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.

> Compare Policies Easy here: http://www.pocketpolitics.co.uk/compare/start.html

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

> Beckenham Profile here http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/beckenham

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:

> Liberal Democrats: http://www.libdems.org.uk/our_manifesto.aspx

> Conservative: http://www.conservatives.com/Policy/Manifesto.aspx

> Labour: http://www2.labour.org.uk/manifesto-splash

(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.

Why Jesus Died 1. - To Show the MASSIVENESS of God's love for us!

We can measure God's love for us by looking at two things:

First, the Hugeness of God's Sacrifice.
Second, the Hugeness of our Sin.

So first: The Hugeness of God's Sacrifice.

John 3:16 tells us that God gave His only Son! This is huge! The God of the universe as a Son, an only Son and sacrificed Him for us! That’s like a bloke who goes fishing with his son in a boat, sees some people stranded on the rocks nearby about to be crushed by the waves, and goes to save them. While he's rowing hard his son falls in the water and he makes the decision to save the people and not his son!

Jesus 'Christ' - That Christ bit is not Jesus' second name, it’s his title. The name Christ, or Christos, comes from a Hebrew word meaning the messiah, or, the Ultimate King of the Whole Universe! This is mega-monarchy! His crown could support a race track! Yet He came to earth to die! That’s like the Queen of England dying for her country, times by quite a lot.

Christos also is 'divine' title, not as in fairtrade divine chocolate, but a title which shows that He is God! Jesus Christ is God! He is an infinite being and He came to die for us! Thus this is an infinite sacrifice!

Think finally about the death that Jesus died. He didn't just fall over or die peacefully in His sleep, He was crucified. A brutal way to die where the person on the cross slowly drowns because of the weight of their ribs on their chest makes their lungs fill up with blood. It is a horrendous, horrific, horrible, hugely hurtful way to die!

That’s the -hugeness- of God's Sacrifice!

Second: The Hugeness of our Sin.

We all sin, we know that, two minutes looking inside tells us that everyday we say, think, and do things which offend and infinitely holy, clean, and perfect God. But there’s more, it was while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8) that Jesus died for us! It was in the middle of the mess, before we did anything to acknowledge God, that God made the first move, and died for us!

The wages of sin is death so Romans also tells us. That sin is punished by death. We deserved punishment, not God's sacrifice!

Also, sin isn't just doing things wrong, that’s like 10% of what sin is! A much bigger proportion is just treating God as inconsequential in our lives. God sustains our every second, we are alive now, not because God wound us up and let us go, but because God thinks and speaks us into existence every second! To treat this God as if he doesn't matter is infinitively offensive and treasonous to God!

Our debt it huge! So huge that no human could pay for it, only a divine sacrifice would do!

That’s the hugeness of our sin!

If you’re a mathematician you could think about it as an x/y graph, where y is the vertical axis, and x the horizontal from +10 to -10 intercepting at 0. God did EVERYTHING, all positive, as much as could possibly could be done, the ultimate, infinitive sacrifice. So that’s +10 on the x axis. Quite a lot of love. We did everything wrong, totally, completely negative in our sin. We were as messed up as we could be, so the hugeness of our sin is at -10.

That’s the extent of Gods love, stretch wide your arms and hands as far as they can go, +10 all up to -10... You may recognize the shape?

Imagine you were found guilty in court for murder. You've been sentenced to death, but just as the hammer is coming down the doors burst open and a young man runs in and puts his hand under the hammer before it falls. He whispers in the judge’s ear and the judge nods his head. Then the young man and the guards come to you, remove your handcuffs and place them on this man, who then goes and dies in your place. You're then told by the judge you’re free to go; your sentence was borne by another. But when you get outside you're confronted by the press you inform you that the man who died was the judges own son.

You deserved death because of the hugeness of your crime, the judge and his son gave the most ultimate sacrifice! Huge love, for you!

Theirs one explanation (Ephesians 1:7), the riches of His Grace! GRACE. G.R.A.C.E. God's Riches at Christ’s Expense. All Yours. All Free. It’s not a response to your worth; it’s the overflow of God's worth.

This is why Jesus died. To show the massiveness of God's love.

---

For more on this, grab yourselves a copy of 'The Passion of Jesus Christ' by John Piper

The Passion, with 'This Man' by Jeremy Camp

Forgiveness

Jonsies Back!

Katie and I (Tim) took off to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on my day off this week. Myself as a die-hard Jones fan, and Katie as an American we approached screen six at the Odeon with great anticipation. With script writing by George Lucas and directing by Steven Spielberg, the new Jonsie film has the classic action-junky, mystical history, pun-a-minute sparkle of its predecessors, with a gentle, o.a.p., cute-love, weird domestics of a 21st century bbc soap. ... although set in the time of the greasers and the jocks. The experience was also enhanced by the fact we were the only viewers on this occasion, thus had 24 premier seats and 50 or so standard seats to ourselves.

