I've just got back from a Young Life Leadership Training weekend. It was awesome to meet up with like-minded believers and to consider how we can practically live our lives for Jesus. We crammed 6 sessions into one day which meant some good intense time in the Word. Hugh Martin from Ireland gave most of the talks. They were all helpful and all delivered in that wonderful Irish accent.

One particular highlight was How to Multiply Your Life. Not about relationships — as some of though — but on being fruitful, a phrase which gets thrown about far too much and thought about far too little. There's fruit produced in us and fruit produced through us. We are primarily responsable for the fruit produced in us. Without God, we can't produce fruit. With God, we can. We must remain in Him by obeying His commands. That's the purpose He chose us for: to produce fruit that will last. (John 15:1-17).

Have you got what it takes?

In another talk we look at some incidents in the life of Barnabus' which bring out his charcter. What do I need to be like to be effective in God's kingdom? These really challenged me. Ask yourself the same questions.

He was an encouragement. He was called Joseph but nickname Barnabus which means son of encouragement (Acts 4:36). Am I an encourager? Or would 'fault-finder' be a better nickname for me?

He was sacrificial (Acts 4:37). He sold his land and gave all the money to the apostles. What can I give for the sake of the gospel?

He got people involved (Acts 9:27, Acts 12:25). Barny was the one who first introduced Paul to the believers, who at the time were terrifed of him. He also took John-Mark on a mission. Do I look out for other people and try to help them in their kingdom work?

He was happy when he saw God work (Acts 11:23). Do I see God's grace in other people's lives and do I rejoice when I see it?

He exhorted others in their walk with God (Acts 11:23, Acts 13:43). Do I help to give my brothers and sisters the motivation they need? Yes, it is worth carry on! Keep going!

He was full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:24) and as a result lots of people were brought to the Lord. Am I making my life suitable to be Spirit-filled? Am I being selfish with the Spirit or using it for God's glory?

He taught Christians (Acts 11:23) for a whole year of his life. Am I willing to share the grace which God is giving me? Do I share it?

He fasted and prayed (Acts 13:2-3) and it was when he was fasting that the Holy Spirit set them apart for a mission. Is fasting a lost discipline? Am I spending time alone with God, focused on Him and His will?

He suffered without giving up (Acts 14:20). Riots, mobs and a stoning were not enough to stop Barny living for the Lord. Am I a comfortable Christian? Does it cost me anything? If not, what am I doing wrong?

He wasn't perfect (Acts 15:39). He was not a super-disciple-dude. He fell out with Paul and they split up. Take care! Where do I need to guard against division?

I love the snow! Thankyou God for inventing it, thankyou God for giving me friends and thankyou Lewis and Luke, it was sooo fun.

That's probably it for the next 20 years...

There's nothing new under the sun. I've had plenty of new years, not as many as some people but still quite a few. People sometimes make resolutions and then after several years of failing to keep they resolve to make no more. But maybe this new year could be different from the others. Maybe it could be a new type of new year. I've only got one shot at doing 2009 and I'm going to try to do it as well as I can. I wish you a very happy and productive new year, maybe even a new new year.

For some motivation, here's a though provoking poem I found. There is also a nice man singing it in a rather nostalic way, which you can download (by clicking the link icon) or listen to live (by clicking the play icon):

If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two,
If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you'd do?
Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room to such an honored guest,
And all the food you'd serve to Him would be the very best.
And you would keep assuring Him you're glad to have him there,
That serving Him in your home is joy beyond compare.

But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door,
With arms outstretched to welcome in your heavenly visitor?
Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in,
Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they'd been?
Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn't heard,
And wished you hadn't uttered that last loud nasty word.

Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus come right in, or would you rush about?
Oh, I wonder if the Savior came to spend a day with you,
Would you just go on doing all the things you always do?
Would you go right on saying the things you always say?
Would life for you continue as it does now day to day?

