Social justice will always be something which is hotly discussed in government, charities and churches. The Government’s policy document ‘Social Justice’ is subtitled ‘Transforming lives’ and says its vision is based on two fundamental principles: ‘First, prevention throughout a person’s life, with carefully designed interventions to stop people falling off track and into difficult circumstances. This starts with support for the most important building block in a child’s life – the family – but also covers reform of the school and youth justice systems, the welfare system, and beyond to look at how we can prevent damaging behaviours like substance abuse and offending. Second, the strategy sets out our vision for a ‘second chance society’. Anybody who needs a second chance in society should be able to access the support and tools they need to transform their lives.’ (‘Social Justice: Transforming Lives’ document)

Throughout history, God’s people have been at the forefront of social justice, working to relieve poverty and ensure justice is done. John and Benjamin Cadbury were Quakers whose beliefs shaped their business ventures. Manufacturers of tea, coffee, cocoa and ultimately confectionery, they developed their factory in a new suburb south of Birmingham and loyal and hard-working workers were treated with great respect and relatively high wages and good working conditions; Cadbury also pioneered pension schemes, joint works committees and a full staff medical service. ‘Bournville’, the town that they pioneered, reflected their beliefs: they were particularly concerned with the health and fitness of their workforce, incorporating park and recreation areas into the Bournville village plans and encouraging swimming, walking and indeed all forms of outdoor sports. Even today, the company’s vision is of a ‘peaceful and equitable society, free from discrimination and based on the principle of social justice for all.’

The mills at Cromford with their powered machinery, large workforce and factory village became models for others throughout Britain and abroad. For the Victorians, who learnt so much from his example, Arkwright earned the accolade ‘Father of the factory system’, but he also did much to help his workforce, building many houses for workers and developing the village of Cromford to give them a place of security to live. Conditions may seem positively barbaric to us today (whole families were employed, including children as young as ten and workers received one week’s holiday a year), but at the time, this was almost a luxury! Arkwright may have been aggressive and self-sufficient and was obviously concerned with his own personal wealth to a large degree, but he was also fuelled by a vision to help others and the strong Methodist influence of the time can be seen in the number of Methodist churches built in the village of Cromford:

Vision will always determine action. What we believe will always fuel what we do. I am not qualified to comment on the Government’s policy documents, nor do I believe that ‘transforming lives’ is something which can be done by politics alone. I do believe, however, in the power of each individual to shape and change the culture around us. Individual Christians, fired by the power of the Holy Spirit, envisioned by the Father-heart of God, modelled on the servant King and motivated by love, will always have an impact on relieving poverty and working towards social justice, for these are issues on God’s heart. The prophet Amos railed against religious hypocrisy and urged people to have right priorities: ‘let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!’ (Amos 5:24 TNIV) Similarly, Isaiah spoke against fasting which did not include right living and justice: ‘Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?’ (Is 58:6-7 TNIV) As God’s people, we need to be convinced of God’s stance in these issues and be open to His leading and directing. We may feel overwhelmed at times by the statistics, unsure as to what we should do or could do, uncertain as to how best we should direct our energies. We cannot do everything, but we can do something, as we agreed last week at the meeting with the Salvation Army. May God lead us and direct us so that we can help our communities and can show others that lives truly can be transformed by the regeneration and power of God with us, Emmanuel. After all, we firmly believe that God is the God of ‘second chances’ and long to see others knowing the power of forgiveness and the freedom life in Christ can bring.

Life is often likened to a race. Hebrews 12:1 TNIV talks about running the race marked out for us. Paul talks about running in such a way as to get a prize and not running aimlessly (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 TNIV). He writes to the Galatians about running a good race (Galatians 5:7 TNIV).

If I’m honest, I don’t much like this analogy of life as a race, for I don’t like running. However, I do like walking. I don’t walk quickly, but I don’t mind walking for long distances, especially if the scenery is worth looking at and the company is congenial. I find it easy to pray outdoors when I’m gazing at the wonders of creation and it’s easy to appreciate the grandeur of God that way.

