I’m an early morning kind of person… I love sunrise. I really like being up before everyone else. I am a strange breed of human being. Especially as I’m a student as well. Anyway, Sunday mornings we’re up bright and early for church. We are part of the leadership team for the 9am service at Woodlands Church in Bristol. This morning we arrived at Woodies at about 820. We could smell the cooking bacon before we even got inside.
Breakfast is served at 830-9. There’s always great coffee, tea, fruit, pastries, yoghurt and occasionally bacon, bagels and pancakes. Today we had the works. I stuck with coffee, pancakes, bacon and maple syrup. Nice. The service starts at 9 with worship, sometimes communion, and teaching. There are normally between 60-70 people who come along.
We love it. The sense of community that is generated by eating together first is great. The informality suits a wide range of people. Those who struggle with a larger crowd feel more able to stick around. Those who want to dip in and out for whatever reason can do so. If you’re in Bristol and you want to come… let me know!
Check out the Woodlands Church link on the sidebar of this blog.
It’s not normal for me to use Hebrew in this blog… but I read about this word in a great book – The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning.
Chutzpah means boldness, even aggression.
He tells a story about Arnold Palmer who was playing a series of golf tournaments in Saudi Arabia. He so impressed the King that he wanted to give Palmer a gift. Palmer, being successful and rich from his golf, declined the offer which offended the King. Wisely, Palmer reconsidered and after thinking asked for a nice golf club as a memento of his trip. The King agreed. The next day he sent a messenger to Palmer with the deeds for a 36 hole golf club. Trees, lakes, a club house. The whole deal.
In the presence of a King, don’t ask for small gifts.
Therefore let us draw near with chutzpah to the throne of grace so that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16)
These kind of disasters paralyse me… I never know what to do other than pray and give money. Which I guess is as good as any place to start. If you visit this site PLEASE do the same. Pray and give money. You can do both at Tearfund’s website HERE by clicking on the Haiti banner on the front page.
I’ve already seen this twice… and it is good. Very good.
Bad points… the story is obvious and has been done before – Dances with Wolves being the obvious one. The script isn’t brilliant, but does contain some classic lines, especially from the Colonel.There are pops at the “war on terror” and environmental disaster, but they aren’t anything more than a nod in the right direction.
Good points… this is the first 3D film that I’ve seen. And it was worth it, regardless of what Mark Kermode on Fivelive says. Avatar is visually stunning, especially the CGI imagery on the planet Pandora. The action is great, the characters are good, although a bit shallow. And there wasn’t the obvious set up for a sequel (although I’m in no doubt that there’ll be one).
We live in a world with immense beauty. Real beauty – not a CGI make-believe world. And we have done immense damage to it. Yet beauty still shines through. I’ve been so fortunate in being able to visit some beautiful places and see some beautiful people. One country that I’m told shines brighter than most is Congo. I’ve been to SW Uganda – about 5 miles from the Congo border – and that is stunning. Congo is supposed to be even better. The most beautiful country in the world is also the most lawless. Civil war, no leadership, genocide, rape and pillage. The only way for things to change is if someone is willing to stand with the oppressed against the oppressor. The more the better. Start HERE.
This is a great clip (ignore the fact that its an advert).
Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world,
Are the ones who do.
Last night at Old Trafford, Mick made 10 changes to the Wolves team before we faced Man Utd. And stirred up a right old storm.
Firstly, I do have sympathy for all the Wolves fans who travelled up and paid a lot of money to watch the game.
However… Mick isn’t the first manager to do this, and certainly won’t be the last. Sam Allardyce did it with Bolton a few seasons ago. Also, how about all the so-called top clubs who do it all the time in a once-in-a-lifetime cup match? More hypocrisy and double standards again…
The issue I have with it is that it sends out the wrong signal – we might have gotten something last night and it says to every other club that we are always up for a game. However, if we finish 17th or above, last night won’t be remembered.
The Times branded Mick more of a villain that Terry Henry… good journalism there!
Beating Burnley now becomes more about winning the fans back…
As with the last few years, the X-Factor is tipped to win the race to be Christmas number one.
I’ve not followed the chart for years… and even when I did it didn’t really bother me if Mr Blobby beat Pondlife or whoever to number one.
This year there is a campaign to get Rage Against the Machine to number one with their well known song “Killing in the Name of”.
Here are couple of the issues with this campaign:
1. Both X Factor and RATM sell singles through Sony. So Sony win either way. Also, this will lead to more people buying the X Factor single anyway as many younger children will really want the winner (I’ve forgotten who it was) to get to number one. They’ve already voted in their millions for the programme.
2. Killing in the Name of has the well known refrain “F*** you I won’t do what you tell me”
What is the campaign doing? Telling people to do something.
Had a great morning speaking at Emmanuel Chapel, Henbury. It’s a small chapel in a relatively poor estate in west Bristol (not far from Cribs Causeway). A pastorate from Woodlands Church have been involved in taking services and supporting the chapel for a few months. I arrived this morning to Bacon Butties, great coffee and a warm welcome.
The service was great – worship, really funny kids sketch and then me… I spoke on Daniel 1 – how we must engage with our community and culture, even if it is hostile.
