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Happy 5 Years To Our Friends At Sicily Restaurant!

Last night Sarah & i had a lovely evening at our favourite restaurant celebrating 5 years since Sicily Restaurant opened it’s doors. We had no idea how this was going to bless us, and how we would make some loving and wonderful friends, amazing food, and the best coffee, it’s just a beautiful and peaceful place to be! Grace, Francesco, Dora and family work tirelessly everyday, and it was an honour to celebrate this milestone with them. 🙂 

The meatloaf, potatoes and leaves presented like a flower!

⇧ Green & red pepper meatloaf with tomato and pepper sauce, served with fried potato cubes ⇧ 

After tasting the best meatloaf ever (see image above), and if that wasn’t enough…Dora created one of her amazing cakes for the occasion! 🙂  we decided to challenge ourselves and walk home in the dark, not knowing how cold and foggy it was. I attempted to capture just how foggy and spooky the walk home felt. 🙂

The Fog looking spooky as it creeps across a road with a tree on the righthand side

⇧ One of the foggy roads home ⇧ 

An old school building covered in fog illuminated in the darkness

⇧ The school on top of the hill ⇧ 

My New Rebus Photography Blog

Weekly photo challenge logo

Hi all!! I just wanted to remind or notify all of my friends here on iChristian that all of my Photo Challenge contributions, my Photographic Exhibition updates & anything else involving my Photography, is now being published to my new “Rebus Photography” Blog,

I’m trying to create a stand alone place where i can direct anyone who is interested in my photos, as iChristian is starting to get bloated and slow, and it’s not as easy to find photos etc…So please, if you have not checked it out yet, head on over by clicking the image below and let me know what you think! 🙂

Click image of Rebus photography blog to view site

An Evening With Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges! 😄

 Wow!! Just returned home from an evening of Worship at church, where we were blessed by the amazing voice of Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges and his Spiritual songs, it was an honour to meet him too! 🙂

Read about Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges on Wikipedia…. 

Eugene 2

Eugene 1

⇧ Eugene “Hideaway Bridges performing at our church ⇧ 

Eugene  Hideaway Bridges  Me

⇧ Me meeting Eugene during the interval 🙂 ⇧ 

Ephesians 5:19 New International Version – UK (NIVUK)

speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,

Christian & Gospel Genre On iTunes

A screenshot taken from my iPad of Christian  Gospel iTunes

⇧ Screenshot taken from my iPad ⇧ 

Ephesians 5:19-20 New International Version – UK

speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Yay! I’ve just found out that iTunes now finally has its own Genre for “Christian & Gospel” music. Praise the Lord! 😄 🎸 🎶

Graduations & Celebrations!!

Sarah’s Graduation

So proud of my lovely wife Sarah on her graduation! Despite major difficulties following her latest eye operation, she managed to earn a “distinction“. Congratulations, it was a lovely evening! 🙂

Me stood on Sarah's right in my suit with Sarah's beautiful smile next to me

 ⇧ Sarah & i on way to the graduation ceremony ⇧ 

The graduation ceremony took place from 6-9pm on Thursday 6th November at Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London, celebrating the excellence of the class of 2013/14 from the IOF Academy.

Sarah s Graduation ceremony with everyone on stage

⇧ Graduates of the Certificate in Fundraising ⇧ 

 Sarah’s Dads 70th Birthday Party

Sarah & i had a fantastic weekend in Doncaster celebrating Sarah’s dad’s 70th Birthday! They had a huge party with amazing food (thanks Amanda) and we were entertained by a wide range of fantastic musicians!

Also thanks Madeleine (my sister in law) for asking me to acompany your stunning voice. it made my night! It was an honour to play on Sarah’s Dads new electro acoustic through his sweet PA system!

Sarah's dad playing guitar in front of 70th birthday banners

⇧ Sarah’s dad performing for us with his new acoustic guitar ⇧ 

Me sat playing Alfies new guitar

⇧ Me playing on Alfie’s new acoustic guitar ⇧ 

Marshall always connected on his phone

Marshall (my brother in law) is always connected ⇧

a close up portrait of Alfie

Alfie (my brother in law) ⇧ 

A Personal Journey

Child of Light

Hi all!! Sorry if it’s felt like i’ve deserted you. I’ve been on a partial fast (The Daniel Fast) for the whole of October, so i havn’t been on my blog much at all. God has taught me more in this last month than the last 10 years of my new life as a Christian. 

I’ve been studying Ephesians 4 & 5 verse by verse and through many tears the spirit has shown me how i’ve been grieving him, and what i need to correct as i’m a child of light. So walk as a child of light! 🙂

I’m away this weekend for Sarah’s Dad’s 70th birthday, but i’ll be back as usual on Monday!

I’ve really missed you guys! x 🙂

Knocking The Smell Out Of It

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“It must be the rain knocking the smell out of it”

My lovely wife Sarah

Sarah & were walking home from town in the pouring rain this afternoon, and as we walked past the lovely lavender plant which is on the wall of a nearby house, we were gifted with a beautiful scent of this lovely plant.

Sarah then saidIt must be the rain knocking the smell out of it

After a little chuckle i said “lol, yeah doesn’t that remind you a little of the Christian walk? The Holy Spirit spends our whole lives trying to knock the smell (the amazing fragrance of Grace) of of us!” 🙂

Some Exciting News…

I’ve been a little quiet here on iChristian for a couple of days, as i’ve been trying to construct a stand alone photographic blog. The iChristian theme isn’t the best for viewing (and finding) all of my photos etc. Also some of you have showed interest in me creating a blog just for my photos, weekly photo challenges and seeing the world through my cameras etc.

So here’s my exciting blogging news…

Please click on the new blog button to view my new blog Rebus Photography

I would love for you to visit Rebus Photography (click button above), and although it’s still under construction, i’d be so blessed to get your opinions, comments, suggestions. I’ve added a few pages e.g “My Photo Galleries”My Exhibitions” ” and more… also borrow your eyes to spot any mistakes as it’s been really difficult for me to create. 

I don’t want to lose any of you amazing friends who encourage, inspire and bless me each day. So i thought i’d leave this as my homepage on iChristian throughout October, and as i’llbe posting photos onto my new blog i will reblog them here on iChristian during October too. So hopefully everyone will have chance to view (and enjoy) my photos as we move.

Of course iChristian will remain mostly the same, but it’s always growing as new ideas come to me. My hope is that you’ll enjoy and be blessed by these two blogs! 🙂

My new blog Rebus Photography

The Peace Of God & The Blessing Of The Church Family

Sunday was especially blessed for me, as not only did i get to drum with the worship team, but i was asked to play a reflective song on guitar with my lovely wife Sarah on flute & Sara (the voice) singing. I chose the song “In Your Hands” by Unspoken (see video below) and shared a little about worry, and how we need to trustGod and  have more confidence in this promise to let his peace, the peace that’s beyond all understanding to guard our hearts and minds, as we offer everything (not some things) in prayer. 

