Some people shout and blame God for all sorts of things in life saying that its not fair God doesn't understand what I'm going through. But God sent his son to earth
Monday 22 March 2010
Give Till it Hurts
Some people shout and blame God for all sorts of things in life saying that its not fair God doesn't understand what I'm going through. But God sent his son to earth
Sunday 21 March 2010
I Don't Like Mondays
We are heading full throttle into another week, for the most of us we don't like Mondays... In the Genesis account the only day God did not say something was good was Monday! God understands that some days feel different to others. Think of God watching his son on Good Friday which we celebrate shortly. We can live our lives in very different ways - We can live so that our lives have positive outcomes for other people or that impact negatively on others.
Whether we like Mondays or not it doesn't matter we can not just live as we please, I don't think for a minute that most of us are going to Shoot the whole day down. Geldof wrote the song as he saw the Telex printer churn out the news story... One of the lyrics is
The telex machine is kept so clean
As it types to a waiting world...
What is your telex machine going to type to the waiting world this Monday?
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Do I have to believe in Jesus?
Do I have to believe in Jesus to go to heaven?
John 14:6
- How could the meaning of this verse be changed if Jesus had said…
- I am a way…
There are other ways to God than trusting Jesus.
- I am a truth…
There are other options about God that are also true; we don’t have to believe in Jesus.
- I am a life…
There are other ways to get a new life.
Pic‘n’mix
Have you ever been to the pic’n’mix sweets section in a shop?
Many people today look at life in this way. Just as there are many different kinds of sweets there are many different religions and a lot of people take bits from each. Can you do that? No you can’t because they believe different things.
God doesn’t want us to pic’n’mix. He wants us to follow Him alone and not others.
One thing that set Jesus apart from other religious leaders: he died and rose again. No one but God has the power over life and death-he is the only one true God.
That means that the claims that Jesus made about himself being the Son of God are true.
Because he conquered death and rose to life again:
· He can bring us back to God-he is the way
· He is telling the full truth about himself-he is the truth
· He is able to give us life-he is the life.
Yes I do have to believe in Jesus to go to heaven.
What Jesus said is very Good News, but there are a lot of people who haven’t heard or understood about Jesus.
· How can we let people know about Jesus at school, near our home, or anywhere else? - We can do it!
What about people in other countries?
· Who can let them know? - Missionaries in other countries tell people about Jesus too
· How can we help? - Praying for them, sending money, telling others about them, going ourselves!
Prayer: Thank you for making yourself known to me. Thank you for dying for me to give me new life. Help me to tell others about this new life.
Memory verse: Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given by men by which we must be saved.
Hindus believe there is a God but we can’t know him.
Buddhists believe there is no God.
Muslims believe Allah is God but he is not interested in us personally.
Some believe God is a force: partly good, partly evil.
Christians believe God is completely good and that we can know Him.
Sunday 7 March 2010
King of Kings
He alone is the focus of their attention while the devil cringes behind Christ. Is Jesus the focus of your attention this morning. It doesn't matter how important we think we may be if we don't realise how important Jesus is.
The devil's sin was pride, let us beware lest we become proud and place Jesus at the centre of our picture this morning.
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Monday 1 March 2010
Vision
Sunday 28 February 2010
Valentines Day Message
The Comfort of the familiar
•
- The Disciples had spent the last three years, day and night with Jesus
- •Since the resurrection they had seen Jesus twice and then he disappeared again
- •Their daily routine for the last three years had been based on what they had heard and seen Jesus do
- •They had been told to wait in Galilee but waiting gets boring
- Sometimes Jesus is exactly where he said he would be but we cant see him
- •Sometimes we need to get a little bit closer to him so we can recognise himWhen Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea. The other disciples came in by boat for they weren't far from land, a hundred yards or so’
Being haunted by the past
- John 21:6 and Luke 5:5-11
- John 21:9 and John 18:18
- Luke 21:13-14 and Matthew 26:6
- John 21:15 and Matthew 15:16-18
- John 21:15-19 and Luke 22:60-62
Restoration
- Recognise Jesus never left you
- Confront the things that haunt your past
- Take time out alone with Jesus
- Listen and Respond
- Follow him.
