Unlimited. Freedom.
These are two words that have really resonated in my heart over the last months in our worship at Canterbury Vineyard, and particularly so in the worship at our Cause to Live For events. Initially the words were pertinent in my head as individual words, really feeling that God was speaking His illimitability over us, the illimitability of his grace, love and mercy. Unlimited, to me suggested an imminence and accessibility of Him, of His affection, of His desire to love on us, to protect us, to secure us. But as the worship progressed, I could feel God just opening this up further- it goes beyond what we perceive is “unlimited”. It is quite easy to believe that God is unlimited, because unlimited suggests infinite, eternal, and I think that there can be an ease to lose sight of something so big. When Louis Giglio spoke about the sheer magnitude of creation and God’s part in that (in the talk titled “How Great is Our God” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKMw1ndl-EY), I can’t help but feel swallowed by it all, to the extent that I was tempted to shrug it off- yeah God’s big, cool. But unlimited in this moment suddenly meant more; it meant an accessibility, an infinite accessibility to our creator. It meant being able to ask Him for things too big for me to handle, or to comprehend and we as a family were stepping into it, asking for More in the worship, asking for More in our lives.
And stood there, thrown into the presence of Jesus with this incredible worship, I just felt the sense that God was asking me, and us as a family to be unlimited for Him. To be unlimited to Him, baring our souls and hearts to Him, but also going out and telling people of what He has done for us in a way that knows no bounds or restrictions.
Which is why I couldn’t help but laugh when Freedom was the next word that popped into my head, you have to know that Jesus has a great sense of humour. It resonated as the means to the end. You are free to be unlimited, you are free to access more and more of the infinite God that you will never be able to get too much of, or not enough of. Everlasting. Never ending. I could break into a Hillsong song round about now... Suffice it to say, worship is a key tool in helping to access that, and it is a privilege to be a part of something so effective, so moving, and so incredible as worship of our Father enabling us to reach Him and access everything that He has for us.
Vicky Beeching sang “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”, and when God put the word on my heart, it was through singing that bridge. I opened my bible and found it in 2 Corinthians 3:17. How awesome it is to know that we can just ask for God’s spirit, and with His spirit comes the freedom to access His everything.
Monday, 28 February 2011
Words for church, Words for mission, Words about God.
Words for church, Words for mission, Words about God.
I am passionate about words. A little about words themselves, but mainly for the use of words. Probably a combination of: the in-depth study of the English language I’ve done in the past, and the consciousness and [sometimes troublesome] social awareness I feel; in that I see when words are misused, when context or tones are misjudged and I feel the pain of those words so often.
I am also deeply passionate about encouragement – words of encouragement, and affirmation. For what could be more godly than these types of words? They are words of praise, of love. Of truth. And truth cuts through - as it says in Ephesians 6, it is the sword of truth. This is not just a nice metaphor; you hear words of integrity and of God’s truth shout amongst a cacophony of worldly nonsense. God’s voice is distinctive, it is heard above the crowd – this is how it has power. It is distinctive because it is the truth.
What is it about the prayer that creates desire for an all-encompassing Amen? Because I want my prayers to be those communal acts of worship. It’s not the Marks and Sparks-esque voice of the one who leads it, it is God’s distinctive voice spoken. It is like when a child hears her mother’s voice, his ears open at the recognition of her voice.
Words have immense power, they are both a tool and a weapon.
They can be the most effortless, but significant form of building up community, and building up Godly men and women. In a troubling time, Job’s wise friend Eliphaz reminds him “Your words have comforted those who fell…” Job 4:4 – it’s two-fold: the doubting Job’s faith in himself is restored by the comforting words of Eliphaz.
Moreover, when a compliment isn’t just a compliment, it’s a revelation of character (as Eliphaz’s was) and focuses on the interior, it is no doubt what God knows and loves about that person. As the Lord tells Samuel, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart…” 1 Samuel 16:7. That’s just one of report of God’s good news!
Now, I am regularly challenged by the witness of my words. Because if we take the power of words seriously, in the achievement of good, we have to acknowledge the affect a misused word may have. Out of one phrase our whole attitude can come, equipped with the subtleties of tone, and soon the depths of the ugliness of our heart too can be revealed. Your responses to ‘dangerous discussions’ can utterly shape the way people perceive you. As Jesus says, written in Matthew 15:18, “But what people say with their mouths comes from the way they think; these are the things that make people unclean.” We cannot be perfect, but we can still aim to model Jesus.
