News / Events
From the Pastor
A selection from Pastor Derek's thoughts, as published in the weekly news sheet of Advance Church.
June 2010
During my Vision Group on Tuesday, it really came home to me how passionate we can be about all kinds of life experiences, yet remain almost silent about our encounters with God. I have been deeply challenged on this, and sense a need in my spirit to choose to draw closer to Jesus in both my private devotional times and public worship.
Unless I (and you) have personally seen and heard from God, we have nothing to be passionate about. I’m reminded again that we each so easily share about our personal interests (hobbies, work, sport etc.) but really do struggle when it comes to talking openly about our experiences of Jesus.
In our present series on sharing our faith, we’ve talked about our fears, we’ve talked about our beliefs, and we’ve talked about those not-yet believers nearest to us - our KIN (family & close friends), our COMMUNITY (those we meet regularly - work and neighbours etc.) and our INTEREST GROUP (those we share the same meeting place with).
Can I urge you to get to know Jesus more and more, on a daily basis? When it comes to evangelism, YOU CAN’T GIVE AWAY WHAT YOU HAVEN’T GOT! You and I need to live every single day of our lives in intimacy with God, our hearts ablaze with the love of Christ. Then we’ll find that evangelism happens as a by-product - an overflow of our burning hearts.
May 2010
What do you think Jesus meant when He said we should be ‘salt & light’ in the world? Being a light is probably easy to understand. Our behaviour is to be so different that it ‘shines out’ from the behaviour of others around us.
Being salt, though, is a little more difficult. Salt, when mentioned by Jesus, is an example of a preservative. It doesn’t change anything, but it does prevent things from going bad. You have to do something with salt, shake it out of it’s container, and spread it about.
As some of you will know, I was deeply offended this week by a comment made by a Radio 4 interviewer, who described as ‘nutty’ those people who would want to teach creationism as truth. In fact, I was outraged that the supposedly un-biased BBC could air such a personal view in an interview going out live across the world.
I was so upset that I immediately got hold of the telephone number for complaints at the BBC ( 03700 100 222 ) and spoke to them directly. I also then found the web address for complaints
( https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/ ) and e-mailed them a longer version of my complaint. Even more than that, I then e-mailed a number of friends I thought would be sympathetic to my views, and suggested they also complained to the BBC. Finally, I e-mailed the Bradford Telegraph & Argus News Desk and asked them for their comments on the matter.
I don’t mind being described as ‘nutty’. What I do mind is the assertion by our country’s public service broadcaster that Christians in general, and their beliefs, are ‘nutty’. We need to preserve the heritage that is ours of being able to freely express our faith without ridicule by the public media. We need to be salt, or things will go bad!
Thanks for your e-mail about ‘Today’ broadcast on 26 May.
I understand that you were unhappy to hear James Naughtie describe people who believe in the teaching of creationism in schools as ‘nutty’.
We forwarded complaints on this issue to Dominic Groves, one of the output editors for the ‘Today’ programme who explained in response that:
“I think James Naughtie was using the term creationist to mean those who argue in favour of the literal truth of every word of the Bible. That is very much a minority view among Christian believers. Most of the world's main denominations including Roman Catholicism accept that parts of the Bible are allegorical and many more that evolutionary theory in some form is the most plausible explanation of the development of life on earth. There was no intention to insult Christians or religious believers in general. In that context James was reflecting the concerns of ''some people'' who are worried that the Government's plans for education reform could open the door to unorthodox views being taught as if they were part of mainstream scientific thought. Strict 'creationism,’ which is what we are talking about here, is not so much a scientific theory as a religious belief, based as it is on an interpretation of a body of text rather than on testable scientific evidence.”
I do appreciate that you were disappointed with James Naughtie’s comment and so I'd like to assure you that I’ve registered your complaint on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that’s circulated to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers.
The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.
Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.
Kind Regards
Leanne Bennett
April 2010
Following on from my previous comments about ‘random’ questions, what do you think about Matthew 28:2-4: “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.”?
The Roman guards had been specially selected for the job of guarding Jesus’ tomb by Pilate himself (27:65-66), so no doubt they were seasoned soldiers, well used to facing strong and violent opposition. However, when faced with a very powerful, unknown force “they shook and became like dead men” because they were so afraid of the angel.
How would you react if faced with an angel, a creature that presumably resembled a human being but which was clearly a spiritual being? Would you shake and become like a dead man or would you hurry away to tell someone, afraid yet filled with joy? The soldiers became involved in a huge cover-up, desperate to conceal the truth. The women met Jesus, and were happy to speak the truth!
