Touching the leper

The following is a quote from Jon McGregor's third novel, "Even the dogs..."

Sorry if any of the language offends, but I thought this was a subtle but deliberate (in the context of the novel) allusion to Christ touching the untouchables.  Of course, I might be reading too much into it, but from the title onwards, there are touches in there that seem to allude to the Bible.

The context here is of a homeless man who is addicted to drugs, getting his feet looked at. 

"Sat and waited and when it was his turn he took off his boots and socks and stretched out his feet for her.  One thing the army taught him was how to look after his feet, and he always made sure he had a pair of dry socks to be going on with, always aired his boots at night if he could.  Some things, when you've been doing them every day for years, you get stuck with them no matter how drunk you are. 

Nothing wrong with these feet, the chiropodist told him, cupping one in each hand and running her thumbs along the tendons and joints.  You must be doing something right, she said, smiling.

Didn't forget that one.  Things like that stick with you, even with all the gaps.  Things like then she washed and dried his feet, and cut his toenails, and rubbed away the hardened lumps of skin with a pumice stone before giving him a new pair of socks and asking him to send the next one in. Most people going out of their way not to touch you all day, to not hardly brush up against you or even catch your eye or anything.  And then that.  Washing and drying and holding his feet, one in each hand.  Things like that stick with you, on the whole.  Could sit and wait all day for a thing like that. 

Watching Ant stirring away at the mess in the spoon and remembering all this.  Waiting.   

Same with the hairdressers, when they go running their fingers through your hair.  Same with the nurses, changing your dressings or taking your blood pressure or listening to the crackling in your lungs, they got to touch you with their clean soft hands and no one says nothing about it but it all helps oh Christ but it helps."   (pages 72,73)

I started Even the dogs, thrilling at the beautiful way that McGregor writes - and he certainly does.  But the novel is pretty tough, a relentless circle of drink, drugs, death, and an autopsy thrown in for good measure.  It's cleverly done but not a light beach holiday read.  I still prefer his first novel, "If nobody speaks of remarkable things".

Oh, the irony...

During a fairly intense time at work at the moment, where I am supposed to be working part-time, my email inbox tells me that today is 'Work Your Proper Hours Day.'  Today is apparently the day that the average worker stops working unpaid overtime for the year and starts getting paid.  

More details here, including things we probably know about work life balance and health issues.  http://www.worksmart.org.uk/workyourproperhoursday/

I wonder how many of us will manage it.  Thing is, I could do with some notice for this. 

Sustainable and Sustaining?

Very interesting WEBA Ministers' Conference last week.  David Coffey was excellent on Joseph and though I had heard the sessions last year at a conference, it bears listening to a second time - and more.  Communion at the end of the three day shin dig was an unexpectedly emotional affair for me and I've come back with plenty to think about. 

Perhaps the most challenging session was from Stuart Murray Williams who asked lots of great questions about how we do church and, rather frustratingly, refused to give us easy answers.  His central question, or at least the one that stood out to  me and many others, was, "Is what we are doing sustainable and is it sustaining us?"  Rather less snappily, can we keep things going the way that they are, or is it killing us?  Are we trying to do too much and are we burning people out in the process? 

Stuart challenges us to have the courage to review what we are doing and to undertake some judicious pruning.  What could we do without doing?   One thing we all agreed in our group was that if we were starting church from scratch we wouldn't start from where we currently are.  But that is where we find ourselves, so what next?  Answers on substantially more than a postcard please!

Top Coffee Shop

It didn't look like a Christian Bookshop.  In fact, I went  in to check because it just didn't look right.  It was modern, clean, stylish even and served great coffee, paninis and wonderful soup.  The selection of books was good despite the limited space and the staff seemed like they were all from this planet and were very pleasant with it. 

Everyone knows a shop like this should be a bit shabby, smell slightly musty and be staffed by well-meaning volunteers who don't really know where things are or how the system works.  They have it all wrong at Cornerstone. 