After the service a group of us went down to the coast at Littlehampton and had a great day walking along the beach after eating chips then doughnuts! It was fantastic spending time with sisters & brothers and i felt truly blessed! 🙂 

A group photo of us in front of the beach and sea

⇧ From left: Ben, Hope, Mary, Sally, Sara & Me at front ⇧ 

Group photo in front of the beach and sea

⇧ From left: Ben, Sarah, Hope, Mary, Sally & Sara ⇧ 

close up of the groups shot

⇧ From left: Ben, Sarah, Hope, Mary, Sally & Sara ⇧

Me  Sarah

⇧ Me & Sarah ⇧ 

Sarah  Sara

⇧ Sarah & Sara ⇧

Hope  Sarah 3

⇧ Hope & Sarah ⇧

Sara  Hope

⇧ Mary & Hope ⇧ 

Sally  Sara

⇧ Sally & Mary ⇧

Ben  Me

⇧ Ben & Me ⇧ 

Little Hampton 1

⇧ From left: Sally, Mary, Hope, Sarah & Ben ⇧ 

 

In Your Hands Lyrics

The dawn is breaking and I can hear Your whisper in the breeze
The world is waking and I am here to meet You on my knees
When I’m with You my soul finds rest
Cause I can leave it in Your hands


The day keeps coming pulling me a different million ways
I’m always running but never seem to catch the things I chase
When I’m with You my soul finds rest
Cause I can leave it in Your hands


(Chorus)
 Every sorrow, I leave it in Your hands
Every sickness, I leave it in Your hands
All my failures, I leave them in Your hands
Amen, I leave it in Your hands



So I am laying the weight of all these burdens at Your feet
No more waiting, cause You’ve already won my victories
In Jesus my soul finds rest
Cause I can leave it in Your hands


(Chorus 2)
 Every promise, I leave it in Your hands
Every healing, I leave it in Your hands
And my future, I leave it in Your hands
Amen, I can leave it in Your hands


(Bridge )
It’s Your hands that form the mountains
Your hands set boundaries for the seas
And in Your hands You hold tomorrow
The same hands that took the nails for me


(Chorus 1)
(Chorus 2)

Planting Seeds

Growing Strong B W

 ⇧ Photo taken with iPhone 5s ⇧ 

The image above is a photo i’ve just taken of a mystery plant (i’m not sure what it is?) that was grown from a random seed that was given to each of us who attended our evening service about 2 months ago. Richard (one of our Ministers) was preaching about the sower and during the talk gave us a seed to hold and think about what beauty could lie within even though it seems like a dead seed at the moment. He then asked us to plant it when we got home and just see what happens. As i was playing guitar during the service, i just put the seed into one of my many pockets in my cargo shorts. By the time i got home i totally forgot it was there. It wasn’t until about a week later when i remembered and hoped it was still there, it was and Sarah & i quickly planted it into it’s own little pot.

After 4 weeks there was still no sign of life and just a pot filled with soil……..then overnight (to our amazement) it seemed to just shoot up and this is how it’s getting on now after about 5 weeks! 🙂

 Parable Of The Sower

Matthew 13:3-23 The Voice 

3 And so Jesus began to teach. On this day, He spoke in parables. Here is His first parable:

Jesus: Once there was a sower who scattered seeds. 4 One day he walked in a field scattering seeds as he went. Some seeds fell beside a road, and a flock of birds came and ate all those seeds. 5 So the sower scattered seeds in a field, one with shallow soil and strewn with rocks. But the seeds grew quickly amid all the rocks, 6 without rooting themselves in the shallow soil. Their roots got tangled up in all the stones. The sun scorched these seeds, and they died. 7 And so the sower scattered seeds near a path, this one covered with thorny vines. The seeds fared no better there—the thorns choked them, and they died. 8 And so finally the sower scattered his seeds in a patch of good earth. At home in the good earth, the seeds grew and grew. Eventually the seeds bore fruit, and the fruit grew ripe and was harvested. The harvest was immense—30, 60, 100 times what was sown.

9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Disciples: 10 Why do You speak to the people in parables?

Jesus: 11 The knowledge of the secrets of heaven has been given to you, but it has not been given to them. 12 Those who have something will be given more—and they will have abundance. Those who have nothing will lose what they have—they will be destitute. 13 I teach in parables so the people may look but not see, listen but not hear or understand. 14 They are fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy:

You will listen, but you will not understand;
you will look, but you will not see.
15 The people’s hearts have turned to flab;
their ears are clogged;
their eyes are shut.
They will try to see, but they will not see;
they will try to hear, but they will not hear;
they will try to understand, but they will not comprehend.
If they, with their blindness and deafness, so choose, then I will heal them.

16-17 Many holy prophets and righteous men and women and people of prayer and doers of good have wanted to see but did not see, and have wanted to hear but did not hear. Your eyes and ears are blessed.

18 This is what the parable of the sower means. 19 It is about the kingdom of heaven. When someone hears the story of the Kingdom and cannot understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away whatever goodness and holiness had been sown in the heart. This is like the seeds sown beside the road. 20-21 You know people who hear the word of God and receive it joyfully—but then, somehow, the word fails to take root in their hearts. It is temporary. As soon as there is trouble for those people, they trip: those people are the seeds strewn on the rocky soil. 22 And you know people who hear the word, but it is choked inside them because they constantly worry and prefer the wealth and pleasures of the world: they prefer drunken dinner parties to prayer, power to piety, and riches to righteousness. Those people are like the seeds sown among thorns. 23 The people who hear the word and receive it and grow in it—those are like the seeds sown on good soil. They produce a bumper crop, 30 or 60 or 100 times what was sown.

Our Father in heaven plants many seeds in order to ensure that some seeds bear fruit. The final harvest, however, is worth any amount of hard work.

Daily Prompt: The Name’s The Thing

Today’s Daily Prompt: The Name’s The Thing

“Have you ever named an inanimate object? (Your car? Your laptop? The volleyball that kept you company while you were stranded in the ocean?) Share the story of at least one object with which you’re on a first-name basis.”

I don’t normally have enough to say to participate in the daily prompts, but this one got my attention. I quickly asked Sarah the question, and she doesn’t name objects, and i could only think of 2 objects that has a name:

1, Big Bertha!

This is what i call my Nikkor 80-400mm zoom lens, especially when i have to carry it around and wish i just had my iPhone!! 🙂 I can’t ever remember calling it anything else!

Me sat taking a photo with big bertha, my nikkor 80-400mm zoom lens

2, Toni

This is what i’ve always called my 1995 Taylor GAWS (Grand Auditorium Walnut Spruce)acoustic guitar, because the tone this thing produces is just fantastic! I remember 6 years ago when my guitar teacher and i went to buy my first pro spec acoustic guitar. As soon as i played & heard it among all of the others, it was mine! 🙂

Taylor GAWS

Taylor GAWS Fretboard

Taylor GAWS Sound Hole Rosette

Please browse more of my photos:

Moon Shadow

After yesterdays post “Giving Light Upon The Earth”, i thought i’d have one more go at taking shots of the moon. I wasn’t getting any different shots from yesterday, until shortly after midnight. The moon was slowly disappearing behind the clouds, and with my last shot i managed to get this one! 🙂

I really like the feel of this image, as to me, it expresses quite a spooky feeling, simular to how i felt sat in front of my window in the pitch dark! 🙂

A centred photo of the moon slowly being covered with dark clouds

Having Sight With No Vision

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“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

Helen Keller

This quote really hits home for me in so many ways. I spent 24 years of being fully sighted just feeling lost, empty, angry and wasting my selfish life, being pulled one way and the other, not caring who i hurt.

