Skip to main content

Lest we Forget

It has been 70 years to the day when Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in what has become known as the longest day.
As I sit here and reflect on that event, and I watch the day unfolding on the TV. I look into the eyes of those old men. British, American and Canadian I see selflessness, determination and great courage. If those men had not done what they did, Europe and the World would be a different place altogether. It would be one ruled by fascism and tyranny. Instead we have freedom.
Freedom a word that means so much to so many, in so many different ways. For me as a Christian leader it means I still have the freedom to tell all those lost people-in this free world- the good news. That Jesus Christ died for them, loves them and in him there is true purpose and freedom.
I look on those old men and know that the vast majority will not be there on the 80th Anniversary. One old man told the story of being wounded and laying on a stretcher, next to him was a badly wounded German solider, the enemy, He reached over and took the hand of the the young German and said "its OK its over now."
How many of us can with certainty say that when we get to Heaven and one day stand before that Great White throne of Judgement, hold the hand of our enemy, and look to the cross and say "its over it is finished, the price was payed for us"

Lest we forget.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 1970's Christian Coffee Shop

I remember as a new Christian being invited into a Christian Coffee shop in the town where I grew up. It was clean and tidy, the table tops were all brightly painted in different colours,  but mainly yellow and scattered on top were a random selection of Christian tracts. Fish symbols and Christian posters proclaiming that there was but 'One Way' to heaven were everywhere. The music playing out of the stereo was The Bill Gather Trio or Dolly Parton singing Gospel. The crockery, was a mixed assortment of coffee mugs, donated by keen supporters of this outreach to the unsaved sinners and ungodly people living in the city. The coffee was a local brand heavily mixed with chicory. In all the years the Coffee Shop operated, I never saw a non-Christian go in and I never heard of a person coming to faith through having coffee there. I never really understood its purpose. Fast forward to today, when I was asked recently, to advise on helping a local community church open a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The myth of Ministry Leadership.

The myth that all leaders are leaders. Not everyone who leads in church is a leader. I think it is wrong, for Church leaders to believe that those they train up to take various ministry leadership positions, are in fact leaders in their own right. They are not. At best I would categorise these people- that many churches call 'ministry leaders' as ministry managers.                 "At one level there is nothing wrong with title inflation; it is a cheap way of recognising people who work hard and make serious contributions" Jo Owen. I am of the opinion that this title inflation undervalues both the leader and the ' ministry manager' and can often bring about confusion and mismatched expectations. Many churches have ministry training evenings for their volunteers. Many use the reason for this training is "to make a person a better leader," when in fact the only thing actually happening is that th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Christian leaders and how to fire a Christian employee.

This weeks ramblings. I was asked this week if it was OK for Christian employers to fire other Christian staff.  Firstly let me state that it is always important to follow the laws of the country that you live in, but the question should be; Do I as an employer have the right to fire other staff Christian or not. The short answer is YES! Let me give you two examples I have come across; Case Study 1; The CEO of medium sized Christian organisation dealing in books and other Christian Literature had a problem with one of their staff. The person concerned, let’s call him Pete, seemed to push everybody’s buttons. Pete had been with the company 2 years, his first six months were just great but after that everything went downhill. He always complained, he bad mouthed his managers. At company social gatherings, when sport was played, he never played with any great sportsmanship; it seemed that every decision was wrong or somebody had a beef with him. But, Pete went to the same c...
Post a Comment
Read more