Look out for the roots...

I don’t know if you read recently this story concerning a man living in China who suffered from epilepsy for more than two decades, who has had a bullet removed from his head. Doctors were amazed shortly after scanning Wang Tianqing's head when they found a 23 year-old rusted bullet embedded in his skull. The farmer helped the health experts piece the story together by recalling how he had been knocked unconscious in 1988 on his way home in Zhangjiakouin city.

He said: "I thought I'd been hit by a slingshot. I saw a man standing on a hill and thought he'd hit me." Mr Tianging woke up in hospital where he was given anti-inflammatory drugs before being sent home by the doctors. Shortly after his discharge he began to experience epileptic seizures which became more severe over the next two decades. The bullet was spotted on a CAT scan during a typical hospital visit for medicine. Wang Zhiming, an attending surgeon from Neurosurgical Oncology department, said that the survival rate for being shot in the head would usually be one out of several thousand, but the bullet missed his brain's main veins.
If your problem has roots then it is evident that it began with a seed. While you are waiting to deal with the seed, maybe in the meanwhile you are watering it with your continual thoughts, words and actions. Begin by identifying the seed. What is the source of your problem? And then destroy the seed that has been sown. The problem is that every time an issue takes root, it looks so small that you want to take the small risk believing that the consequence will be little. But what you then ignore is that seed which grows and so does the consequences.

Interestingly, the Bible says, “Do not let your anger set in, before night” Why? Because, it is in that night that the seed germinates and in that time of silence, is when the roots go deeper. And the more the roots grow deeper, the harder it becomes to deal with the issue.

It was only when the doctors dealt with the bullet in Wang Tianqing's head that the epileptic seizures stopped, so for you and me it will only be when we deal with the “seed” in our lives that we will begin to deal with issues that can affect us emotional and spiritually. For me one thing I do is to take some time on a regular basis where I reflect on some of the things I do and the relationships I have and I ask God to cleanse me and help me to make sure I am dealing with the stuff on the inside of my life, than after this I surrender every area of your life into his hands. I believe if you are ready to deal with the source and begin to flee from it then the power of God will be your strength.

Don't forget to say Thank You!!

I don’t know about you but I really don’t think we say the words “Thank You” enough. In the UK we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but to me it seems a great idea – a day set aside to say thank you. Saying thank you is what your parents always remind you to say. When I was a child we were virtually forced to write thank you letters to relatives for our various Christmas and birthday gifts.  Making the effort to say thank you via letters or cards isn’t something many still practice. I’m not sure how much its transferred to new mediums, such as email or Facebook. Communication may be easier, but to say thank you may not be so easy? Its been suggested that we may be reluctant to give thanks or appreciation as it makes us feel obligated to others, or makes us feel less self sufficient. Or reason is that, unfortunately, we tend not to notice positive things in our life – sliding out of our mind as if Teflon. Whereas anything negative clings to our memory like Velcro!!

Recently the BBC listed “Writing down good things that happen to you and a letter expressing your gratitude” as part of a feature on feeling better about yourself in their Breakfast Show. Getting into the habit of sharing thanks, genuine gratitude, with others.  Whether saying “thank you”, sending a card, letter or email – or even a small gift – this does seem a simple habit to get into and can make the world a better place for everyone we know.

All this leads me onto listing the final 5 things I would say to God in my list of top 10 – all of them have a sense of gratitude and thankfulness.

Thank you that I am alive and living in a part of the worlds that is in the developed world.

Thank you for my parents and my upbringing that it was positive and stable and a great environment for me to grow up in.

Thank you for relationships and friends especially my wife, Sue.

Thank you for Jesus for sending him to the earth to live, die and be raised from the dead enabling me to have a relationship with God.

Thank you for each and every day I have on this earth enable me to enjoy all the blessings of my life so I can follow you and introduce you those who don’t yet know you.

What would you say to God?

I recently came across a survey taken from research among 1,500 parents and children aged 8 to 12, which explored the fact that children are baffling their parents with existential questions about God and the meaning of life. From the research they came up with the top ten questions that parents said were unanswerable!!.

1. Does God exist?
2. Has God got a beard?
3. Is there life after death?
4. If God made us who made God?
5. What does God look like?
6. Why is the world here?
7. Who created God?
8. Why are people bad to each other?
9. Am I real or is this just a dream?
10. If God is everywhere why do we have to go to church to see him?

As I said in my column last week, today, I wanted to tell you what are the top 10 things I would like to say to God. It’s interesting when I thought about this, I realised that 5 of the things I wanted to say took the form of a question. So here are these 5 questions...

