2nd Sep - What is Christianity?
9th Sep - Winstanleys in the USA
16th Sep - We are family
23rd Sep - Big bang
30th Sep - Success
7th Oct - Other religions
14th Oct - Worry
21st Oct - Ethical shopping part 2
28th Oct - Film night
4th Nov - Gratitude
11th Nov - What interests you?
18th Nov - Telly addicts
25th Nov - Fresh expressions
2nd Dec - Waiting
9th Dec - Where is God?
16th Dec - Christmas fancy dress party

Tonight (after much fun filming prayer videos around the village and learning dances) we thought about how we're all pretty busy and how it might be hard for God to say hi to us when we're never quiet or still.

When I was a teen, my youth leaders really put a guilt trip on us to have a 'quiet time' every day or we weren't proper Christians. I could never keep it up longer than a few days - well, it's boring just sitting there, isn't it?

But it is really important to give God the chance to spend time with us every now and then.

So how do we do it?

You guys are one of the first generations to have all the gadgets that you've grown up with. Go back only a few years, and people didn't have mobiles, there was no internet and no email, no iPods or MSN. All these things are great, but it's worth remembering that they also mean that we're always 'on call'. We're always linked to other people or some form of entertainment or noise.

This week's challenge is to try and spend an hour or two in a quiet activity, perhaps going for a walk or a bike ride or reading a book, or just sitting quietly if you're able (with your phone turned off!) Try and be un-contactable by everyone apart from God. Let your mind wander and see what happens.

God loves us more than we can know, and He'd love the chance to give you a little glimmer of how precious you are to Him.

Well done to Chris from runway for organising the great youth worship event last night at the Salvation Army centre in Crewe. It was fantastic to see people from different churches working together like this - five different denominations were involved.

...although there seemed to be more posing than playing football from some people. You know who you are. The challenge this week is to produce a work of art for the Youth Service on the theme of 'the good things in life'.

This evening we watched this film. This week's challenge is to blog your thoughts about these questions:

Low altitude:
Christof says: "I have given Truman the chance to lead a normal life. The world, the place you live in, is the sick place."
Would you want to live like Truman in a place like Seahaven, where nothing ever goes wrong?

High altitude:
1. In what ways did the film make you think of God or our relationship with him?


2. In CS Lewis' book The Screwtape Letters a devil outlines his strategy for keeping people from finding God - the main approach being to focus the people on the routine of their everyday lives and stop them thinking about big questions. In the film Christof says: "We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented." Is Christof like the devil in the way he tries to keep Truman focused on the little things of life so he doesn't stop to think about the bigger picture?


3. When Truman's boat was capsized near the end of the film, as he came up from the water he was laid out with his arms outstretched like he was being crucified. The ropes made a cross on his chest. Do you think this is significant?

4. "I have been watching you your whole life. I was watching when you were born. I was watching when you took your first step."
In the same way that Christof watched Truman every single day from birth to adulthood, God watches us. How does this make you feel?

5. Can you think of any other films that aren't strictly 'Christian' that make you think of spiritual things?