20 August 2011 salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry

EARTHLINGS!EARTHLINGS!

Universal S

tudios and

Dream

works II

writes CLAIRE BRINE

YEE-HA! Welcome to New Mexico in 1875. A space-ship of extraterrestrial beings is about to land oncowboy territory. But the town ain’t big enough forboth the aliens and the cowboys. So who is outtahere? Cinemagoers can find out by watching Cowboysand Aliens, released on Wednesday (17 August).

The story gets off to a mysterious start. Lone cowboy JakeLonergan (Daniel Craig) stumbles into the old desert town of

Daniel Craig takes on themystery invaders

War CryEst 1879No 7027THE

FIGHTING FOR HEARTS AND SOULS20p/25c

HELP ISOUTTHERE

HOWDY, Page 4

Turn to page 3

AMY GRANTTALKSGRAMMYSAND GOD

FFOOSSSSIILL HHUUNNTTEERRMMAAKKEESS DDIISSCCOOVVEERRYYPage 8

sessions in riots inNorth London.

Salvation Army staffare running the receptionarea of a communityassistance centre whichhas been set up byHaringey Council to sup-port victims.

Volunteers have beenturning up at the TottenhamGreen leisure centre to helpthe church sort throughbags of clothes, food andhousehold items whichhave been donated by thepublic. They are also serv-ing refreshments to thosewho have lost their homesand directing them to serv-ices which can providehousing, financial and legaladvice.

‘We are working closelywith Haringey Council tosupport residents and busi-nesses as they rebuild theirlives and the community,’said Major MurielMcClenahan, who has beenworking on the reception.‘Many people have losttheir homes in the riots.

When they come into thecentre for help, most ofthem speak very quietly, asif they don’t really want todraw attention to them-selves.

‘Hundreds of peoplehave offered to volunteer atthe centre. They just wantto help those who havebeen affected.’

After making donationsof clothing and money,many members of the pub-lic have been asking TheSalvation Army if there arefurther specific itemswhich victims need. Thestream of people turning upto donate has been con-stant.

One young womanarrived to assist theSalvation Army team afterlearning about the centre onthe internet.

‘This is my town and Iwant to do something forit,’ said Fran Roberts. ‘Ifound out about this loca-tion and decided to come

along and help. Peoplein the area are comingtogether to show thatwe don’t support therioting but instead areworking together as acommunity.’

Other churches in

surrounding areas are alsosupporting people after theriots. The Rev GeorgeHargreaves, who is the pastor of the HephzibahChristian Centre inHackney, held a meetingwith other church leaders inwhich they discussed waysto help victims of the violence, as well as the perpetrators and their fami-lies.

‘Churches are offeringtheir services to the youthoffending team in Hackneyand advising the staff to

put us in touch with anyfamilies who need to talk to someone,’ he says. ‘Weare setting up a telephone service at Hephzibah sothat church members canbefriend victims, visit themand offer pastoral support.

‘The message that wewant to get across to therioters is that, although theyhave done wrong and mustface the consequencesunder law for their actions,they can still be forgiven byGod. Their lives canchange hereafter.’

The War Cry 20 August 20112 NEWS

MEDIA/COMMENTp6

HEALTHp7

PUZZLESp12

INNER LIFEp13

FOOD FOR THOUGHTp14

RECIPESp15

THIS ISSUE:

PLUS

CHURCHES OFFER HELP TO STRANDED RESIDENTS

THE SalvationArmy has been giving clothing,refreshments andadvice to peoplewho lost theirhomes and pos-

Help at handfor riot victims

CLA

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BR

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MICHAEL OWEN

X FACTOR IS BACKp16

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YOUR prayers arerequested for John, whois recovering after astroke and a heartattack; for Mary, whohas ovarian cancer; andfor those who sufferedduring the riots.

The War Cry invitesreaders to send inrequests for prayer,including the names ofindividuals and details oftheir circumstances.Send your requests toPRAYERLINK, The War Cry, 101 NewingtonCauseway, Lon don SE1 6BN. Markyour envelope‘Confidential’.

Above: teenagevolunteers prepare toserve refreshmentsLeft: a Salvation Armyofficer staffs thereception desk

in NorthLondon

be burnt’ (Isaiah 43:1, 2 ContemporaryEnglish Version).

Through thick and thin, God promis-es to care for us. We can tell him any-thing and know that he still loves us. Wecan confess the bad things we have doneto others and still be forgiven.

Whatever comes our way, God offersto partner us.

It becomes apparent that in the pastJake somehow had a connection to thealiens. He discovers that his metalbracelet has the power to kill them.Slowly, more of Jake’s memory returns.He realises that he holds a secret that-could give the town a fighting chanceagainst the space invaders.

Jake pulls together a mishmash armyof townsfolk, outlaws, Dolarhyde andhis men and Apache warriors. They areall in danger of alien abduction. Buttogether they prepare to battle for theirsurvival.

