Intimacy with God

I want to know Christ, and to know the power of His resurrection strengthening me each hour. I want to fellowship daily with my King, gladly yield myself to share His suffering. I would be like Him, even though this means casting down self glory, sacrificing dreams. I died with Jesus there on Calvary, now I only live when Jesus lives in me. I will press on, until I fully see all God had planned when He took hold of me. Casting aside my self ability, I will press on till Jesus comes for me.

Strong words these are, based on Philippians 3:10, but what does it mean to know Christ? To know the Messiah intimately doesn't mean just that He is our Homeboy. To me it means that Jesus is all around me, every part of me and the air that I breathe. I want to have the desire for Him as much as the desire He has in me.

Larnelle Harris sings a song called "I want to know Christ"

I know that I know that my life is redeemed
I know I have found what some only have dreamed
I hold in my heart the pearl of great price
Dear God, hear my cry
I want to know Christ

I want to know Christ
I keep Him before me
I lift up my eyes
I drink in His glory
I press toward the goal
His goodness unfolds
March on, oh my soul
I want to know
I want to know Christ

I know that my path is the way of the cross
So I count what I gain and forget what I've lost
In pain there is joy
In death there is life
Dear God, hear my cry
I want to know Christ

I want to know Christ
I keep Him before me
I lift up my eyes
I drink in His glory
I press toward the goal
His goodness unfolds
March on, oh my soul
I want to know
I want to know Christ

And the things that entangle me
I lay them down
All the treasures and trophies of life
Let them be lost
Only let me be found in Christ
For I want to know
Yes I want to know

I want to know Christ
I keep Him before me
I lift up my eyes
I drink in His glory
I press toward the goal
His goodness unfolds
March on, oh my soul
I want to know
I want to know Christ

We don't want your money. We want you!

It is by their fruit that we would know if they are saved by grace. Yes it is by God's grace that we are saved, through faith alone, and never by works so that no one can boast. If it weren't for grace where would I be?

God, by His grace has picked me up and dusted me off, not once but many times. But once I am on my feet, do I just bask in His glory and feel good about myself that I made it or do you want to reach out and help someone else onto their feet. Grace is more than how you are saved. It is how you live. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and faith without works is dead. We have not been put on this earth to have a nice worship session. Doing some work is the dreaded word in Graceland.

We have been saved by grace to be used by God to bring others into grace. The other side of grace is called works. Two sides of the same coin. Grace - Works. You can not have the one without the other. We don't want your money. We want you!

Wallow in Grace

I haven't written for sometime now but here goes. At our Home Circle group we have started a new DVD series by Louie Giglio called "The Other Side of Grace". I must say that in the first episode "The Homeboy is Holy", there was so much to digest that it is hard to put a finger on the key truths.

Let me start with a quote from Louie at one of the Passion concerts "The greatest cause of atheism is Christians acknowledging Jesus with their lips but deny him with their lifestyle. That’s what this unbelieving world finds unbelievable."

Louie's core message in this DVD is Grace on one side and Fear on the other. Through the amazing grace of God we are forgiven. The slate wiped clean. Louie states that we tend to galvanize into two groups. One group makes Jesus our "Homeboy", our buddy while the other group separates themselves out of the world to be holy.

The Homeboy Group:
"God is Love. He only wants to bless us with all we need and want." How easy it is just wallow in grace and not be holy? While we enjoy all the blessings that come through grace, we must remember the Messiah is not another friend or homeboy. He is the same God yesterday, today and forever. Grace takes dead people and makes them alive. Not for our own enjoyment but for good works.

The Holy Group:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What is the fear of God? A good definition I found is "The acute awareness of the presence of God's power that produces in me a sense of awe and calls forth from me honor, respect and reverence." Grace gets us real close to someone who is terrifying and righteous. We must not be so out of touch with the world that God can't use us.

Louie said that we must be in the middle of the two. If someone says to you "I don’t fear God, I love God" is out of touch who God really is. In other words, they don't even know God. Don't tell me that you love God. Show me! Be in the world but not of the world. As a Christian, the unbelieving world is watching you. The homeboy is Holy.

Is a Western life worth more than an African life?

It is a tough question for some of you, a question that you don't want to answer. Here is a short video made by Seth Chase featuring Simon Guillebaud and Enoch. Watch it if you dare to be a Christian.

