Politically or Biblically Correct

I follow the Christian Musician Carman on my facebook page. His music has inspired me for mor years than I care to admit I can remember some days, and a dear friend of mine over a decade younger than me when we were discussing Christian artists a while ago asked "Who's he?", which since he's still active REALLY made me feel old!

Today he posted a picture on his page:

 I clicked "like" automatically, but it's been on my mind ever since.

We compromise our faith every day without thinking about it. We apologise for offending people with Biblical Truth, and worse, we say nothing when our beliefs are minimised.

Burger King recently opened up in South Africa. McDonald's and KFC have been here for some time. Now when I lived in the UK I used to really enjoy a Bacon Whopper. In Cape Town you can't get one because it's not Halal.

Seriously? Not Halal? McDonald's and KFC are also Muslim friendly and have been deemed Halal places to eat.

I realised today that I compromise when I eat there now. If you google halal food you can find a list of requirements of what makes this meat halal. One of these requirements is that the phrase “Bismillah” (In the Name of Allah) should be invoked immediately before the slaughter of each animal.

Every piece of halal meat has been sacrificed to an idol.

Now I'm probably going to put noses out of joint by saying this, but if you're offended by this comment, why are you reading a Christian writer's Blog in the first place?

Food is food. But why should we be forced to eat halal food? Allah is a false god and we still find ourselves doing the politically correct thing of having Western owned commercial giants changing their foods to suit a minority.

Now this is a small example, obviously, but it's something that we must be aware of if we are to live in a Christ-like way. I buy halal meat from time to time if there's no other available, but most of my cooking includes a drop of wine or a dash of brandy in the process, rendering it no longer halal anyway, b ut that's beside the point.

We have a problem in that we live in a way that subtly undermines our Biblical principles. The genocide in Rwanda, the ethnic cleansing of central Europe caused an outcry, but there is a point where life starts - in the womb - where it has no value. The baby, a human created in God's image, is "aborted" in the name of convenience. 

And each year hundreds of times the numbers killed in the Nazi death camps are exterminated.

My wife is a doctor. A GP. I couldn't do her job, and she struggles sometimes. Her job requires her to give the World's perspective on sex. Use a condom. She is not supposed to say "If you don't have sex you won't get pregnant, AIDS, hepatitis, syphilis etc". I couldn't do that job. The simple statement "Wait for marriage" is deemed to be judgemental and antiquated by the World. Man's "wisdom" says "make sure you're sexually compatible before taking the plunge". God says "Wait for marriage"

Man is now saying "marriage between two people irrespective of their gender is the same". Christians I know have voted for the legalisation of same-sex marriage. It's not Politically correct to take a stand for God's values. God says a marriage is between a man and a woman. But if we voice this we are laughed at or accused of homophobia. I'm not homophobic. I have no fear of homosexuals. But my marriage is a Sacred Covenant ordained by God, and the World seeks to diminish it by saying it is equal to a homosexual partnership.

When it happened in Sodom and Gomorrah, it didn't end well for the cities. The Sin that made God destroy those cities wasn't homosexuality per se. It was that homosexuality was no longer considered to be a sinful act. We hear cries of "I was born like this" or "I was made like this by my upbringing". 

Sin is Sin. If God said "no", why do we allow ourselves to say "maybe"?

"It's not practical", "you can't control young people", "it's normal". The statements corrupt Biblical correctness at evey utterance. Especially with sex. My wife and I hired 5 different TV series this week: 2 1/2 Men, Burn Notice, Dollhouse and Sanctuary. Sex plays a dominant theme in all of them. Subtle in some, less so in others, but the message is the same. Consequences of sex are never touched on because it's not Politically correct. When an actor in a show starts to question the morality of his own series he is derided for it. I can't think of a single TV series I've seen in the last 20 years that doesn't feature sex as a theme. It even permeated things like Star Trek and Stargate.

We need to take a stand. Biblical Correctness over Political.

It permeates everything. When I was at school we were taught the year was BC or AD according to history. Now it's BCE and CE - because Anno Domini is offensive to non-Christians. And we sit here and take it. CE or Common Era should be offensive to Christians. We should be allowed to have our voices heard. The date system wasn't changed, so why change the label? We still measure time from the estimated date of Christ's Birth, so why not BC and AD?

Politically Correct but morally corrupt.

In one song, Carman sings "when people would rather come out of the closet than clean it, it's the sign the judgement of God is about to fall".

Let's move back to being Biblically correct. Yes, we'll be persecuted for it. But maybe we need to be. We've got soft. The first century (AD) Christians were killed rather than be politically correct.

It's time we took that stand again.

Impossible Possibilities

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." John 14:12-14

The promise sounds too good to be true. He who believes in Jesus will do the same works, and even greater works than Jesus Himself did.

Anything.

Just ponder for a moment the magnitude of the promise here. Greater works than Jesus did.

Greater works.

I've been a Christian since I was 13 years old, and I must have read this passage hundreds of times and heard a great many people teach about it, but it quickened in me only about 5 or 6 years ago. Greater works than Christ Himself asked for in His name.

Now I'd love to see someone raised from the dead, open blind eyes and lame limbs grow strong. Heck, I'd turn cartwheels if I see a hangnail healed at this point. I've not seen it.

Yet.

My brain gets in the way. So I start small. Peter needed cash to pay for the Temple Tax so he went to Jesus. Jesus tells him the first fish he pulls out that day will have a coin in it of sufficient value to pay their taxes. So I jumped on this. Start small and grow. It's like training to run a marathon. You don't do your first practice session the day before. Your muscles need to strengthen and adapt to that kind of pressure. You need to see yourself run a mile, 5 miles, 10 miles and so on to reach the goal of a marathon distance.

Finances are hard, but healing is harder. So I start small. We hit a rough patch with our finances and I asked God to help us in Jesus name. A small amount, the equivalent of just a few hundred dollars. It came in. I asked for work to increase our income and God opened a door which in turn led me to meet an amazing person who has become my closest friend other than my wife. Talking to her and swapping testimonies I saw my faith grow from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand a month. Then the time came for me to leave the job last month. I still trust God to provide the finances as the need is still there.

It only hit me a few days ago that a few thousand a month for 2 years now is greater than 1 coin in the mouth of a fish.

What seemed impossible when I set out was a possibility now.

I'm dedicating myself to spending more time writing and doing what God sends me out to do now. In addition, my wife and I have a business that I may end up managing full-time at some point. My name is on the ownership papers, but I don't really do much there. My passion is for my writing and teaching.

Greater works. The impossible possibility of seeing healing, financial freedom, the dead raised back to life. It all seems closer now.

I keep pondering and chewing over the passage from John's Gospel. Anything in Jesus' name.

Anything.

Why not? Water into wine, calming a storm with a word. These should be a part of our daily life as Christians. The works Jesus did seem impossible, but when we see ourselves as He sees us, the impossible becomes a possibility. Miracles follow the believer.

The miracles follow the believer.

Peter didn't get out of the boat then call to Jesus. He called to Jesus, then he walked on the water. He put his faith in a single word from Jesus. He believed. And then the miracle flowed.

The impossible is only so because we believe it to be. Our focus is such that as we look out we see through either our old self or our born-again self, and the focus determines the reality.

Now I'm not spouting some new-age theory like some nut-job guru. It's what Jesus said. First believe in Him - give our hearts and minds over to Him - then signs and wonders follow. But only to the extent we allow them to.

Read what Jesus did. See yourself there with Him. Imagine the response when he sends out the disciples to the towns and they come back having seen healings, demons cast out - and yes, I do believe that demons are real - all at the name of Jesus. See yourself standing with Jesus at Jairus's home and watching the girl rise from the dead at a simple command. See yourself giving the command! Jesus said we will do the works He did, so visualise yourself doing what He did. See yourself laying hands on the sick in your imagination to start with. Practice with the eyes of Faith, then move out with that faith and declare with Boldness like Peter and the others did that strength come into the lame, the outcast be restored and the brokenhearted be comforted.

But remember, it's only possible when we remember it's not impossible. When our focus is on the problem we will doubtless fail, but by the same token, when we focus on the solution, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in us, we can't help but see the impossible become possible.

God the Comedian

OK, so it's a little irreverent to say God is a comedian, but look at the scripture from Genesis to, well not so much in Revelation, and you see God's sense of humour coming through.

There's so much I can only touch on a few scriptural examples, but let's start in Genesis. God makes a Covenant agreement with a man named Abram who has no children and says his children will inherit the land of Canaan. Then He promises Abram a child born of the Covenant through his wife, Sarai. Abram meets God again at the age of 99 with no children and God tells him his name will now be Abraham - meaning Father of a multitude - but still no child. God tells Abraham that Sarai is now Sarah - and she's 90. Then the punchline "Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"" (Genesis 17:15-17) 

God's sense of humour makes a mockery of our knowledge. Isaac is born, and named "Laughter".

Then in Numbers 22 there's Balaam. Balaam had a donkey who spoke. It's ridiculous to think about. More than that, Balaam enters into a debate with the donkey! Imagine you go downstairs first thing on a winter morning to let your dog out and the dog looks up and says "In this weather? You're kidding!" Now we're not talking about a cartoon donkey voiced by Eddie Murphy or the family pet. This is a real donkey that this man has been riding for years. This man, Balaam, is a prophet himself, and God opens the donkey's mouth to prophesy to the prophet!

