Great and Marvellous featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard and the Mustard Seed Girls Choir from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

Jason Carter gave a fitting tribute to his grandfather, Jimmy Carter at the state funeral of the former President of the United States. I believe it well worth sharing in its entirety.
In my church, we sing a song that says, “From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head, I will sing of the goodness of God.”
I don’t know how many people in here can say that. I know I can’t. But my grandfather certainly can. From the moment that he woke up until he laid his head, his life was a testament to the goodness of God.
And I thank all of you for being here to celebrate this life.

To the presidents and first ladies: It is a great honour to have you here. You know the human side of the American presidency like no others. And we appreciate you.
To the vice presidents, other distinguished guests and friends of all kinds: Thank you for being here.
To those of you who came from all across the world: Thank you for being here to celebrate and pay tribute to my grandfather.
I say grandfather, but we call him PawPaw, as many of you know. And we called my grandmother Mom Carter. So we spent our time talking about Mom and PawPaw and mostly, speaking of the human side of the presidency, just letting people know that they were regular folks.
Yes, they spent four years in the governor’s mansion and four years at the White House. But the other 92 years they spent at home in Plains, Georgia. And one of the best ways to demonstrate that they were regular folks is to take them by that home.
First of all, it looks like they might have built it themselves. Second of all, my grandfather was likely to show up at the door in some ’70s short shorts and Crocs.
And then you’d walk in the house and it was like thousands of other grandparents’ house(s) all across the South. Fishing trophies on the walls. The refrigerator, of course, was papered with pictures of grandchildren and then great grandchildren. Their main phone, of course, had a cord and was stuck to the wall in the kitchen like a museum piece. And demonstrating their Depression-era roots, they had a little rack next to the sink where they would hang Ziploc bags to dry.
And demonstrating that they changed with the times, eventually he did get a cellphone. And one time he called me sort of early on in that process, and on my phone it said, “PawPaw mobile.” So I answered it of course.

I said, “Hey, PawPaw.”
He said, “Who’s this?”
I said, “This is Jason!”
He said, “What are you doing?”
I said, “I’m not doing anything. You called me!”
He said, “I didn’t call you. I’m taking a picture.”
A nuclear engineer, right? I mean.

They were small-town people who never forgot who they were and where they were from, no matter what happened in their lives. But I recognize that we are not here because he was just a regular guy.
As you heard from the other speakers, his political life and his presidency, for me, was not just ahead of its time. It was prophetic.
He had the courage and strength to stick to his principles even when they were politically unpopular. As governor of Georgia half a century ago, he preached an end to racial discrimination and an end to mass incarceration. As president in the 1970s, as you’ve heard, he protected more land than any other president in history.
Fifty years ago he was a climate warrior who pushed for a world where we conserved energy, limited emissions and traded our reliance on fossil fuels for expanded renewable sources.
By the way, he cut the deficit, wanted to decriminalize marijuana, deregulated so many industries that he gave us cheap flights and, as you heard, craft beer. Basically all of those years ago, he was the first millennial. And he could make great playlists, as we’ve heard as well.
Maybe this is unbelievable to you, but in my 49 years, I never perceived a difference between his public face and his private one. He was the same person, no matter who he was with or where he was. And for me, that’s the definition of integrity.

That honesty was matched by love. It was matched by faith. And in both public and private, my grandparents did fundamentally live their lives in effort, as the Bible says, to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.

Sometimes I feel and felt like I shared my grandfather with the world. Today is one of those days. But really, he shared the world with me. The power of an atom. The beauty and complexity of a South Georgia forest. When we fished, he celebrated the majesty of everything from the smallest minnow to that grand circulation of waters. And he shared this love with my boys, taking these Atlanta public school kids out into the fields to show them about row crops and wild plums.
In the end, his life is a love story. And of course, it’s a love story about Jimmy and Rosalynn and their 77 years of marriage and service. As the song says, they were the flagship of the fleet. And rest assured that in these last weeks, he told us that he was ready to see her again.

