Palm Sunday remembers the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In less than a week, Jesus will be arrested and the crowd will turn on Him; cries of exaltation will be replaced with calls for execution. This week we will explore how we move from fickle to faithful in our spiritual maturity; drawing inspiration from the Desert Fathers and Mothers who chose to welcome hardship to pursue single-hearted devotion to God. As the week continues we’ll leave the desert and follow Jesus in his journey towards the cross, and through the grave to offer new life to all.

As a church, we’ve been exploring the possibility of purchasing the Hope and Anchor pub next door—not just for extra space, but as a resource to serve our community and grow God’s Kingdom. The Prayer and Planning Team and Trustees believe it’s right to keep pursuing this, whilst being wise and not overstretching financially. Thank you for your prayers, pledges, and increased monthly giving so far.

Where things stand
We submitted an offer based on the funds currently available. The owners declined and, although indicating they would be open to negotiation on the price, they are seeking a sum higher than the valuation amount.
We’ve communicated this to the sales agent and have left our offer on the table. We don’t believe the door is closed, and we’re taking time to pray and consider next steps. There have been no other offers, and the sellers remain keen. (please be mindful of not sharing this information too widely, as it may impact future negotiations).

How you can pray
•  For God’s vision for us as we seek to reach our community
•  For clear guidance—whether He opens or closes the door
•  For His provision, whether through a change in price or additional funding
•  For wisdom about what we as individuals and as a church are able to give

Please do speak with us with any questions or thoughts,

Thank you
KCW Prayer and Planning Team

We will embark on the season of Lent by walking with Jesus into the wilderness, and introducing the Desert Fathers and Mothers; our companions on this journey. Together we will fix their eyes on Jesus, so that we might approach Easter with a heart of prayerful pursuit.

Timothy Dangal wrote us a letter, and shared some great pictures about the updates of using our mission fund to build the Shelter of Peace Orphanage in Nepal. Thank you to all who donated and supported for this mission, and made these happening. 

My notes from the very lively discussion at our last Men's Breakfast.    
ONE DANGER OF AI
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a type of software designed to perform tasks that normally require human thinking. Based very loosely on biological neural networks, it’s been trained to imitate aspects of human behaviour or language. It learns from huge collections of information and becomes good at predicting what should come next: the next word in a sentence, the next step in a recipe, or the best route in a journey. It calculates probabilities based on patterns it has seen before.
It’s a powerful tool in automating tasks that used to require human judgement. It helps doctors spot early signs of disease in medical scans. It powers the voice assistants on phones. It decides what adverts we see online or recommends films we might like. Likewise, it manages stock levels in supermarkets or detects fraud in bank accounts. Chatbots utilise AI to simulate human conversation, whether written or spoken. They are used very successfully as AI colleagues.
Like many men, I enjoy delving into the nitty-gritty details of my pet subjects and hobbies. Unfortunately, they are usually subjects that few others are interested in. One of my earliest uses of AI was when I questioned a chatbot about the subtle but important differences between French and German railway electrification systems. After my initial questions, it began to anticipate what I wanted to know. By subtly encouraging feedback from me, it offered more and more relevant technical information. After two hours, I felt like I had been talking to a real person who shared my interests. Someone who understood me and my particular personality, a real friend. It was weird!
It is no wonder that AI is now increasingly used as a confident, adviser, confessor and intimate friend. Some, also use it as a god that has all the answers.
All of us sometimes feel lonely, anxious, stressed out, or need to talk to someone. But if we are fortunate to have spouses, other family members or close friends, we know they aren’t perfect. But then we aren’t either. Sometimes they’re not available or are too engrossed with their own problems to give you their attention, especially if the relationship is currently fractious.
An AI friend is unfailingly polite, endlessly available and always sympathetically responsive. Qualities that no human can match. It never loses its cool or emotionally drains a user. It imitates affection, humour, interest, and empathy, but it’s all simulation. Because the chatbot answers as a real person would, its users often respond as if the emotion were genuine.
When you get used to a ‘friend’ who never argues, never gets frustrated, and never makes demands, real relationships may begin to feel messy, disappointing, or even intolerable. It becomes much easier to avoid conflict, heartache and stay with a machine. A man who once turned to family and friends for support now finds it easier to share his soul with a machine. He becomes emotionally entangled with something that cannot reciprocate, cannot care. But such behaviour can lead to isolationism.
As someone who has been deeply involved in addiction charities, I am aware that using AI in this way may encourage psychological dependency or compulsive use. It offers short term comfort, but undermines long term wellbeing. Over time, it can deepen loneliness.
It may replace real life with something easier — but emptier.

Gentlemen, what are your thoughts?
Please let me know below.
Roger.

PS: See my earlier blog ‘Robots or a Real Wife?’ April 2025.

Below are two collections of images from the Winter Carnival 2025. The first are from the Christmas Photo Booth, The second are general shots of King's Church folks helping set up and run the stall.

Use the Left< and Right> options of the thumdnails at the bottom to find the image you want the click the button to go to a down loadable area to select the images you want. 

General Photos from the Kings Church Stall at the Winter Carnival 2025.

We had a couple or updates from Hanoi for our latest prayer breakfast. They now have a team producing animated videos of the bible for children. The team writes the script, produces the animation and covers production of the video. They are now producing a video per week. Amazing!

You may already have a Bible App on your phone in which case you probably have access to a whole Audio Bible already… so you might wonder why are we bothering to install one in the KCW App. Well, there are potential advantages and possibilities to adding these chapter by chapter recordings to our App infrastructure. Here is why.

For instance: each chapter of the Bible can then be linked to other King Church Resources and vice-versa. So if a Sunday preach references a verse in John’s Gospel you can instantly listen to the chapter it is from, but perhaps more importantly if you listen to a chapter of a book each day you will also see other resource, articles, preaches even quizzes and questionnaires that relate to the content you’ve just listened to. You will also have the apps personal Note taking facility available… to build up your own thoughts and reflections and notes on a subject or book of the Bible.

We will also experiment with creating study guides to go with the books we add. But all this is in the future.

For now, we’ve loaded up all of Mark’s Gospel and all of John’s Gospel. I’ve given each chapter a title and a summary of its content and themes, and highlighted a key verse.
Please try using what’s there and then make suggestions for how we could make it even better/more useful. In time We want the app support all out group and personal study as an aid to growing us into Christian maturity.

You will find the Audio Bible either in the “Good to Hear” section on the “Home” tab of the KCW App, or in the “Courses” tab.

Sunday the  2nd of November 2025 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). A day observed annually on the first Sunday of November.

While most of us at King’s Church in Wokingham don’t face regular or severe discrimination, imprisonment, or violence for our faith, there are those among who have had to leave friends and familiarity because they used to live in parts of the world where these things do happen. I think particularly of Jamal who we Baptised three years ago but who has dropped out of contact with us and has disappeared with mental health concerns related to his personal history.

Please pray for Jamal, whether you knew him or not. I regularly pray for even though I don’t know exactly what to pray.
 
His story is not unique, we are delighted to host Arman and his family, also from Iran, and many of our Hong Kong-er Community faced forms of political intimidation and censure. Others in King's who have come from South Asia and parts of Africa are only one step removed from severe abuse.

The scale of suffering faced by our global brothers and sisters is immense. Globally, over 380 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination—that is one in seven believers worldwide. Last year more than 20 church buildings a day where attacked, more than 12 believers a day where arrested for their faith and a further 12 where murdered.

You can stay prayerfully informed by looking at the Open Doors World Watch List here.

Sadly, this persecution is not a rare phenomenon it has existed continuously since the day of Pentecost and the religious freedom that is seen as typifying the west is in fact the fruit of the Gospel in Europe and northern America.

