The view that awaited me yesterday morning, reminding me of the beauty of Gods creation and how He will cleanse me as pure as snow by the blood of the Lamb. What an awesome God.... 

The Real Me

Well it’s been somewhat of a blogging drought recently, a few weeks since I last jotted down some thoughts. Been pretty busy in work, weeks fly by without even realising. This is my day off from work as I have lots of flexi hours that have to be used, and I find myself spending the day studying for a MCSE exam. Between that, preparing stuff for bible class, helping out with BB and Youth Club and football, my time for blogging is somewhat limited. Likewise my time spent in commune with my Heavenly Father is somewhat rushed and limited also, and this is of greater concern. Hence I’ve taken some time-out for a while to wait in His presence, something that has been sadly lacking in my life of late. Day by day God reminds me of the beauty of his creation, he lavishes his grace unto my life, he calls me by name; but so often I’m too busy to listen. So today I’ve taken that time, waking up to snow-covered fields, listening to his voice in word and song, and contemplating now a few thoughts that have been on my mind of late.
We were at the Clay concert with some of the youth, really good night where we were ministered to through some honest and thought provoking songs of worship in the bands own lively and unique way. The sense of honesty and reality in their portrayal of the Christian life was refreshing, openly admitting struggles and disappointments they had experienced, a message todays young people need to hear. In todays world of Reality-TV, Virtual-Reality gaming and the post-modern “This is my truth, tell me Yours” mindset; it is becoming increasingly difficult for our young people to discern the truth from the many voices seeking to gain ownership of their lives. And that’s why I believe the relational foundation is vital in what we seek to do with this generation, building bridges into their lives, and bringing a sense of reality to the Christian life we seek to proclaim to them. Its not just about pointing them in the right direction, but walking alongside them and gently guiding them along the way. Actual Reality Christians who are a part of their lives, who genuinely care for their well being on both a spiritual and physical level, and who are prepared to share their lives in an open and honest manner: flaws and all. Jesus was a people person after all, more interested in the one to one than the massive crowds, and it's His example we are to follow.
On a personal note Gods really been challenging me about the real me, yeah on the outside in the public domain I can say and do the right things, but what about the real me. God often stresses that it’s not the outer that He’s concerned with, but the inside. If my thoughts were both audible and visible could I stand unashamed, if my lusts and desires, the snide comments, the things I do and think when no-one else is around were there for all to see would I be so proud to call myself a “good-person”. That’s why I despise the term “good-living”, I’m as guilty as the next wretched sinner, and it’s only by the grace of God and the salvation of Christ that I can dare to call Him Father.
What’s so amazing is that it’s the Real me that God sees, warts and all, and he pours his grace upon me to pardon my sin because of Jesus who paid the price at Calvary. Not that He condones or approves of my sin, it sickens Him as it does me, and He promises by His Spirit to change my impure heart, cleansing it by the blood of the Lamb.
Thank you Father, cleanse me afresh, empower me by your Spirit to live a life that is holy and pure, remove the smear of sin from my innermost being. Sorry for everything I’ve done against you. Help me make you the priority in my life.

