Nick's Sanctuary

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3

Guerrilla Spirituality
2007-10-25 14:45:00
"How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill . May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy." Psalm 137:4-6For one reason or another, there has been a reduction of services at the church I attend... to the point where in all likelihood there will only be one service a month at a time I can attend. This has made me start to think about where I'm going to go invest my time on Sundays a bit more. There's been a belief in my church that God would strip it right down... and then, in time, begin a revival... against all odds. Now it would appear we are in the time between times Those of us who are affected the most have got some thinking to do.One positive thing is that our home group may meet more frequently. When it comes to Sundays though, I suspect we may for a time at least... take different paths.No doubt, we will be enco...
More About: Guerrilla , Spirituality , Ality

Go Figure That One!
2007-10-23 15:07:00
While I was away in the Lake District, I stumbled upon the following snippet of news:Action figures face competition from talking Jesus doll next year. Apparently this toy line (distributed by One2Believe), does pretty well for itself in America... but I find myself questioning - why? I can understand Christian parents wanting to buy their children edifying toys, playthings that foster the growth of the Gospel message in the hearts of their offspring; but is it really appropriate to use a Jesus figure to do it? Now of course, the obvious critical angle to come from would be the whole "not making idols or carved images" commandment, I accept that neither kids, nor parents would be "worshipping" the dolls as such... but the question remains.Another question, is whether kids in their innocence, would play with the toys as the manufacturers or parents intended. Kids are great at imaginary play... they like making up stories with their toys and you never know quite what role the toys are...
More About: Figure

A Sanctuary Century
2007-10-11 01:51:00
My blog passed another milestone the other day.If you look down below at the myriad of gadgets and lists down the right hand side, you will see I have become a multi-national stopping off point. I have finally managed to break into three figures with regard to the number of countries/regions that visit.I just want to thank everyone who has come here whether that be as a result of regular visiting, random stumbling, or Governmental investigation.To misquote Elwood Blues:"I'm so glad to see so many of you lovely people here tonight. And I would especially like to welcome all the representatives of the world's law enforcement community who have chosen to join me here in Nick's Sanctuary at this time. I do sincerely hope you all enjoy the show, and please remember people that no matter who you are and what you do to live, thrive and survive there are still some things that make us all the same. Me, you, them, everybody, everybody!"So now this place is truly global... I'm going to ha...
More About: Century

Driven
2007-10-08 18:25:00
Those of you who have been in the habit of visiting my blog on a regular basis, will be aware that I ran a monthly saga that eventually came to be known as Debtwatch. It was where I spoke openly about how I believed God had provided the opportunity, need and the desire for me to clear up the temporal effects of some of my past mistakes. By his grace, it took me less than a year.It's been several months since I even touched upon the subject... I believe I paused only to mention that I had taken a breather and treated myself to a laptop.However, I have not been idle. I have been working along a similar principle to try and save up for a car... as well as looking at more long term savings.At the current time, I'm 3 months into my voyage of saving. I could probably afford a vehicle of some description now but it would undoubtedly be a:So much as I'm dying to get out on the open road again... I think I'm going to have to be patient. This is really frustrating because there are people...

Poll Axe
2007-10-06 21:59:00
So we won't be queuing out in the November rain to cast our votes after all. Gordon Brown has dismissed the idea of an Autumn election and probably also the prospect of a 2008 one too.It's the right decision.Think about it for a second. We've had a "New Labour" government for over 10 years... and a change of Prime Minister in only the last few months. If you are in favour of Gordon Brown's leadership... naturally you'll want to extend his reign for as long as possible. If you are against it, I don't think you should be so keen to risk giving him a four year mandate to make things worse.There are some people who would vote against New Labour purely because they think 10 years under one party's rule is enough. However, change for the sake of change is one of the most erroneous choices a person can make. I have often spoken out against the policies of Tony Blair, so you might be mistaken for believing I'd like to see New Labour out as as soon as possible. In fact, my opinion is...
More About: Poll

Trouble With Time
2007-10-06 00:33:00
In the words of Coldplay:"Confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks."Today, I learned that my alarm clock has become self aware... and it has also become evil.My normal work routine requires me to get up at 6:45am and that is what the alarm is always set for. I always whack my radio up to full blast and wait faithfully in the land of nod for the eruption of music that jolts me awake... and my radio never lets me down, it always goes off at 6:45... at which point I begin to slowly stir from within my "cocoon".Not today though... oh no. Today my alarm clock decides it's going to try and make it's own decision... and at 4:01 am, I was rudely summoned back from my slumber! See... just what I said... evil, pure evil.Truth be told, I always struggle this time of year... I think I should hibernate - I just don't operate properly. I get tired at really random times and I get even more gormless than normal. so as you can imagine the last thing I need is a rogue alarm clock...
More About: Time

Forgiven
2007-09-28 12:30:00
Being a mere mortal, I don't have access to Sky TV and so it's taken me some time to get round to seeing season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. I waited till it came out on DVD and snapped it up in good faith. When it is at the top of it's game, it is a cracking show both in terms of science fiction and political subtext.I wanted to look at a scene that occurs in the last episode of the season, which sees the trial of the former president - Doctor Gaius Baltar: The exchange in the above clip reminds me very much of a passage in the New Testament:"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questio...

