The host nation for the soccer World Cup, South Africa, has introduced us to the modern horn of Africa – the vuvuzela. This instrument, blown with vigour, is responsible for the incessant noise which has blighted the opening matches of the competition. Heard on the telly, it resembles a swarm of bees in the room. Experienced in the stadium, each horn producing up to 135 decibels, the noise must be mind numbing.

At least that is the only explanation I can offer for the miserable standard of football being played on the pitch. The players are cut off from each other so that familiar calls at key moments in the game go unheard. Encouragement or advice from supporters, for so long an integral component in the enjoyment of the game, has been neutralised. Communication, by radio between the referee and his officials, has been rendered impossible so that yellow cards have been substituted for the referees “word of advice”!

Broadcasters like BBC have turned to technology to tune out the vuvuzela from interfering with reception. The unfortunate supporters have had to purchase earplugs, being sold at stalls by opportunistic vendors, on their way to the games!

What has the Bible to say about horns? Quite a lot!

The word is used with a range of meanings. There is the ram’s horn blown at the destruction of the walls of Jericho. Then we hear of the Prophet Samuel anointing young David with a horn of oil. In the Book of Daniel the horn represents the might of nations as he prophesies their rise and fall. It is this `mighty` aspect of the horn, applied to salvation which John the Baptist’s father Zechariah prophesied at the birth of his son, that characterised King David and now applies to King Jesus.

Zechariah used the expression in St Luke’s Gospel chapter 1 verse 69 – “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David….and you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God.

That salvation is available today to all who look to the risen Jesus – even to those who blow the vuvuzela!

This week, the first of the dozen funerals which must take place to bury Derrick Bird’s victims provided a focus for a grieving Cumbrian community, still raw from the shock of last week’s tragic events.  Bird was normal taxi driver, a sociable man. He lived a simple life, a regular at his local pub where he enjoyed a pint days before he turned his gun on neighbours, colleagues and his twin. What made his crime so chilling was the lust for blood which seemed to take over after the original premeditated killings of brother, colleagues and solicitor took place. Bird, a divorced father of two who had recently become a grandfather, had been a man of hidden anger – an anger fuelled, it seems, by worries about a tax bill on €72,000 of undeclared income, his mother’s cancer and breaches of taxi-rank rules. Crucially, he was also bitter and paranoid about what would happen to the estate of his mother, after her death, believing that his twin brother, David, had gained unfair advantage with the help of Commons the solicitor. It has emerged that Bird, who murdered 12 people before taking his own life, watched Steven Seagal’s movie “On Deadly Ground” the night before launching his murderous spree. The violence in this 1994 film is considerably less that many more recent movies but the ease with which lives are taken makes killing seem normal in the fantasy world of cinema. What has the Bible to say about such a tragedy? The best know premeditated murder in scripture was as St Matthew records, “all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death”. Here was premeditated murder by those who had a vested interest in taking out someone who threatened their corrupt way of life. Did they know who this Jesus was? Did their hatred blind them to His identity? Had they any idea that He was the fulfillment of all that their law and prophets spoke of?  Even in his death the common criminal next to Him recognised Jesus as the King about to come into His kingdom and at that moment the thief became a citizen of it. Sadly the death of Derrick Bird is more akin to Judas who, having betrayed Jesus, hung himself.  Two deaths, two destinies. The fate of the 12 victims only reinforces the need to be prepared. Recognise Jesus for who He is and put your trust in Him.

Following the failure of the flotilla of 9 Turkish ships sailing out of Istanbul for Gaza came the Motor Vessel Rachel Corrie to add an Irish dimension to the humanitarian aid effort. The result was as predictable as the fate of the flotilla with the exception that those on board were not of the Islamic jihadists’ frame of mind and actually assisted the boarders to come onto the ship. Its cargo will be checked out at the Israeli port of Ashdod before being sent into Gaza to ensure that it does not contain material which could be used in the Hamas war effort against Israel. Apparently in a bizarre development Hamas have not permitted the flotilla’s cargo to proceed into Gaza overland so the Israelis’ have asked Nobel Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire, who was on the “Rachel Corrie”, to head up its cargo into Gaza! It is hard not to view the whole episode as a massive game of brinkmanship. Public relations people on both sides work on the events to gain the sympathetic ear of the world’s press and perhaps obtain some advantage for their cause. The deaths which occurred on the flotilla and which are to be condemned, provide Hamas with somewhat higher moral ground which they do not wish to lose by the easy transportation of the cargoes overland into Gaza. The latest news from Cyprus is that four more boats are being prepared to test the blockade. There has to be a better way! The Bible has plenty to say about the fate of Israel and the two lines of descendants – the Jews through Jacob and the Arabs through Esau. Their implacable animosity was predicted in God’s sovereign purposes and copper-fastened in their two opposing religious systems of Judaism and Islam. Their desire to see the destruction of the other finds credence in Jesus words referring to the last days; “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that its desolation has come near”. St Luke ch.21:20. In the meantime we are still in the day of God’s grace. Judgement has not yet fallen. Whilst some may laud the efforts of the “Rachel Corrie” God has provided a Man to stand in the gap between those who perpetuate division. Writing about Jesus to the church at Ephesus he says; Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Jesus has done the work. The Holy Spirit is applying it today to every repentant heart. Blockades are lifted at Calvary!

For those following, even sporadically, the TV series Lost over its 6 years of existence right up to its finale this week, when it almost dominated the airwaves as US channels released it early in an effort to win rival audiences, the end was surprisingly reconciliation not slaughter. It started well with flight Oceanic 815 crash-landing on a tropical island but neither the passengers nor the island were what they seemed. The island was inhabited by scientists and brigands. It had a labyrinth of underground passages and caverns that housed equipment which operated the islands electromagnetic system. The passengers on the flight were all interconnected. The relationships were not at first apparent but their earlier lives were unfolded in a series of flashbacks. To spice up the series flash-forwards were introduced and if that was not confusing enough, parallel episodes were shown where the characters were both on the island and back in their home country. To complete the intrigue the theme of death stalked the series since 2004. However there were random resurrections and in the later scenes distinctions were blurred as to who were dead and who were alive as both behaved in a similar fashion! Included in the mix was a satanic character who appeared as black smoke and was connected to a blazing inferno in the centre of the island. In order to overcome this evil, the hero Jack had to drink water from a stream which emanated from a bright shining light. The liquid made him “fireproof” and he was able to plug the opening, extinguish the fire, save the island and possibly all of humankind. If you are still with me you will appreciate the person who said the series should be re-named “Totally Lost”! The Authors of the tale claim to be Christians and the entire series can be thought of as a six-year meditation on how human beings approach death. There were plenty of burials on the beach but those who made it to the finale appeared to be reconciled at least to each other in a church type of building called “home”. God only came into the picture in the symbolism on the stained glass window, which showed Christian as well as occultist imagery. This was where Jack Shepherd’s father (now resurrected) helped his son to find his way “home”. Jack’s number was 23 hinting at Psalm 23 – the Shepherd psalm – but that was as good as it got! In the Bible death is the product of sin. It is not “natural” but an aberration resulting from the fall. To attempt to sanitise death is to ignore the work of Christ in dying for lost sinners. His salvation is God’s gift: – the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans Ch.6 verse 23. It’s the receiving of this gift that brings the sinner into God’s family: – to all who did receive him, (Jesus) who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. St John Ch.1 verse 12. It is through faith in Jesus that the lost are reconciled to God and to one another and are brought “home” to heaven.

57 “Summertime and the living is easy” as the words of the lullaby from the cotton plantations in the US goes. Well summertime has arrived and for the last 24hours we have experienced what for us is a heat-wave. “Fish are jumping and the cotton is high.” I haven’t heard if the mayfly have hatched but the grass is growing high. “Your daddy’s rich and your mamma’s good looking”. Nothing like some reassuring words to lull a baby to sleep – the reality may be somewhat different! “One of these mornings you’re gonna rise up singing, you spread your wings and take to the sky.” The future is beautiful from the perspective of the innocence of youth. “But until that morning there is nothing can harm you with your daddy and mommy standing by – they are standing by, I know, don’t cry.” Safe and secure in a parents love. It’s only a lullaby but it captures a lot of our dreams of a world where the harshness of reality often feels more like wintertime! The Bible promises us the seasons: – “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8 verse 22) The writer of Ecclesiastes reckons there is a time for every human event or activity: –

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” And in his famous poem in Chapter 3 ranges widely over human activity. From the pen of Jeremiah we have his lament over the faithlessness of Judah: – “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” On the mission of Jesus to earth the Apostle Paul writes: – “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4 verse 4) Redemption completed! Security in God’s family – not in a lullaby but in real time. I am reminded of the words of the dying Highland crofter, who was asked concerning his salvation replied, “I thatched my roof in the summertime”! There is no better time to prepare than now. Trust Jesus.

