click here for Dave Grohl's metal band Probot. He even teams up with Lemmy for this project!

"Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it."
- Jesus (Matthew 13:52 - The Bible)

The continuing journey...
A strange title to this post, but it seemed an appropriate name for my post-education steps. There are many things I know I want to learn and I have a basic idea of what I'm called to do, but there is so much unanswered that I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

I know that, having spent the last few years involved with the starting of the CV community, having gained certain experiences and grown in this context, I would like to do some consolidation of my learning. Perhaps this could take place through a mentoring relationship with a leader of a faith community - likely in the states, although there are other possibilities.

I met some great people at Doug and Michelle's wedding on Saturday and had some good conversations about the future with people who empathise. Any prayers or ideas as the course is set for my next leg of the journey would be much appreciated.

SL55 AMG
I had a ride in one of these yesterday, with Nick at the wheel. Boy can she shift. Goes from 0-60mph in just under 4 seconds.

I've been offline a few days - networking issues - but I'm back now. Doug and Michelle's wedding went real well and they're now off on their honeymoon in Edinburgh. It was good to see some old friends from Bristol Vineyard and meet some familiar faces.

This Christmas is turning out to be a good chance to relax and enjoy spending time with the people around us.

Happy Birthday!

Was Jesus a Welsh Boy?

Watching the weather forecast today I noticed on the map of Wales that there is a place called Bethlehem! Could it be that our saviour is actually Welsh?! Some would argue that of all the places appropriate for the saviour of the world to be born, the land of our fathers is clearly in the lead - but for years we had all bought into the 'palestinian' story. click here

Congestion charge revolution
Yesterday I went to Bristol with Chris - it was part of my birthday present from him. On the way over we got chatting about politics and somehow ended up discussing the idea of real high congestion charges in big cities (e.g. £80 to enter within a 10 mile radius with a car). To compliment this there would be a bike usage campaign.

Of course, those with disabilities would have a disabled sticker for their car which would allow the congestion charge to be waivered.

Anyhow, to cut a long story short - we decided that it would cause some kind of revolutionary backlash in the west. Over here we're so engrossed in individualist consumerism and 'rights culture' that to infringe on someone's 'right' to drive everywhere would create more disgust than the idea that innocent people are dying for no good reason in the third world.

Somewhat ironic?

"Why did Christ come into the world? To liberate people from sickness, troubles, from death. In its essence, Christmas is a holiday of hope."
- Vladimir Putin (found via jesus-institute.org)

My Surprise Party
Instead of taking me for Japanese food we ended up at Jon and Cathy's place, where all my friends were waiting to surprise me with a party. It was a real good surprise - one I hadn't anticipated.

When I walked in it took me a few minutes to link the concept of a surprise party with the fact that everyone was saying "surprise" - so I kind of glanced around puzzled: "what's this?" I thought...

Anyhow we had food and laughed a lot, played "a new tradition at our birthday parties" (ala Jon Matthias) - Pass the Parcel. It was the first time I had played PTP in years! At last I knew why no one had replied to my emails.

Thank you everyone - it was awesome! Click here for more photos.

21 Today
So today I have reached the grand 'ole' age of 21. I don't really have much to say, with my limited experience of being this age, except that I feel that God's got heaps more in store on this journey. I finish uni in June and to some degree that's where life starts! Saying that I've been learning more and more this year about being content with where I'm at right now. A strange one to balance - being excited about the future but content with the present.

Tonight I go for Japanese with my family before heading to the Woodville at about 9.30ish for drinks and pool with my friends, then to Inncognito for a dance and more chill out.

The Guardian's British Blog Awards are now out.

you might have seen that I added the guys from burn to my links (on the right). If you're ever in St Albans, go check them out every Sunday, 7.30pm at St Albans town hall.

Pray for Cil
Please pray for our friend Cil, who is in hospital in London with what seems to be a slipped disc in her back. She's in a lot of pain and is due to be operated on tomorrow morning.

Friday is my 21st Birthday, so I'll be hangin out with some friends during the day, eating Japanese food with my family in the evening and then hookin up with said friends at The Woodville pub (1 Woodville Road) at 9.30pm. After the Woodie we'll be heading to Inncognito.

So glad that the semester is over. For a few weeks back there things got a bit intense. I stayed up late working for the first time ever! My sleeping patterns got messed up, I lost my appetite (briefly). But then the end arrived.

Next friday is my Birthday (19th December) and I stand a small chance of celebrating it with some of my uni friends (who are medics and still around) and some of the guys who go away to uni (like my good friend Chris Evans). Can't wait.

Tonight we're having a Christmas gathering at the YMCA. It's gonna be Christmas worship, mince pies, storytelling and fun.

Last night we were at Jon and Cathy's for the Roath and Cathays housegroups joint Christmas party. We ate lots, laughed lots and got to hang out with some of the people from the Cathays housegroup.

Before I forget...on Sunday we did our pizza and toiletries giveaway to the residents at the YMCA. Everything went pretty well. I noticed that afterwards, when we had a time of sung worship, there was a greater willingness than usual to really enter into God's presence.

I'm not saying that we never enter into God's presence, but I've been chatting a bit with Lewis about the idea that we need to be worshipping with everything that we are in order to truly enter into sung worship.

I have a hunch that part of what made Sunday night so special was that we came from the point of serving, of stepping outside of our comfort zones, and of worshipping with our bodies through that service. This meant that, when we had already been in an attitude of worship, we could really dive into God's presence for some time in awe of him.

I just went up Caerphilly Mountain with John C - to the Travellers' Rest. It's a great view on a cold winters' night despite the trees. Nice to get to know a new friend better.

Doug's Stag Party

Last night was Doug's 'welsh' stag night - click on the image above to see the gallery.

Tonight we've been wrapping the 'presents' for our toiletry giveaway at the YMCA Sunday night. It should be fun - we're giving out pizzas too. There's a weird dynamic in getting out there and serving, opening yourself up to being shot down, rather than just huddling inside, in some kind of comfortable, inverted huddle.

Last night our housegroup gave away boxes of chocolate on Helen's street. It was fun to hear different people's reactions. When people answered the door we said "this is a small token of God's love for you." One guy was like, "thanks, that's real nice of you" and then when his housemate came to the door asking what was going on he said "man, they're chocolates from God!"

After all the wrapping tonight Lewis and I had a jam - it's a shame we can't do this more often, I need to learn to play with people more and would love to do some co-songwriting, but it seems life is so busy with work and uni and Lewis' commitment to his band, Todah.

Tomorrow is essay writing and then Doug's stag party!

Lewis' new blog makes interesting reading, especially the discussion we've been having regarding sung worship...

I've just noticed that I've once again knocked porn star Jonathan Morgan off the top of the google search ;~)

I thought I would post an interesting quote from Dallas Willard:
"Most of `the faith of unbelief' that exists today in the concrete form of individual personalities is morally irresponsible--because not rationally sustained--and would be recognized as the supersitition it most often is, but for the fact that it is vaguely endorsed by the intellectual system." [click here to read more]

Blogging from the Library this afternoon - learning all about different conceptions of equality for an essay I'm going to write on John Rawls. Things have been real busy the last few weeks, so much to do and often the books (for research) not available...anyhow I'm sure it'll all pan out ok.

Last night was doing some prep for Thursday night's edition of Roath Housechurch...I can't say any more as yet- wouldn't want to give the game away!

I just checked out the blog of Steve, who I met in Ljubljana back in August. He's from Oz, but has been working in London - computing - for a while before embarking on a pretty crazy trip through Europe and now the Middle East. I was interested to see he's visited Beirut, Lebanon.

click here to watch Jack Johnson's 'Taylor' vid.

Don't forget, tomorrow is...

I've finally just finished A New Kind of Christian - an interesting book that lays out all the ideas that we've been grappling with over the last few years. It's interesting how there's so much quoting of CS Lewis.

Been loving The Mars Volta - real interesting dose of post hardcore. Also in the cd player are Athlete and The Clash...good stuff.

Lads Lebanese Night

Doing the Stuff 2003 (a report)
This weekend eight of us went to Doing the Stuff, a conference hosted by Trent Vineyard, Nottingham at their new Warehouse. The format of the conference ran like this: in the mornings and evenings there was singing, teaching and ministry, while in the afternoons everyone went out to ‘do the stuff’ on the streets of Nottingham. The projects involved everything from healing people on the streets, to gardening, to painting and giving out toiletries to homeless people. I was on a team building a patio for the young people of a small youth club. >>click here to read more

Solitude
Our leaders group have been discussing a Henri Nouwen article on Solitude. He talks of solitude being the starting point, before community and before ministry. In solitude we learn that we are beloved and therefore don't spend our time in community seeking that affirmation from those around us. We don't try to meet legitimate needs by illegitimate means.

