I'm currently having regular Bible study meetings with a friend of mine who's a relay worker at the CU here (for more info on relay workers, check out the UCCF website). Today, we were looking at Ephesians 2:11-20, where Paul explains that there no longer needs to be a barrier between Jew and Gentile because we have been made one in Christ.
In the first few verses of this section, Paul explains what the Gentiles were before. He says they were 'without hope and with God'.
Now, I don't know how you take that, but when I read it, it really hit me. There are literally thousands of people walking around my Uni - without hope and without God. If any of them read this blog via facebook, I could cause some serious debates...
It was particularly significant when I listened to Tom Whitman this evening, and the line in the final song of his album (Stood Still, from the album 'Breaking in of Light') 'let's not romanticise the fight'. Actually, as far as this song goes, it's not related to my topic, but we ought not to romanticise the fight we face every day for people's souls. I mean, how often to we genuinely look at a crowd of people, and think 'they're walking into hell'.
Obviously, we can't witness to every single person we walk past, but I, for one, want to try and make any conversation I have more meaningful and Christ-filled.
Finishing with another Whitman line from the same song 'Jesus Christ, a radical sacrifice. Jesus Christ, a radical life.'
Friday, 5 February 2010
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Where are all the Note-takers?!
I was at a Bible day conference at a church in the city centre here in Swansea recently, and it brought to my attention the lack of note-takers in churches. I've always noticed it in church etc, but it seemed even worse to me that so few people were noting down the important point of what these men were saying. After all, you wouldn't go to a lecture and not take notes, but we put Biblical study at a less important level if we decide that we don't need to write any of that down, surely?
My old youth pastor used to say that you forget 90% of the sermon by Monday if you don't write any of it down. Now, he tends to make up statistics, so I can't be sure this is accurate, but I know I remember far more by the simple act of writing it, even if I never look at it again.
Something else I've noticed, is that girls tend to be the note-takers. I nearly called this blog 'where are all the male note-takers?' but thought that was unfair, as I do know of a couple of men who take notes. But at one point at the conference, I was sat between two girls who were both scribbling furiously, whilst the boys in the same pew weren't. Now, I'm not going to name names, or specifically shame anyone, or indeed, force anyone to take notes. Some people find it hard to focus and take notes, and that's fair enough, but I do wonder why so many people simply don't. You can, it's useful, so surely, do?
My old youth pastor used to say that you forget 90% of the sermon by Monday if you don't write any of it down. Now, he tends to make up statistics, so I can't be sure this is accurate, but I know I remember far more by the simple act of writing it, even if I never look at it again.
Something else I've noticed, is that girls tend to be the note-takers. I nearly called this blog 'where are all the male note-takers?' but thought that was unfair, as I do know of a couple of men who take notes. But at one point at the conference, I was sat between two girls who were both scribbling furiously, whilst the boys in the same pew weren't. Now, I'm not going to name names, or specifically shame anyone, or indeed, force anyone to take notes. Some people find it hard to focus and take notes, and that's fair enough, but I do wonder why so many people simply don't. You can, it's useful, so surely, do?
Friday, 8 January 2010
Snow!
So the UK in the throes of snow chaos. And like most things, I have an opinion on it =).
In recent years, the UK has had some pretty bad weather this time of year. Yet, whenever we mention investing in the necessary equipment to keep roads clear and get us all back to work, people moan that as it won't be used every year, it's a waste of money. I beg to differ.
If global warming is to be accepted (another blog for another time about the idea it's only government propaganda.... hmmm...) then the Gulf Stream will actually cause the UK to get colder, not hotter as the rest of the world will. That means we'd be in for what we're getting now, snow chaos, on a more regular basis. And having said that, we can see from the past few years that actually, snow is a regular occurence now.
The thing is, the other option to deal with the snow is to literally bring the country to a standstill for anyone who's job is not vital (doctors and emergency services etc) and just wait it out. This costs the country millions a day, yes, but then, the equipment to get us all back to work would work out at about the same! And we wouldn't lose working days, which all seems so terrible to us.
So there we go. Either invest, or be willing to lose the money. It'll all even out in the end anyways, so let's stop having this stupid debate every year and make a decision!
