Great to hear (and see) this Christmas message from Bishop Mike Hill of Bristol in the UK. I’ve never met Bp Mike, but know Bristol well and hear really good things of him. This is about 5 minutes long and is his testimony of God’s presence during the dark time following a near fatal car accident. Worth taking the time out to listen to and ponder on.
Merry Christmas!
It look like Christmas will not be so merry this year for one of our local mayors. They say trouble comes in three’s, and it certainly looks that way for the mayor of one of our nearby municipalities. He is under investigation for 3 counts of ‘graft’ – which in the UK would mean ‘hard work’, here it has another meaning – being corrupt. There are any number of ways a public official could be engaged in graft. By western standards there is a huge amount of bureaucracy here. Starting a new business? you need a plethora of permits – each requiring a small ‘administrative fee’. Same with building alterations, providing services etc. Tax collection is rife with opportunities for ‘negotiated settlements’. One of the most lucrative scams is whereby officials spend public money purchasing services and goods either at vastly inflated prices, or that aren’t needed. Said official then gets a ‘kickback’ from a grateful business man.
Such appears to be the case with the mayor in question.
Seeing the need for computers in local schools Mr Mayor facilitated a deal with a local computer firm. Not one of the major retailers but a smaller one. The city agreed to buy 270 computers of a certain specification. Now the computers in question retail at about $400, but these were coming at a bargain price of $1000 (it pays to buy in bulk). Not only that, but when they were delivered thay were not the ones requested, but a lower spec. Not only that, investigators found that 29 did not work at all. But the the killer fact as reported in the local press:
‘30 of the computers were delivered to schools that have no electricity supply’
Hhhhhmmmmm…
It is a month now since Rob Frost died. For many he won’t need any introduction, but if you didn’t know him he was one of the leading Methodists and Evangelicals of the last 50 years. Always humble always unassuming, he was a man of great drive and creativity. A natural evangelist, a broadcaster, a pastor, an author, he organised one of the countries largest Christian festivals, he preached around the world, led countless evangelisitic missions and inspired literally hundreds of young men and women to enter into Christian service – myself included. oh, and he had perfect pitch.
I first met Rob when as a young Christian he gave me my first break, squeezing me into an already full ‘Seed Team’ part of the Methodist churches Evangelistic gap year programme. I was as green as they come, had no relevant exprience and there was no room for me, but Rob took a chance on me as he did with so many others. Throughout the year he visited, always encouraged me, always found time for us to go for a walk together and mull things over. 2 years later he took another chance and made me aleader of team. Then he encourged me to go to Bible college. He rang around to try and get me a scholarship when I couldn’t afford the fees. It was Rob who told me over a chinese meal he took me out for to ’stop messing around and get yourself ordained’ when I wasn’t sure if the time was right. Rob who suggested me as someone who could ‘preach for a minute’ on local radio.
I have lots of fond memories of Rob. Staying up way into the night talking about the Church, culture, youthwork, Methodism, Evangelism, you name it really. Going for curries with half a dozen others after Breaking Bread or one of the other productions, sometimes just a bunch of people who moved the scenery, other times with ‘big name’ speakers, Rob was always the same and made everyone feel they belonged in the group. Rob sleeping in a church hall, with no mattress and only a curtain he found for a sleeping bag and then getting up the next day and speaking to a couple of thousand people. Rob always making himself available to people to pray and chat with them, then slipping off for a kip in the back of a van round the corner. Rob whispering to me ‘you’ve done well there’ the first time he met Sally my wife.
I am grateful to God for the life Rob lived and that I shared a small part of it. I wouldn’t be doing what I am now, where I am now without the encouragement of Rob. I will miss him as a mentor and a friend.
For tributes from the famous people go here
And everyone else – here
Recent Comments