Monday 24 December 2012

No Greater Power (2)


And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

                John 1: 14

Friday 21 December 2012

No Greater Power

There is no greater power than a community discovering what is cares about.
Ask "What's possible?" not "Whats wrong?" Keep asking.
Notice what you care about.
Assume that many others share your dreams.
Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.
Talk to people you know.
Talk to people you never talk to.
Be intrigued by the differences you hear.
Expect to be surprised.
Treasure curiosity more that certainty.
Invite in everybody who cares to work on what's possible.
Acknowledge that everyone is an expert in something.
Know that creative solutions come from new connections.
Remember, you don't fear people whose story you know.
Real listening always brings people closer together.
Trust that meaningful conversations change your world.
Rely on human goodness. Stay together.

                                             Meg Wheatley

Thanks to Steve Pettican for bringing this to my attention

Saturday 8 December 2012

In Defense of Traditional Marriage


I became a Christian when I was 15 years old. Since then, the Bible has been my companion. It’s been a good book to base my life on.
More importantly, our nation is based on the Bible- on a set of Judaeo-Christian beliefs. It has been a good book to base our nation on. We don’t always get it right, but the belief system we have developed has served us well and given us solid foundations.
I saw our Prime Minister on the news last night. With little thought to our foundations, he intends to remove one. The Bible is clear- marriage is between one man and one woman. That’s what our nation is based on and we have historic records to that effect. Marriage goes back to the dawn of time. Marriage in our nation is written into our laws. Over 3000 laws refer to it. Many would have to be rewritten to remove the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’.
Cameron wants to change marriage. It’s not something that was in his manifesto. He has chosen to ignore the considerable reaction against his views. And, more importantly, he is trying to remove a foundation stone, whilst expecting the building above it to remain unaffected.
Marriage is bigger than the same-sex debate. It’s bigger than a Prime Ministers whim. It’s a foundation on which we have built our nation. It needs defending.

Thursday 6 December 2012

Mountains

You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.

Tom Hiddleston

[We are] created to walk in precarious places, not on the easy levels of life.

Amy Carmichael