Strictly Come Praying

On Sunday, a few of us from Claremont went to an event run by S.U Scotland called “Strictly Come Praying”. It’s an event run for those in P6-S6 (and the youth workers that lead them). Myself, Karen and Andy took 5 of our kids with us to Grangemouth.

There was a whole day of prayer stations, seminars, worship and talks. We even got a dinner too! I went last year to the event, and it was really good to be back at it and learn some more about Prayer – the one thing that many of us struggle to do and make time for.

The whole day was wonderful, especially seeing 200-plus young people all coming together to worship and learn how to pray. There were a couple of chances to be quiet and just pray, and it was during these quiet times that I really noticed the presence of God.

I love finding God in the quietness of prayer, or just sitting contemplating.  The day really inspired me, and I’m gradually getting ‘better’ at praying and making a connection with God.

Elijah found God in the whisper in the wind; Jesus met God in the stillness of Gethsemane. It’s all about being quiet and opening your heart to hear the voice that said “Let there be light”.

God Bless, Morrison.

Grace, Grief and Growing Leaders.

We had another "Growing Leaders" Course meeting on Monday.

It was an excellent night, a great part due to the crepes & many condiments we were offered at the end due to it being Shrove Tuesday the next day.

We looked, as a group, over being "Chosen" and how 'being chosen' does not mean privileged to the exclusion of others, but does put a stress on our belonging, our being important to God. It's still something I struggle with sometimes as it does seem from what I hear from other Christians how one person was chosen over others, by God - the ultimate love. Might need to think about that one

 We then looked at Grace - all of us realising we weren't quite sure what it meant, despite the fact it is used so often in church circles.  Again, something else I need to look more at.

Another thing that made me think was when we looked at two cycles: the cycles of Grief and of Grace.

We considered the cycle of grief - which goes from achievement to identity, to drivenness, to acceptance.  And the cycle of grace - from acceptance to sustenance, to identity, to fruitfulness.  
(more information on p2 and p4 of this link:  http://marpleparish.co.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=966s0kBdFOg%3D&tabid=2322&language=en-US )

We knew we should try to follow the cycle of grace, rather than grief; I realised I needed it also. Too often people in the Church are driven by 'bums on seats/pews rather than souls in heaven' (I remember hearing that somewhere). I am just as guilty of that. I want all of the 50-odd kids I deal with on Wednesday's (at Kidzone and Crossword) to be at Church that Sunday, to know Jesus, to become committed, adult Christians who love wholly, give generously and have an abounding faith. But, I need to realise that not even Jesus converted everyone - I'm not going to convert all 50 of these kids or others I meet. I need to realise that I am already accepted by God, I do not need to work to receive his love and grace - I do what I do out of love and desire to see the kingdom grow.

I've lots to think about this week.

God Bless,
Morrison

Trying to copy the master Evangelist!

I’ve been reading a book for the last few days entitled “Jesus the Evangelist” by a Robin Gamble, a ‘Diocesan Evangelist’ in Bradford. He goes into all the aspects of the Evangelism Jesus carried out; the ‘What, Where, Why and When’ of his Evangelism. It’s a powerful book, and as I read it, I can feel it speaking to me in the work I do I do at present, and for the future. At the start and end of each chapter, there are small poems to do with the themes contained within.
One chapter was titled “The People’s Evangelist” which goes into all the different sorts of people Jesus encountered, and who we encounter today, but tend to forget about evangelising to. In the section called “Outsiders” there’s this great poem which really made me think, and I think we should all take note of:

                Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?

                My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

                Racists and wrongdoers,

                Hen parties, HIV positives and the homeless,

                Gays, goths and gamblers,

                Swearers, smokers and skateboarders,

                Sex-industry workers and small-time drug-pushers,

                Depressed, debt-ridden and drink-sodden,

                Fox hunters, fur wearers and child fondlers,

                Alzheimer sufferers and all-aloners…

                The ‘God forsaken’?

                Or just the ‘church forgotten’?

                Maybe the ‘for whom I came’

                The ‘for whom I myself became

                The forsaken by God.’

