I absolutely love the Christmas season #end

I absolutely love the Christmas season. Now for some of you, I have already alienated you from reading further because you don't share the same sentiments about this festive holiday period. We'll I'm sorry if you've aligned yourself with 'old scrooge' and I can hear you already, muttering humbug

 

I enjoy the season because of a number of reasons. My faith informs me that this time of year can bring out the best in people as well as the worst in humanity which Dickens so wonderfully depicted in his novel 'A Christmas Carol'. The family will batten down the hatches for a few days and watch some wonderfully sentimental films like 'It's A Wonderful Life'. We'll eat, drink and be merry and thank God for the family we have around us.

 

Some will drink too much and establish long running family feuds for a while and probably then have to wait until Easter to understand the message of the cross and the freedom that forgiveness brings.

 

Christmas is about the gift of life that God gave us in His Son, Jesus Christ and Easter is what that gift of a Son bought for us all when he voluntarily, of His own free will, paid the cost for our lack of love and tendency towards selfishness.

 

This year, I want to send a massive bouquet to the folks at John Lewis. They have an advert of a young boy going through the incredible frustration and impatience of waiting for Christmas day. You get the sense from the start of the advert that 'dear of him' this is just the aged old story of a child waiting for the day when he will open masses of presents and he just can't hold his excitement. The subtlety that John Lewis advertising agency has established and who I think should win an award for this well crafted advert, is that what he can't wait for is the moment when, on Christmas morning, he wakes up and rushes into Mom and Dad's bedroom with the present that he wants to GIVE them.

 

Not only is this a great advert with a touch of genius, but it establishes what Christmas is all about. Giving, not getting.

 

There is a principle that I have found in the patient journey of faith. The gift makes way for the giver and that the character of God is one of incredible generosity. God gives beauty for our ashes and he does an amazing thing through the gift of His Son. He heals the broken hearted and he prospers the human soul.

 

There may be trouble ahead, but with Christ in the vessel, you can smile at the storm.

Redeeming Our Communities #end

Times of difficulty have often proven to be the catalyst for bringing the best out of people.  We use terms like 'the blitz spirit' or the 'wartime spirit', referring to the way that people under extreme pressure and hardship found ways to pull together for the common good.  Acts of kindness, mercy, and generosity when there is little to give, seem to have an opportunity to flourish in the most difficult of circumstances.  As Charles Dickens wrote, these can be 'the best of times, and the worst of times...'

 

The problems we are all facing as a result of the recession and economic instability can be seen in that light.  Lack of finances is forcing the coalition government to look at its 'Big Society' agenda, and ways in which voluntary organisations and communities can bring benefits to their villages, towns and cities, standing in the gap for provision that it seems can no longer be afforded by central or local government.

 

The Faith Action Audit showed just how much is being done already by the church in Plymouth.  Youth work, elderly care, debt and financial advice, food banks and soup runs, many forms of specialist counselling, community safety, supporting and strengthening families and much more... the list of provision made by church groups is a long one.

 

All these services are offered, usually free of charge, to any member of the community who needs help regardless of whether they have any kind of faith or none at all.  The motivation is one of passion and a desire to 'love your neighbour', putting the teachings of Jesus Christ into action.  When He was asked by the Jews he lived among 'who is my neighbour?' Jesus made no distinctions and excluded nobody.  Instead, he told a story about a Samaritan (the 'enemy' for a Jew) who helped a Jew in trouble.  His story rattled the cages of the narrow-minded but gave hope to everyone who is facing adversity.  In effect, he said 'your neighbour is anyone you meet who needs your help'.  Jesus' words are still challenging us today to get involved and help those in need, regardless of whether they are our friends or not.

 

Church groups work alongside many non-faith organisations, where the shared aim of delivering assistance to people in need can overcome any perceived barrier to working together.  Forgiveness when offence could be taken, and love to motivate acts of kindness and mercy, are real keys to this kind of partnership.  Any partnership, from a marriage to a citywide strategy involving many organisations, can benefit from the love and forgiveness at the heart of the Christian faith, as people 'rub each other up the wrong way' in efforts to get closer together to fufil a common goal.

