Category: Devotions

Roadblock

On Saturday what should have been a 4 hour journey became a 5 hour one due to 2 roadblocks.
Road blocks are annoying at the best of times but they always seem to be put up just when it is essential you get somewhere punctually.

Exodus 13:17-18.

After 40 years the Israelites are ready to leave Egypt but God didn’t make it easy for them. He in effect chose roadblocks.

This last week we saw how cyclists on the Paris-Ropbaix jumped a roadblock only to miss by the nearest of margins a high-speed train whizzing by. Crazy! Why jump a roadblock?!

Maybe your life can be called a roadblock.
But note: don’t try to fight the roadblock, you may not even make it at all if you do!

What’s in your way may be needed to stay!

Part 2 of Be Free

….. Today 300,000 children are forced to do that for real. For those who have escaped or have found themselves as post-war civilians, they are living haunted lives, robbed of education, their years of development, they are now barely adults with a social stigma for having committed horrendous crimes. They have no future.
But ‘Be Free’ says they do.
We cannot eradicate slavery completely, but we can delete exploitation from one more individual.

3. Give money.
We may never be able to rescue a person or see a person’s life restored. We may never be able to travel to rescue children from a life filled with terror. But we can give money so that these things do take place. We can give money for urgent medical care, for trauma counselling, for nicole generating businesses.
Money helps. We can give it.

It is for freedom that Christ set you free.

Be Free

Last night at a hotel in Cardiff, Elim International Missions held a Charity Dinner to raise money for our ministry ‘Be Free’. I was so pleased that 170 guests came many not necessarily holding to the Christian faith but all sharing our humanitarian concern. We had a lot of fun and at the same time we all knew this was going to have a huge impact!
The whole event lasted 6 hours and in that time 820 people in our amazing world will have been taken!
What does it mean to be taken?
You are no longer a human being, you have become an object, a possession belonging to another person who has taken every option away from you so that you are forced to do things against your will.
There is no escape. This is your life now. All that you had and all that you were is now destroyed. It will become a distant memory.
Can you imagine being taken?
And every day 3287 are taken.
Already since you have been reading this blog 4 people have been taken.
43% of all victims of forced labour are trafficked for sexual exploitation.
Sex trafficking generates $7 billion each year, though Interpol says that it is nearer $19 billion.
10 million children are subjected to various forms of sexual exploitation in the commercial sex industry.
The largeness of these figures stand over us like mountains of doom.
How can we ever deal with this evil?

1. See the heart of God.
Let’s read a few verses today:
Deuteronomy 10:18
Psalm 68:6
Psalm 146:7
Isaiah 61:1

2. Make the heart of God your heart. The answer is not to lose sight of the one child, the one woman, the one man.
That 1 who right now is taken and is trapped.
We can change 1 person’s world.
That is the purpose of our Be Free ministry. Be Free from human exploitation.
When I was a child I played at war games, killing my friends who were the enemy, making a noise with my wooden stick imagining it being a Kalashnikov.
Today 300,000 children are forced to do that for real. For those who have escaped or have found themselves as post-war civilians, they are living haunted lives, robbed of education, their years of development, they are now barely adults with a social stigma for having committed horrendous crimes. They have no future.
But ‘Be Free’ says they do.
We cannot eradicate slavery completely, but we can delete exploitation from one more individual.

3. Give money.
We may never be able to rescue a person or see a person’s life restored. We may never be able to travel to rescue children from a life filled with terror. But we can give money so that these things do take place. We can give money for urgent medical care, for trauma counselling, for nicole generating businesses.
Money helps. We can give it.

It is for freedom that Christ set you free.

Selma

It is 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. is travelling to Selma in Alabama. The reason is to lead a series of non-violent protest marches to help African-Americans have the right to vote. He faced strong opposition.
It was here he made the “I have a dream’ speech. But it was his many other speeches that would be the inspiration and give the resolve for his followers in the face of adversity. A few words struck me as I watched this film whilst enjoying my upgrade on the flight home last night ( I wanted to write about the upgrade from economy to business class but I didn’t want to boast!). The words:
“We can do this. We must do this. We can overcome.” By the end of the film President Johnson would say the exact same words as he rallied his own followers.
The film focuses on the 50 mile peace march from Selma to Montgomery and the momentous scene at the Edmund Pettus bridge. I loved the film not for the violence and the depths of hatred that man can have to man. No, I loved it for the heights of sheer determination, of conviction to the calling of mission and the obvious spirit within King of ‘if not me then who?’
As the credits rolled I wondered what we could achieve in the nations of our world if we approached our mission of sharing God’s love with the words “We can do this. We must do this. We can overcome.”
Today lets read:
2 Corinthians 4: 7 – 12
2 Corinthians 11:23 – 12: 10

So I call to you today as you are demonstrating God’s love to the broken world you are in at home, work, neighbourhood and in your leisure, pray, give, go. The mission hasn’t changed, nor lessened, the need is there. The Spirit calls:
You can do this.
You must do this.
You can overcome.

