A White Christmas

Yes, it's that time again when you can't visit the shops without being subjected to "Christmas music". I don't mean carols like Hark the herald angels sing or Handel's Messiah, but Merry Christmas by Slade or Mistletoe and Wine by Cliff Richards. It's enough to make you want to stay at home and buy all your pressies on the internet.

I suppose that one of the best loved of these songs is White Christmas by Bing Crosby. You know how it goes, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...". In fact, by the wonders of modern technology, Welsh opera singer Bryn Terfel has recently recorded a new version of this song, where he sings a duet with Crosby, who died 33 years ago.

I'm not going to try and second guess BBC Wiltshire’s weather forecasters by predicting that our county is going to see it snow on December 25th. That’s not exactly my job. But whether that happens or not, I want to suggest that it is possible to have a White Christmas this year. "What do I mean by that?" Well, for Christians the coming of Jesus is often associated with snow. Take a couple of well know Christmas carols,

See amid the winter’s snow,

Born for us on earth below,

See, the Lamb of God appears,
Promised from eternal years.

And most famously perhaps, In the Bleak Midwinter, in which it snows rather a lot,

Snow was falling,

Snow on snow,

Snow on snow
In the bleak midwinter,
Long, long ago.

I have to say that Christina Rossetti’s words don’t sound half as good when spoken, as when they are sung to Gustav Holst’s wonderfully haunting tune. Singing that carol certainly conjures up visions of a snowy, white Christmas. But what I have in mind by a white Christmas is taken from a passage in the Book of Isaiah. He was the Old Testament prophet who foretold that Jesus would be born of a virgin,

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (7:14)

Isaiah also said concerning Jesus,

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)

This same prophet issues an invitation from the Lord to all who will listen,

"'Come now, and let us reason together,' says the Lord, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow'" (Isaiah 1:18).

That is what I mean by a “white Christmas”, the Lord’s gracious offer of forgiveness and cleansing.

This fresh start is possible because of Jesus. Joseph was told concerning Mary, "And she will bring forth a Son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21). Jesus came into the world to die on the cross for our sins, so that those who believe in him might be forgiven and be put right with God.

Having a White Christmas needn’t be just a dream. Because of Jesus, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow'".



* Broadcast on BBC Radio Wiltshire as part of a pre-Christmas "mini service". Listen here, about 41 minutes into the show.

Easter Hope

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire.

The kids break up from school today. The Easter holidays will soon be upon us. Now, for many people, Easter means that we get a long weekend off and eat far too many chocolate eggs. But perhaps there is more to it that that. For Christians Easter is a most important period. We take time to reflect on the events that lie at the heart of the Christian gospel.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. Believers recall Jesus’ “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem. He entered the city as a King, but he did not charge down the streets on a war horse. He was seated upon a lowly donkey. Jesus is the King of peace.

Crowds of people hailed him, waving palm branches in their hands, hence “Palm Sunday”. Yet by the following weekend they were howling for his blood and demanding that he be crucified. How had it all gone so terribly wrong? Was Jesus aware of how things would turn out? Yes he was. He often told his followers that he would be arrested in Jerusalem and then condemned to death. He knew that he had to die for the sin of the world, so that those who trust in him might experience forgiveness and new life. That’s what happened on the first Good Friday.

Jesus’ death left his disciples baffled. They had hoped for so much from their Master. But now all their expectations were dashed. However, on the first Easter Sunday morning their hope was reborn. Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his friends. They were overjoyed to see him alive. Now they realised that his death was not a tragic accident, but God’s way of brining his people back to him.

Easter is all about the restoration of hope. And we could do with some of that these days.

The last five talks (apart from the one they "banned") were broadcast on BBC Radio Wiltshire around 6.25 each morning from Monday 30th March to Friday 3rd April. Frequency 103.6, 104.3 & 103.5 FM, or online.

Wired for Sound?

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire.

I understand that congratulations are in order. BBC Radio Wiltshire will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this weekend. All week Graham has been giving us a blast from the past with some special archive clips. The one of him flying with the Red Arrows sounded fun. Although rather him than me.

