James 4

Well... I'm actually back in England now but have to finish what I started in France so here goes...

Remebering back,

We went out again today (If I remember correctly this wqould've been Sunday...) and headed over to 1600 againto check out some of the same runs we did yesterday in the hope that the snow would still be there. The area we went to was actually called Disneyland on account of all the fun that could be had there with many drops off rocks, more tree runs and massive dead steep and dead quick red runs. We were trying to figure out how fast it actually was that we were going but we couldn't... it felt like we must have been going about (at least) 30mph, I kid you not and when your feet are only about a cm from the ground, which is about as hard as concrete with the added bonus of ice burns should skin come into contact with it, it gets quite scary and starts to really get the blood flowing.

so as the day progressed my board was getting slower and slower due to some not very good factory wax that was standard on my board, I forgot to get it replaced and serviced yesterday... I felt I was holding everyone up... which indeed I was as I lost them all and headed down to 1650 on my own where eventually met up. we stopped off for a beer and a foot long hot dog which was dead tasty and hit the spot in the way that only a kebab satisfies your hunger after a couple of pints...

James 4

(James 4:1) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?
(James 4:2) You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.
(James 4:3) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
(James 4:4) You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
(James 4:5) Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?
(James 4:6) But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
(James 4:7) Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
(James 4:8) Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
(James 4:9) Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
(James 4:10) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
(James 4:11) Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
(James 4:12) There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?
(James 4:13) Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."
(James 4:14) Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
(James 4:15) Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
(James 4:16) As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
(James 4:17) Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Talk about raising the bar again... "For all have sinned and fall sh0rt of the Glory of God"...

There was this quote on a sitcom called "8 simple rules (for dating my teenage daughters)" in which the father stated the following... "sometimes to be a good father you have to be a bad person"
I thought this was clever and heartwarming that this father was willing to be a bad person for the sake of his children. But then I started thinking, where would this line now end... Where would he draw the line of being "bad" for the sake of this father child relationship?
Then I thought that once again, God has got it right. He never has to be a bad person in order to be a good Father as He is work for the good of all who call Him Father (Rom 8:28). Just because we don't always see God's perfect purposes in all things it doesn't mean that the perfect purpose isn't there!

We should surely thank God then that he's always got our backs and is always and in all things looking out for us, just as a Father looks after his child. With this in mind, should we now question Gods motives for the way our lives pan out? or should we turn to Him in times of trouble and rest in his arms, in the knowledge that he loves us more deeply then we could ever know!

[listening to:- haha... the best worship songs...ever! volume 1]
[contemplating:- how busy my day actually is...]

James 3

Hello again all.
This entry could well take a lot longer then normal to write on account of me watching Liar Liar at the same time as writing it.So anyway.Today we reaped the benefits of all the blizzard weather with about a foot of powder over most of the runs... most of which hadn't actually been plowed by the snowplows at all.The problem with powder is it takes a lot of leg power to move around and the back leg has to be really bent, imagine that trick of standing against a wall with your legs at a 90 degree angle, imagine that but only on one leg for about an hour...So yeah... we went out at about 10, boarded all over the various runs of 1650 and the headed over to La Tania where we went down a whole load of Black runs... I say black runs but they weren't actually on the runs themselves, we actually went down the off piste bits next to the runs where it was even thicker powder and even more tiring... I hit many many rocks...I have to get my board serviced tonight for tomorrow morning because there are some really massive gashes in it...nasty stuff.So we stopped off for lunch in La Tania and I had a lovely burger and the others that I was with only had chips, I blatantly made the right choice!
James 3 as per the subject...
3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

We recently had a talk, I say recently but it actually was about three months ago or something, at church on taming the tongue so most of what this section says was covered then.And it's really true about the tongue being the hardest thing to control. Think about it. Try and go an hour without saying something that offends someone, that is said in anger or in an attempt to put yourself above others in an improper way.And this is only keeping to a man made standard, not even the perfection target that would be demanded by the legalist approach to (false) salvation... It makes the challenge to live a life worthy of the calling that has been received even tougher. Again, Praise God we're not left to do it by ourselves, AND that we although we strive to live this worthy life, we can rest assured that the salvation we have received is complete and doesn't require our input... in fact, theonly thing that we bring to the table in our salvation, is the the very thing we need salvation from!
Someone please write me back...

