Without vision the people perish

It’s sometimes strange the way certain verses of the bible crop up again and again at various different points along the faith journey. This was the case recently with this verse from Proverbs that my Dad gave me while I was still in High School. This morning at church the talk was based on Luke 2 v 21ff and on the man Simeon. Simeon had a vision from God that showed him that he would not die before setting his eyes on the Saviour of the whole world and human race. He had a spiritual vision that gave him hope and a gift of perspective that others perhaps did not possess. I just thought that this is a message that is almost more pertinent now, in this day and age, when hope and perspective are so difficult to come by. So, as we all face the year 2009 let our prayers be for new eyes and an inquenchible hope in God and his plans for our lifes, our families, communities, nations and the whole world. What a wonderful and refreshing perspective, without which we might as well curl up and die.

Distracted when worshipping God? Anyone...

Today I was responsible for distracting children. Obviously this is not always an undesirable thing, however this particular incidence was an attempt to engage and welcome - gone wrong - it didn't take very long, a matter of seconds really. It's funny how quickly a good idea can backfire. It's also interesting how easily we can become distracted from the things that God wants us to focus on. HIMSELF! Especially in this advent season, our focus is to be solely fixed on God. This does not mean that we are to exclude ourselves from fun and festivities. We are cultural beings after all, God made us that way. Santa, for example, is very much a cultural figure which celebrates the generousity of a real man called Nicholas. Gift-giving is an expression of generousity and enjoying time with our families, eating and singing carols are also good and God-given joys in this world.

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However, at the centre of everything, the motivation for everything, the root of all our fun and cultural rituals - needs to be Christ, the God-man come to earth, humbling himself to show us a better way to live. Not only a better life, but a better way to experience the gifts he has given us in his creation. To be distracted from worshipping the one and only God, creator and sustainer of the universe is wrong. Whether we are singing songs of praise in church, whether we are enjoying a feast with friends and family, whether we are watching sport on TV or playing it on the field or the court - we need to re-orientate, re-ground ourselves in the truth of the matter, the answer to all our questions - JESUS CHRIST. So, Father in our play and in our work may we see you clearly, know your love and celebrate your continuing presence in this world, Amen.

Imagining God's Kingdom

Hello,

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I apologise for being quite bad in updating my blog this past few weeks. However, I'd like to share a few different, yet connecting things that I have been mulling over.

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Over the last month I have been thinking and praying more about home, Ireland - particularly Northern Ireland. For love, peace and truth, for mercy and for Christians that desire unity over division to rise up in the church. Also, it was great hear amazing speakers at the YS National Youth Workers Conference this weekend, but the Sunday night keynote and the Monday morning seminar struck me. Danielle Strickland is a Canadian Salvation Army church-planter/missional thinker/general genius who happens to be working in Australia currently as the Social Justice Director. She challenged the Pharisetical tendencies that we, in the church, are inclined to have. This is the 'inner Pharisee' that Toby Foster often talks about. Obviously, church-planting has been on my mind what with the 2 preview services on the first 2 weeks of November that we've had at Spring Hill, with Trinity Church. Also, the growth of the childrens and youth ministry, particularly over the next 2 years. What the ministry will look like, its values and its emphases.

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So, with all these thing are floating about in my head I can't help thinking - what would things look like with Christ reigning? If God's Kingdom were to come on earth here and how, how would its values look when the rubber-hits-the-road? What would the communities in which we work look like if we, as Christ's co-heirs, took the commission seriously? What if I were to model unity rather than division? Love rather than prejudice? Integration rather than segegation? Communion with Christ over human alliances? Humility over self-importance? Christ's righteousness over self-righteousness? Imagine what God's Kingdom would look like here on earth - we pray it often enough, but do we really belief it?

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We need to fight and defeat the inner-Pharisee. Jesus reserved the harshest and strictest words for these people, who should have known better. We are not to focus on rules and regulations, as if it is them that save. As, we know Christ came to fulfill them and supersede the law. We are to reach deeper, a Micah 6:8 people. We are born to be free and fight for those who aren't. We are to be ambassadors of holiness and bringers of peace.

