Bus Lane Fine

Had a fine drop through the letter box today after I had picked up Margaret on George Street. Eveidently I should not have taken a right turn just before George Street. Oh well, paid it eary and got it at half price. Had a really good game of tennis. I can feel the improvements in serve and forehand - all self-taught.

My complimentary copy of Liz Babbs Lent Course came today.

Transformed by the Presence of Jesus

This Lent, take up the challenge of going beyond traditional Bible study and, through a popular meditative approach, step into the shoes of well known Bible characters – so that you might be transformed, as they were, by the presence of Jesus.

Transformed by the Presence of Jesus is an opportunity to engage with Jesus through Scripture in a vibrant way through Bible meditation and study together with photography, music, personal and group reflection and discussion. Learn how to step inside the Bible and walk alongside characters like Mary Magdalene, Peter, Lazarus and The Woman at the Well and have life-changing encounters with Jesus just as they did. Then allow Jesus to touch your life in fresh ways so you too can become an instrument of change and transformation.

Explore the importance of:

• Walking with Jesus

•   Waiting for Jesus

•   Being named by Jesus

•   Being known by Jesus

•   Faith and Jesus

•   Obeying Jesus

Liz will be 'on the road' touring Transformed during Lent - February & March 2013, offering sessions and retreat days. Book Liz for a 2 hour evening or afternoon event or for a retreat day which creates the opportunity for a deeper, more profound encounter with Jesus. Just one day’s investment in the company of Jesus, could transform your life!

Tour Itinerary February – March 2013

26th Jan - Liz leading 'Transformed' day at Waverley House - CWR.

Week 1  (11th - 17th Feb)     London & South East

Week 2  (18th - 24th Feb)     South

Week 3  (25th Feb - 3rd Mar)  South West

Week 4  (4th - 10th Mar)      Midlands

Week 5  (11th - 17th Mar)     North West

Week 6  (18th - 24th Mar)     North East

Cost

2 hour evening or afternoon event: £200 including petrol within a 100 mile radius of Nottingham.

4 hour retreat day: £350 including petrol within a 100 mile radius of Nottingham.

Travel costs outside 100 mile radius can be negotiated.

How to Book:

For enquires and to request a Transformed booking form contact liz@lizbabbs.com

Liz will send a complimentary copy of her book (on request) to anyone considering booking her. In order to help cover the costs of this tour Liz would like churches to purchase copies of Transformed by the Presence of Jesus (£4.99) direct from her otherwise an extra charge may be needed to cover the cost of the event. 

Accompanying Transformed CD (imaginative meditation & music album) £7.99 or MP3 download £5.99 is also available from Liz's website www.lizbabbs.com and will really enhance personal and group use of the meditative materials contained in the book.

Local Preachers' Study Course

I'm off to Hucknall soon for the planning meeting of the new Local Preachers' Study Course. If I can make it I'm due to attend the City Centre Leaders' meeting at St. Peter's next to Marks and Spencer's (which I missed). The meeting went well except the number of confirmed applicants is worryingly low. As is usually the case with these things, we will probably see a last minute surge.

It's good news that the new HS2 train will stop off at Toton. It makes a lot of sense to keep the terminal away from the main centres. Also the raised railway tracks look impressive and should deter vandals.

I am preparing for the 2nd week of the Welcoming Churches course at Bingham. However, it could end up being the first week repeated depending upon how many turn up after a poor showing last week.

It's amazing how mild it is today compared to a few days ago. Last Saturday we experienced thick snow which started to thaw on Sunday and it's been mild ever since - although the wind is strong today.

The Call of Jeremiah

The Call of Jeremiah 1:4-10

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

We don't know how old Jeremiah was when he received his call to the prophetic ministry - he may have been a mere teenager. However, the call he received was not something of his imagining - it was accompanied by the strength of God's Spirit and enabled him to go way beyond his own comfort-zone and take a message, sometimes uncomfortable to accept, to many people. Unknown to Jeremiah, God had been at work in his life long before he recognised it. This is called 'prevenient grace' and recognises that God's work within our life is constant, even when we are not conscious of it or become open to his presence within us.

This teaches us a number of lessons:-

1. Age is no impediment if God has called you
2. It is natural to assume that our ability to serve God is restricted to our own efforts and capabilities. However, when God calls, he also equips.
3. God already has a vision of what we are to achieve for him (Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart)
4. God cleanses the parts of us which he is to use for his glory (Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth)

Welcoming Churches

Tibetan Tea Room Budapest

I created a visual of the Tibetan Tea Room we visited last summer in Budapest. The aim is to illustrate on the Welcoming Churches course how a building is not simply bricks and mortar, but can convey the presence of God and lead people into a deeper spiritual experience. Do we take time to make them a place of encounter?

One of next Sunday's readings is Jeremiah 1:4-10, the call of Jeremiah when he was but a youth.

I also discovered a cool video of cats doing amazingly funny things - click here.

Tonight's course went really well. More people than last week turned out and there was aa real buzz about the place. Week 2 always creates a stir because we look at the way the church does or does not connect with its community.

