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 Charlie Knox26, m, resident of spa, northern ireland, a thinker, who tries to be real, enjoys the company of nala(left), indebted to jesus for his grace and instruction in life and whose, amongst other things, studying sports science at UUJ. enjoy rugby a whole lot! |
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Monday, February 24, 2003 Over the past few weeks I've come to develop a great love for fig rolls. 'Jacobs Fig Rolls are delicious biscuits filled with real figs. They make a tasty and nutritious snack for the health conscious. With a fat content lower than most other biscuits, yet tasty and filling due to their fibre content (and we know what thats good for!!), they are ideal to help fill that snack gap..!' I also figured that they are pleasing to the eye as they are made up of the same beautifully contrasting colours as our pet golden retriever dog, Nala. Not only that, as they are particuarly curvacious and that will always be pleasing to a male eye! As with all things I'm learning moderation is the key!!!! posted by charlie | 10:35 PM | Church reconsiders Teaching priorities Over recent sunday nights certain practices have come to the surface that may require us as a church to review our teaching syllabus. Obviously the roll of any teaching is to identify the prime needs of any environment and speak applicably into them. With this in mind it would appear that the current teaching on relationships is still a little advanced for some people and there are more pressing needs in terms of education. Over the past few weeks it would appear that some of the most elementary life skills have clearly been overlooked by certain members of our community. What exactly are these elementary skills you may ask? Well last week whilst I was replying to nature's call I noticed that a mystery 'pee-er' had urinated, not into the urinal, but into the bin beside it. Obviously the lower height of the bin was too appealing to some of the lazy, unlearned folks amongst us. Being honest this was pretty funny. However I was shocked and astounded last night to enter the WC's again, only to find a strange mid brown, skidmark type stain in the urinal. It appears our mystery pee'er has now converted into a mystery 'dumper.' All I can say folks is that I think some major re-education needs to take place - so next week don't expect church in the sancturary but out in the mens room. While we are at it we might also discover what a real 'space' problem looks like. The sermon will be entitled 'Good Poos for all' and an offering will be lifted in aid of Roly who had to excavate the mystery person's left behinds on the two nights in question. The vision forum on Wednesday night has also been altered in light of these recent events and instead of discussing 'Discipleship' all attendees will be asked to chip their in thoughts on possible long term strategys and preventative measures that can be implemented to save such events recurring again. Please remember to pray for our Elders and Deacons tonight as they have called an emergency meeting to see how they can best guide the church through these unseen educational changes. Together we stand. posted by charlie | 4:33 PM | Thursday, February 20, 2003 we just found out that our next door neighbour died a few nights ago. i knew his name and thats about as far as our relationship had developed - this causes a few uneasy thoughts within if i'm honest. posted by charlie | 1:05 AM | O Lord, you have always been our home - Psalm 90:1 God as kitchen; provider, nourisher, delighter God as dining room; communicator, catching up on day's events, renewer of friendship God as study; thinker, reader, researcher God as toilet; cleanser, purger God as bathroom; preparer, waker God as bedroom; relaxer, restorer, pleasurer God as porch; sender, welcomer. i thought these were useful pictures via steve taylor posted by charlie | 1:01 AM | Tuesday, February 18, 2003 Word for today(or yesterday as it now is!) 'uncontainability' (used in reference to God) posted by charlie | 1:33 AM | In the spiritual life, the word discipline means "the effort to create some space in which God can act." Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life; discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on. Henri Nouwen, From Solitude to Community to Ministry, in Seeds Magazine, Summer, 1985 posted by charlie | 12:53 AM | Thursday, February 13, 2003 Would you rather.......? Scratch a chalkboard or bite down on tinfoil Deliver pizzas or deliver babies? Have a runny nose or a stuffed nose? Have a wedgie or wet armpits? posted by charlie | 11:58 PM | Gary Thompson enters the stadium! posted by charlie | 11:55 PM | Wednesday, February 12, 2003 A sermon for President Bush I hear lots of people (including myself) not knowing what to think about this war stuff. If I'm honest I've probabbly detached from the whole issue and not taken it that seriously - thing is - i probably would if it was Ballynahinch about to get bombed. What does that say about what/who/where i view as important? Anyway for anyone who is struggling to know where to begin engaging with this issue or for anyone not particuarly fussed, have a read at this sermon and see what you think. It is long but having read it I think the 15 minutes sacrificed would be well spent. posted by charlie | 7:48 PM | I was privelaged this morning to be able to witness a little girl's first ever time swimming. She tried with the armbands - got across the pool no problem. Then bravely she decided to throw away the bands and attempt it unaided. She pushed off the side and then took off like a duck to water!!! The joy in her face was so tangible, such a sense of accomplishment, freedom and new possibilty. In this little moment (that words just don't describe) it struck me that this is the type of stuff that God is into - this is the good news - that God offers people a whole new world of possibility and freedom through a relationship