 

Down through the centuries, the Christian faith in action has always engaged with the society that it seeks to serve.  The fabric of our democratic society, many of our schools, universities, hospitals and charitable organisations were founded on Christian values by people of the Christian faith.

 

This kind of partnership working fits well with the aims of the Redeeming Our Communities event at Plymouth Pavilions.  This event, on October 20^th at 7.30pm, has the support and involvement of the police, probation service, fire & rescue as well as many smaller local organisations, including faith groups, working for the good of the people of Plymouth and the South West.  It highlights our need to work together to tackle social issues, and also provides an opportunity for people to get involved and see inspiring examples of the work that is already being done.

 

All of us here at Cross Rhythms would encourage you, whether you're young or old, have a faith or not, to make sure you reserve your free place on the ROC website (www.roc.uk.com).  Put the date in your diary (October 20^th Plymouth Pavilions, 7.30pm) and get along for a great evening – there's live entertainment (I just heard that 'Britain's Got Talent' finalist Michael Collings will be one of the performers on stage) as well as a showcase of inspiring stories of community action and opportunities to get involved.  It could be just what we need to bring more hope to Plymouth in these difficult days.

  

Prayer Builds Love #end

Recently, June 12 was  the culmination of 10 days of prayer in the city starting on June 2.  Christians all over Plymouth were praying during those 10 days, leading up to June 12 which was the date of 'the Global Day of Prayer', where Christians around the world all joined in prayer for their families, their communities, their leaders and their nations.

 

So why do Christians pray?  It takes time, it takes effort to stop what we're doing and spend time in prayer, and heaven knows our busy lives nowadays have plenty of other things that shout for our attention.

 

I firmly believe in the power of prayer to change things for the better.   If you spend time listening to your Christian friends, or if you're a praying Christian yourself, you will be aware of how prayer has made a positive difference in lives – it does not always solve every problem, by any means.  Sometimes it does.  Yet strength, patience, growth, maturing and hope seem to increase through prayer, sustaining us in difficult times.

 

Prayer is also key to the Christian life on a personal, one to one level with God.  The  Bible records that Jesus himself, the Son of God, often drew aside on his own to pray to his Father in Heaven, even at times when whole towns were turning out to see him and to ask for the miraculous help they had heard he had been bringing to others.  At those most demanding times, he sometimes stepped back from it all and went to spend time with his Father.  Reading the bible, it seems Jesus came out of those times with a strength of faith, love and compassion that empowered him to keep meeting the needs of many, many people.  He also prayed when things were dark, when all others had left him, and when the choice to follow his Father meant his certain, agonising death, and worse.  He found incredible strength from his relationship with his Father in those times, which he could not have found elsewhere.

 

That's the beauty of personal prayer – it can be deeply intimate between you and God, where you can talk about things you cannot really talk to others about.  Sometimes even those closest to you will not be able to 'hear your heart' when you try to communicate things that mean so much to you.  That could be because they just cannot share your experience, or you cannot seem to get the words to say what you mean.  But God understands, because he sees your heart.  You don't need to explain yourself, you just need to be yourself.  He knows, he understands, he's listening, and he acts.

 

For some reason, God acts on our prayers.  It's puzzled many people over the years, 'how come God needs us to pray before he does some things?' I honestly don't know, but the evidence of many people's lives shows that he does.  I do know he loves to hear our voice and to meet with us.  Maybe, in part, that's why he asks us to pray, so we that we can grow a relationship with him.

 

Prayer can also benefit whole nations, and this is something that has been seen in our own country's history in times of trouble.  During the second world war King George VI called the nation to prayer during desperate times, when to the world who looked on it seemed the defeat of Britain by the Nazi forces was imminent.  History itself bears witness to the effectiveness of the prayers of a nation turning to God for help.

