climbing hiking camping

It’s a common Christian shorthand nowadays - ‘the reason for the season.’ Not sure I like it much as a phrase. But there is a reason, that’s for sure. Christmas is not a Christian celebration originally- it was ‘adopted’ by Christians as a useful anchor date for celebrating Christ’s birth. But is Christ’s birth worth celebrating? Well, that’s the ‘reason’ bit. There is no doubt that Jesus Christ lived and died in Palestine around 2000 years ago. This blog is not the place for the research proof, but you will find plenty on this if you look for it. Even Christ’s enemies didn’t try and claim he didn’t exist (excuse the double negatives there). So, He existed. What next? Just a good man who preached well? Not really. Because again, both in the Bible and through external sources, we know He was crucified for claiming to be God’s Son, the Messiah. That means he can’t have just been a good man. One of my favourite teachers at school was Mr Baston, my Geography teacher. But if he had started ...

I read a comment on Facebook the other day that annoyed me.   (I know - Facebook is not the place for reasoned comment in the first place!) The writer was lamenting that there should ever be a link between faith and politics and believed that where there was, disaster followed. I believe the opposite is true. Especially as regards the UK. . Take a look at our last four Prime Ministers. Three have a faith. One does not. Three managed our nation with reference to our past, our heritage and our beliefs. One did not. Three tried to hold us together as a nation. One destroyed our nation. Two of the four Prime Ministers are children of the manse. One is the son of a Presbyterian Minister. One is the daughter of an Anglican Vicar. The third has a clear Christian belief which includes reading the Bible every night. The other has no such belief system. In two short terms of office, he destroyed our concept of Christian marriage and sent the nation into an isolationist and economic spiral th...

I don't often post my own preaches, but this one is to do with mountains. Preached in Cape Town in July 2018. Enjoy the climb. ACCESS FROM SITE (Click back to 22/7/18 or type my name next to 'search'): JoshGen Sermon Site

I live in a beautiful place. On the edge of a village, our house looks over open fields with an ever changing landscape of sun, sky and clouds. The photo’s illustrate – but don’t do justice – to God’s creative grandeur. For me, such beauty always points me to the Creator behind it. I find it incredulous that someone can say for a moment that all we see, from the snowflake to Everest, from the flower to the flowering of the Grand Nebula are simply the chance encounters of atoms. No. There is a Creator. And He is to be worshiped . We only worship Him in an incomplete way. As C S Lewis put it: ‘We are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.’ So, we don’t fully understand or see. But what we do see is su...

I’ve been pondering God’s grace a lot lately, and came across this passage in my daily Bible reading today: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11: 28-30, The Message Version) If our faith is in religion, we will get burned. If our faith is in meetings, we will tire. If our faith is in leaders, no matter how good, we will wear ourselves out. But faith in God is something else entirely. As we keep company with the one who made the stars. As we speak with the one who spoke first. As we walk hand in hand with the Son Who Came, we are refreshed. The Hebrew word for grace in the Old Testament is ‘Chesed’. It has the feel of being delivered from our enemies, of being prote...

I was driving through Ashby de la Zouch yesterday when I saw her. It looked exactly like Suzy. I almost shouted out a greeting- until I realised how silly that would have been. Suzy lives in Nova Scotia,  Canada and is very unlikely to be walking through an East Midlands town in the UK. But it did get me thinking. How I have found the most wonderful friends in the strangest of places. I belong to the biggest family in the world. 2.3 billion and counting. It means I am never alone. I can be anywhere in the world and find a friend that shares my Christian faith. The taxi driver in Auckland. The Pensions Manager at Cleanaway. The hiker in Snowdonia. The barista in Leicester. I was caught in a snowstorm in the United States once and our plane ended up being diverted to Minneapolis St Paul’s airport. I had been sharing my Christian faith with the guy next to me on the flight- but seemingly with no interest from him. So as we arrived at an airport I didn’t want to be at in the middle of ...

I’m reading a fascinating book on the life of Larry Norman, the pioneer of Christian rock music. He comes over as flawed and frail – but at the same time as fascinating and almost fanatical. His passion for Christ shines through even the most troubling of times. He knew his God and wanted more than anything to tell others about Christ in the way he knew best – through his music. His albums were many but for me, the standout is Only Visiting This Planet . There’s not a weak track in sight and a challenge to the listener in every verse. I’m also listening to the news today, on the death of Winnie Mandela. Another flawed, frail, fanatic. She faced prison and death threats on a daily basis. But unlike her husband, she seemed unable to forgive, nor to manage retribution in the right way. Flawed. Frail. Fanatical. These words are not the worst labels to hang around our lives. You can make a case for the apostle Peter being flawed, frail and fanatical too. His very public failures are refl...