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Basically, I have to do an awful lot more processing, but I'm refreshed and inspired and hope that God will continue to reveal himself to his people. That I will focus on the fact that all things are possible with God and he has got the future in his hands. My prayer is that God will lead me and counsel me along a journey that will oppose the world's values. Peacemaking does not mean the lack of opposition. We are called to oppose the reigning culture, our present day Babylon. But, it's only through God's help that we can have any impact at all.

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Loving Out Loud

Dear pray-ers,

Thank-you for all your prayers this past month. Since my last letter I have been involved in the planning for a weekend for 12-15 year olds, a Junior High Fall Retreat that I’ve just returned from. Tired but refreshed, I’m encouraged and excited by all that God has in store for the Youth Ministry at Brentwood UMC this coming year. The theme this weekend was “Love Out LOUD”. John 13:35 reminds us that if we are to be known as Jesus’ followers, we are to be known as people who love and love unconditionally. Over the next few weeks we will be rounding up a series on ‘Jesus for President’ which has been looking at Kingdom values on a range of issues, from the environment, national security to the economy. Please pray for me, as we start our new series at BUMC, for confidence and faithfulness in teaching these students. Remember also the other Youth ministers in Brentwood, Travis Garner, Trey Carey and Lindsay Brooks, also our new Youth Administrator Rena Mahaffey.

Also, over the period before Christmas I will be starting to spend more and more time focussing on the church in Spring Hill and the Youth Ministry there. Up until this point I have been dividing my time and efforts between the main campus at Brentwood and Trinity Church at Spring Hill. Pray for discernment, passion and creativity as I work a group of 3 other adults (Kelly Reedy, Brad Holder and Richard Russell) to construct the youth programme for the remainder of this year and up until May 2009. Praise God for the progress that has been made in building a staff and leadership base. It was obvious last Sunday at our first prayer service that God is at work among the people that he has drawn together to help start this church. May we gel together, love and support one another as we try to meet the needs of the surrounding community. Pray for the services over the next month that God will bless this ministry abundantly, for it is only through him that we can do anything for his glory.

As regards my Vanderbilt classes, please pray that I will manage my time in a way that will allow me to read all that is required in order write the next big paper due on the 5th of November. I’ve really been enjoying my classes, but as work as been getting more demanding both at college and in Brentwood and Spring Hill, I’ve been finding it more difficult to keep on top of everything. On that note, the next assignment due for CYMT follows an intense teaching retreat that happened last week, on adolescent development. The next couple of weeks are going to be incredibly busy and as I have a tendency to take on more than I’m able to do well, please pray for wisdom and peace amidst my pride and the craziness. Above all, praise God for all his blessings, he is faithful in answering the prayers of those who love him and he has blessed me through your prayers.

Beersheba

Harry Williams, Lynn Cairns, Mary Wasik, Ellen Cox, Bob Wasik, Bill Lauderdale, Dottie Cairns, Charlie Cox

Keepin' Movin'!

The past few weeks have been incredibly busy, I always seem to be moving - heading somewhere. Sometimes I will have a task to perform when I arrive, sometimes I won't even know where I'm going and have to rely on directions written on a post-it and stuck on my dashboard. Then there are the everyday trips to university for class, to church for work, to CYMT for pastoral care and of course to the coffee shop across the road for a regular fix of caffeine. The talk today in Sunday School was focussing on Jesus' environment policy if he were president - one of the verses that was emphasised was PSALM 24:1 "The earth is the LORD's and everything in it". As we move about and get overwhelmed with all the places that we need to be, whether we're one of those people who are always early or whether we're prone to running late, we would do well to remember God's claim on this world. There is no where we can go where Christ has not already been. The earth is the LORD's. There is nothing there we can experience in this world that God doesn't already know about. The earth is the LORD's and everything in it! God moves as we move!

