It's the last day of 2004 and I've been doing some reflecting, thinking about the past year and the one ahead. I'm both excited and apprehensive about the future, knowing some of what is ahead though only in broad strokes, rather than fine detail. It's the detail that always bothers me.
Since being home I've enjoyed catching up with friends, hanging out with family and having the opportunity to rest. I'm in a strange place at the moment, a time of training, a time of getting used to being out of my comfort zone, a time of knowing I am between places. In the past month I've been learning a little of what it means to be content wherever you are and whatever you are doing, though I know I still have tons to learn.
Past leanings towards the poor and to issues of justice, which for a while I had put on the back-burner, seem to be resurfacing within me. While I don't know how their outworking will look, I know that to ignore them would be like lying to myself.
I just pray that God will continue to guide me as I take these little baby steps in following him.
Friday, December 24, 2004
Christmas Reading
"The story of Christmas, properly understood, asserts that God is not best imagined as an all-powerful despot but as a vulnerable and pathetic child. It's a statement about the nature of divine power. But in the hands of conservative theologians, the Nicene religion of the baby and the cross is a way of distracting attention away from the teachings of Christ. It's a form of religion that concentrates on things like belief in the virgin birth while ignoring the fact that the gospels are much more concerned about the treatment of the poor and the forgiveness of enemies..." [read more]
-Giles Fraser in today's The Guardian
"The story of Christmas, properly understood, asserts that God is not best imagined as an all-powerful despot but as a vulnerable and pathetic child. It's a statement about the nature of divine power. But in the hands of conservative theologians, the Nicene religion of the baby and the cross is a way of distracting attention away from the teachings of Christ. It's a form of religion that concentrates on things like belief in the virgin birth while ignoring the fact that the gospels are much more concerned about the treatment of the poor and the forgiveness of enemies..." [read more]
-Giles Fraser in today's The Guardian
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
I had a nice, chilled-out 22nd birthday on Sunday. My Mum, Dad and Zoë came over and we went out to Wagamama, currently my favourite restaurant, for lunch. I recommend the vegetarian Yasai Katsu Curry.
Afterwards we drove back via the Downs, which were beautifully lit by a low winter sun. When we got back to the house we ate cake and hung out with Steve and Claire. An enjoyable birthday, though less rawkus than I'm accustomed to!
Monday, December 20, 2004
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
I figured it was about time I gave you an update on the Vancouver/Seattle ministry trip that I was on last week, so here goes…
Vancouver
The 29th November 2004 was my first 36 hour day. On arrival at Bristol bus station at about 8am I found a rather cold Don awaiting our bus to Heathrow Airport. We found Abi in the café whispering sweet nothings to her fiancé (now husband) Matt. A few moments later Sim arrived and the dream team was complete.
We travelled many an hour, from coach to plane, to people carrier, but finally arrived at Margie and Marcie’s house, two ladies who were looking after six of us during our stay in Vancouver. The first thing that struck me in Canada was the size on the roads, the size of the cars, and how spread out everything is. I was tired, so it’s not surprising that my memories of my first night in the country were fairly vague.
I fell asleep at 7pm (8 hours behind GMT) and woke at 7.20am feeling great and very blessed that my excitement at visiting a foreign land hadn’t hindered my rest. Marcie fed us very well the two mornings that we had the time to have a large breakfast – eggs, crepes, caramel and maple syrup were the order of the day! We felt so welcomed and encouraged to relax and enjoy our time with them.
On Tuesday we went to the mall, my first experience of a North American consumer paradise and I think we stayed too long (4 hours total). It was interesting to check out Wal-Mart (I pray I never have to step into one of them again) and to try a Taco Bell (tasteless food, but at least they had Root Beer).
In the evening we attended a leadership training evening on the subject of ‘intentional community,’ where Andrew spoke and the we mingled with the discussion tables.
Wednesday was a day for exploring downtown Vancouver. We took the Sky Train and then the Sea Bus, divided so that some could go up Grouse Mountain and others could find ‘urbana.’ Sim, Abi and I found ourselves in Gas Town, where we met a girl who tried to convince us to eat at Brothers (a restaurant). We asked her where we could find independent record shops and nice coffee houses and she sent us in the direction of Commercial Drive. We then took the long way: bus, train, bus, train.
On one of the busses we met an old lady called Grace who was enthusiastic about the merits of fruit. She told us that she “should have died” years before, but owes her continued existence to eating fresh fruit. She also informed us that she had asthma, arthritis and cancer. It turned out our stop was the same as hers and, as we got off the bus, Sim chased after her and asked if we could pray for her ailments. She agreed to us praying for her there, on the street, so we did. When we had finished she prayed for us, that God would bless us on our trip.
