Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope and pray that you have blessed and peaceful celebrations and a fulfilling New Year.

God bless,

Pete

It's Christmas!

PG wodehouse

For some unknown reason, every time the festive season begins to loom, I always dig out my favorite books - my collection of PG Wodehouse. I can't imagine a better way to spend some time off than with one of his novels or anthologies. For me, Blandings Castle has to be his ultimate creation, closely followed by Jeeves, however, I can be equally entertained by Mulliner, Psmith and the like.

For the uninitiated, Wodehouse was an unparalleled comedy writer, who excelled at creating brilliantly convoluted plots with thoroughly lovable characters, all delivered in beautifully constructed prose. These stories are such excellent escapism, both the Kaiser and one of recent Nigerian Presidents were reputed to take to their beds to read Wodehouse when the tide turned against them! There are thousands of biographies about Wodehouse on the net - try the Wikipedia one for starters. For a taste of his writing, try What Ho! An anthology containing a selection of his best stories.

Labels

Well, you'll be excited to know I have updated all of my bloggings so far with labels, which was no end of fun!

Looking through my old posts, I realised I never updated the blog about my exam progress. I passed the whole of my MRCP (hooray!) and I'm now planning to start the anaesthetics exams (FRCA) in June 2007. Must be some kind of lunatic to sit all these tests...

New Treo

For those of you are familiar with my obsession wth my Palm Treo smartphone, you'll be relieved and delighted (I'm sure) that there are several new Treo models on the market. The Treo 680 is a straight upgrade of the 650 (my current phone) as far as I can tell. The best thing about it - no aerial! Hallelujah indeed my friends. The Treo750v is a Windows based phone which to my eye looks pretty much the same as the 680. For any of you who may like to find out more check out the links below...

Palm's official website: Treo 680, Treo 750v

Treo 680 review and Treo 750v review

Christmas, and those who have none...

At this time, with all the festivities and excess, my mind seems to subconsciously switch itself to thinking about those less fortunate. Maybe God is using my blessings to help me focus on others. It's a good time to review my charity donations. One I recently have started to support is Compassion, which enables me to sponsor a child. Mine is called Mateo and he lives in Equador. For anyone who is not involved in this kind of thing, I can't express how much of a blessing it is. When I first received my information pack about Mateo, about where he lives, what he enjoys doing and so on, I was moved to tears - it's such a privilige to be involved even in such a small way in this little chap's life. Hopefully, by supporting him, I can show Godly Christian love to someone who has so much less than myself. I'm not sharing this to blow my own trumpet - indeed I am so very blessed and so very hopeless at sharing it around - but in the hope that others may read it and consider doing the same (if they don't already do so). We are called to support the poor as Christians, and this really is one of the ways we can do so. Let's not forget (however cliched it sounds) that celebrating Christmas is about the birth of Jesus who has given us the gift of life.

Digital Camera

As part of my gadget portfolio, I feel compelled to share with you my latest purchase (an early Christmas pressie). I am awaiting in barely contained excitement the delivery of a new digital camera, what the magazines define as a "superzoom" or "prosumer camera", the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 (snappy title I know).

Hopefully I'll be able to take some nice pictures once I've worked out how to use the camera, so watch this space for arty landscapes and the like!

Best man

Well, the best manning went ok - the speech was short but amusing enough to keep people entertained, and Jon and Suzanne seemed to have a lovely time. In fact everyone seemed to. There's something about a Christian weddding that just blows me away - I think the fact that the couple are binding themselves not only with legal and emotional contracts but also with a commitment in front of God, asking Him to be centre of their relationship is a very powerful thing, making these occasions an excellent witness of our faith.  I pray that the non Christians at Jon and Suzanne's wedding will begin to notice God's presence in their lives.

Steve's blog

My mate Steve has finally succumbed to temptation and joined the blogging community! Well done Steve! He has a lot more interesting stuff than me to say too, so get on down there and visit his blog at http://champerton.blogspot.com/. Meanwhile, I have the pleasure of preparing for my mate Jon's wedding - he's asked me to be best man, so I have a write a speech. This very difficult task has been made easier by the book "The Best Best Man" by Jacqueline Eames - if anyone out there is faced with this task I'd encourage you to get the book - it makes life a lot easier.

I have glasses

The official announcement - I now have glasses - here is an
updated pic of me in my specs (not that you probably care!).



