Preaching with a purpose

We don't really know what time of year it was when Jesus was born, so why not think about it now? That way you won't have all the present shopping and food shopping getting in the way of your contemplation.Just give yourself a few minutes to read my poem on the page below and look at Christmas from a different angle. This is the most overwhelmingly wonderful thing, God come to earth as a man. To live for us and to die for us. Worth thinking about isn't it. The one who was King of king and Lord of lords laid aside his majesty to make it possible for us to be forgiven and brought back to God. The First Christmas

In the Northern hemisphere the days are definitely becoming shorter. Here in Devon the dark is now arriving at about 8.30 p.m. We usually have a good bit of Indian Summer but there will be no light evenings until next year. Below is a link where you can see the colours of Autumn which we can expect a little later on. The photos here were taken in 2009 and 2010. Isn't it marvelous how the yearly cycle of seasons can be depended on to come and go. Our God is a great God and controls everything, we can depend on him for everything in life. Even the difficult things are there for our good, if we trust in him. The Devon Lane in Early Autumn

God chooses the most unlikely people to be his people. Most of us would think God would choose "good","holy" people. God does make people good and holy once he has chosen them but they are not like that to start with. If you think you are bad and not the sort of person God would choose, take heart, you are exactly the type of person God loves to reclaim. If you will repent and trust in him he will turn your life around and glorify himself in you. Take a look at the story of Rahab and see how God choose someone from outside his usual chosen people and chose a gentile, who believed in him with all her heart. There is hope for you too. Interesting Bible People: Rahab

My favourite Psalm of the moment is Psalm 24 which begins,"The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." I use this Psalm at the beginning of a service, just to remind ourselves of who God is as we come to worship him. A favourite Psalm with many people is Psalm 23 "The Lord is my shepherd." I've written a page about this on Squidoo. I'm very amused by the you-tube video of sheep with l.e.d's making various light patterns as the sheep dog guides them around. It's nice to have a bit of "light" relief in amongst the serious stuff. Hope you will enjoy it too. The Lord is my shepherd

Although hurricanes must be dreadful to live through, and I have not had this experience,storms in our lives of a different sort can be very difficult to live through. Job had to face utter disaster in his life, but he kept his faith firm in God and came through his problems. I have written a page about this sort of storm and how to survive and also one about Job and how he coped. Perhaps these would help you in your time of need to find peaace in God.Life is not meant to be easy. As the new butterfly struggles from its cocoon so we struggle to find God. Interesting Bible People Job Stormy Weather

In April 2010 I decided I needed a challenge. I decided to write a poem a day for a year. I successfully completed the challenge in April 2011. You are most welcome to view the results. It was a great experience and although not all the poems are "top-notch" I feel the lesser ones were a part of the creation of the better ones. Without the daily discipline many of the poems would not have been written. Is there something in your life which could benefit from a little discipline? I give you the link to one month of poems, the others can be found from that page. A Poem For Every Day In August

Have you ever heard of a problem someone has had, which is now over and wished you had known sooner so that you could have prayed for them? Well I believe it is fine to pray about it right then, after the event. Why? Because God is not caught in time as we are. He is eternal. He knows what you wanted to pray before you thought it. So never be afraid to be a part of the praying for someone even after the event has happened.In the page below you will find some of my prayers. A Prayer for Every Day

Have you ever wanted to write poetry but not known where to start? Well I'm here to help you. I've written a Squidoo page all about it. I take you step by step through various helpful methods. These include what to do when you have writer's block, how to write sad poems;how to increase your vocabulary. Why don't you go there right away and find out for yourself? How to write a poem just like me

Brown velvety voice, Filling the airways. Singing of love and passion. A talented girl Bringing a fortune to her managers. Falling foul of drink and drugs, A story oft repeated. Why do we destroy The people we admire? Demanding more and more of them Until they crack under the pressure. Leaving us behind Hoping for peace. For more of my sad poems click below. Poems of Loss

How bravely Emma Eggings spoke out about her husband, but why does the media have to put her through such torture. She is justly proud of her husband who lived a life that was bound to be fraught with danger. I'm sure it was the life he chose and wanted and he was the sort of man who could not cope with being tied to an office 9 - 5. He lived and died doing what he loved. That is not a bad epitaph to have. Over the last two years I have been saying, "Staying alive is not the most important thing." I believe knowing God is the most important thing. When you know God, death is a bonus because it takes you to Him.

