Ruck and Maul

A rugby referee was speaking to a group of Student referees. He was one of the most respected officals in the world of rugby and had managed many International fixtures throughout the world.

He was talking about rucks and mauls and that some times it is hard to see everything that goes on around the ball. He said that it was sometimes impossible to see whats going on under all the bodys and no matter how close you look, still sometimes youll havbe no idea what goes on.

He Suggested to the students that maybe the best way to refferee a ruck or maul is to step back 2 or 3 paces. This gives you a view of the whole situation and rather than try and look for a infringment in the inside you could be better of looking for the ones on the outside.

This guy could have easily been speaking to a church conrigation as what he was saying makes sence in most situations.

We can get hung up on little things that annoy us, thing that maybe dont really matter in the grand scheme of things. What people say, what people do, what they have or dont have.

Sometimes stepping back and taking a wider view can be much better than trying to sort the little things. Like maybe looking at the future and the consiquences of our actions.

Maybe rather than chasing and running round trying to sort or change little things in life is not a proative as stepping back and seeing the things that really matter.

Give yourself a new history today!

The difference between today & yesterday & tomorrow is potential.
You actually only own this very moment in time! for good or for bad!
Yesterday is forever fixed & unchangeable, it is done! Let it go!
Tomorrow is a hope, a dream, ungraspable!
Today however offers us the chance to change the history of tomorrow!
What's the history you are writing for tomorrow?
Just remember to write it well, as although there is forgiveness, and accolades there is no eraser! Once the page has been written it is written forever!
No rewind, no going back, so if you want to make a difference then do it today!
I encourage you to change the history of tomorrow! TODAY!
So what will you say tomorrow about today?
Give yourself a new history today!

Hills

This Weekend has to put down as an all time low in the of Cooky (me), and its a place i don't want to go again.

It started Thursday and although I went to work I found myself not coping and had to leave early as I felt empty and distant. The same again on Friday.

Saturday I couldn't even pull myself up to open curtains and Sunday got worse and even when I heard people knocking on the door and trying to call me I just curled up and tried to ignore it.

I knew people where worried and I was hurting them by ignoring them, but when your in that state of mind nothing makes sense and worse you can see a future and think that the people you love would be better off with out me and the worry would go away and they would have a better life.

But while i was in that state I continued to pray and continued to tell God I trusted him and although my faith was slipping I somehow knew God was looking out for me.

I Stayed up till 4.30am Saturday morning and not tired or wanting to face the week ahead. But I drifted of to sleep and at 9am my dad called to say hi and see what I was up to.

I got out of bed with a felling of calm and somehow I had the energy to do some stuff round the house and almost felt like I could run a marathon (I'm not going too). I was back on a high and nothing was going to pull me down.

I went out looked at cars and did some shopping. I came up with a new business idea (i do that allot but still not rich) and I got myself down the gym and signed up.

I don't know what is going to happen next, and I'm sure I will have bad times again. But I truly feel that god was listening all weekend and maybe I had to hit the lows to get to the highs. A bit like when I was a kid on holiday, out walking across the hills of Derbyshire we would get up the top of the hill and mum and dad would say ''lets just see whats over the next'' this happened at the top of every hill.

I'm sure i have many more hills to climb and I'm sure I'm gonna hear that voice say ''just see whats over the next'' but I also know that God is there and I can trust in him and know he wants the very best for me and and my family and all i need to do is trust and listen to him. Because he can get me to the top off even the biggest hills.

Dont Fight Alone

Today I really just don't think I want to blog but something is telling me I should. The last few days have been really bad and the felling of sadness and anxiety have been over whelming.

I even have been looking for God and losing sight of him. This has mad me feel lower and made me think that maybe God was just a state of mind and not real.

But then I Rested for a while and prayed (hoping there was a listening ear) and after a while I felt lifted up and something in side me was telling me there was hope, there was a future.

Again I look at that statement

 ''No God, No Hope - KNOW God KNOW Hope''.

There is hope with God, and I know I have to get even lower to come out the other side. and I cant Fight alone. Fighting alone would be instant defeat. But with Faith and with God I can Conqueror all ahead of me.

