On yer bike...

Following on from the previous post, when Lisa read it she told me about this t-shirt that she had seen for sale on the People Tree (fair trade clothing) website, and said I should have included the image of it on the blog - so here it is! Unfortunately I couldn't work out how to enlarge the image bit of it so that you can see and read it, but its an image of a bike overlaying a car and it says inside every car is a perfect cyclist! So come on folks - lets see more bikes and less cars out on the roads!

Travelling around Cambridge

Before moving here I was under the impression that Cambridge was a small, peaceful, pretty, gentle kind of place which everyone cycled around, where traffic would not be a problem and different forms of transport existed in perfect harmony! Could I have been more wrong?! As many will have experienced, traffic in Cambridge is an absolute nightmare.

Since being here I've spent a lot of time on my bike, and have really come to enjoy cycling in and out of college (well - most of the time!) and around town etc. (even managed to lose some weight since being here - can't be a bad thing). However I do feel like I'm taking something of a risk every time I go out. For a city and area that's so reknowned for cycling its amazing how little awareness and regard drivers seem to show. On my way in and out of college the bikeway I follow crosses the slip road on to the M11 at a roundabout - I spend so much time there sometimes waiting to be sure it is safe to cross because of the number of cars that seem to accelerate off the roundabout on to the slip road at crazy speeds and without any indication at all! Why is using an indicator so difficult?! Elsewhere, one of the colleges that we go to sometimes for lectures has its entrance off a busy roundabout, and cars just seem to forget to look for bikes at the junction - 2 people from college have been hit on their bikes by cars there this term, and myself and a number of others have had various near misses there. Also, fortunately no damage was done once when a car decided to pull in to park without noticing that I was cycling level with his bonnet and did a fairly good job of jamming me between the car and the curb. The one time i did actually fall off my bike properly was when a car stopped suddenly with no warning, indication or any obvious reason right in front of me and I had to swerve round it (the driver then carried on without even noticing me!) - no damage apart from a couple of grazes but glad I had my helmet. Scary stuff sometimes! My idyllic views have been shattered!

Just to show that I'm not a bitter twisted cyclist though - I do drive as well, and there is nothing more annoying than seeing the hordes of cyclists riding down roads 3 or 4 abreast sometimes! Also, especially now its dark so much of the time - it constantly amazes me how many people cycle without lights! I heard a story fairly recently of someone who asked a uni student here why they were cycling without lights and got the reply that they didn't need them because they could see ok with the street lights! Has the idea that intelligence and common sense don't always go hand in hand ever been more appropriately exemplified?!

Finally, as much as I've come to enjoy the cycling here let me dispel another myth. Have you ever heard it said that Cambridgeshire is flat? It's a lie! Whoever says that has obviously not spent much time on a bike!

The Galaxy

On a slightly lighter note than the previous post...

Monty Python - Galaxy Song - Google Video

Found this on Ellen's blog - made me laugh!

Creationism being taught in schools...

Please click here to read the article that appears on the front page of todays Guardian. I'm no scientist, and don't want to get into a debate here about what I believe or don't believe regarding creation etc. However it does worry me that MP's, the government and certain scientists are taking lines like this as to what can and can't be taught in schools. Surely it's only right that children should be introduced to different viewpoints and theories, helped to understand the evidence for and against them and the respective positives and negatives, and allowed to come to their own conclusions? Any comments / thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Bond

Never made it yesterday evening in the end as the cinema showings were fully booked. Went tonight instead.

No waffle needed here, 4 more words will say it all:
SO COOL - GO SEE!!

My fun Saturday...

Fun way to spend a Saturday - in the study trying pretty unsuccesfully to get some work done on an Islam essay! Knowing that that was what I was facing this morning when I got up, I hoped to be greeted and sent on my way cheered up by some better news of the cricket as I logged on to check the latest happenings. Couldn't have been further from the truth! England are getting absolutely tonked - nothing more to say on that!

Then, as I struggled manfully on with the essay I thought lets enjoy a bit of the rugby union commentary quietly in the background. Snook the win last week against a pretty poor looking South Africa team, hopefully England would continue to build on that and start to finally show a bit of form - WRONG AGAIN! Woeful performance against a still not too good sounding SA team - surely something has got to change in the England setup?!

