Salvation is here!

We need to stick together to make a difference

2006-11-13T17:01:00.000Z

Hey everyone! As you probably know I support Reading! Anyway we went to watch them at the weekend as a present for my birthday (which is tomororw) against Tottenham (Spurs). It was a fantastic match, and the best live match I've been at. Spurs were on 10 games unbeaten before the match, and we'd lost 5 in a row! Spurs are one of the best teams in Europe too, so to see the players for them was great. For example Robinson (England keeper), King (England defender), Dawson (England defender), Lennon (England midfield player), Defoe (England striker)... the list just goes on really.

We went 1-0 down to a penalty, which Robbie Keane scored, but after that we played great, and won 3-1. The best goals for Reading were Shorey's (hit from outside box), and Doyle's (a quality finish!). It was a record attendance for Reading too, at 24,110, and was shown on tv, so all in all it was a pretty good day.

I've had a good week really, I passed my driving test last week, yay! I'm now insured on my mum's picasso! I also spent time with my youth group, we went on a prayer walk on Saturday, around our town praying for different streets, which was fun. Our nation is so much need of a revival, and it's down to our generation to do something about this. And by continually praying for your town, and area, and country it's one way of helping to make a difference. We need to do this together though. Christians, like snowflakes, are frail, but when they stick together they can stop traffic (quote from Vance Havner). It's so true too, as together we can make a HUGE difference! Think about that! This also links in with the football yesterday as Reading could so easily have lost, but they played like a team, whereas the better team Spurs didn't look out for each other as much, and their team work wasn't as good. I know it's not a great example, but one individual could not win it for Reading, the whole team had to win it. And I think it's like Christianity, in that one person can make a tiny difference, but put that one person in a team, and the impact they can make can be dramatic. Us Christians need to stick together!
God bless

Enjoy some of the pictures from the match yesterday!:

Doyle celebrating with fans after scoring
Sidwell scores past England's number 1 keep Robinson!
Kingsley our mascot seems pretty happy! Shorey after scoring an amazing 25 yard goal to make the game 1-1

Life from God's eyes

2006-11-03T15:39:00.000Z

Just something to think about. How do you see your life? What are you living for?

After thinking about that, try to see life from God's view. As the way you view your life is very important as it shapes who you are. And how you define life determines your destiny.

I came across these 3 ways to view life, that do help us to live life for God's glory.

Firstly life on earth is a test. It is the warm up for eternity. We don't know the tests God gives us, but the most important test is how we act when we can't feel God's presence in life. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says ' God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.' How great is that!

The second view is tat life on earth is a trust. As remember God gave us our time on earth and our energy, intelligence, opportunites, relationships, and resources as gifts with he has entrusted into our care! Therefore we are stewards of God. Therefore we never really own anything during our time on earth, it belongs to God! In Luke 16:10 it says 'Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones'. So remember worldly wealth is nothing compared to the true riches we will be trusted with in heaven.'

Lastly life on earth is a temporary assignment. Our time on earth is extremely brief compared to the time we will spend in eternity. The earth is not our permanent home, or our final destination, it is like living in a foreign country. The verse from 2 Corninthians 4:18 says ' So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal'!

I got these from a chapter in the book a Purpose driven life. I wrote them in much cut down versions, but it is a great book and I recommend it! Just looking at these views, if we were in God's position we we be happy with how we were living our lives. It made me think a lot, and it is does the same for you. As we are not living for earthly praises or riches, we are living for heavenly gifts and eternal praises from our Father and creator!

Delirious? and Cornwall!

2006-10-30T11:07:00.000Z

Hey! I'm sorry for no responses on here for ages. I was thinking about stopping blogging, but I've decided to carry on, as especially when I go abroad it will be a good way to keep in contact with people.

I have done a lot recently. The picutures below are from the Delirious? concert we went to in Newport just over a week ago. It was a great night! Tim Hughes sang first, and as you can see we were pretty close. The funniest thing was when we got there, the security people at the front asked us who was playing, they had no idea what was going on. So us and the people near us said to them it was delirious? a big Christian band. They just looked at us as if we were crazy, and then asked if they were any good. And we said yes! They were there to stop any problems, and of course nothing bad would happen here, but they weren't to know. When people started to worship though their expressions were even funnier, with people having their arms in the air in praise, and their eyes shut in prayer. Lol :) I will never forgot their look when we were singing Our God is an Awesome God, and then Our God Reigns.... I think that will stick with me for ages. I think they were completely taken aback by how powerful the evening was, and what a great witness Tim and delirious? were.

We were in Cornwall last week, which was great. The weather was bad on some days, but great on others. We stayed in our grandpa's house which is part of a housing estate and they have a tennis court between them, so guess what we played every day?! We also went to a local church there, and got to know the youth really well. We acted really stupidly, so it was funny when they really wanted to do things with us. We ended up going bowling with them, which was fun, Tom almost broke the whole lane?!?! Anyway we look forward to going there again hopefully in the next hols. Our grandpa was also down there, it was a great chance to see him, as we don't get to see him much. The hols were great.

I also got this great line from a meeting down there...Love is spelt TIME, and how powerful is that!

I have been worrying about things recently too, as I have a lot going on in the next few months. I have a driving test next week, which I'm not sure if I'm ready for. A university interview next month, and then spending 5 months abroad. However it hit me, why worry, as God has a purpose for me, and if it involves me passing my test next week then I will, if it doesn't then it is part of his plan for me. Above all, God reigns.

I will try to write more in the next few days, and get the blog going again.
In the mean time, God bless you guys!

I added this picture as it was us down in Cornwall in the summer and I loved the time then! This is my Aunt and baby cousin Katherine, who is sooo cute!! I love looking after her!

God be my strength, be my guidance

2006-10-09T13:08:00.000+01:00

God you are AMAZING!!!!
I can't believe you died for me, and for my sins. I am so grateful for everything Lord, and for you giving me the opportunties you have. I have come to realise how even hard times are great chances to grow in you. I am happy with everything in my life as I know you are always with me. God please help me to keep a smile on my face as I do things, even if they are hard, and help me Lord to choose the right choice in situations where I can show your glory. I pray you cleanse me Lord and keep me clean, and help me to keep my thoughts always on you and to praise you in all that I do. Please pray for me that would be so cool.

