Skip to main content

Shoulders, Ethnomusicology and Burgers!

Where has the week gone? It is already Sunday afternoon and the week 5 is about to begin!

So, once again time to take stock, reflect and see what the last week held. Bit of a busy week, so grabbing some time between helping the youngest with her homework ... The daily life of Celts! ... And preparing for tea! (anyone know where I can get my hands on a copy of Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals? Even if they do take and hour and a half!)

On a personal note, my wife had her operation on the shoulder, which I understand is an incredibly painful procedure ... The Doctor said it would be, and my wife confirms it!! This has meant that since Thursday I have also been chief cook, sandwich maker and everything else that we normally do together for the family. The kids have rallied round and filled in the inevitable gaps that I leave between what 'Mum' usually does, and what 'Dad' remembers to do! Also had a great time queuing for a KS2 Disco with my youngest daughter ... The fever pitch of excitement and squealing voices was almost too much! On Monday evening we had the delight of going to the Theatre, courtesy of Tesco club card points, to watch 'Blood brothers' - an excellent production with some interesting themes - google it if you're interested in exploring them.

So this has meant that I am working from home ... Of course the emails still find me there ....

Have been really blessed on reading John Stott's 'The cross of Christ' ... Not the lightest of reads, but well worth reading in chunks, rather than a dip in and out as some books will allow! Recommended reading for both Christian and non-Christian alike! Also a small article from the Evangelical alliance ... Check it here http://www.eauk.org/snapshot/read.cfm - has been well worth a read. Good to get a broader perspective, and again good for both Christian and non-Christian alike.

On Tuesday I trekked up to the Manchester area to meet with two of our UK team leaders. Always encouraging to touch base and talk about what is happening, and thinking ahead to hear what we are trusting the Lord to do in the coming year. Keep your eyes pealed for our forthcoming Online Missions bookstore, and we have a band that have come together to demonstrate to the UK church the development of ethnically relevant worship music ... Excellent. A long day on the train, but well worth it .... All I need to do now is type up the outcomes!! (There's always tomorrow!)

BTW if anyone is interested in hearing the band then they will be playing at the GO2011 - Mission festival in May ... Come along and hear them! Or, invite to come to your Church ... Get in touch!

Thought for the week ...
1/ How wonderful my wife is .... And how much I miss all that she does when she has to stop doing it!

2/ Ephesians 3:12 (NIV) In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Do we walk in this liberty? Always? Or are we crippled by guilt when we sin? What overwhelmed us, sin or grace? Paul's prayer is that, in order to walk in the liberty we have in Christ, we need to have an ever increasing revelation of the overwhelming power and strength of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Not that we receive more, we already are rooted and established in that love ... What we need to to more fully appreciate what we have been established in ... Amazing!!

Well, let's trust for week of ever increasing revelation, and of walking in the freedom and confidence we have in Christ ... Great!

Now, what do Celts do for entertainment? Also, I reckon I can bash out some burgers in 25 minutes - without Jamie's help!

- Press on!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Feel free to add comments or ask questions:

Popular posts from this blog

Labels

Who are you? I have never been a great fan of labels when it comes to describing members of the body of Christ. eg. he is anglican, she is Baptist, they are Charismatic, etc. etc. I remember once causing a man to become increasingly hot under the collar when he asked me who I was? To which I replied I was a disciple (follower) of Jesus. He was meaning which Church did I attend (presumably so he could classify me and decide whether I was bona fide or not) and my answer did not bring him peace, but I refused to go any further.  Why? Because, as I said, I am not a great fan of labels, but also because for me there is a very important distinction between primarily identifying myself with Jesus and identifying myself with Church. Of course, I recognise that by becoming a follower of Jesus I become part of the body of Christ, but that can be very distinct from being a member of a Church. To me this is the crucial difference between vibrant faith and dusty religion.  ...
1 comment
Read more

Homes I have lived in #3

This year I am celebrating my silver wedding anniversary ... Just for something to do I have begun to sketch all the houses we have lived in during that time. So here is house number #3 On our return to the UK we were faced with the question that faces all people in transition, what next? For us, we were encouraged by our friends to investigate further training and opted to spend a year with Kerygma ministries. We joined with a group of some 20 other people from various different cultures and backgrounds to join the ministry led by Dr Bob Gordon, based at Drayton Hall near Norwich. We spent one year here, between September 1993 and July 1994.   Significant events that took place here included: Suffered reverse culture shock, as I grappled with the transition from life in a mudhut in Africa to life in the UK in a Manor House! (Struggled with the amount of money being spent on a sign that was being placed outside ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Helpful read ...

Sacred Pathways: Discover your Soul's Path to God - Gary Thomas  When you became a christian did you look around other people's lives and seek to model some of their spiritual disciplines? Did you find that somehow they didn't work for you in quite the same way as they seemed to work for them? Did this lead you to a place of discouragement? Did you think that, somehow, the things that bring such life to other people but don't bring life to you must mean that there is something wrong with you? Or that maybe God doesn't love you as much as He loved those people whom you sought to emulate? These are very real questions that all c hristians probably grapple with at some point. As we grow and mature in Christ we eventually reach a place of liberty where we realise that we are unique and therefore we shouldn't be surprised when our Father deals uniquely with us - and the way we most easily 'connect' to Him is also unique. Or perhaps we find over time th...
Post a Comment
Read more