Blackpool - Pleasure & Poverty

 

The name of Blackpool, the Lancashire seaside town, brings to mind the many famous features that have kept the resort busy since the railway arrived in the middle of the nineteenth century.

The town, however, had humble beginnings, for it was a coastal hamlet in Medieval and Early Modern Times. Fleetwood was the main resort but its founder Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood went bankrupt. Thus, its decline led to an upsurge in visitors to Blackpool. This resulted in extensive development, generating even more visitors. Gas lighting arrived in 1852, water on the mains in 1864 and the town became the first municipality in the world to have electric street lighting in 1879. In 1885, the first section of the tramway appeared on the Promenade, being extended in later years. Blackpool became the only coastal town in the British Isles to have three piers.

This tremendous growth was brought about by the Lancashire Cotton Mill owners closing their factories for one week each year to service the machinery. Known as ‘Wakes Weeks’, each town’s mill would close for a different week. This provided nearby Blackpool with a frequent stream of workers and their families keen to enjoy a week away by the sea, The 1890’s saw the Blackpool Tower and the Grand Theatre opened. Along came the Golden Mile and the Pleasure Beach. The first Illuminations appeared in 1912,  extending the holiday season into October. Between the wars, Blackpool boomed, being a firm favourite with northeners, but by the 1960’s holidaymakers began to venture to sunnier places. The M55 motorway opened in 1975, making a day trip easier rather than a stayover.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Leviticus

 

Have you ever watched a fantastic film that you wanted to see again and again? The story of God's rescue plan through Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection is just like that. It's so wonderful that the Bible talks about it repeatedly. One fascinating aspect of the salvation story is that it's predicted and described long before Jesus was born. This is the main point of Leviticus.

If you read Leviticus, you might think it's just a guide for priests on how to make different kinds of sacrifices, which can seem very old-fashioned and strange. The book provides detailed information about the steps and rules for these sacrifices.

Unlike many other books in the Bible, Leviticus is not a story. Instead, it serves as a detailed guide for God's people, Israel, on how to worship Him. It provided specific instructions that were to be followed closely.

Two famous men who got saved

 

Salvation is having faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly teaches that it’s a gift from God, made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul wrote to some Ephesian Christians stating that “…it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Faith in Jesus means trusting in Him as the Son of God who died for our sins and rose again. Such faith brings forgiveness, a new identity, eternal life and transformation. Christians then begin to reflect the characteristics of Jesus including love, humility, obedience, compassion, and perseverance.

One powerful story that illustrates this truth comes from Nicky Cruz, a notorious gang leader turned evangelist, whose story impacted Britain deeply through the ministry of David Wilkerson and the eventual film and book The Cross and the Switchblade. 

But perhaps the most relevant and influential British story is that of C.S. Lewis, the Oxford academic whose faith journey transformed lives worldwide. Clive Staples Lewis, better known as C.S. Lewis, was a professor at Oxford University and an avowed atheist for many years. Born in Belfast in 1898, Lewis was a brilliant scholar with a love for literature and mythology. His experience in the trenches during World War I left him further disillusioned with religion. Yet, through friendships with Christian colleagues like J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis began to seriously reconsider the claims of Christianity.

In 1931, after a long intellectual and spiritual struggle, Lewis surrendered his life to Christ. He described himself as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” But this step of faith radically altered the course of his life.

Lewis didn’t simply believe in Jesus—he allowed that faith to reshape his values, purpose, and actions. He became one of the most prolific Christian writers of the 20th century, authoring Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Chronicles of Narnia. His writings have reached millions, presenting the good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel,  in a compelling, logical, and imaginative way.

What marked Lewis’s life after conversion was not just intellect but humility and love. He gave generously, responded to personal letters from readers, and bore personal suffering—such as the loss of his wife—with quiet faith. His salvation didn’t make him perfect, but it made him new.

Faith in Jesus Christ brings about real change. Notable characteristics evident in Lewis’s life, and in any truly saved life, include a recognition of personal sin and dependence on God. That’s humility. It also includes a growing love for God and others as well as a desire to follow God’s Word, even when facing difficult situations. 

Perseverance is also involved which is a steady faith that endures trials and suffering and is a life that points others to Christ, whether through words or actions.

Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is not merely a religious decision; it is a life-changing encounter with the living God. C.S. Lewis’s journey from scepticism to vibrant faith reminds us that salvation is available to all, regardless of background or intellect. It’s not about joining a religion, but about entering a relationship with Jesus, who said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Faith saves, but true faith also transforms. As Lewis’s life shows, salvation through Jesus Christ creates a legacy that can echo across generations. What about your relationship to Jesus? Do you have a faith and daily seek to live life God’s way with God?

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (01/10/25)

Written by NIGEL BINDING 

The Banking System explained

It is understood that early banking was invented around 2,000 BC by Babylonian priests who stored people’s gold for a fee and gradually they realised that they could lend some of that gold to others and earn interest.  Eventually, the system of modern banking was developed in Lombardy in Italy in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries where moneylenders worked on wooden benches to encourage people to save with them and to take out loans. Indeed, the name ‘bank’ comes from the Italian word for ‘bench’.  And if the moneylenders cash ran out then the bench would be broken in half and business would cease.  The rotten bench was declared banca rotta from where we get the word ‘bankruptcy’.

Banks are a remarkable invention as they serve various functions in the community.  Their first function is to store money on behalf of other people.  These are people who deposit their money in the bank and assume that it will be kept safe.  Today, much of that money is stored digitally as in the past ten years the use of actual cash has diminished in British society by seventy percent.  The best example of a bank holding vast fortunes in Britain is the Bank of England which today stores about 400,000 bars of gold worth £200 billion.  It amounts to a fifth of all the gold in the world and if each bar was stacked on top of each other the height would be the equivalent to forty-six Eiffel Towers.  The gold covers over 300,000 square feet which is the equivalent of ten football fields. 

Would you forgive your brother’s murderer?

On September 6, 2018, Amber Guyer—an off-duty patrol officer in Dallas—entered the apartment of 26-year-old accountant Botham Jean. She later said she thought it was her own apartment and mistook Jean for a burglar, shooting and killing him.

One year later, on October 1, 2019, she was found guilty of murder. On October 2, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Exodus

The Book of Exodus narrates one of the most thrilling stories in history. It follows the Book of Genesis, which left us anticipating the arrival of someone who would come to rescue the world. This figure is beautifully foreshadowed in the character of Joseph and other prominent heroes from that book.

However, before this rescue can unfold, God must first save His people, Israel, from a serious predicament. At the end of Joseph's life, the Israelites are growing and multiplying rapidly in a foreign land, posing a potential problem on the horizon—a nation developing within a nation.

Soon, an Egyptian king arises who is unfamiliar with Joseph's legacy. He chooses to enslave the Israelites, believing himself to be greater than God. Throughout history, there have always been individuals who think they are above God, but they eventually face His might and are humbled. We will see a similar occurrence later in the story of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible.

Exodus depicts one of the greatest showdowns in world history: the most powerful man on earth against the God of heaven. This confrontation escalates with plagues of blood, boils, hail, thunderstorms, locusts, and darkness, culminating in the death of the firstborns. The battle continues until God parts the Red Sea, creating a path to freedom, and then closes it upon the Egyptian army, destroying them entirely.