31 December

Today's the day when in 1879 inventor Thomas Edison first gave a public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb, by lighting up a whole street in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran special trains to Menlo Park on the day of the demonstration in response to public enthusiasm over the event. Although the first incandescent lamp had been produced 40 years earlier, no inventor had been able to come up with a practical design until Edison embraced the challenge in the late 1870s. After countless tests, he developed a high-resistance carbon-thread filament that burned steadily for hours and an electric generator sophisticated enough to power a large lighting system. Of his many inventions, the electric light bulb remains the one he is best remembered for, and the one that has had the biggest impact on society.

God is the Creator of light itself, one of the most complicated and yet most basic components of the universe. But he is not content just to let us live in physical light. He also switches on the light of his truth in our hearts. When the Spirit of God leads us to understand who Jesus is and put our faith in him, a light really does come on inside. This is how the Bible explains it in 2 Corinthians 4:

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

So as we approach a New Year, let's make it our resolution to let God sweep out the darkness in our lives.

30 December

Today's the day when in 1986 coal mine canaries were finally made redundant. The miners' feathered-friends had served faithfully for generations as detectors of poisonous gases underground. It was announced that more than 200 canaries would be phased out of work in Britain's mines in favour of new electronic carbon monoxide detectors. Needless to say the miners' unions were disappointed at this latest round of redundancies in their industry, but overall it was agreed that the new technology would be cheaper and safer in the long run.

Miners have always needed to watch out for the dangers of harmful gases. And Christians always need to watch out for harmful attitudes. Several times Jesus tells us we should watch out for temptation. Some of the greatest spiritual harm can come to us when we fall in love with money and possessions and Jesus is very direct in his words about this. Listen to this from Luke 12:

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a person's life does not consist in the abundance of their possessions.

As the New Year approaches, is it time to review your life and make sure there is notr a build up of harmful greed?

29 December

Today's the day when in 1170 Archbishop Thomas Beckett was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. He was killed by four knights of King Henry II, apparently on the orders of the king himself who had fallen out with Beckett over the extent of the church's jurisdiction. The murder of such a high official was made all the more shocking by the fact that it took place on the sanctified ground of a cathedral. The Christian world was shocked by Becket's death, and in 1173 he was made a saint. In 1174, Henry was forced to do penance at his tomb, and his efforts to end the separation between church and state ceased.

If King Henry's penance was genuine then he must at some stage have felt the pain of deep regret. That's an experience most of us have known to a greater or lesser extent. It's that feeling that we really wish we had acted differently, because we were foolish or just downright wrong. The Bible promises us that God's mercy totally cleanses us of our past wrongs. Even when our inner heart tries to make us feel guilty, God says we are forgiven, because he is greater than that condemning inner voice. This is what John says in his first letter:

This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

28 December

Today's the day when in 1980 the green light was given for Breakfast TV in the UK. The Independent Broadcasting Authority announced that the contract for a breakfast-time show would go to TV-AM. It launched in 1983 but met with fierce competition from BBC's 'Breakfast Time' which received higher ratings. This led to a cull of employees at TV-AM including Anna Ford and Angela Rippon in favour of "people-next-door" Anne Diamond and Nick Owen. Even so, ratings continued to plummet until Greg Dyke's creation of furry puppet Roland Rat who proved popular with children and was widely acclaimed as the saviour of the show.

For millions of people breakfast time was never the same. For the first time, cornflakes were eaten in front of the TV. And New TVs were installed in kitchens across the land to ensure important stories were not missed by people waiting for the toast to pop up. Breakfast TV became the standard way many people started their day.

Mark's Gospel tells us how Jesus started his day – without any intervention from Roland Rat. Listen to this:

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 

What about you? Is there a regular slot in your day you devote to spending time with God? Maybe it's morning; maybe it's some other time. But Jesus thought it was pretty important to tune in to God each day.

 

27 December

Today's the day when in 1977 Star Wars fever hit Britain. Seven months after it had been first screened  in America the long-awaited blockbuster was released in the UK. Thousands of people flocked to cinemas to watch Carrie Fischer, Alec Guinness and little-known Harrison Ford star in this fairytale set in space. Written and directed by George Lucas, this U-certificate sci-fi epic set in 'a galaxy far, far away' is a classic epic of good versus evil. 

Stories like that touch on something at the core of being human: the undeniable sense that good and evil are in opposition and that the bets outcome is when good triumphs. In the Bible John tells us in his first letter that Jesus came into this world to challenge and overcome the powers of evil. His birth is God's promise that the end of human history will be the defeat of wickedness and the triumph of God. This is what John says:

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

It's amazing to think that what began in a manger in Bethlehem is God's plan for the victory of righteousness – and God' challenge to us to make sure we are on his side and not his enemy's.

 

26 December

Today's the day when in 2004 the dreadful Tsunami struck South East Asia. Massive sea surges triggered by an earthquake under the Indian Ocean created a wall of water which fanned out across the Indian Ocean at high speed and slammed into coastal areas with little or no warning. The tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in 13 countries. At least 128,000 people died in Indonesia alone and millions of people found their homes and livelihoods destroyed.

There's no easy answer to the question, Why do disasters like that happen? If there were, someone would have made a fortune from making sense out of such chaos. We know there is something about this damaged and fallen world that means that bad things happen to innocent people. For some people this is a reason not to believe in God, but for many more it is precisely the reason to hold on to the God we meet in Jesus Christ – who does not hide away from the suffering of this world but comes to share in it himself. Christmas is not just about the happy birth of a baby. It is about God immersing himself in the gritty and often painful reality of human life. As the Bible says in 2 Corinthians: 

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

25 December

Today's the day when around 1 AD Jesus Christ was born. Well no, we don't know exactly what day Jesus was born so today is the day Christians across the globe celebrate the fact that he was born: the Son of God came down to earth; God came to live among us. It's just too important, too world-shattering, too life-changing to let it pass us by. Since we don't know the exact date he was born, it was down to the church to choose one. And earlier generations came up with today's date.  It was probably an opportunity to replace a pagan festival called Saturnalia with a Christian celebration. And it worked! Worship of Saturn is long forgotten but millions of people worship Jesus Christ and trust their lives to him today. Listen to the simple truth of the events of the first Christmas as they are recorded in Luke's Gospel:

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

24 December

Today's the day when in 1818 the popular Christmas carol Silent Night was composed by Austrian headmaster Franz Gruber. The lyrics had been written by his friend, the priest Josef Mohr. On Christmas Eve he brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody for them with guitar accompaniment, which he could use during Midnight Mass. The request for a guitar accompaniment was unusual as guitars were normally associated with drinking songs. Tradition has it that the organ at his church was not working that night, which may explain this. (A more elaborate tradition says the organ failure was due to hungry mice eating the bellows; it's a pretty story but probably a seasonal embellishment of the original.)