To find out more about Simon and his great work go to Great Lakes Outreach or see Fadical for more about Seth.

Constance :-(

By Sam Sanchez

For those tears I died

It is only one day until I am 41. In other words I am 14,975 days old today counting the leap years and I am in this strange place once again. One of my favorite things is to go to http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ . It is a site where people write their deepest secrets anomalously. Most times it makes me so sad that it aches inside my heart. So much so, that I cry out to God, why? I can see so many lost people through the eyes of Jesus and I can feel it when I sense tears in His eyes.

We are so shielded here in our suburban lives. Here are just a taste of what is crying out of the darkness.

I want to get raped, because i want to be a teen mom.

I want to be more passionate in God, but I dont know how to be

I wish I could believe in God.

whenever im drunk, im happier because i dont remember all my problems. im only 15.

Please, God, Buddha, Allah, whoever you are... don't let me die alone.

Sometimes I doubt things will ever go well for me since my life has been nothing but hard. God has failed me, and I am pretty certain he will fail me too.

My attempt on my life in January was not the first time. I just had the guts to carry it through the second time. But now, the meds don't and aren't helping me, they just give me a mask.

i'm afraid there is no God and everyithing i have believed in is a lie

I turned my back on Christianity after leukemia killed my grandmother and my uncle in the same year and found out that cancer is genetic in Mum's side of the family.

my dad abused me from the day i was born up until the month before i turned 18

i will never love or believe "your God".

I hear voices telling me to hurt myself, and because of it, I've attempted suicide twice. I've been cutting myself since I was 12

I think my biggest fear at the end of my life, is that I will feel like God would regret letting me be born

I replace the pain with: drugs, sex, alcohol, and music

I wish I could give my life to someone who could really use it, I feel more and more that I am wasting it, and that I was a mistake in God's plan, that somehow I fell through the cracks and he has forgotten about me. I just want to figure out why I am here, do it as soon as possible, so I can leave.

I can't let anyone see who I really am, it is too painful

I'm praying to someone's god that no one I know sees this.

And Jesus said
Come to the water,
Stand by my side
I know you are thirsty
You won't be denied
I felt every tear drop
As in darkness you cried
And I strove to remind you
That for those tears I died

Let us be the hand the reaches into the dark and grab a hand to pull it into the light.

Not easy to forgive

Well before I start I need to ask for your forgiveness as this blog is very late. Last year we as a family have been praying for work to keep flowing in and now God is blessing us overflowing. So much so that I have to somehow learn to manage all the work at the same time. Multi-tasking, I think it is a girl thing.

The question of forgiveness came in as we covered the last of "The Legend of Joe Jacobson" series "Right where you want 'em". For those who have missed it, it is the story of Joseph son of Jacob. No matter how bad your life is, Joseph was worst and no matter how good it gets, Joseph had it better.

He was sold into slavery – God was with him;
He rose to prominence among the slaves – God was with him;
He was falsely accused of sexual misconduct and thrown into jail – God was with him;
He rose to prominence among the prisoners – God was with him;
He was forgotten in jail – God was with him;
He rose to prominence in all of Egypt – God was with him;

Do you see a pattern? Yes God was with him all the time. He was silent in places but He was never absent.

Can anyone really forgive? Forgiveness is not for the weak. The most courageous thing you can do is to forgive. Easy words to write but are they easy to do? In life people that have hurt you the most will one day need you. Joseph found himself in that very position, he could have taken revenge against his brothers, and he had the power. But he did what anyone would have knowing that God was with him do. He gave what they did not deserve.

It is at that moment that an abused person has the tendency to abuse. It might not even be the person who mistreated you in the first place but you now have the power. Knowing that God is always with you, what will you do in that situation? Would you be God's rod that smiteth? You see, it is easy to play God than give what is not deserved.

When things go well

How come when things are not going well in our lives that we spend a lot of time in prayer or even blaming God but when it is all smooth sailing God is pushed aside or forgotten? I have told the following story before, so I do apologize to those who have already heard it. Matthew, my son, who at the time was just learning to read, had downloaded an internet game from a safe site and was playing. Soon he got stuck and could not continue and he cried out to his daddy. I came along and started to read the instructions out loud for him. Not far into the reading, Matthew got the gist of the game and pushed me aside stating that he has got it. I had to stand back and watch him go boldly forward only to get stuck again because he did not hear the full instructions.

