If you haven't heard or caught on, I'm going to be running an Alpha Course from Thursday evening. I am starting to get nervous about it, but at the same time, I am incredibly excited for the future of Alpha and where it will lead us. I could be running a second one before we know it, for more young people who have heard about it, but we will see!
Please pray with me, for me and for the young people that will encounter God!
I am going home to pray and eat!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Growing in faith week 1
Whilst my boss watches the tennis on the big screen and the band practices to lead worship in about 30 minutes, I will fill you in on what I thought of Growing inFaith, which is my churches response to the Transforming Presence document from the Bishop of Chelmsford.
Last Wednesday we gathered altogether for coffee and tea before watching Francis Chan, and his talk a out what God looks like and how we talk to him. I have heard plenty of people talk about the book of Revelation, some with passion (Mike Pilavichi) and some with fear (can't remember who!) but it hadn't struck me in awesomeness. Francis Chan said so much that I can't possibly mention all of it.
What is your picture of God? Is it a big man on a cloud who looks a little bit like Western Jesus, just a bit greyer? Or is it like the beginning of Revelation? Read chapter one, 12-17 slowly, and tell me what you think! Read the whole of chapter four, slowly and tell me if your picture changes?
We love in a society, Francis Chan says, that has the notion, has grown up with the idea that 'God is whoever you want him to be', which means we have watered him down, we have used words that don't do God justice. God says 'I AM' and nations fall to the ground, yet we wander into his presence and really don't take it seriously.
How are you coming to God? With the fear of the creatures who cry "Holy, Holy, Holy" or with absent mindedness and your shopping list on your mind? What is scripture teaching you about God?
Paul says in 1 Tim 6v16 that Jesus 'lives in unapproachable light' and that the honour should be to him forever! That's amazing! Yes, we are called to a relationship with Jesus, and the great thing is that we can go to him, and he will stand in the father's presence and petition on our behalf. God is holy, his name is holy and we shouldn't water it down at all.
After listening to Francis Chan, we were split into groups, for discussions about what we had just heard. Some excellent ideas and praying for each other came out of time in small groups, also some issues that we are praying about.
We sang at the beginning and end as well, which was encouraging for me!
Overall, I really enjoyed it and now I am sat in Church seeing how Wednesday night has affected some already and hoping that it will spread like wild fire.
It's Sunday and I'm looking forward a busy but lovely week. One passage keeps cropping up in my life, which I will stick to for the next couple of weeks... Ephesians 3:14-21
Last Wednesday we gathered altogether for coffee and tea before watching Francis Chan, and his talk a out what God looks like and how we talk to him. I have heard plenty of people talk about the book of Revelation, some with passion (Mike Pilavichi) and some with fear (can't remember who!) but it hadn't struck me in awesomeness. Francis Chan said so much that I can't possibly mention all of it.
What is your picture of God? Is it a big man on a cloud who looks a little bit like Western Jesus, just a bit greyer? Or is it like the beginning of Revelation? Read chapter one, 12-17 slowly, and tell me what you think! Read the whole of chapter four, slowly and tell me if your picture changes?
We love in a society, Francis Chan says, that has the notion, has grown up with the idea that 'God is whoever you want him to be', which means we have watered him down, we have used words that don't do God justice. God says 'I AM' and nations fall to the ground, yet we wander into his presence and really don't take it seriously.
How are you coming to God? With the fear of the creatures who cry "Holy, Holy, Holy" or with absent mindedness and your shopping list on your mind? What is scripture teaching you about God?
Paul says in 1 Tim 6v16 that Jesus 'lives in unapproachable light' and that the honour should be to him forever! That's amazing! Yes, we are called to a relationship with Jesus, and the great thing is that we can go to him, and he will stand in the father's presence and petition on our behalf. God is holy, his name is holy and we shouldn't water it down at all.
After listening to Francis Chan, we were split into groups, for discussions about what we had just heard. Some excellent ideas and praying for each other came out of time in small groups, also some issues that we are praying about.
We sang at the beginning and end as well, which was encouraging for me!
Overall, I really enjoyed it and now I am sat in Church seeing how Wednesday night has affected some already and hoping that it will spread like wild fire.
It's Sunday and I'm looking forward a busy but lovely week. One passage keeps cropping up in my life, which I will stick to for the next couple of weeks... Ephesians 3:14-21
Friday, January 25, 2013
London a Capella festival
Today I went to the only festival I will go to this year, unless something major happens in my life and I start to like drinking and camping at the same time...
I spent 5 hours at King's Place, soaking up so much music! I have seen several choirs, the whole range of professionalism! Let me tell you all about them...
Rajaton
Rajaton are a Finnish vocal group who have been working hard since 1997. They are amazing and funny too. This is no glee show, their vocal compositions had us stood on our feet as they finished. I could not fault them and I will be finding out when they are next in the country.
We had lots of Finnish songs, some English and one Italian. Their great sense of humour meant they introduced an ABBA song as a 'Swedish folk song', which turned out to be Fernando!! Have a listen if go can or a watch!
They sung about death, with a lot of humour, and talked about how good they are at Eurovision! We had the 1989 entry from Finland. Being in London, they wanted to sing a Beatles song, so lots of dancing to Lady Madonna kept us entertained! They finished with 'under pressure' which was restored to something far better than the original! The six members of the group each had something to say about the songs, and everyone agreed that 'Butterfly' was their favourite and it's easy to see why... 3 men and 3 women who clearly have talent that is boundless... Which is what Rajaton means!
The choir of Clare College, Cambridge were first up, though Rajaton left a bigger impression on me. They sung in a variety of languages and as a 20-30 strong choir, they are very good. Being choral, they don't have a lot of expression as a choir, but they are amazing anyway! It was hard to follow without a programme and the director/conductor got his church calendar wrong.
Anyway, I have had an amazing evening!!! Looking forward to the next one!
I spent 5 hours at King's Place, soaking up so much music! I have seen several choirs, the whole range of professionalism! Let me tell you all about them...
Rajaton
Rajaton are a Finnish vocal group who have been working hard since 1997. They are amazing and funny too. This is no glee show, their vocal compositions had us stood on our feet as they finished. I could not fault them and I will be finding out when they are next in the country.
We had lots of Finnish songs, some English and one Italian. Their great sense of humour meant they introduced an ABBA song as a 'Swedish folk song', which turned out to be Fernando!! Have a listen if go can or a watch!
They sung about death, with a lot of humour, and talked about how good they are at Eurovision! We had the 1989 entry from Finland. Being in London, they wanted to sing a Beatles song, so lots of dancing to Lady Madonna kept us entertained! They finished with 'under pressure' which was restored to something far better than the original! The six members of the group each had something to say about the songs, and everyone agreed that 'Butterfly' was their favourite and it's easy to see why... 3 men and 3 women who clearly have talent that is boundless... Which is what Rajaton means!
The choir of Clare College, Cambridge were first up, though Rajaton left a bigger impression on me. They sung in a variety of languages and as a 20-30 strong choir, they are very good. Being choral, they don't have a lot of expression as a choir, but they are amazing anyway! It was hard to follow without a programme and the director/conductor got his church calendar wrong.
Anyway, I have had an amazing evening!!! Looking forward to the next one!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Blue Monday
Today apparently is 'Blue Monday' - far enough from the last pay day but not close enough to the next one!
For me, today has been far from blue. Meetings galore, but all the fun of networking and future planning for Alpha and The Living Room! I'm not done yet, so we'll see how the final meeting of the day goes.
