Oxted Green Field Development?

I haven’t had time to check my facts, so I’m only expressing a gut reaction, but I had a slip of paper arrive through my door last night advising me, and other local residents of some worrying news about possible building developments by Village Developments plc on green field sites in our beautiful little semi-rural home town of Oxted.

Knowing the sites in question, they are exactly the kinds of spaces that people who choose to live in the town value….precisely because they are green, and offer us some space! The notion that they would be built upon is quite upsetting to say the least.

I’ll be watching out on this site for any further news.

Check it out if you have a local interest.

...on that cross as Jesus died

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

HT to Matt Stone at Journeys In Between for the African Jesus image

Brian McLaren: UK Visit June 08

Hat tip to Jason Clarke, who has altered me to the visit of Brian McLaren to the UK in June at the RUN conference .

Jason will also be speaking at some of the seminars.

Gotta check my diary, but it's definitely very interesting.

Peace & blessings

J

3rd in a row

This Sunday was the 3rd Sunday in a row I’ve not attended my home Church at The Salvation Army in Croydon…which at this time of year is something of a record.

On each of the last 3 Sundays I’ve been in a different place:

Sunday # 1:

This was a planned weekend off. Although we had initially planned to travel somewhere away from home for that Sunday, we ended up staying at the house and chillin’. The beauty of it all, was that our next door neighbor(u)rs came ‘round on the off chance, so we were able (unusually for a Sunday morning) invite them in for a coffee and a chat around the kitchen table for about an hour….and it was just bliss. We were so glad to not be rushing around, and have the time available just to be with our good friends.

Sunday # 2:

See this post

Sunday # 3:
Noah had been unwell, so I stayed behind to look after him, while Janet went to Church with Mia.

Hooking myself up with a coupla cups of strong coffee, I managed to catch an episode of Faithworks’ Intelligent Church DVD and a NOOMA vid, in preparation for our Home Group, which I bounced over to after Jan returned home, and we swapped baby-sitting duties. As ever, the Home Group was a really relaxed, encouraging time, when we could eat, pray, study Scripture, and consider how we can apply it to our day-to-day lives.

Increasing, I’m becoming aware of the value of really observing the Shabbat or Sabbath.

It’s quite a time since I posted here, on the subject, but the quote from Southern California Church, Rockharbor’s site bears repeating:

Sabbath is a weekly day of rest in which we cease from our weekly tasks and pressures in order to rest and be refilled. In fact, the term Sabbath comes from the Hebrew term shabbat, which means “to cease or rest.” Exodus 20:11 states “in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” God felt so strongly about the need for a weekly day of rest that He called all of Israel to observe a Sabbath rest once a week.

On the Sabbath, we’re called not only to cease from working, but also to empty ourselves of our need to accomplish, produce, and worry about our lives for one day so that we can be refreshed and refilled. It’s a day for us to stop working towards becoming and simply focus on being. One great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let God take care of us – not by becoming passive and lazy, but by giving up our feeble attempts to control our own lives and simply resting in His provision.

The Passion

This Easter, the BBC are screening an interpretation of The Passion.

The Beeb's recent track record on this kind of thing has been pretty good of late, so I'll be watching with interest.

The Forgotten Ways

Those lovely folks at Amazon were kind enough to send me a copy of Alan Hirsch’s The Forgotten Ways + reactivating the missional church, so I’m looking forward to getting on and reading it. Alan’s buddy and writing partner Michael Frost’s work has featured heavily on johnnylaird lately, as Michael’s book EXILES has had a profound – and even unsettling - effect on the way I look at being/doing Church. It’s always a good sign when a book is so good you want to share it with someone else, so I’ve passed my copy of EXILES over to my buddy in Sheffield.

If The Forgotten Ways hits the spot like EXILES, it will be a good read.

I’d also ordered Alan & Michael’s collaborative effort - The Shaping of Things to Come - at the same time as The Forgotten Ways, so that should be pitching up shortly.

For more on Alan Hirch and The Forgotten Ways check out the new(ish) blog

Sheffield

At the weekend, Jan the kids and I shared a great weekend with some good friends in Sheffield. It was fantastic just to hang out in their beautiful home with their wonderful family and just ….chill. Thanks for your hospitality, guys!

On top of that, we were able to bounce around some thoughts about mission, Kingdom, community and what is means to be Church.

Also, it was interesting to hear about St Thomas Church Sheffield, and the way things are done there.

Check our their site to get a perspective, and the vid’s worth a watch to see how they are connecting with the student population in the city.

J