South Korean Song of Hope

I would commend a consideration of the recent speech of David Cameron on the King James Bible.

The King James Bible is divine thoughts in high, classical English. Classical English was developed by the Elizabethan and Jacobean poets and playwrights, and particularly by Shakespeare. A parallel would be the New Testament expressed not in the Koine or "street Greek" (in which it was written) but in classical ancient Greek - in the language of Homer.

What the King James Bible says is: this divine message, the Word of God, deserves our very best.

One could argue that Christ's teaching is not supposed to be expressed in highflown language. If it were, the New Testament would not have been written in Koine (low) Greek. I would argue that if this message started mainly among uneducated people, it was never intended to exclude the educated and poets.

The Prime Minister's speechwriters have drafted his speech, but the Prime Minister would have approved it, and may have edited it, a bit. We know that post-modernism has a tendency to say "all things to all people" i.e. to have no real core convictions. In other words, who knows if David Cameron will, in the New Year, address humanists and say "The future is all about moral Humanism?"

As believers, we know that real Christianity is not a moral code (which many people think). It is a relationship with Jesus Christ (God) which transforms lives. Those who recognise their needs, gain new hope, honesty, courage, noble selflessness. Ultimately, this is not only good for people but good for society too.

It is also essential for people in dire straits to have hope in a compassionate God. That is not fully recognised by anti-Christians. Faith in God works and certainly worked for me, in my own days of "extremis". But perhaps, with this country teetering on the edge of another recession and facing huge social problems, "someone in Number 10" has finally realised that morality coming from faith does matter a lot after all, even if it is not yet entirely clear that

"People need the Lord" sung here in the Korean language, and later in English.

We think of those in dire straits in North Korea badly needing Light and Hope. South Korea is a deeply Christianised country and no doubt many are praying for their close neighbour, this Christmastide.

This Koreans singer break into English, at the end. The words are something like this:

"Every day I pass them by, Empty people filled with care, Heading who knows where. I can see it in their eyes. At the end of broken dreams, people need the Lord....."