This week is flying by. Seeing a variety of friends every night is great fun but the experience is tempered by the fact that we're saying our goodbyes. At least I'll be seeing most of them in the course of the year.

Next Saturday I move to Bristol. This week I'm getting rid of my old cardiffvineyard.org and ntlworld.com email addresses and getting a new address. If you haven't just received an email with my new contact details in and need them, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post and I'll email you with the details.

I won't be publishing my new address on this website because I'm determined to keep spam at bay!

Sing a new song to The Lord?
I just had a look on the CCLI website to find out the 25 most popular songs sung in churches in the UK this year. To be honest I was astonished at the results...

1 Shout To The Lord - Darlene Zschech
2 Be Still - David J. Evans
3 Lord I Lift Your Name On High - Rick Founds
4 Knowing You - Graham Kendrick
5 Come Now Is The Time To Worship - Brian Doerksen
6 Shine Jesus Shine - Graham Kendrick
7 How Deep The Father's Love For Us - Stuart Townend
8 The Servant King - Graham Kendrick
9 Once Again - Matt Redman
10 There Is A Redeemer - Melody Green-Sievright
11 We Want To See Jesus Lifted High - Doug Horley
12 I Will Offer Up My Life - Matt Redman
13 All Heaven Declares - Noel Richards\Tricia Richards
14 The Power Of Your Love - Geoff Bullock
15 Faithful One - Brian Doerksen
16 As The Deer - Martin Nystrom
17 I Will Sing Your Praises - Ian Smale
18 Give Thanks - Henry Smith
19 Jesus Is The Name We Honour - Philip Lawson Johnston
20 Refiner's Fire - Brian Doerksen
21 Majesty - Jack Hayford
22 Celebrate - Patricia Morgan\Dave Bankhead
23 Be The Centre - Michael Frye
24 To Be In Your Presence - Noel Richards
25 Only By Grace - Gerrit Gustafson

One of the things that really stood out to me last week was something Mike Breen said in the last evening talk I recorded. He was talking about how we communicate the message of Jesus to our present culture. The thing that really stood out was this...

"we live in a culture that is high tech and low touch, surrounded by people who long for low tech, high touch relationships."

As you can probably see, yesterday was spent decluttering the sidebar of my blog. For some reason I'm having issues at the moment with blogger, gmail and the settings on my computer.

This morning my New York Lock arrived, weighing in at a hefty 3.8kg. It's definately a beast of a lock and should keep bike theives away, but I'm not sure if the weight is a little excessive (it's about half a stone for those of you on different measurements). I might exchange it for the New York 3000 D-Lock (pictured right)...

Today Mark and I cycled up to Castell Coch, in Tongwynlais. As we rode up the hill, who should pull up but the Turrigianos on their first visit to the holy land. How surreal that we'd be in the same place at the same time.

Sharon is now blogging.

I'm back! I know I said I'd be gone 2 weeks, but I've discovered that when it comes to the conference/festival thing I'm really not all that hardcore. One week at New Wine was enough.

I'm about to leave for New Wine - I'll be there for the next 2 weeks. If you need to get hold of me try 07906 503 995.

Otherwise, have fun!!
And don't forget to see Fahrenheit 9/11.

Update: my cousin, Sarah has a new blog.

I'm enjoying my new Flickr account. It's a great tool for photo-blogging (see right -->)

The last week seems to have been something of a mad rush. Yesterday I had to go shopping and get essentials for moving to Bristol. We survived by taking well-earned rests every so often for coffee or lunch.

Today I visited Chris and we went walking in Cefn Onn Park. We almost got lost and managed to find an amazing view over Cardiff on the one side and Caerphilly on the other while talking philosophy. Good times.

Does anyone who reads this blog have any experience of using one of these:

I've been using a tape-dictaphone to record any inspiration for songs over the last few months. The problem is that the in-built mic is real poor quality. I have a minidisc recorder and was thinking of getting an external mic for it.

On Friday I go to New Wine to work on the ICC recording team for Week A and B, so will be gone for 2 weeks. Then I return for one week before moving to Bristol!