I never promised to blog more in 2013, but I do feel guilty that we're 21 days in and you've not heard anything from me. It's been all different sorts of busy - I have been busy doing nothing and busy working hard. It has been nice to have a really good balance to the year and being able to look at the diary, it seems like I'll have a really good year!
It's lovely to tell you that, if you didn't already know, I will have an amazing man by my side, and hopefully for a very long time. Ray has been a good friend for a very long time and now, after much pursuing, and a lot of courage, we're a very happy couple.
One day I will tell you all how it happened, but for now, know that one reason why I am not blogging, is because I have someone to share a lot of my life with!
For me, today has been far from blue. Meetings galore, but all the fun of networking and future planning for Alpha and The Living Room! I'm not done yet, so we'll see how the final meeting of the day goes.
I never promised to blog more in 2013, but I do feel guilty that we're 21 days in and you've not heard anything from me. It's been all different sorts of busy - I have been busy doing nothing and busy working hard. It has been nice to have a really good balance to the year and being able to look at the diary, it seems like I'll have a really good year!
It's lovely to tell you that, if you didn't already know, I will have an amazing man by my side, and hopefully for a very long time. Ray has been a good friend for a very long time and now, after much pursuing, and a lot of courage, we're a very happy couple.
One day I will tell you all how it happened, but for now, know that one reason why I am not blogging, is because I have someone to share a lot of my life with!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
What are Saturday's for?
This Saturday is an odd one... most people forget that it is a Saturday... unless of course, you have had a normal working week. Which I have not. I have been on holiday since Christmas Day, so it is all some what wonky in my head. This one is a thankful Saturday.
Christmas has been awesome! So far so good, and the celebrating really hasn't stopped. Ok, so I have slowed down a lot though. Christmas Day and Boxing Day were both really full, but not in the rushing around like a headless Chicken sense - more the having to constantly be switched on, talking to people. It's easy to be happy when you share with people you love and people that just want to make everything so joy-filled, that you can't help but feel loved!
So thank you to Angela, Heather, Derek and Pops for making me feel so happy during Christmas lunch that I just kept eating and never felt full (until I moved and almost fell asleep!). And to Tash and Joy for all their hard work during the evening. All of that food!! And all of the fun we had, thank you for welcoming Ray and I.
Thank you to Jane for all your hard work on Boxing Day, for making me feel at home as well. More awesome food and lots of fun with the children!
I am thankful for my boyfriend too! For inviting me to his parents house and for looking after me - Christmas will never pass without me being poorly somehow! Thank you Ray!
So tonight is my cousin's 30th Birthday Party... we're getting all glammed up and I am sure that I will be posting about it when I eventually wake up tomorrow!
2013 looks exciting, there's only a week left of holiday and then back to work, back to being around people and back in school... praying for the adventure to continue.
2012 has been a year of new things starting. The Living Room, stronger friendships and relationships, a new house (I have been living in Basildon for 10 months!) and so many other things that I can't even think about right now!
Christmas has been awesome! So far so good, and the celebrating really hasn't stopped. Ok, so I have slowed down a lot though. Christmas Day and Boxing Day were both really full, but not in the rushing around like a headless Chicken sense - more the having to constantly be switched on, talking to people. It's easy to be happy when you share with people you love and people that just want to make everything so joy-filled, that you can't help but feel loved!
So thank you to Angela, Heather, Derek and Pops for making me feel so happy during Christmas lunch that I just kept eating and never felt full (until I moved and almost fell asleep!). And to Tash and Joy for all their hard work during the evening. All of that food!! And all of the fun we had, thank you for welcoming Ray and I.
Thank you to Jane for all your hard work on Boxing Day, for making me feel at home as well. More awesome food and lots of fun with the children!
I am thankful for my boyfriend too! For inviting me to his parents house and for looking after me - Christmas will never pass without me being poorly somehow! Thank you Ray!
So tonight is my cousin's 30th Birthday Party... we're getting all glammed up and I am sure that I will be posting about it when I eventually wake up tomorrow!
2013 looks exciting, there's only a week left of holiday and then back to work, back to being around people and back in school... praying for the adventure to continue.
2012 has been a year of new things starting. The Living Room, stronger friendships and relationships, a new house (I have been living in Basildon for 10 months!) and so many other things that I can't even think about right now!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Christmas Eve
It's finally here!! I have waited a whole 52 weeks for this, the busiest day of my year... the most exhausting day, the only time of year I am part of 4 services.
Do I feel prepared for today and the next two after this? Totally not, but the bible reading that I read aloud this morning will fill me up for the days ahead, and I will be ready to face all that the world has to throw at me!
"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1v2
At the end of Advent, I am full of peace. Tomorrow will be a mental day but I know that God has great things in store for those who will share their time with me!
As for 2012, it has all been a bit crazy... but that is another blog post for another day.
Do I feel prepared for today and the next two after this? Totally not, but the bible reading that I read aloud this morning will fill me up for the days ahead, and I will be ready to face all that the world has to throw at me!
"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1v2
At the end of Advent, I am full of peace. Tomorrow will be a mental day but I know that God has great things in store for those who will share their time with me!
As for 2012, it has all been a bit crazy... but that is another blog post for another day.
Monday, December 10, 2012
YWC2012 Part 4
On Saturday morning, we dragged our butts out of bed a ridiculous o'clock to have breakfast in the hotel that we now knew well. We had to be at conference for the keynote speech at 9am... man, that hurt. 9am on a Saturday is difficult when it is supposed to be your day off and you've been up discussing the highs and lows of life, into the late hours of the night. Still, what we did discuss was important to all of us. I keep talking on and on about how vital fellowship is to me and the church. No cliques, no concerns. It's difficult to get to that point some times.
Anyway, the key note speech was important, unfortunately it was too much information for me to take in. I didn't get some of the cultural references and even now, I know it was about youth participation. The keynote is important, but not at 9am, sorry guys and gals, you got that one wrong this year.
Saturday continued to be all about butts. The seminar I attended ended with us 'breaking through the butts', or at least praying about them. The people I was with found this very funny, though the point was serious. God had a big dream, and so should we, except the tiny three letter word that often holds us back from doing anything at all sometimes 'but'.
'I would love to run youth alpha with all of the young people that attended SOLID, but...'
'I would love to clear the church worship space every Friday and let the young people use the space, but...'
'I can really see how the church can change in the next 15 years so that it doesn't die, but...'
It takes a lot of courage to dream big, well at least humans think it does. We are limited, because we are not God, and can't ever hope to be, in His all-knowingness! God is not stupid, he knows exactly what we want to do, and knows how to give it to us as well.
Right, back on track, the second half of the seminar was a bible study, which fell a bit flat for me, jumping around the New Testament, looking at the way Jesus reacted to the culture that was around him. It seems Jesus was picky about what he chose to do with culture. He also used the things he was good at (namely, oh, everything) to worship his Father. So what do you use to worship God? I write, sing, reach out and listen.
Saturday afternoon was pretty chilled out. Got to play some Pool (of which I am winning 7 games to NOTHING, my colleague really needs to up his game) and watch the qualifying for the last grand prix of the season. Quite good considering I could've filled my time with a seminar about how to not burn out ;) Thankfully I know exactly what is needed when I am at the end of everything! A bit of sport and a nap!
Saturday evening was Chris Durso. He's passionate and he has a smoking hot wife, apparently (I never saw her!). He really made an impact, being American, he would always. He runs a youth ministry, and you can hear what he has to say about being a misfit here. There is still so much in my head about what I can do with what he said. Spending more time with the young people I know seems to be the number one priority.
We spent one more night in the pub going through the day, crashing through the butts and allowing ourselves time to talk about what had happened. Little sleep followed and Sunday morning came around too quickly!