I don’t know about you, but it certainly resonates with me. Too often we (the Church in general) is happy sticking with those we know. For the majority of Churches in the UK it would be White, Middle-Class people we aim for. Yes, we give to others, or even provide care for the homeless etc. but we never do anything in words – we do loads of work in Christ’s name, without actually saying ‘Why’ we’re doing what we’re doing. I’ve never agreed with disputed quotation, supposedly by Francis of Assisi stating: “Preach the gospel and if necessary use words”. No, we need to use words to tell people why we’re doing what we are doing, of the miraculous love and grace of God and the beauty and horridness of the Cross.

The author has a discipline called ‘A Seeker a Week’ where he tries to establish a relationship with someone, so that he can ascertain if they are a ‘Seeker’ of God. He then spends time with them, and encourages them to take the next step of the journey (i.e. inviting them to a friendly church service, an exploratory group etc.) I’m going to try this more; I need to try this more! I have 30 or so teenagers at Crossword. I’m sure that some of them, regardless of who and how much was preached to them, will never take a step towards knowing God, but I also know that in amongst that bunch there are some people who are seeking. I’m going to try to work on this small group of seekers, and ask them probing questions: How do you feel about God? Would you like to know more? Would you like to come to this event/exploratory group the Church is having?

Over the past week or so, I’ve noticed more and more times where I can evangelise and tell people who God is. Someone really close to me has a Church connection, but not a God connection. It’s been hard – especially when it comes to big questions, but all I can do is pray and show them God in my life and hope they follow. I managed to invite a friend who hadn’t been at Church in a while back to our Third Day service (and they responded afterwards saying they’d like to come again).

Jesus never managed to get everyone on board, in fact, he told the disciples to effectively walk away from those who have no interest (note to all the Christians out there trying to convert the likes of Mr. Dawkin’s). All I can do is work with the small group of seekers, and hopefully move them onto the next step until one day they can become the ones training and encouraging the next set of disciples.

God has a plan, and I’m loving it as I watch it unfold.

God Bless,
Morrison.

Lord of the....?

I’ve just finished reading “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”. It’s a brilliant book, but it’s taken me ages to get round to reading, despite seeing the 3 Lord of the Rings films, and having bought the book from Oxfam about 4 years ago.

All throughout, you could see the glimpses of Christian thought in it.  Summing it up, it’s basically about one person on a quest to destroy the world of evil. Lord of the Rings, or Lord of the Cross – both have the exact same message in it.

Firstly, in some of the Characters, we see the different qualities of Jesus:

• We have the protagonist, Frodo, the one who carries the “One Ring to rule them all”. He carries the burden of the Ring as Christ carried the burden of sin. He receives a wound in his chest, much like the spear wound Christ had on the Cross.
• Sam Gamgee, Frodo’s best friend. He sticks by him no matter what. He pretty much would die for Frodo, summing up Jesus’ command: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)
• Gandalf is the teaching side of Jesus. He leads the Fellowship, and he is their guide – both as a mentor and a physical guide.  This is much like God. We can rely on God to direct us both in our physical way (what we’re going to do, our future etc.) and also he shapes and guides our thoughts, feelings and attitudes.

• The ‘One Ring’ is sin – it’s the forbidden fruit everyone wants. Gollum calls it “my precious” (how often do we try to keep our sin to ourselves, and not really admit it?). Everyone wants it, even though they know it does no good, and will destroy anyone who had it. It was made by an evil person – just like Satan tempts with sin.
• Many other Characters say or do things that are very ‘Christian’ or God-Like. The journey with the ring is like the Via Dolorosa that Jesus carried his cross upon, with the Ring being the Cross.  The book is just FULL of sneaky references to Christian theology!

If you haven’t read it, get reading it soon!

God Bless,
Morrison

Role Models.

Whilst I was on my way to Kidzone and Crossword tonight, I used the Bible Application on my iPod to read a bit of Scripture. I ended up reading 1 Thessalonians. Chapter 1 in particular struck a chord with me.

It talks about being a model for others. That is how we can tell people about Jesus – through being a model and an inspiration (?) to others. If you’re terrible at playing basketball, then you’re never going to get your friends to join your team. 

I started playing guitar because one of my friends was really good at it, and I wanted to be like them. People are inspired and want to be like those who are good at things. People talk about the legacy the Olympic Games will lead, and how, or so ministers hope, many more children will be inspired to take up sport. If it was a bunch of amateurs competing at the Olympics then no one would be inspired in the slightest to take up sport. You shove on the very best in the world, and it’s much more likely people will want to be like them.

