While we are weak, God is still strong

Paul writes in his second letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 12 about that fact that God put a thorn in Paul's flesh in order to stop him boasting about his experiences. After Paul pleads with God three times in verse 8 for God to take it away, this is the response of God:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." And Paul concludes in verse 10: "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

We are weak people. We are not strong enough to face the world alone. We try to of course, and speaking as a man here, we hate to be wrong, to appear weak in front of others, be it other men, or indeed in front of women. Men have an inbuilt, sinful desire to be top, and not appear weak. I hate looking weak, so I and I'm sure many others are prone to arrogance.

When we are battered by the sin and suffering around us, and feel like we cannot go on, we need to remember the words of God in verse 9. For His grace is sufficient for us. He works through our weaknesses for His glory. When we suffer, God is working, when we are tired, God is working, when we are happy, God is working. God, in His mercy, is always working in our lives.

So students, when you feel tired from all your work, and feel like avoiding questionairring and flyering for a lunchbar, or chatting to a friend about Jesus, don't. For God uses our weaknesses, and the devil would love nothing more than for you to lie down, admitting defeat and not getting God's Word out to the campus.

So men, when you feel so scared of exposing yourself as weak, remember you are weak, and God still uses you.

Praise be to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who in His mercy has saved us, undeserving as we are, by His grace alone, and uses us, weak, sinful human beings, for His glory. After all, as Paul later writes in His letter to the Philippian church, chapter 4, verse 13 :"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

The easily-forgettable truth of God's Sovereignty

It's easy to forget that God is completely in control of abseloutly everything. Trials and pain will come our way, and we will easily forget that we have a loving God that is completely in control. This is yet another tactic of the satan to try and undermine and destroy God's kingdom, by preying on us weak sinful human beings to make us forget about God, and try and forge our own path.

But we can do nothing without God.

A friend and I are currently going through a Bible Overview course together. So far, we have seen a perfect God make a perfect world just by speaking (Genesis 1). We've seen God make man and woman in His own image, tasked to work the land, fill it and subdue it (Genesis 1), under God. We however did not like that arrangement, and rebelled against God (Genesis 3), and were cast out of our relationship with God, hopeless without Him.

However, God in all of this is completely sovereign, and never gives up on His people. When He floods the world in Genesis 6-9, He puts in a rescue plan for Noah and his family, the only ones who are listening to Him. Here we see already God justly judging the earth, and at the same time providing and instigating a salvation plan for His people, in the form of the ark.

By Genesis 11, the people who are united against God by trying to build a tower to make themselves great above God, are scattered by God, homeless and hopeless without Him.
In Genesis 12, we see God in complete control, making promises to a man called Abram (later known as Abraham), of land, people and blessing. This is the turning point in the Bible, the point where God, despite the continuous rebellion and faliure of humanity, decides to reverse the Fall, our rebellion against God, by instigating these promises. These promises are God's salvation plan for His people. They are a gathering by God of a people He has chosen as His, to live in a land He gives them, under His rule and blessing. These promises make up God's kingdom: God's people, living in God's place, under God's rule and blessing. God promises to keep these promises, no matter what He has to do to do it. Even keeping our side for us (Genesis 15)

Amazing times!

Now we come to the book of Exodus, one of my favourite books in the Bible which completely demonstrates the Sovereign love. The beginning sees God's people (for by this point the promises are showing signs of fullfillment already) in a land that is not theirs, Egypt, and as such they are slaves. God hears the crys of His people, and tells a man called Moses that God is going to save His people. Moses doubts this initially, as do the people.
Exodus 2-6 is a hard read. We see the great juxtoposition of an amazing, sovereign God making promises of salvation for His people from slavery, yet when times are hard for them they grumble, blame Moses and therefore God. They forget the promises, and neglect the only response we as humans can possibly do, that is trust.

God does not make those promises as a target for us to work towards, nor because He owes them to us. Mankind does not deserve part of God's kingdom, and yet He gives it to us, freely, by His grace alone.

