Under the Broom Tree

Been on a pastors retreat for a couple of days in Wales near Porthmadog . Phil ,myself and Allistair Simms spent a good few hours in Prayer, in Scripture , in discussion and in the ministry of God's word via the MP3 player .

We Listened to these Guys whilst there ...click on their names and listen to some of their stuff yourself .. Alistair Begg, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, David Platt, John Piper.

All of us benefitted from this time of reflection .. ..It started well with a big breakfast ...

This is where we stayed ...Had its own patrolman in a funny hat !!Great views Well wouldn't you be laughin if you were wearin those shades !!Watch what your doing with your hand of fellowship :-)After a few hours Al had had enough of Phil & Me ...it took us five hours to talk him down !!Surprise ...the Cyberman was a little flustered The hair restorer is failing badly :-)What a place to Pray So who did you say is picking up the bill Rob ?Looking cool with his thermal mug ... I dont need a thermal to look even cooler :-)

Happy Day ...Owen & Emily get married

The Happy Couple

On Saturday Gill & I were privileged to attend the wedding of Owen & Emily . I have known Owen since he was a young pup and it was great to see him hitching up with his beautiful bride Emily ...so Congratulations to both of you and enjoy the honeymoon :-)



On the day we also had a chance to catch up with some Friends we haven't seen in a while . Jerry & Helen and also Jen Baxter who is working with the Crowded House in Sheffield and who confessed to me that she never reads this blog !! Shame on you Jen :-)

Jerry & Helen Rob Sadler & Geraint

Pics from France

A cold Lake Geneva !
Laura made some cards with Cisca a lovely Dutch lady who is in a neighbouring apartment
The view from our apartment balcony .... it Snowed !

Gill had a birthday whilst we were there ...Katie bought her the card on the right !!
More Snow
The Reformation Wall in Geneva
Katie & John Calvins Chair

Snowy mountains in Chamonix
Inside the Glacier ..The Mer de Glace
Mont Blanc Again
Horse with a niffty wig in Chamonix
More Mountains

I love Tulips
Good lookin Family !

Village of Yvoire
More Flowers & one big Flower !
Mary Magdalene
Wouldn't be France without these for Breky !
Painted Shop in Evian

All in all a nice break , although we did miss Anna who was in Cornwall with Ben & his family ...

Back from France

Well I'm back and suitably refreshed and feeling the full weight of the French Food :-)& a hole in my pocket ...bit pricey over there ;-(

I'll be posting some photos later on as soon as Katie finds the camera !!

Having a break ..

We are all off for a few days break as of today Click here . Not taking the laptop , having a complete break from technology ... So I will be posting again next week ..

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 :-)