A Mountain View

highlights of 2010

2010-12-31T15:57:00.001-08:00

Highlights of 2010:
1. Cruise to Norway with my girls
2. Millenium centre performance by my kids from school
3. Putting up decking and installing kitchen with mum and dad.
4. Starting up diva fever function band
5. Starting up samba con brio
6. Going to see the Dave Matthews band
7. Watching Ellia take her first steps

before the creation of the world

2010-12-29T01:05:00.001-08:00

I read this verse a few days before Christmas and it reminded me that as we celebrate the birth of Jesus into this world, the author of salvation had planned this event before this world was even created!
Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love.
He planned this out of love for us, not for himself but an action of love for us.

A sense of wonder at Christmas time

2010-12-24T14:47:00.001-08:00

My mother and sister have a favourite song which has a lyric 'I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean'. I was reminded of that lyric today when thinking
about why we celebrate Christmas. That God came to earth as a human baby is incredible and beyond our understanding, however we've heard the story so many times it somehow becomes normal and we don't have the wonder that we maybe once had. So here is to Christmas blowing our minds again with the reality that God came to earth human form.

2010-05-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

My Grandmother died last month at the age of 89. She was a very dedicated woman in many ways. Even at the end of her life she was knitting clothes for children in Romania and writing letters to friends and family. She was always interested in what we were all upto. She was also very dedicated in her marraige my grandfather suffers with alzheimers so she was his carer for a good few years even when she was struggling physically. She had asked for psalm 121 to be read at her funeral. In trying to get my head around this psalm, it spoke to me about the journey we will go on from this life to everlasting life with God. It describes a journey up a mountain with our creator helping us and stopping our feet from slipping and he will do this eternally.

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

2010-03-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

It has been an ambition of mine for a while to see the Dave Matthews band live. They don't tour in this country frequently and when they do the tickets go pretty quickly. So I was very greatful when Carina announced that she had managed to get hold of two tickets, albeit it meant a drive to Manchester on a Sunday night before a school day. It's the end of the school day on the monday now and I'm still alive and witnessed an amazing gig with my good friend Tim Bannister. LOts of spontaneous jams as well as great songs. Very loud though! This was the set list.
Proudest Monkey
Satellite
Don’t Drink the Water
Lying In the Hands of God
Funny The Way It Is
Seven
Sugar Will
Crash (Into Me)
Shake Me Like a Monkey
Spaceman
Corn Bread
#41
You and Me
Jimi Thing
Burning Down The House
So Much To Say
Anyone Seen The Bridge
Too Much (Fake)
Ants Marching

__________________

Baby Blue
Two Step

Our tenth valentines day!

2010-02-15T03:00:00.000-08:00

My wife and I have been married for almost 6 years and have spent 10 valentine days as a dating couple, engaged and then married. Our life together has been constantly changing, either new jobs, new houses, cars and most recently our daughter Ellia. We often annoy each other, yet always love each other. We both know we are in it for the long haul. We are commited to each other. Thankyou Carina for putting up with me, I love you.

2010-02-15T02:22:00.000-08:00

^{As it was Valentines day yesterday, this is a passage from the book of 1 John chapter 4, starting at verse 7. I think these words describe the true meaning of love. We wouldn't know what true love is if it wasn't for Jesus' act of sacrificial love for us. This passage was used in church yesterday. Good choice.
7}Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son^b]"into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for^c]"our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

¹³We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. ¹⁶And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. ¹⁷In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. ¹⁸There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ²¹And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

If that is a description of God's demonstration of love, then this is a description of how we should be acting out love, and a very severe warning.

Matthew 25

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

ZENERGY (Wooten and Beauford)

2010-02-11T15:38:00.001-08:00

I remember having this video years ago. Carter Beaufords freedom in his playing, when in a studio situation and playing in five, shows how naturally he finds it. This is taken off Victor Woutens album Yin and Yang, well worth a listen. I love the last track Resolution.