Seriously, Cornerstone of Taunton, take a bow.  We came away with a bag of books, full tums and sense of peace restored after the trauma of a visit to Sports Direct.  Thank you - great job guys!

First one of the year

There's plenty wrong with this and it's been quickly processed without looking through all the attempts I made.  Still, an enjoyable time spent and I'm going to quickly post this before my first glass of wine (or alcoholic drink of any kind) since about half past midnight on New Year's Day.  Cheers!

A good start

First competition of the year on Tuesday with the theme "Favourite Image of 2011" and so an even higher standard than normal .  Was very pleased to get third place. 

Next month the theme is Nightlife.  Need to shoot something new for that...

"Bishops stand up for the poor" shock!

Very interesting piece in the Observer yesterday by Victoria Coren who argues, quite sensibly in my view, that it's all very well criticising the church for not speaking out more but then to slam it when it does because you don't like what it says isn't necessarily consistent.  She is writing specifically about the benefits cap legislation and points out that they are bishops and so they have no option but to speak out for the poor - after all, it's what their book is all about. 

A small sample -

"I think the problem they've got is that the New Testament, if read as an economic tract, is innately rather socialist. It's all sharey-sharey. Jesus wanted everyone to get a bit of bread and fish. He was all about the divvying up and the helping one's neighbour. So, if Christianity is going to make itself heard on tax-and-spend policies, it has got to lean towards spreading the spoils around.

There's not much the bishops can do about that. Their hands are tied. The gospels say what they say. If their lordships wanted to support the idea that handing out bread and fish is bad for people because it demotivates them from doing their own baking and fishing, they'd really have to leave the pulpit and get a job on a tabloid".

Click the link above for the whole piece and some very interesting comments by other readers.

Cirencester 12 Burnham on Sea 14

Good game of rugby today, I went back to my home town to watch the game between Ciren and Burnham, my current town of residence.  As a result wasn't altogether sure who to support but in the end found myself rooting for Burnham.  A cold clear day, good to meet up with family and friends and at least attempt my Mum's lunch, somewhere between two and three times larger than it needed to be!    

The only try of the game.

Lining up the winning kick, scored about two minutes from time.

Super Sunday

That's what they have been calling the big football matches on Sky today.  And from what I saw of the Man City vs. Tottenham game it lived up to it's billing.  But my Super Sunday started earlier and was, I reckon, more super.

The service this morning was great.  From before I arrived here I have been praying for the musicians we needed to form a band who could lead us in church.  So, about seven years!  This morning we had a band lead us for the first time and they did a terrific job.  They led firmly but sensitively and when I got up to preach I felt that they had set things up beautifully and I had a platform to build on.  I think I managed not to fumble the ball and people were in great spirits afterwards.  Some who were nervous about having a band (drums, bass, piano and voices) were relieved and appreciative afterwards and the feedback was incredibly positive. 

It was also our Gift Day - previous posts acknowledge that, like for a lot of churches and organisations, we are feeling the pinch and one outcome of this is that I am currently part-time.  Electrical work in the building and a need to replace the lighting pushed us over the edge, hence we had the Gift Day.  The response was excellent and we now have enough to cover the work and a good chunk towards addressing the deficit in our budget.  To give an idea of the scale of this, the Gift Day brought in more than a quarter of our total offerings for the whole of last year. 

We then had a great meal together afterwards.  We have been doing these more often recently and numbers have grown as we have gone along.  It seemed especially appropriate that we ate together in a mood of celebration today and so Super Sunday was great for me before a ball was kicked.  Now we need to pray for a guitarist.  I hope and pray it will be less than seven years this time.      

Murmurations

No, not about any rumours that might be going around, a murmuration is - apparently - the collective name for starlings.  They can also been known as a filth, though you can see that this might be less flattering to them. 