In recent years, the UK has had some pretty bad weather this time of year. Yet, whenever we mention investing in the necessary equipment to keep roads clear and get us all back to work, people moan that as it won't be used every year, it's a waste of money. I beg to differ.
If global warming is to be accepted (another blog for another time about the idea it's only government propaganda.... hmmm...) then the Gulf Stream will actually cause the UK to get colder, not hotter as the rest of the world will. That means we'd be in for what we're getting now, snow chaos, on a more regular basis. And having said that, we can see from the past few years that actually, snow is a regular occurence now.
The thing is, the other option to deal with the snow is to literally bring the country to a standstill for anyone who's job is not vital (doctors and emergency services etc) and just wait it out. This costs the country millions a day, yes, but then, the equipment to get us all back to work would work out at about the same! And we wouldn't lose working days, which all seems so terrible to us.
So there we go. Either invest, or be willing to lose the money. It'll all even out in the end anyways, so let's stop having this stupid debate every year and make a decision!
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
End of my first term.
On the 21st of September, I arrived at Swansea University for my first term as a student.
In just three days, I'll have finished said first term.
It has absolutely flown by! I still can't believe the first term is nearly over, and I think everything will feel very surreal when I get home on Saturday. We've said goodbye and Happy Christmas to the first housemate to leave this evening, and it was very strange... The rest of us are leaving on Friday or Saturday, and won't see each other again until January.
So, what have I done this term? Well, degree wise, I've a few essays and one presentation, but the majority of the assessment will come from exams next year. They've gone reasonably well, but nothing to sing and dance about!
Society wise, I've been very involved in the CU, helping with evangelism work and music for Mondays and the houseparty. It's been amazing, and I can't wait to see how else I can be involved as the years unfold. I've made some fantastic friends from the CU, and it's really a great place to be. I'm also a debater, and competed in my first competition a few weeks ago. Though we didn't win, I got the highest speaker points of all the Swansea debaters, and my team came 10th out of around 25 teams.
I love my rugby now - to be expected as I'm in Wales! I have always liked it though, and it's fantastic to be in a place where it matters more than football.
Church wise, I'm pretty settled in a church called Oasis, and hoping to start home groups with them next term. It's the only church I found here that didn't make me miss home, and the preaching is just brilliant. Very exciting to be settled somewhere!
All in all, I think I've had a very successful first term at Uni. I completely love it here, have made amazing friends and can't wait for the next two and a half years. However, a break is definitely needed - see all you Ashford folk next week!
In just three days, I'll have finished said first term.
It has absolutely flown by! I still can't believe the first term is nearly over, and I think everything will feel very surreal when I get home on Saturday. We've said goodbye and Happy Christmas to the first housemate to leave this evening, and it was very strange... The rest of us are leaving on Friday or Saturday, and won't see each other again until January.
So, what have I done this term? Well, degree wise, I've a few essays and one presentation, but the majority of the assessment will come from exams next year. They've gone reasonably well, but nothing to sing and dance about!
Society wise, I've been very involved in the CU, helping with evangelism work and music for Mondays and the houseparty. It's been amazing, and I can't wait to see how else I can be involved as the years unfold. I've made some fantastic friends from the CU, and it's really a great place to be. I'm also a debater, and competed in my first competition a few weeks ago. Though we didn't win, I got the highest speaker points of all the Swansea debaters, and my team came 10th out of around 25 teams.
I love my rugby now - to be expected as I'm in Wales! I have always liked it though, and it's fantastic to be in a place where it matters more than football.
Church wise, I'm pretty settled in a church called Oasis, and hoping to start home groups with them next term. It's the only church I found here that didn't make me miss home, and the preaching is just brilliant. Very exciting to be settled somewhere!
All in all, I think I've had a very successful first term at Uni. I completely love it here, have made amazing friends and can't wait for the next two and a half years. However, a break is definitely needed - see all you Ashford folk next week!
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Chivalry is dead....
I've long wanted to believe that chivalry still existed, and I think there are some men out there who are holding down the fort. For example, my housemate, Seamus, is generally pretty gentlemanly, but I fear the culture of chivalry is indeed, dead.
