Lyrical Theology with Shai Linne

An update has been a long time coming I know, but I hope this video makes up for it. Thanks to the wonderful serendipity of Twitter, I found this through a fellow tweeter who I found locally (http://twitter.com/saintbeagle). I'm only just finding out about Shai Linne and his hip hop ministry. He has a few albums released and so far it seems that they match the quality of this song. This song is so eloquent and sums up nearly everything that we're trying to learn through living with Jesus.

Poem: Not me!

This is a poem by Dionne Williams AKA Poetical Princess that I mentioned this morning in Bible study. This poem is about not letting our environment dictate who we are and what we allow ourselves to become. *The video includes some disturbing images, adding to the power of the words.

Afterglow5 - See you there!

Starting at 5pm at Swansea Seventh day Adventist Church, 55 Gower Rd. Sketty Cross. Hopefully you''ll notice these pumpkins :)

What A Glorious Day

Okay here i go my first blog :] wewp (:
So here's my plan I'm going to talk about afterglow :) This amazing musical worship service which I enjoy so much (: It's quite new to us all but i find it's gone really well :D
One of my favorite songs would have to be "The Greatest Day in History" also known as "Happy Day". It's such a good song :] Catchy and got a good beat to it :) See check out the chorus!
♪♫ "Oh happy day
Happy day
You wash my sin away
Oh happy day
Happy day
I'll never be the same
Oh no
Forever I am changed" ♪♫


sound cool or what?!
Well that's my favorite song for you :) 
I must say to me afterglow is something I'm excited about all the time. basically everyday I think to myself afterglow in *whichever amount of days it is*. I just feel so happy at the actual thing as well. It's nice to be with a group of people singing songs and basically being together :) one thing I've noticed is that when I'm there and we're singing I stop in the middle of a song just to put a huge grin on my face! Haha it's random i guess but I actually enjoy it that much! if I feel this happy about it I'm sure a lot of people would feel the same way!
You can come join us on Saturday to check it out. I'm sure you'll enjoy.
By Nessa :]♥

Worship Central Experience

Check out this tour diary video from their website: WorshipCentral.org
This update is a bit late sorry. A few of us were blessed on Thursday night by being able to attend the worship at City Temple, Swansea. It was a special evening with Tim Hughes and his band leading out in new songs to many of us, sharing the experience with hundreds of other youth from across South Wales. In between the all the music and singing Tim Hughes and his friend Ben Cantleton Al Gordon gave an inspiring talk about creativity. In the end, everyone left the experience in no doubt that God wants us all to use whatever skills we have to be creative, so that every church can be a creative hub for their community - sharing the Gospel to everyone, and showing what an uplifting and wonderful experience living with Jesus really is.

What if Starbucks Marketed like a Church?

We hope your experience of church isn't like this parable. Some important lessons for us all since it's so easy to lose sight of what the Church is really for. Who wants coffee? :)

New Jesus movie - join the movement!

http://newjesusmovie.com/

Afterglow4 - Oct. 17th @6pm

Afterglow

Our third Afterglow service is set to commence tomorrow, 3rd October, at 6:00 pm.

Come and join us in praise and worship.

Chris Tomin - Love

Visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/christomlinmusic

for more of Chris Tomlin's music.

Worship notes

I hope you can gain something from this collection of thoughts on 'worship' collected together by Duane (click on the image to read the notes). To start the new 'afterglow' worship service we've tried to go back to basics of what 'worship' and 'praise' really mean, through studying the Bible and keeping these thoughts in mind. As always we're all continually learning together, and are trying to  make the best of any talent we have. We would love for you join us on this journey by taking part in the next 'afterglow' service, 6pm on Oct. 3rd at Swansea SdA Church.

Oh, The Temptation

2 Hidden Cameras
A bunch of Kids
1 Marshmallow each

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (The Message)

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.

Who will 'Stand By Me'?

I almost forgot about this wonderful video, but just found it again after finding the 'Playing for Change' album on iTunes. It's a wonderfully creative way to promote peace with artists from all over the world. Enjoy!

Afterglow? Join us!

Health Pioneer comes to Swansea

As part of the ongoing CHIP (Coronary Health Improvement Project) programme in Wales, we were delighted to have Dr Hans Diehl to be our guest for a special breakfast this morning. It was a real priviledge to have him with us, and have a one to one conversation with the pioneer of this health project which is being run throughout the world.