People notice positivity. Thankfully that also means that people can notice the joy of the faith within us (even if they don’t connect the two.) Not always do people gather straight away that I’m a Christian, but fairly quickly they notice the hope in me, the joy of life, the optimism; even if they can’t identify why I’m like this. Before my flatmates even knew my fellow flatmate Dave, and I were Christians, they spoke about our ‘endless happy aura’. That I think an exaggeration! But, the subtleties of words, and how you use them to respond to people really speak volumes. Clearly I’ve been ‘happy’ considerably enough for a contrast to be seen. A negativity fast has got one of the hardest, but most rewarding things I’ve done…try it.
Secondly: honesty. How often are words used falsely? Truth shines through - Truth is godly. To be honest with people is to reflect God. To be open with people, to be frank in a way, which is humbling and not aggressive, is unexpected, refreshing, and undeniably godly.
Hear these words of encouragement, that God can give in your words, in your conversations, fleeting exchanges and deeper discussions; and know how little you need to make of words (ineloquent, but intentional), for them to have great impact.
I am passionate about words. A little about words themselves, but mainly for the use of words. Probably a combination of: the in-depth study of the English language I’ve done in the past, and the consciousness and [sometimes troublesome] social awareness I feel; in that I see when words are misused, when context or tones are misjudged and I feel the pain of those words so often.
I am also deeply passionate about encouragement – words of encouragement, and affirmation. For what could be more godly than these types of words? They are words of praise, of love. Of truth. And truth cuts through - as it says in Ephesians 6, it is the sword of truth. This is not just a nice metaphor; you hear words of integrity and of God’s truth shout amongst a cacophony of worldly nonsense. God’s voice is distinctive, it is heard above the crowd – this is how it has power. It is distinctive because it is the truth.
What is it about the prayer that creates desire for an all-encompassing Amen? Because I want my prayers to be those communal acts of worship. It’s not the Marks and Sparks-esque voice of the one who leads it, it is God’s distinctive voice spoken. It is like when a child hears her mother’s voice, his ears open at the recognition of her voice.
Words have immense power, they are both a tool and a weapon.
They can be the most effortless, but significant form of building up community, and building up Godly men and women. In a troubling time, Job’s wise friend Eliphaz reminds him “Your words have comforted those who fell…” Job 4:4 – it’s two-fold: the doubting Job’s faith in himself is restored by the comforting words of Eliphaz.
Moreover, when a compliment isn’t just a compliment, it’s a revelation of character (as Eliphaz’s was) and focuses on the interior, it is no doubt what God knows and loves about that person. As the Lord tells Samuel, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart…” 1 Samuel 16:7. That’s just one of report of God’s good news!
Now, I am regularly challenged by the witness of my words. Because if we take the power of words seriously, in the achievement of good, we have to acknowledge the affect a misused word may have. Out of one phrase our whole attitude can come, equipped with the subtleties of tone, and soon the depths of the ugliness of our heart too can be revealed. Your responses to ‘dangerous discussions’ can utterly shape the way people perceive you. As Jesus says, written in Matthew 15:18, “But what people say with their mouths comes from the way they think; these are the things that make people unclean.” We cannot be perfect, but we can still aim to model Jesus.
People notice positivity. Thankfully that also means that people can notice the joy of the faith within us (even if they don’t connect the two.) Not always do people gather straight away that I’m a Christian, but fairly quickly they notice the hope in me, the joy of life, the optimism; even if they can’t identify why I’m like this. Before my flatmates even knew my fellow flatmate Dave, and I were Christians, they spoke about our ‘endless happy aura’. That I think an exaggeration! But, the subtleties of words, and how you use them to respond to people really speak volumes. Clearly I’ve been ‘happy’ considerably enough for a contrast to be seen. A negativity fast has got one of the hardest, but most rewarding things I’ve done…try it.
Secondly: honesty. How often are words used falsely? Truth shines through - Truth is godly. To be honest with people is to reflect God. To be open with people, to be frank in a way, which is humbling and not aggressive, is unexpected, refreshing, and undeniably godly.
Hear these words of encouragement, that God can give in your words, in your conversations, fleeting exchanges and deeper discussions; and know how little you need to make of words (ineloquent, but intentional), for them to have great impact.
Sunday, 27 February 2011
A not so mysterious God
'God works in mysterious ways' is a saying I have heard quite a lot over my short-ish journey as a Christian. At the moment however God seems to be working in breathtakingly obvious ways in a sort of smack-you-round-the-face obviousness that leaves little room for error. I find this comforting as stumbling down the wrong path is all too easy for me.
Sometimes in my walk with God its felt as though I am walking around a darkened room with my hands over my eyes trying in vain to work out what it is that I'm meant to do next. At the moment though God is being very generous and very clear on some stuff, one area of which I'm going to have a whirl at unpacking here briefly.
Getting in real relationship.
Over the last couple of months I have had the same conversation with six different guys on the same cluster of topics: Insecurities, loneliness, betrayal, boundaries and the feeling that they don't have what it takes to catch up with the calling God has put on their lives.
When God wants us to understand something He really drives it home. If I had only had the conversation with one other guy I think it could have just settled in my head as something that a mate of mine and I have in common, but, because the same conversation was replicated over six different occasions, it meant that I began to see the pattern and came to realise that something is changing in me and in my friends. That God wasn't happy for it to take up home in my head but that it was something destined for my heart straight from His. While the topics on the surface all seem pretty negative on the face of it, the fact that we are all coming to realise the same things and have the same issues weighing us down is overwhelmingly positive and so completely real.
For a man to admit to his insecurities is no simple thing. We like to project a calm confidence out to the world and lets be honest guys, most of us are very good at acting that out. Probably too good. Yes we all know deep down that we aren't as collected and as together as we like to show the world, but the better the projection, the better we keep our true nature hidden.
This outwardly fake confidence has started to break down between some of my mates and I and the fruit being born from this is exciting, fresh and new. This is not to say that we spend our time together in floods of tears and dwelling on our human failings. There is precious little better in that than being all fake and 'fine' to the world whilst being beaten up inside. What it means is that we are being real with each other. We laugh about what makes us happy, we joke about, do stupid things(in the name of banter) but we also come together and pray in such a brutal and honest way that stuff gets dealt with, vocalised and each one of us knows he is being looked after by the others.
Over time I'm going to try and unpack insecurities, loneliness, betrayal, boundaries and catching up with calling here but for now I'm going to bring this in to land with what I have come to perceive as Jesus' model of real relationship.
To understand how to be in real relationship we need to look to Jesus, our model for how to do life with one another.
Jesus loves. Love is honest, brutal, nurturing, supporting, trusting and forgiving.
As my mates and I begin to reach into this real relationship and as we grow to trust one another more deeply, the closer we are becoming to the ways Jesus modeled so perfectly for us and the more of His Kingdom we are going to walk in.
Sometimes in my walk with God its felt as though I am walking around a darkened room with my hands over my eyes trying in vain to work out what it is that I'm meant to do next. At the moment though God is being very generous and very clear on some stuff, one area of which I'm going to have a whirl at unpacking here briefly.
Getting in real relationship.
Over the last couple of months I have had the same conversation with six different guys on the same cluster of topics: Insecurities, loneliness, betrayal, boundaries and the feeling that they don't have what it takes to catch up with the calling God has put on their lives.
When God wants us to understand something He really drives it home. If I had only had the conversation with one other guy I think it could have just settled in my head as something that a mate of mine and I have in common, but, because the same conversation was replicated over six different occasions, it meant that I began to see the pattern and came to realise that something is changing in me and in my friends. That God wasn't happy for it to take up home in my head but that it was something destined for my heart straight from His. While the topics on the surface all seem pretty negative on the face of it, the fact that we are all coming to realise the same things and have the same issues weighing us down is overwhelmingly positive and so completely real.
For a man to admit to his insecurities is no simple thing. We like to project a calm confidence out to the world and lets be honest guys, most of us are very good at acting that out. Probably too good. Yes we all know deep down that we aren't as collected and as together as we like to show the world, but the better the projection, the better we keep our true nature hidden.
This outwardly fake confidence has started to break down between some of my mates and I and the fruit being born from this is exciting, fresh and new. This is not to say that we spend our time together in floods of tears and dwelling on our human failings. There is precious little better in that than being all fake and 'fine' to the world whilst being beaten up inside. What it means is that we are being real with each other. We laugh about what makes us happy, we joke about, do stupid things(in the name of banter) but we also come together and pray in such a brutal and honest way that stuff gets dealt with, vocalised and each one of us knows he is being looked after by the others.
Over time I'm going to try and unpack insecurities, loneliness, betrayal, boundaries and catching up with calling here but for now I'm going to bring this in to land with what I have come to perceive as Jesus' model of real relationship.
To understand how to be in real relationship we need to look to Jesus, our model for how to do life with one another.
Jesus loves. Love is honest, brutal, nurturing, supporting, trusting and forgiving.
As my mates and I begin to reach into this real relationship and as we grow to trust one another more deeply, the closer we are becoming to the ways Jesus modeled so perfectly for us and the more of His Kingdom we are going to walk in.
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