It was the church fete today. As exciting as one would expect. There was the bric-a-brac stall, here the cake stall and over there the sweet stall. Tea and biscuits for sale in the church centre and in a nod to modernity a Wii was set up in the church itself.

Now this got my mind to thinking. Today was all about raising money for Christian Aid and every pound we raised was going to be trebled by the EU. What I was wondering is why do we keep on with the same old things (quite apart from the fact that I am stunned that the £17,000 spent on the new sound system could have become £68,000 for Christian Aid). Each year we try things and each year it seems they become less and less successful. When we review it seems that we will say oh well it'll be better next year.

Will it though? Must we keep on doing the same old things? Perhaps it is time to step out and think of something new.

Imagine a church year without the summer fete and the winter one too. Imagine a church where we sought to raise funds in a way which not only glorifies God but that interacts with a community that isn't shying away from our building. I wonder what ideas we can come up with!

I have found a new forum that allows Christians to be berated by atheists and ridiculed for their beliefs, it's always such fun. However, what has really been fun this last week or so is the Christian music that I have been listening to. I have enjoyed the David Crowder Band, some Vicky Beeching and Chris Tomlin.

I think that I need to keep listening and enjoying it. I need to remember that I should always dance like there is nobody looking!

We shall see, half an hour till work is finished then I shall play some Christian music and dance like nobody is watching ...

Another country where Islam is the state religion and the foundation of all law is the Sharia.


Islam is the state religion and sharia (Islamic law) is the source of all legislation. There is some religious freedom for foreigners, but evangelism is prohibited; several expatriate workers were deported in 2010. Yemenis are not allowed to leave Islam; those who do may face persecution from family, the authorities, or extremist groups. Insecurity caused by terrorist movements and separatists made Yemen very unstable in 2010. Four of the nine foreign Christians kidnapped in June 2009 remain missing.

Now this one was a complete surprise to me when I first read the World Watch List. I had no idea that they were as they are but then I saw the video on YouTube which shows some local people abusing a couple who wanted to reaffirm their wedding vows.

According to Open Doors


All citizens must be Muslims in this archipelago. Legislation forbids the practice of any religion except Islam; churches are forbidden; and the import of Christian literature is prohibited. New regulations governing religious practice were unveiled by the government in 2010, and stricter policies were also imposed on tourists after some were caught bringing in Bibles. The few indigenous believers are isolated from one other and are monitored both by the authorities and the locals.

Dreadful 

Wow, such Christians!

Keeping up with my promise to write about the ten worst countries for the persecution of Christians. We reach number 5, Somalia. I have no idea what is going on in Somalia, it seems to be one of those countries that is going through hell at the minute. I bet it is a dreadful place to live, it certainly is if you are a Christian:



It remained very dangerous to be a Christian here in 2010. At least eight Christians were killed and a quarter of all Christians fled the country. The few Christians are heavily persecuted and must practise their faith in secret. The country has been without effective central government since 1991. Islamist insurgents Al-Shabaab control most of the south, and are effectively trying to wipe out Christianity from the country.  There are, however, indications that they are losing popularity.

As I said in a previous post, I like to amuse myself by reading some of the websites dedicated to the eradication of Faith. Now normally I would not regard the Guardian as such a site. I think it is a very secularist place to visit and they certainly have the idea that faith is a less than intellectual choice. Moreover, they are sometimes very much anti-Christian as well. Take their religion page today. Stories about a BBC film to (carefully and respectfully) depict the life of Muhammad, one about women's rights in Islam in Pakistan which respectfully points out that proper muslims do not behave that way, a story about the temple in Kerala which is revealing its secrets and stories about Christians relating to old-fashioned Anglicanism (in favour of a liberal church), abortion and gay rights.


We all know that as Christians these are our only topics of conversation.

