Call of duty
MI6 officer has her work cut out in TV drama
‘I won’t be defined by my cancer’
What is The Salvation Army?
The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity seeking to share the good news of Jesus and nurture committed followers of him. We also serve people without discrimination, care for creation and seek justice and reconciliation. We offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK. Go to salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church to find your nearest centre.
What is the War Cry?
The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.
From the editor’s desk
Thousands of feet will be pounding the streets of London on Sunday (26 April) as serious athletes and fun runners alike will be taking part in what can be the hard slog of the London Marathon.
However, as we discover in this week’s War Cry, others will be running the 26.2 miles but not anywhere near Tower Bridge, the Mall or any other iconic landmarks of the London route. They will be taking part in a virtual event affiliated with the official race.
London Marathon MyWay encourages people to run the full distance on Sunday, but participants can do so anywhere in the country. Members of the Salvation Army church in Staines are running laps around their building while also raising funds for the work of the church and charity.
The organisation is well known nationally for the help it brings to the communities in which its churches and centres are located.
As we discover in this issue, in Penrith in Cumbria, The Salvation Army’s church runs a purpose-built food bank hub to make sure that individuals and families who are struggling are better fed and cared for.
Editor: Andrew Stone, Major
Managing Editor: Philip Halcrow
Staff
Staff
Staff
Emily Bright
Claire Brine
Ewan Hall
Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk
Graphic
Mark Knight
Graphic Designer: Natalie Adkins
Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk
The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 1 Champion Park London SE5 8FJ
Tel: 0845 634 0101
Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org
Founders: Catherine and William Booth
International leaders: General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham
Territorial leaders: Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main
Editor-in-Chief: Major Julian Watchorn
The church is led by Major Carole Donaldson, who is clear about why a Christian movement wants to help people in this way.
‘I truly believe that Scripture teaches us that we need to care for each other and show each other love,’ she says. ‘Sometimes it’s really hard –with long days or difficult conversations – and we can bring that back to God in prayer.’
Prayer is an important part of any Christian’s life. It is the way they connect with God and harness his love and power which equips them to help others and stand up to injustice, even when that can be difficult to do.
It’s also the way they receive help for themselves for any challenges they are facing in their own lives. No matter how much of a slog life may be for them, they know that God is with them every step of the way.
INFO INFO
FOR HER EYES ONLY
Has MI6 officer uncovered a Russian plot?
TV preview: Secret Service, ITV1 and ITVX
By Ewan Hall
As a working mum heads out for the day, her family continue with their morning routine. Little do they know that she is heading to Malta to meet a woman who may be MI6’s key to obtaining vital intelligence.
Secrets are the name of the game in ITV’s new spy drama, Secret Service, which starts this Monday (27 April). The story follows the life of MI6 officer Kate Henderson (Gemma Arterton), the youngest person to head the Russia desk for the UK’s secret intelligence service. Taking residence in a house in Malta, Kate and her team monitor their new agent through a listening device planted in a cigar case. The plan seems simple: the person on the inside is Lena (Alma Prelec) the nanny for a high-ranking member of the Russian government who is currently on holiday. Listening through the cigar box, the team can hear conversations taking place and gather information.
Kate is trusting her gut on this operation as she has gone behind her boss’s back by planting the listening device. But her
instincts are proved correct when the team overhear a conversation suggesting that a major UK politician may be a Russian asset.
In order to get to the truth, Kate must navigate through political loyalty, international threats and shifting alliances. Complicating matters further is that Kate’s husband is working for a government minister and, when the couple talk, he is never sure whether she is just trying to get information out of him.
Such a scenario may feel far removed from our own experiences. Few of us will ever be asked to hold official government secrets. But many of us can relate to holding our own hidden truths. Sometimes we withhold things out of fear that we may upset the people we love, be misunderstood or face rejection.
The trouble with secrets is they refuse to stay locked away. They occupy our thoughts, make us question who we can trust and leave us worrying about how others might react if the truth were uncovered. Secrecy can leave us feeling
Kate Henderson is gathering intelligence on the Russian government
alone and cut off.
And yet, no matter how hard we try to keep certain things hidden from the world, Christians believe that God knows us completely. He still loves us – regardless of how many secrets we hold, how complex they are or how much shame we attach to them.
