Saturday 24 August 2013

Saturday's Scores - Week 2

Premiership Week 2

Saturday 24th August 2013

Fulham  2 v  1 Arsenal   
I think Fulham may just edge this, but it does have a draw written all over it

Everton v West Brom 2-0
I never bet against my team.

Hull v Norwich  2-1
Difficult game but Hull should have enough to keep Norwich at bay

Newcastle v West Ham  2-2
Home advantage should help Newcastle, but West Ham are a good team

Southampton v Sunderland 1-0
Southampton should have the edge

Stoke v Crystal Palace  1-1
I fancy a draw here

Aston Villa v Liverpool 2-0
Liverpool could struggle against a good Villa team
Sunday 25th August 2013
Cardiff v Man City 0-3
Manchester City look good and should get all the points

Tottenham v Swansea  2-1
Spurs I think have too much going for them.
Monday 26th August 2013
Man Utd v Chelsea 3-2
This will be very interesting, but Manchester United will always be up for beating Chelsea.

Friday 23 August 2013

Saturday's Scores - Week 1 - How did i do?

 
Premiership Scores Prediction- Week 1
So How Did I Do?
Liverpool v Stoke 2-0  - Result 1-0 – Correct
Arsenal v Aston Villa  1-0 - Result 1-3 – Wrong
Norwich v Everton 2-2 - Result 2-2 – Exact
Sunderland v Fulham 0-0 -  Result  0-1 – Wrong
West Brom v Southampton 2-0 Result  0-1 – Wrong
West Ham v Cardiff  2-0 -  Result 2-0 – Exact
Swansea v Man Utd  2-1 -  Result 1-4 – Wrong
Crystal Palace v Tottenham 0-2  - Result 0-1 - Correct
Chelsea v Hull 2-0  - Result 2-0 - Exact
Man City v Newcastle 2-0  - Result 4-0 - Correct
Chelsea v Aston Villa 2-1  - Result 2-1 - Exact
 So Not too badly
Exact prediction = 4
Correct Prediction = 3
Wrong Prediction = 4
Correct/Exact = 63%
Wrong = 37%

Friday's Five - Wait on the Lord



Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord – Psalm 27:14

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. – Lamentations 3:25-26. 

Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. – Micah 7:7.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God, And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience; and patience, character; and character, hope, now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. – Romans 5:1-5.

Thursday 22 August 2013

From A Park Bench - God Forgives


To most of us the concept of forgiveness is to forgive those that sin against us. As long as our friends and acquaintances do not upset us we can live in peace and happiness with them. When we upset each other, the moment then comes when we must choose either to forgive them or not. We can imitate this process or we can wait until they approach us. If neither party takes that first step the relationship can stay broken for years and can fester like an open wound. 

The gospel is the most amazing and wonderful act of forgiveness ever imitated, because God actually forgives everyone before they were born. Before you and I even existed we were forgiven. 

God actually justifies the ungodly and forgives the world before it repents. God accepted Christ sacrifice on the cross and he is now not counting mankind’s sins against them. The offer to mankind from God is to receive the divine favor that is freely given and be reconciled to him. All we have to do is believe, it is not dependent on how good we are, or our effort, or keeping the rules, it is a free gift, offered by God through the finished work of Christ. 

This reconciliation is not just for all our past sins, it is for every sin, past, present and all future sins.Total forgiveness at the cross, complete reconciliation, eternal redemption. A new creation and the old sinful nature is crucified and left on the cross.

Jesus identified with our sin and took our sins. He was endured with sin for our sake. He took our punishment, He took our mistakes, He took the ruin sin caused. He took it on himself, so we could become the righteousness of God in Him! We now identify with Christ, we are seated with him in heavenly places and our spirit is interwoven into the fullness of Christ.

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Overwhelmed


Overwhelmed
Now made one
Swallowed up
In the son
Join the song
Of heavens free
Outrageous grace
Flows through me
Consumed in Christ
He is mine
Eternally
In the vine
Receive the gift
Live what’s true
All I need
Glorious union.


