I'm not quite sure how this happened but it's quite a nice effect. It was taken during my recent trip to The Lakes in the north of England. Have a great skywatching weekend!
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
By God's Grace We'll Make It!
Out of weakness were made strong
Hebrews 11:34
The Bible speaks of '...Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel... who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong...' (vv. 32-34 NKJV). Who were these people? Jephthah was a social outcast born to an unwed mother. Samuel was a great prophet but not a great parent. David wrote the Psalms but had an affair. '...Out of weakness were made strong...' Notice, they didn't start out strong, they became strong. And if they can make it, you can too!
For reasons God never explains, He chooses to work through people like us. He places us in difficult situations then unlocks our faith, compassion and creativity. When we don't know which way to go, He connects us with those who can open the right door at the right moment. Does that mean we won't experience fear? No, progress has always been made by people who faced their fears and rose above them. They knew that opportunity and security were opposites. The truth is, if the challenge you're facing doesn't place a demand on your faith, it neither pleases God nor involves Him. Phillips Brooks said, 'Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger people. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.'
Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Monday, 28 March 2011
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Tim Hughes - Love Shine Through
This is a wonderful new offering from a worship leader at heart. I really enjoyed the creative arrangements, including a fantastic treatment of Nikki Fletcher's 'All Glory'. I had never before thought of Tim's voice as beautiful but here his vocals are sublime and 'Keep the Faith' (my top track) shows his gifts off to the best. These songs sound as if they have been lifted from corporate worship and many could certainly be used in that context. There is nothing particularly original about the lyric content or the song structures, but the words will echo your own heart of worship and the melodies are catchy. Definitely a good buy and a tool for worship.
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Skywatch #119
This week we have had some amazing weather with temperatures up to 19 degrees! It has been especially nice to see the bright blue skies. Windsor Castle was thronging with crowds last weekend. And with the clocks moving forward we will enjoy some light evenings. Cant wait! Happy skywatching :)
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Love, Belief & Rob Bell
Soon after my last entry on Rob Bell I finished his book Love Wins. It is a wonderful read/listen (his express train reading brings the book in at 3'39"!). What an amazing gift of communication he has. His writing is dynamic and gripping, and never fails to engage the mind and emotions. I would have easily listened to this in one sitting if I had the opportunity.
There are so many reviews of this on the web, both positive and negative, and it has been a real eye-opener to see the controversy and furore this has caused, particularly in the American church. Some have even criticised Bell for daring to ask the questions and 'plant doubts' in people's minds. One YouTube reviewer says "When we question God we actually get into a lot of trouble". One of the reasons I love the Psalms is that honest questions are not shrinked from! If we criticise people for even asking questions I dread to think where we will end up!
One train of thought that began as I listened to Bell, was the nature of belief and how we express what we believe. How can we tell what we actually believe? When Bell talks about hell I have to ask myself what I really believe about it. Do I believe that Gandhi will end up there because he wasn't a Christian? What about my friends and family who aren't Christians. Do I believe that they will burn for eternity in a lake of fire? If I do believe that, then why am I not haranguing them day and night to persuade them to accept Christ? The fact that I am not must say something of what I really believe?
Is my belief defined by what I say? If I say "I believe in Jesus" and adhere to this or that creed of beliefs, is that belief? Will that save me? Jesus didn't seem to put those conditions on people he ministered to. He was a lot more free and generous with his forgiveness. The woman who washed his feet with her tears went away forgiven, not because she was 'in' with the right group, indeed she was very much 'out', but because she saw her own need and recognised Jesus had something to give her; she was forgiven! The paralysed man who was let through the roof didn't even ask for forgiveness but Jesus gave it anyway, as well as healing him. How much theology did the thief on the cross have? Probably not much, but he saw his own need and the one who could meet it.
God is running to forgive us and all He is looking for is faith in our hearts, faith that He is the One who loves us and the One who can forgive us. I don't think I am a Universalist, but maybe the struggle to believe in a doctrine where God forgives all in the end, is really a struggle to believe that He is falling over himself to forgive us in the first place.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Friday, 18 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Honest To God
But I cry to you for help, O Lord;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Why, O Lord, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?
