On I AM

After reading the book ‘I am not, but I know I AM’ by Louie Giglio, my entire understanding of who Jesus is changed.

In Exodus 3:14 God says this: “I AM WHO I AM”

This apparently simple phrase has come to mean so much for Jews and Christians today. In Hebrew this is what it looks like:

It is pronounced hayah. And if we were to translate this into English, this is what it would look like (YHWH). This is where Jehovah and Yahweh have been derived.

So what does it mean to be I AM? Some theologians would say the God simply IS, that is, he is shear presence. Others expand the name into WAS, IS, and IS TO COME, a presence out of all time or control. Whilst this is completely true, I think that God was making a much simpler point, and telling us exactly who he is:

I AM:

• Centre of everything
• Running the show
• The same, yesterday, today and forever
• The owner of everything
• Lord, Creator, Sustainer of Life
• Saviour
• Inexhaustible and Immeasurable.

What is God is saying here? It could be I AM prepared to give up my only son for you. But I think it’s much more than that, and John makes this clear in his gospel as Jesus reveals who he truly is:

I AM

• the bread of life (John 6:35)
• the light of the world (John 8:12)
• the gate (John 10:7)
• the good shepherd (John 10:11)
• the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
• the way, truth, and the life (John 14:6)
• the true vine (John 15:1)  

Jesus is saying here that he is also I AM. No doubt some of these statements would have been (and still are) very painful for any religious authority to hear, because Jesus is not just saying he is the son of God, but God himself.

John the Baptist got the point, back in John 1:

John 1:22-23:

Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’”

In other words, John is saying, I am not, but I AM is coming, and you need to look out for him.

So when we put all of this together, we see a God who is in control, who has a plan for all of us, whether we think we are capable of doing it or not. We see a God who was prepared to pay the ultimate price so that we could have a relationship with them. And we are not left to handle all of this alone.

Luke 24:49 - I AM going to send you what my Father has promised.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of I AM, can live with us and guide us through the way that God will help us to live.

God is in control.

He isn’t a MIGHT BE God, someone who is only there when he feels like it, or just when we want him to be there. He is I AM, always there, always in control, even if it doesn’t feel like it. And he wants to help us to become the person he knows we can be, if we let him.

On Inspiration in the Shower

OK, so weird title, I expect that on reading it some people are confused, but for others, a little light bulb clicks which reminds them that they too have great ideas in the shower.

What is it about the shower that opens the mind?

I can’t count the number of times I have been in the shower contemplating an issue, when all of a sudden the answer pops right up. Indeed, a number of times I just can’t stop the ideas from popping up…I remember one morning I actually had to stop and write them all down.

One website I browsed on the subject came up with some interesting points, from the metaphorical to the physical. Seriously, a number of people have gone to great detail to try and work it out. Most suggest that it is something to do with the relaxed state of mind, and the easiness of the process which allows those brain juices to flow.

Does a relaxed mind help us open up to God?

Well, firstly, I would ask what it means to be open with God. If we think it means that he can only speak to us when we are listening, then we are grossly mistaken:

Psalm 19:1 - “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Everything around is tells us about the glory of God, so whether or not we choose to accept it, the evidence is there. No, when I talk about opening up to God, I am talking about us taking time to recognise that God wants to have a two way relationship with us. For some, that means a verbal conversation. And while that has only happened to me once, for others it is a regular thing.

Do we deny that it’s God just because it doesn’t happen to us?

Emotional manipulation or divine inspiration?

Recently Derren Brown sought to dispute Christianity by proving he could create an emotional response to what was perceived to be the Spirit of God. And to some extent he proved it. Well, when I say that, I mean that he proved that a conversion experience is a response to an emotional reaction. And I, along with most Christians, would agree. Surely as Christians we should be emotionally attached to our God. After all, didn’t Jesus die for us?

Shouldn’t we be falling prostrate at our creator’s feet for loving us so much?

Tangent aside, my point is this: relaxing our mind to hear the word of God must be a good thing, as long as we are careful to wheedle out the other stuff at the same time. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 says this:

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.”

In other words, if you have been given a thought, and idea, or a message, why not check it out in the Bible to see if it fits with the teaching we find there.

We can’t spend all our time in the shower…

The problem I have when it comes to my memory, is that if I don’t write them down, I will soon forget what I was thinking about! Even 3 seconds later, I could have completely forgotten the talk illustration, or thing I needed to buy, or person I needed to phone. Terrible really for someone in their early twenties. I suppose we could spend hours reading books and buying mind games to improve our memories, and maybe I will. For now though, everything that’s important goes on the phone!

On changing my phone

So recently I have changed my phone. As I went through the process I became aware of my own reliance on technology, although I shouldn’t have been surprised. We are living in a culture where everything has a foundation in some form of technology.

Where would I be without my phone?

Honestly, I don’t know. I would lose contact with friends, family and work colleagues. I would have to learn the art of letter writing to get any communication through. A rather depressing thought, considering I have never been the most eloquent of writers.

In short, I would be lost.

Are we relying on technology or God?

