Blogging as a spiritual discipline

Today, over lunch I got asked to think about chatting to our year about blogging - I suppose I have taken for granted.

There are now many different people blogging - but why?, are people interested? is there any purpose to it all?

this article may help

1. How to Get Blogging in About Four Steps, Five Minutes [See below]
2. Why I Suggest Pastors Use Blogger.com
3. Blog Your Passsion, First and Foremost
4. 10 Topic Ideas for Blogging Pastors
5. Blogging as the Spiritual Discipline of Journaling
6. How to Read a Blog ... for Pastors
7. Make a Blog Posting Schedule
8. How to Write a Blog Post ... for Pastors: 6 Ideas
9. The Best Blog Posts ... Are Often Lists
10. Writing Effective Headlines, or Post Titles
11. Handling the 'Comments' Function of Blogs
12. Get Subscribers with an Email Newsletter
13. Feed Your Readers with FeedBurner
14. A Play Button for Your Sermons
15. Using Photos in Blog Posts
16. Linking and Getting Linked 101
17. Tracking Your Web Site Statistics
18. Building Your Blogging Network
19. Tagging Your Posts the Easy Way
20. Show Who's Linking To You
21. Give Readers Your Bookmarks
22. Building Your Blogger Own Network
23. Designing Cool Graphic Blog Headers
24. Using Google Alerts to Track Topics, Who's Talking About You
25. Claim Your Blog with Technorati
26. Earning a Couple of Buck with Amazon
27. On Blogging Goals and Strategies
27. Owning Your Own Domain Name Versus Free Hosting Sites


5 QUESTIONS WITH BLOGGING PASTORS/BELIEVERS:

1. Mark Batterson of Evotional
2. Andrew Jones of Tall Skinny Kiwi
3. Ben Gray of OpenSwitch
4. Michael Spencer of InternetMonk
5. Tim Stevens of Leading Smart
6. Tony Morgan of TonyMorganLive
7. DJ Chuang of DJChuang.com
8. Gary Lamb of Mad Babble from a Church Planter
9. Darren Rowse of Problogger.net
10. Marty Duren of SBC Outpost
11. Anthony Coppedge of AnthonyCoppedge.com
12. Joe McKeever of JoeMcKeever.com
13. Ben Arment of History in the Making
14. Micah Fries of Friesville
15. Kent Shaffer of Church Relevance (Bombay Creative)
16. Mark Roberts of MarkDRoberts.com
17. Wade Burleson of Grace and Truth To You
18. Ariel Vanderhorst of BitterSweetLife
19. Tim Ellsworth of Tim Ellsworth.com
20. Gene Mason of Communicorps
21. Kem Meyer of Less Cluter & Noise [Link corrected]
22. Steve McCoy of Reformissionary
23. Drew Goodmanson of Goodmanson
24. Perry Noble of Perry Noble
25. Todd Rhoades of Monday Morning Insight
26. Dan Lee of Blog Ministry
27. Alan Nelson of Rev! Unplugged (Magazine)
28. Peter Bishop of Peter Bishop
29. James Higginbotham of Agile Ministry
30. Joe Carter of Evangelical Outpost
31. Jon Edmiston of As Far As I Can Tell
32. Terry Whalin of The Writing Life
33. Greg Atkinson of Church Video Ideas
34. Dr. Hershael York of Confessions of a Pastor
35. Dr. John Jackson of Pastorpreneur
36. Dr. Alvin Reid of Books, Culture and the Gospel
37. Chalan Thibodeaux of ChalanThibodeaux Dot Com
38. Michael Foster of The Gaslight Gospel
39. Dan Ohlerking of The Pursuit
40. Jim Walton of Church Tech Matters
41. La Shawn Barber of La Shawn Barber's Corner
42. Mark O. Wilson of Revitalize Your Church
43. Bob Franquiz of Bob Franquiz.com
44. Brad Hinman of Churchonomics
45. Tim Challies of Challies
46. Dr. Mark DeVine of Theology Prof
47. Frank Johnson of Strategic Digital Outreach
48. Kevin Hendricks of Church Marketing Sucks
49. One Great Answer with CopyBlogger Brian Clark

50. My Answers to the 5 Blogging Questions


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LINK TO THIS SERIES: Grab this graphic or code below.



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ABOUT THE 'I HELP PASTORS BLOG' SERIES:

This is the first inaugural post of the I Help Pastors Blog series. You could probably call it "Blogging for Pastors 101."

My goal is to show pastors, ministers and church leaders how easy and effective it can be to blog.

In the next few weeks and posts, I'll attempt to show almost any pastors how they can blog with maximum impact and minimum efforts.

