Just then the phone rang and Ron was amazed to hear the Geordie tones of an assistant to Cheryl Cole. The young woman was polite but firm. ‘Cheryl has bought a new mansion in Southport and she needs your help Ron’ was her opening gambit. ‘Cheryl will pay you six grand if you can rewire the mansion in the next two days. It’s easy money for an expert electrician like you. Think it over and get back to me in the next half-hour.’

Ron put the phone down and wasn’t sure if he was ‘over the moon’ or slightly perturbed. Top dollar but there was a snag. He’d worked for Cheryl Cole before and she could be a difficult and demanding customer. Every plug had to be moved two centimetres to the left ! Nightmare scenario.

Ron attacked the porkpie with renewed relish. Just then Don Corleone, the godfather rang and the opening gambit was predictable. ‘I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse!’ the Sicilian mobster croaked. ‘My mansion in Southport is in a deplorable state. The electrics have gone pear-shaped. I’ll pay you six grand if you do the job over the next few days!’

Ron was careful in both his phrasing and intonational sensitivities. ‘Certainly Godfather I will mull this over and get back to you within the hour.’ Ron could hear a rotweiler growling down the end of the phone as he rang off.

Again Ron attacked the pie with convivial fervour but the phone rang again. It was Elsie, a rather lonely old lady from across the street. She was clearly distressed and bewildered. She explained that all her fuses had gone and her flat was in complete darkness. She begged Ron to help her in her hour of need.

Ron had fully marinaded in the biblical story and he knew what he had to do. He immediately went round to Elsie’s flat and began to do a superb rewiring job for Elsie. His fuses were always ethically sourced and how he loved copper and wire ! They were a joy to him as he went about his provocative calling. When he took a break from his labours he made Elsie cups of tea and spoilt her with delicious Battenburg cake. He realised that the job would take him several days but this job would be his jubilee for Elsie. He had already thought through his crafty kingdom project. He wouldn’t charge Elsie a single penny ! This one was on him.

That evening Ron made two important phone calls. He explained to both Cheryl and the Godfather that he was unable to help them with their mansions. He had other far more important work to do. He put the phone down and smiled.

Gerard has written a real gem of a book here. He offers us imaginative and vibrant pictures of God’s heartbeat for church. It’s without doubt the best read on church in the market right now. He challenges the drabness, greyness and ugly dualism that turns people off the Christian faith! He re-imagines church in the context of a Creator God who is busy redeeming every nook and cranny of His broken world.

My only criticism of the book (and I’m being churlish here) is that Gerard does not say enough about non-ecclesiastical ‘kingdom structures’ such as Neema, Green Pastures, the Clapham sect etc. In my view God’s kingdom is made more visible by such prophetic institutions and local churches should work closely with these kingdom structures.

This book should be required reading for all vicars, curates and vergers. It should be studied and discussed by housegroups all over the UK and beyond.

Church Actually is well researched, inspiring and beautifully written. Kelly’s poetic eloquence, wisdom and wit will bless you mightily.

Thank you Gerard for this great resource!

The Worldview

Many Japanese have a deeply held religious belief that they are the direct descendents of the sun-goddess Amaterasu-Omi-Kami. Such descent destines them to be the supreme people of the world. Therefore, the final place of loyalty is to the Japanese nation. This religious belief had a profound impact upon many Japanese soldiers during World War 2. For such men obedience to their divine emperor (Hirohito) was absolute. Capture was an unthinkable disgrace and surrender was the highest form of betrayal. Indeed the famous Kamikaze pilots actually gave their lives by flying their planes directly into American warships.

I’ve heard of marriages that have been ruined by infidelity and abuse but this one is very odd. Is it a form of crocodile idolatry? Would Sobek, the Egyptian crocodile god, be ‘over the moon’ about Vicki’s decision?

The pictures will be presented along with other simple artifacts that enhance the story, and a prayer guide will be available for those that wish to see further into the work.

Raised in Leeds is a remarkable meditation on the secret life of Leeds, teaching us to see wonderful things down any street.

Left Bank Leeds • April 2-6, 2012

Police in northern Greece say a 12-year-old girl has been arrested along with three of her relatives after selling her 10-week-old baby son for 12,500 euros to undercover officers posing as adoptive parents. Police said the girl, her 44-year-old aunt and her aunt’s parents, aged 65 and 71, were all arrested on illegal adoption charges.
The 12-year-old was expected to be released from custody after being interviewed by a public prosecutor. The incident took place in Xrysoupoli, a town about 700km northeast of Athens, after police acted on a tip and used marked banknotes for the transaction. The baby was taken to hospital for observation.

