War Cry 5 February 2022

Author uncovers cathedrals’ firm foundations

WAR CRY

5 February 2022 50p

Keeping up appearances Becky assumes some false identities in BBC One drama

Medallist tells his Winter Olympic story

From the editor’s desk

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.

SOMETIMES in the UK, snow and ice can mean travel disruption, school closures and the hope that the car’s antifreeze was topped up at the last service. While children may love the snowball fights and snowman building, the treacherous conditions can force older generations into self-isolation that has nothing to do with Covid-19.

However, for the competitors at this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, snow and ice mean having the opportunity to take part in their chosen sports, together with the pressures that come with competing at the highest level.

Joel Fearon knows exactly what that is like. He took part in the past two Winter Games as part of the GB bobsleigh team, hurtling down ice tracks at speeds around 80mph.

‘You feel like you’re going at warp speed,’ says Joel in an interview in this week’s War Cry. ‘You can’t see what’s going on, but only hear this noise which gets faster and faster and more violent. The adrenaline is absolutely wild.’

As well as competing in the bobsleigh, Joel is a successful track sprinter. He has clocked a sub-10 second time for the 100m, making him one of Britain’s fastest athletes. Joel tells us how he believes that his sporting abilities come from God. ‘Everything stems from him, any success I have in sport or out of sport,’ he says. ‘It all stems from what he has given me – the opportunities, the mindset, all the things that he’s instilled in me. He represents a second chance and opportunity in life.’

Not all of us will be Olympic competitors. But God gives everybody abilities to enable them to have a fulfilling life. And if we’ve not used those abilities in the right way, he also gives us the chance to start our lives again by following ad the War C e re ry his guidance. It’s an opportunity that’s too u’v good to miss.

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.

WAR CRY Issue No 7562

When yo

Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN

CONTENTS

Tel: 0845 634 0101 Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org Founder: William Booth General: Brian Peddle Territorial Commander: Commissioner Anthony Cotterill Editor-in-Chief: Major Mal Davies

FEATURES 3

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Record royal rule

The Queen reaches 70 years on the throne 6

Euro visions

Author explores the continent’s cathedrals

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Antisocial media

BBC drama revolves around an online obsession

Published weekly by The Salvation Army © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226 The Salvation Army Trust is a registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399.

Printed by CKN Print, Northampton, on sustainably sourced paper

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Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Ivan Radford Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku Staff Writer: Emily Bright Staff Writer: Claire Brine Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk Graphic Designer: Rodney Kingston Graphic Designer: Mark Knight

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‘Bobsleigh has formed and created my life’

Olympian on competing in the Winter Games REGULARS 4

War Cry World

12 Team Talk 13 Now, There’s a Thought!

14 Puzzles 15 War Cry Kitchen Front-page picture: BBC/MAM TOR PRODUCTIONS/LUKE VARLEY

Becky investigates what happened to Instagrammer Chloe Fairbourne

Picture perfect?

BBC/MAM TOR PRODUCTIONS/YORK TILLYER

Chloe’s seemingly perfect life ends in tragedy

A social media user develops obsessive behaviour TV preview by Emily Bright

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CROLLING through the Instagram account of a stranger has led Becky Green (Erin Doherty) into an obsessive interest that could ruin her life.

In the six-part BBC One thriller Chloe, which begins tomorrow (Sunday 6 February), Becky avidly follows the seemingly idyllic lifestyle of Chloe Fairbourne (Poppy Gilbert) as an escape from the limits of her own life: careering from temp job to temp job and living at home in Bristol to care for her mum, who has early-onset dementia.

However, one morning, Becky scrolls through Instagram and is horrified to discover that Chloe has suddenly died. She is devastated.

Then, out of the blue, she receives a phone call from the police. They’re trying to piece together Chloe’s last hours and have discovered that she had called Becky twice in the early hours of the morning, just before she died.

Becky checks her phone and sees the missed calls from an unknown number,

which she’d ignored. Haunted by guilt for not answering the phone, she sets out to discover what happened to Chloe.

She begins by stalking the social media posts of Chloe’s best friend, Livia (Pippa Bennett-Warner).

