What does football, poor horror films and 2012 have in common?

Imagine, and I know I'm really throwing this one out there, a game of football, a cup game no less, where there is a team who are near the top of the top division and their opponents are languishing in the bottom division. Now lets imagine the team in the bottom division won that game, say 2-0, you'd be surprised to say the least. Don't worry Motherwell fans I won't mention the Rangers v Motherwell game which by sheer coincidence fits the above criteria.

Purely by coincidence Motherwell fans

A bigger stretch of the imagination would be to think that The House at the End of the Street is a good film, sadly after seeing it in the cinema, no less, it's not. As far as horror films go it's a tad predictable. There are two main reasons this fails as a horror film:
1) There is a lack of horror moments, playing out more like a teen drama in places.
2) The actual horror bits are predictable which means you know what's coming next and the shock factor is therefore missing.

My imagination was in over drive last week as I was asked to do the children's talk at church on Sunday. I went for the classic kid's favourite Bible story of Noah. There were two reasons for this.
1) I'd read an article on how we turn the story of Noah into the story of a floating zoo or something like Evan Almighty. In doing so we miss out all the bits about God being grieved that he made man and that ultimately this was part of His overall redemption plan.
2) I'd heard that the kids like multimedia presentations and I had the best ever idea on how to use this information. So I cropped and chopped 2012 into 6 minutes featuring flooding, animals, arks, and even a character called Noah.



Each of these three observations game me three insights to the Bible.
1) There is something surprising about the Bible even if you're not religious. There is a message of hope for all even the underdog and down trodden. Unless you're supporting a particular team there is something delightful about seeing the underdog win. Perhaps it's because we consider our self to be smaller than the 'man' and it gives us hope of a better future. Like the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the beggar, at his gate. Lazarus (not the back from the dead guy) was the poorest of the poor and the man whose gate he sat at was filthy rich, you could smell the money coming off of him. When  they died the rich man was cast into Hell for his injustice and greedy acts in life. Conversely, Lazarus went to Heaven for his godly life.  The whole story is found in Luke 16, starting at verse 19.

2) As Christians, or those who are familiar with the Bible, has the Bible lost it's shock factor? We know what's coming next, Jesus dies and is resurrected. There is something horrifying about the Passion account, not to mention Noah, the birth of the Hebrew nation, and the way that God, faithful to His word, allowed the nations of Judah and Israel to be over thrown. Yet we think of them in fairly sanitized and normal terms.
He was crucified - This is a savage way to die! And it's not just the pain and brutality of getting nails pummelled into you. There's they beating before hand with shrapnel laced whips and rods. Then there is the hanging around, literally you hang with your weight going through your nail punctured hands/wrists, the downside being you start to asphyxiate so you clench your teeth and through gut wrenching pain push yourself up via your mutilated feet. Your weight is being borne through a small section of your feet which has a giant nail driven through them, holding you to a plank of wood.
God's grace is shocking, extravagant even.
More over there is great drama in the accounts of the Gospels and Acts. There is beautiful poetry in the Psalms and wisdom in Proverbs. Somewhere along the road I feel we are losing this and in doing so we are short changing ourselves. At an Easter service this year, for the first time I can recall in my life, I heard a graphic account of the events that happened on the first Good Friday. Hearing that was not fun or something I rejoiced in out of some perverse masochistic need; instead it tells us how much God loves us.

3) In a world of a new i-pad, i-phone, and Kindle every year and movie reboots of franchises almost as often, it's remarkable that people still remember what the Bible is. Lying next to me is a reboot of the Bible, well the New Testament. It's got the books reordered for an age where many people despite knowing of the Bible, have never read it, fancy graphics that help understand texts more and cartoons to bring an almost multimedia feel to it. Despite all this and the contemporary language; the message is the same. In the same way my Noah retelling was there to communicate the story, which as a kid I loved, to a young generation today. It's a hard story to tell to kids without reducing it to a story of there being a big flood but hey God and Noah saved giraffes. 

I mentioned the film 2012 above and as entertaining as it is there is something curious about it. For those of you who haven't seen it: spoiler alert. The plot is essentially about a group of people trying to survive a series of cataclysmic events that will end the world as we know it. Super volcanoes, massive earthquakes and mega-tsunamis bring around the aforementioned devastation which ends with global flooding. Humanity survives along with animals on board a series of international arks. In addition there's a character called Noah. Had they called it Noah and the ark 2012 it wouldn't have been less subtle. Hollywood seems to have a fascination with certain eternal stories and themes and that's not a bad thing, even if 2012 wasn't as brutal as the Genesis version. For that we may have to wait for Russell Crowe and Co.


 The story may never change but that's not to say we can't use new and effective methods to engage with others. Tapestries were great in medieval times when people couldn't read but they're now relics in museums. I'm a very visual person, I can obviously read but in general I like to see a story unfold in a film rather than a book. We now have multimedia technology that can bring the ancient stories alive to another generation who prefer to see the story unfold and I'm sure in the near future we'll go one step further and be able to have interactive 3-D presentations.