In essence, I'll show you how to: create,maintain, and write a blog.

So ... for the first inaugural post, I'll show you -- Dear Pastor -- how to stake your claim on the blogosphere.

TIP NO. 1: HOW TO START A BLOG IN ABOUT 4 STEPS AND LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES

So you've decided to start blogging? Or at least take it for a test drive?

With the simplicity of Google's Blogger.com, you can create a blog in about 5 minutes or less.

Here's a short 4-step checklist for getting started blogging:

1. Determine how you will host it -- There are two basic options here: Free or paid. I suggest pastors just taking a step out into the blogosphere start with the "free" option. For a paid account, I would suggest going through GoDaddy.com or your church's existing Web site hosting company.

2. Get a free Blogger.com account -- Assuming you chose the "free" option for hosting and Blogger.com for your blogging platform, you'll need to get a free Blogger.com account. Click on this link and do that now.

3. Name your blog -- for the free BlogSpot site through Blogger.com, you'll need to figure out what to name your blog -- this is usually your blog's site address also (i.e. for this site, it's: http://www.churchcommunicationspro.com, or for one of Blogger's hosted sites, it'll be: http://___[YourName]____.blogspot.com).

I'd suggest using your name, or if your preaching ministry has its own name, using that. Give it a name your congregation will recognize. Although this can be changed later, once you start promoting the site, you'll want to find a name (and thus address) and stick with it so people can find you easily.

4. Choose a template -- use one of Blogger's templates -- they're nice and simple and easy-to-customize. I really like Rounders and Minima for templates, but look through the templates and find the one that best suits your fancy!

... and you're done!

You have staked your claim on the blogosphere!

Back to school ...

Well there you have it, the summer is officially over, four months of fun all gone - where did they go??? its amazing how quickly they have gone and we are now back into the routines of college life again.

today was such a busy day - woke up here in Dublin (mum and dad were down painting and laying the carpet in si and my rooms- thanks dad :-) ) then off to bray for worship, O'sullivans for lunch, back to college and then said bye bye to the folks and hello to the new intake who seem to be great.
after a communion service and reception, dinner was served - later a few people came round for a hot chocolate and off to bed. Then came the idea to Blog!

Please do pray for the guys who have just started- it is difficult to start a new way of life in a place such as a theo college - I know in my first few days it was difficult, new faces, the number of times i was asked "well what did you do then before coming down ..?" and all of these things so please do pray that they would find their feet - pray also for their families at home.

Pray for our year group that we would continue to be united in our friendship and laughter together and that this year we would continue to hold each other up in prayer. College can be a difficult place sometimes.

This week is soooooooo hectic for us 9-5 lectures of various kinds then i'm off mon/wed/fri to CMS things in Dublin and Armagh - which i am looking forward to then on sunday i am meant to be doing something in Banbridge about the Zam Trip

Mid Africa Conference -

Challenges Galore

There are those days which just simply just fly by without much thinking, others simply make you stop and take stock about we are actually doing. I suppose we need to be prepared for both.

Today I headed across to Newcastle to the Mid Africa conference that was held by CMS Ireland, supposedly to give jules a wee hand with the kids work but over the hours in the Glenada I had some amazing challenges presented.

Stuff to think about

- Mission in Ireland – How seriously do we take our mission?, what could the church be doing? What does it mean to be missiological in our thinking within the local church?

- Bridging the gap between the pew and the pub? Mission agency / Local church?

- Discipleship as a major challenge in the African church

- Paul in Athens

- Theological education in Africa – training the next Generation of leaders??

- What does it mean for us guys in college to do be missional?

Stand still long enough and you’ll get challenged – definitely want next year to spend the weekend there – there are soooo many inspirational people at this conference – if you can GO next year! People who have lived an exciting, incredible and amazing adventurous life in God’s call. People who are just so infectous with passion for their father and first love God and who are willing to get up and GO! But also people who are just sitting and willing to share their story of faith with people who just ask! It’s not the easy life but its the best!

To look at a wider perspective on mission and what we are actually doing at college is actually quite amazing and worth reminding ourselves what we are doing. Being “equipped to serve”.

I am looking forward to a couple of days this week to sit down and do a bit of thinking about these sort of issues and generally just taking a bit of time out.

As you can see I was a bit affected by today’s stuff! To say the least! :-)

As Promised - The Alton Towers Pics

Alton Towers - Courtesy of Tom's My Space!

Challenges over the last couple of weeks

At the minute I am still trying to find time to process the lessons that rose in Zambia.