It is relatively recent and shouldn’t or can’t be assumed without significant renewal and revival in these nations.

Please look at the Open Doors resources and other such as Release International or Christian Solidarity Worldwide to pray as we approach IDOP. And watch out for ideas and information as to how we will stand with our global family in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks,
Christen.

You've probably noticed how more and more of the information that used to be in Hub News has now been moved onto Blog posts that you can actually access from the Hub News email!

There are already advantages in this system... for instance it is a lot easier to find past information. You don't have to trawl through a hundred old emails. 

... You really can't beat the Kings Church Wokingham App, it does Notifications & Messages!

Notifications are one-way communications straight to your phone, they only work with the App. Whereas Messages are two way group specific messages, more like a Kings Church WhatsApp system, they can be accessed through the app or via any web browser/PC.  

On a web browser, clicking the two speech bubbles icon at the bottom right of most screens will bring up a list of groups that you are a part of plus means to join in with other groups. (see below)

In the app, you can look for the same speech bubble at the top of the screen. Or for an easier to navigate option, go to the "Groups" tab and the first option, "Messaging Groups" will show you the groups that exist at the moment for you to join. Play around here are you should be able to connect with others, though it will take us a while to put everybody into the groups they most need to be a part of.

If you allowed notifications when you installed the KCW App you should be able receive the short daily message we are now sending out... BUT YOU WILL STILL NEED TO SAY WHICH ONES YOU WANT TO SEE!

There is an article on the first page of the app about how to set up a profile picture and let us know who you are (which helps with communication). Assuming you have done that already you should now see in "User Settings"  lists of what you have been watching on the app (with book markers if you were part way through and below that is a notifications inbox where you can see the message you've been sent... 

(The image below is selection of app options, notice the "Inbox" under "This Devise" and "Notifications" under " App Settings)

Make sure notifications are active and "General" is also turned on... this is the main group we are sending out at the moment but I suggest you also turn on the "Prayer Reminders" which will remind you of our prayer rhythms and also of specific prayer requests for you to pray for.

Other  options will come on line in the future, but for now lets just get used to receiving news and prayer request via the app. 

This can all seem a bit daunting at first, but starting playing around with the App and it will all start to make sense.

Gentlemen,

This conflict is not going away quickly. It is not about religion or race, but about land — the very land where Jesus once walked and taught.

I once had a client who in the 1940s had served as a British policeman in Palestine. He told me about his firefights with the Stern Gang — Jewish terrorists who later became Israeli government ministers, much to his disgust. His stories aroused my interest.

With Israel once more in the news, the subject came up in our house group.

So, I have written a blog summarising the little-discussed story of Israel’s foundation and the role we played in it. I will follow this with another blog looking at the different interpretations Christians give to these events.

I hope this will stimulate discussion.
The opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of Kings Church.

Roger



Before the First World War (1914–18), Palestine, part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, was inhabited largely by Arabs. During that war, Turkey allied with Germany against Britain and its allies.

In 1916, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, promised Sharif Hussein of Mecca, the Arab leader, that if the Arabs revolted against Turkey, then after the war, Britain would support the creation of an independent Arab kingdom. Later that year, the Arabs revolted, helping Britain invade and conquer Palestine, contributing to the eventual surrender of Turkey.

However, in 1917, the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, issued a Declaration that the British government would support the establishment in Palestine of a Jewish national home. This aimed to secure US support for the allies, given strong and influential Zionist lobbying. Both Balfour and the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, were practising Non-Conformist Christians sympathetic to the Zionist cause. However, there is no evidence that either believed they were fulfilling Biblical prophecy; it was simply a wartime diplomatic strategy.

To the Arabs, the Declaration contradicted British promises. Lloyd George correctly argued that McMahon’s letters left the borders vague, and specifically excluded territory reserved for British interests. But the Arabs felt cheated, their trust in Britain collapsed.

