All Things

And he made known to us the mystery of his will... to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ

Ephesians 1:9,10

All thoughts

All opinions

All ideas

All attitudes

All ideologies

All theologies

All cosmologies 

All futurologies 

All hopes

All dreams

All desires 

All passions

All fears 

All concerns

All doubts

All heartaches

All friendships

All love

All relationships 

All family

All politicians 

All authorities 

All powers

All leaders

All material

All spiritual

All past

All future

...under one head, even Christ

Consider Dexter

Jesus never said 'consider Dexter,' I do not even know if they had greyhounds in first century Palestine. But Jesus did say 'consider the birds' and expected his hearers to learn something from doing so. After nearly nine years with us Dexter has gone the way of all the earth, his full name 'Ted Dexter Blackstock Indabiningy Satoli Bobbo Baldi Doggy Features Holland'demonstrates that he was not just any ordinary dog. 

Thinking about Dexter's life has led me to 'consider' the following:

Dexter was almost entirely focused on food, any food. His entire life seemed to revolve around eating, he would break all of our rules if it meant he could grab some small morsal and scoff it down in half a second. Nothing else would get in his way from the one task. The question this raises is obvious, am I pursuing Christ with the same singleness of purpose, do I 'count all things as rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ my Lord?'

The other love of Dexter's life was to run, he had never raced as a greyhound but given the chance he would run wildly in large circles. He loved it, he seemed to run for the pure pleasure of it. He wasn't going anywhere, there was no destination, no place to get to. And oh, he was quick. When he ran it was a beautiful thing. In the film the Chariots of Fire the runner Eric Liddell said this, "When I run, I feel His pleasure. ”. ... “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast!" This seemed to be true for Dexter, God made him fast and when he ran we all could feel God's pleasure. John Pipper said that 'God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.' 

I want to know God's pleasure as I run with him through life

Breathe In and Breathe Out

I want to listen and I want to speak

I want to understand and I want to explain 

I want to follow and I want to lead

I want to know and I want to make known

I want to hear the story and I want to tell the story

I want to find joy myself and I want to see joy in others

I want to be provoked and I want to provoke 

I want to look in and I want to look out

I want to kneel down and I want to stand tall

I want to drink in and I want to overflow

I want to gather and I want to scatter

I want to breathe in and I want to breathe out

My Treasure

Greatest joy and deepest pleasure

Found in knowing Christ my treasure 

Taste and See

Taste and see that the Lord is good Psalm 34:8

Listen and hear that the Lord is good

Think and understand that the Lord is good

Touch and feel that the Lord is good

Show and demonstrate that the Lord is good

Reason and explain that the Lord is good

Understand and know that the Lord is good

Search and find that the Lord is good

Go and tell that the Lord is good

Why? Because the Lord is good

Word became flesh

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us

John 1:14

Word became flesh

Verbal became physical 

Infinite became finite

Spirit became stuff

Eternal became temporal 

Unembodied became embodied

Omnipresent became present 

Omnipotent became potent

Universal became local

Heavenly became earthly

Mind became matter

Rich became poor

God became man

Something worth giving my life for!

              Bible College of Wales, Swansea

I found this recently that I wrote in September 2007 when Alison and I worked at the Bible College of Wales in Swansea

You often hear people talk about what church should be like; what are the principles, what are the key issues that we have to deal with? Last night I saw church in action in the most unlikely place, in a form that many would not recognise as church but had all the hallmarks of New Testament Christianity 

I was sat on the beach at Swansea Bay, trying to get comfortable on a large log while smoke from the bonfire was making me cry like a baby. It was late in the evening and a bunch of students had invited us to celebrate a birthday as well as our 25th wedding anniversary.

I looked around at the ecclesia of God, a gathering of God's people, with Jesus in our midst. At one point two of the students were entered into a serious discussion about John the Baptist, others were getting excited about an upcoming wedding. It was dark and getting cold but the bonfire seemed to be both a literal and figurative fire in our midst.

Later on two local guys, who were clearly the worst for drink stopped and started chatting. I was interested to see how the young students would respond; it was a pleasure to watch. Both were accepted into our midst without any condemnation but with warmth and acceptance. Our guys started to chat with them and were able to talk with them about their faith.

It was well past our bedtime and we got up to walk home; I looked back to see something beautiful and simple continuing on the beach - the people of God gathering and sharing their lives together.

What was this happening? Beach church? Sand church? Organic church? No, this was just simple, unplanned, dynamic, earth shattering church - something worth giving my life for!