The lyrics from RPM's song, Why We Live, Verse 1:
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Why We Live
Listen close to what i'm saying, it's important you listen.
Church of God its time to wake up to the things that we're missing.
Causally Praying that we wanna live like Jesus did,
Open our eyes and let us see with a heart like his.
So now we can't react the same when we turn on the news.
Can't let it just wash over us, we gotta learn from it too.
We were called to clothe the hungry and feed the poor,
I want blessing but someone always needs it more.
The same twenty pounds I spend putting food in my mouth,
In the third world could put a brand new roof on a house.
And yeah, we can't all fly around the globe i know,
But we were called to reach the world outside our comfort zone.
I'm willing to pay the price because souls are expensive.
While we're living in a time of political correctness,
let's stop apologizing like our message is offensive.
People die and go to hell i think we really need to get this.
This ain't a dress rehearsal now, this isn't pretend
It's time to stop being dominated by decisions of men.
Cos we were called to be the fishers of men,
and Jesus died so we'd never be referred to as the victims again.
I'm determined to make a change cause he says that i can.
This is my generation so i'm taking a stand.
I push aside common sense this is straight from my heart.
God i refuse to leave this earth without making a mark for you.
This is why we live
Monday, 27 September 2010
Being a real Youth Pastor
Last week I received a facebook message from one of the young people that attends LIFE, this person has recently become a Christian and is totally sold out for God. They have already got involved in different areas around the church that are outside of LIFE and is a true inspiration to me and many other people.
In the facebook message the young person describe a problem that they were having and wondered if they could talk to me about it as they were really struggling and needed some advice. They asked if we could talk at LIFE but then the young person said that she understood if i couldn't meet with her or help her because she knew I would be busy.
The words in the message struck me, I am a Youth Pastor and what does a Youth Pastor do? Pastor Youth. after reading this message my mind only had one question in it....."Have I made myself to busy to be a real Youth Pastor?" My time should be filled with helping young people and pointing them closer to Jesus, in the excitement and growth of LIFE have I lost the reason why I started this.
When you look at the life of Jesus you read a story of one of the most famous man on planet, both at the time he lived and also today, however you also read a story of one of the most personal men on the planet. Jesus spent a lot of his time speaking to large crowds but he also spent time round peoples houses eating meals with them, Jesus saw some of the craziest miracles but he also sat an listened to people in need and Jesus could of made everyone fall to their knees and worship him because of the power he had but he decided to wash the feet of his followers instead.
There is nothing wrong with speaking in front of thousands or praying for the impossible however we must never lose the personal touch that Jesus demonstrated. I must make myself available for young people to talk to, I must do my best to remember the names of the young people I meet and I must be willing to serve them with whatever they need even if that means at some point I will have to wash their feet.
In the facebook message the young person describe a problem that they were having and wondered if they could talk to me about it as they were really struggling and needed some advice. They asked if we could talk at LIFE but then the young person said that she understood if i couldn't meet with her or help her because she knew I would be busy.
The words in the message struck me, I am a Youth Pastor and what does a Youth Pastor do? Pastor Youth. after reading this message my mind only had one question in it....."Have I made myself to busy to be a real Youth Pastor?" My time should be filled with helping young people and pointing them closer to Jesus, in the excitement and growth of LIFE have I lost the reason why I started this.
When you look at the life of Jesus you read a story of one of the most famous man on planet, both at the time he lived and also today, however you also read a story of one of the most personal men on the planet. Jesus spent a lot of his time speaking to large crowds but he also spent time round peoples houses eating meals with them, Jesus saw some of the craziest miracles but he also sat an listened to people in need and Jesus could of made everyone fall to their knees and worship him because of the power he had but he decided to wash the feet of his followers instead.
There is nothing wrong with speaking in front of thousands or praying for the impossible however we must never lose the personal touch that Jesus demonstrated. I must make myself available for young people to talk to, I must do my best to remember the names of the young people I meet and I must be willing to serve them with whatever they need even if that means at some point I will have to wash their feet.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Project 125
"You know your mind has been renewed when the impossible seems logical" - Bill Johnson
A problem has recently been brought to the attention of myself and about 400 young people that attend LIFE. The problem is this, that girls aged around 15 who live in Serenje, Zambia are struggling to finish their school education, in fact only 2% of them are making it through the entirety of their schooling life, which is 3 years. You may be thinking that maybe their isn't enough money for them to go to school or maybe that their families cant afford it or even that maybe there isn't enough teachers but no all these things are in place. The school is ready to have them, the teachers are ready to teach and the families have made sacrifices to ensure that the girls have some accommodation during the schooling term. The reason that 98% of girls aren't making it through school is because when they live away from their families during the school term they are beaten and raped by men living in the surrounding area. Most of the girls fall pregnant or catch HIV/aids and if neither of these things happen to them well they just run away out of fear....wouldn't you?
