Thoughts on Christian Union Leadership 2:- Arrogance

I think this relates quite comfortably to my last post about humility (http://storytimewithaled.blogspot.com/2009/10/thoughts-on-christian-union-leadership.html)



When we think about CU leadership, we must remember some very important facts:-



Firstly, THE CU IS NOT A CHURCH.



I cannot stress that enough. The CU is a evangelistic mission team, being taught and grounded in the Bible by their local churches, not themselves. Yes Bible teaching in a CU context is important, but it is important to remember that it is the church that feeds us, and the CU encourages us on for mission. If the CU is your place for primary Bible teaching and growth, you either need to join a church, or change which church you attend.


In terms of leadership, it is almost impossible to establish a long term leadership strategy and direction for the CU, unlike a church. This is because CU leadership is temporary. On average, the longest a CU leader's tenure can last at most is two years, but mainly one, as there is an annual turnover, and you are only there on average for three years.



Secondly, because the CU is not a church, CU leaders are not on par with church leaders.



Now, I'm mainly speaking here about arrogance. It is a plague and a trap for all asked to take on some kind of leadership, and I think it is more rife in CU leadership rather than Church leadership.



Have a read of 1 Timothy 3:6 "He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil."



This passage comes in a section where Paul is listing what is basically a checklist for a Church leader. As I have already said, CU leadership is much different from Church leadership, however, I think this passage still applies.



You meet a lot of people in CU, from a lot of different backgrounds. Some may have been Christians for a long time, grounded in good Bible teaching churches. Others will not, and I find that the majority of students starting uni seem to be students who have come from semi-decent teaching backgrounds, but not brilliant ones. Others will have come from rubbish ones, and some may only think that they are Christians. It is for people like this that this verse warns against. For to be a recent convert to Christ is to one susceptible for the first time to the attacks of the satan. To be elevated to a position of leadership too quickly/early can elevate one's opinion of oneself, and that points them, and those under their ministry, away from Christ and onto the person.



A word of warning.

Thoughts on Christian Union Leadership 1:-Humility

There may be a time during your University career where you may be asked by the outgoing leadership to be one of their successors.

Let me tell you something now. You are not a cut above the rest, you are NOT more Godly, more clever or more special, than anyone else in your CU. You are NOT a dictator, nor are you ready for the job you have been offered. If you think ANY of these things at all then do NOT accept the job, full stop.

Luke 14:11 states: "For everyone who exhalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

This is the most dangerous challenge of CU leadership, and you would do well to remember this now.

At the end of the first term of my first year at Lancaster, I was asked to serve as a small group leader. I was over the moon, and bursted to say yes immediately. However, my current leaders who were asking me encouraged me to really pray and think about it over the Christmas holidays.

I just thought 'yes' and thought and prayed nothing else.

Can we see a pattern here? It was all about me. Yes I wanted to do it. Yes I feel amazing at being asked, therefore I must be special. Not a single thought for God at all. Not even a single thought that I would be required to teach the Bible!

Thankfully, being a CU small group leader is not being a church small group leader. Our CU staffworker gave us the study, which we as a pair of leaders per college group would adapt to our style.

I look back on that year fondly. It was a challenge and hardship, which we will deal more with later in subsequent posts. It was a time I loved.

What lay underneath however, was a very, very prideful disposition that was unwilling to give it up. So when it came round to the end of my tenure, I began speculating that I must be being put forward for the CU exec. President no less! It actually makes me laugh now.

However, Jesus' words in Luke became apparent to me when I was asked instead to serve as the Tech Team leader, always behind the scenes, always working hard, and rarely seeing gratitude. It had once been described to me as a thankless service.

That was indeed a humbling experience, and that year was indeed a struggle, yet it was awesome to serve in that way.

So prospective CU leaders. Be warned, be humble. For it is by God's grace you are savedm not your merits. Do all for God, not yourself.

Wrestling with Worry

"When faced with trials on every side, we know the outcome is secure"-Stuart Townend, O Church Arise.

How do we work that out in practice? Yes we know the outcome is secure, for we know the truths of the Bible. However, do we remember that the outcome is secure?

Now, I am a worrier, a very anxious person. It does not at all take much to get me worried at all. For example, today, I have just retured from what will be (if all the forms clear) my new place of work, and have just been informed that it is going to cost me 50 pounds to get a medical form cleared, this is money that I do not have. So it's going to be interesting!

Anyway, I'm very ready to hold my hand up and confess that I am a worrier. When trials come at me, I melt very, very quickly.

But worrying is like guilt, it is a feeling that is irrelevant and illogical, yet still felt by many of us. And again, it is not a feeling that we can dismiss as weak and needs to be swept under the carpet with glib phrases of comfort or randomly quoted Bible verses with no understanding behind them.

We worry because we are scared. The satan convinces us that whatever we are going through will completely consume and defeat us. And yes, on our own, it would do. What the accuser tries to make us forget is that we are saved, part of God's plan, cleanses by the blood of Christ.

Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. Suffering will end. (Revelation 21-22). That is what the devil wants us to forget. We need to remember that truth when we worry.

Jesus addresses the issue of worry here in Matthew 6:25-34. Why not have it open in front of you (just type in the passage reference into www.biblegateway.com if you don't have one on you.


Jesus tells us in verse 25 to not be anxious about our lives, what we will eat and what we will drink and wear. v26 tells us to consider the birds, whom do not earn a living in order to feed themselves, but God still provides for them, and we, who are made in the image of God, are so much more valuable than they. For Christ died for us, and that alone elevates us away forever from hopeless and destitute neglect, though that is what we deserve.

The point Jesus makes here is very interesting, and points us primarily to the truth that our Heavenly Father is completely in control of the universe. He feeds the birds, who have no jobs or income, yet He feeds them. So much will be more for us so, for we, created in God's image and cleanesd by the blood of Christ, are of much more value than the birds (v26).

Jesus goes on to make a similar point about clothing (v28-31), asking why are we anxious about what we wear, for God grows the lillies of the field, clothing them, and the grass, in such a way that King Solomon in all of his own glory (for he was a famous king in Israel long ago, and was indeed very rich and finely attired [see 1 Kings 10:14-29]), did not match up.

Jesus then points out in verse 30 that if God so finely clothes grass, which grows today and is gone tomorrow, how much more will He clothe us, His people.

This is what we need to remember. It is in our sinful nature to worry, a lot of people do it. It is a strategy of the devil in effort to undermine God's Word and kingdom progressing, by attacking us, the vulnerable, who are so suseptible to attack. We forget the sovereignty of God, we all do it. We need to be constantly striving to remember the gospel and not succumbing to fear. We need to adhere strongly to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:33-34.)

