Life Encounters

Here’s something Amanda read this morning which also follows on from the last post:

When you’re alone too much you lose perspective. If the enemy can isolate you, he can influence you. God designed his family to stay connected or as Paul says ‘So that all the members care for each other’ (1 Cor 12:25)

Peter had no hope without his friends - Granny Wendy, Tinkerbell, and the lost boys. He needed their help to remind him of who he was, encourage him, and help him learn all he needed to be able to defeat Captain Hook. We all need friends like that.

That’s what the church - the community of believers - is for.

We watched ‘Hook’ the other day with our boys - who seem to be going through a Pirate phase at the moment. For those who don’t know the film, it’s a follow-on from Peter Pan. Peter has left Neverland, grown up, and is living in the real world with a wife and family (who he is too busy for because of his high-powered executive job in corporate acquisitions).

The plot centres around Peter’s big problem: He’s forgotten who he is. Now I guess that would be ok (apart from the fact he’s become very boring, is stressed a lot, and doesn’t know how to have fun with his family).

The trouble is that Peter has an enemy - Captain James Hook. And Captain Hook hasn’t forgotten who Peter is. Hook is intent on destroying Peter and wrecking his family by coming to the ‘real world’, stealing his kids, and trying to turn them against him. Hook vows that he will always pursue Peter and his family and there is nowhere they can go that they will be safe.

Much of the story follows how Peter has to go to Neverland, remember who he is, and remember how to fly and fight and have fun again. And of course - being Hollywood - Peter remembers how to do all these things, defeats Captain Hook, returns from Neverland with his children, and they’re clearly going to live happily ever after (symbolized by him throwing his mobile phone out of the window and kissing his wife - something all us men could learn from!)

It’s not politically correct these days for Christians to talk about the devil: Of evil that’s not just a sense of violated morality or consequence of bad decisions. Evil that’s embodied in the legions of fallen angels led by Satan, or Hell which is the ultimately destiny for Him and all that choose to follow him.

The fact is that we have an enemy.  And he’s not some comical bloke in red tights, holding a pitchfork, who pops up occasionally to sit on one shoulder to duke it out with the angel who sits on the other shoulder. He’s strong, he’s clever, he’s deceitful, and he’s coming for you.

Regardless of whether we know who we are, or who we’re supposed to be. It doesn’t matter if we’d like to just get on with a quiet life with our families, pursue a career, or surround ourselves with creature comforts and the trappings of modern life. Our enemy has made it his mission to pursue us and destroy us.

In the Bible, another Peter says this:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith - 1 Peter 5:8

If we were to honestly look at the world around us, and at some of the things we’ve all experienced in our lives, how could we deny this? There’s just too much of the same evil patterns being played out again and again for it to be mere coincidence. Whether we like it or not we’re born into a battle and we have an enemy.

Fortunately for us there is one who is infinitely stronger, infinitely wiser, infinitely true and holy, and he has come for us.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. - Colossians 2:13-15

95% commitment to Christ is 5% short. Why would you ever give less than your best to the one who has only ever given his absolute best for you? Get it straightened out and fill the gap.

…Bill Hybels on “The Cost of Discipleship”

Here’s a great quote I just discovered:

Discipleship is when our story meets God’s story and our story becomes more like His.

There’s nothing like a good story to captivate the heart. But true, lasting change only takes place when God’s story interacts with our story and brings about transformation.

Here’s one of my favourite performances (KT Tunstall playing on Jools Holland’s show):

A couple of thoughts:

• You can get great results with less than you’d think - as long as you’re willing to think outside the box
• Most of the great musicians are outside the church and it’s about time the church started figuring out how to reach them.

Incidentally, some friends of mine just recently got through to the 3rd round of a national competition for unsigned bands. Check them out and give them your support. For any fans out there you’ll also see they’ve got some new songs up.

“Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair”

- G. K. Chesterton

I read a great quote the other day which was both inspiring and challenging (as all great quotes are). It fits with a theme of what I find God is saying recently. It also goes well with a message I preached the other week on ‘The Heart of the Matter’  - talking about how God is looking for a people whose hearts are fully devoted to him and who seek his face, not just his hand.

It is so important…to be constantly enquiring of the Lord. We need to be so desperate for God that we’ll do whatever it takes to follow him. We will be so much more effective in our ministries if we seek the will of God and do it. This involves spending time with our heavenly Father. We cannot know the heart of God without first being still and listening. For each of us the hidden place with God is crucial.

Sadly all too often we let our ministries get in the way of our relationship with God. We become so busy that the noise of the world around us swamps out the voice of the Lord. We find ourselves more focused on doing the work of the Lord than on seeking the Lord of the work.

- from “Passion for Your Name” by Tim Hughes, published by Kingsway Communications, 2003

Here’s the chorus from a song I’ve just been listening to:

Majesty, majesty. Your grace has found me just as I am:
Empty-handed but alive in your hands
Majesty, majesty. Forever I am changed by your love
In the presence of your majesty

and a quote from a book I’ve been reading:

There is nothing on this earth that compares with the moment when you are faced with, and encounter, the grace of God, that undeserved love that invites us and enables us to stand in the presence and majesty of God.

I think the great thing about being a Christian - which is unlike any religion - is that it’s a completely level playing field. It doesn’t matter how gifted we are, how clever we are, how lost in sin we are, or how godly. Even the ‘best’ of us fall painfully short of God’s standard and are ‘empty-handed’ and yet…

God’s grace finds us just as we are, He makes us alive in his hands, and He changes us with the power of his love. How cool is that? And it also means that whatever we’ve done, or wherever we are, we’re never too far away from God to respond to his invitation.

For me personally I’m learning that no matter how skilled, experienced, or Christ-like I become. I’ll never grow beyond that need to come into God’s presence, hold out empty hands to Him and allow him to work in me.

I was just looking through some notes from a sermon I preached a little while ago and came across this quote from Dwight L. Moody. I’ll let it speak for itself:

If only we could make the world believe that we loved them there would be fewer empty churches, and a smaller proportion of our population who never darken a church door. Let love replace duty in our church relations, and the world will soon be evangelized.

You can call me sad if you like, but there’s some exciting news. The new grass is growing at last!

Our lawn (or rather the muddy patch of earth with a few clumps of meadow grass on it) has always bugged me. A few weeks ago I decided to take some action and sow some more grass. At the risk of endangering my reputation for being cool here are some  lessons from my lawn…

Number One: Things take time to grow

Since I sowed the new grass I’ve been going out every day to check on it and have been completely underwhelmed at its lack of progress. Every day I was eager to see green shoots of life. Instead there was absolutely nothing.

I was plagued by doubts: “Maybe I did it wrong”, “Maybe the birds ate it”, “Maybe the kids ran over it and killed it”, “Maybe it didn’t have enough water”. “Maybe I wasted my time”.

And yet here we are a couple of weeks later and there’s some good green shoots that have shot up.

Life’s like that as well.

I know I can get discouraged sometimes when I don’t see instant growth or results. I’m tempted to think I’m doing wrong, or I need to figure out a new plan, or to give up and start again. Sometimes things just take time to grow. In fact nothing great was ever achieved overnight. Whether I’m trying to achieve something, share the good news of Jesus, or help people grow. More and more I realise I just need to patiently keep doing what God has asked me to and trust him to make things grow. Check out what Paul says about this

Remember, it’s only love that never fails - and above all love is patient.

My Gran was 80 yesterday. Life’s getting harder for her these days - she has Parkinson’s, arthritis and angina. It’s not easy to do simple things anymore and she is in constant pain. Yet her faith in God is stronger than ever.

I think over the past few years she’s become one of my heroes. I admire her simple trust and how she doesn’t feel the need to understand all the difficult things in life. How,  despite suffering, she has an unswerving hope of an eternal future and a deep relationship with the God who walks beside her.

