Be thou my vision

Self-Esteem? Or self-centred?

2012-01-20T19:49:00.002Z

This is a post from my friend's blog - I found it so refreshing I thought I'd re-post it in full -

"This is the first time I've heard someone say that the concept of self esteem is self-centred." - my tutor.

It's not very fun being the one dissenting opinion in a class that rates self-esteem highly. "Just believe in yourself." "Have faith in yourself otherwise no one will."

"I guess I just don't want my students to focus on themselves. I want them to look outside of themselves and put others first. I don't want them to give themselves a pat on the back for being special and unique. That's not gonna hold up when they hit a major crisis."

It's not that I want my students to look down on themselves. In fact, I don't want them to be looking at themselves at all. When I look at what's inside of me, I feel like despairing. There's so much that needs work and so much that is desperately far from what it should be. So I don't look in. I look up—at the one who is transforming me to be more like himself. When you can gaze at something so beautiful, why focus on the sin within?

Do people go to the Grand Canyon to increase their self-esteem? Probably not. This is, at least, a hint that the deepest joys in life come not from savoring the self, but from seeing splendor. And in the end even the Grand Canyon will not do. We were made to enjoy God... In the cross of Christ, God rescues us from the house of mirrors and leads us out to the mountains and canyons of his majesty.

John Piper, The Goal of God's Love

A part of me aches for people to see this. You are not the centre of God's plan. God is. Do you know how unbelievably liberating this is? To know that you do not carry the weight of God's plan for your life? God does. And he will bring it to completion, with or without your self motivational speeches. Is his plan good? Maybe not in the eyes of this twisted world. But, beloved, he loves you. Nothing will come to you that he has not first suffered. You may not experience earthly comfort, but you will know his love. Can such a thing be construed as sacrifice? Or undeserved grace?

May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing,
This is victory

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

2012-01-19T22:00:00.001Z

I'm loving this album so much at the moment, and particularly verse 3 of this song -

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the name! I’m fixed upon it
Name of Thy redeeming love

Hitherto Thy love has blessed me
Thou hast brought me to this place
And I know Thy hand will bring me
Safely home by Thy good grace
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

Oh to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

Oh that day when freed from sinning
I shall see Thy lovely face
Full arrayed in blood-washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry
Bring Thy promises to pass
For I know Thy pow’r will keep me
Till I’m home with Thee at last

Words by Robert Robinson (1758)
Fourth verse alternate words by Bob Kauflin
Music by Asahel Nettleton (1825)

Tim Chester quote

2012-01-19T19:47:00.001Z

I read this on the bus today and I found it phenomenally helpful -

"Sin is fundamentally an orientation towards self. We won't let God be God of our lives. We run our lives our way, without him. 'Self' is at the centre of the picture. Repentance is re-orienting ourselves towards God. It's putting God at the centre. What matters most is no longer our pleasure or success, or even our problems, but God's glory (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

"Our problem is that we think of ourselves as being at the centre of our world. We think of our lives as a story and, if we're Christians, God is one of the characters in our story. We look for him when we need him, and expect him to be grateful when we serve him. He's a lovely piece of our story, but we still think of it as our story. But it's not our story. It's God's story. Of course there is a sense in which God is there for us. But the bigger reality is that we're there for God. We exist to give him glory. He doesn't owe us anything, not even explanations. Meanwhile, we owe him everything as our Creator and Redeemer.

"It's so much better to be a minor character in God's story than to try and write our own script. Living with God at the centre is the good and sane life. It's better to enjoy the warmth of the sun than to light a bonfire in our home. It is better to reflect the glory of God than to be consumed by the empty pursuit of our own glory."

Tim Chester
"You Can Change" Pg 116

Freedom from the fear of man

2012-01-18T10:07:00.002Z

In preparing a one-to-one on Galatians 2 I listened to a sermon by Bob Kauflin at Covenant Life Church given in 2003. I really recommend it.
You can listen to it here

Film Review: Sherlock Holmes & Super 8

2012-01-15T15:19:00.001Z

It is time for another for another blog post about the films I have been watching. This time it is 'Super 8' and 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.'

Super 8 (2011)

Super 8 seems to be loved by some, whilst leaving others completely cold. I for one loved it just as much watching it the second time, as I did the first. The film tells the story of six children engaged in making a zombie film, set against the backdrop of a town under attack by some kind of monster. I love the combination of the silly banter between the children, and the overblown action scenes. There is a particularly ridiculous scene, where tanks and grenades are going off spontaneously in an abandoned town, which feels like it could have been dreamt up by one of the children.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows' is very much an old fashioned adventure, rather than a dark mystery for Sherlock's impressive intellect to grapple with. Sherlock and Watson spend much of the film running from the bad guys (including some conveniently German guards) and like 'Super 8' there are lots of explosions. However, interestingly, at the heart of the film is the Watson's frustrating friendship with Sherlock which provides lots of laughs and a measure of tenderness.

Friendship and Adventure

The joy of each of these films is that they successfully draw the audience into the friendships of the main characters, therefore allowing us to vicariously enjoy their adventures. We get drawn into their lives, their banter, their arguments and their reconciliations...and we love it. We want them to win!

When watching films I often try to ask the question, "What God-given desires does this film draw on?" and "What does this show us about humanity?" After some reflection I think that in this case, these films may reflect God's design for us to be in his family, the church. We are built not for solitude, but to 'do life' alongside each other, at a deep level of relationship with our brothers and sisters. Prompted by these reflections I found myself thinking about what these relationships should look like:

All the phrases in italics are from the New Testament.

Engage your heart
"Love one another"
"Be devoted to one another"

Hold the other person in higher esteem
"Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another"
"Honour one another above yourselves"
"Consider others better than yourselves"
"Submit to one another"
"Look to the interests of one another"
"Employ the gifts that God has given us for the benefit of one another"

Be united in generous love
"Live in harmony with one another"
"Be likeminded towards one another"
"Accept one another"
"Forgive one another"
"Be patient with one another"
"Bear with one another"

Be concerned with their spiritual growth
"Stir up one another to love and good works"
"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs"
"Teach one another"
"Exhort one another"
"Admonish one another"
"Build up one another"
"Speak the truth in love"
"Encourage one another"

Be practical in your love
"Greet one another"
"Care for one another"
"Serve one another"
"Bear one another's burdens"
"Be kind and compassionate to one another"
"Comfort one another"
"Show hospitality to one another"

Bring them before the Lord
"Pray for one another"

Be real with each other
"Confess your faults to one another"

What a stunning picture of what it means to be church! May God help us to really grasp this and live it out in joyful obedience.

His family is my own

2012-01-15T12:55:00.001Z

We sang "Beneath the Cross" by Keith and Kristyn Getty this morning at church. The second verse really reflects how I feel about my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Beneath the cross of Jesus
His family is my own
Once strangers chasing selfish dreams,
Now one through grace alone.
How could I now dishonour
The ones that You have loved?
Beneath the cross of Jesus
See the children called by God.

Erasing Hell - A Brief Book Review

2012-01-02T10:29:00.000Z

I've just finished reading "Erasing Hell: What God said about eternity, and the things we've made up" by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle (a theology friend of Chan's). It opens with this passage:

"If you are excited to read this book you have issues.
Do you understand the weight of what we are about to consider? We are exploring the possibility that you and I may end up being tormented in hell. Excited would be the wrong term to use here. Necessary would be more fitting.
For some, this discussion will open up old wounds. It certainly does for me."

Introduction, pg 13

This is sets the tone for what is an excellent book. Chan keeps drawing the reader away from detached debate and back to the implications, whilst being absolutely informed by Biblical teaching. In fact the whole book is absolutely littered with quotes from Jesus and the apostles.

I absolutely commend this book to people, but with Chan ask that you come to this topic with a soft heart, and a willingness to repent of wrong attitudes towards God, his ways and his word.

"The thought of hell is paralysing for most people, which is why we often ignore its existence - at least in practice. After all, how can we possibly carry on with life if we are constantly mindful of a fiery place of torment.
Yet that is the whole point - we shouldn't just go on with life as usual. A sense of urgency over the reality of hell should recharge our passion for the gospel as it did for Paul, who, "knowing the fear of the Lord," persuaded people to believe (2 Cor. 5:11). We should not just try to cope with hell, but be compelled - as with all doctrine - to live differently in light of it."

Chapter 7 "Don't Be Overwhelmed", pg 145

Film Review #1 Thor

2012-01-01T22:23:00.004Z

I don't know about you, but visual media often washes over me: my brain switches off and I adopt my 'entertainment mode'. However, I have become increasingly convinced that there is greater enjoyment and spiritual health when we thoughtful engage. And, since I am increasingly interested in film, I plan to review all the films I watch in 2012. So here is film review #1. It may be a bit clunky, but hopefully I'll get more into the swing of things.

Thor (2011)

I'm slightly embarrassed that this my first few film review is for Thor. I was quite vocal about how poor I thought it looked when it first came out. However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

The film is packed with run-of-the-mill CGI action sequences, clearly designed for the 3D format, but Kenneth Branagh's direction provides an interesting feel to the film. Chris Hemsworth is also surprisingly good as Thor, both in 'angry-god' mode and 'fish-out-of-water' mode.

The plot

The plot is inevitably pure silliness. In one scene Thor (Chris Hemsworth) tells scientist Jane (Natalie Portman) that there are nine worlds linked by a wormhole system. Earth is one of them, and Asgard, the world of the Norse gods, is another. We the viewers are also introduced to Jötunheimr an ice world filled inhabited by the Frost Giants.

Thor, in his lust for glory, directly disobeys his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) by taking revenge on the Frost Giants, and so triggering war. In response Odin strips him of his power and cast him out of Asgard to earth, where he is immediately knocked down by Jane's car.

A few plot twists later Thor has fallen for Jane, and he is battling a large silver warrior intent on killing him. It is the normal superhero-type stuff, injected with Shakespearean gravitas and some genuine laughs.

Heart of the film

Amongst all the silliness the film does ask a serious question: "What is true greatness?" For Thor, at the start of the film, the answer is obvious: military might and the fear of your enemies. However, his transformation during the film shows us what we already know - that true greatness is characterised by self-sacrifice. Here for Thor, this is a willingness to sacrifice his life to save others; and to give up what he loves most for his enemies.

There is also the interesting sub-question: "How does personal transformation take place?" Intriguingly this isn't fully explored. Thor clearly undergoes a major transformation during the film, seemingly brought on by loss of power, remorse about his Father's death, and love for a girl. The writers seems to suggest that Thor just needed the right conditions to become self-sacrificing, and that Odin was wise enough to know this. However, what is not clear is whether this would have been possible for his adopted brother, a native of Jötunheimr, whose corruption deepens over the course of the story. Was Loki's nature something that could not be changed? Was it inevitable that he would become the man he becomes?

A Bible reading plan I'm excited about!

2012-01-01T17:56:00.002Z

This year, I'm going to give a new Bible reading plan a try after reading about it at Tim Challies' blog. The reading plan belongs to someone called Professor Horner (no I'd not heard of him either!) and the basic idea is that read ten chapters of the Bible each day. Rather than reading a chunk of ten chapters from one book, you read one chapter from ten different lists of books.