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Order out of Chaos
It's interesting what Trev has blogged on tonight!
You know we do not know when Jesus is coming back but we know he is... How ordered are we for his return, how in control of our spiritual life are we? do we need to wash, empty, scrub, bleach and sweep our spiritual life?
I hate not being in control, Im a long range person I like to think and plan way ahead and my mind is always whizzing, yet sometimes a well aimed spanner throws my plans into chaos and I need to have order. I restored physical order last night to try and gain perspective.
God is in the order of creating beauty from chaos - Behold the earth was formless and void (chaos) .... God said let their be light and there was light.
You know me creating physical order had no effect on my meeting at all. The only one who can do that is the Chaos controlling God.
Are we going to let God say LET THERE BE LIGHT and come into our Chaos this week?
Sunday 7 February 2010
A change is as good as a rest
I personally am looking forward to getting back to normal, but being still allowed me to paint which to me is the best rest in the world - not only did my back get a rest but my spirit did too!
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Hearts and Minds
Jeremiah 17:9 (The Message)
9-10"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
not as they pretend to be."
When Jesus was moved with compassion he was not just moved intellectually but with compassion through his heart, the core of his being. Will we allow God to transform our heart nature?
Hebrews 4:12 (New American Standard Bible)
12For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
If you feel hard hearted don't worry God is the best heart surgeon around in Ezekiel 36 God says this
24-28 "'For here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I'll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You'll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You'll be my people! I'll be your God!
Monday 25 January 2010
It's the day after the night before
- We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
- We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
- For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man.
- For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
- On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
- He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
- We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
- We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
- We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
- We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
- Amen.
It is essential to build ourselves up in faith, David the psalmist regularly spoke to his soul and reminded himself of the amazing majesty of God despite the fact that it was probably the day after the night before. We are given great advice in the book of Jude
20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Sunday 24 January 2010
Feasting on Foodbank
Feasting on Foodbank - We launched the Foodbank Concept to our Church today - plans for opening are well underway in an effort to meet peoples needs. Jesus was quite clear in Matthew 25 that the Church out to care for the needy, and the oppressed. Foodbank is a way to do this
34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
Foodbank Orpington will soon open its doors. This isn't an opportunity for our Church to kingdom build or give ourselves a pat on the back it is a chance for Christians and others to work together and meet peoples needs where they are. There are many ways people will be able to help with the project, and we hope many other churches will take the opportunity to hear about foodbank and get involved and make real social change possible in our area.
Church is more than just having a holy huddle, and congratulating each other on another week survived. The book of James talks of the necessity of faith needing actions to match. In Isaiah 58 God tells the people he is not interest in half heartedness or self serving in his kingdom,
6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'
A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
It is time to stop whining about how communities are needing change, and starting to become the agents of change. If you want to know more my email is at the top of the page. There is also a link to Foodbank's website to the right hand side.
Saturday 23 January 2010
How Lovely on the Mountains
Proverbs 25:25
25Like cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a distant land.
It is easy to spread soul weariness around, it is also easy to spread good news. Which messenger will you be recieving tomorrow?
Isaiah 52:7-10 (The Message)
7-10How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the messenger bringing good news,
Breaking the news that all's well,
proclaiming good times, announcing salvation,
telling Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Voices! Listen! Your scouts are shouting, thunderclap shouts,
shouting in joyful unison.
They see with their own eyes
God coming back to Zion.
Break into song! Boom it out, ruins of Jerusalem:
"God has comforted his people!
He's redeemed Jerusalem!"
God has rolled up his sleeves.
All the nations can see his holy, muscled arm.
Everyone, from one end of the earth to the other,
sees him at work, doing his salvation work.
7-10How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the messenger bringing good news,
Breaking the news that all's well,
proclaiming good times, announcing salvation,
telling Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Voices! Listen! Your scouts are shouting, thunderclap shouts,
shouting in joyful unison.
They see with their own eyes
God coming back to Zion.
Break into song! Boom it out, ruins of Jerusalem:
"God has comforted his people!
