Prayer Works

I have followed Jesus Christ now for coming up to 23 years and in that time I have witnessed the power of prayer ....

This morning some folk from the church here in Wem gathered for prayer as we always do at 8am on a Saturday mornings . Often these Saturday morning gatherings have proved to be a real blessing and today was no exception. God is at work amongst us and it will be exciting to see him answering prayer in the coming days ...

For those of you who are reading this and are sceptical ....all I can say is don't knock it until you have tried it . If you struggle with prayer then drop me an email and I will try and help ..

So find some time to pray today ...

Getting Things Done ..

Sometimes it can be a struggle to do the stuff you know you should be doing ..... Like today I have two biggies in the must do tray . Write a sermon for Sunday & start a 2500 word essay for college.

The sermon I can handle as I have already spent a good few hours preparing in my mind the passage that I will speak on, so I know were I am going ... The essay however is a different story I still haven't dug out enough material to get started..

So the solution ... Get stuck in and get digging !!.... a friend of mine once told me "The hardest part in doing physical training is getting your kit on" or in other words the hardest part in getting things done is getting started .....

So as the Nike advert says" Just Do It " Rob

Easter Blessings

On Good Friday we had a communion service at the church , lots of visitors which was great . Then off we trotted over to Derby to spend some time with Alli, Matt& Sammy ( or brunetto as I now call her !) .

Sunday was brilliant over at Wem . We had the sunrise service on top of Grinshill and despite the rain over 60 folk turned up some of which where visitors who had responded to the publicity . Sunday morning service was a blessing with the chapel jam packed . The Gospel was preached clearly and now we wait on the Lord for Him to move in the hearts of those He drew in .

So all in all a great few days ...

Thought for today ... Spend Time today enjoying what you have instead of worrying that you don't have enough !!

Don't say no to Jesus ..Think about Good Friday .

First heard this Julie Miller song in 1999 .. affected me then & still affects me now ... When you really think about it ...How can you say no to the the Son of God ...Think about it ..don't dismiss the cross and the resurrection ...think about it ...

In Christ Alone

Lamb to the slaughter ... I beat Phil

Yes I feel that I must publicly announce Phils defeat this morning at Racquetball ... For months I have always been second best but not today ...and yes I am wallowing in the victory .

Dust to Dust

Went with mum and Jane to spread my Dad's ashes amongt the daffodils at Sefton Park in the Marie Curie Field of Hope .. Sad but again assured by the text given just after dad died

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:13

A Motley Crew of Elders

As elders of WBC we got together on Saturday morning to discuss what we thought Wem Baptist Church was going to look like in five years time . It was a great discussion and some clear direction rose to the surface giving us something to build on in future discussions.

What helped was the setting , Ellesmere College & the free cooked breakfast !!!

Three teenagers in the House now !!!

Well Laura reached the grand old age of 13 on Saturday ...So that makes me officially the father of three teenage daughters :-(

Long Day

Yesterday was a long day ..started early with Phil ..Racquetball ( he beat me as usual ), followed by a planning meeting ,followed by prayer . Then off to coffee morning and then later on in the day I crossed the border into Wales , preaching at an evening meeting for Bangor University Christian Union .

A long day but a good day ;-)

Matt & Kynan ..& the big big breakfast!!!

Matt & Kynan are staying for the week whilst they do work experience here . So I took them here for a light bite this morning :-)

Pastors getting together

A few Pastors and Elders from various churches got together at Wem this afternoon to eat together and pray together . Being in the front line can be a lonely existence sometimes and its good to spend a little time with folk who can empathise with you.

So thanks to the men who attended today and thanks to Meta who cooked a wonderful meal .

Birthday Girl ...Sweet 16

How time fly's ...Here is Katie 16 yesterday ... This is all making me feel rather ancient ;-(

And to think THIS CELEBRATION was only two years ago.& THIS CELEBRATION was last year ...

Girls on Tour ..New York Style

It was very cold !!
The Statue of Liberty up close
Wall street ...thought this was a nice pic
Ground Zero ... a huge building site
The Favourite hang out for the girls ...the Abercrombie & Fitch store !!

Rockafella Centre
Shopping Bags ...looking at this picture stresses me out !!!
Time Square
Central Park
Skyline view from Statue of Liberty
Below is the Empire State taken from the Top of the Rock ( Rockafella centre )They were delayed Five hours on their way home because of heavy Snow and freezing temperatures !!

Catching up on the last week or so !!

Well you will be pleased to hear that I did survive with my three cherubs and we all coped really well . I must however confess that for a few days Alli's mum Jane did provide us with the meals ...so thank you once again Jane ...

I spent a couple of days chilling , reading the scriptures & praying as well as reading E.M Bounds on prayer ...a book that I highly recommend ...it will inspire you to pray more

Alli & Gill had a fantastic time in New York ...probably something to do with the Shops ..particularly one shop ...click here to find out more .!!


I'll be postings some photo's later of their adventure :-)

The dogs enjoyed their prayer stroll :-)

How will I cope !!

Well ..I have been abandoned for five days . Abandoned to the marauding teenagers that live in this house . Gill with her best friend Alli have gone to New York ...How could she do it to me ..and to cap it all ,the girls are all a little hormonal at the moment !!!

Any tips as to how I am to survive ? I think Chester and I ( he is my dog ) will be going for some very long walks :-)

Big Sis ..

The last few weeks have been pretty tough for my mum . With the loss of Dad in November she has had to come to terms with living alone , whilst trying to cope with Osteoporosis which restricts her mobility and also I think she is showings signs of the onset of alzheimers disease .

In all of this my big big sister Jane has been a rock , helping my mum as best she can . Mum has now decided to move to residential self contained accomodation nearer to Jane and whilst I was away Jane sorted out all the details ...so this post is dedicated to my Big Sis .. I love her loads ..

Back in the Groove ..Although a little jet lagged !

Back into the routine ...Preached this morning , praying that the Lord will take hold of his word and change us all for the better . Phil also tonight preached powerfully . I think Alabama did us both good ...from time to time it is good to feed in pastures new .

Heard some news about Wes & Chris our fellow intrepid travellers ...they arrived back in the UK minus their luggage and they are still waiting for it to turn up !!

Back Home

After travelling for what seemed like a lifetime we arrived safely back in the storm swept UK .

The last nine days have been wonderful . Great company , the best hospitality from lovely people and some very thought provoking teaching . Lots to think & pray about over the next few days .

But you know what they say...There is no place like home

Day 6 & 7 ..on our way home ..

Our last breakfast .... Huck Lee took us back to the Cracker Barrel for yet another early morning feast !!Chris puffed out his ever growing cheeks with a plateful of pancakes !!My last Blueberry Muffin ...I was struggling ..but it did get finished ...It was only polite as Huck was paying for it :-) Below is Phils Light bite of Blueberry Pancakes !!A couple of Hill Billies rockin away on the porch ..The last session at the conference ....I think Jamie got the wrong end of the stick ...the idea was not to convert to Islam !!! :-)After the conferance we said goodbye to Wes & Chris who were travelling on to see some missionaries attached to their church . So the rest of the motley bunch travelled on to Atlanta to stay at Wyatt's new house ....
View down Wyatts street ...bit different to the UK !!
If your interested ..this is the house next door ...for sale at £150,000...Cheap as chips The accommodation on the inside was very minimalist !! Wyatt was waiting for his furniture to arrive from the UK ...so this is my bed for the night ..Jamie finally took the plunge:-) He looks a bit like a telly tubby ..
Phil which way is home ...........