...on becoming an Anglican?!

My friend/colleague/boss Ally has decided to become an Anglican. For those who know him as a raving 'penty' (pentecostal) then this will seem at odds. However for those who, like me, know his heart for the poor and needy, his desire for social action and justice, and his longing for church unity in mission then his decision really does make a lot of sense.

I have worked at Derby City Mission for over 3 years now and it has given me, amongst others, one opportunity that I wouldn't have got elsewhere. That is the opportunity to visit/preach in a whole range of different churches of different denominations. I have done Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, Free, Elim, Evangelical and the list goes on. My own church is Elim Pentecostal, though we are not raving loonies though(!) and my history is in churches of a similar nature. The opportunity afforded me by DCM has really opened my eyes to the wider church and it's beliefs and practices. I have learnt to embrace the liturgy of an Anglican church and enjoy the freedom of an Evangelical Free church; and all the while, in every church I've visited, I've found a congregation of people (varying in numbers) who love each other, who love the Lord and who love reaching out to those around them. And it's this commonality of the Christian faith which transcends denominational lines and barriers that makes 'the' (whole) church of God one force for good together. And, it's this very same reason that I applaud Ally's choice to become and Anglican and follow God's plan for his life. For it matters not which bit of the church you belong to, nor even what other people think about your choice of church, but how you choose to live your life and what you do with it on a daily basis. And these choices are truly non-denominational.

...on stark contrasts

Listening to the radio the other morning, I was interested by 2 news items:-

The first was about Cyprus. Someone (can't remember their name) was being interviewed about the possibility of imposing a bank levy on all accounts in the 2 biggest banks. They were saying that it was not impossible for a levy to be set at approx 40% for those depositing over 100k euros.

The very next news item was about the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and their annual summit which started on Tuesday. The main topic of conversation is to be about how the can get their proposed Development Bank to work, with each putting in $10bn to start.

What struck me about these 2 news items was not whether they were intrinsically right or wrong in their own rights, but simply the contrast between the 2 happening at the same time. Cyprus on the brink of financial collapse in stark contrast the formation of a $40bn bank to fund continued economic development in certain other countries.

Is this a case of 'fair' and 'unfair'? Or is it just simply macro-economics and unfortunate timing?