ok, so i'm having technical problems here ! I think i mucked it up by trying to post videos.
Lenny has made a full recovery after his pneumonia and my ankle is better.thanks to all those who prayed.sorry for missing our last blog spot.
Happy christmas to all
I had never heard of this carol before sufjan setvens did a cover version of it,than i heard it on the west wing.(2 american culutural highlights i can recommend)
That is because it is a 19th century american carol. however it perfectly expresses how jesus coming will bring justice to the world
SONG O Holy Night
O Holy Night, the stars are shining brightly,it is the night of our dear saviour's birth....
Surely he taught us to love one another,his law is love and his gospel is peace,
Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother and in his name all injustice shall cease....
Fall on your knees and hear the angels voices,
O night divine, o night that Christ was born....
Video
Muppets Christmas carol-scrooge
This is the video i was trying to post up. check it out on youtube
Whilst we laying on the sofa during our prolonged family illness we watched the muppets verison of this dicknes classic.its very touching how scrogge changes from a mean,greedy,rude person into a generous kind and caring person through a spiritual experience at christmas.
Happy Christmas to all. love the FLINTS xxxx
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
day 23...
i have a confession to make - i'm not feeling very christmassy this year.
some years it's like that i guess - work piles up, there's too much stuff to do and even though advent is a time for waiting, and for preparation, somehow there's just no time or space to focus on what it's actually all about.
so today i've got all my festive music on itunes shuffle and will be trying to get in a more yuletide-like mood.
one of the tracks that will probably come up is this mp3 which leesun recorded for us a few years back [for a revive advent event i think...]
[you may recognise the bloke speaking on it.]
it chimes in with something that simon hall and i have spoken about a few times recently - that, even from the moment of his birth, christ turned things upside-down.
i like that idea a lot.
maybe i need god to turn my life a little bit upside-down a bit this christmas :-)
si
some years it's like that i guess - work piles up, there's too much stuff to do and even though advent is a time for waiting, and for preparation, somehow there's just no time or space to focus on what it's actually all about.
so today i've got all my festive music on itunes shuffle and will be trying to get in a more yuletide-like mood.
one of the tracks that will probably come up is this mp3 which leesun recorded for us a few years back [for a revive advent event i think...]
[you may recognise the bloke speaking on it.]
it chimes in with something that simon hall and i have spoken about a few times recently - that, even from the moment of his birth, christ turned things upside-down.
i like that idea a lot.
maybe i need god to turn my life a little bit upside-down a bit this christmas :-)
si
Sunday, December 19, 2010
day 19...
We have this picture hanging in our hallway - the innkeeper's advent. It was one of the exhibits from the advent show at leftbank last year and it had many admirers.
On Christmas day I unwrapped it as a present from Si.
I hope you enjoy and wonder at its creation [make sure that you click the 'see a detail' and 'read the story' buttons too...!]
Sue
On Christmas day I unwrapped it as a present from Si.
I hope you enjoy and wonder at its creation [make sure that you click the 'see a detail' and 'read the story' buttons too...!]
Sue
Friday, December 17, 2010
Day 16
Oops, sorry this is a day late!
Been thinking about thankfulness / gratitude.
Have a look at 'mybestthingtoday.com'
With 3 different characters growing up around me I can see that some people have a natural bent towards being thankful, whilst others have an automatic disgruntled / it's not fair response.
Am exercising my own thankfulness muscles, and encouraging the children to do the same.
Let thankful hearts be heard.
Been thinking about thankfulness / gratitude.
Have a look at 'mybestthingtoday.com'
With 3 different characters growing up around me I can see that some people have a natural bent towards being thankful, whilst others have an automatic disgruntled / it's not fair response.
Am exercising my own thankfulness muscles, and encouraging the children to do the same.
Let thankful hearts be heard.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Day 17
The days are growing shorter than ever - I've noticed I switch on my car headlights almost without thinking on the run to and from work and, in surgery, opening my blind around 9am there was still not much morning to light my office. I have been meditating on Isaiah's words - quoted by Rob earlier this month - "the people who walked in darkness....". Earlier this week I found myself plunged into darkness when, before anyone else in the house was awake, a fuse blew as I switched on a light, leaving the entire middle floor of the house without power. Not wanting to wake anybody up, I attempted to dress entirely in the dark. The process probably took me at least half as long again as it would have done if I had been in the light. Later, also before light, I walked past a gateway into a closed yard and reflected on how, in the dark, I was vulnerable to whatever might have sprung from it. These experiences got me thinking about the effects of darkness - the fumbling, the slowing, the fear.
Of course, once the light comes, the darkness is forgotten. But imagine walking in perpetual darkness, not having the respite of the light, even for a few short hours. Jesus is the "great light" or, in the words of the carol, the "everlasting light". The reason we burn an advent candle is to remind ourselves that He is the Light of the World and that darkness is no longer.
