tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52758157132271724302023-11-16T12:17:36.656+00:00moretys rants and ravesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-37762182312395836622014-01-06T21:01:00.001+00:002014-01-06T21:01:18.576+00:00Something to think aboutWhen you see the word "Addict" what do you picture?<div>
Because our human brains like to see the extreme I think often people picture addicts as homeless people, unemployed, living in poverty etc. </div>
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"Addicts" are (often) looked at with sympathy, sometimes accompanied by a hidden sense of "I'm better than them" self pride, and there is sometimes that nervousness that shows on peoples faces when they clearly don't know what to say or how to act when they find out that the person they have met is an addict, as if they have some sort of leprosy or something.</div>
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If you don't know already, I may as well admit it now, I am an addict, I have a problem with an addictive personality which has led me to form an addiction to something which became my escape route when stressed, angry, lonely, or any other emotional situation. It doesn't matter right now what I am addicted to, some of you know, some of you don't, but it really doesn't matter to this blog as that's not the point I'm hoping to make.</div>
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I will blog some time in the future about the different ways I have been supported and encouraged by so many people - who have amazed me with the way they have not judged - even when they hear the ugly stories that come with addiction. But before I continue, without naming names I just want to say thank you to those of you who have shown me a true glimpse of the miracle of Gods love by the way you have unconditionally supported me.</div>
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Its that support that has got me thinking and blogging tonight, as I look back at my journey and I am forced to ask the questions as to how did I get into this mess?</div>
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I have always been in churches and Christian youth groups, I have had my own personal faith since I was about 16, I have been involved in active church ministry for about 12-13 years, but somehow my secret addiction remained secret and, just like the cancer that it is, it grew and grew into something so big that its hard to escape from.</div>
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Of course I am partly responsible, and it is clear that I was betraying my faith, or as the Bible puts it, attempting to serve 2 Gods, BUT what I want to explore here is the questions........</div>
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How can/does/should the church help young people/young adults/adults to avoid the pitfalls of addictions?</div>
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How can/does/should the church help young people/young adults/adults to ask for help when/if they have an addiction?</div>
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How can/does/should the church support someone taking the journey of recovery from an addiction?</div>
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I know there are 12 step support groups such as AA, and they are extremely good at what they do, BUT what they do (in my opinion) is what the church should be doing - and if the church is to be truely a place for the broken, it needs to be a place where people are prepared to admit they are broken (if that makes sense).</div>
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Anyways I would be interested in your thoughts and experiences. </div>
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I may (or may not) blog more on my journey but I really want to ask these questions whilst I remember them.</div>
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God bless.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-51683545794464845512011-07-31T19:56:00.002+01:002011-07-31T20:32:15.255+01:0010 years of youth work10 years ago I graduated!<div><br /><div>That is very very very scary, especially as it means I've been a full time youth worker (type of person) for 10 years now, and that scares me even more as in 24 days i become 31 and I'm currently going through "the change".</div><div><br /></div><div>which change i hear you ask....</div><div><br /></div><div>well (whispering it quietly) I'm ready not to be a youth worker any more.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've loved every minute of my 10 years - even the bits which i didn't like at the time, and the young people I've had the honour to work with (and there are many) have been an important part of my life - i still pray for every one of them regualry, still check up on them on facebook to make sure im still a little updated, and well lets just say I miss everyone of them regualry from those from the church on the Hill in Sanderstead (my first full time job), the the Cube gang in Market Harborough, and the youth of Temple of Praise and Liverpool Lighthouse past and present. </div><div><br /></div><div>when I moved to Liverpool I always saw myself as a youth worker - it was my definition - my identity - my career. Slowly since then my skills and abilities in other areas have been developed by God and I have fought him every step of the way. </div><div><br /></div><div>The time I was told I was not going to be doing the church youth anymore I fought against it, only to see myself having other doors open to me.</div><div><br /></div><div>The time I was told I was being promoted to a managers post and would not be doing any face to face youth work - I fought and pointed out I was a youth worker not a manager, and then ended up managing and enjoying it and becoming qualified in level 6 management and leadership at the same time.</div><div><br /></div><div>The time I was told I was splitting my time between youth work and fundraising I fought against it as I was a manager and a youth worker not a fundraiser - etc etc</div><div><br /></div><div>well now I'm finally realising what I've been told many times before. </div><div>I'm not a youth worker!</div><div>I'm not a manager!</div><div>I'm not a fundraiser!</div><div><br /></div><div>I am a man with huge God given potential! That potential will be achieved - and the journey starts here!</div><div><br /></div><div>Don't get me wrong, I'm not quitting my job - I will still be working at Liverpool Lighthouse and unless God has other plans I will still be doing youth work - HOWEVER, I will not be defining myself as a youth worker. </div><div><br /></div><div>as for the future, I'm not sure what but I know God has great things in store for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe that I will (within the next year) have my own business - having developed some of the ideas that I am currently developing. (probably part time - evening and weekend type of thing)</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe that I will be progressing and growing personally, spiritually and financially.</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe God is leading me into a new ministry, and now is the time he is getting me ready for whatever the call is. </div><div><br /></div><div>Every time I've been called to something I've fought against it - God this is me saying I'm ready and willing for the next call - and I'm waiting for your time.</div><div><br /></div><div>anyways for now, thanks for reading - pray for me if you are a prayer</div><div><br /></div><div>BUT</div><div><br /></div><div>don't just think about me, think about yourselves - what are you called to be? what is your potential? and do you need to lose a label?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-82780658271801713912010-02-13T09:27:00.002+00:002010-02-13T09:51:04.704+00:00Tragedy - wheres God in this? RIP LeeYesterday a very dramatic incident happened at my church and the place that I work which resulted in the death of one of our members who was also a volunteer.<br /><br />I cant pretend I was very close to Lee, nor can I pretend that he was a big part of my life, but he was a member of my church family, and more than that he was an inspirational one, and his death has led to many asking the question where is God in this?<br /><br />As I lay here in bed (yes its 9:30am Im lazy) I just cant stop thinking about this question. and this blog is my attempt to get an answer which makes sense to me.<br /><br />For those who didnt know Lee his story is almost as dramatic as his death. He had turned his life around from one of addictions to one of God. Only in the last two weeks was he stodd up in church saying how much God had transformed his life, broken his addictions, given his life meaning, and how he was so happy for the first time in years. God was definitly in his life, so why now?<br /><br />Clearly there is no answer to this, Ive used the phrase "we just have to believe" a lot since yesterday afternoon. For some this is enough, for others it sounds like im trying to convince myself and to be honest its a bit in the middle.<br /><br />I know Lee knew God and I know that hes up in heaven now with a big smile on his face partying it with the angels and the big man himself, probably waving a few flags, dancing a few jigs and generally worship God in a way we he left behind can only dream of.<br /><br />but the timing and the way he died just seems wrong. He had so much potential, God was using his transformation to help transform others, he had people who loved him, he was a member of a family, why now?<br /><br />Again i dont know if it was Gods timing or whether he was robbed from us but I do know God will use his passing in a way that ensures his life wasnt wasted.<br /><br />This sad day has the potential to change a lot of peoples lives and anyone reading this I urge to pray, not just for Lees family buty also for the family of ToP as they grieve, for those who were witnessess and are dealing with the aftermath as they investigate and find a way to move foward, for all the staff at LL many of whom heard the incident and whom still have that sound going through their heads, finally please pray for the future - this kind of incident get investigated and investigations (even when they dont find anything wrong oher than a tragic accident, which will be in this case) change things and so please pray that God uses this as a springboard to the future rather than something that holds his plans back.<br /><br />As i said at the start I wasnt best mates, I spoke to him regulary but thats about it but his death is like a death in the family. But i have to believe God will do something good out of this situation. I have to stop trying to understand and just accept that some things I will never understand. and finally I have to see how much of his potential he had already got - the bible calls us to become Gods ambassedors and ine the last few weeks he was probably more christlike than most. Hes with God now, and God will use his death the way he used his life.<br /><br />please pray.<br /><br />thanks.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-91981988191749295982009-08-16T14:28:00.000+01:002009-08-16T14:29:20.138+01:00A Fresh startI have two of the world’s most valuable possessions. They aren’t rare, you can get them in many shops but they are definitely extremely important and valuable to us. Anyone guess what is under here?<br /><br />Well you’ll have to wait and see if any of you were right<br /><br />How many of you have built a bed? I have, more than once, and I have to admit I am awful at it. The first time I ever built one was when I was 20, I had graduated from uni, got my first full time job, moved into my first home on my own, and had brought this really modern wooden bed for my new room. I couldn’t wait to get it up and sleep on it. So heres how It went….<br /><br />Day 1 – the bed arrives…. I unpack every part of it downstairs look at it all and think great where do I start….. realise I should start by actually putting it together in the right room, so I put everything back into the box and manage to get it into the bedroom, totally exhausted I decide that’s enough for the first day so I sleep on the sofa and continue my building project the next day.<br /><br />Day 2 – Once again I empty the box, put everything in an ordered fashion on the floor of the room, so that infront of me I have a bed, well lots of pieces of wood which could be anything. I start putting the wood together and half way through realise that my bed is looking less like a bed and more like a wardrobe as I go on, so for the first time I check the instructions (I am a man afterall) and realise I may have gone a little wrong, so I decide to sleep on the sofa again and start again in the morning.<br /><br />Days 3, 4, 5 and 6 – I go through the daily challenge of banging wood together, tightening and un tightening screws, trying to understand why when the instructions say it should be straight on the floor it always seems to end up at an angle, and ends up with me sleeping on the sofa to start again the next day.<br /><br />Eventually I realised (im a slow learner) that I couldn’t do that bed on my own, and was lucky to have a friend visiting me for a few days and when he arrived (probably about day 9 in this story) we worked together and this simple task which had taken me days on my own took less than an hour with the two of us working together. A pair of fresh eyes looking at the instructions and a helping pair of hands made all the difference and this impossible task became possible.