I have left this a little long, since I knew yesterday that my father had arrived back in London without difficulty. I want to thank all of you who prayed for my dad while he was away for your love and the time you gave. Also, if you gave a gift for the work in Myanmar, I want you to know that it was recieved well and was an encouragement to the people of Burma.

Sometimes we pray for things, and forget to thank God for the answers we receive. I want to tell you about some of the answers we received for our prayer requests concerning Burma. If you remember, we asked for prayer for 7 things:

Gifts for Burmese Christians arrive without trouble from authorities.

My father is given understanding concerning immediate needs, and acts according to God’s will in the distribution of funds.

The believers in Burma are encouraged by my father and his gifts.

My father is saved from illness and fatigue and other trouble during his time, and that where possible, those around him are too.

That the relief money given does not cause any problems spiritually for the believers, since in their money it is a vast fortune.

That the response of the believers in Burma is a light to those around them.

That the whole time spent in Burma is to the glory of God, and that God’s hand is upon everything accomplished during this time.

We have received several answers to prayer concerning Burma. The main news is that my father has arrived into Burma safely with all the relief money. Another good piece of news is that he will be having air conditioning in the Hotel he is staying at. It is the hottest time of the year in Burma at the moment, and he has had trouble sleeping the last two times.

The believers in Burma have decided it is best if they distribute the money, rather than him, because they feel it is safer that their relief efforts to be associated with westerners. Please pray for trustworthy, Spirit-filled Christians in Burma to be found to look after the distribution of money. This is not to say we know of any that aren’t, but just that those especially well equipped for the work would be found.

At 1230 GMT today, my dad will be flying from Heathrow to Burma. He will be arriving into Burma at 0215 GMT tomorrow. Current prayer requests are:

• Gifts for Burmese Christians arrive without trouble from authorities.
• My father is given understanding concerning immediate needs, and acts according to God’s will in the distribution of funds.
• The believers in Burma are encouraged by my father and his gifts.
• My father is saved from illness and fatigue and other trouble during his time, and that where possible, those around him are too.
• That the relief money given does not cause any problems spiritually for the believers, since in their money it is a vast fortune.
• That the response of the believers in Burma is a light to those around them.
• That the whole time spent in Burma is to the glory of God, and that God’s hand is upon everything accomplished during this time.

Again, if you are interested in receiving updates from my father about Burma, please e-mail him at:

phil [at] tentmaker [dot] org [dot] uk

This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and stay a six year old forever. You take the red pill – you live in a world with speed limits and take physics exams.

I must say, even though Speed racer looks to be possibly the most immature film to be released this year, every time I think about it, I start thinking like a 6-year-old again and making funny noises under my breath. I think this in itself is evidence that me going to a big shiny university to learn about how big shiny cars to shiny fast things is probably a dangerous idea.

I think I must have had it on my brain even before it came out, because there was this time when I kept dreaming I was in a floating Laborghini Gallardo with lasers on the front, racing around a space station. It was brilliant! I used to will myself to dream those things when I was 6, and now, at 18, it’s finally caught up with me! What’s more, I knew it was a dream, so I could go completely crazy on the throttle and not be worried about hitting things.

Anyway… Go see trailers.

When I’m at college, and someone mentions excellent academic achievement, it always seems to be that I end up saying something like:

My brother sometimes gets full marks in essays… and that’s at university.

Well, with all these legends going around, I think it’s time we compiled a fair, balanced, reliable source of information about Alastair’s life. The aim of this post is just to ensure that you, dear reader, are saved from misleading, contradictory and exaggerated claims about Alastair.

1. Alastair Roberts got enough marks for a first degree purely on the basis of his personal statement.
2. When Alastair Roberts studied maths, he actually managed to fit a proof of Fermat’s last theorem in the margin of his writing paper.
3. Alastair Roberts has such a bad typing method, he writes every letter of the alphabet, and deletes all of them except the one he needs.
4. Alastair Roberts has read NT Wright so much that his essays’ footnotes are used as indexes in new editions of NT Wright’s books.
5. In a parallel universe, Alastair Roberts’ writings were combined into one volume. The resulting wormhole has provided scientists with the first proof of a ‘multiverse’ theory.
6. When Alastair was two years old, he assembled a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle with the power of his mind.
7. Alastair Roberts knows Boggle so well that once he has finished writing all the words that can be found on the visible side of the Boggle dice, he writes the solutions for the bottom sides of the dice.
8. Alastair Roberts once spent so many days without going outside that he started making ‘Gollum’ sounds under his breath.
9. Alastair Roberts’ comments on theological blogs and theological forums are so long that high schools have made children read these out as an alternative to writing lines.
10. Alastair Roberts is so English that at the St. Andrew’s May Dip, someone died when they fell on a sword protruding from the water.
11. Alastair Roberts is such a spoilsport that golf tournaments are no longer played in St. Andrews. Contestants have said, “Golf’s just not fun to play any more.”
12. Alastair Roberts is against Cannabis for the reason that he does not like people to pick leaves.
13. Alastair Roberts is so prolific at knitting that sometimes he gets sheep stuck in his jumpers.
14. Alastair Roberts has to mark his own essays because if anyone else marks them it blows their mind.
15. You can tell the time by seeing how far Alastair Roberts’ hair has receded

Suggestions? Anyone?

Google will be donating up to $1m to the relief fund. The page linked also contains a map showing the path of the cyclone, so that you can understand more where the affected areas are. If you are considering donating money yourself, please consider donating through my father, as money donated to him will go directly to Christians in Myanmar. That is if you want your money to go to a definitely Christian source.

My father’s ordered a visa for Myanmar, please pray that he gets it without hassle.

To repeat, you can e-mail my dad for more personal details about the Myanmar disaster, or to donate money at:

phil [at] tentmaker [dot] org [dot] uk

If you have not yet heard, Burma has been hit by Cyclone Nargis. The news today was that the death toll has reached more than 22,000. This hits particularly close to home because my father has visited Burma twice in the past year or so, the second time taking Ally with him, and we have had personal letters from several of the people who will be most affected by this disaster.

One man runs an orphanage. He has given up everything, a degree, a good standard of living, to live in a small house in which he looks after as many orphans as he can possibly fit in. His house has been completely destroyed. My father says that many of the believers he has met are in similarly built houses, which do not stand a chance against the wind.

Please pray for God’s provision and help for the people of Burma, many of whom do not have water or electricity at this time.

If you are interested in having e-mail updates on the situation in Burma, please e-mail my father at:

phil [at] tentmaker [dot] org [dot] uk

I saw this image in an article on the BBC, and had to post it. Cats can use mice too!

Apparently, work is bad for you in all kinds of ways. I knew it!

Nanowire ‘pine trees’ on physicsworld.com

This morning I picked up a recent copy of national geographic and read through an article about environmentalism in Iceland. It was talking about the dilemma Iceland are facing surrounding renewable energy. Iceland has thermal and hydroelecticity in abundance, but also has an incredibly beautiful landscape, which the exploitation of such power sources, would, and is in the process of, destroying. ‘Green Energy’ and environmentalism have therefore in this case become enemies. You can see pictures on the National Geographic Website.

The reason I say all this is that it reminded me that for some time I’ve been wanting to find a good Physics magazine. It turns out physicsworld.com is a good one, and it’s online, so I don’t have to pay anything, which is of course a bonus. It’s the level of physics which is actually interesting, unlike ‘New Scientist’, which is just annoying… And produces articles which provide ‘proof’ for pantheism.

I passed. Yay me.
Multiple choice: 50/50 (Pass mark 43)
Hazard Perception: 58/75 (Pass mark 44)