my brush with fame! August 28, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.Tags: hampden park, kyle lafferty, northern ireland, rangers, scotland
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standing at hampden park last wednesday night all set for the northern ireland v scotland match and i suddenly realise that the bloke sitting 2 rows in front of me is none other than northern ireland and rangers star kyle lafferty. he was injured and couldn’t play in the match so had come across town to watch it.
just to prove it!!
shattered confidence & broken trust August 27, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.Tags: christian, confidence, ministry, scandal, snowpatrol
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wondering if i should even blogging about this because i love Jesus and hate His name being dragged through the dirt…
i feel like i’ve lost so much confidence in Christian ministry in the last few days as news has filtered through of 2 very public and high profile scandals. i don’t want to go into details but it’s been a horrible week for the Western church.
so who do we trust? what ministries do we listen to? what cd’s do we buy?
all this has reminded me…
:: never to place my hope in a man, a ministry, or even a church
:: that we are quick to build up and even quicker to tear down
:: of the importance of being in relational ministry with people who i know, love and trust
:: not to put people on pedestals
:: how i should look first to my local church for guidance and direction
:: that God still chooses to use messed up people
:: that most biblical characters really are just like us
:: that the internet and the media is such a powerful tool – for good and for evil
:: that i need to be discerning of what i watch and listen – in general!
as snowpatrol said: “i need Your grace to remind me to find my own…”
3D Church August 21, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.Tags: church, creativity, multi-dimensional worship, participation, response
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i’ve been thinking loads recently about how to help people engage more effectively when we gather people together for corporate times of worship or teaching. young people are my bias and so this post may reflect that but i feel there is a real need to be creating 3 dimensional experience of worship. that may sound weird but hear me out…
in the past when i went to church it was always focused on what was going on at the front. i listened for an hour with the occassional opportunity to sing a few verses and ease the back ache by standing up. it wasn’t all bad. i often enjoyed it, but the primary way i participated in worship was by listening. it was one dimensional worship.
but it’s obvious that we engage in more ways than just listening. we are multi dimensional people. perhaps we engage the most in the following 3 ways…
listening. watching. doing.
…we’re really good in the church at allowing people the opportunity to listen. (!!!) but what about visually and actively? some people aren’t singers. they hate it. but are stimulated visually. others learn best when they are doing something. they remember by participating.
but this post is not just for those ‘certain’ people. it’s for everyone. we live in a day where choice is paramount. our 300 channel TV’s. our split screen Sky Sports programme where you have different options of what to look at. our now necessary interactive red button.
and so what about our churches…
:: how are we doing at giving opportunity for people to participate in our worship gatherings?
:: in what ways are we inspiring people visually in our church?
:: are we giving those gathered any choice in what happens?
:: how can we better facilitate active response within a larger gathering of people?
:: are we creating an environment, singing songs, preaching sermons, giving announcements that stimulates the listening, the visual and the active person?
and it’s not just about installing a data projector or asking a question at the start of a sermon. it should be about every aspect of our times together. speaking in a language that can be heard, seen and lived. i long to see corporate worship experiences that are in 3D.
talkback: in what ways have you seen 3D church work well?
spark 08 & fuel 08 August 21, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.Tags: spark, ballymena, fuel, ecos
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some fellow bloggers have beaten me to it with great reports from the events of the past week in ballymena. was great to be involved in both spark and fuel. i really believe it was a significant week in so many ways for a massive amount of young people.
i’ll share my thoughts more fully soon but why not check out jason’s reports from spark 08 and ally’s blog for report about fuel 08…you’ll have to scroll down a bit for it!!
living local in our global world August 20, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.Tags: antrim, community, culture
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been thinking a lot recently about how much i invest in my local community. so often when i’ve messages to in antrim like going to the bank, or the shops, or getting my haircut, i can be rushing about so much or having the phone to my ear. but maybe it’s better to slow down and pause more, allowing time and space to chat to those i bump into and smile at who i meet.
just yesterday i was only in town for less than half an hour and i bumped into a few people who i used to go to school with or play football with. and on monday night, i was playing football at the forum and had the opportunity to chat to a few lads who used to go to BB in my church.
i’ve lived nearer belfast for the past year and loved that experience. it was refreshing in so many ways but to be honest, i really missed home as well. i missed hanging out with my mates more regularly. i hated having to travel back every week to play football or go to church. i didn’t get down to the snooker club i used to spend so many hours at as a teenager. months went by before i saw guys i used to be friendly with.
and so i’m challenged at how much time i spend in my community. i’d like to get back to the snooker club a bit more often. i’d like to support local companies and buy food from local shops, even if it does cost me 10p extra. i’d like to slow down and pause more when i’m in town.
should our local community matter to us or do i just sound old??!!
olympic memories August 8, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.1 comment so far
i love the olympics. naturally i’m a sports lover and so loving the olympics is a fairly obvious thing but deeper than that, as a kid i was always (very sadly) fascinated with geography. and i mean proper geography – countries, capital cities, flags, continents etc. and so i think i was grabbed from an early age by the global sporting festival that comes around every 4 years.
i mean it’s only for 2 weeks twice in a decade that you can suddenly get interested in judo. and it’s only because britain are quite good at it that you give a stuff about indoor track cycling. or the badminton mixed doubles or the laser class sailing.
i remember watching linford christie win gold in 1992 when we were on our holidays in scotland. the nightmare kid that i was forced my family to stay in our chalet that night to watch. and sally gunnell winning gold the same year too.
i lay with a radio under my pillow in 1996 listening to michael johnson smash the 200 metres world record and i stayed up all night to watch the first few nights of the 2000 olympics in sydney until i got burnt out half way through the first week!!
it was a special moment seeing steve redgrave win his 5th gold in september 2000, which was incidentally the night after sarah and i started going out so i was fairly buzzing anyway!! and that’s not even mentioning kelly holmes and the victorious british sprint relay team from the last olympics.
i’m glad they’ve come round again. i actually wanted to go to these games when it was between Toronto and Beijing, desperately hoping that my favourite city in the world would get to host them. but i’ll just have to wait 4 years until they are being held just next door.
i probably won’t be just as dedicated this time round but i must go now and read up on the greco-roman wrestling and bmx riding that will be featuring on our TV screens soon! now that we’ve got the ludicrous opening ceremony over with…let the games begin!!
some snaps August 6, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.1 comment so far
thought i’d throw up a few photos from my holiday in portugal – enjoy!
jonny, craig and me. the nearest we got to the beach all week – it’s just behind us!!
was some fun driving a left hand drive estate car on the right hand side of roads we didn’t know!
there should be always be taken in no matter where you are! sunderland v. sporting lisbon
aiming for that all over tan on our balcony!
us in seville, spain. outside the stadium of sevilla fc
me and jonny on the 18th
beautiful courses
with some tough holes
jonny duffin his shot while i relax in the cart
link love August 5, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.3 comments
i’ve added new links to some cool blogs that i recommend checking. alain, steven and colin are all people who i’ve met over the past wee while and whom God is using in special ways. i’ve been challenged by each of their blogs and i hope you are too.
i’ve also taken the opportunity to slightly reorganise all my links into more helpful categories. everyone could have fitted into 2 or more of the sections but this was the best way i could find to do it!!
spark prayer journey August 4, 2008
Posted by rickhill in Thoughts.add a comment
the spark prayer blog kicked off today over here
check back over the next few days on the run up to spark 08 in ballymena which starts on saturday.
