The truth we keep forgetting

“We live as if doing for Jesus is more important than being with Jesus. We work as though everything depends on us rather than everything depending on God.” James Lawrence

God loves you.

No really, God loves you.

Not the you, you want to be. Not the you, you pretend that you are. God loves the real you.

The flawed, messed up version. The you that sometimes gets things really right & sometimes completely wrong.

God loves you.

There is no more fundamental truth. And from personal & pastoral experience I suggest that there is no truth less easily believed or so easily forgotten.

God loves you.

When we lose sight of this we begin to work for God’s love, rather than from God’s love.

You are a child of the living God... not because you are worthy or have earned His favour anymore than you earned the right to be born. You are adopted into His family because of the love of God the Father, Christ’s generous self-giving & the work of God’s Spirit.

Your identity is not rooted in what you do, but in relationship with Him. You are significant because you are made by God, because you are loved by God & because God has great plans for your life.

Chew over the following passage & savour its goodness deep within.

“It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat.

It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.” Ephesians 2v1-10

Stuck... Unstuck. Polluted... Cleaned up. Sin-dead... Alive in Christ. Deeply loved... Deeply loved.

God loves you!

Cuppa Soup Faith in the Fast Lane

"Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him.” Oswald Chambers

My devotional life is more like a cuppa soup than a four-course banquet. Like a ready meal it’s fast, temporarily satisfying, but provides neither the nutrients needed, nor the time to digest its goodness.

Do I understand the importance of time with God & “feeding on His Word”? Of course.

Do I not enjoy this time or benefit from it? Absolutely not; it’s great & is the bedrock of my life.

So what’s my problem? I have allowed other people & things to set the agenda of my day, week & month (the ultimate form of laziness) and have embraced overbusyness & people pleasing above living out the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:37-38).

I suspect that I am not alone in these struggles.

Our society places a high value on busyness. We wear it like a badge of honour (“How are you? How are things?” “I’m busy”) as if to be unbusy means to be lazy or unworthy. We hate to wait at traffic lights & smile at the checkout lady (whilst “mentally maiming” her) if she chats too long to the customer in front. There are never enough hours in the day or days in the week & other people’s priorities our adjudged frivolous by comparison to our “higher calling.”

The problem with busyness is that it leads to hurry... and hurry leads to not noticing others around us or missing the voice of God speaking into our lives.

Overbusyness has infiltrated church life. We rush from meeting to meeting, programme to programme... We meet with people, but aren’t fully present... We spend much time serving God, but invest so little hanging out with God.

I suspect this has its roots in an identity crisis; that we have placed too much emphasis on what we do, and too little on who we are. We have allowed our sense of significance to depend on what we achieve & on how others evaluate our achievements. So we press on, working, working, working to please people & receive their acceptance; craving the buzz that the compliment or word of affirmation brings.

Yet this is an identity that can only deliver momentary satisfaction & ever elusive feelings of love, joy, hope & contentment. We struggle to separate who we are from what we do. We do more of the work of God, but it destroys the work of God in us. It’s not long before a spiritual life once well connected & flourishing for Jesus, becomes dull, dead, empty & languishing.

Thankfully there is an alternative... hopefully see you soon to explore it.

Losing My First Love

"It is easily lost. It is not so easily found.
I knew it, but I'd forgotten.
I believed it, passionately. I still lost it.

I am extremely fortunate. I love my work. I have a great church where I am given appropriate amounts of responsibility, encouraged to develop areas in which I am gifted & allowed to make loads of mistakes. I am constantly growing, learning, being stretched & stimulated.

On the surface all is well. I love my work, I love God, I love sharing the Good News of Jesus with others, but underneath is a different story.

It was so subtle I didn't even realise it was happening; slowly the way I was doing the work of Christ was destroying the work of Christ in me. I didn't stop praying, I didn't stop believing in God, I didn't succumb to escapist sin. I simply lost my first love. Year by year the busyness of work, the fun of ministry, the changing circumstances of my personal life, the painful experiences & the emotional exhaustion slowly focused my attention elsewhere.


