Mind the gap

I hate it when I don’t blog for a while.  I really enjoy writing but it’s almost been two months – without checking that’s probably the longest I have been without posting since I first started in 2007.

I have had lots of things I wanted to write about – a wonderful and intriguing trip to Montenegro, girls lost in Nigeria, stuff I’ve read in the Bible, books I’ve read, UKIP, the Premier League run in……

……but I just haven’t had the mental energy to sit down and get something down.  So I’m just getting one post out there this morning in the hope that it smooths the way for my brain to get psyched up for another post in a day or two.

Gutted about not being raptured

I’m sorry…but how did anybody with ANY sense actually believe this guy?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13489641

How did he trick them all?  Have they not read the Bible for themselves?  Jesus himself said he did not know the hour that he would return?

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)

It is just so sad that ‘Christian’ leaders will be so manipulative/mad and that people will be so gullible.  There’s actually people out there who spent their life savings on him.

I think apocalyptic writings in the New Testament are fascinating but I honestly think it is foolish to try and read anything into historical or current events relating to these writings.  Instead, let’s focus on studying the character of God….the living God who can change us into better people and save us from ourselves.

Anya knows about barley cakes

Once again I have been spiritually humbled by my daughter.  As a family we’ve been working our way through studying the book of Judges in the Bible.  We got to a part where Gideon, one of the judges, overhears a dream from the camp of his enemies in which he is represented as a barley cake rolling into the enemy camp and flattening the tent.

I never really understood it and asked the family, ‘What do you make of the dream then?’  Anya immediately replied, ‘The barley cake would have been really small compared to a huge tent so it shows that Gideon’s small army would have no problem defeating the enemies.’  I had never got it before, I had always imagined some massive bread cake rolling in cartoon style and flattening the enemy tent.  But the Bible doesn’t say it was a huge oversized butty.  It just says a barley cake.  It is a privilege sharing this journey with Anya she explains things so well.

I asked what lesson we can learn from this and Anya said, ‘When we have a problem, no matter how big it is, God will always helps us.’

The best job spec ever

When Jesus lived on earth he had a bunch of followers.  He taught them how to live as God would want them to live.  Just before Jesus left earth he gathered his closest 11 followers together and gave them a task:

The task was to devote their lives to teaching people all over the world how to follow him – how to live lives that worship God.

This commission has been passed down from generation to generation.  Jesus looks each of us in the eye today and says ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey my commands…’  What a responsibility!  What a privilege!

Last night I accompanied some of the guys from church to the student dorms and we had a Bible study with a few of the students.  It was pretty cool, 8 of us squashed into a small dormitory discussing the Bible.  Loads of other students kept popping their heads in to see what was going on.  And the best thing about it was that we were doing what Jesus was asking of us – teaching people how to follow him – plus learning ourselves along the way!

Let loose

Last night was Stan’s last preach and now he and the family have flown off to America leaving me with the pastoral and teaching responsibility in the church.  Stan preached from Acts and loosely compared Paul’s emotional departure from the church in Ephesus with how our departure might look in three months time!  I feel very at home already and have enjoyed spending time with some of the church members already.  Our first task will be to get around visiting and encouraging everyone.  We want to have fun and get to know people, pray with people and learn from the Bible with people – all things that Paul did with the Ephesians.  I am sure that would be a recipe for a good foundation in church leadership.

Yesterday morning I took advantage of the extra hours sleep to get up at 6am and take a walk from Rada’s folks’ to look over the town.  A couple of the pictures are below but I’m not sure how well they’ll come out of the blog.  Despite Niksic being an industrial town it is still beautiful with incredible character and the people are warm and welcoming.  It has a lot of problems though and needs a lot of investment and empowering.

Chattering fool

Sometimes me and Anya read a Proverb at breakfast time.  This is great because Anya gets to practice reading, she comes out with some hilarious and profound points and, it is certainly of use to get an early morning dose of the Word of God.

Yesterday we read:

 “The wise in heart accept commands,
       but a chattering fool comes to ruin.”  Proverbs 10:8

I asked Anya, Who gives commands?” and the genius came up with God through Moses, parents, teachers and governments.  We had a chat about when you talk in class you sometimes miss what the teacher asks you to do and it led me to the very simple, obvious but life changing conclusion that if we spend too much time distracted by other things, the ‘chatter’ of life, then we will miss out on the words of God for today.