Fortunately, there was some good news to follow when I heard the footy scores at 5pm - Liverpool had snook a 1-0 win at home to Man City. Hardly covering themselves in glory, but a wins a win. Thank you Stevie G for avoiding letting me slip into complete despair:



Now back to the essay for a short while, before hopefully going to see the new Bond film this evening (will let people know what I think of it when I get a chance).

God is good!

We had some great news yesterday - 2 things in fact, in just 1 day. Surely there's a law against that somewhere - isn't it wrong to have too much to be excited and happy about in such a short space of time, that's certainly the way people act sometimes isn't it? Or at least we often then start expecting something bad to happen as well! Why is it that good news and excitement are seen as alien and treated with suspicion? Is it because good and exciting things happen so rarely or is it more to do with our mindsets and levels of expectation? Anyway, enough of my waffling - I guess I should actually share what our news was!

Firstly, we had a message at about 8am ish from 1 of our good friends to say that his wife (also 1 of our good friends!) had given birth a couple of weeks early to a baby girl - Maisie. Mother and baby doing really well. Seems a bit surreal as we were just having dinner with them a few days ago when we were up in Liverpool, but it was great news, and it means we'll get to meet Maisie when we go back up there the week after next. Good start to the day, and cheered Lisa up in the midst of her pre-interview nervousness which leads me on to the 2nd piece of good news...

Lisa got a job that she really wanted!! A while back she'd noticed a maternity cover job advertised for a reception infants class in a nearby village school (only 2-3 miles away - no battling with Cambridge traffic). She was really impressed with the school and the headteacher and so applied. Had a phonecall on Monday to say she'd been shortlisted and could she go for an interview on Thurs. After the interview she had a call to say they were convinced that she was right for the job! She'll start in Feb. and carry on for the rest of this school year. Lisa hasn't had it easy workwise generally since we moved down here and this term especially has been quite frustrating - so this is all such a relief! Great timing as well - going into the Christmas period knowing that that is coming up.

Exciting news over, now off to find some misery again....!

Currently listening to...

Really enjoying listening to these albums at the moment, highly recommend them!


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And a recently rediscovered old favourite of mine:


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Pastor's answer phone message...

Found this link on another blog to a copy of a message left on a pastor's answer phone. Click here to listen. If it's for real - I don't know whether to laugh or cry! Whatever gives people the impression that churches are straightlaced and boring!!

Home is where the heart is...

Just spent the weekend back in Liverpool (see post below). A combination of that and also doing the second of the 2 quizzes below last week to see which 'Christian tradition' I supposedly fit into the best has set me thinking a bit about the whole area of identity and belonging. Who are we? Where do we belong? Questions that I think bother people a lot more than we're generally willing to let on. A lot of people's lives can be spent trying to 'fit', seeking a sense of belonging, a sense of identity. I notice more and more that often we all like having a go at putting other people into certain 'boxes', and that we actually often want to be put into certain boxes ourselves. Whether the box we want to be put into matches what others think.....

All grossly generalised I know, but since moving to Cambridge this is all something that I am certainly noticing about myself and I'd like to think I'm not alone!! I see myself very much as a Liverpudlian; I've lived there for 21-22 of my 30 years; went through schools up to GCSE level there; moved out to Warrington for my A-levels at 16 - absolutely hated that couple of years, had my scouse friends calling me a 'woolley back' as I'd gone 1/2 way to Manchester, and the guys at my 6th form taking the mick out of my scouse accent and making quips about car wheels etc. (still get that now! I like it now though - funny how things change!); straight back to Liverpool for Uni at 18 and never left again (other than a couple of short voluntary periods in Ireland and India) until moving down here last year; pretty much all of my 'life defining' moments have happened there; I know the city like the back of my hand, have supported Liverpool FC slightly obsessively since a very early age, have really missed it since moving down here, am secretly very chuffed when people down here comment on my accent(!), and am really hoping God will lead us back there after finishing at Ridley. I feel that I can put a pretty good case forward for being a 'Liverpudlian'; if, as the saying goes, 'home is where the heart is' I definitely qualify!

Yet I know people who would laugh at the idea of me calling this blog 'scouseordinand', who would crack up with laughter if someone told them I had a scouse accent of any description etc. I wasn't actually born there, my accent isn't strong so I can't be a scouser!

