Bargain hunter

Poundland: King of shops.

Yesterday I was out for some bargains and if it's bargains I'm after there's only one place I'm headed - Poundland.  It is crammed full of all sorts of stuff from eggs to ipod covers and everything is just £1 - fantastic!

But it's so much more than just a cheap shop it is the crucible of human life, it is the great leveller. Everyone loves this big brand budget buster.  Dressed up to the nines or dragged through a hedge backward, arrived in your 4x4 or got your mate to give you a backie,  ox-bridge or school-of-life; it doesn't matter what you look like, how you've got there or what your background is you're sure to find something you like at Poundland.

Anyway, enough of the advert.  I overheard a conversation between a customer and an emplooyee at the above shop yesterday. It went like this.

(The customer had just bought an underbed storage box and discovered the lid didn't close properly.)

Customer:  "This box is s**t.
Employee:  "Well what do you expect for a pound?"

Beautiful.

The premise is that you get what you pay for - you get nothing for nothing.  This is not true in every case. Jesus gave Himself freely for us; it was very costly for Him and he wants nothing from us but our love.  Everyone loves a bargain don't they? and yet so many refuse to take up the offer of the greatest bargain of them all.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

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And now this, just for fun.

I have an NIV with a ribbon bookmark.

Everybody hurts

PostSecret describes itself as 'an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.'  It makes for truly fascinating reading.

Some of the secrets are funny, some share regrets but all give an insight into the unspoken world around us.  The postcard below is up on the site at the minute and it is very hard-hitting, it may also be offensive or upsetting to some people.  I'm not reposting it here to shock or to annoy anyone rather I just want those of us who are christians to remember that trite resposes to major issues like the one below just won't cut it.

God is real, He is everything he claims to be.  Let's not make him out to be nothing more than a fun gift-giver.  He is not an imaginary friend there to make us feel better when we get a little lonely.  He is a real Father who gives real support and guidance.  He is stronger than the heaviest burden.

When someone shares a story like the one below we need to witness to God faithfully and in a way that is helpful to a hurting person.  So what would you say?

 

Every second counts

I grew up wanting to be a hero, didn't everyone?  I never quite made it.

This realisation struck me recently, the one that says, 'You've grown up and you are not what you dreamed you would be.'  This disturbed me for a while but now...now I'm glad.

What I once thought of as a hero I no longer do.  Scoring the winning goal in an FA cup final does not make them a hero - it makes them a good footballer.  Getting to number one with your debut single does not make you a hero - it makes you a good singer (or a good marketing tool).  Delivering a box of chocolates through an open hotel window to a beautiful scantily clad woman while you're dressed all in navy does not make you a hero - it makes you a social deviant. 

You may look at your life and see it slipping past unnoticed.  You may think that you do nothing of worth, that no good comes of you. You get frustrated, down-hearted, panicked even.  If you feel this way the antidote is not far from you.

To make your live worthwhile make every second count, devote every second to God. Live fully how he would have you live.  Help that lady with her shopping, refuse to gossip in the workplace, stand-up for the vagrant in the street, work hard, be trustworthy and honest, share your love, share God's love.

There is one hero worth the worship.  His name is Jesus and he gave all  that He had, his very life, for people who did not ask for it, who did not want it and who, in many cases, rejected His love even after He had given all for them.  Jesus Christ is my hero, imitate Him.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

John 15:12-14

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A little mid-week music for you now:

Two hands by Jars of Clay.

Regrets

We all have regrets don't we?

Watch the video below if you can (the sound is not neccessary). You may be able to identify directly with what it says or it may stir up your own unique regrets.

You don't have too but if you wish you can share (anonymously) the regrets you have from the last year.  But don't stop there, give them to Jesus so that he can lift the burden from you.  Use this process to spur you on so that next year you may not have cause to regret the same things again.

My guilt has overwhelmed me
   like a burden too heavy to bear.

Psalm 38:4

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

(Jesus Christ)

Matthew 11:28

Spaced out

The world is jam packed full of people, over crowding is a serious issue, right?

According to National Geographic (As supplied by the Sage on the Hill) If every one in the world were to stand bunched together for a photograph they could cover an area comparable in size to the city of Los Angeles.  The City of Angels could be the home of all the humans.

Of course no one wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with over 6 billion people for too long - just imagine the smell - but it does raise questions over the whole over-crowding issue.

But so what? So there is space for everyone on earth, some of it good, some of it bad. There is useful space and useless space, rich space and poor space, fertile and infertile, lush and barren, beautiful and basic but there is space.  

Everyone can have there home and enough food to feed themselves and their family, we are not under-resourced but rather under-distributed, under-shared.

