What is truth ??

Society now a days likes to think that there is no absolute truth .....you believe what you like as long as you are sincere..because really there is no absolute standard of truth.

I came across a brilliant put down to this in todays "Independent" ....an article reviewing Simon blackburns book "Truth:A Guide For The Perplexed"..he says this

A person who believes that there is no absolute truth ( a relativist) " is like an archer who shoots an arrow at a barn door; paints a target around it and claims a bulls eye ; There is no success or failure in this game ..."

Rob Whiteway says that if you want absolute truth then look no further than the Bible.. its target has been fixed to the barn door since the beginning of time ...in fact it made the barn door :-)

Recognise these two ??

Rumour has it they will be in Wem on Thursday ...its a bit like waiting for Hurricane Katrina to hit ...who knows what they will leave behind :-)

A clue to the mans identity ...he stands at the front of "this Church" every Sunday

Abide with me

For years, on my annual trek to Wembley as a kid ..when Liverpool football club during the height of their success had wembley stadium as their second home ground .. I along with 100,000 people during the FA cup final would attempt to sing the words of "Abide with Me."

The words meant nothing to me then .....but now it is different

Abide with me , fast falls the eventide
the darkness deepens ; Lord with me abide .
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
help of the helpless Lord abide with me

and the last verse

Hold, Lord , your cross before my closing eyes ;
shine through the gloom and point me to the skies:
heaven's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee
In life in death , O Lord abide with me

It was written by Henry Flyte , a Christian minister who was dying of tuberculosis in 1847 ..you can read more about it by clicking here ( you will also hear the tune if you have your speakers on )

They are somber words but very true ....we are all dying ...with every beat of our own hearts we too approach that dying breath .......and like Henry Lyte was, we need to be ready .

If you are coming along to the Prayer meeting a Wem tonight ...no prizes for guessing one of the hymns we will be singing .....

Church of Fools? see what you think

Whilst on holiday I picked up a copy of the "Readers Digest"and was interested to read about the Methodist approach to the cyber age in " The Church of Fools Website" ....The websites objective was to bring church( or technically chapel) to us rather than we as individuals meeting together as a church .

They experimented with the site for 4 months last year . On entering the church you choose a character and then proceeded to one of the pews , apparently at one of their services which were held at 9pm every Sunday they attracted 30,000 pew sitters .......mmm interesting

Personally I applaud them for their igenuity and contemporary efforts at making chapel accessible but how are we meant to encourage ,support and love one another if we are nothing but faceless individuals ( Hebrews 10:25)

Your opinion may differ , check it out for yourself and read about the experiment . I would be interested in your comments

Great Friends...Best Friends

On Saturday we spent the day at Chateau Howard , the home of our dear friends Paul and Ally ...as well as Matthew and Samantha .....oh and not forgetting the four dogs , 2 cats , 1 rabbit , 6 chickens , 2 horses ..tons of trout and one heron who wont leave them alone :-) ...As you can see they have a very big family .

We have known Paul and Al for nearly 18 years and in those years they have definately been our soul mates , we love them dearly and it was nice just to chill out with them for a day at their Derbyshire retreat ....In fact Laura loves them so much she stayed there , hopefully they will return her to us some time this week , after all school starts next week :-(

Yesterday was a good day , I preached at Wem in the morning and it was nice to have all of my family there , mum , dad as well as Gills mum and dad. Jane my sister and her family joined us for lunch ,so we had a full house .

Today ..I'll be spending some time in the study and then we will probably go for a walk ( cheapest option after an expensive holiday !!)

Back to Business

Business as usual today ....spent most of it in the study preparing for Sundays sermon ...I did however spent a couple of hours at the Church coffee morning , a great forum for catching up with many of the church and towns folk .

Gills out shopping with the girls this afternoon ....clothes for the new school term ....I daren't ask how much it cost :-(

Holiday reflections

Holidays I find , give you time to reflect on your life , in terms of what has gone before and what lies ahead . For both Gill and I it was useful in that we were able to spend some time doing this , particulary in relation to our calling as Christians and how we are to live out our lives amongst our friends , family and community .