Tuesday 20 August 2013

From A Park Bench - Receive This Gift


Sometimes some things are just so amazingly good that it is almost unbelievable. At the opening of a new store and as part of the promotion to get you inside, you might get a free ‘goody’ bag, you would probably get a nice selection of free sweets. I was faced with a amazing offer at the Grace and Faith Conference, where one of the speakers Duane Sheriff was handing out free box set copies of sermons to whoever wanted them. There was no limit, some fortunate receivers were filling us 2 or 3 carrier bags full of sets and the ladies behind the desk were handing out free carrier bags to be filled.  I must admit I felt more than a little guilty as I filled up my carrier bag. I was just amazed that it was just given away.
The riches of heaven have been freely given to us. We can know God in an intimate relationship; we can have real life, abundant life, eternal life, fulfilled life, a joyful life, a life of deep, secure, loving peace.
This life is all ours, it is all available, all provided freely, by the finished work of Christ on the cross and how do we receive this abundant, eternal life?
We receive this gift by faith. Which simply means that we just believe and trust in Jesus, we take God at his word that he has given us life in His son, we receive Jesus and take His life into ourselves?
Faith is simple. It is just seeing what is true and taking God at his word that it is so. It is our ‘Thank You’ to everything God has provided for us by grace,
Through Christ we have been given the amazing gift of eternal life. With Jesus comes all that He is, it does not just stop at eternal life, but it contains all the blessings of heaven, joy, hope, peace, love, strength, faith. Authority, freedom, kindness, security, righteousness, holiness, security, redemption, relationship, wholeness, healing, adoption.

Monday 19 August 2013

Grace Notes - Luke 16:17


"And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17


Jesus was the perfect law keeper. He was the only person in history that kept the law and he kept it on my behalf.

He took my place at the cross, all the judgment and wrath of God was poured out upon my sin on the cross. He took my sin, he bore my sicknesses, he was filled with my fears, he experienced my depression, and he was overcome with my desperation and my separation from God.

I killed Jesus, it was my sin that he carried, God did not kill His own son, I killed him, He took my place, experienced my death and along with those physically present, I was the reason Jesus died at the Cross, He took my place. God wept as He saw his son die in my place.

The great exchange is my dirty, sin stained life for His deserved riches and glory.
We inherit in Him all the favor of God and this power and life now dwells inside every believer.
Eternal life in all it power, fullness and perfection does not start when we get to heaven. It begins as soon as we believe and put faith in Christ.  One day we will experience eternal life without the constraints of what is left behind with our old man.  


Andrew Wommack brilliantly explains that the debt has been paid and we can go free: -
The jot was not only one of the smallest letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but also one of the most insignificant, being sometimes deleted at the writer's pleasure. The tittle was only a mark or a point on a line that helped distinguish one letter from another. The tittle corresponds to our period or apostrophe. The point that Jesus is making is that even the tiniest detail of the law would not pass away.


Christ fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law. The law was ordained to life, but no one could keep it. So, God Himself became flesh. He did what no sinful flesh had ever done. He kept the law thereby winning the life of God as the prize for keeping the law. This granted Him eternal life but before He could give it to us, we still had a debt that had to be paid. This is similar to someone receiving the death penalty for some hideous crime, then some billionaire leaves his whole estate to him. It would do the condemned man no good. But if that same billionaire could somehow take that man's place and die for him, then he could go free and enjoy his new wealth. That's what Jesus did for us. He took our sins and gave us His righteousness.


Jesus did much more than just obtain eternal life for us, He also paid all the wages of our sins (Rom. 6:23). God literally placed the condemnation, or judgment, that was against us upon His own Son. Jesus' perfect flesh was condemned so our defiled flesh could go free. What a trade! Since Jesus bore our sentence (condemnation), we don't have to bear it. The debt has already been paid.

Sunday 18 August 2013

Authentic


Heavenly
Flaming beauty
Place of glory
Paid with blood completely

Awe
Everlasting grace
New creation temple
Righteous holy dwelling place

Light
Shines confident
Because of Christ
Mysterious union made radiant

His life authentic in me. 


Saturday 17 August 2013

Saturday’s Scores – Week 1



Week 1

Saturday 17th August 2013

Liverpool v Stoke 2-0
Forecasting a good start for Liverpool, they should have the quality to get the three points.

Arsenal v Aston Villa  1-0
Home advantage should work in the Gunners favor.

Norwich v Everton 2-2
I never bet against my team, but this is a tricky opening day game for the new Everton manager.

