Jesus be the centre

At Spring Harvest I bought a new Bible in a year book to refresh my reading of the scriptures. As a result I am currently reading Genesis and last night I was so inspired reading about Abraham.

When God asked Abraham to do something, even when it meant leaving family & friends and going to a unknown destination. Abraham didn't question God, He upped and leaved. His heart was fully given to God and He achieved the great things God had planned for him and was blessed as a result.

Too often in my life I stop letting God build the blocks of my life and start building myself, taking it in the creative direction I think is best. Whilst I am quite a creative person, I rarely get everything right and often this leaves aspects of my life in a messy place. This is when God has to knock the blocks down and start again, which is a very hard thing to go through. It is so easy to begin creating ourselves, it happens through small compromises.
We start following the world and our own desires on small things or one off occasions and then it grows.

One of the verses read at the Royal Wedding yesterday was Romans 12:1-2

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."


If we be who God made us to be, we will set the world on fire!


RevRunWisdom on Twitter tweeted this earlier - Feeling a little off course? Use G. P. S (G)ods (P)ositioning (S)ystem

Let's all put our eternal goggles on, fix our eyes on Jesus and set this world on fire!

Congrats!

Congratulations to William & Kate!! It seems like the perfect day and all of God's Blessings for your future.

The best bit for me was the sermon, it summed up the world today...a world full of peril and demand but ignoring the One that can help them in everything.

Here it is in full:-

The Bishop of London's Sermon

29th April 2011

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.  

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.

A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,

Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.

I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.

In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.

Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

David Wilkerson

Yesterday the legendary Christian pastor David Wilkerson passed away after a car crash at the age of 79. He is most famously remembered for leading gangster Nicky Cruz to Christ and telling him, when Cruz threatened to kill him before his conversion, that if he cut his body into pieces that every piece would cry out that Jesus loves him and always will.

On the day he died he posted on his blog and I wanted to share all of his post as I think it is wonderful and such a great thing to go out of life on earth saying..

"To believe when all means fail is exceedingly pleasing to God and is most acceptable. Jesus said to Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen, but blessed are those that do believe and have not seen” (John 20:29).

Blessed are those who believe when there is no evidence of an answer to prayer—who trust beyond hope when all means have failed.

Someone has come to the place of hopelessness—the end of hope—the end of all means. A loved one is facing death and doctors give no hope. Death seems inevitable. Hope is gone. The miracle prayed for is not happening.

That is when Satan’s hordes come to attack your mind with fear, anger, overwhelming questions: “Where is your God now? You prayed until you had no tears left. You fasted. You stood on promises. You trusted.”

Blasphemous thoughts will be injected into your mind: “Prayer failed. Faith failed. Don’t quit on God—just do not trust him anymore. It doesn’t pay!”

Even questioning God’s existence will be injected into your mind. These have been the devices of Satan for centuries. Some of the godliest men and women who ever lived were under such demonic attacks.

To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights—and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, “I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident. It was no failure on your part. Hold fast. Let me embrace you in your hour of pain.”

Beloved, God has never failed to act but in goodness and love. When all means fail—his love prevails. Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world."

Wilkerson is now enjoying his reward in perfect eternity with the Lord :) Let us be inspired by his inspirational faith acted out in his life and rejoice that he was saved :)

Spring Harvest

Last week I went to Butlins in Minehead for an annual event known as Spring Harvest. It is a Christian event aimed at the Church where Christians meet together for worship, teaching, encouragement and fellowship.

I went to accompany a friend and to be honest, whilst I looked forward to it, I wasn't overly excited as I had a few bad memories from being there previously (nothing to do with the event, just a personal situation I was in that partly happened during my previous time there).

Rest is also something that figures way too low on my list of priorities!

But, PRAISE GOD, I had a wonderful time!

The Big Top where the main services are held

So many wonderful things happened during my five days there. Firstly, God encouraged me so much spiritually. The last few months have been very busy and demanding for me so I really needed God to remind me how much He loved me and to encourage me that He is using me for lots of good and will continue to do so. I felt so empowered in pretty much every area of my spiritual walk but most particularly in prayer. I saw that it was a tool from God that I had not utilized enough in my life.

The Bible teacher at Week 3 was Stephen Goukroger. Gaukroger is an experienced Bible teacher who preached coherently, sensibly and humourously showing a great love and enthusiasm for scripture which inspired me in my own love for scripture.

God also helped me rest. I do so much and it was nice just to sit back and let things happen without having to do something myself. To prove He really worked magic, I felt great in work yesterday and was noticeably (in my eyes anyway!) more productive!

My kind of deckchair! Just my size!!

God also helped me banish the bad memories. I was staying with a close friend of mine and also had other close friends on site and we had a lot of great moments...getting our faces painted (or in Adrian's case...his arm...coward :P), mucking about on the fairground rides, Football tournaments, swimming. I can now go back to Spring Harvest and think about those times rather than the past ones. Thank you Lord!

Feeling tigerish

So I just want to thank the Lord for a brilliant time (He always works when we are a bit reluctant to go somewhere...maybe that's something for us all to think about! Think about Jonah..his teaching saved a whole city) and encourage everyone that wherever you are or whatever has happened...God has a way out for you and we just need to keep seeking Him out and walking with Him to find the light in the darkness :)

Matthew 11:28-30
“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.”

Half marathon information!

Spring Harvest was absolutely amazing and I will blog on that later this week but I have something very important to share today :)


My good friend Laura has been working very hard lately on getting stuff together to raise money for Doctors Without Borders/Medecines sans Frontieres (MSF). e believe in the good work that they do all over the world, providing medical care in some of the most challenged areas of the world.  They work in the places people don't often willingly go to because they believe in baring witness and speaking out against inhumane conditions and treatment of all people.

MSF are an international medical humane organisation.  In 1999 they won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work.  They define themselves best:

"Today, MSF provides aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. MSF provides independent, impartial assistance to those most in need. MSF reserves the right to speak out to bring attention to neglected crises, to challenge inadequacies or abuse of the aid system, and to advocate for improved medical treatments and protocols."

MSF are 90% independently funded world-wide.  They are not government funded and so are able to be impartial, they have no agenda except justice.

We are running this race, rising to this challenge because we want to support the work of MSF.  By donating to our project your money will go directly to Doctors Without Borders and you can join us in making a stand against injustice. 

This is an American website so it should be noted that you will be donating in $ and not £.  The minimum donation is $10 which is just under £7, if this is too much for you then please don't worry, you can always raise money for us by using our search engine or by giving it to me directly and then I can pay it in.


Please support us in this, we are only making a small difference but I believe this is only the beginning and if we can keep making small differences it will add up to something more meaningful and this will certainly inspire us to carry on. Maybe you will be inspired to do it yourself someday!


The website for giving is here - http://www.crowdrise.com/runningwithoutborders


Even if you cannot give any money you can always use this as your search engine to raise a little extra - http://www.everyclick.com/runn
ingwithoutborders

Thank you guys!!!

Happy Good Friday

I am currently at Spring Harvest with my good friend Adrian Southgate and others! I hope you are all having a blessed Easter!

Thank you God for all you have done for us, 2000 years ago, in the last few years and everything you will do in the future!

Hallelujah! He is Risen!

The Wonder of the Cross

This is a great song by Vicky Beeching and reminds me of how amazing it has been since I gave my life to Christ and is a great reminder of how awesome it is that Jesus died on the cross for our sin...a topical thought right now!