Sent from my iPhone

Goodbye

Today I leave the Philippines, it has been fun training many Pastors and leaders on aspects of leadership.
Last night the leaders gave me a typically wonderful Filipino send-off and now saying my goodbyes I head out to the airport and my flight home to say hello to my family.
Of course I will need to do various things along this journey. I will need to carry things, know the correct gate to board the plane etc. Oh and of course the security!
A U.S. citizen traveling from Tel Aviv told authorities at John F. Kennedy International Airport that he had nothing to declare. His definition of nothing? More than $1.2 million in diamonds.
A 78-year-old woman at Stockholm’s Arlanda International Airport in 2008. Instead of placing her luggage onto a baggage chute, as instructed, she plopped herself down on it! Reclining on the conveyer belt of the unmanned chute like a tray in a cafeteria dishwasher, she traveled to the baggage handling area before someone rescued her.
I will keep my eyes open for anything strange to report!
Anyway back to the thought of journeying.
Our life is a journey isn’t it? Twists and turns, ups and downs. In my blog today I just want to pose some questions and for you to answer one or two.
But first read, Joshua 3:1-8
What are you carrying?
What is important to you?
Who is helping you to carry the load?

Where are you going?
What are you doing with what you are carrying?
What is the next 5 years going to look like for you?

What is your Jordan?
What is the barrier in the way of where you are going?
What are you worrying about the most?

What does standing in the Jordan look like for you?
Are you standing or are you burying your head in the sand?
Are you waiting for God to move first and show some sign of provision or is He waiting for you?

Who is following you?
Who is doing life with you?
Why are they doing this?

Off I go!

Volcano

There are over 200 volcanoes in the PHILIPPINES!
The second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, and by far the largest eruption to affect a densely populated area, occurred at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines on June 15, 1991. The eruption produced high-speed avalanches of hot ash and gas, giant mudflows, anda cloud of volcanic ash hundreds of miles across.
We have all been to a volcano at some point in our lives!
On the receiving end of someone’s eruption, their high-speed spewing of hot gas! You stood there and witnessed a flow of mud and rubbish leaving devastation which remains far longer than the time of the explosion itself.

James 1:19-20

Are you on a low heat ready to boil up if the unexpected suddenly happens? Maybe you’re angry right now.

The Academy Award-winning movie Forrest Gump has been viewed by millions. There is a line worth noting. The scene has one of the central characters, Jenny, returning to her old home after her father has died. The old farm house is dilapidated and abandoned. As she reflects on the sexual abuse that she endured as a child, she is overcome by rage and begins throwing rocks at the house. The photography is powerful as it shows her rapidly reaching for rocks and then violently throwing them at the house. Jenny finally falls to the ground in exhaustion and the scene closes with Forrest Gump sympathizing, “Sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks.”
Many of us struggle with anger.
It can stem from a variety of reasons, and some anger seems very justifiable. Yet, unresolved anger leaves us reaching and crying out for more rocks. The rage is never satisfied, and contentment is never found. Through the power of Christ we can find the strength to lay down rocks of anger rather than needing to reach for more.

Yo-Yo

This unusual word but great toy is a Tagalog word, the language of the PHILIPPINES (yes, I’m still here). It means “come back” though your competency of the yoyo may not reflect its meaning! Actually the Filipinos had used it for over 400 years as a weapon. But it was in the 1920s that Pedro Flores began manufacturing a toy under that name, yoyo.

Oh the Grand old duke of York
He had ten thousand men
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again
And when they were up they were up
And when they were down they were down
And when they were only halfway up
They were neither up nor down

I won’t spoil this wonderful children’s nursery rhyme by telling you what the story behind it actually is. But it was the greatest scandal that ever hit the British Parliament at the turn of the 19th century regarding Frederick Augustus Hanover, the favourite son of King George III and a useless commander in chief!

Conistency. A lack of change! Having understood that we need to embrace change, we also need to understand that changing can be debilitating.

John 15:1-4

Remain, abide, dwell, stay.

We often have interpreted that as being disciplined and staying in Christ and not walking from God. All that may be right but Jesus is speaking about mission in this chapter.

He is the vine, planted by the Father/gardener, we are the branches.

I am laying my life down soon. I won’t be here for much longer. My mission will be over but you keep going, you keep producing fruit. And I will be with you if you remain with me in that mission of life.

Go on loving, go on knowing you are deeply loved, go on serving, go on demonstrating to a lost world the glory of God, go on being a disciple, go on being known as a friend of God. Read it, John 15:1-17 it’s beautiful! Go on in mission, remain in mission and He will remain with you.

