"I earned my pay yesterday"

Recently I worked a weekend away at a festival as bar staff, the shifts were very long and hard and our bar was one of the busiest at the venue.  On the bar we were either serving, working tills, pouring the drinks or refilling stock.
We each had our individual job to do but we all had to work together to achieve the SAME GOAL ..making the customer service successful and efficient

In a similar way God needs us to work together, we all have different jobs, uses and gifts but WE ALL SHOULD HAVE THE SAME GOAL!  It's not always about the jobs we do individually, but about what we can achieve as a team!

As afternoon came on the last day we were all starting to feel the strain.. but as a team we helped each other and kept team morale high!  ..With some exceptions, being most of the stock workers began sitting down, slacking on their job and just waiting until they were really needed -making the rest of us feel a bit annoyed as meanwhile we were still expected to work away just as hard!

...One of the stock guys tried to reason with me saying, "hey I earned my pay yesterday"!

It got me thinking how many times I use that excuse... How many times I say things like... but I worked all day yesterday!.. but I cleaned the dinner away yesterday!.. but I did that for you yesterday!...

So often I reason with myself and others because I think I've earned the right not to do something!...
But the truth is, that stock worker was being paid just the SAME amount as the day before, he had exactly the SAME job to do and we still had the SAME goal... So why should he have been working any less?!

And it's the same for us!.. Having a great time of prayer yesterday shouldn't mean we only need 5minutes of prayer today!.. Reading the bible yesterday should not be the excuse we use from reading it today!.. Blessing your friends or family yesterday should not mean you don't do it again today!.. Speaking the gospel to someone yesterday should not stop us from doing it again today!...

...Don't live each day by what you did yesterday... But maybe challenge yourself to do the SAME AND MORE!
And remember, we DON'T EARN rest or treats... THEY ARE GIFTS... gifts not given by ourselves, but BY GOD!

Calm the storm

God has a plan on each of our lives, He has different destinations for us to get to and journeys we have to take along the way.

Have you ever found that on your way something has stopped you getting to your destination? Or delayed you and slowed you down?

..I have! And recently I have found the most common thing holding me back has unfortunately been relationships.

In the book of Jonah the prophet gets on a boat to sail accross the Mediterranean sea, he is running away from God ..unlike the sailors who all have a purpose on that boat and they have a destination they need to get to.
Along the way the sailors hit a storm, which puts them in danger and hinders their journey.  The pinpoint cause of the storm is Jonah and the only way to stop it is to throw Jonah off board and away from their boat.  The sailors tried to throw other heavy objects off first but the storm did not calm until Jonah was in the sea.

Have you ever realised that the reason you are being held back or left in a bad place is due to a certain person?  God has mercy on that person for whatever mess they drag you into but God also has mercy on YOU.  A lot of the time we know certain relationships aren't healthy but we often try to throw away other bits... We try to compromise because loosing someone can be painful and risky.

But as the sailors found out, compromising didn't help calm the storm... getting rid of other things got them no where... they had to get rid of the cause.

If you have someone is causing a storm in your journey remember that you can't stay there forever trying to compromise and throw away other things just to keep them in your boat... God has a destination for you to reach!

Sacrifices of relationships can be so difficult but trust in God... He will bless you so much more for the hard sacrifices you make.  A sacrifice should be something that isn't easy to give up.  Loosing friends and people I love along the way has been incredibly hard but I can say that God has blessed my journey so much more and now I look back and realise how much those relationships held me down and the storms they caused me to get stuck in.

Is there someone stopping you in your journey today?  Have you spent days/weeks/years trying to compromise or battle the storms but found you've got no where?

It's funny looking back over the story of Jonah how when the boat hit the storm, he went and slept... the sailors were doing anything they could to get out of trouble and on with their journey.  But Jonah never helped or did anything, he knew he was the cause and he knew the only way the boat would get to Tarnish is if he wasn't on it.

With all the compromises and sacrifices you are making to keep someone in your life ...how much are they fighting with you?  
Remember what you are fighting for... are you fighting against your own battles  ...or are you fighting for God?

Don't take half measure!