Its been a while

It’s been a while

Well it’s nearly a month since I’ve updated this blog, simply haven’t taken the time recently to do so.  And looking through the rest of the blogs, it seems many of us are experiencing the effects of too many things to do in too short a space of time.  The joys of being back to work/school/college soon know how to eat into our time, one week rolling into the next and before you have time to think another month has rolled by and the countdown to Christmas has begun for another year.  Was nice the other week to remember the ReachOut week in the summer that God used so mightily to impact each of our lives, and many of the lives of many of the kids who came along.  Was awesome to hear some of them speak of the life-changing week they experienced, to see so many of them growing in their faith, and some of them still thinking it through having been impacted by God that week.  Does your heart good, sometimes churches can be full of frustrations and shattered dreams, but God was at work this summer, and it was a joy to reflect on what He done.  Here’s to next year!!!!
Well today is I think my first day off since ReachOut and it’s been so good, catching up with a friend I haven’t seen in a while, preparing some stuff for Youth Club and Bible class, and spending some quality chill out time with God.  Hence why I’m posting this now, sadly these days don’t happen too often as the whirlwind pace of life whisks me away all to often.  Saddens me abit that it happens so infrequently, but I guess I need to learn how to bring God more into everyday life, place him at the centre, and offer up my life as a living sacrifice to the one who, infinite in grace and mercy, desires for me to live in intimate relationship with Him.  Amazing that despite my flaws, despite the fact that at times I give him so little of my time, despite the many times I have let him down and failed to live all out for Him, despite my past mistakes and failures; despite all these things the God of all creation longs and desires for me to be in a close and intimate relationship with Him, and through a weak sinner like me he chooses to impact others lives to His glory.
Doesn’t make much sense in our reasoning, but he loves us and cares for us despite it all.  And the least we can do is surrender our lives and follow His ways with a passion and whole-hearted devotion

Scandalous Grace

Gods Grace never fails to amaze me.  When I consider how undeserving I am, how frequently I let Him down, how I stumble and fall again and again, how I let selfish desires dictate my life time and time again; it never ceases to amaze me that the God of all creation welcomes me back with open arms because of Jesus.  He allows me to stoop at the foot of the cross, crying for mercy and forgiveness; and I’m accepted into His presence because of Jesus who bears the full weight of my sin and judgement.  I can’t help but ask the question “Why?”…  The scandal of Gods grace in my life should compel me to surrender all of my being to Him in service to the one who has removed the burden of sin from my shoulders.  He is worthy of all my praise and more, “How Great is our God!!”

The message translation of Ephesians 2 vs. 3-6 sums up these thoughts of wonder:

“It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.  Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us.  He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ.  He did all this on his own, with no help from us!  Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah”

Some sad News

Some sad news this week, Mike Summer (the director of Agape Puppet Ministry which is who Sam Shaw serves through) was tragically killed this week in a traffic accident.  His wife Linda was serving in Moldova with Sam and fellow puppeteers, and had to make the tragic journey home to bury her husband, while Sam and the remainder of the puppet team complete the remainder of the programme in Moldova before returning home in a few weeks.  I had the pleasure of spending a week with Mike and Linda along with Sam a few years back, and their passion for Jesus, and willingness to serve him in this unique ministry was an inspiration to me at a time when I was coming to faith in Christ.  They have become dear friends to me, and the shock and pain I feel can only be a fragment of what was experienced by his loving wife Linda, his family, and the wider family of believers whose life He impacted.  Remember Sam especially in Moldova, and the rest of the team at present fulfilling the ministry they were undertaking when the tragedy happened.  Pray that God would sustain Him especially at this time, and drop him a comment of encouragement on his blog.

THE TEMPLATE GREMLIN STRIKES AGAIN

Well as you can see my template is not as it used to be, somehow I managed to completely kill my blog by changing a few links in my template, so I decided a change would do me good. So i have gone for this design, not sure how much I like it, but it will do for now. Just have to add the links again, and make sure I don't screw up the template completely again.
Dunno how I managed to do it, i'm convincedc it was the same gremlin as Justy

Quiet on the blogfront

Well as you can see things have been abit quiet on the blogfront with me, postings have been somewhat sporradic and less frequent than I have intended. I'm sure many of you guys have been the same, when work starts eating away at more of your time, and with organisations starting up again the associated meetings occur on whatever free night you have. And before you know it, one week has rolled into the next and it all begins over again. One thing I have noticed is that when I blog more regularly, its at times when i've spent more time in Gods word, thinking through things. Guess it's the difference between "skim-reading" a passage in your daily notes just so that you feel like you've it done, something ticked off your to-do list; and really meditating on Gods word and thinking through it's application for your life as you dwell on it, listening for Gods voice. So I guess i'm challenging myself in how I approach God, is it simply another thing to tick off the to-do list, or is it something I long for each day. As the psalmist says in Psalm 119 vs.14-16
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
Thank you Lord for your grace and mercy that I experience daily as I continue to fall short of your benchmark to live by that is Christ. Help me to spend more time daily meditating on your word, and to make that the priority. Help me to make time for you first and foremost in my life, and forgive me for the times I fail to do so.

