Went to Swindon Evangelical Church today for a conference on Christian mission.
I do wonder sometimes whether I show enough interest in mission. What is my role in missionary work? Is it just to show interest in missionaries? The culture of where I live would appear to indicate that for me to fulfil the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), I only need to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who live around me. In a way, I am a missionary. Of course this means meeting people where they are, rather than expecting them to come to me. It requires time to get to know people, to make friendships so that I can meet them where they are. It also means not just telling them the Gospel, but showing them the Gospel through acts of love. It means truly understanding people for who they really are – made in the image of God, yet destined to meet the wrath of God because of their sin. God’s love is so great though that he sent Jesus Christ who can deliver them from their sin through faith. It still amazes me that God will use sinful humans beings to convey this message, yet he does and even achieves great things through them. Oh that God would use me for his glory.

It’s occurred to me that if I were really very ill, quite a few of you would be stuck if your computer went belly up, so I thought I’d write a small missive on basic computer maintenance. 🙂

First of all, backups. Regardless of everything else, keep backups (copies) of anything you couldn’t replace if you lost the computer. Copy them onto CD-R, floppy disk, USB storage device…whatever. This includes things like documents, address books, photos, in fact anything you can’t replace by buying a new one from the shop, or reinstalling. If the worst happens, be it a virus attack, hard disk failure, flooding, EMP, etc. at least you’ll have a copy of your precious data safely stored away. If you don’t have a backup, once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

Secondly, make sure you have all the CDROMs, DVDs etc. which came with your computer stored away safely so you can reinstall everything back to your computer if everything goes horribly wrong.

Thirdly, if you’re on the internet, make sure you have sufficient security. If you have Linux or MacOS installed you don’t have much to worry about, as they’re fairly good out of the box. However, if you have any version of Microsoft Windows (95,98,ME,2000,XP) you’ll need to keep it up to date with Windows Update. In addition, at the very least, you’ll need the following software:
Anti-Virus software such as AVG
Anti-Spyware software such as Spybot S&D
Firewall software such as Zonealarm

I’ve suggested free (legally) software in each case, but other software is available at a price. Regardless of whether you use free or paid-for software, you should always keep your software up to date. Most of the security packages have a facility to check for updates. You should also do a complete virus/spyware scan around once a fortnight.
It might also be an idea to use an alternative WWW browser to Internet Explorer such as Firefox, and an alternative email reader to Outlook Express such as Thunderbird.

With these basic points, your computer should be available to you more of the time, instead of spending time being cursed at by me. 🙂

So much for forecasting the demise of my cold. I appear to be completely at its mercy, whatever ‘it’ is – a small bunch of viruses which neither I, nor modern medicine can control. 🙁
Ah well, gave me a chance to continue with my empire building. I managed to overrun the Greeks, reducing the number of opponents by one, whilst still keeping a technical lead. I also appear to have viewed the whole of the first series of Friends on DVD. I must acquire the next series or two from somewhere now.
The evening meal consisted of a very palatable won-ton (云吞) and noodle soup from the local Chinese take-away. Nothing like a steaming bowl of soup to make a cold-wracked body feel better! Mmmm….
On a slightly more constructive note, I’ve now added a blogroll to my blog, thanks to bloglines. Although the number of blogs which will remain on my roll might well change when this cold finally decides to depart from me.
Anyway, hopefully I can bid farewell to this cold soon, as otherwise you’ll have to continue to read my ramblings of self-pity. (Or you could go and do something less boring instead?)

Well, woke up this morning feeling a little better than yesterday. My throat was only slightly sore, the headache was abating, the fatigue almost gone and the temperature was gone. Spent most of the morning lounging around and finally had a shower just before noon. Fortunately I was feeling well enough to leave the house, it was either that or starve as I’d run out of food in the fridge! After purchasing and consuming breakfast/lunch (a fine Mega-Breakfast from the local Tesco), I surfed the web a bit. I then loaded up Civilization III which I haven’t played for ages!
A few hours passed as I set up a prosperous Chinese empire, only to be bothered around AD1000 by an alliance of Mongols, Americans and Greeks with the Egyptians as the ringleader. Not sure how long I can hold out, but as long as the French, Indians and Germans are friendly towards me, I should be able to keep a technological edge over my enemies and keep them at bay.
Alas, I think the cold is now on its last legs so I’ll be back at work and unable to complete my virtual empire building.
I guess I’m quite privileged really, even if I don’t have a wife to look after me :P. Although I did have a well-wisher or two :). If I was living in a developing country, my illness might well have been a lot less trivial, possibly even life-threatening. It’s amazing how even the smallest illness could be life threatening, depending on the surrounding conditions. Quite a thought really.