I suppose that radio is so much part of our lives that we take it for granted. But it’s a rather strange, even unnerving medium isn’t it? You can’t see me, which may be just as well. But you can hopefully hear me speaking to you just where you are. I don’t know what you are doing right now. You may be having your breakfast. Perhaps you are at work. Or if you have one of those radio alarm clocks, you could even still be in bed! But wherever you are, you can hear my voice. Someone you can’t see is speaking directly to you.

One of the early Russian cosmonauts once quipped that he had a good look round in space, but hadn’t seen God. What did he expect? We can’t see God, he is invisible. How, then can we know that he is there? Because he has spoken.

God speaks to us through the world that he made.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
(Psalm 19:1&2)

In our every waking moment, we are being addressed by the God's speech, summoning us to forsake our idols and glorify our great Creator.

God speaks to us through the Bible. Its great message is that the One God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit has acted to bring us into a meaningful relationship with himself.

Above all God speaks to us through his Son Jesus Christ. In his life, death and mighty resurrection we see the full extent of God’s love and compassion for our broken world.

God is speaking. He is there and he is not silent. It’s a little bit like the radio. The signal is being broadcast. We just have to switch on and tune in to what he is saying.

On BBC Radio Wiltshire around 6.25 each morning from Monday 30th March to Friday 3rd April. Frequency 103.6, 104.3 & 103.5 FM, or listen online.

Values and Priorities

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire (not broadcast for some strange reason).

As from today Wiltshire has a unitary local authority. Great isn’t it? And also today, the leaders of the world’s 20 richest nations will be descending upon London in preparation for the G20 Summit. On the agenda: What on earth to do about the economic downturn. The connection between these two events? Well, in our globalised world everything is connected. Even before it starts our grand unitary authority has a hole in its finances. An 8 million pound hole to be exact. Why? Because the old Wilshire County Council invested a good chunk of our Council Tax money in an Icelandic bank. Not to mention North Wiltshire District Council’s missing 5 million. (I've checked my facts - see Aduit Commission report). We’ve been credit crunched. That’s globalisation for you, where the international and local collide. If nothing else, this reminds us of the interconnectedness of life. As the poet/preacher John Donne famously put it, “No man is an island entire of himself”.

Now, I’m not an economist. I find talk of “quantitative easing” and the sale of government gilts as baffling as the next person. But whatever global rescue plan the G20 Summit comes up with, there can be no return to the consumer boom of the last ten years, fuelled as it was by cheap credit. No more boom and bust, eh?

But perhaps the so-called credit crunch gives us an opportunity to reflect afresh on our values and priorities. What shall we put first in life, the material or the spiritual? Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and money”. He calls us to value treasure in heaven over treasure on earth. Only then we will be free from our obsession with material things. Jesus said to his followers,

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:31-33).

I don’t know if that’s the message that we’ll be getting from the great world leaders. But it sounds good to me.

On BBC Radio Wiltshire around 6.25 each morning from Monday 30th March to Friday 3rd April. Frequency 103.6, 104.3 & 103.5 FM, or listen online.

White As Snow

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

Maybe I shouldn’t be admitting this to you, but I’m a something of a fan of the Irish rock band U2. I’ve liked them for so long that I bought their early albums on cassette. Remember those plastic things with the little wheels and brown tape that would often come undone and you had to wind it back in with a pencil? Ah the good old days before CDs and downloads.

Anyway, I eagerly anticipated the release of their latest album, No Line on the Horizon. And on the whole I wasn’t disappointed. What attracts me to U2 is not only the music, but also their thought provoking lyrics. The band have tackled some pretty big ideas in their songs, and the latest offering is no exception. Faith, hope and love loom large in several of the tracks.

The Poet Laureate Andrew Motion recently said that in order to fully understand English literature, school children should be taught the Bible. Writers like Shakespeare and Milton drew heavily on biblical language and ideas. Something similar could be said for U2.

The song ‘White As Snow’ is sung from the perspective of a soldier in Afghanistan. It is full of biblical imagery, meditating on the themes of forgiveness and love in a war-torn world. The soldier once knew the love divine. But now he is not so sure. Faith and love have turned into suspicion and hostility. A wounded and broken man, the soldier asks "what can make the heart as white as snow?" The answer is we receive forgiveness “only through the lamb as white as snow”. But what’s all that about? I think two passages of Scripture are being referred to here,

“Come now, and let us reason together”,
Says the LORD,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow”
(Isaiah 1:18).