From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death;
I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken my companions and loved ones from me;
the darkness is my closest friend.
Psalm 88:13-18
I love the Psalms the more and more I read them. I get tired of neat off the shelf spiritual answers to life's mysteries and difficulties, but in the Psalms I feel peace. The Psalmists have it right. Tell God how it is, pour out your hearts to Him. Remember the things He's done for you and praise Him for who He is. Ask Him for what you need. And then just remember that it will all come good in the end, because that's what He does best.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Reduce The Stress Of Serving
...Created in Christ Jesus to do good works...
Ephesians 2:10
We were saved to serve, not sit on the sidelines. But even in our appointed slot, overload is possible. We love serving the Lord, yet sometimes our attitudes stress us. The toxic mix of inadequacy and perfectionism in serving leads to burnout. It pushes us to behave obsessively and compulsively, decreasing our joy and increasing our tension. We feel trapped. We don't know whether to quit and feel bad, or keep going and feel overwhelmed. So we either become overly responsible by carrying our own workload plus everybody else's, or drop out, leaving everything to others.
What's the solution? First, we must stop serving to please others. It's the wrong motive and never works. And when it doesn't, we work harder for approval and end up disappointed. Paul writes, '...I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant' (Galatians 1:10 NLT). Our 'well done' must come from God, not people. Second, we must stop serving in our own strength. Jesus said, '..."The Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does"' (John 5:19 NLT). Like hand in glove, they move together. That's cooperation and interdependency. '...No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me' (John 15:4 NIV). It's how Paul served. '...I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me' (Colossians 1:29 NIV). He worked hard, but the energy was God's, not his. So we must remember our source of effectiveness, and we'll reduce the stress of serving.
Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Skywatch #117
Be at peace in the knowledge that I am God: I will be lifted up among the nations, I will be honoured through all the earth.
Psalm 46:10
Life can hurt us, grieve us, annoy us, pain us, and at times terrify us. God knows this. If we think that He will always save us from the terrors of this existence, then we are mistaken and eventually our faith will take a severe beating. This week I will be attending the funeral of a friend who was taken suddenly seemingly in perfect health and yesterday I heard of another who died leaving a wife and 2 precious little children. I don't believe God plans these things, but I do believe that He knows. In some mysterious way that we only begin to glean by the revelation of the Bible, He will make all things good, and will make all His children overcomers. In that we may find peace, with His grace to help us in our time of need.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
The Unlocking
Hebrews 4:15
Shrove Tuesday. Here begins the season of Lent. I've decided to read again the wonderful book by Adrian Plass, The Unlocking (God's Escape Plan for Frightened People). I love his humour and down to earthness. He never side steps issues, is honest, and calls a spade a spade.
"For those of us who value our salvation (and there are still a few of us still roaming the Jurassic Park of Christendom) it is worth reflecting today, as we scrape the pancake mixture off the ceiling and get cross because forgot to buy any lemons, that we are about to remember a period of forty days when the whole salvation plan could have failed completely. Jesus was truly man, and therefore must have been capable of giving in to temptation. If this was not so, his ministry in general, and those forty days in particular, become a nonsense." p12.
Monday, 7 March 2011
God Really Cares
Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you
1 Peter 5:7
In his book, He Still Moves Stones, Max Lucado writes, "What matters to you, matters to God. You probably think that's true only when it comes to the big stuff, like death, disease, sin and disaster. But what about the smaller things? Flat tyres and last dogs? Broken dishes, late flights, toothaches or a crashed hard disk? Do these matter to God? I mean, He's got a Universe to run and presidents and kings to watch over. He's got wars to worry about and famines to fix. Who am I to tell Him about my ingrown toenail? I'm glad you asked! Let me tell you who you are - you are His child - as a result, if something is important to you, it's important to Him."
If you grew up hearing, "go away, don't bother me," you might just think your Heavenly Father feels the same way too; but you'd be wrong! Fixing big problems doesn't require any more effort on His part and handling little ones doesn't require any less. There are no degrees of difficulty to a God who is all powerful. Listen: "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him" (Nahum 1:7).
Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.
