Preaching with a purpose

I love to write about Bible stories on Squidoo. I have written a page about the Apostle Paul. He had a very exciting life which included travel all around the Meditteranean. He began life as a staunch Jew but converted to Christianity. He was a most influential person in the nuturing of the early church. To read more take the link below. Interesting Bible People: Paul

I've written a page just for you, where you can find lots of tips on how to write your own poems. Sometimes the trouble is finding a subject to write about. On this page you will find lots of different ideas to start you off. There are links to all sorts of writing prompts and visual ones too. I particularly like to take about eight words from the dictionary at random. This can lead to quite exciting topics. Of course practising your art is important. The poetry is like clear water at the bottom of a well, you have to dip your bucket in to get a result. I hope you find this page helpful and enjoy many hours of writing poetry. How To Write A Poem Just Like Me

Josiah is one of the good kings of Judah in the Bible. He is proof that we come to God on our own and not because of the faith of our parents. Josiah was a good king. It is true his great grandfather, Hezekiah, was a really good king too, but his grandfather and father were bad kings who worshipped idols. Josiah cleared all the idols out of the temple and reinstated the true worship of God. And yet his children did not follow in his footsteps. Three of his sons succeeded him one by one and then Judah was taken into captivity in Babylon. There are two things to learn here, one is you can't rely on your parents' belief, you have to come on your own and also do not be discouraged if your parents are bad examples, God may well still accept you if you come to him in spirit and in truth.God has no grand children.

I have written four pages that start you off with music theory. If you take them one step at a time you should find no difficulty in understanding them and they will help you with your sight reading on your chosen instrument. Here are the links to the first and second pages. You can find links on them to take you to 3 and 4.. Theory of Music(1) Theory of Music(2)

Do you know you can get great enjoyment out of playing a musical instrument even if you start as an adult? You won't become a concert pianist or violinist but nevertheless you can have lots of fun. Also it makes you appreciate more those who are great soloists. Below I have put links to some of my pages that encourage you to start right away. All you need is determination and enthusiasm. Learning the Violin as an Adult Learning the Recorder as an Adult Learning the Piano as an Adult

Why do we hate the rain so in England? When it patters on our window And lashes in the street? This is God's wonderful gift of Life to us, Making the pastures lush and green, Filling the cows with wholesome milk. Why do we hate it so? Why? When it makes us fat and rich do we say, "What an awful day!" When our very lives depend on it. Many would happily exchange it with us For their constantly burning, cruel sun. Many would say," Let us have your home in the green valleys. You can have our desert sand And rocky, bare hills." Then we might realize our ingratitude. Then we might turn to God and be thankful. Thank you, Lord for the full rushing river. Thank you Lord for the spongy moor, That holds the rain ready for later. Thank you Lord for the puddles the children love to splash in. (If Health and Safety will let them do it any more.) Thank you for the grey days of rain That make us appreciate the sunny days more. Thank you for a wholesome variety. Made of all thi

I love to write about Bible characters on Squidoo. Bible people are rounded characters who do not always do the right thing. They usually have a problem to over come and it is interesting to see how life turns out for them. You can find the link below to take you to my page where I have collected together all the characters I have written about so far. From there you can click the links to each individual character. These pages are useful to give you a quick reminder of each character if you are preparing a sermon or Sunday school lesson. Bible Characters

Today is my birthday. I am 65. Just like everyone in the whole world I do not know how much longer I may live. We know people who are terminally ill. They have some idea of how long they will live but even some of these may confound their doctors and live longer. In a sense we all have a terminal condition, at some point we all will die. Then we will discover who God is. Will we be ready to meet him? Have we trusted in Jesus in this life? Or will it be a dreadful discovery to find God is indeed real and we are not ready to meet him. Find out how to be put right with God in the link below. Justification by Faith

On the T.V. tonight a man spoke about privacy being a human right. In this life that may be so but the Bible tells us that one day everything we have said and done will be made known. Does that worry you? We have all said and done things we are ashamed of. All the more reason to turn to Jesus for forgiveness.

