Spurs win the 2008 Carling Cup Final!

My team Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea 2-1 in extra time to lift their first piece of silverware for 9 years at a packed Wembley Stadium in London!!

I cannot express how happy this makes me!

"We are Tottenham super Tottenham, we are Tottenham from the Lane!"

God is faithful!

Just in case your wondering this is a sample picture on my laptop so i didn't take it! :)

I just remembered that i hadn't given much of an update on my knee and medical bills recently so here goes. I am on the road to recovery still (hence the pic above) my left knee isn't as strong as i would like and i am a way off being match fit so i am working on that. However in faith I have signed and paid up for the Spring Soccer/footie season which starts in March. I am about to change my Health Insurance provider so that i am covered for playing sports and especially my knee, this has taken a long time as i am not a US citizen, so praise God for Chuck my man who found it.

Finally my medical bills. I have been through every bill and contacted every care provider so they know i am gonna pay up, timing is down to Gods provision as i have 10 bills in total of differing amounts ranging from $35 - $15,000. That was until last week when i paid off the smallest one, then one of the priests here at Holy Cross came in and paid another one off for $181 from a gift he had received, amazing kindness and selflessness. Then yesterday i came into the office and found a note that simply said "Jonny, I hope this helps a bit with the medical expenses, God Bless." Inside was a cheque for $300, thank you God and bless that person. Finally a friend has also offered to pay a $148 bill from money he was given, amazing.

God is so good, the funny thing is i recently felt called to give someone a gift and then the next day all the above happened. Goes to show, God is faithful and you can't outgive Him!!

Please join with me as i pray for God's provision for the other 6 bills which total over $32,000 and for God to continue the good work he has done in healing my knee so i can play the sport again for his glory. Thank you.

Film Review: Rambo

Who'd have thought a 63 year old man would be running around the jungle killing baddies, but thats what Sly stallone has gone and done. In 2006 Sly brought us his beloved Rocky character back one last time to bring that franchise to an end and he's back to do the same with the original action man; John Rambo.

Its been 25 years since the original and although this often brutal film won't win any academy awards it will have won him back the action man crown from the young guns who thought the Arnie's and the Van Damme's of this world had hung up their guns and knifes.

I don't think i have ever seen a larger body count in a movie and thats saying something as i have seen John Woo's Hard Boiled!! It sounds awful to say but Will and I really enjoyed watching Rambo go after all those evil doers and bringing them to his bloody justice. You couldn't help but cheer him on as he tries to save the Christian missionaries who have been kidnapped by the leader of the Burmese Army.

Even though it was a very violent movie, it was so over the top that you felt like you were back in the 80's prime of action films and you couldn't take it too seriously and at 85 minutes you were left wanting more. More explosions and more Rambo, it really was good! (4/5)

Where did January go?

Where did January go? Its been such a whirlwind start to the year since i returned back to South Carolina from England. First was the bittersweet news that Jonathan was leaving Holy Cross but going just an hour down the road to be the Youth Director of Camp St Christopher a beautiful diocean owned Camp that is used year round and where JB can be a blessing on a much larger scale and he will. So its been sad on a personal note for me but i am happy for him and his family (see above at Hannah's 2nd Birthday party), thankfully i will get to see them alot still which is great.

Will has since become the Senior Youth Minister here at Holy Cross and I am now the Associate Youth Minister, this obviously has meant more responsibility and work for us both but it is also really great. Will and I are very close friends too and we work very well together so i am excited where God will take and use us for His glory.

We had the author of the Ragamuffin Gospel; Brennan Manning come speak at Holy Cross over my birthday weekend which was incredible, his message was simply about Gods unconditional love for us. "God loves you just as you are, not as you should be!" and boy was that good news and i for one needed to hear it again.

Then we had our Middle School retreat 'Mini-Doone' as you can see below we are a handsome bunch!! :) We spent the time away building friendships and learning about the Bible; why we need it, why its relevant and how to use it. Even though it rained all day Saturday the students loved it and went home happy and hungry for more! This past weekend we took our High Schoolers out to Bonnie Doone for their 'Spring Retreat' which was blessed with sunshine, in depth teaching and God was at work big time in some students which made it all worthwhile.

I have also been trying to catch up with all the admin for the year too which is very time consuming but i am finally getting there. We spent January teaching on how to share your faith and this past Sunday we started Christianity Explored at Storm which was attending by a record number of students which was very exciting. So thats where all my time has gone . . .oh yeah and playing on my Xbox 360 with the lads!

We also had a bumper Pancake Supper and a big SuperBowl party here at HC, I've been watching college Basketball a bit, Spurs as much as i can but not the 6 Nations as it costs $20!!

Finally, please pray for my medical bills i have 8 left to pay and most of those are for thousands of $$$'s and for my knee to strengthen so that i can regain some fitness after 10 months out as i will be playing football/soccer in about 4 weeks time, thanks.

Music Review: Stateless: Stateless

This is my favourite album of the year for 2007, the only thing that comes close is Athlete's third record Beyond the Neighbourhood. Now i understand that is some statement so let me explain.

Stateless are from Leeds in England, this is their debut album, they toured with DJ Shadow to great acclaim after Chris James the lead singer had sung on two of Shadows tracks off his Outsider album - thats how i heard about Stateless. Then my good friend Rob kept telling me to get this cd by a band called Stateless that he thought i would really like as they were a little bit like UNKLE.

So late last year i bought the CD off Shadows website and ever since then i have been listening to it non stop or as near to that as possible. The album is seamless and remarkable as it flows perfectly through different tempos, themes and styles whilst transcending you into a whole other realm that captivates from start to finish. They are unique and stand alone but if you need help with how they sound then its a mix between; UNKLE - Radiohead - Richard Ashcroft and really raw MoWax drum beats.

Its a haunting piece but uplifting at the same time, its beautiful and i love it. There is even room for Lateef the Truth Speaker to add flavour on The Language which is one of the stand out tracks, everything just works and when i listen to Crash and close my eyes i just can't help but smile. This is why i believe this is the album of the year for 2007. (5/5)