So, today was the second 'launch' of the Big-hearted Lyfe stuff.  I took a very different tack with the group today, added a bit more of Matthew 13 and cross referenced a few other passages.  It was a very different discussion, but just as good as that on Monday.  There were six of us, including two new people, and two others were unable to attend.  We pondered the ambiguity of defining things as 'good' or 'bad' - be that music or food or science or television or whatever.  We set the scary separation parables alongside such verses as 'judge not lest you be judged' and 'mercy triumphs over justice' which was quite helpful, I think.  We then picked up the two middle parables (hidden treasure and pearl of great price) which are largely ignored in the Lyfe guide.  We asked ourselves just what (if anything) would prompt us to give up all we had.

Of course we finished up with tea and cakes, it's the eleventh commandment.  It all seemed to go well, a happy afternoon to round off a productive and enjoyable day.

This week has been a bit 'up and down' and I think that's more about my over-sensitivity than anything.  However, it seems to be improving steadily towards an action packed weekend of cupcakes and new students.  Yippee!

OK, so as of yesterday I was running ridiculously late on this week's deliverables and wondering how to get it all done without blowing a gasket.  This morning I sat down, at home, at 7 a.m. and worked through the Bible study for this afternoon (a massive rework from Monday) and now also have half a sermon, so am taking five for a cuppa.  Feels good.  In case anyone wonders, I am working from home as I have a meeting near home this morning - daft to work to and from church for that.

Back in the day, when I had a 'real job' I used to start work at 7a.m. most days, which gave me a clear hour before most of my colleagues arrived in which I could get loads done.  Moving into full time ministry rather stymied that model of working - if I started at 07:00 I was often still working at 22:00 by the time I had evening meetings... over time my working patterns have changed, and in the last couple of years I have reduced my working week considerably (so it's now nearer the EU working hours directive, if that applied, which it doesn't) , and manage to keep 'stupid' length days down to one or two a week at most.

Well, better continue the productiivty a little longer, as I have a busy day ahead of me with a few 'ministry as interruptions' no doubt.

So it is Wednesday evening and I have not one word written for Sunday.  This is bad - if only in my book - as the rest of the week is full of good things to be done.  I will have to work harder and smarter for the rest of the week.  But, it's not the end of the world, because I have been doing ministry in other forms instead.  Someone once said, the interruptions are the ministry.  I do know that, if push came to shove, I could write a passable sermon in a couple of hours.  It's just the way I like to work... my perfectionist streak can be a right pain sometimes.  The reality is the rest of the stuff that has to be done is, inevitably, lived preaching, incarnated sermon writing... I am due to preach on James 3 and 'repsonsible speech in a digital age' or owrds to that effect.  Suffice to say I have had a heightened awareness of every word I've uttered or typed this week!

From Bradley Wiggins to Andy Murray and all stops in between - what an amazing summer.

I am REALLY glad I don't have to choose the Sports Personality of the Year...  what a task that will be.

Thanks to BBC and Channel 4 for their coverage of so much that has been so amazing to watch.

All four Briitsh nations should be proud of their own (inlcuding those they claim willy nilly by dubious means!) and as a whole we should rejoice in aquitting ourselves excellently on a world stage.  The cynics (and to a degree I was one) have been proved wrong.

Last night we had the first gathering our new Bible Study & Disucssion group.  A dozen people came along, with apologies from another two or three - so very encouraging.  People seemed to enter into the discussions with great energy and there was a good feel about the group.  But!  I am bewildered.  The Lyfe material, which I had been naive enough to take on trust and adapt minimally, seems disjointed and the choice of passages (especially for the first study) a little odd.

We are using Big-hearted Lyfe, which I chose on the basis, pure and simple, it was by BUGB President Chris Duffett, who strikes me as an all around good-egg.  This means that, unusually, I did not examine the book before buying it, or spend ages with it ahead of time.  Rather, yesterday morning I sat down with it and worked out a way of delivering what it offered.

OK, so the first meeting of a brand new Bible study group looks at Matthew 13:36 - 52, the explanation of the parable of the tares, and then a series of other Kingdom parables.  The emphasis on 'in/out' and dividing up at the end of time seems an odd place to start if we are thinking about a God who has a huge loving heart, and whose will is that none be lost.  Never mind how we understand references to burning, and gehenna, and so forth.  The 'nicer' buried treasure and valuable pearl parables were lost as people recoiled from the image of fish being cast this way and that on the basis that some were 'good' and others 'bad'.  Whilst we did have an interesting discussion both on just how 'good/evil' is defined and conditioned culturally, it was not the most helpful starting point with a new group, some of whom did not know one another very well.  Ho hum.

One of the interesting explorations suggested in the material, and which I used as a 'warm up' was to consider an area of life inwhich we have some influence - work, home, clubs, etc - and to think about the values that shape our exercise of that influence.  Unfortunately, I could not find a way to relate that to these eschatology passages without severe mental gymnastics.

Lastly, the study guide suggested three 'challenges' for participants to take away.  I thought these were actually quite good in their own right, and offered things that might appeal or speak to different people.  But again, no clue as to how they related to, or arose from, what we had been working with.

On Thursday I am using the same material with another, established, and very, very different group.  Between now and then I will be writing some completely new material with less emphasis on the dualism and eschatology, and more on the present day inbreaking of the Kingdom inaugurated by Christ.

So, reserving judgement on Lyfe in general and this booklet in particular.  I am led to understand that Chris occasionally reads this blog, so if he does, and wants to respond (comment facility permitting!) I'd be pleased to know hear his views. [failing that I'd happily post a response sent by other means]