Believe it or not

Have you ever seen a 20 stone, 5'11" rugby prop, wearing a Superman T-shirt do a handstand in the middle of a library?

I'll let your imagination do the rest!

Finding my Feet

It takes a while to get used to a new role, that's what I have been finding recently. I am no stranger to leadership posts, speaking in front of large groups, chairing meetings, organising events and everything else that comes with being the student president at ICC but the last four weeks have been a real learning curve for me and reminded me that is is so easy when we have not been exercising our skills and talents to become underconfident. I am so grateful for one member of the student body who took the time after morning worship last monday to encourage me that he could see me getting more used to the role. It put things in perspective and really settled my nerves. I had the chance to thank him yesterday and he noted that the previous president had been the same - I had thought it just came effortlessly to my predecessor, but then I didn't see his first term 'in office'.

The college community is such an encouraging place, despite being a bit shaky (particularly leading the college in prayer) everyone has been so patient and understanding. Thanks to everyone that has prayed with me and for me the last few weeks, I really appreciate you and what you have been doing to help. Mostly, I want to Praise and thank God for calling me to this post and allowing me to use my gifts to serve my fellow students in this way - you know me so well.

If you want something done.............

Give it to a busy person, or so the saying goes. I am finding this to be so very true this week. I find it amazing that when I am not so busy it seems that what I do have to do carries more weight, yet when I have loads to do, the burden seems so much lighter because I am just concentrating on getting it done, rather than inwardly complaining that I have something to do!

This week I have 3 assignments to hand in, an academic board meeting to attend for 3 hours tomorrow afternoon a 2 hour teaching part to prepare for the Equip discipleship training programme on Monday morning. Amongst that we were out for dinner last night, are going to housegroup tomorrow night, I have football training on Thursday evening and then we are off to visit Dad over the weekend......phew!

I love pressure, it brings out the best in me. Must go now, 'cos I need to write a teaching session on Paul as a Missionary in Acts.

Cycling home from Siberia (via Oz)

I have a friend that has been cyling home from Siberia (click on link at the side) to raise money for a children's charity. His name is Rob, he is a Christian and I got know him when selling books during the summer in England. His latest blog entry was fascinating as he describes his journey through Australia (I know, not exactly on route from Siberia to UK!), but the most interesting comment he made was right at the end:

It has been a very worthwhile experience so far - with over ten
thousand pounds raised for Viva Network and their amazing work with children at risk and a good "University of Life" education for me, but is it worth keeping this up for so much longer... all of us (or at least all of us from wealthy countries)live in prisons of our own making and I am not going to keep cycling just because that was my original stated aim... but, for a number of reasons... I think I will keep riding... we shall see...!

This experience has been part of my spiritual journey. Before I went to Bible college, I felt very trapped by the expectations I had of what type of person I should be and what I should do to be deemed successful. In my time at college, I am finding an amazing amount of freedom to be myself, and to discover what I would most like to do with my life. I only have one of them, it is an incredible blessing and I want to make sure I use it to glorify God and have a significant impact on the lives of other people.

Keep going Rob, I am so inspired by your courage and determination!

Daft Supporters

I went to watch Glasgow Warriors play Llanelli Scarlets in the Celtic League tonight at Firhill in Glasgow. I went with a friend and my Dad. It was cool to see my Dad, I really appreciate having the chance to go and do something like that with him as I don't get to see him that much. The only slight problem was that he was wearing his Wales Rugby top proudly and stood out a mile amongst a stand full of passionate Glasgow fans.Even his support wasn't quite enough to spur on the visitors though as Glasgow ran out 17-10 winners, even surviving a late surge from the Scarlets to try and level the game.

I've been to a few football games in Glasgow and you can really notice the difference between the supporters. The rugby fans shout and complain at the referee just as much, but just without the swearing! The best shout of the night though had to be at the Ref (who was wearing a yellow jersey):

"Ref you're wearing the right coloured jersey, you big coward!"

Hilarious! I can't imagine hearing that at Parkhead.

If you have ever watched sport, what is the daftest things you have heard come from the mouth of a supporter?

Precious Moments

They come along once in a while, you wonder where they come from and why they have to end.

I was blessed with a precious moment last night as Jill and I finished eating dinner and started to dance in waltz grip around our wee living room in our top floor flat with romantic music playing in the background and the sun streaming through the window. It was not planned, lasted for about 5 minutes, but will be remembered for a lifetime. Marriage is truly a blessing.

Happy Birthday Alan

A big happy birthday to my friend at college Alan Harrison! You can check out his blog at http://butterhook.blogspot.com/ I hope you have a great weekend in Newcastle and see you on Monday :-)

The blessings of Friendship

I had quite a wierd but cool day today. Wierd because this morning I just felt out of sorts, a bit sad and a little without hope and encouragement. As I got to college, instead of sitting down to write my essay on Philemon, I went to the prayer room and sat for about an hour in silence - thinking, contemplating, praying and reading parts of the psalms and John's gospel. It really helped reassure me that God is a part of my life and even though may not always give quick fixes to my problems, will always be available to help me through tougher times.

