Build

An architect designs a grand building. He draws the plans, rolls them out on a rough wooden table in the middle of a muddy field, and then begins making bricks. He makes a brick and lays it on the ground. He makes another and places it beside the first. This continues until a wall is begun.

What is wrong with this picture?

You got it... the architect is involved in the building of his masterpiece, but he does not do it alone.

Jesus said to Peter, "...you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

Jesus is the architect of the Church - the Church is his building project, not ours. Youth ministry belongs to God, not us. But he does say to Peter that he will build the Church using him. Peter has just declared that Jesus is truly the son of God, and Jesus tells him he will build the Church on that truth.

But even more, Jesus uses those of us that will confess Jesus is the son of God to the glory of God the Father. He wants to use us. In fact at one point he said "the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few". We are his workers. We are his co-builders.

Will we commit our lives to building the Church of Christ with our confession of him, and our service to him? May we build the kingdom to the glory of God the father.

So Much More

Recently I was in Whitby with my family. As we chatted we enjoyed space and time and we looked out to the horizon. It struck my wife that there is always so much more to see than what our eyes see in the horizon.

I thought about that as the next few hours passed by.

There is so much more.

These words hung in my mind, haunting me with their mystery.

There is so much more.

There is so much more.

Our horizon
I'm thinking about the horizon. And I'm thinking about how far the world stretches beyond it. And as I think I realise something. There is so much more to God. We think we have him labelled. We think we know Him. We believe we understand him. And I realise we are wrong. There is so much more to God. We've settled for a God as big as a harbour when he is bigger than the oceans.

The Bible says of God,

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable"

How big is God? Huge! He’s bigger than we can ever know. We cannot confine him or define him. We cannot think all there is to think about him or know all there is to know about him - but we can journey into him to know him better.

Are we content with our knowledge and experience of God? Can I encourage us to leave the safety of our ‘harbour thinking’ and adventure into the horizon with God? I am longing for so much more of God. I am discontent to be where I am in God. I want him more - so much more. I cannot contain him with my peanut brain. I am longing to travel with God into the unknown so that I can know him more.

The horizon is only the beginning. It's the first step in the journey. At the end of that horizon where we know God that bit better, we are bound to see that the horizon is still ahead of us - there is so much more and there always will be, but the journey to the end of the horizon will teach us amazing things about God as we grow in our knowledge and experience of him.

Dream. Pray. Ask. Seek. Knock. God will reveal himself in the so much more as we journey into him.

Restless

My wife and I slept so badly last night so today we are tired and grumpy. Not a brilliant way to start a blog - I know. Not very encouraging - I know. Not very interesting - I know!

But it got me thinking about what makes me tired. I am tired. But it's not just the lack of sleep. I'm tired of the status quo. I'm tired of going through the spiritual motions just so theat I can feel good about my faith, yet attaining little for the kingdom of God. I want something more! How about you?

I was playing guitar and screeching like a cat the other day and I began singing a Matt Redman song I know from about ten years ago. The words went:

We will give ourselves no rest
till your kingdom comes on earth;
you've positioned watchmen on the walls.
Now our prayers will flow like tears,
for you've shaed your heart with us;
God of heaven, on our knees we fall.

As I sang the song I began to feel restless for God's kingdom to come here on earth as in heaven. Can you feel that restlesness within you? You know there is so much more that God wants to do through his Church in his world. I'm convinced that God does not want us to settle for the status quo. There are thousands in our home towns that are lost without hope and without God. They need Christ's help. They need a Church that rises in the power of the Spirit with healing in her wings. They need to hear God's word preached passionately and with power. They need God's kingdom to be proclaimed as it was in the apostle's day.

God chose us to be his messengers of hope to a hurting world. We should be restless to see God bring that hope through us.

May our restlessness give way to prayer that cries out for God to move in power. And may we draw strength and courage from his word to hold onto the promise of the coming kingdom. May we be restless enough to go into all the world with Christ's hope.