Then in 2004 after losing most of my sight, Jesus became the light of my world. “I was blind but now I see”. see my About Steve page…

Now with Jesus as my destination on my “Spiritual Sat Nav” I have Vision, purpose, worth, and directions to follow. 🙂

How is your vision?

Giving Light Upon The Earth

Last night i thought i’d try (for the first time) and take some photos of the moon. I knew this was not going to be easy for me, but i had a go! So i mounted my Canon SX40 HS onto my tripod and opened my bedroom window. I thought i’d use my “Bridge” camera as it has a massive 35X Zoom (this is equivalent to a focal length of 24-840mm). This also made it near impossible to keep still and press the shutter at the same time, as i can’t remember (i have to remember so many settings & dial turns, as i can’t see the buttons etc) where the self timer button is!  

At least for my first attempt i actually found the moon! lol. Now it’s another challenge for me to try and get some good shots of the moon at different positions etc. Hope you enjoy my first images of the moon! 😀

A photo of the moon centered and framed

A square photo of the right hand side of the moon

vintage greyscale effect on the north east side of the moon

⇧ Thought i would try a Vintage Greyscale effect on this one! ⇧ 

Moon 4

Moon 5

Genesis 1:16-18 King James Version

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 

View more photos here: Blind Photographer

You’ll Never Believe This…. (Part 3)

Wow, Part 3 already! If you’re wondering what i’m talking about pleas see my older posts (Part 1 & Part 2). 
I’ve just sent my exhibition entry form with descriptions of the photos etc and i’m doing my video interview this Sunday in London. Also Sarah & i have booked our Hotel for 7 nights with flights in Florence, Italy for the opening meet and greet. I’m a little excited! 🙂
I thought i would share with you which photos were chosen and my descriptions & aims of the images for this Florence exhibition in December.
Please comment and let me know what you think, as i’d love to hear your feedback on my descriptions, aims & photos! 🙂
 
My Exhibition Photos
 
Image 1: ‘Stormy Bay’ – Ilfracombe, Devon, England

P1020199

Brief description: Photograph taken in a huge storm with my iPhone 4s camera. (I wouldn’t get my Nikon camera out of it’s bag as the weather was too bad). I’ve applied a grayscale effect to bring out how I felt on the day (very wet, cold and shivery). A great memory of the English southern coast on New Years Day.

Aim of the work: I felt the strength of the storm (with howling winds and lashing rain) and wanted an image that captured the moment. Using dramatic black and white I wanted to draw people into the strength and power of the elements so they could feel the strength of the storm for themselves. 

Image 2: ‘The London Eye’

London eye 7

Brief description: Stood close the Eye looks big but through the wide angle lens of my Sony Alpha a100 camera it felt like a huge bike wheel in the sky ….very sureal.

Aim of the work. Looking at life from a different angle.

Image 3: ‘Arches’ – Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace

Brief description: One of my very first photos taken as blind photographer. Taken with a Fugi F10 camera. I was visiting Hampton Court Palace and was struck by the contrast between the heat in the sunny parts and the cool in the the shadows when walking down this corridor. I wanted to reflect this in the patterns made by sunlight playing though the arches. I used black and white in this image to capture this feeling.

Aim of the work. To demonstrate the amazing effects sunlight can have on it’s surroundings.

Image 4: ‘Life on the water’ (canal boat – Heartfordshire, England)

Canal Boat

Brief description: Walking along a peaceful, tranquil path by the canal I was taking shots of different things around me with my Sony Alpha a100 camera. I heard the rumble of this boats engine and took photos as it passed. On returning home and zooming into the images with my computer this one stood out, as when seen in detail there was much more in it than I had first thought. It captures a story of the man with his dog living a laid back lifestyle on the boat … all the materials of his life surrounding him. The photo I felt encompassed this mans life and told his story whilst also conveying the peace of the day and tranquility of my surroundings.

Aim of the work. A single photo that tells the story of this mans life – the more you zoom in the more you see.

Image 5: ‘Portsmouth Cathedral’

Portsmouth Cathedral

Brief description A dramatic image of Portsmouth Cathedral on a hot but cloudy day.Taken with my iPhone 4 camera at a friends ordination ceremony.

Aim of the work. The ceremony was very grand and I wanted to capture the feeling of the spendour and grandeur of the ceremony and Cathedral in a photo. From experience I know that using black and white on architecture creates a dramatic feel, especially on a cloudy day.

Love At First Sight Village! (10 Years On!!!)

 Today i’m celebrating 10 years since i met my lovely wife Sarah at “Sight Village, Birmingham” 

This is a major Sight Village show in Birmingham which is held in July each year. Exhibitors from throughout the world take part and they welcome many thousands of visitors, including people who are blind or partially sighted, professionals, business people and family members.

I was there (from Derby) working for a charity called LOOK and Sarah was there (from Surrey) working for RNIB. She came to my table as she had a magazine which she had just published an article about LOOK and wanted to show me. Sarah opened the magazine and said here are the pictures and the article, i said “Wow, fantastic, it all looks great” which made Sarah quite proud of her work. I then said while laughing “you know i didn’t see any of what you’ve just shown me, as i’m blind!”. Then as always, a brief pause as Sarah checks out my eyes to see if i’m joking, then Sarah laughed and said “No way, me too!”. We both approach blindness in a similar way and love blossomed from that point. 🙂

Sarah  i 2005

 ⇧ 2005 ⇧ 

Sarah  i 2006

Me Sarah  Bruce 2006

 ⇧ 2006 ⇧ 

Sarah  I Wedding photo

 ⇧ 2007 ⇧ 

Me Sarah  Bruce 2009

⇧ 2008 ⇧ 

Sarah  i 2009

⇧ 2009 ⇧   

Valentines heart

 ⇧ 2010 ⇧ 

Steve sarah at friday street1

⇧ 2011 ⇧  

Sarah  i 2012

Me  Sarah in Church

 ⇧ 2012 ⇧  

Sarah  i holding hands 2014

 ⇧ 2013 ⇧ 

Sarah  i

 ⇧ Last Week ⇧

Ephesians 5:25 Easy-to-Read Version

Husbands, love your wives the same as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.

My Thoughts 💭

This is one of my favourite Bible verses that i try desperately  each day to live up to. As soon as i first read this verse it convicted me straight away and i knew i wanted to be a husband like that!

🙏 Prayer

Spirit, thanks for being a constant guiding presence in my life. Give me the faith to take practical and radical action to keep in step with You, so that You can love my spouse through me in a way that will sustain a fun, loving & trusting relationship. Amen.

Church Family

Sarah & i had another lovely weekend with our brothers & sisters (church family). It’s fantastic as we live on the other side of the country to both our families which we miss! We had Vini on our 3rd Saturday sleep over in a row. We watched the Brazil match, played playStation & ate burgers!! 🙂 Also Phil, Sara & Hope came round and we played & sang music!

God has given us another blessed weekend! 🙂

photo of Vini laughing!