Wouldnt it be great if it was like this all the time ........

Think this was the tag line of something a while back, can’t remember what, but these have been my thoughts as I reflect on ReachOut. When I consider the awesome week we shared in, watching God at work, it gave me a glimpse of what “church” should all be about. A passage that has always impacted me when I consider how church should be was one that was considered at Ballynahinch Baptist last night, and it spoke to me again. I’ve posted before on how this vision of the early church in Acts 2 42-47 represents what we should be striving for in the community of believers we refer to as “church”, yet as I look at the church as it stands today I cannot see much resemblance of this pioneer community. And this to me underlines the fallen state of man, and I am as guilty as the next in that category. I’m selfish and self-centered, at times I don’t even think twice about the needs of those around me. Yet I’ve surrendered my life to God, and I’m asking Him to change my heart daily, giving me a heart like Jesus, eyes that see the pain and suffering in the lives of those around me, and feet and hands that act out His grace and love.
I believe this generation can bring revival to these shores, if we play our part and inspire this current generation to live radical, passion filled lives for Jesus who saved them by His grace. The interesting thing in this passage in Acts is the environment which brought about the growth of the early church, and that was one of devotion. Devotion to God, his word and teaching; building relationships where honesty and accountability with fellow Christians prevailed; sharing together regularly in worship and fellowship in one another’s homes; the underlying necessity of prayer; and the community aspect of sharing and providing for those who were in need.
And that’s the vision we’ve gotta put before this generation, and I believe we captured this somewhat through the ReachOut week.
The difficulty comes when we return to the Real World situations we face every day, be that work, school, tech, whatever. But I hope that through these blogs, and the friendships that have developed through ReachOut that we can carry on some of these aspects of being a community of believers as we share in fellowhip, express honesty and accountability to one another, and most importantly pray for one another.
Anyway that’s enough of me rambling on, trust everyone is well, keep shining bright wherever you may be

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

Tracking blogs and newsfeeds

Following the recent surge in bloggers, you may be wondering what the best way of keeping track of them all is.  Well one suggestion is bloglines, which is a browser-based RSS feedtracker.  Basically it can keep track of news sites or blogs that you specify it to keep track of.  You login to it through your browser wherever you are, and it will display an outline of updates made to the blogs or news sites you specify it to track.  You can then click on the links and read the associated pages.
It supports feeds from bloger, which is handy since its what we all use for our blogs, and also tracks feeds from news sites.  Some news sites you might want to try out are the BBC, The Guardian, Belfast Telegraph, Google News, and there are hundreds more.
Give it a try and see how you find it, I find it’s real handy for me, especially in a short lunch hour, saves trawling through lots of web pages and keeps you informed and up to date

And then there were 6........

This blogging craze is really snowballing now, get in quick or your missing out!! Ally G and Callum are the latest recruits to the blogging scene, good job guys.
Lets hope we can all keep up the momentum and contiue to ride the crest of the wave that reach-out gave us all. I really believe God used ReachOut to change all our lives, bringing us closer to him, and I pray that he will use these blogs to enable us to share together our spiritual journeys, encouraging one another along the way. Anyways i'm on my lunchbreak so better shoot, hopefully record a few thoughts later if I get the chance.

And another one

Karen's the latest ReachOut leader to start up a blog, good job Kaz!! Who will be the next one to join the craze?

Another one bites the dust

The blogging craze is really taking off now, Rosi is the latest Reach Out leader to start up her own blog, drop by and check it out. Good job Ros, keep shining bright!!