Garry and I recently walked along the High Peak trail from Cromford Canal to Middleton Top. The trail follows the trackbed of the former Cromford and High Peak Railway, which was completed in 1831 to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. Cromford is a fascinating village, home of Sir Richard Arkwright who was a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution who invented the water frame (a machine that produced a strong twist for warps, substituting wooden and metal cylinders for human fingers) and patented a rotary carding engine that transformed raw cotton into cotton lap. In Cromford, you can visit the Arkwright Mills:

The Industrial Revolution also saw the development of railways and Arkwright developed both the canal and the Cromford and High Peak railway as a means of transporting the textiles he was manufacturing. Undaunted by the undulations of the Peak District, engineers such as Josias Jessop built a railway which could transport goods. Towering a thousand feet above the southern trans-shipment point at Cromford Wharf was the limestone barrier of the High Peak. With a canal across the moors impractical, an early ‘iron railway’ was proposed which, to reach its northern terminus at Whaley Bridge, would have to climb the hill and then descend it. It was a triumph of ingenuity, featuring nine steep inclines and, at Gotham, an 80 degree curve which was the tightest on the railway network – just 55 yards radius. This railway track is now disused, but the High Peak trail allows walkers and cyclists miles of access to the beautiful countryside.

Starting at High Peak Junction:

Going through tunnels (and grateful there’s always light at the end of a tunnel!):

Each incline was equipped with a stationary steam engine – to haul and lower the wagons – whilst horses did the donkey work on the flatter intermediate sections.

We walked as far as Middletop Top, which houses the restored steam engine house built in 1829 by the Butterley Company to haul wagons up the Middleton incline and also has a visitor centre.

Obviously, by following the railway route, there are some steep inclines on the walk. These are given as 1 in 8 gradients and certainly keep you warm even in the cold November weather! But I was particularly struck by this sign at Middleton Top:

We had just walked up a 1 in 8 hill to reach the top with the visitor centre and lovely views over the hills. The rest of the walk was 1 in 1056, apparently. In other words, not very steep at all! I felt there was a parable in that. Life sometimes seems extremely hard work, rather like walking up a steep hill. Your heart knows it’s working! You breathe more deeply; sometimes you feel out of breath by the time you reach the top of the hill. Often, you want to give up and what keeps you going on those steep inclines is the knowledge that it won’t always be like that; there is an end to the climb with scenery worth seeing at the top! But sometimes life is not quite that difficult; it’s more like walking on the flat, not as demanding or challenging. Each kind of terrain is part of life’s scenery. Interestingly, whilst it is difficult walking up a hill, walking down is also not without problems; there was a ‘crash pit’ at one point in the walk where wagons were allowed to crash into a pit rather than run on to the bottom of the hill and destroy things at the junction! Cyclists were constantly advised to dismount when descending the hills and walkers needed to be careful not to trip or slip on leaves. Life can be equally fraught with dangers (the ‘many dangers, toils and snares’ mentioned in Newton’s hymn ‘Amazing Grace’), but Habakkuk 3:19 TNIV reminds us ‘The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.’ May we know His strength whether we are on a steep incline or walking on the flat; may He enable us to reach the heights!

Lest you were thinking that Igor has been conspicuously absent from the blog since August, you will be pleased to know that he too enjoyed the Derbyshire countryside recently.
Camouflaged on the driveway to Willersley Castle

Willersley Castle

Cromford Canal in the autumn sun

Willersley Castle from the top of the Sheep Pasture Incline

Panoramic view of the Derbyshire countryside

How many of you remember the Women’s World Day of Prayer events held on the first Friday in March? Women’s World Day of Prayer is a global, ecumenical movement of informed prayer and prayerful action, organised and led by Christian women who call the faithful together on the first Friday in March each year to observe a common day of prayer and who, in many countries, have a continuing relationship in prayer and service. This year’s service was held locally at the Salvation Army and was on the theme of ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me,’ written by women in France.

Obviously, a great deal of organisation and planning has to go into a service which is written by Christians from one country and then taken and adapted by Christians in the rest of the world. Each country has a national committee made up of women from every denomination and they meet regularly to pray and to plan. Next year’s service is on the theme ‘Streams in the Desert’, prepared by Christian women in Egypt and will be on 7th March 2014. But further ahead, services are being planned for 2015 and beyond.

