Where's your aim?

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.
Aim at earth and you get neither.

C.S.Lewis quote.

Tis Christmas time!

Don't worry; the news reported that all landed safely, Santa just had a closer shave then normal!

So, its that wonderful time of the year. I love Christmas.

However, as I sit and write my Christmas blog entry I can't help thinking about friends and family afar.
Its not the easiest of Christmas' this year.
I want to remember my uncle Peter, cousins Gary and Michelle. Sadly for the family, we have recently lost my Auntie Maureen. To my uncle and family, please know that we feel deeply for you as you remember your wife and mother at this time.
Next to this I remember my Dad and his lovely wife Pat who I've grown very attached too over the years. Pat, sadly has been told that she has a cancerous tumor. This caner has been diagnosed as terminal; needless to say, such news has really knocked us all.
All this has come about so very quickly; Louise and I feel so desperately for both Pat and my dad. We want you guys to know that we love you and are lifting you both up in prayer.

Christmas can be so hard when we think about those we know and love who are suffering. Being away from large parts of my family is hard enough but to face up to such news just makes everything so much harder.

I can say that I'm not only feeling sadness at this time. I'm feeling very thankful to God for this past year that He has blessed me with.
Its a year that has seemed to have flown by but one that has been filled with great times.
I was able to fly back to the UK for a month earlier in the year where I saw loads of my family and friends; Louise and I had such a great time. It was just amazing to be able to enjoy fun times with those I love and care for so much.
But that's not all, my mum, now in her retirement, boarded a plane and spent seven weeks here in South Africa. When she rocked up in Port Elizabeth airport I was just so happy.
It was great to have her here and to be able to show her our beautiful home.
We managed to do so many fun things with her but the highlight remains a day that mum and I had all to ourselves, a day when we both road elephants; yes we both had a ride of a lifetime on the back of one of the most amazing animals God has created.

It was hard to have to say goodbye to my mum but my pain was soon replaced with a pain of a different kind. I was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack!!
Thankfully it was only a nasty stomach ulcer, but it was a massive scare to say the least.
I want to say that my new family here looked after me so well and I'm so thankful to God that I haven't only been blessed with a loving wife but also with a loving mother, father and gran-in-law (YOU GUYS ROCK).

Not all distractions are nice eh? Mum will be coming out to South Africa again, I hope for a less hard time when she has to leave!

What else can I share, well their is the exciting news about being called by my church. They have called me to be a student pastor.
This has opened the door up for be to be able to apply to the Baptist Union of South Africa to join their ministers list.
I had hoped to have had an interview by now but was told that I first had to do a module on Baptist Principles and History. I have done this and in doing so had to write the first exam I've written in some twenty five years! I passed though, YAY!!
Now, in the new year, I hope to be able to get on with having the interviews and finally get on the list.
You know, God knows what He is doing and both Louise and I continue to wait for His will to be done. In the mean time, we continue to learn, I continue to work through my studies and hope that one day soon, we will have even more opportunities to serve Him.




Christmas is often a time when people rush around trying to get that final gift. Its not quite like that here in Jeffrey's Bay. Life here tends to be a bit more chilled-out, Christmas is a little less driven by retail sales figures.
While I think about retail; we've seen some massive changes in our quite little seaside town.
We have our own shopping mall (yes, I too like shopping and spending, though these days we tend to do more window shopping!).
It is great for our town; the shopping mall is just on the fringe of Jeffrey's which means the town of Jeffrey's has still been able to keep hold of that small town feeling.
Louise and I are really enjoying the mall (we even have a McDonalds!); one of the things we enjoyed in the UK was being able to walk around places like Sutton together and having a nice cup of coffee somewhere. Such trips out have been missed by us both, but no more.

Ok, I'm conscience that this one entry is getting a little big. I've shared some of my highlights from the year, I think I will close now.

I want to close by saying a massive Merry Christmas to all who read my blog, to my friends and family both near and far; I love you all.

I can't finish without mentioning the most important part of Christmas for me; JESUS.

