JESUS > RELIGION

Faith is not frownless

This past Sunday I had the great privilege of launching a brand new series at MKCC - Plan B. We have based it on the book by Pete Wilson - Plan B - What do you do when God doesn't show up the way you though he would?

Whilst preparing I came across this quote by C H Spurgeon:


"Faith is not frownless. Maturity is not painless. It is the presence of Jesus and not the absence of happiness that designates the situation and provides our hope."

Spurgeon's observation sits much more comfortably with my understanding of scripture and my experience that what is taught in many churches.

Trouble is somehow associated with some sort of lack on my behalf and if only I was a better Christian I wouldn't have the trouble. If only I read my Bible more the trouble would go away. If only I prayed more the trouble would go away. If only I had more faith the trouble would go away.

My problem with all this is that it makes it all about me and what I have to do rather than what Christ has already done.

Sometimes my faith has the frown of concern and even disbelief.
Sometimes I feel like opting out of this transforming process of sanctification where I am supposed to be becoming more like Jesus inch by painful inch.
But then I am reminded that no matter how weak my faith is or how painful my growth in the middle of this deal I get JESUS.

"..be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." - Heb 13 v 5

God's wild pursuit of mankind

 "Those who believe in God can never in a way be sure of Him again. Once they have seen him in a stable, they can never be sure where he will appear or to what lengths he will go or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of man. If the holiness and awful power and majesty of God were present in this even, this birth of a peasant’s child, then there is no place or time so lowly and earthbound but that holiness can be present there also. And, this means that we are not safe, that there is no place where we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from his power to break in to and recreate the human heart because it is where he seems most helpless that He is most strong and just where we least expect Him that he comes most fully." - Fredrich Beuchner in Secrets in the Dark

SIMPLY MIND BLOWING!

HT Pete Wilson

God's unlikely lads

And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. (1 Samuel 22:2 ESV)

It always amazes me who God is willing to use. Here we read the beginnings of David's kingdom.

Promised great things by God David finds himself a long way from the palace hiding out in a cave.

So who is going to form part of David's core team to build his kingdom. Surely some great strategist, mighty worriers, strong commanders or rich benefactors.

No God sends David gets troubled, bitter, defeated & broke people.

We live in an age that seems to want to build "dream" teams from football to even church.

We want only the best on our team. On our leadership teams we want the best of the best.

Being the best doesn't exclude you but God seems to love taking waifs and strays who have little hope and doing something unbelievable with them.

So this year don't focus on your talent focus on the greatness of your God

Some of these unlikely characters became known as David's MIGHTY MEN.

With God our past, present or other peoples labels for us do not define our future. God does!