Exodus displays that God is sovereign, and that we need to and always fail to trust in Him. It's a pattern shown throughout the Bible, and always God mercifully saves. For you see, despite the doubt, despite the fear, the lack of faith and trust, which is the only and right response to God, He does save. For in Exodus 12, to save His people from the judgement on the Egyptians and from their slavery, God instigates and provides His salvation plan, that is, taking an unblemished lamb, killing it, and smearing it's blood on their door frames, so that when God strikes down the Egyptian firstborns for the enslavery of His firstborn, His people, they may be spared and rescued.

Sound familiar?

For those promises are true. God provides a salvation plan for His people, from their slavery to sin and rebellion against Him, by dying for them. God promised that He would keep His promises, whatever the cost. And the cost was Him, God the Son, come down to earth as jesus Christ, a perfect man and God, called an unblemished lamb, who stretched out His arms and shed His blood in death on a cross, so that we may be saved. We cannot work to such things, nor earn that right. God holds the safety line out to us as we drown in the sea. We cannot swim, we must grab that rope and trust that God holding the other end will pull us in.

For if we do, we are a part of God's kingdom, God's people in God's land under God's blessing. This will be finally seen when Jesus, having risen again from the dead, returns, where this earth, this tainted creation will pass away to make way for a new one, perfect and unspoilt. God's land, with us, God's people who have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, their only way out, under God's blessing, living with God as God over our lives, our relationship fully restored, for ever (Revelation 21-22)

It's easy to forget that God is sovereign, yet it is also easy to see God is sovereign. The Bible shows it, and so can our lives.

To use myself as an example. Some of you are all too aware of the fact I was supposed to get married on Agust the 8th this year. However, a lack of jobs prevented us. It looked hopeless, and there were many, many times where I felt there was no hope, that there was no direction now, that it had all gone wrong and there was no way I could fix this mess. See what I did? I forgot that God was in control, and tried to think of my own way out. Everybody does it, don't feel guilty, don't trust in yourselves, trust in God, for He does provide.

Even though I am not married yet, nor will be for some time, God is still sovereign. He has provided me with a house, food, clothing, all in Lancaster so that I cans still serve my church family at Moorlands Evangelical Church. I am not stuck somewhere where I do not want to be, and I have a job starting soon, with room for it to become permanent. God is so good, He has never stopped being so good. It just takes us a while to remember that.

God is in control, completely in control. Remember that as trails come. He is at work, do not cry "WHY!" but "How can I serve you in this situation?" It's hard to remember, so fight to remember, the God of the Universe has never stopped being in control. He is awesome and deserves all of the credit, for He is our hope, our salvation and our joy. We can, and have done nothing without Him. He is good, please fight the satan to remember this. God is great, praise
Him!

Don't get me wrong, it is going to be hard, and it is naive to think that the satan is not active. God is supreme, but that does not mean that life is an easy happy-clappy time. The kingdom of God in it's ultimate fullfillment has not come yet. Life is going to be hard, full of great pain. It is naive to think that because God is in control, that life will be easy. It's hard, but it's not permanent, for again, those promises stand, we will see them fullfilled one day.

God is in control, life is hard. Keep these truths both in mind as you face your inevitable and painful trials. The outcome is secure, FACT. Fight to remember that we are more than conquerors, thanks to the love of God, shown most in the cross of our Lord and saviour Christ Jesus

The unsecret life of Aled Seago aged 21 and 1/4

Maybe this is whatI should have called the blog? Ahh well.

The new Adrian Mole book was out this week: 'Adrian Mole: the Prostate Years'. Now, I love this series, since I was 13 in fact!
It all started when I was selected to play Adrian in the play adaption of the first book: 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 and 3/4'. Now up until that point I had barely heard of it, so my mum got obtained a copy for me, and I read it quite quickly (as I am one to do). I loved it!

I'll admit, that when the previous title 'Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction' came out a fair few years ago now, combined with a prequal last year 'Adrian Mole: the Lost Diaries 1999-2001' I thought that that was it. 'Weapons' had tied the series off nicely, with Adrian married again, with a daughter, happy. This was an awesome ending, for I find myself empathising and indeed sympathising with Adrian, not at least because I spent 6 months of my life playing him. I find that he and I are quite similar, or at least were some years ago: unlucky in love, yearning for publication, interesting and sometimes secret family life, unpopular and at one point, keen diarists.
I find I have changed since those days, for of course the main difference between us is that I am a Christian, and Adrian can't seem to make up his mind. Adrian's life is a constant battle with continued suffering in his life: starting with his parent's divorce in the first book, bullying, constant rejection, many bouts of depression, divorces and custody battles, a son fighting in Iraq and later Afghanistan, and indeed, parents with overzealous and truely eccentric sex lives!
In this latest book we find Adrian at 39-40, the happy ending of the first book now gone. His wife Daisy is having an affair behind his back, which we as readers can see plainly while Adrian does not find out until the end of the book. She leaves, and takes their badly-behaved daughter, Gracie with her. Also, in a move I found a sobering step in Adrian's many sufferings, Adrian contracts prostate cancer, having to deal with chemotherapy throughout most of the book.
The appeal of the Adrian Mole books is that the mishaps of Adrian's life are played out as what seems on the surface as a Greek tragedy, but played out in such a way that it is sometimes funny, as Adrian is blindingly oblivious to what goes on around him, while we as readers are entertained by this, along with sharp and satirical commentary on that contextual society by a gem of an author, Sue Townsend.
I confess I do not laugh much when reading. My interest in the books lie with the characters in the unfolding story of the Mole saga, and yes, I do find some bits hillarious, now as I grow older and understand the more sophisticated of humour. For example, a line from 'The Prostate Years', which to my joy and chargin I managed to read in two days, had me laughing so loudly that I had to stop and take many deep breaths: "To my horror he removed his hair and began to cry."
I am happy to report (and be aware I am completely going to give away the ending!), that the book does end on a light note. All the way through the series, the enigmatic figure of Pandora Braithwaite flirts in and out of Adrian's life. As blokes, Pandora represents the soul mate we crave, the first crush, the first love, the girl that we compare all subsequent to, one we may never quite get over. Not everyone has figures like this in their lives, but some do, and for Adrian, Pandora is his first crush, and in a surprising twist which I could never identify with until I was 17, they become boyfriend and girlfriend, which lasts for 4-5 years. He never gets over her, and all subsequent girlfriends are irravoidbly compared. Yes there are many for Adrian, two wives and countless girlfriends. None last however. Pandora throughout the later books pops back in and out of his life, and over time, through subtle hints that began towards the end of 'Adrain Mole: the Cappucino Years' (covering the years 1997-98, ten years before 'The Prostate Years'), through 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' (2002-4), until the end of 'The Prostate years' (2007-8), which ends with an enigmatic and cliffhanger type meeting between the two as the book closes.
I love the Adrian Molem series, and this latest book is a worthy addition to the canon.

When the going gets tough, the tough lean on our trustworthy God

The Old Testament section of the Bible is one generally overlooked in favour of the New. What we need to realise is that without the old, there would not be a new. The Old Testament is the story of God creating the world and us, us rebelling, and God outlining His great plan to bring us back to Him.

The first book of the Bible, Genesis, not only deals with creation and rebellion. It also sows the seed of redemption. In Genesis 12 and 15, God makes three promises to a man named Abram, later called Abraham, which can be encompassed in these three words. Land, People, and Blessing. In short, to reverse the effects of the Fall in Genesis 3, where humanity was cast out of God's Land, no longer His people and no longer under His blessing, God promises to create a people for Himself through Abraham, a people He will gather together in one land, and that people will be under God's blessing, in short, living with Him as God as we should, no longer tainted by sin. Those of you who have read Revelation 21 (you should, it's ace!) will see how this plan of God's will be finally realised in the New Creation, our only way in through Jesus' death on the cross. This is the Kingdom of God: God's people, living in God's land, under God's blessing.
None of this is achieved by our works, or because God owes us. No, it is so the world can see He is God and give Him the praise He deserves. We ultimately benefit, but are not the primary influence.
And it starts right there in Genesis 12.


What is your first reaction to something going wrong? Little or big, what do you do? Me? Well I generally stress out, walk around like a headless chicken and it takes a while, or indeed another person, before I can finally take a deep breath and begin to find some perspective. Sound familiar?

University is not an easy ride, far from it. All sorts of things go wrong, whether your a Christian or not: deadlines get shortened, important seminars/lectures are missed, living bills are mixed up with expensive consequences, friends fall out, I could go on. And they are some of the little things!

God is a sovereign God. We see this in the beginning of Exodus, as God's people cry out in slavery in Egypt, God faithfully promises that He will rescue His people from their slavery, and bring them into a land He has promised for them. He does so, giving His people a way out from His judgement on Egypt by the blood of a lamb (this is where passover comes from). They are spared from God's wrath by God's grace working in the blood of the lamb. Sound familiar??

The Old Testament points forward to the New. God's fallen people who cannot save themselves are given a way out by God in the blood of Jesus, so that we can be His people, living in His land, the New Creation, under God's blessing, with God as God, no sin nor pain nor crying anymore.

What do we need to do? Well, we cannot save ourselves, but what we can do, is trust in what God has done for us in Jesus, put to death our sinful desires and stand up and live for Him, no matter what the cost (see Mark 8:27-38).

We need to trust in God, who has done all this for us, and is completely in control, always. Life will be full of little and big challenges, and to be fair, our humanity often overtakes us and we fly into despair. What we need to try and do is keep our eternity goggles on, kepp in mind the promises of God, the wonders of God, and the future with God. Hard? Yes. Do-able? Yes.

So when the going gets tough, don't lean completely on your friends, (they are also struggling), and don't put your trust in things of this world (they won't last forever, and it keeps you from thinking eternally). Trust in God, for He has proved Himself trustworthy since before we were created. Don't stumble, lean on the God who loves you.

All by myself:- the clique

How many times have you been invited to a party by a friend and ended up stood in a corner beacuse you don't know anybody and therefore are out of the circle?
In a non-beliving context like that, such things are to be expected.
How many times have you walked into your church building on a sunday morning and been completely out of the circles that have been made?
Or how often when you look around the CU meeting, how people have grouped themselves, into year groups and church groups, while new people are left to fend for themselves and forge together?
I've been to churches in the past where the entire congregation is in it's own groups and I've ended up standing alone at the back. I've been to gatherings where one side of the room has been taken up exclusively by members of a certain church, while everyone else congregates on the other side, excluded.
I lost count of the amount of times that CU members cliqued themselves by church or by year, and avoided all else. It saddened me very, very recently when members of my church cliqued themselves off from everyone else at a party, and indeed at church the next day. It actually really saddens me, for this is not the right attitude for a Christian gathering, a church.

We have to be aware of this. The temptation is of course to gater around your church family, you know them, you love them, and vice versa. Church familes can become very close, which is to be applauded. Church familes that seperate themselves off at CU meetings or parties and excludes any outsiders are to be challenged not to. How can we welcome an outsider and glorify God by living for Him by turning our backs on a non-member of our church?

How can we set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts, if we adamantely cling to our comfort zones and those that we have allowed in, and not welcome new people?!

It is a terrible trap that the satan can use to compromise the unity of the church, and indeed the CU as churches battle to win the most Godly church in CU contest, and I'm afraid it is most apparent during your time as a student.

I'll hold my hand high up right now and freely admit that I am a shy person, I rarely go out to talk to new people at church, and usually mess it up the very rare times that I have done so. We cling desperately to our comfort zones like a lifeline, when, in actuallity, we should be clinging to the cross of Christ, nailing our fear to the cross, and setting apart Christ as Lord in our hearts.

It is not just the church barring the way to outsiders, it is the church within the church. Students, when was the last time you spoke to a non-student? And I don't mean the recent graduate you went to univeristy with up until this year. What about the families, the older members, even the children? And the same to non-students, when was the last time you went up to a student that you don't know, and welcome them?

When? If ever?

A student church like the one I attend is terrifying to a non-student, the gap between them and the rest of the family is massive. I'm even now, having literally just graduated, finding a gap expanding between myself and the students.

We cling to people and comfort, when actually, we need to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Christ. Be it to that terrified group of freshers who have just walked in the door, be it to an older church regular whom you have seen for three years, but NEVER spoken to. Be it to anyone at all, except your best friend who belongs to your year, your course, your church, your comfort zone. I find it horrible to see student church members grouped together on one side of a room, talking only amongst themselves, and not to the non believing, or indeed members of other churches that are sat merely feet away, having to talk to themselves.