However there was many things over the last couple of weeks God has been challenging me

Yesterday a couple of things happened

We (tom, Ra, Laura and myself) were on AIR - we had queued for about an hour and once we got to the coaster station decided we would go to the front line queue. This was the second time we had been on this ride. Once we arrived we sat in the seats and the harness came down. the seats then turned through 90 degrees so that you are actually lying facing the ground- the whole idea is that you are flying. Then we sat off. With most roller coasters you are sitting but this one you are totally dependant upon the harness holding you. We went up the ramp at about 10 or so feet up the ramp the cart stopped just above where people were sitting we gave them a wee wave and had a chat which was lovely!! :-) then up we went a little bit further. the stopped again we were now about thirty feet above the ground and stayed there. This was a little bit scary as we began to talk to each other. thought of what happened if the brakes failed and we headed back down the track. Then the thought which we must have all been thinking but dared not ask "what if the harness released?"

mmm... How much faith, trust, unbeliveable dependance do we place in the designers of the coasters? Surely we need to do the same day by day.

Some of the rides I didn't like - ripsaw for example was not good! Corkscrew was a bit sore!

Others were amazing - Air - I love, Rita is class!, Nemesis was good, Obvivion was breath taking (literally!!)

Then was the water park - its great!

Another day another Airport Lounge! / Alton Towers / New News

From the blog entries you will notice since me getting off college in May I have been through many airport lounges

Dublin (being the hub)
Glasgow prestwick
Manchester
Liverpool

Then Belfast city, Heathrow and Lusaka

And now East Midlands - where I am sitting at present. The reason for this trip was to visit Alton Towers with friends Ra, Laura and Tom all of whom I worked with a couple of years ago - Tom is posting the pics on the web - once I get them - i'll stick them up here.

The other piece of news worth blogging about is that Seapatrick Parish has a new youth worker - more details later!

Getting Round to it now!!!

It has been difficult over the past couple of weeks to find time to blog - it has been one thing after the other.

Returned from Zambia tuesday 2 weeks ago and then headed on the Thurs to Bray for a "happy feet Holiday Club which was just great!! the people in Bray are great - a good introduction to placement starting in October.

At the moment I am writting this in college where I am spending the night before heading off to Alton Towers with Ra, Tom and Laura whom I haven't seen for a couple of years!

All of whom can be seen in this terrible picture! - thanks Drew!!! hi to emma and hols and Mel who cannae make it to the towers - My camera is coming with me so hopefully we'll get a few more picts along the way over the next lot of days





So thats about it from me for a couple of days - Omagh on Saturday/Sunday to visit the Quills
Monday meeting Ali and next week is the Bishop's Bible Study with Ed Vaughan speaking - I'm looking forward to that.

Blog Redirection - again!!!

With me heading off to Zambia on Wednesday - any updates will be team updates and these will be posted on - www.cmsireland.org/youth until my return on 8th August

Please do post comments in the apropriate places on the CMS ireland site - it's always nice to hear from people!

Robert

Prayer Pointers for Zambia

Over the next couple of weeks - we are officially moving!!! - well at the moment it is an interim move - all the way across the road! to the Huntly Bungalows - the one on the corner! opposite the telephone box!!

but due to the move I might not be able to get a blog sorted out so here are our prayer pointers for Zambia - Commisioning on Sunday Evening

Pre-departure
Pray for the preparation that each team member has to undergo. Pray that their hearts maybe prepared to serve the Lord. Pray for the families of the team members who are remaining at home.

Week 1: Wed 11– Tues 17th July
We depart on Wednesday pray for safety whilst travelling that we will not meet with any hindrance.

Pray for the relationships that we will build with our brothers and sisters in Christ, pray that we will be united in God’s work. Prayespecially for the St James Youth project who we will be working closely with.

On Sunday the team get their first experience of African church services. Pray for preparation that the team will undergo, pray that each team member will have the confidence to step out for God.

Week 2: Wednesday 18th—Tuesday 24 July

Pray for the team as they gain an insight into the lives of the

Zambians, and develop their relationships with the locals and see the work of the Broken Butterfly project in action.

On Wednesday as we visit the mines in Mopani Kitwe, on Friday as we visit the Chinfunshi orphanage and on Saturday as we play football in Mufulira Archdeaconry. With a special guest appearance from David Beckham (maybe!!!).

Week 3: Wednesday 25th—Tuesday 31st

Please pray for our travel to Mwinilunga on Friday (a 300 mile minibus journey on dust tracks!). We spend the rest of the week meeting the members of the parish and visiting the ‘Broken Butterfly’ project that was set up there last year.