In the past, Becky has masqueraded as different people, blagging her way into an art gallery viewing under the name of her boss’s wife and giving false names to men she met on nights out. She decides to use this tactic to break into Chloe’s close-knit circle of friends. Becky hides her true identity in each encounter, reinventing herself as an outgoing and successful art marketer called Sasha to find out the truth of what happened to Chloe.

Pretending to be this high-achieving socialite, she craves a more fulfilling life than the one she feels she has. But her obsession with Chloe and the complex web of lies she is weaving may lead to her undoing.

It can be easy for anyone to become obsessed with someone or something,

Becky craves a more fulfilling life

whether a celebrity on social media, materialism, wealth, relationships or even a sports team. While many of these things can bring short-term joy, none of them provide lasting fulfilment in their own right.

However, one thing has provided fullness of life and a sustained joy to millions of people around the world.

Something seemed to click when, 2,000 years ago, a man named Jesus called out to a ragtag bunch of people: ‘Follow me’ (Matthew 4:19 English Standard Version).

They did, and their lives were changed for ever as, through him, they experienced the unconditional love of God. Others began following Jesus, and they devoted their days to telling people about the fullness of life that anyone could experience with God on Earth and into eternity. The world has not been the same since.

Jesus revealed that we never have to pretend to be someone else with God, who knows us completely and accepts us.

His message about God’s amazing love for us means that we all can have a fresh start in life. Now, that’s someone worth following.

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IN an interview to discuss his latest film, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Denzel Washington opened up to the i newspaper about the importance of faith in his life.

According to the article, the actor – who is a ‘devout Christian’ – was raised in a churchgoing family, his father being a Pentecostal minister.

Speaking about his upbringing, Denzel explained: ‘When I was a child, I hated church. I didn’t want to be there. It was a duty. I didn’t want anything to do with God – it meant I had to sit in a room all day and listen to my father!’

After his parents divorced when he was 14, Denzel was sent by his mother to a military academy, to ‘stop him from running round with the wrong crowd’. He began to develop a faith which, the article said, ‘has kept him grounded through four decades in Hollywood’.

Denzel said: ‘I am always trying to find a spiritual message in the journey of almost every character I play.’

The article concluded by quoting Denzel’s understanding of success in his career: ‘Success is to do with attitude, opportunity and prayer.’

Do you have a Royal support for street church story to share?

THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have shown their support for Church on the Street, a charity founded by a former drug dealer turned church leader, reports the BBC. During the coronavirus pandemic, Pastor Mick Fleming has ramped up his work of warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk helping people in need. The Church on the Street centre in Burnley serves people experiencing homelessness, grief and drug addiction. It offers mental health support, a food bank and free clothes. @TheWarCryUK Prince William had watched a BBC programme about Church on the Street and wanted to visit Pastor Mick to offer support and find out more about the work. The royal TheWarCryUK couple spoke to volunteers, staff and people who are being helped by the charity.

Pastor Mick said it was a day of hope after he had witnessed so much suffering throughout the pandemic. salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry When the War Cry spoke to the pastor last year, he talked about his past as a criminal, alcoholic, drug addict and dealer. His life changed when, at a recovery meeting, he met Christians, who had ‘something different’ about them. While he has helped people with material needs, such as food and clothing, he described his work as being about ‘real salvation’. He said: ‘We meet people wherever they’re at and pull them out of the situation STORIES about homelessness and the environment were they’re trapped in… People are coming to faith, they’re the winners of this year’s film fund competition The Pitch. getting free, their lives are getting changed.’

The annual prizes, awarded to emerging film-makers who have ideas for stories based on the Bible, were announced during a weekend course in the Lake District, where the finalists developed their initial ideas with the help of professionals and pitched their final versions to a panel of judges.

The winner of the comedy category was Denise Deegan from Dublin, whose film story idea focused on a young girl who has been given the role of an innkeeper in a Nativity play but who finds it hard to refuse entry to Mary and Joseph – a turn of events influenced by the girl’s own circumstances.

Silva Kuusniemi from Helsinki won the drama category with a story about former CEOs whose disregard for the planet has resulted in their having to live wild in forests. Her story took its lead from a line in the Bible, which talks of how the King of Babylon was ‘driven from among men and ate grass like an ox’ (Daniel 4:33 English Standard Version).

