I heard a couple of interesting points and a story this weekend about giving and wanted to share it with everyone, especially as it got me thinking.
On Friday evening I was helping set up as much as possible for a craft fair that I organise. My Aunt, who was there helping, and I are started arguing, very poorly over money. My Aunt doesn't work, she suffers from a multitude of aliments, so the craft fairs she does makes her money, especially little bit before Christmas. I decided to not charge two friends for the use of a table, mainly they hadn't done many craft fairs and they had driven a distance to do it. My Aunt saw this as weakness, I saw her argument as greed. So, Saturday comes and my Aunt in other ways demonstrates a greedy side, that I'll be honest I didn't like. She even commented on the way I was "changing the prices of things" as bad business sense....mmmm, I didn't care, I wasn't there to make my millions I was there to share what I had done, through craft and where I can give others enjoyment.
That evening I was bothered by the whole event, I helped organise these craft fairs so we both could earn a bit of extra cash before Christmas, maybe if I had listened to her I would have a little bit extra. I prayed about it.
I was pleased then when I went to Bobbing Church on Sunday to hear Sue say that the days talk was about giving and the ways of giving.
Sue, our Curate, started off with a quote from Mother Teresa "Giving is not giving if you don't need it"
Really?
I was under the impression that Giving was still ultimately giving, but the more I thought about it the more it settled in me.
I have been reading a book by John Grisham called the Street Lawyer, in the story a wealthy Lawyer and friends are kept hostage by a homeless man. In the story you find that the homeless man is only doing it to get the hostages to have a better view on their giving. Most of the hostages were earning $300,000. or more a year. And although some were giving to charities that realistically a combined donation was only every given from the amount $2,000. The point was made, did these wealthy lawyers give a fair representation of their salary to the needy, no they didn't. They had far more than they ever needed.
I give a set amount to charities and churches. Probably not the biblical 10% but I give what I can, when I have it. I give my time to and help in what ever ways possible, this last bit is usually when I get the most enjoyment from the giving. As usually I know that i am giving my time to be helpful. So, although not financially 10% I would say there would be more.
Whilst trying to find the Mother Teresa quote I found a few more of hers that i though I would throw in, especially after the last paragraph about giving with enjoyment. “The person who gives with a smile is the best giver because God loves a cheerful giver.”
Sue also told a story on Sunday that brought tears to my eyes and distracted me just enough from getting up in time to start playing for sung worship, so I thought I would end on that story and a final Mother Teresa quote.
There was a little boy trying to sell newspapers in the rain, cold and wet and seeing the church open its doors the little boy decided that he would go in for a short while, trying his best to a least get some warmth and to dry out. The boy sat with his wet papers and listened to the priest giving the talk about Jesus and how much He loves us; with the priest really hitting home that the congregation needed to give more to Jesus. During the sung worship the collection plate was being passed around, but as the boy hadn't sold any papers he had nothing to give. At the end of the service, with the little boy now feeling the spirit of God touching him, and wanting to give, went up to the priest. The little boy grabbed the collection plate and put it on the floor, with a foot at a time he then stepped in. The priest turned and said "what do you think you are doing?" the little boy replied " I havn't got any money and even my newspapers are ruined by the rain, but I want to give something to the church, to God, so I give you myself, everything I am"
Sometimes, giving isn't just giving money or helping people, although this is a wonderful thing to do, but sometimes, giving is completely giving everything you can.
The last quote for you to think about from Mother Teresa:
“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
Monday, 7 November 2011
Monday, 31 October 2011
Come Outside
I have had the pleasure recently to sit and watch a classic programme from my childhood: Come Outside, with Aunt Mabel and Pippin the dog.
*This blog post is a bit of fun, and I truly love this show*
Now, growing up I remember this programme being quite educational, even watching the odd episode as part of the teaching aide at my Primary school. William, now 2 and a half, absolutely loves it and will often request to watch a specific episode. But Strangely it is not what I remember at all!! And after sitting through an awful lot of these episodes I have to admit that I have gone off the series, not because of excessive watching either, but due to the fact that I have several issues with Aunt Mabel, played by Lynda Baron.
Why hasn't anyone stopped her, STOPPED IN HER TRACKS!
Now, for you who read this who do not know of the show, here is a brief outline of it with a few added facts:
Come Outside is a BBC educational children's television series that ran from 23 September 1993 to 18 March 1997. The two main characters of the show are Auntie Mabel (played by Lynda Baron of Open All Hours), and her dog Pippin. They go on adventures in Auntie Mabel's aeroplane, which is covered in coloured spots. Pippin was a mixed breed dog, possibly part Tibetan Terrier, roughly third generation descended from the famous American acting dog Benji and was owned and trained by Ann Head.
There were two dogs who played Pippin and although the first one died in 2008 (RIP Pippin #1) the second dog to play Pippin, although now in retirement played the Bakers biscuits dog, in the advert and is still pictured to this day as it's main dog!
The general concept of the show was to find out how things worked or how things were made, at which point Auntie Mabel would shout "Pippin it's time to fly" and off they would go in their plane on their adventures.
OK, so I am hoping that those among you that didn't know of the show will be caught up with the general idea and concept.
So here is the bit that made me go why hasn't she been stopped!
She (Auntie Mabel, not the lovely actress Lynda Baron) is not a very good role model to young children and the way that the world works now a days i would question why she is allowed on T.V. Now I am sure the Auntie Mabel and Pippin fans out there are outraged by my comments but I am hoping that you will read the rest of this and either laugh at my comical thoughts on the show or agree with it and will never be able to watch another episode without thinking "oh yeah, Martyn is right there"
The very first episode I saw was A Rainy Day: In this episode it is raining hard, Auntie Mabel's guttering breaks and she and Pippin go out to fix it. Got to give the old girl credit here, going out on a rainy, slippery day to climb a ladder and fix the guttering, I'll be honest I was just thankful she came down without hurting herself! Pippin, as a good dog follows her outside. She fixes the guttering and goes in where she sings incey wincy spider. Lovely........Where is Pippin? Oh he's outside getting wet!! She only remembers him after realising her Papers wet and that Pippin would need to go and get a new one! Poor dog, but Auntie Mabel had a stressful day we can let her off, can't we??
Next episode: This one aggravates me more!
