a prayer

I saw this on Brian McLaren’s Site….it’s worth praying it!!

Here is a beautiful prayer from St. Augustine …

O God, from Whom to be turned is to fall,
And to Whom to be turned is to rise,
And in Whom to stand is to abide forever,
Grant us in all our duties your help,
in all our perplexities your guidance,
in all our dangers your protection,
and in all our sorrows your peace. Amen.

Stuart

…nearly one year since my last post! I am not good at blogging but go through 

fads of it. 

I have decided once again to give it a go. I really dont know if anyone is really 

interested in my view on life but I guess this is just as much therapeutic as it is 

practical or information sharing.

If you are reading and feel up to it, share your views too. 

So the marker is set once again and I will now attempt to blog regularly…..isn’t 

life busy?

Stuart

….for the past 15 years or so, the Bridge has been a building owned by Solihull Christian Fellowship. It has been used to reach out to the community  and especially young people.

As we now have a brand spanking new building (also called the Bridge) this one is going to be knocked down to make way for a new shopping centre in Shirley. It was a sad day when we finally left the building as we have so many great memories.

The building was falling apart and leaked like a seive at times. It has an asbestos roof and was frezzing cold in the winter but boiling hot in the summer. The walls could cave in with too much pressure places on them and were patched up to the max. ….but it was a great , homely, fun kind of building and we will miss it.

God always has a plan and the newe building seems to be that but, as a reminiscing kind of guy, I have been doing a lot of that of late. How many young people have become Christians in that place? How many great nights worshipping God have we spent there? How many prayers have gone up from the Bridge? How many people’s lives were changes in that building?

Some of these questions we will only get answers to in Heaven I guess but I know that I have seen and felt the presence of God in the Bridge many many times.

So, we look back with fondness at the Bridge and look forward to all that God is going to do through the…..Bridge!!!

Stuart

…Beautiful News; an album by Matt Redman written with his wife Beth and others including Martin Smith of Delirous?

Its not bad and I think track 2 - You Never Let Go - is a Redman classic and really inspires me to sing to God with all of my soul. Apparently written with Beth his wife during times when they had had several miscarriages. They have 3 wonderful children now and the song reflects that whether or not things are going as we would want, God never ever lets go.

Wonderful stuff!

Come On!

Stuart

…Just got back from Shepton Mallett and Soul Survivor 2007 Week B.

We had a really great time and that even despite the weather!!! We arrived in rain and mud and had to put up the tents wet!!! However, God made up for that totally through His presence there…..we also got sunburned at the end of the week!!

It is amazing to see 13,000 young and not so young people worship God passionately and honestly. It really is an uplifting experience. I believe that God was there meeting with people through His Holy Spirit and loads claimed to have been healed as they prayed about illness and disabilies etc. Still more (nearly 2000 over 2 weeks) became Christians and dedicated their lives to Christ.

With all the really evil and depraved stuff we read and hear about every day in the media, it gives you loads of hope to see God at work in a generation. Forget churches in decline; forget young people with no hope; forget a generation in turmoil….there is hope in Jesus and a real sense that He is on the move right here and right now!!!!!

God is real and, if you dont already, put your trust in Him cos’ He really is the Way the Truth and the Life…..guaranteed.

COME ON!!

Stuart

….from a Catholic site in America…….only in America!!!!

Wouldn’t it be great to have JC on your team, but , and maybe it’s me, I find this stuff quite, well, erm ……wrong!!!!

Stuart

…sometimes, things happen that makes it more obvious!!In the last week of the school term at the end of July, one of the teachers at the local primary school at which I am a governor and have children at, died in a tragic car accident.

At 53 years old, her life was tragically ended in the blinking of an eye. To say that the school staff, children and parents and obviously her family, were left numb and shocked is a massive understatment. In a strange way, it was a massive privelidge to be at the school to try and help out through this very sad and strange time.

It seems that we all live as though we will live for ever here and in many ways, that is not an issue however we need to also see that life is not a rehearsal and that this is it!!! I believe that God has plans for us on earth but that ultimately our destiny as followers of Jesus Christ is to spend eternity; forever; etc etc etc with Him.

The Bible says: PSALM 90

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
       throughout all generations.

 2 Before the mountains were born
       or you brought forth the earth and the world,
       from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

 3 You turn men back to dust,
       saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”

 4 For a thousand years in your sight
       are like a day that has just gone by,
       or like a watch in the night.

 5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
       they are like the new grass of the morning-

 6 though in the morning it springs up new,
       by evening it is dry and withered.

 7 We are consumed by your anger
       and terrified by your indignation.

 8 You have set our iniquities before you,
       our secret sins in the light of your presence.

 9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
       we finish our years with a moan.

 10 The length of our days is seventy years—
       or eighty, if we have the strength;
       yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
       for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

 11 Who knows the power of your anger?
       For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

 12 Teach us to number our days aright,
       that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

 13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
       Have compassion on your servants.

 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
       that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
       for as many years as we have seen trouble.

 16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
       your splendor to their children.

 17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
       establish the work of our hands for us—
       yes, establish the work of our hands.

Our lives are likened to grass that withers. We need to consider God and think about our response to His existence and the things that He has said to us through the Bible and through His wonderful creation.

None of us knows if we will wake in the morning but I can say for sure that even if I dont, I can trust that God is faithful to keep me and He has assured me of being with Him forever. We can all know that assuredness and I encourage anyone reading this to seek God while He may be found.

Come On!

Stuart