Well, I appear to be ill. I haven’t been ill for quite a while now, which is probably why I’m making note of it. I went to bed last night with a slightly tickly cough. Woke up this morning with a very sore throat, sore muscles, headache, a slightly runny nose, a slight temperature and fatigue. I can only guess I’ve got a cold. Hard to tell as, allegedly, men aren’t very good at medical self-diagnosis. Decided it might be wiser to stay in bed instead of dragging myself to work. Went back to sleep and woke up around 2pm, still not feeling much better, and now with cold feet. Finally got out of bed to get some breakfast, drink plenty of fluid and have a hot soothing bath. I must admit I felt slightly better after the bath, and the cough has developed into one of those large chesty ones with plenty of phlegm in my lungs to dislodge. The headache was still the same, as was the muscle ache.
I’ve come to the conclusion that being ill isn’t much fun. Unlike usual days off, when you’re ill you’re unable to do much, which leads to a high degree of boredom. Finally decided to watch The Truman Show on DVD, which was good, as always, and helped to pass the time.
I’m now knackered, even though I haven’t actually done much! Time to go to bed soon I think…

Another fine evening of football with my work colleagues. For around ten minutes, our team was a man down as he hadn’t appeared, and we ran rings around the opposition. Then our fourth man arrived, and our play gradually declined! I’m not sure what happened there. Maybe we had overexerted ourselves in the first ten minutes and paid the price subsequently? Anyway, the score was close, with the opposing team slowly finding their feet and bringing on a counter offensive leaving the score at 15-14 to us.
Rather foolishly, I then went ten-pin bowling in a large group of young people from APC, HTC and HWEC. I didn’t do too badly, coming somewhere in the middle of the scores. Didn’t matter too much, as the fellowship was good and I had met a few new people.

As human beings, we are unable to grasp the truth of God. We have problems understanding the world around us and we have problems understanding the Bible, the word of God. Jesus says that when he leaves, the Holy Spirit will come.

1. The Holy Spirit will guide us in all truth. He will open up the truth of God to us. He will allow us to understand the words of Jesus, and ultimately the words of the Father. He is not there to grant new revelation, but to open up existing revelation. If the Holy Spirit is guiding us, we will know what God would want us to do.
2. He will allow us to understand what is to come. Not only does he help us understand God’s dealing’s with us in the present, but also to understand God’s dealings with us in the future.
3. He brings glory to the Son. We will know the Holy Spirit is guiding us, as our lives will glorify God.

Do we have the Holy Spirit in our lives? Jesus Christ promises the Holy Spirit to all who trust in him.
If we have trusted in Jesus Christ, do we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, or do we resist him?

A nice pleasant Saturday. 🙂 Started it off with a leisurely breakfast of bacon rolls and mango juice, followed by a whole afternoon of playing Links 2003. I had started playing Links in single player mode, in the “Career” option. However, after completing a season, I wandered around the in game options and found “On-line tournament”. All of a sudden, the game took on a new dimension. I was no longer playing against a computer program, but against fellow human beings. This guaranteed I spent the rest of the afternoon on it!
Fortunately, I had already planned to go to the Harvest Supper at my church and so my virtual golfing addiction didn’t have a chance to take root. As always, the food on offer was plentiful and of a good standard – I found myself going up for seconds. There was a good turnout, and a chance to talk to people I haven’t spoken to much, either recently or ever! The speaker after the meal was from Amyand Park Chapel and he spoke on the parable of the sower. A good time was had by all and, hopefully, everyone went away well fed, both physically and spiritually.

Jesus, lover of my soul,
let me to thy bosom fly,
while the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
till the storm of life is past;
safe into the haven guide;
O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none,
hangs my helpless soul on thee;
leave, ah! leave me not alone,
still support and comfort me.
All my trust on thee is stayed,
all my help from thee I bring;
cover my defenceless head
with the shadow of thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in thee I find;
raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy name,
I am all unrighteousness;
false and full of sin I am;
thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with thee is found,
grace to cover all my sin;
let the healing streams abound,
make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
freely let me take of thee;
spring thou up within my heart;
rise to all eternity.

