Spring Read

I have just finished two brilliant books which I want to share with you, although I am behind the times so you have probably read them!

1. Birdsong

This book has been on my reading list for ages - probably because I thought it would be boring or just too much of a guys war book... but it is far from it! Its a wonderful story that is quite graphic in areas but it grips you and you cant put the book down. Set in world war I, we are taken through the horrific details of wartime trenches and the life of a soldier called Stephen. Its about finding and losing love. Its about idols and the heart wrenching truth of when they fail us. Its about the dangers of power and the lusts of youth. Its brilliant and worth a read...

2. Time Traveler's wife

If you have seen the film, well the book is better...and less confusing!! This is about a time traveller who juggles time travelling un-expectantly, a marriage and other events! This is such a clever story and all credit must go to the author. The film doesn't do it justice. This book is a mixture of romance and suspense. You will wonder how this will all work out till the very end... worth a read.

The beauty of reading

Choosing a new book to read can be complex. The choice is endless as the stacks of written words are displayed before you, screaming at you, beckoning you to open their delightful pages and smell the aroma of the narrative. As you scan your eyes across titles and colours and images that capture your imagination, you are soon caught by a book. Why you choose it, you may never know. But how you begin to read it, is important. 

As you open the front cover and allow the spine to make little crackles, you press your nose against the pages and breathe deeply in. You are perhaps in-hailing a master piece. You feel the pages beneath your fingertips and notice the rough indents. You turn to the first page with its beaming Chapter One while the carefully chosen words dance in front of you. Your mind begins to unravel a charming story that is aided by words that unfold characters and natures and worlds that you never knew before. Suddenly a whole new existence is created and you feel very much a part of it. 

A book should never be unaccompanied. Its traveling friend is always a cup of coffee. So that just as you smell the fresh pages of a new book, you can almost imagine its like opening a bag of fresh filter coffee and having the luxury of absorbing the rich smell of coffee beans and allowing this aroma to dance and skip with your senses.

Soon you are in the middle of the book and the characters are no longer shadows. Your coffee is traveling beside you and you enjoy the rustic rich flavour. You find yourself talking and engaging with world views and apologetics. Your imagination is fueled by artistic sentences and sketches of the real world and there is no flashing lights or glaring screens, no loud music or noiseless chatter.

Its just you curled up with pages of imagination that tinkle and trickle into joyful worlds of art, literature and timeless history. And it can always be picked up again no sooner then when you have finished and placed it upon the table next to the empty cup of coffee. 

You cant get any of this from facebook or blogs or TV. Its just not the same. 

JPOD - Staff Worker version 2.0

I am quite enjoying JPOD by Dougles Coupland, probably because I spent a year in IT support at University and can relate to the randomness of this book and at heart I am a geek! During the book there are pages full of random quotes and sentences that just add to the surreal life of Ethan and his JPOD companions. How far from reality is JPOD? Probably not that far off, although no one seems to sleep and they go on random trips to China (which hasn't happened to me yet). But perhaps in the fiction there is a base of reality that highlights the mundane and splashes it across absurdity. So it occurred to me that for fun I could write my own page of JPOD but relating to being a UCCF Staff Worker. And of course it is meant to be weird and not taken seriously.

STAFF WORKER version 2.0

TEAM LEADER upgrade.

Please press any key to continue..

FILTER COFFEE GOSPEL and £1 to buy Starbucks.

"Come and have Breakfast"

Fish and Chips after death.

Freedom. Gospel. Grace. Love.

Are you a miserable Christian?

I Blog. I Think. I Drink... 

Mac books are in Heaven.

I wear Fat Face. I am not Face Face. Face Fat. Book

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Create. I Dream. I Believe.

That is a good question....................................................................?

We have ink on our faces.

TRINITY. LOVE THE CHURCH.

It is good to be a Christian. 

CALVIN. JOY. PRAYER. LOVE

South West Team. Soup

Ruggle Juggle 
Welcome to Exeter. Plymouth. Falmouth. Bristol. Bath

3:16.8:1.2:20.5:1. Genesis. ADAM. CHRIST. APPLE. CROSS. FREE 

Snapshot of Cross Culture.

My morning drink is Exodus with a sprinkle of Romans.

Living for Jesus. Speaking for Jesus.

Houseparty. 3 Block. Seminar. Ear Plugs.

Diving into the Gospel. Team Days. CAKE!

Reforming the heart. EDWARDS. OWEN.

Jesus is beautiful. 

Lets have beautiful feet. 

            Feet need to walk and share good news. 

                    Good news needs to be in our hearts. 

                              Our hearts need to know Christ. 

                                                       CHRIST IS ALL.

 /////////////????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????/////////////

Relationships. Tears. Goodbyes. New pages. Chapters unfold.

Be creative.

Don't wear socks and sandals. 

Do Enjoy.

ALT, CTRL, DEL. 

ESC.

STANDBY until HE Returns.

A cart full of ART #5

I love reading. I love books. My favourite type of shopping is looking around bookstores. I like looking at the art on the book cover, the interesting titles and what stories lay hidden in its pages, waiting to be uncovered. I have many favourite books that range from, Lord of the Rings, CS Lewis, Discworld and Little women. But there is one book that remains my favourite and perhaps it may seem like a cliche, but I genuinely love it. It is of course the bible - the no.1 best selling book in the world. Why do I love it? Beause the Word of God is like a colourful explosion. It grips you, it tugs at your heart, it convicts you, it reveals to you a remarkable story with stories within stories to convey to man who the most wondereful creator of the universe is.

Before reading the bible, I didn't understand it. I thought it was a book full of rules. I would flick through its thin wispy paper and see ink letters after ink letters thinking they were irrelevant. But then I started reading it, starting to uncover the story held in its pages. This book contains 66 books and each one with a vibrant message. There are poems, songs, lists, letters, law and stories. This is no rule book. This breathes life and shows meaning. I love it so much because every time I open its pages I find something new, a gem that I missed earlier or a story that I didn't understand before. But what is most fantastic is that each page is telling me more about Jesus. We ask who is God?

Well Open the bible and see for yourself. Sometimes we may not like what we see, sometimes it will surprise us, sometimes it will make us cry. But the bible is fantastic - get your teeth stuck into it and enjoy the feast of life giving words!

The Boy in the stripped pyjamas...

On my day off I got to sit in starbucks and read a book. This is the book I was reading, it was sad and heart renching. Here is an innocent boy, observing the cruelty of mankind to one another through the eyes of a child. It is horrifying and yet a stark reality that we are so very sinful, so very corrupt.

This little boy saw that there was no difference between him and the small boy on the other side of the fence. Except one wore stripped pyjamas. One wore the Jewish sign on his arm and the other was swept along with a nation full of hatred...yet innocence is at the heart of his outlook.

Jesus said "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mtt 18:3). Jesus wants us to love the Lord like a child, unquestionable trust, obediance and Joy. Looking at the world and not getting the lines blurry, not letting greed and hatred take over, not letting race or colour or religion stopping us from loving one another and telling the Gospel to those around us.

This book is a moving story, well written and clever in its unveiling of the truth...Go read!