Wilson's Words

What are the unintended consequences?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:48:00 +0000

"The best things in life are free."

Over on Andrew Brims's blog he has decided this motto is worth following and is giving away an eBook for free. Completely Free! No if's, No but's, No whatevers.

It's very appropriate considering the content of the book.

Unintended consequences.

It challenges Christians to think about our cultural model of "doing" church and ask the question "What are some of the side affects". (both good and bad) Such as charging for resources and materials.

It isn't just negative though, there are some alternative suggestions that maybe great for some churches to be doing some of the time.

If you want to check out Brims book, then head over to his blog here and download it there. It is free...Completely free, no sign ups, no email lists, no personal details, just download.

Youtube is full of covers

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:45:00 +0000

If you type in many pop songs you will have a list of many many many cover songs that come up, sometimes even higher rated than the original song.

In fact there are more covers than there are original songs.

There are a few reasons for this, not least that people will search for popular songs and if you nail a good cover it can draw attention to some of your original work. However, by the far the biggest factor is fear.

I know this because it hits me. It's far easier to sing a cover to someone then write something. After all you know the song is good with cover, you just have to worry about your singing and playing.

With your own song you have to worry about the words, the melody, as well as your singing and playing.
But really there are enough covers out there.

We don't need more covers, we need more original songs.

Even if they suck.

Discipleship and the busy life

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:42:00 +0000

It is very easy to get busy in this modern world
(though I suspect it was pretty easy to do the same as a farm owner back in the middle ages) and this can have an impact on discipleship.

Sometimes it can be easy to concentrate on doing things (for God) that we can forget about doing things with God, or even just spending time with him.

This has been true of me lately as I've found myself busy, even busy for god, that I have let go of spending the with him.

Discipleship is about learning to doing everything with God,

Be that "spiritual" things or "non-spiritual"

It's about bring God into the ordinary and bringing the ordinary to God.

January's aims 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:52:00 +0000

Many factors lead to this delay in publishing my January review.

Changing the branding on the blog
Moving flats
Preparing a talk for a conference
Working on two international house courses
Considering what to do as the aim for the next 30 days.

All these factors lead to this massive delay in writing my up date but at last it is here.

1. Write an ebook

The writing process is coming a long and I have written a mini introduction and done a lot of research for the main content of it. However I need to push on with some more writing if I want to get this done and have a better idea of how it will be structured.

2. Write 2 songs a month for an album

This was very easy last month but having started to share a flat with someone else I have noticed it is increasingly hard especially with such different timetables. I think I may have to use the morning instead of the evenings as a chance to write songs.

3. Complete a half marathon

Training has been minimal with the snow, ice and minus 20C temperatures. However, I have managed to go for a few runs that have reminded me of how hard the task shall be.

4. Change job

Not much progress here. My thoughts have seamed to become stuck in a ditch with little direction as to how to get out and make progress in this area. Unfortunately every time I think about it the options become more numerous and there are more pro's and con's.

5. Buy only 10 things this year.

Well I have bought a book this month but other than that I haven't bought anything else. Although thinking about it just now I have realised that I didn't include such things as going bowling or similar activities which perhaps I should have.

I think this has made me appreciate things as treats more, especially within the perspective that whatever I get will reduce my options later. I do however have a request here.

If you would like to help with this aim then you could offer to buy me a book/music and I would happily do the same in return. You might say this would be getting off on a technicality but I think promoting giving is always good.

My Russian work has been limitted but I did do a church announcement in russian.
My teaching development is going well as seen by signing up for this conference talk, taking part in eltchat and other avenues.
I think my writing has improved this year ironically by not sticking to a writing rota. [what do you think?]
I have started fasting this year.
I am behind with my bible reading schedule [due to travelling mainly] and now I'm trying to catch up.
I have hosted a couple of parties which have gone down well.

My extra aim for February

To do the talk in Prague in March [I know it's a bit of a get out clause but I don't really have time for anything else.]

So that was January!

Things that are worth fighting for

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

I've been reading a great book by Julien Smith called The Flinch which is about taking opportunities, learning to fail well and doing things that you can't do.

One of the points that came up was about fights worth fighting for.

Julien talked about how there are loads of fights going on everyday, the fight against AIDS, the fight against cancer, the fight for a better life for your family, the fight for peace, and many more. However, very few people are actually taking part in these fights.

It's true that we don't actually have to be on the front line to be in the fight, though someone does (so why not you or I?) but there are plenty of people who sit by and don't even know the fight is going on. There are even some people who are spectators with ringside seats who cheer on the home side but have never done anything to help.