This morning I was quickly popping into town to get a couple bits of shopping, I was already running late so to save time I headed towards a roadside car park just behind the shop I wanted to go in, the parking is free for a limit of a 45minute stay... A perfect place to park the car!

However, there are rarely any spaces to be had and it is always a very slim chance you will manage to find a gap to park in! ...So I was desperately hoping that today would be one of those slim chance times! As I got nearer I asked God if He would provide a parking space for me. Isn't it so amazing to have a God of provision!!?

But as I turned onto the line of parked cars I could see infront of me a very small space at the beginning of the row ... It looked like my car could get at least halfway into the parking area. Up ahead I could see a gap but from the distance it was hard to tell if it was a small space between cars or if it was a proper parking space.

In that moment I seemed to forget about Gods provision ...I thought maybe the half space at the front WAS the gap God HAD provided ...so I tried that first, thinking if it was too small I'd drive on to see the space further down. But as i realised the first gap definitely was no good at all another car drove past and I was sat left to watch as the driver pulled in, parking quickly and easily into the LARGE space ahead!!

It got me thinking about how I could doubt Gods provision... God does NOT provide in halfs!! He does NOT provide in fractions! ...He provides in LARGE!

By doubting Gods provision I missed out! Somebody else took the place while I was wasting my time trying to fit my car in HALF a space!!

..Are you missing out by doubting the ways that God can provide in your life?! ..Just remember that God provides in ALL ways... BIG or SMALL, but ...He NEVER provides in HALF!!

What If...?

So I recently listened to a preach on a mans experience of hell... we often hear experiences of heaven but very rarely hell... We all go to heaven first for judgement so anyone brought back to life probably didn't face actual judgement.  This man's experience made heaven and hell such a reality, and you wouldn't wish hell upon anyone, it made me want to run out and scream at people warning them, but in reality that wouldn't help and so I wanted to write something that would make people think and make their own decisions on what they believe... Because what scares me the most is people don't think to question, and we don't always see the choices we are making before its to late.  Anyway I wrote this in hope it could help some people question and think more about the relevance of Jesus....

You could read this in 5 minutes. 5 minutes is the time of an advert break between Hollyoaks or the time it takes to switch your computer on and login into facebook.  5 minutes is the time it can take to decide what to eat for dinner, or what nightclub to go to, or what girl/guy your going to hit on!  But what about taking 5 minutes away from all those other things and just take that quick amount of time to ask yourself if there are bigger decisions to make? …because sometimes questions are worth answering.

If you had to choose between Heaven and Hell,
...where would you choose?

If God rules Heaven and the devil rules Hell,
...who would you choose?

If God created everything that is good and the devil attacks, destructs and hides this good,
...who would you blame for the evil and suffering of the world?

If the devil hates God and hates the world that much, and if you were created by God in His image,
...do you think the devil would hate you?

If the devil hates you and God unconditionally loves you,
...would you choose to be loved or hated?

So what if we do have a choice to make?  But we are given free will to make that choice so does it really matter? ...Life goes on regardless, right? …And if there is Heaven and Hell and God and the devil really exist surely we will just find out and choose once we die? 

…But what if then it’s too late. If hell is separate to God, and God is life, love and all things good –then hell has none of these things and it would be a place God would not want you to go –But if God is righteous and just he has to give us free will.  What if there’s always a choice and what if by not choosing or not believing God, we are automatically, maybe blindly choosing the devil. So then what if when we die we find there is a heaven and a hell, but the choice has already been made… not by God but by ourselves.

If God really is all-good and all-loving He would save us though, right? 

…And what if He already has?  People talk about Jesus and how he was the Son of God, and that he died on a cross… but is there really meaning and truth in that?  Well Jesus’ life, the crucifixion and the resurrection are the most historically documented events ever to have happened so there is definitely proof if you want to look for it, but really this is a guy we didn’t know, and we weren’t there so what relevance does it have if it was over 2000 years ago!?  We can all decide what relevance it has or doesn’t have on us, but a few questions to ask yourself are…

The reason Jesus was killed was because he claimed to be the Son of God. …If this was a lie, why did he not admit it!? ...Instead He endured beatings, whippings, He had a crown of thorns dug into His head, He had nails pierced through His hands and feet-so that He could be lifted up on a cross to suffer horrible death for 3 days …would you ever take a lie that far? 