Why is there so much evil and suffering in the world?

To be honest I think this is the question on most people’s list and is probably a major stumbling block for many in developing a faith in God. If God is this all-good, all-powerful being, doesn't He have the resources to prevent evil and suffering?

What does the future hold for me?

Will God really forgive all of my sins? Experiencing guilt is like being a live rabbit in the mouth of an enthusiastic dog. It grabs us by the back of the neck and shakes us around. We feel helpless until released from its grip. What we need is forgiveness, whether from the other person or from God.

What does the future hold for me?

It seems only natural to ask God about our future. Deep down we somehow know that God is big and awesome and all-knowing. So why doesn't He let us in on some of what he knows, we ask. He does, if we know where to look.

Aren't all religions the same?

It’s easy to think they are but when you take a closer look at these major belief systems and their views of God, we find tremendous diversity Hindus believe in 300,000 gods; Buddhists say there is no deity; New Age followers believe they are god; Muslims believe in a powerful but detached god; Christians believe in a God who is loving and approachable. Obviously, it is not logical to say that all of these claims are equally true,

What does God want from me?

As we think about God, it seems inevitable that we'll ask Him, "What in the world does God really want from me?" Once we fully grasp what God loves us from, an attitude of thankfulness and service to God will be a natural response. In fact the next 5 things I would say all relate to thankfulness and I’ll tell you these next week.

What would God want to say to you?

I’ve been thinking so many times in life we overcomplicate the simple.  This can be particularly true when it comes to faith in God. It does seem to me that life can and does get very complicated at time, and when this happened we all need to return to the heart of who we are and what is important to us. I’ve been thinking recently if I could sit down with God and have a one to one with him instead of me doing all the talking and asking all the questions that I would want to ask ! What would happen if I tool time to listen? What would be the top ten things that he would want to say to me, and would want to say to anyone who is prepared to stop and listen come to think of it. Sometimes we wrestle with things for a lifetime that could have been settled in a moment had we stopped to really listen and truly understand. Whether you are a follow of Jesus, a fence walker, or a non-believer I believe if we took a moment to stop and to listen what we might hear could change and shape your life for eternity.

You are my beloved and I really do love you  (Eph. 5:1)

No matter what you’ve heard or what you’ve come to believe, there’s nothing that can separate you from my Love. (Rom. 8:38-39)

I understand your pain and heartbreak. And my heart breaks with you. (Is. 53:3)

I will not force you to do or be anything. I want a relationship with you more than I want to rule over you. (Jeremiah 31:3)

I will forgive your sin and I will forget it. That’s right—completely erase it from my mind. No replays, no record. Gone. (Ps. 103:12)

Please forgive some of my followers. People—even Christian people—will fail you. You live in a fallen land, where no one is perfect and all need My grace. Put your faith and trust in Me alone. (Psalm 146:3)

The addictions. The pride. The selfishness. The hate. The lust. The jealousy. The critical spirit. The greed. I can heal it, all of it. You can start fresh, today. (Rom. 8:1-4)

It’s never too late to turn your life around. I came to give second chances. (Luke 23:42-43)

I love you. Let’s talk. (Jer. 29:13)

These are my top ten maybe you’d have some other things that you’d thing God would want to say to us that’s OK, let me know

Next week I’ll let you know what my top ten things I like to say to God!!

PS

I’ve put some bible reference next to each one if you want to follow this up by reading “the good book”

The family that prays together stays together

Britain is the third worst place for a family to live in Europe, according to a new index published by the Relationships Foundation. The think tank’s new family pressure gauge compares the pressures on families in 27 European countries and finds that families in Britain are struggling more than their European counterparts under the weight of money worries, long working hours and high living costs. Only families in Romania and Bulgaria are more pressured. The study found that while Britons work the longest hours per week in Europe – 43 on average – they are also paying dearly for it, with nearly a quarter of the family income (23.5%) being spent on childcare. That amounts to twice the amount paid by families in France, three times that paid by German families, and four times the cost of childcare in Sweden. Around one in five British families with dependent children (20.9%) is experiencing “difficulty” or “great difficulty” in making ends meet.

No wonder we need to have a National Family Week, here in the UK this is the largest annual celebration of families and family life in the UK and it is taking place right now this week. National Family Week is unique in that it provides an ideal opportunity for brands and not for profit organisations to engage with families, showcasing the work they all do to enhance family life. Its ambition is to encourage families to spend more time together and we work with our partners to provide opportunities, events, ideas and money saving offers to achieve this.

