les Davey de France

Negotiations are going well so far.  We are visiting again this lunchtime and this time I will take my camera ( doh ! ).

http://solapanel.org/article/all_the_way_to_11/ The solapanel has been considering the temptations upon pastor/preachers to try to compete with the televangelists and cyberpastors by turning the knob up to 11. I'm preaching on 3 John this week ( Samy preached on 2 John last week ) and John emphasises walking in the truth and following good examples .  This reminds me of the concern I have always had about televangelists back before cyberpastors were even invented - and that is that there is a vital ingredient missing - visibility. Paul shared his life with people. They knew how he ate, how he treated people, what he was like under pressure, what he was like when things went well, what made him laugh, what made him cry. When he said "follow my example" they could have written a book about it. Even the best cyberpastor - well we know only what they tell us. When they say "follow my example" we copy their vocabulary, dress, gestures and hairstyle. So next time you...

http://churchplantingnovice.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/where-to-office-church-or-home/ I watched this video of an interview with a pastor in a small British town yesterday. He had this beautiful office with a huge desk and classy bookshelves - think of a cross between the British Library and Henry Ford's office in Detroit ¤ . And I SO wanted an office like that. Yes, but what are we saying about our image of what a pastor is when we do that ? Where do we get our self-image from ? The Bible or from the offices of big bosses in films ? And what are we saying about the church ? Is it the new community of the redeemed or Praise-R-Us, branches in every town . We want to be CEOs of big corporate bodies with the status and kudos. We want to be executives, not humble, despised  work men . ¤ I thought "Richard Branson, no he'd never have an office like that", then realised that in our image of what a CEO's office is like we are decades behind. Industry executives increasing...

It's great, la rentrée scolaire. It's a BIG event here in France. For example, a computermonger has just sent out adverts saying that because the rentrée scolaire is so expensive they're refunding the price of a certain model of printer. ( They ought to give them away free anyway - everyone knows they make their money from the ink cartridges. ) Anyway it does my head in because it is this week that the family timetable is established. G & C got their school timetables yesterday. One starts at 8 and the other at 8:25 most mornings. I think we get to lie in a little on Fridays, by which time we'll need it.  Then the music school is establishing its timetable. So far it's amazingly convenient (for Pat and I). On Monday Catrin does choir. I hope that Gwilym will have his guitar lesson at the same time. Then on Tuesday evening they'll do music theory, then Catrin will follow it with orchestra, then flute. At the end of that she'll have a muzzle like a howitze...

The children went back to school yesterday. Catrin was there from 9:15 to 3:30 but just for an introduction to the school, her teachers, the timetable, etc. Gwilym was in from 2:20 to 3:30, really just to get his timetable. But today they start at 8 am and it's dark, and it's bucketing down with rain. Actually I think that rain kind of helps when you are just going back to school. It is better than sitting in a hot sweaty classroom while the sun blazes outside.

I was not a happy bunny yesterday. In fact I thought I was ill. Well I came out in this rash - little pustules just like mosquito bites, but loads of them and in stupid places where mosquitos can't get you - abdomen, tops of legs, even my seat ! I thought it must be shingles, though the rash wasn't right. Then I imagined visiting the doctor and inviting her to examine the rash on my tail end. I was glum. I realised that I'd have to go and see her though - what if it is contagious ? So I mentioned it to Nurse Davey. "They're bites", she said, "I've got 'em, too". And so she had, and in the same places. hmmm. On Sunday the service was at St Loubès which is on the banks of the Dordogne on very low marshy land. There are drainage ditches everywhere which do not drain and the garden has those cracks that are typical of land that waterlogs then dries out. I know that it is rich in mosquitos of every kind, but ones that bite you through your clothes...

and we are not going to. Since the certificate for public use was issued the place has been changed a lot and is no longer legal for public gatherings. OK. The letting agent had another place on his books - a hair-dressing salon on the borders of Cenon and Bordeaux (right bank) very near the tram stop, with public car parking all round and a flat above. We went straight away to see it. The flat needs some redecoration and the salon needs all the salony stuff removing and a lick of paint to quieten the colour-scheme, but otherwise it seems like it would suit us. It has ground floor access, two doors for security, two loos on the ground floor, reversible air-con (for heat in winter, cool in summer) etc. We'd rent the whole place and use the upstairs for sunday school rooms, etc, and it would be cheaper than the other place. We'd also have an option to buy, and it is well placed (though not in central Bordeaux). There we are. If we go for it we'll maybe sign this week if the a...