adventblog2019

A friend of mine is having a baby.  Quite possibly as you read this.  Which is lovely isnt it?  But also, well, ' a Christmas baby' always feels a little bit of a shame somehow because we know that person is going to spend the rest of their lives having to have their birthday and Christmas celebrations all mixed up together.  I have one friend who was born on Christmas Day.   And several who have their brithdays within a couple of days of the 25th.   For some reason this year my attention has been drawn to all these special December birthdays in the run up to celebrating the most significant birthday of all.  And I started to wonder why we celebrate birthdays at all. If you think about it it seems a bit..... random.    Why celebrate the date of our birth?  Why celebrate the birth of Jesus?   What is so important about birthdays? I did a bit of research.   Apparently ( and fairly obviousl...

Ive just been to see the new Star Wars film with the family.  A whole lot of shouting and light sabres and deep meaningful staring into the middle distance.😀  I cant say I massively enjoyed it but I always find it interesting that when watching Star Wars I feel God speaking to me.  Its probably because the essential story about the battle between good and evil is so stark and obvious.  But there are more subtle messages too.  There is a whole thread running through all the films ( but particularly the early ones) about fatherhood and identity.  In this latest one I was reminded of Jesus in the wilderness - I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth if you will bow down and worship me ( Satan)    I wont spoil it for anyone who hasnt seen it yet, but there is a magnificent effort on behalf of the writers to tie up every loose end and answer all the plot cliff hangers.  And of course the special effects are everything we have come to expect....

You know that thing where something comes to your attention and you sort of notice it but move on.  And then the next day the very same thing happens again, and you think  'Hmmm, that's interesting'. And then the next day it happens again and you finally wake up to the fact that you really are supposed to be paying attention ?  😀 Hanukkah.   ( The Festival of Dedication)    Three times this week Ive had this Jewish festival brought to my attention.  This year it just so happens that Hanukkah falls over Christmas  ( It is a moveable feast so that doesnt often happen)  Its a festval of lights - over a period of eight days eight candles are lit. These represent the eight days that one days supply of oil lasted in the period between the Old and New Testaments when the temple was restored to the Jewish people.  It was a miracle of God's provision and testimony to the fact that light overcomes darkness.  A tiny minority o...

As we approach the end of a year we all tend to have a bit of a look backwards to see what actually happened, how much progress was made, fondly remembering the good things and perhaps regretting or struggling to understand the bad things. I thought I'd just give you a quick review of my year in terms of some of the things and people Ive prayed for and about and what has happened. Jake taking first steps Right back at the start of 2019 an old schoolfriend of mine posted that his 18 yr old son had been involved in a catastrophic car accident.  Jake was seriously injured and for a week or so it wasnt clear that he would survive and if he did, to what extent he would be able to function again.  His Dad Simon put out an appeal on Facebook asking for prayer.  ( Ive blogged about this before in the Lent Blog)  With teenage boys myself ( and one just learning to drive) I felt a real and urgent connection to Jake and his family and we as a family committed to pray fo...