So then if He was telling the truth in what ways did He show us He was the Son of God, some obvious answers to this question …He loved, He didn’t judge, He treated everyone equally, He got angry with religious people for following laws or worshiping other idols- instead of being faithful and loving God, He healed the sick, He fed thousands, He performed miracles, He served people -he did not ask people to worship him and treat him like a king but instead like a servant… the list could go on!
But how do we know these things are true?!  Well, they are documented, and most of the miracles that took place were in front of many hundreds or thousands of witnesses (locations of these events were included) so when they were written and recorded there would have been many witnesses to dispute any false recordings -but there has never been any such documents!!  There are many other ways to find proof; you just have to be willing to want to hear them or to look for them…

Anyway so if this is all true, why does it matter?  We weren’t alive then, Jesus didn’t know us, we didn’t kill him!  Why is something that happened so long ago relevant to you right now?
…What if to be righteous and just God has to give us all free will …so He knew we would all have to make a choice, and if our choice has to be made before we die then God had to provide us with an unchanging question to all ask ourselves and answer!  …That question is, DO YOU BELIEVE JESUS DIED FOR YOU? –Do you believe that he was telling the truth, that he went through that pain and suffering so you don’t have to, that he died but conquered death and hell by rising again to heaven!?  …If this man -Jesus, only loved, cared, and did good, if He told the truth about God and never lied, why did he suffer so much to do this-to tell you the truth?  …The answer is, love.  

It says in the bible that ‘we love, because He loved us first’...hasn't love become something so wrapped up in sex, marriage, divorce, or we so often see love as the number of things that person does for you -the number of roses they give, or the number of times they tell you your beautiful, or how often they cook and care for you.  But true love isn't about scoring the amount of love you receive, it's about what you give up for someone else -it's about showing people how much you love them by the sacrifices you make ...Jesus sacrificed His life, surely that is true love?

So what if God has provided us each with a choice in this life that is so often masked with irrelevance – maybe because as a generation we see church to be outdated and uninteresting, or because we distract ourselves so much with finding evidence against that we don’t stop to question, or maybe it makes us uncomfortable to think about so we just ignore it …think of all the things that have stopped you, and maybe go back again to the questions at the beginning.  Take time to ask yourself what you think.  And question this, if the choice your making right now is the one that would last forever, would you choose differently? 


What if God is real, and Jesus was telling the truth ...what would that mean for YOU?


[The man who had the experience is called Bill Wiese and his preach is called 23 minutes in hell, he's written two books and done many preaches, I listened to one he did in C3 Church San Diego.]

The heart of Audacity!

Take off your comfort blanket and step out in audacious faith!

http://www.freedomchurch.co.uk/index.cfm?mediaVideoViewCall&eid=3129&cid=1139

Such an incredibly inspiring and challenging preach....give it a listen!!! :D

Audacious Faith

Faith to pull off your comfort blanket, Faith to step out side the box, Faith to fly out of the nest!!... Audacious Faith!

'In the same way, faith itself without accompanied by action, is dead.' Without daring to step out away from being comfortable, faith is dead.  Audacious faith means being the one who is looked at, who stands out from the ordinary, it means being different and daring to move! Because you can have a belief, you can be a christian, but without the faith to act on it, it is dead!  'You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder.' Even the demons think that there is one God ...that is such a strong, powerful verse.. because without putting faith into action your belief might as well be the same as that of the demons-who shudder!!

Audacious Faith!! -Don't be intimidated, be ready for God to use you! Being ordinary and staying in the comfort zone won't cost you a thing, having audacious faith will cost you... but God will pay you back in such greater ways!  Don't shy away from the potential God has in your life...

Verses taken from James 2:17&19

Visionary Love, Dream Sex

I wrote a piece called 'No sex before marriage..?' and I just wanted to post a really good series of preaches on Relationship, Love and Sex on here for any of you Christian/Non-Christians who want to know more.  This series is called 'Visionary Love, Dream Sex' it is a really great series of talks that will go deeper into the christian understanding of Relationship, Love and Sex.  There are 6 parts to the series and they were preached in Elevation Church, NC.  You can listen/download them for free as podcasts... I can't put a link on here to itunes. But go onto itunes podcasts and search 'Visionary Love, Dream Sex' and you should find them under the Elevation church podcasts.  They are really worth listening to... :D

No Sex before Marriage...?