Sunderland v Fulham 0-0
This has a goalless draw written all over it.

West Brom v Southampton 2-0
WBA should have the home advantage to make this count.

West Ham v Cardiff  2-0
Difficult opening fixture for Cardiff, West Ham play well at home.

Swansea v Man Utd  2-1
I think the new Man U will struggle against a good Swansea team

Sunday 18th August 2013

Crystal Palace v Tottenham 0-2
Spurs have too much quality for the newly promoted Palace

Chelsea v Hull 3-0
I think that says it all.


Monday 19th August 2013

Man City v Newcastle 2-0
Too much quality and power at City.


Wednesday 21st August 2013

Chelsea v Aston Villa 2-1

This might be closer than it looks on paper, but i still think that Chelsea at home should edge this.

Friday 16 August 2013

Re-defining Holiness by Ryan Rufus



This sermon was preached by Ryan Rufus at City Church International, Hong Kong on Sunday 2nd May 2009

"The week before I preached a one-word title message called "Rest" and this morning I have a two-word title message called; "Re-defining Holiness". I am excited to preach this word and I believe God is excited about this word this morning. It is His Word and He wants to do something here this morning. "Re-defining Holiness" - re-defining what holiness is.

Living a holy life should never be defined as "living without sin". In fact sin has got nothing to do with holiness at ALL!

We have been programmed to think that it does and this morning I want to undo that programming. The religious world has made not sinning to equal holiness. They have made that the most important issue for the church today. The religious spirit across the world today is trying to put pressure on leaders to preach more on holiness and not sinning and it seems so virteous! But it is a demonic deception and many are blindly falling prey to the religious spirit. This morning I want to come out strong. There are some things in the Body of Christ that need to be smashed down today!

The lie that says "If you don't sin then you are holy but if you do sin then you are unholy" - that is the 10 Commandments right there! What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word "Holy". Stop sinning? If that is the first thing we think of when someone says "Be holy" then it means our minds have been programmed by the law to define what holiness is.

Holiness has got NOTHING to do with sinning or not sinning! If that is what we think, then we think WE are the cause of our holiness and I am telling you there is only ONE Person who is the cause of our holiness and His Name is Jesus Christ!


If you are in Him, then YOU ARE HOLY! You don't have to try and be holy or get holy - you ARE holy!


Hebrews 10:10 - it is amazing that this is in the Bible. "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all". You have been made holy once and for all! Now I am going to try and define what holiness is and it isn't complicated.

God was holy long before sin ever existed. In fact God's holiness could not be referenced to sin at all. Sin wasn't around! If we limit the holiness of God to the mere abscence of sin then we are limiting His awesome holiness! God's holiness is far greater than just the abscence of sin.

What is holiness then? Holiness is who God IS. God IS holy! If you are in Him and born again then you are holy!


The sin of Adam that we were all born into - we were made sinners (Romans 5 says) - and it is the sin of Adam and our state of sin that seperated us from God. Now it wasn't that sin was unholy. It was the seperation from God that was unholy.

A state of seperation from God is a state of unholiness.

Then Jesus came and offered the once-for-all sacrifice that permamently removes all of our sins and makes us blameless before the Father. He made us righteous and blameless and because of that we were able to come into God. It is the coming into God that makes us holy! People confuse holiness and blamelessness! We mustn't confuse the two. Blamelessness is the removing of our sins. Holiness is the coming into God. Let me read to you Ephesians chapter 1:4; "He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight". Blameless is us becoming righteous. Holy is us coming into God.

Now holiness is not about what you DO. It is about where you ARE. Where you ARE will affect what you DO.

So the question is; "Where are you?". If you want to understand what holiness is then you need to understand where you are. So where are you!? Ephesians 2:6 tells us; "God raised us up with Christ" - that is being born again. "And seated us with Him in heavenly realms in Christ Jesus". You are seated in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus! That is where you are! That is your heavenly position seated in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus! What else is true about this heavenly position? Ephesians 1:3; "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that is in Christ Jesus". Your heavenly position is that you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. God cannot bless you anymore in the heavenly realms - He has fully blessed you in Christ Jesus! You have received every blessing in the heavenly realms!

Your heavenly position in Christ is that you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ! Colossians 2:9, 10 says; "In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ". Other translations say "You have been made complete in Christ". That means you can't receive anymore fullness in your heavenly position in Christ! That means you have been made absolutely complete in your heavenly position in Christ! Some of you are looking like you don't believe that! You need to see where you are! We are not talking about your flesh or your soul but your spirit that has been made alive with Christ and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms! How can God be in heaven and also living inside of you? That is the glory realm! It is multi-dimensional and don't try to understand it with your mind! You have been given fullness in Christ! That means you don't have to try and achieve anymore righteousness or achieve anymore perfection. You have got 100% righteousness and 100% perfection and 100% obedience and love and faith and authority and health and riches! And 100% victory and passion and access to God all the time! That is your heavenly position in Christ!

What is your heavenly position? It is that you are seated in the heavenly realms and have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus and have been given fullness and made complete in Christ. You have been made holy and complete in Christ and that is your heavenly position!

Living holy is not about living without sin! Living holy is about living from your eternal heavenly position in Christ Jesus!

That is holy living! That is holiness! The Greek word for "holiness" is the same word for "sanctification" and it means two things. 1. Seperation or seperated or seperate. 2. The life that flows out of someone who has been seperated. So you have been seperated from your old life of sin and we are talking about what it is to become holy. It means you have been seperated from your old life of sin in Adam and you have been brought out of that and into Christ and seperated unto Christ and brought into your heavenly position in heaven. Now the life that you live flows out of that place. Or at least it has the potential to flow out of that place because if you don't see and have revelation of that place then you will live your life from this natural earthly place.

To live holy is to live from your eternal, heavenly position. To live unholy is to live from your current earthly condition. It has got nothing to do with sinning. It has got to do with position. It has got to do with where you are living from.

The truth is we live in our current condition from our eternal heavenly position. Sin is not unholiness - it is the by-product OF unholiness. Or rather it is the by-product of not living from our eternal heavenly position. If you were to live 100% from your eternal heavenly position you would never sin while in your current condition. But it is not about sinning anyway! The religious world makes it all about sinning! It is all about what you have got to do and what you have got to change! It is all about behaviour modification and it is trying to put behaviour modification on your current condition. Forget behaviour modification! Forget change!

Forget trying to change your character in your current condition and SEE your heavenly position! As you SEE your heavenly position then THAT begins to flow through your current condition!

The religious world makes holiness the most important issue. I believe holiness is the most important issue but not the way the religious world has defined it as living without sin. God wants you living holy - they say! God wants you living without sin! Actually God is not that interested - and that is not God's priority! God's priority is that you live holy - but that is living from heaven! From your eternal position! We have got to seperate the concept of sin from holiness and see heaven!

When you define holiness as living without sin, people automatically think if they stop sinning then they are holy! That gets their focus on themselves, on their flesh and on their human efforts and makes them think that not sinning is the cause of their holiness. But there is only one cause of holiness and that is Jesus Christ! And if you are in Him then you are holy forevermore!
Now to live holy is to simply live from that place where you are in Him and are seated and given fullness in Him and that is it! That will get your eyes off yourself and onto Him and who He is and who He is in you and who you are in Him. The more you see that the more that will begin to flow through here.

The more you see your position the more you begin to live from your position and the more you begin to live from your position the more you will overcome sin but greater than that the more you will see heaven coming to earth through your life and the more you will start doing the works Jesus did and greater works.

God did not leave us on earth to see how much sin we could overcome! He left us on earth to see how much heaven we could bring to earth through our lives!


The religious world says "Produce fruit!". It is actually so important and serious what I am saying this morning. God is shifting mindsets in the body of Christ and bringing down the lies that have blinded men and women for centuries and bringing them to see true holiness. How they have limited what holiness is and how they have got people involved in what God is not involved in! God is involved in seeing heaven come to earth! The more you over come sin but the more that realm breaks in through your life! At the end of our lives we are not after saying "God I didn't sin!". That's useless! We want to be able to say that we walked in all the things He had for us in this life. We want to see heaven come to earth and see this world shaken and thousands of millions saved and brought into the Kingdom. The religious world says "Produce fruit! Change!". Grace and truth says "No - get established in the love of Jesus Christ!". I believe the way we get rooted and established in the love in Jesus comes through seeing our heavenly position, seeing what He has done for us through His love in Christ and taking us up and seating us in the heavenly realms and giving us fullness. The more revelation we get and the more we see the heavenly realms - that is faith! Faith is seeing the heavenly realms! It is not about what you DO - it is by faith. Simply believing. Simply see by faith the heavenly realms.

The more you see by faith your heavenly position - then the more your current condition gets rooted in the heavenly realms and the fruit of being rooted up there will show over here! You don't even have to make it manifest. You won't be able to stop it manifesting.

The religious world tries to pull on leaves and branches to make the tree grow. Forget it! Feed the roots and the tree will grow and produce fruit! Get rooted and established in the heavenly realms and the fruit will show up in the earthly realms!

If you don't see that holiness is about living from your position and who you really are, then when you read Scriptures about holiness - you will assume all they are talking about is not sinning - when in actual fact they are trying to say that if you live from your position in the heavenly realms then you will not only overcome sin but you will see heaven coming to earth and you will see the kingdom coming to earth!

Go back and read all the holiness Scriptures! People will send me emails about this and that Scriptures and that is fine! I am for that because I believe this with conviction! Go back and read with conviction!

Bill Johnson says; "Our destiny is to go to heaven but our assignment is to bring heaven to earth!". My version of that is that; "We have already achieved our destiny because we are already seated in heavenly places and now the life we live, we live from heaven to earth bringing heaven with us!".

You could say the more you live from the heavens, the more the heavens will show up in your life. It is not bad to live from the heavens. Don't mock people who are always in the heavens and living from the heavens. You need to live more from the heavens - you need to be truly more holy! That is the appropriate way to say that! When you hear that you don't think; "Me, my, what I must do, my sin". You think, "Him and what He has done and how awesome He is". As a consequence of that faith errupts in your heart to lay hold of the things that are yours in Jesus Christ. I want to leave you with this thought.

The more you find out about your position in heaven, the more you find out about your potential on earth.

You have the potential for total victory over sin! You have the potential to walk in divine health! You have the potential to walk with God in the glory realm 24 hours a day, great wealth to finance nations, blessed with every spiritual blessing, to continuously hear the voice of God day in and day out, to raise the dead, to do the works Jesus did and all that God has planned for us to do! I don't preach on faith! I am not against faith. Some people focus on faith. Preach the thing that produces faith and you won't even have to preach on it! Same with sanctification - forget about it! Don't worry about sanctification! Focus on the things that cause sanctification! Stop trying to preach obedience and holiness but rather the things that empower it! Sanctification is not about trying to sin less and less but learning to live from hte heavenly realms more and more. It is not about trying! But seeing! Seeing who you really are! The church preaches too much about who you aren't. A sinner - filthy, disgusting! No - you need to hear who you really are! Son of God! Righteous forever! Perfect! Seated in the heavenly realms! Blessed! Made perfect! Holy! Made complete! That is your true identity!



Wednesday 14 August 2013

Premiership Predictions 2014


The new season is also upon us,

New managers in post, Moyes at United, Martinez at Everton, this list is endless.

Established managers sharpening their knives,

Owners getting ready to find an excuse for the first sacking.

And it is time for me to make a complete fool of myself

And upset most of the football world

With my Predictions for the new season.


So who will win the Premiership and who will be relegated and who will be the dark horse?

Firstly the big prize

After my correct prediction last season with Manchester United, I must admit that this season it all looks a much more even field. But I must go with my heart and chose the Special One and Chelsea as my prediction although I reckon that Manchester City will run them close.

So my top 5 is:

  1. Chelsea
  2. Manchester City
  3. Manchester United
  4. Arsenal
  5. Liverpool

And My Relegation fodder is:

  1. Crystal Palace
  2. Stoke
  3. Cardiff

Dark Horses this season are: Swansea and Aston Villa

My team Everton I predict a 10th place .

And the FA Cup team is Manchester United
League Cup team is Liverpool

Just to make it interesting in the Championship

My two teams for Automatic promotion are:

Bolton
Wigan

Playoff Champions are Q.P.R.

And who will be the first Premiership manager given the boot:
Mark Hughes at Stoke (sorry)

So there you are

Don’t get too upset

I’m very rarely right,

But it’s good for a laugh!