 We don't need to update the Bible, it's fine as it is but take a fresh look at it, whether that's through something like Glo on an i-pad or a good old fashioned leather bound NIV, and we'll be surprised. There's hope, redemption, love, and plenty of action. It's never out of date as it's living and living things don't go out of date. By the time you've finished reading this we're probably onto the next i-pad if the world didn't end in 2012. 

Homeland



'My' hometown.

 

 



There is something odd, weird even, in my opinion about being on holiday in Glasgow. The first time I ever spent time away from home in Glasgow there was something surreal about waking up in the morning and looking west to see where I lived.

Ten years later, to the day by coincidence, and I found myself staying at the the in-laws. For the last week and a bit Lizzie and I have been in Glasgow, well Bishopbriggs, which has been nice. I had forgot how busy Glasgow is compared with Caerleon. In a busy 10 days it's been good meeting family, friends, churches, and house group in this surprise holiday home. However, one family member, Lizzie's auntie, has been very ill and is sadly back in hospital. If we had a chance to see you it was good meeting up but if we didn't then sorry and we hopefully will next time. Aside from that we had some humdrum things to do like go to the bank, as I've had some problems with my account since moving, and I've still not got my new phone!! More excitingly Lizzie and her mum did a 10k run at Strathclyde Park in Running the Race, a missions sponsered event, while her dad and I manned the WEC tent.



Strathclyde Park- where the race was run.

At least Oscar was pleased to see us.

It was also a good chance to take some time out from what has been a very quick August. Having some time out to think about how our first month in Wales has been, getting preparation done, and then returning home has been helpful. Sitting in Starbucks has a strange affect on  me in that I feel compelled to finish what I sat down to do and bearing that in mind it's forced me to be more focused upon returning now that everything has restarted, save Friday night youth club. However, that's due to a change in the way we are doing things and it will be starting back in October.

The secret diary of a youth worker part 1

I've spent most of this morning thinking, in fact I was convinced, it was Monday so I was a little surprised to hear that there was a prayer meeting tonight at the church since they happen on a Tuesday. Perhaps I had missed this one in the notices and I'm sure I had not fallen asleep during the church notices either. To add to my confusion our hosts are leaving for a short break on Thursday, which Owen keeps referring to as the day after tomorrow, which confuses me further as I think he's off to watch a film. Now with a little over half the day gone it turns out I was wrong, it is in fact Tuesday. That means tomorrow is Wednesday and Wednesday is youth club day.
Since arriving here I've been twice to the youth club and each week has been an interesting experience so we'll see what tomorrow brings. The first week was very calm and peaceful as far as youth clubs go, and last week was more sugar fueled. In many ways it's a typical youth club set up; table tennis, pool tables, X-box, juice, and other smaller games. One of the really great things is; there are a lot of young people on the register, just over 100, between 12 and 17 years old from a variety of backgrounds which ensures an interesting mix each week.
Even though Caerleon is an affluent area there are, or I should is, a part that seems to have missed out on that affluence and the local council are unwilling to deal with that situation. The youth club has a great opportunity to make a difference to the young people that come from that small section. Other people in the church have taken the initiative to reach out and show God's love to the residents who are in that situation. Part of my role as a youth worker is to develop the ministries, take them forward and at the moment it's still hard to work out how to take it forward as I've only been twice and I don't want to overstep my mark*. Building relationships with the young people  followed by observe and report has been my remit in these first few weeks, even if the reporting has been to my diary and contemplating what next?, which is important even if it can seem a bit of a chore at the time.
This is the last 'solo' youth club week as the school terms sees the return of Friday night youth club, the youth Bible study, and the rest of the young people's program. September when it comes along with the return to the daily grind of school will be busier for both myself and young people so having a structure in place for analyzing (my observe and report) and developing relations between Lodge Farm and the youth is crucial so that things move forward and don't stagnate or just happen because. In that respect I, or should I say we, are considering ways of dealing with the group(s) of youth God has given us, as we couldn't possibly have anywhere near everyone turning up on the same night. As you can see the church is not your typical church building and we just don't have the space, nor it would it be fun or safe for such a large number of youth. This is both a challenge and blessing, which is exciting, bring on next week!

Lodge Farm Church

*I think this is a long term challenge for me. Lodge Farm will be here long after Lizzie and I move to pastures new so avoiding the temptation to make an executive decision every now and then is an important one.

Going for Gold!

After our marathon journey to Caerleon, we had the weekend to settle in and catch up on some much needed sleep. We both started work on Monday 6th August. Lizzie set off for Cardiff and I set off for Lodge Farm Church. It's helpful that the Olympics are every four years as it gives churches a pretty good idea of a theme for a children's holiday club.

Having the Olympics in London this year seemed to make it extra special and even some of the younger children were talking about the events. It made watching the Olympics that night a must! From the excitement of Chris Hoy becoming the most celebrated Team GB Olympian to the surprise packages in judo and dressage. Caerleon is not too far from London about 120 miles (given that some events were in Glasgow 400 miles from London) and the British cycling team used the velodrome in Wales for their training and people could watch the likes of Chris Hoy and Jessica Pendleton. At the moment the whole place has gone cycling mad! Lizzie and I couldn't get moving on our bikes last week due to the number of kids and parents out on their bikes! I got caught up in the patriotic fervour and now have a Union Flag on the back of my car. Actually there is another reason for that but I digress. For the next 5 days there was an Olympic themed holiday club - 'Going for Gold'. Thankfully I wasn't leading so it gave me a good chance to meet the kids, leaders, and see how Lodge Farm did holiday clubs.