Vini after a near miss

Vini looking content

Romans 12:10 Amplified Bible

Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another.

You’ll Never Believe This…….

You’ll never believe this……Some of my photos have been chosen for Several exhibitions around Italy, starting 4th April in Ancona.

Info taken from website:

5 – 27 April 2014
Openig 5th April 5.30 pm
Museo Tattile Statale Omero, Ancona

The exhibition presents sculptures, paintings in various techniques, bas-reliefs, pictures, installations and video clips realized by 30 blind artists from 6 different countries, as well as full-sensorial fruition works crafted by sighted artists.

I’m so honoured to be chosen and i still can’t believe it! This first Ancona exhibition, my photos are presented on a forex panel with 3 photos they chose from the iChristian ‘Blind Photographer” page….see image below.

Photos on forex panel for Ancona Exhibition

Photos on forex panel for Ancona Exhibition  

 For the final exhibition in Florence, Italy in December, i’ll be sending them 6 mounted & framed images and we’ll be actually going to visit the exhibition and meet the people etc at the museum. As you can imagine i’m really excited! 🙂 

More Info…

I SENSI DELL’ARTE| ART SENSES 2014

AN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO CANNOT SEE

 

The exhibition ART SENSES 2013, dedicated to blind and visually impaired people, starts in Ancona 4th April 2014, and then Tuscany, region in Italy, on October 26th in Massa Marittima, and it ended in Grosseto on December 3rd, with a conference on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities

More than sixty works by 28 blind or visually impaired artists – out of them 15 are from other countries – became part of the art exhibition reserved to them, that includes a wide variety of languages and media.

The thirteen Italian artists mixed with the fifteen from England, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Slovenija, thereby showing a community geographically distant, yet close due to the desire to participate and get involved. 

Among all the works selected for the exhibition, six artists was chosen by a technical jury, as

Award winners

The aim of this artistic path falls within the overall significance of the event, that of appreciating, producing, living art with our other senses, participating together and closely to the experience of those who just cannot see, especially now that the world is increasingly dominated by visual messages. 

ArtSenses starts just from there, and invites everyone to explore “other” ways to experience the creative reality.

 

THE TRAVELING EXHIBIT in 2014

The exhibition will then travel to other exhibition halls, as the OMERO Tactile State Museum in Ancona, Italy, from the 4th until the 27th of April 2014 placed into the important Mole Vanvitelliana; in December 2014 the prestigious PALAZZO MEDICI RICCARDI in Florence. 

This event thus creates the chance to take the concept also beyond national boundaries and it becomes a source of cultural growth and of social and ethical participation, demonstrating the interest in a project that can be regarded beyond the standard canons of art.

 

INVITATION

The UK blind or partially sighted artists are invited to participate to the exhibition from the 3nd until the 15th of December,in FLORENCE, Italy, within the Galleria delle Carrozze of the PALAZZO MEDICI RICCARDI, one of the most famous historical buildings of the city. 

The works selected will be exhibited from 3th to 15th December 2014 in the historical centre of Florence, Italy, within the Galleria delle Carrozze of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

 

Concept and organization

Associazione culturale Art@ltro

in collaboration with

UIC- Italian Blind Union

 

Info:  

www.artaltro.it  – facebook: Artaltro Associazione culturale

info@artaltro.it  – artaltro@gmail.com 

Expanding The Love In My Words

A screenshot of a interview i'm working on in Logic Pro, with the Channel EQ & Expander plugin's visible

Above is a shcreenshot of an interview i’m working on using Logic Pro for Sarah’s audio version of her RNIB magazine. I’ve just found a plugin called “Expander” which i’ve never used before and it can help clean up the noise, hissing or humming behind the voice etc….

I’m sat here while using this great tool thinking “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if it was as easy as using a few dials & sliders to be able to clean up my speech and leave no bad noise behind my words! 

Ephesians 4:29 The Voice

Don’t let even one rotten word seep out of your mouths. Instead, offer only fresh words that build others up when they need it most. That way your good words will communicate grace to those who hear them.

A Worldly Lifestyle

My Thoughts 💭 

I’ve just finished reading this interesting article (see below) which i can relate too a lot, as i’ve been through this particular growth stage by cleaning up my music library, well more like deleting the whole lot and starting again! Have you had a similar conviction after giving you life to Jesus? Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this. 

Why Christians should not listen to secular music

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” – 1 Peter 2:9.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.1 John 2:15-17.

Hip pop secular music and ChristianityOne sad truth in Christendom is the fact that many Christians do not recognize their identity in Christ. Being a Christian goes a lot more beyond being called a Christian. “Being a Christian is a work of a moment but living a Christian is a work of a lifetime,” Billy Graham observed.

Every Christian has a unique story to tell. However, in the midst of each story is a loving God who gave up is life as ransom for our sins. Different things and different circumstances had over the years led many to Jesus Christ. Every believer reading this post has been delivered from bondage of some sort. The Lord Jesus had met each of us at different points of our lives. Some have been delivered from drugs, others from excessive partying, clubbing and sexual promiscuity. And many others have been delivered from worldly lusts: the lust for money, the lust for material possessions, and greediness.

But when we become born again by the blood of the Lamb, we become new creatures (2 Corinthians 2:17), we become the sons and daughters of God (John 1:12), but most significant, we become a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and peculiar people. The attributes and identities of believers have been made evident by the apostle Peter (See 1 Peter 2:9). There is a reason why God gives the believer all this attributes. It is so that we can “show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light” – 1 Peter 2:9b.

What does it mean to show forth the praises of God?

I believe it means doing away with worldly lifestyle; secular music, secular movies and anything that do not glorify our Heavenly Father who loved us and sent His Son to die to save us. The scripture says “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” – (Galatians 2:20). Being in Christ means we are no more of the world. We have been delivered from the darkness and are now nigh to the marvelous light of God in Christ. This is why every Christian must grow to a point in their life where they can boldly say NO to secular music and all the profanity and deception that go with it.

How to Stop Listening to Secular Music

The lesson in Galatians 2:20 is that Christ lives in us. Every believer must always be conscious of the fact that Christ lives in us. Whenever you are tempted to sing or play a secular music, pause and ask yourself, “Will Jesus listen to this song I am listening to? Will He dance to this song I am dancing to? I have found this questioning approach to be an effective way to stop or quit listening to hip and secular music.

Alternatively Christians can stop listening to secular music by listening to more godly music. I used to really love hip pop, R & B and rap music. Now I am in Christ and I still enjoy these genres but I do it this time to edify myself and to praise the LORD my God. I no more listen to those secular artistes singing and rapping about sex, money, drugs and girls. Instead I listen to Christian rap music, Contemporary gospel and gospel reggae. It is the same rhythm but with edifying and uplifting lyrics. Just take a look at the music video below and you will understand what I am talking about. The song is by Lecrae(a Christian rapper). God bless you! 

Update #3 On ‘Join Me In Prayer For Sarah’

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A big thanks again to all of you faithful prayer warriors for your continued prayer for Sarah & i. We feel so blessed to have so many loving brothers & sisters here. God bless you all.

