Patience

For those that know me they will know that patience is not one of my strengths. I am often living tomorrow at the expense of today, always feeling life should be happening quicker and speedier that what it is. This can be very frustrating at times! Often these feelings come from a place of insecurity and lack of trust. Our thinking will go like this..."if it doesn’t happen now I’m going to miss out". This thinking implies life does not have an ultimate purpose or plan. Contradictory to my previous confession I believe that my life has a plan and for that matter an ultimate purpose. The psychologist Viktor Frankl said "Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life. Everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfilment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity to implement it" We need to trust this absolute truth and stop feeling we are in a race against the rest of the world....the only person we are truly racing is ourself. Andy

Make it count

Too many times we hear great stuff but then do absolutely nothing with it. The past few months have been an 'interesting' time for me. In fact it has probably been the toughest 6 months I have gone through. I feel I am now emerging from the other side. Certainly not the same but equally still unsure as to who I am or indeed who I want to be! I am ok with that though and feel sure over time I will find what I need (all sounds very ambiguous I know) but hey this is where I am! Life is simple but at the same time incredibly complicated, challenging and easy, fun and hard work, joyful and sorrowful.....contradictions all the way today!! But one thing I know is that it has to mean and count for something. Whatever that something is. I can’t drift through life and think when I come to the end of my days what have I done, what was it all about. My / your life has to count for something. Andy

Blossom

Blossom symbolises the start of new life. Spring has finally arrived when we begin to see it.
At this Easter time, as we look around and see the blossom think about what Easter is about.

Jesus came so that we could exchange certain death for eternal life.

God willingly let His only son die. Think about this for a second. You willingly let men take your perfect, innocent son. Whip him to an inch of his life, beat him then nail him to a cross, one of the most barbaric deaths imaginable.

Imagine you are standing by, knowing that in the fraction of a second you could stop it with not so much as a nod of your head. Legions of angels would descend and utterly destroy those who were murdering your son.

But you don't, you let it happen. You stand and watch!

Finally at your son’s most agonising moment you turn your back and walk away. At his absolute moment of need you do not heed his cry....Father...Father ...why have you left me??!!

When people say that God does not love the world we need to remind ourselves of this true story.

Next time you see the blossom think of what the Father and Son went through willingly for you and me.

Have a blessed Easter.

Andy

Book of Brilliant Things!

The above is a title of a great Simple Minds song from their album 'Sparkle in the Rain', released in 1984.

One of the lines declares 'I open up, I take a look, into the bright and shiny...book of brilliant things.

For me ...and maybe this is totally inaccurate ...I have always thought this to be about the Bible. For me it is a as the title says a Book of Brilliant things.

I have over the past couple of months resurrected a mostly daily habit of reading the bible. The plan I am following gets you to read the Bible in a year but it is more than that.

About 3 years ago I read a book entitled 'The Divine Mentor' ...this book encourages you to follow the SOAP process. In a daily journal you then pick and write out a single verse from the 3/4 chapters you read, hence the S. You then make / write an observation about the verse (O). You then write out an application (A) of that verse and finally you write out a prayer of how you make that application (P) = SOAP!

This daily process has, as the book declares become my mentor. I have gained so much from doing this. It has helped me, counseled me, supported me and guided me through some tough times.

The Bible is indeed a Brilliant Thing. Probably the most underused resource we have. Dust it down and as the lyric says ‘open it up’ and ‘take a look!’

Andy

One of those nights!

Unfortunately it's one of those nights when I can't sleep. I went to bed feeling tired, with all the best intentions of sleeping but found myself in one of those strange quandaries where the more I tried to sleep the more awake I felt.

So I have ended up coming downstairs and blogging!

Its 2.25am....there is a solitary bird singing outside...early dawn chorus...a (police?)helicopter has been circling above for what seems hours...and my mind has suddenly gone into overdrive.

It's strange how sometimes these moments bring about a clarity of thinking that rarely comes in the daytime. Suddenly things slot into order and find there place. Or thinking can go to the other extreme....chaos reigns....nothing makes sense!!

Tonight, aka this early morning, things make sense....in fact a new business idea I have thinking through is suddenly taking a clear shape. Why?? Don’t know ...but sometimes we have to take hold of the moment or opportunity when we can.

