Standing On The Edge Of Summer

Well. Freshers week. Well. I have been touched, humbled, excited, blown away, bought nearly to tears, worn out and generally inspired by Freshers Week this year.
The fun begins last tuesday when we find out that we are in fact going to be at freshers faure for all three days, instead of just stuck in a tent on friday. To say i was excited would be an understatment, to say i was jumpoing around my room would not be. A slow start at St Georges on sunday was followed by an explosion of interest on wednesday and thursday. Its really not about people putting their name on a sheet of paper but to have 150 people do just that in 2 days is incredible. Thank you Jesus!
We had our first meeting of term lat night. Not only was the theatre packed, Marcus Honeysett preached the word of God powerfully and sincerly, he was preaching on Phillipians 1, and was very direct about it, but people loved it, it was increcible! As importantly people were still in the room nearly two hours after the meeting finished, talking to church reps and Cell leaders, and then many more stayed on in Mojos till the dark hours.
Of course, this is all an amazing testament to the power and grwce of Lord Jesus Christ, who had perfected our faith, and done all things for His good this week. This is only the start. The start of something huge. The hearts of the freshers i spoke to yesterday are incredible. They're ready for action, ready for the journey the Lord will take them on in the next three years. Please keep them and us in your prayers. I really feel this is the start of something big at RUCU, the start of a real revival at Uni. I think we are Standing on the edge of summer. PRAISE THE LORD!

Christian Hedonism

I shall be buying this book soon. I urge you to do the same!

Just realised that the author is speaking at RUCU in just over a week as well!

Early sunsets over Monroeville

Moved back into my house in Reading on thursday. Its far nicer than my old gaffe on Addington Road, we've got a living room and everything! Thursday evening i headed down to Drew and Zoe's place for dinner, Danutia was there, and we ended up staying together till one, in their house and mine, worshipping the Lord, and praying for our non Christian housemates. It was cool to be back in Reading, to be back with some of my closest friends. I'm glad i'm here a bit early. Campus and the library are nicer when their empty! And its cool to be abel to settle in again and get my bearings beofre the madness of Freshers week decends on us. I am very excited about it all though. I think the fun's going to start on wednesday wehn me and Jess go to 'buy paper', in preparation for two days of photocopying. Now, you perhaps wouldn't expect me to be that excited about that, but i really am! I'm looking forward all the entailments of freshers week, including spending hourse arguing with a tempremental photocopying machine... Why? Because i'm doing it for the Lord, and thats all that matters, thats all i want!
God's really been speaking to me about freshers week since yesterday morning. How much to i really trust the Creator, how much do i fear and honour Him with all i have? Sean Green preached at Fam yesterday on the might of our creator, and His ability to do anything. This was then rammed home to me by the Missions chapter of 'Desiring God' by John Piper. He really majored on 'with God, all things are possible'. Quite. Something i really need to remember.
There are roughly 3000 freshers turning up next week, most of them need the gospel more than they can possibly imagine. Three thousand. So why do i think i'll be happy with 30-50 freshers coming to CU? Jesus didn't die for 1% of people to be saved, He died for all of them! So, i shall now be praying for 3000 new guys at RUCU. And why not? God can, lets remember that!

Attempt great things for God,

Expect great things from God.

Racecar is Racecar backwards

Now, its fair to say i've been to some fairly obscure football matches in my time, Oxford United reserves versus Brentford reserves springs to mind (just don't ask right? I don't even like Oxford or Brentford let alone support them), but i think that yesterdays game just about shades it. Whilst my Dad was a guest at Stamford Bridge watching Chelsea in the Champions league, i was at humble Wilks Park, along with, i would guess, no more than thirty others, watching Flackwell Heath play Brook House in the Isthmian League Associate Members Trophy. Now i have neither the time nor the inclination to go into why this tournament, for Isthmian League Division Two sides exists, and how the Isthmian League itself was ravaged during the restructuring of the non-league pyramid, but lets just say its all a bit anomolous...
Why did i go? Maybe to prove something to myself, partly because i've always wanted to see Brook House play, and an ILAMT game. Partly just because it was on, and i had nothing better to do. I'm not sure what it is about my presence at Wilks Park that brings out the worst in people, but in my three visits there (four and half years between my first and second, 11 days between my second and third) i have seen three red cards, and any number of 'handbags' incidents...
Anyway roughly an hour from now i shall be taking my seat to watch Wycombe Wanderers reserves take on Brighton reserves. At least this game has some relevance to me!

