Tuesday 19th May 2020

Tides
Today tides focuses on trusting God to guide us.

PROVERBS 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

Rebecca McConnell says -

The promise of guidance is offered in this verse when we lean on God and stay close to him. To do this, we need to turn to his Word which guides us in the wisdom of his ways. Leave all your questions with God. Park your worries and concerns with him. It is what he wants us to do. He didn’t make us to have all the answers. The truths he wants us to know are found in his Word.

Rebecca then reminds us of that wonderful hymn “Trust And Obey”

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WTOT
You may have noticed that I like having names for things at the moment, so that we all have something to use when we talk about things. So the Sunday service is Burnside At Home, the telephone listening service is Phone Burnside, the infrequent blog feature is “I’ve Lost & Gained” and each day we have a “Where Is It?”.
Today let me introduce you to Wilma’s Thoughts On Tuesday. Last Tuesday Wilma wrote about Florence Nightingale and Ministering Angels. Wilma then made the mistake of sending me another article this week which I am publishing today, (Tuesday) so I am assuming this will now be a weekly feature and have given it a name. I hope Wilma agrees. (If only Wilma had chosen Wednesdays we could have had WOW - Wilma On Wednesday)

Wilma’s Thoughts On Tuesday

" The time for the singing of the birds has come "  Song of Solomon ch 2 v 12
When listening to the lovely hymn, “How Great Thou Art”, in the praise section of the Virtual Prayer Room, I was reminded that in Lockdown, we have not been able, so far, to "wander in forest glades" but we have been able to hear "the birds sing sweetly in the trees". Less pollution, less noise, and the wonderful sunshine have made the birds very happy. Many more than usual, have visited our gardens. Some people of course may not have relished a noisy dawn chorus!

Last week, when walking the shore path, I had my first sighting of several swallows, zooming in a loop the loop Red Arrows style, across the rocks at Edgewater beach. My spirit was lifted, as I thought about the distance these birds had flown, possibly, all the way from South Africa, I wondered had these swallows been at this spot before, where there is a little stream they could drink from, and catch a few flies. I also wondered where they were nesting, and thought about Psalm 84 and the the swallows  and sparrows finding a home in the temple courts. How blessed we are to be able to walk along the shore! At our Friendship Hour, last year we had a speaker from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Before his presentation began we were reminded and amazed, to discover the many different birds that are mentioned in the Bible. They include the dove,  raven, buzzard, vulture, hawk, heron, stork, pigeon, osprey, and many more. The gulls and cormorant are also mentioned and often, the Eagle.
In Exodus 19 v 4 the eagle is mentioned as a picture of God's deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt. He said "I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself " The eagle is the symbol of the power, strength and protection of God which is a available to us all.
We have a promise in Isaiah 40 v 31

"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar  on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint "
​
A wonderful promise in our difficult times !
Wilma

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Out Of The Saltshaker
You may remember, the book by Rebecca Manley Pippert back in the day, “Out Of The Saltshaker” she now has a new book out, “Stay Salty”.
The world has changed in so many ways, and many of us no longer feel confident when it comes to evangelism, especially with the rise of hostility towards Christian points of view. Keeping quiet is becoming our default position. Yet the world has not changed in one way—it still needs Jesus.
In Stay Salt, renowned evangelist Becky Pippert draws on decades of conversations about Christianity around the world to call and equip ordinary Christians to share Jesus through their ordinary day-to-day conversations. She shows that by leaning on our extraordinary God, such conversations can, and often do, have extraordinary results.