Jake – the man whofaced rejection before –seems to be the peo-ple’s only hope.

When lifeposes its prob-lems, sometimespeople findthemselves pin-ning all theirhopes on one signifi-

cant person to make everything better.Perhaps a wife offloads her worries toher husband. Or an ill child puts all theirtrust in a parent to make them better.

Turning to loved ones when we are introuble is a good idea – but it also comeswith risks. People are human, andhumans make mistakes. They let usdown. They can’t always be there whenwe need them. They can’t always makethings better.

That is why so many people find ithelpful to turn to God – an ever-presentfriend – not just in times of trouble but

every single day.God offers to listen to usin the middle of the nightwhen we can’t speak toanyone else. He is willing

to comfort us when we can’tstop hurting. In the Bible, God says:

‘Don’t be afraid … When youcross deep rivers, I will bewith you, and you won’tdrown. When you walk

through fire, you won’t

20 August 2011 The War Cry 3

From page 1

Absolution. He is suffering with a stomach wound. Ametal bracelet is locked on his wrist. But that is all Jakeknows. He has no memory of his past.

It isn’t long before Jake makes his first discovery –that the townsfolk don’t take kindly to strangers. He alsolearns that the people live in fear of Colonel Dolarhyde(Harrison Ford).

But making friends is the least of Jake’s problems.Suddenly Absolution is attacked by weird creatures fromthe sky. They set the land and buildings on fire. Thetownsfolk run for their lives. But not all make it to safety.Some are abducted by the monsters.

Those left behind are baffled. What on earth are thesealien creatures? The cowboys have no idea how to fightback and rescue their loved ones.

We can tell Godanything andknow he loves us

Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) andLonergan (Daniel Craig) headtrouble off at the pass

Universal S

tudios

The manwho facedrejectionseems to bethe people’sonly hope

The War Cry 20 August 20114

‘IDON’T have a vir-tuoso voice. I can’thit the big high

notes that make everybodyjump to their feet withapplause. I just have a voicethat sounds familiar to peo-ple,’ says US singer AmyGrant, who has beenrecording music for morethan 30 years.

‘My friends have written songswhich I think are unbelievably good,and yet I am the one who gets askedto go on tour. It doesn’t make anysense to me. Why is my phone ringing with offers, and not theirs?’

Amy spent her childhood singing inchurch and school, then during herteens she hit the music scene. And shewas a hit. In 1977 she released herself-titled debut album. In 1982 shewas the first contemporary Christianmusic artist to reach platinum statuswith the album Age to Age. She alsosecured her first Grammy. She scoredher first and biggest hit in Britain in1991 when ‘Baby Baby’ reached No 2in the singles chart.

Amy continues to write and recordsongs and go on tour. But it isn’t theglitz and glamour that attracts her to per-forming. She just enjoys making music.

‘I love the camaraderie that musiccreates,’ she says. ‘It doesn’t feel likework.’

Amy says there is no secret formulathat she uses to come up with the ‘perfect’ song. Sometimes her creationssurprise her. At other times she findscomposing difficult.

She reflects: ‘When I was younger

She has won six Grammys,recorded three multi-platinum albums andscored three UK Top 40singles. But singer AMYGRANT tells Claire Brinethat she has always been ‘alittle baffled’ by her success

Amy

of Love’. But how did she become aChristian?

‘My parents took me to church as achild. I remember my mother saying: “Ifyou can learn to follow the leading ofGod’s Holy Spirit, then your life will bemore exciting than any secret agent’s.”She was right.

‘I was so intrigued by people who hada strong faith. Iwanted whateverthey had.’

Amy is stillintrigued by faith.Sometimes situa-tions occur in whichshe feels promptedto speak up or act ina certain way. Atsuch times she

believes she is hearing from God.‘Jesus is the Son of God. He is my

rescuer. Through him, I am able to live,’she says.

‘When I was younger, my mothertold me that she loved me very much,but that God loved me even more. Beingaccepted by him has meant that Ihaven’t felt an overwhelming need foracceptance in the world of celebrity. If my feelings of importance were tocome from my levels of popularity, Iwould have been in for a wild ride.’

Amy explains that the way in whichshe values herself is ‘completelychanged by having a faith’.

‘Sometimes I have composed songswhich I thought were great but othersthought were hideous. Sometimes mysongs have been on the radio, some-times they haven’t.

‘But I have to write what comes intomy head. I am always glad to have newideas. I also believe that it is good tohave a very full life aside from mymusic. I love my family. I love travel-ling. I love the outdoors. Real life isabout investing in relationships.’

I used to get writer’s block. I’d writesome music which I thought was goodand then think: “What if I can never dothat again?” I only got over those feel-ings by making myself write anothersong, even if it was a bad one.