So I took my camera last week to get some shots of them over the reed beds here on the Somerset Levels and though I had less hits than misses, I was lucky with the colour of the sky with the setting sun and am quite pleased with one or two.  The mild winter has meant that only a million and a half are nesting at Shapwick this year, compared with the six and a half that were holidaying with us last year but they were still a brilliant sight. 

Bang!

Big drama here as a nearby house was raided and a man arrested under the Explosives Act.  People living within 100 metres were evacuated and the Community Centre was opened up as a refuge for them.  I went down to see if they needed extras spaces for people as it was looking like an overnighter and the church building would have been ideal for them.  In the end it wasn't needed, there was a controlled explosion and people were allowed back into their houses at around 10pm, after about 14 hours of the arrest.  All happens here!

Behind the times

Further proof that you could give a monkey a blue or red rosette in some parts of the country and he'd be elected. On Friday a Private Members Bill will be debated in Parliament to adopt the use of British Summer Time throughout the year.  I would like that bill to be passed and maybe, one day, it will. 

However, Jacob-Rees Mogg opposes the move and has tabled an amendment to reintroduce GWR time, which uses local time for trains - or at least it did until the 1840s.  This would leave Somerset time 15 minutes behind the rest of the country.  "Only 15 minutes?", I hear you cry.  As one poster on the BOS.com website puts it, currently when it's 6pm in London, in Burnham-on-Sea it's 1972. 

Much Appreciated

Sunday Morning I returned to my desk at the church building to find a note of appreciation and some chocolates.  Much appreciated.

Don't take care, take risks

Vicar of Baghdad, there's a job that you probably wouldn't volunteer for.  According to the Christian Today Website Iraq once had 5 million Christians, now it has 200,000.  Christians in Iraq face financial hardship, political instability and the threat of attacks from extremists, and so many have fled to the relative safety of Kurdistan. 

Canon Andrew White is our man in Baghdad, where his Anglican church runs a clinic and relief programme.  The church is in a hard situation there and yet his advice to us in the UK is telling: 

“Don’t take care, take risks and make sure that the church is totally and utterly relevant. The reason I became a clergyman was because I was too bored sitting in the pews. There are so many churches that aren’t full of life.”

Dear Mariella, Should I go to church?

The Baptist Union news service brings to my attention this interesting piece from the Observer last Sunday.  A women working 60 hours a week and seemingly getting abuse rather than support from her husband, writes to ask whether church is the answer.  Atheist Mariella has some interesting and rather surprising thoughts:

Mariella Frostrup's interesting reply

Dave Gorman v The Rest of the World

Having badly failed to blog the books that I read last year, I need to make a start to the ones I am rattling through  this year.  Not a terribly high-brow selection so far but enjoyable all the same.

This one is a bit of a cheat as I almost completed it in 2011, reading the last twenty pages at 1am on New Year's Day.  Dave Gorman comes across, as always, as thoroughly likable, a little obsessive and whimsical but aren't we all?  In this book he combines his love of playing games and meeting new people by asking if anyone fancies a game.  Thousands replied and in some down time between projects he travels around the UK taking on allcomers at whatever game they fancy.

I came away with a desire to play some new games, and to rediscover taht sense of fun in playing games - why do we hit a certain age when we seem to lack the time or inclination to take pleasure in playing for playings sake?  (A friend of mine recently challenged me on how much pleasure I experience in life - a question that Wesley apparently asked of his people).

Gorman meets a whole bunch of really nice people in his travels and three slightly odd ones.  One of them nearly puts him off asking to play games with people but thankfully doesn't.  Sadly it's someone who seems to have some sort of (odd?) faith but even then I am struck by Dave Gorman's compassion in very trying circumstances. 

So, a good read.  More whimsical than his America Unchained which has interesting observations on the corporate nature of the USA (read last autumn) but just as much fun.      

To tithe or not to tithe, that is the question

It's always good when the Bible changes your mind. It is a good reminder that you don't know everything and that you have stuff to learm still. 