We’ve just arrived home from Sarah’s latest appointment with the eye consultant. It’s good news as the really painful irritation has gone, no scratches or damage to the cornea and the thick grey curtain that Sarah was seeing, is now a thin grey voile, so healing nicely! 🙂

Sarah still has Corneal Oedema, and we’d love if you could continue pray for this particular healing.

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See also:

Need Prayer?

Do you have a prayer request? Please check out iChristians latest page ‘Need Prayer

God Means What He Says

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I’m being seriously convicted at the moment as i study the books of Revelation & Genesis seeking TRUTH. it’s completely  blowing my mind as i realise how i’ve been deceived and conditioned by the lies of the world my whole life.

The article below by David Wilkerson was in my inbox this morning and i thought id share it with you.

GOD MEANS WHAT HE SAYS
by David Wilkerson 

Do you sit under strong preaching that lovingly exposes your sin? If so, do you allow that word to convict you? Or, do you go right back to your sin without grieving at all?

If you are rejecting the warnings of the restraining Holy Ghost—disobeying God time after time, without any heart-grief—then you are being recruited for the cult of Antichrist. The devil is silently initiating you into his “mystery of iniquity” and when the promising, miracle-working Antichrist comes along, you will be swept up in his lies and given over to a delusion!

Listen to what Paul says about compromising believers who refuse to love and obey God’s Holy Word: “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:12).

Here are the ominous results of not believing and acting on God’s truth:

  • The heart becomes hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
  • Satan works on the hardened heart to justify itself, so that it is relieved from all fear of penalty.
  • The believer becomes blinded by the lie that says there are no wages for sin and no Judgment Day, and that he can get away with his lustful pleasure.
  • The believer falls prey to doctrines of demons, thinking evil is good and good is evil.
  • He eventually drifts so far from Christ and the truth, he becomes blinded to who the Antichrist is—and he ends up worshiping and serving him as a god.
  • On Judgment Day, God will say to such a person, “Depart from Me, you worker of iniquity!”

Beloved, it does not have to be this way for any of us. God has made a covenant promise to remove all delusion from us and give us victory over sin, through the power of Christ’s cross. All He asks is that we declare war on our sin, saying, “I won’t make peace with this habit. I refuse to abide it. Deliver me, Father, by Your Spirit.” When He hears this prayer, He will send such Holy Ghost power and glory from heaven, the devil will not stand a chance!

Pray right now that God implants in you a great reverence for His Word. Ask Him to help you be disciplined in your reading of the Scriptures and ask the Spirit to help you take to heart what you read and believe that God means what He says!

Furry Angel

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2 years ago today we said goodbye to Bruce (Furry Angel). We still miss him, his character & his ability to love at all times! We also miss his squeaky toys at Christmas too! 🙂

Genesis 9:12 (NIV)

And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 

Update #2 On ‘Join Me In Prayer For Sarah’

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Hi, sorry it’s been a little over two week since the last update, but we’ve been waiting for this mornings appointment before we could bring you more news.

Sarah’s had a few complications in the last couple of weeks, so we’ve been back and forward to the hospital to try and narrow down whats causing them. Sarah’s cornea developed a scratch and an infection which was causing her a lot of pain and irritation. (understatement!)  They first gave her more eye drops and said to come back in a couple of days.

We returned with more irritation, sleep depravation (the pain has been keeping Sarah awake) and Sarah’s eyesight had become very poor, Sarah said “it’s like trying to look through a frosted glass window”. Another doctor said that Sarah maybe allergic to the preservatives in the eye drops, and prescribed “preservative free” eye drops. We then had to wait 10 day’s before this mornings appointment.

The doctor said that he could see no sign of infection, and the scratch had healed and disappeared. Yay! But the reason that the eye is healing so slowly and continues to be very sensitive is the Diabetes. The nuropathy is slowing the healing, making the eye feel like it’s about to burst and maintaing the extremely itchy painful irritation that’s driving Sarah crazy, which, is making her really fed up. 😦

We have another appointment in two weeks time and i’ll keep you lovely friends updated. Sarah was really hoping to be back at work this week and is trying her best not to feel too inpatient! 

We both thank you all so much for the love, kindness, prayers and support as you journey through this with us. Can’t thank you enough! 🙂

See also:

The Truth Is…

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 The LIE

Genesis 3:4-5 The Voice

Serpent: Die? No, you’ll not die. God is playing games with you. 5 The truth is that God knows the day you eat the fruit from that tree you will awaken something powerful in you and become like Him: possessing knowledge of both good and evil.

My Thoughts 💭

Do you hear the whispers thet are making you feel like your missing out on something, you need more to be finally fulfilled, telling you that you need the latest …………(fill in the blank with any worldly/created item)  to be satisfied?!

It’s a LIE, and we still fall for it everyday!

 The Truth 

2 Peter 1:3-4 The Voice

His divine power has given us everything we need to experience life and to reflect God’s true nature through the knowledge of the One who called us by His glory and virtue. Through these things, we have received God’s great and valuable promises, so we might escape the corruption of worldly desires and share in the divine nature.

God took the first step to rescue us from this corrupt world. He has granted us His power, revealed to us true knowledge, and spoken to us great promises. He has done all this for a reason: that we might participate in His own nature and reflect His own life. But we are not passive observers of God’s saving actions. We must receive His grace, grow in knowledge, and join Him in this work of redemption.

Listen out for the LIE, then, remember we have everything we need in Jesus!

Update #1 On ‘Join Me In Prayer For Sarah’

Riding The Wave Of Prayers

 First i have to thank all of you amazing loving people for the show of extravagant love to me and Sarah. We’ve been simply overwhelmed with your prayers, kindness and love through this journey.

The Plan…

The plan was set. Go to the chemist to get pain killers (Sarah is not allowed d to leave the house for a few days), nip into the doctors to sort out a sick note for the next two weeks, then go for a [Cortado’ coffee at Costa at the train station with half an hour to enjoy our new fave coffee (mainly keep Sarah as relaxed as possible), then Sarah can put her last eye drops in before we catch the 11:04 train that will get us to Kings College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London ready for the operation. 

The Hypo…

This was all going well up until Sarah had locked herself in the toilet by passing out with a hypo. The idea was that she went in to put in her eye drops as we still had 15 minutes until the train arrives (the platform is about 1 minute away from the coffee shop. As i was stood outside the door while staff kept walking past suspicious of the weird man lurking around the toilets. With 5 minutes left i knocked on the door, with the sound of the music and the coffee machines i could just make out what i thought was Sarah. Then as i realised too much time had passed and we’d missed our train i asked one of the passing staff if they could open the door as i think my wife is having a hypo. Sarah had know her blood was creeping down and she had a biscuit and sugar in her coffee but she felt and seemed ok.

I opened the door to find Sarah in a zombie like state (the only description i can find that closely resembles a hypo) not knowing where she was, what she was doing or where we were going! I’d like to state at this point that we only really had one must do for this morning, and that was to try and keep Sarah’s blood sugar stable as they won’t operate if it’s too high, low or on the move. I prayed:

“Jesus, There is no way they can operate now, i did my best but i don’t know if there’s another train, if Sarah can even stand up, never mind walk,  and Sarah’s blood sugar always ends up too high after a hypo and we always have a long struggle getting it back down. i hand it all to you, please help”.