I then chatted to one of my best friends over lunch and as I walked him to Queen Street station on his way home. This was a time of real encouragement to me - not because he was able to give me answers to my problems, but just by being there to hang out, listen and share his own thoughts and feelings. I am so thankful that God has given me this friendship this year, it has really helped me to re-learn about what friendship is all about. It also reminded me that often the way God answers prayer may not always be through some supernatural occurance but through the people I am surrounded by every day.

Where did Spirituality come from?

"So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:8-9

I had an interesting conversation with my brother last night. We talked about something fascinating - how could it be that all the different world peoples in ancient times develop a similar desire to worship something bigger than themselves without necessarily having interacted with each other - e.g. Native Americans; South American Indians; Egyptians. His current thinking is that there may be a higher power, not necessarily in the traditional form of the Jewish/Christian/Muslim belief system, and that as humans we have a natural instinct to worship that higher power.

My own belief is that the God of the Bible is that higher power, He created the Universe and the earth and He created humans as spiritual as well as physical beings. For me this part of the Genesis narrative goes some of the way to answering that question. Of course for people that may not believe in the historicity or legitimacy of the Bible it would be harder to accept this explanation. Throughout our Old Testament studies we have looked briefly at a number of conflicting opinions on this matter and so far everything I have examined has not changed my mind about the legitimacy of the Biblical accounts. I think it is really important for Christians to be open minded and hear challenges to our beliefs - it has really strengthened my faith to realise that other explanations often have much less corroborating historical evidence than the Bible does for what they claim, in fact in some cases I reckoned it takes far greater faith to believe them than it does to believe in Jesus.

I'm interested to know what others think of this question that my brother raised and my response, please leave a comment if you feel you have anything to add to the discussion.......................

My wife is awesome!

Jill and I have been married for just over a year now. In this time I have really come to appreciate some of the ways we are different, yet also complimentary. For example - She dislikes washing dishes, and I dislike hanging up wet laundry - its such a faff. However, I really like keeping our rather small kitchen clear from mess and Jill enjoys folding laundry: strange creatures we are! I am so thankful that God brought us together (see 'Testimony' from Sunday March 19th 2006). Even though I did not realise it at the time we are perfectly suited. That does not mean we have a perfect relationship every day (although a lot of days we are not far from it in my mind)but as we continue our life together I realise more and more how we are complimentary in different ways. I love my wife - My wife is awesome!

Rest and Restoration

It's amazing what a difference a good night's sleep makes. The last week or so has been a bit tiring. It started with a weekend away to Newcastle with the boys from football which knocked my sleep pattern a bit, then I was ill for a few days which really knocked the stuffing out of me, then Jill and I were away for the weekend. All of these things have disrupted my normal routines and so coming into this week with a friendship day to organise at college which lead to me writing a talk until 2am on Monday night resulted in me feeling just a little bit drained. Any time I get drained I feel fearful, doubtful and generally uncertain about my faith - but last night I had an early night, then a relaxing bath this morning and all of a sudden this afternoon when it came round to studying I felt so different. Going to the prayer breakfast with Biz and Chris really helped too and I really appreciated the chance to share with them both and begin the day in prayer. I'm off to footie training tonight with a bit of a dead leg and a big game looming on Saturday - one more victory and we are the Champions! An update will be forthcoming.......

Bigging up the Student Council

Yesterday, was the day of Friendship at college. Its a day when all students and staff of the college come together without work commitments and hang out playing games, chatting and working on small projects together. For the student council it can be hard work to make sure everything is set up and then things are running smoothly. I am really blessed with an amazing group of students on the council who worked so hard to make sure the day was a success and so I wanted to recognise them today. Thanks to: Dace; Dave; Angela; Stephen; John; Simon; Biz; Peter. Thanks for being so awesome!

Friendship

This weekend, Jill and I spent with our closest friends in Prestwick. They are emigrating to America in August and this was possibly the last time we will have such a close and relaxed time with them. It was also Jill's birthday which made it really special.

Tomorrow morning I am speaking to the whole student body at ICC on our Fellowship day. It's a time for students to come together without the necessity to read, study, write essays or go to classes in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship that enable community to form and grow. My 10 minute address is on the theme of friendship and for a while I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to share. Yet this weekend I have experienced friendship at what I believe is its truest form.

I have often felt that friendship occurs when you meet someone that you have something in common with, then have common experiences with which help form relationship.

Here are four people (two couples) each with a relationship with God in Jesus Christ, that have known each other for a number of years and have shared many experiences together. However this weekend I realised that one of the reasons this particular friendship is so strong is that we share a common vision/dream for the football team that Stuart and I play with. Our hope and dream is that the lads we play with would come to know Jesus as their Lord, the one that can fulfill the things that are missing in their lives. As we prayed together about this and many other things yesterday afternoon, there was a greater unity that came into our relationship which has brought us closer together. Perhaps a little ironic in that they are moving to Wisconsin in the summer, but a reassurance to me that this is one friendship that will not fall away because of distance.

I would suggest that perhaps the truest and fullest friendships are ones that have Christ in common; spend time together sharing experiences, ideas and feelings; and are united in reaching out to people in need of God's love (in whatever form that may take) through mission.

I would appreciate your comments on this or anything else I write on my blog, so 'answers on a postcard..........'

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!