Today I took a service. It was a songs of praise service for which various people in the congregation had chosen eight hymns. Why do I call it a one man band? Well as well as leading the service I played the piano. There were about 17 people present and all seemed to enjoy it. I chose Bible readings to suit the hymns and in some cases gave the background of the hymn writer or the tune writer. This is a little church with only elderly members. Very sensibly they have joined forces with the Anglican church and now share their services so that there is one service each week either at the Methodist church or the Church of England. This makes for a more encouraging size of congregation. It is good to spend the time together and encourage each other.To see what is happening in my own Methodist Church see the link below. A Little Methodist Church in Devon England

The link below will take you to my Poems of Loss. On this page I have collected together my own original poems expressing grief. Many of the losses are other people's but some are my own. I show which is which as I progress through the page. For me tears do not come easily, instead I grieve by writing poetry. I hope my poems will touch your heart and help you in the grieving process too. Poems of Loss

I've been out bowling again today. Our team won this afternoon, so that was gratifying. Bowls is a very skilful game and sometimes you make bad mistakes and make a fool of yourself. That is very good for character building.It's amazing what pleasure it gives you to be the person who gets the bowl nearest the jackhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif. It is a very good game for the senior citizen because it gives gentle exercise. We all need hobbies but we should also spend time looking for God and being sensitive to what he wants to do with our lives. I have put the link to short mat bowling below again for anyone who wants to investigate this fascinating sport further. Short Mat Bowls

In the bible it says it is better to be in the house of sorrow than in the house of laughter. This seems odd to most people. We all like to be in good company and laugh and joke together, but when the world is in turmoil, should we be laughing? Are we fiddling while Rome burns? There is a place for solemn thinking about the state of our lives before a holy God. One day we will have to meet him and give account of our lives. We need to put our trust in Jesus so that he will represent us on that day. Take time from your laughing to spend time seriously thinking about your future before God.

I've just been to Tempo for Tots. This is a little music and story time for toddlers. It was a really good time but is folding because so few are attending. Our village has lots of toddlers and we can't understand why they are not turning up. It is free so there is no question of people being unable to afford it.The parents also have to stay, perhaps if they could leave them they would use it, but that's not what it is about; it is about enjoying music and movement with your child.Families are so fragmented today, often with both parents feeling it is necessary for them to work. This means children are often with child minders. Time spent with our children is precious time.

This is not ten pin bowling that many of you are familiar with, this is short mat bowling. To find out more go to the link below where I have explained in detail what is involved. We are playing singles, pairs and triples tonight. I am playing in the singles and then the triples by joining with the pairs team. I enjoy playing singles because you are your own boss, you make all the decisions about how to play withour having a skip suggesting things you don't really want to do. I wonder what that says about me? I hope you will take a look at my page below about short mat bowls. It is a very good game and suitable for all ages. Even people with poor eyesight can play. why don't you start a club playing this sort of bowls. You can find a link to the English Short Mat Bowling Association on the page below. They would be only too pleased to help you get started. Short Mat Bowls

Somewhere I think there is a click monster who feeds exclusively on the clicks we make with our mouse. So many things on the internet require us to click madly away. Do you think there is a click monster too? If we click less he grows weak, if we click lots he grows strong. What will happen when he finally reaches his full strength?

I love adding pages to Squidoo. It is a free website where you can add pages about anything that interests you. I have many Bible stories there but also many other topics. I write about myself. I write about sleep apnea, de-cluttering yohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifur house and about the lanes in Devon. Here I have put a link below to all my pages, or lenses as they are known on Squidoo. I hope you will explore and enjoy my efforts. My Pages on Squidoo

How many people have influenced your life? think of all the time and energy put into making us the best human beings we could be. Our parents were first, then our teachers. Friends and work mates. It is amazing to think of all these people. How blessed some of us have been. We should be full of thanks to God for all those people he has put in our lives. Some people have not had the advantages that the rest of us have had, but we have been blessed.

Suppose you have a friend who tells you he is not a Christian, how do you feel when he dies? As a Bible believing Christian you know that there is a hell to be avoided as well as a heaven for which to reach . There is always hope for your friend. It all depends on Almighty God. He may reach out and save your friend at the very last minute of life, saying, “You are my child, I have redeemed you.” But we should not be complacent that this will always happen. We must make good use of the time we have with our friends to show them the way to faith in Christ.

This is undoubtedly true, as it is attributed to Jesus, but sometimes in order for someone else to be blessed we need to do the receiving. Think back to when your child gave you a present, then you graciously received and allowed your child to have that better blessing. When it comes to our salvation we receive the gift of grace from God in Jesus. We are in no position to give God anything as all belongs to him. It is God's good pleasure to give his children the kingdom. By all means be a generous person, but allow others the blessing of helping you too.

