Tuesday 31st May

Joseph the spoilt little tell-tale

For our bible study this week, Bob had us looking at Joseph.  If you’re not familiar with the story, re-read it, Genesis 37.

Joseph was mentioned in Hebrews 11 as someone with faith, but we see from his beginnings that he wasn’t always an upright faithful guy.  He was a spoilt tell-tale and seemed a little work shy.  But God still blessed him with prophetic dreams, and seemingly Joseph understood the significance of these dreams as he proudly recounted them to his not-so-pleased family.

Despite Joseph’s rocky start, God knew Joseph would fulfil His will and purpose.  God knew his potential.

Being thrown into a pit and sold surely couldn’t have been pleasant or enjoyable for Joseph.  Yet, he had dreamt those dreams.  How did he feel at this point, when he was in the pit? We’re in a fortunate position as we know the end of the story; but for Joseph his life must have seemed to have met an abrupt screeching halt. 

He was in a pit about to be sold to some Egyptians, never to see his family again.  Did he question where God was in this plan?  Did he still believe in his dreams?  Did he feel God’s hand on his life?  Did he have peace and comfort?

Have we been in positions where we’ve been given a promise from the Lord, and yet all our current circumstances seem to render the promise impossible?  We need to hold on to those promises as God loves working in the impossible.

If you were to track back through your experiences in life, some good and some bad; some beautiful, some horrendous:  Would you have chosen the same route to get you here today?  Probably not. I personally would miss out all the bad bits, all the sinful bits and definitely all the traumatic bits.  But, in my case at least, the arduous path was necessary.

So back to Joseph, did God need to bring him down a few pegs? Did God need to mould Joseph? Or was God’s purpose to make the situation so impossible that only His glory be revealed?

Joseph’s next sticky situation is as second in command in Potiphar’s household, the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.   But right around the corner lurked a slippery snake to uproot the harmony: Potiphar’s wife.  Jospeph was a hot blooded young male, and well, Potiphar’s wife: she was undoubtedly a hot chick.  Potiphar was rich after all, so that came with the territory.

How did Joseph turn Potiphars wife down? Was this evidence of Joseph’s faith coming through?

He has integrity, stands up for truth and honesty and it gets him thrown in prison.  He was probably just at a point where he could start to see his dreams coming to fruition, after all he had authority in this post, but yet again everything is dashed to cinders.

Joseph works hard in every situation; he makes a go of it.  He gets stuck in; he’s determined to do his best.  God favoured Joseph; therefore it was easy for him, right? We need to be reminded that we are also granted favour.  Lets get stuck in, hold on to God’s promises and always work to the best of our ability.  This is an act of faith.

More on Joseph next week :)

Sunday 29th May

Stripping Off

Moving forward from Bob’s talks on faith, we’ve finished at Hebrews 11 and started Hebrews 12.  It starts with such a triumphant and compelling verse: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

These are pretty clear instructions.  We’re told to strip off!  Footballers don’t wear trousers when they’re competing, tennis players don’t wear steel-toe capped boots.  We too need to get rid of anything that will slow us down.

Just as sports professionals prepare themselves before they go into the arena, we need to also, only our commission isn’t a game, it’s not a phase, and we don’t get to retire.

When footballers run a length of the pitch, they don’t wheeze over and collapse at the other end.  They are at their peak, and they train continuously.  Are we out of shape? Do we wheeze and collapse after spiritual exertion? Or do we try and avoid it at all costs, and adopt the leisurely stroll instead? Slow and steady wins the race?

Let’s look at the verse in Hebrews again: Run with endurance the race God has set before us.  That’s going to need training and commitment, it’s not a walk in the park – it’s a race!  But if we’re honest, I think most of us would admit to not quite being a lean spiritual athlete, so what has slowed us down?

 Just imagine, if we didn’t watch TV but devoted all that time to reading the bible instead, how many times could we read the bible in a year?  But we get lazy and sloppy and live on our past glories: I used to play squash; I represented my county in cross country.

If we’re running this race for the Lord, where are you in the group? Are you in the middle? or at the back gasping for breath, complaining of cramp and blisters?

Why not start today to get back in shape.

