they become who we treat them as

Just a random thought bouncing around in my mind at the moment, so I thought I would distil it down into this blog.

In my relationship with my wife, I have been often challenged in the way I treat her. Sometimes I can be over-bearing, controlling and manipulative, but then (in my limited understanding) I am shocked to see her disempowered and unable to make decisions and to lead in certain areas! Now this is not a large scale change in her character, but it started off with small things. I needed to, and slowly have, realised what a negative affect my reactions where having on my wife, and that I need to stop that.

In a similar way I remember growing up in South Africa, just a few years after we came out of Apartheid, and some white South Africans would remark how they felt that many black South Africans were barbaric and primitive. What I failed to realise at that time, was whilst that might have been true for some, that was largely due to the fact that they were treated in that way for decades... I liken it to the film Planet of the Apes. How can you stop yourself from becoming wild and barbaric, if you are nearly disregarded as a human being.

Our responsibility is to empower those around to grow, to reach their full potential, to become whom God intended them to be...

'Jesus Is ____' music project

Just purchased the album on iTunes - I love it, incredibly powerful. Just hearing the truth of God's word spoken, whilst listening to emotive music... cuts straight into ones soul, and allows the truth to nestle itself in there. Check it out!

School of Generosity #1

On Saturday 12th January I attended the first class of  'School of Generosity' at City Church, Kirkland. Below are a few of the key points I felt hit my mentally and spiritually.

People generally fall into 3 categories:

1. Majority are drifters... not knowing who we are, where we are going - life being becomes survival.
2. Smaller group are go-getters.... work heard, accumulate great wealth, only to realise that they have missed it all
3. Minority actually discover who they are, what their purpose is, and live that out in a life of love, significance and leaves them fully satisfied.

(at this point I was thinking... hmm, I relate with the first 2 categories more than the last 1... but that is what I want)

The speaker went on to do talk about how God promises to be with us, to provide life in abundance  to provide for our daily needs. Deuteronomy 28: 1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God. (on a side note, I believe that God blesses us beyond purely material blessing - therefore we cannot measure God's goodness by our material blessing - as that is not of eternal significance!)

The second speaker had a few great points:

1. He referenced the quote from the film 'Chariots of Fire', where the main character says "God made me fast, and when I run I feel his pleasure". Stepping into who we are made to be surely must give God great pleasure - just as I guess an earthly parent would feel great satisfaction seeing their child reach their full potential (which could be completely different to their other children!).
2. Do I live as royalty? Living as sons and daughters of Christ the King! Not arrogantly, but humbly, stewarding the blessing, but also being confident in coming to Father as his children.
3. Are we contagiously generous? We give, but ultimately everything we have came from him and is his...   On a personal side note, in Proverbs 19:17 it says "He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD" - and I believe the Lord's interest rates are ridiculous..

So why don't I give to him more? Probably out of fear that he won't give back, that it put me out and cause issues in the future... that is what I now need to work, but I am thankful that he is speaking to me, and giving me peace about it... know that I don't have to worry, as it is all his.

Who do we tell our children they should be?

Recently as I was scanning through a few videos on TED.com, I came across the following talk by Colin Stokes about the messaging of gender roles within films.

http://www.ted.com/talks/colin_stokes_how_movies_teach_manhood.html

Whilst I am not sure about the way he finished the talk, I feel the key message about what roles we seem to be telling our boys and girls is a big challenge. He said that generally the message is that the man needs to be strong, a warrior, and fight, and then take his prize - a beautiful women. The women normally have a support, background role, not carrying anything of significance. I think both are sad, as they do not seem to provide direction as to what significance their lives can play, and how they could go about it - guys don't need to aggressively fight to get the prize, and girls don't need to subject themselves to men's raw desires and wants.

I think for me, whilst I do not have kids yet, it is a challenge for me for the future, as to what will I allow to influence my kids and their thoughts about themselves and their siblings, and even those around... as we are all truly significant.

2012... and hope for 2013

What an amazing past year I have had. A year of growth, risks and blessing, all made possible by God's absolute grace and generosity. I am so thankful that I have my best friend and amazing wife with me on this journey. We have moved continents and set up a new lives; we enjoyed multiple holidays around the world, alone, with friends, with family and with thousands of others; we grew personal and as a couple, and our marriage has deepened.