At that time, Jews made up roughly 10% of Palestine’s population, while Arabs accounted for about 88% (of whom around 11% identified as Christian and the rest Muslim). These communities had coexisted peacefully for centuries.

In 1922, Britain was granted a Mandate by the League of Nations (forerunner of the UN) to govern Palestine. It incorporated the Balfour Declaration, giving international legitimacy to the creation of a Jewish homeland, but without consulting the Arabs. They were promised only protection of their civil and religious rights, not political rights. Arabs consistently objected, but the League ruled the Mandate could not be altered, recognising the historic connection of Jews worldwide to Palestine. But it effectively outweighed the rights of Arabs who had lived there for centuries. This was a key factor in the ensuing tragedy. Violence soon followed: Jewish settlements, often under British protection, were attacked. From 1936 to 1939, Britain brutally suppressed an Arab revolt, using methods unacceptable today. The Jewish defence force expanded its capacity in co-operation with the British, but also launched retaliatory attacks on Arab communities.

As a result of persecution in Europe before and during the Second World War, Jews migrated to Palestine in large numbers. The Arab population strongly opposed this, so Britain imposed quotas. However, the Jewish leadership organised illegal immigration. They established schools, hospitals and governance structures essential to creating a viable, functioning state, capable of protecting itself and absorbing refugees. To pressure Britain into facilitating statehood, Jewish terrorists then attacked British military and civilian targets.

During the Mandate, over 700 Brits were killed, more than 3,000 Jews lost their lives, and over 5,000 Arabs were killed. So, caught in the middle, in 1947, Britain referred the Palestine question to the United Nations. By then, Jews made up about 30% of the population and had legally purchased about 7% of the land.

The UN Plan proposed two states, with Jerusalem under UN control. Despite Arabs comprising 68% of the population, the UN offered them 43% of the land, divided into three fertile disconnected sections, which would be very difficult to defend. Arab leaders rejected the Plan as unjust and impractical. The Jewish state comprised 56% of the land, a lot of which was desert , but almost half the population were Arabs. After centuries of persecution, Jews now had a contiguous, defensible homeland. They accepted. With much of the world feeling sympathy and a moral responsibility for what had happened during the Holocaust, the UN approved the Plan. The Arab states voted against, and Britain abstained.

In 1948, Israel declared independence. Neighbouring Arab states immediately invaded. The invasion was repulsed, but Israel expanded its territory, including West Jerusalem. East Jerusalem, with many Jewish holy sites, remained under Jordanian control. At least 10,000 Palestinians were killed and approximately 700,000 displaced, many fleeing to the West Bank (administered by Jordan), Gaza (administered by Egypt), or to other Arab countries. Many still live in UN camps and depend on humanitarian aid. About 6000 Jews were killed, and 850,000 fled Arab countries, most settling in Israel.

Many Christian Palestinians emigrated to Europe and North America. Today, only about 1–2% of the population in the West Bank and Gaza is Christian.

From the Israeli perspective, these events were about survival in a hostile regional environment and the creation of a state capable of absorbing Jewish refugees. They call it The War of Independence.

For the Palestinians, it was an unmitigated disaster that watered and fertilised the seeds of never ending conflict sown years before. Palestinians called it al-Nakba — The Catastrophe.

We've not formally announced the ALL NEW King's Church App!

But here it is...

( or type "Kings Church Wokingham" into the Google or Apple store  to install directly)

It will change, grow and develop week by week but there is enough in it already to make it worth downloading and getting used its features, resources and quirks...

PLUS - WE WILL BE USING IT TO SUPPORT THE NEXT TEACHING SERIES. 
(find out more in the added video below)

So there are already some audio, video and resource you can watch and listen too now to help you get the most out of ...

Once you have it, open the app and play around with the resources already in the app. Then look at the five Tabs at the bottom of your screen and click on the right most tab called "Courses".