The way that it is set up you will never read the same ten chapters in combination again because all the lists are of different lengths. This allows the Bible to shed light on itself.

The document linked above includes some bookmarks you can print out and put in your Bible.

This is Day 2 of the plan for me, and I'm absolutely loving it! I particularly love the varied diet it gives you - today I read from Exodus, Joshua, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Jeremiah, Matthew, Acts, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians. But the verse that stood out for me today was Jeremiah 2:25b

'But you said, "It is hopeless,
for I have loved foreigners,
and after them I will go."'

How often are we like Israel in this respect!? We say that it is hopeless, that we love our sin, so we will continue our pursuit of sin. There is nothing we can do. But this passage shines a big spot light on the big lie that we believe, and brings us back to God.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." James 4:6-8

It is well with my soul

2012-01-01T17:34:00.001Z

I think that 'It is well with my soul" is one of the best hymns ever written. It manages to reduce me to tears almost every time I sing it.

Today I discovered that it was written by Horatio Spafford after losing his son to scarlet fever and his four daughters to a ship wreck, as he sailed past the area where the ship had gone down. Click here for more of Horatio's story.

These are two of my favourite versions of the song: Phil Wickham; Bob Kauflin

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

Sin and forgiveness

2012-01-01T16:46:00.001Z

A great talk by David Cook on Psalm 32 - all about sin and forgiveness.

Of David. A maskil.

Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD”—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.

Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.
Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD’s unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him.

Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Puritan Prayer

2011-12-23T09:05:00.000Z

I am always thankful for the Puritans. I love the depth of their thinking, their honesty and their emotion. I am currently revisiting "The Vally of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions" and the prayers are like a breath of fresh air into my soul.

This morning I read a prayer simply entitled "Morning", this is the second half of the prayer:

O ever watchful Shepherd,
     lead, guide, tend me this day;
Without they restraining rod I err and stray;
Hedge up my path lest I wander into unwholesome pleasure,
     and drink its poisonous streams;
Direct my feet that I be not entangled in Satan's secret snares,
     nor fall into his hidden traps.
Defend me from assailing foes,
     from evil circumstances,
     from myself.
My adversaries are part and parcel of my nature;
They cling to me as my very skin;
I cannot escape their contact.
In my rising and sitting down they barnacle me;
They entice with constant baits;
My enemy is within the citadel;
Come with almighty power and cast him out,
     pierce him to death,
and abolish in me every particle of carnal life this day.

I don't think there is a single Christian who is unable to identify with this prayer. Sin is always with us, but we have an ever watchful Shepherd! Amen.

Greater mercy in the spring

2011-11-27T13:16:00.001Z

Following a conversation with a friend of mine earlier this week, I decided to reattempt reading "The Bruised Reed" by Richard Sibbes. The book explores what God is revealing about Christ in Isaiah 42:1-3.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;he will faithfully bring forth justice.

Having spent quite a bit of time thinking about what it means for our theology that we are made in the image of God this week, I found this wonderful passage really heart-warming.

"Physicians, though they put their patients to much pain, will not destroy nature, but raise it up by degrees. Surgeons will lance and cut, but not dismember. A mother who has a sick and self-willed child will not therefore cast it away. And shall there be more mercy in the stream than in the spring? Shall we think there is more mercy in ourselves than in God, who plants the affection of mercy in us?

But for further declaration of Christ's mercy to all bruised reeds, consider the comfortable relationships he has taken upon himself of husband, shepherd and brother, which he will discharge to the utmost. Shall others by his grace fulfil what he calls them unto, and not he who, out of his love, has taken upon him these relationships, so thoroughly founded upon his Father's assignment, and his own voluntary undertaking?"

Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (first published 1630)

Functional contentment is easy

2011-11-27T07:27:00.001Z

It is far too easy to proudly think that we have mastered contentment in singleness. This past week I found myself saying, "Thank you God that I don't know any Christian guys my age here in Colchester, it could be a real distraction from my ministry." Then I congratulated myself on being content.

Can you see the problem?

What I failed to see was that my contentment was not based in Christ. Instead it was a functional contentment that depended entirely on whether I felt I needed a relationship or not. This is an easily shaken contentment that shifts with the winds of circumstance. And, this week I had the opportunity to spend time with wonderful Christian friends and colleagues of mine, some of whom are married or in relationships. I was also brought face to face with Christian guys who love Jesus deeply, and although none of them are themselves a source of discontentment in themselves, I was reminded of the joys of being around godly guys. Unsurprisingly, my functional contentment rapidly evaporated. Instead of joy in my present circumstances, I found that I was jealous. Instead of contentment there was discontentment.

We are called to contentment in whatever the circumstances.I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

(Philippians 4:11b-12)

So often we fix our eyes on the temporary lusts of our eyes (1 John 2:16), but this only breeds discontentment. Instead we are called to:

...fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

...not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

We are to focus on the heavenly lover of our souls, the One who loves us with a greater love than any other - Christ himself.

"Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest

is my lover among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

He has taken me to the banquet hall,

and his banner over me is love."

Song of Songs 2:3-4

The warm words of Jesus

2011-11-13T14:18:00.001Z

Jesus declared..."Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus speaks to those who have grown weary, tired or exhausted with toil, burdens or grief. They are those who labour with wearisome effort. They are those who are carrying a load. [See here and here.] I don't know about you, but that is something I experience far too often. A heaviness of soul and a sense of unrelenting toil in many areas of life.

Are you weary from trying to meet people's expectations?
Are you tired of trying to remain positive in the face of difficulties?
Are you exhausted by the ever growing lists of things to do?
Are you labouring on and on to achieve a sense of peace in the face of guilt?
Are you carrying the load of self-loathing?
Are you carrying the burden crushing responsibility?

Jesus speaks into every situation, "Come to me...and I will give you rest."

Stop for a moment, and hear those words as they are. His tone is warm and filled with love. Jesus does not want his people struggling under heavy loads, close to collapse. Instead he wants to release us from all of that. He wants us to see that our every desire and need is met in him. Acceptance, hope, peace, wisdom, forgiveness, value are all met in him.

Knowing his perfect love releases us from slavery to expectations.
Knowing the hope he offers allows us to see our difficulties in right perspective.
Knowing that we can bring every task and priority to him in prayer allows us to begin to see our to do lists through his eyes.
Knowing that he died for us releases us from guilt.
Knowing his desire to bless us helps us to see ourselves through his eyes.
Knowing that he is perfectly sovereign and sustains all things allows us to place our responsibilities in his hands.

Who is he? He is the same LORD who told Israel that “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14

* Much of this post is inspired by this morning's sermon at Abbeyfield Community Church

All things work together for my good

2011-11-09T08:01:00.000Z

Yesterday I met with a friend of mine to study Haggai and to talk about life. One theme we touched on briefly was that the difficult things we go through were put there by God for our good.

Listening to "Your Love Never Fails" by Jesus Culture this morning really reminded me that this is true. God's love never fails!

Your Love Never Fails

Nothing can separate

Even if I ran away

Your love never fails

I know I still make mistakes
But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails

Chorus:
You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There maybe pain in the night but joy comes in the morning

And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails

Verse 2:
The wind is strong and the water's deep
But I'm not alone in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails

The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails

Bridge:
You make all things work together for my good

Beautiful Feet Project

2011-11-02T08:49:00.001Z

Thanks to Larry for posting this video from AsiaLink.

"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and are by which you are being saved...for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time."

1 Corinthians 15v1-6.

Beautiful Feet Project from AsiaLink HistoryMaker on Vimeo.

Zacchaeus: Evidence that God can do the impossible

2011-11-01T22:48:00.002Z

In Luke 18:18-30 we meet a rich ruler who seems to be scoring pretty highly on the religious stakes. He claims to have kept the commandments since he was young (v21), and just wants to double check with Jesus that he has his ticket to eternal life (v18).

But, Jesus does not give him his seal of approval. Instead he challenges the man to sell everything he owns for the benefit of the poor, and then join Jesus' band of followers (v22). The rich man sadly declines because he can't bear to part with his wealth (v23).

Jesus responds by saying: "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." i.e. impossible!

Only twelve verses after this incident we meet Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Zacchaeus is also rich, but unlike the rich ruler he had most definitely broken the commandments "do not steal" and "do not bear false testimony." Everyone knows that he has been defrauding the people living in Jericho. Not only is Zacchaeus a hated tax collector, he is the chief tax collector! This is a rich man who doesn't even care about God's law.

If a 'good' man was unable to enter the kingdom of heaven, what would Jesus do with Zacchaeus?

"What is impossible with men is possible with God." - Luke 18:27

Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost." Luke 19:8-10

What had prompted Zacchaeus' incredible transformation?

Zacchaeus had encountered the incredible love and grace of Jesus. Jesus had singled him out by name, and had chosen to stay with him. He took the hostility of the people who expected the Messiah to deal with collaborators like Zacchaeus in order to build a relationship with him.

Jesus had sought and saved a lost man!

** I have been so struck by these two stories as I have studied them today. In Luke 3:12 the fruit in keeping with repentance for tax collectors (according to John the Baptist) was a ceasing of the sinful defrauding of others. And yet Zacchaeus is so radically transformed that not only does he reject sin, but he becomes a man of immense generosity. An encounter with Jesus can have this effect even on the most hardened of hearts. So, what am I doing to introduce people to Jesus? And am I allowing his love and grace to radically change my heart?

Jesus' affection and love for you

2011-10-29T10:10:00.001+01:00

"I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ."
Philippians 2:19-21

Do you ever feel that Jesus' priorities are exclusively his glory and the advance of his kingdom? So much so, that your struggles are unimportant to him? Does prayer bring you the discomfort reserved for bothering a great man at war with a trivial problem?

These beautiful verses in Philippians (above) tell us that the church is so radically united with Jesus, that concern for the believers' welfare is the same as seeking Christ's interests.

My Mum used to be carer for my younger brother who is autistic and has a number of mental health issues. Whilst my Dad was alive he could be so concerned for my Mum's welfare that on more than one occasion whilst expressing his concerns to me, he asked me to "look after Vicky" whilst he was at work. He'd be so concerned for his wife that he'd forget for a moment he was supposed to call her Mum in front of me. Nobody had to convince him that he should be concerned for her.

In the same way, Christ's concern for the church - his bride - is all consuming. He yearns with affection for us (Phil 1v8). There is no need to tiptoe to Jesus with our struggles and anxieties. He already knows it all, and he wants to carry the burden. And unlike my Dad, he never has to leave our side.

As Thomas Goodwin says about Hebrews 4:5:

"This text, above any other, speaks the heart of Christ most, and sets out the frame and workings of it towards sinners; and that so sensibly, that it doth, as it were, - take our hands and lay them upon Christ's breast, and let us feel how his heart beats, and his bowels yearn towards us, even now he is in glory."

Rev. Thomas Goodwin, The Heart Of Christ In Heaven Towards Sinners On Earth

J I Packer on Jesus as the Son of God

2011-10-25T22:50:00.000+01:00

"...does the statement that Jesus is God's Son mean that there are really two gods? Is Christianity then polytheistic, as Jews and Muslims maintain? Or does the phrase 'Son of God' imply that Jesus, though in a class by himself among created beings, was not personally divine in the same sense as the Father is? In the early church, the Arians held this, and in modern times Unitarians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christadelphians and others have taken the same line. Is it right? What does the Bible mean when it calls Jesus the Son of God?

