Authentic Life

27th September--Thought 4 the Week :
Okay so last week we explored the idea that people in general really do want to know what makes life worthwhile.
Why is it then that so many aren’t interested in coming to church or listening to a Gospel presentation?
I believe that the answer to this is what they don’t want to know. They don’t want to know memorized answers, or religious sayings that don’t really make sense to everyday living. They don’t want to hear about the dos and don’ts of religion. They don’t want to know what you should do when they can see that no one is doing it anyway. In fact they probably don’t want to hear anything.
What will tell others that life has a worthwhile meaning is whether or not our own life portrays and lives out meaning. Do we really live out what we believe or is it just something that we just go along with. Can I challenge us all this week to take the time to think about what we believe, and then go that little bit deeper and ask why. Because that will then cause us to be authentic in how we live.

Life Worthwhile

20th September--Thought 4 the Week :
I found this song the other day... "Everybody's looking for a one way system As if there's only one way out of this prison Everybody's looking for that one piece of wisdom As if there's just one answer to all of our problems And the biggest one way of all the one ways The central circulating poo Is m o n e y, oh why? Why oh why, oh my oh my, all mine They steal our lives and sell them back to us And palm us off with the freedom of choice The choice of a million and one lifestyles Built on a billion and one false smiles And life giving pills, philosophies, and products All of which claim to be the one for us All mine, mine, make it mine, make it worth my while Make it worth my while, and maybe then I’ll think about it Make it worth my while, and I’ll see what I can do."
Wow, this really grabbed me, because we all tend to think about the reason behind life every now & again and without God our life makes absolutely no sense. (John 14:6) And then if I fully believe this am I letting others know what makes life worthwhile? Because like this song suggests they do really want to know.
(Part Two next week -- "What they don’t want to know!")

Flap your wings

13th September--Thought 4 the Week:

For those of you that went to BURN last Friday you will recall that we were challenged to “flap our wings.” You see, if Christians were birds, most of us would think we are chickens. We live our Christian life in church (our cage) and never realize what the world out there is like. God didn’t intend for us to be chickens, He intended that we are eagles. He wants us to flap our wings, and enjoy the freedom to soar that He has given us. When we are up there soaring, we see life from a different perspective and come to realize our purposes much more than when we are cooped up in a cage thinking we are chickens. So how do we escape the cage? First we need to be prepared to take a few risks, maybe even be laughed at. The other chickens will think you are nuts for going hard for God, worshipping Him with all your heart and actually obeying His voice when you hear it. If you want to flap your wings and experience freedom & peace in your heart then don’t let others lock you up or hold power over you. Be the eagle that you were created to be, and live your life with no regrets. 1 Corinthians 15:58 is the verse to check out this week.

Good things take time

6th September --Thought 4 the Week:
We have been learning in 40 days that growing to be like Jesus doesn’t happen overnight (but it does happen!). The words that come to mind when I think of this is “patience my child.” I am not a very patient person, I love to get stuff done NOW. You see when God promised the children of Israel a land flowing with milk & honey (hmm yum!) it took about 40 years to get there. But along the way they learnt some important lessons that wouldn’t have happened if they had been tele-ported straight there. Someone once said, “Bad stuff happens to everyone – successful people deal with it.” Can I encourage you this week to not give up, but ask God what you can learn about Him & to help you on your journey to His promised land. Check out Philippians 1:6 -- it’s a great verse.

Married to Christ

30th August--Thought 4 the Week:
Two verses have caught my attention this week. The first one is found in Matthew 5: 6 which says “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” I don’t know about you, but when I watch the news or notice things in our society that indicate that God’s righteousness isn’t being upheld, I feel hurt and sad. I long for the day when things are “right” the way God made them. It also makes you ask the question, “Is that always what I hunger and thirst for?” Will this Sat night when we watch the rugby be something that you wont miss, but when it comes to next Friday night & BURN will you think twice about going if you are tired or cant be bothered?
The second verse is found in Revelation 19:7 and it talks about Jesus coming to receive his bride (those who are Christians) “who has made herself ready.” I hadn’t really thought of this before, but do you realize it is our job to make ourselves ready for Christ’s return? When we got married, I spent hours in preparation to make myself ready for the big day. What are we doing to make ourselves ready to “marry” Christ? Can I encourage you to start by making things like BURN and our weekly bible study a priority in your life. Organize your time, so that you won’t be caught out not ready when your life on earth here is over.