Coming from a non-christain teenage life I had a totally different way of looking at relationships, sex and attraction.  It is still new to me and I've recently started to look more into what makes christian relationships different and why there are bible values like, no sex before marriage.  I always say that my decision to become a Christian does not mean that I now have to follow a set of rules...instead it is about having faith in Jesus and having faith that He will lead me to do things that are only for the best of me.  So I wanted to find out why 'no sex before marriage' would benefit me...

We all know what the plus sides of having sex are, and we know that being in a relationship with someone is something that most of us desire.  So when we are told not to have sex and instead wait for that Mr/Mrs Right before we enter a relationship...why is it some of us concentrate on the negative of this- giving up sex!.. staying single until the right guy/girl comes along!.. having to be patient!.. 

'God WHY!? Why do I have to wait!? When is my perfect partner going to walk by? Why can't I have that relationship now...I can see others who are together and totally in love...when will it be my turn?!  Is it really all worth giving up and waiting for....?

The answer is YES!  God doesn't want us to settle for second best, His idea of a perfect relationship is built up from friendship, its built up on love for each others personality and for the things that make each of us passionate.  God wants you to have a husband/wife that stays with you your whole life, that gives you security, that brings out the very best qualities in you... that loves you and shades all your insecurities.  So we shouldn't focus on the ticking of the clock...or look at what other people have that we don't.  No, instead we focus our minds on whats to look forward to, on the BEST.  Surely when you think of your ideal partner they are someone who loves and cares for you, someone who makes your qualities shine, someone you trust but also someone who has an attractive, incredible personality and passion.  ...Would you believe me if I said thats the person God has planned to be your husband/wife? 

It is so easy to want to put love and relationship into our own hands, it's easy not to accept that God knows who our ideal man/woman is -more than we could.  And when we see people who are attractive or someone we can have a bit of fun with... it's hard not to take it into our own hands! But God does not want second best for us!  In the world there are a lot of conditions that come with LOVE... take a non-christian relationship for example... I'm 20 now, I know what non-christian relationships were like and have many friends still in those relationships... you can be with someone you get on with really well and makes you happy, you can be with someone you trust, someone who loves you, ...but wait. theres definitely one condition to this relationship, SEX.  Some non-christians might not agree with this, and I'm not saying the condition is as a couple you have to have sex so many times a week for the relationship to work... but what I am saying is there are very few relationships now that could last longer than a few months without sex...  

I'm not saying people are committing a crime and breaking rules by having sex before marriage, but I want you to look at it from another angle.  God created sex to be celebrated and enjoyed, and this is even shown in the bible (Song of Songs) its not there to be hidden or not done! But more importantly God wants a partner for you that loves you for who you are, he doesn't want you to be with someone who loves you but wouldn't stay with you if there was no sex..  wouldn't that be amazing to know that someone loves you for who you are not what pleasures you enjoy together, but for YOU.  And then what's more amazing is for that person to love you like that, then pledge they will love you like that for the rest of your life in marriage... not only that but you then get to enjoy intimacy and sex with that person- with no insecurities on why they love you or if they will leave you or if they might find someone better....

Isn't that the love and relationship we all desire?  Thats what God wants for each of us.  So I will say again, its not rules... its not about what you give up, but about what you could have.

..So thats what I found as my answer for why 'no sex before marriage' is there to benefit me, and call me stupid or say I'm living in a fairytale.. but thats the love and relationship I want! and I know and trust that God will lead me to that.. and if this is the guideline to follow to help me get there then to me it's definitely worth it.  To me now as a christian it's not so much about staying pure from now until marriage and keeping sex special for my husband (although those are things to be valued)... its about something a lot deeper, about building the right foundations for the relationship, focusing also on friendship, and thinking about what reasons I give my partner to love me ...sex being one amazing thing to share in Love and Marriage, instead of being a reason why my partner might love me and stay with me...

