The Dear Old Church of England

One of the former Archbishops of Canterbury once described the CofE as being like an elderly aunt at a family gathering, sitting in the corner and largely being ignored by other members and guests of the family, being treated with respect but really out of touch with what was going on. Another commentator on the CofE, who was in leadership, said that the CofE had been driving along but spending too much time looking through the rear view mirror. It was Stephen Fry who used the phrase "The Dear Old Church of England" in a debate on the Roman Catholic Church, not a force for good in the world. Fry spoke of the dear old Church of England as if it were a family pet or some benign old lady. I have visited quite few parish churches in the lovely Hampshire countryside and I am sad to report that some of them are like museums and historic places of interest. There is, in some cases, little evidence of vibrant spiritual life. In some parish churches there are few pew Bibles, sometimes no Bibles, a boring bookstall, no indication of a Sunday school or youth ministry, drab artwork and far more interest in the past than in the present. In some places the Spirit of the Lord has clearly departed. Ichabod?

MacArthur muddles along

Please correct me if I have misunderstood John MacArthur's teaching, but are we not to take the Scriptures literally when the text is clear and certain, as in the case of Romans 13:1?  Let every person (which includes John MacArthur) be subject to the authorities over him, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are ordained by God. That's clear and unambiguous. Yet, it seems to me, that JM is now opposing the Californian State on Covid-19 regulations. He is even getting involved in legal action. True? When it becomes apparent it is in direct opposition to sensible health and safety guidelines then there are problems with hermeneutics. There are other problems too. The legal costs, and the witness of his church, which seems to be ignoring medical opinion concerning the dangers of Covid-19 etc., will be remembered in church history.

Farewell dear Joel Edwards, we'll meet again one day (Yom Yahweh)

I was, and still am, so sad to hear about Joel's death yesterday. We were undergraduates together. His room was next to mine in Aldis Hall, Northwood, when we were studying Theology, sitting at the feet of great scholars, great Evangelical scholars, men who wrote commentaries, learned journal articles, worthy tomes and best selling books, which were found on church bookstalls. Although we both grew up on the streets of North London, our backgrounds were so completely different. Joel had lived with his mother and sister in one room in a rented flat. I lived in the wealthy suburbs where N2 meets N10. My grandparents were very wealthy, owning property that would be worth loads of money today. My paternal grandfather had three music shops, the flagship was in Highgate, N6. My maternal grandmother owned a whole street in south London, coastal bungalows in Essex, some coastline near Barnstable that Billy Butlin wanted to buy, and acres of land in Northamptonshire with a small thatched cottage. Joel grew up in abject poverty, as his mother worked at cleaning jobs, which were badly paid, to feed the family. His local Pentecostal church fellowship provided financial support, so Joel could go to church in his Sunday best and was well dressed at school. Coming from Jamaica the Edwards family faced lots of racial abuse. It was not easy to be black, poor and living in a single parent family with little means of financial support for education etc. Getting into college would have been a considerable struggle for Joel. I praise God for what Joel achieved. He was a great Pentecostal preacher, anointed, gifted, humble of heart with a tremendous sense of humour. He was unique. It was a privilege to have known him.

Case Solved - the husband murdered Caroline!

 Caroline Crouch Anagnostopolos was murdered by her husband, known as Babis. He has confessed to the crime(s) and staged an elaborate cover up. It happened after an argument. Caroline had threatened to leave him and take their baby away. Babis even killed the family dog to make it look like a gangland attempt to break into the house, and then torture Caroline to find out where the money and valuables were kept. Babis played the victim who was tied up. He maintained, at first very convincingly, that Caroline was forced to reveal the location of the items while he was helpless to intervene. A pack of lies!

It is a Greek tragedy. The baby will now grow up without parents.

China and Hong Kong are prison states and the people are in custody

 China is now a custodial country, a prison state which cannot tolerate a free press and true freedom.

The attack on and detention of journalists in Hong Kong shows, once again, the illiberal, repressive and anti-democratic ways and methods of the Communist Party.  

The Communist Party of China fails to understand the importance of a free press and the open and fair exchange of ideas.  The Communist Party (CP) breeds enemies of the open society and true democracy, which is established by the freedom of the press, civil liberties, freedom of religion and worship, independent education and freedom of travel, movement and intellectual enterprise.

Time and time again Communism restricts, represses and repels attempts to criticize and condemn injustice, corruption, mendacity and falsehood. Some CP officials seem to be inoculated against truth, clear facts and common sense.

It is a very bad move to attack the free press and hide behind national security and other means and methods of control. The CP want so much control that they are creating a prison state, a custodial country.

Concerns about the Crouch-Anagnostopolous case

I expected that this murder case would have had suspects in custody by now.  It seems that the DNA evidence has not produced the results that many had hoped for. It was reported that Caroline, the murder victim, had fought the attacker(s) and had DNA under her fingernails. Perhaps the sample of DNA did not yield  a positive result or clear identification of the perpetrator. 

Some people knew about the cash and jewellery at the house, and they thought that this money was on the premises to pay for a land deal. Such information would be taken into account by the Greek Police, who would be considering persons of interest, those capable of this horrendous crime, with motive, means, opportunity, criminal connections, and methods of fencing the jewellery. 

This type of violent murder is rare in Greece. Let us hope that the perpetrators are caught soon and that justice is seen, served and delivered. Caroline's family are serving a life sentence of grief and painful memories.

Iran again, where people live in pain

 It comes as no surprise to me to learn that in IRAN a human rights lawyer faces a brutal sentence of  over 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. Why? Nasrin Sotoudeh stood up for women's rights. According to Amnesty International her sentence is an injustice, an attack on her freedom of speech and her work to stand up for mistreated women. A punishment of 17 lashes by brutal male Iranian officers can be excruciatingly painful and humiliating for women. (Listen to the testimony of Ms Anni Cyrus on Youtube.) The prison conditions are dreadful through out the Middle East, particularly in IRAN which seems to be promoting Islamic Repression Administering Nastiness.  Nasrin is currently held in ? Prison, which has a notoriously hard and hard regime. It is a "dangerous, unhygienic and overcrowded prison".  The prospect of such a severe flogging in such a bad prison in such terrible circumstances is difficult to comprehend. Nasrin does not deserve to be in this situation. If the sentence is upheld Nasrin can look forward to being released at the age of 95, which is unlikely as she has poor health.

Anni Cyrus has mentioned on several occasions, from painful personal experience, that being a woman in Iran is not a pleasure at all.