Stop putting your trust in money, it will fail you; even having lots of it could be your ruin. Turn to Jesus he never lets anyone down who puts their trust in him. There is much more to life than owning stuff. Stuff can stifle your true life. For more help click the link below.Justification means being put right with God. Justification by Faith

Today in Britain many students received their A level results. After tense days waiting for these some are ecstatic and others disappointed. However these seemingly all-important results are not the most important thing in life. What really matters is where you stand with God. He doesn't expect us to pass an exam but simply to accept the forgiveness Jesus has provided. If you are trusting in God, whatever your A-level results he will guide you through life. He has a plan for your life which does not depend on exam results. He has a purpose for your life which will be the most fulfilling life you could hope to have. Joseph's life seemed to go awry but God had a plan. Read about it by clicking the link below. Interesting Bible People:Joseph

We are used to hearing that the end of the world is just around the corner. I have no trouble ignoring these warnings, after all Jesus said that no man knew when that would be, just the Father in heaven. However disaster is coming your way some time unless you put your trust in Jesus. God has provided the sacrifice of Jesus as the only way to have our sin forgiven and for us to be acceptable to God. You ignore this at your peril. One day the world will end, one day you will die. Put your trust in Jesus now. Once you do that no disaster can do you any permanent harm. Death will be just the gateway to everlasting life with our Creator whose love is so great for those who trust him. Justification By Faith The God Who Does Not Change

I notice that many people these days are describing themselves as men or women of faith. I realise this is meant to produce calm amongst many religions. I am prepared to accept all people of all religions as my fellow human beings, which indeed they are, but I cannot describe myself as a woman of faith. I am a believer in Jesus Christ and I am not prepared to water that down to please anyone. Jesus died for me and for any human throughout the world who will believe in him also. He died for me and I depend on him for my salvation and for as long as he helps me to do so I will declare my faith in his name. This does not mean that I think I am a nicer person than other people, in fact a Christian needs to admit being not nice, as a condition of becoming a Christian. In all religious groups there are wonderful people and awful people. Undoubtedly many people who call themselves Christians are awful people. A true Christian does not wage war on non-christians. I would never have bee

It is not just the disaffected youth who need to repent and turn to God, it is those of us who have made gaining money the aim of our life. We have shown that to be the important thing in our lives and so the youth have wanted it too and when they could not earn it, they have stolen it. There are many comfortably off christians in our country who are setting a bad example. We have put money first instead of following God. We demonstrate by our lives that having comfort is more important to us than following God. Christians everywhere, we are the ones who need to repent. If we truly do, revival can follow, but it will not be a comfortable road, but a worthwhile one. I hope and pray I have the sense to take my own advice.Let's welcome God to the centre of a lives, not just the fringes.

I'll tell you what is wrong, we have turned our backs on God. Even the church goers are just going through the motions. Even those of us who think we are ardent are really luke-warm. It is time to repent and turn back to God, or else we will face trouble which will make the last few days look like a picnic. The problem is we are all sinners who need Jesus. Without him God will not accept us. Without him we will go from bad to worse. Our problem is not unemployment or lack of youth facilities. Our problem is that we have left God out of our lives and without him we are lost and our lives are pointless. Each one of us from every part of society needs to repent, turn around and come back to God. Will this revival start with you? Further reading:- Justification by Faith The God Who Does Not Change

What else do we deserve since we have not brought our children up to fear God? There may be grievances of one sort and another which trigger this sort of behaviour, but why should the young people know how to behave if we have not taught them there is a God who requires our respect? When we do not respect God, why should we expect our children to respect us? We have used T.V. and video games as childminders when we should have been building a relationship with our children. Now the violence they have seen on the screen is what they want in reality. Unless we turn back to God in sorrow and repentance for what we have done to our children we will continue to reap the whirlwind.