The winners receive money and the opportunity to work with a production team to turn their stories into films.

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Bible stories make movie magic

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The royal couple meet Pastor Mick and those helped by the charity

The Queen on a walkabout during her Golden Jubilee in 2002

tWwxcxz Exhibition reflects lockdown times

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PETERBOROUGH Cathedral is displaying about 300 works of art created during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

The Made in Lockdown exhibition features a selection of paintings, sculptures, drawings and collages inspired by NHS workers, the natural world and the sense of isolation caused by lockdowns.

Among them is a sculpture of a hare on a scooter, called Hairy, Harey Times – Mad March 2020. Viv Scone created the piece as a nod to ‘the times being out of joint’ and to how wildlife was behaving badly, such as the mountain goats that ran riot in the town of Llandudno.

Virtual Hugs by Sally Malloy, a piece of needle felting, highlights the social media apps that have kept her in contact with her family and friends.

The exhibition also includes a blanket knitted by Vivien Stevenette while she was nursing her husband, who was terminally ill during the first lockdown.

Milestone for the monarchy COURTESY OF PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL

The Queen reaches a unique landmark this weekend Feature by Andrew Stone

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OMORROW (Sunday 6 February) the Queen will become the first British monarch to have reigned for 70 years. During those seven decades, she has been served by 14 prime ministers, seen the coins that bear her image change from shillings and crowns to decimal currency, watched a man walk on the moon and witnessed so much of life shift online.

For many people, the Queen’s constant, dependable presence has been a source of comfort and stability during those years of rapid change. That is one reason why an extended bank holiday weekend is planned in June to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.

However, there will be no great celebrations this weekend, as Austin Burn, who has worked directly for the royal family for many years and currently works for the Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle, explains to the War Cry. ‘It will be a very private day for the Queen because it is the anniversary of the day her father died,’ he says. ‘That’s why the celebrations will be later on in the year. When anyone loses a parent, it’s a massive shock, but to be reminded every year is pretty tough.’

Losing a loved one is heartbreaking for anyone, whoever they may be.

However, the Queen can draw comfort and strength from her faith.

‘The Queen has always been open about her Christian faith,’ says Austin. ‘It is very strong.’

Christianity teaches that people who have accepted God’s love are promised an everlasting life with him after their time on Earth is over. As one of the early followers of Jesus put it: ‘The gift of God is eternal life’ (Romans 6:23 New International Version).

Anybody can accept this gift and enjoy the certainty of knowing that, for them, death is not the end. They just have to ask God to forgive them for the things in their past that they have done wrong and then to follow his leading in their life.

Then, every day, they will know the dependable, constant and living presence of God and his promise of a future that never ends.

Losing a loved one is heartbreaking

‘Hairy, Harey Times’ by Viv Scone

‘Virtual Hugs’ by Sally Malloy

5 February 2022 • WAR CRY • 5

Believe it awe not Author SIMON JENKINS considers how Europe’s spectacular cathedrals attract millions of visitors, whether or not they have a faith Interview by Philip Halcrow

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AVING tracked down tracery, checked out chancels and ambulated round ambulatories in cities such as Chartres, Seville and Wells to compile his latest book, Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals, Simon Jenkins tells me that he has come to a conclusion about these buildings: ‘They are quite simply the most wonderful thing that Europe has ever done.’

The author, newspaper columnist and former chairman of the National Trust is well versed in the experience of visiting places of worship – particularly having been introduced to their joys by a poet renowned for his campaigns to save historic buildings.

‘I began by working with John Betjeman on conservation,’ says Simon.

‘I used to drive him round churches in the London area and beyond, and he taught me to love churches. His approach to a church, his wonder in churches, inspired me to appreciate them – admittedly as architecture rather than through a faith, but that was good enough for me. From that love, I went on

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to write books about British churches and cathedrals.’

The writer of England’s Thousand Best Churches and England’s Cathedrals notes that there are differences between the two types of building.

‘A church is an expression of its community and almost a history museum of its community,’ he says.

‘Cathedrals do have a relationship with their community – in their case, usually a city – but when approaching a cathedral, you start with sheer awe at the size of the place: the spectacle, the grandeur and the aspiration of the people who built it in wanting to build the biggest thing on Earth. These buildings are the result of an extraordinary fusion of craftsmanship, metalwork and stained-glass painting.’

