New Real Food Bible Study website

Just to keep you up to date, I've redesigned the website for the core ministry area I'm involved in (and I'm now reasonably proud of it). Check out Real Food Bible Study here - it'll describe much better than I can what we do each week.

The academic and the bon vivant

Imagine two men came to each give you a talk on fine wines of the world. The first man is exceptionally well-read, and has consumed several books on the subject. He can talk to you about the variants of vines that are planted, the orientation and elevation of the vineyard that the wine has come from, the type of the soil that the vines have grown in. However, he has never tasted any of the wines himself.

The second man is less well-read. He hasn't got the level of knowledge of the first man of the acidity of the soil, or the way in which the wine is matured. However what he has done is he has drunk all of the finest wines in the world and so his talk talks about the taste, the complexity and the joy of these fine wines.

Which of these two talks would give you a greater passion for fine wine? I would have thought the second, and I think that the same applies to preaching even more closely. It is very easy (especially for someone like myself) become concerned with reading books on the subject, but not becoming acquainted with the subject - God himself who lies behind the pages. If I however spend my preparation time "living" with the passage, then I'll be better equipped to teach God's word as one who has seen the joy of living out the truths in the passage and one who knows the richness of the word lived out.

Father, help me to be a man who doesn't think study of your word begins in the office, but starts in my own heart, and one who speaks firstly to myself before I dare relate your word to others.

Amen

In at the deep end

I have no idea what is going on here

So progress is finally being made in the US of A, but I'm both busy and engaged in a fair few cultural differences. Hence 'football' - I've watched two games, and have very little idea what is going on. I think I know the absolute basics, but the minute people start talking about what is going on then I'm afraid I'm completely lost. I'm repaying this cultural favour however by trying to explain the laws of cricket to the Americans, and finding absolute bemusement meeting me in return. 

However I know have a social security number, which seems to be the magical key to opening up many previously closed doors. I now have been able to open a bank account, (which enables me to be paid), book a driving test (and some more driving lessons), and join the library. The library is a particular treat - a Greenwich resident left them $25 million in their will, and now the library is one of the best in the USA. Firstly its huge, and also its generously equipped with just about every book I could want (at the moment I'm reading a bit of Aristotle and I've got the new Hawkings book reserved). It's a great place to go and do some work - if I fancy a change of scenery its a great place to go and work.

The Real Food Bible studies are going OK - we could do with some more people at them however, so the next few weeks I'm planning to meet as many people as possible for coffee or dinner. I've also done the first men's study in Acts (and also a good bit of Luke). The key surprise for me is that the central character in Acts is Jesus - hence Luke's introduction "In [my previous book] I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach" - the implication is that Acts is all about what Jesus is continuing to do and teach. I've also led the last two services and lead again tomorrow - the fact that I hadn't figured out exactly what happened in the service didn't seem to stop Tom deciding I was 'ready'.

So progress and frustration in equal measure at the moment - much like the rest of Christian ministry I suppose.

Prayer:

- progress at Real Food in particular 

- that ongoing work on Ephesians would go well

Dave