Someone commented on yesterday's post and left their favourite hymn. It is "And can it be". This is a great hymn by Charles Wesley. One of many. Wesley speaks of his amazement at God's grace in sending Jesus to die for him. You can easily find the lyrics for this hymn on the internet just by googling it. It is well worth the effort.Charles Wesley with his brother John, founded the Methodist church. Are there any other favourite hymns out there?

Top of the board it's the U.S.A. Then comes Russia.Less interested are Britain, Germany and Canada. China sometimes pops up and so does Latvia and the Ukraine. Sorry if I've missed you I'm still very pleased to see who my visitors are. My message is one of belief in God through Jesus and is a message for the whole world. No one is excluded. I hope I will get more and more visitors, because I believe the message I have is vitally important both for now and the future in eternity. Just for fun tell me your favourite hymn. I think I might start some posts about hymns.

A sunny morn greets me this cheerful day, But I am wan for you are gone from sight. How can I sing when you are far away? How feel the joy when I have lost my light? Wake up my soul, you have a heavenly king, Who far surpasses any mortal man. O do not droop, but lift up and to him sing. He calls you now on woe to place a ban. Your worship should for him be given only. No other man should ever take his place And thus you never, ever should be lonely, But feel the wonder of his heavenly grace.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif For he himself has given, all for you, Only seek him and give to him his due. This sonnet tells of how fellowship with God is more wonderful than with another man. For more sonnets click below Sonnets and how to write them

You should do all you can to influence your children to walk in the ways of the Lord, but they have to have a meeting with him themselves. King Josiah was a king who had a wicked father and yet he followed the Lord all his life and cleared the temple of all the idols his predecessors had set up there. Again his influence did not mean that his sons followed in the ways of God. They did not but were evil. I have a friend who says that God has no grand children. He means that we cannot rely on the belief of our parents but must each come to God ourselves and have a one-to-one relationship with him.

Some preachers will tell you that when you become a christian all your worries will be over and you will prosper. The prosperity we can expect is great, but mostly in the future. Jesus said that in this life we would have problems. So don't expect a millionaire life-style, there is a battle on against the powers of darkness. This life is not a picnic. However the Holy Spirit is always present with us and will bring us through our troubles to heaven at last. Don't give up, the fight is worth it. There is a great reward for those who battle through to the end. Shine through the persecution to be greeted by your Lord saying, "Well done, you good and faithful servant."

You put your trust in Jesus long ago, but now the way seems very difficult. We are not promised an easy journey here in life. Often life is difficult. We are to be faithful to our Lord come what may. We may suffer persecution from those around us who do not share our faith. It is hard going, but we are promised a reward in heaven if we remain faithful. Hold onto the promise of Jesus that he is preparing a home for us with himself. Don't give up, just look up. Bless you dear reader.Thank you Lord for your servants martyred today in Nigeria. They now know the truth of what I have said.

It's called sin. We tend to think of it as the unkind things we do to each other, but really the problem is much bigger, it is a general rebellion against God and there is only one cure for this problem. We need to come to Jesus for the forgivehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifness he has provided by dying on the cross. You can't earn your way to God. Nothing you can do can put things right except taking the salvation Jesus provides. To read more about this, click the link below. Justification by Faith

God requires perfection in our living. So how come I feel safe when I've been an adulteress. God is also a loving God and he has provided a way for all who believe to come to him through Jesus, the only perfect human, who was also God. If we put our trust in him our sins are wiped away and God accepts us as his own children and welcomes us into his kingdom, no matter how bad we've been. So there is hope for you.

So what is there for you to look forward to now that christmas abd New Year are all over? Have you now saddled yourself with big debts? I hope not, but if you have I hope you will settle down to work out how you will pay them off. Nothing http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifcomes for free, all bills have to be paid. And yet there is a bill which has been paid for us, if we will put our trust in Jesus. It's the debt we owe God and it has to be paid. Either we can let Jesus pay it for us or we will find ourselves face to face with God and nowhere to hide from his anger. How stupid to risk his anger when he offers us a free pardon in Jesus.Click below for more help. Justification by Faith