We are called to stand firm in our fear, yet we always succumb to faith. Let us consider Mark's gospel for a moment. When studying it, it becomes noticible that fear occurs a great number of times. For example, when Jesus stands up in a boat and calms a storm in Mark 4:35-41, His response to the disciples fear is "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" (Mark 4:40). This event is soon followed by the faith demonstrated by a very ill woman, who, knowing Jesus has the power to heal, reaches out and touches His garment (Mark 5:21-34). Jesus has these words to say to her "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." (Mark 5:34)

So already we see, our natural response is to fear, when in fact we are called by God to have faith. Consider the disciples' reaction to seeing Jesus walk on the water towards them in Mark 6:45-52: "for they all saw him and were terrified." (Mark 6:50). How does Jesus respond? Well, with the very name of God Himself: "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afriad." (Mark 6:50b) It is I can also be translated as I AM, which, as we see in Exodus 3:14, is the name of God Himself. We are called to have faith in God.

After all, this is the challenge at the end of Mark's gospel. Some keen readers may see that it ends in a rather strange way, almost in the manner of a cliffhanger. The earliest (and therefore more reliable) manuscripts of Mark's gospel do not include 16:9-20, so ignore that. The style completley changes, and it is indeed a fearful way to try and clarify what can be seen as an ambiguous ending.

Forgetting this added extra, Mark's gospel ends with two women visiting the tomb of Jesus, to find His body gone, and a yong man sat there, who informs them thus: "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you." (Mark 16:6-7).

For indeed, three times Jesus has told of how He would die, and later rise again (Mark 8:31, 9:31 and 10:33-34). Everything he has said has come true so far. He has suffered and died for us. Now these two women stand at the tomb and hear that Jesus has risen again. What do they do? Tragically, verse 8, the last verse of Mark's gospel records thus: "And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." (Mark 16:8)

We fear, but what we are called to do is have faith. Fear is followed by faith in this gospel, and how it ends is Mark's challenge. Do you have faith? Here is the evidence, what do you think?

We naturally worry, but we are called to be faithful. Worriers, do not get sucked in to fears about food, clothing, money, grades. God is in control and takes care of His people. Rememer the gospel, keep remembering the promises of Christ, never made redundant, but everlasting. Do not fear, have faith.

Those of you who have worriers for friends, get alongside them, and love them by gentely leading them through the passages I've mentioned. Calm them, and remind them again gently of the wrath you have been saved from, and the glorious, everlasting, overcoming truth of the gospel.

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God...For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world-our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:1, 4-5.)

Grappling with guilt

"6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8)

We are given a chance to escape the wrath of the God of the Universe, which we deserve, by trusting that Jesus died for us on the cross, which we do not deserve. There is nothing we can do to escape the reality that we are rebels against God. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves from that wrath. All we can do is completely surrender ourselves, our sinful, rebellious natures, and nail them down to the cross with Christ Jesus, who took the punishment for that very nature by dying a death He did not deserve. The guiltless made guilty, making the truly guilty completely guiltless. It is all God's doing, His salvation in Christ, nothing to do with us. It is for the glory of God to fulfill His plan in bringing His people under Him as God, we are a part of that plan because God wants us to be, nothing at all to do with us at all.

So why do we feel guilty?

If we think this through, it is thoroughly illogical to feel guilty now, because Christ died for us. He took that punishment, so that we can be free. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" says Romans 8:1. We are free, not because we deserve to be, but because Christ conquered sin and death by dying Himself, and later rising again as endorsement from God, that victory assured and complete.

Yet, we still feel guilty. I feel guilty. In fact, it's something I can greatly struggle with. Guilt is a very dangerous feeling, a redundant feeling, yet not one we can simply brush under the carpet and dismiss anyone feeling guilty as a weak person who needs to read the Bible properly. We all fall into THAT category!

Guilt is a tool of the satan, the accuser. Defeated at the cross of Jesus forever, the satan now seeks to undermine the progression of God's Word in the world by attacking the most vulnerable point, us. We know our grace is utterly undeserved, and we are not led to forget that. Unfortunately, the accuser sends us the other way. We feel responsible for the death of Christ, and when we mess up again and again as people under that grace of God, our thoughts of remorse and guilt consume us. We forget that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While it is of course a right response to recognise our sinfulness, it is dangerous to neglect the flip side of the coin, that though we are sinners, we are washed clean of our sin by the blood of Jesus. He died so that we may live, and one day be made righteous and perfect with God (Ephesians 1:3-10), and nothing we do changes that.
If we adhere to the Biblical truth that God set us apart before the creation of the world, in order to be one day made holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4, 5, 11, 2:1-10, Romans 8:28-39, Romans 9:14-29; Acts 13:48; John 6:44), we find great comfort in many facts:

Firstly, the Sovereignty of God, who saw fit to unite His people, sinners as they are, under Him, to be made Holy and blameless, achieving this by the cross of Jesus Christ and that alone.

Secondly, the cleansing of God's people. Sinners though we are and will continue to be until the New Creation (Revelation 21-22), the blood of Christ has cleansed us from our sin. We are not perfect now, but we are forgiven now.

Thirdly, the permanence of the truth. Jesus died once, and for all "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" says 1 Peter 3:18a. This death was not a case of dying for specific sins, and some being outside of it. This death was for the forgiveness of sin, past, present and future. You can't commit a sin and not be saved by the blood. If you commit something on purpose and do not repent, then you are not trusting in God and are outside of the promise anyway. You would not do that if you knew the score, for, as Romans 8:38-39 states: "38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So we see, we need not feel guilty, for Christ has borne our punishment, permanently, as part of God's Sovereign and merciful plan in uniting us under Him, which He decided before we existed. What I am NOT saying however, is that this is an excuse to sit back and dismiss the active sin in your life. It is important to maintain a balance in this case between focusing on the grace, and always repenting. If we trust in Christ, then naturally we will want to live for Christ. Don't let guilt be a stumbling block. Keep repenting out of love for the God who died for you.

I often struggle greatly with guilt. For me anyway, part of it is indeed a pride issue, wanting to do the right thing, say the right thing, be righteous, basically. What a wrong attitude though. All we do is tainted with our sinful desires and motivations behind it. We are imperfect made worthy by Christ's blood alone.

Thinking back to a time about half way through my third year of university, I was greatly struggling with guilt, of how rubbish I was, and worthless, not deserving to be counted amongst the saved. At the time I was attending a conference on the cross of Christ, a subject so key to our understanding of what we believe, and yet a subject I had not given much time and study for. Being refreshed on the doctrine of the cross, there came a most wonderful feeling of relief that rushed over me as I was again reminded that Jesus died for me, and took my guilt and shame away. What a love, what a cost! (For further reading I fully and warmly recommend my favourite Christian book outside of the Bible, The Cross of Christ, by John Stott)

If you struggle with guilt, I urge you to take time to sit down, take a deep breath, and reflect on the truth of the Bible. We are all sinners, you are not alone. Those feelings of worthlessness and that you are the worst Christian around are echoed by many others, me included. Yes we are rubbish, but not worthless, for Christ Jesus died for us to make us worthy. Yes we are undeserving, but yes we are made righteous, more than conquerors by the sacrifice of Christ, and Christ alone. Reflect on the passages in this section, and pray to our Heavenly Father, in the name of the Son, by the Holy Spirit to guard you against guilt, keep you repentant and keep you focused and reminded of the awesome truth of the gospel, that while we were still sinners, Christ did die for us. And that grace never ends because you keep slipping up. Keep recognising and repenting, keep trusting, keep fighting, for one day you will see perfection, by Christ.