I was watching a programme this evening about Kevin Bridges, the Glaswegian comedian. He interviewed Frank Skinner, the very man who inspired him to become a comedian in the first place. We all need people to inspire us. Jesus should be the first person we look to.

If I want people to know Jesus, then I need to be like Jesus. I need to tell them that I am like I am because of Jesus, and because of the way he has changed me.  That’s something we all need to think about, especially when we’re leading others in whatever shape that may take; be it youth-work, ministry, or even a ‘secular’ role. Whatever we do – we need to have Jesus as our inspirer and our role model for all we do.


God bless, 
Morrison

Jesus for real men!

Youthwork is difficult sometimes. On Sunday morning, we (Crossword youth group) were planning the next ‘Third Day’, our alternative modern worship service for March. We were looking into various Bible verses regarding peace, anxiety, worry and patience. I was with a few younger boys and tried to help them look at them and understand them.
Boys, being boys, tend to carry on/get distracted easily. We had food on offer, so every 5 seconds one was up to get something to eat. If it wasn’t that, they were nudging each other or irritating each other. I’m in the middle of them trying to encourage them to take turns reading the verses, or trying to work out how that applies to life. But, lo and behold – it just wasn’t happening.

It’s just difficult sometimes dealing with it. I’m here on one side of the line, passionate about the bible and God, and there’s these kids, the future of the church, the people who will be in the congregation of Churches I may lead and they’re just a bit apathetic towards it.

Part of me wants to shove it in their face and scream how important this book is, and yet I know I can’t make them believe, or read it. There has to be a balance somewhat – but as long as they take the right path in the end. I guess I need to trust in God that the work I’m doing is worthwhile. I also need to realise that Jesus didn’t manage to convert everyone, or encourage everyone to follow him; but that’s not a reason to be complacent – things can change. All of us just need to have faith, and pray more about it (something which I know I need to improve upon).

There’s an American Pastor called Mark Driscoll who has a Church (Mars Hill) with an average weekly attendance of around 10,000. He’s passionate about stopping the image of Jesus being some hippy who runs around hugging everyone and cuddling sheep. In his words: “the church has produced "a bunch of nice, soft, tender, chickified church boys. … 60% of Christians are chicks, and the 40% that are dudes are still sort of chicks”. I feel much the same. We have a few young guys at Claremont, but I worry that they’ll abandon Church because the Jesus we teach doesn’t play football, have a drink at the pub, or work as a builder. Instead, they see Jesus as a long haired, sheep carrying, pushover. I feel my ministry needs to continue like this – tell people Jesus was a fighter – not a coward in the corner!

God Bless,
Morrison

A week of many things.

I haven’t done this for a while. Many apologies.

Quite a few things have happened over the past week – really noticed God in my life, and feeling blessed to do so.

Last Tuesday was the Congregational Board meeting. It’s a privilege to be a part of this group of people within Claremont who can make decisions on behalf of the congregation for some matters.

Wednesday I helped at both Kidzone and Crossword. I really see the work that God is doing with the children I am blessed to be in the lives of. It may be a slow process, but I see God working through me, and the other leaders and children to show the love and grace of God to the young people in this community.

Sunday was a good, yet bad day.  I, for some reason, wasn’t feeling brilliant. Just felt a bit dejected – but during the service was the song “Be Thou My Vision”, which is one of my favourite hymns. It’s a really inspiring song – and it truly lifts your mood. Went home feeling a lot better that day.

The last couple of days I have been planning and writing for the Midweek Fellowship, a small service which I’ve been invited to lead. It’s wonderful that I am getting this opportunity to lead this. So many other churches wouldn’t give a 20 year old a chance to lead a service by themselves, but I am blessed to be given this chance. I’ve been writing a sermon on John 8:1-11 “The Adulterous Woman”. It’s a bit of an eye-opener looking into the context and the things that we can read between the lines in this story. It’s a wonderful tale of forgiveness and redemption.

The last week I’ve also started to really get a passion for telling people about God. I just want everyone to know. I’m not quite at the stage of singing hymns on the bus, or running about screaming “Repent! The End of the World is Nigh!” Evangelism is built on relationships, through love and care – not just a flyer on the street etc.

But, until I become a minister (if that’s what I end up doing), then I’m going to stick in at the ministry I am involved in at present. Youth groups, small services, and through the relationships I have with friends and family.

God is moving – I know it.

