I have just started - well spent I guess around four hours on - the jigsaw shown here.  Lent to me by AE it is a Devilish Jigsaw, hence AEDJ.

It seems to me there are only two ways to do this jigsaw...

1.  The 'happy accident' - toss all the pieces in the air and hope the 1 in 1000! (one thousand factorial) chance that it comes out with the pieces in the right order happens.

2. 'Sift and sort' and systematically build.  Slow and steady.  So far I have 'built' all the 'oranges' using this method and am now taking a break before deciding what to focus on next.

The good thing is that when someone sent me a link for a lengthy legal ruling I had concentration and focus enough to read and make sense of it (well until I realised it was really long so I skipped to the end to see what the punchline was!).

So, thank you AE and others who have set me various OT (Occupational Therapy) type challenges to get my mind working again.

Last Sunday's guest preacher reminded us that the stories in the Bible give us hints and glimpses of God's nature.  The stories of Abraham, David, Moses, Ruth, Esther, Sarah, Martha, Mary, Peter, Thomas and so on all tell us something about the God who we, as Christians, claim is all-loving.

Rob Bell, perhaps best known for the Nooma videos used by many, many churches, has, it seems been causing controversy by asking questions about how evangelical Christians understand God and how this relates to notions of heaven, hell, orthodoxy and heresy.  You can see the video that is getting him into hot water (or is that hot flames?) in some circles here.

Bell's new book 'Love Wins' comes out shortly and I have pre-ordered it.  I am looking forward to seeing what Bell really says - rather than what the critics think he might have said.  I recall the furore in some circles when Steve Chalke dared to question penal substitution as the only valid understanding of the cross; it seems Bell might be causing similar stirs across the pond.

The big question - what kind of God - has to have the 'so what.'  Whether or not people agree with what Bell concludes, he is asking important questions, and doing so publicly; for that I am grateful.

A couple of articles here and here and here.  See what you think... and I won't call you a heretic whatever you decide!!

HT Nick Lear, for this joke which made me chuckle enough to hurt my scars...

One Sunday morning, the minister told the congregation that he was going to say a series of words, and he wanted them to sing the song that came to mind, when he said each word. 

The first word he said was 'rock' They immediately started singing 'Rock of Ages.' 

The second word he said was 'name' and they sang 'Lord, I lift your name on high.' 

Not sure how well this shows up, but it is the part of my hall wall where I do my daily 'wall climbing' exercise.  Since I began this exercise on 17th Feb, I have increased my reach by almost 8" (20 cm), sometimes in big steps, other times not at all.  There is still a good way to go for my right arm to match my left, but progress is good and it is satisfying to see the lines moving higher up the wall (hopefully they'll rub off after this is finished!)

As I was measuring the increase this morning, I found the old S Club 7 song 'Reach!' coming into my mind:

Reach for the stars
Climb every mountain higher
Reach for the stars
Follow your hearts desire
Reach for the stars
And when that rainbow's shining over you
That's when your dreams will all come true

Many moons ago, when I was at vicar school, we ran a holiday for underprivileged children.  This was technically a Methodist initiative dating back, I think, to Victorian times.  Each year we had a Biblical theme of some sort, and the second year I was involved (2001) the S Club 7 song seemed to find its way in, though I can't recall how!  One of the aims of the holiday was to say to these children, who knew hardship and who lacked the opportunities many of us took for granted, that they were 'worth it' and that they could, indeed, 'reach for the stars.'

These children were aged 7 to 11, so a decade on they will all be grown up.  Some of them may already be parents; some of them may have remained trapped in the cycles of poverty, addiction or violence that permeated the areas where they lived.  But just maybe there is a young man or a young woman out there who is 'following their hearts desire' as an indirect result of that week a decade ago.

Next to my daily 'wall climbing' marks hangs this little plaque I made in 2004 to commemorate the visit of a BMS Action Team to Dibley BC.

The week these young people spent with the church, coinciding as it happens with the insurance inspector's visit, was a significant 'moment' in the life of the church and my ministry within it.  Four young people, aged 19 to 25, who had spent a year in Uganda following their hearts and their Lord as they worked with BMS.  One of them is now a youth minister in London, one of them became a BMS mission partner, two of them have disappeared off my radar totally.

I think this morning I am reminded of the way that little things mean a lot; that holiday clubs and camps and focus weeks can have lasting impacts beyond anything we can measure.  Maybe sometimes that week will see a big 'leap' change in someone's life; maybe sometimes it will be a 'pause' before they move on; maybe it will just be one more steady step on an ongoing journey... a bit like the marks on my wall really.  Big or small, they all matter and all contribute to a bigger story... so reach!