Ok just to prove the insanity of the people at KBC, here's a link to an episode from yesterday's lectures, Dean of Theology Dave Perry performs a rap about Christology

...On a more serious note, this film really shows Dave's humble heart - he's ready to be undignified for God and for our entertainment :) Just have to say that Dave Perry is an excellent teacher, very wise but at the same time wanting to be ready to change, however humbling that may feel, whenever God challenges him through people. That's the kind of teacher I feel safe in the hands of, and want to help shape my mind, cause he leads you to God and so your heart is shaped aswell. He's both funny and serious, and a true worshiper... I'm always inspired by him.

Ok and since I'm in the flow of things, might as well continue the boasting about the KBC staff:

Simon Shaw, our principle, is fantastic. The best principle you could have. He's funny, he's humble, he's sensitive to the Spirit, he's a worshiper, he is honest and bold in challenging the group and individuals to walk in step with God's will, and at the same time gentle... Gaynor, his wife, is fun and creative and a lovely person... Mary, the Dean of Studies is a great teacher, a sensitive person who meets you where you're at and doesn't force you into anything you're uncomfortable with but rather helps you let go of whatever baggage you've carried with you from past schooling, and challenges you in a good way...

Like I've said before, the course is GREAT - the teaching is deep, thought provoking in the way that makes you seek God. The lecturers are wise in the word and Spirit-led (without one of the two our faith is lacking...), the community is a community of worship and of learning to live together as a people of God; loving each other and reaching out with God's love. It's challenging - if you go with the flow you will definately experience God's transforming power in a gentle but extreme way.

So, if you're thinking about doing a bible course for a year, I recommend KBC from the bottom of my heart!!!

If you don't want to come for a whole year, or if you just want a taste for what it's like here, come to a study break!! Click here to get an overview of the studybreaks for 06/07.

bakingsong

Ok, last time the video on this site didn't work... so if u click on the link below, u can see the film that all of u have been dying to see - our kitchen and it's cooks in action:

singing the bakingsong

random photos...

Firstly: finally here's a picture from like 2 months ago when Hilde visited..which was a treat!! I've missed her presence and her mess and her laughter and her squeals---it was so nice having a piece of Norway in my room and house and in Oxford :) As u can see, there is room in my room - so feel free to come one come all!! You are deeply missed :( But it is now only 1 month till I come home to Sandefjord, so, mine norske venner, despair not.
In our cozy sofa u can see Mark being made up by James Allen.. Now Mark (the bear) can fall asleep anywhere, and does not wake up easily. Which can be quite fun.
Last but not least, I've posted a picture of Beth, Jeanette and Rachel. A flattering picture, I know, which is why I included it ;) Beth loves her feet and so does her boyfriend apparently so there u go. Don't mess with her she'll kill u. Seriously. She's dangerous. I would know.
But I love her :)
Come visit us and find out for yourself!! Our house is a mysterious, dangerous place. But full of love.

prime minister of the united kingdom

Ok, so, as you all should know by now, I am a Very Important Person. So, it will not surprise you that Tony Blaire came to visit me and my group of Very Important Peoples at the King's Centre. Don't believe me?? <-click on that link, then click on "Tony Blaire's aim to enthuse youngsters about science", under "video and audio news"...

pain of love

Read 1.Peter 2:18-25... I just recently did a paper on verse 24-25, and got a lot out of it; saw more of God's role as shepherd and how Jesus' death is proof of His love - a love which gives without getting a return... And how Jesus' death is an example to us, to submit to suffering in the same way. And that His death also empowers us to do so... Anyway, all that's fine and good and mindblowing and everything, but just have to share what I read in a book captivated (for and about being a woman).

"Women who are stunningly beautiful are women who have had their hearts enlarged by suffering. By saying "yes" when the world says "no". (...) By paying the high price of loving truly and honestly without demanding that they be loved in return. (...) Jesus offered like no other. And many rejected Him. In those moments or seasons when that happens to us, God's invitation is to bring our sorrows to Him. Not to shut down with "I'll never try that again", but to keep our hearts open and alive, and find refuge and healing in His love."

What's been on my heart and mind quite a lot lately is the pain of love...

Firstly, God's love for me, for us, for the world... That God almighty, creator of a universe which is so vast our brains will never be able to grasp it's eternity (and yet He's put eternity in our hearts; we just know that behind the end of as far as we can think, there must be more..) and which is held together by atoms so small we can't see them, which again are built up of smaller particals I don't know the name of, which again must be built up of something smaller - and it goes on; eternity of detail... The creator of all this, wants a relationship with us... It's amazing. It's too amazing for me to grasp. And to think He wants relationship so much that He chooses to love us. To love us rebellious, selfish, irritatingly stupid humans who just do the same mistakes over and over and who constantly choose to live in ways that are not of love, effectively hating God and who He is...
He loves us still. Even when we give our hearts to Him, as in marriage, and then we are unfaithful. Turn away, cheat on Him, despise Him in our actions or words or thoughts... But He chooses to wait it out, to continue to love, to take the pain of loving us...
He chooses to be broken hearted for us. I had this picture when reflecting on the trinity - Father, Son, Holy Spirit are one, they are perfect unity. The pain God must have felt; Father and Son separated in the curse of the cross when Jesus took all our sin on Himself. That moment of disunity; that moment when the devil probably thought He'd pierced God's heart to death. (He did, in a sense. But, somehow, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, Jesus conquered that death curse. And we are "raised in Him" - He took our sin; we receive His righteousness. Not a fair trade. To think that He loves us so much.) That cosmic heart-ache - God is eternal, I can immagine the ache of that moment must echo throughout eternity and be intensified with every heart beat of His never ending love for us...

This is the love God wants us to abide in and to be so soaked in that we love the world in the same way. We are called, as sons and daughters, to grow and become like Him, the loving Father who always waits, painfully, vulnerably, for His children to come to Him. We are called to suffer for others as He suffered for us - I'm called to the pain of love. And when we are wounded by this pain of loving others, we find healing in His love for us.

By His wounds we are healed - Isaiah 53 v.5