I recently preached a sermon at our evening service on celebrations. In my message I spoke about three different types of celebration:

1. The celebration in heaven that occurred when Jesus was born into our world.
2. The celebration of Communion.
3. The celebration that takes place in heaven when a sinner repents and turns to God.

We all love to celebrate don't we, particularly at Christmas time?

I love to celebrate and I love every part of the Christmas celebration.
But what I love most about Christmas is Jesus.

Lets celebrate this Christmas wherever we may be.

Lets celebrate Jesus coming into our world.
Lets celebrate the wonderful gift of life Jesus' death has made possible for us.
Lets celebrate the new life each and every person who enters into a relationship with God through Jesus has.

Lets celebrate and lift our praise and Joy to God who makes Christmas possible.

Happy Christmas to you all.

Celebrations

Here is a teaser as to the content of my coming sermon for this Sunday.

World "AIDS" Day

Today is world AIDS day.

Life in South Africa has been lived somewhat under the shadow of HIV/AIDS for over a decade now. Conservative statistics put us as having 5.5 million people infected with the virus, which is about 16% of the amount of people infected world-wide. As a result of the pandemic we sit with an ever rising number of orphans, currently at about 1.4 million.
Please join the many praying today concerning the following issues:

• The rate at which the virus is spreading: Pray that God will intervene here.
• The availability of medication: Less than a quarter of those infected in South Africa have adequate access to the right medication.
• Child-headed homes: As more and more parents succumb to the virus, more and more children are having to take over headship of households looking after even younger children
• Abstinence as a solution: Pray that people we see abstinence amongst the un-married as real solution and not something to be scoffed at.
• Faithfulness as a solution: Pray that married couples would be faithful to one another throughout their marriage.
• Discrimination: Pray against the terrible discrimination that some face after being diagnosed with the virus.
• The orphan crisis: Pray that God would raise up emergency parents, foster parents and even parents willing to adopt.
• Pray for our churches: Pray that the redemption they have received in Christ will flow out into acts of love and kindness towards those infected.

He finally did it!!

God's Glory

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
Quote of the day from C.S. Lewis

Fuel prices come down

I watched the news today and was pleased to hear that the fuel price is going down next week by around about one Rand.
Great I thought.
Such reductions have been something of a monthly occurrence for the past few months or so.
It really does help those of us who watched in some fear the fuel prices growing to an all time high earlier this year.

With such good news at the fuel pumps shouldn't we see this reflected in the supermarkets? After all, the food prices went up and up as the fuel became more expensive.
Sadly, to my disappointment their has been no such reduction in our day to day needs from the supermarkets, bread, milk and so on.

So, living in a country that has so many people living below the poverty line, what does a reduction in fuel costs mean to them?

Here in South Africa, we are surrounded by people who are living in shacks and earning very low salaries. A large majority of such people can't afford to run cars, so fuel costs coming down have very little impact.

So, what do you think, will pressure be put on the retail market by the powers that be to bring prices down?

Manufacturing costs have gone down for the retail market; so at present, with the continued high costs for products, someones making a nice profit!

Somewhere between the real and the not!

Do we live in a dream world?

Are we always thinking about how we would like things to be rather then living in the now?

Its easy to miss out on what is before us if we're always worrying about what isn't.

Its good to have dreams but we aren't meant to live their.

(Sorry, I'm speaking to myself)

The words we speak!

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Psalm 141:3

How easy it is to tear a person down with our words?
I'm not really one for mincing my words particularly when I feel I'm in the right or that I've been wronged, but God doesn't always want me to speak out, to engage at every wronged moment.
Sometimes we are to stand up and shout, but invariably we're called to humbly wait on God.

Its not easy to decipher Gods desire in those heated moments though is it?
I guess that's why the Psalmist prayed a prayer as seen in this verse.
Maybe like me, he couldn't hold his tongue!
But God can.

The Bible Speaks Today

Why go for a modern translation?

Child-like-faith

Three Lions on the shirt!

Well done to the mighty England who went over to Germany and once again beat them.

