Amazed & Confused

Celebrating my new specs...

I love my new specs.  It's such a relief to find a pair that I actually like wearing (and not because they make me look like one of the two Ronnies).  I got excited about them I thought I'd  buy them a friend...

Ah world, seeing your many colours and facets in crisp focus is a beautiful thing.  Gone are the headaches, the squinting and the gaffa holding my old broken pair together.  Here is the ease of glasses that don't fall off when I lean forward.  Such luxury!  So... do they make me look smart? Er the specs not the sunglasses... 

The Power of Speech & Cyber-stalking friends :)

I was going to blog today about the recording of the talk I gave last Sunday in Revs when it occurred to me… I wonder who else from 24-7 is speaking regularly to a community that get's podcasted or posted.  I did a little investigating, subscribed to a few podcasts and finished with a smile on my face as I anticipate some interesting listening in the weeks ahead.  If you're part of 24-7 Prayer and interested in what I found; then read on...

The 24-7 shop offers downloadable talks from all our major 24-7 Prayer gatherings. I'm usually present to hear them all but it's handy to get my hands on the ones that have really impacted me. They only get updated as we gather though (usually once a year) so more up to date teaching is best found on iTunes.

Pete Greig at Spring Harvest and Holy Trinity Brompton

Pete is one of my favourite teachers and communicators.  I find him constantly inspiring whether he's preaching or writing.  Last month Pete spoke at the largest Christian conference in Europe.  An Easter event called Spring Harvest that attracts 35,000 people of all ages over a number of weeks and locations.  Today I found Pete's talk on "A God Breathed World" available here.  Download and have a listen.
If you're interested in hearing more from Pete he also preaches ever few months at Holy Trinity Brompton in London.  You can subscribe to their podcast of weekly teaching here.

Adam Cox and the Kansas City Boiler Room Crew

If you were at Magnify in Scotland last year you will have had the pleasure of hearing Adam Cox, one of the leaders of the Kansas City Boiler Room.  Adam has such a passion for God's word and an amazing way of making it come alive to his listeners.  You can hear Adam and other leaders like Wendy Adams and David Blackwell teach through several different podcasts put out by the Boiler Room.  Listen to their weekly gatherings here and check out the wealth of teaching available through their website.

Little old me

Finally, I also teach from time to time and shared on Sunday with my home community of Revelation Church in Chichester, England.  The Red Moon Rising readers among you will recognise that name as one of the birth places of the 24-7 Prayer movement.  I am still a part of this community and spoke on Sunday about the power of speech from the book of Proverbs.  If you're interested in hearing more you can download it for free here.

That's all for now but I'll post a little update with more suggestions for downloads in the coming months, so if you've found these helpful, keep your eyes open for more.

Book Twenty Two: Lost in Translation

It is often with some trepidation that I open the cover of a book recommended by a friend.  Particularly if it's one I know is greatly loved.  Good books are like good companions, you can get awfully attached to them.  What if I didn't appreciate what this companion could be?  What if we didn't get on?  Conversely,  if I have an affinity with the person making the recommendation there is much potential that a treat is in store... these thoughts and more were passing through my mind as I opened Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett.  One of my lovely friend Alana Wiens' favourite novels.

Alana is an intelligent, compassionate and interesting woman with whom I have passed many an hour talking about life, the universe and everything.  So when she blogged about the book she's read more than once I was intrigued... Bel Canto did not disappoint!

To describe this book would be to mislead you.  It is surprising, interesting, touching, enchanting, intriguing and thought provoking. It is about love, fear, politics, youth, talent, culture, music, beauty, language, translation, power and much, much more.  I absolutely loved it.  Like the characters it creates, I did not want the story to end... but end it must.  If you're in the mood for something original and interesting I highly recommend it to you.  I won't tell you anything about the plot as it will give you totally the wrong idea about the genre and style of writing.  I suggest you go in blind and enjoy the tale...

From the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks

My bank holiday Monday is being spent in blissful silence... ah... peace... All weekend I've been mulling over, and dipping my toes into the talk prep I'm currently immersed in.  Today I finally dove in head first and I'm enjoying marinading in the word of God.  

This Wednesday I'm in Canterbury speaking to young people about prayer and next Sunday I'm sharing with Revelation Church my thoughts on the power of speech from the book of Proverbs.  For the first talk I'm drawing inspiration from my current Bible reading and the amazing life and love of King David, for my second... well... the words of Jesus haunt me on this topic...

"From the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34

If there were possibly some way to itemise all the ways I've messed up in my life and to analyse the cause, I would estimate that the majority of my trouble starts with my big mouth.  I do not generally think before I speak.  Most of the time I think as I speak.  Sometimes, to my shame, I think after (often to disastrous results).  I've had to get good and fast at apologising.  

A couple of years back when I took a break from speaking to study more, one of the greatest challenges I felt was the need to tame my tongue.  It's been a journey of exercising self control.  Sometimes I do well, other times... well sorry is a common word for me.  Jesus' words have probably been the biggest help.  When I've stopped to understand the motivation behind a hasty, unkind, anger-filled or 'foolish' tirade, it's been easier to avoid repeating the occurrence.  Learning to bite my tongue (not as easy as it sounds) has been key.   Being willing to swallow my opinion when it's unhelpful, unneeded or unasked for has been a big step forward too.  

Looking through this book of wisdom and what it has to say on the topic has been an excellent refresher.  Lots to mull over before Sunday.