I'd like to keep the North Korean's in my prayers too, as their situation is so hard in the dictatorship. I didn't realise how bad it was until they tetsted their nuclear bomb today. On tv they said that the people have no idea what is going on in the outside world at all. There is only one tv channel controlled by the government and one radio station with all others blocked out. The peopl are so disillusioned by the government that they even think they are in better postions than most people in the world. How dreadful is that? God's people need our help, as how are they ever going to hear about our saviour Jesus. They are crying for us, and are desperate for the Word. Please pray for them too.

'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ to save us all' and 'He created us all in his image'

The painter, and the creator!

2006-09-29T14:10:00.000+01:00

I came across this quote and really liked it so I'll share it:

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling 'darkness' on the wall of his cell..."

This was by C.S.Lewis, and it's so amazing isn't it. How great is God's glory, no one can lower it!!!

Anyway my week has been pretty good. I now have a job, with Howard!! Lol. We're working at my house doing painting and decorating, for my Father. I'm quite tired now, but it was fun. We got a lot of paint over us, and Howard was lucky not to get a roller on his head, it missed him by less than a metre! Also he had a pretty cool white streak in his hair yesterday ;-) But we're getting a lot done, today I was filling in walls, which was a good experience!

Anyway have a good weekend and week!
God bless you all!

Updating things

2006-09-19T18:32:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry there's been nothing for ages. I know I am lazy! I just wanted to do a quick update on what is happening.

As some of you may know I'm having a gap year and I'm not going to Uni like I was originally going to. I'm now reapplying for next year through my school again, which is quite fun, well not really it's weird not being at school anymore. But they have been helpful.

In the meantime I'm doing tennis coaching voluntarily at Newport with kids with slight disablilities. It's really rewarding, and I really like the kids. I'm also learning German, well because I'm going to Germany now!! Well it's not definite as I haven't been accepted but I hope I will be. It's with a missions school in the Black Forest, so that's in the south west, if you're interested. Here they do outreach work with youth both in Germany and in Poland, mainly to people who haven't the gospel before. It sounds reallyt cool, and is an international organisation so there'll be people from all over the world there, and English will be the main langauge spoken. I still want to learn German though, as I think it will be useful. Also I will then hopefully do some travelling after the course and meet up with friends around Europe which will be cool!

It would be cool to catch up, I will write more now!!
Luke

Btw the pics are where I'd go in Germany for the missions school, and the map is a bit obvious!

Soul Survivor 06

2006-08-30T14:31:00.000+01:00

Hey there!
I know I said I'd do this a while ago, but have been busy, but finally I had some time to write about SS. It was a really cool week, and was as good as my expectations were if not better. There were over 10,500 people there, so a lot, and we all had two meetings a day in this massive outside tent called the big top, it's the biggest in Europe. Here Tim Hughes and other really big worship leaders would lead the music for about 45 minutes before a talk from Mike (SS leader) or someone else including guest speakers like Brother Andrew!! He was amazing, and his talks were so inspiring for everyone, and he was defintely my highlight of the week.

We camped again, which is a bit crazy over LA, and the weather was okay except for some massive thunderstorms at night..... Also Simeon from camp was really close to where we camped so we spent sometime with him and his youth group which was cool. In the evenings there was so much to do. You could go to a gig, which on some nights were awesome. My favourite band was OnehundredHours who were amazing!!!! Other options included sports, cafes with live bands, Mr Boogies (you should ask Jonathon about that ;-) ) and generally just things to enjoy doing. It was mainly youth there, so everyone was around our age so that was really cool, although we didn't go as a youth group when most people did so it was hard to meet new people. I really can't wait to go again next year. Anyway if you want to ask any questions about it please do, I'd love to talk about it. And if you didn't go this year you should really consider it for next year. Hopefully the pictures below will give you some more ideas about what it is like!!
Be blessed
Luke

More from LA!!!

2006-08-24T13:05:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone! I'm now back from Soul Survivor and Cornwall, and thought you'd all enjoy seeing some of the pictures from LA camp. I love looking back at the two weeks, as it was such a great time. It's been really weird being in different communities since then, I love the way camp is so relaxed and you can really do what you want, when you want. Anyway it would be cool hearing from you all, I'll do a post latter on SS, as that was pretty awesome.
Be blessed
Luke

Phil and the Rev Dave! Me and Andres
Urrmmm, what were we thinking!!
Fascinating view here ;-)
Smart dress evening!Emily, Vickie and moi
The engagement cake ;-)

LAYC06

2006-08-13T16:02:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone!

This is quite a short post, as I haven't got much time! Got back safely from camp yesterday, and what a two weeks it was. It was so cool getting to know new people, and seeing people again from last year. I felt God really blessed us all there. Anyway I'm off to Soul Survivor tomorrow for the week, wooohooo! And then I'm in Cornwall, before the long trek to Cheltenham to Greenbelt (it's a joke, it's less than an hour away!). I included one pic from camp, more to follow. It would be really cool to hear from you all, I hope you all have great summers.

Be blessed
Luke

Day out at the Championships!

2006-07-06T21:19:00.000+01:00

Wimbledon was awesome yesterday, I had so much fun there! Our school had a couple of tickets on Centre Court and the rest on Court 1 so we rotated a lot. I got to see Federer live which was awesome ;-) He was so amazing, if you think he hits hard on tv you've seen nothing until you see him live!! I met a few players inlcuding John Lloyd and Fabrice Santoro which was cool. I also got to see Baghdatis (who's in the mens semis), and Mirinyi(who knocked out James Blake!) practice along with Groenfield and Shaugnessy practice who are some of my favourite players in the women's game! I got some strawberries and cream as you just have to if you go to Wimbledon, and then watched the match on Court 1. It was between Stephanek and Bjorkman, and went on for over 4 hours!!! I didn't watch it all, and everyone wanted it to finish so they could see Nadal, but still it was a great day!