I got Sarah to her feet and she could just about stand up without her knees giving way. We managed to leave the coffee shop and after catching Sarah from behind as she started to fall back down the platform steps (i was behind trying to push her up) we finally got to the platform. This is where Sarah normally guides me as she knows the trains. Usually the trains are announced, but today there were none, but a train arrived straight away and we got on anyway. I told Sarah to just sleep on my shoulder and hope that this train is going the right way! The inside train announcement only said which station it was pulling up to and not the stations of the full journey. 

Sarah woke and asked “where are we?” “I’m not sure, but i hope it stops at Clapham Junction”. Then a few minutes later we arrived at Clapham Junction. We then walked to the other platform and a train was waiting there too. We finally arrived at the day surgery unit a couple of minutes before the 12:30 appointment.

Sarah did a blood test and it was 8.6 which is really good for her, but we knew that it often goes into the 20’s after a hypo and there’s no way they’ll operate if it goes any higher or continues to rise. Sarah went in around 13:00 but there were 4 people before her, I stayed in the waiting room.

The Waiting Room

I wanted to update everyone but i’d never used the mobile WordPress app to post before, so i kept the post “Praying in waiting room for Sarah” short so i could begin praying. I started with my voiceover reading all of your prayers, i prayed through each comment individually about 2 times each from the 1st post “Please Join Me In Prayer For Sarah” then i had about an hour of personal prayer before loving sister Janet would arrive to drive us home.

The Operation

Sarah’s op happened around 16:30, her blood sugar stayed perfectly stable at 6.8 the whole time! (Amazing!) Her main worry was the really painful needle that she sees going into her eye and it feels like her eyeball is bursting out of her face! I need to quote Sarah at this point:

“I felt a real peace i’d not felt before, i knew everyone was praying for me and i knew God was with me the whole time. I felt no pain at all with the needle and the surgeon was surprised how well the operation went. I also heard him say:

‘There are always bubbles in this (not sure what he was talking about) always bubbles, but there aren’t any at all, i can’t explain it?!’ 

The Next Morning

I’m typing this post Saturday morning  at 11am while Sarah is sleeping. I’d like to thank you all once again for giving time in prayer and the loving encouraging comments that helped us through this amazing journey (and still help us as we read back through them). I’ll update again soon.

Sarah said to me this morning:

I felt like the whole day you had your arms around me, and God had his arms around both of us!

The Man In Black

My Thoughts 💭 

Sarah & i have just got home from “The Johnny Cash Roadshow” at Epsom Playhouse. When they introduced Johnny Cash as a Singer, Songwriter, Christian & Sinner, i knew it was going to be good! 🙂

Description from the Epsom Playhouse

Johnny Cash Roadshow

7 November 2013

The UK’s No1 Tribute, fronted by respected singer/songwriter Clive John, re-creates with astounding accuracy and truly captures the essence of what it was like to be at a real Cash show! Also featuring Jill Schoonjans as June Carter, Amanda Stone and Sheena Beckett as the Carter Sisters all aspects of Cash’s life are covered with impeccable taste.

The show takes the audience from the 1950’s right up to 2002 and all the stops in between. All the greatest hits are included, Ring of Fire, Walk the Line as well as the Johnny and June duets Jackson and If I Were a Carpenter and so many more, all the while accompanied by an amazing video back drop with evocative images and shots from Johnny Cash’s life.

 I hadn’t heard many Johnny Cash songs (even though i play a few) but i was pleasantly surprised with the strong Christian message in some of them! Now i’m totally Country’d out! I’ve added a few songs played tonight, enjoy! 🙂

Let Us Pray

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Let us pray for the Church and for the world, and let us thank God for his goodness:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, you promised through your Son Jesus Christ to hear us when we pray with faith.

We pray for your Church today, gathering all around the world in tiny churches and great cathedrals, to praise you, to hear your holy word, and to meet with you in bread and wine. Give us a sense of expectation as we come and inspiration as we go. Help us to put our differences behind us and to behind the great commission of Jesus to make disciples of all nations.

We pray for a world which struggles to live justly and in peace. We pray for those who have to search for daily food or walk long distances for clean water. We remember with sadness those whose live are cut short by preventable diseases and malnutrition, and those who have fled their homes for fear of violence. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done as it is in the heavenly places.

We thank you God for your forgiveness and for revealing that you are Love. Thank you for those people who sustain us by sharing this love to us. Thank you for the network of people with whom our lives are inextricably linked and who make up the fabric of our family and community life. Make us alert to each other’s needs and quick to serve and encourage one another. May our gentleness with each other reflect your gentleness with us.

We pray for those who are laid low by suffering and those who are experiencing the outrageous assault of pain. We trust your love for us and for all people, and your deep desire for our well-being. As we name in our hearts those who are in the grip of suffering, help us so to pray and to act that they may know your comfort and healing, both now and in the coming days.

We thank you for those people who have tonight given us examples and models by which we try to live. We thank you for those who have lived and died in quiet holiness and whose prayers have helped to sustain the world. Help us to live in the light be which they lived, and to worship the source of that light, Jesus Christ our risen Lord.

Rejoicing in the fellowship of all people, we commend ourselves to your unfailing love. Merciful Father, accept these prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

My Thoughts 💭

Tonight at our café style evening service we were lead through this lovely prayer above. Thought you might want to join in with us. 🙂

Thinking Of You Mum

My Mum

My Thoughts 💭 

Today would’ve been my Mums 64th birthday. Some of you who have read My Testimony or my About page may remember that she died in the same month i was registered blind 13 years ago. My family & i miss her lots, so i’ve added some of their facebook comments below,

Paul (my brother) Today would have been my mums 64th birthday. Not a single day goes by that I do t miss and think about her but it’s special days like today that still hurt the most. If you see a loved one today tell them you love them cos you never know what the future holds and missing that chance to say how you feel stays with you forever. Happy Birthday Mam xxxx

Saira (my niece) RIP nana, happy 64th birthday!! She will be so proud of my mum Ambber Williamson and also laughing at her she’ll me so proud of my uncles Paul Stevensonand Steve Rebus and my auntie Charlotte Karyn Tidmarsh we all love you nana!!♥

Amy (my niece) Got my dates confuse yesterday lol…. But would like to wish my nanna a happy birthday… Wish she was here to celebrate but truly know that she is always around… i was told she was one of my guardian angels & know that she was right as a year ago today i found out i was carrying our littlest baby… Lori Valerie-Ann,…. Love you lots Nanna.

Yay, I’m Now Connected!

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I’ve spent most of this week changing my email subscription status on the many blogs i follow. I didn’t know that after all this time, i wasn’t getting any posts through!! I thought that you didn’t post much. lol. 

As i don’t use the ‘Reader’ to follow blogs (its just too clunky with how i use zoom and speech on my mac, so i read your post via Email) i wasn’t keeping up with you guys at all! So sorry if you thought i was being ignorant, but as from this week, I’m back and you should see me around your blog soon! 🙂

“I am loved”

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My Thoughts 💭 

Last night during the evening service at our church, Nik our Minister read the following and asked us to discuss which one from the bullet list really stood out to us, and why?:

I am loved”

but what does this mean to you?

