It's Freezing!

The snow is falling here in the UK. Icy cold mornings...having to clear the car windscreen of snow and ice. After looking at this photo I won’t ever complain again!

Wisdom and Purpose

Paul Benger has been doing a great series in Church about ‘Going to the Next Level’. Sunday night he touched on the need for wisdom and purpose in progressing to the next level. That revelation/vision is not enough.

‘New levels require new levels of wisdom’

‘You can’t put new wine into old wineskins’ - Jesus.

Colossians 1:9-10 – (9) So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. (10) Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.

Free Mojtaba and Arash Day

This is for the two imprisoned Iranian Bloggers.

Joke

It was getting crowded in heaven, so, for one day it was decided only to accept people who had really had a bad day on the day they died. Peter was standing at the pearly gates and said to the first man, "Tell me about the day you died."

The man said, "Oh, it was awful. I was sure my wife was having an affair, so I came home early to catch her with him. I searched all over the apartment but couldn't find him anywhere. So I went out onto the balcony, we live on the 25th floor, and found this man hanging over the edge by his fingertips. I went inside, got a hammer, and started hitting his hands. He fell, but landed in some bushes. So, I got the refrigerator and pushed it over the balcony and it crushed him. The strain of the act gave me a heart attack, and I died."

Peter couldn't deny that this was a pretty bad day, and since it was a crime of passion, he let the man in.

He then asked the next man in line about the day he died. "Well, sir, it was awful," said the second man. "I was doing aerobics on the balcony of my 26th floor apartment when I twisted my ankle and slipped over the edge. I managed to grab the balcony of the apartment below, but some maniac came out and started pounding on my fingers with a hammer. Luckily I landed in some bushes. But, then the guy dropped a refrigerator on me!"

Peter chuckled, let him into heaven and decided he could really start to enjoy this job.

"Tell me about the day you died?", he said to the third man in line.

"OK, picture this, I'm naked hiding inside a refrigerator..."

Great Day

I've just had the privilege of spending the day at Rotherham New Life Christian Centre for a Leadership Conference with Pastor John Andrews, Pastor Grayson Jones and my good friend and Pastor, Paul Benger. What a fantastic day, probably the best leadership conference I've ever been to, and I'm not exaggerating!

Based on the book 'Winning' by Clive Woodward, covering the highs and lows of attaining the WIN as opposed to just having the attitude of 'it's the taking part that counts' - the day covered the following sessions:

A Winning Culture - Grayson Jones
A Winning Team - Paul Benger
A Winning Leader - John Andrews

Hopefully they will consider taking this conference further a field. It will change mindsets and not just in churches but in the business/secular world as well.

Great day guys....thank you!

Well Done Ellen !

She's done it! World record holder for sailing solo around the world...in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 mins, 33 secs.

Jane and I have been following Ellen MacArthur’s progress ever since she set out back in November. What an amazing achievement and from a local girl as well - she’s from just down the road in Whatstandwell, Derbyshire.

Intelligent Design

I caught the BBC Breakfast news this morning. They were covering the story of the High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where for the first time the theory of Intelligent Design was being taught alongside Darwin’s theory of Evolution.

Atheists are up in arms as ID points towards a Creator rather than so called factual evidence that supports the science of evolution. They say that ID is all about faith and not science.

ID looks at, for example, the complexities and intricacies of the human body and says an ‘intelligent designer’ is behind it all. Of course they're right (just my biased opinion).

Last Night

It was a great privilege to have Pastor Alan Graham from CEF, Zimbabwe with us in church last night. We had a great time hearing him preach on ‘Embracing God given opportunities'.

One thing that really stood out for me was not just the great message of faith and of trusting in God but the fact that Alan was living proof of what it means to actually laying hold of these God given opportunities and not letting go! Just listening to him share about all that God was doing and had been doing for many years was inspirational stuff.

God bless them!

Lessons from LOTR

I’m doing a series of discussions at our Youth Group over several weeks based on themes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

So far….

Character – Galadriel talks to Frodo concerning the bearing of the ring to Mordor. He shares his fears with her. Her response, ‘Even the smallest person can change the course of the future’. It's easy to not attempt anything "great" in life because of our own fear or insecurity. Many might feel the answer to this dilemma is "boldness". The answer is actually character not boldness.

One of the things that matters most to God about us is our character. And God is looking for people of "character" to accomplish great things for him. Not necessarily great people, good looking people, or people in top physical shape – but people of character.

And tonight…

Living Hope - Gandalf discusses with Pippin at Minis Tirith that this is not the end when death seemed imminent. He gave him hope at a very low point. His hope was life, even after death.

Living hope is also about living for today even amongst the worries/troubles that life throws at us. What can we do to overcome them - to be at peace? Paul writes,

Philippians 4:4-9 – [4] Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! [5] Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. [6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. [8] Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. [9] Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Bloggers Beware

As a Blogger I read with interest this particular news item. It was actually pointed out to me by my boss, who does, I believe, visit the blog from time to time.

This particular Blogger decided to write derogatory remarks concerning his employer and more specifically his boss. Not a wise move as you will see.

By the way if you were wondering...I have a great boss!

A Fishy Tale

I like this!