Who am I? Where do I belong? Big questions! I'd be lying if I said this was stuff that didn't bother or affect me sometimes; but at the risk of sounding cheesy, one of the many things that makes me glad to be a Christian is knowing that God knows who I am better than I know myself - knowing that I can be assured of my identity in Him, of the fact that I belong to Him. When put in that perspective the human boxes I or others try to put me into don't really matter that much!

Fab weekend!

Just back from a great weekend in Liverpool. It was such a privilege to be asked to be a godfather to Zak:



and great to have the excuse to get up to Liverpool for his and 3 other little ones dedication service this morning. (4 couples, all friends of ours from our sending church in Liverpool, had babies within 5 weeks in June-July this year - and people comment on the number of arrivals at Ridley!!) The service was a great celebration and the church was jammed - so good to see. Good to see that the high standards on the bring and share lunches hasn't slipped as well!

Over the weekend we managed to catch up with a lot of friends and family - on Saturday we met up with my brother, sister in law and nephew no.1 (Benjamin) as well as my sister, brother in law and nephew no.2 (Nathaniel). It was really good to see them all - hadn't seen Pete, Lorraine and Benjamin since July, he's now flying around their flat on all 4's and dancing to 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'; Louise and Kevin seem to be settling back in at home after their round the world adventures and Thailand birth experiences and Nathaniel seems to be doing really well now, growing well and more alert all the time.


(Louise with Nathaniel and Benjamin)


(Louise, Kevin and Nathaniel)


(Lorraine and Benjamin)











Went out with some friends on Friday evening for some food, and again with some other friends on Saturday night - for anyone reading this who lives in Liverpool or happens to be visiting we can highly recommend the new Thai restaurant Chilli Banana on Lark Lane, and not just for having such a cool name! The food was fantastic and reasonably priced. Even managed to fit in a bit of shopping at the local outlet village and in Liverpool city centre - much to Lisa's delight, though pretty typically I actually ended up finding more things I liked and buying more than she did! All in all a great weekend!

(Ref my posts last week - notice how I've now got my priorities right, no mention of silly games with 22 men chasing a round bit of leather around at all!! Of course that has got absolutely nothing to do with embarrasment at yet another completely inept goalless away from home performance by the Reds again - honest!)

Heretical??

Good news - seems like I am going into the right line of work after all!

You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Modalism 33% Apollanarian 33% Nestorianism 33% Adoptionist 33% Monophysitism 33% Pelagianism 33% Socinianism 0% Monarchianism 0% Arianism 0% Donatism 0% Gnosticism 0% Albigensianism 0% Docetism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

So having worked out that I'm not a heretic - I went on to find out what theological viewpoint / Christian tradition my beliefs are most in line with. Never realised that I was so affected by John Wesley - maybe I should be at Wesley House rather than Ridley! Though also noticed that I've obviously grown up in a postmodern world!

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe thatGod's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavily by John Wesley and the Methodists. Emergent/Postmodern 79% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 79% Neo orthodox 61% Charismatic/Pentecostal 57% Reformed Evangelical 57% Roman Catholic 57% Fundamentalist 29% Classical Liberal 29% Modern Liberal 29% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Relationships, love, marriage....

...through the eyes of some children. Afraid you're not going to be treated to my profound, deep and meaningful wisdom on such matters. The below far surpasses anything I could ever come up with!! Enjoy...


HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? (written by kids)
You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like
sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep
the chips and dip coming.
Alan, age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to
marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who
you're stuck with.
Kristen, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by
then.
Camille, age 10

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at
the same kids.
Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don't want any more kids.
Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each
other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that Usually gets
them interested enough to go for a second date.
Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?
I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the
newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
When they're rich.
Pam, age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with
that.
Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry
them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need
someone to clean up after them.
Anita, age 9 (bless you child)

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
Kelvin, age 8

And the #1 Favorite is........
HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.
Ricky, age 10

My head hurts!!

Please can someone tell me how to write a 'theologically reflective' essay! I think lots of things in different situations - even including 'theological' thoughts sometimes, but putting it all into a structured essay that makes any sense at all is flippin' hard work.