<br /><br />You may not be as bad as me at DIY but many of us go through this same routine every day of our lives. We wake up every morning feeling like life is a chore that we just cant get right, we try to sort it out ourselves in different ways. We work hard to distract ourselves only to feel worse when we finish work for the day, we fill the times when we aernt working with distractions like TV, cars, football to stop us thinking only to find when we have a rare moment without those distractions the things we need to think about are still there. We use alcohol, drugs, tobacco, sex, pornography to fool our bodies and our minds into thinking theres nothing wrong, but the effect of these things runs out and we find ourselves needing more and more of these things to make us feel ok.<br />Then one day a friend turns up with a fresh pair of eyes and he works with us to use the instructions we were given and a helping pair of hands and the impossible task of life becomes possible.<br /><br />That is what Christianity is about<br /><br />Christianity is about a fresh pair of eyes in our lives – Gods eyes.<br /><br />Christianity is about God working with us through the Bible to help us understand the instructions of life a little easier.<br /><br />Christianity is about God giving us the holy spirit as a helping hand to make living life achievable again.<br /><br />Or to put it simply, Christianity is about having a fresh start which leads to us achieving a God centred life.<br /><br />So who is entitled to this second chance? This fresh start I’m talking about? I mean some of us are sat here feeling lonely, feeling like theres no one in this room despite sitting next to someone, feeling like they don’t have a friend to help them.<br /><br />Well 2 Corinthians 5 verses 14 and 15 tell us “Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”<br /><br />It says it two times in order to ensure no one misses it<br /><br />“Christ died for all”<br />“He died for everyone”<br /><br />It doesn’t say “everyone who doesn’t drink, smoke, take drugs” it doesn’t say “everyone with 5 friends or more” it says “everyone” and that everyone includes you even if you don’t feel like it does.<br /><br />One of the hardest things for some to accept is a gift for no reason, or a random act of kindness. It seems to be that we associate such things as charity, and, certainly in British culture accepting charity seems to feel like weakness. This is one of the reasons its so hard for us to accept and understand the basis of our faith, even those of us who have given our lives to God, and have been in his church for years.<br /><br />Christ came down and died for you and for me as the ultimate random act of kindness, because he knew we needed help and because he wanted to help. He died so “that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, the will live for Christ”<br /><br />Again it may help to hear what it doesn’t say<br /><br />It doesn’t say he died so that you can have a crutch to help you struggle through, it doesn’t say he died so that you will have to go to church and be part of a religion, it says he died so that you:<br /><br />Receive his new life<br /><br />Four important words to hear.<br /><br />Receive – to receive something is to accept it, to open it and to use it for the purpose it is given to you.<br /><br />At Christmas if you get a brand new kettle and you leave it in the box and never use it you haven’t really received a kettle, you’ve just received a box. You only receive the kettle if you take it out the box and start making tea with it.<br /><br />Even if you come to church every Sunday without fail, even if you are always listening to worship songs, if you don’t receive the gift God is offering and use it then you’re missing out on the real reason Christ died.<br /><br />The next word<br /><br />His – there’s no room for doubt here, its not yours, its not mine, its his.<br /><br />This means it’s even more valuable. When someone lends you their car, you take care of it because you don’t want to let them down. The gift God offers us is more valuable than any car, and because it belongs to God we need to take care of it.<br /><br />Taking care of something isn’t about not using it, and not having fun with it though. Its about ensuring the right fuel goes into it, making sure things that damage it doesn’t get too close to it, and making sure it is used enough so it doesn’t get stiff.<br /><br />New – not recycled, not second hand but new!<br /><br />Life – the opposite of death<br /><br />So put these four words together and its true meaning comes out: -<br /><br />Receive His new life<br /><br />We need to receive the gift of life, a new life, a life which belongs to God and then we need to fully use that gift of life to achieve its purpose.<br /><br />This is where Corinthians continues by telling us what this new life means<br /><br />2 Corinthians 5 verse 16 says “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.”<br /><br />This new life means we are different, it means we have a different way of looking at things than other people. We no longer evaluate from a humans point of view – now we evaluate from Gods point of view.<br /><br />Our new life means we look at the world through Gods eyes, the things that make God happy make us happy, the things that make God sad make us sad. Its important to remember that it doesn’t say we should be judging people, the Bible clearly says do not judge as only God has the right to do this. What this means is that if we see that something clearly makes God sad or angry then we should do our best to avoid it, and to help other people avoid it when guided by God.<br /><br />To be able to do this we need to know God, and to know God we need to spend time with him, and so this verse of Corinthians is the reason why we must spend time with God in prayer and Bible study.<br /><br />How can we say we now evaluate others by Gods standards if we don’t ever speak to him or allow him to speak to us? We can’t.<br /><br />This also goes back to the point made earlier about taking care of something. We have to take care of the gift God gave us, but this isn’t about not doing things, its not about not having fun, its not about not making mistakes, its about making sure we live life with the right fuel, following the right directions, and with the right target being headed for.<br /><br />Our fuel is time with God, we must spend as much time with God as we can, and definitely more than we do on things like TV and internet (as hard as that is)<br />If (as I have been sad enough to be doing recently) we spend an one or two hours on face book ploughing pretend farms and only spend half an hour with God what is actually fuelling you?<br /><br />Our direction is the Bible, or to reuse the over used phrase “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth”. We need to know and understand what God says about things if we are to think like Him.<br /><br />Our target is, according to 2 Corinthians 5 verse 20, to be Christ’s ambassadors so that others can see God through us and so that they may want to find out more and receive Gods gift as well.<br /><br />Its not easy, but that’s why we are reminded that Jesus did this exact same thing for us first and now he is appealing to others through us.<br /><br />All of this is fine, except life isn’t easy, life isn’t perfect, people hurt people, people suffer. There may be people in this church now sitting there feeling no connection to God at all, and they are probably thinking to themselves “yes yes God loves me, yes yes he have his life for me but im still depressed, still in debt, still addicted etc etc wheres God in this situation”.<br /><br />And to those who may be thinking that I want you to know that God wants today to be the day you wake up, the day you let a friend in to help, the day of your fresh start.<br /><br />I spoke earlier about how we don’t truly receive a gift unless we use it, and many Christians haven’t truly received Gods gift because we don’t use him the way he wants to be used.<br />Remember we heard how the new life is His not ours.<br /><br />Well this means the stresses, the worries, the addictions, the debts, the bullys are his to. He wants you to give him total control over them so that he can take you in the direction he wants to take you.<br /><br />This is even harder than becoming a Christian because some of us feel like the things we go through are too small to give to God, he gave his life for me, I couldn’t trouble him with such a small thing like this. And others feel the opposite feeling like God has done so much for them on the cross that they cant give him another problem to sort out especially one so big.<br /><br />God wants you to give him every part of life.<br /><br />Things you love, things you hate, the good and the bad.<br /><br />He wants to heal you emotionally and physically.<br /><br />He wants to take away and deal with everything that stresses you and deal with them his way.<br /><br />He wants all of this so that you have truly received the gift of His new life.<br /><br />Under the sheet I mentioned earlier, the valuable items.<br /><br />Tipex and a rubber.<br /><br />Two tools which enable us to have fresh starts, but there is a big difference between the two.<br />Tipex just covers up your mistakes and lets you write on top of them, only when we use a rubber do we really get a fresh start.<br /><br />We all make mistakes and have things go wrong and sometimes, even as Christians we try to deal with it ourselves and tipex over it ignoring the scars etc that remain underneath the “fresh start”.<br /><br />What God wants us to do today is let him be the rubber that gives us a real New life,<br /><br />one where he has control,<br /><br />where he carries the baggage,<br /><br />where he takes the stress<br /><br />where he removes the worrying<br /><br />where we are free to be his ambassadors<br /><br />where we are free to live a new life<br />where we are free<br /><br />Accept that freedom today.<br /><br />We are giving you a chance to physically respond to what God has been saying. The band are going to lead us in the song Purify my heart and as it plays if you want to accept and receive God’s gift of a fresh start today we have two prayer stations for you to come to.<br /><br />At the prayer station we encourage you to spend time with God, just giving him your whole life, the good and the bad, and then wash your hands as a physical sign of a fresh new start with God in control.<br /><br />Whether you’ve been a Christian for a long time or whether you want to give your life to God for the first time, God wants you to give him control, take that fresh start today.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-10269121851554956282009-04-02T13:41:00.002+01:002009-04-02T14:37:11.608+01:00God knows what this is about!Working for christian agencies/churches has always been an interesting challenging experience for many reasons but recently I have been forced to ask the question about how it effects your faith.<br /><br />before I continue I should say some things: -<br /><br /><ul><li>I believe God gives us all we need </li><li>I believe God doesnt put us in situations we will drown in as he knows what we can cope with and will help us in all situations</li><li>I believe God can perform miracles</li></ul><p>that being said it is obvious to me that the more work you do for God the more the devil will attack, which can make the work seem harder, which can make your faith stronger - but also can shake your faith to the core.</p><p>The Devil can use anything to attack when things are going well, family, friends, sickness, managers, ministers, colleagues, funders, health, addictions, you name it he can use it. This is often ignored or forgotten by people because we know that God can do and use anything, and God is more powerful than Satan.</p><p>However it is dangerous not to remember the way the devil attacks, and be prepared for them, especially when in the midst of actively working for God. The Bible says to cover yourself with the armour of God at all times. The Bible says we are given the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us. this doesnt make it easy tho does it?</p><p>Thankfuly we know that God hasnt promised us an easy life, he just promised a life in all its fullness, and a life in all its fullness can only be achieved with the low points and the high points. </p><p>The Bible has the low points in them, Joseph being sold as a slave, Daniel being thrown into the Lions den, Disciples being thrown into prison, Jesus being Crucified, and these parts of the stories can leave us feeling like saying "oh great so follow God and all you get is pain and suffering". Then you read the rest of the stories and you realise that the things they went through were used by God to ensure that his plans for the people involved succeded and that the people themselves were ready for what he had in store. </p><p>Ecclesiastes says "there is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven" and sometimes the seasons are bad and sometimes they are good, but with God we can guarentee that when you put all the seasons together his plan for our lives will be achieved - on one condition, and that condition is that we keep our eyes on him and follow his directions, even when times get tough.