Red Dragon's Roar

SNOWDON ROCKS

2007-04-24T21:30:00.000Z

On Saturday, June 23rd 2007, Mike Peters, two times cancer survivor and internationally acclaimed singer of Welsh rock band The Alarm will lead a procession of doctors, nurses, fans and supporters on a sponsored walk to the summit of Snowdon / Yr Wyddfa (the highest point in England & Wales), to perform a very special acoustic set at the summit.
Over the weekend of June 22nd and June 23rd 2007, Mike Peters will host 'SNOWDON ROCKS' a series of events throughout North Wales featuring two further Mike Peters acoustic concerts. The first will take place on Friday June 22nd at Rhyl Town Hall with proceeds going directly to the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan where Mike Peters was first diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma back in 1995/96.A second concert will be held after the Snowdon trek on Saturday evening June 23rd at the Galeri in Caernarfon with funds being channeled locally into the Alaw Unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor. Mike (who was diagnosed and successfully treated for Chronic Lymphocyte Leukemia (CLL) in 2005/06), is currently being treated at the Alaw Unit with a view to finding a cure under the watchful eye of Dr. David Edwards who has been Mike's hematologist throughout both of his cancer battles. Dr. Edwards will also be accompanying Mike to the summit of Snowdon.The weekend is being promoted through the LOVE HOPE STRENGTH Foundation, a charity formed by Mike Peters to raise awareness and funding for cancer research projects and is building a support network for cancer patinets both locally and globally with a series of world wide events that will be held throughout 2007 including Empire Rocks at the Empire State building in New York City and his historic climb and concert at the base camp of Mount Everest. Anybody wishing to participate in sponsorship or any individual wishing to accompany Mike on the sponsored walk to the summit of Snowdon should contact Peter Jones on 01745 571571 for further details.
Why 'Snowdon Rocks'? "Because you can see both hospitals where I have been cared for from the summit and climbing Snowdon is symbolic of the virtual mountain that cancer sufferers and their caregiver have to climb with each and every diagnosis." says Mike Peters adding, "Every single person alive in North Wales today will have course to visit one of these two cancer centers during the course of their lifetime, either as a patient or a caregiver or simply visiting a friend or family member. Cancer affects all of us."

THUGS

2007-04-18T23:47:00.000Z

T.H.U.G.S (Teens Humbly Upholding Godly Standards) Youth Group meet at the St John’s Ambulance Hall, Prior Street in Ruthin, North Wales.

We are the Youth Group with attitude who meet every Friday from 7-9pm and Sundays from 10.30am. We enjoy and participate in outrageous fun, games, activities and teaching.
The mission of T.H.U.G.S is to reach young people exactly where they are and to guide them into a meaningful growing relationship with God. To allow young people the freedom and opportunity to be themselves and learn who God has created them to be in a world where they are surrounded by immense pressure to conform.
If you’re aged between 11 – 18 then please feel free to come along and get involved.
For more information please contact Rich Kendrick Youth Leader youth@ruthinchurch.co.uk

or visit our new website http://www.ruthinchurch.co.uk/thugs.html

Youth Mission To Mexico

2007-03-09T22:46:00.000Z

During Easter half term 2007, I will be taking part in an overseas mission to Tijuana in Mexico along with 100 teenagers from North Wales. Our challenge is to build 5 new houses and a school over a hectic period of 10 days for a destitute and poverty stricken community.

Please take a minute to visit my fundraising page. http://www.justgiving.com/richkendrick

Please dig deep and sponsor me online.Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cornerstone Trust will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor me now!

Find out more by watching this video:
Amor Ministries Mexico video

Many thanks for your support.

Rich

Google Account !!!!!

2007-03-01T00:21:00.000Z

On my sign-in just now, I got a notice that I cant go straight to my Blogger dashboard without converting to the new Blogger and making a Google account!

I really didnt want a Google account. I want nothing to do with their data retention policies or their data-mining. On top of this is the promise of an inbox constantly bombarded with junk emails.

I wanted to keep my blog strictly separated from everything else I do.

Apparently, if I want to do this I can no longer use Blogger.

Anyone else feel the same?

Probably the best Youth Group in the World!!!

2006-12-11T12:42:00.000Z

The Suffering God?

2006-11-28T23:46:00.000Z

Well for this posting I am to follow in Dot Gosling's footsteps and become a rebel. What we were asked to do was blog about 'Does God allow people to suffer?' but I want to alter the question around and ask......

'How much does God Suffer?'

Ok so it’s a pretty safe bet that Jesus felt immense pain during his last days on earth and not only extreme physical pain but surely immense emotional pain as well. In his moment of need he was betrayed and denied by his friends but worst of all his own Father seemed to turn away, Jesus was scared, hurting and on his own.

But how did God feel?
Well let’s start at the beginning. God creates Man & Woman and gives them everything they will ever need for eternity to make them happy, content & totally satisfied. But that’s not enough they want more! So Adam & Eve go scrumping in Eden whilst at the same time kicking God in the teeth, and I am pretty certain it broke Gods heart.

But Calvary, that’s where the real pain kicks in, watching his only son, his precious child being beaten, flogged and mocked by us. Can you imagine the complete heartbreak that God felt watching his innocent child being nailed to a cross and left to die, by us.

So why did he let it happen? Well to put it simply after all we had done, after all the hurt we had given him, after the countless times we had rejected him, he still loved us! Amazing. That’s right he loves us more than we could ever imagine, he always did and always will. He loved us enough to watch his son be treated and killed like a criminal so that we can be reconciled to him.

Yet even after all he has done, after the amazing sacrifices he has made, we still (me included) sometimes doubt that he loves us and I am sure that this breaks his heart too.

May The Force Be With You

2006-11-26T22:06:00.000Z

Church Newsletters

2006-11-21T06:23:00.000Z

Churches normally have a newsletter or bulletin which is distributed to keep them up to date with the news of the parish. Sometimes, however, the original meanings of the announcements may be somewhat lost....

Don't let worry kill you. Let the Church help!

Please remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.

This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs Jones to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.

The beautiful flowers on the altar this morning are to celebrate the birth of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Rev and Mrs. Julius Belzer.

If any of the congregation have children and don't know it, there is a nursery downstairs.

This Friday at 5 PM there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers Club. All wishing to become Little Mothers, please see the minister in his private study.

This week we invite any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.

The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind and they may be seen in the church basement Friday.

The topic for our sermon next week will be "What is Hell?". Come early and listen to our choir practice.

This evening there will be a meeting in the south and north ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.

'Weight Watchers' will meet at 7 PM in the church hall. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

The Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

I Dont Doubt God

2006-11-18T00:27:00.000Z

"I'm not doubting. I don't doubt God. I have firm faith absolutely in God. It's religion I'm doubting."

Bono

Creation or Evolution

2006-10-24T18:15:00.000Z

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Think about this. Mathematics, Bananas, Ladybirds, Winter, Daffodils, Hippos, and Bubble Gum; all came from nothingness?
Formed by chance...…?

I Doubt It Somehow.

It seems to me that science has this clever knack of explaining anything God may have done by some theory however, even the most critical historian will confess that a Jew named Jesus worked as a teacher and miracle worker in Palestine during the reign of Tiberius, was executed by crucifixion under the prefect Pontius Pilate and continued to have followers after his death.

The Bible (if you believe it) says that this same Jesus is the Creator of the universe
Colossians 1:16–17

I am not trying to start an argument or to prove to you that God exists but what I will say for sure is that we will all one day find out whether God is real or not.

Personally to me God is more real than any person I have ever met, and because of that belief which has grown through faith and personal experience I struggle to understand how any person could believe they evolved from a primate or that this complex universe and everything within it came from one Big Bang. One thing I can guarantee is that if you spent the rest of your life banging a couple of rocks together you would never be able to make a giraffe appear!

Even Charles Darwin who came up with the theory of Evolution is believed to of said after becoming a Christian that his theory was complete and utter rubbish.

So there you go thats my humble opinion.
God is real, God is the creator, God is my father.
Amen

Cymru Am Byth

2006-10-20T16:09:00.000Z

EXCELLENCE , PASSION & TEAMWORK

My Youth Group Are THUGS

2006-10-20T06:00:00.000Z

Ok, So perhaps a little explanation is due here.

Until recently our youth group were known as Ruthin Christian Fellowship Youth Group which not only was a bit of a mouthful but also pretty unoriginal (dont you think).

So in a moment of rare inspiration I had the idea we should have a new original name and came up with the following 10 suggestions -

RUSH, ATTIC, BLAST, GANG, IMPACT, LETHAL, SOLID, TOTAL, WIRED & THUGS

The youth thought this was a great idea and the 10 suggested names were then put to a vote.

20 tense minutes, a shoebox/ballot box and several scribbled bits of paper later a winner was decided.

So I am pleased to announce that Ruthin Christian Fellowship Youth Club have now become a bunch of THUGS, but dont panic this doesnt mean that they have all taken up a life of criminal activity or recieved ASBOs.

So let me explain - THUGS

Teens Humbly Upholding Godly Standards

Teenage Kicks

2006-10-16T09:14:00.000Z

So I woke up Friday morning feeling fine and headed off to Chester. So then can you imagine my (suprise, shock, fear, worry, distress etc) when I arrived at University and suddenly discovered I had become a 15 year old with a new baby in tow!

Its actually a scene I could relate to quite well after having been in a similar position when I was 16 and it was amazing (and quite scary) how the feelings I felt way back then came flooding back

Anyway it was a great exercise and really did give me the opportunity once again to think beyond the obvious and look at the bigger picture and I was also quite grateful for the scenario that I was given compared to some of the others and felt sorry for Kaylee & Emma who spent the whole of Friday morning in complete darkness!

The only downside to the whole exercise was that on returning home my wife wasn't to pleased to discover that I had suddenley become a wayward teenager and was even more horrified when she found out we had an extra mouth to feed.