However there is solution. A youth group in Bracknell. This youth group go by the name LIFE and they don't like the fact that 15 year old girls are getting raped so they are going to do something about it. This inspiring, motivating, trend setting youth group have decide to raise £125,000 to build these girls a dormitory, a safe place that they can live during term times so they can focus on their education and be free from fear of abuse and rape. They have given this task a name Project 125! The young people of Bracknell see themselves as world changers! mainly because they are and they have decided to change the world of 100's of girls in Serenje. LIFE has taken on this challenge and some say that it is impossible.....hmmmm seems logical to me.
A problem has recently been brought to the attention of myself and about 400 young people that attend LIFE. The problem is this, that girls aged around 15 who live in Serenje, Zambia are struggling to finish their school education, in fact only 2% of them are making it through the entirety of their schooling life, which is 3 years. You may be thinking that maybe their isn't enough money for them to go to school or maybe that their families cant afford it or even that maybe there isn't enough teachers but no all these things are in place. The school is ready to have them, the teachers are ready to teach and the families have made sacrifices to ensure that the girls have some accommodation during the schooling term. The reason that 98% of girls aren't making it through school is because when they live away from their families during the school term they are beaten and raped by men living in the surrounding area. Most of the girls fall pregnant or catch HIV/aids and if neither of these things happen to them well they just run away out of fear....wouldn't you?
However there is solution. A youth group in Bracknell. This youth group go by the name LIFE and they don't like the fact that 15 year old girls are getting raped so they are going to do something about it. This inspiring, motivating, trend setting youth group have decide to raise £125,000 to build these girls a dormitory, a safe place that they can live during term times so they can focus on their education and be free from fear of abuse and rape. They have given this task a name Project 125! The young people of Bracknell see themselves as world changers! mainly because they are and they have decided to change the world of 100's of girls in Serenje. LIFE has taken on this challenge and some say that it is impossible.....hmmmm seems logical to me.
Monday, 30 August 2010
George Whitefield - God's Divine Dramatist
George’s ability to deliver a powerful and passionate sermon is the first thing that draws me to him; even the President of the United States was blown away by his gifting. George didn’t have to have a lifetime of experience to acquire this gifting, in fact he was preaching to large crowds in his early 20’s. During George’s first sermon it is reported that fifteen people went mad under the conviction of their own sin. This man had power right from the word go, he didn’t wait around for an opportunity he grab any opportunity he could. He knew Jesus and he knew his identity because of Jesus.
Having an overview of George’s life helps us see the massive influence this man had. He was one of the most famous people of the 18th century and he wasn’t just known he was loved. He had influence with the working class because he showed them freedom and forgiveness, he had influence in the government because he was an expert in his field and had excelled in his gifting and he had influence with other generals because he was a pioneer and had such great fruit. George was taught and mentored by the Wesley brothers but he had such gifting and grew so fast that soon he was teaching the Wesley brothers how to preach in the open air and he also super seeded them by gathering crowds 10x the size of what they were gathering.
I pray that my life has influence. Influence through my love for Jesus, through immense gifting and through pioneering movements of the Holy Spirit. I pray that this influence wouldn’t just be with Christians but would actually be primarily with the unbeliever and would span all classes and generations reaching from the homeless man on the streets of Bracknell to the President of the United States.
Friday, 27 August 2010
Communication
Apparently around 5,000 text messages are sent in the UK every second!
We love to communicate, it is a natural instinct in humans to want to connect with other people. God actual gave us this desire so that we would be motivated to seek him out and find a relationship/ connection with him.
Being a Christian means that a big part of your life is communicating the truth of Jesus in your culture and setting. We need to learn how to do this properly and effectively To do that we need to look at the example of Jesus and how he communicates. I have listed below the main ways that Jesus communicated to people, read it and start trying to apply one of his methods into your life and see if makes you more effective at spreading the truth of Jesus:
Telling Stories - Luke 10:25-37
Repetition - Luke 15
Humour - Matt 7:3 (Apparently this is Jesus being funny, lol)
Being Visual - Matt 18:1-4
Shock Tactics - John 6:53 and Matt 23:33
Extended metaphors - John 15
Asking questions - Mark 10:19
Interestingly Jesus was asked 183 questions according to the bible and only directly answered 3 of them! with the rest he would answer back with a question which lead to Jesus asking 283 questions. Looks like he wanted to start a debate not end one.
Lastly and most importantly he lived it. Jesus lived out what he believed and that is the real key to communication. If we say we believe something we have to live it out. If you say you believe in Jesus you must show how it affects your life otherwise people will see no reason why it would/should affect theirs.
John 13 :1
We love to communicate, it is a natural instinct in humans to want to connect with other people. God actual gave us this desire so that we would be motivated to seek him out and find a relationship/ connection with him.
Being a Christian means that a big part of your life is communicating the truth of Jesus in your culture and setting. We need to learn how to do this properly and effectively To do that we need to look at the example of Jesus and how he communicates. I have listed below the main ways that Jesus communicated to people, read it and start trying to apply one of his methods into your life and see if makes you more effective at spreading the truth of Jesus:
Telling Stories - Luke 10:25-37
Repetition - Luke 15
Humour - Matt 7:3 (Apparently this is Jesus being funny, lol)
Being Visual - Matt 18:1-4
Shock Tactics - John 6:53 and Matt 23:33
Extended metaphors - John 15
Asking questions - Mark 10:19
Interestingly Jesus was asked 183 questions according to the bible and only directly answered 3 of them! with the rest he would answer back with a question which lead to Jesus asking 283 questions. Looks like he wanted to start a debate not end one.
Lastly and most importantly he lived it. Jesus lived out what he believed and that is the real key to communication. If we say we believe something we have to live it out. If you say you believe in Jesus you must show how it affects your life otherwise people will see no reason why it would/should affect theirs.
John 13 :1
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Oh how he loves us
Last week was Rocknations. I went to Rocknations praying for two things: money and a prophecy randomly given to me by someone.
During the first meeting I prayed and prayed for these two things believing that God could get them sorted in the first night but nothing happened, I was a little disappointed but I still had faith because we still had another four days. On the second day I went to check my bank account hoping that God had given me some money, I even promised to buy someone lunch knowing full well that i had no money but I thought who needs money when you have faith! Checked bank account it said £3.19.... Oh, looks like I would have to disappoint someone. I began to think to myself during the evening meeting and came to the logical conclusion that because i hadn't tithed this month maybe God was withholding his blessings from me and also maybe I wasn't getting a prophecy because I wasn't spending enough time with him one on one.
Third day. I knew what I had to do. I got alone before God and repeated the line "Speak to me" about 50 times, then went to the meetings that day full of faith that I had done the right thing. Nothing! Over the whole day not one prophecy and I had to ask people to borrow some money because I was completely broke, I was really getting discouraged now. I never blamed God because God is good but i started to blame myself, saying things like "you should of tithed" "you cant expect God to just give you what you ask" all these types of negative things.
On the last day I had given up. I had come to the logical conclusion that I don't deserve his blessings. I was doing my duty as leader and making sure everyone was ready to go home and I was in the last few seconds of my Rocknations experience when a girl in the youth group told me she had a prophecy but didn't know who for, she had written it down on a piece of paper I opened it up and it was so accurate for me! I would explain but that would take up another blog! Just know that what was writted down only God could have told her. I was buzzing, God had spoken to me in the last seconds before Rocknations ended howver still no money.
We get back to church and at the end of the evening meeting a dad from a fantastic church family comes to me and says that during the past week God had told him to give me some money! So he did! I was buzzing. I went home so happy and realised on the drive home that Gods love for me has nothing to do with me. If I don't tithe he still loves me, if I do tithe he still loves me, if I choose to spend my time reading the bible or getting drunk it doesn't affect the love that he has for me and not only that but because I am his child he wants to bless me and he will do so regardless of my behaviour. I got home after having an amazing prayer sess in my car and walk in and found an envelope on the table by the door with my name on it...... more money! Then my dad walks in and says I have transferred you even more money without me even asking!
Oh how he loves us!
During the first meeting I prayed and prayed for these two things believing that God could get them sorted in the first night but nothing happened, I was a little disappointed but I still had faith because we still had another four days. On the second day I went to check my bank account hoping that God had given me some money, I even promised to buy someone lunch knowing full well that i had no money but I thought who needs money when you have faith! Checked bank account it said £3.19.... Oh, looks like I would have to disappoint someone. I began to think to myself during the evening meeting and came to the logical conclusion that because i hadn't tithed this month maybe God was withholding his blessings from me and also maybe I wasn't getting a prophecy because I wasn't spending enough time with him one on one.
Third day. I knew what I had to do. I got alone before God and repeated the line "Speak to me" about 50 times, then went to the meetings that day full of faith that I had done the right thing. Nothing! Over the whole day not one prophecy and I had to ask people to borrow some money because I was completely broke, I was really getting discouraged now. I never blamed God because God is good but i started to blame myself, saying things like "you should of tithed" "you cant expect God to just give you what you ask" all these types of negative things.
On the last day I had given up. I had come to the logical conclusion that I don't deserve his blessings. I was doing my duty as leader and making sure everyone was ready to go home and I was in the last few seconds of my Rocknations experience when a girl in the youth group told me she had a prophecy but didn't know who for, she had written it down on a piece of paper I opened it up and it was so accurate for me! I would explain but that would take up another blog! Just know that what was writted down only God could have told her. I was buzzing, God had spoken to me in the last seconds before Rocknations ended howver still no money.
We get back to church and at the end of the evening meeting a dad from a fantastic church family comes to me and says that during the past week God had told him to give me some money! So he did! I was buzzing. I went home so happy and realised on the drive home that Gods love for me has nothing to do with me. If I don't tithe he still loves me, if I do tithe he still loves me, if I choose to spend my time reading the bible or getting drunk it doesn't affect the love that he has for me and not only that but because I am his child he wants to bless me and he will do so regardless of my behaviour. I got home after having an amazing prayer sess in my car and walk in and found an envelope on the table by the door with my name on it...... more money! Then my dad walks in and says I have transferred you even more money without me even asking!
Oh how he loves us!
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Lifegroup
Every other Tuesday I have the honor and the privilege to lead a lifegroup for young people. This group is made up of 8 fascinating people! Every other week we meet up and read the Bible, Pray, talk about life, eat food, laugh and grow as individuals.
One of the perks of my job is that i spend my time with people, a lot of time and I realised that my jobs success doesn't rely on how much money i can make. It relies on whether i am helping, supporting, loving and leading people well. What i have learnt by leading this lifegroup is that unlike normal business's i can never tick off my goals, as people we will always need support, love and help throughout the whole of lives.
I have seen this group of young people grow so much over the last year or so and I have to say I am so impressed by the people they are growing up to be. They have such a passion to learn more about Jesus and grow as Christian that it makes me want to learn and grow myself. They are so supportive of each other and when we meet together they are quick to share encouraging words and build each other up. Finally I love the fact that this group are so much fun! fun is so important in life and tonight for the last hour we told funny and humiliating stories of our lives and we didn't stop laughing.... I don't know about you but i want people in my life that make me laugh!
If i could say one thing to this lifegroup it would be...Love!
Simple i know but it is the answer.
Love God - Build a relationship with him, follow his teachings and take hold of his promises
Love Yourself - You are a creation of the God, you are unique and you have a purpose of this earth
Love Everyone else - You pass the love on because that is the only way to change the world and when you pass it on it grows even more inside of you.
One of the perks of my job is that i spend my time with people, a lot of time and I realised that my jobs success doesn't rely on how much money i can make. It relies on whether i am helping, supporting, loving and leading people well. What i have learnt by leading this lifegroup is that unlike normal business's i can never tick off my goals, as people we will always need support, love and help throughout the whole of lives.
I have seen this group of young people grow so much over the last year or so and I have to say I am so impressed by the people they are growing up to be. They have such a passion to learn more about Jesus and grow as Christian that it makes me want to learn and grow myself. They are so supportive of each other and when we meet together they are quick to share encouraging words and build each other up. Finally I love the fact that this group are so much fun! fun is so important in life and tonight for the last hour we told funny and humiliating stories of our lives and we didn't stop laughing.... I don't know about you but i want people in my life that make me laugh!
If i could say one thing to this lifegroup it would be...Love!
Simple i know but it is the answer.
Love God - Build a relationship with him, follow his teachings and take hold of his promises
Love Yourself - You are a creation of the God, you are unique and you have a purpose of this earth
Love Everyone else - You pass the love on because that is the only way to change the world and when you pass it on it grows even more inside of you.
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