It is about clay, oh how interesting i thought, William might learn something here. Auntie Mabel has a Teapot that breaks and wants to replace it. "Pippin it's time to fly" What to the local shop, quick yes, but not very green is it? We find out that the shop is all out and they would have to wait a week for a new one. This isn't good enough. So we fly to the factory, where we see them made and varnished. We sadly again find out that the factory has sold their current stock but if we wait and hour we could have our Teapot. Instead of teaching my son patience and waiting the hour, Auntie Mabel and Pippin fly off to another independent maker, where they are out of clay and they go to a clay pit. In reality.in this time frame, even with flying, this probably took longer than an hour. But at least Auntie Mabel got her Teapot, when she wanted it!!
Auntie Mabel's care for Pippin deteriorates through the series.
In the episode named "Holes" she loses Pippin, who we find is stuck down a hole. In "Buses" she leaves Pippin on a Bus, and instead of going to the bus station and waiting and reporting Pippin lost, she goes home, gets in her plane and flys around looking for him, hang on, she must have amazing eye sight to see Pippin from up there, or maybe she is actually wanting to kill the world, eventually the bus station phone her with her reply " it's OK let him ride the bus back to my house". In the episode "Recycling" she actually loses Pippin at the Recycling dump and goes home without him. (I hate this episode I will say why a little later)
We see that his real main diet is just made of Sausages, which might be a nice treat, but seriously can't be healthy, no wonder they needed to replace the first one! In the episode names "brushes" Pippin is allowed to run around a dangerous factory causing mayhem, messing up the production. And on my last account of animal cruelty or careless behaviour the episode titled "Water" we see Pippin needing to a bowl of water, poor Pippin waits the entire episode for his water, when Auntie Mabel quite happily flushes her toilet, runs a bath and drinks water herself when telling the "fun" children's story. She even mocks Pippin, calling her a "Silly girl" or telling her off for doing a poo! Even her finishing statement of "Oh Pippin" this is just sad.
Why hasn't anyone phoned RSPCA on her? Everyone knows her, they all know and address her as Auntie Mabel, so obviously they know her fairly well, but everyone seems to be blind over her treatment of Pippin! What does she have over her community?!
The last point I will mention in the episode named "Letters" Auntie Mabel writes a letter to her friend who she has stayed with because they left Pippins bag at her friends house. Now, knowing Auntie Mabel's lack of love for the environment we would assume that she would jump on a plane and go get the bag. No! She rides in a post van, and then disturbs the post office and then rides the post train, where she then arrives at her letters destination. At which point she then gets Pippins missing bag and abuses the post service for the return journey home. What a pointless episode.
Oh and the Recycling episode mentioned above, does anyone else think it slightly redundant that Aunt Mabel flys to and from the recycling plant (twice) when the episode is about trying our best to save the world and reduce our carbon footprint!
So, in conclusion, this woman needs to be stopped. Poor Pippin.
...............................................................................................
p.s I would love you guys to pay attention to the blatant pretend dog in the aeroplane with the robotics moving!
*This blog post is a bit of fun, and I truly love this show*
Now, growing up I remember this programme being quite educational, even watching the odd episode as part of the teaching aide at my Primary school. William, now 2 and a half, absolutely loves it and will often request to watch a specific episode. But Strangely it is not what I remember at all!! And after sitting through an awful lot of these episodes I have to admit that I have gone off the series, not because of excessive watching either, but due to the fact that I have several issues with Aunt Mabel, played by Lynda Baron.
Why hasn't anyone stopped her, STOPPED IN HER TRACKS!
Now, for you who read this who do not know of the show, here is a brief outline of it with a few added facts:
Come Outside is a BBC educational children's television series that ran from 23 September 1993 to 18 March 1997. The two main characters of the show are Auntie Mabel (played by Lynda Baron of Open All Hours), and her dog Pippin. They go on adventures in Auntie Mabel's aeroplane, which is covered in coloured spots. Pippin was a mixed breed dog, possibly part Tibetan Terrier, roughly third generation descended from the famous American acting dog Benji and was owned and trained by Ann Head.
There were two dogs who played Pippin and although the first one died in 2008 (RIP Pippin #1) the second dog to play Pippin, although now in retirement played the Bakers biscuits dog, in the advert and is still pictured to this day as it's main dog!
The general concept of the show was to find out how things worked or how things were made, at which point Auntie Mabel would shout "Pippin it's time to fly" and off they would go in their plane on their adventures.
OK, so I am hoping that those among you that didn't know of the show will be caught up with the general idea and concept.
So here is the bit that made me go why hasn't she been stopped!
She (Auntie Mabel, not the lovely actress Lynda Baron) is not a very good role model to young children and the way that the world works now a days i would question why she is allowed on T.V. Now I am sure the Auntie Mabel and Pippin fans out there are outraged by my comments but I am hoping that you will read the rest of this and either laugh at my comical thoughts on the show or agree with it and will never be able to watch another episode without thinking "oh yeah, Martyn is right there"
The very first episode I saw was A Rainy Day: In this episode it is raining hard, Auntie Mabel's guttering breaks and she and Pippin go out to fix it. Got to give the old girl credit here, going out on a rainy, slippery day to climb a ladder and fix the guttering, I'll be honest I was just thankful she came down without hurting herself! Pippin, as a good dog follows her outside. She fixes the guttering and goes in where she sings incey wincy spider. Lovely........Where is Pippin? Oh he's outside getting wet!! She only remembers him after realising her Papers wet and that Pippin would need to go and get a new one! Poor dog, but Auntie Mabel had a stressful day we can let her off, can't we??
Next episode: This one aggravates me more!
It is about clay, oh how interesting i thought, William might learn something here. Auntie Mabel has a Teapot that breaks and wants to replace it. "Pippin it's time to fly" What to the local shop, quick yes, but not very green is it? We find out that the shop is all out and they would have to wait a week for a new one. This isn't good enough. So we fly to the factory, where we see them made and varnished. We sadly again find out that the factory has sold their current stock but if we wait and hour we could have our Teapot. Instead of teaching my son patience and waiting the hour, Auntie Mabel and Pippin fly off to another independent maker, where they are out of clay and they go to a clay pit. In reality.in this time frame, even with flying, this probably took longer than an hour. But at least Auntie Mabel got her Teapot, when she wanted it!!
Auntie Mabel's care for Pippin deteriorates through the series.