For those of you who have done kids holiday clubs this was a reboot of Going for Gold, not the original and just as Chris Nolan's Batman reboot was better than the Joel Schumacher's series so this reboot was better. Steve Harris was the person who gave it an update and it worked really well. Steve is a street evangelist with several gifts up his sleeve; most notably communicating a Biblical message extremely well, painting, and magic! It's quite clear that he has a real calling to this type of work, evidence by this being his third holiday club in a row.

For those of you who have never done one before, a kid’s holiday club is generally run over 5 days, with a theme that ties into the Biblical story or stories. Kids are split into teams according to their ages and then 2 big teams. There are songs, games. crafts, and quizzes. The stories this week were loosely tied into an Olympic event for example:

Monday's event was swimming which had the account of Jesus meeting the disciples on their boat as he walks out across the water to them. Peter decides to go to Jesus and initially walks on the water but he takes his eyes of Jesus and starts to sink, hence the swimming, before Jesus saves him. Other events were walking (the Israelites marching round Jericho), equestrian (Saul on his way to Damascus), the marathon (Philip running alongside the Ethiopian), and diving which had the well-known Bible story of Archie the Caterpillar.

I enjoyed meeting the kids and spent the most time with a working with the primary 6 guys which was a great group to be a part of. It was a relatively small group and they all loved football and video games so it meant we had something in common, other than the Olympics. When I get involved with school’s work this is the age group I’ll probably be doing the most amount of work with so at least some of them will know who I am.

The week finished off with a barbeque and family Olympics on the Friday night and they thought it would be a good idea for me to be on the barbeque, not literally of course! We were blessed with a warm sunny evening and I was really surprised by how well it was attended by parents and family members who were well fed. There were different games for families to compete in like the long jump, (straw) javelin throwing, and basketball amongst others. No Olympics would be complete without a prize ceremony in which the team from that week won their prize. Steve kept telling the kids that the team that wins gets a prize but he never told them that the other team’s participants would also get a prize, the same prize.




My Union Flag


As it was the holiday club this week there was no youth club on, that’s a story for another time.

It's one small move for youth work and it's one giant drive for the youth worker

How I imagined our journey starting.

At 03:00 on the 4th of August 2012 two YWEV (Youth work expeditionary vehicles (yes these are funny names for my car and the wife's car)) arrived atop on Trinity View on the southwestern corner of Wales. It ended a massive 10+ hour drive that was fraught with difficulties, a delayed departure coupled with YWEV 2's navigational problems - after one and a half miles, the next 370 miles were going to be interesting. To put that into context the last time we travelled down it took a little over 7 hours but arrived safe and sound, if a little tired and coffee dependant, although some say I'm that anyway.

Ok it was more like this, once you get rid of the rockets.

Since it is getting late I'm tempted to dwell upon the title of this post and come up with all sorts of silly and contrived lunar landing parallels which would be stretching things a bit but I'm going to anyway.



So it was more like this. The real YWEV 2 (above) aka a Vauxhall Corsa
and YWEV 1 also a Vauxhall Corsa.

 

1) A different view. We quite literally have a different view of things here. Back in Glasgow we woke up to see a well positioned brick wall, now we look down on England when we wake up. Any fellow Scots read what you will into that statement. For any offended English folks we literally look down on the Bristol Channel and the top of one of the English counties.



The view from our bedroom overlooking Caerleon.

2) Life is different. Even if Welsh village life isn't as drastically different from Scottish city living compared to spending time on the moon, there are some quite noticeable differences. The area we're living in is considerably more affluent than where we were living in Glasgow for a start. There is also a slower pace of life for us non-commuters with crazy rushing around. It's quite pleasant here if you ignore the the fact they enjoy building houses up ridiculously large and steep hills, when that's coming from a Glaswegian you know it's bad.

3) There's more life in Glasgow than on the moon and there is more life in Glasgow than down here.  Glasgow has a bigger population than Cardiff, Newport (including Caerleon), and Cwmbran put together. Besides that village life is closer than living in a big city, which is good as a lot of my role involves building relationships.

4) We're here for a purpose. Despite the fact that everyone remembers the iconic shots of astronauts playing golf on the moon there was a scientific and political purpose in putting then on the moon. Lizzie and I also have a work to do here. Lizzie's started work as a nurse in Cardiff and I've started to be involved with the youth work program. It's quite quiet at the moment as the schools are still off but it gives me a good chance to settle in and do planning and form filling.

5) We intend on coming home! I know we've only been here two weeks but we will come back to visit friends and family.

13 days to go...

Okay so a quick update...