Anyhow the carol quickly gained popularity in Austria and soon became well-loved in the English-speaking world too. During the First World War, the Christmas Truce between English and German troops in the trenches also began on Christmas Eve. Soldiers of both armies joined in singing Silent Night, because it was the only one that soldiers on both sides of the frontline knew in their own language.

As we think of the coming of Jesus this Christmas time, and perhaps enjoy singing or hearing Silent Night , let's be thankful that God himself did not keep silent but sent his Son to be his living word – the way he speaks his message of salvation and hope to all people. Back in the Old Testament God promised through Isaiah that he would not keep his saving plan quiet. This is what he said:

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet,

till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,

her salvation like a blazing torch.

23 December

Today's the day when in 1992 the Queen's Speech was published by The Sun newspaper two days before its scheduled broadcast. This sparked a full investigation from the BBC into the unprecedented leak. The script was spread across the centre pages of the newspaper and was virtually word-for-word the text of the five-minute broadcast, recorded at Sandringham. Buckingham Palace denounced it as '"very regrettable" and signalled a clampdown on the future advance availability of the speech to the world's press. It also warned other media organisations against reporting information from the newspaper. 

As we anticipate this year's Queen's Speech, the Palace will be hoping that her words will be heard by the public at just the right time – Christmas Day – and that no premature leaks will spoil this. Way back at the first Christmas the Son of God was born at just the right time – the time God chose to humble himself and enter this world in the humility of a baby and offer a way for all people to come to know him. This is what the Bible says in Galatians 4:

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."7So you are no longer a slave, but God's children; and since you are his children, he has made you also his heirs.

22 December

Today's the day when in 1972 the Chilean Air Force found 14 survivors from a plane which had crashed in the Andes Mountains 10 weeks previously. The aircraft, which was carrying amongst others the Christian Brothers, a catholic Uruguayan rugby team, had vanished on a flight from Montevideo to Santiago. The first news that anyone had survived came when two of the passengers reached civilization after a ten day trek in Arctic conditions. One of those men, Roberto Canessa, later made an unsuccessful bid for the Uruguayan presidency in 1994. The story of the ordeal was published in a book called "Alive!" and was (inevitably?) made into a film.

The thought of being lost in the hills was in the mind of the writer of Psalm 121. He could see the dangerous hills he had to travel through on his way to Jerusalem and he was afraid of what dangers lay ahead. Then he remembered that God was with him. As you listen to his words, think of any fears you have of what lies ahead.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—

where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—

the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and for evermore.

21 December

Today's the day when in 1937 the Walt Disney film Snow White and The Seven Dwarves had its cinema premier. Although it was not the first full-length animated film to be made (an Argentinian film called El Apostol has this honour) Snow White was certainly the first animated film to become widely successful in the English-speaking world. In fact, it remains the tenth highest grossing film in history if you make adjustments for inflation over the years. Disney had many critics during the production of the film who did not believe that a full-length animation would sell. The project became known as 'Disney's Folly' until the film proved tremendously popular at the box-office. Such was its appeal that cinema owners began to demand, 'We want more dwarves.' And so great has been its impact that even today just about everyone knows its classic songs: 'Whistle While You Work' and 'Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Off To Work We Go'.

I guess Disney could easily have given up on this project when everyone else was saying it was a foolish idea. But he had a deeper conviction that it was worth investing in. In fact when no one else would finance it he mortgaged his own house to raise the funds he needed. If you follow Jesus you are bound to meet some people who say that you are foolish. But if a deeper conviction burns in your heart that Jesus lived and died for you, then you'll risk everything to follow him. This is what Paul had on his mind when he wrote this in 1 Corinthians:

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

20 December

Today's the day when in 1979 the Government announced that more than 5 million council tenants would be given the right to buy their home. This policy has proved extremely popular and since then over 1½ million council properties have been bought. The downside of the scheme is that it has contributed to a reduction in the number of available council homes so there is now a shortage of social housing across the UK. 

As Christmas approaches we think about the plight of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, with no suitable accommodation available to them. And we are right to think of people who are homeless and inadequately housed today. That's something that has always been on God's heart. This is what he said through the prophet Isaiah:

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

19 December

Today's the day when in 1924 the last Rolls Royce Silver Ghost was completed and sold in London. The Silver Ghost had been introduced in 1906 as a custom touring car that promised luxury and reliable performance. It quickly gained a reputation as the "Best Car in the World." But the manufacturers knew that it wouldn't remain the best car for ever and that new models were needed. These came in due course in the form of the Rolls Royce Twenty, the Phantom, the Silver Cloud, the Silver Shadow, and the Silver Wraith. The company managed the transition to more modern designs whilst protecting its reputation for opulence and comfort.

It was also on this day in 1994 that Rolls Royce announced that in future its cars would be powered by 12 cylinder BMW engines rather than the classic British engines for which it had been known and loved. Many people bemoaned this but the company maintained that it had to move with the times.

Change is here to stay. And change is getting faster. Some people say that in today's world change is the only certainty. But it isn't. Because God's dependable presence with us through whatever comes and goes in life is an even greater certainty. Listen to these words from  Hebrews:

God has said,

"Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you." 

So we say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can human beings do to me?" 