This got me thinking about how much of my time I spend concerned about what others think of me. How much of my interaction with others is focussed on manipulating the image they have of me. Why do I worry so much about this image they have of me?

This is something I'm going to have to continue pondering and praying through.

Thanks to Jon Franklin I've made some progress on the 'drinks distribution backpacks.' These Jetpacks would be a great tool for servant evangelism.

Alternatively, I've just found a link via servantevangelism.com that is cheaper [click here]

Lust Actually
Jon and Cathy had free tickets to see Love Actually and since Cathy was away visiting her sis, Jon and I went. I wasn't impressed. It relied on the pretence that what you define as love is just physical attraction. Character development was minimal. A shallow film whose only redeeming feature was Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister dancing around no. 10 (says it all really).

We're off to Doing the Stuff on Thursday afternoon. Ele Mumford, Carl M and John Wright are doing the teaching. In the afternoons we're hitting Nottingham for some practical expressions of Jesus' love to the community. Should be ace.

I'm staying with Chris, who I've been friends with since school. It'll be great to catch up.

Sunday night we had a visit from Baby Jacob and his mum Jill. It was funny because everyone became broody at the sight of this little 8 week old baby.

The Faculty of Jon (/John)
About 5 months ago I said to some of those around me "isn't it bizarre how in our community we haven't got any doubles of names yet?" Since then 3 other Jons have come to be part of us!

So Friday night saw our first gathering of Johns. We got pizza and watched the first of the Die Hard trilogy. It was great when we arrived at Dominoes, ordered our food and they said 'what's the name?' and we kind of simultaneously went "Johns." There was a couple there with the (sur) name Jones and it got kind of confusing when the guy called out "pizza for Jones" (in an eastern accent).

We christened ourselves the 'Faculty of Jon' because Jon Matthias noticed that we each had different areas of expertise, from Politics to Theology. One of the rules is that there has to be a Jon or John link in any film we watch.

I just returned from watching Matrix Revolutions. I wasn't really all that satisfied with the conclusion. As with the last one, too much emphasis on effects. Oh, and if you want fighting - go see Kill Bill vol 1!

Does anyone who reads this know where I could get hold of some portable coffee dispenser backpacks? Preferably in the UK? (the image I have in my mind is of a tank that you wear on your back that has a water gun attached, so that you can dispense coffee to people easily)

[photo removed - too scary!] Norman Doe is my tutor for Comparative Law of Religion. He has an interesting story of how the course came to be. Back in the 1500s, Henry VIII banned the teaching of Canon law, which at the time was Roman Catholic law.

It wasn't until 1991 that Norman looked around the educational establishments in the UK only to discover that there was no one teaching in this field. So he started an LLM, which allowed all the people who work with English Canon law to learn about their field.

(updated on 13.01.04 thanks to Noel Cox)

Yesterday something happened to me that I had heard of, but never experienced. I was walking along the street, on my way to the train station, when these two Londoners in a white van called me over and offered me some of their 'spare speakers' from a delivery they had just made. I declined their invitation.

I've been listening to Beth Orton's Daybreaker and all I can say is that I'm deeply disappointed. She does get an awful lot of attention in these parts and she does have a great voice, but I can't stand her pet-shop-boys-esque backing music. Sorry Beth.

"84 percent of women believe in God, compared with 73 percent of men..." (linked from tsk)

Check out Andrew Jones' new blog...click here

Last week was a bit crazy. I discovered that my plans for next year were not likely to teach me the things I thought they might and that I'd better get back to the drawing board. I guess this is a good thing because it means God has something else up his sleeve.

The weekend was pretty Busy, with Jonny Danger and I preparing a talk on the Spiritual Disciplines for Sunday night. It was a pretty good opportunity to play with the group interaction, rather than the trad. Didactic teach.

+ Lord thank you that you know what I'm to do when my course finishes, thank you that you know what I'll be doing for the rest of my life. Give me peace in that.

Best of Googlisms for 'Jonathan Morgan':

jonathan morgan is more than glad to help her out
jonathan morgan is a snot
jonathan morgan is among the worlds top 6% brightest children in mathematics and problem solving
jonathan morgan is on the loose
jonathan morgan is probably the most versatile guy
jonathan morgan is puffy
jonathan morgan is secretively huge
jonathan morgan is obviously having more fun
jonathan morgan is witty and insightful about the making of the film
jonathan morgan is one of the least "watchable" men in porn today
jonathan morgan is an expert at "fung goo
jonathan morgan is the funniest guy in the industry

Yesterday I went for coffee with Andrew Wallis. It was a good time to hang out, catch up and talk about church. Some things we talked about…

The Poor: I’ve been really trying to work through the conception of followership that says that to follow Jesus you must have a significant relationship with the poor. As the church we are certainly called to the poor, but sometimes this can lead to a ‘social justice gospel,’ which is really only a partial gospel. Ministering to the poor may be the primary calling of some individuals, but may only be a small part of other peoples’ walk. This is ok, God calls us to different things. First and foremost we are called to make disciples.

The Church gathered: a lot of people have been toying with the question of what should stay and what we should say goodbye to. Many have seen off the weekly Sunday meeting in an attempt to flee consumerism and to focus more on real community. While small groups can be and are great for growth, if this is your only context your group may become very insular and unaware of the wider picture. Sundays, in the early church, were a statement of defiance, of saying “we’re different, we’re not Jewish etc.” (see NT Wright on the resurrection)

Control: this came up in relation to a few things. Firstly when talking about giving – there have been conversations recently about, rather than giving financially to a central fund, keeping the money and giving it to needs as you see fit. Part of giving is giving up control. In the scenario of giving as you see fit, this isn’t the case.

The other notable point at which the topic of control came up was to do with the question of how to build/encourage a church that “fires on all six cylinders” (Rich Nathan)? It is important to make room for people to find their calling. If we’re not careful we can end up with a partial gospel (like the ‘social justice gospel’ mentioned above) and therefore with a church that only fires on 1 or 2 cylinders (a bumpy ride). Allow the Holy Spirit to lead. This conversation echoed what I read on Eric Keck’s site after his visit with Eugene Peterson.

The guys from Allelon have recently visited the Petersons, Eugene and Jan, to read some notes on the trip from Eric Keck and Winn Griffin, click here and here respectively.

Kill Bill vol.1
I took my Dad to see Kill Bill last night. I really enjoyed it - I know it was "a bit gory" etc, but I thought that was balanced off nicely by the camera work and general overall production of the film. Good soundtrack and cast and the feel of the movie was somewhere between samuri action and spaghetti western.****

I've just been listening to a tape by Bill Hybels talking on 'surviving leadership.' He has some real good insights into keeping a balance in your life...

1. Don't run in crisis mode (or if we're in crisis mode, recognise it and spend serious time and effort getting out)
Crisis mode is where we spend all our time and energy working out how we can "keep all the balls we are juggling in the air."

2. Recognise that there are more than 2 gauges in your life...the gauges of the Spiritual and Physical aspects of our lives are important, but we need to be aware of our Emotional life. It's too easy to suppress our emotional life and leave ourselves open to attack - they surface eventually.

3. Draw up a relationship inventory. List your friends according to 3 categories: Draining; Neutral; and Replenishing. Make sure that you have relationships that cause you to re-energise.

Musings of a non-Thatcherite
Today I was sat in a lecture on Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State and Utopia, which is a book that inspired the likes of Ragan and Thatcher.

Nozick's theory is that the State should be minimal, that it should be something of a nightwatchman and an enforcer of contracts, rather than a provider of welfare. He believes that the poor, old and sick etc. should be left to the provision of private charities.

I find this a rather interesting proposition because it is so alien to my socialist sentiments, however there's one question that I just can't get off my mind...If the state was minimal and healthcare, food etc. wasn't so readily provided, would we see a culture in which those who follow Jesus could really blossom and stand out? (to a greater degree than at present?)

Following on from this, in his book Discipline and Punish, Foucalt describes our state as one in which those who do not fit within our definition of what is 'normal' are locked up, hidden from society. This includes those who are mentally disturbed.

This got me thinking of moments when Jesus cast out demons from people exhibiting signs of what we might call sectionable behaviour. If we outreached to those institutions to which we now send the 'abnormal', would see more healings?

