let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

apparently it's gonna snow loads tonight. is it wrong to pray that the weather men might be right for once? i want it to snow and i shall have a monster paddy if it doesn't. i've waxed my sledge and everything...

perhaps not this chilly...

have been on holiday all week, it's been wonderful! have done, precisely, zip, which has been great, should happen more often I feel.

i have at long last started to read starting right from cover to cover, boy is it good, how could I have left it so long!? it's an american book that seeks to do what i love, looking at youth ministry from the right starting point; theology, and it so gets it right. it also manages to cross the atlantic quite well, it doesn't focus too heavily on american culture so it is fairly easy to translate. a couple of good quotes from the first few pages:

'to be a Christian at all is to be a theologian. there are no exceptions' (p.27) - i'm the kind of person who for ages didn't understand the importance of theology, so this has challenged me. i remember saying more than once 'i'm just a christian, why do i need all this theology crap' - instead i spent all my time believing whatever i last heard, and never asking the questions that matter - why, how, what etc. it certainly never occurred to me to question the speaker, they were chosen by God surely!! i've got the privilege of leading the worship team at a CYFA camp this summer, and we're trying to build in, right from the start, the openings for young people to question what we are teaching them, and trying to get them to think theologically through the subjects before we do any planning. wish me luck!!

'have we built our ministry on theological bedrock, or on the shifting sand of cultural relevance?' (p.15) - a great interpretation of the parable of the wise and foolish builders! how about both of the characters being youth ministers, one of whom has built his/her ministry on the bedrock of good theology, the other having built their ministry on the '...shifting sand of cultural relevance'. eek, another challenging bit!

anyhoo, 30 pages down, 370 to go... i'll keep you posted!