Life and what goes in to it...

Catchup not ketchup

2008-12-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

Wow, I've not been on here for ages. (such is the curse of facebook!!!)

Since I was last here, so much has happened. My wife has given birth again, this time to a baby boy, named Judah Luke.

I've had a vasectomy. Very Scary and still quite painful despite it being over 3 weeks since it happened... Should I be getting worried?

I've finally joined the cycle team and have a firm resolve to lose weight in the New Year.

I am still leading worship and recently went to a (Free) studio and recorded one of my songs with my friend Jon Cathie and my brother Josh. Once it's all finished I'll put the result up here in case anyone's interested.

I'll update further another time as I need to go to bed.

Needless to say, at the moment, life is going well!

A Story

2008-07-31T02:55:00.000-07:00

Josh was a stranger when we met. He was just someone who would lend a listening ear when I needed it. He would reassure me when necessary and offer a gentle rebuke when required and slowly this stranger became a great friend.

I still hardly knew him though. I would lean on him when I needed to but so often I’d ignore his calls, letting the answer machine get them and later, deleting them, tell myself that if it were important, he’d call back.

I grew confident and found that my need to lean on him became less and less and I found that I didn’t really need to lean on him anymore. I was my own man and had my own strength. I threw myself into life; busy with family, busy with work, busy with my music and my sport. There was no time for this man who was once a very close friend. I was so busy that I hardly ever heard my phone ring.

Every now and again I’d bump into him in the street or in the supermarket and we’d exchange a few pleasantries before I rushed off, with better things to do. He’d always say: “We must get together sometime…” I figured he was just being polite.

Now, the king of my nation was feared by all. Few, if any, had ever seen his face, and rumours of his anger were rife. It was known that if you broke the law then the law meant that you would be banished from the kingdom, never to return. Or worse…

As it turns out, the laws in my land were fairly difficult not to break and the only hope I had was to try not to get caught. I didn’t know anyone who had not broken the law at some point. Although, having said that, I can’t remember a time when my friend had broken the rules, but maybe I just hadn’t been paying attention.

I sometimes found all the rules a bit oppressive, although, deep down I knew that they were there to protect me and keep me safe. I just wanted to be free to do my own thing.

As it turns out, Josh must have broken the rules at some point because I remember hearing that he had been put to death in a horrible and very public execution. I remember wishing I had returned his calls but, within a few weeks, I didn’t give him that much thought.

That is, I didn’t give him much thought until I received the letter.

The letter came on headed paper, with the king’s crest in the top right hand corner. The letter read as follows:

“Dear Sir,

It has been brought to Our attention that you have committed a multitude of criminal offences. On several occasions you have stolen. You have often lied to your wife, to your friends and to your family. You have lusted after people who are not your wife. You have been proud of your achievements when in fact, it is We who should be given the praise, for we lead this nation and there is nothing you can do that is not made possible without Our help. You have not paid your taxes and have not paid us what you owe.

Worse than these though, you have often told friends that you would rather live without Our laws. You have in fact, on more than one occasion, expressed your desire for our non-existence.

You are hereby summoned to attend the palace, for an audience with the King himself.

Yours,

The Royal Family and Governing Officials”

I had never given much thought to my lies. I’d told myself that they were just little “white” lies and that lying was better than hurting people. I had never given much thought to the effect my lust would have on my relationships and had never considered the fact that taking the odd pile of CD-Rs and notebooks from work was actually stealing.

My shame was absolute. Seeing these crimes written down in black and white showed me I was no better than all those people I despised.; the murderers and thieves. Despite what I had told myself, made myself believe, I was, in fact, one of them. For the first time in years I saw myself for who I was and my heart broke.

I knew there was no hope for me, and decided to head to the palace straight away. I didn’t want to say goodbye, I just wanted to get it over and done with..

As I approached the palace I was trembling. I walked up to the main gate, expecting to see guards, but to my surprise there were none. Through the main gates was a garden. The most beautiful garden ever seen. The grass was soft and neat and the trees that lined it had the most beautiful, shiniest fruit growing on them. Bees and humming birds buzzed busily around the lilies and rose bushes. The fragrance that filled the air was heavenly.

I reached the palace door and still there were no guards. The marble floor shone, reflecting the walls and the beautifully arched ceiling. All around me was the sound of singing. Harmonies piled onto harmonies intertwined with melodies that made my heart beat with joy and yet, at the same time, filled me with yearning. The music made me long for something, I just didn’t know what.

I could have lost myself in that sound forever.

I carried on walking, remembering why I was there. The room at the end of the corridor had the biggest door, so I figured that must be the throne room.

I opened the door and stepped in to a room, filled with an astonishing light. The sun appeared to be shining in through all the windows, even though I knew that was impossible. How could the sun shine through the windows on three sides of the room?

The double doors swung shit behind me with a bang and the music stopped.

I stood there in the deafening silence, trembling.

I could see the throne, bathed in sunlight, the gold reflecting the sun’s rays in all directions, blinding me. I could only just make out a figure sat upon the throne.

I fell to my knees, filled with fear and shame. Cowering I bowed as low as I could, covering my head with my hands, wishing that the floor would open up and swallow me or that the king would just carry out the punishment I deserved so that I would no longer feel this way.

I had barely glimpsed the king, but in that moment I had seen that his power was far beyond anything I could imagine. His beauty filled the room and I knew I was not worthy even to be in his presence.

I tried not to breathe. Maybe he hadn’t noticed me come in and if I stayed quiet enough he would leave without seeing me and then I’d be able to run home and hide…

I heard footsteps. The guards must be on their way to remove me from this room, I thought; surely now they will kill me for violating this most perfect place with my presence.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. This was it.

Suddenly I felt his breath on my ear as his whisper filled the room: “Do not be afraid!” I heard the king say, in a voice I recognized but couldn’t quite place.

“Open your eyes!”

More out of fear than anything else, I did what the voice commanded. There by my side stood a familiar figure. My friend Josh was crouching next to me, his arms around my shoulders. He was wearing a white robe and a crown on his head. The crown appeared to be weighing him down and with his right hand he took it off and placed it on the floor. At that point he looked more majestic than ever. Tears were streaming down my face.

I wanted to explain to him how sorry I was. I wanted to tell him I’d meant to call him back and that I’d never meant any of the bad things I’d said about him. Instead, all I could do was kneel and let my tears fall.

He placed his right hand on my chest and my heart beat faster than it had ever done before. I was petrified.

“Don’t be afraid.” He said again, with that room filling whisper; “Get up.” Gently he helped me stand. My legs gave way and I fell to the floor again. Patiently and with tenderness I’d never experienced before, he took my hand and helped me stand again.

Wrapping his arms around me I felt warmth enveloping me. I looked into his face and could see he was smiling.

Josh’s lips did not move as the voice filled the room one last time:

“You are my son, whom I love. With you I am well pleased.”

Still smiling, Josh took me forward towards the throne, taking me up onto the actual ground on which the throne was sat. Folded on the throne was a white robe. He handed the garment to me and I knew to put it on.

I no longer felt ashamed.

As Josh walked me to the door, I asked him why he had given me the King’s clothes.

In a voice as human as my own he replied:

“I love you, my friend. I paid for them myself.”

THE BEGINNING

2008-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Following a recent post on the worship Central website, I was challenged to come up with a definition of what worship is.

Here's what I came up with:

"Worship is the simple act of showing God just how much we love Him."

My thoughts behind this is that people express their feelings in different ways and through different means.

Imagine if we did everything in such a way as to try to show God how much we love Him. If every conversation we had was had in such a way that God would know how much we love Him, what conversations would we have? What would we give if we gave in order to show God how much we love Him? What would our relationships be like? Or our workplace? And family life?

As it says in the 1 Corinthians 10v31:

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

That would be a true life of worship, and something I am still working on!

Worshiping the Holy Spirit

2008-06-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

Having recently been reading the Worship Central website, Tim Hughes posed the question: Should we worship the Holy Spirit? Here are some thoughts...

I believe it is right to worship the Spirit. Although we are never told explicitly to worship the Holy Spirit in the Bible, there are plenty of indications that he is not only a person but also deity and worthy of praise and worship.

He is referred to in personal terms in the book of John several times (15:26; 16:7-8,13-14). There is also mention of Him acting like a person, and like Jesus in that he speaks (1 Tim 4:1) he loves (Rom 15:30) he teaches (John 14:26) and he prays for us (Rom 8:26).

The Holy Spirit is neither angelic or human in essence and as such possesses the nature of deity. Hebrews 9:14 mentions his eternal nature. Psalm 139 :7-10 mention he is omnipresent while 1 Cor 2:10-11 shows His omniscience.

Some passages in the Old Testament that are attributed to Jehovah, are applied to the Spirit in the New Testament for example Isaiah 6:8; Acts 28:25 and Exodus 16:7; Hebrews 3:7-9.

Divinity is worthy of worship. Throughout the Bible we are told to worship Jehovah, the great "I am" who is not only Father but son and also Holy Spirit. If we are to embrace the concept of Trinity being three in one, then surely it would be wrong to only worship Father and Son and condemn those who worship the Holy Spirit too.

Francis Pieper, a noted scholar, stated that the worship of the Holy Spirit is “taught in all those Scripture passages where divine majesty, attributes, and works are ascribed to the Holy Ghost [Spirit]” Therefore, the command to “worship God” (PSalm 18:3, 48:1, Matt 4:10 and Rev 19:10, 22:9) includes the Holy Spirit.

For centuries Christians have worshiped the Holy Spirit, along with the Father and Son.

For example:

(written by Bourgeois in 1551):

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

along with:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

(Heber, 1826)

In light of these examples, along with, I'm sure, many others, there seems to me, no reason not to worship the Holy Spirit, and in fact only more reasons to do so!