But his life was also a broader love story about love for his fellow humans, and about living out the commandment to love your neighbour as yourself. I believe that that love is what taught him and told him to preach the power of human rights, not just for some people, but for all people. It focused him on the power and the promise of democracy, its love for freedom, its requirement and founding belief in the wisdom of regular people raising their voices and the requirement that you respect all of those voices, not just some.
That conviction made him a naval officer who believed and demonstrated, as you’ve heard, that the greatest power of America was not the military, but its values. Those values were personal to him, and he lived them both publicly and privately. As you heard (former Carter White House aide) Stu (Eizenstat) say, as president, he gave voice to dissidents, stood up to dictators, brought countries together in peace.

His heart broke for the people of Israel. It broke for the people of Palestine. And he spent his life trying to bring peace to that holy land. And he talked about it at the dinner table. It was the same in public as it was in private. And for the last 40 years, as you’ve heard, he spent his time living out that love and that faith alongside the poorest and most marginalized people in the world. And that work, again, has been based fundamentally on love and respect.
The Carter Centre has 3,500 employees, but only a couple hundred in the United States. The rest are spread throughout the countries where we work. Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Bangladesh. And all of the Carter Centre’s programs are based on a respect, that same respect for the power of regular people, even if they are in tiny villages miles from anywhere else.

To give one example, we’ve all heard a lot lately about guinea worm disease. It’s an ancient and debilitating disease of poverty, and that disease will have existed from the dawn of humanity until Jimmy Carter. When he started working on this disease there were 3.5 million cases in humans every year. Last year, there were 14.
And the thing that’s remarkable is that this disease is not eliminated with medicine. It’s eliminated essentially by neighbours talking to neighbours about how to collect water in the poorest and most marginalized villages in the world. And those neighbours truly were my grandfather’s partners for the last 40 years.
And as this disease has been eliminated in every village in Nigeria, every village in Sudan or Uganda, what’s left behind in those tiny 600-person villages is an army of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carters who have demonstrated their own power to change their world.
And that is a fundamental truth about my grandfather. It begins where it ends. When he saw a tiny 600-person village that everybody else thinks of as poor, he recognized it. That’s where he was from. That’s who he was. And he never saw it as a place to send pity. It was always a place to find partnership and power, and a place to carry out that commandment to love your neighbour as yourself.

Essentially, he eradicated a disease with love and respect.
He waged peace with love and respect.
He led this nation with love and respect.
To me, this life was a love story from the moment that he woke up, until he laid his head.

I’ll conclude with this. As Andy Young (a civil rights leader, former Atlanta mayor and Carter’s ambassador to the United Nations) told me, he may be gone, but he’s not gone far.
The outpouring of love and support that we have felt from you and from around the world has showed how many lives he has touched and how his spirit will live on in many ways.
For us, he’ll be in the kitchen making pancakes. Or in his woodshop finishing a cradle for a great-grandchild. Standing in a trout stream with Mom Carter. Or for me, just walking those Georgia fields and forests where he’s from.

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2K9Y780 Manchester, UK. 30th Oct, 2022. Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United celebrates the win during the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester. Picture credit should read: Darren Staples/Sportimage Credit: Sportimage/Alamy Live News

You Are The Shepherd Of My Soul featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by Bob Ross.

It turns out the I am not the only Manchester United fan in the world! My very good friend Rev. Andy Economides is as well, and earlier this week he wrote the below which I thought well worth sharing

The Mind

Liverpool 2 : 2 Manchester United, Sunday 4th January 2025. Martinez, the United player, scored the first goal. After the game, Martinez was asked by the BBC: ‘There have been some very poor performances this season. You wonder how you can go from that to this so quickly?’ Martinez replied by passionately pointing to his head saying: ‘The mind’. Following his gesture, Martinez explained:
‘Today we changed the mindset, the belief, the confidence. I saw everyone secure today with confidence, in every duel, with the ball, defending. We really enjoyed the game today. We have to believe; we have to believe. Sometimes when we had the ball, a few games ago, we were like stressed. Thinking too much. Today, we played without feelings. When you play like that you can enjoy football.’
New Year. New Mind. New Belief. New Security. New Confidence (in Christ)

The Apostle Paul tells us we can be transformed by renewing of our minds (Roman 12:2). Let God transform you into the new person by changing the way you think. When we allow God to transform us by the renewing of our minds then we know what God wants us to do and how good and pleasing and perfect God’s will and purposes really are.