To write the book, Simon experienced extraordinary buildings in the course of what became ‘a desperate trek as lockdown loomed’ – but he says he ‘made it, and got from St Basil’s in Moscow to Coimbra in Portugal and south to Sicily’.

Simon Jenkins In his visits to cathedrals, he has encountered all kinds of styles. As well as recognising what the Romanesque has done for us at Durham and Norwich, he has marvelled at the heights – literal and metaphorical – to which gothic style took architecture at places such as Amiens in France.

‘The most surprising thing for me was how my own taste changed as I went round the cathedrals,’ he says. ‘I’d originally found Romanesque cathedrals very moving, but Spanish Gothic cathedrals rather vulgar.

I wasn’t terribly keen on baroque. But then I found that the more I studied them, the

People sense the presence of great beauty

Barcelona’s Sagrada Família

more my attitudes changed. I came to regard the gothic in all its manifestations as by far the most uplifting of styles, which rightly dominated Europe for two or three hundred years and which, in my view, has never been beaten.’

He talks about the impression that one building – ‘not yet a cathedral, though I slipped it into the book’ – had on him.

‘A very moving moment was to go to the Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí’s church in Barcelona, which is the only modern church in the book, and to discover that, while being wholly modern in style, it is in every sense gothic in spirit, with its concept of uplift.’

As well as the questions of stonework, carvings and stained glass, Simon was considering a less tangible question.

‘One thing that interested me is why cathedrals today are so popular – including as places of worship – while churches are losing their appeal quite fast,’ he says. ‘Sociologists say that a cathedral is somewhere where you can just be yourself.

‘You can sit and contemplate, listen to music and admire beauty. In a museum you keep moving, but in a church you can be still and wonder at the place.

‘It’s one of the few places where people sense the presence of great beauty without being interrupted. Sitting in a cathedral is one of the most moving things you can do.

‘Very few people are active, professing Christians and yet millions go to cathedrals. Almost by definition, that’s because they find something in a cathedral that answers some need in them, which is not just a matter of

The Sagrada Família is modern but ‘gothic in spirit’ prayer or worship.’

Simon is among those who visit cathedrals without having a religious conviction, but he finds plenty in them to appreciate.

He says: ‘They are places of historical, political and art-historical significance.

The fascinating thing for me is that cathedrals – particularly British cathedrals – have a wonderful imprint of evolution of style. They’re from the 12th century through to the 16th century, which gives them much more personality than a building of one period.’

Cathedrals have lasted through the centuries while many other buildings have gone.

‘To me, they’re not buildings of faith, but I can see that they are buildings of other people’s faith,’ says Simon.

‘Castles of the same period are now mostly ruins. Palaces often get pulled down or blown up. But almost all the great cathedrals of Europe that were built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries are still there. And I think they are still there because they mean an awful lot to an awful lot of people.’ l Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals is published by Viking

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LIBRARY PICTURE

As the Beijing Winter Olympics begin, 2014 medallist JOEL FEARON talks about his experiences of being a member of GB’s bobsleigh teams in Sochi and Pyeongchang and reflects on what has driven him to succeed Interview by Emily Bright

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Joel Fearon

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ACING down the track in a metal tube as the freezing winds howl around them, bobsleighers reach speeds of more than 80mph. The violent vibrations of the ice slamming against the zerosuspension bobsleigh means they can barely keep their eyes open in the last stretch.

‘You feel like you’re going at warp speed,’ explains Joel Fearon, a member of Great Britain’s bobsleigh teams at two Olympics.

‘You can’t see what’s going on, but only hear this noise which gets faster and faster and more violent. The adrenaline is absolutely wild.’

Joel is not competing at this year’s Games, but will understand the pressures the teams in Beijing are feeling. He clinched a bronze medal as part of the four-man bobsleigh team that competed at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

He also took part in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in the two-man and four-man bobsleigh categories.

His hopes for Great Britain’s bobsleigh teams at this Winter Olympics are both sporting and practical.

‘We just need any sled team to get a medal, because we need to get funding back in the programme,’ he explains. ‘Funding changed my life in terms of bobsleigh. It helped me become a professional athlete and win a bronze medal.

