Streetpaper 83 - The Jesus Army

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modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 83 Page 2 THE GOSPEL of Mark is part of the Bible and tells the story of the Life of Christ. Packed into 60 pages you can find how one man bridged the gap between man and God. Read about angry Jesus driving out money changers. Read about compassionate Jesus healing people. Test for yourself the claims of Jesus. The Bible in its entirety has now been translated into 414 languages, and parts are now available in over 2,000 languages. If listed in the bestsellers, it would regularly top the list in all its versions. For your FREE copy of Mark’s Gospel contact us (see address below). Or text on 0774 0774 200 or phone on 0845 123 5550 to reserve your copy. @ Get a bestseller FREE GET IN TOUCH ALL GOOD armies have an HQ, and we are no exception. We will answer your queries, provide you with free literature or a Mark’s Gospel, even pray with you over the telephone if you are in special need. You can call us: our National Helpline is 0845 123 5550 (local call rate), and generally there are real people to talk to, not machines. Email us at info@jesus.org.uk Want to have a look at what the mJa is all about? Check us out from anywhere in the world on our website: www.jesus.org.uk But in these days of hi-tech, we still have an address and lots of people write in. Jesus Fellowship, FREEPOST, Nether Heyford, Northampton, NN7 3BR Across the UK you are welcome to call one of our local churches if they are near you. There are Jesus Army congregations and groups around the UK. They are not all the same size, they meet in different sorts of premises, but they are all made up of people who love Jesus and are ready to help you on in your faith too. Belfast ........................................................... 0845 123 5552 Birmingham ................................................... 0845 166 8153 Bournemouth ................................................ 0845 123 5558 Brighton ......................................................... 0845 166 8151 Bristol ........................................................... 0845 123 5339 Coventry ........................................................ 0845 166 8154 Croydon ......................................................... 0845 226 1972 Chester/ North Wales.................................... 0845 123 5561 Hastings ........................................................ 0845 123 5551 Huntingdon ................................................... 0845 166 2697 Ipswich .......................................................... 0845 166 8156 Kettering ........................................................ 0845 166 8157 Leeds ........................................................... 0845 166 8167 Leicester ........................................................ 0845 644 9705 Liverpool ....................................................... 0845 166 8168 London Central ............................................. 0845 166 8152 London West ................................................. 0845 833 1319 London South ............................................... 0845 226 1972 Manchester .................................................... 0845 166 8169 Milton Keynes ............................................... 0845 166 8159 Newcastle-upon-Tyne ................................... 0845 166 8187 Northampton ................................................. 0845 166 8161 Norwich ......................................................... 0845 166 8162 Nottingham .................................................... 0845 166 8163 Oxford ........................................................... 0845 166 8164 Preston .......................................................... 0845 123 5554 Sheffield ........................................................ 0845 166 8183 Stoke-on-Trent .............................................. 0845 123 5334 Swansea ........................................................ 0845 123 5556 Wolverhampton ............................................. 0845 123 5563 JESUS Fellowship Church is an evangelical Christian Church with a charismatic emphasis. It upholds the full historical, Christian faith, in particular it upholds the doctrine of the Trinity and the full divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Fellowship Church is a part of the Multiply Christian Network and a member of the Evangelical Alliance. To receive Jesus Fellowship literature regularly, free, send the response form on page 6 to Jesus Fellowship Central Offices, FREEPOST, Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 3BR. Tel. 0845 123 5550. modern Jesus army Streetpaper No.83 © 2008, published three times a year by Jesus Fellowship Church, Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 3LB. Editor James Stacey. All photographs supplied and copyright by Jesus Army Photo Library or Public Domain unless stated otherwise. Printed by BGP Ltd., Bicester, Oxon. Reproduction of any part of this newspaper in any form requires written permission. All Bible quotations are from the Contemporary English Version © 2000 Harper Collins unless otherwise indicated. All articles are contributed by members of the Jesus Fellowship Church, also known as the modern Jesus army. Some members live as part of the New Creation Christian Community. Readers wishing to contact authors may do so by writing to the Jesus Fellowship Central Office. “IF YOU WERE GOD WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?” Photo by LittleMan Streetpaper asked people on the streets of UK cities IN THE award winning film Bruce Almighty, one man gets a chance to do whatever he likes while God takes a holiday. We thought we’d ask more than 150 people from around the UK what they would do if they were in God’s shoes. “I would like heaven on earth” said Spencer from Coventry. Lewis, from nearby Nuneaton, wanted “an end to child cruelty.” “Make managers kinder!” shouted Ben, a friend. But where do you stand? What, if you were all-powerful, would you do? Surprisingly for the British, only three people spoke about the weather. We actually have far bigger concerns like drugs, health, homelessness and equality. And we’re not that selfish either: only a handful of people spoke of wanting their football team to win or getting more money. But a whopping 86 per cent believe that it’s God’s job to sort out the world’s problems. 