Christian Skaters Conference 2008

Just got back from a great weekend in Scotland and thought I'd tell you guys all about it. We set off for Dundee at 9am on Thursday and headed to Bristol to pick up Sarah. After a quick coffee break we were back on the road. The drive to Dumbarton was pretty smooth and uneventful. In Dumbarton we stopped at Unit 23 skatepark for 'skate church'.

Every Thursday evening kids show up for a free skate session and a 15min gospel talk. We went on our way to Dundee last year and I was amazed by what is going on there. The team just share their love for Jesus in a simple and honest way - no multi media presentation, nothing flashy, just simply share their heart. And the kids there really respect that. For more info have a look at http://www.deepercall.co.uk/ Please pray for the owner of Unit 23. He's not a Christian yet but is very supportive of skate church. He's having financial struggles which has led to him having to charge more for church to happen there. This meant that church had to stop for a while and now numbers have dropped from 120 to 20. Please pray that things will pick up again and the team won't get too discouraged.

After our stop in Dumbarton we continued on to Dundee and very welcome nights sleep.
The conference ran from Friday til Sunday. There were about 35 of us from around the UK and even some from USA too. It was great to see old friends from last year and meet some new people too. I love that the conference is so small -it creates a beautiful intimacy and a real sense of family. It was a really good few days of worship, prayer, seminars and of course skating!!! The seminars where on subjects like fundraising, project development, discipling skaters and running successful events and competitions.

On the Saturday night we ran a skate comp at the park and one of the guys gave his testimony at the end. As far as I know no-one made a commitment to follow Jesus that night but we did have a couple of people come and ask questions after. Please pray for the seeds that have been sown there.

On Sunday morning we joined with a local church to hold a church service on the skate park. Was great to be able to worship God together. Sunday lunchtime was the end of the conference and time to begin the looooooong drive home. It was wet and windy and seemed to take forever. And it didn't help when the sat nav took us round and round and all over the place looking for a petrol station!!

We stopped off at Overtoun house on the way home. It's a castle in Dumbarton that a church is converting into games rooms, dorm rooms, bed and breakfast, sheltered housing for women in crisis and so much more. To see more details about this amazing project look at http://www.overtounhouse.com/ Perhaps you or someone you know would be interested in going up there for a week or two to volunteer your skills to help with the renovations?

Well, we finally got home at 2am on Monday morning. I'm still very tired and feel like I have a lot to process.

For more about Christian Skaters UK go to http://www.christianskaters.co.uk/ a little later this week to see the brand new website!!!

Lifestyle

It’s always the same. Everywhere you go are those kids who know the name of every pro, they know all the jargon and they read Kingdom magazine and Be-Mag religiously. They have the newest skates and the clothes to match. They strut around in their xxxl t-shirt, Fiction cargo joggers and Mindgame hoodie and they call themselves skaters! They talk the talk, but can they actually skate? They try to look the part, but you can see straight through them.

Rolling isn’t just an outward expression of a fashion proven only by an image. No, it’s more than that. It’s an inward identity expressed on the outside by your character. It’s proven by loyalty, commitment, determination, persistence, perseverance and it penetrates your attitudes, your loves, your hates, your entire lifestyle. It’s far more deep rooted than a hobby. You might not know how to pull all the latest tricks. It doesn’t matter. It’s not based on head knowledge or skill level. It’s based on heart passion. The kids who call themselves skaters based on appearance are an insult to the truth, but that’s the way it is!

You can spot someone truly devoted to God the same way. Some people know all the phrases, go to all the meetings, have all the latest books and can always appear to have life sussed. They say they love God, they’ll tell you: ‘Jesus loves you!’ It doesn’t go very far. A true lover of God can’t be proven by an image of holiness, only with a genuine deep founded character, not of perfection, but of truth. They can admit their faults and forgive others for theirs. A true passion for God will soon knock your focus off yourself and on to others. Don’t tell me how much God loves me, show me!

There are many sportsmen.
There are some Skaters.
And there are a few hardcore rollers.

There are many religious people.
There are quite a lot of Christians.
And there are some who love God.

Being at a skatepark doesn’t make you a skater. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian.

There will always be people who are an insult to those of us who are real. That’s the way it is. ‘False prophets’ have always existed: people who twist the truth with a matching image, but operate a selfish heart. The only interest they have is themselves.

These people will always exist. Let’s accept this fact, but not let it stand in our way of the truth. We can go round them.

I’m sure many times in your life you’ll have been fed a false image of who God is by people who seem all holy and ‘Christian’. Lets go round them, because behind the mask of religion is the true face of God. It’s in everyone’s interest to seek it. There is a truth far greater than any treasure, which has been buried beneath hypocrites, fakes, liars, religious people and the ignorant. Take some time to dig it up!

Hopefully this blog will help. I’m real sorry for those of you who’ve been turned off from seeking the truth, by these types of people. Make up your own mind, go round them! What do you believe?

A little poetry...

Wish I could say I wrote this but I didn't.

I don't know who did but I like it.

Who am I? What’s my meaning....?I don’t want to play sports,I’m a skater.

I don’t want to watch,I need to seek and find.

I don’t want religion,I need relationship.

I don’t need to entertain people’s minds,I want to set fires in their hearts.

I don’t need to be narrow minded,I want to open doorways.

I believe in dreams,

I believe in people,

I believe in God,

I believe in sharing...

What’s your meaning? Who are you?

Happy Birthday to me.....!

Yep, yesterday was my birthday. Any guesses how old I am now? Ha ha!

Had a great time skating at Unit 6 in Wellington. Think I've got fakie 18os proper nailed now. As usual the other girls were bugging me to try dropping in and as usual I stubbornly refused! But Adrian dragged me onto the volcano and persuaded me to drop-in from there - holding his hand of course haha!! I'm such a wuss - but I did it. And it wasn't anywhere near as hard as I thought. Hopefully I'll have nailed dropping in on half pipe by the end of the summer.

After skating we headed to Taunton for a few drinks. Ended up in the Perkin cos we were hungry and spent a very pleasant hour or so relaxing on their leather sofas. So, in conclusion, a good time was had by all!

A weekend in Brum

Well, had a great time in birmingham over the weekend. Was really nice to see a few old friends. Money's been a bit tight recently and I was worried about spending too much while away so had second thoughts about going. I'm so glad I decided to go and it turned out to be one of the cheapest weekends ever!! Had a great time at Epic - nice to finally see that place! Kinda wish I'd taken my skates though. I'm such a wuss about skating when there's lots of people around haha! Was nice to see Rich again. The sweaty hug after he'd been skating for 2hrs wasn't so nice though haha!

I had a very nice morning with Clare - sat chatting for hours about life the universe and everything. Don't you just love those kinda friendships where you can lose touch for months and then when you see each other again it's like you've barely been apart.

Big thanks to Rob for driving me up there and keeping me amused for the long drive with his interesting music taste and random questions (hmm, how would I spend £130 million???.......)