12c

War Cry THE

salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry

15 December 2012

Est 1879

No 7095

FIGHTING FOR HEARTS AND SOULS

20p/25c

TALKING TOLKIEN Biographer tells story of man who wrote ‘The Hobbit’

HISTORY IN THE MAKING Page 4

TV DOCUMENTARY LOOKS DEEP INTO A WARTIME CHRISTMAS

Turn to page 3

BBC/Lion TV

writes PHILIP HALCROW

UNDERGROUND, it’s 1944.

In Chislehurst Caves, just south of London, men, women, boys and girls are dressed in Forties fashion and singing carols accompanied by a Salvation Army band. They are recreating a time in history for BBC Two’s Wartime Farm Christmas, scheduled

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The War Cry 15 December 2012

PARLIAMENTARY CAROL SERVICE

News

Army mourns

SALVATION ARMY LEADS FESTIVE SINGING

NIGEL BOVEY

GENERAL John Gowans, The Salvation Army’s international leader from 1999 to 2002, has died.

As well as being a charismatic speaker and leader, the General was a prolific songwriter, author and poet. With General John Larsson, he co-wrote ten stage musicals.

He is survived by his wife, Commissioner Gisèle Gowans, and their two sons.

PEERS, MPs, staff and visitors gathered in Westminster Hall last week for the annual parliamentary carol service, hosted by the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Right Hon John Bercow, MP. The singing was accompanied by the International Staff Band of The Salvation Army, and Commissioner André Cox, leader of The Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland, led the prayers.

Welcoming the lunchtime congregation, the Speaker son and life in general. We also said: ‘This carol service is an let them know where their local unmissable and treasured churches are.’ fixture in the parliamentary The founder of Spreading calendar.’

Christmas Cheer, Ayo Adedoyin, Before the service, Mr Bercow is hoping to encourage more told The War Cry: ‘The Salvation churches across the UK to adopt Army provides for people who are often not in the position to the initiative in their communities.

He says: ‘Over the years, peo- provide for themselves. It is that ple from various churches have expression of Christian love watched our volunteers at work in practice which is its most and replicated the initiative in distinguishing hallmark.’

The event began in 1983, their own towns, which is good.

We want to create a Spreading after Salvationist MP Derek Christmas Cheer franchise so that Foster suggested the idea to all cities can easily pick up the the Speaker, Bernard Weatherill. idea.’

COMMUTERS GET INTO CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Hot drinks and snacks for Tube travellers CHURCHES across the London Borough of Barnet are working together at 13 Underground stations to provide commuters with hot drinks and snacks in the week leading up to Christmas.

The Spreading Christmas Cheer initiative, set up by Jesus House in Brent Cross, is run by Christian volunteers seeking to demonstrate the loving and generous nature of Jesus.

Project manager Agatha Okafor explains how the initiative works: ‘From 17 to 21 December, between 5.30 am and 11 am, volunteers will

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COMMENT HEALTH PUZZLES INNER LIFE FOOD FOR THOUGHT WHAT’S COOKING?

Jesus House

INSIDE

DICKIE BIRD’S FAITH APPEAL

be standing at Tube stations, where they will chat with commuters and hand out drinks and mince pies.

‘For some people, Christmas is a time of loneliness, because they don’t have any family. So Spreading Christmas Cheer aims to put a smile on people’s faces.

Through the gift of a hot drink or mince pie, we want to show people the real meaning of Christmas – the gift of love.’

Jesus House launched Spreading Christmas Cheer at Brent Cross Underground station in 2004. Since then, the initiative has grown. Last year, 33 churches volunteered to help in 13 stations.

‘People get to know our faces over the week,’ says Agatha.

‘On day one, we give them a cup of tea or coffee and they go off p6 to get their train. By the end of the week, p7 they are coming up to us and saying: “Can p12 I have my usual, please?” All the volp13 unteers mingle with people and hand out Christian literature. p14 We share the love of God to make people p15 joyful about the sea-

Volunteers prepare snacks

15 December 2012 The War Cry

From page 1

BBC/Lion TV

for broadcast on Tuesday (18 December).

Ploughing the same furrow as in the Wartime Farm series, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologist Peter Ginn are trying to live as people did during the Second World War. Through their work at Manor Farm in Hampshire, they aim to show what life was like for country-dwellers and how they aimed to help those who were being bombed out of their homes in cities and towns by the V1 and V2 rockets sent over from Nazi Germany.

On a break from filming in the caves, Peter tells The War Cry about what they have been exploring. In a visit to a Christmas service at the church near Manor Farm, he heard how German and Italian prisoners of war attended such services. There are even accounts of them singing carols in German. He admits: ‘The involvement of prisoners of war in Christmas celebrations surprised me.’