18 December

Today's the day when in 1644 violin-maker Antonio Stradivari was born in Italy. He is probably the greatest craftsman in his field and he gave his life to the task of producing magnificent violins, cellos and guitars at his workshop in Cremona. During his lifetime he made over 1,000 instruments, of which about 650 survive today. Such is the reputation of his craftsmanship that his violins and cellos are still highly prized by professional performers and a 'Strad' can now sell at auction for over £2 million. 

Not many of us give our lives to such a specialised task, nor do we achieve such brilliance in what we do. But God has called us all to use the abilities he has given us, in our workplaces, in our communities and in our homes. And here's some guidance from the Bible on how God wants us to go about our work; this is from Colossians:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 

17 December

Today's the day when in 1903 the first aeroplane flight was made. Orville Wright piloted the inaugural flight of the self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft which he and his brother Wilbur had built near Kitty Hawk in North carolina. The plane stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered a distance of 120 feet. (To those of us who have no taste for airline food and long-haul boredom, that sounds like an ideal length for a flight!)

For many years people had dreamed of powered flight but it had always seemed an impossible dream. The Wright brothers showed that it was possible, that people really could fly.

Sometimes it's not an aeroplane flight we need to lift us up. We need someone to lift our soul. Tiredness, weakness, sorrow and regret can make us feel spiritually grounded. But through Isaiah God gives this great promise to everyone who wants to soar with him:

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no-one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

16 December

Today's the day when in 1773 The Boston Tea Party took place. In case you don't remember, it was actually no tea party at all. What happened was this: a group of colonists from Massachusetts disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded three British tea ships in Boston Harbour and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbour. This was not pure vandalism. It was a protest against the British Government's 'Tea Act', which gave unfair privileges to the British East India Company in America. 

The value of the tea they threw overboard was about £12,000. And that was a lot of money then. But once it was in the water there was no recovering it. It had gone for good.

The Bible uses this picture of throwing things to the bottom of the sea when it explains how God treats our wrongs and failures. This is what the prophet Micah says:

Who is a God like you,

who pardons sin and forgives the transgression

of the remnant of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry for ever

but delight to show mercy.

You will again have compassion on us;

you will tread our sins underfoot

and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

15 December

Today's the day when in 2001 the leaning Tower of Pisa reopened, after a team of experts had spent 11 years strengthening the tower without eliminating its famous lean. During its original construction in the 12th century its foundation began to sink into the soft, marshy ground causing it to lean to one side. The quick-thinking builders tried to compensate for the lean by making the top stories slightly taller on one side. However, the weight of the extra stonework they needed to do this only made the tower sink further. (Just think what a great episode of Rogue Traders that would have made!) 

Anyway, by the twentieth century the tower, 190 feet tall, leaned a dramatic15 feet off the perpendicular. Incredibly, in the year before it closed for repairs over a million visitors climbed the 293 weathered steps to the top.

The Tower of Pisa is a rare example of a building being famous for its poor foundations. You can be sure that almost every other building standing on dodgy foundations has not lasted long. The first rule of building is that you need something solid to build on. When it comes to building our lives, Jesus tells us there is nothing more solid than his words. This is what he says in Matthew 7:

Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

14 December

Today's the day when in 1972 Apollo 17, the last manned space mission to the moon, began its journey back to earth. Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt completed their third lunar walk after a short ceremony in which they bade farewell to the moon and unveiled a small commemorative plaque. On it was written, "Here man completed his first explorations of the Moon, December 1972." Altogether 12 people have walked on the moon since Neil Armstrong stepped out of Apollo 11 in 1969.

Since then space exploration has continued in many other ways. The mysteries of the solar system continue to provoke our curiosity and wonder. Have you ever asked yourself, how can the God who created the vastness of space care about me? If so, you're in good company. The writer of psalm 8 had the same question in his mind. This is what he wrote:

     When I consider your heavens,

    the work of your fingers,

    the moon and the stars,

    which you have set in place,

    what is man that you are mindful of him,

    the son of man that you care for him?

    You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

    and crowned him with glory and honour.

     You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

    you put everything under his feet:

     all flocks and herds,

    and the beasts of the field,

     the birds of the air,

    and the fish of the sea,

    all that swim the paths of the seas.

     O LORD, our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

13 December

Today's the day when in 1577 Francis Drake set out on the journey that was to make him the first explorer to sail all the way round the world. His ship The Golden Hind was accompanied by 4 other vessels but in devastating storms they were lost to the expedition. Drake crossed the Atlantic and sailed up the west coast of America. Unable to find a 'north east passage' back to the Atlantic he set out across the Pacific Ocean, sailed round the southern tip of Africa and returned to Plymouth in 1580, bearing treasure, spice and new information about the world's oceans. 

The Bible shows us that in one way or another trusting God is always a journey of adventure. Take Abraham, for example, living a comfortable and settled life in Haran until God called him to set off for the land he would show him. These words from Genesis 12 tell us how the adventure began:

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

So, what kind of adventure are you on with God?

12 December

Today's the day when in 2003 Keiko died. You are probably thinking, who on earth is Keiko? Well Keiko is the orca, or killer whale, who starred in the film Free Willy. In case your memory of the movie has got a bit hazy, let me remind you of the bare bones: whale gets separated from parents and ends up in captivity; delinquent kid teaches whale tricks; whale won't perform in front of audience so owner plans to kill whale for insurance money; kid must free whale before he cops it. I won't spoil the end of the story…but you can probably make it up yourself from there! 

In real life Keiko had been captured off the coast of Iceland in 1979. He had been taught some tricks and passed between different amusement parks. Following the film there was a campaign to return him to the wild and eventually he was released in the sea off Iceland and ended his days in the freedom of the ocean once again. 