However, I did find one comment which said the following


I used to attend a very successful Episcopal church in the middle of Edinburgh.
The Minister decided that we needed to remodel the whole church, so this 200 year old building has been revitalised by having the heart torn out of it.
Out went the oaks pews, (the one that Sir Walter Scott sat in survives in a museum) the hand carved rood screen, most of the plaques and other decorations on the walls that marked the lives of generations that had worshiped there. Get rid of that fusty old rubbish - nothing that hasn't happened in our own lifetime matters.
Even the hand carved baptismal font was going to be unceremoniously dumped, but for the deputy minster rescuing it to hand on to another church.
In came a giant screen, banks of monitors and a re-design that made the place look like the offspring of a supermarket and a conference centre.
This monstrous vanity project has left the church with a bill for about £5 million that will haunt it for decades and which has resulted in a drive basically torecruit  members who have deep pockets and an inclination to give. Many of the older members of the congregation feel totally sidelined - as one said to me "I suppose we are part of the fusty old rubbish!"
So now we have an interior that will age very rapidly and a lot of high tech bells and whistles that are already starting to break down.
This continual contempt for tradition and the dismantling of everything that has made the church work for 2000 years makes me despair.
Churches are being remodeled and services are being stripped of their meaning so that a small in-crowd can create their own customised church with its own home made rituals. Most of these will be completely meaningless to people a few years down the line, so the whole process will begin again.
In pretty short order what is left of the Anglican church will have departed so far from mainstream Christianity that it will be little more than a rump of people running a social club for no really good reason .


This made me think because I am currently debating with several members of the church I attend over the issue of the new sound system. The amount being spent would, I feel, be better spent elsewhere. I think that something needs to be done to improve the church as a useful place but I wonder what the cost will be.

We shall see what the outcome is.

I have to admit that I am struggling to hear what God is calling me to do. Whenever I sit and try to think about it, there is an awful lot of distraction. These distractions can be anything at all and that's very frustrating.

My question is this: where can I go to for inspiration? I have tried to sit quietly and tried listening to music. Perhaps I could try the bible again but that's not helping much either.

Don't get me wrong, I am a lot closer to God than I have been in a while and I'm not feeling bad. I just can't find the inspiration I need.

Maybe it's me wanting to hide from what God wants me to do. There is an idea that will not go away and I want to know if that's what He wants me to do. Perhaps it's time for a direct question for God.

I was skimming through the pages of the National Secular Society's website today as I often do (it's a great way to entertain oneself, they really are a silly bunch of people at times) and I came across this piece.

The Rev Richard Barron wants to find ‘new ways for people to connect with the church’. So he is parking himself every Friday afternoon at McDonald’s burger restaurant in Greenhithe, Kent.

He said: ‘As far as I know, I am the first vicar to hold sessions in McDonald’s. There are lots of schoolchildren about and they ask the big questions that maybe adults shy away from, such as does God exist?’

Boss of McDonald’s in Greenhithe, Maxine Hunt said she was supportive of the move adding: ‘It is a nice little relationship and it works well on both sides.’

And the reaction of the NSS was?

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: “Why on earth McDonald’s ever thought it would be appropriate to allow an evangelist to foist his religion onto its customers while they ate their burgers, I don’t know. But at least customers at McDonald’s have a choice. If they don’t like it, they can get their burgers religion-free elsewhere. Unlike children in our schools who are captive and have to participate in religion whether they want to or not.

Now I do not know why they bothered to link this to their campaign to end religious education in schools but  am very impressed to see that they did. I imagine that Mr Sanderson (rent-a-quote willhire him out to comment on all of your religious articles, just write to them) had little flecks of spittle on the corners of his mouth at the thought of someone exercising their right to freedom of thought and religion.

Foisting of religion on someone? That's ridiculous, such hyperbole needs to be reined in there I think. I for one am pleased that he is doing this. The Good News needs to be spread and they need to reach out to the people in their parish. I know the area well and I wish him all the best. In fact, I think I shall visit McDonalds in Greenhithe this Friday afternoon. Big Mac and fries please!

Where do I start with this one? The country with no church. A country which bans all Christian worship except in ex-pat communities (and there they had better watch what they do). the Bible is banned and thousands are burned every year along with crosses and other Christian items. This is a country which has the holiest of holies for the Islamic faith but refuses to allow other religions.

There is no religious freedom in this Islamic kingdom. Public non-Muslim worship is forbidden, and conversion to Christianity - seen as apostasy - is punishable by death. Most Christians are foreign workers; although they are allowed to worship privately on their compounds, they sometimes face difficulty. Twelve Filipino Christians and a priest were arrested while attending a service in a private home in October 2010. Saudi believers fear being open about their faith, even with their family. There were reports of several Christians being physically harmed for their faith in 2010.

There are also reports of Saudi money (and there is an awful lot of that) helping to fund schools in other countries and that these schools teach the powerful (and very hardline) Wahabi faith to the children. If this were to be the case it it would be very scary.

We need to pray that the government will start to be more tolerant of the Christian faith and that our brothers and sisters there will be free to worship in a way they want to.