A Hymn for the Christmas season (1)

The Infant Christ 6786
Tune: DENNIS

Worship the infant Christ
Asleep in manger bare;
The Son of God, come down to earth,
His glory shining there.

Then Mary, looking down,
At the baby where He lay,
Saw all the angel promised her
Asleep on bed of hay.

She shed a tear of joy,
For the baby laying there;
She placed a kiss upon His head,
The world her joy to share.

God’s love complete in Him,
Is there for us to find,
He is our Saviour and our Lord,
Our souls He’ll care and mind.

So may we ever praise,
With heart and voice and soul,
The blessed Saviour of the world,
Who came to make us whole.

Now, as we gaze on Him,
In that manger crude and bare,
Our voices we will lift in praise
Of the Christ-child lying there!

Justice for Duke : Christians & non-Christians alike must be concerned about this.

Please stand with CLC (Christian legal Centre) and people everywhere to support a good man in his fight for justice.

Petition, Campaign, special website and Candlelight Vigil 15 December 2009

In July of this year, Bible-believing Christian Duke Amachree, married and father of 3 children who had served Wandsworth Council as a Homelessness Prevention Officer diligently for 18 years, was dismissed in circumstances Christians and non-Christians alike across the country rightly view as completely outrageous. Please take a few minutes to read this almost unbelievable story and then to take action to help him and to stand up against an injustice that is as appalling as anything I have seen in my many years in this work.


This is Duke’s story:

In January of this year, Duke was helping a client with her housing situation. The client had seen various doctors who had told her that she had an incurable medical condition. Out of compassion for her, Duke commented that sometimes the doctors don’t know everything –and encouraged her to consider putting her faith in God.

The client did not complain to Duke, but did go to his managers to report him. Two days later the managers knocked on Duke’s door as he was conducting another interview, asked him to finish up and then report to the Director’s office.


When he arrived, Duke was told that there had been a complaint and that he was being suspended with immediate effect. His pass was taken away and he was told not to make contact with any of his friends and colleagues or to come near the offices. He was then marched off the premises.

You can see a very short film clip about Duke by clicking here.

Why we must take action in the days to come to help Duke Amachree

At CLC and CCFON we all believe, that this is one of the most appalling if not the most appalling case we have ever seen. The way Duke was treated anyone would think he had been caught viewing pornography on an office computer. Yet all Duke did was extend the hand of compassion to a fellow human being in distress. What’s more, there was nothing in his employment contract to indicate that he was in any way not to speak about God.


Don’t say ‘God bless’ or we'll sack you…

Incredibly, when our solicitor who represented Duke in the initial meeting with the employer asked what would have happened if Duke had simply said ‘God bless you’ to a client, the spokesperson for Wandsworth Council said it would have been advisable not to say that either.

Duke Amachree, a gentle, intelligent and kind-hearted family man living in Britain in 2009 has been found ‘guilty’ of an ‘offence’ which would amaze a visitor from any previous time in the history of Christianity in this country. Out of compassion he offered the hope of God to a woman in need. He breached no part of his contract. Yet he was marched off the premises and, after a period of suspension, was dismissed.

Please help by joining our ‘Justice for Duke’ Campaign in these following ways:

Keep Duke and his family in your prayers over the coming days. This is not an easy time for them and they will be greatly moved to know that there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of people praying for them every day.

Keep an eye on the special website for developments as we count down to 15 December 2009, www.justiceforduke.com

Take a few seconds to add your name to the ‘Justice for Duke’ petition. This will help raise awareness and make a statement that Christians and non-Christians alike will not stand by whilst a good man is treated this way. We hope any reasonable person would agree that a man who has served an employer honestly and diligently for 18 years should not be thrown out of his job just for mentioning God whatever their own beliefs may be, especially when he has no reason to believe his employer would view his words as being a problem. So please forward on to as many of your friends as you can.

If you live in Wandsworth, please write to your MP. A model letter can be found by clicking here for you to adapt, print off, sign and send if you would like to. Please see this link also to find out who your MP is and where to write to them.

Join the Candlelight Vigil outside Wandsworth Town Hall on 15 December (details on the www.justiceforduke.com site as well as on www.ccfon.org and www.christianlegalcentre.com). Please let us know if you are planning to come and if you are planning to bring friends by clicking here.This will give us an idea of numbers. There is a map available on the special site. http://www.justiceforduke.com/prayervigil.php

Please consider making a small donation to the Christian Legal Centre if you would like to help us with the cost of the campaign and similar work. You can make a secure Paypal donation on line in seconds by clicking here (other options are also available). All the work we do is free of charge to our clients who are suffering because of living and speaking their Christian values in their everyday lives. Please stand with them and with the work by making a small gift to cover the costs of that work today if you can.

