Is this 'baby' doll meant to represent the Saviour of our soul?
Initially coming across it today, and seeing it is part of a new publicity effort by the Church of England to wake up the public at large to the fact of Christ in a modern society, I was momentarily shocked! It kind of offended my inner man, somehow impertinently challenging and cheapening both the simply beauty, and the uniqueness, of The baby born in a manger. I felt an inward sense of warning against it. It seemed to openly question Christ's Uniqueness, and to present an 'everyday' insignificance to a World Changing event. Others have called this poster both 'Tacky' and 'Blasphemous'. Not everyone has liked it amongst the Christian Community, but the majority seem to be being taken in by it, and even applauding it as an EYE and MIND catching image that brings the Nativity right into the here and now.
The FACT is this representation portrays the Saviour of the world, and of our Soul, as a synthetic copy of a human being. There is nothing there that points to GOD, or to God being IN this child making it special or more than human. It is a humanistic, almost secular picture of baby Jesus - very plastic and manipulative - unREAL; a cheap, infantile comfort to infantile needs.
We need to remember that the Jesus of history and of the Bible was not ordinary. He was OUT OF THE ORDINARY. He had no earthly father to start with. His Fatherhood was from God. He had a human body of flesh and blood that grew in Mary's womb as that of a surrogate mother chosen for her devotedness to God. He grew up in every way no different to any one of us, other than that He was WITHOUT SIN. He came to be tempted and tested in all the ways that any other Man or Woman might be so proved - but without yielding to or submitting to sin in His own personal life. He remained SINLESS.
In Jesus we have a MAN in Whom the very nature and character of God co-existed with the flesh and blood of humanity that gave Him his human identity. And let us remember that it was NOT the baby that died on the Cross to purchase OUR redemption from OUR sin. No, it was the fully grown and developed MAN, unsullied by the sins and imperfections we have in this Age tried to attribute to HIM.
Jesus Saves because He alone was and IS Good enough. A sinner cannot set another sinner free from his sin. ONLY one who is FREE can unlock the door of the condemned cell and let the prisoner free. The Devil would be happy to persuade the world of the failed humanity and futile power of Jesus Christ, and to finally establish amongst us a reason to just GIVE IN to our sinful nature, blind and oblivious to the SALVATION God has provided in Christ on the Cross.
CHRISTMAS did not start with Christ - it was observed much earlier as a pagan feast dedicated to Principalities and Powers in rebellion to God. In an effort to get rid of it from those they wanted to follow Christ, the early Church re-dedicated the pagan feast to Christ in memory of his Birthday and called it The Feast of Christ, 'Christmas'. It can never be that Christmas STARTS with Christ.
But is is true that Christmas can never have any useful, life influencing purpose, WITHOUT Christ.
SO, what to do with this poster? Well I have put it out of mind in favour of the Nativity Story that I know, and the strength there is in recognising that my Father sent His son to be born, to grow up to know what it is to BE human, to suffer and to DIE that I might one day be FORGIVEN, and to RISE from the dead to walk with me as a brother and friend. I do not need the image of a plastic doll to comfort me - I have the LIVING and very REAL Man called Jesus, Son of the LIVING God to walk and talk with me. BEWARE, brother and sister, not everything is good that looks good. The plastic doll in the poster never grew up to be a plastic man hanging on a cross for you, and no plastic man, dead and ignorant of all your troubles and the evil that infects you, could ever achieve in front of God and the Devil, what JESUS achieved when HE died on THAT cross at Calvary.
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ABOVE is a photo of 'street children' in Mombasa sniffing GLUE. They are representative of approximately 1.4 million such children to be found in every city, town, and village in Kenya.
On Wednesday of this week, I attended a Committee that I am attached to. The Eldoret Court Users Committee - a committee with members drawn from the Judiciary, The Law Society, Police, Central and Local Government as well as the private sector. My own attendance is basically related to my work with and for the Children's Department and the Probation service.
On this occasion the first item on the Agenda was The Problem of Street Children in Eldoret.
The discussion turned on 'How to clear the Streets'. This discussion began years ago in 2000.
The District Commission of the time, and the Local Government had come together to find an answer to the then growing numbers. No lasting answer ever surfaced. Words, words and more words. BUT no improvement. The children on those days have gone on growing up on the street until today they are still on the streets - as adults. MORE and more children continue to come...
WHY? Why are they there.