He's redeemed Jerusalem!"
God has rolled up his sleeves.
All the nations can see his holy, muscled arm.
Everyone, from one end of the earth to the other,
sees him at work, doing his salvation work.
Thursday 21 January 2010
Who Am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.
Bridge:
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
I am yours..
I am yours..
(Casting Crowns)
Wednesday 20 January 2010
And the pieces fit....
Ephesians 2:10
7-10Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
Considering Lilly wrote a song called and the pieces fit it helps us remember God's place in completing our lives
I was like a Jigsaw with pieces missing, square peg and round hole
I'd try to climb a ladder but always slipping, high jump short pole
I was stained till he came and cleansed me,
I was torn till he came to mend me
It was a match made in heaven from the moment we connected
His grace for my shame
His death for my blame
His stripes for my pain,
And the pieces fit
His joy for my grief
His hurt my relief
My doubt his belief
And the pieces fit
And the pieces fit
I was like a story without an ending, a mystery with no clue
A maze where each direction is deceiving, with no one to lead you
I was confused till his answers reached me
Unaware till he came to teach me
It was a match made in heaven from the moment we connected
Its no wonder I've been made whole
since I surrendered my heart and my soul
with pieces missing, square peg and round hole
I'd try to climb a ladder but always slipping, high jump short pole
I was stained till he came and cleansed me,
I was torn till he came to mend me
It was a match made in heaven from the moment we connected
I was like a story without an ending, a mystery with no clue
A maze where each direction is deceiving, with no one to lead you
I was confused till his answers reached me
Unaware till he came to teach me
It was a match made in heaven from the moment we connected
His grace for my shame
His death for my blame
His stripes for my pain
And the pieces fit
His joy for my grief
His hurt my relief
My doubt his belief
And the pieces fit
Its no wonder I've been made whole
since I surrendered my heart and my soul
Tuesday 19 January 2010
Backing up my files!
1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.(1 Cor15)
My computer is in some serious need of some loving the cd drive has given up the ghost and you start to worry if it crashes will it ever reload windows. With 10 years of photos stored on there taking up 15GB its time to make sure I can hold on to the photos that i have recieved. The best way to make sure I do is to hold onto them firmly by backing them up on a seperate drive.
It is taking me quite some time to copy them all over. Sometimes we need to spend quite some time backing up the gospel that has been preached to us, and making sure we hold onto the word. How much time have we spent backing up this weeks sermon so we can make sure we have a firm hold on it. I can tell you it is probably less time than I am spending backing up photos.
Much as I would hate to lose my photos, I would be devasted to lose God's word
Monday 18 January 2010
When it's all been said and done
When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth?
Did I live my life for you?
When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I have done
For love's rewards
Will stand the test of time
Lord, your mercy is so great
That you look beyond our weakness
That you found purest gold in miry clay
Turning sinners into saints
I will always sing your praise
Here on earth and in heaven after
For you've joined me at my true home
When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone...
Sunday 17 January 2010
Chilli's are hot and burn your face
As my chilli was cooking my eyes were streaming my cat's eyes were streaming, if the walls had eyes they would have been weeping. Anyway I did not heed my own important advice as detailed above and rubbed the side of my nose just under my eye before washing my hands after handling chilli's. I know have a red burn that is trying currently to eat it's way through my flesh, my eye is watery and my eye feels like it is swelling shut.
Chilli is a bit like sin, they cause you harm, if you have sinned you need to wash the influence of sin away. 1 John 1 tells us
8If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So we need to confess our sin to God, and we will be forgiven, how do we remind ourselves not to sin and to keep ourselves holy we must look to the bible (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) Ephesians 5 tells us:
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
Sin like Chilli's burn -
1Timothy 4:1-2 1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
If we do not deal with sin in our life it sears our conscience. When the enemy attacks our life it is likened to fiery arrows (Ephesians 6)
16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
Remember my lesson learned today from handling chilli's, when you sin get yourself clean before you suffer its effects. Turn to God for forgiveness and have a bath in his healing word.
Saturday 16 January 2010
I shall teach you the Torah while you stand on one foot
Rabbi Hillel was famous for his tolerant approach, his grandson was Gamaliel the Pharisee who's advice about whether to persecute the early church is recorded in
Acts 5 38"So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; 39but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God."
There is a story about the Rabbi's Hilliel and Shammai who were the two major teachers of theology in Jerusalem. A gentile came to Shammai, and cried:
"Your Torah, your wonderful Torah--I can learn it while I stand on one foot. Rabbi Shammai, you teach it to me while I stand on one foot."
Rabbi Shammai took a stick and shouted angrily:"Get out of here, you scoffer I Do you think I havetime to waste on people who mock our holy Torah?" The heathen ran away. He thought he would go to Hillel and see what Hillel would do.
All out of breath, he came to Hillel's home. Hillel thought the man had come for something very important. So Hillel said:"What is the matter, my good man?" And the heathen answered: "Teach me the Torah while I stand on one foot."
Hillel, calmly and patiently said: "You want to learn a great deal quickly, don't you? Very well, I shall teach you the Torah while you stand on one foot. This is our Holy Torah: 'What is hateful to you, do not do unto others.'"
The heathen forgot that he had come only to jeer. "Does it mean that the heathens and the Jews and all of us are brothers? Does it mean that we must be kind to one another like brothers?" asked the heathen, wonderingly.
"That's it, my son. That's the meaning of the whole Torah. All the rest is only an explanation of that. Go, go, my son. Go and study it," said Hillel kindly.
Very often we can make things a real chore when people come seeking after God. They may ask us questions that we would just brush off.Hillel understood what Jesus later explained when he said that the most important commandment was
37-40 'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."
People are looking to be loved, the church need to love them as much as we love our theology our church and ourselves - this is why a key to our mission statement is to impact our community with the love of God
Friday 15 January 2010
If this was your last day...
To each one fortunate enough to live out 2010, God will have given 365 days broken into 8,760 hours. Of these hours, 2,920 will have been spent in sleep, and about the same number at work. An equal number has been given us to spend in reverent preparation for the moment when days and years shall cease and time shall be no more. What prayer could be more spiritually appropriate than that of Moses, the man of God: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).
It is important that we remember that all our days come to us out of the sheer mercy of God, unearned, undeserved and, I fear, mostly unappreciated. By sin our lives stand under forfeit; God owes us nothing. The bell that tolls the death of the passing year might as justly toll for us. Only by God's infinite goodness are we yet alive to see each other's face. Each year is a gift of grace and each day an unearned bonus.
I think it is typical of us that we take our days for granted. We say at the start of each year, "This may be the last," and resolve to amend our lives; but before many days have passed we forget our resolutions and grow bold and arrogant again, deceived by the apparent prodigality with which our days are given to us, heaped up, shaken together and running over. But all things have an end. The pitcher goes once too often to the well; the old tree braves one too many storms and comes down with a great crash upon the hill; the strongest heart weakens at last and sputters to a stop. AW TOZER(the warfare of the spirit chapter 32)(Year Changed from 1959 to 2010)
Barnabas wasn't just a friend of Paul
Perhaps, the deepest insight into his character comes from the name given to him by the Apostles. His original name was Joseph, a Jewish name. But the Apostles gave him a new name, Barnabas, with means "Son of Encouragement."
I have been really blessed today, more than one person has said what an impact the blogging that Norm, Trevor and I has been having, and that is really encouraging :)
Even more encouraging is watching people step up to the mark and bat spiritual balls out of the arena in a firework display of blazing sixes! Our oldest Kid's Club leader was so on form tonight he got an ovation from the kids - Well done Mr Curtis!
Often getting people to do the talk at kid's club you either have the few who are always up for it or others who aren't sure if they have anything worthwhile to give.
Encouragement can also come in the way of a kick up the jacksie. Paul said to another young man
So all you out there feeling like you are too old to cut it, kindle afresh the gift of God. I got a Chiminea for Christmas and when the kindling is alight boy do you get a roaring fire. Get out the matches and get ablaze for God.