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Oh Lord By Praise featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have supported Manchester United since a child. Apparently, our biggest rivals are Liverpool (if you do not agree then have a word with Gary Neville!)
I really like Liverpool’s former manager, Jurgen Klopp and so regard Manchester City as much bigger rivals. This was multiplied by a thousand after watching today’s featured video about a six-year-old Liverpool fan with a rare disease.
Take a look and see if it brings a tear to your eye – it certainly did mine.

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From all at Mustard Seed Songs

Love Is Patient Love is Kind featuring Lucy Simpson- Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodkingson

All at Mustard Seed Songs trust that you had a very happy Christmas and so now its Boxing Day. Why Boxing Day?
After a little research I leant that the origins of the holiday are a bit muddled, though the generally accepted theory is rooted in Victorian England.
During the reign of Queen Victoria, servants, tradespeople, and the poor typically were given presents. The servants worked on Christmas Day and would have the next day off to go visit their own families. So, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the upper class would take leftover food, goods, or money and put them in boxes to give out to the poor.
Another theory says it derives from the opening of alms boxes provided by the church as opposed to gifts given by employers, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The 26 also coincides with St. Stephen’s Day, a holiday celebrated in parts of Europe and named after the first Christian martyr who was known for helping the poor, according to Farmer’s Almanac.
While the holiday had its roots in giving back to the poor, like many modern celebrations, it’s shifted and become more associated with shopping and sports.
Boxing Day is an official bank holiday in Britain, Canada, New Zealand and most of Australia. While boxes aren’t typically given to the poor anymore, it’s not unusual for service employees to get bonuses around this time of year, says Britannica.
It’s typical for families to invite others over to enjoy a casual lunch made from Christmas Day leftovers. Many will also head out to stores to shop post-Christmas sales or make exchanges and returns.
Traditionally, sporting events included horse races, foxhunting, and rugby. Foxhunting was later modified or banned altogether, with football matches taking its place.
Many, including myself would say thank goodness that football matches took the place of fox hunting.

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Amazing Love featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

A local Vicar made the national press when parents complained that he brought their children to tears by telling them that Father Christmas no longer exists. He was, in fact speaking to children ten to eleven years old, telling them that they were, of course old enough to realise the truth.
Whatever our views I thought this article below by Jenny Sanders well worth sharing.
For me, waking up in the early hours of Christmas Day, feeling the weight of a goodie-filled stocking and hearing the satisfying crackle of the contents, always fed into the grand anticipation of a magical childhood Christmas ahead. I could go back to sleep safe in the knowledge that Father Christmas had been.
I don’t remember feeling devastated when the truth of who bought those presents was discovered. We learnt about St Nicholas at primary school, but Father Christmas steadfastly remained part of the whole festive tradition: the tree, the lights, the paper-chains, the carols, the turkey, the family gathering on Christmas Eve, the inevitable game of cousins’ hide and seek.
Once I became a parent, we discussed how we would or wouldn’t include him in our new-look Christmases. We resolved firstly that we would never lie to our children. Father Christmas, the Easter bunny, the Tooth Fairy – where do you choose to draw the line? Perpetuating these fictions raises the prospect of tricky conversations down the road: if Father Christmas isn’t real, who we can’t see, what about Jesus? Did we lie about him too?
Our grown-and-flown children recall that we were clear that the man in red was a fictional figure. At least one of them asked me outright. I replied, as wisely as I could at the time by batting the question back to them: ‘What do you think?’ The answer – whether fuelled by some better informed primary school contemporary or a flash of realisation: ‘I think it’s you and Dad.’ I nodded, but added in a conspiratorial whisper, ‘But it’s good fun anyway, isn’t it?’
In a world where we’re increasingly challenged to parent well, ensuring a robust bridge of communication is always open with our children is as important as ever. Helping them navigate that obstacle-filled journey from childhood through adolescence to adulthood is fraught with challenges that would test the wisdom of Solomon. On that basis alone, I would recommend resisting making it harder for ourselves.
If you want to perpetuate the idea that all the presents beneath the tree were brought by Father Christmas, you are free to do so. Enjoy it. Your children may go along with it, or not, though if they decide he isn’t real it begs the question, will there still be presents next year?
My friends and family will tell you that I am a huge Christmas fan. December 1st is open season for Christmas music, decorations, ratcheting up the atmosphere, watching Christmas films (It’s A Wonderful Life; Home Alone; Miracle on 34th Street etc), trawling the garden centres to admire or express horror at the latest products, and touring the neighbourhood to see everyone else’s lights before scurrying home to munch hot mince pies.
Compulsory reading of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is also required for me and well worth reading at any time of year. The redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge is a morality tale firmly rooted in the themes of Christmas. It’s the Ghost of Christmas Present who is presented as a jolly Father Christmas character who repeats the invitation to, ‘Come in, and know me better, man!’
The characters are all fictional and yet, for me, bound up in the magic of Christmas. As one friend put it, keeping Jesus at the centre but including Father Christmas in our celebrations helps children and adults alike ‘develop an internal muscle for wonder.’ That’s so life-giving and demonstrates again the power of story without needing to be confused about reality. Father Christmas is no less real or important in our culture as Winnie-the-Pooh.

