Saturday 4 September 2010

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!


Some thoughts for First Time voters...


Hey, so lots of you are voting for the first time today. Yay! Hopefully you're on the Electoral Register and ready to go... you would have received a little white A5 'Official Polling Card' in the post with your name, address, and local Polling Station on it, but if you don't know, call your local council.

If you're not sure what to do, its dead easy! Just grab your polling card (don't worry if you've lost it, they'll just ask for your name & address) and take it to your local polling station (usually a school or public hall... I'm going to Bromley Road Infant School) between 7am and 10pm... hey you could go right now!

Once there, go to the staff sat at a wee little table, give them your rard/details and they wil hand you one ballot card with the names of all the candidates/parties on it. Take this to one of the sneaky little polling booths that will be there (like little airport phone booths) and read all the instructions on the card.

Then just drop and X next tot he Candidate you want to vote for, go back to the staff and drop the card in the ballot box on their table. Done, sorted, no fuss!



Annnyway... who to vote for.... hmmmm.

Well, many of you watched the debates and may have been swung back and forth by that. Some of you came with me to the hustings and grilled potential candidates and may have made up your mind there. But if you're still undecided (or dare I say, decided regardless of looking at any literature..grrr) then here are some helpful places you can look to make an informed choice.

This website allows you to pick the parties you want to look at and compare them on individual policies that you care about.

If like me you're in Beckenham, this webpage will give you the names of all the potential Beckenham candidates. Google their names and look at their views.

> Another key thing to do is look at Party Manifestos. These are documents that incude all the major promises, ideas, and policies of a particular party. They're usually nearly a hundred pages long - so I suggest reading the introduction pages which outline the basics, then flick to the back where there is an index of policies and read up on the key policies that concern you the most.

You can find these manifestos here:

(other parties manifestos can be found at their websites)


Hopefully by looking at these you can vote with your consciousness and not be as influenced by the TV and spin thats all around. Remember no one needs to know your vote - so vote whichever way you please.

And try not to be influenced too much by 'clever voting' - i.e. voting for someone you don't like to beat someone you don't like more. Or voting to avoid hung parliament or wasting votes. - These can be important but really at the end of the day you should put your X by the person and party you feel best supports your interests.

Remember to pray! Wait on God, ask Him to give you wisdom and His plans for Britain. Remember Rom. 13 tells us to submit to those in authority and 1 Tim 2:1-4 tells us to pray for our leaders so that we as Christians can live with peace. So make God the key player in your decision!

Finally, please please please remember to vote! This is so important! If we truly want to influence this country and our leaders, and be involved in securing the spread of the Gospel in the UK then we cannot not vote. Prayerfully have your say, chip in your X, and drop it in the box. Ask God to take that vote and make it count for the spread of His good news!

I'll end with CCB's verse for the year:

"Pray for us, that the Word of God may spread rapidly, and be honoured wherever it goes."

Reflections on NAWWA 2010

At NAWWA we looked on Wednesday night at:


"The thieft comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that they might have life and have it to the full." [John 10:10].

And I just wonder how many of us realize the significance of that verse and the commitment we made as a community that night?

Just to re-jog our memories we stood together as a people to commit to become a John 10:10 people. We committed to loving and serving each other in love to bring out the life to the full that Jesus gives us. We committed together to seeking the life that Jesus offers and as a group shunning the ways of the thief. We stood, and the Holy Spirit fell, leading relationships to be rebuilt, tears to fall and a huge sense of refreshment in the group. The difference that night and the next day was almost scary - we felt like a 1 Corinthians 12 (body of Christ) community -twas awesome!

However NOW is where the rubber meets the road. Now is where it really matters. Now is where the commitment becomes real - where we have to live it out.

So I want all of us at Caleb Club (leaders included) to be asking ourselves some deep questions:

  • am I serving the community by my attitudes outside Caleb Club?
  • am I loving other Caleb Clubbers by how I speak?
  • am I seeking Jesus in the lives of my fellow Caleb Clubbers?
  • am I a transparent and open friend?
  • do I care more about my relationship with Jesus than I do about my self-image?
  • do I say the same things to peoples faces as I do behind their backs?
  • do I have faith that God can move mountains at Caleb Club?
  • do I want Caleb Club full of those who are dedicated to seeking Jesus or would I rather it just be a 'me and my friends' youth-club?
  • do I love Jesus more than anything else?
  • am I becoming more or less like Jesus in my thought life?
  • am I becoming more or less like Jesus in how I speak to others/about others?

I know these are hard questions, and none of them are meant to be accusatory, but I think its important that if we are truly going to make a commitment before God to become the community He wants us to be then we need to follow up and seek change in our lives. And if we do, then I believe God will truly honor this and we will see John 10:10 - life to the full - community at Caleb Club. Lets commit to this journey together!

Caleb Club Report - 2nd May 2010



It certainly was a small group of us on Sunday Night, but what we lacked in numbers we made up for in an immense night!


We played ultimate Frisbee and 4square, not to mention an odd game of air-hockey. It was great to see Ali there for the first time, and great to see a few of us who had just spent the weekend doing children's work at Pilgrim Hall.

We looked together at relationships, using the Rob Bell, Nooma DVD called "Flame." This is a great vid based around three Hebrew words that the Bible uses for love; raya (deep friendship), ahava (passionate, lasting commitment), and dod (sexual intimacy).

We talked about how the world mis-balances these three resulting in breakdown of relationships and we thought about how each exists in Christian dating/courtship and some of the difficulties involved.

Most importantly we moved away from the DVD and thought about how each word relates to our relationship with God, and although the Bible's view here can be surprising we we're all refreshed by being reminded of the crazy-love that God has for us.

Praise God for a great and important night. Sorry that so many of you didn't make it. Its possible however that we could look at the vid again some night.

The Lord's Great Love

"Lord,

Today, I thought again
about what you did
for us on the cross.
When I think of Your great love,
and my unworthiness,
I am overwhelmed.
And there is nothing
I can say except
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You."

Just wanted to let you Caleb Club gals n' guys know that I'm praying for you. Seriously praying for you. For you to be overwhelmed with the Great love of Jesus & overwhelmed by what He did for you and me on the cross. And for that to spill over in joy and love for him & each other @ Caleb Club.

I love you gals n' guys! And I'm still so proud of the commitment you made at NAWWA to commit to God and each other as a John 10:10 community. - Already, however we've seen this attacked, and already we've seen a breakdown of trust within the community. I urge you all before God to become peacemakers to each other. Don't mess about - say 'sorry' and 'I forgive you' today! Don't let Satan target your joy and the joy of Caleb Club by becoming a grudge-bearer or a gossiper. Let God be first and come first.

Bless you gals n' guys.

t.

ps. prayer at the beginning from'A Pocket Book of Prayers for Teens' available for loan on the bookshelf at the back of the lounge kitchen.

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