We started with worship and then moved on to seminars. I attended Double Trouble. It made me realise how much I don't know, but confirmed some truths in me and my work. I want to help the young people who are really struggling to lead a life that is full. I need to know more about who can help them when they are in distress. I have taken one thing from this seminar about talking to the young people and encouraging my volunteer leaders to do the same. We all need to be a positive influence for the young people that we work with.
Back to the main room via a quick chat with a friend, and back to Chris Durso talking about being successful about what we do. I am tempted just to take a picture of my notes at this point and let you read them, but they won't make too much sense to you! There were 4 bible passages... Mark 11, 1 Cor 9:25-27h, 1 Tim 6:12 and Phil 1:21, that's a good lot of scripture there about working hard for God, going that extra mile just to please him. See that your success is not measured in earthly terms, but with the name of Jesus being known by as many people as possible. The men in Mark 11, that go to collect the colt, don't even have names, and they would've already done a lot of hard work to get to the point when Jesus said to them 'go and get me this'. They are just disciples, trustworthy ones, given an important job to do. They don't answer back or ask to ride on the colt. What do you do for God and how do you do it? With a lot of reluctance or with a joyful heart, knowing that your hard work will be rewarded in heaven?
So that's it, conference is over for another year. We have leaders conference, retreat and summit to look forward to in 2013, not to mention all of the other exciting things that are work! Getting out of bed isn't going to be so hard next year.
Anyway, the key note speech was important, unfortunately it was too much information for me to take in. I didn't get some of the cultural references and even now, I know it was about youth participation. The keynote is important, but not at 9am, sorry guys and gals, you got that one wrong this year.
Saturday continued to be all about butts. The seminar I attended ended with us 'breaking through the butts', or at least praying about them. The people I was with found this very funny, though the point was serious. God had a big dream, and so should we, except the tiny three letter word that often holds us back from doing anything at all sometimes 'but'.
'I would love to run youth alpha with all of the young people that attended SOLID, but...'
'I would love to clear the church worship space every Friday and let the young people use the space, but...'
'I can really see how the church can change in the next 15 years so that it doesn't die, but...'
It takes a lot of courage to dream big, well at least humans think it does. We are limited, because we are not God, and can't ever hope to be, in His all-knowingness! God is not stupid, he knows exactly what we want to do, and knows how to give it to us as well.
Right, back on track, the second half of the seminar was a bible study, which fell a bit flat for me, jumping around the New Testament, looking at the way Jesus reacted to the culture that was around him. It seems Jesus was picky about what he chose to do with culture. He also used the things he was good at (namely, oh, everything) to worship his Father. So what do you use to worship God? I write, sing, reach out and listen.
Saturday afternoon was pretty chilled out. Got to play some Pool (of which I am winning 7 games to NOTHING, my colleague really needs to up his game) and watch the qualifying for the last grand prix of the season. Quite good considering I could've filled my time with a seminar about how to not burn out ;) Thankfully I know exactly what is needed when I am at the end of everything! A bit of sport and a nap!
Saturday evening was Chris Durso. He's passionate and he has a smoking hot wife, apparently (I never saw her!). He really made an impact, being American, he would always. He runs a youth ministry, and you can hear what he has to say about being a misfit here. There is still so much in my head about what I can do with what he said. Spending more time with the young people I know seems to be the number one priority.
We spent one more night in the pub going through the day, crashing through the butts and allowing ourselves time to talk about what had happened. Little sleep followed and Sunday morning came around too quickly!
We started with worship and then moved on to seminars. I attended Double Trouble. It made me realise how much I don't know, but confirmed some truths in me and my work. I want to help the young people who are really struggling to lead a life that is full. I need to know more about who can help them when they are in distress. I have taken one thing from this seminar about talking to the young people and encouraging my volunteer leaders to do the same. We all need to be a positive influence for the young people that we work with.
Back to the main room via a quick chat with a friend, and back to Chris Durso talking about being successful about what we do. I am tempted just to take a picture of my notes at this point and let you read them, but they won't make too much sense to you! There were 4 bible passages... Mark 11, 1 Cor 9:25-27h, 1 Tim 6:12 and Phil 1:21, that's a good lot of scripture there about working hard for God, going that extra mile just to please him. See that your success is not measured in earthly terms, but with the name of Jesus being known by as many people as possible. The men in Mark 11, that go to collect the colt, don't even have names, and they would've already done a lot of hard work to get to the point when Jesus said to them 'go and get me this'. They are just disciples, trustworthy ones, given an important job to do. They don't answer back or ask to ride on the colt. What do you do for God and how do you do it? With a lot of reluctance or with a joyful heart, knowing that your hard work will be rewarded in heaven?
So that's it, conference is over for another year. We have leaders conference, retreat and summit to look forward to in 2013, not to mention all of the other exciting things that are work! Getting out of bed isn't going to be so hard next year.
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Sunday nights are for...
...Church. We have just celebrated advent with our annual carol service. It really was very wonderful, done really well and we even had a the real town crier join us to do some of the readings. We're very blessed with some wonderful people at Christ Church, who know a lot of different languages and have many different talents. I always look forward to this service, the official turning on of the Christmas tree lights and the final addition to the decorations for the tree.
...football, or at least the events of football. Today we had an incident at a local derby, in the north, that has once again, sent the game of football into disrepute. After all this time, you would think that throwing something and hitting a player on the pitch wouldn't happen. It does mean that I am going to have to watch MOTD2 to see it.
...Takeaway food and crashing on the sofa, which is where I am about to head after a very long weekend!
...football, or at least the events of football. Today we had an incident at a local derby, in the north, that has once again, sent the game of football into disrepute. After all this time, you would think that throwing something and hitting a player on the pitch wouldn't happen. It does mean that I am going to have to watch MOTD2 to see it.
...Takeaway food and crashing on the sofa, which is where I am about to head after a very long weekend!
Friday, November 30, 2012
YWC2012 - Part 2 and Part 3
Just a quick 10 min blog, before I go into school about Friday evening.
It's hard to believe that it was a week ago that we went from being a small number to something much larger. Nearly 1000 youth workers, I am told, gathered on Friday in anticipation of a weekend of teaching, hearing form God and general banter about the profession we have all been called to (though there are some people that don't know it yet!).
Big stage worship was just awesome, we were sat at the back of the auditorium, so could see all that was going on. A good view!
Sadly, from Friday night, I didn't write much down. My tweets talk of prayers - for the second time, we were asked to pray for the people either side of us, which is good if you have a real heart for that, sadly, I go very quiet when I am asked to pray for people I know and those I don't. When it spills out of me, that is a different matter.
Right, still haven't even started, and I have got to go to school, I need to learn to type quicker!
Part 3 to Part n coming shortly!
Part 3
School was a bit of a whirlwind! But I'm back in the office contemplating my next move (heading out to buy ingredients for Brownies that I forgot to bring from home!) as well as getting warm again after being stood in the cold for 2 hours!
The rest of Friday was all about what Rachel Gardner had to say to us. She was talking about blazing with a light that is contagious - that's the one tweet I have from her talk, and I think it is a rather important point for our world to know, that we have the Holy Spirit inside of us and we should let Him shine.
We watched a video by Emile Sande, who is the darling of the British music scene at the moment.
A brilliant video, which I will be showing my young people/facebooking.
We are full of wonder... do you live like that is true? We often talk about being scientific miracles. We are complex. We are known by God. We are loved by God and we are fearfully and wonderfully created. How often do you live like that, full in that knowledge?
