MAGAZINE March & April
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Saltaire Methodist Church www.saltairemethodistchurch.org.uk MAGAZINE March & April Dear Friends, We are back safe and sound, all in one piece, including Brian! While in Zimbabwe the chosen theme of all my talks, all conducted in the local language, was "For such a time as this", all centred on Queen Esther, the Old testament heroine. Surprisingly, the rest of the group adopted the theme, not verbally, but in action. We lived that theme, we prayed the theme, we breathed the theme, yet we never talked about it, not once. God must have spoken to us individually. For those not familiar with the story of Esther, below is the background. Esther, a young Jewish girl (Esther 4) was selected by King Xerxes to be his wife after a nationwide search for a new queen, following the deposing of the previous wife. At the time, the Jews were in captivity. Esther married the king without revealing that she was Jewish, at the advice of her uncle Mordecai. An official in the king's office, a man called Haman, took a dislike to Mordecai because he would not salute him. As a result, Haman plotted to have all the Jews killed. Esther is told of the plot and risks her life to speak with the king, without being summoned, in order to ask that the Jews be spared. Her courage paid off. The Jews were spared. Esther considered the price she would have to pay yet still took it upon herself declaring; "If I perish, I perish" Our situation might not exactly have been like that, but consider the cost of a trip to Zimbabwe, the time, the risks involved, healthwise and otherwise, yet friends took it upon themselves to undertake the journey. We were where God wanted us to be, doing what God meant us to do. We were where we were" for such a time as this". It was no coincidence, not by chance, not by design, but by God's grace, according to God's plans. God is faithful and compassionate and He works through humans to fulfil his plans on earth - we work in partnership with him. God has plan for each of us and opportunities will arise for us to fulfil elements of this. We need faith and courage to put God's will first. Simon was painting the manse, with a horde of helpers in tow. Margaret was mothering not only the many children she got attached to, but members of our group as well. Ruth went beyond being a GP, praying with and for the sick, treating in excess of 200 in 3 days. Brian was running around with a camera in hand, teaching children and adults how to take photographs, giving computer lessons, and I was just being Freddy, observing the work of God in this poor neighbourhood. „For such a time as this‟. We took with us gifts, donated by many Christians from around the circuit, Bibles, candles, clothes. I felt like Father Christmas handing out parcels to smiling children with Ruth and Margaret helping by putting them together, Brian taking photographs, Simon joking and entertaining the kids. Wonderful experiences! I will not have done the trip justice if I did not mention Mabel, who, while we were having fun in Gweru, spent days on end trying to clear our consignment which for some reason was being withheld by customs. We thank her too for getting us out of a spot of trouble that we had unwittingly got ourselves in. Neither will I have done justice if I did not thank all the generous supporters of ZEM, and that means all of you from Saltaire, Calverley, Bolton and the Circuit at large. We are all where we are for God's purpose. „For such a time as this‟. The hosts too were just unbelievable; friendly, entertaining, prayerful and simply being marvellous hosts. God's plans will not be thwarted, as Mordecai observes, if we refuse to do God's will, God will always find someone else to do it. That applies not only to the work of ZEM, but to all the spheres of God's plan. Shalom, Freddy FACES OF JESUS THE REVOLUTIONARY This arresting picture of Jesus as a revolutionary, imitating the style of the famous poster of 1960s fighter Che Guevara, was produced as an advertising poster encouraging people to go to church during Easter 1999. It was produced by the Christian Advertising Network – an independent group of UK Christian communicators. One of the group said,”Jesus was not crucified for being meek and mild. He challenged authority. He was given a crown of thorns in a cruel parody of his claims about proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Our poster has the most arresting picture our advertisers could find to convey all this.” Jesus turned the cultural, religious, and political world upside down. You bet he was a revolutionary! The dictionary definition of revolutionary is "constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change." I can't think of any more major or fundamental change than what Jesus began. Jesus subverted everything. He touched lepers. He talked to women during the daytime. He told the first they were really last, and the last they were really first. He ate with social outcasts, and thus declared them equal. He inaugurated the reign of God's kingdom. He disrupted business activities at the temple (which nearly all scholars agree is what got him killed). When he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey he mocked the entrance of Caesars and military generals. When he said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's," he wasn't maintaining the status quo but subverting it. He argued that the image of Caesar gives Caesar the right to coins, and implicitly argued that the image of God in all gives God the right to everyone's entire being. Caesar can have the money. God wants the body, mind, soul and heart. Jesus was killed as a political criminal! How much more revolutionary can you get? BIBLEFRESH AND PRAYER We‟ve recently enjoyed the season of Pantos and feeble cracker-jokes (in a recent survey, six out of seven dwarves said they weren‟t Happy). More seriously, in a recent Bible Society survey six out of seven church attenders weren‟t happy with their knowledge of the Bible (and even among church leaders, it was only about half). It‟s no joke that we don‟t really know the foundation document of our faith. Four centuries ago people in this country were dying for the right to read the Bible in English: 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the long- revered „Authorised Version‟. The last 50 years has seen the publication of a vast array of Bible translations in English, with reading aids and study notes for all points of the human compass. These have helped many but, it seems, we need mutual encouragement to hear the Word afresh. Hence BibleFresh in 2011 – a collaborative effort to help Christians engage with the Bible, which means letting it speak to us about how to live in God‟s kingdom, which is what we say we want in the Lord‟s prayer. What‟s being done in Bradford? A BibleFresh festival is being planned for June 11th, with workshops, open air events, and an evening celebration with Adrian Plass. But it mustn‟t stop there. Reading the Bible for God‟s rule in our lives means ongoing discovery, touching all parts: home and work; hobby and interest; sacred and secular. One thread of many being spun together at the Festival is art, with artists asked how their art can help people engage afresh with the Bible, on that day and thereafter. We‟ll see what they come up with. But the same question faces us all: how can the insights we‟ve gained in our special interest/activity help others see into Bible? The answers may not be immediately obvious, but here is a way everyone can help: pray that the Lord will open his Word afresh to speak about living happily in his kingdom – and not just for one day out of seven. Roy Lorrain-Smith BIBLE QUIZ (Answers to Ann by 30th March. The first correct set of answers opened after that date will win the prize!) 1. Who wrote the Acts of the Apostles? 2. How many people were on Noah's Ark? 3. Put in chronological order: Daniel, Noah, Paul, Moses and David. 4. Name the Ten Commandments. 5. Who was the brother of Jacob? 6. Was Luke: a fisherman, an apostle, a doctor 7. Which tribe did Moses belong to? 8. In what language was the New Testament written? 9. Who were the three patriarchs? 10. Name the twelve tribes of Israel. 11. Who was the oldest person in the Bible? 12. Name the Five Books of Moses. 13. To which tribe of Israel did Jesus belong? 14. True or false: Moses led Israel into the Promised Land. 15. Whose wife was Jezebel? 16. What is the Pentateuch? 17. Which Gospel records Jesus turning water into wine? 18. What was the first language that Scripture was translated into? 19. What are the three divisions of the Old Testament? 20. Put in chronological order: Jeremiah, Elijah, Samuel, Peter, Isaiah. BIBLE CAKE A challenge for all cooks! To celebrate the anniversary of the 1611 translation of the Bible authorised by King James I, can you translate and bake this recipe? What sort of cake does it make? We‟d love to see a photograph! Ingredients: 3/4 cup Genesis 18:8 1 1/2 cup Jeremiah 6:20 5 Isaiah 10:14 (separated) 3 cups sifted Leviticus 24:5 3 teaspoons 2 Kings 2:20 3 teaspoons Amos 4:5 1 teaspoon Exodus 3:23 1/4 teaspoon each 2 Chronicles 9:9 1/2 cup Judges 4:19 3/4 chopped Genesis 43:11 3/4 cup finely cut Jeremiah 24:5 3/4 cup 2 Samuel 16:1 Whole Genesis 43:11 Directions: Cream Genesis 18 with Jeremiah 6.