Thursday was the wedding of the new Mr and Mrs Boyce, congratulations to them! It was a great wedding and a privilege for Lizzie and I to be there and the way they expressed their faith throughout the ceremony and reception was beautiful. And like I said in my previous post it was great that we didn't have to move up and down the road to attend which was a bonus although we are looking forward to our new start in Caerleon. Speaking of which we're leaving in 13 days time for Wales and as you may know I'm big on prayer. Incredibly we've managed to get our flat rented, although our flat is well worth renting so that's not so amazing, but what is amazing is the first person who viewed it a day or so after it went on the market loved it and will be the living there very soon. We were quite worried about this aspect as having a mortgage on a property we wouldn't be living in without any income from it would be a challenge. People may say this isn't an answer to prayer but it is. We prayed and God graciously answered, we could have waited a while before we got a tenant but we got one straight away. It's a burden off our shoulders knowing that we don't need to be worrying about the flat. Interestingly she moves in on the day I start my new job. 




The Burrell Collection cafe
looking nice and clean

Some of the residents of Pollok Country Park

So the next thing on the agenda is me finishing up work this weekend. Since November I've been working with Cordia in the Burrell Collection, in Pollok Country Park doing cleaning so from Monday it won't be as clean as it has been! It's a nice place to work and I've enjoyed working with the people there so I'll miss that. I still have several shifts at my other job to go but the money will from that will get us to Wales and to be honest I love working in Adelaides having been there since 2010. So things are taking shape nicely and we've packed, well mostly Lizzie has packed, a few more boxes. On Sunday the 29th of July at 7:30 I'll get to say a few words at the church Lizzie and I go to, about that I'll be doing in Wales, which will be the day after our going away night out. I'm excited about both of these things as I think it is important to go with the best wishes of friends and family and the prayer and blessing of our home church. It's the people we're going to miss the most and part of the reason for this blog is to try and keep in contact with our friends and family wherever they are. 

Sleepy Cow!

Hopefully we'll have a chance to catch up with as many family and friends before we leave Glasgow. I hadn't intended on putting these pics on my blog but these are just some of the views we'll be missing. I never thought I'd say this but we're going to miss Glasgow too.

The west end of Glasgow.
Our flat's down there somewhere!

Hard to believe this is 5 minutes walk from our flat!

What we wake up to every day,
 although normally there's no snow.

Till death do us part...

2 weddings and a funeral

Hello everyone! I had read on the rules of blogging you should never start with an apology for not posting in a while, so with that in mind sorry for the delay in updates. I hope you can accept my apology but there has been a lot going on with me since I last posted.Most notably my (great) uncle died which was a shock given he wasn't that old. That was a hard day.I've seen dead bodies before but I've never had to watch someone die over the course of a day. It was tough emotionally and spiritually and even physically. There was a lot happening in the aftermath with regards to funerals and sorting out his estate but most of that has died down now so we're now getting used to him no longer being with us.
My uncle and I were very close especially when I was younger I'd see him a couple of times a week up until my great-grand parents died after which he moved to England to be with his lady. When she died two years ago he moved back up and we saw each other a lot again. He didn't have any children of his own so my sisters and myself were very close to him. He used to give me and my sister pocket money and he was giving my youngest sister (she's 10 so that's allowed) pocket money up until he died. I've said this was a tough time and I spoke to the pastor at church and he said something I didn't expect. I told him that as far as I knew he was an atheist, although my gran was praying over her brother a lot, so I was expecting a little bit of sympathy with a dash of Hellfire thrown in. In stead he said something very different. He said Death sucks, I hate death, you hate death and God hates death. It was never meant to be. You need to find a way to redeem this situation. Redemption was two fold; I said that his death was a shock and it was. Although he was ill, we never thought he would die like he did. However, he was reluctant to see a doctor and even more reluctant to go to hospital ( he thought if I go there I'm never getting out) but I think he knew he was dying. I say this because the day before he died he gave me his car. Secondly I've said he was an atheist and had as far as I know never darkened  a church's door since he was a teenager. That changed, he was at my wedding last year and more than that he donated money to the missionary organization I'm going to be working for. Ironically he died on the day of my sister's birthday.
Work wise everything has progressed well for us. My funding is in place and my CRB check has also come through so I'm starting work on the 6th of August down in Wales. This has worked out well for us as we have house arrangements with regards to mortgages and renting our flat to be dealt with. Who knew going to the bank and sorting out paper work could take so long?
It also means we've been able to go to 2 weddings without going up and down. Gordy's wedding was nearly 2 weeks ago, congratulations to him and Debbie and we have our other friend's wedding in 2 weeks time. These weddings are in stark contrast to Jimmy's funeral. In one way a wedding is like that start of a new life, for the couple anyway, a funeral signifies the end of a life. One talks of the future and is a joyous occasion the other reflects on the past and is marked by tears. 
Lizzie has also handed her notice in at her current work so she'll be starting round about then too. We also have 2 cars which will be good for moving stuff to Wales and also for work when we are down there. I don't know how we would have got ourselves to Wales with just the one car. It's a small car. With one person and the seats down it should be ok and the same again for the other car. They're both small, actually they're both Vauxhall Corsas, even though the newer one is slightly bigger.
This has been a tough time for the family, with my uncle dying and also our move to Wales with new jobs and all that entails. so we would appreciate prayers for us.

