The Christian Foodie: May 2012

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

A love so high, so wide, so deep

hi blog readers! (yes that's all of you!)
sorry if your expecting a blog on giants, I did have that further along the pipeline than this, but after tonight, that has been put back thanks to tonight

Last the few Sundays at church (community church, Huddersfield) there has been a lot of words brought about God's love, and how important it is. (you can listen to them here the two I'm refrancing are Chris Haygarth - Live With A Wide Open Heart and Ian Rossol - The Three Journeys though I'd also suggest listing to Nathan Caughey - He absolutely well and truly, significantly, scientifically, entirely, decidedly, conclusively, indisputably, really clearly loves us.)

2 weeks ago Ian was talking about the great commandments (love your God, and love your neighbor as your self- sounds like a blog I once wrote!) and the main point of his message was that to love others, we need to love ourselves, and to love ourselves, we need to allow ourselves to be loved by God. Now this might sound easy, but how often do we just assume we allow God to love us, or just presume he loves us. We can spend so much time 'being a christian' loving others, doing good deeds, and making everything about us (even if it is admitting our faults/asking for repentance from sins) we don't have time to be loved by God, so often we are to busy trying to love him.

now I'm not saying we should be making the relationship about us, or try to be something we are not, but with out allowing God's love to fill us, we can become dry. Because agape love (God's love for his people, and the love which is meant in the 2 great commandments) can only be giving out of an over flow, because its a love that doesn't make sense, nothing else in the world gives something for nothing, but not only does agape give something for nothing, it gives the most presious thing in exisitance (eternal life) for something that destroys relationships (sin) and that is not something we can just produce with out it filling us first, we can only agape love because he first agape loved us (1 john 4:9) we love others out of an over flow of God's love for us!

1 week ago Chris haygarth spoke on living with an open heart, and prophetic for that morning was in 3 parts, that God's love was higher than a mountain, wider than the universe and Deeper than the sea, That God's love was a rock beneath our feet, and also a mighty river (so mighty it was a flood plain) for us to dance in!

God's love is something for all occasions, its not something that only applies some of the time, its a river to dance in when we are happy, a rock beneath us for when we feel we are losing our footing or need solid ground to 'retreat' to but also a something that empowers us to climb any mountain, cross any universes and get to the bottom of any sea!

But one of the points was that the heart is something that as a muscle needs to be active in order to grow, and open up, cos an open heart allows us both to accept God's love but also pour that out to others, and the more it grows and opens up the more of God' love we can aspect

But how do we spiritualy activate our heart, how do we allow God in to our lives

well that something we covered at life groups earlier tonight (I say that its not 00:34!) God's love is so high, so wide, so deep we can't escape it, once we are in it we can't get out of it! its like a swimming pool that every time you try to get to the surface or the edge, it moves equal far away from you, ergo your never going to get out of it.

Well that is unless we chose to put up walls and enclose ourselves- God still loves us but we put sin between us and his love, and build barriers between them, God is still there on the outside waiting for us to to realize we have sinned and tear down the walls, but we are hiding away and blocking out the ourselves the thing that allows us to Grow most effectively.

So how do we practicaly activate our hearts

Spend time with God- this isn't just being a christian machine gun- barking out a load of requests and occasionally some praise to God before leaving before we give him chance to respond either through meditation or the bible but this is giving up time to both 'talk' and to listen and enjoy the relationship with God

Spend time with God's people- like I have been working all day for the last 2 days with out much time for anyone's else (other than the occasional FB chat) and I realy felt that I needed some time with God's people tonight, just as the text came through telling me life groups was on. I mean I could of easily said no and carried on working, but instead went and it was probably one of the best life groups I've been able to attend in terms of what I got out of it

Be honnest about where you are with people- I mean I've relised that I've come accross in a way in the past that isn't: a, who God made me to be and b, actually where I am, and rather than dealing with the issues I have, I hide them away and try to cover them up, rather than acccepting I'm a loved, cherished and paid up son of God

so to sum up, we are Free men, Free from sin, Free from rejection, Free from loneliness, free from depression, we are only 'slaves' to them if we let them take over rather than relsising that God loves us. If we concentcentrate on God's love, realize that it is freeing, empowering and secure and relising that we are ment to be in a loving family with the rest of the church then we can fight all the schemes of the evil one, which is something I need to remember myself as much, if not more than anyone else

Be Free, Be Loved, Be Powerfull

and on that bombshow
goodnight

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

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

A love so high, so wide, so deep

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