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The power of prayer...

As the political talks between the DUP and Sinn Fein stall again in Belfast, the Rev Ian Paisley made a startling revelation in an interview at my alma mater, Queen's University Belfast. He revealed when he was First Minister, he prayed with Martin McGuinness, the Deputy First Minister.

It was clear that McGuinness and Paisley had a warm relationship. The press jokingly called them "the chuckle brothers". That in itself was amazing when you consider the journeys both men had walked. Paisley revealed that when McGuinness's mother was dying that they prayed together. The Belfast Telegraph reports HERE

"Mr Paisley said: “There were some individual matters that he had, home matters of people being ill and his mother being ill, and we prayed together.”
“I did the praying and he did the listening, but he wanted me to do it. I said I can do nothing but the God that we believe in can do something.
“And I would suggest we pray. He said ‘yes, do pray’.
“I offered prayer for him and I think that was the right thing to do, I don’t care what people say. "
“I hope that I have the same heart as Christ had, a love for others who needed help in times of need.”

I have always believed in the power of offered prayer. I have many friends who never would profess any faith, in fact they resist if I try to talk about faith, but when moments of crisis hit their lives, if I offer to pray for them, no one has ever refused me. Even if people have no faith, or a flicker of faith, I think if they come to the end of their rope, they will happily accept the prayers of someone else.

I guess I have come to realise, prayer offered is a real gift, it is a means of grace, and it is evangelistically powerful. Go on..who can you offer to pray for today?

www.nowachristian.org

This week Church Army launched an exciting new project called Now A Christian.

If you have just decided to follow Christ, or you have been following him for a while and fancy a refresher as to why the Christian faith is so exciting, this is for you!!!

Go to www.nowachristian.org where you can sign up for this free programme. Every day for 5 weeks a little email will pop into your inbox prompting you to spend 5mins, reading, reflecting and praying. You can also log onto the website and leave your comments and see what other people are discovering as they do the course together.

Now a Christian was developed by Church Army Communications Officer, Neil Thomson, and by Peter Graystone who helps develop Church Army fresh expressions of church, and is a well known Christian writer.

Now a Christian is not dogmatic, it encourages you to think, to grow, and to discover the amazing wonder of following Jesus. I decided I wanted to do the course myself, and I am on day 4 of week 1 and loving it!!!

Watch the video!!!

Bishop's Houses

I always assumed Bishops lived in the places they are Bishop of, and most of them do. The Bishop of Newcastle lives in Newcastle, the Bishop of Liverpool lives in Liverpool, the Bishop of Manchester lives in Manchester, and so on..

But did you know the Bishop of Dover lives in Canterbury, the Bishop of Lewes lives in Eastbourne, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet (in Kent!) lives in Oxfordshire, the Bishop of Fulham lives in Islington, and the Bishop of Dunwich lives in Ipswich because Dunwich was lost years ago due to coastal erosion...

Should bishops live in the places where they are bishop of? Discuss!

Does snow make for better community?

I am very lucky to have an amazing private garden behind the block of flats where I live in Southeast London. It is a wonderful place to sit, be still and relax. In this snowy weather it looks particularly idyllic and peaceful.

We all know Britain panics when we have a few inches of snow. Planes, trains and automobiles seem to have problems, the roads are like ice, and the pavements even worse. There is no question this is a particularly harsh period of winter, but I do wonder....is snow a good thing?

As I've walked to the station or bus stop in London these past few weeks, more people have spoken to me than normal. People smiled , talked, passed chit chat. Now that is fairly normal back home in Northern Ireland but almost ten years of living in the London area, I have become accustomed to being ignored by passers by. However when the snow hit, people have been chatting more. Even in the block of flats where I live we have had a communal effort to help each other push cars or shovel snow. It seems the snow makes us more human, and perhaps a little more inter-dependent...Or maybe it is just we all have something in common, a story to share together? Even if that is so, surely it shouldn't take this cold weather to make us better neighbours?

An amazing day....

Last week I had the real joy of visiting the Church Army Valley of Hope project in Aberdare in the Welsh Rhondda. This project works across the welsh valleys with people facing all kinds of difficulties. The project helps people with records of substance and alcohol abuse. It was just amazing to see how Church Army is helping these folk escape these addictions and build a new life.

I am pictured here outside the church hall after I had a privilege of speaking about Christmas to the clients and friends gathered. The folk I am pictured with are all clients of the Valley of Hope.

One of the people in the picture told me without this project he would have no hope. During the dinner, one client shared her story of how Valley of Hope had changed her life. It was so moving and I was deeply impacted by meeting these folks. One other client asked if I believed in heaven and hell. She said she believed in heaven, it was her hope- as for hell it was down here, what she was facing each day. Sobering stuff indeed, and yet what a privilege for us to serve these guys.

Christmas is a time of hope and joy - yet I think the term "happy Christmas" conjures up a view we have to be smiley faced all day - for many people Christmas can be a total nightmare. They are missing loved ones, they have family breakdown, or in the case of these guys they are facing really tough and challenging situations. In Marylebone Church Army's homeless project, Christmas is a painful time and many face loneliness. Some of the people I met in Aberdare will be on their own this Christmas....a society that tells you you should be happy only adds to the misery.