After more local church services on Sunday, we journey back from Mwinilunga on the Monday (Please pray again!). Tuesday sees us resting in Kitwe.

Week 4: Wednesday 1—Tuesday 7th August

This week we have a change in emphasis as we are hosted by Bishop Chama to conclude our visit.

On Thursday, we pack (please pray for this) and say our final goodbyes to our hosts and travel to the ZAC Guest House in Lusaka. Friday involves more travelling to our rest and relaxation time at Victoria Falls (at Fawlty Towers no less) for three days. Built into these few days of relaxation is a time to reflect as a team on the whole experience.

On Monday we travel back to Lusaka before our flights home on Tuesday Morning

Back Home

This experience will have affected team members in a unique way. Please pray that God will work through the issues raised, the experiences gained and the lessons taught.

Please pray that each member of the team will be stronger in their faith as a result.

Continue to pray for our partnerships with the friends we left working in Zambia

New Post in Banbridge

found this on ignite.cd! - if you know anybody...

SEAPATRICK PARISH CHURCH,
BANBRIDGE,
invites applications for the post of YOUTH PASTOR

An exciting opportunity to serve God in an initial three-year, full-time post in a large, vibrant parish,commencing September ’07 (or by agreement).
The successful applicant will be an integral member of the large, full-time staff team.
Responsibilities will include:
1. To oversee the pastoral care of young people/adults aged 13-25) in the parish.
2. To develop youth club and youth fellowship ministries.
3. To contribute meaningfully to youth worship within the parish.

An attractive initial salary package of £18-20k, together with travel and pension allowance, dependent on qualifications and experience.
For further information and job description, contact:

The Rector, the Ven. W. J. Scott,
63 Lurgan Road,
Banbridge BT32 4LY.
Tel. 028 4062 2612.
Email: John@Seapatrick.fsnet.co.uk

Closing date for applications: Thursday 5th July.
Interviews will be held between
30th July and 2nd August by arrangement.

up and coming

After the last week out and about all over the country - this week is different

thurs / Fri will be spent at home - no doubt packing more boxes
sat - parish fete
Sun - mum and dad down in dublin for the ordinations - Alan B and Rob J in Christchurch
mon head home
Tues-Thurs - pastoral stuff in Seapatrick
Sun- Commissioning

Summer Madness preparation

Liverpool and Photo Problems

on Gary's blog you will find a full report of the Liverpool trip.

I have been having trememdous problems getting my pictures uploaded - usually i use the google based picasa programme which up until now has given no problems but I have had to revert to the flickr yahoo based thing

So the Liverpool images are to be found here

I suspect that it is more to do with the college network than the programmes themselves!

So folks ... there you have it!

Howdy everybody ... I have now got a new following for my blog! in one fell swoop
Hi to all the newbies in CITC!

And to all the oldies the newbies are great!!! :-)

They really are!!

The next couple of years should be very very good!

Anybody else reading the blog - please do pray for these guys over the summer
- as they prepare to make the big change
- pray for the families as well
- pray for R&R for all of us that we would take time out to just be with God
It is a huge change and committment - pray that the Holy Spirit would just take all of us and continue to mould us into people he wants us to be.

I really do think God has brought another good group of people together into college this year - for his purposes.

The chat at Ruth and I had today with them was just real and honest - see my thoughts in previous Blog!

The overall thing to come out of it was that we as a community are all in this together and we need to spur each other on!

If there is anything I can do for ya please do not hesitate to get in touch - my email address is rferris281@gmail.com or post a wee message on the blog and either meself or gary will get back to you!

God bless and enjoy the summer!!!!

How time has flown

Taking a look through bebo and blog it is amazing how time flies

according by my bebo page 52 weeks ago

Gary wrote:

Hi Robert! Welcome to Bebo... Can't wait to welcome you to the 'joys' of CITC come September. We'll have to meet up soon - good to bump into you yesterday!

and today - i am sitting writting prayers for church tomorrow whilst waiting to chat to the new intake of first years - it really is amazing. Ruth Elmes and myself are chatting to them later this afternoon.

This has been a great chance to reflect and just see what would be good to talk about my ideas include :

College Life

· Chapel

o Varied mix (Sung compline, MP/EP 1&2, Worship, Community Euch)

o Trad.Hymns, Praise and Worship, Family Service

o Rota basis reading / leading service

o Community Meal

· Community life

o Year groups

§ Great craic this year

§ Worked well together – laughed / cried together

§ You are not competing with each other – some may understand thing you don’t

§ Sharing resources

o Events

§ Christmas Party

§ Year review

§ Community weekend

§ Football Matches

o Societies

§ College Fellowship

§ Dearmer Society

§ Marsh Society

o Within our year

§ Own Bible Study

§ Set aside time for prayer

o Others in college

§ Exchanges

§ Students

o Experiences

§ Living out

§ Living in

· Great fun

· You just need to get out sometimes – go for a walk, retail therapy, meal out

· Good neighbours! – doors open – come on in – within the bottom and top floors – kettles are on the boil

· At night – sitting with a cup of tea / hot chocolate in rooms chatting is where a lot of stuff is discussed!

