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War CryTHE

salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry Est 1879 No 7146

FIGHTING FOR HEARTS AND SOULS

14 December 2013

US singer Donnie McClurkin on air in the UK

CHRISTMAS RAPPING

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FILM PRESENTS A MUSICAL NATIVITY

Professor looks to the future

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WE, ROBOTS?

The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the names of individuals and details of their circumstances. Send your requests to PRAYERLINK, The War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, Lon don SE1 6BN. Mark your envelope ‘Confidential’.

YOUR prayers are requested for Mary, who suffers from anxiety and memory loss; for Bridget, who has lost feeling in her left arm; for Georgina, who has cancer of the throat and thyroid gland; for Patricia’s son, who has employment problems, and daughter, who has health concerns; for Ralph, who has cancer, and for his wife Hazel, who takes care of him; for Paul and Sue, who have cancer; for Michael, who was bereaved of his wife; for Mick, who has returned to work after cancer treatment, and for his wife Jean, who has a bad back; for Doris, who has health problems; and for Hero, who has been missing in the Philippines.

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K2 The War Cry 14 December 2013 News

There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God.

Lord Jesus Christ,I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit.Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen

Becoming aecom

Christian

Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

COMMENT – p6 GARDENING – p7 PUZZLES – p12 INNER LIFE – p13 FOOD FOR THOUGHT – p14 RECIPES – p15

Joystrings go back to their beginnings

SINGER TAKES PART IN SALVATION ARMY EVENT

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Peter and Sylvia Dalziel and Joy Webb tell their story

LENDERS should cancel the debt repayments of the Philippines, say the organisations behind a petition.

Jubilee Debt Campaign, Christian Aid and other groups are arguing that ‘the Philippines urgently needs resources to pay for relief and reconstruction’ after Typhoon Haiyan.

They point out that the country’s £35 billion of debt originates from the rule of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and that it still spends more than 20 per cent of its revenue on foreign debt repayments.

The petition is addressed to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and international leaders.

THREE members of The Salvation Army’s 1960s pop group the Joystrings presented an evening of reminiscences and music at the college where they were formed 50 years ago.

Reuniting at William Booth College, South London – where they studied to become Salvation Army ministers – Major Joy Webb and Lieut-Colonels Peter and Sylvia Dalziel sang their chart hit ‘It’s an Open Secret’ and talked about how they used music to spread the gospel.

The event was held to promote Sylvia Dalziel’s book The Joystrings: The Story of a Salvation Army Pop Group.

A BRASS band from The Salvation Army’s

Portsmouth Citadel church has teamed up with singers Aled Jones and Hayley Westenra, radio presenter Terry Wogan and electric string quartet Bond to record a Christmas single in aid of Children in Need. ‘Christmas Dream’ is released on Bandaged tomorrow (Sunday 15 December).

AFTER the death of Nelson Mandela, The Salvation Army’s international leader wrote a letter of condolence to the family of the former South African President.

General André Cox wrote that he wished ‘to salute a great man – one whose character was nourished by hope, expressed through forgive-ness, and testified to through reconciliation.

‘The Truth and Reconciliation Commission … still stands as a powerful witness to … Madiba.’

The General assured the family of his prayers.

WEST End singer Lee Mead was one of the guest performers when The Salvation Army held a celebration of Christmas at the Albert Hall, London.

Lee, who took the lead role in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat after winning the TV talent search Any Dream Will Do, sang ‘Bring Him Home’ from Les Misérables and country standard ‘Blue Christmas’.

During the evening, actress Hannah Gordon and TV chef Brian Turner read the Bible’s accounts of the birth of Jesus.

Cancel Philippines debt, says petition

Lee strikes a Christmassy note at celebration

Leader offers condolences to Mandela family

14 December 2013 The War Cry 3

By PHILIP HALCROW

Naima (Jennifer Hudson) and her son Langston (Jacob Latimore) are facing tough times at Christmas

It’s a story of forgiveness and redemption

THE Christmas message is being taken as gospel, and also as hip hop and R&B in Black Nativity, on general release in cinemas. Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige and Tyrese Gibson are among the cast which acts and sings its way through the reinterpretation of a ‘gospel song-play’, which was first performed off Broadway in the late 1950s.

In the film, single mother Naima (Hudson) and her teenage son Langston (Jacob Latimore) are being threatened with eviction from their home in Baltimore. She needs to find $5,000 before Christmas.

While she faces up to testing times, Naima packs off her son (named by the film-makers after the writer of the original play, Langston Hughes) to her parents in New York.

He does not want to leave her. En route to the Big Apple, he sings that he feels like ‘a motherless child’. Once in NYC, there is potential for discord. Langston hardly knows his grandparents.

