st mawes

baptism, anyone?

I've been thinking about baptism lately, and I've reached a stalemate. Below is my dilemma. I'd appreciate comments, thoughts, opinions on any of the questions below - if anyone's up for it let's discuss! Coffee bible club interested? Thanks

"What I find confusing about the subject of baptism is not who should get baptised – I’m pretty confident that is open to believing adults and their children – nor what is it – it’s a covenantal sacrament, and at the very least I know it’s a good thing, with power attributed to it. The big question for me is, what happens at baptism? After pondering this question for the best part of a year I am still no clearer what the answer is. It is certainly not just a public witness of faith. That is what it’s been reduced to in some circles, but the Scriptures attribute more power to it than that. When someone is baptised, something spiritual happens. It has spiritual power. Which concludes that a baptised believer is more blessed than an unbaptised believer. That makes sense, because the Scriptures encourage us to do it. Is it not then a work? This brings us back to probably the most simple question asked of baptism today: if I am saved by grace, why do I need to get baptised?"

children of men

I thought this film was terrifying. I felt challenged about how much I take for granted the fact that I live in a peaceful country and how grim it must be for people in Iraq or Sudan right now.

goonhilly

a good whodunnit

"this year's donnie darko" total film
"one of the most original and entertaining movies of the year" empire

gwithian, start of summer

hallo there!

yup it been long.
summer good but quick: bournemouth, aberdeen, drive south, soul, prep prep prep. currently considering the morality of blogging. i may just stick to emailing - old school, but better communication clearly! soon there'll be broadband and then I'll decide.
i need my bed man

ethical query

I still have three student loans to pay off, and each year I defer them because I still don't earn enough to have to pay them back. On the one hand, I will probably never earn enough to have to pay them back, so I could keep deferring them until after 25 years they are written off. Or, I could actually set a bit aside and start paying them off. I am unsure which is wiser stewardship. What should I do?

suffering v healing

Had an interesting conversation with a student friend this week about suffering. Why does God allow it? Why doesn't God always heal? Isn't it contrary to his character not to heal? Here are my thoughts:
1. It is right to pray for healing
2. We must accept that sometimes God chooses not to heal - not because we haven't enough faith, nor because we deserve to suffer - but so, therefore, because he decides it is best.
3. It isn't necessarily outside of God's character not to heal. If we are his, we will be healed one day, which may come sooner or later, and God is sovereign in his timing. To stick to his perfect timing is the most loving thing God can do.
4. We must allow God the right to decide when suffering begins and ends. The more I think about it, the more I think that a lot of good can come out of suffering. A friend of mine recently blogged, "Adversity reveals the reality of the human heart." One reason I don't like the fact that Anna is still ill is because it has revealed how impatient I really am. Whilst that is painful, it can only be a good lesson. And it is better that I suffer and learn that than not suffer at all.
So with Paul, "we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5) Or at least, I do this on my less sinful days!Also, if we must allow God the right to make the decisions on suffering, that is a sharp rebuke to those of us who don't like to think about the possibility of healing. So let's get praying for it!

God's grace in a box, but not boxed in

I had a massive tangible reminder of God’s generous grace recently when a rather substantial cheque came through the post from a friend, completely out of the blue. It soon became clear that God was providing this money specifically for me to buy a laptop – and a very nice one at that! It taught me a number of things:

- As Christians we don’t have to avoid material things - God wants us to enjoy them.
- God provides generously for our needs – not just so we scrape by, but so we can enjoy him.
- We can use material things to enjoy God.
- We can use enjoyable material things to serve God.
- And, surprisingly, I have artistically creative gifts that God wants me to enjoy, develop, and use for his kingdom!

My prayer is that each day I open my laptop, I remember God’s grace. It's right there sitting in front of me!

[ ]

Life can be tough. I've just been looking at a photo of Anna from when we were going out and remembered that there was actually a time when she didn't have chronic fatigue. For several weeks now I feel like my patience with this thing has been run ragged and dry. I'm still here though.

Bits of Psalm 42

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?"

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

neighbours bombshell

So Anna and I are sitting on the balcony of the Marina Bar having breakfast, overlooking the yachts on a sunny Saturday morning, when Anna says to me,
"Kenny, if in the future we have two children, and one's a girl and the other a boy, can we call the girl Libby and the boy Drew?"

oh dear sven

England have played three games, they're now in the knockouts. Theo hasn't played yet. Wayne Rooney's in a grump. Michael Owen is injured. Good old Stevie Gerrard is keeping him in a job.
To add to Sven's worries: I typed in sven into google to find a picture - this was the first one...









... and this was the second!

my wife's latest joke

q. which english footballer is as good as two in a bush?

a. rio bird-in-hand...

sven ur wierd

This is us at full-time of England v. Paraguay on Saturday.
Being impartial as I always am in England's international sporting events, my pundit view is that England have one fatal problem with their World Cup strategy: Theo Walcott. England's problems began when they took Michael Owen off; suddenly they only had one striker up front, Peter Crouch, who is only a support forward - he needs someone in front of him. Who could you put there instead? A cripple or a youth player.
Why why why why why bring someone with no Premiership experience who the coach hasn't even seen play? Three possible reasons: 1. to make a token gesture that they're investing the squad for the future 2. because Arsenal offered Sven financial reward 3. because Sven was banking on Rooney being fit. As the old saying goes, "to win matches you've got to score goals" and Sven's got a problem here. He has four forwards, two of whom aren't fit, one of whom is presumably too terrified to play in the World Cup, and one who's too tall to play on his own. I feel sorry for Jermaine Defoe, he must be wondering what on earth he's done wrong.

oggy

the da vinci code

...is doing my nut. I'm doing a talk on it on Wednesday evening, and whilst it is nice to encourage some students and challenge others on the reliability of the New Testament, it's a shame that I have to make constant reference to Dan Brown throughout. I thought the thing sucked! Haven't people ever read books before? Calvin and Hobbes makes me think more than this! Eat my mouldy toast Danny boy!

the fight

'Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.'
Romans 8:5

"The Holy Spirit creates desires in us and sin creates desires in us. We can choose to focus our minds on one or the other. If we want to walk more closely with the Holy Spirit, then we will set about desiring what the Spirit desires and denying what our sinful nature desires in all the decisions of the day.
The Spirit is within us and desires to obey God. We could not experience this new desire before we became Christians. All we knew was a strong desire to disobey, even if we dressed it up in an outwards show of morality. Now we have a strong desire to obey. The Spirit achieves the goal of the law in us (something the law itself could never do) by changing us, not with an external list, but by transforming our hearts and attitudes.
We are changed from the inside out. God has transformed, and is transforming, our desires. The Spirit gives power over sin in the Christian life."
Marcus Honeysett, 'Finding Joy', IVP

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law."
Galatians 5:16-18

Thanks Marcus
Praise be to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

falmouth docks at dusk (on thursday)

wise and true!

'This is what the Lord says:
Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no-one lives.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.'
Jeremiah 17:5-8