Again, we need to use such stories in our discipleship programmes. The issues are not complex. If we believe deep down that Singer is right then we will live accordingly. Babies are ‘morally irrelevant’ and so selling them makes complete sense. Hobbes put this most clearly when he argued the following: Humans are machines. Humans have no free will. Humans are only valuable if someone is willing to stump up cash.

This leads of course to people selling and killing babies. Some humans are worth £4.99. Fernando Torres is worth £50 million. Some are worthless.

Why is it that churches never spend time helping people to understand this pernicious, pagan religion (materialism)?

Why the endless talks about Daniel and the tigers?

This is the beginning of a recent article in the Daily Telegraph.

Arthur Jones and I have repeatedly argued that Christian discipleship must include ‘worldview awareness’. This story can help us to see why this is the case.

Let’s probe behind the story.

Peter Singer is a famous and influential Australian philosopher. He is a committed atheist. Perhaps he is most famous for his book Animal Liberation.

Singer completely dismisses the biblical teaching that we are made in the image and likeness of God. He asserts that this view is guilty of ‘species bigotry’. For a secular thinker like Singer it is arrogant and false to assert that humans are better than ‘other animals’. In the light of Darwinian evolution we must embrace species egalitarianism. At the end of the day there is nothing special about human beings. We are just one of many species thrown up by the evolutionary process.

Singer distinguishes human beings in the biological sense from persons who are rational and self conscious beings. In his secular worldview he has no basis for seeing human beings in a different category from other animals. In general, humans have more intelligence and greater self-awareness but some humans lack these faculties.

In the newborn they are undeveloped; in the severely brain damaged they are lost; and in the dementing they are fading day by day. They are humans but not persons. Some adult animals, however, are remarkably intelligent. They are persons, though not human.

For Singer any creature that is not sentient, capable of experiencing pleasure and pain, has no ethical value: it has no interests to consider.

So what follows from this? In simple terms some humans are not persons and some animals are persons. For example an adult pig is a person for Singer but a newborn baby is not. The pig, according to Singer, has many preferences; the baby has hardly any! Monkeys are persons but some senile and dementing humans are not persons!

So Singer is happy for us to kill off both babies and old people because their lives are worthless. And now his views are becoming very fashionable.

Why don’t more churches disciple their congregations to think Christianly about such issues?

1. Jimmy ‘The Weasel’ Fratianno
2. Anthony ‘Fat Tony’ Salerno
3. Vincent ‘The Chin’ Gigante
4. Leo ‘Lips’ Moceri
5. Sammy ‘The Bull’ Gravano
6. Salvatore ‘Fat Sally’ Scala
7. Vincenzo ‘The Egg’ Cotroni
8. Johnny ‘Big Lips’ Pescatori
9. Jimmy ‘The Chop’ Marini
10. Ants ‘Ice Man’ Zamboni
11. Joey ‘Kneecap’ Santorielli
12. Roberto ‘Wrinkle Free’ Capelli

At the state funeral of Falcone and the other murdered government officials, Rosario Schifani, the widow of one of the dead police officers said the following in a very public way:

“To the men of the mafia – who are here in this church too – I want to say something. Become Christians again. I ask you, for Palermo, a city you’ve turned into a city of blood. Men of the mafia, I will forgive you, but you will have to get down on your knees.”

Her brave speech had a huge impact for the good. Many Mafiosi stopped their killing and extorting etc. People began to notice and fight against the mafia. Does Rosario sound just like one of the OT prophets? Study Micah 7:1-7.

1. No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
2. Never look at the wives of friends.
3. Never be seen with cops.
4. Don’t go to pubs and clubs.
5. Always be available for Cosa Nostra, even if your wife’s about to give birth.
6. Appointments must be respected.
7. Wives must be treated with respect.
8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
10. People who can’t be part of Cosa Nostra are anyone with a close relative in the police, with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn’t hold to moral values.

Why were these ten commandments written down? The answer would appear to be that Sicilian mafiosi (the more conservative wing) were very worried that American Mafiosi (the more liberal wing) were getting too flash and corrupted by Hollywood consumerism. In other words the yanks were breaking the sacred code of the Sicilian code of conduct!