God Bless,
Morrison

Buses, Churches and Shredders

Sunday was an excellent day. One of those days where you notice God in everything.


I was going into Edinburgh to visit Kirty for the day. I was late for the bus into Glasgow, so I had to catch the next one due, which was only 50 minutes before my bus from Buchanan Bus Station. I thought there was no chance I was going to make it. But, after a few desperate prayers on the bus, and a lot “Come on Mr. Bus Driver – you can do it!” I managed to make the 9am bus from Buchanan Bus Station with a couple of minutes to spare. Whether it was God or not making the bus arrive 5 or so minutes early in Glasgow, I don’t know – but, I did say something along the lines of “God, you’re a legend” when I got to my seat.


That evening, Kirsty and myself, along with another friend from S.U. Camp went to Morningside Baptist Church (which is now based in Tollcross due to buying the “Central Hall” from the Methodist congregation last year. Anyway, the building is amazing – absolutely beautiful. The service, despite being nearly 2 hours long, and on a Sunday night was full of young people – there must have been at least 200 or so of us- there was barely anyone over 40 in the room. 
The church was about to start a week of 24/7 prayer – and tonight was just the start of it. We were invited up during the service to write something that’s keeping us from God on a sheet of paper – and then put it through a (ridiculously quiet) shredder. I really felt God call me to go up to the front and confess my sin to him – and pray to get rid of it from my life. 


I really needed that. I really felt myself go “What’s the point in all this rubbish in my life – it doesn’t change things for the better. I feel empty, rubbish and horrible whenever I sin. Help me God.” 


It was a bit of a turning point in my life putting it in the shredder – I’m looking forward to walking on a (less) sinful path now. I know I will never be completely sinless – but I’m sure as hell gonna try!


God Bless,
Morrison

Ups and Downs.

Not done this for a few days, and I apologise if you’ve been following this blog and wondering what’s happened. This blog was supposed to be about my relationship with God – and like any other relationship – it has its ups and downs.
The last few days have been the downs. It’s been pretty “God-lacking” if I’m being honest. It’s annoying – but it happens. I suppose I’ve had nothing to post – but now I realise that posting the downs is just as important as recognising the ups.

But, tomorrow is a new day – it’s a Sunday. It’s God’s day! I’m going through to Edinburgh for the day tomorrow; and hopefully when Kirsty and I go to a church in the evening, it’ll be better – and I’ll reconnect with God. Also, with over 5 hours of travelling tomorrow – it gives me plenty chance to connect with God. I really hope I can, I really want to.

Shall need an early night tonight, up early for the bus.

God Bless,
Morrison.

Job Hunting!

I’ve been on the job hunt for the past couple of days.

It’s ridiculously hard to find work at my age. In all honesty, I’ve not done a great deal of looking – but going by the ever gloomy figures and forecasts about employment, it’s not getting much easier to find work. 22% of people my age are out of work, which is higher than the average of 18.4% of the workforce.
It’s hard and frustrating. Especially when you don’t get replies, but God is telling me to continue to trust him that I will get a job at somepoint.

I would say I should follow in the footsteps of Jesus and Joseph regarding employment, but it is quite dubious as to what job they actually had.

The greek word tekton, which more accurately should be called “general contractor”. And the Blueletter Bible offers various translations of tekton:
(1) A worker in wood, a carpenter, joiner, builder.
(2) Any craftsman, or workman (e.g. the art of poetry, maker of songs)
(3) A planner, contriver, plotter.
(4) An author.

But since I feel I have a calling to ministry, I may actually be following in the footsteps of Joesph (and Jesus) when we look at the original Aramaic word:

Tekton is best translated as scholar, since the original Aramaic word is naggar, which translates as craftsman or scholar.  Certainly this image of the scholar is more consistent with Luke’s (2:46-47) tale of the 12-year old Jesus in the Temple, where “…all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

Regardless of what Joseph did, I do know that Jesus went on to preach to people. If God continues to call me to do ministry, then I suppose then I have the comfort in knowing that in the future I will almost certainly have a steady job that I will love, and will (hopefully) make a difference to people, even I don’t have a job at the present.

Kidzone and Crossword tonight. It’s Crossword’s first night back – and I cannot wait!
Prayers for all of the above muchly appreciated.
God Bless,
Morrison.