I've just finished what was probably my final shift at the M-Store. This week has been really interesting. It started off a little on the low side - I was feeling pretty down, unfocussed and frustrated.

But on Thursday night at our housegroup God really showed up and brought His refreshing (click here for more).

Last night Mark came around. We went on a long walk with the dog, taking in the fine weather and enjoying the space. We were able to chat some more, sharing thoughts and dreams. A great end to a varied week!

My buddy Mark has a new blog.

Since the Worship Leaders' Retreat, back in June and a conversation I had with Matt I've been reflecting on the call to be practitioners first and "thinkers" second. This might sound a little strange to some of you, especially coming from someone who loves to learn, but I'm really trying to figure out where that fits in with walking with Jesus.

The truth is that a gospel that is purely theoretical, however accurate, is unappealing in equal measure for those not currently following Jesus and those who are. We can theorise about the Kingdom all we like, but until we become "word-workers," those with good "ortho-praxis" to match our good orthodoxy, our faith is questionable. As James says "what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone."

I want to be a practitioner, I want to be someone who doesn't shirk his responsibility to usher in the kingdom. It seems that Jesus didn't worry about his disciples' theoretical understanding but instead immersed them in the work of the kingdom and let the understanding follow. He kept experience one step ahead of information. Is it just me or does that sound like more of an adventure?

Why haven't I blogged recently? It's actually because a combination of blogger and the settings on our network has prevented some of my posts appearing...

Last night we returned from Re:fresh, an experience of camping, teaching, frisbee and eating in the Bradfield countryside (just outside Reading). It was good to hang out with some of the extended family that is the Vineyard.

Lack of sleep, cold and too much talking seems to have taken its toll on my system and I spent most of today sleeping and trying to shake off a sore throat.

I'm off to Re:fresh (Vineyard weekend) in a few minutes, but just have time to post about the crazy week that has just been...

As already blogged, Stefan arrived last weekend and has since educated us on the fact that the Swiss are the best at everything (hmmm). On Tuesday Becky and Rachael, our two cousins came to visit. It was great to spend some time with them, catching up on everything that's been going on in each others' lives.

Last night our housegroup went to see Verra Cruz, a great band from St Albans who are also part of this family we call the Vineyard. If you like your hard rock, they're definately one to watch.

Time really seems to be flying and before long I'll be getting used to life across the bridge.

I've just finished Invisible Monsters, a non-linear escapade from Chuck Palahniuk, author of  Fight Club.  On first glimpse the book is a study of the life of a model after having her face blown off.  Only later do you discover a far more sinister plot with twists that keep you guessing right until the end.  The tale is one of self-destruction with the aim of attaining freedom from the constraints of society.

 

Now for a quote from Brandy Alexander:
"I want out of labels.  I don't want my life crammed into a single word.  A story.  I want to find something else, unknowable, some place that's not on the map.  A real adventure..." (p261)

 

It's a story of decadence and is at times very dark.  This is the first book I've read by Palahniuk and I found his writing style is unique and refreshing.  However I did have concerns that in time it may seem clichéd.

I know I'm a bit late with this one, but we've just watched Lost in Translation on DVD. I've heard people say you either love it or hate it, no in-between (the Marmite effect). Anyhow I loved it: from the photography to the music, to the adventure that the movie takes you on. For me it really captured what it's like to be somewhere, surrounded by people and yet disengaged from everything around you.****

9.25am Friday morning, phone rings...
I pick up after a few rings..."hello?"
At first all I hear is background noise, people making people noises.
Then an accented voice "heilo can I speak to Zoë?"
And for some reason I assume it's a phonecall from her bank, from an Indian callcentre.

Accent recognition was obviously not functioning at that time of the morning. Turns out it was Zoë's Swiss friend Stefan from the discipleship course she did in Thailand last summer.

So if anyone (in Cardiff) has any space in their house and would like a Swiss visitor, please let us know! Stefan is currently at the Backpacker hostel.