On Mission, not Missing

Its a nice compliment when someone syas to you - What's been happening in Wood Street World? - in a tone that says - Where have you been? Having not written for over a week, I've lots to say, but am concious that I could bore anyone quite easily with a blow by blow account of my week!

ICC where I study supports a football team that plays in the West of Scotland Evangelical Churches League. We're currently at the top of the league with 4 games to play, needing 5 points to win the championship!
We went away for the weekend to Newcastle. The majority of the boys are not Christians and have a lifestyle that I used to share, which meant it was interesting for two reasons: First because I still feel a pull or pressure to drink and behave in a certain manner in order to be 'One of the lads'. Secondly because, knowing me and my beliefs, it leads to some very interesting discussions.

I have been praying for one of the lads in particular who has asked me about my faith on a few occassions. We had two great discussions in which I was able to share parts of my testimony. The first time he said that so much of my story was just so relevant to him at that point in time and the second he confessed that he really wants to change a lot of his attitudes and behaviours, but he finds it so difficult.
In one sense these discussions were so encouraging, and in another frustrating as I watched him resume normal behaviour - it really drove home what a hold sinful desires like lust hold over people.

It was a great weekend at the end of the day and I am so glad I was able to get to know so many of the lads a bit better. It would just be amazing if God could rescue some of these guys through this team.

Rusty

This morning at college, we had a class on communication skills. It was not new stuff to me - I had heard most of it before within the context of business. In fact some of it I had taught to people before. It was different however to learn about it form the perspective of preaching or sharing within a church/ministry environment. Shortly after the whole class hearing these pearls of wisdom, we went to morning worship where they heard about a football outreach that I am involved in. The talk was taken by my friend Stuart, but I had to share part of my testimony. At that moment, I realised how rusty I was with public speaking! It is very true that a skill like this needs to be practiced. I realised that it doesn't matter how much I know technically about anything really - if I am not practicing it, it will not be as well executed.

I spent 2 hours chatting with a good friend after lunch, it was awesome to be able to share thoughts and ideas. He made a great point that college is a great time to be practicing the gifts God has given us, because by the time we get to ministry situations our audiences may not be quite as understanding. He's a pretty discerning guy, you can check his blog out by clicking on the link at the side 'Learning to Walk'.

Have a great weekend, I'm off to Newcastle with the football team for the weekend.

Men are for Projects, Women are for Programmes

The book I am reading at the moment is "Why Men Hate Going to Church" by Richard Murrow. He suggests that because of a man's hunter instinct our typical cycle is: Plan - Hunt - Celebrate - Rest, which makes us more project oriented. Women on the other hand are good at creating systems to make life easier. They are programme oriented - a programme being a way of organising people and resources to meet ongoing needs. He argues that modern churches are more programme oriented and that's why men get bored there.

Personally I haven't been in enough churches or at one for long enough to know if this is true, but tonight I finished two projects - I fixed my bike tyre that had been flat for at least a month and secondly I finished the painting in our bedroom that was started at Christmas time. When I got back to the library, one of my friends said: "Why have you got such a big smile on your face?"

I've really enjoyed this book so far, the only thing I am slightly concerned about, is that I am only a third of the way through and he has mentioned twice now that men are the expendable sex!!!

Hope

I was reminded of the joy of God's wisdom this morning - this particular verse jumped out at me as I reflected on my journey with the Lord over the past 2-3 years:

Proverbs 4:18

"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day."

For someone that became a Christian at 27 after many years of sinful living this is particularly reassuring to me as, contrary to my expectations, on becoming a Christian, there was still struggles to overcome and corners to turn. I think I would liken my last 5 years to trying to turn a super tanker around when it is going full tilt!

Praise be to God, for His mercy, grace, love, truth and goodness :-)

Have an awesome day!

God not letting go

The past few days I have struggled with my faith. Strange this should happen at this particular time of the year! I have been convicted of my sinful pride that puts myself before God and builds me up to try and take God's place. On the way to Church this morning I started off in a bad mood - a little depressed in fact. I was snapping at Jill a little too. And then I thought to myself - All those other people at Church today will be in a mood to rejoice, they will be excited about what this day reminds us of - the resurrection of our Lord and His victory over sin and death, yet here I am down in the pit! What is wrong with me? I tried to reason with myself and that did not work. I asked Jill to pray for me and that helped a little. I stood at the flagpole service with doubts about why I was there. At breakfast I had a good chat with a friend from housegroup and shared some of my recent struggles - now things started to look brighter. In the service as I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit amongst our fellowship, my heart began to be healed and encouraged, and a new hope began to be born - I received reassurance from God that everything would be okay and that I was in his hands. I cannot remember which song it was, but the words in one verse were to the effect of 'God never lets you go' and at that point I remmbered that this journey of Faith is never going to be without doubt and fear. Often my mistake is to think that if I start to slip, He will catch me immediately, yet I realise that sometimes it may take days, weeks or even months to work through certain troubles. My faith however has been renewed and restored today that God will never let me go as long as I continue seeking Him. Today of all days, this was so valuable to me when the message is of new life when we give ourselves to Him.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)

Happy Resurrection Day!

Popularity Contest?

Phew, I'm glad that went OK! This morning I led a service of rememberence of our crucified Lord. I became responsible for this on Tuesday afternoon, then was at work all day yesterday so needed to delegate a lot of organising to others (they did great). Being responsible for the outcome, I was really concerned that we would do something that would offend people, that they would be critical about - then I started worrying that the clips from the Passion were too gruesome and that perhaps we should not have shown them in case people were hurt or offended.
But then I realised - this was an accurate depiction of what really happened to Jesus and therefore when leading people in worship we have a responsibility to lead them in and to the truth. We cannot as Christian leaders sugar coat any part of this message if we are to expect people to worship Him in truth. Jesus Christ voluntarily endured this torturous death because He loved the people of the world so much he was willing to die for our sake. We can only truly love God by fully understanding what He gave up for us.
I realised again that leadership is not a popularity contest - it is about leading people in truth and love, not some watered down version of it.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

A Living Sacrifice?

"Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship."
Rom 12:1

I shared a devotional thought at a meeting this morning. As I reflected on Romans 12, I asked myself the question: What does it mean in our lives today?
Having recently taken on new responsibility with the student council at college, I had a concern that all the extra activities and events would be draining and time consuming. As I read through the passage, Paul writes about using our spiritual gifts and I realised that we offer our gifts in sacrificial service in order to worship and honour God. I have already realised that by committing my time to serve in this way, God can only bless whatever we are doing. This position has been a real answer to prayer because I have felt a passenger in God's Kingdom for some time now. With no opportunity to use the gift of leadership he has blessed me with, I have on many occasions questioned myself and felt quite underconfident. I was hungry to serve and contribute and He has delivered something quite out of the blue. I am glad of the time of doubting and uncertainty because it humbled me and helped me realise what I was missing. I can now be thankful for the opportunity to serve and offer myself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. What is most interesting, is that as I do, the extra time is not in fact draining, it is a joy because I love doing the things I am doing. The opportunity to use our gifts is truly a blessing!