Last Sunday in church I was talking about giving - partly through necessity and partly because we need to address big questions in church, after all Jesus did.  I figured it was fairly straight forward, there is plenty in the Old Testament about giving a tithe (a tenth) to God's work and to support the poor.  But having read more it's apparent that the New Testament doesn't talk in terms of tithes.  The one place where Jesus seems to commend someone giving a tithe is when the Pharisee (who isn't a Christian) is praised for being so diligent that he tithes the herbs he grows.  But then he points out what the Pharisee has forgotten - justice, mercy, faith (Matthew 23.23-24) - all way more important than getting your mixed herbs right.  

However – we aren’t off the hook.  Far from it!  The Bible has plenty to say about followers of Jesus being generous in their giving.        

Jesus tells us that when we give money we aren't to make a song and dance about it – do it quietly and without telling others about it. Matthew 6.1-4  Notice too that Jesus says when you give – not if you give.  He also observes and commends radical acts of generosity on the occasion of the widow who gave all she had.  Mark 12.41-43.    Jesus also says that whatever we do for the least of these you do for me – feed the hungry, clothe the poor, give the thirsty something to drink, tend to the sick.  Matthew 25.31-46. 

So giving isn't off the agenda for Christians, just that tithing isn't taught for us.  In the longest passage about giving in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 8 & 9), Paul tells the church to be generous because they are grateful for the grace they have recieved.  And it makes a metric tonne of sense for Christians who are grateful for God's generosity to be grateful in turn to the church and to others.  

Thing is, despite our spiritual sensitivities, giving is a spiritual activity.  Our budgets are spiritual documents – they show what we think are important and where our priorities lay.  That’s the case whether we are setting budgets for our own spending or working out our finances as a church.  That’s why I fear our church is in a difficult place financially, and perhaps, spiritually; because our budgets, individually and corporately, reveal something of our hearts.

For some the tithe is too much of a stretch, for others it isn't enough of a challenge.  What we mustn't do is use the freedom I believe we have to hide from our responsibilities.  I saw a statistic that said the average American Evangelical gives away 3% of what they earn.  I dare say the Brits aren't too far off this figure, though it's a complete guess on my part.  Which would suggest that some are less grateful than the Pharisees. 
 
But don't let me or anyone else twist your arm.  As Paul makes clear:

2 Cor 9 ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 

Whatever we do, we should do so cheerfully before God.

366 challenge

Been taking pictures as part of the 366 challenge, one a day.  This week I spent a great couple of days in the New Forest with friends and as well as much appreciated laughter and discussion and prayer there was the chance to explore a new place and get a picture in the sunshine. 

In case you thought I have given up already , I haven't!  I'm posting them each day on my Flickr account and at 365Project. Really enjoying it so far, it's going to be harder on the dull days but the fact I have to take something is a great motivation. 
If you want to see them each day it's either:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55737292@N06/sets/72157628651174701/

This is where I have more pictures.

Or

http://365project.org/revlovejoy/365
 
This is where lots of people are taking the challenge and we all post one a day.
 
Thanks for the positive feedback!  Will try and blog about something else next time.

A tough day

Partly a tough day because I was back at work after the long break and it always takes a while to get your bearings again.  Have to remember that we are not machines and to forgive ourselves if we don't slot straight back in. 

But in photo challenge terms it was a really stinker.  Lots of heavy rain and dark skies and wind, the other two I am doing the challenge with played it safe and took pictures indoors.  However there was a brief respite from the elements and I struck lucky when a friend from church passed by.  6 down, 360 to go!

Happy New Challenge

Spent a lovely time seeing in the New Year with friends and now it's back for a further day off before work, once again, beckons.  The Cotswolds were very mild and very grey which made picture taking a bit of a challenge.  But here is evidence, taken this morning, that spring seems to be very early this year, these snowdrops shouldn't be here yet.

While I was away I decided to embark on a very silly photo challange to take a photo each day to post up on my flickr account.  It will probably result in a lot of ordinary pictures but practice makes perfect as they say.  This one is today's, the series can be found here: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55737292@N06/sets/72157628651174701/

Happy New Year everyone!

