Month: February 2005

恭喜發財

…or “Gung hei fat choi” for those who think there’s four random pictures in the title. 🙂 Apparently, it’s now the year of the rooster/chicken, although what that means, I don’t know. I must admit to being a bit of a geek when it comes to calendars. Did you know that the Chinese calendar is lunisolar rather than solar? It also isn’t counted from a single point in time (or epoch), but gets reset at the beginning of each emperor’s reign, unlike the Gregorian calendar which counts from the birth of Jesus Christ.

Geek stuff aside, to most people it’s about wishing each other prosperity and giving each other little red envelopes of money. Whilst I’m not going to wish you economic prosperity (as that might not necessarily be a good thing for you, depending on who you are), I will wish you prosperity in that which rust and moth cannot destroy and which thieves cannot steal.

Happy (Chinese) New Year!


Flipping

I must take note that playing 3-a-side football is completely shattering! After running around, yesterday evening, for what seemed like forever, I got home in rather a useless state. Fortunately, the DVD player was willing to assist and I spent the rest of the evening watching The Madness of King George (III).
Having a passing interest in history, I thought this film was superb. Set soon after the birth of the United States, the film follows King George III as he takes a rather peculiar turn for the worse! The film highlights the distress caused by his illness, to both him and his family, as well as his government and his country. It also shows the future George IV in his attempts to take advantage of the situation, battling politically with William Pitt, in order to become Prince Regent. All this happens amongst a backdrop of superb architecture, countryside and the very regal music of Handel. A great film which is well worth watching.
Today is Shrove Tuesday, so I’ve scoured the internet for a decent pancake recipe, finding this one at Sainsbury’s.

125g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 medium egg
300ml milk
oil

I’m just waiting for my batter mixture to rest a little now, then I’ll be seeing if I can flip my pancakes onto the ceiling. 😀


a.m.: 1 Peter 5:1-4 p.m.: 1 Corinthians 7

In his first letter, the apostle Peter writes on the behaviour of an elder – rather than how an elder should behave.
Above all, an elder should be able to testify to the work of Jesus Christ in their lives. Without this testimony, their witness will be false and worthless. How can they speak of Jesus Christ if they do not know him?
An elder should be willing to do God’s will, rather than out of duty. It should something that happens because of a regenerate heart wishing to serve God.
An elder should watch over the church, as a good shepherd watches over his sheep – even laying down his life for his sheep, guarding against error and feeding the church. This should be done not by driving the flock, but by leading, by example, yet without being afraid to point out error, as well as feeding the flock by bringing the word of God to them.
Finally, an elder should be waiting for appearance of the chief elder of the church, the head of the church, Christ Jesus.
Those Christians who are not elders should not consider themselves exempt from these conditions, but should seek to be more like the chief elder by the power of the Spirit working in them. Moreover, someone should not be appointed as an elder until he exhibits these qualities.


Cute

Went wandering around Albury Heath today, with a few of the usual ramblers. We were joined by a small contingent of ‘older’ young people from the church. (If that makes any sense!) The weather was clement and dry, despite being a little cloudy. A good opportunity to have fellowship, whilst enjoying God’s wider creation at the same time. Photos should be up soon.
A few of us sauntered down to the local snooker hall, where a 3-1 result in my favour was racked up. I guess one day I might be beaten, but not today. 🙂
Finally, one of the church’s ‘older’ young people recently had a birthday, so the usual suspects piled down to Chiquito in Feltham to celebrate. Everyone appeared to enjoy themselves – including most importantly the birthday boy, who even got to go home with a bunch of balloons.
Thanks be to God for a very good day!


The meaning of life

Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

(Question I from the Westminster Shorter Catechism)


Rules

Well, I appear to have had my first piece of blog/comment spam – which I have since deleted.

I don’t mind random unrelated comments from friends and family – I would even encourage it. I also don’t mind related comments from people I don’t know. However, I do object to random unrelated ‘comments’ from people I don’t know whose sole reason for their ‘comment’ (or spam) is to advertise their own web site.

If you are completely unknown to me and would like a link to your site from this one, please send me an email with the details, and we’ll take it from there. At the end of the day this is my blog, where I will rant and ramble about the topics and events I consider interesting, inviting comment on those particular topics and events, and I intend to keep it that way. This is not a search engine. If you’re looking for somewhere to submit your random unrelated link, have a chat with these guys.

I apologise to my regular readers (if such things exist) for the interruption. Normal service will resume shortly. 🙂