Whilst waiting

We spent nearly two hours waiting in the Fracture Clinic, so one's mind turns to the proliferation of signs. Apostrophes seem to have become unfashionable, with "Childrens Play Area" and "VISITORS INFORMATION", both being properly made signs.


Then there was the problematic "No smoking sign" as opposite. People often want to stick it up with the diagonal red line either horizontal or vertical. The two we saw had it going horizontally. For one the cigarette was pointing north east, the other south west ( with the smoke going in an odd direction). I suspect the person sticking them to the wall didn't know which way round they went, so thought one must be right. A pity, really!

Is it a disability?

So, I have my leg in plaster from just above the ankle to just below the thigh, so that I am unable to bend my knee. I have to walk with crutches.

So I enquired if there was any way I could get a temporary disabled badge in order for my wife to park in a disabled bay to let me have a fighting chance of getting to my destination on crutches. But no, I've got to have the condition for a year to be "disabled". However, Harlow District Council does a temporary three month one, but no other part of Essex does.

I'm sure it all makes sense to someone somewhere ...

+++++++++++++

We went to Tesco's and as we had to go up to the first floor and the lift was at the back of the store. So they offered me an electric 'buggy', which I accepted. Rather embarrassing I thought, but we are unlikely to meet anyone we know ... So we just begin to go down the aisle, and there are two people from our church!

Although I've thought those buggies looked fun, and years ago I had a go in my father-in-law's one, I've changed my mind. I'd much rather walk!

Latest news

Just to let all my loyal readers know that we've just returned from the Fracture Clinic and the knee cap is healing well. Thank you to all those who are praying, God is working! They want to see me in four weeks' time, when the plaster just MIGHT come off.

Big Boys' Toys

I must admit to watching and enjoying James May's Toy Stories. A simple idea - James looks at some more traditional toys and then "bigs them up" (his phrase, not mine I hasten to add).

It is partly his wry humour, partly the whole idea of the show and partly they were my toys as well!

He started by looking at Airfix kits and managing to get made a life size kit of a WW2 spitfire, which a group assembled and it actually held together! It was wheeled out at a ceremony which included some people who had actually flown spitfires. Is was quite emotional!

He also managed to convince the Royal Horticultural Society to be allowed to enter a garden at their show made of Plasticine flowers! My favourite had to be the Scalextric track that went round the whole of what was Brooklands racetrack, which meant it had to go across a road, through offices, along people's front gardens, over a pond and other obstacles! And it was educational! I learned that many people, including me, pronounced the brand name wrongly. We normally say Scalectrix but it's Scalextric (or is it the other way round??).

The latest programme was the Lego house which he spent a night in. But there did seem to be a big jump from when the first floor was just in, to it being actually completed. We saw nothing of the construction of the roof (which no doubt was not watertight!) or many of the Lego 'items' like the Union flag made out of Lego on a wall and a number of kitchen items. Having said that the series has been a joy to watch and I'm looking forward to the Christmas one where he builds a massive model railway. I still have mine, packed in boxes in the loft!

Crackers!

Well, our two services went well yesterday, although because of the inclement weather there were fewer in the morning. But for the carols by candlelight in the evening, it was a fairly packed house!

I said I'd tell you what I did with the children, in case any of you do Christmas services, and it might appeal (if you're reading this, Heather, be warned I've already done it at Rushmere, although I doubt they'd remember!).

It was a cracker for Jesus, a giant cracker that we'd made. I said it was for Jesus but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we pulled it for him! I then asked what's normally in a cracker, and got back a gift, a hat, a joke and a snap. I asked what's was the more traditional name for the joke and got the word I wanted, a motto. I said the cracker for Jesus had all these things except the snap, as it was too big. So when it was pulled, everyone had to shout "bang!"

Two children came up to help and pulled the cracker ("bang!" went the congregation). The we looked at the contents. First of all the paper hat. What kind of hat was it? A crown. Who wears a crown? A king. So this is a cracker for Jesus, as he's a King. I asked someone to read Matthew 2:1-2, where the wise men refer to Jesus as the King of the Jews.

So, we've established Jesus is King. What of the motto? It was Matthew 2:23, The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ So Jesus is not only a King, but God himself!

So if this is a cracker for Jesus, what could we possibly give a King, who is also God? One of my helpers opened the present, it was a box and inside the box a paper heart, which he unfolded. Actually, Jesus doesn't demand expensive presents from us, all he wants is for us to love him - to give him out hearts.

We then sung in the bleak midwinter, and I quoted the last verse:

What can I give him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a wise man, I would do my part.

Yet what I can I give him, give my heart.

News

Latest news! I don't need an operation on my knee. So that's good. I have an appointment at the fracture clinic on Christmas Eve, BEFORE lunch!

My request for prayer on my previous blog should include my wife who has to cope with me in plaster!

It IS broke,so please fix it!

Oh dear! I fell off my bike this morning on what I assume was black ice. I continued to cycle to the church as I didn't think there was too much damage. But moving round got harder and it started to swell, so it was off to A & E at Basildon Hospital.

After an x-ray they diagnosed a fractured patella (that's a broken kneecap to you and me). I'm home, plastered and on crutches. But I will probably have to go back for an operation.

So that's the latest news. All prayers would be appreciated, not just for me but for the church. Hopefully I'll be able to do the Christmas services this Sunday.

My thanks to all the staff who saw me at the hospital, no complaints at all!

No longer going round in circles

I heard about changes to the Circle Line on the London Underground that took effect from last Sunday, so I thought I'd look up on the Internet to find out more. It no longer goes round in a circle, but starts at Hammersmith following the Hammersmith & City Line route, then goes through Edgware Road and all the way round to Edgware Road again, where it terminates and goes back to Hammersmith.

The TfL website says, "Trains on the Circle line will become more reliable" and on some sections they will be more frequent. A pity, then, when I logged on this morning the website was reporting "severe delays" for the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

Teething troubles trying to get all those trains into Edgware Road?

Where have all the Geobars gone?

I must admit I do like an apricot Geobar. In case you've not heard of them, Geobars are cereal bars made by Traidcraft, so they have the Fairtrade mark. They currently do apricot, chocolate, honey nut and mixed berry bars. The chocolate ones are common, but the Tesco and Sainsbury that we frequent seem to have stopped stocking any other flavours. Even the Oxfam shop in Brentwood only had chocolate ones the last time I went in, and the one at Billericay didn't seem to do any foodstuffs at all.

So what am I supposed to do? Well, I emailed Traidcraft to see if they have any of their "Fairtraders" in the area. Fairtraders are people who sell fairly traded in goods locally, maybe in a church setting. We had this ongoing email correspondence. She asked for my postcode and then responded that there were no Fairtraders locally. But I then thought about it. Our postcode is "SS" for Southend, although we're not that close to Southend. In fact not far away are "CM" postcodes which is Chelmsford.