2010-02-02T12:13:00.000-08:00

The ten drummers that I have been influenced by most:
1. Dave Grohl - Nirvana drummer, I learnt every track off the nevermind album with my friends in our school band. Here he is playing with Nirvana
2. Jose Pasillas - Incubus drummer, They are the band I have listened most to in my life and he has a great groove. Here he is playing Wish you were here
3. Mitch Mitchell - Jimi Hendrix Experience, Another favourite of our school band. Purple Haze and Fire were our favourite tracks. He was ahead of his time. Here he is soloing
4. Carter Beauford - Dave Matthews band, Probably my favourite drummer at the present time. Great groove and hi- hat/cymbal work. Here he is playing on his Dvd 'Under the table and drumming'
5. Dave Mattacks - My Parents used to take me to see a folk band called Fairport Convention when I was young. He would play perfectly for the songs. I like this solo, not over complicated but musical
6. Chad Smith - One of my favourite bands growing up, great ghost notes. Drum Clinic performance.
7. Greg Bissonette - I have seen Greg Bissonette at a few drum clinics and have his DVD. I like that his philosophy is to dip into every style. Here he is soloing
8. Gary Chaffee - I'm working through a book by Gary Chaffee called Time functioning patterns. Best practise method book I've seen. Here he is
9. Travis Barker - Nearly forgot about this guy. I like his rudimental style that he makes really funky with Box car Racer. There is by box Car Racer
10. Elvin Jones - Just for a Jazz influence. Elvin Jones withJohn Coltrane

2009-12-30T14:06:00.000-08:00

So, 2010 starts the day after tommorow. I was realising the other day that at 28 I've probably lived one third of my life, if I live until old age. It made me think about where I've got to in life and what has been important to me. I then began to think what my priorities are for the next third of my life. I came to the conclusion that the first third was all about finding my way and getting set up. The next third is all about seeing those things through to the best of my ability. I believe God sends us all here in love and with good purpose, I want to know him more and see through his purposes for me. I want to be an inspiring Dad to Ellia and be her security. I want to be a commited, loving husband and I want my career and ministry to be sustainable and fruitful. 2010 is the start of this next phase.

2009-11-08T01:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was rehearsing for a musical. I must say it is stretching me in my playing. The notes on the score are quite straight forward. However, there are changes in tempo and different ways of counting in. This coupled with changes between sticks, soft sticks and brushes brings things that I am certainly not completely comfortable with yet. I am used to playing to a set tempo or going to a timing within that tempo. It's easy to make excuses and feel a bit rubbish, but hey it's a chance to grow in this type of playing. So here goes today's practise and rehearsal.

The night shift, book reviews and coffee.

2009-10-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

How beautiful are my two girls:) So we have experimented with different routines since Eliya was born 5 weeks ago. For the last few days I have decided to stay up with Eliya (whether she's asleep or awake) until 2 am while Carina sleeps, then she is doing the other half of the night. That way we are both getting a decent amount of uninterrupted sleep. Much coffee is therefore being drunk and I am slowly persevering through my 'Lost' boxset.
The book that I mentioned in my last post has had a few outings this week. It has such a huge amount of content in it. The best practice manual I have ever seen for serious drummers in both Rock and Jazz styles. If only I had more time:)
Gary Chaffee is the man.

2009-10-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post with my two girls asleep beside me. I've got alot to be thankful for. Our Baby girl Eliya was born last wednesday. She is now 1 week and 1 day old.
I have had this week off work and it has been a fantastic week at the same time as a huge learning curve.
I didn't really know what to expect, although I had prepared myself for sleep deprivation.
It is generally feed and change the baby every 3-4 hours, although Eliya slept for 6 hours uninterrupted last night. This means you never get longer than a 5 hour sleep in one block and I'm used to atleast 8. But it seems that I'm adapting slowly. The psalm says enter His gates with thanksgiving in your heart, it's easy for me to do this at the mo. It also says enter His courts with Praise, I've read recently that giving Praise to God is all about Praising God for who He is rather than what He has done. So I give thanks for our little one, but I also know that it won't always be as easy to Praise, but I know that He will still be worthy because God is who He is no matter what's going on in my life. Anyway, end of my spiritual bit for now.
My birthday is coming up. My mother asked me what I wanted. There is a book I have wanted for a while it's called time functioning patterns by Gary Chaffee, looking forward to getting stuck into it. Will do a review when I've got into a little bit. Am also planning to get a new drum track on www.drummingsolutions.co.uk and on my myspace page every week from now on. There finishes the ramble of a man trying to balance family life, spiritual life and drumming development. Until the next time...