Many say it is because of poverty in the country at large. Partially this may be true; many of these youngster actually come to beg or find some kind of income on behalf of their family (for 90% of the children on the street at any time are NOT orphans).
But these might not be there at all if there was nothing to GET. Missionaries and kind hearted folk find it hard to pass by a child in rags looking in need. Food, and money is handed out daily in our streets.
Other well wishers provide 'soup kitchens' and other on the street feeding programmes.
Sex and drugs are also available on our streets. Some adults (some of them probably graduates from the street themselves) gather others found on the street, and run them to provide for the sexual and other other addictions of others - taking their earnings and giving them food and lodging in return.
Growing prostitution, drug addiction, petty theft, and a percentage of mental illness to say nothing of Aids all without apparent restriction available in our streets, nation wide.
The meeting was disposed to just round up all street dwellers.
BUT there is NO WHERE to take them all. BUT it could be achieved with all the social services and other agencies working together - yes it could be achieved in just a few days.....
WITHIN just another few days the streets would begin to fill up again with NEWCOMERS!!
Thus I found myself on my feet once more, and stating strongly that BEFORE we could in any way improve our current situation on our streets, we needed to find out first WHERE these kids were coming from, and then even more importantly to find ways and means to cut off ALL the attractions and allurements from the Street Scene generally so that no life support is to be found on them.
1. ALL those handing out money and food to be judged to have committed an offence carrying a FINE. All Feeding Programmes to be confined to being held in viable Schools, or re-organised so that food is distributed to recognised CCIs.
2. The Police in concert with Social Works with the Children's Department, Social Services and others to discover those supplying glue, and to take measures to prevent the same. Even to additionally discover if the current Glues on the market might be prescribed if they are found to be dangerous to public and mental health.
3. The Police and others as mentioned under (2) to investigate and discover those running prostitution and illicit sex of any kind for profit and to prosecute the same and close down their business.
4. To assess and discover those cases that might be made to return to home and school, and to then discuss ways and means to achieve this.
If we do not want beggars and profiteers of any kind on our street we have to snatch the proverbial 'rug' of security, profit, or plain pleasure from right under their feet.
This was all received in silence and without comment. The Meeting proceeded to other business.
I am not encouraged to think that the next fourteen years will produce more success than the previous ones. ACTION is needed, but action is not the most noticeable attribute to Kenya's affairs.
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YESTERDAY we managed to secure the most part of our salaries for our many co workers. That left us with enough for the week-end. Next week will have to be a miracle week - but we know and have proved that BEFORE we ask or call HE has already made provision for us. He CARES and PLANS for every eventuality. Please, even so, continue to uphold our hands in prayer.
TODAY, just an hour ago, I ADMITTED to Testimony House to small brothers from Eldoret Town. They are Victor 8 and Steven 5. Their mother died of AIDS last year, and they have been staying alone in a VERY poor mud hut in Langas (a suburb of Eldoret) ever since. Victor, the eldest has AIDS. He has been on retro-viral drugs but not taking them regularly. He is not at all well right now. We have to do our best to get him back on a proper regime and hope and pray for a recovery. His father also has AIDS and neglected to take the appropriate medicine and is now bedridden and dying. Victor's brother Steve does NOT have HIV, very lively little boy. Both children have a sister aged 9 staying with a grandmother who is using her as a house-girl. We may eventually step in and see what can be done to improve this situation as well. I always seem to find myself opening the door for MORE children, when finance is very low! I never have felt afraid to do this, and Father, looking down, has always taken care of us all.
Ian and Diana HOGLEY were here for a few days from the 19th September. Always good to see them, and this time Diana's sister Irene joined them, as also a family friend Judith. We had a nice time. In December we hope to have their son Simon, and wife Rhianna to be with us over Christmas.
Today an Old Boy of Testimony House from when we were parents - Sammy Kirui - will be here for a week or more. So we are always blessed with visitors. Keeps us on our toes, and provides a lot of encouragement to us two old fogies.
STILL raining, but at present not very heavily. The Teachers Strike has ended and the Doctors so far continue. Kenya is NOT very stable socially at present, and that with political activity all over the country due to the expected March Election next year. BUT all is peaceful in our neck of the woods so far. We dwell under His Wings, safe and sound, secure and snug.
'I lay down and slept:
I wakened again,
for the LORD sustains me.' - Psalm 3v5
,In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
for You, LORD, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust - Psalm 4v8
Much Love in Jesus to you all
John and Esther AND Daryl and Carol (still in OZ)
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