Trying to hide the fear, shame and other parts of ourselves from God is a waste of time. In the Bible, one songwriter describes how much God knows us, writing: ‘Lord, you have examined me. You know me’ (Psalm 139:1 Common English Bible).
Such intimate knowledge is not a threat, but an indication of how deeply God knows us. He sees our secrets, struggles and shame. But, instead of being disappointed in us, he offers us acceptance, compassion and love.
If we accept that love, we no longer have to carry the weight of our hidden lives alone. God reminds us that we don’t need to be perfect to receive his love, just honest. If we do that, we discover a life with him, which leads to an exciting future.
Lena helps MI6 gather information
j TEA M TALK
Poor attitude
Claire Brine gives her take on a story that has caught the attention of War Cry reporters
The year 2016 was ‘a time of mean-spiritedness’, film director Ken Loach told The Guardian. ‘If you were vulnerable or needed support, you were met with punishment, and there was a constant vilifying of people who needed help. I, Daniel Blake was based on that.’
It’s been a decade since the film was released, which follows the life of carpenter Daniel (played by Dave Johns), who is denied employment and support allowance from the government, despite having suffered a heart attack and being deemed unfit to work by his doctor.
The
‘It’s very much a film about the cruelty of the system that says: “Poverty is the fault of the poor,”’ said Ken. Daniel wants to work, but ‘the system makes it hard for people not to be tripped up’.
truth about poverty is hard to stomach
I can remember watching the film and feeling frustrated on Daniel’s behalf as he tried to navigate online forms for government financial help, only to get stuck in a never-ending cycle of ‘computer says no’. I can also remember a gut-wrenching scene at a food bank, where his malnourished friend is so hungry that she pours baked beans into her mouth straight from the tin.
‘All the stories are true,’ said Ken of the film, adding that the government ‘didn’t want to face’ that.
The truth about poverty is hard to stomach – and it should be. In a world of plenty, it’s terrible that millions of people are going without.
But rather than allowing feelings of sadness or powerlessness to lead to apathy, I believe that every one of us should be challenged to check our attitudes. We should consider, with honesty, our perspective of people for whom poverty is a daily reality – and weed out any meanspiritedness that’s lurking.
The truth is, no individual in need of help should be vilified by the community around them. Or looked down upon. Or mocked. Everyone deserves compassion and respect.
That’s what Jesus says.
Two thousand years ago he urged his followers to care for people in poverty – and to do so without judging them. No excuses. No getout clauses. Just help, without judgement. It’s a teaching that remains relevant today, whether we want to face it or not.
WAR talk talk Team talk Team talk ‘ ’
Horrors lead historian back to faith
Host of the podcast The Rest is History Tom Holland told CNN that he would now call himself a Christian.
The historian’s path to faith was traced in a CNN feature, which reported that, in July 2016, he was filming with the BBC in the Iraqi city of Sinjar three months after Isis had attacked. The jihadist group had massacred thousands of Yazidis, an ethnic and religious minority, and had sold some of the women into sex slavery. It had also desecrated churches and hung some victims on crosses.
Seeing such horrors led Tom to recall the ruthless Roman and Spartan civilisations he had studied as a historian. Reflecting on their immorality, he saw that it contrasted with the ethos of the Christian faith with which he had grown up. He began to look at faith again and having considered its meaning for himself, he said: ‘I would say I’m a Christian.’
WAR CRYWnRLD
A 900-year-old Anglo-Saxon place of worship has been discovered underneath St Cuthbert’s Church in Darlington.
The BBC reports that the remains were uncovered when St Cuthbert’s began a £2.5 million restoration project to make the building more accessible.
Project officer Marc Johnstone said that the uncovered walls could date back to a church built just after the Norman Conquest.
He explained: ‘Although the walls could be earlier, associated with Anglian sculpture of the 10th and 11th centuries previously found on the site, it is likely that the recently discovered walls are those of a church built in or around 1080.
‘A century or so later, the present church was built by the Normans using the 11th-century walls as the bases for arcade columns.’
Once renovations are complete, the church will house a visual reconstruction and digital imagery of the findings.
