The new teaser for the One Conference. Well done, Fred!
13 September 2007
22 May 2007
Christian 1 or Christian 2?
An article for the Hope Revolution website.
Have you ever gone without food for a long time? Maybe you’ve fasted for a charity, forgotten your lunchbox, or just run out of money on a long trip. Something happens when people get hungry. They change. Lack of water does the same thing. We get dizzy, see mirages, and go crazy with thirst.
That’s how God wants us to be with Him! That’s what the Bible means when it talks about heart, soul, mind and strength. God wants us desperate. Passionate! The Scriptures are full of people who loved God that way. Abraham with his son, David with his harp, Daniel in his den, and so many more. All there to remind us to give God 100% and be passionate in loving Him.
But is that it? Are we just called to love God and give Him everything? YES! ...and NO! The greatest commandment says that loving God is our no.1 priority, but it goes on to say that’s only half the story. Matthew 22 speaks of ”loving our neighbours as we love ourselves.”
Confession time. Have you ever been bored in church? Ever found it hard to lift your hands in worship, or dozed off whilst reading the Bible? Many times in my own Christian walk, I’ve found that I’ve gotten so used to going through the motions, that I haven’t been desperate for God. I haven’t been loving Him with my heart and soul. The thing is that nearly every time, when I stop and think, it hasn’t been the quality of the teaching on Sundays that’s the problem. Not even my old Bible translation or the dreary worship team at church. It’s me. It’s when I stop giving out, and get so clogged up that I can’t receive anything from God. I sincerely believe that there’s a point in our Christian walk where we’ve seen and heard so much, that it’s like we don’t have room for any more.
We can all go through phases like that, but the sad thing is that some of us get stuck. I call these ”Just-me-and-God-Christians”. They know the rules, attend the meetings, pray the prayers, sing the songs, and learn the liturgy. But after a while, they get so full they start saying stuff like ”I’ve heard all that before”, ”Youth group’s boring”, and ”I don’t need to go to church”.
Matthew 10:8 says we’ve received freely and that we need to give freely. When we start loving our neighbour and giving out, we create a space on the inside and suddenly find ourselves hungry again. I call these believers ”Me-God-and-someone-else-Christians”. These guys have realised they can’t keep it all to themselves.
Everything God gives you is for you, sure, but it’s also for someone else. Everything He does in your life can be shared with the people around you. Don’t settle for being a “Just-me-and-God-Christian”. Sit with that loner on the bus tomorrow. Stand up for the girl in college everyone’s been bullying for so long. Send someone a text, give your classmates a Bible, or start an outreaching CU in your school. Whatever you do, always have someone you’re giving to. You may not be able to help everyone, but you can always help someone.
Have you ever gone without food for a long time? Maybe you’ve fasted for a charity, forgotten your lunchbox, or just run out of money on a long trip. Something happens when people get hungry. They change. Lack of water does the same thing. We get dizzy, see mirages, and go crazy with thirst.
That’s how God wants us to be with Him! That’s what the Bible means when it talks about heart, soul, mind and strength. God wants us desperate. Passionate! The Scriptures are full of people who loved God that way. Abraham with his son, David with his harp, Daniel in his den, and so many more. All there to remind us to give God 100% and be passionate in loving Him.
But is that it? Are we just called to love God and give Him everything? YES! ...and NO! The greatest commandment says that loving God is our no.1 priority, but it goes on to say that’s only half the story. Matthew 22 speaks of ”loving our neighbours as we love ourselves.”
Confession time. Have you ever been bored in church? Ever found it hard to lift your hands in worship, or dozed off whilst reading the Bible? Many times in my own Christian walk, I’ve found that I’ve gotten so used to going through the motions, that I haven’t been desperate for God. I haven’t been loving Him with my heart and soul. The thing is that nearly every time, when I stop and think, it hasn’t been the quality of the teaching on Sundays that’s the problem. Not even my old Bible translation or the dreary worship team at church. It’s me. It’s when I stop giving out, and get so clogged up that I can’t receive anything from God. I sincerely believe that there’s a point in our Christian walk where we’ve seen and heard so much, that it’s like we don’t have room for any more.
We can all go through phases like that, but the sad thing is that some of us get stuck. I call these ”Just-me-and-God-Christians”. They know the rules, attend the meetings, pray the prayers, sing the songs, and learn the liturgy. But after a while, they get so full they start saying stuff like ”I’ve heard all that before”, ”Youth group’s boring”, and ”I don’t need to go to church”.
Matthew 10:8 says we’ve received freely and that we need to give freely. When we start loving our neighbour and giving out, we create a space on the inside and suddenly find ourselves hungry again. I call these believers ”Me-God-and-someone-else-Christians”. These guys have realised they can’t keep it all to themselves.
Everything God gives you is for you, sure, but it’s also for someone else. Everything He does in your life can be shared with the people around you. Don’t settle for being a “Just-me-and-God-Christian”. Sit with that loner on the bus tomorrow. Stand up for the girl in college everyone’s been bullying for so long. Send someone a text, give your classmates a Bible, or start an outreaching CU in your school. Whatever you do, always have someone you’re giving to. You may not be able to help everyone, but you can always help someone.