(adapted from an article by Wayne Jackson, January 2006)

Jon Bovi

2008-06-15T10:49:00.001-07:00

I went to watch Bon Jovi the other day. I actually had a great time. I've never really been a massive Bon Jovi fan, but despite this, having managed to get the tickets for a very reasonable £10 I went to the show with some friends from work. We were sat right at the back and were able to see the whole stage...

The show started with a support band called hourstilautumn. They were very nervous and a little bit rubbish, but then they had to play in front of thousands of people when they were used to playing in front of less than 100... The sound man kept changing the volume of the guitars and the drums couldn't be heard but hey... They sound alright on their recordings though...

Anyway, the main show was very well put together but I must admit, I never realised quite how "country" they really are! Mr Bon was a little camp at times with some of his hand movements, so at least I feel satisfied that if a Big Rock Star (tm) can be a little camp, then I'm alright!

Anyway, they were musically very good, but I think I'd have been a bit bored had it not been for the people I met up with and the fact that there was a group of us from work all enjoying it together!

Bon Jovi

2008-06-11T00:26:00.000-07:00

I'm going to see Bon Jovi this evening. Bon Jovi aren't really my thing, I must admit, but I managed to get hold of two tickets for £20 and I can't turn down a bargain! I always figure that any live music is better than no live music, so I'm meeting up with some friends from work and we're going to have a great time! I've heard they put on a good show anyway!

Expect a full review next time round!

When I survey

2008-05-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

I've added a new song.

It's a new recording of When I Survey The Wondrous Cross.

2008-05-20T02:05:00.000-07:00

God does not cause suffering. He does not stand idly by whilst pain rains down around us. Instead, He stands with us, beside us, comforting and embracing us.

And though the pain hurts, He feels it too, suffering with us and He will never abandon us.

As it says in Romans 8:

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."^[l] 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2008-05-17T17:24:00.001-07:00

This is when the grief comes

Where the shadows fall and the tears run dry

When there are no words to still my beating heart

Sleep won't come despite closed eyes

Tears won't fall despite the emptiness

My only prayer is that maybe she knew You

My only prayer is that maybe now she is asleep

Safe in Your arms

For You are a hope stronger than the grave

You are what I'll hold on to

All I can do now is kneel and pray

And as I do

My tears fall

The Goodness of God

2008-05-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

I would just like to share something amazing that has happened. I have been particularly bothered by the fact that as of November we would be needing a bigger car. With a fourth child on the way I really need to get a 7 seater people carrier type thing.

I had been assessing how much I was likely to get for my amazing Volvo 850, but unfortunately that was less than £1000 which doesn't really leave much for a new (to us) car.

I came home from work today to news that someone has decided to give us £3000 in order to buy a new car.

God is amazing! Ever faithful and ever true!

Lullaby

2008-05-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

I've just recorded a new song. I wrote it as a lullaby for my children as they often wanted me to play guitar to them before going to bed, but unfortunately all the songs they wanted me to play were too upbeat and tended to get them fired up instead of relaxed and ready for sleep.

One night I was thinking about how Miriam often gets up in the middle of the night and just asks for a cuddle and this led me to thinking about how we should be with God. He loves me more than I love my children and He is more than happy for me just to crawl into his arms and lie there, with all the problems of the world drowned out by his loving arms.

I wrote this song for so my children would know that they too are always in His arms.

New Job

2008-04-29T01:36:00.000-07:00

I recently applied for a new position within the police. I applied to join the Tactical Cycle Team. Believe it or not, I actually got the job and will be starting hopefully towards the end of May.

I can't wait!

Growing pains (to quote from Adrian Mole)

2008-04-24T00:35:00.000-07:00

I feel like I haven't been blogging for a while and have just been inspired to return!

I have recently discovered that I am going to be a father for the fourth time... hmmm, at some point I might realise that I am actually a grown up...

I mean, I know I have responsibilities, a mortgage, a career, 3 (almost 4) children, I've been married for 7 years, I have a dog and a Volvo. (yes, a volvo. If anything should define me as an adult - possibly even a middle aged adult - it should be the volvo!)

How come then do I only now and again have small moments, instants one could say, where I have a sudden flash of adulthood realisation? Is there ever going to be a point where I am fully aware of the fact that actually, I am an adult. I am grown up. Or will I always feel a little like a kid who's suddenly out of depth but yet somehow treading water?

Do my dreams have to die or will they just grow into a more tangible reality?

I think I'm having a quarter life crisis...

Money Saving

2008-04-09T01:42:00.000-07:00

I have recently discovered a very useful website for all you ebayers out there.

If you go to http://www.fatfingers.co.uk and type in what you are searching for there it will search any of the ebays (you select which one, but I think default is .com, so for the UK you have to change it to .co.uk). What it does though, is search for spelling mistakes. All spelling mistakes.

I'm currently bidding on an SLR didital (sic) camera, and missed out on a suround (sic) sound system by 50p (someone out bid me at the last second, but more on that later) which sold for £10.50.

The beauty of this search site is that the auctions it throws up are the ones no one else has found simply because most people search for things with the right spelling.

Another useful website if you're more of a browser is http://www.lastminuteauction.com/uk which shows all auctions with less than an hour to go with one or no bids. Quite fun to look through and there are several good deals to have if you know what you are looking for.

And finally, back to the subject of being outbid at the last minute. There is a website that allows you to "snipe" auctions. Essentially you tell the website how much you are willing to pay for the item and at the last possible second it automatically places your highest bid, which means that if your bid is the highest you automatically win the auction. Not sure how sporting this is but it is not against ebay rules and if you have a fixed price that you're not willing to go over it means you can go away and forget about the auction until it's over. It means no paying over what you can afford or want to pay. No getting caught up in "bidding fever"!

Anyway, the website is http://www.bidnip.com and the first 5 snipes are free and after that they cost about 17 cents (about 8p) per snipe, which is a small price to pay to guarantee you win the auction if you are the highest bidder. If you don't win then the snipe is re-credited.

Anyway, thought I'd share these useful money saving tips!

As they say on ebay, Happy Bidding!

New Computer

2008-03-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

I have a new computer! It's a 20" iMac and it's absolutely genius!!!!

I've just spent the last couple of hours video chatting to my brother Nathan in London. I've never done a video chat thing before....

I can't wait to start using the computer for recording some songs.

Updates to follow!

New Blog

2008-02-13T05:08:00.000-08:00

I've just started a new blog. (find it here: http://life-of-worship.blogspot.com)

The idea is that worship leaders from all around can add posts related to leading a life of worship, practical worship leading/songwriting tips, biblical insight, song lyrics, etc. Basically the idea is to share experience and thoughts with each other.

I've still got to work out an easier way of adding people to allow them to add posts though...

Dietary dilemma

2008-02-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

Not so much a dilemma really, but rather a necessity. Having returned from the men's weekend away with church I weighted myself and realised that as I'm back at a massive 16st5lbs I really have to do something about it.
I realise I've said that before and have previously failed to lose the weight. But again, it is official I am back on a diet and this time I will succeed.
I have set goals.
I have set target dates for said goals.
My goals are "SMART", ie Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Specific.

Anyhow, goals are as follows:

To lose 3 lbs a week during the first 6 weeks, then re-evaluate.

To lose 2 inches from my waist in the next 6 weeks. A further 2 inches in the 6 weeks following that.

Measurements at this time are as follows:

Weight: 16st5lbs (104.5 kgs)
Waist: 40'' (I know, that's very bad...)
BMI: 31.9 (yes, apparently I'm in the obese category...)

Anyhow, I will be following the "Abs Diet" which I have followed previously and it worked wonders for me.

Today has gone well so far...

2008-02-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

I don't really feel like today I have anything particularly important to say; instead I'm just going to tell you a story that I remembered whilst I was talking to a colleague of mine on the way home today, about a holiday I had in France when I was 15.

In my current job I always get annoyed when 15/16 year olds fail to understand how worried parents can get when they disappear for ages without telling them where they are.

I was reminded tonight of this holiday...

I in my GCSE year and my cousin and very good friend Jeff was in the lower 6th. Our grandparents decided it would be good to take us both on holiday so that I could improve my french and Jeff could keep me company. We were going for about a week in total.

On the way there my grandpa drove. Jeff and I were sat in the back seat of his Volve 440, trying not to laugh as we drove through tiny villages and country roads at 18 miles an hour (as this was the 30km/h speed limit...) whilst my granny would grip the seat, turning her knuckles white as she worriedly pointed out the only tree in what appeared to be a 20 mile radius: "Carfeul dear," she would say "watch out for the tree, it's very close to the road!"

"I've already seen it" came the patient reply "I'll be careful."

Anyhow, we managed to complete the journey in two days, staying overnight at a nice little hotel in a little french town. We were told off in the morning though, as after my grandparents had gone to bed at about 9 pm, Jeff and I decided to go for a walk to stretch our legs. We were only out for about an hour, we didn't see a single soul and nothing was open anyway... Somehow Grandpa knew we'd been out...

We got to our resort, 2 days after setting off, (although I'm sure that if we had taken the motorway route we could have done the journey in about 6-7 hours, we were only staying just south of Paris! "But you can't see anything from the motorway, the country roads are so much prettier..."), and settled in.

The resort was a walled compound, made up of several gites and a recreation area, catering exclusively for English people. Quite how this would help my french I'm not sure, but the thought was there.

Anyhow, having been embarassed on the 2nd or 3rd night we were there, by my grandpa who came over to the recreation area, where Jeff and I were playing pool, and said "Right boys, bedtime, you've got 10 minutes to finish your game!" This in itself would not have been too bad had there not been loads of other people our age there and the had the time been a little later than 9 o'clock...