His grandfather, the Rev Cornell Cobbs (Forest Whitaker), who is a respected church pastor, and his grandma, Aretha (Angela Bassett), do their best to make Langston feel welcome – but clearly something went wrong in their relationship with their daughter.

‘She couldn’t forgive us,’ says Aretha, mysteriously.Langston sees them helping an impoverished couple

who roam the streets singing carols – but it seems that they won’t or can’t help their own daughter.

Frustrated, Langston is tempted to turn to crime to get the greenbacks that his mom needs.

But before he gets to find out whether crime pays, he is dragged along to the Christmas Eve service at his grandfather’s church. Drowsy, he dozes off. In his dream, the birth of Jesus is happening at that very moment in New York. He is in the middle of the story, surrounded by the people he has encountered in the city

– the impoverished carol singers, who become Mary and Joseph, a fly-looking woman he passed on the street, who is transformed into an angel, and a shady-looking pawnshop hawker.

While the story unfolds, his grandfather is preaching about being led by faith and the songs talk about sins being taken away.

But when he wakes up, Langston has to decide whether to put his faith in the message of the story he has seen take place or in his own plan to get money at any cost. He and others in the church that night have to decide whether the birth of Jesus changes things today.

The film’s producer, William Horberg, says Black Nativity is ‘a story of forgiveness and redemption’. So is the original nativity story. It’s about the birth of someone who revealed that God cares for us, offers us forgiveness for our own tendency to mess up and shows us ultimately how to live in harmony.

‘I’m not perfect, but he loves me anyway,’ sing Aretha and Naima in Black Nativity.

The birth of Jesus is about forgiveness and redemption – not only 2,000 years ago but also today. That’s the gospel truth.

14 December 2013 The

4 Interview

SITTING in a room at the Premier Radio offices, an affable Donnie McClurkin

shares the details of his new show on Christian station Premier Gospel.

‘I hope it will tear down the stereotype that gospel music is just an American art form,’ he says. ‘I want the audience to be able to appreciate European and British gospel music, as well as music from the Caribbean and Africa.’

Broadcasting twice a week, he hopes that The Donnie McClurkin Show will run for as long as possible – much like the radio show of the same name back in America, which has been going for eight years.

Donnie’s roots in music began when he sang as a child in church.

‘When I was 11 years old, a gospel artist called Andraé Crouch prayed for me and said: “God, what you gave me, give to him.” I genuinely believe that God gave me a musical gift like Andraé’s and it has been a wonderful experience.’

Donnie also credits music with getting him through a traumatic time in his life.

‘When I was eight years old, my two-year-old brother followed me across the street, as I went to get a ball,’ he explains. ‘My mother screamed out: “Donnie, get the baby!” As I turned round, a car hit him. He went underneath and died.

‘My mother suffered manic depression and didn’t want me anywhere around her. She accused me of killing her son.’ Donnie was sent away. His suffering was not over. ‘On the day of my brother’s funeral, I was raped by a member of my family,’ he says. ‘It left me so confused.’

‘If it wasn’t for Andraé praying for me, I would prob-ably have been a casualty of the event for ever. Music became therapeutic. I learnt how to play the piano and got familiar with different styles of music. Then I became a

Three-time Grammy winner DONNIE McCLURKIN talks to Renée Davis about his new UK radio show, faith and the music industry

On a new wavelength

Music is Donnie’s passion

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Donnie is a judge on BET’s gospel talent show ‘Sunday Best’

Music is divine. It all comes from God

musician for the youth choir at church. By the time I was 18, I was leading a singing group made up of my family members.’

In 2000, Donnie gained widespread recognition with his album Live in London. But the process of becoming one of gospel music’s biggest artists was long and difficult.

‘I started my first music group in 1979, so there were

21 years before people heard Live in London,’ Donnie explains.

‘I didn’t have a bank account until I was 31 years old. I didn’t have a car until I was 35 and didn’t own a home until I was 40. I’ve struggled with my insecurities. There have been many situations that made me just want to run away. But Jesus gave me the grace to continue.’

For nearly 13 years, Donnie has been a pastor at Faith Perfecting Church in New York. His ministry includes evangelism, feeding and clothing homeless people and

visiting prisoners. He also puts on concerts for them. Donnie explains why music as a ministry is important to him.

‘Music is divine,’ he says. ‘It all comes from God, which is why it carries so much power. It can bring home a message in the heart of an unbeliever who wouldn’t otherwise want to listen to me preach. This is why I’m so passionate about music representing God.’

Donnie’s music ministry has earned him numerous awards including three Grammys, but the wins aren’t what he describes as the truly pivotal moments in his life.

