1 Corinthians 13
Love
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
.... "Love is a choice. We must never wait for a mood or feeling to overwhelm us. That may never come. Love is voluntary, an act of the will - what we deliberately and consciously choose to do."... (R.T. Kendall)
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Gods word
While the bible is exciting, full of life and inspirational, we must be careful not to place it as the centre piece in our lives. If we spend our lives trying to get everything we need out of Gods book, we will miss his purposes. God didn't give us the bible so we wouldn't need him. God gave us the bible so we would know how to seek him, how to serve him. The bible helps us know how to live with God, it's not given as a substitute of his presence. If we just want to get our theology right or our thinking right we won't be able to do it through the bible. The bible will point us to the Lord. Yet this does not mean we aught to neglect our bibles. God says we need to read his word.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Looking for happiness?
Did you ever hear anyone say that they were looking for happiness in life?
Perhaps that's what you consider a successful life? To find fulfillment and happiness. Now I don't intend to start sounding like some down in the dumps, killjoy, who is not impressed with this notion of seeking joyful fulfillment, however this is not what our chief goal in life should be.
The writer of Hebrews says that the righteous shall live by faith (ch10v38). God has called us to be a faithful people. In chapter 11 of Hebrews, we can see a number of examples of the heroes of faith. However not all these wonderful figures received a fulfillment of the promises on their lives. Not even Abraham!! Yet they all chose to be faithful over being fulfilled. Can our generation boast the same? Have we made our careers, our friends, our possessions, and our hobbies the source of our happiness? Or are we motivated by being faithful to the one who has been faithful to us?
My teacher's statement this week in class put it beautifully and I'll finish on this note...
If we sacrifice Fulfillment for Faithfulness, God will take care of the fulfillment.
If we sacrifice Faithfulness for Fulfillment, we will then have Neither!
Perhaps that's what you consider a successful life? To find fulfillment and happiness. Now I don't intend to start sounding like some down in the dumps, killjoy, who is not impressed with this notion of seeking joyful fulfillment, however this is not what our chief goal in life should be.
The writer of Hebrews says that the righteous shall live by faith (ch10v38). God has called us to be a faithful people. In chapter 11 of Hebrews, we can see a number of examples of the heroes of faith. However not all these wonderful figures received a fulfillment of the promises on their lives. Not even Abraham!! Yet they all chose to be faithful over being fulfilled. Can our generation boast the same? Have we made our careers, our friends, our possessions, and our hobbies the source of our happiness? Or are we motivated by being faithful to the one who has been faithful to us?
My teacher's statement this week in class put it beautifully and I'll finish on this note...
If we sacrifice Fulfillment for Faithfulness, God will take care of the fulfillment.
If we sacrifice Faithfulness for Fulfillment, we will then have Neither!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Soccer heroes
I was struck with a thought yesterday, well more of a question really, during a tense game of indoor soccer. I wondered who I considered my all time, footballing Role model? Who I would love to be compared to on the soccer pitch?
A number of wonderfully, skillful players through the decades flooded my thoughts. The likes of Ronaldo (the fat one!) just for clarification, Giggs, Zidane, Rooney, Iniesta, Zola, Bestie, Charlton, Larsson.... I got a bit carried away!!
I had to quickly snap out of this beautiful daydream as I received a pass from a team mate and found myself boxed into a corner with the football and two opposition players bearing down on top of me. I managed to shelter the ball until Dad (on my team) made space and I was able to find him with a pass. Myself and Dad link up fairly well together in indoor soccer :)
That is when it struck me...
My role model in football is none of the names on the list above!! In fact this player doesn't play in the premiership or in La Liga!!
Believe it or not, my Dad is my footballing role model. Is this sad??
He plays the game with a class that in my opinion supersedes all those other stars. He plays the game with integrity and dignity.
He is wonderfully skillful and goes by players with ease. Often his style of play reminds me of Ryan Giggs style. He has a great awareness on the pitch, where he needs to be and where to place a pass. I really enjoy being on a team with him.
His attitude is what makes him world class though. I have never seen him argue on a soccer pitch. Not even once!! He is a competitive player, yet he will not let this effect his character when playing. He will always humble himself even when other players cheat and argue decisions. He carries himself with real dignity and consequently is the most respected player at Wednesday night soccer. He always seems to enjoy himself at footie, even when it is not the greatest game.
Its a humble and gracious attitude that shines through on the pitch. That's what I look for more so, than the step overs and flicks. He is a real pro. and a true role model for any footballer.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Missing day - Fact or Fiction?
Mr. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, Maryland, and a consultant in the space program, relates the following development.
I think one of the most amazing things that God has done for us today happened recently to our space scientists at GreenBelt, Maryland. They were checking out where the positions of the sun, moon, and planets would be 100 years and 1,000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't send up a satellite and have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.
They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries, and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong with either the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards. They called in the service department to check it out, and they said, 'What's wrong?"
Well, they found there is a day missing in space in lapsed time. They scratched their heads and tore their hair. There was no answer.
Finally a Christian man on the team said, 'You know, one time I was in Sunday School, and they talked about the sun standing still.' While they didn't believe him, they didn't have an answer either, so they said, 'Show us.'
He got a Bible and went to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with 'common sense.' There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, 'Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.'
Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy, and if darkness fell, they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's right... 'The sun stood still and the moon stayed and lasted not to go down about a whole day!' (Joshua 10:12-13)
The astronauts and scientists said, 'There is the missing day!'
They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough.
The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours and 20 minutes ... not a whole day. They read the Bible, and there it was 'about (approximately) a day.' These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes, you'll still be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.
As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS.
The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the "Book" and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story: Hezekiah, on his death bed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said 'Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?' Hezekiah said, 'It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees.' Isaiah spoke to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD!
Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes!
Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe!"
Isn't it amazing?
References: Joshua 10:8 and 12,13 and 2 Kings 20:9-11.
I think one of the most amazing things that God has done for us today happened recently to our space scientists at GreenBelt, Maryland. They were checking out where the positions of the sun, moon, and planets would be 100 years and 1,000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't send up a satellite and have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.
They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries, and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong with either the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards. They called in the service department to check it out, and they said, 'What's wrong?"
Well, they found there is a day missing in space in lapsed time. They scratched their heads and tore their hair. There was no answer.
Finally a Christian man on the team said, 'You know, one time I was in Sunday School, and they talked about the sun standing still.' While they didn't believe him, they didn't have an answer either, so they said, 'Show us.'
He got a Bible and went to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with 'common sense.' There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, 'Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.'
Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy, and if darkness fell, they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's right... 'The sun stood still and the moon stayed and lasted not to go down about a whole day!' (Joshua 10:12-13)
The astronauts and scientists said, 'There is the missing day!'
They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough.
The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours and 20 minutes ... not a whole day. They read the Bible, and there it was 'about (approximately) a day.' These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes, you'll still be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.
As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS.
The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the "Book" and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story: Hezekiah, on his death bed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said 'Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?' Hezekiah said, 'It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees.' Isaiah spoke to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD!
Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes!
Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe!"
Isn't it amazing?
References: Joshua 10:8 and 12,13 and 2 Kings 20:9-11.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
WARNING!
(Hebrews 6 v 4-6)......For it is impossible for those who were once -enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, -if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
YIKES!!
YIKES!!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Victory
I heard an excellent illustration last weekend and said to myself...'I don't want to forget that example'. I thought the best way to remember the illustration was to post it here. I do occasionally read my own writing. You might think this to be very egotistical, but my thoughts are, ......'well at least someone reads my blog'!!
The example given is not used the same way the speaker used it. I have changed it around slightly to convey my point.
In 1982, Offaly won the Sam Maguire trophy and were crowned All Ireland Champions. This was a special time for the people of Offaly and sadly for them, they have not retained this trophy since then. If you ask any 15 year old from Offaly when their county last won the All Ireland final?, they will tell you that THEY beat Kerry in 1982 and became champions.
Now hold on!! How could they say this and identify with the event since they were not born yet and in fact would not be born for another 13 years? The fact that they were not present is not important. It was a proud day in their counties history and their county was victorious which is something that they can boast about.
In Romans 6, Paul is speaking about an event which happened over 2000 years ago. Just like the 15 year old from Offaly can identify with the great success and victory of his/her team in 1982, we today can identify with Christs great victory. Offaly defeated Kerry, but Christ defeated death.
The Offaly fans have not been able to do too much boasting in recent years as their victory was short lived. Christ was victorious 2000 years ago, and will have the victory forever and ever. He is always going to win, and that's where our confidence lies as we continue to put our faith and trust in Him.
The example given is not used the same way the speaker used it. I have changed it around slightly to convey my point.
In 1982, Offaly won the Sam Maguire trophy and were crowned All Ireland Champions. This was a special time for the people of Offaly and sadly for them, they have not retained this trophy since then. If you ask any 15 year old from Offaly when their county last won the All Ireland final?, they will tell you that THEY beat Kerry in 1982 and became champions.
Now hold on!! How could they say this and identify with the event since they were not born yet and in fact would not be born for another 13 years? The fact that they were not present is not important. It was a proud day in their counties history and their county was victorious which is something that they can boast about.
In Romans 6, Paul is speaking about an event which happened over 2000 years ago. Just like the 15 year old from Offaly can identify with the great success and victory of his/her team in 1982, we today can identify with Christs great victory. Offaly defeated Kerry, but Christ defeated death.
The Offaly fans have not been able to do too much boasting in recent years as their victory was short lived. Christ was victorious 2000 years ago, and will have the victory forever and ever. He is always going to win, and that's where our confidence lies as we continue to put our faith and trust in Him.
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