Gary Speed

Gary Speed 1969-2011. RIP.

By now everyone in Britain has probably heard the sad news about the Wales Manager Gary Speed's death. Nothing makes this easier to understand or take in, I still don't quite believe it. Speed was a lovely man and was beginning to prove himself as a great manager with the Welsh National Team. My tribute to Speed is that he is the man who helped me believe in our national side again and I only hope we can complete his good work and make the Brazil 2014 World Cup and dedicate it to his memory.


Depression is considered to be the cause by many and although nobody knows what actually happened, you have to be in a pretty awful place to consider taking your life, let alone actually go through with it.


Not many people really know what depression truly is, not even myself. I can say that there have been some very miserable times in my life where I haven't been happy and really struggled to see a good future. I think all of us have been there in our lives. There appears to be a depression that goes beyond this, which is all consuming and very hard to get through. I can't say I have have ever had it that bad. As a Christian, prayer and putting my hope and mind towards Jesus has been a wonderful, incredible help in getting through my hard times. God has promised us a hope and a future (Jer 29:11), that good will come out of all our trials (Romans 8:28) and a glory revealed in us that goes far beyond our present sufferings (Romans 8:18). Best of all, He promises us Salvation and a happy, painless eternity through Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9), (Revelation 21:5). Jesus makes my day everyday and these truths have helped me so much.


This can be very more easily said than done at times. I don't know if you have depression, feel my experiences above are of no help or have come through this similarly yourself but I will post some great quotes from Charles Spurgeon regarding depression which I came across today.


"Before any great achievement, some measure of depression is very usual."


"Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy."


"I find myself frequently depressed - perhaps more so than any other person here. And I find no better cure for that depression than to trust in the Lord with all my heart, and seek to realize afresh the power of the peace-speaking blood of Jesus, and His infinite love in dying upon the cross to put away all my transgressions."


Lastly I have a wonderful verse to share. A major part of depression in my opinion is Satan's ability to lie to you and bring you down. He wants you to be down because he hates you being joyful and doing the things God wants you to do.


2 Corinthians 12 7:10

⁷ To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

    ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

    ⁹ But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

    ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

No matter what your trial, in God YOU CAN OVERCOME!

John 16:33 - I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

   

Proof that God exists? Part Two

WHERE DO THE LAWS OF LOGIC COME FROM?

An example of a law of logic is the law of non-contradiction. This law states, for instance, that it cannot both be true that my car is in the parking lot and that it is not in the parking lot at the same time, and in the same way.

If you believe that laws of logic do not exist, how do you make decisions about the most basic things in life? How do you decide which side of the road to drive on? How do you choose whether to drink water or poison for nourishment?

One interesting aspect of denying laws of logic, like the law of non-contradiction, is that since you DO NOT believe in laws of logic, you actually DO believe in laws of logic. If contradictions are allowed in your worldview then so is that one.

Where do these laws come from?

Logic can only come from a logical source. It cannot come from something illogical, that makes no sense. The only logical source that could have existed before us is God.

Credit to www.proofthatgodexists.org - Check out the rest of the argument there if you desire :-)

A-Z of Christianity 'F'

FAITH

One of those words banded about a lot in society today. There are different faiths, different faith groups. Keep the faith is uttered by leaders. What does this word mean?

The Bible says that 'faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.' (Hebrews 11:1).

Atheists like to claim that faith is 'blind'. That is a load of tripe (not unlike other things said by that group). Faith is  based on knowledge of who God is, a Loving, Faithful, Just & Righteous God and faith is therefore putting our trust in Him because we know we can trust Him. 

My question, like John Lennox's in his debate with Richard Dawkins, is how do you trust your spouse? It always has this element of blindness because we can't know for sure but we do know because of the way they have treated us in the past (God has been so good to me!) and because of their character (God is perfect).

In God, we are sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see as He can do anything and has proved time and time again by His miracles and answers to prayer.

Christianity is about faith because we cannot please God without faith. Our faith in Christ saves us through acceptance of His offer of forgiveness and Salvation.

To finish, I love this definition of faith.

Forsaking

All

I

Trust

Him

Blessings, Mike! :-)

Questions, Questions, Questions

In the Big Issue today, in the letters section, an atheist asks why faith should not be challenged?

I think faith should be challenged, personally. I believe that what I know is true and will stand up to any challenge.

But isn't it funny how many atheists believe that faith should be challenged, but when you want to challenge their beliefs (Teach Intelligent Design in schools and let students make their own choice, Evolution flaws, how do you know anything if you don't believe in God, no idea how the universe came about) they get very defensive.

They're not as much after the truth as they like to think they are.

God is like sticky glue

I have almost no bad things to say about a brisk lunchtime walk through Ponty. The fresh air, the scent, the rush of people is a different place to sitting in my office and I should do it more often!