Gee! --- What a cute bunch of kittens!

Now that's what I call a real Body Warmer!

C'mon! Wake up! You promised you'd play with me!

Cute, or what!

'Clod i Dduw!' : Lllyfr Emynau Cymraeg

A little booklet containing words and music for eleven of my hymns in both Welsh and English has just been published by Sheer Joy Music under the title 'Clod i Dduw!'. The translations have been done by Eirlys Gruffydd, and she has made an excellent job of them. Amongst the hymns selected are I'r Stabl/The Stable which is sung to the well-known popular tune Calon Lan, and Sanctaidd Nos/O Holy Night sung to a tune written by myself. Both are ideal for the coming Christmas Season. Also included is Gosber/Vesper, a beautiful hymn sung to the tune Take Time to be Holy.

You can order the booklet by emailing via following this link, and it is free of charge for a single copy. All that is asked is that you make a donation to Voice Ministries to cover costs of despatch.

THE CRISIS IN THE CHURCH TODAY (1)

It is no secret that the Church is on the decline in the United Kingdom. In 1980 there were 50,231 churches in the UK, whilst just twenty-five years later, in 2005, the numbers had dropped to 47,635. This represented a drop in percentage terms of 5.16%, yet the population in the UK rose during the same period by 6.7%. By the year 2030 the number of churches remaining is estimated to be reduced to 39,200, so what is really happening to cause such a massive decline?

It used to be claimed that the UK was a ‘Christian’ nation, although it is dubious as to whether that claim could really have been justified in terms of what being a Christian is about, in truth. Certainly, the UK was built over the centuries on Christian-based values, yet those values have gradually been eroded over the past few decades as the nation has changed in character to become recognised as a secular nation. This has been brought about to a great extent as a result of the push towards what has been described as a multi-faith society, yet what was in reality more of a society in which Christianity has been marginalised, particularly so by the governments of the last decade.

As Christianity has declined in Britain so Islam has increased, largely due to the vast number of Moslem immigrants that have settled in the UK, both legally and illegally. In 1961 there were just seven mosques in the UK, yet this number increased dramatically until there are now slightly more than 1600. Whilst Islam is claimed as the second largest religion in the UK behind Christianity, nevertheless it is significant that a far greater percentage of Moslems attend their Mosque to worship than Christians attending a Church. The conclusion to draw from this is that many who claim to be Christian are in fact uncommitted in their belief.

For many decades now the liberal theologians have gradually hijacked the Church and influenced it teaching by the preaching of a social gospel rather than the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many churchgoers believe that being a Christian implies little more than being a good person and helping out others when possible. People have been misled into believing that they will ultimately go to heaven based upon the good works that they have achieved during their lifetime. Pulpits have been filled by preachers who have been happy to tickle the ears of their listeners, careful not to say anything that might be contentious enough to reduce the numbers attending. In many instances, not only has Scripture been discarded at least in part, to be replaced by a watered down liberal version of the Bible, but it’s true to say that God has been thrown out of the church as well.

Secularism, which is a weapon of the devil, is at war with Christianity, and as such it seeks constantly to destroy any sense of God. In a secular society failure is rewarded whilst success is condemned, whilst moral relativism accepts anything whilst condemning nothing.

What can be done to alter the situation, or is it already too far gone to be able to be remedied? Is it possible that within another fifty years Christianity in the UK will have been reduced to the position of small cell-groups meeting in homes, ostracised by and large by the society in which they exist?

I believe that the answer lies, as in virtually everything, in the Bible. If the Church would only repent of its failures of the past and seek to embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ then things would change dramatically. Of course the Gospel has always been an unpopular message, pointing to people as sinners in need of repentance and forgiveness, yet it is undoubtedly where the Gospel is preached and received that church growth has bucked the trend and expanded rather than declined.

The message of the Gospel is both clear and simple; Jesus was offered as the sacrificial Lamb of God upon the cross of Calvary in order that the price demanded by God as payment for sin was satisfied once and for all. It is up to people to claim the gift of salvation for themselves. No-one can claim it on behalf of anyone else, and it is impossible to inherit the gift by being born to parents who have themselves claimed it. It comes about as a result of recognising that we exist from birth in a state of sin, and repenting of that sin before God in the name of Christ. God demands that the payment for sin is death and we must die to the old self through repentance and be reborn as a new being in Christ.