There's a longing in the human heart for freedom too. To be free to become the people we were made to be. To be free from the false limitations other people put on us. To be free from the power of the past to control who we are. In John's gospel Jesus promises us that true freedom in life comes from him; this is what he says:

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it for ever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

11 December

Today's the day when in 1936 King Edward VIII abdicated from the throne. After ruling for less than one year he became the first British monarch to voluntarily give up the throne. He chose to do this after his decision to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson was widely condemned by the public and the Government. On the evening of December 11th he gave a radio address in which he explained, 'I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love.' The following day his younger brother, the Duke of York, was proclaimed King George VI.

But abdicating the throne isn't just for Edward VIII. Think about this: Jesus teaches that the kingdom of God is near and that we can come under his rule or kingship in our lives. This is what it says in Mark's gospel:

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" 

If God is going to rule in our lives then we have to repent; that means abdicating from the throne in our lives and surrendering to Jesus as Lord and King. As long as we want to stay on the throne and do things our way there's no room for Jesus to be King. Yet he rules our lives so much better than we do – if we only give him chance.

10 December

Today's the day when in 1901 the first Nobel Prizes were awarded. At a ceremony in Stockholm prizes were given in the fields of physics, chemistry, literature and peace. This all took place on the fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite. In his will Nobel directed that the bulk of his vast fortune was to be placed in a fund whose interest would be 'annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, in the preceding year, had conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.' 

Nobel did not explain publicly why he created the prizes but it is widely believed that he did so out of moral regret over the increasingly lethal use of his inventions in war.

Moral regret is something we all understand. Who hasn't done something wrong and later wished they could turn back the clocks and do things differently. Sometimes we can make some kind of reparation for what has gone wrong, as Alfred Nobel was trying to do. But in our heart of hearts we know that before God we can never make up for the wrongs we have done. 

The good news is that someone else can. Jesus died for our sins and his righteousness makes up for our unrighteousness. This is how John, in his first letter, teaches us that because of Jesus we are not trapped in guilt before God:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

9 December

Today's the day when in 1960 Britain's longest running soap opera, Coronation Street,  was first broadcast. Created by Tony Warren, the working title of the show was 'Florizel Street,' but it was changed after a tea lady named Agnes remarked that 'Florizel' sounded too much like a disinfectant. 'Corrie' is set in the fictional northern town of Weatherfield, and though the famous terraced houses in the title sequence have changed over the years the iconic theme tune by Eric Spear has hardly been modified since the first episode.

Coronation Street is about community and it tells stories of people whose lives are interconnected, for better or for worse. There is something attractive about this because we sense that we are made to belong with other people; we are not content in lonely isolation. The Bible explains that the church is meant to be a new kind of community, centred on Jesus and characterised by love, acceptance and mercy. According to the Book of Acts this is what the first church community was like:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

It's hardly the script for a soap opera – but it's the script for being church then… and now.

8 December

Today's the day when in 1980 John Lennon was murdered outside his apartment in New York. As he returned home from a recording studio Mark Chapman shot him four times in the back. Chapman later said he had heard voices in his head telling him to kill Lennon. The death of the former Beatle at the age of 40 caused a wave of sorrow across the world. Even on the twentieth anniversary of his death in 2000, millions of people still turned out to pay tribute to him in his home town of Liverpool and in New York.

We all hope for long life, security and good health, but none of us knows what the future holds. Every day God gives us opportunities to show his love and reflect his glory. So let's not waste a single day, because we don't know how many more we might have. This is how the Bible puts it in Ephesians 5:

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 

7 December

Today's the day when in 1941 Japanese planes launched a surprise attach on the US Navy at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. Six battleships and 112 other vessels were sunk, and 2,400 lives were lost. This, of course, was the event that drew America into the Second Wolrd War. If you don't know the story from history lessons in school then you maybe learned it from the film with Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale. There were six wartime investigations into how America was taken so totally by surprise. They revealed a lack of co-ordination and communication between Washington and the fleet in Hawaii, and between the different armed forces.

The danger of unexpected attack is part of the experience of being a Christian. The Bible teaches us to be prepared for the attempts of the devil to undo the good work God is doing in our lives. This warning comes from Peter's second letter:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

With God's power in us we can resist the attacks of the evil one. Let's just make sure we see them coming.

6 December

Today's the day when in 1994 The Queen gave her approval for oil drilling to take place in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The move came after studies showed there could be oil worth up to £1 billion lying beneath the castle. Canadian company Canuk Explorations announced plans to begin drilling in Home Park, about 500 metres from the castle walls. There was plenty of opposition from local politicians and from environmental groups to what the media dubbed ‘Dallas-On-Thames', but the county council nevertheless gave permission for the project to go ahead.

Strangely, nothing came of it. The first exploration well was due to be sunk in the summer of 1996. But when the six-year licence held by Canuk Explorations neared expiry that year, the Department of Trade and Industry did not renew it. So the prospect of ‘Royal Oil' evaporated.

Most of us have probably made plans for things that have not come to fruition. Sometimes it is our own mistakes that ruin our plans, but other times God simply says, ‘That might be a good idea, but it's not my plan for you.' We are wise when we recognise that some things we hope for are just not part of God's plan and we just accept that they will not happen. In the Old Testament King David desperately wanted to build a temple, but God said ‘no' to that. In 1 Chronicles 28 we read how David had come to accept that:

David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the brave warriors.

King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. 3But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.'

Maybe you need to receive God's peace today by recognising there is something you have longed for that is just not part of his plan for you.

5 December

Today's the day when in 1952 The Great Smog fell upon London. This thick smoke-laden fog shrouded the city for 5 days. An estimated 4,000 people died because of it, and cattle at Smithfield, were, the press reported, asphyxiated. Road, rail and air transport were almost brought to a standstill and a performance at the Sadler's Wells Theatre had to be suspended when fog in the auditorium made conditions intolerable for the audience and performers.

The Bible tells us that many people are caught in a kind of spiritual smog. They can't see the truth about God because they are wrapped up in the short-term priorities of this age. This is what it says in 2 Corinthians 4:

Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God... For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Thank God that he has power to take away the smog that blinds you to his love.

