Sometimes things do not go the way you plan!

How we deal with "let downs" is important. Right now I feel cross but, and aren't there always buts, it's my response that counts. Do I get angry? I want to. Do I tell someone to "stuff it"? I want to. Do I back off and say, "Ok you won't play ball with me so I won't play ball with you?" I want to. Do I want to cry, "That's not fair?" I want to. Am I going to sulk? Maybe! Will I let them get me down? Probably. Will I fight it? Absolutely. Will I do my homework? Dead right. Will they win? Not if I can help it! Am I stubborn? Nodding my head, "Oh, Yes!"

Clouds

Photograph (C) Phil Janvier
There are some days when the clouds are dark and threatening
and you look up and just smile.
God makes promises he keeps!

Oops!

Photograph (c) Phil Janvier
Sometimes things go wrong, in this case a gale force overnight wind and "Oops! Shame about the fence!" Thankfully, nobody was hurt. But it has made me think, we seem to live in a time when if something goes wrong we look for someone to blame. You can't watch satellite TV without being overwhelmed with adverts for that special company that can get you money because of an accident, too be honest I've even had a successful claim after an accident. Accidents happens, things go wrong, cameras break down, we fail to deliver whatever it is we promised, moral lapses occur, etc. The issue is not that these things happen, and please God don't let me fall, but what we do about it when they do. Ruthless honesty, deal with it right away, if you've let someone down then tell them as soon as possible. Cover-ups get us nowhere, most people understand that "things happen" what they don't like is being conned! So in business or life, best case, don't let things go wrong, if they do, confess them and manage them quickly!

Going round in circles

Photograph (c) Phil Janvier
Sometimes I think we work too hard at going round in circles, getting nowhere, seeing no one, becoming absorbed by the job in hand, then I lift my head and see a work of beauty. The ins and outs, the obstacles and sudden moments of success suddenly have meaning and that work is complete and the next task is at hand and we start again.

The Road goes ever on and on

Photograph (c) Phil Janvier

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow if I can.

Pursuing it with weary feet,

Until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

(The Fellowship of the Ring, from "Three is Company")

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. Do you realize that this is the very path that goes through Mirkwood, and that if you let it, it might take you to the Lonely Mountain or even to worse places?" (The Fellowship of the Ring, from "Three is Company")

Moving Forward

I heard a friend quote someone as saying that we spend our lives like an oarsman (or is that person?), we sit facing the direction we have come from, struggling to move forward in a direction that we can not see. How true and yet how deceiving, the past does lie behind us, all our struggles, all our misdirection and deliberate journeys off course are there for us to see, but the future is not an unknown territory that we must fear, frightened that our miss strokes of the past will dictate our future course. We as Christians face the future with hope, we know where we are going, we know who we travel with, we are not tossed about on the winds or whims of time. But, and it is a big but, we travel forward only with the big picture in mind, death, disease, disaster, politics, employment, our life partner (s) etc make life complicated. So should we be frightened of the future? Not at all, live the moment, take the risk, kiss the girl, yes make that choice remembering God's commandments, the power of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of scripture, but make a choice, be brave, be bold, take a risk in people and live life to the full!

Joshua 1:7 :Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. (NIV)

Hello I'm the Doctor and this Rose, nice to meet you Lord!

Ok it's not real but you have to admit it would be great to be able to go back in time, Mary receives gold, frankinscense and chanel No19, to witness the cross, no forget that one I couldn't watch The Passion, witness the resurrection, eat fish and chips with the disciples

Saturday Night is Doctor Who Night - Yeah!!

Aliens of London - Saturday is coming!

The God of Cleansing Fire

Photograph (c) Phil Janvier
The fire of the Spirit of God can be an overwhelming experience, but the Spirit of God is not an unknowable force of destruction, He is a God of cleansing fire, beauty and discipline. In His presence we can not help be awe struck at the might, power and authority of God Himself. What is amazing is this God of fire knows us by name and loves us!

Crafty Curate's Animation

I was impressed with the latest animation from Pilgrim's Progress!

