URBANarmy

Looking forward to being acquainted with our tent which is coming out for the first time tomorrow! Hopefully we'll have some warmth!!

You can read more of Richard here . Richard was still a little wobbly; we waited on the corner of the street and watched him stagger up to us. A small group from Nunhead SA were going for a curry and Richard was coming too. I hadn't seen Richard since he was very much the worse for wear in a meeting I had led, so it was a bit of a surprise that he was joining up with us. Simon one of our Corps leaders quietly assured us ... "he's been in detox for six weeks and now he's back" . I wasn't sure as he got closer but sure enough no sign of the blue plastic bag, no hint of a lager can or a cider bottle, not even a whiff! Later as we sat and chatted while we ate, Richard quietly became part of us and we became part of Richard. "See you Sunday Gord..." he merrily called out as we went our different ways. Church at it's best!

I saw this on the news last night and loved watching the farmer changing his mind about chasing the bull. Glad to see it on Youtube.

Here's another example of why I appreciate the emails from the Henri Nouwen site. Sometimes we behave like children in a toy shop. We want this, and that, and then something else. The many options confuse us and create an enormous restlessness in us. When someone says, "Well, what do you want? You can have one thing. Make up your mind," we do not know what to choose. As long as our hearts keep vacillating among these many wants, we cannot move forward in life with inner peace and joy. That is why we need inner and outer disciplines, to go beyond these wants and discover our mission in life. Subscribe to the email service here .

I must have missed this when it was in the news - Atheists call for 'debaptism' is the BBC's report on the National Secular's debaptism campaign - here . Maybe William Booth had this in mind - it's a bit hard to debaptise most Salvationists!! Seemingly Premier Radio are trying to mobilise a counter. We are called to publicly declare our faith in their I am a Christian campaign .

Sunbury is a Salvation Army conference centre laced with history and is a fabulous setting. I've enjoyed the last couple of days catching up with the session that were commissioned last year. While it hasn't been smooth sailing for everyone it was still good to hear stories of almost a year into ministry. It was good to see where pennies continue to drop; it was good to see real growth in confidence and self belief; it was good to kick a ball around in the evening sun! I always enjoy going to Sunbury with so many memories from days gone by, some significant to my spiritual development but most centring on juvenile japes and pranks. I was in the very same room where with a bit of team work and a change of clocks and watches we managed to persuade a sleepy room mate that he was late to an early morning band rehearsal and laughed till it hurt when he ran out the room at 3.30am. Oh yes - it is also where the General of TSA is elected!

I have a love hate thing going on when it comes to using a sat nav. When travelling by myself to new and unknown destinations I find a definite value in their company - but only enough to borrow one. The danger lies in relying on what you presume to be the destination, only to find that you are woefully short or wide of the mark. One trip ending in a field with a cheery voice declaring I had reached my destination now makes me double/ triple check the postcode I tap in. Even then, as I get closer I really sweat on where I will end up. I really like to know where I am going and as the miles disappear I often regret not making even a cursory check of the map. The danger lies in relying on what you presume to be the destination only to find that you are woefully short or wide of the mark I am neither a biblical scholar nor anything more than a gutter theologian! - but when it comes to eschatology I get nervous with what people rely on. At this time of year when we recognise Jesus as the p...

You know when you are getting old when you start listening to Radio 4, losing your hair, waking up early and looking through The Salvation Army Song Book for lost lyrics....! "A life of self-renouncing love is one of liberty..." 485 In service which thy love appoints There are no bonds for me; My secret heart is taught the truth That makes thy children free: A life of self-renouncing love Is one of liberty. Anna Laetitia Waring (1823-1910)

I think I am getting too old for this...! Chelsea 4 Liverpool 4 Unbelievable....!

Easter Competition - Whose forehead is at the foot of this tapestry hanging in the Vatican?

If you are able, tell God what it is like to live in the wreckage of dreams that have no life left - when peace is dead and buried when hope has gone to hell. I've been looking for words for this day that the church calls Low or Holy Saturday and eventually found my way to Hold this Space .

I am trying to work out why no one has told me about spotify before now!! It is too good to be true and I suspect it will not be long before it disappears down the same route as Pandora, or before some points out that it is illegal, or that it is a clever heist to get to passwords etc... but for now it is there for you to enjoy wall to wall music of your choice. " Spotify is a new way to enjoy music. Simply download and install, before you know it you’ll be singing along to the genre, artist or song of your choice. With Spotify you are never far away from the song you want...." Currently listening to Pat Metheny - " oo get down aa jazz!"

Merton believes that 'the desert is ... the logical dwelling place for the man who seeks to be ... dependent upon no one but God'. Ringma talks of the attitude of the heart that can be seen as a desert experience. It is interesting to hear of people's anxiety when they experience the realities of a spiritual barrenness. Quite often seen as a negative and rarely self owned, mostly the fault of others rarely seen as a source of growth. Ringma points out that "a desert is a place of loneliness, lack, emptiness. It is the place where our normal skills and resources are inadequate. And therefore the desert strips us bare... it is ironic that this place, seemingly so difficult and bare, can become the place where we trust God more fully, experience his renewing grace and are empowered to do exploits which we would never have thought possible while we were so full of our own ideas and programmes" Ringma , C. R. (2003:72- 73). Seek the Silences with Thomas Merton: Refle...