It's hard to believe that it was a week ago that we went from being a small number to something much larger. Nearly 1000 youth workers, I am told, gathered on Friday in anticipation of a weekend of teaching, hearing form God and general banter about the profession we have all been called to (though there are some people that don't know it yet!).
Big stage worship was just awesome, we were sat at the back of the auditorium, so could see all that was going on. A good view!
Sadly, from Friday night, I didn't write much down. My tweets talk of prayers - for the second time, we were asked to pray for the people either side of us, which is good if you have a real heart for that, sadly, I go very quiet when I am asked to pray for people I know and those I don't. When it spills out of me, that is a different matter.
Right, still haven't even started, and I have got to go to school, I need to learn to type quicker!
Part 3 to Part n coming shortly!
Part 3
School was a bit of a whirlwind! But I'm back in the office contemplating my next move (heading out to buy ingredients for Brownies that I forgot to bring from home!) as well as getting warm again after being stood in the cold for 2 hours!
The rest of Friday was all about what Rachel Gardner had to say to us. She was talking about blazing with a light that is contagious - that's the one tweet I have from her talk, and I think it is a rather important point for our world to know, that we have the Holy Spirit inside of us and we should let Him shine.
We watched a video by Emile Sande, who is the darling of the British music scene at the moment.
A brilliant video, which I will be showing my young people/facebooking.
We are full of wonder... do you live like that is true? We often talk about being scientific miracles. We are complex. We are known by God. We are loved by God and we are fearfully and wonderfully created. How often do you live like that, full in that knowledge?
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
YWC2012 part 1 - The Retreat!
Whilst I do some important Christmas work... I have a little bit of time to reflect on the weekend that has just been... Youthwork: The Conference. We're still in the early days after the event, trying to figure out exactly what God wants to do with all of the information and ideas that has been piled into my brain since Thursday afternoon! It is always good to reflect on the epic and significant moments in life, if anything to help you move on, and at least in a years time, be able to say 'look what has happened'. Anyway, less about that.
Retreat day is always a treat for me, as a youth worker. I remember a few years ago, when I really didn't get the idea of retreating, I found myself panicking about it instead. This time was totally different - I have learnt a little bit about how I can get the most out of retreating, and that does not include sleeping!!It means writing, praying and reading for me. Which I did loads of. Plenty of structured time to do all three and to chat too. I had a question that sprung into my mind and I really feel that God gave me an idea about how I can fulfil that! So if I ask you a question in the next few weeks, be prepared!
The second half of the retreat was about communication, which I really liked. I take on information about communicating effectively really well, probably because I think I still have loads to learn about communicating the Gospel. So now I have a structure for writing talks, I feel a little bit better about the task!
Right, that's a little bit on Retreating, I will do part 2 next week!
Retreat day is always a treat for me, as a youth worker. I remember a few years ago, when I really didn't get the idea of retreating, I found myself panicking about it instead. This time was totally different - I have learnt a little bit about how I can get the most out of retreating, and that does not include sleeping!!It means writing, praying and reading for me. Which I did loads of. Plenty of structured time to do all three and to chat too. I had a question that sprung into my mind and I really feel that God gave me an idea about how I can fulfil that! So if I ask you a question in the next few weeks, be prepared!
The second half of the retreat was about communication, which I really liked. I take on information about communicating effectively really well, probably because I think I still have loads to learn about communicating the Gospel. So now I have a structure for writing talks, I feel a little bit better about the task!
Right, that's a little bit on Retreating, I will do part 2 next week!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
From Becca to everyone
Yesterday hurt a lot, finding out that my church, the church that I grew up in, could not agree about a process to help those who disagree to be included as the church moves forward, it felt like a massive step backwards.
I hope that whatever happens over the next few years will show how the church can grow, and communicate about what they really want: for everyone to know God and Jesus and the sacrifice that was made 2000-odd years ago.
In the meantime though, I will continue to lead my young people with love (we've got an Alpha course starting in January :D) and with vulnerability.
We are not perfect, Christ is. We are not God, but He loves us all the same, and we can't pretend to know what He is thinking right now, just trust in Him for the future of His church.
I woke up this morning, thankful that I can worship, wherever and whenever I want, thankful that I have a set of friends who understand my frustrations and concerns, grateful that we all come from different church backgrounds, but we're all heading in the same direction.
I was thankful for Becca's eloquent words to young women in the church. Please have a read! Becca is Learning • Synod: A letter to young women.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Skyfall
'Sometimes, you just need to be quiet'
At the very end of Skyfall, I was jumping out of my seat... I called it! I won't share what happened, that would be entirely unfair, considering I managed to stay away from hearing anything about it for two weeks, I have still been on Twitter and Facebook the entire time, and even spoken to young people about it, but I got the ending spot on!
The one thing that made it a worth while experience was who I was in the cinema with. It's unusual nowadays for me to go to the cinema, let alone with 12 other people. I went back to being 15 again, when we used to hand out at the same cinema for hours and hours every Friday evening. We were that cool.
It was wonderful to eat together, in a restaurant, and although we had a bit of a rush to get to the cinema, we made a lot of noise and laughed a lot in the process! The strange thing for me is, just a year ago, I didn't know the people I was eating with. In the last year, I have grown to know a lot of people who I my generation - we're all in our 20's and 30's and we are the 'missing generation' of the church. If the rest of my generation are like the lads and ladies I have grown to love, we would have an awesome church!!
Long may going to the cinema with a lot of people continue!
At the very end of Skyfall, I was jumping out of my seat... I called it! I won't share what happened, that would be entirely unfair, considering I managed to stay away from hearing anything about it for two weeks, I have still been on Twitter and Facebook the entire time, and even spoken to young people about it, but I got the ending spot on!
The one thing that made it a worth while experience was who I was in the cinema with. It's unusual nowadays for me to go to the cinema, let alone with 12 other people. I went back to being 15 again, when we used to hand out at the same cinema for hours and hours every Friday evening. We were that cool.
It was wonderful to eat together, in a restaurant, and although we had a bit of a rush to get to the cinema, we made a lot of noise and laughed a lot in the process! The strange thing for me is, just a year ago, I didn't know the people I was eating with. In the last year, I have grown to know a lot of people who I my generation - we're all in our 20's and 30's and we are the 'missing generation' of the church. If the rest of my generation are like the lads and ladies I have grown to love, we would have an awesome church!!
Long may going to the cinema with a lot of people continue!
Monday, November 05, 2012
Being Single
Songs of Praise is one of the programmes in England that is like marmite - you love it or you hate it. It doesn't have a particular appeal for me, but because it is an institution in this country, I watch it when I'm feeling like I need a bit of church without being at church. This week, twitter and a few of my tweety friends took a bit of an exception to it, because it was about something that is close to a lot of us - being single. I wanted to respond fully to it, as I feel that I needed to. Please feel free, if you have seen it, to add your comments about what it means to be single in the church or any faith group.
For some, the first stumbling block is the presenter - God Bless Anne Widdecome for laying out her feelings about being single and being willing to talk about it on camera, she too is like marmite though, I feel she did a good job, though her choice of songs were a bit dire for me. The second stumbling block is (quite often for me) the 'congregation', there are a lot of women, and a lot of older men. I have been known to play 'spot the 20 year old'. If you want to celebrate singleness, why have you got married people all over the place?