23 April 2007
14 October 2006
NGUK on CrossRhythms
Recently Justin managed to swing an interview with the guys at CrossRhythms as well as getting the 2 of us on their radio show for about 20 minutes to plug our On the Road tour. Not bad for our 2nd month in the country. Read the interview
10 October 2006
Temple
An article for One Magazine.
Thesedays the word temple doesn't really pop up that often, and when it does we probably think of ancient places of worship in the Far East or a tourist attraction we've seen on the Travel Channel. But the Bible speaks about temples over and over again and, back in the day, the temple was “the place where God lived”, where people could come to get hold of Him. A big, visible reminder that God wanted to make Himself available to His people, and make sure everyone knew where to find Him.
In modern terms you could liken the temple to a mall, a supermarket or a fast-food joint. Each of them visible with their neon signs and billboards, all claiming to have what you need to make you happy. Whether it be the golden arches with their promise of a quick burger or a Happy Meal, a Nike ad subtly suggesting that their latest high-tops are all you need to make that dunk, or another smooth iPod commercial wooing you into the world of digital downloads. All of them with something on offer. All of them visible. All of them available.
Ask any young European today if they know where they can get a fast-food fix, find a packet of cigarettes or buy a new pair of Chuck Taylors, and they'll point you in the right direction. But try getting them to give you directions to the nearest church or asking if they know where to find Jesus and the percentages drop. Thanks to media and technology we have pretty much everything at our fingertips, yet God appears to be less and less visible. Less and less prominent. Less and less available.
Recent surveys say that over 80% of European teenagers are interested in topics regarding religion and faith. Read that again! Over 80%! That means that young people today are out looking for something, and there’s more on the market to choose from than ever before. In the meantime, we Christians seem to be suffering from acute invisibility!
Corinthians tells us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. That means mobile, modern-day venues where God can dwell. Living neon signs displaying God's name. Walking, talking billboards making God available to our generation in our schools, universities and workplaces. Every young person standing up for Jesus in their class is like a 21st-century temple. A point-of-contact between heaven and earth. When John from Weston-super-Mare put up that poster of himself with the words ”I’m a Christian, ask me why!” in his college, he turned himself into a contact-point. When Lina from London stood up at assembly and announced that she was a Christian, or when those girls from Nottingham put up hearts with Christian messages on them on Valentine’s Day, God didn’t just see a poster, a trembling girl, and red pieces of cardboard…God saw temples!
By deciding to be visible you can join together with thousands of other young people across Europe who are giving Jesus the chance to reach a generation that He’s longing to touch. You can be the point-of-contact in your world, and show your friends where to find God. You can help make God visible again.
Thesedays the word temple doesn't really pop up that often, and when it does we probably think of ancient places of worship in the Far East or a tourist attraction we've seen on the Travel Channel. But the Bible speaks about temples over and over again and, back in the day, the temple was “the place where God lived”, where people could come to get hold of Him. A big, visible reminder that God wanted to make Himself available to His people, and make sure everyone knew where to find Him.In modern terms you could liken the temple to a mall, a supermarket or a fast-food joint. Each of them visible with their neon signs and billboards, all claiming to have what you need to make you happy. Whether it be the golden arches with their promise of a quick burger or a Happy Meal, a Nike ad subtly suggesting that their latest high-tops are all you need to make that dunk, or another smooth iPod commercial wooing you into the world of digital downloads. All of them with something on offer. All of them visible. All of them available.
Ask any young European today if they know where they can get a fast-food fix, find a packet of cigarettes or buy a new pair of Chuck Taylors, and they'll point you in the right direction. But try getting them to give you directions to the nearest church or asking if they know where to find Jesus and the percentages drop. Thanks to media and technology we have pretty much everything at our fingertips, yet God appears to be less and less visible. Less and less prominent. Less and less available.
Recent surveys say that over 80% of European teenagers are interested in topics regarding religion and faith. Read that again! Over 80%! That means that young people today are out looking for something, and there’s more on the market to choose from than ever before. In the meantime, we Christians seem to be suffering from acute invisibility!
Corinthians tells us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. That means mobile, modern-day venues where God can dwell. Living neon signs displaying God's name. Walking, talking billboards making God available to our generation in our schools, universities and workplaces. Every young person standing up for Jesus in their class is like a 21st-century temple. A point-of-contact between heaven and earth. When John from Weston-super-Mare put up that poster of himself with the words ”I’m a Christian, ask me why!” in his college, he turned himself into a contact-point. When Lina from London stood up at assembly and announced that she was a Christian, or when those girls from Nottingham put up hearts with Christian messages on them on Valentine’s Day, God didn’t just see a poster, a trembling girl, and red pieces of cardboard…God saw temples!By deciding to be visible you can join together with thousands of other young people across Europe who are giving Jesus the chance to reach a generation that He’s longing to touch. You can be the point-of-contact in your world, and show your friends where to find God. You can help make God visible again.
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