It dawned on me that we as Christians are just like this. While trying to live our lives we soon get into a rut and call out to our heavenly Father for help. He starts to show us how to get out of our problem but as soon we get the idea of where He is going, we push Him aside saying to God that we can handle it from here, thank you very much. We treat God as a Mr Fixit and only call on Him when something needs fixing. We tend to forget about God when things are going well.

The second part of the Legend of Joe Jacobson, Return of the Dreamer, deals with just this. Joseph’s life had changed from dreadful to unsurpassed and he did not forget God. How did he do it? He was confident that God was with him in all things. I must admit that it is very difficult to live each day as if God is with me when God is blessing me and my family. Andy Stanly asks the question “When things are going well, are you failing the Test of Prosperity?

Andy gave us three points to help us pass this test when things are looking up for us . . .

- Publicly Declare: Break the silence, give credit to the rightful one, God. You got to go public with your dependence on God.

- Leverage: It was never yours to start off with. God did not bless you because of you or for you, but he blessed you to be a blessing to others.

- Reminders: Find a way memorize where we came from and how God has brought us to where we are now. To be always reminded of what God has done for us.

Let Go and Let God
Jerome

What would you change?

If God is with us, then we have no reason to be troubled about the circumstances we find ourselves in, be they at the top of the wave or at the bottom of the trough.

We started a new series of Andy Stanley called The Legend of Joe Jacobson. It is story of Joseph, son of Jacob told in a way never heard before. Andy asked the big question "What will someone in your current circumstances do if they were absolutely confident that God is with them?" Whatever you facing right now, what would you change if you knew with out doubt that God was with you?

Chris Brown asks these questions on a website in response to this question…
What would you change?
Would you risk more?
Would you be more generous?
Would you sign that business deal or pass on it?
Would you move . . . stay where you are?
Would you break up . . . stay together?
Would it change anything about the way you are parenting, or living?

What would you do if you knew God was with you?

Dying to Live

I was away on a trout estate just outside Dullstroom this weekend while the Mighty Men's Conference was held. It was Carol's birthday and I had to spend the weekend with family. I could not have chosen such a tranquil place.

I just got back and the reports that I am hearing from the Mighty Men's Conference is mind blowing. This event started in 5 years ago with only 200 men by Angus Buchan. Last year 7000 men had a life changing experience at Angus' farm "Shalom" just outside Greytown. They planned for 20,000 men for this year and over 30,000 men registered for the weekend. Diving back to Johannesburg I saw the front page of an Afrikaans newspaper and it reported 60,000 had arrived at the farm on Friday.

60,000 - Wow! The Spirit of God must have been moving.

I will give more feedback when I get a change to speak with some of the men. While the "Mighty Men" where in Greytown, all their wives, fiancées and girlfriends were praying for them.

"The seed for a miracle lies not in difficulty, but impossibility" - Angus Buchan

Reports on the Mighty Men's Conference 2008
Shalom Ministries
Joy's Magazine's Interview with Angus Buchan about MMC 2008
Joy's Magazines Interview with Angus Buchan about "Faith like Potatoes"
Faith Like Potatoes (movie about life of Angus Buchan)

Permission to Speak Freely

What if prayer has nothing to do about getting God to do stuff for us?

What if we got prayer all wrong?

What if prayer wasn't meant to be hit or miss?

What if there is something so much more to prayer?

Prayer is not a good luck charm as most of us make it out to be. It is not God answering prayer randomly. If we take out asking God for things from our prayers, what is left? You can talk all your life to God and never feel connected.

In our current series, "Permission to Speak Freely" by Andy Stanley we are looking at how to pray. Now no one has every taught me to pray, nor had the disciples been taught when they asked Jesus to teach how to pray. I have listen to others praying in church, sometimes very impressive prayers that I could never match up to.

"When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!" Matthew 6:5-8

Here Jesus tells us to go somewhere quiet where we won't be distracted. He does not mention prayer on the run, if you know what I mean. Jesus is talking about a quiet place where you can meet with the Father. He knows all about your problems before you ask him. Imagine not just telling Him about your issues but discussing them with Him. He is looking for a personal and intimate relationship with you.