Lord let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Enthusiasm

I love to be enthused about something that really counts. I am especially enthusiastic about loving God and sharing that with others. In fact I've been accused at times of being too enthusiastic (as if that were possible!). I am convinced that as followers of Jesus we should be enthusiastic about loving God and loving others. We should be enthusiastic about seeking his face and understanding his word. We should be enthusiastic about sharing Christ Jesus with others. Enthusiasm is often mistaken for the shallowness of 'youthful zeal'. I'm at the stage of life that I am not sure I can really be called 'youthful' yet my 'enthusiasm' for God is not waning - rather it is growing the more I get to know God and grow in my understanding of his word.

So what is enthusiasm?

Webster's dictionary (1913 edition) gives the following definition:
Enthusiasm \En*thu"si*asm\, n. [Gr. ?, fr. ? to be inspired or
possessed by the god

There's a definition I can go for! When we are inspired by God and our lives belong to him we should naturally be enthused about all that he is and does. Perhaps the problem is not that some of us are enthusiastic, but rather most of us are unenthusiastic!

What are we to be enthusiastic about?

God. Think about it - he's the living creator of the universe; he holds the world in his hands; he's phenomonal; he's unconditionally loving; he's utterly uncontolable; he's indisposable; he's magnificently merciful; he's indescribable; he's all of this and so much more. Why should we not be enthusiastic about loving this God who has moved hell and high-water to be in loving relationship with us? - who sent his only son to the cross to die in our place! Why should we not be excited to speak of him? Why should we try to hide our admiration and adoration of him?

If the bible is true (and it is!) we have so much to be enthusiastic about. May we follow Jesus, love God and love others, with all the depth of devotion and enthusiasm that we possibly can.

Every blessing in Jesus

the need to pray

seems obvious to say it but we need to be praying. I'm working really hard at my youth work stuff - speaking, preaching, making a fool of myself for Christ, chatting, sharing, working, worshipping...

...it can be tiring as well as exciting stuff (and it's very exciting!). Yet, I see the real need is not for more activity or excitement - it's to be where God is. It's to be seeking his face rather than his blessing. It's to be quiet...listening...learning from the wisest in the universe. To be with God...in relational prayer.

In Exodus 3 Moses has the most exciting meeting with the living God. It both excites and terrifies him (God can be like that! youth work can be like that!), but then God began to share the burden of his heart with Moses. He told of a people crying out for freedom. How we need to listen to our father's heart to hear his concern for those crying out for spiritual and physical freedom. How we need our hearts to be broken for God.

Then our work will have purpose - because God will show us the needs and...ask us to help. He will show us what TO DO. Our doing must be preceded by waiting and listening to God.

May we wait upon the Lord so that he will show us the stuff he wants done - then we will speak, preach, making fools of ourselves for Christ, chat, share, work and worship AS UNTO GOD. And I'm sure we will love doing it!!

Let's pray...

I wanna get out of here!!!

I was in Church the other day and I was so bored. I should have known to run out when I heard the first song - we sing it EVERY week and it drives me crazy! Do you ever have those moments when you are sure that this is not planet earth, but rather that you've been cast into infernal hell?! It was one of those moments. I know... I should have cut and run - got as far away from that place as possible - but I couldn't... I work for the Church.

Anyway, we've gone through chorus hell and are ready to sit down, when this three year old kid verbalises very vocally (he shouts with no shame!) "I WANNA GET OUT OF HERE!!!" I could've laughed as on the inside I imagined myself screaming back at him, "SO DO I!!"

But Church shouldn't be like that - I should never be bored with meeting with God. And that makes me want to question two things:

1. My attitude
2. The Churche's relevance

First, my attitude. I need to ask myself frequently, "is my attitude to Church a right attitude?"

Do we go to Church to give God praise, or to 'have a great time'? I think it should be both, but we need to be going to Church expecting to give God praise - after all, we worship for his benefit, not ours!