Finding Heavenly Treasure on Earth
2007-09-23 20:59:00
It's funny that I referenced Indiana Jones the other day in my blog, because it seems that I have discovered a cache of hidden treasure myself."The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."Matthew 13:44Make no mistake, that passage is principally about discovering salvation and understanding it's true value... being prepared to lay everything required down, in order to embrace it.However, what of those of us who are already saved? Can it be taken further?I believe so.What of God's promises in this life? And what of the things that are spiritually good for us?"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."Phillippians 4:8If it is good for us, if it is beneficial to our walk with God... then we should seek it...
More About: Earth , Treasure

Touched
2007-09-18 23:50:00
Something out of the ordinary happened to me fairly recently and it has led me to contemplate the following scripture:As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped."Who touched me?" Jesus asked.When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me." Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."Luke 8:42b-48I feel like I've experienced this story from both angles.Basically, somebody who I met and chatted to for about 15 minutes nearly two mont...

Security Measures
2007-09-13 23:33:00
Some sneaky person keeps taking crafty swigs out of my fruit juice carton at work.It is really annoying!I buy a large carton as there is just enough to last me 1 glass a day for the whole week, it saves me money and keeps me healthy too. When I poured myself a glass for lunch yesterday, I noticed that the carton was a lot lighter than it should be... about ooo I don't know a glass full lighter? I was not impressed; so I got grumpy about it... had a rant... and tried to think no more about the matter.I came in from lunch today and was about to pour myself another glass... when lo and behold, there was only something like 2 cubic centimetres left! This is ridiculous. I've been advised to label it up... but to me, that isn't the issue. As I see it, I don't feel I should have to be in a place where I have to take protective measures over something as trivial as my lunch.And then it hit me... I need to make my drink more secure... I had something like this in mind:Of course, that lit...
More About: Security

God "Does a Gandalf" on Me
2007-09-09 21:41:00
One of my favourite scenes in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, is the early sequence where Gandalf confronts Bilbo over his addictive possessiveness with regard to the One Ring. Sadly the sequence is not on YouTube yet, so I'll do my best to recount it for you:Basically Gandalf... suspecting the true nature of Bilbo's trinket, gently suggests that Bilbo hand it over.... but Bilbo is too caught up in the Ring's power to obey and becomes increasingly possessive and even agitated - to the point of shaking his fists at Gandalf (not a good plan). It's at this point that Gandalf suddenly changes his attitude... the room darkens, he appears to grow... and he thunders out in a terrifyingly loud voice..."BILBO BAGGINS! DO NOT TAKE ME FOR A CONJURER OF CHEAP TRICKS! I AM NOT TRYING TO ROB YOU..." then he becomes the friendly old man again... ...and gently concludes..."... I am trying to help you."Bilbo is overcome with tears of conviction and realising the gravity of his...

Delusional...
2007-09-06 22:57:00
The picture's pretty blurry... but I just had to post this little gem that I captured, with my mobile phone whilst browsing in Waterstones. Yes I was in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore... and yes that is Richard Dawkins' book - The God Delusion, sitting snugly in the middle of the shelf. I employed no trickery in this... I just walked up the stairs to see if Stephen Lawhead's Scarlet was available yet... and had to stifle a laugh as I was greeted with this image.So it seemed for a short while at least, that Waterstones had got their priorities right (heh heh - note to any atheist reading this, I am merely being humorous). It also demonstrates that the God who Dawkins alleges is fictional, has a very dry wit and a mischievous sense of humour (this I am serious about... I can personally testify about, on account of the astronomical number of bizarre and surreal things that happen to me in the average day).I'm not using this post to attack Mr Dawkins' belief...
More About: Delusional

