I will be driving along sometimes and there will be someone waiting to pull out and I don't notice them in time to stop and let them through, or somebody is speaking and afterwards I think, I should have been concentrating more, I could have said...., the other week, driving to work, in my rush, I pulled out to overtake and then noticed a hitchhiker in a layby, that because of my rush, I missed being able to stop for.
It seems to me my reaction time is a bit slow, or maybe my eyes are not open enough, or even, I am not looking because, it is not natural for me to have my eyes open, ready to respond, I am looking internally, responding to what is in front of me and missing need on the periphary.
How do I get naturally wide eyed?
It says at the beginning of Ephesians 5 that I should be an imitator of God, how do I do that? Spend time with Him. His word, in prayer, in time. The more I know of Him, the more natural it is to respond because I am more aware of His heart, of His ways, of His view of things, He has a very wide aspect.
I want to be wide eyed and able to respond as naturally as breathing.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Regeneration
I have a great book by a guy called Andrew Wilson called 'God Stories.' I hope it does not sound rude if I say it is a great toilet read, the chapters are really short and yet gets so much across, it is the perfect book for toilet concentration.
I was reading a chapter the other day on regeneration and what God does in and to our lives and it inspired this wee post.
It really made me think of Doctor Who, because he gets regenerated, when he gets mortally wounded or you think that is the end, or some actor does not want to be typecast, (even though they now already are), anyway, then Doctor Who gets regenerated.
New body, new voice, new habits, new characters in his life, new tastes and always a new dress sense. He becomes somebody completely new, yet, he has the same memories, the same knowledge, he is still the doctor.
Of course, easy analogy time.
New Christian, new body in spirit, new voice, new tastes, new habits, probably some new characters, maybe not the new dress sense, new life. Still you, memories and knowledge and such like and yet made brand new, a new creation, regenerated.
I was reading a chapter the other day on regeneration and what God does in and to our lives and it inspired this wee post.
It really made me think of Doctor Who, because he gets regenerated, when he gets mortally wounded or you think that is the end, or some actor does not want to be typecast, (even though they now already are), anyway, then Doctor Who gets regenerated.
New body, new voice, new habits, new characters in his life, new tastes and always a new dress sense. He becomes somebody completely new, yet, he has the same memories, the same knowledge, he is still the doctor.
Of course, easy analogy time.
New Christian, new body in spirit, new voice, new tastes, new habits, probably some new characters, maybe not the new dress sense, new life. Still you, memories and knowledge and such like and yet made brand new, a new creation, regenerated.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Little Thoughts
I have lots of these little thoughts, little moments of clarity, or acknowledgement, or moments when I just notice God staring out at me in the most seemingly mundane or even worldly things, moments when God is apparent or makes himself known through the T.V. or driving or nature. Most of these thoughts disappear into the ether minutes after I have them, I am now attempting to make notes when I am inspired and hopefully just share something short and hopefully noteworthy which has caught my eye, or just started me thinking.
I was watching Film 2011 the other night, when I had a moment like this, they were talking about remakes, asking why people cannot be original, have to copy, or take something great and try and redo it when it does not need redoing or updating, or translating, it was fine the way it was, that is what made it a classic in the first place. Remaking stifles originality, yet of course in the film making world, it is all about the money, tried and tested may mean profit, rather than the risk of originality which can be hit and miss.
The church can sometimes act like this, somebody once referred to McChurch, the way services, ministries,etc.. are replicated in so many churches up and down the country, exactly the same service, same format, same ministries.
This can work.
If that is what God is saying to you.
But what if He is saying do something new? How easy is it to break the mould?
From Enoch to today, God has asked us to walk in new ways with Him, I bet Noah just wanted to be like Enoch and walk with God, but God wanted him to build an ark, I bet Abram did not want to go walkabout but would have preferred to build an ark, God had already asked someone to do that. How about Martin Luther? Or Wesley? Or countless others, who responded to God's originality, rather than just trying to make a dull remake.
I was watching Film 2011 the other night, when I had a moment like this, they were talking about remakes, asking why people cannot be original, have to copy, or take something great and try and redo it when it does not need redoing or updating, or translating, it was fine the way it was, that is what made it a classic in the first place. Remaking stifles originality, yet of course in the film making world, it is all about the money, tried and tested may mean profit, rather than the risk of originality which can be hit and miss.
The church can sometimes act like this, somebody once referred to McChurch, the way services, ministries,etc.. are replicated in so many churches up and down the country, exactly the same service, same format, same ministries.
This can work.
If that is what God is saying to you.
But what if He is saying do something new? How easy is it to break the mould?
From Enoch to today, God has asked us to walk in new ways with Him, I bet Noah just wanted to be like Enoch and walk with God, but God wanted him to build an ark, I bet Abram did not want to go walkabout but would have preferred to build an ark, God had already asked someone to do that. How about Martin Luther? Or Wesley? Or countless others, who responded to God's originality, rather than just trying to make a dull remake.
Monday, 21 November 2011
IPhone
This is me being very modern and attempting to blog from my phone. So this will be a very short blog as it is just a tester, but I still have something to share which has been on my mind now for a while.
There should be a difference between the living and the dead.
There is obviously a natural difference between a live physical body and a dead physical body. Should there not be a difference between a dead spiritual person and a living spiritual person?
Sometimes it is very plain to see when someone is saved the huge difference Christ has made in their lives and there are people I know who really shine differently from those around them because they are really alive in Christ, yet there seems to me, too many of us who there is no difference between us and the bloke down the road who has no idea who Jesus even is, in habits or deeds or way of life.
Surely there should be a difference.
There should be a difference between the living and the dead.
There is obviously a natural difference between a live physical body and a dead physical body. Should there not be a difference between a dead spiritual person and a living spiritual person?
Sometimes it is very plain to see when someone is saved the huge difference Christ has made in their lives and there are people I know who really shine differently from those around them because they are really alive in Christ, yet there seems to me, too many of us who there is no difference between us and the bloke down the road who has no idea who Jesus even is, in habits or deeds or way of life.
Surely there should be a difference.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Right Eyes
I am doing a degree course at the moment, which I am thoroughly enjoying and learning a lot from, there are a wide range of topics within this first course I am doing, ranging from Cleopatra to Michael Faraday to Cezanne. Out of all of these so far, the one I have enjoyed the most has been Cezanne and probably the biggest reason for my enjoyment is that my whole view of modern art has been changed as I have studied. As I was writing an essay on this artist I suddenly found myself defending him and understanding what he was doing, it was a wonderful epiphanal moment. The German poet Rilke, has a similar experience, he said he suddenly started seeing the paintings through 'the right eyes.'
The veil needs to fall away, because there is a veil in all our thinking, putting limits on God, putting God in a box, just not even getting who God is.
I find myself hearing more and more truth, I have to be discerning and I don't jump on everything I hear and run with it, but when I hear something which is truth and I meditate on it and think about what that means in my life then I start to see something new with the 'right eyes.'
I cannot force anyone to believe anything, I can only share truth and hope that something clicks, as it did and continues to do for me.
.
The veil needs to fall away, because there is a veil in all our thinking, putting limits on God, putting God in a box, just not even getting who God is.
I find myself hearing more and more truth, I have to be discerning and I don't jump on everything I hear and run with it, but when I hear something which is truth and I meditate on it and think about what that means in my life then I start to see something new with the 'right eyes.'
I cannot force anyone to believe anything, I can only share truth and hope that something clicks, as it did and continues to do for me.
.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Driving Again
Driving is something I do a lot of, it is also something I have blogged about on many occasions. The thing is, the way people act in their cars, it can be such a magnified reflection of people in real life.
The other night, on my way home from work, there is a place where there is a short piece of dual carriageway which then goes to down to one lane, it is a chance to get past any slow moving traffic, because after that, for the next 15miles, it is single lane traffic. Anyway, on this night, I overtook a lorry and then had a car overtake me, a bit ahead, I could see another lorry and wondered if I would get to overtake it or not and in my rearview mirror I could see another car in the overtaking lane that was going to overtake me.
As I got closer to the lorry, I kept my eye on the vehicle behind, which was still sitting where it was before, just behind me, in the overtaking lane, not overtaking and making me think, whether I would be able to or not, then as we got to the point of the road becoming one lane, I thought, well I won't bother overtaking, I can sit behind the lorry, it is ok. At this point the car behind notices that the road is becoming one lane and tries to overtake me and the lorry and fails miserably, and has to pull right in front of me. I flashed the driver in front, I was a bit peeved, this was dangerous, but the fella, put his hand up to apologise and I was happy to let it go. The driver was not finished though, he decided to overtake the lorry anyway, on a blind dip and nearly causes another accident, I don't know why he did it, maybe he thought I was an angry driver behind him. Lastly, 12 or so miles further down the road, the lorry is gone and I have clear road ahead when I come across this dawdling vehicle trundling along delaying me getting home and who is it? But my friend the dangerous overtaker.
My lesson, how many times do we do something stupid, dangerous or just plain wrong and follow that up by trying to escape the shame or truth and do something more stupid, more dangerous or more wrong and yet in the end, it all catches up with us.
.
The other night, on my way home from work, there is a place where there is a short piece of dual carriageway which then goes to down to one lane, it is a chance to get past any slow moving traffic, because after that, for the next 15miles, it is single lane traffic. Anyway, on this night, I overtook a lorry and then had a car overtake me, a bit ahead, I could see another lorry and wondered if I would get to overtake it or not and in my rearview mirror I could see another car in the overtaking lane that was going to overtake me.
As I got closer to the lorry, I kept my eye on the vehicle behind, which was still sitting where it was before, just behind me, in the overtaking lane, not overtaking and making me think, whether I would be able to or not, then as we got to the point of the road becoming one lane, I thought, well I won't bother overtaking, I can sit behind the lorry, it is ok. At this point the car behind notices that the road is becoming one lane and tries to overtake me and the lorry and fails miserably, and has to pull right in front of me. I flashed the driver in front, I was a bit peeved, this was dangerous, but the fella, put his hand up to apologise and I was happy to let it go. The driver was not finished though, he decided to overtake the lorry anyway, on a blind dip and nearly causes another accident, I don't know why he did it, maybe he thought I was an angry driver behind him. Lastly, 12 or so miles further down the road, the lorry is gone and I have clear road ahead when I come across this dawdling vehicle trundling along delaying me getting home and who is it? But my friend the dangerous overtaker.
My lesson, how many times do we do something stupid, dangerous or just plain wrong and follow that up by trying to escape the shame or truth and do something more stupid, more dangerous or more wrong and yet in the end, it all catches up with us.
.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Church Leaders vs. football managers
Just a mixture of conversations I had between one of my brothers and my Dad, led me to start thinking about football managers and church leaders and some similarities.
A team I really struggle with talking about is Man U, horrible, horrible team, I will not say anymore, except, my dad, father in law and 2 of my brother in laws all support them and me being a Liverpool fan, is sometimes not pretty. The thing is, at man U at the moment, they will be at the top of their game for a long while, they are and will probably continue to be successful, and the probable biggest reason for this is the manager.
He is consistent, stable , innovative and some not very nice things as well, he has the support of his team and of the fans, he is building for the future and has done plenty, but if I remember rightly, at one point he was one game away from being sacked, I wonder what way Man U would have went if they had of sacked him?
I look at how some managers are treated and it is wrong, they never get the chance, things are handled badly internally, there is divisiveness, there is a lack of support, destined to fail. Yet as well, there are those that should not be in the job, those that fail and carry on regardless and cause more damage to their club, not knowing when to walk away, or to notice that things are not working, or the club does not handle the situation properly, fails to act and once again causes more damage.
All of these things have plenty to do with church leaders, especially new church leaders. How many times does a new leader come in and people are against him from the off, not supportive, decisive, not even willing to give someone a chance, a church leader walking into that situation is being set up to fail.
There are leaders that maybe should never have been appointed and are maybe in the wrong place, but an awful lot of the time, it is the support that is lacking, look what can happen if they do get the support, the backing, the chance to lead effectively, if they do get the support from their team and their congregation.
I was told that something like, out of the 20 biggest churches in the world today, 18 have had the same leader for the last 20 years, Man U moment!
Also, it does seem to me that if the support is not united, then that runs all the way up.
When Jesus was talking in Revelation about churches he had a problem with, He didn't tell anyone to leave and go somewhere else, he told them to sort it out.
Support, not divide, a divided house will fall, supported, we will win.
.
A team I really struggle with talking about is Man U, horrible, horrible team, I will not say anymore, except, my dad, father in law and 2 of my brother in laws all support them and me being a Liverpool fan, is sometimes not pretty. The thing is, at man U at the moment, they will be at the top of their game for a long while, they are and will probably continue to be successful, and the probable biggest reason for this is the manager.
He is consistent, stable , innovative and some not very nice things as well, he has the support of his team and of the fans, he is building for the future and has done plenty, but if I remember rightly, at one point he was one game away from being sacked, I wonder what way Man U would have went if they had of sacked him?
I look at how some managers are treated and it is wrong, they never get the chance, things are handled badly internally, there is divisiveness, there is a lack of support, destined to fail. Yet as well, there are those that should not be in the job, those that fail and carry on regardless and cause more damage to their club, not knowing when to walk away, or to notice that things are not working, or the club does not handle the situation properly, fails to act and once again causes more damage.
All of these things have plenty to do with church leaders, especially new church leaders. How many times does a new leader come in and people are against him from the off, not supportive, decisive, not even willing to give someone a chance, a church leader walking into that situation is being set up to fail.
There are leaders that maybe should never have been appointed and are maybe in the wrong place, but an awful lot of the time, it is the support that is lacking, look what can happen if they do get the support, the backing, the chance to lead effectively, if they do get the support from their team and their congregation.
I was told that something like, out of the 20 biggest churches in the world today, 18 have had the same leader for the last 20 years, Man U moment!
Also, it does seem to me that if the support is not united, then that runs all the way up.
When Jesus was talking in Revelation about churches he had a problem with, He didn't tell anyone to leave and go somewhere else, he told them to sort it out.
Support, not divide, a divided house will fall, supported, we will win.
.
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