I spoke to one older person at Emmanuel who does just that. She prays like crazy for her community. She spends time on Saturday evenings working with children and teenagers, some of whom are involved in drugs, alcohol and anti social behaviour. She loves her neighbours.
I love Uganda. I spent a fantastic 2 weeks there in Feb 08 working with a project in Kisoro called the Potters Village. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.
I was saddened and angered to read about the proposed legislation that would imprison and possibly even lead to the death penalty of those in homosexual relationships. It made me even more angry when it appeared as though some so-called Christian leaders from both Uganda and the USA were pushing this through (although Archbishop Henry Orombi – a great Christian leader in Uganda is against it)
Let me make it clear – the death penalty is wrong. To assign it to homosexuals is even worse. It is anti-Christian. I am a follower of Jesus, someone who had the death penalty given to him unjustly. So when I saw/read what Rick Warren has done in appealing against this law I was more than relieved. He is one of the most influential evangelical American Christians around. He works tirelessly with his wife with those suffering from HIV/AIDS REGARDLESS of their sexual orientation.
I’ve been fishing for Barbel for about the last 4 years or so and I’ve spent a lot of that time on the Warwickshire Avon… its been a tough river to fish for me… partly because I’m pretty inept! Anyway, arrived yesterday early evening for a session… to find the river much higher that I had expected – it was about 6ft up and tanking through. The water column was full of leaves etc and so at the first stretch I fished I only tried one spot before packing up and driving a few miles upstream to a place I love to fish in the floods.
Arrived there in the dark so headed for a spot that I knew well – no point taking risks in these conditions. Had a nice 6lb Barbel first cast which buoyed the confidence. Moved to another spot but didn’t have a touch. In the third swim after about 15-20mins I had a good bite and struck into a decent fish that I just couldn’t keep out of a bush downstream… I tried hard but it kept taking line and in the end the hook pulled out. Gutted. Felt like a decent fish.
Rested that swim for about half an hour and then came back. Within 10mins the rod tip slammed round again and I was into another Barbel. This one did the same thing, but I plunged the rod into the water to try to turn its head… it worked! After a really hard scrap I landed the fish… it didn’t look as big as it weighed but it was a new PB from the Avon. 9lb 11oz… not quite a double but a great fish nonetheless. And plenty of the season left for me to get one. Weather’s getting cold now so the Pike gear will be out next. Oh the joys of being at college and having long holidays!!
A few months ago, I was mulling over something that a good friend once said to me:
‘”We are only born with two fears (the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling). Every other fear is learned through experience. Faith is the process by which we unlearn these fears.”
I don’t like to think that there is much that I’m fearful of… but if I’m honest, there is. I thought about the way that certain fears and worries were able to affect the way I live… and decided that I needed to do something about it.
So… I thought of a list of some of the specific things that I fear/worry about and decided to face them as quickly as possible. Life is too short to let fear make my decisions…
Fear would make me chose comfort over challenge – I’d settle for 2nd best just so I was secure
Fear would require me to be someone that I’m not – I’d be willing to let my God-given personality hide away
Fear would cripple my ability to change – I’d not make tough choices that affect my character, and those nearest and dearest to me
Fear would suffocate love – I wouldn’t speak the truth in love in case I offended someone
But… True love casts out fear – the eternal security of knowing that you are deeply and unconditionally loved destroys the hold of fear. If God is for us then who can be against us?
If you’re sick of being fearful and are longing for change in your life then maybe you’d be up for praying this prayer with me…
God, I’ll do anything, go anywhere… just make it clear. Let your perfect love cast out all of my fear. Amen.
I don’t think cheating is good or shouldn’t be punished. It should. Not really sure how you can do this though… perhaps France could request a replay and really confuse FIFA etc??
However…
There is no way that there can be a replay – because that will open the door for every game that turns on a dodgy incident to be replayed as well.
Also, we really live in cloud cuckoo land if we think that other Irish players haven’t cheated before.
However, it did get a great press conference out of Roy Keane.
Again, the BIG injustice was the seeding. That was scandalous. FIFA/UEFA should have nasty things done to them for that.
Get Platini and Blatter to comment on that. The Henry handball is utterly insignificant in comparison.
This is what makes football interesting… controversy.
If you follow me on twitter then you might have an idea of what I think about this last night… basically I do know that it is gutting to lose from a goal that shouldn’t have been allowed. It was handball in the buildup and in a perfect world Henry should have stopped and held his hand up. However, he’s not going to and nor would any of the Irish team. Nor the English team. Nor Liverpool or Manure or Chelski. Or even Wolves. If anyone is at fault it is the referee, linesman and FIFA – football should have video technology in use for controversial decisions.
This ridiculous view that only foreigners dive or cheat doesn’t even deserve a response. Get a life if you think that.
Ok… this is not my specialty but I know some guys who have just done the most fantastic rural church mission that I’ve ever seen. Genuinely brilliant.
If you are involved in any form of rural mission then you need to get in touch with these guys… working with a group of rural churches north of Chippenham, they are all Anglican ordinands and are cutting edge in this form of stuff.
I’ve already seen this twice… and it is good. Very good.
