Well, I didn’t get any replies to the email which I sent to the main candidates standing to represent the parliamentary constituency in which I live. So I was left to decide for myself from various sources available to me. The most useful document was an election brief published by the Christian Institute and showed the party policies on morality issues amongst other things, and the BBC also produced a useful guide detailing the parties’ policies on the popular issues. Armed with this information, I decided who I would vote for, wandered down the polling station and made my mark. All there’s left to do now is sit back and watch the election coverage and see what Peter Snow’s Swingometer does this election. Saying that, I might just lie down and have a nap as I’m knackered from just going out to vote – I think I’ve got a viral infection.

Just watched Goodbye Lenin on DVD. A highly amusing film, which also reminded me of when West and East Germany were separate countries. If seems so long ago that Germany had been divided by ideology, but this film refreshed my memory. The basic plot is that the mother of a family has a heart attack and goes into a coma, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. She awakens afterwards into a united Germany. When she is discharged, the doctor tells her son that she mustn’t have too much excitement, or she may have another attack. Of course this would be straight forward except she loved the principles of the Deutsche Democratik Republik, so it’s demise might well be an undesirable source of excitement for her. The film courses the great lengths the son and daughter take to try and shield her from the change from communism to capitalism, from food labelling to brash Coca-Cola hoardings, with many amusing moments, entwined with the odd thought-provoking situation. After all, whilst capitalism has its benefits, it also has its disadvantages.

Another violin lesson, another scale to learn – or two in this case. It’s been a while since I’ve actually had to think how a minor key differs from a major key, espcially in its melodic and harmonic variants. Long as I remember to flatten the third, sixth and seventh notes on ascent and only flatten the third note on the descent, I’ll have the melodic sorted. The harmonic is easier as you just flatten the third and sixth both ascending and descending. I’d got so used to just playing them on the piano, I’d stopped thinking about the actually theory behind it all. Ah well, at least if I ever get to grade 5 and want to take the practical exam, I’ll already have my ancient grade 5 theory certificate kicking around so that’s already sorted.

As with most May Day bank holidays of late, I travelled up to Bulstrode, the headquarters of WEC International for their annual open day. The event is used to show what God has been doing through WEC over the past year, as well as provide a breath of fresh Spirit to blow out the Spiritual cobwebs. It was encouraging to hear how the gospel is spreading amongst nations who’s people have suffered greatly in recent times. Missionaries working in Cambodia, China and the Ivory Coast gave accounts of how people are turning to Jesus Christ, with countries like China now sending out missionaries to neighbouring countries, even though this is discouraged by the Chinese authorities. This was contrasted with Western Europe, where material prosperity amongst other things means people no longer think they need anything from God. With all this in mind, we were reminded the gospel of Jesus Christ is for people of every nation.
Finshed the day with a barbeque at Dave’s place, allowing oneself to refuel and relax after a rather packed day. Oh, and the weather was marvellous, unlike last year’s May Day bank holiday!

The apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Collosae argues that Christ should be placed first in the lives of all Christians. His reasoning for this is threefold.

1. Christ is the creator, there is nothing which exists which wasn’t created by him. As such, every man, woman and child belongs to him. This statement alone would be enough to show that Christ, through his commands, should be obeyed and first in our lives. After all, if he created us, he would know what is best for us. His commands would be in our best interests because he is good and loving. If he were not good and loving, there would be no order and our lives would be a permanent chaotic living hell, but the universe is orderly, and we have been placed in a small corner of it which is perfect for life to flourish.
2. Christ is not the creator, he is the sustainer of creation. The world was not just created and left to run like some clockwork toy, or set off like a firework as a product of a chain reaction. Christ keeps all of creation in a state of order, with every passing moment, that life can continue. Whether it is the Christian worshipping God, or the atheist arguing against God, Christ sustains both and allows both to exist.
3. If that were not enough to place Christ first in our lives, he is also the saviour of all who put their faith in him. Even as a good and loving God, he did not have to be crucified, to take our place, to take on the punishment due for our sins. As a good God, a holy God, he could’ve rightfully punished us for our sinful rebellion against him. Yet, he loved us so much that he was willing and able to do this.

With this in mind, all Christians should place Christ first in their lives. To glorify him rather than themselves, to do as he commands. As ultimately through glorifying him, we will find joy. Of course, if we haven’t placed our faith in him, we should, for without his Holy Spirit working in us, we are unable to keep his commands, and ultimately unable to place him first in our lives.

