The Christian Foodie: Love?!?

Monday, 2 May 2011

Love?!?

(NB-this isn't to say Joe's blog is wrong- this is just a diffrent way of looking at love- in fact Joe's blog is awesome- I instruct you to go read it now, and while your at it read Rosie's too, and while your doing that load up Dave's youtube Vlog, )

So this is a blog on love, now just because I'm not Mr Romatic doesn't mean I don't know about love (after all romance is just an aspect of love) so lets look at the love, first from the bible, secondly from a great christian auther called Shane Claiborne from a book "the irresisitible reverloution" which I'd love to lend to people its a great book for people wanting more on how to be 'a chrisitian lover' (more on that later)

First of all- what is love

if you would like to find your bible and turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (note if you can't be botherd finding your bible, God invented Bible gateway for a reason, for the even less bother I'll copy and paste what the NIV says)

"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."

In short to love someone is to want whats best for them- This applys to all forms of love, Love for your family, love for God, love for your girlfriend/boyfriend/lets not get in to it, love for your mates, love for non chrisitians and any other love type there is (other than maybe possetions- I as much as I love food, I don't think eating it is whats best for the food!)

Now love isn't wanting whats best for them short term- after all we could go round buying everyone ice cream, if that was love, and yep everyone would love you to begin with, but then people might start wondering if you were trying to pay them to like you, other people would just get fat off the ice cream and start blaming you and your bank mannager will prob be angry at you for blowing your lifes savivings so you can give that one person you met for 3 seconds while visiting a relative some ben and jerrys.

No love is wanting whats best for them over all, both long and short term- take an example (sorry Boys, first example that popped in to my head, I'm sure you could replace this with something a little less girly- I'm sure you could replace going out with football or something), a friend is going for a night out, and asks you what you think- and they don't look nice at all

If you were 'loving' them short term you would say they look lovely and there is nothing wrong at them at all, They smile and feel happy, then turn up at the party and either get laughed at for looking stupid, or get talked about behind there back

If you where loving them long term you would prob tell them that they looked horrible and should never ever go out like that again. You have saved them from getting laughed at, but you also blew up there self confidance

so you be truthfull but in a way thats helps them both long and short term (e.g. something along the lines of, your hair needs sorting out, come one I'll come help you with it)

anyway- So love is wanting whats best for the people you love, But who should you love you ask, luckly thats in the bible (and something thats prob going to get put on my gravestone if I say it anymore)

if you want to fish out your bibles again and turn to Mark 12:30-31

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

there are actually 3 groups of people you need to love, lets look at each in term (note for the passage to work, you need to apply all 3 at the same time, if one is missing, they all tend to be)

Love your..... self
O.k. this one is slightly derived but its still important, You need to love your self,
Now loving your self isn't being arrogent, but your not going to be in a possiton to love anyone, if your hating your self and can't think anything possibive in life your not going to be able to do much
so how do we want whats for ourselfs

First of all Get in Gods word- God Loves us, and the bible is a love letter from him if we relises How God loves us, we can love ourselfs for the same reasons. obviously this isn't getting to the point where we get arrogent and start boasting left right and center (cos that isn't loving others) but relising God works though each of us, beacuse he loves us dispite our sin and human failings, and we can rejoice

Love your neighbour
Right so lets start applying this to others, First of all your neighborer is everyone you interact with, That friend of yours you laugh and joke with- thats your neighbor, that Non-Christian course mate- thats your neighbor, that person you walk past everyday but never talk to, Thats your neighbor

So how do we love them, Well obviously telling them that jesus loves tham and wants to be in a relationship with them, but there is more to love than just evangelism (I can't currently find the quote but when I do I'll post it)

anyway to bring Shane Claiborne in to and what love is I'll give you a brief rundown of who he is and what he does. He's an american Christian who has spends his life helping out the homeless and the helpless in america- He doesn't do this by sending money or cloaths or something like that, but he lives with them and activly involves himself in there troubles (if you have spair time and feel you have a calling to help the poor- or if you don't and just want to know more about the book, I have a copy of it and am happy to lend it to all) but there is a line in there (I hope so at least, or my memories failing) where he says he doesn't want to be known as a evendulisit or anything like that, But he wants to be known as a lover, and thats something that has inspired me, because whats the point of evendulising to someone who is hungry- yep there saved, but if they die of manultrtion while your sat there getting fat, because you stoped when they got saved, are you a murder?