Here's a few pics from the day:

Wimbledon 06

2006-07-04T14:20:00.000+01:00

Well England didn't do very well in the World Cup, lets be fair, and Portugal certainly won fairly, so well done to them. I think any of the last 4 teams could win, but I think the French will because they've been playing very well and to knock Brazil out they must be good. The Germany-Argentina fracas was crazy, it really showed them to be sore losers (Argentina), but I don't know what Frings thought he was doing, he's very lucky he'll be able to play in the final if they get there. Germany however could easily win, so it will be interesting. Good luck to them all!

I've been watching Wimbledon a lot in the last week or so, it's my favourite time of the year as tennis fever hits the UK. It was so great when Murray beat Roddick on Saturday after the football as that cheered our whole nation, as to beat Roddick who has been in the final for the last 2 years and is ranked at number 3 in the world is pretty good going. It was sad when he lost yesterday to Baghdatis as I was hoping he'd get through so I could watch him tomorrow. I'm going to Wimbledon tomorrow which I can't wait for, especially since I think we are on Centre Court. I wanted to see Hewitt (my favourite non British player ;-) ) against Murray, but oh well, I'll still see Federer and maybe Nadal so that will be cool. I just hope the weather doesn't go too bad tomorrow as the forecasts everywhere say it's going to be thunderstorms all day. I hope we'll see some play.

What have you guys been up to? It's sooooo hot at the moment....!!!!!!

Frustration Champion!!

2006-06-25T15:44:00.000+01:00

You must know the board game frustration, where you have to push down on the dice and have to get all your pieces back to your base before everyone else gets back? Well at our youth group in the last few weeks we've been doing championships in a few games like pool, table tennis and well frustration! Anyway after 3 tough rounds, you are now on the Frustration champions website ;-) My first match was against Tom (my brother if you didn't know!), here the match up was tough and it got so heated that a referee was needed, and cries of cheat were heard, but they were in desperation as I got my tournament run going. The next match up was against Josh (the pastor's son!) and Ester, and guess what? I prevailed after being one dice throw from losing. Having watched the other semi final with Howard in, I knew what the competition was going to be like. Howard did well to get to where he did, but even having to get two colours home, didn't stop me from claiming the championship infront of the whole youth group ;-) I will get presented with a trophy too, so not bad ;-)

Anyway what's everyone been up to? I have my final A-Level exam tomorrow, yay!! Also come on England, we can do it ;-)

Hey!!! Sorry there's been no blogs for a while!!

2006-06-16T12:52:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry I've not updated my site at all recently! I've had my A-Levels in the last few weeks hence I've been really busy. Although it's good now as I've doen 9 out of 11 exams, and the ones so far have gone well, so I'm really happy ;-) This week I've had six exams, which is alot, and to remember everything can be hard. Economics was hard, but to write for that long a period is so hard.....!!?! I have a break before my next exam on Monday which is another Geography one.

The World Cup has been pretty good, and a good distraction from work. England have won both of their matches, although not very convincingly, but with Rooney back we will be a force to be reckoned with. I still think we can win the World Cup, as I think we do have the best team ;-) No other team has played that amazing so far, so I don't think we'd be worried about playing any team, the only ones I think we are afraid of are Brazil and Argentina, and Argentina we have beaten twice in our last two matches, so we have a good chance!

Apart from work I have been up to other things. At half term our family and Howard went down to St Ives for a few days. It was a really great few days and was when the weather started to change. We had a lot of fun there, and Howie was really after the girls, look at Amy to the left of him ;-) Lol, we mayed quite a few friends, and Howard learned to play the Stranger of Galilee!!!!We played a lot of football down there, but I wasn't really brave enough to swim!! Also in half term we had a Singstar battle on the playstation which was very funny, and I'm sure Howard can remember singing 'Born to be wild!'!! ;-)

I will be doing many more posts now, I know I have 2 more exams, but they are spaced out and I have more time now. I've got Kutless' new album, the 'Hearts of the Innocent' and it is amazing, Skinner if you are reading this you will love it, it is their best yet, and loudest ;-) Also now only 6 weeks to camp....not long ;-)

Anyway please do comment, it will be cool to hear what people have been up to. Also come on England ;-)

TobyMac

2006-05-31T12:34:00.000+01:00

Check out TOBYMAC's video for "Gone"! I found this and had to put it on my blog! TobyMac is one of the biggest Christian artists in the world and used to be in DC Talk. This is off his new album Diverse City and has reached the top in the charts in America, showing his popularity! Anyway if you've never heard him, now you can ;-)

TOBYMAC - "Gone"

Rebecca St. James in Cardiff!!!

2006-05-20T19:03:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't put many posts on recently, I've been very busy with exams, and school is hard at the moment due to this. Then also the fact that my computer hasn't been working for 2 weeks....!! But luckily it is now! Anyway I went to see Rebecca St. James in Cardiff yesterday and it was so amazing. She's such a special signer and to see her live was just awesome. And guess what? I got to meet her too and I spoke to her and got a picture with her ;-) It was really cool as I love her music and she's such an inspiration to so many people. She doesn't come to Europe much but is starting her tour around many countries in Europe including: Lithuania, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and Norway! Today she was at the Ultimate event at Alton Towers which would have been really good but I had tennis for school....!

If you haven't heard any of her albums I recommend them, and virtually all of the procedes go directly to her charity which does loads of work in Africa. I won't post many more posts in the next few weeks, as my first A-Level exam is next week..... Also Skinner if you read this, get well soon, I'm glad the operation went well, and can't wait to see you again, we all missed you at the CU ;-)

A new look on the Lord's Prayer

2006-05-07T16:22:00.000+01:00

I came across this on the Internet, and it made me think, and I'm sure it will make you too. It made me realise that sometimes maybe we think there's nothing more we can do as Christians, but there is, and we all need to think hard about we can imporve. I thought this extract on the Lord's prayer really helps to put things into reality.