· Placement – staying here 24/7 - Keeping in touch with home – mob / internet GT

o Workload

§ For all in college at the moment The workload is manageable

§ With essay deadlines – I think the rule is get it done and out of the road.

§ The other thing is that the lecturers – certainly the ones we have had this year – are not out to get you!

§ Laptop – Wireless internet!

o Classes

§ You can disagree with the lecturers! – certainly this we had various sometimes “heated” debates as well as friendly discussions over coffee.

o Finances

§ Living in – food supplied / Transport / Accomodation

· Coming down in September

o What to bring!

§ Kettle, Sense of Humor, openness to try new things (worship), buns, Veda

o Advice

§ Talk to people – there have been times this year when approaches to the bible, to the way situations have been handled or even actions of individuals have annoyed people. – The reality is that we are all a community – if you have a problem talk to a friend or remember that somebody in another year might have had a similar experience – go and have a chat with them. If you ask for it to be in confidence it should stay in confidence! – but to have somebody else look at the situation can be helpful

§ Mealtimes are great times to interact with the community – to share whats been happening

o Keep in touch

§ Email

§ Gary’s letter / chat

Wireless Electricity!

We have had wireless headphones, wireless internet - the next big thing seems to be going to be Wireless electricty

Check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6129460.stm - I read an article in the paper yesterday about it - so it might actually work!

it may tidy my room up a bit - well -ok thats more a miracle called for! - not sure if it will work in the acc bloc tho ;-)

Other funky pictures

Manchester

Glasgow

Dublin Glasgow

or

Update from Glasgow

Just now sitting in the departure lounge - ready for flight back to dublin.

Had a great day round the city - Pictures and report to follow. Glasgow is definately somewhere I want to come back to.

Made all the connections on time - even tho I left room at 5:30 this morning!!!

Robert

PS prestwick departure lounge is the pokiest one I have ever been in!

However for a 1p flight what more do you expect!!

Talking about travelling

Found an interesting site




Spain is a bit un representative as I only was in tenerife but there ya go still lots more to explore!

The Infrequent Blogger is back!

So there you have it - first year is over!
and there is no rest for the wicked!

In a bid to blog more this blogger is off over to the main land in the next couple of days to get some pictures and to generally chill out as well as begin to think about the summer and what I need to be thinking about in relation to Church, Zambia, Summer Madness and England as well as other things

Over the summer I am aiming to read a few books and have the chance to do some sermons.

so what is happening this week

Tues: in Dublin - reading and Writting maybe even blogging
Wed: off to Glasgow
Thurs: off to Manchester
Fri: Sleep in followed by a starbucks with Pam
Sat: the newbies are heading down to college so me and Ruth E are chatting to them about the realites of college
Sun: Crafty arty thing? and then up north
Mon: off to liverpool with Gary, Ruth W, Si G for the day

Then depending on what happens with talks and things heading back home to pack boxes and clear the roof space as we continue to prep for our move.

We have Summer Madness looming on the horizon and greenbelt at the end of the summer as well as alton towers, Badens Holiday Club.

Until tomorrow when I upload a photo diary of my day out!

Regards

RF

Preaching and prayer continued

In reading a book - prepared to preach it asks the question - that as we prepare - what should we be praying for:

• We ask God to lead us to the right bible books to expound scripture
  
• We pray for freedom from cultural or individual biases
  
• For eyes to see what the passage really teaches us
  
• We as the Holy Spirit to be our teacher
  
• We pray for faith to believe that God can speak to us and through us
  
• That our responses to his word will be squarely in keeping with his revealed will
  
• For insights and clarity when we are stuck
  
• for eyes to see faults in our expositions
  
• for patience as we labour
  
• for love for our listeners and joy in serving them
  
• We are asking for the Holy Spirits illumination
  

Lots of prayer's

God hears and answers prayers. Because preaching is speaking for and from God we can't really preach until we have heard from God. That won't happen until we pray and God opens our ears to hear his word.

Loads of stuff to complemplate and put into action

picking up the baton

As a subsequent posting from Gary's Blog - I concur with all he said.