What evidence have I for this, I hear you cry? Well, I popped up to Port Tennant today to see someone, and it's a particularly hilly area. As I pulled away from my parking space, a few men in a bulding truck came up the hill, and didn't stop to let me through, instead forcing me to nearly emergency stop and let them through. And then there was no thank you at all.
On the bus the other day, two boys who were sitting next to me but across the aisle got off before me, shoving past me when I stood up.
Now, I'm not expecting great, heroic deeds or knights in shining armour, but since when was it not the done thing to let a woman/lady off the bus first, or say thank you to your fellow driver?
Someone needs to spread the word - bring chivalry back!!
What evidence have I for this, I hear you cry? Well, I popped up to Port Tennant today to see someone, and it's a particularly hilly area. As I pulled away from my parking space, a few men in a bulding truck came up the hill, and didn't stop to let me through, instead forcing me to nearly emergency stop and let them through. And then there was no thank you at all.
On the bus the other day, two boys who were sitting next to me but across the aisle got off before me, shoving past me when I stood up.
Now, I'm not expecting great, heroic deeds or knights in shining armour, but since when was it not the done thing to let a woman/lady off the bus first, or say thank you to your fellow driver?
Someone needs to spread the word - bring chivalry back!!
Monday, 26 October 2009
Weekly review + Worship Central review
Heyyyy lovely blog readers! Just to say, I appreciate each and every one of you! I'm sure there'll be a few more now that my blogs go direct to notes on my facebook page. Thanks to Lagoyu for telling me how to do that.
Onto the week. I've been pretty homesick this week. I'd say that it's been the worst week so far for homesickness. The beginning of the Christmas season does not help. As it's still about 8 weeks til the end of term, and so the time I can go home, and so Christmas, I don't want to think about it all. I want to be Christmassy, but not until the end of November, when I get to go home about two weeks after.
The Church hunt is still proving tough. I really like Oasis church, but am looking for another church, as they meet on Saturdays (not as seventh-day adventists though). Not really 100% on a lot of places though, and it's proving more difficult than I thought it would.
On a positive note, I'm still feeling settled in CU and debate society. At the moment, that's where my main friends, and the people I really want to hang out with are coming from. Lovely, lovely people, the lot of them.
The other main event of this week was Worship Central. It's run by Tim Hughes and Al Gordon, and is part of the Alpha group. This, coupled with the venue of an Elim church, made me sceptical, but I decided to attend with a healthy dose of criticism prepared. I was impressed that they didn't sing 'Mighty to Save' because not only is that hugely overplayed to the point where is has no meaning, but the verses are so wishy-washy anyway that it has little impact if you ask me. They did, hoever, play 'Dancing Generation' another song that I have little appreciation for. Maybe a blog on song scrutiny to follow...
The evening's worship music was generally fine. No massive standout songs, or anything I particularly want to take back to YDOG with me over Christmas. The teaching was interesting -focussed on creativity in worship and the idea that we ought to use all our gifts to serve God. Tim pointed out that the church ought to be the most dynamic group of people in the country... and at first my skepticism played out well. But then, I found myself agreeing. As Christians, we acknowledge that our gifts are from God, unlike others who believe them to be self-made. Therefore, shouldn't our natural desire be to pump them back into the kingdom?! I mean, I'll admit that I've been very critical about dance troups etc etc, but I'm willing to eat my words, as long as the representation of Christ isn't overused, as I'm still not comfortable with that. But anyway, back to the point. We know our talents are from Him, so why don't we use them for Him?! Our churches ought to be a creative hotbed of new ideas to spread His gospel, without of course, ever watering it down.
WC wasn't all good though, and I wasn't happy with the Alpha aspect of 'waiting' on the Spirit. We were asked to stand in relative silence, arms open and wait for the Spirit to fill us. Now, this says to me too much of the idea that there are two parts to salvation - recieving salvation and then recieving the Spirit. This is rubbish. The Holy Spirit is with us from salvation, a deposit on our place in heaven, and the one who works in us daily giving us strength and sanctifying us to be more like our father. So, from the second of salvation, we have everything we need to live out the Christian life. I agree that sometimes it doesn't feel like we have him as strongly as other days, but He is always in us, and can always work through us.