One thing Remains

One thing Remains, by Jesus Culture

'One thing remains.. Your love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me'

The Assassin Doubt

A talk about doubt being our assassin... will you let it take over you or will you send it away running!?

http://www.freedomchurch.co.uk/index.cfm?mediaVideoViewCall&eid=3122&cid=1135

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

'Do you not know that in a race all the runners get a prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.'

..We aren't running in an aimless race, our race has purpose and a crown to win for eternity, and we do go through strict training, sometimes its not easy but we have to keep running and God will keep us strong, he is the guide in our race, he is the finish line, he is the prize. So we keep beating our body, when it wants to give up we don't. God's given us his spirit to keep us running to give us energy to sprint. When we are sprinting we stand out, to the spectators, to the other runners- they will see God use us..they will want God to use them in the same way.. because when your watching a race, isn't it the strong sprinter in front place that everybody wants to be?..
We can all run together and help each other in this mission, not so that we are walking or jogging in the race..but sprinting! Reaching others as we are in Gods amazing strength, and we know....We will not be disqualified.

Don't jump ship!

An incredible talk, on being stuck in the middle, caught between two sides... feeling fed up like you can't see the other side, asking ARE WE THERE YET? ....
Give it a listen, its awesome!!!

http://thecity.org/media/message/the_other_side/
Preach by Judah Smith

What does your heart desire?...

The thought of surrendering our lives completely to God can be quite an unnerving thing to do for both christians and non-christians.  But why is it we are afraid?  Do we think God will make us do things that will make us unhappy?  And where does this feeling and idea come from? Because no where does it say that in any scriptures, infact it states the opposite; 'Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart' Psalm 37:4 ...Surely if our hearts desires were fulfilled we would truly be living our life to the fullest and at our most happy?  So why have so many of us lived like this is a bad thing, something we don't want?  ...For me it was the struggle of admitting that I might not know the best way to live my own life, because thats what it was -mine.  Only I should know how to live my life to the fullest...right?!
It's hard to believe or accept that Gods plans could be better than our own plans.  But what we might not think about is that many of these dreams and desires in our hearts were planted there by God Himself and He is even more eager to see them come to pass than we are.  One man put it this way, 'God will choose for you what you would choose for yourself, if you had enough sense to choose it!'  Scripture says, 'For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future' Jeremiah 29:11. 
 God wants us to know that he His plans are the greatest plans for our lives, and the more we give up to the Lord, the more we trust in him, the more we will see His plans unfold and the more we will experience the joyful, fruitful abundant life that Jesus spoke about.  So ask yourself, how much of your life you give up to God... If you haven't given Him any control in your life, maybe its time to ask yourself if you are really living your life the way your heart desires it to be lived?...Are you completely content and happy?...Or are there gaps, things missing in your life?  God has incredible plans for every single person, you just have stop resisting and instead surrender to Him -in turn He will fulfil your hearts desires.  
Sometimes we don't realise what our lives are missing, until we have it...

Single Minded

A two part preach on relationships and finding your partner for single people by Gary Snowzell...

Select the 'Single minded' series for part 1 and part 2 of the preach.
http://www.freedomchurch.co.uk/index.cfm?mediaArchiveCall

Seized with alarm. Struck with fear.

In life everyone faces disappointment, we get let down by people or by things that we did/didn't want to happen...  It can be frustrating and discouraging, especially if it happens more than once!  In the book of John (11:40) in the bible it says 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?', in day to day life we put our hope into things and its similar to putting all our trust in God.  Praying to Him and believing with all our heart that he will answer those prayers.  But what about when we are faced with disappointment because our prayers aren't answered the way we expected?
Hebrews 10:35 says 'Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens.  Remember the great reward it brings you!' After feeling like we've been let down it can be so easy for us to remain doubtful and discouraged in situations, but in these times we have to push ourselves to pour out more faith and more trust, because God does answer prayers it just might be in a way you don't expect.  If doubt and disappointment get the better of us we would all be left stuck in one place, instead it should be what drives us, what pushes us to go further and what makes us believe even more.  Mark 5:36 says 'Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear, only keep on believing'.  When met with defeat the Lord says keep believing, because theres always a silver lining if you look up to see it, and theres always another path if you turn the corner to face it...

