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Viewpoint from Lieutenant Ben Selfe 13/03/2015
 Lieutenant Ben Selfe
Salvation Army, Great Yarmouth
Bristol City is top of the league. This makes me very happy (I’m a Bristol City fan). There are actually three games to be played between me writing this and it being published, so I could end up with Bovril on my face if we lose and slip down the table. But I am so full of confidence that I am willing to take that risk
Last season Bristol City was being managed by Sean O’Dismal, we were in the bottom three for most of the year and had lost all hope of recovery. On match day, I listened to Five Live on the radio and every time the presenter said ‘we have another goal at…’ I was fully expecting them to say ‘… at Ashton Gate, and Bristol City have let another one in.’ Even if we were 2-0 up with 5 minutes to go I expected us to lose it
 But now we have a new manager and a new hope. This season I just cannot comprehend the idea of us losing. In the build-up to our recent televised FA Cup game with premier league team West Ham I was eagerly anticipating the 4th round draw knowing full well we were going to become the latest giant-killers live on TV (we lost)
Last week I travelled down to Colchester to watch my beloved boys in red. We went 3-0 down within 17 minutes, but from the 18th to the 90th minute I genuinely believed we were going to turn the game around and win at least 6-3 (we lost again)
What a difference hope makes. Without hope we are constantly filled with dread, doubt and despair, even if things are actually going well. Yet when we have hope we can conquer all our qualms, we are freed from all our fears and we can live life to the full
 I am not just talking about the fact Bristol City are by far the best football team in the world and will be playing in the premier league for the 2016-17 season
The hope of eternal life and resurrection which is found in our relationship with God through Jesus is life-changing, no, it’s life-creating. If you’re not already a Christian who possesses this hope then I would thoroughly recommend becoming one. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1
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