The Ups and Downs of life

Been a whle since the last post, the regular updates are somewhat irregular, but here goes.  A reality for me right now is that life has it's fair share of ups and downs, seems to be more downs than ups for me right now, but theres always 2 sides to a coin and 2 ways of looking at things.  Guess i've always thought of myself as abit of an optomist, the glass is half full and all that. So recently when some things haven't quite went my way and i've found myself asking "why me" I guess the glass has looked more empty than full.  Sometimes the futures looks scarily dull and not so bright, and it's at times like these that the promise God gives Jeremiah rings true to me, and i'm content to trust in Him with my life, my plans, my all.

 

Jeremiah 29 vs.11 (MSG)

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."

 

What a promise, what a re-assurance, what a hope, what a God.

And suddenly my worries slip into insignifficance, and I see this as an opportunity to stretch the limbs of faith and trust in Him, after all He knows best, nothing happens outside of his will and His plans will prevail

Worth the work

Well this years bible class is taking abit of a different slant, split the classes, so i'm now taking the 3rd form upwards.  Really wanting them to take ownership of the programme, keep it as conversational as possible in approach, and as relevant to their lives as possible. Would be alot easier from my point of view to simply churn out some pre-prepared "off-the-shelf" material each week, but don't know how beneficial that would be in encouraging them in their journey in faith.  Their programme ideas have been interesting, think i've a fair bit of research to be doing over the incoming months to prepare and help lead discussion, filtering it all through Gods Word as our benchmark.  Topics from peer pressure and relationships, how to pray and read your bible, growing in your faith; through to more in-depth ones like biblical interpretation, creation/evolution, prophesy, world religions, where our souls go when we die and suffering/poverty.

Challenging, but hopefuly beneficial  as we share together on this journey, exploring these topics using Gods living word as our guide.  Any good resources anyone can reccommend would be much appreciated. 

Find it amazing how the bible raises such diverse questions and thoughts in our minds, and also has something for everybody throughout its pages. 

Opera, not the musical kind!!

Have recently switched to a new web browser, a change does you good as they say.  Now using Opera, some nice additional features, loads a fair bit quicker than IE and is hopefully more sucure and virus free.  Still finding my feet with all it's keyboard and mouse shortcuts, tabbed browsing and RSS integration are nice features.  Will see how it goes for a while anyway

Gone wireless broadband

Well we've finaly gone broadband, and wireless at that.  As cheap a package now for broadband than dial-up, so figured we might as well enjoy the surf where you want and talk option of Bt's wireless broadband.

Hopefully it will mean more regular postings on the old blog, can't really get less than recently as they have been rather scarce.  Anyway work in the morning so i'm off to bed having got connected after abit of hair pulling!!

Alot to ponder

Well i'm not long back from the PCI Youth Ministry Summer School, a 5 day retreat at loughry college where we collectively thought through the challenge and responsibility of fulfilling our biblical mandate to:

"....tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done."  Psalm 78 vs.4

We were lead in the main sesions by Chap Clarke, Duffy Robbins and Andy Hickford gave us much food for thought, coming away with plenty to ponder and contemplate as we think of how it impacts the ministries we are involved in.  We were also fed spiritually in devotions by Maggie Robbins, as she led us in some contemplative worship techniques, encouraging us to "Enjoy the silence" in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

I personally benefitted from the week, the fellowship shared, the networking opportunities to think through how we reach this generation with the gospel, and the space provided away from the busy-ness of life to spend time in the presence of our creator, God.  Still mulling over some of the issues raised, and how it imacts the ministry I believe God has called me into in my home church.  Alot of challenges lie ahead in trying to make what I now feel are some necessary changes become a reality, but I seek to follow God's guidance, and am assured of his presence and help in carrying out what I believe he is calling me to.

A couple of thoughts i'm reflecting on currently:

• "How are we reaching out and embracing a hurting generation that longs to belong?"
• "The process doesn't always look like progress: are we prepared to journey alongside our young people for the long haul?"
• "Its about loving our young people like Jesus would, seeing the pearl within, and encouraging them to find their worth and significance in Him"
• "Developing a genuine sense of community that values our young people and journeys with them in their faith"