</p><p>one of my favourite parts of the Bible is Peter walking on water, and I use it a lot when preaching, its not my favourite because he performed a miracle, its my favourite because Peter sank and Jesus went over picked him up and walked with him. I reckon Peter remembered that moment for the rest of his life for 4 reasons, </p><ol><li>he walked on water </li><li>he feared for his own life </li><li>acknowledged his fear and Jesus helped him overcome it</li><li>His faith and trust in Jesus grew</li></ol><p>For me this one scene is a step by step guide to how our lives can be when working for God</p><ol><li>we make a step of faith - start work, make sacrifices etc etc</li><li>things start getting hard, we fear we made the wrong choice, wondering if we are in the right place etc etc</li><li>give our fears to God and ask him to help us overcome it</li><li>become more secure in our faith and trust in God more</li></ol><p>Im about half way between point 2 and 3 at the moment, having so many doubts and worries running through my mind that every little thing has a chance to be used by the devil, and my own shortcomings, addictions, issues seem to be popping up more. But, as I write this, I realise something, and that something is that because of these things I am growing closer to God, and whilst Im along way from being the perfect holy spirit filled, tongue speaking, Gospel spouting Christian God is moulding me into what he wants me to be. </p><p>Only God knows how long I will be in my current situations</p><p>Only God knows what will happen next</p><p>Only God knows how long I will be on this earth</p><p>But those statements give me so much more assurances, because I know God knows, and God knows best so I can concentrate on enjoying my life, whatever the season, so that when me and God sit down for a pint on a cloud in Heaven I can say "thanks for the good time you gave me", and he can respond, "thanks for enjoying the journey"</p><p>so does working for a christian agency effect your faith, yes, but so does everything you do. </p><p>Lifes a journey, go with it, enjoy it, coz with God as your Guide it wont be boring!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-25227383271230697232008-09-19T16:29:00.000+01:002008-09-19T16:31:30.177+01:00What is the meaning of life?We all spend our lives trying to work out which way to go, and as a man it’s even harder, because we men hate to ask for directions. We would rather spend two hours driving in circles than stop the car and ask someone how to get somewhere. My dad used to say “we are not lost – I just don’t know where we are!”<br /><br />What does this have to do with anything? Well I want to tell you something, and that’s that some of us in this room are lost, and some of us don’t even know where we want to go, let alone how to get there. But I have good news for you, and that’s that not only can I tell you where you should want to go I can even tell you how to get there.<br /><br />But before I tell you anything I thought Id tell you a bad joke.<br /><br />A vicar was arriving at a small village church once and he had an important letter to post, he saw this young lad and asked where the nearest post office was. The boy told him the directions and so the vicar thanked him and said, "If you come to the Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to Heaven." "I don't think I'll be there," the boy said. "You don't even know your way to the post office."<br /><br />So lets start at the beginning… where are we going? Or put in the way that is used a lot more – what is the meaning of life?<br /><br />This question is a question asked by everyone at some point in their lives, and many people say there is no answer to this. Well I have to tell you that those people are wrong, and you don’t even have to look very far to find the answer.<br /><br />God created us in his image, and he created us to look after the world he created and to be best friends with God. When the earth was created everything was perfect, he was an artist who had put every little detail in place so that the earth was the exact way he wanted, every tree, every stream, every animal. He could have kept all of this too himself, his own private universe, but he wanted to share it, he created men and women, and he created them in his image and then he said “Fill the earth and Govern it!”<br /><br />From the moment man and women were created God gave life meaning. That meaning can be summed up by one simple word. Love.<br /><br />We were given the task to love the earth he created and to look after every part of it.<br />We were given the task to love each other and to look after each other.<br />And we were given these tasks because God loved us and wanted to share with us the perfect world he created.<br /><br />So what happened, why is the world not still the perfect place he created?<br />Why is there more hate in the world than love?<br />Why is it that there is so much hurt in the world, with people beating people up and in some cases killing people for fun?<br /><br />The answer to these questions, and the many others I could ask is amazingly simple, we forgot, ignored, and lost contact with the very thing that gave our lives meaning.<br /><br />We all know the story of what happened. God gave one small rule, and even told what would happen if that rule was broken “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”<br /><br />No tricks here, No room for misunderstandings – a nice clear “if you do this you will die!” if only the story ended here, but it doesn’t does it!<br /><br />Before I move on let me remind you what we had.<br />We had a relationship with God where we could walk and talk to him about anything<br />We had Gods trust and had been given the responsibility of looking after his perfect creation<br />We had a life with meaning – with love at its centre.<br /><br />So the devil got involved and whispered<br />“That piece of fruit you’ve been told not to eat looks really tasty doesn’t it!”<br />“That piece of fruit looks so much nicer than the others!”<br />“Gods messing with you, hes keeping the best to himself!”<br />“Go on eat the fruit – you know you want to!”<br />“If you eat the fruit you won’t die!”<br />“If you eat the fruit you will be like God and know good and evil!”<br /><br />Let’s face it, when something is whispered it’s so much louder and much more convincing and tempting, and yes the fruit was eaten. God was disobeyed and the result was death.<br />We lost the relationship with our, still perfect creator<br />We lost Gods trust<br />His creation was no longer perfect and so looking after it would be much harder<br /><br />(smash glass)<br /><br />Life’s meaning was shattered and we were doomed.<br /><br />This time we have to be glad the story doesn’t end here.<br /><br />Even though we disobeyed God and lost the very reason he had created us, which meant we were living life with no meaning, he still loved us and wanted the close relationship back.<br /><br />He gave us some simple and clear laws to show us how far we were from him and to show us what we had to do and promised that if they were followed some of that meaning, that loving relationship, would be back, but we all know what happens when us stupid humans are told not to do something, we do the opposite and keep messing up.<br /><br />Why did we keep messing up? Because we were searching for the meaning of life and ignoring God when he tried to point out what the real meaning was.<br /><br />This left God with one option, that of punishment.<br /><br />Before I continue lets have a quick recap, in-case I’ve lost you.<br /><br />The meaning of Life is Love<br />Love of each other<br />Love of the world<br />Love of God<br /><br />We messed up and life lost meaning<br /><br />God wanted to give our lives meaning again but we ignored him.<br /><br />Nice and simple, and it does help us to understand the world that we live in.<br /><br />Over 70% of children and young people say they don’t fill loved.<br /><br />People search for love wherever they can get it, with many doing whatever they can to make sure they don’t lose it when they think they have it.<br /><br />The top reason for people drinking alcohol, smoking, taking drugs, having sex for the first time is often “I was scared they wouldn’t like me or love me if I didn’t!”<br /><br />We were created to love and be loved, but because we have forgotten this and have lost this we have a hole in our lives. Most people know it is there, we try to fill it with so many things.<br /><br />We try drugs and alcohol in order to forget that something’s missing, or to give our lives meaning, but these things destroy our lives even more and the hole get bigger and we need more to fill it, and the hole gets bigger so we take more, and then eventually all we have is the drugs and alcohol – every part of our lives becomes about getting a hit or a drink. We wake up, take a drink or a smoke, get dressed, take a drink or a smoke, eat lunch, take a drink or a smoke etc. It is no longer about filling a hole and making life easier it is about not being able to live without it and is infact the reason we live.<br /><br />Its not just drugs or alcohol, it could be sex, work, money, football. I’m sure there are hundreds of things that people use in order to add meaning to their lives, but I want to tell you it simply and bluntly – we don’t need these things because they will never satisfy us!<br /><br />The only thing that will satisfy us and make our lives the way they are meant to be is love – love of God, each other and the world!<br /><br />You may be feeling lonely at school, work or at home – with God you always have someone and he will never leave you.<br /><br />Your family may sometimes hurt you and you may not feel loved by them – with God you are always part of his family, and he will always love you.<br /><br />Your friends may only seem to like you when you do things you don’t thing you should do – God will always be there for you and will never ask you to do anything that will harm you!<br /><br />You may be jumping from one addiction to another trying to block out how you feel by using drugs, alcohol, sex, work, whatever – God is the only thing which will truly make things better.<br /><br />The meaning of life is love<br /><br />And the place we should want to go is back to God.<br /><br />Earlier I said I was going to give you directions to how to get there, but before I do here’s another bad joke.<br /><br />Two nuns were travelling through Europe in their car. They got to Transylvania and were stopped at a traffic light. Suddenly Dracula jumps onto the hood of their car and scratches the windshield!<br />"Quick, quick!" shouts the first nun, "What shall I do?"<br />"Turn on the wipers, that will get rid of this abomination," shouts the second.<br />The nun switches them on, knocking Dracula about, but he clings on and hisses at them loudly!<br />"What shall I do now?" shouts the first nun.<br />"Switch on the windshield washer, I filled it with Holy Water when we stopped in the Vatican!" says the second.<br />Dracula steams as the water burns his skin, but somehow manages to hang on. He hisses at the nuns even louder now!<br />"Now what?" screams the first nun.<br />"Show him your cross!" replies the second.<br />So the first nun rolls down the window and shouts: "GET OFF MY HOOD YOU STUPID IDIOT!!!!"<br /><br />God knew we deserve to be punished for the way we were living. He had given us simple and effective rules to guide us back to him, we ignored them, we had turned his perfect creation into a world falling apart at its seams. But God still loved us.<br /><br />The bible says it simply like this “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”<br /><br />God loves us so much, and wants us to live our God given lives so much that he gave up his own son’s life so that we can live!<br /><br />Its hard for us to understand why God does this, because we live in a world where love is something we can easily throw away, parents choose to leave their children, husbands choose to leave their wives, love doesn’t matter other than when something is wanted.<br /><br />With God, and the love that gives our lives meaning, it’s different. This is a love which will always be there.<br /><br />God looked at the world he created, the people he made and loves it, even though he doesn’t like what we do. Because of this love he wants us to experience life the way he meant it.<br /><br />We needed to be punished but he wanted to give us one last chance, because he loves us so much. His solution – to send Jesus to be punished for each one of us! He was sent and died for you!<br />Even if you were the only person that existed he still would have sent Jesus – because he loves you!<br /><br />He wants to have a relationship with you!<br /><br />He wants to give your life meaning!<br /><br />He wants to replace the addiction you have with love!<br /><br />He wants to hold you when you cry!<br /><br />He wants to share your problems!<br /><br />He wants carry you when you get tired!<br /><br />He didn’t do this in order to create a religion, to get you to come to church on Sunday. He did this because he wants to give your life a meaning and he wants a relationship with you the way it was originally – where we walk and talk to him, and where we look after the world he created.<br /><br />Gods done his part – he’s taken the punishment so we don’t have to BUT there’s one thing we need to do, we need to accept the sacrifice and offer him back our life in return.<br /><br />If you go to hug someone and they just stand there it is not a hug.<br /><br />If you go to kiss someone and they turn away the kiss doesn’t happen.<br /><br />If you don’t accept the sacrifice made for you, say sorry for the things you have done wrong, ask for help to stop doing things wrong, and then (with Gods help) try to change the way you live then it’s a wasted sacrifice.<br /><br />Today you have an amazing opportunity to change your life and to give your life a meaning.<br /><br />You have an opportunity to fill the hole you have in your life with the very love that you were created for. Don’t pass up the opportunity, start living today.<br /><br />The meaning of life is the opposite to death.<br /><br />God wants a relationship with you today, accept it.<br /><br />Let’s Pray<br /><br />Lord thank you that you love us no matter what we do<br />Fill our lives with that love today so that our lives have meaning again<br />Speak to each of us and reveal you love to us personally.