In the episode named "Holes" she loses Pippin, who we find is stuck down a hole. In "Buses" she leaves Pippin on a Bus, and instead of going to the bus station and waiting and reporting Pippin lost, she goes home, gets in her plane and flys around looking for him, hang on, she must have amazing eye sight to see Pippin from up there, or maybe she is actually wanting to kill the world, eventually the bus station phone her with her reply " it's OK let him ride the bus back to my house". In the episode "Recycling" she actually loses Pippin at the Recycling dump and goes home without him. (I hate this episode I will say why a little later)
We see that his real main diet is just made of Sausages, which might be a nice treat, but seriously can't be healthy, no wonder they needed to replace the first one! In the episode names "brushes" Pippin is allowed to run around a dangerous factory causing mayhem, messing up the production. And on my last account of animal cruelty or careless behaviour the episode titled "Water" we see Pippin needing to a bowl of water, poor Pippin waits the entire episode for his water, when Auntie Mabel quite happily flushes her toilet, runs a bath and drinks water herself when telling the "fun" children's story. She even mocks Pippin, calling her a "Silly girl" or telling her off for doing a poo! Even her finishing statement of "Oh Pippin" this is just sad.
Why hasn't anyone phoned RSPCA on her? Everyone knows her, they all know and address her as Auntie Mabel, so obviously they know her fairly well, but everyone seems to be blind over her treatment of Pippin! What does she have over her community?!
The last point I will mention in the episode named "Letters" Auntie Mabel writes a letter to her friend who she has stayed with because they left Pippins bag at her friends house. Now, knowing Auntie Mabel's lack of love for the environment we would assume that she would jump on a plane and go get the bag. No! She rides in a post van, and then disturbs the post office and then rides the post train, where she then arrives at her letters destination. At which point she then gets Pippins missing bag and abuses the post service for the return journey home. What a pointless episode.
Oh and the Recycling episode mentioned above, does anyone else think it slightly redundant that Aunt Mabel flys to and from the recycling plant (twice) when the episode is about trying our best to save the world and reduce our carbon footprint!
So, in conclusion, this woman needs to be stopped. Poor Pippin.
...............................................................................................
p.s I would love you guys to pay attention to the blatant pretend dog in the aeroplane with the robotics moving!
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Who do you think you are?!
I was listening to a talk at Holy Trinity Church, Twydall, about saints, being All Saints day.
It really got me thinking, so decided to write about it.
There has been running, for a few years a historical genealogical programme called Who do you think you are? For those who don't know, it traces the family tree of celebraties. It can, at times, be quite interesting.
The main reason of the show is to remember the important roles that the possibly insignificant people of their time had on the family and friends around them or after them.
Is that true meaning of saints (with a small s )?
There are so many people in this world who do so much for the people around them, and actually the majority of the time the recipitent is unaware fully of what a person is actually doing! I am fully aware of the fact that I have friends and family who do so much more than I am aware of.
There are so many saints in the world, Christian or not, these people will be remembered for their works to others, even if it is just one person.
This really got to me. The thought of me dying, quite understandably, goes through my mind a lot. Not because I am scared of death, oh no, but what is left behind after I am gone. The "inheritance" of my life. I want to be remembered for the good i do or have done, not for the sins that have shaped us. I try to be a good man and do my good deeds but am constantly aware that I could do more and be more, so am always trying to help people and have a purpose to be remembered by. The thing that makes a difference. I suppose even to be a saint to someone.
I recently took a friend to college in Canterbury, and when do I usually wait round for several hours. I thought I would go and visit a church that I always wanted to visit when lived down there. When i turned up, there was a man laying in the church grounds; due to its uneven path I couldn't get to help the man. Banging loudly on the church door, some ladies (afternoon tea) came out. After explaining that this man needed help, they straight away explained "that he was probably a drunk and don't worry" It took a lot of arguing to convince them to check this man. He was drunk and homeless, and on checking he then went of his way and refused any assistance. It really shook me how people could act like that, and this time I'm talking about the Christians and not the homeless man. I was truly ashamed of how unwillingly these people, these Christians, were to help, especially when you consider the modern similarities of the good Samaritan.
I honestly believe we can help and shape people lives and that kindness is the way to do it. Being saintlike is far from easy, and I am definitley not the ideal model, but I try, and think that is important.
At school i had a wonderful R.E teacher Dr. Dean, she was possibly my favourite teacher. She spent time with my individual care and learning, she even inspired my way to faith, probably unknowingly. I pray and wish her well even to this day, because her kindness to me showed me a person of God. A real saint in my eyes.
But as it says in Matthew 5v9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
So, who do you think you are? Humbly you are no one, and that should be the way, as I have said before don't be a "Here I am person". I say be the peacemakers, bring peace through kindness and shape somebody's life, try and be a child of God and be a saint to someone.
It really got me thinking, so decided to write about it.
There has been running, for a few years a historical genealogical programme called Who do you think you are? For those who don't know, it traces the family tree of celebraties. It can, at times, be quite interesting.
The main reason of the show is to remember the important roles that the possibly insignificant people of their time had on the family and friends around them or after them.
Is that true meaning of saints (with a small s )?
There are so many people in this world who do so much for the people around them, and actually the majority of the time the recipitent is unaware fully of what a person is actually doing! I am fully aware of the fact that I have friends and family who do so much more than I am aware of.
There are so many saints in the world, Christian or not, these people will be remembered for their works to others, even if it is just one person.
This really got to me. The thought of me dying, quite understandably, goes through my mind a lot. Not because I am scared of death, oh no, but what is left behind after I am gone. The "inheritance" of my life. I want to be remembered for the good i do or have done, not for the sins that have shaped us. I try to be a good man and do my good deeds but am constantly aware that I could do more and be more, so am always trying to help people and have a purpose to be remembered by. The thing that makes a difference. I suppose even to be a saint to someone.
I recently took a friend to college in Canterbury, and when do I usually wait round for several hours. I thought I would go and visit a church that I always wanted to visit when lived down there. When i turned up, there was a man laying in the church grounds; due to its uneven path I couldn't get to help the man. Banging loudly on the church door, some ladies (afternoon tea) came out. After explaining that this man needed help, they straight away explained "that he was probably a drunk and don't worry" It took a lot of arguing to convince them to check this man. He was drunk and homeless, and on checking he then went of his way and refused any assistance. It really shook me how people could act like that, and this time I'm talking about the Christians and not the homeless man. I was truly ashamed of how unwillingly these people, these Christians, were to help, especially when you consider the modern similarities of the good Samaritan.
I honestly believe we can help and shape people lives and that kindness is the way to do it. Being saintlike is far from easy, and I am definitley not the ideal model, but I try, and think that is important.
