photos and memories plus doing right.

Looking at facebook photos today in the memories section and the visits D and I made to the bbc studios in Birmingham and she came to the church. I have known her for over a year and we have come a long way. I love her, and I need to do right by her.

last year at this time. What a contrast

jorymicah

39 likes

49w

• jorymicahIn case you missed our Christmas newsletter, you are looking at the newest online theology adjunct professor at SUM Bible College and Theological Seminary!
  A special thanks to my Bible School professor, Scott Camp (from 10 years ago), who recommended me, and to SUM for taking Gal. 3:28 seriously and equally hiring women.
  Tip to fellow seminarians: Be the loud mouth student in the class that complains of Calvinism & complementarianism so your professors never forget you (lol...no offense Calvinists and Comps). 😂

• openlyheatherCongrats Jory. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
• jorymicahThank you @heatherisgay 😁
• iammargaretroseCongratulations Sis! God's Richest Blessings to You! May the Lord continue to Bless Your Ministry!🌹
• jorymicahThanks so much @iammargaretrose ❤
• sleightedchelseaThat's amazing! Congratulations!
• jorymicahThanks @e.k.casey 😘
•  
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✕

This lady was a member of my Dunfermline Church and I loved her.  I wish there were more like her.

 

In Celebration of

Elizabeth Sproat

25 January 1955 -  27 November 2016

Elizabeth W Sproat, aged 61, passed peacefully on 27th November 2016 at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy.

Elizabeth a devout Christian and eager church goer devoted many an hours to helping others and those in need. Selflessly she went out her way to spend time with older, infirm members of the community regularly sharing cups of tea, a listening ear and prayers. She loved helping and organising church events such as the children's holiday club, where she could notably be found issuing orders in "her" church kitchen, arranging and delivering flowers and arranging many meals with the ladies of the church. In years passed she regularly attended along with her late husband and children the local Sunday service at the John Douglas Nursing home perhaps in hope to bring comfort and a family atmosphere to the residents.

Elizabeth was a very involved mother. She attended PTA meetings and like to run the show. An avid guide leader she loved to immerse herself in helping children and young people learn and enhance their life skills. As her children became teenagers her house was regularly chaotic with groups of teenagers, some who still visited her until she passed away.

For many years Elizabeth helped run the family business H.B Sproat butchers in Newmills. It was often said she was the brains behind the business and Harry was the patter merchant.

She was notably recognised for her love to bake and feed people. There are not many problems that can't be solved with a pot of soup and a piece of cake. To feed people meant she could give the warmth and comfort from her heart that often got lost in words via a lecture or telling off. Who needs google when Elizabeth had her recipe book. Notably not all of her children inherited her talent for baking.

Elizabeth was a strong, stubborn, kind hearted, caring, strict, old fashioned, patient, compassionate, hilarious, loving and honest soul. She was the ultimate warrior who embodied everything anyone could ever wish to become.

Elizabeth Sproat, wife of the late Mr Harry Sproat (Tobermory),
Survived by daughters Lynne Sproat, Mairi Rockliffe, Kirsty Sproat and Irene Sproat
Son in law Iain Rockliffe
Grandchildren Seonaid-May, Calleigh, Niamh Alvoet and Duncan and Frazer Rockliffe
Siblings Gerald Pearce and Jim Pearce.

Her funeral will take place on Tuesday 6th December 12.15pm at North Parish Church, Dunfermline, 1.15pm Dunfermline Crematorium and thereafter North Parish Church for light refreshments. Wear some purple if possible.

The family wish to thank everyone for their support and help during the past few weeks.
They respectfully ask for no flowers instead please give donations to the Tobermory RNLI, a charity close to the family's heart.

what an awful idea, why do we do it?

Many years ago when I was a teenager in my first job, I was watching the news on TV about annual appraisals and What an innovative, wonderful idea they were as practiced in Japan.  Shortly after that they occurred in this country and I had my first one in the back shop of the co-op.  I knew that Andy williamson the manager hated it and there was no privacy and it was a duty he had to carry out and get out of the way.  I unloaded vans, put stock in the back shop and sometimes put stock on shelves in the front shop and from Thursday to Saturday I put shopping trolleys back in their place.  How was I to improve my performance?  Reviews were utterly demeaning.  To this day I hate them and I think they are useless because researchers who create these things evidently do not realise that people lie.  They just want to get the thing out of the way and get back to work. Why do we have them?  It is just imposed on people and failure is guaranteed.

Another performance review.

