god

allow me a Sunday moment …
The run up to Christmas is called Advent. Most people are too busy shopping to bother about the true Christian significance of Christmas.
What if you knew your life would end in a few days time ? Are you prepared ? What do you believe ? We need to think about this stuff, it’s not the kind of thing we can just wing at the last minute !
Christianity, like Christmas, is all about life and freedom. It explains the problem of mankind, but also provides a solution. Don’t miss it because you’re too busy shopping !
here’s a little sign i did for you. an advent advert if you like:

… is more than just being kind to spiders. don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

today a group of us from our church and greyfriars (our old church) went to a music conference organised by the mwf in Sutton Coldfield.
it’s a couple of hours drive to get there, so we set off early and saw an excellent frosty sunrise. there was an excellent red haze in the air (as well as lots of Red Kites)

The conference was really good. lots of ideas, including introducing grunge and reggae in to our little church. i think we are on the way to doing that anyway, so at least we have an excuse now !
Christian conferences always have a bookstore. this was no exception. this might be my best book photo cover ever (modelled by Tony, the Greyfriars webmaster):

click for big version to fully appreciate it.
As for surreal things (which happen quite often in Christian circles), at one point in the proceedings they put a photo of a giant funnel on the screen for us all to admire and be inspired by. I wanted to shout “FUNNEL” at the top of my voice but decided that wouldn’t have suited the reflective mood.
I’m embrassed to say my mobile rang loudly during the final talk and i caused general disruption as a result. Other surreal thing was lots of flag waving which is very popular in modern churches. personally i think it’s dangerous and it won’t be long before somone has someone’s eye out and the whole thing gets banned. Here is a multicoloured flag waver:

how does God communicate with a world which is too busy to listen ? does he even bother ?
well, i think he communicates in lots of different ways. how often have we heard people say “if God is exists, i wish he’d give me a sign”. i’ve taken lots of photos of signs – some with dogs in , some without
However, this morning, after posting the pictures of wigs here and here I did wonder if i was overdoing the artificial hair angle somewhat. So it was with delight that i saw this piece of paper blowing down Wigmore Street:

So, the word on the street is more wigs

here is a sign post for life. changed priorities ahead.
it implies some kind of spiritual renewal. or simply a senior management change.
i guess if someone found God for the first time then in a way that would be a senior management change in their life. but that sounds corny, so i won’t say it. sermon over.

now here is a part of church life which is definately more to do with religion than faith (religion being more about ‘tradition’ and man made rules, rather than faith which is the real bit).
church crockery is traditionally very pale blue, with spindly cups on spindly saucers. it’s been this way since the 1970s.
however, the church we go to has mugs which is much better. (though i have noticed a trend since the mid 90s for forward looking churches to standardise on the use glass mugs).
but i digress. this evening we had a church meeting which included a meal and look how they arranged the cups on the table ! they were presented in groups of 4 cups and saucers. the best bit is the presentation of spoons in the middle.
potentially the protruding spoon handles could have caused sight injury if a member of the congregation suddenly lent forward to adopt the prayer position over the table.
luckily we had all finished our drinks prior to the prayer time. see how God sometimes chooses to protect his flock.

i went to a lecture by dr patrick dixon this morning. the lecture was part of a series arranged by the Reading Church’s Men’s Breakfasts and he’d been asked to speak on personal spirituality in the context of a changing world.
dr dixon regularly lectures around the world on the impact of unceasing change in the modern world. this lecture was different in that he’d been specifically asked to provide an insight in to how he himself responds to these changes and makes sense of the world.
he was most excellent and i highly recommend you see him if you ever get the chance. see the global change website for more info

i walked past a Christian bookshop this afternoon and saw this Teeny Weeny Bible (it was about a centimetre square). I’m one of those people who believe that the Bible is true ie it contains God’s word (I would call myself a Christian).
i find the concept of a Tiny Bible quite interesting however and it’s good to see Christians are keeping up with the current trend for miniaturisation. i want my mini-communion too please.

it was the last event in the tent today, marking the final final end to the Holiday Bible Club. It was a fantastic cloud free morning and the band played well. i’ve nearly perfected the art of jumping up and down whilst playing bass.

i have developed a new chic. it’s basically a floppy hat and hippy jacket. worked for a week in the rain. i’ll probably abandon the look now.

after a week of top notch kids entertainment, the church holiday club is over. we had a BBQ this evening and I got to play in the band in the great outside. It rained, but only after we had finished.

highligh of the week for me was when a leader explained that prayer was like a mobile phone in that we can talk to God at any time and he’s always ready to listen. “Of course God hasn’t really got a mobile telephone”
“good job” said a 5 year old, “cuz I don’t know his number”
“you should ask my mum” said another young child “she keeps all her important numbers in a book”
kids are great. and God is a great big God. (so the song goes).

drummers are funny people. but everyone knows that. here is the holiday club drummer.
bass players and drummers have to be telepathetic … he’s got a telly and i’m pathetic. [joke to be removed by quality control at a later date].

well, here I am 24 hours later and this morning the sunrise isn’t red. normal sky in the morning, shepherds yawning. you can tell a lot about the weather by looking at it. that’s how the weather pixie works.

proof of appearance. note the cotton wool in ear. i am completely deaf in that ear at the moment, so i have been playing my bass guitar in mono.

i’m near the middle with my hat on – sitting on my bass amp so i can feel the notes as i can’t really hear them.