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Issac Watts

How Can I Love You More? featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

I am not making any judgments over the issue of Crystal Palace football captain Marc Guéhi, who by adding ‘Jesus ❤️ U’ to his rainbow armband, sparked a conversation about football’s commitment to equality and diversity – whether that’s religious beliefs or sexuality and gender. In the article below I believe Christians in Sport’s Graham Daniels is also not judgmental but offers a very balanced view; worthy of sharing. Daniel’s writes:
In the world of professional football, where passion and extreme public attention collide, Crystal Palace captain Marc Guéhi has started an essential conversation about faith, identity and expression.
Guéhi, an England international, recently made headlines by adding “Jesus ❤️ U” to his Rainbow Pride captain’s armband, a bold move emphasising his beliefs while navigating the complexities of inclusivity in sport. His actions in the game against Newcastle reflect a courageous stand that transcends what we usually expect of footballers but led to a reprimand from the Football Association (FA). Undeterred, he adapted his message for the subsequent game against Ipswich Town, changing it to “Jesus ❤️ you”.
The FA has established guidelines that permit “initiative slogans/emblems promoting the game of football, respect, and integrity” while explicitly prohibiting “political, religious, or personal slogans, statements, or images”. This creates a complex landscape for athletes like Guéhi and the Ipswich Town captain, Sam Morsy.
Morsy, a Muslim, chose not to wear the Rainbow Pride armband—making him the only captain in the Premier League to do so. His choice was generally respected without penalty, Guéhi’s addition of a personal message raises questions about the boundaries of self-expression within the sport.
CHRISTIAN ATHLETES FACE THE CHALLENGE OF EXPRESSING THEIR FAITH WHILST BEING INCLUSIVE OF THEIR TEAMMATES
Support for Guéhi has surfaced from unexpected corners. His manager, Oliver Glasner, has publicly endorsed his right to express his beliefs, stating: “He is no child; he is an adult. He has his opinion, and we accept and respect every opinion”. This refreshing perspective underscores a necessity for tolerance in football – a value that often appears at odds with the sport’s broader efforts to support LGBTQ+ inclusivity.
As someone who has worked in professional football for nearly four decades, I have witnessed a growing openness among directors, coaches and players regarding their Christian beliefs in the 92 professional clubs in the UK. The foundational position of the majority of Christian athletes balances two critical factors. First, the freedom to express all aspects of one’s faith. Secondly, the desire to play alongside teammates who are good characters and competent players. The first factor demands the freedom to express one’s Christian perspective on sexual ethics, and the second is the willingness to play in a team with another person regardless of their sexual orientation.
These two factors can co-exist. Christian athletes face the challenge of expressing their faith whilst being thoroughly inclusive of their teammates. This is why some Christian players struggle with whether to wear rainbow symbols. They want their choices to reflect their beliefs about human sexuality whilst also supporting inclusivity regarding sexual orientation within their teams.
At its core, the challenge reflects a broader societal struggle. The Christian belief is that every individual is made in the image of God and thus should not be defined solely by their sexual orientation or behaviour. In short, your sexual orientation should have no bearing on whether you should be picked for a football team. At the same time, there should exist a space for advocating traditional Christian beliefs regarding human sexuality without fear of repercussions.
Guéhi’s actions reflect this desire and have ignited a vital discussion about the interplay between personal beliefs and public expression in sport, highlighting the need for dialogue honouring diverse identities. By standing firm in his faith while respecting the LGBTQ+ community’s rights to be fully integrated into professional football, Guéhi is not merely making a statement; he is setting a precedent for future athletes navigating this intricate landscape.

