New Kid on the Blog

I have recently read a book which was sent to me by booksneeze.com . Called 'The Map' it's all about men and the Church Book Description A map, hidden in the gospel of Matthew, is the key to awakening the sleeping giant in the church—men. Sounds like fiction, but it's true. The apostle Matthew embedded a map into his gospel. History's greatest men, including Christ himself, followed this map. The Map begins as a fictional tale of murder, deception, and greed as three men fight to uncover the most important discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls. Then, using the tale as a parable, Murrow shows men what the map looks like, where it is found in the Bible, and how to walk its three ancient pathways today: * Submission * Strength * Sacrifice David Murrow stumbled across the map by accident in 2006. After three years of research and writing, he is ready to reveal it to the world My thoughts: No matter what you think about the state of masculinity and...

Still catching up! here's one from early on in Lent! My wife and children are away visiting family, which I thought would give me a sense of freedom and a glimpse again of the bachelor lifestyle: watching what TV I want, junk food, not doing the washing up, loud music and playing guitar into the early hours – things which I couldn’t get away with when there are others around. Sitting here in an empty house it doesn’t feel like much fun, though, it’s actually quite lonely – not at all like the picture in my head! The grass may seem greener on the other side, but it rarely is. Our fantasies are not often like real life. Jesus said to focus on today, on what we have, and make the most of it; not concerning ourselves with tomorrow or the next day but what is right and good here and now and trusting God to be with us through it all.

Year C Easter 2 (2010) RCL Principle Acts 5.27-32 Psalm 118.14-29 John 20.19-31 Doubt is good! Poor Thomas – always remembered as the one who needed proof. The one from whom we get the saying ‘Doubting Thomas’ – a saying still used in a Biblically illiterate nation, with generations of people who don’t understand phrases, or at least don’t know the root and deeper meaning of phrases like ‘Prodigal Son’, ‘Treasure in Heaven’, ‘faith like a mustard seed’, ‘Job’s comforter’ nor many others that most of us have grown up with. Thomas, remembered because he couldn’t accept the stories that the others were telling – because he didn’t happen to be with the others when Jesus appeared. Doubting Thomas because the fantastic events recounted by his friends were too much to grasp, because he needed more. [More]

You may not like the style, or even the whole Rob Bell deal - but I love this! Resurrection, life out of death, God's ultimate yes to the world - celebrated by Rob Bell... Resurrection: Rob Bell from The Work of Rob Bell on Vimeo .

This one is from the second week in Lent! I will get through them all soon, promise On the whole our national news media seem to enjoy pointing out the mistakes made by the Church at large or the points at which it struggles. My experience of Church has been, though, that the true face of the Church is the local fellowship – though I am happy to be a part of a wider Church family and I hold my Bishops in great respect. In the end, don’t judge Christian Faith by news reports (except the good things our local papers say!). If you want to explore faith, and see the Christian life in action look to Christians around you, to your local fellowships of all different traditions, to those who are seeking on a day to day basis to follow Jesus. We do fail, we make mistakes, but we are trying with God’s help to live and share the Good News of Jesus Christ where we are.

Catchup time again! This time a thought for the week from a few weeks back(Valentine's, actually, but the meaning is still current), I will add these as I find time in next few days - or weeks. Otherwise the current version can always be found by going to the Midweek Herald website and reading the current e-edition of the paper (Honiton, Axe Valley or Sidmouth versions!) It usually says on the cover which page the Thought for the Week is on!. Love n Stuff Love makes the world go round. Somewhere deep in all of us there is a need to know we are loved and that somewhere, somehow, we mean something to someone. We may not put it in such terms, but at the root of so much human activity is this deep abiding need for love. It comes to a head for lots of people around this time of year – Valentine’s Day approaches and for some of us there is a hope that we might get a little reminder that someone loves us or we might fear that we don’t feel loved. But whether cards dr...

Here is the sermon for Palm Sunday - it has been a while since I posted anything to the New Kid Deep Stuff Blog, though I have a load of sermons I have been thinking of sharing! I know that parts of this sermon I have recycled, but it was extensively rewritten for our shared service for Anglicans and Baptists here in Kilmington. Sometimes the core of an idea is worth using again and adapting for a particular situation! I have a second sermon preached on that day which I may post sometime.... Year C Palm Sunday 2010 What did they think they were doing? As we hear again the familiar story of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, as we imagine the crowds pressing against him, the shouts, the palm trees being stripped of leaves, cloaks laid on the ground. As we imagine the air ringing with the sound of acclamation ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’. As we see this rag tag collection of ordinary people, along with prostitutes, tax-collectors, fishermen, labourers, fanatics, religious t...

The longer one leaves something the harder it seems to be to get back to it - that certainly is the way things feel with this blog! I often think to myself 'oh, I should blog about that' but then think to myself - how would I introduce that? How do I make up for all those weeks with nothing said? Do I have to try and fill in all the gaps and explain exactly why it is that things have been so gappy? So I decided I would open with a statement about it being difficult to get back into blogging, and then just carry on and see whether or not any/some/all of the thoughts that have bobbed up and waved a bit turn up in blog posts over the next days or weeks. But without any more ado Alleluia - Christ is risen! It's that statement that makes us what we are - as Christians, I mean... So our celebrations of Easter and the lead up to it over Lent have been at the forefront of all I have done over the past six or so weeks. In fact our Lent course (which I wrote using material from ...

Hi all It has been far too long, but things have stacked up, piled up, fallen over, been piled up again, been sorted, then left a bit, then stacked up again, put into new piles, fallen over etc etc etc I am slighty freaked out that I won lovely Quilly's 'Punny Monday' over at http://quilldancer.com/ and haven't written anything on this blog for ages, so feel I have wasted time (as the prize is being the featured blog of the week) and squandered the opportunity to have good folk come and make comments about my blog, life, faith, whatever. So apologies. When life gets a little less busy, and I am sure it will one day soon, I will give this blog the time it deserves and you good folk with have something to comment/reflect/muse on and I will look forward to doing that. For now - have a very Happy and Blessed Easter, and may the risen life of Christ be yours today and always! Alleluia Christ is risen! He is risen indeed - Alleluia!