 

Prayer builds love in our hearts in a relationship with God, and often it leads to action, either us being given direction and strength to do something, or God acting in response to our prayers.   The recent Faith Audit shows just how much action goes on from Christian groups on behalf of their communities.  So much of this is undergirded by prayer, and all of us here at Cross Rhythms 96.3FM pray that we may see a rise in prayer from Christians all over this city of ours who care about its future and its people.

Being morally right can never be politically wrong # end

As we interview members of Public and Community organisations on Cross Rhythms, we are hearing more and more of the effects of the recession.  Citizen's Advice Bureau was threatened with funding cuts regarding debt counselling (thankfully they've had a last minute reprieve on that); the Police have to lose hundreds of jobs; and community organisations such as the Soup Run and the Food Bank, which help people in crisis, are seeing an increase in the need for their services.  As I wrote last month, this is really the time for the Church to rise up and shine, for the good of our communities and Plymouth as a whole.   She certainly has in the past.

Throughout history, Christian men and women, and Christian values, have been the motivating force in some of society's best social reforms; William Wilberforce and the struggle against slavery (not to Mention Dr Martin Luther King Jr who fought racism and oppression in the USA); Florence Nightingale who laid the foundations of modern nursing; and Wilberforce's successor in social reformation, Antony Ashley Cooper, (Lord Shaftesbury), who is quoted as saying, "Creed and colour, latitude and longitude, make no difference in the essential nature of man," and  "What is morally right can never be politically wrong, and what is morally wrong can never be politically right." 

Those two statements from Lord Shaftesbury typify what is so good about the Christian foundations of our democracy and legal system in the UK:  equality in law of all people regardless of creed or colour, (and may I add, any other differences) and justice and fairness for all as well.  Yet the faith which inspired these values seems nowadays to be turned against by those who have benefited most from them.  In Shaftesbury's thinking, what we now call 'political correctness' should be deeply aligned to 'moral correctness'.  Those Christian moral values are the bedrock of the movements that have brought democratic freedom to our land for all to enjoy.  Yet, if one looks at some areas of legislation, Christianity and the expression of the Christian faith looks like it is slowly being marginalised.

I realise these sentiments may be open to misunderstanding in some quarters.  This is not a politically correct article in the way the term is used nowadays.  It is not 'correct' in our post-modern era to adhere to any absolute moral values.  Yet I have to say that it is my belief that without traditional Christian values, we lose a very important part of our social fabric, from which people of all faiths, or no faith, equally benefit.

Lord Shaftesbury believed that God had called him "to devote whatever advantages he might have bestowed … in the cause of the weak, the helpless, both man and beast, and those who had none to help them."  He had a deep Christian faith, and that motivated his life in the cause of helping others. It is so often the case, even nowadays.  The Faith Action Audit which was presented to the City Council and Faith Leaders last year proves just how much good work is being done in our own city by faith groups, on behalf of the weak, the marginalised and the needy.

I appreciate it is not just Christian men and women who help others.  We are all made in the image of God and as such we all have the ability to shine.  But as a Christian, I believe the only sustaining force for continued compassionate action in the face of difficulty and even opposition, is the love of God through a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.  That love just keeps on coming, and has been variously described as a fountain, or a river – a very apt description and one which encourages me and many others.

The Christian faith, when put into loving action, is a major force for good in our land.  It has been so for many centuries.  Christians in Plymouth are being invited to a day of prayer in June to pray for the welfare of our city, and to see those prayers turned into acts of compassion for the good of us all.  It is good to appreciate the reality all the positive action that goes on as a result of Christian faith, and to balance the often negative media-stereotypes of Christianity with that.  There's a line in the '90's movie 'The Abyss' which says 'you need to see with better eyes' – I pray that we all can in the days ahead.

Time to Pray

I believe the influence of Christianity on the British Isles (including Ireland) has been historically proven as incredibly significant to the culture and survival of our people. Since the earliest years of Celtic Christianity, including the founding of monasteries  in Iona and Lindisfarne in the 6^th and 7^th Centuries, there has been a strong Christian spirituality which has indwelled our people.