For more review-like reviews go here:
http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/indiana_jones_and_the_kingdom_of_the_crystal_skull/

Did you see it too? Leave some thoughts on the comment section!

Handy

Tim showing he revised and correct actions to the YMCA.

Worship Central

If your a Christian Musician then you should really enjoy 'Worship Central.' Its a conference designed to encourage and equip a generation of worship teams, praise bands, song writers, or just people who love making music to God! We went a couple of months ago and had an awesome day, and we're going again!

12th July! (Starting off with Breakfast at Tim's House)

More info and booking here >>>http://www.worshipcentral.org/<<<

Koinos... this week!

Hey everybody! Remember its Koinos tomorrow night.

theLounge @ CCB (map here) 7.30-9.30. We're looking this week at 'Serving Together.'

If you haven't been to Koinos before we'd love to see you! Koinos is the midweek small group(s) that form the heart of the community for 14-18's at Christ Church Beckenham. We hang out together, get into our Bibles, pray together, play games together, and ask critical questions together. As with all our groups, if you're not a Christian you're still very welcome and the only thing expected of you is to bring your doubts + questions, make friends, and test things out for yourself.

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

Blessings

Tim

The Great Commission

This is the Great Commission given to the disciples (and subsequently us!) from the risen Jesus as recorded in Matthew:

16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Mow we have all heard a lot of teaching on this but there's something really simple which is often missed about this task... look what happens when we read it though the eyes of verses like this:

“Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.”- Jeremiah 23:24

Did you see it?

Who gave the great commission? Eh? It was God! THE God, through Jesus Christ. The God is is over and above everything, who created everything, who holds planets in his hands, who knows what every molecule of the universe is doing every second of every day! This God gave the great commission!

Do we see this?

THE God of the entire universe has given US a job to do! This God! Doesn't the great commission take on a whole new meaning when we look at the one who gives it?

This is like the Prime Minister knocking on our door asking us to do a job for him... but Bigger!

So the God of the universe has asked for you... are you going to turn him down?

Caleb Club end-of-exams BBQ

Last Saturday we had a great afternoon in Anna Grimble's garden with a BBQ celebrating the end of the exams. It was a whole-load of fun + included, jimi hendrix, a mexican hammock, and genuine american burgers (in that they were made by a genuine american lady!)

We'll be having more of these puppies throughout the summer so don't miss out and do bring friends!

Soul Survivor!

We are indeed going ladies and gentlemen. Week C... thats the 16th - 20th August 08.

Let Tim know asap if you want to go!

CaleClub Gathering Last Night

Last night was an awesome night of reflection on God's call for our lives. We kicked off with some chilling out with a george foreman grill and a whole load of chicken, and then moved into the worship area.

We looked together at Ephesians 4:1-16, particularly verse 1. which says; "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."

Tim taught that in order to live a life worthy, we need to get a bigger picture of what 'our calling' is, and so we talk a short walk through the first couple of chapters of Ephesians.

Chapter 1, verse 4 says we were individually chosen by God himself before anything else was created!
Ch.1:5 says were adopted as God's own children, which means we are heirs or all things in the universe!
1:7 says that although we messed up and mess up, God himself died on a cross in Jesus to forgive us, and set us back right with God!
1:13 says that God himself, in the Holy Spirit has come to live inside us... all the fullness of God has sealed us!
2:7 says that God has promised us such joy and riches in heaven that its going to take hm all of eternity to give us!
Finally 3:10 says that all the full wisdom of God is going to be revealed to the world, and even to the heavenly places... though us!

So our calling is chosen, adopted, redeemed, sealed, eternal, and used by God to show himself to the world!


We spent time responding to this through singing, writing, meditating, encouraging each other and praying at prayer stations.

teaCosy

teaCosy was an awesome hit Saturday night! We drank lots...and lots.. of great tea. They'll e another in 1 month! But for now, enjoy some picures:

teaCosy

Tomorrow!

Sat. 14th June.. 7.30-> ... in the lounge, age 14-19(ish) (map here)

Come.

Drink tea.

Play age-old board games.

Watch Beano shorts.

Invite Friends... even make new friends!

Tommorrow!

Come!

>>>Click here for dirrections<<<

Central Line's Blue Jeans Banquet! - The Line/Barn danceoff!

So our two lads teams took the challenge of best line/barn dance, here are the videos of their final efforts!

Team 1:


Team 2:

Soul Survior 08

We. are . going. ... contact tim (timmy.gee@hotmail.co.uk) for more details.

...coming soon