When you were younger did you have any Christmas traditions in your family? Our Christmas day was always the same. Wake up (early, thanks, Sis!) open all our presents, go over the road to my aunty's, open more presents, come home, change out of our pyjamas and then go to the pub until dinner.

Every year the same until I left home. Sometimes we would pop into Gran and Taid if we had time but the pattern was the same. That was what we, as a family did. I, however, had another tradition that I did. Religiously. Every year. Always. Until I was at least 20 and I still do it every other year now.

It involved reading and it involved looking for something. If I found it, my Christmas was made. No matter how many sprouts I was forced to eat, no matter how rainy the day, no matter how early I broke my new toy. One thing was guaranteed to make me ecstatic.

What I used to do was wait until about a week before Christmas. The newspaper (always The Sun in our house, feel free to judge me I don't care) came with a bumper listings magazine for the Christmas period and I used to sit and scour the films that were on. I wasn't interested in the latest blockbuster (although I would, of course, watch them). I wasn't interested in any films my parents would want. The one I wanted was usually on early in the morning on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. It was about ninety minutes long, animated and came out in 1979.

The film was a version of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and to me, it was the greatest film in the world. It was crudely animated and the sound didn't always sync but I simply adored that film. I still do. That's why I always looked for it. I could happily sit and watch it again and again.

Nowadays, it is rarely on TV at Christmas and I am sad about that. However, it is on YouTube and I am thrilled by that. Now, I can watch it again and again and again. I watched some of it earlier today in fact.

I love Narnia. I loved Narnia before I knew Jesus. I loved Aslan before I realised that he was known in this world by a different name. I devoured the books as a child, time and time and time again. I know the stories of the Narnia Chronicles inside out and back to front.

Lewis' words captivated me as a young man. They made me feel things. I felt thrilled, I felt scared, I felt clever and I felt safe when I was reading them (apart from the dead bluebottle which confused me as a young lad from North Wales but that's another story).

As I grew older, I kept looking for the film. Then the BBC did that wonderful adaptation of four of the stories. They're available on YouTube as well! Then came the films of the last decade or so. They're not that good. They have better effects, are flashier and have higher production values but they lost something in the telling. It's great to have a lion who looks like a real lion but I wanted a lion who was like Aslan. I didn't need the backstory of a dad off at war and a troubled boy in an air-raid shelter to help me know what motivated Edmund.

As for the Hollywood adaptation of Prince Caspian with its tacking on of a love interest between Susan and Caspian! My goodness me they ruined that story. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader missed out all the important bits. I nearly left the cinema it was so bad.

You see, the crudely animated, badly synched and cheap 1979 production has enough of the right stuff. It has a beautiful musical score. It has heart and it has joy. Most of all, it has a story that's true to the original. It is redolent with the love and power of Lewis' book. It is as close to watching a book come to life as I have ever seen in a film.

That's why you'll have to excuse me, I have some popcorn, I have some drink and I have a film to watch. Catch you in ninety minutes or so ...

One of the major things that people who are not Christians think about us who do believe is that we are dour and don't like fun. They have this impression of miserable people who sit in their houses on a Sunday and do nothing other than visit church. There is still an idea that we are all strict sabbatarians who want everyone to be quiet and fun free on a Sunday.

When we read the New Testament, we see that Jesus has a lot to say about the Sabbath. He is often to be found with the poor and needy on a Sabbath and he is often criticised for "working" when he shouldn't be. You see, just as there are people now (both Christian and non-Christian) who misunderstand the nature of the Sabbath, there were people then as well. The Pharisees were dedicated to following every tiny detail. Even having a splinter in your finger would mean having to sit still for fear of transporting wood!

The Sabbath, which is part of the 10 Commandments, is meant to be a day of rest. It is meant to be a day when we re-connect with each other and with God. It is not meant to be a day when we do nothing in order to be seen doing nothing.

The Sabbath is, however, something that I believe in deeply. I am a strict follower of the Sabbath. I do the Sabbath in a different way though. A few years ago, when I came back to Jesus after a couple of years away, I wanted to be able to give Sundays to him. I wanted a day off work a week and I wanted to dedicate that day to God and to my family as it grew. I remember distinctly praying for all my work to be completed by Saturday night so that I could have the Sunday off. God, in his wonderful grace, helped me get it all complete by the Friday.