Summer holidays 2009

2009-08-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

The school holidays 2009 are nearly at their completion. I'm enjoying a few more restful days before going back to school. Here are some of the highlights.
1. Painting and decorating the babies room. Our first baby is due in a few weeks, the room now has my dad's Cot taking center stage. I love walking in there and imagining what life is going to be like!
2. A week aboard the Maylee (my parents boat on the Kenet and Avon canal). It's always a highlight of the year, I've now also dicovered that the local pub do a great beef stew and dumplings... looking forward to the next time already. We also caught up with many friends, as they came to visit over the week, and I went Canoeing!
3. Cardiff Carnival was a new experience and the first outing for the drumming solutions samba band. We played on St Mary's street Cardiff for a while. There were some fantastic samba bands there!
4. Wedi 7 with Gruff Rees. We played on S4C's equivalent of the one show at National Botanical Gardens. I've never played balanced on a Rock Garden before.
5. Drumming solutions workshops... we've been kept busy providing drumming workshops in the RCT area over the summer, long may it continue.
6. The U2 concert at the Millenium stadium was incredible. The best put together show I've seen, when you take into account the organised way that the band and crew kept every one fully entertained for 2.5 hours.

2009-08-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

We had a great week on the kenet and avon canal last week. Great to spend some time with friends, eat some lovely food (highlight being the best beef stew and dumplings ever, Lock in Cafe, Bradford on Avon) and remember how to operate the Maylee all over again. I love it, but everytime we come home I'm ready to come home, but when I get home I want to go back!
We played at the cardiff Carnival this week, a first outing for the drumming solutions samba band! Photo attached. I also get to record with Gruff Rees (www.myspace.com/gruffress) for a programme called wedi7 on thursday. Thankyou Lord for the variety of life.

2009-07-20T07:06:00.000-07:00

Really enjoying the freedom of the holidays so far, I've managed to get a good bit of exercise in... I'm doing 10 minutes on the cross trainer, 10 minutes on the bike and some weights. I've been out for a jog aswell, nothing like getting out in God's creation. Drum practise has begun... the old college file is back out and I'm working on some co-ordination exercises.
I'm really exited about getting into God's word over the next 6 weeks. I've been revisiting the Names of God which tell us all about His character. God's our creator, God's our salvation, He's our deliverer, He's our healer and He's our provider (plus much more). This is God's character, and his character is unchanging - So he will always be these things to us.

2009-07-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Had a great day today,
We've made it to the last day of term! I started the day by clearing what will be the babies room. The room is looking bigger than I thought it was, tomorrows job is to start painting.
I then continued reading a book I've started called 'The power of Praise and Worship'. It's main focus being that Praise and Worship bring healing and deliverance.
I've then been to the gym, played a few rhythm games in school with the kids, done some drum practice, cut the grass and been for a good long walk. Not even the first day of the hols and feeling refreshed already. Makes me realize how ridiculously busy I've been over the last few months.

2009-07-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Here starts my diary of events of the summer holidays 2009. School is starting to run down and I'm starting to look forward to the refreshment that the next six weeks will bring! Want to get outdoors a good bit more (get rid of my drum room tan!), I also have a nursery to prepare! Painting, moving stuff, building stuff and loads of imagining a baby in the room! A few more drum lessons to go and then off. Looking forward to Ignite this weekend as well.

2009-07-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

Pre-season training... I'm looking forward to the school summer hols. I'll be getting to the gym alot, doing alot of reading and doing plenty of drum practise. I'll be getting re-inspired by the books I read and the stuff I watch and music I listen to. I know I am going to be recharged for a new season. The one coming up will include being the Father to our baby! Can't wait for that. Thankyou Lord that you renew our strength!

Ground hog day!

2009-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

I had one crazy day today!
I was taking samba drumming sessions at a comprehensive school for all of the feeder schools in the area, they were doing lots of activities, drumming was just one of them. Now, there were 16 groups all doing a 15 minute session with me. To be fair to them all I did the same lesson plan with each group. So I lived the same fifteen minutes 16 times today! The funnny thing was, one of the staff seemed to keep walking in at the same time in my little talk. It felt like I was reliving the same thing over and over! weird!

2009-06-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

God's my creator, He's my sustainer, He gave me chance after chance, He forgave me, He made a way for me, He saved me, restored me. I have wandered, gone my own way, wondered which way to turn. Yet he remains there, as the river continues to flow day after day. There's no end to his patience, no end to his unconditional love. I need refining, will you refine me, change me, and keep me changing.
Direct my paths and lead me onwards, Teach me new things, all about You, You are God, You are God.

Breakfast time!

2009-05-18T14:05:00.001-07:00

I love breakfast time, opposite is a picture of a starbucks breakfast Carina and I shared when we in Orlando. We stayed over an extra night in the airport after being asked by Virgin to volunteer. They gave us food vouchers a night in the Hyatt hotel and free flights.
Breakfast is exiting, it means the start of a brand new day. My mother would always say to me when I was a kid 'today is the first day of the rest of your life' a good way to live.
Every new day means a little further progress on the journey for me... developing on my instrument... growing in character (I hope)... My baby growing a bit bigger (in the womb).
Here's to a little progress everyday. As Lance Armstrong said 'the tour has never been won with a sprint'.

Orlando holiday so far

2009-04-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here is an overview of our holiday in Orlando so far...
Tuesday April 7th
- Wake about 7am in our travel lodge room near Gatwick airport and leave by 8am.
- Breakfast at a Weatherspoons in the Airport, propper fry up! (Beans on toast for the healthy half)
- Three films on flight - Slum Dog Millionaire, Changeling and Cadillac records (the story of Chess records)
- Get to Hotel and have tea at McDonalds (healthy eating so far)

Wednesday April 8th
- In breakfast by 7.15, glad of the nice coffee.
- Universal studios today.
- E.T ride with Carina.
- Animal actors show featuring the pug from Men in Black.
- Then I go on the men in black ride and get a rubbish score on the shooting. the average was 100,000 and I got 20,000?
- Watched the Blues brothers show.
- Last ride of the day with Carina Shrek 3d (very well done)
- Then Carina and my favourite restaurant at the mo. Bubba Gumps.

Thursday April 9th
- We get to Disneyland via the local Lynx bus service (a little complicated for the inexperienced). Then onto a day at Magic Kingdom.
- We get on a few rides before the crowds get to big... Stitch, Mickey's Orchestra, It's a small world and Monster's Inc.
- Then after lunch and the parade we go on the buzz lightyear ride and I go on Splash mountain. A glofified log flume, but quite a drop!
- The afternoon was marked by an airoplane writing Jesus saves in the sky with thousand's of people watching! Talk about crowd evangelism!

Friday April 10th
- A quieter day, no theme parks today.
- A spot of crazy golf.
-A hearshey bar and then Tony Roma's for tea (best meal so far)

Here ends Orlando Holiday blog number 1... photo's to follow.