I cannot say OUR if I live only for myself.
I Cannot say FATHER if I do not endeavour each day to act like His child.
I cannot say WHO ART IN HEAVEN if I am laying up no treasure there.
I cannot say HALLOWED BE THY NAME if I am not striving for holiness.
I cannot say THY KINGDOM COME if I am not doing all in my power to hasten that wonderful event.
I cannot say THY WILL BE DONE if I am disobedient to His word.
I cannot say ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN if I will not serve Him here and now.
I cannot say GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD if I am dishonest or seeking things by subterfuge.
I cannot say FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES if I harbour a grudge against anyone.
I cannot say LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION if I deliberately place myself in its path.
I cannot say DELIVER US FROM EVIL if I do not put on the whole armour of God.
I cannot say THINE IS THE KINGDOM if I do not give the King the loyalty due him from a faithful subject.
I cannot say THE POWER if I fear what others may do.
I cannot say THE GLORY if I am seeking honor only for myself.
I cannot say FOREVER if the horizon of my life is bounded by the things of today.

The Prom!

2006-05-03T17:08:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone, I found these pictures on my old schools website site, and thought you'd enjoy them. My days at Lakers were sure funny ;-) They are from my year 11 leavers prom, and that was now 2 years ago, that's crazy as it only seems recent....! I don't go to school with anyone from Lakers anymore, so it was weird seeing them again. I still see people from there but not many, it made me realise you have to make the most of current situations as they don't last forever. For example next year I and many others will be off to University.... and everything will change. But of course with God he'd never put you in a situation you couldn't cope with ;-)
This me, Muzza and Fraser who arrived in a Silvershadow, which was pretty cool. And yes Fraser is a guy..... although it can be seen as quite long.... ;-)

This is Owain on the left, who's of course my friend and I still see him, he was on camp last year for anyone from Lee Abbey! Miss Wiltshire is on the right, and was our legendery Science teacher, lol, anyone from Lakers would know what I mean ......!

Me and Muzza, looking pretty cool ;-) Lol, I know my hair looks pretty different, but then again you wouldn't recognise Muzza anymore. Muzza's still one of my best mates!

Some of the girls from my year, I still see Nicky who's second from the left as she plays tennis in my squad on Wednesday's. Sasha at the front on the right was my prom date, she's pretty cool, although I haven't seen her for a while. The others I haven't really seen except for talking online!

This was the best photo I found, and yes it's Miss Wiltshire and Owain again ;-) And yes Owain has his hands on his head, and I have no idea why. It's probably because Miss Wiltshire just turned him down for a dance at the end ;-)

Hope you enjoyed these, I enjoyed seeing them ;-)

GoApe!

2006-04-27T17:40:00.000+01:00

Just near to where we live there's a new high rope's course in Mallard Pike, and of course we've tried it out already ;-) If you don't know what I am going on about have a look at the pictures, basically you are about 30 feet in the air and have a harness to protect you while trying to tackle various obstacles including tarzan jumps and loads of zip wire where you pick up a lot of speed. Local people could get in for free in the first few weeks, so we took advantage of it, I went 3 times......!

This is me on the last zip wire, where as you can see is quite long, I managed to land most of them except for the last one I did, which isn't the one in picture ;-)

This is the professional Speni, who says he can do anything, including remembering to put hooks on the ladders ;-)

This is me again high in the air, attempting one of the easier obstacles! Isn't it great Spring, finally there's green on all the trees....... I even managed to sunbathe the other day... ;-)

This is pro again ;-) Look at the concentration in Speni's eyes. Tom's just smiling in the distance.... in case the pro makes a mistake ;-) But of course that would never happen!

Anyway this was from a few weeks back but I thought I'd share them, as they were fun. If you ever come to visit us or if you live in the Forest GoApe is great, and I'd go again as long as they still do a deal ;-)

Happy Easter everyone!!

2006-04-16T13:54:00.000+01:00

Hey, I hope you all have a great day! Don't eat too much chocolate ;-) I've eaten a lot already, but that's mainly because I gave it up, I just hope I don't feel sick!

At Church today there was a youth band, and I played in it! I know I've never shown much interest in instuments in the past, but recently I've started to play the drums, mainly thanks to my very good drum player of a brother Tom! Anyway Tom played on his electric guitar and I played the drums, while Lewis added the triangle in now and again ;-)

I love Easter time, and the services are so good! I hope the people who go to Church at only this time of year and at Christmas, felt that there is someone very special in their lives, and He is Jesus, and I hope they decide to come back! It's a time of celebration as our God has risen, and how many people can you say have defied death? None bar Jesus, EXACTLY ;-) But thanks to this we can now share eternal life with God how cool is that ;-)

When I woke up this morning and watched TV, firstly I saw Hillsong play a few songs which are always great, but this is on Sky so now many people can watch it. But then I turned onto BBC 1 and I saw Tim Hughes on!! He was playing at the Spring Harvest, but for BBC to play this, how great is that! I hope they decide to play more as the youth of our country would love it!

Anyway I hope everyone is okay. may you all be blessed! I can't wait to hear from you all! How's your holidays going? Speak to you all soon!
Luke

Thank you Jesus

2006-04-14T11:07:00.000+01:00

Thank you Jesus for your love. The Bible tells us that "God demonstrates His own love for us in this...that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -- Romans 5:8. Jesus dying on the cross means that we can now share eternal life with God, what a friend is Jesus. His death on the cross a selfless sacrifice for our sins. This Easter weekend, we need to remember that sacrifice!

Devoted - Abundant Life

2006-04-06T17:17:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone!! Just got back from Cornwall, and had to show you some of my pictures from Devoted, as this was such an awesome conference!!!! I'd never been to Abundant Life before, but had always been interested in it because of the t.v, my Mum also had one of their old albums, but I didn't expect it to be this good! I went with my friend Stuart's youth group, so we took the mini bus up to Bradford and stayed in a near by hotel. There was so much packed into the 2 days, and so much worship all to God! There were thousands of people there, it was so cool! Anyway I will talk you through the pictures....