<br />Remove any addictions we have in our lives so that we can see you clearer<br />Take control of our lives whether the first, second or hundredth time<br /><br />AmenUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-26254616430150992752008-04-22T01:37:00.003+01:002008-04-22T02:09:32.362+01:00letting goA strange thing happened to me this weekend.<br /><br />Now to fully understand this I have to go into a long story and as its now 1:38am Im not going to go into a long story so you probably wont understand it but oh well, no one reads this anyways so it doesnt matter does it!<br /><br />Basicaly in church for the last 3 Sundays they have been doing a series on blessings and curses. This isnt a subject I'm a huge fan off because some Christians blame every bad thing on curses and forget that some people just make bad choices. I remember when i was younger I spoke to someone and said "nothing good ever happens to me, everything touch goes wrong" or words to that effect. The answer was "maybe your cursed, shall I pray for you to be freed from it?" now i was about 14 - I will leave it up to you to decide what i thought of that suggestion.<br /><br />Anyways back to the present....<br /><br />This Sunday was the final Sunday of the series and the theme was how to break curses and ensure blessings (or words to that effect). now Im not one to spiritualise every little thing in my life, but my story starts on Saturday night.<br /><br />I went to a party and left it early in order to get a goods night sleep before church, i didnt event drink much. I got home, went to bed and then had the worst night sleep since I moved to Liverpool. I heard noises outside my window which kept me awake, I randomly felt really ill, every time i fell asleep something woke me up, and if i said i had about 2 hours sleep id be exagerating.<br /><br />Sunday morning I felt very rough. I was so close to not going to church but I had a job to do which meant I had to be there, but I felt shocking. I got to church and felt even worse, I was coughing, and at one point I was sure I was going to be sick.<br /><br />The worship began and I just kept feeling like I should leave but something was telling me I had to stay. The opening worship took place and did my job and went back to my seat and more worship took place and then there was the sermon. Now I cant honestly say I can tell you much about what was said but basicaly during it memories of the last nine years kept popping into my head.<br /><br />Depression<br />parent issues<br />Fear of love<br />Fear of being hurt<br />Fear of being me<br />etc etc<br /><br />all these and more kept coming up and I felt God say "today you will be healed" Now again I must say this is weird for me because many of the above are things I dont think of as major issues but at the same time I know they are.<br /><br />But the main thing came after I felt God say this I suddenly became really scared.<br /><br />What if I let go of all of these things and am healed and freed from the binds of past curses etc? who will I become? Will I still be me? Will I still be a good youth worker? and more questions just flowed into my head.<br /><br />I know it sounds silly but in reality Ive always believed that the things i have gone through have made me who i am and the fear I had was that letting go of my past will change my present and so mess up my future.<br /><br />I struggled with all of these questions and listed all the things I believed God wanted to heal and the reasons why I didnt want to let them go (in my head) and cried a few times whilst hoping no one noticed. Then Pastor said we were going to have a time of prayer ministry and anyone who wanted to be freed from things should come forward etc etc.<br /><br />I stood there and watched and ignored my instincts and just sang more worship songs as people went forward but eventually I went forward and joined the big crowd and was eventually prayed for.<br /><br />Now I believe that God done something to me on Sunday and I believe I am free of my pasts burdens and curses etc and am healed of depression because of Jesus. I beleive Satan was throwing everything in his power to stop me gettign to church on Sunday to stop me being ministerd to by God, but he didnt stop there. Even after the service I felt even sicker in the evening and doubts started coming into my mind. But when I awoke the next morning I knew that I was a free person because of God and whilst the devil will try to fool me the person I will listen to is God.<br /><br />So whats my point? Im not actually sure.<br /><br />I guess Im saying Gods amazing and dont forget it!<br /><br />I guess Im saying God heals, dont let the devil stop it happening!<br /><br />I guess Im saying dont be scared to let go!<br /><br />I still have the devil (even as I type) whispering "what if youve lost you ability as a youth worker with it" but I am not prepared to listen because Gods on my side.<br /><br />Not every bad thing is down to curses<br />Not every sickness is down to curses<br /><br />God promises us all blessings so to each of you I say "God Bless you!" and pray that he heals anything in your lives that need healing, I pray that any curses or binds which are in your life (including those you dont know off) are broken in Jesus name.<br />Amen<br /><br />God is good - enjoy his freedom!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-11409781166992771382008-03-28T07:51:00.002+00:002008-03-28T08:09:04.167+00:00Is it just me?Today I begin my first proper break from work since starting my new job in January. I do not have to do any work until Wednesday. I dont have to get up early, to do any planning, or anything associated with work! so.....<br /><br /><ul><li>why did I wake up at 4:30am this morning with lots of work issues running through my head?</li><li>why did I at 6:30am decide the only way I was going to be able to relax is if I finished a funding bid off and so proceeded to finish it and send it off?</li><li>why am I trying to find things to do which will remove the temptation to pop into work to just check out a couple of things, just in case?</li></ul>I have never classed myself as a workaholic, certainly most who know me off line would say im the opposite, so why is it so hard for me to stop and remove myself from work at the moment?<br /><br />is it just me that has this problem?<br /><br />While I'm at it I have some more questions: -<br /><br /><ul><li>is it just me who finally finds people who want to spend time with him off line and as such finds a "social life" and then doesnt have the time to actually spend time with the aformentioned people?</li><li>is it just me who has lost many on line friends because of lack of time or energy to be online, but also have found other people have "disapeared" themselves and now seem un-contactable?</li><li>Is it just me who has lost the passion for the internet but at the same time cant leave it alone (hense the blog)?</li></ul><p>For those of you who still read these blogs heres a quick update on my life: -</p><ul><li>Works going well but is very stressful, with the old adage of "youth work being easy if it wasnt for the adults" being as true now as it ever was!</li><li>social wise Ive attended 2 wine parties and hosted one dinner party in the last month - which is more social action than i had for the previous 6 years lol</li><li>house wise im planning on using my few days off to get it sorted, 3 months after moving in!</li><li>holiday wise im planning on taking 2 weeks off in April to go abroad somewhere hot - if anyone wants to go with me let me know (seriously!)</li></ul><p>so thats it for now. </p><p>No promises of regular blogs, bo promises of being online more often, basicaly nothing at all!</p><p>does anyone else think this was just anouther waste of time, or is it just me?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-50757445192405749682008-02-03T22:39:00.000+00:002008-02-03T23:14:36.815+00:00well January was busy.....This month has been a weird and busy one.<br /><br />Obviously, as you know, I started a new job in Anfield (Liverpool) but on top of that Ive had a house to get sorted, football to go and watch, and a life to lead.<br /><br />My job has started and seems to have never stopped. Basicaly I have been getting to know the area and the young people of the area, working with them to make plans for a youth programme, suggesting the programme to the leaders of the church and the agency, re-writting the youth programme after heated discusions about some of the programmes (mainly to do with timings), working on the streets to get to know the local youths who do not attend current activities, and finally making plans to launch the programme (which starts next week). Ive done all this and more this month but you get the picture.<br /><br />Theres been frustrations and theres been joy and excitement, and I am 100% convinced I have made the right decisions in moving here and doing this job and am pleased with how this month has gone.<br /><br />House wise the gas situation finally got sorted on the 9th of December, although the issue never seems to fully disapear - but I wont go into that now. The house is half way to being home. I finally put my bed together and so am no longer sleeping on my sofa. every room still looks messy as I basicaly have no time to get my teeth into sorting it out, which is very annoying as I want to start inviting people round and turning it into a proper home - but I'l get there eventually.<br /><br />Ive been to 4 liverpool matches since I moved here, so that has been good, even tho liverpool are not exactly playing brilliantly at the moment.<br /><br />Spiritually its a bit weird at the moment, church is great, the 2 hour services go quicker than any of the 1 hour services Ive been to recently and the pastor is an amazing man who speaks real sense both spiritually and in other parts of life.<br /><br />Ive also been rewarded by God for taking the risk of following his path and taking a pay cut to change jobs. Basicaly when my grandad died last year he left my dad some money and after Christmas my dad told me and my brother and sister he was giving us £1000 each from Grandads money for us to use to have fun in his memory. I then recieved £600 back from British gas for overpaying bills, £210 back from the council for overpaying council tax, my landlord has said I would have the whole of January rent free and so saved £375 and there was one or two other small amounts of money which have arrived unexpectably. This all adds up to about £2200 and when put together with rent savings of £100 a month it meens my pay £3000 a year pay cut has been completely payed off. Thank You God!<br /><br />So why did I say things spiritually have been weird? Well I'm struggling to get my head around some issues from my past which will effect my future and still sometimes start thinking about how I am 27, single, living alone, still isolated sometimes etc and sometimes this makes me resent the fact God has called me to be doing the work I do. But thats only some times so dont let that fool you, I definitly feel closer to God than I have done for a while.<br /><br />Other issues I have at the moment which no matter how much I tell myself to forget about it wont go away, is things happening at my previous job since I left. Basically I was recently told by someone that since I left my name is mud due to things I did and didnt do whilst I was running the place. I dont pretend I ran the place perfectly and I know I made mistakes but it worries and annoys me that I hear that my succesor has started to go beyond questioning the ways I did things and things I didnt do for whatever reason and has now started basicaly accusing me of lieing about things because shes having more issues in here first couple of months than I did in 3 years. I know it shouldnt bother me but all I have is my reputation and for that to be questioned to the extreme of me being called a liar really hurts, especially as I cant defend myself because they are being done in such a way that in theory I shouldnt find out shes making them.<br /><br />but anyways.....<br /><br />Please pray for all of the above, especially about the next 2 weeks which is the biggest challenge Ive had for a while.<br /><br />Anyways enough about me... hows you? what have I missed?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-23334552684240723962008-01-03T16:39:00.000+00:002008-01-03T17:09:00.402+00:00I should be working but..... (and new years resolutions)Well today is the 2nd day of my new job, and the 3rd day of the new Year so it really is time I should blog, the problem, as Ive read so often on others blogs, is I currently dont have internet at home so am shockingly writing this at my desk when I should be working - shhhh dont tell my bosses.<br /><br />So where to begin?<br /><br />The move went well, way back on the 19th December, last year (how time flies) and a lot of great people helped fill a van up with my belongings before my dad drove it up to Liverpool for some more great people to help unpack the van. That all went very smoothly, but then disaster stuck!<br /><br />(cue dramatic noise)<br /><br />NO GAS!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />to cut a long story short it turns out that for some reason Transco had turned the gas supply to the house off from the street, which is a lot more complicated that just turning a switch and meant that it could take 8 weeks to fix. No one was prepared to take the blame for this, Transco say they did it but dont know why they did it but are sure that the reason they did it was a valid reason, British Gas were shocked to find out this has happened and didnt know how to fix it but were sure that it could get fixed, and the Landlord was flabbergasted to have to deal with this whole situation!