Today I have been challenged, encouraged, stimulated, stretched and fed (plus more) at an event called Catalyst Live which was organised by BMS World Mission. Its format was likened to flicking through a magazine - lots of short features - one after the other. Each one could probably have filled the whole day in itself.
Contributions ranged from Prof John Lennox answering the question, 'Should Christians fear science and the new atheism?' with a resounding 'No' to A Rocha's Miranda Harris getting me to see the importance of buying a new dining table when we move house (I haven't told my wife about that yet - I'll see how long it takes her to notice it on here!)
Then there was ethnomusicology, poetry and art.
We looked at earthquakes, volcanos and floods; as well as scrolls, books and iPads.
The author of the Royal Navy Leadership manual spoke, but it was another speaker who told us about three boats that set sail…
We looked at the question of suffering; and then we heard from a Palestinian Arab Israeli Christian, sharing his perspective on events in Jerusalem.
And then there was theologian Jurgen Moltmann…
A brilliant day - which I will take a few days to digest - but hopefully I'll find the time to write something more about each session.
At the moment it feels a bit like the world is spinning far too fast, there is too much going on in my life, and I would just like an extra week or so to catch up and get back on track…but we all know that's not going to happen any time soon.
A while ago when wrestling with the deep question of how best to sign off emails - just my name; yours sincerely / faithfully seemed a little formal; God bless… - I was reading through the New Testament and noted that Paul often uses the phrase 'Grace and peace' in his introduction to a lot of his letters. I thought that this was a great phrase - both a reminder of God's grace and peace, but also a prayer that goes with the email that the recipient would know God's grace and peace - particularly relevant with some emails that I send.
But in the middle of all the busyness and stress of these last few days it has been a real encouragement and also a challenge for me to write those words. Whatever is going on we believe that God is in control, that he is working out his plans and his purposes, and he has promised that he will be with us. It's great to be able to remind others of God's grace and peace in what they're going through. Sometimes I need to be reminded that this applies to me too.
When we read the Bible a few verses at a time it can be hard to see the big picture. Because although the Bible is a collection of smaller books it tells a big story - God's story. This is a story that starts before the beginning and goes on after the end. Sitting down and reading the whole of the Bible is a daunting prospect. Whilst Genesis and Exodus may be manageable, once we get into Leviticus it can be really hard going.
But this November sees 'The Bible' coming to a television screen near you. 'The Bible' is a mini series, and episode one, 'Beginnings' will be broadcast on Channel 5 on Saturday 30 November at 9pm.
For more information visit their website.
Resources for churches are available from the Bible Society.
In case you'd missed it - Christmas is coming. We know Christmas is coming because all the big shops have started with their Christmas decorations and all the major retailers have started with their TV Christmas advertising campaigns. And every year it seems as if Christmas starts earlier and earlier - mainly as retailers try to maximise the amount of money they can squeeze out of people as they create this picture of a perfect Christmas.
The church has time of preparation in the run up to Christmas to allow Christians to get ready and prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. This has nothing to do with turkeys and chocolates and presents though. This is the season of Advent which starts in a few weeks' time.
Most people today, probably know the word 'Advent' in connection with the word 'calendar'. An Advent Calendar usually contains 24 or 25 windows which you start opening on the 1 December, and behind each window there is a chocolate - and these calendars are available in a whole range of designs - Disney Princesses, Moshi Monsters, etc etc etc.
But this year you can buy 'The Real Advent Calendar' from The Meaningful Chocolate Company - the people behind the Real Easter Egg that's been around for a few years now.
The picture on the front is a cartoon Nativity, and behind each window there is a chocolate star, but on the back of the window is a sentence which tells a bit of the Christmas story - day by day. Here's a bit more detail.
To find out more, including details of where you can buy this Advent Calendar, visit their website by clicking here.
Yesterday evening I helped roll a few sheets of yellow paper, blue paper, white paper, and a few colouring sheets together in to rolls.
Other people made up bags of sweets, bottled beads, boxed jewellery, sorted hats into age categories, and covered shoe boxes in wrapping paper.
Why? We were making fillers for shoeboxes.
This coming week we will start processing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child's Shoebox Appeal. Although people are encouraged to fill their shoe boxes we do come across a lot of boxes that are maybe only half full. Other times we find items that we have to take out of a box and this leaves a gap. This is when we need our supply of fillers.
The rolls of paper might be used in a box where someone has included colouring pencils but has not put in any paper.
These are great re-cycling opportunities! A lot of the stuff we use for fillers comes from the Watford Arts Recycling Project (WRAP). For example you can take an empty video box - remove the sleeve and replace with a piece of wrapping paper - fill with pencils and pens and you have a pencil case. Or a small plastic bottle with screw top lid: fill with a range of coloured beads, add some thread or string and you have necklace making kit.
Over recent years a number of churches have moved into warehouses and converted them into churches. For three weeks in November we turn our church into a warehouse - as we become a satellite processing centre for Operation Christmas Child.
You can find out more about OCC's shoebox appeal by clicking here.
This morning we received our first 150 boxes that need to be processed - although we won't actually start that process until the middle of next week.
Last year we saw 3879 boxes pass through the church. This year we're hoping to process even more.
