Come on FA, get with it!

It's high time that the Premiership used 21st century technology, as they do in Rugby, to determine crucial decisions during a game. They use it in cricket and many other sports, but Association Football is run by some asses who are well beyond their shelf life. Please let's put them out to pasture and allow common sense, logic and sound technology to play its part. Last Saturday's game at White Hart Lane saw some really shocking decisions by match officials. Technology would have helped them to see what thousands saw on TV.

Taliban takeaway

What a catastrophe! Afghanistan is dreadfully divided, despite lost lives of Afghan and British  service personnel, many civilians, enormous aid expenditure, diplomatic engagement, training, and economic investment. So little has come from so much effort. You can rely on the Taliban to muck up the country.

Delightful Dunster

What a delightful place Dunster is! I love it. It has charmed and enthralled me.

The magnificent castle, now owned and managed by the National Trust, offers so much. There are lovely shops, fine hotels that Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot would stay in, welcoming public houses, plenty of places to enjoy a classic cream tea, good coffee and hot chocolate. There is even a speciality chocolate shop.

Refugee crises

I have often wondered why the so called Islamic world is not offering to do much more for their fellow Muslims. Why are not Mecca, Medina, Islamabad and other sacred Islamic places the choice destinations for these refugees? There are very wealthy Gulf states with the means of funding the charitable agencies and needs of these suffering migrants. Charity, alms and helping the poor are basic requirements in Islam. I hope we will see some zakat going to these refugees.

Those who undertake dangerous sea voyages and trips in unseaworthy craft must take some responsibility for their journeys and the welfare of their families. The image of the drowned toddler has been used by the media to shame the EU. But any parent must take into account the risks, dangers and potential outcome of any trip. Responsible parents weigh up the situation and make their own risk assessment. Teachers and youth workers do it all the time. It is tragic and truly heart breaking to think that the father who lost his sons and wife at sea made such a costly and disastrous decision. He will have to live with that agony for the rest of his life. The owners of the unseaworthy boat should be found, named, shamed and severely punished.

The EU did not attack the town where this family lived. They were not forced to board this unseaworthy vessel by EU representatives. If we are to play the blame game, then it surely lies with the false ideologies in the Middle East and with those who caused the conflict in Syria.

The decline of the Brethren in Havering.

I have had to correct and revise my previous post as I have found that a Brethren assembly in Havering exists. The Brethren movement is not extinct in the London Borough of Havering. The Collier Row Gospel Hall is, as far as I now know, the only Brethren assembly in my area. They are no longer part of the Christian landscape in the Hornchurch area, where they were particularly a force to be reckoned with.

Update

I thought that I had found another Brethren assembly in the London Borough of Havering, at Rainham, Essex, RM13, in the south end of the borough. There was, it seems, a Brethren fellowship at the Gospel Hall in Cowper Road. Today it is apparently in the hands of Praise Communion, a Christian charity established to advance the Christian faith and tackle poverty. It is not a Brethren organization.

6 September 2015 at 19:52

Against the people smugglers and transporters of human cargoes

It is heart breaking news that 71 people, men, women and children, have died in lorry in Austrian under such tragic and horrendous circumstances.  The transporters and people smugglers responsible, irresponsible, for these deaths must be sought and severely punished for their evil deeds.  An international task force should be well funded and generously resourced to capture these perfidious perpetrators and those who currently are operating in this way throughout the world.  They should be incarcerated in specially constructed custodial units, where the families of their victims can remind them of their serious crimes against humanity. They should never be allowed to forget their heinous crimes and the misery they have caused. Let them face up to their terrible trespasses.

Let restorative justice be established in these custodial units. Let these criminals meet and hear from those who demand justice for their lost loved ones.

The decline and demise of the Brethren assemblies in the London Borough of Havering: part one

When I came to live in Hornchurch, Essex, in the London Borough of Havering, in 1975, Brethren assemblies and the Brethren movement were influential and numerically strong. They had large Sunday Schools, well attended meetings, morning and evening services, very active preachers, high profile Christian leaders and wealthy supporters.

Today in 2015, there is only one Open Brethren assembly, chapel or fellowship in existence in Havering. It is the Collier Row Gospel Hall. I believe there are a few Exclusive Brethren people who meet in the Romford area, but as far as the Open Brethren are concerned there is just one active Open Brethren place of worship and witness in this Borough. There is not one in the Hornchurch area, where they once thrived.

I remember Brethren assemblies at Rise Park, Cranham, Craigdale Hall, Upminster, Ingrebourne Chapel, Bethany Chapel near Abbs Cross, and Emerson Park. The latter, which once thrived, seemed to me like the flagship, and it lasted the longest. The premises are now used by a charity (Stand By Me) and I understand that the trustees are looking for a Christian fellowship to use the building for worship, witness and fellowship. Its future is therefore uncertain.

I wish to look at the causes for the decline and demise of this once powerful and influential Christian movement in Havering. I believe that there are important lessons to be learned from this situation, lessons from history, from experience, from the wisdom of Christians involved in this decline and demise over forty years, and from the Lord Himself.

If you were involved in the Brethren or have any observations, comments or contributions then I would love to hear from you.  This is, therefore, a work in process.

I intend to interview a number of people. In fact, I have already received helpful advice and details from people who attended Brethren meetings and were actively involved.