Friday 11 March 2011
Sledging on binbags
Me and my mum went to this really steep hill place with our sledge.
We had this sledge from when we used to live in Sandhurst. My mum used to pull us to nursery in it.
But because it rarely snows in Weymouth, not many people have sledges.
We live by the sea, so you're more likely to have surfboards, kayaks and rubber rings than sledges and snow-appropriate-shoes.
British ingenuity never fails.
We saw people 'sledging' down that hill on their surfboards, kayaks and rubber rings ... bin bags ... tea trays ... pieces of cardboard ...
Judges 6:7
When the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian
The Israelite people were oppressed by the Midianites. They cried out to God for help.
God answered. He helped them.
God's priority is our relationship with him.
He can and will use any situation to draw us closer to him.
If we allow him, trust him, call out to him.
Using a bin bag as a sledge doesn't make it less of a bin bag.
More importantly - you aren't to blame for the rubbish that it was intended to carry.
God using bad situations for good doesn't devalue, overlook, forget the pain of those situations.
And it doesn't make him to blame for them.
He turns our sorrow to joy.
He embraces us in our sadness.
He teaches us how to dance again.
He guides us to use our bin bags to fly down hills.
Romans 8:28
God works all things together for the good of those who love him and and have been called by him.
Wednesday 9 March 2011
There's trouble for all when there's trouble for one
Last year for my colleague Peter's birthday Jenny, Mary and I concocted a cunning plan: we told him we were going to do an assembly - planned and practised it - then actually went to London for the day! Took about an hour driving up the motorway for him to figure it out!
We spent the day hanging round London and then went to see Les Miserables in the evening. Such a good day!
I love Les Miserables. I love how it shows the redemptive power of God. My Dad advised me not to watch it - 'it's really depressing. Everyone dies!'. I just love it though - hope, dreams, love, passion, forgiveness, self sacrifice.
There's an interesting line in 'At The End Of Day'. The workers are ganging up on one of the characters, Fantine, to get her kicked out. She has a secret child, and they're saying that she is immoral.
They sing:
At the end of the day
She'll be nothing but trouble
And there's trouble for all
When there's trouble for one!
Joshua 'followed the Lord wholeheartedly', and yet he wandered the wilderness for 40 years because of the actions of the community he was part of.
The people on the boat with Jonah weren't trying to avoid God like he was, but they would still be in the boat if it went down.
Is trouble for one trouble for all?
Are the consequences of sin ever individual?
Who do my mistakes affect, and to what extent?
Is the opposite true too - there's blessings for all when there's blessings for one?
'Halakhah' is the word for the collection of Jewish laws. There are 613 mitzvot - biblical laws - and I've heard that it was physically impossible for any one person to fulfil all of these laws. It was only possible as a community.
Man was not made to be alone.
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God, remind me of the responsibility my life carries. I'm glad you are into community. Help me to be into it too.
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Jesus is not saving us from God
Today I was thinking a bit about hell (cheery!) as the Rob Bell book drama came to my attention.
Rob Bell said that we've got this idea that Jesus is rescuing us from God.
Hebrews 7:25 He lives forever to plead with God on our behalf
Does God like us? Does he want us to be saved? I know it's a yes - but why do I know that? Is it one of those things I've heard so many times I think it's in the bible but actually it's not?!
1 Timothy 2:2-4 Pray for all people. This is good and pleases God our father, who wants all people to be saved and know the truth.
'wants' translates as Θέλω or 'thelo' in Greek, meaning:
1) to will, have in mind, intend
-> to be resolved or determined, to purpose
-> to desire, to wish
-> to love
-> to take delight in, have pleasure
Apparently it's a 'present active indicative' word.
"The indicative mood is a simple statement of fact. It is an action that has occurred or is occurring or will occur."
I found various occasions where it has been translated as 'wants' (e.g. Matthew 27:43, 1 Sam 8:19) and various occasions where it has been translated as 'will' (e.g. Romans 9:15, Matthew 9:13, Micah 7:19).
- Is what God wants the same as what will be?
- Sometimes things are different to the way God wants them
- I don't know if God fully controls earth (because he's given us free will) but does he fully control eternity?
I don't understand all this but I know God's heart ... His love for me ... His love for people.
The aim of my life is to get to know Him and his heart more and more.
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