Friday 9 August 2013

Again


Lift my eyes towards the sky
Burst into life
Bloom
With summers light.

Slide open the door
That love inflicts
Hope
With colours patterns.

Walk down the empty road
Towards the dawn
Alive
With fostering love.

Soak the blossoming sun
On limbs that sag
Turn
With life again.

Thursday 8 August 2013

From A Park Bench - Faith in The Finished Work of Christ



Hebrews 11 – 6 - But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
My faith in the finished work of Jesus is what pleases God. The substance of faith is my positive response to all Christ has provided by grace.
I cannot please God in my human strength, by my wisdom, by my effort, by my self-righteousness, by my own understanding; I cannot live my life by trying to get God’s approval.
I have a heavenly father who is pleased with me, because when he looks at me he sees Jesus. Deep inside my spirit is the fullness of Christ and my faith releases all that is given to me by grace to overflow in my life.
Christ’s death on the cross changed everything, the Old Covenant laws and regulations were made obsolete and Christ through his death opened a new and living way to God. No longer was it all about looking forward to a day, now the day had arrived and God was fully united with man.
I have a perfect mediator between God and me, Jesus Christ and by His grace he has placed in me His faith. Grace has given me the faith of Christ. I have not obtained this by my effort, or by my doing, nor by my works, it has been placed inside me when I received Christ. Christ’s faith is a free gift, given and received by grace.
Christ lives in me, I am holy, I am righteous, I am sanctified, I am redeemed. God sees me as “In Christ”, perfect, secure and rooted in the power of the kingdom of God.
The only limitation I have on my faith is the limitation I choose to give it. God has given me all the riches and blessings of heaven, and can either accept and receive these or reject and miss out.
If I believe for nothing, I will get nothing. If I believe that God only accomplished some things at the cross, I will get some things. If I believe that God accomplished everything at the cross and that he fulfilled every promise God has given, I will start to see that evidence in my life, by grace, through his spirit. It may not be instant, it may take time, it may be little by little, but God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.
Grace is ‘God riches at Christ’s expense’, faith is my positive response to grace. Pleasing God comes effortlessly as I am overwhelmed and praise him for everything that he won for me at the cross.

Wednesday 7 August 2013

The Fear of God in the New Covenant by Ryan Rufus




The Fear of God in the New Covenant by Ryan Rufus

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy1:7)

We need to keep this scripture in mind when we talk about the fear of God. God doesn’t want us to have a fearfulness of Him. Our relationship with Him, and consequently our relationship toward others, is one of power (God’s empowerment), love (God’s love) and a sound mind (a supernatural sound mind).

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because He first loved us.” (1John 4:15-19)

According to this scripture it is wrong to fear God’s judgments! If we fear God’s judgments it means we don’t understand His love!

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Let us have grace to serve God acceptably. What’s acceptably? It’s faith! It takes faith to acknowledge who He is. A reverence and a godly fear is about seeing God – the magnitude of His being and ascribing that greatness to His name. It’s not taking the greatness for yourself and it’s not playing down who God is. That would be the opposite of grace – i.e., self righteousness.

The fear of God that the Self Righteous have is that God will judge them for not being righteous enough. The fear of God that the Christ-righteous have is that God has qualified them to share in the Kingdom and that He is on their side and they therefore cannot be shaken or moved and that this awesome God will judge their enemies with fire! It’s not saying let us serve God because if you don’t He will judge you with fire, but let’s not be afraid to serve God because God is on our side and will judge our enemies!

The context of Hebrews 12 is that the saints were being persecuted for their faith and feeling like giving up because the opposition was too much. But the writer is saying, see who God is, how great He is, that He is on your side, that you’re in an unshakable kingdom, that your God is a consuming fire.

You’ve got God and heaven for you, backing you! When you see that, you will have the boldness to serve God the way that He has called you to serve Him – with boldness and confidence in His grace and power and authority. To see this is to “fear God.” To not see this is to have no “fear of God.”

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Scenes From The Park - Time to Go.





“Olivia we’re going home”
“Olivia don’t run”
“Olivia”
“Olivia”
“Don’t go in the water!”

Laugh with pure enjoyment
Scream as the water falls.

“Olivia walk”
“Olivia be careful”
“Olivia”
“Olivia”
“Come over here!”