It will not always be this way; heaven will not be unfair.  There will be no barren land, no hunger, no pain. Jesus Himself has prepared a place there for us there.  The thing is though that not every one will reach Heaven, some don't know the way, others do know the way and just refuse to take it.

[Jesus said,] “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jahn 14:1-6

So you know the way to the promised land - through Jesus; but will you follow the way.  So many recognise the pain and suffering in this world and are rightly outraged by it but ignore the reality of an end to suffering in the next life.  I can't claim to understand why anyone could hear the message that Jesus brought, hear about His sacrifice and simply carry on regardless. 

There is space for you on earth but there is also space for you in heaven, Jesus is preparing it for you; are you prepared to accept it?

Safe

It was one of those days.

Well it was one of those evenings anyway.  We were at Anchor Boys which is the section for the youngest boys in Boys' Brigade, P1-P4.  These boys can be great fun but they can also be hard work as well.

Last night they were very excitable and not in a good way.  There were tantrums, over-zealous game playing and even a couple of bumps.  The 'Timeout Chair' had to be used on a couple of occasions, boys will be boys.

One of the wee fellas though, had been complaining of a sore tummy, he's only P2 and it was obvious he wasn't bluffing so he sat out of the games.  He loves to chat and so we did.  Chatting is what this particular little boy does very well.

The night wore on and eventually it was time to go home so the munchkins were loaded onto the church bus and we took them home.  Somewhere along the way and despite all the hustle and bustle all around him, our little sick boy fell asleep on his seat.  There he was, dead to the world, slumped over and only held in place by his seat belt.

The wife tried to rouse him when we reached his house but to no avail. He was done out. 8 o'clock is a late night if you are 6 and feeling a bit peaky.  So we did what we had too, we parked the bus and I came into the back and scooped him into my arms.

He half woke up and wasn't entirely sure were he was.   I assured him he was OK, that he had fallen asleep and that he was home now.  He put his head on my shoulder and let me carry him.  As we were going out of the bus and without moving his weary little head he said to me, 'I didn't know you were so strong that you could carry me.'

I didn't reply, I couldn't for fear of welling up.  In that moment, for that split second I felt like a king, like this is what life is for.

We're like the little boy.  We can be good, pleasant, helpful.  We can try hard, struggle on and be brave. But no matter who we are, eventually and sometimes with out much warning it becomes clear that we cannot do this, we cannot live this life by our own strength.  We get tired, weary, we become done out.  It often takes us to get to this stage that we realise we're going to need someone else to help, someone bigger, someone more capable - God himself.

When we give ourselves over to his care it is such a huge relief that we wonder why we didn't do it sooner.  We rest in his arms and in our restful bliss whisper to him, 'I didn't know you were so strong that you could carry me'.

He is.

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8

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Phil Wickham feat. Bart Millard: Safe

The bigger picture

Today's blog is written by Jill Harkness. She is a well educated, well travelled and well respected woman of God.  She is also my sister-in-law, which is possibly her greatest achievement.
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I love doing jigsaws. Especially around Christmas time. I always get a new jigsaw for Christmas (this year, I got two!)

For so long - my approach to reading the bible was a bit like doing a jigsaw without seeing the picture. I would approach it - piece by piece - perhaps fitting a few bits together, but without looking at what it meant as a whole.

Reading the bible in 90 days has been an altogether different approach - which I feel has allowed me to see and appreciate the bigger picture.

In the Old Testament, we read about the Kings - most of whom were corrupt, and "did evil in the eyes of the Lord". In the end, the temple was destroyed, Jerusalem fell, and the people were taken captive and sent to Babylon.

In the midst of this apparent defeat - we see God at work. God continues to work through people like Esther and Daniel and eventually the temple is built, through the work of people like Nehemiah. The point is, none of these events were happening in isolation. God was aware of everything that was going on, and working in the lives of those who trusted in Him - to write history.  And (although we so often forget it) the same is true today.

Before I started this 90 day challenge - I had been working my way through the book of Psalms. Again, reading through the story of David has put some of the Psalms I had read in context. Each Psalm (in my Life Application Bible) is given a theme and some information about the author. Comments such as "written by David, possibly during the days of Absolom's rebellion" - began to make more sense, and take on more meaning - once I read through the life of David.

So, all in all, it has been an interesting exercise, intense at times, but definitely worthwhile.

Doing a jigsaw when the picture is available makes so much more sense - it is all about context, fitting things together and seeing how the individual pieces fit together to make up the whole.

What do I do with my jigsaws once I have finished? Well, I don't step back, admire my work and say I'm finished. For me, once I have finished, it is an opportunity to take it apart, and start again.

Jigsaws, like reading the Bible - something you can't do too many times!!

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Some mid-week music now. This is Sanctus Real and a song about a husband and father's responsibility to his family.  Women, demand this from your men.  Men, demand this of yourselves.