Thank You - To All 10,000 of You

About five years ago I started a blog. My eldest daughter had just got married and I had turned fifty. It seemed a bit of a watershed. I decided I was not going to give up on climbing the mountains that life throws at you, so this blog was born.

Today, 193 posts later, it tipped over the 10,000 mark in terms of readers. So thank you. I’m glad the blog has encouraged and challenged, and I hope it will continue to do so.

It’s taken a while to get there because I don’t cheat. Some sites count every ‘click’ as a new visitor. I’m a bit mean in only recording visitors once a day.

A few facts and figures. The two most popular blogs were one on this page – ‘A Clear Reason – A Clear Answer’, and one that has been reposted once because it was such a popular post – ‘Laminin’ (October 2010). Some days there have been as many as 100 visitors, other days one or two. Hello to the 481 of you in the States that have passed through this year. And a big hello to the five of you in Russia! Glad you passed by, sole visitor from China. And hi to my friends in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. I know who you are! Quite a following in Brazil- appreciate your company.

Thanks again and here’s to the next 10,000!

This Race is Not About a Fall, This Race is About a Rise!

We're all in a race. It's the race of life. How we live determines how we finish.

Even if we fall, we can get up, run again and still win. Heather Dornidon shows how it should be:



Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God.
Hebrews 12: 1-2, The Message Version of the Bible.

(This was a clip I showed in my talk at KingsGate Church recently. You can find the talk at:
http://www.kingsgateuk.com/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=73639&file_id=81982 )

John Stott, Pastor, Theologian, Author; April 1921 - July 2011

"John Stott was the most modest of men. Compliments embarrassed him. He would shrug them off and try to change the subject just as quickly as he could.

If he could have briefed me in advance for this message which I am to give now, he most certainly would have said to me ‘focus on Christ, don’t focus on me’. "

John Stott Memorial Service Sermon from J I Packer.

A Clear Reason..... A Clear Answer

“Where there is no vision, the people perish” is one of the best known quotes from the Bible (Proverbs 29:18). What we are seeing on the streets of our cities reflects the truth of those words.

If you are in your late twenties, unemployed, and in fact have never had a job (not for want of trying), it’s likely you will lack purpose in life. If all you know is gang culture, it’s likely that is where you get your values on life. If you live in a materialistic and godless society, it’s likely you worship the HD TV, Nike shoes and designer labels.

What we are witnessing in our streets is a result of the society we live in. No excuse for riots. But a clear reason.

And there is a clear answer. Not that it appears to be an acceptable answer to a majority of our society. When you find the reason you’re here, it makes a difference to how you live.

As we wake this morning to pictures of burnt out cars, looted shops and fearful communities, there has never been such a need for faith in Christ.