Tallest Christmas cake - Built in India!

An Indian bakery has attempted to break a world record by making a cake 32ft (9.75m) tall to celebrate Christmas.
The cake was made by a bakery in the city of Kochi (Cochin) in the southern Indian state of Kerala, and was supported by iron pipes and wooden planks in an effort to make it stable.
Organiser Jayachandran Pillai told reporters that the cake took 15 days to make and weighed over 550kg.
"We planned to make this Christmas season something different [and] therefore, we planned to make an amazing cake.
"We searched on the internet and we got information about a cake of 30ft height. So we planned to make a cake 32ft high to make the record.
"We made this cake and right now it is a grand success and we got [a] very good response from the public," Mr Pillai said.
The cake is on display until Christmas Eve, and will then be cut and distributed to orphans across the city. There was no confirmation of whether the bakers officially broke a world record.

Breaking News!!! - Church of the Nazarene Nativity Huge Success!!

Well done to everyone for such a wonderful Nativity this Christmas

Poet Steve Turner reassembles the Nativity Cast for Easter!

Take the wise men to the Emperor’s palace.
Wash their hands in water.
Get them to say something about truth.
Does anyone know any good Jewish jokes?
The one about a carpenter
who thought he was a King?
The one about the Saviour
who couldn’t save himself?
The shepherds should stand with the chorus.
They have a big production number -
‘Barabbas, We Love You Baby’.
Mary? She can move to the front.
We have a special section reserved
for family and close friends.
Tell her that we had to cut the manger up.
We needed the wood for something else.
The star I’m afraid I can’t use.
There are no stars in this show.
The sky turns black with sorrow.
The earth shakes with terror.
Hold on to the frankincense.
We’ll need that for the garden scene.
Angels? He could do with some angels.
Avenging angels.
Merciful angels.
He could really do with some angels.
Baby Jesus.
Step this way please.
My! How you’ve grown!

Homeless food centres serving caviar this Christmas!

ROME (Reuters) - Down-and-outs and hard up pensioners in Milan will enjoy a rare Christmas treat this year: choice beluga caviar confiscated from traffickers.
Italian police seized over 40 kg (88 lb) of the delicacy, worth some 400,000 euros ($558,300), from two men who last month smuggled it into the country from Poland for sale in the shops of Milan and the rest of the wealthy Lombardy region.
The head of the local forest police who carried out the raid kept the bounty in barrack fridges for several weeks, but realized it would soon go bad.
"Tests showed us the food was still perfectly OK to eat but it couldn't be stored much longer, so we decided to give it to the poor," Juri Mantegazza told Milan daily Corriere della Sera.
A small amount of the sturgeons' eggs have been kept for further analysis while the rest has been sent to voluntary associations, charity kitchens and old people's homes.
"Everything that comes our way is very welcome, even though most of our guests don't even know what those little black balls are," said Virginio Colmega, a priest who helps run the House of Charity in Milan.

Thomas Watson - In Heaven!

Some have asked whether we shall know one another in heaven? Surely, our knowledge will not be diminished, but increased. The judgement of Luther and Anselm, and many other divines is, that we shall know one another; yea, the saints of all ages, whose faces we never saw; and, when we shall see the saints in glory without their infirmities of pride end passion, it will be a glorious sight.
Thomas Watson

Santa is well looked after in UK! £5M well looked after!

GENEROUS Brits will treat Father Christmas and his reindeers to a bumper £5,081,739 festive feast this year.
As three in four folk brush aside the credit crunch in favour of sticking to good old family festive traditions, it appears Santa won't need to tighten his belt.
2,800,000 mince pies, 236,800 pork pies, and 672,000 slices of Christmas cake will be washed down with 1,044,000 pints of ale, 4,320,000 glasses of sherry, 1,466,400 cups of tea and 1,440,000 nips of whiskey. Meanwhile, Rudolf and his six reindeers will tuck into 7,920,000 carrots.
Nigel White, general manager at Pork Farms said: “It’s great to see the public offering good old British hospitality and a true taste of the nation to Santa this year; we’re busy making sure the shelves are fully stocked ahead of his arrival.
Pork pies are the perfect yuletide grub, and even better shared, so we hope he takes some back for Mrs Santa.”
Santa John, from the UK’s official Santa school in London, said: “Mince pies have gone down in my estimation since that Cromwell fellow banned them in the 17th century; I love a pork pie, oh, and my Rudolph loves the jelly!”

Romanian Santa Record!

Almost 4,000 people in the Romanian capital have set a new record for the most people dressed as Santa Claus and giving out gifts at the same time.
A total of 3,939 red and white clad people gathered in front of the parliament building in Bucharest.
Watched by a representative of Guinness World Records, they paraded through the city handing out gifts.
Romania hopes to break other records after Christmas, including the world's largest sausage and the longest cake.
"It's Christmas spirit, we're all better and more generous this time of year," the Bucharest Herald quoted Mayor Sorin Oprescu as saying.
Speaking as the volunteers donned their outfits, Guinness representative Lucia Sinigagliesi said the minimum requirement for the record to be judged was a "very challenging" 3,000.
"We never know what really is going to happen with mass participation records but it looks very good."
"There are a lot of people already, so we are hoping for the best," she said.
When the record was confirmed, Ms Sinigagliesi presented a certificate to the mayor, to delight of the massed Santas.
The event easily broke a previous record of 3,618 simultaneously gift-giving Santas, set in Taiwan, in 2003.

Belfast's Black Santa

Belfast's ever popular Black Santa has begun his annual Christmas sit-out for charity.
Dean Houston McKelvey will, as has become tradition, brave the elements outside St Anne's Cathedral each day until Christmas Eve.
This continues a tradition started by Dean Sammy Crooks in 1976.
Dean McKelvey first sat out seven years ago, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Dean Jack Shearer, who died in January 2001.
Dean Shearer was initially dubbed Black Santa by the media because of his distinctive clothing and the name caught on among the public.
The appeal raises money for various charities in Northern Ireland as well as Christian Aid.

Proverbs 16:32 - Patient Man

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.
Proverbs 16:32

Hypnosis - Cure on addiction and get another - Scampi Fries!

When Darren Corbett's cigarette cravings were suddenly cured by hypnosis he smelled something fishy – Scampi Fries to be exact. Now the 43-year-old cannot get through a day without devouring 20 packets of the pub snack. He spends £11 a day on them – nearly double the cost of his old habit – and his breath smells worse.
'When my mates go outside for a smoke, I sit inside and munch,' said the tiler from Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Mr Corbett picked up his new vice after a hypnotist at his local pub cured him of his 30-a-day habit. David Knight helped Mr Corbett quit as a thank-you for being such a good subject during his stage performances. Mr Corbett did a convincing impression of a washing machine and became unhealthily attracted to a bar stool.

Christians in Iraq - and we thought we were having a difficult Christmas!

Christians in Iraq remain under siege, said the head of the North American branch of Open Doors on Monday.
Open Doors, which serves the international persecuted church, is one of a handful of Christian agencies working with vulnerable communities in Iraq in spite of widespread instability.
While there were around 550,000 Christians in the country prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein, Open Doors said it was difficult to determine how many were still there today as a succession of attacks targeted specifically at Christians has prompted many of them to leave.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that at least two million Iraqis have fled the country since the US-led invasion in 2003, while a further two million remain displaced within Iraq, mainly in the northern provinces.
The northern city of Mosul has been particularly hard hit this year. The latest wave of attacks in October left at least 25 Christians dead and saw thousands more flee the city. Earlier in the year, a number of churches were bombed by Islamic extremists in what Iraqi church leaders and rights groups believe is part of a deliberate campaign to wipe out the Christian population in Iraq.
“The situation continues to grow grimmer for the targeted minority Christian community in Iraq, especially in Mosul,” said Carl Moeller, head of Open Doors USA.
Open Doors is providing the remaining Christians with Bibles and other resources to help them live out their faith.
"The marginalised people of Iraq desperately need our support,” said Moeller. “Pray that 2009 will be the year when the violence will decrease and Christians will not be killed and kidnapped simply for their belief in Jesus Christ."
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a statement last week that although there had been some reduction in violence in Iraq since its last report on the country in May 2007, it remained “seriously concerned about severe violations of religious freedom there”.
“The situation is dire for Iraq's smallest religious minorities, including Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, other Christians, Sabean Mandaeans, and Yazidis, who face a threat to their very existence in the country,” the USCIRF said.

Christmas Song - The Animals

Wish I could be home for Christmas! Great video.

Clip Art

Ever wonder what you could do with 10,000 FREE clip arts!

Saturday 13th December 2008 - What a Day!

Wake up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked cakes. Round everyone up and off to church for the monthly table top sale. After donating some cakes for the event, we spend an hour going around chatting, drinking coffee and buying more things than we came in with????!!!
But there's no time to dwell. Race home and have some lunch, but wait, it's already time to throw on some thick socks and meet back at the church for the ice skating trip. Get there on time to discuss how bad we ll are at this then proceed to stumble around the rink for a couple of hours before Chris races around telling everyone it's time to leave for the next event!
Get home at 5:15 to change put icing on some more cakes (and a trip to the store for some double cream).
Off to church again, this time for the Christmas Party. I'm starving so find myself stood by the food grazing nonchalantly. Santa Ray came right on time for the kids all surrounded by a few great games. Oh look mat the time! 8:30 and we are all exhausted.
Slept like a log! (do logs sleep? maybe it used to be dog?)
Well done to all the organisers who put the time in to making everything go so well and it was announced this morning that the Table Top Sale made a record profit!

Anchovy makes police smell something fishy in pizza robbery!

A Florida pizza delivery man who was challenged by armed robbers in the city of Miramar got in first with his own weapon - a large pepperoni pizza.
Eric Lopez Devictoria, 40, flung the piping hot pizza at the gunman, then turned on his heels and ran.
He made a safe getaway, according to the Florida Sun-Sentinel, despite one shot being fired as he fled.
Police later arrested three teenage suspects, who have been charged with armed robbery.

Proverbs 21:3 - Do what is right!

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:3

Portsmouth Churches pull out all the stops! (Ours too!)

Anglican churches in south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are bracing themselves for a high turnout as they celebrate the birth of Jesus this month with events ranging from carol-singing in the streets to displays of Christmas trees and cribs.
Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral will hold three identical carol services for the second year running. More than 2,000 people will join the cathedral choir at 3pm on December 20, and at 7.30pm on December 22 and 23. It will also hold two identical crib services at 3pm and 4.30pm on Christmas Eve.
Apart from carol services, many churches are laying on special activities. Nativity cribs will be on display at All Saints Church in Botley from December 12 to 14. The ‘Crib Fest 08’ includes cribs contributed by those living in Botley, Curdridge and Durley, some of which are being made specially for the occasion. The church is open daily, and the festival will end with a carol-sing around the cribs. Worshippers are being invited to dress up as a character from the Nativity story.
Worshippers at Holy Rood Church, Stubbington will host a ‘Live Nativity’ at the church for the second year running on December 13. Parents can bring children to meet the shepherds, angels and kings, to stroke some of the animals in the Nativity scene, and to take part in Christmas craft from 10am-1pm.
Several churches will dramatise the Nativity story. St Mary’s Church in Warsash will be transformed into the inn at Bethlehem on December 19 and 20. The Nativity by David Farr is a full-length play with music. The idea is that the audience mingles with the cast in the inn before events unfold.
Young people from Somers Town will take part in Follow The Star, a musical at St Peter’s Church in Southsea on December 20 and at 1pm and 5pm on December 21. It is being performed in the church itself, and it helps to celebrate the church’s 125th anniversary.
And there will be many contributions to charities. An annual Churches Homeless Action scheme involves worshippers giving gift vouchers so presents can be bought for homeless people, disadvantaged families and asylum seekers. The vouchers will be handed over at a carol service in St Mary’s Church, Fratton, at 12 noon on December 19.
And before the Christmas season properly starts, one Gosport church will remind us what Advent is all about with an alternative worship service. St Thomas the Apostle, Elson, will host the Blesséd Community’s ‘Pregnant with Expectation’ at on December 14. It will focus on the fact that we are called to watch and wait for the incarnation during December.
Priest-in-charge the Rev Simon Rundell said: “The season of Advent involves waiting and watching, and we aim to help people to connect with that feeling of hope and expectation through a deeply moving encounter with the sacraments, and keeping Christmas out of Advent.”
Another Portsmouth church will help people remember what Epiphany is all about once Christmas has finished. St Nicholas Church in North End, will host its alternative worship service ‘Ethos’ on January 11 where visitors will be invited to move around the church space, using multi-media installations, clay, reflections and activities to help them think about spiritual issues.
Team vicar the Rev Bev Robertson said: “The New Year is a time for looking forward, but we often don’t give ourselves time to really search ourselves, face what holds us back and let go of obstacles within us. We welcome people of faith and no faith to journey to the star and discover their Epiphany at St Nicholas.”

Our Nativity is Sunday 21st December at 10:30am

Table Top Sale Saturday 13th December 2008

TABLE TOP SALE Saturday 13th December 2008
Church of the Nazarene, Broadwalk, Knowle Park, Bristol BS4 1BZ. Opposite Redcatch Park!
Time: 9 to 12 am
Location: Church Hall
Atmosphere: Very Friendly (sometimes silly)
Drinks: Excellent

Time to do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping!!! Credit crunch friendly! Donations of goods, time or baked items always welcome. Come by for a free cup of tea or coffee and a natter. This is also a good opportunity to come and ask someone about the church and upcoming events you might be interested in (especially the nativity and carol services!)

From Table Top Sales

The Advent Conspiracy!

The US-based movement Advent Conspiracy is inviting churches around the world to observe the Christmas season with a little less glitter, a little less debt and a lot more love.
Hundreds of churches in the US and now some in the UK and Africa are joining the movement to de-commercialise Christmas and restore it back to its true purpose of celebrating the birth of Christ.
"What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?" the creators of Advent Conspiracy pose. Everyone wants Christmas to be meaningful but instead it becomes shop, shop, shop, credit cards, traffic jams, to do lists, useless gifts, then off to church," says a promotional video. In the end, people are just left with debt, gifts to return and an empty feeling of missed purpose.
For many, including pastors, Christmas has become a painful holiday especially when trying to lead their congregations in worship amid the distractions and stress of the consumer culture.
"[We] lamented that we hated Christmas," said Pastor Rick McKinley of Imago Dei Community Church in Portland, Oregon, during his latest sermon on Sunday. We hated the fact that we were talking about one of the pinnacles of theology – that here is God becoming flesh and entering our world to bring salvation and peace and restore His whole creation, While we preach and declare and get all excited about that, the truth is the message just becomes white noise because within our cultural context there's so much hecticness that's involved around the holidays," he added.
On top of the consumer culture, Christians have not effectively conveyed the message of Christmas to the public.
"We started looking at what the Church's response has been," McKinley said as he recalled what he and a few other pastors discussed three years ago. "It has been to critique the culture for not talking about Jesus or saying Merry Christmas. So there's this idea that when I'm running through the mall ... [people] should tell me Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays. That's a very lame place for the church to draw a line in the sand," the Portland church pastor said.

LZ7 - This Littel Light of Mine

A new take on an old favorite!

Animated Christmas

The Diocese of London is using animated cartoons and comic books to explain the significance of Christmas to school children throughout Advent.

The Diocese of London's Christmas project has been rolled out across London' s classrooms with the aim of helping parishes and schools to teach the story of Christmas in a modern and exciting way.

The diocese has produced a series of animated cartoons aimed at introducing primary school children to some of the key themes of the Christmas story. This is coupled with a teaching pack, which includes assembly and lesson plans focused on helping young people understand why Christmas is celebrated each year.

The teaching resources are complimented by a series of electronic comic books that are designed to accompany each lesson and provide a faithful retelling of the Christmas story in way that is fun and appealing to young people.

The diocese has distributed these teaching resources to London's 479 parishes and 130 Church of England schools who have around 40,000 pupils across the capital. The teaching resources are designed to be completely flexible and can be used in both church and non-church schools alike. This has resulted in a number of London clergy being invited by their local non-church schools to help pupils of all faiths to learn about Christmas.

Sam Donoghue, Children's Ministry Advisor, the Diocese of London said, "The Christmas season is a great time of year for celebrating with family and friends, but we also wanted to help young people in understanding the occasion's significance.

"We hope that the resources we have produced for schools tells the Christmas story in a different way that is not only exciting for pupils but also furthers their understanding of why we celebrate Christmas."

The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Dr Richard Chartres said, "The Diocese of London is committed to telling the story of Jesus Christ in a modern way that is accessible and appealing to our capital's young people.

"Christmas is at the heart of the Christian Faith and I hope that these excellent teaching resources will provoke thought and generate discussion amongst school pupils throughout Advent."


On the web:

All of the resources have been made fully accessible and are available to download from the diocese's dedicated Christmas website at www.londonchristmas.org.uk/children

"You've got something in your eye!"

If we see a speck in a brother's eye, we must first see if there is a log in our own eye; perhaps that speck in our brother's eye is only a reflection of the beam in our own.

David Watson

Enough is Enough - Binge Drinkers

The Archbishop of Wales has welcomed new Government measures to tackle binge drinking and alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder.
Dr Barry Morgan said Wednesday’s announcement to introduce tighter controls on the sale of cheap alcohol in bars and supermarkets would show the Government recognises the dangers of binge drinking.
The new measures include a ban on cheap alcohol promotions, including “all you can drink for £10” deals and free drinks for women, although happy hours will remain. The ban means supermarkets will no longer be able to offer reduced prices on bulk purchases of alcohol.
“Plans announced today show the Government recognises the dangers of binge drinking, both to individuals and to society and is tackling promotions which make it all too easy for the culture to continue and to be seen as socially acceptable,” said Dr Morgan.
“Legislation like this is important in improving the wellbeing of all of us – we have seen this in the success of drink-drive campaign and laws on smoking in public places.
“However, laws alone will not solve the problem – people and organisations, such as schools, hospitals, churches and local authorities, need to continue to work together to achieve real cultural change and ensure we are not a country addicted to binge-drinking.”
The Archbishop last month joined other bishops of the Church in Wales and the head of the Welsh police to launch the new Enough is Enough campaign against binge-drinking.
The campaign invites members of the public to make a pledge to cut down the amount they drink and stop before they have had too much.
Enough is Enough will see the widespread circulation of posters and leaflets highlighting the damaging effects of excessive alcohol consumption and the huge toll binge drinking takes on people, their families and friends, and society as a whole.
The campaign is being backed by Cardiff University Students' Union and the Licensees Forum, and supports the Welsh Assembly Government's Substance Misuse Strategy.

Measure of a Man

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. - Samuel Johnson

Islamic, Jewish and Christian Charities - Common Ground

Christian, Jewish and Islamic charities have come together to debate how best faith-based organisations can work in communities of other religions across the world.
The unprecedented collaboration between Christian Aid, World Jewish Relief and Islamic Relief is being hosted by the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths in Cambridge on Monday and Tuesday.
Daleep Mukarji, director of Christian Aid said: “Global poverty is not a Christian issue, but a human one, and ending it is not simply a Christian obligation, but a universal one.
"This conference is an opportunity to celebrate what different faiths have already done together to bring about an end to poverty and injustice and to look forward to what we might do together in the future.”
The Keeping Faith in Development conference comes less than two months after the murder of Gayle Williams, a development worker in Afghanistan, which highlighted the extremely sensitive and important issues raised by the presence of faith-based organisations in communities with other beliefs.
The humanitarian charities involved in the conference work with people of all religious beliefs and none, and none of them does any preaching or attempts at religious conversion.
Saleh Saeed, Chief Executive of Islamic Relief Worldwide, said: "Central to all faiths, not least the Abrahamic traditions, is the duty to stand by one's neighbours, regardless race, colour or creed. This conference will offer a welcome chance to strengthen the growing inter-faith partnership which is working to end the poverty of so many of our neighbours across the world."
Paul Anticoni, Chief Executive of World Jewish Relief, said: "At this critical juncture in countering vulnerability, faith agencies have a vital role to play – we should celebrate this."
Ivan Lewis MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Development, will address delegates. The conference will also include detailed presentations about how the agencies have done relief and development work with people of other faiths.

Wordle Fun

Table Top Sale Saturday 13th December 2008

TABLE TOP SALE
Church of the Nazarene, Broadwalk, Knowle Park, Bristol BS4 1BZ
Time: 9 to 12 am
Location: Church Hall
Atmosphere: Very Friendly (sometimes silly)
Drinks: Excellent

Time to do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping!!! Donations of goods, time or baked items always welcome. Come by for a free cup of tea or coffee and a natter. This is also a good opportunity to come and ask someone about the church and upcoming events you might be interested in (especially the nativity and carol services!)

From Table Top Sales

SAT-7 - Broadcasts to the Middle East!

SAT-7 has received a welcome boost to its finances after an anonymous donor pledged to triple all first-time donations made to the Christian satellite channel between now and January 15.
The same donor has also agreed to double all gifts from current donors, meaning a potential donation of nearly £1m.
SAT-7 broadcasts Christian programmes via satellite into largely Arabic countries in the Middle East and North Africa to support the Christian minority and to present the Gospel in an accessible way to the wider population.
It said it was among the many ministries that had seen a significant shortfall in giving as a result of the global financial crisis and welcomed the donation as a “wonderful provision from God”.
“This is an opportunity we cannot miss!” said Terence Ascott, chief executive of SAT-7.
“During this Christmas season, as you wrap gifts for your loved ones, remember the children of the Middle East and North Africa, untold numbers of whom have yet to hear the Christmas story.
“If you have never given before, I urge you to pray about what you might be able to give for the sake of millions of SAT-7 viewers.
“If you are a current supporter, I ask that you remain faithful and even consider making a special gift at this time so that it may be doubled.”

New version of the Bible - Coffee Table Edition!

Most people think of the Bible as a densely printed book with no pictures, but a version of the scripture that resembles a glossy coffee table magazine aims to change that. It's part of a wave of radical presentations of the Bible, including a manga version and a Lego gospel. But how do Christians feel about these attempts to spread the word?
It's the kind of magazine you might find in a doctor's waiting room next to Cosmopolitan or Reader's Digest. On the front is a pale face heavy with mascara. A flick through throws up striking images: urban flooding, a Nigerian abattoir, a girl eating noodles, a pooch in a limo.
It's only when and if you get round to reading the text that the incongruity strikes you: "Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven." What kind of problem page is this?
BIBLE VERSION HISTORY
382: Jerome commissioned to tackle Latin Vulgate translation
1382: Wyclif's Bible, translations of Vulgate scripture into Middle English start to appear
1455: Gutenberg prints Bible using movable type
1522: Martin Luther translates New Testament into German
1526: Tyndale's English New Testament printed
Bible Illuminated is the latest attempt to bring the Bible into the modern world. In the format of a 300-page glossy magazine, it contains the whole text of the New Testament in a popular translation, with no chapter or verse numbers.
The images are by turns beautiful, violent, oblique and provocative - much like the book itself.
The text "She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus" is illustrated with a veiled Muslim. One verse has a photo of a pair of knickers draped over high-heeled shoes, sending you back to the passage to find out what it's really about.
The person behind this remarketing of holy writings is Dag Soederberg, a Swedish businessman. And contrary to expectations, he is not a Christian hoping to convert anyone. "I'm not on a mission from God," he explains. "I'm not particularly religious. I'm not telling anyone they should believe."

What he sees in the Bible is a profitable chance for people to look again at their world. "We are all affected by it," he says. "Morals are based on it, rightly or wrongly, government, laws. I'm saying to people: this is your history, read it.
"It's the most sold book in the world, but the least known. I want to take it off the shelves and put it on the coffee table."
It's the kind of thing that might provoke tuts and headshaking in the pews, one imagines. "Some people will feel it's dumbing down," says David Ashford of the Bible Society, an organisation that exists to "make the Bible heard". "How can it be the Bible when it's got Angelina Jolie in it?"

He, however, welcomes it with open arms. "You have to understand that what we think of as the traditional serious-looking leather-bound Bible is actually a relatively new format. In the Middle Ages, picture books - with people in contemporary dress - were the way most people read the Bible.
"At first the Bible was a collection of scrolls, then illustrated handwritten volumes. When printing was invented they were produced in Latin with pictures. Later they were published in plain closely printed text, in the common language, to get them into as many people's hands as cheaply as possible."
So, ironically, Soederberg's attempt to popularise the Bible by getting away from its traditional format is exactly what the people who created that format were doing.

Credit Crunch Consultant Birthday Celebrations!

ME-MO, ("Message on the Move" click link to find MEMO) a ministry dedicated to spreading the Good News on public transport networks for 125 years, has launched a new advertising campaign on London buses reassuring commuters of God's comfort in the midst of the global credit crunch. The campaign, launched on Monday, will see MEMO’s ads displayed inside 200 buses throughout central London for the next four weeks.
They ask commuters if they feel “Crunched?” before quoting Luke 2.10 – 11, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you … This very day in Bethlehem your Saviour was born – Christ the Lord.”

The MEMO comes just ahead of an ad campaign to be launched on London buses by the British Humanist Association in January, running with the provocative slogan, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

“Amidst all the discouraging news in our nation at this time we trust that many will find peace and reassurance as they respond to the Good News that ‘Christ the Lord’ was born into this world ‘for a time such as this’,” said a spokesperson for MEMO. We invite Christians to pray that many will be challenged to respond in one way or another and will ‘want to know more about God’s message’ for them personally at this time.”

Teaching South Koreans how to "Ho Ho"

Mark Twain - Terrible Things!

I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
Mark Twain

FAFF - Cadbury Garden Centre Sat 29th Nov

Meet at the church at 11:00am and in case you have not been before I lifted some information from their website. I added some explanations by their descriptions also!

WELCOME...to Cadbury
The South West's premier garden centre is no ordinary store where you'll find lots of gifts for that special webmaster. You'll find all that is best for his garden and home with brilliant displays of plants and an inspiring range of quality products. Cadbury Garden & Leisure is a day out in itself and don;t forget that special someone (in church :)).

Award winning
Free demonstration programme (skip this)
Free in-store events (Naaaa)
Bigger & Better plant range (possibly)
In-store advice centre (I know what I want already)
Kids Club (can they be dropped off here?)
Restaurant theme nights (Free food theme?)
Dogs welcome in-store (don't forget your doggy bag)
Wheelchair friendly (inc wheel painting and wheel massages)
Parent & Child parking (I didn't know Children could drive?)
Parent & Baby Room (where we can't hear them perhaps?)
Bottle & Food warming (Bring your own pasties and Brandy?)
Seating Areas (but if you sit you have to buy)
Fitting Room (but how many can fit I wonder?)
Conference Room (lets meet here and strategize our buying!)
Wi-Fi Internet Access (in case you want to price check a competitor online?)

Compassion Art - Album for the poor!

Twelve CompassionArt songwriters, joined by seven genre-defining guest vocalists, have come together for an unprecedented offering to help the poorest of the poor through the 14-song charity album, CompassionArt: Creating Freedom From Poverty.
This groundbreaking recording, which includes a compelling 50-minute DVD CompassionArt documentary, will be available at both physical and digital retail outlets in Europe through Fierce!/Kingsway and sold at WH Smith stores across the UK.
Nineteen of the most well-known artists in the whole genre of Christian/Gospel music are featured on the CompassionArt recording. The songwriters on the album are Paul Baloche, Steven Curtis Chapman, Stu G, Israel Houghton, Tim Hughes, Graham Kendrick, Andy Park, Matt Redman, Martin Smith, Michael W Smith, Chris Tomlin, and Darlene Zschech. Kirk Franklin, Amy Grant, Joel Houston, Leeland Mooring, Christy Nockels, tobyMac and CeCe Winans all feature as guest vocals.
The goal of CompassionArt and this recording is to engage people everywhere to help end world poverty. None of these artists will ever receive a dime for their efforts.
CompassionArt is not a one-time Live Aid concert, nor just one We Are The World-type song, but a whole album of original songs forever donated to the poor. Songs can be heard, recorded, re-recorded and sung for generations, earning royalties for publishers when the songs are played and through a variety of other outlets over many years.
In addition to the songwriters and guest vocalists, the publishers, managers, record labels, copyright institutes and agents involved are donating their efforts on this project to CompassionArt.
“We are a global community, an underground adventure, a map being drawn as we speak that connects wealth with poverty, art with hope, compassion with despair,” says CompassionArt founder and Delirious? frontman Martin Smith. “We have united ourselves as a community of artists and songwriters to give it all away. Please join us by purchasing the album, playing these songs and singing them in your church services.

Mr Christmas - Andy Park feels the pinch!

A man who has celebrated Christmas every day for the last 14 years with a full roast dinner, champagne and presents is scaling back his celebrations because of the credit crunch, it was revealed today.

Andy Park, known as Mr Christmas, has munched his way through 117,600 sprouts, quaffed 5,110 bottles of Moet, and sent himself more than 230,000 Christmas cards since his festive fetish began.
But this year the 44-year-old electrician, from Melksham, Wiltshire, is having to make swingeing cuts to keep his unique devotion to Yuletide on the road.

Divorced Mr Park said today: 'I've been through 37 electric ovens and worn out 23 video recorders by watching the Queen's Speech every day. I've also sent myself 235,206 Christmas cards. But these days the postage is so dear I'm having to deliver them myself.
'The credit crunch is getting to me big time and I may even have to cut out the champagne and start singing for my Christmas dinner.

'The lunch with all the trimmings and alcohol is costing in excess of £150 a week, but I'm fighting hard not to let the financial crisis ruin the celebrations.
'I'm not being tight but a few of the little extras are having to go. I'm only having one Christmas tree this year, instead of two, and I'm cutting back on the Christmas lights because of energy bills. I used to get a 14lb turkey, now I'm going for a 9lb one. I refuse to compromise on champagne and always have Moet, but now I'm having to make it last two days.'
Every morning since July 14 1994, the father of one has breakfasted on mince pies and sherry, before opening the presents he has bought for himself. Then he eats a full roast turkey lunch and watches the Queen's Speech on video, his favourite being her 'annus horribilis' address. When he last took stock of his intake in October, Mr Park calculated that he had consumed 5,110 turkeys, 94,080 mince pies, 28,224 roast potatoes, and opened 204,400 Christmas crackers. This December 25 he will be buying himself a new suit, but in a more economically secure year he treated himself to a Mercedes. Mr Park is hoping the situation improves so he can pay the £70,000 an undertaker has quoted him for a Christmas themed funeral. The plans demands that all mourners dress as Father Christmas, watch the Queen's Speech on a giant screen, and say goodbye to Mr Park in a coffin full of Brussels sprouts. Noddy Holder, of Slade, will also be asked to sing the band's famous festive hit, Merry Christmas Everybody. Explaining the moment his life changed, Mr Park said: 'I'll never forget the day it started. The sun was shining, but I was just feeling fed up and bored, so I went home and put the decorations up. Suddenly I was happy. I thought, this is fun. So I did it again the next day, and the day after that.
'Since then my routine every day has been to get up and have seven or eight mince pies and glass of sherry for breakfast. After that I open the presents I've wrapped for myself. Later, after I've gone out to work, I'll maybe watch a Christmas film like The Great Escape.
'People do think I'm crackers, but I enjoy treating myself and I'm the only one in the world who does it. Others have tried to copy me, but they can't last. When people come to my house it turns a sad face into a smiling one, and the happiness stays with them. My daughter used to love celebrating it with me but she's in her 20s now and people started teasing her a bit. I think her dad was a bit of an embarrassment.'

C.S. Lewis - Debunked

"A great many of those who 'debunk' traditional ... values, have in the background values of their own which they believe to be immune from the debunking process."
C.S. Lewis

"Hope for the hopless!"

God’s love has the power to turn around the lives of even the greatest misfits and marginalised, says Salvation Army Captain Steven Turner.
Writing in The Salvation Army’s latest Thought for the Month, Turner chided the church for not being more welcoming to the “losers” of the community and challenged believers to reach out to the down and outs on their own doorsteps.
“We love to see TV programmes like ‘Beyond the Boundaries’ in which disabled people take on challenges most able-bodied folk would fail. We cheer the ‘losers’ who make good,” he wrote in his sports themed article.
“But what of the down and outs in our community – those with drink and alcohol problems, broken marriages, disability or disease?
“Most people have no time for them. Even in our churches those who ‘don’t fit’ can suffer a rough ride.”
Captain Turner pointed to the example set by Jesus in offering forgiveness to the Samaritan woman who had been divorced five times, the healing he brought to the disabled, and the occasions on which he touched lepers – a condition Turner described as “the HIV/Aids problem of his day”.
“Jesus had lots of time for misfits – whether due to disability or social status,” he wrote. “The high fliers in among his Band of Twelve were a former tax collector and a thief who finally betrayed him. But Jesus knew that with God’s Spirit in them people can change.”
Captain Turner concluded with a reminder to Christians of God’s ability to save even the biggest underdogs.
“Remember that God has the same attitude as the good sports fan,” he noted. “That with the right coaching and proper application (God’s Spirit working in our hearts to apply His Word), the biggest loser can be transformed and receive eternal life.”

You're not the boss of me!!!

There they go again, complaining about your music (there is no such thing as too much distortion), what you’re wearing (or not wearing), who you hang out with (and for how long), and a whole bunch of other stuff they apparently have no clue about.
____________________________________
Sometimes it seems like parents were teleported here from another planet for all they understand about navigating adolescence.

Kids vs parents is as old as history itself – ever since that day Cain returned home an only child – well okay, his parents did have a pretty good reason to be angry (he had a brother when he left the house). But it’s tough when you’re trying to expand your wings and they keep hitting your parents in the face. You just wanna do your own thing…

In the ultimate list of how to live a life of practical holiness (Exodus 20), God said, “Honour your mother and father”. It’s commandment number five and is just before “You shall not murder”. Whoa, surely staying out later than your curfew isn’t in the league of killing someone? No, of course not. But the root cause is the same – choosing our own will over that of God’s.

God fully designed us to be free thinking individuals, uniquely created with a purpose that no one else can fulfil. But He also knew we’d need boundaries – rules and guidelines to stop us veering onto the wrong side of the road and having a head on collision.

When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments He knew the Israelites would need to respect authority and build strong families. He knew the younger generations, just like Cain before them, would try and do their own thing – and not necessarily God’s thing. So He established an order for parents to pass on their knowledge and wisdom to the younger generations and instruct them in His ways, so they could make right choices.

Despite the fact that was thousands of years ago, the same rules pretty much apply today. God wants us to “honour” our parents – respect them, listen to them and do what they say – because they have the experience and wisdom that unfortunately only comes with time and a few hard knocks.

But that doesn’t mean you have to blindly agree with everything they say. You’re bound to have different ideas and opinions to your parents. If you think something is unfair or unreasonable, then you have the right to say so – preferably not screaming your opinion out from behind your locked bedroom door! Don’t forget your parents only put rules in place because they care about you – as hard as that is to understand at times.

"Honour. It’s kind of an old fashioned word, but it’s actually pretty cool. "

And the really cool thing about this commandment is it’s the first one with a promise attached. If we obey our parents, God promises us we will live long in the land. Back in the Israelites’ day God knew peace within families was the key to staying strong and united and holding onto their land. Honouring their elders was the way young Israelites could secure their inheritance.

Honour. It’s kind of an old fashioned word, but it’s actually pretty cool. It means to have a high respect, adhere to what is right, to have nobleness of mind and distinction. How do we apply that to our parents? Well, it means listening even when you don’t agree, it means obeying the rules they set in place for you and it means not dissing them when you’re talking with your friends. It means following their Godly example and it means loving them. Yip, they drive you crazy at times, but chances are there’s no one on earth that will ever love you more.

Obeying isn’t very popular these days. But Jesus gives us the most awesome picture of obedience when He asked God to take the cup from Him when He was praying in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39). He said “My Father, if it is possible may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”. Jesus was saying He knew what was ahead and He didn’t want to go through with it. But, ultimately He listened and respected God enough to choose God’s will over His own. It’s very easy to say God tells us to honour our parents, so that’s what we should do. But it’s not always that black and white. What if one of them abandoned you, or abused you in some form? How are you meant to show respect to people who have hurt you? We should never obey anyone that tells us to do something that contradicts God’s Word. God doesn’t want us to struggle with feelings of bitterness and rejection – or to be in a situation where our physical or mental wellbeing is threatened. Respecting our parents is a choice, and if there are things that prevent you from making that choice, then God wants to heal you. Don’t be afraid to seek help if that’s what you need – talk to someone you trust.

By Christina Anderson

World Aids Day

The head of the London Ecumenical Aids Trust is encouraging Christians to make use of an Asian worship service to mark World Aids Day on 1 December.
World Aids Day is traditionally marked around the world on 1 December each year, but churches may dedicate either the weekend before or after to the day.
Churches across the country will hold special services, events and prayer meetings to mark the day, which centres this year on the theme of ‘Stop Aids keep the promise’.
The Asian liturgy has been endorsed by the Christian Conference of Asia and highlights the fact that someone dies of an Aids-related illness every 15 seconds, often because of a lack of medicine.
The liturgy also challenges Christians to go beyond being passive observers of the global Aids pandemic.
“We have the scientific means to stop much of the dying from Aids-related illnesses, but we lack the will to do it,” it says. “This is a spiritual problem—not of those who contracted the disease, but of churches and societies.
“It is a problem that can be solved by leadership. Leadership from you and me, from our churches and our politicians.”
Rev Stephen Penrose, Methodist minister and director of the London Ecumenical Aids Trust said: “As the Director of the London Ecumenical Aids Trust and also as a Methodist Minister, I would commend this liturgy to be used around World Aids Day by our churches.
“I particularly like the sermon notes. They not only give the facts, setting them in a theological context, but hopefully will stir people into action.”
Christian charity hospital Mildmay is also encouraging congregations to “think, pray and respond” to Aids issues. Mildmay, which specialises in HIV and Aids care and training, has put together an Aids-themed worship booklet that churches can adapt for their services.
On the web: http://www.mildmay.org/mildmay.aspx?pg=mildmay-home

Financial Woes at Christmas!

More than three quarters of UK residents are worried about the financial cost of Christmas, reveals a new survey out today from debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty.
Out of the nearly 2,000 UK adults surveyed in the YouGov poll, one in three said they had not budgeted at all for the festive season while 15 per cent said they were not looking forward to Christmas as a result of their financial worries.
The research revealed regional variations in attitudes to Christmas finances, with more Scots – 57 per cent – saying they would set a budget and try to stick to it. Scots were also the most nervous about the financial impact of Christmas, with 81 per cent saying they were worried about the costs of presents and other festive expenses.
Londoners were least likely to budget for Christmas and were also the most likely to rack up the expenses on their card and forget about it until the New Year. Nine per cent admitted this was their preferred way to meet the costs of Christmas.
The CAP survey also uncovered gender differences, with 82 per cent of women saying they were worried about meeting the costs of Christmas, as opposed to 69 per cent of men.
Older respondents tended to worry more about festive finances than younger respondents. More than two thirds – or 67 per cent – of 18 to 24-year-olds said they were worried about the cost of Christmas, compared to 85 per cent of 45 to 54-year-olds.
Matt Barlow, UK Chief Executive of Christians Against Poverty, said: “Whilst it should be a time for fun, relaxing and catching up with friends and family, Christmas can also be a difficult time for people to balance the books. After all, expensive presents, special food and travel all have to be funded on top of normal outgoings, which can make things tough on our wallets.
“It is no surprise, given the recent economic crisis, that people are worried about the cost of Christmas but the good news is we can offer hope and solution to those caught in debt in the UK. Through our ever-expanding network of local, church-based centres, we can offer our award-winning and free service to those who need it, especially at this critical time.”
CAP runs 82 debt counselling centres across the UK, many from local churches, and has helped its 1,500 current clients save up in advance of the Christmas season. Instead of a debt-laden Christmas, they are now able to withdraw savings from their special CAP accounts that will help fund all their expenditures over the festive season.
“Our 1500 clients who are now able to use their savings to help fund Christmas this year will testify to how it is possible to budget well and also enjoy the festive season,” said Barlow.
CAP has launched its top ten budgeting tips on its website to help people stay in control of their finances whilst still enjoying Christmas to the full.
“Our advice is simple to follow and easy to put into practice,” said Barlow. “I would also urge anyone at all concerned about their long-term financial state to contact us via our website immediately.
“Our service is totally free and we work with anyone, regardless of their religious belief, so please call and ensure this Christmas is not filled with fear, but with the joy and relaxation that it should be.”

(Maybe it's time we all took a look at the true meaning of Christmas and what it means! If we did this then I don't think we would be as concerned. After all God will provide enough for us all. Just like the banking and many other industries where greed has lead to ruin, maybe this is a leason to us all to be more practical and live within our means. It is the spirit and the love at Christmas not the presents and brouhaha, as in the pictures!)

Thomas Mann - Man

No man remains quite what he was, when he recognizes himself.
Thomas Mann

Asbo for holy heckler!

A pest has been slapped with an Asbo banning him from every church in England and Wales for repeatedly interrupting services.
Raymond Woods, 52, of Godalming, Surrey, intimidated worshippers and stole money from several churches before being caught, Guildford magistrates were told.

Don't forget these important dates in your calendar!

29th Nov 11:00 - FAFF invades the Cadbury Centre! Buying gifts for the webmaster for doing such a fine job I'm sure :)

9th Dec - Teen Christmas Party (last teen night for holidays)

13th Dec - 9-12 Table Top Sale - Free refreshments and lots of Christmas Bargains! 11 shopping days to go!

From FAFF Christmas Party 2007

13th Dec - FAFF Christmas Party 6pm - Bring and Share! Visit from Santa for the kids! Always a lot of fun!

17th Dec - Kids Klub Khristmas Party - Last night for the holidays!

19th Dec - 6:30pm - Carols in Perrots Park - Churches Together

From Nativity Play 2007

21st Dec 10:30 Service - Children's Nativity Play! One day only, don't miss this wonderful production!!!

21st Dec 6:00pm - Carols by Candlelight - and you don't have to be named Carol to attend!

24th Dec - Midnight Service - 11:00pm - Cup of Tea Service 11:15 to 12:15am

25th Dec - 10:30 - Short Christmas Service

6th Jan - Teen Club starts back up!

Samuel Rutherford - Conscience

We take nothing to the grave with us, but a good or evil conscience... It is true, terrors of conscience cast us down; and yet without terrors of conscience we cannot be raised up again. Samuel Rutherford

Enough is Enough

Senior leaders in the Church in Wales and the Welsh police force are uniting in a campaign aimed at overturning the nation's binge drinking culture.
The "Enough is Enough" campaign will target all areas of excessive drinking, from out-of-control revellers in city centres at the weekend to those who enjoy one too many bottles of wine in the evening at home.
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan will lead the campaign together with the six other Welsh bishops and the four chief constables of Wales.
People concerned about how much they drink will be invited to make a pledge online to cut down the amount they drink and to stop before they have had too much. After signing up, they will receive a card to remind them of their commitment and give them support against peer pressure.
Dr Barry Morgan stressed that the pledge was not a challenge to give up alcohol altogether but to give up binge drinking.
"Alcohol isn't the problem - it is our attitude to it that counts," he said. "Drinking can be an enjoyable part of our social life but not when we abuse it - harming ourselves and others.
"The challenge is to change our own thinking and the prevailing culture and attitude in Wales which equates a good night out, or even a good night in, with drinking to excess.
"This is what needs challenging and this is why we are saying Enough is Enough."
Enough is Enough, to be launched today at Cardiff University Students' Union, will see the widespread circulation of posters and leaflets highlighting the damaging effects of excessive alcohol consumption and the huge toll binge drinking takes on people, their families and friends, and society as a whole.
The campaign is being backed by Cardiff University Students' Union and the Licensees Forum, and supports the Welsh Assembly Government's Substance Misuse Strategy.
The launch will be joined by South Wales Police Chief Constable, Barbara Wilding, who said, "The aftermath of binge drinking can be clearly seen during the early hours of any Saturday and Sunday morning in A&E waiting rooms across the country, but perhaps more worrying is the fact that in the run up to Christmas and the New Year these waiting rooms will get even busier.
"When people drink to excess they are far more likely to be involved in an accident, or assault, commit a criminal offence, or make themselves sexually vulnerable.
"Something quite clearly needs to be done to change the 'culture' that exists in Wales where drinking to excess is widely accepted."

Spiritual Youth - Generation IXOYE ers

The majority of youths in the world say they are spiritual and think religion and spirituality are both positive, according to an extensive, first-of-its-kind survey.
Fifty-seven per cent of young people (ages 12-25) see themselves as being spiritual, reported the survey by Search Institute’s Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence that was sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.
The research surveyed more than 7,000 young people from a wide range of cultural and religious backgrounds, spanning 17 countries and six continents. It took two years to complete the study that offers one of the first snapshots of spiritual development across multiple countries and traditions.
“We have spent two years listening to youth ages 12 to 25 from many countries and traditions talk about spiritual development and its role in their lives,” reflected Eugene C Roehlkepartain, co-director of the Center for Spiritual Development, in a statement. “Many young people are keenly interested in these issues, but relatively few have opportunities to talk with others about the things that really matter to them.”
The survey found that about one in three youths consider themselves “very” or “pretty” spiritual, but this varies vastly across countries. The high was in the United States where 52 per cent of the youth self-described themselves as “very” or “pretty” spiritual, and in Thailand where 50 per cent gave the same response.
In contrast, Australia had a low of only 23 per cent saying they were highly spiritual. Almost half of the youth surveyed in Australia (47 per cent) indicated that they are not spiritual, compared to only 12 per cent in Thailand and about 20 per cent in Canada, India, Ukraine and the United States.
Religion and being spiritual are related but different, according to the world’s youth. Respondents are still most likely to say they are both spiritual and religious (34 per cent). Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) say they are spiritual, but not religious.
One in five of the youths indicated they did not know whether they were spiritual or not.
The response of American youth was slightly different. They were more likely to say they are both spiritual and religious (43 per cent) than the world’s youth in general (34 per cent). A comparable number to international youths said they are just spiritual (27 per cent).
Being spiritual for this young generation is most often associated with believing in God (36 per cent), followed by believing that there is a purpose to life (32 per cent), and then being true to one’s inner self (26 per cent).
But the most popular definition for being spiritual differed across countries and culture.
Indian youths were more likely to say being true to one’s inner self (38 per cent) is being spiritual more so than believing in God (33 per cent), whereas in Canada, the youths said being spiritual is believing in God (52 per cent) and then believing there is a purpose to life (48 per cent).

Makes the UK's lead thieves look small time!

A 200-year-old church building has disappeared from a village in central Russia, officials from the Russian Orthodox Church say.
The building had stood near the village of Komarovo since 1809.
It was intact in July but some time in early October thieves made off with it brick by brick, they said.
Local prosecutors had been informed and an investigation was under way, a spokesman for the local Russian Orthodox Church said.
The disappearance of the Church of the Resurrection, some 300 km (186 miles) north-east of Moscow, was not immediately noticed.
It was in an out-of-the-way area and was not being used, although Church officials were considering resuming services there.
Now all that remained of the two-storey building - a school before it was turned over to the Church - were its foundations and some sections of wall, the Church said.
Thieves often target churches in rural Russia. Religious icons can be sold and church structures sold off for building materials.

Committes

A committee is a cul-de-sac, down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.

Sir Barnett Cocks

CT Studd - Low Funds

Funds are low again, hallelujah! That means God trusts us and is willing to leave His reputation in our hands.

C. T. Studd

Faith Based Bullying in Schools

A survey published today by a leading bullying prevention charity has found that one in four school students admits to being bullying – often violently - because of their religion.
Beatbullying, which runs interfaith bullying prevention programmes, said its research indicated that that there was little provision for young people to talk about their faith and that almost half of young people do not talk about religious or faith issues at all.
The survey of 819 young people also found a degree of religious segregation, with 20 per cent of the young people surveyed saying that their circle of friends consisted mainly of people from the same religious background.
Emma-Jane Cross, Chief Executive of Beatbullying said, “The findings from our survey clearly indicate the lack of support and direction our young people have to openly discuss and understand faith based issues with their peers.
“Beatbullying worries that this lack of cohesion is cultivating at best a lack of understanding and at worst a lack of tolerance of other faiths.”
The survey recorded a number of positive results, with close to 50 per cent of respondents saying they had a religious belief and 37 per cent of those saying they practised their religion.
Beatbullying’s government-funded programmes to prevent religiously motivated bullying have proven highly successful, with participating schools experiencing a 45 per cent reduction in incidences of faith-based bullying.
“Beatbullying’s work proves that by providing outlets for young people to discuss the issues that matter to them, we can effectively reduce anti-social and violent behaviours between young people,” said Ms Cross.
“As a result, the Government must encourage and resource faith community organisations who are working with local, regional and central government to promote social cohesion, tolerance and commonality.”She urged the Government to carry out research into the extent of faith-based bullying among young people and draw up new guidelines for schools.
Ms Cross added, “Faith-based bullying must be included as a category when Government legislates to require schools to record all incidents of bullying across their school environment.”

Only 2,304 languages to go! (is that all?!)

An anonymous donor gave a huge sum of $50 million to Wycliffe Bible Translators this week making it possible to translate Scripture for the last people groups still without the Bible in their native tongue more quickly.
The gift, the largest in the ministry's 75-year history, will be used towards Wycliffe's Last Languages Campaign. The campaign seeks to bring language development and, in most cases, first-time literacy alongside the Bible translation programme to more than 200 million people by 2025.
Interestingly, the gift comes in advance of the campaign's official launch on November 22 at the Wycliffe USA headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
"Literacy is key to helping people work their way out of poverty and resist oppression by others," said the donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, in a statement released Wednesday. "Children who first learn to read in their own language are more likely to become literate and to stay in school than those who first learn in a different language."
There are 6,912 language groups in the world today, with one third of the world's language groups having no Bible translation programme in place.
The Last Languages Campaign will use cutting-edge translation techniques to accelerate the pace of language development and Bible translation for the world's remaining language groups from 125 years to 17 years.
Wycliffe USA President Bob Creason is very thankful for the donation.
"A gift towards Bible translation and language development is perhaps the surest investment anyone can make in these uncertain financial times," Creason said.
Last year, another large donation was made to Wycliffe when the deputy chairman of the New York Stock Exchange holding company, Marshall N Carter, donated his personal million-dollar aircraft to Wycliffe Last Languages partner JAARS for the effort.
Besides Bible translation, Wycliffe also contributes to community development by establishing water purification systems, Aids education, human rights and community empowerment programs.

1 John 4:8 - Love

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8

Anti-Bullying Week - Cyberbullies!

This is the world of cyberbullying – a 21st century phenomenon that has become as much a concern for health care professionals as old-fashioned bullying, says Christine Vitale, MSN, RN, Injury Prevention coordinator at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“We all need to be aware so that we can teach our children that this is absolutely wrong – and dangerous,” says Ms. Vitale. Cyberbullying is worrisome because there is no relief from it, says adolescent medicine subspecialist Melanie A. Gold, DO. “Whenever you log on, the messages are there. Your home is no longer your safe haven.”
Cyberbullying has become so pervasive that Dr. Gold addressed the issue in the updated edition of a book for adolescents she co-authored with two high school students and a college student: Teen-to-Teen: Teens Talk about Sex, Self-Esteem and Everything In-Between (Bridging the Gap Foundation, 2005).
Who are they and what do they do?
It is mostly pre-teen and young teenage girls (and some boys) who are empowered by the illusion of anonymity, says Dr. Gold of Children’s Division of Adolescent Medicine.
It’s only an illusion because abusers can be tracked down through the Internet Service Provider (ISP)once they are reported.
Parents need to be tenacious to track down and report perpetrators, says Dr. Gold.
Instead of spewing spiteful in-your-face taunts, today�s bullies hide behind their computer screens and cell phones as they send out cruel e-mails, text messages, instant messages (IM) and their own Web pages.
Cyberbullies may:
Steal passwords and then send out threatening e-mails or instant messages (IM) under someone else’s name.
Create blogs (personal Web sites about their day-to-day activities) and post rumors, stories, cartoons, pictures and jokes ridiculing others.
Post pictures of kids online, and then ask other kids to rate them.
Take a picture with a digital phone camera of a boy or girl in the locker room or using the bathroom, and then send it to others.
Become cyber savvy
The Internet is a valuable resource for children to do research and to communicate with their teachers and friends. Yet, it can be invasive and overwhelming – taking them to harmful and hurtful “places.” Just as you wouldn’t send your children to unsafe neighborhoods, you shouldn’t allow them into uncharted Internet territory.
Discuss computer etiquette with your children and – together – create a computer contract that helps them understand their responsibilities while online
Don’t allow your children to own phones with built-in digital cameras.
Teach them never to post or say anything on the Internet that they would not want anyone else to read – including you.
Encourage them to talk to you if they receive messages online that make them feel uncomfortable or threatened. If it’s someone from school, talk to the teacher or other school officials.
Tell your children not to give out their cell phone number, instant message (IM) name or e-mail address to anyone they don’t know.
Online safety:
Check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to learn more about how you can provide online security for your children. For example:
America Online’s “AOL Guardian” can restrict IM buddies as well as report which Web sites your kids visit and with whom they exchange messages.
Microsoft’s “content provider” allows parents to set up approved groups of Web addresses. It also provides a “restricted zone” and “client filtering” that limits Web surfing time and prevents use of certain Internet games.

Beat Bullying Poem

I am the person you bullied at school,
I am the person who didn’t know how to be cool.
I’m the person that you alienated,
I’m the person you ridiculed and hated.
I am the person, who sat on her own,
I am the person who walked home alone.
I am the person you scared every day,
I am the person who had nothing to say.
I am the person with hurt in his eyes,
I am the person you never saw cry.
I am the person living alone with his fears,
I am the person destroyed by his peers.
I am the person, who drowned in your scorn,
I am the person who wished she hadn’t been born.
I am the person you destroyed for fun,
I am the person, but not the only one.
I’m the person whose name you didn’t know,
I’m the person who just can’t let go.
I’m the person, who has feelings to,
I am the person, just like you.
Make a stand. Wear a band.

John Calvin - Obedience

Children, obey. Why does the apostle use the word obey instead of honor, which has a greater extent of meaning? It is because obedience is the evidence of that honor which children owe to their parents, and it therefore more earnestly enforced. It is likewise more difficult; for the human mind recoils from the idea of subjection, and with difficulty allows itself to be placed under the control of another.
John Calvin

Live Longer!!

He said, "You gotta sprinkle a little gunpowder on your oatmeal, see. If you do, you'll live to a nice ripe old age."
So the cowboy did this religiously every day, and sure enough, lived to the nice ripe old age of 96.
When he died he left behind 4 children, 8 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren

...and a 16 foot hole in the wall of the crematorium.

Priests Favourites to Top the Charts at Christmas (how appropriate)

Three priests from Northern Ireland are among the favourites for the coveted Christmas number one spot, just months after signing a £1m record deal.
Father Eugene O'Hagan, 48, his brother Martin, 45, and David Delargy, 44, known simply as 'The Priests', have parishes in Down and Connor diocese.
Ladbrokes is offering odds of 25/1 on the trio hitting the festive top spot.
Any money the group makes will be given to charity, but this will presumably not stop punters having a flutter.
"It's humbling to be included in such an august musical list however, generally we think that people's money would be better spent by buying whatever music lifts their spirits for Xmas", read a statement from The Priests.
Signed to Sony BMG, the musical clerics have a special exemption in their contract, which allows them to break off from promotional duties to deal with parish work such as presiding over funerals.
Their self-titled debut album is released at the end of November.

Our Busy Christmas Season - Join in at anytime!

29th Nov 11:00 - FAFF invades the Cadbury Centre! Buying gifts for the webmaster for doing such a fine job I'm sure :)

9th Dec - Teen Christmas Party (last teen night for holidays)

13th Dec - 9-12 Table Top Sale - Free refreshments and lots of Christmas Bargains! 11 shopping days to go!

From FAFF Christmas Party 2007

13th Dec - FAFF Christmas Party 6pm - Bring and Share! Visit from Santa for the kids! Always a lot of fun!

19th Dec - 6:30pm - Carols in Perrots Park - Churches Together

From Nativity Play 2007

21st Dec 10:30 Service - Children's Nativity Play! One day only, don't miss this wonderful production!!!

21st Dec 6:00pm - Carols by Candlelight - and you don't have to be named Carol to attend!

24th Dec - Midnight Service - 11:00pm - Cup of Tea Service 11:15 to 12:15am

25th Dec - 10:30 - Short Christmas Service

6th Jan - Teen Club starts back up!

George Swinnock - Compassion

Reprove compassionately. Soft words and hard arguments do well together. Passion will heat the sinner's blood, but compassion will heal his conscience.
George Swinnock

George F Will - A pessimist!

The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.

George F. Will

Blind Pilot landed on a wing and a prayer.

A pilot lost the ability to see after he suffered a stroke while flying his two-seat Cessna over Britain last Friday, local news organizations report. That may sound familiar to loyal On Deadline readers. It was just last month that we told you about an incident involving a Philippine Airline pilot who suffered a mild stroke while flying a passenger jet.
In this case, BBC News says the Royal Air Force sent a trainer to "shepherd" Jim O'Neill, 65, and his plane to safety at a military base.
Commander Paul Gerrard "used his voice to guide him down by telling him to turn left and right, to lower the plane and to do his pre-landing checks," according to Wing Commander Andy Hynd. "At very short range he still couldn't see the runway and it was only at the last minute that he could. He landed about halfway down and came to a halt just at the end."The Guardian says O'Neill is still hospitalized. His condition is described as serious.
"It was terrifying. Suddenly I couldn’t see the dials in front of me," the hobbyist tells the Daily Mirror. “All there was in front of me was a blur. I was helpless at the controls.”

George Bernard Shaw - Ashamed

The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.

George Bernard Shaw

Prayer Line for armed Forces

United Christian Broadcasters is to launch a new prayer line to support members of the British Armed Forces and their families. The ‘Forces Prayerline’ will be launched at St Clement Danes church in London on Thursday, the Armed Forces Day of Prayer. The prayer line will be manned by trained volunteers across the UK and will be open to receive calls from distressed servicemen and women seven days a week. The service is being launched in partnership with senior chaplains in the Armed Forces and will be publicised widely in bases and Forces publications across the UK, UCB said.
Colonel Paul Eaton, who led the planning committee said, “The Forces welfare services are brilliant when there’s a crisis – as I discovered when a young RAF airman of mine tragically committed suicide. But through prayer we may be able to reach people before the crisis breaks, bringing hope to those in despair, encouragement to those who are dispirited and comfort to those who are suffering. Of course, if the Prayerline saves lives or marriages, that’s brilliant. But it’s not just for those in dire straits; it’s for everyday situations too, when we’re concerned about work, the kids, our mates, our family, our next posting. So even for those everyday issues, I believe the Prayerline will be a tremendous help for those that use it.”
Christians across the UK are being invited to join in the Armed Forces Day of Prayer. Prayers will be said for troops and chaplains deployed around the world but particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as for family members and medical personnel.
Christians will also pray for God’s protection over Britain from enemies, that He will “turn their hearts to peace and justice for men and women”, reads the official prayer outline.

Dwight Moody - Trouble

I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man I have ever met.

Dwight L. Moody

Royal Mail Christmas Stamps

The Royal Mail broke with tradition on Tuesday with the issuing of its first ever Christmas collection of stamps to feature religious and secular images at the same time.
The Royal Mail has issued special edition Christmas stamps for more than 40 years featuring until this year only religious images.
The 2008 collections sees the religious 1st class stamp depicting the ‘Madonna of Humility’ by Lippo di Dalmasio, with ‘Madonna and Child’ by William Dyce on the 2nd class stamp.
On the secular stamps are images of classic pantomime characters, including Cinderella, Peter Pan, Aladdin and Snow White.
Julietta Edgar, Head of Special Stamps, Royal Mail said: "Every year customers look forward to our Christmas stamps, which have been brightening up the festive season for more than 40 years.
"This year we are delighted to offer our customers a choice of Christmas stamps and the images will be seen on millions of letters and cards throughout the UK as well as on gifts sent across the globe."
The Royal Mail said it was expecting two billion items to be sent over the Christmas season, including 750 million Christmas cards.
It predicted Monday 15 December to be its busiest day, with 123 million items to be delivered compared to the average daily figure of around 80 million.

Steven Wright - Trueism

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

John 6:35 - Never Thirsty

Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."
John 6:35

Soup kitchens go to the dogs!

BERLIN (Reuters) - A soup kitchen exclusively for dogs has opened its doors in Berlin providing pets of the homeless and unemployed with a free meal, the director of the establishment said on Friday.
Despite the looming financial crisis, director Claudia Hollm dismissed criticism that it may be more sensible to collect money for humans than for dogs.
"Nowadays people underestimate dogs. They are incredibly important for those who lack social contact with other humans," Hollm told Reuters.
"Making sure dogs don't go hungry is just as important as making sure that people don't starve," she added.
Hollm, and her company "Animal Board," gets sponsorship from companies, including animal food manufacturers.
One woman who uses the free service said she had two dogs, four cats, a rabbit and some guinea pigs.
"Without this animal bread line, I'd probably starve to death," the 20-year old told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
The opening of the soup kitchen follows last month's launch of a new bus service in Berlin for dogs, which shuttles their furry friends to a luxury dog day-care center.