A Mountain of Evidence

 

August 2023

Dear Friends

When I wrote to you in July I encouraged you to drag out a garden chair (not knowing how much rain we were going to get!) and read an eyewitness account of the man of truth, Jesus.  But what evidence is there that these short biographies (aka Gospels) are indeed eyewitness accounts and not bad history with little connection to real events?

Firstly, we can have confidence that the Gospels available to us are reliable copies and translations of the originals.  Compared to other ancient writings (that are widely accepted as genuine) we have in existence today far more – thousands more – ancient copies of the New Testament books.  This mountain of copies of whole Bible books and fragments are far closer in time to the originals than for any other ancient text.  The oldest surviving New Testament fragment is on display at the John Rylands Library in Manchester and is believed to date from the 2^nd Century.

Secondly, we have copies of many letters, sermons and other writings of early church leaders from the first few centuries AD.  Between them they tell us that

• The Gospels of Matthew and John were written by those two members of the original 12 disciples
• Mark (who was not one of the 12) accompanied Peter on his extensive travels and recorded what Peter was teaching from his personal knowledge of Jesus.
• Luke, the doctor, used eyewitnesses as his sources (See Luke 1:1-4)

So, their claim is that the four Gospels are all, in one way or another, eye-witness accounts of the things that Jesus said and did.

It is these eyewitnesses who claimed that Jesus had no deceit in him at all, and who heard Jesus say that those who hold to his teaching “will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

I still have some free Gospels left so I’ll repeat my offer – just send me a text or email and I’ll be delighted to deliver one to you.  I’m sure that summer is not over yet and that there will be some sunny days for you to sit and read and allow the authentic Jesus to appear before your mind’s eye.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

In Truth

July 2023

Dear Friends

Don’t you hate it when you are lied to?  From the deep betrayal of a close friend, to infuriating bare-faced scams, to yet another lie from political leaders, we loathe it all.  How can they say that, knowing it is not true?!

For our own part, we say we’re truthful people, of course.  We’re only economical with the truth when it’s ‘justified’, even though we wouldn’t want anyone else to justify their decision to deny us the truth.  This truth-lite mindset destroys the trust of others like little else.  And it destroys us too.  Once we start to drift away from the rock of truth, powerful currents drag us further out to sea and away from all grip on reality.

How refreshing then when we meet people who tell it like it is, who neither flatter to our face nor slander behind our back, who don’t cover up their mistakes or spin everything to suit their agenda.

Truthful speech was one of the things that people noticed about Jesus.  Even his enemies acknowledged that he spoke the truth and wasn’t swayed by men (Matthew 22:16).  There are nearly 80 references in the Gospels to Jesus saying, ‘I tell you the truth …’.

He told people the truth about themselves even when it was unwelcome (Matthew 23:27).  He spoke the truth about himself and his Father even when that risked a violent reaction (John 10:31).

Others said that he not only spoke truth, he was full of truth - there was simply no deceit in him at all (John 1:14, 1 Peter 2:22).  Can you imagine how it felt to encounter someone so refreshingly straightforward, and yet unnervingly honest?  To meet this man is to have your inner self laid bare and yet to be led from crushing slavery to glorious freedom.  Jesus said that those who hold to his teaching “will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Why not drag out a garden chair this summer and read one of the short biographies (aka Gospels) that are eyewitness accounts of this man of truth?  If you’d like a free Gospel then send me a text or email and I’ll be delighted to deliver one to you.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Anointed One

 

June 2023

Dear Friends

“God save the King! Long live the king!” reverberated around Westminster Abbey as the choir sang the magnificent ‘Zadok the Priest’ while King Charles, hidden behind a screen, was anointed with oil.

All this is taken from the Bible: Kings in the Old Testament were anointed with oil as a sign that they were set apart by God for their role and not self-appointed.  Zadok was the priest who anointed Solomon king in Israel some 3000 years ago while the people shouted “Long Live King Solomon” and rejoiced “greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound”(1 Kings 1:34ff).

