June, July, August 2024 

Re: 'We meet in a park, on the beach, even out on the water' - the story of Ocean Church

Brilliant! Great that Southern Counties Baptist Association have been able to support this too
Savannah (via Facebook)

Great story. Love the creativity in this.
Paul (via Facebook)
 

Re: Beyond Christian Zionism

I was interested in Ian Stackhouse’s article on his latest book Beyond Christian Zionism. I understand many of the points that he makes, and I too struggle when anyone claims to have a monopoly of understanding eschatological prophecy in the Bible. But one other thing troubles me.

When I was in school many years ago, a wise history teacher told me that there was always a great risk for a nation when it stood 70 years from its last major conflict. The generations who fought in that war have died out, and with them the memory of what war is really like.

There is so much righteous anger about what is going on in Gaza, and rightly so, but war was ever thus. The allied bombings of one city in Germany (Hamburg) in 1943, probably killed more people than all those who have died in the last year in Gaza (the probably is because so many bodies were totally vaporised in the fire storms they couldn’t be counted).

Add into that numerous other German cities that received the same treatment, and you come up with an estimate of between 400,000 and 600,000 casualties, mostly civilians. You can then add in between 129,000 and 226,000 people killed in the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Yet there were no war crime trials for the allied leaders when the war was over. The victors wrote our histories, and even today we celebrate our leaders and fighters without question. The people who protest the killings in Gaza don’t disrupt Remembrance Day services with their banners.

For almost everyone today war is about black and white issues, goodies and baddies – a caricature. I remember standing in front of the war damaged church in Saint-Lo in Normandy, and doing a double take as I recognised it from the Medal of Honour computer game I had been playing the week before. In that game no children get killed, no women raped, there is no collateral damage of civilians, no human shields, but that is a fantasy version of what war is like.

What has been happening in Gaza has been truly horrific, but that is what war is like. There are no Queensbury rules, and in fact some might say that compared to what wars have historically been like Israel have been incredibly restrained. Statistically 80 per cent of Israel's guided weapons hit the target accurately (not saying they don’t kill people who are being used as human shields); all the Hamas rockets are untargeted. In WWII it is reckoned that between 5,000 and 45,000 bullets were fired to kill one enemy soldier. The rest missed their target, many hit non-combatants.

Sure, we should protest against the obscenity that is war wherever we see it, but maybe the world might listen more if we started with our own inconvenient history. Fighting in war takes courage, and so does fighting against war. In both it is easier to pick off the simple targets first, but that usually accomplished little.

Moving one’s support away from a party whose actions are almost universally unpopular, isn’t earth shattering – maybe one would have a lot more to say in a book if one took a positive stand against the violence of war, whoever carries it out, rather than just jumping on a popularist bandwagon.
Peter Cook, Bristol

 

Re:  Israel
Having just watched a reporter interview Palestinian people abroad who all thought Israel should not exist in the Middle East, and October 7 was perfectly acceptable, it makes me wonder if history is repeating itself?

Having lived in Muslim countries for a long time, and knowing the mindset of many who take the Koran seriously, I wonder if we are missing the deeper “war” that goes on behind the scenes?
Hennie Nijman, Pembury Baptist Church

 

Re: Nature and science meet faith in stunning new Baptist-led films 

I’m using this to kick off our Sept! Really enjoyed prepping the first one. Love the themes of wonder, playfulness and communion! The videos are excellently done
Jonathan (via Facebook)

 

Re: A Landscape of Grief by Jenny Hawke
I do hope that this book is of help to many. Sadly Jenny herself died on Thursday 31st August 2023, just one month after she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Rosey (via Facebook)