‘I take my inspiration from life expe-riences and from conversations I havewith people. Sometimes I hear some-body say a certain phrase, but it will beyears before I put it in a song.

‘When it comes to writing, I stopdoing everything else, sit down andplay my guitar. All of a sudden I’llthink: “Oh, I like how that sounds”,then words start coming to me. To create something out of nothing – totake the time to write a song whicharticulates something that matters tome – is an amazing feeling.’

Amy is not afraid to be vocal abouther Christian faith through her music.She expresses her belief in God throughsongs such as ‘Father’s Eyes’ and ‘Arms

20 August 2011 The War Cry 5

PA

takesnothingfor

grantedTo create

something out ofnothing is an amazingfeeling

Amy Grant in concert

I was sointrigued bypeople whohad a strongfaith

PA

photo

A CHURCH has had to suspend servicesafter bats infested the building and drovethe congregation out, reported The DailyTelegraph.

Hundreds of bats have covered the altarin droppings and dive-bombed worship-

pers at St Hilda’s Church in Ellerburn,North Yorkshire. Some members of thechurch have become ill since coming intocontact with the bats’ waste.

According to the paper, the bats are aprotected species and it is an offence todisturb them.

‘Our congregation has halved as aresult over the last ten years,’ said churchwarden Liz Cowley. ‘We have tried tokeep the church clean but have lost thebattle. The congregation is the endangeredspecies, not the bats.’

CINEMA and TV actor David Oyelowo– a star of the new Rise of the Planetof the Apes film – told The Timesabout hisChristian faith.

He said:‘When I was 16I struck a dealwith God … “Ifyou’re true, ifyou’re real,turn up withinthree monthsor I’m out!”Well, much tomy chagrin atthe time, hedid.’

The actoralso revealedthat he had feltdirected byGod to playMartin LutherKing in theforthcomingfilm Selma.

The War Cry 20 August 20116 MEDIA

Comment

AS traders pick up the pieces ofruined businesses, the questionof who is to blame for the arsonand looting on city streets hangslike a languid pall of smoke from a dampened-down furniturestore.

Media commentators were quick tofinger the use of social networking sites,smart phones, ineffectual parents, rapmusic and a holidaying Prime Minister.

Community leaders and a recalledParliament have given consideredthought to the inconsiderate behaviourof what one tabloid described as ‘feralthugs’.

Shopowners and residents whoseproperty was attacked wanted quitereasonably to know where the policewere. Politicians wanted to know wherethe police were, forgetting that theywere the ones who had cut policerecruitment.

These were not moral protests.Rioters backed no cause other than toget their hands on a telly or a pair oftrainers.

Hundreds of young people across thecountry who torched, mugged and stoledidn’t forget the name of the armed manshot dead by police that triggered theriots in Tottenham. They never knew it inthe first place. One man’s death – a shallow and callous excuse for selfishgreed. No respect for the dead – nor forthe living.

Godlessness is to blame. Our increasingly secular, self-centred andmaterialistic society is reaping what ithas sown. A society that neglects topass on – and model – to its youngresponsibility, respect and reverencefails them.

Britain has been desensitising itsChristian moral compass. People don’twant to hear about moral absolutes.They reject God. They reject the biblicalconcepts of right and wrong, good andevil. They don’t want God mentioned.They want to live to please themselves.And this is the mess that results.

True people of faith do not loot, maim,rob or burn. They build. They repair.They help. They heal.

Until our nation finds it way back toGod, society will increasingly fail.

IN T

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S Congregation has been driven bats

Effect andcause

RADIO Bostock is spurredon by faith

YOUNG Tottenham Hotspur player John Bostock has revealed that a numberof young players at London football clubsare ‘running after God’ rather than‘chasing girls’.

In an interview recorded for PremierChristian Radio’s Men @ Work show, theteenager spoke about his Christian faithand said that a number of players ‘meettogether often’ in order to ‘seek God’.

The midfielder, who became theyoungest player in Tottenham’s historywhen he made his debut aged 16, alsoexplained that his faith affected the wayhe played.

He said: ‘You have to take your off-the-field values on the pitch, because we’recalled to be salt and light. So, if you’resaying one thing about your faith andthen on the pitch you’re playing likeeveryone else, is there really anythingdifferent?’

Actor made God deal

PA

BBC/CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU

THE Proms performance of Verdi’s Requiem by theBBC Symphony Orchestra and a 400-voice choir, conducted by Semyon Bychkov is to be broadcast on BBC Four tomorrow (Sunday 21 August 7 pm).

ON THE BOX

PA

photo

20 August 2011 The War CryHEALTH 7

almost half of British peoplewith a BMI (body mass index)of 28–29.9 have been trying tolose weight for less than sixmonths.

