The talk was entitled ‘Feeling Small’ and looked at the fact that though all of us are insignificant in the whole scheme of things, God really loves us and has a plan for our lives.

I would love those not involved in this ministry to see these young people as they listen to a talk, they listen intently and with respect. These opportunities are truly precious and as always, please pray for this group.

Last Thursday we ran our annual Night Attack. For those who are not familiar with the Night Attack, it’s been running for well over twenty years and involves the young people trying to reach the top of the local hill, the Billy Whynt, in the dark without being spotted by the team of spotters hidden on the hill.

On Thursday, conditions were very muddy and many who took part ended up covered in mud and looking the worse for wear. I think almost everyone who took part enjoyed the experience. After the challenge of the great outdoors, it was back to the church for hot soup and hot dogs.

Thanks to everyone who helped; guards, those who prepared food, administrators and of course all who were involved in the all important clean up.

As I said in the meeting, I found last year to be very challenging in many ways but we have also really known God’s blessing upon us. We can face 2012 with confidence as we know who is in control.

Ethan is still in the Burns Unit but there is every possibility that he will be allowed home today. His face is untouched and though he has burns on his tummy and chest, there is hope that there will be no permanent scars.

Let us give thanks that this terrible event was not much worse and let us pray for Ethan’s full and speedy recovery. Thank you Lord!

Ethan is in the best place right now so for us the priority is to pray.

In Genesis last night we had a series of 100 second challenges. We did everything from the best paper aeroplane, to spotting the most celebrities, to most table tennis ball bounces on a bat, to naming the most company logos and many more.

James provided the talk this week and his subject was ‘Revolution’. He focused on Jesus as a revolutionary person who brings a personal revolution to those who place their trust in him.

As part of his introduction, James showed the video below which is Google’s review of 2011

“Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like” (Galatians 5:19-21)

We are told that that acts of the sinful nature are obvious but how many of us would expect to see ‘fits of rage’ there alongside sexual immorality and witchcraft etc? And what about Jesus, overturning the tables in the temple, isn’t that a sin, did he lose his temper?

When we look at the incident across the gospels, we see a picture of someone who is very much in control. Mark writes;

^“Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.”  (Mark 11:11-12)

“On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written:

“‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Mark 11:15-17)

So Jesus did not react in a fit of rage, his response was measured and appropriate. He looked at what was going on, spent the night (probably praying) considering the situation and the following day he acted.

There is a difference between being angry and losing one’s temper. We are told many times in the Old Testament that there are things that make God angry. He is rightly angry with sin and his response, like that of the Lord Jesus in the temple, is measured appropriate and devastating.

There are things that should make us angry, not in a way that provokes a sinful reaction (Psalm 4:4), but we should not be content with the sin around us. The case of Stephen Lawrence, a young man murdered in a racist attack left me feeling very angry, angry with his attackers, some of whom are still at liberty, and angry with the authorities over the way that they let down Stephen, his friend and fellow victim Duwayne Brooks and Stephen’s family.

We should be angry with the sin around us, sin that destroys lives and eats away at our community.

Lord, fill us with a passion to bring the change that you desire

These days, most of the faces have changed but they remain a pretty ungodly lot. Both Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband are atheists and although the current Prime Minister, David Cameron, has said that he is a Christian, from other things that he has said, his Christianity would seem to be of the watered down variety.

In this bleak spiritual landscape, how refreshing it is to see a public figure identifying herself with the Christian message. I am referring to the Queen’s Christmas speech. I’m sure Her Majesty would have come under the same pressure as Mr Blair to water down her words in one of the only occasions when she can speak for herself. The full text of the speech can be found here but here is a section;

“Finding hope in adversity is one of the themes of Christmas. Jesus was born into a world full of fear. The angels came to frightened shepherds with hope in their voices: ‘Fear not’, they urged, ‘we bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

‘For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.’

Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed.

God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.

Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God’s love.

In the last verse of this beautiful carol, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, there’s a prayer:

O Holy Child of Bethlehem,

Descend to us we pray.

Cast out our sin

And enter in.

Be born in us today.

It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord.”

Whatever our personal views on the monarchy, we are privileged to have someone in authority who has a desire to share the Gospel message. Let us pray for our Queen and others in public life.

We later encouraged people to sign up for our trip to Soul Survivor in August. This year we are running a saving scheme. We showed the official video and our own slightly less official video from last year.

Thankfully, I’d been following the story today and was able to reassure them that this was an independent report and the government had stated that they had no intention of changing the present law.