Set some time aside when you will focus on God.  And when that time comes, what happens? Something will creep up, you’ll get a text, someone will knock on the door, you’ll spot the paper and need to catch up on the day’s news.  Our minds wander.

We need to be determined.  Our saviour chose to endure the cross and its shame, so that I could be forgiven, and I can’t even be bothered to read my bible because I’m lazy.  I’ve got sloppy.  I’ve got so many layers on that I couldn’t run a race if I tried!

Discipline is painful.  Later on, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.  Therefore strengthen your weak arms and feeble knees.

Don’t “find” the time, “make” the time. Then see what happens. Strip off!

Tuesday 24th May

Charity Fashionistas!

This Tuesday night was a bit of a break from the norm. We sophisticated ladies headed out to a charity night in aid of Winning Women Worldwide. Were we running 10k and getting sweaty? No. Were we fasting and raising money? No. Were we petitioning in the local area in the rain with placards? No. We were watching a fashion show. Oh yes. We don’t mess about!

Winning Women Worldwide is an international, interdenominational charity that establishes and develops projects in Zimbabwe and Zambia that enable women to become self-sustaining. The night was hosted by the ever-elegant Vivien Richmond, and the particular focus of the fashion show was the help fund a children’s home in Zimbabwe that currently houses 12 young children. This is a purpose-built home, built by Winning Women Worldwide and is funded solely by donations (more.).

So obviously at some point in the evening we were expecting to part with some hard earned cash. Well now, Vivien knows her stuff; she didn’t beat around any bushes. If she had a knobbly stick, I sincerely believe she would have used it! We were straight in at the deep end. The evening raced into action with some fantastic (and humorous) games, with the sneaky addition of a “pay to play” rule. We engaged in some stand-up-bingo, heads and tails, and a diary game. If you want to know the ins-and-outs you’ll have to ask Viv: the diary game still eludes me even now!

Cue the fashion show. Fizz fashions hosted the night – and boy did they work hard! 3 models were strutting down the catwalk (aka an aisle in between the rows of chairs) but they seemed to be doing the work of at least 6! I worked out, with some speedy mental arithmetic that each girl must have been out on the runway (see, I’ve been doing my homework, I know the technical terms) for 2 minutes, which meant they had 4 minutes max backstage (aka the coffee lounge) for each outfit change and they changed everything: shoes, bags, accessories – the LOT! I don’t know about you, but I take quite a lot longer than 4 minutes to change an outfit! And they didn’t even seem to break a sweat.

I know what you’re thinking: Where does the money come in? Well, everything on show was for sale, and even better: everything was available in a variety of sizes and colours. Once we had drooled over these fabulous collections sashaying before our eyes, we were let loose. The scene was something akin to ravenous lions fighting over a freshly mauled carcass! Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but we just couldn’t wait to grab a bargain - and believe me, their prices are incredible.

I have it on (relatively) good authority that nearly £800 was raised for the house in Zimbabwe, with more donations still coming in. That’s enough to cover all the overheads for a month! I'll update the twitter feed when the final amount comes in.

Fizz fashions achieved an astounding feat on Tuesday: it was so professionally put together, so well attended and so well supported. We’ll inform you about the next Fizz Fashion show taking place, and I highly recommend that you come along. They have articles to suit every budget, from a few pounds to about £25, and stock gorgeous jewellery, divine footwear, beautiful clothing made from exquisite fabrics. Even if you just come for the craic you’ll have a great night.

Great new outfits and supporting a great charity at the same time? It doesn’t get much better than that!

Sunday 22nd May

Acts of Faith

If we introduce the power of God into our lives, our lives change.  It’s to be expected really, after all God is all powerful, all knowing and everywhere.  So when we ask Him to be part of our lives, and to revolutionise the way we live, we need to prepare:  When we put our faith in God extraordinary things start to happen.  We’re going to call these extraordinary things “Faith Events”.

Not only do faith events change our lives, but when we accept God’s call, our obedience can change other peoples’ lives as well.  We may never know the full impact our faith has had on other peoples’ lives, but most of us Christians know that we’re in the kingdom of God because of someone else.  Someone else acted in faith, prayed for us, talked to us, whatever, but it brought us to know God.

