Welcome to 2010 …

Well, it's hard to believe – the first month of 2010 is almost history. It just seems like yesterday that we were about to head into the new millennium and everyone was talking about Y2K. Maybe I'm getting older but time does seem to be moving faster. Here we are another decade on. What a decade the last one has been. TIME magazine called it 'The Decade from Hell' – one of the worst ever … and when you reflect on it – a lot of bad stuff happened. But we're still here and God is at work continuing to extend his kingdom in obvious and also subversive ways … all over our world.

On a personal note, I trust that you had an enjoyable Christmas and that the holiday season included a good dose of rest and relaxation. Our family has had an eventful few weeks with a house move (actually we moved, not the house) and the marriage of our oldest son. That makes us 'in-laws' for the first time – and we're loving it! I remember holding our firstborn son when he was just born and having many 'oldies' come up and say – "Enjoy them while they're young, they sure grow up fast." We just laughed. How right there were! Where did the years go?

A final few thoughts for today. Our church is reading through the New Testament together this year and I've been enjoying reading the Gospel of Matthew again from the Message Bible. Here is one of my favourite sayings of Jesus so far … read it nice and slowly ..

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy on or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn how to live freely and lightly.”

May you know and experience those 'unforced rhythms of grace' walking with Jesus this year.

Talk to you again soon …