Imagine a land where marriage ceased to be a picture of Jesus relationship with His church. Fidelity and permanency are gone. Where the legislators deny that God has spoken by enacting laws contrary to His word. The boundary stones have been removed and replaced by lawyers. A land where the new trinity of tolerance, equality and individual freedom have replaced the old communities where needs could be met by shared responsibility. You are looking at Ireland today. Imagine a land where the people never want to grow up, where their sexual relationships with both male and female are “open” meaning partners consent to each other having sex with other people. Where advocates of this type of “freedom” want to produce “varied, creative, and adaptive contours, including small group marriages”. You are looking at USA tomorrow – and Ireland the day after tomorrow. Recently a number of Evangelicals had a letter printed in the Irish Times describing the Biblical boundaries for sexual activity. The responses which the paper printed either ignored scripture or else mangled it. The Government are deaf to the plea for a conscience clause to be incorporated into the Civil Partnership Bill which is soon to be passed into law. Are we making too much of a fuss about this matter? What does the Bible say? The Bible tells it like it is. King David was an adulterer and King Solomon a womaniser. When we read the Bible we need to discern when the characters are sinning and when they are acting in obedience to God’s wishes. Kings were supposed to enact God’s laws and to govern in accordance with them. The majority of them failed and we read again and again that they “did evil in the sight of the Lord”. In Solomon’s case he was not punished because of God’s promise to David but after his death the kingdom was divided and 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel were lost. In the New Testament the sins which we are about to enshrine into law are embedded in lists but not singled out as being particularly heinous. The legalising of them will not affect the church but it will give a false sense of legitimacy to behaviour which God condemns. The speed with which change is taking place means that even at a sociological level there is not enough data to ring the alarm bells and by the time there is – it will be too late to reverse the engine. Apostasy, as in Solomon’s case, impacts the next generation. It’s the children who will inherit the fruit of disobedience. But there is a better way. It’s the way of Love, joy and peace with God. It’s the way of security for this life and the next. It comes not by trying but by trusting in the work of Jesus on the cross. None need join the “race to the bottom” by following the liberal agenda. It can never satisfy. It will always sell you short. Turn to your Maker, who has promised to all who do, to make you a new creation. (2 Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 17).

It’s not the first time a live microphone has caught an aside made by a celebrity when he or she thought it was switched off! Prime Minister Brown’s doorstep chat with Labour supporter Gillian Duffy appeared to go reasonably well, that is until Brown was being driven away in his ministerial car. In its relative seclusion he allowed himself to express his true feelings about the interview. He thought Gillian was a bad choice and wanted to know who had arranged it. He feared the media would show him in a bad light then unwittingly ensured that this would happen by calling her a “bigoted woman”! All of which was broadcast over the on-site loudspeakers. The journalists covering the event had their story handed to them on a plate. Brown had the tape of his off the record words played to him in the studio a short time later. This caused the ministerial car to make a second journey to Mrs Duffy’s house where the now contrite Prime Minister spent the next hour inside with Mrs Duffy. Unfortunately the microphone was not left on this time and we can only guess at the word games which ensued! What has the Bible to say about our words? Can those asides, those throw away lines, be of any consequence to God? It seems that they are because they reflect our thoughts more accurately than our more nuanced words. When the Pharisees tried to discredit Jesus ministry by saying he was a blasphemer he countered them with a severe warning; “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” St Matthew ch.12 verses 36/7. Careless words revealed the condition of the heart of the thief on the cross who despised Jesus. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” Fortunately for us the microphone was left on so to speak and we heard him being rebuked by the other thief who then cried out to Jesus. Notice he didn’t cry to the Priests at the foot of the cross though they had just heard his confession. He didn’t cry to the Apostle John though doubtless he recognised him. He didn’t cry to the Blessed Virgin Mary though she was present. He cried to the only one who was able to help. His words revealed his hearts desire and he put his faith in Jesus, the only one who could save him for all eternity. St Luke ch.23 verses 37/43. We don’t need to have a microphone around our neck to remind us that we are so like Brown. Heaven hears and when the accounts are given we will be like the crucified thieves. May God grant us the grace to place our faith in Jesus that we too, like the confessing thief, may be with Him in paradise.