Loveing God
Well God wants to have a relationship with us, thats what we are here to do, to be in relationship and gloryfy him, and thats not just what we do in our public lives, or our 'church' lives (or 'CU' lives) but what we do every second of everyday. we need to make sure that God is the one we turn to in times of need, and God we prase in times of rejoying- for with out him we wouldn't even be here

So to sum up, love is doing what is best for a person, and if you don't know, put your self in that possiton and work out whats best for them that way. Now you may say well my love for my girlfirend/boyfrend is diffrent to my love for my mate

You still love your mates, and as an extension of that want whats best for them, its just what might be best form them might not be best for your girlfriend/boyfriend (kissing your best mate on the lips is prob not a good idea especialy if the girl friends/boyfriend is in the same room- then kissing your girlfrind/boyfriend full on is prob not good in front of a room of mates- unless you like the joky cat calls (or you have diffrent mates to mine!)

So my advice to you is this- Aspire to be lovers, not the soppy romantic fools to everyone, but to want whats best for the people around you, including yourself and God, be more than just an evangelist or a prayerer, or a worshiper or any other

BE A LOVER

its a biblical commandment to love!

so on that bomb show Good morning

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My testomony

I grew up in a Christian family, dragged to church on a Sunday morning, where I'd sit in church, before going to the sunday school and learning all about God, and the bible and the people in it. Once I'd got to secondy school I'd moved out of the sunday school to the teen group on a sunday morning- however being a rather quiet child, as well as being one of the youngest in the year, as well as my dislexa/dispraxia ment I appered quite young than my age, and thus I didn't make many friends, my few good ones where in the year below me, and thus the first year of secondary school was hard for me, as being the new kid with new mates, and having been brought up in a family who didn't sware or talk about sex openly, the subjects other kids in the school where talking about I didn't have a clue about, also my parents where semi strict on what I was and wasn't allowed to watch, (I'd never even heard of the simpsons till year 8, when I mannaged to make my parents let me watch, so I could be semi cool) and so had very little to interact with my class mates about, and so with the teasing this lead to, I retreated in to my shell even more than before, not realy talking to anyone in my class, and only have a few conversations with my mates in the libary

The seconday school I went to was on split sites, so when I got to year 10, I left my few mates in the year below in the other sight, it was also at this time, the church youth group for my age swiched from a sunday morning, to a sunday evening, and thus allowed me to not attend church very offen, when I did, I mostly talked though the worship and word, with my mates at the back rather than listing, the idea of having a relationship with God had never even crossed my mind,

However the lack of friends, quiet nature and slightly shelted upbringing ment that I was an easy target for the school bullys, and they quickly laid in to me, stealing my lunch money, throwing my Bag and P.E. kit around (the fact I was with the class that contained most of the school rugby team didn't help) and the old favorate of taking the sciance equipment off my desk at the start of every expermant so I'd have to get 5 or 6 sets, and dumping it back on my desk at the end, so I'd have 5 or 6 sets to put back, thus offen making me over run

However during this time one of my favorate lessions was Food tecnology, partly cos it was mixed classes, and though I still didn't have any friends in the group, the main culprits wern't in the class, and the teacher was one of my favorates

However After christmas someone had picked up that I went to church and so this was added to the list of insults they would throw at me, and shortly after easter I dropped out of church completely, and only occasionally went to the youth group.