And it was said of Jesus, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. (John 1:19).

This U2 song brings us close to the heart of the Christian message. It’s all about cleansing and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, the lamb as white as snow. What more in the name of love?

On BBC Radio Wiltshire around 6.25 each morning from Monday 30th March to Friday 3rd April. Frequency 103.6, 104.3 & 103.5 FM, or listen online.

Life in cyberspace

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

There is no getting away from it. Life in the UK is being increasingly lived in cyberspace. Most homes now have internet access. You may even be listening online rather than on a trusty old wireless. Information Technology is one of the core subjects taught in school. In the old days you were happy if you left school with a good grasp of the “Three R’s”. Nowadays you are not properly educated unless you can send an e-mail and Google for information which you can copy for your homework. How would today’s young scholars manage without Wikipedia?

The internet has changed the way we relate to each other. 7 million people in the UK have signed up to Facebook, the social networking site, including me. I’m not sure why I did it. And to be honest I find it all a bit bewildering. It’s probably my age. I started getting friendship requests from people who I thought were already my mates. People whom I didn’t even know asked if they could be my friends. I suppose it’s nice to be popular. But there must be more to friendship than adding someone to a list on Facebook.

I’m not saying things like Facebook, Twitter and blogging are necessarily bad. They can help to keep people in touch, enable useful information to be made available and so on. But Cyberspace is virtual reality. There can be no substitute for relationships with flesh and blood people in the real world. Jesus is the Word made flesh. He did not simply send us information from heaven. He became one of us. Jesus befriended a wide range of people. He took and interest in their lives and shared with them the good news of God’s kingdom. Ultimately went to the cross for us, saying, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” As the old hymn says,

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!

Now there’s a true friend for you.

On BBC Radio Wiltshire around 6.25 each morning from Monday 30th March to Friday 3rd April. Frequency 103.6, 104.3 & 103.5 FM, or listen online.

BBC Radio Wiltshire 'Morning Thought'

Readers may be interested to know that I'm scheduled to give a 'Morning Thought' on BBC Radio Wiltshire just before 6.30 each morning from Monday 30th March to Friday 3rd April. Frequency 103.6, 104.3 & 103.5FM, or listen online. I'll posts the scripts on the blog day by day.

Soul & Inspiration: Love

An edited version of a talk for BBC Radio Wiltshire's Soul & Inspiration with Heather Skull.

We’ve been thinking about what the apostle Paul says at the end of 1 Corinthians 13, “And now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13).We have reflected on faith. How important it is to have personal trust that God accepts us as his own in Jesus Christ. The Christian looks forward to the future with hope because we know that Jesus is coming again to make all things new. But there is something greater even than faith and hope. That is love. Faith will one day be turned into sight. Then we will need it no more. Our hope will ultimately be realised in the gory of God’s kingdom. We won’t need to hope for what we already have! But love remains. Love is eternal.

1 Corinthians 13 is really all about love. Without love the most wonderful spiritual gifts are worthless. Without love the greatest self-sacrifice is worthless,

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (1-3).

What then is love? Paul describes the characteristics of true Christian love,

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." (4-8a).

Is that not a wonderful description of love? This is the kind of love that was exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ. Only he has fully embodied the love Paul so eloquently described. Jesus said,

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." (John 15:13)

It was love for us that drove Jesus to the cross to die for our sins. This bowls us over. As Isaac Watts put it in his hymn, “When I survey the wondrous cross”,

Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my life, my soul, my all.

Love is the true hallmark of Christian discipleship,

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34 & 35).

Heaven will be a world of love, where those who have believed in Jesus will bask forever in the love of the one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Has this heavenly love gripped your soul? “And now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

You can listen to this week's edition of Soul & Inspiration here. The talk is 42.18 into the programme.

Soul & Inspiration: Hope

An edited version of a talk for BBC Radio Wiltshire's Soul & Inspiration with Heather Skull.

We are reflecting on the words of the apostle Paul at the end of 1 Corinthians 13, where he says, “And now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Earlier we thought a little about faith. Now we are going to focus on hope.

We often tend to think of “hope” in terms of vague optimism. We hope a special something is going to happen in our lives, but we can’t be sure that it will. Many perhaps hope to escape the problems generated credit crunch by winning the National Lottery. Others hope to win talent shows like the X-Factor, or to score a winning goal at and FA Cup Final. Some hope!