Tied in with this question is the idea of expecting to hear from God when we go to Church. When I go to Church am I asking God to speak to me (even through the familiar!)?

Then there's the second question I have - the Church's relevance. I'm convinced that Church should be, and can be, relevant to us all. I'm sure of this because worshipping God is a relevant discipline for every believer. Also because the truths of God shown in scripture are intentionally relevant to every human being.

I think the Church in Britian generally speaking needs a quick kick in the butt to become more relevant (especially to teens!). We're so busy trying to maintain the status quo that we're missing the fact that that the world is a fast-paced and changing place (not to mention the fact that every moment we waste millions slip into a lost eternity!). I don't think we should be adpoting every idea from 'the world' but we could use the creativity God has given us to reflect our worship back to him!

Let's start with a basic characteristic - JOY - let our Churches be joy-filled places where we are encouraged to reach out more to God and to others. Or another attribute - BE LOVING - show acceptance and welcome strangers as old friends. The early Church father Tertullian was struck by the Churches' love - If God is love let him fill every member to flood-point so that our Chuches are bursting with love, concern and compassion for all people. Love God and love your neighbour - if we are truly Christians we would do this. It's not that God can't or won't do it - rather that we don't let him in! WE ONLY DO WHAT WE TRULY BELIEVE. What would observers think we believe from our services?

I love the Church. I desire to see us being all that God wants us to be - full of his fruit that is the evidence of his being in our hearts faith commnuities and our hearts.

So, my attitude - go and be the difference as God does his work of changing my heart (cos that's part of his church!). In seeing the Church's faults I'm really seeing my faults so perhaps it's me that needs the spiritual kick in the butt. Think I'll go read 1 John now.

sent out to save & love the world

“Sent out to the End”

Luke 21:25-36
25"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
29He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
32"I tell you the truth, this generation[a] will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

In recent weeks at our Church we have been looking at the subject of being “sent out” into the world. We remember that this stems from Christ’s commission to the Church in Matt 28:19-20.

19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Looking at these words of Jesus, we can see that in Christ’s mind an end would come. This is not normally the case with us – we have hopes and dreams. We hope to make it through whatever trials we face with the hope of a better future. We hope we can be happy in life. We look forward to our children’s successes – graduation; marriage; grandchildren. We look forward to retirement. There normally seems more to look forward to than what we have. Could it be that we are wired by God to have hope for brighter tomorrows?

In Christ’s mind an end would come – there was a future to be looked forward to; there would be an eternity with God. The apostles carried o this theme in their writings:

Paul wrote about “Christ in us, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

Peter encouraged the Church to persevere in living godly and holy lives because the end would come like a thief:

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[a]
11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

In 2 Peter 3:10-12 Peter’s wording agrees with our reading in Luke 21 – the end will not be a happy occasion for every human. He tells us destruction will come. Luke talks about nations being in anguish (v25) and men fainting from terror (v26). Not exactly joy to the world with this coming of Christ!

So how are we to respond to these things? Are we left thinking that God is cruel to be the destroyer and bringer of terror? I believe the answer is given in the Great Commission – we are to go and tell the world about the gracious love of God. It is because judgment will come upon the world that we are to go and share Christ with our friends, families, neighbours and strangers.

Why do we share Christ with the world? At the simplest level, because Christ shared himself with the world and with us. Why are we sent out in mission? God’s mission today is to transform this present, tired old world so that it resembles more and more the new world he will one day create, and to gather together the community which is destined to live in it - a community, entered by faith and centred on the cross, whose present name is ‘the church’ (from www.emergingevangelism.com). Jesus loves this world so much that he sent us into the world to shine and speak out for him.

If anything, the verses we have heard read tonight should sober us each to our Christ-given calling. It seems that when the end comes there will be great confusion and even suffering – yet God loves the world. For the Christian there is hope:

Verse 28 tells us, when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

For the Christian there is a coming redemption – this should fill us with hope at one day seeing our Christ-redeemer face to face. Our faith will be fully realised and we will spend eternity with God.