‘I have one Grammy in my office and the other two are downstairs in my basement,’ Donnie explains. ‘They are a sign of appreciation from the music industry. But the most pivotal moment in my life was when I accepted Jesus as my saviour. Everything else is built upon that.’

Donnie feels that the message of gospel music is still relevant in today’s society, but that it can sometimes get lost in the razzmatazz of the industry.

‘The gospel is sometimes held hostage to money. Certain parts of the industry, at times, have adopted a life-style that is about fame,’ he says. ‘There’s a difference between fame and greatness. Greatness is all about serv-ing others and putting their needs first. Fame is all about “see me, know me and hear me” and how much you can be paid.

‘Of course, it costs money to put on a full concert, but nine times out of ten when asked to speak at churches I do it for free, because freely I received this gospel and freely I should be able to give it.’

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CHRISTIAN organisation ChurchAds.Net is tackling the fading knowledge of Christmas with its Christmas Starts with Christ campaign.

Research by ComRes has shown that just 12 per cent of adults know the nativity story and 36 per cent of children do not know whose birthday is being celebrated during the festival. Some 51 per cent of people now say that the birth of Jesus is irrelevant to their Christmas.

One of the three campaign posters reads: ‘Does Christmas start with a fight on EastEnders? No! Christmas starts with Christ.’

The posters will be appearing on bus shelters around the country. Short Jeremy Kyle-style radio ads depicting different moments from the nativity story are also being aired on Xfm and on The Vodafone Big Top 40 on Capital FM.

ChurchAds.Net is providing churches and Christian groups with posters and logos to spread the true meaning of Christmas further.

Francis Goodwin of ChurchAds.Net says: ‘Christmas is a time when Christians shine light in their communities. But the good news is being lost. We cannot let the nation lose the real meaning of Christmas. We are passionate about bringing the

Church together to remind everyone that Christmas starts with Christ.’

The Secret ChristmasTerence Handley MacMathDarton, Longman and ToddIN this book, Anglican priest Terence Handley MacMath uncovers the deeper meaning of Christmas through the works of writers such as Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens and C. S. Lewis.

Handley MacMath introduces a collection of classic and contemporary literary passages, relating to the themes of Advent, the Nativity and new year celebrations.

The book features poetry by writers

The War Cry 14 December 20136

AS the season of ‘goodwill to all men’ approaches, a survey says that nine in ten Britons admit they regularly go through a day without performing an act of kindness for another person.

In a poll commissioned by Friends of the Elderly, which is running a campaign to combat loneliness among older people at Christmas, nearly a quarter of those questioned said they couldn’t recall the last time they helped someone. A third said that they had never considered helping an older person. The reason, said many, is that they cannot relate to the older generation.

So have the qualities of courtesy, compassion, thoughtfulness and neighbourliness been overtaken by suspicion, fear, embarrassment and selfishness?

Accounts from the tragic helicopter crash in Glasgow suggest not. Moments before the police helicopter dropped onto the Clutha pub, the pilot – who lost his life – turned off the fuel supply, thereby avoiding a fireball that would have killed many more people.

Moments after being engulfed in chaos, survivors formed a human chain to pull the injured out. Neighbours and passers-by rushed to the scene to help.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond called it ‘the instinctive courage of ordinary Glaswegians’. It was not the first time Mr Salmond’s compatriots have displayed such qualities.

On 21 December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded and crashed on the border town of Lockerbie. As well as killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew, the bombing accounted for 11 residents.

Despite their grief, for weeks townspeople supported emergency services personnel and welcomed victims’ relatives, many of whom arrived from America.

At times of tragedy there is often talk about the ‘Blitz spirit’ – people who suffered loss reaching out to others in time of need. Such selfless giving should not be reserved for times of disaster. A daily act of kindness will improve the lives of the recipient – and the giver.

CommentMedia

Find The War Cry on Facebook and Twitter at /TheWarCryUK

Nothing of the kind?

Poster poses festive question

PEOPLE following The Salvation Army’s New Testament Bible Challenge

are reading the whole New Testament, five chapters a week, over the course of a year. For each day’s reading plan and discussion notes visit salvationarmy.org.uk/biblechallenge

Saxophone Moods at ChristmasElevationCHRISTMAS carols take on a soothing tone on this instrumental album. The CD features 12 traditional carols, including ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Joy to the World’, but the saxophone and gentle percussion give them a contemporary feel.

Listeners can relax as they hear the tunes or reflect on the words of the carols, which are included in the CD sleeve.

Collection uncovers deeper meaning

Sax is instrumental on carols album

including G. K. Chesterton and Gerard Manley Hopkins, as well as prose extracts from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. A modern insight into the festive season comes from BBC comedy writer James Cary, who considers how people celebrate Christmas today.