So, if we’re not feeling 100% full of faith, how do we get to that place?  Bob set us with 4 questions – as a challenge, in order to self-scrutinise.

1.            1.   Is my life “on the altar”? In other words: Am I going to present my whole life to God?

2.            2.   Am I still conforming to this world?  God’s way is upside down to the worlds.

3.            3.   Has my mind been renewed?

         4.  Am I in the perfect will of God?

If our faith is just the size of a mustard seed, we can cast mountains into the sea.

In Mark 5 we read how Jesus met Jairus and the name-less woman who had been bleeding for 12 years.  Both of these people demonstrate complete faith, and the faith event in both of these cases is that miracles happen! Jairus’ daughter is raised from the dead and the woman is cured completely from her illness.

We don’t know what they were thinking before they both stepped forward into the path of Jesus, but did they umm and ahh before they committed? Did they go through a “will-I, wont-I” moment?  Did they hesitate?  Both of them were at rock bottom and Jesus was their last hope, they placed their last mustard seed of faith in him.  But he dealt with it.  Completely.  End of story.

Romans 12 verse 6 says: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.”  We therefore need to exercise our faith.  Serve others: Do it in faith so no one sees it.  Tidy up after others – use it as an opportunity to serve the Lord.

If the Lord prompts you – do it.  Lets change some of the “I wish I had...” to “I’m glad I did...”.

 

Saturday 21st May

Grime Busters!

Obviously all of us at Carmel Hadfield are desperate to secure our places in eternity, so this morning before the inevitable rapture, we set about good-deed-ing in order to proper impress God....Or maybe not.

We’re still here, and I guess that all of you are as well. We know clearly that no one will know when the Lord is set to return! Jesus gives us a teeny weeny clue in Matthew 24 verse 36, in the traditional KJV: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Or to put it in a different way, the message phrases it like this: "But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.” Only the Father? Seems fairly clear! These so-called prophets only serve to deceive.

Anyway, rant done, what I thought I’d waffle about is our efforts to tidy up a little of Hadfield this morning. Christ tells us on many occasions what it means to be a servant, and to make ourselves humble (Mark 10v43, Matthew 23v12), so we donned our high-vis jackets, gardening gloves, bin liners and little grabby sticks and ventured off into the wild unknown.

Well, to be precise, the car park next to The Pear Tree – But it looked pretty wild!!

Litter picking was our chosen activity. The car park was looking quite shabby, piles of litter in every corner, litter tangled in the bushes and shrubbery. We were a team of about 10 with a good hour to get working. It’s safe to say that we worked hard and a sparkling result was achieved!

If you’re sat there wondering what this experience must have been like, let me give you a insight. Amongst the rubbish we found nappies, cigarettes, beer cans, empty food cartons, drinks bottles. And, well, amalgamate all those “aromas” together and add in a rotting sess-pit smell along with a sprinkling of dog muck, and I think that should be pretty close to the mark. It wasn’t pleasant. But, it needed doing, and we kept moral high with a few bursts of Kum Ba Yah at full pitch. Ok, jokes, there was no singing, but we managed to get the job done.

We’re aiming to keep this going as a monthly occurrence. We know we all like to live in nice tidy places, and it’s one thing to stand there moaning about the state of the surroundings and it’s another to quit the moaning and do something about it. So, if you see a bunch of aimless looking folk with Carmel Christian Centre emblazoned high –vis jackets, please point them in the way of the litter and they’ll do the rest.

Tuesday 15th May

Heir of Righteousness

Who was the forerunner of faith in the Old Testament? Of whom was it said that his faith condemned the rest of the world? Who was the heir of righteousness because of his faith? It was Noah.

Noah’s story is told in Genesis 6. I would suggest for the purposes of this blog that you read through the account.

So to paraphrase the story, God tells Noah to build a massive boat, and he does it, simple as.

The bible doesn’t detail any dialogue between God and Noah regarding the intricacies of their discussion. It simply says Noah did everything just as God commanded him. Can we boast the same obedience?