How is Jesus relevant to us today? Part 2

2009-03-29T04:46:00.000-07:00

I shared part 1 of this talk in February.
We were asking how Jesus is relevant to us today. We asked whether there there has ever been a time, or whether there will ever be a time when Jesus will not be relevant as Jesus is an eternal being. He has always been and will always be.
We are also eternal beings, but our disobediance to God (sin) cannot enter heaven. Jesus was and remains God's answer. He comes to free us from the consequences of sin and too allow us to become who we are supposed to be.
Questions that are relevant to our lives:
Have you ever felt that you are on a road to becoming someone that you don't want to be?
Do you feel guilt about things that you have done in your past, and those things shape the way that you think about yourself?
Jesus doesn't want to condemn you and make you feel guilty, He came to earth for those who wanted to change. He chooses to forgive and forget the past. He allows you to become a new creation. The Bible says... 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.' 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17.
Your past does not need to determine Your future.
Jesus takes care of the wrong you have done by taking it upon himself. Pete Greig calls it a blood transfusion with Jesus. He gives us His Spirit so that we have His power too change, we are not changing in our own strength. As we allow His spirit to burn within us and change us, we begin to take in His Characteristics which are: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control.

2009-03-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

I was amazed today at what our human memory is capable of. I've been at a celebration of dance in schools today! I wasn't dancing, I was leading a drum group for one of the dances. I was amazed how primary school children were able to remember such a complicated set of movements. Drum rhythms are often repetitious, there can be complicated arrangements, but if you can remember 4 or 5 stages you're fine. The dance routine's seemed to have multiple stages.
As I was waiting around, I also got thinking about performance. As a musician, I'm often on a stage somewhere or other. As a Christian musician, we often talk about not performing but worshipping. I think when we know that we were born to do something that inevitably means performing on a stage, then if you do it with the right attitude and character, then when we get up to do our job that involves a performance, it can be an act of worship to God.

2009-03-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be a Dad, how amazing and thought provoking is that. Here's the first scan.
I've been reading the book of Romans recently. Chapter 1 verse 20 says that: For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
God has made baby Galozzi-hibbert, Carina and I can see his invisible qualities at work.

2009-03-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

We had our first ignite worship band practise tonight for the next event. The theme will be to include Jesus in every aspect/area of our lives. Easy to say hard to do. Below are some of the songs we maybe be using on that night. We sent out a set of questionnaires to volunteer youth leaders from South Wales. From the results it seems these are some of the songs out there that are really helping young people in Wales engage with God in sung worship at the moment.

Praise is rising
All
Your name High
Immanuel
Mighty to Save
Oh no you never let go
The Lord is Gracious and compassionate

2009-03-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

The latest Incubus album is called Light Grenades. It's a fantastic album that keeps you interested from start to finish. Dig is a great ballad of this album. I don't know the background to the song, but to me it talks about our weaknesses as humans and how we rely on unconditional love. Real relationship is for somebody to know all your shortcomings and weaknesses and still stick by you.
It also reminds me of what is important in life 'remind that we'll always have each other when everything else is gone'. We spend so much time on things that are very unimportant in comparison to the important people in our lives, don't you think?

Drumming solutions

2009-02-23T15:44:00.000-08:00

Had an interesting night tonight. We have had a drumming solutions meeting to discuss systems for accounting and administration. We recieved some great advice off an accountant friend and there was alot of catching up and enjoyment. However I have come away feeling a little confused and in some ways less clear on how things will work.
In my experience, these times of confusion often have to happen for the next stage to take place, but at the time feel uncomfortable. It's a big amount of information flying at us, that we want to process straight away and have immediate answers, but actually we need to process everything, and take time to make informed decisions, and most importantly let God into our thinking. If your reading this and believe in prayer, please pray that God will direct drumming solutions. If you want to check out the website it's a link on the right.

2009-02-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

As I said in a previous post, I am going to use the content of an old note book that I found. In October 2005 I spoke at the University of Glamorgan Christian Union. The topic was How is Jesus relevant to us today? This is Part 1.
To start at the beginning I thought it was important to think about who Jesus is. Has there ever been a time in History when Jesus was not relevant or important to us as humans?
The Bible says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (the past , the present and the future).
To go a bit deeper into this... The word used in the first verses in the Bible for God is the word (or name) Elohim. This name of God, Elohim, means God the Father, God the Son(Jesus) and God's Spirit. This is known as the trinity, meaning that God is three in one. These are three different aspects of God.
Jesus was God incarnate when He came down to earth. He was fully God, yet fully Human.
Also, in the Gospel of John chapter 1, we can exchange the word 'word' for Jesus. 'In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God, He was with God in the beginning.'
If Jesus was God coming down to earth, surely that is hugely relevant to us today!

