Adam White

I don’t like singing in public or being anywhere near the centre of attention. Anyone that knows me knows that! However tonight I found myself stood in Boots in the town centre singing carols for all the customers to hear!

I had been nervous about it all day and was hoping to use my current cold as an excuse to get out of it but I pushed through, wrapped up warm and went to town regardless.

When the carol singers first started to get ready I was a little reluctant and very, very nervous but as soon as I started to sing the first verse I didn’t care anymore. It was a great experience and I got to spend the time with good friends.

It was all going well until about seven carols in when my voice went and I ended up coughing every other word. I gave up at this point, grabbed a well deserved coffee and did some Christmas shopping instead. (Thank you Linda!)

Roll on the Christmas service at my church on Sunday. There should be more opportunities to sing about God and it looks to be a very interesting service as well…

Posted by Adam under Faith & Personal | 3 Comments »

Pivotal circumstances. That’s an easy one to explain: God gives us plenty of opportunities in our lives to work with Him and glorify Him. They might be good things or they might be bad things but they can all be turned to glorify God if we have the right attitude.

I have led what can only be described as a very blessed life. I have a great family who love me and eachother which means I did not have any problems while growing up. I got a good education and God has blessed me with a fair bit of intelligence which I have been able to use in some really good jobs that pay a very decent wage. I have always been healthy with only a bit of a dodgy stomach and bad eyesight to complain about. I’ve had no tragedy or distressing circumstances to complain about.

When I am down or stressed with things I try and remember all of this and who God has made me to be and be so very thankful for my life.

So how can I talk about pivotal circumstances in my life when I have had it so easy?

Well how about the pivotal circumstance that changed me from an total, science-based athiest to a Christian who loves God and Jesus!

I had a relationship with a Christian woman when I first moved to Swindon and for all that it was a great relationship it was very tough. I was very selfish and arrogant and my negativity towards her religion didn’t help me much. At the end of the relationship I was confused and very very emotional. It was at this time that I began to turn to God.

I hadn’t realised at the time but by going through this had softened my heart enough to let the thought of God in. One Alpha course later and I was on a new path in life.

It amazes me to see how God uses our circumstances to open us up to Him in a new way or strengthen us. Slowly but surely I have learnt to trust God more an more in my circumstances and I think that the next time a pivotal circumstance comes about in my life I will be able to stand on the rock of Jesus and come out the other side stronger and closer to God.

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If already under your belt were modern day British crime classics like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch (produced) and Layer Cake (directed) what would you do next? Well if you are Matthew Vaughn, a fantasy comedy adventure film of course!

Stardust ticks all the boxes that any good fantasy comedy adventure film should: Local boy becomes hero, beautiful magical love interest, flying pirates, evil witches and a quest for a crown!

It is great to see Britain producing a fantasy film to this kind of standard. As any British film should, it was chock full of local talent; everyone from Ricky Gervais to Peter O’Toole. It even managed to attract a handful of quality American talent (DeNiro, Pfieffer, Danes).

I would be curious to know how well this film did in America. The sense of humour throughout was very English and is not always to American’s taste. Hopefully though the inclusion of big American names would have attracted the viewers regardless.

The plot revolves around a village in England that is next to “The Wall”; a mystical barrier through which lies a land of magic. On the night a falling star comes down in this magical land a young man called Tristan goes to fetch it to prove his love to a girl in the village.

The star however is actually human (sort of) and getting her back to the village is not as easy as carrying a lump of rock. Tristan is also not the only person after the star: the last surviving princes of the land need the star to be crowned king and three witches want to cut out the heart of the star to help them live forever.

This is an excellent film and fans of The Princess Bride will love it. I highly recommend it to all.

[8/10]

Posted by Adam under Films | 1 Comment »

If anybody is monitorng my Facebook status they will have noticed that I have been a little busy and overwhelmed of late. Here is an idea of why…

Friday
After a typical day at work it was time to start the weekend. I did this in style by going and stewarding at a Collective concert again in Wootton Bassett. It was a fun evening with very little trouble, even when the older kids turned up around 9.00 and the atmosphere changed. At the end they had a decent response from the youth and six children gave their lives to God.

Saturday
After a long snooze to recover from the night before it was time to start. First off was the last meeting between myself and Gemma to pray for our Alpha group. We have got together every week and as Sunday is the very last session it was sad to have it come to an end.

This was followed by a swift drive through the flooded roads to Purton to meet up with my small group for a ”Christmas” gathering. I spent most of the time playing on a Playstation and beating the younger children. It sounds mean but they did beat me on the first go!

Then, to cap off the evening, it was into my shirt and black tie to run the PA for our church’s youth’s Christmas party. This is actually still going on as I write this (they’re eating so I thought I’d make use of myself!)

Sunday
Now this hasn’t happened yet but I can still talk about what is happening tomorrow!

As usual for a Sunday it is church which will take up my morning. This will be followed by the very last Alpha session of this course. It has been an interesting three months and I’m looking forward to writing about all that I have seen God do and what God has done with me through it.