• The whole of me my body, mind heart and soul, that is my strength, my thoughts my deepest longings and all my emotions are loved by God.
• God knows me AND loves me (not God knows me but loves me)
• I am loved for who I am. Completely, Utterly, For Ever.
• Others may dislike me, but God loves me
• I may hate myself, but God continues to love me
• He loves me for what I am and what I will be.
• He loves me because he understands me.

it was really interesting hearing the different answers from the diverse brothers and sisters in our congragation.

So I wondered if you could comment with your answers/thoughts to the same question above?

Spirit Levelling

Spirit Level

My Thoughts 💭 

Travelling back home on the train this morning, I was showing Sarah the new (but hidden) spirit level on iOS 7 on my iPhone (to get to it, just open the compass app and then swipe from right to left with one finger to reveal). As I was tilting my phone up and down and showing that when the surface is level the whole screen goes green, suddenly I had the thought….

This is the same with our spiritual lives. How balanced/instep am I with the Spirit that dwells within?!

Are you instep with the Spirit?

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Galatians 5:25 (NIV)

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

More Thoughts 💭  

At or around harvest time I like to think about my life and how much its changed from the fruitless dead tree and how God is healing me by his Love and Grace by trying to grow the fruits for his glory. I need to keep my roots deep in him and be in step with the Spirit so I don’t just wither and die.

Yay, I’m Back!

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Yay, I’m back!!! I can finally use my computer again after a couple of months of intermitant computer failure. It became impossible to use and I thought it was the hard drive giving up, but after I reinstalled the operating system it is back to being well fast! 🙂

I’m sorry to everyone who follows my blog (I havn’t abandoned you) and I now have a few emails of your amazing posts to catch up on (see image above)

Diet or Die – Part 2

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Romans 12:1 (VOICE)
Brothers and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship.

My Thoughts 💭 

wow what a roller coaster of a journey so far this year as I battle with my life long overeating fleshly desire! God has taught me so much this year about facing giants and humbling myself before him in prayer each morning to die daily, pick up my cross and follow Jesus.

If only my body would’ve heard my prayer too! lol. 

I started my inner revolution at the end of January (see Part 1) and as of this morning i’ve lost 1Stone 5lbs (19lbs) and i’m truly blessed with the work God is doing in me.

📖 Verse 4 2day! 

Romans 7:10-12 (VOICE)
This commandment was supposed to bring life; but in my experience, it brought death. Sin took advantage of the commandment, tricked me, and exploited it in order to kill me. 

Over the years i’ve always made my own commandments/rules when setting up a diet or healthy eating plan such as:

  • only having one takeaway a month
  • cutting down on fried foods
  • Not eating supper late at night just before I go to bed
  • And on, and on, and on

This only aroused my sin and focused my mind on the foods I was cutting out, as my body loved them and had lived on them up until this point. Predictably I failed (or learnt how not to do it) then carried on eating junk food to put on more weight than I started with!

It was only when I stopped trying to make lists etc and give it all to God, did I notice a huge difference. 

I’m able to eat all foods which has stopped me focusing on the ones i’d usually cut out, but now I feel so good I don’t want to choose anything that’s going to bring me down or make me feel tired. I no longer feel that I want takeaways as i’m enjoying the feeling that healthy foods give me.

I had to fight temptation from every angle, but even when I lapsed, I didn’t stay down feeling like a failure, I jumped right back into prayer and staggered on through my personal storm. 

 🙏 Prayer 4 2day!  

“Father, I ask that You would give me a moment to pause, right now, to contemplate what You say is true about my nature—that I am both dead to sin, and alive in Christ. This is too deep, too profound for me. I need You to lead me into the Truth so that I can be free to live according to my new nature as the Spirit leads and empowers me. Amen.”

Back To Part 1

Part 3 (Dec 2013)

Please keep me in your prayers! 🙂

Prayer For Unity

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Lord Jesus we prayed that your people would be one, forgive us Lord and take away the pride and arrogance which divides your church. Break down the walls that separate us; unite us by your spirit ant teach us how to love each other.

Help us to humbly kneel before you and surrender all, Please guide us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds as we seek to find your good and pleasing will, Amen.

My Thoughts 💭 

The church I attend on sunday mornings has been without a pastor for well over a year now, so I post this prayer to try and help the body of believers unite and stay faithful to our awesome God.

I’d also love prayers from all of my amazing sisters and brothers here for this church as we seek to find a spirit filled, mature and wise pastor.

My 1st Passport!! :D

Passport

My Thoughts 💭 

Yipppeee my 1st passport arrived in the post today!!! 😀

It may be a shock to some of you that i’m 38 and never had a passport, but after my interview on Saturday morning at the passport office in Victoria, London to prove face to face that I am me, it finally arrived today.

So, I was wondering if all of you lovely friends could suggest some great places to see and experience?! I’ll finally be able to post some photos from places other than Norfolk! lol.

Me, Sarah, Ben (The Dynamic Force) and Rosie always talk (jokingly but seriously) about a “WordPress World Tour” where we would travel around and maybe meet some of the amazing people who we share our everyday journeys with on here! Is this a crazy dream?! 😀

Is Your Church Showing Unity?

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John 17:20-26  (NIV)
Jesus Prays for All Believers

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you[a] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

My Thoughts 💭 

How united is your church body?

Unity Is vital for us to carry out God’s will to be one united body. The world is watching us, so lets make known the unity and love of Jesus and show the world that they have a saviour and he loves them.

There’s No Ceiling To Hope

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This is a post for all of my sisters & brothers out there who are struggling at the moment. I just wanted to try and inspire you with some of the Songs/Poems i’ve posted on here. Some will have already read them, but its really on my heart to try and help you as you fight with your day to day struggles. Peace be with you.

page links for my Songs/Poems: 

I Hope these songs/poems will reach out to people who can relate to some of the feelings i went through on my Journey! But i want you to know that you are never alone and a new Life of Love, Joy & inner Peace are waiting for you. Check out my “About” page to read a little more about my journey.

Praise God

Prayer 4 2day wireless logo

My Thoughts 💭 

Last night at our evening meeting, Ruth (one of our ministers) led us in an hour of praise and prayer to God. Ruth started with the prayer below and Sarah and I played 8 songs, and in-between the songs Ruth would say a prayer or a reflection which flowed beautifully for the whole hour.

It was deeply moving and I wanted to just share with you this opening prayer.

🙏 Prayer 4 2day! 

Praise God for: mountains and oceans, planets and stars
Praise God for big things
Praise God for: seeds and spiders, petals and drops of dew
Praise God for small things
Praise God for: rolling thunder and the crashing waves
Praise God for loud things
Praise God for: a breath of wind and a whispered prayer
Praise God for quiet things
Praise God for: soaring eagles and hairy gorillas
Praise God for strong things
Praise God for: snowflakes and cobwebs – a tiny baby
Praise God for fragile things
Praise God for: the flash of lightening and a humming bird’s wings
Praise God for fast things
Praise God for: the growth of a tree and the erosion of cliffs
Praise God for slow things
Praise God for: the moon, the sun, other worlds
Praise God for far away things
Praise God for: the person sitting next to me, my own heartbeat
Praise God for close-by things

Thank you that though you are so big,
you become small enough to meet us here on earth
though you are so strong, you show your love in gentleness
though you are loud as thunder, you speak to us in the sound of silence.
Thank you that though you could be faster than the speed of light
You choose to walk at our pace and to hold our hand.

