Tim Abbott

Bibles and Beijing 2008

Thinking of going to the Olympics in Beijing?

According to this page on the official Beijing 2008 web site:

Note: Each travel is recommended to take no more than one Bible into China.

This is because:

Any printed material, film, tapes that are 'detrimental to China's politics, economy, culture and ethics' are also forbidden to bring into China.

So now you know. But just in case you have any suspicions, you'll be relieved to know that:

China is a country with religious freedom and respects every religion.

according to information on this page. As Sir Humphrey used to say on Yes Minister, "Some might say that. I couldn't possibly comment."

In an interesting twist of irony, the 70 Bibles we recently purchased for a local secondary school on behalf of four local churches were printed in China, as you can see on the sides of the boxes in this picture.

 

Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards has had a successful career as flag bearer for UK athletics and sports minded Christians. Now, retired from the sport that made him famous he has begun to question the faith which he acknowledges helped to motivate his sporting career.
A more reflective, agnostic Jonathan shares his journey away from faith here.
We should be gentle with our Christian heroes. We're all working out our faith with fear and trembling.

UPDATE: Some excellent reflections for youthworkers on this from Sarah Brush.

2012 beckons

The new London 2012 brand

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Sorry rest-of-the-world, it was the best we could come up with.

Colchester United

It was my birthday on boxing day so Dan and I went to watch Colchester United beat Luton 4-1. Colchester were promoted to the Championship at the end of last season and after a shaky start have been steadily working their way up the table, currently 7th and just outside a play off place for the Premiership. This is an amazing record for a club that has one of the smallest grounds in the country with a capacity of about 6000 (average capacity of clubs at this level is c.18000).
It was a great match, the first goal for Colchester coming after 23 minutes followed by a second just before half time. Goals in the second half after 59 and 65 minutes brought Col U to a convincing 4-0 lead. When Luton scored a penalty at 85 minutes the atmosphere in the stands was relaxed to say the least. A couple of the Colchester goals came from some swift and effective attacking play the length of the pitch. Great stuff.
Colchester have been winning a few games away, but it's the home advantage that's paying off with a 10 game unbroken winning record at home, a record that's starting to attract some press interest here and here. The crowd may be small but they make up for it in relentless support. And the small ground brings players and supporters much closer together - a factor that often spooks the visitors!