If we look forward to 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 we see Jabez. His mother named him, and the name means sorrow-maker. Jabez cries out to God and despite his name, God answers his request. All we know of the man is his name, his petition, and God's sense of humour dancing over his faith!

The Gospels are full of the humour of God. Jesus Himself is a walking joke - until the power flows. From the worldly perspective, Jesus is the illegitimate child of a carpenter. Not a king, descended from David's line, definitely, but so far removed from Israel's throne that it's almost impossible to count how many other heirs would need to die before he got that crown.

But Jesus's humour was a message with meaning that the "learned" people couldn't understand. They were so far removed from Godliness that when God Himself walked with them they couldn't recognise Him.

His birth was announced by shepherds, and news reached Herod because three men stopped to ask for directions. Then there's His miracles. Cana, just after He's baptized by John and He's at a wedding. The host runs out of wine, and Jesus's mother asks Him to help. So He does - Each amphora used to hold water was probably between 4 and 5 feet tall, and probably held gallons of liquid. Imagine the twinkle in His eye as He tells them to fill the jars to the brim, then take the contents to the taster. I can see the "Wait for it" look in His eyes as the bemused servers take the contents across and the purest red wine of the highest quality pours into the cup and the startled taster declares it to be the best wine of the night.

Peter says he needs cash to pay the Temple Tax. Jesus tells him to go fish - literally - and there in the fish's mouth is enough for both of their taxes!

The disciples are drowning on a sinking ship, Jesus casually strolls over to them on top of the sea and as if that's not enough, Peter calls to Him and His response "Come!" and Peter walks on top of the waves as well.

God's Truth makes mockery of Man's facts. The crowning punchline of the Gospel is the Resurrection itself. The Pharisees crucified Him and walked away, Jesus got up again with the sun three days later. Peter had denied Him three times, and after the resurrection he goes back to the life he knows - fishing. He's dragging the nets all night with nothing - just like 3 years before. Then Jesus stands there on the shore and calls out - like before - let down the nets again. And the nets are filled with a mammoth catch. They go to the shore and Jesus is already cooking fish for them. There must have been a twinkle in His eye as He sat with the disciples just like old times. They must have enjoyed the joke together as they went out into the World to tell everyone about Jesus.

The Truth of God makes men's thinking sheer folly. His wisdom is so far removed from ours that we are totally baffled by His ways. The only logical thing to do sometimes when a miracle hits your life is laugh. If we try to understand it we'll just end up with a headache, so just enjoy the ride. 

We'll have Eternity to ponder the humour of God together!

Believing the Unbelievable

There's a lot of things in Christianity that are confounding to the World system. Miracles, speaking in Tongues, Word of Knowledge and Prophecy for starters.

Christianity has developed it's own language and culture, resulting in people not a part of the church feeling excluded and left out. Jesus never did that - it was what the Pharisees did. When He spoke to shepherds, he talked about sheep, fish to fishermen, lost coins, lampstands, everyday simple analogies that would open people's eyes and hearts to His message.

He spoke of unclean spirits because the understanding that this world is held by a force other than God was understood then better than now. Nietzsche is purported to have coined the phrase "God is dead", and the philosopher Charles Baudelaire - "The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he did not exist." These two statements go hand in hand into 21st century culture, resulting in a society across cultures as Western society permeates all areas from one side, and Communism from the other seek to convince us that Self is the most important thing - particularly in Western culture - and to sacrifice anything that gets in the way of promoting Self above all else.

Anything that cannot be "proven" by science is disregarded as fantasy in it's most negative & damaging form. Even irrefutable miracles like healing from paralysis or raising from the dead are disputed by our "civilised" and "educated" culture.

They are simply a flight of fancy, or unbelievable. Stories for children to give them comfort.

We have lost the plot in a big way.

Jesus calls on us to believe the impossible. Move mountains, walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead. Freely receive from God & freely give what we have received.

I have a friend who used to often say to me "The impossible we can do immediately. Miracles may require a little more time" We worked together for a year or so, and I miss the close friendship I had with him during that time, but our God-focussed conversations stay with me, and despite being on opposite ends of the planet now I am able to stay in touch - something I value deeply.

God challenges us, almost dares us to ask things of Him. We see it through the Gospels. High quality wine created from water, 5000 men and their families fed by a packed lunch of a small boy, Peter walking on water, lives changed in unimaginable ways by a simple touch - blind eyes open, deaf ears hearing, lame walking. Even just a word from the creator is enough to heal the sick.

Impossible - scientifically.

"Believe the impossible" is the message Jesus shouts with every action. Whatever you ask for in My name, God will give you He tells us.

