Most people in the UK will recognise the title as an extract from a speech by Winston Churchill to Parliament on 21st August 1940. Hitler had planned to invade Britain and air supremacy was vital to his plan. At the time of Churchill's speech the situation was probably at its hottest. The Battle of Britain which had begun on 10th July was to last to the end of October and the fight was only won at considerable cost. The courage and commitment shown by British fighter pilots is legendary. If you wish to read an objective an detailed account click here.
The recent anniversary commemoration of the start of the Battle of Britain caused me to reflect on how often in Scripture we find that it is the one person or the few that have saved so many. These include such people as the young David, Gideon, Samson (Judges 14-16), and the courageous three. In each of these account the odds against them were enormous but they placed their faith in God and committed themselves to the task.
Inspired by such accounts, Christians have arisen in the past to undertake extraordinary mission activity, showing equal courage and commitment. I think of William Carey a founder of the Baptist Missionary Society who famously spoke of "expecting great things from God and attempting great things for God". I think of CT Studd who stated that “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him. I think of Jim Elliot, a martyred missionary wrote in his journal, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
The recent anniversary commemoration of the start of the Battle of Britain caused me to reflect on how often in Scripture we find that it is the one person or the few that have saved so many. These include such people as the young David, Gideon, Samson (Judges 14-16), and the courageous three. In each of these account the odds against them were enormous but they placed their faith in God and committed themselves to the task.
Inspired by such accounts, Christians have arisen in the past to undertake extraordinary mission activity, showing equal courage and commitment. I think of William Carey a founder of the Baptist Missionary Society who famously spoke of "expecting great things from God and attempting great things for God". I think of CT Studd who stated that “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him. I think of Jim Elliot, a martyred missionary wrote in his journal, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
I count it a privilege that my Sunday School gave annual awards of the biographies of pioneer missionaries who were ordinary people who did extraordinary things because of their faith, courage and commitment. For me this was what it meant and still means to be a Christian, and I have no desire to be a chocolate soldier. While you may well identify yourself with such sentiments, there are far too many Christians in the western world for whom their faith seems little more than a hobby. More than once in recent weeks I have heard and read of Christian leaders lamenting over church situations afflicted by argument and division brought about by petty mindedness of those who seem to have lost the plot when it comes to engaging in the real war of the spirit. We have a common enemy and we need men and women to rise up together in common cause to deny his claims over us and to take his territory.
Answering the call of God to follow Jesus is to sign up for war, though we fight with different weapons and in different ways. We dare not wait for others to act first. If we are to imitate the qualities shown by the few in Britain's air force during the war, or those outstanding people in the Bible, or the pioneer men and women missionaries, we must each strive to be first in the queue for volunteers.
From my Diary
I am still kept busy working on the consequences following the recent home call of my colleague, Monica Cook. There is much to do regarding administration and correspondence with her friends and supporters. We are also looking at ways of building on her legacy both in the UK and also in Kenya. There are two ways in which this can be done. Firstly, those who have been supporting the work in Obambo are encouraged to keep doing so. Friends of Obambo, which Sunrise Ministries encouraged Monica to set up will have a new administration address (our Battle office is now closed). There is a commitment to support thework with children in Obambo and that must be honoured.
We also hope to build on the vision and work that Monica had for the UK. This was to enable rural churches to develop and sustain their own appropriate and effective programmes for ministry to and with children. With possibly one and a half million children living in rural Britain we need missional churches that show the love of God and share the gospel of Jesus. I need another partner to replace Monica as soon as possible.
Your prayers for both strands of continuing her ministry will be very much appreciated.
The final school assembly for this term at Lubenham was very effective and staff and pupils very responsive. The theme was trusting God at uncertain times. We welcome a new head teacher at Lubenham and I look forward to working with her (my fourth head in this school).
My regular half day at HMP Gartree brought several opportunities for pastoral conversations. Please pray for J who has been going through a bad time recently.
Today, I will attend the induction service for a friend and colleague coming to Market Harborough. Local work preparing for Holiday at Home also continues. We are also moving forward once more towards the appointment of a new Children and families Worker for the East Midlands Area of the Congregational Federation.
This week there are activities most days which i will not detail here. You can keep up to date with these via Facebook and Twitter (@ruralbarry).
We also hope to build on the vision and work that Monica had for the UK. This was to enable rural churches to develop and sustain their own appropriate and effective programmes for ministry to and with children. With possibly one and a half million children living in rural Britain we need missional churches that show the love of God and share the gospel of Jesus. I need another partner to replace Monica as soon as possible.
Your prayers for both strands of continuing her ministry will be very much appreciated.
The final school assembly for this term at Lubenham was very effective and staff and pupils very responsive. The theme was trusting God at uncertain times. We welcome a new head teacher at Lubenham and I look forward to working with her (my fourth head in this school).
My regular half day at HMP Gartree brought several opportunities for pastoral conversations. Please pray for J who has been going through a bad time recently.
Today, I will attend the induction service for a friend and colleague coming to Market Harborough. Local work preparing for Holiday at Home also continues. We are also moving forward once more towards the appointment of a new Children and families Worker for the East Midlands Area of the Congregational Federation.
This week there are activities most days which i will not detail here. You can keep up to date with these via Facebook and Twitter (@ruralbarry).
I pray that you will have a good week. Be encouraged in the fight and encourage others into the fight.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Barry
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