Shane Lynch @ Bangor Elim

Was at Bangor Elim last night hearing Shane Lynch (formerly Boyzone) sharing his testimony. Really interesting and refreshing to hear him share in such an open and honest manner how the celebrity lifestyle wasn’t all it cracked up to, and left him ultimately in a state of depression having tried everything to find that high, being saved ultimately from the world of the occult. He didn’t go into a lot of detail of his experiences, but his conversion ultimately came about as the result of a Christian friend who stood firmly to his beliefs and “was Jesus” to him. He explained how the power of Almighty God that was now available to him was greater than any of the evil powers at work in this world, and how the joy he now experienced in Christ was greater than anything he had experienced. He is now living life to the full, having experienced the greatest love of all, and the transformation in his life is evident for all to see.
He has recently released an album, and is now touring venues throughout the UK sharing his newfound faith.
Local press gave him a good write-up as well which is nice to see

Its Taking Off

The blogging craze has taken off with my sis starting up her own blog.  Drop by and check it out, now we’re all wondering who will be next to enter the world of blogging?

Blogger for Word

This is my first post using this tool, which is an add-in for MSWord; it will hopefully make posting easier, and hopefully more regular.  Check it out if you’re a blogger and see how you find it.  Handy for me since I aint got broadband yet!!

Great to see a fellow Reach Out leader Justy has stepped into the world of blogging, check it out if you get a chance. Maybe some fellow leaders will follow the trend and set up a blog...........

REACHOUT

The past week was an awesome week where God really moved in the lives of the young people that attended and through them into the wider community. He totally blew our mind, answering our every prayer beyond anything we could have comprehended. What was merely a thought a number of months ago he nurtured, developed and grew into something that impacted many young lives and through them impacted the wider community. So what went on?
Weeklong actvities, with 40 teens attending from a couple of local churches, and many with only loose church connections. There was fun and fellowship, we grappled with the Big Questions of our faith, we served the local community in practical ways and finished the week off with a celebratory social event.
Was the community impacted through the young people - yes. The one question that we were constantly asked was why, why are you doing these things expecting nothing in returned. As we washed cars for members of the community in a local golf club, as we cleared the roads of litter, as we made and delivered hampers to elderly folk in the community we were constantly asked why. And this gave us the opportunity to share that, having experienced God's grace in our lives, we wanted to share God's love in practical ways, and this was our way of showing them that God loved them. And when you have an army of young people, full of energy and enthusiasm, then God can make great things happen in and through them.
It's our prayer that this will have been a life changing for the young people involved, and those in the community whose lives they impacted. That the seeds planted will one day reep a mighty harvest, and that a generation of young people prepared to passionately follow their Saviour no matter what the cost will rise up again. God impacted each of the leaders lives as he blew our mind with what he done through the week as we simply gave ourselves in humble service to our master, and we pray that every life touched will be impacted in equally as powerful a way

Blogs been quiet for a while, largely due to the above event that we have been running for youth in our area. More details to follow 

God’s sense of humour
We had our final pre-reach out event last night, and lets just say it was a learning experience for me, a lesson I’m somewhat slow to learn. The plan was a DVD night, namely The Incredibles, projected through a projector with the sound through an amp with speakers, giving the full on cinema effect. So I gathered together the equipment and cabling that I figured would make it happen, went down in the afternoon to set it up and test the sound, and came home having succeeded and feeling pretty good about myself that it would work.
The evening arrives, nearing 50 kids show up; we have hired out the DVD, sit them down and go to show it. Sounds booming out until the crucial point – when the characters speak, you see their mouth moving but there aren’t any words coming through. Nitemare, so I check a few cables, check a few setting’s on the DVD, still no words. Try plan B, play it through the laptop and hope for the best, still no joy. Only thing we can do as kids become more restless is go for the subtitles that worked for a while, but ultimately isn’t the same as sound. The digitally enhanced DVD needs a surround sound system to bring through the full range of sounds, and our two speakers through an amp didn’t match up.
So we had a swift change of plan, played some music while we fed them their pizza and hot-dogs, ran home for some karaoke dvd’s, and they sang their hearts out for the remainder of the night.God again taught me that it’s not in my strength that I do things for him, but through the strength and ability he gives me by his spirit. Because I had left God out of the equation, and let my quiet time’s with him falter over the past week, he used this incident to remind me that it’s Him that should have priority in my life. Its Him I’m serving with all my heart, it’s Him who gives me strength when I’m weary, and ultimately it’s Him I need to rely on for all I seek to do in His name.