Most of all I admire how she feels she’s ready to go home to join her saviour and her family and friends who’ve already passed away: Not because she wants to quit this life, but because she feels her job is done. Her children and her grandchildren have all accepted Christ and are serving him, and her great grandchildren have all either done the same or will follow soon.

I’m thankful for some simple words she’s spoken over the past few years which have been foundational in what God has been doing in and through me.

Happy Birthday Gran.

A good man (or woman) leaves an inheritance for his children’s children - Proverbs 13:22

I’m not sure what officially counts as summer these days. Walking outside this morning and spending time with God it certainly felt like summer. I’d forgotten how great this city is when the sun is out!

As I was walking through one of our (many) local parks with the sun shining I was prompted to thank God for all the ways He’s blessed me and my family. Most of us often think about things that need to be done or things that we need. Or maybe even just a list of things we’d like (like my 3 year old’s growing birthday wish-list). How often do we actually pause to consider how blessed we are and be thankful?

In that moment I appreciated God’s constant blessings and provision over the years. As I did that I knew His presence and my faith grew that He is good and that He cares for me.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. - Psalm 28:7

Anyway after three months of being busy with other stuff, it looks like I’m back

The story of Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well has fascinated me for a long time. There is so much in it - and so much that can be learnt. About worship, about relationship, about a Saviour who was not afraid to break through cultural barriers to speak truth. About Jesus’ ability to speak to a person’s deepest point of need, and how one simple conversation with one person can result in many people being saved.

The thing that’s struck me as I’ve been thinking about this story recently is simply this: Jesus took time for people.

If you read the story there were so many reasons why Jesus didn’t have to speak to this woman. He was tired. He was a single Jewish guy alone with a Samaritan woman. She had had 5 husbands and was now living in sin. In fact, I’m pretty sure no religious person would have ever spoken to her - and if they did then only to condemn.

And yet… Jesus spoke to her. He made time for her. And after he’d had a life-giving conversation with her, she ran and fetched some other people. And then, when they asked him to come and stay with them, he made time for them too. And many people believed in Him as a result.

Imagine what the world would be like if Christian people weren’t so busy doing ‘Christian’ things, and instead went to places where people were and hung out with them a bit.

If you like you can download the sermon ‘It Never Fails - Love’ that I preached on this last Sunday from our download browser.

Here’s something a friend sent me which makes you think:

I’ve been thinking about obstacles over the last few days and challenged by studying 1 Corinthians 9, where Paul is talking about how he is determined to do whatever is necessary to win people. It’s an inspiring and challenging chapter which is worth a read. This is the verse that hit me this morning:

“But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ” - 1 Corinthians 9:12

Paul’s saying that there were some things that they were entitled to and that they had every right to expect. However, they’d decided they didn’t care about such things and were determined to put up with whatever was necessary that they should be able to present the good news without any obstacles.

Makes you think, doesn’t it? What does the world actually think they need to do to get to God? What are the things we do or communicate that are simply obstacles or hoops to jump through. What are some of the things we hold on to that are actually obstacles to the gospel - whether we think we’re entitled to them or not? Here are some that spring to mind:

• Traditions and “that’s not the way we do things” thinking
• The language we use
• The type of music we use in church 
• Personal and cultural preferences
• Preconceptions or stereotypes
• My own interpretations or preconceptions
• The type of people I’m comfortable with welcoming or hanging out with
• A sense of entitlement or personal comfort/reward

What about you? Anything you do, that you expect, or that you cling on to which is creating an obstacle for people to encounter God?

If we are going to be the witnesses that Jesus asks us to be then ultimately there there can only be one obstacle that we present which people need to overcome in order to encounter God: Jesus Christ and him crucified. With that in mind, we who call ourselves Christian must be committed to making people’s journey to the cross as obstacle free as possible. 

If you want some inspiring truth on this subject, check out Wolfi’s talk on “Developing a Winning Attitude” from last Sunday.