Dancing With Wisdom

By Dr Sunil RahejaEducation Self-Improvement

Dancing With Wisdom episodes

December 17, 2020Podcast #064: Peter Kerridge and the story behind Premier Christian Radio
How does God guide an insurance salesman, self-confessed worrier and part time radio commentator to start what would become one of the largest Christian radio stations in the world?
Do join us on the first of three conversations with Peter Kerridge, CEO of what has become Premier Christian Communications, Europe’s largest Christian multimedia group. It works with a wide range of Christian churches and organisations across the UK through radio, Internet, video and magazine platforms. Its mission is to help the UK by enabling people to put their faith at the heart of daily life and to bring Christ to their communities.
It is an impressive vision, but what is even more impressive is how over 25 years that vision has been implemented and brought to life.
Peter’s leadership has been a pivotal factor in getting the vision off the ground to become reality and then to grow and develop in a sustainable way over more than two decades.
As the UK’s largest Christian media organisation its reach is significant. In 2019 (before the impact of COVID which will have dramatically increased even these figures), there have been:
– over 8 million website visits per year
– 6.6 million YouTube video views in 2018
– over 1.5 million tune into Premier Christian radio programmes every week
– over 1.2 million calls are received each year into Premier Lifeline, the National Christian Helpline
– 560,000 copies of Christianity magazine, Voice of Hope and Premier Hope and Premier Youth and Children’s Work were published in 2019.
2020 has been a challenging year for us all, but it is also remarkable as the 25th year anniversary of Premier Christian Radio.
Peter is married to Karen, has two sons and enjoys reading, following Newcastle United football club and sleeping!
On this podcast we delve into Peter’s life including:
Coming to faith as a 7 year old boy
Learning about being a football commentator
Working as an insurance salesmen and night club DJ
Resisting the call to full time Christian work, but also experiencing the clear guidance of God
Going to Oxford University to study theology and training for the baptist ministry
Becoming associate minister at Avenue Baptist Church in Southend-on-Sea while at the same time doing freelance presenting at Essex Radio Station
Peter’s ongoing fascination with radio programmes as a way of bringing spiritual truth and encouragement to others.
We also explore Peter’s growing vision for a Christian radio station at a time in the mid 1980s when the mainstream media was beginning to sideline and ignore religious programming. This was at a time when there were only four main TV stations and as many as 16 million people watched religious programmes. Peter discusses:
Campaigning during 1989 for the law to change to allow a Christian radio station
The lonely journey this was with very few within the church having a vision for the potential
How when a proposed change in the law was debated it was opposed by every bishop in the House of Lords
The 1990 Broadcasting Act allowing specialist radio and TV licenses for niche areas, including pornography
The launch of Christian radio in 1995 with no money, no church leadership support, no clear management structure and no identifiable presenters
A very different form of technology to contend with at the time and Premier being given the worst frequency and lowest reach of any radio station
To keep tuned to the radio station at the time you would need to keep changing the medium wave channel as you drove around the M25 that circles London!
Keeping the business sustainable over 25 years with every year presenting financial challenges.
Peter’s vision of using radio to meet the spiritual needs of the vast majority of the UK population who would be unlikely to ever enter a church, as well as the 90% of those who went to church but also confessed to not having an inner devotional life.
Peter’s commitment, obedience and faithfulness to his calling is truly remarkable.
The podcast is below or can be accessed at Making Sense of Life on iTunes
After you have listened do let me know by telling me what you found helpful or inspiring or any feedback you have.
The Premier website is here
38 min
March 04, 2020Podcast #063: Life lessons from a remarkable cookbook
On this podcast we continue our conversation with Amanda Clegg about her book co-written with Victoria Byrne, “Hope and Spice: Authentic recipes and stories of transformation from the slums of Delhi.”
Its one thing to have a good idea, but its another to see that idea through to completion. That is even more so for a cook book that combines not only authentic recipes, but inspiring stories of the slum dwellers themselves.
Do join us in this conversation with Amanda as we explore:
Why she could have the audacity to write an Indian cook book!
The logistical challenges of visiting 100 homes in 12 slum communities over 17 days to sample recipes, listen with the help of an interpreter and collate the stories of some remarkable men and women.
The power of food to bring down barriers of race and caste.
The story of Rajwati who in 2010 overnight lost her slum dwelling to make way for building for the Commonwealth Games.
How lobbying by the charity Asha eventually led after 3 months to Rajwati and the rest of her community being found new homes.
The story of Gyanwati who twenty years ago lost her son from dehydration at the age of two years old. Since then she has trained as a community health visitor and is determined that no other family will lose a child through dehydration.
Secrets and surprises of Indian cooking that Amanda has learnt.
If you have not listened to my previous conversation with Amanda that can be accessed here at Podcast #62: Much more than your average cookbook!
Hope & Spice has been named a double Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2020 winner, winning Best Indian Charity Cookbook, and gaining a second award for People Cuisine (India)!
The Hope and Spice website is here
The Asha charity that works in Delhi’s website is here
You can order the book from the link below:
 
