Watched a good film last night

Rachel and I try to at least once a week have a date night. It usually means one of us trying to cook a special dinner for the other and then going to catch a movie. Last night it was my turn to cook and may i add the risotto was amazing.

The film we went to see though was Grand Torino with Clint Eastwood. I was expecting a good film but what i got was instead an excellent one.

I talked to a mate today who said he hates it when he goes to see a movie and watches it with a youth work hat on. Me on the other hand I love going to films as it gives me a chance to reflect and stuff and I guess in a weird at the minute it is one of the ways that i feel i hear God. Thats for another day.

I wont spoil the film but the things that came through to me from it were about sacrifice and how far would you go to protect someone or stand up for them.

When the film ended Rach turned round to me and said he was kinda like Jesus and even though Clint Eastwood was racist and rude to many people through out the film the moral side still shone brighter.

I would recommend this film to anyone and best of all it was not to heavy but you were left thinking in a good way.

In agriculture and gardening, transplanting or replanting is the technique of moving a plant from one location to another.”

I work for a church which like many others is getting old. Instead of being young vibrant and full of life it seems to resemble the appearance of many of many of its members hardened and reminiscent of better days.

To hear story’s of how forty years ago the church would have been packed and required extra seats is quite sad to hear. As now the church shows a different scene. With Johnny Cash playing Danny Boy in the background it feels like a death has happened.

Understanding how to move forward requires being respectful of the past and we must be but we must not mourn for long for the we have the future to look to. 

Change is coming although it may take time but change is needed. We must begin to talk and look at how we re invent the church now because if we don’t we not only be letting down those who come after us but we will be letting down those who went before us. Yeah sounds very grand but we have known for years that the numbers of attending church has been decreasing. On the other hand we see interest in spirituality increasing. People still believe that religion is an important element of their lives so why don’t we capatialise on this. 

Belfast has a growing number of small pockets of church less community. Mix this with areas where the church is pretty established and growing and getting bigger. The landscape seems pretty unbalanced.

My question is why don’t churches who are successful share the wealth? Why don’t they gather some of their people together and send them to the places not to far from them and grow the church there. 

I guess this idea comes out of frustration but instead of place individual passionate people in areas where there passion and enthusiasm slowly gets stolen from them why not send out or transplant a new heart into areas. 

Yes it will be a painful, emotional, heart breaking decision but it will also be a releasing, joyful encounter that will see the kingdom grow and will see the church regain places it has long lost.

This is not a new idea it has been happening in parts of london for years and there are some people trying to do it here but the first step is to agree to talk and to get the ball rolling!

Floods hit Northern Australia

I found this while reading the news this morning it brightened up my morning. 

Manager of the Albion Hotel in Normanton, Donna Smith, said a four-metre (12-feet) crocodile had been seen stalking residents and dogs in the flooded main street.

She also warned the town was expected to run out of beer in two days.

"We can put up with a lot of drama, no fruit and veggies, but nobody wants a pub with no beer," Ms Smith told Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper.

A crocodile measuring 1.6 metres (5.3 feet) long was run over by a car on a street in the nearby city of Townsville on Tuesday, wildlife rangers said.

The croc lost a few teeth and suffered bruising but was receiving medical attention, they said.

It is like a scene from a blockbuster disaster movie. Deadly animals stalking them on the street but as long as they have their beer they're happy!

Ha