Then about half term/easter (can never rember which) I'd desided that there was nothing left in my life, nothing worth living for, my friends had abandoned me (so I thought, in theory I abandoned them when I stopped going to church) and my class mates hated me, and so I diesided there was no way out except though Death, suiside- after all my parents and sister was out, even they had 'abandoned' me

I got down stairs and was heading for the kitchen, when the phone rang, and for some reason I answered it (normal I don't if my parents weren't in as it was never for me, and anyone who did want me normally rang my mobile)

It was my mate from church who invited me to join him on a 10 day long Christian Adventure camp, I'd agreed before I'd even though about it, and then spent 10 mins discussing it (all the time thinking in my head "I'm just about to commit suside, what am I doing agreeing to go away in the summer?")

anyway by the time I'd finished talking to my mate, my parents and sister was back, and I'd desided, that if I was to end my life, I might as well go out enjoying my self, with this summer camp I'd agreed to go on

Somehow (I 'blame' God) I mannaged to get through the next few terms, rejoining the youth group and going to 1 or 2 sunday mornings, before going on the youth camp, fully expecting to slit my wrists or something as soon as was possible when I got back after it

However during a worship session (my mate had got saved a few months before so while he sang his heart out I just stood there, thinking) that God 'hit me' so to speak, and I just broke down in middle of about 200 young people, some who were christians, some who where just church going kids and I relised that what ever I had been though God had been there protecting me and providing the people and situations and suddenly my quietness and timid nature had been replaced by a confindance and energy that I'd never felt before (the closisited had prob been while I'd been in the food classes, however that was nothing compared to this) and I admited then that I needed God as part of my life, and then turned from someone who didn't sing, to someone who couldn't sing, but didn't let that stop him

I returned to school the next year, all thoughts of suicide banished, to find, in the year I'd left my mates behind (them being in the year below) they had made a group of christian friends and I got involved, part of which was a weekly cell group which I was invited to join

I took to it like a duck to warter, and as it was run by the youth for the youth, 6 months later (roughtly a year after I'd got the phone call) I was asked to take over the leadership of the small group, which I agreed to

From there my church life blossomed- I was no longer the quiet timmid boy hiding in the back of church, but did everything I could to get involved with christian life, however the church I went to, as good as it was for moden worship and the like, the rigid structure of the way things were set out ment there was very little chance for me to get involved with anything, and though i lead the small group for a year and a half (I steped down to concentrate on my A-levels after nearly failing the first year) and so i felt that my christian growth had stoped, just as I got to university stage, and then found out I'd been accesspeted to huddesfield

From there I immidatly signed up from the Cu fully getting involved with small groups (which if you know anything about me, you would probiably know is probiably riviling food for my top love after God) and from there got involved with community church- who intrduced me 'so to speack' to the holy spirit, before then I'd just though (it was implyed at my old church) that it was just for the church leaders and the very very privlage christians, not something young Christians had accesses to and though slightly scary at first, relising that knowing the holy spirit was an important part of Christian life, was a huge step to my development, as well as the mentoring from many of the more experanced member of CU (Jonny and Hannah Bowly especialy) /the student group at community turned me from some over exsited new christian, to someone who could use there enthusuasm in usefull areas, and thus I was very very happy to accept the offer of being a small group leader just 4 months after starting uni

Picking up small groups was probibly one of the best, but most challenging parts of my small group life, and I owe a lot to not just the members of town small group, but also to heather, who co-lead amazingly, I still say at the time I couldn't of done it with out her, she mannage to sort out all my crazy ideas and helped to channel my enthusuasam and energy and knollage, while organising the group and adding her own ideas and I loved every minnuiet of small group leading

Getting in to 2nd year I'd desided that I needed to be baptised, and so attempted to get that sorted, when I ran in to a brick wall in the form of my parents- who as members of the church back home which was C of E and so taught infant baptisam and so had to spend a few months convcing them this needed to be done

at around the same time I was asked to lead another small group and agreed, and this time got paired up with Katie, who dispight being a southen (we can't all be amazing KG- love you realy!) has been a compleate joy to work with, and one of the most natualy talented small group leaders I've come across, and doesn't seam to be intimidated by the task in hand (I would of though co-leading with someone who can be as loud and as vocal as me and is also more experanced, could be quite intimidating) however she has been superb in it, and has allowed me to take a slightly less active role, thus allowing me more time to concentrate on church/uni life than last year

The Christian Foodie

Monday, 2 May 2011

Love?!?

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