I watched a man of God named Dave Duell praying for some people back in the 1990's at some conferences in the UK. Something stood out in this man. It wasn't his holiness, or his (large) personality that grabbed you, it was how ordinary he is. Everything about him said "You can do what I do, you just don't know you can yet". One child had a growth issue in his legs, one was shorter than the other by over an inch. Dave didn't shout and scream, he simply touched the boy's short leg and said "Thank you Jesus", nothing more or less. The boy's leg immediately started to grow until they were the same length. Then, with a twinkle in his eye he leaned in to ask the youngster "Wanna be taller?" The boy nodded, and then the other leg lengthened by about an inch, followed by the second to the same length. His trousers suddenly much shorter than they had been, and the boy stood up, taller and straight.

Unbelievable, but true. I know people will disregard the story and make up their own mind. They will say I'm nuts or a storyteller spinning a tale to make myself look good.

But God says the wise things of this world are foolishness to Him, and we will be fools for Christ.

I've never raised anyone from death. I've never seen cancer healed by my prayers. But I've experienced small victories. A dear friend had bad toothache so I prayed for complete healing. She had a dentist's appointment that would be charged for if cancelled so she went anyway. He couldn't find anything wrong, and she had no symptoms any more. Neither of us was surprised, but he was! I've prayed for bad backs and strained muscles and seen healing manifest on the spot. I've prayed for healings and seen partial recovery and nothing more - it's not just my prayer that matters. It's also on the part of the receiver to gain what God has for them. We have a choice. In His home town, Jesus was only able to do a few minor healings because of the people's lack of faith. Most of the people I've prayed for where I've seen healing manifest don't know me, so they believe it will work because they don't know I'm only as human as they are. Most of the people who know me can't separate the part of me that is tuned in to God from the man they know, so the prayer is less effective. But the source is the same.

Believe what the World system declares impossible and you begin to see God work to produce it. What God can do in our lives is limited only by what we will allow Him to do.

So believe the unbelievable. Let God's Power flow through us like a rushing wind or a mighty flood and see the blind see, the deaf hear, the destitue fed and housed, the sick healed and the dead raised.

One step at a time. Hope to see it gives Faith to see it and Faith manifests it. The unbelievable becomes what it should be for us.

Normal.

All Our Needs

Needs. 

The word jumped out at me today as I was meditating the Phillipians 4:19 promise.

It made me look at my life in a different way.

I grew up in the UK, lived there until I was 31 and then moved to Cape Town. Here I'm a married man of 41 now, 3 dogs, car on the drive and fire in the hearth. My wife is a medical doctor. We're planning a family.

Needs.

What are my needs?

God will provide all my needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.

I'm learning about my needs.

Some of what I thought were my needs, actually aren't.

We don't need many of the things we take for granted in a Western society. 

I live in sight of a less affluent area. We regularly have gunfire within 200 meters of our front gate, and 2 years ago a child was killed by a drunk driver hitting her after crashing through our wall. My wife and I were home and tried to help, but all we could do was cradle the broken body until the paramedics arrived. She died on the way to the hospital, as did the passenger of the car.

Needs.

My needs are simple. Maslow had it right. His pyramid, famous in psychology, holds true in Christianity as well. From basic physiological like food & sleep at the base to self-actualisation at the top, we live according to our progression through the needs we have.

In a Christian pyramid, the needs may be slightly different, but they are essentially the same core. We still need food and sleep. We need safety & security. Friendship, family at level 3. Esteem at level 4 and self actualisation at the top. God puts things in a different way though. In Genesis, He provides all Adams basic needs, food, shelter and the security of employment are all provided by God. Then God says we need companionship - and creates Eve. God's pyramid starts to change a little for the top 2 layers though.

Esteem for us as Christians should come from God. That part of us should be met through our relationship with Him through Christ, rather than acclaim and respect from other people. In fact, acclaim from people could be detrimental to our growth as Christians.

Self-actualisation could be interpreted as finding and fulfilling God's Will for our lives. Actualisation would be more accurate than self-actualisation, but moving in that direction should also be done with the guidance and support of a mature fellowship. God's gifts to us are uniquely suited to us as individuals, coded as perfectly as DNA to form our spiritual selves.

Needs.

Our needs are essentials, not minutia of wants or desires. We have a car, but I have a motorbike as well. Before I emigrated I owned a car, a VW Camper-van and a Harley-Davidson. I had the trappings of my wants but was missing much of my need.

I have a new perspective on need since my first visit here before I moved. As I came out of Cape Town airport for the first time I came face-to-face with the other side of the society. An "informal settlement" was just outside the airport. These houses, cobbled together from wooden pallets and corrugated metal sheets, provided shelter for around half of Cape Town's population. In the 11 years since then, these townships have more than doubled in size as people move to the city from the smaller towns and villages.

