the red pill

I heard the bel l s on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat Of Peace on earth, good will to men. Peace on earth, good will to men. I thought how as the day had come The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along the unbroken song Of Peace on earth, good will to men. Peace on earth, good will to men. And in despair, I bowed my head: 'There is no peace on earth,' I said, 'For hate is strong and mocks the song, Of Peace on earth, good will to men.' Peace on earth, good will to men. Then pealed the bells more loud and deep; 'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With Peace on earth, good will to men'. Peace on earth, good will to men. For so long now my default “go to” carol over advent has been “O come o come Emmanuel”. I’ve appreciated its element of lament, the great theology in it,  the cry of the hurting human heart “O come!”, and the reply of heaven, “Rejoice...

I hope you enjoy this as ,much as I did, an early Christmas pressie!

This year we're adding an extra service in to our Advent programme. Blue Christmas is a time and space to explore the reality that for some people Christmas is a tough time. Family breakdown, redundancy, bereavement, illness, loneliness and other pains of life can leave us feeling quite "blue" whilst everyone else seems to be having a jolly old time. On December 21st (the longest night of the year) we'll be meeting for an hour to pray together, sing some appropriate songs, listen to and respond to some scriptures and share communion. It'll be a time to be real, to remember, and to reach out for comfort and hope. If you'd like a quiet and prayerful space to reflect on the pain of life this Advent, then you are most welcome, whether you have faith or not.

A couple of days ago I was sent a link to a new blog. It looks promising, so I thought I'd give you a heads up. I'm not entirely sure who's behind it, but I have a good idea... Take a look at  Baptileaks

A Wolverhampton school has made it through to the final of Berol's Win a Minibus competition. Now they need to get as many votes as they can. Please, click on  this link to Berol's site.  Find the August entry, which is from Dunstall Hill Primary School, Wolverhampton (next door to our church building) and vote for it. It will only take a moment, no registering needed or anything like that.