Its a New Day

Hey, Im in some down time in the library...had a great return to Aberdeen after a really good day at church seeing some guys who just got back from Arizona. But I came back to my new digital camera!...A Little Britain Box Set which I got for £8 off ebay, I didnt realise I was winning it still! And a very belated Christmas card my mum sent up to Aberdeen a few weeks before Christmas! Can you believe it, what a mail system, although I suspect it had something to do with the fact she had written Amberdeen instead of Aberdeen Bless her. Also just had my very first Divinity lecture....it was good, it was a Law and Prophets course so it was like an intro to the pentateuch, I thought it was interesting if not slow moving, but I met a guy from CU after the lecture who was in there and he said that its the most boring lecture hes been to since hes been at Uni so that bode's well for the rest of the courses. But so typically even though I got up early enough so have as shower and get to the early morning prayer meeting on campus, once I got to the prayer meeting I realised I only knew the building not the lecture theatre it was in, so at 9am as soon as the prayer meeting had finished I ran over with Frazer to the computers to get the room, once I got in the room I realised I didnt have a pen, the only redemptive act was that the lecturer gave us crazily detailed lecture notes. Anyway thats my day so far....Oh also had a great little chat with John last night about being like Jesus, Im excited to keep running the race in his light! And discovered the angry taxpayer comment maker was Mark Davy.....typical, you cheekster Also the irony of getting a digital camera is that I cant actually take a photo of it to blog but you can expect much more photo visual blogs from now on!

The Broch Broadband v2.0

Well Im here in Fraserburgh's only Internet Cafe, charging at £1.50 per half hour, anyway its a nice little place with friendly staff. Anyway before I go blogging away.....I often dont like to blog too fast as I have a terrible tendency to blog ten posts in 2 days etc and I fear that your stuck with boring rubbish about my life and not getting the more interesting stuff (in my opinion) that I am writing, so before you read the first half of this post and dedcide my blog is boring then check these posts which I am mentioning becasue I want them to be more than a monologue, so comment with the new no membership needed haloscan commenting system The Beauty of the Otherness of God Matches and Church Unity Scripture and Inheritance Anyway to read more of this post click here! (or click Continue reading below) This morning so that I wasnt stuck out in the house all day, I came into Fraserburgh while thgirls who Im staying with go to work. I decided I would buy a big Saturday Guardian as they take forvever to read as I often feel Im missing out on current events without having the "London is the centre of the world" mindset up here. Anyway so I had to go to safeway, woolworths and 4 different newsagents and none of them stocked the Guardian, then I found a rogue newsagent and looked on the shelves hence again no Guardian but I decided since Id found this back alley newsagent Id ask anyway, and turned out they were compiling it still as Saturday editions always have about 10 different magazines and also a free Groove Armada Album, sweet! UPDATED.....v 2.0 Well sorry about that, Jane got out of work early ans so I hurriedly blogged the above but didn't write anything extra coz I had to leave then some how the HTML of site got corrupted and the site hasn't worked all day, but now Im in the church office and have fixed it...so here are the following things I was going to Blog about and some other updates Ive thought of more recently Firstly, as I said before Ive been blogging alot recently so I hope your keeping up, but thats mainly because I just finished my exams and am in a 4 day (2 into) lay time between my exams and the new semester which I start on Monday...check out more info here

Scripture and Inheritance

Ive been thinking for the last couple of days about scripture, the nature of it and how we interpret it, its been part of my changing as Ive moved up to Scotland to re-evaluate me, the church and my relationship to the creator of heaven and earth. This is just a summary to read the rest of this post click here or on "continue reading" Below Firstly I was thinking the other day that Scripture is written often to the church, not to the individual, so often we read scriupture and say "how does that apply to my life" and that is good sometimes but we need to look at the bible as a community and say what implications does this have for church, and community and then in turn how does the mean I have to respond to that. 1 Corinthians 1 (New Living Translation) 2We are writing to the church of God in Corinth, you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did all Christians everywhere--whoever calls upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and theirs. Clearly scripture often tells us it is written to the church but we've got stuck in this me centred gospel, and its true when you are broken and lost God cares for the one, the individual but when were looking to build up the church with our lives (which dosen't mean as individuals were sorted out) we need to care about the community of church were in, not so we can be precious about religious structure but so that we can build up the bride of Christ, because thats what God is coming back for. Another thing I heard a guy called Andy Hickford from Soul Survivor in 2004, he mentioned something which I really resonated with, that people in the church get over P.C. (politically correct) about the fact that God calls his people "sons" and people argue this is unfair, un cultural, well it may be but in the same way Women need to learn how to be the sons of God, Guys need to learn how to be the bride of Christ. Both of those have inferrences, the bride of course has obvious attachments, but in the bible Sons are the ones who collect the inheritance from their fathers, and our father in heaven has an awesome inheritance for us and we need to be Men and Women who know who they are in Christ....Sons. A Post I found through Arlens Blog (what a contributer you are to my blog :-) is a post by Trudi Matthews which reminded me of some other things about scripture. The People of God can get really proud especially evangelicals like myself (yeah Im not too bothered about that label for me, I grew up in an evangelical church and so its legacy no doubt still lives on) about their knowledge about scripture, and there holding to the word of God, and their correct theologies (Im not tearing down evangelicals just like I wasnt tearing down Charasmatics the other day). But I have realised recently that its not about me....when I was younger I always wanted to get to 40 and have everything sorted, know the bible, have all my big major sins completly buried etc. But Ive realised I'm never going to fully understand the bible, because Ill never on this earth fully understand God, the fullness and Glory of who he is....and thats part of worship the mystery of it, the wonder. Also this post reminded me that, God says there is nothing new under the sun, and as church and the people of God its not a good thing to despise the past as so many "new moves" can be tempted to be, because most of the time we are just re-learning things from the past, and there are some incredible inheritances to take from past theologians and "heroes of the faith" which we can sell ourselves out of by purely looking to the future. A great quote I will never forget and whenever Im being overly nostalgic or home sick I think of, an original from a hero of the faith John Gillespie "Love the past Live the present and look to future" (I think thats an ever evolving quote actually hehe) But thats what its about Living life and doing/being church, in light of the past and the future.

Haloscan

Ive been converted to haloscan following the example of Arlen...so now there is also a link for "continue reading" when the blogs get too long for the front page they will be exapandable which means when you click on it instead of it taking you to another page it will just expand on the front page! Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Man Im glad someones writing about this #1

I used to say "Man I wish I could write stuff like this" but nowIve changed it to Man Im glad someones writing about this #1 I love this stuff, specially the pourous House thing which I had more time to read but they are both great so check it out....as I run out the door Hospitality and Our Understanding of Church Money

Blogs of Note#1

hey found this cool blog through Jason Clarks Blog, arr the great wheel of fortune, mmm...not sure hwo biblical that it so I guess the wheel of fortune while recognising the soveriegnty of God, doh now I feel like Im trying to be PC. Anyway Have a look this is a great post which Im gonna participate in Top 50 Things you love

21st Century Reformation 21st Century Reformation is dedicated to the task of making disciples and building beautiful community. I aim to help people learn to "do church" and live the Christian life in a winsome and authentic way that witnesses to the Kingdom in our lives. I am a Reformed pastor and speak from a historically reformed perspective but with an emphasis on very practical issues of discipleship and kingdom living.

POP3 Email Revolution

Ive heard Mozilla is the way forward if your looking for a Bill Gates alternative to a web browser but Ive always thought, ba who needs it Mr gates Internet Explorer and although spy ware makes me a little unsure, in a strange way I admire the business entreprenerial skills of Bill....unlike many of my fellow Internet Users I imagine.

Anyway Ive been having some trouble with Junk mail recently and have been using Microsoft Outlook Express which has no Spam filters. And maybe it was the time of night and I think a little bit that I saw it had an RSS reader on it, but I downloaded it and though Id check it out. Well so far (ive had it about an Hour) Its one of the best pieces of software Ive ever used! I cant believe it, its completly free, it has Spam filters you can train and an RSS reader for all the blogs! Also you can change the settings so it checks for blog updates every minuite so for those on broadband like me its like getting instant updates! Also on Installation it completly updates itself from Outlook Express, imports your mail accounts, address book, messages, folders, such an easy transition!...the only thing I needed to enter manually was my signature. First Impression 10/10 !!!....Maybe next Ill be using Mozilla FireFox as a browser. By the way if you want to check out Thunderbird click on the image above

The GodFather and Liams Mexican Recipe#1

Well theres been a thing at Grace Community Chruch in Cornwall for a while with calling someone "the don" its kind of a saying just meaning the same type of thing as "your the man" etc...anyway tommorow to celebrate the end of my exams Im joining in with a GodFather Trilogy Marathon! How exciting!...One day where there no revision, no Uni reading and just chilling in front of the escapism box (TV/Monitor) although the only draw back is Im head chef for the day, but that will mostly consist of easy to make Nachos. Click here for the Recipe to this Delicious 10 Minuite Snack Liams Mexican Nachos (adapted from Beth Gillespie original!) Vary this recipe for different numbers but it works well for 2 with these vague proportions! -1 Large Bag of Nacho's (try and get flavourless ones, in the states Tostillas is the best in the UK the cheaper Supermarket own brands are the better bets Id say) - Diced Lettuce/Salad - Cherry Tomatoes halved - Avacado - 2 Peppers, diced - Chicken or Turkey Breast slices - Chilli Powder - Cheese, lots of it - Salsa - Guacamole - Sour Cream/Natural Yoghurt To Make - Empty half a bag of Nachos onto each plate (2) - Stir fry the Chicken strips and Peppers together - Chop up the salad, avocado and Cherry tomatoes - Add a little chilli powder and Olive oil to the chicken and Peppers - Once the Chicken is cooked and Peppers browned halves it and distribute as evenly as possible on top of the nachos on the plate - Now the Salad/tomatoes and Avocado - Depending on preference you may consider putting abit of salsa and sour cream on now or just use them as dips later - Now very generousnly grate the cheese over the plate until you cant see any of it, and then grate some more, because once this baby melts you'll wish you'd put more on. Now some Chilli Powder on the cheese, an then 3mins full heat in the microwave for each plate and you've got yourself a fine Mexican plate or Nachos

Matches and Church Unity

How ever much Id like to tie those two together I cant the first subject is that Im very excited about these great matches you get at LIDL 3 for 85p and they have awesome photos on the front of the box! If your near by (in the UK or Germany) then go right now! Anyway other than being excited about Lidl products Ive been thinking today about contemporary Church history particularly the Charasmatic "non-revival" of the 80's, as I, but a child, was born in the 80's I can only really comment on what Ive heard and seen the legacies of, so bear with me and comment with your growls if you want....(click on the continue reading/post a comment below to read the rest of this post) Everyone within the charasmatic church seemed to get very excited about a pending move of God which didn't seem to happen, now Im not counting the countless miracles and experiences of God felt at that time, but there seemed to be a wave of revival excitement which all of a sudden hit the beach. Now my point isnt to cut down charasmatics or the 80's but I wonder is there anyway in which the church could stop riding waves into the beach and could be a speedboat. I think there are two things which are happening in the UK which have the potential to create a more long term church renewal/ revival/ emergence, whatever you call the church becoming the bride of Christ in fuller way... 1)The willingness to Unity and acceptance of that denominational based pride is not the way to "command a blessing" and the "we've got it, they haven't attitude is detrimental to God's soveriegn plan. 2) The emergence of dis-satisifaction with current Church when it exists as a boring, sunday centred religious event, and the discovery of church as a community based relationship, which in turns re-evaluates what it is to "be church" and operate as Jesus' disciples on earth. To be faithful to the gospel while communicating and living it in a contemporary setting.

Blogger is Broken-Exams are over

Blogger is broken! What s Surprise, anyway Ive finished exams and thought Id blog on some stuff but unfortunatly Bloggers not working so Im posting from the Uber basic Hello from Picasa not really meant for this. But hey Im real tempted to get an offline blog poster. Ill see you when Blogger sorts it out! Im feeling particularly perplexed but these current events...Ive finished exams which is great but now all the things Ive been putting on hold are now needing to be done! What to do.....

Back to revision

Well Im off back to Revision now after trying to get an automatic ping set up for my blog, that didnt work....."your exam is tommorow" I hear you say get back to work, well at lunch somebody said you need to take 10 mins off a hour to revitalise and so here I am, listening to World Service by Delirious on Frazer's iPod, cheers Frazer hope your enjoying your exam!

What the Hec is RSS

Again another good explanation of RSS Syndication....I asked this question for a while but now Ive pretty much got a good idea of how it works and how to use it. so Click here to go to Feedburners Definition and summary. Andrew and I had a good time tweaking the RSS Feeds on his site last night and checking out the othe cool tools offered by FeedBurner Also when my exam and the pending revision is over (a couple of days) Im gonna blog more extesivly on "Renegotiating the Church Contract - The Death and Life of the 21st Century Church" and whats going on through that. Til then Peace...4 His Glory

For someone who's exams are on Wedneday you are blogging alot

I know, I know, and theres not excuse apart from I tidied my room and found some past exam papers for the one I will be sitting on wednesday. But I realised something as I was washing up a glass to have some really nasty Lidl Orange Juice today, I worry about money quite alot...whether Im sensible with, if Ill end up with none before the years out, can I pay my rent etc. then I thought about what life would be like after Uni, say if I went into Missions overseas or something?? Then I realised "Hey Im a governement supported missionary right now, thats cool hey, the government are enabling me to live in a place where other missionaries cant get to, where I can be Jesus in a more credible and real way than other people could...we are so often tricked out of work, education being our mission field thats Greek thinking in the church for you I spose.

The First Stop on the Emergant tour

Well I dont know if this dis-counts the former post but I have a suspicion Im ok. But 2 things while I was quickly popping through my RSS was checking Andrew Jones' Blog my stages of transition between Politics and Divinity has finally happened and Im now a Theology Student, well I thought that was cool, Now Im not so sure, ahh who cares....Also The Emergant Tour is the 24th Jan - 12th Feb, and Tall Skinny is staying in my humble Uni Abode right now so I guess Im the first stop hehe....maybe not! Also Im following in the footsteps of what seems to be a really cool guy check it out (I was really searching for another word than cool, as I feel like its a bit too much of a "in da hood" word for this guy but who cares) Also the Walker Girls are posting away about good heart lessons learning about Jesus' love and our acceptance of our own brokeness...with a good quote " When circumstances seem impossible, when all signs of grace in you seem at their lowest ebb, when temptation is at its fiercest, when love and joy and hope seem well-nigh extinguished in your heart, then rest, without feeling and without emotion, in the Father's faithfulness." D. Tryon I also found the Make Poverty History Site over there which is very good, for more like that see this engage HIV and Aids Site 4His Glory, im off to Study...

Technology not meant for taking over our lives

In the same was as Tall Skinny Kiwi did a couple of days I feel the need to wuickly summarize the things had I time I would like to Blog about! a)Plato's role (or non role) in the church b)Conversations with Rick hayes c)Johns Readings d)Cool Proverbs e)American History X But theres a time for living life where you are, and then theres time for blogging the adventure, nows a time for action, not conversation.....

The Beauty of the Otherness of God

Everyday I learn more about the Cross, through Gods grace poured out to me and I thank God for his who he is. The more I learn through scripture, reading books and blogs I am blown away by the sovereignty of God and his poetic nature in making the redemptive act of mankind the most beautiful acts of all time. I was reading some of Jason Clarks Blog and came across this

In the western church the virgin birth was necesarry to affirm the fall, and how Jesus was conceived without sex. But I think the virgin birth is the act of God himself by the spirt, in creating, in co-creating, with Mary's body, by the spirit in the first act of the regeneration of creation.

It wasnt really the subject of the post that I was blown away by but the last part "by the spirit in the first act of the regeneration of creation."

God regenerated the fallen creation. Ive been learning more and more recently that God is a God of complete unreserved Grace. I went and saw the Passion Film while it was out in the cinema and yeah it was a nice bit of cinematography but what it really emphasized on me was the character of Christ, how he took on the meaning of sacrifice, he gave it all that we might have life in the full. There was a part in the film where Jesus stumbles with the cross and says "(to mary) See Mother I make all things new" thats you and me guys, what an awesome thing even as I write that I can feel Gods spirit in me, exciting and amazing me, something rises in us when we see something of who God is "What begins in our hearts, overflows through our spirit". What our earthly intellect can only dream about, he has done and after we stop thinking, our minds end, thats where the mystery and eternity of God begins, and it should amaze us, it should bowl us over, it should bring us to our knees in worship, Ive been reading Matt Redmans facedown book recently and he says in it you can only truly Worship something when it is mysterious and beyond us. Sometimes we settle for such a smaller picture of God than we are truly being offered. AW Tozer said "Left to ourselves we tend to immediatly reduce God to manageable terms" (The Knowledge of the Holy, pg20)

To live for his glory we have to live in light of his glory, we need to know who God is, and that dosent necesasarily mean we have to know and theologiocaly underpin every characteristic of God but we need to understand the enormity of God, Louie Giglio calls it the "Otherness of God" he said "We are made in his image yet we need to know and we are NOTHING like him".

Lighten up

Yes a combination of my monitor lightening slightly and the nastiness of that horrible white template has meant were back to the original (who tells me its good to be back) Ive had a busy couple of days, yesterday I finally did washing for the first time since I got back from the states which sounds nasty but in fact they were all clean when I got back and I have so many clothes at the moment Ive had the ability to put it off until then. Anyway after that I went into Fraserburgh and went to a mid week service which for most churches is pretty boring but I had a good time and got to pretend to be stuart fyvie on the guitar with complex little picking, John Nichol a guy who I envisage I will be running (not the physical kind) with in the future and I shared about Jesus and it was generally a good night of banter and encouragement. Anyway I would blog in a fuller manner but hey Im off to bed would you ook at the time, who would think you would get back at this time from CU (Christian Union)!!! Oh theres gonna be an Aberdeen Uni 24-7 Week in the next couple of weeks so that will be cool. Check out 24-7/ Boiler rooms if you havent before!

Cartoon Liam!

I was playing around with a cartoon idea for the blog title just recently but it didnt work out but in the midst of it I created a little cartoon me from this weemee place online. Just thought Id share the toils of my hardwork which came to nothing. You'll be glad tob hear Im going to church tonight so I cant continue to fill this boring white page with info, but I think I have blogged impressivly in volume if not in quantity over the last 48 hrs. But Ill be away over night so no likely to be any blogs tommorow either. Things to remember Liam if you are reading this about to post is a)Photos to cornwall and b)find a job you lazy dog

The Message Guy on Church

Im not gonna blog post preach on this one, but I just found it and thought it was worth sharing as Ive been thinking about church and how that works, what it looks like as I feel more and more called to the service of it. Quotes like these Im not going to fully back or refute but they are the type of things which connect my mind to my soul and my soul to my spirit and make me want to act, and you know what I want to read more stuff like that. Footnote: "The Pastors of America" I think could be changed around to be many western countries it was that the book is written from within the US "The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeepers concerns--how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from the competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money. Some of them are very good shopkeepers. They attract a lot of customers, pull in great sums of money, develop splendid reputations. Yet it is still shopkeeping all the same. The marketing strategies of the fast-food franchise occupy the waking minds of these entrepreneurs.... The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before God week after week in towns and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called pastor and given a designated responsibility...to keep the community attentive to God. It is a responsibility that is being abandoned in spades." (p.2) Eugene Peterson: Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity Comment if you like....

No Way

"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins..." Revelation 18:4

http://www.christianexodus.org

I just cant believe this, what happened to salt and light guys, well in times of adversity its great to look for comfort but often God is calling us out of our comfort zone, I dont think this is the way forward for Christs Disciples .

How about

Matthew 28:19 (Contemporary English Version) Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Which LOTR Character am I?

Well Im bored waiting to do some washing so I found out LOTR Character I would be.....oh -Gimli- Your ideal M.E. companion would be Gimli son of Glin. Reckless and honest, Gimli would always be truthful when you need answers. He would give you comfort in your sadness and fight for you always. His bold manner might be bewildering at first, but his loyalty and truthfulness would win you over. Who is your Middle Earth Man? brought to you by Quizilla

The Doctors, Top Gun, and Politics

Over the weekend my foot got poisoned mmm..nice I know what your thinking thats gross, I couldn't walk very well at all so on monday I made a doctors appointment, FOR THURSDAY, you cant get on the day appointments anymore apparently what a farce anyhoo thanks to the NHS....not, its pretty much cleaned up to the point I went for a run at 6:30am this morning (thought Id chuck the time in adds a bit more glory...hehe) but I went anyway just in case they made me pay for the appointment for not turning up. So I get there and what is it about Doctors receptionist man they are nasty! Then I sit down and do I realise there playing the Top Gun Soundtrack (must have been a shout out to you Alex!).....well thats the Welfare state for you....yey free market I guess that means, correction: free market with a conciounce!

Snow makes the world a playground

I was thinking about snow this morning and I realised when it snows, I mean really snows, so you can make snowmen all that kind of stuff, everything is covered in snow....(stay with me on this one) it turns children into architects and Adults into Kids. When snow covers everything the psycological boundries we put on our selves liek "I have to stick to the path" or "I cant go on the lawn" get removed, and we are free....for a few hours

Prayer and Running

"Why is there so little anxiety to get time to pray? Why is there so little forethought to the laying out of time and employments so as to secure a large portion of each day for prayer? Why is there so much speaking, yet so little prayer? Why is there so much running to and fro, yet so little prayer? Why so much bustle and business, yet so little prayer?....It is the want of these solitary hours that not only injures our own growth in grace but makes us such unprofitable members of the church of Christ, and that renders our lives useless." Horatius Bonar A really challenging Quote, which is discussed in a fuller way by Arlen. I think this longing for self-discipline is what the church (in whatever form you choose to acknowledge it) is lacking, a fruit of the spirit which is all about life, commitment and hard work something I admit am the first one to run away from. Imagine what happened if we finally engaged though! At the same time as this quote is great, and prayer is an awesome gift and tool, I dont think I can advocate the prayer stance of being a full time prayer person, I think Jesus was all about leading a holistic life, not one that talks to God but who's life dosent match up. I think as well as prayer alot of situations we are involved with would change if we would just be more open to being like Jesus in them. Im too tired to know if any of that was confrontational but I hope it wasnt in a bad way, Im getting up for a run at 6 tommorow what craziness, thats my attempt at self discpline in the smallest way I spose!...come on Ben we can do it!

Brian Mclaren

One more before I head to bed for the night, Brian Mclaren - Ive heard his name echo round the Internet Janitor cupboards which are the emergent blogs out there (by the way as long as were assuming emergent isn't an elitist term or group then Im in guys!) Ive just added a bunch of very cool/interesting looking books on my Amazon USA wish list, and then went on to read a post by him on the passion of the christ, and he seems like a sound guy....check out some of his stuff, and im gonna be very post-modern (find the meaning of that word which is un-contested and ill eat my blogging hat, mmm thats an idea a hat to wear purely when I blog!) and say search for him on google or something. No links here!

Wishing well in the Amazon

Well I created wish lists, I was bored so I scooted around amazon or maybe it was that I am a consumer freak yep the second, unfortunatly most of the books I wanted and subsequently found where on Amazon USA so I made 2. Amazon UK - Random Books, some SRV and classic DVD's Amazon USA - Where all the really interesting books and an obligatory iPod are

Day of Chill

Yes, today indeed was a day of chill, I was grieving all day for this poor monitor through which I am peering through to write this blog but hey Ive had some interaction which relisys even if it wasn't constructive. Anyway today started very slowly at around 10am which was a nice sleep in, but for some reason everytime I sleep in I regret it, so I was in a rush by the time I got up, and so to attempt to be faithful to RGU in Aberdeen who lives in Shetland, and found the blog through Andrews site...so firstly I think a redemtive act from the blog of tall skinny kiwi who gets linked here all the time!..hehe. Anyway that was good, nothing like a good conversation with a white americano. Hannah had to leave after about an hour but we got talking about Fire from the North which looks like a cool thing happening in August in Shetland, it seems to have a great heart even if the conference fees and accomadation dont quite panda to a student budget! Dont ask me why but since purchasing an official "one year bible" which by the way does work better I think, Ive decided to start again so Im now on January 4th so hoping Ill be able to catch up in the next few weeks. Another interesting fact today is I have recoiled from Labelling the New Living Translation the new liberal translation, as a) it was obviously annoying Dave and b) Its actually quite good, I definatly enjoyed its translations today and the footnotes where well set out too, and hey anything that Billy Graham advocates is good with me, hehe! I also read a chapter or so of "Renogotiating the church contract" which seems really good, very full on as the preface and 1st chapter speak about things that God has been putting on my heart for a while now but this book really is not beating around the bush, not in a rebellious way, but it really is "interesting" which is my way of saying Im still not too sure whether its abit scandalous to fully advocate it, which is fair seeing as I only have read a little of it, but I am comforted by a review/comment on the back of the book by Matt Bird formerly from the Joshua Generation who in my opinion is a very sound guy. Anyway, long post today, but basically Ive been chilling out, buying books (of which I have now pledged to stop) and played a bit of Pro Evolution IIII with the guys, but now Im gonna do some more reading. 2HisGlory PS. Good post today by Jon, even though its so dark I could hardly read it, felt like a trip to specsavers!

Different Template

My Monitor bust yesterday which sucks big time, and means that anything vaguely dark I cant even see so until it gets fixed I need to use this template temporarily...sorry guys, its OK ive saved the other template. Blame Relisys...man this sucks Oh well Im over it...

New Digital Camera on the way

Well I was too busy over the Exam period to blog about this thats why Ive had Blog post over drive tonight this being the 4th post so scroll down to get the rest of the blog love, but John got the exclusive on this bad boy! but the rumours are true now confirmed through official sources, I got my Student loan in with an extra grant of £330 that I forgot about so in the short space between the time I paid the terms rent of about £800 I decided to buy a digital Camera while I was still in the green or blue or whatever non-student mode is in your bank account. I got a great deal on a Canon which by all sources and my own perspective was the way to go, as they make real nice cameras and this one in particular is very bling! I played with the UK version down at John's as his friend had one...but I was wise and bought it from Amazon USA so I could get a cut rate price on it and turned out to be just under £200 and I got a Accessory kit with it, Also bought 2 512MB cards with it and a USB Card reader which will be great for 2 things the first is that I can put photos onto anyones computer without canon software as the USB drive is just a drive and it also means that now for $9.99 approx £5 I have a 512mb USB Pen to transport stuff around on. Anyway the camera is what Im really excited about. by the way its not in black I just inverted it so it would look cool on the blog click on the numerous links to see the camera in all it un-inverted glory

Divinity, Its Decided

Well I finally made it official today, enough it was where the rubber hit the road today. Last semester I felt like I really wanted to change my degree structure which is a pretty big thing, fortunatly I donty loose anytime over it, and I can convert my points from this 1st semester straight into the Divinity School. My Advisor is a german politics lecturer who is in his first year at Aberdeen and he has been quite cool but he was really reluctant to let me do it, he was like "this is completly putting all your eggs in one basket" and I had to really work to convince him to let me do it, which at first I wasnt ready for but then I was like yeah this is a test to see of I really want to go for it, coz he was like "Oh just take one module of politics then you keep your options open and I could have but I really thought I just want to go for this with everything that I have got so here goes. Also I said to him "I guess whatever it is makes you passionate for Politics, is the thing which makes me passionatly want to do Divinity" which although dosent make alot of sense was the reason he let me do it. So here goes, its quite a big step for me because I am definatly a social science guy, I thrive in looking at society in all the sociology and Anthropology lectures this year when people where saying "man that a boring lecture" I was really loving it and muchos interested in it" but I could see to be honest even though its interesting, its not going to fulfill me and Divinity in some strange way I feel is gonna equip me for the things God has for me in the future. I know my future in some way is tied into the future of the church because thats the thing God has made me passionate about, and the thing I love..his people, his plan and his bride. So I am excited to get going though apprehensive because with Politics and Social Research I knew I could basically flunk my way through because I have a natural gift for understanding things within that field where as Ive never done Divinity before and I dont know if I can be good at it. With Politics and Social Research through the first semester I discovered and decided if I just work hard at it I can definatly get a first (the top class of degree) and I dont know if I can do that with Divinity, Im not just going to give up on trying to get it but I know that I could well be trading a first for going for something that God has called me to, and thats OK, I always pray for God to make me a man of humility and in part I think getting a first may be or could become at least a pride thing, so Im gonna work for his glory and pray that he'll help me do well. So this semester will be 4 courses...HARDCORE! More work...now working toward a Degree of Master of Arts in Divinity - Christian belief: its Critics and Defenders - Popular Sprituality in Contemporary Western Culture - Earliest portraits of Jesus: Introduction to the Gospels - The Law and the prophets So here we go!

Kilau, Coffee, Crepe's and Baguettes!

Hey well after all those hard exams, where better to go then Kilau, You know what Im not sure exactly how its spelt but I pronounce it Kilo, anyway darn fine food and coffee, and a great place to chill out. I stole this photo from another blog while I was searching on google to see if there was a Kilau website, but no....so I stole this photo from all rights go to him, no permission asked so I hope he'll be ok!?...anyway he said not so many great things about Aberdeen on his visit, but hey what can you do, I know its great and its gonna get better I reckon so next time get in contact and Ill try and show you the better side of Aberdeen Peter D Cox, check out his blog (this is kind of repayment for the stolen pic!) Anyway back onto the subject in hand, Kilau is swift becoming the place to be in Aberdeen, and will certainly be where I take people from now on. For the last week and a half Ive been at least once every 2 days. Pretty Cheap food, but with a nice classy feel, brown leather sofas, cool pics and lighting, more Original photos probs when I get my camera!

Font Sizes and Exams

Normal is the new small as you may have noticed blogger is no longer letting me change my font to small size I am now limited to TINY, NORMAL, LARGE and HUGE, so cast your votes now and email me at mail@liambyrnes.co.uk Man, I feel creativly stumped! No Small, woe is me....nar not really Anyway, my first 2 exams are over, they went pretty well, at least I think I passed them which would be 8/20 Ill be happy with a 13 anymore will be a bonus, Im feeling more chilled out now, since Ive been back they've been hanging over me a little, I have one more to go on the 26th which should be OK though I d3efinatly need to get underway with some revision but Im hoping that because I did it for A Level (Comparative Politics: USA/UK) that I can draw on some of that. Then into the new semester

Sleeping Blogs

Hey guys, no posts for a few days but Ive been away to St Combs to study for the exam, mmm went not maybe quite as well as I had liked but had a good time anyway. But heres a quick update - new blog on friends section the Walker Girls are some great peeps who were at Soul In the City and have this cool blog....mmm, I feel tired thats probably why the summary of that blog was shocking but really its good check it out. The reason for my tiredness, well the night before yesterday Keri from Church had a 24th B-day party at the girls which was full of random games and even wide games outside where stu got ended on a pole and I fell out of a tree, anyway all good stuff (though my leg is questioning that reflection!) anyway we were up til about 3 that night and then last night was my first time officially being in the worship group so that was cool, during sound check I slyly slipped in some Jimi Hendrix which the sound guys picked up on..hehe, but then the service was really good, it was the best electric guitar playing Ive done at a service as far as using loads of delays and muffs etc, very cool pedals, anyway that went really well and the spirit of god just enabled me to go for it. After that Stu and I went to a garage bought 2 Cans of beverage, 3 packs of Out of date Paxo Christmas Crisps, smoked sausage and some chocoate raisins, surely the strangest selection ever!...anyway Stu cooked up some of the sausages in salsa and tomatoes, and cooked some new potoatos etc and we had a real good meal with Jane (and obviously emelie his wife) then we went to bed at about 12 and we all got up for 3am because I needed a lift back to Aberdeen and they were going to Arizona for a few weeks so they dropped me off on the way to the airport, jet setting right now, man those international Christian speakers, too cool for school!...anyway I got home at 4:45 and woke up again for 8:30 so I hope I can work hard today. God has been teaching me loads and no doubt after exams Ill blog more extensivly on it. Til then auf wiedersein...goodbye

Its some windy up ere

Well last night I was with Graeme and Dave in town after a nice coffee and crepe (yes crepe) at kilo and and there where some major gusts of wind we joking ran about into lamposts but actually it seems theres been some what of scottish disaster, well Im safe so many more pointless posts for you but check out some major stuff going on due to the winds and flooding, from the left: "Two lorries were blown over in Scotland and Northern Ireland, killing one driver and another motorist. A separate Scotland crash killed a third motorist." BBC Then on the right thats Carlisle Uniteds Football ground!

iPod Shuffle

Well the 60gb was an original find by me check it out here....but I have to admit this gem was found on skinnykiwis blog, man I feel cheap and un original but hey hope Andrew enjoys the traffic....anyway to the exciting point at hand, heres the new addition to the iPod family now as Im running a Bill Gates machine I definatly cant jump in as an apple faithful but I think we'd all agree iPods are one of the most desriable things out right now, and this is smaller than the iPod mini, with 512MB and 1GB models coming out and for a very cool $99 which converts to about £55 these days but you can bet that apple will never release it to the UK at that price. But hey we can all dream! Is this the start of seeing white headphone synonomous with rich student iPod owners being the norm for all of us who cant afford to get a mortgage out to buy an MP3 player....maybe, Im definatly considering it, but you know I still have my heart set on a 40GB puppy!

