Who is in charge?

Hello everyone, Sorry I didn't post last week. I was planning to, but sometimes things just don't go to plan do they!

Do you ever have those weeks? I know I certainly do! When things go from bad to worse. Well that's the kind of week I have had.

I had train tickets booked to go up and see Clare, however as you can tell from the news Cornwall is cut off by rail. Not fancying having to change between lots of busses and trains I decided to drive.

Only problem with that is the fact my car is on its last legs. So I made sure I had some good roadside recovery cover before I left!

Anyway I left Home at 5am and got up to Clare's around lunch time. Sat down for a brew and had not been there more than an hour when I had a phone call from my parents telling me work had called.

So I called work only to be told my leave was cancelled I had to be back after the weekend to take over on a flood relief team which would be on standby.

That really annoyed me, I had seen Clare for one day since then Christmas holiday and we had both been looking forward to our week together so much.

But I had no choice I had to head back five days early. It was really hard and I was not a very happy person.

There is a saying in the Navy. "That's life in a blue suit" which basically means that's forces life for you! There is also another saying (changed from Navy speak to English) "A moaning Sailor is a happy Sailor!" And there was certainly a lot of moaning going on by everyone recalled. Especially as we were on an hours standby which severely limited what we could do. however we were never used.

Its been a long week knowing I was supposed to be on holiday and now I have to wait until march to see Clare. It made me think a lot about how much control the Navy has on my life. Its never been a problem before and never bothered me. But I guess now I am leaving and the end is in sight I just don't want to have my life controlled to such an extent.

It did make me think about how for nearly 15 years when ever I have been told to do something by the Navy or asked to go somewhere, I have just done it. Without thinking, without questioning, just doing it because I am told to and because people in authority over me have told me to.

I have never really had a problem with it. But I started to think and wonder how often God had told me or wanted me to do things and I had ignored him. Or how often I knew I was breaking Gods rules and knowingly did it anyway.

How can I totally submit myself to something Earthly like the Navy and yet continue to argue or just ignore God at times. The Navy is just run by humans, surely then I should submit to the will of God without arguing even more so than the Navy.

So I had a look in the Bible; James 4:7-8 says this.

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

So today why not have a think;

What areas of your life are you failing to submit fully to God in?
What rules over your life? Is it God or something else?

The Sailing Salvationist

Self Denial

Good morning, sorry this post is a few days late, things have been hectic! Last night I lead my Corps evening meeting and I decided I would post my sermon as this weeks post. I hope you enjoy it and it makes you think a bit about self denial.

Here are the Bible readings which I had people read out before the sermon.

 

^{Luke 6:38}

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

^{Luke 21:1-4}

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.

He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.

 “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

 

^{Luke 14:12}

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

 

^{Luke 12:33-24}

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

 

As I have been thinking about self denial this week I wondered where and when did it all start.

 

So I started looking through some of my old Salvation Army books and this is what I found.

 

General Booth came up with the concept of self denial after Major John Carleton said he would ‘go without his pudding’ for a time and donate the money he saved to the Army’s mission work.

 

‘Why not have an annual effort,’ said Booth, ‘in which everyone shall be invited to perform some act of self-denial?’

He announced the establishment of the ‘Self-Denial Fund’ in the 14 August 1886 edition of The War Cry:

 

Which stated

‘We propose that a week be set apart in which every soldier and friend should deny himself some article of food or clothing, or some indulgence which can be done without, and that the price gained by the self-denial shall be sent to help us in this emergency.’

 

The Self-Denial Appeal was expanded internationally in 1888 and many innovative projects and methods were used to raise funds.

 

Over the years, the way the appeal is conducted has become standardized and formalised to use the now recognised forms of envelopes and altar services.

But Christian giving goes further back than this, we can read in the book of Acts and in Pauls letters how the early Church members used to give money to other towns or cites churches when they were in need.

In fact just after Jesus' death we are told his first followers shared their possessions and sold their personal items to financially support each other.

But we are set examples of giving even further back than that. Our four Bible readings this evening all came from the book of Luke. Each one is a comment Jesus gave on giving.

Our first reading came from Luke 6 and tells us if we give our own things more will be given to us. This Bible verse is often misinterpreted, often for financial gain.

The other day I was flicking through the religious channels and I came across one which was focused on this verse. However I believe what they were saying was totally wrong.

According to this TV channel, this verse meant if you sent them $300, God would bless your giving and you would receive at least $3000 back in return!

This really annoyed me. I wondered how many poor people in a last attempt to keep their heads financially above water sent in $300 to these people. I really do think they took this verse totally out of context and used it for their own financial gain.