The next day we got up, relaxed in the morning and then helped get lunch ready. "What's for lunch?" one of us asked. "Brain Pate, fried Spam and salad" came the reply. It was the third time we had had spam that holiday and we didn't like the thought of brain pate. And anyway, who still eats spam these days?

Jeff and I decided to go out by ourselves after lunch that day. We looked on a map that was hanging on the all of the living room. It probably didnt help that the map looked like it was at least 80 years old but hey, we used our thumbs to measure the distance to the nearest town, which according to the map was only about 6 or 7 miles away. We figured we could walk there in a little over an hour, grab some proper food (in this case our plan was McDonalds...) and come back well in time for tea.

We announced that we would be going out and were told that tea would be at 5.30.

It turns out that not only was our measuring of the distance not particularly accurate, but that it is quite hard to walk at 6 miles an hour for a long time. It took us nearly 2 1/2 hours to get to the town, the name of which completely escapes me.

As we arrived we were greeted by a giant billboard: "McDonald's 6 mins -->"

"Brilliant!" we thought. We walked for ten minutes in the direction the sign pointed in. No Maccy D's in sight. After a further 10 minutes of walking I plucked up the courage to ask someone in my GCSE level french "Ou se trouve le McDonalds?" The man laughed and said something about "Ou se trouve ta voiture?" (Where's your car?) he then went on to explain that McDs was about 8 kms away.

We were a little disappointed.

We went to the supermarked and bought some chocolate instead.

The walk home took a similar amount of time, although we did run some of the way as we realised it was getting late.

We missed tea. In fact it was almost 8.30 when we got in and my grandparents were not best pleased.

At the time I couldn't understand it as we had told them we were going for a walk.

I now realise that perhaps I should have told them where we were going and why and they may have not been so worried...

In the end we actually had a really good time, we visited the champagne cellars for Moet et Chandon and went to some other interesting places, but, needless to say, we weren't allowed out by ourselves anymore!

Weight loss revisited...

2008-02-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

Weight loss has taken a nose dive the last few days. I weighed myself again this morning and realised that I haven't been keeping a close enough eye on it and have consequently regained 4 lbs...

This led to the usual spiral of comfort eating (ridiculous I know, but hey...)

Will start again in the morning...

Baby Politics...

2008-01-31T08:31:00.000-08:00

Andy McKee

2008-01-28T03:28:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd share this guitarist from YouTube with you. He's amazing!

Run...

2008-01-24T03:07:00.001-08:00

Just...

been...

for...

a...

run.

I'm...

a...

bit...

out of....

breath...

Weight Loss and Song...

2008-01-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

Have lost 11 lbs in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Very pleased.

New Song lyrics are coming on. See what you think...

You're the antonym of me
My perfect opposite
For Lord; You are perfection,
While I am far from it

Still You invite me into your throne room
You bid me touch the hem of your cloak

And You welcome me in with a smile on your face
And your eyes cannot hide your delight
And I'll stay in your arms til the end of all time
And my heart is refilled with your life
As you call me yours
You call me yours

You're the piercing daylight
breaking through my clouds
You are always with me
Though no one is around

And You invite me into your presence
You bid me touch the wounds in your hands

And You welcome me in with a smile on your face
And your eyes cannot hide your delight
And I'll stay in your arms til the end of all time
And my heart is refilled with your life
As you call me yours
You call me yours

(Middle 8 - still needs some lyrics...)

Anyhow, it's late. Time for bed...

New song and new MOT...

2008-01-22T08:41:00.000-08:00

I've started writing a new song, which is great as it's been several weeks since I've been inspired to write.
I'll keep this updated with its progress...

Anyhow, the car went in for an MOT today. There I was fearing the worst, thinking that at best I'd be shelling out at least £400 for it to pass and at worst that I would be scrapping the car due to the prohibitive cost of the work required...

Becky took the car in in the morning, while I was asleep (I did manage to sleep this morning, coming off nights, although the worry about the car did keep me up for an extra 30 seconds or so...) I then got the phone call I was dreading at about 2.30 pm. "Hi, it's richard, you're car's ready." said the mechanic. "Thanks" I said, nonchalantly, trying to disguise the buttrerflies in my stomach as fear gripped me with its iron claw. He told me the price. "£150? That's not bad." "No" he replied "£115"

I practically floated to the garage!

So that's that for another year. The MOT is all paid for, only the tax to come out now...

I thank God for blessing us with Richard Knight, the mechanic who didn't rip us off!

Catchup

2008-01-19T04:01:00.000-08:00

I've not been on here for a while... I should really start writing this again... (I've eschewed Facebook due to the boredom factor of having to reject all these "applications" which serve no purpose other than to send me emails telling me that someone else has "done something to me"...)

Anyhow, since last post, I went home to my parents for Christmas, and despite my sister telling my parents that she would be home on Boxing day at 4 pm to open presents etc, she never turned up. I've not seen or heard from her since.

I have put on a considerable amount of weight over christmas and for the past 2 weeks or so have been working hard to rid myseld of my "festive plumpness" (as one inspector at work so eloquently put it - right after mentioning my "third chin"...)

In the last 12 days I have lost 9lbs and hope to lose more by Sunday morning (my weigh in time).

I am encouraged by Mark's progress (http://mvr2302.blogspot.com) and may have to borrow his Michael Winner book... I was given Gillian McKeith's book, "You are what you eat" for christmas, but unfortunately I find it very hard to follow her diet instructions. She calls it the "Abundant eating plan" but yet somehow I have to eat a load of uncooked vegetables, random tropical berries, which for some reason aren't for sale outside of health stores (acai berries anyone?!?!?) and no red meat... I like meat. I like vegetables (cooked. Ever tried raw broccoli?) So I've taken some tips and have tried to include more fruit in my diet, but apart from that have returned to my chicken, fish, vegetables and eggs diet (where those are the main components of what I eat, give or take a few glasses of milk, organic sugar free peanut butter and other sources of protein and fats such as linseed and Hemp Protein...)

I've started going to the gym again too.

Anyhow, I'll keep you updated with my progress...

Must go now, breakfast calls.

Silence

2007-10-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

In the silence of this moment
I hear a little voice
The words are very quiet
But I hear every one.

Betrayal

2007-09-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

I was recently listening to an album by a man called Dustin Kensrue. He's the lead singer in a heavy metal band called Thrice, who are fairly popular both here and in the States. He has recently released and album of acoustic/country(ish) music and I was listening to it in the car on the way home from the gym.
I was struck by the second verse of the last song on the album:

"The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak;
I want to kiss your lips but I kiss your cheek."

I don't know if this guy is a Christian (one of his other songs says something like: "I've been with Susie, I've been with Sally, I've been with Mary and her sister too"?) but those lyrics are clearly based on biblical analogy.

I instantly identified with the sentiment.

How many times do we, despite wanting to "kiss his lips", betray Him like Judas and kiss His cheek?

My Brother's wedding... and that suit...

2007-09-12T01:37:00.001-07:00

My brother's wedding was amazing! The best wedding I have been to ever! (I may be a little biased of course, and I am not including my own wedding cos that goes without saying!)

My brother composed and recorded the both the entrance and exit music and even managed to slip in a little joke as the music titles (Unfortunately only portuguese speakers would get it!)

They both looked so happy throughout the whole service. He hid his nerves well ;)

My dad and Emily's dad (Josh's father in law) conducted the service as they are both vicars, each carrying out the role specific to their child in the Anglican ceremony.

My favourite part though was the fact that once the actual marriage ceremony had been completed, Josh and Emily had communion together. They wanted their first meal as a married couple to be communion, so from their very first moments together as man and wife God is in the centre.

I have never been prouder to be part of my amazing family.

The speeches were also very good. He had 4 friends make speeches as he did not have a best man, and his own speech apart from including the usual thanks and gifts, etc included a very frank and honest declaration of his love for Jesus and a simple explanation of the gospel for anyone there who wasn't a christian.

At that point I realised that my little brother is actually very grown up...

And the suit? Well, it was a little tight around the middle but I just about managed to make it fit!

Wedding bells...

2007-08-25T00:26:00.000-07:00

Today my brother josh is getting married. He is marrying a lovely girl called Emily (not that having two Emily Boxalls is going to get confusing or anything... Thankfully one is considerably younger than the other!)

I hadn't thought much about today before. I knew my brother was getting married and I knew I would be going and that it might be fairly stressful with the children and everything but never really considered the actual fact that my brother will now be married and essentially I will be gaining another sister.

I went to the wedding rehearsal last night and I saw how much work Josh and Emily have put into the ceremony and the reception and I felt very proud of my little brother and last night I struggled to get to sleep for a while as I was excited for him. It almost felt like the night before christmas as a child...

I wish them both a beautiful day and a wonderful life together and I know that God will be joining in their joy.

I just hope my suit still fits!

Holiday

2007-08-15T03:51:00.000-07:00

I am currently on holiday at the moment. Well, a holiday with the children at my in-law's house in Dunstable (Luton by any other name!)

I'm pretty sure holidays are for relaxing... Not so apparently. Despite my in-laws having had 3 children of their own, their house is no longer child proof and so I have spent the last two days running around after my children trying to stop them breaking things...

I brought a stairgate with me and installed it myself (probably the main problem). There was a big banging noise this morning as it crashed down the stairs, narrowly missing one of the children.

All in all, so far I've not relaxed much, but I will be taking my children to the zoo tomorrow and that should be good. (who knows, maybe there'll be an unfortunate encounter with some lions and my holiday will be much more relaxing! Only joking...)

At least I'm getting some time to play my guitar!

Laters.

The Humans Are Dead

2007-08-02T02:38:00.000-07:00

I found this on YouTube and thought I'd share it... What would the world be like without humans?