I find it very interesting that the women, the two Marys, were totally unfazed by this amazing occurrence. They listened to what the angel had to say, and then they hurried from the tomb, “afraid yet filled with joy”. Although in the time of Jesus’ resurrection the testimony of women was regarded as ‘iffy’ to say the least, the Gospel writers had no hesitation in faithfully recording the truth about these women’s experiences.
Clearly, the Truth itself was far more important than whether anyone chose to believe that Truth or not. Doesn’t that very fact add weight to the argument that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead and leave the tomb? If, like the Roman military, you were involved in a cover-up, you would choose people as witnesses who would be readily accepted as reliable, surely? So, who do you believe – the guards or the girls?
Mar 2010
On Friday evening Linda and I treated ourselves (at some considerable cost) to stand tickets to see the Bradford Bulls play Wigan Warriors at Odsal Stadium in Super League XV. If you saw the match, you’ll know that the Bulls made an amazing 2nd half comeback to win in the final two minutes of play, coming from 0-20 down to 22-20.
At half-time, with the Bulls having been run off the field, my legs frozen to ice, and my wallet now very empty, it would have been an easy decision to cut our losses, in every sense, and go home. However, out of loyalty to the team, and the family members we had gone to share the experience with, we endured the low-key half-time entertainment and prayed for better things in the 2nd half. And better things there were!
The Bradford Bulls were galvanised into effective action by the team talk during the interval, and came out and played with conviction, wisdom and patience. What a revelation! Was this the same team that took the field an hour ago? Their opponents were made to look ordinary, and what had seemed to be a certain and overwhelming defeat began to look like a most unlikely victory.
When the Bulls had dragged the score-line back to just 16-20 in favour of Wigan, the whole of the Main Stand got to their feet to urge on Bradford. When the diminutive No. 7, Orford, kicked the final goal to make it 22-20 in favour of Bradford, the noise and movement was fantastic. Linda & I joined the crowd as everyone jumped up and down, shouted, cheered, clapped and chanted.
Up to the point when Bradford made it 16-20 it was difficult, if not impossible, to see how the situation could be reversed. Heavy defeat was looking inevitable, hopes of future victories dimmed and enthusiasm for the long haul distinctly waning. Yet, in the space of just two minutes, we saw the Bulls produce a sensational victory against all the odds!
Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did for each of us? (Read Mark 15:33-39) And isn’t such an event worthy of even greater exuberance and heart-felt celebration than an unexpected victory in a Super League XV game? Jesus Himself snatched salvation – victory – for us from the very jaws of hell at just the moment Satan thought he’d won – now that’s amazing and fantastic!
Next time you find yourself in a worship event of any kind, remember the depth of the victory won on your behalf by Jesus – and celebrate!
Feb 2010
What is it about other people that really helps you to connect with them? Their easy acceptance of you, a common interest, or perhaps a sense of excitement when they’re around? What bugs you about other people? Their annoying personal habits, a sense that they’re keeping their distance from you, or even maybe their energy and self-assurance? Some people’s positive attributes can even be a real turn-off to those who lack a measure of self-worth or sense of security.
As we seek to move forward with God together, our most vital task is to learn how to live with each other, ‘warts and all’, be at peace with each other, despite our differences, and yet be a constant challenge to each other to grow into a greater spiritual maturity in Christ.
We are ‘the people of God’, living in relationship with each other and, to a greater or lesser extent mirroring the unselfish love for each other that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit possess. Their mutual dependence and utmost respect for each other is our model. We can never be satisfied with the level of relationship we have with each other until we truly are more concerned, ‘at all times and in all places ‘, for the needs and aspirations of each other than we are for our own.
Jan 2010
Today’s teaching message is a hard-hitting look at what we each consider to be our No. 1 priorities in life. It looks at these through the window of the latest blockbuster film, ‘The Book of Eli’, starring Denzel Washington.
He has been a Christian for many years, and a faithful and active member of His local church. The film throws up several issues, one of which is how do you influence your workplace for God, when it’s whole ethos is to pander to the fleshly needs of human beings? The underlying message of this violent film, however, is this - how do you react when your most precious possession is threatened by a series of overwhelming circumstances?
To what degree would you be motivated to protect what you have, against those who would take it from you, by any means possible? How far would you go? How much would you be willing to change? What level of pain and upset would you be willing to endure - to secure your freedom and that of others?
Clearly, the New Testament doesn’t teach us to go around slaughtering our enemies. On the contrary, we are to love them and bless them and actively pray for them. So why use such a film as ‘The Book of Eli’ in a Sunday Morning message? The answer is actually quite simple - to get your attention, shock you into thinking ‘outside of the box’, and maybe, just maybe, cause you to really think through the issue of priorities in your life.
You don’t have to see the film, but you do have to confront the questions it raises!