https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/stay-salt

Other books my Rebecca Manley Pippert
https://bit.ly/2Tc9eMd

Evangelism Help
If you are inspired by Rebecca Manley Pippert’s book, Solas have a number of Webinars. (Solas is the organisation that David Robertson who spoke at 8 Churches event at the University came from)
 They write the following -
Coming in the next few weeks, we have four exciting free webinars. Two of these are evangelistic—perfect events to invite friends, colleagues, or neighbours to along watch with you. The other two are training webinars, designed to help equip you to share your faith in these difficult times. Each webinar will be 90 minutes long and will have a mixture of content and also Q&A. They will be presented by Solas Director Andy Bannister, our new speaker Gareth Black, and emceed by Solas’s Digital Editor, Gavin Matthews. 
Viral Evangelism: How to Share Your Faith in a Locked Down World
Wednesday 20th May @ 7pm (Training session for Christians)
Where is God in a Coronavirus World?
Friday 29th May @ 7pm (Evangelism - Invite your friends!)
Uploading Your Faith: How to Increase the Bandwidth of your Christian Witness Online
Thursday 4th June @ 11am (Training session for Christians)
Where Can We Find Hope in a World of Uncertainty? 
Sunday 14th June @ 4pm (Evangelism - Invite your friends!)
 (All times are UK times — you’re welcome to join us from anywhere in the world, too!)
You will be able to watch these webinars simply by going to the Solas Facebook page (where we will stream via Facebook live)
Do come and join us: and please invite friends and neighbours, too. 
Solas Facebook - https://bit.ly/2X4szjl

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Christian Nurse
"'I have the eternal security that takes away the fear of death': Christian nurse explains how she's coping on the frontline"
https://bit.ly/3g1NvAr

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Empty Streets: 
Cities without people and the city as people.
Rev Professor W Gordon Campbell (union Theological College, Belfast) writes a fascinating article inspired by our empty cities, looking at the roll of the city in the bible.
Read the full article here https://bit.ly/35Zs12m

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These Three Remain
Online Worship – new episode of #TheseThreeRemain podcast with @RickHillNI talking to Revs Gordon Best, David Leach & Gareth McFadden, finishing with a beautiful version of Be Thou My Vision recorded by Ballykeel’s Andy Murray. 
https://audioboom.com/posts/7579954-007-online-worship

Dying Matters Awareness
This week is Dying Matters awareness week, which aims to get us talking about dying, death and bereavement. As we grapple with the impact of social distancing on our ability to visit those we love who are ill, or gather to mourn and attend funerals, there’s no doubt how important these conversations are. The Bible Society have produced this helpful article.
https://bit.ly/3bGp1cp

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Keswick Convention
Keswick have launched 2 podcasts!
Keswick Convention Podcast: Presented by James Cary featuring speakers & presenters of Keswick Convention
KesTalks: Talks for our times from our library 
Find them here
https://keswickministries.org/podcasts/

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Get Your Life Back
A book by John Eldredge, Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad.
Available on Kindle https://amzn.to/366cbTv

Gospel Message For Seafarers
Colin Jenkins has shared this video from a fellow Seamen’s Missionary which is a Gospel presentation for Seamen - Light house.

Aaron House
Staff of Aaron House in Belfast would like to extend their sincere thanks for the gift of hand cream from Mitchell House School whose staff & pupils held a ‘virtual coffee morning’ to raise funds. Their kindness is much appreciated

Who Died How?
There has been a real explosions in quizzes and puzzles on the internet during Lockdown. (Like Jigsaw & Where Is It?) BUT perhaps this is the most bizarre I have come across.

​Who died How? The weirdest deaths in the bible...
The Bible Society say, 
The Bible is full of real life stories: births, deaths, marriages – you name it! But how many characters can you match to their unusual end?
​
To try the quiz Click Here - 
https://bit.ly/366I0LV

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Lockdown Essential Key Workers
On Saturday a Lockdown Essential Key Worker paid a visit to just outside the Manse. We were sitting in the kitchen when a familiar tune sounded as a red vehicle drove past our kitchen window. As the tune played, doors open in most of the houses behind us, and quite a bit of excitement ensued. To maintain social distancing I had to wait for what seemed like an age before everyone had been served and the key worker appeared back towards the main road. As I walked back home I met a family with three children who when they spotted my cone began to squeal. The most difficult part of the whole operation was trying to find some cash, I hadn’t used coins for 8 weeks!

#MrWhippeyDoorStepDeliveriesNI

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Jigsaw
Top times submitted for yesterday’s jigsaw
Eric 5.06 (With proof)
Derek 5.07 - So close!


Puzzle For Today
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https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=0eefeddfa69c

Where Is It?
Yesterday’s Where Is It? Was of course as Eric stated “A rather grubby entrance to the tunnel at the NW200 start grid area through to the pits. They might have tidied it up a bit for this year's races!”

Where Is It?
So Where Is It? today?