God with us...

Christmas is not shopping. Christmas is not gifts. It’s not the bearded guy in a red suit. Nor is it the food, drink or any of the festive trimmings. It’s not parties or bonuses or kisses under the mistletoe. Christmas is Immanuel, God with us. It’s love come down. It is light in the darkness. It is peace in the strain and distress. It is rest for the weary, comfort for the hurting, joy in the pain. Christmas is Hope. It’s our only hope. It’s what we’ve been waiting for. It’s not clean or comfortable. It’s not the blissful nativity with warm glowing faces, fluffy straw and a baby “…no crying he makes”. It is the God of the Ages, entering into history. Entering into this fallen world through a teen pregnancy scandal at a time with massive political undertones and giving us a gift, giving us hope, giving us himself … in a most profound and unexpected way.

“Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

Interns Breakfast

Hey. We had our last class of the year last tuesday, well it wasn't quite a class as we went to Morelli's for breakfast. Here is a photo of the crew.
From left to right: Me, Esther, Kathryn, Rach, Matt, Erik (Back), Sarah, Eben and Baby Luca.

Jo and Wayne

Well, I was away in Manchester at the weekend with my family. It was my Dad's 50th Birthday and we decided to go to Old Trafford to see the game. Utd ran out comfortable winners 4-1 against a poor Derby team. We were seated in the Stretford End which was really great. We stood for the whole 90 minutes with the die hard fans as they sang every United song imaginable (including Anti-Scouser songs). The funniest part was after the game when we went round to the players entrance. Jo, my wee sister, sneaked through the crowd of fans to the barrier in order to catch a glimpse of the players. At the sight of Wayne Rooney she starting screaming and Wayne came straight over to her, signed an autograph. Jo was screaming hysterically in his face asking for a photo. I think Wayne was a little scared of her enthusiasm. lol But he happily posed for the photo and we couldn't help but laugh about Jo meeting Wayne the rest of the evening. This is one Scouser we do like! lol

London Calling - Great crack!

I was in London last week visiting friends and visited the Tate Modern. This is a huge crack in the floor of the Tate Modern which has been carved out by hand. This thing runs the full length of the building, which is a few hundred metres at least.

Interesting how many people wander along this crack, me being one of them, and peer down hoping to find something profound. Lol I had to laugh. But it is cool.

Driscoll on Religion

Mark Driscoll on hard and soft religion.