If you know someone struggling with guilt, get alongside them and love them. Remind them of your own sinfulness, as well as every single person on earth's, and keep gently pointing them to the truths of the gospel. Any of the passages here will be good places to point them towards, and gently remind them of that grace that we put our trust in.

Keep praying, keep fighting, keep trusting in God.

The Invention of Lying

I'm not the biggest fan of Ricky Gervais I'll be honest. Seems like every character he plays is the same, and his jokes never really tickle me. So I was not especially hopeful at the release of this film.

The film in question is set in a world where lies do not exist. Everything is truthful. Therefore, everything is depressive. No-one is happy as far as this viewer could make out. When the first lie is coined however, the luck turns. Down-on-his-luck Mark (Gervais) invents the first lie, and suddenly he is a success, at his job, with his money. Not his love life as of yet.

What I did not expect in the film comes around one hour in. As Mark sits at the bedside of his dying mother, to supposedly comfort her fears of nothing in the afterlife, he invents a place of paradise, where all live happily ever after.

The twist of this of course is that apart from Mark, lies do not exist, and so the world soon catches on to what Mark has said, and demand to know more. And therefore, in a scene that most obviously parodies a scene that keen-Bible readers will recognise, Gervais' character stands before a crowd, with 10 directives on two folded pizza boxes, and he tells the world of the 'Man in the Sky', who not only averts disasters, but also causes them, and it is he who decides who lives and dies, and to get into this paradise, you must avoid doing three acts of wrongdoing (which only extends to extremes such as murder and rape, swearing and things do not count). Do one or two and you are all right, do three, and you face eternal punishment.

A whole religion is built around this idea, and Gervais' lies make his character rich and famous. Lies apparently, are a recipe for success, while just the truth depresses people. The fabrication and speculation of joy is merely an antidote to the depressing nature of truth. That is what this film promotes.

All the way through viewing this film, I found the plot an intriguing insight into the dominant secular ideology of the world. Truth is bad, lies soften you up and give you a good time before the inevitable, ignorance is bliss, so they say.

I wonder what you make of this?

As the film went on, my mind recalled the words of Jesus, as recorded in John's gospel, chapter eight, verse thirty two: "...you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

This comes at the end of Jesus speaking to some believers and telling them that if they trust in His word (the Bible), they will know the truth, and that truth will set them free.

It's interesting, the idea that the truth just depresses people, and that things like the Bible are lies to make people feel better. When in fact, when we see the truth of what the Bible says about the world, that we are fallen people in need of God's help, and that He has provided that help in Jesus' death on the cross, and we need ti trust in that help to be set free, we are indeed set free. That's the truth, and it is far from depressing. Truth frees us, and it is the gospel that is the truth that will truly set us free...

Great Binge Britain

Yesterday morning, about 8:15 am. Not that many about you would expect, hardly anyone in fact.
I like walking through the city at this time, very quiet, and the weather was very dry yesterday. I was out early because I was on my way to help set up the Moorlands church meeting. To my surprise, as I was walking along, out from a front yard staggered a young girl in a dress the size of a postage stamp, swaying heavily.
"Excuse me," she grunted, stepping precariously onto the road and towards me. "I don't know where I am."
She was drunk, had no idea where she was, where she was going, and I doubt she remembers me at all. I took her to the nearest shop, where she then kissed me on both cheeks and then stumbled off.

I honestly have no idea if she made it where she was going. I doubt she even knew where she was going. She certainly had no idea where she was when I saw her, and I dread to think what she had been like the night before.

This is today's culture, to want to drink a drug that robs your freedom of speech, movement and common sense, to barely cover yourself and venture out into a dangerous world where literally anything could happen to you. I wonder what would have happened to that girl if she had met a pervert that morning, or indeed anyone who could have manipulated her to their own gain.

I'm not taking any moral high ground. I've been drunk a few times. The worst time was in second year, where after two bottles of wine and a pint of death I hit a club until the early hours, then came home and woke up at 5am having flooded the bathroom and been sick in the sink...it's no laughing matter.

The fact that we do this to ourselves, this escapism into a temporary blissful mind, where we feel invincible, we feel we are the best. We want to be God-like. The consequences are dire, and yet we still do it every week.

When you think about the idea of drinking something enough to make you lose inhibitions, vomit, and suffer massive headaches, I want to ask, is it really worth it?

There is nothing wrong with a drink in itself, but to lose our self control, is to deny our right to be in control of our bodies, which God has given us, and you open yourself up to the most vile of things, what you do and what can be done for you.

Is it really worth it?

Parental's part 2:-the sins of the father

Feel free not to listen to me, I'm not a parent, I'm just an observer, but hey, some observations are accurate.

I saw the film 'East is East' on television last night. I had seen most of it previously, and to be honest, I struggle with the labeling of it as a comedy. To me it is anything but.

To those who have not seen it, 'East is East' is a film set in Salford in 1971, and focuses on a family of 9 who run a successful chip shop. The father is a traditional Pakistani Muslim who has been married for a long time to an Irish-Catholic woman, and have 7 children, who were born in Britain but of course have Pakistani descent.

The father is a domineering traditionalist, seeking to bring up his children as Muslim. What he does not realise is, though his sons accompany him to the Mosque once a week, all bar one are not interested, and in fact, behind their father's back, do not comply. For example, the film opens with the non-Muslim members of the family (that is the mother, all sons bar one and the daughter) are seen secretly taking part in a Catholic march, and other times, the older children are seen secretly cooking and consuming bacon, something forbidden for a Muslim.

The film deals with the eldest son running away from an arranged marriage, to which his father responds by disowning him, his younger sons rebelling against arranged marriages of their own, but the father accusing the wrong son (ironically, the practicing Muslim), and beating him up. The father beats his own wife, twice, during the course of the film, and forces his youngest son, aged nine, to be circumcised. I must point out that this son's term of endearment by his own father is 'bastard'.

All the way through the film, the father is trying to teach the Muslim way to his children, by bullying and violence if his demands are not met.

This is a huge stereotype attributed to many families trying to teach their children to follow a particular way of life, and sickeningly, it's not too far from the truth in a lot of cases.

As Christian men, we are called by the Bible to teach our children the word of God, to show them the truth and live by said truth. Ephesians 6:4 says:

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

As men, we are to lead as Christ led, teaching, loving, and self-sacrificially, not with dictatorial violence and bullying, not provoking our children to anger and therefore driving them away from the love of Christ shown most on the cross. We are to teach the Bible, which most try to do, but the very important fact is, they fail to live the Bible. The dad in the film was not heretical in his teachings, but I very much doubt there is room to bully your way of life to your own family.
That is not the way of the cross. Christ died in a violent way, not to others, but Himself. The Christian martyr dies because they refuse to renounce Christ, they are murdered, they DO NOT murder.
Christian fathers can fall into two categories: they either do not live up to their leadership, and are timid, or they take their Biblical role of leadership to mean domination, and tryincal households are born. I confess that out of the two, I would more likely fall into the latter camp. We are so keen to get our point across that we sacrifice relationships to do it sometimes. Our pride is that powerful. This is sin, that we think we are God, the ultimate Father. This is reality, we are just as undeserving of grace as the people we try to teach. Yet God has sent Jesus to die for us.
This is what we are to teach, the grace of the gospel, the truth of the Bible, and we are to live it as well. For how can we teach what we do not live? 1 Peter 2:9-12 states:

"⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. ¹² Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

We have nothing to boast in, save in the grace that has been given to us by God. We are not like this world, we are to stand out by speaking and living for Jesus. That should be the same as we teach our children. Not beat them into submission, but love them by putting ourselves out for them, showing them the good of God by how we live and speak. It is God who saves, not us. We need to be loving and being loving does include discipline, Godly discipline that brings those we teach to a repentance and faith in Christ, not beating them to a bloody pulp and calling them 'bastard'.

Luke-the true Nativity

Now I hate Christmas. It's a sad fact of life, but it's something I'm known for. When I first became a Christian, Christmas, with all of it's commercialisation-the xmas generation, really, really gets on my nerves. Even to a point where this year, I exlaimed aloud how early decorations were being sold (SEPTEMBER-CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!).
The fact that my parents split up on Christmas day 2006 kinda puts a damper on things as well, I'll be honest.
Moorlands puts on a Carol service every year, which I do love, but I'll admit, it's the first time I'll hear carols in a year, and I do get very emotional to a point.
This year, I think I'm starting to love Christmas, what it's actually about at least.
In my daily Bible reading at the moment, I've just started reading Luke's gospel, a gospel I have not read in depth for a long time, and of course, the first two chapters concern the birth of Jesus, which we traditionally celebrate around Christmas time.
It's awesome going into a story I have known since a young age, a story that I have taken part in re-enacting for many years (my last nativity play was when I was 17!), but a story that is more than just kids in tea towels getting stage fright.

For it concerns the God of the Universe reversing the effects of our own rebellion against Him, by stepping into history as a human, Jesus Christ. A boy born of a virgin, therefore most likely classed as illigitimate by those around Him, a boy born in a manger, not in a room. A boy born to die.
Jesus is described, before He is even born, by the angel Gabriel as "the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:32-33).
To explain where we are in the Bible at this point. Since Genesis, the beginning, God has promised to send someone to sort out our rebellious mess (Genesis 3), which He has expanded upon by making three promises to a man called Abraham, promises of land, for a people of God, who will live under God's blessing (Genesis 12). God's people grew out of Abraham's family, called the house of Jacob, or Israel, who after being rescued by God from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 1-15, particularly looking at chapter 12) settled in a land. They were given God's Law to live by, as a way of standing out as God's people (Exodus-Deuteronomy) and a way to live under God's blessing.
They still rebel, again and again, and we see judges and kings established by God. (Judges-2 Chronicles) Some obey God, and others do not.
One of these kings was David, who did listen to God, and God promised that David's line would continue as kings forever. People thought that this promised one God would send would be like David.
Israel as a nation would become split in two, conquered and exiled from their promised land as part of God's judgement, but God would bring them back as the Old Testament closes.
Now God has been silent for many years, Israel has been conquered again, by the Roman Empire, and they still await the sending of God's promised one, who will be from David's line, and will be king forever.
Jesus is born, from the line of David. Jesus is described in Luke 2:29-32, by a man called Simeon, one who was promised to see God's Christ (Messiah, Saviour, the title that Jesus has always been associated with). This man sees Jesus the child, and proclaims thus: "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."

To explain. Jesus is the one whom God has sent, whom the world has waited for, the one whom God will use to reverse the effects of our rebellion against God; to die on a cross for us. This for all, not just Jews, for Gentiles are anyone who is not of Jewish blood.

This is what Jesus came for, to die for us. And here we see the origins, the beginning of the end. When I appeared on songs of praise, I described Christmas as "not about the presents...it's the beginning of our salvation [through Jesus' death], and that is what we should be celebrating."

This is the story of the Bible, the culmination of God's salvation plan for His people, a plan made before the world, the sacrifice of Jesus. Christmas is the beginning of the end of that glorious plan. THAT is why it is awesome.

Some thoughts after seeing some billboards-the X Factor

So, the X factor...
I confess I generally avoid it, except the first third of the series, which is generally watching some funny auditions. After this, I lose interest, and wait until the winner will release their one and only single, to then vanish. Who has heard anything by Steve Brookstien lately? Or G4? Shane Ward? Andy Abraham? Or indeed, if we go throughout the many reality TV shows, we find that out of all of them, it's only Girls Aloud that are doing much these days...
Anyway, on the bus this morning a billboard for the X Factor caught my eye. This is what it said :"Make the biggest decision of their lives." That was all. It's obviously trying to get people to vote.
Now that is interesting. For one, it's not at all down to those involved. They all have talent, one is not better than the other, they cannot guarentee themselves a place in a recording studio. Neither can the judges, who have taught and mentored them. They have their opinions, and indeed predictions, but they can't do a thing for them either.
It is down to the viewing population of Britain. They cast the votes, and to be honest, it's not always about who is the better singer, which it actually should be about. People vote on looks, personality, talent, and indeed in my dad's case, whether they are Welsh or not (It's going to be a dilema for him this year...with no less than 2 Welsh finalists)
That billboard encourages you to help cast a person into fame, or back to their day jobs.
Interesting isn't it?
When I looked at that billboard, I thought about the most important decison of my life, the decision to follow Jesus as Lord. That decision was made for me, according to the Bible, have a look at Romans 8:28-30:

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

(For more on Romans 8, see my earlier post http://storytimewithaled.blogspot.com/2009/09/some-thoughts-on-romans-8.html)

These verses tell us thus. Firstly, God is Sovereign. He is at work in this world, for His glory, and therefore our good. He has known from the beginning, indeed predestined us from the very beginning to be saved by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Secondly, God is merciful. He has predestined us, called us to Him, and justified and glorified us by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

Therefore, it is not up to us that we are saved, for if it were, some of the glory would go to us and not God.
God gives us the decision, made, by His mercy in sending Jesus to die for us. "Make the biggest decision of their lives", Jesus has already done it.!

For some more Bible truths of predestination, check out Ephesians 1:4,5,11, 2:1-10; Romans 9:14-29; Acts 13:48; John 6:44)

Ruminations

So I've finally worked out to add a picture to this thing!
I took that in January of this year at Derwent Water in the Lake District, while on a conferance on the cross of Christ with Moorlands (http://www.moorlands.org.uk/resources/audio-talks. Use the search criteria to find MYC 2009 talks-in fact, listen to any of the talks, they are awesome!)
I love a good bit of photography, hey, I would make some kind of job out of it of I could!
If you are a photographer, what do you prefer? People, or places? Personally I prefer people, the memories that are captured in each moment, but I do love a good nature shot as well. :)

Dealing with depression

It's not something we talk about much is it?
Depression is one of those things we like to brush under the carpet and not talk about, nor want to get involved with. When you tell someone you have it, immediately their behaviour towards you changes, you are now treated like you are a ticking bomb ready to go off as soon as something is said.
Be prepared, this is not easy reading, nor indeed easy writing, but hey, depression is a fact of life for so many people, so many students as well as non-students. You are going to come across it sooner or later. I pray so much that you will never experience it, but you will probably know someone who has it, or has had it. Those of you who know me fall into that category.
I can't put a definite time line on when I had depression from, but I can make some educated guesses. I apologise now, for the next few paragraphs are going to be about me, my struggle with depression, and how God has brought me out of that struggle. I write this to make people aware of depression, and how they can encourage those Christian brothers and sisters they know who are struggling with it.

I am not a doctor, so I do not have a medical definition of depression. It is an illness that completely consumes every fibre of your being. It is inescapable, and having it was the hardest time of my life.
I guess the roots of it first came about in 2003. I was not having a good time at school, I had been bullied for two or so years at that point, and I felt like there was no way out. I had not accepted that Jesus was my Lord at that point, despite what I may have told you at the time, and I therefore viewed my situation as completely hopeless, no way out. So I tried to make a way out, and harmed myself. Was it a suicide attempt? Well, I guess not, it was just a cry for attention.
I repeated that a further two time in that year, and I guess I just settled down, things got less intense, and of course, when I was 17 years old, God brought a friend into my life who told me the gospel, brought me to our school CU, and indeed, thanks to the fact we started dating, ended up making the same university choices, and eventually going up to Lancaster becoming a part of Moorlands Evangelical Church and Lancaster University Christian Union. I am so thankful to God for instigating that. It's so awesome to see and know that He is in control, and working all things together for His glory and our good (Romans 8:28-LOOK IT UP-GOD IS AWESOME!)
In between becoming a Christian and coming to Lancaster, there was a hard period of my life. That friend and I split up, and yes, that was hard. My first girlfriend, my first break up, it was horrible.
It was also at that time that I had been really challenged to read the Bible for myself, and take it seriously. This challenge had come from meeting my future Pastor, Danny Rurlander, on the Lancaster University open day, where all the conversations had been about God, the Bible, and the church.
I took that as a challenge to read the Bible, and therefore, during that long period of sadness, I got to read of God's goodness and wisdom, His sovereignty and complete control, both in the book of Job,and the Psalms.
God, by His Spirit is constantly at work in our lives, changing us and growing us to be more like Christ (Romans 8), and by the time I reached Lancaster in the autumn of 2006, I had grown, but was still fragile.
My parents split up on Christmas day 2006, and I thank God that I had been at a Bible-teaching church for so long at that point, otherwise I don't know where I would have been. God is good, and I am not. My initial reaction as I stood in my parent's bedroom hearing all of the lies, the rows, and now the fact that their marriage was over, was to walk to my own room, and stand there for a while, and decide NOT to read my Bible that day, nor for the next 5 days.
That was a bad move. When we suffer, how can we turn from the God of all comfort? (2 Corinthians 1:3-11). By God's grace, I picked up my Bible again, and was encouraged by glorious future we have who hope in Christ (Revelation 21-22)
I returned to Lancaster, shattered, but still standing, by God's grace alone. As news from home kept coming in, I was being battered. What was an awesome encouragement was the reaction of Moorlands.
When one is depressed, it is vital to get alongside and support them. And that is what my church family did.
I had emailed Danny about it over the holiday, and the first Sunday I got back, I had so many people come up to me, offering their support and prayers, and it was awesome. God is awesome.
That term flew by, and thanks to God through Moorlands and the CU, I was able to get by. That was the term that Jo and I got together, and there were such happy times.
Then I went home for Easter.
On reflection, I am quite surprised that not once during that holiday did the theme tune for Eastenders blare up during the many nights at home, it really was just like a soap opera. Previous marriages that my parents had had came to light, doors were slammed, I was even close to being thrown out at one point. My younger brother was finally told that my parents were splitting up (!) and at the end of the holiday my mum moved out.
I was lucky, I had Lancaster to escape to, I had a loving Church Family and CU who reached out to me with open arms as I returned. Most of all, I had the God of the Universe who had stepped into history as Jesus Christ to die for me. My brother had none of those things. He is still an unbeliever, and that is so hard...
Here comes the turning point, from bad to worse, for it is at this point that I think depression came, and to a certain extent, it was my fault.
I returned to Moorlands, hard and cynical, just not vocal as of yet. That was my choice. God had done nothing wrong, He never does. Although we may not know why we suffer, it is not a vindictive God inflicting us, after all, we live in a fallen world with fallen people. Suffering is a given, especially as Christians we are to stand out for Christ our Saviour. Suffering is inevitable, it is how we react that we need to focus on. Not 'Why God?' but 'How can I glorify you God?'
That first Sunday, the sermon was on Psalm 22 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'. "Very apt," I whispered to Jo, and her face bore a look of horror.
This was my active rebellion against the God who had died for me, and it was from here I began to succumb to my own selfish thoughts and desires, which, combined with harder and harder external events cemented depression in me.
This would last a long time. Sermons would go over my head, my Bible time, though continuing, was again going in one ear and out the other. It is indeed by God's grace alone that He used me as a CU small group leader at the time.
The summer came and went, and back again for a second year. Now, my work ethic has never been exactly brilliant, at all. My apathy in second year however, reached new heights. i barely attended any lectures or seminars, did no work, and ended the term earning four zero's for all my, not done, coursework.
At this point I must note, with pain, that my behaviour was atrocious. I got sickeningly drunk, twice, in the space of one month, and I was taking out all my frustrations out on Jo, my own girlfriend.
Again, it is God's miracle that He used me as a CU leader at the time. To be honest I should have been sacked, but thankfully God uses for His glory. We can do nothing without Him.
We are now at around February time, I was using Jo as basically an emotional punchbag, while turning my attention on to other things, and hating my own church.
A paraphrase of an MSN conversation that Jo and I had at the time, when she asked what was wrong went something along these lines. "This is my life, I go on unscheduled set up, ending up standing alone and threatened with excommunication if I don't talk to people. Talk unhelpful, stand alone and go home. Then back for Real Food [our small group Bible study] again unhelpful. Then I go back to my academic week which I love so much...do no work, feel crap, and then we are back to Sunday again...because I know [Moorlands] hate me, and want me out of their church, and to be honest, I may just give them the satisfaction."
This is depression, getting sucked into your own negative thoughts and feelings, getting extremely paranoid, and losing your focus on God. A depressed person is a haven for the devil, accusing us and burdening us with our guilt so we forget God's grace, and focus on what we want in a desperate bid to be happy.
I mean, look at me, I had an amazing church, which I was saying such horrible things about!
Everything culminated around that time. It was obvious now how I was treating Jo, and how my behaviour was frankly shocking. Danny called me round to his house one Wednesday morning, and laid it all out for me. He never shouted, not once, he clearly pointed out what I was doing, and why it was wrong. I shouted, I blamed him, I blamed Moorlands, I blamed everyone except myself.
Danny told me that the best thing to do was finish with Jo, as I was treating her badly. I did not want to, I begged not to. But it was the best thing. So that evening we finished, we needed space, and I needed to do a lot of thinking and doing.
I saw a doctor, and was put on anti-depressants.
That week I read the Bible, and prayed, I was challenged to change, and by God's ultimate grace, I was able to repent of nearly a year's worth of pain, of hurt, of sin.
God brought me out of that dark place, and by the summer, I was off the drugs, and God has been strengthening me always. Even though times now are so hard, postponing the wedding, stuck in unemployment, not knowing what will happen, I know God is in control. "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).
God is the God who made the world, gave us life, took the punishment for our own rebellion by sending Jesus to the cross, and is bringing us together under Him, a new land, His people being blessed by Him. One day we will live with God as God, sin will be no more. There will no longer be any pain or crying. Jesus blood has washed away my sin. All those horrible things I did when i had depression, all that guilt, we need not feel it, for God has rescued us, and we will be made perfect by Him.
We are part of His plan, chosen from the beginning to be made perfect by Him, through Jesus' blood, bringing about God's ultimate plan in uniting all under Him, for His glory. And we have His Spirit in us, the guarantor of that promise. (Ephesians 1:1-14).

When one has depression, they are apathetic, not enjoying what they usually enjoy, always sad, feeling worthless, like they want to die, feeling so far from the God who died for them. We need to get alongside our suffering brothers and sisters, and care for them. We need to keep gently reminding them of that eternal hope that we have, the gospel, keep loving them and supporting them as the grapple with the horrors of their own thoughts and feelings.

Romans 5:8 says "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We are loved and cherished by the God of the universe. We are hated by the devil, who poisons our vulnerable minds with his accusations. But we have that eternal hope, that blessing, that love that will NEVER be extinguished: the love of God, through Christ, to choose us before the foundation of the world, to set us apart to be made holy and blameless, and share in that painless New Creation, all because of God's grace for God's glory, not by anything we have done, or will do. The love of God surpasses any suffering we can ever face. One day we will see it fullfilled. Reflect on my favourite psalm "Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" (Psalm 27:14)
God is in control, keep reminding each other with that, take sufferers to the Bible, and assure them, not with glib words or oft-quoted verses, but sit with them, love them, and point with them to the Bible, and show them again, the good news of Jesus Christ.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (Romans 5:6-11)

We are sinful scumbags, whom God in His love died for us in Christ, so that we can be reconciled with God, safe from His wrath, safe in the knowledge that one day, we will see sufferings cease, sorrows die, the end of depression, the end of evil, for God has promised it, and He is God, trustworthy, reliable, awsome and merciful. Look at the ways He has been merciful to me, what I did was awful, yet God has kept me His, kept me going, used me, grown me, put me and Jo back together after everything, allowed me ears to hear and understand sermons, and strength to say no to those thoughts. Sometimes I'll fall into a slight relapse on a bad day, but I praise God that it is slight, that I can repent in an hour rather than in a year, and I praise the wonderous God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, the God of all comfort and reconciliation, the God of grace, our Rock of Ages, our Saviour and Redeemer, for laying His life in Christ down for me, for us all, for His glory, and for our good. Thanks forever be to God, for He has cleansed me and clothed me in righteousness. And I am no different from you, why should He save me and not you? Get repenting, get believing, get trusting our might, sovereign God.

Oh, and don't treat people like time bombs about to go off, it makes it feel worse. Love them by showing them the love of God in His word and in your life.

A Call to Biblical Manhood

During one of our many lake district trips in first year, there was a small disney section of a local shop, where Jo bought me a small Peter Pan figurine. I found it this morning as I was leaving the house, and I remembered why Peter Pan was selected. Not because it is incidently my favourite Disney movie, no. It was because I was (and I guess still am to a certain extent) just a big kid, frequenting toy shops, buying many a toy gun, and yeah, just basically acting childish. We bought Peter Pan as he was like me, a boy who never grew up.
And that is the way people want men to be now isn't it? Sat at home, doing nothing. The lazy man, the childish man, that is the man that most people want to be. The more femanine man perhaps. I don't know about you, but when I walk into a clothes shop nowadays, I find it increasingly harder to distinguish which section belongs to which gender. Men's sections are full of tight-fitting t-shirts, skinny jeans, cardigans (or mandigans as some of my CU friends call them). Even mankinis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankini#Men.27s_bikini), guyliner and manscara now exist (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039275/Introducing-Guy-liner-Manscara--new-metrosexual-make-just-men.html). Such products once exclusive to women are now part of a meterosexual culture.
A meterosexual is a man, who is heterosexual, but is feminised in his dress sense and indeed make up sense, and that seems to be the role model of today: people such as Russel Brand are today's heros. The place of a masculine man is falling.
What does the Bible think of this? Have a think for a second, what does it mean to you to be a Biblical man? Well, I will tell you.
Read Ephesians 5: 25-33: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."

To be a Biblical man, we must lead, self-sacrificially, just as Christ did for the church. It is not a time to be lazy, put on our manscara and stay playing the playstation all day. We are to lead as Christ led. To work hard, to build up those around us, to pray and study God's Word and encourage others. It is a hard job to be a man.

What needs to change in your life to glorify God as a man?

Living and speaking for Jesus

Up until the beginning of last year, I never thought of myself as a competative person. The sad truth is, I so am.
At the White Cross weekly pub quiz last night, as usual, I was striving to get all right, got cross when corrected, sulked when we got answers wrong, and felt a bit light headed afterwards (maybe two pints was a bit much). All in front of someone I did not know, whilst wearing a CU t shirt.
I confess I am a very prideful person (just count the amount of I's so far...), it's something I struggle with a lot actually: hating being wrong, hating being corrected, hating the fact I have to type this...
It's annoying, and it's wrong, it is typical human behaviour, wanting to be God instead of letting God do it, and to top it all, doing it in a very, very visible way.
I hate to lose, especially at something I consider myself good at, and I like to be in control, not being told what to do. However, I am not perfect, I am not God, I have to surrender my pride, nail it to the cross with Christ, and follow my Lord.
It isn't easy, and ironically enough, it really bugs me when other people do what I do, being prideful, putting people down. I do it all the time, and I hate it when others do it to. I'm a hypocrite, then again, to a point, most of us are. We hardly practice what we preach.
At the prayer supper that Moorlands holds the first Sunday evening of the month (last sunday) we looked at 1 Peter 2:9-12, which reads:

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

The big challenge that this passage presents is that God has chosen us as His people by sending Jesus to die for us, so we may proclaim Jesus, and live for Jesus by abstaining from worldly things such as drunkeness, sexual immorality, which of course is going to cause conflict for us. We are to mark ourselves by our behaviour as Christians, so that the non-believer may see us, and glorify God when Jesus comes back.
Now that is hard, and I think we're often focusing on one thing or the other. We're either seeking oppertunities to tell the gospel, but in practice not living as Jesus has called us to by His own blood, or we are trying to live for God, but not actually doing it so people may see it, or not telling people why we are doing it.
You'll find at university that you will be surrounded by so many people, and all eyes will be on you. It's natural, everyone is out for themselves. Plus, if your known as a Christian, they will be watching you to fall.
That is why it is imperative to remember the challenge of this passage, as the slogan of UCCF (Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship-the support group for University and college CU's throughout Britain) says, how they want to encourage students to live and speak for Jesus during their time at university.
If the book I am writing ever gets done, that is my aim too. As we have seen and I will constantly tell you, I am rubbish at both living and speaking for Jesus. I am a hypocrite who needs one to preach, and two to practice what he preaches most of the time! However, because of Jesus, I am made worthy by His blood, His grace alone, and I want you all to know the importance of living and speaking for Jesus, especially during your time at university. With God's help and strength, by His grace, how can you live and speak for Jesus today? What needs to change?
That is your challenge from the Bible.

Just watching the world go by

It's interesting isn't it, if you just take a bit of time to sit and watch stuff: People and places are changing every second.
I mean, you feel secure, safe, not moving, hopefully in a warm computer lab like me instead of in Lancaster's torrential downpour. I've been in here since 10:30 and my trousers are yet to dry. My socks that were damp from washing that I put on this morning are dry now ironically.
I'm in a bit of a random mood, and I haven't started writing this post with a set pattern, to be fair, I don't plan them much lol :)
The amount of access I've got to the global village that is now the world is quite astonishing when you think about it. I mean, type anything into google and it will generally be there.
Have you ever googled yourself? Go on, have a go for a second (UNLESS YOU HAVE IMPORANT WORK TO DO).
I find it quite funny, and also slightly alarming that the first...oh I'v forgotten...hang on a sec..........FLIPPING HECK 23 POSTS ARE ACTUALLY ABOUT ME! That's 5 pages worth! Dude!
Ok that is crazy!
Man, that has actually shocked me. Not that I'm afraid, it's just so weird now that I think about it.
Another normal event in Faraday, I'm totally surrounded by CU people, and I'm wearing my old CU t shirt, it's just like nothing has changed, although of course, it has. I'm not a student anymore, I'm just using the internet because I don't have any at home.
This has gotten weird...ahh well, thats me done for now :)

Parentals

I'm on my third bike today, courtesy of the parentals. It's got a wing mirror! HOW COOL IS THAT??

I was in sainsbury's just over a week ago. My unfortunate timing meant that I was in there on campus moving in day, so the place was full of new freshers and their parents, their food supply being catered for for what seemed like all of their degree.
For the majority, the scenarios were the same: surly looking fresher, protesting again and again that they can take care of themselves, they are at uni now, they want to be independent, away from the chiding of fussing parents. While the flustered mums and dads pile their trolleys, and I even caught one dad shout "We are stocking you up till Christmas!"
We all do it don't we. We get to uni, and we suddenly think we can take care of ourselves, buy our own food, cook it, budget, be what our parents have been for the past 18-19 years in the space of getting out of the car outside your new room for the first time.
To be fair, I am one of them, to this day I sigh at my fussing parents, I want my independence, I want to do things my own way. I am me.
Sound familiar?
Think about it, that is exactly what we have done with God. God has made us, fed us, clothed us, given His own life for us in Jesus Christ, and how have we responded? "I know best God, you don't. Let me do things my own way."
We do to our parents as we have done to God. The consequences for both are dire.
Listen: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)
This is not a redundant commandment. As God is our Father and deserves honour from us, so it should be with the parents who brought us up.
Again "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:1-4)
It's interesting isn't it? Paul notes in verse one that this is the first commandment with a promise. That promise is that it may go well with you. Now, I do not at any point claim expertise on the Bible, and to be honest, I do not have much of an idea of what it means. To speculate slightly, I think it could refer to the fact that our parents in general have been given wisdom to parent, so when they say they know best, they generally do.
To demonstrate, I was told to cook and eat well by my parents whilst at university. Let me tell you, I did not. My diet in first year? Two trips a day to Spar, to the hot food processed cabinet, and the confectionery section. Expensive and unhealthy. My parents knew best, and indeed, it would have gone well for me if I had eaten better.
That is one thought on the matter anyway.
What our reaction should be, in actuality, when our parents fuss, when they try to help you, is accept it, graciously, and honour them in their decisions. Another example of a somewhat extreme point is when Jo and I had to postpone our wedding thanks to the current job climate. Now, that was the sensible decision, but stubborn me did not want to take it, at all. In fact, the only way the decision was made was two-fold, one was that Jo didn't want to, and two, it was because her father did not want to give her away to me into a volatile situation. That swung it. I am not claiming that I was an obedient person, it took time. But the challenge of this command is to indeed honour your father and mother, even if they are not your own by blood in this case.
Of course, we do not want to say that our parents are perfect, not at all, they are sinful human beings too. Read verse 4 again "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
Some points of note: this passage is addressed to fathers because, as the rest of the sentence highlights, it is the job of the father to teach, to lead his wife and family as Christ led and taught the church, self-sacrificially. (FOR MORE ON THIS, PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 5:22-33 AND COME TO ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS.)
There is also a challenge to parents, to not exasperate their children, but teach them what the Bible says rather than hide behind the "I know best because I am your dad/mum" frame. This is the challenge I think to parents, to relinquish their authority over you. Biblically speaking, this ends the day the child marries, for as Genesis 2:24 states quite clearly "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Your challenge: to love and honour your parents by submitting to them, to acknowledging their help (because believe me, you will want to accept any freebie your parents give you while you are a penniless student!)
I know people who have lost their parents, and I confess before you that I am rubbish at honouring my parents, especially my non-Christian father. Do not think for one second that I have any moral high ground whatsoever. My parents are ace, they have supported me all the way through uni, and even more so now I am unemployed. There really is no excuse.

Read Ephesians 6:1-4 again, and then go and ring your parents.

Reflections on a rainy day

Alliteration wahay!!!

Cycling in Lancaster is hilarious, or is it just me?

As usual in this beautiful city where I live, it's raining a lot. I'm praying that on this, the last day of Fresher's week, that Lancaster University Christian Union will be able to endure the rain and the fatigue today. keep going guys, for as Romans 8:31 says "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Thanks to a lack of funds, I'm currently cycling onto campus at the moment. It's gotten harder now since I'm borrowing a mountain bike. It's a better bike, which means it's harder hehe.
What happened to my old bike is hilarious.
So, two friends and I decided to cycle from Lancaster to Arnside Knott in the Lake District a week ago, and my bike was, well, a road racing bike bought for a bottle of wine, so it worked, but y'know, it wasn't prepared for the offroading experience of a lifetime.
After the chain got caught twice after I changed gear, I changed gear again. This time the chain got itself lodged in the spokes and gears, therefore locking the back wheel and making me skid to a dramatic stop in the middle of the road.
To rectify this, we had to commandeer a pair of pliers from a nice elderly gent who lived by the road, and cut through three spokes, and YES! It was free! We could go on!
Apart from the fact that thanks to the skid, the wheel had buckled so much it could no longer turn. To cut a long story short I had to carry this thing to the nearest station, hop on a train, and my adventure was over.
Not quite...
Once back in Lancaster, dragging the wreck that had been my only form of transport, there came an almighty explosion that stopped people and dogs dead in their tracks. There was no longer a back wheel.

So now I'm using a friend's bike, traversing the torrential roads and hills and mad drivers that make up the Lancaster one way system. I am still alive, but wet, getting gradually fitter, and waiting, just waiting until I can afford to get driving....

Music and baptisms

What is the soundtrack to your memories?

When it comes to music, I'm deffinately someone who puts songs over bands. I don't have a favourite band, I have favourite songs. These are often based on memories I have that go with them. For example, I am currently listening to my favourite piece of music. It's a 6-8 minute guitar/drum solo called 'The Prophet' by Gary Moore. Its not one of his most well-known songs, which is a real shame because it drips with raw emotion. The song has a simple riff, in a 3 beat (hark at me the guy who plays a conga and a melodica!), and it evokes deep emotional meaning for me. It remides me of the first time I heard it, sat in the passenger seat of a vauxhall vectra estate, driving through some trees on the side of Windermere in the Lake district. The sun is going down, and I'm with very treasured friends.
The song was introduced to me by a good friend called Phil Rixon, who will serve as one of my ushers when the wedding actually happens, and it always reminds me of good times with him and friends up having fun in the Lake District.
There is just one example of a song that evokes great memories for me, it would be on a soundtrack of my life if I ever made one. Of course, there is plenty more, like the songs 'You are My Sunshine' and 'Holding Hands', which remind me of Jo, and the amazing times we have had together these past few years.
I'm quite geeky like this, but I'm a big fan of film/tv soundtracks as well, like Doctor Who, James Bond etc. I like listening to them as I walk down a street, especially if I'm bored, makes the walk more exciting anyway.
You won't often see me without my ipod really, I hate being alone with just my own thoughts for too long, it's so boring I find. Whatever floats your boat I guess.
Here's a question, if you had to make a CD soundtrack to your life, it can be no more than 20 tracks and no less than 10, what would you put on it?

Here's mine for the moment:

1. It is Finished-Charles Wesley
2. There is a Hope-Stuart Townend
3. Be Thou My Vision
4. And Can It Be
5. We Trust in You Our Shield and Our Defender
6. Before the Throne of God Above
7. The Prophet-Gary Moore
8. You Are My Sunshine
9. Holding Hands
10. 500 Miles
11. James Bond theme
12. Doomsday-Murray Gold
13. Walking in the Air-Aled Jones
14.You Know My Name-Chris Cornell
15.Gravity-Embrace
16.Everytime-Britney Spears
17.Supreme-Robbie Williams
18. You Raise Me Up
19.Blessed Be Your Name
20. You Are Holy

Typical me will think of loads more as soon as I've finished, and this is nowhere near a clear concise list.

To explain a few, 'It is Finished' is a song written by Charles Wesley, which talks about the great truths and accomplishments of the gospel, the death of Jesus on the cross for us. Here are the lyrics:

It is finished!”the Messiah dies,
cut off for sins,
but not his own;
completed is the sacrifice,
the great redeeming work is done.

Yes, finished! All the debt is paid,
justice divine is satisfied,
the grand and full atonement made;
God for a guilty world has died!

The temple curtain is torn down,
the living way to heaven is seen;
through Christ the middle wall has gone,
and all who will may enter in.

The ancient shadows are fulfilled,
the Scripture prophecies prove true,
the sinless Lamb of God is killed,
the promised covenant made new!

The reign of sin and death is done,
and all may live, from sin set free;
Satan and his pretended throne
are swallowed up in victory.

Saved from the curse of God I am;
my saviour hangs upon a tree!
See there the meek and silent Lamb;
his final breath he breathes for me.

In Christ accepted and brought near
and clothed in righteousness divine,
I see the path to life made clear,
and all your merits, Lord, are mine.

Death, hell and sin are now subdued,
all grace is now to sinners given,
and so I plead the atoning blood
and claim the title deeds of heaven.


The first time I remember singing this was the day I was baptised. Baptism in the Bible is one's public declaration of Christ as one's Lord and Saviour, He having died for us on the cross. It is the admittance that we are sinful rebels that can do nothing to save ourselves, and it is the public declaration by God-given faith and consent for us and others watching that we will follow Christ with God's help, as we are immersed in water. The baptism itself bestows nothing miraculous, but it is a public demonstration of God's saving grace.
I was baptised at the end of my first year, at my church, Moorlands Evangelical church, along with three other church members, one of whom had first explained the gospel to me. It was a rainy day, and as the church met at Lancaster Boy's Grammer School at the time, we had no facilities to hold a baptism inside, so we were baptised in a very large paddling pool, in the school's car park. It was raining softly, and after we had all been immersed, and I stood there in a dripping wet Superman t-shirt (quite unorthodox but hey-the red towel added a moment of comedy gold), we as a church stood in the car park, and sang this song together. It was an amazing moment, God has saved me in Christ, and that's awesome to sing about!

What music do you put to events?

Perspective on a bad day

I'm listening to an one of my all time favourite songs at the moment. It is called 'There is a Hope' by Stuart Townend, and it is a song based on two chapters in Romans: chapters 5 and 8. Chapter 5 talks of the gospel, what Jesus has done for us on the cross (taking our sins upon Himself and dying a death He did not deserve). And chapter 8 talks of the awesome privelidge and hope we have as Christians because of that gospel. (For more thoughts on chapter 8, and the lyrics to 'There is a Hope', see my eariler post (http://storytimewithaled.blogspot.com/2009/09/some-thoughts-on-romans-8.html)
The past 24 hours or so have been some rough ones. Two job rejections, and a possibility that I have been wasting my time on the boom i have been writing. Prayers about those would be ace!
In the midst of all this though, when times are hard, it is imperative to be reminded of the gospel, that hope we have thanks to the grace of God.
I have (to my complete surprise) recently joined Twitter, and I am currently following the ESV daily (http://twitter.com/esvdaily). Just as an aside, the ESV is the English Standard Version, a very literal translation of the Bible that I fully and warmly recommend to use.
Todays verse that came up on my screen, just as I was feeling so awful and sorry for myself, was the following: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."-Romans 5:8.
And it's just hit me. No matter how many hard times we face, no matter what is thrown at us, while we were still sinners, that is, active rebels against the God of the Universe, He sent Jesus who is God and man, to die for us.
That is the gospel, the hope that the song reminds us of. As Christians who face hard times, we need to keep that everlasting, non-changing hope in mind. God's truth does not change just because our circumstances do.