You and God – the Reconciliation (while there’s still time)

Dear Friend,

God created the world, with all its beauty, for people like you to enjoy. He also created men and women so they could share in a loving relationship with Him.

Ever since God formed you in your mother’s womb, He has known you and everything about you. God has even counted the number of hairs on your head. He also knows when you rise and when you sit down.

Sadly, men and women turn away from Him and most deliberately choose not to know God – their loving Creator. The Bible says that the evidence of God’s eternal power and divine nature may be plainly seen in the wonders of creation. God has also given each person a conscience that speaks to them of right and wrong. Throughout your life you have suffered the results of wrong actions, both from the hands of others and by your own choices.

Although many bad things have happened to you, you are nevertheless responsible for your own actions and the choices you make as you go through life. When you have lied, stolen, cheated, or deceived others, the person you offended the most by these actions was GOD Himself. The Bible calls such actions “SIN” and all your unforgiven sin will one day be judged by God. The Bible says:”For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. No-one is blameless.

God hates sin because he is Holy (perfect). Sadly, your sin separates you from God and the loving relationship He seeks with you. All sin will, one day, be punished so this puts you in great danger. But the GOOD NEWS is that God is – even now – ready, willing and able to forgive your sins and remove that separation. This forgiveness by God restores the opportunity for you to have a loving relationship with God your creator. Are you prepared to turn from your present way of life, change direction and turn to God your creator for a fresh start? In doing this, God calls you to stop trusting in and relying upon everything you have, and surrender your life to Him. So your old life has to go when you take this step. However, God promises to give you His power to enable you to live a new life.

Have you heard of Jesus Christ of Nazareth? Hundreds of years before He was born into this world, many prophets wrote about His coming. These prophecies telling of Jesus’ coming are all in the Bible, a book about Him. Jesus’ coming to Earth from Heaven was according to God’s saving plan for all mankind.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth was sent by God the Father, out of love, into the world on a mission to rescue men and women. In obedience to God’s plan Jesus lived a sinless life, yet He willingly gave up His life and died on a cross to rescue you and me. By his death and resurrection three days later, Jesus broke the power of sin and death. After He rose from the dead, Jesus was seen alive again by hundreds of people.

By His death on a cross, Jesus paid the price for your sin and mine. The Bible says: “But God shows his love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus gave himself up as a sacrifice on our behalf by taking upon himself God’s punishment that our sins deserve. Jesus is now alive for evermore and sits at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven, in a place of glory and honour.

DO YOU WANT TO BE RESCUED?

Do you want Jesus to rescue you from your sins and your present way of life? The Bible says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

If you cry out to Jesus to save you, He will set you free, give you eternal life and a place in God’s family. Because Jesus was sinless, yet paid the price due for your sin – in your place – you can trust in Him as your substitute and go free. So you do not have to suffer the consequences of your own sins. God is then able to help you live a new life, by His power. The Bible says: “For it is by grace you are saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, so that none can boast”. God offers you His forgiveness as a free gift.

Jesus gives new life by His Spirit, which sets people free and brings them into God’s kingdom.

At the end of your life, Jesus will hold you alone responsible for all your unforgiven sins and you will be judged accordingly. If you choose to hold on to your sin, refusing Jesus’ free offer of forgiveness, you will bear the consequences on your own head – the wrath (anger) of God for eternity.

On the other hand, if you cry out to Jesus to forgive your sins NOW, He will do so and set you free from sin’s controlling power, He will wipe the slate clean and give you a fresh start. You can know total forgiveness of all the sins you have ever committed.

There is NO sin you have committed that Jesus cannot forgive, as He is “all-powerful” and “all-forgiving”. Jesus said: “I and the Father are one.” The sins He forgives in this life are forgiven, and forgotten, for eternity. at a crossroads in your life. Do you wish, whether you realise it or not, to remain a slave of sin? Or will you surrender your life to Jesus? Realise who this Jesus is. He is God, the one who died for you and offers you total forgiveness, peace and joy – now! The Bible says: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”

One day all men and women will stand before Jesus, the Judge of all mankind. The Bible says: “…man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement…”. Jesus alone has been given all power and authority in judgement by God the Father. Jesus therefore will decide where you will spend eternity. Although our human bodies eventually give out and die, our spirits live on beyond death.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE?