Pesky Baptists!

"At many of the pivotal points in my life I've found that the best way to make a decision is to find out what a Baptist would do, then do the opposite."                                Alan Partridge.



(It's from "I, Partridge: We need to talk about Alan", page 288. A Christmas present from my favourite parishioner - already finished.)

Favourite Image of 2011

Brixham Lighthouse

The last temptation

Somerset Sunrise

They will rise on wings like eagles

Apologies for the rather self-indulgent nature of this post (like that's new!). The first print competition of 2012 is simply entitled "My Favourite Image of 2011", the idea being you pick what you liked best of what you took.  I think it is one of these - any feedback on which I should enter?

Merry Christmas

Had a great Christmas Eve service with the puppets and lots of families visited us.  Dropped by some houses with lots of decorations on the way home (in case you think this is our house). 

Just wanted to wish the regulars who drop by here a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year; have a great one!

Crook Peak

Yesterday was a dry day and my day off this week so we went to breath some fresh air and get away from phones and screens and computers for an hour or so.  Inspired after reading Bear Grylls' account of climbing Everest, we set out.  Crook Peak is the hill near Weston Super Mare that you see on the left as you pass by on the M5.  Good to get out. 

Only 191 feet tall (and we parked part way up as it was) but the walk was rather spoiled by the thought in the back of my mind that each section of the Cotswold way would be five or six times further.  

The light was pretty hopeless and this was the best I could do. 

Richard Dawkins' tribute to Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens lost his battle with cancer today at the age of 62.  It's sad for anyone of his age in the Western world to die so young and you feel for his friends and family.  I have to confess to not having read him really, unless you count 15 minutes in Waterstones while waiting for the rest of the family to finish looking for books.  I was looking through God Is Not Great and thought it was a bit flimsy to be honest.  But then you would probably expect me to say that.

I heard of his death on the radio this morning when Richard Dawkins was interviewed about him by Nicky Campbell on Radio Five Live.  I checked out the interview again on the BBC website when I was more awake to verify that I wasn't misquoting at all. 

Dawkins described Hitchens as...
   

“A wonderful orator, a great thinker, a great intellect, a great atheist”.

He went on to say... 

“He hated tyranny of all kinds.  He was against Stalin, he was against Mao, he was against Kim Il Sung and he was against God.  He hated tyrants of all kinds, whether real or imaginary”. 

“God, he saw, as a supernatural tyrant, a supernatural dictator”.

I can understand that some people do believe and some don't.  What I struggle with is that a few (certainly not all) of the new atheists are so set against religious faith that they attack it so forcefully.  To bracket God with Stalin and Mao and Kim Il Sung is very odd to me.  People like Dawkins ppear to be very angry about faith and yet their atheism doesn't seem to bring them any happiness.  Sometimes they come across as the superior boy on school who sneers and looks down at the others and then wonder why they have so few friends.

This is not a fresh or new or clever opinion.  I find myself echoing the thoughts of Marcus Brigstocke (who I very much like) who says the same in his book God Collar.  He may tend to agree with much of Dawkins says but he ackowledges that Dawkins doesn't do atheism many favours in the way he comes across as a know it all.  I think I'd like a debate over a pint of lemonade with Marcus (who is teetotal) where as I don't really fancy the thought of seeing Dawkins for a drink. 

Merry Christmas everyone.

Cardinal Sin

Banksy's latest is this sculpture for the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.  It's called 'Cardinal Sin', and he offers this Christmas greeting, “At this time of year it’s easy to forget the true meaning of Christianity – the lies, the corruption, the abuse.”   


Merry Christmas everyone!


Footnote - Cardinal Sin was the real name of the head of the Catholic Church in the Philippines at the time of the overthrow of Marcos after crowds of people refused to accept the corrupt elections.  Some of those leading the line were nuns who sat in the path of tanks.  Grrrrrr - those pesky Christians, nothing but trouble!   

