Spirit willing - Flesh weak!

So much to say so little time to say it! It's late and I know it's been ages since my last update - so here goes! Hope my memory serves me well. There have been three big things and tons of regular stuff. My work in the schools has been so rich these past weeks - I have been amazed at the responses to the assembly talks. It is obvious that God is blessing many through the ministry of opportunity in the schools. This past round of talks I have shared a lesson based on Disney's interpretation of Dickens "A Christmas Carol." The kids describe the character of Scrooge as anything from grumpy and selfish to afraid and lonely. We talk about the absence of kindness and how that can make us unhappy. I challenged the children to stop twice each day and decide to do something kind for someone else. I told them that I don't want any of them turning into the kind of person Scrooge was. As the kids left the hall they shared what kind things they were going to do. I love being a channel of blessing! The lunchtime clubs and other school involvement is going great. I wish I could convey the relationships I have with the staff at the schools - it's all good stuff.

We had a good night this past Sunday. Alex and I organized a night of fellowship around the theme of "Deal or No Deal." We had a cup of tea and stuff when everyone arrived so that we were cosy and connected before getting together in worship. John Campbell led the singing and welcomed everyone. Alex and I shared the lesson time and presented lessons with "Deal or No Deal" as the theme. I challenged everyone from 2 Kings where God told the people to Dig Ditches in order to hold the blessing of rain that He was going to send. Unless we are anticipating and planning for God's blessing, our purpose and fullness will always be compromised - our ditches need to be big! And of course we finished with the obvious challenge of sharing Christ as God's part of the deal and asking the question will you accept or reject God's deal? After the meeting time we played the game with some added twists. We stuck some Quick Draw and Duel stars to some of the boxes so that there would be some competition. For the quick draw there were two bibles and the first to turn to the Book, Chapter and Verse - won. For the duels we had a putting contest. The night was fantastic! To top it all the last team to play actually finished up with the choice of the £5 or £250,000 boxes! They did not deal and ended up winning the £250,000! We were all in shock that this had actually worked out. (by the way there was no actual real money prizes).

To be continued....

Tiredness has got the best of me - God bless!

Things never stay the same!

We've had a very full past few weeks - hence the neglect of this blog! I know I am going to suffer while writing this one because the memories will have got a little dim. There are a few highlights I want to share in this entry. Firstly, preaching, I was blessed the last two weekends as I studied for the gospel two weeks ago and the morning exhortation last week. The gospel was focused on the statement, "He restores my soul..." For some reason that lay on my heart for the whole week leading up and became the motivation for the lesson. I simply talked about God's character seeking to Restore, His plan of Salvation seeking to Restore and our mission as the church must be to seek to Restore. Last Sunday morning, again there was an underlying thought in my mind that motivated the lesson, "Set free to do what?" I looked at 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 and went with three obvious purposes there - We are to, "... do all for the glory of God, "Seek the Good in others and Salvation for the Lost. I came across a cool quote in relation to seeking the good in others, "A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick up the backside, but is miles ahead in results!" I know I have been blessed in preparing these lessons.

The title of this blog, "Things never stay the same" is in response to the evidence being seen in our Friday night class with the teens. Before the October holidays we thought things were going well and the group were gelling nicely. However, a new influx of younger teens have totally changed the dynamic of the class. After reasoning things through with John and Alex over coffee yesterday, we concluded that it is a good thing. There is life and new faces who have accepted the invite to come and see. We have come up with a new plan that involves the older and more focused teens. We will cancel the fourth Friday night class in the month and have a class on the Thursday night especially for the older ones who need more specific and relevant stuff. We have reasoned that this will give the younger ones something to aspire to and the older ones evidence that we are taking their needs seriously. We are prayerful that this is the direction God is opening up to us and hopeful that His Spirit will have room in this new arena to work powerfully. Please keep this in your prayers!

I was invited to come and be a part of an impact planing committee to use the opportunity that is available to minister within the High School! I have been quietly desiring an opportunity like this to be able to minister in the Academy. Alex and I went to the meeting and were excited to be a part of the events. We are in a great place with our classes at the church for the academy age kids to reach and influence more. We will be invited into the academy to hold class discussion on Christian viewpoints and hold bigger scale assembly talks on things from a Godly perspective. The event will run in late January 2010 and already my heart is singing for joy. Again we need your prayers in light of this opportunity and how to wisely develop this into something more so that we can have a more regular and consistent influence in the Academy - incidentally there are 1,500 students attending Peterhead Academy!

Last Monday night we had an "Arty Party" with our younger class. We challenged them to come dressed up in colourful clothes. We had an amazing time with the kids! We organized a challenge where we stuck around 300 "Arty Party" posters all over the building walls and sent out 3 kids at a time to find as many as they could in 30 seconds. It was simple but hugely effective! We also had extreme ducking for apples, where we filled a paddling pool with water and had 4 kids at a time trying to get their apple out first. We made a simple change to the old classic "Chocolate Game" by having the kids pair up and get stuck into the huge bar of chocolate with one holding a fork in their left hand and the other a knife in their right hand. Rolling a six meant the kids ran up and put on the gloves wig and red nose before being let loose on the Big Bar of chocolate - Great fun!

I have had a good response in the schools with my latest assembly talks. I have been talking to the kids about the importance of having a good name. I lead with the movie "UP" and talk about the two promises Carl Fredrickson makes - one to his wife and one to Russell. His character depends on his keeping his word and having a good name. I talked about God loving the lips of the honest, but being disappointed with the mouths of the dis-honest. At the end of the assemblies, especially at Clerkhill, as the children left the hall many of them told me their names and what good things they had done recently. It was a lovely response to the lesson I had taught! God is great!

God bless!