Update 11.11.11

I think it will be a good idea to share with the big wide world what's going on with me :)
Last weekend I went to 3Generate, which is the annual Methodist church Children's and Youth Assembly. On the Saturday evening of this weekend I was very pleased, excited and humbled to be elected as the Youth President of the Methodist Church 2012/13. I will start in this role in September 2012 and will serve for 1 academic year.
I was having a cup of tea and some pumpkin pie with my mum earlier and she said how she could see the long journey winding towards where I am at the minute. Having grown up in Anglican churches I had very little connection to the Methodist church for most of my life. I met Ben while we were both at a pentecostal church in Blackpool, I moved back to Weymouth. A youthwork job vacancy arose in the Portland Methodist Circuit, which Ben went for and got. We got married, I moved to Portland, and became a part of Easton Methodist church on Sunday 25th June 2011. On Sept 1st 2011 I started working part time for the One Program, part of the Youth Participation Strategy of the Methodist Church. On October 6th I applied for the role of Youth President. And last Saturday was elected! So you can trace back the steps towards getting here.
 I don't know where I stand on the subject of predestination, free will and the extent to which God determines the events in our lives, but I can definitely testify that over the last 6 years of my life I have had a strong sense of God's purposes for my life and his presence with me while I have walked through each day. Very rarely does God tell me what to do when making specific decisions, but He has definitely told me HOW to live. He has shown me His heart, what He cares about. I believe that my life's work is to bring the Kingdom - wherever I am. I love this verse and it comes to my mind often:
Psalm 16.9
A man can plan his path,
But the Lord shows him which way to go
I am convinced that any of the 5 candidates who ran for Youth President could have done an excellent job. I don't think that God 'chose me' for the job, because he had called each of us to go for it. I believe he gave free will to each of the young people who voted, and placed the responsibility in their hands. He let them choose. He has given us free will - he lets us choose. God chose me to be his child, his follower. I choose to accept him as my saviour, and I will follow him all my life. And from September 2012 - August 2013, I will do it as the Youth President of the Methodist Church, and I will do my utmost to be worthy of the role I have been appointed to. I definitely feel a weight of responsibility on my shoulders as so many young people placed their trust in me by voting for me, and this is going to motivate me to do the best that I can for God, and for them.
I also know that God works all things together for the good of those who love him. Whatever choices we, or others make, God can and wants to work it together for good. My prayer at the minute is for the 4 other Youth President candidates, believing that God is with them and will work through them and for them in their lives in the coming years.
This has ended up rather reflective, and it wasn't meant to be! My intention was to simply update people on what I'm going to be doing in the future. But the above is what I've been thinking about, and out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks! (luke 6)
So, what will I be doing? Well, that's a very good questions to ask! I could email you the job description! But I think perhaps the most helpful thing to do is to direct you here: http://www.methodistyouthpres.blogspot.com/. This is a blog which has been written by the past 4 Youth Presidents, right up to the current Youth Pres Sam Taylor.
As far as I know the role depends quite a lot depending on the gifts and passions of the individual Youth President. I think will become clearer over the next 8 months what specifically I'll be doing, but some things I am hoping to get involved in are:
1. Inspiring children and young people to live out their faith and BE the light of the world
2. Empowering children and young people to do this by creating training opportunities and showing them ways to shine
3. Challenging any preconceptions (if there are any - I'm not assuming that there are) that children and young people need to wait til they're older to be full-on disciples of Jesus
4. Facilitating/developing a community of strength and support among Christian young people (through actual meetings and social networking)
5. Encouraging and challenging children and young people to take part in mission

Treasured

This is a blog I had to write as part of my Youth President interview day. Thought I’d share J

This week I was visiting my Grandparents. My Grandma is learning to use the computer so she can do things like shopping and checking her bank balance on line, in preparation for the upcoming winter.

　

She's learnt to do emails, and is so sweet as she types slowly with one finger.

　

Jerkily moving the mouse around the screen, looking for the 'little picture that looks like a printer', so she can show my Grandpa the email.

　

Words and phrases like 'cut copy paste' 'scroll' 'Word' and 'icon' mean nothing to her.

　

She writes every step of the process down, from pressing to on button to closing the laptop lid, with little pictures in a special notebook so she can remember what to do.

　

I stood behind her watching over her shoulder, itching to lean over and complete the task of printing the email in 3 seconds flat.

　

Yet so proud to see her tackling the huge

and mysterious world of technology.

