website and blog move

this is my last post on blogger ....... sniff sniff ...... it's given me an amazing start to my blogging experience but now it's time to step it up a bit

I'm over at

www.petewaugh.com

There are a few downloads and everything!!!!

Come and check me out

For now it's been beautiful

Pete

The Flinstones, Cornflakes and Church

Imagine a church service ..... Just after the preacher welcomes everyone and Miss Granger in the seat in front is still wiping sleep from their eyes, and whoosh. The doors at the side of the building fling wide open and in walk's Fred Flintstone carrying a tray. Sitting perched on the tray is 9 bowls of cornflakes for anyone who missed getting breakfast. That sounds creative. That sounds sweet.

Ok enough of the mumbo jumbo

I was sitting this morning at the kitchen table, still half asleep eating a massive bowl of cornflakes. It was only massive because I poured what I usually have and then there was 'the bit at the bottom of the bowl' So instead of putting that back in the cupboard I decided to finish the box off.

Flicking through the channels I stopped at BBC2 and The Flintstones. Cartoon's at their best.

I am a fan of new technology. I count Nemo, Madagascar and Ice Age in my top 20 films. However while I was watching the Barney, Betty, Wilma and Fred I noticed a few things:
The technology used was current and ground breaking for the 1960's.
The humour wasn't contrived or sexually charged.
The point of the cartoon was humour and joy.

The word that stood out for me was simple:

Simple isn't boring
Simple isn't an excuse for lazy
Simple isn't always easy or popular

Yet simple is solid
Simple is creative because it is focused, specific and de-void of waffle.
Simple is comprehensive
Simple is

Simple is. It simply is in and of itself something powerful.

In the church before the West became the dominant subculture, before worship services were put on DVD, before the bible was on your ipod in 50 versions, before the majority of the population could read and certainly before it was politically ok for a guy to declare his unwavering love and passion for .... well .... another guy ..... the church as a body of people was simple. Situations were difficult, emperors were brutal, living conditions challenging, but the commands simple. The Flinstones also challenged the American way of life through simple stories, parables and analogies. I think this breakfast time has been more important to me than a lot of sermons I have heard in the last while.

Acts 2 reminds us of that. Acts 2 speaks of community as central, of giving of time finance and our whole selves as central, of worship as fuel and prayer as a cornerstone of a revolution.

YAB A DAB A DOO !!!!!!

She Dances

I'm not a father yet
I hope to have daughter's

I am a brother
I love my sister's

I have a mother
I love her

I have a girlfriend
I love her

She Dances

Came across this site and thought it was amazing.
It's quite a simple site actually
It's point is anything but simple

Having helped with Compassion for a few years, children in poverty and at risk are very close to my heart. I hope you take the time to visit She Dances and to pray for this movement, the people involved and it's development

Heard of any similar things in the UK or Northern Ireland??

It urges and inspires me to get the finger out and start my football charity ............
Something that scares the SH*& out of me in the same breath!
Now I'm thinking out loud ....... I read Matthew 17: 14-23 today ...... About having a mountain moving faith .... about using and planting mustard seeds ...... about doing, not talking or blogging ........... Now I've got butterflies!!!!

August is .....

August is:

3rd - 7th Holiday Bible Club - 'Crocodile Doc' - I'm leading a group of teenage helpers
5th - Playing at Taylor's Av for the mighty 7's (My football team)
7th - 9th - Splem and Nat are over (Doing best man for Splem & Nat next August!!)

10th - 16th - Revolution week in Trinity - Our teens outreach week - Can't flipping wait! Got 3 days of teaching, worship and action in the streets. Then two nights of teaching, worship and banter! Can't wait to see the Spirit moving in the young people who come along. Followed by a service on the Sunday evening!

17th - USA!!!! USA!!!! USA!!!! USA!!!!
17th - 19th New Jersey - Camp
19th - 20th NYC - Sights - my tour guide Kerry is all over this!
21st - 24th San Francisco - Alcatraz, GG Bridge and lots of eating
24th - 28th Santa Barbara - beach, outlet mall and theme park time
28th - 31st Newport Beach - taking in an LA Galaxy match and Rock Harbor Church
31st/1st Come home BOOO!!


So an exciting month ahead that I am looking forward to a lot! All prayer's are welcome!

The Constant Gardener

I spoke about the theme of Garden's and God being 'The Constant Gardener' to a group of mainly older people on Wednesday afternoon: I introduced them to some U2 stat's about their concert's in Dublin last weekend and what follows is a snip of one point:

'It would be easy to assume that God is somewhat of an immature and irrational God who rewards good behaviour with his presence and removes himself when we turn and do our own thing. But this would be a rash, naïve and somewhat limited definition of our creator God. You see It would have been really nice for me to rock up to my sister’s house, open the gate and the grass to have been cut, with the recycling bin emptied and maybe even some new plants bedded. I could have gone home or gone out a walk, done my own thing. Yet I can’t help feel like I would have missed out on something, missed out on the experience of getting stuck into the task I had been given. God desires for us to get our hands dirty, get stuck into the mess of this life and see the results. God at times seems to step back from situations, the prophets experienced this and vented their feelings about it to Abba. In these situations God was and is acting as a DJ and mixing the Holy Spirit as guide, strength and support with our human ability to make and act upon decisions and produce what James would refer to as ‘good works’ and Pete Tong 'a banging mash-up' . God wants us to put some work in, take risk’s and then reflect on the joy that brings. This requires patience on God’s part, and is something of a risk by him. That he has left the work of the church in our hands. The message that has the potential to change the world is in our hands. WOHHH!'

Hope you enjoyed (The picture is a square in Riga I took a few weeks back!)

2 new books in the post

Two books I meant to get when they came out a while back have just dropped through the letterbox thanks to the people at amazon and halifax! I have to read these for my MA that starts in September which is fast approaching and exciting me a lot ........ Am looking forward to getting stuck into them when I get a chance over the next month - I might even take the gibbs one to the states for my plane journey's.

The first book is Emerging churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger. It gives an indepth summary of the developments and changes that have been happening in the mid - late 2000's regarding the emerging church on both sides of the atlantic. Sounds like a good book to cast the eye over and get a refresher course on what has and is happening on the scene with some theological reflection woven in.

Second book is by Phyllis Tickle - What a name - she deserves to be an author if just for the name never mind her awesome mind! One of her many books she has written is - 'The Great Emergence' This looks and sounds like a great. First of all it is a female theologian commenting on all things emergence. It is so necessary to hear female perspectives on theology as more women than men go to church yet still more men than women preach, teach and lead.

I think a trip to IKEA is needed as my bookshelf is full already!

wordle

This is my blog post about football camp processed
 through wordle

I thought it was pretty cool