"Music and passion were always in fashion at the Copa, Copacabana"

Really wish I'd worked out how to do this blogging before Lisa and I went to Rio de Janeiro over the summer, so especially for those who I've not been able to talk to much about our time out there or show photo's to here's a brief look back at it and a few photo highlights:-

We went out there as I had managed to arrange through a friend here at Ridley to go and work with David, who is chaplain of Christ Church the English speaking Anglican Church in Rio, for 4 weeks as my college summer placement. We stayed with David, Sue and their 6 year old daughter Rachel who were fantastic hosts in their beautiful vicarage:



Even had a family of very cute, little monkeys (basically the size of squirrels) to keep us company, living in the garden:



David was a great supervisor for my placement, easy to talk to, always ready to listen to me, very organised and planned a really good and varied programme for my time there. He and Sue (who is also ordained) were very open and honest with me, sharing so much of their experience of ministry, both very humble, wise and prayerful - and Lisa and I both learned so much from both of them.

Over our time there we were really welcomed by Christ Church and I had the chance to experience and get involved in a wide range of the the church's ministry and life. I preached (including a talk that was translated into Portuguese as I gave it), led services, went to the weekly bible studies and wrote and led 1 of them on spiritual warfare, helped a bit with a weekly children's club, went to a PCC meeting, visited various people - at their homes, in hospital and also went with a member of the church to visit international prisoners in one of the big prisons near Rio and in a nearby prison psychiatric hospital (interesting and challenging experience to say the least!).

What particularly stood out to me was how different the church was in a culture and place like that compared to here in the UK. Christ Church ministers to the international community of Rio rather than a geographical area, as it is the only English speaking Anglican church (so if you want an Anglican style service not in Brazilian Portuguese its the only place to go). That means that people will travel from all around the greater Rio area to get there - you don't often hear of people here travelling for well over an hour to get to a church service! Also, though in some ways there was a bit of a colonial / expat feel to the church it wasn't too pronouced, and the church has grown into a real international community - lots of different nationalities represented, including a good number of Brazilians who seem to like the style of the church and its services (as well as for some of them a chance to learn and practice their English). This all contributed to a really diverse and varied congregation, diverse and varied in terms of faith experience and theological viewpoints as well as nationality / language etc. What really impressed me was the unity I witnessed despite the diversity - the way they accepted each other, worked and worshipped with each other, seeked to understand each other etc. It really made me think about the way we 'do' church over here in terms of choosing the particular churches that suit us best and that we're comfortable with etc - they just had that 1 and got on with it.

Anyway, enough of my preaching! Rio itself was a fascinating city, often rightly described as a city of contrasts: contrasts between outanding natural beauty and human architectural mess and pollution, between very 'in your face' wealth and abject poverty (favela's side by side with plush hotels and apartments etc), between the welcome and friendliness of the people and the huge problems of violence and corruption in the society there, I could go on. What did impress me particularly though was the statue of Christ the Redeemer (see pic below) of which we had a great view from the vicarage, on top of the Corcovado mountain looking out over the whole city with arms outstretched - a very vivid image of Christ reaching out to a world in desparate need of him.

In terms of leisure time we did get to see pretty much everything worth seeing of Rio itself, though didn't get the chance to go further afield. As the famous song lyrics in the title of this post indicate we did get to Copacabana beach a couple of times - that and Ipanema beach were both stunning, though I don't know about music and passion!! The beach football and volleyball was amazing to see, and I really enjoyed a few swims in the Atlantic. Got to go to a Brazilian premier league football match at the Maracana stadium which was a great experience - non stop drums etc., great atmosphere! Eating out was great too - steaks like you've never seen before at unbeliveably good prices! Anyway that's more than enough waffle about it. Here's a few picture highlights:

Life's priorities!

Just looking at what I put in my 1st post and realising the truth of what I said to our friends as we left the pub after the match earlier - it's amazing how much sport affects my moods! I've had a really good weekend, watched some good TV and a good DVD, had some time with Lisa after a busy week, managed to get a sermon written fairly efficiently yesterday and it's delivery seemed to go ok at Hardwick church this morning (thank you God!). Yet that all pales into insignificance because of England's ongoing woes in the Rugby Union, the cricket teams terrible start to the Aussie tour, and Liverpool's dire result today. Hmmm - maybe I need to rethink what's really important sometimes!

Where to start?

Very new to this whole blogging business, but enjoying reading other people's blogs so thought I'd give it a bit of a go myself. Having said that its actually quite hard to know how to start it off! Too depressed to think about it for too long tonight though, having just watched Liverpool get stuffed by Arsenal. I think the picture of Mr Benitez below sums up how many Reds fans are feeling - not a good afternoon!