This poem shares some of these themes. It was written, 21 Christmases ago, by Faith Forster.
Shadows
I do not want to walk in Shadowland
where doubts and fears and nameless ugly things
creep slithering from recesses of the mind
to lurk in corners or the bend of stairs
and cast their darkening shapes around my head
in my lone climbing.
I want to be like Mary when the Spirit came....
who knew the beat of wings above her,
the shadow of the Most Hight falling
gently
like a cloak about her....
stirrings deep within her and
a breath upon her face, like some
sweet zephyr from another world
where holy things are born....
where life springs out of barrenness,
no shade of doubt can linger
and where nothing is impossible
with God.....
May Jesus light your world today! Abby
The days are growing shorter than ever - I've noticed I switch on my car headlights almost without thinking on the run to and from work and, in surgery, opening my blind around 9am there was still not much morning to light my office. I have been meditating on Isaiah's words - quoted by Rob earlier this month - "the people who walked in darkness....". Earlier this week I found myself plunged into darkness when, before anyone else in the house was awake, a fuse blew as I switched on a light, leaving the entire middle floor of the house without power. Not wanting to wake anybody up, I attempted to dress entirely in the dark. The process probably took me at least half as long again as it would have done if I had been in the light. Later, also before light, I walked past a gateway into a closed yard and reflected on how, in the dark, I was vulnerable to whatever might have sprung from it. These experiences got me thinking about the effects of darkness - the fumbling, the slowing, the fear.
Of course, once the light comes, the darkness is forgotten. But imagine walking in perpetual darkness, not having the respite of the light, even for a few short hours. Jesus is the "great light" or, in the words of the carol, the "everlasting light". The reason we burn an advent candle is to remind ourselves that He is the Light of the World and that darkness is no longer.
This poem shares some of these themes. It was written, 21 Christmases ago, by Faith Forster.
Shadows
I do not want to walk in Shadowland
where doubts and fears and nameless ugly things
creep slithering from recesses of the mind
to lurk in corners or the bend of stairs
and cast their darkening shapes around my head
in my lone climbing.
I want to be like Mary when the Spirit came....
who knew the beat of wings above her,
the shadow of the Most Hight falling
gently
like a cloak about her....
stirrings deep within her and
a breath upon her face, like some
sweet zephyr from another world
where holy things are born....
where life springs out of barrenness,
no shade of doubt can linger
and where nothing is impossible
with God.....
May Jesus light your world today! Abby
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
day 15...
You may recognise this poem by Stephen Waling - we've used it at some of the advent-y events we've done with revive in the past.
i love it though, and it's always worth a re-read.
i love it though, and it's always worth a re-read.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
An Advent Meditation from Brian McLaren
Have a look at this meditation on the magnificat, probably for grownups only...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Advent day 12
We've been thinking about the journey Mary and Joseph went on when they travelled to Bethlehem. Mary was heavily pregnant and the journey was 70 miles long.
What's the furthest you've ever walked? 70 miles is a long way, especially when you're carrying a baby inside. When I was heavily pregnant with Evie and Tom I couldn't even walk to the end of the road without sitting on someone's wall for a rest.
How far is 70 miles? Think of somewhere that you go to a lot that is about 70 miles away... could you imagine walking that far? How long do you think the journey would have taken?
To give you some ideas I've written a list of some cities and their distance from Leeds.
Bradford - 10 miles
Manchester - 44 miles
Nottingham -73 miles
Liverpool - 72 miles.
Do you know why they went to Bethlehem? .... was it just the census?... what was special about Bethlehem?
[the Tappers]
What's the furthest you've ever walked? 70 miles is a long way, especially when you're carrying a baby inside. When I was heavily pregnant with Evie and Tom I couldn't even walk to the end of the road without sitting on someone's wall for a rest.
How far is 70 miles? Think of somewhere that you go to a lot that is about 70 miles away... could you imagine walking that far? How long do you think the journey would have taken?
To give you some ideas I've written a list of some cities and their distance from Leeds.
Bradford - 10 miles
Manchester - 44 miles
Nottingham -73 miles
Liverpool - 72 miles.
Do you know why they went to Bethlehem? .... was it just the census?... what was special about Bethlehem?
[the Tappers]
Saturday, December 11, 2010
day 11...