Ali and myself are really looking forward to next years College Fellowship, and I also felt that Tuesday night set a tone which need to be built upon - enouraging each other in prayer.

More details and thoughts later on fellowship.

Robert

26 Council Challenge

26 Council Challenge

Preaching and Prayer

One of the major things any ordinand will have to do is sooner or later get up into the pulpit and preach the word of God. Above all the stuff we have to do in college this is one of the most awesome responsibilities associated with this vocation.

I write this post in order to get get it right in my own mind as much as to do anything else.

Central to any preaching is the centrality of prayer the logic is

If preaching is God speaking when we speak in his name, on his behalf , by his authority, and for the good of the people to whom he has sent us then we must speak his message. Of course that will mean that the message will be biblica, but the Bible is a big book and is easily misinterpreted. Thefore how do we know from all the possible thoughts available in the Bible, what he wants to communicate to his people he knows will be gathered to hear his word ?

We ask him

We wait quietly in his presence inviting him to speak to us as preachers through his word so that we can faithfully convey his message to our hearers.

THis has to be the core of our / my preaching

ROme

 
 
 
 

Rome

Yes ...

It has been a long time since rome and I havent got the picts up yet but that will stop now

We had an absolutely Brilliant time with everybody

Good Friday This Year

One of the things that will mak this years good friday which is usually spent in the side chapel is that I won't be there ! I am staying in dublin today - something which I hadn't really planned but some of the other studneents are heading gover to and planning a prayer service atthe american embessey protesting about the human rights issues in american establishements w.

I was totally amazed by the petition which I signed yesterday but only read this morning
PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND

PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN AN AGE OF TERROR

“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40)

1. Introduction: From a Christian perspective, every human life is sacred. As Christians, recognition of this transcendent moral dignity is non-negotiable in every area of life, including our assessment of public policies. This commitment has been tested in the war on terror, as a public debate has occurred over the moral legitimacy of torture and of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees held by the United States in the current conflict. We write this declaration to affirm our support for detainee human rights and our opposition to any resort to torture.

2. Sanctity of Life: We ground our commitment to human rights in the core Christian theological conviction that each and every human life is sacred. This theme wends its way throughout the Scriptures: in Creation, Law, the Incarnation, Jesus’ teaching and ministry, the Cross, and his Resurrection. Concern for the sanctity of life leads us to vigilant sensitivity to how human beings are treated and whether their God-given rights are being respected.

3. Human Rights: Human rights, which function to protect human dignity and the sanctity of life, cannot be cancelled and should not be overridden. Recognition of human rights creates obligations to act on behalf of others whose rights are being violated. Human rights place a shield around people who otherwise would find themselves at the mercy of those who are angry, aggrieved, or frightened. While human rights language can be misused, this demands its clarification rather than abandonment. Among the most significant human rights is the right to security of person, which includes the right not to be tortured.

4. Christian History and Human Rights: The concept of human rights is not a “secular” notion but instead finds expression in Christian sources long before the Enlightenment. More secularised versions of the human rights ethic which came to occupy such a large place in Western thought should be seen as derivative of earlier religious arguments. Twentieth century assaults on human rights by totalitarian states led to a renewal of “rights talk” after World War II. Most branches of the Christian tradition, now embrace a human rights ethic.

5. Ethical Implications: Everyone bears an obligation to act in ways that recognise human rights. This responsibility takes different forms at different levels. Churches must teach their members to think biblically about morally difficult and emotionally intense public issues such as this one. Our own government must honour its constitutional and moral responsibilities to respect and protect human rights. The Irish government historically has been a leader in supporting the international human rights effort, but its continued assistance in allowing US military and alleged US ‘rendition flights’ to land in Shannon Airport is morally and ethically wrong.

6. Legal Structures: International law contains numerous clear and unequivocal bans on torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. These bans are wise and right and must be embraced without reservation. Likewise, United States law and military doctrine has banned the resort to torture and cruel and degrading treatment. Tragically, documented acts of torture and of inhumane and cruel behaviour have occurred at various sites in the U.S. war on terror, and current law opens procedural loopholes for more to continue. We commend the Pentagon’s revised Army Field Manual for clearly banning such acts, and urge that this ban extend to every sector of the United States government without exception, including intelligence agencies.