So there is a challenge in the book, What is worth fighting for, get in the ring and fight for it.

This got me thinking about what I think is worth fighting for? What AM I already fighting for? What should I be fighting for?

Let's start with the first one. What is worth fighting for?

The kingdom of heaven

Good news of the poor
Support for depressed and lonely people
Help for those with addictions
Support for ex criminals/
Support for people who suffer loses
Giving people a reason to rejoice

I bought a book

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:25:00 +0000

If you have seen my aims for the year you will know that one of them is to only buy 10 new things this year. (there are some exemptions such as disposable items and replacing old things which make it easier) and as such I have only just bought my first new item.

52 by the round.

It is a book of subversive ideas for English language teaching.

I have written a review on my other blog and will do a give away very soon as part of my post 500 posts celebration!

Jacob blessing to other nations

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:45:00 +0000

I love this moment in Genesis 30: 25-30

Here we can see that Jacob has been fulfilling the Abrahams promise of being a blessing to other people. He has worked hard, Laban has noticed this and acknowledges God because of it.

It makes me think about my work. Am I being being a blessing to those around me through my work, is their livestock increasing? Are they seeing god in what I do? Are they praising him for it?

I can't say for certain but I suspect in some areas I am failing, I guess it's another log to deal with.

500 blog post later

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Well I hit the mark! 500 is a pretty good number. That's more than one a day for a whole year.

Admittedly some are better than others in fact some are awful! However, there are some that I am very happy with.

I've Been mentioned on Lib Dem Voice. TWICE
I've stopped blogging about politics
I've changed country that I live in.
I've started a second blog (with a teaching reflection focus)
I've set some challenge
I've track my new years aims for a year
I've shown you Ukraine as I've seen it.
I've shared some fears and faults
I've improved as a writer and explored my creativity. The origins, purpose of this blog.
I've become hooked on blogging (sometimes at the sloth too of missing the moment) but I am going to continue, don't worry.

You may have noticed that I have been blogging less frequently and more erratically recently. Partially this was a deliberate slow Down in the lead up to the 500 post and also as I was trying to follow Jeff Goins and found lead and write only great posts when I felt inspired rather than half hearted attempts. I think it's been pretty good but do feel free to suggest more regular posts.

The Cost of Discipleship

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:18:00 +0000

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my heroes, he didn't just write about living a sacrificial life, he did it. He didn't talk about following Jesus, he did it. He didn't compromise what he though, he stood up and defended truth (though it was costly), and yet he still was a professor, father and church leader.

His book "the cost of discipleship" is what I nicked this blog title from.

However, he wasn't the first person to talk about the cost of discipleship.

¹⁸ When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. ¹⁹Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ²¹ Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

[Matthew 8:19-22]

Here two people want to follow Jesus and he warns them of the cost. The price of finding the kingdom of heaven.

It may seam at this point so costly that there could be no reason to follow the path of discipleship but there is still more.

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. ⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

[Matthew 13: 44-45]

Discipleship involves following Jesus, following his steps and his path really did cost him everything. However, in return we gain everything. To buy the field the man had to first sell everything, to buy the greatest pearl he had to first sell all the lesser pearls.

Discipleship costs.

The Start of Discipleship

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:28:00 +0000

Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men

[Matthew 4:19]

Jesus is a great model for discipleship, after all he picked 12 guys got to work on and the end result was not only were they changed but so was the whole world.

Two simple steps.

Follow me, imitate me, become like me.
Go and do the same.

Seeing as he was talking to fisher men he talked about fishing, if he were talking to me he'd talk in teaching terms, in music terms, or anything to get the point across.

Listen and repeat, Follow the beat, play it for others.

There is one last problem. Following someone means not going your own way, instead you have to go where they go.

or Perhaps a better way of saying it....

What is Discipleship?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:06:00 +0000

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said,“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

[Matthew 28:18-20]

I've been thinking about what it means to be/to make disciples recently or, as it is sometimes known, Discipleship.

I guess the first clues are even in the passage. Baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Let's look at each part a bit closer

Baptised: This is a public confession of faith, coming to a point where they want to be part of THE and A church.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: This isn't some wishy washy theist belief that there may be some far of God who never interacts with people and doesn't care about us. This is a belief in the Father and creator of the Earth from Genesis, Belief in the Son who came into our midst, was like us, face our problems, took on our sin and Conquered death. The Holy Spirit who is our helper, who was sent and gives us the power to carry out this commission, he washes us clean, is the sign that we have been saved and the assurance of the life to come.