Haggadah

"And you shall tell your son on that day" Exodus 13:8

Last night, in preparation of the coming celebrations of Jesus' death and resurrection, we sat around a table and did the Haggadah (the telling). The Haggadah is a Jewish tradition of the family telling the story of the Passover night. The night the Israelites sacrificed an unblemished lamb, painted their doorposts with the blood which protected the household from the angel of God who past overhead that night to kill all firstborns.

Before I continue let me briefly introduce Zahava. I probably won't do her justice but here goes. Zahava was born in Israel near the Sea of Galilee to a family of rabbis. After a tough upbringing, she met a South African Jew and got married. They returned to South Africa to start a new life together. But then Jesus physically met Zahava in a miraculous way and she found the Messiah.

The following verses sum Zahava in a nutshell for me... Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
John 1:45-51

What was even more amazing was at the church in Durban where Jesus had an appointment with Zahava, her favorite song when she was young was sung, it was a song traditionally sung in the Haggadah. Jesus had known Zahava even when she was playing along the Sea of Galilee as a child and said "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false"

Zahava could not keep it in and high ranking rabbis came from Israel, in her words "to fix" her. Every week rabbis came to her home to try correct her ways. They forbade her to speak of this Jesus to any other Jew. Her son became a Christian and her husband said if their daughter also becomes a Christian it would mean the end of their marriage. It was either him or Jesus. Without her intervention her daughter found Christ and divorce soon followed.

I used to ask God what was it that He found good in the Jewish nation that he choose them to be revealed to the nations. In Zahava, I found the answer. When she found the Messiah, she became pure worship to Him. She has this joy and love towards God and man that is really seen. Her life glorifies God in all she does.

With this brief introduction to Zahava, let me continue with last night, which Zahava led for us. She started by saying that we must get that pagan name Easter out of our vocabulary because it is the name of a pagan goddess. The Jewish people see Easter as the celebration of this goddess and do not see the Messiah as he could never be in cohorts with this goddess. This is a big stumbling block for the Jews as there is only one God. The Messiah can not be associated in anyway with this goddess. Easter must go and celebration of His Death and Resurrection must take it's place.

The Haggadah is filled with symbolism and what was incredible was that all pointed towards Jesus as the Messiah. As Christians we can see them but for the Jewish people it just the story of remembrance of where they came from. Jesus is wired into that story. I do not want to go through the whole Haggadah and speak about all the symbolism as there are many and I might leave one out. But I do want to leave with you the most exciting one for me, the Yachatz or the breaking of the middle Matzah.Zahava then took three matzot or unleavened bread and folded them into a cloth or matzah tosh. She then took out the middle one also known as "the bread of affliction" and showed us the stripes and holes in it. She then broke it in two, the larger piece is then hidden and the smaller one put back. As Christians can you see where this is going? She told us that the Jews have many explanations for the three matzot. One of the explanations is that they represent Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But if this true, why do we break the matzah representing Isaac? He was only bound not broken.Abraham is known as the father of the nation, Isaac, the son of Abraham and Jacob represents the spirit of the Jewish people. But can you see the Father, Son and Spirit theme coming through? The hidden piece is called the afikoman which the Jews believe means dessert. But Zahava told us it is the only Greek word in the whole Haggadah and if you look up the meaning of this word it means "I come". This piece which is hidden will be later search for by the children for a reward. Doesn't this paint a beautiful picture of the Messiah?

Jesus the son of God was broken for us. He has gone away and will return soon to reward those who found Him. Jesus celebrated the Haggadah with His disciples the night He was betrayed. Imagine as He took the middle matzah and broke it and said "This is my body". How true were those words?

What message are you broadcasting

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world John 16:33

The Megaphone of Hope, an interesting subject that Louie Giglio covers in part two of "Hope: When Life Hurts Most". Louie states that when you spend enough time with a person you can see their life message by their actions and attitudes. It is when life hurts that their true life message comes out.

What is life message? It is what is at the pinnacle of their lives. In other words what a person lives for. Most people what is on top most point of their lives is self preservation and the preservation of their loved ones. How true is that for me? It is what is best for me and my family. Stuff the rest.

It is not wrong to have self preservation and the preservation of the ones we love near the top; it is what is on the pinnacle that is important. Glorifying God must be on the pinnacle. He loves us so much that He gave His only son Jesus to die in our place on that cross. We sing many songs in our churches stating that we will do anything that He asks of us. But is it higher than our self preservation and the preservation of our loved ones?

It is when trouble comes along; that we amplify what we value the highest with a megaphone for the whole world to see. What message are you broadcasting in your life?