Thursday 14 January 2010
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed
7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
Been one of those days today, you know the ones where you just want to curl up and go back to sleep! The sort of day that everything you plan just seems to be frustrated. You sink into a bath of suds to relax and you release a sigh and the phone rings.... an hour later the bath isn't worth having. Even when we have difficult days, God is in the middle of them with us.
David (the kingly one not the grungey one) was a great one to take lessons from, he used to talk to himself when he had had a bad day at the office Why are you so sad my soul why so disturbed within me... he answered himself ....Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him my saviour and my God. Too often we don't question the fug of a bad day and easily slip into a mini spiritual decline. If you have had a bad day perk up you are not crushed, despairing, forsaken or destroyed.
The Psalms also say Though the sorrow may last for the night, joy comes in the morning. Put the day down give it back to God and recieve his joy.
Wednesday 13 January 2010
The Orpington is a breed of Chicken
Tuesday 12 January 2010
What's that coming over the hill?
Monday 11 January 2010
Life's not Fair!
Rule 1 Life is not fair - Get used to it!
Rule 2 The world won't care about your self esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 You will not make $60000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger-flipping they called it opportunity.
Rule 6 If you mess up it's not your parents fault , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rainforest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time...
Rule 10 Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 Be nice to nerds. Chances are you will end up working for one.
Davy Davy How Contrary
It occurred to me how contrary and childlike we can be. I was observing a toddler the other day yammering incesantly about wanting something, immediately they had it they put it down and want something else. How often we act in just the same way.
It makes me remember someone that came to Church one day seeking the 'Toronto Blessing' they were told swiftly that we had it last week but it wasn't here this week. What a shame the person didn't come to church to look for Jesus.
In all our striving we must learn to be content, whether we are experience blessing or testing. We must remember a test is merely an unfulfilled testimony.
Paul had learnt the secret of contentment in Philippians 4 he tells us 'I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry both of having abundance and having need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'
Sunday 10 January 2010
Make the Paths Straight
You can clear a path, but you can't make someone walk on it. The cleared path made a difference to some people this morning, but to others not a bit.
I reflected on my making the path straight when I was younger - I got telling people what I thought they needed to hear, pretty much turn or burn... I thought I was making a path in the wilderness. In Isaiah 40 it talks about ....
3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
Isaiah 40 starts off by telling us to Comfort people...... turn or burn is not a very comforting message. Our job is to facilitate peoples ability to come to Jesus to experience him exalting the low areas in their life and reducing the hills producing a landscape where people can see.
A cleared path is a practical way to make a path straight and clear, however people may not take advantage but we should not cease from clearing the way for people to meet Jesus
Saturday 9 January 2010
I think I can I think I can... I know I can I Know I can
I don't know how many of you have watched Dumbo the Disney film, theres a bit in it with the train that carries all the circus animals trying to get up a hill. He puffs as he makes his way up the hill I think I can, I think I can, I think I can - and with extreme effort when he reaches the top and is able to roll down the other side chuffs I know I can I know I can.
Anyway, I drive an automatic car, not some great SUV or anything but a glorified hairdryer engine placed in an upturned skip painted jauntily in blue and decorated with pink flowers. Some of you might know but automatics aren't the best things to drive in the snow they are a little difficult to control a little akin to watching a drunken giraffe getting to grips with Ice Skating.
There was the snowy hill all waiting for me, I could have parked at the bottom and walked up but I kind of like the skaty slidy feeling you get driving an auto in the snow and I thought to myself I'm going to drive up that hill.... I think I can I think I can
Sure enough it was a little slippy and slidy and fun but I drove up the hill. It isn't the only daunting physical or metaphorical hill I will climb this year. I had belief that I could handle my car up that hill - others might think it was silly or too much effort but the hill was there!
I think it was Hillary who was asked why he climbed everest and replied because it was there.
I'ts amazing what a little belief will do for you. Even if people think you are mad you will have the exhilaration of reaching the summit and knowing that you have succeeded.
Philipians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
If we just left that at I can do all things it would seem like supreme arrogance, the same sort of attitude of the men who built the tower of Babel. The key to climbing our metaphorical mountains is we have the power that comes from knowing Christ.