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Glorious In His Humility featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

I cannot claim to know much about Artificial Intelligence (AI) but I have seen a number of videos on social media that have used AI to produce heart -warming stories such as here.  Polar Rescue

There is a debate concerning the rights and wrongs of this, but what is not in debate is this wonderful story I read recently. Although I suspect the story has been elaborated here and there it did not need AI to pull on the heartstrings

The famous Italian diver Enzo Maiorca dove into the sea of Syracuse and was talking to his daughter Rossana who was aboard the boat. Ready to go in, he felt something slightly hit his back. He turned and saw a dolphin. Then he realized that the dolphin did not want to play but to express something. The animal dove and Enzo followed.
At a depth of about 12 meters, trapped in an abandoned net, there was another dolphin. Enzo quickly asked his daughter to grab the diving knives. Soon, the two of them managed to free the dolphin, which, at the end of the ordeal, emerged, issued an “almost human cry” (describes Enzo). (A dolphin can stay under water for up to 10 minutes, then it drowns.)
The released dolphin was helped to the surface by Enzo, Rosana and the other dolphin. That’s when the surprise came: she was pregnant!
The male circled them, and then stopped in front of Enzo, touched his cheek (like a kiss), in a gesture of gratitude and then they both swam off.

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Lord I Come To Bathe In Your Glory featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by Bob Ross

When I first heard “Do they know it’s Christmas” I thought it was a great idea to raise money in support of those suffering famine in Ethiopia. I also thought it was a great song with a fabulous hook, “Feed the world.”
I also thought the line “Do they know its Christmas” was a reference to those who were suffering, understandably not appreciating the time of the season. And now there is criticism of the song being patronising to Africans. Below is an article in the Premier Christian News.
Critics of the Band Aid song ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’ have said it is insulting to Africa for its ‘stereotypical’ portrayal of the continent and its suggestion that Africans don’t understand Christmas.
In 1984, Dawit Giorgis was the Ethiopian official responsible for spreading the message about the famine engulfing his country. It led to a BBC film showing the plight of starving children and families. It moved millions of people across the world and led to the Live Aid concert which would go on to raise almost £150m for famine relief and development in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa.
But Mr Giorgis says that the portrayal was insulting, particularly in its reference to Christmas. He told the BBC:
“It was so untrue and so distorted. Ethiopia was a Christian country before England… we knew Christmas before your ancestors.”
The song also describes Africa as a place “where nothing ever grows; no rain nor rivers flow”.
Speaking to the BBC, British-Ghanaian rapper Fuse ODG, said:
“The world has changed but Band Aid hasn’t…
“It’s saying there’s no peace and joy in Africa this Christmas. It’s still saying there’s death in every tear…
“I go to Ghana every Christmas… every December so we know there’s peace and joy in Africa this Christmas, we know there isn’t death in every tear.”
Bob Geldof who along with Midge Ure wrote the song, defended its lyrics in an article in “The Conversation”:
“The same argument has been made many times over the years and elicits the same wearisome response…
“This little pop song has kept hundreds of thousands if not millions of people alive.”
He added that he recognises that Ethiopians celebrate Christmas but says that in 1984 “ceremonies were abandoned”.
Last year alone, the Band Aid Charitable Trust distributed more than £3m to various projects including providing clean water, building schools and libraries and providing training to prevent gender-based violence.
Christian charity Mary’s Meals UK has been supported by Band Aid since 2010, providing school meals for children in Tigray, Ethiopia, reaching 110,000 last year.
A new version of the single is being released this week under the name Band Aid 40.

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Love is the Way featuring Lucy Stimpson- Mayard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

So carrying on from last week, here is the second part of “Be A Giver” taken from “Word for Today” written by Bob and Debbie Gass.
Paul writes, ‘Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’ The giving that God rewards is purposeful giving when it’s done with a cheerful attitude. Here are three ways to do that:
1) Put people before yourself. Every one of the things of this world, including fame and fortune, is temporary. Individuals are what matter. Your job, pastimes, and other interests will die with you. People live on. The true measure of success is not in the number of individuals who help you but in the number of individuals you help (see Galatians 5:13).
2) Don’t let stuff own you. No one should ever become a slave to their stuff. No one should make their life’s work about obtaining more just to have more. If you want to be in control of your heart, don’t let belongings take control of you. The question is, ‘Do you own your possessions, or do your possessions own you?’ Givers use what they own as a resource to make this world a better place to live. And they do this regardless of how much or how little they have (see Matthew 6:21).
3) Define success as sowing, not reaping. Robert Louis Stevenson said, ‘I consider the success of my day based on the seeds I sow, not the harvest I reap.’ That should be the way we judge not only our days but our entire lives (see 2 Corinthians 9:6-10). If you live life with the intention of enriching the lives of others, your life will be full, not empty.

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You are the Maker featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Love is the Way recorded and produced by John Hodgkinson

When I first became a Christian, a colleague of mine at Crofton School, Dave Stevens, asked if I had considered tithing – giving 10% of my income away to those less well of than myself – perhaps through church. He went on to say that somehow God would ensure that I ended up better off – that did not make a lot of sense to me, but Dave explained that God’s maths are somewhat different to ours. Well at the time I struggled with the idea but thought I would give it a try by giving away any monies I made from the “Heat” disco to some charities I selected. Now at the end of each disco I was having trouble with local lads turning up and, well let’s say displaying “challenging” behaviour to our youngsters as they were leaving with their parents in cars to return to Stubbington. Do you know what? As soon as I gave any profit away those lads stopped turning up- coincidence possibly but I believe it was a “God instance.”
I remembered that story when I recently read the below in “Word for Today” written by Bob and Debbie Gass. I was particularly drawn to the words …..“think of yourself as a river rather instead of a reservoir.”
If you want to become a giver, think of yourself as a river instead of a reservoir. Reservoirs continually take in water, but only to fill themselves up. In contrast, a river flows. Whatever water it receives, it gives away. Note what Jesus said about giving: ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you’ Luke: 38 NIV).
When you give your time, expertise, and resources without expecting anything in return, you’re practising what Jesus preached. And here is an interesting truth: when you focus more on the wants and needs of others, more of your own wants and needs are met. In contrast, when you choose to hoard what you have rather than give, you become the centre of your own lonely universe. And you become less content, not more. As a result, you repel both people and potential blessing.
Recalling God’s goodness to you leads to gratitude (see Psalm 103:1-5). And gratitude leads to giving. Ungrateful people aren’t givers. They seldom think about others; they just think of themselves. Their days comprise searching for others to assist them, give to them, and wait on them. And whenever others fail to meet those expectations, they wonder why. Their selfishness prevents them from sowing, and their ingratitude causes them to question why they don’t reap. In what way can you show gratitude? By taking a portion of the blessings God has poured into your life and pouring them into the lives of others. In other words, be a giver.

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