Then it is back to work on Monday. Although it my last week before I start my Christmas break. Yippee!!!

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When my housemate said to me earlier this year that he had heard from God that he should sell his half our house to me, pay off his loans and then rent, my first reaction was that is not what you are meant to do. Wordly wisdom says get onto the property ladder and stay there. However, he followed God and I bought his half of the house around June time.

Then the markets crashed. House prices started to drop and things started to go a bit dodgy in the financial world. My friend had successfully sold his half of the house at the peak of the market and made the most money he could have done. I thought at the time that God was really with him but I was starting to wonder how I was going to cope with bills on the rise and house prices on the fall.

When my mortgage came up for renewal I did nothing about it at first. This was down to having so many other things on at the same time (I was in Harrisburg, followed by Palma followed by getting a new job). When I eventually got my mortgage renewal appointment I had wasted about £300 on the basic rate that my mortgage had defaulted to.

However, God was looking after me too. The day before I went in for my renewal, Nationwide (who my mortgage was with) had decided to scrap their renewal fees for existing customers. By paying that extra £300 for a few months I managed to save myself £1200! But it gets better…

I had intended to get myself a mortgage broker and really scour the market for the best deal but in the end I didn’t have the time or energy. So when I spoke to my mum for advise she said that the mortgage advisors she had gone to recently had said get a tracker. So I took the plunge and did it.

At the time my rate was at 6.14%. That rate has now fallen to 4.14% and I am waiting for Nationwide’s reaction to the latest 1% drop!

God is good. He looks after me and keeps me safe in all things. I just have to keep on trusting that He has everything under control because He does. Life is so much less worrying when I remember that!

Posted by Adam under Faith & Personal | 1 Comment »

This one is all about doing something for God that is way out of your comfort zone and for me picking something was easy as I am still doing it: Alpha!

About three months ago it became clear that my church was going to run an Alpha course. I had been on one when I became a Christian and I have also helped in one at a friend’s house so I felt I knew what they were about.

I didn’t particularly feel the tug to go and help out on this one though but I thought I would sign up for setting up the church each week and maybe by being a waiter.

Come the first training Sunday I was asked by the people running it if I would mind coming along and helping them run a training DVD through the PA system. So, all through the training, I am there and start to get this feeling that God isn’t going to let me hide in the kitchen on this one.

Come the end of the training everyone was asked what their availability was for the ten weeks of the Alpha course. Being who I am I had nothing in my diary at all. So it came as little suprise the following Sunday when I was asked if I would be a part of the Alpha and lead a small group with a girl called Gemma.

After going for a long walk and lots of prayer I decided to trust God and go for it.

Over these ten weeks I have grown so much in my faith it is unbelievable. I have learned how to talk to new people, I have learned how to pray in groups, I have learned how to pray daily, I have seen people saved and come to Christ. It has been amazing!

This coming Sunday is the last Sunday of Alpha and it will be good to get two evenings a week back again. However, I have already been asked to come back and help out on the next course in February.

I have a lot of praying to do before then but seeing how much God has moved me on these past ten weeks and being a part of salvation, can I really say no? Only God knows!

So, what I would say to anyone reading this is if there is an opportunity to serve God in an area that is out of your comfort zone I would say take a step forward and see what God does. You may actually enjoy it!

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Cool. Clever. Funky. Different. Intelligent. Witty. Brave. Original. These are just some of the words I can use to describe this amazing film.

I remember going to the cinema to see Brick and just being totally transfixed and not able to tear my eyes away from the screen. When it finished I had to fight back the urge to clap.

Now I am watching it for the third time and how does it hold up? Has its original charm worn off? Is it now just another run-of-the-mill teen-flick? Absolutely not!

Brick takes the classic, 30s detective noir story and places it in a modern day high school. It has the slick PI in Brendan. The super-smart Brain. The Pin as the crimelord (who runs his drug dealing operation from his mother’s basement!) Laura the femme fatale. Even vice president Trueman as the authority figure breathing down the hero’s neck.

What really sets this apart though is the incredibly clever and inventive dialogue. It always amazes me when a first time director pops up from nowhere and writes and directs and amazing film. Rian Johnson has shown real class and intelligence to produce something of this quality at the young (in director terms) age of 35.

Richard Kelly did a similar thing with Donnie Darko: He was a first time director who also wrote what is widely considered as a mondern day masterpiece. (You’ll have to wait for a future review to hear my opinion).

However Richard Kelly followed Donnie Darko up with the dire Southland Tales (which I am yet to see so am only basing that comment on numerous reviews). Early indications show that Rian Johnson has bucked the trend and created another great film in The Brothers Bloom, coming early 2009.

Every film has a negative though and Brick’s comes as the plot starts to come to a conclusion. The earlier style and inventiveness created a level that the end of the film struggled to reach up to. Even the final revelation was lacking the impact it deserved.

However, this is a minor gripe though on a film that injected some needed intelligence into the teen film market.

[9/10]

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