just the rev

have eaten a monster amount of food and have drunk plenty too! Still at Mum and Dad's and then off to Lucy's parents tomorrow. Been reading Leonard Sweet's "out of the Question...into the Mystery?" He asks the question 'how did we get the point but miss the person?' A lot of the book focuses on Genesis 22 and Abraham setting off to kill his son Isaac. Sweet talks about Abraham passing the test of obedience but flunking the test of relationship....why didn't Abraham argue it out with God like he did for Sodom and Gomorrah? Have found the book has done for me what I think the author sets out to do....not challenged about what I believe but more challenged about if I am getting close to Jesus. God is looking for nothing less than full engagement because God is present and God is relational. Anyway enuff about that for now.... hope your Christmas was a goodie. Head buzzing with ideas and heart beginning to pound again with enthusiasm for 2006 in Newport. How will I judge 2006? I hope by relationships and not by statistics......relationship is crucial and Jesus is everything.

sat and watch Madagascar as a family last night. Good film. Loved the penguins. the film is about a pack of not so wild animals experiencing some serious culture shock when they move from the Big Apple to the Mighty Jungle. I identified with Marty the Zebra and his restlessness and dreaming of the wild. the group fall out once in the 'wild' and Marty tries to encourage his friends to the happy side of the beach.....know how he feels..sometimes.......

Anyway the film is much deeper than it looks (1) and much deeper than I am probably making it sound (!) and a good chuckle - see it!

Then this morning the archdeac of newport came round to chat with me and L. there are some good wise pastors still in the church and Ken is one of them - what a relief.

well L and I have had a lovely anniversary celebration weekend without the children! But its good to have them home now! Friday had lunch with my sister in her new home then dropped the kids with my folks and spent Saturday evening in London with our buddies Blaise (cool name. cool bloke) and Sarah. Saw Billy Elliot on Saturday at the Theatre...great show! Also went to the Tate modern to see Rachel Whiteread's piece "Embankment" (what a lot of boxes!)

"embankment" is part of the Unilever Series at the Tate. on the brochure I read the following words and thought I wish someone could say the same about church....


"Our business is built on understanding everyday needs, desires and aspirations of people. It is a relentless quest for insight, where success is dependant on appreciating what lies beneath the exteriors of peoples lives. Creativity and vitality are important parts of Unilever's corporate mission and lie at the heart of everything Unilever does and everything we produce....it adds vitality to people's lives"

talking of creativity....was hunting the web for some help with designing an invite to the lab and stumbled across a company by the name of Embrace just outside Newport. Met richard from embrace last Thursday and of course turns out he is a Christian and is a very cool chap. So that's looking good for the Lab. Hope to see Phil K tonight as he is back from his training for HsBc.

more thoughts soon.

don't let the picture fool you....Methodists are cool! Had a brill evening out with our mates Del and Tony (both Methodist ministers) last night. Very therapeutic.

a good weekend. great to see my bro and his three kids yesterday. showed off the sound system to him. Spent the day after church with friends....really relaxing.

Church this morning was interesting....especially the last hymn. which L and I tried to sing but felt unable to in the end. the refrain was "Hail Mary, Hail Mary, Hail Mary, full of grace." its no 759 in 'complete anglican - hymns old and new'. check it out and let me know whether you think you could worship God singing it. May be its just us.....

ended up going for a walk to the shops with L. Can't be grumpy for too long when you're with a beautiful lady. Life's too short....plenty to smile about it really...

tonight Margaret - President of Churches Together - is coming round for a meal. Then tomorrow my bro is coming over with his kids for the morning - yippee!! might drag the equipment out for him to look at, he has just written a fantastic Christmas carol for his daughter's school and recorded it. The boy's a superstar I tell you....

feeling old and grumpy!....

off to prayer walk/moan at God after some lunch.

the above book is a great resource for Christmas services. Used a story from it last night. had a great time with the balfours and just got back from a pint with my line manager.

Chelsea v Liverpool tomorrow night.....not often I look for revenge but....

well the chaplaincy meeting on Friday at the Uni was all a bit confusing...need to talk it through with someone...best not to try and unpack it here!

yesterday hung out with my best mate from London Bible college days. Crusty Pope otherwise known as Chris. His two smashing girls came too. They left this morning before Church.....some friendships can actually survive years of no contact. Weird or what? Crusty if you read this....thanks for being a good mate and sharing some good theological insights with me....most refreshing.

And I have jsut got in with the family from the diocesan Youth Eucharist Service held this time in Usk. All good and interesting. I spoke and led the service. bout 150 people there....anyway a bit too tired to unpack that now too!

L and I have celebrated 12 years of married bliss today!

tomorrow mark and rosalee balfour come for a chat, pray and nose about Newport. Nice one! (mark and i kicked off the fountain alt worship experience in Gloucester together)

random (ish) thought: no clergy/pastors should ever tick 'their people' off for not being at a service....if not many people turn up, don't do a service next time or try something different! (Leave a comment if you disagree)

well the sub woofer is here!

rigged up the sound system in the front room! one word. AWESOME

Good meeting last night. Come rain or shine we kick the lab off on 29th January and before that we are going to have an evening of worship and prayer on the 15th January to lay ourselves and our dreams before God.

off to prayer walk and then off to a chaplaincy meeting for Newport Uni.

oh by the way had a really good time with the MU ladies yesterday! really enjoyed it.

just got back from Cardiff. went there to get the rest of the sound system from Business Post HQ, having rung them yesterday to tell them I didn't want to run the risk of them calling when we were out. arrived only to be informed that our gear was on a van on its way to Newport!

wasn't impressed.....the subwoofer better arrive in one piece this time...

richard tarran - the diocesan Sec - is calling round here instead for meeting just in case business post grace us with their presence. r t coming to talk about money! yippee!

this afternoon off to St. P's for the MU meeting and then tonight meeting as a full team to talk about the Lab.....me, Luce, Phil and Del ....over a Chinese from Tescos.