So far out of her comfort zone.

Patience. Humility. Courage.

　

A 3 line email from my Grandma treasured above the longest most well formatted document from anyone else.

　

God stands behind you and watches over your shoulder

As you bite your tongue when hurt and think to yourself 'what would Jesus do?'

As you step up into a role that is more than you’ve ever managed before

As you act on that still small voice whispering in your ear

As you give more than you can easily afford

As you speak out against injustice

　

Every time you step out of your comfort zone

Your

Patience

Humility

Courage

Are treasured.

　

Exodus 19.4

If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations on the earth you will be my treasured possession.

　

God is overjoyed in our obedience when we try

Graceful in love when we fail

And filled with pride when we succeed.

　

　

What is God asking you to do that is outside of your comfort zone?

Einstein

Hi!

On the last day of our Beach Hut adventure I read Luke 13:13-34 which you can have a quick read of here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+24%3A13-34&version=NLT 

The 2 people walk with Jesus from Jerusalem to Emmaus, settle down for dinner, and when they finally realise who Jesus is, they jump up and walk all the way back to Jerusalem to tell their friends!

What struck me in this was their sense of excitement. They could have waiting until morning to go back to Jerusalem, seeing as they'd just got to Emmaus from Jerusalem! Had a nap, a cup of tea, then gone! But it's like the excitement and adrenelin within them was just bubbling up and they couldn't NOT go - I imagine them skipping, running and jumping all the way back those 7 miles!


When you discover something exciting, you want to tell people about it! When I buy a new item of clothing that I love (especially if it's a bargain!) I want to tell everyone I see about it! I find it so hard not to tell everyone all about my wedding dress! There's that famous (reputed) story of a scientist guy discovering something clever and scientific in the bath and being so excited that he lept out and ran down the street naked! My friend Sophie has recently discovered a new cafe that she loves, and she's telling everyone about it! Good news begs to be shared.


My friend Pete tells a story of an artist who was commissioned to paint a picture of God's salvation. He created an amazing painting of a man clinging to a rock in the sea in the middle of the storm. On the day the painting was to be unveiled, he suddenly said it was wrong and he had to change it. A while later when the painting was revealed, the man was still there, clinging to the rock, but reaching out with his other arm to the people in the water. We have our salvation. We have our foundation. We have our hope. He is good news. And it needs to be shared!

Clothes are good. Scientific discoveries are good. Nice cafes are good.
How much more good is the love of the living God than all of those things?!
Are you sharing the news?

A blank page

I've continued thinking about Judas, and prophecy. Prophecy in the bible is sometimes something that WILL happen, or sometimes a warning of what COULD happen if the people continue to act in the way they do. In the Old Testament when the Jewish people are slipping into the sinful cultures of the people around them who worshipped other Gods and did awful awful things like sacrificing children, God would send them a prophet to remind them that they were his people and warn them what he would do if they continued to ignore him and hurt themselves and others.

God's priority is our relationship with him.
(I sort of wrote about this before, related to bin bags and sledging, in a note which can be found here http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150115041339158)

God does some seriously extreme things in the Old Testament to bring the people of Israel back to him.

Does God still do things like that?

I write a LOT of notes during in sermons and session, because otherwise I get distracted and daydream. Very rarely do I read my pages and pages of notes but they help me concentrate at the time. Somehow though as I was flicking to find the right page recently, something caught my eye which really fitted in.

'The new sensitivity of Judasim'

Ever wondered why the God of the Old Testament seems different from the God of the New Testament?

Here's an idea:

See it?
Just above this.
Blank page.
Nothing.
Silence.

Between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament was about 400 years.

No record of God talking for years and years and years.

After countless attempts to get through to his people with dramatic displays of his power and love, He turns to quiet.

But they weren't quiet.
During this time the Jewish people were living ... breathing ... thinking ... changing.

The Jewish people of Jesus' day were different to the Jewish people of the past.
And we today are different too!

Perhaps God doesn't bring earthquakes, or genocide, or break our legs to get us to stop rushing around and listen to him. Maybe he seems to act differently in the Old Testament because that's what made people stop their bad things and turn back to him. It worked! This is what happened: they would be all good with God. They would be tempted away by sin. God would allow a neighbouring army to take over. They would turn back to God for help. God would free them. Repeat x a million. (slight exaggeration - but it was a lot of times. God was very patient). The people forgot about God SO quickly, and only remembered him when they got desperate. But during the time of the blank page, maybe people changed. Maybe they became more aware, more thoughtful.