The challenge God gave Noah was extraordinary. Was Noah a boat builder by trade? Definitely not. When God gave Noah the dimensions and he went into his yard to pace it out, did he question the task then? Did he decide that he must have heard wrong and change the dimensions to something more manageable? Where would he have got the tools to start felling the trees? He would have probably needed to make the tools before even embarking on making the boat – this would be a lengthy process! Would Mrs Noah have been cool with the idea, or would she have told him to stop dreaming?

What is our reaction when God tells us to do something impossible? Do we politely point out to God that he’s not done his sums right, and what he’s asking is actually a physical impossibility. Noah, as it seems from the account, just accepted the task and started with the job, just as though God had told him to make jam sandwiches.

Are we quite as willing? Or, do we ping-pong back and forward with God: Did God really just ask me to do that? Is He sure He wants me? I need some more confirmation. I’m going to lay out my fleece. Before I say yes, I need to know when, how, how long for... I need to get my prayer team to pray about this and all come back with the same verse of scripture before I can believe it.

Noah fully relied on God. He knew the mind of his creator. He had found favour with the Lord. He was willing to do something never been done before, something impossible. Noah’s obedience to God’s word is similar to that seen in Jesus, so it’s fitting that Noah and his line are to re-populate the earth – the same command also given to Adam and Eve. His servant nature is repaid by an incredible blessing: To be the founders of the new earth.

God loves to use people. We live in spiritually poor days today, just as Noah did. Our daily news is filled with all kinds of evil, just as Noah was surrounded by lawless people. If God calls us, we need to have the faith to go. The Lord provided for Noah and sustained him and blessed him. Us and Noah: We serve the same God. The provision, sustenance and blessings have got our names on them! All we need to do is step up.

Lord, if we’ve slipped up in the past and not responded, please give us another chance.

Sunday 15th May

More Faith

We hear a lot about faith, but who through the bible was its biggest advocate? Jesus. That in itself should convince you (if you weren’t already) that it’s very important. Some verses about faith that easily slip off the tongue are:

Faith as small as a mustard seed
Ye of little faith
According to your great faith
That your faith should not fail
Many will turn away from their faith
Your faith has healed you

If you were to take faith out of our lives, everything would crumble. Our whole lives revolve around faith – each minute of each day we place our faith in different things.

When we act in faith for the Lord, we step out of the norm, we try something new. But how often do we do this? How about last week? Was last week a ground-breaking faith-filled holy spirit-led week for you? Or was it a bit more mediocre and mundane?

We are all guilty of slipping into a comfortable rut and staying there because, well, it’s comfortable! And the more time that goes on, the deeper the rut gets. The consequence is that we need a giant tyre lever to get us out again. When we settle for comfort and routine, we will be missing the excitement of God.

At the beginning of Acts 13 we read about the teachers and prophets at Antioch who meet to fast and pray and send out Saul and Barnabus. What if they hadn’t responded to that word? Or needed more information before they committed? But they followed the call. Everywhere they went they talked about Jesus and brought people into God’s kingdom. Yes, they had challenges, but they were willing, and they stepped out in faith.

When Jesus was choosing his disciples, he walked up to the fishermen. They would have been busy doing their daily job and with their mind filled with their daily worries and concerns: How many fish have I got; how much money can I get for these; will my wife be satisfied by the money I bring home. Then Jesus rocks up and says, “Follow Me!”.

Immediately they drop everything and follow Jesus. They had faith. They went.

Their comfort zone has gone, there would no mediocre ever again.

Peter said, “Lord if it’s you; call me out of the boat on to the water”. That’s our call. If we say we’re available, we need to prepare ourselves for some serious challenges. We have been chosen to fulfil the will and purpose of God in our lives.

We need to press on. Yes we may have done good things in the past, but we can’t dine out on those forever, we need to do new things and always be moving!



Tuesday 10th May Part II

Paul’s Act-ual Journey

To briefly set the scene, we were packed in like sardines at Alan and Pauline’s living room, 21 people in total, with chairs migrating through into the dining room and the last few remaining seats to be taken on the stairs!

Alan was embarking on part 2 of Paul’s journey (part 1 was a month or two ago) He had researched his audience well, and was prepared with a rug-sized map! His tactic worked and we were engrossed! Ably assisted by the glamorous Pauline, they traced Paul on his missionary voyage around the Med.

