Back to My Roots

Yesterday I went home to Liverpool , to top up my accent !! We did the usual sights and sounds ..culminating with a trip on the famous Mersey Ferry . Connie , Anna's German friend was hopefully suitably impressed with the soon to be European Capital of Culture

Good Night

It was a good night last night at RAF Shawbury . The evening started with a powerpoint presentation on Creation Vs Evolution , then a meal, then questions ...the questions asked were great ...

Why is the church in decline ?
How can you really believe in Adam and Eve ?
Surely religion is responsible for warfare?
How can God allow so much suffering ?


And many more ......the panel had to be on their toes last night ......If you are reading this and are thinking to yourself I wouldn't mind the answers to those questions . Then let me recommend a book to you by Stephen Gaukroger called " It Makes Sense " ...you will be able to get it on line for £5 ...click on the link .

Off out with constance ( Our German Guest ) today ....but the Dentist first ....aaaargh

Interrogation

Tonight I am on a "Question Time" type panel at RAF Shawbury . A number ot RAF personnel have been asked along to quiz the panelists on Christianity . I'll let you know what they asked when I post later on .

Good Psalm

If you want to know just how much God does know you ....then read Psalm 139 ....I have been sharing this psalm with a number of people I have visited today ..

Last night we all went over to Manchester airport to pick up Constance ...Anna's German pen pal..its great to see her again . Anna has seen her every year for the past four years , so they are striking up a good friendship .....Anna is having a BBQ for her tonight and guess who is the master chef :-)

Back Home

We all had a great time in South Wales . It is really good to catch up with friends who you dont get to see alot of. Sunday was a blessing , I always enjoy much liberty in the pulpit at Blackmill and it was good to see some new folk there on Sunday morning ...

Anyway I have attached some photos of the BBQ held in our honour on Saturday night ...we really are not worthy :-)

Thanks to all our dear friends at Blackmill ..

Classic Quote

Last night we had the " Dynamites" BBQ for the 3-7 year olds ...Toward the end as they were having their story the question was asked ..

How do you get to Heaven ? ......little Ben's hand shot up ...and he simply said "you have to die first "

It was a classic answer that brought the house down ......Jesus said in Matthew 21:16 " from the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise"

The young fella is obviously a future preacher :-)

Hebrew 9:27

I'm going down to South Wales to preach this weekend .....so no more blogging until Monday night .....Have a great weekend

Rob

For Dog Lovers

End of Term Bash for 7ups

Last night the 7ups at church ( kids between the ages of 7and 11) attended the end of term BBQ along with their parents ...It was a great night ...the kids sang ..the leaders performed a brilliant play called "The Red Tie Club" ...all about how you can obtain access to heaven ....and then I finished off with a short evangelistic talk , taking Ephesians 2:8-9 as my text .

Afterwards I was chatting with one of the parents ...he turned out to be Australian ....a bad day to be talking to an Aussy as they had just trounced us on the first day of the ashes :-(

Pain and the Trials of Life

I managed to sit down and write most of my sermon from Habakkuk 3:17-19 today ...I have been really challenged by reflecting on the mans faith ..... Life for Habakkuk was pretty dire and God had told him that it was going to get worse !!.....And what what his response ...

"Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,I will joy in the God of my salvation.The LORD God is my strength;"

I know lots of Christian men and women who have experienced much pain and many of life's trials and yet they remain faithful to the God who is their rock ....who is their strength.

They know in their hearts the words of the psalmist..

"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble . Therefore we will not fear, ( Psalm 46:1)

Naked Ramblers

Gill and I got the fright of our lives last night as we were out jogging ....I thought I was hallucinating ...But lo and behold walking towards us were three ramblers ,absolutely starkers ....Not every day you see that ...It turns out that they were arrested later on that day ...Read about the story by clicking here

Drama ...and the Bible

Came across this chap today ...Max Mclean ...He is an actor who specialises in performing whole books of the bible . He uses the full bible narrative .....see what you think ....here is a sample ...click here

Cartoon capers

Content... with what you have ...