Welcome to your annual performance review.
In the next 90 minutes we will:

• Review your performance over the last 12 months
• Follow up on the goals from last year’s review
• Set new goals for your professional development and career
• Handle any problems you might have had in the last year
• Fill out this 8-page form required by HR
• Coach you to better performance
• Get your totally open and honest feedback to my leadership

And of course, we will both pretend that the results of this little chat will not in any way influence the salary adjustments coming up in two months.
Now… any questions?
It seems that no one likes performance reviews. Joel Spolsky, the CEO of Fog Creek Software certainly doesn’t:

At two of the companies I’ve worked for, the most stressful time of year was the twice-yearly performance review period.
For some reason, the Juno HR department and the Microsoft HR department must have copied their performance review system out of the same Dilbertesque management book, because both programs worked exactly the same way.
First, you gave “anonymous” upward reviews for your direct manager (as if that could be done in an honest way). Then, you filled out optional “self-evaluation” forms, which your manager “took into account” in preparing your performance review.
Finally, you got a numerical score, in lots of non-scalar categories like “works well with others”, from 1-5, where the only possible scores were actually 3 or 4.
Managers submitted bonus recommendations upwards, which were completely ignored and everybody received bonuses that were almost completely random.
The system never took into account the fact that people have different and unique talents, all of which are needed for a team to work well.
(source)

Almost every medium-sized or large company does performance reviews. Everybody does it – and I think it’s time to stop!
Performance reviews are fundamentally broken. Managers hate them and fear them and resent the drain on their time.
Employees often leave reviews demotivated, cynical and with no clear idea of how well they’re doing and how to improve:

Research into British workers found a quarter of respondents thought managers simply regarded the reviews as a “tick-box” exercise, while one in five accused their bosses of not even thinking about the appraisal until they were in the room.
Almost half (44 per cent) did not think their boss was honest during the process, 29 per cent thought they were pointless, and a fifth felt they had had an unfair appraisal, according to the YouGov poll of 3000 workers.
Only a fifth believed their manager would always act on what came up during the review and 20 per cent said their boss never bothered to follow up any concerns raised.
(source)

There is a lot of advice out there on how to fix performance reviews but in my opinion, performance reviews would still be worse than uselss, even if we could fix everything that is currently wrong about them and the very fact that companies fell the need to have them, shows that something is seriously broken in our workplaces.
Here’s why performance reviews and appraisals are such a waste of time and why our workplaces would be better off without them.

1: Everybody hates them

Managers actually cite performance appraisals or annual reviews as one of their most disliked tasks (source) and as we saw above, employees dislike and distrust the process too.
Performance reviews are supposed to be about giving people feedback on their past performance and setting goals for the future. This is impossible in a format that people dislike this intensely.
Studies show that if you’re in a bad mood (and lots of people are during their review meetings), you’re not open to criticism and suggestions. You’re also almost certainly not in the mood to make big plans for your future growth and development

2: They try to do too much

Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins in their 2000 book called “Abolishing Performance Appraisals: Why They Backfire and What to Do Instead” argue that employee reviews take on too many tasks at once. They’re about communications, feedback, coaching, promotion, compensation and legal documentation. Good luck doing all of that in an hour or two!

3: They become an excuse for not talking for the rest of the year

“Yeah, I know that Johnson in accounting is lagging a little and seems dissatisfied, but his performance review is coming up in 4 months – we’ll handle it then.”
No. No, no, no!
In fact, If you have good, open, honest communication between managers and employees, if people constantly know what they do well end where they can improve then you have no need for a formal review process.

4: They are too structured and formal

Many companies have noticed that formal reviews are not working and the response, overwhelmingly, has been to formalize them more. There are now more questionnaires to fill out before, during and after for both employees and managers. More boxes to tick. More ratings on a 1-5 scale More time spent preparing.
But here’s the thing: This actually detracts from the value of the conversation you will have. The more you structure the conversation, the less likelihood that you will actually get to talk about what’s important.
The more boxes to tick, the more likely it is that it will get treated as an exercise in “filling in the blanks.”

5: They focus too much on the quantifiable

Joel Spolsky has another good example:

…one friend of mine was a cheerful catalyst, a bouncy cruise director who motivated everyone else when the going got tough. He was the glue that held his team together. But he tended to get negative reviews, because his manager didn’t understand his contribution.

Many of the most valuable and important things we contribute to the workplace do not fit into those little check boxes. If a manager doesn’t understand this during the year, he will most certainly not get it in the performance review.

6: They may not be formally connected with promotions and salary negotiations – in reality everyone knows they are

A lot of companies have noticed that performance reviews go even worse when they also double as negotiations about salaries and promotions.
Consequently they have separated these two processes and will first have appraisals and then later on salary negotiations.
Riiiiiight. Does anyone expect this to work? Will managers forget everything they said in the appraisal when setting salaries later on? Will employees fall for this and be more honest, rather than try to make themselves look good?
Of course not. But trying to pretend that’s the way it works just adds another layer of deception to the whole sorry mess.

7: No one says what they really think

Managers can hold back from offering negative feedback because they fear conflict.
Employees often don’t offer honest criticism of managers and workplaces out of a fear of offending and the knowledge that, regardless of formal policies, the content of this talk will affect your salary.
In short, everyone is on the defensive from the beginning.