<br /><br />It has meant that I havent paid my rent as I have no heating or hot water and thats illegal, so it has saved me money, but its still not exactly a nice thing to happen in the middle of Winter. As of today Transco have promised that it will definitly be fixed by early next week!<br /><br />Luckily Christmas came up, and so on 24th December I jumped on a train and escaped my nice but cold house for the warm welcome of my mothers, and I stayed there until 1st Jaunary 2008.<br /><br />So then we reached this year (yes im skipping Christmas and New year as, although they were great and I really enjoiyed them not much actually happened). On the 2nd of January I began my new job as Youth Connect Officer.<br /><br />I got into work at 9am and was greeted and told someone would be with me soon but just to make myself comfortable and use the computer until someone does arrive. I decided to surf the web and search for other youth agencies in anfield who i should contact, so i used my time wisely. An hour past, then a second and then at 11:30 someone said "are you ok to come to a meeting tonight where we are planning the next years programme for youth work" I asked the time and the reply "I dont know yet" came. they left and I sat there still with no work, no knowledge of what I was supposed to be doing, but with a meeting to go to where I was planning my years worth of work. This was going to be interesting.<br /><br />I left work at 3pm and discovered the meeting was at 8pm and so went and done a bit more housework and watched TV then went to the meeting. This was very productive, with me getting a real sense that, whilst the work will fill my time up a lot, there is lots of potential for amazing work to take place here.<br /><br />So far my job is, running and overseeing lots of youth activities (in church and out)<br />Do detached work<br />Manage and supervise a careforce worker<br /><br />and thats just on day 2 so by next week I may be even busier lol<br /><br />thats all for now, but before I go I should give you my new years resolutions....<br /><br />1. Gain weight. At least 30 pounds.<br />2. Stop exercising. Waste of time.<br />3. Read less. Makes me think more.<br />4. Watch more TV. I've been missing some good stuff.<br />5. Procrastinate more. Starting tomorrow.<br />6. Stop bringing lunch from home: Eat out more.<br />7. Get in a whole NEW rut!<br />8. Spend my summer holiday in Cyberspace.<br />9. Get further in debt.<br />10. Don't believe politicians.<br />11. Avoid airplanes that spontaneously drop 1000 feet.<br />12. Don't swim with piranhas or sharks.<br />13. Associate with even worse people.<br />14. Spread out priorities beyond ability to keep track of them.<br />15. Wait around for opportunity.<br />16. Focus on the faults of others.<br />17. Mope about faults.<br />18. Never make New Year's resolutions again.<br /><br />Now those I will keep to!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-66190261575044591942007-12-27T23:20:00.000+00:002007-12-27T23:54:58.349+00:00The Christmas BlogHow did you spend Christmas day?<br /><br />Mine began with me waking up at 10am hearing my mum talking to my brother about how she <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">didn't</span> know how she was going to get the house tidy enough to celebrate this year, then she went out and I realised the time and that for the first time ever she <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">hadn't</span> woken me up to ask if I wanted to go to church, which meant that (again for the first time ever) I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">didn't</span> get to church on Christmas day.<br /><br />I went downstairs and decided to start tidying the front room and to cut a long story short, when my mum got home we carried on tidying the living room, my brother done the kitchen and my sister the backroom. By 3pm the 3 rooms were tidy and we all felt we had earned our presents and so went into the undecorated living room (again this is the first year that not a single decoration had gone up) and gave out our gifts. We all had agreed that we would not go over the top this year (<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">another</span> first) however we all seemed to really like the small pile of gifts that we <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">received</span>. Mine included 2 DVDs, a mini <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">helicopter</span>, a small table hockey game, a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">calender</span> thing and 3 yearly bible study things.<br /><br />My mum then went into the kitchen to put the potatoes etc into the oven (turkey had already been cooked) and by 5pm(<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">ish</span>) dinner was ready and we all went into the dining room and ate our traditional massive <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Christmas</span> dinner.<br /><br />After eating 1 and a half roast dinners (we have a family tradition of eating the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">plateful</span> we had then the "children" refill their plates and see who is last to give up - this year, again for the first time, I was first to quit) We watched <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Dr</span> who (Kylie was sexy but should stick to singing) and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">TV</span> etc and that was that.<br /><br />I wont bored you with boxing day but to be honest it was probably identical without the presents, the tidying or <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Dr</span> who - which i guess actually suggests it was a day with a huge roast dinner and lots of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">TV</span>!<br /><br />Looking back I realise that I probably enjoyed this <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Christmas</span> more than most as, although we did have a few moments of the traditional arguments etc:-<br /><ul><li>for the first time in a long time, me my mum, sister and brother worked together to achieve something - even if it was just a tidy house and felt like a family. </li><li>Without the tree and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">tinsel</span> up we <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">didn't</span> have the distractions around us. </li><li>Because we all only spent a little we valued our gifts much more than we <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">usually</span> do, as well as the sentiments behind giving and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">receiving</span> them. </li><li>By not going to church I realised that I had missed it, whereas when I go I just ignore it.</li></ul><p>Even the cleaning bit of the day has made me realise something, surely cleaning is central to the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Christmas</span> story. The birth of Jesus is an amazing story which was the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">beginning</span> of the most amazing story in the world and to put it simply - the reason for it all is so that we clean up our lives and have God at the centre and everything else in the correct draws. So maybe cleaning the house is the perfect way of celebrating <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Christmas</span>! (note to mum - if your reading this DO NOT remind me of this next <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Christmas</span> as whilst its nice in theory I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">don't</span> want to do it every year - note to other readers - IGNORE that note to my mum <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">I'm</span> going to make sure cleaning is central to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Christmas</span> in my future),</p><p>In truth maybe this <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Christmas</span> I have a true message for you, which I feel I have been reminded of :-</p><ul><li>Give and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">receive</span> presents, but value them so that you remember the thoughts behind them even when you cant remember what you gave or were given</li><li>Remember the reason for the season - every day not just once a year!</li><li>Use <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Christmas</span> and the new year as a time to clean your soul and get your life with God sorted.</li></ul><p>Finally, and most importantly - Whoever your family are, whether 1 2 or 3 parents etc, value them - they will mess up and they will hurt you but they will always be your family and they are a gift from God, even if it <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">don't</span> feel like it when they are with you!</p><p>Your my family - <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">IL</span> update you on my move etc when I get the chance. </p><p>Merry Christmas and Have a happy New Year</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-26984603982429525602007-12-11T23:59:00.000+00:002007-12-12T00:06:48.011+00:00Why church should be like a party....In Nossies blog I discovered that my view of church should be like a party which i expressed in my last blog is one which some disagree with and so I am posting the comment I made in her blog here to explain my views and gather yours.<br /><br />The reason I believe church should be like a party is that the majority of church goers (in theory but sadly maybe not in practice) are those who know the good news that Jesus brought us and many have responded to that good news!<br /><br />the Biblical church was and is a gathering of christ followers. It involves worship, teachings, encouragement and more.<br /><br />SURELY A GATHERING OF PEOPLE WHOM HAVE HEARD AND RESPONDED TO THE GOOD NEWS WOULD WANT TO BE CELEBRATING AND SO CHURCH SHOULD BE A PARTY (i didnt mean to shout there but my comp stuck on caps and when i re-read what I wrote I decided to keep it in capitals)<br /><br />does this infer or make people believe life will be easy? not in my view! infact I believe a joyful, celebrating church says - life may not go according to my plan but im celebrating that I know there is more to life than this etc etc.<br /><br />it really depends how you define party does it not? a wake after someone dies is a party, a bday party is a party, a farewell do is a party. Partys come in many sizes and with many styles and so should church. My point is church should be something attractive to people because it is Gods church and God is something people should want in their lives!<br /><br />does this mean we are not called to be different? no - but thats sort of the point too isnt it? society is full of depression, sadness and lack of love or joy - so if the church is truely called to be different then it should be full of happiness, excitement, love and joy - which in my book makes a pretty good party!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-73342198130776299322007-12-04T01:25:00.000+00:002007-12-04T02:12:36.475+00:00A total update in a long awaited blogThe reason I have not blogged for so long is because so much is going on in my life that every time I try to write something i dont know where to start or where to end and so i end up giving up. However the other day I bit someones head off for asking me a simple basic question about my "move and job" because i was fed up of talking about it so I decided I must write it all down so that when asked the questions i can just say "read my blog!" so here goes....<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Job information</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Last time I wrote I had just had an interview in liverpool, well it went well and they invited me back for a 2nd one during which they informed me that they were definitly offering me the job. I was extremely excited and pleased but used my wisdom to ask for time to pray and concider it.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">the next day I asked about the small matter of money and was disapointed to discover that I was being offered a salary which was about £3000 less per year than I am currently on and so wasnt so sure.<br /><br />I seeked advice from many wise people, some online and some real life/none net friends. Everyone agreed on one thing, that God provides and that if before money became an issue I felt it was right to do then its probably still the right thing to do. So I accepted.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">I then had the problem that my current job required 3 months notice and my new job wanted be ASAP. My bosses said I could move earlier as long as something was sorted so that the cube did not suffer. An interim youth worker has now been apointed and so I start my new job on the 2nd January 2008 and will be meeting my current boss tomorow to arrange when I am leaving here.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">the job is basicaly (according to my job description) "This is a new post created to engage and befriend young people who frequent the streets of the area and enable them to access purposeful activity in Liverpool Lighthouse and other locations in the area." and as its really hard to say what I will actually be doing I will just leave it as that.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Prayer wise I am very nervous as I havent done detached youth work for a while and am throwing myself into the deep end working with young people who really need help and God. It could be the biggest challenge of my life so far.