e-holiness

prayer for china

well we had a wonderful weekend at the marriage of my eldest son, more of which i should imagine will follow over the next few posts, however today i wanted to encourage you to visit the 808 china blessing web site. i met a guy at the weekend who does a lot of christian sports outreach and he told me of this prayer site which is looking to engage christians from all round the world to pray for china during the time that the Olympics are on and with less than a week till they start we need to get involved today.

stand and pray..

today we need to join together to pray for the situation in zimbabwe, it seems that the two sides are due to come together and sign a framework for further talks, it seems like a small step but a step is a step so lets pray that God will intervene in this crisis.

daily meditations

tearfund have just launched a daily prayercast, these 10 minute meditations will encourage us to spend time with our heavenly father each day...i'm gonna give them a go...maybe you will join me?

the vision...

as you know i am currently reading punkmonk which i am very much enjoying, the essence of what it says holds firm to the ideas that God has placed on my heart for some years now....that of a rhythm of life, the monastic approach, and that of outreach and mission, the apostolic side of the Christian life, this is all very encouraging.

i spent sometime with my cousin, andy wilson, who is part of the boiler room in calgary, last friday, andy even gets a mention in the book, and was interested in his thoughts about the whole community aspect of our Christian walk and how we balance the secular and sacred side along with the inward and outward looking aspects, much of what we were talking about is also covered in the book.

about 4 years ago ross bonson lent me a cd with a track called 'the vision', pete grieg had put some words together with some fast paced music based around the story of the dry bones found in the book of joel, to hear pete grieg speak about his story click on this hour long 'talk' which can be found on the jesus culture web site, the talk finishes with that track. if however you don't have time for that please watch (and listen) to this remix of 'the vision'.

linked within 'the vision site' is a section around 'the order of the mustard seed', again well worth a visit as we think along the lines of our relationship to Christ, to community and to the wider world...i might post about this again at a later date but would love to hear your thoughts about this (if you indeed have any!)                

more thin places

this is my third post on thin places and follows the others posted here and here

i was bought the book 'punkmonk' for Christmas and have once again been enjoying the thoughts about thin places, i have visited many places that have bought me to a place 'close to God' and i would love to visit the likes of iona or holy island in northumberland, however with things moving a such a pace in our south african plans at the moment i doubt if i will have enough time to make any trips to anywhere to far away.

the talk of thin places always draws me to the topic of labyrinths, the ones i have visited have also bought me to a place where i can let go of everything and experience God close to me. the on-line labyrinth has just received a 'facelift' and it's well worth setting aside sometime to walk this virtual labyrinth.

with all these things in mind i searched the internet for labyrinths in south africa and was pleased to find that there seem to be plenty for me to visit when we get out there, there's even one in oudtshoorn (a town we visited for my 40th birthday in august) called le petit karoo ranch where you can stay and also enjoy the beauty of the klien karoo, i wish i had have know about this when we visited as i would have loved to have spent sometime there, however i am sure i will visit again, maybe a few of you will be able to join me as well!

with all the rush of Christmas past and the excitement of the new year ahead of us why not take sometime out with God at your thin place, this might be on-line but could also be a somewhere further afield, you can find a list of labyrinths in england or use the world wide locater to find one near you should you be from foreign lands....

praying for those with hiv/aids

last night i visited the vineyard centre (aylesbury) and spent around an hour praying round the stations that had been created for this weeks tearfund global week of prayer, the whole atmosphere in the building was wonderful and we were encouraged to think of situations in the world (trade, homelessness, etc) through various interactive means, if you are in aylesbury and have time today i would recommend a visit this evening.

sorry for the change to the running order but i had it in my mind that today's focus was on hiv/aids (in fact that was monday, should have read the blurb more closely..!), something as you all know that is close to my heart, in fact i have created a new strap-line post which will remain at the top of this site, tearfund are encouraging us to think of those millions children left as orphans.

here in england we have had so many emails and texts from friends who have been blessed with new babies this year, it seems to be a bumper year, anyone else noticed that?....today we have great expectations for our children, whether that's the expectation of their first smile, first word, first step, first christmas, first tooth (not sure what order they came in it seems so long ago since ours we that age) or for the toddlers, their first day at pre-school, first pet, first bike, for those a little older, their first day at school, first prize giving, first best friend, as they reach the teenage years they will perhaps have played their first musical instrument, or performed to a large crowd, on the football pitch or school production, things that make us so proud of them, they then grow older still and sit their first exam, have their first driving lesson or first boy or girl friend, even get their first job and first bank account and mortgage...all this with the help and support of loving parents, even within our dysfunctional society our children have so many chances of help from parents....

lets then think today about those millions, around 12 million in sub saharan africa, 1.5 million in south africa alone, who today don't have that support from loving parents, not because they have left home but beacuse they have died from aids, these children will have to look after their brothers and sisters, perhaps collect water from a well or stand pipe, cook, clean and get each child ready for school, if they are able to go....please visit tearfunds main web site to see their focus on these children,'bringing childhood back to life', this is at our hearts desire in what we are hoping to set up in south africa please take time today to pray and seek God to show you what a difference you can make to these poor and needy children.

global week of prayer

this week (12th - 18th nov) is the tearfund global week of prayer, this year each day will be focused on the following topics, climate change, disasters, hiv and aids, trade and water and sanitation, please visit their site for more info on this.

our friends pete and karen have organised the vale of aylesbury vineyard prayer stations which will be set up on tuesday and wednesday evenings this week, i am looking forward to visiting these during the week.

please take time this week to think about these subjects and pray that God will show you how to pray into what would seem to us mere humans as impossible situations.

christ to my right and to my left

i don't know how many of you visited the northumbria community web site to start the 'daily office' with me yesterday, but as i started the morning office i found one of my favourite prayers had been included in the canticle, this prayer has been taken and adapted from the prayer often called 'st patricks breastplate'. i first came across this in david adam's wonderful book, 'the cry of the deer', which are a series of meditations on the prayer, it's well worth a read, again and again.

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

office prayers

i am slowly getting back into the whirlwind of life in england, time seems to fly by as each day is cluttered with so many expectations that either other people place on us or we have place on ourselves. there seems so little time to spend just being.....i have lost the habit of just spending time with God, sitting at His feet and listening to His voice, whilst i still read His word and take time to raise up my prayers for others each day i need something to guide me into that quiet place.

this week i am seeking to spend time with Him, and i am looking to use the 'daily office' to do this, i have found this very helpful in the past and whilst many will see this as a set of words that are written by others and said by many, they do aid us in coming to a place where God can speak.....i am not sure that i have made myself very clear there but if you would like to join me in the morning, midday and evening prayers i will be aiming to do this at 8.00, 12.00 and 5.00 each day.    

prophetic women

tomorrow evening in ivinghoe town hall at 8.00pm there is an evening of prayer and worship with pamela stead from the international house of prayer (ihop) kansas city, pamela is on the leadership team with mike bickle and is a gifted teacher and a women who operates in the prophetic gifting, she also has a heart to see the UK transformed by the power of prayer.

thanks to sue (you know who you are) for providing the information on this event and we hope to see some of you there.