Have been working on creating a website this week for our youthgroups in church, something i've been intending to do for a while. Ignite offer a great service for setting a site up for youth groups : quick and easy design, 10MB storage space and a free mailing list service meaning those who sign up can get regular mailshots and upddates to the site.
Another thing i've finally got up and running is the ability to upload photo's to the blog here thanks to hello and picasa software. I'm also trying out Googles new desktop search software which i'm well impressed by, bloglines for reading RSS feeds of my favourite sites and ONSPEED to quicken up our dial-up connection (though broadband speeds would be more favourable)

Anyway it's been quite a profitable week, alot on in the incoming weeks in preperation for REACHOUT. Heading up to New Horizon today also, which is a first for me and something i'm looking forward to alot.

The scene as I looked out my bedroom window a night last week

Re-connected
Well its been a while since I’ve been able to update the old journal, the reason being my laptop died. After over 6 week, after endless phone calls, store visits and much annoyance I’m now seated writing this entry on a replacement laptop. Long story that I’ll not dwell on now, but basically a lot of hassle, and only for Curry’s extended warranty package that we had taken out, otherwise I don’t know where I would stand.
Anyway enough of all that, what’s been going on in my life of note recently? It’s funny now that I sit here, having thought on countless occasions over the past months I must blog about that, but now I have the opportunity to blog again I can’t remember half the things I wanted to put down.
PRE Reach-Out events have been coming along nicely, had a great crowd down at a beach party when the schools broke up for the summer, and toady’s carnival was a success, if somewhat messy from reports. I wasn’t able to make it along to today’s event as I couldn’t get off work, which peeved me off bug time, but as with everything God had a lesson for me in it. He used today to remind me that it’s not about me, its all about him and what he can do through me if I’m willing. As the rain poured down last night, and I started to panic about how outdoor activities could happen with waterlogged facilities, especially if I wasn’t gonna be there, how would it all happen. Crazy thoughts as I look at it now, but God taught me valuable lessons. He reminded me that it’s Him that’s in control: of nature, of the reach-out activities, of my life ultimately. It’s what he’s doing through me by his Spirit that counts, and it’s what he has planned for the week that will prevail, all I have to do is draw close to him so that my plans are his plans.
Gracious God, thank you that you choose to use fallen sinners saved by grace to extend your kingdom here on earth. Thank you for reminding me that it’s your work that I’m a small part of, and it’s in your strength and according to your will that I can carry it out. God of creation, you alone are worthy of our praise, may I be a reflection of your love, grace and mercy during my days here on earth.

“Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like waterin the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger at the end of every street”
Lamentations 2vs.19

This was the message we sen't out at our youth service last weekend, inviting members of the congregation to commit long term to becoming a "prayer buddy" for the young people who come through the doors of our youth organisations. Its been on our hearts as leaders that this generation needs our prayers more than ever, and that God will answer the prayers of his people again and rise up a generation of passionate young Christians who will take the love of Christ back to the streets.
The service took the form of an insight into the life of a 21st century teenager, exploring youth culture today and the pressures of the world that are seeking to capture the lives of our young people. We then set out the challenge for members of the congregation to play their part in "lifting up their hands and pouring out their heart" for this generation.
In researching for this I came across some interesting, and somewhat shocking stats

• every 7 seconds someone in Britian is being bullied
• 37% of young people in Northern Ireland live below the poverty threshold
• 62% of young people studied would say they have some level of sexual experience
• 59% of 11-16 year olds would have an alcoholic drink on a weekly basis

Despite all these pressures I firmly believe God will use this generation to revive his body the church on these shores and beyond. I personally have experienced the power of prayer, and know it was the prayers of my family and commited christians in my school that saved my soul and brought me to repentance and faith in Christ from the depths of sin. And God can do likewise for the many lost prodigals who are desperately searching for meaning in life.