Anyway I have now put the TV on in the hope that the rerun of a past Holby City episode (that looks remarkably like am 80's pop video!!) will do enough to send me off to sleep....or maybe more thinking ....who indeed knows??

Andy

Sacred

Last Saturday we (EQUIP) held our second in a series of six meetings entitled Restore in Bristol.

We have now been holding these meeting for 12 months and have had some great times of praise and worship and ministry. But this Saturday was something else.

I have not felt God's presence like I did on Saturday for many years. I am sure there are many reasons for this. But one particular aspect which I know played a significant part was my reading of Exodus and Leviticus over the previous weeks.

What the Children of Israel had to do to maintain relationship, forgiveness and righteousness with and before God was extraordinary. This has led me to appreciate, value and cherish so much more what Jesus did on my and our behalf. Making a way to restore our relationship with the Father.

But I also realise how much more sacred this relationship is. When we read and understand about the acts of sacrifice and ceremony in the Tabernacle we can gain a new understanding of the holiness and glory of God

Today God desires a deeper, more intimate relationship with you and me more than we will ever truly understand. Sacred indeed.

Andy

Grace Under Pressure

I am just watching a programme on BBC 2 re the nuclear disaster that followed the Japanese Tsunami in March last year.

Two things are clear....how close Japan and the wider world came to a catastrophic nuclear disaster, but far more amazing is the countless stories of bravery and selflessness demonstrated by soldiers and workers of the nuclear plant.

Their acts no doubt saved thousands of lives with little regard for their own.

The sense of duty they displayed was and is inspiring, but also with quiet dignity and resolve they simply got on with their jobs.....grace under pressure indeed!

Andy

Restore...Pt. 2!

This Saturday (18th) is our second Restore meeting in Bristol at Broadmead Baptist (see flyer opposite.)

I have recently been reading through Exodus and was once again amazed at the relationship God had with Moses, probably more than at any time before.

I have been particularly drawn to the following verses in Exodus 33: 12 - 19....you can feel the relationship they have by the nature of the dialogue. God and Moses have this simple conversation about something so profound...His presence

Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”17 So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”18 And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

I believe this Saturday God wants to restore / pour out a measure of His Presence / Glory that we have not felt or seen for some time.

I have often quoted the promises of God to Joshua in Joshua 1: 3....every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon I have given you.....but the groundwork, foundation for this promise was founded many years earlier in Joshua’s attitude in one of the verses prior to Exodus 33: 12 – 19.

This is what it says in Exodus 33: 10.... So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

Joshua wanted to be where God was...he saw what Moses had and wanted the same. A question for us all is are we as passionate for God, the Father, that type of relationship, to desire His presence like Joshua did?

I hope you can join us Saturday...Blessings!

Andy

Friend

I was reading the other day about Moses relationship with God. It was a very simple verse in Exodus 33: 11 which says and the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.

I love this verse as it emphasises the relationship that Moses had with God.

I honestly believe that God valued the relationship as much as Moses did. Man was created by God for relationship. God still wants relationship with you and me.

Jesus came to earth so that relationship with the Father could be restored.

We often view God as distant and remote. But in this verse we see a very personal side to God. I can just imagine them sitting in the Tabernacle (tent) of meeting. In effect God and Moses were camping!!

I have very fond memories of camping out in my parents back garden with my friends. It was one of the first times I had any sort of freedom. We were able to stay up much later than usual, laughing, joking messing about. Mostly though we just talked and talked for hours. About anything, some funny, some serious and some absolute nonsense.

Maybe it was the same for God and Moses.

God loves each one of us with a passion. He so wants to get to know you and me, to spend time as friends do, just talking, camping even!

Andy

Foundations

Without the right foundation a building will be unstable and at worst collapse.

This is especially true if the building is in an earthquake zone. We have seen the drastic effects of not building the right foundation in Tahiti when the magnitude 7 quake in 2010 killed an estimated 316,000 people.

Compare this figure to the 2011 Japanese quake. A magnitude 9 (significantly more powerful), killed a estimated 1000 people. Although a further estimated 17,000 were killed by the tsunami that followed.

These horrific facts outline the importance of the right foundations. With them we can withstand what will be thrown at us. Without them we have no chance!

This fact is highlighted by parable in the Bible of the man who built his house on the sand vs the man who built his house on the rock - aka Jesus!(Mat 7: 24 - 29).