Time to go, the fun as ended,
Just one more scream at my friends.

“Olivia!”

A voice from the park bench.

Monday 5 August 2013

Scenes From The Park - My Dani



Danielle, Danielle, I hear them
Call your name
The girl that will play with anyone.
She runs through the water jets,
Jumps in cascading fountains,
Helps little ones,
Cares for the wounded
With words and touch
She is a friend to everyone.

So much fun, so full
Of love and laughter
Is never still,
Loves to take control.

So we hear your name
Shouted above the screams
And the laughter.

Sunday 4 August 2013

99 Years Ago Today - 4th August 1914





The 4th August 1914 was the outbreak of the First World War, 99 years ago to the day, This report of the start of the war comes from Walter Hines Page an American journalist, publisher, and diplomat. He was the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom during World War I.

“Then came the declaration of war, most dramatically. Tuesday night, five minutes after the ultimatum had expired, the Admiralty telegraphed to the fleet "Go." In a few minutes the answer came back "Off." Soldiers began to march through the city going to the railway stations. An indescribable crowd so blocked the streets about the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Foreign Office, that at one o'clock in the morning I had to drive in my car by other streets to get home.

The next day the German Embassy was turned over to me. I went to see the German Ambassador at three o'clock in the after-noon. He came down in his pyjamas, a crazy man. I feared he might literally go mad. He is of the anti-war party and he had done his best and utterly failed. This interview was one of the most pathetic experiences of my life. The poor man had not slept for several nights. Then came the crowds of frightened Germans, afraid that they would be arrested. They besieged the German Embassy and our Embassy. I put one of our naval officers in the German Embassy, put the United States seal on the door to protect it, and we began business there, too. Our naval officer has moved in—sleeps there. He has an assistant, a stenographer, a messenger: and I gave him the German automobile and chauffeur and two English servants that were left there.

All London has been awake for a week. Soldiers are marching day and night; immense throngs block the streets about the government offices. But they are all very orderly. Every day Germans are arrested on suspicion; and several of them have committed suicide. Yesterday one poor American woman yielded to the excitement and cut her throat. I find it hard to get about much. People stop me on the street, follow me to luncheon, grab me as I come out of any committee meeting— to know my opinion of this or that—how can they get home? Will such-and-such a boat fly the American flag? Why did I take the German Embassy? I have to fight my way about and rush to an automobile. I have had to buy me a second one to keep up the racket. Buy?—no— only bargain for it, for I have not any money. But everybody is considerate, and that makes no matter for the moment.


I shall never forget Sir Edward Grey's telling me of the ultimatum —while he wept; nor the poor German Ambassador who has lost in his high game—almost a demented man; nor the King as he declaimed at me for half an hour and threw up his hands and said, "My God, Mr. Page, what else could we do?" Nor the Austrian Ambassador's wringing his hands and weeping and crying out, "My dear Colleague, my dear Colleague."

Saturday 3 August 2013

Scenes From The Park - Aqua Princess




Run, race, rush,
Just where do you think you can hide?

Running away from friends, playmates,
Through squirting fountains and splashing jets,
Trapped by your desire not to be caught,
Here, there and everywhere.

I think I know what you want,
Aqua princess, life is so much fun,
You’re a star.

Friday 2 August 2013

Scenes From The Park - Joy


Joy comes from the smallest things;
Water from a fountain
The excitement of the chase
Splashing
Immersed by cascading water
Sharing experience
Together with a friend

A reassuring smile
Comforting touch
Friendly words

Unconditional love
Dispels condemnation
Breaks the power of separation
Heals wounds
Breathes hope
Emanates life.

Thursday 1 August 2013

Scenes From The Park - Friendship



They sat on a park bench, ate ice-creams, talked
Ready to set the world right
And with each other formed a friendship
Saying all that was wonderful
Is made perfect in friendship.

The words of consolation were whispered
To a friend, given in revelation, shared,
Listening to a voice without condemnation
And held beneath the summoned breath
Back to the heart, no more rejection,
Just tears wept at the loss.

They used to sit and listen to the sound of laughter
When days were long, nothing measured, infinite,
Now they wait for the hidden treasure
To form the name, they wait for the call,
Once before they glimpsed the future,
They had been there before and knew it all.