What do you think when you hear the words "Jesus Christ"? Test this; ask around where you are right now. Does walking on water come up first or is it turning water into wine? No it is the cross. It is where Jesus hurt the most that people won't forget. The cross where he died for puny us is the life message of Jesus, the Messiah.

Louie gave us four points to remember
- Embrace God's higher purpose.
- Be ready when trouble comes
- Hope. Anchor yourselves in the cross
- Use it for God's glory.

I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear; and will trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:1-3

Click here to listen to "The Megaphone of Hope" online

Let Go and Let Go

When Life Hurts Most

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NIV

We all know that life is not easy and at times it really hurts. In the past few posts I covered the glory of God and how everything is for His glory but there are times when the bottom falls out and we turn to God and say "Where's the glory in my pain" or "God you said you'd have my best interests at heart. Where are you now?" Does that ring true to anyone? It does for me. We all are going to come to a place where life hurts most.

When my son, Matthew was about 10 months old, his temperature spiked and went into a spasm. He stopped breathing for what seemed to me eternity. Carol later told me it was only a short period but I had panicked and threw him into Carol's arms while I rushed out to get the car. We rushed him to the nearest hospital and I stopped at the emergency entrance to let Carol off with Matthew then went to look for parking. The whole time I was pleading to God not to take him away for He had only given him to us. When I walked into the emergency room and saw the paramedics testing Matthews's reflexes, I freaked out and fled. I did not want to see my son a "vegetable". I found myself at my father-in-law's home. He was a strong Christian, and I demanded from him to make God fix Matthew. I was angry with God. How can He do this to us? When my father-in-law had calmed me down, I returned to the hospital to find my son all right and he stayed the night under observation.

It took me a while to work through all my issues with God over this. Louie Giglio in his first part of his "Hope: When Life Hurts Most" DVD which is called "The Anchor of Hope" taught us that Christianity can not be reduced to a simple answer. We can not put God into a box. We don't see the bigger picture. Although God does not offer easy solutions, He does offer Himself and the cross. Focusing on the cross is the anchor of hope. If only I had watched this DVD then. The cross allows us to leverage our pain for His glory. Matthew was in God's hands and still is.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. Hebrews 6:19-20 NIV

Click here to listen to "The Anchor of Hope" online

The cross is proof that God doesn't always change the circumstances that we find ourselves and that He is in control. He is working for His glory.

Let Go and Let God

Soli Deo Gloria

Glory to God alone

Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out.

Is there anyone around who can explain God?
Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?
Anyone who has done him such a huge favour
that God has to ask his advice?

Everything comes from him;
Everything happens through him;
Everything ends up in him.
Always glory! Always praise!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Romans 11:33-36 The Message

Andy Stanley and Louie Giglio wrapped up the "Canvas" with "The Way of Glory". In the DVD series they showed us that there is a glorious middle. Yes I know that before man sinned, there was the glorious beginning and that we look forward to glorious eternity with Christ. But a glorious middle? The answer is yes. In the middle of the glorious middle is the cross, God's plan to make it all right again. We give I AM the glory for the cross. Even in the sad times. Easier said than done.

Here is a poem written by Michael Christian who like us was inspired by the Canvas.

I AM

A voice from a bush, which burned with no ash.
God spoke to Moses as he knelt in the grass.
He gave instructions on setting Israel free.
Reluctantly Moses said, "No one will believe me!"
"What will I say when they ask who sent me?"
"What name will I give? How will I make them see?"
Gods answer was timeless, until this day still stands.
He said, "I am what I am…you were sent by I AM!"
Gods name gave hope that would not be erased.
And still offers solutions to each problem we face:

I haven't seen him for weeks, I don’t know where he stays.
He's going to die if he won't change his ways!
He lies, he cheats, he begs on his knees.
I am his mother, and he's even stolen from me!
He's not the boy I raised, he only hangs around thugs.
Who is going to help me get my baby off of these drugs?
…I AM

The factory shut down, there is no job to be had.
I can't remember when the economy has looked so bad.
I've juggled bills for too long, not making ends meet.
Something has to happen soon or we'll be out on the street!
I was my family's provider, by the sweat of my brow!
Who is going to take care of my children now?
…I AM