Where in the Bible does God say this is the easy way to make money? Where does Jesus say follow me and I will make everything easy?

He does not. Jesus clearly says in Luke 9 verse 23

 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

In our second Bible reading from Luke Jesus tells the story of the Widow who gave her last coins as an offering in the temple.

This offering was much smaller than the offerings given by the rich around her. However Jesus tells us that this small offering of hers means more, because she did not give what she could afford. She gave God her last, all the money she had to live on.

She gave from the heart, trusting that God would provide for her. Not expecting to put in her two coins and gain two hundred back by some miracle. But she gave knowing and trusting that God would look after her physical needs.

I can hardly imagine how much trust this woman put in God, to give the last of her money to him and just trust that he will provide.

At the moment most of you know I have my notice in to leave the Royal Navy and hope to enter the training College for Army Officership. This basically means I will have to live and support myself unwaged for about two years.

So right now I am busy trying to save what wages I can to help me with this. At times I almost want to panic thinking I will not have enough money, yet really I should look at the widow and her giving and realize if it is God's plan, then he will help and support me.

 We should also see from this widow and her giving that giving should be a sacrifice. If we are giving so little that we can give easily and without care then we should really think and pray long and hard about what we are giving.

Our third reading from Luke sees Jesus talking about giving aid to the poor. He tells us that we should not be giving just so we are given in return.

Although he is talking about hosting a banquet the example he uses can be used for just about every part of our lives.

How often do we give to those around us, who, to be honest don’t actually need anything, yet we neglect those who are poor and really in need? How often do we buy people gifts which in honesty will probably be used once or twice but will then be discarded?

There are many charities including the Salvation Army who allow you to buy certain things on other people’s behalf. For example with the Armies Just gifts scheme, I could get mum a Cow for her birthday and Dad a goat.

Yet they would not actually be given these items, someone around the world who really needs them would be given them. This seems like a much better way to spend some money. Rather than buying something which will probably not be used. Although I might just have given away my parents Birthday presents!

But there are many other ways we can help and give to the poor and the needy. We can help just by buying someone homeless in the street we see something to eat or drink.

I often wonder in horrible weather like we are having at the moment how on earth homeless people out on the street survive? Surely buying someone you see on the streets a tea or a coffee will not hurt your pocket that much.

You will not get anything physical in return, but what you will do is make someone's life better, even if just for a few minutes.

But another thing we can give to God and others is our time. There are many ways we can use or time to help and make life better for others. Whether it's helping at something here at the Corps, out on the streets at night with street pastors or just visiting a neighbour; in an age where time is a precious commodity for many, a gift of your time can be just as needed as any monetary gift and also just as much an act of self denial as you may have to deny doing something for yourself to help someone else.

Our fourth Bible reading came from Luke 4 and here Jesus really sums up all he says about giving in a few simple sentences.

He tells us to sell our possessions and give to the poor. Ouch! that’s a tough one! In a time where having this and that seems to be the most important thing, Jesus is telling us we do not need all of that.

Today many people actually make themselves poor, driving themselves further and further into debt to buy things they do not actually need to survive, but things the world tells us we need to survive.

Jesus tells us we do not need to do this. He tells us that the things we buy and store here on earth are no good for us. In the long run they do nothing for us.

The popular says is "You might as well spend it as you can't take it when you are gone"

But in reality Jesus is saying "You might as well give it, as you can’t take it when you are gone, but you will be rewarded for your giving when you are gone."

Jesus also tells us that where our treasure is, our heat will be also. Surely then out treasure should not be in monetary things but in the acts we do serving the Lord?

In conclusion we can see Jesus talked a fair bit about giving. The four examples we have looked into tonight are four of many things Jesus said about the subject.

But it is quite clear how he felt about the act of giving and how he expected us to act and feel.

We need to trust God, when we give to him we need to trust that he will provide for our needs and will not see us starve because we have given to him.

We should give what we feel we can and then probably give a bit more. Giving should not be easy, it should be hard and should be done a sacrifice or form of self denial.

We should give joyfully, but not boastfully. What we give is between God and ourselves. It is not anyone else's business but we certainly should not give to try to make ourselves look good or wealthy.

We need to give not just monetary gifts as self denial but also our time and effort.

We need to ensure we don’t become victims to consumerism and spend all our money just trying to keep up with what the world tells us we should own or buy.

All of these things might seem hard, they might seem impossible in fact. And to many in the world they would be impossible to do. But these acts of self denial are all things we are called to do.

Not because of anything we will receive or be given here in this life, but because our rewards will be in heaven.

I will try to post again on Friday, hope you all have a good week.

The Sailing Salvationist

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.