While I was in the shower enjoying the warmth of the water and doing that fun thing where you put your fingers in your ears and close eyes and then let the water run on the top of your head because in sounds all echo-ey and cool, God spoke to me.
Throughout the day I had been having conversations that all seemed to be negative and hurtful. What was worse about these conversations was that at the time the things that were said don't seem like a big deal but I know from experience that sometimes you need to take certain words captive to guard your heart - Because form your heart flows the springs of life (Pro 4:23)
The words in these conversations revealed the true nature of what the person I was speaking with was really feeling I know this- Because the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:45). The phrases and words that these people were using showed that the heart was screaming things like: "I am not good enough", " I am not attractive enough", "I have no place here", " Who am I", "I'm broken", "I'm lost, "Does anyone love me". These lies come from all over and we are pretty much fighting against them all day. Lies come others, the world, the devil and most commonly ourselves.
These revelations into the human heart upset me and I decided to take the query and upset back to Jesus to see what he had to say about the matter. Of course Jesus having the sense of humour that he does doesn't tell me in my personal devotion time or whilst I am reading the Bible and he doesn't even tell me while I am chatting to men and women who are further along their spiritual journey then me, no! He tells me while I am having a shower. Very funny Jesus! we get it your omnipresent. Whilst Jesus was showing off he decided to tell/remind me that... "People listen to lies!"... after hearing those words I totally understood everything about those conversations. We listen to lies! lies about ourselves, lies about who we are, lies about promises made to us and lies about God and his character.
I then figured out that lies are constantly going to be around us and there isn't much we can do about that but we can, as Proverbs nicely puts it, guard our hearts! every time we have a lie pop into our head that says "were not good enough" or "God isn't strong enough" we need to say no to that lie in Jesus name before it sinks down into our heart. This discipline is important. If we fail to do it then as Luke says our words will speak what is in our heart.
If we allow lies to sink into our heart then lies will come out of our mouth.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
The Power of the Story
Last Sunday I had the pleasure of chatting to some young people about how their life has changed since to coming into a relationship with God and getting involved at Church. It was amazing to listen to their stories and also see the passion in which they were telling them.
I realised, while talking to them, that there is so much power in a story especially when it is a true story about someones life and for some reason these stories have the biggest impact on us, I can see the evidence of this when I look back over the past 16 months of LIFE: people were silent when listening to someone sharing their story, people always remind me of the preach I did about "Little Liam" and people are always asking if they can share there story!
At LIFE we really value the Power of Stories which is why we want to make a book about it! We are going to write a book as a Youth group, this book will be made up of our stories of our lives. I am so excited and passion about this: I believe it will help strengthen us as a youth group, will remind us of what God has done through us over the past 16 months and hopefully will encourage others all over the world.
So here is the plan:
I realised, while talking to them, that there is so much power in a story especially when it is a true story about someones life and for some reason these stories have the biggest impact on us, I can see the evidence of this when I look back over the past 16 months of LIFE: people were silent when listening to someone sharing their story, people always remind me of the preach I did about "Little Liam" and people are always asking if they can share there story!
At LIFE we really value the Power of Stories which is why we want to make a book about it! We are going to write a book as a Youth group, this book will be made up of our stories of our lives. I am so excited and passion about this: I believe it will help strengthen us as a youth group, will remind us of what God has done through us over the past 16 months and hopefully will encourage others all over the world.
So here is the plan:
- If you want to be in it write your testimony down on an A5 sheet of paper, feel free to be creative with how you write it and how it looks
- If you don't know what to write try answering these questions: What was life like before God? How was your first encounter with God? and How is life different now?
- Then send your story to liam.parker@kerith.co.uk and we will take it from there
I know some of you will be sitting there now saying "but my story is boring" and wont want to write one because of this reason but if you do that then you are a silly billy! Because when God changes lives it can never be boring.
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Faith, Hope and Love
The other night I was chilling and chatting with Jesus, as I was telling me Jesus about my frustrations with the world today and about the state of holiness in our generation, Jesus rudely interrupted me with a mesmerising vision.
I saw myself hanging on a rope and the sense of fear and confusion washed over me, I was literally sitting in my room scared! for some reason I couldn't control my emotions, Jesus obviously wanted me to see something. I asked him to show me more. In my vision I looked up the rope to see what it was attached to, as I looked up all I saw were dark clouds filling the entire sky. I looked down to see what would await me if i let go and saw the ocean,going absolutely crazy! It looked like it wanted to eat me. At the sight of this I decided to close my eyes and grip my piece of rope tight, as tight as I could. In the vision I had found myself in the middle of a storm, stuck in the middle between fear and confusion not knowing what was going to happen next.
While the clouds continue to gather and darken and while the seas continued to roar I saw in the horizon a glimpse of sunlight which immediately reminded me of
1 Corinthians 13:13 - And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I asked Jesus how the verse and the vision connected and he told me that faith is believing that God holds the other side of the rope even if I cant see him. He told me that hope is the sun and the sun is a promise of a bright day to come and he told me that love is the greatest and my love for God is what kept me holding onto the rope.
We all have tough times in our life we all feel fear and confusion but no matter what happens to the world or us three things will always remain: faith, hope and love. I came around from my vision worshiping Jesus singing the lyrics
I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on,
there will be an end to these troubles but until that day comes.
Still i will praise you, still i will praise you.
p.s I forgave him for rudely interrupting my prayer.
I saw myself hanging on a rope and the sense of fear and confusion washed over me, I was literally sitting in my room scared! for some reason I couldn't control my emotions, Jesus obviously wanted me to see something. I asked him to show me more. In my vision I looked up the rope to see what it was attached to, as I looked up all I saw were dark clouds filling the entire sky. I looked down to see what would await me if i let go and saw the ocean,going absolutely crazy! It looked like it wanted to eat me. At the sight of this I decided to close my eyes and grip my piece of rope tight, as tight as I could. In the vision I had found myself in the middle of a storm, stuck in the middle between fear and confusion not knowing what was going to happen next.
While the clouds continue to gather and darken and while the seas continued to roar I saw in the horizon a glimpse of sunlight which immediately reminded me of
1 Corinthians 13:13 - And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I asked Jesus how the verse and the vision connected and he told me that faith is believing that God holds the other side of the rope even if I cant see him. He told me that hope is the sun and the sun is a promise of a bright day to come and he told me that love is the greatest and my love for God is what kept me holding onto the rope.
We all have tough times in our life we all feel fear and confusion but no matter what happens to the world or us three things will always remain: faith, hope and love. I came around from my vision worshiping Jesus singing the lyrics
I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on,
there will be an end to these troubles but until that day comes.
Still i will praise you, still i will praise you.
p.s I forgave him for rudely interrupting my prayer.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
I Can't Explain....
...how passionate and committed I am to building the biggest and the most powerful youth group to have ever existed on this earth!
I am gonna try explain though. Every single young person that lives in Bracknell and that comes to the Kerith does so because that is they way that God has planned it! Check out Acts 17:26 - Its strange to think that God has that much control over everything but to be honest it is stranger for me to think that God doesnt have control, otherwise he wouldnt be God. In a way it is strangely comforting. This verse tells me that I have a purpose and a reason for being at the Kerith and any young person that walks through the door also has a purpose and has walked through that door because God has said it will be so!
Now that I know that God has me here for a reason I feel empowered, excited and hungry to discover what he has instore for me. I think for me it is to rise up a generation of world changers who will be radical with their love, who will be passion about holiness and who will be deeply in love with their creator.
I am so fired up to see our youth group continue to grow both, numerically and spiritually!I want miracles to become a regular thing in the lives of young people, I want to see 1000 young people inside the Kerith on a weekly basis, I want young people to be in a real and satisfying relationship with God and I want to see young people gathering round their friends houses, not to get drunk but to pray and read their Bibles!
For the next season in my life I am comitted to this! I dont know how long that season is but as long as God has me here I will give every breath to making this dream become reality.
I am gonna try explain though. Every single young person that lives in Bracknell and that comes to the Kerith does so because that is they way that God has planned it! Check out Acts 17:26 - Its strange to think that God has that much control over everything but to be honest it is stranger for me to think that God doesnt have control, otherwise he wouldnt be God. In a way it is strangely comforting. This verse tells me that I have a purpose and a reason for being at the Kerith and any young person that walks through the door also has a purpose and has walked through that door because God has said it will be so!
Now that I know that God has me here for a reason I feel empowered, excited and hungry to discover what he has instore for me. I think for me it is to rise up a generation of world changers who will be radical with their love, who will be passion about holiness and who will be deeply in love with their creator.
I am so fired up to see our youth group continue to grow both, numerically and spiritually!I want miracles to become a regular thing in the lives of young people, I want to see 1000 young people inside the Kerith on a weekly basis, I want young people to be in a real and satisfying relationship with God and I want to see young people gathering round their friends houses, not to get drunk but to pray and read their Bibles!
For the next season in my life I am comitted to this! I dont know how long that season is but as long as God has me here I will give every breath to making this dream become reality.
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Why We Live
The lyrics from RPM's song, Why We Live, Verse 1:
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)