Amen

War And Violence Are Not Entertainment!

Machine Gun

“War And Violence should not be entertainment!”

These were the words I received from a spirit nudge yesterday whilst trying to find PS3 games suitable for Vini (12 years old) to play at my home when he visits with my brother Ben and his wife Rosie.

My background with video games…

I’ve played video games my whole life, starting with ‘Pong’, then my Dad bought a ‘ZX80’ & a ‘Video Genie System’ and all I remember playing on it was ‘Space Invaders’. Then came the ‘Commodore 64’ and we broke many joysticks playing ‘Way Of The Exploding Fist’ and many more fighting and shooting games, then the ‘Commodore Amiga!’ This was a fantastic games machine in the late 80’s & 90’s and really stepped up the quality and quantity of these genres.

Now The PlayStation…

Since I was a boy i’ve always wanted the most violent and brutal shooting and fighting games but nothing could be made as there just wasn’t enough processor speed or memory to do the job. 

I’ve always thought playStations are amazing, I’ve owned a ‘PlayStation 1 & 2’ and I currently own a ‘PlayStation 3’ used as my DVD player for bible studies (this still makes me smile).

Since the release of the ‘PlayStation 1’ I’ve loved playing ‘Tomb Raider’, ‘Resident Evil’, ‘Silent Hill’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto’, GTA was especially brutal and pushed the boundries of just how wrong can we make a game, but I loved it!

📖 Verse 4 2day! 

Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Back to childhood…

For the last couple of years, God’s been cleaning out over 36 years of pollution that controls my thoughts, actions and tongue. Now with this latest message I hope to put the final nail in this huge coffin and be free of this addiction.

War and violence are horrific, brutal, destructive and uncaring, it leaves a trail of devastation through generations. It doesn’t matter which side you’re on, it still kills husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and on, and on, and on….

Are we that tangled up in the worldly culture that we have been deceived and we don’t even know it?

Is God trying to steer you away from something you know you shouldn’t really be doing?

Are you just a fan of Jesus? Or do you know him? Do you trust him to transform your life with the renewing of your mind, and turn you into the person that God wants you to be, and not the person the world wants you to be?!

🙏 Prayer 4 2day! 

Father, please help us to be aware of the world and its destructive popular cultures. Help us to be the people you want us to be and not the people that blindly put idols on the throne where you belong, Amen.

Is Your Worship In Vain??

Verse 4 2day logo blog

Matthew 15:8-9 (NIV)
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules”

Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)
13 The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.”

My Thoughts 💭 

We spend countless hours checking, then double checking if everything is plugged in correctly, microphones, instruments, sound desk etc but we fail to leave time to plug our hearts into God! 

  • Have you followed the rules (I mean order of service) correctly and to the letter?
  • Have you dared to remain seated instead of standing during the song as you wouldn’t want to be frowned upon would you?
  • Do you make sure you speak nicely during prayer, putting style over substance? 

📖 Another Verse 4 2day!  

Isaiah 1:15 (NIVUK)

When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!

More Thoughts 💭 

I hope this will challenge you to focus on connecting your heart to God and not being distracted by what other people are doing, what clothes they’re wearing, if they are sitting, standing, dancing, running, kneeling. Just connect with God as you can’t worship for someone else! When you do, nothing else will matter anyway!

Don’t just go to Church, BE THE CHURCH!

Daily Prompt: Person Of The Year

Today’s Daily Prompt: “Person Of The Year!”

Photographers, artists, poets: show us BIG.

Sarah Standing Tall PNG

Bruce Standing Tall

My Thoughts 💭 

I would nominate my lovely wife Sarah for person of the year, she is simply amazing! 🙂

When I thought of the word ‘Big’, I immediately thought of these two photos I took of Sarah & Bruce with my fisheye lens on holiday in the lighthouse at Hunstanton, Norfolk.

More Daily Prompt Challenges:

Daily Prompt: You’ve Got The Power

Today’s Daily Prompt ~ “Photographers, artists, poets: show us RULES”

 My Thoughts 💭 

I was struggling with today’s prompt, so I asked my wife Sarah and she reminded me of this…

My lovely wife Sarah happily showing she has the power as a type 1 diabetic to eat anything she likes and whenever she likes, especially when it is a doughnut dunked in lots and lots of sugar! 😀

Sarah eating a sugar doughnut

Related posts:

My Name Is “Meth”

Wow, i read this on a friends Facebook timeline. This is so powerful and real! Please take a minute to read and share!

My Name Is “Meth”

I destroy homes, I tear families apart,
take your children, and that’s just the start.
I’m more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold,
The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.

If you need me, remember I’m easily found,
I live all around you – in schools and in towns
I live with the rich; I live with the poor,
I live down the street, and maybe next door.

I’m made in a lab, but not like you think,
I can be made under the kitchen sink.
In your child’s closet, and even in the woods,
If this scares you to death, well it certainly should.

I have many names, but there’s one you know best,
I’m sure you’ve heard of me, my name is crystal meth.
My power is awesome; try me you’ll see,
But if you do, you may never break free.

Just try me once and I might let you go,
But try me twice, and I’ll own your soul.
When I possess you, you’ll steal and you’ll lie,
You do what you have to — just to get high.

The crimes you’ll commit for my narcotic charms
Will be worth the pleasure you’ll feel in your arms, your lungs your nose.
You’ll lie to your mother; you’ll steal from your dad,
When you see their tears, you should feel sad.

But you’ll forget your morals and how you were raised,
I’ll be your conscience, I’ll teach you my ways.
I take kids from parents, and parents from kids,
I turn people from God, and separate friends.

I’ll take everything from you, your looks and your pride,
I’ll be with you always — right by your side.
You’ll give up everything – your family, your home,
Your friends, your money, then you’ll be alone.

I’ll take and take, till you have nothing more to give,
When I’m finished with you, you’ll be lucky to live.
If you try me be warned – this is no game,
If given the chance, I’ll drive you insane.

I’ll ravish your body, I’ll control your mind,
I’ll own you completely, your soul will be mine.
The nightmares I’ll give you while lying in bed,
The voices you’ll hear, from inside your head.

The sweats, the shakes, the visions you’ll see,
I want you to know, these are all gifts from me.
But then it’s too late, and you’ll know in your heart,
That you are mine, and we shall not part.

You’ll regret that you tried me, they always do,
But you came to me, not I to you.
You knew this would happen, many times you were told,
But you challenged my power, and chose to be bold.

You could have said no, and just walked away,
If you could live that day over, now what would you say?
I’ll be your master, you will be my slave,
I’ll even go with you, when you go to your grave.

Now that you have met me, what will you do?
Will you try me or not? It’s all up to you.
I can bring you more misery than words can tell,
Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell.

Author Unknown

This is powerful. I think that it should be posted in every school.
In the email that this was poem was attached to it was said that it was written by a young Indian girl who was in jail for drug charges, and was addicted to meth, and that she wrote this while in jail. She was released from jail, but, true to her story, the drug owned her. They found her dead not long after, with the needle still in her arm.