It was three years ago since the first prayer room came to the village.
Having just spent a wonderful two hours in the company of Samuel and God, it makes me woner why we waited so long. Now, I know that we are all busy and it takes a fair bit of faith for the organisers to actually say, lets commit a small village to pray, none-stop, for 40 days and nights, but when you are there, in the room, surrounded by the love of other people and in the presence of God, why would you be anywhere else. Why do we let ourselves become so busy that we get destracted by life and forget about love?
There is more on the Kibworth and Fleckney Praise blog site at http://tinyurl.com/kfpraise
Vision Day - Ludger's Talk
The start of the Vision Weekend at St Wilfrid's Church, Kibworth, has started really well.
It was great to see so many people in the church hall, and we all enjoyed a Fish and Chip supper provided by the (award winning) KIbworth Fish Bar.
Ludger gave a short talk. You can listen to it. CLICK HERE
Blessings
Jonathan
It was great to see so many people in the church hall, and we all enjoyed a Fish and Chip supper provided by the (award winning) KIbworth Fish Bar.
Ludger gave a short talk. You can listen to it. CLICK HERE
Blessings
Jonathan
Lent is here
Today is Shrove Tuesday - pancake day and a day that marks the start of Lent.
It is traditional for people to give something up for Lent, but so far I have not come up with anything, but I have signed up for inspiration from a couple of sources.
Tearfund are encouraging people to cut back on carbon for Lent. They have called it their Carbon fast. You can find out more at http://www.tearfund.org/carbonfast,
on Twitter http://twitter.com/badgerspotting.
and Facebook. You can sign up for e-mails which will give you an action to do each day which will help reduce the amount of carbon you are using.
The Church of England is also running the Love Life Live Lent campaign again. It is similar to Tearfund's although broader it the actions. Find out more here www.livelent.net at Twitter http://twitter.com/c_of_e and Facebook http://apps.facebook.com/love-life-live-lent.
There is also the 24-7 Prayer Room on the High Street. The last time it was run, the response - both humanbeing and spiritual, was phenominal. It is an amazing undertaking, 40 days on none-stop prayer and the village is blessed for it. Those taking part talked about the blessing they received, so if you are popping by why not pop in.
Over the next fw days I will be finding out just what Twitter does - let me know if you already know!
All the best
Jonathan
It is traditional for people to give something up for Lent, but so far I have not come up with anything, but I have signed up for inspiration from a couple of sources.
Tearfund are encouraging people to cut back on carbon for Lent. They have called it their Carbon fast. You can find out more at http://www.tearfund.org/carbonfast,
on Twitter http://twitter.com/badgerspotting.
and Facebook. You can sign up for e-mails which will give you an action to do each day which will help reduce the amount of carbon you are using.
The Church of England is also running the Love Life Live Lent campaign again. It is similar to Tearfund's although broader it the actions. Find out more here www.livelent.net at Twitter http://twitter.com/c_of_e and Facebook http://apps.facebook.com/love-life-live-lent.
There is also the 24-7 Prayer Room on the High Street. The last time it was run, the response - both humanbeing and spiritual, was phenominal. It is an amazing undertaking, 40 days on none-stop prayer and the village is blessed for it. Those taking part talked about the blessing they received, so if you are popping by why not pop in.
Over the next fw days I will be finding out just what Twitter does - let me know if you already know!
All the best
Jonathan
The Shack - update one
On Sunday, I spoke about how popular The Shack was. Little did I realise just how popular it actually has become.
Amazon are now restricting orders to two per person. And this does not relate to individual orders, but Amazon will actaully count up previous orders as well.
This is what Amazon are saying,
We are limiting orders to at the maximum of TWO per customer to ensure that as many of our customers as possible can enjoy the item "The Shack ".
Remember, copies will be available at Church, and there are numerous share copies going around the village. Let me know if you want to borrow a copy.
Jonathan
The Shack, by Wm Paul Young
I first read The Shack in October 2008 and wrote a review of it for our church magazine. A couple of people have asked for copies of the review, so I thought I would post it here for convenience.
The Shack, by Wm Paul Young
When a book, which was turned down by all publishers and ends up being self published, sells over a million copies and enters numerous best selling book charts, it has done something well. When the same book gets praise from across the globe, and is described variously as “The most heart warming, inspirational story I have read in decades”, “Riveting” and “a beautiful story of how God comes to find us in the midst of our sorrows, trapped by disappointments, betrayed by our own presumptions,” then we can really believe it is something special.
And The Shack certainly is. J. John, preacher, teacher and writer, reckons 'if you only read only book this next year...' If you are only going to read one book, you want it to be entertaining, informative, moving, and one that you would be unable to put down. The Shack certainly fits the bill.
Following the moving story of Mack, including the abduction of his youngest daughter and the great sadness that descends upon him, he then receives a strange note, apparently from God. The notes invites Mack back to 'the shack' where his nightmare began.
Without giving too much away, Mack goes back to the shack and gets answers about his pain. The book deals sensitively with issues such as 'where is God' and, portrays, the Trinity in a unique and interesting way – perhaps not entirely consistent with the Bible but certainly a way that enables you to start to understand how the Trinity may work.
An exciting and gripping story – just right for a holiday read and relevant for both Christians and non-Christians alike. But remember, it is only a story. Some people (including some I have a lot of respect for) have got very worked up about it, questioning some of the theological assumptions made, and its Biblical relevance, but it is just a story based very much on the author's personal life and his own faith journey. It will make you cry, laugh and think more about God
If you are not yet convinced, you can preview the book at www.theshackbook.com, but be prepared to dash out and find a copy as you won't be content with just the first chapter.
Note: If you are reading this is Facebook, and you want to forward it on to a friend who is not in my list, it is easiest to refer them back to the original blog at http://jmsurridge.blogspot.com/
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