Long walk for persecuted church
The CEO of a charity that supports persecuted Christians around the world is preparing to carry a wooden cross up the Lake District’s Scafell Pike in June, reports Premier Christian News.
Paul Robinson of Release International plans to make an overnight climb up England’s highest mountain to show solidarity with persecuted people worldwide.
Robinson and a team of volunteers hope the challenge will prompt UK Christians to pray for those who cannot freely practise their faith.
‘I’ve seen and held the cross we will be carrying, and it’s quite heavy, but that’s the point!’ says Paul. ‘It will be, I believe, a powerful way of identifying with those who face the far greater challenges of persecution for Christ and the gospel.’
Excavations at St Cuthbert’s Church
Ben Gannon-Doak
‘It’s OK to get help at a food bank’
To mark Stop Food Waste Day on Wednesday (29 April), Major CAROLE DONALDSON, who leads a Salvation Army church in Cumbria, highlights how it uses surplus food to nourish people, both physically and spiritually
Interview by Emily Bright
‘We want to make sure people are fed and cared for,’ says Major Carole Donaldson of the Nourished project, a food bank at the Salvation Army church that she leads in Penrith. ‘That’s what Jesus teaches us. So we want to spiritually and practically nourish ourselves and others.
‘There was a small food bank within the church that became mega busy through Covid. It keeps evolving as we serve the community and the villages around us.’
In 2021, the church created a purposebuilt hub for the food bank. But Carole’s ultimate dream is to no longer require it.
‘The space that houses the food is all free-standing,’ she explains. ‘It’s always my hope and my prayer that one day food provision isn’t needed. But we’re nowhere near that right now.
‘Demand fluctuates, but donations have reduced. We actually ended up with some empty shelves this week – the
first time that’s ever happened. But we keep going and keep believing that we’re doing the right thing.’
Even during a cost of living crisis, the community have backed the Salvation Army project wherever they can.
‘People in Penrith are faithfully supporting us,’ she explains. ‘We are blessed by the donations and the support we receive. We have a good relationship with our community and local businesses.’
On Wednesday (29 April), Stop Food Waste Day will encourage people to share ‘practical, creative and impactful ways we can all change our behaviour’, according to its website. Nourished is a prime example, given that it sources surplus food from supermarkets each week.
While the project runs on Tuesdays and Fridays, it also provides emergency food parcels to the nearby Sainsbury’s, ensuring that people can access
essential supplies when the food bank is closed.
Referrals come in from Citizens Advice, GPs, schools, church leaders, and Westmorland and Furness Council. People are also able to self-refer.
Beneficiaries fill in a form to let the church know what particular items they need. Carole explains how the project works in practice.
‘We check how many adults and children there are and any dietary requirements, anything they don’t like. We try to personalise selections as much as we can. Food, toiletries, toilet roll and cleaning products are most in demand. We can provide supplies for up to seven days at a time, depending on any individual’s situation.
‘For someone who’s experiencing homelessness, we offer them a free meal twice a week, and a bag of things that they can manage in a tent – like food for just a few days – and then they come
back. We can build relationships through seeing them again.’
For Carole, cultivating relationships is a cornerstone of Nourished.
‘As we have conversations with people,’ she says, ‘hopefully it makes them feel that it’s OK to need help and to get it from us. Sometimes, there’s a need for further practical assistance and we signpost people to other organisations.’
We focus on serving the community
Carole aims to link the project with other activities at the church, such as its lunch club, coffee mornings and Penrith community gardeners group.
One example of the links is that everyone joins together for a ‘pause for thought’, which, Carole says, ‘comes under the banner’ of the Nourished
project. The segment provides an opportunity to satisfy not only a physical hunger, but a spiritual one too.
‘Everything stops for 10 to 15 minutes as we nourish ourselves spiritually,’ she explains. ‘My colleagues share a prayer and thought based on a passage in the Bible. Not all volunteers have a faith, but they do join in prayers and everyone sits together in those moments.’
The Bible and prayer are the driving forces behind the project.
‘I truly believe that Scripture teaches us that we need to care for each other and show each other love,’ she says. ‘That’s what I aim to do. I’ve got a beautiful team of staff and volunteers, and we all start our day together in prayer, which grounds us for whatever we face in the day.
