Over the past few weeks I’ve been feeling a bit conflicted. It all started one Friday a good few months ago. I was supporting a class when suddenly from outside we hear a young lad on a megaphone screaming at people as they passed that they would ‘Go to hell if they didn’t turn to Jesus.’

In the weeks that followed the class named him the ‘Jesus man’, and they all complained loudly when they heard him quoting Bible, shouting about Jesus and judging the passing schoolkids at deafening volume.

This week, there were two ‘Jesus men’, with matching megaphones, shouting individual messages over one another at the scores of kids as they made their way home.

I’m conflicted because I don’t really know how to react to this situation. Part of me thinks, brave lads standing on what they believe and proclaiming it loud and proud, while another part of me thinks, when has anyone come to Christ at the bellow of a megaphone? And when was the last time anyone wanted to stop and talk to someone who told them they were going to hell?

Maybe I’m wrong. Feel free to tell me I am!

Seeing street preachers has always made me cringe, I admire their bravery, but I also think, what if the only thing someone passing by hears is that they’re going a sinner and they’re going to hell? What if they walk away thinking that the judgment they are hearing somehow reflects the way Jesus thinks of them?

For me, leading people to Christ has always meant showing them how loved they are, that’s what Jesus did. He stepped into the lives of everyone who had a need. Soldiers, fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes, rich and poor alike, churched and unchurched. He loved unconditionally to the point of death.

In my eyes, creation is God’s megaphone, the changing of the seasons, the falling rain, the driving snow, the scorching sunlight. Spring fresh days, flowers blooming, waves crashing, the beauty of the world all reflecting a creator.

The intricate design of humankind alone a reflection of artistry, creativity and mastery all in one.

My heart says love people, show them that they are not forgotten, that they are valued, beautifully created and are just a prayer away from a relationship with the creator of the universe. It says, choose to walk beside one another, encouraging one another, lifting each other up in prayer. Be real, in the good, the bad and the down right snotty!

For me, this life isn’t about shouting at passersby, it’s about walking alongside them and cultivating real, beautiful, friendships and relationships.

However you choose to share the message of Jesus, be blessed! Pray it out! Whether you’re called to be a megaphone bearer or coffee sharer – do it with love first.

 

 

 

The title of this post isn’t really reflective of what I’m going to write about – it’s more an excuse to use the above picture which I found a little bit amusing 🙂

Omni means ‘all’ in honesty I’m not sure where it originates, leave me a note in the comments, that’s why an omnivore is called an omnivore – because it eats EVERYTHING.

There’s some great characteristics that we recognise as God’s that begin with: Omni. They’re words that used to puzzle me until quite recently when in a study class I had to memorise them for a test! So here goes, here’s just three of God’s characteristics, I’ll call them the ‘Omni’s of God.’

God is:

Omnipotent

Omniscient

Omnipresent

Let’s debunk these posh words shall we? Here’s what they mean:

Omnipotent – All powerful, God is all powerful, there is no one more powerful in existence.

Omniscient – All knowing, there is nothing that God doesn’t know, every hair on your head is numbered, every thought of your heart heard.

Omnipresent – Everywhere, there’s no place on earth or in the heavens that God isn’t. He never leaves us, he walks with us, looks out for us and guides us. He is everywhere.

There’s a beautiful psalm that captures these characteristics of God – David, a king and a poet wrote a lot of the Psalms in the Bible, many were set to music and one of my favourites is Psalm 139 and it starts out like this:

 

David describes God as all knowing – omniscient, knowing when we sit down and when we get up, knowing our inmost thoughts and what we’re doing throughout the day. Even down to before we speak, God knows exactly what we’re going to say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here he moves onto God the omnipresent, God who is everywhere. There’s no place we can go that’s away from God. From the remotest parts of the world to the busiest city centre God is there, guiding us and leading the way.

 

 

 

And finally God the omnipotent – the all powerful!

God the creator, who breathed life into us, who knew us even before we were designed. No one else on earth can create life, that’s God. He is all powerful.

