Adam White

Andy broke this one down into two points Jesus made in Matthew chapter 6. The first one was about giving to the needy:

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:1-4

Obviously I can’t talk too much about this one as I’m not allowed to announce my giving “with trumpets” and posting the details of it on my blog would be announcing it with digital trumpets but what I can say is I’m a bit rubbish at doing this enough.

I am blessed to have a fantastic job, a car, a roof over my head and food in the fridge. There are others out there who have not got my blessings and I need to give more or my wealth out.

This is a real challenge but as this is what Jesus has asked me to do who am I to say no?

The second was about praying in private:

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:5-6

I will openly admit that I don’t do this. I will pray in bed last thing at night. I will pray on my walk to work in the morning. I have even prayed while cooking and washing up. But all of these times I am multi-tasking. I never just stop everything I am doing and give my time to God.

Andy said it right, money is not my most prized possesion; my time is. I am so busy with so many things that I try and fit so many things into my days. The last thing I think I should do is stop everything for 30 minutes and pray. However this is exactly what I should be doing.

I need to stop trying to squeeze prayer into my busy life, instead I should be trying to fit my busy life around prayer.

Posted by Adam under Faith | 4 Comments »

I’ve done it. After four months I have finally finished the book I am reading: The Sword of Shannarah. It wasn’t worth 4 months of my life and if I am going to continue to read so slowly I need to pick better books to read!

I’m going to move onto a non-fiction book next called “The Case For A Creator” which was written by a lawyer called Lee Strobel who takes issues surrounding the Bible and Christianity and approaches them from a very structured and fact-based angle. I really liked another of his books called “The Case For Christ” which looked at all the facts about Jesus and pieced them all together to show that He really did exist and there is an awful lot of evidence that He did all the things that are written.

He’s a great writer and he helps me get a firmer foothold in my faith. Hopefully this one will take me a lot less than 4 months to get through though!

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The next part of Andy Stanley’s sermon series focuses on relationships with other Christians that have helped shape and grow your own faith. Andy asked two questions which I am going to answer here:

1) Name someone who had an impact on your faith before you were a Christian
For this one I am going to name two people. Firstly there is my friend Catherine. I met her when I moved to Swindon when I was still at university to work for a year at Tyco Electronics. I was very much an athiest and she was a life-long Christian. That year did not change my faith views but it did open my eyes to what Christians were really like (as in normal people). God planted some seeds that year which bore fruit when I went back to university.

The second person is my friend Heather. Shortly after I got back to my life of academia Heather (who I had only known since my second year of uni) revealed to me that she was a Christian too and invited me on an Alpha course. I decided to go for it and see what would happen. Ten weeks later, I prayed a prayer of salvation to God and became a Christian.

2) As a Christian name someone who had an impact in growing your faith
However, that wasn’t the end of my story. After I became a Christian I was still very much walking in the dark. I didn’t attend church and was seriously lacking in the support and guidance that a church can bring. After about two years I began attending Swindon Family Church and after about six months of being there God spoke to two people in the church and put me on their hearts. These two people were my friends Franck and Lindsay. Thankfully they listened to God and invited me over for dinner. We talked and got to know each other a little better and I went back to their house week after week after week. Through this relationship I got to ask all the questions I had and talk about all the frustrations I had. I learned a lot and grew as a Christian but it wasn’t until December last year that the real breakthrough came. They had to have my negativity and endless questions week after week for months and months before something in me cracked and I broke down. Something was released that day and I have been on the rise with God ever since.

The last question is my question: How can I be an influential relationship in someone else’s life? That is in God’s hands and I have to be responsive when he puts someone on my heart. I just hope I can tackle it with the love and patience that others have shown me.

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After about a year of watching my housemate’s spare time disappear into the blackhole called Facebook I have finally given in and signed up. My fear was it was a time sucker and I can already see how it can do just that. I have been a member for less than a week and I have already scoured it for old friends that I haven’t spoken to in years.

What I am trying to do is resist the urge to play games and spend every waking hour talking to people. I have had a snowball thrown at me, I have been invited to numerous quizzes and have even had an invitation to kidnap someone or something (I don’t fully understand that one). So far I have had a chat online with a friend I have not seen for three years and I am heading to Bath tomorrow to meet up with her for a catch-up.

I must stay strong. I must resist. I must say no. But first I must go and check my notifications…

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I’m currently listening to a sermon series by Andy Stanley in which he is talking through the five things he believes God uses to grow our faith. I thought I would comment on my own experiences on each of these points.

The first point is Practical Teaching. By this Andy is talking about hearing the bible being taught in a new and practical way that makes a difference in your life.

When I first became a Christian I didn’t go to church. I took a few jabs at reading a bible but didn’t really hear any preaching. It wasn’t until I moved back to Swindon and after a couple of years started to attend my current church did I start to hear God’s word told in a way that really spoke to me. But it wasn’t my church’s speakers that did it, it was when I started listening to the preaches of Louie Giglio and Andy Stanley at some friends’ house.