Unanswered questions..?

Believing something without seeing it is a lot easier said than done.  A lot of us seek to find proof and pick at all the details, but are any questions really answered?!  Scientists theories of evolution and the big bang theory aren't proved, theres evidence for and against.  Just like people can't prove that there is a God and Jesus is alive, there are thousands of people with testimonies and again evidence.  But we find ourselves with so many questions, How? When? Where? Why? Who? ...but maybe we should ask ourselves why we all seek to find the answers to these questions?! Why do we need to prove theories and our existence? ...Is it because there is something we are missing?...Something we long to find...We might even find the answer is as easy as taking a step of faith.  Open our hearts and minds to the possibility that...the God is the creator and the father... possibility that Jesus is alive.  You can never get a fair answer if you aren't open to both sides, so if you are reading this as someone who hasn't found their answer... what I would tell you now is open up to the possibilities. Let your heart go and believe and just see where it takes you, take that leap of faith ...because you might just land on solid ground...
Mark 5:36'Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe".' (Miracle of the dying little girl then took place)John 11:40'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?'

Debts cleared...

Last year I went travelling, while I was abroad I got ill and had to go to hospital while I was in America.  I was there the whole day, they treated me horribly and really all I needed was a quick 10minute consultation and some antibiotics.  Unfortunately I had misread terms&conditions in my travellers insurance and so was left with over £1000 hospital bill that came through to us just after christmas!  The bill was being chased up by a debt collectors company and insurance had said they wouldn't pay a thing.  We wrote a letter to the hospital complaining about the treatment I received there and the amount of money to pay for that was ridiculous.  I prayed about it, hoping that the bill would be lowered so that there was less financial strain, when paying, for me and my parents.  After I had prayed about the bill I had a peace about the situation. 1month later I got a text from my mum to say we had received a letter cancelling the whole entire bill!  There had been no reply to our complaint, no struggle to lower the price...just a letter showing balance of £0 owed!!

I'm Alive!

A Dance piece all about being alive and when you meet God it's like being struck to life by the jolt of a defibrillator.  It is a take on 'The Valley of the Dry Bones' in Ezekiel.  Again its a piece everyone can relate to and you should ALL give it a watch!

http://www.freedomchurch.co.uk/index.cfm?blogCall&template=default&blogID=242&postID=1666

By Freedom Church HFD!

Troubles we see. Glory we can't.

Such an amazing bible verse, it just puts troubles in perspective!  If your not a christian this verse is still inspiring and just teaches us that troubles won't last, we can sometimes focus so much on the bad things that are happening but in the whole scheme of things they are so small ..all we need is a bit of perspective!

2 Corinthians 4 vs 16-18

'That is why we never give up.  Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won't last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.'

To distressed to pray...?

We all go through sorrow and hard times, and it can become so hard to resist the downward pull that depression and despair create.  These Negative emotions can cloud our thinking and distort our perception of ourselves, our circumstances, and of others, even to the point where we feel we just can't pray, we are to weighed down and stuck with sorrow.. Psalm 77:4  “I am too distressed even to pray!”

But in this situation, take heart in the fact that you can defeat the enemy and rise up in victory by lifting your praises to God. Even if you don't feel like it at first, trust that your feelings will follow as you persist in rejoicing in the Lord. Before you know it, the joy of the Lord will bubble up inside of you and lift you above your circumstances. Remember--when you're too distressed even to pray--then praise!...The joy of the Lord can outweigh ANY form of worldly happiness.

Try this prayer

Lord, teach me how to resist despair as soon as it comes against me. Show me how to use the power of praise to defeat the enemy of my soul. Remind me that David said, “I will praise the Lord no matter what happens.” (Psalm 34:1) Thank You that as I take my stand against depression and despair, no one will take away my joy! (John 16:22)

Challenge: Lent

So the normal thing to give up is chocolate...or crisps.  I was debating facebook, but nowadays theres just to many things organised on facebook so put that idea to rest pretty quickly.!  I don't always give up things for lent, but this year I really wanted to find something I could sacrifice for the 40 days-something a bit challenging but also a bit more meaningful than chocolate.  So while praying I asked what to give up for lent and straight away the thought came of time.  I've been giving up half an hour everyday to read different verses and books in the bible.. so far its going really well, I'm learning so much and there are some amazing books in there that I have loved reading for the first time :).  And I'm getting a lot back as a result of just giving up that little bit of time each day.