</span><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Search for a home and "The church"</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;"></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#990000;">This weekend I went up to Liverpool to visit the church and experience a sunday service and also to find a home to rent. Well the first bit was easy enough. </span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">The church service was amazing, the friendliness of the people was outstanding with people speaking to me and welcoming me etc etc even before they knew who I was. The service itself was 2 hours long (which for me sounds scarey) and yet the time flew by. I used to have a saying that "church should always be like a party because if thats what heavens like then the church should be like heaven!" and this service really felt like a party. The worship music was a mixture of everything, with people being free to worship how they feel comfortable - I have a pet peave about "happy clappy" churches whos services make you feel guilty if you dont put your hands in the air or speak in tongues etc etc but as I worshipped I really felt God telling me this is my new home and in many other ways I felt challenged like never before in the sermon andwas almost (but i didnt) brought to tears when they spoke so passionatly about the work they do abroad and locally - with no wish for anyone to be praised except for God.</span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">The house hunting was less enjoyable. I found places to look at and yet could not look at them due to staff shortages and other reasons, which meant I actually ended up looking at houses that were not really what I wanted - and trust me when I say if you see a studio apartment for £60 a week its probably not worth even looking at! I guess Il have to go up again soon as time is short and if I dont have anywhere to move to I may be in trouble.</span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Please pray for God to open a door and find me somewhere to live, and that I fall in love with the house in the same way that I instantly fell in love with my current house.</span><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;"></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#009900;"><strong>The Cube</strong></span><br /><strong><span style="color:#009900;"></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#009900;">Everyone now knows that I am leaving, and it has been strange as it had led me to see how much of a relationship I actually have with the young people and it has been very moving to hear how many of them say they will really miss me etc. Im sad to be leaving as its not a finished project and the young people are great, but it is the right time, Gods time, and me leaving has resulted in some major decisions in the life of the project (mainly about its future) which I believe will enable for Gods work to be done even more in the towns young peoples lives, so I guess once again I have been reminded how time is Gods not Mans.</span><br /><span style="color:#009900;"></span><br /><span style="color:#009900;">I still dont know when my last date is but it will be before 19th December.</span><br /><span style="color:#009900;"></span><br /><span style="color:#009900;">Please pray for the work as I try to bring my role to an end and also pray that the new begining for both the cube and its young people goes well.</span><br /><span style="color:#009900;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>Christmas</strong></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">As I dont know where I will be living or when Im moving Christmas planning is proving hard. I am hoping I will go to my mums for a few days but at the back of my mind I have a fear I will end up in an empty home in Liverpool on my own - but its in Gods hands really isnt it!</span><br /><span style="color:#000066;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">I am aiming to have a bash on new years eve as a sort of house warming/new years party so if you are free you are invited, just ask for the address (when I have one) and let me know your coming.</span><br /><span style="color:#000066;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">Please pray that this party happens, and is well attended and that Christmas goes well (and that I find time and money to get presents!)</span><br /><span style="color:#000066;"></span><br /><strong><span style="color:#663366;">Social life</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#663366;"></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#663366;">I recently went to London for the day with my mum to see "Avenue Q" a great musical which is slightly ruder than usual but is hilarious - something my mum agreed with - which did suprise me as I thought it may be too rude for her. Go see it if you can - its great!</span><br /><span style="color:#663366;"></span><br /><span style="color:#663366;">This weekend I stayed at a friends from uni in Liverpool and it was great to look back at old times. I also managed to get a ticket at the very last minute (2 minutes before kick off) for Liverpool Vs Bolton and what a match 4-0 to Liverpool. I will upload videos as soon as i find the wires.</span><br /><span style="color:#663366;"></span><br /><span style="color:#663366;">I must admit socially I feel extremely positive about my future social life as I know a few people in liverpool and surounding areas and also have nothing but nice things to say about the many people I have met and spoken to when I have been visiting. Everything is making me believe that for the first time since university I will have a life away from work and away from the computer!</span><br /><span style="color:#663366;"></span><br /><span style="color:#663366;">Please pray all the above comes true!</span><br /><span style="color:#663366;"></span><br /><strong><span style="color:#663333;">The internet</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#663333;"></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#663333;">I have been neglecting you all, and I am truely sorry. To be honest life is so busy with all of the above I have found myself just wanting to chill without being asked questions about life, without having to chat etc, Im sorry if this sounds harsh as I do see you all as friends but I just needed a break from something and chatting on line was about the only thing I could take a break from.</span><br /><span style="color:#663333;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">So thats life, thats why Ive not been online/or have been "hidden" and havent updated my blog. Please pray for all the above and please do ask about things if you want to, and dont take it personaly if I ask you not to ask as sometimes im tired of talking about it.</span><br /><br />Remember I love you all, and so does God, and if theres one thing Ive learnt/remembered through all this is that God has a time and sometimes that time isnt when we expect it. This means admiting we dont have total control, which is the hardest thing to do - but when we do it Gods time is revealed and his plan fulfilled.<br /><br />i think thats everything. Bye for now!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-1285983207311106202007-11-02T17:35:00.000+00:002007-11-02T18:31:45.146+00:00past present futureThis week has been one of those weeks where the past, present, and future collide to make one heck of a busy and stressful time but also made it a week of reflection.<br /><br />Some of you know that on Monday I had a job interview in Liverpool. This was for a job working at The liverpool lighthouse doing detached work as well as a bit of church work and also working with excluded young people - so at first glance its full of the type of youth work I love. When you add to it that the agency and church is a church with music central to its work, specificaly gospel you will see that its a job that I would really enjoy. Interview went well and they have invited me back to a second interview this coming Monday.<br /><br />The interview questions was obviously about me and my past experiences as well as my future and it was very interesting to be forced to look at the decisions ive made in the past and the way that I made them.<br /><br />On Tuesday it was The Cubes 2nd birthday. An opportunity to celebrate the last 2 years successes as well as launching the next year in style. We had 109 young people in 2 hours who all seemed to enjoy a night of music and food. It was weird to look back and celebrate again whilst thinking about leaving (which most people connected to work dont know about).<br /><br />Wednesday I went back to Liverpool to watch Liverpool play Cardiff. Whilst this doesnt automaticaly jump out at you part of supporting liverpool is the history of the club and I must admit I couldnt help but remember the moments of happiness that Liverpool has given to me over the years - especially as Robbie Fowler was playing for Cardiff and hes a hero to me.<br /><br />So yeah lots of reflection over the past week, lots of thinking about the future, but the thing that has made me think most is speaking to friends I havent spoken to for ages. Without divulging names This week I have spoken to friends about marriages posibly failing, Ive spoken to friends who have recently had children and others who are pregnant, Heard from friends who are ill, and Ive heard from people who have never felt closer (and some who have never felt further) from God.<br /><br />All of this has made me realise a bit more about love and the love of God as well as about life. First Im going to quote a friend who puts it like this....<br /><br />"I have met my dream man. Most people would call me crazy, but I am sure that you met him, too. Granted, you won't exactly call him your dream man. LOL You might know him... Jesus Christ? For right now, He is all I need. It takes quite a bit to get to that point, but I am finally understanding it bit by bit. It is crazy I must say. I can't live without Him. How do I know? Because I wanted to walk away from it all about a month or two ago. I just couldn't though. I'm realizing what love is. It is much more than the flashy, fun, flirty love that this world knows. I still don't know it entirely, but I am seeing that a lot of this world has NO clue about love at all though. It's amazing to be able to say I love Jesus Christ and know and understand the meaning behind it."<br /><br />Over all the things I have chosen to do in my life, and through everything that has been out of my control Ive always had the love of God to get me through it and no matter what the future holds this one thing will always be constantly true. People and situations change but God doesnt.<br /><br />If you are one of the people Ive seen or spoken to this week know this - I will always strive to show as much as Gods love to you as God has to me. I will always strive to be a friend to you when you need it, a guide when you feel lost, a policeman when you need to be told your in the wrong, BUT I cant promise I will always be there for you - God can and will do all of these and more so remember him when you need him.<br /><br />Im going to stop now coz im slightly melodramatic and your bored. Thanks for readng and please pray for me this coming weekend.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-63455159463045973012007-10-25T18:13:00.000+01:002007-10-25T18:38:28.702+01:00listenI was half way through writing a boring blog listing everything thats going on at the moment when I heard a voice say something very deep and meaningfull. It said...<br /><br />listening can effect your career<br />listening can even mend a friendship<br />Ultimatlt it keeps you in the moment so you dont miss the things that really matter<br /><br />No im not hearing voices or having words of wisdom from God, it was the voiceover on TV programm scrubs but it was something I needed to hear so maybe it was sort of sent by God.<br /><br />Im desperate for God to reveal to me things about my career as I have 2 job interviews in the next 3 weeks (first one on monday in Liverpool) and need Gods guidance well and truely.<br /><br />I need to start listening to a few others to help mend some friendshios and or relationships<br /><br />and I need to stay in the moment and not miss the things that matter.<br /><br />so yeah this blogs boring but meaningful<br /><br />are you listening?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-77786070915701268002007-10-14T14:34:00.000+01:002007-10-14T14:37:01.865+01:00latest sermonproper blog coming soon but for now can I direct your attention to my other blog which is where I post the sermons that I preach.<br /><br />my latest one has been posted today, would appreciate comments on the sermons as well so if your feeling spiritual get reading.<br /><br />the link is in the blog links over there -----><br /><br />but for those too lazy to look it is here,<br /><br /><a href="http://moretyssermons.blogspot.com/">http://moretyssermons.blogspot.com/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-67288503853610137512007-10-11T22:25:00.001+01:002007-10-11T22:47:48.189+01:00Its good to talkToday I wanted to phone my grandad.<br /><br />There was no reason for wanting to call him, other than i wanted a random chat, the type of chat which only he could give me.<br /><br />Id ring him when I felt lonely or down but didnt want to discuss the reasons, he would just make me forget everything and would make me smile, just by chatting about the life the universe and everything.<br /><br />For those who dont know (and you should know if you read my blog regulary) Grandad died in August and this is the first time Ive really missed him since the funeral.<br /><br />I then picked up my mobile and flicked through my numbers and discovered I hadnt deleted his number, so there I was sat staring at my grandads phone number on my mobile half wanting to ring it, even tho i knew he wouldnt answer it.<br /><br />This got me thinking about the way people communicate now adays.