 "The God Story" should be the middle course of three ... here you'll find a growing list of resources to help make the most of the series we're starting next month!

Each week you'll find new resources here from Short Thoughts, Sunday Preaches, animated and normal video and study notes.

We will be announcing more in the following weeks but it would really help if you can get the app now and look at the resources already there ... if you have problems finding them someone can help you get up to speed with app in plenty of in time.

Once you're in the app, why not search for a new inspiration series by Abby, a fun cartoon version of Pilgrims progress and the automatic link to the join the Zoom prayer meeting!

Enjoy playing with the KCW App and watch out for more.

COMING TO A SHOPPING MALL NEAR YOU?
Recreational Cannabis in Canada



With one of our sons living in Canada, we have visited the country frequently, travelling widely. It’s a fascinating place, not unlike the US, but definitely not the same.
For the past decade, Canada has had a socially liberal government. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the downtown streets of some of its cities, where the smell of cannabis is everywhere.
In 2014 in Vancouver, I recall we kept catching the odd whiff. Then on a bus we overheard a young man urging a friend, “Tell the doctor you have difficulty sleeping, and you’ll get cannabis on prescription, it's effectively legal". In 2001, cannabis had become fully legal for medical use. In 2018 it followed Uruguay and made recreational use legal.

Over the past 28 years, I have been an active trustee of a couple of Christian residential rehabs for men who want to break free from serious drug and alcohol addiction. It’s a notoriously difficult task. Nevertheless, I’ve watched hundreds and hundreds of men graduate from our programmes, returning to their families, working, rebuilding their lives, back to what we feel is normal.

In the UK, cannabis is often regarded as a gateway drug to heroin, the main substance addiction we encounter. Many heroin addicts have started with it. Canada’s approach to recreational cannabis use is therefore of great interest. The country did not merely decriminalise small amounts for personal use, as has been done elsewhere, it created a fully legal, regulated market.

Cannabis is now fully mainstream in Canada. Many shopping strips and malls host licensed outlets, much as tobacconists once occupied British high streets. These stores in prime locations sell cannabis in multiple forms, from cigarettes to dried flowers to edible candy, always presented in attractive packaging. The visibility of these premises encourages people to enter and learn how to cook and bake with cannabis, and then find themselves tempted by its brightly coloured sweets. Staff are knowledgeable and enthusiastic, sometimes with a missionary zeal to encourage the curious to try a gummy. No, I didn’t!

SUPPORTERS OF CANADAS APPROACH CLAIM SEVERAL ADVANTAGES
1) Although the black market is still substantial, legal production is safer as it means ingredients are controlled. Medical research is easier.
2) Providing they do not drive, recreational users are no longer at risk of a criminal conviction for a self-harming habit. Pressure on the police, courts and the vulnerable has been reduced.
3) A multi-billion-dollar industry has emerged, supporting more than 98,000 jobs, including ancillary roles. Some regions now host “cannabis tourism.”
4) By 2022 legal cannabis was generating around C$1.5 billion in annual tax revenue.

VERY SIGNIFICANT CONCERNS REMAIN
1) The Canadian government itself warns  (Canada.ca) “It's estimated that 1 in 3 who use cannabis will develop a problem with their use. It's also estimated that 1 in 11 (9%) of those who use cannabis will develop an addiction to it. This statistic rises to about 1 in 6 (17%) for people who started using cannabis as a teenager. If a person smokes cannabis daily, the risk of addiction is 25% to 50%.” And “Addiction can occur at any age, but the chances are higher while the brain is still developing, which can continue until around 25 years of age. As well, the younger an individual is when they begin using cannabis, the higher their risk of health problems, including addiction and other mental health issues including psychosis, schizophrenia, social anxiety, and depression.”
2) Few people read warnings. Legalising cannabis has lowered the perceived risks, particularly for young people. “It’s legal, so it can’t be THAT bad!” Despite their government's warnings, The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction reports that 33% of Canadians between the age of 15 to 24 used cannabis in the previous three months.
3) The CCSUA also reported that between 2015 and 2021 more than 580 children aged 0-9 were hospitalised after consuming cannabis, mainly edibles.
4) In 2022 the Canadian Institute for Health Information found cannabis affects reaction time, motor coordination and decision making, and gives drivers false confidence. Transport Canada estimates 125 to 150 deaths each year have cannabis as a contributing factor. In 2019 a driver who had earlier consumed legal cannabis mounted the pavement killing a close friend of my daughter in law.
5) A 2020 study by Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms estimates direct healthcare costs of legalisation to be C$380 million with lost productivity adding C$491 million, offsetting much of the tax gains.
 