God used storms and plagues to get people to listen to him. Jesus didn't act like that. He ate dinner with people. He healed their sicknesses. He talked with them in the temple. He demonstrated his love and power through fishing, and farming, and sheep; things the people would understand.

Jesus and God are the same person. HE didn't changed. WE changed.
And I believe he knows you and me personally.
God in his wisdom and love speaks to us in a way we will understand.

God loves you.
He longs for you to come close to him.
He comes to you where you are, and speaks.
Are you listening?

Judas

This week I spent 4 days in a beach hut at beautiful Mudeford bay. One of the things we did whilst there was spend the first hour of each day in personal devotional / study time.  In October I was involved in running a conference for young people and many of them said the most striking thing they had learnt was the importance of making time to spend with God. It can be easy to forget this conviction!! I have re-committed to spending more personal time with God - starting now!

So over the next few days I will be blogging my thoughts from my devotional time at the beach hut, and the other guys will be doing the same. We want to 1) be transparent 2) be good role models 3) encourage, challenge and learn together. Hope you enjoy!

Judas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S78_nVXzHds
http://www.footballfancast.com/2010/04/football-blogs/draft-judas-top-10-traitors
Owen Coyles is not a popular man in Burnley after leaving to join rivals Bolton. In the video clip, as he walks out at Turf Moor for a Burnley v Bolton match you can hear crowds chants of 'Judas'. The webpage is a list of the top 10 players who have left their teams, including Sol Campbell who is apparently 'the man simply known as ‘Judas’ among Spurs fans'.

Judas.
A name that has become synonymous with betrayal.

Matthew 26 - 27: 10 The plot to kill Jesus >  Judas hanging himself
Judas betrayed Jesus.
Jesus knew this was going to happen (v21-25)
Jesus choose Judas as his disciple knowing that would happen.
Knowing that he was giving Judas the opportunity to betray him.
A betrayal that would lead to his death.
And Judas' death.
Why?

Why did the elders and priests need Judas to show them which one Jesus was, when he 'sat with them every day in the temple' (26:55)?

Why didn't Jesus try to stop Judas from betraying him, knowing what that would eventually lead to not only for himself but for Judas too?

Did Jesus know what was going to happen before it happened? Did Judas have a choice? Matthew 26:24 says he would have been better unborn - but if he hadn't been born he wouldn't have betrayed Jesus and then would the prophesies have been fulfilled? Paradox!!!!
Is free will free will if God knows what we will do?

Continuing to think about these questions which arose in my mind. I'm challenged to question and investigate things more rather than accept what I hear or have picked up unconsciously. I was amazed when I closely read over the crucifixion and resurrection story how many questions came up! I have definitely found that questioning my faith and beliefs leads to a deepening of my faith and a greater closeness to God. Recognise your questions - let them grow - take them to the Father - listen - learn.

The thing that strikes me now as I finish is not any of those questions, but this one:
Judas is synonymous with betrayal. Thomas is synonymous with doubting.
What is your name synonymous with?

Sledging on binbags

There's trouble for all when there's trouble for one

Last year for my colleague Peter's birthday Jenny, Mary and I concocted a cunning plan: we told him we were going to do an assembly - planned and practised it - then actually went to London for the day! Took about an hour driving up the motorway for him to figure it out!

The moment when Peter realised the truth! -->

We spent the day hanging round London and then went to see Les Miserables in the evening. Such a good day!

I love Les Miserables. I love how it shows the redemptive power of God. My Dad advised me not to watch it - 'it's really depressing. Everyone dies!'. I just love it though - hope, dreams, love, passion, forgiveness, self sacrifice.

There's an interesting line in 'At The End Of Day'. The workers are ganging up on one of the characters, Fantine, to get her kicked out. She has a secret child, and they're saying that she is immoral.
They sing:

At the end of the day
She'll be nothing but trouble
And there's trouble for all
When there's trouble for one!

Joshua 'followed the Lord wholeheartedly', and yet he wandered the wilderness for 40 years because of the actions of the community he was part of.
The people on the boat with Jonah weren't trying to avoid God like he was, but they would still be in the boat if it went down.

Is trouble for one trouble for all?
Are the consequences of sin ever individual?
Who do my mistakes affect, and to what extent?

Is the opposite true too - there's blessings for all when there's blessings for one?