There and back again, a youthworker's tale.

As you've guessed I do like Lord of the Rings and the shameless rip off in the title was there to suck you in. In all fairness the place is like Middle-Earth, Caerleon is like The Shire, Cardiff could be Osgiliath and Newport is Mordor - which leaves England across the Bristol Channel akin to the Grey Havens. Last week I was writing about going to Wales and visiting the church where I hope to be doing youth work soon. I would also like to point out that in my last post about the first thing we'd do in Wales was get lost, I wasn't joking. My excuse is I could see where were going but they had closed the road since the map had been made.

Having never been to Wales I have to say I look forward to returning as Lizzie and I had a great time, despite the last local leisure facility closing about 1700 years ago, a big thanks to Owen and his wife Ruth for their superb hospitality over the weekend. It was really, really good seeing the Caerleon (pronounced Kill Ian! - poor Ian!) and it's an incredible place with a very rich history dating back to the Iron age. If you like Roman history this place is a dream land with an amphitheatre and Roman baths amongst other things. back then it was home to the 2nd Augustan legion a force of 3000 foot soldiers and doesn't include cavalry or the likes. At present there are around 8000 people so there were probably more people there 2000 years ago!

<---- Our Welsh accommodation.

The traditional Welsh youth workers' uniform ------>


In many ways it's quite different from life in Glasgow which has a greater population than Caerleon, Newport and Cardiff combined but the Celtic heritage of Wales also gives it many similar traits that you find in Scotland. The church where I'd be working is totally different from any of the churches I've been to in Glasgow or anywhere for that matter, mostly due to its location and shape. It's at the very top of a hill and is an old farm, so the church as the grounds of a farm which include an iron age fort. Despite the church hall being in the cow shed there are no cow although someone may have told my mum they still had cows to provide the milk for the tea and coffee! There's a good community feel to the church and despite it not being the biggest church I've been in it's probably the loudest with good Welsh singing! The local area is quite middle class which has the upside of less serious trouble but the downside of people not seeing the need for a church or God in their lives. 
In terms of the work I'd be doing there there is a good range on ministries to be involved with and develop. At present there is a Sunday morning youth group, about 7 or so go; a Sunday Club for primary school with 12 kids and a midweek youth outreach group with 20 or so going. There is also a midweek youth Bible study which is doing the youth version of Christianity Explored. It was hard to try and imagine what I'd be doing until I'd seen what was going on and I can now start to flesh out so basic ideas having met the kids and youth. They're a great bunch and it was good to chat with them over the afternoon tea in the church. I've never felt so stuffed outwith Christmas. These are the things I'd be getting involved with but in addition we want to get involved with the local schools and I'd like to get involved with the local university campus too. We'd like to develop lunch clubs with the schools and eventually an after school club but that's a long way off. Hopefully I'd be able to help out in RE or the equivalent in Wales and assemblies. Both of these would be a great way of getting more involved with the community and hopefully making the assemblies and RE more interesting. I remember them being a bit boring and the Christian modules in RE had very little to do with being a Christian.
There are a few things that are still to be done before I can start in Wales, although I am now officially accepted as an OMS ministry candidate! That means I'm officially ratified after my interview which happened in Wales last week. I've still got the orientation to do and start my fundraising. Hopefully this won't take too long and I'll be down in Wales by the summer!
It's a scary thought in a way going all that way (well ~7 hours by car) from our families although it will be good too. I thought I'd also say that this job is a calling not just a mere job. There is a clear difference. A job is done to just get money where as a calling is done regardless of the finances. However, I use the terms 'job' and 'calling' interchangeably in this regard and I often use the term job more often as that's what most people understand.
So prayer points for those on the blower with God:

• Lizzie would get a job down there in one of the local hospitals. There is a vacancy within an ICU ward but it's only bank at the moment.

• The fundraising and orientation would go well and that the fundraising wouldn't take too long either.

• Our move would go well and we would settle into Welsh life.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us before. We've seen God do good things and it's a testimony that he still cares for the small details in people's lives as well as the big things too.

<----- No prizes for guessing what this is for. Let's just say I won't be making use of this traditional Welsh method.

Road Trip!