Results showed that as BMIincreases, people become lesslikely to sustain their weightloss. Seventy-six per cent ofBritish women with a BMI of30–35.9 had lost weight but sub-sequently regained it.Among those whohad a BMI of 36 orgreater, this figurerose to 77 per cent.By the time peoplefind themselves in thehigher BMI groupsthey have been stuckin an unsuccessful‘weight-loss’ trap forlonger.

The research alsosuggested that yearsof unsuccessfulweight-loss attemptscan have a negativepsychological impact,

and by the time some peoplereach a BMI of 36 or greaterthey feel ‘blamed and shamed’about their weight by societyand themselves.

Alli spokesperson HollyTurner says: ‘We undertook this research to gain a betterunderstanding of the barriersthat are preventing people from

losing weight and maintainingtheir weight loss over the longterm. It seems that the higher the weight, the harder peoplefind it to tackle successfully.’

WITH summer in fullswing, it’s time to takeadvantage of the greatoutdoors. The UK’snational parks andmoorland offer morethan 54 billion squaremiles of gloriouscountryside to exploreand enjoy, making thecountry the ultimate‘green gym’.

Whether the weatheris hot or raining, thenatural environment canprovide lots ofopportunities to help youlead a healthy lifestyle. � Push yourself to reach

a summit, a milestoneor a monument. You’llfeel exhilarated and

proud of yourself whenyou succeed.

� Air pollution triggersheart attacks, so takeadvantage of greensurroundings and gofor a brisk walk in yourlocal park, to top uplevels of heart-healthyvitamin D.

� Whether it’s walking,jogging, cycling,skating or a ‘greengym’ workout, being inthe fresh air will helprelieve stress andencourage a goodnight’s sleep.

Health tip provided by HeartResearch UK. For moreinformation call 0113 2976206

Head for the hills

Losing

Look out for thehealth benefitsof the outdoors

poundingweight takes a

OVERWEIGHT Britons are indenial about their weight andcontinue to eat an unhealthy dietdespite health warnings aboutobesity, according to newresearch by the makers ofweight-loss aid Alli.

One in five overweight people ques-tioned said they hadn’t tried to lose theirexcess weight at all. Fifty-four per centof overweight and obese people blamedtheir weight on eating too much, 49 percent on eating the wrong foods, and 46per cent on snacking.

The survey of 8,500 overweight andobese people across Europe revealed that Library pictures posed by models

From a schoolboyfossil-hunter on aDorset beach to aworld authorityscouring sites inCanada and China,SIMON CONWAYMORRIS has seenhis career evolve. TheProfessor ofEvolutionaryPalaeobiology atCambridgeUniversity talksto Nigel Bovey about his discoveriesin the worlds of faith and science

The War Cry 20 August 20118

NIGEL BOVEY

For the

Simon Conway Morris

Professor Conway Morris, when didyou know you wanted to be ascientist?

When I was about eight or nine yearsold, my mother gave me a book ofstickers of prehistoric animals. It firedmy imagination and from then on Idecided I wanted to work on fossils. Myparents were generous and took mefossil-collecting to places such asCharmouth. I studied geology at BristolUniversity and then did a PhD atCambridge.

What is evolutionary palaeobiology?Palaeobiology is the study of extinct

organisms. In On the Origin of SpeciesDarwin presented many lines ofevidence to show that evolution is afact. One of those lines of evidence is

the fossil record. The main argument inpalaeobiology is that the major

transitions – for example,the origin of humans –

can be investigatedonly through the

record(fossil)

controversial as to the first definite signsof life, but it is generally accepted thatthere was life on Earth around 3.5 billion years ago.

How did life on Earth start?One idea is that the first cells formed

in deep-sea vents. Another is that lifearrived on meteorites from elsewhere inthe solar system – Mars, for instance. Atthe moment, we simply don’t know.

To what extent is the biblical account

fossil record. We can infer that we arevery closely related to chimpanzees butif you want to learn what the commonancestor looked like, then you will haveto employ a palaeontologist.

For years people have been lookingfor a ‘missing link’ as conclusiveevidence that humans are descendedfrom apes. Is there a missing link?

I am not an expert on humanevolution, but the term ‘missing link’ isfreighted with all sorts of expectationsand assumptions.

If we mean finding fossil remainswhich are reasonably interpreted asintermediate between ourselves andsome set of ancestors, then that is amissing link. It may be that at certaintimes, things happened rather rapidly –for instance, the invasion of air or theinvasion of land – and thatthe fossil record is notperfect.

The fossil record isincomplete, but – as in allscience – there oftencomes a point where wecan say beyondreasonable doubt what wewill discover next.

Sometimes we findsomething unexpected, such as the‘Hobbit’ – Homo floresiensis – from20,000 years ago, who were discoveredin 2004 on Flores Island in Indonesia.They were about a metre high, had abrain the size of a chimpanzee’s, yetseem to have been fully human.

