What has been my biggest blessing the last year or so?  I think it is how kind people are, and within that, especially the kindness of strangers.  Maybe you get what you give, maybe it all evens out in the end, but I feel I have received so many blessings from people I've never met in the 'real world' and so many 'fellow travellers' I've met on the way.  Some I know only pseudonymously (my big word for the week), some I met fleetingly in real life, some are now 'pen friends' of the email variety.  Some are even kind enough to read this stuff.

You will know if you are one of them... angels in disguise every one of you... Thank You!

Last night I tested the 30 minute bread recipe I'm using on Sunday.  Despite my scepticism when the dough seemed rather 'wet', and the fact that the baking time was slightly too short (imo), it worked and even tasted reasonably good.

So if you fancy giving it a go you can check here. I would recommend using a little less water and baking slightly longer, but it probably varies from oven to oven and baker to baker...

Yeast, salt, wheat, oil, 'living' water... there are enough Biblical links for just about anyone there!

Have fun!

Some readers may be aware of the bread-making project that is run by some Methodists in Liverpool.  I was at college with one of the folk who originally set it up, and here's a song she wrote (which we will be singing) for them:

Make bread for the table of the Lord,

Come gather all around.

Take time to learn with God,

Together we are bound.

This task of faith and trust,

Accepts us as we are;

Make bread for the table of the Lord,

Come gather all around.

Take bread to the table of the Lord,

Remembering his life.

Give thanks to Jesus Christ,

His way the truth and light.

He feeds our daily needs,

With love that never ends.

Take bread to the table of the Lord,

Remembering his life.

Break bread at the table of the Lord,

Give life to one and all.

Share food along the way

And listen for his call.

Receive and journey on,

In peace that makes us one.

Break bread at the table of the Lord,

Give life to one and all.

Christine Jones © author and The Partnership for Theological Education, Manchester

Tune: Be Still, for the presence of the Lord (BPW 5, among many)

Hot off the press - via email anyway - is the new Mission Scene magazine from the Fellowship of Baptists in Britain and Ireland. So that's BUGB, BUS, BUW, Irish Baptist Networks and BMS.  This seems to me a "Good Thing" and I hope that people across all these groups find it a helpful and useful resource.  It is bright, colourful, imaginative and welcoming.  It has a good 'Baptisty' feel without being exclusive or arrogant.

The average BUGB reader will find it pretty familiar as it reflects the stuff BUGB already put out and, without meaning to be critical, it is very anglo-centric at the moment, reflecting the fact the BUGB is by far the largest (numerically) and best resourced of the national member bodies.  However, there is a lot in it that could readily translate to other UK and Ireland contexts, the welcome is by a BUW person and there are mentions of places north of Watford Gap!

And before the Scots and Welsh sulk about the Englishness of it, spare a thought for those in Ireland who don't even make it onto the map - even though the Orkneys, Shetlands and Channel Islands have all been included.

Anyway, it's on the noticeboard at church now for anyone who cares to read it.  Or it can be downloaded here and will undobtedly appear via the other websites in due course.

Today's BUGB e-news sweep carries the story of a Christian midwife who is suing her employer for making her wear surgical scrub trousers in an operating theatre, something she sees as contradicting the Deuteronomy regulations on cross-dressing.  It is, for me, another example of Christians who actually don't understand their own faith, and don't understand that Christianity does not have 'thou shalts' or 'thou shalt nots' over dress, diet etc.  To be fair, unlike the people who get hoity toity over the wearing of crosses, she does at least have a scriptural mandate - but does she wear a poly-cotton nurses uniform or other clothes anyway?  I mean, that would be out, as mixed fibres are prohibited too.  Does she eat prawn sandwiches.  Does she work on Saturdays (or Sundays).  Would she want to exclude from service in the church a person whose eyesight was weak, or who had certain physical disabilities, as the law codes demand?

I am sure she is a very devout and caring woman, and it isn't really her I blame, but those parts of the church that espouse selective, unthinking literalism.  Given that in Moses' day we seem to think everyone wore dresses, maybe trousers are exempt any way? ;-)

And of course it is actually part of the legacy of the early Christian Missions that tried to supplant indigenous culture with white middle-class morality and norms... the white west has shifted its thinking and gets uppity when other now Christianised groups practice what we once preached..

The parallels people draw with the dress codes of Islam and Sikhism are not justified or justifiable - unless or unitl the whole Christian church, or a branch of it, agrees a mandatory dress code.  Quite frankly that ain't going to happen.

I recall many years ago reading the biography of Gladys Aylward (I think) who was asked at interview how she would work within the non-Christian home to which she was originally sent to care for children.  She replied that she would tell the children gospel stories at bed-time.  No, she was told, you must do your job  to the very best of your ability and that will do the speaking for you.  I've a suspicion that mission board knew a thing or two worth recalling...

And lastly, it always disturbs me when Christians resort to suing and claiming their rights... didn't some first century bloke say something about turning the other cheek...

Not yet ready to pose properly but here she is: introducing Holly