Going through trouble? Cant see a way forward? why not ask God into your life and see what happens?

When I call on Jesus

Good News or Bad

do you want the good news or bad news?... Good News. We are in the middle of summer as its the longest day today. Bad News. The weather. So many are saying today ''Its all Down hill from here'' and Ive just heard the weather report and its Rain Rain and Rain for the next few days.
But is it all down hill? We have the Olympics to look forward to and the rest of the Euro 2012 Football (or at least till Sunday for England) and also the Rugby as the Home nations are still touring so lets not give up on 2012 yet.

It hard to have faith when things don't seem to be going the way we expect. and is so easy to think that God is just not real because we cant make sense of them.

Its always easy to say God would never send this stuff to deal with, but God is many times more wise than us, and its sometimes not anything we can expect to understand, and it can tests our faith to the max.

Have you heard about the time Abraham had he faith tested? he was told to show his faith to God, and was asked by God to sacrifice hi son Issac as an offering. So he took him up a mountain and tide him down and lifter a knife to kill him.

God shouted a moses to stop and close by was a wild goat so God said to Abraham ''you have show to me great faith, set your son free and sacrifice the goat as an offering to me''

Please don't go round killing goats to show your faith, but try showing your faith by not looking at things as un-Godly but try and trust that God has a plan.

You may not even believe in god, but maybe if you try and find faith you may well learn that it is possible that God is real and that he does have a plan.

Christian Bikers Association.

I know a couple of guys that love motorcycling and are committed Christians. They enjoy attending bike shows and events not just to look at bikes (although I know they do) but to look for opportunities to tell others about Jesus, and share their faith.

This works because they are going to people and mixing with others that also share the interest and passion for motorbikes.

These Guys don't Go and preach to a load of bikers or go and put religion down their throat. They go and chat to others about biker stuff and many times the chance to share their faith arises.

It not about going and shouting at bikers telling them they are all doomed if they don't know Jesus, its about a presence.

They go out on their bikes to events and go out on days out together and can be seen clearly because on the cross they wear on the back of their bike jackets.

I think these guys are an inspiration to many Christians and none Christians as what they do is just stand out from the crowd, and I'm sure there are some that avoid them like the plague, but there are also a lot that approach them to chat.

Soon my church (Salvation Army) in Felixstowe are asking people to wear their uniforms to work on a certain day, or if they don't work just wear the uniform when going into town or to the supermarket, or just out meeting friends.

What I'm hoping to do is (if I can) is go round a see these guys in uniform and maybe get some reaction from work colleague's.

If your a christian what do you do to stand out from the crowd?

Ive Started to read a book. This is not something I find easy, and to be honest it is hard because I seem to always read the same line twice and some times Ill read a sentence and it just doesn't make sense. I read a word as another word and then read it again as a different word.... Does that make sense?

Well anyway I don't think I ever read a book before, and I hope I can carry on with this one as what Ive read so far is pretty amazing.

It is about a missionary in Asia who tells of his experience working in the remote towns and villages. And working with Tribal communities to takes the message of God to those who otherwise wouldn't hear it.

Ive only read three chapters (and they are quite short chapters) but so far it has described how he came to be a missionary and how as a young 16 year old lad he found himself in some pretty scary situations.

the beginning of his journey was one that really kind of opened my eyes. As a 16 year old boy he felt he was being called by god to ministry and so went to enrol as a minister. But as he was only 16 he was told he couldn't go into field work because of the dangers. but they did let him attend a conference and it was while he was there he was allowed into missionary work.

He knew this was God calling him but was a young shy boy who even found it hard to look friends in the eye when speaking to them. So while sitting in his room in a small town centre hotel he Prayed. "God you call me here to do this work, but I really cant''

As he prayed he describes feeling God there and suddenly decides to go out to the busy street. He then describes a kind of eclectic feeling and he climbed up onto a big stone that was at the side of the road.

He had no idea what he was going to do or say as he hadn't planned this to happen. But when on the rock the only thing he could think about doing was sing a song he knew from Sunday school.