Teaching them: It isn't about converting and that's it, we still need to learn more about God, his ways, his words through out history.

Obeying everything: As Francis Chan once said, when he tells his daughter to tidy her room, he doesn't want her to come back an hour later and tell him that she remembered what he said and can even say it in Greek, He wants her to tidy her room. Discipleship is about not just learning but obeying.

This isn't a conclusive post on Discipleship [many books have been published on this subject]

What do you think of this check list? How are far are you along it?

What Ministries are you doing that aren't sexy

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:20:00 +0000

When I was a teenager I wanted to be in the youth group worship band. Every week I would come, listen to other people play and imagine what I would do differently ~~when~~ if I was playing. Being in the worship band was sexy [and being the worship leader was the sexiest position of all]. In fact many people seam to enjoy being in "the band" and it does seam like one of the ministries within a traditional church that there is never a problem filling.

For other people Sexy ministries may be Preaching, running a traditional EC model service, and certain positions in youthwork [usually the same as mentioned above] pretty much any that make you famous, give you power or influence or put you anywhere near money.

Now there is nothing wrong with Sexy positions, it's just everyone wants them...and that's the problem.

In my parents church the 14-18 year olds has plenty of volunteers, but the more difficult 11-14 has far too few. Many people state why they want to volunteer for 14-18 as that is the age that you can really see the difference being made in the lives of young people.

You can see what they are getting out of it, Its sexier. [my paraphrase]

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,because the Lord has anointed meto proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim freedom for the captivesand release from darkness for the prisoners,t2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favorand the day of vengeance of our God,to comfort all who mourn,

What sort of ministries in churches really look like these ideas?

I don't know about you but the kingdom of heaven doesn't look very sexy to me. Comforting mourners get's pretty messy and usually there is a lot of snot.
Going into prisons for prisoner reform schemes can look very sexy if it makes the front page of the church bulletin [once a year] but for the 364 days is just hard work, which few people see and even fewer volunteer for.
Good news for the poor may have become more popular in the post live aid celebraty charity culture but the biggest issues for charities isn't giving money, [giving loads of money can even make Bill Gates super nerd extrawdinar sexy] but giving time isn't sexy at all.

It's not sexy to sit at a desk and stuff envelopes
It's not sexy to call people to ask if you can do something [it's even less sexy when they say no]
it's not sexy to meet up with a loser, talk about things you don't like and make them happy.

no one notices these things and yet these things are so important.

So I ask you...what unsexy things are you doing?

Maturity

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:12:00 +0000

"Being mature isn't about doing the right thing not wrong thing, it's about doing the hard not easy thing."

I don't know if anyone has said this before (probably seeing as there is no new idea under the sun) however it is a thought I have been mulling for a while.

Most immature actions come from people asking other people to do something they could/should be able to do, or avoiding doing something tough because they don't feel like it.

On top of this what is right and wrong is so hotly debated that really there are many mature people who do evil thing and immature people who do good things.

Being mature is about doing something not nothing and being the person who stands up and says "it was me" when it all goes wrong.

Being mature is about doing the hard thing, not the easy one.

[This is one of my logs]

What are your favourite running tracks?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:58:00 +0000

One of my goals for the year is to complete a half marathon.

I am one of these people who finds it easier to run along to music but then I faced a dilemma. A lot of my music isn't actually great for running to (it's what I get for liking folk, indie and soft rock). So I wondered and thought I'd ask you!

What are good tracks to run to?

Leave your suggestion bellow and well try and brainstorm a running play list.

Speaking of Running, I did my first run of the year yesterday in -3C and with snow flying into my face. I had predicted that a snow run would feel a lot worse than a summer run but in many ways it kept my muscles cool and so I recovered quicker than normal. Having said that I do still feel quite stiff today.

Logs

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:05:00 +0000

¹ “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. ² For you will be treated as you treat others.^[a]The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.^[b]

³ “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye^[c] when you have a log in your own? ⁴ How can you think of saying to your friend,^[d] ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye

[Matthew 7: 1-3 New living translation.]

If you have been a reader of my blog for a while you will have seen that I blog about my faith and my journey quite a bit. This has never been a purposeful decision but has instead sprung out of the fact that it does impact all my life and keeping people informed about how I'm doing includes things like this.