 

God wants to breathe life into us...

Did October really disappear so quickly?
A while back , we met with some friends for dinner, and afterwards we prayed. One of our friends had a message for me - that I should remember Ezekiel 37. This talks about a vision the prophet had, when he was walking through a valley which was covered in the bones of the dead. To cut a long story short, God gave these bones life - through Ezekiel prophecying to them, God's Spirit brought them together into people, and then organised them into an army. I thought about that for a while, and even told my small group. Many of the members of that grouphad recently been in Kenya, where, to my surprise, they had also studied Ezekiel 37! To me, thatconfirmed that God wanted us to think about this passage. However, with the business of theworld, I put it to one side, and forgot about it.
This morning, as I was reading my Bible and my Bible notes (Closer to God, from the Scripture Union), again Ezekiel entered my mind. I realised I had neglected that message. The more I think about it, the more I feel that God wants me to use it to build up my church, St Andrew's. I feel God wants to tell us that he is breathing new life into us - some of whom have become a bit dry and worn, like those bones (and I don't deny that I may be one of those!). He does this because He loves us, and He wants us for His army - not an army of destruction, but a force who are strong with The Spirit, working to show our community His love and grace, and bringing people closer to Him.

Argh!

Feeling tempted to do stuff that goes against God? Well, we're in a war here and God's not left us without weaponry...

"Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Ephesians 6:17

Bearing that in mind, here are a few verses that I use when I'm feeling attacked by temptation:

"But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it."

1 Corinthians 10:13

"Shun youthful lusts and flee from them, and aim at and pursue righteousness"

2Timothy 2:22

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Ephesians 4:32

Reading matter

Anyone read "The Purpose Driven Church"? I'm really enjoying this great book - given me lots of ideas, but really challenges what we go to church for. It really makes me wonder, are we too comfortable? On this note, I've also been (trying) to read some theological articles in www.bible.org regarding crucifying sin - giving it up to God with His Spirit's help. So often I find that I try to do it on my own - earn my way into heaven. So often, we're told in society to rely on our own strength to achieve. Actually, The Bible says that we can't do it on our own - we need God's help. How do we do this? Through recognising our failings for what they are and telling God about them.

1 John 1:9-10, 2:1-2

If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world's.

The Message
Also try:

Bible.Org - ABCs of Christian Growth
Bible.Org - Of the Mortification of Sin

Holiday Pics

Here is a link to my our photos of Sorrento, including Pompei and Vesuvius as well.

Still alive!

I am officially still alive. Good news - I have a job in August, in anaesthetics, praise the Lord! He has gone all out and answered my prayers, despite my sulkiness over the past few months. Thanks to all who have been praying for me (I know there are some at church who have been praying for a long time, bless you). This new job means a new and hopefully more sensible rota, so I'm hoping to get back into contributing a bit more at church, maybe leading some worship again. I think first, I need some down-time however, just to get back on track with God.

Away

Sorry I've been away for so long - currently going through some busy and rather difficult times. I'm looking for jobs in a rapidly shrinking market, and trying to revise for the final (and hardest) part of the MRCP. Consequently I won't be around much for the next few weeks. Just a quick thought before I go - it's amazing how easy it is to forget God's grace when things get stressful - He's been with me all the way through my life, and when I should be looking to Him the most, I still try and rely on my own endeavour. It reminds me of the words to the song 'Only By Grace' - "Not by our human endeavour, but by the blood of the Lamb". We just need to try and remember that in our hearts in the hardest times, and remember that God never said we wouldn't suffer (indeed, Jesus said on many occasions we will suffer as Christians) but He did say he would be with us in pain and in joy. On that note I think I'll head off, thanking God for blessing me with Lorna, who also promised to be with me during good and bad times and who is a constant joy and blessing to me! I should also remember that a few hard exams and job worries are nothing compared with the suffering many are going through. I pray they will know God's presence during their hard times.

More on Abdul Rahman

Amnesty International

Adnkronos International

CNS News

BBC News

Apparently, the court think Mr Rahman may be insane and not fit to stand trial under Sharia Law. However, he says:

"They want to sentence me to death and I accept it, but I am not a deserter and not an infidel. I am a Christian which means I believe in the Trinity."

Quite a sensible sentence for someone who is supposedly mad!