We all live on after death and the Bible makes clear that we end up in one of two places, either:

(a) a place of weeping, suffering, eternal torment and eternal separation from God for those who reject Him (Hell aka the Lake of Fire), or

(b) a place of eternal peace, love and joy (Heaven)in the presence of God, your creator.

Jesus himself said that most people walk through this life on the BROAD ROAD that leads to DESTRUCTION, rather than on the NARROW ROAD that leads to LIFE.

After this life is over your destiny is sealed based on your response to Jesus Christ in this life. So you need to respond to Jesus’ call on your life while you still have breath in your body! The Bible says: “Today is the day of salvation.”

No-one else can forgive your sin and make you right with God. Jesus truly is God’s unique gift to mankind!

How Does Anyone Get To Heaven?

Heaven is a perfect place, and only those who are perfect will make it. It’s a place of no suffering, no sin, and no evil. If God were to let in people who had less than perfect records, heaven would become as bad as earth. God would basically be saying that a little bit of evil doesn’t matter.

In this article, we’ll look closely at the “problem” God had, and the solution he came up with. We’ll also see just where good works fit in. And, we’ll see how grace makes it possible for everyone and anyone to get to heaven.

Love and Justice

God always does what’s right. He never cheats. He never falls for bribes. And He’s always concerned with justice. This means that when it comes to heaven and evil, he won’t compromise one bit. There will never be any evil in heaven.

On the other hand, God cares deeply about every person who has ever lived. He loves everyone regardless of what they have done, or not done. And He wants everyone to be in heaven. But to get to heaven, people have to be perfect: – without sin – faultless.

The Problem

So how do people with sin, get into heaven, a place without sin?

We’ve already seen that doing enough good works won’t get anyone into heaven. The only way for any of us to make it there, is if God takes away our sin. We can’t do that ourselves. But if God comes up with a plan to remove our sin, then we’re fully qualified to go to heaven. The only way that we can have our sin taken away is if it’s transferred to someone else.

If you have the debt of a house mortgage, you only become debt-free when your debt is transferred to someone else. If you pay off your home loan, you transfer your debt to the bank, and you become debt-free. If you sell your home to someone else, the proceeds of the sale enable you to pay back the money you owe to the bank. Again, you become debt-free. When your sin is transferred to someone else, you become sin-free.

The Plan

God offers us this plan: if we trust that he alone has the solution to this problem, then he will transfer our sin onto his son Jesus. Jesus is in effect a substitute in our place. Jesus qualifies for this job for three reasons:

Jesus is completely human, just like us. In any substitution, the substitute needs to be of the same kind.

Jesus is completely God. He has committed no sin of his own. Because he has no sin of his own to worry about, he can take the sin of others.

Jesus is an infinite Person. This is important, because it means he can have the sin of any number of people transferred onto him. If you had never sinned, you would still only be able to substitute for one other person. But Jesus can substitute for everyone.

All God asks is that we accept that no amount of good works can ever get us into heaven. If we come to that point, then we can accept his offer to transfer our sin to Jesus. Once our sin is transferred to Him, our standing before God is “sin-free”. It’s a legal transfer. God declares that legally, we are in right standing before him. There is no longer anything preventing us from getting to heaven.

Grace?

This double-transfer is free to us, and without any conditions. Our sin is taken away. Jesus’ good standing before God is transferred to us. We give this transfer the name grace. Grace is when we get something good that we don’t deserve. Grace is not a wage, or the result of us doing any kind of works. If that were the case, grace would no longer be grace!

No, grace is the completely undeserved good favour from God. God offers grace to everyone and anyone. Grace is what makes Christianity different from any other spiritual path. All other spiritual paths require us to do something to earn our way to heaven. God requires us to simply accept his solution, and trust in him alone.

What About Good Works?  

Good works are still an important part of Christianity, but as we’ve seen, they will never get us a ticket to heaven. Good works should stem from a person’s thankfulness to God. If we were in jail, and someone paid the bail to release us, we would be grateful! We would realise that nothing we had done contributed to our release. But, no doubt we would want to show our appreciation to that person in any way we could.