In making the programme, Ruth got into the wartime spirit of improvisation and made decorations out of various scraps of material, including foil which had been dropped from German planes to throw British radar into confusion.

And she has used a surplus of carrots grown on the farm to make a Christmas dinner forr the people escaping the air raids by living in Chislehurst Caves.

During the Second World War, the Salvation Army band played to the people sheltering in the caves. And, in front of the camera, modern Salvation Army musicians are helping to re-enact the scene.

Peter describes his experience of researching a wartime Christmas.

‘If you read or write about history, you can immerse yourself in the documents of history,’ he says. ‘The next level is to meet the people – the primary sources – which we have done

Peter Ginn and Ruth Goodman go underground to celebrate Christmas

on Wartime Farm. And we’ve also tried to live it – to put on someone’s shoes and walk a few footsteps in them to see what life was like.’

He sums up Christmas 1944: ‘It’s tough, but equally it’s the big celebration. Christmas remains the one celebration that everyone sticks to during the war.

‘Christmas has always been about the spirit, the community, people coming together. We’ve had some prisoners of war singing “Silent Night”, a choir singing in the church, and down here in the caves we’ve had the Salvation Army band. It reminds you why you celebrate “Christ-mass” – Christmas.’

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Back in 1944, Salvation Army bands played carols for the same reason they do today. They want to communicate the good news at the heart of Christmas.

It’s news about a moment in history. It’s news about the birth of a baby. And people are still talking about the meaning of that birth. The carol that the band plays in the caves tries to explain it in the words: ‘He came down to earth from Heaven/ Who is God and Lord of all.’

The meaning of Christmas is that Jesus revealed God to humankind with a message of peace and comfort. He became part of our history. He also invites us to let him become part of our present.

Christmas has always been about people coming together

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Interview

Tolkien’s tales

NOTHER Tolkien story has made the journey from book to big screen. Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released in UK cinemas on Thursday (13 December). Cue queues.

Almost 40 years after Tolkien’s death, his stories are still attracting people worldwide.

Colin Duriez understands the lure of hobbits, rings, dwarves and Middle-earth. The author, who has appeared as a commentator on DVDs of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, was inspired to set off on a quest to discover more about J. R. R. Tolkien in the 1960s.

‘In the sixth form at school, we were reading C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity,’ he remembers. ‘I enjoyed it and began to read other books by him. When I read his autobiography Surprised by Joy, I came across Tolkien’s name. So I bought The Hobbit.

‘The immediate things that caught my imagination were its invented world of hobbits and the journey across this new landscape. Then I read The Lord of the Rings and saw that there was much more of this world to discover.’

Colin has written several books on Tolkien, and his new one is a biography ‘for the general reader’, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Making of a Legend.

Colin suggests that ‘knowing about Tolkien’s life is one of the keys to understanding his writings’.

He says: ‘Tolkien was a linguist and a philologist. Out of his studies of languages, he started to create his own, based on Finnish and Welsh. Then he invented a world for his languages to go into and, along with it, its peoples, history and geography. That is the depth that lies behind The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

JAMES FISHER/©2012 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc

A

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’

As ‘The Hobbit’ reaches cinemas, COLIN DURIEZ tells Philip Halcrow how Tolkien can affect the way people see the world

‘So his life illuminates what he was doing – creating a world which helps us to see our own in a fresh way. For instance, if you were a linguist, his fiction would help you to see what happens in languages and how they are changed by geography, history and other factors of human life.’

Colin highlights another aspect of Tolkien’s life which influenced his work.

‘Tolkien was a Christian from childhood. His faith was tied emotionally with his mother’s who, after the death of her husband when Tolkien was very young, found a spiritual home in the Birmingham Oratory.

‘Tolkien’s faith sustained him through growing up without his father

ring true and through his experiences of fighting in the First World War. ‘He tried to be faithful to his Christian beliefs, even when he was writing and creating the world of Middle-earth.’

Colin is a Christian and detects spiritual themes in Tolkien’s fiction.

‘One of the things that appeals to me is the sense of providence that there is in The Lord of the Rings. There is the sense of events being shaped.

God isn’t mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but in The Silmarillion there is a kind of creator of Middle-earth called Ilúvitar, similar to the way in which Lewis has the Christ-like figure of Aslan in the Narnia stories.

‘In Tolkien’s writing there are hints about providence and the need to be faithful and not to trust in your own wisdom. The whole Lord of the Rings story is about the renunciation of power, which makes it extraordinarily relevant to the modern world.

‘Even though some people have thought of Tolkien as being escapist, the opposite is true.

He encourages people to live in a way that – in

15 December 2012 The War Cry

5

Christian terms – is pleasing to God. He puts forward values such as friendship, fellowship and self-renunciation.’

Colin argues that good fantasy writing should not be underestimated.

‘Some people have pointed out that fantasy is subversive, because it can get past intellectual barriers and help you to receive new ideas.