I have already commented on this whole debate here. Like many Christians I have strong views on the subject, God is the giver of life, it is a gift, but we must stand with those who are suffering. People suffering with chronic illnesses depend on others for care and support, they often feel like a burden to those that they love. To apply pressure on sick and vulnerable people to ease the burden that they place on the family by ending it all, is in my mind, unspeakably cruel.

The report was published this week but there was already an attempt to keep the item in the news by announcing some of the findings in advance. The BBC’s website states;

“There is a “strong case” for allowing assisted suicide for people who are terminally ill in England and Wales, a group of experts says.”

If you would like more information on this ‘group of experts’, Peter Saunders, CEO of Christian Medical Fellowship has spent time looking at the panel members here. In summary, we have an interest group, selecting a chairman with the same views (Lord Falconer), who then selects a panel, loaded with a majority who, surprisingly, share the same view and surprise, surprise, they come to the same conclusion. Hands up if you saw that one coming. It’s a bit like commissioning a report on the performance of the Government with a panel drawn exclusively from members of the Labour Party. People are free to publish reports on all manner of subjects but if those reports are to have any value they must surely be independent.

Let us pray for Christians involved in making a public stand on this issue, for those who are enduring the trial of serious illness and let us act to show the love of God to the lost and the suffering.

Update

There is more on this subject in the comments section accessed by clicking on the word  ’comments’ under the post title.

• The total number of hits (every time someone visits the blog) – 27,015
• The total number of hits in 2011 – 14,344
• Average per day – 39
• Best month – March (1642)
• Best day – May 25^th (142)
• Total number of posts in 2011 – 156
• Total number of pictures in 2011- 562
• Most popular post – Iceberg from March 2010 (I think people were looking for a picture of an iceberg rather than my thoughts on depression)
• Top referring site – Facebook
• Most hits are from the UK but North America is not far behind
• Number of subscribers (people who receive the content via an email without the need to visit the blog) – 18 and 4 who follow via their own blogs

Thank you for visiting during the year, it really would be pointless without you all and I hope that it has in some very small way encouraged you to fix your eyes on Jesus.

For 2012, I’ve freshened things up a bit with a new theme. It is called ‘Parament’ (please let me know what you think of it) and it was available free along with all of the other stuff; stats and hosting etc, from those nice people at WordPress.

Today, all five, Dan, Hannah, Tudor, James and Lauri, are still badly shaken up and bruised but ok. It must have been a terrifying experience, both the accident itself and the aftermath when they were standing in the central reservation in the dark and pouring rain.

Since the accident, I’ve been giving thanks; for the Police who were helpful, considerate and very efficient. For modern road safety measures, seat belts, car crumple zones etc and most of all I’m giving thanks to God for keeping these young people (and the person in the other car) safe through it all.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 14,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

1. To sing it would be considered irreverent by the many Christians present.
2. To sing it would offend the many music lovers present.
3. Its rubbish.
4. He was being silly.

I must at this point thank the band who managed to play all of the songs with no warnings or prior notice.

In a three way tie for third place we had; ‘Joy to the World’, ‘O Come all ye Faithful’ and ‘Silent Night’.

There was a close run fight for the top spot with the top two making up 48% of the total between them and only separated by a single vote. In second spot we had Stuart Townend’s ‘From the Squalor of a Borrowed Stable’. Although sung at Christmas, it is more than just a Carol, it also covers the return of Christ and the final judgement, and having been written in 1999, it is in terms of Christmas songs ‘hot off the press’. The lyrics are loaded with great teaching and it was noticeable that the song had supporters right across the age range.

Holding on at number one we had a great Evangelical Classic in Charles Wesley’s ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’. As with ‘From the Squalor’, this Carol appeals to old and young alike and is truly earthed in scripture. I heard an item on this on BBC One’s ‘The One Show’ and apparently Wesley’s original opening lines were;

 ”Hark! how all the welkin rings,

Glory to the King of Kings”.

‘Welkin’ is a old word that refers to the sky. It was George Whitefield who changed the words into what we know today. Proof perhaps that at Christmas even Calvinists and Arminians can work in harmony!

We had a good day yesterday as we celebrated the birth of the Lord Jesus in our Christmas services. In the evening we had a Candlelit Carol Service (sorry no pictures as the camera would only have picked up the candles) and in the morning we had a film by the young people with their unique take on Christmas as well as the children taking part in the family service.

After checking the forecast through the day, sadly we’ve had to postpone the Night Attack that was scheduled for tonight.

On the plus side it gives us something to look forward to in January.