God Conversations

Why is it so difficult or weird for people to talk about God? I guess everyone has their own ideas about it and a hundred different people would say a hundred different things. It's often the cause of arguments and even wars. Religion is linked with violence, confusion, manipulation, greed and arrogance. Maybe that's why!

But maybe not! I've made all sorts of excuses not to talk to people about my relationship with God (and theirs too) and I've convinced myself that if I do, people will think I'm an arrogant, violent, manipulative weirdo or something like that. Maybe they think that I'm only out to convert them and I don't really care. In reality, that's not true about me. I know my motives are good ones and that I actually care about people, especially if they're missing out on a relationship with God, forgiveness, life to the full and life forever. So why do I bottle it and talk about something else instead? Probably because I'm scared. And I'm scared because I care about myself too much.

A young person once wrote on a prayer wall, 'Will you still love me when you've saved me?'. I hope that as Christians, we're not 'peddling religion'. I hope that we're learning to genuinely love people. I once asked some of the young people at our church, 'What's the best reason to show love to people?'. They had all sorts of answers that seemed really good... 'Because Jesus did', 'Because God says so', or 'So they'll want to know God'. The problem is that the only reason that counts for anything is that we ACTUALLY love people. Actually loving people is the best reason to show it and if we don't actually love them, they'll soon see that we're faking it for our own agenda.

I'm challenged at the moment. Challenged to love God. Challenged to really love the people around me, whether they know him yet or not. I'm challenged to love God and people enough so that I overcome my silly fears of what people think of me and I actually show genuine care and concern for those around me more and more and more. And not just the people that would expect it, but the people who would never expect it. Motivated by genuine love, I'm challenged to do random acts of kindness, to be there for people when times are really desperate and to invite people to draw close to the God who loves them and died for them.

I'm scared. But I can't stop loving God. I can't stop loving people either. I guess I'll just have to get over it, get busy and see what God does.

Jeremiah 20:9

Angels

It's been really exciting for us (me and Chrissi) to be learning about angels recently. Most people probably don't believe in them but we do and the Bible does have quite a bit to say about them. It says they're spiritual beings created by God and they obey and worship God (e.g. Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 5:11-12), bring God's messages to people (e.g. Matthew 28:5-6, Luke 1:11-19, Acts 8:26) and carry out some of God's plans in the world.

So do I seriously believe in angels? Aren't they just made up creatures like gnomes and fairies? I'm convinced they're real and that what the Bible says is true when it talks about them. Human beings are both physical and spiritual beings and there is a whole spiritual reality going on that we don't (often) see with our physical eyes (Ephesians 6:12).

A while ago when I worked in a school, there was an event one evening in the area where people came together to worship God. Christians from loads of local churches were there, including one of the lads from the school. The next day in school the lad said he'd seen angels at the event. He said they were hovering over all the people and they were handing out swords to the people as they prayed to equip them with God's power for the struggles they were facing in their lives. He said that he only saw them when he closed his eyes. At first when I heard this, I thought, 'That's nice. What a lovely idea. But it's probably just in his head.' But then he said that later on in the same meeting, the leader at the front said that he also saw angels handing out swords to people as they prayed. Coincidence? Maybe but I'm sure it was that God was giving people glimpses of what his angels were doing and the spiritual reality that was taking place behind the scenes of the physical reality. Brilliant!

Recently, Chrissi has seen a few angels too. Only because she's asked God if he would show them to her and he has (I've asked and he hasn't). It's not been the focus of our lives (that's hopefully Jesus and we'll try and keep living for him whatever angels we may or may not see) but it's been a real encouragement in certain situations for God to show us what his angels are doing. At Belmont (our church) one Sunday, his angels were handing out swords and some people took them and others didn't. It was an interesting picture of how we as a crowd are a mixed bag of those who are taking God's power out into our everyday lives and those who are leaving it behind! A real challenge to all of us. On another occasion Chrissi saw an angel cuddling someone we knew who was really struggling and bringing God's comfort to them.

I wonder what you make of all this. Maybe you don't believe in God, let alone angels and stuff like that. I would challenge you to consider that there is a spiritual reality at work in our lives. It's something well worth looking into.

And maybe you already believe in angels (if you're a Christian, you probably do) but you've forgotten about them! They're still around and very busy worshipping God and carrying out his plans with us in the world. We don't often see them but they're still there and we can worship God with them and be helped by them. Let's be grateful to God and thank him for all he's doing and for all he sends his angels to do.

And if you think it's all a bit weird, confusing or a load of rubbish, let me know. It would be great to hear from you.