That was certainly what Tolkien and Lewis tried to do.

They wanted to tell a good story, but they were also conscious that they lived in a post-Christian world and they felt that it was important to portray the values they loved – courage, affection and friendship – to a contemporary audience.

‘In his book Tolkien: Author of the Century, Tom Shippey cites William Golding and George Orwell as examples of other writers who used parable to come to terms with the modern world, particularly the evil that had been expressed in global warfare and suffering.

‘Tolkien had been through the Battle of the Somme, one of the most terrible battles in the First World War. How do you deal with that kind of suffering and evil in a book? A little story about the lives of well-off people in a university town may not tackle those issues as well as fantasy.

‘Through his stories, Tolkien helps people to see the real world in a fresh way and return to it renewed.’

Lion

He puts forward values such as friendship and fellowship

Q J. R. R. Tolkien: The Making of a Legend is published by Lion Colin Duriez has written a new biography

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The War Cry 15 December 2012

Media

Comment

Priest is a dedicated borrower of fashion

Scouting for God

A PRIEST wore her dog collar while taking part in a fashion shoot for a Saturday broadsheet magazine and described it as a ‘powerful experience’, reported the Daily Mail.

According to the paper, which gave the story the headline ‘The vicar wears Prada’, the Rev Sally Hitchiner posed in

borrowed designer clothes and explained that a love of fashion and a love for God are not mutually exclusive.

The Church of England priest said: ‘There is a perception that religion is in a box with everything middle-aged and that everything else is in another box …

But why shouldn’t a priest be interested in Prada?

‘It’s not that some supposedly frivolous areas FIVE New Testament stories are rewritten as plays in life are not worthy set in present-day London in Radio 3’s A New Cycle enough for God. The fashof Mystery Plays, broadcast each weekday from ion industry is important Monday (17 December 10.45 pm). … Historically, the arts The Rev Dr Giles Fraser presents the episodes have been honoured by the and provides a biblical context for the stories, which Church as a spiritual gift, include the parable of the good Samaritan – set on the and the first spiritual gift Underground’s Central Line – and the parable of the mentioned in the Bible is sower – set in a school science club. craftsmanship.’

THE Scout Association is doing its best. Every year in the UK, it helps some 500,000 young people enjoy the outdoors, interact with others, gain confidence and reach their full potential.

The association began offering such preparation for responsible citizenship long before the idea of citizenship classes – or ‘the Big Society’ – was dreamt of.

Abbey Christmas from Westminster

BBC/KATE SCHOLEFIELD

Earlier in the year, the rebirth of the fundraising Bob-a-Job Week after a 20-year absence made headline news.

Last week, the headlines were to do with God. ‘Scouts and guides will consider secular oaths,’ trumpeted The Guardian.

‘Scouts’ pledge to drop any mention of God in promise with new members able to declare themselves as atheists,’ announced the Daily Mail.

In the interests of being more inclusive and more reflective of today’s society, the Scout Association is asking its members and supporters whether potential members and staff should be obliged to promise to do their duty ‘to God and the Queen’.

For years, there have been alternative versions of the promise for Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. Is it right to bar entry on the basis of an absence of faith?

Faith is one of scouting’s founding and fundamental values. According to the Scout Association, ‘belief and its exploration helps scouts to learn from other faiths and continue on a spiritual journey and development. Scouts are open and willing to explore faiths whether established or defined or not.

Learning about other faiths, beliefs and attitudes can help to make the world a more tolerant and a less frightening place.’

As long as that remains a core value and is practised unhindered as well as preached, there is no reason to regard an alternative oath for those of no faith as an indication of anti-Christian persecution or political correctness gone mad.

Especially as, from us all, God would rather have sincerity of heart than empty promises of convenience.

All change for Bible stories

Song’s hidden message unwrapped A GROUP of musicians from East London have recorded a Christmas single with a hidden meaning.

‘Vooma Shang-a Lang’ by Won Hit Oneders lists familiar images of the festive season such as ‘baubles on the tree’ and the ‘Sally Army band’, but the first letters of the lines of its verses spell out ‘It’s all about Jesus Christ’. For more information visit wonhitwoneders.com

STAFF prepare for Christmas in the final episode of BBC Two’s Westminster Abbey, scheduled to be broadcast next Friday (21 December 9 pm). The series takes a look at day-to-day life at the church and its choir school.

During the programme, staff await the arrival of the Christmas trees and hundreds of people attend the annual carol concert.

Six eight-year-old trainee choristers also talk about what it is like to join the choir school.

15 December 2012 The War Cry

Health

Diabetes figures rise

Have we got juice for you!

IT’S a constant challenge for parents to provide their children with a healthy, enjoyable packed lunch. It can be difficult to work out which foods have the best nutritional value.

Most children do not drink enough.