If ten years ago you’d asked anyarchaeologist if they expected to findsome extremely primitive hominoidsliving in almost historical memory inthe Indonesian archipelago, they wouldhave thought you were crazy.

The discovery of the ‘Hobbit’ did notrender previous discoveriesredundant. There are gaps inour knowledge. There willalways be gaps but we arenot in need of a defining‘missing link’.

What does the fossil recordsay about the age of theEarth?

The oldest mineralsrecovered from this planetcome in at just under 4.4 billion years old – within

200 millionyears of theformation ofthe solar system. Thereason we don’t have theoriginal record is becausethe Earth’s crust has beencontinuously recycled sothese little minerals –zircons – have beenrecycled into youngerrocks.

After extracting the zircons from therocks, scientists put them into a massspectrometer, which calculates therelative ratio of the radiogenic isotopes,and get a reliable date of 4.4 billionyears.

The issue of the fossil record is

20 August 2011 The War Cry 9

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The term‘missing link’is freightedwithassumptions

Left: A cove onDorset’s fossil-filled JurassicCoast

Above: The beachat Charmouth is ahaven for youngfossil-hunters

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They say they have sorted it all out.This is a very odd approach to thecomplexities of life.

Since Darwin published his ideas, thetheory of evolution has been abattleground. Some Christiansbelieve evolution is unbiblical; someatheists claim evolution shows thatGod is redundant. Why has thisscientific theory attracted so muchnon-scientific attention?

Thomas Henry Huxley, an atheist and

contemporary supporter of Darwin, wasvery sceptical of any theology. Huxley,who in his day was as articulate asDawkins is today, managed to persuademany people that Darwin’s idea onnatural selection obviated the need forGod.

Today’s young Earth creationists arefundamentally following in thefootsteps of those people who resistedHuxley.

The idea that humankind is merely atwig on Darwin’s tree of life in the

The War Cry 20 August 201110

From page 9

Professor Conway Morris and Dr Jon Ineson collatefindings at Sirius Passet, Peary Land, Greenland

JOHN S. PEEL/Uppsala University

of how life started in conflict with ascientific explanation?

The Bible is not a scientific textbookand I’m not a theologian. Genesis is adescription of a creative activity. All ofus, scientists or not, are dealing withincomplete truths and trying to findways to explain who we are. Someatheists and agnostics would explain lifein dry, reductionist, bleak terms – thereis nothing around us; life is an accident.

I think that God creating the worldout of nothing – ex nihilo – as Genesisstates, is a perfectly reasonablesupposition. The idea that creation wasextremely good but the world has gonebadly wrong is a metaphysicalstatement which, when put alongsidethe idea of salvation, is the best youcould possibly want.

Genesis talks about humans beingmade ‘in the image of God’. What doyou understand by that phrase?

It speaks to me of the fact thathumans can know and communicatewith God, that the world is rationallyorganised, and that the world is not anaccident. The fact is we know theworld, we understand the world, wethink the world is beautiful and we loveit. These are things we share in commonwith God and that is the image wemirror.

To what extent are scientific and faithperspectives incompatible?

Science is about learning new things.When we learn new things we mayneed to reconsider what we believe tobe the truth. New ideas do not mean thatpreviously held beliefs are necessarilyfalse, but they need to be reviewed.

If one subscribes, as I do, to aparticular theology of Creation or to theidea of the Incarnation, then anythingscience tells us will not change thatbasic belief. It may be, though, that theworld we see is configured in a waywhich surprises us, and we will onlyknow that through science.

When people entrench themselves ina particular set of assumptions, it isdifficult for them to have a dialoguewith others. If you always deal in onemetaphysic, then you are likely to seethe world only through one set oflenses. Theologically, I disagree withRichard Dawkins but through hiswritings I sense his enthusiasm andenchantment with the world.

How viable is the claim by someatheists that science has all theanswers?

It would be a very strangemetaphysic that explained everything.Religious fundamentalists do the same.

God creating the world out of nothing –ex nihilo – as Genesis states, is a perfectlyreasonable supposition

organisms which look remarkablyunalike are actually doing the samething. For instance, the way insects andmammals walk is basically the same.

Can science prove the existence ofGod?

No. The way the world is constructedis consistent with the existence of Godbut that is not proof; it is evidence.Seeing is not believing. The evidencecan stare you in the face and you don’trecognise it.

How and when did you become aChristian?

I was baptised in the Church ofEngland as a child. I was confirmed.When I married I purposely wanted tomarry in church to feel I belonged to awider faith community.

The main motor in my faith is similarto that of people such as C. S. Lewis –an intellectual assent rather than anemotional response to the gospel,though I understand the nature of thepersonal claims in Christianity.

What convinces you that Jesus is whohe says he is?

The evidence of the witnesses to theResurrection. The individual accountsare consistent. These were not storiesthat were worth making up. The gospelnarrative hangs together. There is, whatscientists call, an internal consistency.

