In the last couple of months I have been trying to lose a bit of weight. I knew something had to change when I realised I had more chins than a chinese phone book! Well I have had some success and lost 1 stone. Truth to tell I need to lose more and so I have decided to get fit (again!). The good news is I have decided not to join a gym. This is good news for my bank account and bad news for the gym owner. Over the years I have been a member of loads of gyms. The only common factor is a huge amount of money going out of my bank and me not going training!

Anyway, my current plan is to do some running and some weights. As my old mate Pete McCahon used to say, I am not a runnnig sort of a guy. Never the less, I have pounded the street near where I live. Don't get me wrong I am a long way from a marathon (in fact I am quite a long way from a mile) but at the moment I am quite keen. I need to be there are lots of hills in Barry!

So will I keep it up? What do you think?

Watch this space!

Last weekend my son and ! and I went to see the new Adam Sandler movie "Click". In a seperate cinema across town, my daughter also saw the movie.

Briefly the plot is that Sandler, a busy architect, goes to buy a universal remote control. However he gets more than he bargained for when he discovers the remote will also pause, fast-forward or rewind his life. As you might expect the results initially are hilarious but as the movie progresses the consequences of the decisions he makes become more poignant and in some ways tragic. We really enjoyed it. My daughter said to me afterwards, "during the movie, I had an epiphany moment."! She went on to explain that it made her think about how important it was to take care of relationships and make sure that people who were important to her knew she cared.

Last night Becky Williams and her friend Beth came to my house for dinner. It was in the words of Becky "a grand time". I know I shouldn't say it but the food was good (Sea bass for mains and apple and raspberry fool for dessert

It was nice to talk, laugh and eat. I love having people to dinner and this occasion was no exception. After dropping them off a friend of mine called to say her Gran had died. Although she was 102, it did, of course, still hurt. As i talked with her and she described a little of her Gran's life and about the last time they had been together, again it made me think about those wise words from Rebecca. We should be sure that the people we care about are in no doubt that we love them. Every day is precious and each relationship is unique. I think my friemd is comforted in the fact that she had done that with her Gran but it leaves me with the question; is there anyone I need to tell how important they are to me?

I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit
Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has
been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow
down, back away, or be still.

And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My
colors will be clear for "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the
power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.." (Romans 1:16)

Bob Moorhead

I have signed up, have you?

By Dr. Bob Moorehead

Today I watched the movie "Walk The Line"What a brilliant film. It starred Joaquin Phoenix who plays a highly convincing Johnny Cash and Reece Witherspoon in the oscar winning role of June Carter Cash. Johnny Cash was raised by Christian parents, brought up in the church and started his career singing gospel songs. His faith never left him. His Christian life was the line he walked. During his life he waiverd from that line many times, sometimes quite spectacularly. He had problems with alcohol, drugs, spent time in prison, had extra marital affairs and much more.

We all walk the line and truth to tell we all waiver, I know I do! Whilst I can honestly say that drugs, drink, extra marital affairs and prison terms have not featured highly in my list of issues, there are times when I blow it. I do things that I would not want put up on a cinema screen or feature on a dvd. We all walk the line and I guess the secret is to ensure as we walk along the tightrope we need to keep our eyes upon Jesus.

(By the way I watched half of Romance and Cigarettes, it was rubbish!

The fantastic thing about having cable TV is that it has a great feature on BBC digital that allows you to catch up with programmes you have missed. The two programmes that I always watch using this method are Spooks and Extras. . They are both very different programmes. Spooks is a fictional account about MI5. The stories are very topical and often highly believeable. There is normally a major conspiracy and some nail-biting drama. Extras is a completely different "kettle of fish". It stars, is written and is directed by Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant. There is always a handful of other major stars who play themselves and a number of incredibly excruciatingly situations that tackle just about every major comedy taboo possible.

This has lead me to a personal challenge. If I am committed to watching these programmes, then it must not be at the expense of my time with God. I don't know what your way into His word is but I try all sorts to keep my times with Him fresh. At the moment I have been reading "Every Day with Jesus" by Selwyn Hughes. His direct simplicity is wonderful. His spiritual footprint is massive. The number of people who came to faith through his ministry will only surpassed by those who have a greater understanding of the God of the bible because of his writings. A great man of God who will be sadly missed.

One of the things that has been a bit of a discovery for me in the last year is that I love cooking. To be honest the day to day stuff is of little interest but when I have people over for meal, I love planning the menu, buying the ingredients, preparing and then cooking the meal. I also quite enjoy the shock on my guest's faces at their suprise in not to getting pizza and garlic bread.

One of the reasons the interest has arisen is because of the programmes by Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay.

Their passion for food is, to me at least, totally infectious. A few years ago my best mate Nigel James www.nigeljames.typepad.co.uk wrote an article about Jamie Oliver. In it he talked about him being a great evangelist for food. Truth to tell if more of us where as evangelistic for the gospel as Jamie and Gordon are about food then the Kingdom of God would be growing at an even quicker rate. Now that is food for thought!

In the Smith household Monday night is DVD night. Tonight was no exception. We watched the movie "Last Holiday" starring Queen Latifah and LL Cool J. A real feel good movie. The story centres on a woman who is told she has 3 weeks to live. She suddenly considers all the things she wanted to do, some of the possibilities that had not came to pass. So taking her life savings she flies 1st class to Prague, stays at a 5 star hotel in the Presidential Suite, meets her favourite chef and says to people exactly what she thinks of them. A typical sentimental, American comedy but fun all the same!

It made me think what are the things I would do if I had 3 weeks to live. Now this is not a depressive thought. We put off so many things for the future. Especially the things of God. The Bible says "Do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt. 6:34) This is a call to "Carpe Diem" (Sieze the day!). If you are anything like me there is so much I want to sort out. I need to lose a couple of pounds, there's a standing order I keep forgetting to set up, my house needs re-wiring. I guess I could go on. Can this stuff wait? Is this wise? If I wait there is a chance that there will be even more stuff to sort out!

All this pales into insignificance at the side of some of the internal stuff that needs sorting. Matthew 23:27-28 says You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Do you sometimes live with the thought "what if people found out about the real me. The secret stuff that only I know about?" However, this is not really helpful thinking. There is no stuff that is secret from God. He knows exactly what is in our whitewashed tombs. As for me I am commiting to clear out some of the dead, decaying and dirty stuff out of my life, how about you?