Musings of a man in search of a deeper revelation of true love, true surrender, true humility and true worship. A compilation of thoughts to inspire and to challenge.
How many times have people said that they are jealous, either about you, about items you may own, or even about someone else?, some of the definitions of Jealousy are
intolerant to any other rival, vigilant to guarding posesion, hostile to every rival
wow what amazing qualities, not just that of a green eyed monster, but of an amazing person who will defend to the very last... now the bible tells us that we worship a jealous God, a God intolerant to any other rival, a God who is hostile to every rival... hostile to EVERY rival, you can see why anything that edges into our lives that is not God can hurt him... more over can cause him intolerance and hostility... to a God of love?? Absolutely to a God of love.. that defines him... that is who he is... a God who is insanely jealous of his creation and loves us so much he can't stand it when things come between him and us... a God of Love has to be a God of jealousy... has to be intolerant to any other rival, hostile to every rival... wow... thanks for reading.
We had small group here on wednesday night and their were lots of random conversations going on, however one thing was mentioned and stuck in my head.
When a bunch of grapes are pressed you get grape juice or wine, when an orange is pressed you get orange juice, an apple... apple juice or cider.. when corn is pressed and ground you get flour... you see my point.
I was left with this question... "when i'm pressed what comes out" I mean when it comes to the end of the rope what happens, do you get on your knees and pray, (do you even wait that long) or do you panic and loose your head... what comes out? when we are truly pressed down, when theres nothing left to give to you praise God just the same.. Matt Redman wrote.. "though theres pain in the offering... blessed be your name"..
I guess what i'm really trying to do is simply challenge you that when theres pain in the offering, when your in that desert, walking in the wilderness (and all those other desolate places) what are you going to do?? whats going to shine.. the God stuff that is in you.. or the human side of things... make sure when your pressed that is the God flavours that come out
with three day to go untill grapevine, i come home from work at 2.30 in the morning to see an amazing sight... the moon is bright and its illuminating the clouds, it just looks amazing, created by an everlasting father and an eternal God, a view that lasts a moment, Its there and then its gone in an instant, yet this creator God that I call father, this amazing person that I call friend and saviour chose to create this spectacle, he cares so much about the smallest thing. How much more does he care about us, Ephesians 3 vs 20 gives a fitting tribute "now to him who who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." so for those of us going to grapevine, and for those who aren't take some encouragement from this, the same God who dresses the fields with flowers tells us not to worry, he's able to do so much more that we can ask or imagine, believe it, he can do miracles. so with 3 days to i want to challenge those of us doing shake, believe he can do it "Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle." Matthew 17v20, faith as small as a poppy seed can move mountains, we can see these young people changed for God, spoilt for the world, hungry after him Jesus put it bluntly "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it." So let God do it, he is able and willing to do immeasurably more than we can imagine, dream big
Thanks for Reading,
Big Phil
Right at this present moment I am having some well earned down time before work tonight, so I'm spending some of it watching South Africa vs New Zealand, anyway thats by the by. Grapevine is coming up in less than a week now and to say i can't wait is a massive understatement, I know theres lots to do before then but i really can't wait, its going to be mint, for the 5th year? (i think) in a row i'm helping out with Shake (the 12-14's) I love it, I Love having the opportunity to serve, to bless and be blessed. Before this i thought i'd share heart, what i feel God has been saying to me before the Journey.
As a Door Supervisor (bouncer) I see a lot of people i various states of inebriation and handling people is a massive part of my job, but also making sure people are paying to get into the club, this is the point i'm heading for. it was a few fridays ago when i was stood on the front door and some bloke offered to pay for the group, now at the time it was £3 to get in and there were 5 people in the group, this guy, without second thought turned around and said "i'll pay you in" now on first appearances this is nothing unusual, but the difference was this guy didnt know the four people behind him, he had never met them before, when they were told they had been payed in they looked confused, even more so when I had explained what had happened. Later on in the night, when it quietened off, this event came back to mind, I asked "how much more has God payed us in?" the man who gave everything so that we might live, we HAVE been payed in... not into some nightlcub in lancaster but into a place where we can meet with God, a place where we can have life and have it more abundantly. So whatever your doing over the next few weeks remember that God gave his Son so that you could spend your life with him, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends".
wait on him, thank him, make him famous
thanks for reading
Big Phil
With Grapevine less than half a century of days away i thought i'd write a blog... My earliest and favourite memories come from bible weeks... Builth Wells, The Royal Welsh Showground... this was one week every year where we'd go on a massive road trip to mid wales to spend time with friends, family and church, as I've grown older I've started to realise how important these have been to my growth as a follower and lover of God, be It the Wales bible weeks or M-powered, Deeper or Family Camps in Ipswich, Harrogate and Swansea, or at this point in my life Grapevine, the experiences have shaped my life.