Not everyone was pleased to hear that sound.  One of Solomon’s brothers, Adonijah, had already decided that he deserved to be king instead and he and his guests were still at his coronation feast when they heard all the noise coming from Solomon’s coronation.  Adonijah’s guests quickly got up from their meal and fled!

The British coronation service makes clear that the King of Kings is Jesus Christ (the Greek title ‘Christ’ means ‘Anointed One’).  King Charles was reminded of this when the Archbishop presented him with the gold globe and said, “Receive this Orb, set under the Cross, and remember always the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.”  All kings, prime ministers, presidents and other rulers must govern under the kingship of Jesus, either serving Jesus or opposing Jesus.

Some people deny that Jesus rules over anything, let alone all the nations of the world.  Others say that if everything in our world is under Jesus’ authority then his rule is a disaster.  To many it feels as though the world is out of control, no-one is in charge, and there is no reason to have any hope that the world, or our lives, will get any better.

We would love to have the opportunity to tell you why we think Jesus’ rule is gloriously real and indestructibly full of hope for those who acknowledge his kingship.  We’re running the excellent ‘Hope Explored’ groups again in June – 3 meetings with a choice of times and venues.  Details are on our website – do please send me a message or ring me if you might be interested in joining us.  You would be very welcome.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

An invitation to the Coronation Prom

May 2023

Dear Friends

The coronation of Charles III and his wife Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, will take place on Saturday 6^th May.  A very special event is taking place that evening at The Royal Albert Hall in London - The Coronation Prom – and we will be live-streaming this (using our superfast B4RN broadband connection) to St James Church, Burton.  We warmly invite you to join us.

The Coronation Prom
Live-Streamed from The Royal Albert Hall
to St James Church, Burton-in-Kendal
at 7pm on Saturday 6^th May
Doors open, and refreshments served, from 6pm
Free entrance, no booking required

The Coronation Prom is organised by All Souls Music who for many years have been behind the outstanding All Souls Orchestra and the annual Prom Praise events in the Royal Albert Hall.  You can find out more here: www.allsoulsmusic.org

The 120-piece All Souls Orchestra conducted by Michael Andrews and a special Coronation Prom Choir of 100s will lead the evening which will include:

• William Walton’s ‘Orb and Sceptre’
•  Elgar’s ‘Pomp and Circumstance March No.1’
•  Handel’s ‘Zadok the Priest’
•  John Williams’ ‘The Throne Room and End Title’ from Star Wars

and will feature special guests:

• The Kingdom Choir – outstanding British gospel choir led by Karen Gibson
• Jan Mulder – internationally admired pianist and composer
• Joanne Lunn – renowned Soprano
• Brian Doerksen – Canadian singer and songwriter

Rico Tice, the man behind ‘Christianity Explored’ and ‘Hope Explored’, will be speaking about why Jesus is the King of King Charles, the King of all Kings, and the perfect King who we all need.  Rico is well known for his many years of clear, engaging and thought-provoking explanations of Christian faith to those who are unsure whether the faith of our grandparents has any relevance to us today.

This is an evening not to be missed – do come and join us.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Slaying the Dragon

April 2023

Dear Friends,

The George Cross is presented for "acts of  the greatest heroism and bravery in circumstances of extreme danger".  It is named after its creator, King George VI, but another George, St George, is pictured on the solid silver medal.  He is riding a horse and, with his lance, attacking the dragon that (according to legend) was about to feast itself on a local princess.  The willingness of the warrior George to risk his life to save her is celebrated around the world.

The George Cross is cast in a shape known everywhere as the symbol of another act of self-sacrificial bravery – a cross.  St George rides a horse and carries a spear.  Jesus’ biographers say that he entered Jerusalem riding a donkey and knowing that he himself would be pierced and speared, not in defeat but to win a far greater victory, not the rescue of a princess and her village, but the rescue of many princesses, villagers and countless others around the world who learn to trust him.  On the cross Jesus crushed a fiery dragon far more terrible than any in the storybooks (see Revelation 12:9).