25 per cent of those questioned saw this in terms of world peace. Another 12 per cent voiced more specific worries about poverty and starvation. Many think it is God that has the problem. “I would just make people believe in me” said Fridolin from Sheffield. Several agreed, but an equal number thought that we should do away with religion altogether. “He’s still doing a better job than the politicians!” defended Mr Singh from Leicester. >> I BELIEVE IN FRIENDSHIP 80 per cent put friendship top of the list for happiness “I would stop people from dying and make them young again” said Betty from Nottingham. A nice idea – just begin again. Reboot life when it gets corrupted, wash all the troubles away. “I’d want to change everything about the world. That’s how I really feel” commented Tracy from Coventry. “He’s still doing a better job than the politicians!” 17 per cent of those asked felt that the root of the world’s problems lay closer to home. “It’s not God’s fault, all this trouble, it’s our fault” concluded Mrs Johnson. There were other philosophical answers too. One person admitted “I wouldn’t change anything. Everything is the way it is so we can learn “I’LL BE there for you” goes the well-known theme song “when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.” A recent survey of young people showed that 97 per cent say it is important to be happy with life and they saw “having the right relationships” as the big secret for happiness. Over 80 per cent saw relationships with friends as crucial to happiness. What is it about friendship that means just about everyone is agreed it’s one of life’s crucial ingredients? “One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives,” wrote Euripides, the ancient Greek playwright (if you imagine having ten thousand mothers-in-law you’ll get him). A friend chooses you. They affi rm you by being your friend. They know all about you and from it.” Marc was thoughtful too: “Peace is the obvious answer, but it’s impossible.” In other words, unless humanity has a change of heart, nothing else will change. 17 per cent of those who answered agreed that “the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart”. We need a “change of attitude”. The Bible says that it is because of man’s rejection of God that we find ourselves in such a mess. God may want us to learn from our mistakes, but He knows we can’t repair our wrongs. That’s why He sent a Saviour: Jesus. He paid the price for all our wrong and opened the way back to God. There is one prayer that God might not be able to answer, however. Jamie hoped that if he were God, he could make all the girls fancy him. Some things might just be too difficult, even for the Almighty. “I believe...” #1 still like you. There’s something about true friendship which meets our deepest need. And – genius! – we get to meet someone else’s deepest need at the same time. But, is there really such a thing as true friendship? Oscar Wilde said “A true friend stabs you in the front.” Is it really a sentimental dream best kept for American sit-coms? The Bible describes God as a “true friend...closer than your own family”. And it says that Jesus has shown us this true kind of friendship by “laying down His life” for us. And that those who are the friends of Jesus – Christians – become deep, true friends with each other. But – hang on. Does this all sound a bit too good to be true? Better have a think about truth before we get too carried away? (see page 4) Debt steals UK meals DEBT IS forcing some UK families to miss meals according to charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP). Debt also causes marriage failure and mental illness. CAP’s research found that nearly a quarter of its clients regularly sacrifi ced meals, 23 per cent of clients’ marriages broke down and 69 per cent visited their GP to fi nd help with debt-driven stress. “Families and couples…are being pushed to breaking point” CAP boss Matt Barlow said. Blame is levelled at the lending practices of banks and building societies and extortionate interest charged by loan companies – along with sharply rising food, fuel and utility prices. Rich Brits getting sick TWICE AS many Brits as mainland Europeans suffer mental illness, according to Oliver James, author of The Selfish Capitalist – Origins of Affluenza. The reason: “selfish capitalism” and unrealistic wealth expectations. In English-speaking countries some chief executives earn 133 times the average wage. And mental illness has almost doubled in them since the 1970s. Other European countries have a less selfish capitalist approach James claims. What makes such social inequality dangerous is the belief that “material affluence is the key to fulfilment and open to anyone willing to work hard enough”. People are “suckered into” unhealthy work addiction. Bad role model for kids? Big Brother role model TV shows such as Big Brother lead to “damaging attitudes in children” former youth worker, Mark Russell, told an audience of 100 church school head teachers. According to research, 50 per cent of children want to be a celebrity, and a third want to be Paris Hilton reported Russell, Chief Executive of the Church Army. Russell attacked the media for “generating an image of life that is unreal” into which “children are sucked in.” He argued that “Leading a school in an age of celebrity and consumerism requires us to be counter-cultural” encouraging spiritual creativity, alternative role models and an atmosphere of love. Bible sounds like Sir Bob The Bible sounds like Bob Geldof – according to 27 per cent of Britons who could not tell the difference between speeches by the social activist and Holy Scripture. Another 20 per cent thought that the cry to defend the helpless in Proverbs 31:8 sounded like Kofi Annan, the former head of the UN. “What this shows is that on the topics that challenge us every day, God got there fi rst” said James Catford, chief executive of Bible Society, which has published a Bible that highlights every time God speaks against injustice. The poll of over a thousand adults was conducted by Theos.
