What do you want to do?

We have a choice don't we? Well, life is about choices, from whether or not to have breakfast (you can't stop me having mine), to whether we choose to believe someone or not. I chose to collect all the dr who dvd's, yes the classics as well as the new ones. It was a decision i made, it is not a popular one in our household, as they have now been banished to an upstairs cupboard, but i will complete, yes i will complete.
We do 2 things this time of year. We look back and reflect and see what has gone on, and we look forward. This time of year we can choose something aswell. We choose to focus on one of those 2 things. We either choose, as we reflect, to stay in the past and to live our lives with no vision and expect nothing to change and we decide that we cannot influence anything, because we cannot make a diference. We live on past guilt, on past decisions that may or may not have gone well. We can spend our lives in the past. We can also choose to do the opposite and live for what we dream, what we would like to see in 2010. i suppose this is what new years resolutions are about. We can expect great things, we can make a difference and we can dream dreams.
Problem is, we have to hold them in the balance. I know people who do live in the past and are scared to dream, don't feel like they deserve happiness because of what has happened in the past. I also know people who live in past glories and will never admit that the dream is over but live on what has happened. Then again i know people who don't learn and who just keep making the same mistakes, over and over again, without realising they are going over old ground.
I would love to hear what your dreams are for this next year, maybe they are built on regrets of the past year, or maybe they are taking what has happened in the past and moving them onto the next level. Someone once said(someone very important), without vision the people perish. what's going to happen to you in 2010?

How do we read the Bible?

We have our annual conference each year @ Youth for Christ and each year we get some quality speakers. This year we are going to hear a legend call Lon Allison, who trained in musical theatre, so has a very unique way of communicating his theology. (I love it, bring on camelot again lol). Last year we had a guy called Leonard Sweet and his theme was the Bible: an apple, an orange or an ostrich egg. Basically he talked about how we are trained to read the bible as we eat an orange, dissecting it and taking it apart, but actually we miss a lot of good stuff by not looking at the bigger picture and seeing Gods heart for his people.
Alongside this I am starting to read some theories about how Jesus used the culture to explain his fathers heart. Not surprising as we do that all the time, using film, music, theatre, the arts to connect young people to the Gospel message. It is really challenging some of my thoughts on things that, as a traditionalist, i have taken as read. I love thinking things through and working out where and how God works. I think it is a real shame though, that when people challenge traditional thoughts that they get shunned and looked down upon for questioning. Doesn't God want us to own our faith, not have someone else's faith that tells us what to think. Jesus asked questions a lot of the time, to help people make their own mind up and realise what God was doing. Maybe some of the things we read are not about what we should do, but it is the meaning behind it. I remember revealing to someone that the good Samaritan didn't really happen and that it was just a story Jesus used. They were devastated. When do you last challenge the way you think? is it because you are scared what people think? is it because you are scared what you might think? God gave us a mind to use, and for us to understand. Go on....try it, you may be surprised, you may see the Bible in a different way.

Do children chill you out?

As i was contemplating over the last few days i have been, which has been quite difficult in a house with 2 small children (6 and 3 year old), around the Chritmas period. Which got me thinking even more. How has having children effected me? I know there are times when i get too stressed at them, and have to remind myself they rae only children, and half the time they don't mean what they do (I know that the other half they do mean it). But i think it has actually chilled me out in my life and my ministry. I do look forward to going home and enjoying hanging out with them. I enjoy taking them out with Laura, and not thinking about anything else. I think that when you have something that you can do that with (it doesn't have to be kids), that you can just live for the moment, the rest of your life flourishes. Yet when you let lifes toils and stresses take over you, it is tough to get your life back. I know that when Joel woke up at 5.45 this morning, i wasn't the best pleased, and i know that when Amy winges about her little brother, even when he just breathes, i have to remind myself of what I have, and what i am actually fortunate to have. And i think that my life, my ministry has all benefited from the 2 little bundles of joy that are growing up.

what gets you in the spirit?

So, now a week into December, I am letting myself getting into the Christmas mood. Maybe that was to do with the friends we saw on Saturday, and the first house that i have been to that has a Christmas tree up. Maybe it was watching my childrens nativity plays last week. Amy , playing Mary, not having a Joseph because he wouldn't come on stage (hopefully it will teach her that you can never trust a guy), and Joel, playing a shepherd, controlling his sheep with a hanky in one had and the thumb of his other stuck firmly in his mouth.
People, and particularly businesses, have been trying to get us into the Christmas spirit since September. With decorations being sold, christmas dinners being promoted and toys being advertised every other advert (in between dishwasher tablets)..we are, every year, brought towards the material side of Christmas quite quickly after the summer holidays. I wonder whether if we as Christians decided to bring the thought of Jesus birth forward that early, we wouldn't be too sorry, just imagine how many chocolates the advent calender would have to hold.
On a serious note, i love Christmas, i love the trimmings, i love the food, i love the tv shows (well, morecombe and wise and dr who obviously), but the fact that all that is a bi-product and that there is nothing more heart warming and special at Christmas than celebrating the birth of my friend and saviour, Jesus. Being a raving penty, you would be surprised to hear that i love going to a little church in my town every christmas eve, in the warm glow of soft lighting, and just remembering is beautiful. Come on guys let's make the main reason the main reason for the season.