A desire for God

I thought this prayer Sue posted in comments deserved to be out for all to see. I can fully agree with the sentiments it expresses. Thanks Sue

"MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."- Thomas Merton

The Holy Spirit and Men and Women in the Bible - Jeremiah

Here is the power point from todays talk and a link to my notes if you want to read what goes with the presentation but remember you can hear the talk by going to the podcasts link down the right hand side of this blog.



As usual we value your thoughts and comments

'Thought for Today' Today on Lourdes

Tomorrow I am off to Lourdes for a week and many people have asked me 'what is a free church pastor doing going to Lourdes?'

Good question! Although I have been once before I haven't found it easy to say what has drawn me back again.

Today, Dom Antony Sutch described on BBC4's 'Thought for the Day' his own view and I was taken with how close it was to mine. So, if you want to read a good approximation of my view of Lourdes and perhaps some clues as to why I am going then read his 'Thought for the Day' by clicking here.

Debbie in Nigeria

This is Debbie's PowerPoint presentation of her talk at Ashley on Sunday 14 September:

Walking in the light

I followed the links Jo sent about the Malcolm Lane evening and was very moved by this video for some inexplicable reason it brought tears to my eyes so thought i'd add it to our blog. If you want to know more about the evening go to http://www.justgiving.com/malcolmlane

How Does God Speak to You?

This is from Tracy about God speaking. It was a blog comment and they can get easily missed so I thought it was worth highlighting. So here it is:

Anita and Roy asked me to blog my recent experience of God speaking to us if only we are ready to listen. ;
I travelled to OZ to see my family this summer, not the highlight trip you might think but first to support my dad as my step mum died and through the funeral. Then up to Queensland to help my mum with her radiotherapy for breast cancer. After weeks of hospitals, I needed to find some time to pray and listen to the silence. I decided to go to Sea world for a visit. Once there I went to one of the water enclosures and started to pray for support. Very soon after a dolphin came up to me. No one else was around. I waved, he waved back. I wiggled my fingers and he talked back. This continued then he swam off only to come back with 2 other dolphins. I repeated the waving and all three waved back. Magical, yes it was God speaking to me! He was saying I am here Tracey. When other people came to watch the dolphins left. I stayed and continued praying. When I was alone again, they returned to wave goodbye then swam off. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to know that in the world of pain and stress, a simple act of animal connection helps us to see God in nature. It was uplifting. I hope the story is for you too.

Any more stories about God speaking would be welcome. Just click Comment and type away........

Seeing the World Differently

This is a new perspective of the coffee time at Ashley. It made me realise what the world looks like from a very different perspective when you are four and a half and about a metre tall. Feet, shoes, legs and hands become become more signicant.

Argentina Journey - Sophie Hoffman

I asked Sophie to write about her visit to Argentina in the summer. Here it is with pictures. Thank you Sophie....

As you may or may not know, I went to Argentina in July this year with an organization called World Challenge. Two teams of seventeen girls and two teachers from my school joined a World Challenge leader for a month in Argentina, and I had the best time of my life.

The whole preparation started about 2 years ago, and then I was told I had to do the daunting task of raising £3345 for the trip. I was like ‘oh, this will be easy for me’. I didn’t realize how wrong I was. I still haven’t raised all of my money, but I am paying my parents back. Over the last 2 years, I have done a variety of fundraising activities; babysitting, bag-packing in supermarkets, a fun run and a pampered chef party.

I flew out to Argentina on the 11th July 08. We had to be at school at three O’clock in the morning for our flight. We arrived in Argentina that evening and stayed in Buenos Aires. After that, we travelled to Iguazu falls, where we stayed for a few days. We went to see the waterfalls for 2 days, and they have been described as the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. I certainly feel they don’t disappoint.

After we went to Iguazu, we went canoeing for 4 days. This was the biggest challenge for me as there were some pretty big and disgusting bugs here, and for people who know me, they will know I don’t do bugs. Also, this was the first time we had been without a toilet, so it was a bit of a culture shock for us. It was also the longest we would have to camp. All of these facts made me pretty grumpy these three days, and I was avoided by the rest of the team.

After canoeing, we went to a town called Salta, which was the town I liked the best. There were tall buildings in small streets, and there were huge undercover markets you would stumble upon. We spent 2 day here, and on one of those days, we went white water rafting. This was so much fun, and I would love to do it again.

From Salta, we travelled to a small village called San Francisco where we started our trek. The trek lasted 3 days and we saw some incredible views of the Andes. I also saw a huge, real life tarantula, which I thought was dead at the time, and was about to start prodding and poking it. One day, the guides we were with killed a sheep for us for our dinner, and then we slept under the stars. There were literally millions of stars in the sky, because we were at altitude so could see the ones above cloud level.

After we did our Andes trek, we started our project phase. This is when you go to a small village or community in Argentina and you do some community work for them. In our project, we went to a small village called Valle Grande, where we stayed in the local secondary school and made signs out of wood for the nearby villages and towns. We stayed here for 5 days, and it was really interesting living and talking to the local people.
After our project phase, we went to do another trek near a city called Cordoba. The scenery was like the peak district, and we only trekked for 2 days, so it was ideal for a trek without luxuries. On the second day of our trek, we climbed to the top of a mountain using a rope, and at one point we were literally climbing up a cliff face. It was really great.

After this last trek, we went back to Buenos Aires for the last few days to do some shopping and relaxation. I absolutely loved the trip, which is not really like me, as I normally love my luxuries. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me and I would recommend it to anything. It will be the best thing you will do in your life.

Sophie Hoffman

and here are the pictures

Bringing what we have

This picture I took at Taize, is inspiring me at the moment in terms of bringing what we have, as worship. There is something appealing about the difference between the icon; the painting of which is hours of painstaking work and apparently heavily governed by complex rules, and the bunch of flowers picked in the adjoining field and presented in a cut off water bottle. I find it hard to believe God is any less pleased with the flowers. Both methods of worship seem to be working together quite happily here.
I think it says to me that it is ok that we just do what we can do; if we have great artistic talent - wonderful, but if what we bring is something simple like a bunch of flowers - then better that we worship with those, than don't look to him at all. The truth for me is that I would never have glanced at the icon if the flowers hadn't been there, so maybe simple things can sometimes lead a way in to the more complex.

The Holy Spirit and Men and Women in the Bible

Shaun and I are sharing a series of talks on the this subject over the next few months. I gave this first one on Sunday last. The PowerPoint presentation is below to give you an idea of what we were thinking about.



Any additions, comments, etc are welcome whether you were there or not. See slides 3, 5 and 7 for some ideas you might comment on.

Hope, creativity and imagination

I spoke yesterday at Ashley about hope, creativity and imagination. In the evening I came across this John O'Donohue blessing which I felt was another creative/imaginative way of expressing hope.

For peace

As the fever of day calms towards twilight
May all that is strained in us come to ease.

We pray for all who suffered violence today,
May an unexpected serenity surprise them.

For those who risk their lives each day for peace,
May their hearts glimpse providence at the heart of history.

That those who make riches from violence and war
Might hear in their dreams the cries of the lost.

That we might see through our fear of each other
A new vision to heal our fatal attraction to aggression.

That those who enjoy the privilege of peace
Might not forget their tormented brothers and sisters.

That the wolf might lie down with the lamb,
That our swords be beaten into ploughshares

And no hurt or harm be done
Anywhere along the holy mountain.

John O'Donohue

Taken from Benedictus, A Book of Blessings (Bantam Press)