"These questions have puzzled some, but the New Testament does not really leave us in doubt as to how they should be answered. In principle, they were all raised and solved together by the apostle John in the Prologue to his gospel. He was writing, it seems for readers of both Jewish and Greek background. He wrote, he tells us, in order that they might 'believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing...have life in his name' (John 20:31). It is as the Son of God that he presents Jesus throughout the gospel.

"However, John knew that the phrase 'Son of God' was tainted with misleading associations in the minds of his readers. Jewish theology used it as a title for the expected (human) Messiah. Greek mythology told of many 'sons of gods', supermen born of a union between a god and a human woman. In neither cases did the phrase convey the thought of personal deity, in both, indeed it excluded it..."

J I Packer, Knowing God, Ch 5 'God Incarnate'

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (v1-4)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (v14)

Calvin on our self-deception

2011-10-25T08:42:00.001+01:00

"It is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God's face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinise himself. For we always seem to ourselves righteous and upright and wise and holy - this pride is innate in all of us - unless by clear proofs we stand convinced of our own unrighteousness, foulness, folly and impurity.

"...and because nothing appears within or around us that has not been contaminated by great immorality, what is a little less vile pleases us a thing most pure - so long as we confine our minds within the limits of human corruption. Just so, an eye to which nothing is shown but black objects judges something dirty white or even rather darkly mottled to be whiteness itself.

"...as long as we do not look beyond the earth, being quite content with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue, we flatter ourselves most sweetly, and fancy ourselves all but demigods. Suppose we but once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and to ponder his nature and how completely perfect are his righteousness, wisdom, and power - the straightedge to which we must be shaped. Then, what masquerading earlier as righteousness was pleasing in us will soon grow filthy in its consummate wickedness. What wonderfully impressed us under the name of wisdom will stink in its very foolishness."

Calvin's Institutes, Book 1, The Knowledge of God the Creator

New Evidences the Gospels were Based on Eyewitness Accounts

2011-10-24T20:27:00.003+01:00

I really recommend watching this lecture by Dr Peter Williams about some new evidence that the gospels are based on eye witness evidence. I had never heard of him before watching this, but he seems a clever chap! See here

Philippians Wordle

2011-10-21T09:20:00.003+01:00

I've just started studying Philippians with a friend, and I thought it would be interesting to identify the most commonly used words in the book.

Unsuprisingly the words Christ, God, Jesus and Lord are the top four! But, other things that stood out to me were:

Themes [not necessarily in this order]: gospel, rejoice (and joy), glory, life, death, flesh, body, gain, righteousness, prayer, need, love, imprisonment, work

How we engage: mind, know, faith, think

The breadth of what Paul is saying: whatever, always, anything, every

...whilst also being specific: now, one

We've studied the first part of chapter 1 so far, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the book!

Runaway Jury

2011-10-20T23:13:00.000+01:00

This evening I watched Runaway Jury with my housemate. It's a 2003 legal thriller, based on a John Grisham novel, starring Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz.

It's really quite gripping, although slightly implausable at times. And there are some great funny moments too. Definitely worth a watch!

I think the film also has the potential to trigger discussion about why human beings yearn for justice, and whether it matters how justice is achieved. I'm definitely going to keep it up my sleeve for Christian Union film nights.

Questions to ask myself

2011-10-18T22:19:00.001+01:00

I've just started reading a book called "Telling the Story: Evangelism for the next generation" The first chapter is called, "The Heart of the Matter: Characteristics of a Great Evangelist." The authors reflect on the Bible and the lives of great evangelists down the ages.

These are the questions that I want to challenge myself with:

1) Am I working up an imitation fire, or am I experiencing the Holy Spirit's work in my life?

2) Am I preaching Jesus Christ? And am I preaching him as the one who died for our sins, was buried and was raised on the third day?

3) Am I living a life of holiness?

4) Do I have a big vision which reflects Christ's?

5) Do I have holy audacity?

6) Am I willing to be criticised for what I represent and preach? Or do I want to please men?

7) Is my goal to honour and build the church?

8) Do I love those who love Jesus in the wider body of Christ?

9) Have I learned the secret of prayer?

10) Do I expect to be faithfully fulfilling Jesus' Great Commission all my days?

The joy of sharing Jesus

2011-10-18T21:57:00.001+01:00

I had such fun talking about Jesus with a nominally Muslim taxi driver this evening. He asked me what job I had, and when I said I worked with Christian students, he asked what I meant by Christianity. (Not a question I get every day.)

A fantastic conversation ensued!

Whenever I speak to people about what it means to be a Christian, I am blown away by how wonderful Jesus is:

A discussion about the differences between Christianity and other religions allowed me to describe the joy that I find in Jesus and the freedom of knowing that his cross has done it all.

A discussion about his fear of being changed by Islam, opened up the opportunity for me to talk about how I am being tranformed from the heart outward, so that I delight in what God desires.

A discussion about food laws gave me the opportunity to explain how Jesus has opened up a relationship with God to the whole world.

A discussion about the difference between the Koran and the Bible meant that I was able to talk about how wonderful the Bible is.

I love these kinds of conversations, because it makes my heart rejoice in my Saviour!

Caring like Paul

2011-10-11T08:27:00.005+01:00

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." (Philippians 1v3-5)

Last night I spent the evening chatting and praying with thirteen graduates from Warwick Christian Union who live in and around London. Spanning at least four years of students, I know some of them really well; others I know less well, and yet there was a real sense of unity, warmth and love within the group.

I was struck for about the millionth time, just how blessed I am to have been a part of Warwick CU. God was very definitely doing something special.

On the train home afterwards I spent time reflecting on Philippians 1. In the first few verses Paul talks warmly about how he relates to the Philippian Christians. Christians who have partnered with him in the gospel and whom he loves deeply. It really challenged me to think about my relationship with my wonderful Warwick CU friends.

Paul actively remembers them (v3), thanking God for them (v3), and praying joyfully for them (v4). He yearns for them (v8) and holds them in his heart (v7). He feels all the affection of Christ Jesus for them (v8).

His prayer and desire is that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (v9). He wants them to be pure and blameless (v10), and to be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus (v11). He is confident that God will complete the good work that Paul has seen Him begin in them (v6).

I think I feel a fraction of what Paul feels, but there is definitely some of that going on in my heart. I am now praying that God would grow that even more, so that I can be a blessing to them.

The perfect lamb

2011-10-06T08:11:00.003+01:00

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 1v29

As I read the first chapter of John yesterday, I was struck by the fact that those who heard John the Baptist say these words would have immediately visualised a blooded dead lamb. As Jesus walked onto the scene people were immediately pointed to his death. That must have been quite shocking.

The references to lambs in the Old Testament provide such a rich picture of what Jesus achieved as the Lamb of God:

In Genesis 22v8 Abraham tells his son that God would provide a lamb for a burnt offering. Indeed God did. A substitute was found for Isaac which was sacrificed instead of him.

In Exodus 12v5, 13 God promises Israel that the blood of a male lamb without blemish would ensure that he would pass over them and no destruction would befall them as he sent a plague to punish Pharoah.

In Exodus 13v13 and 34v20 God instructed Israel that all firstborn belonged to him, but to redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn donkey with a lamb.

In Leviticus and Numbers we see God instructing his people to use lambs for:
peace offerings
sin offerings
burnt offerings
guilt offerings

In Exodus and Numbers God instructed Israel to have lamb burnt offerings twice a day at the place where God met with his people: the Tent of Meeting. These sacrifices were to be accompanied by a sacrifice of wine and flour mixed with oil.

These burnt offerings were called olah which means ascending. They were seen to go up into the presence of God in the smoke and were a pleasing aroma to him. In the other offerings some of the meat was kept for eating, but a burnt offering represented an utter giving up of the offering to God.

Jesus offered his whole self as a sacrifice for us, after which he ascended into the presence of his Father. The permanent pleasing sacrifice before the Father on our behalf. He is our substitute; our protection from judgement; our redemption; our peace; our forgiveness; and our place of meeting with God.

Jesus perfectly fulfills the role of the Lamb of God.

Anticipating Jesus

2011-10-06T07:37:00.003+01:00

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 1v1

The opening chapter of John's gospel builds up a sense of anticipation for the rest of the book. What kind of man will this be?

A man who created everything. (v3)
A man who gives people the right to be children of God. (v12)
A man who is full to overflowing with grace and truth. (v14, 16-17)
A man who has seen God, and makes God known. (v1, v18)

John the Baptist says that he is making the way for the LORD; for Yahweh, the God of Israel (v23). He points to Jesus, saying: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (v29). He will baptise [immerse] with the Holy Spirit (v33).

John and Nathaneal both declare that he is the Son of God. (v34, 49).
He is the King of Israel. (v49)
He is some kind of glorious gateway into heaven. (v51)

The first chapter of John sets the backdrop to an incredible ministry culminating in the cross, resurrection, ascention and Pentecost.

I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of John!

When sin looks more enjoyable than God

2011-07-09T14:47:00.001+01:00

I seriously recommend watching this sermon by Francis Chan from Jeremiah and James. It summarises brilliantly alot of things God has been teaching me recently.

Far better news

2011-06-16T22:52:00.001+01:00

Run, John, run, the law commands
But gives us neither feet nor hands,
Far better news the gospel brings:
It bids us fly and gives us wings.

- John Bunyan

Exposing the lie of our idols

2011-06-01T20:55:00.005+01:00

Tim Keller helpfully tells us that our old masters say, "Serve me, or die!"

Listen to the things that try to control you, can you hear them lie to you - "You cannot do without me."?

Reject that lie, you are free!

Getting Out - Tim Keller - TGC 2011 from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

The LORD shall be exalted

2011-05-23T21:25:00.008+01:00

In Isaiah 2 God makes a promise. Other gods and religions will be humbled, whilst God's place - "the mountain of the house of the LORD" - will be the exalted, recognised and honoured place of worship (v2).

He will draw "all the nations" (v2) and "many [abundant] peoples" (v3). They will desire to walk in His ways, and He will graciously provide the word they require (v3). God will end war between nations, and men and women will focus on tending the planet as before (v4).

And what is Isaiah's conclusion?

"O house of Jacob, come let us walk in the light of the LORD." (v5)

Why?

Well, God has made an incredible promise that all nations will to flow Him to be taught His way. But Israel already has the light of the law and of His presence among them. So Isaiah pleads with them - see what you have! Don't take God and his revelation for granted - this is the amazing blessing he wants to share with the whole world.

He pleads with them not to try and learn from the nations. The consequences of choosing idols, human alliances and fortune tellers may prove to be great in the short term, but "man is humbled and each one is brought low" (v9).

God has a wonderful day in store in which he is exalted above all else, but all else set up in opposition to Him will brought low (v12-19).

"Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" (V22)

A pretty AMAZING book

2011-05-16T21:15:00.008+01:00

At about the age of eleven I remember saying that Isaiah was the worst book of the Bible. This was largely because it seemed so big and confusing. I have to say that at the age of twenty-five, I now completely disagree with my younger self. In fact, I am now dedicating the next couple of months to reading my way through the book.

I plan to blog as I go to help me think through what I am learning. I probably won't write about every chapter, but we'll see how I go!

* * *

Isaiah chapter 1 is a painful read. We see a nation chosen and loved as children of God (v2), whose religion functions only as a mask (v11-15). God's city has become a city of unfaithfulness and murder (v21) and of corruption and oppression (v23).

God hates their fake religiosity, and he gives them a stark choice:
"If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword." (v19-20).

Reading this passage I feel the weight of what God is saying. I am painfully aware that the people to whom he is talking are incapable of willing obedience. If God treats them as they deserve, they will be broken, consumed and ashamed (v28-29). They shall wither like a plant without water, and will burn along with their evil deeds (v30).

And yet somehow, God is able to say -
"Come now, let us reason together says the LORD;
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow." (v18)

I don't know if you spotted it, but this is the opposite of logical! In fact this is humanly impossible. How am I able to reason myself to the conclusion that God draws in verse 18? I am painfully aware that I cannot make my ugly scarlet sins white as snow.

And so, God sets up the whole story of the book of Isaiah. He will now reason with us.

He will show us how he will "Zion shall be redeemed by justice" (v27) and how she "shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city." (v26)

We seek a city that is to come

2011-05-03T22:52:00.003+01:00

Jesus is ALL that I need

2011-04-26T20:48:00.007+01:00

I found the sermon called "contentment" at the link below really challenging and encouraging.

It was a timely reminder that Jesus really is enough!

It also reminded me that it is Christ who makes it possible to be content in every situation.

"In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4 v 12b-13

http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/apostles-church-nyc/id295858593

Taking up your cross

2011-04-23T21:42:00.012+01:00

"...Jesus universalises the principle that is at stake:

'If anyone would come after me,' he says, 'he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it' (Matthew 16 v 24-25).

"This expression 'to take up one's cross' is not an idiom by which to refer to some trivial annoyance - an ingrown toenail, perhaps, or a toothache, or an awkward in-law: 'We all have our crosses to bear.' No, in the first century, that sort of interpretation would have been impossible. In the first century it was as culturally unthinkable to make jokes about crucifixion as it would be today to make jokes about Auschwitz.

"To take up your cross does not mean to move forward with courage despite the fact that you lost your job or your spouse. It means you are under sentence of death; you are taking up the horizontal cross-member on your way to the place of crucifixion. You have abandoned all hope of life in this world. And then, Jesus says, and only then, are we ready to follow him.

"Is this not universal Christian teaching? It is in dying that we live; it is in denying ourselves that we find ourselves; it is in giving that we receive. Paul understands the same principle when he says, in 2 Corinthians 12, that he has learned to rejoice when he is weak, for when he is weak, he experiences God's strength.

"All of this, of course, was first of all supremely exemplified in the Lord Jesus. In shame, ignominy, and powerlessness he died in suffering and agony and rose in power to become the risen temple of God, the living meeting place between God and his people.

"The mockers laugh at their perception of the irony of the situation: Jesus made such outrageous claims to power, claiming he could destroy the temple and build it again in three days, when in fact he dies in the throes of the most abysmal weakness. But we see a deeper irony: the weakness the mockers find amusing is Jesus' own way to power, the way to the resurrection, the way to functioning as the mighty temple of the living God.

"Although our own death to self-interest never functions with the same atoning significance of the death of Jesus, the same principle applies in us: in dying we live, in denying ourselves we find ourselves, as we take up our cross and follow Jesus."

Don Carson "Scandalous: The cross and resurrection of Jesus"

Humbled by grace

2011-04-23T15:29:00.002+01:00

"...grace is favour shown to the undeserving, yea, to the Hell-deserving.

"Grace is the antithesis of justice. Justice demands the impartial enforcement of law. Justice requires that each shall receive his legitimate due, neither more nor less. Justice bestows no favours and is no respecter of persons. Justice, as such shows no pity and knows no mercy.

"Divine grace is not exercised at the expense of justice, but "grace reigns through righteousness" (Rom 5:21), and if grace "reigns" then it is sovereign.

"Grace has been defined as the unmerited favour of God; and if unmerited, then none can claim it as their inalienable right. If grace is unearned and undeserved, then none are entitled to it. If grace is a gift, then none can demand it.

"Therefore, as salvation is by grace, the free gift of God, then He bestows it on whom He pleases. Because salvation is by grace, the very chief of sinners is not beyond the reach of Divine mercy. Because salvation is by grace, boasting is excluded and God gets all the glory."

A W Pink "The Sovereignty of God"

The cross just doesn't make sense...or does it?

2011-04-22T10:58:00.007+01:00

The cross just doesn't make sense.

Psalm 89 was written hundreds of years before Jesus' death, but it tells of utter confusion in the face of God's King experiencing the cross.

For, God is a God of:

steadfast love (v1, 2, 14, 24, 33)
faithfulness (v1, 2, 5, 8, 14, 24)
wonders (v5)
righteousness (v14, 16)
justice (v14)

And He had made some incredible promises to David (Jesus' royal ancestor):

"I will establish your offspring for ever,
and build your throne for all generations" (v4)

"He shall cry to me, 'You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation,;
And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth." (v26-27)

"I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
His offspring shall endure for ever." (v34-36)

And yet, we see his King:

cast off (v38)
rejected (v38)
renounced (v39)
without splendour (v44)
cut short (v45)
covered with shame (v45)
experiencing the burning wrath of God (v45)
mocked and insulted (v50, v51)

God himself has hidden himself from him (v46)

The Psalm doesn't have an answer. The writer just poses some heart wrenching questions:

"What man can live and never see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of the grave?" (v48)

"Lord where is your steadfast love of old?" (v49)

The cross just doesn't make sense!

But Jesus doesn't agree! Check out this really interesting incident in the life of Jesus:

"From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

And Peter took himside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you Lord! This shall never happen to you."

But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me Satan! You are a hinderance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." (Matt 16v21-23)

The cross was always the plan. It was a part of his mission that was non-negotiable. And as he died he cried out: "It is finished" (John 19v30) - mission completed!

The reason!?

The Bible says it's all about reconciliation and removal of God's anger towards our rebellion:

"While we were enemeis we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." (Romans 5v10)

The message of the cross? The way back to God is open! Judgement is dealt with! COME HOME.

I don't want to go through the motions

2011-03-24T21:52:00.002Z

Praying big

2011-01-04T20:56:00.003Z

This post both challenged and encouraged me today. So, I prayed what felt like a big prayer and God answered!

Perhaps God is challenging you to do the same today too:

Dishonouring God with Puny Prayers

Do you realise that puny prayers dishonour God? When we ask only small things of our Heavenly Father our prayers do not glorify Him as they ought.

Reading through Psalm 119 with an exellent commentary by Charles Bridges, I came across these words in his comment on verse 17: "We may, indeed, be too bold in our manner of approach to God; but we cannot be too bold in our expectations from him. Standing as we do upon such high and sure ground, it is equally dishonourable to him, and impoverishing to ourselves, to ask only a little of him."

Why is it that we dishonour God by asking only a little of Him? Why are puny prayers an offence to God? It seems to me that there are four main reasons why this is the case:

1) It implies that He is not willing to give

That is, it dishonours God's abundant generosity. In the gospel we see revealed the "riches of his grace...which he lavished upon us" in Christ (Ephesians 1:7-8). Indeed, He has saved a people for Himself precisely in order to "...show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7). His people, those who've been saved by grace alone through Christ alone, are to bring glory to Him by publically displaying to the universe His abundant generosity. However, when we hold back from pleading with Him to "Deal bountifully"with us (Psalm 119:17), we can imply that we think He's a bit stingy and unwilling to give. Sometimes we can even think that if we ask too much of Him it might annoy Him, therefore we gingerly put little requests before Him and hold back on praying for big blessings. But big prayers don't anger God. No. He's delighted with them, because they show that His people recognise His abundant generosity. "He who did not spare his own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

2) It implies that He is not able to give

That is, it dishonours His all powerful sovereignty. When God promised Abraham and Sarah a child in their old age, Sarah laughed because it seemed a ridiculous idea that an old barren woman should give birth to a child. However, God replied: "Is anything too hard for the LORD?", Answer: 'No!' (Genesis 18:14). Nothing is too hard for Him. He is the One who has created and sustains all of creation. He is the One who "..does according to him will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:5). He is the one who alone governs the whole of history, ordaining even evil for good (Genesis 50:20), and in the fullness of time shall unite all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:10). Therefore, our prayers are most glorifying to Him when they recognise that we pray to one "...who is able to do far more abundantly than we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).

3) It implies that we do not need much from Him

That is, it dishonours His all sufficiency. The whole of reality, everything that exists was made and is upheld by Jesus (John 1:3; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). This means that absolutely everything is completely dependent upon Him, if He was to stop holding everything together for even a split-second nothing would exist. The only reason that my heart is still beating and my lungs still breathing is that He is sustaining me. Jesus told His disciples, "apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5). We would do well to shape our prayers by this. When our prayers are puny they can give off an air of self-sufficiency or anything-other-than God-sufficiency, this is a huge offence to God. Rather, we should come before Him recognising our complete dependence upon Him. We don't need much from Him, we need everything from Him.

4) It implies that we can get what we need from elsewhere

That is, it dishonours His uniquness. This point follows on from the last. All things are from God (Romans 11:36; Colossians Colossians 1:16). If He alone is the source of all things, then it follows that we have nowhere else to look, we have nothing else that we can trust. If we are looking to other things for what we need, and putting our trust in other things, this is idolatory - putting something (or someone) else in the place og God. Instead we must recognise that: "I am God and there is no other...I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other" (Isaiah 45:22; 42:8), and let our prayers reflect this.

Therefore, let us glorify God with big prayers, both in our private and public prayer lives. Now, please don't misunderstand me - by big prayers I don't mean pleading with Him for a mercedes, a mansion and a million. No, by big prayers I mean biblical big prayers; prayers shaped by Scripture. God has promised us big things in Scripture, therefore let us'claim' these promises in Scripture. Let us pray big prayers with a concern for God's glory among the nations - longing to see more and more knees bow to Jesus. May our prayers ever display the riches of the grace of the one who shall supply our every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

The original post can be found at :
http://aboveeveryname.blogspot.com/2010/09/dishonouring-god-with-puny-prayers.html

Deepening the impression

2010-12-31T11:48:00.004Z

My Mum and I use different "read through the Bible in a year" Bibles. I use "The One Year Bible" (New Living Translation) and my Mum uses "Every Day with Jesus: One Year Bible" (Holman Christian Standard Bible).

Out of interest I read the comments for today in Mum's Bible. I found it quite thought provoking:

"It is vital to share Christ with others: experience and expression are the alternate beats of the Christian heart. And if these two things are not in operation, the Christian heart ceases to beat. Then what happens? We settle down to dead forms, dead attitudes, and dead prayers.

"This matter of sharing, however, must not be limited only to evangelism. It applies also to sharing with other Christians the things God has shared with us.