Need became a relative term. I realised how little I asked God to meet my needs, and how much I focussed on wants.

Need.

Now my concept of need has narrowed even further. Three years ago when my wife was mis-diagnosed following surgery and almost died I had to learn a new way to pray. I had to look at scripture again and see what to pray for, and how to pray. What was promised and what was not.

Daily bread - level 1 & 2
Forgiveness as we forgive others - level 3
My focus to be on God supplying my needs - level 4
Walking in His way - level 5

Needs. Met.

According to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus. According to His power at work in us.

God is faithful to provide what we can trust Him for.

Our needs
 

 

It Ain't no Sin to get the Blues

There's a Don Francisco song I've rediscovered just recently which has spoken to me in a very timeous manner - I love how God does that.

In it, he reminds us through music that obedience can mean suffering, and we can forget that when everything is going our way. But as a great speaker said in a teaching I heard many years ago, the only time you don't run into the Devil is when you're headed in the same direction.

I'm about to go to my worldly employer, who - lest we forget - is not the source of my financial income, merely the vessel God uses to get it to me, in order to discuss my future with the company.

Since I believe in the product, although my personal experience has been poor as an employee, and I would recommend the product to anyone in the market as the best available - and I've done a LOT of research on the matter - I will not mention the company name here.

I expect that by the end of today I will no longer be employed by this bastion of commercialism, probably with a black mark against my name for daring to put the wellbeing of my health and that of my family before my job. An irony for those who know me personally.

This means I will have more time to devote to not, in the eyes of the world, falling apart.

I prefer to think of it as a new beginning.

My wife's health has recovered to the point that by the end of this week we will have a fully functional business running and servicing the local community - although I will not be playing an active part in it. I will spend some time recovering and drawing close to God in order to allow Him to refresh me, and then moving into His service full time.

Timing is everything, and although I've taken a beating in the last six months, I'm ready to recover and move on. I've been down almost as low as I ever have been (but not quite), and I'm ready to fight back in His strength, always remembering Jesus knows my suffering, the Disciples went through even worse than I did and came out with Glorious Victory.

So hold on to God's Promise, even when things are falling apart. He will never put us through more than we can endure, and we can do all things through His mighty strength according to His Power at work in us.

It's Not Me, Peter. Stay in the Boat...

When we start down the walk of Faith we get a lot of "advice" from our friends. Our families will "support" us by telling us what we "need" to hear.

It can throw us off.

Several years ago I was in a strong church community. I had left a job to start my own business and my youth and inexperience had left it drained and failed as a venture, so after much prayer and soul-searching I found the answer. I spent the next few months waking up in the morning and the first thing through my head was "Lord, what do you need me to do today?"

For that time, to start with, I had support from my friends. I had no formal income, I just trusted the Bible where it said "my God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Phillipians 4:19)

I did my listening on a daily basis and began to do exactly what God told me to do each day. I visited people I wouldn't normally visit, met strangers and spoke into their lives as He led me. And through all this my needs were met. Completely. A tax rebate, gifts of finance and food. The only person I discussed what I was doing with was God. He met me where I was and I kept walking on the surface He gave me to walk on.

Then I talked to a few people about it. That's when the "helpful" advice started.

Despite the fact that I'd been living this way for several months, maintaining a positive bank balance and not missing a payment of utilities dates of any other bill for that matter, petrol seemed to multiply in my car, in fact I got almost double the average milage I was used to getting from a tank of fuel, I was advised that what I was doing was wrong. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 was thrown at me repeatedly by these helpful advisors "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." I got knocked off my vision and what God had placed in my life by this thought. 

In short, I was out walking on water and my friends started unwittingly throwing wind and waves at me.

Peter called out to Jesus and said "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.". Jesus replies "Come" and Peter climbs out of the boat and walks to Jesus. It's not in the Gospel, but what do you think the other 11 disciples thought of Peter getting out of the boat? Crazy perhaps? It's possible they thought it. It would be natural to think it. Peter climbed out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. When he noticed the wind and the waves he panicked and began to sink. Did he notice the wind and the waves because of the wind and waves, or did the other 11 call to him telling him about them inspire the fear? We'll never know in this life, but I'll be asking when I meet him!

The point is Peter backed Jesus into a corner. His question forced God's hand. Jesus could hardly call back "it's not me Peter, stay in the boat" the question forced the response, the response produced the miracle.

I was distracted by the wind and waves that were pointed out to me. I saw the shortfalls, the unpredictability of the income, the risk involved in the lifestyle. So I asked God to give me a job to keep these "helpers" off my back. The answer was a resounding "no" initially, but I pressed and eventually God gave me a job - one day a week working with a very good friend from the church who had never questioned how I was behaving.