<br /><br />I always argue that nowadays people communicate more than ever before but in different ways. This is all well and good, however, it means people dont talk to each other any more.<br /><br />people can and do go a whole day without hearing a persons voice once, and yet could still have "spoken" to lots of people. Chat rooms, MSN, Texts, emails, facebook, blogs etc help to build relationships amongst strangers but is this healthy?<br /><br />when I was going through my mobile I realised that out of all the numbers I had texted most of them a few times in the past month but had only spoken to about 2 of them.<br /><br />Theres people I dont hear from in a while so I text them and say hi how you doing etc, but dont ring them.<br /><br />Theres a question to ask so I text it coz its quicker<br /><br />the opportunities just to speak to someone are there but for ease we do something quicker.<br /><br />When was the last time you had a phone conversation about nothing for the sake of having a chat?<br /><br />who do you ring when you just want a chat about nothing?<br /><br />we live in a world of communication and yet weve stopped talking to each other. so heres a challenge to you all.<br /><br />next time you think about sending a text to someone ring them instead.<br /><br />next time you have some time dont come online ring someone who aint spoken to for a while and catch up with them<br /><br />and finally remember the bt slogan "its good to talk" and make it a motto to live by.<br /><br />leave a comment, oh and if you want a chat, give me a call!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-77831516724751771512007-10-09T18:12:00.000+01:002007-10-09T18:54:35.028+01:00The Four letter wordTo some this word is offensive<br />To others this word is scarey<br />Some people spend their lives searching for this word<br />Others spend their lives avoiding it at all costs<br />Its a four letter word which is used miles too much in society today<br />But its also a four letter word that has maybe lost its meaning because its been used so much<br />When its said can spark many emotions<br />apparently it can even build a bridge<br />Saying it can make you happy, sad, mad, or glad<br />Hearing it can make you cry, smile, run, or dance<br /><br />So what is this four letter word?<br /><br />L*VE<br /><br />so why is it that this one word can be the cause of so many confusing emotions, that it can cause arguments, that it can destroy as well as build things?<br /><br />I believe its because its such an ambiguous word.<br /><br />What is love?<br />Is loving someone a choice or a chemical reaction or something else?<br /><br />The last time I was in love someone told me that they believed love is a choice, you choose to love someone. That choice is sparked by an attraction either to them physicaly or to their personality but it is still a choice, which is why so many people dont ever love someone because they stay waiting for the butterfly effect as a sign.<br /><br />I dont think I believe this but its an interesting opinion.<br /><br />The reason for this blog is because Ive realised I over use this word, and I think maybe Christians in general do too. I tell a few people that I love them all the time, and online its even easier to say it without thinking about the meaning of the word. Christians are told to love thy neighbour and certainly amongst younger people this has led to people seemingly so keen on saying i love you or luv ya etc that its no longer as special as it once was.<br /><br />dont get me wrong I like it when people say they love me, but because i hear it so often I dont end up believing it when told it by people who mean it (if that makes sense).<br /><br />When I do start to fall in love with someone I stop saying the L word, because I dont want to say it until I can say it with 100% honesty. but this seems a bit backwards to me.<br /><br />There are people I love because they have earned my love through my life, these people are my family, my best mate Ian and his wife Jen, and finally Lisa. This is type 1 of love.<br /><br />There are people I love because they have had an important part of my life in a different way to those above but I dont speak or see them that often but I know Il always love them. These are people like Katie (my exs baby), people from my old jobs, and friends from when I was younger. This is type 2 of love/<br /><br />There are ex girlfriends who I once loved so much (altho may not have been in love with them) and I will always love them in some shape or form. This is type 3 of love<br /><br />Then theres friendship love. People who are friends, you love them for their friendship and how they are there for you etc. Type 4 of love.<br /><br />Finally theres the big one, the being in love, the love of your life (if that actually exists) This is type 5 of love.<br /><br />So theres 5 types of love, which explains why the word is so over used and which explains why its such a complcated word.<br /><br />For those who have reached this far, well done, i love you!<br /><br />seriously Im not sure where im going with this, which I guess is a bit like love itself, whichever type of love it is you never know where its going which is why its so exciting when you have it and its so devastating when you lose it!<br /><br />dont worry Im not in a "I want love now" mood, just thinking about how I use the L word and how I, and other value it.<br /><br />For future reference I do want to find someone to love with all my heart, but im not sure Im ready at this time for that person. Also if I say "I love you" to you, even in a joking way I do actually mean it but it doesnt mean im after dating you.<br /><br />Currently theres 2 or 3 of you who I say I love you to, and if circumstances were different I may not say it so much because there may be a danger of me falling in love with you (or am I just leading you on now getting you to wonder, just for the sake of it) but they aernt so anyways.<br /><br />loves clearly a big issue and ive produced a bigger blog than I thought I would so Il stop now.<br /><br />Thanks for reading.<br /><br />Luv YaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-31003758135259617822007-09-28T00:14:00.000+01:002007-09-28T00:40:40.856+01:00the youth work debateYouth work is a profession - I am a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">professional</span> youth worker<br />Youth work is a calling - I am called by God to be a youth worker<br />Youth work is a service - I am here to serve<br />Youth work is about building relationships - I am paid to be a friend type <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">figure</span><br />Youth work is about trust - I am paid to trust the sometimes <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">untrustable</span> and to be trustworthy<br />Youth work is a ministry - I am part of a ministry, despite being outside the church<br /><br />I believe all the statements above which is why I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">studied</span> my degree which gave me the right to call myself a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">professional</span>. But this <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">naturally</span> leads to some problematic questions.<br /><br />How can it be a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">profession</span> and a calling when a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">profession</span> is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">traditionally</span> about the money and a calling is not - surely they are at very opposite ends of the line.<br /><br />Are relationships false if you are paid to make them? does this make youth work prostitution without the sex?<br /><br />Is it fair to build relationships and become trusted when at some point you will move on to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">another</span> job?<br /><br />What makes a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">profession</span> a ministry?<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">There's</span> obviously answers to all these questions, but for now <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">I'm</span> not going to give them as Id like to know your thoughts on them, and maybe even make you think a bit more for yourselves.<br /><br />The reason I ask these is because recently Ive had a spark of interest in one or two jobs which I have seen advertised and I have sent of for information.<br /><br />no big deal you may think, and certainly the none <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">christian's</span> i have spoken to have asked me a few times when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">i'm</span> aiming to move onto bigger and better things, the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">common</span> question youth workers are asked by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">christian's</span> is "when are you going to move up to ministry".<br /><br />so people expect you to move on<br /><br />BUT what about the relationships, the trust, the ministry, the calling which <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">i'm</span> involved in now. I owe the people who employ me a lot for what <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">they've</span> done to me over the past 2 years but <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">that's</span> just one thing to consider.<br /><br />Is it fair in general for you to build a relationship with a young person (who may never have trusted anyone before) only to say, sorry <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">I've</span> been offered more money elsewhere?<br /><br />do youth workers actually cause more harm than good by giving the false hope that they will always be there and then run off to a new job etc?<br /><br />What I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">don't</span> want to really get into is my future, I will discuss this with people who I trust in person and pray and decide if its right to apply etc or not.<br /><br />I want this to spark an open discussion about paid <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">professional</span> youth work. the questions Ive asked are just some of them, and again id say I know what I believe the answers are but what about you?<br /><br />Youth work - whats your views?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-85838339843639316582007-09-25T17:28:00.000+01:002007-09-25T17:29:06.351+01:00Cashew + MargoCashew wheres your blog gone?<br /><br />Margo let me read your blog!<br /><br />the end!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-44693200893511508722007-09-24T18:39:00.000+01:002007-09-24T19:03:12.381+01:00decisionsThe future is something most people are scared off at some point in their lives, mainly because you can never know what its going to hold. Star signs, Tarot cards, fortune cookies etc are all used by many people in the hope of getting the slightest hint of what might happen, and in some cases people wont make decision without checking what the stars say just in case they are making the wrong decision.<br /><br />The Christian response to fearing the future is dont worry about tomorow, trust in God etc etc. This is true, obviously, BUT it doesnt mean we shouldnt think about the future. Sometimes we are given 3 or 4 options to decide between and sometimes its really tough to know which way to go. Prayer is part of the decision process, an important part, but for some it becomes an excuse not to do anything or make any changes etc.<br /><br />The fact is in many decisions there is no wrong choice in spiritual terms, each path would be doing Gods work, no matter how hard you want and pray for a big arrow saying "This way now!" it doesnt come. You search the Bible and theres nothing against any of the routes, and may be plenty of things going for each route. what do you do?<br /><br />My answer would be you do what you think youd be happiest doing. If God doesnt want you doing something he will block the pathway somehow, the Bible says he opens and closes doors so thats easy then isnt it?<br /><br />hmmm I doubt anythings that easy.<br /><br />whats your thoughts on decisions?<br />how do you make them?<br /><br />I have a few tought choices to make soon, mainly about my future, wont say too much on here because some people read these who I dont want to know about those choices yet.<br /><br />so join the debate people, decisions.... how do you make yours?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-67262689310937690152007-08-31T12:46:00.000+01:002007-08-31T13:29:09.300+01:00Greenbelt - SaturdayI awoke (as I always do when camping) on the hour every hour but only left my tent at about 7 or 8am to what had to be the loveliest weather ever. In true camping style sausages and bacon were on the menu for breakfast, which seemed to last 2 or 3 hours.<br /><br />Why is it bacon and sausage sarnies taste so much better when fried in the open air? Is it God teasing us saying - haha your clogging your body up with discusting unhealthy fat but im going to make it taste great!<br /><br />anyways....<br /><br />Eventually I left the camp site and went to see an ex vicar called Mark Townsend do a talk called "The gospel of falling down". He gave up the priesthood to do tricks of the mind for a living. He was great, exploring how God uses the pitfulls of life, the phrase that I remember most is how we need to get naked with God, completely strip ourselves of everything in order to have no secrets and be prepared for him to use us, whether we think the things we are going through are good or bad. (he was better at explaining things than me but thats the point that I picked up!)