8: They take a LOT of time

Everybody’s busy these days, and on top of your regular tasks, once a year you have to find time to prepare for, execute and follow up on the performance reviews. To make matters worse, very few companies factor in this time in peoples’ schedules and give them a lighter workload during those weeks.
This means that rather than doing it right, many people focus on doing it fast and just getting it over with, making the whole process worse than useless.

9: They become a crutch for bad managers

If you’re not capable of giving your employees regular, specific, timely and relevant feedback (good and bad) – you should not be a manager at all.
And formal performance reviews are not the solution! The managers who actually do manage to give worthwhile performance reviews are invariably also those who don’t need to have them because they already excel at providing regular, constructive feedback.

What to do instead

A 2006 Harvard Business Review article talks about how to fix employee reviews by doing things like:

• Have them more often than annually
• Make their purpose clear
• Give continuous feedback
• Add forced ranking of employees (worst idea ever!)

But I think the solution is a lot simpler: lose’em. Stop having formal employee reviews, whether annual, semi-annual or quarterly. They’re not only a waste of time, they’re actively harmful to motivation and happiness at work.
As Peter Block says in the foreword to the Abolishing Performance Appraisals book mentioned above:

“If the appraisal process is so useful, we should consider using it in our personal lives. Would we say to our spouse, significant other or intimate friend, ‘Dear, it is time for your annual performance appraisal. For the sake of our relationship and the well-being of the family unit, I want you to prepare for a discussion of your strengths and weaknesses and the ways you have fallen short of your goals for the year.
” ‘Also, honey, I would like for you to define some stretch goals for the coming year.’
(source)

Good luck with that :o)

Your take

What do you think? Do you know of companies that have abolished performance reviews? Do you know of any that have them and do them well? What happened at your last performance review? Please write a comment, I’d really like to know.

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 I largely agree with this.  I absolutely hate them.  The opening statement in the ones I get tell me that this recognition is what people are crying out for.  NO I AM NOT.  They are well intended, but patronising.  If you do not know how well or badly you are doing then

Moonshots 

Develop holistic performance measures

Increase trust, reduce fear

Rethink the philosophical foundations of management

Summary 

No one likes annual performance reviews. Managers hate doing them and employees hate getting them. Instead of wasting time on this, I suggest totally eliminating the annual perforance review. You can read more about this topic and other innovative leadership ideas in customer service on my blog: http://www.linkedin.com/in/martonjojarth

Problem 

I recently had the pleasure of attending the MIX Mashup management conference. The mission of MIX (short for Management Innovation eXchange) is to collect and spread ideas for innovative management techniques for how we inspire employees, increase their job satisfaction, and improve their value for shareholders. Some of the innovative ideas for revolutionizing management came from companies on the cutting edge of changing how we work: Zappos, GE, and McKinsey & Company, just to name a few.
While the ideas and new methods for management passed around at the conference were inspiring and innovative, everyone was stuck on what is the best way to conduct annual performance reviews. There was agreement on one thing: no one enjoys the dreaded annual performance evaluation process. Managers hate doing it and employees rarely look forward to seeing the results or participating in the process. Yet, no one at the conference could provide a solution for making the process more effective and useful, and all companies present admitted to not knowing how to fix it. Here are the eight biggest problems with annual performance reviews:

1. The most hard working employees are set up to fail

Only those employees who care about their professional growth care about performance reviews. Yet, they are set up for disappointment. Most managers are only allowed to give out a handful of top ratings in order to enforce a bell curve. In other cases the standards needed to reach the top rating are purposely set impossibly high. Either way, most of the workers who want to do better, who strive to get the best reviews are likely to fall short and be disappointed at annual review time, no matter how hard they worked throughout the year.

2. Linking pay increases to performance ratings is unfair

It is common practice to link pay increases to the results of annual performance evaluations, but I see this as encouraging unfair disparities in pay. Imagine two employees who work for the same company for 10 years straight, both starting out with the same salary, both getting the midpoint performance rating for nine years and both getting the top grade one year. Unless both of them get the top grade in the same year, they earn a different amount of money over the course of the decade – for no other reason than the timing of their breakout performance. That is not fair. Netflix is one company that has done away with performance-linked pay increases. Instead, they base pay rate changes on the market value of each position, not each individual. This provides a much fairer basis for salaries.

3. Annual reviews are often out of date

Most companies conduct the annual review process two to three months after the end of the year. This means that feedback provided in the review could be as old as 15 months. Much of the information in an annual review is obsolete by the time the employee gets it.

4. Annual feedback is likely to be off target

If managers write reviews based on their observations only, those reviews are necessarily biased and one-sided. Sometimes managers include feedback from other employees, or even customers, which helps, but still does not create a complete picture. It is too easy to miss key points or to misunderstand why an employee has failed to meet a goal.

5. Positive feedback cannot be taken at face value

Getting positive comments about what you are doing right is always more motivating than negative critiques, but is no more timely or accurate. Employees know this and often do not bother to take those positive comments to heart.

6. One-sided feedback is patronizing

Performance feedback always comes from the top down. The one-way communication never makes an employee feel good. Even when employees are asked to write self-assessments, the managers’ views rule. If it were possible to truly have a two-way conversation about performance, the process might be more instructive and uplifting.

7. Annual reviews are a chore most managers do grudgingly

Proponents of the annual performance evaluation say the process is important because managers rarely give any feedback throughout the year. This is true, and ongoing feedback would be more useful than annual feedback. However, some managers do not give real-time coaching because they simply do not care to do so. That attitude does not improve at annual evaluation time, and the quality of performance reviews written up by these managers is likely to be inadequate.

8. Subjective assessments result in arbitrary bonuses

An argument used for conducting annual performance reviews is that they are needed for determining bonuses. Bonuses determined on the basis of inaccurate readings of performance are likely to be unfair. Using objective criteria and metrics is a better approach for determining bonuses than a subjective evaluation process.

Solution 

Here is my solution for improving the annual performance evaluation game: stop doing it. Annual performance reviews are unnecessary, wasteful, and worst of all, demotivating.

Practical Impact 

Managers and employees will have wasted less time on a review that is arbitrary, inaccurate, and demotivating. Employees and managers will have the chance to develop better and more productive relationships. Employees will have the chance to get real-time, meaningful feedback from managers on a regular basis. Finally, employees will stay motivated and happy, delivering better work outputs and service to customers.

Challenges 

There are a couple of challenges with totally eliminating annual performance reviews, including the difficulty of changing minds. It isn't easy to disrupt the status quo or change how things have always been done. Another challenge is figuring out how to replace annual reviews with something more useful that can actually help employees grow and improve. Real-time feedback is more effective than annual reviews, but doing that in a way that is effective is a behaviour that leaders need to learn.

First Steps 

The important first step to eliminating annual performance reviews would have to include developing an alternative. In every company many processes are tied to the annual performance review score. For example, certain trainings may only be available to employees scoring above a certain score. Or, the rate of pay increases may be tied to annual performance achievements. Before moving away from annual performance measurement, companies will need to identify these interdependencies and update their processes. Gaining consensus about scrapping the dreaded annual performance review process may end up being a much easier task than achieving consensus about what should drive pay increases, regulate promotions, etc. Finally, if real time feedback is going to replace the annual process, then managers need to be trained how to deliver feedback in an effective way. Delivering feedback well is a learned behavior.

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November 7, 2015 at 4:44pm

Édouard Siekierski

Some companies are on their way to get rid of it
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-accenture-deloitte-got-rid-performanc...

Annual reviews

 I largely agree with this. They are patronising.

 

8 Reasons For Killing Annual Performance Reviews

By Marton Jojarth - Vice President, Customer Success at Equinix

June 30, 2015 at 12:11pm

annual performance review

customer service

performance management

Moonshots 

Develop holistic performance measures

Increase trust, reduce fear

Rethink the philosophical foundations of management

Summary 

No one likes annual performance reviews. Managers hate doing them and employees hate getting them. Instead of wasting time on this, I suggest totally eliminating the annual perforance review. You can read more about this topic and other innovative leadership ideas in customer service on my blog: http://www.linkedin.com/in/martonjojarth

Problem 

I recently had the pleasure of attending the MIX Mashup management conference. The mission of MIX (short for Management Innovation eXchange) is to collect and spread ideas for innovative management techniques for how we inspire employees, increase their job satisfaction, and improve their value for shareholders. Some of the innovative ideas for revolutionizing management came from companies on the cutting edge of changing how we work: Zappos, GE, and McKinsey & Company, just to name a few.
While the ideas and new methods for management passed around at the conference were inspiring and innovative, everyone was stuck on what is the best way to conduct annual performance reviews. There was agreement on one thing: no one enjoys the dreaded annual performance evaluation process. Managers hate doing it and employees rarely look forward to seeing the results or participating in the process. Yet, no one at the conference could provide a solution for making the process more effective and useful, and all companies present admitted to not knowing how to fix it. Here are the eight biggest problems with annual performance reviews:

1. The most hard working employees are set up to fail

Only those employees who care about their professional growth care about performance reviews. Yet, they are set up for disappointment. Most managers are only allowed to give out a handful of top ratings in order to enforce a bell curve. In other cases the standards needed to reach the top rating are purposely set impossibly high. Either way, most of the workers who want to do better, who strive to get the best reviews are likely to fall short and be disappointed at annual review time, no matter how hard they worked throughout the year.