Change

The PHILIPPINE flag is the only flag in the world that can change. During a time of peace the flag has the colour blue at the top, but during war the colours are swapped so that red is at the top and blue at the bottom. The Filipinos are good with changes seemingly:-
In 1975, Tony Tan Caktiong bought an ice cream parlor called Magnolia Ice Cream House. The immediate few years saw growth in more parlors around Manila. But Tony noticed his customers wanted more and so having taken inspiration from McDonalds, Tony transformed his ice cream parlor into a fast-food outlet. He called it ‘Jollibee’ because of his happiness to work as busy as a bee. Jollibee is now an International company, all because of change.

Deuteronomy 31:7-8

These verses are so inspiring and yet they call for change. To be flexible.
v 7 “you must go” where you have never been before.
Some people are on roads like in the old movies, they’re filming the conversation in the car, it is exciting and they are enthused but the backdrop has been the same for the last 10 minutes; the same mountains, same trees and the same blue sky.
They appear to be moving forward, they may talk like they are but it is a deception.
To move forward is to know the road changing, to see difference.
God wants change to happen, you are an agent of change and you bring change.
In 1964 Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island and for 18 years of his total 27 years imprisonment he had 1 visit a year which lasted for 30 minutes. He could write and receive 1 letter every 6 months. Yet he won over the prison officials and became master of his own prison. He brought change to his circumstance.
He said after his release, “If I had not been in prison I would not have been able to achieve the most difficult task in life, that is changing myself.”

God has called you to go forward and this involves change. Ready?

Karaoke

Many people think karaoke was invented in Japan with the word being a Japanese word meaning “singing without accompaniment.” But it was actually birthed in the PHILIPPINES! Invented by Roberto Del Rosario who called it “Sing along with the system.”

Some think Karaoke is from the dark realm whereas others love it.
Singing is quite contentious apparently.
In the church it has a history of furious debate.

We need to thank Ambrose, the 4th century bishop of Milan for starting congregational style singing as we know it. However some of the church experts at the time opposed him on the grounds that it permitted women to raise their voices too!
Church singing would have a turbulent journey until the 18th century but even then because of Calvin’s insistence that Christians should only sing the Bible, ie the Psalms, which were generally okay but occasionally you would find yourself having to sing:
“The teeth, O Lord, which fast are set,
In their mouth round about:
The Lions’ teeth that are so great
Do thou, O Lord, break out”.
(Psalm 58)
Biblical but not great song lyrics!

Though it was better than one of Isaac Watts hymns which starts:
“There is a dreadful hell,
And everlasting pains;
There sinners must with Devils dwell
In darkness, fire and chains”.
Cheery!

The Bible is full of music and song. As early as Genesis 4:21 we come across Jubal, the first known musician.
Look at these verses: Psalm 95:1; 98:1;
Moses sang, Deborah sang, Paul and Silas sang, heaven sings.
In Ephesians 5:18-21 Paul encourages us to go on being filled with the Spirit by singing and making music in your heart.
In Colossians 3:16 Paul says singing allows for the Scriptures to live within you. It is true that we know so many lyrics of songs, probably more than sermons we have heard.

It is Biblical. It builds us and others up. It nourishes us with Gods word.
So go on, choose a song that glorifies God today, and sing!

Manila love to talk

Today I am in Manila.
The Philippines are considered the “text capital of the world.” Every day 35 million people send approx 450 million text messages. This is more than the total number of daily text messages sent in the US and Europe together!
Do you love to talk? To text? To tweet? Message? Who do you connect with? What do you write about?
Try and have something to say, focus on the right person to speak to and commit to be an influencer.

John 1:35-42

Andrew had something to say: We have found the Messiah! v35-39.
As a disciple he had begun to expect the coming Messiah, he had heard on at least 2 occasions John declare, “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Andrew had stayed in the home of Jesus. That invitation by Jesus was for Andrew to come and see him as He really was. Andrew had something to say because he had been somewhere.

Andrew had someone to go to, v40-42.
He shared a fishing business with his brother Simon.
Andrew had made a radical decision to follow a man who wore clothes of camels hair and who ate locusts and wild honey.
He had gone to this man to be baptised in the Jordan river, confessing his sin.
All the time of his radical discipleship he was working with his brother fishing.
His discipleship didn’t take him from people, he stayed connected.
Staying connected to people not of our beliefs is important.

Andrew had the ability to influence, v42.
There are only 3 times in the gospels when Andrew is brought to the centre stage. This time. The 5 loaves, 2 fish story and at the time of Lazarus’ resurrection.
Being influential didn’t mean Andrew became dominant. He never made it to the inner circle of disciples. Many remember Simon Peter not Andrew. He was willing to take second place to the people he had influenced.

Now go on make that text message, make it good.