it's christmas

the word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood.

happy christmas.

Blogging for Advent: no crying he makes?

A recently wall papered stable
Freshly washed cattle and perfumed straw
A carpenter with extra mural studies in midwifery
Theologically sound eastern stargazing mystics
A perfect little baby “no crying he makes”
FOR GOD’S SAKE GIVE US SOME REALITY.

Impoverished and homeless
Germs breeding in the filth and squalor
A teenage girl screams birth fierce pain
Death squads in the dawn’s first light
Refugees running in fear of their lives
FOR GOD’S SAKE, BORN INTO THE MIDST OF REALITY.

taken from soul surmise.

Blogging for Advent: Carol Singing

Blogging for Advent: Newborn Babies

Blogging for Advent: The Booze Aisle

Click to Enlarge

http://www.roadwise.co.uk/

Acts 2

Blogging for Advent: A Christmas Cafe Church

Blogging for Advent: Christmas and Computer Games

Christmas is a time when computer game maniacs like myself tend to acquire new games. My excuse as a Christian is that they sometimes teach me something about the war between good and evil. Their main benefit is however probably just pure relaxation. Though I usually play as a goodie I may at sometime play an evil character and help him to repent. Excuses! Here are some of my favourites which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.




Here is one I haven't got but looks a real work of art!

Blogging for Advent: Greenery

Blogging for Advent: food glorious food!

succulent roast turkey. crispy roast potatoes. tender brussel sprouts. carrot batons. peas. tasty stuffing. cocktail sausages wrapped in smoked streaky bacon. loads of thick meaty gravy. this was my christmas dinner last year.

as i write this the hairy bikers are on tv cooking a range of christmas dishes. they've cooked partridge, chicken and now they're cooking a goose. jamie was on tv earlier as well giving us a glimpse of his all too perfect looking house and family and how they do christmas food in the oliver household.

i read this earlier today.

By midday on Wednesday, Louise Spencer has £6.80 left in her purse to last until Monday, which works out at £1.36 a day to pay for anything she and her two small children might need. She is confident that she will make the money stretch. It's just a question of careful budgeting.

Frugality is an art she has already perfected. This morning she has done the weekly shop, which came in 67p cheaper than the £20 she had set aside. Providing a week's worth of meals for three people for £6.66 a head is easy once you work out how, she says. The gas and electricity payments for the week have already been made, so she knows the children will be warm. The only thing to fear is the unexpected - a broken pushchair, a request to buy her daughter's class photograph.

Louise, 24, doesn't smoke, drink or take drugs and she very rarely goes out with her friends. She spends pretty much all the money she gets in benefits on her children. She rejects the suggestion that her family might be described as poor. "Oh no," she says firmly. "We get by."

According to the official definition, Louise's family are surviving well below the breadline, and Abigail, five, and her son Sean, three, take their place alongside the 3.9 million children in Britain classified as living in poverty.

how do you feel when you read this? i wonder what louise and her family will be having for christmas dinner.

if you're challenged about people living in poverty, take a look at the links below:

the children's society

shelter

salvation army

Blogging for Advent: A Filey Christmas Tree Festival

Blogging for Advent: Post Office and Parcels

I found this video clip rather amusing because I am not the most patient of guys! But queueing is a good opportunity for praying because you are not doing anything else! That is something I must tell myself more often.

Blogging for Advent:Decorations

http://www.wordle.net/ Why not have a go yourself ?

Blogging for Advent: A Filey Christmas Present

Blogging for Advent: Grandparents and Christmas

I have only one year’s experience of being a grandparent at Christmas as my first grandson was born in March 2008. But this coming Christmas there will be three grandchildren! We won’t be sharing Christmas with them this year but we will have the pleasure of choosing presents for them and seeing them sometime after then. I am very much looking forward to watching them play with their new toys, though I don’t think Katy at 1 month old will appreciate what’s going on. I am definitely looking forward to future Christmases. As they grow older each Christmas will be different and it will be a great pleasure to watch them and play with them. This is all very much a reason for praising God and there is something very precious about a new life.
Here’s a clip of my first Christmas as a grandparent!

