Communion (updated 2009)

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. However, don't do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me in case you spread a

virus.'

Salvation?

This week Gary Reinbach died in hospital. He was in his early 20s and for half of his short life he had been an alcoholic.

The only surgery that would likely have saved him from a severe case of liver cirrhosis was a liver transplant. But Gary didn't qualify. The NHS rules require several months proven freedom from alcohol before a donor liver is transplanted - so that the new liver doesn't simply open the door for more binge drinking and a wasted gift.

His mother Madelaine told the Evening Standard: "I'm not saying you should give a transplant to someone who is in and out of hospital all the time and keeps damaging themselves, but just for people like Gary, who made a mistake and never got a second chance. These rules are really unfair."

I know nothing of Gary's faith or lack of it and, unlike the NHS, I am not his judge. I do know that if on his death bed Gary had turned to Jesus, as a thief once did upon a cross, his woeful history and doubtful prognosis would not have prevented the Saviour giving him eternal life.

Calvin (2)

What might happen if Calvin's theology was wedded to the Holy Spirit's work in Britain today?

It looks something like this . . .

Calvin

500 years ago today John Calvin was born.

His influence on the Christian church is immeasurable, remaining so today. Week by week, sometimes day by day, he mounted the pulpit steps in Geneva to deliver expositions of the Bible. Like us all, he had his faults and his foibles, but he was one of the greatest examples of a truth sometimes lost in the pulpit - that God should be given the microphone.

In other words, people do not benefit from knowing what the preacher thinks, any more than hearing what the local supermarket manager thinks. Bread for the soul is served when God's word is allowed to speak and the preacher is but the channel - God, in other words, is handed the microphone.

Sola Deo gloria - to God alone the glory.

Gift

Years ago I stood on the streets of an American city giving out leaflets for a Josh McDowell event.

I was not happy. My borrowed car had needed to be returned and I had been given something of a wreck in its place, complete with straw in the back. Diane had been to the dentist and had a sore mouth. I had Hay Fever big-time. The sun was beating down in a way that the British always think we'd like it to until it does and then we don't like it to.

Just standing there was an effort; standing there looking even faintly interested in what I was doing was a BIG effort. The old Christians used to call it 'adorning the gospel', and in those terms I was in a very unpolished state.

Then the girl came by. She looked the part, an elegant friendly-looking young woman. It made the smile easier than usual but still hard to come by.

Then the refusal. This is what she said,

"I don't take anything given away".

Given away!!!??? Hey, girl, I'm suffering here to give this to you (I felt like saying).

This Sunday I'm beginning a series in the Book of Romans in the Bible. It tells us explicitly that God's salvation is given away. Some people, like that girl, don't like that. Yet although it looks free when the preacher, the writer, the evangelist, the teacher, offers the Good News to us we do well to remember that the free offer comes at quite a price; not heat and hay fever but the life and death of Jesus the Messiah.

Bahnhofsmission

Beneath the soaring arches of Frankfurt's central station thousands of people rush past one another and past a few who are going nowhere. It could be London, New York or countless other major cities and their railway hubs at commuting time. But Frankfurt, like several other German stations, also has Bahnhofsmission.

With stations becoming more and more technological, machines replacing people, the mission station is again increasingly utilised.

It has in many ways strengthened and saved lives. They know it as the "Church at the station" prsenting the gospel for all people.

The rooms include a resting space suitablefor a variety of purposes: the business traveller needing an electrical outlet for his laptop, the elderly blind lady waiting over a cup of tea for thenext train to which volunteers will guide her, the homeless man seeking shelter and refuge who may read the newspaper and receive a small snack, or the young woman forced into prostitution who will safely spend the night on one of the Mission’s 20 mattresses, protected from her pimp. To the left of the Mission’s entrance is “the room of silence” where you can leave behind the hectic noise of the main station. An extra room is available for in-depth counselling and advice.

Last year, the Bahnhofsmission took care of almost 100,000 people, among them 6,000 children and teens. Over 20,000 received advice and small scale assistance. 15,000 elderly and handicapped men and women were given travel-related help. In about 4,000 cases, intensive counselling was provided. Such supplementary activities as short prayer services and musical meditations enrich the lives of those who come to the Mission, as do occasional art exhibits.