That evening we went to one of Southside’s evening celebrations, where all four congregations come together. Andrew spoke and we ministered. One of the coolest parts of that night was having the opportunity to pray with a group of teenagers in the church. Earlier in the evening I sensed that God wanted us to pray for those who were under twenty-five, and when Matt called the teenagers forward I knew this was the time.
Seattle
We woke up at 5am on Thursday morning so that we could be ready for our 6am pick up. The aim was to get to Seattle for 10am and our Canadian escorts knew we might be some time crossing the border. The journey went smoothly and we switched vehicles in a Starbucks car-park somewhere near Seattle. This leg of the journey was with Wayne and Dusty in their van that closely resembled the A-Team van. They took us to Yakima, the self professed ‘Palm Springs of Washington,’ where we hung out with the leadership team of Yakima Vineyard, a great bunch of people.
In the evening there was a get-together with the all the leaders in the church where Andrew told us, during the ministry time, that if we were going to give words they had to be specific, i.e. point at someone and say ‘I think God is saying this for you,’ rather than just ‘I think there’s someone here who has this going on in their life.’ I found this kind of scary because it was something I had never done before, and I was expecting that if I gave a word to someone it would turn out to be completely ‘off.’ So as we stood there at the front I was praying like crazy and was, rather politely, letting everyone else go ahead of me! After having a word for one person go around in my head for what seemed like forever I decided to grit my teeth and tell the individual what I felt God was saying. The amazing thing is that it was entirely relevant and we were able to pray together! I was blown away.
Friday was another early morning as we departed at around 6.30am for Seattle where the ELI (Emerging Leaders Initiative) conference was to take place. We started off with a Leaders Roundtable where we talked about planting communities of faith in a secular context. A lot of this involved the post-intentional debate as we tried to explain that a lot of this stuff is intuitive.
In the afternoon we went up the space needle and chilled out, but that’s a story I’ve already told.
On Saturday morning Abi told her story and spoke on allowing God into your whole life, which was great and led into a really special time of prayer. In the afternoon Matt spoke very briefly on healing, but mostly on following Jesus. He ended by sending everyone out to pray for people on the street. That night we spent some time sharing stories from the afternoon and then Chris spoke on prophecy and we had a clinic time.
Afterwards Sim and I went back to the house we were staying at with Kyle and Ian and some of the other people from the conference. We chilled out to the likes of Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna! We also learnt to hi-five in true American style.
Sunday we visited the Vineyard Community Church in Shoreline (the venue of the ELI conference) where Don spoke on Jeremiah. It’s great having this extended family across the globe.
That afternoon Kyle took us shopping in downtown Seattle where everything was half what it would cost in the UK. We went for pizza in the U-District and then retired to the house where we started watching Jackie Brown. I never did make it through that film…
Vancouver
The 29th November 2004 was my first 36 hour day. On arrival at Bristol bus station at about 8am I found a rather cold Don awaiting our bus to Heathrow Airport. We found Abi in the café whispering sweet nothings to her fiancé (now husband) Matt. A few moments later Sim arrived and the dream team was complete.
We travelled many an hour, from coach to plane, to people carrier, but finally arrived at Margie and Marcie’s house, two ladies who were looking after six of us during our stay in Vancouver. The first thing that struck me in Canada was the size on the roads, the size of the cars, and how spread out everything is. I was tired, so it’s not surprising that my memories of my first night in the country were fairly vague.
I fell asleep at 7pm (8 hours behind GMT) and woke at 7.20am feeling great and very blessed that my excitement at visiting a foreign land hadn’t hindered my rest. Marcie fed us very well the two mornings that we had the time to have a large breakfast – eggs, crepes, caramel and maple syrup were the order of the day! We felt so welcomed and encouraged to relax and enjoy our time with them.
On Tuesday we went to the mall, my first experience of a North American consumer paradise and I think we stayed too long (4 hours total). It was interesting to check out Wal-Mart (I pray I never have to step into one of them again) and to try a Taco Bell (tasteless food, but at least they had Root Beer).
In the evening we attended a leadership training evening on the subject of ‘intentional community,’ where Andrew spoke and the we mingled with the discussion tables.
Wednesday was a day for exploring downtown Vancouver. We took the Sky Train and then the Sea Bus, divided so that some could go up Grouse Mountain and others could find ‘urbana.’ Sim, Abi and I found ourselves in Gas Town, where we met a girl who tried to convince us to eat at Brothers (a restaurant). We asked her where we could find independent record shops and nice coffee houses and she sent us in the direction of Commercial Drive. We then took the long way: bus, train, bus, train.
