just incase you hadn't heard.....

Revival or just lies?

So what is exactly going on with the church these days?
Over the past summer 2 prominent Christians have been exposed as either frauds (Mike Guglielmucci from Planetshakers- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24232365-5006787,00.html) or as engaging in 'innapropriate relationships' with members of staff, leading to divorce proceedings (Todd Bentley-http://www.freshfire.ca/).
So whats gone wrong? why have these people done what they have done- where is God in all this??
I genuinely am shocked at the ability of people to decive on such a large scale, and as a Christian it is easy to put this down to us living in a fallen world and the sinfulness of humanity- fair enough but surely these people conciously made choices to actively decieve people to further their own ministries or start these innapropriate relationships. Although all humans are all sinful, we arent that sinful that we are unable to see the difference between right and wrong, and any bible believing Christian should know surely that deception in order to further ones ministry goes against everything the Bible teaches. And also since when has extra marital affairs been good for anyone, especially Christians?
The whole area of revival and mass 'outpourings' of Gods Holy Spirit leaves me somewhat uneasy. As a Christian I believe that Gods spirit is living in anyone who confesses faith in Jesus Christ, and that gifts of the Holy Spirit such as prophecy, healings, tongues etc are still active and relevent today (an issue that not all Christians acknowledge/believe in) however one thing that makes me really uneasy is the hyping up of such gifts and so called church tourism. One question I constantly seem to be asking myself, God and sometimes even other Christians is why do "ministers" such as Todd Bently and Benny Hinn feel the need to hype things up, push people over shout scream and generally act like loonies? and since when did Gods presence need to fall anywhere?? isnt God (and therefore his presence) everywhere??
I firmly believe in the local church and the need for Christians to relevently proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in a local context. There are lots of 'big' churches doing amazing things in their local churches, and conferences such as Spring Harvest, New wine, Soul Survivor etc are great ways of learning about whats going on in the Christian world and as ways to network with other leaders so long as we dont get caught up in the 'big' stuff and loose focus on the need for relevent local ministry.
God doesnt need hype, well he doesnt need us to overdo the hype anyway- surely all he wants is for people to humbly follow him and honour him in every part of our lives, sometimes 'big stuff' happens and church should by no means always be quiet or 'restrained' but lets not do Gods work for him, He's big and powerful enough to do it himself!

hello again

so its been a while since i last posted, but its a dreary sunday afternoon and I am inspired to start this again, although more likely than not nobody will read this!!
I have been engrossed by the book i am reading at the moment, its called 'The Forgotten Garden' by Kate Morton, it came highly recommended by one of the cleaners in college after I leant her my copy of Mortons earlier book the House at Riverton.
The House at Riverton I had enjoyed, but I wasnt prepared for the Forgotten Garden, which spans several generations and tells the story of a family searching for their history- first Nell and later her granddaughter Cassandra. The way Morton writes about their lives, and the lives of their ancestors in coastal cornwall and also in Australia is captivating and i have hardly been able to put the book down over the past week and a half.

On a different note, I have been on the computer for an hour or so looking up different things and checking the ever addictive Facebook, and have had my ipod on shuffle. One of the tracks that came up, alongside some really old Nirvana that i havent listened to for years (tracks from the MTV unplugged in New York album= fit!), was Paulo Nutini from his album 'These Streets'. I havent listened to this album for quite a while and i was reminded of how amazing it is. There is such an autumnal feel to his music and so I have taken my ipod off shuffle and am listening to the album full through- its magical, and i wish i hadnt forgotten about this album for so long!

I'll sign off here but my ramblings may return in the near future!!
C x

summer

hellooo- so nearly one week in to term and things are going well, placement is ok (4 weeks left- score!) and my diary is rapidly filling up, i have a feeling this term is going to fly by!!!

went to a few friends joint 21st Birthday party on tuesday which was a really good evening, it was good to see soo many people from college after the holidays and catch up with them.

yesterday was insane- did an 11hour day on placement all filled up with meetings and sessions etc so im defs looking forward to the weekend!!!

Ive been reading a book recently called Keeping Faith by Judi Picolt which is interesting- just finished 'Authur and George' (cant remember who its by though!) but i really enjoyed that so defs give it a try if your looking for a book to read!

Music

helloo, have been making the most of having some time off from work and placement and have been trying some new music, i downloaded Lily Allen's album 'Alright Still' the other day, which is actually really good!

I went to Guildford shopping today which was really nice- i forgot how nice it is there! Apart from that I've only got two days left before i go back to Durham- so putting in some last minute chillaxing before i head back up north!!
Clare

when in Rome!!!

heloooo!! sorry for the complete lack of blogging recently, i thought nobody read this but have found out recently that im wrong!!!
Blog drought has taken place recently because ive been on placement since the end of february which has been, well, hard work to say the least, but 5 weeks left so the end is in sight! i have been away from durham the past two weeks on holiday which has been much needed! the first week was spent in Northumberland with Mum, Dad, Laura, Alison, Richard and Jonathon and this week i have been home in Deadhill trying to write an essay on placement, aswell as catching up with friends and stuff!
today i went over to Amees house and ate pizza and watched a DVD with her and Ben and her little bros, and then me and Amee booked a trip to Rome for the summer which will be awesome- i cant wait!!!
will try and post some more if i can!

update

so whats been going on since my birthday i hear you ask? well, not much!
Finished lectures last friday (wahoo!) which also means i have no more essays due till April (double woo!). Its half term for Laura this week so mum dad and her went to leeds at the weekend, and seeing as its only an hour and a bit away on the train i went down to see them too.
The weather on saturday was grim so my parents decided that they wanted to go to York so we drove up there and spent a really nice afternoon looking round York- i cant believe ive been in durham a year and a half now and have never been there, its so nice!
In the evening we went out for a pizza in Leeds which was nice and on the Sunday we went down to Halifax to see a friend of my mums from uni and her family. We had a really nice lunch there and then they dropped me off at the station and i went back to durham whilst they drove back home.
This week i was ment to start placement but its fallen through- aaah! waiting to hear from my placement tutor about a replacement, but still havent heard!!!! hopefully will hear soon!
Clare