The Path

God has a path he wants us all to follow to get the most out of our lives and to bring out the best in us.  He knows you more than anyone else, he knows wants deep in your heart and what will make you happy.  But its very easy to get pulled off and dragged away from the best we can have in life, theres temptation in the world and sometimes we don't even realise its bad or makes us unhappy... until we are further and further from the good.  But if you push away the temptations and really follow God's path, you will be in Gods protection and nothing will stop you from the greatness of life! ...See what you make of this video-everyone can relate to this in some way, christian or non-christian! :D...

http://www.freedomchurch.co.uk/index.cfm?blogCall&template=default&blogID=242&postID=1591
A creative video, done by an incredible, innovative church... Freedom HFD.

Like a Lion - David Crowder Band

The lyrics in this song are great....so great I thought I would copy and paste them!

Let love explode and bring the dead to life
A love so bold
To see a revolution somehow.
Let love explode and bring the dead to life
A love so bold
To bring a revolution somehow


Now I'm lost in your freedom
This world I'll overcome.


My God is not dead
He's surely alive
He's living on the inside
Roaring like a lion


Let hope arise and make the darkness hide
My faith is dead
I need a resurrection somehow


Let Heaven roar and fire fall
come shake the ground
with the sound of revival

Don't put Jesus First.

A talk on why we shouldn't focus on putting Jesus First in our life...but instead put him in the center of everything we do.....

http://www.elevationchurch.org/sermons/dontputjesusfirst/part1

Ephesians 6:16

'take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil on'


Your faith will extinguish any flaming arrows, of doubt, of fear....of anything evil, it will protect you.  Faith in Him will shield you.  You can bet your life on that shield -you just have to hold it up infront of you ready for the fiery arrows!

Tenth Avenue North

This band play christian music, and its not cheesy!  Worth listening to..

My favourites are:
By your side
Strong enough to save
You are
Lift us up to fall
and All the pretty things

The band is called Tenth Avenue North and the songs above are in their two albums 'When the light meets the dark' and 'Over and underneath'.

Elevation Worship

Incredible songs, the album is 'Kingdom Come' and its by Elevation Worship, from Elevation church.
My favourite songs are:
Give me Faith
Kingdom Come
This City is Yours
With Everything
and The Church (in video below)

Devotionals+Random

Website for great devotionals, music and just general awesome info.!!

http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com

Chris Tomlin-Our God

Amazing song and incredible lyrics!
'And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?'

Challenge: Me

I’ve been challenged a lot recently about myself… I think one thing I’ve realised is even though I think I’m totally happy and great, inside there are things I need to deal with and things I need to work on so that I can build myself up, be stronger and happier.  God can see whats really inside and He knows what truly makes us happy, so as I'm learning more about God, I also want to learn more about myself and focus on any problems I have or on things that I know I really love doing.  In Proverbs 21 it says 'People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart’, so I'm taking a bit of a challenge to focus on me a bit, so that I'm not just right in my own eyes or with what's on the surface.  I've done this challenge for a couple weeks now, and already finding that I'm learning more about myself!  And it's helped to not be to focused on what other people think or on what I'm wearing or doing things for the wrong reasons... A challenge that I recommend all of you to do to, even if it's just for a week, just focus on the things that really make you happy and focus on whats on the inside not the outside ...You'd be surprised at what you learn!

Proverbs 21
' People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart '
Proverbs 19:8
' To acquire wisdom is to love oneself '
Proverbs 27:19
' as a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person '

Reliability of the bible

A list of links and sources showing the reliability of the bible...

http://www.facingthechallenge.org/arch2.php

Live for today

Holding on to things in the past, thinking about past memories, things you would change, things you would relive..
..Jesus tells us to live for today
..Live for now

Rob Bell, Today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR7lXbiWgNU&feature=related

Loosing Old Life

Really letting go of old life is hard, but by the love of God and trusting him we can be truely born into new life...

Rob bell, Tomato

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KVPSMPfhdI