Saturday, November 18, 2006

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.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

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.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

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.