I was helped in this by having the time to read a number of books from the bible ....the one that impacted me the most ( as it usually does ) is the book of James ..... in it James gives much guidance on how our lives should be lived out under God,with much emphasis on the doing rather than just talking about it ....

So now that I ( and Gill ) have been suitably challenged we will see how it all pans out over the coming months ....and you will be able to read all about it here ..


I also managed to read " The Pilgrims Progress" again ...a timeless classic by "John Bunyan" ..telling a tale of one mans journey to heaven with all of its joys and difficulties . Its a wonderful book ...If you havn't read it then please pick up a copy and seriously think about its message .

I'm Back

Yes I survived just over two weeks on Holiday in a beautiful part of France ...life is so difficult sometimes ....anyway I'll be posting later on ...this is just a quick note to say that I am still alive and kicking ....

In Disguise

Do you recognise these two dodgy characters !!!

Last post ....for a while

Well HBC is almost over .....just one more meeting tonight with the parents and then its Holiday time :-)

HBC has been brilliant ...well over 200 children have come along and had lost of fun and at the same time heard a serious message ...The truth of Christ .

I wont be posting now until our return from Holiday on the 23rd August ....just over two weeks in France ...Fantastic ...

Take care until then

Rob

Shattered

This morning as I write this post , Ihave to admit I am absoluteley shattered.... I must be getting old ....HBC whilst being a wonderful event does take its toll on the old bones .

Anyway enough of my whining ...Last night we held a special event for the young teens and nearly 70 of them turned up . It was great ,with Sumo wrestling , assault courses and boxing on offer ...as well as a short Gospel talk from yours truly . The evening went really well and will be repeated tonight with a different set of games and hopefully a different gospel talk if I can think of one today ...

I have still got my silly hat and shoes on this morning ....as you can see in the photos :-)

Quick HBC update

Holiday Bible Club smashed its record this morning for the number of Children ...a grand total of 213 kids ......between Prees and Wem .

The downside is that I copped for the "shoes of shame"...which basically means that for the rest of today I have to walk around in some daft shoes and a daft hat ....Photo to follow later ...If I take them off then I have to wear them again tomorrow ....Oh the joys of pastoral work :-)

We are holding a Sumo wrestling evening for the teenagers tonight ...so more chaos to follow ..

Records Broken

This is a picture of Connie with her New found friends at HBC

Holiday Bible club broke its record for numbers this morning ...between the two Fellowships at Prees and Wem we had a grand total of 199 kids ...fantastic . It really is a joy to see the kids having a great time and hearing an even greater message.

Sadly we said goodbye to Connie( Anna's German Friend) tonight at Manchester airport . It was really good to have her with us for a week and hopefully she will be back next year for HBC. So if you are reading this Connie get your mum to book a ticket for next year :-)..

Life is a wee bit hectic at the mo ..I'm speaking four times over the next couple of days ...Dont know when I will have time to pack for our Holiday which begins on Saturday !!!

Madness & Mayhem

Holiday bible Club was brilliant yesterday ...150 youngsters turned up for " God's Big Top" ..yes you guessed it we have a circus theme this year . Our Church plant at Press also held their inaugural HBC and had nearly 40 kids ....wonderful . ( photos will follow later on this week )

Also yesterday we had a visit from Anne and her new baby Dillon . Anne was also a former member of a youth group that I used to run ....and now she is all grown up with a baby ....Now I know that I am really ancient . It was great to see Anne again .

Also last night Phil Wright ( the Pastor of Wem Baptist ) celebrated his 40th birthday at the local Greek restaurant ....we had a few suprises up our sleeves that kept him on his toes all night ...it was good to see him squirm :-) ....no doubt I will pay for it at HBC this week ..

Busy day

Great day yesterday , Bob & Beth Baxter came over with their Daughter Laura ..( Who used to be in my youth group .....that makes me feel really old !) . It was great to see them and catch up with their news . Also Jane & Nick and Ben & Naomi made an appearance in the afternoon .

We all went to a Baptismal service in the evening . A good time of worship, as we witnessed an 82 year old ( Marion ) and Jacob and Martha ( 14 year olds ) being baptised .

Its Holiday Bible Club this week ......so its going to be mad :-))))