I took the job, the questioning stopped, but so did the divine supply. I began looking at the job as my source instead of the Divine supply I'd been receiving up to that point. I realised too late that I had become the widow with the oil. The miraculous supply stopped, and I had been the one to cut it off. I a week I went from abundance and continuous supply to the point that people would chase me down the road because God had inspired them to give me finances - every time the exact amount I needed for a bill that had come in during the preceding 24 hours and every single time, the amount was to the penny what I needed, and instead I looked to the job to meet my financial needs.

My first thought each day became "how am I going to pay bill x" instead of "what is Your will for me today". I lost the ability to receive from God, a gift which had been growing for 6 months, in place of a certainty that God would supply my need.

The moral of my story here is simply this: If God leads you into something, do it with all your heart. Surrender your own will to God's and do what He calls you to.

I'm very blessed now, almost 20 years later to have a new friend in my life. I've known Thuli a year now, and God has blessed us with a friendship tempered through fire. Her call on her life has rekindled God's call on me and restored His promise to me. I'm moving back towards the man God called me to be all those years ago

I'm scared - and I don't scare easily. Back then I was alone with limited responsibilities, now I have a responsibility to my wife. We want children in the next few months, that carries more responsibilities with it, and not only financial ones.

I want to trust, so I'm stepping out onto the water. It scares me, but it's just one step. I'm fixing my eyes on Christ and trying to ignore the wind and the waves.

The alternative is to stay in the boat. And never know what God has planned for me.

That scares me more.

So my heart's cry is Lord bid me come to you over the water. I believe He rejoices at this, and I will do whatever He calls me to do, and I know if He is with me, No-one can be against me.

I pray this will touch people. I want your comments, your feedback. Your Testimony. Let the World see we have a Mighty God. Let our Faith move mountains.

Faith is Not Enough

It's written by James that Faith without Works is dead (James 2:17).

But to truly grasp what Faith will do for us we have to understand what drives Faith, and in turn what Faith drives.

God inspires, teaches and warns us with dreams. We too often dismiss our dreams as fantasy in sleep or a daydream, but a true Dream inspired by God brings Hope into our lives. The problem is that we are conditioned by this world to ignore dreams as irrelevant. We have lost our ability to distinguish between the dreams God inspires and the nonsense "dreams" from our sleeping hours. Joseph's dreams gave him Hope, Pharoah's dreams were a warning from God. Nebuchadnezzar's dreams were interpreted by Daniel. Joel prophesied "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions." (Joel 2:28 NKJV)

Dreams from God give Hope. Hope is a powerful force that God gives us. In1 Corinthians 13 Paul tells us it is one of 3 things that last forever. Hope drives us forward towards our God-inspired dreams. Hope fuels us towards the path God sets before us that He reveals to us by dreams. Without Hope we cannot move towards the Visions God gives us.

Faith manifests the Hope God places in us. Don't misunderstand this, Faith is itself a gift from God, but it is, as Hebrews 11:1 states, the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of what has not yet been seen with our physical eyes.

I could list all the standard Bible examples of faith here, Abraham, Isaac, Daniel, and so on. But I'd rather use something personal, just for the sake of a routine Testimony of God working today, just as He did over 3000 years ago.

Three years ago my wife went into hospital for major but routine surgery. There should have been no problems, however she developed a series of infections and complications following the procedure which ultimately led to us being forced to close our business - a medical practice - and for me to become the sole income in the home. During the time she was sickest I began to dream that she would recover. That quickly became Hope that she would, which developed into Faith, which is manifesting on a daily basis as she continues to regain strength.

Now again, don't misunderstand. Faith requires perseverance to see a manifestation sometimes. My wife is still not 100% recovered, but as she has recovered we've been given a new dream together - a new business in a new area. Now new dreams are tricky. We have to learn to find God's dream for us. In the process of setting up there were other offers that looked like answers but on closer examination and prayer proved to be fools-gold. After much prayer and support from the fellowship of believers around us we found the right door and after that everything has fallen into place perfectly, but we still need to persevere and hold fast to the Hope set ahead of us and to the Faith placed in us.


But Faith alone is not enough. Our actions demonstrate our Faith. We prove our Faith by moving through the obstacles the enemy puts before us. 

And one more thing, As we are faithful to each vision God gives us, He will give us more to work with. We grow incrementally, but it doesn't have to be microscopic increments!

Expecting the Unexpected

My last post concentrated a lot on this World we live in. The concepts and precepts in this World are vastly different from the way of God. The world's paradigms tell us to do the opposite of God's Word at almost every turn.

A few weeks ago I was chatting to a colleague at work who was truly horrified to hear I have never had a one-night stand or casual sex.