Pine cone fight, Gliwize, sometime in August
Autumn is well and truly upon us in Sunny Cardiff and today I was reminded of some of the most fun we had while travelling Europe this summer. We were visiting Darek and Eva and some of their friends Anjay and Casia (sp?) visited us. We went for a walk and Anjay treated us all to ice creams. We came upon their local forest and someone threw a pine cone at someone else and before we knew it everyone was engrossed in a full on battle. It was very funny and we laughed loads. It was kind of amusing as I was chatting with Anjay about his work in the field of logic at the same time as hurling these small missiles through the air.

Vineyard represented on Pop Idol
While I don't agree with the notion of a manufactured music scene, I'm pleased to report that tonight saw part of our 'vineyard family' back in the running for this years' Pop Idol. Susanne Manning, who hails from Reading and is part of the Reading Vineyard had been voted out on a previous show, but got to return as a wildcard on tonights' show - and won. Congratulations Susanne.

My bike is now fast fast fast thanks to the guys at Cyclopedia. I had a new bottom bracket fitted as well as some semi-slick tyres, as I'm currently using it for commuting to uni. Be warned...

the tongue
On Sunday we looked at 'the tongue', how harmful it can be if used wrongly, but also how much good it can do if used well. I noticed when looking at James 1, it talks of the heart as the first thing to be aware of and then your tongue. The two are so closely intwined. I've felt challenged, particularly when we were talking about the effects of sarcasm and how it's so ingrained in our culture, to really find a God's eye view on the words I speak.

Someone, maybe Willard, speaks of developing 'habits of righteousness.' These 'habits' are things I really want to develop in my own life, that I really up the ante on character change. I can either 'tame the tongue' through sheer effort (which James seems to suggest is impossible), or I can draw close to God (using the 'habits') and allow him to make me the kind of person who naturally speaks uplifting and God-honouring words as the overflow of my changed heart.

I know which I would prefer!

Last night a group of us (Jon, Cathy, Viv, Rob, Zoe and myself) went to see Finding Nemo after our gathering at the YMCA. Viv treated us! It's the hilarious story of a clown fish (Marlin) who loses his son (Nemo) and the ensuing adventure. My favourite characters were the Californian sea turtles who were riding the currents. The sharks belonging to "fish are friends, not food" were funny too - the nautical equivalent of AA. I seem to have watched so many movies recently.

We watched The Ring last night to see what freaked all our friends out. On arriving at the Video shop we had to decide between the original Japanese and the Hollywood versions.

Having gone with Hollywood we were mildly dissappointed to find that there wasn't really all that much to get scared about. Maybe we were just wrong to opt for Hollywood (mainly because we didn't fancy subtitles at the end of a busy week).

The scariest movie ever? I think NOT.

I just took an interesting personality profile on the BBC website...click here to do it yourself and don't forget to let me know how you did!

My Results

Extraversion
Some people like lots of stimulation; they want people around them, activity and excitement, whilst others prefer to be able to focus on things in a calm and quiet environment. Most people prefer a blend of the two extremes although your answers suggest you have a preference for the livelier situations. This may help you if you work in busy, hectic and very sociable settings but you may get bored and even frustrated when things are too quiet.

Confidence
Some people make decisions very easily and tend not to worry about them before or afterwards while, at the other extreme, some people are so careful and cautious that the decisions never get made! Taking a cautious approach can be a good thing (do you want to fly with a pilot that is so free from worry and concern that she never checks her controls and instruments and doesn't bother to communicate with air-traffic control?) and you seem to have described yourself as someone who does tend to be quite cautious and careful. This can be very important in detailed work or areas were mistakes can have a major cost although you may find yourself avoiding risks and many cautious people wish they were bolder.

Openness
While some people like experimenting with new things and ideas, others prefer traditional methods and taking a very practical approach to problems.

Your answers suggest that you may more interested in the creative, new and experimental aspects of situations than dealing with the routine practicalities. While your dreams and plans may not always be achievable, you are likely to be very open to new ideas and ways of doing things.

Agreeableness
Most people want to be able to get on with others but to some it is the most important thing in the world, whilst others are quite happy to upset someone else if it means that things get done.

Your answers suggest that you can be firm with people when you need to be but that getting on with others is still important to you. Like most people you would rather avoid conflict but are not prepared to put up with being treated badly by others.

Conscientiousness
Some people like everything to be well planned, tidy and organised, whilst others prefer to deal with things as they come up and appear to work in absolute chaos.

Your answers suggest that, like most people, you like to have a little clarity about where things are but that you would rather cope with some things as they arise than spend too much time sorting out every single detail. This approach may help you when working with teams and also when having to deal with those situations that you just can't plan for.

In America
On Wednesday night we (Cathy, Viv, Zoe and I) watched the preview of the new film 'In America', the story of an Irish family who move to Manhattan.

It's a great story, told from the perspective of a little girl, about life and the developing of community among hurting and broken individuals. Go see it. *****

Last night we ate Waffles and talked about James 1. I was really struck by a number of things

v6-7
But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

v22-25
And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself. 23 For if you just listen and don't obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law – the law that sets you free – and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

It reminded me of that old quote that goes something along the lines of: "tell them and they will hear, show them and they will know, involve them and they will remember." Following Jesus isn't reading the bible and intellectually agreeing on the points it makes, it's about reading the bible and doing it.

I had a funny, if frustrating cycle home. My gears are playing up and when I went to change to the top chainring my chain rocked off and got jammed between the rings and the crank. So I'm there trying to pull it out and loads of British people walk past just looking and then this Spanish guy came over and offered to help, fixed it, and walked off.

I rode off and couldn't see him anywhere - so maybe he walked into his house or maybe he was an angel. Thanks anyway spanish dude.

The John Stott Breakfast was mildly disappointing. I have to admit I didn't really know what to expect, but I was aware that some people class him as a hero, having been inspired by his books. John spoke on "The importance of the Christian Mind," and he gave what really amounted to a brief overview of the importance of thinking and understanding.

He balanced it well with a great illustration, "I'm not interested in producing tadpoles - with a big head and little body." This meant that we mustn't just know, we need to be followers of Jesus.

Simple, but true. The air of 'hero worship' scared me though.

I'm off to a "John Stott breakfast" early tomorrow morning with my Dad. I hope he's a good cook!

Apparently he used to be the Queen's chaplain.

It's funny how suspicious people are of someone giving without a clear motive! Check out this article on Bill Gates.

We found this in yesterday's Guardian...

"Countries such as Britain which are destroying the environment of poorer nations by contributing to global warming and using tropical hardwoods should be prepared to take a fair share of the refugees they have created, says a thinktank report today..." >>more

If we are going to have a global "community," we need to treat our 'neighbours' and 'workers' accordingly. Just because we can't see them doesn't mean they're not there.

I hope to spend some time at Church of the Saviour when I finish uni. Ever since hearing an explaination of the centred set and bounded set 'models' of church I have been somewhat engrossed in the question:

"how do we plant churches of people that are both spiritually deep (i.e. where people's characters actually change) and yet inclusive (i.e. that the demands of 'membership' are not so high as to push people away)?"

I'd love to hear some of your stories!

Watching Erin Brockovich last night I realised how ironic our legal systems in this world are. The only real means of compensation we have is money, which, when you've lost health or a loved one is of limited value. Why do we put such value in something that has such limited worth?

Phew, I've finally managed to get my archives back working.

Today I worked at M-store for the first time in ages. It was also the first time I've been up before 9am for a while! I'm currently reading Ishmael, a book that Chris lent me before he left for Nottingham (uni). It puts a rather interesting spin on the story of Adam and Eve. Each time I go to it I have to get over the fact that I'm actually 'eavesdropping' on a conversation between a human and a gorilla though.

Had central enrollment at uni today, then hooked up with Viv, Helen and Zoe to talk about this year in our Housechurch. I think we have a great adventure ahead of us.

Ellie and Daniel's wedding was great on Saturday. For a few photos click here. Before Daniel walked in "the final countdown" was playing in the background. When the music faded the voice of a wrestling commentator came over the PA "ladies and gentlemen...weighing in at 180 pounds we have...Daniel Clarke." Daniel strides in. It was very funny.

In the evening we went to Jordans Barn for a bit of a party. The band they had playing were real good - they even played Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition'. Congratulations guys.

I think I've done tweaking this blog for now. Any thoughts on the layout?

We're travelling up to St Albans tonight ready for Dan and Ellie's wedding tomorrow. Should be a good one.

Howdy. Well, last night I finished the latest installment of the cardiff vineyard site. Something a little different. I think the last design was only meant to be for a short time.

Back to real life I guess, but not before redesigning this ole thing.

I'm the 2,372,468,828th richest person in the world. How about you? click here to find out.

I thought I'd give a quick update...

I'm delighted that Blogger has shut down their Pro service and are now offering the features of the service for free!