At school i had a wonderful R.E teacher Dr. Dean, she was possibly my favourite teacher. She spent time with my individual care and learning, she even inspired my way to faith, probably unknowingly. I pray and wish her well even to this day, because her kindness to me showed me a person of God. A real saint in my eyes.
But as it says in Matthew 5v9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
So, who do you think you are? Humbly you are no one, and that should be the way, as I have said before don't be a "Here I am person". I say be the peacemakers, bring peace through kindness and shape somebody's life, try and be a child of God and be a saint to someone.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
What do you see?
If any of you are aware of the Alpha courses that go on around the world, I hope that you all agree that they are a fantastic evangelistic tool for the world?
If you are unaware, the course is run by local churches, helping the community to explore Christianity and faith. Their opening tag line is usually "Is there more to life".
I have (as some of you may know) attended quite a few Alpha courses and have learnt and experienced many different things on the way, different people views on Christianity, Jesus and their own battles in life, I have even seen people come to God through it (Like i did) But Ultimately the main reason that people go on these course is because there is something missing or not quite right in their lives and they are on a road in search of a truth.
On one of the course titled weeks "The Holy Spirit" the church which I have attended spent it in a day of talks and gathering, and at which point we ask for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives.
With Alpha courses starting up around the country and the fact that we are following the course as part of our home study group these up rooted questions that Alpha offers have been swirling around my mind.
I decided to pray about it, and whilst reading through one of my note books i came across a talk that I had noted from Malcolm Duncan and it just seemed to "fit" with the ideas in my head. So i thought I would share:
The truth in life is a question that everyone looks for and asks; Ultimately, we as Christians only need to acknowledge one truth, that whatever the scenario that God ultimately wins.
In a lot of my recent post i have described some stories of Jesus and how He sees us as creation differently, and we once we have seen Him see creation differently.
Many Christians can still be sceptical with the gifts that God presents, I am. I have never witnessed healing, I want healing, i Know God can heal me, and that He will heal me either in the life or the next. But What the talk by Malcolm reminded me is that I have already been healed. When i saw Christ, when I felt and met with Him, I was healed because He gave me new eyes, eyes to see life and creation differently.
Now, many of you know that our Body is only theoretically a few years old, our skin grows and flakes off, to show a fresher layer of skin underneath; which makes are skin usually around 14 days old. Our hair grow and we cut it. We get new teeth in our youth, even Wisdom teeth later on. Our Blood cells are about 120 days old. Even our bones are constantly changing with our bone cells being around 10 years old. I am sure if we investigated it more and more that we would see that our body changes to create a new us.
What about our eyes? You only ever hear or people getting worse eye sight. Scientists are baffled by the age of cells in people eyes, and can not determine an "age". Malcolm points out that our eyes are very much the key to seeing Jesus and then therefore creation differently, but how many of us who pray, pray for new eyes? Like the rest of the body, we get a chance to slither out of our old skin and become someone new, but what about our eyes?
Don't become lethargic in life and faith, do not become stagnant in what you see, ask God for different eyes.
In Ezekiel 8 you can read time and time again about God talking about SEEING.In verse 6 "Son of man, do you see what they are doing"
AND again,
12 He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’" 13 Again, he said, "You will see them doing things that are even more detestable."
If you study and look over that chapter you will constantly come across see, seen, saw and seeing!
"Son of man can you see" three times He says it, 3! do we not then assume that this message for sight is an important one?
Our we as a society to caught up in being seen, which i have covered before in other blog posts. The HERE I AM culture that we all seem to be living in. How about the culture of seeing, can we see God?
Isiah 6
"I saw the Lord - Here I am"
We SEE it again in Job 42
I have heard of you, no I have seen you.
Have you seen Him?
Psalm 46
Take a look at you God
So, have you seen Him. I know people who say they have a greater connection with God when they are at church. The "find" Him there. I always smile when i hear this. I find Him there.....Just as if we are playing a massive game of hide and seek.
But if it is true and so many people find and see God in churches, then what do we SEE when we see a church?
Do we see the Church as an army, an army ready to invade the darkness? or as it says in Ezekiel are we looking at the darkness in the church?
And finally, the end of this post (Although there will be a part 2)
How do you SEE yourself?
Do we pray to ask God to help us have new eyes to SEE ourselves better?
Numbers 13
"we've seen ourselves as grasshoppers in our own eyes"
Grasshoppers.
What do you see when you look at yourself? would you describe yourself as a small creature, a lowly insect?
Eleanor Roosevelt once said "No one can make you feel small apart from you"
So do we pray and ask for new eyes to see us as God sees us?
God made us perfect, it was us who changed.
I said above about how we SEE church, then I went quickly into seeing us. But that is the amazing thing about the Truth that we have when we come and meet with Jesus. Of course we find God in church, He is probably the only one who has ever attended EVERY meeting, because the truth is He is everywhere, living amongst us at every point, with everyone.
He is always SEEING us, so we should start trying to see ourselves.
If you are unaware, the course is run by local churches, helping the community to explore Christianity and faith. Their opening tag line is usually "Is there more to life".
I have (as some of you may know) attended quite a few Alpha courses and have learnt and experienced many different things on the way, different people views on Christianity, Jesus and their own battles in life, I have even seen people come to God through it (Like i did) But Ultimately the main reason that people go on these course is because there is something missing or not quite right in their lives and they are on a road in search of a truth.
On one of the course titled weeks "The Holy Spirit" the church which I have attended spent it in a day of talks and gathering, and at which point we ask for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives.
With Alpha courses starting up around the country and the fact that we are following the course as part of our home study group these up rooted questions that Alpha offers have been swirling around my mind.
I decided to pray about it, and whilst reading through one of my note books i came across a talk that I had noted from Malcolm Duncan and it just seemed to "fit" with the ideas in my head. So i thought I would share:
The truth in life is a question that everyone looks for and asks; Ultimately, we as Christians only need to acknowledge one truth, that whatever the scenario that God ultimately wins.
In a lot of my recent post i have described some stories of Jesus and how He sees us as creation differently, and we once we have seen Him see creation differently.
Many Christians can still be sceptical with the gifts that God presents, I am. I have never witnessed healing, I want healing, i Know God can heal me, and that He will heal me either in the life or the next. But What the talk by Malcolm reminded me is that I have already been healed. When i saw Christ, when I felt and met with Him, I was healed because He gave me new eyes, eyes to see life and creation differently.
Now, many of you know that our Body is only theoretically a few years old, our skin grows and flakes off, to show a fresher layer of skin underneath; which makes are skin usually around 14 days old. Our hair grow and we cut it. We get new teeth in our youth, even Wisdom teeth later on. Our Blood cells are about 120 days old. Even our bones are constantly changing with our bone cells being around 10 years old. I am sure if we investigated it more and more that we would see that our body changes to create a new us.
What about our eyes? You only ever hear or people getting worse eye sight. Scientists are baffled by the age of cells in people eyes, and can not determine an "age". Malcolm points out that our eyes are very much the key to seeing Jesus and then therefore creation differently, but how many of us who pray, pray for new eyes? Like the rest of the body, we get a chance to slither out of our old skin and become someone new, but what about our eyes?
Don't become lethargic in life and faith, do not become stagnant in what you see, ask God for different eyes.
In Ezekiel 8 you can read time and time again about God talking about SEEING.In verse 6 "Son of man, do you see what they are doing"
AND again,
12 He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’" 13 Again, he said, "You will see them doing things that are even more detestable."
If you study and look over that chapter you will constantly come across see, seen, saw and seeing!
"Son of man can you see" three times He says it, 3! do we not then assume that this message for sight is an important one?
Our we as a society to caught up in being seen, which i have covered before in other blog posts. The HERE I AM culture that we all seem to be living in. How about the culture of seeing, can we see God?
Isiah 6
"I saw the Lord - Here I am"
We SEE it again in Job 42
I have heard of you, no I have seen you.
Have you seen Him?
Psalm 46
Take a look at you God
So, have you seen Him. I know people who say they have a greater connection with God when they are at church. The "find" Him there. I always smile when i hear this. I find Him there.....Just as if we are playing a massive game of hide and seek.
But if it is true and so many people find and see God in churches, then what do we SEE when we see a church?
Do we see the Church as an army, an army ready to invade the darkness? or as it says in Ezekiel are we looking at the darkness in the church?
And finally, the end of this post (Although there will be a part 2)
How do you SEE yourself?
Do we pray to ask God to help us have new eyes to SEE ourselves better?
Numbers 13
"we've seen ourselves as grasshoppers in our own eyes"
Grasshoppers.
What do you see when you look at yourself? would you describe yourself as a small creature, a lowly insect?
Eleanor Roosevelt once said "No one can make you feel small apart from you"
So do we pray and ask for new eyes to see us as God sees us?
God made us perfect, it was us who changed.
I said above about how we SEE church, then I went quickly into seeing us. But that is the amazing thing about the Truth that we have when we come and meet with Jesus. Of course we find God in church, He is probably the only one who has ever attended EVERY meeting, because the truth is He is everywhere, living amongst us at every point, with everyone.
He is always SEEING us, so we should start trying to see ourselves.
Friday, 30 September 2011
I'm going on a bear hunt
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Not me!
Here comes the gate
Now we're on a bear hunt
We're gonna catch a big one
Now we're on a bear hunt
We're gonna catch a big one
I'm not afraid
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
We're coming to a tall mountain
It sure is high
It sure is wide
Let's climb up it
Well, there's nothing over there
Nothing over there
Nothing back there
Hey! Wait! I think I see something
Quick! Everybody run down!
It sure is high
It sure is wide
Let's climb up it
Well, there's nothing over there
Nothing over there
Nothing back there
Hey! Wait! I think I see something
Quick! Everybody run down!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Not me!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Not me!
We're going thru the tall grass
We're going thru the short grass
Hey! Look! There's a little tree
Well, let's shinny on up it
Whoa! It gets a little skinny up here at the top
See anything over that way?
Anything over that way?, Uh, oh!,
Oh, no! Whoa! Agh! let's get down!
We're going thru the short grass
Hey! Look! There's a little tree
Well, let's shinny on up it
Whoa! It gets a little skinny up here at the top
See anything over that way?
Anything over that way?, Uh, oh!,
Oh, no! Whoa! Agh! let's get down!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Not me!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Not me!
Oh, no!
It's a big puddle of mud
Can't go around it
Gotta go right thru it
Yeuk!
Well, let's go.
Squish, Sqwish, Blaaahh.
It's a big puddle of mud
Can't go around it
Gotta go right thru it
Yeuk!
Well, let's go.
Squish, Sqwish, Blaaahh.
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Not me!
Are you?
Not me!
We're coming to a wide river
And there's no bridge going over it
No tunnel going under it
No tunnel going under it
It's just plain old water
And we're gonna have to swim
All right, dive in!
Start swimming
Do the back stroke
Do the side stroke
Do the doggie paddle
Try the little cat paddle
OK Jump out, shake yourself off
And we're gonna have to swim
All right, dive in!
Start swimming
Do the back stroke
Do the side stroke
Do the doggie paddle
Try the little cat paddle
OK Jump out, shake yourself off
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Not me!
Are you?
Not me!
Shhh, it's a cave
Looks like the kind of cave that B-bears live in
I don't know if I want to go in there
You think we oughta go in?
Are you nuts?
Looks like the kind of cave that B-bears live in
I don't know if I want to go in there
You think we oughta go in?
Are you nuts?
There's probably a bear in there
All right I'll go in, You stay here,
And if I find a bear, I'll come out and get you
And we'll all go in and grab him together
Now, quiet, don't make a sound while I'm in that cave,
Cuz if you wake him up, I'll be in trouble
Bears are awful ornery when they first wake up, you know
OK, I'm going on in
Oooo, It's dark in here
It's really dark in here
I can't see a thing
Agh, there's spiders webs
Ooo, what was that???
What's this??.... it's soft, uh oh,it's kind of fuzzy
Ahg!!!!!!!!! Run! Everybody run!!
I saw a bear!!!!
Jump in the water! Swim fast!!
Do the backstroke!
The sidestroke, the doggie paddle
Jump out of the water
Run through the mud!
Forget the tree!!
Go through the tall grass
The short grass
Quick! Go up the mountain
Down the other side
Go through the gate
Into the house, under the bed
Under the pillow
Hide!!!!!
Uh, it's awful quiet around here
I'm not afraid
Are you?
I saw a bear!!!!
Jump in the water! Swim fast!!
Do the backstroke!
The sidestroke, the doggie paddle
Jump out of the water
Run through the mud!
Forget the tree!!
Go through the tall grass
The short grass
Quick! Go up the mountain
Down the other side
Go through the gate
Into the house, under the bed
Under the pillow
Hide!!!!!
Uh, it's awful quiet around here
I'm not afraid
Are you?
A lovely story for children, but what does it have to do with me, or even God?
Ali then proceeded with a very brief talk; so brief it only lasted a few sentences but got me thinking for hours.
In our life, and our path to find God, are we not all taken by the obstacles? High mountains to climb, long and short grass to wade through, wide rivers and even dark caves to with which to persevere? It is our choice if we go around them, over them, under them or through them. We even have the choice to stand still.
Do we all, as the children have in the story, find the path behind us far easier when looking back (Or in their case when they are running back, with apparent ease given the difficulty the obstacles gave them to first get past)?
And finally, when you are at the end of the path, when you find your bear, will you be confident enough to stand there without looking back, without fear, without wanting to hide, without wanting to run back from where you came? Will you run back into your past?
Or, will you be able to face Him?
Or, will you be able to face Him?
Thursday, 15 September 2011
A shoe box full of trust and forgiveness
God has been showing me the same verse all week. Matthew 18 21 - 35:
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
I have seen this talk presented three different ways, and still struggle so much with this concept.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is such a difficult thing for me. Sometimes things can be said or done and I don't realise the hurt or offence and it just goes over my head (which to be honest am very grateful for), but then at other times, the tiniest thing cuts through me, and find it so difficult to let go. I just "can't" seem to get over it and forgive.
In the above passage Peter does one of his wonderful, human mistakes by trying to be more like Jesus in his approach, but still completely missing the point.
Oh how I relate to Peter a times! As I said, have been shown this verse so much this week but I still don't quite get it and can't do what must be done.
77 times.
Peter was trying to be really clever with his statement here, he was also trying to show his willingness to be better. In Jewish terms, scholars would have advised you to seek forgiveness 3 times. If by that point you couldn't forgive someone for their actions towards you, you would have then been asked to see a senior member of the community; a senior scholar, Rabbi or even a community health advisor. So, Peter knowing this, tries to be better at his level of forgiving by saying that he won't give up at trying to forgive after 3 attempts before he seeks help, he will try 7 times! Bless him, he meant well in his attempt, but, as usual, Jesus corrects him and says 77 times!
Jesus' point here was not that we should try and forgive 77 times, but that the number of times is irrelevent. We should be looking at the act of forgiveness, not the number of times we try.
Three lessons (some of which are in story form) I have learnt this week about forgiveness have all the same overall meaning.
Mercy
1: Actions that hurt us, actions that we are upset about, are often not in our control. They are usually in the control and therefore a result of others' actions. That doesn't mean that because it wasn't us, that we should forgive. It shows us the concept of control, we cannot control who hurts us but we can control who we forgive. And most of all we can realise we can control our mercy.
God shows us this example:
Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Don't we all want to be more like Him?
Let go! Let God.
2: I always struggle with the "Letting Go" part. Often the hurt I'm letting go of is never let go of at all, despite what I convince myself at the time. And then I get hit with the pain of it again, and I struggle then forgiving something I thought I'd already forgiven, when in actual fact I never had, and the hurt is still being clutched next to my heart with all my might, often even stronger than before, because I'm now in denial about it.
In a George Foreman machine it cooks the food, draining off the unwanted juice and fat, with an ideally placed tray to catch it. When cooking food another way, there is always remains of the juice and fat on your food. I see God's hand as the tray that catches our unwanted crap, and we can choose to be grilled and have the hurt drained away, or we can just let ourselves stew in it.
In many sports they talk about using the D (defensive positioning) like to use the d at the end.....Letting go isn't just about letting go; add the defensive D and let GoD.
Simplicity
3. (And my final point):
A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared
everything and talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each
other, except that the little old woman had a shoebox on the top of her closet that
she had cautioned her husband never to open it or ask her about it.
For all those years, he had never thought about the box, but one
day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she
would not recover.
In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the
shoebox and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed it was time
he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found
two crocheted dolls and a stack of money, totaling £25,000.
He asked her about the contents.
"When we were married," she said, "my grandmother told me the
secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me If I
ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."
The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only
two precious dolls were in the box, She had only ever been
angry with him in all those years of living and loving. He almost
burst with happiness.
"Honey," he said, "that explains the dolls, but what about all of this
money? Where did it come from
"Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling the dolls.."
The husband trusted his wife, and respected her. She trusted him too. She got rid of all her hurt, and prevented it too from coming to the foreground and damaging the peace and simplicity of their wonderful life.
This concept helped her marriage; rather than stewing in hurt, carrying her resentment around and taking revenge out on her husband with sharp words, unkind acts etc., she let it go, because it made life simple, easy and happier for her as well as the man she loved.
We all have that simple choice. Make the person who hurt us suffer too, ultimately making both parties miserable, or let go, show mercy, and walk away with both parties happy.
Sometimes we forget the simplicity in the things we are asked to do.
The carrot and the stick of it.
So l'll end with two points very quickly. The first is this from John 20:22-23
And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
That alone is the a lot of responsibility to consider.
And taking from the story, sometimes giving away and giving up the things we need to forgive, and giving them to God, will cost us nothing, and sometimes we may be rewarded in ways we didn't expect.
So for me, God's clearly been showing me this: I need to give bits to Him-there's a lot of proverbial fat to be drained into my George Foreman grill tray. I know even after all of the above, somethings are easier said than done, but l'll definitely try!
Now, just to find a crotchet kit.........
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
I have seen this talk presented three different ways, and still struggle so much with this concept.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is such a difficult thing for me. Sometimes things can be said or done and I don't realise the hurt or offence and it just goes over my head (which to be honest am very grateful for), but then at other times, the tiniest thing cuts through me, and find it so difficult to let go. I just "can't" seem to get over it and forgive.
In the above passage Peter does one of his wonderful, human mistakes by trying to be more like Jesus in his approach, but still completely missing the point.
Oh how I relate to Peter a times! As I said, have been shown this verse so much this week but I still don't quite get it and can't do what must be done.
77 times.
Peter was trying to be really clever with his statement here, he was also trying to show his willingness to be better. In Jewish terms, scholars would have advised you to seek forgiveness 3 times. If by that point you couldn't forgive someone for their actions towards you, you would have then been asked to see a senior member of the community; a senior scholar, Rabbi or even a community health advisor. So, Peter knowing this, tries to be better at his level of forgiving by saying that he won't give up at trying to forgive after 3 attempts before he seeks help, he will try 7 times! Bless him, he meant well in his attempt, but, as usual, Jesus corrects him and says 77 times!
Jesus' point here was not that we should try and forgive 77 times, but that the number of times is irrelevent. We should be looking at the act of forgiveness, not the number of times we try.
Three lessons (some of which are in story form) I have learnt this week about forgiveness have all the same overall meaning.
Mercy
1: Actions that hurt us, actions that we are upset about, are often not in our control. They are usually in the control and therefore a result of others' actions. That doesn't mean that because it wasn't us, that we should forgive. It shows us the concept of control, we cannot control who hurts us but we can control who we forgive. And most of all we can realise we can control our mercy.
God shows us this example:
Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Don't we all want to be more like Him?
Let go! Let God.
2: I always struggle with the "Letting Go" part. Often the hurt I'm letting go of is never let go of at all, despite what I convince myself at the time. And then I get hit with the pain of it again, and I struggle then forgiving something I thought I'd already forgiven, when in actual fact I never had, and the hurt is still being clutched next to my heart with all my might, often even stronger than before, because I'm now in denial about it.
In a George Foreman machine it cooks the food, draining off the unwanted juice and fat, with an ideally placed tray to catch it. When cooking food another way, there is always remains of the juice and fat on your food. I see God's hand as the tray that catches our unwanted crap, and we can choose to be grilled and have the hurt drained away, or we can just let ourselves stew in it.
In many sports they talk about using the D (defensive positioning) like to use the d at the end.....Letting go isn't just about letting go; add the defensive D and let GoD.
Simplicity
3. (And my final point):
A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared
everything and talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each
other, except that the little old woman had a shoebox on the top of her closet that
she had cautioned her husband never to open it or ask her about it.
For all those years, he had never thought about the box, but one
day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she
would not recover.
In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the
shoebox and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed it was time
he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found
two crocheted dolls and a stack of money, totaling £25,000.
He asked her about the contents.
"When we were married," she said, "my grandmother told me the
secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me If I
ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."
The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only
two precious dolls were in the box, She had only ever been
angry with him in all those years of living and loving. He almost
burst with happiness.
"Honey," he said, "that explains the dolls, but what about all of this
money? Where did it come from
"Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling the dolls.."
The husband trusted his wife, and respected her. She trusted him too. She got rid of all her hurt, and prevented it too from coming to the foreground and damaging the peace and simplicity of their wonderful life.
This concept helped her marriage; rather than stewing in hurt, carrying her resentment around and taking revenge out on her husband with sharp words, unkind acts etc., she let it go, because it made life simple, easy and happier for her as well as the man she loved.
We all have that simple choice. Make the person who hurt us suffer too, ultimately making both parties miserable, or let go, show mercy, and walk away with both parties happy.
Sometimes we forget the simplicity in the things we are asked to do.
The carrot and the stick of it.
So l'll end with two points very quickly. The first is this from John 20:22-23
And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
That alone is the a lot of responsibility to consider.
And taking from the story, sometimes giving away and giving up the things we need to forgive, and giving them to God, will cost us nothing, and sometimes we may be rewarded in ways we didn't expect.
So for me, God's clearly been showing me this: I need to give bits to Him-there's a lot of proverbial fat to be drained into my George Foreman grill tray. I know even after all of the above, somethings are easier said than done, but l'll definitely try!
Now, just to find a crotchet kit.........
Friday, 9 September 2011
For more than Laish
I often hear many talks from Christian leaders about keeping focus on God and that your eyes should be firmly fixed on Him and Him alone. I have often also heard the talks that "we" as a society spend to much time looking behind us "looking in our rear view mirror", focusing on our mistakes, problems and faults, so much that we don't pay attention to where we are going and end up walking into trouble time and time again. Both these points are often true to all of us and often true when combined.
The Highway Code
But what people don't always realise is that there can be a little more to this direct looking at God route and ignoring the things from behind you.
I would disagree with some of the above statement though.
Continuing with the car metaphor, I honestly believe that sometimes you need to look into the rear view mirror, as a driver you need to, even if it is at a glance.
According to the highway code, it states that " Drivers are advised to check their rear view mirror every seven seconds to monitor what is happening on the road behind them and should check both their rear view mirror and wing mirrors before making a manoeuvre, as well as their blind spot."
This I find really interesting, it tells you to check every seven seconds in your rear view mirror, this therefore is clearly telling you not to become fixed on what is behind you, but it also mentions using your wing (side) mirrors to help in the avoidance of any incidents by checking all around ou, including any blind spots.
So how often do you look around?
Do you know who you have beside you?
Who do you trust to walk and stand beside you? To look after you? In Rugby and American football terms, to block and tackle the attacker or even to cover you with support when you need to pass the ball.
This is a lesson that I have recently learnt, I have managed to realise that I need to look around me, to see my team mates, the people who still after all this time are still standing strong. But when I was listening to the speaker Dary Northrope he made me rethink this whole concept.
Has everyone heard of Laish? I hadn't, never heard of it. But then it is very breifly mentioned in the Bible, but the lesson in it is very important.
(If you get a chance Read Judges 18)
In the beginning you hear about the Dan(ites) they were power hungry and wanted to be recognised for their authority, power and strength.
"1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, "Go, explore the land." "
These 5 men go forth and come across Laish, in their discovery of Laish we see that the people living there were living very happily.
"7 So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else."
They were living carefree, wealthy, quiet, secure and very happy lives.
Who wouldn't want to be part of that? Isn't that what we all ask of God?
But did you see their weakness?
"they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else."
They had no allies, they had no other relationship with anyone else, they were standing by themselves.
When you continue to read, you see that the Danites were coming to attack the land, to take it from them. Who is going to stand and help them defend their homes and town, to help defend Laish?
A small explosion
We continue to see in the story that the people of Laish, were so kind that they asked the 5 soliders to stay. These 5 stayed, settled, spyed and continued to feed information to the remaining 600 soliders, who at this point were camped to the neighbouring hill. The 5 men continued to cause trouble, whilst the 600 stayed waiting:
"16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate. "
Where was the instance defense? Quite often when something is closely happening to you, you cant see the danger, you may at times need someone to say to you what is wrong. Some may argue and say that it is best to stay out of others business, but there is a distinct difference between being nosey and interfering and lifting your voice and clearly stating that some things are NOT OK.
But what you quickly see in the story is that what starts with 5 turns to 600. We should all recognise this point. How many times have we done something so small, so insignificant (to us) that then "BANG" it turns into this big problem. Once the 5 settled they allowed so many more in.
House hunting
When someone goes looking for a new house, how many people get a second opinion?
I know that I would. When looking to buy my own place, I spent time, carefull consideration into where I would buy, how much I would spend. And then once purchased, I changed it to how i wanted it and then put effort into keep it the way I would like it.
When renting a property I found that it was different, not so much care, not so much money and realistically not so much love in the property as it had been when I could put more time on making it a home that I wanted to be in.
Friendships and relationships should be like the home you own, it may take you more effort but in the long run you will value the property and the relationship more.
Jesus taught us all about the importance of relationships. (Matthew 22 love your neighbour as yourself)
In a previous blog I asked you who truly knows you, this truth, this is the truth of trusting in a good relationship. I mentioned at the beginning about passing a ball in Rugby or American football. When you pass the ball, you have to make that split decision to pass it to the person that you trust, that you truly trust to take that ball forward whilst you deal with what is around you.
In the end of the story Laish is destroyed:
"27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.
The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish."
Make sure you have a good side view of your life. See who your allies are, who you would pass the ball to. I have a good team, some very good friends, one of which would be happy that I used the rugby terms in this blog. To all of them I am grateful for their support.
Church isn't always a place to hide yourself, it is a place to be open and to have open trusting relationships.
We were designed for more. We were designed for relationships. Laish didn't realise this, they didn't realise that there is more.
This is a quotation from John Donne (1572-1631). It appears in Devotions upon emergent occasions and seuerall steps in my sicknes - Meditation XVII, 1624:
"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
No man is an island, entire of itself.
As I mentioned before, Laish had everything right in what we (the majority of society) would deem as things we would like our lives to resemble, but we too must look around and want for more, more than Liash, See who is standing next to you, see who is holding your hand.
For more than Liash!
The Highway Code
But what people don't always realise is that there can be a little more to this direct looking at God route and ignoring the things from behind you.
I would disagree with some of the above statement though.
Continuing with the car metaphor, I honestly believe that sometimes you need to look into the rear view mirror, as a driver you need to, even if it is at a glance.
According to the highway code, it states that " Drivers are advised to check their rear view mirror every seven seconds to monitor what is happening on the road behind them and should check both their rear view mirror and wing mirrors before making a manoeuvre, as well as their blind spot."
This I find really interesting, it tells you to check every seven seconds in your rear view mirror, this therefore is clearly telling you not to become fixed on what is behind you, but it also mentions using your wing (side) mirrors to help in the avoidance of any incidents by checking all around ou, including any blind spots.
So how often do you look around?
Do you know who you have beside you?
Who do you trust to walk and stand beside you? To look after you? In Rugby and American football terms, to block and tackle the attacker or even to cover you with support when you need to pass the ball.
This is a lesson that I have recently learnt, I have managed to realise that I need to look around me, to see my team mates, the people who still after all this time are still standing strong. But when I was listening to the speaker Dary Northrope he made me rethink this whole concept.
Has everyone heard of Laish? I hadn't, never heard of it. But then it is very breifly mentioned in the Bible, but the lesson in it is very important.
(If you get a chance Read Judges 18)
In the beginning you hear about the Dan(ites) they were power hungry and wanted to be recognised for their authority, power and strength.
"1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, "Go, explore the land." "
These 5 men go forth and come across Laish, in their discovery of Laish we see that the people living there were living very happily.
"7 So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else."
They were living carefree, wealthy, quiet, secure and very happy lives.
Who wouldn't want to be part of that? Isn't that what we all ask of God?
But did you see their weakness?
"they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else."
They had no allies, they had no other relationship with anyone else, they were standing by themselves.
When you continue to read, you see that the Danites were coming to attack the land, to take it from them. Who is going to stand and help them defend their homes and town, to help defend Laish?
A small explosion
We continue to see in the story that the people of Laish, were so kind that they asked the 5 soliders to stay. These 5 stayed, settled, spyed and continued to feed information to the remaining 600 soliders, who at this point were camped to the neighbouring hill. The 5 men continued to cause trouble, whilst the 600 stayed waiting:
"16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate. "
Where was the instance defense? Quite often when something is closely happening to you, you cant see the danger, you may at times need someone to say to you what is wrong. Some may argue and say that it is best to stay out of others business, but there is a distinct difference between being nosey and interfering and lifting your voice and clearly stating that some things are NOT OK.
But what you quickly see in the story is that what starts with 5 turns to 600. We should all recognise this point. How many times have we done something so small, so insignificant (to us) that then "BANG" it turns into this big problem. Once the 5 settled they allowed so many more in.
House hunting
When someone goes looking for a new house, how many people get a second opinion?
I know that I would. When looking to buy my own place, I spent time, carefull consideration into where I would buy, how much I would spend. And then once purchased, I changed it to how i wanted it and then put effort into keep it the way I would like it.
When renting a property I found that it was different, not so much care, not so much money and realistically not so much love in the property as it had been when I could put more time on making it a home that I wanted to be in.
Friendships and relationships should be like the home you own, it may take you more effort but in the long run you will value the property and the relationship more.
Jesus taught us all about the importance of relationships. (Matthew 22 love your neighbour as yourself)
In a previous blog I asked you who truly knows you, this truth, this is the truth of trusting in a good relationship. I mentioned at the beginning about passing a ball in Rugby or American football. When you pass the ball, you have to make that split decision to pass it to the person that you trust, that you truly trust to take that ball forward whilst you deal with what is around you.
In the end of the story Laish is destroyed:
"27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.
The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish."
Make sure you have a good side view of your life. See who your allies are, who you would pass the ball to. I have a good team, some very good friends, one of which would be happy that I used the rugby terms in this blog. To all of them I am grateful for their support.
Church isn't always a place to hide yourself, it is a place to be open and to have open trusting relationships.
We were designed for more. We were designed for relationships. Laish didn't realise this, they didn't realise that there is more.
This is a quotation from John Donne (1572-1631). It appears in Devotions upon emergent occasions and seuerall steps in my sicknes - Meditation XVII, 1624:
"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
No man is an island, entire of itself.
As I mentioned before, Laish had everything right in what we (the majority of society) would deem as things we would like our lives to resemble, but we too must look around and want for more, more than Liash, See who is standing next to you, see who is holding your hand.
For more than Liash!
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