<br /><br />Next it was time for liquid lunch, yes I did have a pint but thats not why I went, liquid lunch was a panel show where 3 people discussed what had happened in greenbelt so far and recomended future talks etc. One of the panel turned out to be my cousin, so was good to briefly catch up with him afterwards. Theres not much to report on this really, as it seems weird talking about a show which talks about other shows.<br /><br />After this I arranged to meet a certain Zebedee, aka Martin and his lovely girlfriend Rachel and to watch Matt Redman on stage. Now Im not a huge redman fan, but if you imagion the sun blazing down on me, dressed in shorts and t-shirt, and me laying on the grass eyes shut just listening to worship songs. It was an amazing feeling. Martin and Rachel left because it was so hot but I really felt God stirring me. It was strange, the naked infront of God phrase from earlier stayed in my mind and God brought loads of stuff from my past to my mind. After a while it got to the stage I felt God saying "Go to spiritual direction" so I left Redman and made my way to the area where you could make appointments with the spiritual direction people.<br /><br />I have got a video of Matt Redman but apparently its too big for youtube, but if you have my facebook you can see it on there.<br /><br />When I went to the spiritual direction people I met with a guy and had half an hour to discuss anything I wanted to, and a problem occured, I didnt know what I wanted to talk about. It ended up being a pretty emotional half hour with lots of stuff coming to the surface, I must admit Ive pushed it back down again but some of it may have been dealt with.<br /><br />Next up I had promised a friend called Grace that I would go see the play she was in, and so an hour early I made my way to the venue expecting to be able to get a pint before it started, but there was a huge line already and so I joined it and stood in the blazing heat for ages until they finally let us in.<br /><br />The show was "Return to the Forbidden planet" and was performed by Faith Hope and Gaffetape, a youth drama group who meet up for a week every summer and do everything in the week, ending with a performance.<br /><br />The play itself was, ummmm random, it was good, the people involved were really good actors and actressess and most coulod sing pretty well (Grace was amazing - both in terms of the way she looked in her very sexy costumne (cough cough) and the times she sang on her own). The problem was we were sat on the most uncomfortable floor, in a boiling hot tent and the story line was a little confusing. I had to leave before the end as I had arranged to meet my cousin at the Beer tent at 7pm (as I had assumed it would be over by then) so I missed the ending.<br /><br />Next was the highlight of the weekend, BEER AND HYMNS! This video is taken from Sundays Beer and Hymns but shows what happens.<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tIlDUw9GtRs"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tIlDUw9GtRs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />During this first one (not on video) I sat with my Cousin Murray and a few other people who I hadnt met before. We sang our hearts out and it was the way church should be. Everyone was relaxed (no not drunk) and were just singing their hearts out for the Lord. The best way I can explain what it felt like was like being in a crowd in a football match.<br /><br />After a couple of pints and all the hymns I explored the stalls around and made my way to see a singer from the band who made my childhood, DC Talk. Kevin Max was amazing and heres 2 videos of him<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CTJODMH4RMs"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CTJODMH4RMs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0flzRhTy_xE"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0flzRhTy_xE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />the day ended at Last orders, a sort of comedy show with a few guests and video clips and it was great.<br /><br />heres the best video clip from the show that they used, This contains 1 swear word (which was cut out during the show) so do not play those with a nervous disposition!<br /><br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qRuNxHqwazs"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qRuNxHqwazs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />Overall Saturday was a day where God tried to get me to deal with a few things, and maybe I did, maybe I didnt, I guess we will have to wait and see.<br /><br />Its a day where I felt challenged to be naked more (hmmmm please get that image out of your minds unless you are a good looking single female and find that image attractive in which case call me!)<br /><br />Its a day where I was challenged to find someone to help deal with my emotions and get spiritual direction regulary in the future (but this wont happen lol)<br /><br />and it was a day of worshipping the way it should be - with a beer in my hand!<br /><br />more Greenbelt reports later but Ive put off work for long enough so bye for now!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-3612605880231477742007-08-30T16:31:00.000+01:002007-08-30T16:50:52.808+01:00Greenbelt - Friday (my bday)<strong>Friday</strong><br /><br />I awoke early (6am) to pack and ensure that I had all the essentials.... 2 hours later I began my packing and by 9am I was almost ready, apart for a small matter of not having a cool box or any food. So I make an emergency phone call and borrow a cool box and then go to the shop down the road and spend £40 on food.<br /><br />Actually thats a little wrong, I spent £10 on food and £30 on alcohol... 6 bottles of wine and a crate of lagers! well it was going to be a long weekend afterall.<br /><br />My lift to Greenbelt was due at 10:30am so I quickly got home and stacked all my luggage together and waited til they arrived and we made the nice smooth journey, arriving at Cheltenham at about 2pm.<br /><br />Well I had booked my ticket so had to collect it and the other 3 in the car had not booked so they had to join a different line to me. The line I was in was for the organised people who pre book so naturaly it was shorter WRONG! I waited for over an hour to pick up my paid for ticket whereas the less organised travelers waited for less than half an hour! - the moral of this story is that the world world be a lot quicker if we were all disorganised! honest!<br /><br />next we got in the car to drive to the campsite and joined the long line of cars waiting for the moment, which gave us the perfect excuse to open a bottle of wine and enjoy the sun while we waited. Small problem - we didnt have any cups, well we improvised byu pouring wine into empty sprite bottles etc and then toasted our journey and my bday.<br /><br />During the wait we tuned into Greenbelt FM and someone texted them so that they sang happy birthday, which was nice.<br /><br />Eventually we Got onto the site and set up the tents etc and by the time this was done it was about 6pm. BBQ time. we sat around eating and enjoying the rest that we had earned and drank a few bevys.<br /><br />Then 3 lovely ladies from Sanderstead (where I used to work) arrived and ate and set up their tents and then gave me my first (and last) bday presents of the day.... an interesting book about being a christian man, some chocolates, and...............some baby food! (the baby food had a story about it and a reason for giving me but i wont go into it here - boring tho, oh and it was possibly stolen!)<br /><br />We then went into the arms of Jesus.... well technically the organic beer tents title was the Jesus Arms and we had a couple of pints whilst catching up and reading a random christian girls magazine, which was very educational!<br /><br />we eventually returned to our tents and went to bed.<br /><br />before I continue with my Greenbelt experience I should thank all who texted me bday greetings, they were much appreciated.<br /><br />it didnt really feel like a birthday to be honest, coz of all the travelling etc but the day was made great by seeing Roz, Kathy and Mim again so thanks to you 3 for coming and for my only bday presents (lol sympathy anyone)<br /><br />later I will tell you about the rest of the weekend but Im at work and should really be doing more important things than this.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-48345288931174043092007-08-14T23:23:00.001+01:002007-08-15T00:48:11.338+01:00Videos tribute day<p><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_oCS6QvmB7s"><br /> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_oCS6QvmB7s" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed> </object></p><p></p><p>This is a video of My dad and his brothers and sisters singing Found a peanut which Grandad taught them - this was done at the tribute part of Grandads funeral day (as were the rest of these videos)<br /><br /></p><p><br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EEqR3AfzV0o"><br /> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EEqR3AfzV0o" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed> </object></p><p></p><p>The Welsh Moretons singing some sort of anthem</p><p></p><p></p><p><br /><br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ESBkPaDiYF0"><br /> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ESBkPaDiYF0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed> </object></p><p></p><p>The Welsh Moretons main tribute<br /><br /></p><p><br /><br /> </p><p><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LlS4CSBDco4"><br /> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LlS4CSBDco4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed> </object></p><p>All the Moretons singing Bind us together Lord as the final part of the tribute day.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275815713227172430.post-83424447840067981622007-08-14T22:43:00.000+01:002007-08-14T23:48:46.038+01:00pictures from the funeralCant be bothered to write a proper blog yet but heres photos from the funeral day. Will blog about it - probably tomoro<br /><br /><br /><br />The Flowers which were to accompoany grandad in the hearse - notice the brilliant drum made completely out of flowers!<br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098675712771341394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1yhZ1ee9hq7kSsXS3U15d2lQ_7ZaSit2RFvS7Nlb1UIChKwU1QQxy0pyAOk7w_8q1AgWPLvG_2-5qJe84AEyr7Jyl1ZauoUGVxOh26AXyfPCaw2gno-ch7AhiDzkpLGyQINNjXmW-3wqz/s320/09082007111.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> </p><p>Not all the Moretons could make it (due to a criminal vandalising their minibus the night before the funeral so they couldnt come any more) but there was quite a few of us as you can see.</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098675725656243314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALuMnJNEcdjt4Gjl44QsGFaEMc7z-fIzH4W0APJlqcpqvAj3QaRNSEwre4DVSAkh3Keh405Nlb6N-p4MMi9bwkx_HmGTfgHH7pkxmS-jh5NgJ0kkTciER2WZCqCSfDD7QPk67rId3Y-wB/s320/09082007113.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>It all took place at a Salvation Army in Woodford, this is a pic of my dad in the pulpit (because he had lost his voice so needed the microphone. Brought back memories!</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098675721361276002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJpMJNrGoC9CrUtSdrv0WX7YlWJcr-UBmV2cY5_5r798gsZfdpByBh2_b2Ed-f8ZpKeZF2LqSe_eBZmCghNZUFxwfCAuBl18o-iU4DIhTMnJpXkDLDpIO-uvT3acUl6kL-YnUzc1RvPNA/s320/09082007112.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> </p><p>My part of the Moreton famiy, although my parents are now divorced and I dont see any of them that often it was really nice to see us as a family again. </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098675729951210626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizW_ZY6GcJrqkOGOU-eVTQF5sZY33f5aj_2gDFurDWsHE2UljoFs82_M34XMWbqKDmQABZFyciygcaoHpHSBiev0WWuHZQthfiaK_cl6srA8Yghsg-9XN7amdRSXU_8DZ_x_sWdNMJvdbj/s320/09082007115.jpg" border="0" />Then after the tributes were over the Salvation Army people departed for their homes and the non Salvation army Moretons went to their home.... The pub!<br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMh9Tv2xCRCkoor9Nx0Zio8F6K1DNDoAzI-ZehVkM3Uf1OMCJt6lsoV4cT14PbkZ3DLVThSj9HZOu2FQ28OoApu8_wb5fXH7258CTaEDxoQPc_Em6Ws7kpMS5VZ69Yrg3-SLjKPo6fk_c1/s1600-h/09082007117.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098676455800683698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMh9Tv2xCRCkoor9Nx0Zio8F6K1DNDoAzI-ZehVkM3Uf1OMCJt6lsoV4cT14PbkZ3DLVThSj9HZOu2FQ28OoApu8_wb5fXH7258CTaEDxoQPc_Em6Ws7kpMS5VZ69Yrg3-SLjKPo6fk_c1/s320/09082007117.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgze7tuskmvypuMUnpPRrPioQShADVejcxqhWxsi2mIcvUpCNVzBE7g8q5o80D3YvHs1WZPOHD9RF_KXDisRPHKGdp247IQ4Mbe2LORWUZTZtgRoHUVMRr-ksWE7m9m7bB2mZuZ2DqeEBTf/s1600-h/09082007120.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098676460095651010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgze7tuskmvypuMUnpPRrPioQShADVejcxqhWxsi2mIcvUpCNVzBE7g8q5o80D3YvHs1WZPOHD9RF_KXDisRPHKGdp247IQ4Mbe2LORWUZTZtgRoHUVMRr-ksWE7m9m7bB2mZuZ2DqeEBTf/s320/09082007120.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPC9OnW5TEawpAwh-8Rtz27B7o9DrtMRlMR8_pHDttL4apDNSe9VCA-G9g1lG4fZ3bWtmMYGS6QD_TvEOTMr6rCqf_taMoujcq6J9GOLSbsahpO_8x1ijL3LNRnDylbLeweFa0nWV2QlRA/s1600-h/09082007116.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098675734246177938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPC9OnW5TEawpAwh-8Rtz27B7o9DrtMRlMR8_pHDttL4apDNSe9VCA-G9g1lG4fZ3bWtmMYGS6QD_TvEOTMr6rCqf_taMoujcq6J9GOLSbsahpO_8x1ijL3LNRnDylbLeweFa0nWV2QlRA/s320/09082007116.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A proper more indepth blog will follow in the future but this gives you a glimpse of how the Moretons know how to party no matter what the occasion (videos are next then normal blog)</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2