This will be but a brief post…

After our evening birthday meal last night we were due to drive back to Worcester. I was really eager to do this so that I could finish off making my birthday gift to Annie. But I could see that Annie was tired and so we decided to stay one more night and travel back this morning, and I am glad that we did. Annie was able to easily overlook the delay of my gift because she knew it was going to be what we refer to as a ‘makey’.

I remember very early on in our marriage – perhaps even within the first year – we went to a Christian husbands and wives conference. I don’t remember why, but we were newly weds and we probably went just because we could; for the same reason I remember seizing every single opportunity to say the words “My wife…” in any sentence I could! Anyway, the one thing I remember from that conference was the advice to work out the “love language” of your spouse. That is find out which of the “Five Love Languages” your loved-ones understood most fluently and learn to speak it fluently. The five were:

• Words of Affirmation;
• Quality Time;
• Receiving Gifts;
• Acts of Service;
• Physical Touch.

I think it was one of those things that all the ladies completely understood, but most of the men (certainly the newly weds) were nodding but thinking: “I think the speaker has just stopped speaking english…” I certainly found all that talk of “Love Languages” a bit…well…a bit hippy. At the time I resolved that covering your bases and assuming your wife was fluent in all five was the best option. But over time I have learned a bit more. I learned that there were complex nests of sub-categories within each of the five main categories and you were probably going to need to employ the Dewey Decimal System to organise them effectively.

When it comes to receiving gifts, I’ve learned that Annie responds to gifts that cost time, thought and creativity over gifts that simply cost money. In fact, this was something I was closer to getting right when we were engaged and I was a penny-poor bible college student. Back then, I made Annie stuff with whatever materials I could find and she cherished them like Imelda Marcos cherishes shoes!

And for the record, Annie loved my gift and her joy brought me great joy too. It really has been a memorable day and a day of really good health for Annie. Thank you for your prayers!

God is love. – 1 John 4:8

There are many people in this world – perhaps even some following this blog – who think they understand but actually completely misinterpret and misunderstand the language of the gospel. They think of God as a harsh God who simply wants to take, take, take from us. But actually, if they just stopped and listened to Him, they would discover, He is a great loving God who wants to give, give, give.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

You’ve probably read that verse or heard it a hundred times but have you really thought about it? Have you really understood it? At the heart of the gospel and Christianity is a God who loves you, who would rather die than live without you, go through hell than be in heaven without you. A God who offers you the greatest gift in the world. The God who is willing and able to forgive sins – all our mistakes, all our screw-ups…

Perhaps you’ve based your interpretation on what you’ve heard (or seen) from some churches or some Christians and it sounds more like bad language. If Annie could make a birthday wish, she would wish you would put aside what you think you know about God, the bible, Christianity and Jesus  for one moment and actually read the eyewitness gospel accounts of Jesus  (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) for yourself. If you don’t have access to a bible, email us, we’ll happily send you one. Or you could start to read them online at somewhere like ‘The Bible Gateway‘.

If she could have a second wish, she would love for you to just take 15 minutes to watch this simple explanation of what the gospel is (she LOVES this clip). The video clip isn’t going to brainwash you or convert you, it’s just going to ask you to stop and think.

And by the way, you don’t have to use the comment box on this blog for niceties and pleasantries, if you have any questions or hang ups about anything shared on this blog, please share them – we will not be offended and we’d be delighted to talk more with you.

Thank you Father God for your the gift of your Son.

R&A