‘I was young when I came up to

COURTESY OF JOEL FEARON

Joel with Brad Hall competing at the 2018 Olympics

Loughborough to do sport, and I was struggling. I was on benefits, didn’t really have anything at all, and bobsleigh gave me a worth and value that I didn’t necessarily feel like I had growing up.

‘I carried on working as hard as I could – summer, winter, back-to-back seasons – for nine years of my life, to do the very best with what I was given.

It’s important to me that funding is still available for the younger athletes coming through.’

Joel is down-to-earth and congenial when talking to me about bobsleigh. He enjoys a laugh and a joke, but it’s clear that he takes his sport seriously.

‘Over the years, bobsleigh has really formed and created my life,’ he says. ‘It gave me such a platform and a different edge. It made me an all-round more

My first Winter Olympics was surreal

resilient human being, as I was pushed far out of my comfort.’

His interest in bobsleigh began in 2011, when he was training as a track and field athlete. After his coach suggested that the winter sport would be a natural fit for him, Joel decided to give it a go. In 2013, he won silver as part of a four-man team at the Bobsleigh World Cup at Lake Placid, just 0.07 seconds behind the gold medallists. A year later, he was competing in Sochi.

‘My first Winter Olympics was surreal. They flew us in from our holding camp in Germany a couple of days before the fourman bobsleigh, which is the last event, so we avoided the hype and media in the Olympic village.

I didn’t know what a big deal it was until I came home and got to the airport, where all these British fans were cheering.’

By 2016, he had come fourth at a world championship in Igls, Austria, while competing in the two-man bobsleigh, the best result for the GB team in that category 50 years. ‘That was a massive thing for us,’ Joel remembers. In the same year on the running track, he clocked a sub10 second time for the 100m, making him one

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Joel Fearon ran the 100m in 9.96 seconds at the England Athletics Championships in 2016

5 February 2022 • WAR CRY • 9

REUTERS/ALAMY

From page 9 of the fastest athletes in Britain.

‘We had that breakthrough in the two-man bobsleigh, and then a few months later, I made massive steps in my athletics career, which I’d been chipping away at over the years,’ he says. ‘Those achievements gave me a huge sense of relief. Up until that point, I wasn’t sure how good I was. I was constantly pushing and second-guessing myself. But then I reached a moment when I was like: “You’re a proper athlete now.”’

But, as Joel can testify, competing in international events can be unpredictable, with highs and lows occurring regardless of how hard the athletes train.

‘My second Winter Olympics in 2018 was tougher. We had a big build-up, because we had got the medal a couple of years before. I had a lot more of a spotlight on me, as at that point I was the only member of the previous Olympic team still competing.

‘Also, a close friend of mine, Bruce Tasker, who made the breakthrough into bobsleigh with me, had a stroke a month before the Olympics, after a really bad bobsleigh crash. We were planning to do well at the Games, and that got taken away from him and he wasn’t able to compete. He’d been there for me my whole career, and then everything changed.’

Pyeongchang 2018 coincided with an unexpected dip in form for Great Britain’s

bobsleigh teams.

‘The previous year, we won medals all over the world stage. Both bobsleds were performing at the top five in the world.

Then in both categories, we plummeted down the Olympic leaderboard. That was a long plane ride home.’

But, Joel says, being part of a tight-knit team helped.

‘It’s the best thing about bobsleigh,’ he maintains. ‘You’re standing at the top of the mountain and you’re all a bit scared.

But you’re doing it for each other and you’re all in it together.

‘You have to have so much trust in your driver and give him the freedom to explore his driving as much as possible. You need to give crew members around you the confidence that we’re all right.

Then, once you reach the bottom, you celebrate what you’ve done together, for each other.’

Joel admits that dangers and difficulties are also part and parcel of the sport.

‘Bobsleigh is a constant challenge. It takes courage, it’s cold and you always have to persevere.’

What helps Joel through the toughest times is his relationship with God. ‘If I’m not talking to God, ©

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Bobsleigh is a constant challenge.

It takes courage

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it is a very long journey,’ he says. ‘As it’s a team sport, you’ve got to deal with people and be able to handle yourself right.

There are also a lot of behind-the-scenes challenges.