EVEN at this darkest time of year, there is a surprising array of winter-flowering shrubs to add inter-est to the garden.

At the top of my list is the hardy witch hazel (Hamamelis). This deciduous shrub can grow up to four metres tall and even develop into a small tree. Hamamelis mollis, ‘Wisley Supreme’ has sweetly scented clusters of yellow flowers. It makes a good companion for dogwood (Cornus alba), which is grown for its delightfully colourful winter stems.

A wonderful alternative is the striking red-flowering witch hazel Hamamelis x intermedia, ‘Diane’. There is also a popular orange-flowering and rather vigorous cultivar Hamamelis x intermedia, ‘Jelena’.

Witch hazels generally flower between late December and February. They are happy in sun or partial shade in well-drained soil.

Another dependable winter friend is the hardy winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis). It grows easily from a small tuber and provides a carpet of ground-covering yellow flowers, similar to the common buttercup. It is a plant that rarely gives any trouble, so is ideal for planting in shady or problematic areas that may other-wise prove difficult to use. The plant can also be grown in a lawn or in the herbaceous border.

When aconite is planted in autumn its flowering period is from February through to March. But there is no reason why it should not be planted now. Alternatively, it can be purchased and planted in spring, after flowering has finished in a similar way to snowdrops. Aconites spread, so select their position carefully.

714 December 2013 The War CryThe great outdoors

EARLY winter is the ideal time to relocate any evergreen shrubs to another area of the garden. When moving plants, it is vital to take as much rootball as possible. Some shrubs have a particularly large and heavy rootball. In such cases it is advisable to dig round the roots several months before you intend to move the plant. This will encourage the formation of critical fibrous roots.

by LEE SENIOR

Witch hazel adds colour in the bleak midwinter

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Shifting shrubs

Christmas treesIf you buy a Christmas tree with little or no roots, stand it in a bucket of tepid water when you first get it home. Doing so will temporarily reduce needle drop. A six-foot tree can take up to one litre of water daily in natural surroundings.

VegetablesVegetables in season this month

include: Jerusalem artichoke, kale,

winter cabbage, leeks, parsnips,

sprouts and swede.

OnionsMaincrop onions grown from seed for harvesting next summer can be sown indoors towards the end of the month, as they need a long growing season.

HyacinthsTo get the best out of indoor-flowering

hyacinths, keep them in a cool room as

long as possible. Half-turn the pots

regularly to keep the flowering stems

as straight as possible on a windowsill.and don’t forget…

Witch hazel

8 Interview

Professor Waters, what is post-humanism?Post-humanism is a commitment to

use technology to extend longevity and enhance physical and cognitive performance. To become post-human represents the maximisation, even perfection, of latent qualities that are frustrated by the limitations imposed by the body. The goal is to overcome

those perceived limitations, thereby making an individual human being

better than merely being human.Immortality is being pursued on three

fronts. Biological immortality is about the genetic enhancement of the immune system or infinite cellular regeneration so that lifespan increases dramatically as technology wins the war against ageing and disease.

Bionic immortality allows for the replacement of body parts with longer-

lasting synthetic substitutes. Nanobots will carry out surgery. Neuro-enhancers

will be inserted into the brain to prevent the deterioration of – and to enhance – brain

function. In principle, a bionic being could live for ever, so long as the artificial parts are

properly maintained.The most speculative approach is virtual

immortality, where memory, personality and intelligence are digitised, organised and downloaded to a robotic body or collection of bodies.

The thinking is that, since the mind is ultimately what a person is, it can be codified into digital data and stored indefinitely. The body, therefore, is

merely an information network carrier. If it packs up, the data can be transferred to another carrier. In this way,

a person is indefinitely replicated.For the post-humanist, death is not a natural consequence but an

outrage – a tragedy – to be resisted and overcome. Consequently, technology that extends longevity should be developed. But physical immortality is different from the biblical concept of eternity.

Post-humanism is all fanciful, isn’t it?Yes, but it’s amazing how post-humanism is capturing

imagination and financial investment. It is already shaping the way we see ourselves and our desires. Humankind increasingly sees itself as a self-constructed project that turns to technology to overcome physical and mental limitations.

A lot of ideas for civilian applications are coming out of military research. In the States, Darpa – the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency – has been looking at full-body armour systems. For an ageing population, one civilian application of this could be the development of an exoskeleton that would support a weakened body.

Over the years, combatants have been given pep pills and rum tots before battle. Are the implications of emerging technologies more serious?

