There are a lot of desert experiences, in life and in the Bible. Jesus himself went through it. In fact Mark’s gospel says the Holy Spirit ‘threw’ him there! It’s natural for us to complain about being in the desert. It’s a bit of a Christian catchphrase – when you want to moan about God, but sound holy about doing it. “I’m going through a bit of a desert experience at the moment.” What do you do in the desert? There’s no map (you could try a piece of sandpaper I suppose). You don’t know where you’re going, how you got there or when you’re getting out. Can I make a couple of suggestions? 1) Listen to God. You’re in that season for a reason. It’s a test – but you’ll be blessed! God wants to teach you something – are you learning the lesson? The desert is where he breaks us of self sufficiency, or the need for self promotion. The desert is the place he teaches discipline and dependence on him. But our God makes a way in […]
Tag: Christianity
Daniel Fast : Consistency Counts
When you pray, when you worship – do you go for GOD?! Surely we want to encounter GOD!? We don’t just want answers – we want the One who is the Answer. We want His face not just his hand. We don’t just pray to meditate and think things through ourselves . Of course we want understanding and revelation and strength and wisdom and answered prayer– but not for their own sake!
Daniel Fast day one: Entering the King’s service!
We’re going through a series on Bible heroes at the moment on Sundays. Yesterday’s focus was on Daniel. If we were going to look for longevity in consistent wisdom in the Bible, I’d probably want to make a case for Daniel. Lots of other guys started out well and finished badly. Or they had a very chequered past and came through at the end. But Daniel had the kind of testimony sometimes people underplay – they feel they have to leave the church maybe and get into drugs or something so they come back having made good, then they’ll really have a testimony. I often counsel teens in church – YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THAT! You can have a story that says, “God has been faithful to me all my life, and he’s helped me live faithfully too.” That is a powerful story! He was just a human being like us, but Daniel’s exemplary character leave him as one of very few people in the Bible who gets 5 stars all the way through his life, one of a […]
Where are you going?
the challenge to our church to see 1000 new people come to Christ in the next two years. Sounds like quite a tall order, but 3000 were added at Pentecost in a day and here in Manchester really it just needs everyone we presently have coming to be praying, witnessing and inviting more!
God always speaks to me through this!
Faith is the spirit of adventure; the readiness to move out;
The problem of evil
People are now rightly angry at the debacle of MPs troughing at expenses and ripping off the tax payer. The revelations continue each day. Outraged letters bemoan their lack of example.
Waves
8000 waves break on the shore every day. One every eight seconds.
It’s a great picture of God’s grace, love and blessing.
Financial crisis – sinister global agenda?
Without doubt this economic crisis – and the chaos that follows – will present individuals and organizations opportunities that would never otherwise be pursued during times of normality. It’s hard to not to expect anything different. After all, the firemen who are now trying to douse the flames are the same people who started the fire.
God speaks through Dreams: Walking with the King
In the dream I was stationed on duty outside a great palace like Buckingham Palace, dressed like one of the soldiers in ceremonial dress with the Busby hat on – as an ex police officer I’ve done my fair share of standing still and ‘guarding!’ Suddenly I was aware that I had a new assignment.
Losing the Plot ? Get EPIC!
“You can buy the dog for a tenner, it only tells lies anyway!”