I am loved more than I can ever know!

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This blog’s title is a personalisation of the lyrics to the song ‘Light‘ by the band Sleeping At Last. In the chorus of the song it says ‘you are more loved than you can ever know’.

Which is so true.

I don’t think we can ever fully understand or appreciate how much God loves us. How much we are loved.

“Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” – Jeremiah 31:3.

“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” – 1 John 4:10

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” – 1 John 3:1

At last night’s ‘Redefine‘ we looked at the Father heart of God; how He loves us so much.

I used to struggle with the thought that God loved me, unconditionally. I thought that His love for me was conditional. That it depended upon my performance.

Over the past several years God has taken me on a journey to reveal just how much He loves me. How He is a good Father, and not the fractured and imperfect image of a father that we see in the world around us, but the perfect Father that we are looking for.

Becoming a dad myself has really helped me grasp more fully how much He truly does love us.

I love my children, because of who they are, my children, not because of what they do. The moment I first saw them my heart filled with so much love. More than I thought possible. This little bundle of arms & legs, totally dependant on me and my wife.

My love is imperfect and flawed.

How much more does God who is the perfect Father love us!?

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” – Romans 5:6-8.

It was so great to have the opportunity to share this life changing truth, that God really does love us, with so many young people: For them to hear this truth at such a young age.

‘Redefine‘ is a great ministry that seeks to help disciple young people and see them grow and develop in their faith. To find and discover a true and deeply rooted relationship with Jesus and grow in that relationship.

We seek to put the tools in their hands that will help them throughout their lives. Help them to read the Bible for all it’s worth. To live a life full of prayer and praise. To learn to serve and support each other. To reach out to those around them with the love of God that they have discovered to be so true.

Please continue to pray for the young people that come to ‘Redefine‘. Also pray that God would add to their number and that we would see many more young people be reached with the life changing gospel of Jesus.

Be blessed and know that you are loved!

Mirror, mirror on the wall….

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We all know how to complete the quote in the title of this post; “Who is the fairest of them all?”

In today’s world, just as much as in the time the original tale of ‘Snow White’ was written, in 19th century Germany, people are looking for love and affirmation. However, unfortunately they often go looking in all the wrong places.

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
    listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
    my faithful love promised to David.” – Isaiah 55:1-3

This search for love is a deep seated desire and need in our hearts; and is indeed a good thing. God placed this in us, for we are made in His image, and He is love. For love to truly be love it needs an object for its affection. We need God’s love.

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” – Augustine of Hippo.

It is written into our spiritual DNA. We only find peace, purpose and our home when we abide in God’s love.

“I find rest in God; only he can save me.” – Psalm 62:1

However, we as I said, go looking in all the wrong places. Which is like looking into cracked mirrors. Distorted images that look like the truth, but are in-fact misleading.

We are told that if we wear this clothing, drive this type of car, hang out with this group of people etc. we will be popular and loved. We are pushed and pulled in so many different directions.

None of which help us find our true worth and value; and when we do look in our cracked mirrors, all we see is a distorted image that doesn’t help our self-esteem.

However, when we turn to God and listen to His voice; we see more clearly.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” – James 1:22-24

He calls us beloved. He gives us worth and He restores us.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” – Jeremiah 31:3

We have value, because He places value on us; not because of what we have or haven’t done, but because He made us and loves us.

Last night at ‘Redefine‘ we looked at self worth and self-esteem; and spent time encouraging each other by speaking good things about each other, in the same way that God continues to speak life and love over us.

We also held our monthly prayer meeting; and we are so grateful for so many people continuing to uphold Llandudno Youth for Christ in prayer.

May you have a great week and listen to what God says about you, not asking the ‘mirror‘ of the world what it thinks about you; but looking intently into the ‘mirror‘ of God’s Word (the bible) to hear what God says about you.

Be blessed!

 

“So I say thank you for the music…”

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The above title is an excerpt from the lyrics to an Abba song. It is so true to be thankful for the gift of music.

Last Sunday evening at our Bible study for young people group; ‘Redefine‘ we discussed and looked at the power and influence of music in our lives and what God has to say about music.