The international reaction has been interesting. The US says they do not want to interfere but are concerned. Italy, Germany and Canada show some courage by more forcefully condemning the situation.

In the UK, Alan Simpson, Labour MP said:

We have to be saying to the government of
Afghanistan that it is not the role, the function or the presumption of the UK
government to have a presence in Afghanistan to defend an administration that
conducts and complies with laws that are brutal in terms that would be judged by
the outside international community, and would not be accepted by the Muslim
community if they were used in reverse.

Abdul Rahman

Here is a copy of an e-mail I received this week from The Barnabus Fund:

AFGHAN CHRISTIAN FACES DEATH SENTENCE IF HE WILL NOT
RETURN TO ISLAM
Abdul Rahman (41) converted from Islam to Christianity at least 14 years ago. He is now on trial in Kabul charged with rejecting Islam. The prosecutor says that if he returns to Islam the charges will be dropped, but if he is found guilty he will be executed: "We are Muslims and becoming a Christian is against our laws. He must get the death penalty." The judge has also stated that Mr Rahman faces the death penalty if he refuses to revert to Islam as shari‘a [Islamic law] proposes capital punishment for any Muslim who converts to another religion.
Abdul Rahman was denounced to the police last month by his family, with whom he was in dispute over the custody of his two daughters. He has refused to renounce his faith, despite the threat of execution. He is being held in Kabul Central Prison, one of 50 prisoners in a cell built for 15. Most prisoners have food brought to them by their families, but Mr Rahman’s family do not visit him.

AFGHANISTAN’S CONSTITUTION
The death sentence for adult male Muslims who abandon their faith is agreed by all schools of shari‘a. Afghanistan’s 2004 constitution states that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam" (Article 3) thus affirming that apostasy from Islam is punishable by death. On the other hand, the constitution’s preamble affirms that the people of Afghanistan will respect the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which in Article 18 guarantees the freedom to change one’s religion.
Non-Muslim Afghans who have never been Muslims have a measure of freedom in that they are permitted to "exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of the law" (Article 2). This applies to Afghan Hindus, Sikhs and the one remaining member of Afghanistan’s Jewish community. But it does not apply to Afghan Christians (or other non-Muslims) who have chosen to convert from Islam. [1]

A TEST CASE
The trial of Abdul Rahman is the first of its kind since the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001. In 2004 five Afghan converts from Christianity were murdered either for apostasy from Islam or for spreading their faith. It is reported that other converts who have been formally charged by the authorities have renounced their faith in the face of the death penalty. This means that Abdul Rahman’s case is the first time that Afghanistan’s ambiguous constitution will be tested. It will set a precedent for the treatment of other converts from Islam to Christianity.

The judge of the Primary Court has said he will rule on the case within two months. If found guilty, Abdul Rahman will be able to appeal to the Provincial Court and the Supreme Court. The execution order would have to be signed by President Hamid Karzai.

WRITE TO YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE
Please write to your elected representative to ask for urgent representations to be made to the Afghan government on behalf of Abdul Rahman. Point out that the Afghan constitution says that Afghanistan will respect the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the freedom to change one’s faith.
However if Abdul Rahman is sentenced to death this would be a clear violation of
the Declaration. Point out that Christians and those of other faiths throughout the world can freely convert to Islam without fear of punishment, and ask for reciprocal freedom to be given to Afghanistan’s Muslims who want to leave their faith. Urge that implementing the Islamic law of apostasy, with its death sentence for adult male Muslims who convert to another religion, is unacceptable in the twenty-first century.
It is most effective to be polite, brief and use your own words. If you do not know who your elected representative is or how to contact him or her, please refer to the Right to Justice website [2] which sets out information for those in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

OUTRAGE THAT IS LONG OVERDUE
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, comments, "This case is rightly causing outrage in the West. What I would like to emphasise is that the death sentence for apostasy is part of mainstream Islam and always has been since the seventh century. In three of the schools of shari‘a it is applied to women apostates as well as to men. An outpouring of indignation and protest on this issue from those who enjoy religious liberty in the West is long overdue. I call on political leaders and church leaders to take up the cause of Muslims who choose to embrace another faith. To pretend that freedom of conscience is not an issue in our modern world is a scandalous evasion of moral responsibility. In the face of Abdul Rahman’s plight, those who have for a long time refused to accept the implications of Islam’s apostasy law can surely do so no longer.