The ebb and flo of spiritual seasons

Fall has arrived here in Nashville and it's not like Autumn back home - given that I got a little sunburnt this morning at a soccer match. Incidentally, I've also entered a new phase in my spiritual life, although it seems strange to view my life as consisting of separate components, I prefer not to treat my 'spiritual' life in isolation from the the whole. However, if you have been a Christian for more than a week then you will realise what I mean when I say that, fluctuation in emotions and feelings towards the disciplines of prayer and bible reading happens. Our enthusiasm for personal soul-tending practices experience highs and lows. Actually, the picture of 'highs and lows' doesn't really cut it - after all, no one season is necessarily better than another. Currently, I am going through a quieter Fall period, where as my weeks schedule seems to be filling up my relationship with God seems to have slowed down a little - and not in a bad way, just different from the initial craziness! So, I continue to remind myself that God is faithful, and that he is in control, teaching, loving, guiding, comforting, prompting and preparing for action. This is a time of rejuvenation and vision-casting. I pray for patience during this season, as it ebbs and flos, that God's Spirit will rise up from within me and surrender my agenda for God.

Prayer Letter 4

Hello,

This last month has been an exciting one, thank-you for your prayers. Here’s a quick update on what has be going on. The church plant in Spring Hill has met twice and has changed its name to ‘Trinity Church’. At the meetings we have aimed to communicate our vision and values. That is, the desire for a community of compassion, a place of stability and purposeful connections, and an inclusive culture of inviting. Secondly, we are beginning to establish a network of responsibility, in the form of a launch team that will meet weekly to work on various areas of ministry. I’m continuing to serve at the ‘mother-church’ in Brentwood, to learn all that I can. I will be at BUMC for the next month and dividing my time between doing a little bit of teaching for the 7th and 8th graders and trying to meet more and more kids in Spring Hill by going to school lunches and possibly arranging informal, friendly-type events. Please continue to pray that Trinity Church will be blessed in these early stages of growth. Remember me as I try and meet more and more kids whose families are not yet connected with any church in the area. Pray for boldness in reaching-out!

I have loved my Theology classes at Vanderbilt so far, they are inspiring me to think of the Christian faith and the authority of God’s authorship of the Bible more deeply. I’ve really appreciated the fact that CYMT gives me the chance to still be a student in combination with on-the-job Youth Ministry training. Truly, thank God for giving Dietrich Kirk (Director of CYMT) the vision for starting such a program of graduate-level training for young youth ministers. May God continue to have his hand on this unique incubator for personal spiritual development. Please pray that this learning experience would be blessed by God, that His will is done and that I would count it as a privilege to be here.

Personally, I am making a conscious effort to make friends outside work and CYMT. I think this is a really important part of the settling-in process. I’ve started to help coach an U12 YMCA girls soccer team on a Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning. Then, I’ve also joined a Co-ed Flag Football team organised by ‘Kairos’ (a young adult ministry run by Brentwood Baptist Church) which play in an immediate sports league in Nashville. On other matters that could be brought to God in prayer, my visa is being worked on by people that know more than I do, so please continue to pray for that. All in all, I have truly felt your prayers with me, thank-you for your lovely letters and emails of support, I really appreciate them.

Thank-you,

Emma

Sing a song of confidence!

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Two songs keep popping up these days, here are the lyrics:

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"Word Of God Speak"

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I'm finding myself at a loss for words

And the funny thing is it's okay

The last thing I need is to be heard

But to hear what You would say

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Word of God speak

Would You pour down like rain

Washing my eyes to see

Your majesty

To be still and know

That You're in this place

Please let me stay and rest

In Your holiness

Word of God speak

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I'm finding myself in the midst of You

Beyond the music, beyond the noise

All that I need is to be with You

And in the quiet hear Your voice

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I'm finding myself at a loss for words

And the funny thing is it's okay

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and

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"Not To Us"

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The cross before me the world behind

No turning back, raise the banner high

It’s not for me, it’s all for You

Let the heavens shake and split the sky

Let the people clap their hands and cry

It’s not for us, it’s all for You

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Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory

Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory

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Our hearts unfold before Your throne

The only place for those who know

It’s not for us, It’s all for You

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Send Your holy fire on this offering

