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BlogHere are the thoughts and news of the people in our community. Leave a comment as you wish. If you want to join the blogging ask Mark.
Saturday, October 29, 2005Sunset over Blenheim Palace I spent Friday afternoon wandering around the grounds of Blenheim Palace with Maddy and the kids and my parents. The sunset was stunning, so I thought I would share it with you. Unfortunately I didn't have my Canon A95 with me, so the picture was taken with my Sony Ericsson K750i. Not bad for a phone camera, I reckon. 
Posted by: Mark | 7:41 pm
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Wednesday, October 26, 2005Two Storiesthere were two news stories that caught my eye [and my heart] yesterday. It doesn't happen often but it did yesterday. And I wonder if they are linked. It was a small act of defiance, but Rosa Parks' refusal, as a black woman, to give up her bus seat to a white man, would change the course of American history.The first news story was the death of Rosa Parks. She was arrested in 1955 for not giving up her seat for a white man. The law imposing this was made in 1865 [90 years before]. Her case was backed by a civil right leader and it lead to a 381 day boycott of the bus system, led by the then unknown Martin Luther King. You can read her obituary here. It asked me this question: what injustices are taking place in our time, what prejudices are built into our culture? UN charity Unicef says 18 million children in sub-Saharan Africa could be orphaned by Aids by the end of 2010. The second was the number of 'AIDS' orphans predicted in Africa by 2010. Huge numbers. I have friedns who are just now considering a move to Uganda to work in a childrens home, maybe with a view to setting up their own. Wow, what a need. Is this an injustice of our age? Should, as Bono says, the West be doing more to help address the AIDS problem in Africa? Posted by: Mark | 11:40 am |
Sunday, October 23, 2005Blog posts you must readScot McKnight at 'Jesus Creed' has done a series of posts on the what is the gospel. clicking on that link will give all the posts under that category. Scroll a little way down to "What is the Gospel? 1" and read up!! [I confess to not really liking his use of "Eikon" - it just doesn't read well - but then he has written a book on it...]. A fav quote to give a taster: Hyper-individualism is the most selfish thing we can do with the gospel. To turn what God is doing in this world exclusively into what he is doing for me is to turn God upside down and stand ourselves up in God's place. The gospel is not about me, but about what God is doing - and the "me" comes in as part of what God is doing. This difference is not a little matter. Maggie Dawn has posted a couple of interesting posts on conversation and learning - really interesting for a home church environment: 1. theology for seven year olds. A Quote: Sometimes I have to struggle to communicate something to someone who keeps missing the point, and in the process I feel I have engaged more deeply with the subject matter myself. But in these conversations I also hear theology spoken back to me in ways that throw light on to it for me too; I hear questions raised that I don't always know how to answer. The purpose of teaching is only in part to communicate what you know to someone else. Much more important than teaching them WHAT you think and know, is teaching them HOW to think and read and learn. conversation and emerging church. Another quote: Conversation, to me, is essential to teaching; it's the lifeblood of a good teacher who knows very well that she, too, is a student; it's central to a community of Christians who will have a mix of people who "know" the same kinds of things but have learned them in different ways - experience, reading, thinking, inspiration, and so on ... But silencing knowledgeable people in the name of community is not conversation at all - it's a reaction against dogmatism that is ultimately destructive. Two mutually qualifying blog posts, that are helpful. I was having a conversation today that reflected these two sentiments in some way. We were talking about how it is equally monochrome to only discuss things in the same manner each week as it is to preach at people each week. We need creativity and variety in our gatherings that keeps our learning dynamic, interesting and ultimately life-changing; as well as using the differing gifts and styles in the community. Posted by: Mark | 4:02 pm |
Thursday, October 20, 2005Faithworks Press BriefingThe article can be seen here, but the last sentence caugh my eye: As part of the briefing, Faithworks outlined a 6-point plan for developing a greater understanding of faith in society. These proposals included the development of 'faith awareness' programmes, which would help Government, statutory agencies and voluntary groups understand what it means for individuals and groups to operate from a faith motivation, rather than just a religious affiliation. I think that is an interesting thought and helpful way to put it, emphasising a life orientation that flows from "faith" out into the world, rather than organisational orientation that emphasises self-support, on which you sign up on a dotted line. As I think I have said before mission is not about saving the church, but about saving the world. The same that Jesus said "whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but if whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." [Mark 8:35] about the individual, also applies to the church. Posted by: Mark | 3:40 pm |
