Happy Christmas!!

Have a great Christmas and a TCA 2007!!

A Candy Maker's Witness

A candymaker wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Saviour. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as Candy Cane - a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear". I pray that this symbol will again be used to witness to the wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.

Author Unknown

Three Trees

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter," and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree, I'll take this one," and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop; the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realise that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Christmas Sheep!

Click here to go to the website, follow the link....turn up your volume, and enjoy!!

Time for an update!!

I thought it was about time I updated my blog a bit!!

Since my last post, we've had the Youth Weekend Away (35 or so of us from church). It was tca (totally cool & awesome!). I've also been re-vamping the Elim Youth website - and putting pics etc on there.

What else? I went to Nantwich to spend a few days at Bible College (which was great).

I also went to hear LZ7 recently. Here's a pic of me and Lindz West (btw - he's very tall - I haven't shrunk!). If you haven't heard their music - check it out here

The Youth have been busy preparing for the youth service which we had at the end of November in church. What a fab evening! They were totally awesome!! Great meeting!



I went to Lille (France) the other week to the Christmas market. Here are some pics of the day! My passport was a bit shocked I think....it hadn't been out of the UK since January!!!

What else? I've recently celebrated another birthday!

Sunday was great - 80 of us went to visit Hillsong Church in London! We had a great day out - and I was just very relieved that we didn't lose anyone!!



We've also had a bit of a move round in the office - so I've moved my 'stuff' to a new desk (which judging by the pics you will understand this was no small [or quick] task!) The pink fluffy lights were only temporary (honestly) - and I'm pleased to report that my desk is looking a lot tidier, and professional(!!) now (ha ha!)

Well, that's about it for now.....more soon (maybe!) In the meantime, Christmas is coming which means it's time for me to have a run through all the Christmas carols - as I'm playing on Christmas Eve.

Have a great week everyone!! :-)

White Christmas!

Are we going to have a white Christmas? Click here to find out!