For those of you who haven’t seen the film ‘Yes man’, the basic plot is that Jim Carey has to say ‘yes’ to any opportunity that presents itself and any offer that is made. Consequently, he finds himself doing things he would never have done otherwise, and learns the value of living boldly. I feel this resonates incredibly strongly with the student life as there is so much opportunity to share Jesus’ message, yet it’s all too easy to ignore it. If we listen to God and are prepared to live in trust and faith, we may too become ‘Yes’ people, and become open to all God has to offer. [Read more here]For those of you who haven’t seen the film ‘Yes man’, the basic plot is that Jim Carey has to say ‘yes’ to any opportunity that presents itself and any offer that is made. Consequently, he finds himself doing things he would never have done otherwise, and learns the value of living boldly. I feel this resonates incredibly strongly with the student life as there is so much opportunity to share Jesus’ message, yet it’s all too easy to ignore it. If we listen to God and are prepared to live in trust and faith, we may too become ‘Yes’ people, and become open to all God has to offer. [Read more here]
“Jesus was doing lots of amazing things, but there was so much more work to do. So Jesus decided he needed some special friends to help him. He chose 12 friends to help with his important work. He chose 12 very different people. There were fishermen like Andrew and Simon Peter. There were clever people like Philip and Bartholomew. There was Thomas, and Matthew who collected money. There were brothers like James and John. There was another James and another Simon. And two more friends called Judas and Thaddaeus. The 12 special friends helped Jesus with his work and they told everyone they met about God. Jesus was very happy to have his 12 friends. And they were very happy to be friends with Jesus.” Matthew 10:1-4.
Thank you Maggie Barfield. How lovely, I thought, as I went to plan the session for 3-6 year olds at church. What a nice little story. [Read more here]
This November, our ‘cluster’ met to prepare Christmas hampers for the Besom. Rob Ainsworth set up the Besom to act as a bridge between people in the church who want to help others, and those who are genuinely in need. You can’t very well go knocking on people’s doors asking if you can clear their garden or paint their bedroom, but there are plenty of people in our community who can’t do those things themselves and who are struggling to get by.
We’re very good as ‘Church’ at putting on events. As G2 we have Sunday meetings, cell groups, leadership meetings, cluster meetings, alpha courses, special one off worship events, men’s weekends. And as part of St Michael le Belfrey we have multiple congregations, we have prayer meetings, team meetings, Church weekends, carol services. We’ve got the whole ‘event’ thing pretty nailed.
It might sound strange, but I see the future of the Church, if it is to grow and see change in the future, is found not in more events, but in non-events. [Read more here]
I wonder what this year has in store for you. I know for me, it will be a strange one. As I watched Big Ben chime midnight on a small television in the corner of the room last week, all that was going through my head was: “this time next year…”
This time next year I will be married. I will be spending Christmas completely differently, I will be in a new house, I will be doing something new with my life. 2012 is going to be a strange sort of year for me.
This time next year, where do you expect to be? What hopes do you have? What plans do you have? What expectations do you have on this year? [Read more here]
Books. I love them. I always have several on the go at any one time and I love visiting my Amazon Wish List to see what I’ve put there. My seven year old daughter seems to have the same reading gene, sitting in bed reading long after she should be asleep – hard to tell her to put the light off when it’s exactly what I used to do (& still do).
You can see some of the books I’ve been reading recently by clicking here. Click on the RSS tab so I can let you know when I update the list. It would also be great to read some comments on what you have thought about some of the books. [Read more here]
Remember.
What did you think 2011 was going to be like?
Our world has changed this year.
You don’t need to know me well to know that I am very much a ‘people person’; I love meeting new people, getting to know them, spending time with friends and just generally being around people all the time. People mean a lot to me.
I’ve never been very good at relying on God, it’s one of those things that is so easy to say; like those bracelets with 4 simple words: Fully Rely On God. But to actually carry it out is really difficult; trusting is tough. On many levels, it is so much easier to rely more on people than on God, because you can see them, they are visibly, physically beside you. [Read more here]
As a ten year old boy, there was literally nothing I enjoyed more than professional wrestling! For whatever reason, the combination of spandex, trash talk and choreographed violence was mesmerizing.
By the age of sixteen, heavy metal had taken centre stage in my life. With hair halfway down my back, my permanently fixed headphones blared nothing but crunching riffs, pounding rhythms and soaring vocals.
At twenty one I must confess I still hold both wrestling and metal very close to my heart. It is hardly surprising then that I am rather fond of Fozzy, a heavy metal band fronted by legendary ex-WWE superstar – “Y2J” Chris Jericho. Naturally, when I found out they were playing in York recently (on Chris Jericho’s birthday no less), I did not hesitate to get a ticket. [Read more here]
Tomorrow will be the first of December. The first of December for me means it’s time to crack out the Bob Dylan Christmas CD, the mince pies, mulled wine, poundland fairy lights and horrendously bad knitwear. I absolutely love this time of year.
As any good Christmas preacher will tell you- there’s a reason for the season- Christmas is all about Jesus coming to the earth for us, about God becoming man. It’s about the gospel. I hear this message every Christmas, every carol service, every Christingle, every nativity. But if we’re not careful the message can easily wash over our heads, it can become cliched and old. But if ‘gospel’ isn’t life changing and fresh then we’ve got issues. I won’t let this Christmas be another Christmas of nodding along to the umpteenth
