Just a little bit wet and wild!

Hello again, as you can probably see I am sat in my car again writing this blog post. 

The weather here is certainly wet and wild today at is only going to get worse! With a massive storm set to hit us in the next few days I have a feeling this is only going to be the begining.

I went to a local Salvation Army Corps a few weeks ago for a meeting; and the officer did his sermon on lifes storms. Now I don't want to be copying anyone but there is only so much you can say about storms, so I might overlap in certain places!

Sat here in my car though, as it is battered by the wind there is no other topic I could really write this blog post about. I must admit storms and the weather amazes me; and I am often told to stop talking about the weather!

But it really does amaze me. As does the sea. Sat here now I can see the sea smashing into the rocks. At the moment the tide is quite far out, but as it comes in the waves will hit the shore with more and more force causing more damage. 

Now being a sailor I know a thing or two about storms at sea. Even with today's modern ships and safety equipment they can be terrifying! 

The thing about storms is you just can't escape them, when you are in one you can try to move the ship to calmer waters, but sometimes there is no escape and all you can do is try to ride out the storm. You just have to try to make life as comfortable as you can and deal with it.

In the Bible the Psalmist must have talked to a few sailors because this is what he wrote about storms in a psalm.

Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, They see the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep. 

For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. 

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. 

He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven. 

(Psalms 107:23-30 NKJV)

Now I know at times almost all sailors have called out to God asking him to calm storms. Usually it's just after they have been sick, or more likely just before they are! (Might be talking from experience here!) 

But I think this psalm can be thought of a lot more like life. Often we have storms and troubles. Often we have massive problems and it is not unusual for us to feel battered by the waves that life throws at us. 

At times like this it is vital that we call out to God and ask for his help.  We may not see these problems instantly disappear. We may not see anything initially happen. But when we stop trying to cope and deal with everything ourselves and ask God to help us, he can calm the storms of our lives. Sometimes though the storms are there to build us and make us stronger in the long run. So we need to pray that God will help us, guide us and strengthen us, to help us ride out the storm.

So Why not give it a try? Speak to God honestly about your problems and see what happens. At the end of the day what do you have to loose? 

Let's go streaking!

Hello, sorry my post is a few days later than usual it's been a busy week.

I have been trying to get back into my running. It's been two years now since I managed to run in a race. (When I say race I don't really race, it's more a challenge to get to a set distance!)

Spending so long on a ship has not helped and add to that the fact every time I have tried to get back into it I seem to have problems with my knees. 

But this week I went to a proper running shop, got some properly fitted trainers and also had my gait analysed.

That sounds painful, but in reality it just envolved running on a treadmill and having it recorded and then played back. Allowing me to see how I ran and how I could change that to try to prevent injury.

I also got a few running magazines. One of which had an interesting article in. It was about people streaking. The article was not exactly what I thought it was about initially.

It was about people who went on a running streak. They made sure that they ran every single day, even if only a mile. 

The theory is that after a few weeks you don't want to give up your streak of unbroken daily running.

This got me thinking about how I am reading the Bible in a year and using my prayer diary. I know we are still in January, but so far I have done both every single day. 

In the past I have done both of these things but I have missed to odd day and then caught up. But at the moment I have done each daily and not missed a single day. So I guess I am on a prayer and Bible reading streak of 26 days!

That has given me the motivation over the past few days to do my Bible reading or prayer diary when in the past I might have though I will do double tomorrow.

So why not try it, why not get on a Bible reading and prayer streak? You never know the thought of loosing your streak might just be the motivation you need on a day when you might put these really important things off.

The Sailing Salvationist

When you see a rainbow

Hello again, at the moment time seems to fly by between each of my weekly posts!

It's been an interesting week. At times it's been a very hard week. I have had quite a bit to do and it's left me tired and worn out.

Now I don't know about you, but when I get tired I get grumpy, very grumpy! When I am feeling that way nothing seems to be going right.  Small little things that would not normally bother me really get to me; and really I get like a grumpy old man! 

That's the kind off mood I was in this morning. Tired and grumpy. I went to the opticians and afterwards I had a bit if time to kill before heading to another meeting.

So feeling down in the dumps I walked down to an old car park next to the sea.

I stood looking at the sea and watching the low winter sun making everything shimmer and shine and took a photo. 

"It's nice" I said to myself, but even this was not enough to cheer me up.

But then I turned around and saw the most amazing rainbow.

It reminded me of the story of Noah. I'm sure everyone learned it as a child at school or church. It can be found in the book if Genesis.

Here is what God said to Noah about the rainbow.

When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” 

(Genesis 9:16 NLT)

That blew me away. The rainbow I am looking at, amazed by it's beauty is the same rainbow God is looking at remembering his covenant.

That really cheered me up and helped me think more positively. Because even at times when God seems far away and times seem hard he is actually right there with us, watching over us. 

So if your feeling fed up at any point then try to remember you are not alone. God is with you and will never leave you.

 

There is nothing in life for free!

This afternoon I am sat in one of my favourite places, a little quay a  few minutes walk from my parents house. (See the picture) I love it down here, its one of the few places I can relax; I love to just come down here and chill, read, pray and today write my blog!