On one of the busses we met an old lady called Grace who was enthusiastic about the merits of fruit. She told us that she “should have died” years before, but owes her continued existence to eating fresh fruit. She also informed us that she had asthma, arthritis and cancer. It turned out our stop was the same as hers and, as we got off the bus, Sim chased after her and asked if we could pray for her ailments. She agreed to us praying for her there, on the street, so we did. When we had finished she prayed for us, that God would bless us on our trip.
That evening we went to one of Southside’s evening celebrations, where all four congregations come together. Andrew spoke and we ministered. One of the coolest parts of that night was having the opportunity to pray with a group of teenagers in the church. Earlier in the evening I sensed that God wanted us to pray for those who were under twenty-five, and when Matt called the teenagers forward I knew this was the time.
Seattle
We woke up at 5am on Thursday morning so that we could be ready for our 6am pick up. The aim was to get to Seattle for 10am and our Canadian escorts knew we might be some time crossing the border. The journey went smoothly and we switched vehicles in a Starbucks car-park somewhere near Seattle. This leg of the journey was with Wayne and Dusty in their van that closely resembled the A-Team van. They took us to Yakima, the self professed ‘Palm Springs of Washington,’ where we hung out with the leadership team of Yakima Vineyard, a great bunch of people.
In the evening there was a get-together with the all the leaders in the church where Andrew told us, during the ministry time, that if we were going to give words they had to be specific, i.e. point at someone and say ‘I think God is saying this for you,’ rather than just ‘I think there’s someone here who has this going on in their life.’ I found this kind of scary because it was something I had never done before, and I was expecting that if I gave a word to someone it would turn out to be completely ‘off.’ So as we stood there at the front I was praying like crazy and was, rather politely, letting everyone else go ahead of me! After having a word for one person go around in my head for what seemed like forever I decided to grit my teeth and tell the individual what I felt God was saying. The amazing thing is that it was entirely relevant and we were able to pray together! I was blown away.
Friday was another early morning as we departed at around 6.30am for Seattle where the ELI (Emerging Leaders Initiative) conference was to take place. We started off with a Leaders Roundtable where we talked about planting communities of faith in a secular context. A lot of this involved the post-intentional debate as we tried to explain that a lot of this stuff is intuitive.
In the afternoon we went up the space needle and chilled out, but that’s a story I’ve already told.
On Saturday morning Abi told her story and spoke on allowing God into your whole life, which was great and led into a really special time of prayer. In the afternoon Matt spoke very briefly on healing, but mostly on following Jesus. He ended by sending everyone out to pray for people on the street. That night we spent some time sharing stories from the afternoon and then Chris spoke on prophecy and we had a clinic time.
Afterwards Sim and I went back to the house we were staying at with Kyle and Ian and some of the other people from the conference. We chilled out to the likes of Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna! We also learnt to hi-five in true American style.
Sunday we visited the Vineyard Community Church in Shoreline (the venue of the ELI conference) where Don spoke on Jeremiah. It’s great having this extended family across the globe.
That afternoon Kyle took us shopping in downtown Seattle where everything was half what it would cost in the UK. We went for pizza in the U-District and then retired to the house where we started watching Jackie Brown. I never did make it through that film…
Friday, December 10, 2004
Some new music I picked up in the US of A...
The Postal Service "Give Up"
Sim, Abi and I were in a coffee house on Commercial Drive in Vancouver when we first heard this. It's kind of electronica meets chilled out American indie and is a side project of the singer from Deathcab for Cutie. I love it.
Pedro the Lion "Achilles Heel"
This is the latest recording from Pedro and is real interesting. At times strongly influenced by the likes of Radiohead and Coldplay, though not to a degree that is offputting. The raw guitar sounds in this album are what I love the most.
Ironically while I was there I had a conversation with a guy called George (part of Shoreline Vineyard, Seattle) in which he told me that all the best music comes out of the UK. At the time I agreed with him and didn't let on that most of my favourite bands are from the US!
The Postal Service "Give Up"
Sim, Abi and I were in a coffee house on Commercial Drive in Vancouver when we first heard this. It's kind of electronica meets chilled out American indie and is a side project of the singer from Deathcab for Cutie. I love it.
Pedro the Lion "Achilles Heel"
This is the latest recording from Pedro and is real interesting. At times strongly influenced by the likes of Radiohead and Coldplay, though not to a degree that is offputting. The raw guitar sounds in this album are what I love the most.