Whether you like classical, baroque, bluegrass, jazz, funk, folk, heavy metal or soul doesn’t really matter all that much. It is just a matter of taste and preference. What is amazing is the power that music has to bring health, wellbeing and healing into our lives.

After doing some research I found over 10 ways in which music benefits us.

Music can –

1 – Help Improve the quality of sleep we get. Listening to classical music has been shown to effectively treat insomnia in college students.

2 – Help ease pain in the body. Music can meaningfully reduce the perceived intensity of pain, especially in palliative medicine, geriatric care, or intensive care.

3 – Help increase our endurance and performance when exercising. By listening to our favourite motivating song or album, we can exercise harder and for longer.

4 – Helps with the body’s recovery after exercise.

5 – Help enhance blood vessel function. Scientists have found that listening to music made participants in the study feel happier and resulted in increased blood flow in their blood vessels.

6 – Help to reduce stress. Research has found that listening to music can relieve stress by triggering biochemical stress reducers.

7 – Relieve symptoms of depression. Listening to uplifting and calming music can help elevate people’s moods and alleviate the symptoms of depression (just ask King Saul)

8 – Help reduce anxiety as much as a massage does. Researcher have found that music’s effect on anxiety levels is similar to the effect of getting a massage.

9 – Help Improve the brain’s cognitive performance. Background music may enhance performance on cognitive tasks. One older study found that listening to music allowed test takers to complete more questions in the time allotted, and get more answers right.

10 – Help relax patients before surgery and ease their stress after surgery. A scientific study found that listening to music helped put waiting for heart surgery at ease. Another bit of research revealed that post-heart surgery patients that were duly bed-ridden were helped to remain calm and rest after the trauma of such invasive surgery by listening to music.

11 – Help ease recovery in stroke patients. Researchers in Finland concluded that when stroke patients listened to music for two hours a day, their verbal memory and attention improved and they had a more positive mood compared to patients who didn’t listen to music or who listened to audio books.

12 – Help people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s. ‘A recent study shows that dementia and Alzheimer’s patients can recall memories and emotions, and have enhanced mental performance after singing classic hits and show tunes from movies and musicals.’ (For more on the how music helps with this see http://www.alzheimers.net/2014-07-21/why-music-boosts-brain-activity-in-dementia-patients/)

These are all benefits gained from simply listening to music. When we play an instrument, there are even more benefits to be gained; as explained in a short TED talk video written by Anita Collins.

In the Bible, we find that there was music at the beginning of creation (Job 38), and in-fact there is a whole book of songs right in the middle of the Bible (the book of Psalms). Also, there is continuous music going on around the throne of God (Revelation 5). God has given us a great gift in music.

It brings life and health and healing. It helps us thinks and feel more clearly. Best of all, we can use it to express our love and praise of God: We can us it to worship Him.

So I say thank you (God) for the music; and thank you to our great Redefine volunteers for looking at and studying God’s great gift of music.

This week, think about your favourite worship song, why you like it, how God speaks to you through it. Read through the Bible and look for how God uses music to speak to us.

Have a great week and be blessed!

 

 

Hope you had a great Father’s Day!

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A happy belated Father’s day to everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed the glorious sunshine and had a great time with friends and family.

It is such a privilege being a father, and it also has such immense responsibility. In his letter to the Ephesians the Apostle Paul writes “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” – Ephesians 6:4. Moses, when instructing the people of Israel to continue following God and His decrees, also says they are to “Teach them (God’s decrees) to your children and to their children after them.” – Deut 4:9.

We have a great responsibility to not only teach our children about God and what it means to have a relationship with Him; but we are also to model a life of faith for them in our day to day lives. This is an impossible task in our own strength; but as we let the Holy Spirit change us and transform us and empower us to do God’s will in every area of our lives, we can do it (Phil 4:13).

Also, let us not forget that we are not alone in our fatherhood. We have a great company of other fathers in our church communities around us that we can get alongside to give and receive strength & encouragement. We also have a great Father in heaven that loves us with an everlasting love and is the very expression of love. As we look to Him we are transformed by His love to better express the Father’s heart to our children and grandchildren.