Don't ask me why. Sometimes they fly past. Sometimes they drag. I'm talking about journeys home on the M6, late at night. Sometimes, if I'm weary, and longing to get home, the road seems to go on and on.

This animation is for those days that the journey seems long ... Daddy, are we there yet? (Flash 6; 105K)

Wow!

As the Apollo 8 spacecraft came around the moon, Jim Lovell, looked out at the Earth rising above the surface of the moon, as he was out on a limb and one of the first three human beings to see that sight, a blue and white planet glowing in the darkness of space, he felt he understood his place in God's universe and breaking NASA's rules he broadcast these words of scripture "What is man that you are mindful of him, or the Son of Man that you care." Knowing who we are and who God is may make us feel small but that God knows us by name and loves us. Wow!

A reminder!

I was reading John Coles New Wine letter this afternoon and two things struck me, so I thought I'd ramble on the subject. John writes:

The Missing Generation – Younger Leaders
In contrast we have been hearing for some time that the 20’s are the missing generation in many churches in the UK. I am increasingly convinced that unless we invest in and capture the imagination and energy of this generation we will struggle to change the church and the nation.

How right John is, most churches are frightened to give responsibility to those in their twenties, we insult them with, you can hand out the books, or you can make the tea! One of the most powerful events in our church life was started by the young people, 24/7 prayer. The church is open for prayer day and night, their prayer opened my eyes, challenged my expectations and made me want more!

Leading with Integrity
The second thing that I was struck by in the history of the Vineyard is the fact that many of their leaders fell away morally. In many ways this is a natural consequence of raising younger leaders. Unless the development of character goes hand in hand with the development of gifting, and especially anointing in the power of the Spirit, then moral collapse can easily follow. Visibility, responsibility, and authority have a way of finding out weaknesses in our character as rain has of seeping through porous rock.

Again how right John is, when he states "Unless the development of character goes hand in hand with the development of gifting, and especially anointing in the power of the Spirit, then moral collapse can easily follow. " I remember the temptations of my twenties and thirties, I am now forty-seven, and I by the grace of God I survived those turbulent years that stretched character and gifting to the limit.

It begs the question now as I see that risk, character and gifting go hand in hand, have I turned into a boring middle-aged man?

Garbage in equals garbage out

This is really just a ramble but sound engineers have an expression "Garbage in equals garbage out" and I think it's true of life. What am I feeding on today? What are you feeding on?

The Crafty Curate and I

The Crafty Curate and I, this is my revenge for his bad influence in getting me to start a blogg. This was taken on the day Richard was ordained priest!

So you worked with an Angel!

Now I know that the man with me is not from Doctor Who and if you watch Angel and Buffy you'll know that he's really a baddy, but Anglican Rector meets Vampire is worth a comment!

Some people have too much time on their hands!

OK I'll be honest and admit that I have only started this blogg because of the bad influence of my curate (see http://craftycurate.blogs.com/) but having had a good look at his blogg I am left asking myself "Does he have too much time on his hands?" Well if you follow the link to his blogg you may well agree, it's stuffed full of digital art and motion graphics and thoughtful comment, so the question is "Is it a waste of time?" sadly, I think not, oh yes I could give him more to do but that would only make him busy but that would not make him "fruitful and effective". We are all human beings, yes even those of us ordained in Christian ministry, we all need to vent, express ourselves, push back the comfort zones and even, sometimes, get out into the real world and earn the right to speak. Richard's blogg is a life line, and outlet for his creativity and as far as I am concerned as his boss a necessary part of his life. So where does that leave my blogg? A passing fad, an excuse to ramble, an outlet for my creativity, who knows? Time will tell, it always does in the end!

Now for the Doctor Who fans out there how many references are there to Doctor Who in this posting?

Phil

Who is this man?

Who is that man?

Only the beginning

Well I've fallen for the blog, I'm not sure how interesting this is going to be but it's a start. Doctor Who's back on the TV and I believe in a God who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, so let's see what happens!