SAVED LIFE... SAVED SOUL modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 83 Page 3 God saved Artemis Artemiou’s life when he was four. By 18 he wanted to end his life. That’s when God stepped in again. ARTEMIS, 19, WASN’T born into privilege. His mother spent the first eight months of her son’s life in a psychiatric institution. His dad had a violent streak. They lived in a deprived area of Northampton. Artemis had such serious asthma that, as he put it “I had to be on a ventilator two hours every day to help me breathe.” Then the ventilator was stolen from their house. When it seemed like things couldn’t be much worse a chink of light came into the Artemiou family’s life: Artemis’s parents became Christians. This newfound faith was to save Artemis’s life. “My dad came in one night” says Artemis “to find me struggling for breath. Then I stopped breathing. My mum was hysterical, but my dad got on his knees and prayed for me in the name of Jesus. Instantly I started breathing. “I haven’t struggled with asthma since.” God had intervened, but all was still far from well in the family. “My dad was beating my mum” recalls Artemis. “I remember seeing my mum sitting on the end of her bed a lot, crying – it was just part of life. Once I remember mum in the kitchen sitting on the floor crying, with all the plates and bowls and cups smashed on the floor around her. She said she was trying to move it all and slipped. Yeah right.” Artemis’s parents split up when Artemis was 11. Over the next three years they lived in ten different houses as Artemis’s mother went through a number of relationships. Artemis describes them bluntly: “All of Time of his life: Artemis has “found something to live for” them either beat her or were complete idiots.” “My mum was becoming an alcoholic and using drugs. She was losing weight daily – by this time she was so skinny it was ridiculous” remembers Artemis. One particularly violent relationship led to Artemis’s mother pressing charges when her partner “headbutted her” – though she later dropped the charges. Moving to their dad’s place, Artemis and his bother found some stability. “My step-mum taught us some home skills as well, which was good” says Artemis “and my little brother Michael was born: I love him to pieces.” But Artemis’s chaotic childhood caught up with him: “I started to become depressed. I spent most of my time watching DVDs or playing on Xbox, trying to get ‘away from me’. In early “I have cried uncountable times, shouted my head off, laughed till it hurts, danced my heart out – and felt the awesome power of God’s love” 2007, I became suicidal.” Artemis’s childhood faith was still there, however. “I prayed to God: ‘I won’t take my own life, but please take me to heaven. I can’t stand not having anything to live for.’” Around this time, Artemis met the Jesus Army. He describes the first time he turned up at one of the Jesus Army’s houses in Northamptonshire: “As soon as I walked into the kitchen I felt peace.” He’d found people with something to live for – the same God who had saved his life all those years ago. As Artemis opened up to God and his new Christian friends, he found healing. “Over the past year I have cried uncountable times, shouted my head off, laughed till it hurts, danced my heart out – and felt the awesome power of God’s love” says Artemis. “One thing I really struggled with was love. I thought I knew what it was, but when people said ‘I love you’ I found it hard to accept. But through people’s patience and grace, I have seen God’s love for me. “God has shown me that love stands by what it believes in, even when feelings aren’t there. I’ve found I can forgive my mum and my dad. I can let go of guilt I’ve held for years. I can ask for people’s forgiveness and start to love myself.” Artemis has found the purpose God has for him. “God prepared me for this” he says. “He’s saying ‘Now you have something to live for. Now you can live for Me.’ ” DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Domestic violence occurs across society. It has many forms, including physical violence, verbal, sexual or emotional abuse, intimidation, or threats. Research indicates: • it accounts for 16 per cent of all violent crime • it affects 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men • it has more repeat victims than any other crime (average 35 assaults before a victim calls the police) • on average, two women are killed every week by a current or former male partner • one incident of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute • 77 per cent of victims of domestic violence are women If you are suffering domestic violence of any kind, you can phone the Jesus Army helpline for help and advice on: 0845 123 5550 Artemis: “I have seen God’s love for me”
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