'Halakhah' is the word for the collection of Jewish laws. There are 613 mitzvot - biblical laws - and I've heard that it was physically impossible for any one person to fulfil all of these laws. It was only possible as a community.

Man was not made to be alone.

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God, remind me of the responsibility my life carries. I'm glad you are into community. Help me to be into it too.

Jesus is not saving us from God

Today I was thinking a bit about hell (cheery!) as the Rob Bell book drama came to my attention.

Rob Bell said that we've got this idea that Jesus is rescuing us from God.

Hebrews 7:25 He lives forever to plead with God on our behalf

Does God like us? Does he want us to be saved? I know it's a yes - but why do I know that? Is it one of those things I've heard so many times I think it's in the bible but actually it's not?!

1 Timothy 2:2-4 Pray for all people. This is good and pleases God our father, who wants all people to be saved and know the truth.
'wants' translates as Θέλω or 'thelo' in Greek, meaning:
1) to will, have in mind, intend
-> to be resolved or determined, to purpose
-> to desire, to wish
-> to love
-> to take delight in, have pleasure

Apparently it's a 'present active indicative' word.
"The indicative mood is a simple statement of fact. It is an action that has occurred or is occurring or will occur."

I found various occasions where it has been translated as 'wants' (e.g. Matthew 27:43, 1 Sam 8:19) and various occasions where it has been translated as 'will' (e.g. Romans 9:15, Matthew 9:13, Micah 7:19).

- Is what God wants the same as what will be?
- Sometimes things are different to the way God wants them
- I don't know if God fully controls earth (because he's given us free will) but does he fully control eternity?

I don't understand all this but I know God's heart ... His love for me ... His love for people.

The aim of my life is to get to know Him and his heart more and more.

If a job's worth doing

'If a job's worth doing it's worth doing well'

This is something that my parents instilled into us from an early age. Maybe it was just to ensure we did a good job of cleaning their car! But it is something that comes into my mind frequently. I often have bright ideas which I later regret, as they usually end up taking me hours and hours. One of these bright ideas was for us to hand make all of our wedding invitations.

Ben designed them - he's a genius. I don't want to give too much away, but there was an easy way of making them and a hard way. And doing it the hard way made them look a tiny weeny bit better. So of course we chose the hard way. The amount of times we have kicked ourselves for that decision!

They do look incredible :)

and yes, they took us hours ... and hours ... and hours.

Is it worth it?
Yes.
Because if I'm going to put my name to something
It's going to be flipping good!
and if a job's worth doing
it's worth doing well.

Now, back to the stamping. These are being posted in the morning - even if I have to stay up all night!

Sneaky peek

This is a sneaky peek at the beautiful bunting which my mum has made for the wedding. I think it's going to look completely lovely. I'm so pleased with it!

I have soooooo much to do, my head is buzzing and I'm finding it hard to get to sleep at night. Then in school at about 2pm I feel my eyelids drooping!

I need to:
- send my dress off to be cleaned
- finish wedding invitations
- find out addresses
- find bridesmaid dresses
- find flower girl dresses
- arrange bar

and about a million other things - but those are the main ones at the minute.

I LOVE planning and organising but it's getting to be a bit 24/7! Not loving that so much.

1.

I have a wonderful daddy, called Rob

All my life, he has said to me 'you can always have a cuddle with your daddy'

I used to use this to my great advantage, when it was time to go to bed.

When I hurted myself, Daddy's 'healing hand' would softly stroke my hurty place and make it feel better.

My daddy will always be my daddy.

But I am nearly all growed up now.

I am not a little girl.

I make my own decisions. I sort things out myself. If I mess up, or make a mistake, I need to fix it. If I need to go to the doctor, I phone them up myself (I hate this.) If I forget something, it's my problem. If I hurt myself, I swear (in my head. this isn't good, but I am being honest.) and stamp and Daddy's healing hand isn't there to make it better.

I am not a little girl.

I don't live at home any more. I can't always have a cuddle with my daddy. He doesn't fix all my hurts.

Soon I will be a wife and though I am happy, I am sad because I feel like I will be even more not a little girl.

I will love my daddy forever, he will always be my daddy, but although it is scary and sad, it is good and right that as I grow up, he is not my world any more.


I have another daddy.
He is called Father.
God.
Beginning.
End.
Creator.
Saviour.

I have been lying in bed, crying, I can't remember why I started but soon it was because some things are not going how I planned and hoped.

I am not a little girl. I fix my own problems

But.

My daddy in heaven is so big




that I will always be a little girl.