This is such an important task and message.

Everyone needs to know the love of God the Father. To feel safe, accepted, and unconditionally loved.

The only true place to find that is with and from God.

Even if you are not a father, you can model the Father’s heart to those around you, especially in helping to encourage & mentor the younger generation.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” – 1 John 3:1 “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.” – 1 John 5:1

A great resource that I have found to share the Father heart of God is the website – http://www.fathersloveletter.com/

Check it out and be encouraged. I have also been blessed by Max Lucado’s Wemmick Story books. Especially ‘You are Special‘ and ‘You are mine’.

So to all the amazing Fathers out there; I want to say thank you to you. Keep on loving and keep on demonstrating and living out the Father heart of God to your family and community.

Be blessed!

 

Afflictions eclipsed by glory.

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For a lot of the young people that attend the many different events we hold at Llandudno Youth for Christ, the next two weeks are going to be one full of exams and revision and potentail stress.

That is on-top of the confusion, anger, fear and disbelief that they might be feeling following the recent attacks in Manchester and London.

We need to be praying for our young people in this time.

Praying that they find God in amongst all that is going on around them.

Praying for His grace, peace and love to reach out to confused and hurting hearts and minds.

Praying for them to find His strength in their weakness.

Praying.

Whilst I was thinking about all of this, I remembered John Mark McMillan’s song ‘How He loves’. This is the full version of the song; not the cut down, cleaned up and sanitised version we might sing together in churches on Sundays.

John Mark McMillan wrote the song as a response to hearing the news that a friend of his had died tragically in a car accident. It was his way of dialoguing with God about this event that filled him with so much anger, confusion and frustration. You can watch a great video here where he explains more about the background to the song.

As John Mark McMillan says “This song isn’t a celebration of weakness and anger. It’s a celebration of a God who would want to hang with us through those things, who would want to be a part of our lives through those things, and, despite who we are, He would want to be a part of us, our community, and our family.”

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4:15-16

In Jesus, God entered our world in a very real and physical way. He took on our humanity and became just like one of us. He was and still is our Emmanuel – God with us.

As not only the young people wrestle with their exams and with questions and doubts that will naturally arise in the wake of the past couple of weeks, but also as we all wrestle with questions of justice and mercy, faith and doubt, and other emotions that will be rising up within us; let us never forget that the God we love and serve, loves us so much more than we can ever imagine; and is with us every step of the way.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.’” – Deuteronomy 31:6

I chose afflictions eclipsed by glory as the title of this post; as we see so much affliction around us today, yet, with eyes of faith as we look to God we see so much of His glory; that it eclipses all of the trouble and strife. His love is the answer to our very great needs within us and in the world around us.

Read the full lyrics to John Mark McMillan’s ‘How He loves’ here, and listen to the full song here.

Also, This coming Wednesday 7th June at 7pm we will be holding our annual Showcase. Come and find out what Llandudno Youth For Christ has been up to this year, and what the plans are for next year too. They’ll be times of worship – led by young people – interviews and testimonies, and a Q&A panel of team and young people. There will also be much needed time to pray together as a community of Jesus’ followers.

It would be great to have your support if you’re able to make it!

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Have a great week, and remember that He love us!

Above all else get wisdom!

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Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom!
    Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! – Proverbs 4:7

Last night at ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening Bible study, we looked at the whole idea of ‘self-education’. It was a great evening, with a fun game that tied in with the whole education theme.

Mr James Edwards, one of our great volunteer leaders at Llandudno Youth for Christ, spoke passionately about  self-education. He encouraged the young people to get into reading books. To seek out wisdom and knowledge. To listen to good speakers and watch informative documentaries. To broaden their horizons. To ask questions and develop their critical thinking skills.

It was really encouraging and challenging all at the same time.

With many of our young people facing exams, it was a great evening to encourage them to do their best in the exams, but also for them to be reassured that their exams results do not dictate who they are or what their future will be.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Anon.

God has given different gifts and abilities to all of us, but not everyone is ‘academically’ gifted in a way that conforms to our current education system, where the exams call for the regurgitation of facts and figures, and so they can feel like failures and as the above quote states, they can feel like failures, but “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” – Albert Einstein.

