Blogging attempt 2...and a memory of FREE Week...

Currently Reading: Desiring God/John Piper; The Busy Christian's Guide To Busyness/Tim Chester

Currently Listening to: ()/Sigur Ros; In the Name of Love, Various Artists

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Hello once again...sometime in the future i'll get round to summarising RUCU's FREE Week and the amazing-ness of God before, throughout, and after. I couldnt say which rates highest really, or which to emphasis more. In sort...it was, and continues to be good.

Just downloaded an amazing little application I orginally heard about from John Young, a fresher at Reading, and then Jethro Atherall, a good friend and fellow RUCU second year. It's called 'Spotify', and with it you can stream ANY song live, and best of all, its LEGAL! I may never have to buy music again...this thing was made for Christian students I'm sure.

That reminds me of a great quote Tom Riches told us at an RFC men's breakfast a while back, that we "are not students who happen to be Christians, but Christians who happen to be students" which he got off someone a few years before.

Via Spotify stubbled across a great album a teammate of mine in India had -an album of U2 covers by American (it think, mostly) Christian bands, including a Delirious?/Tree63 cover of 'Pride' which, I have to say, is almost as good as the original. I really like it...go check it out. [In the Name of Love, 2004, Artists United for Africa]

I digress: I felt a good way to get 'back' to blogging -assuming I was some kind of presence here in the first place- was to share a quality little thing that challenged me at approximatly 9am the (miraculously) frosty morning that the FREE marquee went up.

After aging 3 years the previous morning as the marquee guys turned up, and being told we couldn't put the marquee where the Uni had said it was ok to, and coming close to having to cancel the whole week, a few little miracles resulted in the marquee going up the next day behind Mojos/the Student Union, not a bad location at all.

I arrived at half 7 to pray over the site before the Marquee guys arrived, and was joined by Peter Harley, Lee Burgess, and 'Benny' Maslin, who had kindly volunteered to come help put the marquee up faster than the four Sandhurst marquee chaps could.

At a pause in our activity (putting up marquees is really easy btw!), we observed a student came riding up on a small BMX bike, and stopped on the patio area behind mojo's. He moved all the tables to the sides, and began to practice tricks and jumps silently and devotedly. Someone commented on how 'sad' it was, but it really struck me- this guy had got up on saturday, when everyone else was asleep, when he would normally have been sleeping, and come from his house outside campus, moved obstacles out of his way, so he could be alone and free to do the thing he loved, getting better at what he did and more in tune with how the bike handled. Now...when was the last time I got up early in the morning, went to a quiet place, moved heavy obstacles and put in physical effort, and read my Bible and prayed? Isn't that what I claim to be most important to me? Isn't that what I say that I love doing most? But when did I last show that kind of commitment to God and made such an effort to be with Him and learn about him? I can't recall... and He deserves better. He far did more than moving tables for me...

FREE Videos....

Vision...



Implementation...


And...found this too: Our Encouragment...



Nice one Parsons. Nice.

Finally.....FREE is here....

Hi again....

Check these out for the Vision and manifestation of this Vision in the videos posted in the next blog (having problems posting them in this one)

Unfortunatly, my pretty awful performance in front of a camera meant the vision is not expressed so clearly! It comes down to this: we want to be bolder than ever before in proclaiming the gospel in Reading. We want to be a tanglible presence on campus, not letting the truth of Jesus be hidden, but displayed for all to see. We want to take away as many of the barriers that get in the way of people hearing the gospel as possible.

To do these things, we are having all our events in a 200 seater marquee in the very centre of campus, between the four most used buildings on campus. We are doing the same evening gospel focused talks with added invitational-ness, culminating in a Curry night on friday plus a full gospel talk from Micheal Ots. Five apologetics based lunchbars will happen, followed by 'Question Cafe' where people can stay behind and have drinks and discuss the talk and have thier questions answered. We will (hopefully!) have a smaller gazebo near the marquee giving out Free Gospel, and tea and toast in the mornings for those coming out of lectures. Monday night is given over to hall events, so we as a CU can realise the importance of these and take them seriously.

We hope and pray that having such an open venue and noticable venue those who normally wouldnt go out of their way come instead of continuing on their way, and that our vision to take the gospel out to campus, rather than drawing people in, will work for His glory!

Please pray there would be no de-railing problems in these last few days of prep, and that many people would hear the gospel and respond....