If you then buy into the idea of theTrinity and of Creation ex nihilo plusthe notion that Jesus was neither madnor bad when he said he was God, thenit rings true.

To what extent does your faith affectyour science?

Some atheists will say that my faithhas corrupted my science, but I wouldremind them that they too bring ametaphysic to their work.

Does science explain miracles?Miracles are beyond the realm of

current science. Jesus didn’t performmiracles as a kind of firework display;he did them for a completely differentreason.

There is something about us and ourworld that allows some very odd thingsto happen. These aren’t ‘scientific’occasions, but there are few people whodon’t have at least one occasion in theirlives that is uncanny. This would beconsistent with the fact that miraclescan happen – that the world operates ina way that we don’t fully comprehend.

middle of a meaningless cosmos is onethat Christians find unacceptable.Christians believe that life is a gift fromGod and has purpose, that good existsand that things matter.

But if science is saying that the worldis more wonderfully made than maybewe at first realised, then we shouldrecognise that.

If we only look at the world eitherthrough faith or through science, ourview will remain impoverished.

Do you believe that God created theUniverse?

Yes. Evolution is simply the methodby which the Universe becomes self-aware. The question is: ‘Why are weself-aware?’ Even organisms far simplerthan an animal are sentient. They arecomplex in terms of their ability to

register signals from outside. That couldmean that they are mere robots, but theyare not. Where, then, does this self-awareness come from, let alone ethicsor morality, if not ultimately from acreator?

Do science and Christianity eachhave questions the other is notdesigned to answer?

Science and faith have beendescribed as non-overlapping magisteria– two completely separate entities. Thatto me is unsatisfactory. There are areasof overlap.

But there is a great deal of unfinishedbusiness. Do you believe in an afterlife?As it happens, I think there is goodempirical evidence for the afterlife, but Icertainly can’t describe the exactdetails!

The problems come when people offaith say that the claims to which theysubscribe are so overwhelminglyimportant that they will not considerthose claims in the light of scientificinsight.

Science can tell us the ‘how?’ aboutthe world but it doesn’t tell us the‘why?’.

Are humans the end of theevolutionary process?

Astronomers are discovering planetsoutside our solar system that orbit otherstars – exoplanets. They are particularlyinterested in the possibilities of life onany Earth-like planets. In my view thestudy of evolution is like any otherscience – it is predictable. I now have avery good idea about what we wouldfind on any other planet, simply becauseall the mechanisms of evolution havebeen learnt on this planet and have re-evolved repeatedly – the phenomenonknown as convergent evolution.

What is convergent evolution?It is simply the observation that the

same biological solution has evolvedindependently. So, for example, the eyeof the octopus is effectively constructedin identical fashion to our own eye – the‘camera eye’. The common ancestor didnot possess that camera eye.

Convergence suggests that thenumber of solutions is much smallerthan people realise – that in many cases

1120 August 2011 The War Cry

Miracles are beyond therealms of science

PUZZLEBREAK12 The War Cry 20 August 2011

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9

Solution on page 15SUD

OK

U

HONEYCOMB

QUICK CROSSWORD

ANSWERS

ACROSS1. Fling (4)3. Pen point (3)5. Diesel oil (4)7. Boundary (9)9. Den (4)10. Bargain (4)11. Shock (5)14. Brush (5)15. Shaft (5)17. Copying (5)18. Planet (5)19. Coagulated (5)20. Follow (5)23. Shut noisily (4)25. Nautical mph (4)27. Enlarged by

lens (9)28. Bucket (4)29. Besides (3)30. Cranny (4)

QUICK CROSSWORDACROSS: 1 Hurl. 3 Nib. 5 Derv. 7 Perimeter.

9 Lair. 10 Deal. 11 Shake. 14 Sweep. 15 Arrow. 17 Aping. 18 World. 19 Lumpy. 20 Ensue. 23 Slam. 25 Knot. 27 Magnified. 28 Pail. 29 Yet. 30 Nook.

DOWN: 1 Heal. 2 Leer. 3 Neigh. 4 Break. 5 Died. 6 Veil. 7 Pipe dream. 8 Reprimand. 11 Spade. 12 Amiss. 13 Eagle. 14 Sew. 16 Why. 21 Nanny. 22 Unfit. 23 Stop. 24 Mail. 25 Keen. 26 Talk.

QUICK QUIZ1 Tunis. 2 The Wizard of Oz. 3 Heights. 4 1973.