"If God has shown you something today from His Word, then it is imperative that you share it with another Christian. As we have been saying, nothing is really ours until we share it - the expression will deepen the impression. So in seeking to stay spiritually fresh, discipline yourself to share appropriate issues with your Christian and non-Christian friends. Many do not do this. They are disciplined in their quiet time or their study of the Scriptures, but they have never disciplined themselves to share. Someone has defined a Christian as one who says by word or deed: "Let me commend my Saviour to you." There is no better definition."

(Every Day With Jesus: One Year Bible, page 1593)

The time at which I have felt most spiritually alive was whilst I was at university, where I would talk about what God was teaching me almost every time I bumped into a Christian friend (which was pretty often!) I need to cultivate this in my post-graduation life!

Heart change

2010-12-31T10:17:00.006Z

“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the LORD.
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’
“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”
(Malachi 3:13-15)

I don't know about you, but I sometimes find myself drifting towards this way of thinking.

I find myself questioning whether it is worth the effort of serving God. Wondering whether there is any benefit in continuing the painful battle with sin; a battle which never seems to be won. I find myself looking jealously at the world and at the people who don't need to worry about obedience and holiness.

However, the book of Malachi reminds us that this is arrogance. I am calling God's character and his wisdom into question. His are the ways that lead to life (3:7-8), and he is the unchanging God who loves us (3:6).

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

I will trust in you

2010-12-29T21:01:00.004Z

God seems to have been reminding me to walk boldly into the new year trusting in him. I listened to a talk by Jerry Bridges this morning on trusting in God (which I will try and track down and post) and I sung the second of the songs below at a prayer meeting this evening.

Epic sermon about grace

2010-12-29T12:42:00.001Z

If you feel you need to be reminded of the truth and beauty of the gospel, I really recommend listening to this epic sermon on Romans 5 preached at Sovereign Grace Church in Sydney, Australia.

Link to sermon

Living Saviour

2010-11-27T07:53:00.001Z

"And when [Jesus] had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight."
Acts 1:9

Jesus didn't die again! He was taken straight into the presence of the Father. We do not worship a dead saviour. We worship a living God!

We speak to a living God.
We trust in a living God.
We are empowered by a living God.
Our prayers are answered by a living God.
We seek the will of a living God.

We obey a living God.

Despite what the world might want to believe, our God isn't out of date or irrelevant. He is involved in every part of our lives, sustaining every part of our existence.

Praise be to the Living Lord. Amen.

Forgiven and transformed

2010-11-26T20:35:00.001Z

For a long time the link between God forgiving me and my forgiveness of others has felt like a threat hidden in the pages of Scripture. Something God could hold over me!

"If you don't forgive properly, then I won't forgive you!"

It read like unexpected bad news in an otherwise good gospel. At times it even felt as though God was revealing his true colours - he couldn't possibly really be offering unconditional forgiveness!

If you've ever thought the same way I really recommend listening to this sermon by Josh Harris. He doesn't directly answer the question, but he tells the story of God's forgiveness and our forgiveness of other people really vividly and helpfully.

And so, my prayer is that every day it would be as though I had just left the throne room of the king, having been forgiven an unimaginable debt. Knowing in all certainty and gratitude that I am loved without measure, utterly free of every debt.

Praise God!

http://www.covlife.org/resources/3730746-Forgiven_To_Forgive

Thinking theologically

2010-11-15T21:25:00.005Z

This weekend I realised that I have been settling for a shallow faith.

Instead of cultivating a vibrant knowledge of God and His ways, I have been relying on an increasingly stale set of statements about God and the gospel. Unsuprisingly they no longer excite my heart to worship.

However, this past weekend God challenged this!

He has challenged me to leave shallow faith behind and to dive deep into a Biblical knowledge of Him. Not theology for theology's sake, but theology which will cause me worship Him.

So, in order to get started I have set myself two theology questions for the week:

1) What does the Bible say about the nature of faith? And its relationship with rationality?

2) What does the Bible say about what it means that God made us in His image?

Any thoughts?

Be still, my soul

2010-11-11T19:25:00.004Z

This is such a beautiful song!

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In every change He will remain.

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
To guide the future as in ages past.
Your hope, your mind, your will let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrows forgot, love’s joys restored.

Be still, my soul.

And praise Him.

http://blog.pagecxvi.com/

Abiding in the vine

2010-11-03T19:37:00.011Z

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

John 15 v 5

As many of you know about a month ago I found myself completely burnt out and feeling unwell most evenings. After counselling my Mum to take some time out from her busy schedule, I ended up taking my own advice and stopped all non-work activity for two weeks.

However, it's now a month later, and many of you may be wondering why I haven't reappeared!

At first I wanted to take some more time out so that I could think through what to keep in my schedule and what to drop. However, over the past week or so God has been really challenging me at a much deeper level.

By his grace, he has been revealing to me that all my 'Christian' activity had been fuelled by a whole string of wrong motives:

To try and please Him
To prove to others that I'm a real Christian
To make myself happy
To fulfill a sense of duty
To meet a need that I proudly thought only I could meet

...all the while allowing busy activity to crowd out all time with Jesus. The inevitable result was that my perspective became more and more warped, and my joy became less and less.

However, God has used a number of amazing sermon podcasts to challenge me to really invest in my relationship with Jesus, and to see the gospel afresh. And to rest in his presence and cultivate joy in Christ.

Praise the LORD, that He is committed to our fruitfulness because of His deep love for us and His passionate commitment to his glory. Pruning is painful, but we can rejoice in it!

"Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit...by this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love...these things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

John 15 v 2, 8-9, 11

The heart of God and the story of Jonah

2010-10-28T17:32:00.001+01:00

I really recommend listening to this sermon from the Village. It had me teary in the Co-op this morning when I was trying to buy my lunch.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/jonah-gods-heart-compassion/id82014403?i=86804625

Committed to our joy

2010-10-09T14:11:00.003+01:00

Reading Isaiah this morning I was reminded just how much God is committed to our eternal joy; and equally how much our joy is dependant on us seeing him and knowing him - for "they shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God." (v2).

Our God's loving purpose in salvation is to pour out his spirit upon us abundantly and to bring us safely to an eternity with Him, that we may know joy forever! Praise the Lord!

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Joy inexpressible

2010-10-03T20:40:00.006+01:00

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1 v 8-9

Our faith is not to be one of cold intellectual agreement with a set of doctrines. No, it is to be a faith that leads us to "rejoice with joy that is inexpressible" (1 Peter 1v8) centred on the person Jesus Christ!

Give me rules
I will break them
Give me lines
I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet
It ought to be

More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love

Give me words
I'll misuse them
Obligations
I'll misplace them
'Cause all religion ever made of me
Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet
It never set me free
It's gotta be

...It's like I'm falling in love, love, love
Deeper and deeper
It was love that made
Me a believer
In more than a name, a faith, a creed
Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me

A suprising kingdom

2010-08-24T22:16:00.018+01:00

I love Bible lightbulb moments!

I had one such moment when I was reading this passage on the bus to work this morning:

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

John 12:23-26

Having read this passage a number of times before, it suddenly struck me that Jesus is referencing Daniel 7:13-14, presumably to shed light on his identity and his mission.

In verse 23 Jesus calls himself the Son of Man ...in Daniel it says that "there came one like a son of man"

Also in verse 23 Jesus says that the hour has come for him to be glorified ...in Daniel it says that "to him was given dominion, and glory and a kingdom"

In verse 21 and 22 we learn that this is Jesus' response to hearing that Greek believers wanted to meet him ...in Daniel it says that "all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him"

In verse 26 Jesus focuses on what it means to serve him ...in Daniel it says that the right response of everyone everywhere is to "serve" him.

But there are still some things which would have come as a bit of a suprise to the first century Jewish ear!

The prophecy in Daniel promises that "his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." And yet, Jesus seems to suggest that his route to glory is death (v24). In fact Jesus' carefully chosen metaphor - about a seed dying in order to produce fruit - suggests that his death is necessary.

Jesus, I suspect, is pointing to his cross which now lies less than a week away. He is about to usher in a new and everlasting kingdom not despite his death, but through his death.

His death and resurrection would open the way for people across the globe (of every culture and language and background) to be a part of that amazing kingdom! One that shall never be destroyed.

How? By dealing with the one thing that excludes every human being from the presence of God. Our sin. Now dealt with on the cross!

Praise to the God of all comfort

2010-08-18T22:54:00.008+01:00

I was reminded tonight of the beauty of God's providence at work in our lives, and of the wonderful truth of the verse below:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Last week, God brought circumstances into my life (mostly centred around my future job) which made me realise I was building my life on my own plans and pride. I didn't see this straight away, I just got frustrated and upset, but God used his Word to open my eyes.

Since this realisation, I feel as though God has lifted the dark cloud which had settled over my heart, and restored my joy in Him! Life built on Jesus is life itself!

And (praise God!), tonight I was able to share this with a friend of mine who has just started on the Christian walk, and to pray with her. ...I was able to comfort her with the comfort I have myself received from God!

Thy name is excellent

2010-08-17T22:50:00.007+01:00

O Saviour of sinners,
Thy name is excellent,
thy glory high,
thy compassions unfailing,
thy condescension wonderful,
thy mercy tender.

I bless thee for the discoveries, invitations, promises of the gospel
for in them is pardon for rebels,
liberty for captives,
health for the sick,
salvation for the lost.

The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

Praising through the tears

2010-08-15T21:02:00.008+01:00

Tonight I feel tearful, for a mixture of reasons. I'm blogging this as a challenge to myself to keep praising my Saviour.

I've had questions without answers
I've known sorrow, I have known pain
But there's one thing that I cling to
You are faithful, Jesus You're true

When hope is lost
I call You Saviour
When pain surrounds
I call You Healer
When silence falls
You'll be the song within my heart

In the lone hour of my sorrow
Through the darkest night of my soul
You surround me, You sustain me
My defender for ever more

When hope is lost
I call You Saviour
When pain surrounds
I call You Healer
When silence falls
You'll be the song within my heart

And I will praise You
I will Praise You
When the tears fall
Still I will sing to You
I will praise You
Jesus praise You
Through the suffering
Still I will sing to You

When hope is lost
I call You Saviour
When pain surrounds
I call You Healer
When silence falls
You'll be the song within my heart

I will praise You
I will praise You
When the tears fall
Still I will sing to you
I will praise You
Jesus I will praise You
Through the suffering
Still I will sing to you

When the laughter fails to comfort
When my heart aches, Lord are you there?
When confusion is all around me
And the darkness is my closest friend
Still I'll praise You
Jesus praise You

Survivor Records (2004)

Wisdom is radically relational

2010-08-06T21:22:00.011+01:00

I really recommend this sermon by Josh Patterson at The Village: The Fear of the Lord.

He focuses on the following verse:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1v7)

Welcomed into joy

2010-07-20T19:46:00.005+01:00

The writer of Hebrews invites us to contemplate the amazing reality of what Christ's sacrifice means for us. He contrasts the experience of the old testament Hebrews when they met with God, with all that we find when we approach Him through Jesus' sacrifice for sins.

I really recommend reading it out loud to get the full impact of all that our Father has given us...