So, when I informed her of this, she sent me a list of Fairtraders! One not far away at all, in Wickford. But alas! When I received that email I had just ordered some online direct from Traidcraft. The minimum number they do is a packet of 24 (as in the picture). I've ordered one apricot, one mixed berries and one honey nut. So we now have 72 Geobars!

If the Fairtrader lady in Wickford is reading this, when we've got through our 72 bars, we will be in touch - honest!

Rob Brydon on Gavin & Stacey was having problems with buying cereals for when the boys come round. I sympathise. As he said, in his day it was just Corn Flakes or Weetabix. Now the list is endless!

Sometimes when we're in the supermarket and we get to the cereals aisle, my wife says to me, "Choose one you like," I just stand there mesmerised! I normally go for Just Right, not because it's just right but because it more like Ok Really and I can't decide on anything else.

Stacey suggests he buys a Variety Pack, but he doesn't think it's a good idea. "Tell me this," he says, "Who would eat the Ricicles?" "Good point," Stacey observes.

But I have some other questions about Variety Packs. Why is it in a pack of eight there is always a duplicate? And why is it one of the more boring ones? Come on Kelloggs, you can do better than that! And another thing, how come when the daughter and two grand kids came and stayed over for one night last weekend, there was only three out of an eight Variety Pack left? Can someone tell me the answer to that?

[By the way, the Gavin & Stacey clip is eight minutes in to www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007nf70 ]

Christmas at Church

A Baptist minister once said to me that he had to move to another church because he'd run out of ideas for things to do at Christmas! I've actually found that God has always inspired me to do something, hopefully, fairly creative each year. However, having moved church this year (NOT for the above reason, I must add!), I have plenty of resources up my sleeve - recycling at its best! Having said that, at the Beavers' carol service last week I re-told the Christmas story in a way I've not done before.

First of all, let me say I believe the Christmas story needs to be re-told each year. I know we did it last year, but that's the point of celebrating Christmas, re-telling the story, so the next generation hear it. I took along some Christmas cards and, showing them one at a time, asked them whether the picture on the front was part of the Christmas story or not. We sorted them into two piles. My favourite was one of Santa in shorts sitting on a beach! They thought it was fairly odd until I pointed out the words on the front, "Happy Christmas from down under!" It was from a friend of ours who lives in Australia.

Having discarded the cards that weren't part of the Christmas story, I then went through the rest of the cards, telling the story as I went. I also scanned in the cards, so they came up on a PowerPoint presentation, to ensure even those at the back could see them.

You need, of course, to have cards that go through the different aspects of the story. If you think it's a good idea, go through the Christmas cards you receive and keep a selection for next year (assuming you've planned your Christmas talks already for this year!).

I'm also doing a "Cracker for Jesus" on Sunday and pulling some smaller crackers on Christmas Day. I'll blog about them later - but not until I've done them - some of my congregation read this blog!

A Media Prayer

I read a prayer yesterday. It was prayed at the first Daily Service broadcast by the BBC in 1932. Although the wording in places was not what we'd use today, the sentiments seemed just as appropriate now. Not just for radio but for television also; and not just for the BBC, but for all radio and TV stations.

So here is the prayer, slightly updated by me to fit today's scene:

O God, we ask your blessing on all who have the responsibility of directing the affairs of the BBC and all radio and television stations in our land. Grant them courage and divine common sense, so that listeners and viewers may receive real re-creation of mind and spirit, and truth may flourish in our land and go forward to the ends of the earth.

Inspire all who speak or sing or play with noble ideals, that they may give of their best whether light-hearted or grave, instructive or humourous - that all may feel they are filling a real purpose in life for the common good.

We ask it through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It seems to me a prayer that really needs to be prayed these days! So, if you pray, take a moment to pray that prayer today.

Free at last?

I heard yesterday that the SNP want to hold a referendum in Scotland as to whether it should become independent. However, Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MSPs say they will combine to oppose the idea of a referendum.

I just thought, if the SNP want a "yes" vote for Scottish Independence, why don't they hold the referendum in England?

The Perils of Christmas Carols

I recently came across some "Health, Safety and Equality Considerations for Christmas Songs" and I shared some of them with my congregation this morning. For any of you preparing for Carol services, I thought these guidelines may be helpful. Here they are:

The Rocking Song

Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, do not stir;
We will lend a coat of fur,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you:

1. Fur is no longer appropriate wear for small infants, both due to risk of allergy to animal fur, and for ethical reasons. Therefore a nice cellular blanket or micro-fleece material should be considered as a suitable alternative.

2. A full risk assessment should be carried out before any attempt at rocking the cradle is made. Furthermore, the baby must be restrained in the cradle with a safety harness complying with United Nations ECE Regulation R44.04.

3. Only persons who have been subject to a Criminal Records Bureau check and have an enhanced disclosure should be permitted to rock baby Jesus.

Little Donkey

Little donkey, little donkey on the dusty road
Got to keep on plodding onwards with your precious load

1. The RSPCA have issued strict guidelines with regard to how heavy a load a donkey of small stature is permitted to carry. Also included in the guidelines is information regarding how often to feed the donkey and how many rest breaks are required over a four hour plodding period.

2. Please note that due to the increased risk of pollution from the dusty road, Mary and Joseph are required to wear face masks to prevent inhalation of any airborne particles.

3. The donkey has expressed his discomfort at being labelled 'little' and would prefer just to be simply referred to as Mr. Donkey. To comment upon his height or lack thereof may be considered an infringement of his equine rights.

While Shepherds Watched

While shepherds watched their flocks by night

all seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord came down

and glory shone around.

1. The union of Shepherds has complained that it breaches health and safety regulations to insist that shepherds watch their flocks without appropriate seating arrangements being provided, therefore benches, stools and orthopaedic chairs are now available.

2. Shepherds have also requested that due to the inclement weather conditions at this time of year they should be able to watch their flocks via cctv cameras from centrally heated shepherd observation huts.

3. As a safety precaution, before the angel of the Lord shines his/her glory around, all shepherds should be issued with glasses capable of filtering out the harmful effects of UVA, UVB and Glory rays.

Finally, thank you for your co-operation in these matters. We hope you have a Happy Wintermas.

Scientists agree with common sense (again!)

In the newspaper yesterday there was an article entitled, "Scientists give grubby children a clean bill of health" Researchers have discovered germs that live on our skin and are actually good for us and help dampen down overactive immune systems. But the age of antibacterial sprays, wipes and everything else is actually leading to more people suffering from things like hay fever and eczema.

Well, we've been saying it for ages! Now science has proved common sense right all along.

Of course, all this antibacterial stuff kills something like 99.9% of germs. That's good, isn't it? But what about the 0.1% that doesn't get destroyed? It develops immunity from what's supposed to kill it off and a "super bug" is born.

So my unscientific mind says all this insistence on hygiene has caused increased cases of minor problems like eczema and increased cases of major problems posed by super bugs.

Oh well, that's progress - isn't it?

