tHiS CrAzY WoRLd - some thoughts about now.

At some point in the next little while I may very well preach this note:
Please be ready for that if you should read this... and get to hear me preach.

I have been to many churches in my life, some great and some not so great... and I guess I decided to work out in my head, what is it that makes a church great or not quite so great.

That is not the topic of this blog... 

The topic of this blog and my thoughts is more around the crazy world in which we live, and why things are like they are, and how Christians are responding to the mess around us, and sometimes within us. 

Now getting back to the churches... I have visited, Saddleback, Willowcreek, Hillsong, Crossway,Enjoy, Bayside,Edge, Southside, Rhema, Salvo churches too many to number, but in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, USA, and of course Australia.... and there is one thing that every single church I have been in, has in common... and that is that they all preach Jesus. 

They all worship Jesus. 
They all serve Jesus. 
and they all profess Jesus as Lord.

So why on earth would one church criticize another church ? Why would we find fault in one another ? Why would we look for differences and reject one another, rather than celebrate one another ?  I just don't even know why we would do that, but we do...all of us...... nut's isn't it  ?   It's total dumbness !!!!! and it's a clever ploy of the enemy of the church to divide and conquer.  And in some ways he is winning.   stupid !!!

In this world which sure is crazy, where we get horrified over cheats in sport, but not quite so horrified over homelessness and poverty.  We don't seem to get too worried about some things major, but we sure do over some things minor. 

Over Easter I watched a few great Christian movies which highlighted  the truth of the good news of Jesus...that He came and was born for us so that we might have a Saviour from our sins. That He died and rose again for that very reason. And yet, we still choose to find faults in our brothers and sisters in Christ. We all do it, all of us ! 
I reckon it's gotta stop. Even if their doctrine is different to ours, and their worship songs different to ours, that doesn't make them wrong and us right... or vice versa. (controversial ? nope...!!! just the wider body of Christ as per - 1 Corinthians 12)

Hillsong church in Australia have recently released a new worship CD, and its amazing....one of the songs on that CD  has lyrics in as follows :

BE STILL
Words and Music
by Ben Fielding & Reuben Morgan
Be still and know
That the Lord is in control
Be still my soul
Stand and watch as
giants fall
CHORUS:
I won’t be afraid
You are here
You silence all my fear
I won’t be afraid
You don’t let go
Be still my heart and know
I won’t be afraid
 
Be still and trust
What the Lord has said is done
Find rest don’t strive
Watch as faith and grace align
Surely love and mercy
Your peace and kindness
Will follow me
Will follow me
POST CHORUS:
Your love surrounds me
Your love surrounds me here

(read on below)
 a

Hillsong church produces some outstanding music, 
and this song is one of them... 
I love how God speaks to me through this stuff, 
it's almost like God gets my attention on a song, and then I cant let it go...  
this Blog entry is all about this song 
and this crazy mixed up world that needs Jesus 
so desperately and yet rejects Him so easily.  
hopefully my video links will all work out ok...

Listen to it and watch it here...



 and so my final thoughts are here:

 God is all around us, He always has been and always will be, and even when we reject Him
He is still here. His mercy and kindness no one of us can fully fathom, 
I mean who can fully get the all loving, all forgiving character of God ?

He is gentle, patient, faithful, gracious, patient, and loves us warts and all.
He knows us, our failures and short comings, our rejection of Him
and our disobedience towards Him.
He also is well aware of our ignorance towards Him.
Our self reliance and seeming lack of need for Him.

He knows about our hidden sin, and our secret doubts and concerns.

He knows about our disbelief and our lack of faith.
He knows it all, and the weirdest thing..

He still loves us like a parent loves their 
own child, even more so. 

 and when the church is against the church, it was not and is not His plan.

 There is this story in Acts 26 about Paul having a debate with King Agrippa.
Without going into it, too much, Agrippa says to Paul..
do you think you can convince me in such a short amount of time ?

 Paul's response is gold... whether long or short...I pray you will have what I have (Jesus).
(something like that)
Am I trying to convince you, my blog reader, of anything ?

 well YEP... a couple of things...

 Firstly the church is the bride of Jesus, so let's get pure and holy and ready for that day
when He returns, for He is coming back for us. And that  means that our focus must be on HIM
not each other.

 Secondly, we all fall short of what is required to be with Him, but He is in total love of us anyway.
so let's trust Him with the stuff that is messed up in our heads.
and Be still and know that He is still in control.

 Over these past few weeks I have faced up to some pretty big giants around me in ministry and
the battle that is Christian service.

 and each time I have played this song after those heavy discussions and 
just felt God say to me...

 Be still Gaz... I got this.

 And He does,  for me, and for you also.

 watch the giants in your life fall as you rest and wait upon HIM.

what do you actually have to lose by trusting Him with the tough stuff ?

Short time or long... like Agrippa, It's time to take a shift in our thinking as the modern church
and start working together in building the Kingdom of God,

One Life at a Time.

starting with my own first.

Bless you..

Be Still !!!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What got us here, will not get us there.

Image
I have been thinking about the this for sometime now. We as TSA have come along way, but yet...there is a long way yet to go, and everything we have done up until now, has given us the results we now have. It's insanity to think, that if we keep doing the things we have already done, that we will get a different result. All that we have done so far, in previous weeks, months and years and even decades have given us the results we are seeing right now. If we think for one moment that things are going to change, by doing the things the same way as we have already done them, then there may be a need for seeing a therapist. do things the same way, get the same result. change the way you do things, get a different result. the problem with this, is ..... that many think everything is honky dory....all "A OK".... and that's where the real bottle neck actually is. Because the truth is, (and many don't want to acknowledge the truth), that we are not winnin
Read more

Salvo style.... God is here.

Image
For me these days, life is super busy. I used to think I was busy before, but now...my goodness. Now, so that it's clear, I am happy being busy with the Kingdom stuff, and would never cope if I was blatantly bored in ministry, I am simply not wired in such a way. Life is good. My ministry is good. My God is good. For those of my readers who think, that maybe, I think I have arrived..... wash your mouths out...there is no way I think that, last week my head was in such a spin, I literally had to walk out the office and go home. I went for a walk to clear my head and got drenched when it started raining, and it was really good for me... I gained perspective and focus and the next day in the office was a little more sober. It's a busy place and much is going on.... it does pose questions for me, which over time I will seek clarity from the senior leaders here....and I guess where needed, I will tweak where and when I can. in the meantime, I am just doing what I feel
Read more

A few things happening lately.

I don't think I have ever had such a difficult time.... I am well aware of issues where I have been disrespected and disregarded and my ministry count for absolutely nothing... 16 years means nothing to some.... Neither does 11 years of planting, oh well...that's leadership. It's lonely, it's hard, and at times extremely hurtful. But I still choose to stay the course, I still choose to go hard, coz I am not going home. Really when it comes down to it, when a person disrespects you, it is highly possible it is their issue not my own. I do believe though you have to earn respect and loyalty and so if I don't have it from all in my circle then maybe I haven't earned it ? Or... Sigh! oh we'll I am sure you get it. It's sometimes very lonely and as I said previously, hurtful. Look at Jesus, he was more than hurt, more than abandoned and more than disrespected. He was killed. Ridiculed. Spat on. Ignored. He was abused. He was left alone. Betra
Read more