"For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I tremble with fear.'

"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

"See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. "

(Hebrews 12: 18-25a)

Being the welcome we have received

2010-07-18T17:22:00.007+01:00

At work this week I had two conversations about people's experiences of church.

One story I heard was about my colleague's daughter.

She had long since decided to completely leave the church, feeling very disillusioned about what she'd experienced. However, after recently giving birth to a daughter, she felt compelled to take her daughter to a church nearby. This church welcomed her in immediately, and in such a way that she has been going regularly ever since!

However, in contrast, another of the stories I heard was about a church whose sides-men seem to think it their duty to turn unsuitable people away!

They turn people away!

O Lord, please forgive your people! Reshape us into your image, so that we delight to welcome all those who come into our churches. May we welcome others as you have welcomed us. Warm our cold, cold hearts.

Do not be conformed to this world...

2010-07-18T16:53:00.004+01:00

Paul calls us to the following:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2

The following reflection (by a wise friend of mine) explores the 'pattern of this world' in the 21st Century and how our minds consequently need to be renewed:

(For the original post see: Photizo )

If there is a dominant philosophy of the last decade or so then self-empowerment must be a feisty contender for the role. Nike have told us "Just Do It". "You are your own possibilities... you can do anything" Oprah Winfrey has proclaimed. And who could forget Obama's adrenaline-pumping "Yes we can." Ours is the age of self and the Almighty I.

And so often when we become Christians this is the mental wallpaper we bring with us; ready to plaster over the walls of our mind; defining our thinking, acting and expectations as Christians. We live with a far more impressive view of SELF than of god. Our lives are then stressed, frustrated, anxious, and joy-free. Despite all our grandiose views of SELF we struggle to order our lives as we would want, and then panic because if SELF can't take care of us then god might not be able either.

Needless to say the Bible has a totally different view of things. A far better and sweetly liberating view. The Bible describes us as very small in a very big universe. We are not the meaning and focus of existance. We are not supreme. We are not self-sufficient. Wisdom does not die with us, truth is not defined by us, beauty is not dependant upon our approval, goodness is not natural to us and life did not begin and will not end with us.

We were not there when God laid the foundation of the earth, when all the angels shouted for joy. We did not determine the boundaries of land and sea. Nor is it at our command that the sun rises in the sky each morning. The gates of death have not been revealed to us, nor have we come close to comprehending the expanse of the earth. We cannot direct the stars nor create water ex-nihilo. (Job 38 & 39) God, however has done all these things. And it is upon this God that we are completely dependant for everything. From His hand alone comes all life and breath. (Acts 17: 25, 28)

As we bow like Job before our Almighty Creator and Sustainer God there is more still for us to know and comprehend. We cannot adorn ourselves with majesty, dignity, glory and splendour. We cannot humble the proud, nor tread down the wicked where they stand and consign them to hell. In a sentence: we cannot save ourselves. (Job 40: 10-14)

self is small and GOD is big.

That alone is worth remembering, treasuring and singing over.

Prayerfully watch this...

2010-07-18T16:31:00.001+01:00

Tears of the Saints from HistoryMaker on Vimeo.

Rejoicing

2010-07-02T18:42:00.006+01:00

The LORD is my God; Father, provider, shepherd, protector, restorer, healer, rescuer!

And I am his.

He is my firm foundation, my dwelling place, my joy and satisfaction, my redeemer, my deep peace, my greatest desire!

He deserves every thought, my every breath, my every song, my every decision, my every part!

Lord, I love you!

What is your fuel?

2010-06-19T09:16:00.004+01:00

God has used this amazing quote from C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity, and the passage from Jeremiah I've quoted beneath it, to really challenge me over the past few days...

"What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could "be like gods" - could set up on their own as if they had created themselves - be their own masters - invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilisations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans."

(C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

Thus says the Lord:“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?

...A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
O Lord, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth,
for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.

(Jeremiah 17v5-9, 12-13 ESV)

Endless joy

2010-05-30T14:37:00.010+01:00

Mission exists to make worshipers.

"The aim of mission is the gathering of a praising people, by a praising people." Marcus Honeysett

"For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God." 2 Cor 4v15

Mission is the overflow of a heart enraptured by Christ. It is the praise of the one who has bought us endless joy in worship of Him, proclaimed to a lost world.

PASSION: The goal is to be like Jesus

2010-05-16T15:15:00.016+01:00

Francis Chan spoke at Passion London last night. Wow was it encouraging and challenging in equal measures!

So often as Christians we crave to be accepted, we don't want to risk our friendships or our respectibility. But Christ experienced utter rejection. Can you see the mismatch!?

But Jesus said that to be loved by men was to be like a false prophet. (Luke 6v26)

Do we want to be like Jesus? Or are we more like the rocky soil, in Jesus Parable of the Sower - shrinking back from trials. (Matthew 13v21)

My heart cries out: " I was predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus! The goal of my salvation is to be like Him!" (Romans 8v29)

And the trials I experience draw me into greater and greater intimacy with my Saviour. (Philippians 3v10)

Praise God, that I have seen this in my own life time and time again. Truly, there is real fellowship with Jesus when we suffer, when we risk things for him.

And when my heart fails to desire this, and I pray the wrong things. The Holy Spirit himself is on his knees interceding for me! Praying the prayers that I ought to be praying. (Romans 8v26)

God is truly for me!

So the challenge: Have people in my life seen Jesus? Does Jesus' grace and love flow from me to everyone I meet?

Heavenly Father, forgive me my selfishness and hard heartedness.

The photos are taken from the Passion Blog - http://268generation.com/blog/

Jesus rejected

2010-05-01T11:58:00.005+01:00

Jesus was rejected by his own home town. (Matthew 13:53-58)

The people Jesus grew up just couldn't get to grips with his identity. All they were able to see was a normal man, with a normal job, and a normal family (v55-56). They were unable to reconcile it with his evident wisdom and amazing miracles (v54).

They took offence and did not believe (v56-57).

They were unable to see that Jesus was indeed a man, but he was also the Son sent by the Father - God's ultimate prophet (v57).

~ ~ ~

This story of rejection comes immediately after a number of parables beginning with the Parable of the Sower (Ch 13v1-9, 18-23). It seems this incident is a case in point. Those who don't understand the truth, have the truth is snatched away (v19).

~ ~ ~

Lord God, please open blind eyes to the amazing truth of your Son becoming man, and reconciling us to you by his death on our behalf. May I never rely upon my ability to reason, but always on your Holy Spirit. Amen.

It's all for Him

2010-04-07T18:31:00.000+01:00

Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing; always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold not a might would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use every power as You choose.

Take my will and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord I pour at your feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be ever only all for Thee.

Here am I, All of me.
Take my life, It's all for Thee.

The open arms of Jesus

2010-03-21T16:51:00.003Z

I really recommend this sermon...and as a taster, this is what he says at the end -

'Here’s the bottom line, I’ll close with this. “To the gals in clear heels, to the guys in clear heels, to the drunks, the addicts, the perverts, the victims, the porn stars, the prostitutes, the adulterers, the thieves, the obese gluttons who think that a waist is a terrible thing to mind, the Twilight fans, the murderers, the mama’s boys, the losers, the freaks, the geeks, people who think wrestling is real, red necks, guys who own action figures, chain smokers, everyone who does not use a turn signal while texting and talking on the phone in their car, men who live with their mother, women who get paid in $1 bills, dudes in dresses—” seen it at Mars Hill, “Democrats, Republicans, the guys at the gym who walk around the locker room naked singing Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer, Mormons and anyone else who wears sacred underbritches, whoever is responsible for the creation and ongoing sale of men’s Lycra biking shorts, guild leaders, yoga instructors, witches, pot heads, meat heads, crack heads, deadheads and meth heads, Trekkies, people who don’t recycle, the rainbow-loving, tree-hugging, Prius-driving leftists, and religious people who do not know what I am talking about because these subjects were not on Little House on the Prairie or covered in their home school co-op, I have good news for you: You’re welcome at Mars Hill. Jesus loves you. You’ll fit right in and because he died for all your sins, you get to repent."'

Worse off than a frog

2010-03-06T21:05:00.006Z

"I have heard it said, “God didn’t die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans.” This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren’t bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay for it." (John Piper)

Set your mind...

2010-03-06T19:23:00.008Z

For to set the mind on the flesh [sinful nature] is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (ESV)

The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. (tNIV)

(Romans 8v6)

Question: Where am I setting my mind? Whose influence am I being swayed by? Whom am I seeking to please?

Question: Am I choosing the slow decay of my soul, or the restoration and renewing of the Holy Spirit? Am I allowing the Spirit to breathe new life into my inner being?

Question: Am I listening to the lies of the sinful nature? Or am I choosing to believe God's word?

Fragrance of Christ

2010-02-28T13:15:00.003Z

Our fragrance depends entirely on our intimacy with Christ.

Only when our inner being is centered on Him - when we are listening and responding to His Word and His Spirit - will our love be real; the depth of our joy and peace be evident; our patience be loving; our gentleness and kindness be genuine; our faithfulness be unshakable; and our self-control be based only in Him.

Our fragrance depends entirely on our intimacy with Christ. What sort of fragrance will you leave behind in the world?

What's mine is yours if you'll accept it

2010-01-17T15:38:00.001Z

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you, through his poverty might become rich."
2 Corinthians 8v9

God's attitude is - "what is mine is yours, if you'll accept it." More than that his attitude is - "my Son is yours, if you'll accept him!"

Are we doing all we can to cultivate that same attitude? Do we share our money? Our time? Our spiritual gifts? Our homes? Our lives?

Lord, what do you want me to give? All I have is yours, how can I use it today to bless others?

May I challenge you to consider sharing with the suffering in Haiti: Tearfund Haiti Appeal

My biggest challenge, my greatest joy

2010-01-16T18:33:00.010Z

I was made in the image of God.
My ultimate purpose is to reflect the glory of the Holy One!
Wow!

Enough said! ...well not quite.

Praise God, that I don't have to do it alone.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30

'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far

2010-01-12T22:17:00.003Z

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was grace that taught my heart to fear.
And grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far
and grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

As many of you know, yesterday evening I felt that I was under spiritual attack. But God has really reminded me of his caring grace; partly through an amazing friend, partly through a clear answer to prayer, and partly through the verse I've highlighted above.

Praise God, that no matter what the devil throws at us, YHWH is the one who is watching over us.

Experiencing freedom

2010-01-09T15:55:00.009Z

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like. But those who look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continue in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do."
(James 1:22-25)

In order to experience the amazing freedom and blessing of a life in line with God's revealed will—on the path of his righteousness—requires three things:

Listening
The type of listening we need to do when we encounter God's word is so important. Do we pass a cursory glance over the Bible, or do we really "look intently"? One leads to shallowness, the other real richness as we discover the depths of God and his gospel.

Remembering
Do we tick the Bible box and get on with the rest of the day? Or do we do all we can to get God's word deep in our hearts.

Does his word impact our conversations and our decisions? Does his word change the way we view things? Does it shape our reality? This is only going to happen when we choose to remember what God has said to us!