‘You’ve got to put your best foot forward, regardless of your mental state or physical state. Bobsleigh has brought me closer to God, because it has always been

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pushing boundaries of some sort.’

Joel fields my questions with earnestness and enthusiasm, as he tells me how he connects with God. ‘I use the Bible and my devotional books as a guiding tool, which I will always refer back to throughout the day for situations where I wonder how I’m going to react.

‘Every morning, if I can, I’ll wake up early and read something to give me a good perspective on the day and to help me direct my moral compass.’

Another important element of his faith is prayer. Joel reveals that before competing in a bobsleigh, he prays ‘for my team to be confident, to be secure, and for me to be able to rejoice in God, whatever happens, and see the silver lining if it’s not a good result.

‘I want to be able to see God’s work in everything that’s going on in my life, because it’s not always that easy.’

Coming from a non-Christian family, Joel began believing in God after a vivid couple of dreams.

He recalls: ‘In one dream, I felt God say: “Didn’t I tell you to follow me?” I woke and jumped up, like: “Whoa, who said that?”

‘Afterwards, I was a bit scared and felt pressure to do everything right. I felt like I had all this baggage and wondered if

I’d fit into church life. Then, maybe a week later, I had another dream, where God said: “I didn’t tell you to change who you were. Just follow me.” That gave me peace to be comfortable with who I am. In that moment, everything changed.’

Now, in all he does, Joel gives the glory to God. ‘Everything stems from him, any success I have in sport or out of sport,’ he says. ‘It all stems from what he has given me – the opportunities, the mindset, all the things that he’s instilled in me.

He represents a second chance and opportunity in life.’

Just as Joel feels God has given him a second chance in life, he’s keen to give that to others too. He often visits schools in deprived areas, encouraging children and telling them that they can succeed in life. He supports Speedworks Academy, an organisation that provides specialist sports training for young people.

‘The Speedworks Academy is close to my heart,’ he explains. ‘I want to help as many young people as possible. I want them to succeed and have their lives changed by sport like mine was.

‘And for kids that are going to watch the Winter Olympics, I just want to bring something a little bit closer to home for them through school visits. They can talk with me and understand I’m just a person with a dream like them, and that they can achieve what they want to achieve.

‘Sport was my way, but it’s not the only way. I’ve got four beautiful kids and my wife, and I’ve got all the things around me that make me happy.

I want everyone to have that life.’

In that moment, everything changed

Joel with the other members of his four-man bobsleigh crew at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Nick Gleeson, Brad Hall and Greg Cackett

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Prayerlink YOUR prayers are requested for Wyn, that she will receive the help she needs for her throat problem; for Ray, that he remains well; and for Dawn, who has a bad shoulder.

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, 101 Newington Causeway, Lon­don SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

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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

Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit.

Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Amen

talk ‘ ’ Team talk TEAM TALK Podcast talks about connection

Claire Brine gives her take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters

JOURNALIST Cole Moreton has a way of telling stories that compels me to listen. I’ve been given a sneak preview of his new podcast Can We Talk? – which will be launched next Tuesday (8 February) – and in the first episode, he reflects on a conversation he had in 2016 with Hollywood superstar Scarlett Johansson.

In the interview that was scheduled to last 15 minutes (but turned into hours), Cole and Scarlett discussed her career, life with her young daughter and what it was like being a twin. Gradually, Cole remembers, the conversation went a little deeper as the actress began to share her thoughts on being alone. She explained that it was something she had little experience of.

As the interview concluded, Scarlett turned to Cole and said: ‘That was lovely.’ Cole – who felt that they had ‘shared a few brief moments of connection, talking about life’ – hoped she meant it. He hoped that, for an hour or two, Scarlett felt comfortable chatting to a stranger who was happy to listen.

In later podcast episodes, during which he reflects on his encounters with the Queen, Tiger Woods and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Cole continues to focus on humankind’s longing for connection. ‘The need to look someone in the eye and feel understood, if only for a moment – it’s worth chasing after,’ Cole says. ‘It’s worth stopping for when you find it.’

In our fast-paced, social media world – which gives us the opportunity to make ‘friends’, but leaves many of us feeling disconnected – meaningful conversations are more important than ever. When we are trying to make sense of life, talking about it can help. When we listen to someone else sharing their thoughts with us, we can learn and develop compassion.