This Morning's meditation from Celtic Daily Prayer: Even though the day be laden
Posted by: Mark | 8:46 am
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and my task dreary and my strength small, a song keeps singing in my heart. For I know that I am Thine. I am part of Thee. Thou art kin to me, and all my times are in Thy hand. Alistair Maclean I trust in Thee, O Lord, I say, Thou art my God. My times are in Thy hand, my times are in Thy hand. Blessed be the Lord, for He hath wondrously shown His steadfast love to me, His steadfast love to me. Psalm 31:14-15, 21
Wednesday, October 12, 2005Creative Genius I don't want to overstate it, but it is not about me, this time!! A guy called Martin Poole did a great harvest thing. He got in touch with the local Tesco's and organised a few harvest reflections around the store. They handed out leaflets at the entrance and people followed a kind of treasure hunt I guess, if they wanted to... You'll find all the details here [with pictures]. Posted by: Mark | 3:29 pm |
Website Update I don;t know if anyone will have noticed but I have added a couple of new things to the website this week: Firstly I have added the CCN Movie Pages. I am still not sure if it should really be the 'film pages' but there you go. You will find on these pages easy side-by-side listing of what is on at both the Northampton cinemas at the moment (UGC/cineworld and VUE). If you click on my link on each cinema you will get a 3 line summary of each film. Plus if you click on any film title you will get the showing times over the next couple of days... How handy is that!! There is also a summary of all the latest movie (or film) news. Another feature I like is search box which puts a number of the good movie sites at your finger tips. Just plug in the movie title, select the site and away you go! Go on try it. I've added it to this side panel for you to experiment. My other plan is to have onother blog track our various film watching - but we'll see. Secondly, I have finally added something to the club page. Not much but it is there! Thirdly, I have finally added something to the worship ideas page - which to be honest I thought was there already! Not pretty but it is there... and Finally I have added the BBC latest headlines to the home/welcome page. What do you think? [oh and I have sorted some of those wrong red bubbles by the menu] Posted by: Mark | 1:46 pm |
Friday, October 07, 2005Funny tongue in cheek article I was intrigued by the title of this article: Potty-mouthed ex-vicar causes school outrage. At it is quite a funny read - especially the last paragraph. Or was it all just a publicity stunt... Posted by: Mark | 2:18 pm |
Wednesday, October 05, 2005A Sunday in Derby  This last sunday many of us went up to Derby for an "emcf celebration". It was a fun meeting - fun to be part of something large, fun to hear a congolese samba group, fun to hear Mark Ritchie preach, fun to go out for lunch afterwards.I particularly appreciated Mark's point that we need to see possibilities not problems. He comminicated this really well, and I felt very challenged to keep pursuing what God has put in our hearts, even if the first try does not succeed. As he said 'switch to the left hand' if you need to. After the lunch out we went o visit some friends of ours who have just moved house. They have the most amazing garden i have ever seen. Just look:   Anyone for rock-climbing? Posted by: Mark | 10:57 am |
Webstats I have lost my usual webstats programme for some strange reason. Can't understand it ... but there we are I promised the september stats, so here it is: **UPDATE**: webstats programme refound and figues below updated: Most popular day: 12th September Most strange search string: "be-hoove bible" and "is a phono lead" and "kingdom life church in northampton" [whoops!] Unique Visitors: 259 number of visits: 759 Most popular hour: 1pm [hi all, hope you are having a good lunch!] country I had not seen on the list before: Cote D'Ivoire [that is 'Ivory coast'] General interesting fact: in google type in "incarnational mission" ... go on, for fun... Posted by: Mark | 9:20 am |
Saturday, October 01, 2005The message on a candle The other day we got some candles from Maddy's mum. Helpfully they have some wise words to train and inspire everytime you light them. I thought I would share them with you, so here goes: "A silent mouth is good to hear" - hey I am a parent, of course I agree with this one "A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea" - yeah, kinda make sense, a bit like birds and bushes "What butter and whiskey will not sure there is no cure for" - hey, you can't say fairer than that! "As the old cock crows the young cock learns" - nice sentiment! "The longest road out is the shortest road home" - is it really? what if you got lost? what is this saying? I don't get it! "A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse" - of course we all know that! "You'll never plough a field by turning it over in your mind" - this is my top-tastic favourite, good pun, good thought! "It's no use carrying an umbrella if your shoes are leaking" - Ok, come off it - whole body wet vs just your toes. That's a load of rubbish if you ask me. "The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune" - What? But what if the old fiddle has got a big cracking it? Anyway helpful advice from .......... errrrrr...... a candle... Posted by: Mark | 8:00 am |
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