THE UNITED KINGDOM
Currently in the UK, cannabis is a Class B drug. Recreational use is illegal. Possession can result in up to five years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. However, police often issue a cannabis warning or fine for small personal amounts. Supply and production can lead to up to 14 years in prison with an unlimited fine.
Since 2018, specialist doctors have been allowed to prescribe cannabis-based medication. But they can be difficult to access.

With many US/Australian states and some European countries easing restrictions on cannabis, it is not question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ politicians here ask if we should follow Canada’s lead.
Among the main UK parties, the Liberal Democrats already support full legalisation similar to Canada. The Conservatives, Labour and Reform are currently opposed.

MY PERSONAL VIEW (not necessarily those of Kings Church or Yeldall Manor)
1) There are real serious health risks from using cannabis (NHS).  
2) Cannabis-based medicine should be easily available on a controlled prescription basis.
3) Recreational use should remain illegal.
 4) People caught with small quantities of non-prescribed cannabis for their own use, should be regarded as self-harming and offered treatment not prosecution.  
5) Outside of the pharmacy sector, the penalty for anyone selling cannabis, should be increased and rigorously enforced.

Methinks that for the unscrupulous, legalising recreational cannabis creates a fabulous business model. Potentially up to 50% of your regular customers will need to keep coming back for more, as you will have them addicted.

Gentlemen, what are your thoughts?

PS If you or a friend are fighting substance or alcohol addiction then www.yeldall.org.uk may be able to help.

Type your new text here.

What’s a Prayer Room?

In a peaceful, worshipful environment, use different prayer stations to inspire you or simply sit and pray at the Cross. Each stations uses bible verses and creative activities to help you

• Pray for revival
• Pray for a specific country
• Develop persistent prayer for those challenging global situations ( war etc)
• To bring injustices before God and seek His justice
• To bow before the Cross and seek his Kingdom to Come.

Many Christians have testified to the way prayer rooms have helped them go deeper in prayer, and reveal new ways to pray.

Where and When is it open?

The room will be open from Friday 5th September 9 am to Saturday 6th September 9pm at Kings Place Station Road, Wokingham.
Join with Christians in over 100 Countries meeting in more than 1000 prayer rooms. Sign up using the link below (you can sign up as a guest and leave email for further details):

The Quiet Revival has filled not only reports in Christian publishing but secular media too. Emily Maitlis (former host of Newsnight) visited Wildfires Festival to interview four young Christians and Pete Greig to find out what's going on.

As part of my work at 24-7 prayer (who lead the organisation team for Wildfires) I hear many stories such as these, not only in the UK. When God moves in such a wave, it really will impact society, which is why Emily Maitlis was conducting the interview.

The testimonies of the four young people are authentic and beautifully told. I was particularly impressed with how Pete Grieg wisely responded to the questions, avoiding being aligned to any one political voice, or stereotypes of Christians. Be encouraged by what God is doing!

From the News Agents

"It's being called the “Quiet Revival“.  It may be happening under the radar but the numbers suggest a revolution. Is it a response to covid, smart phones, or perhaps a crisis in masculinity? Or has atheism just had its day? We are at the Wildfires Christian festival to find out what’s going on."