The Challenger

Today marks the 11th Day of Christmas 🌟 as the season starts to come to a close and find myself towards the end of this Christmas series and writing later than I should 😅 However yesterday had me notice two things, the first that yesterday's message about the ladies became my longest post 🤭 (whoopsie) and turning on the TV 📺 afterwards, I found a program called 'Without Sin' that is new this year in 2023 and more to do with innocence than being religious as it sounds. Ironic considering the post I sent, speaking about Jesus defending 🛡️ harlots because the only ones who could stone her were those 'without sin'. This was the point that Jesus made, as this harlot was surrounded by many condemning her and yet as soon as Jesus came into the scene, He exposed their hypocrisy. It was almost like He showed them a mirror to prove they were no better, even to start writing ✍️ in the sand in the ground, which we believe were sins He was exposing, for it was after this an

Now I believe I have heard of Movember  which encourages men 🚹 to let their moustaches grow to look like Mr Pringles 🥠 and Manuary was setup in the same way but including all facial hair. Set up by boys in a Boarding School 🏫 in Canada 🇨🇦 because they couldn't take part in Movember because it was against their dress code 😅 but I am not going to write 📝 about beards and the right for our emoticons to include moustaches and beards too (because I've checked and see none 😅😂). Instead today I address the complete opposite and address the ladies 🚺 😱 Scandalous I know! I've let the side down xD In all seriousness though, 3rd January is celebrated as 'Women Rock Day' 👩‍🎤 in an ode to female artists in the music 🎶  industry, stemming from Aretha Franklin BUT I am to go further today to celebrate Women who do 'Rock' 👩‍🎤 by their Faith 🙏🏻 and Courage 💪 that they displayed and were rewarded for it 🏆 by being -in- Christ Jesus ✝️ and I will explain wh

With the New Year in full swing 🎊🎉 we have reached the stage where everything seems refreshed 😌. Where we become quick to say 👋 to 2022 and welcome 2023 with a bang 🎇 (and I'd certainly say quite a few bangs this year, with early rehearsals 😅). Whether that's because 2022 hasn't been kind to you or hoping to impress upon the New Year as you would a New Boss 🤞 or simply enjoying the festivities.....it is peculiar why we celebrate 🤔 Annually we celebrate our birthdays 🎂 and anniversaries 💍 because they have significance to us and clearly have a start date and end date. I mean, we don't celebrate when a piece of cake 🍰 reaches its end date, considering it doesn't make us joyful but 🤮 if it goes over or the date is wrong 👎 and yet like 🍰, the year was made and has a short lifespan. On that subject, because it is 2023 doesn't mean creation is 2023 years old as we calculate our ages 😜 but we celebrate New Year for the Re-New-al 👌 and like 'Christma

First of all and at the very end of the day, I want to wish you all a happy new year 🎊 for as I said in my message yesterday, 2022 has come and gone ever so quickly and leaves us hopeful 🙏🏻 but cautious for 2023. We need to make sure we use our precious time wisely ⌚ and one way we can do that is by reflection 🤔 and the other way is by change ☑️ We do not know what 2023 will bring and we all have our own ideas/hopes, just as we hear Rishi Sunak speak of the New Year as an opportunity to be our best, while Keir Starmer hails the need for hope and that hope needs change. Spoken with political motivations but in the times we live in, we do need hope 🙏🏻 and it reminds me of Israel when the Prophet Isaiah foretold the birth of Christ over 400y before (Isa 9:6) which was partially fulfilled at Christmas 🌟 with Christ's return when 'the Government shall be upon his shoulder' to come ➡️ Christmas is just the start + the hope continues 😊 but change must come from all of us.

So it has come to that time ⌚ again and honestly, I don't know about you 🤷‍♂️ but 2022 feels more like a runner number 🏃than a year, competing with the previous years and crossing the finishing line in first place🥇 Everyone who has wished me a Happy New Year🎉, I shared the same sentiment on how quick the year has gone and I'm not alone thinking that.....it has gone super quick 🌠 and makes me wonder 🤔 if 2023 will be cool as a cucumber 😎 or as competitive as you cowboys out there 🤠 especially when out the road 🛣️ that's its no wonder people freak 🤯😤 at the wheel 🚘 😅😂 It's not only on the road where it is mad 😵 but even in our politics/leadership 👨‍💼👩‍💼👨‍💼. In the 'Game of Thrones' heyday when we can understand Baratheon 🦌 vs Targaryen 🐲 as we understand Conversatives vs Labour, but since the release of 'House of the Dragon' this year, we see Targaryen 🐲 vs Targaryen 🐲 in unnecessary war ⚔️ in 'peace time'! and it isn't

At the time ⌚ that I write this and being winter ❄️🥶, you may well be starting your day, going to work ⚒️ while it is light 🔆 and before you know it, you finish when it is dark 🌑 - to quote from Captain Jack Sparrow 🏴‍☠️🥃 'Why is the [light] always gone?!' While spoken figuratively, it is true what Christ said that we ought to walk while it is light because we don't know where we are going when it is dark (John 12:35) and that makes perfect logical sense. Its why even with camping ⛺ that it's always good to have a 🔦 handy, which now becomes even easier with a 🔦 on our phones. However that only provides help to what we see with our natural eyes 👀 and not with our spiritual eyes..... For those familiar with the Spiderwick Chronicles, there becomes an instant in the film where the siblings need to fight off fantasy creatures. The problem was that they couldn't see 👀 them and so they didn't stand a chance until a friendly creature spat into the eyes of one