I thought I was too smart to ever get caught.
But my crimes will be punished, my lesson taught.
If I had it to do over, I wouldn't need to pay this debt.
My children will learn from the example that's set!
My kids will be grown before I am set free!
Who's gonna make sure they don't turn out like me?
…I AM

My face looks better, the swelling has gone down.
I covered the black eye with these sunglasses I found.
He hits me when he's drunk, then feels bad when he's sober.
He treats me like a queen when his drunken rage is over.
I am his wife! I love him! I don't want to leave!
Who's going to show him what's important…alcohol, or me?
…I AM

He was in the first tower to be hit by a plane.
I watched it crumble on the news, I was screaming his name.
Our two beautiful sons still don't quite understand,
Why their daddy won't ever be coming home again.
We were in this together! Now our team's down to one!
Who's going to be a father to these two lonely sons?
…I AM

Moses learned something when God spoke to him his name.
All our lives would be made simpler, if we could just learn the same.
That God is all together, all we could ask for!
In comparison, by far, we will always fall short.
So God is "I AM", then I am not…
This is the important lesson that Moses got!
He learned his place in Gods relation to man…
I AM NOT, but I know "I AM"!

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever!
Amen.
Romans 11:33-36 NIV

I know I am not, but I know I AM

BIG GOD, little me

Can we comprehend that we are not the centre of the universe? How many times have we tried to be the centre of attention with God? The peer pressure around us keeps us wanting to be bigger, to be known, to be on top and even to leave a legacy.

God's Top 3
God is committed to His glory
God is committed to our redemption purpose
God is committed to our best

My Top 3
Me and my happiness
My happiness
My happiness

Louie Giglio, in the third part of the Canvas DVD, said that we need to put God back into perspective. I am tiny, miniscule, transient and microscopic compared to the creator of the universe, the BIG GOD who put it all together. Everything in this universe is all about God whose name is "I AM" which comes from the verb "to be".

HE MUST INCREASE, i must decrease

God is not trying to deflate us; it is just that we have made ourselves bigger than God. God can't work with us if we are full of ourselves. If we can do it in our own power then we don't need God. It is only when we see just how tiny we are next to Awesome God, then God can work through us and none of us can get in His way. This is God's story, and He chose for us to be in it. It does not matter how small we are for "I AM" says he would go with us. He is all we need.

I am not, but He knows my name.
I am not, but He has pursued me in His love.
I am not, but I have been purchased and redeemed.
I am not, but I have been invited into The Story.
I am not, but I know the Creator of the universe.
I am not, but I know I AM!

If your problems are too BIG than your God is too small.

To the Glory of God, the Father

The wonderful cross, it removes us as the central player and puts God back in the middle. That is what Andy Stanley conveyed to us in the second part of the Canvas.

Andy started by telling us that when God finished painting the universe, he handed mankind the brush. God gave us a choice of where we wanted to be. We, with the brush in hand, told God we did not like his agenda. We hijacked God's glory and painted ourselves in the middle of creation and God off to one side. Just in reach so if we get into trouble we can bring him out to fix things then put him back when we don't need him. JI Packer, in his book "Hot Tub Religion" wrote "we have recast Christianity into a mould that stresses happiness above holiness, blessings here above blessedness hereafter, health and wealth as God's best gifts, and death, especially early death, not as thankworthy deliverance from the miseries of a sinful world, but as the supreme disaster, and a constant challenge to faith in God's goodness". We want a God that makes us feel good and comfortable. We want the glory.

Get serious.

What if you were God?

After making the whole universe and making a people to bring glory to you, your creation rebels. Wouldn't you want to just swot them aside and start over? That is how we humans would have handled it, but not God. Everything He does is for His glory. God took the tragedy of sin and leveraged it for His own glory. In the middle of time, at a precise point, God stepped in and sent His Son, His only Son to lay aside His birthright and became a man to die a cruel death.

When a king would willingly die for his subjects, it tells us something about the king not the subjects.

Amazing Love by Chris Tomlin

I'm forgiven because You were forsaken,
I'm accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.

Amazing love,
How can it be
That You, my King, would die for me?
Amazing love,
I know it's true.
It's my joy to honour You,
In all I do, I honour You.

I'm forgiven because You were forsaken,
I'm accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.

