Faith like Blackberries

Watched the movie "Faith like Potatoes" a little while back. Worth watching.

It's been a while since I blogged, but have been picking blackberries over the last few days. The Lord spoke to me through it.

We have had a huge crop of blackberries this year.

I really cannot remember having many, if any, over the years we have lived here.

All of a sudden this year the bushes have been laden.

Not sure why, but we are making the most of it

Used to hate picking them when I was young, but love doing it now.

I continue to pray that the Lord would reach into people's lives here in Cape Breton.

As yet I have seen no real evidence of people coming to the Lord.

Woke up last night and the thought came to me that it's just like the blackberries.

I had seen little or no blackberries over the years we have lived here,

then for no apparent reason, this year a bumper crop.

Is this a sign from God?

For years no harvest then for no apparent reason huge numbers of people crying out to God.

I pray that is the case.

Funny thing, when you are picking from one branch,

all of a sudden you see another branch with a huge number of berries on it which you hadn't seen before.

I wonder how many of our neighbours are searching for hope in their lives and as yet we don't see them?

Lord focus my eyes!

The Bible tells us that "the fields are white with harvest, but the workers are few".

We could have done with help picking the blackberries.

Will we need many more harvesters here in Cape Breton?

God Bless your day!

Seeker sensitive and tolerant?

I wonder whether we try to make the Gospel so "seeker sensitive"

that it loses all it's power?

We try to sugar coat it!

I wonder whether we try to be so "tolerant"

that the Gospel loses all it's power

What did Jesus say?

'I am the way the truth and the life.

No one can come to the Father except through me" John 14:6

What was that?

There is no other way to get to God than through Jesus.

Doesn't sound very tolerant

Sometimes the truth is blunt

Sometimes God is blunt.


“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble,

a rock that makes them fall.

But anyone who trusts in him

will never be disgraced.” Romans 9:33

“He is the stone that makes people stumble,

the rock that makes them fall.

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word,

and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.1 Peter 2:8

If people aren't initially offended by the Gospel, then is it really the Gospel?

As I've said before, "just a thought"!

What's going on with the world?

What's going on with the world?

It's been a while since I wrote on my blog

Only do it if the Lord gives me something to say

You certainly don't want to hear from me.

My son wrote this on his facebook profile

Does anyone else get the feeling that the world is falling apart?

Over the last few months I've been wondering what's going on too

Since the beginning of the year

12th January a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti

27th February a magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile

14th April a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in China

With all the tragic loss of life

This week a volcano erupts in Iceland

Air flight across the Atlantic and across Europe grinds to a halt

Makes you think

Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”

Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.

And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately.

Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.

But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

Matthew 24

I'm not going to get into a discussion as to whether we are approaching the end times and the return of Christ because no one knows

But it makes me think

What about you?

Watch this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRi4VwcrYmA

Brutal Honesty

Prayer - brutal honesty with God! (Rob Bell)

I've had people say to me

"To be brutally honest with you....."

You know what.....that is brutal

It might be honest,

but it's definitely brutal

The only person we can and should be brutally honest with?

God

He's the only one who is big enough to take it

God's into contruction

How often have we heard, "God's not doing much"?

As if the Lord is doing very little

"This is what the Lord....says:

The people are saying,

'The time is not yet come to build the house of the Lord'.

Then the Lord sent this message....

NOW GO UP INTO THE HILLS,

BRING DOWN TIMBER,

AND REBUILD MY HOUSE.

Then I will take pleasure in it

and be honoured, says the Lord" Haggai 1

I was woken up last week and led to read the book of Haggai

Is the Lord starting to move in our communities?

We're not talking about building a physical structure,

But a spiritual one

Is He stirring people?

Is He stirring His people?

Is He causing us to seek Him?

Is He causing you to seek Him?

Is He causing me to seek Him?

Never thought about God before?

Something is going on!

Seeking God

I wonder if there are two different levels of seeing God work?

We pray for our friends to find Christ

Which is good

Every now and then someone comes to know Jesus

We're excited for that person

Then there is another level

We seek God and Him alone

The Holy Spirit moves in such a way that whole communities

Under their awareness of sin, turn to Jesus

Every facet of society is changed

Lord I seek You!

God the Father loves me!!

The Father's song

The Father's love

You've sung it over me

And for eternity it's written on my heart!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrHl4cjhyFE

Who I am in Christ!

I am complete in Him Who is the Head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10).

Quite the Chistmas present!

"For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you.

He is a mighty saviour.

He will rejoice over you with great gladness.

With his love, he will calm all your fears.

He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

Zeph 3



He will exult over you by singing a happy song!

Over me?

What have I done to deserve that?

Absolutely nothing!

Even so

The God of the universe

Exults over me by singing a happy song!


Have a blessed Christmas.

Fearful?

"For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you.

He is a mighty saviour.

He will rejoice over you with great gladness.

With his love, he will calm all your fears.