I laughed at the time, but her horror at the thought was tangible and became the subject of conversation for some time.

Her response was typical of worldly people. But we need to expect that.

Our expectations must be different to the World if we are to be a light in the darkness. We are conditioned by society, especially in Western society, to expect nothing. Claw our way to the top and fight tooth and nail to stay there. We fool ourselves that we can change the world from the inside out, that by living as the world lives we can influence them, but we are, in fact, being digested by the very beast we are wanting to change. We must be mindful of anything that can take our eyes off our ultimate goal.

A few years ago a church a family member was involved in leading Worship was advised by the senior leader to stop singing the worship song "I believe in Jesus" because it contained the phrase "Here with the power to heal now". The rationale was that this line might create an expectation in the congregation that God heals today. The leader had never seen a healing, and didn't expect to.

I've been a member of churches like that in the past. Frankly the religious nature sickens me. It becomes a modern day hive of pharisees all trying to earn brownie points. Exactly what Jesus came to do away with.

Jesus did what they didn't expect. He forgave sins, healed on the Sabbath, threw out the money-changers from the Temple, ate with sinners, befriended tax collectors and hookers and raised the dead. Then he told his disciples (including us) we could do all those things and more because of His sacrifice.

He told us to expect what the World tells us not to.

So many people in congregations sit in their pew once a week for an hour or two and think it makes them a Christian. Or the devoted ones go to home groups or bible-study meetings as well. Try convincing them you're a car because you spend every Tuesday evening sitting in your garage. The principle is the same, but they can't see it. It's a ludicrous notion.

Be what the World doesn't expect. Do what it doesn't expect. Expect what it doesn't expect.

Jesus didn't tell us to pray for the sick. He told us to heal them. No instruction to study medicine, just heal the sick. Freely receive and freely give.

The World says store it for a rainy day. God says give away your umbrella and I'll provide.

Right now my wife and I are starting up a new venture. The economy says it's a bad time to start a business. The exchange rate says it's a bad time to start a business. The World system says it's a bad time to be starting a business. Global recession. God inspired us. We're starting a business. God gave us Hope, we looked at that Hope and it grew into Faith, and Faith is transforming the vision into a reality. We expect the unexpected according to the World.

We forget God's Wisdom is folly to the World and those in it. I'll readily admit I've had moments where the thought of what we're doing scares me, but then I remember God inspired this. We were offered a business in exactly the same field for a fraction of the expected price, but in a different location. We wrestled with the choice, but eventually we reached a place of unity about it being the wrong thing to do and we're moving ahead where God told us to move. The doors have opened with a little push, not had to be forced. If you've read the posts before this, you'll know I have referred to myself as a "wrecking-ball" for God. I just bluster ahead and blast anything that tries to get in the way aside. My wife, thankfully, whilst just as strong as I am is a weapon of more finesse. We complement one another's shortfalls and bolster each other's strengths. It's a good team.

Expect the unexpected. Always.

Upside Down or Right side Up?

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted here. I tried to write a few times, but nothing really came up to write about. 

Until I looked back on the time.

Without going into the long and boring details, I realised something about this World.

It's upside down.

Completely.

I currently am employed in a call center environment. The call center is "Customer Service" technically. In that I interact with customers I guess you could describe it as such.

We are assessed in our performance through a sample of our calls being evaluated over the course of the month, and on feedback from client satisfaction surveys. It all makes sense until you look under the surface.

We are encouraged to keep interactions short. Long calls are discouraged as being a lesser form of customer service. Keep it short, avoid small talk and get to the next call quickly.

I worked for a different organisation a few years ago. Their attitude was the opposite. It was an easier environment to function in. In fact I've worked in the general industry for over 20 years in one way or another. The place I miss most was a Church in South Devon. As part of my "work" there I met people, chatted to them about issues they had with the way things were in the church itself, and issues affecting their lives. Sometimes I'd spend an entire morning talking to just one person. Sometimes it would be several. But time was never an issue.

Don't misunderstand me. I understand the needs and differences between a local church and a national organisation, and that the service needs are different. I'd be very worried if the clients I deal with daily were just calling to say "hi" and chat about their day. But there needs to be recognition of humanity as well as efficiency.

There was an audit recently of our company. The Head Office wanted to make sure standards were being met by our managers. These standards included how forms are filled out, how many calls agents are handling efficiently (read "quickly" there). The thrust on the managers is first contact solutions for issues. The thrust on agents is speed. in my experience, these can often be antithetical concepts.

For over 20 years I've focussed on solving issues first time. And I was good at it. Taking my time is something that enables me to give the highest level of service. And I put myself into the contact, empathy not sympathy has to drive me.

