He did it for you too...

What a month!

March has happened at an odd time this year - I know that sounds strange but for me it's true. As we begin March we have the earliest Mothering Sunday I can ever remember - what will the local lads do when there are no Daffodils in the village gardens or verges to take home for Mum! Then before the month is out Easter is upon us - the schools staying open until Maundy Thursday to eke out the last few possible days of the spring term.

The whole of the Christian year is compacted to a month - on Mothering Sunday we reflect on the life of Mary and on her acceptance of her part in God's plan - to bear the infant Jesus into the world. We then walk the darker road that leads to Jerusalem and to Gethsemane where Jesus himself struggles with his doubts and fears as he contemplates the full implications of God's plan, of His plan to save the world. In our minds we will walk with Him on the final road to Golgotha - the place of the skull - and together "survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died".

Then in the silence and stillness of Saturday we wait as the disciples waited, but we wait not in fear but in hope and in joy to celebrate the truth that the tomb was empty on that first Easter morning, to quote the words of a modern hymn "Death is dead, Love has Won, Christ has conquered!".

In one month we follow again the story of God's love for us, from birth to death to a life that will never end. I want to encourage us to walk together this March - to remember the truth of God's loving purposes for us.

What a month lies ahead!

Who cares?

The end of January is said to be the worst time of the year - days are dark and gloomy - the reality of the Christmas excesses has hit the bank statment and the bathroom scales - broken toys and new years resolutions litter the house. It's not a good time of year. Even the snowdrops and daffodils are a few weeks away. Yet I am full of excitement and hope as I look into February and the weeks ahead.

Over the last few months amazing things have happened in our church family, shoulders and withered hands being healed, the start of The 3:15 Community in Highfields, the amazing answers to prayer which have completely surrounded Jacquie's operation in mid-January - I am writing this article from the desk of the vicar of All Saints Church... in Islington, a friend whom I had never met until Joshua. Joel and I descended on their home to take up an amazing offer of hospitality just 15 minutes journey from the hospital.

If as you stand and look at 2008 with "end-of-January" eyes and heart just remember that we put our trust in a God who cares - who cares about shoulders and hands, who cares about hearts and lives, who cares about tube times and parking spaces, who cares about each and every one of us - deeply, passionately, truly - who cares even when we don't - who cared enough to become one of us.

Lent is not far away - let's take this time in the Church's year to remember a God who cares... and who acts. And let us do the same!

We are not alone!

I hate being on my own - not those wonderful few minutes of peace just after the kids have gone to school, but those times when either my wife or I are away and I have to spend an evening on my own. Jokes on the telly don't seem as funny, the house doesn't seem to be as warm, I go to bed much later than normal. It's natural - human beings are made to need one another - it's the way we are wired.

There are some who would say that we are alone in the universe - that human beings are here by an accident of nature (or the demands of evolution) and that is it - we are alone - there is nothing more than what we see and hear - there is no "spiritual" reality beyond our own minds and hearts.

But then in my mind I see a stable, a young woman - barely old enough to be married - giving birth to her first child in absolute poverty, I see strange visitors - educated men bringing strangely meaningful gifts; shepherds, their faces aglow with the light of a million angels sent to share the good news, "Today in David's town is born a Saviour;" I hear the angel's words to the baby's mother - "He shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people" - and then the echo of the words of a godly man from many hundreds of years before who said this baby would be called "Emmanuel" which means "God with us."

The Christmas story is an amazing example of the truth that we are not alone - that a God who cared about those he had made was prepared to become part of His own creation; to save it from its selfishness and its greed; to be with us - with us when the day is bright, with us when the dark times come, with us when we get up, with us when we go to bed.

This is the truth which I see written in a baby's smile in a cattle trough in Bethlehem - we are not alone - God is with us - Forever.

Happy Christmas

Light on the horizon...

It is the least favourite part of Autumn in our house - Christmas is too far away for the children (and too close for the Vicar!!), the days are cold, damp and windy, the trees have dropped their leaves and the beautiful autumn colours are now just another garden nightmare. It's cold but not frosty with that wonderful winter sun. There is far too much to do without any of the fun bits on the horizon. We can't wait for Winter to arrive properly with Christmas hard on its heels.

The worst part is that the light has gone - days are drear and grey, evenings are dark - those of us who rise early are up before the Sun and it goes long before the kids are settled - the long summer evenings in the garden with a cold beer are a distant memory - all we can look forward to is a cup of cocoa huddled round the fire. SAD is a big problem - not depression but Seasonally Affected Disorder - the lack of sun affects many people, making them really unwell - for the rest of us there is a general increase of grumpiness fuelled by the endless round of colds.

Yet into this darkness comes the faintest glimmer of hope - a star began to brighten in the sky announcing the end of a long darkness, academics began heroic journeys to find it's source, a young woman waited for the time to come for the birth of her firstborn child. We too wait - we wait for the celebrations to begin, but also perhaps we are hoping for light to come into our darkness, for a liberator to come, a saviour - "the light shines in the darkness..." - are you still waiting for the light?

