Website Wednesday – Reel Issues #ywresource

This is a brilliant resource for those who want to engage with the Bible and with contemporary films. The Bible society have done a great job putting together some really helpful material that gives great summaries of films, questions, discussion and leaders notes as well as film clips for some of the movies which you can download for your talk or sermon or small group.

Its a great resource for youth groups and a real blessing as its does most of the hard work for you. All you have to do is get the film and the popcorn – sit back enjoy the movie and then discuss and learn from it with your young people.

Website Wednesday – Breathe #ywresource

I came across Breathe via a friend who recommended one of their other blogs Conspiracy of Freedom back in 2010. The later site hasn’t been updated since then but it still contains some really good videos and discussions starts.

But what is it I hear you say – well this is what they say about themselves

“Breathe is…

A Christian network for simpler living. We connect people who want to live a less consumerist, more generous, more sustainable life. Subscribe for free monthly updates at in@breathenetwork.org (unsubscribe at out@breathenetwork.org).

We aim to be non-judgemental, realistic and simple to be part of. We want to APPRECIATE life more fully; REFUSE the consumer dream; CONNECT with others; and CHOOSE a more generous lifestyle.

Breathe represents orthodox Christians of all kinds. It is run by five friends: Mark Powley, Holly Sabin, Jeremy Williams, Betsy Blatchley and Phil Whittall.”

This is one of their videos

A blog/website that is definitely worth an explore when looking into ways to combat commercialism and helping the church and young people live a simpler life.

Website Wednesday – Zamzar #ywresource

This is a great little website that allows you to convert various files, and download videos from the web.

I use the download feature when I find a clip on you tube that I really want to use in a powerpoint/keynote presentation. You simply put in the link and they then email you once the file has been converted from a you tube clip to whatever format you require. It usually doesn’t take more than a few minutes, but youth workers remember it pays to prepare in advance. Don’t think in our instant world that you can grab a video in seconds for the talk you are about to deliver in a few more seconds!

There are some various options other than the free one that have large file sizes and faster download times but they start from $7 a month.

This is probably one of the website I use a lot to grab clips and things from the web.

Website Wednesday – Proost #ywresource

This was probably one of the first resource websites that I came across when I got involved in ministry and its been around for about 10 years now.  Since its rather humble beginnings it has grown to contain a wealth of creative worship experience material.  They have a range of products and tools that can be used in all sorts of creative worship settings.  Their tag line is “Inspiring Resources that Fuel Faith”

Their heart is that we all might be able to worship in spirit and in truth and by creating content that you can purchase usually fairly cheaply – for example the Immaculate Mary is a Christmas video for £1.99 that is a spoken word piece from the poet Harry Baker with accompanying animation from Jon Birch.

The site is run by  Jonny Baker, Jon Birch and Aad Vermeyden (click here for a bit more info)

But they now have a number of “Unusual Suspects” that are new unpublished talented people who help produce a range of resources in various forms of media.

They have a very reasonable annual subscription deal that is for £60 that gives you access to all the Proost downloadable content.

This is certainly a website that I recommend.

Website Wednesday #ywresource

I was looking over my bookmarks the other day and I was stuck by how many great websites there are out there for those of us engaged in youth or children’s ministry in some form or another.  And with so many out there its easy to miss some real gems.

 

So over the coming weeks and months I am going to attempt to highlight a website every week that I use or have use or intend to use to help me in my ministry to children and young people.  Some of these sites will be specifically designed for youth or children’s ministry, some will simply be sites that come in handy every now and then.

 

I will not be doing a critical review of these websites as such and I am not endorsing any specifically and haven’t been asked to endorse any by those who made them.  I am just sharing with those of you who read my blog somethings that may be useful to you.  I am also open to suggestions of websites that you have found useful and helpful in some way.

 

50-52 websites in a year should be manageable!!!  Well we will see.  I’ve already got about 10 in mind and will be working on those over the next couple of weeks and I hope they will be as much use to you as they have been and are to me.