Y Ddraig Goch

2006-10-12T22:43:00.000Z

I'm the Red Dragon and this is my Wales.
Trips to the seaside, ice cream and fair rides,That's what it seems to be.
But I'm the Red Dragon and this is my Wales, So please will you listen to me.

I remember the good old days with Arthur and Merlin, comrades and allies in arms.
When the battle was over, we held our heads high and their soldiers went back to their farms.

We were honoured as Welshmen united with our Daffodil, Harp, & Flag.
That's my Wales, honour, remembrance & landscapes with high mountain peaks.
So help me to keep our fine Wales from apathy, indolence and woe.
'Cause I'm the Red Dragon and this is my Wales and that's what I want you to know.

Cymru Am Byth

Let's Talk About SEX

2006-10-06T21:29:00.000Z

Thought that might get your attention !!!

Seriously though that's what I'm going to talk about.

Youth night again tonight and under request from several parents, and a few members of the youth in the church we started the first of 2 sessions about young people and sex.

You might be suprised to know that there are over 400 references to sex in the Bible, there is also a whole book in the Bible that talks about sexual love (Song of Solomon) so quite why it has become such a taboo issue in most churches I'm not quite sure.
After all God created sex, and it's a fact that none of us would be here if it wasn't for sex.

Sadly it is also a fact that sex has become twisted in our society and with the introduction of 'Lads & Ladesses Mags' pornography has become widely available to any teenager, I was totally astounded the other day to see an early evening television advert selling conservatory's with the help of a barely dressed woman.

Martin Saunders said in a recent article in youthwork magazine that "Christians are perceived as a bunch of puritanical sexual killjoys when in fact, we should be known as the pro-sex lobby. God is pro-sex, after all, he invented it. Christians can have healthy, fulfilling sex lives that are just as exciting and adventurous as everyone else's. The difference is Christians can talk about its higher value - as a God-ordained gift, and we must never lose sight of that truth, nor allow others to think that we believe differently."

This is the outline we worked from tonight -
___________________________________________________

Part 1

CASUAL SEX RESULTS IN CASUALTIES
You're only here because of sex

How many verses in the Bible deal with sex?
What is the context of sex?
'Christians should be known as the pro-sex lobby'

1 Moral Damage:

a) Dehumanising: e.g. conquests, power games, treating people as objects
b) Poor substitute: Steve Turner poem: 'Tonight we will fake love'
c) Spiritual Damage
d) Idolatry
e) Seared consciences
f) Hardness of heart

__________________________________________________

So there we go, should sex remain a taboo subject - or should it be taught sensibly & morally to our young people?

Over to you.....

Crazy Games ???

2006-10-04T20:45:00.000Z

Well its official my youth group are crazy!!!

It seems they are not content with knocking a little white ball over a net every friday night (and why should they be).

So now its left to me to come up with something a bit more exiting and challenging for them to do.

Last week we played a game called 'Bigger & Better', the group was split into 2 teams and each team were given a paper clip they then had to go out into the town and swap the paperclip for something bigger or better, the teams could swap the items as many times as they liked but only had a 1 hour time limit.

Once the time limit was up they had to return to the youth hall and debate about which team had the best item, the results were as follows-

Team 1 returned with a biscuit jar full of chocolate chip cookies

Team 2 returned with 15 brand spanking new T-Shirts (Winners)

Just for your information previous attempts at this game have resulted in sofas, fridges & televisions being brought back by the youth so be warned if your gonna attempt this game your going to have to dispose of the items afterwards.

So now what I really need from you is some more ideas for crazy, entertaining & challenging games for the youth group.

I await your suggestions !!!

Im A Student

2006-10-04T12:51:00.000Z

Well I don't quite believe it myself so im just gonna come out with it

IM A STUDENT!!!

I really never thought I would hear myself say those words in this lifetime

especially when I walked out of school on my last day 17 years ago and swore that I would never step foot inside a classroom again but it appears God had other plans!!!

So here I am my first week at Chester University doing Christian Youth Work & Applied Theology (sounds impressive doesn't it!) and so far so good, great University, great resources & fantastic tutors (Hi Dot & Rich).

So why am I doing it, well up until August I was working as a full time homeless support worker and in my spare time I was and still am a volunteer youth leader in my local church fellowship, I knew God was calling me into full time youth work and had been for sometime but I ignored him for a while until I finally realised that if I didn't follow Gods plan for my life I would never reach my full potential.

So here I am in a new 'daunting' but very exiting time of my life finally being obedient to God,

and secure in the knowledge that I have taken my first step in the right direction.

I knew that I possibly had the potential to be a good youth leader but I also know that if I hadn't enrolled at Chester University and taken this step of faith that I would never be a great youth leader.

And God wants great youth leaders!!!

In The Beginning

2006-10-04T11:48:00.000Z

That's My Boy !!!
Rich & Leigh
Probably the best band in the world !!!

Promised Land (Denbigh)