Let our worship burn for the world to see

It’s not for us, it’s all for You

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The earth is shaking, the mountains shouting

It’s all for You

The waves are crashing, the sun is raging

It’s all for You

The universe spinning and singing

It’s all for You

The children dancing, dancing, dancing

It’s all for You, it’s all for You

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Now, I know that a number of you guys reading this, won't have listened to much contemporary Christian music, let alone these songs. But, most people have songs that crop up just at the right time. They start playing on the radio, or the person you sit beside on the bus or train has it playing loudly on their iPod, or the person in the check-out queue at the shop is humming it! Well, being in Nashville - home of contemporary Christian music, I was driving along in my wee car and these were the songs that came on. And, it was just the right timing!

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Lately, I have been just,ever so slightly, consumed with visa issues. Just worry, really - but you know the way worry starts small and manages to pervade everything that you do. Well, having been fairly familiar with worry - I realised that it would only be a matter of time before I wouldn't be able to suppress my worry about my visa any longer and it would begin to affect my work and relationships. After all, Satan would convince me that I didn't need to invest in people or preparation for work because I would have to leave the States to go back home after Christmas.

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Well, a mentor said to me - what you need is a serenity prayer - and just give everything over to God. After all, he has looked after you this far (all the way across the Atlantic in fact). This is the serenity prayer, maybe you could use it to...

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God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

The courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen!

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So, between the songs and a short and simple prayer to my Father who loves me, my perspective has been adjusted and my visa, just like it has been the whole entire time, is in God's hands.

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In fact, one day after voicing my concerns with my mentor - God in his graciousness, cleared a load of stuff up and at least I know what category of visa and my extension that I'm going to apply for now.

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You know, God isn't surprised when we worry, but really the only one that we need to be confident in, and never worry is God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What a team! Sing a song of serenity and confidence!

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It is all about God!

It has been a fascinating few days -

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As Christians we should never be surprised at God's intervention in our lives and in our world. This can take many forms. This week I saw that nothing that I do, nothing that anyone does is out-of-bounds for God. All human existence is informed and located within the truth that God, in all his transcendency and intimacy, already exists. Everything that we do, think, and feel is ultimately in response to what God has already done and is continuing to do. Those of us who love God must live a life of integrity all-the-while engaging with culture and communicate Jesus Christ in a world that refuses to acknowledge the existence of it's Creator and Saviour.

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It's all about God!

Case in point

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Guess what? Yesterday, it was just like God has read my post (it's funny how that happens - God is omniscent, omnipresent, omnipotent).

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At BUMC Sunday mornings see over 100 7th and 8th graders pass through the doors into Sunday School. This is a time for celebration and for praise. We, as leaders, need to do an awful lot of talking at the front of the group...with the dreaded microphone...to direct this large number of kids through the activities and then the devotion.

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To be honest, I don't really like talking through a mic, or feel the most comfortable with such a large large group - especially as it's only my 2nd week and I don't really know any of the kids yet. So, I guess I have just convinced myself that I'm better at leading smaller groups, using the excuse that, "it's what I'm used it".

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However, I had a 7th grade boy come up to me amidst a lettuce-related activity yesterday (you can ask about that yourself) and say how good he thought I was at annoucing stuff through the microphone. I was so humbled and yet didn't really have time to process what had just happened. Later on in the day I realised that this was a case in point. This was an unexpected thing, a blessing, from an unexpected person. In many ways it was a little thing, on the other hand his encouragement was more sincere and more powerful than one from another leader.

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Isn't it good to know that God is faithful even in the little things that we are concerned with. I definately thought it was a wow moment!

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Great unexpected things

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You know, I think that some of the greatest lessons we learn in life are unexpected ones, and generally from unexpected people, in unexpected circumstances! Often we only recognise these moments of learning some time after the moment has passed.

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I think this is linked with engrained prejudices and culturally presumed capabilities. A book written by 2 twin teenagers deals with this from the perspective of the adolsecent - Alex and Brett Harris' book "Do Hard Things: A teenage rebellion against low expectations" (have a look at their website http://www.therebelution.com/) says this:

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"When you look around today, in terms of godly character and practical competence, our culture does not expect much of us young people. We are not only expected to do very little that is wise or good, but we're expected to do the opposite. Our media-saturated culture is constantly reinforcing lower and lower standards and expectations."