Two links from the smiths for you to explore today...
firstly our friend ric is a methodist minister with an open remit to explore and engage with the arts and the artistic community. he lives in sheffield and throughout advent he's trying to find wonder in the everyday and mundane stuff around him.
he's posting a photo each day and you can follow his little advent project here...
i like this project a lot - i think that searching for the wondrous things that go un-noticed all around us is a valuable and very rewarding thing to do...
also posting a piccy each day throughout the month is our friend hannah, and you can follow her progress through the month here...
her pics are maybe a bit quirkier, but she's ploughing a similar furrow to ric, documenting some of the "little things" that make life worthwhile...
firstly our friend ric is a methodist minister with an open remit to explore and engage with the arts and the artistic community. he lives in sheffield and throughout advent he's trying to find wonder in the everyday and mundane stuff around him.
he's posting a photo each day and you can follow his little advent project here...
i like this project a lot - i think that searching for the wondrous things that go un-noticed all around us is a valuable and very rewarding thing to do...
also posting a piccy each day throughout the month is our friend hannah, and you can follow her progress through the month here...
her pics are maybe a bit quirkier, but she's ploughing a similar furrow to ric, documenting some of the "little things" that make life worthwhile...
Thursday, December 9, 2010
ADVENT: Day 10
We enjoyed the story from the Shaws, thanks, and in answer to the Winter's challenge Peter said that being kind to our neighbour (giving her his unwanted tombola prize from the school fair!) made him feel really happy inside because she was so pleased to receive the present from him.
We've been thinking about waiting, and being thankful. The 4 advent calendars in our house are helping us count the days to Christmas, but we've realised that we are really very impatient. In our society we have got used to things being immediate (email rather than letter, text rather than waiting for time to talk on the phone) but God has given us as Christians some great promises as rewards for waiting.
See Isaiah 40: 30-31. In the NIV the word 'hope' is used instead of wait, which is interesting because we are both waiting for Jesus and hoping in him.
Also in Luke 2:21-35 the story of Simeon shows that the reward for his wait was seeing the Messiah. Good things are clearly worth waiting for. If you find any other Bible references to rewards for waiting, please share.
And on thanks, we are trying to be thankful for what we have, rather than seeing what we don't have and asking for more (presents, things etc). So today's challenge is to think of at least 3 things to thank God for, and pray with your family to share your thanks.
And finally, the link below is to remind us that some people in the world will not be celebrating Christmas with a lot of presents, but they need the essentials for life. So a way to show our thanks might be to give something to them. (from as little as £5)
http://www.musthavegifts.org/
The Simpsons
We've been thinking about waiting, and being thankful. The 4 advent calendars in our house are helping us count the days to Christmas, but we've realised that we are really very impatient. In our society we have got used to things being immediate (email rather than letter, text rather than waiting for time to talk on the phone) but God has given us as Christians some great promises as rewards for waiting.
See Isaiah 40: 30-31. In the NIV the word 'hope' is used instead of wait, which is interesting because we are both waiting for Jesus and hoping in him.
Also in Luke 2:21-35 the story of Simeon shows that the reward for his wait was seeing the Messiah. Good things are clearly worth waiting for. If you find any other Bible references to rewards for waiting, please share.
And on thanks, we are trying to be thankful for what we have, rather than seeing what we don't have and asking for more (presents, things etc). So today's challenge is to think of at least 3 things to thank God for, and pray with your family to share your thanks.
And finally, the link below is to remind us that some people in the world will not be celebrating Christmas with a lot of presents, but they need the essentials for life. So a way to show our thanks might be to give something to them. (from as little as £5)
http://www.musthavegifts.org/
The Simpsons
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
ADVENT: DAY 9
A man was walking along the ocean early one morning after a storm.
Thousands of starfish had been washed up on the beach.
He saw a boy, crouched down in the sand fixated on something.
The boy stood up and flung the object beyond the breaking surf.
The man asked the boy “Son, what are you doing?”
The boy replied, “I’m throwing starfish back into the sea because if I don’t, they’ll die.”
“But there are thousands of starfish. You can’t possibly make any difference to them…”
The boy looked at him, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the ocean.
“It’s going to make a big difference to that one!”
Story by Joel Barker, derived from a work by Loren Eiseley
----------
Join the Simkins in the challenge of today: to do one simple positive thing for someone (say something nice, smile at someone, give someone a hug, offer help, write a letter to someone who may be lonely or sick, phone someone...). It may make a big difference to that person's life today. It may seem an insignificant action or deed, but its effects could be big. Perhaps you can discuss as a family how it made you feel when you did that positive thing.
Look at Matthew 25 vs 37 to 40
Thousands of starfish had been washed up on the beach.
He saw a boy, crouched down in the sand fixated on something.
The boy stood up and flung the object beyond the breaking surf.
The man asked the boy “Son, what are you doing?”
The boy replied, “I’m throwing starfish back into the sea because if I don’t, they’ll die.”
“But there are thousands of starfish. You can’t possibly make any difference to them…”
The boy looked at him, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the ocean.
“It’s going to make a big difference to that one!”
Story by Joel Barker, derived from a work by Loren Eiseley
----------
Join the Simkins in the challenge of today: to do one simple positive thing for someone (say something nice, smile at someone, give someone a hug, offer help, write a letter to someone who may be lonely or sick, phone someone...). It may make a big difference to that person's life today. It may seem an insignificant action or deed, but its effects could be big. Perhaps you can discuss as a family how it made you feel when you did that positive thing.
