathing of her, they followed and were so impressed asked the man to stay with them for a couple of days during which an entire area came to faith in the Messiah - Jesus Christ.
• This could have been headed ‘From fear to Freedom’ – one of the very precise reasons why Christ came to earth – to set us free from the consequences of sin.
This woman was lifted from deep shame to a confrontation with the very people who scared her - the neighbours. And more than that she became the very person through which they too received their salvation.
Her early cynicism of Jesus was replaced by fervent belief and she even learned it doesn’t matter where you worship so long as its in spirit and truth.
That should still speak to us today. Forget Methodism, Pentecostalism and all the rest. God wants us to be as one – worshipping in the spirit and truth.
She learned from the master that as a Christian you talk to everybody whatever their race and colour – he was a Jew her a Samaritan.
But from a very personal point of view she learned that God truly cares about our past present and future. He wants us for eternity whatever we have done and my goodness she’d done the lot.
We don’t know her name but God used her mightily to speak across the generations.

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