The podcast is below or can be accessed at Making Sense of Life on iTunes
After you have listened to the podcast do let me know by telling me what you found helpful or inspiring or any feedback you have.
46 min
February 05, 2020Podcast #062: Much more than your average cook book!
Cook books are hugely popular the world over. Amanda Clegg and Victoria Byrne have together written a cook book that is unique in so many ways to the vast number that are out there.
On this podcast I have the privilege of interviewing Amanda about her book “Hope and Spice: Authentic recipes and stories of transformation from the slums of Delhi.” Here is a short video recorded with Amanda and Victoria at the launch of the book back in November 2018:

Do come and join us on the podcast for this fascinating conversation with Amanda as we explore:
How Amanda’s passion for India, food and encouraging those in slum communities in Delhi came together with an idea of an Indian cookbook.
The work of the charity Asha started by Dr Kiran Martin in a slum in Delhi in 1988 has dramatically grown and multiplied to bring holistic health and wellbeing to greatly disadvantaged individuals and famillies.
The story of Samina who has been empowered to be a community health volunteer to other women in her slum.
Chandan who not only has been able to complete a degree in Mathematics, but has also been granted a scholarship to do a Masters degree in the UK.
The evolution of the idea of a cookbook to combine recipes with inspiring stories of changed lives from the Delhi slums.
Hope & Spice has been named a double Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2020 winner, winning Best Indian Charity Cookbook, and gaining a second award for People Cuisine (India)!
The Hope and Spice website is here
The Asha charity that works in Delhi’s website is here
You can order the book from the link below:
 