Out of sight, out of mind?

Guantanamo Britons free in weeks

Well we all seem to have forgotten about these guys (including me) now that the press dosent care anymore, funny how out of sight is out of mind, well how ever you look at it, and how ever guilty these guys are the facts are that its broken every international law detaining these, its taken 3 years for the british governement to get a result, would we have been so understanding if it wasnt our good friend the Americans (not an all sweeping statement, this is not a mindless anti american post) but its something to think about. What do you think about it? Leave a comment

Personality

I mentioned a personality test I took the other day, and it was pretty good, the results are a bit confusingly presented but if you manage it they are interesting and for me I think where quite accurate!...this is more of psycology thing that one of those muck about things, and it has 70 questions check it out The Personality Test Here are my results see what you think Summary of Results More Indepth Your Type is ENFP You are: distinctively expressed extrovert slightly expressed intuitive personality slightly expressed feeling personality moderately expressed perceiving personality

Lying print budgets and Showy Worship

Well it lied it hasnt fully updated my print budget how annoying, so I thought Id tell you about a DVD I borrowed yesterday, its a hillsongs DVD called Unified which will get sold in the UK because delirious play on it, now firstly the delirious issue, Ive got to say that growing up I couldnt stand delirious just coz I thought it was pretty cheesy and basically everyone was into them and I normally dont like stuff like that, and I cant stand people pressuring music on me eg. What happened when I first heard DMB, people rave about something and its never as amazing as they said. Anyway since World Service I have actually thought Delirious where great, its a really great album go check it out, they really captured things that I wanted to say on that album and thats always a good worship album if it does that. Anyway this DVD was the first time I saw Hillsongs and I had heard some of their stuff from Soul Survivor even though I wasnt there, and it was pretty good. Well the first time I saw this DVD, I liked it musically but it all seemed well hyped and basically very showy, but today Ive been watching this one sonf called free by marty sampson, and even with the showyness its really a heart felt and congregational song, and Ive been thinking its really un-british to be showy like that but maybe part of it is rooted in good stuff as far as really doing stuff to a good level that glorifies Jesus, like being a really tight and musically apt band and I cant really bring myself to justify crazy lighting rigs and stuff but I decided, you know what these guys really want to give it their best and I reckon thats awesome.

Hillsongs/Delirious DVD £10.95 ***/***** (3.5/5)

Waiting

Well I just tried out e-payement that my Uni has set up for print budgets, but lo and behold acadmia and technology never got along and it still hasnt updated so Im bored and in Uni waiting to print stuff off for my revision for a exam next week!...Oh well Im actually secretly glad, coz theres nothing like good boredom inspired blog post! So here is a small list just for you when you get bored. - Weebls cartoons, alot of fun, some of them a little inappropriate but badgers and kenya are the best as they are pure vintage articles - Teen Girl Squad - Another pointless web cartoon - Start a photo album on fiwishop - Jamaican based, but free photo hosting whose complaining, and a very nice layout with some good features - Look at my Uni - Oh Aberdeen, the city of kings (and people with glum faces but we'll over look that) - skip from blog to blog, yep theres a button on the top right of the screen that says something like next blog but I am not affiliated to any content you find, its just a randomiser of blogs that are hosted on google. Oh and I just checked and my printer budget is updated adios non studying amigos! (I am so lame)

Running, Noah, and the mountains of life

Well my self discipline regime at least in some small part was just outworked as I was up at 6:30am this morning and went for a good run...I know crazy, Also Im well behind in my one year bible reading as the last few days have been strange with being away at church, I know its no excuse in fact I had a really good time with some of the guys from Uni last night and I said about how I think that its sucks that discipline only works for me when its a timetable or regime but I want to live LIFE and have the spirit of God so inside me that how ever life goes or whatever situation is that Ill really have a longing for his word and his presence. Anyway I was reading the Noah story this morning (When I have time Im trying to read the bits I missed as I started on the 7th!..but I dont think Ill really go at the bits I missed until after exams) and its incredible in the old testament such a picture of Grace to Human kind, God could have finished it there and then, when we are disgusted by something we would just throw it away if we had the means to but, God told some crazy guy Noah to get a bunch of Animals and an early prototype of titanic! Also another thing about the Noah story is, you seldom here in any kids bible story books that Noah got off the boat and found the closest off licence, he got drunk and naked! Doesnt sound like the biblical hero I was taught about when I was a kid, but I think again this is a great picture of human condition, sinful yet loved by God, even the greatest men were failures and these days we can have assurance of salvation even through our failures, I cant remember who said it, but I think it was John quoting somebody, who said the view from the mountaintop is great but not much gets done on the mountain top, its in the valley where to battles are won and lost, where the action happens, where life is lived, where grace is experienced, so mountain tops are great, they stir our hearts, inspire us, make us passionate, remind us there’s more to life than the valley, but the rubber hits the road when we outwork the things that've been revealed on the mountain top. Heres to battling in the valley......

Studying hard?