Ok, so the content (because in a weeks time you won't be able to watch it) - it starts with Anne talking to Fr Christopher Jamison, who is famous in his own right for being a monk who engages with non-Christians on national tv. He lays out 4 vocations of the Christian community
Ordained Ministry
Monk/Sister
Married
Single Lay Person
Pretty basic to get to grips with. He is a monk and he's honest about it, particularly his struggle with celibacy. Anne goes on to say 'it doesn't supply the intimacy, but you have people around you all the time, the single lay person doesn't have that'. People think she's mad because she doesn't feel the need for intimacy and is happy as a single person. I hope that no-one thinks I am mad because I live on my own, and I want to be single... I disagree with the final bit of her statement. As a single person I am fortunate to have a depth of friendship with those in my Christian community (church, twitter!, work etc) that allows me to share my struggles. I am not alone because I am single. I do always have someone to talk to because I have build my friendships like that.
Christ was single, and that is significant, both Anne and Christopher recognise that. Lots of other people in the Bible chose to be single for God, but they had community around them... can you see a theme starting to develop?
Anne goes on to say she's content and talks about spinsters. Anne then speaks to someone who is 40 and is still single. Well done Julie Dunlop for being a well rounded single woman, who lives in community, with a strong church. Shame that you do still feel the need to be looking for a partner. She says it is about quality of relationship. I agree. It's about having a content and peaceful feeling and a strong relationship with God, the Bible doesn't say women should have a relationship with God through a man, it's quite the opposite in fact.
We then get a very pretty lady, who is married, singing about God's love. Great. Irony at it's best.
David McCabe is then interviewed by Anne. He has gone through some tragic things, and come through having a child with cerebral palsy, losing his ex-wife to cancer, finding Jesus and then getting married for the second time. Good for him, he found someone after 4 years to share his life with and got married again. Cue a whole load of photo's of him and his wife at their wedding. Slow clap for a programme that I am losing faith in. Please can you speak to someone else?
Finally we meet Fiona Castle, Roy Castle's wife, who sadly lost her husband to cancer and has been a widow for 18 years. An older lady talking about a wonderful marriage and how she coped with being on her own after a long period of being married. She tells us that she learnt a lot and God keeps her going. Her theology, in my opinion, is a little off. Anne asks her if she'll see Roy in heaven and she says that she'll get a new body so she doesn't know if she's recognise him. I believe that in heaven our spirit, the thing that makes me 'me' will be the same, so I will recognise other people. I think that this part of the programme will speak to the demographic of Songs of Praise the most. Being widowed must be a horrible thing. I have seen how my Nan has struggled with it, in the last 6 and a half years.
Anne's final prayer is interesting - 'Father, show us how to fill our lives' (there's more to it than that, but I don't want to transcribe it all!), I would suggest that serving the church you worship with or the international church might be a way of filling your life.
Songs of Praise did an 'o.k.' job of sharing the idea about singleness with the church who watches, but it didn't really challenge any ideas about churches who do point out and treat single people (and married couples without children) differently from their community.
As a recently single person, I have felt less pressure since becoming single to get married, although other people are 'marrying me off', I am actually really happy with who I am and where I am at the moment. I have learnt so much in the last year and a (very little) bit about who I am and what I feel God wants from me. I do hope I will get married, because I don't think I am called to being single - although I am like Julia Dunlop a little bit... being unsure about which way God is calling me.
I love the community I work with, I love the friends I have made from creating new communities. Keep in community, please, all you single people.
What do you think about being single? What pressures do you feel, if any?
For some, the first stumbling block is the presenter - God Bless Anne Widdecome for laying out her feelings about being single and being willing to talk about it on camera, she too is like marmite though, I feel she did a good job, though her choice of songs were a bit dire for me. The second stumbling block is (quite often for me) the 'congregation', there are a lot of women, and a lot of older men. I have been known to play 'spot the 20 year old'. If you want to celebrate singleness, why have you got married people all over the place?
Ok, so the content (because in a weeks time you won't be able to watch it) - it starts with Anne talking to Fr Christopher Jamison, who is famous in his own right for being a monk who engages with non-Christians on national tv. He lays out 4 vocations of the Christian community
Ordained Ministry
Monk/Sister
Married
Single Lay Person
Pretty basic to get to grips with. He is a monk and he's honest about it, particularly his struggle with celibacy. Anne goes on to say 'it doesn't supply the intimacy, but you have people around you all the time, the single lay person doesn't have that'. People think she's mad because she doesn't feel the need for intimacy and is happy as a single person. I hope that no-one thinks I am mad because I live on my own, and I want to be single... I disagree with the final bit of her statement. As a single person I am fortunate to have a depth of friendship with those in my Christian community (church, twitter!, work etc) that allows me to share my struggles. I am not alone because I am single. I do always have someone to talk to because I have build my friendships like that.
Christ was single, and that is significant, both Anne and Christopher recognise that. Lots of other people in the Bible chose to be single for God, but they had community around them... can you see a theme starting to develop?
Anne goes on to say she's content and talks about spinsters. Anne then speaks to someone who is 40 and is still single. Well done Julie Dunlop for being a well rounded single woman, who lives in community, with a strong church. Shame that you do still feel the need to be looking for a partner. She says it is about quality of relationship. I agree. It's about having a content and peaceful feeling and a strong relationship with God, the Bible doesn't say women should have a relationship with God through a man, it's quite the opposite in fact.
We then get a very pretty lady, who is married, singing about God's love. Great. Irony at it's best.
David McCabe is then interviewed by Anne. He has gone through some tragic things, and come through having a child with cerebral palsy, losing his ex-wife to cancer, finding Jesus and then getting married for the second time. Good for him, he found someone after 4 years to share his life with and got married again. Cue a whole load of photo's of him and his wife at their wedding. Slow clap for a programme that I am losing faith in. Please can you speak to someone else?
Finally we meet Fiona Castle, Roy Castle's wife, who sadly lost her husband to cancer and has been a widow for 18 years. An older lady talking about a wonderful marriage and how she coped with being on her own after a long period of being married. She tells us that she learnt a lot and God keeps her going. Her theology, in my opinion, is a little off. Anne asks her if she'll see Roy in heaven and she says that she'll get a new body so she doesn't know if she's recognise him. I believe that in heaven our spirit, the thing that makes me 'me' will be the same, so I will recognise other people. I think that this part of the programme will speak to the demographic of Songs of Praise the most. Being widowed must be a horrible thing. I have seen how my Nan has struggled with it, in the last 6 and a half years.
Anne's final prayer is interesting - 'Father, show us how to fill our lives' (there's more to it than that, but I don't want to transcribe it all!), I would suggest that serving the church you worship with or the international church might be a way of filling your life.
Songs of Praise did an 'o.k.' job of sharing the idea about singleness with the church who watches, but it didn't really challenge any ideas about churches who do point out and treat single people (and married couples without children) differently from their community.
As a recently single person, I have felt less pressure since becoming single to get married, although other people are 'marrying me off', I am actually really happy with who I am and where I am at the moment. I have learnt so much in the last year and a (very little) bit about who I am and what I feel God wants from me. I do hope I will get married, because I don't think I am called to being single - although I am like Julia Dunlop a little bit... being unsure about which way God is calling me.
I love the community I work with, I love the friends I have made from creating new communities. Keep in community, please, all you single people.
What do you think about being single? What pressures do you feel, if any?
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Sharing
I am sat at my desk - my proper desk, in the church office. I can not tell you how long I have waited to say that. I love it. Having a desk in a well lit room with enough space for all my stuff (which I desperately still need to sort through) is a blessing. I am warm, constantly, more importantly, I am dry.
I am also trying to be pro-active and productive with the time I spend at my desk. I am the sort of person who needs the physical space to match the mental space! Pages and pages of A4/3 to figure out exactly what it is I want to do in the future or with a particular project.