Harry Potter and 3 year old clarity

2007-07-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

I am so often amazed by the way my children challenge me. Like so many people I have been looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book. I like the fact that it is no longer embarassing for adults to read children's books in public (maybe we should read more children's books. I'm particularly fond of "The very hungry caterpillar", but people gave me strange looks when I was reading it to myself on the bus into town the other day...) but that is an aside.

Having bought the new book on the day of its release (not at midnight I hasten to add!) I started reading it. So far I have been hooked and to be honest almost didn't right this in favour of reading another chapter...

I was left to look after Emily, who's 3 1/2 years old, at lunch time the day before yesterday. She wanted to watch Cbeebies while eating her lunch. As a conscientous (and at times a little lazy) father, instead of argueing with her about etiquette, good manners and the fact that eating should be done at the table unless you live in a cave, I told her she could sit on the sofa eating whatever sticky sandwich she had asked me for, in front of the TV. Hey, Mummy wasn't there, she could have a treat ! ; )

Anyhow, I sat down at the table, and as there was no polite company around, I sat there eating my sandwiches and reading Harry Potter. After a short time I realised Emily was watching me. I looked over to her and she said: "Daddy, why are you not reading your Bible at the table?" I replied simply: "Because I'm reading Harry Potter at the moment." "Is Harry Potter your Bible?" she then asked. I had to explain that it wasn't and then explain that the Bible is a much more important book than Harry Potter.

It got me thinking though. In all honesty, I am not very often as excited about reading the Bible as I have been about Harry Potter. There are times when that excitement comes back, lik for example the other week I heard Mike Pilavachi speaking on finding Jesus in the Old Testament and that got me excited about reading the Bible again (Have a look at Psalm 22 as a prophesy of Christ's crucifixion, hundreds of years before crucifixion had even been invented!), but in general I struggle to get excited about reading God's word.

I should read the Bible more often. Afterall, "lumos" is so disappointing when compared to raising the dead!

Personality DNA

2007-07-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'm a benevolent creator. Allegedly this means I am very empathic and like to create things of beauty.

I also apparently am very obsessed about the way I look and the way I dress.

Makes me sound a bit like a girl...

Boxall family on ITV news...

2007-07-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

We've been on the news (again). Watch and laugh!

I'm still trying to work out which "luxuries" we've got to cut back on!!!

Injustice...

2007-07-04T05:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sure we have all heard the stories of slavery and oppression, of political prisoners being tortured and of women and children who are raped or murdered in Africa. If you are anything like me you probably thought those stories were horrible, atrocious and evil. But then again, if you were anything like me, having never ben to Africa, the stories remained simply that: stories. Like a movie that can be turned off and that maybe real life isn't as bad as the stories...

My mind was changed yesterday. I met a lady called Niki. She was from Nigeria and was in her late 40s. She suffers from severe depression and cries a lot of the time. She asked me to speak with her. The conversation turned to family and she told me the following:

"I grew up with my uncle and aunt from the age of 10 as my parents were killed. When I was 13 my uncle raped me. I hadn't even had a period yet so I didn't know I was pregnant until I was 5 months gone. I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant when my aunt woke me in the middle of the night and drove me to a building in the middle of nowhere where they cut my baby out. I heard someone say "It's a boy" and I heard him crying. They took him away to another room and my aunt took me home. A few days later I asked my aunt what had happened to my baby and was told never to speak of it again. I was then beaten so badly I dared not mention it again. I grew up and moved away to England, but when I was old enough I decided to ask my aunt what had happened. I had arranged travel plans to go to visit her but then found out that she had recently been killed in a car crash. I knew it was too late. Now I'll never know what happened to my little boy. I still hear him crying. Everyday I hear him crying and I can't get his voice out of my head. I hope he is alive. I stare at every black man I see hoping that one day one of them will recognise me and then I would know. Everyone tells me to forget him but I can't forget. How can I stop loving my little boy when every day I hear his cries?"

I didn't know what to say.

I still don't.

But the stories are not stories any more.

They're real.

Weight loss...

2007-07-02T01:30:00.000-07:00

I have recently been trying to lose weight again. For a week and a half I did very well. I lost 9 lbs in 10 days... (I always lose weight fast when I first start dieting).

Then I had a bad day at work. I got home and ate a big pizza. And garlic bread. And Hanky Panky Pie.

It amazes me how the smallest of things can throw me completely out. The reason I ate badly that day basically comes down to the fact that I forgot to take my eggs to work. Consequently I ended up eating 4 slices of white toast covered in marmelade and butter. Then I missed lunch due to dealing with a prisoner.

I went to work the next day feeling fairly guilty about the bad stuff I'd eaten the day before when on the way I heard Him say: "I don't care how you look. I'm proud of you and I love you."

I felt much better after that!

Action Child

2007-06-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

I have recently become involved with a Christian charity/organisation called EAB (Evangelical Action Brazil). They work in the North East of Brasil, based in the town of Patos. Their main activities, as stated in their website is the following:

As well as a full range of activities traditionally regarded as ‘spiritual’ (church planting, evangelism, etc), EAB’s integrated approach means it is active across a vast range of social and community projects. Whilst EAB will always respond to urgent need (for example, relief work during epidemics) its ongoing work is geared to long-term, selfsustaining solutions, preferring projects such as job creation schemes or reinforcement education which give some of the poor of Northeastern Brazil a genuine perception of God’s love, the opportunity to sustain a higher quality of life, and retain personal dignity.

One of their projects, and the one I have just bcome part of, is called Action Child. There are many children in the North East of Brazil whose parents cannot afford for their children to attend school, to have medical and dental care and sometimes they cannot even afford to feed them enough.

Action Child is a project whereby schools are set up in the various towns around the Northeast. Many of the children who attend the schools are then sponsored by people, mainly from the UK, by paying £15 a month. What this money allows is for every school to have adequately trained, paid and legally registered staff.
Each child has a nourishing meal every day.
Back-up medical and dental care is provided when needed.
The children receive spiritual guidance in a loving Christian environment.
Poor families can benefit from social worker support.

They are an amazing organisation and have recently had a massive increase in the number of children sponsored, which is great! If I've got my fact straight, they have increased from about 53 sponsored children to about 150 in about 18 months. They now have 20+ schools open in various places across the region. The best thing about this organisation is that 100% of the money donated/sponsored goes to the project!

Sponsors are encouraged to write to the child they are sponsoring and the children are asked to write every 6 months, and will sometimes write more often. The great thing about this project being fairly small, at least when compared to Compassion International, is that sponsors are able to sends gifts over to their child, both in the form of money or actual physical presents. This enables sponsors to have a much more personal relationship with the child they are sponsoring, even if they never get to meet them.

My role now is to translate the letters and emails which are sent from the UK over to Brasil, as this will hoepfully free up the office staff over in Brasil to get on with the other projects run by EAB.

Anyway, look into the organisation, they do amazing work, and if nothing else, please pray that their work continue for many years!

Mysterious Ways...

2007-06-07T07:27:00.001-07:00

God definitely moves in mysterious ways...

Take, for example, the ministry of one "Dave The Horn Guy". (www.davethehornguy.com)

He is an accomplished songwriter, and worship music director at a large chugrch in California until he felt God call him to do something radically different. He felt called to unleash the creativity God had given him into a brand new venture.

Here's what his website says about him:

Enns holds multiple music degrees. At 31, his full time musical efforts have found him to be a Billboard recognized songwriter, a studio musician, an orchestrater of over 200 songs, a regular giggin’ trombone/piano player, singer, and a founder/producer of an award-winning urban acappella group. He’s combined these experiences with 25 chromatically tuned bulb-horns, custom made from a top-of-the-line German horn maker to create “Dave the Horn Guy"

He now lives in Colorado and travels America performing at youth events, baseball games, big events and even the Jay Leno show!

Check out these videos:

I too blame the sun...

2007-06-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

I got sunburnt on saturday at the police family day.

I then topped it up on sunday at the barbecue...

I blame the sun.

Becky blames me... Something about not enough sun cream...

God and Poker...

2007-05-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

I am often amazed at the things God does, the places He turns up and the situations He changes.

I was in Luton this bank holiday weekend. I decided it was high time I spent some time with my cousin and my childhood friends, so I set off on the coach, leaving Becky to look after the kids for a few days (I did have her blessing, so no need to worry!).

Anyhow, the plan was to go see the carnival on bank holiday monday, but, due to heavy rain and the fact that the main road the procession was meant to walk down was flooded, it was cancelled.

I spent some of the afternoon with my Uncle and Aunt instead and then set off to Jude Smith's house for a friendly game of poker. (There was no cash on the table, only plastic chips! Hmm, maybe next time we could play for real chips, of the potato variety... although they may get a bit cold...)

Anyhow, after a bit of a chat and a rerun of a classic Gladiators Final (Eunice won!) we set up the table for the game. Well, it was more of a wooden trunk thing in the middle of the room, but it was exactly the right size!

No game of poker is complete without whiskey (apparently) so we all had some proper whiskey, Glenfiddich I believe (none of this JD stuff, Jeff would not allow it!) and started playing.

Some time into the game, someone mentioned that the only other thing missing was cigars, so, there was a break in the game while cigars were bought and smoked.

During the break a guitar turned up. I can't remember who got the guitar out, but it ended up on my lap. Someone had an oldish Survivor Songbook out on the table too.

Someone asked me to play an old Matt Redman song. I can't remember which one now, but before I knew what was happening, we were all singing song after song. I was playing Acoustic Guitar, Jeff was playing drums on the guitar case, my new friend Hairy was playing classical guitar, Jude, Kate and Ali were all singing beautiful harmonies.