Good works are simply our way of showing our appreciation to God. God is concerned about justice in the world, about the poor, the homeless, the hungry, orphans, and those who cannot defend themselves. When we take on His concerns, we show that we want to join with God in addressing his concerns.

The following true story shows how God cares about both justice and love:

One day during the Great Depression, police hauled a frightened old man before the magistrate in a New York City night court. They charged him with petty larceny; he was starving and had stolen a loaf of bread. By coincidence, the mayor himself, Fiorello LaGuardia, was presiding over the court that night. LaGuardia sometimes sat in for judges as a way of keeping close to the citizens of the city.

LaGuardia fined the old man $10. “The law is the law, and cannot be broken” the mayor pointed out. At the same time, he took a $10 bill out of his own pocket, and told the man he would pay the fine for him. Then LaGuardia turned to the others in the courtroom and “cited” each of them for living in a city that did not reach out and help its poor and elderly, tempting them unduly to steal. The mayor fined everyone in the audience 50c each, passed around his famous fedora to collect the fines, and turned over its contents to the amazed defendant. The hat contained almost $50. The old man left the courtroom with tears in his eyes.

Author: Rupert Lineage

David Suchet Audio Bible Free

important message – free offer

image of bible

A few months ago I bought the NIV bible read by David Suchet, on a set of 5 CDs for £20.

I just learned the other day that for a limited time you can download – FOR FREE – the app, with the whole Bible read by David Suchet, from the Google Play Store. You’ll have to be quick as the free offer only lasts for a few more days!

This is the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nivreactnative&fbclid=IwAR25To6sILskrK1vYb82CTlju9QC-mzDZIGQ9_894wsW5d8jg-XmKLEvEtc

Please share this quickly with your Christian friends.

Dangers of Tarot Cards and Spiritualism

If true, what could be more heart-warming and comforting than hearing from your dead relatives?

This is the attraction of Spiritualism.

If true, who wouldn’t want life guidance and help from the “other world”?

This is the danger of both Spiritualism and Tarot Cards – so be warned, for the reason stated below, amplified by real life stories this post links to.

The Bible warns: “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 14)  

Laura was introduced to Spiritualism by her mother and it became a nightmare http://newchristian.org.uk/lauramaxwellstory.html

Tina became expert with Tarot Cards and dark spirits oppressed her: http://newchristian.org.uk/tina.html

The Bible warns us, for our own good, against going astray by means of spiritualism, channeling, false spirits and the like: https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/what-does-god-say-about-channeling-and-mediums  because we will be corrupted and defiled by them. The good news, however, is that God is always willing to forgive when we humbly turn to him and ask Him to.

If you are involved in these activities, we invite you to contact our website and ask for advice: http://newchristian.org.uk/contact.html

 

 

 

Painful Foot Receives Healing Touch

She came in with a walker which she parked behind her chair. She explained she had multiple problems due to various pains and illnesses.

Her right foot was currently the most painful. I offered to pray in the name of Jesus. She wasn’t sure who that was, so I gave her a short explanation of who he was and what he did. She agreed to prayer and allowed me to place my hand on her foot.

After a minute or so I asked how it felt. She said the pain level had gone down by 50% and there was a noticeable tingling feeling in her foot. I prayed some more, at which point I became aware –  in my body – of the power of the Holy Spirit at work. (Normally when people experience healing I don’t feel anything happening, even if they do). I suggested she thank Jesus tonight before she goes to bed. She said she would.

I prayed for another lady with ongoing problems in her life. She had Muslim parents, but was happy to be prayed for in the name of Jesus. We talked about prayer and she noticed the “Footprints” poem on the wall opposite, saying “that’s Jesus isn’t it?” I lifted it off the wall and read it to her. As we came near the end I found myself getting emotional about the content, and I could see she was too.

Lastly, I was introduced to a guy from Eastern Europe who was in a bad way. As his life story unfolded, I learned that both his parents had been really cruel to himself and his twin brother growing up. He was now estranged from his twin, although he only lived 30 miles away. Worst of all, this man had lost his wife to cancer two years ago and he was still suffering badly the effects. He had also been sexually assaulted by a man whom the police couldn’t trace and this was eating him up inside too. He is an alcoholic and the doctors have told him he is likely to be dead within a year.