Our God is a living God who interacts and relates with the beings he has created.  Spend time each day listening, pause to think, look around you.  I sometimes feel like I constantly need background noise – tv, work, conversation, MP3, newspapers, internet….none bad in themselves, yet all these things sometimes lead this fool to ruin.

The start of the day

Yesterday at work was alright.  I made it about a tenth of the way through my to-do list and a few annoying things came at me but it was ok.  A friend really encouraged me sending me a Bible verse, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”  I felt quite peaceful during the day although it was hard work.  Didn’t particularly anticipate returning today.

Now it’s 7am.  I’ve got some chilled music on and enjoying surfing through some blogs and looking forward to a nibble of breakfast.  I could stay here all day…….

 

………good job I wasn’t designed with comfort in mind!  Bring it on life!

Prepare for today’s adventure

Everyday is an adventure.

Can you imagine setting off on a mountaineering expedition without studying a map, packing the appropriate equipment and shunning the advice of an expert guide?

Some days I feel like a blind, naked, stupid, proud boy attempting to climb Everest without any help or equipment.  It just ain’t gonna be a good outcome. 

However, if I wanted it, there is great help at hand to get me through the day.  I have the opportunity at the start of each morning to sit down with the Expert on life.  He’s always there waiting to give me some advice on what is coming up and how to prepare myself yet so often I am too busy and lazy to listen to him.

Why not take time out today (and every day!) to read The Guide Book and listen to the Expert?  Don’t think you can get through in your own wisdom and experience. 

“The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”  Proverbs 12:15

Fear

As I am not a phronemophobe* I have been thinking and discussing fear with friends recently.  What do you suffer from –  Arachnophobia?  Agoraphobia?  Claustrophobia? 

There are many things we can be wary of in today’s world, to the point of being controlled so that we do not reach our potential and often important relationships suffer.  There are two things that I have identified that can control me in a very bad way:

1. Enissophobia – a fear of criticism – I often find myself living just to please other people and ensure they have a good opinion of me.
2. Atychiphobia – a fear of failure – if I catch myself in a bad mood it is often because I have done something that has gone wrong or it seems circumstances are against me.

However, whatever it is in your life that controls you and stops you living freely, you can be liberated from.  How?  By the power of God.  Just ask for it and he will give you a spirit of power, of love, of self-discipline that will enable you to break free.  It is unlikely it will be some magical releasing, you will need to keep asking God to help you, but he will.  Everytime you feel the fear, the controlling nature creeping up on you just say to God,

“Lord, you have the ultimate power, please give me a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline so that I can be free.”

I think this is really important and can solve some serious issues and mindsets that cause big problems for people.

P.S.  If you do not agree with anything I say please, DO NOT comment on this blog, I fear I have developed severe allodoxaphobia**.

*Phronemophobia – fear of thinking   **Allodoxaphobia – fear of opinions

God, the simile and Cadbury’s Cream Eggs

God is like a Cadbury’s Cream Egg.  Humans were created to do two things primarily;

• worship God
• eat Cadbury’s Cream Eggs

Now I am sure you know the tag line for the Cream Egg marketing, “How do you eat yours?”  The legitimate question that we all should ask ourselves is, “How do you worship God”.  Just as there are a million ways to eat a Cream Egg there are infinite ways to worship God, we are all different.

Sadly, in our society we have easily confused religion with worship.  Going to church, reading your Bible, singing etc do not necessarily make good worship.  They are vehicles with which we can worship but we get so consumed with making sure we are doing these things that they cease to be worship.

A reliable source tells us that we must “Worship God in spirit and in truth.”  What on earth does that mean:

• In spirit?   Worship is internal not external.  We should not be seen to be worshipping we should be worshipping from within.
• In truth?   Again, worship is not a superficial show.  Worship must be genuine, real.  When you worship you must be true to yourself.

So back to the original question, “How do you worship God?”.  I’d be interested to know.  In the next few days I’ll post how I worship the being that created me.