As Linkin Park put it :
“ I WANT TO HEAL; I WANT TO FEEL;
LIKE I’M CLOSE TO SOMETHING REAL;
I WANT TO FIND SOMETHING I’VE WANTED ALL ALONG;
SOMEWHERE I BELONG”

Young people are searching for somewhere to belong throughout this land and beyond, if only the church would hear their cry.

Its been a while

Well over a month has passed since I last blogged and recorded my thoughts on here. Seems strange coming back to it now after a lengthy break, but I just scanning through past entries I can see it’s use as I see what God’s been putting on my heart in recent months. Things recently have been pretty hectic, this past month more so than normal it seems, and a number of times my quiet times have suffered and I find that other commitments and pressures have squeezed God out to the periphery. But I’m off for a few days now, time to recharge the batteries, and more importantly spend quality time chilling out with God, re-connecting to the one whose will I have surrendered my life to.
Have been looking through the Make Poverty History material recently, looking through some of the issues with our youth groups. It’s opened my eyes afresh to God’s heart for social justice and equality for all, and how far mankind has fallen from this as the rich nations get richer and often attribute to rather than alleviate from the injustices and in-equalities that exist in the world today. Its amazing as you read back through Old Testament times, that no matter how far we have progressed technologically, the issues that separated man from God were the same then as they are today. And God still demands the same of his people today as he did in the days of the prophet Zechariah:

Zechariah 7 vs. 9-10
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widower or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other’

I’ve also been involved in planning for the summer, holding an event for young people in the area. Its something I’ve had a desire to do for a while now, and it was awesome to find out that it’s something God has been placing on the hearts of a number of others. After much prayer, and a couple of meetings later we now have an idea of where we feel God is directing us with it. Reach Out is gonna be a week-long mission/gathering of teenagers from our community and the surrounding area. The idea is to provide an environment where young people are presented with a faith that’s real, that reaches beyond the 4 walls of a church, and that is expressed in service and showing Christ’s love in practical ways. They will be involved in servant-hearted, community based projects, breaking down generational and social barriers as they show Christ’s love to the community in practical ways. This will be supplemented with fun activities, outings and sessions that deal with the Big Questions of Life in a culturally relevant format.

STREETREACH

Was at the Touchdown service on Sunday past, it's a Down Presbytery youth event that moves round different churches in the area held every couple of months. Was a really encouraging service, challenging message from Gods word, and re-iterating many of the thoughts and feelings I have been having recently. The main crux of the evening focussed in on Streetreach, the follow up event of Summer Madness, and basically informed us of the its vision, and challenged the young people to get involved. It basically aims to take the love of Christ onto the streets of Belfast, enabling young people to get involved in practical servant-hearted evangelism in their local communities.
Its vision focusses on the words of Paul in Galatians 5 vs. 6 that ""The only thing that matters is faith expressed through love."
As youth leaders we meet this Wednesday night to prayerfully consider the possibilities of running a youth mission over the summer months. Something thats been on my heart recently is the whole servant-hearted approach to mission, and something along the lines of practical community service, expressing the love of Christ to the community in Boardmills through the hands and feet of our young people is I feel something to give prayerful consideration

When the world closed its eyes, he opened his arms.