Blogging for Advent: lighting up the streets

Blogging for Advent: A Filey Christmas Advert

Blogging for Advent: Filey Festival Singers

Filey Methodist Church 

Sunday, 13th December 2009

The Filey Festival Choir are performing a Cantata 'JOURNEY OF HOPE' in the Church at 3 pm

Refreshments will be available

All are welcome

There will be no charge

This notice is copied from the Filey Methodist Church website. I have had the pleasure of singing at the rehearsals and if family circumstances permit hope to take part on the 13th. I can definitely recommend it with lovely words and melodies, some of which have a marked blues style. There will be a solo and duet with choral backing. The music was written by Camp Kirkland and Tom Fettke in 1999 and the singers’ conductor Mike Warner has also made his own modifications in places. So do come to hear a Spiritual Cantata with a difference.
Here is a link to Camp Kirkland's website
http://www.campkirkland.com/home.htm
and also Tom Fettke's website
http://www.tomfettke.com/fettke/

Blogging for Advent : We didn't miss Santa

Blogging for Advent: Filey in the snow

Blogging for Advent: Unwrap our Darkness

our christingle service takes place today at st. john's church in filey at 9.30am. it's a family service and we'll be welcoming a speaker from the children's society.

click here to read the christingle story.

we hope to see you there.

Blogging for Advent : Choosing the cards

Blogging for Advent: Robins

http://www.spiritisup.com/christmasrobinkh.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97JiNMFfSs8

The association of Robins with Christmas date back to around 1860 when the first Christmas cards were issued. At that time Robins were called Redbreasts and the postmen of that time wore bright red jackets to show they were servants of the British crown. Then they did not have Christmas off and they would deliver presents on Christmas Day!  So developed the association of the Redbreast with Christmas and often the Redbreast was nicknamed Robin Redbreast. By 1950 the bird’s name was shortened to simply Robin. Now its official name is the European Robin to distinguish it from other birds called Robins.

                                                   European Robin

In the world at least 84 species of birds are called Robins. The American Robin is a thrush with a red breast and dark head whereas ours shares the same family as the Chats and Flycatchers. The American Robin was named a Robin to remind early settlers of a popular European bird.

 American Robin

In Australia there are several types of Robin, eg  Scarlet Robin, Yellow Robin, Pink Robin, which belong to an unrelated family restricted to that part of the world. It showed that the British settlers had a homesick longing for our Robin by naming similar sized birds Robins.

                                                       Eastern Yellow Robin (Australia)

     In the winter our population of robins increase because those which breed in Norway and Sweden winter here but our birds also tend to stay here. They are also one of the few British birds which regularly sing during the winter.

  There is also a folk myth that when Jesus was on the cross the Robin removed a thorn from the Crown of Thorns and was splashed with His blood and that was how the Robin got its red breast.

Blogging for Advent: what will you give this christmas?

image reproduced with kind permission from ben bell

happy christmas, i've bought you a goat. i wonder what the reaction will be from my family this christmas when they 'unwrap' the presents we've bought for them. some will get mosquitos nets, others a can of worms and one or two will get school books. these aren't gifts they can use themselves, they're presents bought on their behalf and sent to people that really need them.

for the last few years we've set a limit of £5 for a christmas gift. all the adults in our family agree to spend just £5 on each person. it's been a fair system, it makes you really think how to best spend that money. but recently we end up buying silly gifts that raise a smile when they're opened but on boxing day they're put in a drawer and forgotten about. a real waste of money. so this year we'll give our money to oxfam, world vision or christian aid and let them decide what gifts to buy people.

these aid agencies now have a real responsibility to use this money properly and make sure lives are impacted as a result of our giving, they mustn't waste our money on unnecessary marketing, or spend it on other projects.

whatever you choose to spend your money on this christmas, you have a responsibility too. try to spend it locally, buy gifts that will be appreciated and used, spend less and don't feel guilty, think about what you are giving and why you are giving.

there are a number of ways you can spend responsibly. how about giving a twotoo or being as green as possible with the guardian green chistmas guide.

will it make you feel good? i hope so, giving is one of god's greatest gifts.

what will you give this christmas?

Blogging for Advent: Chocolate Shop

Blogging for Advent: A Filey Christmas Carol