Following a typically special big CHIP breakfast, Dr Diehl gave us a short talk about the differnce CHIP has made to thousands of peoples lives. He also mentioned about how, as participants and we need to be more gentle when we try and approach people about following such a healthy lifestyle. Only through love and care will people want to know more about leading a simple lifestyle, and hopefully then they'd want to try it for themselves. He then asked for the particpants feedback, based on their experiences and the progress they made during the month project and after. For example many spoke of losing weight and reduceing cholesterol levels. One particapnt mentioned that through simple drinking lots of water his eyesight improved. Now he doesn't need glasses for driving!

Tonight, Dr Diehl will be in Cardiff for another talk as part of his continuing tour of the UK. We hope that the CHIP prorgramme will continue to help many people in Wales. Another course is being planned for next year. For more info check the Swansea CHIP website.

The Good News According To Rob Bell

Some people went to Greenbelt yesterday (Christian festival at Cheletenham racecourse). Many were hoping to see Rob Bell from Mars Hill give his 'Drops like stars' talk. Unfortunately this weekend was his only visit to the UK this year, so the large indoor venue was packed out before many had a chance to queue. He is very popular with youth groups across the world due to the simple, clear and well made NOOMA video series (now renamed Flannel). Luckily this afternoon I happened to find this amazing little video of him summing up Christianity. Serendipity is wonderful, since I was simply searching for new web themes at the time.


I hope your eyes are opened by this. If you want to find out more about what he's saying follow the links above for info. There are also free podcasts (link changed, thanks to Lon).
Or better yet, grab a Bible and read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for yourself. There's nothing better than going to the good book and praying for guidance.

L.I.V.E. - Living Intentionally vs Existing

Check out the new blog for photos and updates on what has been going on with the L.I.V.E. campaign.
http://thelivecampaign.blogspot.com/

LIVE as an idea (philosophy) is about youth around the UK Living Intentionally Versus just Existing.
LIVE will challenge, empower and motivate a generation of disadvantaged and advantaged youth to live against all the things that are negative in youth culture.

Brecon Camp - 'The Way Out'

Brecon Camp is a place to come and relax, bring your friends, enjoy some practical Christian talks and good music, surrounded by the beauty of the Welsh countryside. The schedule we have is very simple: meetings take place in the evening and morning, and the rest is free- time. You can enjoy this just relaxing with other campers, going on walks, or taking advantage of the many places to visit in the area. We camp in a field on a farm, next to the River Usk, situated at the north of the Brecon Beacons National Park, which has lots of trails, cycle paths and much more. There are lakes, waterfalls and of course mountains!

Download the brochure and application form.
Contact Jeremy Tremeer on: 02920 832559 or 07956 627233.
Or email Jeremy.

Jesus Is For Losers.....

Jesus Is For Losers

Free album to download

daily prayer...

More AYC: German mime

I missed the arts festival during the congress so didn't get to see this. I heard so much afterward about this powerful mime, so it's great that someone uploaded it for us all to see. In case you're wondering, the song is 'Everything' by the band Lifehouse.
(sorry about the quality of the camera work, for some reason none of the official filming has been realised, which to me is criminal!)

More Youth Congress media...

Hi again,
I just found the official theme song to the congress kindly posted on the net to share.

AY Congress Theme Song
Asculta mai multe audio Diverse

Also here's a video that was used in one of the main sermons. It got the whole audience laughing together, great stuff.


The theme for the whole congress was 'It's Your Turn'
None of us left without the enthusiasm to take up the challenge.

European Congress and road trip video!

11 days of fun and adventure!
Here's Swansea SdA Media's first production. We hope to have many more videos to share soon. Thanks to Duane for the camera work, Chris and Eiddon for the editing.

München '09 - We're back from our adventures...

We're back, with loads of new ideas that we want to put into practice.
Over the next few days we'll share some pictures and videos and try to sum up our experiences at the European Youth Congress in Munich (first for 5 years). Some we're lucky enough to stay on after the congress to have a road trip adventure around the Alps in Italy and France, more of that later.

Here's one of the highlights of the congress, a type of mime performed by some very creative German youth. UV light can be handy...



What are favourite memories of the trip?
What can we do to get back to showing Jesus love in the community?

Green Champion Opts for 'Eco' Baptism

Hey Everyone,
Here's a little article about the amazing things that one of our friends from Ystrad Mynach Church is getting up to. Doing Wales proud, and leading the way in all things sustainable.

Whether it's an eco-friendly hairdryer, recycling mobile phones, digging up the lawn to plant vegetables, or getting baptised, 16-year-old Anna Surridge is passionate about the environment and climate change.

Living in South Wales she is one of six "Climate Change Champions" appointed by the Welsh Assembly to "help people change small things in their life to help the environment."

