I was intrigued to read that Laura Loomer accompanied Mr Trump to an event commemorating 9/11 a few weeks ago. As I understand it Ms Loomer is a very controversial figure and well known for spreading conspiracy theories including the claim that 9/11 attacks were an ‘inside job’ carried out by the US government.

I was equally fascinated by a review of a book I came across entitled ‘Angel in the rubble: The Miraculous Rescue of 9/11's Last Survivor’. It tells the story of Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the last person to be pulled alive from the wreckage of the Twin Towers, 27 hours after the building collapsed on top of her.

As the title clearly suggests Genelle Guzman-McMillan believes in angels. In fact, she is convinced that she had an encounter with one named Paul who had held her hand and called her name as she prayed for her rescue.

The Bible clearly tells us that angels exist. In fact it could be argued that it is not possible to believe the Bible is true and not believe in angels, some of whom are good and some of whom are pretty bad. Jesus never doubted their existence either, all of which tells us that we need to be aware of their presence, their power and their influence in our lives.

History records some amazing stories of these celestial beings, none more striking than the claim that following a time of national prayer the ‘Angels of Mons’ protected the British Army from defeat in the summer of 1914. One report I’ve read referred to ‘luminous beings’ that floated between the British and German forces preventing the further advance of the enemy.

Now I clearly can’t confirm the veracity of these accounts, but I can put on record the occasion when I am convinced that I was in the presence of an angel. It occurred when I was training for Baptist ministry many years ago, when thanks to a combination of a lack of sleep and no breakfast I found myself fainting while I was preaching at a church in Newport, Gwent. Much to my surprise, when I returned to preach there again a few months later, I was met by a somewhat confused church secretary. He told me that I would probably think he was ‘daft’ but he wanted to assure me that as I fell over in the pulpit a large figure in white appeared behind me with ‘his’ hands stretched out to catch me.

I had seen nothing of this, but his conviction left me in no doubt that he was telling the truth. He had seen an angel.

With all this in mind I’ve gone back and reflected on what we find in both the Old and New Testaments, and I have to tell you that as I have done so one passage in particular has jumped out. You will find it in Luke’s gospel where we read of an occasion where the religious establishment was criticising Jesus because He was mixing with the ‘wrong sort of people’. He put them firmly in their place by contrasting their negative attitude with that of the angels. As one translation tells us, He said that angels ‘throw a party’ every time someone turns to God. It makes me wonder how many churches, indeed how many Christians do the same.