In 1929 WW1 hero Brigadier William Dobbie was stationed in Palestine and given an office overlooking the hill where Jesus was said to have been crucified.  When copies of the New Testament were delivered for distribution to his troops he had this note inserted into each book: “You are stationed at the place where the central event in human history occurred – namely the crucifixion of the Son of God. You may see the place where this happened and you may read the details in this book. As you do this, you cannot help being interested, but your interest will change into something far deeper when you realise the events concern you personally.”

What did he mean?  That if they would read their New Testaments, under God’s guidance, they would see that Jesus died on the cross to rescue each of them from a fate worse than that faced by St George’s princess.  Many others have come to the same life-changing conclusion by reading the same book.  Why not seek out a Gospel to read this Easter?

Happy Easter, and Happy St George’s Day too,

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Abundant Life

March 2023

Dear Friends

When the state pension was first paid out in 1909 (to those aged 70 or over) life expectancy in England was just 52 years!  By the time I was born in 1963 it had reached 71 years, driven steadily upward by improving healthcare and prosperity.  By 2019 life expectancy was up to 82 years although increases had slowed.  Since 2019, of course, it has gone back down, to about 81 years.  On average, a whole year has been taken off our lives.

Those are just averages - there are many individuals who seem to have lost much more than one year of their life, who were taken from us ‘far too soon’.  Expectations of a long life have risen and we can feel that someone who doesn’t reach at least 80 has been cheated.

The Bible turns this on its head: life is not a right that is cruelly taken from us but the gift of a loving God.  Every single day is a fresh gift from our Creator to be lived for him and not something we have earned and which is owed to us.  We can no more complain about this undeserved gift coming to an end than we could complain that the box of chocolates freely given to us by a friend should have been bigger.

In the Old Testament, long life is God’s great blessing and gift to those who trust in him.  In the New Testament, God upgrades his gift, from long life to eternal life, with most of that gift lying on the other side of death.  In words that are read at the start of the Christian funeral service Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”  (John 11:25-26)

That’s why, when the apostle Paul knew that he was going to be martyred for his faith, he was not in despair.  He knew that as he departed this life he would receive the better gift of an abundant life with Jesus forever.  Paul’s life until then had only been chapter one of the whole book.

Christians down to the present day have shared that same confidence: “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Hope Explored

February 2023

Dear Friends,

It’s no exaggeration to say that without hope our lives are done.  We all need confidence that we are moving towards something better than our current circumstances – some reason to believe that the business will make a profit, the illness will recede, the relationship will improve and the world will become a better place than it is now.  We want to be sure that the things we are doing today are going to make our lives, or the lives of those we care about, better.  If we don’t have that hope, why do anything at all?

“Hope is a spark inside you that brings a smile to your lips, a light that shows on your face, a feeling that lifts your head and pulls you forward.”  That’s why dashed hopes are so hard to bear and why hopelessness is so destructive.

At the end of 2021 it seemed to me that many people were struggling to find the hope that they knew they needed.  And then we had 2022, the year that yanked the rug from under the feet of so many in our country.  Hope is more elusive than ever.  Although we know that most of our great grandparents found hope in the promises of Jesus Christ, hardly anyone would think of looking there now. 

‘Hope Explored’ is a brilliant and clear explanation of the things that our culture has forgotten – the hope that Jesus offers – and the evidence for thinking that this is not just wishful-thinking nonsense but a “joyful expectation for the future, based on true events in the past, which changes everything about my present”.

‘Hope Explored’ is an informal and relaxed three-week course.  It’s for anyone who wants to find hope, peace and purpose in life.  The next little groups of explorers will be meeting on three Thursdays beginning on 2 February (either afternoon or evening).  It’s not too late to join us and you will be very welcome.  You can find out more from our church website www.burtonandholmechurches.org   And do please ring or text me if you want to ask more or to let me know that you are interested in joining us.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows