Wordy Wednesday

Its me - the human (so those of you hoping for Pasta can switch over now). On Tuesday nights I go to Bible study (well most of the time) - after we finished our Lent reflections, we have begun looking at Ezekiel. We generally start the evening with prayer and song - Send the fire. We are already in to Chapter 3 - so a brief catchup. The first chapter is full of amazing imagery as Ezekiel encounters the glory of God - one of the images is of the rainbow - a symbol of God's covenant with "man". Throughout the book we have the idea that however far off the people find themselves from God, whether literally or figuratively, God is with them - nothing can separate them from Him (especially significant as the people find themselves in exile in Babylon). Ezekiel finds himself called by God as a prophet to the people - charged to give them warning. A message that could speak to us....if we declare ourselves people of faith, if we declare ourselves believers, if we declare ourselves Christians, but don't tell others of the joy we have found in the love God has shown us....what kind of Christians are we? How many times have we seen a special offer? seen a competition? seen money off? a great recipe? and told someone else?.....if we have faith, if we believe, if we are Christians and don't tell others of the love of God, the gift of salvation, life everlasting - really....what are we doing?

Two more thoughts (yes, I am a fairly traditional preacher - you mostly get three points)

Chapter 2 v6...do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are al around you and you live among scorpions.
So many times we find ourselves beset by fear and doubt and torment and suffering and declare ourselves unable to cope - yet we do. Its not about celebrating our own strength, its about embracing our vulnerability, its about taking time to contemplate Christ on the cross, and His helplessness and suffering there. And...yet, at that moment, Christ put all that He was into the hands of His heavenly Father - He trusted in God. We aren't promised that we won't suffer, but we are promised that God is always with  us, always alongside us, always before us - whatever we experience, we have no need of fear. We need to go to the Lord in prayer, turn to each other and share the things that burden our hearts and minds, lay them at the foot of the cross and leave them there. Writing this down makes it sound trite and simplistic, it makes it look like I don't understand or empathise with the suffering that all people find themselves in at some point - but imagine yourself out shopping, loaded with bags and boxes and parcels, and people keep loading your arms, you can't even see the way ahead - the only way to continue is to put the stuff down and ask for help.

Chapter 3 v17 ... I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. (somehow, as I got to this point - I dropped something on the laptop and it turned off, but I had saved the post as I was working - saving is always good). In Old Testament times watchmen were stationed on the highest part of city walls and other vantage points, such as hills near cities, to warn the inhabitants of the city of the approach of an enemy. In the New Testament - John Chp 10 v1-5 "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climb in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his boice. But in they will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run away from him because they don not reconghise a stranger's voice." I have heard people say that sheep are dumb, but in this they are wiser than us, can we truly say that we listen to the warnings of the watchmen? Can we truly say that we listen for our shepherd's voice? Can we truly say that we don't run after strangers who lead us into danger? Do we put our trust in one who leads us, who goes ahead of us (to protect us from danger) and knows each of us by name? or do we let ourselves be led, hither, thither and yon?

Right - hopefully this has prompted some thoughts. (the picture of the lamb would be in this post - but I failed...I should probably ask someone....)

Lamb

Lamb, a photo by patchworkgandalf on Flickr.

If Denzil's mum has a badger....

I have a hedgehog

I am moderately pleased with the human for a) noticing b) photographing c) not producing a photo that is a disaster - now if she could get a pic of the Harris Hawk that is scampering around locally.
You can read Denzil's fab blog, here Read about Denzil - click here

Save a kitten (or goat, or chicken or puppy.....)

Vote for Rikki's Refuge, VA

This is Vincent - he is the spokescat for Rikki's Refuge - they help lots and lots of animals not just cats. One simple click per day can help them feed lots of animals. Go on - click - no spam, no phone calls - click. Go on, save an animal. Go on - stop reading the blog - go click

so - you have had Pasta

Inspired by uncovering missing fabric (pattern is from a magazine), a photo by patchworkgandalf on Flickr.

this is patchwork

Most famous!

Pasta exhausted, a photo by patchworkgandalf on Flickr.

this is the most viewed image of me!