At intervals he kept crying his eyes out, saying he had nothing to live for. He had already tried to kill himself. I told him God was his only hope, as he would not abandon him. He told me he went into the local Catholic church to pray most days. I prayed for him and that his relationship with his brother might be restored.

Offer Of Hope To Desperate Man

He was an ex-Army man and looked very active and fit, but as I chatted to him I discovered that life was in fact terrible for him.

His wife was suffering from severe mental illness and within the last week had walked on to the local motorway to try and kill herself.  The husband admitted he was at the end of his tether. Because of her dangerous and unpredictable behaviour he was getting hardly any sleep and didn’t know where to turn. He had tried to get her into secure accommodation, but with no success.

He seemed in a hopeless predicament and He confirmed to me that this was indeed the case.  

I picked up a little booklet we have for clients, called “Finding Hope”. I said: “even although you may not be a religious person, this is an encouraging booklet because it offers hope. He flicked through it and said: “yes, that looks good – I’ll take it”. The first pages begin: “If life is hard, if your whole world is broken, if it is hard to keep going………………………where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” Psalm 121:1-2. Let this God of the Bible bring you hope”.

I went on to tell him that a comprehensive study of the different religions in the world identified the Christian religion as the only one that offered hope to its followers. He told me his wife liked reading, so I also give him another booklet called: “Thought and Prayers For Troubled Times”. He looked through it and said: “yes, I think she’ll read that.”

Later, I chatted to a guy with a major, painful knee problem requiring surgery. I told him of several cases I personally knew of where guys had been healed of knee problems after a short prayer. Despite me encouraging him to try it for himself, he said quite firmly: “no thanks!”. I said: “what do you have to lose – it’s only 30 seconds of your time?” All to no avail, so off he went with his pain and damaged knee.

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

The first point to note is that God is definitely powerful. In fact, he has all power. So don’t let anyone tell you that God simply isn’t able to stop the suffering in the world. 

The second point to note is that when people ask this question, they usually include pain, suffering caused by people to other people, and all kinds of “natural” disasters – the whole works. That’s the assumption we’ll make here.

This begs the question: “if God is able to stop suffering, does that mean he doesn’t want to?” Not at all. In fact, there will come a time when God puts a stop to all evil. Obviously, that time has not yet come. In that case, the even bigger question is this: “why hasn’t God put a stop to suffering and evil yet? What is he waiting for?”

And the answer: He’s waiting for as long as possible, to give as many people as possible the opportunity to make their peace with him. To put it another way:

“God is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wanting anyone to perish, but wanting everyone to come to repentance”

That’s the bottom line. God could quite easily put an end to all suffering and evil now. Instead, he’s waiting to give all of us an opportunity to respond to him. In any case, what if God decided to stop all evil at 5 pm today. How many people would be left living at 5.01 pm?

What Would God Have To Do?

Just think for a moment what God would have to do to get rid of the painful consequences of human choices:

Every time someone used a weapon for violence, God would have to make the weapon harmless. He would have to turn bullets into paper, knives into plastic, and grenades into polystyrene beads.

Every time someone drove a car out of control, God would have to intervene, somehow interrupting the laws of nature to protect that person.

Every time a parent yelled at a child in anger, God would have to mute the sounds, and somehow turn the expression on the parent’s face to an expression of care and love.

How Did It Start?

Evil and suffering made their appearance when the first humans, Adam and Eve, chose to disobey God. In a garden of every imaginable delight, they ate the one and only piece of fruit that God had told them not to. That was the first human sin. Since that time, the world has seen a lot of pain and suffering, but it was never God’s preferred option. Natural disasters are all part of the suffering caused by sin.

Sure, God could have removed the option of choosing to disobey him, but he wanted people who chose to love him. Love is never forced. And so, God put in place a plan to rescue humans from their own self-destructive ways.