Heard a good sermon today on financial contentment ( yes there is such a thing ) ..Alistair Begg ( a Scotsman talking about money !!)...His text was 1Timothy 6:6-10...you can hear it here ...its about 12 minutes long ...so grab a coffee and sit back ....

In his discourse he used an illustration from the fictional novel.... "Three Men In A Boat " by Jerome K Jerome ...a book I havn't had the pleasure of reading ....but its now on my list ....if you would like to read it on the internet ...you can link to it by clicking here.

Immune from Pain and suffering ....No

I'm going to South Wales this coming weekend to preach at my spiritual home , Paran Chapel in Blackmill .. I think I will be preaching from this text in the evening ..Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree should not blossom ,

Nor fruit be on the vines ,

the produce of the olive fail ,

and the fields yield no food ,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls ,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord ;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

God , the Lord , is my strengh;

He makes my feet like the deer's ;

he makes me tread on my high places

Habakkuk knew the pain of suffering ....and most of us who have lived for any lengh of time can relate to his sentiments ....You see life is not always ' a bed of roses' ....marriages fall apart , friends and family let you down ..people get sick and die and sometimes you feel like your whole world is falling apart ..

Habakkuk must have felt that way ........But at the end of it all he had faith in a God who he knew was in control ...... ' Yet I will rejoice in the Lord ; I will take joy in the God of my salvation '

When the going got really tough ...he was a man of faith who trusted in God

Romans 8 :28

Complaint

Daughters being daughters sometimes complain ....I know you are shocked ..but these are the facts ...especially if they are 13.

Katie felt left out by my previous blog because she didnt feature in any of the photos ...so just for Katie ....here she is playing swingball in the moonlight ...

Sorry Katie

Lazy Sunny Afternoon

Had the mob over this afternoon . My sister Jane her husband Nick , my nephews Rob ( alias Billy bob) and Ben , ny niece Naomi and last but my no means least Jules ...Billy Bob's girlfriend and a former Sunday school pupil of mine ( How old does that make me !!)

Anyway we had a marvelous afternoon ...the conversation was riveting ...hows this for a set of topics ....Irritable Bowel syndrome ...Anorexia ....The sweet pea festival ..And Jane's work

Oh and I have to point out that I won at Boulle .....

Sweet Peas

Did you know that it is the Sweet Pea festival in Wem this weekend .....of course you did ..and of course you all know what a sweet pea looks like ....I have attached a photo to jog your memory .

Apparently people are very passionate about their sweet peas and they spend all year cultivating them in order to win the coveted festival prize

So I have bought some seeds ........next year I could be crowned champion :-)

Preparing for Sunday

I'm in the study ..pondering my text for Sunday

" Therefore , as you received Christ Jesus the Lord , so walk in him, rooted and established in the faith , just as you were taught , abounding in thanksgiving " Colossians 2:6-7

Why dont you ponder it as well ....ask yourself a few questions ..

1. Have I really received Christ ...If not then what is stopping me ?
2. Is Jesus really Lord of my life ?....How obedient am I ?..What need to change ?
3. Does my life reflect the fact that I walk in Him ?......am I rooted and established in faith (maturing)
4. How thankful am I ?

Enjoy your pondering :-)

5 minutes of fame ...that didn't happen

There I was totally stressed about going on live radio ...and what had they done ...only arranged for too many guests ..Thats BBC efficiency .for you ....so Ididn't get to go on .....however the BBC felt so sorry for me that they gave me a slot on Sunday morning in order to plug the Holiday Bible Club ...so if you want to listen you will have to get out of bed between 8and 9 am on Sunday morning :-)

Being Volunteered.......