‘Sometimes it’s really hard – with long days or difficult conversations – and we can bring that back to God in prayer. No matter how difficult life has become,
we’ve continued to focus on serving the community just as we believe Jesus wants us to and teaches in his word.’
In the most challenging times, Carole is always encouraged by how God uses Nourished to make a breakthrough in people’s lives.
‘When a family sends a card saying thank you for all you’ve done, that’s really beautiful. I also love watching someone smile as they leave, after coming here feeling down.’
And the project has provided stability and hope. As the team does all it can to help, Carole trusts God with the rest.
‘Recently my colleague, Heather, and I took a guy we’ve supported for a long time, who is in and out of homelessness and addiction, to rehab,’ Carole recalls.
‘We don’t know where his story is going to end up, but the fact that he trusted us is huge. We were able to help him, showing him that no matter how bad life gets, there’s always hope.’
The Salvation Army church in Penrith runs a food bank with a team of volunteers
‘The doctor knew what he was looking at. It was cancer’
Andy Robinson
During Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, pastor ANDY ROBINSON,
who is living with a stage 4 diagnosis, explains why for him, ‘The Big C’ isn’t cancer, but Christ
Interview by Emily Bright
‘Iknew something wasn’t right when I came out of the colonoscopy,’ Andy Robinson tells me. ‘They take you to a waiting room and then bring you in for a chat. And I said to my wife, Hazel: “Prepare yourself, this is not going to be good news.”’
His instincts were correct.
‘The doctor came in and said he couldn’t say conclusively until the biopsy results were back, but that he’d been doing his job for 30 years and knew what he was looking at. It was cancer.’
In that moment, Andy felt ‘a peace that defies understanding’ – a time of peace that is referenced in the Bible.
As we sit in the comfort of his home in West Sussex, he recalls: ‘Everything in you thinks. “I should be freaking out right now”, but you’re not, and there is a supernatural peace.
‘We often think peace is the absence of things – that if only these problems weren’t here, we could be peaceful. But I
think peace is the presence of a person, not the absence of anxiety and worry. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and he is right here with me.’
My hope is in Christ, not in what cancer says
On 4 January 2023, Andy was formally diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer, which had spread to his liver and lungs. The oncologist’s prognosis was that Andy had two to three years to live.
In his newly published book, The Big C in Me, Andy recalls that the diagnosis sent him ‘free-falling into some kind of abyss’ and shook ‘the very foundations of everything’ he thought was secure.
In the darkest of times, he and Hazel found support through close friends at Lifespring Church in Horsham, which
Andy had co-led for more than 13 years. The couple also clung on to their faith.
As we talk, Andy pushes up his sleeves, and I spot a tattoo on his left forearm, ‘Christ in me, the hope of glory’. This is a reference to the Bible verse Colossians 1:27, which inspired the title of his book. For Andy, the ‘Big C’ isn’t cancer – it’s Christ. And, however difficult it may be, he chooses to focus on the hope found in Jesus rather than on his diagnosis.
‘You get lots of dark thoughts that wander in,’ he admits. ‘People get so scared by cancer that they won’t even say the word, hence they call it the “Big C”. But my hope is in Christ, not in what cancer says.’
I ask him how his faith has sustained him since receiving his prognosis.
‘Knowing that my days were numbered by God before the creation of the world – as it says in the Bible – has probably been the biggest single thing that’s helped me,’ he reflects. ‘I’ve read those verses a
hundred times.
‘But then, when you realise, “I’m going to die a lot sooner than I thought,” you read Scripture differently. That particular verse, along with a number of others, anchored me in the fact that if God’s numbered the days, then neither cancer nor anything else is going to change that.’
It’s an ethos of trust in God that Andy has had to work at putting into practice.
‘I remember being told that I had two spots on my liver,’ he says, ‘then having a scan followed by a meeting with the surgeon. He said: “There are six spots on your liver.” As we left the hospital, Hazel asked me: “Are you OK?” You didn’t look like you flinched, nothing changed.”
‘I said: “Nothing has changed. The number of my days hasn’t changed now that God has heard the news. While we understand more and it might seem
Turn to page 10 f
Christian worship artist Lou Fellingham interviews Andy at his book launch
From page 9
scarier, the reality is that the number is still the same.” Knowing that has rooted me through the ups and downs.’