When he finished singing a crowd had gathered including two of the missionary leaders who where so amazed at the message he gave that they allowed him to go into missionary work soon after.

When we have good intentions and we want to do good. God helps to make things happen, great things and can deliver more than we could ever imagine.

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Matthew 19:26

2nd try at a video blog

I LOST MY WALLET!!

Last Night I was not in a good frame of mind and couldn't sleep. So at about 10.30pm I decided to go for a ride on the bike just to clear my head. I was out for about 30 Min's and just went for a  ride along the sea front and back up the motor way back home.

I Woke up this morning and got dressed and was about to walk out the door when I realised I hadn't got my wallet with me. I look all around the  house and couldn't find it anywhere.

Now you must know the felling or panic and stress if you've ever lost your wallet. Well I was like that stressing and felt sick that all my contents including £50 cash, driving licence, Cards and small pictures of my family had been lost. I was in a bit of a state.

I sat on the stairs and prayed to God to return my wallet as I really wanted it back.

Now don't think this will always work and if you lose your wallet try not to stress as much as me, retrace your steps and go to the police. Also let your bank know if you have back cards in it.

But this morning I prayed and asked god to help find the wallet. and then went to work feeling lost with out my wallet in my back pocket.

Id been at work 10 minuets when the phone rang and the man on the other end of the phone said ''hi.... is that Gareth... I have your wallet'' He was a delivery driver and found it on the side on the road. He offered to bring it to my shop to return it.

When he arrived he handed over the goods and told me he had been through the wallet to see who's it was. I~ offered him £20 Reward and he declined saying he will feel good all day knowing he did right.

Would you return the wallet?

Of course this isn't prof that if we pray God will deliver. And of course it isn't completely impossible that the wallet would have been returned without payer. But in this day and age there are allot of people that in some way or another could use the cash and cards. but my faith in human nature has been made a little bit more restored through his actions.

Was this Guy a christian? Ill never know. But I do know God was at work this today like every other day and my wallet was back in my pocket fully intact.

First Video Blog.

Hi I Promised I would upload a video once I did it (no matter how good or bad it turns out). So here is a intro first video to see how it goes.

A Way Forward

I have this Idea that Id like to change this blog. I have some ideas and thought I would explore them (again. if I'm wrong then Ive not filed, Ive learnt)

So over the next few week I'm gonna attempt to upload some videos of me trying to present my blogs in a different way.

I'm not really sure how it will work out but I promise that however bad it turns out and however rubbish it is Ill upload it. This maybe something you want to get involved with too. and I'm already jotting down ideas and listening to other peoples ideas.

Maybe you want to help with camera, or maybe you want to get your story across?

there are no limits to what can be achieved when we trust in god, and maybe my skills are limited and maybe I'm completely looking in the wrong direction but for a while somethings telling me that its a good place to start...... What harm can it do?

I could sit waiting for god to do something, but I think proactive is the way forward and work with him.

Hey if your a christian then please pray for Gods help with this. If your not then just try and pray or if not try and encourage and keep an open mind.
Any help would be great.

Glass House

''PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDN'T THROW STONES''

What a great saying, and believe me I know all about this living in a glass house stuff and I know why throwing stones isn't a good idea.

When you start throwing stones in a glass house not only will the stones break the glass, but everyone can see who's throwing them. So the next thing you know is stones are coming back at you and before long there will be no glass left (hence no house)

Maybe living in a glass house can be a good thing though. We all have our faults our differences and our ideas, but maybe those glass walls can play a part in showing a better you.

Remember Walls, and how they can be removed. well maybe stick a window in, or even better replace it with glass.

What am I babbling on about now?? OK I'm not asking people to go and live in a glass house or knock down walls and replace with glass because to be honest I don't really want to see you all showering or going to the loo. What I'm saying is, maybe there's a way we can be more open? is there a way we can share our thoughts and hear others.

This is what the Church is all about. The people are the Church not the Building. Its in church (the group of people) that we can learn and listen to each other.