He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

Zeph 3


Fear is a scary thing (you don't say?)

Fear can eat at me

Fear can paralyse me

Fear can engulf me

Fear can cripple me


"With his love, he will calm all your fears"

Not just some of my fears

All of them

"...perfect love expels all fear" 1 John 4v18

Not some fear

All fear

Jesus = Perfect Love

Fearful! I need to go to Jesus!

Me?

"He will rejoice over you with great gladness."

The Lord rejoices over me!

With great gladness!

No matter what my self image is!

No matter what other people think!

I praise You!

Messed up and no place to go

"For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you.

He is a mighty saviour.

He will rejoice over you with great gladness.

With his love, he will calm all your fears.

He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

Zeph 3

"He is a mighty Saviour"

I need to get my life cleaned up a bit before I can go to Jesus

He wouldn't want to have anything to do with me at the moment, would He?

When I'm like this?

When I have these feelings about so and so?

When I have these feelings about myself?

No one else has the thoughts I have?

Especially no christian?

They only think good thoughts

They only think good things about people

They don't do what I do

Don't fool yourself

We're all as messed up as each other

That's why Jesus came

He's not just a Saviour

He's a mighty Saviour

Come to think

All the people He had anything to do with when He was down here were messed up

Maybe knowing I'm messed up is why Jesus wants to hangout with me?

No one else would want to if they knew what I was like

Jesus does!

God glorifying

"God

is

most

glorified

in

you

when

you

are

most

satisfied

in

Him"

Without one there can't be the other

"For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you." Zeph 3v17

If Jesus hadn't arrived to live among us

He couldn't have died for me

So now he wouldn't be living in me

This is God the creator of the universe we are talking about

"I myself no longer live but Christ lives in me" Gal 2v20

Let this sink in

Feeling down?

"For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you.

He is a mighty saviour.

He will rejoice over you with great gladness.

With his love, he will calm all your fears.

He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

Zeph 3

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God!

They are innumerable!

Psalm 139

Wow!!

http://www.juststopandthink.com/movieextras_moviemed.php

Living by revelation?

Living by revelation?

"As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, 'Go south....'

So he did...."

"The Holy Spirit said to Philip,

'Go over and walk beside the carriage'.

Philip ran over......"

"The Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away...."

"Philip found himself farther north...." (Acts 8)

That's the way I want to live

Pretty specific instructions from the Lord

He heard and followed

The result

An important government official from Ethiopia put his trust in Jesus

The Good News reached Ethiopia

I wounder how many others found Jesus through that man?

Now that's living by revelation!

Is that way of living possible for me?

Definitely

Whose doing is it?

I wonder how much of our Christian life is really about our agenda?

We feel it would be good to do this and do that for God

To help Him out, as if He needs our help

Start this because it would be the right thing to do

Or at least that is what we think is the right thing to do

That's what we as Christians should be doing, isn't it?

How often do we wait to see what our Father wants us to do?

How often do we wait?

What is accomplished by all "our" doing?

Instead do we ask "What is God doing?"

Surely His doing makes our doing look worthless

It's way more fun to be involved in His doing

Jesus only did what His Father told Him to do

I wonder what it would be like if I only did what my Father told me to do

Living by revelation

Now that's living

The sound of silence

Why's God not speaking?

If He is why can't I hear Him?

What's wrong with me?

Silence

Wait?

Is the silence actually God speaking?

In silence I can enjoy presence

In silence I can enjoy presence

In silence I am more aware of presence

God you are there

God you are speaking

God you speak in your silence

God you are there

(Thanks Debbie)

Disillusioned with the church?

This is a little long, but stick with it!!

A definition of disillusionment -

A feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be,

commonly held to be stronger than disappointment especially when a belief central to one’s identity is shown to be false;

The act of freeing from an illusion, or the state of being freed therefrom.


Church?

"I know your looking for a place

With the right amount of space

With pews to sit and columns tall to hide behind

If you're looking for a building to ease a troubled mind

You'll never find it

You'd better leave that myth behind

Cause no amount of mortar or brick can save your soul

Only what God's grace allows can make you whole

So come to the church, the church without walls

The house of forgiveness, there's room for us all

The place where compassion lives, where you can find rest

In the church without walls

I know you've heard it all your life

Bring all your misery and strife

Just come inside and all your pain will disappear

Oh but I've got news for you

There's no magic in those pews

No consolation prize for every front row seat you choose

Just raise a hand

Support the one who's hurt inside

Take up your cross

Leave all your pride and fear behind

Just open up your heart and feel the Spirit moving

It's never too far to lift your heavy burden

Jesus came to ease your fall

Of this one thing I'm certain

He paid the price, He died for you

It's not too late, welcome to the church, the church without walls

The house of forgiveness, there's room for us all

The place where compassion lives, where you can find rest

In the church without walls."

Chris Willis

Salesman or Sailsman

A neat thought given to my wife Aurelie

God does not call me to be a salesman

I am called to be a sailsman

Think about that?