A recent BBC 2 programme on the 400^th anniversary of the King James Bible, presented by Lord Melvin Bragg, stated that it was the principles contained within the world's best seller which established the democracy and freedoms we enjoy in the Western Democracies.

These hard won freedoms and institutions are often built upon by people who then ignore why they were established in the first place, and we lose the foundational truths to our cost and detriment.  In our nation there is the beginning of a marginalisation of Christians and the values which in genuine good conscience many will not abandon.  However, when the Christian Church is pressurised, she shines the best.

As I travel the UK and talk to many Christian leaders, there is a recognition that churches are beginning to work together for the collective good of the faith. Whole cities are beginning to focus on city wide prayer movements for the sake of God intervening for the welfare of their communities.

When we established a Cross Rhythms radio station in Plymouth, we already had experience of a city wide prayer meeting in Stoke on Trent which started at the same time we got our radio licence there. Great favour was shown to an organisation called Saltbox run by Lloyd Cooke and Robert Mountford, which 'connects the dots' of all the volunteer work done in that city by faith groups.

We invited Lloyd down to Plymouth when we launched Cross Rhythms here, and he shared the vision of the 'Faith Audit' which Saltbox had carried out.  They documented the massive infrastructure of social welfare provision made by faith groups, especially the Christian church.

Following Lloyd's presentation, we established an organisation called Plymouth Saltbox, in collaboration with Chris Clewer of Churches Together in Plymouth.  In 2009/10, we carried out a Faith Action Audit (FAA) in Plymouth.

The University of Plymouth Social and Public Policy Research Group was commissioned to carry out the Audit.  The results were encouraging, showing over 450,000 volunteer hours worth at least £2.7 million being poured into the city every year by faith based groups.

The report said this is 'a massive underestimate of the level of work being done by faith based groups, as only 35% responded and we used the Minimum Wage as our benchmark'. It showed that the majority of those hours are made up by the Christian faith, plus contributions from Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh and others.

Plymouth Saltbox is now working hard to build on the FAA, so that those volunteer services can be best used for the good of the people of Plymouth.

As a Christian faith-based organisation, they value the prayers of fellow believers.  There is a day of prayer in June for those who want to see the love of God practically impact Plymouth and its people.  Christians in the city are urged to look out for the publicity for this event, come along on the day, and ask their ministers to support it.

Christians believe that prayer is the place where we receive empowerment from God to live lives, individually and collectively, that bring God's quality of abundant life to those around us in our communities.  A recent news item said that Plymouth was likely to be the worst affected city in England in terms of per capita job losses in the Public Sector.  Now is the time for Christians to rise up in their faith, and a city-wide prayer movement, married to practical demonstrations of the love of God, would surely be a great way to see Heaven's values overturn the world's problems.

Big Society #end

The Faith Action Audit that took place in Plymouth last year showed hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours are pouring into the city from faith groups, Christian and others.  It came just as the PM was really starting to promote the Big Society agenda.

 

Generally speaking, it seems that most people are at least open to the Big Society idea.  One thing that we can all see, is that it's going to take a certain amount of sacrificed time and effort from many of us to make it work in the tough days ahead.

 

The generation before mine knows about adverse circumstances changing their lives dramatically, leading to extreme hardship and difficulty.  That generation that lived through WW2.  They didn't ask for it, they didn't want it, but they had to deal with it.

 

We can learn a lot from them.  Galvanised by an inner resolve, they rose above those circumstances, sacrificing so much so that we, the generations that follow them, can enjoy so much freedom.

 

We could say of all of them, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."  Winston Churchill was talking about the airmen who fought the Battle of Britain, but as one generation to another we can be thankful to them all.

 

If we say the 'blitz spirit', we mean that part of us, as individuals or communities or even a nation, that can lay down our own agendas, and seek to do our best for the good of our fellow men and women, under hardship.  From a Christian perspective, that is the essence of love.  "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend," said Jesus.