5 On a ship. 6 Young Men’s Christian Association.HONEYCOMB

1 Belfry. 2 Wicket. 3 Metric. 4 Prompt. 5 Little. 6 Boffin.

Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these parts of a mechanical sewing machine

BELTBOBBINBOBBIN CASE

BOBBIN WINDEREXTENSION TABLEFEED DOGFOOT PEDALHAND WHEELLIGHT

MOTORNEEDLEPRESSER FOOTPRESSER FOOT LEVERSHANKSHUTTLE HOOK

SPOOL HOLDERTAKE-UP LEVERTHREAD CUTTERTHREAD GUIDETHROAT PLATE

QUICK QUIZ1. What is the capital city of Tunisia?2. In which film does a character named Dorothy Gale

say: ‘There’s no place like home’?3. Someone with acrophobia is afraid of what?4. In which year was VAT introduced in the UK?5. Where would you find a purser?6. What do the initials YMCA stand for?

DOWN1. Cure (4)2. Unpleasant look (4)3. Whinny (5)4. Shatter (5)5. Perished (4)6. Face cover (4)7. Impossible wish (4, 5)8. Chastise (9)11. Digging tool (5)12. Faulty (5)13. Bird of prey (5)14. Stitch (3)16. For what reason (3)21. Child’s nurse (5)22. In poor health (5)23. Halt (4)24. Post (4)25. Eager (4)26. Speak (4)

1. Place where bells are housed

2. Cricket target

3. Standard of measurement

4. Supply a forgotten word or line to an actor

5. Small in size

6. Person in scientific research

Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number

WORDSEARCH

E U K T R E D L O H L O O P S T S T H B N E E D L E H K O R K E A K A S O L T L D I E I H N O D C H L L T B E T E F G S A E O I N B O I P A B E U R S H T D H U I P O E E T K I H C S T T S E G B O R B M N A E N W D D H F L D B F L E B O B O U W D A R T T A O O R T S I T O R P I N E V T E B O S E H S N O S H L N A R U R T T S K I N E N R E T E D H H H O P L T O E P R R A E G V E S T R E V E L T O O F R E S S E R P R D O L B X E D H O O D E E R B B A L F E E D D O G O L O L B N I L E F E K N A S L T T E I O W

IT was Children in Need day and Mariewas listening to the radio. People wereinvited to phone in, donate money andrequest a record. The presenters weredoing their best to fit as many requestsas possible into the programmes.

Marie phoned up to pledge £25, andthe person who answered the phoneasked if she would like to choose arecord to go with the donation.

‘I don’t suppose there’s much of achance. There are so many peopleasking for records,’ she said.

‘You never know,’ came the answer.So she picked a record.

About an hour later the presenter said:‘The next record is for Marie who hasdonated £25 to Children in Need. Shehas requested “I’m a Believer” by theMonkees.’

Marie was thrilled to have a recordplayed on the radio but she was a littleuncomfortable about people knowing

how much she hadgiven (and indeed

what song she hadchosen). After all, didn’t

Jesus say somethingabout how to givemoney?Something to

do with lefthands and right

hands? Sheconsoled herself with the

thought that not many of herfriends would be listening tothe radio.

Today, the expressionabout left and right hands isoften used to describeconfusion. For example,two governmentdepartments issue whatseem to be conflictingstatements.

Jesus, though, used it

to describe a level of secrecy. ‘When yougive to the needy, do not let your lefthand know what your right hand isdoing, so that your giving may be insecret. Then your Father, who sees whatis done in secret, will reward you’(Matthew 6:3, 4 New InternationalVersion).

Our giving to good causes should bedone quietly so that not even our lefthand knows what our right is doing.Essayist Charles Lamb once said: ‘Thegreatest pleasure I know, is to do a good

action by stealth, andto have it found out byaccident.’ And Jesuschallenges ourmotives for giving. Headdresses what weget from giving.

Some people giveto gain a reputation –to be well thought ofby others. Jesus saysthere is a greater

reward to giving money (as there is tothe spending of life). Those who makethe pleasing of God their priority will berewarded.

To commemorate this year’s 400thanniversary of the King JamesBible, PHILIPPA SMALE looks atsome everydayexpressionspopularised by the translation

CAN WE HELP?Just complete this coupon and send it to The War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway,London SE1 6BN

Please send meBasic reading about ChristianityInformation about The Salvation ArmyContact details of a Salvationist minister

Name

Address

1320 August 2011 The War CryINNER LIFE

leftright

Library picture posed by model

Theand the

hands

PHRASEBOOK

Some people give

to gain a reputation

– to be well thought

of by others

‘But when thou doest alms,let not thy left hand knowwhat thy right hand doeth’(Matthew 6:3)

them to get his message across. I havea feeling that he would have preferred tomeet people in person, to spend timewith them in reality.

Jesus shared many happy and sadtimes with his friends. He attended theirweddings. He ate meals with them. Hesupported them through times ofbereavement. He cared for them whenthey were ill.

Jesus wasn’t distant in his dealingswith people back then, and neither doeshe want to be distant from our lives

today. He wants to form apersonal relationship withus. He wants us to talk tohim.

‘Come to me’ was hisinvitation. It still is.

