The earthquake

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Kenya, and all those affected by Sunday's massive earthquake. As the pictures unfold on our screens, the 2-dimensional quality is almost mind-numbing in its devastation; the 3-D reality must be overwhelming.

Let's pray directly for Alan Cutting (a freind of David Green's in church) part of Samaritan's Purse and already en route to Columbo in Sri Lanka as part of a rapid response team. We may not be able to affect whole pieces of this disaster, but we can pray for individuals as they are made known to us.

God's speed, Alan

Happy Christmas everyone

A very excited 8 year old niece of mine rang early this morning ( thankfully her Mum said 6 a.m would be TOO early!!) to let me know EVERYTHING she'd had for Christmas!

Reminded me of an old song:

"Count your blessings, name them one by one:
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count Your blessings,name them one by one
And it wil surprise you what the Lord has Done!

Have a great day, everyone

My house is on strike....

We're having a "fun" run-up to the Big Day on Saturday...quite a few things are breaking down on us. The hinge on the tumble drier door has been off for a while, but with a little fiddling, still works....but the biggie at the moment is that our main shower has given up the ghost. We think it might be 15 years old or so, but this means that we have to use the shower over the bath - which is ususally reserved for me ( the guys all use the main shower.) We've tried to get a replacement, but the one we want was online, and despite a number of phone calls back and forth, they haven't been able to dispatch, so it's a case of "see you after January 4th".

Yesterday was a frustrating day of cancelled clients at work, and I had a three-hour gap in the middle of my day, which was rather boring. Tonight, I was only supposed to have one client instead of a usual 3 (don't ask), and that one cancelled just before I was due to leave the house, so it left me with a highly unexpected night off (meant I had to do some ironing!!)

All of this has left me thinking about the "best laid plans......" Nothing major, or even huge, but all of it irritating and a bit frustrating. But when you look at the Christmas story, not a lot seems to have gone to plan at all. Yet every detail was EXACTLY as God intended it to be. "When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son..." Nothing happened by chance or accident - only by design.

I see many people who live with a yoke of dissapointment. Somewhere in their story is an incident, maybe even a catalogue, of changed plans, dashed hopes and shattered dreams. It's good to remember that God is never a dissapointment, at Christmastime or Anytime.

Pat's Thought for the Day;
Read Galatians 4 in The Message, and dwell on what it means to be a child, rather than a slave. Christ humbly accepted the role of a servant, even becoming a baby, that we, who deserved to be treated as slaves, could be totally free

The Best Carol Service in Town....

Fantastic Carol Service last night, guys. Wonderful to see everyone who led us right into worship, from the smiles of the tinies , which just glowed, to a fantastic Sarra on trumpet for Hark the Herald... the girls in matching ponchos...the vid clips brought "home" people who we'd missed through long-term illness...not a hint of egotism in the place, everything directed exactly where it should be - UP......

Not forgetting Nigel - outstanding communicator, and who pulled the whole thing together....

The guitarists - a real anointing, Ian... and Steve was magic on the new "Voice of Hope" - it's gonna be a new anthem, I think.....

Not forgetting a stunning new one from Lisa - raise the roof time...

I cannot thank God enough for such anointed leading into worship - one of the best Carol Services in a very long time.

Thanks also to all the Tech team who made it happen - you're never forgotten

And let us be thankful that Bill, our drummer, was wearing a leather waistcoat, as otherwise he would have been rather scorched when a string of fairy lights fell down across his lap!! Ever the pro, he flipped them across his back and never missed a beat!

Pat's Thought for the Day
"Sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives - words, actions, whatever - be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way" (Colossians 3;16, The Message)

There were these three wise women.....

Looking over at Lisa's blog, I was reminded of a card I saw the other day, which talked about what might have happened if three wise WOMEN had turned up at Bethlehem. One would have brought some bleach and a hoover, another a pot roast, and the third some decent bed linen...

But then again, maybe Christ had to be born in a mess, because our lives are rarely tidy. If he had only been willing to enter our lives when they were cleaned up, none of us would ever get saved.

The other thing is, though, that the Three wise men brought gifts that would span both immediate and long-term needs. For the immediate journey, they needed gold - hard currency - to enable the Flight To Egypt. The Frankinscense speaks of a constant sweet-smelling perfume that was the life of Christ. And the myrrh was a practical gift, used in the ceremonial aspects of death. His exit was planned and prepared for, even at the time of his birth.

And He was the Only Child who ever asked to be born.

Pat's Thought for the Day
The motivation for the gifts we give at Christmas are varied, and sometimes reactive. We only give because someone else has given to us, or we feel we "have to". What always amazes me is the level of Christ's willingness to come at all, let alone in the way that He did.

Why did the (plastic) chicken cross the road?.....

