What a ride the last week and a bit has been – and the internship hasn’t even begun! I’m beginning to get used to Bristol and its people and the idea of being here for the next twelve months.

I start at the office tomorrow. It’ll be good to be busier, to have a routine and to begin (or continue) exploring what lies ahead.

This weekend has been great. It was Zoë‘s 20th birthday and we went out in Bristol on Sunday night to celebrate, along with some of the Cardiff gang (Mark, Rob, Sarah-Lou and Sharon). I realised once again what a great bunch of friends I have in Cardiff.

I’m here!

So I’m sat in the Bristol Vineyard office catching up on a web-free few days. Saturday was moving into the ‘pink house’ and getting unpacked, which was all done within 2 hours.

Emotionally things have been a little weird the last few days. I guess you realise how close you are to your family when you’re living away from them (even if only 45 minutes away). Reading Zoë’s blog is pretty hard to do without wanting to cry. It’s her 20th Birthday on Sunday, so she and some of the guys are coming over and we’re going out in Bristol, which should be fun.

Yesterday I went shopping on Park Street and managed to find How to Read the Bible Book by Book, which I’ve been looking for since Gordon Fee spoke at the Leader’s Conference back in March.

This week is flying by. Seeing a variety of friends every night is great fun but the experience is tempered by the fact that we’re saying our goodbyes. At least I’ll be seeing most of them in the course of the year.

Next Saturday I move to Bristol. This week I’m getting rid of my old cardiffvineyard.org and ntlworld.com email addresses and getting a new address. If you haven’t just received an email with my new contact details in and need them, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post and I’ll email you with the details.

I won’t be publishing my new address on this website because I’m determined to keep spam at bay!

Sing a new song to The Lord?

I just had a look on the CCLI website to find out the 25 most popular songs sung in churches in the UK this year. To be honest I was astonished at the results…

1 Shout To The Lord – Darlene Zschech

2 Be Still – David J. Evans

3 Lord I Lift Your Name On High – Rick Founds

4 Knowing You – Graham Kendrick

5 Come Now Is The Time To Worship – Brian Doerksen

6 Shine Jesus Shine – Graham Kendrick

7 How Deep The Father’s Love For Us – Stuart Townend

8 The Servant King – Graham Kendrick

9 Once Again – Matt Redman

10 There Is A Redeemer – Melody Green-Sievright

11 We Want To See Jesus Lifted High – Doug Horley

12 I Will Offer Up My Life – Matt Redman

13 All Heaven Declares – Noel Richards\Tricia Richards

14 The Power Of Your Love – Geoff Bullock

15 Faithful One – Brian Doerksen

16 As The Deer – Martin Nystrom

17 I Will Sing Your Praises – Ian Smale

18 Give Thanks – Henry Smith

19 Jesus Is The Name We Honour – Philip Lawson Johnston

20 Refiner’s Fire – Brian Doerksen

21 Majesty – Jack Hayford

22 Celebrate – Patricia Morgan\Dave Bankhead

23 Be The Centre – Michael Frye

24 To Be In Your Presence – Noel Richards

25 Only By Grace – Gerrit Gustafson