7. Concluding Recommendations: The abominable acts of 9/11, along with the continuing threat of terrorist attacks, create profound security challenges. However, these challenges must be met within a moral and legal framework consistent with Christian values and laws, among which is a commitment to human rights that we as Christians share with many others. In this light, we renounce the resort to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees, call for the extension of procedural protections and human rights to all detainees, seek clear government-wide embrace of the Geneva Conventions, including those articles banning torture and cruel treatment of prisoners. We call for an immediate end to ‘rendition flights’ and the closure of the Guantánamo detention camp which has become an icon of injustice committed in the “war on terror”, undermining security and respect for the rule of law. The closure of this detention facility must not lead to the transfer of human rights violations elsewhere. All those in US custody, wherever they are held, must have their human rights fully respected. Secret and indefinite detention must end. Those who are not to be charged with criminal offences and brought to a full and fair trial should be released. The case of each detainee to be released must be individually assessed to ensure that he is not transferred to a country where he will face further human rights violations.

We recall President Bush’s repeated assertions that the USA remains committed to the “non-negotiable demands of human dignity”, including the rule of law. We urge you to relay our concern to the US administration and to do all in your influence to make respect for human rights and the rule of law a reality for all those in US custody and their families.

Logic and God in creation

A couple of quotes from Ken Hams website answers in genesis
www.answersingenesis.com

this is on the back of a lecture last week - can genesis be trusted as text ? if so why - if not why not - this stuff is facinating
---
Those arguing against creation may not even be conscious of their most basic presupposition, one which excludes God a priori, namely naturalism/materialism (everything came from matter, there is no supernatural, no prior creative intelligence).2 The following two real-life examples highlight some problems with that assumption:

1.

A young man approached me at a seminar and stated, ‘Well, I still believe in the big bang, and that we arrived here by chance random processes. I don’t believe in God.’ I answered him, ‘Well, then obviously your brain, and your thought processes, are also the product of randomness. So you don’t know whether it evolved the right way, or even what right would mean in that context. Young man, you don’t know if you’re making correct statements or even whether you’re asking me the right questions.’

The young man looked at me and blurted out, ‘What was that book you recommended?’ He finally realized that his belief undercut its own foundations —such ‘reasoning’ destroys the very basis for reason.

2.

On another occasion, a man came to me after a seminar and said, ‘Actually, I’m an atheist. Because I don’t believe in God, I don’t believe in absolutes, so I recognize that I can’t even be sure of reality.’ I responded, ‘Then how do you know you’re really here making this statement?’ ‘Good point,’ he replied. ‘What point?’ I asked. The man looked at me, smiled, and said, ‘Maybe I should go home.’ I stated, ‘Maybe it won’t be there.’ ‘Good point,’ the man said. ‘What point?’ I replied.

This man certainly got the message. If there is no God, ultimately, philosophically, how can one talk about reality? How can one even rationally believe that there is such a thing as truth, let alone decide what it is?

100th Blog

So it is finally here my 100th post on the blog.

Last night, myself and Ali went down to visit Kill 'o The grange - Previous home of Craig the Curate and also Anita.

It was also good to catch up with an leader of a team that I was a part of 6/8 yrs ago.

At the moment I'm sitting in Trinity just waiting for a train up north for the Zambia team weekend.

Other things needing done include - SU website things, finishing off essays but this time next week term will be over - wwwwwoooooopppppeeeeeeeee

then it's off to rome.

This weekend going to be looking at The Potter's hand ..

The Potter's Hand
Beautiful Lord, wonderful Savior
I know for sure all of my days are
Held in Your hand
Crafted into Your perfect plan
You gently call me into your presence
Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord
To live all of my life through Your eyes
I’m captured by Your holy calling
Set me apart,I know You’re drawing
Me to Yourself
Lead me Lord, I pray
(Chorus)
Take me, mold me
Use me, fill me
I give my life to the Potter’s hand
Call me, guide me
Lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter’s hand

Blog about Blogging

Just come out of a class, Liturgy with Patrick when afterwards we as a class chatted about journaling / scrapbooking / blogging etc

When just a wee while ago I looked back over my blog which has now been going for over 2 years which is quite amazing!

So after this I really do think that I might take it up a wee bit more seriously.

under discussion today was the whole idea of creation and the holy spirit in theology.

Now is the time to resurrect the blog

Over the past while this blog has been somewhat neglected so now I have decided it time to get my act together and write something which might be of some worth - well something anyway

within the next wee while you will hopefully find information about thoughts and events and general stuff

Week 2

I am writting this in the second week of college.

Over the last week and a bit a group of individuals left home and came down to a strange place in the heart of Dublin. This blog hopefully chart my way through the rigours, ups and down of college life as well as simply trying to reflect on what is happening down here

Now that we've got wireless internet in the study rooms in college, updates might be more regular than previous experience has shown!

