On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem in direct fulfilment of messianic prophecy (Zechariah 9:9), knowing the authorities would respond by seeking his arrest and execution.

On Monday, he overturned the money changers’ tables, further provoking the wrath of his enemies.

On Tuesday, he defeated them again and again in public debate.

On Maundy Thursday, he waited in the Garden of Gethsemane as they came to arrest him

On Good Friday, the One whose power calmed raging seas and raised the dead allowed Roman soldiers to nail him to a cross.

On Sunday ,The tomb where he was laid was empty.

Bible reading: Matt 28 v2-7

Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.

His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.

The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.

And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee.

You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

In the bible we  read of about the lives of many individuals. These stories are not in the |Bible by accident but are for us to read about and learn from their experience of God.

S0 in Agape over the next few weeks after Easter we are hoping to learn from   Ruth, Esther, King Hezekiah, Gideon, Jacob,Joseph, Barnabus.

Historically, Teen Challenge Newport had been reaching out to the Homeless/ Vulnerable/ Addicted of Newport for almost 20 years under the leadership and pioneering work of Stuart & Caroline Johnson. Through this work it was identified that Newport needed it’s own charity committed to address local problems. This was the birth of Eden Gate. Eden Gate was founded by Stuart & Caroline Johnson in November 2013 who were central to establishing the charity in Newport.
Eden Gate continues to carry out the work established by Teen Challenge Newport with dedication to address local needs.

‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

²⁴ “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, ²⁵ and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. ²⁶ From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

²⁷ “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ ²⁹ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

³⁰ “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. ³¹ For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

(Apostle Paul, Athens)

In the face of tragedy, we have two options.

We can decide that God is not who he says he is. We can let our questions keep us from experiencing his transforming love and sustaining grace. We can trust our doubts more than we trust our Creator.

Or we can decide to have faith in our Father even when we don’t understand him. The harder it is to trust God, the more we need to trust God.

Today’s secular worldview is cohesive and consistent only in that it views life through the prism of the self. Our ultimate value is whatever makes us happy. Dwelling on the sufferings of others doesn’t seem to help them and only saddens us. This era of constant access to the world has actually accomplished the opposite—it’s made us less attentive to the world. If the news doesn’t make us happy, we turn it off.

By contrast, one way the Christian worldview is cohesive and consistent is that it views life through the prism of the other. We’re taught to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Loving God and loving our neighbor are intertwined (Matthew 22:37–39). Jesus identifies himself with those in need: what we do for them, we do for him (Matthew 25:40).

If we value people in pain as Jesus does, we can never be callous to their suffering. Every victim of violence—and every perpetrator—is someone for whom Jesus died (Romans 5:8). The answer to compassion fatigue is not less compassion—it’s the power of the Spirit. The first “fruit of the Spirit” is “love” (Galatians 5:22). The ability to care for those in crisis comes ultimately from Christ.  (Denison)

In John 11 Jesus arrived at Bethany after Lazarus had died.  Martha and Mary both approached Jesus with exactly the same words, “If you had been here my brother would not have died.”  Jesus did not reply with identical statements. He gave Martha practical hope, but Mary emotional empathy. Jesus knew the people he was caring for and treated them as individuals.

It would be profoundly ineffective to admonish the fainthearted, help the idle, or to encourage the weak.  The fainthearted need care not rebuke. The idle need a change of perspective, not help to carry on as they are.  The weak need practical help, not words.

Lent is a forty-day journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. It is time of preparation, repentance, and surrender to God. The Cross of Christ is the central focus and strengthening hope of this journey. It is the nexus of God’s grace and justice. Once for all time and One man for all people, Jesus freely gave his life to atone for sin, reconcile broken relationship, and demonstrate the great love of God. The cross is the place where wounds are healed, freedom is found, and new beginnings start.

We support the many midwives who oppose Diana Johnson MP’s Ten Minute Rule Bill seeking to introduce abortion on demand, up-to-birth, for any reason, on Monday 13th March 2017.

The “decriminalisation” of abortion means the total removal of all legal restrictions on abortion. There would be no grounds on which abortion could not take place and no ‘upper’ gestational time limit.

This point has been acknowledged by abortion provider BPAS, the backers of this Bill, who’s CEO, Anne Furedi, at the launch of their campaign for decriminalisation stated “I want to be very, very clear and blunt… there should be no legal upper limit.”

I oppose Diana Johnson MP’s Bill for the following reasons:

• This is an extreme and radical legislative proposal.

  • The Bill in its construction and consequences is more extreme than any abortion Bill previously raised in British history, as it would allow for abortion on any grounds at any time throughout pregnancy.

• The proposal is out of touch with the views of the British people.

  • One YouGov poll showed that 88% of women in the UK either want to keep the current law and time limit as it is, or restrict it further. This contrasts with the 2% of women who wanted to see an increase in the abortion time limit beyond 24 weeks, let alone birth.

  • Last year, the Royal College of Midwives’ support for BPAS’ abortion-up-to-birth campaign saw a serious backlash from over 1,000 midwives who protested against the RCM’s position.

• The situation would allow for far greater abuses than have already occurred under the current law.

  • Already within our current legal framework we have seen doctors pre-signing abortion forms, gender-selective abortions being offered, live babies being left to die following abortions that have gone wrong and children with minor disabilities, such as cleft palate, being aborted. In this context, where the current law is supposed to be preventing such appalling practices, the thought of allowing abortion on demand up to birth is seriously worrying.

• The abortion industry have proven that they cannot be trusted.

• • In 2015, 98% of abortions were funded by the NHS. Of these, over two thirds (68%) took place in private abortion clinics (e.g. Marie Stopes International and BPAS clinics) under NHS contract.

  • In August 2016, however, the Care Quality Commission had to step in to protect patients from potential harm at Marie Stopes abortion clinics. The December 2016 report showed doctors had been bulk-signing abortion consent forms, babies remains had been left in open bins, women were left at risk of infection, staff were not trained in how to respond to deteriorating patients and post-surgery safety checks were being completed before the surgery started. If these kind of breaches in patient safety protocols were occurring under the current law and close inspection of clinics, what will happen when all legal restrictions are lifted from abortion practice?

The British public prides itself in being a reasonable, humane and tolerant society. Such an extreme and radical proposal has no place in the UK.

It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of biblical description has often led to amazing discoveries.

Dr. Nelson Glueck