The Christian hope however, is much stronger than that. It is not wishful thinking – just hoping that everything will turn out for the best. Hope is faith looking forward to what God will do in the future. Hope seems to be in pretty short supply these days of Global Warming and economic gloom. Politians talk of hope and change. But we tend to be a bit sceptical about their promises.

Here’s a promise you can trust,

“I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11).

What is this “hope and future” that the Lord promises his people? God has acted in Jesus Christ to rid this world of evil and suffering. Jesus died and rose again to give us hope. With hope in our hearts we can face death knowing that for the believer, death will bring us face to face with our Saviour Jesus Christ. But death is not the end. The Bible teaches that Jesus will one day return to our planet. He will hold the world to account and make sure that justice is done. Jesus will raise his people from the dead and renew the whole creation. Suffering, sorrow and death will be no more.

Having this hope gives our lives meaning. There is nothing random or pointless about our existence. God has wonderful plans for his people. This puts the problems we face in this world into perspective,
.
For I consider that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18).

This hope is something to get excited about. Our children are already scanning the pages of shopping catalogues, to see what they would like for Christmas. They are certainly excited about what they hope to receive. Christians face the future with hope, because we have so much to look forward to,

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when [Jesus] is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2).

Is that your hope too?

You can listen to this week's edition of Soul & Inspiration here. The talk is 33.55 into the programme.

Soul & Inspiration: Faith

An edited version of a talk for BBC Radio Wiltshire's Soul & Inspiration with Heather Skull.

1 Corinthians 13 is probably the most famous chapter of all the writings of the apostle Paul. In it he sets forth the importance of love for authentic Christian living. The chapter ends, “And now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13). What I would like to do today is look at faith hope and love in turn.

Did you see the recent news reports on the man who flew across the English Channel using a jet-propelled wing? Such a thing had never been attempted before. The Swiss pilot Yves Rossy must have had a lot faith that his equipment was going to work properly!

Everybody lives by faith in one way and another. Some people have faith in the power of human potential. Others have faith in grand scientific theories. Christians have faith in God. This is not an irrational leap in the dark. God has revealed himself to us in the world that he made. Look up at the sky at night and you will hear the heavens declare the glory of God. Look at the earth with all its wonders and you will see the power, wisdom and goodness of God displayed. It is by faith that we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command.

But the Christian does not simply believe that God is Creator. We believe that in Jesus Christ, God became man. He took this drastic step to bring human beings back to God. Our relationship with God has broken down because we have turned our backs upon him. We live how we please rather in the way that he commands. We deserve God’s judgement. But he so loved the world that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to rescue us by dying on the cross for our sake.

Faith is so important because it lays hold of God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness in Jesus. Many people today are striving for acceptance and approval. The fact that we are saved by faith apart from our works reminds us that God’s receives us freely and unconditionally when we believe in Jesus Christ. An important verse in the Bible tells us,

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8).

Now, faith is not simply belief in a doctrinal statement. It is one thing to have read and accepted procedure on evacuating a building in case of fire. It is another thing to entrust your life to a fireman as the flames engulf the building. Faith is personal trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.

Having faith doesn’t mean that we always understand everything that God is doing in our lives. But we believe that he loves us and wants the best for his children. We know that we can trust him come what may. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me”. (John 14:1). Do you have that faith?

You can listen to this week's edition of Soul & Inspiration here. The talk is 24.16 into the programme.

The end of the world?

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

Talking about the end of the world used to be the preserve of cranks and eccentrics. You would sometimes see them in town centres wearing sandwich boards that proclaimed, “THE END IS NIGH”. But now it seems that almost everybody is at it. News reports tell us that global warming will mean the end of life as we know it.

Muse tapped into this sense of unease in their song, “Apocalypse please”, singing,

It’s time we saw a miracle
Come on, it’s time for something biblical
To pull us through
And this is the end of the world.