Dear Friends, This last week has been a reminder that we live in God’s world and, although fallen, is not out of control. All events lie within his permitted will. At present we know in part; then we shall know fully as we are fully known – 1Cor.13:12. In Christ, George. Eyjafjallajokull.  Word on the Week 24th April 2010. Earthquakes have been occurring in South America and China but it has taken the Icelandic eruption to wake up Europe to their horror. Of course we knew about Haiti and Peru. We had even read about China. This one was different. This one hit us! True there was no loss of life and only a little brown dust to wash off the car – but the disruption to air travel! Paralysed we were. Cut off from the homeland in our holiday retreats. Stopped in our tracks for 6 whole days. Much weeping and wailing at the airports while the ferries never had it so good!  The more macho among us had tales of buses, trains and automobiles to tell and those with an equestrian interest made the annual pilgrimage to Punchestown Race Course a do or die affair.  All in all a bit of escapism to get our minds off the economy! What about places where ‘quakes are a common occurrence? Take Muslim Iran for instance. A leading Iranian cleric has told the faithful they must pray and give to the poor to avoid the earthquakes that have often ravaged the country, a Tehran daily reported on Saturday.  The comments by hardliner Ayatollah Ahmad Janati in his sermon at the main weekly Muslim prayers in Tehran on Friday came a week after a fellow cleric warned that immodestly dressed women were causing quakes. “No-one can predict earthquakes with certainty, except those who are pious,” the reformist Aftab e-Yazd newspaper quoted Janati as saying. So now we know! What does the Bible say about earthquakes? Quite a lot. In all three synoptic Gospels Jesus is recorded in saying they would be a regular part of this age (not in the age to come) until the return of Jesus to redeem all of creation. Earthquakes, as you would expect, feature strongly in Revelation – a book which ushers in the end times.  Earthquakes have the ability to concentrate the mind like nothing else. It is significant that they featured at both the Cross and Resurrection; St Matthew 27:54 & 28:2. The first of these events powerfully affected the Centurion in charge of Christ’s crucifixion. The scripture says he was filled with awe and said of Jesus, “Truly this was the Son of God”. The second heralded the moving of the stone to reveal to Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and John the triumph of the resurrection – so well captured in the paraphrase of Psalm 48: – The Saviour died, but rose again triumphant from the grave; And pleads our cause at God’s right hand omnipotent to save. Earthquakes? They strike terror into the heart of man but hold another message for the Believer. Put your faith in the risen Christ. He is returning soon.

Dear Friends, Repentance is commanded in Scripture. Some say repentance is hard – the Bible says it’s impossible! Augustine got a handle on this conundrum when he said; “God gives us commands we cannot perform that we may know what we ought to request from Him”. Pray to the Lord to show you your sin (not just what bugs you) then take it to Jesus. In Him, George. Authority. Word on the Week. 17th April 2010. In Roman times in Palestine there was no difficulty in recognising where the authority lay. Her soldiers used crucifixion. 2,000 in one day makes a pretty clear statement as to who is in charge.  In ecclesiastical matters excommunication, with its attendant fear of hell, enabled the church to establish its authority. Add superstition and the withholding of scripture and authority was relatively easily imposed on the people. Today in our secular society, democracy has hampered those in government from abusing power – in case they lose it! In ecclesiastical societies, the ability of churches to abuse has been dramatically reduced by the availability of an open Bible.  No longer do people look at large buildings and fine vestments and think, “that is where the power lies”. This week the epitome of all that in Vatican City has begun to be exposed. The ability to self-destruct simply by failing to own up to error is built into the human physic. Add the notion of infallibility and you have burned the bridge to Gospel country. What does the Bible say to all this? In Psalm 51 David realises that covering up his sins may fool man but cannot deceive God. “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” The Bible is not selective when it comes to exposing sin. The Apostle Paul proclaims that “God is telling everyone everywhere that they must repent” Acts 17 verse 30. There are no exceptions. We must look back to the cross where God’s Lamb took the sins of the world. There were no sins too sinful. As St John wrote in his 1st letter “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins…the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.” Where does authority come from? Authority comes from the God of the Word who has all authority and the faithful application of the Word of God by His redeemed servants. May God grant the grace to truly repent and trust in the work of Jesus.

Cast your mind back to the playground. You are 4 and already well versed in name-calling. It was a gift to your art if the other’s name rhymed with a rude word. Now imagine you have a Nigerian classmate called Toyosi Shitta-bey! You are glad you are Irish, white and speak with the local accent. Even so you don’t like it when you are called names, when you have done something different, stood out from the pack. Then you crave the anonymity of the herd. The safety of sameness! Roll on 11 years and your classmate has survived the name calling. This would have become more sophisticated, developing along ethnic lines. Toyosi has now become a talented footballer. His ability distinguished him from the rest and a note of jealousy has added flavour to the language. His colour meant that his friends tended to be black and this provided an easy pigeon hole in which white prejudice could be placed. His 5 friends could only look on with astonishment as Toyosi was fatally knifed on Good Friday by two older Irishmen.  We may never know what was said, what gesture provoked the attack or was it simply eye contact that created the offence?  Evil needs little justification. Merely to exist can be sufficient motive. Jesus Christ was always going to be an easy target. The main difficulty the powers that be had in disposing of him was his popularity with the people. There was also the ease with which he handled questions and told parables most of them with a double meaning which showed them in a bad light. Then there were the miracles. Not counterfeit ones that could easily be discredited. These were well known people who were healed. He was so different. He was undermining the establishment which they loved. He had seen through their hollow power structure. He was dismantling their man made religion. He must be stopped! And so it was on that first Good Friday “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities: upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed”. “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteousness for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter ch.3 v 18) We who are evil by nature need to reach out to the nail pierced hands of the only One who can “present us faultless before His Fathers throne”. (Jude 24). His salvation is the only one which can permanently unite young and old, rich and poor, black and white because those who truly trust in Him are, by His grace, radically changed to love one another.