2. Linking pay increases to performance ratings is unfair

It is common practice to link pay increases to the results of annual performance evaluations, but I see this as encouraging unfair disparities in pay. Imagine two employees who work for the same company for 10 years straight, both starting out with the same salary, both getting the midpoint performance rating for nine years and both getting the top grade one year. Unless both of them get the top grade in the same year, they earn a different amount of money over the course of the decade – for no other reason than the timing of their breakout performance. That is not fair. Netflix is one company that has done away with performance-linked pay increases. Instead, they base pay rate changes on the market value of each position, not each individual. This provides a much fairer basis for salaries.

3. Annual reviews are often out of date

Most companies conduct the annual review process two to three months after the end of the year. This means that feedback provided in the review could be as old as 15 months. Much of the information in an annual review is obsolete by the time the employee gets it.

4. Annual feedback is likely to be off target

If managers write reviews based on their observations only, those reviews are necessarily biased and one-sided. Sometimes managers include feedback from other employees, or even customers, which helps, but still does not create a complete picture. It is too easy to miss key points or to misunderstand why an employee has failed to meet a goal.

5. Positive feedback cannot be taken at face value

Getting positive comments about what you are doing right is always more motivating than negative critiques, but is no more timely or accurate. Employees know this and often do not bother to take those positive comments to heart.

6. One-sided feedback is patronizing

Performance feedback always comes from the top down. The one-way communication never makes an employee feel good. Even when employees are asked to write self-assessments, the managers’ views rule. If it were possible to truly have a two-way conversation about performance, the process might be more instructive and uplifting.

7. Annual reviews are a chore most managers do grudgingly

Proponents of the annual performance evaluation say the process is important because managers rarely give any feedback throughout the year. This is true, and ongoing feedback would be more useful than annual feedback. However, some managers do not give real-time coaching because they simply do not care to do so. That attitude does not improve at annual evaluation time, and the quality of performance reviews written up by these managers is likely to be inadequate.

8. Subjective assessments result in arbitrary bonuses

An argument used for conducting annual performance reviews is that they are needed for determining bonuses. Bonuses determined on the basis of inaccurate readings of performance are likely to be unfair. Using objective criteria and metrics is a better approach for determining bonuses than a subjective evaluation process.

Solution 

Here is my solution for improving the annual performance evaluation game: stop doing it. Annual performance reviews are unnecessary, wasteful, and worst of all, demotivating.

Practical Impact 

Managers and employees will have wasted less time on a review that is arbitrary, inaccurate, and demotivating. Employees and managers will have the chance to develop better and more productive relationships. Employees will have the chance to get real-time, meaningful feedback from managers on a regular basis. Finally, employees will stay motivated and happy, delivering better work outputs and service to customers.

Challenges 

There are a couple of challenges with totally eliminating annual performance reviews, including the difficulty of changing minds. It isn't easy to disrupt the status quo or change how things have always been done. Another challenge is figuring out how to replace annual reviews with something more useful that can actually help employees grow and improve. Real-time feedback is more effective than annual reviews, but doing that in a way that is effective is a behaviour that leaders need to learn.

First Steps 

The important first step to eliminating annual performance reviews would have to include developing an alternative. In every company many processes are tied to the annual performance review score. For example, certain trainings may only be available to employees scoring above a certain score. Or, the rate of pay increases may be tied to annual performance achievements. Before moving away from annual performance measurement, companies will need to identify these interdependencies and update their processes. Gaining consensus about scrapping the dreaded annual performance review process may end up being a much easier task than achieving consensus about what should drive pay increases, regulate promotions, etc. Finally, if real time feedback is going to replace the annual process, then managers need to be trained how to deliver feedback in an effective way. Delivering feedback well is a learned behavior.

new blog and Doctor who.

started a new blog today on Word Press.  I called it "The Word Master"

Today, is Doctor Who day. On this day in 1963, the first episode was broadcast.

God doesn’t do coincidences

God doesn’t do coincidences

Written by Joshua Rogers

Throughout my 20s, one of the biggest sources of stress in my life was the fear that God didn’t really love me and that I would never really know where I stood with Him. At one one point, however, I put His love to the test: I went on a sinning spree that took me further than I wanted to go and convinced there was no way back.

In theory, I knew Jesus still loved me, but theory was as far as it went. Sure, His blood would still allow me to go to Heaven, but I figured it would be a while before He offered me any other blessings. Yet that was the very moment He chose to bring the greatest blessing of my life: my wife, Raquel.

We met at a party that Raquel almost skipped because there was a terrific storm in D.C. and she hardly knew anyone who was coming to the party. I struck up a conversation with her, got her number, went on a couple of dates with her, and quickly grew to like her. Then, a few weeks into the relationship, I tried to run her off by telling her about my not-so-distant past. To my surprise, she didn’t run. She offered the kind of love I was having so much trouble receiving from God.

It was the beginning of a new chapter in my understanding of Christ’s love, which is why I said at our wedding, “If I ever question whether God loves me based on my performance, all I have to do is look at Raquel.”

No Coincidence

To the world, Raquel’s and my story is one about a heartwarming, coincidental meeting of two people who were ready to find love. For the Christian, however, there is no such thing as a coincidence.

