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Dear
Friends,
April saw Bristol being
the centre of much TV and media attention in Britain as 19 year old
Andrew Ibrahim was arrested by police in Westbury upon Trym on
suspected terrorist activities. As has become the norm in these
circumstances leaders of the Muslim community in Bristol had to come
out to speak to the media and reassure the general public that this
activity does not represent the values and ethos of true Islam.
At
much the same time I was able to listen to a debate on Jeremy Vine’s
Radio 2 show between a leading Roman Catholic and Susan Blackmore. Just in case you haven’t come across Susan Blackmore previously she is
very much an atheist and very much anti-religion. Religion, Susan
Blackmore believes, has been responsible for far too many of the
world’s woes and sufferings. I have heard her on more than one
occasion and her argument is always the same. On this occasion
something surprising happened: she had to concede that the teaching of
Jesus was something special and different, though this did not always
translate over into the life and practice of the church. On this
occasion the Roman Catholic church and Pope Benedict was the focus of
particular criticism.
Susan had just
conceded what is always the redeeming feature of any true religion –
God can get in! For the Christian faith the death and resurrection of
Jesus, and then Pentecost underline this truth. Up until the coming of
the Holy Spirit it could be said that we were still looking at an
example of a failed religion. The disciples may have been taught what
Jesus was all about, but their implementation and living out of that
teaching had been somewhat limited.
The Spirit comes and the release
of energy and vision is remarkable. Now the church truly begins and so
does the mission of the church. It is the beginning on a new era. True
enough we have had any number of problems since then, but then again
there have always been any number of new beginnings. The Spirit is
never far away. My hope and prayer is that the Holy Spirit may make
new the lives of those Muslims who pervert the values of Islam to
destroy life instead of making new in the image of God. For ourselves
I hope that the celebration of Pentecost will also be part of our
renewal – God can get in no matter how much we lock ourselves away.
Douglas
May 2008
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