Look at Matthew 25 vs 37 to 40
Advent Day 8
from the Shaws...
For today's blog, make yourself a cup of tea/hot chocolate/ribenna/your favoured yule-tide tipple and sit back and enjoy our story....well, actually, it's not our story but Susie Poole's 'A Christmas Journey'
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2008329/christmasjourney.mp3
For today's blog, make yourself a cup of tea/hot chocolate/ribenna/your favoured yule-tide tipple and sit back and enjoy our story....well, actually, it's not our story but Susie Poole's 'A Christmas Journey'
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2008329/christmasjourney.mp3
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Advent Day 7
The Winter's have been thinking about how we celebrate Christmas whilst many around us seem to be celebrating Xmas. Whilst traveling around over the past couple of weeks, the children have been asking about the decorations which are up round the city. Questions like, “What have penguins, snowmen and polar bears got to do with Jesus?”. Leeds lights are called simply that, ‘Leeds Lights’ not Christmas lights, or anything to do with it. There is such an effort by commerce to distract us entirely from thinking about the incredible underserved gift to us all of a baby who was born to die, who demands a response to whom He is and what He said. He is counter culture, dangerous and subversive, but if we leave Him in the manger, totally harmless, soft and marshmallowy!
There is a real challenge to keep the main thing the main thing at this time of year. We have chosen to follow a King who is truly worth serving. I’ve uploaded an mp3 file to my website for you to listen to, some of you may have heard this before, but it is well worth listening again so that we can remind ourselves who this king is that we serve.
http://www.familywinter.co.uk/files/MyKing.mp3
There is a real challenge to keep the main thing the main thing at this time of year. We have chosen to follow a King who is truly worth serving. I’ve uploaded an mp3 file to my website for you to listen to, some of you may have heard this before, but it is well worth listening again so that we can remind ourselves who this king is that we serve.
http://www.familywinter.co.uk/files/MyKing.mp3
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Advent Day 6
Encouraging our Kids to give
As a child my Mum always encouraged me to pray at night before I went to sleep. I did this silently in my head every night. If you were to ask me what I prayed about my answer would be, I don't really remember except, at Christmas time I would pray that children who had nothing at Christmas would receive presents. I can't recall whether, as a family, we actually did anything about making this a reality. However Suzie and I thought how lovely it would be for our kids to be able to give some of their many toys to other children who may need them more. So with that in mind I have found a link to some kids that would benefit from our kids stuff.
http://www.childrensheartunit.org/adult/depart_donate.html
May God bless you all
Love The Hamlins
As a child my Mum always encouraged me to pray at night before I went to sleep. I did this silently in my head every night. If you were to ask me what I prayed about my answer would be, I don't really remember except, at Christmas time I would pray that children who had nothing at Christmas would receive presents. I can't recall whether, as a family, we actually did anything about making this a reality. However Suzie and I thought how lovely it would be for our kids to be able to give some of their many toys to other children who may need them more. So with that in mind I have found a link to some kids that would benefit from our kids stuff.
http://www.childrensheartunit.org/adult/depart_donate.html
May God bless you all
Love The Hamlins
Day 5
ISAIAH 9 : The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born,to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor,Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
Thought : At christmas we remember that god gave us his son.
We exchange gifts at christmas which is a lot of fun, but how often do you end up trying to think of things to give people who have everything.
The adverts try and get us to buy all the latest products and many people feel the
pressure to spend more than they can afford.
A few things we have done occasionally to try and do christmas a bit differently.(Which I am sure
many of you have done too.)
Secret santa presents (less,but better quality presents to cut down on the toot)
Buy some chickens through oxfam present scheme.
Christmas hamper for those in need.
On the last point a friend of mine, Andrew lives in East Leeds. He asked for money (£15) so he can make up hampers for needy friends of his round where he lives. I think some are asylum seekers. If anyone is interested in contributing to this let me (rob) know.
Happy Christmas everyone.
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born,to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor,Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
Thought : At christmas we remember that god gave us his son.
We exchange gifts at christmas which is a lot of fun, but how often do you end up trying to think of things to give people who have everything.
The adverts try and get us to buy all the latest products and many people feel the
pressure to spend more than they can afford.
A few things we have done occasionally to try and do christmas a bit differently.(Which I am sure
many of you have done too.)
Secret santa presents (less,but better quality presents to cut down on the toot)
Buy some chickens through oxfam present scheme.
Christmas hamper for those in need.
On the last point a friend of mine, Andrew lives in East Leeds. He asked for money (£15) so he can make up hampers for needy friends of his round where he lives. I think some are asylum seekers. If anyone is interested in contributing to this let me (rob) know.
Happy Christmas everyone.
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