Sadly I didn't get to see the game, it wasn't on the TV over here but I was delighted to wake up to the great news of our 1-2 win.

John Terry slotted in a late goal to win the game for us.

Keep it up ENGLAND!

Last nights sermon

So, I have good news and bad!
The good news first - I'm told that my sermon went really well last night, which I'm well pleased about. I felt the Lord placed this message on my heart and I'm excited about what may come as a result of it.
The bad news is that my church is having technical problems at the moment and my sermon couldn't be recorded. You know its only happened because I had made reference to the fact that I'm hoping to upload the audio from my sermon!!
Actually, its just one of those things. The best I can do is publish my sermon notes on Google Docs. If you want to read them you can click on the Link below:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddp84qn2_3g3rbrsg9&hl=en_GB

The published version looks big, but its spaced out as I would speak it.

I do hope to be able to upload my future sermons so that you can listen to the audio but well......be patient eh!!

Saturday morning bliss

Wow, what a change from the weeks rain.
I've woken to a beautiful day in the bay, the windows are open, the sun is shining and all is well with my world.
Saturday mornings should always be like this.
I did bombard Louise this morning with my sermon structure and content; its a hard life being a preachers wife!
I've taken from her desperate expression that its time to stop preaching and I've put on some great music.
Trevor sent me a music CD comprising of all kinds of great stuff. One piece of music I've really taken too is from a band called 'Balmorhea', they are a two piece violin and piano teaming and their music is just amazing. I've managed to get a copy of one of their albums called 'Rivers Arms'; man this is great stuff to chill out too.
So the storm has calmed, that being the rain and the preaching - long live chill out tunes!

(If you like modern classical sounds, you will love Balmorhea - Rivers Arms)

Rain, rain go away...

So, most of the days this week I've woken up and wondered whether I'm back in the UK. Instead of the delightful sound of the sea I've had the sound of driving rain on my bedroom window. Weather like this makes me think of good old English summers!!
Joking aside, the country has been soaked to its core over this past week with some very un-seasonal rain. Sat in my nice comfortable, waterproof home all is well but there are a lot of people living in tin shacks that have a complete nightmare when prolonged rains like this come. Please pray for those living in the local communities around Jeffrey's.
The forecast is for dryer weather over the weekend which will be a welcome sight for many.

This Sunday sees me back preaching in my church which is really cool. I've had a bit of a break while I've been preparing for my past exam.
For some time now I've felt God leading me to preach a sermon on how He speaks to us today. So on that bases I've put together my sermon. The passage I'm preaching from is Hebrews 1:1-3:

1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.
2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.
3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honour at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.
(NLT)

I can't say that my sermon is very exegetical more topical but the passage does start with how God speaks and I'm going on from their.
I'm hoping that it will be recorded, if it is I'll try and post a copy on YouTube or something like that and leave a link on my blog.
So watch this space, I'm hoping to be able to post all my future sermons this way so friends and family can keep up with my preaching.

Wherever you are and whatever your doing, have a great weekend

God bless ya

Dog tired!

2008 Global Leaders Summit

Here are some thoughts I was asked to put together after attending the 2008 Global Leaders Summit:

I want to start with saying that this year’s summit was great. I have been blessed with having been to both this year’s summit and last years. I found that this summit had a much more spiritual sense about it. We are leaders in God’s Church and though we can learn from the business world we must remember that our nature and function are very different to that of the business world.

Where do I start with what I felt God blessed me with from the various speakers?
In Bill Hybels first session he spoke about the need for church leaders to have to make decisions. Decisions will often affect others in either good or bad ways. In the business world one can say that we are basing those decisions on the good of the company, leaders can be firm and hard if needed under such reasoning. In the church decisions need to be made, sometimes hard decisions, but often we fear their consequences.
Bill gave us a four point plan that if applied, should help us as we seek to make wise decisions:

FRAMEWORK FOR DECISION MAKING
1. Does the bible speak about it?
2. What would smart advisers say to me concerning this decision I have to make (seek the wisdom of worthy advisers)?
3. What have I learnt from the pain of past decisions (the good ones and bad)? Try journalizing not just spiritual matters but our practicing of decision making for later reference within our future ministry.
4. What is the Holy Spirit saying to me concerning this matter?