You are my King
Jesus You are my King

Glory to God

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is and is to come
Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is and is to come

Worthy, worthy, worthyi
s the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is and is to come
Worthy, worthy, worthy
is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is and is to come

Glory, glory, glory
To the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is and is to come
Glory, glory, glory
To the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is and is to come

Glory, glory, glory
To the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is and is to come

Last week when we started home cell again with the first part of the Canvas called Glory by Louie Giglio, I was in the busiest week of this year yet. So busy, that I did not have time to spend with God. I had to finish my project at African Defence Systems before the contract ended and at the same time look for more work. I was too busy looking out for myself than looking out for God. I was in the driver's seat of my life.

Louie said that God is working on a canvas of our lives so that we can bring glory to Him. While Louie spoke a lady was painting on a canvas a beautiful picture of the splendour of God's creation. And at the end Louie took his hand and put it in black paint and made a messy smudge on the canvas. He then said that was us, taking what God has created and messing it up, Big Time.

How can we bring glory to God in that?

God has a plan that our minds cannot fathom. A plan to bring glory. But I was not keeping still enough for God to use me to bring glory. No matter how busy we have been, God never takes an eye off of us for a second and is always working on the canvas of our lives.

Your love has captured me,
Your grace has set me free,
Your life the air I breathe,
Be glorified in me.

You set my feet to dancing,
You set my heart on fire,

In the presence of a thousand kings
You are my one desire,
And I stand before You now
With trembling hands lifted high,
Be glorified.

A wise man once said "If you're too busy to spend time with God, then you're too busy!"

Supermarket or Antidote?

Hi friends,

I pray that you are all well rested after the summer or winter break. I had a lot of free time to ponder on things and if you like it or not I will share with you from a book that I have been reading. It is called Christian Apologetics by Doug Powell. At this place, I would like those who don't like a lot of reading to stop here. For the others, please bear with me as it is quite long ...

Picture yourself in a vast supermarket that is fully stocked. Yet instead of selling food, this supermarket sells religions. The departments are all the same but have taken on symbolic meaning. For example, the meat department sells Judaism, representing the animal sacrifice needed for blood atonement. The cereal aisle is where Hinduism is found since cereal boxes often feature characters. "A different God in each box! Collect all 330, 000,000!" In the baking goods aisle Islam is for sale since all the other foods started with this stuff but became corrupted when it was baked. New Age religion is found in the candy section since the power behind both is how appealing they are. Dead religions, beliefs no one holds anymore like Greek mythology, Molech worship, and golden calves, are found in the frozen food section. Christianity, with all its scenes in gardens and agricultural parables, is in the produce department. Mind sciences are available in the magazine aisle. There is a person sitting in an empty shopping cart pushing himself around the store - a Buddhist, of course. There is another person who can't find anything in the store at all - an atheist. Some shoppers are strictly vegetarian, some eat only meat, but all the diets are of equal value. They all basically do the same thing - feed you. In charge of the checkout counter is death itself. After your selection is made, you pay with your life. Whether there is anything outside the exit door and what happens there is the big question.

Is religion really like this, an act of preference where different elements can be mixed and matched at will? Or is religion something entirely different, like an antidote?

Instead of a supermarket, picture yourself in an emergency room with a serious illness. The doctor explains that the illness is 100% fatal unless one particular antidote is administered. He then goes on to say that recovery from the illness after taking the antidote has a 100% success rate. By this, the doctor is proclaiming that your preferences do not matter at all; they are not a part of the conversation. Whether or not you like to get shots or take pills is irrelevant. This particular ailment has a particular remedy that needs to be administered in a particular way. Do it or die. Given this illness and the necessary treatment, a misdiagnosis is very dangerous. No one having a heart attack wants to go to a doctor who thinks the proper response is to put a leg in a cast. Proper treatment is necessary no matter how distasteful, inconvenient, painful, or even offensive. There is no going shopping for the treatment you like best. The remedy is the remedy - period. The patient must conform his thinking to accept the remedy or face the alternative.

Christianity properly understood is an antidote, not a lifestyle choice or part of a well-balanced religious view. Like the antidote, it can be painful and inconvenient. It can be socially unacceptable. But most of all, it can be offensive. Most of us would much rather take the supermarket approach where we always ended up with a religion tailored to our lifestyles and preferences and could change as we change.

Jesus Christ is not just a cherry flavoured cough syrup that works just as well as the lemon flavoured Buddha. Belief in Jesus is an extremely invasive heart procedure that brings people to life. And it is the only procedure that will work.