Ever since then, I have always refused to do any work for my job on Saturdays. I am happy to work on a Sunday evening but I am not going to do any work on a Saturday. That is a day for me to spend time with my wife and kids and for us to spend time with God as well. It doesn't matter what I have to do, come midnight on Friday that's me done.

This is the point where I am supposed to say that it hasn't always been easy but, you know what, it has been. I have found that whatever we give to God he will give back to us tenfold, a hundredfold and even more.

Having a sabbath means resting and recharging one's batteries. It means having a day when you can forget all the major stresses of your work week and enjoy time with the Lord. I highly recommend it.

This week has been so tiring. My lovely wife had a minor operation on Monday and I had a day off with the Kids (it was a training day so not too difficult) but she had a complication after and had to stay in overnight. I was worried but lots of prayer and ringing around friends sorted everything out.

The working week has been relentless. So much to do and so many things that kept pushing their way to the top of my "to do" list. At home, I have had to pick up more jobs too as my wife is still recovering and then on Wednesday it was time for a leaders' meeting. This was fractious and complex (as always it seems) and I was just shattered.

On top of it, our youngest has been having difficulty sleeping again. He has some problems with his tummy that make it difficult for him to sleep. Waking at half 11, half 2, half 4 and then 6 in the morning doesn't make for a good sleep for me.

Now, I am not claiming in any way that I am worse off than anyone else. Please don't think that I am. See, through all of this, there is a constant. When my tiredness hits hard and the grumpiness starts to come out there is always a little thing from God. A reminder of his presence, a smile from the kids, a song on the radio.

Every day He is with me and he never leaves me. He never leaves me and he never forsakes me. I can rest assured that Jesus himself knew what it was to be tired. He had his nights without sleep and he had his stresses. He knows what I need to do.

He told me as much when in Matthew chapter 11 he says

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I have found another great worship song which I have really enjoyed listening to. It is another Zach Williams song and has an uplifting message. Hope you enjoy

I have been getting my history fixes lately. Recently I reviewed a book by Nick Page which dealt with the history of the Reformation. Another book which I am long overdue a review of is The Popes: A History by John Julius Norwich.

Now, I have to confess, I have not actually read the book yet but rather i have listened to it as an audiobook on multiple occasions. It is over 21 hours long and takes the long path from St. Peter through to Benedict XVI.

It really is a fascinating book. It goes through church history with pace and with great scholarship. It is well written and has a good deal of information. It doesn't shy from the awfulness of some of the Popes and neither does it ignore the greatness of others.

It doesn't delve too much into doctrinal issues (where it has to, such as with the filioque clause, it does so with ease and without getting too technical), rather preferring to take the narrative approach. With such a long period and with so many Popes (and antipopes) of course it necessarily needs to limit detailed examination to those Popes who stuck around long enough and who had an impact on the church. You won't find much on Urban VII (13-day reign) or Boniface VI (16 days) but you will find good and instructive passages on Gregory the Great, Urban II, Adrian VI and Boniface VIII.

It deals with the conflicts with the Holy Roman Emperors, the Crusades (nicely highlighting their barbarism and pointlessness as well as their successes) and the Byzantine Empire. The Renaissance and Reformation are dealt with extremely well and leave the reader (listener?) well informed and entertained.

There are some passages which are heavy going but I think that relates more to my own preferences as a historian. For example, I found the lengthy passage dealing with Pius IX and the creation of Italy to be tedious and overlong.

The author does an excellent job and keeps the narrative going. There are one or two diversions but they are necessary. The sections on Pope Joan and the death of Pope John-Paul I are great diversions and taught me a lot. I was very impressed.

Overall, I learned a lot from this book and I am someone who has studied a good deal of church history. My favourite fact was the name of the Papal Bull sent by Boniface VIII to King Philip the Fair of France. It was sent at a time when the Pope was incredibly angry and is called "Ausculta Fili" which means "Listen, son ..." Made me think of the Papacy as an episode of Eastenders; which I suppose, after reading this book, it has often turned out to be.

I highly recommend this book and would love to hear what others think about it.

I haven't really listened much to Hillsong worship lately. No particular reason, I guess I just forgot about them. However, here is a video of theirs that is a wonderful version fo a wonderful song

Looking for some new worship songs and I came across this one. It is a powerful piece of praise and has some deep truths.