September 2007 Archives
As I sat in the grounds of Reading Abbey for my usual Friday prayer time this morning, I read the following:
"Help me know that the secret of contentment lies in organising the self in the direction of simplicity.
Unless you have another task for me, keep me vigilant in prayer."
How I long for more of this in my life!
a) be a more pleasurable experience for you, the reader, and
b) result in more entries on the blog from me!
I guess we'll see over the next month or so...
...the next test wil be how well it deals with comment spam, and how easy it is to upgrade the template to something more 'curvified'.
I'm finally biting the bullet and upgrading to MT4 today.
If you view my site using an RSS reader, you may experience some replication of posts due to my chosen upgrade path, so sorry about that - the two versions of MT I'm using are significantly different, so it makes sense to start from scratch, rather than try to upgrade the existing installation.
If all of that means nothing to you, then just sit back and enjoy the new MT4 experience!
Having been wowed by the views of Crater Lake the day before, I definitely had the bit between my teeth for climbing the National Park's highest peak, Mount Scott.
Chipmunks scampered around the picnic area that was the starting point for our hike, looking like they had a lot more energy than I did, but I wasn't going to let that deter me from my mission!
What a great evening! Thanks so much to those of you who prayed for us as 24-7 undertook its first official reception.
Helen Monkton and her team of willing helpers did a fantastic job of looking after everyone, and the evening was an unqualified success.
Our friend Mark Markeiwitz did a fantastic job of hosting the event, and we were soon treated to an impassioned review of the history of Wesley's ministry from Lord Lesley Griffith. Our location for the evening, the 24-7 City Boiler Room, is on the very spot Wesley based himself for his ministry to the poor in London.
I've got used to jumping off the tube at Green Park over the last couple of years, triggered by the closure of my fine tea supplier in Tewkesbury. Every couple of months I stroll (or join in with the London rush) past the Ritz, to Fortnum and Mason. However this particular week, I wasn't after a fine Assam, but something more visually appreciable.
And so we return to tales of North American adventures...
Having crossed Portland's biggest bridge on foot, Shirley and I were ready to speed over it again by car, this time heading south for the first stage of our Road Trip through Oregon. It wasn't long before we'd turned off Interstate 5 onto Highway 58, as we headed into the Cascade Mountain Range. The multi-lane views of the interstate were replaced by tree covered mountains, and beautifully clear dark blue lakes. We drove through many miles of breathtaking wilderness with only occasional stops, as I was determined to get to our goal - Crater Lake.
In less than a week's time, we're going to be having what could be a very strategic meeting for 24-7 Prayer.
We're gathering with some key community and business leaders to ask them whether they would like to be involved with 24-7, by supporting us with their skills, influence and/or resources (money or people!). This post is to ask whether you would support us in prayer for the event.
Here's a few specifics. Please could you pray for:
- Helen Monkton - she's project managing the whole event. Please pray that she can lead well, and that God would bless all her plans!
- That the right people would be there, and they would be encouraged and excited about what God is doing through 24-7.
- That there would be good relationships and communication with/between all the people involved in making the event happen.
- That Jesus would be given His place of honour and praise throughout the preparations, and the event itself.
Thanks, and God bless!
Pete
Just stumbled across one of those interesting/annoying (delete as appropriate) web quizzes, via Jonah Bailey and Andrew Jones' blogs.
Apparently my theological views are akin to that of Saint Anselm of Canterbury! Obviously no physical similarities ;-)
If you'd like to see how your theological perspectives shape up, check out the quiz here.
As I mentioned in my last post but one, a feature of Portland you really can't miss is the proliferation of bridges throughout the city centre. Its as if the Portlandians on the east and west sides of the Willamette River just can't bear to be disconnected from each other.
Something I forgot to mention in my previous post... Sheena's blog is at http://pdxsheena.blogspot.com, and I recommend checking it out if you don't go there already. She's a great writer, and a pretty good photographer too, even if I do hate to admit it ;-)
Things got kinda crazy during my travels, hence the blogging silence over the past couple of weeks. However, now I'm back in the UK, its time to share some more experiences of the fantastic month I've had. Here's instalment number one!
My time in Portland was pretty interesting even before the excitement of Shawn and Laura's wedding. I'd been to the city on two previous occasions, but had somehow managed to miss 'First Thursday', Portland's very own evening of art, wine and music.
