We have had some Americans over this week for a mission week (which when said out loud sounds very 'American'...). However it has been such an encouragement to hear people talk about Jesus in another accent, I know that sounds really stupid, but sometimes I find it so easy to think that it is me, my Church in Swansea and God against everyone else. Amazing as that may be, I forget that there are millions upon millions of other Christians who love Jesus all over the world and with these small group of Christians coming over it has reminded me of how many brothers and sisters I have in Christ. Which is AWESOME!
I have been thoroughly encouraged by their servant attitude, their zeal and the way they have a heart to change Swansea, the way I should have a heart to change Swansea. Last night in the prayer meeting the youth leader from the church over in a America talked about how we should be wanting to change the world, get out of our comfort zone and not do it for our gratification but so that we can change the world for Jesus.
It is very much in the same vein as how we should be missionaries in the places we work, which I did take to heart however I haven't really done much about it. I haven't talked to anyone about Jesus apart from Christians. Which is really challenging, I shouldn't be content in keeping to my little group and staying 'comfortable' but I should be looking to let Jesus use me. I've really been challenged to get out of my comfort zone and let God use me in a way I can't begin to comprehend.
David
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Saturday, 5 March 2011
The Job Hunt: Update!!!
As you know I had an amazing answer to prayer the other week with the closing of a door (my job) and I was eagerly awaiting the opening of another.... and lets just say two have been opened!!
Seeing as I had been handed my notice by work, my job was going to end pretty quickly. During my last day at work I got a call from the company I really wanted to work for (and still do) and I not only get invited to one interview with the head of one of the businesses within the company, but two!!! So a week after being handed my notice and I get invited to two massive interviews. So he closed one door but opened two even better ones!!!
I then went along to the two interviews this week and lets just say the first one was tough.... It was incredibly challenging with the interviewer asking very probing questions which put me under a lot of pressure. Especially as at the time this was the job that I wanted more than any other. I then had a day to brush myself off before I had to go travelling to the other side of the country for another interview with the head of the other business.
Two days after the second interview I get a call from the Company saying that both businesses want me and I have been offered both jobs and that I get to choose!!! Which is just crazy and makes me grin with excitement every time I think about it.
It is very scary with what is going to happen in the future but I know that God has me in his hand and he has a plan that I can't even begin to imagine. It is incredible with the timing of all of this, I can really see how he has laid down every stepping stone for me to go along and revealed it to me at the perfect time, whether it was passing my driving test the second time around to prevent me from applying to jobs earlier, to being handed my notice so I was available to go to the interviews, to giving me the drive and initiative to start my own website to help me apply for jobs (which I think is one of the major reasons I got this far with the company). There are so many other things which I can see him putting in place to allow me to do this.
I seriously cannot wait to see what he has in store. I hope I can continue to do it all for his Glory.
David
Seeing as I had been handed my notice by work, my job was going to end pretty quickly. During my last day at work I got a call from the company I really wanted to work for (and still do) and I not only get invited to one interview with the head of one of the businesses within the company, but two!!! So a week after being handed my notice and I get invited to two massive interviews. So he closed one door but opened two even better ones!!!
I then went along to the two interviews this week and lets just say the first one was tough.... It was incredibly challenging with the interviewer asking very probing questions which put me under a lot of pressure. Especially as at the time this was the job that I wanted more than any other. I then had a day to brush myself off before I had to go travelling to the other side of the country for another interview with the head of the other business.
Two days after the second interview I get a call from the Company saying that both businesses want me and I have been offered both jobs and that I get to choose!!! Which is just crazy and makes me grin with excitement every time I think about it.
It is very scary with what is going to happen in the future but I know that God has me in his hand and he has a plan that I can't even begin to imagine. It is incredible with the timing of all of this, I can really see how he has laid down every stepping stone for me to go along and revealed it to me at the perfect time, whether it was passing my driving test the second time around to prevent me from applying to jobs earlier, to being handed my notice so I was available to go to the interviews, to giving me the drive and initiative to start my own website to help me apply for jobs (which I think is one of the major reasons I got this far with the company). There are so many other things which I can see him putting in place to allow me to do this.
I seriously cannot wait to see what he has in store. I hope I can continue to do it all for his Glory.
David
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Hunger and Thirst for him
I have never been a massive reader. Ask anyone I know, I am and have generally always been the 'lets wait till they make a film about it type'. The Bible, some of the Harry Potter books and textbooks are really the only books that I have ever read (and the Bible has only been properly in the last few months).
