Euro 2008 - Day 1

Euro 2008 kicked off today without England involved. In fact not one country from the British Isles has made it to Switzerland and Austria. However this does mean that I can relax and enjoy the football that is on offer.

I do have the priviledge of having a wonderful wife who does not mind me watching some football and so I was able to watch most of the Czech Republic v Switzerland - all I can say is I hope the games get better - not the worst game but certainly not the most scintilating!!! I missed the Portugal match due to a great night out to celebrate my mate Tom Riches birthday. They won 2-0 but I guess that was to be expected as they were playing a lesser side in Turkey.

I look forward to the highlights and to the coming couple of weeks as theis European championship evolves and takes shape without and underachieving England side to worry about (I'm as patriotic as the next bloke, but it is quite nice not to have to care!!!)

He is worthy of all praise

What a good day today has been. I woke up this morning with the words of Kat Starling's song going round in my head:

"We have come to seek your face
We have come to give you praise
Jesus name above all other names
Be exalted Be Exalted

We choose to fix our eyes on you
No matter what we're going through
Lord we long to give our best to you
Be exalted, be exalted

For you are the King of Glory the Creator of all things
All the earth declares your splendour Lord
And all creation sings

You are worthy, glorious, exalted one
You are worthy we will lift you high
God Almighty no-one else compares with you
You are worthy Lord be glorified"

We then sang the song at the start of our leadership training school this morning. What a wonderful way to start the day focussed on the author and perfector of our faith - knowing that He is the one that is worthy of and deserves all praise. Also what a difference it makes when you start the morning with worship!

A Week On

It's a week on now since IN:Whitley was in full swing when we were meeting many new people, laying paths and clearing rubbish and overgrown vegetation. It's difficult to know what the fruit has been in terms of peoples lives, but I do know that the council and the groundworks team were delighted and astounded at the amount of work that was done by the team that served diligently over two days in the Cowsey. One of the RBC workers was particularly impressed stating that it was better than the path that had existed before.

For me I think there were many successes:

1. We meet people we would never have meet had we not done this - obvious I know but in the business of life this was a real highlight

2. Many people we met knew something about Reading Family Church - people actually know we exist!

3. It got so many of us out of our comfort zones - it is so easy to settle into what you are comfortable with

4. We had one person off the back of a leaflet - not a massive response but all that work for one is definitely worth it

5. 5 people responded to the gospel on Sunday morning - hoorah!

6. I was told off by the children in my street for not being there on Saturday morning whilst they got their faces painted - how cool is that, they were telling me off for not being with my church!

There was so much more but these are just a few of my highlights. It would be great to hear of some of the other great stories that I am sure are out there - maybe you prayed for someone to be healed or maybe you were on the doors for the first time. I for one get excited and am greatly encouraged when I hear about conversations or meetings that people have had.

The West Reading Badminton Tournament

I have now been playing badminton weekly for nearly two years with the same group of guys. The four of us meet on a Wednesday at 4:30pm at Rivermead to play as competitively as we know how. I am somewhat of an outsider in the group (although I do not feel like it) as I am from South Reading and the others are from West Reading.

At the beginning of this year we decided that we would actually play for a medal each week. The person who has the most wins over the year will get to keep the 2008 West Reading Badminton Champ medal!!! This has been going on for 9 weeks now. Unfortunately I have had to miss a few of these evenings but the results stand as follows:

Neville Hollands - 1 (See picture)
Kim Wheller - 0
Richard Thomas - 4
Scott Taylor - 4

As you can see I am currently drawing with Richard but would like to point out that I have only made 6 of the 9 games!

In the words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - the game is afoot

8 Days to go to IN:Whitley

In a weeks time we, as a church, will be getting out into our local community of Whitley. We have many signed up for the three days doing things such as clearing vegetation, laying paths, painting fences, clearing rubbish, meeting youth, going door to door and face painting.

There is such a buzz about the days that I cannot help but be excited and expectant as to what God might do. I have just come back from Loughborough where I preached on Sunday. It was magnificent to see the Glory of God fall on 102 people in a school in the centre of that town. 5 people responded to the good news of Jesus and there were several healings.

However God is not just in Loughborough. He is here in Reading and is with us. As Phil Moore comes and preaches on June 1st, I am certain that the Holy Spirit will be with us in power. Not because we can whip up any of this stuff, but because as Paul said in Ephesians 3:20-21:

'Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.'

IN:Whitley is about the Glory of God and advancing his kingdom and he chooses to use vessels like us - what a privilege!!!

The Cowsey

Whitley is beautiful - not words you would often hear about the South of Reading, but words that are true none-the-less. With a couple of others I have just walked through part of the wooded area known as the Cowsey.

This is the area that we will spend two days working on as a church and I can honestly say that it is beautiful. There's wild-life including badgers and red kites, there's great wooded areas and clearings for picnics.

To be part of improving this area will be a really exciting. Another great reason to look forward to IN:Whitley.

View From The Top

Once again it has been a while since last I wrote, lots has happened not least the demise of a West Ham season that has shown promise but has not really delivered, although they are doing better than this time last season! I have preached twice, seen various healings, had a great week at New Word Alive sitting under the teaching of Terry Virgo, John Piper and Don Carson. I have had this week off to spend with my beautiful wife.

It was on wednesday of this week that we went to Paris for the day. A long trip but wonderful. The weather was glorious, the food was good and the company was excellent. We left early and returned late. We probably did in excess of 15 miles as we walked around the sites of this magnificent city. Standing and queueing under the Eiffel Tower for an hour was definitely worth the views from the top (well the second platform seeing as they had shut the top because of sheer volume of people).

The view is across the whole of Paris and as it was a sunny day you could see the sun reflecting off the lavish, almost white buildings, however there were clouds and there were times where whole areas of the city were found under that cloud cover and there was a dark shadow.

I couldn't help but remember what we are told in 1 John that there is no darkness in our God and in Revelation, that the light will not come from the sun or electric lighting, but from God himself. There will be no dark shadows resting over the city of our God it will be incredible!!! This is all so brilliant because Jesus has promised that for those of us who have accepted his invitation to follow him, for those of us that have been born again, for those of us that have said I will live my life in a way that brings honour and glory to him, we have a place in heaven set aside for us and that is assured!!!

What wonderful truth, what a glorious hope.