Yeah I have and Im just about to, but before I do a few points, 1) the best thing Ive seen a blog do yet.....helped sweedish parents find their son after the tsunami 2) Its been much easier than I expected to be back, it was really awesome to see everyone at chruch yesterday and spend the evening over in st combs, today I got back in and strategised some revision with Dave Smith, a legend from CU and Anthropology but now Im gonna go because a) I need to strategise my sociology and... b) Im also cooking dinner for people at 5pm! 3)Im more and more realising that I do love Aberdeen more for the people than anything but also something makes me feel that its the right place to be, also Ive been being perplexed about being in a church that is 50 miles away from where I live but yet I love it for the fact that its being community (its 5 yr plan is to be a community that affects the community) but Ive been thinking God is actaully using St Combs to teach me things about Church as a concept and I know that my future is really tied in to the future of the church (universal, not necessarily st combs) and with starting divinity in february. 4) Im home so pictures have returned, this is a great pic I have as my background from new year, which incidently was much more relaxed and chilled than this picture might depict!

4b) Apparently some comments havent been coming up, Id love to say Im gonna work on it but Ive not idea whats going on so keep trying and if you have the time, or write a condensed war and peace then email it to me at mail@liambyrnes.co.uk coz you know I love the interactivity! 5) New Albums on the right hand side, check them out, going to the U.S. brought me back to US hip hop, Kanye Wests album is awesome, and im not trying to justify anything but I reckon he'll get saved from what he says in the album cover and the stuff on the album....well I spose its not me to judge whether hes saved but still, lets not get into that argument.

The Bible in a year

"The unfolding of your words gives light..." - Psalm 119:130 I was just checking my RSS and as ever Skinny Kiwi comes ups with the goods again! Way2go Andrew, Ive really wanted to systematically read the bible through before but only ever really got 3 books in etc. But this year Im determined to do it....Im not really into new years resolutions but if I was then this would be it. Here are some things im going to use to help....feel free to join in! - http://www.oneyearbibleblog.com/ - These guys are blogging about it - http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/ - This gives you a structured plan to do it month by month

Maybe its just me

He guys, well in the cosmic world of blogging sometimes someone pulls out a gem, a rabbit out of a hat well anyway you know what I mean, and maybe its just because I resonate with this because John and my Adevnture have been particularly closely intertwinned but this blog post is where its at....check it out, I cant remember his title but Id call it Living in the light of eternity

Liam Returns (to Aberdeen)...The Sequel

This is a short post because I have exams on the 18th which is very soon so send one up for me would be appreciated, also you can ask that I would really be a faitful witness this year. Anyway I got back to Aberdeen which was great to see places but kind of tinged with sadness at leaving cornwall, as it was cool to spend time with you guys. Christmas was really good, and John remarked at Heathrow as I flew back up how his perspective had changed on things and I think it has definatly been a time of growth for, much of which I would love to unpack on the blog but to be honest my formal education is going to be a priority above bloggers obvious enriching qualities hehe. Anyway I got back to Aberdeen dropped my stuff in my room and went to see the aviator with Stu, Emelie, Craig, John, Jane, Rachael, and Judith, it was a good film but real long, then we went to The Fyvies and did some crazy personality test im normally pretty dubious but it was fairly accurate. Once I get the link Ill post it. Also my computer gets back on Sunday so you may even get the pleasure of some new pictures!

Fly away home?

Well I spose theres some sort of poetic irony to the fact that im in truro college (the place of previous enrichment) on the day I return back to Aberdeen, or begin the journey at least. This morning I woke up and looked back at the bed saying in my head "well there it is my last day in cornwall" Coming back has been great even though I didnt have much time, God really enabled me to rest (which in some way is code for I havent revised for my semester exams) but it has been great to see people for a few days. Also on my way into collegetoday I saw an old friend from primary/secondary school and College, Phil Conway on his way back to Uni on the other side of the platform, so there was a somewhat strained conversation across the track at 8am which felt like 5am so it was really morning like! Anyway I am recognising that seasons come and go, and also realising that my life in Aberdeen is pretty much completly separated from the remenant of my life here and not in an un-healthy way just in that they hardly interact, so when I leave I really leave, and I guess although this blog post is not really saying much Im just sticking a post in the ground to say here I am in cornwall, knowing that Gods called me not to be in a place I love surrounded with people I love because its comfortable and travelling back to a great place yet not quite a comfortable place is starting. Anyway time goes by, so it seems.

Whats the point with regions

Well this blog really tends to become the trash can of my mind unfortunatly for you, but keep reading coz there are glimpses of hope round every corner....but let me for a moment rant, I was going to get a nice early night this evening as the last few days in cornwall being basically busy days seeing everyone I can and their dog, having jet lag and being ill, well I just wanted to watch a bit of my Dave Matthews DVD to finish a nice evening of "resting and digesting" but its an American DVD and this computer dosent have multi-region, But the main point coming from this is what the hec is the point in regions, and I dont want any of your logical copyright law comments, its so stupid its just another ploy for the media companies to squeeze some currency from our ever shrinking pockets, Im not advocating piracy but I think those warnings about putting media companies out of business through piracy are complete over reactions, were talking about international conglomerates here, so this is my clear message, 1 REGION WORLD.....DVD Unity, bring it on!

Happy 2005...jet lagggg

Its been really good to be back in cornwall, although Im not entirely beating the jet lag just sitting back and watching things happen is great for me. New Years was quiet but I was around some great people and the next day along with the rest of the south west of england we decided to go to the cinema and saw Phantom of the Opera and rate it a 2/5 as I was definatly not in the mood for operatics. These last few days have been great though chilling out seeing people and talking about visions for church plants down here and peoples longing for church to be redeemed, and anyway...2005 the year of action. Oh by the way I was really inspired to write a blog yesterday and was getting passionate about what I want to talk about, but Ive missed the boat but there was a good new year post by Tall Skinny so check it out....Have a year of purpose, passion and purity for something that really matters.