with himself. In the same way that this little girl moved from 'non swimmer to 'swimmer' today, so God is in the business of moving us from death into life. I'm trying to remember that this is an ongoing process, not a one time event. God aint finished with us yet - theres more on the horizon....... I'm thankful for that little moment - in it I learnt much more than just words or pictures ever will teach me. posted by charlie | 7:38 PM | Tuesday, February 11, 2003 "The mission of a community is to give life to others, that is to say, to transmit new hope and new meaning to them. Mission is revealing to others their fundamental beauty, value and importance in the universe, their capacity to love, to grow and to do beautiful things and to meet God. Mission is transmitting to people a new inner freedom and hope; it is unlocking the doors of their being so that new energies can flow; it is taking away from their shoulders the terrible yoke of guilt and fear. To give life to people is to reveal to them that they are loved just as they are by God, with the mixture of good and evil, light and darkness that is in them; that the stone in front of their tomb in which all the dirt of their lives has been hidden can be rooled away. They are forgiven; they can live in freedom." Jean Vanier, Community and Growth. via Len Hjalmarson posted by charlie | 10:34 PM | Monday, February 10, 2003 Had a great day yesterday @ Hammy and Joye's - Joye definitely does a massive feed! We headed out in the afternoon for a little stroll to Delamont and that was most pleasurable - i aint been there for a walk in a long time. Many more paths yet to be ventured around there - Nala get ready! Winston got baptised last night. Cool to hear that (I was there but didn't actually see him going under - i felt like zachaeus fighting the crowd - except there was no trees to climb!) and also to hear some of his thoughts/experiences around obedience to God. Also cool to be in that church - its like a brethern hall under transition (formerly Dunclug brethren - now Hillside community church). Definitely a community feel - a complete cross section of people present - i love to see that sort of diversity - i think thats what church is about. Only downfall was the usual 'church event sandwich' thing - you know the weird concontions - didn't seem to stop ricey and andy but i couldn't be tempted. Today i counted loads again and got beat at number games as per usual. Later this afternoon I gymed - well the sauna, jacussi bit anyway! Afterwards I went exploring and found a few new haunts - Firstly a disused railway line that runs for a couple of miles along Dundrum bay - will make for a great walk or two in the summer. Secondly - Loughinisland churches - three churches from hundreds of years back (oldest from 13th Century). It made me wonder what it was like to follow Jesus back then - what were the struggles, what were the encouragements, what were the major issues etc etc. Besides that, the site they are on is now a graveyard and that made me think some about death - not a whole load of new stuff - just brought some thoughts to the forefront of my mind a bit more. I guess its something i would like to think about some more - i mean theres a pretty good chance i'll have to face it at some point! I think in many ways i look forward to what comes after death - to the fufillment of all God's dreams for us in heaven. Words and intellectual theories fail here - i just know what i get down here doesn't get anywhere near to satisfying my desires - heaven holds much in store. Anyway enough for now. have a blessed week folks. Remember that sucess is no more than getting up each time you fall. posted by charlie | 10:42 PM | Recommend the 'Orient Express' Chinese at the Omniplex for lunch! Buffet deal @ £5.75 is good scruff! posted by charlie | 10:05 PM | Friday, February 07, 2003 Each one should use whatever gift he has recieved to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. I Peter 4.10 A few thoughts on this one .... each one - suggests whatever he says next is relevant to everyone whatever gift, various - suggests we have recieved something - its different for different people - no clones! serve others - suggests we shouldn't hog what we have been given but use it to bring light to others lives - we have been blessed to become a blessing administering god's grace - suggests we can actually act as carriers of Gods grace - what me? surely not - that would be a miracle I was just encouraged by this and thought i might share it. posted by charlie | 5:56 PM | Monday, February 03, 2003 I've been talking to some folks over the weekend and many were unaware that I have started a new job. I started last week, doing classroom assistant type stuff at Spa Primary for 10 hours a week. This, on top of some of the rugby I'm doing ensures the bulk of my financial needs are covered each week. The job is great, I'm loving the interaction with the kids and also learning how to do simple sums again! For the rest of my hours in life I'm continuing much of the youthwork that I've always been involved in, and then also just spending time trying to figure out what God is saying about my world. posted by charlie | 2:25 PM | Smoking to be banned in Irish workplaces and pubs Check out the link above to see what the Irish government's plan is. I'm quite liking some of the stuff happening south of the border at the minute. I agree it will be hard to enforce the smoking thing but at least they are trying something positive. This isn't the first big step they've taken either. Last year they made shops charge for plastic bags in an attempt to curb some damage to the environment - i reckon we should do the same cos even if people do agree we need to Wake up to Waste, we still to be reminded and having to pay would certainly make us remember a little more. Maybe I need to write a letter to some of our folks in charge. posted by charlie | 2:19 PM | |
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