 

 

Read the whole Psalm here. I love this psalm, it’s a perfect example of the magnificent power, presence and knowledge of God. It reminds us that we are never alone, there is nothing in our lives that God is not interested in and that we are a pure miracle, made by the most powerful being. God, such a small word for such an incredible life giver.

And here’s my favourite verse (although all of the psalm is incredible) this verse has been a constant reminder that wherever I go, whatever situation I’m in, whoever I encounter, God is forever with me, walking with me, he loves me and has a plan for me.

The NIV puts it like this: ‘If I rise on the wings of the dawn, If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.’ But this version is equally beautiful:

Chiquitita don’t worry, you’re not lost. This isn’t a post about the flare wearing Swedish pop group, it’s about someone much greater. Someone we can call Abba.

Did you know Abba is from the Greek language? It actually means, my father or daddy. It’s an intimate expression a child would use when calling their father.

I was reminded today that in the Bible Jesus refers to his Father God as Abba. When we are welcomed into the family of God and give our heart to Jesus we are invited to become a child of God. We are a son or daughter, we belong to the perfect father, someone we can intimately call daddy.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I get so focused on the three in the trinity that I forget that God is one in the same no matter which side we look at. I’ve been guilty of thinking that the Father God in the old testament is the stern one, the one that gets displeased easily, one to be more fearful of. This is such a lie!

It’s easy to fall into the comparison of thinking of God like our earthly father too, for those who haven’t had the greatest experience of what an earthly father is this can dramatically change how we view our heavenly one.

God is not the same as your earthly father, neither is he angry at you, judging you, or looking at you disapprovingly. Fact.

The bible says if we want to know what God is like, look at Jesus, they are one in the same. When we see the way Jesus was when He was here with us on Earth we see a direct picture of the love of God, the way Jesus loved is the way God loves. Because they are one in the same.

Get into the habit of remembering that you are loved! That you can come to God with absolutely anything and He loves you! That you can call Him Abba, Daddy, Father God.

 

 

Tricycle, Triangle, Triceratops…. things that have three’s.

Tricycle has three wheels

Triangle three corners

Triceratops – literally means three horned face!

So it only makes sense that the trinity has something to do with three. Trinity literally means ‘the state of being three’ so what’s the trinity got to do with Christianity?

Actually the word trinity never appears in the bible, not once, the word was coined by believers after the bible was written to refer to God who is three persons or beings that make up one God.

We believe that God is made up of three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each equal in power, each fully God – together making one God. Yes it’s mind blowing that three equal parts make God.

Basic maths suggests that 1+1+1=3

but in this case

1 Father + 1 Son + 1 Holy Spirit = God.

So if the word trinity isn’t mentioned in the bible how do we know that God is three in one? Because they appear together constantly. John 1 begins with this:

This verse is saying that right at the beginning of creation, there was God and the word was with God. So did God have his Bible with him in book form right at the beginning? Let’s think about it, would the creator of the universe really be reliant on a book to remind him of his own story? Nah! So what’s this word all about.

Let’s look further:

Here’s another clue further in John – ‘The Word became flesh’. Who became flesh and came to earth to display the glory of God and to save us? JESUS!

So that verse in John 1:1 is saying, ‘In the beginning was Jesus and He was with God, and he was God.’ So now Jesus and God are together before the beginning of creation. Awesome right?

Wait, there’s more, I said that God was 3 in 1 and right there that’s only two right? Well check out Genesis 1:1-2

Right there is the Holy Spirit! Do you see him? ‘and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’ So Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all together at the beginning.

 

Let’s look at another time that they all appear together as God.

At the baptism of Jesus.

Check this out, Jesus is standing in the river with John the Baptist at his side ready to dunk him. He goes down under the water and as he rises this happens:The voice from heaven = The Father

Jesus in the river = The Son

The spirit descending on him like a dove = The Holy Spirit

Three beings all together at the same time displaying the Trinity.

Also, did you know, whenever God was referred to in the original text of the Bible He was always referred to in the plural form – back in Genesis when God is creating us we see this:

So in short, the Trinity. Three beings equal, making up one God.