Last night our HC gathered in Shot in the Dark (our local coffee house) for the first time since the summer. It was cool to catch up on news and celebrate Rob's birthday. Others are yet to return to Cardiff - Emma is still in Swansea, Viv is doing a brief wedding tour while James is in South Africa.

The new cv site is going fairly well and will hopefully be online before the end of next week, by which point I'll hopefully be back blogging more regularly. Ellie and Daniel are fast approaching their wedding day - how exciting!

Sorry for not blogging recently - I've been re-designing the cv site (again, I know) ready for a new season. I'll hopefully redesign this one also.

Today my travel alarm clock rang 45 min before the time I had set it for (7.45). Ouch.

We're looking forward to the impending weddings that are ahead - Ellie and Daniel's on the 20th September and then Doug and Michelle's on the 27th December.

I've been listening to some music that I hadn't heard before this week - namely Ben Harper. It's real good, real bluesy and chilled. Also continuing to love Jack Johnson. To balance out the mellowness I've also been enjoying some Thrice and RATM (never boring).

at 9.30 this morning we had Zoe's 19th Birthday breakfast - Watermelon (not like Thailand) and Coissants - real good. We had some chill time, took Oscar for a walk and then at 2pm Michelle and Thia picked her up to take her to an undisclosed location (the Hilton) for some undisclosed activity (jacuzzi, steam room, sauna). I had packed her bag and she didn't have a clue what would happen.

This evening we all ate together and then watched Blue Crush, which was surprisingly better than I had anticipated.

Hey all, have been offline a few days as we've been laying flooring in 'the office'. I've reacclimatised to the UK, which basically turned cold upon my arrival (apparently), but it's a nice change from some of the heat that I've come across (and loved) since I've been away. It's Zoe's birthday this weekend, which should be cool - she doesn't know what we're doing!!

Guys, I'm home, in the fare city of Cardiff. I decided that my time in continental Europe was over and booked a flight while in Ljubljana. I didn't mention this sooner because I wanted to surprise Zoë - it's her birthday next Saturday (30th) and I thought it would surprise her to know that I'd be around. Our prior arrangements would have meant that I would be back on the 3rd of September.

More on Rome
Rome was a real nice city to stay in, an incredible concentration of vast relics from the Roman Empire. Also great Gelatti (ice cream). I had Cappuccino and this one with nuts in...mmmm.

I wandered next to the river, getting lost only a few times and even had a conversation with a local guy - his part in Italian and mine in English. I'm not sure what was said.

Apparently Rome is a Spa town (I don't really know how that works), and this is why there are little water fountains everywhere that people drink from. Now I can't stand spending money on something as basic as water and the only place where I have done so consistently was when we were in Poland and even Darek and Eva were drinking bottled water all the time. So I filled all my bottles from these little fountains. I even had what I dubbed "holy water" from the fountains next to the Vatigan.

On Thursday night I stayed at the lovely 'Gullivers House' - a great hostel where they really make you feel welcomed and at home (they even have video nights and breakfasts).

Friday morning I got up and ready for the long trip to Milan (by train) without Tim. I got on the train and immediately this girl called Melissa got on. She lives near Milan and is studying English - so I had someone to talk to! That was a real blessing. She had her dog (a shitsu) with her whose name is Gandalf.

From Milan train station I travelled to Bergamo, which is a city about 1 hour away. As I got on the Bergamo train I came across these guys from London who were heading to Bergamo Airport and so I had company on that leg of the journey - that was sooo God.

If you're in Cardiff at the mo give me a call!

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long. I was going to update from Ljubljana in Slovenia, but the place I logged in at wouldn't access blogger.

Slovenia
We had a great time in Ljubljana, the sleepy capital of Slovenia. When we got off the train we saw a poster for a brand new hostel and went to check it out. Celica is a former prison which has only been opened as a hostel and arts centre for 2 months. It's amazing, nothing like a prison. It was painted all bright colors outside and there were pieces of funky artwork all over. It was amazing. Best hostel so far.

On the first night I went out with some guys who were staying there, looking for a club, or at least a late night bar, but none were to be found. I guess this was Monday night - but this is a capital city!!

The next day I started chatting with one of the girls, Anne and it turns out she's a follower and is on a great adventure at the moment. She introduced me to some more people who are followers and we ended up having a little impromptu God time in the "all faiths prayer room"!! It was real cool to enjoy this time of sharing.

We found this little restaraunt in L called Cafe Romeo which serves delicious Burritos for 1200 Tolars (that's about £3.50) and they even passed the cali test. The ice cream in slovenia is lovely and about 50p a cone...mmmm

On Tuesday night we caught the night train to Venice which left at 3.20am, so we had to stay awake for ages and then barely slept on the train. Venice is very overrated, but definately unique - very expensive. We hooked up with some people we met at Sir Tobys in Prague and found a little restaraunt that didn't charge all the venician extras. It was lovely.

Last night we took the night train to Rome, which is where I sit updating you - tired, worn out and ready for a goodnight's sleep at Gullivers House!

I hope to see the Sistene Chapel today - itàs one of the priorities of this little pilgrimage!

Over and out!

Austria
Iäm sitting in a cybercafe in Graz, about 3 hours south of Vienna. itäs a real nice city.

iäve just remembered some stuff about budapest...on the last night I had a bit of money to use up so we went to a pub just around the corner from our (really bad) hostel and had a delicious meal, for relatively cheap.

being in the Eurozone is pretty expensive, in fact a Vanilla milkshake costs 2euros and 10 cents, which is about 30p more than at home. Iäm back on bread and cheeze.

We camped out last night at Camping Central because there were no rooms at the hostel. Itäs areal nice place to camp and weäre both glad that tim brought his tent. There is a real nice pool - itäs massive. Iäm going back there for a swim soon.

last night we ate at a little pension owned by a lovely older couple. They just about understood my "no meat" and so I had omlette. It was good food and nice to just chill after a long day of carrying bags.

Weäre off to Bled tomorrow, which is in slovenia, in the Julian Alpes. It sounds and looks nice, so iäm really looking forward to the rest in nature. Cities are getting to me a bit. i need sea, or lakes!

I hope everyone is well. Im missing you all and am really looking forward to 2 weeks time when I can eat cereal and catch up with friends.

Love to all.

Weáre now in Budapest...apologies for the weird spellings, this is a hungarian kezboard.

Itás a massive citz and verz hot...must be more than 35 degrees and thereás no water to cool zourself- besides the near by danube river, which probablz isnát clean.

IÁm missing home quite a lot today and will be glad to get to a smaller city, or even the beach. Tomorrow weáre heading to Vienna, then Gratz. So weáll be in the eurozone for a few dazs before heading to Slovenia for some time near the Julian mountains. Then on to Italy.

The place weáre staying is a real dive, like a cross between talybont and the house in fightclub, though nicer than fightclub (just). Iáll be glad to leave.

Love to all.

Just killing some time before the train - in 3 hours. We decided not to do Auschawitz today because of timing issues. Still have to go to our hostel and pick up our bags, then catch the tram back.

Yesterday Krys gave us a guided tour of Krakow - we saw 'the mound' a big piece of grass that overlooks the entire city. we ate for about 1 pound in the evening and then walked around his favourite pubs and clubs. They were all in basements of the huge buildings in the town centre and had a real cavern like feel.

I drank lots of blackcurrant juice - the juice here is 100% fruit, which is awesome.

When we left one of the pubs we came across a guy busking, singing old standards and he was surrounded by people 3-4 person deep. They were all singing along and loving it. I think here is a place you can really enjoy busking, especially when you're good at interacting with people.

We've been adding 'ovich' and 'ski' to the end of all our words in an attempt to sound Polish!

Tonight to Budapest...

Well, we've arrived in Krakow, having said our farewells to Darek and Eva. We played one last round of Uno on Saturday night and on Sunday morning Darek took us to the train station at Gliwice for an express train staight to Krakow. This is the furthest east I've ever been, which is weird.

We're staying at a student residence just outside of the centre, which is basic, but fine. Yesterday we visited Krakow Castle. There's a story of King Krac (who the place is named after) who made the area suitable for living by outsmarting the resident dragon. Apparently he made him eat a sheep stuffed with gunpowder, which meant that he had to drink from the river and ended up drinking so much he exploded. At least that's what I could work out from Darek and Eva's explaination.

After the castle we walked through a park where there was an amazing outdoor photo exhibition. All the shots were taken from a helicopter and they were of places like Whitsunday Islands (also Frasier, Zoe) and Carpet sellers in Morrocco etc. Must have been 100. That was the best thing so far.

Then we visited the town square which is huge. Being Poland, Catholocism is rife and Krakow has lots of Cathederals. There is more room for photography than in prague - space to stand back and get it all in.