There is a huge difference. It is one thing for someone to say, "I can do all things." It is quite different to say "I can do all things through Christ."Jesus said to His disciples "without Me you can do nothing," (John. 15:5).
As we approach a new year full of metaphorical mountains lets climb them knowing we can with the strength that comes from knowing christ.
Friday 8 January 2010
Ploughing through the snow
It got me to reflecting, not literally although the sun was bright about the beautiful snow, it had turned the school into a very picture of beauty - you couldn't see the ruts that had been driven into the grass turning the edge of the field into a quagmire - all you could see was snow.
In Isaiah it talks about the snow - 'Come now let us reason together,' Says the Lord, 'Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson they will be white like wool'
I protected that snow covered field and astroturf and all the mud and mire and whatever remained covered in a blanket of white - yet something was missing.
At 3:10 the kids poured out of school and into the streets and rejoiced and exulted in snow, sledging and sliding and snowballing towards their homes.
Our sins have been covered, and though they were are red as scarlet they have been made as white as snow, how much do we rejoice and exult in the salvation we have found in Jesus? In Colossians it talks about - Christ in you the hope of glory what a thing to rejoice and exult in!
Thursday 7 January 2010
This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine
Until today I had managed to get things so I could switch one set of lights on or off, but have a little dark corner where the other lights were. The alternative I had managed was to have two sets of lights permanantly on!
It was a bit like the old mastermind game trying various combinations of colours, it took over an hour but eventually I got both sets of lights working and I can turn them off or on together or independantly, I feel oddly proud funnily enough.
It got me to thinking about control, and who has it. I am now in perfect control of my living room lights, I can plunge a room into darkness or cause an almost atomic glow with the 6 light bulbs up there.
I am equally responsible for the light I let be seen in my life, I can let it shine outwardly or hide it away and cover it up under a million and one facets of my life or character. As christians we are called to let our light shine before men. With my lights at home I flick a switch and the light comes on, in life my actions either illuminate Christ or hide him.
Theres a saying that you can't see the wood for the trees, I think it was petra who had a lyric about not being able to see Jesus for all of the christians. We should remember:
Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your father who is in heaven
Wednesday 6 January 2010
To blog or not to blog that is the question?
I thought all the internet space would create an open vista of free expression and instead find it a limiting constricting at times voyeuristic prison entrapping time in fruitless pursuits of highest scores. Its like an addiction - We probably send out so many requests to be my neighbour on this or that farm program so we can get the latest spangled cow that's on offer.
I have meant to start a blog or journal for ages and at times have attempted to in my notes on facebook. The whole concept of neighbours on these games on facebook made me start thinking who are my neighbours?
I have just moved and came home early because of the snow, I decided to clear my path before I ended up with huge piles of frozen snow tommorrow - Pretty futile with snow still coming down, but I wanted to do something. I cleared the path and outside the house, and outside the neighbours house and the neighbours neighbours house and the ... until I got to the end of the path. The snow has covered up all the evidence so why bother? Well because I could.
We live in a society that doesn't spare a thought for others if we can possibly help it. I was talking to Norman and Mary on Sunday about the passage in Judges 17:6 6In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
I often deal with people who can only see things from their own perspective without considering the impact or feelings of other people their actions have involved?
God gives us the perogative of Judges 17:6 - we can do what we want, we can serve ourselves, Joshua forsaw what would happen and made a declaration of intent in Joshua 24
14"Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
In the story of the good samaritan, the priest and levite were to full of their own preoccupation to meet the needs right in front of their eyes. The samaritan didn't wait around at the inn to recieve a reward or a civic honour but carried about his business. Yes we have free will to please and entertain ourselves, but a little time serving others and finding our real neighbours is something we could probably all do. We don't need a reward, I think one person saw me clearing the path, the snow has now covered it, the reward is in doing it in the first place, tomorrow the frozen snow outside our houses will be a little less thick.
God said this in Isaiah
6"Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
7"Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8"Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9"Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am '
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
11"And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12"Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
Does our neighbour really need a strawberry cow or a limited edition piece of topiary?