But for those who have lived without acknowledging God in there lives there is reason for anguish and terror – God has called his Church to share Christ with people so that redemption comes to as many as believe. It was love for the world that compelled Christ to take up the cross and die (John 3:16).

Does love compel us tonight to consider being bold and sharing our faith until the end comes? Do we care for those that are living without Christ? Are we willing to live our lives in such a way that others are drawn into relationship with our loving God?

Eternity will come like a thief. We do not know when, but we need to be sure that we are being faithful to the commission of Christ to his Church – Go and preach the Gospel (and if necessary use words. Live different. Where the world has mixed values, may we live holy and honest lives that glorify God and bring a smile to his wonderful face.

In the passage Luke shows us many important things, of which we shall take two:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

If we are to be sent out to share the truth of God, we need to know the truth. God’s word is his revealed truth to the world – we are to live and share this with those we meet. Read the bible regularly – get to know personally what God’s word says – then we will be more confident about what we are sharing. Imagine you read the football scores in the paper every day – soon you would be confident enough to talk about football with others. Having a knowledge of what we believe gives us greater confidence to speak of it.

Secondly, Luke encourages us to Be always on the watch, and pray (v36). Pray for those you meet that they will meet with Christ through you. We are encouraged all through the bible to pray – it makes ALL the difference to us and to those for whom we pray – do not underestimate the power of your prayers! If they did not make a difference, God would not tell us to pray. Do you find sharing your faith hard – pray that God will make it easier for you – you may be surprised at how he answers your prayer.

In closing, we have seen that there will be an end to our world as we know it. For the believer there is a coming redemption that inspires hope within us. For the unbeliever there is a coming judgment that should motivate us into being ‘sent out’ to share God’s Gospel message of grace, love and mercy. As we share our faith we have God’s word to help us and give us confidence, as well as the prayer, through which we seek God’s advice and help, as well as to ask God’s blessing upon those we are ‘sent out’ to share with.

As we consider Christ’s thief-like return, let us stop for a moment to pray for ourselves and our world.

spiritual lethargy

I am tired today - my boy is waking in the night at the moment, which means I am too, and it's taking it's toll. It's true that if we don't rest we will be tired, sluggish, probably grumpy and have a lack of energy.

The same is true of our spiritual life. When we don't 'rest' in God the same occurs in our spirit. We need to wait on God so that we can be renewed in our spirit. Do you feel tired and heavy laden - rest in God and bring your burdens to him. Let him be your vitamin - he will pick you up!

Jesus said, "Come to me those of you that are tired and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest for your souls". Simply...come.

I know I need to do this now. Every blessing to you this day.

world cup blues?!

Well it's all over - Italy have the title for the next 4 years and Scotland & England have time to improve. We held a world cup youth event last night and it was fab - well done the lads for playing so well.. I mean the band that played at half time - you guys are brill!! Well done.

Gratitude to everyone that came - you are the event!!

What's the goal of all this - I hope we each aim to be lovers of God and people and to follow Jesus who is the saver of the weak, and the lonely, and the hurting, and the lost, and the losers, and the sucessful, and the beautiful, and the young (who often are rejected by the Church).

If you are any of the above (and I'm many of the above!) remember Jesus' words:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Ever thought about really following Jesus - I did about 14 years back and I made it my goal to follow all the time. Life changed...

...for the better (still hard sometimes though, but now I know he's helping me along!).

Think about setting these three goals as aims for your life:

1. Love God with everything you have
2. Love people the way you want to be loved
3. Follow Jesus - his lifestyle example and his awesome teaching

Maybe you're doing that already - stick in there! If not and you want to know how to, speak to us, phone us email us, chat to someone you trust, ask a vicar, read a bible, say a prayer - do something!

England may have bailed on the world cup, but I'm excited about life with God, and excited to be spending time with you guys.