While my head was full of new & exciting ideas, my heart grew cool. While I led others to a place of finding new life in Jesus, my life in Jesus was decidedly stale.

I could give a thousand reasons why this took place, but I won't."

These are not my words... but I guess they could be. They come from James Lawrence the author of Growing Leaders - a book written to help the local church to raise up & nurture leadership.

Over this next blog series, I'll be using his ideas & my personal experience to reflect on how as Christians we can lose our sense of call/direction and how we might better live by Jesus words. If you find it interesting/useful, why not leave a comment.

Jesus said to His followers, "I am the Vine; you are the branches. When you're joined with me, & I with you, the relation intimate & organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up & thrown on the bonfire." John 15v5-6

Making Money Work

So what are God’s intentions for us regarding giving?

Rather than a fixed amount or figure, God gives us three guidelines for giving.
1. Give cheerfully (not reluctantly)…
2. Give regularly (not when you feel like it)…
3. Give sacrificially (in a way that requires lifestyle adjustment).

Maybe take a moment to chew over these three things in relation to your own giving at present.

Here are some further suggestions that I have found helpful in my wrestle with materialism & the hold of Mammon on my life, and how I am attempting to bring my use of money into line with God’s intentions.

1. Get in touch with your real feelings about money so you can come to terms with your fears, your insecurities and your guilt.

2. Stop denying your wealth. Don’t compare yourself to others like you and claim relative poverty (e.g. “but she has more clothes”, “he has a bigger car”). Think globally!

3. Create an atmosphere in which confession is possible. Create a climate of acceptance where we can talk about our struggles, and confess our fears & temptations.

4. Let new attitudes to money change how you talk about money. For example, do you “need” a new car or “want” one? Do you “need” new shoes or “want” them? OR do we talk about how much of “our” money that we give to God rather than how much of “God’s” money that we keep for ourselves?

5. Get someone to hold you accountable. Keep a list of all your spending for 3 months show it to someone. Chat it through together.

6. Don’t get all legalistic about it. When God teaches us to give cheerfully, regularly & sacrificially (tithe) it isn’t about dosh… it’s about devotion! The Pharisees gave from their pocket, but not from their heart. A tithe is a good starting point when it comes to giving; and it’s not designed to punish us, but to free us from a misplaced sense of security in stuff.

7. Consider ways to get in touch with the poor. Buy Fair trade produce; campaign with Tearfund; collect for Christian Aid; go on an overseas mission trip.

8. Start giving in a costly way. Not stupidly, but not in a safe way either. Let go of the security you place on your money and in doing so really mean it when you pray “Lord, give us today our daily bread”. Let your giving be an act of confidence in God.


This blog series is not designed to make you feel guilty, but to uncover the beast that wrestles for top spot in our lives. To give as God intends is a call to liberation & life, but it is a challenging call & life-long battle against the values of this world. So let’s wrestle together.

Philippians 4 v11-13… “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Myths about Money: Numero Three

Myth 3: Christians should not have lots of money

Wrong! Whilst our God tells us not to desire money & not to place security in it above Him; He never teaches that it is wrong to have money. He expects us to use the money He gives us to bless others. And a positive side effect of this is that a generous and giving spirit enhances our own lives.

I wonder if you’ve ever found yourself criticising Christians who have lots of money. Is this provoked by self-righteousness, envy or a desire for right living? Have you removed the “plank” in your eye before attempting to remove “specks” from others?

Personally, I’d rather global wealth and resources were in the hands of those who are properly disciplined and informed by the Christian world view than have it abandoned into the servants of Mammon.

However, consider this. You’re walking through town one day & you see a homeless person in great need. Your heart is stirred & you offer them £20 for food. Yet 15mins later see that person coming out of the off licence with alcohol rather than food. How do you feel?