"Islam is a religion which is very active in seeking to make converts. It MUST change and learn to grant freedom to Muslims to convert to another faith without penalty. In the twenty-first century Islam can no longer continue to be a one-way street, which people may enter but can neverleave.
"The kind of injustice which Abdul Rahman is suffering is one of the principle reasons for Barnabas Fund’s new campaign "The Right to Justice".
I urge Christians and all people of goodwill to sign our petition which calls for justice for Christian minorities [2]. Then please write to your MP, congressman or other elected representative about his case. Please pass this message on to as many people as you can. And please pray."

PRAYER ITEMS
* Pray that Abdul Rahman will be strengthened and comforted by the Lord Jesus and that his faith will not waver. As an apostate from Islam he is likely to be facing abuse from the Muslims he shares a crowded prison cell with. It is not known how he is eating, as his family will not bring him food. The prison authorities will not allow him access to the Western press who want to interview him.
* Pray that, despite pressure from Islamic extremists, Abdul Rahman will not be sentenced to death, and that this precedent will allow other Afghan converts from Islam to Christianity to live freely and safely in their homeland.

LINKS
FOR THE FULL TEXT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF AFGHANISTAN IN ENGLISH
[1] - http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/af00000_.html

BARNABAS FUND'S CAMPAIGN "THE RIGHT TO JUSTICE"
[2] - http://www.righttojustice.org

We can't let these injustices continue. I have written to my local MP and I urge you to do the same. All should be free to practice their faith, whatever it may be. We should also be able to discuss the shortcomings of other faiths. This is why we need to fight against protection from balsphemy for any particular religious group being enshrined in the law, as many muslims were demanding after the Mohammed cartoon fiasco, because it would limit our effectiveness as witnessing Christians. I understand muslim people's pain when their prophet is criticised (as Jesus often is) but I appreciate our current freedom in the UK to have our faith, whatever it may be, and to debate its merits. It is as important for our fellow Britons who are muslim as it is for us that things stay this way.

So please, use this link to find out who your MP is and petition them in a reasoned and rounded way to fight for the rights of those abroad, and for our right to worship The Lord Jesus.

Links to check out...

Today's society accepts spirituality readily, but falls short of accepting Christianity as the one true way to God. Here are a couple of interesting blogs on the nature of spirituality and people's search for the truth...

Why believe Jesus is the only way?

Breaking the Da Vinci Code

I'll post more as I find them...

Taking something up for Lent

Traditionally Christians give up something during Lent, the time which represents the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert before commencing His main ministry. It's usually something they find enjoyable and usually a 'vice', for example, chocolate, biscuits or caffeine. This year I'm giving up alcohol - not because I'm addicted to it (I hope!), but more because I want to concentrate my mind on God and not be reliant on anything worldly. Consider it a kind of purifying process.

However, I think more important than giving up booze, I'm also trying to spend more time with God, trying to listen to His voice amidst the clamour of the world, and together with Lorna, trying to focus on making our marriage more God centred. I think that positive steps like this are much more important than the giving up of our habits - and hopefully honouring to God, which after all is the whole point of our being.

Christian vs Muslim violence

Oh dear. Shocking news from Nigeria, where Christian mobs have now been attacking muslims and mosques in retaliation for anti Christian attacks. Read more about it at the link above. I'm sure the situation isn't helped by one archbishop who reportedly said:

"May we at this stage remind our Muslim brothers that they do
not have the monopoly of violence in this nation"

I don't remember the bit in the Bible where Jesus said "Blessed are those who rampage through cities murdering people of another religion." Anyone enlighten me?

Muslim leaders push for sharia state in UK

A worrying trend seems to be emerging since the publication of the cartoons of Mohammed. Some muslims are calling for a ban on criticism of him as it could be construed as inciting religious hatred - they site laws that protect Jews and Sikhs as precidents. However, Jews and Sikhs are protected by law not for their religion but for their race. We all are able to choose religion (or should be able to), and that requires debate, questioning and discussion with no barriers to the nature or extent of that discussion, wheras no-one is able to choose their ethnic background. It seems to me that if you are not willing or able to defend your faith against criticism, it's not really a faith!

This is an interesting article from the Telegraph (shock horror!), which might interest you...

