Ian Rees's Blog, page 8

When controversies coming flooding in

UKIP have now suspended David Silvester, the councillor who aired his opinion that we have had so many floods in Britain this winter because the government passed the gay marriage bill. He had apparently warned David Cameron that to go ahead with the bill in the face of a petition that had garnered more than 600,000 signatures and that was also opposed by more than half his parliamentary party, would have serious consequences. He had written of “storms, disease, pestilence and war” coming as...

The battleground of prayer

A friend who worked in China used to attend an international church in the city where he lived. It was a large fellowship with a multi-national congregation. There weren't many Brits, but there were plenty of Americans, Australians and other westerners, alongside a huge variety of workers from a whole host of South-East Asian and African countries. It was a healthy mix, with no one culture absolutely dominant. Except in the prayer meetings, that is. One of these was held on a Sunday morning,...

Christmas Quackers

“Duck Dynasty”? No, that isn't an updated version of a Beatrix Potter story or a Chinese restaurant. It's an American reality TV show built around a Louisiana family and their business which supplies products for duck hunters. You cannot imagine that business really prospering in the UK or the show even getting air-time, but in the States the business is making millions and the programme is one of America's biggest and most popular such shows on TV. And now that the network has just suspended...

Retelling the Bible

The Bible is back in vogue with screenwriters at the moment. On Saturday evenings we are being lead at break-neck speed through “The Bible” (go to "The Bible" website for resources) , but this is just the beginning of what is going to be a bumper season at the cinema. Russell Crowe will soon be appearing as Noah, while late next year will see Christian Bale take on the role of Moses in “Exodus”, and December 2014 “Mary” is slated for release, which is apparently a biopic of the life of Mary t...

The British Cultural Revolution

A friend of mine who lived and worked in business in China for 18 years until he retired last year says he is planning to write a book about “The British Cultural Revolution” which is taking place and which has uncomfortable parallels with what went on in China in the sixties. The book is only headings at the moment, but I hope he gets around to writing it, because the little of what he told me rings so true.

One feature of the Chinese cultural revolution was that meanings of words were redef...

The centre of attention

You can probably ask anyone over 65 where they were on the evening of 22 November, 1963, and there is a good chance they will be able to give you an answer. That was the day that US President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, a death which sent shockwaves around the world. Many people will have their location on hearing that announcement imprinted into their memories. I was only three at the time, so I was almost certainly in bed when the news broke, and also remember nothing...

Lest we forget

This is my grandfather's brother, Will Semple. Born 28 May 1897, he volunteered for military service in September 1914. Since he was just 17 at that time he was put into one of the London Territorial Regiments before joining the regulars in June 1915. He was finally sent to the Western Front in April 1916 where he was transferred to the East Lancashire Regiment with whom he served until he was killed in Belgium in January 1918, aged 20. The Guardian has an interactive record of the casualties...

Biased neutrality

One of Britain's leading judges, Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division, said last week in a speech to the Law Society's family law section that judges no longer reflect Christian values, and it seems he was quite happy for this to be so. Their responsibility, he said, isn't to weigh one religion against another. Rather they serve as secular judges serving a multicultural community with no bias towards one or another. Instead, they have a responsibility to dispense justice to all m...

Praying up a storm on St Jude's Day

A missionary I once met who worked in Ireland recounted an incident that took place one evening on 28 October, perhaps 35 years ago. While walking down the town high street he noticed an unusual amount of activity in one of the town's Catholic chapels, so he decided to go in and find out what was going on. There wasn't a formal service as such – there was no leader at the front – but the place was packed with people in various stages of praying, kneeling, lighting candles, standing in front o...

Clear thinking in the face of death

Samuel Johnson commented that approaching death concentrates a man's mind wonderfully. It should, but he doesn't specify (at least not in the quote) on what the mind should actually concentrate. He might have been thinking about putting oneself right with God, making amends for past wrongs, or reconciling with people you know. Today the most likely result of such concentration is a bucket list of things to do and places to see before death sweeps it all away. In other words, it will most like...