4 December

Today's the day when in 1917 the famous psychiatrist W H Rivers presented a groundbreaking report on ‘Shell Shock'. Addressing the Royal School of Medicine, Rivers described his work at Craiglockhart Hospital, near Edinburgh, where he had studied the psychological traumas of soldiers injured on the battlefields of the First World War. He showed that troops on the front lines who had been exposed to heavy bombardment suffered long-term symptoms of shell shock, such as debilitating anxiety, persistent nightmares and physical symptoms ranging from sickness to loss of sight.

By the end of World War 1 the army had had to deal with 80,000 cases of shell shock. Increasingly they found the same symptoms occurring in soldiers who had not been under direct bombardment but had simply been traumatised by the experience of combat. This discovery formed the background to the more recent recognition that people can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

We are all products of our own past experience and many of us carry hurts and pains from the things we have endured and the battles we have fought. We might not be shell-shocked but we are sometimes grief-shocked or divorce-shocked or life-shocked for some other reason. The Bible gives real encouragement to broken people like us. Listen to this from Psalm 147:

Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the broken-hearted
and binds up their wounds.

3 December

Today's the day when in 1988 Edwina Currie provoked outrage by saying that most of Britain's egg production was infected with salmonella. Farmers and politicians were outraged by her remarks, especially as she was Health Minister at the time. In a television interview she declared, "Most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella." Two weeks later she was forced to resign as egg sales plummeted and the government was forced to offer a compensation package of millions of pounds to cover the cost of purchasing surplus eggs and for the slaughter of unwanted hens.

It's amazing what a huge impact few carelessly chosen words can have. There are many places where the Bible warns us to be careful how we speak. The letter of James is probably where we find the strongest warning to engage brain before opening lips. This is what it says:

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

2 December

Today's the day when in 1995 futures trader Nick Leeson was jailed for six-and-a-half years for his part in the collapse of Britain's oldest merchant bank. The 28-year-old admitted to a judge in Singapore two charges of fraud connected with the ruin of the 233 year-old Barings Bank's. Judge Richard Magnus said Leeson had "spun a web of deceit" and created "a superficial reality designed to beguile" both Barings and the Singapore futures exchange. If you didn't hear the story at the time you maybe saw it in the film Rogue Trader, with Ewan MacGregor playing the part of Nick Leeson.

Deceit is always a dangerous game with disaster never far away. Through Isaiah God gives us this warning:

This is what the Holy One of Israel says:

"Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression
and depended on deceit,
this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
It will break in pieces like pottery,
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found..."

If there's anything you are doing that is built on deceit, today's the day to stop building before it collapses on top of you.

1 December

Today's the day when in 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested by police in Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. Five days later, thousands of black citizens boycotted the buses in Alabama - to mark the day she was due in court. She was fined $10 plus $4 costs. Later that same evening, the young preacher Martin Luther King addressed a crowd of several thousand at Holt Street Baptist Church and called for the boycott to continue. Nearly all Montgomery's 40,000 black citizens took part in the bus boycott, which lasted for 381 days. On December 20th the Supreme Court upheld the decision of a lower court to end segregation on Alabama's buses.

Rosa Parkes had the cry for justice in her heart. And that comes straight from God, who says through the prophet Amos:

Let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!

30 November

Today's the day when in 1995 Bill Clinton became the first serving US President to visit Northern Ireland. During the day Bill and Hillary Clinton received a rapturous welcome as they visited communities on both sides of the sectarian divide, and in the evening the President lit Belfast’s Christmas lights from behind a bullet-proof screen. Standing in front of a giant Christmas Tree shipped over from Belfast's twin city, Nashville, Tennessee he told the thousands of Clinton fans that America and Northern Ireland were "partners for security, partners for prosperity, and most important, partners for peace".

Jesus came to bring the message of peace with God to people on both sides of the social division that existed in his time between Jews and Gentiles. Jesus is the only way for any person to come to God. This is how his peacemaking mission is summed up in Ephesians chapter 2:

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

29 November

Today's the day when in 1877 Thomas Edison first demonstrated his new invention, the phonograph - a means of recording sound that was the predecessor of the modern day record turntable and CD player. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil cylinders using a stylus. Unfortunately this system had poor sound quality and destroyed the track during replay so you could listen only a few times. Edison's early patents show that he also considered the idea that sound could be recorded as a spiral onto a disc. His accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical and he became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey, where he lived.

Recording sounds is easy nowadays. We take it for granted. Discs, mp3 players and computers make it simple. It’s a bigger challenge to make sure the word of God is recorded on our hearts. But God promises this is precisely what his Spirit does. Jesus said his Spirit will lead us into all truth and Jeremiah tells us, in chapter 31, how that can happen:

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

No longer will they teach their neighbours,
or say to one another, "Know the LORD,"
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."

Maybe today you need to turn down some of the other noises you listen to and tune in to the message that God has written on your heart.

28 November

Today's the day when in 1990 Margaret Thatcher tendered her resignation as Prime Minister. She made her last speech from the steps of Number 10 Downing Street, saying, "We're leaving Downing Street for the last time after eleven-and-a-half wonderful years and we're happy to leave the UK in a very much better state than when we came here." Cameras then filmed her tearful departure from her official residence, as the premiership of Britain's first female leader - and the longest since 1827 – came to an end.

You probably won't have the honour of entering and leaving Downing Street during your career, but whatever comings and goings there are in your life you can be sure that God is with you through them all. And even in the final going out from this life into the next. This is how Psalm 121 expresses God’s promise to us:

The LORD watches over you,
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm,
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

27 November

Today's the day when in 1975 TV presenter Ross McWhirter was shot dead outside his home in London. Well-known as co-founder of The Guinness Book Of Records and host of the BBC TV programme Record Breakers, he was an outspoken critic of the IRA and had recently offered a reward of £50,000 for information leading to the arrest of IRA bombers. The gang that killed him were arrested two weeks later, following a six-day siege at a flat in London’s Balcombe Street. Charged with ten murders and 20 bombings they were jailed for life but were freed in April 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

McWhirter's determination to speak out against evil men and stand up for what he believed in reflects one strand of God's message through the prophet Ezekiel. He tells us that it is our responsibility to speak out and warn other people of the judgment that awaits them if they reject God. That’s not a very comfortable thing to do but listen to the serious warning God gives to those who will not speak out. This is from Ezekiel chapter 3:

When I say to a wicked man, "You will surely die," and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.