The things that happen to us, good or bad, are subplots in a much bigger story: “That all things” — even our failures and brokenness — “work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). God is the Author, and in His story, there are no accidental twists, no insignificant details, no wasted moments.
Those years of purposelessness that seemed like a waste of time: They’re working together for our good.
The failures that still haunt us: They’re working together for our good.
The successes of other people: They’re working together for our good.

The sins that have been committed against us: They’re working together for our good.

The world events over which we have no control: They’re working together for our good.

That doesn’t mean all these things are good. It means we serve a resurrected Saviour who has the power to bring life from death, gain from loss, joy from sorrow. He’s drawing us deeper into His story in which we eventually discover that all along, every single circumstance was adding up to a surprise ending that was “immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

A Biblical Response to Jory Micah's Women's Pastor Video

praise God they were not crushed

From the wrexham leader yesterday.  We were all due to go to Halesowen, and this happened to the Measons in their car.

Delays for motorists as lorry sheds load near A5 Chirk roundabout

Published on 17 November 2016 by Andrew Cain 

Picture: Twitter / @xounox 

A CRASH in Chirk caused delays on a Wrexham bypass on Thursday morning. 
A collision on the A5 roundabout at Halton shortly before 9am causing delays as far back as the A483.
A spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance service said the incident was caused by metal sheeting falling off a lorry onto the bonnet of a car behind. Nobody was injured.

• Follow and like the Leader Live Facebook page by clicking here

Paramedics were sent at approximately 8.50am to the scene.
A spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance service said: “Three people were in the car and one woman in her twenties was checked over at the scene, but did not require any hospital treatment.
“This was a no injury incident, but there was severe damage to the car.”
"An adult and a child got out of the vehicle and we sent an ambulance. The crew said that no further resources were required but they are still on the scene and have been there for about 16 minutes."

• See full story in the Leader

Timothy two chapter 4 verse 8 to the end of the chapter.

Timothy 2:4 8-end of chapter

In the future there is laid up for us the crown of righteousness..

I believe that when paul wrote this, athletes who won the race were given a crown ( a laurel Crown)

On Monday Andrew talked about what motivates us and guarding that which is in us.

The athlete trains for a long time.  He or she does this, because they want to win the crown and they will do whatever it takes to be in a fit condition to win it.

They look ahead and the focus on that moment that the crown will be placed apon their head

Paul is saying that he is focused like the athlete with his life.

He reminds Timothy that not only will the lord do that for him, but he will do it for All who have loved his appearing.

I find that that as I look forward, there are things that I have to put off, in order to attain the prize.  What you have to put off will vary from individual to individual.

There are also things that I need to put on. Things that are good for me that will make me more holy.

I also have to put off distractions.  The world offers distractions. Not always things that are wrong, but things that consume you.

We need to guard our hearts as Andrew said so that what is in us is strong.

Sometimes it may appear to men to be strong, but in fact it is not. 

I have known some people who seemed to follow the lord, but do so no longer.

Paul experienced that with Demas. 

Paul said Demas had deserted him and Gone to Thessanica

We do not know why, but you can sense pauls disappointment and loneliness as he tells Timothy to make EVERY EFFORT TO COME TO HIM SOON.

HE HAD HIGH HOPES FOR TIMOTHY

He also tells him to BRING MARK.   Previously Paul had rejected Mark, but now he wants him.

Sometimes there are people who have rough edges, but they are sincere and worth bearing with. MARK SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN ONE OF THEM.

We are not to take revenge on those who wrong us.  ALEXANDER THE COPPERSMITH.  Had wronged Paul but Paul leaves the matter to the lord.

This is the other side of things.  Paul looks forward to the crown, but for those who oppose the lord there will be punishment.  PAUL WARNED TIMOTHY AGAINST HIM.

He was in effect telling timothy how to handle him  DO NOT LOSE THE RAG.

Paul also says that at his first defence all deserted him.  They also deserted Christ.

However it was in this that the gospel went to the Gentiles.

V18 the lord will deliver me from every evil deed.

It also seems to me that Paul loved greeting people. People whom he loved and who had worked with him.

I presume that Timothy did this. He had to personally greet these people and they would know that they were in the apostles thoughts.

1)      Strive to attain the crown

2)      Guard your hearts and that which God has entrusted to you so that you will not be a Demas

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• jorymicahIn case you missed our Christmas newsletter, you are looking at the newest online theology adjunct professor at SUM Bible College and Theological Seminary!
  A special thanks to my Bible School professor, Scott Camp (from 10 years ago), who recommended me, and to SUM for taking Gal. 3:28 seriously and equally hiring women.
  Tip to fellow seminarians: Be the loud mouth student in the class that complains of Calvinism & complementarianism so your professors never forget you (lol...no offense Calvinists and Comps). 😂

   

  She has since been fired.

the weekend past.