Today I was reminiscing about recent hard times and how I managed to get through them. I think part of our human experience is to suffer tough times. Some people have it much worse than others, I see things on the News that I just couldn't imagine going through. These tough times are unwanted, yet in many cases, exactly what we need. When things go right all of the time we lose the wonderful feelings and it becomes all so normal and dull. Hard times help us appreciate the good times more.

I also believe hard times help build our characters. The Apostle Paul thought so - ^"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4)

James agrees in James 1:2-4  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

There are a lot of things I can't imagine going through, and times that are so hard maybe you don't feel anything good came out of it. I can't disagree with that because I don't know until I go through something really bad, although I rather hope I don't.

What I do know is the Bible also says this...
"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." (Romans 8:28)

Let's not feel guilty or judged if our attitudes aren't up to scratch, as all of us fail in this regard most times. Let's enable God to set our hearts free by choosing to let Him take our problems and make good from them.

When reminiscing I was also reminded of how God is like sticky glue. When everything seems as if it is going to fall apart, He is still with me holding everything together. Even when things do appear to fall apart, it is because He wants to rebuild us better than before. I have been through that, too.

Through all of this God has been with me. He has been faithful, just as the Bible said He would (Hebrews 13:5 - I will never leave you nor forsake you) (Matthew 28:20b - I am with you always).

So I just want to thank God and give Him all the Glory for this, and everything else He has done in my life. There will always be trials, but there will always be God.

Proof that God exists? Part One

In this series, I will attempt to prove God's existence through the existence of universal, immaterial laws that govern the Universe we live in.

To begin I ask the question - Is there such a thing as Absolute Truth?

I find that many people question this with comments such as 'It's true to me'. If it isn't true to everyone then is it really true at all?

The answer is - there has to be!

If you believe there isn't, is it absolutely true that there isn't? This is a contradiction.

If you don't know, it it absolutely true that you don't know? This also contradicts.

So there has to be absolute truth.

Keep checking for the next few parts, or log onto www.proofthatgodexists.org to see it all now!

Blessings :-)

Turn down the Music!

I had a friend whose friend proudly declared once that his response to hearing any mechanical issues with his car was to turn the music up. Most of you will be right to decide that this is a very unwise action. If my car makes a noise it might be because I have left the lights on, if I ignored that the battery would run on my car! Other cars make noises to remind the driver that a seatbelt isn't on or he is too close to another car. It is also unwise to ignore these signs as well as signs of any mechanical issue!

I have been discovering recently that it is like that with our lives. God has a plan for us and when we are not obedient to His Plan He wants to let us know but there are many ways we can block the voice of God out. My friend of a friend was blocking the truth and so can we.

My plan recently has been to stop playing music to and from work so I can just keep my mind clear for God for an extra 30 mins a day. I also find not having a song running through my head all day also keeps my mind more clear! God greatly encouraged me in this time :) What can you do to make more time for the voice of God or just to help it become more clear?

Blessings to you all! :-)

A-Z of Christianity 'E'

The A-Z series continues with 'E' - ETERNITY

Before I used to really struggle with Heaven. The reason I used to struggle was that I just couldn't imagine it, I couldn't get my head around such a place. The Biblical account is very powerful yet likely to be mostly metaphorical with the mention of  beasts and dragons etc. Throughout Revelation it almost reads as if some final ceremony is taking place. Obviously, it sounds very other worldly.
But that was until I read Don Piper's account.

On January 18 1989 Piper was involved in a horrific collision with a lorry whilst driving home from a conference. Piper states he was crushed by the roof of his car, the steering wheel impaled his chest and the dashboard collapsed on top of his legs. When the emergency services arrived they declared Piper dead and covered him over as they waited for the medical examiner to arrive.
Piper was dead for around 90 minutes and during his time he visited Heaven, an experience explained in his New York best seller book '90 minutes in Heaven'. Piper speaks of the first people he met being the people who helped him find God in his life and obviously he was able to recognise them. He writes of gold paths that you could see your reflection in, a choir of angels and a light on a hill (which makes me excited because maybe that is where God was actually present!). This experience obviously changed his life and he felt his calling was to tell others about it.

This is my favourite description of Heaven from the Bible:-

Revelation 21

A New Heaven and a New Earth

¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

The main issue most people have with the world we live in is all of the terrible things that happen. God actually created a world without those things but, by giving us choice, enabled us to bring sin in if we wished. Heaven will have no terrible things, there is no death, mourning, crying or pain.

As sinners we are not worthy of such a place but God created Heaven so He could be with us forever. The way in which we can punch our ticket there is by simply trusting in God and accepting the forgiveness for our sins God so clearly offered through Jesus.

I did that over five years ago and it is by far the best decision I have ever made. If you have more questions or thoughts before you commit then please message me - mjw6150@hotmail.com

Hopefully see you all there!

Grace, Peace & Blessings :-)