Soon to be released 2012 seems to offer more explosions per minute than ever before, which on its own probably makes it worth watching.
God can speak to us as we watch films though too.
I wonder if seeing the world at the brink of extinction might be a helpful reminder of the need people have for the eternal hope that can only be found in Jesus. Maybe God can use it to help us take the gospel into the world with an increased urgency.
Maybe God will bless us through just enjoying a great film! I'm hoping for all of that plus maybe even more! (plus some great cinema snacks too!)
Check out the trailer below and maybe I'll write about it more after seeing it.
It's crazy trying to live life at the moment. It's kind of like waiting for Christmas, except you're not quite sure which day Christmas actually is! The days and weeks roll on and you know that every day that passes, the likelihood that the baby may just come today gets greater and greater.
Anyway, Sam and I can't wait to meet our baby and in recognition of this here are some things that Tim has learnt so far. (Sam probably knew all of this ages ago):
Baby Poo-
From my first nappy change ever last week on a doll at our antenatal class I now know that baby poo at first resembles black treacle... Looking forward to that one! (It's also called Meconium which I thought was someones baby's name!)
Breast Milk-
This is different in the morning and the evening to help baby either wake up or go to sleep, it's also watery when you first start feeding because baby will be thirsty and then creamier later on to give them more food... clever!
Baby Stuff-
The amount of equipment that's it's possible to buy is frightening. The amount you can spend on it is even worse. Sam made our curtains and bedding so that saved some £££s but look out for our groovy new buggy/pram/all-in-one travel system coming soon to a church near you.
Contractions-
They happen, at some point. I'm sure it won't be funny when they do finally come along but our midwife showing Sam how to breathe, and then playing foghorn noises to simulate the length of contractions was fairly hilarious. Does anyone think I should risk taking a airhorn into hospital with me?
Mums-
They are actual heroes. I don't care how annoying your mum can be sometimes, she still carried you in her womb and she still did the equivalent of pushing a grapefruit out of her nostril. Quite apart from God telling you to honour her, that should be reason enough for some serious respect.
I know I'm going to be so proud of Sam whenever baby arrives. I'll probably be terrified too so your prayers will be much appreciated over the next couple of weeks!
If you came to youth you may have heard me read my very own poem. If you didn’t then you missed out big time!
The Bible says each one of us are God’s poetic masterpieces! We’re told here that God has poured his creative energy, love and care into making each one of us.
So if God was to write a poem, it would look like you!
This poetry is seen through the beauty of the gospel’s effect on our lives. How we have been saved from eternal death to everlasting life is awesome.
This poetry is also seen in who we are. What we look like physically- that’s part of God’s poem. If we look at ourselves in the mirror and criticise what we see we’re disapproving of God. Let what God thinks of how you look define what you think of yourself. When God sees you he’s looking at a made-by-his-own-hands masterpiece!
Your character is something that God sees real beauty in too. Our personalities are very much part of God creating us as his poetic work of art. This means that you can be the best you you can be and God is thrilled with that!
With this amazing news we’re finally told that we get to be caught up in this amazing story too. God has good works that He has prepared in advance for us to do- even before the creation of the world! Let’s run as hard as we can after all that He wants to use us in.
The most awesome news anyone could ever hear- FACT! God in his great love has made us alive through Jesus Christ. As a Christian you may be 13, 18, or 80 years old, but actually you’re eternally alive. This is a complete status change for you- from eternal death to everlasting life.
“It is by grace that you have been saved… it is the gift of God” Our salvation, this amazing grace is a free gift from God. We never could have earned it. What a Saviour!
Verse 6 even tells us we’re seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. Brainstormed ideas of what this might mean from Brickhill Youth included:
> These seats are like thrones: We reign with Jesus!
> There are reserved seats with our names on them in heaven.
> God can hear us and we can hear Him.
> We’re secure and safe.
Amazingly these are all true plus a whole lot more.
It is God’s plan to continually demonstrate to us, over and over again, in greater and greater ways, the riches of his grace and kindness. We have received of this kindness in astronomical proportions already at the cross but that is only the start!
In a three week series at youth we looked at one of the most amazing passages of scripture in the whole Bible- Ephesians 2: 1-10. The next three posts will summarise what we learnt.
Dead in our Sins- Ephesians 2: 1-3
This bible passage tells us rather bluntly that the consequence of our sin is eternal death. We watched some clips from the green mile to help us remember that without Jesus we are “dead men walking.”
Verse 3 tells us “we were by nature objects of wrath.” God’s wrath is His holy reaction to evil. He is vigorously opposed to it. He is completely reviled by it. God never ever shrugs his shoulders or turns a blind eye to sin. He even vomits in response to it.