These guys preached in a way that really spoke to me and taught me the bible in a fresh and entertaining way. They made a lasting impact on me and I still listen to Andy Stanley’s preaches today. Louie has moved on to youth work which is a shame but he occasionally pops up at North Point Community church with a fantastic sermon. I highly recommend them both.

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There is no doubting that Michael Bay is the unquestioned master of the dumb summer blockbuster. No-one can make a film as loud, stupid and entertaining as Michael Bay can. But his greatest achievement is not the over-ambitious Pearl Harbor, or the slick and cool Bad Boys or even the loud and disappointing Transformers. It was the loud, cool and ambitious Armageddon.

I love Armageddon. I think it is a great film. It is non-stop, action filled and most important of all: Lots of fun!!

It came at a time when Bruce Willis was reaching his peak (it was the year after Fifth Element and the year before The Sixth Sense) and starred a host of up and coming talent like Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler and Owen Wilson alongside the more established names of Billy Bob Thornton and Will Patton. It tore up the big screen with it’s loud explosions, cool characters and witty banter.

What surprised me the most when I was watching it (again) were the special effects or, more accurately, that I didn’t notice them. Even when I watch films that are only few years old I can’t help but notice how special effects have come on a long way and how dated they look but with Armageddon that thought didn’t occur to me. From the meteors hitting Earth to the scenes in space, the special effects just worked beautifully. They didn’t try anything too spectacular and just kept it simple but effective.

[Spolier Alert] So, I have to mention it: Was Bruce Willis’ character Harry meant to be a Jesus metaphor? The way he sacrificed his life not just for his friends and family but for all mankind; it does kind of point to what Jesus did on the cross. The big difference was that Harry’s sacrifice saved the physical world and allowed people to keep on living. What Jesus did was all about what happens after we die: He enabled us to live forever with God in heaven.

If you are looking for a light hearted, fun and enjoyable action film with lots of explosions and funny characters I highly recommend this film. If you are a sci-fi fan like me too then even better :)

[8/10]

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At 7.45 on Thursday night I was on my way to house group when I received a phone call from a friend. I didn’t catch much of what was said but I caught the important bits: Boiling water and a lot of pain.

Thank God I was less than a minute away when she called so I was there in no time at all. When I arrived I could tell it was serious. The fronts of her legs were bright red where the water had hit and she was very distressed. We quickly got her back under the cold shower followed by a quick call to the NHS helpline. After being put on hold for a few minutes and then asked every question under the sun except what was actually wrong they finally got onto the important stuff.

The key question was “is the area of the burn bigger than the size of your hand?” As the burn was the entire front of her left leg and foot and the from the knee upwards on her right leg the answer was a resounding yes. So, with the ambulance on the way we waited and tried to cool the burn some more. Within 5 minutes the paramedic was there and 20 minutes after that the ambulance itself arrived. After dressing the burns we had a quick trip down the M4 to A&E.

What followed was about an hour of doctors and nurses coming and going. She had a needed shot of morphine to dull the pain and then the wounds were redressed. The observation ward was the final destination and was where I left her at 11.00 as I needed to get my housemate to come pick me up before he went to sleep.

Thankfully, I had to pop back the next morning as I had unwittingly taken her mobile phone with me and she was going to let me know when she got let out. She had a restless night with lots of coming and going of other visitors. When I left the ward there were only two patients there. When I arrived the next morning it was nearly full!

She got let out at around 10.30 and is now recovering at home.

I thank God that I was practically passing her house when the call came in and that she chose to call me for help (she has no family in Swindon). I thank God for being there through the whole experience and for us living in a country where we can receive such fantastic healthcare.

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I love Collective concerts. I don’t know if it is because I know the band members quite well or if it is because if one of them is in my small group. All I know is that when they start singing and dancing I get a big smile on my face.

So, when I heard they were going to be doing a mini-performance at my church in front of all of the small groups I got very excited! They only got a 15 minute slot which gave them enough time for three songs and a little bit of talking about who they are and what they do but it was great. The best bit was they got the entire room on their feet clapping and dancing along.

Their next concert is in Stroud next Friday but I can’t be there to steward as I am taking some friends to Heathrow airport but I should be around for their final concert of the year in Wootton Bassett in December. I can’t wait!

Posted by Adam under Faith & Personal | No Comments »

A friend of mine has been going on about getting a cat almost as long as I have known her. So it came as no surprise to me on Monday when I received a phonecall telling me she has just gone and got herself two adorable little kittens. Sadly I had to wait until Friday night before I could go round and see them but it was no dissappointment!

I can’t believe how hyperactive kittens are. When I turned up they ate, jumped around, pounced on anything that moved, ran up and down the stairs repeatedly and then zonked out on the sofa. Ten minutes later though they were awake again to repeat the cycle. I now know where the phrase “cat-nap” comes from! They are such a far cry from my cat Demetrius who sleeps, wakes up to eat and then sleeps again.

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