We ate a traditional Polish meal at a unique restaraunt - I had dumplings stuffed with Cabbage and Mushrooms (was more like ravioli than British dumplings).

In the evening we heard a Jazz band in the main square and then went and watched some folk dancing, which was audience participation!

Today we meet our new friend Krystoph for a local's tour of Krakow!

Pears at the Giant Peach...
After my bottomless cola and Tim’s trip to the museum of communism we travelled to the Giant Peach, home of Andrew Jones and family to see if anyone was about. Having navigated our way from the tram we were greeted by Erica and Rebecca, who are living at ‘The Peach’ over the summer, on vacation from Hawaii.

We chatted for a while and discovered that Tim’s super power is that he has the brain of a sports almanac – ‘almanac man.’ After some pears and water we headed back to Sir Toby’s, where we met Jeremy and departed for Joe’s Pizzaria for tea.

Jeremy assures me that I must try this drink (something ‘sunrise’) that has OJ, ice and vanilla – as served in the coffee chain ‘Coffee Bean’ (next time I’m in Cali...)

In the evening we ate Strudel on Charles’ Bridge with Tim, Tim (from Canada), Krys (Poland) and Jeremy after I did some gathering at Sir Toby’s (‘Dude, you comin out for strudel?’)

Darek and Eva in Gliwice
We are currently at the home of Darek and Eva, some friends of Tymek (Polish version of Tim) who are now my friends ;~) Darek picked us up from the station (after our 6 hour journey from Prague) at Gliwice and has brought us to their home here where we have had lots of fun. These guys are so warm and hospitable.

Yesterday we visited their local swimming pool – in the open air in the middle of a forest!

The weather has been lovely, I’m not sure exactly how hot, but the evenings are cooler than those of Prague which is good.

Ali and Kerry are here from Glasgow too.

Uno with Darek...
Last night we were up til 12.30 playing Uno with Darek... we all donned Polish names for the occasion – I’m Jasiu and Tim’s Tymek. It was very funny. We played the 7’s rule where if you put down a seven everyone must put their hands on top of the pile and the last one to do so picks up two cards (bear in mind that everyone but ‘the guys’ were in bed and that we were laughing very loud). Darek is very funny.

Tomorrow we head to Krakow.

Prague, city of strudel
or so I hear, I hope to try their famous dessert tonight. I had a conversation with a German guy at our hostel last night about how difficult it is to make studel - apparently he tried and failed. If the Germans can't do it it must be difficult!

Anyhow Prague is good although I was very knackered after a gruelling 'tourist' day and am chilling out now at Bohemia Bagel, home of the bottomless cola and 1.5 crowns per min connection. We ate out for 2 quid last night - a full on meal mmmm. Tim is loving the 20-25 crown beer (45 crown in a pound!)

Met a guy called Jeremy from Santa Monica last night, he taught me Jack Johnson songs on the guitar and helped me learn some of the state locations in the US. He was in Prague to have a tattoo finished...long way to come eh?!

Sir Toby's is a real nice hostel that is in a cheaper part of prague. The metro system here is awesome. I shot a whole film on my camera yesterday, but had to buy a little photo of the view I really wanted - looking over Charles Bridge as I couldn't find the vantage point.

Tomorrow morning we're off to Poland - Katavicha to stay with some friends of Tim's. Then to Krakaw.

Keep me posted with how you're all getting on.

Finally finished my day of packing. Decided to shave my head in the end but not before a slice of MULLET MANIA! Good to hear that Viv and Helen are back in the land of blog, having done a few days' touring round Cali.

By the way...last night had a great BBQ at the Fosters' place, Power Doug was on form as he dodged the flames!

There are now two Jonathans in our community, so Jon and I spent the evening wondering about nicknames...Mark came up with 'Jonny Danger' for the other Jon, not quite sure why but it may stick!

To shave or not to shave?
This morning is taken up with packing for our journey from Prague through Barcelona. One thing that I haven't yet concluded upon is whether to shave my head and abandon 3 or so months of growth or to persist through the heat of Croatia, Italy and Spain? Perhaps it will protect my scalp having hair? Perhaps I should just go back to the whole straight edge facade...

Not really an important blog.

This weekend I discovered the truth about Starbucks...while they distribute literature about being 'fairtrade' there is only one particular product that is. Having read through this literature I was unaware that it only related to their filter coffee and that I had been drinking non-fairtrade latte's for months without realising.

Shall we boycott?

I showed Thia around Cardiff yesterday. It was fun and we got to chat loads.

On Thursday I had met this lady who encouraged me by explaining how all that I'm planning to do can tie in nicely together. I always thought that my degree and any church planting/ ministry opportunities would be mutually exclusive and she encouraged me otherwise. Very exciting.

Today I finished working at the Solicitor's office. This means that my travels are just around the bend, almost in sight! Just some packing and an E111 and I'll be on my way to Prague.

Here's a quote from the end of the Hobbit that Viv posted on her blog:

'Then the prophesies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion!' said Bilbo.
'Of course!' said Gandalf. 'And why should not they prove true? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophesies just because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!'
'Thank goodness!' said Bilbo laughing.

I've been out of the blogging loop for a few days as I've been working on the new cardiff vineyard site. I get very engrossed. I've only barely managed to keep up with the blogging of my friends who are temporarily dotted around the world (see my links).

Things are also quite crazy in the roll up to my European trip. I'm hoping to visit some churchplanters, although there are only a couple we've been in contact with. If you're doing this stuff and you're in a country on our trip (Prague, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Spain) then drop me a line!

Tomorrow we get to baptise Matt and Natalie, which will be awesome. Matt departs for Kenya on Friday for his Elective...I just know God has some great things in store for him.

Fightclub discipleship
I was chatting with Rob, Mark's housemate (and my ex-kickboxing teacher) last night. He's about to take his blackbelt and I was asking him about the dan system. Apparently what happens is that once you are a black belt, if you train someone else to that standard then you will be a first dan. If that person goes on to train someone else to the level of blackbelt then you become a second dan. It works in generations.

I'm sure there's a connection somewhere there with discipleship...

What a crazy few days. It's so cool to be surrounded by so many great people. Last night we had a joint gathering at Chris and Caz' place where we looked some more at the Kingdom of God. I love this subject soo much.

Helen and Viv are now in Cali. with Jason and Brooke and I'm a little envious, especially as the rain beats down on our rooftops. I'm even more envious that they get to see those guys face to face.

I'm gonna go to bed now.

Today I've been thinking about Matthew 6 where Jesus says:

"don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern"

I was struck by how simple what Jesus is saying actually is - "don't worry because if you put My Kingdom first everything you need will be provided." Perhaps this is why the early church so outlived those around them. They weren't concerned with winning arguments, but with living the kingdom kind of life. For them this teaching of Jesus wasn't some kind of mantra to chant when worried ("I must not worry, I must not worry") but rather a command which must find its practical outworking in real life.

How far am I from making the Kingdom of God my primary concern? How often I fall back on behaving like a "pagan," worrying as though it's me who is in control and not God.

Carson puts it like this: "...today's grace is sufficient only for today and should not be wasted on tomorrow. If tomorrow does bring new trouble, there will be new grace to meet it."

*Lord teach me to live this way. Not just to see your words as 'nice words' but as words which can revolutionise my being. Embed them in who I am.*

Last night we had a central gathering at the YMCA. It was a good time of vision casting and sharing. Kathryn told us a story from her trip to San Andreas which was cool.

Afterwards we adjourned to our local coffeehouse 'a shot in the dark' for some reluctant farewells. Cil is returning to London to do some pharmacy work and Matt is off to Newcastle to embark on a degree in medicine (after a pre-med year). It's so weird to be saying goodbye to these guys when they've been part of us for a while. God's been working in both of their lives and I'm sure that he has loads of places where he'll take them. It's just sad saying goodbye!

Helen and Viv depart for Southern California on Tuesday, so we won't be seeing them for a while. I'm off to Europe in 2 weeks which is exciting - so much to sort out first though!

Re:fresh
Just a short roundup of our weekend with a few highlights...

The talking tent: on Sunday morning Matt and I awoke to the cute sounds of children discussing the merits of a talking tent. It turns out that these very same children had, only moments earlier, been playing football on the near by field. When the ball rolled down the hill and hit the girls' tent Viv was lying there and decided to say "ouch..." this continued for some time as the kids kicked the ball repeatedly at the tend seeing if it really was talking.

Finally they all decided to attack the tent and as we strolled past towards the showers we could see the side of the tent being pounded by nippers!

The barn dance: I can't say much, but let's just say that the term 'dance' was re-defined. Much laughter.