When I was going out with a non-Christian a few years back my Mum tried to help me in the best way she could and buy me some Christian books on relationships. Seeing as I was in no real place to read it I quickly put it on my bookshelf and left it there to gather dust. Early last week I saw this book by Joshua Harris called 'boy meets girl' sitting on my bookshelf and seeing as I want to have a God honouring relationship at some point I just felt the compulsion to start reading it. I couldn't put it down, which is a massive deal for me. I really did learn an incredible amount, some things I do think go a bit too far and I wont be putting them into practice, however overall I found it incredibly helpful to give me an idea what a relationship should be.
This is all very good news but what has it done to me in the big picture? Well it has given me a hunger to learn more of my amazing Father in heaven and how to live for him in a more real way. Obviously this comes fundamentally from reading the Bible but there are some incredibly helpful books out there which will help me learn to live in a more real way.
What is really encouraging is I told my mum that I had started to read the book and I've found it really helpful. She told me that when she gave it to me she realised that I had just put it to one side and had no plan of reading it any time soon. So she prayed that I would read it when my heart was ready and I would be really helped by it. 2 and a half years later I am very pleased that God answered the prayer so wonderfully.
David
When I was going out with a non-Christian a few years back my Mum tried to help me in the best way she could and buy me some Christian books on relationships. Seeing as I was in no real place to read it I quickly put it on my bookshelf and left it there to gather dust. Early last week I saw this book by Joshua Harris called 'boy meets girl' sitting on my bookshelf and seeing as I want to have a God honouring relationship at some point I just felt the compulsion to start reading it. I couldn't put it down, which is a massive deal for me. I really did learn an incredible amount, some things I do think go a bit too far and I wont be putting them into practice, however overall I found it incredibly helpful to give me an idea what a relationship should be.
This is all very good news but what has it done to me in the big picture? Well it has given me a hunger to learn more of my amazing Father in heaven and how to live for him in a more real way. Obviously this comes fundamentally from reading the Bible but there are some incredibly helpful books out there which will help me learn to live in a more real way.
What is really encouraging is I told my mum that I had started to read the book and I've found it really helpful. She told me that when she gave it to me she realised that I had just put it to one side and had no plan of reading it any time soon. So she prayed that I would read it when my heart was ready and I would be really helped by it. 2 and a half years later I am very pleased that God answered the prayer so wonderfully.
David
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Everything in hand
Sometimes God works in ways that we cannot understand to start with. I know that's true on many an occasion for me. But as scary as that is it is so incredible when we can just put our faith in him in the knowledge that he loves us more than we can imagine and that he will provide.
I was told today that my contract won't be extended at the end of the month. Although this was a massive shock to the system I didn't panic, get angry or anything. A few months back I was in the same situation and lets just say that I didn't deal with the prospect of being unemployed very well. But God had a plan and still does.
This is more amazing as this morning on my way to work I prayed that God would make it clear where he wanted me and would open the right doors for me and close the ones he doesn't want me to go for. Not even 7 hours later I am being handed my notice and given a pat on the back for my hard work. I know this is quite a scary prospect of being unemployed but I know he has everything in hand and I have peace in knowing that.
I will keep you posted on where things go. All I know is that I have a loving Father in heaven that has everything planned and I just need rely on him.
David
I was told today that my contract won't be extended at the end of the month. Although this was a massive shock to the system I didn't panic, get angry or anything. A few months back I was in the same situation and lets just say that I didn't deal with the prospect of being unemployed very well. But God had a plan and still does.
This is more amazing as this morning on my way to work I prayed that God would make it clear where he wanted me and would open the right doors for me and close the ones he doesn't want me to go for. Not even 7 hours later I am being handed my notice and given a pat on the back for my hard work. I know this is quite a scary prospect of being unemployed but I know he has everything in hand and I have peace in knowing that.
I will keep you posted on where things go. All I know is that I have a loving Father in heaven that has everything planned and I just need rely on him.
David
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
All or Nothing
All or Nothing.... yes you're right that does sound like a very intimidating title. It could apply to anything really. So I'll stop dilly-dallying around and get to it.
In that last paragraph I touched on what this whole blog post is on. Not getting the point across in the way it should and just going around things rather than tackling things head on. As a Christian, I am saved through what Jesus did on the cross and I am supposed to show off Jesus and make others realise that they need him as well. So when I have evangelised before I often try to do it in my own strength and water it down, instead of saying 'Jesus is the best thing ever and I couldn't live without him' I am often just saying 'yeah he's alright like' (that is said in my welsh accent just in case you were wondering what the 'like' was doing in there).
So there is the danger of watering it down like I often do, but on the other side of the coin there is the possibility of going too far the other way. When I was a teenager in school I lost a lot of friends for telling people that they are going to hell in a very untactful way. I have since not really addressed this at all, I have generally avoided that topic of conversation completely. I thought I was really wrong in telling people they are going to die and go to hell, even though I knew it was the truth, needless to say my evangelising has not really gone anywhere.