Sermon on Sunday

Having decided to do less last time I posted, Lorna and I ended up doing the sermon at church on Sunday! We felt God was really calling us to speak - the topic was Love especially in marriage. It was really rewarding that a number of people talked to us afterwards and said how helpful they found it. God also taught us a great deal about our relationship and how it needs to change (we need to do less!!). We realised that we were just treading water, but not really communicating as we were always worrying about the next thing. Things are definitely improving since we had that conversation, and we suspect that God intended for us to near our breaking point to learn the lesson.

For those interested, here's the sermon in full:

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes, love is all around us, and so the feeling grows…love lifts us up where we belong…all you need is love… The world is obsessed by love, it’s in every film we see, every song we hear, every soap opera plot we follow. The web is full of chat rooms and dating websites all promising to find you The One. And yet, 14 in every thousand marriages end in divorce, 53% of those breaking up families with children under 16. There has been an increase in the number of divorces every year for the last four years– what are we as a society missing? why do so many people end up heartbroken? I – we - think it’s because the world has sold itself a lie – the Hollywood version of love and marriage is a perversion of what God has in mind for us.

Popular culture tells us what to wear, what to eat, what to say, what to do, where to do it…and increasingly what to think. TV, radio, magazines and the internet bombard us with standards to reach, behaviour patterns to follow and role models to aspire towards. One of the biggest pressures is to be part of a couple, and the Hollywood blueprint goes as follows;
1. find the right person – out there somewhere is your one true love, and fate has a plan to get you two to meet. You will know them because you will meet them in awkward or unusual circumstances, a thunderbolt will strike and the sexual attraction will knock you sideways. For girls, this person is likely to be Hugh Grant.
2. fall in love – this is usually marked by becoming a completely different person, making wild decisions and throwing caution to the wind. No attention should be paid to common beliefs, interests or hopes as LOVE should be enough to conquer all of that. Its at this point that you will magically start to have mind blowing sex – unassailable proof that this is the Real Thing.
3. live happily ever after … until you split up. Once you’ve been together a while the relationship deepens, as will the lure of alternative suitors. At this point, cracks may start to appear. Several patterns can develop – “we grew apart”, “he doesn’t understand me” or “I love him, I’m just not in love with him any more”.
4. relationship ends – at this point it is usual to repeat steps 1-3.

However, our culture isn’t entirely honest with us about the danger of this kind of behaviour, and its by no means this simple. When people enter into marriage, two become one. When marriage breakdown occurs, it’s very hard to disentangle the mesh that binds the partners, and the pain can be agonizing. These wounds are slow to heal and often leave scarred emotions. Every story is different, and in some cases it is difficult to see how a relationship can continue. There may be people who have suffered abuse and find it difficult to recover and forgive, there may be people who cannot forgive themselves. There aren’t any easy answers – certainly none we know of, but God loves us and hates to see his beloved children in pain. Jesus is called a Counsellor, a Prince of Peace and through His Spirit He ministers to us when we ask Him.

The subconscious message sent to us by the Hollywood formula is a dangerous one – that we as individuals should make ourselves number one priority in any relationship. If our needs are not being met – regardless of anyone else involved we should move on to another more pleasing situation because, at the end of the day, “we’re worth it”.

I don’t believe that this “Hollywood formula” is a fair representation of God’s will for us. Song of Songs shows us that God fully intends us to have passionate, romantic relationships with the opposite sex. From the word go, Adam saw that Eve “was good”. God fully endorses marriage – Jesus was moved to perform a miracle turning water into wine to honour one couples wedding, so strong were His feelings of joy and support for them!

The difference between the Hollywood approach and the approach I believe God wants us to adopt is what He expects from the would-be husband and wife. Its not a passive process – cupids arrows aren’t enough. God tells us in His word exactly what He thinks a good marriage needs, and it’s a lot of hard work. Our reading from Ephesians clearly states that husbands are expected to love their wives the way Jesus loves the church. Let’s think about that – Jesus became man, died a humiliating and painful death and rose from the dead to save us from sin ….. it’s the ultimate expression of how much He loves us. He literally gave up His life for us. Thankfully, none of us are likely to be in a position where we would be asked to take so huge or literal a step. But the premise stands. God expects us to serve our spouse, to put them first before our own well being. As Christians we are expected to Love God and Love our neighbour as ourselves. Paul tells us that by loving our spouse, we fulfil both aspects of the latter commandment. A spouse is not only the closest neighbour that we could have, but more than that, marriage joins two people into one – so loving our spouse is akin to loving ourselves. Paul parallels the way Christ loves the church - a love that inspired the ultimate sacrifice, with how He thinks a husband and wife relationship should be.