The ‘sand man’ is referred to as foolish, whilst the ‘rock man’ is referred to as wise.

Life is not always a sunny day! At times the winds blow and the rains will fall. It’s good to have a solid foundation which we know will never fail.

Andy

Faithful

Today we signed for the purchase of a business. The business is a clinic / treatment centre for people suffering with addiction and other issues.

In a sense today is the fulfilment of what we believe God spoke to us some 25 years ago.

Sometimes we wonder where God is at times but he is always present. Sometimes His presence is manifest (obvious) other times it is hidden.

Wherever you feel you are at the moment, stay true to the course; be faithful…. because God always is.

Andy

Granddad

My Granddad from my mom's side, died in 1998. Often there will be moments when I will suddenly remember him, some of the funny things he did and said.

Two memories spring to mind. One is from a Sunday afternoon. Nan and Granddad were round for tea and there was a jar of beetroot with a suction lid. Granddad decided to pick up the jar by the lid....suction was lost...beetroot all over the cream carpet....my dad shouting at Granddad....Granddad apologising profusely....me laughing....carpet never to recover!!

My second memory was one I was told. It was a frosty morning and Granddad took a bowl of warm water to throw down the path to melt the ice. Just as he was about to throw the water he slipped throwing the water all over himself, soaking and shocking himself in one go! I still laugh now as I think about it.

As much as Granddad mad us laugh he was a also a Sunday School teacher in the church I grew up in. He was everyones favourite teacher. He made the bible come alive, with fun, humour but always getting the point across. He was loved by all us children.

I like to think that I am now living out part of the legacy he planted in me.

Today once again I miss him. I miss our times together, our chats, his unconditional love and encouragement.

I know one day I will see him again. Here's to all the Granddads in the world. I thank God for mine.

Andy

More!

Whether we realise it or not we are all looking of a touch from something that is greater than ourselves, a touch of the divine even.

Life needs to be more than a 9 to 5 existence. More than a survival of each day. There is more to life than merely existening.

We can find the divine many ways. Maybe it is gazing at the night sky, looking in wonder at the oceans or the mountains or listening to a piece of music that transports us to another place and time.

One of my most memorable experiences was, last year, flying over Africa above a spectacular lightning storm. Seeing the sky light up with the flashes of lightning was something I will never forget.

There is so much more to this life than work, eating and sleeping.

We don't know how long we have with this life. It is a gift that we should squeeze out every last drop and ounce that we can.

God wants to be part of your life, all parts. Not just to instruct and guide but to show us all that he has created. For us to enjoy and to experience. To soar and not to trudge. To drink ourselves full of all that He offers!

The Bible says this about Jesus. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

Make a decision to live and not just get by. You owe that to yourself.

Andy

Authentic

One definition of authentic describes it as conforming to fact and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief.

Our lives should be lived authentically. The world is crying out for authenticity.
We are all looking for that which we can trust, rely on and believe.

Quite simply there has only ever been one person who has truly walked and lived that type of life. Jesus.

The reason why Jesus is still talked about today is because He was authentic. Authenticity lasts the course. You cannot always tell whether something is authentic immediately but eventually over time it becomes obvious!

We are often told in this modern world that we should not conform that we can be who we want to be, but conforming to that which is worthy of trust, reliance and belief is surely worth a go. The world needs it now more than ever.

Andy

5 Stones...not a blog about Mick and his friends!

In 1 Sam 17: 40 we read the story of David and Goliath which says David took his shepherds staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherds bag.

As we know from this and other stories David was a great warrior. He was not afraid of a fight and led from the front. He was such a great warrior that he was able to lead ‘the mighty men’ referred to in the Bible in 2 Samuel 23. These were men who defied the odds in many battles.

God has given five main ministry offices to the church. The Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Evangelist and Pastor. All these offices can carry with them power and authority.

For me the five stones are symbolic of the five ministry offices that God has given to the church. But I have noted where the stones were carried before they accomplished their task of defeating Goliath. They were carried in David’s shepherds bag.

We need all of the five ministry offices operating in our churches, ministries and lives. But unless they are carried and held in the shepherds anointing they can at best be less effective and worst harmful.

We all need the heart of the shepherd, more so for leaders, in all that we do. So what is the heart of the shepherd?

Ultimately, as Jesus himself demonstrated, it is about putting others first, putting yourself in the way of the enemy for others sakes. Shepherds (in the east) at night would often put their sheep in a walled compound. This compound had a single gap through which the sheep would pass but there was no gate. At night the shepherd himself would block the gap. If any wild animal tried to get to the sheep they would first have to go through the shepherd!

For those of us in leadership and ministry we need to have the same heart and attitude in all that we do, especially in our dealings with people.

Andy

Grace

Heard this great description of grace the other week which was simply this....if you did nothing to deserve it what can you do to lose it!

We need to hear these words and stop judging ourselves .....dust yourself down, pick yourself up and forgive yourself just as God has forgiven you.

I will leave the final words to the Bible from the Message translation....So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own."
4-5If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift. (Romans 4:1-5)

Andy

Decision or Reaction?

Too much of life can be based on a reaction and not a decision.

Often we let the circumstances of the day define our day. We all know that there will be days when things happen beyond our control and influence and we just have to roll with it. But often there are days where we let life happen to us as opposed to deciding what our life will be.

There are countless sayings about preparation and the positive effect preparation can have on our everyday lives. The problem with preparation is that it takes...well ….preparation! It takes time, often time we don't feel we have.

This is where we need to take the long view and not the short view. I am sure we all have areas of our lives where we desire to see change. Often that change can be painful leading us at times to give up on the process of change. We need to take the long view. Move from a reaction (to the pain of change) to a decision.

This is where time travel comes in. Take yourself five years into the future. How will you feel if your life is still the same? The change you so desired five years ago still hasn't happened. Regret then becomes your constant companion. Now travel back.

Remember the regret. Use the power of that regret to bring about the change, to keep taking the long view as opposed to the short view. Before long you will realise that change has happened. You are no longer just reacting to life but deciding your life.

Have a decision filled day!

Andy

Restore

Its time for you to receive the full Restoration that God has for you.

This Saturday we (Equip) will be holding the first of 6 monthly meetings (see flyer) at Broadmead Baptist right in the heart of Bristol city centre.

Thee meetings are based on the scripture in Joel 2: 25 that states God will restore us all that the enemy has stolen from us.

Specifically this Saturday we will be focusing on what we need to do in order to receive this Restoration.

In Genesis 26 we read of the story of Isaac and the wells of his Father Abraham. Isaac keeps finding that the Philistines have filled in Abraham's wells as they quarrel with him over the land, which God had promised.

After numerous disputes with the Philistines they find a well and settle but the well still has to be dug out.

This represents many of our lives at this time. We know the promises of God but we do not yet possess them fully in our lives. We need to dig them out! Hard, back breaking work. It needs to be done for us to fulfill the promise of God in our lives!

How do we do this? It will be different things for different people but starts with the words of Paul in 1 Timothy 1: 18 that we use the prophecies given to us through which we wage a good warfare or if you prefer ....to dig out the promises and possess them.

This Saturday come along and begin the process of Restoration for all that God has for you, it would be great to see you.

Andrew

New day...New You?

We are all carriers of all that has happened to us, good or bad. It has shaped us, defined us, made us who were are. Whether this has produced desirable or not so desirable characteristics, we are often the sum of our events. There are no standard rules for this process of cause and effect. The same event will not have the same effect on two people.

Psychologists have grappled with the question of ‘nature or nurture’ for years i.e.) are DNA / genes the dominant process in our lives or the environment that we grow up in. The debate will go on for many years.

The phrase ‘it’s a new day’ implies that no matter what happened yesterday (usually implying it was not so good) can be better. It is as though some magical process happens, that the connection between our past and present is severed at 12.01am!

If only it were so easy! The Bible tells us that God’s mercies are ‘new every morning’ (Lamentations 3: 22 – 23).

This is not where God releases some new promise each new day but explains the power and process of God's grace. Another passage in the bible sates ‘as far as the east is from the west, so he has removed our transgressions from us. ’

This promise is new every day! No matter what has happened yesterday, today can be different. We don’t have to let our past define our future. Easier said than done I know, but we need to start with the promise that all is not lost.

Indeed all is still to play for! Grace is both an instant act but a process to work out. But like all process’s it starts with belief. John 3: 16 is all about belief! God loves you…believe it….it will begin a process of change in your life that you forever will be grateful for!

Andy