Sometimes these blog posts have come across as critical examinations of the church/christian culture and hopefully some of them have been good criticism that have made other people think about these issues and produced some fruit...But in all honesty that hasn't been my main motivation or expected outcome but usually it relates much more to the verses above.

Often the criticisms we throw out are actually the ones that are most true of ourselves.

Sometimes I can get so frustrated at what I see other people doing, and the mistakes they are making, that it is usually the aspect of myself that I am getting angry at.

So if you come across a post criticising something, please bear in mind that I am probably criticising myself as well.

Alphabet pics

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:24:00 +0000

Yesterday I spent the day in London with my girlfriend and we set ourselves the challenge of finding a letter in different natural shapes. There were a few letters that we didn't manage to get but I've put the ones we did find on flickr and you can see them bellow.

If you happen to see the few we didn't get. Why not add them on our collection?

One week in Britain

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:37:00 +0000

If you only had one week left in left in Britain, what would you do?

I ask because I now have one week left before my flight and I need to decided what to do with my remaining time. I already have quite a few ideas but I'm always open to suggestions.

If I choose your idea then I'll post a picture and blog of it.

5 tips for how to keep your bromance alive, when one of you gets engaged

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:43:00 +0000

There comes a moment in every bromance where one member gets an "other half" and this can lead to hard times. It's at moments like this that you have to decided to fight for your bromance. I have special interest in this topic as one of my good friends has just got engaged.

Get to know the girl: An essential step, you need to get to know the girl if you want your bromance to continue.
Arrange date nights: It's important to have shared experiences to keep the bromance alive, if there are some activities that his partner downs't enjoy then arrange to do them together (another reason why it's so important to know the girl).
Give you bro space: I know you want to see them all the time, but your bro needs space, and you need to keep the partner happy too (making it easier to arrange date nights).
Share the good and the bad: It's easy to focus on just sharing the good things when you meet up. However, it is important to share bad things too, hard experiences, things your struggling with.
Arrange double dates: Of course you may need a partner (or stand in partner for this) However it is a great way to see your Bro and not take him away from his partner. Everyone wins!

So there you go, some tips for keeping a Bromance alive. Can you think of any other tips?

December Update: A final update of 2011 Aims!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:20:00 +0000

Well what a year that was! I'm sure that you've had a fair amount of retrospectivia and nostalgia and so this post will be short on it (after all my stand post is usually heavy laden.) However I will say that this year has been a great year for me, I really feel like I have lived it very fully indeed. I really like the position I find myself in this year.

1.I will give at least a 10% tithe in addition to any other giving I will do.

Already done! This goal has become so much easier as the year has gone on and it's been so great to really purposefully pursue this. Strangely enough I am doing much better with my money this year than I did in previous years and I have still somehow ended up buying a few little gadgets which I didn't really need. I haven't been a perfect steward of God's money but I have been a better one.

2. Making Prayer a stronger habit.

Certainly seen some real growth here. Only this morning I was discussing prayer with my girlfriend and working out some applications to do.

3.Use Skype more to chat to people back home/Britain

I have certainly used Skype more since setting this aim and since I started to go out with Charlotte this has not really been an issue at all. However in more recent times I have slightly neglected staying in touch with some friends in favour of a few I stay in contact with more.

4. I will improve as an EFL teacher.

I can certainly say that I have improved as a teacher it no longer takes me as long to plan a basic lesson, I can identify areas to work on after lessons. I have taken part in some webinars, I have started taking part in a few eltchats and I have formed a teachers blog.

5. I will improve my Russian.

I have again definitely improved as I recently looked at a university "intermediate" exam and could easily do all but one of the exercises. This is despite several periods of poor efforts in studying.

6. I will write more songs.

This goal failed amazingly! In the whole year I only actually really wrote one song. I should regret writing this goal down however I really learnt from having it. Sometimes being creative is hard, sometimes goals fail, and it's okay for that. If I hadn't set this goal then I would have chosen something I wanted to do less..and I might have done it but it wouldn't have been what I really wanted.

7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.

There have certainly been high points and low points with this aim. I am overall please with some of the gatherings I hosted. I think I would have tried similarly had I not set this as a goal but It did prompt me at a time when I was feeling really down to take that step of imitative and organise something and that really did make all the difference on that occasion.

8. Regular and higher quality blogging.

Well I personally I believe I have grown a lot as a blogger this year, I've set up a second blog for teaching and reached a few landmarks I have also taken part in a free online blogging course from Jeff Goains and i'm preparing a few changes for next year.

