I used to always sing this to the kids at bath time. I loved it whether or not they did! As I write the talk now for this coming Sunday at Ivy Church I finish up thinking about our living out our potential. But if we think about our potential as only being for this life, we miss out so much of what God has prepared for us. The Bible says about Jesus, ‘When we see Him, we will know Him,’ (How?) ‘Because we’ll be like Him.’ We live as citizens of heaven. This world is not our home, we don’t always fit in. Some days more than others we feel that don’t we? But our Christian hope is that one day soon, we’ll stand before Him. We would be ashamed of our ‘grubbiness’ as we focus on ourselves, until he says, ‘Look at who I have you!’ The perishable will be clothed with the imperishable. We’ll never waddle again, but soar!
Jon Ferguson“Anthony Delaney speaks the language of our friends, neighbours and co-workers. Using eye-catching illustrations and thought-provoking stories, he brings spiritual truths to life.”
Dr. R.T. Kendall“It is essential that young men of God rise up and carry on the greatest task given to anyone, the teaching of God’s precious Holy Word. To aspire to such a calling is one thing, but to fulfill it is another. As one who loves God’s Word and is passionate about the continuing faith of the Church, I am thrilled that men like Anthony Delaney are one of God’s chosen vessels. He is surely one of tomorrow’s men!”
Paul McGee“Anthony Delaney communicates in a way that is grounded in honesty, reality and integrity. He smashes every religious stereotype you've ever come across whilst remaining passionate about his faith. A beer, a Bible and a Balti shared in the company of Anthony would be a great way to spend an evening.”
David McClay“We in Willowfield Church had a great week of outreach and mission with Anthony Delaney and a team from Ivy. Anthony himself was used really effectively in his preaching and people are now in the Kingdom who responded to his invitation to follow Christ. He is a gifted evangelist and it is so clear that nothing excites Anthony quite like seeing people become Christians. The quality of the young men and women in the team from Ivy who accompanied Anthony also testified to Anthony as a leader who is obviously able to raise up disciples who make disciples and who are very effectively discipline the next generation of radical young Christian leaders. We were blessed so much by Anthony's ministry in Belfast.”
Lisa Battye"Please pass on grateful thanks to Anthony for his contribution at Flourish. I have been reviewing what he taught again and again with individuals since then and I am sure that it will influence our future at my churches, so am confident that it will be a similar blessing in the other churches that were represented at Flourish this year. THANK YOU"
Paul CollinsWe invited Anthony to Immanuel to help us put sharing our faith back at the heart of what we are about at Immanuel. He spoke at a men’s breakfast and our main Sunday gathering. He is a passionate and relevant communicator of the gospel. He uses language that is easily understood with many great illustrations and stories. Anthony not just shared the good news but encouraged and equipped us to continue with mission. The feedback from our church family has been incredibly positive and we are hoping he will visit us again.
As we spoke after the service his heart to invest in church leaders was evident.
Thinking about speaking...
Want To Grow A Great Church? Do Nothing!
The Bible says if you want a great church – do nothing! The Bible really says that. We are in a series at Ivy right now called the Summer of Joy, going through the New Testament letter Paul wrote to the Philippians. As I continued to study it, something he wrote to that church (which we learn later had false teachers coming from the outside and fall-outs on the inside) jumped right out at me. What you have to do, to build a great church, perhaps the best thing you can do if like the people he was writing to you have disunity, dissensions and factions starting to develop – DO NOTHING. It really is! Maybe some of you are really glad I say that because that’s what you want to do. But I don’t mean what you think I mean. Maybe some of you Type As are mad now, and you think that can’t be in the Bible. But it is. The Bible says if you want a great church, Do Nothing. Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself. […]
Good Questions (2) Who is Good?
Your Bible might headline the meeting in Mark 10 as the rich young man, he’s also referred to as ‘The Rich Young Ruler’. He is everything our culture aspires to be wrapped up in skin and riding a posh donkey with go-faster stripes, but really he’s a self-satisfied, self-centered seeker. The gospels say he’s rich, but he probably didn’t think of himself as Rich. We never do. Materialism hides well in a heart and keeps you from seeing yourself as rich, however much you have. If someone from my world were to go to the poor parts of the same world – you discover you’re a world apart. In Haiti where I have been a number of times and will visit again next year, if you’re ‘Blanc’ – they see you as a millionaire. Why do we never see ourselves as rich? Because of who we compare ourselves with and come into contact with. We compare up not down, and feel better about ourselves as a result. I’m not as rich as Beyonce, Rooney, lottery winners, or MPs. They should do something! […]
Good Questions (1) What is Good?
Despite what many people in our culture may think, anyone who reads the Bible will soon discover that Christianity is NOT a system for Good people trying to live good lives. When people say, ‘I don’t believe in God or Jesus – but I’m just as much a good Christian as you..’ You can be sure that probably through no fault of their own they either missed the point or were given a description of Christianity that was about religion and rules and quite rightly rejected it. But the REAL gospel – the good news, starts with the bad news that you’re not good. You’re more sinful than you ever dared believe; and more loved than you ever dared hope. Because of the cross of Christ, if we exchange our own messed up record, we get his spotless one. That’s how we end up being ‘counted or reckoned as good.’ Justified, the Bible says. Because of Jesus taking the punishment for my sins, I’m justified – it’s ‘justasifI’d’ never sinned. If that’s all news to you, please get hold of […]
The Joy Paradox – Krish Kandiah at @myivychurch @krishk my notes on a great talk
Everyone on the planet is on a search for joy, but paradoxically most of those searching for it end up with broken lives and disappointment. Bertrand Russell had lots of money, sex and power, yet said ‘The centre of me is always and eternally a terrible pain – a curious wild pain – a searching for something beyond what the world contains.’ Where do you find what he (and everyone else) was looking for? Well CS Lewis said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” Do you find yourself longing for home? Lonely in a crowd? You were made for more! You were made for joy! Joy that’s not dependent on circumstances. Krish once lived in Albania. He saw an eagle – the national bird – but it was in a cage, slowly disintegrating itself because of being bound in its circumstances. The apostle Paul was not confined by his circumstances. We can learn from him. Paul was in prison when he wrote […]
GOOD Friday – Thankfully the middle
Wonderful Good Friday reflection by my daughter Hannah
A Better Way To Celebrate St Patrick…
…than wearing a shamrock or even drinking a Guinness Pray his prayer ‘St Patrick’s Breastplate’! On the day we remember a powerful missionary pioneer. I’m reminded of what a revolution this man of God wrought by reading Steve Addison’s Movements That Change The World, required reading for New Thing Europe! Pray this with me, pray it for me, pray it for you and yours, for your spheres of influence, pray it out loud ( unless it’ll get you thrown off the bus)! I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. I arise today through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism, through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom. I arise today through the strength of the love of cherubim, In the obedience of angels, in the service of archangels, in the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, […]
No possessions?
This coming Sunday I’ll be speaking on the line in Lennon’s Imagine when he said, “Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, nothing to kill or die for, a brotherhood of man.” Is money the root of all evil (as the Bible is often misquoted as saying?). Are poor people in some sense better off? Would the world be better if they just gave everyone the same, whether a little or a lot? How long would that system last? One of my readings is the famous story of the ‘Rich Young Ruler.’ He appears in all three of the Synoptic gospels, went away from Jesus sad, because he had a lot of money. Does more make you miserable? Your thoughts and ideas appreciated, as I try to gather mine.
Our Vision
Can I share with you what the vision of our church is? The Bible says, “Without a vision the people perish.” If we can’t see where we’re going, we’re not going. We need a vision or we’re going nowhere. Here’s what we’re about. To extend the Kingdom of God one life at a time in West Horsley and the surrounding area by becoming more like Jesus Christ one day at a time The Kingdom of God is not seen in the Bible as a limited geographical area, like our little village of West Horsley. Instead the word Kingdom could be better rendered as ‘Kingship.’ The Kingdom of God is wherever God is King. Wherever he reigns and rules. He is God of the whole universe he created. That’s his right, that’s his position. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of Lords. But non of us are born his subjects. Like a friend of mine has recently rejoiced in becoming a citizen of this country, we have to accept his rule, and say, “My citizenship is in heaven.’ That’s […]
Imagine there’s no Heaven
Next Sunday we start a series of talks (me first) based on John Lennon’s song, Imagine. I do like the song musically etc., grew up with it – but it just says so many things that I don’t think of as actually utopian. CS Lewis had entirely the opposite view: Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. I’ve been to the top of some impressive mountains, sat on idyllic beaches in various places, bought some cool stuff. But you always end up after the latest adventure or acquisition with the same question – “What’s next?” That longing for something more, better, above…where/Who does that come from? We’re not home yet. Where’s John Lennon now? Lewis said in Mere Christianity something to the effect that if people have no desire for heaven, then their presence there would only spoil it so why would God force them to go? (pg 63) The point is not that God will refuse you admission to His eternal world if you have not certain qualities of […]