In musical terms, I’m a child of the 70s. I grew up on the heavyish rock of Argent, Led Zeppelin, Free and Deep Purple. And when I’m feeling nostalgic, that’s still where I return. So you won’t be surprised to learn that I never really got into Rap, didn’t particularly get along with Punk and as for Garage, Grunge and Grime… it passed me by. That was, until four months back, when the artist Stormzy appeared as a guest on X Factor on TV, and sang Blinded by Your Grace. I’m told he’s a Grime and Hip Hop artist. What I heard was pure Gospel. In fact, for me, one of the best Gospel songs I’ve heard in many years. If you’ve not heard it yet, here’s a link: As I watched, I found myself worshipping: Lord, I've been broken Although I'm not worthy You fixed me, I'm blinded By your grace You came and saved me... You saved this kid and I'm not your first It's not by blood and it's not by birth But oh my God what a God I serve ….. Now I'm in a better place No longer afr...

There’s an interesting article in today’s Times (Can’t link to it as you have to pay to see it- that’s a whole other set of thoughts!) The article by Daniel Finkelstein notes the recent survey that indicated for the first time that over 50% of the nation ‘has no religion’. He points out (correctly in my view) that this may be a reflection of someone automatically saying in the past that they were ‘C of E’ (ie they went to the local church for funerals, weddings and Christmas) and now felt freer to say they had no firm belief. Finkelstein goes on to point out the high level of faith still attributed to political power- for example, of our last four Prime Ministers, two were kids of clergymen and one a Christian socialist who read his Bible every night. (Thus, Cameron was the exception, in case you were wondering...). And, again in the article, they key role church and Christian charities take in our nation’s welfare. I’m not as pessimistic about the Christian faith in the UK as the sta...

Feeling reflective and fallible today. This is a repost that says it well. I live Between the Times. Between my birth and my death. Between my salvation and a final day. Between the morning and the evening. I live Between Each Breath. Between the gulp of air inhaled before the start of a new journey. And the sigh of fatigue at the end of a long day. I live Between the Arms. The loving mother at the day of my birth. The caring child as I slip into eternity. I live Between the Times. And every precious second given to me. Tells a story. Of Life. Love. Pain. Passion. And finally. Of Glory. ©Ralph Turner 2014

Here are some verses from the Bible: “Give counsel; grant justice;   make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive; let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer.   When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.” (Isaiah 16: 3-5)   The second set of verses are often quoted. They refer to the day when Christ returns. The day when all is put right on the earth.   But they need to be read in the context of the verses before them. These speak of sheltering the outcast, the fugitive. We are called to rescue the refugee, the support those who have lost everything.   I'm aware of the politics that suggests we should...

I love stuff like this. Did you know that there are ten sextillion stars (that's 10 with 21 noughts after it!)? Did you know the tiniest quark is so small it's hard to describe? Imagine Wembley Stadium represents the size of one atom (and one hundred million atoms make up one inch). Now go to the centre circle of the football pitch (the atom) and pick up one grain of soil. That's the nucleus of the atom. Then divide the nucleus by 1000. And that's the size of a quark. (More on this in  'God-Life', chapter 4). The Bible says 'what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?' (Psalm 8:4, NLT). What indeed. But He does. And when you see how small we are in the video, that's even more amazing. Enjoy the video:  

I’m a Christian. It may be something that you have noticed about this blog. I believe God can speak in dreams, words and visions. It doesn’t happen often, but I do get the odd dream and vision I believe is from God. This is the story of one of them. Some months back, I had a vivid dream. In it, I saw an abandoned ancient city. It was in ruins. But there were still people living there. As I approached, these people came out of the ruins. They were in rags. They looked at me and said ‘We are the Lascars’. With that, the dream ended. I didn’t recall ever hearing the word ‘Lascar’ before, so I looked it up. It turns out that Lascars were early sailors, primarily from India, as far back as the 1800s. They signed on to ships in the European navies and served around the world. Many served on British ships and this brought them to the UK. They settled in London and other ports. Many became lonely and destitute. They had been abandoned by their own country but not accepted by their new country....