This is the tagline to the film Hotel Rwanda that I went to see on Wednesday night, the most compelling film I have seen in quite a while. It was one of those films where after the final credits had been shown, everyone in the cinema remained in their seats, numbed from the story they has just watched, not really knowing what to say or do.
Reflecting now on the film i'm still gripped by many of the same emotions of shame and disgust at the attitudes of the affluent west (and I include myself in this), as we sit by and allowed this mass genocide massacre to happen without really giving it a fleeting thought.
This film focusses on the story of one man Paul Rusesabagina, who turned the hotel he managed into a sanctuary to save over 1,000 Tutsi's from the genocide against their people. Similarities and parallels struck me throughout of the Good Samaritan passage in the bible, and the compassion shown by Christ in his life and ministry. It also underlined for me the sheer depravity of mankind in war-like situations to massacre thousands of people simply because they were of a different religious/political/ethnic/social/racial background.
This film underlined for me the difference between compassion and pity - pity is feeling sorry for hurting people in their time of need, compassion is actually doing something constructive to help alleviate their pain and suffering in whatever form that may take.
Theres an interesting article in The Guardian this week reminding us of the current attrocities in Darfur which are verging on genocide extremes.

24 today : another year older, another year wiser, getting to that stage of life where you should be settling down, starting a family and all that scary stuff.
To be honest it's a day just the same as any other - work as usual, youth leaders meeting tonight, nothing out of the ordinary.
Had a look at this site to see who I share a birthday with, and what items of interest occured on this day throughout history. The conclusion - well not a lot really. But for me it signifies the passing of another year in my life : yesterday i was 23, today i'm 24.
And as I sit and reflect on my life thus far, praise God I can see how his hand has been in it through the years, and will be for its duration. I can see the words of the apostle Paul ring true in my life that "in everything God works for the good of those who love him." Romans 8vs.28. What an assuring thought, what an awesome promise from a loving father, what a fantastic message to take into my 24th year

Some stats worth thinking about :

• The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world's countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined.
• 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the worlds goods.

Just a couple of stats that struck home with me, for more check out this link.

How do we as Christians react to these injustices in the world, what is our response : do we even care as we sit in the luxuries of western civilisation?

Working through Frustrations

This past week has been an interesting one, lots on as always, but a week where I found myself really struggling with issues regarding church, and as a result struggling to connect with God. Church are always interesting places, and this past week has been fun from what i've heard from a number of people. It all stems from the realm of worship, more specifically how we do it on a practical level ( church choir, organist etc. etc.). I wasn't at the meeting myself because I don't see worship as my role in the church, but it seems to be adversely affecting the work we are doing with the youth. This is my main point of struggle : how do we overcome the obstacles and barriers placed in our way in engaging our youth within the formal body we call church. All-age, inter-generational, corporate family based worship : how does that look and work.
I feel sometimes that no matter what we do with the youth, engaging with them on a relational basis, sharing the love of Christ with them in a practical and relevant format : if we cannot bridge the divide that brings them into the corporate body we call church, then where does that leave us.........
As I have struggled through things in my head, chatting through it with friends and family, I find myself coming to the only place I know will be of help, and thats to my knees crying out to my Heavenly Father who knows exactly how these issues that seem like obstacles to me can be smoothed out and overcome.

Resourced Out
Well in my last post I was heading off to the Christian resources exhibition at the Kings Hall, and overall I would say it was a beneficial experience. Came home from it laden down with information and sample resources from a number of organisations involved in a wide range of fields. Some people doing really cool stuff, some of it not my thing, but amazing to see how God is working through so many people and reaching so many lives in a number of different ways.

A few things that have been catching my eye lately while surfing around the web :

The Make Poverty History campaign http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/home.html is a great opportunity to highlight poverty and trade justice issues on a global level, seeking to influence governments to act now on world poverty. As christians we should be concerned deeply about the world we live in, and the many injustices that exist in it, why? Because God cares, so we should also. We are to be his voice, his hands, his feet into all the world, so let's start being that!!