Many prefer the taste of fruit juice to water, and fruit-juice drink is a good way to help children reach their five-aday target.

But selecting which fruit juice to drink is not always straightforward. In many drinks, the real juice-of-the-fruit content accounts for just a fraction of the ingredients.

The packaging can be misleading.

Parents need to be aware that, although cartons for many popular children’s fruit-juice drinks display mouth-water-

ing fruit images or have a fruit-related name, they may not be as ‘fruity’ as they appear.

Many brands have a low fruitjuice content and offer a low amount of naturally occurring vitamins. Pure fruit juice can be a good source of vitamin C. Some fruit-juice drinks contain additives that have been used to improve the look, taste and life of the drink.

These include citric acid, aspartame, anthocyanins, potassium sorbate and dimethyl dicarbonate.

Furthermore, many of the low-level juices are formulated with added sugar or artificial sweeteners. These are sometimes displayed under the names of sucrose, glucose, fructose and fructose syrup.

The nutritional information on the pack can also be confusing, as sometimes there is no differentiation between natural or added sugar.

It is advisable, therefore, to check the ingredients listed on the pack.

In the interest of children’s health, it is worth noting that added sugar doesn’t have any nutritional benefits. If the products were ‘true’ fruit-juice drinks, it would not be necessary to add sugar or artificial sweeteners to them, because fruit contains naturally occurring sugars.

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The future is orange

CASES of diabetes in the UK have soared to nearly three million. The number of people known to have the disease now stands at 2.9 million. This number is 50 per cent higher than when GP data on the condition was first published in 2005.

The rise is mainly due to a surge in type-2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 per cent of all cases and is more likely to develop in later life. It is often a result of being overweight, obese or not active enough.

Those with diabetes are five times more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, as well as being more at risk of developing kidney disease, eye problems and nerve damage.

However, the good news is that you can do your body a favour by making small changes that will have a big impact on reducing your risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.

Health tip provided by Heart Research UK. For more information email lifestyle@heartresearch.org.uk

Take steps to reduce the risk of diabetes O Eat a balanced, varied diet with foods that are rich in a range of vitamins and nutrients – such as omega-3, which is found in oily fish.

O Watch your portion size to maintain a healthy weight. Keep your waist measurement below 31.5 inches if you are a woman, and 37 inches if you are a man.

O Do at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity at least five times a week.

O Get regular health checks and take steps to keep your blood sugar, cholesterol and blood-pressure levels healthy.

Library pictures posed by models

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Interview

Mist shrouds the Yorkshire countryside. The light is not good. The ground is wet. Prospects for play look dismal. For the definitive word, it’s time to consult the umpire. During his illustrious career, cricket umpire HAROLD ‘DICKIE’ BIRD has answered thousands of inquiring ‘Howzats?’ In the heat of 66 Test matches, involving every Test-playing nation of the time, 92 one-day internationals, three World Cup finals and countless first-class fixtures, he has handled some of the game’s most famous, feared and fiery characters – all without the help of Hawk-Eye, TV replays or off-field umpires.

Eighty not out next spring, he has been invited to tomorrow’s BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony – an event he has attended every year since 1959, when he was a member of Yorkshire’s championshipwinning side. Recognised by non-cricket lovers and described by one former England captain as ‘the most famous of all umpires’, Dickie talks a great game with Nigel Bovey

Cricket

huge appeal

HOWZAT: Dickie Bird in the flesh and (left) his statue in Barnsley town centreH NIGEL BOVEY

15 December 2012 The War Cry

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legend has Dickie, do you come from a cricketing family?

Not really. My father was a coalminer and played football for Barnsley YMCA. At school, I captained the football team and played cricket in the summer. When I left school at 15, I signed for Barnsley Football Club. Early on, though, I damaged my right knee and decided to stick with cricket.

I played for Barnsley Cricket Club, opening the batting with Michael Parkinson. We were later joined by Geoffrey Boycott. When I was 19, Yorkshire signed me and eventually I made the first team, which included internationals such as Raymond Illingworth, Jimmy Binks and Freddie Trueman.

PA photo

When you realised your playing days were over, how easy was it to decide to become an umpire?

I didn’t go straight into umpiring.

I went into coaching and became an MCC Advanced Coach. I coached in the townships of South Africa. While I was coaching at Plymouth College and playing for Paignton on Saturdays, John Warr – an England player – asked me if I’d ever thought of becoming an umpire.

I laughed at him. I told him: ‘No, thank you.’ I don’t know why I reacted like that but later I had second thoughts. I applied to Lord’s in August 1969, was on the first-class list by October, stood in my first Test in 1973 and was a Test umpire for 25 years, so I must have impressed someone.

And you also umpired the first Cricket World Cup final.

Yes, that was West Indies v Australia at Lord’s in 1975. I then did the next two – also at Lord’s – and would have done the 1987 final in India, but couldn’t because, even though the England and Australian captains wanted

PA

What was it like to represent your county for the first time?

I was very proud to be part of a great squad. I was so delighted and thrilled to walk through the gates at Headingley that my chest used to swell. I would have played for Yorkshire for nothing.

STANDING OVATION: Dickie takes to the field at Lord’s for his final Test in 1996 me to officiate, there had to be neutral umpires.

What makes a good umpire?

Dedication – you need to be physically fit. I used to train with the professionals at Barnsley Football Club.

I concentrated on sprinting so I could get myself in position for those critical runout decisions. Today, of course, I’d just have to turn to the pavilion and draw a square with my hands for the TV replay.

Not a lot of training required for that!

An umpire needs common sense. You have to treat players as professionals.

I’ve dealt with some fiery characters on a cricket pitch. Maybe I had a knack of knowing how to handle them. As a Christian, I can honestly tell you I’ve never had a problem with a professional cricketer and I’ve known some great competitors.

Who is the greatest cricketer you’ve seen up close?

There were many great cricketers – Ian Chappell, Raymond Illingworth, Richie Benaud, Imran Khan were

Turn to page 10

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Interview

From page 9 great captains. Richard Hadlee, Ian Botham, Viv Richards and Jacques Kallis were great all-rounders. But for me the greatest cricketer of all time was Garfield Sobers. He had it all and was a real gentleman with it.

Speaking of TV replays, what do you think about umpires’ decisions being referred to an off-field umpire and scrutinised through technology?

Electronic aids have come into the game because people want the perfect decision. But even with these aids you will never get the perfect decision every time. The camera lies. Angles and distances are distorted. Cricket grounds aren’t level. When a ball hits a batsman’s pads with four yards still to go to the stumps, there is an element of doubt – with or without technology.

Is the referral system at international level undermining the traditional virtue of not questioning the umpire’s decision?

Sadly, authority is being taken away from the on-field umpire. Right from the beginning, the umpire has been a vital part of the game. If an umpire made a mistake – which we’ve all done – people talked about it in clubs and pubs and round the dinner table. It made the game so exciting.

When you made a mistake, how easy was it to forget it?

It’s not easy, but you’ve got to concentrate on the next delivery and get it out of your mind. It’s history. You can do no more about it.

Traditionally, cricket is associated with fair play – some see it as a civilising game. How did you deal with players who pushed the boundaries by verbally abusing a

I am convinced that the Good Lord worked a miracle batsman, so-called sledging?

It was said that the Australians were renowned for sledging. I never had a problem with them. They played hard but they played within the laws of the game. Whether they agreed with me or not, the Aussies always accepted my decisions and got on with the game.

If I ever heard a player chirping at a batsman, I’d have a quiet word with him and tell him to cut it out, which he did.

From 1970 to 1991, South Africa’s Test team was banned from playing, because of the country’s apartheid system. Can politics ever be kept out of sport?

Losing South Africa from international cricket because of apartheid was a tragedy. I had the chance to go on a rebel tour to South Africa but I wouldn’t go because of my principles. I was against apartheid.

I coached kids in Soweto. I wanted to take them to watch a match but I wasn’t allowed. They wouldn’t have got into the ground. I never went back. I couldn’t work in a society that kept kids out of a cricket match. Everyone should be free to play sport, regardless of their skin colour. It was a shame and a tragedy.

to a specialist who told me I’d got a problem. I told him I knew I had a problem!

He told me that the blindness was caused by the glare from the sun-beaten cricket pitches in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia and the West Indies. We discussed the risks involved in surgery. I was blind. I had nothing to lose, so he operated. Each eye took five and a half hours. The sight took a while to return properly to my right eye but I can see.

I wear glasses for driving but the Lord performed a miracle on me – he gave the surgeon the strength to do what was needed. To get sight back from nothing is a miracle. If you have faith in the Lord, you can conquer the world; but if you haven’t, you will fall by the wayside.

How and when did you become a Christian?

I was brought up by my parents in the Christian faith. We went to the Sunday evening service at the Elim Pentecostal church every week. My sister Sylvia was a lay preacher. She died with a brain haemorrhage when she was just 41. We always reckoned that the Lord must have needed her badly, to have taken her like that.

What effect does a personal tragedy such as that have on your faith?

It made me stronger. Four years ago, I had a stroke. I am convinced that the Good Lord worked a miracle to get me over it. I am still weak in my hands and my arms and I get a bit down at times, but to look at me you wouldn’t think I’d had a stroke, and that is down to the Good Lord.

Some years after I retired from umpiring, I lost my sight. I simply woke up one morning and couldn’t see a thing. I was taken

NO BOUNDARIES: Dickie with his MBE medal, and surrounded by mementoes of his illustrious career NIGEL BOVEY

15 December 2012 The War Cry

Having a Christian upbringing is one thing, but when did you decide to follow Jesus for yourself?

