Gone fishin ....

We are all going away for a couple of days to stay with our best mates over in Derbyshire

Paul & I will be going fishing tomorrow ...hoping to catch a couple of tiddlers like the one above

I'm shattered ..photo's from the YPF2006 camp

Listen2Luke.......L2L 2006

For all you guys who went ....the three D's

1. Determined
2. Disciplined
3. Different ..

It starts now....

L2L more pics

Youth weekend away

It's the YPF ( Young peoples Fellowship ) weekend this weekend ..starting tonight and running through to Monday evening...

I have prepared the messages , 5 of them under the umbrella called L2L ( Listen to Luke) ..so goodbye sleep ...hello fatigue ;-)

photo's to follow next week ...if I survive that is

The hare and the tortoise

Do you remember the Aesop's fable "The hare & the tortoise"

Well I went for a 4 mile run with Gill last night ( yes I did say 4 miles) ...She was the hare and I was the tortoise ..except for one thing though ...this time the hare won ... a full four minutes before the tortoise crawled home !

Studious Look

Some of you have been wondering what mystudy den is like ....You have been watching too much Big Brother..

Anyway this is me at my desk trying to look as if I am concentrating ...the grey hairs are just for effect of course :-)

Rainy days

Don't you just love the rain !!! Poured incessant from above ...

But if you live down south ..Despite the deluge ... You must still share your bathwater :-)

Today I have an assembly at Newtown primary , a quick cup of coffee and a chat at the mums & toddlers group and then many hours spent in the study preparing five messages for our youth weekend away which starts this Friday .

I have thought of the catchy acronym ... L2L

Now the challenge for you is to guess what that means .... the winning entrant will be invited to a free weight training session with my wife ( see photo in previous post)

I told her to stop but she wouldn't listen

I told Gill that all of this exercise would do her no good ...but would she listen
:-)

I'm feeling tired today

Feel a bit like the bear ...just want to slob ...but too much to do

Do You Believe or Don't you ?

Last night went well ...8 people have signed up for the ABQ course . The topic for discussion last night was "Can I trust the Bible?".

The Bible , I believe answers all of life's big questions, so it is important at the outset of this course that we establish it as the word of God .

We had some very interesting discussion last night ...

If the Bible was written by 40 different men then how can you say that it is God's word ?
The Bible is so old, surely over the years it has moved away from its original ?
What is the relevance of a book that is more than 2000 years old in our modern 21st century culture ?

All good stuff to debate

As I said though in concluding last nights session ...We can debate until we are all blue in the face ...Ultimately it will always boil down to "Do you believe it or don't you ?"

Answering the Big Questions ?

Tonight is the second installment of the " ABQ course" ( answering the big questions)

A 10 week course aimed at people who want to know more about the big issues in life and how the bible deals with those issues ..

Tonight's Big Question is " Can I trust the Bible ? "

Next week its " How do we know there is a God ? "

If you are interested in the course are over 18 and live relatively near then come and join us at the church 7:30 pm -8:45pm or if you prefer contact me by email.

Getting Fit :-)

Gill and I have been doing a little excercise over the last few weeks ...they say its good for you ..

I have warned her not to go too far with it though ....

Roast lamb... mmmm

Gill did a joint of Lamb for Sunday roast today ...just had to take a photo and it tasted as good as it looks .

Preached this morning on this text . The sermon was entitled " The cost of true love"

The Lord told Peter that following Him would mean all the way to Peter being crucified in his old age .

If we love Him then we obey Him and if we obey Him he sometimes takes us to places we would rather not be ....but still He says "Follow Me" .... who are we to say no Lord .

Race for Life ...

Wet Spectators !
3000 women took part in the Telford race
The Dynamic Duo
Katie , Helen, Liz, Georgie,Rachel & Gill




Gill & Katie represented our Family in the womens "Race for Life" today in Telford .. 5km ( 3 miles )

It was very wet and muddy . A few of our church women took part raising money for cancer research ..well done ladies .

Cinderella went to the Ball

Anna ( my 16 yr old) went to her school prom on Friday night ...she brushed up quite well ..obviously a chip off the old block :-)

Was that the European Cup in Wem !!!

Ssssh don't tell anyone but the European cup turned up in Wem yesterday and with the Liverpool FC Community team we did school assemblies for over 1000 kids ...brilliant day ...

Thanks to all the team who were involved it was special .

Hopefully after this Saturday we can bring the FA cup next year..

God's Provision ...A true story from last night

Listen to this true story from last night and ask yourself the question ...Just coincidence or the gracious gift of God .

6:15pm last Night Laura comes in from the Garage ( where we have our freezer) . "Dad the freezer door has been left open all night and everything has melted "

6:20 Gill empties the freezer of its defrosted contents ..approx £120 worth

Money is not that easy to come by in our house at the moment so this is a big blow to the Whiteway economy ...

We tell no one ...Gill goes off to a Netball presentation and I go off to a church meeting .

9:15pm Anna /Katie & Laura are at home when the doorbell rings .... Anna answers .There is nobody there ..She looks down and sees 3 very large bags full of Iceland Frozen foods and they promptly restock the Freezer ..

Wow ... Gill and I come home a little later and with the Girls we all give thanks for God's provision to us ..