Ok, so a long old blog today. Hope it's of some interest to you wonderful lot! Or that your egos have been sufficiently boosted for the day.... now realise your life's a mess without Christ. That'll bring you crashing back to earth ;).
Onto the week. I've been pretty homesick this week. I'd say that it's been the worst week so far for homesickness. The beginning of the Christmas season does not help. As it's still about 8 weeks til the end of term, and so the time I can go home, and so Christmas, I don't want to think about it all. I want to be Christmassy, but not until the end of November, when I get to go home about two weeks after.
The Church hunt is still proving tough. I really like Oasis church, but am looking for another church, as they meet on Saturdays (not as seventh-day adventists though). Not really 100% on a lot of places though, and it's proving more difficult than I thought it would.
On a positive note, I'm still feeling settled in CU and debate society. At the moment, that's where my main friends, and the people I really want to hang out with are coming from. Lovely, lovely people, the lot of them.
The other main event of this week was Worship Central. It's run by Tim Hughes and Al Gordon, and is part of the Alpha group. This, coupled with the venue of an Elim church, made me sceptical, but I decided to attend with a healthy dose of criticism prepared. I was impressed that they didn't sing 'Mighty to Save' because not only is that hugely overplayed to the point where is has no meaning, but the verses are so wishy-washy anyway that it has little impact if you ask me. They did, hoever, play 'Dancing Generation' another song that I have little appreciation for. Maybe a blog on song scrutiny to follow...
The evening's worship music was generally fine. No massive standout songs, or anything I particularly want to take back to YDOG with me over Christmas. The teaching was interesting -focussed on creativity in worship and the idea that we ought to use all our gifts to serve God. Tim pointed out that the church ought to be the most dynamic group of people in the country... and at first my skepticism played out well. But then, I found myself agreeing. As Christians, we acknowledge that our gifts are from God, unlike others who believe them to be self-made. Therefore, shouldn't our natural desire be to pump them back into the kingdom?! I mean, I'll admit that I've been very critical about dance troups etc etc, but I'm willing to eat my words, as long as the representation of Christ isn't overused, as I'm still not comfortable with that. But anyway, back to the point. We know our talents are from Him, so why don't we use them for Him?! Our churches ought to be a creative hotbed of new ideas to spread His gospel, without of course, ever watering it down.
WC wasn't all good though, and I wasn't happy with the Alpha aspect of 'waiting' on the Spirit. We were asked to stand in relative silence, arms open and wait for the Spirit to fill us. Now, this says to me too much of the idea that there are two parts to salvation - recieving salvation and then recieving the Spirit. This is rubbish. The Holy Spirit is with us from salvation, a deposit on our place in heaven, and the one who works in us daily giving us strength and sanctifying us to be more like our father. So, from the second of salvation, we have everything we need to live out the Christian life. I agree that sometimes it doesn't feel like we have him as strongly as other days, but He is always in us, and can always work through us.
Ok, so a long old blog today. Hope it's of some interest to you wonderful lot! Or that your egos have been sufficiently boosted for the day.... now realise your life's a mess without Christ. That'll bring you crashing back to earth ;).
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Pretty terrible week.
Just a short moan.
I've been ill for two weeks now, but it's been worse since Sunday. Last night, I went to bed at 11pm, and didn't sleep until 3am. I just tossed and turned, coughing and sniffling etc constantly. It was awful. I tried to sleep sitting up so that I could cough, but that didn't help... rearranged my room in the middle of the night to attempt to sleep on my chair with my legs on the bed. It was insane.
I've missed 4 lectures this week... :s It's all down to illness, I wouldn't usually miss so many.
I want to be better.
I've been ill for two weeks now, but it's been worse since Sunday. Last night, I went to bed at 11pm, and didn't sleep until 3am. I just tossed and turned, coughing and sniffling etc constantly. It was awful. I tried to sleep sitting up so that I could cough, but that didn't help... rearranged my room in the middle of the night to attempt to sleep on my chair with my legs on the bed. It was insane.
I've missed 4 lectures this week... :s It's all down to illness, I wouldn't usually miss so many.
I want to be better.
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