I could feel God there. He was sitting with us. Singing with us. We finished singing one of the songs. I still can't remember which song it was but when the song ended, no one spoke. There was a silence. A Godly silence and I fell in love with Him all over again.

I love it that He came and sat with us while we played poker, drank whiskey and smoked cigars. I love it that He sang with us as we found ourselves worshipping Him. I love it that He loves us.

What a night!

P.S. I lost the poker game!

3 year old questions...

2007-05-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Emily, my 3 year old daughter, just asked me a question.

She said: "Daddy, did God make Jesus?"

I wasn't quite sure how to answer that...

Starving Jesus - Part 1

2007-05-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

I've been reading this very challenging book recently. It's called Starving Jesus and is written by Craig Gross and J.R. Mahon (both of xxxchurch.com fame).

The book addresses many issues that New Community Church has been focusing on addressing since January when all the recent changes were brought in, and I have found it very useful:

The two authors start by saying that there is a conversation that is heard, whispered by many christians, all around the world. The conversation generally starts with questions like:

"Where is the love?", "Why are we stuck in the pews?", "Why is Sunday the only time we see christians?" and "Why is everyone such a hypocrite?"

Every now and again someone stands up and says "Church sucks, let's get out of here and make a real difference." They are usually silenced or ostracised by the masses of comfortable christians surrounding them. I am trying not to be one of those comfortable Christians, happy to go to church on Sunday, and then forget about Him for the rest of the week. I have been getting better at this. I find that most weeks I manage to talk to God most days, and that makes such a big difference to the way I see others, but I am by no means perfect (as most of you are well aware!) and sometimes I find I have a week where I become my main focus. I can only promise I'm working on this...

Anyhow, The book goes on to say that, as a whole, christians run from sin. We are not at ease talking about sex, drugs, alcohol. We don't like to admit that there is cheating, lying and stealing going on all around us. And because we won't talk about it, most of us don't do anything about it.

I have had conversations with people about all the different people I deal with in my work as a police officer. I meet rapists, drug dealers, prostitutes and robbers. I meet drug addicts and alcoholics, and I'd like to think that, although I am seen by them as the enemy, I try to treat them like Jesus would (although still doing my job, which may well involve arresting them...), but tat is not the point. When I speak to people about them, so often I hear people say "All they need is Jesus." I've never seen them out on the streets...

Are we having too many Bible Studies? Are we having too many Worship Services? Are we too busy telling each other how much we love each other and not taking that love out the building?

1 John 3v18-19 says: "Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other, let us really show it by our actions. It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth..."

My actions show I am not always living in the truth. At home I am often selfish. I often watch television and let my wife run around clearing up, using the excuse "I go out to work, she doesn't" I know I'm wrong every time I say it. I often play guitar in the bathroom when the children are in the bath, just so I can say I helped bath them, when actually, Becky is the one who washes them, gets them in and out, dries them and then gets them ready for bed. I am trying to change my ways.

The authors of the book say that we, as christians, should do "anything short of sin" to take Jesus to the world. This means that maybe we should be leaving the building behind, leaving the Bible studies, leaving the music and stepping out where no one has been before. Jesus did everything but sin to show his Love.

He served Humanity by giving His life and all He asks is for us to do the same for Him. Are you honouring His actions? All He wants is for us to grab the people around us and serve them, in any way possible.

Are working for Him or for our own ends? We don't need to be super spiritual to serve Him. We don't need a theological degree or a leader's role to serve Him. We are all the same in His eyes. We ALL fall short of His glory. His glory. Not ours.

On that point, so often we work so hard to show everyone what good christians we are, how together we are, instead of admitting our brokenness and sin to one another and then getting on with salvation!

Paul always encourages me on this point. Paul, ie Saint Paul, admits openly to his fellow christians in Roman 7 vv14-20 that he is a sinful man. "I sold into slavery, with sin as my master" he says. "I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead I do the very thing I hate." He goes on to say "No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right"

Imagine that kind of honesty in church? Imagine the church leaders standing up in front of the church and openly admitting that they have a problem with greed, pornography, alcohol or lust. Think how much freer we would be to serve others if we didn't have to work so hard to keep up the veneer of the perfect christian.

We are here to serve. We are here to be His body. Let's not forget that.

It reminds me of a song by Casting Crowns. The chorus says:

"But if we are the body

why aren't his arms reaching?

why aren't his hands healing?

why aren't his words teaching?

and if we are the body

why aren't his feet going?

why is his love not showing them there is a way?"

I know it's been a bit rambly, but hopefully, I've managed to explain roughly what the book's first chapter has helped me think about.

You can download the whole of the first chapter of the book at www.starvingjesus.com if you would like to read more...

See you all soon.

Louis Theroux and the Westboro Baptist Church

2007-04-05T03:18:00.000-07:00

Last sunday I watched a programme on TV which truly upset me. It was called "America's most hated family"
Louis Theroux, a well known documentary maker went to live with the congregation of the Westboro Baptist Church, in America. The church believes that America is being punished by God for its sins. They do not stop there though. They have made it their mission to picket soldiers funerals, denouncing the soldiers as sinners and "fags". They preach hatred and death in the name of God and I just cannot get my head around that. How can someone claim to know God, claim to know the Bible and still preach that God is a god that freely kills people. They claim that all natural disasters are caused by God and are sent to punish people and that anyone who dies in unnatural ways was obviously punished by God and is therefore in Hell.

This goes against everything I have ever learnt or experienced about God. Isn't the Bible's most famous verse John 3:16? God so loved the world..." Why would a God who so loved the world kill people who he loves? Why would He send his Son Jesus to die for us if he is only going to later punish us anyway?

Louis Theroux let me down a little by not being able to argue his points biblically as he obviously did not know enough about the Bible to compete with the random verses the Pastor of the church was using to preach from.

I made the mistake of visiting their website (www.godhatesamerica.com) and I felt compelled to pray for them. That is what I urge anyone reading this to do. Pray that God will reveal Himself to them with all His love, His mercy and His grace. It fills me with such sadness to see so many people filled with so much hate and so confused. It just goes to show that the enemy is still at work in the world today, but unfortunately for him, we know the battle is already won!

Worship Central

2007-03-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

I went to worship central again on Saturday. What a fantastic day! Not only was the worship and teaching amazing as usual, but I also got to know two more people from church much better!

5 of us went up to London, leaving at the unearthly hour of 7 a.m. We all drove up in Mark's BMW and had a very comfortable trip up there. We got there shortly before 9. Andy needed the toilet and had to battle with what I can only describe as a very efficient member of HTB Door Staff! After a bit of friendly banter (and several threats!) he was finally allowed to use the toilet in Church House, across the car park from the main building...

We then proceeded to that most sacred of restaurants - McDonalds. The food was exquisite! Well, I'll refrase that. The food was eaten.

The morning session started with worship led by Mr Tim Hughes followed by an interview with Mike Pilavachi, Nikcy and Pippa Gumbel. I had never noticed quite how posh the Gumbels really are!!!

Lunch was spent sat on a bench in the church garden where I had a lovely chicken caesar wrap.

I went to two seminars in the afternoon. The first one was led by Lex Buckley and was about women worship leaders. She spoke at 300 miles an hour, but when I could keep up, she was passing on very useful information.

Then there was a seminar by Mike Lloyd. He was excellent as usual, speaking on the true meaning of the resurrection. I would relay what he said, but his talk had 12 points and it would just take too long. I reccommend reading his book, Cafe Theology.

The evening session started at 6.30 after after a delicious hot chocolate in a soup bowl and a slice of chocolate cake!

Lex Buckley led the worship and Mike P spoke on humility. His message touched a lot of us out there and for that I thank him.

Anyhow, as usual the evening ended on a high and we all came back, Mark and I discussing the resurrection in the front, while the other three, Andy, Sue and Pete dozed off in the back, sleeping like little babies. I'm hoping they were simply tired and not bored of the conversation!

It was again an excellent day. Time to book the next one!

Alex

Free hugs!

2007-03-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

The following video is great! Everyone needs a hug every now and again:

Tomorrow

2007-03-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am going to Worship Central in London. It's going to be great! I genuinely cannot wait!

More on that on Sunday probably...

Inclement Weather

2007-03-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today it has rained.

It has also hailed.

And also Snowed.

There was also a splash of sunshine...

...and blustery winds.

It could only happen in England!

Ebay

2007-03-06T03:07:00.000-08:00

Isn't ebay amazing? I just found this:

What more could I want? A fully grown, real Spider-man costume!

I could be a real super-hero!!!!

If only I had the £40 it costs...

Good intentions...

2007-03-05T02:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I find myself very frustrated with myself. I start every week with the best intentions to go to the gym every day, to not miss a workout, to make sure I eat healthily every meal, and yet as soon as there is the smallest set back, I give in and slip straight back in to my old habits.

Yesterday I decided I would do a heavy leg workout at the gym in the morning and that I would have some healthy eggs on toast for breakfast to give me that early morning protein boost and get my metabolism going for the day.

Then I ended up finishing late at work. I got home at 2 in the morning, went to bed and got up at 10 o'clock. I groggily made my way downstairs, filled a cereal bowl with frosties, had a cup of very nice coffee and then realised that there was no way I could get to the gym, do my workout and still be back in time to pick Emily up from Playgroup...

And I'm still sat in my dressing gown...

Sugar Free Polos

2007-02-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

Today I have learnt a very important lesson:

Never eat a whole packet of Sugar Free Polos in one sitting... Apparently Sorbitol is not only a very effective sweetener, it's also a very effective laxative.

nuff said.