I would actually put the point about the Spirit second but this structure, I believe could really help us as leaders.

Gary Haugen, in his session blew me away.
One point that sticks out to me is the point he made concerning the things we strive for.
“Just because I'm passionate about something's doesn't mean that God wants it for me and for those I lead”.
This links well with Bill’s points on wise decision making and made me really sit up and think. I have a number of things running around in my head about church and even my private life that will affect others, are they things that God wants or am I striving towards my will?

A theme for the conference in my eyes was “Is this doing church”?
Am I doing church by striving for the things that really only matter to me? Isn’t “doing church” actually about getting down to the things that matter to God?

I’m going to close now by giving short feedback on other sessions, hoping that if I keep it short I won’t get marked down for going over my allotted three points!!

Efrem Smith and, “Leading in new cultural realities”; what a timely word?
We are living in a multicultural world where people living with us are not only from other countries but are often people that in fact come from the same country but are very different culturally. With such a truth in mind, shouldn’t we be doing church in a way that reaches everyone regardless of colour, greed or culture?

Craig Groeschel and, “IT: How leaders can get IT and keep IT”.
“IT”, being the life and presence of the Spirit in all we do as “Church”.
We can have “IT”, we can lose “IT”, but we can get “IT” back again.
What a mind bender this paragraph is? However, what needs to be understood is the need for the Spirit to saturate every aspect of church. If we don’t have such a blessing, we need to be taking every step to get “IT”!

Bill Hybels last session on “Relentless” and his study on the life of Mother Teresa. What a way to close the conference? What an amazing lady Mother Teresa was?
I’m sure at times we’ve all felt like giving up, Mother Teresa’s life shows us someone who never did, and reminds us that we must never give up on fulfilling the will and calling God has for us.

Last words: check out John Burke’s session (on the DVD).
Messy Church! Should we make people wait until they have their life looking all together before we welcome them in to church? If they were in such a “utopia state” wouldn’t they be out of place in our churches with all of us less then perfect people?

Windswept

I love Jeffrey's Bay but I don't love the incredible winds that we get.
As I write this post I'm sat at home with the windows battened down yet still the blinds are being blow by the incredible wind outside.
One thing you never see in photo's of the bay is the wind, its an invisible force.

Jesus actually likens the Holy Spirit to the wind in the Gospel. We can hear the wind but we don't where it comes from (someone who understands weather would likely give a science lesson and explain it all but, well......)
Wind is a great picture of the Spirit though isn't it? Some days its gentle, like a slight breeze.
The Spirit is often gentle like a slight breeze in our lives, His always their gently leading us through life and reminding us of his presence.
Then there are the days like today when the wind is incredible in its strength. The wind can actually blow man made structures apart (thankfully, I'm not seeing that in the bay today).
The Spirit also has that ability; man's best efforts to order his or her life can be blown away in an instant by the Spirit if that is God's will.
What about wind as a source of compulsion? The wind blows sailing boats, kites and can even produce energy that powers so much in our lives.
The Spirit of God is also a source of power in the believers life; if harnessed we can be lead by Him into a deeper relationship with God and into becoming more like Jesus, mature in all matters of life and faith.

The Holy Spirit is just one ingredient within the grace of God; a grace that He pours out upon all who will seek Him and respond to His invitation to have an exciting relationship with Him.
The Holy Spirit is cool man, why wouldn't you want Him in your life?

I still struggle with the wind, but thinking about it as I have here does make me feel somewhat better about it.

8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.
(John 3:8, NLT)

13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.
14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
(Ephesians 1:13-14, NLT)

Just wondering!

From this

To This

Well, this is going to blow your minds.
Louise and I have taken the very bold (or mad) step of looking into buying a new home.
Yes we love our present home, yes we have been happy here and know that we will remain happy here if we stay, BUT.......