Andy decided to tell the congregation at his church – where he has served as a staff member since 2006 – about his cancer in February 2023. He continues to post video updates under the social media handle ‘The Big C in Me’ to update people on his progress.
‘I chose to be public about my diagnosis on TikTok and YouTube and everywhere else,’ he explains. ‘Part of that is because the church can be over-caring. If I’m being really honest, there were times when I just didn’t want to go to church, because I wasn’t feeling great at one level, but also I didn’t want to have 200 conversations about how I was feeling.’
Even after posting videos, Andy still had to navigate questions about his health. He became fed up with being questioned about his cancer when he knew that there was so much more to him: he was a church leader, husband, father and grandfather.
The previous year, he had also founded
the Christian development charity Waymaker – responsible for running food security and education projects in Romania, Armenia and across Africa.
‘You can become defined by your illness because that’s the thing everybody asks about,’ he says. ‘God’s still doing stuff, but conversations can become all about the cancer. That’s quite hard.’
He decided to create an online community, The Big C in Me Live, to support other people who were living with cancer. Members of the group can get together in live video chats and group discussions.
‘It’s great having people that you can talk to,’ he explains. ‘There’s a particular power in connecting with people who have been through cancer, rather than just wellmeaning people who are sympathetic.
‘I think that unless you’ve faced death or the possibility of death, it’s hard to empathise. And equally, when a person who has had cancer says to you, “God’s still good,” it’s not a theoretical thing.’
Yet he also recognises the need to rely on close friends who haven’t necessarily had cancer. Andy has 10 people who have supported and steadfastly prayed for him throughout his chemo and various operations. He refers to this group as his ‘weekly warriors’.
‘A cancer diagnosis can isolate you for many reasons,’ he says. ‘The tendency to pull back is huge, but prayer and community are so important. It was amazing just to have a group of people that would pray for me every week, face to face.
‘My weekly warriors are a safe place for me, where I can be really honest and say when I’m struggling. And when my faith is down, I can borrow theirs, and they remind me to look at the faithfulness of God.’
Nonetheless, Andy still sometimes grapples with questions of suffering.
‘It’s particularly hard when you’re going into an operation and you’re praying, “God, don’t let any of those things go wrong” – and then that’s the very thing that happens,’ he says. ‘I can put up with a lot. I’ve got quite a high pain threshold. I’ll battle through all sorts of things, but I did not want a colostomy.
Andy’s tattoo, which he acquired after his diagnosis, reads ‘Christ in me, the hope of glory’
‘I was rushed in for an emergency bowel operation in the middle of the night. And then, of course, there were various complications. I came out with a colostomy bag, which to this day is
Andy signs copies of his book
probably the thing I find most difficult to deal with from a mental health perspective.’
There have been times when Andy has asked himself: ‘Why me?’ But he realised that if he spent too long doing this, he was going to end up in ‘theological knots’.
He says: ‘It’s easy to think: “Have I done something wrong?” Or you might wonder if God is punishing you or trying to teach you a lesson.’
But then an attitude shift helped him to come to terms with his diagnosis.
‘I ended up thinking: “Why not me? What would make me exceptional enough not to get cancer?”
‘Bad stuff happens to good people. We live in a fallen world. When Adam and Eve sinned, the Earth was cursed. And that’s when sickness, trauma and tragedy entered the world, which is indiscriminate. Instead, I began to think: What now?’
God is able to heal me. But if he doesn’t, he’s still good
When looking at what his future may hold, Andy asserts his ‘absolute faith’ that God can heal today.
‘I can point you to many stories of people with cancer who have been healed physically,’ he says. ‘But I don’t know if that will be my story.’
To explain how he holds the two ideas in tension, he highlights a Bible story where three of God’s followers remain faithful to their beliefs, even in the face of death.
‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are going to get thrown into a furnace if they don’t worship an idol. They say: “Our God is well able to save us. But even if he doesn’t, we’re not going to worship your idol. Even if God doesn’t, we’ll still worship him and him alone.”
‘I feel like I’m in that situation. God is well able to heal me. But if he doesn’t, he’s still good and I’ll still worship him.’