So this weekend the wife and I are setting out on our epic road trip down to Wales. This is significant for 3 reasons, it's the first time either of us will have been in the land of leeks, daffodils and Tom Jones, we get to meet the people I'll be working with and, thirdly, it's the first time I will have had an interview in McDonald's. Spoiler alert: I've no pictures this week hence the Welsh theme with the colours but it also means it will be like a boring auntie's holiday itinerary.
So for those of you who I've not yet told, my first interview should have had some people from OMS present so they're going to rectify this by means of an interview in McDonald's over coffee (maybe they could include "interview coffee" in their next TV spot?).
So that's on Friday and pretty much the first thing we'll do in Wales other than get lost. We're then off to meet Owen and his wife which will be good as I've spoke to him quite a few times, so will be nice to finally meet him face-to-face.
Saturday is a chance to get to know the local area and that sort of thing. I've heard conflicting reports of what Newport and the surrounding area is like from people who have never been there so we can make up our own mind.
Sunday will probably be the most daunting day as we go to the church. They're very keen, as am I, for this to happen so it will be a case of being bombarded with lots of new faces and possibly a quick Q&A up front. However, I'm told there will be an afternoon tea which should be good.
And finally on Monday we come home. There might be a stop in Manchester at the OMS HQ or there may not. I was meant to stop there on Friday but due to the interview in a McDonald's on a roundabout it was delayed until Monday but I've just got an e-mail saying it may have to be another time. It seems I will need to be ratified at some point as apparently it can't be done over the phone.
There has been lots of staff movement at OMS with people starting new jobs so I think that hasn't helped and has slowed progress down. However, all in good time. God has been more than generous with us and has opened several doors for us in the last week. The church has very kindly offered to pay for my breakdown cover and has covered my fuel costs for getting to Wales and back which is a huge blessing as that was a bit of a concern given the cost of petrol. It's also important that Lizzie gets a job down there and in the last few days a temporary position has become available so that's also great and we have a potential tenant for our flat which is just incredible. God is good people.

Work it!

Adelaide Place Baptist Church. Where I work and where I got married. Convenient.



For those of you who I've not yet told I recently was offered a new job, although I've not yet started. In the meantime I'm still going to be at the Burrell Collection and Adelaide's Guest House (in fact that's where I am writing this).

The Burrell Collection (taken from rampantscotland.com) and view from the cafe in winter (taken from my phone).

SO if I've told you or you've read my other post about it then you can skip this paragraph. Basically I've been offered the job of youth worker in a church down in the valleys of Wales. Actually that might be a lie I don't think it's in valley. Anyway it's a great opportunity and I'm looking forward to it.
Anyway I'd promised updates and my latest update is that I had a chat with one of the board of trustees from OMS, who are my soon to be new employers, the other night there. Basically there is a board of trustees meeting on Monday the 5th and part of that meeting will be talking about my appointment and they have to ratify it and sort out any issues. To be be blunt I think my chat the other night there could have gone better as:

a) The questions I was asked were vastly different to what I expected.
b) Following on from being different some of the questions were about the form I filled in October, so that was tricky.
c) I have a cold and had lost my voice and only just got it back.

Anyway I croaked my through the chat and hopefully I'll hear a bit more soon. So what can I say? I don't have a start date but it's not likely to be before mid-April as there are CRB checks and more importantly I need to raise some of my own funds. I say more importantly as I know I'm not and axe murderer and fund raising takes longer than a CRB check. I'm aiming for between £3600 and £6000 as my accommodation is covered and there is partial funding in place. This will be a new experience for me as the last time I did fund raising it was for a youth club I did a while back and we held a ceilidh since it was near Christmas and people like Christmas' ceilidhs. In a couple of weeks Lizzie and I are going to visit the church where I'd be working as neither of us have been there but from speaking to the people there it sounds like a great place and they seem like a great bunch even if they talk funny. That being said an American over here told me everyone here talks funny. Also en-route to Wales we're hoping to stop off at the OMS HQ in Manchester to meet the people there. If we're able to we might even stop off at Bawtry on the way home to see more missionaries; Lizzie's brother and his ladies. Well his wife and daughter doesn't sound quite as cool. For those of you who don't know where Wales is click here. If you're interested we're in Glasgow which is 300+ miles to the north. I'm told the rain in Wales is warmer than Glasgow.
So prayer points for all you prayerers out there:

1. It's not too much money but I can't start until that's sorted.
2. For OMS in Manchester and the staff there. There are a lot of new staff there and there has been a bit of a breakdown in communication and that's why the process has taken so long. A wee aside a former OMS worker is now working with Pioneers which is where David (Lizzie's brother) and wife are. Small world.
3. We'd have a safe journey when we head down in 2 weeks and that everything would go well. It can be quite daunting meeting so many new people in the space of a weekend knowing that I'll have to make a good impression. 

A new hope

A long time ago in a country far, far away I recieved an advert for a job in another country far, far away (Not to be confused with Far, Far Away from Shrek as it's in Wales)Yes a shameless rip off of George Lucas' sci-fi epic but in terms of my employment history it is for me a new hope. Ok so back in September/October when I was in England I was given an advert for the position of youth worker with a church in the south of Wales. Although technically speaking I would be employed by OMS, which means I'd be employed as a missoinary, (http://www.onemissionsociety.org.uk/) I'd be based in a village just outside of Newport. Obviously this is very exciting for Lizzie and I but it's been an answer to our prayers and the whole process has helped me grow in faith.  Before I received official confirmation of getting the job I felt God was saying to me that I'd been accepted for the position. Obviously there was no big booming megaphone voice but a very clear sense of' "Steven you've got the Wales job."
When I got the phone call later that week, from Wales, Lizzie had just come off nightshift and she was just in bed falling asleep when Owen phoned to tell me. That being said he had an almost apologetic sound, you know the kind where they're saying I don't know how to tell you but you've not got the job, and he was saying; "Erm Steven" in his thick Welsh accent "Have you got 5 minutes?" I was thinking at this point just spit it out and tell me someone else has got the job. It's funny how I went from being so confident to doubting all because of one sentence! Anyway he said that I got the job. Later on when Lizzie got up she asked who it was and I said it was about the Wales job and she said she thought it was and she thought I had the job - how wonderfully intuitive of her.
The job itself is great as I'd be doing something that I'm really passionate about, youth work, and I'd be the first youth worker at Lodge farm Church which is incredible. If I can trouble anyone with some prayer points on here they are:

1. Lizzie would be able to get a job in one of the many hospitals within a fairly close promiximity to Carleon.
2. That we'd be able to get our flat rented.

 I'll keep everyone posted.

A financial own goal?

In case you're wondering what football team I support I'll nail my colours to this board and they are red, white and blue and they play in the west of Scotland, got it yet? When I was at school I used to watch them training on the pitches behind my school, back in the days before the custom built training facility. It's hard to believe that a high profile team like Rangers, with the likes of Goram, Gough and McCoist, used to train on a pitch I've played on. Anyway over the last week it's emerged that they are in a bit financial trouble to the extent that they have gone into administration. Now obviously this is not good news if you're a Ger's fan and results on the pitch aren't much better. Now the obvious question is why are they in this mess?I'd like to take a novel approach to thinking about this. So far everyone has been quick to blame either Craig Whyte (the current owner) or the previous board (Sir David Murray was the owner). We really shouldn't be surprised though. For well over a decade they've spent beyond their means and used a questionable method of paying the top players, top dollar, which is under investigation by HMRC. So why spend too much on foreign stars who in all honesty were probably past their best, which is why they were playing in Scotland and not England or Spain et al (with a few exceptions). I should at this point say that the trigger event for the administration was the current regime not paying PAYE tax and VAT to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Having studied business law the legal mechanisms and maneuvering is fascinating if some what painful.
Anyway back to the why spend £12m on a player and pay him £40,000 a week in what is pretty much an insignificant league (the winners of the SPL get ~£1,200,000 from TV money compared to the bottom team in the English premier league getting closer to £20,000,000 in TV money). Obviously winning is important to the team and its fans, The winners and runners up get into European games which brings a touch of glamour and increased earnings. However, the key to this is not just getting into Europe, as great or painful those nights could be. 
The answer lies in pride. Pride at being the best and competing with the best, no matter the cost. As Sir David Murray once stated "For every fiver Celtic put down, we'll put down a tenner." It's great rhetoric and as a Rangers fan it was what we wanted to hear but at what cost? Having enjoyed watching the likes of McCoist, Gazza and Laudrup in the early to mid 90s to Amato, Van Bronckhorst, Numan and Mols in the late 90s/early 00s, we're now ultimately paying for these guys who have now retired and the cheeky joker that was Super Ally is now, Ally McCoist, the current manager for crying out loud!!
Football is ultimately a vain pursuit, kicking a ball around to lift a trophy and collect a medal. I'm not saying it's wrong far from it but in the grand scheme of things how significant is it? I'd suggest not very despite the legendary Bill Shankly saying "Some say football is a matter of life and death - but it's more important than that".  Sadly to some it is. There were grown men outside Ibrox this week crying and protesting angrily when Mr Whyte turned up. In fact he was advised not to turn up for Saturday's fixture against Kilmarnock (which was dismal anyway) due to fans being irate with him and some might go beyond hurling insults to hurling their fist or missiles at him. Is this anger well placed? I don't suggest hurting anyone and would condemn any such action but in the end Sir David Murray may be guilty of financial mismanagement, incompetence even but I doubt his actions were malicious. After all he gave the fans what they wanted. We are all guilty of being greedy for more trophies and greater success at home or abroad.
From a personal point of view there are lessons here. Don't pander to status symbols or symbols of success especially if you can't afford them, that could bring an economy down. i-pads are like an Ally McCoist great for a time but soon they will be retired from service and become a technological dinosaur. They keep you chasing after the shiny next thing whilst still paying for its predecessor.
For Rangers immense success over the last 24 years, 16 league titles (including 9 in-a-row), several trebles and doubles, a significant run in the Champions' League* (1992-93) and the UEFA Cup final in 2008,  has given them immense pride and now we're having an immense fall.

Champions' league game at Ibrox 2005. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ibrox_Stadium_Glasgow_Rangers_v_Internazionale(Milan)_2005_.jpg

Certain levels of debt can be toxic not only to a business, which Rangers FC are, but also to nations, ask the Greeks, and individuals and their families. Some debt is unavoidable, like a mortgage but how much is actually necessary debt. Some companies offer short term high interest loans. No doubt some people may need a temporary cash boost but could money be saved else where?
There's a story in the Bible of Jesus and a man described as a rich young man. The story is as follows:
¹⁶ Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”
¹⁸ “Which ones?” the man inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’^[d] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[e]”
²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
 (Matthew 19 verses as indicated - New International Version)   


Some have commented that the only command from the 10 Commandments (See Exodus 20 for all 10) that is not mentioned is the 10th commandment, often shortened to "You shall not covet." Whilst there is a powerful religious reason for not coveting, namely idolatry, there is also another reason. Rangers and their fans are now discovering why coveting is a bad idea for the other reason.
For all Rangers fans reading this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6nVXly-ruU&feature=share
 *I'm not sure it was called the Champions' League then. I do remember watching with great anticipation games against Leeds, Club Brugge and Marseilles. I also can't forget Scott Nesbits "wonder goal", the most odd goal I've ever seen!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0iL0OPKO9c for the aforementioned goal.

