madness and rehab

Ally and i have just had a great time at rehab@summermadness at the kings hall.  it was such a crazy, busy and inspiring day or two.  the two highlights where hearing foy vance on sunday night, the music was truly inspiring and amazing.  this guy is an amazing talent

the second was hearing brian mclaren speaking and asking some very profound questions and just what it is that makes us who we are. fantastic stuff and from a man of humility and grace.

a great start to our few days off work. we are now looking forward to haveing a few lazy days to recover and digest what we have heard.

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Ards without walls

tonight 2nd July, ally  and i had an opportunity to join with a few people from ‘the link‘ on a walk about round the town centre.

we had a really enjoyable time on the streets.  we spent some time speaking to 2 guys on their bikes complaining about the ‘lack’ of things to do in the town.  they made some good suggestions and have some interesting ideas, more will follow i am sure.  we then walked out to the shopping centre and then back to the other side of town to the bone-fire site. it just so happened that we bumped into a guy, ally and i have arranged to meet about the work in the next week or to. we got to say a hi to some of the younger kids hanging round the fire site.  we both also notice some of the addicts who hang round the town, felt like i was tempted to go into my work mode particularly when we saw one man at the bus station.

there are so many opportunities right on our doorstep, what are the things that stop us crossing over, and out from our comfort zone and into the community around us?

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stunning…..

story from here

 

Three US prison officers have been dismissed and two others have resigned after 40 children in Florida were deliberately shocked with stun guns.

The incidents at two prisons occurred last month during a national day when people take their children to work.

In one case, a group of children were told to hold hands in a circle before one of them was shocked with a stun gun and the shock ran round the group.

No one was seriously hurt, but an official said it was “inexcusable”.

In the other case in a second prison, children were given individual shocks.

The children, aged from five to 17, were all sons and daughters of employees of the Florida Department of Corrections.

Some parents had given permission for their children to receive the shocks, but this did not justify the actions of officials, said the department’s secretary, Walter McNeil.

“We believe this behaviour is inexcusable,” he said.

“I apologise to the children and parents. None of these kids should have been exposed to these devices.”

He said that the circle shock demonstration was common practice during training classes for prison officers.

A stun gun delivers an electric shock intended to disable someone temporarily, without resorting to firearms.

Booze & Bibles…

just an open invite to a photography exhibition tomorrow night (Monday 27th April) at 7.30pm in donaghadee yfc drop-in cent. 

one saturday last year we gave disposable cameras to a group of young people from donaghadee to journal on film their life in 12 hours.  monday night will be an opportunity for us to share how these young poeple live.  this should be a informing and provoctive evening.

please come along and see for your-slef.

 

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identity session 1

to sum up the 1st session today with the ‘focus’ weekend……

 

‘are you ready to be you’?

 

 

all that preparation etc for a simple 5 word moment of revelation and truth.

 

 

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Identity part2

what are some of the factors that we use to give us our identity;

here is the begining of my list,

please add yours below:

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school / work

family

geography

race

education

religion

marital status

…

..

.

IDENTITY

I have been thinking-struggling with the issue of identity for some time now, both who am i, and what is the authentic identity of the church. i believe both are closely  linked and rely on each other.  i have decided to discuss this subject at a weekend away i have been invited to speak at. i hope to post some of my preparation and thoughts here for comment and suggestion.  please also feel free to make suggestions and share your own thoughts and struggles with the subject matter and maybe togehter we can begin to find our true identity and the powerful dna of this amazing community called church.

 

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moving

tonight i was at the last night of one of the youth groups i have helped lead over the last few years at shore street.  it was a good night with lots of fun, good food and one brand new face to welcome into the group. 

with all the fuss over my new job and all the BIG stuff and conversations happening i have been distracted and not thought about how much i will miss some of the very special, intelligent and funny young people i have got to know over the last few years.  one of the young people tonight gave ally and i a card and a gift that really encouraged, blessed and surprised us.  (you know who you are ) Thank you SO much..

this has reminded me again how valuable and precious relationship is.  when we begin to connect with people it opens up all sorts of possibilities and opportunities.  i hope that this group of young people will continue to grow and develop and find more of God in their lives.  as i said to them tonight they are called and even commended to take life by the horns, LIVE not just survive this thing called life.  i hope i will bump into many of these young stars as i move on to my next adventure, and together we will become the men and women our famileis, our communities and this world needs us to be.

 

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in the pulpit

tomorrow morning i am speaking at the church service.  i have been thinking recently about the fact that we can so easily go about our life missing the point. it feels a little like the first of the matrix trilogies, we are being processed through a fantasy world while missing the real truth which is much more profound.  

i will be illustrating the thought through this story that happened last year.  

the challenge for me is that i have been a Jesus follower for many years and i am regularly concerned how quickly i can begin to fall back into the old fantasy. this is as much a challenge for those of us who claim to follow Jesus as those who do not.

keep searching for the truth, don’t believe the hype.

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Prize Giving

yesterday i had the privilege of attending the prize giving at Donaghadee High School. this was a unusual experience in many ways for me. firstly as a youth worker in the town it was great to see some of the young people achieving rewards for their hard work. secondly as a past pupil of the school it reminded me of my time there and the lessons i learned while a student at Donaghadee High school. thirdly this was the last ever prize giving at the school as in August 2009 there will be no post primary education provision in Donaghadee. as the principal gave his comments yesterday he spoke with passion and emotion detailing the complete failure of the department of education in their attempt to secure the future of the school. Donaghadee High school has had many critics over the years but i fear the community will in time regret the fact that their support for the school was limited as from next year each weekday morning Donaghadee will be full of students catching buses to Glastry, Newtownards, Bangor, Dundonald and further to get to their school. i believe this will cause a change in the community. i was particulary encouraged to see the commitment and dedication of the many teachers and assistants who have remained to care for and educate our children even though they will become un-employed in several months. those courageous, gifted and committed teachers and staff should be praised for their commitment to the young people in our community.

this was a sad day for me and believe will be a sad day for donaghadee in time.

as the motto of the school is ‘LUX VESTRA FULGEAT’ = let your light shine.

lets all let our light shine..

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