The first breath of Spring, plus following my intuition
A day of responding to the first breaths of Spring by us working in the garden, digging, pruning, cutting and somewhat obsessively collecting firewood to save money on the gas bill and because live fires are much more satisfying then staring at a hot radiator. I got a strong impulse to go to the Baptist church in Street which is about 3 miles south of Glastonbury where there was to be a talk given on the Christian faith addressing current social and political problems, organized by The Christian Institute.
The Christian Institute
I have only had brief contact with this organization but now I am very excited to find a vibrant UK based organization, evidently founded 30 years ago, with a formidably well qualified staff to put political pressure on parliamentarians and to assist those who had been victims of injustice among many other functions. For the first time Francoise and I decided to go there by bus, the 376, which goes from Bristol to Street and which could conveniently drop us right outside the door of the church.
Street Baptist Church (details) itself is a modern building about six years old and regularly draws congregations of 200 people to their Sunday service. We caught the bus at 17.45 and arrived at the church just after 18.30 It is a lovely drive through the countryside and I sat in my preferred seat at the front on the top deck. On arrival we discovered we were the first and were warmly greeted by David and Nigel who were the co-presenters . They asked us where we were from.
They had driven down from Newcastle to be with us which in itself is quite a feat. How long to drive from Newcastle to Street in Somerset? According to my GPS it would take five hours 36 minutes for three hundred and six miles. I admire the dedication behind this . It’s not a money thing, it’s a vision thing and these are the sort of people that I like to mix with . They had laid out 80 chairs but when it came to it they needed another 20 chairs to accommodate everyone who came. I was most impressed with the efficiency of the meeting
The speakers spoke turn and turn about for about 10 to 15 minutes each, brief videos were presented to explain the work of the organization; the lights were turned down smoothly and seamlessly so it was almost like being in a theater . The speakers David and Nigel articulated with conviction and clarity. Nigel had been a defense barrister so he knows his way around the system .
At the side of the hall there were a remarkable number of very well produced literature on various topics such as the conversion therapy ban, Michael Gove’s new extremism plan threatening religious freedom, assisted suicide, Critical Theory, the transgender craze, criminalizing prayer and parenting. Each leaflet was folded into three pages and was easy to read, fact-filled, and very well designed. Just as important they were up to date. From the design point of view they are easy on the eye executed by someone who really knows their stuff.
See example below about an ‘assisted suicide’ leaflet. (3 A5 pages fold into one) Brilliant crisp layout and design.
What a joy it was to find such a professional organization dedicated to the work of God on this planet .
There was also talk of latest proposed acts legalizing abortion up to the moment of birth if it is found that there is a defect in the child. It was also talk of people having do it yourself kits at home to induce abortion. That was also talk of restricting the rights of parents to have any say or influence their children into what sex they wanted to be (as if that were based on any sound science). Their education and legal department will take up the case of anyone. They recommend ACTION as well as PRAYER
As an example of their legal help there was a Scottish man who was preaching the gospel in the street and an anonymous person accused him of being homophobic and he was arrested but eventually not charged. He was awarded 5,000 pounds for being detained for 90 minutes and the police had to pay a total of 15,000 pounds including costs.
The presentation ran from just after 7pm until 8:15 p.m. when there were questions.
With regards to the dystopian material that I read on a daily basis this was a splendid mixture of reality, balancing the ingress of evil influence with good news stories . I felt moved to stand up at the end of the talk and say that my heart had been moved and I do appreciate them coming all the way to see us. People tend to take these actions for granted.
Find out more
If anyone wants to know more about this Newcastle on Tyne based national group they should visit christian.org.uk or give them a call on 0191 281 5664 You can get advice about how to contact your local MP and how to phrase a letter for best response, various publications, literally hundreds of helpful videos. This is serious campaigning against evil.
Example of a good ‘fighting’ video is below
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