In the first Iraq war, some American pilots were given high doses

14 December 2013 The War Cry 9

Turn to page 10

The Six Million Dollar Man, Robocop and The Matrix share common DNA – human beings enhanced by technology. Bionics, cybernetics and neuro-enhancers are not just figments of fertile movie-making imaginations. Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute researches the implications of human enhancement. In America, super-warrior technologies are being developed for battlefield deployment. Humanity+ is a global network that ‘advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities’.Professor BRENT WATERS, the Stead Professor of Christian Social Ethics at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois, talks to Nigel Bovey about the theological implications of emerging technologies and the accompanying philosophy known as post-humanism

of the drug that fights sleeping sickness, so they could fly 72-hour sorties without diminished performance. Military thinking, though, as we see with the use of drones, is turning towards pilotless aircraft and soldier-less battlefields.

A future generation of weapons will be run by artificial intelligence, because the human brain is not fast enough and the body has limitations. This suggests that, while technology doesn’t have a life of its own, we are not in control of it.

So the Six Million Dollar Man is an emerging fact?Bionics are amazing, as is the body’s ability to respond

to digital technologies. Quadriplegics, for example, can now have implants to manipulate computers and control

Professor Brent Waters

Physical immortality is different from the biblical concept of eternity

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devices. Computer games can be controlled by thought, channelled through a temporary ‘tattoo’.

In future, implants could keep humans connected to the internet. But, as neuroscientists tell us, we can’t define human beings simply in terms of a series of the ones and zeros of digital technology.

What is the difference between using new technologies and, say, applying the established understanding of optics to correct vision?

Every therapy is an enhancement. Spectacles are therapeutic devices to bring eyesight to a workable level. But that’s different from putting an implant into soldiers to enhance their night vision.

The question to ask when considering technological enhancement is: for what purpose? If technology doesn’t enhance love for God and our neighbour, then I’m not sure it has a good purpose.

There is a difference between wanting to live well and wanting to live for ever.

But wouldn’t an implant that, for instance, cured dementia simply be an expression of the biblical notion of humankind exercising God-given

Post-humanism is largely nihilism

10 Interviewstewardship of creation – a way of loving one’s neighbour?

It’s a question of motivation. For example, the use of cochlear implants to enhance hearing helps a person restore the bonds of human fellowship. But post-humanists want technology to help them avoid fellowship. For them, technology is a means to give people greater autonomy and greater power to construct a world in which they decide who is admitted and who excluded.

Theologically, what is post-humanism?

Post-humanism is largely nihilism – the notion that faith beliefs have no basis or value. It’s also a mixture of two old heresies: Pelagianism, which regards the human condition as essentially good and not needing redemption, and Manichaeism, where salvation is possible only through knowledge. It is the simultaneous loathing of the body with the false idea that it knows what perfection is.

What attracted you to the subject of theology?

I had to work out what it meant to love God with my mind. What could be more interesting than the study of God? Besides which, theology knows no boundaries – it speaks to every subject.

My father was a church minister but when I went to

university to study religion and politics I rebelled. I stopped going to church. After a few years, I realised that something was missing from my life. Rather than actively searching for God, I became aware of a love that was pursuing me. So there was a great sense of being welcomed back.

I went on to do a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctorate of Ministry and became a campus minister. But it was not until after my ordination that I became what I call a real Christian – taking time to observe the disciplines of prayer and worship. I had a book-club subscription which I’d meant to cancel but had forgotten. This book – Resurrection and Moral Order – arrived, so I thought I’d read it anyway. I didn’t realise how thirsty I was until I started drinking.

When I finished the book, I was irritated. I knew in that moment that I’d either have to find the courage to step away from it or take Christianity seriously. For me, that included finding grace in the world wherever possible and resisting the sin of despair, even when there were good reasons to fall into it.

The Bible has much to say about the body. It describes Jesus as the Word that became flesh. What do you understand by that?

The Word is that which orders creation towards its end. The Word pervades the world. Increasingly, people

From page 9

14 December 2013 The War Cry 11

was never intended. It is not a scientific textbook. On the other hand, science is a wonderful methodology, but it is wrong to make science explain everything. It can’t. So, for example, I don’t see a conflict between the creation story and evolution.

Why do some Christians regard evolution theory as being anti-biblical?

Because they grant too much to science, as being the force that validates things. They endow science with power that science neither seeks nor should strive for.

Christians do not have to prove the existence of God in order to validate God, any more than I can scientifically validate my wife’s love. I experience and enjoy the evidence of that love and I know that it exists.

Christianity is not dependent on proving that, for example, there was a flood that engulfed the whole world. That’s not the point of the Noah story.

Do scientists play God?Some do, but they do it very badly. Where scientists get in trouble is the notion that

knowledge always leads to mastery – when science is driven not by awe and wonder at the world but by a desire to use the discovery in some way.

Scientists like to think that their work is driving technology, but it is the other way round. People come up with applications and they look to science to find the ways to make that happen. I doubt, for example, that millions of dollars were spent on mapping the human genome just so we could say: ‘Wow! Now we know how many genes we’ve got.’

Most science is done in pursuit of God-given stewardship for creation. One can be driven to a knowledge of the world out of a love of God and a strong motivation to help others.

want information not narration. They look for space not place. Yet the story of God taking on human form dispels all notions that humans are autonomous. We depend on others and on our Creator. Humankind cannot save itself. We need to allow ourselves to be embraced by God.

Is the Virgin Birth a literal or metaphorical description of the Word becoming flesh?

I do not believe that Jesus had a human father. It was a miraculous birth. The Virgin Birth is a necessary component of the Incarnation – God taking on human form.

The Bible describes a bodily resurrection of Jesus. Do you interpret that as a literal account or as an analogy?

Jesus was not resuscitated. He was resurrected. If we believe the body is important, then we should not be eager to discount a bodily resurrection. The Greeks distinguished between body (soma) and flesh (sarx). ‘Flesh’ had a broader meaning than ‘body’. ‘Flesh’ was often regarded as being in opposition to God, as humans live according to certain disordered desires because of the flesh. The Christian hope lies in the resurrection of the body, not flesh, and not in the immortality of the disembodied soul.

Jesus’ resurrection is the sign of what will happen to us all at the end of time.

Christians don’t need to try to explain the physics. We can accept this as an extraordinary gift of God.

To what extent does Western culture worship the body beautiful?

People simultaneously love and loathe their bodies. We love our bodies because this is how we have sensual experience and interact. Yet, if we truly love our bodies, why do we spend so much money changing them?

For example, in the United States some parents buy their high-school daughter a graduation gift of breast-augmentation surgery. What kind of message does that send? We love you, but we’d love you more with a ‘better’ body. That illustrates the ambivalence of simultaneously loving and loathing the body.

To what extent are science and Christianity compatible?

I’m a biblical literalist. I read the Bible’s poetry literally as poetry and history literally as history. I don’t try to make the Bible say what it was never intended to say.

There are problems on both sides. The sin on the Christian side is to make the Bible say something that

There is a difference between wanting to live well and wanting to live for ever

People simultaneously love and loathe their bodies

12 The War Cry 14 December 2013 Puzzlebreak

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9

Solution on page 15

SUDOKU

HONEYCOMB

QUICK CROSSWORD

ANSWERS

ACROSS1. Inundate (5)4. Tarnish (5)8. Statute (3)9. Stop

sleeping (5)10. Truism (5)11. Electrical

unit (3)12. Notions (5)13. Component (7)16. Robust (6)19. Hasty

writing (6)23. Technical

expertise (4-3)26. Intended (5)28. Forty winks (3)29. Trample (5)30. Likeness (5)31. Nothing (3)32. Amidst (5)33. Portal (5)

QUICK CROSSWORDACROSS: 1 Swamp. 4 Stain. 8 Law. 9 Awake. 10 Axiom.

11 Amp. 12 Ideas. 13 Element. 16 Sturdy. 19 Scrawl. 23 Know-how. 26 Meant. 28 Nap. 29 Tread. 30 Image. 31 Nil. 32 Among. 33 Entry.

DOWN: 2 Aware. 3 Pleased. 4 Swiped. 5 Adage. 6 Naive. 7 Admit. 9 Alias. 14 Mar. 15 New. 17 Ton. 18 Row. 20 Compile. 21 Lithe. 22 Awning. 23 Kitty. 24 Omega. 25 Hydro. 27 Adapt.

QUICK QUIZ1 Lilt. 2 The Black Pig. 3 Jaws. 4 The bat. 5 Spice Girls. 6 The

kidney.HONEYCOMB

1 Fiddle. 2 Bishop. 3 Supply. 4 Nutmeg. 5 Height. 6 Rudder.

Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these words that start with ‘day’

DAYBEDDAYBOOKDAY BOYDAYBREAKDAY CAREDAY CENTREDAY-DAWNDAYDREAMDAY FLOWERDAY LABOURER

DAYSACKDAY SCHOOLDAYSIDEDAY SURGERYDAYTIMEDAY TRIPDAYWEARDAYWORK

DAYLIGHTDAY LILYDAY OFFDAY OUTDAYPACKDAY RELEASEDAY RETURNDAY ROOM

DOWN2. Conscious of (5)3. Satisfied (7)4. Lashed out (6)5. Proverb (5)

1. A violin

2. Diagonally moving chess piece

3. Make available to someone

4. Tree seed used as a spice

5. Measurement from base to top

6. Used to steer a boat

Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number

WORDSEARCH

QUICK QUIZ

1. Which soft drink is associated with the advertising slogan ‘The totally tropical taste’?

2. In the children’s TV programme, what is the name of the ship sailed by Captain Pugwash and his crew?

3. Which film contains the line: ‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat’?

4. What is the only flying mammal?

5. Which band had a No 1 hit with ‘Viva Forever’?

6. Which organ of the body would suffer from nephritis?

D Y D R O K N W A N D A O O Y O O D A Y C A R E Y D L D P A R L D A Y Y D E U E D S A D D D R E Y Y S D E R T N E C Y A D Y C A E T I O Y B E S C D A Y P A C K O R D D O Y R R D E R R A R R E A I E A D A Y S U R G E R Y R D T P D A Y D A W N O U L E K D T O U M A E R D Y A D B E W O A D D B O B Y A O A L B A A O O Y A A A Y Y Y L D O Y I U S L B W A A A Y S A A I Y M B L E F Y E Y D D A W Y D E G D A O Y Y A A E D C Y O O L O O H C S Y A D R D K A F D I R E M I T Y A D D D Y A F R O D Y K O C R A R U R U N

6. Artless (5)7. Confess (5)9. Assumed

name (5)14. Spoil (3)15. Fresh (3)17. Unit of

weight (3)18. Argument (3)20. Put

together (7)21. Supple (5)22. Canopy (6)23. Pool (5)24. Last letter of

Greek alphabet (5)

25. Spa (5)27. Adjust (5)

Inner life 1314 December 2013 The War Cry

I RECENTLY experienced an exciting week full of passion and desire. Through it, I’ve become aware that they determine our choices and define our goals.

‘Passion’ and ‘desire’ need reclaiming from their sensational association with ‘lust’ – something that advertisers tap into, even in the build-up to Christmas. After all, passion and desire are integral parts of human spirituality.

On the Thursday of that never-to-be-forgotten week, a friend of mine, an organisational psychologist, told me that she had written a book about passion in the business world. In it, she shows that passion makes a charismatic manager or a self-employed entrepreneur successful.

On the Saturday, while buying bread from a Turkish baker’s, I saw a travel poster aimed at Muslim pilgrims: ‘Passion for Mecca’ was the bold lettering.

Later the same day, I overtook a lorry which had ‘Driven by passion’ beautifully painted on the fuel tank.

The Advent stories – the angel visiting Mary, and then Mary and her cousin Elizabeth sharing the joys and concerns of pregnancy and what would become of their sons – are all about passion. There was a sense of longing and desire for the arrival of the Messiah.

But, at a time of the year when commercialism creates false desires, how do we know what we need to be passionate about in our spiritual lives? How can we reclaim ‘desire’ for Advent?

Ignatius Loyola, who lived in the 1500s, offers good advice about what to pray for at any time of year. It is particularly applicable in December. He encourages us to begin our prayers with asking God ‘for what I want and desire’.

At first glance, this seems selfish. But, in fact, this invaluable petition helps us discover our true desires and sift them so that ultimately we desire only what God wants us to desire and are passionate only for the things he wants us to be passionate about.

This Advent, as we reclaim the true message of Christ’s coming for ourselves, such a prayer can transform us – and our Christmas.

In this series, RON THOMLINSON calls for a rethink on the festive seasonPassion

and desire

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Passion makes an entrepreneur successful

14 The War Cry 14 December 2013

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Food for thought

I CAUGHT a snatch of conversation between two women at the next table in the restaurant. They had been doing their Christmas shopping and one, somewhat fazed, repeatedly said: ‘What can I give him?’ I guessed that the ‘him’ was her husband or boyfriend, who was difficult to please with a gift.

I then found myself remembering a line from the Christmas carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’.

The song asks: ‘What can I give him?’ The songwriter, Christina Rossetti, was considering what she could give to Jesus. Her answer was: ‘Give my heart.’

Through the years, people have dedicated many gifts to Jesus. They have given their money, created great works of art and literature and composed beautiful music. But not everyone is able to bestow such gifts.

I like to think that the seemingly lesser gifts are still acceptable to Jesus. I believe that he looks not just at the gift, but also at the heart of the person who gives it.

The Bible records an occasion when Jesus watched rich people donating portions of their wealth to the Temple treasury.

Then he watched a widow make her donation of two copper coins. He said: ‘This poor widow has put in more than all the others … [she] put in all she had to live on’ (Luke 21:3, 4 New International Version)

Jesus explained that the woman’s gift

was worth far more than the larger monetary donations, because it had cost her everything.

This Christmas, as we consider what we can give to Jesus, we don’t need to try to impress him with grand gestures. We don’t need to compare our gifts with those of others.