When your wife discovers that a home that she loves is on the market, one has to consider all possibilities.
We've put in an offer on the new place and its been accepted.
The new house is in Aston Bay (around the corner from Jeffrey's), has three bedrooms, two garages (one converted into a study with front glass sliding doors) and two bathrooms. Its an older house that reminds Louise of the house her Grandad built for his wife a long time ago.
Lets just say, Louise gets emotional just thinking about it!
Is this God's will for us? If it isn't then may we not sell our home (bit of a fleece maybe, I hope not).

Guy's I'm sharing this with you now because we want your prayers. If this is within God's will for our lives, please pray that all will go through smoothly.
We aren't going to breakdown any doors to make it happen, but who knows.....

From My Garden

From Daily in Your Presence; A Devotional

CONTINUITY

Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth,
and it endures.
(Psalm 119:90)

FROM THE FATHER'S HEART
My child, nothing ever changes about My character. I am the same, day after day. But you are like a chameleon, changing "colors" and attitudes as often as the weather. I understand, My child. I know you are as dust. But let My continuity be an example of faithfulness to you. Daily, come, sit and talk with Me. The more we get together, the more stable your life will become. My ultimate goal is to make you like Me so others will see My reflection in your life.

Man, I need to take this onboard.

New photo's

I've posted some new photo's; if your interested click on link below:
http://mlk30.blogspot.com/

Could this be a picture of life?

Five jets of water not really getting anywhere!

Don't we in life try to juggle to many things? Maybe if their was simply one jet the water would get somewhere!

How can I drop all those things baying for my time I hear you say; You can't, but you can concentrate fully on one thing at a time and get somewhere.

All the way my Savior leads me

All the way my Savior leads me

Who have I to ask beside

How could I doubt His tender mercy

Who through life has been my guide

All the way my Savior leads me

Cheers each winding path I tread

Gives me grace for every trial

Feeds me with the living Bread

You lead me and keep me from falling

You carry me close to Your heart

And surely Your goodness and mercy will follow me

All the way my Savior leads me

O, the fullness of His love

O, the sureness of His promise

In the triumph of His blood

And when my spirit clothed immortal

Wings its flight to realms of day

This my song through endless ages

Jesus led me all the way

Jesus led me all the way

All the way my Savior leads me

All the way my Savior leads me

(Chris Tomlin - All The Way My Saviour Leads Me)

Yummy!

The wife really can make cheese cake!

What me?

I'm to lazy to hold a grudge!!

Let all that I am praise the Lord

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
18 of those who are faithful to his covenant,
of those who obey his commandments!
19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;
from there he rules over everything.
20 Praise the Lord, you angels,
you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
everything in all his kingdom.
Let all that I am praise the Lord.
(Psalm 103:1-22, NLT)

Readers

Last night my mother started her course to become a "reader" (a bit like a vicar), in the Church of England. I'm so proud of her, I know shes going to do great.
What an amazing God we have, look what He is doing in the Knight family.
My brother is on his third and final year of study to become a reader, my mum is now starting the same course and I'm studying theology with a view of becoming a pastor.
What a turn around for us all, and some question whether God is real!
Are they blind?
Lord, give sight to the blind I pray.

Song of Victory

Psalm 18

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
(Psalm 18: 1-3, NIV)

I'm preaching from this Sunday.

England, you Beauties!

Come on England!

Wow, what a win last night; Croatia 1-4 England.
Theo Walcott hit a stunning hat-trick as England thrashed Croatia in a World Cup qualifying tie in Zagreb.
Check out the report below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7602774.stm
Croatia haven't lost a competitive game at home since 1994 so the commentators reported.
THEY HAVE NOW!!

Love is....