Im not as young as I used to be, and I thought it was about time I got my eyes tested, as I have not had an eye test since before I joined the Navy 14 years ago. So today I went down into town to book a test. 

On the way back I thought to myself I might treat myself to a coffee from my favourite coffee shop. I am trying to save money, so I have  been resisting my daily trip to the coffee shop at work; but as I have been good all week I decided I could afford one cup! 

So I ordered my coffee and the girl behind the counter asked if I would like it for free? Being quite tired and slow today I said "Well yeah, but how on earth can I have it for free?" The look on her face was priceless as she replied "Well you have enough  points on your loyalty card for a free coffee." Needless to say I jumped at the chance of a free brew.

I left the shop well happy, not only did I have my coffee I didn't have to pay for it! But as I walked up the hill to my car I started to think. Really that coffee was not free. I get 1p on that card for each $1 (That should be a pound sign! But it turns out my I pad keyboard only has a dollar symbol!) So to get a two pound cup of coffee free, I had had to spend............Well too much money!

The saying "You don't get anything for free in this life came to mind" And I started to try and think of things in life I had got for free. In reality there is very little in life you can get for free which comes without a catch. Often things advertised as free have some for of requirement or payment which will be required to get your goods. Some times to get things for free you need to meet a certain criteria. I get my eye test for free because the forces pay. But if i was not in the Armed Forces I would not meet that criteria and I would have to pay.

But there is one thing in life which is guaranteed free. Gods forgiveness. Although we are naturally sinful beings and many of us (In reality all of us if we admit it) have areas of our lives where sin is present. Yet Gods forgiveness for that is free. There is no catch! you don't need to meet any criteria.

Don't get me wrong, your forgiveness and mine did have a cost, but it has already been paid on the cross by Jesus. 

As The Bible tells us In Matthew:

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28 NIV)

If you want God's forgiveness all you have to do is pray and ask for it! Because it has already been paid for! Now that really is something amazing for free!

The Sailing Salvationist

Going Underground!

Hello again, it seems I never write this blog when I am sat at home! I am writing it today on the train on the way back home after a very busy Christmas and NewYear.

I spent Christmas up near Chester, where I was part of a team serving Christmas lunches on Christmas Day. This was really rewarding, although it was also really sad for a few reasons.

We served lunches to a wide range of people, from the old to young families and well off people who just did not want to be alone to homeless people.

There were two main things that saddened me when doing this. Firstly was an old man I had met before at food bank. We sat down and chatted for ages, but what was really sad was the fact he was so lonely.  All he wanted was to be around people. He also has memory problems which means he kept on repeating himself. I told him all about the Corps CAMEO (Come And Meet Each Other) group and he was keen to attend, but I am sure he will not remember and I'm really annoyed at myself now that I didn't have the sense at the time to write details on a piece of paper for him as a reminder.

Secondly we had a fair few homeless people come in for lunch. Which was great, but what saddened me was the fact three of them came in and registered for their free lunch. But then after about an hour got up and left. They went outside and took a few swigs from a dubious looking coke bottle and then were not seen again. It really saddened me that some people are so strongly addicted to drink or drugs that they would rather go out and spend a day in the cold and wet to get their fix rather than have a nice free meal in the warm and dry. 

Then I went to Kent with my Fiancee for New Year. I was planning on writing a post about New Years and fresh starts, but I think thats done a fair bit! All I will say is that the New Year is a great time to revive or renew Bible study or prayer. If you have a tablet or smart phone there is an app called you version Bible app. Its free and has loads of great reading plans, from ones that last a week to ones which help you read the whole Bible in a year. So why not check it out.

When we were in Kent we popped up to see friends in London. Now I am a Country boy, and I don't really like Cities that much; I'm not a fan of large groups of people; I am also not a fan of the Tube. I say I am not a fan of the Tube, I have always totally refused to ever get on it! There is no way on earth I ever wanted to get into a metal tube in a concrete tube deep under the ground! Do you get a sense of how strong my claustrophobia is here? 

But anyway back to the story in hand. We were in London and getting the overground trains from our friends house to the South bank to walk along the river. But it turned out a journey on the normal trains would not be as easy as we thought. It would be far more simple to go on the Underground. If you were there at the time you would have seen me in a moment of panic doing my best Mr T impression "I ain't getting on no tube train fool!" 

Then it dawned on me, I am sure God has plans for me this year which involve London, so there way no getting away from the fact; I needed to bite the bullet and get on the Tube. 

Which I did, not because I wanted too, but because I felt God wanted me to. I cant say it was the most enjoyable experience ever. But I survived and it was not as bad as I thought, (Although my fiancée might say the look on my face said something different!) So now I know I don't really have anything to worry about.

But what am I going on about? I am sure no one reads this blog to listen to me go on about how much I hate being enclosed! I would say the whole point of this post is to say if you feel God telling you to do something then do it! Don't hold back or make excuses. If God calls you to do something, he will give you the strength to do it. No matter how big or small it might seem to others.

As the writer of Psalms says:

In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. 

(Psalm 56:4 NIV)

So trust in God, you have nothing to fear! If he is calling you then he will give you the strength you need to do his will.