Snack Man...

... or should it be 'Pac Lunch'?  I wasn't sure, to be honest, but the thing is that only a month after my first placing in a monthly competition I managed to go one better and was the joint winner of the Food themed competition at the club last night. 

The only way is down....

An Interesting Pastoral Situation

In common with a lot of organisations these days, the church is facing a hole in the budget that will take quite a lot of filling.  It was already looking grim and then on having our electrics examined we find that we are not earthed and suddenly the question of what to do about the lighting in the main hall becomes a more pressing and more costly concern.  We have little in the way of reserves to fall back on and no central body to bail us out. 

So last night we voted through a budget with a deficit that is larger than our reserves with the huge provisos that we all need to reconsider our giving and that we need to monitor the situation monthly and take even more drastic action if necessary.  One of the savings we are making is that I will be paid as part-time from January 1st.  As a family this is fine, we are able to do that.  It is for an initial three months period, though I suspect it will be for longer.  We'll see.

The interesting pastoral situation?  I suspect that I need to help people to come to terms with the decision.  I think there is a tendency for some to feel that the church is failing because they can no longer afford a full-time or "proper" minister but actually, perhaps what we need to do is find a new way of doing church. 

We face an uncertain future as a church and I suspect that a number of churches will face this in time as well.  Suddenly we are forced to consider things from a completely different viewpoint, what the buildings are used for, what we are about as a church, and who does what.  It's a little bit scary.  And it's quite exciting to.  Who knows what God will bring out of this?

Wonder what 2012 will hold for us.

MiracleMaker - Delirious?

And here is another. Less successful due to some poor sound mixing but as I don't know what I'm doing with these it's not too surprising.

This is the Delirious song Miracle Maker and clips from the film of the same name.

MiracleMaker - In Christ Alone

Had a minor crisis yesterday (one of a series) when all the videos disappeared from the database of the computer we use for projection in the church building. So I've been hunting round for stray copies of things and lo and behold found this. Hardly remember doing this four years ago and then showed it once in a service. Since then it's laid forgotten and neglected on a hard drive.

So, time to let it fly (or flop) on the interweb. It's a series of scenes from the film Miracle Maker together with Stuart Townend singing In Christ Alone. Very much an Easter piece rather Christmas but I was surprised at the job I did on this. Not at all shabby.

The Cotswold Way

I've been thinking about it for a while and it's time to put it into print.  That way I can't chicken out.  Next spring I get a sabbatical for three months from my day to day responsibilities and as well as visiting other churches and researching new ideas for ministry here, I get to do some things that will replenish me. 

Hence I have decided to spend some of the time walking the Cotswold Way.  This doesn't involve mincing around or wandering around with a vacant stare whilst sucking on grass stems.  It's the 102 mile route which runs from Chipping Camden down to Bath.  I've wanted to do it since I was a kid and so here's my chance.  Nothing heroic (unlike my friend Natalie who walked the 630 mile South West Coastal Path with barely a day off) but I plan to take it in two day sections, taking eight days to cover the whole thing.  Having said that, I will be taking my camera and knowing me that will slow me down considerably, so it might take longer. 

Today I was in Taunton with my favourite parishioner and while searching the shelves at Waterstones for a walking guide to the Cotswold Way I found Part One of a two volume work on the walk from Canterbury to Rome.  Felt like my stroll was very small beer in comparison but then it's probably frowned upon for Baptist ministers to go to make the journey to Rome on a sabbatical. 

Looking forward to it immensely though and just wanted to tell people in case I felt like backing out nearer the time. 

How many Baptists does it take to change a lightbulb?

Called out to do a favour for a parishioner, last night.  Light bulbs blown and she was unable to get up to the light fitting to replace them; all the sort of thing that you get taught at Bible College.  Still, so easy that even a Baptist Pastor could fix it.

