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Cult 80

Some of you who know me will know that I am among other things the co-founder of a cult. This cult is called “Number 80″, which derrives its name from the house number at which I live.

“Number 80″ is a house of infamy, described by some as ‘home’, others ‘a hell hole’, and still others are resigned to say ‘It’s Livable!’ It was originally made famous as a church batchelor pad, this remains true to this day, but it has in recent times risen to promience as a “valued customer” of many a fast food establishment, namely Dominos and Eddys, and of course the home of the cult (not clique) of “Number 80″. When asked for comment, Cult Leader, and object of general worship Mark Davey said “doit”, and then proceeded to do a laughing dog impression.

Number 80One of the defining features of this cult is its rank and hieracy structure:

Nobody – We don’t know you or don’t care

Dog – a term of contempt, used most commonly to describe those closest to the cult

Champ – the first rung on the ladder, we like you, you’re a decent chap, with some common sense

Hero – the second rung, supportive of the cult, exhibits cult traits with straight talking, no nonsense attitude

Legend – the top of the pile, will have exhibitted the marks of a hero, and a champ, loyal to the cult, and a good record of service, an occasional streak of BA (bad attitude) is a common side affect of this status

Geezer – there are two types of ‘champ, hero, legends’, geezer, or just normal. To be in the geezer category you will enjoy fast food, coke, and DVDs such as Taken.

If you’d like to become part of this cult, clique, social experiment, then please write to Mark Sidney Davey, c/o Mill View Hospital, Hove.

Hero, Champ, Legend

James Clark

Rarely does one climb the heights of the ‘Number 80 Cult’ without ever having been into ‘Number 80′, but this man was a true Hero, Champ and Legend!

It was with both joy and sadness that I was able to be at the Thanksgiving Service for the life of James Clark a few weeks ago. James died at the age of 95. John Piper speaks much about how not to waste your retirement. James had at least 30 years of retirement, and boy did he use it for the glory of God!

James would come to the two main services at church, he’d come to the prayer gatherings, he ran the tape ministry, he helped at the Stroke club, at the Games club, he did sponsored swims for a local charity, he was on the welcome team, he served as a treasurer on a number of different organisations.

His biggest commitment was to the work of the Gideons and Global Cafe. He would every Friday come and talk with International Students, play Scrabble with them, ask them about their cultures, offer them a New Testament and share Christ with them.

I his work for the Gideons James would give out New Testaments to people, it was his aim to give out one a day. It is reckoned that he gave out over 10,000 NTs over his life – I think he gave out around 40 during his time in hospital – testimony to how God can use you, even when bound to a hospital bed!

In his address Phil Moon said… “when I’m 95 I want to be like James Clark”… he paused, corrected himself, “I want to be like James Clark now!” – passionate about the gospel, eager to serve, to wake up each day excited by how the Lord will use you!

Pal and Favourite

Gav and KarenLast week I had the joy of attending the wedding of my good Pal Karen and her well rounded husband Gav (who is affectionately known as ‘The Favourite’). I love these guys, not least for the fact that they have such common names ‘Smith and Jones’… I love Gav because I stand next to him and he makes me feel slim and athletic, I love Karen because she tells me when I’m being an idiot.

The best moments have to be when both the best man and the groom started blubbing in their speeches – you big girls! Also the photos were fun, possibly the quickest wedding photos I’ve ever been to! Food was good, and the cake was awesome – no fruit cake in sight! I had the honour to be Master of Ceremonies (introduce the speeches) which was fun – I wasn’t allowed to tell any jokes, so just slipped in a few in jokes… I’ve decided that all my ‘jokes’ are ‘in-jokes’, but internal within myself, that’s why I’m the only person who thinks I’m funny!

A side note on weddings… why are they all the same? I enjoy tradition but they get a bit samey after a while, I feel more variety is needed… consider the example of some friends of friends who dressed up like Tudors to get married – seriously weird, but a little bit different!

Today’s Nude

A new feature to my blog… the daily nude. Haha, not really…

I was watching a bit of PMQs over lunch, and flicked through the channels… Bargain Hunt, Loose Women, and then Channel 4, ‘Life Class: Today’s Nude’… What’s this about?! It’s just gone noon, I’m sitting down to eat a spot of lunch (bacon sandwich.. mmm) and I’m greeted by a rather attractive young lady posing naked… sitting perfectly still, no sound, no nothing… just her sitting showing off her assets!

Some people call this “art”, or “life drawing”… all I know is it’s not good for a young man at lunchtime!!

Paintballing Wounds

Bruise on my shoulder

Went to a stag do at the weekend, did a bit of paintballing back up near the village. We all got some bruises but I got the best one… 4 paintballs went into my right shoulder on 4 separate ocassions, this is the resulting bruise which I have been showing off to anyone who’s interested!