 

This attitude, a belief in something being more important than our own welfare, is essential, especially if we have to make sense of the values of the Big Society idea.  Let's hope and pray that we can all develop that kind of loving, gutsy character in the days ahead.

 

The latest discussions in the media about Big Society, come at a time when it is also reported that up to 20% of 16-24 year olds are unemployed.  That's the highest figure since 1992, and it is a sad fact, which we have to deal with compassionately.

 

My heart goes out to those young people who are stuck without a job in these hard times.  But also, I have a concern about the culture that we have allowed to develop since the last World War. We are increasingly concerned about our rights, and less about our responsibilities.  It is typified in the compensation culture. It erodes good character, courage and selflessness, and it promotes individualism and selfishness.

 

I am concerned for the younger generation – how will they cope with the hardships ahead, when they will increasingly have to give up some of those things they have been brought up to believe in as their rights?

 

The problem is in no way restricted to young people – it's an ancient problem, possibly the most ancient problem of all.  'I want things my way and that's my right' is the kind of thinking that got us all into trouble in the first place, as demonstrated by many individuals in the Bible who had to make right choices for life.

 

Times of difficulty are also times of opportunity.  We have an opportunity to dig a little deeper and find gold in ourselves and each other that we didn't know was there.  We can find hidden reserves of good character, of love, of compassion and courage in times of hardship.

 

To refer back to those saddening youth unemployment figures, how on earth are we to encourage these young people that their lives matter, they have purpose and a hope for a future?

 

As a Christian, I believe the answer can be found in a relationship with God, through his Son Jesus Christ, who created every one of us deliberately and for good reason, and who is the One who can give us a sense of identity, self-worth and destiny far above anything the world has to offer.

 

The essence of the Christian faith says that when we stop striving to  make our own lives work in our own way, and ask God how He would want us to live, we will, wonderfully, find that life is working a whole lot better.

 

…little foxes …like offence … spoil the vineyard …(Song of Solomon; 2vs15)

 

Forgiveness is a subject that is common in our churches, and it can help any of us who have taken offence at another person's actions, particularly someone in a position of authority, such as a manager or teacher, or maybe even a parent.

 

I appreciate that even using the word 'authority' presses some buttons in people's thinking.  Through misuse and the wrong application of its meaning, it has become misunderstood.

 

A position of authority in another person's life is a caring responsibility that carries with it the duty of sometimes having to give advice and enforcing boundaries for the good of the individual and their community.  Parents desire happiness for their children, but they won't let the child decide what's best if they see them doing harmful things.

 

In our churches, there may be people who have taken offence at the leadership.  Usually it's because they believe that the leadership has hurt them, misunderstood them or in some way grieved them.  Often the reaction when folks take offence, is that they break the relationship.  They may also start to spread gossip about the person who they believe has hurt them, or lash out with their anger at that person, often out of all proportion to the offence.

 

Conversely, those in authority have an obligation to treat people tenderly.  If you have given grounds for offence, you need to be honest about it, out of respect for those in your care.  It is important to speak with honesty borne out of good character and integrity, because as someone once said 'a good argument is often spoiled by a bad quarrel.'

 

Biblically, (I'm talking here of church), it's just as big a problem to take offence as it is to cause it.  Don't mishear me here.  Being the victim of a truly abusive authority is not what we're talking about.  That requires a lot of healing and reconciliation.

 

What I'm talking about are those times when we have taken umbrage because we don't like the way we've been spoken to, or because we disagree with the direction taken by those responsible for the welfare of our community.

 

The Good Book itself has some pretty direct things to say about all this.  Jesus tells the story of the man forgiven a huge debt by his master, (Matthew 18).  This same man then  demands repayment from one of his own small debtors, and refuses to show him the same mercy he received himself.  When his master hears about this unmerciful man, he turns him over to the jailers til he repays all of his own debt.   The message is clear – we've all been forgiven hugely, if we have received that forgiveness from Jesus.  We should likewise forgive the minor offences done to us.