Here’s a story to make the point:

A vicar and an atheist barber were walking through the seedy part of their city. As they saw the suffering around them, the barber said “This is why I could never believe in a God of love. If he is as kind as they say, why doesn’t he do something about all this crime, disease, poverty, drug-dealing and vandalism?”

The vicar said nothing until they came across an unkempt and filthy man with hair down his back and far too much stubble on his face. The vicar said to the atheist: “You can’t be a very good barber, or you wouldn’t let people live around here without a haircut and a shave.”

More than a little offended, the barber answered: “Why blame me for that man’s condition? I can’t help it if he’s like that! He’s never given me a chance! If he’d only come to my shop, I could fix him up and make him look respectable.”

The vicar replied: “Then don’t blame God for the condition of these people. They’ve never given God a chance. If they would only come to him, he would fix them up and turn their lives around.”

Even though God is completely powerful, he has not yet removed suffering and evil from the picture. He’s waiting…waiting for as long as possible, to give as many people as possible the opportunity to make their peace with him.

Not Sure If You Are A Christian?

      If you want to test yourself to see whether you are a Christian, ask yourself these questions and answer honestly:

1. Do I believe that Jesus Christ came from Heaven for the express purpose of reconciling mankind to God the Father?

2. Do I acknowledge that the fallen human nature is predisposed to sin, and that only Jesus can redeem my life from sin and make me acceptable to a holy God?

3. Do I believe Jesus died on a cross, that God raised him from the dead and that he is now alive for evermore?

4. Do I believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price for my sins?

5. Have I ever acknowledged to God that I am a sinner, in need of God’s forgiveness?

6. Did I ever pray to Jesus to become a Christian? If so, was I sincere in my heart about what I was asking?

7. If someone asked me, could I give examples of some sins that God has forgiven me for?

8. Do I believe that I can talk to Jesus in prayer and he will answer?

9. Do I believe Jesus is able to forgive ALL my sins and make me a brand new person?

10. Do I accept Jesus as my Lord, in charge of my whole life from now on, putting him first instead of myself?

11. Am I doing my best nowadays, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live a changed life that will please Jesus my Lord?

12. Do I want to forgive others in the present – and also from the past – for what they did to me?

13. Do I have a desire to read the Bible regularly?

14. Do I pray regularly, not just asking for “things”, but to cultivate a personal relationship with God?

15. Do I want to meet regularly with other Christians, to encourage and be encouraged by them?

16. Do other people see genuine evidence in my life of a love for God and my neighbour, as Jesus commanded?

17. In what ways do I lay down my life for my fellow man?

18. Do I know what it is to experience persecution for my faith in Jesus Christ?

19. Do I have stories to tell of how God has worked through me to bless others?

20. Are any of your family/close friends Christians? If not, have you ever witnessed to them about the importance of your own faith?

If you want to know WHY you should become a Christian after reading this, see  this page

 

So You Want To Become a Christian?

   So you want to become a Christian and  know the basic facts about Jesus?      

Basic facts are here: http://www.newchristian.org.uk/twokingdoms.html

If so, read on below.

You probably want to change things about your life and your behaviour and so far have got nowhere. That’s actually a good place to be, since only Jesus can change you deep down where it matters, and from the inside out.

He knows your heart attitude, so you can’t fool him! But the good thing is, he’s ready and waiting to do for you what you can’t do for yourself.

The easiest way is to take time out one day and pour you heart out to him in prayer, just simply talking to him in your mind, or out loud if you prefer. Tell Jesus how you feel, what you need, and how you now realise that He’s the only one who can change things.

Coming to Jesus in prayer and asking for forgiveness of your sins and surrender of your life to Jesus is how you become a Christian. 

Jesus wants all of you, not just a part. He wants to be the most important person in your life. This is an act of your will – to choose this course of action. God never forces us to do anything, that’s why he gave us free will.

Once you’ve settled that in your mind, the next step is this. Ask Jesus to forgive all the sins you ever committed. All sin is primarily against God. He’s the one you hurt the most when you sinned. Even though you did things to other people, God’s the one who’s been most hurt by your actions.

Through his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, Jesus paid the price for all your sins. All sin has to be paid for, for justice to be done. Instead of paying for your own sins, Jesus did it for you, in advance. How amazing is that? But you have to ask for and receive that forgiveness for yourself.