Doing
What next!? We do something about it! To do anything else is to be deceived!

God's word always has a purpose. It's not like a piece of art hung in a gallery to admired. It is the dynamic conversation God has with his people. It is commands, promises, encouragements, praise and worship...it is relationship! But only when it is lived.

Being a child of God

2010-01-02T16:37:00.008Z

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of a persistent widow, who pesters an unjust judge into giving her justice. We may be tempted to assume that the widow represents us, and God, though probably not the judge, is close enough.

Bill Hybels (Too Busy Not to Pray) throws light on the story...

"We are not like the widow. In fact we are totally opposite from her. She was poor, powerless, forgotten and abandoned. She had no relationship with the judge. For him, she was just one more item on his to-do-list. But we are not abandoned; we are God's adopted sons and daughters, Jesus' brothers and sisters. We are in God's family and we matter to him. So don't tiptoe into his presence, trying to find the secret of attracting his attention. Just say, "Hello, Father," and know that he loves to hear your voice.

"Second, our loving heavenly Father is nothing like the judge in Jesus' story! The judge was crooked, unrighteous, unfair, disrespectful, uncaring and preoccupied with personal matters. By contrast, our God is righteous and just, holy and tender, responsive and sympathetic."

"God's Word teaches that God loves to bestow blessings on his children. It's his nature; it's who he is - a giving God, a blessing God, and encouraging God, a nurturing God, an empowering God, a loving God."

(Page 21-22)

We are children of God, and we have the full attention of our heavenly Father. He loves us enough to send Jesus to die on a cross and experience our suffering on our behalf. He most definitely loves us enough to listen!

I really recommend listening to "God's attitude to prayer" which is basically a Bill Hybel's sermon covering the chapter I've quoted from above. It's really encouraging!

http://www.preachingtoday.com/media/audio/97a.html

Jesus in action

2009-12-31T09:35:00.005Z

Yesterday my Mum's minister visited a Latvian family who have just moved to the UK. They've been attending the church since November, but this was the first time that anyone had visited their home. He discovered that they were living in a house, with two wooden chairs and a table (they have three small children!).

The first I heard of this was when my Mum got a text to urgently check for an email he'd sent to the whole church. By the end of the day, they already had a three piece suite! Today they will have beds for the children, a choice of three (!) fridges, a full complement of kitchen stuff, a washing machine, and lots of other things I've forgotten.* Someone has even given them a china cabinet!! And there have been sums of money coming in from lots of different people.

It was incredible to see the people of God mobilising to meet the practical needs of their brothers and sisters. We were round for dinner with the minister and his wife, and the number of texts coming in promising items of furniture was amazing. I have to admit I nearly got teary! They are not a hugely wealthy church, nor is it very big, but I have never encountered a church which feels so much like a family!

Praise God for the love and generosity of his people.

* Many of these items come from a wonderful friend of mine. She has been praying for over a year that she'd be able to sell her house in the north. She had been renting out, but she really wanted to sell it. It had been a huge load on her mind. And in the past couple of weeks it finally sold. And yesterday she 'happened' to be up there packing up the flat and deciding what to do with all the furniture!! God's perfect timing!

The true gospel

2009-12-30T16:45:00.008Z

"You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation have been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouses so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!"

Malachi 3:8-10 (NLT)

This is one of those passages which has been horribly warped by those proclaiming the prosperity gospel and dishonest televangelists trying to pry money out of their viewers. But this morning God used it to remind me of the beauty of the true gospel!

Like the Israelites I have cheated God of the tithes and offerings due to Him. He deserves my everything, and yet on a daily basis He slips from the center of my life. He is utterly worthy, and I fail to live a life of worship. I have cheated Him.

God placed Israel under a curse for cheating Him of what He was due (or as other translations put it - for robbing Him). I deserve that same judicial punishment. BUT Praise God! Jesus has experienced my curse for me! His ultimate sacrifice has opened heaven's floodgates, that I may experience blessing after blessing!

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
Galatians 3:13

Father God, you are worthy of endless praise. Your value is unmeasurable. Your worth has no comparison. And yet I treat you as though you are an add-on to my life. LORD, please forgive my sinful attitude, and reshape me in the likeness of your Son.

Three questions

2009-12-28T19:40:00.017Z

Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 16:16-17

Yesterday at church my Mum's minister preached on Matthew 16:13-26. Then in the evening I settled back to listen to a sermon I'd downloaded from www.thevillagechurch.net which turned out to be the exact same passage.

It's always a good idea to sit up and take notice when God finds ways to emphasise a point! And in this case, three different things really struck me.

1) Am I confessing and trusting in the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God in every situation?

Is the truth that Jesus is saviour and sovereign colouring my response to every situation and circumstance that God brings into my life? Or am I more like Peter, who in one breath proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God, and in the next rebuked Jesus' plans and purposes? Do I accept Jesus' identity only at a head level or has it impact me at the heart level?

2) Is my life utterly "yes"?

" If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (v24-25)

Jesus calls us to die. Joined with him we are to live the life of the cross. Discipleship is costly.

When I hold onto my rights, my expectations, my comfort, my safety, mine, mine, mine, I die a spiritual death. But when I am utterly surrendered to Jesus I find my soul alive. True life is found in Christ alone.

So according to this passage should I be treating my relationship with Jesus like a casual friendship, floating in and out of intimacy? No. According to this passage, true discipleship is very different.

On reflection I feel I should be seeing my relationship with Him through the lens of marriage? Discipleship is a life commitment. For better, or for worse. It is a relationship based on love. It takes your takes your eyes off yourself, but you remain totally secure in the love of one who, unlike human spouses, cannot let you down.

3) Am I proclaiming Jesus identity and mission, and praying for the Father to reveal this truth?

"...for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven." (v 17)

God is the one who reveals Jesus' identity to human hearts, but in grace Jesus built his church on Peter's human confession. The pattern that exists to this day. Am I praying for God to do this? To open people's eyes. Or am I trusting in my own skill and hard-work?

Jesus would not be proclaimed without his cross. He charged his disciples not to tell anyone who he was, until he had taught them what it would mean for him to be the Christ.

We must proclaim his identity and his mission: "Jesus Christ and him crucified." (1 Cor 2:2)

In my case, I often have the opposite problem to the disciples. I'm happy talking about the cross, but I find myself shying away from the trinity. Jesus as the Son of God, gets you in theological hot water pretty fast. So despite, the trinity being one of the most incredible and vital and beautiful parts of the gospel, I go light. Lord, forgive me and give me passion for who you are, that I may be unable to resist telling people how you are the eternal and only Son of the Father!

When we think we know better

2009-12-26T22:32:00.004Z

I often find myself thinking I know better than God. I find myself convinced that if I was to do whatever the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do, then there would be bad consequences. It would be better to do things my way. So I find myself blocking out his still small voice.

How small is my faith!?!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
(Proverbs 3:5-8)

My prayer is that in this coming year, my heart would be characterised by obedient faith, trusting God for the consequences.

Seeing the treasure in the field

2009-12-14T22:49:00.001Z

"Our loneliness cannot always be fixed, but it can always be accepted as the very will of God for now, and that turns it into something beautiful. Perhaps it is like the field wherein lies the valuable treasure. We must buy the field. It is no sun-drenched meadow embroidered with wildflowers. It is a bleak and empty place, but once we know it contains a jewel the whole picture changes. The empty scrap of forgotten land suddenly teems with possibilities. Here is something we can not only accept, but something worth selling everything to buy.

In my [Elisabeth Elliot] case, "selling everything" meant giving up the self-pity and the bitter questions. I do not mean we are to go out looking for chances to be as lonely as possible. I am talking about acceptance of the inevitable. And when, through a willed act we receive this thing we did not want, then Loneliness, the name of the field nobody wants, is transformed into a place of hidden treasure."

(Re-blogged from 'Unconfusing')

A life half lived

2009-11-29T13:54:00.013Z

A life lived...

in pursuit of what this world has to offer.
In pursuit of comfort, entertainment, ease.
For acclaim, respect and achievement.
With eyes on the next thrill.
With hands clasped tight around my time, my money, my life.
A life lived for the desires of a sinful heart.

A life lived for me is a life half lived.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - Jesus (1)

[Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
(2 Corinthians 5:15)

A life fully lived, is a life lived for Jesus.

(1) John 10:10

Being the body

2009-11-01T18:14:00.001Z

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girl's teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgemental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road

Jesus payed much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

Jesus is the way

(Casting Crowns)

Preach it, and preach nothing else (Part 2)

2009-10-27T20:38:00.002Z

I have been reminded a lot recently that the only way that we can turn someone "from the power of Satan to God" is by the power of the gospel and the Holy Spirit. I think my version of evangelism tends to become somewhat an intellectual thing.

In a talk I heard today, the speaker said something really interesting:

In Acts 17 Paul speaks to the intellectual elite at Athens, and he barely even mentions Jesus. We often use this sermon as a model for reaching out to those who have no knowledge of our God, and to quote the speaker it is a "masterful sermon." And yet there is so little about Jesus!

And the results? "A few men became followers of Paul and believed." (v34)

The next place he visited in Corinth, two days walk away. The speaker asked the question, did use that time to reflect on his experience in Athens. Was it then that he chose his strategy for speaking there?

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
(1 Cor 2:1-4)

And the results? "Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptised." Acts 18:8

I have a feeling there may be some flaws in the argument, and I'm not fully convinced by it. And clearly success is not always a numerical thing. But did really get me thinking!

In what am I trusting when I speak to people with the hope of them being saved? My "eloquence and superior wisdom" or "the Spirit's power"?

Preach it, and preach nothing else (Part 1)

2009-10-27T20:07:00.020Z

The Lord replied...
"I am sending you to them to -
- Open their eyes
- Turn them from darkness to light
- and from the power of Satan to God

So that they may receive -
- Forgiveness of sins
- and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."

(Acts 26:17-18)

God calls us to open eyes! I've found the quote below really challenging over the last few days -

"In many ministries, there is not enough of probing the heart and arousing the conscience by the revelation of man's alienation from God, and by the declaration of the selfishness and the wickedness of such a state. Men need to be told that, except Divine grace shall bring them out of their enmity to God, they must eternally perish; and they must be reminded of the sovereignty of God, that He is not obligated to bring them out of this state, that He would be right and just if He left them in such a condition, that they have no merit to plead before Him, and no claims upon Him, but that if they are to be saved, it must be by grace, and grace alone, The preacher's work is to throw sinners down in utter helplessness, that they may be compelled to look up to Him who alone can help them.

To try and win a soul for Christ by keeping that soul in ignorance of any truth, is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to endeavour to save men by mere claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as to hope to hold an angel with bird-lime, or lure a star with music. The best attraction is the gospel in its purity. The weapon which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency, an arrow which can pierce the hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest wound. Preach it, and preach nothing else."

(C.H. Spurgeon, The Soul Winner)

Settle back and read an encouraging story of students of yore

2009-10-16T19:24:00.005+01:00

With the October term 1895, there opened a year of remarkable blessing and promise. So far as could be judged, a rather large number of freshmen who were already convinced Christians came up to Oxford than in any other October in the previous twenty-five years. This was accountable mainly to the work of Scripture Unions at school, the Children's Special Service Missions, and the Universities' Camps for boys. They had all helped, under God, to bring boys while still at school into a faith in Christ as their Lord and Saviour. There was certainly no doubt as to their sense of relationship to God, and that sense of responsibility that goes with it. These young men soon made their mark in the University, for their consciousness of conversion endowed them with the capacity for leadership.

Many of them would seem shockingly narrow minded to their contemporaries. To many of their friends they were just 'impossible people' difficult if not impossible to live with by reason of their excessive exuberance in evangelistic pursuits, their puritan rigidity, and the strictness of their self-discipline. But they were giants. They were daring. They were somehow inspired. It was said of them at the time that they were 'ready to die for God'. "We were prigs and smugs, we really were," says W. E. S. Holland who was one of them, "but Archbishop Lang always said that we were much the livest group in Oxford when he was a don."

As Miss Constance Padwick tells us in her biography of Temple Gairdner, "These narrow, young desperadoes had some claim to the term 'pauperes Christi', for in the evangelistic fury in which they lived every possible penny had to be saved from personal expenditure to buy a Bible or pay for a fraction of a missionary. When Willie Holland bought a luncheon-basket at a railway station at the end of term it was felt that he had all but given away his cause. A sandwich and a glass of milk was lunch enough for one who might save the rest of the luncheon-basket price for evangelistic funds." The time seemed ripe for one of the turbulent winds of God: for one of those movements that reveal afresh the desperate foolhardiness of the Christian life.

These undergraduates found their centre of gravity in the O.I.C.C.U., the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union. The spiritual power-house to which they migrated annually to be re-inspired was the Keswick Convention which was held every summer. Here they caught afresh the vision of an Oxford won for Christ, and a world won for Christ as a necessary corollary. They were full of enthusiasm. When, a few years ago, there was dragged up from the bottom of the Thames along the Chelsea Embankment the barnacled old Chelsea bell, which from time immemorial had guided the river traffic in time of fog, a typical eighteenth century inscription was revealed. It read: 'God save the King, and down with enthusiasm.' This might well have referred to those crude and tasteless evangelicals who, on returning from Keswick, would walk down Oxford High Street, twenty of them arm-in-arm, singing at the tops of their voices to a totally undistinguished tune,

"It is better to shout than to doubt,
It is better to rise than to fall,
It is better to let glory out,
Than to have no glory at all."

The crude words struggled up to heaven past the twisted columns of St Mary's, past the carved front of All Souls, past Queen Anne, in whose days approved religion was more decent and composed, with less resemblance to intoxication. These men were bold. They had the strength of their convictions. And if news reached them of a new conversion, or of some striking success on the part of a missionary, they would not hesitate, shout in chorus one long, full-throated 'Hallelujah' - even in the middle of the Broad! Strange to think that this was the early environment of men who today are leaders of the Church of this country.

...These undergraduates were not content to study together and make their own devotions. They had a lively and aggressive concern for other people's souls. They could not keep the Gospel to themselves: it was meant for everyone, and everyone must therefore be given at least the opportunity for acceptance or rejection. An instance typical of their own missionary zeal occurred in this way. It was proposed to hold a mission to the University. The wheels of preparation were set in motion, and began to revolve - slowly. The crucial question was, as always, who should be invited to lead it. By a spontaneous and unanimous decision these men agreed that no outsider was required for he present. They would be their own missioners in their own colleges.

(G Ian F Thomson, "The Oxford Pastorate")

The primary call of God's people

2009-10-14T19:06:00.010+01:00

We are to glorify God! No other book tells us this as strongly as Daniel. (1)

No matter who we are. We are to worship Him. Even if we are King Nebuchadnezzar ruling over most of the known world, we are to glorify Him alone!

In staff worship yesterday we looked at the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And I was really struck by the fact that the reason they chose apparently certain death was an issue of worship.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

(Daniel 3:16-18)

They would give glory only to Yahweh.
Why?
Because they knew that he alone was worthy!

(1) Actually Jeremiah's pretty epic on worshipping God alone.

Practicing the presence of God

2009-10-01T20:32:00.018+01:00

Today, instead of an ops meeting, we all headed to Starbucks to spend an hour reading 'The Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule Of a Holy Life.' It is a collection of conversations with and letters by a 17th Century lay brother, who served the monks by working in the kitchen.

I've been meaning to read it for a while. It used to be on our bookshelf at home, and my Dad recommended it to me a couple of times, but I've never got round to reading it. Until today.

Wow is it challenging! And exciting! This section really struck me...

"I have quitted all forms of devotion and set prayers but those to which my state obliges me. And I make it my business only to persevere in His holy presence, wherein I keep myself by a simple attention, and a general fond regard to GOD, which I may call an actual presence of GOD; or, to speak better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation of the soul with GOD, which often causes in me joys and raptures inwardly, and sometimes also outwardly, so great that I am forced to use means to moderate them,and prevent their appearance to others.

In short, I am assured beyond all doubt, that my soul has been with GOD above these thirty years. I pass over many things, that I may not be tedious to you, yet I think it proper to inform you after what manner I consider myself before GOD, whom I behold as my King.

I consider myself as the most wretched of men, full of sores and corruption, and who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King; touched with a sensible regret I confess to Him all my wickedness, I ask His forgiveness, I abandon myself in His hands, that He may do what He pleases with me. This King, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the key of His treasures; He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways, and treats me in all respects as His favorite. It is thus I consider myself from time to time in His holy presence."

Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)

...I recommend giving the whole book a read. I managed to speed read it in the hour. The first few pages are pretty heavy, but keep going!

For the full text of "Practicing the Presence of God" - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/lawrence/practice/formats/practice1.1.pdf

Why are you afraid?

2009-09-29T19:34:00.003+01:00

"I, yes I, am the one who comforts you.

So why are you afraid of mere humans,
who wither like the grass and disappear?
Yet you have forgotten the LORD, your Creator,
the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy
and laid the foundations of the earth.

Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors?
Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies?
Where is their fury and anger now?
It is gone!
Soon all you captives will be released!
Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate!

For I am the LORD your God,
who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar.
My name is the LORD of Heaven's Armies.
And I have put my words in your mouth
and hidden you safely in my hand.
I stretched out the sky like a canopy
and laid the foundations of the earth.
I am the one who says to Israel,
'You are my people!'"

Isaiah 51v12-16 (NLT)

It's a clear night tonight, so I suggest spending some time reflecting on these words whilst looking at the stars.

The eternal glory of Jesus

2009-09-25T19:05:00.007+01:00

Take a moment to gaze upon the glory of Jesus.

"We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only." (John 1:14)

He has existed for all eternity, forever in the presence of God Almighty. He is the one who created the farthest reaches of our universe; every molecule, every star. He is the very source of life.

He is how we know righteousness and holiness. The character of his glory is undeserved compassion, overflowing love and delight for unworthy sinners. His essence is truth, revealing in every way the glory of the Father, and the realities which make up the gospel. In him there is no distortion, no deception and no ulterior motives. He is the plain proclamation of the reality of God.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."

(John 1:1-14)

My soul restored

2009-09-18T20:04:00.006+01:00

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul."
(Psalm 23:1-3a)

On Sunday morning at Church we studied Psalm 23. On Sunday afternoon I asked God to restore my soul. On Monday and Tuesday I listened to two amazing sermons, which God used to do just that!
The Singing God
Remembering Who and Whose We Are
Praise God for his word!

Prepare to have your heart gladdened

2009-09-14T21:56:00.002+01:00

I seriously recommend this talk, mind-blowing stuff!

Joys Eternal Increase - Edwards on the Beauty of Heaven

To what are we called?

2009-09-13T17:56:00.002+01:00

We are called -

To belong to Jesus Christ
To be saints
To be sons of the living God
Into the fellowship of God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord
To peace
To freedom
To hope
To obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ
To eternal life
To a holy calling

We have been called out of darkness into God's marvelous light.

Rom 1:6, 1:7, 9:26, 1 Cor 1:9, 7:15, Gal 5:13, Eph 1:18, 2 Thess 2:14, Tim 6:12, 2 Tim 1:9, 1 Peter 2:9

Thirst for Heaven

2009-09-12T10:24:00.002+01:00

This is such a good sermon -

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/200908231500HWC21ASAAA_JoshPatterson_ThirstForHeaven.mp3

"Christ's love compels us"

2009-09-10T19:56:00.002+01:00

There are approximately 6,600 unreached people groups of the world. That's nearly 3 billion people without any realistic hope of making a decision about Jesus Christ.

For every 1 Unreached people group, there are 700 evangelical churches.

700 churches.

What are we doing?

(This post is a re-post of a friend's post - to visit her blog see - http://fromemptytofull.blogspot.com/)

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
1 Corinthians 5:14-15

Do we really believe the Bible?

2009-09-06T15:04:00.006+01:00

I've been incredibly convicted by a conversation I had with an Iraqi friend of mine the other day. He said that one of his major objections to the Christian faith was that Christians don't really believe the Bible.

His evidence for this - the fact that the Christians he has encountered in Britain do not have the faith to even pray for the miracles we see happening in the early church. In fact, he said that many Christians have told him that the miracles in Acts and the New Testament do not happen anymore.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12)

Jesus has not changed. He is still at the right hand of the Father and his promises still stand unchanged.

So why do I not expect God to work through me?

Jesus is Lord

2009-09-06T14:46:00.003+01:00

"If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 10:9

Jesus, I am called to place my life at your feet, to pick up my cross each and every morning and walk in the way of joyful obedience.

Jesus, I am called to set you alone above all things as Lord of my life, for you are the only one who's rule means life. You are the one to whom I must release the right to organise my life, my time, my money as I please, for there I will find true freedom.

Jesus, I am to proclaim your lordship to the world and to live out obedience in every area of my life, for you are God.

God at work

2009-08-27T22:41:00.005+01:00

So yet another awesome international Bible study tonight. I love how unstructured they tend to be. Today none of us had set questions, and the whole thing was interrupted by our homemade pizzas being declared ready. And yet we ended up having incredible insights (and not generally from the team), thoughtful questions, interesting discussions and the gospel proclaimed in an incredibly natural way.

I am blown away by how God has been using these Bible studies over the Summer. Thank you, Lord.

...and to round it all off, we got to all pray for our brother (who became our brother this year) as we sent him back to China, a real student of God's Word!

A hymn of praise

2009-08-23T14:48:00.009+01:00

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.

(Psalm 40:2-4)

Over the past two days I've been reading and reflecting on Romans 3:21-26, and seeing the richness of God's grace once again has filled me with praise for my God and Saviour!

God has truly lifted me from the slimy pit. A man in a slimy pit can do nothing to ensure his escape, and in the same way my salvation was entirely God's initiative. I have a 'redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.' I am 'justified by his grace as a gift.'

Not only am I forgiven. I am justified!

'Pardon and Justification are essentially distinct. The one is the remission of punishment, the other is a declaration that no ground for the infliction of punishment exists.' (C H Hodge)

Before all heaven I stand in Christ, declared by the Holy One to be utterly without cause for punishment. I am redeemed and accepted into the arms of a Father who loves me.

He has put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.