Surprising Moments in Ministry

My First Bible

The other day I had one of those special moments in ministry when something totally out of the blue happened that turned out to be really special. It was the kind of moment that sneaks up on you when you are least expecting it. Our Anchor Boys club had just begun and lots of boys were coming in to run around and play football and for a while its just organised chaos! With little control over their shots the footballs go all over the place and only the bravest of leaders supervise this part of the evening.

While this was going on, one young boy came up to me to show me something he had brought into Anchor boys especially. Now bear in mind that I am “supervising chaos” at this point at first my mind and attention is elsewhere. But then I realised what it is that the boy has brought – its his very first Bible. One that his parents gave him and that he enjoys reading with his mum and dad and looking at the pictures.

The joy on his face as he showed me the various stories he had looked at so far and how excited he was to share it with someone else was amazing! If only us adults approached God’s word with such awe and wonder as he did!

In the chaos of “football” – if that is an appropriate term to describe the game in progress I saw in that boy a child-like faith that was so new and fresh it was incredible. It was one of those moments – ones that you never forget.

And so, if you are a parent, grandparent, godparent, aunt or uncle – can I encourage you to think about getting a Bible for your child…(insert appropriate title here). They are never too young to learn about God and they have such a wonderful view of things its sure to be an eye-opener to you – especially if you spend time reading it with them.

I’ve found a few here on Amazon which you may like to have a look at if you don’t know where to begin!

110 days and counting!

Today it is 110 days until the 2012 Virgin London Marathon! Which is just a little bit scary as I’ve struggled to get any consistency with my training this time round. But it all starts today. I have a plan, I have a target time somewhere between 4 hours 30mins and 4 hours 45mins, I have motivation because I am running for Children with Cancer. But that in itself brings a challenge as I have to raise as much as I can for them. So far I’ve been given £50 but I’d love to get to £500 by the end of January. If any of you felt able to contribute anything towards such an amazing charity then I would be so grateful.

One thing I am lacking is a reward – something to strive towards to keep me going when I don’t feel like it. Suggestions welcome.

I also thought it might not be a bad idea to try and be a bit more accountable somehow so that I can get consistent with the running and I figured that if I post up here what I plan to do each week and then report back at the end those of you reading my blog or interested in helping me out can keep me accountable to the 110 day plan I’ve made.

This is what I am aiming to do this week:

Monday, 2 January 30 min 5km ER
Tuesday, 3 January REST
Wednesday, 4 January 40 min 6-8km ER
Thursday, 5 January REST
Friday, 6 January 40 min 6-8km SR
Saturday, 7 January 60 min 10-12km LONG RUN
Sunday, 8 January REST

I may switch a few things round and do the Long run on Friday rather than Saturday, but other than that I think its a pretty easy start point to my training. The times are a bit of a guess really, whats important is the distance part of the plan at this stage.

On Sunday or Monday I will report back on how I’ve done and also let you know what the plan is for week 2 of the training. I will also keep you posted about how the fundraising is going. Currently – like the running its stalled a bit at £50 but hopefully it will kick start just like the running is!

Following the Star: Matthew 2v1-15

Here is the text of my talk this morning and this is the podcast

 

Who do you Follow:
Some of you may know about Twitter – is a social media device that allows people to connect and follow one another and share thoughts, and ideas in 140 characters or less. I currently follow about 338 people

Other people follow a football team or maybe another sports personality or team. Perhaps you will invest a lot of time to follow that team or person. Keeping track of how they are doing, when they have won or lost, if they are injured or simply having some time off. Maybe you will literally follow them by going to all their matches or games.

Or maybe you follow with interest somebody who has lots of interesting things to say – or maybe not so interesting. Keeping abreast of the news and what’s going on in their lives too. We all like to follow somebody.

The wise men in our story were following something – something they knew was of great significance and were very keen to find out more. They travelled a very long way and were even prepared to go against the government of the day in order to remain true to what they believed in, following the star they knew was important.

As we turn into a new year probably for many of you thoughts will be turning to reflecting on the past and looking ahead to the future – I’d like to encourage you to reflect on who or what you have been following in the year just finished. What people and stuff has held your attention.

