Can you say it?!

Thank you; Merci; Vielen danks; Dank je wel; Obrigado; Gracias; Grazie.

Well, I don't quite qualify for the title of "Polyglot of the Year" - but I can express my gratitude in, now, seven languages.  It's a useful expression to know, wherever in the world one might be ('Please' is also helpful!).  I recall, a long time ago, hearing someone talk about developing "an attitude of gratitude".

The late Rev George B.Duncan would sometimes share an experience from his early days in pastoral ministry.  He had taken a group of boys to the beautiful Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland.  One evening on Goat Fell, he would recount, they were all seated around the camp-fire.  He suggested that, as the evening drew to a close, each one say, quite simply, "Thank you,Lord".  He always commented that it was one of his most moving experiences as, one by one, those young teenagers uttered the words.

A couple of years after my "retirement", I received a Facebook message from a former pupil who, I have to confess, I was perfectly happy to have forgotten!  He had been one of the most difficult pupils with whom I had ever had to deal.  However, I was impressed by what he had achieved in the ten years since I had last dealt with him.  We 'chatted' for a while and then he typed: "Any way, I'd better tell you the reason for me getting in touch".  He went on to explain that he knew that he had been an extremely difficult pupil (his actual wording was somewhat more colourful!) - and that he wanted to apologise!  I assured him that such an apology was totally unnecessary - but so very much appreciated!  

As a disciple of Jesus, I have particular reasons to be thankful.  I am thankful for my salvation - gained, for me, at the cost of the blood of Jesus.  I am grateful for the measure of health and strength that I continue to enjoy.  I am grateful for a loving wife and family.  I am grateful for every opportunity I am given to share the Word of God.  And I am grateful that, as the psalmist put it, "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;" (Ps 16:6).  

My contact with what we refer to as "the persecuted church" merely heightens that gratitude.  I think of Asia Bibi, a young woman in Pakistan who has been in prison since 2009 for no other reason than having offered a cup of water to Muslim women in the field in which they all worked.  I think of Gao Zhisheng, a pastor in China who has suffered great privation and torture and who, although now released from prison, is still unable to leave China to be reunited with his wife and children in the USoA.  I think of Farshid Fathi, an Iranian pastor who has also, finally, been released from prison but who, to the best of my current knowledge, is unable to go to Canada to be reunited with his wife and children. 

Such stories could be multiplied a thousand times over - and another thousand times after that!  I haven't even mentioned those who, every passing day, are murdered because of their faithful allegiance to the Lord Jesus.  Yes, I can be so grateful that "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;"

And what about you?!  Oh, your situation may be difficult; you may have problems that I do not understand; you may sometimes even feel as if you are alone in the world!  Permit me to add one further account.

  

In the book The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells of an experience in the WWII Prisoner of War (Extermination) camp at Ravensbruck, where Corrie managed to conceal a Bible and some vitamin drops for her sister, Betsie.  After having spent more than a week in the quarantine compound, she and Betsie were among those moved to permanent quarters, in Barracks 28.  They were directed to their “bunks” – straw-covered platforms.  Corrie records: “Suddenly I sat up, striking my head on the cross-slats above.  Something had pinched my leg.

‘Fleas!’ I cried.  ‘Betsie, the place is swarming with them!’

We scrambled across the intervening platforms, heads low to avoid another bump, dropped down to the aisle, and edged our way to a patch of light.

‘Here! And here another one!’ I wailed.  ‘Betsie, how can we live in such a place?!’

‘Show us.  Show us how.’  It was said so matter of factly it took me a second to realise she was praying.  More and more the distinction between prayer and the rest of life seemed to be vanishing for Betsie.

‘Corrie!’ she said excitedly.  ‘He’s given us the answer!  Before we asked, as He always does!  In the Bible this morning. Where was it?  Read that part again!’

I glanced down the long dim aisle to make sure no guard was in sight, then drew the Bible from its pouch.” (Hodder and Stoughton & CLC, 1971, pps.184-185). 

The passage to which Betsie referred was I Thessalonians 5:14ff.  Betsie was particularly interested in v.18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 

“‘That’s it, Corrie!  That’s His answer. ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’  That’s what we can do.  We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!’”

And so Betsie started – thanking God that she and Corrie were still together; that there had not been an inspection on their arrival, and that they still had their Bible; for the many women who would be sharing the barracks with them who would have the opportunity to hear about the Lord Jesus.  Then she continued:

“‘Thank You, ‘Betsie went on serenely, ‘for the fleas and for – ’

The fleas! This was too much. ‘Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.’

