The river at Bedford - IMAGE

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A trip on the river - Photo taken 4th August 2012
The Embankment in Bedford takes in part of the River Great Ouse from the bridge at the town centre. There are great views of the town and the park. This family was enjoying the fine weather by hiring a boat and rowing up and down.

I was there with some friends on a photowalk. Great fun and very interesting. You can see some of the other photos I took in my Photowalk album.

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Bedford - Tough Talk

This evening Donna, Paul and I drove into Bedford for the X-treme Camps reunion meeting at Priory Methodist Church in Newnham Avenue. The numbers were lower than expected, but the evening itself was just great!

There was live music and Stacey made an excellent job of capturing the attention of everyone in the room, especially the younger ones. This, of course, was the object of the exercise. The music and singing were strong and enthusiastic and were followed by a sort of bush tucker competition during which volunteers were invited to consume such delicacies as lemon and lime slices, banana and gravy, anchovy and chilli. One young man stuck at it valiantly and took away a very worthwhile winner's prize.

Tough Talk had been invited to take the main part of the evening and they were very good. They combined an account of one man's very rough life with brief episodes of squats by another guy carrying a heavily loaded bar across his shoulders. Each time Chris returned he lifted an increased weight and in between the story of Simon's life continued. This created a sense of tension throughout, keeping us listening to every word.

The true story involved Simon's love of money for the power it gave and the final loss of everything. There was also loss of a job, involvement in a club brawl, a court case because of the violence, and then a remarkable phase in which Simon met a follower of Jesus who persuaded him to come to church. It turned out to be Holy Trinity, Brompton - the home of the Alpha Course! Nicky Gumbell prayed with him, he took an Alpha Course, and his life was transformed.

We heard a second life story from another member of the team, the band came back for more music, and then we all headed home. I was greatly impressed by what I'd seen and heard. I came away with a DVD of more Tough Talk stories and two books with even more of the same. It's great stuff. Highly recommended for any youth or adult audience.

See Tough Talk in action for yourself in the video below. Premier.tv has more Tough Talk videos online.

Wilstead - Church in a cafe

Rupert began by reading some passages from 'The Message', Psalm 23, Isaiah 55, and Matthew 11:28-30. All of these remind us of the peace we have in his presence. When times are hard and we have to work all hours, when it seems there's a situation we'll be unable to come through, Jesus is our peace and our comfort, the Almighty is our sustainer and refreshment.

Pete described a tree with birds sitting in its branches. This was a vision that had been shared with him some fifteen years ago. At the time the vision had encouraged them that there would be provision for every need they had at that time. And everything had worked out just fine.

We talked for a while about how we 'do' church. Chris shared the story of 'The Church at Table Number Two' (meeting in a restaurant) and was amazed later to discover that Rupert and Uli had been at the American meetings where those events were originally aired!

The point of the story however is that we need to do whatever he leads us to do, not what we have planned for ourselves. And we need to do what he shows us irrespective of whether we think it is likely to work on not, safe or dangerous, foolish or wise.

Uli wanted to read Romans 9:10-13 because this carries something of the same idea. Our choices and what we think appropriate count as nothing, the Lord will have it his way. He knows what is best.

Bedford - Sheep in the field

After some hasty rearrangements we met around lunchtime, chatted in the garden in the late summer sun, and shared a meal.

Uli read part of Luke 10 and wondered about peace concerning the medical work she and Rupert are planning. It's clear that Bedford hasn't received them, and the way forward isn't yet clear.

Patrick reminded us that Father has his place for each one of us. Then he read from Proverbs 16 and 17. Some of these verses seemed especially significant to us. Proverbs 16:1 'To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue', and Proverbs 16:9 'In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps'.

Rupert read 2 Samuel 5 and we thought how David intended to fight the Philistines but still asked the Lord, 'Shall I go..?'

Chris had a word about a bus journey, prompted in part by something Uli had said. 'You are travelling on a bus journey for the first and only time. You know the destination, but you don't yet know the route. But I know the route and will bring you safely to the correct destination.' Uli was encouraged that the Almighty promises a safe arrival, but sometimes feels unsure she's heard his answer correctly. How do we know we didn't just imagine it? Thinking about this we understood that when we have peace about something, then we can be sure.

Next, Rupert mentioned how Jonah was swallowed by the whale. What seems to have failed may have another chance. What seems dead may live again!

Uli remembered a story told by a friend. When we see sheep in a meadow they stand out because they are white. But later, after the snow falls and we see the same sheep again we think how very dirty they look, not white at all! Our righteousness is like the white of the sheep, but Yahshua's righteousness is white like snow and makes ours look very grubby.