While I recognise the comfort that can be found in human conversation, I also value the fact that my faith encourages me to talk to God. When friends don’t get what I’m going through, he does. I feel safe knowing I can tell him things that I can’t say to anyone else.

Though my communication with God may ebb and flow, I’m reassured by his promise that at any time and any place, we can talk.

Meaningful conversations are important

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War Cry 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN

Basic reading about Christianity Information about The Salvation Army

Looking for help?

Contact details of a Salvation Army minister Name Address Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

Or email your details and request to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk 12 • WAR CRY • 5 February 2022

NOW, THERE’S A THOUGHT!

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QUICK QUIZ 1

2

In which European country are the regions of Catalonia and Andalusia?

What was the title of the 2019 film in which Saoirse Ronan starred as Jo, one of the four March sisters?

A 3

4

5

6

What type of cells are lymphocytes, which function as part of the human immune system?

In which sport do England and Scotland contest the Calcutta Cup? Who wrote the murder-mystery novel The Twyford Code?

The Quarrymen eventually evolved into which 1960s band?

ANSWERS

by Jim Burns

We need to avoid heading in the wrong direction H

OW good are you at following directions? If my satnav could talk (beyond giving instructions), it would say that I often disregard its advice and go my own way. When that happens, the satnav then shows that it is recalculating the route, and it will tell me to ‘turn around when safe to do so’.

If that wasn’t bad enough, for some reason, when motorway signs tell me that the road ahead is closed, I assume that it will be open by the time I get there, only to find that I’m stuck in a traffic jam for an hour!

How often do we act in the same manner in our lives? We choose to go our own way, only to find that it leads to a dead end.

Or we ignore sound advice from a friend, relative or mentor, and eventually have to admit that the way they recommended was the best option?

It was Jesus, God’s Son, who said: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me’ (John 14:6 Good News Bible). He was asserting that the example he set on how to live was the right way. He also meant that if we want to find a path to God, we have to go through him.

To reach God, we must believe that he sent Jesus to pay the price for our wrong turns. When we do, God offers to change our hearts, so that it is easier to follow his directions for living.

We can find those directions in the Bible, also known as the word of God. Just like a satnav, even if we do go down the wrong track, God can help us to get back on the right one.

The choice is ours. Will we go God’s way or our own?

I often disregard my satnav’s advice

5 February 2022 • WAR CRY • 13

1. Spain. 2. Little Women. 3. White blood cells.

4. Rugby Union. 5. Janice Hallett. 6. The Beatles.

PUZZLES Quick CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

ACROSS 1. Woody plant (5) 4. Amidst (5) 8. Unusual (3) 9. Farewell (5) 10. Appetising (5) 11. Garland (3) 12. Make payments (5) 13. Malice (7) 16. Character (6) 19. Meritorious (6) 23. Rumbling noise (7) 26. Eagle’s nest (5) 28. Beam (3) 29. Also-ran (5) 30. Loitered (5) 31. Transgression (3) 32. Rendezvous (5) 33. Holy (5) DOWN 2. Uplift (5) 3. Large rock (7) 4. Respect (6) 5. Frequently (5) 6. Zest (5) 7. Purchaser (5) 9. Fire-raising (5)

14. Vehicle (3) 15. Exclamation of disgust (3) 17. Cinders (3) 18. Vase (3) 20. Complying (7)

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

1 8 2 6 5 7 5 8

5 8

1 2 6 8 9 1 5 9 6 8

4 5

6 2

7 3 1 21. Concede (5) 22. Apprehend (6) 23. Claw (5) 24. Disconcert (5) 25. Filthy (5) 27. Angered (5)

WORDSEARCH

1 8 7 2 3 9 4 5 6 2 9 6 1 5 4 3 8 7 Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on 4 5radio3 broadcasting 6 8 7 terms 9 2 1 the grid to find these 6 7 5 8 9 2 1 4 3 J B M N L I T9J B O Z6P 7 B 2 4 H8S W 5 B1 J 3 K T R O E C B S X Z I MC Z I X J K 4 K7K 6F Z8M 9P 5 L Y X I V H Y3C 1I Z2U G U F V D P W G5S X P A7 Z 1 Z 4 2 L9Q G 3 B6Q 8 L X Y U R H GWL F Y T R P D Y Q R 6 C4H 7 Q L W T E L J8F G A V2M 1I N5B 3J 9 N O I S S I M7S N T L4M 5 C W2 L 6 A 8 3 A1R 9