God encourages us to grow in wisdom and knowledge. Indeed, we should always be learning and growing. The best way to do that is to go to the source of all wisdom, God himself. The best way to engage with God and learn from Him is through prayer and reading your Bible, and there are so many resources out there to help you with that too nowadays.

Another way we were encouraged last night to grow in our wisdom and knowledge was through mentoring (named after a classic greek character from Homer’s Odyssey). This is where you get people who are not your peers, but are further on in the journey of life than you are, to speak wisdom into your life and situation; or to pass on their knowledge and expertise to you. They help you to grow from where you are, to where they are by giving you insights and opportunities to grow and develop. A Russian educational psychologist Lev Vygotsky called this the ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development – read up about it here).

This was a challenge to me, to get into reading more books and also to start listening to sermons that will help me grow in my walk with God.

At Llandudno Youth for Christ we also hold another great way for people to grow and develop.

Each month we hold a free training event called our ‘Monthly Meet‘ and we cover a vast array of topics and training nights delivered by people with expertise in their respective fields.

Last month we had some excellent training in conflict resolution from the Rev Tim Hall. Our next ‘Monthly Meet‘ is tonight; Monday 15th May, 7pm at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, and we will be looking at the whole aspect of graphic design.

Come along if it’s a topic you’d like to grow and develop in.

However, whatever you do to grow and develop in wisdom and knowledge; above all else spend time with God, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” – Proverbs 2:6

Also, please continue to pray for all the young people that are taking exams in the coming weeks. Pray for God’s wisdom on their lives and for God’s peace to guide them.

Be blessed!

“Pie in ear?!”…no I said ‘Pioneer!’

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What is a ‘Pioneer?’ What does ‘Pioneer’ mean?

According to the dictionary, a pioneer is…1. a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others. 2. one who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress: e.g. pioneers in cancer research. 3. one of a group of foot soldiers detailed to make roads, dig entrenchments, etc., in advance of the main body. 4. an organism that successfully establishes itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.
Sorry about the pun in the title. It’s what I always think of when I hear the word ‘Pioneer.’
I’m writing about the word pioneer because last night at ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening youth Bible study, our centre director spoke about ‘Fresh Expressions of Church‘; and how they are pioneering new work and new ways to reach out into communities with the good news of Jesus.
There are some interesting articles here and here. for those who want to read more about ‘FXC’ (Fresh Expressions of Church) as it is commonly abbreviated to. In-fact there is an organisation called Fresh Expressions that is set-up to ‘champion and support the fresh expressions movement, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions.’ You can check them out here.
Tim walked everyone present through some of the research that has been done regarding ‘FXC‘ and it was most interesting. He then got everyone broken into groups and asked them to brainstorm areas where they could ‘pioneer’ a fresh expression of the life of the church as an exercise in creativity, to help us understand how these pioneering movements of God’s body work. It was a very interesting and eye-opening evening.
It makes me think of all of the ‘Pioneers’ in the Bible. People who dared to believe God when He called them to do something new. Something that no-one had done before. People like Noah – building a boat on dry land despite the ridicule of his neighbours. Abraham – leaving his family to travel to a land that God had called him to. In fact the whole of Hebrews 11 is full of pioneers who listened to God and by faith obeyed.
It was really exciting to see the young people responding to this message about where God is at work pioneering new ways of bringing the life of the church into the community in the UK. To see them come up with creative ideas that are outside of the box that we have for so-long labelled as ‘church’.
What ways can you reach out into your community with the love of God?
Maybe you can come along to our ‘Reverb Saturday Cafe @ St John’s‘ and minister to those that come in by serving them a tea or coffee and nice slice of cake? Maybe you can join us at our monthly prayer meetings as we pray for the young people in our area? It might be something completely different, but I’m sure that if you seek God and ask Him how you can share His love and light in new ways with your friends and neighbours, He will give you new and creative ways to share His amazing love.
Be blessed!

May the 4th be with you!