P.S. Below is the link to my CV. If you have a friend who is looking for someone, then please tell me/hand them a copy of my CV. Also, if anyone has any edits for it – comment below too! Thanks

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KdAURAmJGWypUJBvrPP66shvQS_PoNKXrnKo985fMH0/edit

Led more by Jesus, to Lead more like Jesus and to Lead more to Jesus!

Tonight was the first session of our “Growing Leaders” course at Claremont. It was a really good night, where I was challenged and made to think.  The "motto" of the course is: "led more by Jesus, to lead more like Jesus and to lead more to Jesus".  I love it!

It was all about the leadership qualities we posses, and the one’s we wish to have and work on. We also had to answer a series of questions that helped determine what types of leadership styles we had on a continuum of 1 to 5

• It turns out I am slightly more people orientated than task orientated.
• I’m in the pretty much in the middle between being in control and giving space for others to lead.
• I am much more of a risk taker than planning everything out and considering things.
• Bang in the middle between seeing the bigger picture, and noticing the detail and analysing things.
• And  I’m much more of a motivator than consulting people and listening to what they want to do.

Part of the night’s session was that Romans 12 was read to us, and we were to think about the words mentioned in it, in particular any that stuck with us, or provoked some thought. At the end, during a prayer, we said aloud the words that resonated with me. The bit that came to me were “faithful in prayer”.

Prayer is something I’ll quite happily admit I’m terrible at. I don’t want to be rubbish at it, but I am. I’ll set out to pray properly but 20 seconds later my thoughts are wondering to what I’m upto tomorrow. Either that, or I just forget/am too lazy to pray.
It’s something I need to work on – big time.

Your prayers would be appreciated to help me pray better.

God Bless,
Morrison

A Walk With A View

I love living really close to the countryside, it literally takes me 2 minutes to walk to the edge of the housing estate where I live, and thus to the fields that border it. It’s a great place to stop, be quiet and think.

As I stepped off the bus yesterday, the sun was just going down. The sky was absolutely amazing. The sky behind me was a very dark blue, and in front of me was a whole spectrum of colours. I could actually see the gradual change from dark blue, purple through to pink, orange and yellow.

It was one of those moments where you just stop and admire the creation of God. The view was stunning. Had a big smile on my face the rest of my 20-minute walk home.

God Bless,
Morrison.

This Is Your Life!

Yesterday evening we had a Crossword meeting to plan for the next few months. We’ve got 11 weeks planned up to Easter, and have a load of interesting and really good stuff planned. Leading Crossword is a big part of my life, and I’m blessed to be a part of it.

Another thing that is a big part of my life is. I’m not a brilliant guitarist or lyricist, but I love mucking about on guitar and coming up with songs. I never write them down, I just make them up as I go along. Walking the dog, out running or commuting with my iPod means I can just be alone with my thoughts too.

I really like Leeland, a ‘Christian’ band from Texas. One of their songs, coming from their most recent album, The Great Awakening called Pages particularly hit me the other day.

The chorus pretty much sums the song up:

“Who am I and where am I going
What kind of fruit are my actions growing
Staring at the pages
You are staring at the pages of my life
Is my passion just to know You
Am I living this life to show You
Staring at the pages
You are staring at the pages of my life”

At the end of my life, what am I going to show? Will it be a life reflecting the life and works of Jesus? Will I have done something with my life that’s worthwhile?


God Bless,
Morrison

A video on this Blog, and Lyrics in the link below.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/leeland/pages.html

Joseph's Technicolour Dreamcoat? Noah's Rainbow? No - It's the Crossword Room!

Yes, I didn’t get my blog done yesterday – So I’m doing two today!

Yesterday, Kirsty came over for a couple of days. Our youth group, Crossword, has use of a wee room within Claremont. We have been wishing to redecorate the room for a while, but only yesterday did we finally got round to doing it. Kirsty and I spent a few hours helping out painting the walls with Jennifer and Holly. We’ve got 2 walls of colourful stripes, and 2 white walls. The stripes look amazing - looks like the Rainbow. God's promise to us!
When we downed tools yesterday, it already looked fabulous – and we weren’t even done! It was pretty fun anyway.

It’s wonderful seeing the work that God does. We were really excited to see the kid’s expressions when they see the room when we start back. Seeing the kids smile and have fun each Wednesday is one of the highlights of my life. And, making a difference by just throwing a bit of paint on the wall is brilliant.

Crossword has grown from 6 kids at the start 9 ½ years ago to around 35 kids each week now. God is great!

Anyway, Kirsty and I are off to walk the dog.

God Bless,
Morrison

Jesus would take the bus too

First day back at University today after the Christmas break.
I’m not going to blog about how God has provided me with an education at a fine educational establishment, or something to do with my geography degree I’m studying for. The reason? Both the classes I had today were mind numbing –  I was completely vacant for the 2 classes.

But, what I will say – is that as much as I don’t like sitting on a bus for 90 minutes to get to University; it is one of my wee spiritual places in the world. I love being able to just shove in my iPod and play some worship music, get out my Gideon’s bible I got in 1^st year at high school and close my eye and pray. To any other person, it just looks like a student bobbing his head along to whatever’s in the charts, reading some book, and having a wee snooze before uni. It’s even better for the one week of the year where the bus is passing over the peak of the A749 (Glasgow Road) towards Cathkin and Glasgow when the sun rises from behind the Campsie Fells and swathes the whole of the Greater Glasgow conurbation in sunlight. It’s spectacular!!

It can be just God and me for 90 minutes on my commute. Actually, only about 70, as the Metro gets read too! I’m sure God would like me to know what’s going on in the world too.

Kirsty is coming over tomorrow, I’m very excited!

Happy Travelling.

God Bless,
Morrison

Be More Like Jesus!

Church this morning was brilliant. Thought I’d pop in to our Senior youth “Sunday School” (Crossword) this morning. Since it was a new year, we looked at being at the start of everything – creation.
We looked a bit through how everything God makes is GOOD. Actually, it’s perfect. Even though we might not feel perfect, we were made perfect!
We then watched a powerful drama about how God made us perfect, and how we want to be in control and not let God shape us back into perfection. You should definitely watch it – I recommend it: The Skit Guy's - God's Chisel

The children’s talk when we went into the service really motivated me too. We learnt about the passage in Matthew 25, where Jesus talks about caring for others.

“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:35-36).

As a Christian, we should try to emulate Jesus and his works. Where there is a homeless person in the street – it is Jesus on the street. Where there is a pensioner fallen and hurt themselves – it is Jesus who has fallen. 

If we claim to be Christians, then we are claiming to follow the example of Jesus. Too many times I forget this when it comes to out in the street. Ask me to write a sermon, or play my guitar for worship, to tell you some theology on something – that’s fine. Ask me to talk to a homeless person, or assist the foreigner who’s evidently lost, or mention to the person whom is waiting at a bus stop that that it’s not in use because of road works this week – and you’ve no chance!

Tomorrow I start back at University, I wonder how many cases of people I’ll  help/avoid tomorrow. I hope it’ll be more of the former rather than the latter. 
I’m off to bed as I’m shattered!

God Bless, 
Morrison

All Tidy Now.

I did it!

Today I had a really productive day. I spent a good hour or two clearing out/tidying up my room which was good. Then I helped my dad put a load of stuff from the garage and around the house up the loft. I do like having a big clearout where you look through all your old things and wonder why you kept them.

It’s good having a clearout; my family is one of these OCD hoarders. I know I certainly keep stupid things just because they have a very vague sentimental value, or in case I use them at some point in the future (i.e. I probably won’t use it until I’m in my 90’s!) My dad has a plethora of old shelves, fence posts and wooden panels that “may come in useful someday”. Just today, I found a bag of curtains that my parents last used before I was born. They were kept because they were expensive at the time (£60…hardly a years wages)!

We’re told in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17:
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple

In the Old Testament, the ‘temple’ is the Tabernacle, which was immaculate and kept as holy as could be by keeping anything unclean (spiritually or physically) away from it. But, we’re told that no longer does God dwell in that box but now lives in us. The maker of the universe lives in us. Our body is the tabernacle. It’s the temple, so we should look after it as God made it perfect and holy. We’re made in God’s image. Every single person.
We no longer have to worship, pray or converse with God in a specific place, because He lives within us. Wherever we go he will be there too.
The temple was where the Holy Spirit resided; we need to care for the Holy Spirit that lives within us. The temple was kept holy and clean; we need to keep ourselves clean by having a purity of heart and mind. The temple was made for worship, and we should be open to worshipping God. The LORD spoke in the temple; we need to be open to listening to God and having a relationship with him.

I also had a really good prayer this morning; must have spent about 20 minutes in prayer. Had a right old spiritual clear-out too.

