brucy loving the irish victory at landsdown, bit of mission nearly lost but YOU'LL NEVER BEAT THE IRISH"

John 15
and "I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. 2He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. 3You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
4"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
5"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. 6Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. 7But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. 8This is how my Father shows who he is--when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
9"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. 10If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done--kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
11"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. 12This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. 13This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. 14You are my friends when you do the things I command you. 15I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.
16"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17"But remember the root command: Love one another.

1 John 2:27 "As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit-just as it has taught you, remain in him."

i think that intimacy with Jesus for most of my life i have substited with church and bible studies and cell groups and big meetings. not really thinking that God really does want to just chill with me and that when He shows up there is no feeling like it. so all these other things can be good but as long as they are second place to the source.

LIGHT UP LIGHT UP AS IF YOU REALLY HAD A CHOICE
was at the snowpatrol gig last night, it had been sold out since i arrived in september but this guy i was dandering to the pub with was handed the tickets by a random in the street - LEGEND, but it gets better the third guy i was at the gig with was a senior UN offical, a canadina guy working for the UN in bulgaria...

I was meeting up with Brendan Tougy(aka the crazy old guy aka the white rabbit), and he bought dinner for me, this guy mark (involved in SUAS a charity that gets students to go and do development for 3 months in the summer, he had gone to calcutta 2 years ago and was helping co-ordinate last year) and Mike a guy who went ack to re-do he leaving cert.(A levels) after a degree in social science to try out his theories or alternatie learning methods. We then headed to the pub to meet 2 of the leaders from SUAS with a guy who had a phd in learning and comp sci - who works with the UN and was hosting this guy Uli(the UN dude who came to the gig) who was over interviewing ppl for JPO positions(work in the UN for a couple of years). So after we had all had a pint Mark, Uli and I headed off to catch the Patrol, who were definately rocking the Olympia :)

so praise the Lord for more adventure, free food, gigs and pints.. LIGHT UP LIGHT UP

my best mate from uni joe just got engaged!!! i was totally freakd out, the whole marrige thing scares me, big time. and they are so young etc etc, but then i was thinking about what the bible has to say about it, and read eph5 below

eph 5 v25 -
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[2] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

this might sound a bit dramatic but i have never seen these verses lived out quite like Mare and Joe over the last year. i am obviously young naieve and dont have a clue about relationships but the leap of faith it takes to say yes i want to marry you while i am still young before we have lived together for 5 years and proved we can earn enough money to afford it etc etc strikes me as a great adventure, the sort of the thing that love illogical and wild as it is would prompt. so go for it you too i am privleged to be part of your best man double act, this is going to be beautiful

faster than a rocket,

i was in southampton at the weekend but i felt more like 30 mins or 1 hour

off the plane to michelles's for a cup of tea, on the big Chris's to watch the passion and pray for a couple of hours. rock up at 57 portswood (my old house mates new house) at 3:15am and the party starts or rather the rumble, 7 of us in a no shirts no shoes brawl, to bed around 5, up about 11 massive fry up, watch film supersize me (really good, fast food is a bad as whiskey for your liver!) off to the beach back, out by dinner, cook a massive stir fry for 12 with a little help from my friends, out to the UNABOMBERS in Sobar (quite good but never took their set anywhere) drunk far too much dancing, back to 57 another big ruckus, i got my boxers wedgied right off *ahh* up to bed up at 9am off to ELF for loads of great quality God stuff inc. prophecy over me, grab my crap get in the car straight to the airport....... whew

didnt see half the ppl i wanted to be but didnt see those i did for half the time i wanted to either. i think ill go for a week next time :)

since then been sitting under my tree, might get baptisted and met Brendan again, this old man who works for the gov. and UN and is really cool. talking away to him about faith stuff and he reckons i am here on a mission... head wreking to say the least
now i gotta fly
peace
(need some)
g

just a wee pic for anyone who has forgotten what i look like of that i own a fine russian hat 

yo de mc yoderson
hows it goin
sorry for general lacking of posting or late
i have no real excuse seing i have all the time in the world, or used to anyway...
life has busied up a bit since the quietness of my first month or so. i keep going a different place each weekend which means monday is tiredness, and friday is going away after work so that only leaves 3 nights and i have waterpolo and a bible study on two of them but i am jacking the bible study for a pub quiz tomorrow... i really like the ppl at the bible study or most of them anyway but the vibe is a little old skool and i am cant avoid being influenced in a way that i am not feeling. ie its making me a self/works centered.
LOVED the weekend in belfast, chilled on friday with parents in a really good we like each other kinda way(it has been a bit rock cause of me sitting on my ass for far too much of the summer) anyway its was cool. then saturday met Ben jamin then went out to cape town reunion, which was with church in summer 03, mainly the olds showed but they are really cool olds and funny aswell. after that i arrived at shines 9th birthday at about half 12 and the bouncers werent letting ppl with stamps back in! i had no ticket and wasnt that determined to get it... well thats what i had told myself walking down, hearing the tunes pumping through the concrete i decieded to take a walk round the back looking for an open door... eventually i saw an open window, on the 2nd floor, but there was a ladder up to a ledge i could pull myself up to the the first floor from. So tryign to get a 999 feeling out of my head i pulled myself up on a metal guttering and crawed across the top of the madella hall (which alter egos rocker was on - sweet) then pulled myself in a window with the help of a couple of the friend shiners and i was in :)

dj hell for 3hrs on halloween the sense of irony was not lost as for the first time i felt like i saw an angel who then opened the ceiling the let the Glory of God shine in :) a very beautiful and special moment.

i did later set off a speed camera driving someone up to get poppers for an after party (now theres a tricky decision, do i give my friend a lift if i know they are going to collect drugs?) so the night wasnt all a holy lovlyness but it was over all excellent.

I am totally re-affirmed that the clubs are dying for a massive move of God, that the dancefloor rather than the church meeting is where we are free to worship and dance as hard as we can(a la david) and that sitting around until its tomorrow is a great way to spend time with your friends.
i was also struck by the effort some of my friends put into getting "wapped" - totally druged up, there are normal ppl so to be risking a criminal conviction to buy the expensive stuff, and then be prepared to spend 9 or 10 hours plying your body with what you know is going to make you feel like absolute crap the next day, is a real commitment to the cause, it is a social thing but its personal too. Like at the end of the day, 24-7 rooms aside, are we prepared to get together with a few mates and seek God's face enjoy His presense and experience His Spirit(which we would(rightly) all claim to be a better feeling than any chemical high) for even a few hours knowing that will not in the least bit be hung over but rather probably be in the best form the next day?

maybe im ranting, and just sitting around looking for a high from God is not really what Jesus was about, but maybe there is room for a little more celebration, and generally as far as my limited understanding of history goes, was it not from these type of gatherings that God launched many a new move?

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