2009-02-13T02:41:00.000-08:00

As I said in my last post, I have found and old note book of talks that I did with my old youth group. Here's a talk I did in 2005 for Tonypandy Christian Union. As you can see, very topical. Can't believe that was four years ago.

There is much mystery surrounding the story of Valentines day. Valentine was at one time a very common name amongst Christians in Rome. In fact there were at least a few instances of Saints called Valentine being Martyred for their stand on particular issues to do with their Christian faith.

In A.D 270 , the emperor in Rome was Claudius II. He was only the emperor for 2 years then he died of smallpox. As was the tradition with Roman Emperors he wanted to be immortalised as Divine. In other words he wanted people to worship Him. Part of the law that he wanted to pass was to outlaw Christian worship and to outlaw marriage.

St Valentine stood up against these laws. He believed that people should be free to love God and to marry each other as the Bible taught. Valentine continued to Marry people and to worship the true creator God. In the end he was beaten, stoned and finally decapitated.

When in prison waiting to be executed, it is said that St Valentine fell in love with the jailers daughter. The night before his execution Valentine sent her a final farewell note. He signed it ‘From Your Valentine’.

Discussion points:

Have a look at Matthew 19 v 4-6 it tells how marriage should be. Discuss how the Creator intended marriage to be.
The creator made them male and female, a man will be united to his wife, they will become one and no man should try to separate them.

Valentines day in our culture has become more to do with Eros love, how does this differ from what St Valentine stood up for all those years ago.

What was the cost for St Valentine when he stood up for his faith?

What legislation should we be defending or standing up against in our society today?

An Old Notebook

2009-02-07T03:05:00.000-08:00

I haven't been to school all week because of the snow. It's been a great time of getting on top of some things that I usually wouldn't do in the business of day to day life. Such as tidy up! I came across an old note book that I would use for making notes for a youth group I used to run.
The Bible says in Hebrews 2 verse 1 'We must pay more careful attention , therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.' I think it's going to be good to look back at what I have written in these devotions from the past to make sure that 'what I have heard, does not drift away'. It's like playing an instrument, the foundations are the most important thing, however much we have heard them.
My next few posts then, will be from this old notebook!

6 Nations fever

2009-02-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

So the RBS Six Nations tournament is starting again next week. I'm a huge rugby supporter and have been for as long as I can remember. I guess I grew up in the centre of the culture, going to school and playing with Welsh internationals such as Gethin Jenkins and Michael Owen and being in University with Ceri Sweeney. I also played against Gavin Henson and other players still playing top class rugby.
To me the interest isn't just who scores the best tries on the day and who gets the win, that's just the end product. The interesting and inspiring thing is the commitment to discipline and lifestyle choices these players put in every single day. The training, the diet, the attention to detail in video analysis and that's before the actual physcological and physical battering they get for 80 minutes. I find fly on the wall documaentaries of the lead upto big games intensely interesting.
As Disciples, we are called to have huge discipline in our lives. We are constantly having to over come temptation and grow through trials. We have a motivation that should far out way winning a Grand Slam and that is to fulfill our God given life purpose and have Him say to us when we meet Him face to face 'Well Done'.
Looking forward to the opening game a week today against Scotland. For the players, the preparation started weeks ago, all for a 80 minute performance. Come on Wales!

2009-01-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

We had our first ignite band get together of 2009 last monday. This included everyone involved in the two ignite bands already established and a few extra key people that will be involved in a third band.
We started a series of devotions inspired by one of Nigel James' books (Ignite founder and Third day road pastor) called 7 ways to Ignite your Life. The first topic that we talked about was listening to the voice of God. I was challenged to reassess the time I spend with God, to think about how long I actually spend listening rather than completing a task such as reading a scripture, praying through a prayer list or reading a spiritual book. All of these are fantastic, and God speaks to us through this, but I know I am a task orientated person. I'm always focussed on completing a task and then moving onto the next one. Sometimes listening to God can take us stopping from our schedule and just really allowing God to speak, rather than us trying to speed up the process by doing a quick fix devotion.