During 2009 she is traveling to various events highlighting the need to care for the environment. As well as visiting schools she has met with Welsh Assembly ministers and visited the EU in Brussels. This month she was one of the speakers at a "Countdown to Copenhagen" conference where she was able to share ideas with over 380 young people alongside the likes of Ben Saunders, the polar explorer. She encouraged the young people to leave messages on a 'graffiti wall' or to record a video message for the environment ministers to take to the upcoming Copenhagen Summit.

Anna lives a busy life. She has just finished her GCSE exams and attended her prom (in eco-friendly dress and by public transport), but she is equally passionate about her church. During her year as "Climate Change Champion" she also chose to get baptised. Not for her the warmth of a heated baptistery in her home church of Ystrad Mynach. Anna chose the outdoors and the River Usk for her special day. In a full page spread in the South Wales Echo she stated that she, "worked out that the electricity needed to raise the temperature of a baptistery to a comfortable temperature could be equivalent to making a thousand cups of tea."

During the year Anna has become quite media savvy appearing on TV, meeting with government ministers and celebrities, and being reported in various newspapers and newsletters several times. However, the report in the South Wales Echo was the highlight for her. "I'm just delighted to get my two favourite causes, environment and church, into one story," she said. "I'm passionate about climate change because it's happening here and now and if we don't do something about it, the consequences on us and our environment are only going to get worse. I'm passionate about my faith because I love God and have such a loving church family."

Anna runs her own website about the environment and is keen to spread the simple message that making small changes to your lifestyle can make a big difference to the wonderful world God has created for us to live in.

[Victor Hulbert]

'Home'- An amazing documentary

Watch this full documentary which follows on from the aerial photography of Yann Artus Bertrand. Although I don't agree with all the billions of years that the narrator mentions, it is so wonderful to see the astonishing beauty of creation. We have almost lost our connection to nature. Let's learn from the world that we were created for, not from the worlds we create.

"Our earth relies on a balance, in which every being has a role to play and exists only through the existence of another being. A subtle fragile harmony that is easily shattered".

To see the video in HD or widescreen, go here.

Matthew 25... and politics?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Jim Wallis
www.thedailyshow.com

I happened to find this video of the Christian activist Jim Wallis on the 'Daily Show' (a comedy news show from the US, that does well to tackle serious issues and poke fun at prejudice). The presenter Jon Stewart is Jewish (not strict) so he's not scared to tackle serious religious issues. Anyway....
The point of showing this video is, that so often people who say they are doing the 'right thing' are usually ignoring what Jesus taught.
Here's what Jesus said in Matthew 25 (34-45):

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'

There is so much injustice in the world, and Jesus has given us a commission to fight for those who can't fight for themselves. "It's a commission that can only be fulfilled because people of faith and hope believe that the world can be changed. And it is that very belief that changes the world. And if not us, who will believe? " (paraphrase of the ending of Jim Wallis book 'God's Politics').

Remember Lisa Sullivan's quote-

"We are the one's we've been waiting for"

Tee design so far...

Here are the two main options so far from the feedback I've had.
The green tee is for a tee made from Bamboo fabric. The yellow tee will be made from earth positive organic cotton. Click on the images to see the graphics in more detail.
Comment below to say what you think and vote for if you like either design or want to try something else?

Talk: 'Good Guys, Bad Guys and Us Guys'

Happy Sabbath! :)
I'm sure everyone who was in Church today will agree that it was an extra special service. We we're blessed with a talk entitled 'Good Guys, Bad Guys and Us Guys' given to us by Vladamir Pujic, a pastor in Central London Church. The talk spoke to many hearts where so often we can get bogged down in trying to be 'righteous' and losing focus on Jesus. The talk was based on the parable given by Jesus found in Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

After the regular fellowship lunch we enjoyed an impromptu lively songs service with wonderful piano playing from Vladamir.
If you couldn't make the service, I've found a pre-recording of the talk from the Central London Church's website. There are more there to find, all available free through podcast.
(To download the talk simply right click on the title link and choose 'save as'.)

Check out 'Jesus People'

I'm not sure how I came round to finishing this, but it's given me a good laugh so I thought I'd share it. It's a satire of the Christian music scene. You have to admit that you've met people like this :)
The article shows how they've turned the mini video series into a movie. It's only just been released in the US so not sure if we'll get a chance to see it over here.
What do you think about it?

