Today the Tour of Britain visited Devon, passing right outside the house where we once lived in Moretonhampstead. I had hoped to catch a glimpse of it on the TV coverage - except they went to an ad break and missed out the whole of Moreton altogether - by the time they returned the cyclists were well on their way down to Bovey.
But I have managed to find a YouTube clip of the race going through the centre of Moreton.
Friday, 20 September 2013
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
How will they hear?
I became a Christian on an August Thursday night, in the dark, in a tent, in a farmer's field in Cornwall. Although I had grown up in a Christian home, where I had heard all about Jesus and gone along to church pretty much every Sunday of my life - I knew on that night that I had a choice to make. I knew in my head that Jesus had died on the cross to save me from my sin - but did I want to respond to God's love for me and follow Jesus?
The next morning I went to speak to the man who had been doing all of the main talks at this young people's camp, to tell him that the night before I had become a Christian. I had decided that yes - I did want to respond to God's love for me. He got out his Bible and turned to Romans 10:9 - if you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
He wanted me to be confident in what happened. He knew that there would be times in my life when I would question whether or not I was a Christian. When the enemy would bring doubts and try to sabotage what God was doing. When I would question God - maybe even wonder whether there was a God. And he wanted me to remember this choice I had made and what that meant.
And for those of us who are following Jesus, Romans 10 also brings the challenge of telling others. We can't force people to believe anything, but how will they hear about Jesus unless someone tells them - and who's going to tell your friends if it's not you?
Here's the short video that we watched on Sunday.
To listen to this message click here
The next morning I went to speak to the man who had been doing all of the main talks at this young people's camp, to tell him that the night before I had become a Christian. I had decided that yes - I did want to respond to God's love for me. He got out his Bible and turned to Romans 10:9 - if you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
He wanted me to be confident in what happened. He knew that there would be times in my life when I would question whether or not I was a Christian. When the enemy would bring doubts and try to sabotage what God was doing. When I would question God - maybe even wonder whether there was a God. And he wanted me to remember this choice I had made and what that meant.
And for those of us who are following Jesus, Romans 10 also brings the challenge of telling others. We can't force people to believe anything, but how will they hear about Jesus unless someone tells them - and who's going to tell your friends if it's not you?
Here's the short video that we watched on Sunday.
To listen to this message click here
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Is it worth it?
I have come across the following article a number of times recently on FB and Twitter so thought I'd put a link to it here too.
It's a blog article, 'Dear Parents with young children in church' written by Jamie Bruesehoff, who is a pastor's wife and has two young children. Don't just read the article, there is also a short interview with Jamie at the bottom of the page.
The article is an encouragement to parents that when you bring your children to church you're doing something really important - even if they're a little bit noisy. When you wonder whether it's worth the effort - remember that, yes, it is.
So, click here, and read on.
It's a blog article, 'Dear Parents with young children in church' written by Jamie Bruesehoff, who is a pastor's wife and has two young children. Don't just read the article, there is also a short interview with Jamie at the bottom of the page.
The article is an encouragement to parents that when you bring your children to church you're doing something really important - even if they're a little bit noisy. When you wonder whether it's worth the effort - remember that, yes, it is.
So, click here, and read on.
Sunday, 15 September 2013
London Triathlon
Later on this afternoon the Brownlee brothers, Jonny and Alistair, will be fighting it out with Javier Gomez in Hyde Park, London, for the title of Triathlon World Champion.
Yesterday we went to see the mass events at the London Triathlon - the Olympic and sprint distance events. We were too late to see the elite women's race, which was won by Non Stamford, the new women's World Champion.
But at the mass events there were hundreds, probably thousands of men and women swimming, cycling and running their way round Hyde Park. The starts were staggered over a couple of hours and the Standard Distance was followed by the Sprint Distance events. Add to that the fact that the bike was a 5 lap course and the run a 4 lap course it meant that at any point you'd be watching a whole spectrum of athletes.
There were those who looked like triathletes and those who didn't. There were those who looked fit and those who...didn't. On the cycling there were some people on carbon fibre bikes, with the solid back wheels and the aerodynamic tear drop shaped helmets that you see during professional time trials - and there were others on mountain bikes that creaked as they went past.
For some this was their first triathlon and the aim was simply to finish, others would have been chasing a PB, very few would have had ambitions to win their age category etc.
But at least they were in the race - which is more than could be said for those of us who were watching.
Some people live life as spectators rather than competitors. Some Christians live as spectators - taking a comfy seat and watching everyone do all the work - but that's not an option. We all have a part to play and it is important that we know what our part is and that we're fully involved.
So the next time you sit down to watch a triathlon, or the football, or the tennis, or even the Proms ask yourself whether you are a simply a spectator or whether you're playing your part in your Christian life?
Yesterday we went to see the mass events at the London Triathlon - the Olympic and sprint distance events. We were too late to see the elite women's race, which was won by Non Stamford, the new women's World Champion.
But at the mass events there were hundreds, probably thousands of men and women swimming, cycling and running their way round Hyde Park. The starts were staggered over a couple of hours and the Standard Distance was followed by the Sprint Distance events. Add to that the fact that the bike was a 5 lap course and the run a 4 lap course it meant that at any point you'd be watching a whole spectrum of athletes.
There were those who looked like triathletes and those who didn't. There were those who looked fit and those who...didn't. On the cycling there were some people on carbon fibre bikes, with the solid back wheels and the aerodynamic tear drop shaped helmets that you see during professional time trials - and there were others on mountain bikes that creaked as they went past.
For some this was their first triathlon and the aim was simply to finish, others would have been chasing a PB, very few would have had ambitions to win their age category etc.
But at least they were in the race - which is more than could be said for those of us who were watching.
Some people live life as spectators rather than competitors. Some Christians live as spectators - taking a comfy seat and watching everyone do all the work - but that's not an option. We all have a part to play and it is important that we know what our part is and that we're fully involved.
So the next time you sit down to watch a triathlon, or the football, or the tennis, or even the Proms ask yourself whether you are a simply a spectator or whether you're playing your part in your Christian life?
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