A number of sites have further info on all this stuff including :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/hearafrica05/
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/
http://www.tearfund.org/Campaigning/
http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/campaign/mph/index.htm

Tonight i'm heading to the following event: http://www.creonline.co.uk/frameset.asp?show=northernireland, i'm sure i'll write about it after

And yet again I find another month has passed, and the intention of journaling on a regular basis has fallen by the wayside. Have thought about updating this on a number of occasions over the last month, but never really got round to it until now. So why now....... Well I guess i've come to realise it's importance in my spiritual journey, it's a means of recording what God's been placing on my heart since this journey began, so I guess i'm coming back afresh with the intention to journal more regularly once again. I'm sure it'll fall by the wayside again as different things eat into my time, but my intention now is to keep it regular.
So whats been happening in life recently, well pretty much the same stuff as always that has been the routine of life recently. Work, youthwork at church in its various forms, spending time with Helen and football(training and matches). On the spiritual side it's been abit of a rollercoaster-ride recently, some high's, some low's and plenty of bumps along the way. It's when you get close to God that Satan attacks you with the same temptations he knows you'll give in to, and brings you right down again, wedging the gulf between you and God with some form of sin.
So where do I go from here, well there's only one place I know, and thats back to the throne of grace to plead forgiveness, prayerfully crying out to God to empower me to resist the Devils temptations, and grow ever closer to Him.
On the youthwork front i've still a burning desire to reach out to the young people in our community and tell them of the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ, especially those on the fringes and outside of the body of the church. So often all I can see are barrier's and obstacles along the way, but that's because i'm looking at things from down here. It's only when I see things from God's perspective, the almighty creator of heaven and earth, that the obstacles and barriers fall into insignificance, and his perfect plan is revealed.
So my prayer is that I would feel the very heartbeat of God, that I would be directed along the path that He has laid out before me, that He would be my strength in times of weakness, placing Him at the centre of everything I do.

Get Informed
With the advance in worldwide communications, the "global village" of which we are a part has never been more accessible. The worldwide web, and numerous other technological advances, have brought the world to our living rooms. As Christians this presents numerous benefits if used wisely, and should inform and enthuse us into action about the injustices that exist in the world that we live in. No longer should we have the attitude that we "keep our own house right" and thats all we need to do. We need to be God's hands, feet and voice in whatever situations God is placing on our hearts regarding the state of the world we inhabit. We now have the ability to get informed specifically about situations throughout the world, and as a result pray and give specifically to causes worldwide. So get informed and get active !!

RELATIONSHIPS MATTER

This should be the soul aim of our lives, and everything else will fall into place. God has created us in His image, and he has created us to be in relationship with him. That’s what life’s all about, and that’s the only way we’ll find fulfillment in life. If our relationship with God is healthy then our relationships with others (friends, family, loved ones) are healthy also. The reverse is true also of course, and if we let our relationship with God suffer, relationships with those around us suffer also.
Relationships are an integral part of our lives, and maintaining good relationships is a big part of our daily lives. Indeed as we look at creation, God created mankind to be in close relationship with fellow man, and indeed with God himself. And until sin entered the world, relationships with God and fellow man existed in perfect harmony. But since man’s fall into sin, the breakdown of these relationships has been a big part of the fall of mankind.
So then, following Jesus example, surely a major part of our lives today as Christians should be that of developing, maintaining and restoring relationships with fellow mankind. This may take many forms : reaching out in love, offering the hand of friendship or forgiveness, helping brothers in their time of need. Often this will involve laying aside self in order to put others first, and this is where the difficulty comes. But in Jesus Christ we have the perfect role model, and as we see the priority He gave to maintaining His relationship with God the Father, and how that transpired into His boundary-breaking relationships with fellow man, that should show us how to go about it today.Heavenly Father, help me to remain close to you and to cut out the sin that breaks and separates my closeness to you. Help me to develop characteristics that will enable me to be like Christ in the relationships I have in this life. In the busyness and whirlwind pace of life, enable me to keep you at the center, making my relationship to you that I entered by the blood of your Son, and seek to maintain by your Spirit, the priority of my life. And by this I pray that the relationships I have with others daily would develop and deepen as I grow closer to you.