Be inspired

You may have heard of a church in Redding, California called Bethel. If not then perhaps you will have heard of the Senior leader there, Bill Johnson. The Church has a School of Supernatural Ministry which attracts hundreds of students each year.

My Uncle shared with me a testimony of how some of them have become renoun in their city for their generousity. Its very simple. Whenever they hang out with each other to grab a coffee, they always pay for other customers (complete strangers!!!) who are queuing up as well!!

As a result these students have become recognised by the public for their kindness. People know that if someone is offering to pay for their coffee then they are probably christians from Bethel church.

This really impressed me because through simple acts of kindness such as paying for somebody's coffee, the students have created a culture of generousity. Moreover, so many people are getting to hear about Jesus because of it and I imagine that many people have already given their lives to Him.

A lady from my church has recently moved to Bethel to study at the school there. One day she was talking to her housemate and commented on the fact that she liked her bag. The next day she came home to find that her housemate had bought one her the same one! What a kind and simple way of showing the love of Jesus.

I was also told another story (not from Bethel) about somebody at a fast food drive-thru who paid for the customer behind them. In turn that customer paid for the person behind them and so on and so on and this continued for customer after customer, miles beyond the first person who took the initiative to be generous. His actions resulted a whole number of people moving in Christ-like, Kingdom-like qualities.

Simple acts which are habitually carried out can create a new culture which in turn can affect our surroundings. This is the Kingdom of God at work. It influences and transforms the environment in to which it is released, displaying Christ to the world.

Today I read in Mark 9:38-42 that Jesus' disciples stopped a man from casting out demons in the name of Jesus because the man wasn't a part of them. Jesus' response was "Do not stop him, No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us."

I imagine that due to the fact that wherever Jesus went He performed miracles, this created an atmosphere of expectation and excitement which rubbed off on other people and so they tried to imitate Him using His name. In a way Jesus created a culture of the miraculous which resulted in others copying Him.

We have the ability to release the Kingdom of God in tangible way which can have a lasting impact upon the people around us. In fact, Jesus sent us and commanded us to do this when He said "Go...." (Mat 28:28). When we exert the influence of the invisible realm over the visible realm, the superior invisible reality is always triumphant.

You may not have enough money to pay for people's coffee's but you can do something. You'd be surprised how the Kingdom of God can work just through simple acts of kindness. It naturally grows and increases without effort (Isaiah 9:7).

Be inspired! Next time you are with some Christian friends sow something Kingdom. You could end up developing a Kingdom culture and leading people to Jesus. God said that the Heavens are His but that He has given the earth to us (Psalms 115:16) so lets restore it to His original intention - perfection in Christ.

Amen!

Hide and seek

" Jesus left that place and went to the vincinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret."

- Mark 7:24 (NIV)

I'm currently reading through Mark's gospel. I like to the think of it as an account of Jesus' life in fast forward. In my opinion this gospel more so than others portrays Jesus as a man of action, always on the move. Its packed full of testimonies of miraculous healings and supernatural wonders. It really is impossible to ignore these works or separate them from the personhood of Jesus.

Despite the book being packed with miracles, signs and wonders, the Holy Spirit drew to me to a much more seemingly ordinary event (the verse above). I love how the Holy Spirit can capture your attention with just about anything in the Bible. You'd think I'd be enthralled by the miracle Jesus performed a little later on in the text but on this occasion it was the above scripture that grabbed me.

Jesus could not keep His presence a secret. Wherever He went, He was always followed by large crowds. People would carry the sick to Him to be healed. Entire villages turned out to hear Him teach or witness a miracle. People always found out where He was. I found this astounding! I mean modern forms of media such as the TV, radio and internet didn’t exist back then yet He was like a superstar celebrity in His day (He still is :) today!).

Jesus was God incarnate and fully human. Therefore He needed time to rest like we all do and time alone in the presence of His Father. I suspect that when the verse says that 'He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it', He was probably tired or just wanted some time to Himself. (RANDOM THOUGHT: It does sound a little like He was playing hide and seek lol)

Anyway, it made me think. Even when Jesus didn’t want people to know where He was He could not hide Himself. His presence always gave Himself away. Because He lived life full of the Spirit there was always something distinctive about Him which made Him alluring to others. The presence of God is irresistible. It is attractive to others and it draws people to you.

This is not surprising since the Bible says that every good thing comes from God (James 1:17). Just think, EVERYTHING which is good is in God. Therefore, that must mean that anything outside of Him cannot be good. Nothing the world has to offer can truly satisfy us. Some things may be able to satisfy us temporarily or bring us fleeting pleasure, but His presence was designed to satisfy us forever. And guess what?! We have His presence dwelling within us through the person of the Holy Spirit.