The other week our children came home from school asking, “Is the world going to end today, dad?” It was the day when the Large Hadron Collider at Cern was switched on. Apparently, the collider was going to re-create conditions moments after the Big Bang. There was a danger, it was reported, that the experiment could have created a super massive black hole which would have swallowed up the whole universe. Well, that didn’t quite happen like that did it? Responsible scientists said that the end of the world scenario was highly unlikely anyway. But just in case you are still worried, you can sleep easy in the knowledge that the £5bn machine has developed a fault and won’t be operative again until Spring 2009. Perhaps the end isn’t quite so nigh?

But I don’t believe that the world will end because of a scientific experiment or anything like that. God made this world and he upholds it by his power. The destiny of the universe is in his hands. The Christian faith is all about having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But there is more to it than that. In Jesus, God has acted to rescue the world from evil and suffering. What we look forward to is not in fact the end of the world, but the renewal of creation when Jesus returns. Of that new creation it is written,

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4).

If you share that hope, then don’t worry. It’s not the end of the world!

You can listen to recordings of this week's breakfast show here. I'm on about 40 minutes into the programme.

The Greatest Love of All

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

Whitney Houston’s song The Greatest Love of All proclaims,

Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

Is that right? I don’t think so. True love is about reaching out to others rather than self-fulfilment. We all know what love is, but it is difficult to define it in words. The family paper we had when I was a lad carried the “Love is” cartoon strip. Some of them were quite good, with things like, “Love is… wanting to give her the moon and the stars.” And “Love is… a feeling to treasure.” Well, that’s all very nice and romantic, but there’s more to love than that. On yesterday’s show Graham was talking about acts of kindness. He spoke to a “secret millionaire” who had helped people in need. That kind of generosity which seeks the good of other people is getting close to what love is all about.

According to the Christian faith, love is the chief virtue. The apostle Paul spoke of “faith hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love”. (1 Corinthians 13:13). Without love faith, charitable giving and even martyrdom are totally without profit. John wrote in one of his letters, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8). Did you catch that? “God is love.” The one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit exists in an eternal union of love. He loves us too. Do you doubt that? Then consider this display of God’s love,

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8).

Now, is easy to love our friends who are kind and generous to us. It is not so easy to love our enemies. But God loves his enemies, “sinners” like you and me who have turned their backs upon him. To receive God’s offer of new life in Christ is to immerse your soul in love.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10).

Now that’s the greatest love of all.

You can listen to recordings of this week's Graham Seaman breakfast show here. I'm on about 45 minutes into the programme.

Credit Crunch

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

Many of us are feeling the pinch from the "credit crunch". Politicians are trying to get to grips with a new world of collapsing banks and high oil prices. The US treasury is putting together a 700 billion dollar package to buy up the “toxic assets” of American banks. Getting out of the red is always a costly business. But that’s a whole lot of money to pay off bad debt.

The idea of debt features in the Lord’s Prayer, which famously begins,

“Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name”

As a child, I had to recite the Lord’s Prayer every day in school. It didn’t mean a lot to me then. Perhaps familiarity had bred contempt? But it really is a wonderful model of true prayer. In it, Jesus instructed his followers to ask God for many things like, “Give us this day our daily bread.” He also said that we should pray,

“And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.”

Now, Jesus wasn’t talking about finance here. He was suggesting that we are morally and spiritually indebted to God and we need him to write off the debt. What’s all that about? Well, God made us for himself, and he calls us to live for his glory. If we live as if he did not exist, and disregard his pattern for our lives, then we are getting ourselves into a spiritual credit crisis. We are “in the red” as far as our relationship with God is concerned. But Jesus tells us to pray that the debt will be cancelled. Can God just do that? He can, but there is a price to pay. As I said, it will cost a staggering 700 billion dollars to wipe out the bad debts of US banks. But the price of our forgiveness is much higher. God bore the cost of our “toxic assets” in his own Son, Jesus Christ. The Christian can sing,

On the cross he sealed my pardon,
paid the debt and made me free.

That’s gospel economics.

Mumbling thoughtlessly through the Lord’s Prayer never did anybody any good. But if you would know the God whose grace is free of charge, then try praying,

“And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.”

You can listen to recordings of this week's Graham Seaman breakfast show here. I'm on about 45 minutes into the programme.

Losing it

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

One of the topics for discussion on the show this week is, "losing it". We tend to think that anger as a bad thing. It is associated with outbursts of uncontrollable rage, when we “see red” and really let rip. But anger is not necessarily a bad emotion. Sometimes it is the only right response to evil and injustice. A few years ago, we visited the Imperial War Museum in London. The museum had a holocaust exhibition. Faced with the horror of what happened in the 1940’s, I not only felt sorrow for the victims of Hitler’s “Final Solution”, but also anger at the mindless slaughter of millions of human beings.

