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Team Talk
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Becoming a Christian
There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God
Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong. Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free. Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen
Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International
’ talk Team talk ‘TEAM TALK The shape of things to come
Andrew Stone gives his take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters
TV PRESENTER Esther Rantzen entertained millions of viewers on her programme That’s Life! with, among other things, oddly shaped vegetables. Readers under 40 will probably need to google the consumer-affairs programme, as it came off air in 1994.
In the decades since then, oddly shaped vegetables seem to have slowly disappeared from shop shelves, and we have become used to buying perfectly shaped carrots, potatoes and onions. However, according to a report on the BBC website, that could be about to change.
The story quoted the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), which is encouraging supermarkets to accept more ‘wonky’ produce and to be flexible with growers because this summer’s drought has had a dramatic impact on produce grown in the UK.
Vegetables this autumn and winter will ‘not look normal, but will taste the same’, said NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw. ‘Consumers have been conditioned to believe that a potato looks God is interested a certain way,’ he explained. But, to reduce the risk of adding to the cost of living crisis, in a person’s heart consumers ‘need to be more relaxed about appearance’. As I read the report, it crossed my mind that it’s not only our vegetables we expect to look a certain a way. In our image-driven society, particularly on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, we are more likely to make a judgement on something – or someone – based on the way they look.
While it is easy, it’s not the best way to judge anything. It’s certainly not the way God judges people. In the Bible God is quoted as saying: ‘People judge others by what they look like, but I judge people by what is in their hearts’ (1 Samuel 16:7 Contemporary English Version).
If God is more interested in a person’s heart – in their personality and qualities – then we should be as well. If we give our time to find out more about people who others overlook, we may find that we cultivate deep-rooted friendships that will last a lifetime.
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