Recently, Garry and I had the opportunity to take a break in Derbyshire, staying at the lovely Christian Guild hotel Willersley Castle. To my immense surprise, this was also the venue for one of the planning meetings of the National Committee of the Women’s World Day of Prayer! The committee were on their annual retreat, planning the service for 2015, written by ladies from the Bahamas! They were working on looking at every aspect of the service, including the songs, prayers, children’s activities (featuring sand beads, apparently!) and sermon outlines. It was a privilege to be able to eat with these ladies and discuss the finer details of their work and also to get a glimpse into the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work which goes into that annual service.

With their permission, here are some photos of the National Committee, ladies from all denominations who work tirelessly to foster good relationships between churches and who are real prayer warriors. Please pray for them and for all involved with this day of prayer.

Val Mylechreest (Salvation Army), Christine Miles (English speaking churches in Wales), Angela Almond (Baptist)

Eileen Rhodes (United Reform Church), Nola McCormick (Congregational Federation), Joan Cheetham (Roman Catholic)

A new film about Noah is due to be released in March 2014, featuring many ‘big name’ Hollywood actors, including Russell Crowe in the title role, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson. I am always interested in films which tackle Biblical themes (and films that don’t overtly tackle these themes but often approach them more obliquely), for I think it is vital that Biblical stories are re-told in such a way as to engage the imagination and help people to understand the stories in a fresh way. We often forget just how few of these major stories are actually known in our post-Christian modern society and so it is good when they are re-told. I have no idea how faithful to the Biblical text this film will be, but if you watch the trailer below, it is very interesting to me that one of the songs used there is the modern worship song ‘Spirit, Break Out’, written by Luke Hellebronth and the title track of a Worship Central album released a few years ago. I find it exciting to think that these lyrics – which are essentially a prayer – will be heard nationwide in cinemas next year!

‘Spirit, break out,
Break our walls down.
Spirit, break out,
Heaven come down.

King Jesus, You’re the name we’re lifting high
Your glory shaking up the earth and skies
Revival we want to see Your kingdom here
We want to see Your kingdom here.’ (‘Spirit, Break Out’, Luke Hellebronth, Tim Hughes, Ben Bryant, Myles Dhillon)
‘Noah’ film trailer
‘Spirit, Break Out’, Worship Central

Dave spoke from Isaiah 6:1-8 TNIV and Luke 5:8-10 TNIV, two different passages which nonetheless both deal with God’s commissioning of His disciples. Isaiah and Peter were both confronted by the Holy One and as a result were conscious of their own sinfulness; both were called by God to speak of all they had seen.

During November, we are praying for boldness in our everyday living for God. People are often very excited about their hobbies and interests (think of the enthusiasm shown by sports crowds), but many Christians don’t seem very excited about sharing their faith. Perhaps they don’t feel worthy enough to do this or experienced enough, but when we have experienced God’s love and power in our own lives, we have a testimony to share. We need to speak to God, speak for Him and speak of Him. It’s not enough to think our actions are enough, for actions need to work alongside our words. The testimony of the Salvation Army church is that eighteen people have come to know the Lord through their food bank, but only because they have been willing to share the reason for their actions. Faith and action have to work together. Romans 10 reminds us that salvation is always linked to the spoken word and we need to be willing to speak of the reasons for our actions and how our faith fuels our actions.

In order to share our testimony, we have to be sure of what God has done for us and need to be engaged in holy conversations with God’s zeal burning within us. We have to consider the basics of what God has done for each one of us and be prepared to share the reason for the hope we have. A revelation of the Holy is necessary for us to be motivated (as Isaiah was) and then we can be like the first disciples, willing to say ‘come and see’ to those we meet (John 1:45-46 TNIV).

“Behold the Author of our salvation,
Behold the wonder of grace so free,
Behold the blessing of true forgiveness at Calvary.

God, it’s Your love
Here on display.
We stand in awe
It takes our breath away.” (‘Come and see’, Matt Redman)
‘Come and see’, Matt Redman