Check this bad boy out… (apologies for hairy chest also shown in this shot)… it almost looks like a love heart, with a smiley face inside…

Speaker’s Corner

Speakers CornerOn Sunday I went up to Speakers’ Corner, along with a small group from the Students & 20s group at my church. We were hoping to see Jay Smith debate, but sadly he wasn’t there. But we had some debates with some Atheists, heckled some crazy lady, and then I (and others) had loooooong debates with some Muslims.

We talked about the Trinity… about God’s justice and how He deals with Sin and Forgiveness… these Muslims are quite well practised, they have their proof texts, but they fall on two big counts – they fail when looking at the Bible to use any kind of context, either the context of a verse, passage, or wider Biblical framework. They also miss the point because they don’t get the Trinity… you can’t explain the cross and how God deals with Sin, without grasping the Trinity!

One thing I’ve noticed in debating Muslims is that they know more about the Bible than I know about the Qu’ran, this inevitable means that it’s the Christian on the defensive… but even when you ask them a question… first they’ll turn it back on you, second they’ll side step the question, and third they’ll answer it… but even at step 3, the answers aren’t coming from the Qu’ran, little if any reference is made!

So, my challenge to myself, is to read some more of the Qu’ran, do the research, and next time put the Muslims on the defensive… this is why Jay Smith is so effective… cos he knows his Qu’ran!

Mission in France

Last week I had a few days holiday with a few mates in France… we had a day in Rouen, a day in Caen (and Aromanches – near the D-Day beaches), a day in Lille, and an afternoon on a beach in Belgium (De Panne). We had intended to spend all our time in Rouen… but we discovered that it was a dump and our motel was in the part of town where you buy your drugs, and stay in when it gets dark… so we went on a road trip instead!

My good friend Bret, who goes by the alias “Xander Coomber” came with me… he took some photos and shares some similar thoughts…

While I made a few jokes about blowing out the candles, jumping over the barriers into the ‘holy of holies’ and genuflecting when we arrived, it’s actually quite sad… France is, it would seem spiritually dead!

Here are the stats from Joshua Project… only 0.5% of French people are Evangelical Christians, 33% of the population are considered to be in an unreached people group. Compare this to somewhere like Malawi… my church has run several mission trips to Malawi (doing very good work in training leaders)… however the country is majority Christian and only 13% of the population would be considered to be ‘unreached’.

Now obviously where there is any unreached people, it’s worth investing there… but a lot of mission work goes in to East Africa, which is pretty Christianised, with established Evangelical churches… and it is a popular place for missionaries to go. BUT… why don’t we send more missionaries to places like France? There’s 33 unreached people groups in France, which make up a third of the total population, many are either trapped in the religion and ritual of Catholicism or have embraced the secular worldview of modern France… this country needs missionaries to go there, there is a greater need for gospel workers here than in East Africa!

…and here’s some good news – my church is going to be supporting a gospel worker in France for the next 2 years. I’m hoping she’s gonna blog while she’s there…

Tighnabruaich

Having a quick break away in Scotland… this is the view from the top of the hill… nice.

Tighnabruaich

Coming Up

Well I’m back from NWA! I’m not sure it was quite the holiday I needed – didn’t get much sleep, and the 8 hour journey doesn’t help, but at least it was sunny. Anway… I suspect I shall produce some concluding thoughts in the near future post Word Alive.

Also, I’ve started looking into the process of Ordination in the Church of England, so before anything official happens I need to do some reading on Christian leadership, on Anglicanism and on some issues, particularly on Infant Baptism… so it seems my blog would be a good place to record stuff that I learn from this.

At the end of the month, we’ll be gearing up for Bible by the Beach – I’ll be blogging all about what goes on and probably posting some videos about what’s happening.

So… you don’t really care about this, but I figure if I write down the stuff which I propose to blog about then I might actually get off my bum and do it.

2008 – You don’t always get what you want!

Andy Shudall works with students in New Zealand, for TSCF – I don’t know him, never met him, but I know he’s a friend of lots of friends (11 according to Facebook). Anyway he’s just written a great post summing up 2008 for him… sounds like he’s had a pretty rough year… I’d echo much of what he says…

1. God is good, sovereign and true no matter our experience.

3. Sinfulness is so ingrained in the human heart, soul and mind that weakness strengthens it and strength is laid low before it.

4. Seasons change and there is glory in every season.

5. Of all the things to treasure here friendship is of great value.

“Goodbye 2008 – you weren’t what I asked for, but I’m confident that you are what I needed.”