...and the Omega

Got an email from Nicola today, the girl running RUCU's Alpha course. Its got me very excited. We're really going to hammer this one this year, promote it properly, and make sure people get involved. I'm a big fan of the Alpha course having been involved in three now, (one as a guest). It didn't bring me to faith so to speak, but the way the guys who ran the one i did loved me, and answered my questions really helped me. This is a course, an event, that can build friendships, start communities, and most importantly, save lives!
So yeh, it was really cool to hear from someone so fired up, so ready, so full of ideas... Lets go and make disciples!

Romans 6:1-18

Terry Virgo preached on this at Forum. I was blown away. In an attempt to process what i learnt and wrote down, i'm going to try and 'write up my notes'. Before i start, i just want to make it clear that what The Virg said was gold, and anything that is other than that, is entirely my own fault!

Shall we carry on sinning? (v1-2)
'By no means' as Paul puts it. Or, as JB Preistly says, 'what a ghastly thought!' We died to sin. This is not an exhortation, or a promise. This is an event that happened. As we were baptised with Jesus in His death, and as we rose out of the water, we were a new creation. Our dying to sin is an event that has happened, not a process. The Gospel is good news not good advice. Here is the deliverance. This is our red sea moment. When the Jewish people were fleeing from Egypt, they would have been terrified. Faithful hopefully, but definately terrified. As they came up against the Red Sea, they would have seen their old slave masters, and feared that they would ever really escape. But then the sea opened. And for us, our old self is dead. You can scream at a corpse all day long, and it won't do anything...

Do you not know?
All of us have died to sin. Our sin, our old sinful lives, are behind us. Elsewhere in Romans Paul says that we, along with Adam committed that first sin in Eden. We were in Adam. But now, Yes!! We're in Jesus! This is objective truth and we need to live in it. There are hours, days, even weeks and months where we don't feel that we are dead to our sins, that our sinful bodies are alive and well. What then? Well, lets look at Abraham. He trusted God when it would have been easy not to, he had faith in his heart, when his head was trying to convince him otherwise. We need to believe this truth. To press on inot it, and to remember it each and every day. We, most of us, believe that two men were crucufued with Christ. Why do we believethis? Because it says so in the Bible! Guess what else it says in the Bible? That one who has died has been set free from sins! Believe it and live it!

We need to consider, reckon or account it true because God says it's true.
In Romans 6:11, we come across the first command in Romans. And what is it? That we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ. Following on from the last point, we must MUST remember and consider the truth in this. We must believe it. It's not a case of if we think it long enough, we will believe it. No no no! It is true, so we must think it. We must line up with the new time, with the new age in our lives. With our new lives full stop!! It says in Hebrews that i have been 'perfected for this time'. Its time we all (myself included) started living in this. Started pressing into it.

Responsible action.
Romans 6:12 tells us not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies. It tells us in short, to stop it! It is time to take responsibility and respond to what God has done for us. If watching TV late at night causes you problems, stop watchin TV late at night! If boredom on the internet gets you into trouble, get off the net before you get bored! If you struggle with alchohol, stop drinking! Let him who steals steal no longer. Sin doesn't happen in a vacuum, our bodies are its vehicle. We must, in view of this, take responsibility for what we do. We must let God reign. C'mon, our old selves had died!

Slaves to a new master.
We are under grace so that sin maybe overcome. Sin has no answer to grace. None. Sin can not and will not defeat God's greatest gift to man. Once we were slaves to sin. We unquestioningly followed the sinful desires that our slavery demanded of us. We were blinded to God's love by our sin. Blinded to His power. Now, we are slaves of righteousness. Slaves of Christ. Called to do His will where and whenever. What a transformation. And the best thing? Our old desires were destroying us, and condeming us to an eternity of fire and misery. But our new master. Wow! The riches and joy and goodness He brings are beyond comprehansion, incomparable, and without end. We need to commit and devote ourselves to our new Master, to our new Lord and live our lives for Him, and in view of His sacrifice. Here is our joy, here is our life, here is our meaning. Jesus is all these things. The great God eternal, who one day we will be with forever.
Shall we continue to sin in view of these things?

BY NO MEANS!

Elated!

The desire of the righteous ends only in good
the expectation of the wicked in wrath
One gives freely yet grows all the richer
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched
and one who waters will himself be watered
The people curse him who holds back grain
but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it
Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favour
but evil comes to him who searches for it.