M O HONEYC B Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number

F R H V T Q D H I M WN D I N Q AW B G I R

1. Writer of a book 2. Fully grown 3. Talks loudly 4. Story of doubtful truth 5. In need of food 6. Attractiveness

ANSWERS 1 2 4 6 9 3 5 8 7

8 9 5 7 4 1 2 6 3

7 6 3 5 8 2 9 4 1

2 1 6 8 5 4 3 7 9

3 5 8 9 1 7 6 2 4

9 4 7 2 3 6 8 1 5

4 3 9 1 6 8 7 5 2

7 3 1 2

5

5 8 2 4 7 9 1 3 6

6 7 1 3 2 5 4 9 8

9 6 8

HONEYCOMB 1. Author. 2. Mature. 3. Shouts. 4. Rumour.

5. Hungry. 6. Beauty.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1. Shrub. 4. Among. 8. Odd. 9. Adieu.

10. Tasty. 11. Lei. 12. Spend. 13. Rancour. 16. Nature.

19. Worthy. 23. Thunder. 26. Eyrie. 28. Ray. 29. Loser. 30. Idled. 31. Sin. 32. Tryst. 33. Godly.

DOWN: 2. Raise. 3. Boulder. 4. Admire. 5. Often.

6. Gusto. 7. Buyer. 9. Arson. 14. Car. 15. Ugh. 17. Ash. 18. Urn. 20. Obeying. 21. Yield.

22. Arrest. 23. Talon. 24. Upset. 25. Dirty. 27. Riled.

14 • WAR CRY • 5 February 2022

4 5 6

Z L K V H F S N N A E

G D I D R O C E L C E

E G N E T Q E F R G O V J O TW G T Z G E J

T U S E Z U C O A Y R

E P N E L I K R Q Q K

L B D D V A E K K X S

G R E B B V Y O E N I

N V K A O B P N J Q T

I A D C C H T I R Q O

J N L K E N X E J T P

PW O A S P OQ K G SW T G N O WF P C Z H

S S B A R U Z H G K E

ANALOGUE

LIVE

BANDWIDTH

NETWORK

COVERAGE

PHONE-IN

DISC JOCKEY

PLAYLIST

FEEDBACK

PRESENTER

FREQUENCY

STUDIO

JINGLE

TRANSMISSION

MN U J D R T I E D OW EM P T T N D Y F J

Cod with roasted winter veggies Ingredients

Method

1tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.

2tsp runny honey

In a small bowl, mix together the oil, honey and lemon zest and juice. Brush all the vegetables with a little of the mixture, then place on a heavy baking tray, sprinkling the rosemary on top.

1 lemon, grated zest and juice 300g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks 1 large sweet potato (300g), peeled and cut into chunks 1 large carrot (150g), cut into chunks

Cook in the oven for 45 minutes, until beginning to char.

Add the pieces of cod to the tray and return to the oven for 10-12 minutes.

Serve with a green side salad and lemon wedges, if desired.

1 rosemary sprig, chopped 2 chunky pieces skinless cod fillet (150g each)

SERVES

2

Wholemeal fruit bars Ingredients 200ml water 175g raisins 50g sugar 100g vegetable oil spread 1tsp mixed spice 350g wholemeal plain flour 50g chopped walnuts 50g chopped dates

Method Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/ Gas Mark 4.

Lightly grease a 19cm x 28cm baking tray and set aside.

Fill a medium pan with the water, then add the raisins, sugar, spread and mixed spice. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.

In a bowl, combine the flour, walnuts and dates, then stir them into the raisin mixture. Spoon the batter on to the prepared tray and smooth out to 1.5cm thickness. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Immediately after removing from the oven, divide into 25 bars. Allow to cool before eating.

MAKES

25

Recipes reprinted, with permission, from the Diabetes UK website diabetes.org.uk

5 February 2022 • WAR CRY • 15

You direct me on the path that leads to a beautiful life Psalm 16:11 (The Voice)

WAR CRY