1 I may speak in different languages, of people or even angels. But if I do not have love, I am only a noisy bell or a crashing cymbal.
2 I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge, and I may have faith so great I can move mountains. But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing.
3 I may give away everything I have, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing if I do not have love.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud.
5 Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done.
6 Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth.
7 Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.
8 Love never ends.
(1 Co 13:1-8, NCV)

My devotional for the past leaders meeting can be found at the link below:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddp84qn2_2hbnz598q&hl=en_GB

Leaders Meeting

Monday night we have our next leaders meeting at Church. I'm leading the devotional and have been trying to think of a challenging message to really get us going as leaders, but is that what's needed? Isn't a devotional meant to lead us to a place where we are in complete devotion to our Lord? Wouldn't being in such a place set the meeting of on the right footing?
It's when we are in such a state of humble devotion that the challenge to love Him, and fulfill all He is calling us to as leaders comes.

The Message

Some time back, as a small group we completed a course of studies called "In the dust of the Rabbi". Towards the end of these studies we were encouraged to get back into the regular reading of God's Word as disciples of Jesus.
I've tried to take this on board and have been regularly using Eugene H. Peterson's "Message".
I know this bible translation isn't new, a number of people have been using it and praising it for a longtime.
Well anyway, I've been using it and really enjoying it's contemporary language .
Some will say that it's simply a paraphrase of the bible and not great for a deeper study of God's Word, that's fine; I would still choose the NIV for study purposes, but for everyday reading I'm loving the Message.
You can actually access an online version by clicking on the link below:
http://www.studylight.org/desk/?l=en&query=Matthew+10&section=0&translation=msg&oq=mt%252010&new=1&nb=mt&nfc=%A0%7C%3C%A0&ng=10&ncc=10.

Give it a try and decide for yourself.

Check it out!

Every one's getting into this blog stuff!
My mum, now back in the UK has started her own blog. Check it out at:

http://sueknight.blogspot.com/

Isn't she doing well?

Go for it mum.

The Shack

I've just finished reading the controversial book, "The Shack" written by William P. Young.
It's a story that is very hard to read in the begin chapters, where we are introduced to "The Great Sadness" of the main character Mackenzie but read further and the story just explodes. I know that a number of people who read my blog will at some stage read "The Shack"; I can't say too much without spoiling it for them, so I will concentrate on sharing my thoughts on the book if I may. There has been a lot of mixed responses to this book, mainly in America but over here in SA as well, some good, some bad. All I can say on that score is that we need to remember that this is a work of fiction it’s not meant to be taken literally. There was for me, one particular moment that raised my uncomfortable antenna, it was where we were first introduced to the Trinity. However, I decided to put to one side my deeply held understanding of the Trinity and to read on. I'm glade I did as the picture becomes much clearer and my concerns lessen. What I take away from this book is a deeper appreciation of God's love for all whom He has created. This awareness comes through a fictional story that promotes much thinking; could we not liken such an approach to parables? I wonder.
I've heard some of the negative stuff that has been said about this book and know that for many these thoughts come out of a deep love for God and I respect you for such, I however have decided that this book has encouraged me to love God all the more, not the picture of the Trinity seen in the book, but the one who makes Himself known to me through His living Word, through creation, through many people and all kinds of situations encountered in life. My hope is that others will also be led deeper into their relationship with God, or better still, brought to a place where they may seek the one true God for the very first time in life.
I will try to keep my closing thoughts brief. Before reading this book I had never heard of the author William P. Young; from his notes at the back of the book I believe that he has written this book while living out his own relationship with God. He may be unknown to many; my question is, "If he was one of the familiar Christian greats of our time, would we be so troubled by this book"? If you are tempted to read this book, remember that it is fiction and persevere, I think you, like me will be rewarded if you do so.

....And Then!