Loving these verses, from the middle of Proverbs 11, right now. I read them yesterday along with Luke 12:22-34. Just excellent stuff, and very encouraging. Look at it. If we give of ourselves, we will recieve. We don't need to worry about how we will provide for ourselves, whether we'll have all that we need, if we'll get tired. The Lord will do all that.
And again, the desire of the righteous ends only in good. No, of course, none of us are righteous alone, not even one, but thanks to the glorious mystery of the cross, we are counted righteous with the Lord (if we believe), and, according to this, our desires can only end in good. Now, we need to be a it careful here. Desires is obviously not talking about the desires of our flesh, which, in a lot of cases are an abuse of ourselves and God, but the desires of our heart after God. The desire to spread His word, to be loving and compassionate as He was. These will only end in good. They can only end in good. Praise the Lord!
And look at the next two verses. Give freely, it says. Give with joy in the knowledge that those who give will become all the richer, and those who do not, will not. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul describes himself as being poured out like a drink offering. I know that in the context of his circumstances this doesn't neccesarily sound like a good thing. And yet he knows because of this, he can look forward to his crown of righteousness.
The more we give, the more we 'water' the more we will be blessed. The more we expose our lives to the Lord, and His service, the more of our lives He will bless. Those who bless will be enriched! By Jesus! Is there anything better!?
The last verse seems coupled with the first to me. Those who seek good seek favour, those who do not, will fall into evil. There is no arguing with this one. You will find what you seek in your heart, be it good or evil.
So lets have a joy in our hearts as we serve, as we give. Lets give more knowing that we will grow all the richer, lets water more, so we are watered mores, lets bring more blessing, so that we will be enriched. What an excellent word enriched is! To be enriched by Jesus! Wow.
Lets give our own desires up. Lets seek the Lord first, and serve Him with a joy in our hearts at what our reward will be...

Gutted

One of my favourite bands, Million Dead, announced they were splitting up today. I am gutted. I'm not sure how much of a surpise it is. It's always going to be hard for small, non commercial bands on small, non commercial labels, and it seems from their press statement that they've might have fallen out, but nevertheless. Is this the way that music's going now? Bands with real passion and integrity get driven apart by those that are happy to sell themselves? So, by a stroke of good fortune more than anything else, i have a ticket to their penultimate ever show in London next week. It'll be the first time i see them live, having been too lazy to make it to Buck and Skit (i'm such a retard!). Goodness knows what it'll be like there, let alone Southampton the night after. I know from experience how much bands like this means to kids. Bands who somehow manage to communicate what people are thinking without saying it. I know that what songs like 'Smiling at strangers on trains' and 'After the rush hour' do for me. I know they were a band that helped me out a lot when i first got into them at the start of 04...Man, next weeks going to be weird.
Still, at least, as Frank says, they'll leave a good looking corpse!
Here's some of their videos and alike. Get to know them while you can!

Spotted!!

Hello Ceryn!

Favourite Ceryn quote: 'If we both do relay next year, we'll be doing it at the same time'

It's been a while!

Just got back from Forum 2005. Fantastic week. Terry Virgo was the main speaker on Romans 1,5-7. Amazing. We're free from sin, we're dead to it. It's not an exhortation, its a command. I am so encouraged. Changed. I thought Forum was excellent. Well done UCCF! I am thoroughly refreshed and ready to go. I can't wait for Freshers Week now. Please pray for us as we go out into campus to find and make new disciples of Jesus Christ...
I'd love to say that i've not blogged for a while because of my hectic and varied lifestyle over the summer. But that would be a mistruth. I've just been too lazy, haven't really felt like i've had too much to say. As i earlier intimated i've just been chilling out with God. Man its been good, He is a stream that never runs dry, and i love it! The best thing about Forum for me was being soaked in God's word all day. It was also great to realise that RUCU is part of something so much bigger, with regards to not only UCCF but the IFES movement as well. It really excites me to think of us standing shoulder to shoulder with brothers and sisters all over the world, with the same committment and vision. Excellent! I really do think God is calling me to serve him in Bulgaria, probably through the Relay Homestart programme. I'm still feeling such a passion for that place at the moment. I would have given anything to be in Bugas or Sofia yesterday as the students returned to Uni, flyering, encouraging and doing what i could to bring glory to God, and to help people. One day i will be, i really feel that in my heart.
As for now i've got until February as Chairman of RUCU. I really pray that i will do all i can in this post in the next few months to glorify His name, and to look after people. I really feel the responsibility towards the freshers at the moment, remembering how looked up to Lev and Rach in my first year. I pray that i would be and do all that the LORD wants me to this term and year.
So, that was summer. Book ended by excellent weeks at Cornhill and Forum. Amazing filled by Bulgaria. What a time i've had. Praise the Lord! I hope that i'll take what i've learnt into the rest of this year, and the rest of my life. That i'll be braver for the Lord, and less happy with my own sin. Not content with second best.
Ah man, roll on this year. I really feel that God's got some excellent plans for RUCU, and for the churches in Reading. I hope that i will serve Him in every way that i can. I hope i discover what He's got for me, by seeking first the kingdom.

Bring it on!