Another early Saturday morning! This time being domestic IT support for a friend, sorting out his computer installation. I wonder how many people out there would be stuck with their computer if they didn’t have a geek for a friend? It would seem to be something which everyone needs, mostly because computers really aren’t as easy to use as a television, especially if Microsoft is anything to do with it. I’ve noticed I don’t have as many calls to resolve problems with Apple Macs, or Linux. The former I put to real ease of use, and the latter to the fact that only geeks use Linux. Anyway, the worker is worth his wage, and I was provided with lunch.
Spent the afternoon down the snooker hall, as is usual with most of my Saturdays recently, playing David, eventually coming out 4-1 frames in front. Not a bad pace considering it was only for about two hours.
A few of us then bundled down to Camberwell in the evening. I have yet to successfully navigate my way to Camberwell by road, without somehow getting to Vauxhall, getting bamboozled with all the possible routes, eventually ending up heading to Elephant and Castle instead of carrying along the A202 to Camberwell! I blame Karen :), as I was going to turn right, but she reckoned we should go straight on, so I figured I’d listen to her. At least we got to see the church building where C H Spurgeon once pastored. Fortunately, this only adds a few minutes to the journey, but greatly complicates the route. We eventually met up with other folk from churches around London, shared a meal, played games and chatted. After a week in the secular world, it was good to experience a glimpse of the kingdom of God.

You are Romans.

Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Q: What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A: The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.

(Question XXXVI from the Westminster Shorter Catechism)

Today had an interesting combination of events. Some time in the near future, I hope to travel to Kenya. In preparation for this, I need some vaccinations. Seeing as I haven’t travelled outside of Europe in the past decade, I needed the full gamut! A week ago I made an appointment to visit two surgeries, which was necessary because my doctor isn’t a Yellow Fever centre – they can’t administer the Yellow Fever vaccine. However, whilst I was told this information, the nurse gave me a Hepatitis A/Typhoid vaccination. Two down straight away. So today I trundled to my doctor for a Polio/Diphtheria/Tetanus booster in one arm, and then over to the other doctor for the Yellow Fever vaccination in my other arm. I am now all vaccined up for my trip to Kenya. All I need now is some anti-malaria tablets. Of course, I had a violin lesson this evening, which was interesting with two slightly dead arms!
Saying that, I appear to be learning a lot of stuff. I’m currently looking at two baroque pieces, a couple of studies by Kinsey, the major scales of A, D, G, F and C, and the arpeggios of G, A and D. I haven’t quite got the hang of trills in the baroque pieces and my slurring is a little suspect at times. It may be a while before I play as proficiently as I do the piano, but it’s given me a completely new insight into the string player’s viewpoint. I might take it a little easier on them next time I accompany one on the piano!

As Matthew writes his account of Jesus’ life, he structures it in a such as way as to punctuate Jesus’ teaching through his miracles with Jesus’ spoken authoritative teaching.

In chapter 8, Jesus heals a man with leprosy, a Centurion’s servant and heal’s Peter’s mother-in-law. In all three cases, dealing with the people of least significance in the society of the day who put their faith in Jesus. He then goes on to call his disciples to follow him, even though they’ll have no material possessions.

Jesus then goes on to calm a storm, cast out demons and, through into chapter 9, heals a paralytic, who is brought to him in faith, in a twofold healing both physically and spiritually, by forgiving his sins. Jesus demonstrated he had power over nature and the spiritual realm. He then calls Matthew to follow him, and through discourse with some Pharisees, calls on all sinners to follow him.

In the final triplet of miracles, Jesus heals a sick woman, raises a dead girl back to life and heals a pair of blind men. Again, in all three cases, these people put their faith in Jesus and he shows his power over sickness and death.

After these miracles, Matthew tells us Jesus continued preaching the Gospel and healing people, because he had compassion on them. Jesus then said something remarkable, he told his disciples to take on the work he was doing. He gave them authority to heal, and also told them to preach the Gospel. This is remarkable because, Jesus is God, he could’ve done this on his own, yet he doesn’t. He calls on all his disciples to have compassion on those around them, and to bring healing and the Gospel.

If we claim to be his followers, we should continue to preach the Gospel, as he commands in chapter 28 of Matthew. In order to do this, we need to have compassion for all. To do this, we need to have the same mind as Christ, which requires that we know his word, that our hearts become like his and that we pray, that he might enable us to do his will.

Got home well and truly knackered last night! Saturday had started off with a phone call from Philip at 11.30am. Up until that point, I was fast asleep, having a nice relaxing Saturday morning. It was a good thing to have been woken up though, as I was meeting David at 1pm to play snooker, so I had enough time to wash and get some breakfast – bacon and egg rolls – mmmmmm….
Beat David by 4-2 frames. I think he’s getting better, so I may need to get more practice in and try and improve my own game.
Afterwards, the usual suspects met up round Sarah’s to chat and chill, with a walk around Hayes Marina scheduled somewhere in the evening. I must admit to being slightly underwhelmed when I looked at the marina on the map, but when we got there, it was small, but pleasant, and we had a short walk along the Grand Union canal as well.
Anyway, got home in the early hours of Sunday morning, and went to bed.

Now they say you should never discuss religion and politics in polite conversation, but anyone who knows me will probably then say I am not particularly polite! With the forthcoming General Election, the young people from my church, some of whom would be voting for the first time this coming election, were given a briefing on how Christians can be involved in politics. Rather than be told “party x” have the best policies, they were encouraged to be more active in finding information about their local candidates, as well as knowing the issues which will affect them as Christians particularly. Some of these issues would be discussed in the next parliament, so it was important they were made aware of them. Whilst I’m not particularly young any more, I thought these were good issues to quiz the candidates standing for election in the constituency I live in, so I’ve sent the following to Andrew Dakers (Liberal Democrats), Ann Keen (Labour) and Alexander Northcote (Conservative).

