Election websites for Christians

The Church Times pointed me in the direction of these two sites.


www.christiansandcandidates.org

http://www.makethecrosscount2010.net

Both are worth a look and the second has a petition

Who is the Lady on the Sign?

Today Nathaniel (4 years old) said to me in the car 'Who is the lady in the sign?' It took me a while to realise that he was not talking about traffic signs but the posters for the local conservative candidate. Apart from UKIP I havent seen any other posters.

Tonight it will be interesting to see how the three party leaders fare in the leaders debate on Sky News. I get a sense that what we are seeing now in the polls could be described as the 'John Sergeant Effect.' Remember him? The public voted over and for him on Strictly Come Dancing because they (a) loved seeing an underdog rise and (b) had contempt for the judging system. Could the current volatility in polls be part of the same reaction? With the scandal of MPs expenses last year it was only a matter of time before the public would get their revenge and do something dramatic. (Irrespective of the merits or otherwise of voting for a particular party.)I'm not trying to make a party political statement but rather sensing the way that TV with the new technology (eg social networking on the internet) allows these sudden public tidal waves.

Its a bit like the resonance effect that we see happen in the natural world. If you know the natural frequency of an object you can set in catastrophic vibrations.

Footnote

If I were a betting man, I would put my money on the leader of the Lib Dems becoming the deputy PM and his lordship, the business secretary (He Who Must Not Be Named) as acting PM. How long such a coalition can last...is anyone's guess?

Christ Rosen!!

My four year old just ran out of bed and shouted 'Jesus is out of the tomb.' Running up stairs I found him clutching his picture Bible with picture of the risen Lord. I asked him if that made him happy and he said it did. So he then ran into his sisters bedroom and told her about it. She (2 years old) exclaimed 'Jesus rosen'.

Pentecost Looming

I was initially sceptical that anyone would turn up to the Easter Sunday dawn service at 6am at North Sands. (I even questioned if I would make it!) Yet my doubts were overturned by the good weather and the attendance of over forty others. We began in the dark with the lighting of a fire and the blessing of our paschal candles. As the morning sunlight bled over the glassy North Sands waters we praised God and recalled the Easter mystery – Christ is risen; the light of world has conquered.

The symbolism of fire and light doesn’t stop with Easter. At Pentecost we recall after Jesus’ ascension the disciples were all in one room in Jerusalem. There they waited until the Holy Spirit broke in and descended. The Acts of the Apostles described the event. ‘Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.’ (Acts 2.2)

The point about this account lay in the fact that until then experiences of God’s spirit were limited to the few. Now the Holy Spirit can make us all prophets, priests and kings in Jesus’ revolution. The Easter fire now spreads out to the corners of the world. Jesus words ring true, ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! (Luke 12.44-45)

**

Pentecost has been interpreted as the birthday of the worldwide Church. Some congregations have started taking this to heart and celebrating with a big birthday cake and lighted twelve candles. Birthdays remind us of our origins and keep us rooted.

With every good wish

Daniel

For more thoughts, sermons and diary notes visit
http://salcombevicar.blogspot.com