After Jesus had been with his disciples for quite some time and they had seen the wonderful miracles he performed, healing people and providing food, he asked them this question:- "who do people say I am?" His disciples came up with several suggestions, John the Baptist come back from the dead, one of the old prophets. Then Jesus asked them the really important question. "Who do you say that I am?" Peter stepped in quickly and declared,"You are the Christ,the son of the living God." This vital question comes to all of us,"Who do you say that Jesus is?" Peter declared he was the anointed one who was promised, the one who would save Israel. Is he your Saviour? Do you put your trust in him? Is he the one who will forgive you and bring you safely to God. Or is he for you, just a good man who lived long ago and had some good ideas?

We are told in the Bible that we can only receive forgiveness if we also give it. In the Lord's prayer we read."forgive us our trespasses (sins) as we forgive them who trespass(sin) against us." The very important word in this sentence is "as." It may be a very little word but it shows what the condition is for receiving forgiveness. If we don't forgive we shut ourselves off from receiving forgiveness. Forgiving is not easy. It doesn't give you a glowing feeling inside. It is hard work and is an act of will. Once you have decided to forgive you will still feel uncomfortable. You don't need to feel you have forgiven, you just need to do it and to proove you have done it your behaviour, towards the one you are forgiving, will be shown in your attitude and actions toward them. It will take time to feel the benefits yourself, but at least you will know now that you too can be forgiven.

Money promises so much,but then let's you down. You can put it into a house and then end up with negative equity. The world's economy is in a total mess. Nothing can be ruled out. I'm just glad my savings are really small. If they vanish I won't really notice. I made a wise decision when I was just seven. I decided to put my trust in God. It's not too late for you to do the same. He will never let you down if you commit to him. You will need Jesus on board to forgive your sin. Then there will be no drop in interest from God towards you. He will never be bankrupted. He won't say "live now, pay later." He will say,"You have lived beyond your means, sinning more than you can pay for, but Jesus has died and if you trust in him, your debt is wiped out." To learn more click on the links below. The God who does not change Justification-by-faith

Is there someone in your life who you are not forgiving? Was it such a hugely wrong thing they did to you, or was it quite petty? Joseph was sold as a slave into Egypt by his half brothers, but he forgave them because he saw God's hand in everything that had happened to him. His brothers had meant him the worst of harm, but God had a plan to feed his people in time of famine. If Joseph could forgive couldn't you forgive too. To read more of Joseph's story see the link below. Interesting Bible People: Joseph

Many people make promises, but today a lot of leaving and forsaking takes place. I've done it myself. However there is one person who will keep his promise. When Jesus says,"I will never leave you or forsake you" you can be sure he will keep his promise. Jesus died on the cross so that all who believe in him will be acceptable to God. Is he saying to you, "Come unto me?" He will forgive your sin, put you right with God and never leave you. To read more see the link below. Justification By Faith

The dappled sky So pink,so grey Announces 'Tis the end of day. My weary soul Prepares for rest, I hope in the morn I'll rise with new zest. The sun has set And left such hues. The darkening sky Obscures the view. I love this time When day bids farewell. Soon I'll slumber. 'Til the morning bell. A Poem for Every Day in August

Written a few days ago. 'Tis July And the day is sultry. A seagull keens overhead. I sit in the car park at Tesco's I've just bought a loaf of bread. My friend's in the town As I wait here For her, in the car. The day around is sleepy As I wait on the melting tar. Drowsiness creeps upon me, Ensnaring me like a drug. The air is still and warm Holding me in it's hug. Last year I wrote a poem every day for the year. You can find some more of my poetry here. A Poem for Every Day in August Poems of Loss