Recommended Reading

I got Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother" for Christmas.

I didn't really know much about Doctorow before I read this, apart from his appearances in XKCD, and mentions of his name in the same breath as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. However the premise of the book - tech savvy kids fight back when the DHS labels them as potential terrorists - sounded intriguing.

I read the first chapter after my Christmas dinner whilst in the reading room, and the only thing that stopped me starting chapter two was The New Doctor, and A Matter of Loaf and Death.

So last night I thought I'd just read a few chapters, and then have an early night.

I finished the book at 4am this morning.

You hear the phrases "unputdownable", or "I couldn't put it down" about books all the time, but this is only the second time I've experienced it (the last time was Nick McDonell's Twelve).

I highly recommend getting this book. And if you are feeling the pinch, you can even download it for free completely legitimately.

Spread the word

-P@nd0r4

Prayer Points - December 2008

This was just posted to our prayer points email list:

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Dear Prayer Partners,

We are into December and the Connections Summer has begun. Our first
December Sunday followed a wedding of a couple in our congregation and it
was great to spend the next day picnicking together in a local forest
reserve (You can find a picture here:
http://will-briggs.blogspot.com/2008/12/update-observations-from-forest.html).


We are now ramping up to our "Kid's Christmas" event on Christmas Eve in our
local park. The aim here is twofold: Firstly, to seize the opportunity of
Christmas to present the gospel. Secondly, to do so in a way that builds
community, an accessible activity in a public space.

We are still making use of the local park and the local surf club as a
venue. We recently had a bit of a "problem" with the local council
triple-booking the park with other organisations. But to "do church" in
semi-public view and to follow up with bbq and fun on the beach is good for
us. We want it to be known that "Sunday morning and lunchtime something is
happening in the park."

We are still on the learning curve, however, and value your prayer.

1) Please pray for our times in the park - the key aspect of our
"Connections Summer." Pray that we are able to interact well with those who
see us, and that they will join us in some way - at least in conversation.
Pray for those who are willing to run kid's activities and the like each
Sunday lunchtime.One thing we are feeling the lack of at the moment is

2) Please pray for fine weather each Sunday!

3) Pray for our Kid's Christmas event at 5pm Christmas Eve. The reaction to
our advertising has been positive. Pray for the logistics and for those
preparing things for that time.

4) One of our difficulties at the moment is how to incorporate all ages
within our Sunday gatherings. Please pray for us as we work out how,
especially, we minister to our children. Please pray for the provision of
workers in this regard.

God bless,

Will.

Blue Rage!

Something that annoyed me the last two Christmases, and has now started to annoy me again is blue Christmas lights.

Seems fairly harmless enough. Just one of many colours of lights that people use for the large light displays on the front of their house, right?

WRONG!

There are two real problems with these blue lights, particularly when they are the only colour of light being used.

1) Emergency services
For some reason, these blue lights are the same blue as used by ambulances, police cars and fire engines. And if the house has any sort of obstruction outside streetlamps, trees or telegraph poles) the flicker of blue is just enough to add an extra thing to worry about when driving conditions are bad. Am I speeding? Do my lights work? Will I have to brake/swerve suddenly? etc...

2) My eyes!
The blue they have chosen also hurts my eyes. Its so far along the spectrum its bordering on UV and the frequency of light makes my eyes twitch. Grrr!

So in short, either dump these lights, or mix them with other colours to save my poor nerves and eyeballs!