Motto

23rd August --Thought 4 the Week:
I thought I would share with you a verse I have pinned on my wall by my bed. I see it every morning & every night and it is like a motto that guides my life. It is 1 Corinthians 15:33 -34 and in the Contemporary English Version it says: “Don't fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you. Be sensible and stop sinning. You should be embarrassed that some people still don't know about God.” I find it a good verse to remind me of three things in life that I need God’s perspective on. The first part of the verse reminds me about relationships and how influential my friends are. The second part of the verse talks about my behavior and how I should aim to live a life pleasing to God, and the last part of the verse reminds me of my mission here on earth – to tell others about God. Why not write this verse (or another one that you have chosen) out and pin it by your bed to remind you to look at life from God’s perspective each day.

Truth

16th August --Thought 4 the Week:
“God’s laws are not inventions. Even God does not invent right and wrong. Truth and right are founded in His own changeless being. God’s laws are merely descriptions of true reality. They tell us from His perspective what is truly right and fit and good. For example if we took at a bottle of cyanide and put a new label “Jelly beans” on it. If you ate it, you would still die instantly. But you wouldn’t know why. The label does not create what is in the bottle; it simply defines it.
God has told us what is right and good and what is stupid and wrong. We can discover this truth, do it and live; or we can reject it and be destroyed as individuals, families and nations. God is only after two things for your life –that you be happy and holy. And He knows that you cannot be really happy until you are holy.” Adapted from “Fire on the Horizon” by Winkie Pratney

ONE THING

9th August--Thought 4 the Week:
As we begin the 40 Days of Purpose, we are challenged to look at what we are here for. We have learnt that we are not just here randomly, but for a purpose, and that purpose begins with God. In fact, it is all about God. God made you and He wants you to be with him forever. Does this drive your life?
David in Psalm 27:4 tells us that his ONE desire, and ONE thing that he asks is to live in the presence of the Lord all the days of his life. Psalm 84:10 says that ONE day in the presence of the Lord is better than a thousand somewhere else.
It is so easy to live our lives just for ourselves, but there is no eternal purpose in that. Can we really say that we want our whole life to be lived with God, in relationship with Him? Is this our ONE focus in life, is this our purpose. What is the ONE THING driving you this week?

Removing stuff

2nd August--Thought 4 the Week:
“There are other ways to cut yourself off from evil, though none of them as scary as cutting off your hand or gouging out your eye. (Matt 18:8-9) Seen in the light of permanent death to our most significant body parts, what does it matter if we say goodbye to a cherished friend, habit, commitment that gets in the way of our devotion to God?

In the great days of evangelism, missions and revival 200 hundred years ago, the Church would call for repentance of five things:
1. Sin, a self-centered attitude of heart and Life
2. The Flesh, an addictive focus on emotional gratification through our 5 senses
3. The World, our lives without God at its center that demands our time & loyalty
4. The Devil, any demonic, occultic involvement
5. Our own righteousness, the ‘good’ things of our lives we have never surrendered to God.
Real trust in God involves giving up anything and everything that vies for allegiance to Christ.”
What are you prepared to part with? (Excerpt from “Fire on the Horizon” by Winkie Pratney)

Extreme

26th July--Thought 4 the Week:

“You want extreme? No one in history ever was born like Jesus, lived like Jesus, talked like Jesus and loved like Jesus. Not even His enemies could find fault with Him. He defies comparison, because there is nobody else you can put in His class. Period. He split history in half. He not only claimed to be God, but showed His kingdom every way you can ask to anyone who really wanted to see it. When you come to Jesus, He doesn’t give you options or alternatives, just a core decision: ‘Follow Me.’ If you do, you are a disciple. If you don’t, you drop off the map forever. And that, my friend, is extreme.” (Excerpt from “Fire on the Horizon” by Winkie Pratney)