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Do we expect to learn great things from teenagers and younger kids? In fact, we probably have similar prejudices for lots of different sub-categories of people: our culture sometimes does not respect the opinions and views of the elderly; of the immigrant; of the single adult...the list could go on. Would you expect great things from these people? Would you expect to learn great things from any of these people? Or do we assume that because they are not the same as us, they has nothing to offer us in terms of wisdom and advice? In the bible God challenges us to consider our hearts:

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2 Corinthians 13:5 says " Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves."

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Matthew 7:1-3 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbour's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt?"

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We cannot assume that just because we are Christians and church-goers, even in ministrial positions, that our default attitude is one of perfect impartiality. Look again at this reference from Jeremiah.

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Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

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It's a painful realisation, when you find out that your not always right and don't always know what's best. You discover that perhaps someone elses idea is better than your own and that you are wrong (sometimes) - now there's something that I haven't entirely got yet - my friends can testify to that! But, there is hope (not a cop-out):

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1 John 3:20-24 "For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God! We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us."

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Let us throw of our prejudices and partiality - let us expect great unexpected things from unexpected sources. Respect others and remember to humble ourselves, because in building one another up we are all stronger!

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Let's raise our expectations, because with God NOthing is impossible!

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Merge - First Sunday

Hello,

The meeting room (107 kids altogether)

me, Trey and Regina (the leaders)

Frozen T-shirt competition

Just a few photos from the first Sunday at Merge (BUMC's 7th and 8th Grade ministry)

Update!

As a reminder of what I’m doing out here in Nashville, TN

* Junior High Ministry (“Merge”) at Brentwood United Methodist Church >>>>>(primarily with 7th-8th grade girls, 12-14years old) [Aug 2008 – Oct 2008]
* Youth Intern at Spring Hill campus of BUMC (Junior High Ministry) [Nov 2008 – Aug 2010]
* CYMT student (Youth Ministry) [Aug 2008 – Aug 2010]
* Vanderbilt Divinity student [Aug 2008 – May 2010] >>>>>(Semester 1 = Constructive Theology) [Aug 2008 – Dec 2008]

Key people
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BUMC Youth Ministry team: Travis Garner, Trey Carey, Lindsay Brooks, Allison Fasig, Regina Rigney, Ann Porter, James Wells, me
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Spring Hill Ministry team: Mack Strange, Susan Huckaby, Courtney Williams, me
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CYMT staff: Dietrich Kirk, Lesleigh Carmichael, Keeley Kirk, Chris Andrews
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CYMT coach: Jacob Fasig
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CYMT (class of 2008): Anthony Harless, Samantha Tidball, Sara Ellet, Kate Adcock, Jason Woodall, Adam Simpson, Lauren Brooks, me
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Vanderbilt (class of 2008 + class of 2007): Joel Bruerd, Jon Snape, Joey Willis, Steph Dodge, Daniel McGarry


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Let's take this outside!

Hello everyone,

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It's great to have received so many emails in reply to my second prayer letter. If you are reading this and have not seen that yet - please leave your email address in a comment and I'll forward it on to you.

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This past week (Monday 4th-Sunday 10th) has been crazy. Orientation at CYMT (The Center for Youth Ministry) started on Monday and Tuesday. Then on Wednesday we had a Rookie Retreat at Lakeshore UMC Assembly near Kentucky Lake. The second year students joined us freshers on Thursday and we packed up and left on Friday. On Saturday I wrote out my first assignment and Sunday I was introduced to the Youth at BUMC (Brentwood). Also, this evening both Mack and myself drove down to Spring Hill to have a look around and go to a 6.15pm service at Grace Park Baptist, a 3 year old church in the area. The population in this part of Tennessee has increased from 980 in 1980 to 7,000 in 2000 and today it is nearer 24,000.