You may be shocked to hear me say this, but the Gospels record that Jesus was sometimes provoked to anger. He was angry with the religious establishment’s cold hearted indifference to human suffering. He was so angry at the commercialisation of God’s house, that he turned the money changers out of the temple. Now, Jesus never “lost his rag” out of personal pique. Unlike some of us he wasn’t grumpy or irritable. But Jesus cared too much about human beings to shrug his shoulders and walk away when he saw the vulnerable exploited or oppressed. Anger, then can be a fitting response to wickedness and injustice. Anger in that sense is compassion with teeth.

But, we cannot ignore the dark side of anger. One of the Bible’s many wise proverbs says,

A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.
(Proverbs 29:11).

We can allow anger and resentment to burn in our hearts. That is what wreaks lives and ruins relationships. There is a far better way, the costly way of forgiveness. This is not easy. But it is not easy for God to offer forgiveness to people who have turned their backs upon him. He offers us forgiveness because Jesus willingly died on the cross for the wrong things we have done. The forgiving God calls those who trust in him to be forgiving people,

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph 4:31& 32).

It is far better to forgive than to rage.

You can listen to recordings of this week's Graham Seaman breakfast show here. I'm on about 45 minutes into the programme.

Monday Morning Blues

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

The silence of your slumbering bedroom is rudely interrupted by your alarm clock. Still dazed by sleep, you opt for the snooze button so you can grab ten more minutes in bed. Before you know it, your trusty clock is at it again. It is Monday morning, work beckons and you find yourself thinking “Why bother?”

Now, some people have very interesting and fulfilling jobs like brain surgeon, radio presenter, or preacher! But many of us have more humdrum work in offices, factories and shops. Some try to find a way off the treadmill with dreams of fame and fortune. They buy lottery tickets, promising themselves that if they win, the first thing they’ll do is jack in their job. My daughter tells me that I should try and get on X-Factor. Suffice to say that I have a brilliant face for radio and you don’t even want to hear me sing! Many who audition for that show tell us that there must be something more to life than what they are doing at present. They want an exciting new career as a pop star.

I’m reminded of some words from a song by The Smiths,

If you must go to work tomorrow,
Then if I were you I wouldn’t bother.
For there are brighter sides to life
And I should know because I’ve seen them,
But not very often.

I can understand how people can reflect on life and think, “Is this all there is, slaving away to earn a crust?” But there can be more to life than this. God made us for himself, that we might live for his glory. Living for the glory of God gives life meaning and purpose. The humblest task then becomes an act of worship and praise. The Christian faith gives us the ultimate answer to Monday morning blues. “Why bother?” Listen to this,

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23 & 24).

With Jesus, what we do in work echoes in eternity.

You can listen to recordings of this week's Graham Seaman breakfast show here. I'm on about 45 minutes into the programme.

Spirituality

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

I’d like to conclude this week’s Morning Thoughts by talking about spirituality. Did you hear about the man in Bradford on Avon who got trampled by a herd of cows? Seems like he only escaped “dairy herd danger” because a passer by came to his aid. I don’t know what effect this has had on the unfortunate gentleman’s spiritual life. But events like that can make us think about spiritual and eternal matters. Lots of people today have realised that there must be more to life than fleeting riches of this world. Their souls long for spiritual fulfilment. God has made us for himself and we can find no rest apart from him. Some try Transcendental Meditation. Others just like rambling in the countryside in an attempt to find the divine in nature – just look out for those cows!

Christian spirituality is a bit different. It is not first and foremost a human attempt to seek God. It’s the other way around - God has come down to seek us. The Father sent his Son Jesus Christ into our world to bring us back to him. By his death upon the cross Jesus has dealt with all the wrong things that separate us from God. For the believer, God is not some distant, far off being. He has drawn near to us by the presence of his Spirit. In Jesus we can know God as our heavenly Father. Just think of that – having a Father/child relationship with your Maker!