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This thursday 4th of May at our Reverb Youth Space drop-in we are having a ‘Star Wars’ themed event due to the fact that it is ‘International Star Wars Day’ on May 4th. This is a play on words to the phrased used in this sci-fi franchise; ‘May the force be with you’.

We will have a costume competition, where those that come in a star wars themed costume will each get a free drink at the event; and the 3 best costumes will get a prize. We will plaster the walls with Star Wars posters, be playing Star Wars films on the various screens around the place; and for those who are wanting a little more peace & quite to revise and prepare for their exams; we will be providing a quiet revision room for studying in! It’s going to be a lot of fun….and quiet for those who need it.

Going back to the quote ‘May the 4th’ linking in to ‘May the force be with you’ from the films. The force is a power in the Star Wars universe that binds all living things together and suffuses all living things. It is also what gives both Jedi knights (good guys) and Sith lords (bad guys) their powers and supernatural abilities.

As Christians, unlike the characters in the Star Wars universe, we do not believe in or rely upon an impersonal force; but we have a relationship with a personal God; the Creator of everything. “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” – Colossians 1:15-20. Who revealed himself to us in many ways, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” – Hebrews 1:1-3.

I am glad that I do not rely upon the Force, but upon Jesus. God made flesh. God revealed. Emmanuel – God with us.

Real, tangible, personal.

Jesus is my light, my life, my way, my path, my source, my sustainer, my friend, my saviour, my Lord & my God.

So on this Star Wars day, let me say to you, not ‘May the Force be with you”, but rather ‘May God be with you’.

Be blessed!

Egg-sellent!

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Happy first Monday after the Easter holidays!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Easter break and that we find you on this first Monday after the Easter holidays, full of the joys of spring and not suffering from an overindulgence of chocolate eggs!

I was meant to post the following on Easter Monday; but due to the busyness of the holiday break, it slipped my mind. Sorry. Hope you enjoy the post.

Easter Monday is a holiday celebration in over 100 countries. In some countries it has different names. In South Africa it is known as ‘Family Day’, and is viewed as a day to spend time with friends and family. In Egypt it is known as Sham el-Nisim (Egyptian Arabic: شم النسيم‎‎,) – meaning literally “smelling of the breeze”. On this day people spend the day picnicking in any green spaces, such as public gardens, on the Nile, or at the zoo. They traditionally eat fesikh (a fermented, salted and dried grey mullet), lettuce, green onions, tirmis, and colored boiled eggs (Easter eggs).

Again we come back to the eggs.

Those eggs that now come in so many colours, shapes & sizes.

As regards the origins of those eggs. As spoken so wisely by a young scottish girl to her dad; the little girls asks ‘Is the Easter Bunny in the bible?’ The exchange is hilarious, but it certainly gives you some food for thought about how we celebrate Easter. You can see the original video here.

The whole Easter bunny thing could be a throwback to the pre-Christian festival of spring where the goddess Ēostre is worshipped. There is debate about whether this goddess of the dawn was a true ‘deity’ or just an invention by the venerable Bede; but that’s a debate not to be held here. Be that as it may, she was linked with the idea of spring, new life, fecundity & love. Hares were associated with her as a symbol of fertility. I guess eggs speak the same message. One of new life.

The Persian Zoroastrians had a celebration called Nowruz, that marks the Spring Equinox and as part of this celebration painted eggs were eaten. Again representing new life and fertility.

So it is not such a strange idea that early Christians adopted the practice and imagery of the painted eggs for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. The eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus and the breaking of them can be seen as the stone being rolled away from the tomb and Jesus rising from the dead. In Orthodox Christianity the eggs are painted red to remind us of the blood Jesus shed on the cross.

So whatever you think about Easter eggs and their origins; it is good to be reminded that Jesus is alive.

Death is defeated.

He has come to give us new life (John 10:10, John 11:25).

His blood has paid the price for our forgiveness (Colossians 1)

Be blessed this Spring and celebrate the King!

Robot Wars – Extreme Cardboard Edition!!!!

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On Sunday 9th of April we had our last Sunday evening Bible Study – ‘Redefine‘ event before the Easter break. To make it a fun-filled and special night, we held our very own, and back by popular demand, ‘Robot Wars‘ evening.