I’d always prayed every night before going to sleep.

I’ve always gone to church, but it’s in recent years – since he performed these miracles on me – that my faith has been stronger than at any other time in my life.

First-class Sunday League cricket started the year you became an umpire. Did you ever question Sunday sport?

Yes, I did. I believed strongly then and still believe that there should be no sport on Sundays. I greatly admire the athlete Eric Liddell, who refused to run in the Olympics on a Sunday. But I did umpire on Sundays.

Why, if you felt so strongly, did you umpire on Sundays?

It’s a good question, that. That was my one weakness. I admit it. Sunday should be a day of worship. If people haven’t got the time to worship the Lord for one hour, then something is wrong.

What does Jesus mean to you?

He has been good to me.

He means a lot to me. All of life comes from him and he died to save the world.

During your cricket career, was there ever an occasion when there was a conflict between your faith and your work?

Every time I crossed the boundary rope and stepped onto the field of play – whatever level of game – I would ask God to help me make the right decisions. I always sensed he did just that.

I’ve always prayed every night

A number of cricketing terms are part of everyday language.

So, Dickie, are you having a good innings?

I think that the Good Lord gave me a gift, and I hope that I haven’t let him down. I hope I have fulfilled everything for him. My one regret is that I haven’t had a family. I would love to have had a son or a daughter to watch playing cricket.

I didn’t marry, because I’d seen too

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many cricket divorces. It wouldn’t have been fair on my wife. Cricketers spend months away from home. He wonders what she’s doing. She worries what he’s up to while he’s on tour. It’s human nature. If I’d married and divorced, I would never have got over it.

Instead, I gave myself completely to the game. And, although I’ve made many wonderful friends around the world through cricket, my massive disappointment is that I didn’t have a family.

You encourage children, though, through the Dickie Bird Foundation.

What does it do?

The aim of my foundation is to get underprivileged children off street corners and away from the TV and into sport. Throughout the UK, it gives grants to youngsters to help them access sporting opportunities. That could be help with travelling expenses to specialist training centres or help with acquiring kit.

When I was a lad, times were hard.

But my father would scrape his last penny to buy me football boots or a cricket bat. I just want to give kids a similar start in life.

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The War Cry 15 December 2012

Puzzlebreak WORDSEARCH

SUDOKU

Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these characters from ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9 Solution on page 15

BALIN BEORN BIFUR BILBO BAGGINS BOFUR BOMBUR DAIN IRONFOOL DORI DWALIN ELROND

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Two-footed animal (5) 4. Shopfront panel (5) 8. Cobbler’s tool (3) 9. Clean (5) 10. Fetch (5) 11. Bread container (3) 12. Regal (5) 13. Prisoner (7) 16. Carry too far (6) 19. Be cautious (6) 23. Slave (7) 26. Informal language (5) 28. Small bird (3) 29. Shout of joy (5) 30. Splendour (5) 31. Master (3) 32. Rendezvous (5) 33. Illustrious (5)

ANSWERS

O L I I O D G U D D I D O U N I G

O F R A B R M T F L I R A I R O I

G O G R A I R L B E L A R A N N I

N S K C L I A I I I G O S O B L U

M R U I I D O R I H R L N S S A B

R D F B N L I E B S R R G F R M I

L A B A N G C R M N O T G R U D L

I A G D G R T O I E B B A L F D B

FILI FRODO GALADRIEL GANDALF GLOIN GOLLUM GREAT GOBLIN KILI

O O I K W E N H B K M G L O I N O

L T S A G A D A R A O O A D B O B

E R H I R T L T I O G P D O U I A

E A N D B G N I D N R H R O I R G

L O O F N O R I N I A D I I R F G

R U B M O B F O I R I N E N F F I

O O N B F L H U L O I A L L S L N

N R U K R I G K R H E A A R I O S

D L I U D N A R H T G N I K U I G

KING THRANDUIL KING THROR LINDIR NORI OIN ORI RADAGAST THORIN OAKENSHIELD

HONEYCOMB Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number

DOWN 2. Social gathering (5) 3. Meddled (7) 4. Wince (6) 5. Ship’s room (5) 6. Plea of being elsewhere (5) 7. Power (5) 9. Braking system (5) 14. Pledge (3) 15. Motor (3) 17. Contend (3) 18. Accelerate (3) 20. Oriental (7) 21. Rowing crew (5) 22. Ratify (6) 23. Drain (5) 24. Perch (5) 25. Put oneself forward for a job (5) 27. Extemporise (2-3)

1. Irrational fear of something 2. Fast-flying bird of prey 3. Fastest pace of a horse 4. Write in a hurried, careless way 5. Son of a monarch 6. The point where something begins

QUICK QUIZ 1. Which animated film includes the song ‘Strangers Like Me’?