When we become friendswith Jesus, we can turn tohim any time of day, anyday of the week. He knowseverything about us –including the bad bits – andlikes us anyway. Eventhough we may let himdown, he never stopswanting to know us.

That’s the reality.

The War Cry 20 August 201114

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by JIM BURNS

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ACETRUTH!

the

APPARENTLY, Mark Zuckerbergis worth £9 billion and has 500million ‘friends’. But I doubt thathe knows them all personally.They are actually users of hissocial networking site,Facebook.

Sites such as Facebook and Twitterare amazing innovations of the 21stcentury. In the past, many people usedto want to protect their privacy, buttoday it seems they feel comfortable insharing their innermost thoughts withtheir virtual friends and acquaintances.

Through Facebook, Zuckerbergseems to be meeting the need thatpeople have to interact with others, dayand night. But as users turn to theinternet to keep in touch with theirfriends, what has happened to face-to-face contact? Is it on its way out offashion?

If social networking sites had existedin the past, I

wonder if Jesuswould have used

FRIENDLY FACE:Mark Zuckerberg

made a fortunefrom inventing

the social network

Facebook

Lib

rary

pic

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by

mod

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PA

They share their innermost thoughts

Ingredients:

12–16 cocktail sausages 1 red pepper, deseeded and

cut into chunks1 green pepper, deseeded

and cut into chunksFor the glaze3tbsp hoisin sauce2tbsp honey1tbsp tomato purée

Method:Thread the sausages and

pepper chunks alternatelyonto the skewers.

Mix together the glazeingredients.

Brush the glaze over eachkebab, then cook on thebarbecue or under apreheated grill. Turn thekebabs frequently andcontinue to baste with theglaze.

Serve with noodles and a mixedsalad.

Serves 4

20 August 2011 The War Cry 15

JUST DESSERTSTHE MAIN ATTRACTION

SUDOKU SOLUTION

Cocktail sausagebarbecue kebabs

Stuffed oranges

WHAT’S COOKING?

Ingredients:

450g strawberries, hulled and quartered4 large oranges225g cottage cheeseA little milkGrated rind of ½ orange50g sugar2tbsp orange juice, freshly squeezed

Method:Cut the tops off the oranges to form a lid, then scoop out

the flesh. Remove all the white pith and seeds, then chop.Push the cottage cheese through a sieve until smooth. If the

cheese is too thick, thin it down by adding a little milk.(Alternatively, use a liquidiser rather than a sieve.)

Stir the orange rind, sugar and orange juice into the cheesemixture. Fold in the strawberries and orange flesh.

Fill the oranges with the fruity cheese mixture and replacethe lids. Chill before serving.

Tip: As a variation, grapefruit may be stuffed in the same way.

Serves 4

with the auditions, wherejudges listen to aspiringpop stars.

The boot camp stage fol-lows, in which those whohave been chosen from theauditions are given thechance to prove andimprove their talent.

After a few rounds ofelimination, the hopefuls

will be whittled down tojust 12 acts. Week afterweek, they will compete fora £1 million recording con-tract and a shot at theChristmas No 1.

While much of the showis familiar, there is a newlook to the judging panel.

Original judge Louis

Walsh is being joined byTake That singer GaryBarlow, N-Dubz singerTulisa Contostavlos andfounding member ofDestiny’s Child KellyRowland. They are, in thewords of an earlier TV tal-

ent show, The X Factor’snew faces.

Each of them has first-hand experience of the popindustry, so they know whatit takes to be a hit.

The question is, though,will the new judges changethe show for the better?

For some of us, changeis tough. It can be difficultto adjust to a new job, amove to a different city orcountry or the loss of aloved one.

Sometimes change is forthe better. Wecould have beengoing through arough patch orbeen caught upin a situationthat caused us

pain. It’s a relief when it’sover.

Whatever new facescome our way, we can takecomfort in knowing thatthere is one person whonever changes.

The Bible explains that‘Jesus Christ is the sameyesterday and today and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8 NewInternational Version).

Just as he helped, healedand forgave those whoasked him when he lived onearth, so Jesus continues todo so today.

He offers us peaceinstead of turmoil, hopeinstead of despair and forgiveness instead of judg-ment. He is ready to listento us.

YOUR LOCAL SALVATION ARMY CENTRE

Talkback Tham

es

Someone is always ready to listen to us

Will the newjudges changethe show for thebetter?

JUDGE MEANT:Louis Walsh(left) is joined bythree new faces

The Salvation Army (United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland) on behalf of the General of The Salvation Army.Printed by Benham Goodhead Print Ltd, Bicester, Oxon. © Linda Bond, General of The Salvation Army, 2011

HAVE you got it? Yep, it’s that time of yearagain. ITV1’s The X Factor is gracing ourTV screens tonight (Saturday 20 August).

In time-honoured fashion, the series kicks off

CHANGEwrites RENÉE DAVIS