9. I will get involved with some form of charitable work in the Ukraine.

The first few months saw a few visits to an orphanage in Ukraine but after a while unfortunately things stopped. More recently I visited another orphanage and hopefully I will be able to visit the kids there a bit more this year.

10. I will make a Public video each month.

Well I didn't make a video for every month, mainly due to lack of responses to challenges I set. However I did enjoy editing them together. Would you like some more next year?

Light

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:54:00 +0000

I was recently chatting to a friend, who isn't a Christian and she came out with this statement.

"It isn't an accident that all these different faiths celebrate light and bright holidays at this time of year, when it is at it's darkest. It reminds us that even though times in life are bad, even though things seam dark gloomy and hopeless, there is still light."

I Couldn't help but be reminded of a few verses.

“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
   the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
   Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people living in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
   a light has dawned.”^[a]

¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Ex Pats

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:53:00 +0000

Frankly there is nothing like hanging around with people who speak your language natively.

This is not a slight against students of English or people who speak a different language. I love chatting to people of a different language and in a different language. However, speaking to people in your own native language is a bit special.

That fluency and easy of thought is a wonderful liberating feeling from knowing every word off by heart, every phrase coming straight off the tongue and hitting the intended target is great.

I've certainly learnt to value the Ex-pats around Dnipro this year.

Christmas update

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:46:00 +0000

This weekend see the arrival of 20 odd members of staff from Donetsk for our School Christmas party. Last years was a great part of the year and I really enjoyed the spend time with the people from Donetsk, go Christmas shopping and sample the delights of Pig Trotter Curry!

However this morning I am attending a free Webinar by the International Teachers Development Institute. Which I am very excited about.

This is of course my last weekend here in the Ukraine before I get to return home to England for Christmas. I am of course very excited about going home and seeing everyone, and some people in particular.

If you are based in England and would like to meet over Christmas please send me a message and I'll do my best.

The two parts of friendship

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:39:00 +0000

If you only arrange things with someone, it's charity. You only see them on your terms when you are comfortable.

If you only accept invitations [and only then when there is nothing else going on] and never arrange anything then it's taking advantage.

Pretty controversial thoughts I know but there is a fundamental truth, true friendship is give and take and usually you have to give when you really don't want to. I was thinking recently about some friends and realised that for a long time I would only meet them on my terms, I would turn down their invitation because they wouldn't be convenient for myself.

Sometimes we have to put ourselves out for our friends, sometimes we have to accept an invite we don't want to, sometimes we have to do something for someone who always does stuff for us.

I'm the Boss here, see!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:30:00 +0000

I was thinking this morning as I strolled into work about the main objections to Christianity and how they often hide other, deeper, real objections.

For example, I had a friend who kept saying that an all powerful God couldn't be all knowing because he would be bound by knowledge of what he was going to do and thus be powerless to act. (obviously not considering God's timeless nature). As I mentioned this friend didn't actually care about my answer to this question and it didn't stop him from believing (or in this case not) in God. It was just a "difficult" questions he learnt to ask.

Back to the point, I realised that many objections stem from a desire to be the one in charge.

Think about all the things of God not being just or that he is a dictator, etc all reflect that we want control over these things. "if I were god then I'd make all religions go to heaven, if I were god all 'good people' would go to heaven" etc etc.

It doesn't really matter though, we're not God (thankfully) and so we can choose to accept his rule in our lives or not.

Speaking of which I also realised that many problems I face with Christianity (and other Christians have) come from resisting his rule, thinking I know better, and generally speaking to god not with him or listening to him. Perhaps there is something for everyone to take out of this?

[this post was inspired by Tim Chester's apologetics sound bites series.]

Why I'm having cold showers for a week

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Wilson) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:40:00 +0000

Don't worry my boiler isn't broken, although last winter there was a period when it wouldn't produce hot water on the coldest mornings! No it's something completely different from that.

I've started reading "The Flinch" by Julien Smith.

It's all about why we've been programmed to not take risks or opportunities because we might "Harm ourselves" in doing so, when really it's all very safe!

As a Homework assignment he set the task of Jumping into a Cold shower for a week [there's no harm to anyone and according to him your body will acclimatise.] I've just done it for the first time and I can safely say it was the quickest shower I've ever had! I did try to stay in longer to see if I would acclimatise and by the end it wasn't as bad as the start but it still hurt!

I guess there are 6 more days to go so we'll have to see how it goes.

The really interesting thing will be whether this will help me take more risks in other areas.