Sowing the Seed

Was at Worldwide05 last night, the Bangor worldwide missionary convention. Speaker was a guy John Woodside from Drogheda Presbyterian; spoke on the sowing of the seed, and how Jesus parables relate more than ever to today’s culture in a post-Christian, post-modern largely apathetic society.
He used Mark 4, and started out painting a pretty grim picture of so much seed sown, with sometimes so little evidence of growth and new life.  And sometimes that’s how we can feel about the “mission” were involved in wherever we are be it Boardmills, Raffery or further afield.  Week by week we faithfully sow the seed, but rarely do we see the results.  And that’s where the problem is, not with the seed (Gods word), or the method of sowing, but when we think we have anything to do with the process.  It’s all about God, it’s seeds of his Gospel we are sowing, and it’s in his timing and according to his purpose that the seed will take root and grow.  
And when the seed starts to grow, the results are beyond our wildest dreams, as the seed takes root it multiples and the result is a mighty harvest.  So as we sow the seed week by week, even if it seems like a waste at times, we have to remember the Lord of the harvest, who will enable that seed to take root and bear a mighty crop in his perfect timing.  The gospel is compared to the mustard seed, the smallest seed, yet when it takes root it grows into the largest of garden plants.  And this is the gospel we proclaim, and it still has the same power to transform lives.  I know it does because it has transformed mine, so keep sowing the seed faithfully, bringing it before the Lord of the harvest, and trust him to one day reap a mighty harvest.

New Starts

Good to see Alex and Ali are the latest addition to the reach-out leaders blogs, has been truly amazing to see God at work in the lives of each of the leaders, and there was us thinking it was a week to help the kids live out their faith!!  Anyway good job Alex and Ali, I look forward to hearing how God is at work in your lives through your blogs.

Crash

Went to the cinema last night to see Crash, well worth the watch if you haven’t seen it, and the website is pretty good also.  One of those film’s that makes you think while watching the various stories unfold, and leaves you thinking on some of it’s themes.  The tagline of the film is “Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other”, and without spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, it explores how we act and react to situations and people we encounter.  Based in LA, but many of the main lines of thought we can relate to and apply in any situation.  One of the underlying themes that came out was how experiences or situations beyond our control can bring about a change in our attitudes and prejudices toward others.  As a Christian I believe God brings certain situations into our lives in order for us to learn from them and grow in our faith.  Am I learning from the things going on in my life now, or just complaining about how things don’t always work out the way I want them to?  
If any of you’s have seen it and had any thoughts on it, add your opinion through the comments below, would be interested to hear if it impacted you.

Awesome Testiony

The story of Anthony Walker, the young Christian guy murdered in a race hate attack with an axe, has challenged me greatly over the past weeks, showing me how in simple acts we can impact lives. These are the words of a classmate at his funeral service:
"I always felt honoured that he chose me as a friend because Anthony was popular with everyone, nobody had a bad word to say for him - yet he chose to be friends with me, the geek of the year."
What an awesome testimony, showing how a simple act of kindness impacted this guys life from a young Christian who simply did what Jesus would have done.

Radical Living

How do we represent Christ today? How do I represent the one who gave his all for me? If Christ was to come and live my life for a day how would my attitudes, priorities, values and actions change?  These are all thoughts that are on my mind at present, as I continue my walk with God, seeking to better represent his grace in how I live my life.  Many of these thoughts were considered towards the end of the week at Reach Out, and, as is often the case, they said as much to me as they did to the kids in my small group.  That’s one thing that amazes me about Gods word, how it challenges you right where it matters in your life.  As I have considered the life of Christ recently, much of this brought about as a result of my reading Philip Yancey’s book The Jesus I Never Knew, I have been immensely challenged.  
A section I was reading today dealing with how Gods kingdom is in complete contrast to worldly kingdoms in its values, and how in Christ we see a radical way of living.  A couple of comments that struck a note with me were the following:

“To Jesus, the person was more important than any category or label.”
What a challenge this is to society today, and if we lived out this godly principle as Christians, how massive an impact would we not have for the right reasons…….

“ A political movement by nature draws lines, makes distinctions, pronounces judgement; in contrast Jesus’ love cuts across lines, transcends distinctions, and dispenses grace”

What a challenge to those of us who bear the name of Christian, are we living grace filled lives.  As I walk past the homeless guy, the drunkard, the glue sniffer, barely giving them the time of day, not even looking up to give a simple smile.  How am I representing the one whose grace has saved me from despair?


Father I pray that you would help me look on others with grace filled eyes, to have the courage to act when I see someone needing your grace in their lives, taking the time because ultimately you took the time for me when I was running away from your arms of grace.  Forgive me father, help me to be a better witness of your Son to those I come into contact with, change my heart Dear Lord I pray, in His precious name