EN100 A Reasonable Jump
17/01/12 19:48 Filed in: John
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.
EN96 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
03/10/11 07:48 Filed in: John
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
The magnificent epilogue text can be read here.
EN95 Mr GodMan
25/09/11 20:48 Filed in: Hebrews
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.
EN90 The Social Network
07/04/11 17:20 Filed in: Luke
Delightfully, while this cartoon is a tad messy it paved the way to a wonderful year of working with Youthwork magazine and a whole new format. Modern Parables!
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The Parable of the Tenants
26/02/11 09:14 Filed in: Luke
"...the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’"
Read Luke 20v9-19 here.
Commissioned by Scripture Union for the Wordlive site. Thanks Eddie.
EN81 Grazing/Mining
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.
EN77 Worldly/Heavenly Wisdom
04/03/10 19:34 Filed in: Matthew