We listened to some very challenging talks on following Jesus through pain, through desert times etc. There was consensus in the fact that we're sick of 'evangelising' and would rather simply share Jesus. On a similar note we're sick of being 'Christians' and would rather just be followers of Jesus.

Hey, now that I've finished on the 'summer 2003' re-design I think it's time for a fresh post. I've been thinking a lot recently about my role, God's role and life in general.

God has been showing me over the last few years, months, weeks and days that he is so in control and I'm soooo not. Part of this has come in the way that he has brought people around me who each have complimentary revelations of what it means to follow Jesus, although each is unique to that person.

You might have noticed that I've added/changed some contacts on this blog...check out Viv and Helen's travel blog which they will keep on their travels around Southern California. They'll be dropping in on the Evans family. Viv's solo blog is also worth a read!

I'm wondering whether or not to blog my European trip in August. Tim and I start our travels in Prague in early August and fly out of Barcelona in early September. We are travelling via Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and finally Spain.

We would love to hook up with some peeps along the way. If you're wrestling with the whole churchplanting thang and would like to share some stories with a welsh boy and a laddie from Belfast then leave a comment!

Zoë Returns
Though it may sound like the sequel to a film you never saw, this Thursday sees the return of my little sis. It'll be great to see her, hear about her stories and laugh like old times.

Roath Park on Sunday
Yesterday we chilled out at Roath Park, went rowing, laughed lots and watched our friends recover from the (welsh) three peaks challenge. It was nice to be outside with good friends. Summer fun. We have even more to follow next weekend when we set out for Reading and Re:fresh.

Tonight our little community met at Viv's place. We shared food, laughter, sang songs and talked about what it means to be Christlike and how we are to draw out the best (that which is most Christlike) in those around us. It was nice to chill out, I shared how I've had this feeling of weakness recently and how I don't really know how to interpret it - is it God saying "I am in control when you're at the end of yourself" or am I in a bunout zone? I'm just not sure.

I really miss the times with my now disbanded accountability group. We really got somewhere for a while back there, but I guess things move on. I pray that God will bring people into my life who will be in a place of forming such relationships again.

Until then...

Vineyard Worship Leaders' Retreat 2003
We arrived at Lee Abbey in glorious sunshine at the end of a busy week. It was great to be welcomed with such hospitality into this faith community of over 80 individuals from all over the world.

The view from the front of the Abbey is awesome - rolling hills plummeting to reveal the glistening bay.

In the evening Peter Davids (PD) introduced us to his topic of 'a biblical perspective on woship leading' through the illustration of the people of Rohan and their King. They call out "command us o King" - a great expression of what worship is.

The following day PD took us through the old and new testament asking what is our model for leading? He concluded that in the new testament there is no mention of worship leading, in fact there is very little mention of singing. In the OT we're faced with a different culture, the Jewish temple (which he vividly contextualised for us with his slaughter house-come-butchers description).

In the NT the physical 'temple' was superceded by the 'people' and therefore we can’t easily fall back on the OT as our reference point.

PD explained the living sacrifice involved in true worship. How our songs are merely a fragment of our day to day service of those around us. When we come to sing songs it is merely one aspect of our whole week spent worshipping.

In the evening Dan Wilt spoke on living in ‘sacred style’, how the church is in a phase of transition. We are called both ‘home’, to the centre and to the edge. His desire was that our interaction with the world will change from a monologue to a dialogue, no longer seeing the churches’ role as telling the world what it is not.

We will look beyond the walls of our buildings and see God working in the lives of those all around us, no longer limiting His work to our domain.

That’s my summary done with – all in all a cool weekend.

I had fun tonight chilling out with Emily and Claire. We went down the Bay and enjoyed some Chai Latte (a personal favourite), then wandered and finally ended up at Viv's. It was cool to just hang out and laugh a lot. God did a good thing when he invented laughter.

I've just noticed that we've been listed at 'sites unseen' a resource of recommended links for followers of Jesus. Cheers guys.

Have just come to the end of a rather busy few days. I've been working in the solicitors office doing admin. while trying to recover from the retreat last weekend. To make things even more interesting I had a 4 hour wait in casualty on Tuesday night only to be told that my knee was bruised.

I feel like I'm learning though which is good. I'm going to have a good night's sleep and then write something about the retreat.

I've just discovered that my good friend Tom Hope is in the realm of blog! Also, more importantly, he's getting married! Congratulations Tom and Nicola.

Today I went to see Chris' photo exhibition. I was very impressed with his prints which he did through tissue paper etc.

I'm back from Lee Abbey having had a great weekend. Far too tired to say anything profound - still processing everything. Watch this space for a roundup.

Today Lewis and I are off to a 'worship leaders retreat' at Lee Abbey in Devon. It should be a good weekend. I'll be out of blog range for a few days ;-)

A few of us hooked up at AJs (coffee house) for a time of coffee, sharing and prayer. I came away feeling incredibly privileged to have such a real, vulnerable group of friends. I think the awesome thing was that without any strong, human leadership we had a time that included worship, teaching, ministry - all informal and peer based!

I love the fact that God can meet with us wherever we are.

+Thank you God for your provision, thank you that the less we try to 'perform' the more you are able to shine through. Thank you that you take us where we are at+

Back from a few days at my friends the Parfitts. I really enjoy spending time with Lewis and Maria. They involved me with everything (well, a lot). Thanks for having me. Here's a pic of lewis in his native land.

Bristol Vineyard have finally done gotten themselves a live website. Check it out.

I've been going through the post-exam, unstructured crisis. It's crazy because you spend so much time looking forward to being off that when you finally are it's like a massive letdown. I guess I'm used to not having that many decisions to make and now that the world is my oyster so to speak I'm a bit confused.

King Balti RIP
We went down to the King Balti on Albany Road last night for our Fathers' Day curry only to find it had vanished. It left in its place a Mexican/Tapas bar called "etc." For a moment we were thrown off, struggling for words - how could it be gone? Reminiscing about happy memories just weeks before when our communities had indulged on their delicious pan-Asian cuisine. Soon we snapped out of it and went to Balti Empire just down the street.

Went to hear the Scratch Perverts at Cardiff Students Union last night. What a great night. They started out with their usual mix of new and old school hip hop from MOP (feat. Busta Rhymes) through Tribe called Quest, working it up to what must have been 45 minutes of real hard drum'n'bass from the likes of Twisted Individual via a remix of Breathe from the Prodigy. It's great to hear some turntablists mixing drum'n'bass, it brings a whole new angle on things.

The dance floor was electric all night, gradually giving it more and more energy as the atmosphere lifted and the beats got harder. When they dropped Nevermind in at the end everyone just went insane. Possibly the best time (out of 5 times) that I've heard them and definately the most dancy.

We visited the Purcell family earlier for the first time since their new arrival. Chara took great pleasure in showing off her new baby sister, Madlen Anne Purcell, who was born on Thursday (5th) at 6.14pm and weighed in at 7lb 2oz. Here she is sleeping:


And here she is eyeing my mum with suspicion:


They even let me hold her (the first time I've ever held a new born baby!) How exciting. Congratulations guys!

Look there's a pic of Zoe on the Web click here to view them and read the story of the guy who jumped the sky tower with them!

Took the matrix test that I discovered on Kevin Rains' blog...here's what it told me:


You are Neo, from "The Matrix." You
display a perfect fusion of heroism and
compassion.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

that's nuts man, I must have answered the questions wrong!

Exams are over...very happy. I understood all the questions in my 20th Century European Intellectual History. woop woop. Partying ahead.

Congratulations to our friends Ian and Karen. Chara has a new baby sister! Madlen Anne Purcell was born today at 6.15pm. Weighing in at a grand 7lb 2oz. Our resident midwife in training - Kathryn - delivered her!

Got through my European Federalism exam this morning. The questions were pretty good. Please pray for my brain, it's beginning to feel a little strained and tomorrow's 20th Century European Intellectual History is quite a 'thinker.' Questions on Foucalt's conservatism and stuff like that. In fact if you could pray that I actually understand the questions that'd be ace.

I turned up for my European Federalism exam one day early (this morning). I don't know how I managed to mis-read the timetable. Land Law on Monday went real well which was a big answer to prayer. I only had 2 days of hardcore prep for it as earlier last week had been knocked out by a virus that made my head spin. The questions were better than I could have dreamed!

Just 2 more days of ::stress:: and it'll all be over. Thanks for all your prayers.

Came across The Brick Testament today. The Bible in Lego...

As for Matrix Reloaded...there were a few disappointing parts: you could see the animated frames; Trinity mounts a brand new motorbike (on the back of a lorry) and it has a full tank of petrol. I don't know if this is likely.