My latest project requires a lot of brain power - I have to show the church what I have done in the last 4 years and what I do day to day. For me, that means at least 4 pieces of paper - plus 5 diaries and several different coloured pens and pencils. It's not the sort of thing I can do on a laptop - but at some point (by Christmas I think) I'm going to have to present it to the church, so it needs to look like more than just a list.
Anyone got any ideas??
I am also trying to be pro-active and productive with the time I spend at my desk. I am the sort of person who needs the physical space to match the mental space! Pages and pages of A4/3 to figure out exactly what it is I want to do in the future or with a particular project.
My latest project requires a lot of brain power - I have to show the church what I have done in the last 4 years and what I do day to day. For me, that means at least 4 pieces of paper - plus 5 diaries and several different coloured pens and pencils. It's not the sort of thing I can do on a laptop - but at some point (by Christmas I think) I'm going to have to present it to the church, so it needs to look like more than just a list.
Anyone got any ideas??
Friday, October 19, 2012
A Guilty Harvest
This morning... this is the fruit of my labour, two bags of clothes that I haven't worn/don't want to wear any more. There are part of my Harvest gift to the Women's refuge. My best friend came up with the idea of going through her clothes and giving up anything that she could for the women who have to leave home with nothing, running from abuse.
So why do I feel guilty?
I have an attachment to clothes, I can remember the first time I wore something special, or the last time I wore it, where I was and who I was with. Some of the clothes in these bags haven't been worn in nearly 3 years, others haven't been worn at all, most were brought because I thought I needed them... clearly having 4 plain black t-shirts is something every girl needs. Upon recognising that I had a lot, I created a few rules for myself.
- If I had more than one of something, I was only allowed to have one of that thing.
- If I hadn't worn it in a year, it was going in the bag.
- If I had a strong emotional attachment to it, I needed to get a grip and let it go, I have photos and memories of nearly every outfit/significant event to help me, I don't need to be holding something physical to remember. (Mind springs back to a few 'first date' outfits!)
I have seen an article about how to 'stock up' your cupboards, how if you just brought one extra thing a week, you'd quickly gather a well equipped ration of food, in case we lapse into a world war or something. Oh dear, that's what I have been doing. When there are people who have nothing.
I also realise that I do my washing because the washing bin is overflowing, not because there are no clothes to wear. I have been three weeks without doing a wash, and only did it because I couldn't stand the mess it was creating. Oh dear. When I say 'I have nothing to wear' I mean I have already worn the clothes I wanted to wear today, not 'There is actually nothing to wear' (which takes me back to staring at a cupboard full of food and saying 'there's nothing to eat'). Today, I have disgusted myself. I hope that God permanently sorts that out!
I am grateful that I have never been in an abusive relationship, I have not been there to experience it.
I don't know what God will do in the next couple of days. I have been praying for a spirit of generosity for the whole church and myself. I have also been praying for feeling better!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
A fruity couple of days!
It's a while since I wrote anything - really sorry about that. I am at the moment sat at home, just relaxing, waiting for the next thing to happen. I feel as though that is all that has happened, and sometimes things have just happened to me, without me even realising. I have really enjoyed the start of term this year, everything seems to be coming into very sharp focus and there are few things that have been left alone.
Schools Ministry seems to be coming into a real time of fruitfulness - the contacts that we made with Mayflower 6th form created an opportunity to present some ideas on faith and morals, which were then spoken about throughout the day by students and staff. We seem to be making an impact on the school, which is incredible.
We attended Open Evening and that meant more conversations and showing parents that the school is linked into the community and church. Which was just incredible, now I think about it! It seemed to come and go in a flash, but I had a chance to see someone I haven't seen this term, which means we can offer lessons and help out with the RS department a little more. I do really love my job at the moment.
Today and yesterday, I have been with some lovely children from South Green Baptist Church. We worked hard all of yesterday, learning about Jesus and praying. We had some really exciting and knowledgeable answers, I hope that in years to come all the head knowledge becomes heart knowledge and spirit lead. Definitely praying for all of them! This morning they are a little quiet but we soon got back into it, finishing off all of the things that we had spoken about, we even had a chance to sing! So the young children have got a lot of little reminders of our time and I hope they have learnt something!
All of this is in the last week. I really can't remember much beyond yesterday morning at the moment!
Schools Ministry seems to be coming into a real time of fruitfulness - the contacts that we made with Mayflower 6th form created an opportunity to present some ideas on faith and morals, which were then spoken about throughout the day by students and staff. We seem to be making an impact on the school, which is incredible.
We attended Open Evening and that meant more conversations and showing parents that the school is linked into the community and church. Which was just incredible, now I think about it! It seemed to come and go in a flash, but I had a chance to see someone I haven't seen this term, which means we can offer lessons and help out with the RS department a little more. I do really love my job at the moment.
Today and yesterday, I have been with some lovely children from South Green Baptist Church. We worked hard all of yesterday, learning about Jesus and praying. We had some really exciting and knowledgeable answers, I hope that in years to come all the head knowledge becomes heart knowledge and spirit lead. Definitely praying for all of them! This morning they are a little quiet but we soon got back into it, finishing off all of the things that we had spoken about, we even had a chance to sing! So the young children have got a lot of little reminders of our time and I hope they have learnt something!
All of this is in the last week. I really can't remember much beyond yesterday morning at the moment!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
New Term
Oh where did the summer go? We had some glorious weather, some not so much fun weather and some really brilliant situations. 2012's Summer of Sport has ended, with a red card and some bad football, and I'm ill. Oh well, enough about how the football team are ruining everything...
The start of term, the academic year has been a lot of fun! Considering the last time I posted was 01/09/12, a lot has happened in the last 12 days! A crazy amount.
Firstly, I visited London, twice in 3 days, once for the excellent Sweeney Todd, which is about to finish it's run at the Adelphi, Michael Ball being one of my favourite people in musicals, and Imelda Staunton being an unknown, I sort of knew what I was getting myself in for. I didn't realise HOW GOOD they are together! Wow, I would see it again, them particularly, if I could. I'm pleased I have seen it, and at the end of its run. Good cast, brilliantly funny for something so dark and much better than the movie. The girls I was sat next to were at the start of a week of musicals - well chosen for their first one, they had Wicked on their list as well. And last week, Chicago said goodbye to the West End, which is a shame, because that is an excellent musical too, but things must come to an end.
My second visit was to here
This my friends, is London in full Paralympic swing! Pretty impressive eh? We didn't pay very much to be on site and sit in premium seats to see David Smith. He eventually won a silver in Boccia (pronounced Bot-cha ), a brilliant athlete. You can see how dedicated they are and how much effort it takes to play. We also saw some table tennis (I will challenge my young people to play one-handed this week when youth group starts!) and as much as we wanted to see sitting volleyball, it was getting late, so we headed home. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get into the Paralympic stadium, or to Tower Bridge, like my mum wanted to, it was all a bit chaotic, really, but we both enjoyed it and we're fans of Boccia now, so I will be keeping track of Canada (who seem to do really well) and Team GB!
So Wednesday was sandwiched by two work days and Friday I was back to Brownies, with more names to put to faces, and thinking back now, I can't remember any of them... oh, this week should be interesting!
Saturday was the County Show at Barleylands - which was too early for a Saturday, especially for grating cheese, but I met new friends and got a free lunch out of it! I saw the monster trucks, the CTB Essex tent and the most magical (and slow moving) carousel ever! It was a really good day, full of memories of being there ten years ago and a few odd moments, nice to have some new memories as well though and I will offer to help again next year!
Sunday was church, leading on the fruits of the Spirit, which is different from the gifts of the Spirit, which was a lot of fun, eating fruit we'd never had before. I had a little help from my twitter friends (thank you) and Biblegateway! It was good, we're slightly down on numbers now, so we'll be looking at quality of relationships and the knowledge that they have.
Monday was the first proper day back, with early prayers, and school. (And I think I caught the lurgy!) It was a really good day though, lovely to be bombarded by staff as we sat down for lunch, I still have one or two teachers to catch up properly with in the next week or so. I do really enjoy going into school. Monday night was spent on the tv and tennis. A late end for us in England as we watched Murray win a Grand Slam! (maybe why my lurgy got worse!)
Tuesday will hopefully become fuller as the term goes on. Some lessons to put in and meetings as well. In the evening we met as The Living Room for the first time since the day before my birthday. We were still talking about my epic cake and what we'd all done over the summer. I really don't feel like the two terms have been separate for me in any way, which is a shame. I have not really been away (one weekend in Cowfold and less than 24hrs in Manchester) and I do think that makes a lot of difference. Normally being in a field for 5 days feels like a holiday - but even youth camp felt too comfortable. Maybe I need to get out of the country.
Today was an early start with the teachers at Mayflower, lovely to meet and pray with old and new faces and talk about ex-church members, exciting projects and new developments for all. I think it's going to be a really good term for everyone, in Billericay. That's what I am praying at the moment. I have 25 mins until some of my scout leaders turn up to have a look at church for Parade on Sunday, and then I need to go home and wash my uniform!
The start of term, the academic year has been a lot of fun! Considering the last time I posted was 01/09/12, a lot has happened in the last 12 days! A crazy amount.
Firstly, I visited London, twice in 3 days, once for the excellent Sweeney Todd, which is about to finish it's run at the Adelphi, Michael Ball being one of my favourite people in musicals, and Imelda Staunton being an unknown, I sort of knew what I was getting myself in for. I didn't realise HOW GOOD they are together! Wow, I would see it again, them particularly, if I could. I'm pleased I have seen it, and at the end of its run. Good cast, brilliantly funny for something so dark and much better than the movie. The girls I was sat next to were at the start of a week of musicals - well chosen for their first one, they had Wicked on their list as well. And last week, Chicago said goodbye to the West End, which is a shame, because that is an excellent musical too, but things must come to an end.
My second visit was to here
This my friends, is London in full Paralympic swing! Pretty impressive eh? We didn't pay very much to be on site and sit in premium seats to see David Smith. He eventually won a silver in Boccia (pronounced Bot-cha ), a brilliant athlete. You can see how dedicated they are and how much effort it takes to play. We also saw some table tennis (I will challenge my young people to play one-handed this week when youth group starts!) and as much as we wanted to see sitting volleyball, it was getting late, so we headed home. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get into the Paralympic stadium, or to Tower Bridge, like my mum wanted to, it was all a bit chaotic, really, but we both enjoyed it and we're fans of Boccia now, so I will be keeping track of Canada (who seem to do really well) and Team GB!
So Wednesday was sandwiched by two work days and Friday I was back to Brownies, with more names to put to faces, and thinking back now, I can't remember any of them... oh, this week should be interesting!
Saturday was the County Show at Barleylands - which was too early for a Saturday, especially for grating cheese, but I met new friends and got a free lunch out of it! I saw the monster trucks, the CTB Essex tent and the most magical (and slow moving) carousel ever! It was a really good day, full of memories of being there ten years ago and a few odd moments, nice to have some new memories as well though and I will offer to help again next year!
Sunday was church, leading on the fruits of the Spirit, which is different from the gifts of the Spirit, which was a lot of fun, eating fruit we'd never had before. I had a little help from my twitter friends (thank you) and Biblegateway! It was good, we're slightly down on numbers now, so we'll be looking at quality of relationships and the knowledge that they have.
Monday was the first proper day back, with early prayers, and school. (And I think I caught the lurgy!) It was a really good day though, lovely to be bombarded by staff as we sat down for lunch, I still have one or two teachers to catch up properly with in the next week or so. I do really enjoy going into school. Monday night was spent on the tv and tennis. A late end for us in England as we watched Murray win a Grand Slam! (maybe why my lurgy got worse!)
Tuesday will hopefully become fuller as the term goes on. Some lessons to put in and meetings as well. In the evening we met as The Living Room for the first time since the day before my birthday. We were still talking about my epic cake and what we'd all done over the summer. I really don't feel like the two terms have been separate for me in any way, which is a shame. I have not really been away (one weekend in Cowfold and less than 24hrs in Manchester) and I do think that makes a lot of difference. Normally being in a field for 5 days feels like a holiday - but even youth camp felt too comfortable. Maybe I need to get out of the country.
Today was an early start with the teachers at Mayflower, lovely to meet and pray with old and new faces and talk about ex-church members, exciting projects and new developments for all. I think it's going to be a really good term for everyone, in Billericay. That's what I am praying at the moment. I have 25 mins until some of my scout leaders turn up to have a look at church for Parade on Sunday, and then I need to go home and wash my uniform!
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Youth Camp 2012
From 26th to 31st August, 20 young people and a few leaders (5 then 6 later on in the week) were at Eaton Vale in Norfolk, with the purpose of being away, being with each other and being with God.
The process for this began months and months ago, when we spoke to the young people about whether they wanted to go to a Soul Survivor festival, it turned out that this year was an important time for a lot of them, so the decision was taken to skip the festival and take everyone away.
Over the last 5 weeks, I have heard a lot about different festivals going on, a was disappointed that I had missed a lot of awesome things going on whilst waiting for youth camp to begin. Three weeks between two camps is a long time when all you are doing is prep work!!
Sunday morning arrived, I packed almost everything (forgot the brownies I'd made and my board shorts) and headed to meet everyone for the trip to Eaton Vale Camp. We had a good journey up and arrived in one piece. And so did God.
I can't say much for anyone else's time away, but God definitely spoke to me and through me to others, which was a great experience and I had forgotten how it feels to be soaked in the Spirit and not swept away with loud music and lots of singing. Big worship sessions can be so distracting some times, I think I am coming to that conclusion, but it is quite a new thought, so let me ponder it a while.
The conversations we've had, the prayer times and wisdom that we have shared have been so important, and it showed me that I appreciate the young people that I work with, so much more than I ever thought I did. They are brilliant, they work so hard for the whole of the academic year and then some, and after a long summer of waiting and the panic of results day, they still manage to find time to throw themselves into everything we had planned for them, team work, activities, worship, talent show, a day at the beach, you name it, they still worked hard and enjoyed themselves. They are a bunch of really talented, well versed, delightful young people, who will change their world as they continue to grow in the love of Christ, and now they have the knowledge that they are being spiritually gifted in a lot of different areas, the group can only get stronger. And I pray that they do, get stronger, have more understanding of the Bible and of what God can do for them and will do through them.
So young people, wherever you are, whatever you've planned for today, know that God is by your side, looking out for you, looking after you and going through everything with you.
As for me, I am asking questions, I am joyful in prayer and praise and I am grateful that I could have so much time sitting with God. During the meditation we did, which was lead by Gary, we were lead to seeing a picture of Christ sitting in front of us, handing us a gift. My gift was a bright red, glass heart. When I asked the question about what it meant, I found myself thinking about love, in abundance, for me to share with those around me, and as I sat afterwards, I was lead to Moses and the burning bush, where God says, loudly and clearly, 'I AM WHO I AM'. I can imagine that deep down in Moses was a sense of peace, a steady hand, holding firm to him, through the madness of a bush that was burning without being burnt. I know that through all the panic that can come (and may come, depending on the result of some letter I have to write) that God will be holding on to me.