26 November

Today's the day when in 1992 it was announced that The Queen would begin to pay income tax. Prime Minister John Major told the House of Commons that The Queen had informed him she wished to make changes to her tax arrangements so that, for the first time since the 1930s, the monarch would pay tax. Under these changes she also took responsibility for the working expenses of most of her family so that only The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and the then Queen Mother would be paid by the public.

Questions about who should pay taxes have continued throughout history. One time some opponents of Jesus tried to trick him into an act of rebellion against the Roams with a question about taxes. This is how Mark chapter 12 records the conversation:

Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn't we?"
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
And they were amazed at him.

Most people are not unduly enthusiastic about paying taxes, even though we have to do it. Jesus shows us there is a far bigger question to face: not, how much do we pay to the state, but how much do we give to God? That’s the real life-defining question.

25 November

Today's the day when in 1952 Agatha Christie's murder-mystery The Mousetrap opened on the stage at the Ambassadors' Theatre in London. The crowd-pleasing whodunit went on to be the longest continuously running play in history. More than ten million people have attended over 20,000 West End performances of this classic play set in a remote country house, with a plot full of twists and turns, dark comedy and light relief.

The enduring quality of The Mousetrap is in sharp contrast to the many plays that have opened and closed within a week and it makes other classic stage-shows that have run for a few years seem short-lived. Its enduring quality is beyond question.

Endurance is the thought that filled the minds of the Israelites when Solomon dedicated the new temple to God. Through the awesome mystery of his glory filling the temple they saw the God whose love endures for ever. This is how the moment is described in 2 Chronicles 7:

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying,
"He is good;
his love endures forever."

24 November

Today's the day when in 1859 British naturalist Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking and controversial book On The Origin Of Species was published. Darwin’s theory was that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called "natural selection". Those organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than those of the species that lack the variation, so gradually life forms change to suit their environment.

The extent to which Darwin's theory is accurate has been argued by scientists and theologians ever since. But whatever method God has used to make us the people we are, the Bible leaves us with no doubt that every one of us is a wonderful example of God's creative handiwork. Psalm 139 celebrates the miracle of our creation like this:

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

23 November

Today's the day when in 2004 Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of his 1,000th game for Manchester United. Having led the team through a time of extraordinary success in the 1990s and early 2000s, winning a cupboard full of trophies, he celebrated this milestone in his 19th year as manager. Sometimes criticized for his handling of personal disagreements with players and his "my way or the highway" approach, Ferguson nevertheless demonstrates an exceptional perseverance in his role as manager of that one club for such a long period of time.

In a fast moving world, perseverance is not one of the most respected virtues around. It's easy to cut our losses and run when things get difficult. But in Romans chapter 5 the Bible shows us that in his grace God is crafting the experiences of our lives to teach us perseverance. This is what it says:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

22 November

Today's the day when in 1963 President John F Kennedy was assassinated by a gunman in Dallas, Texas. The presidential motorcade was traveling from Dallas airport to the city centre when shots were fired from the window of a building overlooking the road. The President collapsed into the arms of Jackie Kennedy. Seconds later Texas Governor John Connally who was travelling with the Kennedys was shot in the back and seriously injured. Shortly afterwards Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the murder of the President but he himself was shot two days later and was never brought to trial.

Millions of people still remember where they were when they heard the news that JFK had been shot. It's one of the defining moments of modern history and an event that made a lasting impression on a whole generation. It seems strange that so many people can share in such a vivid memory of one man's death. Yet at the very heart of Christianity is the death of one man, Jesus Christ, which was not just a defining moment for one generation but for every generation. This is how the once-for-all death of Jesus, our great High priest, is described in Hebrews chapter 7:

Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

21 November

Today's the day when in 1934 Ella Fitzgerald made her singing debut at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York. She went on to become one of the most influential jazz vocalists in the 20th century, winning 13 Grammy Awards over a period of five decades. With a vocal range spanning three octaves, she was noted for her purity of tone, near faultless phrasing and intonation and she was one of the greatest interpreters of classic American songs by the likes of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin.

Who could have guessed at that debut performance in New York what the future would hold? Who could have imagined what greatness lay ahead? In a similar way, when we know God as our Father we don’t know exactly what lies ahead in this life or the next, but we know that in some way great things have been prepared for each of us. Listen to these words from 1 Corinthians chapter 2:

No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him.

20 November

Today's the day when in 1995 Princess Diana appeared in a TV interview and spoke openly about her separation from the Prince of Wales. Interviewed by Martin Bashir on Panorama, she famously said that she would like to be a queen of people's hearts but she did not see herself becoming Queen of this country. Admitting that she had been unfaithful to Prince Charles, she also spoke of his extra-marital affair saying, "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

These unusually frank and personal remarks from a member of the Royal Family shocked the nation and evoked considerable sympathy for Princess Diana. The failure of the royal marriage caused genuine sadness to millions of people. Day by day we meet people who are themselves going through real troubles, whether it’s the breakdown of relationships or other serious difficulties. It’s easy to think, "that’s your problem, not mine" but in Galatians the Bible encourages us to listen and get involved in each other's problems. It says:

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.

What’s more, we can trust our problems to God’s care and show others that God can lift the weight from their shoulders in a way we never can. This is just what the writer of Psalm 68 is celebrating when he says:

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour,
who daily bears our burdens.

19 November

Todays' the day when in 1994 Britain's first ever National Lottery draw took place. Lottery operators Camelot announced that around 15 million people had bought 35 million tickets between them, at a cost of £1 each. They were hoping to win a jackpot of about £7 million although their chances of doing so were only one in 14 million. In fact seven winners got around £800,000 each in that first lottery draw.