I had become used to my old phone, it wasn’t the best in the world, but it worked how I wanted it to. I had quite happily re-arranged my life around my phone, so that it basically ran my life. Phone, email, Facebook, diary…everything run through a small box in my pocket. Without my phone, I would lose it all. And I wonder how true that is for other people? In this modern era, it is easy enough to find a piece of technology to answer any need.

Have we forgotten who gave man the ability to create? Colossians 1:15-16 says this:

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

By changing my phone, I have been challenged in a way I wasn’t expecting. For what purpose do I use technology? By my use of gadgets, do I bring glory to God? After all, he has given us the abilities to create it, should we not express our thanks in return?

What do I rely on – God or Gadget?

When I changed my phone, I realised it would not accept my contacts, or my diary. The issue was based in the fight between Microsoft and Google. In order to continue using my phone as I used to, I would have to create a new life on Google.

The question is…who owns our life?

By Google refusing to co-operate with Microsoft, effectively they have forced people to give over all their details. Who they know, what they do, and when they do it, is all within the grasp of one company. Is this a good thing? Indeed, is having all that information readily available on a server somewhere in the world safe? Who knows…

Are we in fact, by using these services, effectively allowing a corporation to run our lives? Now I am no conspiracy theorist, but I find all of this slightly disturbing.

However, there is one thing I can take from this: God knows everything I do anyway. Jesus is the ultimate Big Brother – to coin a phrase – “he knows when I am sleeping, he knows when I’m awake, he knows if I’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!” But far from being on the heavenly CCTV trying to catch me out, quite the opposite is true. He is there to protect me. And I will quite happily tell him everything.

He knows all…all should know Him.

On Popcorn in Church

So this morning at church I was faced with an interesting change to the church routine…popcorn. The reason – a family service themed on the new Les Miserables film. Whilst not a fan of traditional Sunday worship, this still took me by surprise. But then I asked myself, why not?

I asked myself the question: Why shouldn’t we have popcorn in church?

What is church all about? While it might be immediately obvious, the very fact we have so many denominations in Christianity shows that this isn’t the case. For some, it is tradition and order, for others, it is feelings and emotion. But ultimately, it is a collection of fallen people joining in worshipping our God.

There are some who this morning found the idea of popcorn in church as a bad idea. Others really enjoyed it. But was that the point of the service? Of course not, we were joined as a group of people to worship. And to some, the mere fact of having popcorn provided a distraction from doing so. Further to this, by bringing in food and drink to a church service, are we not dumbing down the seriousness of a relationship with God to a mere show?

But by saying church should be serious – are we not missing the point again?

I have been to many services where I have been put to sleep (sometimes literally) by Christians making a relationship with God sound so dull that I don’t actually care. I just want to move onto the next song, or more than that, go home and watch the football / motor racing / whatever else there is on TV. Our relationship with God should be dynamic and exciting, as it is with our closest friends. And where do we spend most of our time with them? In social settings, doing fun activities. So this morning, when we joined together as a congregation to learn about God in a fun setting, are we not making it more exciting, and bringing a new realism to our relationship?

I guess it comes down to choice – or does it?

The problem with saying that our style of worship and relationship is down to choice, by extension, means that Christianity comes down to choice. And the Bible is clear on that. There are things that are true and real and good, and there are things that are false, and against God’s best for our lives. The question is: does popcorn in church come under something that is good, or something that is bad?

Obviously this is not a question of doctrine – no one should be basing their faith on popcorn.

Therefore, in this case, I would say that it depends why you feel the need for popcorn in a church. If it is to make a point, or make a service more interactive and engaging, then there isn’t a problem. If it becomes a distraction, or indeed, an idol, then it is here we start having problems.

Pointless rant – or are we going somewhere?

Loosely, this discussion has been looking at how to engage with God as a congregation of his people, and whether or not it's alright to loosen up the standards of church. I’m definitely not saying that every church should install popcorn machines at the entrance and start charging admission, but asking the question:

Are we engaging God in our services, or sticking to traditions that are comfortable?

I have learnt from this experience not to get so caught up in routine, or that God is reserved for Sunday morning.

New Year, New Look

A New Year’s resolution…of sorts.

I don’t agree with New Year’s Resolutions, we set goals to lose weight, or to do something new that is completely unrealistic. However, saying that, sometimes taking an opportunity to reflect on things in your life helps identify things that you started to do, but have slipped out of.

When I first set up this blog I thought I would use it to publish my thoughts on topics, and talks I had been involved with. However, that never really took off. Blogging was always allusive to me until now, when I suddenly realised how useful it can be – even against the opinion of the book I read this afternoon.

Social Media and its helpfulness.

While social media, according to some, should be kept out of church life, I believe that it has become such an intrinsic part of society, that we should be embracing it as a way of sharing opinion and truth. There is a warning with this thought though, when we become too focussed on getting us out there, rather than sharing helpful insight on topics which may confuse others. If, by our discussion, we end up causing more confusion, then what help have we been?

Time to start afresh.

It's time to make use of this blog as it was designed - a way of sharing my thoughts and ideas on truth. And I certainly have those. There is so much hurt caused by misinformation that I feel compelled to join the debate, and whilst I may not be as articulate as many of my fellow writers, you can rest assured that my heart is genuine.