'Jesus People' Making Leap of Faith from Web to Big Screen





Official Movie Site

Tee idea for youth congress

We will be representing Wales while at the congress, so any ideas what we can take/make/share would be great so that all the big conferences don't get all the attention. Kandice has mentioned that we could make Welsh cakes for the market day, so we'll need her baking skills :P We should have our own tees, even more than one if you're all up for it. Here's a suggestion on updating the old 'Cariad' tee that we used in summer '07, that didn't have the bible verse on the back. Please join in with your comments...I'm feeling like the lone dancer from the video, you'll all join in soon I'm sure :)

Youth Congress - It's your turn! Munich '09

We've been talking about this event for a long time, but I'd like to share some information so we can begin preparing and making the most of a wonderful opportunity. The congress happens only once every 4-5 years, where youth from all over Europe get a chance to meet up to share and learn from each others adventures with Jesus. A few of us fortunate enough to be at the last congress in Wroclaw, Poland in 2004. This year we're looking forward to another chance to meet up with thousands of other believers to gain encouragement. Check out this video on the newly updated website www.aycongress.org

(You've got to love the spelling of 'thousands' near the beginning :)

Brecon Camp May09

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay of the pics from Brecon camp in May this year. It was a fab weekend and the weather made it so much better:)Here are the pics from that weekend from me anyhow, anyone else got any more from the weekend?

Camp meeting - Prestatyn

Hi everyone,
It's been a fun few weeks travelling for me, first Sweden then a church camp in Prestatyn. I'd like to hopefully share some of my experience at the camp. The youth meetings (young adults apparently since the teens had a packed tent with more lively praise music) were a brilliant mix of music, drama (sketches) and powerful talks. Each talk by the speaker Tim Gillespie was recorded and will be available soon on the net. Here's last Tuesday's talk on Mark 4: 35-41, "Jesus Calms the Storm" (anyone remember the Bible study we did on this earlier in the year?).
To see more media from the camp, check out: www.secadventist.org/secMedia.php

It only takes one...

How many parables can you think of from this clip?

Enjoy :)

My view of the Heineken cup semi finals

Hey everyone, last Sunday on the 3rd of May 2009 I went to the Millenium Stadium,Cardiff for the Heineken Cup Semi final game between the Cardiff Blues and the Leicester Tigers. The majority of the crowd were of course routing for the Blues and inside the stadium was a great atmosphere.Blues and Tiger fans sitting side by side. It was a shame not to see the stadium at full capactiy, but just over 44,000 was a not bad turnout,the lower and middle tiers were all full but the top tier was mostly empty.I have put a few photos from my day below,one showing inside the stadium, from my view point from the North end. The actual game was terrific, Leicester were as ever tight at tackling and not giving the Blues any room and constantly knicking the ball off the Blues and kicking into the corners. Cardiff had to stop the momentum and hence gave a few penalties away but lucky for them thier kciker missed 3 of them, but still this didn;t stop the Tigers going infront, scoring a couple of tries through fly half Toby Floods quick passing through the middle. The Blues only had thier kickers and Leicesters silly fouls to give Cardiff some penlties to stay in the game at half time. It looked like Leicesters day, as Blues every time they had the ball either knocked it on or kicked it away to Murphy and he kicked it back with something extra making the Blues knock on. Leicester made some silly mistakes in the 2nd half and got a couple of thier players yellow carded meaning they went off for 10 minutes and this let Cardiff back into the game, as with 10 minutes to go Leicester were leading 26-12, but the Blues made some fantastic breaks against the 13 men of the Tigers and first of all Jamie Roberts touched down near the corner flag, giving Ben Blair a very hard kick to convert, but that didn't stop him and he converted, but with no time to stop to take a breath , from the kick off the Blues made another break and before anyone noticed Cardiffs Tom James was runningfor the corner to make it 26-24to the Tigers, with Ben Blair to kick from the corner and he made it once again to level the scores, it stayed this way till the end ofextra time, and noone cold make any breaks or sccore any extra points, so on it went onto penalty kicks.The first time ever in the Europe!5 players nominated from each team to kick from the 22 metre line.5 Blues kicked, 4Tigers kicked, once missed so Tom James had tokick his over to win it for the Blues, but he missed it!he never kicks, so very unlucky for him, but on it went, and it went to 6-6, but Martyn Williams missed hisand it went to Leicester to score thier remaining kick to win it, and they did, heart break for Cardiff, and what a way to win a game.I felt very sorry for the Blues, they came so close to getting thier best chance to win the Heineken Cup. Ive added some photos from my day.

Swansea Church cleaning

Hi everybody, it has been a while since I last on this blog, so here I go. A few weeks a few of us went to Swansea Church for the regular Church cleaning day on a Sunday. Here are some photos from that day, as you can see Eifion got covered in bird mess(yes that's right,bird mess!)by power hosing the front entrance. We also managed to get Wallace and Kandice into cleaning a bit.