Go to the Correct Source
2007-09-02 21:20:00
Yesterday's post was quite angst ridden... and rightly so, given the position I felt I was in. I make no apology for that.However, I didn't just sit and brood over those feelings... I took them to church and decided to wrestle them through with God. When I got to church I was greeted by this little lady:A bedraggled spaniel who had somehow gone off on a misadventure after escaping her owner. She had clearly been through the River Alne several times... not to mention several hedges backwards. It was a seemingly random encounter... but I later remembered that I had felt a similar way just over a year ago... and I had written the following "parable" in a blog:Once there was a dog who liked to play fetch. He would often go up to the children in the churchyard with sticks or balls. All he wanted was for them to throw something out for him to chase after, to show a little friendship and affection... yet all the boys and girls would ever do is ignore him, shove him away or abuse him by b...
More About: Source , Rect

The Parable of the Lost Friends
2007-09-01 21:23:00
I'm feeling a little isolated from people at the moment, there doesn't seem to be many people around.When I do get some much coveted time with a good friend, I overindulge and end up late for some random appointment. Such was the case last Sunday, as I found myself about half an hour late for lunch... with a 4 mile journey on bicycle standing between me and my meal. This, after visiting an old friend at her church... and then talking to her son and daughter-in-law who had turned up just as I was leaving.Although I am changing and growing as a person, there are some things within that don't change. I am always here for those I know... or have known - no matter how distant their own lives have carried them. It has been a pleasant surprise for me to be able to bump into old faces on Facebook who I haven's seen in ages... in some cases I haven't been close to those people...but now I'm in contact I will offer them the same level of attention that I have given those who I already s...
More About: Lost , Friends , Parable

Klaatu Barada Nikto
2007-08-31 01:12:00
I decided to watch the 1951 classic sci-fi film "The Day the Earth Stood Still" tonight.The reason for this sudden trip into nostalgia was that I have been notified of some disturbing developments in Hollywood. Yes, you guessed it... there's another remake of a vintage on the cards.I'm way too young to remember the original film, my mother was still a toddler when it came out... so I was definitely just a twinkle in my daddy's eye! However, having seen it... I honestly can't see the need for a remake. The central message of the film is still relevant today, it doesn't require reinterpreting or re-imagining. OK, so the effects are well wobbly by modern standards... but the acting and the plot line are top standard.The film's protagonist is Klaatu, an alien visitor from a distant planet... who comes bearing a message of peace and goodwill to mankind. However, along with this he brings a stern warning that Earth must abandon the use of atomic weaponry (not atomic power mind). His...

An Unexpected Encounter
2007-08-26 01:45:00
My life took yet another turn for the surreal earlier this week.I was minding my own business talking to a colleague at work with regard to something completely random.Nothing unusual there at all.However, as we were talking, the sound of approaching footsteps and voices was audible down the corridor. Almost immediately, the Company Secretary appeared with two visitors - two female visitors... one of whom was very familiar.Who was she? She was the girl from the estate agents who just over a year ago, I had a crush on. She has not been working at that company for some time... and it seemed almost as if she had never existed, or had at least disappeared off the face of planet Earth... yet there she was.I was completely blindsided.It was a completely unpredictable event, one that I could not have foreseen in any way. Naturally,this bolt from the blue left me completely flustered... I did my best to regain my composure and said a polite but utterly shocked hello. She returned the greeti...
More About: Encounter

SIGH!
2007-08-23 11:10:00
Had a pleasant surprise when I got home from work tonight.... A signed photograph of Carey Mulligan, the actress who played (hopefully one day we can say plays) Sally Sparrow in Doctor Who.Heh heh... and my tenuous link to scripture is...?Ask and you shall receive. :-)It made my day to receive that in the post, I've been hoping for some time that it would.On a more serious note I appreciate I've been quiet of late... so has the whole blogosphere it would seem... or at least that is the case with regard to the territory I cover. I find it ironic that the month of August is usually the time when you find a reduced amount of blogging - if only because the name of the month implies increase (Octavian Caesar was given the name by Rome, to acknowledge the increase of his power and the month was named after him).August seems to be slow all round - but then lots of people are on holiday, or just chilling out... and why not?I've had a bit of an odd adventure this week and I hope to recoun...
More About: Sigh

God's Timely Intervention
2007-08-14 01:05:00
Well, you may have got the impression from my last post that I've been feeling crud lately... I was certainly explicit enough about it in the opening paragraph.Truth be told that is exactly where I was... dejected, lacking in self worth and utterly spent. I suppose in a very small way, these might have been the kind of feelings that Elijah experienced after he legged it away from Mount Carmel... running away from victory.I was down to do the reading at church yesterday... and when I sat down in the pew to go over what I was reading, I noticed that the passage was weird... it wasn't a single section, instead it straddled two separate sections in Luke's gospel, one about worry and the other about watchfulness. If you want to check it out the passage was Luke 12:32-40. As soon as I began to read, another passage was given to me:"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand...