As a new being in Christ we will walk with Him throughout our lives as a matter of choice. We will seek to do all that he asks of us, and specifically the most important concern that we should have is a concern for those who have yet to hear the Gospel message. Countless millions of people in the world will die without ever hearing the Gospel, without ever having the opportunity of redemption to God, and they will be condemned to the fires of hell for eternity. Even during the time that we have been here in this service today countless souls will have been lost for ever. That thought alone should spur us to discover what more we can do to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let us call for a return to the preaching of the true Gospel message and to an attitude of reverence that glorifies and illustrates the total holiness of our God. We sing ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!’ Let us believe it, mean it and live it every moment of every day for the rest of our time on earth. If we can all do that then perhaps the crisis of Christianity in the UK will be reversed.

To God be the glory!

'Winter Blues' : Some Thoughts about Dark Mornings

I really hate the dark mornings! After all, it's more natural to be in bed when it's dark than it is to be getting out of bed. I guess that goes back to our caveman ancestry when, just like the bears, we retire into the safety of our cave once it gets dark and stay there until it's daylight. Getting up in the dark means that it takes longer to be properly awake, and that means that it's easy to be a little bit grumpy --- a bit bear-headed.

Give me the summer mornings any day. In fact, give them to me every day if you can! On those mornings I'm happy to be up more-or-less at sunrise, and I'm usually to be found in the most cheerful of moods to boot. Even if it's raining I'm still cheerful. I think it has everything to do with the amount of light that streams into my consciousness.

I remember listening to a discussion on the radio one afternoon when I ran a candle factory in Newtown, Mid Wales. I suppose that I was sort of half-listening, as you do, when suddenly I started to take note of the discussion. It was about something called 'Seasonally Affected Disorder' or SAD for short, and as I listened, now more intently, I recognised the description of the feelings that many of us often have in the winter on dark mornings. Ever since, as a result of that programme, if I feel a little depressed because of the dark morning, instead of thinking that I should be crawling back into my cave I turn the brightest lights on and soon the feeling of 'being down' is gone.

Mind you, I often get a feeling of 'being down' when I look at the night sky as well, for the stars are so well hidden by the glow of the light pollution that fills the atmosphere around our towns and even many villages. Gone are the days when you could just look up at the sky and see the carpet of stars laid out in all their glory on a crisp winter night. When I lived in Africa we had no such problem, even living on the city outskirts, and I could look up into the heavens night after night and see the glory that God has placed there. It was the most awesome sight!

One day, we are told in Scripture, when we are in Heaven, we'll not need light from the sun or the moon or any sort of artificial light, for we'll have all the light we need shining from the Glory of God Himself. How wonderful that will be! There'll be no more 'Winter Blues' then.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Haley Oliver: One of the GREAT Country Music Artists of today!

Regular readers of my blog will know that I'm a music lover. In fact I love a wide variety of music, and can sit and enjoy most genres, although I freely admit that one of my favourites is Country music. Not any old Country Music mind you, I particularly favour the sort of songs sung by many of the great Country favourites like Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Slim Whitman, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams . . . I'm sure that you get the picture!

A short while ago I stumbled across a UK Country Music artist who, in my humble opinion, ranks up there with the 'Greats'. Her name is Hayley Oliver, and Hayley has just released her new album, pictured above, called I Can Still Dream, and it is highly recommended. If you want to listen to some sample tracks then just follow this link. On an album of this great quality it's difficult to pick out a favourite, but I really like the title track I can still dream, and the tracks I only want to love you forever and Be love. Don't just take my word for it, visit Hayley Oliver's website and listen to the samples.

In 2006 Hayley released her first album Two Hearts and it has been a great hit with Country fans across the world. Early in 2008 she was awarded the Evy Maple Leaf Award for the 'Best New Artist of 2007' for the album. The award was presented to her by DJ Evy of Canada in February last year.

Hayley now has her own band and you can watch a clip of them on YouTube by clicking here.

I hope that Hayley might decide to record some of my songs one of these days. That would be a great accolade for me! Watch this space!

Joanne Lowe's Meditation for Today

THE LIGHTS ARE OFF

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Matthew 5: 16 (King James Version)

My sister gave me a small Christmas tree several years ago. I have already set it up on the table beside my recliner in the living room. The tree is decorated but there is no light coming from it because the lights are off. I did turn the lights on for a few minutes and what a difference it made in the room. It not only showed the beauty of the tree but it also illuminated the room.

The same is true with us. If we have accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour, He has illuminated our hearts with His beauty, His peace, His joy, and His unconditional love and happiness. However, all too often, we put out His light in our hearts because we allow unforgiveness, jealousy, resentment, hatred and criticism to remain in our hearts.

His beauty and His light can’t shine from our hearts when we harbor these rotten attitudes in our hearts. Not only do we extinguish His light and beauty in our hearts but our rotten attitudes also stink in His nostrils. It is time that we start forgiving those who have hurt us. Remember, we hurt people too. There was only one perfect person who ever lived or ever will live and His name is Jesus!

Is the light of Jesus off or on in your heart? Have you allowed your rotten attitudes to extinguish His light in your heart? If so, ask God to forgive you for extinguishing the light of Jesus and ask Him to please restore the light of Jesus in your heart. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for Jesus who not only is the light of the world but also the light of our hearts.

Joanne Lowe

joannelowe8@cox.net

www.joanne-freedominjesus.blogspot.com

The loss of respect that threatens us all.

For many millions of people today the world is a place that is representative of the materialistic aspirations of the masses; a world where respect no longer has much of a place --- if indeed it has a place at all. This loss of respect is something which has gradually come about as a result of those to whom respect would traditionally be shown misbehaving in office or by their allowing themselves to be trodden down and bypassed without much more than a whimper of protest at best. Hence, the people and positions that were respected when I was a boy are now treated with indifference at best or disrespect at worst. Few people respect politicians any more, proven as they it has been that they are, by and large, self-seeking, often morally and ethically corrupt, and in many instances proven liars and fraudsters. The whole of the Legal System is called into disrepute by the 'soft' approach towards criminals, the latter more likely to receive a slap on the wrist than a proper punishment for their crimes. Few people have much respect for the police because they are generally nowhere to be found when they are needed. If your house is robbed then it may well be several days before a police officer calls, the excuse being that they are so busy. Well, I guess that they are busy when you consider the amount of chasing around in their police cars after motorists. After all, why go for hard targets when there are plenty of soft ones ripe for the picking?

At one time there was a great respect for teachers, yet nowadays the teaching profession is under threat by classroom bullies and their parents and by the Human Rights Brigade. The rights of the abusive individual heavily outweigh those of the abused teacher after all. Young child-thugs in the classroom, when chastised for their destructive and obstructive behaviour, complain to their parents, the latter often going to the school to threaten the teacher concerned, either physically or with threat of prosecution, because they perceive that their darling's 'human rights' have been threatened. It's not unusual for teachers to be physically attacked either by children in the classroom or by the parents of such children.

Respect for the church has long since been a thing of the past. Of course the Church has so often alienated itself from the real world. It fails to speak up on subjects of great importance, is openly divisive and often seems to most adept at acting like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand. No longer do vicars, ministers, priests, pastors and the like get shown respect by the community at large. Is it possible that this is because they have bent over backwards to preach a 'Social Gospel' rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or because they have tried to show the world that they are 'one of the boys' which simply leaves the world wondering why they should bother when there's nothing better to change to.

The world, especially our portion of it, is in desperate need of change, so what can be done about it? Many will ask if there is any remedy for this great malaise, and I say that there is indeed. The answer can be found in Jesus Christ. If those who profess the Christian faith were to fulfil the calling to evangelise then it would show an example to the world. Sadly far too many are content to sit in a Sunday service once a week and consider that they have discharged their Christian duty, when in fact the way to discharge it is by openly displaying and sharing your faith every moment of every day, whether in the home or outside.

The pulpits of our churches need to be filled by those who are not afraid to preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to speak of sin and the need for repentance; of forgiveness and reconciliation to God, of serving the needs of others. People need to experience for themselves the companionship of the Living Christ, and behave accordingly as they walk with Him through their lives. Living day by day with Jesus Christ means that we seek always to emulate Him and to share Him with others.

Respect comes to us because we deserve it, and to deserve it we have to earn it. Earning it comes about by the manner in which we behave in our lives, especially our behaviour towards others. There is a need for change. Let each of us seek to bring about that change in our own lives, and by so doing help to bring about change in the lives of others.