We had 3 teams of engineers that were given sheets of cardboard, sticky tape, packing tape, cable ties, scissors, aluminium foil, card, tissue paper, a ball of thick cotton string, and a 3 wheeled garden planter base. Out of these materials there were tasked with constructing their very own ‘battle-bot‘ that would need to fight it out over a series of rounds to see who was the champion.

The contest was judged by 3 of our volunteer leaders; who were judging the contestants on the amount of control they had over the robot, the amount of aggression shown during the rounds and finally the amount of damage inflicted or sustained during a round. If a robot was completely incapacitated due to being irreparably damaged in some way they were automatically disqualified. Equally, if a robot was knocked out of the ring, this resulted in an immediate disqualification and loss of the round.

It was a lot of fun. Everyone got into creating and designing their robots with a lot of enthusiasm and good teamwork. It’s so good to see the image of God as our Creator shining through as we create things. Also the whole aspect of working together to see something made came out brilliantly on the evening; with everyone playing their part to produce their finished robot. Two of the volunteer leaders even created a new house robot to challenge our director Tim Gough’s championship winning robot ‘Sir Gingerlot‘.

When the field of play started we had 3 robots at the ready; ‘Barn-Alpha‘, ‘Poppet‘ & ‘Rollo‘ (I guess two of the teams were getting hungry from all of the building and creating and were thinking about chocolate snacks by the time it came to choosing names for their robots?!)

‘Barn-Alpha‘ was a sleek, hot rod or rocket looking machine, with ailerons on the side for control and a nicely shaped wedge at the front for getting under an opponents ‘bot’ to lift it up and incapacitate it.

‘Poppet‘ looked a bit more akin to a cardboard pig, with a large snout-like battering ram at the front and rolls of sticky tape at the back to balance out the weight.

Finally we had ‘Rollo‘, complete with ‘Rollo’ decal on the side of its fuselage. This too had a battering ram on the front, though to the side and not centrally located.

The first round went to ‘Barn-Alpha‘, who demonstrated better control and more aggression, despite not inflicting significant damage to ‘Poppet‘. ‘Poppet‘ fared little better against ‘Rollo‘ on the damage front, but due to ‘Rollo’s‘ lack of aggressiveness the round ended in a draw. ‘Barn-Alpha‘ then went on to win their round against ‘Rollo‘. It seemed that ‘Barn-Alpha‘ was going to walk away with the competition; as they had been in the lead for most of the event. However disaster struck when they entered their second round against ‘Poppet‘ and their undercarriage and wheels were mercilessly ripped off by ‘Poppet’s‘ large battering ram.

This was a huge blow to Team ‘Barn-Alpha‘ and after their bot was unceremoniously dragged from the arena, it was time for a final showdown between ‘Rollo‘ & ‘Poppet‘ to see who would emerge victorious. After 30 seconds of gruelling blows between these evenly matched bots, ‘Poppet‘ managed to knock ‘Rollo‘ out of the arena and earn the title of the night’s ‘champion‘ bot.

Congratulations were given and commiserations received; and the night was capped off by the exhibition fight between ‘Sir Gingerlot‘ and ‘The Tapenator‘. ‘The Tapenator‘ was not fairing well against the solidity of ‘Sir Gingerlot’s‘ tank like structure, despite having hobbled him by knocking one of his wheels off! In-fact it seemed like his days were numbered when ‘Sir Gingerlot‘ eliminated himself by knocking himself out of the arena trying to knock ‘The Tapenator’s‘ battering ram off!

Shock’s all round it seemed from the night. The little David’s managed to defeat the mighty Goliaths; a good lesson to be learned there.

It also is a good reminder to us as we head into the Easter week-end of God defeating sin & death on the cross.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” – Colossians 2:13-15  “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” – 1 Corinthians 2:8.

On Good Friday as were remember Jesus dying for the sins of the world on the cross; let us also remember that He won. He defeated sin & death and rose again victorious. This was a great surprise to the devil and all his angels.

So this Easter week-end, let us celebrate and rejoice that Jesus has won. Jesus has paid the price for our sins; and that Jesus is Lord!

Be Blessed!