Shopping Slip Up

Yesterday evening was late night shopping at our Debenham's, so we went. We did manage to do some of our Christmas shopping, but I wanted to tell you about an 'incident' and the absurdity of what people sometimes say.

A assistant was mopping the floor and a girl of about 12 slipped over on it. The assistant pointed to the "Caution, wet floor" sign. The girl, as she got up, said, "Sorry!" WHY?? She had done nothing wrong. The assistant said, "Be careful!" Rather redundant as she had already slipped over!

Oh, the joys of late-night shopping ...

Charge!

I read a little while ago that mobile phone companies had agreed a standard connection for chargers so you don't have to have a different one for every phone. One day it may become reality. Until then ...

I have a charger for my mobile phone. My wife has three chargers, one for her work phone, one for her personal phone and one for her bluetooth. They are all in a plastic bag in a drawer.

What I want to know is, why is it that when I try to find my charger, it's always the fifth one I get hold of?

On Sunday morning we were looking at St Peter walking on the water to Jesus - we did an "in-depth" study! It's actually a hard thing to imagine.

For instance, take the picture in the right, at first glance I thought he was surfing!

But back to the story, which you can read in the Bible, Matthew 14:22-33. Two points that struck me.
The first one was that Peter didn't venture onto the water until Jesus had said, "Come". People talk about Peter's foolishness but it wasn't about foolishness but about obedience. I noticed that when Peter began to sink and Jesus rescued him, Jesus didn't ask, "Why did you do it?" No, he asked, "Why did you doubt?"

Secondly, why did Peter do it? St Mark's Gospel tells us that Jesus was "about to pass them by." I think Peter saw that Jesus might pass them by and he thought:

Better to be what appears to be in danger out on the water , but with Jesus,
- than in the apparent safety of the boat without Jesus.

Sometimes life seems a little risky when we follow Jesus, but better to be with Jesus, doing his will, than without him doing our own thing!

Opinion Polls

On reading my blog below about Afghanistan and the opinion polls, a friend pointed me to the following clip from Yes Minister:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yhN1IDLQjo
Proving that there are lies, damned lies and statistics (or something like that Winston Churchill said).

Last Night's News

WE sat down to watch the BBC 10 o'clock news last night, wanting to keep up with what's happening in the world.

The main item was that the man accused of masterminding the 9/11 bombing of the twin towers is to stand trial in New York, not far from Ground Zero. He is currently being held in Guantanamo Bay. Informative though this is, was it the MOST important thing that happened in the world yesterday? And it wasn't just the facts that were reported, we also had interviews of people, some who think he should never be allowed to tread on America's soil, others who think it's right he is tried there.

After about seven minutes, the BBC had milked the story as far as they could and we passed on to other news. And only just in time - I was fast losing the will to live!

Afghanistan

We heard a few days ago about another of those public opinion polls - this time about the war in Afghanistan, done for the BBC's Politics Show. It was taken as the public's support for the war is declining. But then I had a look at the questions asked.

It was one of those "Do you agree or disagree with the statement" type of surveys. The first one was, I feel I have a good understanding of the purpose of Britain's mission in Afghanistan. 42% disagreed, which means they admit to not understanding the purpose of the mission. However, 64% agreed with, The war in Afghanistan is unwinnable. But how can that many say that when 42% don't understand the mission in the first place?

Another statement was, All British forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan as quickly as possible and 63% agreed. But surely isn't that what everyone should want, whether or not they agree with the war? I can't see that says anything about whether people 'support' the war or not.

The lesson for me, Don't just listen to the 'spin'!

Addenda on Poppies

Further to my blog below, let me add two things.

Firstly, in spite of what I said, I was seen walking through Basildon wearing a poppy on Saturday. This was because I bought one and the lady insisted she pinned it on me. That was very nice of her, of course. However, it will go on a different jacket next Sunday, Remembrance Sunday, so it is sitting safely on my bedside cabinet.

Secondly, I have to admit to having a 'spare' poppy in my bedside cabinet drawer! This is the previous year's poppy I bought and it is a "panic spare" in case I can't find mine on Sunday morning. I will throw it away after Sunday, and this year's will become the spare.

It's all very logical, and necessary as, being out the front on Sunday, I don't want to be embarrassed without a poppy!

Poopy Day or Poppy Month?

There's been debate in the media about when one should start to wear one's poppy. What has happened? When I was a kid you bought your poppy and on Remembrance Sunday you wore it.

And for me, the same will apply this year. At the time of writing I haven't yet bought a poppy, but I will do, and I will wear it in my lapel on Sunday 8 November - Remembrance Sunday.

This is not because I'm ashamed of wearing it or I don't support the cause. Of course I support it! But I don't see the point in wearing it other than on the day.

Again, when I was young there were a number of "Flag Days". One that comes to mind was the "Alexandra Rose Day" where you put some money in the collector's tin, received a paper pink rose with a pin and you wore it there and then, for that day. There was also one for the Lifeboats, I remember.

So I'm not going round for the next week with the message, "Look I'm good I've bought a poppy" on my lapel, but I WILL have supported the cause!

One hundred years

It was our church's 100th anniversary weekend last week. One of the ways we celebrated it was to have a flower festival. There was an arrangement for each decade and we had the 1920's - a time of celebration and optimism after the war to end all wars. The Charleston was the dance of the moment and jazz became popular.

Our arrangement tried to illustrate this (click on it to get a larger image). How did we do?


Thanks to our son-in-law for the loan of the art deco mirror. He's actually wanting to sell it - look out for it on E-Bay!

Indescribable

I've just found a video with the song Indescribable by Chris Tomlin. I've seen a number on YouTube but this one includes signing. Can't decide whether to watch the pictures or watch the signer! Both can help you worship!

Catch it on http://www.youtube.com/user/ozricus#p/u/ The song begins after 30 seconds. Watch it and worship!

Running repairs

On my cycle journey to work I cross over a railway bridge. One day I noticed a man beside the track with a chequered flag. I asked a friend who knows about these things (as he's something big in railway stations!) and he told me the man waves a chequered flag when a train is coming to notify another man to signal to those working on the line that a train is imminent. This extra man is only needed when there is a curve in the line and the lookout cannot see far enough down the track.

However I have my own suspicions. I think they were racing two trains, one down each track, and the man with the chequered flag was at the finish line. Probably one was driven by Lewis Hamilton and the other by Jensen Button.

Which reminds me, isn't it fantastic the current and previous F1 world champions have both been British? Actually, both are English, which is even better!

I have to admit that I sometimes feel guilty at watching F1 as the sums of money that are spent could probably feed the world and also the carbon footprint - or bootprint - must be incredibly huge! But it's a nice way to relax on a Sunday afternoon (or whenever we watch the recording) and a good opportunity for a nap half way through.

Weekend away

We have just returned from a weekend away in Lowestoft, as a kind of short break. In spite of high pressure, it managed to rain as well as some sun shine - and once both together as the photo shows.