The weekend with D was just lovely.  She and the other D are well loved in their church and I feel like part of her family.

Cabin Lane Church

http://www.cabinlanechurch.org.uk/church-life/look-and-listen/podcasts/message/job/listen


If you copy and paste the above, you may hear me preaching at Cabin Lane Church Oswestry

Change and the presidential election.

Is astonishing how people get so emotionally involved the US politics.  There are angry people and also those who are afraid.  Donald Trump will be president, but he is only one man and God has not been taken by surprise at his election. 

It is however interesting to note that younger people did not vote for him. They voted for Clinton.  The same thing happened in the UK in the referendum to leave the EU.  It looks like younger people are more afraid of change.  One would have thought that younger people would embrace change as it seems they did in the past.  Perhaps us older people have seen change before and have less fear of it.

Book Gods Kaleidoscope, George Falconer, christian

Remember Remember the fifth of November.

English Folk Verse (c.1870)
The Fifth of November
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England's overthrow.
But, by God's providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James's sake!
If you won't give me one,
I'll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Primary Colours

The American Presidential election has proved to be acrimonious, bitter and will probably have repercussions for a number of years no matter who wins.  A long time ago a film called "Primary Colours" was made, based on a novel, which in turn was based on Bill Clintons 1992 presidential campaign.  The lead was played by John Travolta.  I hope that he is on Stand by for Primary Colours 2.

The FBI investigated Hilary Clintons emails that were on a private server, then dropped it. Nine days ago they sent a letter to Congress saying they were investigating more emails and today they have dropped it. Donald Trump makes all sorts of allegations and he himself is alleged to have sexually assaulted women which he bragged about to a reporter and then denied.  One wonders how angry his present wife and family are behind closed doors. The whole think would be a joke but the world is watching.

going With a Bang. Guy Hawks Night 2016. Bridgenor

what a plonker

What a plonker I am. I went out to harvest festival this evening, but to the wrong venue.

Jacob stuggles with God.

Genesis 32

Jacob the cheat is returning to his own land.

He had cheated Esau out of his blessing and his birth right

Esau had planned to kill Jacob upon the death of their father

Now Jacob with I think fear and dread after many years returned at Gods command and had to face his brother.

He must have been petrified

ONE THING WE CAN SAY FOR JACOB IS THAT HE WAS GOOD ORGANISER.  He had tended labons sheep and prospered.

Jacob started to prepare

If we are going to do anything for God, then we should pray, but we should also prepare if preparations are in order.

Jacob prepared by sending a messenger to his brother

V4-V6 Jacob tells the messenger what to say

The answer must have been what he dreaded.  Esau was on his way with meet him with 400 men.

Why would he come with 400 men. 

V7 Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.

It is all very well to say that he should have held to Gods promises, but we humans have fear and Jacob looked at the circumstances and was afraid, I think not only for himself, but for all his family and servants.

He decided to do something about it.

He divided the company in two so that if Esau attacked one the other would survive.

V9 onwards

Jacobs prayer is amazing, 

He reminds God that it was God who told him to go back

It was god who told him he would prosper

V11 deliver me from my brother Esau.

Jacob was really asking God to honor what he had promised and perhaps if Esau attacked then God would see to it that his plan to save one of the companies would work. 

He would go alone.

It was God who promised him many descendants

He also selected gifts for Esau

V14-18  200 make goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams.  30 camels and their colts 40 cows, 10 bulls 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

Note that it says he selected them.  He would have looked at them and brought to that all his expertise in choosing the best. 

By doing so, he probably hoped to pacify Esau.

As the animals passed Esau they and he asked who’s they were, the servants were to say these belong to my master Jacob, they are a present to you and he is behind us

Esau would get that message again and again.

I also think that by saying Jacob was behind them, it would help Jacob with his own courage.  He was going regardless of his fear.  He had committed to God to do this, so he was going.

All preparations were made, and now JACOBS FATE WAS EXCLUSIVELY IN GODS HANDS

HAVE YOU EVER HAD THAT EXPERIENCE?  THERE IS NO MORE YOU CAN DO, IT IS ALL UP TO GOD?

If this was a  television drama this would be an episode cliff hanger.  Tune in next week to see what happens.

Bear in mind that Jacob was afraid.  He had no guarantee that his preparations would work, except Gods promise that he would prosper.  He already had family and so the potential for descendants through which God would carry out his promise and so he had no reason to take it for granted that he would personally survive.

Also, take note of Jacobs prayer

V10 I AM UNWORTHY OF ALL YOUR LOVING KINDNESS FOR WITH MY STAFF ONLY.  I CROSSED THIS JORDAN AND NOW I HAVE BECOME TWO COMPANIES.

He was saying that when he was last at this very river, running away from Esau, he had nothing except his staff.

It was like saying that he only had the clothes on his back. He owned nothing.