It was Al Scalpone  a copy writer for a Roman Catholic USA radio show from the 1940’s and 50’s who created the motto; “The family that prays together stays together.” And Mother Teresa who said, Be sure to teach the families to pray all together - father, mother and children. For the family that prays together stays together, and if they stay together they will love one another as Jesus loves each one of them...I will be praying that the Lord will bring peace into the world through the love of fathers for their families... I believe that the practise of praying together can really help a family come together to deal with the pressures they are facing, it helps to stand together against the pressures and nor to allow all the pressures and difficulties to come between the family and so fragment and potential separate and divide he family. A great time to pray together is when you as a family eat together, when I was a child at 6pm every evening we would all sit down together for the evening meal around the dinning table, maybe in this National Family Week why don’t you for 7 days eat togther and pray togther as a whole family!!

What makes you happy?

What makes you happy? This question was the subject of a BBC series called “Happiness Formula” There were 6 programmes examining issues like What is happiness?; The price of happiness; the role of trust in making us happy. One of the reasons for this examination is that research has shown that Britain is less happy than in the 1950s - despite the fact that we are three times richer. The proportion of people saying they are "very happy" has fallen from 52% in 1957 to just 36% today. So what does make us happy? Many of us have been sucked into the lies; if only we had more money then we would be happy; if I purchased the right products; if I wore designer clothes then I will be happy. Shopping has become the number one leisure past time for our nation where we are all in pursuit of happiness through consumerism!  One of the reasons for this is because at the heart of consumerism is the concept of comparison with others. We struggle with being content because pressure comes on us from all angles to “keep up with the Jones” If only we had…. then I will be happy.

What does bring happiness? I believe that meaning and relationships are important and would all go someway in helping us becoming happier people. Firstly relationships, the research highlighted that people who score high on life satisfaction tend to have close and supportive family and friends, whereas those who do not have close friends and family are more likely to be dissatisfied. Secondly, those who had a strong sense of meaning and purpose to their lives were general more happy, especially if the person enjoys his or her work, whether it is paid or unpaid work, and feels that it is meaningful and important, this contributes to life satisfaction.

As a foundation for life I see spirituality really contributing to our happiness, after all it was Jesus who once said I came so you can have real life, more and better life than you ever dreamed of. And aren’t we all looking for a better life?

400 years of the King James Version of the Bible

Last summer I was talking to a farmer in his field when he suddenly bent down and plucked up a blade of green grass.  “See this,” he said, “this is a miracle!”  In the story of creation, at the beginning of Genesis, hardly had dawn broken when God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass.”  There are over 3000 types of grass with hundreds of uses.  Our word 'paper' comes from 'papyrus' a form of grass.  Grass provides straw for thatching roofs and hay for feeding cattle in the winter.  Millions of animals depend upon grass and are designed with teeth that will cut off the precious blades without pulling up the roots.

700 BC Isaiah wrote, "All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." It is true that all flesh is grass.  When we eat bread we eat wheat which is grass!  There is no constituent in the human body that cannot be found in grass. Like grass we all fade and fall.  The brilliant brain, the beautiful body, the nimble fingers become dust.  The once inspired brush and pen lie lifeless.  The melodious voice falls silent, passions evaporate and all earthly treasures are left behind. 

This year we celebrate the 400 year anniversary of the Kings James Version (KJV) of the bible. It had a modest print run, sold loose-leaf for 10 shillings or bound for 12, and was riddled with errors, misplaced words and typos. But when published in London in 1611, a new English Bible, stamped with the royal imprimatur of King James 1, would change history. With its classical style and the majestic cadences of its poetry and prose, echoing Shakespeare and Milton, the King James Version remains the gold standard among Bibles, 400 years after its first appearance. Though supplanted by dozens of other versions that employ less archaic language, the King James Bible has burrowed into the English-speaking consciousness. Many of the KJV’s phrases, that have crept into the English language are “giving up the ghost,” “my brother’s keeper,” “salt of the earth,” “scapegoat,” “filthy lucre,” “sign of the times,” and many others.

The new KJV opened the eyes of many ordinary folks because it was published in straightforward English — for its day. My personal preference is not to read the KJV, in 2011 I think we need to present the bible, the word of God, in straightforward English for our day and generation, for me the New Living Translation is my preferred option. After all one of the main aims of the writers of the KJV was to get the Bible into the hands of the everyday man and women, something I believe is still important today.