It was cold, and I couldn't understand why there were surfers out. I didn't know Lowestoft was known for its rollers, but it clearly is (see photo below)!

On the first day we decided to go mad, as all three of us are proud possessors of bus passes, to go to Oulton Broad by bus! That's where we saw the rainbow, by the way. We also decided to risk a game of crazy golf. I wasn't too sure after reading the health and safety warning! That's the other photo, click on it to enlarge. And the sign didn't even mention the danger of flying golf balls!

The hotel we stayed in was very pleasant. The food was good, as was the service. However I feel I should draw your attention to this bit of information in the welcome folder:

If you would like to order a room service Breakfast simply complete the Breakfast Form that has been provided at the back of this folder, and then hang outside your bedroom door and inform Reception before retiring.

We decided it would be more comfortable to go to the dining room for breakfast.

Saving the planet

We all want to do our bit to cut down our carbon emissions, don't we? But, like me, you may be a little fed up with the obvious things like turning down the heating thermostat by one degree and putting in energy saving light bulbs and only putting in the water you need when you boil up a kettle. After all, we're doing these things already, aren't we?

But hang on a minute. Going back to turning the thermostat down one degree. In our current house and in our previous house, there wasn't a room thermostat to turn down! Both houses had a new boiler recently fitted and thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) on each radiator. This means each room can be controlled rather than one thermostat for the whole house.

BUT the room thermostat works by turning off the pump. Even if all the TRVs are off, the pump is still working. This has two consequences that occur to me. Firstly, because the pump is on all the time, it will need to be replaced sooner. Secondly, you are wasting electricity by having the pump working all the time the boiler is on.

During autumn and spring, our boiler may be on for the usual 3 hours in the morning and 6 hours in the evening, but for a maybe half that time, the house is warm enough and the room thermostat would shut off the pump. That's the equivalent of at least two NON-low energy light bulbs on for about four and a half hours a day!

So don't worry about all your items on standby if you're wasting that kind of power each day!

Actually it's easy enough to install a room thermostat if you are able to do that kind of thing, because boilers normally have the required electrical terminals there ready.

So there you are. Today's tip for really getting to grips with your carbon footprint!

Freeview let-down

Further to earlier blogs about the Freeview retune last week (use the keyword 'freeview' in the search window, top left), the news is not so good. Having rejoiced at the re-appearance of More4 and the ITV channels, they've gone and disappeared again!

As ITV goes back to my childhood, why is it that now I'm in my 60's (early 60's I stress!), all of a sudden it disappears from my screen? With all this wonderful new technology that's around, what's going wrong?

I was trying to think of an appropriate word to describe this latest freeview escapade. I can't decide between "disaster", "rubbish" or "abject failure" (sorry, that last one is two words!).

Where does Sunday fit in?

I want to complain about something in Microsoft Outlook, but I don't know who to complain to, so I've decided to blog about it instead!

I happened to notice that today (Tuesday) two emails which arrived on Sunday are in the "Last Week" column. But Sunday is NOT the final day of last week. It's the FIRST day of this week!

I know Sunday is rapidly becoming like any weekday, with many shops open, but for me it's the day I celebrate with my Christian friends the resurrection of Jesus Christ who rose on the first day of the week - Sunday!

We start the week with Sunday, a day for rest, recreation and worship, not Monday, which is the first day back at work after the weekend!

Binge drinking

At the Labour party conference, the problems of drinking have surfaced with the promise of "drink asbos", which apparently, is not new as Councils already have the powers. I also read that alcohol retailers and producers are meeting this week to talk about the possibility of promoting lower strength drinks.

But all of this is reacting rather than treating the cause. Go back a few years when "alcopops" first came out, we said it would cause kids to drink too much. We were told by the industry that wouldn't happen, but of course it has. More recently 24 hour drinking was introduced and we said it would give rise to more drink problems. We were told it wouldn't, but it has.

So, will they ban alcopops? No, of course they won't! Will we go back to limiting licensing hours? Of course we won't! And that's because in both cases the drinks industry might see a downturn in profits and that could never happen!

There are other possibilities. I suspect many wine drinkers are unaware of the steady increase in potency of wine. From 10% or so some years ago, wines are routinely 13% or more. That is a CONSIDERABLE jump! So why not put a greater duty on stronger wines? It has been mooted and scorn poured on the idea. Why is that? Oh, of course, it might dent the producers' profits again!

Another idea is to stop supermarkets cutting the price of drinks and pubs and bars having "happy hours". Another sensible idea. But this time it's the retailers who pour scorn on this - I'm sure you've guessed why - it's all about profit!

Welcome to the age when multi-national industry rules the country and governments do as they are told.

Freeview retune continued ...

Further to this morning's blog (below), I have now retuned my freeview box and ITV is back! So is More4 which had also disappeared without a trace, which means we can now record the programme "Without a Trace"! If you've not heard of that, it's an American drama series about the FBI missing persons section, and their hunt for those who have disappeared.

But I couldn't find any recordable episodes of "Numbers", another American crime drama, also about the FBI, but crimes are solved with the help of a mathematician. OK, I know it's silly, but it's good entertainment, and I like the home scenes of the two brothers and their Dad. You'll have to watch it to understand!

We watch to see how long it is before the maths professor says "algorithm" - normally it's not long!

Freeview retune

Today is the day to retune your freeview box if you have one. We have found reception was better in Brentwood than it is here in Laindon. In fact, after a few weeks here, ITV channels suddenly went blank. So I retuned and they disappeared entirely! I tell a lie - the one that remained was ITV2+1. Where, exactly is the logic in that?

I will retune very soon now. But the website tells me that ITV will be "variable reception", as will Channel 5. So this retune is not an improvement then!

Back to Church last Sunday

Last Sunday was "Back to Church Sunday". We had a number of visitors, there were over 60 people in our congregation, which was very encouraging. So well done to all who invited people, whether or not they did actually come! There's always another time if they didn't come!

We heard the story of Zacchaeus, read and acted out before us; about how he climbed the tree, but Jesus called him down, invited himself round to his gaff and basically changed his life. We also had a quiz on the story, the last question being the stinger - spelling Zacchaeus! Could you have spelt it correctly if you didn't have it in front of you??

If you go to church, I hope your church has as good and as encouraging a time as we did!

Basildon Heritage

I wrote a while back, a little disparagingly I must admit, about the "Basildon Heritage Trail". Well, a few weeks back we tried it out. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but today we went back into Basildon and I did have my camera. So here are a few photos.

First of all the Armillary Sundial, "a symbol of optimism and progress." I rather like it but I don't really know how it symbolises "optimism and progress". Unless the optimism bit is that the sun will be out in order to tell the time - which it wasn't. But never mind!


On to the "Mother and Child fountain". This was being 'maintained' last time and behind hoardings, so it was nice to see it working again. But I'm not sure what the mother and child are actually doing ...

People had thrown money into the pool and we wondered, "WHY?" But if the Council collects it up and puts it into their coffers, we might get a reduction on the Council Tax. After all, every little helps!