Ironically while I was there I had a conversation with a guy called George (part of Shoreline Vineyard, Seattle) in which he told me that all the best music comes out of the UK. At the time I agreed with him and didn't let on that most of my favourite bands are from the US!
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Blackout!
I walked through the door at 6.15pm on Tuesday after around 17 hours of travelling and got into bed around 9pm. The next morning I finally woke at 8am oblivious to the fact that my clock had been ringing (or more accurately beeping) since 7.30am.
Having prepared myself for the day ahead I jumped on my bike at around 9.55pm and headed to the office. On my arrival I was chatting with Grace, she asked me how the trip had gone. I started to think "where should I start" when I began to notice I was getting light-headed.
Four minutes later I was sat on the sofa in the office as Grace took the bag off my back. My mouth was sore and Andrew was now downstairs asking "what happened?" Apparently I had blacked out, fallen forward and smacked my head on Grace's desk. Fortunately I had my cycling helmet on at the time so I just had a bit of a fat lip, a small cut on my right arm and mis-shapen glasses. According to Grace, my eyes were open the whole time.
I walked through the door at 6.15pm on Tuesday after around 17 hours of travelling and got into bed around 9pm. The next morning I finally woke at 8am oblivious to the fact that my clock had been ringing (or more accurately beeping) since 7.30am.
Having prepared myself for the day ahead I jumped on my bike at around 9.55pm and headed to the office. On my arrival I was chatting with Grace, she asked me how the trip had gone. I started to think "where should I start" when I began to notice I was getting light-headed.
Four minutes later I was sat on the sofa in the office as Grace took the bag off my back. My mouth was sore and Andrew was now downstairs asking "what happened?" Apparently I had blacked out, fallen forward and smacked my head on Grace's desk. Fortunately I had my cycling helmet on at the time so I just had a bit of a fat lip, a small cut on my right arm and mis-shapen glasses. According to Grace, my eyes were open the whole time.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Day 2 of ELI (Emerging Leaders Initiative) and we're having fun. Yesterday afternoon we went to the Seattle Space Needle, which was really interesting - good views. By the time we returned we were all so tired that we just KOd on the sofas in the Senior Pastors' office. We were fed, had prayer etc. and God really gave us the energy and expectancy to go on.
Afterwards Sim and I hung out with our new friends Ian and Kyle, who we helped house-sit one of their friends' houses. On the way home Kyle asked us "what do you guys want for breakfast?" To which Sim jokingly replied "sausage, bacon, eggs, toast, pancakes, muffins, coffee, orange juice..." We were so tired that everything seemed funny - especially the names of the products we put on our 'toasting buscuits' (english muffins) - Smuckers Jam, Skippy Peanut Butter.
There does seem to be way more fruit in the US than in Canada, which surprised me - I anticipated it being the other way around.
Afterwards Sim and I hung out with our new friends Ian and Kyle, who we helped house-sit one of their friends' houses. On the way home Kyle asked us "what do you guys want for breakfast?" To which Sim jokingly replied "sausage, bacon, eggs, toast, pancakes, muffins, coffee, orange juice..." We were so tired that everything seemed funny - especially the names of the products we put on our 'toasting buscuits' (english muffins) - Smuckers Jam, Skippy Peanut Butter.
There does seem to be way more fruit in the US than in Canada, which surprised me - I anticipated it being the other way around.
Friday, December 03, 2004
We've literally just strolled in to Seattle Vineyard. There's an Emerging leaders' conference starting in 10 minutes, so just a quick update. So far we've visited Vancouver, eaten very well, stayed in Yakima and hung out with the guys from Southside Community Church and Yakima Vineyard respectively.
Late nights and early mornings probably mean that when I look at this on arrival back home it won't make great grammatical sense, but who cares.
We drove through the mountains this morning, in the mist. At first it was so misty that Abi asked "are we driving to heaven." Matt claims he saw a coyote and a sign on a diner saying "Jesus is Lord, we accept Visa." The cars are big and the
"gas" is scarily cheap.
I'm taking photos and will blog more substantially on my return.
Late nights and early mornings probably mean that when I look at this on arrival back home it won't make great grammatical sense, but who cares.
We drove through the mountains this morning, in the mist. At first it was so misty that Abi asked "are we driving to heaven." Matt claims he saw a coyote and a sign on a diner saying "Jesus is Lord, we accept Visa." The cars are big and the
"gas" is scarily cheap.
I'm taking photos and will blog more substantially on my return.
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