Our relationship with God develops as we pray and read his Word, the Bible. But Christian spirituality is no private affair. It leads to involvement in a believing community, the church. We grow spiritually by worshipping together, learning together, and caring for each other. So, if you are interested in spirituality, do something worthwhile this weekend. Why not go along to a church where you can find out more Jesus, who came from heaven to bring us near to God?

Well, Graham, I’d just like to say thanks very much you for having me on your show this week!

You can listen again here, about 45 minutes into the show.

True Beauty

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

I know that the skies are grey and overcast this morning, but nothing can detract from the beauty of spring time. On the estate where I live I can see nature springing back to life after the deadness of winter. The old trees are green with leaves once again. Cherry blossom adorns the streets. If instead of talking to you now, I was walking around a Wiltshire beauty spot like Stourhead Gardens, then the sight would be even more impressive. Right now, I can imagine the glimmering lake and the trees and flowers in all their glory. What a wonderful world we live in!

But there is nothing necessary about the beauty of the world. Things sometimes function very efficiently without being especially beautiful. The street light outside my house isn't great to look at compared with a lovely old oak tree, but it illuminates our street pretty effectively at night. The beauty that we encounter every day is a sign of the Creator's loving generosity. He does not want us simply to exist in the most efficient way possible, he made us to live. He created us with the capacity to enjoy the world that he made for his glory and our pleasure. "But" you might say, "there is also much ugliness in the world." Yes, that is true. Rainforests are devastated, rivers and seas polluted. Some people have to live in soulless, graffiti strewn "concrete jungles" rather than pretty Wiltshire towns villages. Not to mention the moral ugliness that often confronts us - the ugliness of greed, hatred and selfishness. That reminds me of the old expression, "as ugly as sin". Sin, rebellion against the God of beauty has brought ugliness into our world.

So, how can we recapture true beauty? Not by conforming to the idealised images of physical perfection that we find in the fashion magazines. We can't all be supermodels. Even if we could, through the marvels of plastic surgery, that would not make us truly beautiful people. As the saying goes, that kind of beauty is only "skin deep". True beauty comes from knowing the God of beauty. If you want an example of a beautiful life, don't look at the latest Hollywood heartthrob. Consider Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I don't mean look at a picture of him, because we don't really know what he looked like. But think about the life he lived. Jesus shows us the beauty of love, grace and truth. In an act of unimaginable beauty, he laid down his life for his friends, dying on the Cross for us. Jesus embraced the ugliness of our sin so that by trusting in him, we might be forgiven and made whole. God raised Jesus from the dead. His body that was flogged, crucified and disfigured was gloriously transformed. In Jesus, true beauty is restored. Those who believe in him will be made like him. "May the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us" (Psalm 90:17).

You can listen again here, about 45 minutes into the show.

Information Overload

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

The other day we were talking to some friends of ours about the olden days before wall-to-wall television. Younger listeners may not be able to remember this, but when I was growing up, programmes were not broadcast 24/7. There were gaps in the schedule. In between programmes, a test card was shown, depicting a girl playing noughts and crosses with an evil-looking clown doll. Our children were amazed at this. “You mean kids couldn’t watch Spongebob Squarepants whenever they wanted?”

We live in a time of information overload with facts, figures and stories constantly streaming into our homes. We have our daily newspapers, radio bulletins and 24 hour rolling news on the TV, not to mention the internet. Whatever you interests, you can now get information on tap: celebrity gossip, sports updates, political analysis, world news…the list goes on. It’s certainly good to be informed of what’s going on locally, nationally and internationally. But who can cope with this constant stream of information? It does my head in.

Very often we read and hear of bad news. Reports feature conflict, financial instability and global warming. Now, I’m a minister of the gospel, not a reporter, and this morning I have some good news for you. The very word “gospel” means good news.

Good news must be true. Factual accuracy is the basic criterion of any news story. I am a Christian not because my faith helps me get through life as a kind of crutch. I am a believer because I am convinced that the Christian message is true. God sent his Son Jesus Christ into our world to bring us back to him. Jesus died on the cross for our sin and was raised from the dead. The Bible gives us eyewitness accounts of these great events. Here is the gospel truth.

The best news stories change they way we think about the world. They may even prompt us to take action. Famously Bob Geldof was inspired to campaign against poverty after seeing Michel Buerk’s film on the Ethiopian famine. The Christian gospel is certainly life-changing. This message offers those who believe forgiveness, a fresh start in life and hope for the future. The lives of countless thousands of people have been transformed by the good news of Jesus Christ.