Dear Mr/Mrs as appropriate,

With the forthcoming General Election, I am looking at the policies and mindset of each of the parliamentary candidates for the constituency of Brentford & Isleworth. Whilst policies on the economy, education, healthcare, taxation and transport are openly available, I am also concerned about moral/ethical issues. In view of this, I am interested in your opinions on the following issues, especially as legislation concerning them has either recently been put to parliament, or will very likely be put before the next parliament. If you would be kind enough to answer the following questions, that would be very helpful to me.

1. Abortion – Would you favour a reduction in the term for “social” abortions i.e those done for any reason other than to save the mother’s life (at present 24 weeks)? Do you oppose late abortions carried out because of foetal abnormalities?
2. Embryo research – Are you opposed to the use of human embryos for a) cloning; b) choosing a child’s gender; c) chimeras (human cells blended with cells of other species; d) hybrids (human cells implanted in other animals; e) gathering stem cells?
3. Assisted suicide – Would you oppose any move to make assisted suicide easier (no longer an offence)?
4. Euthanasia – Do you oppose the provisions of the Mental Capacity Bill which a) require hospitals to allow patients with little hope of recovery to die and b) require patients to be deprived of food and water if they fall into a coma or become too ill to speak for themselves?
5. Religious hatred – Do you agree that the measure contained in the Serious Organised Crime Bill restricts freedom of speech, particularly for Christians?
6. Civil Partnership – Do you agree that this measure weakens the sanctity of marriage and is misguided?

Would you also be willing for your responses to be made known to others?

Thank you for your time,

Gerald.

It will be interesting to see if I get any replies, and to read the content of those replies. You never know, it might even influence for whom I cast my vote…

We continued our look at the life of the apostle Peter this evening, concentrating on the time when he walked on water – albeit briefly!

In Mt 14:22-33, we pick up just after Jesus had fed the five-thousand. He tells his disciples to go on ahead to the other side of the lake by boat, whilst he stays and prays. The disciples are doing as Jesus says when they find themselves in difficulty. A storm has developed and the parallel account Mk 6 tells us they were struggling.

Eventually Jesus goes out to them walking on the lake, startlingly them at first, but calming them with his words. Even though they had only recently seen Jesus It is Peter who asks Jesus to prove he is who he claims to be. At this, Jesus tells Peter to come to him, at which Peter trusts Jesus and gets out of the boat and approaches him – getting out of the relative comfort and safety of the boat and walking on the water. For a moment, Peter’s faith in Jesus is unwavering, and then he is distracted by the wind, the wind which has been there all the time. Peter loses his focus on Jesus and starts to sink.

Jesus see Peter’s faith wavering, but his ability to save isn’t dependent on the strength of Peter’s faith. Jesus reaches out and stops Peter from sinking. They climbed into the boat, and the storm subsided. At this, some of the disciples began to realise who Jesus was, but looking at what happens later on, they still haven’t realised the implications!

As Christians, we must remember that life will not always be a bed of roses, or even a box of chocolates. Even though we trust Christ, bad things will still happen to us. Usually, these bad things have a purpose. They are God’s way of making us sit up and pay attention to him, that we might know what he is saying to us. For he is in control of everything.

For the disciples, it was to show them to place their faith in him. In many cases God is saying the same thing to us. It doesn’t matter how strong or how weak our faith in Christ is, for he is able to save. It does matter that we fix our attention on Christ and place our faith in him and not in ourselves, for only he can save us. Ultimately, our faith will bring us to realise who Jesus Christ really is, implications and all.

Another violin lesson, another scale! So far, I’ve learnt the scales of G, D and A majors. F major is slightly trickier though as it doesn’t start on an open string, and contains many notes which aren’t in the other scales! I also had a go at playing some Telemann, which was interesting if only because he had penned slurred notes across three strings! Maybe I should stick to playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? Anyway, I was left with the challenge of playing two scales fluidly by next lesson. Far too tempting just to sit in front of the piano and play Chopin instead. Must try to practise the violin more. 🙂

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Mk 10:13-16

A good friend of mine had her baby baptised this morning, and asked me to be her godfather. In terms of baptism, I am a baptist, rather than a paedo-baptist. However, that’s another issue, maybe something I’ll blog about another time when I’m feeling brave. Also, whilst I am a baptist, I am not a strict/particular baptist, so I had no great theological crisis.

I duly accepted the honour of being the godfather, as it’s not often you’re handed the responsibility of seeing that a child grows up knowing the word of God. It was good to be there, as the canon explained how the washing by water was symbolic of the washing away of sin, to be able to promise to pray for her and influence her upbringing, that her baptism may be confirmed – that she would one day be enabled by the Holy Spirit, to place her faith in Jesus Christ for the washing away of her sin, thereby confirming the symbolism of her baptism.

May God bless her and her parents.