Rainbow

Wow, just saw an awesome Rainbow in the evening light. (not this one)As a Christian Engineer I look at Rainbows in two ways, How and Why.

The boring Engineery bit is just all physics and I won't bore you with that. All that is to say is that everyone is actually looking at a different rainbow. Light diffraction in all directions from each drop of rain... sorry, I'm rambling.
I was so impressed with my own personal Rainbow. The creation astounds me and the beauty humbles me.

The more exciting Christianity side is the why. Noah's promise given by God, not to flood the earth again. Each new Rainbow is individual and special to each and everyone of us. I find this signifies that I have a personal promise from God, one that will not fail. I think apon all God's other promises and marvel at his ingenious puzzle of time and relationships.
I am reading a book called "God's Big Picture" detailing how God is in control, and the development of his promises and expressions of love for his people. Exciting stuff seeing how God never gave up on us but has always foretold the next step of his plan before it happens.

Our God is a Good God of steadfast promises.
Woop for Heaven!

Punishment of Sin

I have been thinking this evening about my salvation and forgiveness and feel prompted to share my thoughts on the eternal suffering of those who don't know Jesus' Saving Grace.
Before I commit to writting this, I want to remind you that these are purely my ponderings and thoughts and I share them in the expectation that any idea's I explain or challenge should be investigated on a personal and wider level rather than just taking my words as gospel.

"Your Going to Hell to Pay for your Sin" is what is shouted on some street corners. This harsh reality is often not treated sensitively and with respect and perspective. The one and only God of the Christian Faith is good and has created a world full of beauty and wonder into which he placed us all to responsably look after and worship him in.
We Failed.
From the first Humans Adam and Eve to you and I today, we have all fallen short of God's standards by abusing this creation and Sinning. Sin doesn't go without a cost. We can't get away with the abuse and disregard we have given to Gods creation. Everything we do in Sinning is added to our Debt of sin that grows and becomes too big for us to pay back. We become helpless.
Before I speak of the amazing Grace and Love that God has to save us from this hopeless misery and pain, I want to share my thoughts on why Hell is eternal.

One arguement for Hell is that it exists to act as a punishment until you have payed off what you have sinned then you can go to heaven after that.
My arguement is that, if someone was in Hell for 1 million years and then was put back on Earth, due to the sinful human nature inhearant from birth and even the anger at God for putting them in Hell, they would sin again and again.

Salvation is not just saving us from the sins of the past but of the future, knowing our sinful nature that cannot be changed, God has promised to wipe clean all our sins when we call apon the name of Jesus who died to break through this massive debt. Jesus Christ died on the Cross not just to save us from the punishment of our sin but to free us from the attitude that binds us to keep doing it. We are made rightious and holy so that we can approach God in heaven blameless without shame. Eternal life is a place where we are made pure, not that we make ourselves pure.
It was the revelation of our sinful nature and how part punishment in Hell would not suffice that I really wanted to share. Please feel free to comment on this and add your views.

Jesus, No Money and Me

I have been meaning to share this for a while. I was really humbled a few weeks ago through an act of fraud in my bank account. My Bank Card details were comprimised and various amounts were spent from my account (still unsure how much). This all kicked off on Feb 14th (Valentines day) trying to pay for my romantic evening with my amazing girlfriend. Anyway after ringing the bank on Sunday afternoon (shortly after Sean from RFC's second session on Jesus, Money and Me) and me finding out that my card was no longer usable, I was given an amazing week.
The freedom of not being able to spend any money for a week was liberating. I felt completly safe in Gods hands knowing that it was him who I would be relying on a lot more that week. Feeling free from the worries of spending and buying gave me a great chance to re-evaluate my attitude to my money and to praise God for the blessing of the Money and the attitude that I had towards it.
Now, with a new shiny card and an attitude set on using Gods financial blessings in a way that will bring Glory to him, I am ready to face a world of materialism and commercialism.
Trust me, a week without access to your money is liberating. If anyone feels like giving it a go, do put your card down and, only where approriate, try living from Gods pocket for a while.

It'll all be over soon.