Okey Dokey - so last week...
It all started on Saturday with the packing of the car - squashing mum into the back seat and bringing all the essentials and much more besides and navigating our way through the dublin streets eventually arriving at our destination of CITC in Braemor Park.

After unpacking and generally moving in- it was up for lunch and the icebreakers which caused a bit of amusement for all, a chat with the other students.

Mum and dad stayed overnight as in the morning we were off for sunday worship in RTE Studios with CMSI where I was reading various parts of the service and Simon was being interviewed.

Monday saw the whole class sitting down around a table for the first few sessions, running around trying to open banks without much sucess to be honest and an "interesting" table quiz which our team won - i think!

Tuesday Alan came down to lead sessions entitled "Spirituality for ministry" which was extremely thought provoking which included - Struggle with call, spirituality, ministry adn mission - all of which I really need to sit down and look again at the handouts.

Wedensday was another quite amazing day when I think most of us would say we were challenged by actually taking time out just to be with God and to think about our own thoughts and how we could keep close to God - again a lot of stuff to take in!

Thursday looked at various ways ministry was played out in real life - the challenges and reality in parishes looking particularly at a team ministry situation

The first week proved to be very challenging, it definately had its ups and downs! but it was a time when we saw prayers answered soooo quickly and effectively. For me it has really confirmed the call and the idea that I am where I feel called to!

Week 2 started with a change of emphasis - now looking at "pastoral care and the human person" lots of points never thought about before but extremely useful when thinking about ministry.

Managed to get into the city for the afternoon - but not fully registered yet! - might do soon!

At the mo, in the dark, Colin and Jonny are carrying out DIY repairs on their room - doors are being removed and sanded down to alow carpet to go in! :-)

And we have managed to timetable in a prayer time as a class and a bible study which will hopefully give us some food during the year as well as mutual accountability within the class!


Apart from that ...
the craic is good, the coffee is strong and God is good!

.. That's you up to speed whats happening at the mo down in Dublin!!

I Know I said that my last blog was my last here, but I have made an executive decision taht it wont be as the CMSI I could use as a sensible thing and this one as an every day thing. It has been quite a wee while since last updated this board

Cranfield has happened and various other things

But today various things have raised their head issues so different with various people

Kaballah- A total heresey for the church which is being proclaimed by various celebrities throughout the world but I have agreed with a friend to look into it to find out a bit more. more about that later.

Dreams - A wee sub thing in Geofrey's sermon tonight but praying protection over our sleep which is something that I suppose I never really thought about before.

Social Action - In Banbridge the churches have got together to serve coffee to the coach, with no other agenda than to Share God's Love - A scary place to be - standing on a street for Jesus

God's Plan for us - The fact that God has a plan for us, even if we are confused by it all, when we get to a junction place - he can guide us. By our passions, gifts and wise counsel

So its been an interesting day

The Last Blog

ITs not as bad as it seems!

I have been asked to blog for CMSI on their new youth site -

www.cmsireland.org/youth so as a result I have decided to move all traffic to that site for the time being!

And its from the old things to the new ...

Just an hour and a half ago I walked out of my last lecture in qub and soon to be a qualified teacher .... mmm

Last friday was my last time in a classroom taking a class ...mmm

Strange biccies

September sees me down in Dublin

Its been great up here at queens with the other 11
Seamaus, Moe, Paul, Fiona, Louise *4, Edel, Dominica &

Untill Later

RF

Big Goals small steps

'DOES ANYONE DARE DESPISE THIS DAY OF SMALL BEGINNINGS?' ZECHARIAH 4:10
Do you feel like there's a huge gap between what you are doing now and what you'd love to do? 'Yes, I'd like to be a teacher, but that means I'd have to do resits to get into uni', 'I'd love to start a CU in school but there are no Christian teachers to run it' 'I want to be a full time Christian worker but if I go to Bible college it will take years!' The excuses pile up like dirty dishes in a sink; it feels like it would take too long, cost too much, require too many sacrifices to get from point A to point B. Whether it's going back to school, starting something up or entering the ministry, the temptation is to always put it off until another time. 'Maybe when I've earned a bit of money first, maybe when God gives me a sign, maybe when I'm older'. Maybe, maybe, maybe!
How do you overcome the fear of starting? You reach big goals by taking small steps! While it's tempting to think that the amount of time it takes is too long, those days and years will pass - whether you're pursuing your goal or not! God wants you to take on His call, to show up for duty and leave the provisions - including the time, money, open doors, favourable relationships and material resources - to Him. If you do your part, He'll do His. The Psalmist writes: '...no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly' (Ps 84:11 KJV). Just trust God and take the first small step!