Should The Lord's Prayer Be Taught In School?

So the Archbishop of Canterbury would like to see The Lord's Prayer introduced into more schools. I learnt it in the C of E school I was brought up in and a quick survey of my kids who have gone to the same school know it and they say it nearly every day at school.

At first my thoughts on this was it would only be appropriate for it to be on the agenda at a Church school, but actually I think we should be trying to promote our heritage as a Christian land in all schools, that is not to say we only focus on Christianity, but certainly give it good airtime.  The basis of the Christian religion is love & forgiveness, I can't believe any parent would be against that being taught to their children.

Dr Rowan Williams says  "I'd like to see schools introducing children to the Lord's Prayer, so that they know that it's there, they know what it means and know why it matters. Then they may make up their minds about whether they use it."

That doesn't sound too harmful does it? He's not wanting to insist they believe it or face eternal damnation, just here's something that means a lot to a lot of people.
Having said all that, I was taught it and I must admit when I'm in Church and someone says now let's all recite The Lord's Prayer my first thought is "please put up the words!" There's just something about it that makes me always want to say the 'lead us not into temptaion' bit before the 'forgive us our sins' bit.  Which probably doesn't matter so long as you say it all and mean it, but you look like a bit of a plum when you are saying something different to everyone else!

And shamefully, I couldn't off the top of my head tell you where to find it in the Bible; I want to say Psalm 23 but I know it's not that, I think that's The Lord's My Shepherd one?

So there you have it, I was taught it, can't confidently recite it, and without looking it up don't know where to find it!  You know what, God'll forgive me for it and still loves me anyway!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever.

Amen.

Were you taught it and do you think it should be taught now?

Blogging Is More Fun Than Running!

I'd rather blog than run any day of the week! My friend convinced us to take part in the Bristol 10k to raise money via 'Love Running' for the poor the oppressed and the needy.  I just hope at the end of it I don't find myself falling into one of those categories!

Why I agreed to this malarkey I'll never know, I'm not that convinced I've been given the gift of writing but I know I haven't been given the gift of physical excursion!

But what I am enjoying doing is updating the just giving page. That has been great fun to write about how the training is going and even better because I have been collaborating writing with my best friend, we really do think we're French & Saunders!  It's a shame she's such a techno-phobe, because she's hilarious and would make a great blogger, but she doesn't even facebook or tweet!  She's only just got the hang of texting bless her!

Anyway we're raising money on the basis if you read the just giving blog and laugh, you should sponsor us, please don't sponsor us purely on the basis of running the 10k, the pressure will be too great!

To take a look at our page go to www.justgiving.com/Phipps-Millard

Machine Gun Preacher

Sam Childers is a badass, who becomes a Christian and remains a badass.

The film is about Sam who was into drugs and guns and fighting, he turns his life around when he becomes a Christian, he drops the drugs, he tones down the fighting, but he very much keeps the guns!

Sam ends up in Sudan on a construction mission with his church. While there he witnesses the awful things that are happening to the children there.

Eventually he decides to build an orphanage and does all he can to rescue the children from the rebels, and if he comes across someone in his way who's prepared to fire at him, he'll fire back!

Some people may think because he's a Christian he shouldn't be using violence, some people may think his language is too colourful, some people may think they can sit in their home and pray and it will all work out fine; well maybe your prayers got answered in the form of Sam Childers.

You can hear an interview with Sam about the film here Premier Radio interview with Sam Childers

Alzheimer Moments

Today's Alzheimer moments so far. I was just about to leave the house, in my car. (Remember that bit of info, it'll come in handy later, I only wish I had remembered it.) When I couldn't find my mobile phone. 

So, I did what any person with full mental capacity would do, I rang it from my land line. That is where my full mental capacity ends, as I spent the next few minutes wandering around the house following the ring but unable to discover where the phone was.

I was completely baffled, I could hear it, but couldn't see it, until eventually I discovered the tone was following me and realised that the phone had been in my backside pocket all morning!  I hear you, "how could you not know your arse was ringing!"

I am now able to leave the house and went off to Zumba, did a few things in the town bought a sarnie from Greggs (don't judge me, everyone knows a double negative makes a positive; exercise - bad + Greggs - bad = good result all round) and then started to walk home......... forgetting that I had driven to Zumba!

What hope is there for me? If I can't find my phone that's about my person, and I walk home because I forgot I drove! I'm doomed!

If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this post, please don't tell me, I've got enough of my own problems.

Praying For Fabrice Muamba

Why are our tabloid papers urging the nation to pray? Is it because of poverty, abuse, crime etc? No.  It is because a young footballer collapsed from a cardiac arrest during a match on Saturday.

