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When I originally named my blog "Preaching with a Purpose" I did intend that I would be speaking about my beliefs that are dear to me.  Sometimes however I write about "ordinary" things and recently I have written about my holiday in Russia, which I actually find quite extraordinary.  The ordinary things are all a part of our lives and all planned by God, so the ordinary things matter too.  I feel that in a special way God planned my visit to Russia and He has given me a real love of the Russian people and I very much hope He plans for me to go there again. It was extraordinary how God took me on a journey from reading a free kindle book about Katherine II of Russia and then a book about Peter I and then to a desire to learn the Russian language.  I then felt a desire to go to Russia even though I was 69 (at the time) and had never been abroad!! I got over financial hurdles and then found a friend who would like to go with me.  The next hurdle was getting a passport as I had never had one.  The thought of getting a Russian visa would put many people off bothering, but my friend and I got through all these difficulties. I see God's hand at work in all these things. I wait to live the next chapter with anticipation and trust.

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Constructive criticism

First of all thanks to Fat Prophet for your interest. I see from your blog you are having trouble commenting. To get back to my assessed service. Criticism albeit constructive is harder for some to take than others. I felt a little crushed after my assessed service but then remembered I had recorded it on my dictaphone. I listened to it all through and although my assessors were quite right about me speaking a little quickly and rushing from item to item, I was actually very pleased with the content of my sermon and how I presented it. So I have decided to take heart. I highly recommend other trainees to record your services. You can hear your good points and your bad and there is no argument about it, it is all caught on the recorder.

Section A

I've posted off my work for section A. Now to get on with B. Onward and upward as they say. It does feel good to have completed A, progress is being made.I think my tutor is more nervous than I as to the outcome, but then I am his first student. We are learning from each other.But then that should always be the case. It's an adventure we go on together.The course seems to be suiting me alright but I feel there are a lot of potentially excellent local preachers out there who are put off by the study. Something should be devised to include these good people, we can ill afford to do without them, especially as the numbers of ministers is dropping. What did Wesley do? You don't need a degree, or even A levels to preach. You need a call, and a close relationship with God.

Always wanting something new

Every time I take a few days off from my blog my ratings slump.  Very rarely do people go back into my old posts and read again.  This is a typical attitude of the human heart, always wanting something different.  At this time of year we should not be greedily wondering want new thing we will be getting for Christmas.  Instead we should be looking at the old, old story, which is ever new of a baby who amazingly was God incarnate, God's gift to those who will put there trust in this one who was to grow up to give His life for His people.  Set aside the controversy over whether December 25th is the actual date of His birth.(Shepherds do not keep their sheep out at night in Israel in December.) and set aside time to think about the fact that He did come and ponder if He came to set you free and if your answer is ,"Yes," He will make you free indeed.