Prayers for 19th Feb 2006

Father God, we thank you for these financial gifts. It is our prayer that they will be used in order to glorify You and to extend your Kingdom, both in Balham and far away.
Amen.

Lord God, help all those caught up in the landslide in the Philippines. Give insight to the rescue workers, that they may work diligently to rescue those who have survived. Give comfort O God, to those survivors, and help rescue those still trapped.
Amen

Almighty God, Father of all humanity, we pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, peace may be established among the nations. A peace based on justice, righteousness and truth. We lift before you, Sovereign Lord, the wars and conflicts going on around the world. From the Middle East and Africa; to the Americas to Asia and into Eastern Europe, war and conflict surrounds us and brings with it corruption, greed, a thirst for bloodshed and oppression of the poor and innocent. We pray that peace may reign soon in those countries and situations.
In our own land here, we too are the objects of wrath, from those who desire to inflict damage through acts of terrorism. We pray that our hearts would not fear from any of these conflicts or rumours of conflicts and wars. So God our Father help us to trust and rely upon You and Your Spirit, the great comforter.

Sovereign Lord, we pray for all are, and who will be called to national leadership. Give them vision to see far into the issues of their time, courage to uphold what they believe to be right, integrity in their words and motives; and may their service be to promote the welfare and peace of the whole human race. We pray also that Your pure and peaceable wisdom will guide them.

God of love, whose compassion never fails;
we bring before you the griefs and perils of all peoples and nations;
All of whom, are victims of some form of conflict. Whether that be the needs of the homeless;
the helplessness of the aged and weak; the sighing of prisoners;
the pains of the sick and injured; the sorrow of the bereaved;
the oppression of the poor and the innocent;
the families of those injured or killed during conflict.
Comfort and relieve them, O merciful Father, according to their needs.
Help those in the Armed services to make decisions and judgements based on justice and truth and not for other purposes.

We pray all these things through Him who was lifted up on the cross, so as to draw all people to himself, Jesus Christ our Lord, the ever reigning Prince of Peace.
Amen.

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Well…

I be off for five weeks to London, with limited internet access, so this place wont be updated for quite a while… so here are prayer requests…

Thank you for taking time out to pray intelligently into my block placement. Hence, here are my requests for prayer and list of aims and outcomes.

Block placement: Balham Baptist Church with Rev Steve Rouse

Aims:

1. help people grow in their faith, as they travel the path of discipleship
2. to gain experience of discipling others
3. to learn and share methods of Pastoral Care

Outcomes:

1. to have assisted people to grow in maturity of their faith
2. to have established and/or reinforced different practises of both discipling others
3. experience dealing with Pastoral Care issues

Personal requests:

1. Youngmi (wife) has been preliminarily diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and has to go for further tests on the 28th February.
2. Safety for Youngmi, as she is home alone.
3. That I would redeem the time wisely and faithfully.

LICC – Connecting with Culture – Cartoons of Muhammad

Cartoons of Muhammad

Art should illuminate. And cartoons, as valid an art form as any other, should help us to see ourselves and our world more clearly, exposing faults, parading idiosyncrasies, mocking pretensions. Regrettably, our response to such illuminations often sheds more light than the illustrations themselves. Such is the case with the reaction to the satirical images of the prophet Muhammad published in various European newspapers over recent months.

It has shown, among other things, how there exists a silent hierarchy of religious sensitivity in Britain. Christian offence at Jerry Springer – The Opera or Gilbert and George’s Sonofagod exhibition (to name but two) is clearly not as important as the potential Muslim reaction to a cartoon of Muhammad. It has shown how, for some Muslims in the UK, an insult to Islam greatly outweighs the moral and legal framework in which they live, justifying open incitement to violence and murder.

And it has shown how wide is the gap that separates what we might loosely call the religious mentality of the ‘Rest’, which believes that some things should remain beyond ridicule, and the secular one of the ‘West’ that claims that nothing is.

Different as these three matters are, they all point towards one key question: what (if anything) is of ultimate value to us? What (if anything) is sacred? Our answer to this question will dictate those to the many others that cluster around it: Is there a limit to artistic freedom? Does freedom necessarily involve the freedom to offend? Is religious or national identity more important? Is anything beyond ridicule?

Coming face to face with this question of the sacred also forces us to look into ourselves. If we truly believe nothing is sacred, is there anything but a vacuum at our heart? If only the human is sacred, how can we defend those values, including freedom, which transcend individual lives? If, alternatively, we claim to see the sacred only in the divine, are we not in danger of diminishing or even vilifying the human?

A gracious response to this increasingly tense affair will seek not only to listen attentively to the concerns of injured parties and to explain their concern to others, but also to force all to attend to the question of the sacred. Only by recognising what we judge sacrosanct will we understand who we are.

Nick Spencer

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INTJ

according to Myers-Brigg typology…

INTJ
Introverted 67
Intuitive 44
Thinking 81
Judging 89

INTJ – Introverted; Intuitive; Thinking; Judging

You are:

* distinctively expressed introvert
* moderately expressed intuitive personality
* very expressed thinking personality
* very expressed judging personality

The Portrait of the Mastermind Rational (iNTj) INTJs:

Introverted iNtuition

INTJs are idea people. Anything is possible; everything is negotiable. Whatever the outer circumstances, INTJs are ever perceiving inner pattern-forms and using real-world materials to operationalize them. Others may see what is and wonder why; INTJs see what might be and say “Why not?!” Paradoxes, antinomies, and other contradictory phenomena aptly express these intuitors’ amusement at those whom they feel may be taking a particular view of reality too seriously. INTJs enjoy developing unique solutions to complex problems.

Extraverted Thinking

Thinking in this auxiliary role is a workhorse. Closure is the payoff for efforts expended. Evaluation begs diagnosis; product drives process. As they come to light, Thinking tends, protects, affirms and directs iNtuition’s offspring, fully equipping them for fulfilling and useful lives. A faithful pedagogue, Thinking argues not so much on its own behalf, but in defense of its charges. And through this process these impressionable ideas take on the likeness of their master.

Introverted Feeling

Feeling has a modest inner room, two doors down from the Most Imminent iNtuition. It doesn’t get out much, but lends its influence on behalf of causes which are Good and Worthy and Humane. We may catch a glimpse of it in the unspoken attitude of good will, or the gracious smile or nod. Some question the existence of Feeling in this type, yet its unseen balance to Thinking is a cardinal dimension in the full measure of the INTJ’s soul.

Extraverted Sensing

Sensing serves with a good will, or not at all. As other inferior functions, it has only a rudimentary awareness of context, amount or degree. Thus INTJs sweat the details or, at times, omit them. “I’ve made up my mind, don’t confuse me with the facts” could well have been said by an INTJ on a mission. Sensing’s extraverted attitude is evident in this type’s bent to savor sensations rather than to merely categorize them. Indiscretions of indulgence are likely an expression of the unconscious vengeance of the inferior.