Would our family conversation keep up it's usual pace,
Or would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?
Would you sing the songs you always sing and read the books you read,
And let Him know on which the things your mind and spirit feeds?
Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you planned to go,
or would you maybe change your plans, for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet with all your closest friends,
Or would you hope they'd stay away until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on,
Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know the things that you would do,
If Jesus came in person to spend the day with you!

I've just been to a houseparty. When it was first started, it was a Christian houseparty for home-educated teenagers. The Christian bit refers to the houseparty itself, in other words you didn't – and still don't – have to be a Christian to come, but a lot of people there are Christians and we have loads of awesome Bible teaching. So really it was a Christianity focused houseparty for home-educated teenagers. Then somewhere along the line some people wanted to come who were too young according to the 'teenager' label and so it became a Christianity focused houseparty for teenagers, or younger people who act like teenagers. Then some people got a bit old and fell off the other end of the scale so it became a Christianity focused houseparty for teens, or younger people who act like them, and twenties. Then it was decided to run a similar event in the South, so it became the Northern houseparty. Seeing as they run one every year its also useful to have a date in there. So being more precise, what I've just been to is a Northern, 2008, teens', or younger people who act like them, and twenties', Christianity focused houseparty. Oh and by the way, it's not in a house and it's not a party.

If you're still confused here's a more understandable explanation: I've just been away for the weekend with a bunch of other homeschoolers, most of whom are Christians, most of whom are teenagers or there abouts, and we've had loads of fun and loads of amazing teaching from the Bible. Here are some things that we learnt, which God has really used to speak to me.

It's all about God

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)

All things are from God. Compare this to any other worldview like humanism, everything is from man, like fatalism, everything is from chance, like those who believe in karma, everything is from past actions, like agnosticism which says we can't know. We know that everything is from God, including everything we have (1 Cor 4:7). It's a priviledge not a right. So we must be thankful for everything all the time (Eph 5:20).

All things are through God. The whole world is held together through God (Col 1:12). He is the only reason that the atoms in our body stay together and don't suddenly fragment into millions of pieces. Our very next breath is in his hand (Job 12:10). That same God gives us power to live our lives in the way he wants (2 Peter 1:3). We can do everything through him who gives us strength (Phil 4:13)! But we can do nothing without him. Trying to do it by ourselves is like a four month old baby wanting to leave home. So we must pray, pray, pray.

All things are for God. We were made to live utterly for God. When we try to live our lives for anything else it will never truly work and can never truly bring satisfaction. We need to do everything for God's glory (1 Cor 10:31): drink orange juice for God's glory; surf YouTube for God's glory; clean our teeth for God's glory; read books for God's glory; do everything for God's glory. So we must be set apart for God, be holy.

We need to work out how we can be thankful, prayerful and holy people to live our lives, which come from God, through him and for him.

Life as a sacrifice

Because of God's mercy offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

God has given us so much that we don't deserve, all we can do is offer him what he does deserve, our lives. Total commitment is what we were made for if we recognise it or not. We should sacrifice our life, dedicate it, surrender it, gladly give it and place it under God's command. It's hard. We have to die to ourselves every day. Just like the sacrifices in the old covenant, to make our life an acceptable sacrifice we must:

• make sure it is clean and non-blemished
• give of our best
• give it all, holding nothing back
• give it willingly
• give as worship for God

It will cost us. Yet it is the only way that makes sense. No reserves, no retreats, no regrets. (Cool alliteration, huh?)

That was just two of the five talks. Phew! The Bible might have been written 2000 years ago but it's never out of date. This is how God has chosen to speak to us and still does. There is sooo much in there. God clearly has a lot to say!

What do you get when you cross a group of 9 almost-all homeschooled teenagers with an empty house and a weekend together? Well I'm not quite sure how to describe it but I just experienced it! This last weekend has been one of the most energetic and most encouraging that I have experienced for a while. And, no - we didn't all sit around as social recluses, not quite knowing how to interact with each other.