[litening to:-Toby Mack- Re:mixes][contemplating:- getting my board re-waxed and edged]

James 2

James 2
Well hello again...
Today was pretty much a blizzard... went out in the morning and couldn't really see very far at all. Like maybe 20 feet or so in the lift on the way up then as we got closer to the top I realised it was just my goggles steamed up...When we actually got to the top the visibility was still pretty poor but just about good enough to ride down, so we did. It has really been dumping it down since yesterday so pretty much the whole run was powder which was lovely but due to the poor visibility it meant we couldn't really go off piste too much.So to fix this problem we took a route down a closed run that was proper powder, went went down it yesterday and it was all fun and games, so anyway, we went back to the jump we built yesterday and got extremely tired clearing powder off the run up and the run away from it but still stayed out for about 2 hours in total.Then we came back to the chalet and played the playstation until about 4 whilst our powder ridden jackets, boots, hats etc were drying.We went out again to see if anything had changed and, I have to confess, bought something... I bought a new pair of goggles, onews with a lighter lens so that I could see where I was going in low light conditions.Don't worry though, they were reduced by 40% to 52Euros. And they're well good ones... and I can see again. [like that's gonna help my boarding -ed]
As per the subject line... reading today...
2:1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?6 But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ?21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James has been a really good book to read, and I'm only 2 chapters into it!
Not a challenge, well of course there is but the main point that I noticed is in fact, that as this new creation, although Christians are set free from the legalism of the law, we should live as those under the law, not so as to earn brownie points but as a sign of gratitude for the mercy that we've received in being set free from the law.How incredible is that?!Can I get an AMEN?!Haha... just a shameless attempt to try and get some comments posted from others onto my site.
Few more things before I stop for today, this place is incredible! despite my nearly constant nosebleeds, I assume due to the altidue, (and they're not that constant don't worry Mum) [like Mum's reading this-ed] the incredible beauty of the mountains is mind blowing. Scientists would state that plate tectonics are basically natures accident, but as someone who sees this world through truly opened eyes, the power that lies behind these "accidents" is incredible and so much more then "me" it's simply awesome.
So anyway...Love you all and leave you all for another day.
[listening to:- Kasabian-Eponymous][contemplating:- quote... "careful chief. You dig up the past, all you get is dirty..."-Gabriel to Chief Anderton in Minority Report]

James 1

SO this is day four officially but it;s only the third day we've actually been able to go boarding on account of arriving here at 1.30 am on wednesday morning.
Me and Mouse have been told off by a total of 3 people so far... not bad going... nearly one a day!
I made the brilliant discovery of using my own laptop to write things like my blog on and then transferring the writings to my mp3/usb mass storage device and then further transferring it to the bar computers her, this enables me to write a lot more and use the actual internet connection a lot less.
The people that we are staying with, I mean the other guests and not the hosts, are quite dull... I think they have been out here for a few days but I think that they're out here for longer then us, maybe a couple of weeks and so they're not so bothered about going out eveyday..The weather has completely changed from two days ago... then it was brilliant sunshine and incredibly hot, forcing us to wear t-shirts on the slopes.. you'll have to ask me to see the pictures when I get home as I can't download them onto the computers here and upload them to this site as the computers here don't have the necessary software but nevermind.
The weather today however has changed to almost blizzard weather. It's great as it'll hopefully top up the snow, however, when actually on the slopes it means you can't see much passed 20m in front of you. Apparently the weather is now going to stay like this for most of the time that we are here, which is a bit of a pain, but it does mean that I have more time to write things like this and to chat to peeps.
Reading for today... gotta love having the Bible on my poota!James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers.17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,20 for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Challenge for today, from verse 2 "PURE JOY!!!" not just thinking of making the best of a bad situation, but pure Joy!
Now go do!
Another thing I remembered about last night, we had a mexican meal, Aztec Pie and rice and salsa and dips and such like...Tequila... lovely drink when it's consumed correctly, lick salt off your hand, drink the drink then chew a segment of lime...Mouse on the other hand was challenged and accepted the "Tequila Suicide..." This comprises snorting the salt, like crack cocaine in case you were wondering, not that I know from experience but I digress... then drinking the tequila, then the piece de resistance, I DON'T SPEAK GOOD FRENCH! squeezing the liime into YOUR EYE! So Mouse and Joey both did this marvellous feat, only to spend the rest of the eveing blowing their noses and wiping their eyes of constant dripping of lime acid burning eye juice!