When we are full of the Holy Spirit we also are unable to conceal or hide the presence of God. It just naturally overflows and permeates our lives. From the glow on our faces to the way that we conduct ourselves people around us can identify the presence of God even if they don't know what is it. They may not be able to put a finger on it but they can certainly tell that there is something about us. God ('s presence) makes us attractive people. You'll find that when you're living full of the Spirit people will be drawn to you, perhaps even without you having to do anything! I think it's amazing that when Jesus went in to this house we read in the following line that a woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon came to Him for a miracle. It obviously didn't take very long to find Him. He must have sucked at hide and seek lol.

It should be the same for us. People should know to come to us when they need a miracle or something supernatural to happen. Overflowing in the Spirit means that we are already prepared when people spontaneously come to us with a need because we have His presence in us to meet that need.

I’m in no way suggesting that we are to try and hide or conceal His presence in us but even if we tried to I don't think it would work. I encourage you to spend time in His presence and to talk to Him and to get to know Him. Fill yourself with the Spirit daily, singing (praise & thanksgiving) is a good way to do this, and you will find that your relationship with God will be fulfilling and a blessing to those around you. Moreover your happiness and strength in life comes from doing this.

I pray that God would bestow blessing and joy upon you who are reading this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Thank you for reading.

The Art Of Story Telling

Those of you who know me, will know that I enjoy listening to Hiphop music. There was a point in my life where I was completed obsessed with it but thankfully that is no longer the case. Anyways, I still have an ear for a tight track. One aspect of Hiphop that I enjoy is story telling. With that in mind, check out this track:

Timothy Brindle - Pressing in to the Kingdom. Enjoy!

Famous Lions

Considering the title of my blog is called Lionheart, I thought that I would dedicate my first post to famous lions. These are the ones that immediately came to mind. I must admit that I was getting a bit desperate at the end. Feel free to add to my list.

Simba - The Lion King

The star of arguably the best Disney Movie. I haven't seen this film since I was a boy but writing this post is bringing back memories of how much I really enjoyed it. Come to think of it, if anyone reading this blog has a copy on dvd I wouldn't mind borrowing it.

Aslan from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

A great allegory written by C.S.Lewis. I remember watching the BBC 1 series each week with my brother and sister. I don't recall how old I was (maybe 8yrs old?) but it was my favourite programme at the time. Back in those days the Chronicles of Narnia usually started around tea time.  There was one occassion when I got in a bit of a strop because we weren't allowed to leave the table until we had finished eating our dessert. Unfortunately for me I was a really fussy eater back then  and I decided that for whatever reason I didn't like the dessert. I'd rather have licked the floor than eaten it.  As usual, everyone else had already left the table and I was alone having a stare-off with my food. I couldn't bring myself to eat it all. I forced down a few mouthfuls and balled my eyes out! I missed the majority of that episode hahahha. More importantly, I meant to say that Aslan is a representation of Jesus. I cried when he was killed but was happy when he rose again :)  

  

3 Lions on the England Football Shirt

What can I say about these lions? Biggest underachievers in World Football? Quite possibly! Let's move on!

  

LIONel Richie

Well, ok. I must admit that by the time I'd mentioned a few lions I couldn't really think of anymore. But he does have the word 'lion' in his name hahahha! Anyways he deserves to be on this post for comedy value alone. Just look at that perm and gastly moustache. I'm sure my cousin Chico wouldn't be too happy if he knew that I was mocking one of his musical hero's. Oh well.  

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah

So, I saved the best lion until last. A bit cheesy I know but I did warn you that I love Jesus in my profile details. One of the titles of Jesus in the Bible is The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. A lion represents royalty, power and authority amongst other things. Jesus epitomises all of these qualities.

Revelation 5:5 (New International Version)

"Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

Lastly, you might be wondering why I appear to be obsessed with lions (I'm not btw!!). The simple response is that God has spoken to me several times concerning the character of a lion. Naming my blog Lionheart is therefore an intentional act to remind myself of what God has said about me. Don't be surprised to find subsequent posts about Lions.  

To all bloggers and bloggettes and anyone else out there.....

So, I've finally got myself a blog. I now have my own little piece of cyberspace and I'm free to write whatever i wish. The purpose of this blog is partly to serve my own amusement but also to have an outlet to talk about the things that I'm passionate about. I have no idea how often I will be blogging and I can't guarantee that everything I will have to share will be interesting (at least to you). I may not even last long as a blogger but even so I hope that you're able enjoy this journey with me.

I guess it depends on how much this blogging stuff captures me bearing in mind I am current writing a research paper for the University of Manchester. Anyways hopefully i will have a few fans out there who will faithfully follow me.

Feel free to comment on my posts and to share your opinions, ideas, jokes with me. That way i won't feel as if i'm talking to myself. Oh and as soon as i familiarise myself with how to post videos, pictures etc on my blog i'll begin to do that.

Blessings,
Lionheart...nearly revealed my true identity there oops!