Sounds like a sophisticated and enchanting job, to tour around the Mediterranean, stopping and chatting with a few people here and there, sipping wine, eating fruit. But unfortunately it wasn’t quite so idyllic for Paul. He had been given the mantle to build the church – he was not leading the lifestyle of a “lady that lunch’s”! Acts 16 speeds through what was quite a lengthy journey for Paul and his companions: Derbe, Lystra, Phrygia, Galatia, Asia Minor, Mysia, Troas, Samothrace, Neapolis and Philippi. Only when you see it on a map does it take shape – and for me it cemented my understanding of Paul’s determination. If you don’t have a map in your bible, take a minute to find one online and familiarise yourself with where he travelled, and bear in mind it would have been on foot, in some attractive leather sandals!

Paul was dutifully travelling to each of the places and spreading the word of the Lord. Recognition of him and his work was spreading as well (Acts 17 verse 6). Paul would have been witnessing some radical conversions as a lot of people he spoke to believed his message and decided to follow Jesus. But throughout this period Paul was essentially a Nomad. He had no fixed abode, (except for 18months spent at Corinth, Acts 18 verse 11)

• Where did he stay?
• Who put him up?
• How did he find food?
• How did he eat while he was travelling? Some of his journeys would have lasted longer than a day or two, and sandwiches probably wouldn’t keep that long in the Mediterranean heat.

Paul had no option but to fully rely on God for his provision. If we buzz through these chapters as a history lesson, background information with a few exciting highlights (the jail spell with the gates flinging open) without taking a moment to think about the mindset behind the actions, the strength and resolve and faith that prompted this mass journey, then we miss the most important part.

Re-read it, put yourself in Paul’s shoes, measure the distance on the map. You’ll find some more respect for the man.

This is Ruth, over and out.



Tuesday 10th May Part I

Praise Never Fails

What a fantastic evening we had yesterday, I’m going to struggle to fit it all into 1 blog post, so I’ve taken the executive decision to split it into 2! Our evening started promptly at 18:45 (sorry, who am I kidding, we work on Carmel time, so it was something nearer 19:20!) The beautiful Becca Mellor was leading the study and had titled her talk “Praise Never Fails”. Just as an aside, most of our youth are currently in the thick of exams and revision, so spare some prayer time for them if you can.

So Praise Never Fails eh? Paul and Silas while they were praising, right about midnight, witnessed a miracle – their shackles fell off. Have we been in situations where we’ve praised through the turmoil and felt our shackles fall off? I know I have.

When Jesus fed the 5000, before he began to attempt dishing all the food out, he gave thanks for it. He praised the name of his Father, he gave thanks for the provision. And the result? God multiplied the food. Praise Never Fails.

So how do we encourage a more praise-ful spirit in ourselves? Sometimes it’s hard: we get consumed with our busy lives, and deeply bothered by difficult situations. But the Lord wants to release us from this. We need to train ourselves to become more thankful and that in turn will lead to an atmosphere of praise. Start every day with thanks:

• Thank you Lord that you have provided me with a job so that I can earn money  and feed my family.

• Thank you Lord that I benefit from having a free education.

• Thank you Lord for the fresh taste of milk on cereal (that’s my morning thanks every day! Hallelujah!).

• Thank you Lord that my petrol tank isn’t on empty.

Rejoice over the small things and wrap everything in thankfulness. We can be assured that Praise Never Fails.

Once youth bible study was wrapped up, it was a quick (and belated... no surprises there) dash from church over to Alan and Pauline’s for church bible study. Being the latest of comers, we were left with the “cheap seats” – as their living room, and half way into the dining room was already crammed with bums on seats, we took to sitting on the stairs.

Before the bible study got going I took a look around and felt so blessed to be part of such a welcoming and warm family, even though I was sat on a short and rather uncomfortable step on the stairs, with a restricted view of the goings-on, that house was full of so much love and kindness – just even being there was a blessing.

To read about what Alan said, you’re going to have to come back tomorrow, a cliff-hanger I know – I’m not going to apologise. If you want some sneak preview snippets, check the twitter feed.

Sunday 8th May