Fabrice Muamba a 23 year old footballer is in a critical condition in hospital and the football fans want him to pull through and their first thoughts are prayer!

I don't follow football; I have an idea that two teams attempt to get a ball in a goal and whichever  team gets the most goals wins the game - that is the extent of my football knowledge!

I was shocked to see a young sports person - a fit and healthy young person being stretchered off a sports pitch with a heart attack! I didn't pray for him initially, I don't know if I should feel bad about that or not, I found the story interesting but I wasn't initially moved to pray.  Until I started to notice his family requesting prayer on twitter, and not in a desperate way, but in a faithful way, then my twitter time line seemed to be full of nothing but requests for prayer for Muamba.

The tabloids had headlines like "God is in control" and "Praying for Muamba".  In times of fear and crisis, most people's first thought is God, and it seems for now God is answering those prayers; Muamba is now breathing on his own and has spoken a few words.

I don't know if Muamba is a Christian, I suspect many of the fans that prayed for him may not be Christians, but my prayer is that God's truth is revealed to the people that wrote the headlines, the players that were on the pitch, the fans in the stadium.  Every single one of them is a child of God and loved by Him, and if last weekend's events brings even one of them into a place where they truly find God as their Father, then that will make headline news in Heaven!

Venus & Jupiter

At the moment, I'm sure you're aware, if you look out to the West after dusk you will clearly see Jupiter and Venus with the naked eye.

I am not at all interested in planets and space - I still haven't got my head around whether the Earth spins round the Sun or the Sun goes around the Earth; so long as I get  a few sunny days on the beach in the Summer who cares?

My husband likes it and it's kind of more a boy thing anyway, but I have to say it does interest me when 'space' things come around from time to time and the ordinary person without a telescope and a stalker-like interest in Patrick Moore can enjoy it.

Tonight though, God gave us more than beautiful planets to admire, He gave us a conversation to have; started by our eldest daughter.

She doesn't know what she should or shouldn't believe in at the moment, everything seems to confuse her and we're just patiently waiting for her to make her own decisions and see that we've got it right!

Her looking into the sky and seeing those planets awesomely clear led to her asking all about creation and evolution and how did they get there and why aren't there new species and how did two rocks collide and was it really only seven days and who made the big bang happen and who did kill Frank on Coronation Street?

I'm serious; she can't wait to find out who killed Frank. We don't watch Corrie, but we did our best to answer her sceptical questions. It was fun, she respected what we believed and we accepted that she had doubts and questions.

Have a look up into the Heaven's.  What do you see?

Psalm 8:3
"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place".

Eternal Punishment or Annihilation?

As promised in my tweet the other day, I have listened to the unbelievable podcast and I will now reveal to you whether or not there is a Hell.

Actually that's slightly inaccurate, the existence of Hell wasn't in question; it was whether or not it was conscious eternal punishment, Steve Jeffery's view, or permanent annihilation of the body and soul, Chris Date's view.



Before you read on I feel I must refer you to my tag-line above; I'm not theologically trained, I just have opinions I'm happy to offer.

So this post really isn't going to be based on exegesis, it's simply going to come from the heart of the way I feel about eternity.

Matthew 25:46 ESV
"And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Surely Hell has to be an eternal conscious punishment? I can't say in what form the punishment will take.  I understand the reference of Hell as Gehenna to be the sacrificial fire, so I don't know if it's a big burning place in eternity or not, but essentially whatever it is, I believe it will be for eternity and it won't be pretty. 

Why would it be so imperative as Christians to be evangelical with the message of God's love? Why would God desperately want no-one to experience Hell and for us all to come to Him and accept His son died in our places so we could avoid it? Because it is eternal, there is no getting away from it.

I do not believe in the tactic of Hell-fire vs Heaven, but it's gotta be more urgent to flee Hell-fire than to flee annihilation.

Matthew 10:28 ESV
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

I'm not a Christian because I'm frightened of Hell, but I certainly don't want to go there! But annihilation holds no fear for me.  

Some people would say I know nothing anyway, so to be clueless for eternity isn't going to make much difference. Sure, we may be missing out on Heaven and maybe that is deemed to be the real punishment, but really, will that bother anyone if they are unaware of it?

I've missed hundreds of fantastic parties I knew nothing about; actually I can't really say I missed them because I didn't know anything about them, ergo, it doesn't bother me, I just get on with my life......... or not.......... in the case of the annihilation theory.

Whatever your thoughts that Hell may or may not be, I think as believing Christians, we all know that most importantly we have an eternal place in Heaven; and that is open to everyone.

Romans 10:13 ESV
"For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”