Maybe this year – 2012 – your could try a little more to be like the wise men of the story and put all other things on hold while you follow the star that is Jesus.

STAR ACTIVITY – make a star out of pipe cleaners to remind you that Jesus is the star we follow in 2012
The Hardest Gift of All:

I wonder if there is anyone here who found it difficult finding the right gift for someone. For me it was one of my brother in laws – Alistair. I hadn’t seen him for 18 months and just found it really hard to know what he might like. I didn’t know what he already had, what he was into or what he might need. I am sure you can relate and probably have someone that you find it hard to know what to give. The less we know Jesus the harder it is for us to bring the right gift to him.

The better we get to know him, the easier it becomes to bring our gifts to him.

In our reading the wise men all brought gifts because they could and they knew that actually Jesus was a king and that is what he deserved. The shepherds on the other hand had nothing, but they came even though they had nothing to kneel before Jesus.
And what these people did is exactly what we should all be considering this new year as we follow Jesus.

The right response when following Jesus is to bring a gift

You see following Jesus is about denying self and taking up our own crosses daily. Following someone like Jesus isn’t simply a matter of a few clicks on the internet, or reading the headlines or going along to a few matches once in a while.

Following Jesus demands that we give our all to him.

Giving isn’t often talked about in church – we know we should do it, and for many of us here today we do it in some form or another.

As we begin this new year I want to really challenge us, myself included on two things.
Firstly who am I following and if its not Jesus then – sort it out. If we call ourselves Christians then HE is the one that we need to follow and he is the one that needs to be the center of our world.

Secondly how does my following Jesus look like a gift to him?

In other words what gift do I bring to Jesus today and every day over the next 366 days (yep its a leap year this year!).

Giving more is not necessarily what I am saying although it might be and I want to challenge you to have a good hard look at what you give and consider exactly what gift you should be bringing to Jesus this year.

Maybe its money – like the gold;

Maybe its heartfelt prayers like the frankincense of a priest;

Maybe is the giving of yourself like the myrrh was a hint to Jesus giving of his life.

Maybe its simply your voice is praise and acclamation like the shepherds.

So this year, how will you follow the star that is Jesus and what gift will you bring to Him.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,100 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 52 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Christmas Labyrinth – An explanation

I thought it might be a good idea to try and write down and explain what I have been involved in recently as part of our preparations for Christmas.

A few years back, after we’d had a set of prayer stations set up we came up with an idea to try and do some creative storytelling of Christmas and Easter in the form of a labyrinth. The concept was not new in fact Christian Labyrinths have been used for a very long time as a way of going on a spiritual journey, exploring various aspects of our faith.

What we wanted to do was to use this idea to communicate in a fresh way stories that to many people had become familiar or even dull. So each Christmas and Easter we come up with a new theme of focus for the story and try to do some creative storytelling through an interactive walk through experience that takes over the whole church.

This year the theme is “Count Me In” – linked partly to the census we all did earlier in the year. We then look at different ways that people where either counted in or out of the story of Christmas. This year we begin with the wise men star counting and deciding to be counted into this amazing story that God was beginning and they embark on an epic mission. Our story then jumps to Nazareth and we look at how Mary and Joseph’s encounters with an angel provide them with a chance to be respond to God. How would you have responded if you we Mary or Joseph? We then go with them on a journey to Bethlehem because of the big count. Next we meet the shepherds who were probably counting sheep and their massive angelic invitation to the greatest birth in history. Then we pass through a bustling boulevard in Bethlehem that is all full because of the big count and reflect on how many inn keepers counted themselves out of the story before one made room round the back. Our next stop is the nativity which is at the front of the church in our semi new extension that is glass-fronted and is on display 24/7. It’s been great watching people stop and take notice of it. Next stop is the wise men’s tent to reflect on the gifts and how we are all counted special. Our final stop is in front of our Christmas tree which has just one gift under it, Jesus. Here we are asked if we want to be counted in to God’s story and can respond by adding to the paper chains that are hanging here.

I’ll post some photo’s later and also so of the questions and material from the experience. I am also working on some narrative stories that might run along side it.