Now not all of 2012 was rosy, but I can see God's provision in it all. When I was obedient enough to follow God's promptings (which is not all the time), he was faithful and blessed me, although not always in ways I expected. With a growing physical distance between and my amazing family, I need to learn how to navigate super-long distance relationships with my loved ones - grateful for Skype and other amazing tools. Saying good bye to friends in the UK was also incredibly difficult as well, but I leave in the knowledge that their eternal future is rock solid.

So as we look into 2013, I am excited, because looking back at 2012 and the road God has led us down, I cannot even imagine what 2013 may hold for us. It is a year of uncertainty, a year of opportunity, a year of hope. There are a number of things I wish to do during the year - to read at least 10 books, to go jogging more with my wife, to learn a new language, to travel (maybe Hawaii, Alaska, Australia?), to embed ourselves in a good community here, to develop my business skills within my new company... to live, to laugh, to love, to grow and to cherish the little things.

So with that, I wish you dear reader, a blessed 2013.

Preach : "Who do you say I am" : 13-Jan

A cracking sermon last Sunday about what role does God have in our life, and how do we view him. The core point was that if we aren't fully absorbed by the glory, splendour, provision, faithfulness of him, we will be distracted by things of this world, be discouraged by circumstances around us, and be unclear of our future, our purpose in this world... but if we see things through Jesus eyes, eyes which do not grow old (as he is outside of time) then we will always have a fresh and hopeful perspective, we will understand who he is, and who we are... what our role, purpose and destiny is within this world.

Who do you say Jesus is?

Detailed Notes... Norm Willis, Christ Church Kirkland
- Mark 8:27-30. How have we positioned Christ in our life? It benefits us first eternally before practically. "Who do you say I am?" ~ Jesus.
- We are on our way somewhere, where he encounters us. He cause us to ask questions of him, removing focus on ourselves. Answers do not always position us for breakthrough - when answers are withheld we look harder.
- Man first reduces Jesus before he rejects him. John 1:29-33 - John did not recognise him because he had reduced Jesus. - We need to watch for anything which takes Him out the place where He is the all consuming. "to live is Christ", "Christ in me, the hope of glory" ~ Apostle Paul. When our pursuit of Jesus is random, he has been reduced to an add on.
- If Jesus is not defined correctly, everything suffers... If Jesus is off, life is off. John 1:1
- Jesus is before everything, so he is ready with provision before circumstance. The more we see through his eyes, the younger our mind and perspectives remain, because he is outside of time and always sees things in a fresh way. Revelation 4:1. He is the God of new beginnings
- Jesus is the right to become - John 1:2. He has authority to begin and capacity to complete. Phillipians 1:6. Jesus is the focus of all pursuits - John 1:43
- Do we seek to worship Jesus but do not intend to fully follow him? Do we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him? - Life works when we are on the cross and he is on the throne. John 12:20-28 - the Greeks possibly wanted to offer a way to live. Do we live in a reality that our lives are not our own? Living in the abundance in seeking the kingdom.

Poem : Invisible Fury

This was a poem I wrote whilst still at High School. It is about some of the vicious storms we during the winters.

Across the ocean expanse

Over the hills it came running

With feet of a thousand feathers

It never stopped coming

Men erected stone barricades

Intending to cease its terrible flow

Although men were thinking and planning

Little did they really know

The plan was simple

The trap was set

And then came the final onslaught

But men didn’t know, for stealthily had it crept

It hit the barricades

But did not cease

Down came all in its path

And on and on raged the beast

Men tried to flee its terrible fury

Some wondered how long it would last

When all at once

It cleared and the storm had passed

Preach : RSVP : 30-Dec

I loved the preach I heard at City Church at the end of December, which was coupled by a powerful personal testimony of Joanne's decision to turn away from a lifestyle of drugs, and be welcomed into a new lifestyle with Jesus leading her on. She had 2 key points, as follows.

1. Who is on your invitation? Who will only attend the banquet in Heaven if you reach out to them and invite them? (now lets not get distracted by the fact that no one can convert people, it is a personal decision... but the point is that God called us to partner with him - as in the great commision - to go to the ends of the earth and to simply bear witness and testify to his greatness). Am I bearing witness, shining light, so that those who need to hear the good news do?
2. My personal story, of good and bad decisions, is ultimately a testimony for others, which will liberate them from their similar circumstances... Jesus leads us out of the place we are stuck in, so we can in turn lead others out of the place they are stuck in... My story is someone else's liberty.