Happy Halloween?

October is here and the nights are growing darker. Before long the clocks will change and it will be dusk before teatime!

Our Supermarket shelves are growing darker too. Halloween is on its way. Halloween - from All Hallow's Eve - was a great festival day for the church. On All Saints day Christians still celebrate men and women of faith who have been an example and an encoragement to us.

I can remember fancy dress parties full of pirates and soldiers and superheroes, a few skeletons (still the best costume my Mum ever made) and the odd vampire with plastic teeth from the little stall in the Corn Exchange.

Today however the choice seems to be between the most gruesome and terrifying images. Our children are encouraged to dress as if they were in the worst horror films by supermarkets with big advertising budgets.

I'm not against parties and fun at Halloween but maybe this year we can rediscover the fun part of the festival - lets make it a festival of light not of darkness - of joy instead of fear - lets leave the horror to Stephen King and celebrate all that is good in this community.

Happy All Hallow's Eve

Harvest Supper and Chocolate Puddings

Well it's been a while since I posted but by popular demand here is the receipe for the Chocolate pudding which took our Harvest Supper by storm

Debden Chocolate Pudding

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hour
Cool Time: 1 hour
Pre heat oven to 170°C or Gas Mark 3

Ingredients for 6-8 people
4oz/100-125g Plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6oz/175g Granulated sugar
1oz/25g Plain Chocolate-melted
2 tbsp butter - melted
1/4 pint/150ml Milk
2oz/50g brown sugar
2oz/50g caster sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
6 fl oz/175ml cold water

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

Stir in the granulated sugar, melted chocolate and melted butter.

Blend in the milk.

Pour the mixture into a buttered 1.5 pint/850ml ovenproof dish.
Sprinkle over the top the brown sugar, caster sugar and cocoa in separate layers.
Pour over the cold water (yes pour over the cold water and don't fret!!)

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 1 hour.

A layer of chocolate fudge sauce will form under the sponge topping as the pudding cooks. Let the pudding cool for an hour before serving but do not chill.

Serve with whipped cream or ice-cream

(though it is also rather nice with custard!)

Enjoy!

Something to make you think...

If you want a Bishop's response to the introduction of the SORs (Sexual Orientation Regulations) then you would have to go a long way before you get one better than that of Bishop Mike Hill, the Bishop of Bristol. Check out his blog here.

Bethlehemian Rhapsody

Some things are just too good not to share. Thanks to an old friend, Ian, the Youth Officer at the Diocese of Oxford who has an excellent blog where I found this.

And the Lyrics...

The soundtrack for the video clip in the next post is by a band called Apologetix who have written some excellent parodies of 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's music - lyrics below courtesy of Lyrics Download

Is this a real guy? Is he just fantasy?
‘Cause of his grand size, no one’s safe from fatality
Open your eyes, look up at Goliath, and see:
GOLIATH:
I’m dressed for war boys, I need no infantry
Because I’ll meet the one you propose
Israelites, pick my foe
Anyway, I’ll win, so it doesn’t matter to me
DAVID:
Mama, there’s still no man who can come against this threat
You might figure now we’re dead
Mama, Goliath is testing us
And know he’s gonna know they’re all afraid
Mama, he’s a mean and crazy guy
He’ll come back again this time tomorrow
Daring us, Scaring us- cause he wants to meet in battle
Hooray! My time has come
Been a shepherd all my life-but I’m taking on this giant
Goodbye, everybody – but not for long
God will lead me all the while I face this brute
C’mon (David you’re a whimp though) I’m not gonna die
The One who wins my battle is Lord over all
GOLIATH:
I see a little silly shepherd, not a man
What are you trying to prove? You’ll be chewed up and mangled!
Send a boy to fight me? A very very tiny flea!
DAVID:
Gol-la-liath! Gol-la-liath! Gonna die you big galoot!
I’ll kick your butt!
I trust the Lord but nobody trusts me
CROWD:
He trusts the Lord but suffers from insanity
Daring to fight ‘gaist this monstrosity
DAVID:
Evil comes, evil goes- you will get deposed
GOLIATH:
I will not, no! I will not get deposed
DAVID:
Yes, you will (repeat) Your head will roll
GOLIATH:
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Come-to-me-a! Come-to-me-a! Let the eagles pick your bones
Beelzebub and his devils gonna fight for me for me for me
DAVID:
So you think you can scorn me and spit on my tribe?
So you think you’re above me just based on your size?
Oh, baby…. you ain’t just duelin’ David
You’e gonna get it now- cause God’ll win my battle here
CROWD:
Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!
DAVID:
Guys I’m really flattered-yet it wasn’t me
God wins every battle- God wins every battle for me
VOICE:
David will be king soon