Responsibility

2007-02-17T02:16:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back I went to the worshipcentral conference up in London (oh yeah, that reminds me, I must book tickets for the next one...) and I went to a seminar entitled "The Fall and Evil". The speaker was Mike Lloyd, the tallest theologian I've ever met! Anyhow, the seminar was about why there is evil and suffering in the world. He explained that there are some staple answers given by Christians, which are "useful but ultimately disappointing" (I believe those were his words!)

The answers given are normally:

Free will - which explains human effect on each other and the environment, ie all our actions cause a reaction etc, but this does not explain ilness, disease, or death.

"The public School" answer - I.e. God causes us to suffer as He will teach us through it. This is very hard to come to terms with when God is a God of love, not suffering, and although there are times (such as in Job) when God may allow an individual to suffer, at no point will he cause the suffering.

Adam and Eve - They rebelled against God and as a result Creation was damaged. This is difficult to understand from a non christian point of view. I mean, try explaining to a non christian (or even many christians) that the reason they are ill/or their parents or children have died is because 2 people thousands of years ago ate a fruit that they were not allowed to eat and that somehow this has caused suffering to be unleashed on the world... I must admit, I've never understood that answer myself...

Mike Lloyd put forward a very interesting suggestion:

His suggestion was that, yes, free will is to blame for the suffering in the world, but not simply the free will of humankind, but the freewill of angels. He explained that God, as a loving being, could not simply build robots to worship him (and we know the angels worship him as it is written in the Bible, just read Revelations to get a picture of the thousands of angels worshipping aound His throne). He gave them free will thus allowing them to genuinely love Him. Angels, being spiritual creatures, play an active role in the spiritual side of creation. They, like us, are linked to it and affect it. When Satan rebelled against God, disharmony was brought into creation. Lloyd explained that a good picture to use was one used by Tolkien (yes, the creator of the hobbits) in the Silmarillion, where God is singing creation into existence and the choirs of angels are joining Him. When one rebelled and sang a different tune, disharmony came in to creation and pulled it in a different direction to that which God had intended.

When God created humans He told them to "multiply and fill the Earth and subdue it" implying that the Earth needed subdueing. (is that how you spell it?)

Before their sin, Adam and Eve were very close to God and had dominion over all the creatures of the earth. They could sit with Lions without fear of becoming dinner!

Lloyd explained that Humans were given the job of correcting Creation. We were meant to be healing the sick, destroying disease, and righting the wrongs in Creation. But, instead, we turned our back on that responsibility, we created a divide between us and God and joined the rest of creation in it falleness. That is why we are able to say "it's all our fault" (Genesis 3). It's our fault because we did not do what we are meant to.

God sent Jesus, not only to bridge that divide, but to show us what we should have been doing. Jesus healed the sick and the blind, He fed the hungry and loved the rejected. He corrected Creation. He was, as a human, what we should have been from the start.

What a responsibility we have been given. We should be out there correcting creation. We should be feeding the hungry, healing the sick and making this world right.

Billy Kennedy, the pastor at New Community, Southampton, has been preaching recently on "Being the Message".( see www.newcommunity.org.uk) He is right, we should be the Message. We should be like Jesus - The Word who became flesh. The message who became flesh. He gave his all to bridge the gulf that separated us from God.

Now, we have the responsibility to do what we were made for. We must live in this world as ambassadors of God, doing what we were intended to. We must do what we can to make creation right. We must live like Jesus.

What a responsibility.

New Song

2007-02-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

I've just finished recording a new song...

A wise man (Mr Robins!) once told me that a song should be describable in one sentence. Well here goes:

The songs about how everything we need can and will be found in Jesus and His cross.

The recordings a bit rough around the edges and the actual recording is still subject to change, but I'm fairly pleased with the song itself but am more than happy to hear any comments anyone would like to make. To listen to it, please go to http://www.esnips.com/user/aboxall and click on the songs folder. I don't know how to create a direct link to it from here !

I hope you enjoy it.

Addictions...

2007-02-14T02:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I came to a fairly shocking conclusion: "I AM ADDICTED TO CHOCOLATE!" Now, you may be thinking "That's a bit girly" or "That's a bit extreme, surely he's not really addicted to chocolate, he just really likes it..." but I think it may be more serious than that!

Over Christmas I put on a fair bit of weight and can't seem to shift it. My main downfall is, as you may have guessed, chocolate. I've found that I can go weeks without it, providing I don't get a single taste of it. Once I've tasted it though, I completely lose control and will eat every bit of chocolate I can find.

A couple of days ago I had eaten healthily all day, I sat down in the evening and my wife asked me whether I wanted any chocolate. There was a 400g bar of Cadbury's in the cupboard. I opened the chocolate and gave her one row. Within 7 minutes I had eaten the rest.

The next day I had a major feeling of guilt so went without.

Then, yesterday, having had a healthy breakfast and healthy lunch, I went into work. Someone brought in some chocolate covered chocolate cookies ("Taste the difference range from Sainsbury's - Very, very nice!). I thought to myself "I'll just have one" 1 became 2, 2 became 2 kinder buenos, a small tube of mini eggs, a double decker and a big chocolate spread sandwich. All in the space of an hour.

(I didn't even feel a little sick)

It does make me wonder though. How much have I personally contributed to the world's slavery problem? (Please see www.stopthetraffik.org)

Am I any better than an alcoholic or a drug addict? I know I don't become violent when eating chocolate and I don't resort to crime to fund my "habit" but I am mistreating this body that God has given me. I am spending money on something which I really don't need.

I think I'll try to give it up.

Songs

2007-02-07T07:32:00.000-08:00

Recently I have been writing loads of worship songs. I'm not always sure if this means I'm closer to God or that I want to be...

Maybe the two go hand in hand, and as I write and sing, through wanting to get closer to Him, then I do get closer, and so I then want to write and sing more and, in turn, I draw even nearer...

Anyway, until recently, over the years that I have been writing worship songs, I have only ever been really pleased with one or two of them. Suddenly I have found that I am writing more songs that I am pleased with than not. Maybe my standards have dropped...

I've decided to spend some time recording some simple demos of them on my multitrack and at some point I'll be able to link the Mp3 version to this website so that you will be able to judge for yourselves... That is, if anyone ever finds this page! (So far I have had the grad total of 2 visitors!)

I am becoming more and more frustrated with my lack of musical ability. I know what I want to hear and just seem unable to reproduce the sound I hear in my head... I've decided to do something about this and have started working through my many guitar improvement books which I have bought over the years. One day I'll go from being simply a "Strum-a-long" ( copyright Josh Boxall) to being a proper guitarist!

Weight Loss

2007-01-20T05:10:00.000-08:00

Today I want to write a about something which has plagued me for several years now: "Weight Loss".

I was never fat as a little boy, in fact I was fairly skinny. I remember being amazed that one of my friends weighed 32 kgs when all I weighed was 27. Now I weigh almost 4 times that!

I joined the police in 2003 weighing about 16 1/2 stone. That was fairly heavy. I could still carry my weight quite well and was able to pass the police fitness tests, which were much harder then than they are now... But, nevertheless, I was still fat.

In March 2004 I started a diet. By October I had losst 2 1/2 stone and by Christmas I had lost another 6 pounds. My waist went from being a 42inch waist (almost 44) to being a 34 inch waist. I could run to level 11.3 on a bleep test, which is fairly good.

My weight fluctuated between 13 st 6lbs and 13 st 12lbs for the next year and a half. Recently however I have become complacent. I didn't learn that I could no longer eat whatever I wanted and still maintain the shape I was in. Round about the time my third daughter was born, in September 2006, I weighed about 14 st 6. I have since put on about a stone and a half. I weigh almost 16 stone again. The heaviest I have been for a very long time.

I went for a run today. I hardly made it to twenty minutes.

Today I have started doing something about it.

Tomorrow morning I will weigh myself and find out exactly how much I weigh. Next Sunday I will update you with my progress.

See you soon.

PS: The feet in the picture aren't mine!

Catchup (not Ketchup)

2007-01-19T02:42:00.000-08:00

Over the past nine days I have been very busy. I went to another Worship Central Conference up in London and it was very very good. If anyone is interested in finding out more, please go to their website, www.worshipcentral.org.

I then had to go back to work, which was fine.

The fence panel blew down again. Well, I say again, it was actually the fence panel next to the one I replaced last time. I didn't buy a new fence post this time. I didn't buy a new fence panel either. A few strong nails and a couple of swear words later (mainly when missing the nails...) and the fence appears as strong as ever.

I'll test it out in the next storm...

More DIY ineptitudes...

2007-01-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

Sunday evening I bit the DIY bullet again and tried to carry out some fairly simple plumbing. I had to disconnect the wahing machine as someone was taking it away. We were getting a new one, you see.

I turned the taps of under the sink to stop the water flow and then disconnected the pipes from the back of the washing machine...

Suddenly I was being sprayed with a jet of water so strong it could rival a fire engine's pump. I was soaked, the children were screaming, the dog was barking and the poor lady who had come to collect the washing machine was left holding the baby while Becky rushed around trying to find towels to mop up the lake that was threatening to engulf not only our kitchen but the whole of our ground floor.

I finally found the tiny little valve which turned the water off. It was hidden under the sink, through a tiny little hatch and down some stairs leading into a small basement room which was guarded by 3 tigers and a hungry elephant... Well, it was quite hard to find anyway...

So I disconnected the old washing machine, leaving the kitchen sink and the dishwasher out of commission for a couple of days.

The new washing machine arrived. It looks awesome. I decided to attach it, but this one only has space to attach one pipe, whereas the last had 2... I worked that puzzle out but then had to connect the exhaust pipe to the U-bend under the sink...

Unfortunately I had given away a vital part of the U-bend to the lady with the washing machine. I hadn't realised that at the time, so had to replace a whole U-bend.