Next is an untitled sculpture in aluminium and wire. Maybe he didn't know what to call it - come to think of it, neither do I. But it deserves a special mention as the oldest piece of public art in town - dated at 1957.

Finally a sundial and compass built into the paving stones. It's rather good as you stand on the correct position and become the sundial yourself, pointing to the time. That is, if the sun is shining, which it wasn't, of course!

But what deserves special mention is that you have to stand on the correct month of the year, to take into account that sundials can be up to about 35 minutes out. This is because the earth has an elliptical orbit (I learnt all this from an elderly man who had a passion for sundials and gave us a talk all about it when we were in Barnet).

Another exhibit in the Trail you can partly see in the sundial picture below is the Basildon bell tower. "The only steel and glass bell tower in the world" Wow! What a first for Basildon! Actually, the Trail is worth doing. Well, if you live close by, I'm not expecting people to travel for 100's of miles ...

Basildon Musings

We cycled in to Basildon this morning. The first shop we went to was Maplin and the lad said items over a certain amount are removed and just the empty boxes are displayed because of the incidents of theft. They can't even leave batteries out without them getting stolen, he said. Then we went into the bakers and the lady suggested we moved our bags to under the seat because there's been a spate of bag snatching.

You might be thinking the day didn't start very well, but that's not true. We stopped at one point to take a picture (see blog above ...). There were two lads sitting on a seat, one with a mobile phone. One of them asked us if we enjoyed our cycling, where we had come from, etc. There are nice lads out there - even if they are wearing hoodies!

But back to the bakery. They advertised a "Meal Deal" of a sausage roll, jam doughnut and a bottle of water for £1.49. A meal deal it may be, but not a balanced meal deal! My wife did, however, point out that it was diet water!

At this point I was making notes, so I'd remember what to blog and thinking back to the thefts from Maplins I wrote down "battery knickers", then realised there shouldn't be the 'k' at the beginning of 'nickers'. My wife, seeing what I had written, said, "That would bring tears to the eyes!"

It wasn't too serious a trip to Basildon.

We were looking at 'Worship' on Sunday last week, and then at our Bible Study. We find a glimpse of heavenly worship in Isaiah's vision. There the worship of the seraphs was expressed in these words:
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.

It occurred to me that there's a tension between the two lines. The first expresses in no uncertain terms the "otherness" of God, in that God is "thrice holy", as someone once commented. God would seem to be far from us, in his heavenly temple, with seraphs attending him. He is the transcendent God.

Yet the next line says his glory fills the earth! He is not just "above the clouds", far from any of us. In fact his glory spills out over all the earth.

These two points each pose a different challenge. The first is a helpful counter-balance when we get too familiar with God. Yes, he is our Friend, but he is also holy, almighty God and we stand in awe of him.

The challenge in the second line is to recognise his glory on earth. As we look around it's easy to trouble, tribulation and torment; to see injustice, hunger and suffering. Where is God's glory? Maybe it's in the beauty of the countryside, if I will stop long enough to notice it. Maybe it's in the kind deed, the positive word, even just the smile of one person to another.

I was standing in the queue waiting to pay at the Tesco petrol station on Saturday. I was aware there was an older man in the queue behind .me. A younger man came in and said to him (I can't remember the exact words), "Thank you for backing up to let me through, that was really good of you. You've restored my faith in human nature. Have a nice day," and walked out.

Full marks to the older man who gave way and full marks to the younger man who came in to thank him!

It ain't all bad out there!"

Things must get quieter!

Someone complained to me that my last three blogs have been depressing! So, sorry about that to all my readers! Actually I'm hoping things will settle down. It's been a hectic two and a half months.

In that time I've started a new job, we celebrated the birth of our fourth grandchild, we moved house, we celebrated our ruby wedding anniversary and my wife celebrated an important birthday (one ending in a nought!). The final one was celebrated with family coming round to one of our daughters and a bouncy castle in the garden. No broken limbs I hasten to add, and most people had a bounce!

But back to everyday living, which is not without hassle. For instance, we received our first Christmas catalogue last week!

Oh, and by the way, apart from a garbled message left on our answerphone, we've not heard anything yet from Virgin Media ...

Moving Tribulations - the Latest

Further to the blog about our letters of complaint.

The one to Nationwide resulted in a lady ringing up, apologising for the problems and explaining that the third person I spoke to had got it wrong and a report was going to her and her manager. She also promised £50 in compensation for the problems and to reimburse the telephone calls, etc we had to make (it's an 0845 number, and not free on our service!).

So that's that one. The second letter of complaint was to Virgin Media. Have we heard from them yet? What do you think ? ...

The Gas Saga

I promised to tell you about our gas problems. When we entered the house before we actually moved in, we thought we could smell gas. So the second time I called the gas emergency service. The man came, and in his normal helpful way said, "You've got a leak," turned the gas off and walked out with a smile on his face.

So we called in a gas engineer from the yellow pages who took a long time but in the end found a leak. A joint had not been soldered properly and he said he had to report it to Gas Safe. That is the new body which has replaced Corgi. He said they would send someone round to inspect, then we could have the gas connected.

A day or so later the person dealing with things on behalf of the church telephoned Gas Safe to ask why he'd not heard and was told as they didn't have his telephone number, they had written and he'd have to wait for the letter. It duly came and told us to phone up to make an appointment (!?!) Why couldn't the woman have made the appointment when he spoke to her? We haven't got an answer to that one.

The earliest they could do was a fortnight later, which meant we would be without gas for two weeks - no hot water, heating or cooking. But that wasn't their problem they said, their inspectors are fully booked up. After I (unusually for me) got rather upset over the phone, she found out that another inspector could do it a few days earlier.

It was all a bit of a storm in a teacup, and the problems were rectified the same day. Except that there seemed to be another leak. This one was under the concrete floor, in a pipe that was laid when the house was built. So a few days later, a new gas pipe was laid to the kitchcen and all was well.

So, another letter of complaint, this one about how Gas Safe handled things. I mentioned Gas Safe to another gas engineer, who said, "They are a shambles. They are worse than Corgi." His words, not mine!

The Tribulations of Moving House

Moving house is supposed to be a highly stressful thing to do. Apart from anything else, there's all the people whom you have to notify of your change of address. What makes it all the more stressful is when they get it all wrong, and you have to endure more phone calls and call centres.

For us, let me give you our top three:

1. Virgin Media

I reported favourably a little while back. Well, I take it all back now! In our previous house we had telephone and broadband via a BT line. Our new house, however, has cable, so I asked for the old service to end at our old house and a new service to begin at our new house. That was OK, they said. "Could I keep my old email address?" I asked. "Yes," they replied.

When I rang up to check on something I asked again about using the old email address and they said it was no problem. Connecting up at the new house went smoothly and I had various "automated emails" telling me my old service was ending.

Then I got a bill for another month's broadband and calls on the old house! On ringing up they said it was an error and they would cancel it. I just asked again about ensuring that we kept our old email address and was told, "Oh, no! That goes when the old contract ends!"

So, folks, if you email us, it will soon change! In the meantime I'm composing my letter of complaint for misleading me, presumably so they could get the sale ...

By the way, do watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNBjV10X64A a song about the fact that if you die, Virgin media still bill you for broadband. Very funny ... unless it happens to you.

2. Nationwide

As we don't own the house we have moved into, we are not responsible for buildings insurance. We had both buildings and contents insurance with Nationwide. So the request was quite straightforward really - end the buildings insurance and transfer the contents insurance to our new address.

The telephone call seemed to go well enough. But then I got 2 different letters on the same day, saying different things, and neither was what I'd requested! Another telephone call and the person seemed to understand what had happened and all seemed well. Until I got the letter from that saying they had cancelled the buildings insurance and they would be happy to quote for contents. What!?! I rang them up. To transfer the contents insurance was not possible (why did the first person not tell me??). So there was about 6 days during which I was not insured.

Finally I've got contents insurance on the new place. That letter of complaint will be written after the one to Virgin Media ...

3. esure car insurance

When I rang to tell them my address change, I had just received their letter to tell me it would soon be renewal time. So I asked about this on the phone. The premium would be the same, he told me. I asked if there was a better deal, and all of a sudden my new address means it's about £50 cheaper! Had I not asked, of course, I think the original cost would have remained. "Customer loyalty" these days means you get more expensive premiums. Always shop around - OR - just ask for a better deal!

But back to esure. Nothing came through, so I rang. You know they ask you for your postcode and your house number, and the rest of the address comes up automatically. Well they did that, so they sent it to my new house number and postcode, but the rest of the address was the old one??!? After this came a flurry of letters and motor insurance certificates! The best one insured me from 14/09/2009 to 13/09/2009 Yes, that's right! I was insured for minus one day! Does this mean I pay a negative premium?

They seem to have got it right now, and only two phone calls later!

So, there we are. The joys of moving house!

The Future of Transportation

We've just received a leaflet through the door about sert, which stands for "South Essex Rapid Transit". You may be forgiven for thinking it's people of Basildon who've eaten too many of those "friendly bacteria".

But actually it's a a tram service, but without the tracks. Or, if you like, a bus service running (partly) on dedicated roads. Sounds a good idea, until they break down - then they are presumably know as a "dead sert".

If I've whetted your appetite for sert, there's a video about it on their web site. Go to http://www.sert.org.uk/video.asp

Out of reach ...

The cupboards in the kitchen are higher than in our previous house, so we have bought one of those stools to stand on. In the Argos catalogue there was one in a nice off-white colour, so we ordered it. When we picked it up, it wasn't quite that colour as you can see from the picture!

As with anything, it comes with the mandatory safety warnings (the yellow label in the picture). It says, "Do not attempt to move the step while you are on it." As the wheels retract when you stand on it, it's difficult to see how you could possibly move it whilst on the stool.

It also says, "Always maintain two feet on the base during use." So now I'm puzzled. How do you get on it in the first place if you've got to have both feet on it all the time? I've got it, run up to it and jump onto it!

Oh, no! The last warning is "Never jump onto the step".

It's no good! We'll have to return it to Argos. Maybe they can explain how to use it and still keep to all the safety warnings. Or maybe they can't ...

Apologies to Loyal Readers

First of all my apologies to all those loyal readers out there who have noticed my lack of blogging recently.

My excuse is we have moved home, to Laindon, into the church house (known in Baptist circles as the Manse). It has been a traumatic time, trying to find a place for everything AND having the gas cut off. That's another story, which I'll tell you about another time.

I'm pleased to say we are in a cable area, so we are back with Virgin media, after 18 or so months with BT (say no more!). Virgin are much more friendly. I phoned up to get cable installed and did NOT have to wait in a queue. In fact "Geoff" answered, sorted it all out and left me a number which took you straight through to their office. When I did ring the number, I left a message asking Geoff to ring me back, and within an hour he did! Other large companies with call centres please note!!

But perhaps Virgin go a bit over the top in their friendliness, when the official letter you get from them to confirm everything is entitled, "Well hello there!" In it they tell me if I want to know more, "just take a peek at the leaflet we've tucked away with this letter."

But we mustn't complain about that - better than the 'stiff' letters from some other organisations, so generally it's a well done to Mr. Branson.

Money to money - at a price

I happened to notice in Tesco's one of those change counter machines. You pour in your miscellaneous coins and it counts them for you. It said on the machine, "Turn your coins into cash". Am I missing something? I always thought coins were cash already! The irony is, they charge you 7.9 pence in the pound for the privilege of having your coins counted. So it's in fact turn your cash into cash and lose 7.9% in the process!

I ought to say if you exchange your coins for goods bought in the supermarket, then you can have the full amount back you poured in. I remember someone once said that given you can buy just about anything at Tesco's, including insurance, why not have your salary paid direct to Tesco's? Then if there's anything left over at the end of the month, they can credit it to you. Seems the logical next step ...

More holiday reading

The book I mentioned in my previous blog I haven't finished. But I did finish a crime novel AND I finished a book that was in the 'library' at the hotel we were staying in Corfu. Among the usual range of novels there, I spotted John Stott's recent publication, The Living Church.

It was a good read. But I say that because I agree with what he says! However, it was still challenging. In other words I agree with what he says a living church should be, but how do we get there? How do we, at Laindon Baptist get there? I have some ideas, and I'll be sharing them with the deacons soon!

I also took away on holiday, The Green Bible, which is a version of the Bible where passages that speak about the environment are printed in green. It's interesting reading. Sometimes I think, "Why did they highlight that?" and at other times, "Why didn't they highlight that?"

But I found most interesting the "Green Subject Index" at the end. Looking at the passages in the Bible, for instance, that speak about pollution. It's obviously not about oil spillages or leaks of toxic chemicals. No, the ground is polluted by the spilling of blood on it. The ground is 'polluted' and does not grow crops as it should when there has been killing in the land.

In other words, when we sin, the land suffers. This is not surprising, as when Adam and Eve sinned, it didn't only mean their banishment from Eden, but the whole of creation was somehow affected (read about it in Genesis 3).

It therefore must mean that when we repent of sin, the land is also 'healed' of pollution. See 2 Chronicles 7:12 (which, oddly, isn't in green).

If you have seen the Transformations video, you may remember the town in Mexico (I think), where the harvests were transformed when many people turned to God.

It's a very interesting subject, which demands more study!

Holiday reading

I was reading a novel and it said something like, "a police car with siren wailing shot past the end of the cul-de-sac." My mind immediately pictured a police car tearing up a driveway from the garage of a house, across the front lawn of the house where the road ends, then down the drive of the next house.

And then I realised ... - but here's the question, Which 'end' of a cul-de-sac is the end and which is the beginning? To me the end is where the road ends and you can't get any further. Surely the police car shot past the beginning of the cul-de-sac?

Questions, questions!

By then I had lost my place in the book and lost the thread of the story. Maybe that's why I don't read many books.

A Moral Dilemma

I have a moral dilemma. When you go into a restaurant and order a tea or coffee and those little packets of sugar come, even though you don't take sugar, is it OK to pop them in your pocket and empty them into the sugar jar at home? Actually it's not a jar it's a plastic container with a snap-on lid - of course.

You see, I reckon you've paid for the sugar so you can do what you like with it. So why is it I wait until the waitress is nowhere to be seen and then surreptitiously place them in my pocket or pass them to my wife for her to slip into her handbag?

However I've worked out some reasoning. If the sugar packets come in the saucer, then I reckon I must have paid for them and I can pocket them if I like. But if they are in a dish on the table, it's questionable that I've paid for them, so I don't pocket any.

At the beginning of our holiday, however, things were sorted by my wife. It wasn't a moral answer to my dilemma. But when I was about to hand her a packet to slip into her handbag, she said, "We're not collecting more of those things!"

Problem solved.

Keeping up with the news ...

Even though we are abroad on holiday, I buy a newspaper to try to keep up with the news. In the paper yesterday I read that French women are turning their backs on sunbathing topless. Sales of monokinis (the bottom bit only of a bikini - I hadn't heard the word either!) are apparently falling.

The article harked back to 'French post 1968 society' where some insisted sunbathing topless was a woman's right, whereas "family groups claimed exposed nipples would scare children." Which is a bit odd seeing as their mother's nipples are one of the first things they actually see.

That is, unless they were bottle fed. A debate about that was featured in another article in the same paper.

It's good to keep up with the important news whilst on holiday!

Induction continued

Pictures now on blog entry two below!

To know Him is to love Him ...

I've blogged before about Christian discipleship, or "transformation" or "spiritual formation", or whatever term you like to use to talk about our growth in the Christian faith. It's an important subject and one that has had many books written about it; in the past and in the present.

I mentioned some while ago about what I call the three dimensions of spiritual growth - the inward, the upward and the outward. The inward dimension is learning more about God, the upward dimension is expressing our worship to God and the outward dimension is serving others for God.

There's an old hymn I like, one that has all but disappeared in recent times, We have not known Thee as we ought. This morning I was musing on the words and realised the author was talking about my three dimensions of growth. He writes about knowing, serving and loving God, which tie up with the inward, upward and outward.

And the point of this spiritual growth? As he says in the last verse, to prepare us to meet Jesus face to face one day!

This is the hymn:

We have not known Thee as we ought,
Nor learned Thy wisdom, grace, and power:
The things of earth have filled our thought,
And trifles of the passing hour:
Lord, give us light Thy truth to see,
And make us wise in knowing Thee.

We have not loved Thee as we ought,
Nor cared that we are loved by Thee:
Thy presence we have coldly sought,
And feebly longed Thy face to see:
Lord, give a pure and loving heart
To feel and know the love Thou art.

We have not served Thee as we ought;
Alas! the duties left undone,
The work with little fervour wrought,
The battles lost, or scarcely won!
Lord, give the zeal, and give the might,
For Thee to toil, for Thee to fight.

When shall we know Thee as we ought,
When shall we love and serve aright ?
When shall we, out of trial brought,
Be perfect in the land of light?
Lord, may we day by day prepare
To see Thy face, and serve Thee there.

T. B. Pollock, 1836-96.

Induction

I have been very remiss in that I have not blogged about my Induction last week to the pastorate of Laindon Baptist Church. It was a great morning with a good mixture of formality and informality. The church was brilliant in preparing the church with 50 extra chairs, kindly borrowed from the local Methodist Church and of course in preparing a feast for everyone afterwards.


My appreciation goes also to everyone who came, not just from Laindon, but also friends, going back from the three churches I have pastored, and even one family from the church we were at before God called me into the ministry. Also, thanks to family who came and supported me.

What's all that about?

The English cricket team are currently playing (and losing!) the first Ashes test in Cardiff. But hang on a minute! Cardiff is in WALES, not England! How does that work??

On a completely different subject, on BBC London News earlier this week Riz Lateef was interviewing someone about something. I don't remember what it was about because he was standing in front of Tower bridge, which was OPEN! As the interview went on, what looked like a Thames sailing barge went through and then the bridge started to close. I think I've only ever seen it open twice in my life!

But Riz completely ignored it! And, the camera angle moved so that they could put up a visual next to the person, and that blocked our view of the bridge closing!

Some things are more important than news, and you just have to pause your life to watch ...

It's off to work I go ...

On Wednesday 1 July I started my new job! And guess what, there was a traffic jam on the A127 that I use to get to work, because of an accident.

Actually the accident was on the other carriageway, which was closed for quite some time. The reason for our delay was what has become known as "rubbernecking". That is, people slowing down to see what has happened. This, as the term implies, is seen as a bad thing - people gawping at an accident.

But, wait a minute. What if everyone drove on without a second glance? How callous would that mean we as a nation had become?

If I see an accident like that I actually take the opportunity to pray for those involved, their family and those who will be helping them, whether that's medically, practically or spiritually.

I recommend you do it also - but, of course, if you're driving, you must pray with your eyes open!

Another Heritage trail

I've just found out that Basildon in Essex has a heritage trail. So what, you may be thinking. But Basildon is only 60 years old! I think my understanding of the meaning of "heritage" must differ from theirs!

But, as we will be moving near to Basildon, we have decided we'll do it. It's all in the leaflet. We will see, among many other sights, Basildon Bus Station (opened in 1961), the Kingswood Medical Centre, the Westgate Shopping Centre and not forgetting the Eastgate Shopping Centre.

And we mustn't miss two water features, a fountain and a sundial.

However, there is a school which was built in 1877 and a church built around 1254. In fact they are the first and second items on the trail. Maybe you could call it a day there ...

Saving time ...

I pulled in to the Tesco filling station and there was only one available pump. It turned out to be a "pay at pump" one. I'm not greatly fond of those, but never mind, I thought.

I was surprised to see the "strap line" for the service is "save two minutes". Yes, folks it's two minutes quicker to pay at the pump! Have we really got to the point that two minutes is so important? If so, I think something has gone seriously wrong with the pace of society.

Oh, by the way, the pay at pump service wasn't working, so I had to traipse ten yards to pay the cashier. Oh, just to think of all the things I could have done in those two minutes!

The Joys of Essex

As we live in Essex we recently received Essex Works, a magazine produced by Essex County Council. In a 'feature' article it extolled the virtues of "Thinking local, buying local". It included the joys of holidaying in Essex and thus your spending stays within the county and supports the local community.

To support this, there were some pictures. One, uncaptioned, shows a bit of the Thames estuary. It is in fact a picture of part of Canvey Island, taken from somewhere near Hadleigh castle (for those of you who know the area). What they don't mention is just to the right but out of the picture is the oil refinery...

Then there's a picture captioned "Southend pier", except that it's not Southend pier, it's Clacton pier! I assume the editor doesn't himself holiday in Essex.

Why is it?

Why is it that when someone wakes up from a nightmare in a film, they always sit bolt upright? No-one ever does in reality, do they? Least of all if the nightmare is about a dodgy broadband connection!

And why is it that in a TV crime drama, when the title role policeman turns up at the murder scene, the pathologist has beaten him there by quite some time and is able to give a verbal report immediately? I mean, the policeman was on duty and the pathologist was only on call ...

Why is it that after I sweep and then wash the floor, half an hour later I see more dirt sitting on the floor? Where does it come from?

And now a "Why was it?" We travelled down Ongar Road on Friday morning to find ourselves held up by temporary traffic lights due to road works. However, the road works were almost complete and when we went down the road later in the day, as I thought, the road was completely open. HOWEVER, the traffic lights were still there and working! So traffic was dutifully stopping for oncoming traffic, even though the whole road was clear! How bizarre was that??

Starting soon!

Just to keep you up to date, my post as pastor at Laindon Baptist Church begins on 1 July. My induction service is Saturday 4 July and if any of you reading this who know me would like to come, please get in touch with me for more details.

Thank you to all who have been praying for us over the last nine months or so, it's all been very much appreciated.

A Good Day Out!

At a church I know quite well there is to be an outing this week for the senior citizens' Friendship Hour. Helpfully the coach can take wheelchairs and has a lift.

The outing includes a two course carvery lunch, a demonstration at "The Chocolate Lady" (luxury chocolates can be purchased), followed by a cream tea.

I suspect the lift will get increasing use as the day goes by!

Pentecost

Last Sunday was Pentecost, used to be known as Whitsun. It's when we Christians remember the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the believers just after Christ's ascension.


At the weekend there was a Pentecost Festival in Central London. On the Saturday we went up to London and had a great day. The good weather helped a lot, of course! There were load of free attractions. My wife attended a Christian fashion show and a make-up demonstration whilst I went to a more serious lecture about God and Darwin (fewer people at that than at the fashion show, it has to be said!).


We listened to music on a boat moored on the Thames (and ate our lunch). There was more open air music at the bandstand in Embankment Gardens and on the open air stage at Leicester Square. We also went to a small cafe in Soho where Viz-a-Viz theatre company were performing. There was loads more happening. Incidentally, we had a cup of tea outside the National theatre on the South Bank where there's a giant three piece suite, table and lamp stand! See picture below. I'm not sure why they are there, but at least you don't have to tell the kids to stop climbing on the furniture!

There were also ticketed events and we went to hear Adrian Plass in the evening. A good way to round off a very enjoyable day. Well done to the organisers of it, and it must have needed a great deal of organisation! It was, apparently a dream of Rob Frost to have such a festival, and I look forward to next year - as long as the weather is as good!

To Gft Aid, or maybe not ...

You know I'm not one to moan, but ...

Well, you know when you give money to a charity, you'll normally be asked to Gift Aid it. Now all our regular giving in this way is Gift Aided. But for a one-off gift, I have to remember the amount given as I have to include it on my tax form.

What happens is we're in a meeting and the 'offering' comes round and we're invited to put it in an envelope so it can be gift aided. But the organisation isn't going to write to me with a written record - so I have to remember to make a note. That may not seem too onerous, but when they come every evening for the duration of the Baptist Assembly, it's not as easy!

So we tend not to gift aid one-off gifts as it's not as simple as the charity would like us to believe! I've never heard them remind us to keep a note of what we give for tax purposes...

And then there's the bit we have to fill in on the envelope. I would have had to sign to say, "My tax bill this year will be more than the tax reclaim on this gift." As that envelope was given out in the first month of the new tax year, how can I be sure that statement will be true? And it seems to assume this is the only money I will gift aid this year, because in fact my tax bill has to be greater than ALL the gifts I gift aid.

Well, I'm happier now I have that off my chest! And I KNOW the Lord loves a cheerful giver, so let me just say we give cheerfully enough, it's just that gift aid bit ...

MPs' Expenses

Reading about the latest revelations of MPs' expenses I was wondering if the Bible had anything to say on the matter.

I thought about Douglas Hogg having work done on the waterway round his house and John Prentice having mock Tudor beams added to his house, and then I remembered - Jesus talked about motes and beams ...

I overheard on the radio recently it has been suggested the new speaker ought to be someone from a Picasso painting - 'ayes' to the right and 'noes' to the left.

Growing in faith

One of the hot topics in Christian circles is 'discipleship' or 'spiritual formation' . There are also others terms used, but the basic point is how we grow in our faith, rather than stagnate. Books have been written, and no doubt more will come! A friend of mine, a fellow Baptist minister, is studying this during his sabbatical.

In a recent sermon I preached about "transformation", the word used in Romans 12:1, where St Paul says, Do not conform yourselves any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. As I was preparing this it seemed to me that there were three 'dimensions' to spiritual growth - an inward dimension, an upward dimension and an outward dimension.

The inward dimension is studying our faith in God. It's the renewing of the mind that Paul speaks of. It draws us closer to God as we study Him. St Paul also wrote, Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. So we fill our minds with God's Word, because our minds influence our behaviour!

Maybe you can think of a time when you have been studying God's Word and He has spoken to you and helped your faith - that is the inward dimension at work.

The upward dimension is releasing our worship to God - worship from the heart. Although the whole of our lives should be an act of worship pleasing to God, we need to spend time specifically in worship to Him. This can be on our own, it should also be with others, so corporate worship times are important.

Maybe you can think of a time when you have been worshipping God and something has lifted your faith - that is the upward dimension at work.

Then there is the outward dimension, which is using our energies for God. He gives us spiritual gifts which he intends us to use for the benefit of others! Whether it is helping, serving or witnessing to others. However you can, reach out and get involved.

If possible go and visit Christians in another country and another culture. Especially if that is in the Third World. We have had the privilege of helping to run two Bible camps for young people in Poland - the first when both the iron curtain and the Berlin wall were still firmly in place! We have also made trips to India to see the work of Oasis India over there. We also spent a long weekend with the pastor of a church in Belgium.

These have been times when our faith is stretched and we're (as they say) out of our comfort zones! But these have been times when our faith has also been strengthened - the outward dimension at work.

All these three dimensions together help us progress in our Christian faith - all are needed. To summarise:

The inward dimension - with our minds - studying our faith in God
The upward dimension - with our hearts - releasing our worship to God
The outward dimension - with our bodies - using our energies for God

All of these dimensions must, of course, be surrounded by prayer - that goes without saying, although I've said it now, anyway! And I must tell my Baptist minister colleague I've blogged this - just in case it's useful in his sabbatical!

Should you want to,listen to the sermon, you can go to: www.laindonbaptistchurch.org/html/service2.html and right click on "Transformation".