Life begins at forty I've recently written! Well to the horror of those close, me included, I've recently endured a spell in hospital. Week ending the 16th August 2008 goes down as one I don't care to repeat. I said goodbye to my mum on the Monday, who had been out here in SA for some seven weeks; I had a day to wallow in my loneliness then bang, and I mean BANG! On the Tuesday night I woke with a growing pain in my chest and upper stomach, a pain that just wouldn't go away no matter how many pain killers I swallowed. By the morning I conceded that I needed to see a doctor and ended up in town at the surgery. An ESG showed worrying signs and I was sent of to hospital in Humansdorp. There treatment began and a heart attack was thankfully ruled out. I was admitted into hospital where I continued to be treated for an infected ulcer. Friday saw me being shipped by ambulance to a rather rundown hospital in Port Elizabeth; I was sent there for the test where they stick the scope down your throat, however I never got such a test. I did undergo various nasty X-rays with a tube up my nostril and down my throat. As a result, the doctors were able to rule out a hernia (again, thankfully). I was sent off to another department where the treatment for an affected stomach ulcer was again started, and in time Louise and I were eventually sent home (YAY).

Back home, I've continued with my pills and I'm pleased to say that I'm a lot better. It's all been a bit dramatic, particularly when I went into hospital with a suspected heart attack, but it's also been something of a wake up call for me. Stomach ulcers come for a reason; I know that I need to assess my whole lifestyle and make changes. So, life does indeed begin at forty, a new life (all be it, a blander one!).

I just want to make a note here of my thanks to Louise, my family here, friends everywhere, family in the UK and all the hospital staff who have been a great help and support to me.

Dreams fulfilled

Towards the end of mum's stay here in SA we took a week to just do things together, hit the beach, visit St Francis that sort of thing. The highlight of the week was a visit to the Elephant Sanctuary at Plettenberg Bay. We set of on a beautiful warm day and enjoyed the ride down. Once at the sanctuary we soon got to see the elephants, wow what amazing animals. We paid our fees and waited for our guide full of excitement. The guide met us and the others who made up our party and did a great job explaining all sorts of things to do with the elephants. Once we were introduced to the three elephants that would make up our experience everything began. We got to walk with them while they, with their trunks held our hands. This was followed with a show of some typical elephant behaviour and a chance to take photos while getting to look closer at these amazing creatures. We fed them some nutritious pellets and some butternut and got to hangout with them.

Then came the finale, mum and I got to ride an elephant each! Man, what an experience, up on the back of such a huge animal. The ride wasn't the most comfortable form of transport I've been on, the spine of an elephant is quite raised and when the elephant trotted a bit it was hang on for dear life! But man, both of us were just blown away by our experience. We disembarked with the biggest grins on our faces ever seen. What a fantastic day?

Thanks mum for making this one of the most amazing days of my life.

A new arrival in our Church family!

Early this morning I had the fantastic news that my friend and pastor Don, his wife Caryn and daughter Kylie welcomed baby Joel into the world. I'm so pleased for them all and really look forward to their return to Jeffrey's and a chance to meet Joel.

Well done Caryn, God bless you all.

Life Begins at 40!

And so the saying goes..."life begins at 40", I would agree!

My birthday celebrations started on the day of my birthday (obviously!), I was inundated with calls, text messages and loads of birthday wishes from friends and family. Evening time was gift time; I was blessed with having many, included within these was a wonderful painting from my uncle Jack and not to forget an AFC Wimbledon DVD from Trev (Cool). The day continued with a great meal out with mum and Louise; we went to a restaurant called "Three Fat Fish" and had the best time.

The birthday celebrations continued at the weekend where I enjoyed a Lunchtime birthday braai with loads of my SA family and friends, a particularly special thing was that my mum was here to enjoy the celebrations. I missed everyone from the UK, but hey guy's, mum flew the flag for you all! While enjoying my party, Louise gave me my birthday gift from her and my family here, wow it's great. Louise, with the help of loads of family and friends put together a "This is Your Life Book". Contained within it are pictures, letters and all sorts of goodies. I have to say, when I got back home where I could enjoy it properly, I was moved to tears; the memories that are within this book remind me of some the greatest parts of my first 40 years, IT IS GREAT. Louise, and all who contributed to my book, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Lastly, to all who made my birthday so incredible, THANK YOU SO MUCH, I LOVE YOU ALL.