For me it started on the Friday night when I went to YPF. We had an amazing talk from Andy Ball based on Habakkuk: God can use ordinary people, we should bring all our problems honestly to God, He can work through nonbelievers, we should not have a childish view of answers to prayer and we must live by faith. Then I shared a car journey with King Arthur, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse (Lewis, Alex and Tina) and Rebecca (as herself), as we went to Sammi's 18th fancy-dress party... 18th referring to her age not the number of fancy dress parties. We arrived and mingled with Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan, Batman and other loopy characters and I managed to resist the urge to do High School Musical in the karaoke [which I do not know the words to of course, ahem].

Next morning my alarm clock made that formidable sound that it makes most mornings, this time an hour earlier than usual. I ignored it as usual but thankfully was rescued by my good old Dad with a bang on the door. I rolled out of bed and somehow made it to the station. The train journey was uneventful but after arriving, the weekend was far from that. It's all a bit of a blur to be honest so excuse me if it makes no sense. The following are a few highlights of things I will remember.

I was greeted by a smiling Tim and Georgie and we drove back to the house, kindly provided for the party by Alan. I was immediately thrust into a highly competitive game of Dutch Blitz upon arrival which I tried to embrace the spirit of and possibly got a little carried away. We went out to a yummy eat-all-you-want chinese restaurant (those of us who like value for money prefer to see it as eat-all-you-can) where the menu included boxes and boxes of ice-cream, dried seaweed and chips. We had a fun chatting and attempting to eat with chopsticks - Tim managed the jelly! Then we all packed off to Nic's baptism. She gave her testimony really well in front of everyone - which is absolutely petrifying - as did another lovely old guy named Walter.

That evening, Simon had to leave unfortunately and those who were left went bowling. At bowling we had fun trying to squash into a photo booth while waiting for the others. We donned our clown-like shoes and Hannah was ripped off by having to pay £1 for a pair of socks as she forgot hers and didn't want to get some tropical foot disease. Some time in the evening we decided to bowl two balls at once which totally confused the system and one ball ended up stuck in the gutter. On the way back home Tim and I were privileged to JoT and Meneske singing, which started off very musically.

The night was yet young so we began to play a very energetic game of Articulate resulting naturally in some very amusing situations. John the programmer from Amsterdam also told us some of his thoughts about homeschooling. We engaged in a UBM classic, lolly licking which was very elegantly won by JoT. [On a legal note is a rather dangerous sport that can cause serious injury such as bleeding mouths]. Then we engaged in theological debate, despite it being the small hours, but finally made it to bed at some unearthly time.

Sunday morning I was awoken by a very funky barndance version of Amazing Grace. We went to a church without pews were we had a challenging church service on praying. An amazing Sunday lunch - thanks Paula - and we took a psychedelic dog named Pippa on a walk to the airfield. Several unsuccessful attempts later of trying to get us in a photo with a plane and it was time for tearful goodbyes. JoR had finally made a decision (to go back home) and she and Tim dropped me off at the station at five to five just in time for my train at five to four. Sadly I ended up missing my church evening service. But even if I had got the right train I would still have gotten stuck in Birmingham anyway, as they had decided to send everyone by bus instead of by train.

I just want to say a huge thankyou to eveyone. Thankyou Jo for inviting me, happy 16th birthday! Thanks to Paula and Alan for deserting the house for us. Thankyou to Simon, Hannah, Meneske, Nicole, Georgie, Tim and Jo for all being amazing people and providing such fellowship, fun and fantasticness. But thanks most of all goes of course to God in whom we can be all be so wonderfully united :D.

New Year's Eve is the perfect excuse for staying up late. My sister went to a party, my Mum (being the most sensible) went to bed and Dad and I watch a film. About half way through there were some fireworks. How stupid, I thought, to have them early and not just wait an hour or two until midnight. Anyway, the film was good and when we had finished it we watched the extras. After all the extras I realised that it was 1:45am and that the fireworks were actually at midnight - I had missed the New Year! Oh well, I haven't actually, there's still 365 days of it left! Happy New Year!