My West Wing sojourn has come to an end and I’m feeling a little bereft. Jimmy Smits is in the Whitehouse, Bradley Whitford is chief of staff and Martin Sheen is winging his way to new Hampshire to forget all about MS so all’s well with the world (America can rest easy!), but I’m left wanting the next instalment…

Having said that Aaron Sorkin has done well and perhaps it was better to quit whilst ahead; I’m left with my memories and can fill in the gaps as I chose (Can’t you just see Josh and Donna with a white picket fence and some cute offspring?!). Perhaps it’s time to move out of dream world and take an interest in real American politics - there’s plenty going on and much of it is not too far removed from the issues tackled by this great show. It was an epic and well worth the watch.

Today has contained a number of frustrations, not least of all scraping the car and bursting the rear tire. In itself no big deal, but combined with accidentally deleting some stuff I needed on my mac (arragh), dealing with uniforms covered in paint and burning the kids’ tea, I’m ready for another holiday!

Am reminding myself of all the lovely things I enjoyed last week - the four of us having time together, zipping down water slides and cycling down forest paths, good coffee and yummy ice creams, the kids’ excitement at the ducks who paid us a daily visit, and being able to take time out from a hectic schedule.

Sometimes it’s important to be thankful for the small things. And the One who reminds us of precious moments which take our minds off big stressful stuff.

liking new sounds?

enjoying new meanings?

struggle with the spelling, but really getting the meaning?!

here’s a recent new favourite piece of vocab of mine….

‘incorrigible’

Reserve your primary energies for your core relationships.

Relationship is more precious than one or another being right.

The past will always inform the present unless worked through.

Repentance beckons a lifestyle of the spirit.

Suffering is the family badge of the Christ-follower.

Affirmations transform the human soul.

Every sermon must have equal parts of grace and truth.

Don’t diminish the power of the dream life.

Repentance unlocks the treasures of God’s grace.

Scripture prepares us for every situation we are in.

What do you make of any of these? Which jumps out at you most?!

The great thing about this show is that the heros are people you can believe in. Santos is a man of integrity; he doesn’t tear down the opposition with malicious words or negative adds, and doesn’t allow himself to be manipulated in order to gain votes. He is a man of his word and seeks to promote truth, someone you would be proud to see serving on the frontline.

As Christians we love to be inspired by people who stand up for what they believe in whatever the cost, who hold onto truth, and seek to serve their Saviour with integrity. We can be those people.

Serving on the frontline will mean swimming against the tide as we seek to be counter-cultural and promote the gospel, but it’s the only place to really live, sacrificing all for something that will last forever.

Here’s a new way of saying what I love to ask…….. here’s the way I said it today….? 

what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

what’s your answer to this question and what’s a favourite question of yours….?

Here were a few gems that came through in Sunday life…. Genesis 22:2 followed by the words of CH Spurgeon, ”Do not think that as you grow in grace the path will become smoother beneath your feet, and the heavens more serene above your heads. On the contrary, reckon that as God gives you greater skill as a soldier, He will send you upon more arduous enterprises. As he more fully fits your vessel to brave the tempest and the storm, so will he send you out upon more boisterous seas and longer voyages, that you may honour Him more. You would have thought that Abraham in his old age after the birth of Isaac would have had a time of perfect rest. Let this warn us that we are never to reckon upon rest from tribulation this side of the grave. No the trumpet still sounds the note of war.”

‘Grace can liberate you to become a model of unusual and consistent generousity all the while filling you with irrepressible joy.’ from Charles Swindoll.

and as CS Lewis challenges:- ‘Ships are safe in the harbour but this is not what ships are made for!’

God’s unfailing grace will never fail you! Let these words of confidence encourage you! God’s unfailing grace will never fail you.

Kenda Creasy Dean in her characteristic brillance:-
“Youth look to the church to show them something. Most of the time we have offered them pizza.”

Pastor-Author Tim Keller in, The Reason For God.

“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”

The thought of Rev Steve Jobs (parody!! Apple’s CEO-genius) if he was your church leader…!!

10 things we could learn from Disney! Educative as to how we could do church-better!

A really interesting interview with NT Wright about his new-ish book that I’m loving: ‘Surprised by Hope.’

Marshall from Alias has to be one of the quirkiest and most delightful visual-media characters. He makes me chuckle everytime he’s in the briefing room!

Imagine if Gideon was planting a church! I love the line: ‘don’t be afraid of being afraid!!’

Simply the utterly-inspiring Foy Vance and his haunting-newish-album HOPE - different approach! rootsy blues and yes-soul-churning lyrics!!

Go on - register with Penguin here and get a free book (yes-real-pages-book!) with the only condition that you’ll blog within six weeks of reading…..

The inimitable blogging ability of Tim, in unravelling more of Gods marvellous grace in the write-up of a challenging local story….

We’ve been marking out some glorious milestones in Church life - Here’s John Pipers chewy-comforting-challenging Calvinistic best…..TULIP celebrated!!

In the pursuit of humility……read!

A great reader on the merits of blogging! - JPD is going to get going this month: go-girl!

Jack Baeur come on!! - deliver on series seven of 24: this side of the Lords return pleassssssse!

and I trust you’ll not call the heresy-police about the below!

‘There are people within your sphere of influence whose lives you can impact for God. He placed them within your reach to be a witness to point them to Jesus.’

We all have a ‘sphere of influence.’ It may only be a few people, but for some of the people we interact with each day, we may be the only Christian presence they have in their lives. The phrase ‘within your reach’ implies people we know fairly well, and perhaps the challenge is to see them as God sees them, and make time for them even though we have a pile of ironing and a load of emails to clear. 

Sometimes life can feel so fraught that we wonder if we are having a positive impact on anyone (!) and yet the way we do things, our very attitude to life and service, can speak volumes. I also believe that some people are in our lives for a season, so we need to use the window of opportunity God has given us.

We all have a slightly different sphere of influence due to differing roles, jobs and activities, and we are all uniquely gifted to reach the people God has put around us. Connect 5 was a project we launched earlier this year and the key is to keep praying for the people in our world who desperately need Jesus, and to be the ‘aroma of Grace’ as we seek to impact their lives.