The process for this began months and months ago, when we spoke to the young people about whether they wanted to go to a Soul Survivor festival, it turned out that this year was an important time for a lot of them, so the decision was taken to skip the festival and take everyone away.
Over the last 5 weeks, I have heard a lot about different festivals going on, a was disappointed that I had missed a lot of awesome things going on whilst waiting for youth camp to begin. Three weeks between two camps is a long time when all you are doing is prep work!!
Sunday morning arrived, I packed almost everything (forgot the brownies I'd made and my board shorts) and headed to meet everyone for the trip to Eaton Vale Camp. We had a good journey up and arrived in one piece. And so did God.
I can't say much for anyone else's time away, but God definitely spoke to me and through me to others, which was a great experience and I had forgotten how it feels to be soaked in the Spirit and not swept away with loud music and lots of singing. Big worship sessions can be so distracting some times, I think I am coming to that conclusion, but it is quite a new thought, so let me ponder it a while.
The conversations we've had, the prayer times and wisdom that we have shared have been so important, and it showed me that I appreciate the young people that I work with, so much more than I ever thought I did. They are brilliant, they work so hard for the whole of the academic year and then some, and after a long summer of waiting and the panic of results day, they still manage to find time to throw themselves into everything we had planned for them, team work, activities, worship, talent show, a day at the beach, you name it, they still worked hard and enjoyed themselves. They are a bunch of really talented, well versed, delightful young people, who will change their world as they continue to grow in the love of Christ, and now they have the knowledge that they are being spiritually gifted in a lot of different areas, the group can only get stronger. And I pray that they do, get stronger, have more understanding of the Bible and of what God can do for them and will do through them.
So young people, wherever you are, whatever you've planned for today, know that God is by your side, looking out for you, looking after you and going through everything with you.
As for me, I am asking questions, I am joyful in prayer and praise and I am grateful that I could have so much time sitting with God. During the meditation we did, which was lead by Gary, we were lead to seeing a picture of Christ sitting in front of us, handing us a gift. My gift was a bright red, glass heart. When I asked the question about what it meant, I found myself thinking about love, in abundance, for me to share with those around me, and as I sat afterwards, I was lead to Moses and the burning bush, where God says, loudly and clearly, 'I AM WHO I AM'. I can imagine that deep down in Moses was a sense of peace, a steady hand, holding firm to him, through the madness of a bush that was burning without being burnt. I know that through all the panic that can come (and may come, depending on the result of some letter I have to write) that God will be holding on to me.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Troll-lo-lo
BBC - Newsbeat - UK 'too heavy-handed' with Twitter and online trolls
Trolling - it depends who you listen to, as to whether trolling is the most awful thing in the world, or it's just done to annoy people, who struggle with grammar and spelling.
The article above is about the dealings of the British Police, who are heavy handed it seems when dealing with people who say horrible things to (often very famous) people, on Twitter and facebook. Britain arrests and prosecutes people who have been very nasty or racist etc, and they go to jail for seemingly speaking their mind.
It's a tough one, do we see what someone has written at face value and punish accordingly, or do we figure out what has been said? How far can it go? When does 'freedom of speech' cross a line, is there a line?
I don't know the answers and I would quite like to hear what you have to say...
Trolling - it depends who you listen to, as to whether trolling is the most awful thing in the world, or it's just done to annoy people, who struggle with grammar and spelling.
The article above is about the dealings of the British Police, who are heavy handed it seems when dealing with people who say horrible things to (often very famous) people, on Twitter and facebook. Britain arrests and prosecutes people who have been very nasty or racist etc, and they go to jail for seemingly speaking their mind.
It's a tough one, do we see what someone has written at face value and punish accordingly, or do we figure out what has been said? How far can it go? When does 'freedom of speech' cross a line, is there a line?
I don't know the answers and I would quite like to hear what you have to say...
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Worship
Yesterday evening (pre-recorded), whilst Mike P from Soul Survivor was talking about worship... about it being a sacrifice, something we should give to God, because we love Him.
At the same time, I was writing a blog, complaining about worship... but not worship, the people that have written some of the songs that we sing at church. Mike P then convicted me (perhaps actually it was God!) and I deleted the post, for the first time ever. I felt awful, how could I complain about something that is a sacrifice - Mike P even said that we should sing with our whole hearts, that we shouldn't grumble when we hate a song, but actually I think he's wrong.
What if the song is theologically incorrect? It doesn't happen very often, but if you think what is being said doesn't sit with your sense of God, you shouldn't just sing it blindly... or if you're singing something you don't understand, is that appropriate or helpful either. I love imagery, so the song These are the days of Elijah is great for me, but others would think I was weird for singing it aloud! I get it, but others don't, so is that right?
My thought that I deleted was about song writers who write in funny keys, so it is near impossible to sing if you have a normal range voice (as I do), normally, it's too high and if you don't have years of learning how to harmonize, you haven't got a chance. So you have to sing like a man, which is equally as painful. Even at one point, Beth Croft struggled with a song - too high. If you don't know how to transpose, you don't have a chance either.
I think I have a point, I think that bringing your all to worship the King of kings is a really key idea, I can't imagine what the church would look like with sacrificial worship, rather than some awfully sung songs for 20 mins on any given Sunday!! It would be different that's for sure.
But no-one wants to sound like a strangled cat, no matter how much the phrase 'it's all heavenly to God' is used... so if you are a song writer, don't write in a key so that you can sing it well, but if you have to, when it becomes mass produced, please change the key, so that when a congregation sings it, we're not straining to reach difficult notes. I have heard many a time 'that's a lovely song, but it's not a song for the congregation'. If you're doing it for yourself, you're doing it wrong, if you're doing it for the glory of God, the church will see that and sing with you.
At the same time, I was writing a blog, complaining about worship... but not worship, the people that have written some of the songs that we sing at church. Mike P then convicted me (perhaps actually it was God!) and I deleted the post, for the first time ever. I felt awful, how could I complain about something that is a sacrifice - Mike P even said that we should sing with our whole hearts, that we shouldn't grumble when we hate a song, but actually I think he's wrong.
What if the song is theologically incorrect? It doesn't happen very often, but if you think what is being said doesn't sit with your sense of God, you shouldn't just sing it blindly... or if you're singing something you don't understand, is that appropriate or helpful either. I love imagery, so the song These are the days of Elijah is great for me, but others would think I was weird for singing it aloud! I get it, but others don't, so is that right?
My thought that I deleted was about song writers who write in funny keys, so it is near impossible to sing if you have a normal range voice (as I do), normally, it's too high and if you don't have years of learning how to harmonize, you haven't got a chance. So you have to sing like a man, which is equally as painful. Even at one point, Beth Croft struggled with a song - too high. If you don't know how to transpose, you don't have a chance either.
I think I have a point, I think that bringing your all to worship the King of kings is a really key idea, I can't imagine what the church would look like with sacrificial worship, rather than some awfully sung songs for 20 mins on any given Sunday!! It would be different that's for sure.
But no-one wants to sound like a strangled cat, no matter how much the phrase 'it's all heavenly to God' is used... so if you are a song writer, don't write in a key so that you can sing it well, but if you have to, when it becomes mass produced, please change the key, so that when a congregation sings it, we're not straining to reach difficult notes. I have heard many a time 'that's a lovely song, but it's not a song for the congregation'. If you're doing it for yourself, you're doing it wrong, if you're doing it for the glory of God, the church will see that and sing with you.
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