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The title of this blog comes from the morning service at BUMC. It was a call to the church of today to rise up and be counted in mission and outreach to a fallen world. Let us not hold the truth of the gospel of grace inside our four walls, but instead let us burst out, over-flow with love and generousity into a world that is the complete opposite. The thing that I am begining to appreciate about Youth Ministry is the openness to radical change and the boldness to do difficult things. But, this call is not just for teenagers, it is for the whole body of Christ. I met an American lady yesterday in Spring Hill, she had never been to Europe let alone anywhere in the UK, but she told me that she has been praying for revival in Ireland and Scotland for many years. She wanted me to tell her what the church in those places was like. What are Christians in Ireland and Scotland doing? What does the church look like? What impact is it making to the surrounding society and the culture in which it is embedded? What would you have told her...

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Let's take this incredible, uncontainable hope outside! The souls of our family-members, friends and neighbours are at stake - do we truly believe that God has entrusted to us the responsibility of communicating his Lordship and sovereignity in this world? Let's rise up!

What it feels like to be a clay pot!

I've just returned from a wonderful 2 day trip to North Carolina and come to the realisation, as if I didn't know fully before now, how privileged I am to be in this place and have the opportunity to live, train and work with these amazing people. It's difficult at any time to come to terms with your own sense of inadequacy and by humbled by those you see and meet, but it's an ev en greater experience to be lifted up and encouraged by those very same individuals. To be reminded that:

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"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (Zep 3.17)

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To be told that:

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"Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor 3.4-6)

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And:

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"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil 4.13)

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God is faithful to all these promises and despite our weaknesses he reigns in truth. He is strong and can overcome the obstacles that, as clay pots, we risk collapsing under. If there's anything that I have learnt over this past 8 days here in Nashville, it is that ministry, or any sort, is a difficult calling to work out. It is impossible for any human being to be faithful to their calling on their own, it is God who uses us as instruments of his will. 2 Corinthians 4.1ff says that:

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"Since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. Onthe contrary. by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man;s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing...For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as servants for Jesus' sake...we have treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from Godin the face of Christ. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."

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I could go on and on, but remember this - it is Christ not us, it is to his glory not ours and it is his strength that conquers and pervails even as our weaknesses are weighing us down. But proud in being a clay pot - we may get in the way if we were greater than what we are.

Beware - Your life is one of ministry!

Hi everyone,

This is hopefully a prequel to another prayer letter some time shortly, but I couple things that I'd like you to be encouraged by.

First of all, God is at work in our world today and doing great things right in fromt of our noses, if only we would set ourselves aside and have him open our eyes. On Friday I was privileged enough to experience a humble expression of desperation. I young man approached Mack and I at about 8.30am in Nashville as we got out of our car. He had overheard part of our conversation concerning God's amzing ability and desire to speak to us. How, through his Holy Spirit he leads us to do and say certain things at certain times to certain people. He approached us and explained how he didn't know what God wanted for his life, especially God's will for his relationship with a girl. God is prompting people everyday to seek after him and we as God's people here to watch intentionally to those around us that need to be love. Mack led us in prayer, right there on the street at 8.30 in the morning. We stood in a circle on the pavement and held hands asking if God would draw near and reveal himself and his will to this young man. God is able to give this man a peace that he cannot find anywhere else in this world. He only needs to be still and see that Jesus is Lord. Amazing or what? So, relax and experience God's peace but never doubt, GOD IS AT WORK!!

Second, we are called to be pastors without pulpits, to reach out into a hurting and dark world and be a light. We are to engage and recognise the importance of how faith and culture interact. No one can understand God or his word outside of culture. This is particularly important for the church to grasp in the 21st-century, because the world today are looking for something genuine that they can trust and lock in to. So much of what we see on TV and right across the media, let alone in our day-to-day lives, is fake, a facade, a show and a good face for the public. Christianity today needs to have a clarity and a transparency that culture has never required so much before. Christ has entrusted us with the task of living lives of integrity. Authenticity is highly desireable as is an attitude of honestly. Live your lives as pastors without pupits which witness to an authentic faith.