Fairly and deservedly mankind is heading for punishment. The horrific nature of our sin- such is its foulness and depravity, such is its offence to a Holy God, that we stand condemned to die. We each deserve to be punished and feel the full effects of God’s wrath and hatred against sin.
This should be an incredibly sobering thought. You see we can only truly throw ourselves at the feet of a Saviour and be thankful for His mercy when we fully appreciate the true depravity of our sin. We learn to appreciate the access to God that Jesus has won for us only after we have seen God’s inaccessibility to sinners
If you have a small view of your sin- you’re going to a have a pretty small view of your Saviour. We don’t remember the awfulness of our sin to get all down and depressed- we remember it so we can quickly remember Jesus.
Recently at youth and church we've sung this song by Matt Redman. I love the tune but I love the words even more. Have a read and let God remind you of His awesome salvation!
Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,
Their own sin could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea
Your love is deeper still
You alone can rescue, You alone can save
You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise
You, oh Lord, have made a way
The great divide You heal
For when our hearts were far away
Your love went further still
Yes, your love goes further still
We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes
You're the Giver of Life (x2)
Now we are more than conquerors through your deathless love
And nothing Lord will have a hold on us
You're the saving promise, You will never fail
To You alone belongs the highest praise
(coming soon- a reminder of what we have looked at over the last few weeks in Ephesians 2: 1-10 that teaches us all that this song celebrates)
Recently at youth and church we've sung this song by Matt Redman. I love the tune but I love the words even more. Have a read and let God remind you of His awesome salvation!
Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,
Their own sin could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea
Your love is deeper still
You alone can rescue, You alone can save
You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise
You, oh Lord, have made a way
The great divide You heal
For when our hearts were far away
Your love went further still
Yes, your love goes further still
We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes
You're the Giver of Life (x2)
Now we are more than conquerors through your deathless love
And nothing Lord will have a hold on us
You're the saving promise, You will never fail
To You alone belongs the highest praise
(coming soon- a reminder of what we have looked at over the last few weeks in Ephesians 2: 1-10 that teaches us all that this song celebrates)
Here are the final 5 of the top 10 things to do when you go swimming!
6. Get the top speed on the flumes.
Hopefully they’ve still got those clocks that tell you how fast you got down the flume and what your top speed was. Bring your ‘A’ game.
7. Shark Attack
When people are least expecting it swim under water and sweep their legs from under them! Make sure they’re the kind of person that wouldn’t mind it too much first though.
8. Nearly drown in the waves.
For me the best place to be when the waves are on is in that bit where it’s too deep to touch the floor. After a couple of minutes you’re wondering if it’s possible to breathe anymore water into your lungs.
9. Baywatch-style running into the water.
Again good when the waves are on, running through the water and diving in to rescue a damsel in distress (Sam) makes you feel like David Hasselhoff which can’t be a bad thing.
10. Chill in the Jacuzzi.
Near the end of the night the hot water is a great way to catch your breath after all that exercise.
Hope you can make it tonight. See left for all the details. Remember if you’re 16 or under we need a signature to say to can come so if you haven’t brought your slip back yet get yourself signed in at the front desk on the night.
I love swimming. Sam calls me a water baby because whenever we’re anywhere it’s possible to swim I’ll be in there or at least wishing I was. This year I swam in the sea in Wales in March (and nearly cried it was so cold,) two different times in Brighton with Caris and Rob Jones respectively and then every day on holiday in Cornwall.
To top a great swimming year off Brickhill Youth have hired out the whole of Oasis for a social this Friday. If you’re not coming then why on earth not? It’ll be awesome and even if you hate swimming you can just chill in the café and laugh at the rest of us half drowning.
To get us ready here are my top 10 things to do when swimming this Friday:
1. Get straight in- no messing.
Even if the water feels a bit cold, diving straight in is the only way to get into the water. None of this paddling stuff.
2. Challenge someone to a race
The more the better in a swimming race as it makes it far more hectic. Some of our trained lifeguards are bound to be hard to beat.
3. See how many people you can fit on a float raft
We think there’ll be plenty of floats to mess around on. My balance is rubbish but getting a few people on a raft is always fun. Tipping people off is quite fun too.
4. Water hand of Maradona
Has this game ever been played in the water? Let’s hope someone brings a beach ball so we can try it out. Great on land… even better in the water?
5. Go the wrong way round the outside bit.
The water flows round in a circle. Me and Jon Ingle used to spend ages trying to swim round against the flow. The water pushing you back made it hard but the lifeguards telling you off made it harder!
