Aliens

Quite a few years ago I remember stumbling across a radio programme in the UK about UFO’s and Aliens. Unlike most of these kind of programmes it didn’t go for the jokey ‘close encounters folks are all weirdo’s approach’ rather it was all rather serious, and to be honest quite chilling. The main interviewee as I recall was Nick Pope an insider who looked into UFO sightings for the MOD. Serious, and sober, he didn’t reveal any secrets, but he said enough to freak me out. The long and the short of it was that there is enough evidence for UFO’s (in the sense of aliens flying around), and that government policy would need to change in the future from a ‘theres no evidence for this kind of stuff’ line to a ‘there is evidence for this kind of stuff’ line. Preparing the way for a full disclosure to the public along the lines of ‘not only is there evidence for alien life but we know for sure we are not alone’.

Nick predicted that in coming years there would be a slow but steady drip drip in the media of credible alien/ufo sightings, coupled with a gradual opening up of Government archives to reveal what those ‘in the know’, already know:

They are here, and they haven’t come for some shopping.

Thus I can’t help but get a slight chill when I read on the same day that ‘The Vatican says aliens could exist’. And also that the MOD is declassifying some of it’s X-Files.

As a final aside, check out the Rendlesham Forest Incident – spooky.

Leaving Kalubian

This week will be my last week visiting Kalubian. As I mentioned in an earlier post Pastor Glemar is doing a great job there and we have now handed over the work, so I am bowing out gracefully. Of all the different things I’ve been involved in during our time in the Philippines Kalubian has been closest to my heart. A poor fishing village miles from anywhere, I was invited to begin a church there and develop a servant ministry to the community. Almost every week I’ve visited, sometimes we have hard great celebrations, at others just a handful. But God has been faithful, and now we can start to see some of the fruit of our time here.

Some pictures.

Best comment ever on Rowan Williams and Sharia

From here at the Spectator.

The best comment I’ve heard on the Rowan Williams affair is from a chap who just called in to Radio Five. 

After saying he was a proper Christian, unlike Rowan Williams, he said:

Jesus Christ will be turning in his grave.

How many die from waterborne diseases?

Scary fact

More than five million people die from waterborne diseases each year – 10 times the number killed in wars around the globe.

Shop for the poor?

A few years ago I invited a friend who worked for a Christian development agency to come and speak at the theological college at which I was a student. She did a good job presenting the work of her organisation, and was generally well received. Mostly. One element of her talk fell flat with the students. The agency in question were looking to launch a new clothes line. The idea being that a proportion of the profits would got to the poor. Now this wasn’t just fair trade – but a step on from that. The general thrust of the logic as that people are basically consumerist, and like to buy stuff, so why not give them the option of buying stuff that also helps the poor. Shop for the poor as it were. Various objections were raised. I generally felt uncomfortable with idea at the time but couldn’t quite pin down why – after all it’s not that different to taxes going to fund social security or third world aid.

Bono had the same idea as my friend and a 18 months ago RED was launched, on a far grander scale than a Christian NGO could manage. Linking up with companies such as AMEX, GAP, and Apple to create a brand of products a proportion of the profits of which go to help fund Aids treatment in Africa. It appears at first sight to be win, win, win, win. The companies involved gain an extra revenue stream, consumers get guilt free luxury purchase, someone in Africa gets affordable healthcare, and a wealthy pharmaceutical makes more money.

I think you can sense my objections.

The RED website claims that due to ‘(RED) purchases, our partners’ (PRODUCT) RED contributions to the Global Fund have reached over $50 million. (RED) money is already at work as part of Global Fund grants in Rwanda, Swaziland and Ghana, funding programs with a primary focus on the health of women and children.’

And surely that must be a good thing?

Well not if the New Internationalist is right, and to raise that 50 million dollars they spent 100 million on promotion.

Corporate Watch hi-light some of the other problems with these kind of schemes:

Increasingly, nonprofit experts are beginning to question one of the fastest-growing sectors of giving, the practice of building a donation into the purchase of items as varied as fine jewelry and Always feminine products. They point out that such giving is unregulated and, in most cases, unaccountable — and no one knows who, if anyone, is claiming a tax deduction for it.