Everyone's a Critic
2007-08-09 01:15:00
It's funny... here I am, back in the saddle and I was hoping to write all about my escapades at the Maze SU Camp last week. However it didn't quite work out like that.I've been feeling pretty low since getting back... and it hasn't been helped by some of the things people have said. I totally accept that one of my gifts (and curses) is the fact that people will always bounce off of me. They relieve their anxieties by lightheartedly mocking my eccentricities. Normally I'm fine with this... so long as I get a reasonable amount of encouragement... but I've skirted dangerously close to the limits of my toleration recently and yesterday I hit the bottom.I knew that I had abandoned my Bible studies in favour of the passages and prayer I was involved in at the Maze. So I sat down tonight and caught up with my readings - 3 chapters of Nehemiah to be precise. It's a good book, I recommend reading it.Whilst I was doing so, my mind was led to posting something else entirely separate to ...
More About: Critic

Don't Worry....
2007-08-06 23:15:00
...I've been away a long time, I know.As you can tell from my previous post, I have been away attending The Maze Scripture Union Holiday Camp. I returned on Saturday afternoon... and since that time,I have been alive... and in perfect hibernation.However I am now recovering from a period of rest and I should be back in business within a few days.Bear with me a little while and I shall return.
More About: Worry

A Race Against Time
2007-07-28 01:59:00
I've been incredibly busy today...considering I am now on annual leave from work and had spare time aplenty.You see, as of tomorrow I am going away to do my annual stint at the Maze Scripture Union holiday camp... and I still have a mountain of packing to do.However, I had vowed to myself that I was going to watch the live action Transformers movie before I went away. I was pretty vexed to discover that the local picture house isn't going to screen it until after I get back. So did I admit defeat.... no of course not. I hopped on the bus to Stratford-upon-Avon and transferred to the Birmingham train. By 10:20 I was sniffing out a ticket at the local Odeon cinema (which was just the first one I stumbled upon).I have to say that above all, the film was a lot of fun. Of course it had it's flaws but that's the beauty of it. The film accepts it's own weaknesses and ratchets up it's strengths to compensate(sorry about the pun). Yes the plot is a little hokey, what with robots pursui...
More About: Time , Race

Of Samaritans and Timidity
2007-07-22 02:19:00
Right, I promised the other day that I would post a summary of what I preached about at church on Sunday and I have tarried long enough. I was supposed to be looking at the Parable of the Good Samar itan, so I started off with a corny joke:A man was beaten up by robbers on a road to London. He lay there, half dead and in bad shape. A Vicar came along, saw him and passed by on the other side. Next, a monk came by but also walked quickly on the other side. Finally, a social worker came along, looked at the man and said "Whoever did this needs help!"Yes will it is clear to see that if I keep churning out cheesy one liners like that, I'll be on a very slippery slope... it won't be long before they put me in a straitjacket and cart me off to a building with padded walls - theology college!Now you'd think I'd stick with tradition and focus on the hero... the good old Samaritan. Now I did look at the irony of why the Samaritan of all people, should be chosen by Jesus as a paragon of nei...
More About: Samaritans , Amar

Waterworld
2007-07-21 19:25:00
If you are in the UK, you have probably noticed on the news, the atrocious weather we've been having recently.Yesterday started off quite nicely as we abandoned the office at noon in order to avoid being stranded in Stratford-upon-Avon. Not bad going eh? Although for once I could do without the break because I want to get a few things sorted before going off on annual leave next week.After an hour of journeying I was dropped off home and pretty much chilled out for the afternoon...although I did stock upon a few things just in case the worst happened.At about 8pm I ventured into town to see how things were going, as I received a message from my mum to say that the main bridge in town was rumoured to be in danger of breaking. Mum was holed up at an aunts house and was unimpressed that I was intent on going up as far as the bridge, especially as the police had not yet received the authority to close it. On a side note, I thought that was crazy... why should police on the scene have t...

I've found her!
2007-07-18 20:39:00
A few posts ago I spoke about the new Npower Wembley advert... or more specifically, the actress in it. Here she is:Well I've finally managed to track the advert down... the one on the Npower owned site is a little jerky, so I decided to plumb for this version.I think she's really sweet, but have no idea who she is. She kind of looks familiar... a bit like the archetypal girl next door. Maybe that is why I find her attractive.It's kind of hard to look for people on IMDB when the only credit you know of is "Wembley advert girl".Any ideas?Anybody... anybody?Update as at 21st July 2007OK, so here's the deal. I believe I have found out who she is... but I am sorely tempted to keep this information to myself. However I feel I have a duty of honour to the hordes of people who have come here via search engines in search of the an answer to this question. I shall update my tags to help out as well.Yeah yeah I know... "just shut up Nick and tell us already!"My source - darth_librarian, o...