From Wessex Small Group bible study tonight I was challenged to think about the last few days of Jesus' life from looking at Philippians chapter 2 v5-v11. the main thing I was thinking about is at the end of verse 8- "He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death- even death on a cross!". The TNIV Translation and several others puts a "!" at the end of this. I was pondering over this and now understand that death on a cross was so much more than any other death.

As Jesus gets closer to his death his human experiences are drawn to a climax, from a righteous man with a strong network of friends and followers he quickly descends to a broken lonely man who is deserted by his followers and is alone. Imagining being Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane; the quiet of the evening, his mind racing with the knowledge of what is to come, the stress of the responsibility. With his followers nearby but still unmotivated to the cause he must die for, he prays to his father. Prayer like no other; blood in his sweat, desperate and scared he pleads for another option but knows his responsibility. We see a Jesus to whom "Death on a Cross!" is more than just words on a page.
Following this we see all of Jesus' Followers scatter, betray and deny him. Even God the Father stands back and watches knowing that his intervention would change the meaning of the Sons Death. Alone he is put under false trial and stands facing the anger of the Jewish leaders. Alone He is condemned by those who worshiped his arrival to Jerusalem. Alone he is lead away and beaten to near death. Alone he is mocked by hundreds of Roman Soldiers. Alone he is led to his Execution. Alone he is raised up on the Cross to spend 3 hours hanging by his wrists. Alone he asks God to forgive those who have done this to him.
Obedience is given a whole new meaning. Alone, who is Jesus obedient to? The only hope and motivation for this Obedience is found in the title of this Post "It'll all be over soon". The words "It is Finished" means a lot for us and Jesus. after all this suffering Jesus breathes his last and restores our relationship with God. It seems a simple thing but looking back over what Jesus has been through is was not as simple. Why did he do it? Looking back at the passage in V11 "To the Glory of God the Father".

I suppose in this season of the start of Lent (Shrove Tuesday Evening/Ash Wednesday Morning) thinking about Easter is fitting, but I feel that this year my understanding and worship for the Cross will be drawn from my broken heart, in the knowledge of what Jesus went through. As I see from this passage how God himself was willing to step down into the sinful world and become a servant and king for all. A living sacrifice that we can connect to through his Fully Human Life. I have yet to watch "The Passion of the Christ" as I plan to do so at the end of term in March, but I already know it will affect me and my attitudes to the cross.

My Challenge to you is to look over Jesus' Life and the lead up to his Death and to connect with this man. He is not a distant Myth or Legend. He was alive 2000 years ago and experienced life and its troubles in the same way we do. Dig into who Jesus really was in this lead up to Easter.

20 years of me!

I have run a bit dry in stuff to write about today so I though I would take a Blog to explain who and am and where I have come from.
Nicknamed "Wight Boy" by Milly's (my girlfriend) Uncle, I am an Isle of Wight homeboy as I have lived there for 15 years. I live there when I am not at Uni with my Christian Family: Mum, Dad and 3 sisters. I have often made comments about trying to live as a guy while having 3 sisters but in all honesty I wouldn't have it any other way. They are all awesome. I have been so blessed by God in my Family and the relationships that it hold for me. I thank him for giving me a 2 parent family as no longer seems the norm. My Dad is a Minister at the URC (United Reformed Church) in my hometown Shanklin and has been a great support as both a Dad and as a minister. Many people ask me if I would have ever become a Christian without my Parents being Christians and to be honest I will never know and never have an answer. It is by Gods grace that I am now with him in his rightiousness and I see that he has provided all the steps of my faith journey that I can now look back on.
Home for me seems to be drifting slowly away from the Island. The independance that living in a house at Uni offers along with an amazing Girlfriend to spend alot of time with means that I often think that I have moved out of home already. Don't get me wrong, IOW Home is my true Base and I can't wait to get back there, but I often think about how distant I may have become from my Family at home.
I was originally Born in Camden, London- the product of a 48 hour labour for my poor Mum!
After a year or so, we (2 sisters at this point) moved to Histon, Cambridge where Dad trained as a URC minister. I have very few memorys of this place and still concider the Isle of Wight where I "Grew up". at the age of 5 I moved (not alone you'll be glad) off the "Mainland" to the Island when the position of Minister at SURC (Shanklin URC) came up. What an amazing place to grow up. not a small place in terms of people and stuff, but still sheltered from alot of "Mainland" growth. The sea and Inland countryside was an amazing blessing and I found alot of my most vivid Prayer and Worship times were on the beach in the evenings in the quiet.

