repent

for all you anglicans about to preach this sunday on repentence I thought this old joke might help start you off.
a new vicar comes to the parish and the vicarage is a little unloved and the congregation promise that they will help him paint it. The outside is one of those wooden clad places and the vicar wanted it all repainted.
the working party came on saturday and amongst much fun the work started. by mid afternoon it was clear the paint was going to run out. they went to the vicar and she looked at the tin. the paint was water based so she suggestted thining the paint with water. they completed the task and all went home with pride at a job well done.
overnight there was a massive thunderstorm . in the morning the thinned paint had washed away. the house looked worse than when they started.
the Vicar was upset, she proclaimed " re-paint, re-paint and thin no more"

faith

faith, hope and love, that is the challenge of the Bishop of Southwark to us all in the diocese. I spoke on faith yesterday and in an interactive discussion we agreed some things.
firstly faith is not experience , it is not tribal it is persoanl although it can be community. In the greek my wise boss said faith and trust are the same root and word. It is the absence of sureity, the begining of trust.
richard dawkins the famous athesit astounded his audience recently by admitting he was an agnostic. How had he moved? he hadnt he was just being honest, he could not prove God does not exist and therefore he cant be absolute. The scariest the lovliest points of faith are when you admit our sureity about God is equally unprovable in the scientific sense. It does not diminsh faith, rather it shows it to be what it is challenge

whoa that was a long break

how is it that i start something new with huge enthusiasm and then I tail off? am i lazy or is life too full?
this blog has not been neglected it has been totally ignored. Why? perhaps because i didnt have enough to say, or because I stopped trying to think of things. the reality is that I wanted to do this over the last 3 years and yet .....
well i am back and i hope to hang in there, honest

andrew

I am preaching on sunday and if you ae at St George's this sunday do not read any further. I want to highlight Andrew. he became a disciple because John the Baptist told him Jesus was the messiah. He then appears two more times to point out Jesus to Phillip and to find the boy with loaves and fishes.
We dont get to do dramatic things. We are asked to do small things well.
I feel encouraged by that..see you Sunday

Sometimes you read something and find it so appropriate that you need to share it. I am not including it because I am selfless, not at all, but because I need to acknowledge the love offered to me with grace
you refuse to acknowledge your own needs, never ask for anything, and miss those who long to give to you and long for you to receive
can you risk being open?
Waymarks by Jim Cotter 2001