This is RPM!! They are the Abundant Life's youth band, and they are so cool. I'd never really heard them before, but if you've ever listened to Hillsong United, then they are similar to them, but a bit louder! They put so much into everything, and you couldn't help but go a bit crazy for God with some of these songs, like Live God Loud ;-) I liked them so much that I had to buy their album and have listened to it loads.......;-) It's called I surrender All and I recommend it to anyone!

This is some of the youth group, with Stephen, Stuart, Penny and Stuart's parents. There was also Beth, and Becky, but they were sat somewhere else.

This is Replenish, who did a rock concert in the evening, and again they were very good! They were different to everyone else, as their music was loud, but I like most music, and this was no exception. They were even staying in our hotel...!

This is Tim Hughes, who was one of the guests of the conference! He was such a great speaker, and his songs are so inspiring. This picture was of one of his seminars about song writing, and he was showing everyone, how he changed a song a lot using Giver of Life as an example. I can't wait for Soul Survivor now in the Summer as he leads that too....;-)

Had to get one of me at Abundant Life ;-)

This is outside the church, and you have to admit it has a pretty cool entrance! The church is almost in the city centre, and looks sort of out of place, but it's doing so much for Bradford. On the site they have two massive building, one for the services and conferences and the other for the youth. They are also building a Champions Centre in the city, so that they can reach more and more people, this project is huge and the costs are very high, but how much is this church making a difference?!!!

Anyway this was a long post, but I wanted to give a good idea of the whole church. I really want to go to Rock Nations this summer, this is their youth event, where RPM record their album....and many other youth/rock bands go to. Last year Hillsong United went! I'm also considering joining them on a year basis through an internship, as I spoke to some people who are doing this already and it sounds such an awesome experience. I can't do it jsut yet because of University, which is a bit annoying as I'd have considered a gap year for this......but after University watch this space ;-) Hope everyone is having a great holiday, and please do ask questions about Abundant Life, and I'd love to reply! It would be really cool to hear from some of you ;-) Speak to you soon!

Here comes the Summer.....

2006-03-26T13:09:00.000+01:00

Since the clocks have now gone forward, and we have an extra hour of sunshine in the evening, I had to put some pictures from the Summer up! It's also only a week until the Easter Holidays begin, how great is that? ;-) What are you guys all doing in the holidays? Firstly I'm going up to Abundant Life Church next weekend for a conference, it's a worship leading one, where people like Tim Hughes and Peter Wilson are at. I will probably put some pictures on at some point in the holidays. Then I'm going straight on to Cornwall and staying there for a week. Hopefully the weather will be warm, and then I can sunbathe on beach before doing some surfing ;-) The rest of the holidays will be mainly doing revision work for the exams, as they aren't too long away, with my first being towards the end of May....!

It's Mother's Day today, and me and my brothers gave my Mum Pride and Prejudice! It was quite a good present as we really wanted to watch it becuase Keira is in it ;-) Also Reading got promoted to the Premiership yesterday, how cool is that! It was on the main news all day, and on the front of quite a few papers today ;-) Now Man U and Chelsea can quake when they have to play us next year ;-)

Anyway it would be cool to hear what people are up to in the holidays, hope everything is okay!
Blessings
Luke

Abdul Rahman could face the death penalty for turning to Christ. PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM

2006-03-22T17:06:00.000Z

An Afghanistan man detained for converting to Christianity could face the death penalty if he refuses to become Muslim again, police and a judge in Kabul said on 19 March.
Abdul Rahman was detained two weeks ago after his relatives reported to the police about his conversion which is forbidden under Islamic law (shari'a).
"Yes that's true: a man has converted to Christianity. He's being tried in one of our courts," Supreme Court judge Ansarullah Mawlavizada said, adding that his trial began early last week.
The trial judge also described Mr Rahman's conversion as an attack on Islam.
Mr Rahman, who is 41 years of age, was found carrying a Bible and was charged with rejecting Islam.
Judge Mawlavizada said Abdul could face the death penalty if he refuses to revert to Islam as shari'a law mandates capital punishment for any Muslim who forsakes Islam or converts to another religion.
Afghanistan's constitution states: "No law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam."
If sentenced, Abdul will be the first to be punished for conversion since the ouster of the Taliban who introduced and implemented tough shari'a law.
Benjamin Sand reports for Voice of America:
"The court has ordered a delay in the proceedings to give Rahman time to hire an attorney. Under Afghan law, once a verdict is given, the case can be appealed twice to higher courts.
"This is the first case in which the defendant has admitted to converting and is refusing to back down, even while facing the death penalty.
"If convicted, the case could ultimately force President Hamid Karzai's direct intervention.
"The president would have to sign the papers authorising Rahman's execution, a move that could jeopardise Mr Karzai's standing with human rights groups and Western governments.
"So far, President Karzai has not commented on the case.
"But political analysts here in Kabul say he will be under significant pressure from the country's hard-line religious groups to make an example of Rahman."
The hardline Taliban regime was toppled by a US-led invasion in late 2001 for not handing over Al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, wanted for the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.

This upset me a lot, how can this possibly happen? You hear about persecuted Christians, but you don't hear many stories like this. How can it be a crime to turn to Christ? He has done nothing to offend his country. Our country excepts all religions, but they can't except anything but Muslims, it is so not fair. These extremist Muslims are affecting our world, and they need to stop. I think this is definetely to do with the Taliban. I know there are other parts of the world where Christians are seriously persecuted, but this is terrible. Please keep Abdul Rahman in your prayers, as he really does need our support. Our God will keep him safe, but he needs our prayers. May God keep him safe.
Luke

Reading!

2006-03-19T12:58:00.000Z

I just wanted to share a couple of pictures I took when we last went to see Reading play. If you don't know who they are that's fine! But they've done really well this season and are first in the Championship which is the second division in England. They only need 6 more points and they are going to be in the Premiership! Sorry I'm really excited! Anyway the pictures were at the Preston match where we won 2-1 . If you are wondering why me and my family support them it's because our Aunt and Uncle live in Reading so whenever we go up to see them we try to watch the football ;-) Also the crowd was pretty big at over 23,000 , so a virtual sell out ;-)

Hope you all are having good weekends ;-)
Blessings
Luke

God knows everything

2006-03-19T12:48:00.000Z

The time is coming when everything will be revealed; all that is secret will be made public. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!
Luke 12:2-3

By the way the picture is from our holiday in Switzerland, and you can just see the Alps in the far side of the picture.