Further bullet notes here...
Joanne Ramos (sp?), City Church (http://thecity.org/)
- "only thing which allows evil to remain is if good people do nothing"
- Matthew 22:1-14
- Whom am I going to bring to the banquet? Who is on my invitation?
- God meets us at our excuse : Moses ( Exodus 3:1-2 ) ; Joshua ( Joshua 4 )
- God leads you out of the place you are, so that you can lead people out of the place they are.
- Your story is someone else's liberty.

Choices : part 2

I felt it necessary to review what had happened since my previous "Choices" post in mid-December. What transpired since the previous post was that one of the two choices closed out - thankfully God confirmed it both in my heart and in the company considering hiring me. However as that second option closed, another second option opened. Both the options on the table were great offers with exciting prospects - they both were fully aligned with what I had been seeking God about... and in that time I realised God was asking me to make a choice, a choice he would honour, but he wanted to partner with me in my life. However let me be clear, I don't believe God sits back and allows me to make bad decisions, those which destroy and damage, rather he speaks life and destiny over us, wanting us to step into the path he has destined for us, the one which will truly satisfy - and in that we can we even make choices. So I realise I need to come to him with the desires of my heart, but also allow him to renew and purify my heart so that it will be like his, then I will ask according to his will. It is so much easier said than done - that is why I guess it is a daily decision. What will I choose tomorrow?

Sandy Hook

What can you say about tragedy occuring around the world - specifically acts of ultimately deamonic violence against innocent people... Nazi campaigns against jews, Rwandan genocide against the tutsi's, and gun related massacres in the US (to name but a few).

To me what is sad is to say that the loss of life is due to God's wrath because of peoples sin - and unfortunately this was said about Sandy Hook... For me this statement, regardless of who made it, looks to entirely remove the redemptive powers of Jesus and what happened on the cross. The statement that God is angry and is therefore punishing us, seems to me to be contradictory to what it says in the bible about Jesus taking God's entire wrath on the cross, for our past present and future sins. So for me the whole statement is not only sad because it makes God look angry and willing to sacrifice kids to prove a point, but it also removes the power of the cross! I did find this blog by a local pastor to be a greater indepth study about around the discussion, and something which connected much more with my spirit.
http://johnpavlovitz.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/mike-huckabee-james-dobson-and-a-pastors-apology/

In closing, I cannot look into the situation and begin to even try understand what it is like for those who have been affected by this terribly tragedy. All that I can do for is hope and pray that Jesus love and grace continues to pour down open them, and the rest of the world, restoring hearts to him for eternity.

Preach : 16 Dec : God Bless You

Just looking back over a sermon by pastor Norm Willis. I loved a number of his points, specifically that before God commissioned us with responsibility, he awakened us with blessing. That is the heart of the father, to bless us, even though the process of that blessing might not look like the way we expect it... I hope you are richly blessed, dear reader.

Key sermon points below...

Christ Church Kirkland, Norm Willis
- "God bless you"
- power of life and death in our words.
- How does God bless? Is it through our possessions our what has possessed us?
- Even before man was commissioned with responsibility, he was awakened by blessing.
- Blessing is the intent of God in his actions.
- Responsibility is a blessing he bestows upon us.
    1. Makarizo. To be indwelt by God.
    2. Eulog. to be spoken well of.
- Jesus comes to indwell, not to just approve our plans, but to interfere with our personal [fleshly] plans.

Preach : 9-Dec

I loved the sermon Marcy shared about Christ's strength in our weakness... and why Paul writes that in his 'weakness', and with his spiritual union with Christ, who is fully sufficient, therefore he (Paul) is actually 'strong' (but again not strong by himself, but when partnered in mind, body and spirit with Christ). The final point I loved was that grace would always supercede any economy, including that of works and results.

Below are the key points I shot down if you would like to read...

Marcy Willis, Christ Church Kirkland
- In my weakness, God is sufficient and I am strong.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
- His power is active and visible in my weakness.
- "How suffering sets you free".
- Works, protection, winning vs. Suffering, sacrifice, losing...
- Grace will always topple the economy of works and results.
- Colossians 3:4... focus on him not our lack... Run to him! New heart and mind.
- Galatians 2:20-21...
- Philipians 4 - live is to die, and die is to gain
- Romans 6:6-8
- 1 Corinthians 1:18