I guess you feel annoyed, frustrated & cheated; this was not the purpose of you giving that person money. But yet we do this to God all the time. We spend money that He has given us on stuff that He didn’t intend for us to have.

So Christians can & should work hard for money, but should consider how & where they invest it.

1 Timothy 6, “we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food & clothing, we will be content with that.
People who want to get rich fall into temptation & a trap and into many foolish & harmful desires that plunge men into ruin & destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
Some people, eager for money, have wondered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s… don’t put your hope in wealth which is so uncertain, but put your hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

(Tomorrow “Making Money Work”)

Myths about Money: Part Deux

Myth 2: “Money isn’t a problem for me (I don’t have any yet)”

The danger is not always in having money… the problem is in our attitude towards money. Let me ask a few diagnostic questions to determine if money might be a problem for you.

• When you last bought a new car, IPod, computer game or clothes did you consider whether this was how God wanted you to spend your money?

• When was the last time you gave something away that really cost you, rather than giving safely from what you have?

• Are you more excited when you visit the temple of Victoria Square (or equivalent) & rejoice at the bargains on offer or meeting with God’s people for Sunday morning worship?

• Have you ever spent £100 or more on clothes, a concert, sports event or a holiday without much thought, but considered yourself really generous & sacrificial by giving £20 to church?

• Have you ever said something along the lines of, “I don’t have any clothes, shoes or handbags”?

• When you ask someone what they do for a living do you find yourself contemplating how much they earn?

• Have you ever bought someone a present/gift with an expectation of repayment of some sort? Have you ever complained that someone else’s present to you wasn’t as expensive or nice as yours to them?

• Have you ever found yourself working on a Sunday to earn money or turning down a mission opportunity for a summer job?

• When considering how wealthy you are do you compare yourself with celebrities, with friends who have more than you or with people in the developing world?

• Have you spent more time thinking about what you will buy people for Christmas or the significance of celebrating Jesus’ birthday?

Personally I find these issues very challenging as they expose several fears & insecurities that I have about money & stuff. But if we are to live for the Kingdom and not the Thing-dom, I think it is important (if uncomfortable) to take some time to meditate on one or all of these issues.

So is money a struggle for you?

“Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?'
Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Proverbs 30v7-9

(Myth 3: Christians should not have lots of money)

Myths about Money

Myths about Money

We had an interesting post-Bible study discussion in our Young Adults group last night about money – and in particular giving & tithing. So I thought I’d fire out a few blog posts over the next week with the hope of sparking chat, thought, debate & a search for God’s truth.

First… let's start with some commonly accepted myths about money.

Myth 1: Money is neutral and depersonalised
Our survey says “eh-eh.” If money was neutral we wouldn’t give status to people who had it or ever be tempted to covet our friend’s salary, car or house. If money was neutral it wouldn’t be possible to be embarrassed about what type of mobile phone you own or what clothes you wear.

Jesus teaching on the matter is simple and hard-hitting (Matthew 6:19-24).

• Money is a power with a life of its own; it must be taken seriously.
• He uses the word “Mammon” which is translated Money (note it has a capital “M”) and by doing this Jesus gives it a personal and spiritual character – it’s a rival god!
• It is a power seeking to dominate us… it is a force capable of inspiring devotion… it is seductive and can win your heart.
• And like all demons… it wants us to deny its existence.

The love of stuff is a real threat to our relationship with God… here are a sample of Jesus warnings.

“Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” Luke 6:24

“No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God & Money.” Luke 16:13

“Be on guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

God is not neutral or quiet on money... it is dangerous... it seeks to control you... it wants to make you its servant. His teaching is very clear and challenging and I often find myself tempted to tone it down because it makes me feel uncomfortable.

It is not difficult to understand what the Bible has to say about money… but it is difficult, challenging & scary to live out. Jesus’ counter-cultural words not only fly in the face of everything society, family, friends & even the church at times teach us, but also challenge our privileged status in the world.

(Tomorrow… Myth 2: Money isn’t a problem for me -I don’t have any yet)