New member of the family.

It is ages since I blogged. But I thought that I would post in honour of the latest edition to the family. Rhianna Joy Scott was born at home in Stourbridge at 9.45pm on the 3rd of November. She weighed in at 7lbs 9oz. Annette and I are delighted grandparents and we can't wait to go and see her and hold her. Congratulations to her parents, Andy and Shona. Andy will now be sharing a house with 4 females! He will be totally outnumbered and hopefully totally spoiled by all 4.

back to work

Warm sunshine in Italy. Days spent with the family in the West Midlands. Holidays are now over and it is back to work. First week back turned out to be busier than anticipated and now it is our Holiday Club week at church. For a week our church hall will be turned into Rocky's Plaice - a chip shop church!
The hall is now set up and it looks good. The wonderful Holiday Club team are primed and ready to go. Tomorrow morning 40 children are booked in. I am sure it will be a great week. ( I am led to believe that at some point during the week it will indeed be a chip shop church!).

Not to be

Disappointed that Italy have failed miserably at the World Cup. I was hoping that I might be able to watch the world cup final while in Italy on holiday. Being in a town square filled with passionate Italian fans watching their team on a big screen would have been fun ( and blessed with sunshine too, of course).
I suppose I will just need to enjoy the sunshine!

Vuvuzela

I am indebted to my good friend Humph who sent me this information -

http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1106238

"The Nazareth Baptist Church (Shembe) in KwaZulu-Natal, which claims that the vuvuzela is its invention, has threatened to go court to stop its use during the World Cup if the church is not compensated....".

This Sunday I will be sharing a vuvuzela duet with Jonah.

World Cup fever

I went to pick Annette up with the shopping at Sainsbury's this afternoon. As usual she takes longer than I would expect. As I looked at the World Cup section, I could not resist.
I will use it on Sunday morning as part of the 'word to the children'.

In three weeks time, just before the World Cup final, we will be in in Italy on holiday. I am hoping Italy get to the final. I might then be able to find a big screen in the town square filled with enthusiastic Italian supporters. But after their performance in the first round of matches my hope might be a forlorn one.

World Cup

Just under 3 weeks until the start of the World Cup in South Africa. Sadly once again my nation will not be represented. As it happens I will be on holiday ( in Italy) for the latter stages of the competition.

In preparation for the World Cup the Church of England has produced some prayers for the occasion. The 3 prayers have been written by the Right Rev Nick Baines, the Bishop of Croydon.

A prayer for all those involved

Lord of all the nations, who played the cosmos into being, guide, guard and protect all who work or play in the World Cup.
May all find in this competition a source of celebration, an experience of common humanity and a growing attitude of generous sportsmanship to others. Amen

A prayer for the host nation

God of the nations, who has always called his people to be a blessing for the world, bless all who take part in the World Cup. Smile on South Africa in her hosting, on the nations represented in competition and on those who travel to join in the party.
Amen

A prayer for those just not interested

Lord, as all around are gripped with World Cup fever, bless us with understanding, strengthen us with patience and grant us the gift of sympathy if needed. Amen

The first prayer seems to picture God launching the cosmos into being perhaps like a goalkeeper sending the ball up field? Is that stretching the account of creation a bit far?

The second prayer is a good general prayer about all the people involved. I hope the competition will be a blessing to the people of South Africa.

But is the third prayer anticipating the sympathy that will need to shown when a certain nation fails to fulfill its potential again?

At Harrogate Baptist we are planning to show the England games on a big screen in a family friendly venue. I am looking forward to it.

PR

I was asked today if I could explain the different forms of Proportional Representation. I had to confess that my knowledge of this subject is sadly lacking. But in view of what is now at the heart of the discussions about forming a coalition government, I will need to get studying.
Watching as the results began to come in on election night I was struck by the number of times I heard politicians speak of the need for humility. As it became clear that there was likely to be a hung parliament, so it was suggested that politicians would need to act with humility and accept that this is how the people have voted. Hopefully in the on-going discussions taking place at the moment there will be humility expressed. It would surely do all our politicians good to take note of Philippians 2:3-4.

On another note - on Sunday afternoon I watched my team receive the SPL trophy. That makes for a world record of 53 Championships. Of course, I mention this in all humility!