Remember ..We told no one about this mini disaster ... Coincidence ...No ...God's provision yes

Will over for the Day

Also on Saturday my mate Will came over for the day ...Will is a Man utd supporter... so what did I make him watch with me in the afternoon ...yes last years European Cup Final ...you remember it the one where Liverpool triumphantly defeated the AC Milan pretenders to take the most coveted trophy in Europe . Will loved every minute of it :-)

A future Wayne Rooney

My nephew Ben scored ALL four goals in the final of the Wirral peninsula cup on Saturday morning . A brilliant achievement given that his side won the game 4-3

Well done Ben ...a future star of England

Sweet 16

Anna ( the one in the pink ) was 16 years young yesterday..

And how did she want to spend the day ...yep ..You guessed it ..Shopping in Chester ...Forget the historical significance of the City , the Roman walls , the civil war stories , the beautiful Cathedral and the wonderful promenade by the river Dee that flows through it

No ...none of that ...Lets get to the shops....All four of them ganged up on me ..

museums and monuments are for old people dad :-(

And then to top it all she had a load of other teenagers over in the evening for a make-over party ...

Its official then ...she's 16 and I'm feeling ancient ..

Sowing the seeds

Laura ...my youngest daughter planted some seeds in our desolate garden on Saturday ... I'll keep you posted on their progress over the summer

Reminds me of the parable of the sower ..

How many will fall along the path ...and be snatched away by the evil one
How many will fall amongst the rocks ...and with the first sign of trouble wither away
How many will be strangled by the weeds of temptation and materialism
And how many will bear fruit ...and flower ...and make it all the way to heaven

Path ...Rocks ...Weeds .....Or Fruitful ..... If you had to choose a type of soil to describe your faith which would you choose ??

Saying boo !!!

Came across this today ... very funny ...but please do not try at home :-)

Click Here

For all those who are follicley challenged :-)

And before the comments start flying in this is not a family photo !!

For those who preach or are contemplating preaching...

If you preach , or if you are contemplating preaching then let me recommend to you this message from Art Azurdia . I found it extremely helpful and uplifting .

It runs for about an hour so you will need at least two cups of coffee for this one .

You can find many of his sermons by going to this site . A truly gifted man ...Enjoy .

FA Cup Triumph and a female invasion !

Well , what can I say ..yet another final for the intrepid Reds ...nail biting stuff at the end but that's what makes football the best game in the world .

On Sunday I was surrounded by a tribe of women folk again when Anne and Jules came to visit ..it's a good job baby Dillon was there to share football stories with me ...even though he is only coming up for one ...he alone understood the importance of our FA cup semi-final victory :-)

The Experience of Life

I visited and elderly lady yesterday born in 1914 ..So she is 92 years young . I shared a cup of tea and to my shame a slice of cake with her . I was fascinated by some of her experiences , paricularly during the second world war years .

In the space of one year in 1940 her mum and dad were killed in the Birmingham blitz ( she had had lunch with them on the day they were killed and during the night their flat took a direct hit ) . Within a few months her brother who had caught a kidney infection from being stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk died in a Birmingham hospital and then to cap it all off her sisters husband murdered her sister with a knife and at the same time finished off a one of the deacons wives in the church that she attended.

This particular lady struggled to cope with all of this , especially when you think that her husband was away fighting and she wouldn't see him for nearly 3 years ... Who can blame her for struggling . One thing she said though is that it was her faith in Jesus that kept her sane during this horrific period in her life ..

What a story ..Next time I have a few insignificant problems I will remember the courage of this particular lady who had to battle through such devastating losses . And she wasn't alone , thousands of people suffered this way in WW2 ...In fact the final death toll was over 59 million worldwide , a sad indictment of mans inhumanity to man .

Stickability

I attended a funeral yesterday at Wheelock Heath Baptist . Mary Green a 93 year old lady who died of old age a couple of weeks ago. I often used to go and visit Mary for a cup of tea and a chat . She was a lovely lady with a steadfast faith and strong opinions . I loved chatting with her . She had been part of the congregtion at the church since 1914 .Over 90 years of church attendance at the same church ...now that is stickability for you. Now she attends a different church in the heavenly realms of eternal joy and peace with her Lord.

Last night we had dinner at my sisters house . Jane and Nick you will be pleased to know have collectively lost 19lbs between them since we last saw them . I think it was the photo on the sofa that finally spured them on to weight watchers :-)

Today I have four of five pastoral visits to make so I had best get a move on ...

Head Splitting ..for Katie :-(

Cartoon courtesy of Cartoonstock .com

I forgot to mention yesterday that Katie ( Middle Cherub) managed to split her head open on the wall on Sunday whilst having a bit of a wrestling match with her dad ...Oops ...and yes I was in trouble .... Thankfully she is recovering nicely and I am not being allowed to forget it ...oh the joys of being a playful father :-)

Watch this Video .....
If you like sermons on revival ...then have a listen to this , its a compilation of sermons with some inspiring backing music ......grab a coffee and watch , listen and ponder your own Christian witness ..click here

Great Easter Sunday

Started off with the sunrise service , 7am start up Grinshill and then Breakfast at church ...a local Beauty spot ...

Then Sunday morning family service that I led .... "Seeing is believing or is it ?" was the title of the sermon ...taken from John 20 , themed around the resurrection.

In the evening Phil led a Baptismal service , 4 people baptised and once again the church was packed full ...

We are starting to think that we may need a new building ...now that's a nice problem to have ..

Fat Boy preaching in Wem

Here I am with my 90 seconds of BBC Fame ..click here ..

I need to stop eating the eggs ;-)