It was a great night on Friday out on the streets, lots of people around and lots of good natured fun and humour amongst the revellers and pub and club-goers and no trouble! There were only 3 of us but we all really enjoyed the evening. I had a lovely lie-in on Saturday morning - quite a rare occurence!

A busy week this week in readiness for our holiday next week, lots to do and achieve beforehand but we're looking forward to having some chill time in great surroundings and with great friends. Roll on Saturday!

       This is where I was a month ago! I'll be back in May and I can't wait.....

   Three things I need to work on at the minute!

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

Well, it's a glorious sunny morning here, bright sunshine, a beautiful clear sky and not a raindrop or snowflake in sight. I feel ready for a day's work and am in a cheerful and joyous mood. Isn't is amazing how much the weather influences us and our moods?

Well we had a good journey to Bristol on the train, went passed lots of water logged fields and lovely countryside but very different weather all the way down, snow, sun, hail, sleet - what a mixture. Fortunately the rain had stopped for the walk to the hotel so we just got very cold, as opposed to cold and wet!
After a superb bit of steak we went to the Colston Hall to see and hear Van Morrison. He was accompanied by a 9-piece orchestra and 2 backing singers this time. It was one of his better concerts, he actually looked as though he was enjoying himself this time - on other occasions he hasn't. He's got a new album coming out and so there were a couple of new ones as well as several of the oldies. A good evening out though.

Back to our church in the evening for another service which again was all about the Resurrection Power and Christ's victory at Calvary being our victory over sin.
We concluded the evening with our customary bank holiday game of Risk and a late night with Cheryl & Hamish but hey, none of us had to get up this morning - how lovely!

We had a great ramble in the Kent coutryside. The sun did shine on us, we had about 2 minutes of rain and lots of great views. On the way home though we had a freak hail and sleet storm, thankfully we were all in cars and not still out in it all.

So, what does good Friday mean to me? Yes, an extra day off work - great, we all like those! But, this year it seems to mean more than it has in previous years, it's always been a kind of sombre day as I remember the pain, humiliation and the mocking, the torment and the agony that Jesus Christ endured at Calvary. I am grateful more than ever I think this year, if Jesus hadn't died that cruel death I would have no hope, I'd be hopeless and helpless, my relationship with God wouldn't be, I would be unable to come into His presence. The fact that Christ did die means that I can come to God and have a relationship with Him, untainted, unspoilt, restored, complete and whole. So, I'm very thankful, very grateful and praise God for this being made whole and right, for this restoration to Himself, all through the obedience of His Son on the cross. It was for me He died.

The added bonus is that I get an extra 2 days off to spend with family and friends, to celebrate this restoration gift. I'll be off to Church to do just that very soon and then we should be going on a ramble and having a BarBQ - not sure yet if that'll happen, the sun may shine on us yet! Then there is always the matter of 4 nieces and nephews to visit with the Easter eggs and off out chatting to the folks in town tonight as I go Street Pastoring. A great day ahead.

The real true reason we celebrate Easter........

I quite often wish there were more hours in the day and also I wish we'd have longer weekends etc, like this coming long weekend. We all like looking forward to things in the future, our holidays, important dates etc etc, but the stark reality is .....

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is."  CS Lewis

Every first Tuesday of the month the ladies in my church have a ladies' evening, they vary from month to month - but last week we went bowling. Last night, the guys from my church went bowling - they go EVERY month as they don't like to diversify and try different things. They stick to what they know, they err on the side of caution, they are oh so competitive! They have a league table on the wall at the back of the church, they all have their own 'bowling names', they take pictures, it's all analysed and statistics are declared for all to see. The competion is full on and the emotions run high - they are oh so intense and the rivalry is insane. They usually play 2 or 3 games in an evening, in comparison, we ladies play one game in evening, we chat amongst ourselves, we drink tea and we still have a thoroughly enjoyable time. 

No, we don't have the barriers up but wouldn't this be just such a great bowling alley? I don't think the guys would approve somehow!!

