Myers Briggs

As part of our Theological Reflection module we were given the opportunity to do the Myers Briggs personality test, I think to make us more “self aware”.

I’ve done it before and was fairly sure where I’d come out… and sure enough I’m an ENFJ (that’s extraverted, intuitive, feeling, judging).

I think that it is a useful tool… but it has limitations. I find the whole personality profiling stuff fascinating as it has a huge impact on teambuilding, leadership and much more. However, the key to it all has to be that it is helping us understand just WHO God has made us to be.

For those who are interested there are some good insights at www.teamtechnology.co.uk on Myers Briggs and especially on how it relates to leadership styles.

I did get the highest score in the group on the extraverted scale (61 for those who care). That makes me a winner…

Weird Churches

Found this through another blog…

20 most weird church buildings around the world.

Check this one out for starters…

The Bible in Lego

A link to this website should appear on the Delicious bar… but if it doesn’t, then check this out

Utter Nightmare…

I’m watching Mamma Mia with Nell.

Thankfully I’m working at the same time.

It’s hard work resisting the temptation to throw something at the TV when yet another song comes on…

Grumpy git.

Delicious

No, I’m not thinking about food again (actually that’s a lie…)

On the right hand side there is a little widget labelled “Delicious” – Its basically a place that will have some good links that I’ve thought were worth a look.

A great dilemma

Our Church

We’re part of “Crossnet” – an Anglican church with a different flavour. Check out their website for more info…

Click HERE for the link.

Great to go to church for a nice cuppa, cake and comfy chair all on a Sunday afternoon (rather than rushing up in the morning). Slowly starting to get involved… excited about all that God has in store for us as a church in the future.

Pessimism

Don’t even know if that’s how you spell it…

Wolves are 6 points clear from 2nd place, 10 points clear of 3rd place and playing well.

Why am I expecting it all to go wrong???????????

Fishing – a few misunderstandings

The majority of people who know that I go fishing don’t understand why. The seem to think that I sit still, freeze, put maggots in my mouth, get bored, don’t catch anything (half right there), look miserable etc etc. As a result I wanted to start a little series on my blog about fishing, why I go, and why lots of people ask me if I’ll take them sometime…

Firstly, every fisherman wants to catch something. No-one goes fishing hoping that they are going to blank (not catch anything). However, for me fishing is SO much more than just catching fish, especially as I’m generally fishing for bigger fish (and there aren’t many of them) which means that I probably blank half the time at least. If fishing is just about the result of catching then you miss out on a whole lot more that you get from it. However, when you catch something, you can’t wait to do it again. If I’m taking someone out for the first time, I’ll make sure they’ll catch something… the excitement when they do is huge.

Fishing is full of anticipation. Every minute that I’m on the riverbank or by a lake, I’m expecting a bite. It’s why I am ALWAYS late home (just one more cast…). I fish mainly for a species of fish called Barbel (more about them another time) and when they take your bait you know about it so that anticipation is brilliant. It is rarely dull.

Fishing is done in beautiful places… I took the photo above on my phone just over a year ago. More to come…

Blog changes

As I’ve got loads more free time (don’t believe a trainee vicar who says they are busy) I’m wanting to change the blog a bit… I’m trying to get things like Delicious to work etc… any advice greatly appreciated!

Reading the times…

Just finished reading the book of Esther (Old Testament).

The whole story seems to hinge around one piece of dialogue in chapter 4:

When Hathach told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai sent her this message: “Don’t think that just because you live in the king’s house you’re the one Jew who will get out of this alive. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as thiz.”

I am struck by Esther’s (and probably my) inability to read the sign. I’m sure it had a lot to do with fear. She was forced to become a member of the King’s harem and having become the king’s favourite girl she was in a unique position to stop a genocide taking place against the Jewish people.

In the world today we can see so much that isn’t right. So much that needs changing. So much that needs to be different than it is. Yet so often we sit on the sidelines with a big bucket of water and watch the world burn.

There are so many reasons why we don’t move from our position…

Lack of love for others

Fear that it will involve a change in our lives that will disturb our comfortable existence

A “why should I bother” attitude

(All of which apply to me)

God has put each of us in a place, a community, a context that requires us to do something about the mess we see around us. If we call ourselves followers of Jesus, this is a non-negiotiable part of our discipleship.

I’m sat in a Theological College committed to training good church leaders. Thats a good thing. However, I’m not going to wait until I’m “trained” before I do something… I’m not going to hide behind my books. I’m here for “such a time as this”. All of us are where we are for “such a time as this”.

“It is not enough to simply BE good; we must also DO good” (Erwin McManus)

Barack Obama

It is a monumental event in history. Regardless of what you think about the USA and their election process, a black man is now the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. He wouldn’t have run away with it quite as much if McCaine hadn’t picked Sarah Palin, but he won because he knows how to inspire others through VISION. More people voted in this election than had done since the 60s. Obama mobilised the younger generation (my generation) which hasn’t happened before.

Don’t you just long for more visionary leaders in our nation… in our churches?

Not just people trying to maintain an institution but someone willing to lay down their life for the cause.

Bring it on.

Quantum of Solace

We went out last night to see the new Bond film… I had made the mistake of reading some negative reviews before I went which straight away clouded my opinion of it. Anyway, I’ll try not to give away too much plot but here’s my opinion on it.

Good bits…

Daniel Craig – by far and away the best Bond ever. You really feel every punch and kick… also, he’s a really good actor. He was the best thing in the film. The film doesn’t try to outdo Casino Royale which would have made it even more hyperactive, but instead it tries to expand on the development of Bond and this organisation called “Quantum” (very similar to SPECTRE). You feel as though this Bond film is preparing the way for future stories… some would argue that you didn’t need to do that but I think that it makes the future more interesting.

However…

The theme tune is utter garbage. The story is a bit of a mess – it jumps all over the place and doesn’t make sense a lot of the time, simply because it is trying to be too deep… The action sequences are full on… in fact there are so many chases that after a while it gets a bit tedious. It simply doesn’t have the charm of previous films, the script isn’t very sharp and the villain is rubbish. About as scarey and threatening as one of my lecturers.

Nevertheless worth seeing. 6/10