West Hallam Covenant Service

I had the privilege of preaching at the West Hallam Area Covenant Service at the Scargill school and presiding over communion with the other ministers. It went really well and the whole weekend has been quite an experience with contrasting weather - snow on Saturday and rain on Sunday. At the school I was chief projectionist as well as the preacher. Sadly I preached for so long that the laptop powered off during the sermon. I had to restart it to show 'Kindle the flame'. It was good to see Moira Biggins at the service (she is on sabbatical). Around 100 turned out for it in spite of it clashing with the Australian Open finals where Andrew Murray lost in 4 sets to Novak Djokovic - but he did really well and his standard of play was excellent. people are now regarding these 2 as the world's top 2 players now that Murray has defeated Federer in a Grand Slam for the first time.

Had a quiet evening at home.

Healing & Wholeness

West Hallam Methodist Church

I led the healing & wholeness day at West Hallam Methodist Church with Rev. Janet Tanner. Despite the new snowfall, a good number turned out and the day was most helpful to many people.

We booked the flights to Geneva for Feb 9th.

Matthew's Video

Andrew & Matthew

Well today is my day off although it was punctuated with preparations for this weekend's Healing & Wholeness Day at West Hallam and the Covenenat Service also at West Hallam on Sunday morning. Andy Murray final defeated Roger Federer to get to the final of the Australian Open. He could have wrapped it up in 4 sets but let Roger into set 4. He demolished him in set 5. Had a brief speall of tennis at David Lloyd with AGC.

Spoke to Andrew on Skype and he sent us his first video of Matthew - video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA0hUdBbuq8)

Esther has her new laptop but it already has a virus because she has no anti-virus software. Snow is being threatened for tonight which could affect tomorrow's event - we shall see.

Welcoming Churches Course

The course at church@community went really well with a good turnout from the Nottingham (East) circuit and many from the local church there to welcome us. The weather did not seem to deter people and we successfully completed week 1 of the three week course. Sadly the following night at Bingham only 6 people turned out. Although the snow is slowly disappearing there is a threat of more to come and this might disrupt the healing & wholeness day on Saturday.

Thursday night was the circuit stewards' meeting at Paul Worsnop's manse. Another productive meeting and I fed lots of ideas into the melting pot about the circuit structure. I need to spend more time looking around the different churches.

Snow beginning to thaw

I ran Margaret to work as the hill outside the house is still icy. It's not quite so cold today. Spent the day preparing, especially for tonight's Welcoming Churches course and the Covenant Service on Sunday night. We had an email from Andrew encouraging us to visit Challex on the weekend of February 9th.

I have had some strange posts appear on my FB wall and today I managed to track down the source of one of them. Hopefully we can identify the origin of the intrusion.

Off now to Blue Bell Hill Primary School to give the Welcoming Churches Course.

Snow persists

A day in the office preparing various events. In the evening I went to West Hallam for the joint CLT ably chaired by Andrew Carter.

Early on I wrote Bulletin 261 - Meanderings, based around Moses and the Wilderness Journey. I also had an email from Northumberland asking permission to use bulletin 260 - A Covenant People. This has really struck a chord with people.

More on Kisbaba

Well, the tummy bug didn't stop me leading worship at Ruddington - all went well. Andrew has sent some more photos of Kisbaba.

Now for a lazy afternoon recovering from my tummy bug. A bit loud at the start but well put together and solidified their inclusion in CTWB. There was a little more slushy snow tonight and we gave Judith Winship a lift home.

Went to the Churches Together service at Wellin Lane (Rock Church)

Kisbaba Day 3

Andrew with Matthew Robert Johnson (born 16/1/2013)

We received more photos from the hospital. For those who are wondering what 'Kisbaba' means - it is Hungarian for 'Little Baby' which has been the assumed name for baby before he arrived.

Here are Andrew, Becky and Matthew in the Geneva hospital. This picture was a Skype screen dump. They should all leave hospital tomorrow.

Matthew at 3 days old in Geneva Hospital.
Baby and Mum are doing fine. (Skype screenshot)

Well, today I was really under the weather suffering from a tummy bug, I ate nothing all day after breakfast and felt shivvery. Hopefully it will go overnight so that I can lead Ruddington's service tomorrow. Off for a bath to relax me.

Naming Day

Well we received Kisbaba's new name - Matthew Robert Johnson.

Today we were threatened with snow across the region. However, by 1pm little had arrived. Caught up on various tasks and played a curtailed game of tennis before skyping Andrew in the evening to see how things were. Baby is fit and healthy and cries very little - must be a contented baby. By nightfall the snow had set in with about 2 inches but slippery conditions.

Kisbaba

Had my one-to-one meeting with Loraine and came away with a number of positive actions. I then replied to Andrew's Reshaping for Mission document. The afternoon flew by and I prepared my service for Ruddington this coming Sunday.

Sunday service sorted, now for the belated Christmas meal at Grannie's Tea Room. Although we're having a rest period to see where God is leading us next, I don't feel sad about it. It's 10 years almost to the day that we started Grannie's with the first Alpha. Now Louise is starting her Local Preacher training, Janet and I have diaries bursting at the seams and that leaves Carole on her own. We need to start afresh and with a rest period, I believe something new will emerge.