But that's me. What about God?

God takes His time. He created seasons for a purpose. There needs to be a time for all things as recorded in Ecclesiastes.

Jesus took His time teaching the disciples and the people of the day what God's way was. He was never hurried. In fact, He often was deliberately cryptic to prolong an interaction with people. He was God incarnate and yet He empathised with the prostitute at Simon the Pharisee's home. He made sure 5000 men plus the women and children with them had enough food rather than sending them away. Mary sat at Jesus' feet and Martha bustled around, and Mary was praised.

Through the entire scripture we witness God chastising His people for majoring in the minor things of life. Provision of manna in the desert, a scrawny shepherd defeating a giant of a man because he knew His God and the Covenant he had. Then grumblings when Moses was too long up the mountain led to the golden calf, David staying home in his palace at the time Kings go to war resulting in the murder of Bathsheba's husband. Majoring in the minor, even by the great men of the old and new testament, resulted in God chastising them out of Love.

The World system today emphasises things that are ultimately of no consequence and minimises the things that matter. Magazine headline articles glorifying why it was the right thing to do for the celebrity couple to divorce because he saw a younger woman and decided he'd look "better" with her. There's no emphasis on commitment. Marriages fail. It doesn't work, the "proof" in the statistics says that 40% of marriages end in divorce. Whilst shocking, doesn't that mean 60% don't? And how many of the 40% that fail are consisting of people in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th try? Perhaps the people divorcing just don't know Love, real Love is a choice, not an emotion. Emotional Love didn't take Jesus to the Cross for us. Emotional love cannot sustain a marriage when the storms hit.

Jesus was the first Customer Relationship Manager. He dismissed the managers who focussed on the little stuff - the Pharisees. He focussed on the major things. He did it Right Side Up.

This world is upside-down. We've allowed ourselves to glorify the minor and ignore the major issues. Most people will never reach their full potential because it isn't valued by them. They are taught to kill their own desires for the sake of trimming time, not just in a call-center, but in everything. We are bombarded with "time-saving" devices. Jesus showed that we can't actually "save" time. We can live or not. It's up to us.

"All men die Angus, but not all truly Live" says William Wallace in "Braveheart"

Living involves making our priorities right. I would die for my family, friends or my Faith. There isn't anything any employer could do to persuade me to die for the company, but most companies expect us to surrender our off-time to them instead of spending quality time with family, friends. They call it "team building" or some other term to make it sound important. It isn't. I like most of the people I work with, but there's only a handful I would describe as friends the way Jesus used the word. I'll do anything to help them because they are real relationships based on shared hopes, dreams and Faith (mostly). My Best friend works in my office. I'd go almost as far for her as I would for my wife to help her. God guides me and gives me the strength to be a support to her, and vice-versa. The friendship has a solid foundation based on the truly important things.

It's time for the Church to wake up and turn this world right side up again. 2000 years ago Jesus did it with 12 close friends and around 120 followers. Why not do it again now?

Ultimately it's our choice. Change is painful, but if the caterpiller doesn't spin the cocoon it never becomes a butterfly.

Upside down or right way up? Live life to the full or live as an oxygen thief?

You choose.

A Longing Fulfilled

Proverbs 13:12 has been on my heart a lot the last few weeks. Initially I was focused on the first part of the verse. I've lived in a state of deferred hope for a long time. I suffered depression so dark that I couldn't see a way out and even tried suicide more than once - I don't recommend it as a plan!

My life story has been filled with loss and brokenness. But there's also been times of hope that have kept me going. It's easy to forget the good when the bad hits in such waves.

"A tree of life" is how the passage describes what it is to have the hope fulfilled. Life.

Hope deferred is a way of life today. Depression, suicide, drug abuse, alcoholism are just symptoms of the desperation the World has filled our hearts with. Insidious promises we can never hope to achieve dog us daily in this world.

The Enemy of our Souls has found a way to trap us. We live mndane existances that only the most cynical would call life. We stopped asking the deep questions long ago. Why are we here? What is God's plan for us?

These questions drove the first Christians in the Bible. St Paul spent his whole life after meeting Christ on the road to Damascus seeking the answers. He phrased is simply with 2 questions:

1. Who Are You?
2. What do you want me to do?

His hope kept him alive through everything. I grew into Faith that the Romans could ony stop in this World by cutting off his head.

Major questions today are "what's for dinner" or "when does the game start?" We have been fooled into thinking these are the meaningful questions. Answers like "get a degree", "get a promotion" or "stay in your cubicle" catrate us from living the life God has intended. We need to use our imagination to give us Hope, our Hope to feed our Faith, and our Faith to proceed into living the dream.

Then we need to ask God to expand it. Our Longing will be fulfilled.

We will have Life.