As far as Jesus is concerned, he just wants our heart. Not a bit of it – but all of it. Are we willing to give it?

Perfectpresentsought

We don’t need to compare gifts with others

by WESLEY HARRIS

Method:Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas

Mark 6. Grease a baking sheet and dust with flour.

Pour the oil into a pan and fry the pork and bacon until just cooked. Mix in the cheese. When the cheese has melted, remove the mixture from the pan and set aside.

Roll out the pastry. Using a 9cm cutter, cut out 12 circles. Spread the stuffing thickly over the centre of each circle, then top with the pork and bacon filling, leaving the edges of the pastry clear.

Brush the edges of each circle with a little water. Fold over each circle to form a pasty and crimp the edges. Glaze the pasties with the beaten egg.

Place the pasties on the baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes or until they turn golden brown.

Makes 12

I’M Michael Darracott. I have been an executive chef in several large establishments in charge of cooking for 200-plus people. I have also written a number of books. It gives me great pleasure to offer my recipes in The War Cry.

I invite readers to send in recipe ideas, to be considered for publication here. I would also like to offer help with any cooking-related problems you have. So send in your question and, if it is selected, an answer will be published on this page.

Email your recipes and questions to chefmike56@chefmikedarracott.com

Ingredients:

3tsp olive or vegetable oil

150g lean pork, cut into bite-sized chunks

250g bacon, fat removed

100g cheese, grated

1 x 85g packet sage and onion stuffing, made according to instructions

500g ready-made shortcrust pastry

1 egg, beaten

1514 December 2013 The War CryWhat’s cooking?

SUDOKU SOLUTION

Ingredients:For the pastry90g caster sugar2 eggsPinch of salt4 drops of vanilla

essence140g butter 300g plain flour, sifted

For the filling2 x 411g jars sweet

mincemeat100g glacé cherries,

chopped 3tbsp icing sugar

Cherry and mincemeat pies

Method:Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Grease a

deep 12-hole pie tin.To make the pastry, cream together the sugar, eggs, salt

and vanilla essence, then mix in the butter. Add the sifted flour a little at a time, mixing well. Cover the pastry with clingfilm and chill for 15–20 minutes.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut in half. Return one half to the fridge.

Roll out the other half and cut out 12 circles large enough to fit the base and sides of the pie holes. Place the circles in the holes.

Mix the cherries with the mincemeat in a bowl, then spoon the mixture into the pies until it nearly reaches the top.

Remove the remaining pastry from the fridge and cut out 12 more circles. Place these on top of the pies as lids. Use any spare pastry to make leaf decorations for the tops of the pies, then put the pies in the oven and bake for 10–15 minutes. Sprinkle some icing sugar over the top of each pie before serving.

Makes 12

chefmikedarracott.com

Cook with chef MICHAEL DARRACOTT

Pork, bacon cheese and stuffing pasties

The Salvation Army (United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland) on behalf of the General of The Salvation Army. Printed by Wyndeham Grange, Southwick. © André Cox, General of The Salvation Army, 2013

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James Howells searched for his buried treasure

There’s a pot of gold for someone

JAMES HOWELLS is more than a bit regretful. Back in the summer, he threw out an old computer hard drive on which he’d stored some Bitcoins, a virtual currency. James thought the coins were no great loss but, a few weeks ago, he discovered that his Bitcoins were worth £4.5 million and were buried at the Docksway landfill site near Newport, Wales.

Out of desperation, James paid a visit to Docksway, only to be told that his old hard drive was likely to be buried under three feet of rubbish.

In an interview with The Guardian, James said: ‘There’s a pot of gold there for someone … It’s my mistake throwing the hard drive out.’

It’s possible for all of us to throw something away and then recognise its value too late. Perhaps we have chucked out a particular item, then wished we had kept it because of its financial or sentimental value. Or maybe we have gone a step further and discarded a loved one, then realised what a mistake we have made.

As Christmas approaches, the temptation can be to focus so much on the parties and presents, family and food that we risk throwing Jesus out of our celebration. Absent-mindedly, we might chuck him

MONEY!asks CLAIRE BRINE

But what is it worth?

aside, failing to recognise the value of his love. Or we bury him under the idea that he might be all right for others but this ‘tiny baby’ couldn’t possibly make a difference to us.

The good news is that Jesus didn’t stay dead and buried. He loves us so much that he offers us second, third and fourth chances to get to know him.

The Bible says that when Jesus encountered new faces, he invited people to ‘come, follow me’ (Matthew 4:19 New International Version).

Circumstances may cause us to lose sight of him, but it’s never too late to find him. He invites us to seek and find him, today.

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