My Induction

Above: Pastor Don on the left, myself and Pastor Roy on the right

On the 27th of July 2008 I was inducted as a student pastor into my home Church, Jeffrey's Bay Baptist Church. It was a great service, one where I had my mum sat their in the congregation (I have to say, I couldn't stop thinking about everyone back in the UK; I so wish everyone could have be their). I've been feeling that God has been calling me into the pastorate for a long time now and at last things are coming together. God really blessed me in the service; not only was I officially inducted but also, Louise and I were together prayed for by so many people. As a couple we recognize that we are both called into this position, I know that without Louise's support it’s unlikely this would have happened. However, I'm also very aware that God calls the shots and brings all things about; Louise and I hope to serve and glorify Him wherever we can. When it came to the moment of prayer, mum joined us, together with Dad, who represented my family here in SA and just so many people from our Church; what love and warmth we both felt.

Wilderness

Wow, what a beautiful place Wilderness is? It’s been really cool to explore more of SA. While mum has been here with us, we got together with Louise’s folks for a little holiday in a place called wilderness which is very close to a town called George in the Western Cape. It’s a place where you have the coast on one side and mountains on the other, the views were amazing.


Our accommodation was right on the seafront and gave us frequent opportunities to see whales, dolphins and all kinds of local birds. To wake up and watch whales while eating breakfast is pretty cool eh?


We filled our week with many activities from visiting a safari to meeting ostriches at an ostrich farm (I even got to sit on an ostrich, poor thing!). The safari gave me a chance to see my first ever white lions and white tigers along with many other fantastic animals. The ostrich farm, and the guided tour enabled us to learn all about ostrich farming including how they incubate the eggs (we all got to stand on a bundle of eggs, man those suckers are strong!); we were even shown how they make feather dusters out of the various different ostrich feathers!

Another day on our holiday was spent up in the mountains; we travelled up on the power van (a single carriage diesel rail van) from George; the views from the mountains were just great. We all had an amazing time away but it didn’t end their, on out travels home we stopped of in Plettenberg Bay and a wild cat rescue centre where I got to stroke a cheater (not forgetting licked and nibbled!!), what an experience!

Splash in more ways then one!

So, Billabong has come to Jeffrey's bay. I took mum to super tubes (one of our beaches) to watch the contest. We enjoyed lunch together watching the dudes riding the waves and doing all kinds of tricks.

The highlight of the day though was the moment when mum and I shared a wave with the surfers. Busy photographing the action we were hit by a big wave that came on shore, much to our horror! I managed to lift myself out of the water rather quickly and only suffered a slightly wet side of my shorts, mum however didn't quite respond as quick and ended up taking an early bath. I'm not sure whether she got wetter as the wave came in or as it went out, but anyway she got a rather wet bum!! It's great to be able to laugh such things away and mum was a great sport and did so. I don't actually think she will ever live this one down!!

Check out those shorts!!

All ended well for us both however when we decided to leave the beach and go for ice cream (anyone who knows mum, knows that ice cream for her has magical healing properties!!).

Birthday Girl!

One year older and wiser!!

Yes, this last weekend was Louise's birthday. We actually spent most of the weekend celebrating which was nice. Saturday Louise and I met up with the folks, my mum included, we had a great lunch together at Potters Place here in Jeffrey's; the food was great, the company was great and we all had a blast!

Sunday, the actual birthday, started with Church then a nice walk on the beach in the mid-day sun. Louise and mum were busy doing the usual, collecting shells, saving washed up fish and putting the world to rights!!

'Will their be a shell left on this beach once mum's finished?'

'Mum and Louise sporting the latest "hipsters" while doing beach aerobics!'

Later we again joined the folks, it was then that Louise got to open what was a great number of gifts; wow, my wife did well this year, COOL. We all eat far to much cake (What ya meant to do on birthdays, eh?) and just chilled out enjoying the amazing view from the folks place. The weather has been glorious over the weekend which just added to the enjoyment, not bad for mid-winter.

'Gran, ya gorgeous!'

'Wow, that was a strong puff, even Gran's blown away!!'

'What's in here then?'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE!