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I believe the Holy Spirit is speaking to the church in these days and stirring us up to deepen our relationship with God through reading the Bible. I know it’s not rocket science, but often the very thing that is most needed is often the thing that is most neglected. We all know about how Jesus replied to Martha’s complaint about Mary.

But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:40-42)

Jesus is saying to us “there is only one thing worth being concerned about” and that is putting the Word of God above everything else. Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, she was hearing His words and learning about the Kingdom of God while Martha was distracted and busy with the meal preparations.

We know from another incident that Jesus was not worried about meals.

In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, “Rabbi, eat. Aren’t you going to eat?” He told them, “I have food to eat you know nothing about.” The disciples were puzzled. “Who could have brought him food?” Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time! (John 4:30-35)

They hadn’t noticed that these people were open and hungry for the good news of Jesus. The harvest is ripe in the communities around us too but are we too distracted to even notice?

But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about! (Romans 13:11-14)

I recently attended a conference where Neil Cole was speaking, he challenged all the pastors there when he said that for the past 20 years he has been meeting weekly with two other men. They encourage one another to read 30 chapters of the bible a week, they agree on what chapters they are going to read and if one fails to read all 30 chapters then they all read again the next week and the next week until they all finish. They talk together about what they have learned or what questions came to mind. They also have accountability questions they ask each other in the area of morality concerning finances, sexuality and interaction with people. They pray for about 3 unsaved people each that they want to share the gospel with and see them become disciples of Jesus. They have also shared this idea with other people and now they have Life Transformation Groups all over the world

It is time for us to awake, shake off our complacency, get back to reading the bible everyday, spending time in prayer and sharing our lives and stories with others. I have made a start won’t you join me?

Well here we are 5 months into our adventure of faith and  we are still alive and kicking. God’s provision is so amazing. Everyday there are little reminders from Him that He is our source and has everything under control.

Trusting Him with our finances has always been the weak area in my walk with Him, it has been one of those mountains He has continually brought me to only for me to try and go around it rather than trust Him to help me to climb it. Well now I am climbing and I have been amazed at the peace I feel!

I have memory markers from the past, times and places when I was in tears because we had a bill I just didn’t know how we were going to pay, but looking back God was faithful somehow he got us through that difficult situation.

For example: the time we were told we had nothing to pay in taxes and then later found out that it was a mistake and we owed $6000 which resulted in us having to sell our house to be able to pay it. BUT GOD turned it around for our good. We had been trying to move closer to our church in London but the cost of housing there was so expensive it was just out of our reach. Now we were living in rented accommodation and I heard about a new scheme from a local housing association that provided homes on a part ownership basis you could buy 50% of the house and rent the other 50% at a reduced rent that was affordable.Only people who were renting and who provided a service to the community qualified, well we were now renting and as pastors we provided services to the community. So we were able to buy a home 10 minutes away from our church instead of living 40 minutes away. So what seemed like a negative at the time turned out to be a great blessing.

Up to this point in our lives Kevin has always had a salary, but this time in our lives God has asked us to step out without that. There were times when people in the bible were asked to go out with no provision but to accept hospitality but there were other times when they made tents etc. Whatever the case God is still our source and He uses different channels to get to us what we need.

He is an awesome, faithful God don’t hesitate to put your trust in Him. With God all things are possible!

I am blown away by God’s faithfulness, everyday He sends us encouraging signs of His involvement in our lives. His provision is amazing just when we come to the end of our stash He pours more in to replenish it. He is our Source!

It has been amazing the number of people we have got to know in such a short time in St Louis. We visit our local Starbucks and have had numerous conversations with people who we now are on first name terms with. It is such fun developing relationships and sharing our beliefs with people, we feel energized and refreshed. I want to encourage everyone to make friends of strangers and develop again the art of conversation, people are crying out for friendship they are so open.

Trust God with everything He is able to take care of it, seek Him with all your heart, mind and strength because He is for you and not against you. Store up your treasure in heaven because the stuff on earth is passing away but our rewards in heaven are eternal.

Our God is an Awesome God!!!!!!

Walking out the will of God is not a glamorous thing it is a smelly thing! Death stinks, every part of your being wants to avoid death at all costs but without death there can be no life.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. John 12:24-26

The will of God for Jesus was to only do what He saw the Father doing and to only say what He heard the Father saying and then to die for the world.  He did it for the joy set before Him, He was motivated by love for people and the joy of seeing people get set free and live in His kingdom. He had compassion for the crowds of people He saw because they were harassed and were like sheep without a shepherd. His entire life and death were an expression of the love of God for the whole world.

I recently had a revelation when I was praying that God didn’t just die for me. I know that sounds obvious, but in the Christian circles I have walked in the emphasis is on personal salvation, “if you were the only person in the world then Jesus would have died for you”.  That may be true but I am not the only person in the world and Jesus died for everyone so that none would perish!

So why do I live as if it’s all about me? Why don’t I have the same compassion for the lost sheep as Jesus has? Could it be that I need to die to my own selfish desires and return to the first love that I had when I was radically born again by the Holy Spirit?  I was excited about sharing my faith!

Just as Jesus didn’t die for ‘just me’ He hasn’t called ‘just me’ to share His love. He has given the commission for making disciples of all nations to His church, to His body and everyone has a part to play. As we make this our focus again and unite around this cause: the joy of the Lord will be our strength and there will be much rejoicing in heaven.

We can turn the smell of death into the fragrance of life.

God has created us to live in the heights we are not made to grovel around in the dust. Whether soaring like the eagle or climbing the tiny craggy paths of the mountains as surefooted as a deer, we are born for altitude.

The Lord God is my strength He will make my feet like deer’s feet and He will make me walk on my high hills. Habakkuk  3:19

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles. Is 40:31

Without God though we are always dragged down to the mundane and get caught up in the minutia of everyday life. When you live your life rooted to the earth, molehills look like mountains but when you live in the heights, mountains look like molehills. You see the world from God’s perspective, you see the big picture and you see that with God all things are possible.

David was a height dweller when he faced Goliath he didn’t focus on the size of the giant like his brothers and the armies of Israel, he saw the man through God’s eyes. The same God who had delivered him from the lion and the bear could deliver him from the Philistine. Is anything too difficult for God?

“God is so great—higher than the heavens,higher than the farthest stars. Job 22:1

Now in Christ heavenly places are our residence too. The view from up here is awesome like the awe inspiring vista from the top of a mountain.

For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.  Eph 2:6

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.Col 3:1-2 (The Message)

God has amazing plans for our lives don’t let the world squeeze you into it’s mold but begin to soar like the eagle he has purposed you to be.

 

 

Yesterday morning we found ourselves in yet another city and a different home, trying to find where the knives and forks are kept. Familiarizing ourselves with our new surroundings is awkward but it is nothing in comparison to the documentary program we later saw on the TV.

The PBS program was following the story of 2 Somalian families who had been driven by war to a refugee camp in Kenya and now through some charitable organizations were being offered asylum in the United States. They had classes whilst in Kenya about what to expect in their new homeland, they were shown how to cook food on a stove, how to call 911 if they needed the police and what the currency looked like. All pretty basic requirements to live in a new country but nothing could have prepared them for the reality.

They were leaving the desert conditions of Kenya and arriving in Newark New Jersey to snow and ice. The house they were taken to had a staircase this family had never walked down stairs before it was as if they were climbing down a cliff face. The food at the supermarket was unrecognizable to what they were used to eating but amazingly after about 15 months in the country the family (especially the children) had begun to adapt to most of the changes.

The most difficult aspect of the move for the family was not so much adapting to the practical differences but preserving their culture and values. When the majority of people are living a certain way it is easy to get assimilated into the culture without even trying. The parents particularly had concerns for their daughters relating to young men. Their culture required asking the parents for permission to see their daughters and to always have a chaperone when they were together. You can imagine something that was normal for girls in their homeland was seen as archaic in their new country here came a clash of cultures and unfortunately the most dominant culture usually wins.

This applies to our lives as Christians we are aliens and foreigners in this world. God’s kingdom culture is totally different to the world’s culture and values. It is a battle to hold on to and live out the Christian lifestyle, you can’t just go with the flow as the way the world is going is not the way of Christ. The godly path is narrow and few walk on it but the way of the world is broad and many follow it. The logic and commonsense of the world is totally different to the Spirit of God.

Are you an alien and foreigner or are you being assimilated into the dominant culture of the world?

We were reminiscing today about some awesome prayer meetings we have been involved in.

In our church in London we would pray every Friday night, one week we were praying for missionary friends in Poland so we had a map out and a group of us were laying hands on the map and praying, then Kevin went and got the telephone and he called the couple we were praying for and put them on speaker phone, they were just at a border crossing and were having a scary experience with some guards. We explained that we were praying for them and passed the phone to a couple of people who had words of encouragement from God for them. They were blown away that God had people in another country praying for them just at their time of need. Years later when Kevin went to visit them in their home in Canada they recalled that phone call and how God intervened to get them through that border crossing

God changes situations through our prayers!

Another time our church and two other churches got together and rented a sightseeing boat and about 200 people took a prayer cruise down the river Thames stopping opposite the Houses of Parliament and praying for the government and for spiritual breakthrough in London.

Prayer doesn’t have to be confined to a building!

Other times we took our prayer meeting to the streets of London and would pray in different locations especially outside other churches, praying for God’s blessing and increase on the ministries there.

It’s about the Kingdom of God not about building our kingdom!

Prayer is an exciting interaction with an awesome, powerful God.

Our last day in Los Angeles, it’s been a productive visit we committed ourselves to the will of God, no matter how difficult it may be, we chose to take up the cross and follow Jesus. It has been fun to revisit some places but primarily it has been a time for God to revisit us with things He has spoken to us about in the past.

Now we are ready for the journey back to St Louis although I believe that God doesn’t want the adventure to end. He wants to lead us by His Spirit and with His provision everyday of our lives until we meet Him face to face.

I am excited about the next phase of our lives but am learning to live in today not wanting to miss anything that God wants to do in this moment. I want to know like the Apostle Paul when the Holy Spirit is preventing us from going in a certain direction but be able to see the vision of the man from Macedonia saying come here to help us.

Isn’t that true fulfilment -knowing the will of God and doing it? What else can satisfy? Peter said to Jesus “where else can we go you have the words of eternal life” No other possession in the whole world can compare to knowing Jesus and making Him known.

Have you asked Him what He wants from your life without putting conditions on it?

Abraham dug wells in the wilderness and named them but after his death the Philistines blocked them up with earth. So when his son Isaac was travelling through the same desert he had his men unblock these old wells and also dig some new ones. Unfortunately there were arguments with some of the local herdsmen over the right to the water in the wells they had dug so instead of fight with them they just moved on and dug some more until there was no more quarrelling and they named that well Rehoboth literally meaning spaciousness for our God has made room for us.

There may be some old wells that we need to unstop, and some new wells we have to dig, for example the well of intimacy with God, the well of worship, the well of the gifts of the Spirit or the well of intercessory prayer.

Don’t expect it to be easy, digging earth out of a well is hard work and beginning a new well may cause you to come up against opposition from our spiritual enemy and also from people who don’t believe in the importance of some of the wells I’ve mentioned.

Jesus said  “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Let’s ask God to help us to remove anything that is stopping up the life giving flow of His Spirit in our lives so that we can be a channel of His blessings to the world.

Went to Santa Monica yesterday it is such a cool place to visit, the climate is so mild, it’s right on the ocean and the shopping area is pedestrianized but it is also a sad place to visit too. Why? Because of the warm climate it attracts alot of homeless people, so everywhere you walk there are people begging on the street or sleeping on the grass.

How do you pass signs that say “HUNGRY” but how can you help so many people? Money for one meal may help today but it doesn’t address the major issue. This person is someone’s mother, father, daughter or son. Many people living on the street require hospital treatment or just someone that cares and loves them.

I am always challenged by what Jesus said:

The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound]      Luke 4:18-19 Amplified

Don’t those highlighted words describe the homeless, many are broken down by calamity. The Spirit of the Lord is on the church to do the things that Jesus did and even greater things. That is the challenge!