“It’s virtuousness as a marketing gimmick run amok,” said Lucy Bernholz, founder and president of Blueprint Research and Design, a consulting firm for nonprofit organizations, who has coined the term “embedded giving” to describe the phenomenon. “The potential for it to be a scam is huge.”

In many cases, charities and their corporate partners are unwilling to discuss the specifics of their embedded-giving programs, declining to answer questions about how much is raised and even where exactly the money is going.

Net result of these kinds of schemes? It’s hard to tell, but any offsetting profits against tax means less many going towards government funded initiatives (and the government funding is the largest source of international aid). Similarly the danger is that is you consider your shopping as a form of giving then you are less likely to give to charity directly.  And finally, to be honest the whole notion is just plain tacky, ‘you have a new ipod and you have helped save a persons life’ declares RED’S site.

If you want an ipod buy an ipod. If you are going to buy one anyway, it may as well be RED, but lets not kid ourselves that these schemes are going to change the world or end poverty in our life time. Do the right thing and take some time out and sit down and carefully work out a program of planned giving to charities you believe in. And if you want to support Bono’s initiative without buying into the consumerist thing make a donation here – www.buylesscrap.org

New Site Design

Time for a change.

I got a little bored with the old look, so I decided to freshen things up a bit. Hope you like it, the idea is that this is a little ‘cleaner’ and that the text will be easier to read as the look is not so dark.

The photo I took myself in the UK. It is of one of my favourite places, the Rock Island lighthouse on the Isles of Scillies, the setting of some spectacular sunsets!

A Quote for Epiphany from Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones

This coming Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Epiphany for those who are liturgically minded (I’m not, I have to look the dates us every week), and the readings are all connected with heeding the call to follow Jesus. For those who are preaching on the same passages as me here’s a cracking quote from ‘The Doctor’s’ – Joy Unspeakable (pg 202):

What should we be seeking? We should always be seeking the Lord Jesus Christ himself, to know him and to minister to his glory. This is what you find of course, in the New Testament itself. The apostle Paul says that the height if his ambition is ‘that I might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings’ etc…

Now that is what we should seek. We believe in God, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the doctrines of salvation. All right! But the question that confronts us at this particular point is not that of believing but love! A belief that does not lead to love is a very doubtful belief, it may be nothing but intellectual assent. The emphasis of the Bible is always upon love…

‘What is the first and chief commandment?’ Not that ‘thou shalt believe in the Lord thy God’, but that ‘thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all they mind, and all thy strength.’ Is this true of us?

If you have yet to discover Lloyd-Jones I recommend you try him. He is not always an easy read, but persevere and you will not regret it.

Reports of further persecution in India’s Orissa state

From the Christian Post:

Christians in India’s Orissa state who were victims of the recent wave of communal violence are now being told to “covert or die” by Hindu fanatics.

The ultimatum issued by the Hindu extremists has forced some Christians to abandon their religion altogether, reported the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), a Bangalore-based Christian advocacy group.

“I am forced to convert to Hinduism whether I like or dislike; I cannot say further and my life is in danger,” Promond Digal, 32, from the violence-hit Kandhamal district, told GCIC.

A clash over a decorative arch for the Christmas celebrations on Dec. 24 led to large-scale communal violence and attacks against churches throughout the district. Four people were confirmed death while 95 Churches and 730 houses were burnt down or destroyed after several days of violence, according to the All India Christian Council (AICC).

Earlier this month, a fact-finding team from the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) of India accused Hindu fundamentalists of perpetrating “organized and pre-planned attacks” against the Christian community. The commission pointed to possible involvement of organizations including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Coucil), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers’ Organization) and their affiliates.

AICC and GCIC, on the other hand, have openly accused the Hindu organizations of being responsible for the attacks on Christians.

Furthermore, although the anti-Christian violence has apparently subsided, ”fundamentalists are going to individual families with guns and threatening them to become Hindus,” according to GCIC.