Why not put up those Glass walls so you can see out and others can see in.

Jeremiah 29:11

At some point you have to try and shake of the past and look towards the future. This I know is not easy when everything seems to be against you. But maybe we have to look at what been has maybe made you stronger.

We don't need to look very far in the bible to find story's of amazing trust in God by people, And today is no different.

Ive been Talking to a guy Ive known for years who has had a ruff old time throughout life with one thing or another. I met him a few years ago in the supermarket and he told me that life was good and he had become a christian.

Now I'm hoping at some point to do an interview with him on video to share his story and to upload here. I truly believe God wants to use him  in a positive way and things he tells me should be shared with many.

OK he will be first to admit that he is far from perfect and is still struggling with things but he has such a great attitude and character I have told him his story should be shared.

It says in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"

What it mean? Well to me when I hear or read that statement it give me a lift as I know his plans are awesome and beyond anything I can imagine. It builds my hope and faith.

We will never know those plans he has for us unless we are willing to open up to him and ask him to be in your life. Then we have to learn to trust and follow him.

Seems many people that read this blog of mine seem to be sitting on the fence wondering of believing in God or wanting to believe in him. It not hard to ask him to come into your life as he is waiting just outside for you to let him in.

how do we open that door?...... try praying, if you find that hard read and pray the believers prayer that I mentioned on Unanswered Questions.

Remember... When you seek him wholeheartedly you will find him.

Ad Words

These ads you see down the side of the blog are what the people at goggle call ''Ad sence''. I have know idea how they work but what happens is that some clever little gadget somewhere reads the contents of the blog and ad the adverts to the blog that will kind of have an association with it.

I'm a bit worried as I did do a blog called naked 7's so I'm keeping my eye on them to make sure it doesn't advertise something it shouldn't.

So far it seems to work OK and by reading stuff I blog about I many of the adverts tie in with the blog content.

So here's what I'm going to do... I thought I would type in some random words to see if it had any effect on the adverts. so here goes.........

Washing, Plug, Window, Broom, Orange, Spain, boxing.

Sometimes in life things we say can influence others. And more importantly can influence how people see us.

Like the guards on TV this past weekend around London. We see the officer shouting commands and the guardsman following his instructions. This is all part of the pomp and ceremony I know but it amazing to watch all the guys almost perfectly following one mans shouts in time with each other.

I wonder what things we say that influence the way people view us. I know Ive said many things that have maybe reflected badly on me, and maybe have come across not how I would like too.

So why not try and spend the rest of your day changing the way you speak to others and the way you look at others. Lets Stop trying to be better than people around us and start viewing everyone as equal.



Storm Clouds

It been a strange few weeks, the weather doesn't seem to know what its doing and I never know if i should put my shorts and t-shirt on or stick to thermal under ware.

I guess the Jubilee weekend weather was nothing to be surprised about as as soon as it was declared a 4 day weekend we all knew that rain was going to play a part.

My week has been pretty much like that. And unfortunately I seem to have more storm clouds than blue sky. Ive not been able to find the energy to work properly and seems that every evening is a case of sitting at home and falling asleep. then I wake up at about 10pm and find I cant sleep at night.

Ive also been struggling to find anything to blog about. I try and do my blogs so people can associate themselves with what I write, but this week Ive felt so low I really didn't want to depress everyone.

However I was watching UCB the other night and a guy on there talking about sharing experience and faith with others. He basically said that the really hard points in life can be shared as much as the good points, and if you get to those bad points then the bad points become good and great ministry to share with the world and bring hope.

So I sat at home welling up as the man spoke and as I keep having this repeated voice in my head and thing happening to me that seem to point in the same direction.

Now if I wasn't so mixed up at the moment I would maybe act on it but I'm still trying to ignore it as I'm sure its my head making stuff up. but the point is what ever I'm going through right now I'm doing all I can to trust in god.

You see when those storm clouds are over head and you cant see the end of the storm putting your trust In god gives hope, gives faith and helps to get to the light, and the sunshine will shine through.

''I'm Trusting in God, as in God all thing are possible.''



Call On Jesus