:: laughing : dreaming : watching : waiting ::

was at the spark prayer meeting yesterday morning in ballymena and began to get very excited about the potential of what God wants to do through us His people.

for me it was just a privilege to sit and listen to stories from my friends willis mcdowell and billy morgan about some of the things God has been doing through them in their amazing Clubreach initiative. check it out - i want to applaud them for what they are doing…

and i was reminded of some of the times when i’ve spent time on the streets aiming to point people to Jesus. sometimes it was playing some music, while at other times i met, chatted and shared with people on the streets but they were always special times. there were always people drawn. and always specific people who God wanted us to meet.

i think i’d like to spend more time on the streets over the next wee while. maybe it’s just me but i believe God’s Spirit is on our streets. it’s not that He arrives on the streets when we do, but that we have the immense opportunity of joining Him there in what He’s already doing.

perhaps i’ve missed those days of youthful naivety. or i’m too comfortable in the things i find easier to do. but maybe for me it’s about simply stopping to pause a bit more. when i’m in my own home town i always seem to be rushing around or have the phone to my ear. i want to slow down and take more time to meet those who God places in my path.

check out these guys – Lumos Design House

mark and dave are mates of mine and it’s been awesome to watch their journey into this. i remember sitting in nashville with dave over 2 years ago listening to Louie Giglio speak at Passion 06 on doing everything we do for the glory of God and taking up His call to be designers, architects, businessmen and teachers who make a difference in those fields.

for me Lumos is a living example of this. 2 guys with a heart for God determined to seek excellence in the things they have been gifted in.

hard to beat days like today…

slept til 11am
watched the test match for an hour while browsing youtube
had a fry made for me
hitting the office for a few hours
met someone for coffee
made dinner
played guitar with a guy who inspires me lots
played football for 2 hours solid
read a bit
rang sarah
watched bryan adams live at slane dvd (all 2 hours)
had house banter
ate more food
bed

in response to my previous post…

spent an hour or so going through youtube videos of my all time favourite artists “Shane & Shane” and came across this song. simply awesome truth within the beauty of their music. enjoy…

also if you’ve time and want to appreciate musical genius, check out this video. especially the incredible guitar strumming from 3.11 on.

i guess sometimes i’d love to shake some people. or perhaps shout in their face until they ‘get it’. or even say one sentence that would dispel their apathy about their faith.

in the past few weeks i’ve found myself getting really frustrated with the attitude of some of my fellow Christians. in fact, not just attitudes…

words. topics of conversations. apparent lack of love or concern for those in need. talking endlessly about themselves. apathy among Christians. the choices of friends. young people not attending church…the list goes on…

…and so in the midst of all this i’ve had to catch myself on a number of occassions. i’ve had to realise the high horse that i’m sitting on. i’ve had to recognise how far short i fall in my own life. and in doing so, it’s suddenly hit me that the call to lead others means a call to love first and foremost regardless.

it’s so easy to allow a critical spirit to invade your mind sometimes and take over. it’s too easy to spend time picking out the faults in others. i’ve blogged about this before but i really want to be someone who looks for the good in people. who encourages and affirms rather than shoots down or back bites. someone who helps to call out the beauty in others.

yes, there will be times when other people annoy me, but the challenge is that in my frustrations i will keep loving, forgiving, affirming and encouraging. and to continue doing this even in a crowd when everyone else is doing the opposite.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing”

over the past few months we’ve been trying a brand new experiment called ‘Network’. based around home groups, ‘network’ is a community of 20’s and 30’s based around home groups, but who come together every 6 weeks for a corporate worship, teaching and social evening.

in many ways it’s been a really challenging experiment, but at the same time it’s been so rewarding. for us, it’s an age group that’s been neglected for too long and so its been exciting to watch God build up some community among folks in our church, as well as see other folks coming from different parts of the local area.

were beginning to open the ‘network’ nights a bit more and advertise more widely. we sense that this need isn’t just for our church, but for many others as well. so on saturday night were having our last network night of the year and your welcome to join us. with folks gathering from 7.30pm onwards it will be a relaxed atmosphere with some nibbles, teas/coffees before we head into a time of worship and teaching together.

i love seeing new things begin to fulfill a specific need. we need more fresh visions and new initiatives in the church in northern ireland to fill the gaps that naturally exist…

these guys were at our church on sunday morning. andrew was sharing about their work among street kids in mexico and it was truly inspiring, not only as he gave us an insight into their mission projects, but also what he challenged us on from 2 Kings 4. how i long for many more sunday mornings like that…

check them out and if you believe that prayer makes a difference, fire up a few on their behalf.

if you’ve been around me for any amount of time you will probably know that i’m rather partial to the music of Shane&Shane. now i can have any number of favourite bands/artists/musicians at any one moment in time…but i do think i can stick my neck out and say that these guys are definitely my no.1 in music!!

last week i bought their new album called “Pages” and i implore you to go out and buy it. check out their website here where you can here samples to convince you.

i had the privilege of hearing Shane&Shane live in Nashville just over 2 years ago and since then i’ve just fallen in love their music. there’s something raw about it all. the easy listening of it all combined with the heartfelt cries. the soaring choruses underpinning some deep lyrics. the unique sound created by 2 acoustic guitars and the highest harmonies your ever likely to hear.

have i convinced anyone yet?!!

the opening track on the new album has challenged me immensely this week. it’s called ‘Vision of You’, reminding me that all life flows from God. the first thing i need to do is to grab hold of a bigger and clearer vision of Him.

“let the vision of You be the death of me…”

posted this song up on my blog a while ago but sometimes actually reading the words can be even more powerful. check out verse 2 and the bridge of my current favourite song…

“I see a generation
Rising up to take the place
With selfless faith, with selfless faith
I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We’re on our knees, we’re on our knees

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what is yours
Everything I am for your kingdom’s cause
As I walk from earth into eternity“

“Hosanna” by Hillsong United

i’m following in my big sisters footsteps!! when i was younger i always wanted to be a sports journalist (after i realised that being a professional footballer was beyond me) and finally i’ve become a published writer!!

don’t get too excited as it’s only a football report about my BB boys in the Antrim Times…but don’t knock the small beginnings!

you can read the literary work of art here