Faith is not quite the leap into the dark that many people assume.

It is usually about making a reasonable jump based on trustworthy information. Buying a car or house, meeting up with some new friends from work, following a direction using satnav - all of these are expressions of faith where the ‘believer’ has listened to something and then acted on it.

A student recently asked me about proof and I answered with a diagram which eventually became this cartoon. You can only finally have proof when you have taken the step of faith. You can only be sure of your purchase once you have it in your hands, you know that you believed your friends correctly when they arrived at the place that they had promised.

Similarly, when Jesus promises new life, forgiveness, joy, hope… that he will take up residence in your life with a fresh vibrancy - all of this remains uncertain unless you 1. take in the information (which means mainly absorbing the content of the Bible) and then 2. make faith steps based on it.

My personal experience is that when we listen and then respond to the call that Jesus makes on our lives - THEN he brings proof in His own time in His own way. While I am very happy (and willing) to discuss the trustworthiness of the Bible documents I cannot prove the reality of a living God. That is an experience that is open for you to find out for yourself.

This challenge is both scary and exciting.

Thanks to Mike Tindall for suggesting the text.

Tags: Faith, Evangelism, Father, Grace, Jesus, Joy, Listening, Prayer, Redemption, Repentance, Crisis, Thankyou

From Joshua 2.
Commissioned by Scripture Union for the Wordlive site.

Tags: Scripture Union, Death, Evangelism, Faith, Friendship, Grace, Listening, Mission, Crisis, Wide/Narrow

Originally from Mark 10v35-45.
Commissioned by Scripture Union for the Wordlive site.

Tags: Heaven, Jesus, Grace, Faith, Scripture Union

Originally from Psalm 104.
Commissioned by Scripture Union for the Wordlive site.

Tags: Grace, Scripture Union, Joy, Father

Originally for Acts 15v28.
Commissioned by Scripture Union for the Wordlive site.

Tags: Scripture Union, Grace, Holiness, Repentance, Patience

From the Long Walk Home blog:

“There is big lovely truth to be gleaned from this Psalm.  Read it through again. This Psalm tells us what a good life really is- it’s life as it’s meant to be lived, a life that starts with fearing God, delighting in his commands. Life with God should lead us to this kind of life. It might be worth looking at what that life looks like. It’s a life of compassion, graciousness, generosity, a life of righteousness and justice.…The weird thing about all this is that we read this Psalm and almost write it off as unattainable or fanciful that we could live in such ways. However, we follow a man who did walk such ways here on earth, and we walk in his footsteps. I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to suddenly become like this overnight but I am sure that these are the kind of characteristics I want to ooze out of me as I live this life. I want to live this kind of good life.”

Tags: thelongwalkhomeblog, Jesus, Grace, Crisis, Heaven, Faith

Before this post fills with pungent bitterness I will just get it out of my system and move on: we paid a lot of money to take our child to see the ‘Mr Men Live’ roadshow and were utterly disappointed. It was mainly a very-thinly arranged set of miss-aimed karaoke numbers with little to make up for the promise of seeing those people of Hargreaves’ creation. He would be ashamed of it, I am sure.

Now I have vented - and if you are still reading - I will add that those expensively disappointing seats provided me with the inspiration for how to frame this personal tale of frustrated hopelessness. While I have experienced/shared a number of serious lows, I am confident that in Jesus there is always hope which is well qualified and can draw relief from the gloomiest of depths.

Are you facing anything similar? Is the path you are on unendingly grim?
Put yourself in the hands of the most qualified One. Trust me when I say that he can be found through trust and a simple prayer. When life is so very tough, what can you stand to lose in turning to King Jesus?

The wonderful epilogue text can be found at the end of the passage here.

Tags: Crisis, Devil, Evangelism, Faith, Jesus, Grace, Isolation, Joy, Redemption, Storms, Thankyou

Come back for more - this is a twelve part series.

Many thanks to Martin Saunders at Youthwork Magazine for commissioning this series.

Tweet

Tags: Youthwork Magazine, Jesus, Wisdom, Friendship, Isolation, Redemption, Repentance, Technology, Holiness, Grace, Faith, Evangelism, Crisis, Bible

So who hasn’t heard or been intrigued by this story?

I have been listening to this unfold for what feels like ages and ages - I meant to do something on it months back but never got round to it. In the end this was a good thing because it has really hooked into the public consciousness.

There are so many interesting angles on it that I felt a little bewildered by where to start. I asked a few friends to give their gut-level reactions and I had some helpful and interesting perspectives. This gave me enough of a feel to launch out on the cartoon.

Here are the (anonymous) responses.

Me: What is your one-line gut level Christian response or reflection on the whole phone hacking saga?

I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. Its another classic example self-righteous moral outrage that turns a blind eye to the public lust for gossip and the political lust for power/money/influence that encourages these things to happen. We all have a bit of Jacob in us and need God to change our hearts.

What made us so desperate for that kind of news that no-one cared about the source?
Symptomatic of a sinful nature. To sin and hide it cover it up. Misuse any technology.
As a Christian, remember God has no need to tap your phone to see your wrongs. If you don't want it known don't do it! X
It is sad, but there are bigger injustices out there. Why are we so upset by this, but not by other violations?
Easy to pontificate when the curtain has been pulled back, need for a distinctive voice when the world is on the side of the Murdochs.
Sin is manifested in many and various ways - only Christ has sacrificed himself for wretches like us.Gut level - a great, interesting story of crime + corruption in high places.

Numbers 32:23: “...you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” This applies to everyone. The hacked. The hackers. The writers. The readers. Their world is built on what others think of them. The hacked weep that their carefully constructed media image is blown. The hackers that they were caught. The writers that their fiction of the "public good" is revealed as calculating. Only the readers get a free ride at the moment. There is a greater judgment coming. There is an opinion on their lives that will trump all others. that should be our chief concern.

Rather than joining in the condemnation of those who have done wrong, let’s be like Jesus and live in contrast to the world around us – loving the criminals (recognising that we are among them), showing grace and mercy to those who sin against us, thereby showing that through Jesus there is an alternative way. That is not to say that phone hacking and dishonesty do not matter – far from it, they nailed Jesus to the cross! – but we have all sinned, we all need forgiveness and as God has shown us grace, we should also show grace to others.

Thanks to everyone who took part.

Tweet

Tags: Phone hacking, Conscience, Crisis, Grace, Hypocrisy, Judge, Mobile Phones, Politics, Repentance, Sin, Truth/Lies

I think that Barnabas Fund does a good job of explaining the context.

Here he is, speaking for himself.



May the tragically sown seeds of this event be drawn into abundant life wherever this event is broadcast.

Tweet

Tags: Crisis, Death, Faith, Grace, Islam, Jesus, Mission, Prayer, Wide/Narrow, Wisdom

From the Long Walk Home blog:

"Are we prepared to put our pride to one side, look up and cry for help? Are we prepared to admit we are wrong, put our stubbornness to one side and accept the wonder of a God who wants to help us?"

Tags: Crisis, Faith, Friendship, Grace, Joy, Listening, Repentance, Sin, Wisdom, thelongwalkhomeblog

So here we go - another experi-mental cartoon using my iPhone apps (for more see this site).

This one is more considered and probably(!) clearer. I wanted to convey the sense of someone who has been redeemed by Jesus and who is now on their way through the door to the other side. It is very simple but in my own mind extremely profound.

Interested in commissioning a similar styled piece? Get in touch.

Tags: Heaven, 3D, Jesus, Faith, Father, Grace, Holiness, Joy, Redemption

Here are a handful of images for a series of talks on John 17. It was a pleasure to be asked and a pleasure to do it.

Tags: Jesus, Father, Sin, Grace

A wonderful project I have been working on for the last few weeks with AWM is a retelling of the story of Adam and Eve
for Arabic-speakers.



iOS apps...
The story has been designed to be read on the iPhone/iTouch/iPad platform. If you have one of those devices you can download a slightly adapted english translation now! The Arabic version is still awaiting approval from Apple but looks potentially very exciting as a means for communicating the message of grace and hope to seekers in predominantly Islamic culture. Please pray for it's effective use and helpfulness.



Powerpoint for all
A lovely result of this project is that I am free to release a powerpoint version of the english translation to churches/clubs/youthwork groups etc as a tool for communication. Here are the panels:



Please download and use the slideshow if it seems useful to your situation. If you want to print it please get in touch first and if you think it is really useful then please consider a paypal donation. Details are contained on the first and last slide of the presentation.

The download contains both Keynote (Mac) and Powerpoint formats for those who are so inclined.

Tags: thejesuscomic, Judge, Grace, Law, Father, Jesus, Death, Devil

Psalm 36:8,9, Romans 11:33 and 1Peter 2:2.

There is a ton of stuff you can digest online - much of it is pretty interesting. You can explore what experts in a variety of fields are thinking and doing minute by minute. The trouble for this Christian was that he ended up listening more to what editors,writers and other artists were saying and less to what his Saviour has said.

In the end, enough is enough. You have to acknowledge that while grazing the surface has some value, the treasures that God has freely given us should be mined regularly - there are abundant riches that will surprise, astonish and ultimately nurture/nourish.

Thanks for the textual assistance: JT, DF, RL, TW.

Tags: Faith, Grace, Holiness, Jesus, Listening, NT, OT, Patience, Prayer, Redemption, Repentance, Sin, Thankyou, Truth/Lies, Wisdom

Wisdom can take different forms depending on whether it has it's sights set on this world or the next.

Here is the text for the epilogue.

Tags: Death, Evangelism, Faith, Friendship, Grace, Heaven, Jesus, Patience, Thankyou, Truth/Lies, Wide/Narrow

Showing some interest in God is often confused with actually being accepted by Him. Fortunately, He is kind enough to fill us in on the heart realities.

Tags: Jesus, Sin, Grace, Repentance