Month: May 2007

Only on bank holidays

Sometimes I wonder about the British weather. For the past two weeks, it’s been unusually hot and sunny, and you’d expect it to be fairly constant. However, after two weeks of staring out at the glorious weather from my office window, it finally rains, on a bank holiday. Typical.

However, undeterred, a few of us braved the elements to meet up with some other brave souls from churches around London to meet up and chill and Battersea Park. Given the rather damp weather, the morning was spent wandering around the V&A museum, which was rather cool, especially looking at the modern design exhibits.

Eventually, the weather cleared and we met up in a warm, sunny, albeit rather pollen blanketed, Battersea Park. The sun even dried the ground and made it possible to sit and chill on the grass and play football and volleyball.

The day finished at Nandos in Elephant and Castle. It was good to be able to spend the afternoon catching up with old friends and meeting new friends.

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a.m.: 2 Timothy 1 p.m.: Romans 5

As we go through the Christian life, we very often find it difficult to tell others about Jesus Christ. Christians throughout the ages have had this problem, and it is this problem which caused Paul to write to Timothy.

Paul used his how much more reasoning with Timothy. After all, if God was willing to save us sinners from sin, and not only that but to change us from within, how much more would he enable us to tell others the good news?

This is not to say we won’t undergo suffering for the gospel, but the Spirit within us enables us out of a love for our fellow man to tell others of the salvation from sin available through Jesus Christ.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Rom 1:16

It is even more striking when you think that, unlike today in the West, where the most we might suffer is a little mockery or a slightly damaged ego, compared within the Roman Empire where Timothy would likely be risking imprisonment, possibly even death. Again, Paul uses the much more than argument – Christ had defeated death, so what are we to be afraid of?

This is not to say we are to be foolish in our sharing of the gospel, but that we take every opportunity when we can.


The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself

Almost a usual game of football this afternoon, except that the team David H was on won! Was a good day for it though, with a slightly cloudy sky to start, not too hot and no wind to carry the ball away. I need to concentrate on remembering people’s name though as, in some cases, I forget their names before the game is over!

A quick bath and then I was out again – this time to the Arch One bar, near Waterloo station, for the evening to celebrate a work colleague’s engagement. The venue was very pleasant, and I ordered myself some food (Moroccan style lamb shank…mmm….) due to the rush and lack of time to eat properly. Only quibble was that the bar slowly got darker and darker, and the music got louder and louder through the evening until I could no longer hear myself speak, let alone anyone else!