A 75 year study (yes, 75 years!) by Harvard University shows that long life and happiness is reflected by strong relationships. This remarkable study is still going after all these years. Over 700 men started out being interviewed. Over 60 are still alive and in their nineties, and still being studied. It’s not money or fame that gets you a long and satisfying life, its good relationships. Loneliness is a killer. Family feuds take a terrible toll on the person that holds the grudges. A happy marriage adds years to your life. This is not rocket science- but it is social science. A real study over 75 years is hard to argue against. It’s not the first time I have heard this either. Dr JohnTrickell did a study of various societies around the world that lived the longest. His conclusion as to what brought long life? Fun, friends, family and faith. To have good friends throughout life is a blessing. To have a faith that brings about a friendship with Christ is even more precious. So, lean i...

I started this blog nearly 10 years ago. Having reached the age of 50 then (60 now!), and having seen my first child married, I wanted to put into words the ‘meaning of life’ as I saw it, woven from stories, pictures, faith and news items. And that’s what I’ve done. Once in a while, a mountain climbing clothes store or a mountain climbing club comes along and asks if they can advertise on my site. I’m flattered that anyone would want to advertise on my blog, but clearly all they have done is read the headlines! But now and again, the philosophical meets the literal. I’m just back from a delightful week in Wales with friends. Fitter than me, they liked the idea of climbing mountains, so there I was one day, at the top of Cadair Idris, Wales’ second highest mountain. Literal or metaphorical, physical or philosophical, may I continue to encourage my readers to reach the heights!

Splendid grief. Two words that don’t go together? I heard them used by Sir Nicholas Soames MP in relation to his grandfather Sir Winston Churchill, and specifically to the full State Funeral given him in 1965. Fifty years on, there’s been a lot of reflection this week as to what Churchill achieved. It was unusual for a ‘commoner’ to be given such recognition with a State Funeral, and the occasion was both solemn and a celebration of a man who led a nation to victory against the Nazi’s. Grief. But splendid too. It would have be a very different world without him. As I reflect on the loss of two dear friends from cancer, one at quite a young age, the words come back to me. As we celebrated their lives, there was genuineness about the celebration. But grief too. Lives taken too soon. It would have been a very different world without them. Splendid grief.

‘I’m here between the bookends of everything that was and what will be’ It’s a quote from an Amy Grant song. Every one of us is on a journey. We have no idea of where we are in the journey between those two bookends. In a sense, there is little or nothing we can do about that. But what we can do is ensure that where we are right now is as effective and life affirming as it’s possible to be. To give our all. To live to the full. The Apostle Paul said ‘God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!’ That’s true for every one of us. There’s a life worth living, a life worth giving. If I’m between the bookends with no idea at what particular point, I want to make my life count. So for me, with apologies to Amy Grant for changing the lyrics, it’s not ‘what will be’ but what, with God’s help, CAN be.   All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are...

A few years back I had the privilege of attending a pension’s event in Australia. (Stay with me- I know pensions is pretty much a ‘click to the next article’ subject). One of the guest speakers was Dr John Trickell. He was discussing longevity- a hot topic for us pension geeks! Dr Trickell said we had to start using the ‘F’ words – fun, family, friendships and faith. It is these four ‘f’s that give us long life. He went on to prove it with research and data. It makes sense. A good combination of a healthy lifestyle with lots of family and friends around. And linked to a real faith that there is more to life than just the latest paycheque or the newest gadget. (Which is why I HATE Black Friday by the way). So it was interesting to note a new article on the BBC website today, investigating a community that lives a lot longer- and a lot healthier- than most. They are a church community in California. Fun, family, friendships and faith. Try it. It works.

I must admit it had passed me by. Black Friday that is. It was only on the actual day that I noticed it, so I guess I can be grateful that I managed to avoid most of the hype. Apparently, it’s the day after Thanksgiving in the States. I’m pretty sure we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving over here, so it’s sad that we decided to import the day after. Or did we? Of course, it’s not ‘our’ import at all - ‘us’ being the Great British population. It’s the retailers. Another opportunity to make some money. Another ‘sale’. And sadly, we fall for it. I much prefer Red Friday. Instead of needless taking, it’s about selfless giving. One man who gave all. Black Friday? Bad Friday. Red Friday? Good Friday.

It’s not every day you get to take part in launching a new church. But that’s what we did on Sunday. After a year of preparation, team forming, moving house, LifeGroups and Café Church, the real thing arrived at City of Leicester College on Sunday. 317 people walked through the door. Admittedly, that included over 150 from our sister churches in Peterborough and Cambridge, but it’s a great start. KingsGate Church Leicester is for those that don’t like church or used to go to church. If that’s you and you are within reach of us, see you on Sunday at 4.30 in the afternoon. Leicester has a rich history of Christian enterprise and mission. It’s a privilege to be joining those that have gone before us and those already engaged in seeing the 10 th biggest city in England transformed by the power of God’s love. Bring on week two!