Phil .....My mate the pastor ...has very kindly volunteered my services as Yr 7 chaplain . Precisely what that means I have yet to find out . Tonight I am being introduced to all of the parents and children at the Thomas Adams High School . So I'll keep you posted as to what the job entails :-)


Another job that he has volunteered me for is to be a guest on the Tracey Higgins Show ( BBC Radio Shropshire) tomorrow night . Phil goes along quite regularly and he is taking me with this time . Its a current affairs chat show .....I mean what do I know about current affairs ..... If you want to suffer with me then tune in . The show goes out between 6pm and 7pm ....I think you will be able to get it through the internet ...Just follow the link above ...

Anyway enough chatting ...need to get on with my sermon for Sunday ......so far I know that I will be preaching from Colossians ...what in Colossians is anyone's guess ..

Its that time of year again ...School sports day

For nearly twelve years now we have been attending various sports days, as the girls have grown up . This was our first Shropshire event ....Newtown School Primary school and my youngest daughter was the mini olympiad . She is obviously a team player as her band of merry little chums managed to win the relay race ....well done Laura .

As it was a sporting day , I decided to hold a family relay race in our back garden .....all four of us ( it would of been 5 but Anna is 15 and doesn't do that sort of thing !!) raced around four strategically placed chairs ....200 laps to the finish ..... I now know what the mirror keeps telling me ....I'm 41 ......But then again so is Brad Pitt :-)

For People Who Preach and Teach

For those of you who are privileged to teach God's word ,then bookmark "monergism.com"....Oh and if you know what monergism means before it is explained on the site ...Then you are definitely an A* student .....

Hooligans :-)

Holiday mood

I've been thinking about the family holiday today ( I think the warm weather is putting me in the mood) . We are going to France ...Thollon les Memises to be precise ...click here and you will see it for yourself. We are very fortunate in that Gill's mum and dad have an apartment in the mountains overlooking Lake Geneva ....and we are even more fortunate this year because they are paying for our flights and car hire ...wonderful people

The first week will be spent with a group of friends from Grace Bible Church , Saltford near Bristol . They go out there every year and I know we will have a good laugh with them as well as good times of Fellowship

Less than a month to go now .....I better shed some pounds

Good Food , Good Company ...Good time ..

Good time of fellowship today ...I preached at Wem this morning and then the whole church went off to enjoy lunch together in a huge marquee loaned to us by one of our church members.

The food was lovely , everyone mucked in to produce a magnificent feast ( Thanks go especially to Isabel and Lorna who organised it all )

The fellowship was great , people talking , playing croquet( how very English), and generally having a relaxing time in the glorious weather .

The afternoon ended with a time of worship in the marquee . I interviewed the editor of the Shropshire Chronicle ....who told us about his Christian experience in relation to his job in the media industry ...and then Phil ( our pastor) talked about fellowship taking Romans 12 9-21 as his text ... " Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil ; cling to what is good . Be devoted to one another in brotherley love . Honour one another above yourselves "...

Great day ...I would have posted some photos ...but guess what ...senility strikes again I forgot my camera ...so you will have to use your imaginations .

The Youth OF Yorkshire

Had a great time in Dewsbury last night . All of the youth listened really well despite the fact that I was the speaker !! If any of you are reading this blog , thankyou for making me feel really welcome and for allowing me to captain the winning rounders team :-) Remember what I said ...dont just listen do ( James 1:22)

Thanks to Ben and Liz for your warm hospitality and to Josh and Luke for converting to Liverpool football club :-)...Yorkshire is a great place ...where a cup of tea is something special ..

On The Road

Busy day ahead today ......I must finish my sermon this morning ....In fact I must start and finish my sermon this morning !! Then I am taking a primary school assembly near Elesmere and once that is over I'll be heading up to Yorkshire ( Dewsbury to be precise..."Ben & Liz's" church to be even more precise..) to speak at a youth meeting this evening .......I've decided that I will talk to them about yesterdays London bombing , quite what I am going to say is not totally clear yet ...But three hours on the motorway will give me ample time for pondering ...

This is Laura my youngest daughter ..she had a fantastic school report last week... 

and finally Katie ....she also is doing brilliantly at school 

this is Anna ....she had a wonderful school report as well