2. How many points has the Star of David?

3. Who composed ‘The Flight of the Bumblebee’?

4. At which stately home would you see the National Motor Museum?

5. What musical instrument has a chanter, drones and windbag?

6. Complete the saying: He travels fastest…?

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1 Biped. 4 Facia. 8 Awl. 9 Scrub.

10 Bring. 11 Bin. 12 Royal. 13 Convict. 16 Overdo.

19 Beware. 23 Servant. 26 Slang. 28 Tit. 29 Whoop. 30 Eclat. 31 Sir. 32 Tryst. 33 Noble.

DOWN: 2 Party. 3 Dabbled. 4 Flinch. 5 Cabin.

6 Alibi. 7 Might. 9 Servo. 14 Vow. 15 Car. 17 Vie. 18 Rev. 20 Eastern. 21 Eight. 22 Attest. 23 Sewer.

24 Roost. 25 Apply. 27 Ad-lib.

QUICK QUIZ 1 Tarzan. 2 Six.6. 3 Rimsky-Korsakov. 4 Beaulieu Palace House. 5 Bagpipes. 6 Who travels alone.

HONEYCOMB 1 Phobia. 2 Falcon. 3 Gallop. 4 Scrawl. 5 Prince.

6 Origin.

Inner life

15 December 2012 The War Cry

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In this Advent series, RON THOMLINSON takes a look at the ON THE nativity story in the light of today’s technology

WINDOWS WORD

WEEK 3: THE TRENDSETTER

If the phone hasn’t trilled for a few minutes, they have to pick it up just to check. ‘I am, therefore I tweet.’

Wherever they may be, Twitter junkies are only ever partially present.

The idea of Joseph on Twitter verges on the surreal. It does not correspond with the picture we have of him in the story of Jesus’ birth.

In the Christmas narratives, Joseph doesn’t have a single word of direct or reported speech attributed to him. In the greatest drama in human history, Joseph has only a walk-on part.

But Joseph was very special.

The fact that God chose this silent carpenter to be Jesus’ earthly guardian speaks volumes.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Joseph is described as a just man who lived according to the laws of the time (see Matthew 1:19). Though pledged to Mary, Joseph had not fathered the unborn child and so was going to divorce Mary quietly. He did not want to humiliate her.

However, God intervened and Joseph did marry Mary. Apparently, Joseph was a better listener than a speaker. Each time that God points him in a particular direction, he follows immediately, paying absolute attention to whatever God had planned for him, Mary and Jesus.

Even though Joseph was never given the whole picture, he obeyed those moments of revelation which concerned him and his family.

It was just as well Joseph didn’t

Library picture posed by models

THEY are the scourge of every daily contact, business meeting and informal gettogether: the Twitter junkies.

Even before they have removed their coat, their electronic fix is on the table and strategically placed within easy reach.

It was just as well Joseph didn’t do Twitter LOOKING FOR HELP?

Just complete this coupon and send it to The War Cry, y 101 Newington Causeway, London C L d SE1 6BN

do Twitter. You cannot live as he did and be only partially present, distracted by every bleep and ping of a smartphone.

How happy God is when his followers are fully focused on him, listening attentively to his every whisper!

Please send me Basic reading about Christianity Information about The Salvation Army Contact details of a Salvationist minister Name Address

The War Cry 15 December 2012

because he believed God had helped his army to win the battle. Standing upright, the stone was called Ebenezer, and the site marked a place of great significance for the Israelites.

The Ebenezer, then, was a reminder of God’s presence.

When life feels as though it is going wrong, we could do with remembering some ‘stones’ of our own. That means taking time to reflect on past occasions when God has helped us.

The Bible’s King David – who lived through some terrible times – relied on God throughout his difficulties.

When life was falling apart around him, he referred to past occasions when God had helped him. Such memories brought comfort.

David wrote: ‘I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

For what you have done I will always praise you’ (Psalm 52:8, 9 New International Version).

Even if life is hard right now, may we not forget that God can be trusted. May we remember those Ebenezers – those occasions from our past – that can bring us comfort today.

God is with us, loving us, in every situation – if we look for him. He will never abandon us.

Surely that’s worth remembering.

We could do with remembering some ‘stones’ of our own The War Cry

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by FRED CROWHURST

MY

Library picture posed by model

The original Ebenezer was, in fact, a place. It was the location where the Israelites battled with the Philistines, who stole their sacred Ark of the Covenant.

On one occasion, the Israelites defeated the Philistines and won back their precious ark. To commemorate this victory, the leader of the Israelites, Samuel, set a stone in place. He named it ‘Stone of Help’

Ebenezer – so much more than Scrooge

R

AS many of us know, Ebenezer Scrooge is the central character of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Strangely, as I look back over my life, I cannot recall meeting anyone with the name of Ebenezer.