Christians who have converted to Hinduism expressed their helplessness about changing their religion.

“Fundamentalists came and threatened me and my family and said if you do not change your religion prepare to leave the village or die, there was no other way than to accept Hinduism,” said B. Digal, 60, from Gochhapada village.

Catholic Christian Samonary Digal in the Kandhamal district similarly reported how the members of the RSS “warned me to prepare to die or to leave the place if you do not become Hindu.”

“Finally I had to accept what they say,” he admitted

According to social worker R. Nayak, “25 Dalit families of Mahasingh village under K. Nuagam Block have been converted to Hinduism on Dec. 25.”

“They were forced to drink mixed water of cow dung, ghee and perform the Hindu ritual,” he reported

“They live under threat and convert then. They live under danger and panic.”

Another forced convert, who did not want to disclose his name, said he was told, “If you cannot be a Hindu, we will finish you off and set fire your entire house.”

However, he added, “I and my family have left the faith but God will remain with us.”

Relief organizations, including Christian NGOs, are not yet allowed to go into the violence-struck districts. Food distribution from the state government, meanwhile, seems to be improving, GCIC reported.

Orissa state is often noted as the site of the 1999 slaying of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons – Philip, 10, and Timothy, 8 – who were burned to death as they slept inside their vehicle after a Bible study class. It is the only Indian state that has a law requiring people to obtain police permission before they change their religion – a move designed to counter missionary work.

Britney’s Daily Bread

I feel decidedly uncomfortable blogging about Britney Spears. Firstly I am a middle aged man with three young kids. Britney belongs to another world (or should do). And secondly, she has to be one of the most spoken about, criticized, judged and evaluated women on the planet.

That said, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Miss Spears. One more time is a cheesy pop classic. Whatever else you say about her she can sing. And for all the Hollywood glam’, there has always been a vulnerable side. She was interviewed by Frank Skinner on British TV a few years ago, and it was clear then that here was an intelligent, thoughtful insecure woman at the centre of a crazy celebrity storm she could neither control nor escape from.

Things are not going well for Britney at the moment. She has been in and out of Rehab, been charged with driving without a license, and of course lost custody of her children in a high profile court case. The lowest point must have been the beginning of this year when she collapsed and was rushed to hospital following a stand off with representatives of the father of her children after a visit. TV’s Dr Phil didn’t help by announcing she was in ‘dire need’ to the world after a visit.

What now for Britney? I’ve no doubt many of her fans are praying for her. But what to pray? Jesus advised praying ‘give us this day our daily bread’, and at first glance that might seem to have little relevance for one of the richest women on the planet. She has sold over 83 million records worldwide. In 2004 she made over 200 million US$ from merchandise and ticket sales alone. She received over 12 million US$ for a perfume endorsement alone in 2005. Doe’s someone like Britney need to pray for their ‘daily bread’.

Well Jesus may well have had the Bibles book of Proverbs in mind when he suggested that as a suitable subject of prayer. In chapter 30 we read:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

To pray for ones ‘daily bread’, is to pray for enough for ones needs, neither more, which would spoil us, or less, which would leave us in need. Neither poverty nor riches, but just what she needs; and people around her who will speak the truth, that’s what Britney could do with at the moment.

Let’s hope she gets it, for her sake, and that of her children.

7 months in the life of the Blog

Well it’s been 7 months since ‘Anselmic’s Place’ was launched.

When I began this the idea was to post occasionally to keep in touch with our Link churches in the UK. I had no idea how much or how little traffic I would get. Nor how much fun this would be. My only real New Year Resoloution is to try and keep this updated a bit more often. For those of you who are interested, here are my stats at the turn of the year:

Total Views: 2,421

Best Day Ever: 297 — Saturday, September 29, 2007

Posts: 50

Comments: 36

One thing I wasn’t expecting ws the number of people who would track us down through the blog. It is slightly eerie to discover that your name is being ‘Googled’. But contact with long lost friends and colleagues has been welcome. A couple of people I have’nt heard from for over 10 years have been in touch and that has been really great.

So if you know me, and you are lurking out there reading this, drop me an email!