All are precious in his sight By Jack Lewis

 If you were asked the question, “whom should you love”; I am pretty sure 99% of Christians would answer, “everyone”, but do we love everyone as Jesus would have? I have heard the story of a guy who was comparing going to an Alcoholics Anonymous session for the first time to going to church for the first time. His report was that at AA he was welcomed and accepted like a long lost son, but at church everyone turned round to stare at his tatty clothes, gave him a dirty look, and then got back on with the service.

THAT IS NOT REFLECTING GOD’S LOVE. 

           The church these days is too judgmental about the appearance of people who Jesus died for. We have now got to the stage where anyone at church who is not wearing really smart clothing is not accepted as being welcomed, although they perhaps can’t afford it. (Some people claim that wearing scruffy clothing at church disrespects God but as he sees you all the time it’s not like he has never seen you in older clothes). James 2:2-4 says: “For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?”

I have also recently seen at a youth event that some people who had been seen outside church swearing at people came in to the youth event, and some people were annoyed at them for coming in, but I am sure that Jesus was delighted that they were there. WE SHOULD WELCOME PEOPLE INTO THE CHURCH, but what is the point of telling them that Jesus loves them if we do not show them love.

Equality is an issue that has been at the centre of a couple of big news stories recently too… 

Tony Campolo, a famous preacher, has recently announced that he has changed his stance on Gay Marriage, saying that Gay people should be welcomed into the Church. He is right that we should welcome all into church, but that does not mean that we should agree with Gay Marriage, as the Bible clearly says that it is a sin. However we should still love them as Jesus would have.

2. You may or may not have heard about the recent FIFA corruption story (FIFA is the leading government in Football), but what I think is so corrupt about the organisation is the fact that so far 1,200 people have died building stadiums for the World cup in 2022. That is 1,200 people whom God loves who have died to make a building for a couple of hundred other people to play sport in. (And this is coming from someone who loves football.) Also imagine if the 1,200 best footballers in the world had died just to build somewhere for the workers to use their talents, the world would be in uproar; So is it fair that all these workers have died just because there talents are not as sought after in the world?

A question to finish with. All the people mentioned in this post (The ex alcohol addict, the teenagers off the street, Gay people, the workers in Qatar, and the world cup footballers), what do they all have in common? The answer is that God would have died for them all if they were the only people on the earth.

Jesus loves all people equally, so we should too.

Lessons from Psalm 19 By Nathan Jukes

Have you noticed God's amazing creation today? It is all around us, if we go outside it is everywhere. In the Trees, in the sky, in the Hills, and in the Sea. We just can't get away from it, it is everywhere! So let’s see what David said about it in Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament show his handiwork. Day until day utters speech and unto night reveals knowledge. Psalm 19v1-2. (NIV)

David is describing the sky, he clearly saw the glory of God declared in the sky. The heavens declare the glory of God. This means that the sky declares the glory of God. And the firmament show his handiwork. This just means that the Sky declares the glory of God. In these two verses David is describing the sky in a very wonderful way, making the sky look like a work of art!

It’s rising is from one end of heaven, And it’s circuit to the other end, And there is nothing hidden from its heat. Psalm 19 v6 (NIV)

Its rising is from one end of heaven, And it’s circuit to the other end. To tell the truth I am not really sure what this means, it could that the power of the gospel to spread everywhere. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. This is relating to God son Jesus, David most likely got this idea from the son. In this chapter David is using things from creation to describe things in a heavenly way.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart may these words be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19 v14 (NIV)

As Christians we should want the things we do to be pleasing in God's sight. What David is saying that he wants to please God, to do the things that would be pleasing in God's sight. Are you the things that you are doing pleasing God sight? I've only scraped the surface of the things we could learn from Psalm 19, if want to know more go and read it.

God can do (nearly) anything! By Jack Lewis

I am sure that nearly every Christian who reads this blog will agree with me that God it very powerful; but do we practice what we say about this subject often enough. We can say that we believe that God is all powerful, but if we never live this out then we will never see the full power and glory of God on this earth. What I mean by living this out is believing in- for example- God’s healing power and then practicing it by praying for the healing of a friend who has some sort of illness; and I know of or have seen many examples of where God does heal people in miraculous ways. And although he will not choose to heal every time, all he needs is for us to trust him and be bold in our faith and God will heal if it is his will. And if you believe that you are not as spiritually gifted as those people who can heal others, then remember this testimony (it is a true story): A friend of mine was out in McDonalds with his family and one of their friends, who had a heat rash. My friend’s two year old daughter prayed for this friend (who was a non-Christian at the time), and the rash instantly disappeared and has never returned! I think that story proves that God can heal at any time, in any place, and through any believing person. So next time you have a problem, don’t believe all the answers the world gives you, just lift your problem up to God and he will help you.

The God who raised people from the dead is certainly able to heal any illnesses you have, the God who owns everything can certainly help you through financial troubles, and the God who can move mountains can easily move doubts.