2009-01-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading my Grandfathers diary from the war. He kept a detailed journal of his time in Canada. It's great to look back and see what he has done in his life. It encourages me to keep this blog going, a use of today's technology to create a journal that maybe someday read by my offspring?

2009-01-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

I believe in purpose. I believe that God has created me and you with a unique purpose in mind. We have to play our part in discovering and living out that purpose with His guidance.
As a drummer, I know that God gave me a sense of rhythm and a love of music, but it's upto me to nurture that initial gift and to use it for the correct purpose (to use the gift in the way that God would want it to be used).
I believe that Grace is given to us by God when we believe that Jesus went to the Cross to take the sin of the whole human race upon himself so that we wouldn't suffer the consequences of it. I believe that nothing can seperate me from the love of God because of Jesus. However I do believe that I can be a Christian, go to heaven, but miss living out my God given purpose. Paul says in Philippians: 'I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.' We don't have to strive for our salvation, thats through faith, but we do have to strive to win the prize of living out our God given purpose.

the next three years!

2008-12-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

Over the last month I have been thinking a lot about my plans for the next few years. I was inspired in part by my boss at Ignite Gary Smith to think in terms of a three year strategy.
Over the years, I have known people who wait on things to happen for them, possibly relying on others to heavily, this manifests itself in there being little or no planning ahead and usually results in very slow progress. This is not to say that God hasn't got great purposes for their lives and Proverbs 19 verse 21 does say that 'the plans of a mans heart are many but the purposes of the Lord will prevail'.
I am of the viewpoint that we need to work with God in bringing about His purposes in our lives, He chooses to use us. There is a verse in the psalms that says 'unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain' The verse emphasises that we are to be in Gods will for our lives, but it also says that we are the builders. We have a choice to live out God's purposes in our lives or to waste our time on things that rival for our time. If we don't make clear our priorities then we will soon be distracted.
How do you most effectively walk out your God given purpose?

Worship music in Wales

2008-08-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from a week in Builth Wells at New Wine Cymru. A Fantastic week with a real sense that God is at work in and through people in Wales. I spoke to lots of people who were talking about new things that they wanted to set up or accomplish for God in Wales, most noticeably, probably because of the people I work closest with, in Welsh worship Music.
My good mate and band pal Tim Bannister always reminds me that 'the great Welsh Hymns written over a century ago were the cutting edge songs of the time, lyrically and musically'. Lets fulfil our God given purpose of giving God the glory by using the creativity He has given us and make the Worship of God in Wales something that people will stand up and take notice of, because they realise it's been inspired by an Amazing God.

Time flies by!

2008-05-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

The last time I posted was the 7th of May. Just over two weeks ago. It feels like alot of things have happened since then. To us, time makes a difference, we feel different, we have different thoughts due to our experiences. But God is outside of time and is the same in his characteristics as he was two weeks ago. He is still as Gracious, still as loving and still has the same plans for our lives.
Since the last post I have been involved in a concert at the Welsh parliment building with the llantrisant community band, played at a Catholic church with the Cynon Valley junior Brass band and have been to a wedding of two good friends of Carina and I. This weekend brings the Broken Chains festival... The biggest Christian Concert I've ever heard of in the Rhondda valleys! I'm praying that chains of unbelief, ungrace and sin will be broken this weekend.

2008-05-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation this weekend with a park attendant in Grangetown. It was during the Ignite hope weekend that took place in South Wales over the last few days. We were putting on a funday for the community which meant that his day at work was a bit more interesting than usual. He was asking why we were doing what we were doing and I explained that we were a bunch of people from churches of different denominations that wanted to show that Christians actually get involved in communities and make a difference. They don't just stay inside four walls. This sprang into a conversation about his beliefs and therefore mine aswell.