Christmas is not so much about being happy, as being hopeful.

I am so proud that Church Army is working in places like Aberdare, helping people get a hand up and not just a hand out - bringing hope to those who need it most. Valley of Hope works with folk with substance abuse, helps with debt counselling, provides practical help to people, advice with housing, and just meets people where they are in a community where employment and housing are scarce. In addtion the project has a small community shop which sells cheap clothing,and is a source of employment and work experience. I encourage you to to visit the Valley of Hope website HERE

I salute my colleague Ralph Upton and his whole team, this is the real work of the Gospel, bringing freedom to the captive, bringing life, and showing God's love to those in real need.

We are Tenants not Owners in this world....

I have to say I am disappointed and dismayed by the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change. We have an agreement brokered by President Obama between the USA, Brazil, South Africa, India and China. The "agreement" is not legally binding, apparently commits the signatories to keeping the earth's temperature rise to 2c, without actually spelling out the levels of CO2 reductions required to make it happen. I have to say I think this agreement is not worth the paper it is printed on, or the trees spent to provide it's paper. In international deals, you always know the deal is effectively useless when someone says it is better than no deal, which is exactly what the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said.

I totally understand why we are in this mess, it is because the major industrial world is not prepared to change. The real tragedy is the American President personally would have wanted to go much further, but is aware that unless he can get his Congress to back a deal it will fall. Obama remembers the former US Vice President Al Gore going to Kyoto and making all kinds of committments only to have the Senate throw them out. Just earlier this year I was talking to an american man who told me he didnt believe in global warming! So at least Barack Obama showed up at the summit, it was more than George W Bush would have done. But the President needs to lead a major debate in the USA that they cannot continue to contribute as much CO2 into the atmosphere. The Sudanese delegate said this deal would condemn many more Africans to death, that is the reality of the lack of consensus here.

So what will make us change? The desolation of a major western city from flood? A tidal wave in New York or London? Clearly the storm that hit New Orleans didnt have the effect of galvanising the USA to see the reality of global warming, I guess the residents there had the wrong skin colour.

Our "leaders" bottled it, they above all fail to recognise we are only tenants in this world, we do not own it. We are condemining future generations to misery and pain, because we are not prepared to change now.

We need leaders to lead, not follow public opinion on global warming. I am disappointed and disillusioned today. I guess most of all with myself, for being naive enough to think our leaders could actualy be bold.

To pray or not to pray, that is the question....

I had the pleasure of attending a Christmas Tea for Christian leaders at Number 10 Downing Street last week, and had a chance to speak to the Prime Minister about the work that Church Army does across the UK and Ireland.

It was an interesing afternoon, to meet colleagues from other denominations and hear about their work. The Prime Minister spoke about the contribution of Christians across the land who work tirelessly to make the world a better place. He spoke about the need to inspire people with vision for change. He spoke about the potential of each and every person and how Christianity had a proud record of trying to release potential.

During the tea, Stephen Timms MP, the Labour Party Vice Chair responsible for liasising with Faith Communities asked Nicky Gumbel, the Vicar of HTB to lead a prayer for the Prime Minister. Now asking Christian leaders to pause for a moment at a Christian Tea and ask them to pray.... sounds a pretty normal thing to do. You would think so, I was gobsmacked to see a story in the Daily Mail. Apparently someone said "Everybody there had some connection with Christian churches and maybe some members of the more evangelical, Pentecostal churches were comfortable with it. But a lot of traditional church people found it deeply awkward and inappropriate."

Now what was inappropriate? Inappropriate to pray? Inappropriate to pray at a Christian Reception? Inappropriate to pray for the Prime Minister? Or inappropriate that it was Nicky Gumbel who was asked and not them? I have a hunch it might have been the latter, in which case I hope whoever gave that quote to the Mail, is ashamed of themselves. Inapproprate to pray..what next!

Reality TV v Reality life

I read today in the press that Olly Murs, the young man taking part in the Semi Finals of the Xfactor this Saturday, is not being allowed to attend his twin brother's wedding also taking place on Saturday.

The wedding is due to take place in Chelmsford at 3pm, and Xfactor is being filmed in North London. Apparently Olly will miss the dress rehearsal if he is at the wedding, and apparently Xfactor say it was always understood that if he got this far in the competition he couldn't go to the wedding.

Whilst I understand the Xfactor's position, I think it is remarkably hard hearted. Olly was to be best man at his twin brother's wedding, and he is reported to be "gutted" about missing the wedding. Surely, the Xfactor could have organised for him to be able to attend the ceremony and be back in good time for the show?

Xfactor is of course a huge show, and the outcome of the show could have major implications for any of the contestants and their futures, but surely your family and significant milestones in their lives are more important? To miss your brother's wedding is a fairly big deal, particularly when he is your twin. I'm sure his brother will have told him not to worry and it is all ok, but deep down it must hurt them both deeply.

Has reality TV gone too far when it mucks up real life? Moot point.....