Some stories dominate the news agenda for a few days and then are quickly forgotten. But good news has lasting value. In a sense, the gospel of Jesus Christ is old news - around 2,000 years old. But it is still, fresh, relevant and up-to-date. It deals with some of the biggest issues that we could face as human beings: Does life have a purpose? How can we know God? How should we live? How can we face death itself? I believe the Christian message helps to answer such questions. That’s why I think the gospel is good news for everyone.

You can listen again here, about 45 minutes into the show.

What are you waiting for?

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

My mum used to tell me that “Good things come to those who wait.” Well, what are you waiting for? At this time of the morning [6.50am], you might be waiting for the kettle to boil for that first refreshing cup of tea. You could be waiting for a lift to work. If you are listening on one of those newfangled mobile devices, you might be outside, waiting for a bus. Maybe you’ve ordered something and you’re waiting for the postman to deliver the goods?

Perhaps you are waiting for something a bit more significant? Will you ever get to meet that special someone? Is "so and so" ever going to text you back? Will you get the job you’ve applied for? Will you win the Lottery? If like my sister, you’re an expectant mum, you’ll be waiting for the birth of your baby! High minded philosophical types might be waiting to find out the meaning of life. If you are waiting for the secret of eternal youth and beauty.....don’t hold your breath.

Sometimes we can wait and wait for something and when it turns up, we are disappointed. Once I ordered a few CD’s. They were supposed to have been delivered in three or four days, but they took three of four weeks. Every day I would eagerly anticipate arrival of the post. But time and time again, I was just greeted by junk mail and bills. At last they came. Yesss! However, most of them were damaged and had to be returned for replacement, which only meant more waiting. Ah well.

Right at the end of U2’s early album War is the track “40”, so called because the words are based on Psalm 40 in the Bible. It goes like this,

I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
[Psalm 40:1&2]

Those who wait on the Lord will find him a rock of stability in a fast-changing and uncertain world.

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

He’ll not disappoint you. So, hurry up and wait for what’s worth waiting for because,

those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
[Isaiah 40:31]

You can listen again here, about 45 minutes into the show.

Money, money, money

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

This isn’t a subtle plea for Graham Seaman [show presenter] to play a certain Abba song. Please don’t. And no, I'm not proposing to devote today’s Morning Thought to giving listeners the benefit of my financial advice. If you want to know how best to invest your hard earned dosh, a Baptist minister probably isn't the man to consult. I can tell you all about the unsearchable riches of Christ, but just don't ask me for an opinion on stocks and shares. However, money does matter. Recent news bulletins have focused on the impact of global financial instability. The Prime Minister tells us that his first waking thought is how he can help hard working people weather the economic storm.

Listeners of a certain age might remember a group called the Beverly Sisters. They were a kind of 1960’s version of Girls Aloud. I’ve only heard of them because my mum liked them, honest. Anyway, they had a song called, "Money is the root of all evil". But that’s not quite right. It is an unavoidable fact that we all need money to get by in life. Without it we could not provide for our families. Apart from monetary gifts, charities would cease to function. Money builds schools and hospitals. We may use cash to buy gifts that express love for our nearest and dearest.

Money then can be the means of doing great good. The old song lyric was fact a misquotation of a verse in the Bible. What Scripture really says is, "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). Some people begin to love money. The pursuit of riches is the be all and end all of their lives. But that is not a wise way to live because greater wealth does not guarantee greater happiness. Also, we can't always rely on money. One of the Bible's many proverbs warns us, "Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven." [Proverbs 23:5]. Quite!

The Christian faith teaches us work hard to provide for ourselves, to be contented with what we have, and to trust God to supply our needs. Jesus said to his followers, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. [Matthew 6:31-33]. If we look after God's concerns, he will look after ours.

A wealthy man died and someone asked, "How much did he leave?" The response was "Everything!" How true. The Bible reminds us that, "we brought nothing into the world and it is certain we can carry nothing out." [1 Timothy 6:7]. The only wealth that will last forever is treasure in heaven - eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn’t it time you made a sound investment in your eternal future?

You can listen again here, about 45 minutes into the show.