Late last year we became aware of a couple of books by New Zealand author, Richard Brunton. He has written two books, The Awesome Power of Blessing and Anointed for Work.
They’re both more like booklets but pack a stack of helpful information and encouragement about, well, blessing and anointing.
They are both available as free downloads from his website, and can be purchased as paperbacks.
Do yourself a favour and get them both - if you want to.
I have two resolutions:
One of our vehicles was nearing the end of its useful, economic life and so we began the process of searching out a suitable replacement.
The vehicle to be replaced was a Mazda Tribute - a 3.0 litre gas-guzzling SUV that has transported us safely but expensively for the past seven years. It was bought second hand in 2011 when it had around 60K on the clock and we’d taken it up to around 255K in those seven years of ownership.
[The following is the text of a sermon preached in our church on Sunday 9th December 2018]
A few weeks ago when I was first praying and journaling about what I would preach on today I was impressed with the idea of speaking on destination and journey. I was pointed towards Acts 7 which is Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin before he was stoned to death. A deal of that speech talks about Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and Moses and their journeying with God – often physical journeys, but whose physical journeys mirror their spiritual journeys.
Appropriate leading up to Christmas:
Around a year ago (?) one of my daughters bought a mechanical keyboard. I’d never given much thought to keyboards but had gone through a few over the years. The first computer I used that wasn’t a dumb terminal hanging off a mainframe was an IBM XT. It came with the very solid keyboard complete with key clicks. You knew when a key had been pressed.
My early home computers (mid 1990s through to early 2000s) were also desktops with, presumably, sturdy keyboards, but I can’t remember what they were like.
[The following is the text of a sermon preached in our church on Sunday 21st October 2018]
A number of years ago I purchased a bookcase from a Vinnies shop. The bookcase was probably made 60 or 70 years ago and is oak. When I got this bookcase home I found that it wobbled. The glue joints had clearly broken. It was being held together by rusting nails. It wasn’t too stable and so wouldn’t really work as a bookcase because over time it would lean to one side as books were placed in it.
Here are some photos in Christchurch converted to black & white, with contrast and noise boosted to partially emulate high speed film.
Cranmer Square
Armagh St, looking east
Bowker Fountain, Victoria Square
Victoria, Victoria Square
Cathedral Junction from Gloucester Street
New Regent Street
The Christchurch Club, Latimer Square
Transitional Cathedral across Latimer Square
Transitional Cathedral
Cashel Street
170 Cashel Street
High Street
Christchurch Cathedral
Godley Statue, Cathedral Square
Municipal Building, Oxford Terrace
Crossing the Avon
Great Scott. Scott statue at the corner of Oxford and Worcester
Christchurch Art Gallery
Canterbury Museum Arts Centre Quadrangle I
Canterbury Museum Arts Centre Quadrangle II
Canterbury Museum Arts Centre Quadrangle III
Canterbury Museum Arts Centre Quadrangle IV
Canterbury Museum Arts Centre Quadrangle V
Real Life outside the Canterbury Museum
Our final holi-day was spent looking around the coast north of Christchurch then winging our way to Sydney.
At Waikuku Beach. Bizarrely here, at the beach, you could see snow-capped mountains in the distance
Final view of the west coast of New Zealand - presumably around Greymouth or a little south of there