As I left she thanked me and joked, "Let there be light".  Then she stopped and looked genuinely puzzled.  "Now who was it who said that?", she asked. 

I'm having a great impact here....

A great weekend

After clocking off from youth club on Friday night I had a really great weekend this week.

Saturday: Breakfast with the family, met a friend to pray, met up with family and friends to watch my team win 3-0, food at Nandos and wine and talk with an old friend. 

Sunday: Enjoyed church with no responsibilities in the knowledge that I was in the safe hands of  good leaders and preachers, huge lunch, watched the big game and then missed the evening service to take the teenagers group bowling.  And won.  Drop or two more wine and more great conversation.  Fall asleep grateful for the weekend, a day of rest that actually felt like one and, I admit it, just a tiny bit envious of others who have weekends off on a regular basis and perhaps take the blessing for granted.    

Beatbox Nativity

What's not to love?  The Nativity as you've never heard it before, explained by a real-life vicar.  Already think about how I can use this in a service.  This was pointed out to me at 607 views on YouTube - think there will be a lot more before Christmas is over!

Dice

Hey, after a year of trying, for the first time I was actually placed in the top five in the monthly competition.  Tonight's competition had the theme Numbers and it was a stretch to know what to actually try to photograph. This was the best I could come up with and I got placed second.

Next month the theme is Food.

Mystery Worshippers

Some time ago we employed a researcher to come to church and give us some honest feedback, we did this through the Church Check scheme run by Christian Research.  I was contacted recently by The Baptist Times for comments on the scheme, so the article appears in this week's edition.

http://www.baptisttimes.co.uk/news4.htm

As does the news that the paper will cease publication at the end of next month. 

Not my fault - honest! 

Let's Get Married

Going through Ephesians in church and the chance to preach on Ephesians 5.21-33 this week - it's dangerous stuff folks!  Wonderfully, Tim Keller publishes his book on this very passage (The Meaning of Marriage) next week.  Or so it says on the websites.  I pre-ordered mine and got sent it last week.  As a result I have had the chance to read most of it before Sunday.  A true pleasure.

Enjoyed putting this together as well.  It's a sequence of pictures and great marriage quotes that I have done for service.  All with the uplifting sounds of The Proclaimers too, can't be bad.  Take a look and see what you think. 

It is on YouTube here...   http://youtu.be/9wfjU6sIOR8

Rugby - a first

Did something yesterday that I had never done before and watched a live game of rugby.  Only ventured round the corner for Burnham-on-Sea's game against Matson but had a great time.  17-0 to the home side and got a few pictures into the bargain.

  




 

Another small planet

This is a shot of Cheltenham Cricket Festival taken this summer.  Probably works better than most of my attempts at a small planet.

I want to be a clone...

...or at least learn how to use the clone tool in Photoshop better.  A friend at camera club blew us all away with a Little Planet view of the sea front and so I have been trying to work out how.  It isn't actually all that hard.  What is hard is to do it well.  I'd never used the cloning tool before and clearly need a great deal of practice.  Meanwhile, here are two of my first efforts. 

This is taken from a bird hide on the Somerset levels just this afternoon...

This is the cricket ground at Taunton, taken earlier this summer...

Not great, but the germ of an idea?

It seems God is limited by our prayer life - that he can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks him - John Wesley

Kenneth Hagin - not John Wesley.

I know, I know, snappy title for a blog entry...
But anyone know where this quote comes from?  Is it even Wesley?  I see it attributed to him all over the place but cannot find a reference for it.  Most of the references I have found on the internet are from people like Kenneth Hagin, Creslo Dollar, and others, who, frankly, are the kind of word of faith / prosperity teachers that make extremely cross. 

Thing is, I don't think the sentiment of the quote is true.  I'm all for spurring people to pray but God can't do anything unless we ask him to?!  I find that hard to accept if God is all sovereign and all powerful. 

Hence I want to find out if anyone knows where the quote is from as I think I would like to see it in context.  It's a long shot... but you never know.