2006-03-13T21:01:00.000Z

Snow day, yesterday! Sorry I haven't done many posts recently, I've been really busy! But I thought you'd all like to see these snow pictures, as some are funny ;-) We played a massive snowball fight with our neighbours, and then me and my brother made this snowman ;-)

2006-03-09T18:29:00.000Z

Hey! Delirious? yesterday was so cool! I love them, but yesterday was one of their best live performances! Ive got some pictures of the night above, hope you all like them! It was hard to take good ones because of the lighting, but I tried..! I just thought yesterday must have touched everyone who went, I really felt God was there and some of the songs, especially Miracle Maker were so powerful. Our God is so amazing! Now I just cant wait to see them again, bring on Soul Survivor!

Luke

2006-03-03T17:50:00.000Z

You talk about crimes in the 20th century, and smuggling operations that happened, what do you think of? I bet you don't think of the 1,000,000 bible smuggling operation into China do you? China as a country is communist and therefore the state decides what is right or not. However with this comes the persecution of Christians, infact millions and millions of them. Most Christians have to go to underground churches or just deny they are Christian fullstop to prevent the state taking action. Then to top this off foreigners can't take any books or pages of writing into the country without it being checked, and as soon as the see it's religious or in anyway going to 'affect' the state it's banned.

So back in 1981 on June the 18th the world reacted this, and spectacularly, embarking on the biggest smuggling success of the entire century. China had just come out of it's cultural revolution, where before this Christians were virtually wiped out of the country, anyway now it was made slightly easier to be a Christian. But because of the happenings before there was a major shortage of bibles in the country, and the people desperately needed them because it's God's word they want to read about. Opendoors which is a major Christian charity helping persecuted Christians, were behind the plan, their leader was Brother Andrew who wrote the books Light Force and God's Smuggler. In the latter it was about how he smuggled Bibles into the once Communist Eastern European countries.

So that night the Bibles were loaded onto a massive tug boat in Hong Kong, and they set off on their journey. However because the operation had been delayed by a few months they were entering the typhoon season of Asia. In the end they had no option but to go ahead with the mission otherwise it would be 4 months until they could next try, despite the captain saying it was crazy. Then as they left a typhoon was reported, they had to protect the tug with it's incredibly expensive load, they tried to shelter it in a local port, but reports confirmed the tyhoon was going directly into them. There was no option to pray, since the whole mission was to spread God's word, quickly this spread around the world thanks to Opendoors and Christians prayed for them. Then suddenly the whole sea went calm and the typhoon changed course, they were free to go! Even now it wasn't safe as there were China patrol ships everywhere on route to where they wanted to drop the bibles, but somehow they didnt sense anything was unusual!

The bibles were all waterproof, and a barge was dropped off and helped take them to the shore. Some insider Christians were at the beach waiting to help out, other bibles reached further down the coasts. Unbelievably the mission was successful, the persuted Christians had bibles! The mission code named Project Pearl rocketed throughout the world, it just shows anything is possible with God. Also in the years to follow the Chinese Christians who helped out on the beach were still being quizzed on the project, but by then it was too late. Recently the government has started to print a few more bibles, but still there are millions in the world who just don't have access to them. God cares for every single one of his believers and we need to, too. I just loved this story when I heard about it for the first time, as it shows we can help them, and make a difference. We need to unite, as things we can do when we are can be beyond all imagination, I hope you all found the story interesting, and just remember that we are so lucky to be in a society of free speech and free actions. But we do need to pray for those who are in need, as China isn't the only country in this situation, for example there are thousands of Christians living in Palestine in terrible conditions, and yet the world just thinks of Palestine as Islamic. They and other Christians need our help.

Hope you all have had a good week, and have a good weekend ;-)
Luke

2006-02-24T18:24:00.000Z

We got so involved in the Winter Olympics at home, that we created our own curling pitch! Okay so it's not quite a proper ice one, it was our kitchen floor, but we still had the brush (our kitchen broom!!), the target, and some stones (well boules really!). The reason for this was that our team GB was doing really well in the curling, with our men's getting to the semi's, although sadly we lost. We were getting so into it, that we had to try it out! So come the next Olympics, watch out for me and my brother, we will be practicing! ;-)

2006-02-18T18:03:00.000Z

We need good friends

Our happiness and proper functioning as people depends on us having others that we can meet who who we feel we can relate with. We are not meant to be alone.

For people who are not socially confident, or who have been wounded by past friendships or relationships, it can be hard to break through the fear of getting hurt again, and reach out to make friends. It is wise to be emotionally guarded when making friends. However, we cannot always protect ourselves from getting hurt. In the end, even good, long standing friends can betray us, use us or badly let us down in other ways.

In friendship, it is important to be realistic. People are not like God, and in their imperfection, they are bound to let us down in some way. We should expect this, and be cautious about how much we trust others, particularly at first. If we have lower expectations, we are less likely to be disappointed. We must place God as our security, so that if and when we are let down, we do not loose heart or become despondent in life.

We need to understand what friendship is really about. Good friendship is not selfish or exclusive. Many people have friends as mere extensions of their own selfishness. They need friends to fill time, to amuse themselves and to feed a type of self idolatry. However, such people live in sin by abusing the gift of friendship. Friendship is two-sided and mutual. It should also look to the needs of others, and welcome, those outside a friendship group in. Selfish friendship tends to be exclusive, existing within an established social group and selfishly not allowing others to participate.

So the people we are friends with now do affect us, and our lives, remember how important friends can be. I'm glad I have good friends;-)

2006-02-17T09:15:00.000Z

I thought these pictures were quite funny! And since it's the weekend, we can take time off from work, to have a laugh ;-)

That's going to surely hurt!! I wouldn't want to be the cat, or infact the wasp!!