Although the lottery has always been publicised as just a game and a bit of fun, Christians have generally been very wary of taking part. The ‘ticket to dream’ can easily be a ticket to envy and greed – to buy into the false dream that more cash can solve our problems and make us happy. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he teaches him (and us) about the satisfaction that comes from being content with our material possessions:

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

18 November

Today's the day when in 2000 the celebrity wedding of the year took place as Hollywood leading man Michael Douglas married Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones. The ceremony took place in New York’s Plaza Hotel at an estimated cost of £1.5 million, but it was shrouded in secrecy due to an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine reputedly worth £1 million. Security was so tight that guests had to show their hologrammed invitations before being allowed in and private photographs were banned.

In a world where the process and cost of holding a wedding often seems to eclipse the importance of marriage itself, it’s good to listen to the Bible setting out a pattern for loving commitment in marriage, as it does in Ephesians 5:

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

17 November

Today's the day when in 2003 Arnold Shwarzenegger was inaugurated as Governor of California. His career had already taken him from body-builder to film star; his big break came in ‘Conan The Barbarian’ in 1982 but he remains best known for his role as ‘The Terminator’ in James Cameron’s 1984 android thriller. His move into politics began with a determination to promote physical fitness for young people and more recently the ‘Governator’, as he has become known to many, has endorsed a radical commitment to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Schwarzenegger is not the first person to allow his celebrity status to help him step up to a position where he can make a difference in society. But making a difference is not just the role of celebrities or politicians. Through the prophet Micah God issues a challenge to all of us to live in such a way that the world around us will be blessed. This is how he puts it:

He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

16 November

Today's the day when in 1961 boxer Frank Bruno was born. He rose to fame after turning professional in 1980 and winning 21 consecutive fights by knockout, and his career reached its climax in 1995 when he won the WBC world heavyweight championship. Bruno achieved great popularity with the public by cultivating his cuddly bear image and his friendship with commentator Harry Carpenter, not to mention his frequent appearances in pantomime. Sadly after his retirement from boxing his life took a turn for the worse, following the breakdown of his marriage, the suicide of his former trainer George Francis a serious mental health problem.

Frank Bruno’s life has probably had greater highs and lows than most of us experience. But for all of us life is an often unpredictable mixture of good times and bad times. The Bible gives us a great reassurance that God is with us in the best of times and in the worst of times. This is how God’s faithfulness is spelt out in Romans 8:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

15 November

Today's the day when in 1889 Brazil's last emperor was deposed in a military coup. The Brazilian monarchy had been established in 1822, when Portugal's crown prince, Dom Pedro, proclaimed an independent Brazil under his rule. The Brazilian empire got off to a rough start, however, and in 1831 Emperor Pedro I abdicated in favour of his five-year-old son and returned to Portugal. Pedro II was crowned emperor in 1841 and during his five-decade reign Brazil enjoyed unprecedented stability. However, he later alienated certain sectors in society, including the military and the growing urban middle class. After being deposed in 1889, Pedro II went to Europe, where he died in exile two years later.

The New Testament urges us to depose the powers that set themselves up in our lives in opposition to God. False thoughts and wrong actions quickly become strongholds which obstruct God’s kingdom work in us and through us. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 tells us to be ruthless with them:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

14 November

Today's the day when in 1922 the BBC began regular radio broadcasts from London. The station known as 2LO began broadcasting on medium wave from Marconi House. Programming began with a newscast read by Arthur Burrows, the first Director of Programmes. The following day BBC broadcasts from Birmingham and Manchester were launched. From these simple beginnings has grown the vast international media corporation that is today’s BBC. Could Arthur Burrows and his colleagues have believed how deeply radio and TV would penetrate our society in the years to come?

Believing in the power of communication is at the heart of living as a Christian. God has spoken supremely about his love and salvation through Jesus Christ who lived and died and rose again. But he is still speaking to us in our daily lives by his Holy Spirit. The book of Acts tells us that since Pentecost the promise of the prophet Joel has been fulfilled and God is actively communicating with all his people, young and old, men and women by his Spirit. These words are from Acts 2:

… this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
`In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.’

So today, listen out for what God is saying to you by his Spirit. Is there a dream he has given you or a word burning in your heart that you know is from him?

13 November

Today’s the day when in 1940 Walt Disney’s film Fantasia was first released. The unusual animated film had no plot; it was an ambitious, artistic attempt to marry music and animation in a new way. The film's many animated sequences ranged from Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" to dancing hippos in "The Dance of the Hours." In 1999, the film was updated and re-released as Fantasia 2000, with new sequences to music including Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

Disney had successfully shown that music does not just have to be the background to films – it can be the subject, because music is a wonderful gift from God that has great power to move us deeply and enable us to express ourselves in a way that words cannot. So it’s no wonder that God commands a fantasia of praise from the full orchestra of created things. This is how Psalm 150 puts it:

Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

12 November

Today’s the day when in 2001 Greek authorities announced they would hold in custody 12 British plane spotters who had been arrested on charges of spying. The 11 men and one woman denied taking photographs in a restricted military zone. They had been attending an air show at a military base near Kalamata in southern Greece. British diplomats said they understood the group had a written invitation to attend the air show, but one which would have included a strict no-photography clause. They expected the court to view the whole affair as a cultural misunderstanding since plane-spotting is almost unheard of in Greece but in fact it took the group until 2003 to clear their names.

Back in the Old Testament some real spies managed to go unnoticed in their mission to bring a report of the Promised Land to Moses and Aaron. Some of the spies were filled with fear by what they saw, but Joshua and Caleb were full of faith. Their report is recorded like this in Numbers 14:

"The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

There’s a word to encourage us to trust God today, whatever we think lies ahead.

11 November

Today’s the day when in 1918 the First World War came to an end. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month an armistice was signed between Germany and the Allies. The war had left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation or exposure, as a result of the conflict. The coming of peace was a great cause for celebration, but against a background of terrible suffering that had preceded it.