Eventful enough? NO?! then we watched a film called "Saw" which was messsed up! then played on this playstation eye toy till 1.30... again... then we were still the first people (nearly) to get out and about... our boring chalet mates slept in again...

anyway, I think that's more then enough of an update for today.If anyone would like to write a comment or anything, please do... particularly if anyone wants to write a brief explanation of what constitutes "Holy anger" in response to the above passage it would be appreciated.

Much love all.

[listening to:- Crash Test Dummies "God Shuffled His Feet"]
[contemplating:- How mad my Mum would be if I was to spend lots of money on more things I don't need...]

WOO

Hey there everybody!

Thought I'd write a quick note just to say that I'm over in France at the moment.. The bar I'm in writing this charges a euro for 15 minutes usage of their internet so I \must be quick.

And sorry for spelling errors as I'm writing this on a laptop that I'm not used to and therefore things could go wrong...

Well, the flight here was fine.. \Mouse thought that I was asleep at one point but then looked at me dead shocked when I told her I was doin church things and praying! Shock horror!

So then we got here, snow was a bit disappointing but it's more then enough to keep us going for a week. Got shouted at today for going the wrong way down a slope.. I would've thought that there was only one way down a slope and that that way would be down it but hey... we live and learn. We boarded all over all the mountains and we have a pass for the three valleys of which we are staying in the middle one so we are clearly able to explore! Ski passes cost Euros228 for the week... so much for not spending money this week. oops... soory mum..

Yesterday was the day off for the seasonaires so we had to survive on our own for food last night and we went to a little restaurant which charged a ridiculous amount for a pizza... oh well... can't take it with you...

I would seriously recommmend reading Hebrews 12 by the way... it's quality and the first chapter I read over here. I read it the day I left too but re-read it here and its still quality. I'll leave you all to figure out why that it is...

Things are going really well generally over here and back there I hear that the religious hate thing didn't et passed...unlucky Blair!

I guess I'll try and update this again later in the week.

Please text me as only Suz has so far and I'm bitterly lonely... well... not really.. but text me anyway..

[listening to:- Nirvana on MTV]
[contemplating:- how much this is gonna cost me.]

Apologies come so naturally...

Hey guys and gals!
First and Foremost I would like to apologise for not having updated this for soooo long, I have been busy though and with fulfilling things not just filling things too I'll have you know.

Over the last month or so I have been away for a week to Word Alive, Spring Harvest, an excellent week of Biblical teaching, suprisingly and thankfully uncompromising biblical teaching I might add which was a welcome suprise following the bashing it gets by some of my more cynical Christian friends...

Various speakers including Richard Cunningham and the president or director of Christians on Sport Graham Daniels. GD was excellent giving a thematical Bible Study in the mornings and presenting the first study for the student's celebration in the evenings, the stream of which was on Galatians. Unfortunately we had to leave before the final talk on the Galatians series due to the oh so important England vs Ireland game. Nice one lads... Anyway, a more detailed set of my notes from the week will soon be posted, [soon? ha! -ed]

Plus we got through to the semi's of the football tournament and basketball tournament too. Was unfortunate that both competitions really got running duringthe same day... So very tired!

I'm slowly but surely building a collection of friends personal belongings too, what with a set of cd's here, a piece of carpet there, the usual.

I really wanna write more but I can't devore anywhere near enough brain power to it at the moment. I promise to post more soon!!!

[listening to:- Sigur Ross, untitled album]
[contemplating:- how to fix things]