On Saturday Cheryl and I went to a worship conference at Westminster Central Hall, London. We had a great day, there was three worship sessions throughout the day and several seminar type things. It was great to see over 2,000 christians all worshipping and praising God together, a mixture of ages, culture, race etc. The presence of God was really amazing, particularly during the evening worship time and overall we had a great day and learned a lot about the whole of our life being worship to God not just the singing of songs and praising His name.

What a thought to start the week!

Another reminder of my reading today from Matthew 26:57–68 summed up in this one poem.

Third way

Lord Jesus,
When I am attacked, misunderstood or misrepresented for following you,
Help me to remember that there is a third way.
Help me to pause before I choose either a defensive or offensive position,
To find your way.
You were given two ways to go, affirmation or denial, yet you found another.
You stood accused yet chose silence.
You stood condemned yet chose righteousness.
You stood alone, yet chose fellowship with God.

And I think, Lord, it was because you could see the bigger picture,
Your eyes, your heart, your being were focused on the kingdom of your Father.

And mine? My eyes, my heart, my being?
Focused on me, so often.
So that, when I am accused, I either attack ferociously, aiming to out-do my accuser,
Or I curl up in defence and display no fruits of the Spirit, only those of sinful nature.
Forgive me.
And help me remember there is a third way.
Amen.

Piers Lane

Yet another great quote I found from good old CS Lewis.....

"You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me."

My Bible reading this morning was from Matthew 26v47-56.

The poem below sums it all up. How would I have reacted? Not as Jesus did, I know that.  Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him over the next few hours, even days and He knew that He would be fulfilling the prophecies, He knew He was about to die, He didn't try and stop them, fight back or resist, he knew what needed to be done and He did it willingly to make a way back to God for the likes of me.

Learning from Jesus in conflict…

If you’re like me,
You would have said it with sarcasm, irony, dryness.
There would have been bitterness, acrimony, the taste of sour grapes;
A desperate attempt to spite him, to make him suffer.

I would have called him ‘Friend’, in a tone loaded with accusation,
Loudly, that others would hear, look and know.
‘Friend’ would be the word, but not the look, the fact, the truth.
I’d dishonour the term for his benefit.
Wouldn’t you?

But not Jesus.
Though condemned, he does not condemn;
Though threatened, he does not threaten
Though sold, he does not sell out.

‘Friend’ he says,
With open eyes and open heart,
With disappointment but with acceptance,
With sadness but with grace,
With mercy, with love,
With friendship.

Imagine that voice, speaking that word
To you;
To me;
To all who need to hear that they can be friends of Jesus.

Piers Lane

Easter does seem really rather early this year. Well, here's something I read earlier today.

If you're thinking that you can't remember Easter falling as early as it does this year, you're probably right! The earliest possible date for Easter is 22nd March but this hasn't happened since 1818 and the last time it fell on 23rd March (as it does this year) was in 1913. And if you're wondering if you'll be around to see this again, the next one isn't due until 23rd March 2160!

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. CS Lewis

Life has been crazy, barely any time to do anything other go to work and various different meetings. I tried at the beginning of the year to ensure things got easier and not more hectic - I obviously haven't succeeded yet! I was busy every evening last week, all day yesterday and pretty much most of the day today. I kind of prefer it that way sometimes, I do prefer to be active rather than bored and with nothing to do, not that that happens very often. But it does mean that things I think of and want to put down on here get left to last and sometimes don't even happen at all, so they end up staying in my head or even getting forgotten about. There have been lots of issues I've been reminded of from my reading or chatting to people etc recently that I need to remind myself of.

So, even though life is busy and quite often I feel overwelmed by the sheer demands on my time and sometimes quite inadequate to do some of these things, I know that I serve One who is faithful, strong and dependable. One that is almighty and best of all, that the same power that conquered the grave and rose Jesus from the dead lives in me, enables me, works in me and hopefully works through me.

John & I went to see Be Kind Rewind at the cinema on Friday night, again another weird storyline but quite a good fun clean film. Some great acting in there from Jack Black who is good in all films I think. Danny Glover is ageing rapidly!

Off up to Chelmsford Uni very soon to take Kelly for her interview there. Weather's lovely so it should be a nice drive.