I wonder how the famous author came by this name.

Food for thought

B LO

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What’s cooking?

Apricot and apple sausage rolls

15 December 2012 The War Cry

15

I’M Michael Darracott. I have been an executive chef in several large establishments in charge of cooking for 200-plus people.

I have also written a number of books. It gives me great pleasure to offer my recipes in The War Cry. I invite readers to send in recipe ideas, to be considered for publication here. I would also like to offer help with any cooking-related problems you have. So send in your question and, if it is selected, an answer will be published on this page.

Email your recipes and questions to chefmike56@chefmikedarracott.com

Cook with chef MICHAEL DARRACOTT chefmikedarracott.com

Mince pies Ingredients: 206g sweet mincemeat For the sugar pastry 90g caster sugar 2 small eggs 4 drops of vanilla essence 140g butter 300g plain flour, sifted Pinch of salt 3tbsp icing sugar

Ingredients: 200g plain flour Salt and pepper, to taste 130g butter 60g Cheddar cheese, grated 1tsp dried sage 1 egg, beaten For the filling 450g pork sausage meat 1 medium cooking apple, peeled, cored and grated 400g can drained apricots, diced 4tsp dried sage Salt and pepper, to taste

Method: Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Grease a baking tray.

Mix the flour, salt, pepper, butter, cheese and sage in a bowl. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time, using your hands to form a dough and adding more water if required. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for 20–30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the sausage meat, apple, apricots, sage, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well.

Scatter some flour over the worktop. Remove the dough from the fridge, then roll it out to form a 30cm x 10cm rectangle. Use a little cold water to moisten one of the long edges of the pastry.

Place some flour on your hands, then roll out the sausage meat longways. Place it on top of the pastry. Fold the pastry over the top and run your fingers along the side to form a seal.

Cut into 4–6 pieces (depending on SUDOKU SOLUTION the size of rolls you wish to make) and place on the baking tray.

Glaze each roll with the beaten egg, then bake for 20–25 minutes.

Makes 4–6

Method: Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7.

To make the pastry, cream together the sugar, eggs and vanilla essence in a bowl.

Mix in the butter, then gradually add the flour. Mix together well. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for 15–20 minutes.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and divide in half. Return one half to the fridge.

Grease a 12-hole deep pie tin. Roll out the pastry and cut out 12 rounds. Place the rounds in the tin to form the base of the pies. Spoon the mincemeat on top of the bases.

Remove the other pastry half from the fridge, then roll out 12 rounds. Place the rounds on top of the mincemeat. Make leaf shapes out of any spare pastry and use them to decorate the tops of the pies.

Bake the pies for 10–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle some icing sugar over the tops before serving.

Makes 12

Fashion mag celebrates its birthday in style

STILL IN VOGUE writes CLAIRE BRINE

CALLING all fashionistas! It’s time to put on your glad rags. Fashion Bible Vogue celebrates its 120th birthday on Monday (17 December).

The magazine that tells readers what’s hot to wear (and what’s not) was founded in 1892 in America by Arthur Baldwin Turnure. Back then, it was a weekly publication which recorded social events and offered guidance on etiquette and clothing.

Fast-forward to 1909 and publishing company Condé Nast bought Vogue, turning it into a women’s fashion magazine. It was a hit. Seven years later, Vogue reached the UK. As the years have rolled by, Vogue has continued to roll off the presses. Today, there are 19 international editions of the magazine, each providing readers with tips on fashion and beauty, as well as interviews with movie and music stars. No matter what fashions come, go and come back again, Vogue remains, well, in vogue.

Last year, a YouGov survey revealed that 85 per cent of Vogue readers viewed the magazine as the ‘fashion Bible’. When facing a clothing crisis, they know that they can leaf through its pages to find inspiration, style and good advice.

Having an authority to turn to when we need guidance regarding our fashion style is helpful, but where do we turn when we need guidance for our lifestyle? Where can we find pointers telling us how to have

YOUR LOCAL SALVATION ARMY CENTRE

Where do we find guidance for our lifestyle?

a beautiful character?

Millions of people discover that there is wisdom and advice in the Bible. In its pages, there are tips for readers who want to discover how to make the best of themselves. They include: Love your neighbour. Do not judge.

Forgive those who wrong you.

Do not lie. Give generously.

The Bible highlights that the beauty of our character is far more important to God than what we wear or how we look. It says: ‘The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’ (1 Samuel 16:7 New International Version).

We don’t need to change our wardrobe if we want to model a more attractive lifestyle. We can start by allowing our Maker to alter our attitude.

Library picture posed by models

The Salvation Army (United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland) on behalf of the General of The Salvation Army.

Printed by Wyndeham Grange, Southwick. © Linda Bond, General of The Salvation Army, 2012