His Father was a preacher and he had studied R.E at A level. He had come to the conclusion that Jesus was a good man and had good morals, even to the point of him reciting a scripture and saying that he tries to follow Jesus' moral standard. However he couldn't believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

My point of view, Jesus' moral standards were so high that in fact he lived a perfect life. An ordinary human being cannot live a perfect life, we need Grace. We can try all we like to live upto Jesus moral standards but we will fail. That's why we need Grace, and the only way we can recieve Grace is through Jesus being exactly who he says he was... God came to Earth to die for our Sin, to take our punishment to make us perfect. The very reason that Jesus could live a perfect Moral life is because He was God in human form. That takes faith to believe.

Faith is being sure of what you hope for

2008-04-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks, something on every weekend and preperation for exams and concerts in school. Two weekends ago was an ignite event setting the scene for Ignite Hope that will be taking place next weekend. A weekend of social action by a group of 500 young people and adult Volunteers, across the Vale, the Valleys and Bridgend. The ignite worship band will be playing in the morning and evening meetings... 'Open up the doors and let the music play... songs that bring you hope!' I naturally think of the word hope meaning something that we would like to see happen, or could happen with a bit of luck. The Bible actually uses this word in a different way... Faith is being sure of what you hope for! Therefore hope is being certain of God's promises! I pray that there will be hope brought to lots of lives next weekend.
The weekends sandwiched in between have seen TBT (tim Bannister trio) play at a wedding (good fun, everyone was up and dancing), and this weekend, yesterday saw me play pedal timps for the first time live, with the Cynon Valley junior Brass band... was asked to do it about an hour before, only two notes in each song, so just about managed it, and today I am off to do a recording with Gruff Rees at Sonic one studios in Llangenech.

2008-04-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

I've been playing drums since I was 7 years old. It's my passion. There is something that is much more important and amazing though, and that is the worship of God. The word worship simply means to give worth to something or somebody. God created the universe and sent Jesus to be our Saviour. There are plenty of reasons to give God Worth. He also gave us the ability to be Creative, as He, the Creator God is creative. Therefore, I pray I will continue to give worth to God through Worship music and that we can inspire musicians to give God their all through their musical abilities. www.igniteme.org/inspire

Teaching drum kit

2008-04-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Teaching can be really rewarding with perseverance and the right mindset. I try to keep the teaching as fresh as I can with new ideas, for myself! I think that way the pupils benefit more, rather than me reeling off the same lesson plan over and over... they can tell if their teacher's bored I'm sure. The start off a long summer term... here we go! Here's to keeping it positive!

2008-04-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

It was the Ignite worship band practice tonight. This is the band of 2007! It's been a privilage to be involved in the work of ignite. I hope as a band we've been able to help people to understand truths about God, and helped them meet with God as we've worshipped Him together? That's what it's all about. It looks like there is a new band coming through the ranks... my friends it's been fun!

It's all about grace!

2008-04-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

You see I am a Christian, I believe that Jesus is the son of God who came down to earth, Immannuel (God with us) God incarnate (God coming to earth in human form). His purpose in doing this was to take on the punishment that we were supposed to take for being disobediant to God's rules (which he gives us to have the best life possible). It's known as substitution, he (Jesus) takes the wrath in our place, wrath not towards people but towards disobediance to God (sin) which causes all sorts off mess. So God took it upon himself to send Jesus to take the punishment instead of us.

It's not that God is angry all the time and set us up to fail. He gave us free will, so that we wouldn't be robots. The thing is some of the stuff that we do can't be tolerated by a Holy, Righteous God. Therefore he has to deal with it. We all get it wrong from time to time. Thank Goodness that God looks at the heart (the want to get it right although we fail from time to time) and not at the record of getting it right or wrong! We all need grace everyday. Thank God he gives us Grace everyday.

Back from Holiday!

2008-04-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are both teacher's. The problem is our lives are so full outside of school that during the holidays we still can't fit in everything we want and have to do. No complaints at all, especially after a great holiday in tenerife sipping sangria, and many games on the Nintendo Wii, on which I managed a fitness age of 31 tonight!