The podcast is below or can be accessed at Making Sense of Life on iTunes
After you have listened to the podcast do let me know by telling me what you found helpful or inspiring or any feedback you have.
Thank you!
36 min
January 01, 2020Podcast #061: How 2020 can be your year of wisdom
Welcome to a new year and a new decade! What will 2020 hold in store for you? While there are many unanswered questions, and the year before us is at this point a somewhat blank slate, what we are most definitely going to need is wisdom.
Do join my co-host Andrew Horton and I on this third and final podcast as we continue to unpack this subject of wisdom. Also my book on wisdom is scheduled to release in 2020!
Wisdom comes from a daily discipline but not in a day. It does not come through a quick fix or by microwave! In particular we will be exploring:
How developing wisdom can be compared to becoming healthy and fit as well as growing a beautiful garden.
The dangers of over-control and why I am tempted to so often be a control freak!
How wisdom is ultimately found in the person of Christ and what He has done for us.
The lessons and warnings when it comes to wisdom from the life of Solomon.
Whatever 2020 has in store for us, we are going to need wisdom at every level of our lives – personal, family, community, national and international.
As the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky said:
“Every ant knows the formula of its ant-hill,
every bee knows the formula of its beehive.
They know it in their own way, not in our way.
Only humankind does not know its own formula.”
Where are you looking for wisdom in 2020?
You may also find of interest:
Podcast #060: Why you should hunger for wisdom.
Podcast #059: How is Sunil’s book on wisdom going?
Podcast #001: Wisdom
You can access the latest podcast below or also at Making Sense of Life on iTunes
Happy New Year again and let’s make 2020 our best year yet!
28 min
December 04, 2019Podcast #060: Why you should hunger for wisdom
Wisdom. What is it? Why do you and I really need it? What do we mean by the word wisdom?
Do join my cohost Andrew Horton and I on this podcast as we unpack some of the ideas from the book on wisdom I am currently working on.
In our conversation we unpack the following draft quote from the book:
“Wisdom comes not to the most fortunate or intelligent, but to those who are most determined to find it. We should hunger and thirst for wisdom above everything else and what that can mean for your life. My challenge to you is that what you need first and foremost in your life is wisdom. I want to demonstrate to you why that is the case.”
We also explore how wisdom:
is much more than the stereotype figures of Gandalf from The Lord of The Rings or Yoda in Star Wars!
how wisdom starts from an awareness of who and where I am with regard to where I intend to be.
can be defined as capability in the complexities of life where the rules don’t help.
provides a way through the deceptions, discouragements, disappointments and distractions of modern life without giving in to cynicism and regret.
comes from living in reverential relationship with the living God who can show us the principles, path and power to a well lived life.
is a the path by which we grow out of our natural self-centredness.
provides a clue to the answer G K Chesterton is reported to have given to a question posed by The Times newspaper in the early part of the 20th century.
You may also find of interest:
Podcast #059: How is Sunil’s book on wisdom going?
Podcast #001: Wisdom
If you have any questions, comments or ideas on the subject of wisdom do let us know!
27 min
November 06, 2019Podcast #059: How is Sunil’s book on wisdom going?
“Don’t wish it was easier. Wish you were better.
Don’t wish for less problems. Wish for more skills.
Don’t wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom.”
If you have been a regular follower of the blog and podcast you will be aware that over the last year I have significantly reduced my online activity. The main reason is to find more time to write the book on wisdom that I have been developing. So how is it going? While it is certainly not yet finished I am pleased to say I’m making good progress.
On this podcast Andrew and I reconnect after a gap of 20 podcast episodes
Do come and join our conversation as we discuss:
The need for wisdom in our increasingly challenging and complex world that is overflowing with unprecedented and overwhelming levels of information.
How wisdom is about capability in the complexity of life when the rules don’t help.
How much of life impacts on the need for wisdom.
Why I am writing this book.
Why I have dedicated this book to the memory of Abhishek Banerjee (Bunty) who died in 2014.
Proverbs 4:7-8
“The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honour you.”
You may also find of interest:
Andrew’s book that he mentions on the podcast about how to commission better videos is here.
Podcast #001: Wisdom
Podcast #039: Overcoming Failure
A tribute to my dear friend Abhishek Banerjee (12 October 1981 – 17 March 2014)
Also I am setting up a Facebook support page to help me keep focussed on getting this book done as I know how easy it is for me to let this project slip!
Thank you for your suggestions, encouragement and support!
You can also connect with me on my Facebook book writing support page that is here
The podcast link is below. Do feel free to share any thoughts and comments you have about our conversation or on the subject of wisdom .
28 min
October 02, 2019Podcast #058: The world’s most persecuted religious group
You rarely hear it mentioned in the mainstream media, but it is those who profess allegiance to Jesus Christ who are the world’s single most persecuted religious group . In face more Christians have died for their faith in the last 100 years than in the previous 2000 years combined!
In our third and final conversation with Patrick Sookhdeo we discuss:
The origins of the charity Barnabas Fund which Patrick helped to start.
How even though Western nations like to regard themselves as secular they are still perceived as Christian by the rest of the world.
How Western foreign policy has inadvertently led to the increased persecution of Christian minorities in the Middle East and around the world.
How in spite of this the church outside the West is growing faster than at any other time in world history.
Why it is through weakness and suffering that the church grows.
Patrick’s motivation to keep going in spite of many setbacks in his life.
The importance of the Christian community being a place of genuine love for one another.
You can access the podcast below or at Making Sense of Life on iTunes here.
Our previous conversations with Patrick are:
Podcast #056: Patrick Sookhdeo – An Immigrant Story
Podcast #057: Patrick Soohdeo and Understanding Islam
The Barnabas Fund website is here.
Patrick’s latest book, “Hated Without A Reason: The Remarkable Story of Christian Persecution Over The Centuries” is a history of persecution from the first century to the present day.
 
