Happy Christmas

Keep thinking that I ought to post a kind of review of 2010 thingy, best of bits etc; but as yet I haven't had the time and/or motivation! It might happen next week, though, you never know.

That being the case, I'll wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a great 2011....

Christmas - a great opportunity?

There's no avoiding it now, is there? Christmas really is approaching fast. I've been pondering Christmas over the last few weeks, and this often repeated assertion that Christmas represents a great evangelistic opportunity for us as churches, as people are somehow more open to think about Jesus at this time of year.

And I think my response is "yes and no". My initial response was "No", I have to say. In fact I remember saying at a joint churches' prayer meeting last month that for a lot of people their exposure to church and Jesus at Christmas is their spiritual equivalent of the annual flu jab - they'll put up with the discomfort of it then in order to avoid any more prolonged exposure for the rest of the year. But I'm beginning to wonder if that wasn't a little harsh. The fact is people are willing, for whatever reason, to go along to church services at Christmas. They may not be going with a great deal of spiritual openness or searching, but they are there. And that is an opportunity; maybe not on the whole, an opportunity to see them make commitments to Jesus, sadly. But certainly an opportunity to gently alter some of their preconceptions of what church is all about, of what Jesus' mission was all about.

So maybe, on balance, Christmas is a great opportunity, but not so much for evangelism but for pre-evangelism. Or maybe I'm just playing with words.

Happy Christmas...

The title says it all really. Trust everyone has a great day...

"But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman....." (Galatians 4:4)

What can you say in 2 or 3 minutes?

I've been asked to say a few words about Christmas "for 2 or 3 minutes" at several events this year. I don't think I'm long-winded (I guess others might think differently)....but I have found it a challenge! And it probably needs just as much thought-time for 2-3 minutes as it does for 20-30 as well. On the whole it's probably a good discipline and keeps things focussed. Not convinced it will dramatically affect how I speak the rest of the year, but you never know...

21st century carol

O shopping mall of Bluewater

How full we see thee lie:

In all the near-surrounding streets

The crawling cars creep by

But lo! Within thy crowded stores

Though finances are tight

The salaries of half next year are spent in thee tonight.



Any suggestions for more verses?