Anyway, as I write this, Earley, Reading is my home. I live with 5 other guys most of whom I lived with in Halls last year. As a house we are a tight knit group of Christians who are supporting and loving in the day to day lives. A weird bunch none the less but a real blessing to live with.

I shall leave it there in terms of my travels around the UK but urge you to think over your own background and see where you can give thanks for Gods provision and blessings.

Global Faiths

2nd day of posting and I still have stuff to add.
I had a meeting this Lunchtime with members of the CU, Students Union, University staff and representatives of other faiths on campus. I was really challenged by the passion that representatives of the other faiths had about their meetings and needs as a group. I find myself wondering about other faiths and how I can best use my time to learn and connect with other faiths in a meaningful and glorifying way. I would love to study other faiths as an academic activity but find that I must search deeper to see where God could use my understanding of other religions to further his work on the campus.
I have a lot of respect for other religious groups who devote much more of their time to their beliefs than perhaps I do. The discipline that they hold to, shows me how I could and should devote more of my time and efforts to seeking Gods calling. I don't mean to say that I need to force myself to put more time in, but that I should change my heart attitude to one that is willing to put God more central in all area's of my life.
As an aside, studying Paul's letter to the Philippians in the Bible, tonight; We were discussing grace and the attitudes we have in prayer for those who we know and love and how we can grow in our righteousness that God has blessed us in and that we are in fact the fruit of righteousness as well as the sower of seeds to grow more righteous people through sharing the gospel. Jesus' Gospel is good, as I was discussing with my girlfriend Milly tonight, and we are blessed to have such a graceful redeemer that frees us from the oppression of living lives trying to make ourselves good enough.
Freedom is Christ needs to be offered to all. Jesus commands his followers to reach the Jews and the Gentiles. for us that means reaching other faiths as well as atheists.

A final note to say that I heard of another person giving their life to God this weekend. Exciting news for any Tuesday!.

1st of many

Monday seems a good enough day to start a blog.
never done it before, never given it much thought until I browsed other peoples blogs today and realised the amount of stuff that goes around in my head that others could benefit from.
I suppose I should start with an intro about myself but I would rather just get rambling and let you know about me as I share.

I am currently looking through the book of Job in the OT (Old Testament) and have found great comfort in seeing how Job relates to his "so called mates" in their criticism of his status. they throw a lot of good arguments at Job about gods judgement and Jobs inadequacy, but Job remains true and faithful to knowing that he can seek god in a righteous and holy way. An OT guy showing us how we can relate to god before JC (Jesus Christ) has even made his big entrance.
At the Christian Union Prayer Breakfast this morning I got a glimpse of Job later in the book where he finds God and they converse about Job and righteousness. I am looking forward to seeing this develop in Job, in how he remains strong in the presence of the almighty.

Anyway, I'll share more about Job as I read more over the weeks, but I really connected with Him in particular this week(end). At RFC (Reading Family Church) Sean Green was sharing about "Jesus, Money and Me". Looking at this topic and seeing Gods blessings in the life he has given me so far gave me a sense of relation to Job in the blessings that God gave him.
I was thinking about this today, how I have a kinda pre-Job (book of) blessed life.

It was particularly memorable this evening when I was getting sorted to go out to the Reading University Symphony Orchestra. I was stood on the edge of campus waiting for a Taxi that had left without me, in the pouring rain (makes a change I suppose), a bit hungry as I hadn't eaten yet, thinking "I will just pack it in, go home and rest instead". But it was then that I was reminded of Job and his situation. I only had a small Job moment but it was enough to wake me up. I phoned the Taxi to come back and get me and enjoyed a great evening of playing and socialising, all capped off with a great chat in the Taxi on the way home about the CU's (Christian Union) Events week, with my NC (Non Christian) Friends. I even got a Free Gospel to one of them. I now see how God used this evening in a way that staying at home would have accomplished nothing.
I fully submit to this God of Job and am looking forward to the challenges He gives me. (Unlikely to get the full Job treatment).

I will leave it there for today but hope to Blog regularly as I get inspiration.