 

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years.  Upon his release he was a major force in the movement to rebuild his nation through reconciliation and negotiation. South Africa became a democratic country, with Mandela its first democratically elected president, without the blood-bath that so many predicted.  This is a testament to the power of forgiveness over the futility of revenge.  (I'd recommend the movie 'Invictus' if you'd like to find out more.)

 

Offended people can cause disruption to the wellbeing of any community, including the church.  How we deal with our hurts and grievances is important if we're to live together successfully.

 

May I encourage you, if you're offended with anybody in authority in your life, to consider that you almost certainly don't have the full picture of what they're responsible for.  Please don't take yourself out of whatever community you're committed to, just because you are offended.  There are countless relationships that have been shipwrecked over relatively small issues.  There's a better way, the way of forgiveness and humility, as the basis for discussing things and finding a way to work things out for the good of all concerned.

 

One of the main themes of the Art of Living programme on Cross Rhythms 96.3FM is to talk to church leaders and discuss these very issues.  Please check out the advert in the Plymouth Shopper for the dates and times of those broadcasts.

Who is Jesus # end

 

This month I want to repeat an article that appeared in the Shopper in January last year, which received good feedback and which I believe is well worth repeating as it focuses us, at the start of the year, on the Person who has been described as the 'Centrepiece of the human race...'

 

The focus of some of us at Christmas, even in our post-modern age, was Jesus Christ.  But for the majority of people in Plymouth, there is probably still a very real and understandable question that is not often asked – just who really is Jesus?

 

For countless millions all over the world, he is much more than a good man or a great moral teacher.  The debate about who he is has gone on for nearly twenty centuries, and probably began amongst his own close friends and family.  So, rather than add fresh fuel to the fires of theological argument, I'll let others do the talking:

 

"Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the Child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His Divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a Cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was His coat. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Such was His human life—He rises from the dead. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the Centrepiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life". James C. Hefley, Christian author, editor, publisher, and journalist.

 

Many people are prepared to accept Jesus as one of the greatest men that ever lived, and to align themselves with his teachings (sometimes this is easier where those teachings promote their own agenda).  However, the struggle for belief involves wrestling with the claims for divinity, which ancient writers made about him:  "He shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" according to the prophet Isaiah writing a few hundred years before Jesus' birth.

 

The Bible is really clear on the matter and leaves no room for having Jesus as a merely historical figure pointing the way to God.  He claimed divinity for himself, while assuming the full nature of humanity and serving those very human creatures he had created in loving community with his Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father except through me," which is a fairly blunt declaration, coming as it did from a carpenter whom most thought was born illegitimate to a young Jewish girl.

 

According to renowned author and philosopher CS Lewis, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

 

So much for the Christian writers and the Bible, but please allow me just one more quotation, from a military and state leader in Europe who established a vast empire through the use of force and political machinery, in a very short time.

 

"I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."  Napoleon Bonaparte

 

At the start of this year, I'd like to be very clear on our position here at Cross Rhythms – Jesus is exactly who he says he is; he is alive, and is expecting a response from us to his claims; he will not force us to make one; but we will give an account for how we think about and answer the question.  He is utterly trustworthy, completely loving, and absolutely right in every decision and judgment he makes.  He is as tender as a lamb in his merciful dealings with doubters, wrong-doers, children and the downtrodden; and as fierce as a lion in the pursuit of truth and justice and in dealing with arrogant pride, especially of the religious variety.  He is also Almighty God.

 

That, in essence, is simple Biblical truth and it has formed the bedrock of the freedoms we have enjoyed in Britain for many hundreds of years.  As Christians at Cross Rhythms, we cannot water down the presentation of what the Bible has said for thousands of years – to do so would be to erode the very foundations of freedom and allow the rising tide of sometimes well-meant humanism to drown the voices of many of the weakest people in our society, with a flood of legislation that has proven again and again to be powerless to correct the evils of our times.  We need the Way and the Truth, and we certainly need Life.  Jesus Christ offers it all, like no other ever has or could.