Surface Designers 1

Armed with some fabric paint we decided to add our own 'brand' to our clothing, sharing the messages of Jesus Love instead of just another logo. This is just a start, there are so many new colours and ideas to try out, have a go!

easter party

easter party - few pics (click on this one for more)

Mac Line:0

Hey everyone. Here is a little video of the boys playing a game called Mac line in Clyne Gardens. It's an interesting little game and very fun.It's perfect for the taller person but still good fun for us shorter people as well. Hope we can play this game in the park some time soon.

Street view the difference

Hi everyone,

This is the first time I've used Google street view and it's very very interesting. I'm not sure when these views were taken but I hope you can spot the difference with the church nowadays. God willing there will be even more improvements to come ready for the CHIP programme which is only starting in a few weeks. Let's get busy!

(bonus points to the first person to post a decent picture of the church building after it has been given some much needed TLC :)

View Larger Map

New front gates to Church

Hi everybody! Hope you're all well.

Eifion and myself went to church today and started to paint the front gates of Swansea Church

(watch out for photos of Jo on top of the roof!!). We cleaned them already from Sundays big cleaning day.We decided to paint them black.

Meeting notes

Here's my attempt to sum up my thoughts from the last youth meeting. I thought it would be interesting to share this just in case it brought back or started some interesting thoughts for you. It's not very tidy (I hardly ever am) but I'm realising that I remember more by doodling than by sitting still and listening. (If nothing else, at least you can see that I was scribbling away in the corner and not playing hangman :)

This meeting was for the start of the 'Youth Week of Prayer'. I'd love to see others sharing their notes / ideas like this. After all, you must have better hand writing than me! :)

Play for change

Awesome video by a great charity.



http://playingforchange.com

Sermon

Thanks to TedMEDIA. What do you think?
Do you have ideas for your own mini production / video 'sermon'?

Silly money

I hope this makes you feel better about the silliness we shared on Friday night, especially about telling all those old stories :)

It's not much but it's nice to think that in a small way we helped add to the amazing £57+million pounds raised so far.

Check out Red Nose Day 2009 for information on all the amazing projects funded in the UK and Africa. You can also catch up on how other people did 'something funny for money'.

A Little Taste of Heaven

via Telegraph

Treehugger has some more info

Sunday sports

Here we are after a fun session of Badminton and Basketball at Penlan leisure centre. There were only a few of us but all got involved and realised skills they never knew they had! A few haven't exercised in years so it was a good place to start again. We're trying to make this regular so that more and more people can join in, and hopefully when the weather gets better we can again enjoy playing outside for free!

We'll post the times on this blogs calendar so everyone can keep up to date. Comment if you want to try out other sports and if you know of another place to play in the Swansea area.

Thanks Lily for the photo (there's a video to show, but I think it'll need some selective editing to make us look skilled :) )

Chris Tomlin - Amazing Grace

Let's have some music



All media is property of respective owners. If you like it buy Chris Tomlin's album.

Noah's Ark

Dutchman Johan Huibers is building a working replica of Noah's Ark as a testament to his Christian faith.

The 47-year-old from Schagen, 45km (30 miles) north of Amsterdam, plans to set sail in September through the interior waters of the Netherlands.

Johan's Ark is a fifth of the size of Noah's and will carry farmyard animals.

Mr Huibers, who plans to open the vessel as a religious monument and zoo, hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands.

Although Mr Huibers has tried to remain true to the ark described in the Bible, Johan's Ark is constructed with American cedar and Norwegian pine, rather than "gopher wood".

The total cost of the project is estimated to be just under 1m euros (£0.7m; US$1.2m) and was funded with bank loans.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4853890.stm)

Newport Youth day 09

Newport youth day was a great day. It started off with most of the youth all gathered in the Pastors office in the back, but then when the Bristol youth came we had to go into the youth hall. There were youth all together from Carmarthen, Swansea, Cardiff ,Newport and Bristol. Eifion gave his first talk and his topic was on the bigger picture, a very interesting talk he gave as well. After lunch all the youth went to the park for a walk as it was a lovely warm day,it felt more like June than February! After the walk we had an afternoon programme where we had worship songs, musical items from the Bristol choir and Newport groups and from the Newport Drama group. It ended with a Who wants to be a millionaire game style where team A had got up to the £32,000 mark and team B only to the £1000 mark. It was quite a tight game, where the congregation had to answer multiple choice Bible questions.

Our church

Looking back to go forward

To start this blog off, let's look back to fun we had during Summer '07. Youth from Minnesota came all the way to Swansea to show us how to run a Bible school that the local children really loved. I hope this brings back some great memories and gives us inspiration to get back to being active in the community. 

Thanks to Pastor Benji for the video.

Enjoy!