Off to bed as I’ll need to get up for Church in the morning.

God Bless,
Morrison.

Hummmmpphhh...

I’ve had one of those days you do nothing. I hate having days like this. It’s a total waste of a day. Well, it’s a bit of a lie. I did a fair bit of my ironing I had piling up, and took the dog a walk or two, but essentially I did nothing.

I’m determined to actually do something with my days – I need to learn to actually use them for some productive use.

Proverbs 6:6-8 talks about lazy people and compares them to ants:

⁶ Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live.⁷ They have no leader, chief, or ruler,⁸ but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter.

Then the writer goes on to say:

⁹ How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up? ¹⁰ I'll just take a short nap, he says; I'll fold my hands and rest a while.¹¹ But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.

Perhaps I should take heed, especially since I don’t have a job. I need to get off my backside and do stuff! I need to be more organised, I need to look more for a job, I need to be more constructive with my time rather than putting stuff off (including “God stuff”.) I even left this until about midnight to do – hoping something miraculous would happen I could blog about…it didn’t.

Ach well. Look forward to my next blog being about a productive day – I hope!

God Bless,
Morrison

We all need to hear the news!

Acts is a wonderful book of the bible. The title sums it up: It’s all about the “Acts” of the disciples and the first Christians. I started reading it again the other day; and it’s wonderful to read as person after person, group after group, land after land receive the good news of Jesus.

Last night at Claremont Church, about 20 of us from the congregation met together to have an introduction to a course helping us to become leaders. Claremont is intending of somewhat doing away with elder’s having an area to deal with, but instead encouraging our 650+ members to be part of a small group where we learn and grow together as people of God.

Many of you will know (to be honest, I don’t know if anyone’s reading this at all – I may be the only one who will ever read this) that I intend on going into the Ministry in the future. It just seems that God has a plan for me. He’s put me on a course about becoming a leader, and given me this desire to serve. Now I’m reading about how people all over the world were converted due to the persistence, bravery and faith of the first followers. In Acts 10, Peter has the vision whereby he learns all people need to hear of the good news – not just the Jews. Gentiles (non-Jews) need to hear it too. We ALL need to hear it!

We’re all equal: Jews, Hindus, Christians and Atheists. Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Straight. Young, Middle-aged or old, Black, mixed race, albino or white. We’re all the same. No matter where you are, who you are, what you are or believe – God loves you and I. Nothing is more important than knowing God loves you. I can’t wait to tell as many as possible that.

God Bless,
Morrison

In God We Trust.

Today I had a driving lesson. 

Being in control of something so powerful as a car is a pretty scary thing. A car has the potential to take you from A to B (or indeed, T to N to F to V if need be) quickly and directly, but it also has the potential to do so much damage. My mum was, about a year ago, involved in a "road traffic collision" (the politically correct name for a road accident). Her car was ploughed into from the side shunting her into a central reservation as she came off a roundabout. Luckily she wasn’t seriously injured, just done her back and shoulder in for a few days.  As I was driving today, the wind was pushing me from side to side at times – it sometimes felt like I wasn’t in control!

God’s in control though. God who made the universe from the gigantic galaxies, planets and stars to the minute such as the cells, particles and atoms that make up our world around us.

There are a whole plethora of calculations on the probability of life existing anywhere in the universe. Let’s just say it’s not very probable. There's so many things that have to be "just right" for earth to exist with water and and atmosphere, never mind life. For a planet to support life it has to have the "just right" level in so many areas. The odds of them all occurring and for the building blocks of life to “just happen by chance” are the same as a man finding the same grain of sand after being blindfolded and randomly dropped in the Sahara Desert three different times!

The chance of winning the full UK lottery is about 1 in 10^7.14 (1 in 13,983,816 to be a bit more precise). The chances of life existing may be something like (according to one scientist) 1 in 10^8318 (i.e. 10 with 8318 zeros after it)! To be honest, it will probably be even more unlikely than that.

God is in control of the universe, and all that is within it. It’s something that I just need to be willing to admit. It’s scary letting someone else be in control. My driving instructor had to trust me I wasn’t going to crash the car. I had to trust other road users. They had to trust me.

But, God is always in control. We may not know exactly what God has planned for us, or why things happen – but we need to (well, I certainly need to) trust more. Children trust that the car will move, that the plane will fly, that the cakes will bake and taste yummy. They do not know any more than the very basics of a wheel turning to make a car move, or the heat making the cake rise – certainly not how the physics and mechanics of things work – but they trust they will. We may not know how a medicine works – but we trust the doctor who tells us to take it that it will help to make us better.

I trust all of these things, so how much more should I trust God; the God who made me and knows everything about me.

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.  ~ Corrie Ten Boom.
God Bless, Morrison

Trust in the LORD with all your heart 
and lean not on your own understanding; 
in all your ways submit to him, 
and he will make your paths straight.
~ Proverbs 3:5-6

So always trust the LORD

because he is forever

our mighty rock. 
~ Isaiah 26:4

How many more must die?

Today two men were found guilty of the racially aggravated murder of black teenager, Stephen Lawrence on the evening of 22 April 1993. Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of Lawrence's murder today, and their sentencing is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning. It has been a prominent case which has questioned policing and has led to enquiries due to the claim that the police were "institutionally racist". Although the sentencing will bring some relief to the family and friends involved, we should bare in mind that this is just one of the many recent news items which involve murder since boxing day. It makes some reading...

• Indian student Anuj Bidve, 23, was shot at close range as he walked with friends in Salford on 26th December.
• Richard Williams, 58, a homeless man, was sitting at the bus stop in Birmingham when he was attacked at midnight on 30 December. 
• An unknown young woman was found on 1at January on the Queen's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk by a dog walker. Police think she had been murdered and lain there for around a month.
• Susan McGoldrick, 47, her sister Alison Turnbull, 44, and her niece Tanya Turnbull, 24 were shot in the house by Susan's partner, Michael Atherton 42 in Horden, County Durham shortly before midnight on January 1st. He then killed himself.
• Joshua Green, 27, was at a New Years Party in a nightclub in Sheffield when he was stabbed at 2.45am on 1st January.

In 9 days, 6 people have been killed by others; with the young woman in Sandringham being killed about a month ago.

Despite this, we have to bear in mind that, on the whole, we do live in a safe country. A little over 1 person in every 100,000 in the UK is killed each year (1.14 to be exact). I read yesterday that Venezuela had a murder ratio of 67 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2011, that equates to 53 people every single day!
I'm not trying to scare you, I promise. It just that all this has made me really think of the way our God was killed. Just like all those I have mentioned, he was killed in horrific circumstances. He was brutally mutilated, brutally whipped, beaten, spat upon and crucified. No one would chose to be killed in any manner I have mentioned, least of all a public execution. But, Jesus chose to take the cross, the pain and the world's sin upon himself, even though he knew he would be in pain, he knew he would suffer - but he chose this. Mad enough to die like this; but then he is mad enough to love the world like he does.

Stephen Lawrence's murder has sent shock-waves through the legal and policing system thanks to the medal-deserving work of the family of Stephen. How much more did the murder of Jesus change the world?

It's weird how something so horrific as fatal accidents, murder and execution have to take place to change things; be it putting in road safety measures, tightening gun licences, governments bringing down murderous rulers etc. How many more must die?

Please keep in your thoughts the family and friends of all those I have mentioned. Pray for the work of the police, the prison service and the prison chaplains too. Pray that peace can be brought to the world, and all those who are fighting to reduce the rate of homicide throughout our planet.
May God keep you safe now and always. And, in the words of Nick Ross from when he presented 'Crimewatch',  "Don't have nightmares, do sleep well"

Morrison.

In The Beginning... was the Blog post.

"In The Beginning...", so many times we read about beginnings in the bible.

Genesis 1:1 ~ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Psalm 111:10 ~ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. (says this 4 times throughout the bible).
John 1:1-2 ~ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
1 John 1:3 ~ For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
Revelation 22:13 ~ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

On the start of 2012, on the streets of Edinburgh watching the fireworks, I was with my Girlfriend, Kirsty. It was our first new year together, it was the first of the month, it was the first time I had seen a man cycling a rickshaw wearing a hat that looked like a chicken. This year was going to be a year of firsts. This is my first ever blog post. I'm quite excited to see what God will do this year.

This blog is basically a way of me telling the story of me and God. I frequently fail at "God time", be it Bible reading, prayer or seeing God in creation etc. Hopefully this will motivate me to do these things more, plus I'll be able to notice God more as I'll be reflecting on what's happened each day. Feel free to comment on blog posts too.

God Bless, Morrison