Just. Wow.

Let’s start with – What is prayer?

Simply put, it’s a conversation, a way for creation and creator to communicate. It’s a vital part of our relationship with God.

As a christian, life without prayer is like getting married and after saying your vows never talking to your husband again! It’s like dialing a number on your phone and not hitting the call button, or sending all your phone calls to voicemail.

Prayer is the way that God chose for us to communicate with him, the only way. We mark out time to meet friends and family for coffee or dinner, we text, call one another, facebook message one another – how much more should we be marking out time to spend with God?

When we have faith that the Bible is the word of God, inspired by him, formed and planned by him then we have faith that what is says is true and relevant. When we look at the new testament and see Jesus, we have a direct picture of who God is, what he looks like, acts like, how he loves us – and how God the father loves us.

There are so many times in the NT that Jesus retreats to pray and no doubt there are countless times during his life on earth that he prayed, more than we will ever know. More than that, being part of the trinity and being God himself, he is in constant conversation.

Did you know that God prayed for you? Jesus talked about you to the father before you were even born, before your greatest of grandparents could’ve even imagined you.

In the garden of Gethsemane, before he was betrayed, Jesus tells his disciples to sit a while as he wanted to pray, shortly after that we read about the sweating of blood as he prayed to the father, laying everything before him Here’s John 17:20-25:

If praying was important enough for Jesus to do, and we are called to be more like him it has to be important for us too – we need to spend quality time praying. Praying specifically, strategically and worship-fully.

I often send what I call ‘arrow prayers’ to God throughout the day, usually when I’m talking to someone and I’m not sure of advice to give, or when I just need help in a situation – arrow prayers are like sending God a text message, they’re those quick messages asking for help, thanking and praising God.

They are important, but so is spending time to pray, list, request and plan out, and just to spend time listening and getting to know our saviour. He wants to be in every part of our lives, tuned into our thoughts too.

There’s no emotion that God is not familiar with and hasn’t felt so when we pray, we can come before him openly, we can be vulnerable, we can share whatever we are feeling, even when we’re angry, find a situation unfair or are confused with what God is doing.

Spending time with God in prayer helps us to know him better, and when the disappointments come help us to react differently.

When you spend time with someone you begin to get to know them and to understand more how they react to things. Knowing someone well helps you identify when a reaction doesn’t sound like the person too. Imagine a friend tells you that your best friend is saying mean things about you to other people, if you know them well enough you’d know whether that was true or not, you’re more likely to brush what someone has said aside if you know from your heart that it cannot be true right?

It’s the same with God – get to know him and suddenly the things you feel and think, you can identify if they’re from him or not. When your know how much he loves you, you know that he isn’t responsible for the hurt you feel, the times when you’re down on yourself are not from God.

We forget that hurt, rejection, feeling a failure are not things that God imposes on us, they’re not feelings he wants for us and he definitely doesn’t tell us we’re failures or cause negative feelings such as hate and pain. The devil however loves to use these tactics to turn us against the ones that love us.

Recognise the attacks you’re facing and kill that attack with prayer, when you think that your prayer hasn’t been answered don’t stop praying, that’s what the devil would want right? He wants to kill your conversation with God to try and weaken your relationship with God, go back to God in prayer, listen and press in, surround yourself with people who will pray for you too, there’s an answer there, just perhaps not in the solution that you imagined.

We watched a film recently in housegroup called: The War Room. It’s a great watch, I really recommend it. It’s a movie written by the Kendrick brothers and it’s all about prayer, and praying strategically. Check out the trailer below – I’ve got the DVD if you want to borrow it too!

Remember: God loves us in our messes, loves us despite what we think of ourselves. We are defined by who He is not by who we think we are. So get talking to Him, he’s listening.

 

Much love x

I’ve been to Blackpool beach a few times in my life, mostly during my time at university. We’d all pile into the car and drive a few hours to escape into the world of fish and chips, sticks of rock and sand between our toes!

It was on one of these trips that a couple of us, my tall friend Spence and I decided to go on this: Continue reading →