Get a life....God : real and relevant
I attended an information evening last night for the above conference that is due to be run in August by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Myself, my minister and the clerk of session of our church were all in attendance, and we are the appointed delegates attending the weeklong conference on behalf of our church.
On going to the meeting I didn't really know what to expect, but I guess that was the purpose of having the meeting, to provide information on the event. Having attended this I am now looking forward in anticipation to the event, and indeed quite excited by the prospect of what it will entail.
The conference will be looking at how the church can be real and relevant in the society and culture we find ourselves in today, revealing the unchanging message of the gospel to those in our community. The seminars will focus on the areas of appropriate worship, authentic fellowship and effective witness as a church in society today.
It is indeed my prayer that God would truly bless this conference, and use it to equip his body, the church, to present the unchanging gospel truths to a spiritually apathetic and needy world.

Assignment Complete
Having just handed in the final assignment for the certificate in youth ministry course I was doing, I thought i'd write a few lines here in reflection. Was weird last night at the dinner seeing everyone again and realising how well the group bonded and how much we all miss our wee monday night group. The final assignment involved analysing the current youth ministry setup in my church, and producing a purpose statement and structure to move the ministry with the youth forward. At first this was quite a daunting task, but I trust that God has directed my thoughts, and know that He will direct us forward in reaching the youth of our community.
I have personally found the course of huge benefit in guiding me firstly in my personal walk of faith, and also in the area of youthwork, and how we can reach out to this generation and ignite a genuine faith and passion for Christ lived out in their lives. Having completed the assignment, I feel that this is a structure and vision that our church could adopt and implement as we seek to reach this generation of young people, and feel that it should do so as a matter of urgency.
In our ministry we must present the never changing truth of a counter-cultural gospel in a format and language that is relevant and real to the culture of today. In doing so, we must look to Christ, the apostles, the missionaries, and the great communicators of previous generations and follow their example and attitude. It is our biblical mandate to pass on our faith to the next generation Psalm 78 vs. 1-4 so lets get back to doing it.

The cross, and its significance is something I’ve been contemplating over recent weeks, as we consider an easter program of activities for the youth of our church. And as I contemplate the cross I come to realize it is much more than merely remembering what Christ has done. In doing so, and contemplating its meaning to our lives today, the cross should surely inspire us to daily take up our cross and follow Christ. The cross cost Christ his all, and likewise it should cost us everything as we offer our lives as a daily sacrifice. That’s “costly grace” as Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it.

If we look back a mere 30 years to the world as it was then, many would agree that we are “better-off” today than we were then. Most of us have respectable homes, fully fitted with every mod-con accessory, a car to travel to and from our place of work, plentiful supplies of food, and more than enough “stuff” in general. But spiritually are we “better-off” today than we were a mere 30 or so years, when the morality of society was intact, church attendances were ample and regular, and the 10 commandments were largely regarded as the benchmark for society. Today, where the 10 commandments are merely guidelines, many of which can be disregarded as irrelevant, where church attendances are at an all time low, crime rates at an all-time high, and Sunday is the day where you do the stuff you didn’t get time to do the other 6 days of the week.
Are we really “better off”, I have to wonder. Heavenly Father, I do indeed pray that a fresh awakening to and desire for your word would develop in society again. That revival will once again visit these shores by your Holy Spirit, and that people would once again be concerned with the eternal rather than the temporary. In Jesus Name.

Well works going well, busy as ever, but I guess while its still busy i'm still employed, so in many ways i'm praying the business will remain. But it isn't doin my head in yet, i'm still enjoying going in to work each day, getting good opportunities to witness, and am learning new stuff in the world of I.T. daily which adds to the old C.V.
The challenge I now face is balancing time effectively between work, and the youthwork I feel I have been directed to carry out in Boardmills. Got my assignment in last night for the youth course, after a few late nights over the weekend getting it nailed, but its nice to get it out of the way, and I found it very purposeful and beneficial doing it. It has very practical consequences, the result being by the end of the 2nd assignment I will hopefully, by what I have learnt, and under Gods guidance, produced a youth strategy and purpose statement for our church in Boardmills, which is both challenging and exciting.
Thats me for now, hopefully i'll record a few thoughts next time i get a spare minute, take care and God bless