While Andy believes in supernatural healing, he also values the power of medicine, which he describes as ‘a common gift to all mankind’.
He explains: ‘God wants me healthy, and one of the routes to that health can be through medicine. Healing could be miraculous or could be through medicine. I’m not going to be picky. I want the best of medicine and the best of Jesus.’
Andy wants the best of life too and says that he is determined to treasure each day.
‘If we think we’re guaranteed tomorrow, we always say: “Tomorrow I’ll do that.” But now, when I wake up every morning, my eyes are open and I think: “I’m alive.” I live every day as if it’s my last, because it might well be.’
In that spirit, Andy and Hazel enjoy travelling in their motorhome, snatching time away together in between treatments. They are also moving closer to one of their sons and his family to spend more time with them. And Andy has stepped back from church leadership to focus on working for the charity he founded. All the profits from his book are going to a health clinic in Africa.
Andy’s zest for life – whether that’s talking about his family, charity or Christian faith – is clear to see. His combination of gentle humour and realism challenges anyone sleepwalking through life.
‘I want today to count for something,’
he says. ‘All of us live like we’re guaranteed tomorrow. But just to cheer you up,’ he adds, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘in the next year, the odds probably stack towards you and against me. But in the next week, you’re just as likely to die as I am.’
As our interview draws to a close, Andy talks earnestly about the hope that Jesus can bring into people’s lives.
‘The Bible says that Jesus is acquainted with grief, he’s familiar with suffering,’ he says. ‘What’s happening to us isn’t happening to us because God’s picking on us or he’s trying to teach us a lesson. It’s happening because bad things happen to good people, but God is there in the bad times with us.’
l The Big C in Me is published by Autumn Oak Publishing
Hazel and Andy
The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.
Becoming a Christian
There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God
Browsing the Bible
Nigel
Bovey gives chapter
and
verse on each book of the Scriptures
Hebrews
Addressed to Jewish Christian converts, this letter counters teaching that Christians should observe the ceremonies of Judaism. Referencing Old Testament characters and passages, the writer explains that, as the longed-for Messiah, Jesus fulfils and transcends the principles and practices of their former faith.
The opening chapter states the theme: God has spoken to Jewish people through Jesus, his Son. Jesus is ‘the exact representation’ of God (1:3 New International Version) and as such, he is superior to the angels.
Jesus, says the writer, is greater than the revered Moses, the leader who delivered the Israelites from Egyptian captivity to the Promised Land (3:1-6). Jesus is also greater than Moses’ brother, Aaron, the high priest to the people of Israel (5:1-10). The high priest was a mediator between people and God. He would pray to God for his people.
Jesus is a great high priest who sympathises with human weaknesses (4:14–16). Because his priesthood did not end upon his death, Jesus still speaks to God on our behalf and ‘always lives to intercede’ for us (7:25).
Lord Jesus Christ,
I know that I have done things in my life that are wrong and I’m sorry.
Thank you that I can ask you for forgiveness because of the sacrifice you made when you died on the cross.
Please forgive me and help me to live a better life in the future as I learn how to love you and follow your way of living.
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
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The high priest also offered sacrifices to God on behalf of his people, so that they could be forgiven (5:1). As high priest, Jesus ‘sacrificed for their sins once for all’ (7:27). Therefore, he is the ‘mediator of a new covenant’ (9:15).
As well as being the priest, Jesus is also the sacrifice itself.
Christ was ‘sacrificed once to take away the sins of many’ (9:28). God accepts his death as the means of our atonement. Because Jesus died, we can be forgiven and have eternal life – ‘we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all’ (10:10).
We avail ourselves of this salvation not by keeping rules or observing religious rituals, but by putting our faith in the fact that God accepts Christ’s death as the penalty for our sin.
The writer says that even before the regulations of Old Testament law were compiled – the regulations that detractors are saying Christians should keep – faith was the defining basis of a relationship with God. All the patriarchal heroes were men of faith (chapter 11).
With faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus at the heart of their new relationship with God, the letter’s readers are to remain disciplined, endure hardship, honour marriage and do good to others (chapters 12 and 13).