Why worry about what the world throws at you when the guy who can do anything is on your side; so take a leap of faith and trust him to help you!

(If you are wondering what God cannot do, the answer is he can’t sin!)

God's Creation By Daniel Jukes

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 (NIV) 

From this first verse in the Bible we clearly see that God created the earth. The earth did not come into being by a big bang or anything else people may tell us. The truth is that they don't want to acknowledge God so they had to come up with something else so they can leave God out of it.  

If you watch any TV programs about science they will  most likely to mention millions or billions of years. According to Google, scientists tell us the age of the earth is 4.54 billion years old that sounds crazy doesn't it? Well people have studied the Bible and they believe the earth is somewhere around  6,000 years old that's a big  difference isn't it. Which one is more believable? The second one of course. 

 The heavens declare the glory of God,  the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1 (NIV) 

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:3 (NIV) 

We see God's handy work in everything around us in, animals, plants, the sky and even our own bodies, God designed everything we need to live on the earth he even gave us minds and imagination to create things for ourselves but nothing we can make is as good as what God has made. 

Let's thank God for his wonderful creation today not only today but everyday! 

Feel free to leave a comment. 

Staying away from harmful addictions. By Jack Lewis

Often things happen to us that require a certain amount of resistance, and we often feel pushed to breaking point. Friends may constantly pester you to try out their new found “excitement”, which are often very ungodly things, like yoga, gambling, pornography, drugs, or witchcraft. It is easy to understand why people who have not known Jesus might be interested in, for example, witchcraft, as it allows them to see and do supernatural and incredible things that others can’t do, but they don’t realise that the dead are behind it all. Even something like yoga that is not quite so obviously evil, still originates from Hinduism and is something that we probably should not go near.

One thing to remember is that however much you are tempted, God will never push you beyond your breaking point, and he knows what your limits are, so it is not a one-size-fits-all scenario. So when you know that something is not good, stay away from it, and God will help you if you ask him.

God can also bring you out of addictions that you already have. Although it is tough to get rid of something that has been part of you for a long time, God will give you the strength and perseverance you need, and the bridges you can’t get over, God will carry you over.

Abstain from all appearance of evil.1 Thessalonians 5:22

Running the race By Nathan Jukes

Life is like running a race, the things we do in life will affect the way our life will turn out. Some people lives go thought without any real goal, there life is just like eat, sleep and live. What are they running towards, they are running towards nothing really, they have no real goal to go towards in their lives? Sure they might think they have a goal in life that goal could to, run as far away from God as they possibly can, or to think to that they are doing good enough works to get to Heaven. But what do they live for without God? They are living for themselves or the Devil. There whole life flys by without much though for God and who he is. God’s name has become a swear word, so the people who misuse it really don’t think about God name unless they are using it to swear or take God’s name in vain. When they do it they admit that God is real but if they don’t seem to know that God is up there. So let’s move on to running the race for God.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfected of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)

As Christian in the race we need to fix our eyes, if we don’t we will fall. This means that if we don’t read our bibles and let other things take over, if we don’t keep close to God we will slip back in our walk with God. The pioneer and perfected of our faith, what does this mean? Jesus was the pioneer, Jesus was perfect he showed us how to live. Jesus is the perfected of our faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross. Taking the cross was a joy for Jesus, but he had to take the cross witch was the worse way to die in that time. Scorning its shame. Jesus had to take the punishment for us, taking our shame for his own to die for us. This last bit, And sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. When Jesus left this earth he went up to heaven, after he die on that wooden cross for us, he went to be with his Father in heaven and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the Prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)

Went there is a race there is always one winner, only one runner can get first place. They all run to get the prize but only one of them gets it. As Christian we should run to get the prize, we are not running against other Christians to get to Heaven. No we are all running as Christian to get the prize, there is no 1th 2th 3th 4th and so on with God, we all come in the same. There is only one thing that would stop some people from getting to Heaven and that is SIN. That stops some people from running the race, all they have to do is cry out to Jesus and he will save them. From that point they need to start running for God, to look toward the prize to have that as their goal. So to round it off we need to keep running, keep our eyes on Jesus and get the prize that God is preparing for us.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. Do your best to come to me quickly. 2 Timothy 4:7-9 (NIV)

Feel free to comment.

Reading the Bible By Jack Lewis

Reading the Bible can sometimes feel very tedious, and we are often left thinking, “what on earth is God trying to say to me through this”? I struggle a lot when reading the Bible, but about Christmas time I found a Bible reading program in the back of my four month old barely used Bible. I started reading it and have found that it has really helped me find the interesting and relevant parts of the Bible. I would recommend it to anyone, so I have it printed here. It works on 14 day sections (occasionally 13 or 15) and you can read them at any pace you want so don’t panic if you don’t manage to read one every day. Towards the end of the readings I have put the order of them more orally, but if it does not make sense in any way then just put a comment and I will reply to it.

Download the reading plan http://1drv.ms/1KyV26z (copy and paste link)