This very ancient country has been in the news many times before. In fact, about 2750 years ago, Syria found itself in a most unholy alliance with Israel (the 10 Northern Kingdoms, that is). The most likely reason for this strange alliance was the threat from the dangerous and far more powerfully empire of Assyria in the East (roughly equivalent to modern Iran/Iraq …..  ).

In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, we find the prophet (in chapter 7) walking around the Jerusalem city water department with the young ruler of the southern kingdom of Judah (made up of the remaining 2 tribes of Judah and Benjamin). Isaiah is pleading with young King Ahaz to put his (and his nation’s) trust in Jehovah the God of Israel, because he fears an imminent invasion from the armies of the Syria/Israel alliance. Ahaz refuses, giving a hypocritically pious excuse for not being able to do so. (“We are not supposed to put the Lord to the test”, he says.)The real reason, however, is much more likely to be the fact that Ahaz has already secretly entered into a very unholy alliance with the mutual enemy, Assyria. He hopes this will not only guarantee his safety from any Israeli/Syrian attack, but also from any invasion from the feared kingdom of Egypt to the south. He really does now have “the tiger by the tail”, as he will soon discover when the treacherous Assyrian hordes come against Jerusalem.

But what he has done is clearly to put his trust in a political alliance rather than in the repeated promises of Jehovah God. For this, Ahaz and his nation will pay a very dear price. It is the oldest political dilemma in the world.

Is there any lesson here for our own nation today?  Do we as a church, part of God’s prophetic voice today to kings and nations, need to confront our own political leaders (many whom project themselves as “Christian”) with this truth? They appear to be using “public opinion”, European initiatives and the strident voices of very vocal minorities, in their attempts to draw up legislation and policy, paying little, if any, attention to the tried and tested, revealed Word of God.

Surely the future we face today as a nation is as full of challenges as it has ever been, and we are constantly looking for solutions from our much-vaulted centres of learning, our myriad quangos, our courts and our “partners” in Europe and the US. And all we are getting is confusion, double-speak, and tragically misguided “wisdom”.

Again Isaiah says to Ahaz:   “What is our  (the church’s) prophetic message to today’s kings and princes, our members of parliament and our local councillors?”  The silence is deafening.

- Rob Gee, deacon

Despite parental concerns and the use of computer filters in the home, the rapid rate at which communications technology is developing, including convergence of the internet on televisions/ games consoles and mobile phone technology, makes it increasingly difficult for parents/ carers to supervise their children’s use effectively. Massive profit-driven competition is harming the vulnerable.

To better protect children and young people, Premier Christian Media is calling on Internet service providers to block pornography by introducing filters at Internet service provider level. This will still give adults the choice to access pornography whilst giving children the freedom to surf the internet safely.

We encourage you to sign their online petition. More details and resources are available at their website: www.safetynet.org.uk

We invite you to hear David Pawson talk about God, His Majesty on Wednesday 20th June. Organised by Canaan Bookshop, Staines. David will be speaking at the Salvation Army, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford. There is no charge for this event.

The Café is open from 9.00 am until 12.30 pm every Wednesday in the Youth Hall at StainesCong church. Located on Kingston Road.

We look forward to meeting you.

What struck us more powerfully is the vibrancy and the ubiquity of the church in South Africa! There seems almost to be a church on every corner, boldly advertising its ministry, and unashamedly proclaiming Christ as the Answer. Granted, many of these churches may be of the neo-Pentecostal or “African Christianity” varieties, with which all may not be that comfortable. But one thing is clear; God is alive and well on the continent of Africa and His message of salvation through Christ is being preached without compromise absolutely everywhere. From those friends and family we spoke with, it is clear that the churches are full and growing at an astonishing rate. Christian academies are springing up everywhere and in a country with its fair share of challenges, Jesus is not being ignored. In fact, the gospel is truly seen by the majority of the population, black and white, to be the only viable solution to the nation’s woes.

Question! What about the church in the UK, here in the South East of England? We all know that our churches (most of them) are not full at all, many are closing and being used as pubs or offices and what is more the country’s policy-makers seem hell-bent on pushing through legislation of a most distressing, anti-Christian nature, especially in the areas of Sunday trading, gay marriages, abortion, religious tolerance and so on. Just what are we as His disciples in this part of the Kingdom to do? What should our priorities be? How do we lift our sense of urgency? What specifically should we be praying for?

Why don’t you join me in a discussion on this website? I’d love to know your views.

Rob Gee, Deacon

Thankfulness: Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits. We bless you, Lord, for your gift of work – for the opportunity to co-labour with you and to provide for our families and communities.

Output: We bless the creativity and skills you have given which enable us to make goods and deliver services that others need.

Relationships: We bless every contact with another person, be they colleague, customer or supplier. We bless those we meet, speak to or email that they may experience something of your love through us.

Organisation: We bless the organisations for which we work; we bless them as employers and pray that job opportunities may multiply through them. We bless the management decisions to reflect Kingdom values.

For more information, visit the LICC website on blessings and also read their article on the biblical basis of blessings.

Read the full article at a key part of the local church.

Our hearts, our prayers and our deepest sympathies go out to the parents and families of those tragic children killed in the most recent coach disaster. And the way the above headline is written, we can’t help but reflect on the clause, ‘rescuers seek answers’.

Of course part of the answer they are seeking is what physically caused the accident – was it mechanical failure, human error or just sheer shocking ‘luck’? But for most the real answers that are being sought are not physical, but metaphysical. As the classic question puts it: “Why does God allow the innocent to suffer?”