So, this love he asks us to show one another is a sacrificial love. 1Corinthians 13 tells us in no uncertain terms what He means – Love is patient, Love is kind, does not envy or boast. It is not proud, rude, self seeking, or easily angered – it keeps no record of wrongs. Love delights in the truth, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. I don’t know how you feel, but I find that quite an intimidating list of expectations, but Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, enabling us to love in this way. His death washed away our sin. That leaves us pure, like the bride in the reading –that loving sacrifice leaves us “radiant with holiness” and free from obstructions to Him.

What we’re being sold by popular culture is infatuation. Great while it lasts, but if we allow ourselves to believe that’s all there is then we will miss out on the true nature of marriage. Love is central to all relationships – even those which seem to contradict the tenets of our faith. Paul also talks about how the relationship between slave and master should be founded on obedience and mutual respect. This is pleasing and therefore worshipful to God. So we learn that injecting Godly love into our earthly interactions is an act of worship to our maker.

Not all of us are married and that might not be the sort of relationship that God has planned for you. If we can learn to love the way God intends then all our relationships – especially the most important one of all – our relationship with Him, will succeed. Let me leave you with a quote from a Romanian prison guard during the communist era. He is describing his experience of Christian prisoners “…if we cut off their tongues and forbid the Christians speech, they love with their hands and their feet and with their eyes, they love always and everywhere until their last respiration. Does anyone know how to take out the power of love from these stupid Christians?” I think that’s proof that once we know God’s love, it’s impossible not to express it and that’s what marks us out as Christians.

If we can learn two things from what we’ve said, let it be these:
1. Love is a choice to put another first – it permeates all relationships, not just marriage.
2. Love of God is of paramount importance as through this He teaches us to love others.

Doing too much

Sorry I haven't posted for a while (if anyone has noticed!). I am still alive, just rather busy. I seem to get very tired very easily in my Christian life. I'm always striving to resist sin, love others more, live a better life. And then one day I get exhausted and it all falls apart - I feel numb and empty. I've got so caught up in "doing" I have no time to exist in God's presence.

The story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10: 38-42) shows the priority that Jesus had. Mary and Martha were sisters who Jesus stayed with for a time. Martha rushed around, making sure all the preparations were ready, food cooked, everything was in order - good faithful service. However, when she complained to Jesus about her sister Mary who was resting in His presence - learning from Him and spending time with Him, Jesus gently informed her that Mary was the one with her priorities right!

We learn again in Acts (Acts 2:42-47) that the early church focussed their time not on striving for better lives, or serving the community, but on teaching, prayer, worship and fellowship - and the church grew because people liked what they saw and wanted a piece of it. Not to say that it isn't really important to serve others, or that God doesn't want to see us grow and change for the better, but that if we prioritise these things over spending time with Him, we are not getting it right - we can't sustain these without His presence in our lives.

I strongly believe that if we don't love God (and that grows from spending time with Him, in prayer and reading the Bible), we can't get the rest of it right. If as individuals and as Christian communities we place Him in our centre, as our priority, we will begin to see our lives, and others' lives change. With that in mind, I'm going to concentrate on trying to get to know my Father God better...

Myspace

I have a "myspace" now as well as this blog. I'll still be posting all my thoughts/life events here, but the other site is mainly focussing on any music I manage to finish!
http://www.myspace.com/petesandbachuk

Rich's site

Rich now his site up and running with a couple of tunes for us to listen to. I'd strongly recommend checking them out for something a bit different.

Rich's site

Exam!

Sorry about the distinct lack of posts for the past few weeks...

I passed my exam!

This is the second part of the "Membership of the Royal College of Physicians". One more to go and I will have MRCP after my name!

Praise God for that - He leads me through these things again and again, regardless of how holy I am feeling! That's His Grace, I guess. The question now is where is He leading me? I am becoming more and more convinced that intensive care medicine is the way forward for me. Having worked in the ITU for the past few weeks, I feel that it is the place for me - where I feel most useful, and where my gifts are best used. Now its just a case of convincing the rest of the world that that's the case...