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QUICK QUIZ
1 2 3 4 5 6
Best foot forward
Runners are virtually ready to take on the London Marathon
Feature by Claire Brine
‘The rules are that you have to cover a distance of 26.2 miles, you have to run outside, and you have to complete your course on 26 April,’ says Hannah Kingston, who is part of a group that will be running a virtual marathon which starts and finishes at Staines Salvation Army church.
‘Some of us are planning to run laps around the church to cover the full marathon distance, but there will also be people completing fewer laps as they run a half marathon, 10K or 5K. And there’s going to be a fun run for the kids as well.’
As she prepares to take on her first marathon – in which her group are fundraising for The Salvation Army – Hannah feels a mixture of excitement and apprehension.
Red, orange, yellow, green and blue are five colours of the rainbow. What are the other two?
Who stars as mum Polly in the new film The Magic Faraway Tree?
Who played Elaine Benes in the 1990s American comedy series Seinfeld?
The Hyundai car company is based in which country?
Who wrote the sci-fi novel Project Hail Mary, recently made into a film starring Ryan Gosling?
‘Into the Unknown’ is a song from which animated film? ANSWERS
‘I’m most nervous about having the feeling of wanting to give up,’ she says. ‘But there is no way I am giving up. For me, it’s all about running a race that I’m happy with.’
During her training runs along the Thames, Hannah has found that the uninterrupted time and space have been helpful in bringing her closer to God.
‘I don’t like to run listening to music,’ she says. ‘I enjoy being able to switch off from distractions. Running outside, among nature, connects me with God.’
She’s not alone in feeling that way. Thousands of years ago, a poet felt his faith come to life when he saw that ‘the Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord’, prompting him to write: ‘Our heart shall rejoice in him’ (Psalm 33:5 and 21 King James Bible
To grasp the depth of God’s love for us – and to see it with our own eyes – we need look no further than the evidence of the natural world around us. Immersing ourselves in the peace of God’s presence is always a step worth taking.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
South Korea.
Andy Weir.
Hannah Kingston
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2. Painstaking (7)
Conceited (4)
Esteem (6)
Predict (8)
Compact (5) 7. Male constable (9)
Wavered (9) 12. Handcuffed (8)
Intimidate (7)
Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round
Support
Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these words associated with the London Marathon
Subtract (6)
Cut off (5)
Musical instrument (4)
1. Uncover. 5. Fed up. 7. Parting. 8. Ranch. 10. Lift. 11. Proceeds. 13. Cellar. 14. Escort. 17. Mistaken. 19. Melt. 21. Novel.
Upbraid. 23. Bored. 24. Thereby. DOWN: 2. Careful. 3. Vain. 4. Regard. 5. Forecast. 6. Dense. 7. Policeman. 9. Hesitated. 12. Manacled. 15. Overawe. 16. Deduct. 18. Sever. 20. Oboe. HONEYCOMB 1. Sponge. 2. Invert. 3. Branch. 4. Fracas. 5. Whoosh. 6. Uphold.
Type of cake
Fish pie with cheddar mash
2tbsp butter
1tbsp olive oil
1 medium leek, thinly sliced
1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1tbsp plain flour
300ml vegetable stock
300ml whole milk
1tbsp wholegrain mustard
Small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Small bunch chives, chopped
1tbsp capers
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g MSC-certified haddock fillets, cut into chunks
200g MSC-certified salmon, cut into chunks
200g cold water prawns, pre-cooked and peeled
For the cheddar mash topping
800g potatoes, peeled and chopped
40g butter
100ml milk
120g mature cheddar, grated
Heat the butter and oil in a pan over a medium heat, then add the leek and fennel and cook for 8-10 minutes, until softened. Add the bay leaf and flour, stirring to coat the vegetables. Gradually pour in the stock, then the milk, stirring to avoid lumps. Simmer, until thickened.
Stir in the mustard, parsley, chives, capers and a pinch of nutmeg. Season with the salt and pepper. Fold in the haddock, salmon and prawns, then spoon into an ovenproof dish.
To make the topping, boil the potatoes in a pan of water, until soft. Drain well, then mash with the butter, milk and cheddar. Season well.
Spoon the mash over the filling and gently smooth with a fork. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Garnish with extra chives and a pinch of salt, to serve.
Nehemiah 8:10 (New International Version)