Prayer!

Simple ...but fun !
Thanks Mathew for pointing it out

Latest photos town centre building

I was back at the town centre building today and was surprised and delighted by recent progress.the roof is now on,

A lot of internal work has also been done since I last visited, and they are even starting to put some of the wiring in .You can get a much better idea of what the building will look like when it eventually opens.

-I think it will be a great space!

downstairs

outside

Apologies for the quality of the photos but they give you an idea of what it look like now.

Seeking the welfare of the city -a practical example

  Last year a  small number  of leaders from Shrewsbury Baptist Church, church did a Fresh Expressions course which I reflected on here
One of the great things about the course was meeting  people with a similar heart to us, doing some great things in other parts of Shropshire and beyond.

Among those we met was the guy on the left of the photo above and some of his co workers.
I was therefore very interested in the response they made to the recent trouble in the nearby( but demographically very different) city of Wolverhampton.They obviously did a great job!
This is from the Fresh Expressions website press here
The article also points to the value of Street Pastors which will hopefully be starting in Shrewsbury very soon.

Being Missional

I have been thinking a l;ot about waht it means to be a missional church and live a missional lifestyle
Enjoyed the insights on this video.
http://vimeo.com/10224568

Death by attendance of well meaning people

Some good stuff from Graham Cray on the Fresh Expressions website here

Next Reformation

 Came accross this interesting and challenging  article from next reformation here

Some great quotes in the article -especially like this Bonhoeffer one

“The restoration of the church will surely come from a sort of new monasticism which has in common with the old only the uncompromising attitude of a life lived according to the sermon on the mount and the following of Christ. I believe it is now time to call people together to do this.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Flower Show

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After a week when the media has been packed with news of the dark deeds that human being are capable of ,it was great to go to the Flower Show in Shrewsbury to see that we, who are made in God’s image, are also capable of amazing creativity!



I have always loved these shows and this one in particular for its variety, for its colour, and though people come from far and wide, for its very  local feel.

Over the years it has become less a flower and vegetable show though there is still plenty to admire!

We especially enjoyed these 2 sensory gardens created by local people, and which at the end of the show are going to be given to Hope House  children's hospice and Severndale School respectively .Two places dear to our hearts

There was some amazing metal work

We enjoyed the show jumping

A very enjoyable day ended with an incredible firworks display

A really great day and this time next year  with our new town centre building, we will have thousands of people passing our front doors on the way up to the show .Now there is another opportunity to be creative !

Riots in England

It has been a  depressing business watching the news media in the last few days. There is no doubt that once the violence in our cities  is under control,politicians and others need to work hard to understand why these disturbances happened and how we can prevent them happening again.
I suspect the causes are many;ranging from poverty to  greed, to boredom to poor parenting skills, and many other things.
Simon Jones makes some interesting points on his blog here particularly the fact that we are all to blame and we all have a part to play in making things better.

This is especially  true of the church whose calling is not simply to be a community at a time when so communities are falling apart, but a community whose task is to build God's Kingdom and share Jesus love with our neighbours, who are made in God's image and loved by him whether they  are criminals or the victims of crime.

I would make one more point.  It is this: The western world has already jettisoned God or appears to be in the process of doing so.We have declared we can live without Him ,but the problem is we have not replaced Him .There is no meta narrative by which we live our lives, and for many no sense of right and wrong, of good and bad.
That is to be expected
It would be naive to think Christian ethics will survive for long in a soceity which has stopped believing in the Christian gospel.
The truth is God is real and we were created for Him.We need Him.There can be no authentic substitute ,nothing else and noone else can satisfy.
The youing people of the UK are like  young people everywhere .They want to know their lives matter ,that they count ,that they are significant .

Our young people need a reason to live a reason that brings  meaning and purpose.

Only Jesus can satisfy that need.

Farewell John Stott

Saw this account of the thanksgiving service for John Stott held ,of course, at All Souls,Langham Place press here

He will be  missed.


Thought I would add this with John Stott speaking on death with his usual clarity

Our dangerous story!

Enjoyed this short but provocative video from  Michael Frost on "The Verge Network