Hey, who said cats can't play American football?! This one's going into the draft for next year ;-)

2006-02-15T17:17:00.000Z

I thought you'd like this!

You probably know, that yes I do like videogames! At times I can play quite a lot on them, and well Ive come to the conclusion that maybe this isnt a good idea. The other weekend I didnt have too much homework, so I decided to play on my psp on virtua tennis. I really like this game, and I dont know why but I didnt pay attention to the time. Suddenly my left thumb started hurting and I realised Id been on for over 3 hours! This was bad enough, but being on a psp it was even worse. Even though it is a portable console, it's not designed to be played on for long periods (well that's my opinion), and the thumb stick after a while can get unconfortable. Anyway my thumb was really sore and I had to stop playing, and when it was really sore still the next day, I knew Id done some damage to it! I think that Id sprained as it swelled and I couldnt put any pressure on it. The only lucky thing was that it was my left hand not my right, as I dont think my school would take this as a great excuse for not being able to write ;-)

Still though videogames are fun, but Ive learnt not to play for too long a time, as injuries are possible. You've been warned ;-)

2006-02-10T17:45:00.000Z

St Valentine's Day!!

Well this day happens every year, and do you know what I never knew why! So I checked it out, and learnt the history behind it.

The actual history of Valentine's day is shrouded in mystery along with its patron saint. St Valentine's Day today contains vestiges from both Christian and ancient Roman traditions. The Catholic Church infact recognizes 3 saints by the name of Valentine.

One story is about Valentine who was a priest that served during the 3rd century in Rome. When Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than thos with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. Although when this was found out he was sentanced to death.

Valentine sent the first Valentine greeting, because when he was in jail he feel in love with a young girl, who was the jailer's daughter. Then just before he was put to death he wrote a letter to the girl and signed it 'From your Valentine'! So there you go!

Here's a really stupid fact too. Every year 192 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making it the second-most popular greeting card, only behind Christmas cards. And also nearly 60 % of all Valentine's Day cards are purchased in the six days prior to the day!!

Anyway thats enough of me being silly! Happy Valentine's Day next week, lol ;-) I still don't really understand why we celebrate it, when there's no proper story but hey! ;-)

2006-02-10T17:38:00.000Z

Winter Olympics!

Well the winter Olympics start today in Turin! I just love sports so couldn't pass this event by without commenting. Britain's not even very good at winter sports, infact in the last games we won only one gold! But still we have a chance of doing better this time, well I hope....I also found out in the paper toady that it was the British who created most of the Olympic sports, such as down hill skiing, bobsleighing, figure skating, so it's quite ironic that we are one of the worst countries at it. I suppose we don't have any snow, ever, and the temperatures here are around 10 degrees, so very mild, while the rest of Europe is freezing.

I decided to show some pictures of some actual snow, and some possible future gold medalists at sledging! ;-) Also one picture was of the actual Olympic headquarters in Lausane where there is a really big Olmpic museum.

2006-02-07T19:39:00.000Z

I thought you'd all like these pictures of Hillsong London, Ive been trying to put them on, but they haven't worked until now! They are from the Dominion theatre, and the one of the speaker is Brian Houston!

Anyway hope everyone is well!

Luque

2006-02-06T18:33:00.000Z

Hey Everyone!!

Well it was a very tiring week last week, but this is a new one, and a fresh start!!

Went to Hillsong London last week!! This was my second time there, and it was amazing! If you dont know who Hillsong are, they are a Church based in Australia, and in particular try to focus on youth, although there are different services. In Australia, they have massive services infront of thousands of people, and they just had to bring it over to England! The one in England isnt quite as big, but is held in the Dominion theatre, which can still hold a few thousand people, so in that respect it's quite big! It's quite funny really because they dont actually own the theatre, so during the week it's used for the show 'We will rock you' and then on the weekend it's Hillsongs. They have to move though in the Autumn, and still havent found anywhere, but hopefully they will be able to get their own Church. Anyway the services are really lively, and they have their own youth band, which do some of their own songs, and some of Hillsong Australia's. If you also didnt know Hillsong does a lot of music, and releases a lot of albums, and in Australia they are so popular that their last album got to number 1 in the main charts!! Hillsong London have done their own albums, and their last one Natasha Bedingfield did a lot, and is very good!

Anyway the music is awesome, with everyone jumping up and down, and since most of the congregation is youth its very lively. It's just great to see this generation going to Church, and enjoying it. Of course its not just music, and last week Brian Houston was the guest speaker. They often have guest speakers, for example Joyce Meyer was one back in September. Brian Houston is the main pastor of the Hillsong Australia Church, so he's pretty much in charge! He is an amazing speaker and really capitivated the crowd, saying how we must unite together if we are to make a difference. Gary the London pastor who normally speaks, spoke a bit, before some more music! They have such a packed year this year, with Hillsong United coming over in June to Wembley Arena, which is going to be unbelivable as its free and thousands of people can fit in there, also Delirious? are coming again along with many otheres! So if you are ever in London on a Sunday you know where to go ;-) There's 3 services throughout the day and they last for a couple of hours, and well worth going to ;-)

Hope everyone is well! What have you lot been up to? Howard, I agree fully with your comment on the Delirious? post, and thanks for sharing that!

Au revoir
Luke

2006-01-27T17:14:00.000Z

Delirious? peformed last week infront of over 400,000 people in India!

Just had to show this picture, I didnt know there were that many Christians in India anyway, I thought most people were Hindu. You just cant see into the distance there's that many people there! It's just amazing how a small Bristish group can influence that many people with music! I think music is such a powerful form of worship, and especially with lyrics as moving as Delirious'?.

I really hope to see them again in March and at Soul Survivor, as they are so good ;-)

Hope everyone has good weekend. What's everyone been up to?
Blessings
Luke

2006-01-20T17:16:00.000Z

If God had Voicemail!