Charles Wesley

Just spent the evening catching up with Robin. I haven’t stopped and had a proper conversation with him for a few weeks now. Over the past few weeks we’ve just exchanged a quick hello when we’d seen each other, so this evening was good. Most of the evening was spent in the local snooker hall, although I’m not sure Robin was concentrating as I won five frames to none. Finished off the evening at Nandos in Hounslow East, with a hearty meal of chicken, corn and rice.
On a completely separate note, I’ve been playing with GMail recently as I got an invite a week or so ago and decided to give it a try. As webmail services go, I think this has to be one of the best. The interface is clean and quick, it has a decent contacts facility, and the feature of having one of the most effective search engines keep track of your email for you seems very useful. Now I know there have been concerns raised about privacy, so I’m still a little cautious, but then what’s stopping other webmail services handing over your precious data to some government agency after being served the appropriate paperwork? From past performance I think I trust Google more than I trust Microsoft or Yahoo anyway. We’ll see I guess…
Now all I need to do is avoid starting up Links 2003 as otherwise I won’t go to bed until quite late! (How sad is it that I appear to be addicted to computer golf!?)

Well, this Monday was better than last Monday in that I managed to remember to set my alarm on Sunday thereby waking up in good time to get to work!
The routine was broken though as the five-a-side football was cancelled this evening as there weren’t enough players. Fortunately Nigel and a few others wanted to go bowling, so this evening wasn’t a complete loss. In the couple of games played this evening, I managed to come second and first in the first and second games respectively. 🙂

“Our Father…
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The first question when looking at this part of the Lord’s prayer is, “What is the will of God?”
God reveals his will in his word, specifically in his commandments. Yet, when we consider that everything that happens ultimately is in accordance with the will of God. Even though, through our sin, we don’t always do the will of God, and God’s anger is invoked, God’s will is always done. Somehow, God can use the free will of men to accomplish his will, even when the will of men is not in accordance with his will
This prayer has twofold implications.

1. We ask that God will carry out his will, that we would allow God to do his will in us. That we will trust God and allow him to do what is right in our lives.
2. We ask that God will carry out his will, that we would do the will of God.

These two implications may seem contradictory, but actually they should be in harmony. We need the wisdom to know when we should be passive and allow God to do his will, and we should be active and carry out God’s will. It is worth noting that we are never warranted to go against God’s will in either case, nor are we allowed to be fatalistic.
Of course, as with everything taught in the Sermon on the Mount, this is aimed at the poor in spirit, those whose trust is in Christ and not in themselves. Consequently we are not left alone to make these decisions, but given the Holy Spirit to guide us and grant us wisdom by the grace of God.

Very odd…I received a text message last night from Sarah asking if I’d want to go bowling the following day (today). Now this wouldn’t seem too odd usually, but she said it would be at 10am! Given that today is a Saturday, this was very odd indeed, but Becci was only visiting for a short period. However, I figured I hadn’t been bowling for a while, as well as not seeing Becci since she moved up north, so I thought I’d go along. Morning’s aren’t my strong point at the best of times, so I was not entirely cogniscient this particular morning, but a McBacon roll and orange juice helped me attain consciousness. Not sure I should’ve bothered though. Even though I scored a respectable 147, both Tristan and Steve beat me, leaving me trailing in third place, with Becci and Sarah bringing up the rear. Ah well, at least my score was satisfactory and everyone enjoyed themselves.
The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping for food and playing golf on the computer. I must say that the digital version is a lot easier than the real thing!
In the evening Ally, Mim and Steve and I went to the Uxbridge Road Tabernacle for one of their young people’s meetings. The subject for this evening was “Is the world in the church?” The speaker outlined, from John 17:15,16ff, the need for the church to be in the world, being salt and light. But also that the world should not be in the church – the attitudes and values of the world should not be allowed to permeate the church and so cripple it.

I had a few interesting discussings with some teenagers this evening. One in particular I thought was noteworthy.

They asked, “How do you know the Bible is true?”
I responded with, “Have you ever read it?”
To which they replied, “No.”
I then asked, “How can you know if it is true or not if you’ve never read it?”

I guess there are many things in life we don’t investigate ourselves, but trust the judgement of others, that we might form our own opinions based on those judgements. Sometimes it is right to do this, as some things don’t matter that much. However, if a book claims to contain the “words of eternal life” (John 6:68) and to be “God breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), surely it is worth reading for ourselves, that we make our own judgement on its authenticity and validity? What could be more important?