As a youngster i never really understood the purpose of going to meetings, i thought it was about making friends, in part it was but it was something much deeper, it was a subtle yet definitive working of God. I guess for me it wasn't really until M-Powered in 1997 that i started to realise this. The place i was at was not a good one, I had stopped going to church because it wasn't for me, i simply didn't believe that there was a God big enough to be able to deal with all I was... basically i thought i was bigger than God... A very dangerous place to be... i had enjoyed going to wales but the last bible week was 1996 so that was it as far as i was concerned. M-powered came along and Obviously my sister was going with all her geeky Christian friends, yet when Mum asked me if i wanted to go I said YES... so we rocked up at Beaumont Hall near Loughborough for a week that would change my life and redefine me through my own eyes. On the thursday of the event a fella call Steve Gambil was preaching, we'd just had an amazing time of worshiping God and there had been a call for people to recommit their lives to God... now i was there in tears and recommitted to God, apologised and asked him to wipe the slate clean. As Steve got up to speak he said he had a word from God for me...WOW the one and only living God wanted to talk to me... me the one who had told him he wasn't big enough... God said that he'd saw my hand when i recommitted my life and that he'd given me a heart of response and that i wasn't to let any coolness that i thought wasn't cool stop me from worshiping God... he then went on to talk about breakthrough but those words have stayed with me ever since... that day has stayed with me, that week, the friends, the loving people i know now because of this... the God i now know more and more and more each day.... WOW... so in 46 Days, 22 hours 30 Minutes and handful of seconds, thousands of people will come together and have an oppurtunity to be changed forever but why wait...in half and hour i'm off to church, where just over 100 people have the chance to change and be changed and be challenged...
God Bless
and thanks for Reading
Biggie
Having just finished work at 4.30 am i get some down time where i get to think a lot and relax. i've had few chances to do this recently and i realise how much i miss it, the quiet refection that these times bring, i love it. I often think about work and how the world and its offspring seem to gravitate to the late night here in lancaster that i happen to work at, i sometimes feel sorry for the people who go out every night of every week, get drunk, go home, sleep. wake up and start again... i have started to realise how blessed i am, blessed that i have a purpose, blessed that i have a hope and a future, blessed that a God who looks on me with eyes of love counts me as righteous, sees me as unblemished.Wow!! sometimes life doesn't make sense, there are highs and lows, there are walls and rivers, i'm constantly aware that what we do here is just the beginning, we are a part of a story thats unfolding, to always love, to stretch further, to push through the wall to swim the river. thats doing what needs to be done in order to dwell.. to come back to a place whereGod is not just King of Glory but is Prince of Peace, My Prince of Peace
Well, sometimes my life Just don't make sense at all When the mountains look so big And my faith just seems so small So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf You have been King of my glory Won't You be my Prince of Peace And I wake up in the night and feel the dark It's so hot inside my soul I swear there must be blisters on my heart Surrender don't come natural to me I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want Than to take what You give that I need And I've beat my head against so many walls Now I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees And this Salvation Army band Is playing this hymn And Your grace rings out so deep It makes my resistance seem so thin You have been King of my glory Won't You be my Prince of Peace
Wow so much to say, so much going thru my head at the moment, Guide me o Thou great Jehovah being one of them, anyway great epic songs aside there is a real reason why i'm writing this blog (at 2.30 on friday morning) its about hope and encouragement and to convey my view on whats going on at the moment... as most people know with me songs mean a lot, at the moment i've been listening to a band called Addison Road, they did a song called "what do i know of Holy" i guess you could say this has been the soundtrack of my life for the past 6 months and indeed even now in some respects, i have attatched a link to youtube so you can hear it for yourself, but hear are the lyrics anyway
I made You promises a thousand times I tried to hear from Heaven But I talked the whole time I think I made You too small I never feared You at all No If You touched my face would I know You? Looked into my eyes could I behold You?
What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy?
I guess I thought that I had figured You out I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about How You were mighty to save Those were only empty words on a page Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees
What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy? What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame? And a God who gave life "its" name? What do I know of Holy? Of the One who the angels praise? All creation knows Your name On earth and heaven above What do I know of this love?
What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of Holy?
at the moment church is really exciting (am not saying its been boring the rest of the time) we are on the edge of something that i really dont want to miss out on, from chatting to a few other people this isnt just the church in lancaster but the church up and down this country, there seems to be a real move of God just waiting to burst into our lives and i dont want to miss it. this song has the line "...where have even stood but the shore along your ocean?".. and thats just it i feel i've been on the edge of His promises, dipping my toe in, maybe even going knee deep but never experiencing the depth He is getting ready to unleash on this country, where the water gets too deep to walk in, too much to rely on or services and structures, routines, music then preaching then notices, too much for us to comprehend, I Want to know about holy, I long to have the slightest hint bring me down to my knees, if i'm honest with you i'm scared, i fear i've made him to small, i try to hear from heaven but i talk the whole time, if he looked into my eyes could i behold him,if he touched my face would i notice, i guess i thought that i'd figured him out, i knew all the stories and i learned to talk about how he is mighty to save, but they were only words on a page, thats me, that song is me but i want to be like the army in Ezekiel 37 that God breathes life into... on their own they were utterly useless nothing in them, but God... BUT GOD... he breathed life he made muscles and bone marrow and formed them into an army... not just a rag tag bunch of mercenaries but an army... a people for purpose, what God pours out on us is going to be for purpose, its going to be for his Glory, for his kingdom, i'm really really really excited about that..... in the same breath i dont want to miss out.... i dont want to be left behind standing with my knees covered in water... i want to swim...i long to be immersed in him and what he has planned
Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar.He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple.He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep.He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep.He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through.
thanks for reading and here that link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8fSjtPLuBQ