It would be hugely callous and unfeeling of me to snatch this ‘opportunity’ to mouth, in a few hundred words, a theological response to this heart-wrenching search for answers. A part of me truly says, “I can’t understand it! Why DOES God allow this to happen? How must those bereaved parents be feeling? I have so little comfort for them. God, why DON’T you stop things like this happening?”

I can only go to two places to find my answers, and my answers may not satisfy anyone else, I fully accept that. The first hint of an answer comes from the mouth of an ancient man, who lost all his children and in fact all his possessions too, in one desperately tragic afternoon. His response? Job cried out in despair: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. The LORD has given and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Everything we have is a gift from God, our children and all our other close friends and family. All gifts. And sometimes we are privileged to enjoy those gifts for a lifetime, for many, many years. Sometimes the ‘lifetime’ is far too short, and sometimes it is far, far too short. I lost my first grandson, stillborn after only 5 months in the womb. The cruelty of it still haunts me, and even more so, my daughter. But he was a gift, we were privileged to see so little of – just a few fuzzy pictures. It was not enough – but it was a gift.

The only other place I can think of going for an ‘answer’ is to the 3-word truth, ‘God is Just’. I truly believe that God loves His Creation, though He may justifiably ‘hate’ what we have done with it and what we are doing with our own loyalties. And in the words of His Son, He so often says of children: “Of such is the kingdom of heaven”.

Hence I wholeheartedly believe that God in his divine and immeasurable love and justice, will ‘do the right thing’. The real answer may only ring out in eternity – and it’s worth waiting and hoping for.

- Rob Gee, deacon.

Well, there are plenty of security software packages which you can purchase but each one has to be installed on every computer. If your children surf the Net on their mobile phone or tablet, such software won’t block undesireable websites.

One solution is to block inappropriate website at source – at the Internet Service Provider – before reaching your home: TalkTalk have launched a free service called HomeSafe. It allows you to block a range of inappropriate websites, including gambling. There is a facility to switch off social website between homework hours. You can also block individual websites of your choice. All this can be done by logging into your TalkTak account:

“HomeSafe™ gives you control over the type of websites your household can access, across every single device that connects to the internet in your home. Built into the broadband network itself and unique to TalkTalk, HomeSafe is designed to help you block every device in your home from websites you’ve defined as unsuitable for your home. It’s also great for parents, giving you control of the after school homework routine specifically. It’s been developed in partnership with our panel of parents and online safety experts.”

There is no substitute for parental supervision but this service, combined with tracking sites visited, is an excellent approach.
There is currently no charge for this service.”

http://www.sccuktour.co.uk/

We look back with thanks for the fantastic support it has given to families over many years. Our particular appreciation goes to our most recent co-ordinator, Vicki Ashworth, and her team.

For details of your nearest Contact Centre, please contact the:
National Association of Child Contact Centres

I can imagine a series of reality TV auditions (if previous practice is to be followed) to find someone to play the role of Jesus. And I can see the headlines now. “Lloyd-Webber is looking for Jesus!” Oh that that were really true, because I would be only too happy to introduce him to Jesus… It would only cost him a few ounces of humility and a gallon of repentance.

I saw a very early performance of Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway in the early 70’s, and despite the incredible lavishness of the production itself and the searing music, I came away with a mixture of deep sorrow and even deeper anger. I had just spent several hours and 15 hard earned US dollars, watching the depiction of Jesus and a disillusioned, delusional, messiah-complexed, mentally disturbed anti-hero – with the glory of heroism left to Judas and the prostitute, Mary. But then again, I hadn’t been expecting anything else from Lloyd-Webber.

An interesting thought – when is Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber going to try his hand at writing a musical based on the life of the Prophet of Islam? More than his life is worth, I suspect! Much safer to pour his insults on us poor Christians. After all, we will inevitably just “turn the other cheek.”

 - Rob Gee

J.John is described in the flyleaf of the book as, “…one of the most creative Christian speakers and writers in the UK.” Personally, I know little of the man himself, having only heard the occasional radio sermon, yet I am very pleasantly surprised by this piece of work. Often, when great speakers commit themselves to the written page the results can be somewhat disappointing. How many of us have received so much joy and blessing from hearing the sermons of the great Dr Billy Graham, yet have felt a little let down when reading some of his books. I’m not the only one, am I? Mr John, however, is a gifted writer and I heartily recommend his very readable style, his easy use of anecdote and his well-organised and outlined arguments.

When he says of these commandments, “I believe it’s about time we took them seriously!”, I believe he goes a long way to enabling us to do just that through the next some 300 pages of this book. In a rather novel approach he goes about the business of explaining the commandments, beginning with the 10^th and working backwards to the 1^st. His reason? He calls the 1^st commandment, “The glowing heart of the law” so he concludes “… it is better to work through the outer laws before we come face to face with the incandescent glory of the 1^st Commandment.”

John accords around 25-30 pages to his discussion of each commandment. He steers well clear of any deep theological language, and places all the emphasis on what his title promises he will deliver, namely, “Living the Ten Commandments in the 21^st century.”

Here at Staines Congregational Church we have the privilege (and it is not over yet) of hearing preaching and teaching on all 10 commandments in our evening services. Our church secretary, Mr John Hawthorne, has already helped us to work through commandments 10, 9, 8 and 7. Our pastor Rev Nick Grey will teach on the 6^th commandment on Sunday evening March 11, and on the 18^th and 25^th of March, Mr Rob Gee will draw our attention to commandments 5 and 4 respectively. John will complete the series after Easter.

So if you can’t get to the services, READ THE BOOK! It is available for sale after our Sunday services. And if you can’t read the book, ATTEND THE SERVICES on Sunday evenings at 6:30.

But best of all . . .do both!

- Rob Gee

Deacon