As he had been dividing everything into two companies, IT REMINDED HIM OF HOW GOD HAD LOVED AND PROSPERED HIM, IN SPITE OF THE SORT OF PERSON HE WAS.

When he said that he was NOT WORTHY, HE MEANT IT.

IT IS GOOD TO HAVE A SENSE OF YOUR OWN UNWORTHINESS FOR ONLY THEN WILL YOU START TO APPRECIATE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE LOVE OF GOD.

There he is alone

V24, a man wrestled with him until daybreak.  If you are in a difficult situation YOU NEED SLEEP.  JACOB GOT NONE FOR HE WAS FIGHTING ALL NIGHT.  He would be exhausted, and physically not fit for what he was going to do the next day.

Perhaps when the man appeared and wrestled with him, Jacob may have thought himself undone.  HE HAD THOUGHT THAT ESAU WOULD ATTACK HIM, AND HERE HE WAS BEING ATTACKED.

I would be petrified in that situation and I think you would be to.

The man did not prevail against him

V25 he TOUCHED THE SOCKET OF HIS THIGH.  HE ONLY TOUCHED IT and it was dislocated

That tells me that the man was well able to overpower Jacob. If he could do that by only touching, killing him would have been easy,

BUT this was no man.

This was God in the shape of a man wrestling with Jacob.

Jacob in the past had cheated to get Esaus Blessing and his birthright for HE SAW THE VALUE IN THEM.

Jacob in my view saw that this was no ordinary man.  He knew who he was wrestling with.  Jacob once again sought a BLESSING THAT ONLY GOD COULD GIVE.

He told the man that he would not let him go until he blessed him.

We can learn from that.  We are told in the new testament to be persistent in prayer.  WE wrestle with God and we should MIMIC JACOB

He persisted and told God that he would not let him go until  he blessed him.

HAVE YOU EVER DONE THAT?  We have the assurance that god wants to bless

BUT IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ASK FOR IT.

Jacob always saw the value in Gods blessings and he grasped for it.

YOU WILL RECALL THAT WHEN HE WAS BORN HE GRASPED ESAUS HEEL, SO HE WAS CALLED JACOB.

IT MEANT THAT HE GRASPED FOR THINGS.

IN THE BIBLE NAMES MEANT THINGS AND OFTEN DENOTED CHARACTER

That is what Jacob was, a grasper, a spive, he would lie and cheat get whatever he was grasping for.

My name, GEORGE means an earth worker or farmer. I know nothing about farming

I also know nothing about Falconry which my surname comes from.

Jacob lived up to his name.

In V27 WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

God knew the answer.  He was not asking because he did not know.  He asked to get Jacob to say it and by doing so, TO OWN UP TO WHO AND WHAT HE REALLY WAS.

He had prayed that he was not worthy, AND HIS NAME CONFIRMED THAT.

The man said YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE JACOB BUT ISREAL, FOR YOU HAVE STRIVEN WITH GOD AND WITH MEN AND PREVAILED.

Note this STRIVEN WITH GOD AND MEN.

We tend to focus in on the wrestling alone, but the truth is, Jacob wrested with god long before that.  He wrestled with men as well.  He wrestled with his UNCLE LABAN  and prevailed.  Arguably he wrestled with Esau in getting the birthright.   We are told that we do not just wrestle with me but with the principalities and powers.

JACOB WRESTLED ALL HIS LIFE AND FOR US THAT WILL BE OUR EXPERIENCE.

Also note this, JACOB ASKED THE MANS NAME, AND THE MAN WOULD NOT GIVE IT.

He was not just asking for identification.  All of Gods names that we know WHICH JACOB DID NOT are expressions of Gods character.

When we pray and ask for things in the name of Jesus.  IT IS NOT MAGIC.  We are told to pray in the name of Jesus, because what we are expressing is confidence in the character of God by using that name.

Jacob asked that to have more understanding of god but evidently he had enough for we know that Jacob gave that place a name.

He named it PENIEL.   FOR HE HAD SEEN GOD FACE TO FACE YET HIS LIFE WAS PRESERVED.

I think that Jacob after this had more confidence. For if you have seen God face to face and not been struck down then that same God would answer his prayer an preserve him from Esau.

Also note that Jacob knew he was god. THAT IS NOT MY OPIONION.  IT STATED HERE IN THIS PASSAGE.  Jacob knew that somehow this was god in the form of a man.

From then on as an act of remembrance for the Jews they did not eat the sinew of the hip because he touched Jacobs’s thigh. 

Even then in eating their food, the Jews would remember that Jacob strove with God and prevailed

How do we apply this to ourselves?  I have always struggled.

I struggle now, I expect to struggle until my dying day, but looking at this passage for the umpteenth time, I see all my life struggles afresh as struggling with God and God bringing me out and letting me know more and more of his character and purposes.

In all of life’s challenges, let us cling on to God and say to him as Jacob said.  I WILL NOT LET YOU GO UNTIL YOU BLESS ME.

AMEN.