Andrew sent us a picture of (as yet unnamed) Kisbaba. So cute!

Kisbaba Day

Well, the day has finally arrived. Becky gave birth to Kisbaba (yet to receive his proper name) weighing in a 7lb 10oz at 13.36 GMT in La Tour Hospital Geneva. Now to enjoy life as a granddad.

Work-wise we had the core team in the morning, MSM planning in the  afternoon and District Grants in the evening. I received my PSA reading from the hospital at 16.3, way too high but that's life.

Meetings Day

I started off with a meeting with Janet Tanner to plan the Healing & Wholeness Day for Erewash Valley, This was very productive and there was an easy meeting of minds. I agreed to show Janet a copy of the visual 'She's leaving home' which I have placed on dropbox.

The afternoon meeting was with Michael Mitton talking about FEAST and planning the next meeting. We are starting out co-chairing the FEAST and it's great to work with him.

Took Margaret to the doctors to talk about her ear problem and they will refer her to the QMC. At last I have a quiet evening at home to relax.

What a day!

Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Firstly I tried to cancel the BT Broadband because TalkTalk have come up trumps with a much faster speed and better price. No deal! I now have 2 broadband connections Then my front tyre was nearly flat again - don't know what's causing it to lose pressure occasionally. Then squash - lost to someone I should have easily beaten - I was too lethargic. Then a rather depressing letter from the doctor about my recent blood test. Lots of prayer needed. I must put my recent quote into practice -

Joy is a gift, happiness is a decision.

Sunday Services

I led worship at St. Lawrence's Gotham where the Methodists meet with the Anglican for what is often a Methodist Service. This was the case today and I preached on the meaning of the Methodist Covenant Service. I used my visual 'New Beginnings' based on Liz Babbs' Celtic reflections. Also I played Jonathan Veira's version of King of Kings. A good morning indeed with the first sprinkling of snow of this year. Enjoyed the Soul Café tonight at West Bridgford. I played Amazing Grace to the tune of 'House of the Rising Sun' - cool.

Wednesday 9th

Woke up still feeling groggy after yeaterday's tummy problems. Felt a bit of a fever but got up around 9am. Another router from TalkTalk arrived.

Tethering

Julian came around today to talk about a number of project issues. He also looked into tethering on my HTC and got it working - no security - on my netbook. It is temperamental and requires a restart after being connected to another network and it consumes tons of air time so I need to try it out on the road.

Paul Shaw phoned me up today to see if I was interested in promoting his mobile apps for churches. Needless to say I was not keen. I sent him information on MET to see what he could do on that.

Went to the Grannie's Band tonight but suffered from stomach problems and had to leave early. Carole told me they have applied to move to Australia.

Broadband day

Today the TalkTalk engineer came in his shiny TalkTalk van and installed a new router, plugging it into the main cable. The silver cable to my old router looked dodgy. He also lowered the SNR settings on the line. I now have broadband at around 10-13 Meg. This poses a problem of what to do with the BT broadband line. I also tried to sort out my task and prayer list.

I prepared the service for Gotham on Sunday (first draft) and wrote the bulletin 'A Covenant people'. Preparing to go to badminton for the first time in 2013. Looking forward to the hot bath that follows it.

Back into the squash season

After two weeks away from the squash court and too much indulgence over the Christmas and New Year period, squash was a particular challenge. However, I played Alka who is always hard to beat. I clawed it back from 0-1 and 1-2 to win 3-2 with the score at 10-8 in the last game - in other words, it could not have been closer. After playing Alka I played Barrie 4 games. He is a much better player but as he hits the ball so much faster and it gets hotter I found I was hitting it better. I was really stiff afterwards.

At West Bridgford Methodist we had the Covenant service which Paul Hill led admirably despite the infection which has laid him low over the Christmas period. It was a very moving and meaningful service and I spoke to a number of people after the service, many of whom have difficulties of one type or another. That's the stuff of life - even for Christians. We had a lovely dinner with Margaret's famous roast potatoes.

Tethering

I went into town with a view to buying an iPad but after talking to the man in KMCR I decided to look into tether my laptop to my smart phone - could save me lots of money. I tried when I got home but I need a USB cable (which I ordered for 99p on Amazon) and special app and software for HTC. I don't know why there isn't a generic one for Android but I hope Julian will tell me why on Tuesday. I don't like typing with this in bed as the light casts a shadow over my fingers. The kb isn't the best but will the iPad be any better?

We went to see 'The life of Pi'.

Back at work

A most productive day on Thursday catching up on issues left over from last year. I attended the Leicester FEAST. It was a good meeting along similar lines to our own but is more proactive in encouraging engagement with FX. The URC Synod rep left a lot to be desired - all waffle and little positive to say.

Nearly every retail outlet has run out of  iPad minis. I am set to go ahead with a purchase shortly. I'm still unsure about which type and size to go for but I feel 3G is essential. Recent income through the business makes things more attractive.

Friday took a while to get going but completed my report for the district exec and added district 99 (mailing list people) to the MET system. Esther came around and we caught up on what happened over Christmas. M & I went to the Goose at Gamston for a drink tonight.