So, a job that should have taken 5 minutes, took almost two hours and included a trip to B&Q, a new U-bend, a lot of water and stress levels going through the roof.

Sometimes I think I should just leave these things to professionals... I'll stick with playing guitar...

Fence Panels

2006-12-31T09:56:00.000-08:00

Today I would like to share with you my inaptitude towards doing DIY.

I woke up this morning and was informed by my wife that one of the fence panels had blown down on the side of the garden that is our responsibility. I went to have a look, propped up the old fence panel, wedged the compost bin against it and went back inside. Job done. Or so I thought...

Apparently just wedging the panel in place is no way to fix a fence. I ended up going to B&Q. I wrestled with one of those extra long trolleys which appeared to have rear end steering so it took me ages to figure out how to push those weird things along. I eventually found the fence panels and struggled to get it onto the trolley. I bought a fence post and only crashed 4 or 5 times on the way to the checkout. I must remember to thank the kind lady who was working there though. 5 metres before I got to the checkout, she informed me that the trolley I was pushing was actually made for pulling... oops.

Anyhow, I got home, opened my book (also bought at B&Q) which tells me how to do every DIY job going in simple step by step diagrams. Not very manly I know, but hey, I'd rather follow instructions and have some chance of getting it right than guess and get it wrong.

It looked simple enough: "take out the old fence post, put the new one in, cement it in place(?!?!). Oops, I hadn't bought any cement...

I went outside to take the old fence post out. My book didn't tell me what to do if the fence post was rotten and broken off at ground level. I decided that maybe I could dig it out so for about an hour and a half I hacked away at the rotten wood. When I wasn't making much progress I resorted to using my drill. There I was drilling loads of holes into the rotten wood (I figured that if I drilled enough holes, eventually they would blend into one big square shaped hole...) when suddenly the drill bit broke off in the wood.

At that point I sort of gave up. I put the new fence post into the hole, which was now almost 6 inches deep, sawed off the end and nailed the fence panel to it. It has now been up for almost 5 hours.

I'm still waiting for the next gust of wind...

Jesus' Car

2006-12-30T03:43:00.000-08:00

Dudes and Dudettes,

I haven't written on this for 15 days. Here's what been going on...

I turned 25 on the 18th December. I am officially in my mid twenties. Should my dreams start dying now? I don't think so...

A week later I enjoyed a protracted christmas. I worked on Christmas day in the afternoon, so I celebrated it at home with family, followed by at work with colleagues. I then had my in laws down to visit on boxing day and my family visited from London on the 28th. All in all very busy.

I thought I would share a story about my daughter today:

Emily, who is almost 3, woke up on Christmas day and came downstairs. When she saw the Christmas tree with all the presents under it her face lit up like the little fairy lights. She said "Daddy, is it my birthday?" I explained that no, it was in fact Christmas day. I also explained that Christmas was when we celebrate Jesus' birthday. "Where is Jesus?" was her immediate response. Have you ever tried explaining to a 3 year old that Jesus is everywhere, but that we can't see Him per se. Emily seemed to be happy with this until breakfast time came around.

"Where will Jesus sit?" she asked.

Becky then phoned her parents and whilst talking to her father, another classic from Emily: "Mummy, is that Jesus on the telephone?" If only...

We cleared a space and set a place for Jesus. Emily asked where He was again. We explained that He was already here.

"No He's not," replied Emily, "Where's His car?"

Kids eh?

Man Flu

2006-12-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

Today I have a cold. Well, technically I've had a cold for a few days now, but today it has come to a head. I can't really breathe very well, my nose is dripping and my muscles are aching. Oh and I keep coughing up big lumps of mucus... All in all I don't feel very well at all. I had to swallow my pride and phone work to tell them that I could not come in today.

And what does my wife call it? That's right: "Man Flu".

I'm not a big fan of that term. It implies that us men are not really ill when we have a cold. It implies that we are making up the symptoms and that in actual fact we could get on with things and that if they (women) had the same thing they would just soldier on and not let it affect them...

I would like to put one thing straight. When we men have a cold of this magnitude we are not faking it and we are not just moping around for moping around's sake. We are ill and deserve any sympathy we can get!

And one last thing: You ladies should all be pleased that all we have is Man Flu, after all, people die of "Bird Flu"!

Laterz

Iron Maiden

2006-12-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening I went to watch Iron Maiden. I travelled with 3 friends down to Cardiff and watched them at the Cardiff International Arena. Something strange happened though. There I was in the middle of a crowd of people who were all going crazy for the band with their hands up in the air, singing their hearts out and shouting with joy whenever Bruce Dickinson sang or said anything.

In essence they were worshipping Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden.

Maybe that's why I felt alone in the middle of the crowd, at odds with what was going on. A short while back I would have joined them and, without realising it, would have worshipped the band. Crazy or what?!?!?

I got a strong feeling that God was showing me where I have gone wrong in the past by putting humans and their achievements before Him and His achievements...

Today

2006-12-07T08:49:00.001-08:00

Today I am very tired. : (

Check out this hymn

2006-12-06T03:11:00.000-08:00

Take a look at the words of this hymn. They were written in 1707 by Isaac Watts (You know, the dude with the lightbulb... Or was he the apple man? No that was Newton...). They describe the truth of the gospel in three verses so simple and yet so powerful. Take a look:

Adam, our father and our head,
Transgressed, and justice doomed us dead;
The fiery law speaks all despair:
There’s no reprieve nor pardon there.

But, O unutterable grace!
The Son of God takes Adam’s place;
Down to our world the Savior flies,
Stretches His arms, and bleeds, and dies.

Justice was pleased to bruise the God,
And pay its wrongs with heav’nly blood:
What unknown racks and pangs He bore!
Then rose; the law could ask no more.

In essence he's saying Adam (representing us) sinned so therefore we are punished to death. But through God's grace His Son Jesus takes our place, opens his arms and dies. Justice was done but death was defeated as he rose again.

Amazing to think that even 300 years ago there were still people with a faith so strong and an understanding of the bible so amazing that they often put us to shame!

Laterz

Spirit led worship.

2006-11-29T04:48:00.000-08:00

Today I would like to talk about Spirit Led Worship.

I have been listening to a lot of teaching recently on the topic and I have to admit it rocked my world. The last few months, when leading worship at church, I have often been in a place where I felt it was my responsibility to lead people to a place where they could encounter the Holy Spirit. I felt that in order to do that I had to choose songs which would help people to worship God and that once they were worshipping the Spirit would come. I thought I needed a big band and clever arrangements to help me do this.

I now know how wrong I was.

At the Worship Central conference, Al Gordon spoke about worshippers who are filled with the Holy Spirit and how it should be His Spirit leading the worship, not us.

That touched me deeply. I no longer have the responsibility of leading people to that place. My responsibility now is simply to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to allow him to lead. It is all His doing not mine and you would not know how grateful I am of that!

I led worship on Sunday at West End church. It was a small meeting with about 35-40 people there. I got asked to lead on Saturday afternoon so had only a little time to prepare. Having prayed about it, I chose songs which I hoped people would know and that would tie in with the topic for the day, which was "comfort".

I arrived, plugged in my acoustic guitar and before the meeting we prayed. I have been feeling very close to God in the last 2 weeks and I felt His Spirit as we prayed.

All I did on Sunday morning was worship God. There were no drums. There were no clever arrangements and loud electric guitars. There were no keyboards or bass guitar.

And what can I tell you? I could not have asked for a better worship time. I connected with God, but, just as importantly, so did the other people there. And I have to stress, it was nothing I did, because all I did was stand there, play a few chords and sing the songs. The Holy Spirit was there before I picked up my guitar and He was moving.

And I love it when He moves!

See you all soon.

Alex B

All in a day's work!

2006-11-24T02:09:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday was an interesting day.

I started the day at 5 am, got up and went to work.

By 10 a.m. I was standing in the middle of Southampton City Centre directing traffic away from a lorry which had spilt its load in one of the most used roads in Southampton. That in itself is not too bad, but the fact that it was windy and raining/sleeting/a little bit of hail and very cold didn't help matters. I forgot my gloves at the station!!!

I survived that and went to have lunch.

I just finished lunch and had to rush to sudden death where a male had been found dead by ambulance in a very strange position, with blood all around the walls of his flat. A colleague and I spoke to other residents of the address and with a bit of common sense and research we were able to tell CID who the most likely suspect was...

So, after freezing to death controlling the traffic, and causing the city centre to almost come to a stand still, I then went on to help solve a murder!

What a job to have...

NZ Police Assessment Day

2006-11-22T11:17:00.000-08:00

I attended the assessment day.

The recuitment team were honest, open and direct. They told us exactly what it was really like in New Zealand.

I failed the run but passed all other aspects of the recruitment day and by the time I returned home to my parents I already had an email telling me that provided I returned to do the run within two weeks and improved my time, then I had a job with them.

I have turned them down.

It was a hard decision. I wanted to go, because the weather looked so good. The people seemed so friendly and the scenery was fantastic. My kids would have been able to take part in a myriad of sports and would have all the open space they could want to run around in, but...

It's not for now. I know that now. On the day I went there was nothing making my heart skip a beat at the thought of going. There was no longing, no desire to go, and yet I am still sad at this decision.

The interviewer asked me whether I would be taking over much equity. I explained how much we would be able to afford to take and he informed me that we would struggle. We would not get on the property ladder. We would have little residual income, if any, and would have to survive without family networks.

He also told me that the police in NZ have almost 3 times the paperwork that British officers have.

Taking all that into consideration, along with my strong gut feelings, which at this time I can only assume are from God, I have decided to turn the job down.

If I have closed a door through misinterpreting Him, then I know he will get me back on the right path, after all, he got Jonah back on the right path and Jonah deisobeyed him on purpose!