This is the final thing I have to share - Christ was and continues to be committed entirely to the ministry of reconciliation and he imparted that ministry to us. Tonight I was privileged to be at a choir concert at Brentwood United Methodist Church. This choir was no ordinary choir, this is "Sonshine", a hundred 15-18 year olds commited to worshipping not performance. Now, I really can't put into words the impact their singing, enthusiasm and joy had on the whole church, the audience and to me personally. Truly this choir has the potential to reconcile. I am so convinced of that, that when Mack suggested that they come to Ireland it moved me to tears. For the first time I realised how much the bitterness and conflict that exists in Ireland breaks my heart. This choir is not only hugely talented, HUGELY TALENTED, everyone of those kids could stand up in the Waterfront Theatre in Belfast and sing a solo. But, as they formed a linking circle around an audience of 300 people and sang "May the peace of the Lord go on and on" in 6-part harmony this gift that God has given them has an amazing transforming power. So, in 2 years time we hope to have an all-Ireland tour organised for these guys to come over and bring with them the power of Christ's merciful reconciliation. Remember that Christ is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Eph 3:20).

That's all for now,

Your comments are welcome.

Progress on climatiZation

Well, it has been a very busy week since my last post. From our arrival in Boston on Tuesday 15th until Friday 18th we spent time with family [in the photo below] in Woburn. These guys are a few of Granny's first cousins and Auntie Gladys' second cousins. I'm afraid that my third cousins were further afield. ;) We had a great time and were looked after really well by Lois Farrell (second from the right). On Friday we moved to Boston city and only had one night to have a look around. A bus tour was in order and the day was rounded off quite nicely with 'As you like it' in Boston Common - well, half of it due to a sudden deluge.

Bettsie Brace, Linda Barich, Auntie Gladys, Jean Gallant, Betty Erlandsen, Cindy Brace, me, Lois Farrell and Evelyn Bustead.

The next stop on my climatisation journey was the 'Big Apple' - enough said - what an amazing city and a far cry from either Kesh, Pettigo or, belief it or not, St Andrews.

On Wednesday, the final leg of the journey sees me landing in Nashville to meet Mack around 2pm. More news will be on its way after that - but at this point please remember my family in prayer at this time as my Great Aunt Rita, who suffered a stroke a few weeks ago, died at 1pm today (Sunday 20th July). Thank-you

Until we meet again - Pettigo Methodist

Nigel Holden, Rev. Eleanor Hayden, John Armstrong


Olive and Hilda Walmsley, Kathleen Spence


Me and May Cathcart


Dwayne Carlton, John Boyd, Mervyn Rowe, Dad


Lorraine Holden, Irene Boyd, Shirley Armstrong, Ronnie Rowe


Douglas Rowe, Raymond Moffat, Evelyn Rowe


These are just a few of the people I leave behind praying for me...thank goodness!

An adventure only beginning

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My big adventure in the States, to begin this 2 year youth ministry internship in Nashville on the 1st August 2008, kicks off at 2pm on Tuesday 15th July from Dublin airport. This internship involves placement at the Spring Hill campus of Brentwood United Methodist Church under the supervision of Rev. Mack Strange. It is Mack who is completely sorting me out with transport and organising so much regarding health and car insurance.

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But first, I'm travelling with Auntie Gladys to Boston to see family and then to New York City to take in some sights before going to Nashville on Wednesday 23rd July. Acclimatising is important - soaking in the culture, but gently - East Coast first then the hardcore South. If anyone has any suggestions of what sights and sounds to take in in 3 or 4 days in either places, let me know! Survival tips are also invited.

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I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this internship, but as with every big decision and change in life, it will be bitter-sweet. Leaving friends and family at home is going to be hard. Leaving St Andrews was difficult enough and although I can pretend to not be worried about home-sickness, I'd be lying to myself and others. There's lots of things I'll miss, lots of people most importantly - but God is faithful, I need only to trust in him, it's hard though!

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Thank-you so much for all your support, advice and prayers thus far – without them I may never have got to this point. God has truly answered them and blessed me through you.

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