Blood in our hands

It may be a Dell but should it say: Made in Africa?

Ok so we've all heard of Blood Diamond the film with Leonardo Di Caprio. Blood diamonds have also popped up in Lord of War and 24. I imagine most of us don't have many diamond products nor do we buy consider buying diamond products every year or so. 

The reason for this is simple diamonds tend to go in engagement rings (expensive and most people don't get married every other year) or extremely expensive pieces of bling (minimum wage =£6.10 verses the keywords: extremely expensive). Apparently my wife's ring does not have any conflict diamonds in it which is good. Also my coffee is fair trade and we even have a bar of fair trade chocolate lying around. 

However, just about everyone I know including my mum, has a mobile phone. How many of us think about where they come from? If it's a Nokia then it's Swedish or an i-phone is American but these companies and every other producer I can think of doesn't have a supply of  the necessary ingredients for circuitry in their country. Most of these primary ingredients come from Africa. Now there is a problem here.

The Congo's natural beauty masks the hideous war for her riches

There is a huge potential for blood minerals to end up in our phones, digital cameras, computers and hundreds of other electronic products we use every single day. When I found out about this I was shocked and embarrassed that something that I had bought could have cost me so little yet cost someone else their life and the lives of others.

The DRC* is particularly rich in minerals (for example coltan) needed for mobile phones yet it has hosted one of the most bloody wars after World War Two! The conflict has a long history and has been described as Africa's world war. It's not just another African war or tribal chaos. Cold war politics, colonialism and consumerism have all played a part in this "bath of blood" and it's the latter that concerns us. If you're reading this then you are most likely a consumer. I've e-mailed a few of the big tech companies like Sony and asked them about where they got the minerals for their products from and whether they were conflict minerals. Those who replied said that they were working hard to ensure that no blood minerals were in their products. However, another source said it was impossible to be 100% sure of where a mineral was coming from and whether is was funding war lords who fight over the control of the mines, as certificates can be faked and illegal minerals are be mixed in with legitimate supplies.  

This war has involved such brutalities as mass rape, child soldiers and it is funded by minerals that we all want either on a ring or in our hand as we text and talk about last nights TV shows... ironically the news on my HD TV missed most of Africa's world war.


*According to a official American estimate the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the richest countries in the world according to its natural resources. Pity no one told the locals who on average earn 23 cents per day.

A school in DRC the crack you can see on the right of the side wall is big enough to put your arm through.
For a standard bag of cement, that will be $52 (US ). No idea how many bags you would need to fix it though.

2 be or not to be...(a virgin)

Hey I was looking at a Christian magazine and one of the articles (http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/relationship/features/27856-qbut-he-or-she-isnt-a-virginq#disqus_thread ) was dealing with marrying the right person anyway there was a long list of posts talking about marrying people who had premarital sex. This is what I posted.

There are a couple of issues that haven't been dealt with here. If someone wants to marry a virgin then that's up to them. There's no point saying if a guy meets his dream girl would he refuse to marry her because she's not a virgin. Quite clearly she wouldn't be his dream girl if it was such a big hang up for him. Likewise dealing with non-virgins when married is hard and for both people I imagine. I've a non-Christian friend who had sex before he was married and he said to me after he was married he wished he had waited.
Sin even after you're a Christian is a problem and it can still be a problem dealing with the sin that God has forgiven you. Say you murdered someone before you became a Christian there will still be ramifications after you have become a Christian, most sin is like that. Sin has consequences.
Sexual sins are unique in that they have a special role in a person's life. Someone has already mentioned the verse where it talks about the way it's a sin with body and soul (1 Corinthians? Sorry but I don't have a Bible to hand) but there's often more to it. Most sexual sin takes place in the context of a relationship. Ending a relationship because it's wrong is hard, very hard especially if it's been long term and you're living together. There's an old phrase that was a euphemism for unwed people living together and that was "living in sin". I've ended a relationship because it was wrong, although not for the reasons we're talking about here, but in following God's plan I could take some solace in knowing that I was doing the right thing even though it was emotionally torturous at the time. I can say looking back that it was the right thing to do. I'm married to my "dream girl" and I've remained really good friends with my ex-girlfriend. I'm not sure I could of had I not been obedient to God and continued the relationship.
Finally there is grace. If a person doesn't marry you because of your past don't hold it against them. Even though the punishment for all sin is death, grace forgives every kind of sin. Let's show love to other posters and deal with them gracefully even if we disagree with their point of view.