I came home from work today to a great idea - in a box! My mate June has sent me a plastic chicken for Christmas - a nice little yellow one, about an inch high, which I can put on top of my PC monitor. Why a chicken? Well, she sent me a gift from Farm Friends, a chairty that sends a plastic chicken to your mate, and REAL chicks to a family in Africa, who can use the eggs from the chickens for their own family (high in protein), and then any surplus eggs can be sold to provide income. They can breed from the chickens, and they get the chicks on a loan scheme - to repay the loan, they have to give some of the chicks they breed to another family, who are then blessed in return!

The great thing about this gift is simply that it just keeps on going. The whole idea of a gift is that you give it away, but somehow get blessed by both the giving and the knowledge of someone receiving something much better than socks!

For me this sums up the spirit of Christmas.

Pat's Thought for the Day
Wouldn't it be great if we could all give Christ at Christmas? Pray that He might be received by many this Special Season, for He is truly the Best Gift of All

He's done it!!!

Great excitement in the Kennett Household - Chris passed his Driving Test today at the 4th Attempt! I was with a client at work during the Test itself, so when I accessed my mobile's voicemail, it was amazing to see just how loud Chris could shout "I did it!" down the phone!

Now I'm trying to keep busy as he's popped across town for the first time solo.....

LIfe in the Twiddley Bits....

We are so blessed in our church to have so many talented worshippers who lead us each Sunday. Their musicality is outstanding, and I honour and value their dedication to bring us as a congregation into the very throne-room of God, with praise on our lips, even though at times there might be tears in our hearts.

Take last Sunday morning, for example...

I was sometimes joining in singing, sometimes just lost in the presence of God, and as I was at the back, with a littke space to move, taking the chance to kneel as we sang "To be in your presence, to sit at your feet....."

And then I started to listen for a moment to the music, and I heard Phil on clarinet. Now Phil is one of those wonderful musicians who can play a range of instruments - if you can blow through it, Phil can make it sing! And something struck me; Phil wasn't playing the music. I don't mean he couldn't - I mean he WASN'T. He was not playing the melody at all. He was weaving some amazing notes around the melody - he was playing what, to my ear, sounded like "twiddley bits". And yet, the twiddley bits both enhanced the melody, and brought the whole thing together. A bit like the warp and weft of a fabric. If the warp is the melody, then it takes something in the opposite direction to pull the fabric close and hold it all together.

Ever felt like you weren't in step with everyone else? Evere felt like they were all dancing to one song, and yours was compleltly different? Well, sometimes, that is exactly what is needed to hold some things together. God listens to the entire score, and blends it together, so that it sounds just right.

And did you ever notice that it's the twiddley bits that actually give the framework to the music - that's how we know when to start, and when to come in again after a refrain - even when to end.

Pat's Thought for the Day:
Instead of worrying about not being in step with everyone else arond you, realize that it's the fact that you are different - "In this world but not of it", that actually makes sense of it all.

Just realized the mistake of the day - My nephew was watching the All Blacks vs The Barbarians - sorry!

A Day at Bas Vegas...

Just sitting down for a minute or two before hitting the International Night at Church Tonight...

As my young nephew had a VERY special day planned with Daddy today (a day watching the Kiwis vs the All Blacks at Twickenham, no less), it just had to be a day out for the girls to Bas Vegas - sorry, to Basildon (for the uninitiated!!) My sister, my Mum, my niece and I did some Christmas Shopping, followed by a visit to the Eastgate Centre Food Court for lunch. Then there was a lovely long queue for one member of the party to see Someone Special in a Red Suit....

More shopping, and finally made it home to at least 2 cuppas. Woolworths was manic - sooooooooooo many people - and the commercialism is tough to ignore. But my Mum said something she thought would be nice to put into the Blog; "You'll never get Peace on Earth, until you are prepared to give Glory to God in the Highest". Nice one, Mum.


Pat's thought for the Day:
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh were exceptionally appropriate gifts to bring to the Infant Jesus. What would be the best gift YOU could give Him this Season?

Finding alternative routes....

Kennettworld: Kennettworld
As I drove into work this morning, I passed a big Yellow AA sign, saying that next Wednesday, the High Street in Billericay would be closed from 5:30 pm onwards, because the High Street was having a "Fun Night".

All I could think of was having to find an alternative route home.....

I didn't really want to give a thought to the adults and children who would be much safer because no cars were around....

All I could consider in that moment was my own inconvenience....

I wonder just how many times parts of God's plans in our lives have to be re-routed, because of the work He is doing in someone else's life? How often do we glibly say "Use me, Lord", when in fact, that gives Him permission to put US out, rather than someone else?

Sometimes that means standing by when someone else gets the credit, and practising patience with a zipped mouth.

Sometimes that means chilling out, and letting things go, instead of holding onto them with the tantrums of a three-year-old, claiming to have far more significance than anyone else.

And when things don't always go our way, then maybe once in a while we practice finding an alternative route home.....

Pat's thought for the day:
When Christ said that He is "The Way, The Truth and The Life", He didn't specify that "The Way" would necessarily be in a straight line...