Good points...where Morpheus states: "what I believe doesn't require for others to believe for it to be true..." (ok it's not an accurate quote, but it'll do). Much was made of Neo's humanity. Also the statement that each has the same reason but a different purpose - I think the key maker says it.

Hopefully I haven't given much away to those who haven't seen it yet.

I had my Criminal Law exam yesterday. It was another toughie - like EC law. I was able to answer two of the questions fairly well, but I chose the wrong question to do last and I really paid for it. Oh well. I'm just praying I pass that exam. It would suck to cut my summer European travels short just because of a poor choice of question.

Last night I went to hear Todah last night. They were great and managed incredibly well, especially considering they had no monitors. Maybe we should all chip in and get Lewis a monitor for Christmas!

After they finished this youth event took place in which a load of insane Americans broke concrete bricks with their arms and heads. I chuckled.

As the anticipation of finally seeing the next installment of the Matrix builds up I've found myself shying away from the hype. It sucks that you have MTV and everyone else going on and on about this film to such an extent that you feel set up for dissappointment. Surely it can't be all that good? So I've begun boycotting blogs and channels that talk about it.

We're all off to see it on Sunday. While this is late for most people I generally don't go and see films as soon as they're out, so this is early for me.

In the meantime Criminal law.

Posts here will become less frequent for the next few weeks. Revising for my end of year exams...

Reading through the beginning of Genesis this morning, the end of chapter 4 stood out to me...

"When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that people first began to worship the Lord." (Gen 4:26)

Now I've found myself saying a number of times: 'we were designed to worship/live lives of worship' etc. But this morning, reading the creation account and finding this little verse made me wonder if this was the case. I wonder what is meant by 'worship' in this context. My initial response was that when in God's presence, the kind of activities that go on are beyond worship. Perhaps worship is our expression of love for God within our disconnectedness from God.

In Easton's Bible Dictionary it says this:
"He lived nine hundred and five years. In his time "men began to call upon the name of the Lord" (Genesis 4:26), meaning either (1) then began men to call themselves by the name of the Lord (marg.) i.e., to distinguish themselves thereby from idolaters; or (2) then men in some public and earnest way began to call upon the Lord, indicating a time of spiritual revival."

Looks like I'm wrong.

Anyhow I was also struck once again by the curses which are assigned males and females because of the fall
Women: Pain in child birth and finding your identity in your man, rather than in God (3:16)
Men: Being condemned to make a living form the ground, to have to work for a living, rather than just to work out of design we were now forced to work for what we eat (3:19)

We've so often fallen into the trap of living in these curses - condemning women to being identified by who they are married to and man to his work (just look at your conversation starters with Men ("so what do you do for a living") and Women ("so who are you with?"/"are you married"/"are you single?")

Shouldn't we be living out of God's original intention for mankind?

It also made me think about how simple following God was before 'religion.'

Yesterday a promo of the new Everyone album arrived on our mat. Jeff Searles and Darren Clarke's band. I'm going to listen to it some more and maybe string a review together.

Zoe is now flying to New Zealand. Please pray for her as she leaves that intensely nurturing environment of her little DMC team.

I just checked my stats and someone has recently visited my site having searched on yahoo for "Ali G" + "Postmodernism" how weird is that. Big up.

Anyhow it's nice to have the ole house buzzing once again. I was missing living in community. It's weird how you miss having people around and someone to talk to. I definately used the phone more. I'm no longer the only member of my family in the UK.

Don't tell anyone this, but I'm really starting to love this little country. I've had some time with Lewis, Maria and Michelle over Easter and they've reminded me how beautiful Wales is. I'm fascinated to learn of where God will lead me in the future.

Thoughts on finishing Lord of the Rings
A number of things stood out to me that I failed to make note of, but here are a few that I have...

In Lorien, one of the Elven homes, there is the best of everything except sea. This stood out to me after reading NT Wright's book Following Jesus, in particular the chapter on Revelation. In it he lists the things that will not be present when the Kingdom of God is complete. Within this list he says: "There will be no sea; in Revelation, the sea is where evil comes from." Now I was surprised to read this. I love the sea, having space to chill and breathe in sea air. I am happy to leave that to God though. I was just struck with the fact that the sea is not present in the Elven world and is also a constant pull on the Elves.

Also, in the final chapter Frodo says to Sam: "You were meant to be solid and whole, and you will be." This inspired me - it has the kind of excitement to it that we can have sharing Jesus with those we meet.

Finally I just couldn't get over the similarities between Aragorn "the King who heals" and Jesus "the King who heals."

I went through a phase of buying GAP boxershorts before I knew anything about the company. This is something I'm often reminded of for example when getting changed at the swimming pool etc. Do other people think me bad for wearing them, given their terrible reputation for non-ethical production?

Then I wonder: would it not be worse to get rid of these garments because they were made in sweatshops than to keep them? To get rid would surely be making a mockery of the whole thing - i.e. people died to make them and yet I don't even respect them enough to continue to wear them now that I know where they came from. I don't know really what I think of this, but I would love to see more fair trade clothing.

This is very weird. I occasionally watch MTV Cribs - the show where 'celebrities' show us around their homes. I like to laugh at the Rappers who don't know how to cook and yet describe the kitchen as the centre of the house.

Anyhow I was watching it the other day and Pamela Anderson was on, showing off her beach-side house where she lives with her little boys. As I was watching I sensed God say that she either was, or would, end up following him. I thought nothing more of it as the show ended and I had my tea. Then today I'm reading Steve Sjogren's blog only to discover that she has been "attending Vineyard in Malibu."

I was at Lewis and Maria's tonight. Lewis made an awesome, veggie, indian meal for us. They're good friends and I feel like I've known them far longer than I have.

Afterwards we watched Fight Club. It was my fourth time watching it I think. It's strange because I think that every time I watch it I like it less. I think it's very cleverly thought out and the production is great, but there's just something about it that seems to grab me less every time.

Perhaps it's the lack of emotion in it. It's a very cold film, it's like the characters deal with stuff only in a dysfunctional way and while they are claiming some form of salvation experience are actually spiraling downwards. This is obviously intentional.

Before I end this blog I want to point out that Fight Club has long been one of my favourites. Maybe I'm just changing.

Or perhaps I was just really in need of a good conversation and that's why I didn't fully love crashing in front of the dreaded screen.

I'm going to go put Oscar (our little dog) to bed.

I'm the only one in my family left in the UK and it's a bit weird. I'm very much part of a family and to suddenly be 'stranded' is a bit weird.

I gave my first 'talk' tonight. Although I've been dabbling a little since leading our little community this was the first in front of the 'whole' of Cardiff Vineyard. I was real nervous and felt very uncomfortable all the way through despite genuinely believing that what I had to share was what God gave me.

I spoke on the Kingdom of God using The Matrix as an analogy. The Matrix being what we see around us as opposed to the spiritual realm and the Kingdom which is where the action is (obviously).

My Dad gave me some good pointers afterwards. He was going to save them so as not to bring me down but I was just pleased to be breathing and they weren't negative as such. Pointers: give more eye contact; don't play with a pen - is distracting; use your notes less; watch people who are used to communicating (e.g. comedians) - learn from them about using your voice.

Feedback on the talk was good. I'm really going to have to learn to trust those around me. I am very reluctant to take seriously the comments of those around me - in fact the more they know me the less I trust them thinking "they must be just being nice." And then when they do compliment I try to drag it out to see if I can really believe them. Enough on that.

A new adventure and a whole load of new issues to deal with! Goodnight.

Last night while we were eating I was telling our North Cardiff Community about this guy claiming to be from the future. Click here to read the article which I discovered thanks to Mark Norridge.

Please pray for Zoe and the DMC team out in Thailand. They were meant to go on outreach today, but on returning back to the guesthouse last night discovered they had been robbed. Apparently in the afternoon an English man checked into the guesthouse and left later in the afternoon with cameras, cards, phones, passports, money etc.

Their trip has been delayed as a number of them (though not Zoe) have had to get new passports and have been sorting out their insurance.

I'm going to try and pull together a paper on these ideas at some point, but for now I'll just give a few of my thoughts on giving over the last week.

we need to try and embrace grassroots projects
by this I mean projects which are able to take most of the money which is given and applies it directly to the problems. I was chatting with Matt the other day and he told me that one of his friends out in India is able to carry out cataract operations for £15. This means that every £15 that was sent would give someone their sight. When compared with giving to Oxfam, which uses most of its donations to fund its staff, this is a far wiser way to invest.

In order to do this we should take advantage of our faith links
There are followers of Jesus all over the world who are working day in, day out in the poorest of people. We should network with these people and find routes of giving which will make most use our money.

Learning to live simple lives
We are told day in day out what we "need." I was struck recently when hearing about Zoe's experience visiting Thai Hill tribes. She slept on a hard floor in a wooden hut and was woken up by a rooster at 3am. It's incredible that most of the world live in these conditions. On the particular outreach she was on they were building a well, laying piping etc. Isn't it shocking that we take for granted having large sheltered accomodation, internet, coffee, tea, extravagant food etc. when there are people for whom a good supply of water is a luxury?

By living simply we can free up 'spare money' which would enable us to give more.

But how do we define simplicity in the midst of such a complex society? Where do we start?

Check out this article in the Guardian - it gave me hope that there may be a way of checking George's powers.

Just a quick round up of the last few days...

Going clubbing with my parents
There's this funk club in Cardiff called the Toucan. We went there to hear Sambaloco - a Brazillian drum'n'bass star. She sings on some of DJ Marky's tracks and was there (we thought) with her band. It was a new experience for all of us going into a club with my folks, but they seemed to have a laugh - particularly when this middle aged woman (Elaine) tried to chat up Matt.

Unfortunately when this lady, the dnb star came on she was like a one woman band. She sang and played sax, drum, keys and guitar all the while accompanied by her ibook. To be honest it was like a very talented version of a karaoke. It was funny though.

Easter Sunday
Yesterday Tim came round for lunch and we spent some of the afternoon organising our European travels in the summer. It took us a while to decide on the best flights but it looks like we're flying into Prague in early August and then out of Barcelona in early september.

Later we all sat around the table, ate Simnel cake and (in a rather belated fashion) meditated on some of the stations of the cross, discussing them as we went along. To be honest I've only come across the 'stations' recently and yesterday was my first experience. It's funny because while my folks are from a generation that was eager to flee religiosity in tradition, I've not ever experienced these things so it's real nice to be able to dip into them. It's so good to talk about Jesus, to learn from each others' perspectives and to allow the words to enter and fill our hearts.

I was struck by Mary sat at the foot of the cross hearing all these people walking past hurling insults. The mixed feelings she must have had - having heard God's promises and stored them in her heart, now her son is hanging there on a cross having abuse hurled at him. The way that even in the agony of the cross Jesus thought of others. He, as the first born, ensures that his mother is cared for. Having given up everything to follow Jesus, John now gains a mother through his saviour.

I've just been reading Altiero Spinelli's "The Ventotene Manifesto." He's a maximalist who believed that we should move towards a federal Europe (a 'super-state'). I often come across little pearls while reading political theory which relate a little to this journey of planting faith communities.

In the final paragraph of chapter three he states:
"The time has now come to get rid of these old cumbersome burdens and to be ready for whatever turns up, usually so different from what was expected, to get rid of the inept among the old and create new energies among the young."

He also talks about the need for leaders in times of revolution. Referring to democrats he states "they are suitable leaders only in times of ordinary administration" but that "During revolutionary times, when institutions are not simply to be administered but created, democratic procedures fail miserably." However he's not advocating some form of despotism which is why it made me think of the kind of paradigm we're in. How to be the kind of leader (to borrow from Todd) who can genuinely admit "I'm glad it's me sat here in this prison cell and not you"?

Regarding the identification of leaders, Spinelli states: "it must pick out and recruit into the organization only those who have identified and accepted the European revolution [instead read Kingdom of God] as the main goal in their lives..." Ok, maybe the last one was a little tenuous, but it got me thinking a little...

Occasionally I find my skin crawling at the question "how big's your church?" It's funny really but it seems that our 'movement' (if that's what it is) has become a little too intent on being small. I'm not saying that small is bad, but I am saying that a faith community that isn't growing isn't healthy. I think the perspective needs to be planting lots and keeping them small, rather than just 'being small.'

I'm not scalding myself for letting my skin crawl at those questions though. It'd be nice if people asked "so how's your disciple making coming along" - other forms of growth are just as important.

I think I'm rambling.

I was just watching Sky News. The camera was running by a road in Basra and they zoomed in on this family car. There was this tiny little girl sat in the window waving at the camera with a smile on her face.

A little quote I found on the howies website:

"On a journey of a thousand miles, we have not put our boots on yet
This is where we have got to on the journey of ours.
The journey is by no means complete.
And the journey so far has taught us some important things.
Like where we want to go. And just as importantly, where we don’t want to go."

Wow. I think I'm about to explode. That 'banquet' was great. Pan-Asian, therefore lots of noodles, pilau and fried rice, saag aloo, balti, naan...then Dr Pepper. Advice: don't drink fizzy after 3 plates of curry. I was happy as I won when we took bets on when Matt would arrive. I guessed 8.05pm and he strolled in at 8.01pm. Not bad.

We're having a guys night tonight - curry at the King Balti. They do a "banquet" which I assume is their version of eat as much as you like. I haven't eaten much all day, so I'm adequately prepared!

Earlier I was sat in a lecture on European Federalism. My professor was explaining how the institutions of the European Union were designed with different questions in mind (e.g. things like how to manage a strong centre, economic redistribution etc. with writers like Spinelli) and are now having to adapt to new demands. This got me thinking about what Todd Hunter says about the reformation and the fact that most of our explaination of Jesus/what church is etc. is designed to answer questions which people are no longer asking, that we have to learn to listen (like Eugene Peterson says) so that we can learn the new questions.

On Saturday I went to see my Grandpa. He told me that he'd been thinking about the fact that the word Christian seems to have so little meaning in today's world, it's a word used when you don't know what else to say you are (for some people). He was telling me how being a "disciple" or "follower of Jesus" is a far better term. I could only agree. I can't remember having chatted about that with him before but what he said to me sounded like what I could have said to him. Weird (and cool).

I can't help but think that it has only been since he retired as a minister of an Elim Church that he has started to get back to basics. It's like he's gradually letting go of all the religious legalism that he was brought up with.

We had a great central gathering last night. It was awesome to hear where everyone was at. The questions were "what first brought you here" and "why did you stay?" These are cool ways of encouraging each other to evaluate why you are part of the community you are part of and to get away from religiosity.

It was a time of encouragement - I love hearing the different perspectives people have on the same thing.

The vision is one of continuing to grow as a family. To see ourselves becoming the kind of people we were designed to be and to share that love with others. Through our lifestyles of vulnerability we can affect those around us.

I've finally started getting my head around Flash buttons...hence the distance all these days.

Tonight we asked the question: "do we think of ourselves as missionaries?" "do we really think of our 'gospel' as being capable of changing lives?" Challenging thoughts.

I love Jason Evans' blog from yesterday - particularly the statement "shut up and be something." It's so weird to think that there's this war going on on in a land far away and that there are innocent people just like us who are faced with such aggression. I heard an interview with a guy about to catch a train in one London station, when questioned about the war: "it's sad people have to die, but life must go on" as though his life is what life is about and those people the other side of the globe just don't matter. I get easily upset by things like that.

{Lord, bring good out of this tragedy of war. Make us more real and less selfish. Help us to see the Iraq as groups of innocent people who want peace, not as some far off entity.}

Luke 9
Sometimes the disciples were so dumb. Jesus had sent them on ahead to make arrangements for hospitality on his way to Jerusalem. They called off at a Samaritan Village and went to ask them if Jesus could stay there. The people refused. So James and John ask Jesus "do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down from the sky and incinerate them?" Let's blast them dude!

So how does Jesus respond? "Yeah guys, that'd be cool - let's burn them so hard that you can see the smoke rise." No, he ends things with a simple "course not."

I guess it just dawned on me that the disciples had never seen Jesus harm anyone with his 'secret powers' and yet that's exactly what they're willing to do at the first opportunity (once given Authority).

Before I sign off, I just remembered something in Luke 8. Jesus takes three of his disciples with him when asked to restore the life to Jairus' daughter. That's how he trained people. He was himself, he took people with him to see how he did things, later they were given authority to do the same.

Luke 8
Jesus says "let's go to the other side" then falls asleep while the others get him there. It's quiet but soon a storm breaks out - they really and truly believe that they're going to die, so they wake Jesus up to tell him so - he clicks his fingers, the storm stops, then he tells them off for not trusting him. Why did he tell them off?

I guess it must be because he, God had given them orders to get to the other side and being God, when he said it he didn't mean "head for the other side so I can wipe you out on the way" - he meant "go to the other side." The passage really spoke to me. So often I'm so absorbed in what's going on around me that I think "how am I ever going to get through the storm?" But God has told me that he's taking me to a place beyond that, so why should I give up trusting him just because the weather's changed. If he orders, he'll provide the resources.