We have all learned to live with 'voicemail' as a necessary part of modern life. But have you wondered, what if God decided to install voice mail?

Imagine praying and hearing this: 'Thank you for calling My Father's House. Please select one of the following options.'

Press 1 for Requests
Press 2 for Thanksgiving
Press 3 for Complaints
Press 4 for all other Inquiries

I'm sorry but all of our angels are busy helping sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received, so please stay on the line.

If you would like to speak to:

God, Press.................1
Jesus, Press..............2
The Holy Spirit.........3
If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding, Press 4.
To find out if a loved one has been assigned to Heaven, Press 5, enter his or her Social Security number, then press the pound key. (if you get a negative response, try area code 666.)

For reservations at 'My Father's House,' please enter J-O-H-N followed by 3-1-6.

For answers to nagging questions about the dinosaurs, the age of the earth, and Noah's Ark please wait until you arrive here.

Our computers show that you have already prayed once today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow.

The office is closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday. Please pray again Monday after 9:30am.

If you need emergency assistance when the office is closed, contact your local pastor.

THANK GOD, HE DOESN'T HAVE VOICEMAIL AND HE LISTENS WHEN WE PRAY!!!!!

May God bless you all, hope everyone's okay, and I wish everyone a good weeked!

Luke

2006-01-13T14:16:00.000Z

Take all of Me

This is one of my favourite songs ever, it was originally done by Hillsong United, with Rebecca St. James recently doing her own version. Rebecca St. James has done a lot recently, including doing the main track for the film Narnia, which I'm sure a lot of you have watched. Hillsong United have also got a new album coming out soon which will be cool, I think it's coming out in March sometime.

The track goes like this:

And I love you
All of my hope is in You
Jesus Christ, Take my life,
Take all of me, all of me

You broke the night like the sun
And healed my heart with Your great love
Any trouble I couldn't bear
You lifted me upon Your shoulders

Love that's stronger
Love that covers sin
And takes the weight of the world

And I love you
All of my hope is in You
Jesus Christ take my life
Take all of me

You stand on mountain tops with me
With You I walke through the valleys
You gave Your only Son for me
Your grace is all I rely on

Love that's stronger
Love that covers sin
And that takes the weight of the world

And I love You
All of my hope is in You
Jesus Christ take my life
Take all of me

I love You so, and I give up my heart to say
I need You so, my everything

I think it's one of the most powerful worship songs, and well I love singing to it! Don't know what you think, I know there are other great songs, but this is defintely the one I seem to listen to most!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Exams next week......!! Good luck everyone, who's got them.

Blessings Luke

2006-01-10T19:56:00.000Z

It's Summer down under, and that means the first tennis Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open! As you may know I love tennis, and follow it a lot. I'm really looking forward to the new season and there seems a lot of promise coming from our own Brit, Andrew Murray! He may not be near the top of the world yet, but he will soon. Anyway I'm writing this because I'm going to make predictions for the tournament. I reckon in the men's, Federer will win, he's not my favourite player, but I think he will. If he doesn't Hewitt will, who is my favourite player! In the women's, it will be close, but I think Kim Clijsters will win. She's playing really well, but again I won't be upset if Sharapova wins ;-)

Also on sport, there is the small matter of NFL playoff weekend coming up, and my team the Bears are playing in their divisional final against the Panthers, which we should win. I'm sorry but the Patriots are just out of luck, and Denver will beat them! Bears for the superbowl!

Anyway enough of that, hope everyone's well,
Blessings
Luque

2006-01-08T15:07:00.000Z

Thought this thought was really cool, it's from a calendar I got for Christmas and thought you'd all like it:

'Being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving success by the world's standard, and still miss the purposes for which God created you. You need more than self-help advice. The Bible says, 'Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self' (Matthew 16:25).'

Anyway I thought it was quite reflective and can teach us all.

Blessings

Luque

2006-01-06T20:38:00.000Z

Hey everyone

So hows everyone's Christmas gone? What stuff have you been up to? It's that weird time now, when you're either back at school or you have to go back soon! I go back on Tuesday, but don't really feel like going..... But at least it's the new year!

What's your reaction to Sharon's stroke? I mean this could have a major influence on the world, because the Israel - Palistine peace treaty has been moving forward slowly with Sharon. But with some of the new candidates who may take over in the election, the peace treaty isn't high on their agenda, and Palistine becoming a state isn't too. I think the timing of the stroke couldn't have come at a worse period for Israel, with elections coming up in March, but also remember the Palistine elections are at the end of this month, and that also could be crucial for any future peace agreements. I do think that it's been remarkable how Sharon has led Israel anyway, because at his age of 77, running probably the most stressful job in the world must be tough. I think that also that if he is to survive, there's no way he's going to be able to go back to his normal job, so whatever way Israel looks at it, they are going to have to change for the future.

Im no expert on this, it just interests me, as this could have a profound affect on us. What do you think about the situation? Who should take over as the new PM? Will it effect in anyway the peace treaty, and the future possibility of a Palistinian state? Also on the Palistinian vote later this month, do you really think Hamas should be running in it? Since they are behind a lot of the suicide attacks. I dont know.

Luque

2006-01-05T19:40:00.000Z

Hey everyone, welcome to my own blogsite!

I got this email today about how much time we spend thinking about God. We really don't spend enough time, thinking that it doesn't matter. It really made me think, that we should make time for Him. I know today's society can be demanding, and we think that God is the least of our problems. But when life is going well, we should be thanking God, because when it's going bad we turn to Him, yet not so much when it's going well. We need to somehow fit it into our days, just give our time to Him. Remember he is our creator, and one day we will have to answer to Him.I don't know what you think, what ways do you think we can incorporate God more into our lives? I often turn to music, specially on bus journeys to school and in the car, to help focus me. But I do find it hard in other situations, any help? Because I don't think there can be a wrong answer but maybe we can all help each other??

Anyway, I think that I'll try to keep my blogs updated, and maybe talk about current issues and stuff. By the way if any of you have heard Rebecca St. James' album, it's so great, if you haven't you've got to check it out!

Blessings

Luke