Tag: Bible

Watch LeCrae Explain What ‘A Real Man’ Is

Then if you live within striking distance of Manchester book in here NOW for the Diamond Geezers Men’s Day on Saturday April 13th before it’s too late. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/59965923] (If you have any trouble watching the video here, go to http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/lecrae-explains-true-manhood)

Multi-million best selling author GP Taylor visits Ivy MCR ahead of blockbuster Hollywood film release.

 GP Taylor visits Ivy Manchester this Sunday – as his blockbuster Hollywood movie is filmed.  I’m so excited that this Sunday Ivy Manchester will host a fantastic guest for interview at 7pm at our Didsbury site on Barlow Moor Rd, one of Britain’s best selling authors. We recently hosted the author of The Shack, Wm Paul Young. Now it’s time for some home grown talent. GP Taylor is the author of the best-selling novels Shadowmancer, Wormwood and Tersias. Like myself he has been a police officer and Anglican Vicar, but is also a former rock band roadie and motorcyclist. He worked in the music industry with such bands as The Stranglers, Sex Pistols and Adam and the Ants. He became involved in the occult and lived a life that was, in his own words “into all sorts of weird and wonderful things and wasn’t leading a godly life”. He goes on to say, “I was promiscuous: I was a liar, a cheat and a drunk,” We will learn on Sunday how he then turned to Christianity. This is a great […]

REST – Part 2 of my talk last Sunday at Ivy Kingsway

Hebrews 4, the writer says this about God: “…his work has been finished since the creation of the world.” The rest came out of the finished work. Then it says to us, ‘while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should fail… to reach it…’ It goes on to tell of a whole generation of people who SAID they were God’s people, but NEVER entered into His rest.Why? Because they didn’t have FAITH. They didn’t really believe HE could do it. That means it takes FAITH to enter into the REST that God has for us. You have to TRUST God, to REST in God. You have to trust God, if you’ve ever going to rest your soul.

Opportunity To Rest (part 1) – from my talk at Ivy Kingsway this morning

In our Year of opportunity as a Church, I’ve called this talk, ‘Opportunity to rest,’ this is from the NT book of Hebrews, chapter 4. It says.. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you fail to experience it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not add faith to hearing it. But we who believe do enter that rest. (For) God rested on the seventh day from all His works… “Today, if you hear his voice,(are we listening) do not harden your hearts.” So… there remains a rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort – to enter that rest…  (PRAY) I read this week about a trip to the supermarket that ended with a high speed chase, a frantic call to the police, a border […]

James White – The Christian Mind (iDisciple conference WCAUK)

There are few Christian warriors of the mind these days. Most retreat into personal piety or good works. We follow someone who died at 33. Don’t live a life that doesn’t offend people, if we don’t live as if we don’t care if we die, we will be impotent.

Building Life Changing Churches – Gordon MacDonald at WCAUK iDisciple

He was invited to speak at West Point. Saw that it was a place to train and qualify top people to go anywhere in the world and immediately get the job done, whatever the job is. How do you train people like that?   Do we show any interest in developing leaders? Not just the ‘anyone can come’ one. A West Point for church? The number 1 job for a Pastor = training the bext generation of leaders. It’s more important than preaching.   Heschel – We don’t need text-books but text-people.   Titus 2:1-8  Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s […]

J. John puts down Darwin the dog (humanely)

    I met with my friend @canonjjohn this week and was interviewed by him on my life story for UCB TV. The guy is a force of nature! Always a great encouragement. I subscribe to regular updates in my email from him (available free from the Philo trust) and was amused, informed and challenged by this one that arrived today – New Year, New Atheism, New Challenges 12 Jan 2013 It’s rather a scary thought that we are already over one eighth of the way through the twenty-first century. And even though year seems to follow year at an increasingly rapid rate, our culture changes even more speedily. One feature of the last decade that shows no sign of going away has been the rise of the ‘New Atheism’. It’s easy to dismiss the New Atheism as no more than a warmed-up version of old-fashioned humanism and in terms of substance there is little new. What is truly novel and troubling is the movement’s aggressive and bitter hostility to religious faith in general and Christianity in particular. A fascinating revelation […]

Colossians 1 – Ivy Grow Group notes

I’m going to be kicking off a new evening series based on Paul’s letter to the Colossians tomorrow – and I’m really excited about the chance to dig in to one of my favourite books of the NT. It was written around 63 AD but it’s bang up to date for us   Read Col 1:1-8 Discuss: Here Paul lists the characteristics of an authentic, Christ-honouring church. Can you list them?    Discuss: Paul writes about fruit that is the evidence of true salvation (compare Mt 13:23). If someone is not bearing this fruit – are they still a Christian?    I’ve called our series ‘Inside Out’ because Paul is writing from prison to a church he didn’t found, but was a church plant started by one of his ‘spiritual sons,; Epaphras. Epaphras apparently had heard the Gospel of Christ from Paul at Ephesus and had taken this life-changing message back to Colosse (v. 7)   Colosse was in what today would be known as Turkey, in Paul’s day it was known as Asia Minor. Actually these days it doesn’t […]

Mike Pilavachi – the Spirit & the desert – New Wine LSE

We look at the NT then at our lives & see something missing! Lk 3:21f Trinitarian event. We all love being affirmed. Jesus was affirmed – and publicly! It wasn’t whispered but a shout from heaven. Then – 4;1 he was driven in the desert. Why? Spiritual equation – Led to the desert Filled with the Spirit Then used by the Spirit. The desert place is not the devil’s place. Joseph had his from 17 to 30 Moses had his from 40 to 80 He thought he was God’s gift. Till the desert, the burning bush. Who am I that I should go? Was he hoping for affirmation? Answer? I will go with you. That’s not the answer Because Moses is asking the wrong question Should be – who are you? Moses has been in Midian 40 years. Hot, dry, big, quiet, sand. That’s all there is to see about the desert. Not a day trip Not a week There’s only so many sand castles you can build. But in the desert – It’s just you and God And that’s […]