‘Give thanks in all circumstances,’ she quoted.  ‘It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances’.  Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.’

And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas.  But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.” (op cit, p.185).

Later, the two sisters found themselves able to conduct worship services for the women in the barracks.  What surprised them was that no guard ever came near them.  Everywhere else, they were always present – but not in Barracks 28!  The guards didn’t want fleas!!

Why don't you give thanks, right now.  It doesn't matter which language you use - Father God understands them all!  If you haven't done so already, why don't you develop that "attitude of gratitude"?  It's not a 'magic pill' - but I truly believe that you will be better for it!

Death of a Muslim Governor

For some reason, it appears not to have been mentioned on the early evening TV news programme that I watched, so I am grateful for the radio programme to which I listened on my way home from the gym. 
The news items was that the Governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, Salman Taseer, had been gunned down by one of his own bodyguards as he stepped from his car in Islamabad's Kohsar market, a favoured haunt of westerners and wealthy Pakistanis.

Reports claim that the reason for the assassination was Governor Taseed's support for the repeal (or, at least, amendment) of Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws - laws which, as regular readers of this blog will be aware, are (ab)used indiscriminately to settle old scores and grudges against any of the minority groups in that country (and even against fellow-Muslims!).

The assassination raises some interesting questions.  The Governor had a detail of bodyguards, yet it would appear that the murderer was able to shoot his victim at least nine times, and then quietly drop his weapon and surrender.  One is obliged to ask why the other bodyguards did not intervene, and possibly save the Governor's life?  Was the murderer just one of a larger group, any of whom might have been chosen for this dastardly deed?

The question of the vetting of bodyguards also arises.  How could it be that this man's extremist views could have gone un-noticed?  Was no-one aware that he was so opposed to the stand taken by the Governor - who had even publicly visited Asia Bibi, the Christian woman currently under sentence of death for alleged blasphemy against the Islamic prophet, Muhammad?  Mind you, since a Muslim would be the first to insist that Muhammad neither was, nor is, divine; and since blasphemy is a vocal insult against God; one wonders how Islamic nations manage to square that particular circle!!

To the best of my knowledge, Governor Taseed was a devout (albeit, enlightened) Muslim, but I am thankful for his outspoken criticism of the blasphemy laws - criticism that has now cost him his life.  I pray that his family will find peace; that his country will act justly; that his legacy will be the repeal of those very laws that he realised are so draconian.

I also pray for Shahbaz Bhatti - the government minister for minorities - who is under constant threat of death for his own attempts to have those blaspehemy laws repealed.  And I pray against the extremism, and fanaticism, of those who seem to believe that the only answer to those who disagree with them is destruction, devastation, and death.

I invite you to join with me.

A wedding is announced!

I am not a full-blown Republican.  I have too much admiration for HM The Queen.  However, I am not a full-blown monarchist, either; having little time for most of the rest of the Royal Family.

So, while I am as happy for young William and Kate as I would be for any couple who announced their engagement to be married, I am already fed up with the OTT response of the popular media.  Some twenty minutes of the less-than-half-an-hour of the BBC early evening news given over to that one event - even to the extent of showing me how it was announced on television in the United States of America (why not, at least, a country that is a member of the British Commonwealth??).  Then, as we went on to Reporting Scotland, the circus started all over again!

Would that the media gave as much publicity to the plight of disciples of Jesus who are being constantly persecuted for their allegiance to Him!  It has been encouraging to see the situation regarding Asia Bibi, in Pakistan (see Monday, Nov.8th), receiving some coverage in some of the national newspapers in the U.K.  Unfortunately, that is the exception, rather than the rule.  I would love to see much more of that kind of reporting on our television screens, as well.  Perhaps someone would publish, nationally, the details of the case of Pastor Youcef Nardarkhani in Iran.  This dear brother is also under sentence of death - for the heinous crime of requesting that his son not be taught the Qur'an in school!!!!

These cases are but the tiniest tip of a gigantic iceberg.  Those of us who live in the 'free' west have no real idea as to what persecution is.  We may be ignored (some of our brothers and sisters would consider that to be a major blessing!); we may even be mocked; we may miss out on a promotion; we may be pilloried in the press; we may lose our jobs.  However, if the police call at my door, it will be to collect me for something to do with my Force Chaplaincy - certainly not because I have been reported as owning a copy of the Bible, or of having shared my faith in the Lord Jesus with a non-Christian!

Mind you, I am recalling the question that used to be put to some of us in the seventies and eighties - "If being a true disciple of Jesus was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"  Now there's a thought!