Witnessed a wonderful wedding today. I’ve known them both as a couple for around two years, so it was great to see them tie the knot in the sight of God and us. May their life together be blessed.
The service was conducted by Joy’s father, and the main address was by Az’s pastor. The address was focussed mainly on Ephesians 5:22-33, which was read in Amharic as well as English, with brief references to Genesis 2 and 3.
Some of the photos from the event are in my online photo album.
Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful for ever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free,
the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The LORD reigns for ever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD. (NIV)
Just seen “Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind” at the Odeon in Uxbridge – what a cool film. I’m not usually into romantic films, but this one was different. There was substance to the characters and their relationships, and it was portrayed in a very interesting way. Needless to say, worth seeing. Only thing left hanging in my mind is – Is it true? Is there one girl out there, with whom I’m destined to spend the rest of my life? We’ll see I guess.
Snooker: Lost 0-1 against Robin and 0-1 against Dave H.
Well, it’s been a week since I bought the Z600, and despite quite heavy use (for me), as well as the tinkering required with a new purchase, it has gone the whole week on a single charge and is still going.
Hez’s birthday today, so a few of us went out for a celebratory meal. Good conversation, good company and the food wasn’t bad either. 🙂 However, something went awry with the bill. Somehow, even though everyone paid their bit, the amount collected came out short of the total. This isn’t an isolated incident, it seems to happen quite often, with different groups of friends – What gives? Ah well.
On a complete tangent, Fedora Core 2 is now installed and patched up (already!) So far, it appears very similar to Core 1, except it now has a 2.6 kernel. Will need to delve a little deeper to see what else is different.
After many weeks of rehersals, some of which have been doubt inducing, I think the choir I accompany will be ready for their concert in two weeks time. They sang Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “As Torrents in Summer” with aplomb, and breezed through the conductor’s arrangement of “Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside”, amongst various other pieces rehersed this evening.
I only hope they don’t forget everything in the last two weeks.
Saying that, I’m still not entirely sure about this Beethoven Violin Sonata….
The sermon this morning was on the claim of Jesus – “Trust in God, trust also in me”. If Jesus were not God, this statement would be that of a madman, yet his life shows he was not. Jesus also gave people reasons to believe in him, that he would prepare us a room in his Fathers house, and that he would return to take those who trust in him to that room. Very straightforward and to the point.
Lunch was very good, being at a friends house. Unusual combination of prawn crackers and traditional Sunday Roast. Still very palatable though. A very good afternoon.
A nice slow day. Lounged around for most of the day, practiced the Beethoven Violin Sonata for a while – showing signs of improvement – it might even be pleasant to listen to soon.
Went to play snooker with Robin in the afternoon. 3-0 (frames) to me, not sure if that was because I’m getting any better or because Robin was having an off day. Who knows?
In the evening I saw “Paycheck”, starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman, with some friends at Karen’s house. Interesting dip into the whole fate/free will philosophies, with a sprinkling of John Woo cinematics for good measure. Entertaining, if not entirely thought through. 🙂
Well, another week over. Just got back from ten-pin bowling with the 11up club. Got a rather respectable 132, although one of the kids got 168(!) Ah well.
Getting the hang of this new phone though. Successfully copied the phone book across using the computer, just need to familiarise myself with the slightly different controls. Think I’ll stick to using a proper digital camera for photos though – the camera on the phone isn’t too great.
The Bible Study this evening was on the ascension. Basically, there are four main points which can be brought out:
Christ ascended above all things, he is pre-eminent, and reigns over all. As such, why should I rebel against him – rather I should place him and his will, before me and my own will.
Christ prays for me, interceding on my behalf before the Father.
Christ provides for me, blessing me with every spiritual blessing.
Christ is preparing a place for me, that where he is, I may also be.
I should probably not be allowed to wander the high street in my lunch break. (I’m sure Sarah, Becci and some of the other girls would find the following example of impulse purchasing amusing!) Somehow I managed to upgrade my mobile phone to a SonyEricsson Z600 and purchase a Pure DRX-701 DAB Digital Radio Tuner all within half an hour…The tuner does sound brilliant though, even through my crusty amplifier and speakers. Classic FM sounds very clear and hiss-free. Actually thinking about it, if it were the girls shopping, they would’ve taken forever.
Another snooker session against Robin this evening – 1 frame each. Not really getting any better…
Finally downloaded all four Fedora Core 2 CDROMs as well, so time to start installing it, whilst listening to my new digital radio. 🙂
PS: Anyone want to buy a Denon TU1500 AM/FM Tuner?
OK, I’m a geek! I’d been waiting for the release of Fedora Core 2 for a while now. All I have to do now is download it, which may take a while – 4 CDROM ISO files!
Went to work wearing an unironed shirt today. You’d think people would have better things to do than remind me my shirt is unironed…but then, maybe they don’t…maybe I’ll wear a T-shirt tomorrow? 🙂
Well, the sermons at church today were interesting. This morning, we were looking at a portion of the Sermon on the Mount, specifically Mt 5:17-20, with Rom 8:1-4 as a development. The passage was basically broken into four points: Doctrine, Deeds, Death, Disciples.
Doctrine, because Jesus explains the full gravity of the Law. The Pharisees had dumbed down the Law to make it possible for someone like me to keep, whereas, in reality I could never fulfil the demands of the Law.
Deeds, because Jesus kept the Law in its entirity, in contrast to me.
Death, because Jesus died and suffered the wrath of God, as a sacrifice and substitution for me, so that I would not suffer the consequence of my Lawlessness.
Disciples, because as a disciple of Jesus, the Law would be my guide and not my condemnation. i.e. Because I have been saved, I will not disregard the Law, but it will govern my behaviour.
So through these four points, Jesus fulfilled the Law, without abolishing it.
OK, it’s not quite summer, but it is very warm out today – has been for the past week. Maybe it’ll be like this, through summer, until autumn – that would be nice. Although, knowing the British weather, it’ll probably get cold in July and rain until September. Who knows…
Yesterday, due to the rather clement weather, I ventured out into Osterley Park which isn’t far from my house, and it was beautiful. The sun was shining, the grass had just been cut, the flowers were in bloom and everyone was out enjoying the sun. Needless to say I took my camera with me and maybe I’ll upload some snaps when I get a spare moment. In contrast, after my wander, I spent a couple of hours in the dark confines of the local snooker hall in an attempt to improve my game – It took a while for the body to adjust! Not bad though, finished with two frames each. The day didn’t finish there though! I went along to a church in Twickenham, where young(ish) people from churches around London were invited for an evening of games and socialising. A good time was had by all, and I went home a happy, but very tired, bunny.
Alas, can’t spend all day out there. Need to practice for an upcoming concert. Some of the pieces aren’t difficult – Gershwin’s Summertime for example. However, I’m not entirely au fait with Beethoven’s Violin Sonata. A little more careful listening and piano bashing required I think…
Well, I wondered whether I should set up a blog, I wondered whether people would read ramblings, let alone my ramblings, but here it is. We’ll see if anyone reads these ramblings.
