@carlfbeech #courageousmen Bristol – What’s your Gilgal?

Don’t be passive and nice – be dangerous because that’s why you were made. Michelangelo said through sculpture he could worship – by turning marble into David he was mimicking God. We should be a subversive liberation force for God! A resistance movement in occupied territory. How? Judges 3:12f Ehud – the left handed assassin. What a lovely story! The kids will love it at Bedtime. Who was Ehud? Just an ordinary guy- expendable. Because it’s not always obvious who the heroes are. Big change happens when little people step up and do something. We get to be revolutionaries. Because we have the power to change the atmosphere or the situation David was the least obvious hero, the unexpected one, William Carey changed India. He was a cobbler who said. ‘Attempt great things for God, expect great things for God.’ Nothing happens if you never have a go. We have to get passionate enough, angry enough, to push through the sticking point that always comes. The wall. Some of us have a job to do – get on with it. […]

@carlfbeech CVM/ New Wine Courageous Men’s Day Bristol

The positive side of testosterone. Men have 6 times more of it than women, and that makes a difference. It’s not anti feminist to say so. What does it mean for a man to Know God. Because we’re fidgety, restless creatures. Some of us are naturally more reflective. Most aren’t. The Romans had the pantheon of gods and diluted everyone’s true faith by syncretism. The only god that never appeared in the pantheon was the God of the Christians. They stubbornly refused to not be different. They held the line. No matter what. 2 Sam 23: David’s special forces. The mighty men. They held the line no matter what. The enemy wants to throw things at you to make you quit. To say ‘stuff it’ and walk away. Or at least sulk. Alternative – hold the line. Till your hand sticks to the sword. Then you find – eventually You won. You came through it. Sometimes we didn’t see the breakthrough because we didn’t hold on long enough to break through. Shammah stood in a field and said ‘enough!’ He […]

Video – the Father’s delight in his child

This video is from a guy called Ian McLeod who took a photo of his son every day for 21 years! It makes a remarkable study, and reminds me of various biblical themes – The Father watches over us! All the days ordained for us are written in his book before one of them comes to be. You are the apple of his eye! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/10/12/ian-mcleod-21-years_n_1961336.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

We don’t need Divine Rehab but Divine Rescue

CENTER CHURCH – Tim Keller  (Ivy GG notes – much of this material comes from today’s Ivy GG Leaders Day; thanks so much to all who made time to attend and for all you’re doing at ‘the church that meets at your house.’) I have been very inspired as I read Tim Keller’s latest book, Center Church. Check out the video summary at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_ZWlPUmVug I downloaded it on my Kindle and began to highlight in yellow important phrases and concepts as is my usual practice, but there’s so much there it ended with what looks like a Christian version of the Yellow Pages! DISCUSS: Do you read regularly or is that something you find hard to make time for? If so how might you overcome that challenge so you keep on growing? What have you read recently that’s encouraged, inspired or challenged you? I outlined my understanding of what I’d read in the book to our leaders as follows: The ‘model’ of church isn’t what’s most important. We have at one end (D.F.) the DOCTRINAL FOUNDATION. What we believe – and as […]

WHAT GOES AROUND… Alan Taylor guest blog – GG notes

Ivy Grow Group Notes   Our next beatitude is… 7 “Blessed are those who show mercy.     They will be shown mercy.”   I remember playing a school game called ‘mercy’ it involved showing you were stronger than your opponent by bending or crushing their hands in a dual! It was lots of fun! The winner was the first to get their opponent to shout ‘mercy’. I grew up with the concept of needing mercy as being a sign of weakness. In Jesus’ time mercy was not seen as a strength by philosophers (like Aristotle) or the Roman empire.    At university I did my main project on forgiveness. I was assigned a mentor whose specialty was counselling. She was intrigued by my project on forgiveness and commented how it wasn’t something particularly used in her counselling practice or very evident in psychology literature. I knew from that time that forgiveness is not something that is taken very seriously in our culture, but Jesus insists it is the mark of living in his Kingdom.   DISCUSS Do you think asking for […]

LASTING SATISFACTION (guest publisher Nick Duffy)

Ivy Grow Group Notes Continuing in our series on the beatitudes. Jesus’ teachings to his disciples on what a life lived in his Kingdom looks like. Today Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be satisfied” Think Food and water – two essentials for human life Hearers of this would know what it was like to go without food or water – do we? Easy for us to take away our hunger or thirst by snacking between meals. Hunger is a sign of physical health, if we didn’t hunger we’d probably die. It’s also a sign of spiritual health. Ask yourself how hungry and thirsty for God am I? We get hungry when we don’t eat, but with the things of God the more we eat the hungrier we get! Have you ever found this? 3 things in the West particularly that can take the edge of our hunger: 1.Pleasure – (Not a bad thing depending on the what and the why) trying to find satisfaction in something other than God. Sex, drugs, alcohol….. […]