Right now though, I feel called to stay in Southampton and serve Him here.

And as I typed that last sentence, a feeling of peace has come upon me and I am smiling!

See you soon.

Alex

New Zealand Assessment Day...

2006-11-20T02:33:00.000-08:00

Today I am due to go to London where I'm going to stay overnight with my parents before going to an interview at the New Zealand Embassy, where I have applied for a job as a NZ Police Officer.

I have to admit that now, having got through two stages of the application process, I am a little worried. It's not the fact that I have to be able to run 2.4 km (that's 1 1/2 miles) in 10 minutes 15 seconds. It's not the fact that after that I will have to perform 34 press ups continuously before carrying out a grip test and a vertical jump test. Even the interview doesn't bother me too much.

What worries me now is the fact that I have a strong feeling that this is not what God wants me to do. And I don't know how to test this. I've prayed about it more since saturday when I first became aware of this feeling and I can't seem to shake it, but at the same time I am worried that maybe it's just my nerves, maybe I'm just scared as it would be a very big move...

For the first time in a long time I actualy feel like I belong here in Southampton. I finally feel part of the church here and I find myself not wanting to leave. Then there was the guest speaker in church on Sunday talking about loving "in our community" as opposed to going away on short term mission trips. I could be reading too much into it because if I were to move then surely NZ would become my community...

Sometimes I just wish God would answer my questions in a loud booming voice! Ot maybe just write the answers in clouds in the sky. Even an email would do! (although I don't think I have His email address in my address book, so it may get relegated to the Spam folder by Microsoft's excellent spam filter!)

Anyhow, I guess what I'm saying is: Please pray! The assessment day is tomorrow at 0830 in the morning and runs through the afternoon. Please pray that whatever happens tomorrow is God's outcome and that I would have a clear understanding of what his will is for me in my life.

I just can't shake the memory of something someone once said to me: "Follow your dreams, as your dreams were given to you by God and as such, more often than not, what your heart desires is also what God desires."

New Zealand has never been a particular dream of mine, but would be an easy solution to my current financial situation...

Anyway, now, having written two particularly serious posts in the last couple of days, I'll try to resume my normal cheerful content after tomorrow!

Worship Central

2006-11-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to a conference at Holy Trinity Brompton (that's a fairly big church in London, near to Harrods, for those of you who haven't heard of it...). The conference was mainly centred around musical worship and those involved in that, and I have to say it was the best conference I've been to in a long time.

But, despite all the excellent teaching on Song-writing and on leading worship in church, the seminar which touched me the most was the one entitled "The Cross of Christ"

Jesus' cross is taken for granted so often by Christians that it has lost some of its impact. We no longer see the cross as a symbol of humiliation and suffering, but rather as just something which symbolises the fact that we are christian in the same way that a crescent moon is the symbol of islam.

In Roman times the cross was used only for certain types of people:

- Political enemies of Rome
- Slaves who had defied their masters
- Violent criminals

Essentially, for the lowest of the low.

The condemned were hung naked, flogged, in full view of everyone, begging for their lives as they slowly suffocated under the weight of their own bodies, no longer able to lift their lungs.

To be hung on a cross was the ultimate humiliation, and as Graham Tomlin, who spoke on the subject yesterday, said: "It is almost proof in itself that Jesus existed, because no person in their right mind would invent a religion in which the hero, their saviour, would have died on a cross!"

He then went onto explain the reasons for why Jesus had to die. I've often struggled with this in my own thoughts: "Why could God not forgive us without anyone dying?"

Tomlin explained the following:

Jesus was fully man and fully God. As He was a perfect man he had no sins for which to pay a price. As he was fully God, God experienced everything that Jesus did, as he is an integral part of God.

When something wrong happens we often just excuse them, for example, if someone bumps into you on a bus, they say sorry, we say "don't worry" and instantly forget about it. We excuse their behaviour as there is no price to pay, we lose nothing in doing so.

Forgiveness comes into play when something much more serious happens. When your husband or wife sleeps with someone else. Or when a teacher abuses your child at school. Or when a drunk driver hits and kills your toddler. (That last one struck a raw nerve with me too.)

In those situations we have two choices as humans. We can either choose the more immediate and obvious route of revenge, i.e. "He has to pay!" or we choose to forgive, i.e. "I have to pay" There is always a price to pay, and it has to be paid by someone.

The price is paid in pain. There is no way to forgive someone without paying the price yourself. That is why it is never easy to truly forgive.

If someone owes you £100 and you forgive him the debt, you are £100 poorer as you now have to use £100 of your own to pay back your creditors. You cannot forgive that debt without losing £100.

As God is a god of love, he chose the route of forgiveness. He paid the price of sin himself. He Himself experienced death in order that we might experience life. That was the price. That is what he did for us. He paid the price of our wrongdoings by experiencing death in the most humiliating way. A death that should have been yours and mine.

Can there be a greater love?

Musical Penguins

2006-11-17T04:44:00.000-08:00

As promised, today's topic is "Musical Penguins"!

Just in case there are any arctic twitchers out there reading this, this is not about a new breed of penguin that can dance or play musical instruments, so I'm sorry to disappoint. If that was what you were after, then you may want to stop reading now, in order to avoid further disappointment...

Has anyone ever noticed how when penguins walk/waddle anywhere they always go in a big group, they all walk the same way, follow the same route, they even all look the same!

I'm talking here about a lack of individuality.

When I was growing up, and first became aware of music, dance music was coming into its own. The first number one which I actually remember watching on TOTP (before that national institution was dropped by the BBC...) was d:ream's "Things Can Only Get Better. It was in the first few months of 1994 and I was 12. I actually thought it was quite good at the time...

Anyhow, as I grew up I realised that actually, that song wasn't that great... In fact the whole chart system was fundamentally flawed as it was now no longer run by artists who could play instruments and create individual music, but by "music moguls" who could churn out carbon copy artists to sing songs written in the key of G to please the masses... Where had the talet gone?

At my school of over 500 people, there were only 5 of us who played guitar. That's 1% of the population of my school... That was rubbish. How was any new talent going to emerge into the world if all people were listening to was either computer generated dance music or boy band ballads written by songwriters who either couldn't sing or simply did not have the required physical attributes to be on TV...

Don't get me wrong though, every now and again a band or artist would break into the charts and show a flair of individuality; bands like Radiohead, Muse and even groups that I didn't like so much such as Beautiful South. But they were not the norm. The "artists" in the charts were singing songs aimed at 8 year old kids who, unfortunately grew up. And when they did, the artists were shelved, there later claims to fame being simple appearances in celebrity big brother or worse, Celebrity Scissorhands!

When we hit the year 2000 with the advent of The Strokes and the White Stripes I thought that maybe finally real music would return to the charts. And it did. For a while. Those bands were individual, with a new sound. They played guitar and suddenly hundreds of people everywhere started learning to play guitar and now 6 short years later, instead of there being a plethora of bands all playing individual music, the charts are full of bands that sound like each other.

The Futureheads sound like Razorlight who sound like Franz Ferdinand who sound like The Bravery who sound like The Kaiser Chiefs who all at the end of the day sound like variants on The Strokes.

If you are really after some truly exciting new bands, my suggestion would be that you check out some of the following sites:

www.dweebmusic.co.uk; www.muse.mu; www.benfolds.com; www.eelstheband.com; and finally, if you are willing to venture outside the world of english language, check out www.qui2nous2.com and www.skank.com.br

I'm not blaming the bands involved. I'm blaming the individuals who run the charts. The individuals who crush individuality by making original music so hard to find...

And to all you people out there who do play an instrument or want to be in a band, all you songwriters, ponder this:

In ten years time, when music tastes have changed again, who will still be here? Will it be the carbon copy bands I've mentioned or the originals who may not have the same degree of chart success, but definitely stand out from the crowd?

Think of Radiohead. Think of Muse. Think of U2, Green Day, or even the Rolling Stones (The ultimate example of a long lasting band!) What they all have in common is that they do not follow the flock and as a result have outlasted many of their contemporaries!

Be yourself!

Alex

PS: Please note that I can't guarantee the content of the websites mentioned above. Musically they are all very original though!

2006-11-16T06:45:00.000-08:00

Life and What goes in to it...

I don't really know why I decided to call my blog that... I think it was the pressure...

There I was, just thinking to myself: "I wonder how easy it is to set up a blog?" and next thing
I know I'm at this page...

It started off easy enough. Name, email address, password and then suddenly:

BLOG SUBJECT?

ANSWER NOW!

I think I must have panicked. Who am I to even consider what goes into life?

I did consider just calling my blog "Me" but I thought that might be a bit egotistical (if that's how you spell it...) My next immediate thought was "penguins", but as I have no real interest in penguins (although I always laugh when people imitate penguins... It's just the way they walk youn know...) but I thought that title was a bit ambiguous and certain penguin lovers may be disappointed to stumble into this with to find no real mention of penguins at all really...

As you can tell the pressure was really building so I just wrote the very next thing that came into my head which was "Life and What Goes in to it"

You'll soon discover, I'm no expert, being only twenty-four at this time and, as such, maybe I should re-label this as "Life - What have I stumbled into?"

Anyhow, a bit about myself: I'm twenty-four, as I said, although I turn 25 a week before christmas, I have a wife, Becky, and three children, Emily (almost 3), Miriam (almost 2) and Naomi (about 7 weeks old). I work as a police officer in Southampton England and most people think I'm the strangest police officer they've ever met...

I love music and play guitar/write songs, and take an active part in Community Church (www.community-southampton.org) here in Southampton.

That was enough for an introduction. If you come back tomorrow, you'll find out more about me and my thoughts. Tomorrow's subject:

Musical Penguins.