Contemplation of the heart

Again having another day to contemplate the meaning of life, love & the universe....ok well one of those at least, it begs me to say how things go in my life - outside of my ministry.

Ahhhh matters of the heart - what can I begin to say?! Forgive this old man for giving into being all lovey-dovey, but hey, it's just what I'm feeling lolz!

My heart overflows with love for my girlfriend & this love grows stronger every day. All I can say is I love you Maddie King...& I always will.

G-rad-thoughts

Graduation is fast approaching for Brainshare & as such, randomly I have some thoughts [there's a surprise!]. It means that I finally get a piece of paper & probably about 1000 photos telling me that I have passed through the Centre for Youth Ministry degree course [relatively!] unscathed & qualified as a professional youthworker.

The only problem with this scenario is that currently I have no job!!

Now although tempting to blame the establishment for this small/minor problem, I feel that I cannot. It's not for lack of trying mind you, I have so far been to 7 interviews so far & have just 1 more lined up so far [St Paul's at St Alban's]. However, it does beg the question - if God has put Youth Ministry on my heart - is it right to give up trying to find a ministry at the present season & try again next year?

I know that with my degree I had to wait a year & this was right as it meant I was more prepared for ministry training. So is the same thing true for the beginning of my full-time ministry?! Even when I've been my best [St Lukes at Brighton, WinVin] I've still not managed to get a ministry at the end. The feedback was that I'd done nothing wrong but one of the other candidates were stronger.

SO how do I progress - keep my hand in at my home church, with the possibility of ministry there when the current youthworker finishes in the summer, & work temping or in an office for the next 6-8 months. Or do I keep trying for places in ministry until I get somewhere. It is a big dilemma for me & one which I cannot answer at present.

Those who understand my calling & ministry would tell me to keep going, those who do not [i.e. family] would suggest coming back to Youthwork later on. It does make one want to scream more than just a little bit!

Comments/suggestions are most heartily welcome on this post!!

Musical Wizz-kidding

Hey bloggites, time for some more random musical stuffs this time it's the Silversun Pickup's aka SSPU.
Now if I've talked rock music to you this year, you'll probably know that this is my band of 2008! I first heard one of their tracks whilst sat, doing some reading for my dissertation, in a Starbucks in Woking - but not, strangely listening to rock - actually listening to the man Freeland - specifically GU32 [see here for my thoughts on that album]. The track was Lazy Eye & I'm not sure why but it definitely struck a chord with my musical tastes.

As I do, I went hunting for that track & to see if there was an EP or an album about on the interweb, strangely there was nothing, so I actually purchased their debut album Carnavas iTunes. From the first play I could tell I was going to love the band, it was great track after great track; here's their track listing:

1. "Melatonin"
2. "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
3. "Checkered Floor"
4. "Little Lover's So Polite"
5. "Future Foe Scenarios"
6. "Waste It On"
7. "Lazy Eye"
8. "Rusted Wheel"
9. "Dream at Tempo 119"
10. "Three Seed"
11. "Common Reactor"

Lazy eye was great, I knew that, but also Well Thought Out Twinkles, Little Lover's So Polite, Future Foe Scenarios, Dream at Tempo 119 were stand-out tracks. I found that the more I listened to their album, the better I liked it! In fact I even got a copy of the album for Maddie for her birthday back in July [see I remembered darling!].

Their sound is often compared to Smashing Pumpkins - which is no bad thing, but for me it just sounded like if I could make/be in a band - that would be how I'd love to play. They have great control over their instruments [especially their pedal work] & such a great energy - this band is one that I really would pay to see live. I mean come on they even supported to Foo Fighters during their last tour - that's a big recommendation to me! They're like a new-wave of grunge & seeing as how much I'm digging that at the moment - is no bad thing!!

All-in-all this is a band that I cannot recommend highly enough - if, like me you're into a bit of rawk - this is the way forward.

Here's a quick vid of them on Jules Holland - check it out:

New Family Guy Feature-Length Episode!!!

First there was Stewie: The Untold Story, next it was Blue Harvest - now it will soon be the time for Something Something Something Dark Side - the second exciting episode in the Family-Guy-does-Star-Wars Saga - am I excited - YESS!! Here's their preview poster: