The PASSION Blog

Over the years I have had a lot of conversations with friends about my faith in Christ and my hope for heaven. Some of my friends have shared my faith, others have not.One line of thinking that always seems to come up is what happens if we die and then there is nothing. They say that I would have wasted my life believing in something that is not real. I would have given money to church and other charities, I would have tried to live by a high moral “code” and I would given my life to serve others and it would be all for nothing. It would have been a life wasted.

For me obviously, I don’t believe that is the case. I am a very firm believer that all the Bible says is true. I believe there is a God who created this world we live in. I believe that Jesus came and died on the cross for my sin so I could be in relationship with God in this life and be assured I will spend eternity in heaven when I die. And lastly I believe God has work for me to do while I am here.

One thing that I always tried to bring into the conversation with my friends is that five minutes after we die we will find out. Either there will be nothing and that will be the end of us, or we will find that heaven and hell are real places and once we find ourselves in that position it will be too late to decide. Our fate will already be decided.

So where are you today? Do you have a strong and vibrant faith in Christ and a hope for the future? Or are you not sure if there is anything after death? Today I would encourage you to do two things…

1. Read the Bible and find out about Jesus Christ. Find out who He is and what He has done for you. You can do that by viewing this online Bible by clicking here ; and
2. Visit our “Peace with God” page to find out how you can come into relationship with God now and know that you will spend eternity in heaven with Him when you die.

One of our associate Pastors at church gave an altar call after his message on the weekend. He asked if people had a prayer need, to come forward and bring their request to God.

He said the altar at the front is like God’s buffet table. Whatever need you have, it is there. You just have to come forward and receive it from God.

How about you? Have you got needs that you can take to God? Why not take your needs to God’s buffet table today?

Who speaks into your life? Have you got people around you that are in your inner circle that advise or counsel you?

Personally, I have found that the more I move on in life and ministry, the more important it is to have good people around you that speak into your life. You need to have people or an “inner circle” that you trust who will advise you, people you can pray with and those who you can bounce ideas off.

Many times over the years having this close group of people around me have really helped me in making big decisions. Having their counsel, wisdom and prayer has been invaluable. My recent decision to return to Bible College was bounced off my inner circle and they confirmed it was the next thing for me. One person in particular helped me to decide the college I would study at.

If you haven’t got this in place I would encourage you to seek out some people and ask them if they would be interested. If you are a Christian is there anyone at your church you admire? Perhaps your Pastor, an elder or other mature Christians who might fit the role?

From my experience it really makes a huge difference to your daily life and any ministry you are involved in.

This morning did I another lesson with my kids for school. This time we touched on the area of being a leader. I thought this was timely as both of my girls are getting to point where they might be assistant leaders in children’s church in the next few years.

As usual a nice simple lesson is the key. One which spoke to me after I wrote it!

1. Leaders follow their leaders

Leaders have someone who teaches them. They watch and learn from the leaders God has put in charge of them. Samuel watched and served Eli before he was put in charge.

2. Leaders ask God how to lead the people

Moses kept asking God how and where to lead the people. He did this by praying to God and waiting for an answer. He then did what God told him to do.

3. Leaders serve the people

Jesus came to be our Saviour, but He also came to serve us. Jesus even washed peoples feet! Jesus told his followers that if they want to be first, they should aim to be a servant of all.

We then finished with some questions which they answered…

• Who are three leaders God has given you?
• How do you ask God what to do?
• What is one way you can serve your leaders at church?

One of the great things about the internet is the ability to find information in the privacy of your own home.

If you are wanting to find out more about the Christian faith or Jesus Christ in particular, there is a great resource at Campus Crusade for Christ International that looks at Jesus from a Biblical perspective.

You can click on any of the links below to find out more about my best friend in the whole world!

Introduction: The Uniqueness of Jesus

• Lesson 1: Who is Jesus Christ?
• Lesson 2: The Earthly Life of Jesus Christ
• Lesson 3: The Death of Jesus Christ
• Lesson 4: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
• Lesson 5: Jesus Christ Living in the Christian
• Lesson 6: The Church of Jesus Christ
• Lesson 7: Recap

My car wasn’t starting like usual today. It was taking a bit longer and turned over a few times before it fired. Being the mechanical man I am I went and looked under the bonnet. Hmmm yep that’s the engine I thought to myself!

After some close inspection and doing all the manly things like checking the leads and water and other stuff, I realised that the battery lead was loose and there was a bit of corrosion around the terminals. It seems the leads had become corroded and things had built up on the terminals and the spark is not what it should be. The charge was not getting through.

As I thought about this I realised the connection of our battery and leads are a lot like our connection with God. At times things can come in and crowd out our time with God and other things can build up and reduce the spark in our lives. Like our cars, we might need a tune up and a service every now and then. Instead of booking in to our local car service centre we might need to check in with God and ask how we are going.

Today I want to ask you how is your connection with God? Are you firing on all cylinders or is your spark less than it should be? Perhaps it is time for a spiritual check up?

Here’s some questions you might like to ask yourself…

• How is my Bible reading going?
• Am I having regular time alone with God?
• Is my worship alive and vibrant in my heart?
• Am I enjoying spending time with other Christians?
• Am I active in sharing my faith?
• Am I growing and moving forward or just going through the motions?

If one or more of these areas are not what they have been or your not making that connection with God you might like to pray this prayer.

Dear Lord,
Help me to restore my connection with You. I pray and ask that You will be with me right now. Help me to spend time alone with You each day. Help me to spend time in Your Word. I pray that You will help me to prioritise my time and energy to put You first in all I do. Please restore my joy in my salvation and help me to be effective in sharing my faith with those around me. I pray that my worship will be alive and vibrant and that I will enjoy spending time with other Christians. Help me not to just go through the motions any more. Revive me Lord I pray. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen

If you are reading this and you haven’t made that initial connection with God, I would encourage you to visit this page to find Peace with God today.

As a parent and a Christian I am so glad that I have the Bible to learn from and to pass those lessons on to my kids. One verse that I shared with one of my girls on the weekend was James 1:19. It says…

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry”.

I was able to to share that if we don’t really listen to people we might not actually hear what they are trying to communicate to us. If we are thinking about what we are going to say in return or what we think they need, we might miss out on an important piece of the jigsaw of communication.

The other thing I shared was that if we don’t hear the full message we might jump to a conclusion and think the person is actually saying something that they are not. This can lead to confusion and anger.

For me this was a good reminder as I was teaching it. At times, especially when I am tired or busy, I forget to really listen to the message and all the non-verbal signals that are part of communicating. It is only afterwards that I realise what the person was trying to say to me. And sadly the time to help or support is sometimes lost.

We had a great guest speaker at our church this weekend. One of his lines he said in passing was quite good. He said if you have ever wondered if you are a leader ask yourself these three questions.

1. Have you got anyone following you - turn around and see who is coming after you. Is there anyone there?
2. Do you know how to follow Jesus - are you really following Jesus’ teachings and example?
3. Do you know how to lead yourself - People like Abraham and Daniel had no-one to follow. Have you got things in place to stay strong in your faith?