The ideal way to approach Jesus to forgive you is this way. Take time out and make a list of things you’ve done that you know to be wrong. Don’t rush it – take your time. For example, list lies you’ve told, people you’ve wronged or hated, folk you’ve deceived, things you’ve stolen. Pour your heart out to Jesus and ask him in prayer to help you write the list.

When you’re done making the list, talk to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you everything on your list, plus all the sins you’ve forgotten about.

There’s nothing you’ve done that Jesus can’t forgive. Then after your prayer of confession to him, thank him that he now HAS forgiven you all these things. Jesus has promised to come and live with us when we choose to surrender our life to him and so he will come and live in your spirit by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to live a life that honours Jesus and he gives us the strength to live for him, in the face of opposition or other problems we have.

Once you’ve written your list, this is the kind of prayer you could use, as an example:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I believe that you came from Heaven to Earth to reconcile me to God the Father, and that you did this because you love me. I thank you that when you died on the cross and rose again from the dead, you paid the penalty price for my sin. These are the list of sins I am able to remember…………(your list). Please forgive me of all these. Please also forgive me the many sins I committed but have since forgotten about.

I realise you are the only one who is able to forgive me these sins, for only you were good enough to pay the price for them. I offer myself to you as a living sacrifice, so please use my life for your glory and honour. I turn from everything I k now to be wrong.I place my trust in you for the future. Please help me to live for you, and give me the strength I need to live my life for you for the rest of my days. Thank you for hearing and answering this prayer. I am weak and need your strength, so please fill me with your Holy Spirit power now. Amen”

Once you have done this with a sincere heart, you have become a follower of Jesus and an “apprentice Christian” (my phrase). You can then destroy the list of your sins that you wrote, because they have now all been forgiven by Jesus and forgotten about by him.

 

The Question Is Not “Do You Believe In God?” But “What Kind of God Do You Believe In?”

I said to him: “I’m guessing you may be a Christian” He replied: “Well I believe in God, but wouldn’t call myself a Christian”.  I said that many profess a belief in God, but the issue was which God did they believe in, since we can all make Gods in our own heads that don’t truly exist. I may sincerely believe in a four-headed God living on the Moon, but if it’s not true it’s a waste of belief on my part. The Christian believes in God as revealed in Jesus Christ of the Bible. If you make up a belief in a God of your own making, from within your own mind, you’re on dangerous ground.

He pointed out to me how all the different religions claim to be the way to God. I replied that they believe different things, so can’t all be right, which he agreed with. I highlighted to him a fundamental difference between Christianity and all other religions: all other religious leaders said to their followers, in effect: “I am showing you the path to the God/Gods/Nirvana (or whatever)”. Uniquely, Jesus Christ in the Bible said it otherwise: “I am the Way, the Truth and The Life”. He declared He alone was the Way to God, and also, exclusively, that “no-one comes to the Father except by Me”.

I said to the guy: “Suppose you were on a journey, came to a crossroads and didn’t know which way to go. There were two men by the roadside; one was dead, the other was alive. Which one would you ask for directions?” Obviously you’d choose the man who was alive. “This”, I explained, “illustrates another difference between Christianity and all other religions. The founders of all other religions are in their graves, as conceded by their followers. No-one disagrees that Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius are all dead in their graves. Jesus is the only religious founder who rose from the dead and is alive today, as claimed by his followers”.

He thought he might go to Heaven when he died, but when I asked him what the pass mark was for entry into Heaven he said he had no idea. I said to him that surely God would let us know how to get to Heaven, otherwise he wouldn’t be a very kind God? I explained how Jesus was our substitute, who died on a cross in our place and took the punishment our sins deserve. We receive our pass mark from Jesus who got 100% due to his sinless life. When we become Christians his 100% is conferred on us as “born-again” believers. Theologians call this “imputed righteousness”.

We discussed repentance, which he seemed to understand, but by the end of our conversation I concluded that he was happy to sit on the fence and take his chance on Heaven. He agreed that was pretty accurate.

We shook hands, I wished him well and said I hoped we might meet up again in another environment.