Till Tuesday - stay smiling!

Stu & Jen x

GOOAALL!!!

With all the footie on at the moment you can't fail to escape it (even if you are Scottish like me! - tough luck Scottish team - you only had to ask me!). I'm thinking about my life goal - to be used by God as he wills in turning others to Christ so thay we all aim for three Goals. They would be:

1. Love God
2. Love others
3. Follow Jesus

How cool would it be if we'd just do those three hardly simple things? For more about these goals I'd recommend you look at www.thesimpleway.org and www.purposedrivenlife.com. Also, check out Matthew 22 in the Bible (the greatest commandment).

Make God's goals your goals and you can't lose (even if it seems your luck's out part way though the game!).

All the Best

Stu

trees that kill?!!

Thought I'd write a bit of meaningless drivel - just waiting for stuff to print off cos I got a meeting in a wee while. Just thinking how much paper I get through in a week printing like this. Thing is I need to print the stuff. Imagine if trees could tell what we do to them (maybe they can!!) - but imagine they wanted to get their revenge. Makes you want to not walk in forests - might never get out!!

What if your heart was the printer? Huh!

Well imagine every thought you had was printed out the top of your head on that weird hole-ridden printer paper - how freaked would you be? I'd be dying!! Imagine everyone knowing exactly what you think...about them, the world and everything? We'd have no mates!

Thing is, God sees it all so clearly - he knows the deepest, most scummy thoughts we can have - and he still says "I love you guys cos I'm your father God. I'll always love you cos I know you fully".

It strikes me that God is not striking me (down dead for the state of my heart!) - must mean he really does love us.

Worth thinking about, don't you think?!

See you, Stu

what's it mean to be a Christian?

What does it mean to be a Christian? I'd like us to stop for a moment to think about our faith. How does our view of Christianity affect our faith? I came across the following paragraph recently, written by Josh McDowell. Read it slowly a number of times and let it sink in.

“Being a Christian is not about learning a system of correct performance or going through one programmatic course after another. It is about a personal spiritual revolution in which you experience Christ so intimately for who he really is and respond to him so completely in a love relationship that it continually transforms every aspect of your life”

How does this definition fit your view of Christianity? Read it again.

It strikes me that Josh is right, yet often we live our faith as if it was all about what we do rather than because we are unconditionally loved by God. The Church in the New Testament was not founded on rules and courses – They were a group of people that were totally devoted to Jesus - they loved him, and because they loved him they wanted to do the things he said. Their faith was about relating to Jesus. They lived to please him. They lived to love him. They lived to love each other because they loved him.

Josh is totally right - being a Christian is not about 'being good' or about 'being involved'. Being a Christian is all about experiencing Christ intimately. As we meet Christ and he begins to change our hearts our whole outlook on faith and life begins to change - it's like God births a spiritual revolution within us. As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17,

"If anyone is in Christ Jesus he is a new creation,
the old has gone, the new has come"

When our faith is based on relating to God through Christ Jesus something new happens within us. His Spirit begins to work at transforming from the inside out. Life takes on a whole new meaning.

I could not be a Church youth worker if I did not personally know God. To be honest it would drive me crazy!! It is only through God we have the character to do what we do and the strength in which to do it. In your work what do you depend on - leaders, are you depending on the youth programme, or the written materials you use? Young people, are you in a relationship with God that makes you want to live different? When we depend on programmes and systems we may find ourselves getting tired and weary, even to the point of rejecting faith. When we depend on God, looking to him to guide us and strengthen us, we can stay fresh and enjoy the work we do for him. Let’s remind ourselves of the definition we read earlier:

"Being a Christian is about a personal spiritual revolution in which you experience Christ so intimately for who he really is and respond to him so completely in a love relationship that it continually transforms every aspect of your life"

May we all experience Christ intimately for who he really is, and may we all respond to him in that love relationship that transforms every aspect of our lives.

all the best on the journey

Stu-Mack