Baptism

Our Church here in Milton Keynes continues to grow. This week we had a great baptism service where two ladies shared how their lives had been changed through an encounter with Jesus.

It took me back to my own baptism when I was only 13. Nowadays we construct a small pool in our church which we use. Growing up a stones throw from the North Sea we held our baptism services on the sea shore. They were great occations when many of the villagers turned up to watch the spectacle even though they never usually attended church. My memory maybe playing tricks but I think there was around 1000 people on that Sunday when I along with a few of my friends declared to everyone around that Jesus was number one in our lives.

I also remember that the sewerage pipe which dispensed all of the villages waste into the North Was quite close to the site of our service. With the tide in and the waves rolling in you were never quite sure what might float past. Enough said.

Opportunities Galore

With Chrismas a mere memory and having returned to work after the the New Year in Scotland my thoughts are turning towards the year ahead.

I am excited about all the opportunities that lie ahead and the fact that I have a free hand to write the script. I am sure challanges and difficulties will be there but I am also confident that I am able to meet them when they come with God's help.

With desire and comitment I want to follow Jesus in 06. My desire for this year is summed up in the heart cry of the Apostle Paul writing to Phillipian believers. He had worked hard to connect to god by doing what he though God wanted him to do without sucess. Then he was confronted with an encounter with Jesus that changed his whole value system. On looking at his vervent religious activity to gain God's approval he counted it as dog dung.

We realised that he was being called into a radical relationship of love with Jesus which was not about rules and regulations but a love affair. He said that the object of his life now was to get to know Jesus in an intimate way. To be transformed on an ongoing basis so that his desires and passions would become the same as God's.

I have a number of specific goals I want to achive this year wich include personal, family and church but to radically follow Jesus and His example is my highest goal.

Look Where You are Going!

I am sitting in my Dads house on New Years Eve looking forward to 2006. Remembering what has happened over the last year the good and the bad, and dreaming of what lies ahead in 2006.

2005 has been good. My job is my life. I have a great life. Sometimes I just can't believe I get to do what I do. I have a great family, great friends and have a part in leading a great church.

This year has seen people start following Jesus for the first time and become part of our church in Milton Keynes. We have seen people grow and develop on their walk with God, get involved as ministers in the local church and get involved in missions work in the UK and abroad.

I went down to the sea shore today to see a boat that had run aground on the rocks close to my home village. They were heading for the port of Fraserburgh but misjudged it and ended up lodging on a reef only yards from a large beacon highlighting the very fact that danger was there. It seems impossible that with the warning staring them in the face that they ended up high and well not dry. My only conclusion is that they could not have been looking where they were going.

I go into 2006 remembering what has happened but looking forward to what is to come. Realising that not everything will be plain sailing and there will be dangers but keeping alert as I go forward there are brand new adventures and opportunities out there.

Living Beyond Ordinary

After spending Christmas celebrating with my wife's family yesterday we traveled up to Inverallochy in my homeland Scotland. We are here to bring in the New Year 06. 10 hours in a car with my beloved family is not my idea of heaven but hey we got here in one piece so it was not that bad.

utilized the time to catch up on a series of podcasts from Mosaic church in Los Angeles called extraordinary Living. Based on the Apostle Pauls letter in the Bible to the Christians in a place called Phillipi it encourages us to not to settle for good but to go for the best.

He covered subjects like Extraordinary Insight, Extraordinary Strength, Extraordinary Love, Extraordinary Contentment and Extraordinary Service.

I am reminded yet again that Jesus came so that I could have an extraordinary life. He has placed all His confidence in us for the future of the human race. Sometimes I feel this confidence is misplaced as I know others and my own weaknesses only too well. Despite this Jesus always seems to see greatness in us and keeps calling it out. Maybe its time questioning His belief and becoming a true follower of Christ in this extraordinary life.