31 min
September 04, 2019Podcast #057: Patrick Sookhdeo and understanding Islam
On this podcast we continue our conversation with Patrick Sookhdeo and his journey with Christ in a hostile British environment in the 1960s and 1970s.
Patrick is currently Director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity as well as the International Director of Barnabas Fund. The latter is an interdenominational Christian charity that supports Christians who face discrimination because of their faith. It was established in 1993 and channels aid through national Christians to more than 60 countries around the world. He campaigns for the abolition of Islamic apostasy laws around the world and has written to date 33 books.
Do join us in our ongoing conversation with Patrick as we discuss:
Planting a church in one of the most violent parts of the UK.
The importance of incarnational ministry and being present with others in their suffering.
How his interest in Islam was awakened by the first international conference on mission to Muslims in 1976.
Being an advisor to the Police in the UK on Islam until 1999 when his views were felt to be too controversial.
How that all changed after 9/11
Patrick’s helpful three points on understanding Muslims and Islam that comprises:
Muslims like all people are made in the image of God and so we are called to love all Muslims.
Because we live in a liberal democratic society we must learn to accept one other regardless our personal views and opinions. This includes the freedom to criticise. While people are equally valuable not all ideas and opinions need to be equally valued.
We must accept that there is a politicised form of Islam that seeks to dominate the world through violence and this must be rejected as it challenges the very basis of a democratic society.
Patrick’s role as a military advisor to the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.
You can access the podcast below or at Making Sense of Life on iTunes here.
Our previous conversation is Podcast #056: Patrick Sookhdeo – An Immigrant Story
The Barnabas Fund website is here.
Patrick’s latest book, “Hated Without A Reason: The Remarkable Story of Christian Persecution Over The Centuries” is a history of persecution from the first century to the present day.
 
28 min
August 07, 2019Podcast #056: Patrick Sookhdeo – An immigrant story
The 1960s in Britain are popularly associated with black and white television, The Beatles, a sexual revolution and England winning the football World Cup in 1966. But what was it like for those who came as outsiders to England at that time?
One such person who came in 1959 at the age of 12 with his family was Patrick Soohdeo.
Patrick is Director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity as well as the International Director of Barnabas Fund. The latter is an interdenominational Christian charity that supports Christians who face discrimination because of their faith. It was established in 1993 and channels aid through national Christians to more than 60 countries around the world. He campaigns for the abolition of Islamic apostasy laws around the world and has written to date 33 books.
Patrick is married to Rosemary, who is from New Zealand, and they have three grown-up daughters.
Do join us on this podcast interview with Patrick where we discuss:
His upbringing in British Guyana with a Hindu father and Muslim mother in an environment of remarkable religious harmony and tolerance.
How he came to have the name Patrick.
The violence and racism he and his family experienced coming to Hoxton in East London in 1959.
His initial impression of Christianity as a racist, barbaric religion of white people.
How that radically changed in 1964 when he started to hear teaching from and began to read the Bible for himself.
How his faith in Christ led to him having to leave home and become a vagrant because “the Christians who loved me into the kingdom then disappeared.”
Rejection from many Christian organisations before eventually going to London Bible College.
Hostility and lack of understanding of him from indigenous Christians in the UK when he met Rosemary and they decided to get married.
His motivation and faith to keep going in spite of all the challenges of his life.
Much of Patrick’s experiences make for disturbing listening, but it is a story that needs to be told. Indeed it is remarkable how much the UK and the church has changed for the better in terms of race relations since the 1960s.
You can access the podcast below or at Making Sense of Life on iTunes here.
The Barnabas Fund website is here.
Patrick’s latest book, “Hated Without A Reason: The Remarkable Story of Christian Persecution Over The Centuries” is a history of persecution from the first century to the present day.
 
37 min
July 03, 2019Podcast #055: How to talk about dying well
Now that sounds like a difficult subject! We all shy away from talking about it and yet what could actually be more important?
On this podcast we return to our conversation with the author John Wyatt and explore the subject of what it means to die well.
Do join us in this 35 minute conversation when we explore:
How to prepare the space to talk
The importance of asking open-ended questions such as ‘What is your understanding of what is going on medically?’… ‘What are you afraid of?’…..’What are your dreams and goals for the remainder of the time you have left?’
The four kinds of pain – physical, psychological, relational and spiritual
How do we help those with a different faith to our own?
The meaning of the poem ‘Between the saddle and the ground, he mercy sought and mercy found.’
Dealing with the fear of abandonment.
Understanding the importance of physical presence with loved ones
The importance of advanced care planning.
We close with the ancient Old Testament blessing that has been given over many centuries:
”The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you,
The LORD turn His face towards you and give you peace.”
(Numbers 6:24-26)
You may also find of interest the following podcasts and related articles
Podcast #017: The Last Taboo Subject
Podcast #049: The Strange Adventure We Must All Take
Podcast #050: More About The Strange Adventure We Must All Take
Podcast #029: The Literal End Of The World?
Podcast #042: What Does It Take To Live A Meaningful Life? An interview with Dr John Geater who has pancreatic cancer.
A Tribute To My Dear Friend Abhishek Banerjee (12 October 1981 -17 March 2014h
Podcast #031: How Do I Live With Hope Today?
36 min