When the New Testament reminds us to rejoice that there is peace between ourselves and God it cannot do so without also drawing our attention to the suffering that preceded the achievement of peace – in this case the costly death of Jesus for us. These words are from Romans 5:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand… You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

10 November

Today’s the day when in 1944 lyricist Sir Tim Rice was born. Best known for his collaborations with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, and his work with Sir Elton John to create The Lion King, he has also appeared regularly on TV and radio. He co-founded The Guinness Book of Hit Singles and appears in the film About A Boy in several real clips from the gameshow Countdown where he acts as the adjudicator. He remains outstanding as a great wordsmith and communicator.

All of us will speak thousands of words today. They might not be as carefully thought out as Tim Rice’s lyrics, but we would be wise to ask God’s Spirit to watch over our speaking. This prayer from psalm 19 helps us to do just that:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

9 November

Today’s the day when in 1989 East Germany opened the Berlin Wall, allowing travel from East to West Berlin for the first time in decades. The following day, celebrating Germans began to tear the wall down. One of the ugliest and most infamous symbols of the Cold War was soon reduced to rubble that was quickly snatched up by souvenir hunters.

We are probably all glad to be without the Berlin Wall but it’s all too easy for us to build our own barriers between ourselves and other people. One of the easiest ways to do that is when we hold a grudge against someone who has offended us, especially if they have upset us more than once. Let’s listen to a conversation between Jesus and Peter on this subject, recorded in Matthew chapter 18:

Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister when they sin against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

When he said that, Jesus didn’t mean, ‘start counting until someone has sinned against you 70 times 7’. He meant, ‘stop counting and start forgiving.’

8 November

Today’s the day when in 1793 the Louvre Museum in Paris was opened. Best-known for being the home of the Mona Lisa and the setting of many scenes in ‘The Da Vicnci Code’, the Louvre was a royal palace for two centuries before the revolutionary government made it a museum. Today the Louvre’s collection is one of the richest in the world, with artwork and artefacts claiming to represent 11,000 years of human civilization and culture.

It’s hard to imagine how many people and civilisations have gone before us in this world and how many generations might follow us. But there is no doubt that God is the Lord of history and the King over all ages. In the Book of Revelation the victorious saints sing this anthem of praise to Jesus in chapter 15:

"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages.

Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."

7 November

Today’s the day when in 1913 the French Novelist Albert Camus was born. He is most famous for his 1942 novel ‘The Stranger’ and his later book ‘The Plague’ in which he expressed his views on the absurdity and futility of human labour. In his view no events had any significance or meaning so the best we can hope to do is to make our own meaning by trying to enjoy our struggles. Camus was a long way from the Biblical view of life, which tells us that God has created us with the special purpose of reflecting his glory by the way we live our lives and becoming more like him. This is how the Apostle Paul sums it the astonishing purpose God has given us for living, in 2 Corinthians chapter 3:

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

6 November

Today’s the day when in 1972 the British Government froze pay and prices in an attempt to halt spiralling inflation. After talks between the Government, the TUC and the CBI had failed to produce an anti-inflationary deal, Prime Minister Edward Heath announced in Parliament there would be controls on pay and prices. In the following months this led to widespread industrial unrest, most memorably the miners’ strike the following year which caused serious power shortages and led to the imposition of a three-day week.

Earning our wages is important to all of us and generally we hope that over time they will increase. A three day week sounds attractive, but if we didn’t get our full week’s pay most of us would have difficultly paying the bills.

Yet when it comes to knowing God, what matters is not what we can earn but what God freely gives. If we think we can earn his love by what we do we are seriously deluded. His word tells us that if he paid us the wages we deserve, it would be dreadful; but instead he gives us the wonderful undeserved blessing of life in all its fullness. This is how Romans 6 verse 23 puts it:

‘The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.’

5 November

Today’s the day when in 1952 General Dwight D Eisenhower swept to victory in the American presidential elections with the largest number of popular votes ever recorded for a presidential candidate. His popularity among the American people as a military hero, having commanded his country's troops through Europe during World War II, was translated into a landslide of over 31 million votes.

The challenge for Christians is to welcome Jesus to rule over us with such enthusiastic acclaim. When we first start walking with him we name him as our ‘Lord’ but it’s easy to forget that as time goes by. And that’s precisely why peter says this in his first letter:

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Maybe you have voted Jesus out of office in your life so he is no longer ruling over you. If so, are you ready to set him apart as Lord once again today?

4 November

Today’s the day when in 1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated as he left a peace rally in Tel Aviv. The gunman was rapidly overpowered and arrested. He was believed to be one of the founders of an illegal Jewish settlement on the West Bank and a member of an extreme right-wing organisation. The rally at which Mr Rabin was shot was attended by about 100,000 Israelis who backed the Rabin government's peace initiatives with the Palestinians.

If you work for peace, whether it’s on an international scale or in your own family or workplace, Jesus says you come under God’s blessing. But in the next breath he warns us that doing what is righteous is no guarantee of popularity. Here are his words from Matthew 5:

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

3 November

Today’s the day when in 1957 Russia launched a dog into space. Laika, described only as ‘a female Russian breed’, was the first living creature to be sent into space. She travelled on the satellite Sputnik II and was fitted with monitors to check her heartbeat and other vital signs. Animal welfare organisations expressed outrage but the Russian authorities insisted that this experiment allowed them to learn vital information about the prospects for human space travel. So you might say that Laika was the pioneer for all the human beings who since travelled in space.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the only way to the Father and in Hebrews 6 it explains that he is the pioneer who has gone before us into God’s to prepare the way for us to follow. This is what it says:

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.

2 November

Today’s the day when in 1998 the Morris worm became the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention. It was launched from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A worm is a self-replicating program that uses a network to send copies of itself to other systems and it may do so without any user intervention. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms always harm the network, if only by consuming bandwidth. They have been causing us frustration ever since and countless hours of research have been spent trying to create the computer equivalent of a worming tablet. Disciples of Jesus are people who have been launched into a new life by the power of his Spirit and whose influence spreads through the network of their relationships. Jesus didn’t have the analogy of computer worms to work with, so he illustrated the point with good old salt and light. This is what he says in Matthew 5:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."