There’s a story about a son… A son who’s not too interested in family life at the moment.

So he goes… Far away with his dad’s money. Enjoys life. Has some fun. The sort of fun you don’t have with your dad around.

But then things go wrong. The money runs out. The friends disappear.

He realises he was in fact much better off at home, in fact, even the people who work for his dad are in a better place than him, they have food at least! So he works out what he can do, rehearses his returning speech, his passionate apology a thousand times.

He’ll say sorry, he’ll offer to work, just to be treated like on of his dad’s employees would be enough. He can make things right, he’ll sort it, it’ll be ok.

But get this, he’s on his way home and before he makes it his dad sees him, and runs to him. And he gets ready, breathes in, begins to deliver his well rehearsed monologue. But before he can finish his dad’s already talking… He’s getting excited, shouting to everyone, organising a party of all things! But this isn’t any party, it’s a party for the son! He’s so happy!

There’s no way this son was going to sort things out himself - but it didn’t matter. His dad wasn’t interested in him paying him back, or earning his way back into his family. It was an open door. A party was thrown.

In fact the dad saw him and was waiting even before he knew he was on his way home.

This week some friends and I visited an Andy Warhol exhibition… I particularly liked these black and white diptychs… Interesting juxtapositioning don’t you think?

Are we different… Do we want to be… How can we be?

Is Jesus simply a cheap commodity?

Could the answer therein lie?

Yearning for something personal

With eager anticipation I finally went to see the Adjustment Bureau the other night… Suffice to say it was worth it! Really interesting and provocative!

Without spoiling the story for you, the basic premise is that there is a Chairman who lives high-up, faraway, unapproachable and spends his time writing the plan for our lives…

Aside from cooing at the standard romantic sob-plot and watching that unfold, I found myself thinking this was such a horrible idea, imagine if there was someone far off, distant, coldly plotting out my movements like pawns on a chess board? That’s so unattractive…

If there was someone who knew the plans for my life I’d want to be confident that they know me, that their plans would be the best for me, that the plans were made out of love… A cold faraway Chairman would be horrible… Wouldn’t someone a bit more personal be better?

Discover your truth??

Whilst wandering in an umnamed but large and popular bookstore the other day I stumbled upon this poster…

This is possibly one of the most ridiculous ideas our generation has come up with, the suggestion that I decide what truth is… Granted we each experience things in different ways according to who we are, but it doesn’t mean things start or stop being true.

For instance I could tell you that I’m sat here writing this on my sewing machine and that with each stitch a new letter uploads to the net… A thrilling thought! It is however no more true however emphatically I say it.

It’s not that truth diesn’t exist, in fact it most certainly does… But we don’t get to decide what it is.

Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.

So it seems the poster does have potential, but maybe instead of

Consider religion; discover your truth

It should be:

Consider religion; discover the truth

Heaven is a place on earth?

So I’m quite the fan of Rob Ryan and all related products… They’re so pretty, and often have really heart warming wording. However on bristling walk in the snow to look at the pretty Christmas lights I spotted this tea-towel:

So pretty and a lovely idea… right?

Wrong… It would be awful if the world we live in now was as good as heaven is going to get. As a Christian I do get to enjoy some ‘heavenly’ things now, like a relationship with God, open access into his presence and the Holy Spirit. But heaven’s going to be a lot better than this!

Granted I’m not an expert in heaven, but there are some things I do know about it, and it’s going to be fab!

The Bible says that in heaven we’ll be with God and

He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone.

Revelation 21:4

This earth is great, I like it. But let’s be honest, a lot of stuff happens that shouldn’t, evil can seem to be winning, life hurts. But there’s hope. All the pain we feel on earth will one day be gone, dealt with, tears wiped. That’s great. I want that heaven.

Fame or faith?

This is quite a phenomenal interview between Jeremy Paxman and Russell Brand on the subject of fame and the quest for such-like…

Is the celebrity platform a replacement for God in people’s lives?

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator— who is for ever praised.

Romans 1:25

Faith in football

This might seem like a surprising post from girly a cupcake & sewing enthusiast like me… But when I stumbled across this video I was so inspired and humbled… And excited!

These guys are setting such a great example for glorifying God in what they do, in worshipping him in what he’s called them to do. What an encouragement to us in doing our jobs, the day to day things God puts in our life for his glory.

And how amazing are the comments at the end, the recognition that for these players their faith clearly offers them a hope that transcends success on the pitch, and that players with faith can change the game!

Let’s pray for these guys!