What's on the telly box?

Argh!!! TV is starting to bug me. It's just full of such rubbish. It's mostly visual junk food seasoned with a generous helping of adverts trying to convince us who to be, how to look, what to buy. Where is the quality creative programming designed to feed our hearts and minds and souls?!!!

A choice to be made

I think there is a lot to be learnt by watching small children. I sometimes think they are my greatest teachers haha.

Imagine this with me for a moment...

...a small child is trying to tie his shoe laces by himself despite the fact he is way too young to be able to manage this feat. His father sees him struggling, sees his frustration and moves towards him to help. But the stubborn little boy grunts and grimaces in his Father's direction. 'no daddy'...'me do it'... the little boy insists.

And so the Father backs off. He respects his son's wishes and leaves him to it - but is still watching from nearby. He's ready to help just as soon as his son asks but not a moment before.

Finally the boy admits defeat. With a grumpy look on his face he cries 'dad'. And in less than a moment his father is there. He scoops his boy into his arms and swings him round. He tells his son how proud he is of his efforts. And then he gently sets him down and says 'let's do it together'. And so that's what they do. Of course the father does most of the work but somehow makes the boy feel like it was mostly his work. In my experience good parents have a real gift for doing that...

It occured to me that I can learn a lot about what it means for God to be our Father by watching how loving parents interact with their kids. I think that God treats us a lot like the Father in this story. He loves us dearly and is always close by and wanting to help. But he respects our desire to do it alone - he's a complete gentleman, doesn't force himself on us.

We all have a choice about how we live. We can live with God or live without him. We can live life our own way according to our own plan. Or we can live life in partnership with God, following his plan and living life with the help of his Holy Spirit (which is given to us as a free gift when we believe and trust in Jesus). God allows us to make that choice for ourselves and he totally repects our decision. Like a loving Father, he doesn't like to see us struggle alone and He's always close by secretly willing us to turn to Him for help. But He never forces his way in to our lives. He always waits to be invited. In the Bible, Jesus said, "I stand at the door and knock." Will you let Him in? Or pretend you didn't hear Him?

A friend of mine recently made the decision to invite God into her life. I'm amazed by the difference I see in her. She's still the same fun loving, crazy, creative girl I know and love. But there's something different now - like a whole new part of her has been awakened. Living life with God isn't always easy. In fact often it's harder. But it's a bigger adventure, you feel more alive. Living for yourself is certainly easier but seems so meaningless. Living for God gives you a sense of purpose - you are living for something greater than yourself. And you're no longer doing it alone either. My friend certainly isn't finding life easy at the minute but there's this amazing, inspiring sense of peace and joy that she has and it kinda rubs off on you as you talk to her. It's obvious to see that her new found relationship with God has transformed her (kinda like how being in love can transform a person and bring out the best in them) and she has hope and a sense of security through all her troubles because of it.

So, what will your decision be? Will you let God in or do you still want to go it alone?

Christian Skaters Conference 2008

Just got back from a great weekend in Scotland and thought I'd tell you guys all about it. We set off for Dundee at 9am on Thursday and headed to Bristol to pick up Sarah. After a quick coffee break we were back on the road. The drive to Dumbarton was pretty smooth and uneventful. In Dumbarton we stopped at Unit 23 skatepark for 'skate church'.

Every Thursday evening kids show up for a free skate session and a 15min gospel talk. We went on our way to Dundee last year and I was amazed by what is going on there. The team just share their love for Jesus in a simple and honest way - no multi media presentation, nothing flashy, just simply share their heart. And the kids there really respect that. For more info have a look at http://www.deepercall.co.uk/ Please pray for the owner of Unit 23. He's not a Christian yet but is very supportive of skate church. He's having financial struggles which has led to him having to charge more for church to happen there. This meant that church had to stop for a while and now numbers have dropped from 120 to 20. Please pray that things will pick up again and the team won't get too discouraged.

After our stop in Dumbarton we continued on to Dundee and very welcome nights sleep.
The conference ran from Friday til Sunday. There were about 35 of us from around the UK and even some from USA too. It was great to see old friends from last year and meet some new people too. I love that the conference is so small -it creates a beautiful intimacy and a real sense of family. It was a really good few days of worship, prayer, seminars and of course skating!!! The seminars where on subjects like fundraising, project development, discipling skaters and running successful events and competitions.

On the Saturday night we ran a skate comp at the park and one of the guys gave his testimony at the end. As far as I know no-one made a commitment to follow Jesus that night but we did have a couple of people come and ask questions after. Please pray for the seeds that have been sown there.

On Sunday morning we joined with a local church to hold a church service on the skate park. Was great to be able to worship God together. Sunday lunchtime was the end of the conference and time to begin the looooooong drive home. It was wet and windy and seemed to take forever. And it didn't help when the sat nav took us round and round and all over the place looking for a petrol station!!

We stopped off at Overtoun house on the way home. It's a castle in Dumbarton that a church is converting into games rooms, dorm rooms, bed and breakfast, sheltered housing for women in crisis and so much more. To see more details about this amazing project look at http://www.overtounhouse.com/ Perhaps you or someone you know would be interested in going up there for a week or two to volunteer your skills to help with the renovations?

Well, we finally got home at 2am on Monday morning. I'm still very tired and feel like I have a lot to process.

For more about Christian Skaters UK go to http://www.christianskaters.co.uk/ a little later this week to see the brand new website!!!

Best book in the world

The Bible never ceases to amaze me. I've just been reading Revelation and yet again I've come away excited by what I see God doing. Just felt like I needed to share my excitement with you all.

So.....check out Revelation 22 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rev%2022&version=51). It's the final chapter, the climax, the conclusion of history. But first, let's go back to Genesis (cos we all know everything starts in Genesis - right Joe?!). Genesis chapter 2 and 3...

First we see man in the garden of Eden and all is well. God walks there and talks with Adam - they have a close relationship. The tree of life is there. There's no disease or death or decay.

Then us humans make a fatal error and as a result get kicked out of Eden. God places angels to guard the garden and the tree of life so we can no longer have access to either. And a curse is placed on all of creation. From then on mankind (and indeed the whole of creation) is subjected to death, disease and a disconnection from God, creation and people.

But it was always God's desire to restore things back to the days of Eden. So, flick forward to Revelation chapter 22 and what do we see? It talks about a new creation that we can be a part of. And what does this new creation include?

v2 the tree of life is there and now we're allowed near it again. In fact, 'the leaves of the trees are used for the healing of the people'.
v3 "no longer will there be a curse on anything" - OH MY WORD!!!! Just spend some time meditating on the full implications of that statement.....
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and then check this out...

v14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life." It's like our banishment is over and now we are allowed to eat the fruit we were never allowed to before!

Doesn't that make you excited? and thankful? and worshipful? Doesn't it make you just wanna fall down and worship just like John did when he heard this from the angel? Doesn't it make you wanna join in with the cry of v20 "Amen, come Lord Jesus"?