Last weekend in the youth group I help in one of my good friends was preaching to the kids. I won't write the whole sermon but basically he talked about one of his friends who had died when he was 18. He then told the kids that they could die tonight as God has given them a certain amount of time to live and they need to stop playing with death and sin as they are heading to hell and unless they sort it out and follow Jesus as they are being stupid if they don't!
I was initially really shocked and thought 'what is he doing?! you cant say that to the kids!!!' but God spoke and I realised that the kids needed to hear this, I shouldn't just continue on saying everything is cool and there are no worries in life. As this is life and death we are talking about, it's not a game.
I need to be bold, be strong and rely on God to speak. Not do it in my own strength, but his.
David
In that last paragraph I touched on what this whole blog post is on. Not getting the point across in the way it should and just going around things rather than tackling things head on. As a Christian, I am saved through what Jesus did on the cross and I am supposed to show off Jesus and make others realise that they need him as well. So when I have evangelised before I often try to do it in my own strength and water it down, instead of saying 'Jesus is the best thing ever and I couldn't live without him' I am often just saying 'yeah he's alright like' (that is said in my welsh accent just in case you were wondering what the 'like' was doing in there).
So there is the danger of watering it down like I often do, but on the other side of the coin there is the possibility of going too far the other way. When I was a teenager in school I lost a lot of friends for telling people that they are going to hell in a very untactful way. I have since not really addressed this at all, I have generally avoided that topic of conversation completely. I thought I was really wrong in telling people they are going to die and go to hell, even though I knew it was the truth, needless to say my evangelising has not really gone anywhere.
Last weekend in the youth group I help in one of my good friends was preaching to the kids. I won't write the whole sermon but basically he talked about one of his friends who had died when he was 18. He then told the kids that they could die tonight as God has given them a certain amount of time to live and they need to stop playing with death and sin as they are heading to hell and unless they sort it out and follow Jesus as they are being stupid if they don't!
I was initially really shocked and thought 'what is he doing?! you cant say that to the kids!!!' but God spoke and I realised that the kids needed to hear this, I shouldn't just continue on saying everything is cool and there are no worries in life. As this is life and death we are talking about, it's not a game.
I need to be bold, be strong and rely on God to speak. Not do it in my own strength, but his.
David
Monday, 7 February 2011
Singing to Him
I don't know about you but I am not the most musically gifted person. This goes especially for my vocal chords. As my mum told me when I was little that I couldn't sing (even though she has since taken it back) I have always felt very conscious singing. Especially in church. And particularly when there was a pretty girl sitting directly in front of me.
But since my heart has been changed I am finally getting what this singing business is all about. It's singing to him and giving glory to him. As well as encouraging others around you.
We had a bible study/discussion a few weeks back on the topic of worship which really helped. One thing that was said that has stayed with me is that no where in the bible does it say you must sing beautifully. It just says do it loud and with joy
Psalm 95 v1: Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Nothing about singing beautifully! (although that doesn't mean you should sing really bad on purpose!)
I once hated singing and mimed the songs I didn't like. But now I really look forward to worshipping my incredible father with brothers and sisters in Christ. And I have been trying to sing as loud as I possibly can (albeit out of tune, but it is amazing that I can give glory to him through it).
We sang this song in the prayer meeting last week and the words have stayed with me. I can't remember the song it came from (I have tried searching but I cannot find it) but the words were basically 'I'm coming to you Lord'. This is a song I have sung time and time again, but never really hit home what I was singing. I am actually going to be with my Father, I am on my way, how awesome is that?! It made me realise that I need to take more note of the words than I'm singing, rather than the tone that I'm singing them in.
It really is amazing that I can sing to my God and he can delight in me and what I do for him but not only that, he will also sing for me which is a bit scary when you think about it, but surely having my heavenly Father singing over me can't be a bad thing!
Zephaniah 3v17: The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
David
But since my heart has been changed I am finally getting what this singing business is all about. It's singing to him and giving glory to him. As well as encouraging others around you.
We had a bible study/discussion a few weeks back on the topic of worship which really helped. One thing that was said that has stayed with me is that no where in the bible does it say you must sing beautifully. It just says do it loud and with joy
Psalm 95 v1: Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Nothing about singing beautifully! (although that doesn't mean you should sing really bad on purpose!)
I once hated singing and mimed the songs I didn't like. But now I really look forward to worshipping my incredible father with brothers and sisters in Christ. And I have been trying to sing as loud as I possibly can (albeit out of tune, but it is amazing that I can give glory to him through it).
We sang this song in the prayer meeting last week and the words have stayed with me. I can't remember the song it came from (I have tried searching but I cannot find it) but the words were basically 'I'm coming to you Lord'. This is a song I have sung time and time again, but never really hit home what I was singing. I am actually going to be with my Father, I am on my way, how awesome is that?! It made me realise that I need to take more note of the words than I'm singing, rather than the tone that I'm singing them in.
It really is amazing that I can sing to my God and he can delight in me and what I do for him but not only that, he will also sing for me which is a bit scary when you think about it, but surely having my heavenly Father singing over me can't be a bad thing!
Zephaniah 3v17: The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
David
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Patience - why haven't I got any yet!!?
Seeing as I have been fortunate enough to be invited to several interviews I saw it as the perfect time to get a new suit. As my current suit didn't really fit me well, was grey and from tesco (classy I know!).
So last week I had marked Saturday as 'go to town and buy a suit day'. As a typical male I have to make a big deal out of going shopping on my own. Well I wasn't alone as both my brother and sister needed things sorted out in town (haircut, clothes shopping and other bits and bobs).
So I went in bright and early. I got the siblings pretty much sorted then they came along to sit in the shop while I attempted to get a suit. I told the attendant what I was looking for and asked for his help. He brought out 2 suits in my 'price range' even though with a shirt included it went to almost double what I was hoping to spend. But I didn't want to faff around as my bro and sis were waiting. And I didn't have the patience to go to another shop or ask for a different suit. Even though the suit didn't fit me (with all the eating I've done my waist isn't all that slim anymore) I still bought it (don't ask why!).
So in my head I had ticked the box, I had a suit for my interviews. And I could just about squeeze into it and as long as I didn't move all that much it was kinda comfortable.
When I went home that evening I was expecting to show mum my suit and she would do her usual mumsy thing and gush about how amazing I look and take some photos.... She didn't. She said it wasn't right. Which I was not really expecting in the slightest....
Seeing as I had been shopping for about 6 hours, for a male that is a lot! (For a equivalent amount for a woman your easily talking a good year and a half!!) so due to all the shopping I was tired and snapped at my parents for telling the complete truth. Stupid and embarrassing I know!
Anyway my parents eventually talked me round and told me I should take it back and go get a better fitting and better priced suit somewhere else. So I recruited the help of my dad (and his wallet!) and got a much better suit, and I could fit into it without having to hold my breath which is always advisable.
All this made me realise how impatient I was and how stupidly sinful I was to have a go at my parents for trying to help. It made me aware of how impatient I have been in other aspects of my life as well. I know that I just need to rely on God and stop trying to get everything done right this second. But trust in his plan and just be patient for him to provide me with what I need when I need it.
David
So last week I had marked Saturday as 'go to town and buy a suit day'. As a typical male I have to make a big deal out of going shopping on my own. Well I wasn't alone as both my brother and sister needed things sorted out in town (haircut, clothes shopping and other bits and bobs).
So I went in bright and early. I got the siblings pretty much sorted then they came along to sit in the shop while I attempted to get a suit. I told the attendant what I was looking for and asked for his help. He brought out 2 suits in my 'price range' even though with a shirt included it went to almost double what I was hoping to spend. But I didn't want to faff around as my bro and sis were waiting. And I didn't have the patience to go to another shop or ask for a different suit. Even though the suit didn't fit me (with all the eating I've done my waist isn't all that slim anymore) I still bought it (don't ask why!).
So in my head I had ticked the box, I had a suit for my interviews. And I could just about squeeze into it and as long as I didn't move all that much it was kinda comfortable.
When I went home that evening I was expecting to show mum my suit and she would do her usual mumsy thing and gush about how amazing I look and take some photos.... She didn't. She said it wasn't right. Which I was not really expecting in the slightest....
Seeing as I had been shopping for about 6 hours, for a male that is a lot! (For a equivalent amount for a woman your easily talking a good year and a half!!) so due to all the shopping I was tired and snapped at my parents for telling the complete truth. Stupid and embarrassing I know!
Anyway my parents eventually talked me round and told me I should take it back and go get a better fitting and better priced suit somewhere else. So I recruited the help of my dad (and his wallet!) and got a much better suit, and I could fit into it without having to hold my breath which is always advisable.
All this made me realise how impatient I was and how stupidly sinful I was to have a go at my parents for trying to help. It made me aware of how impatient I have been in other aspects of my life as well. I know that I just need to rely on God and stop trying to get everything done right this second. But trust in his plan and just be patient for him to provide me with what I need when I need it.
David
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