Mark Jones - In His Dust

I found a post-it in a page of my journal today which I can’t remember putting there. It says :

Jealousy is a type of fear. It is about being afraid you are going to lose someone you love.

This pretty much got me thinking about Jealousy, what it is, etc, etc. And I came up with this:

• Jealousy typically refers to the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that occur when a person believes a valued relationship is being threatened by a rival. This rival may or may not know that he or she is perceived as a threat.

Ok. So before I get overrun with comments/e-mails for trying to justify jealousy… I’m going to clarify something. For the sake of this blog, there are two types of jealousy. ‘Freaky insane jealousy’. And what I’m going to refer to as ‘Biblical Jealousy’.

It links in quite well with Idolatry. You see it in the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21) when God says:

(2) I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (3) You shall have no other gods before me. (4) You shall not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or the waters below. (5) You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.“

Exodus 20: 2-5

Ok. See, because God LOVES YOU… he is jealous. What he’s saying here is that he brought ‘you’ out of egypt for you to worship HIM. There’s not supposed to be anyone or anything else. There’s just Him, and you worship Him alone!

I understand God’s jealousy. Or I think I do at least. Of course I’m going to be jealous if I walk in and my girlfriend is acting in a way she shouldn’t be with some other guy. Of course I’m going to be jealous if I know she’s spending more time with some ‘other guy’ than she is with me. It’s because I love her.

Of course your wife/husband is going to be jealous if you’re meeting with your x-girlfriend/boyfriend on a regular basis. It’s because she/he loves you.

It’s the same thing when God is Jealous of the Israelites going around worshipping other gods and idols. Of course He’s going to be Jealous when the Israelites spend more time in sin and idolatry than they do worshipping him.

I don’t know. That’s what I’d call ‘Biblical jealousy’.

Just wait till you see my blog on ‘Freaky insane jealousy’…

I clearly haven’t blogged in awhile…

In fact, I think people have even noticed… especially Kirsty Mac (my #1 blog fan).

Rest assured that I haven’t in fact ceased to have any inspiration re: my blog… and I’ve got a whole pile of stuff that I do intend to blog about - I’ve just not got round to it yet.

Give it a few days…

“Warning! Pentecostal, Charismatic and happy clappy churches are dangerous. Stay away from them. They are not of the Lord. They will not endure sound doctrine. Deceiving and being deceived. Pretending to have the miraculous gifts that the early church had. Heaping unto themselves teachers having itching ears. They do not try the spirits, whether they are of God. But because they are in a church, they think every spirit must be the Holy spirit. Foolishly seeking supernatural experiences and opening themselves up to the very spirits of the air.”

That’s on the back of one of the tracks I was given about a month ago as I walked down Buchanan Street.

I actually walked up to the guy to say that I thought he was doing a good Job, (because up until then what he was saying over the megaphone or equivalent seemed pretty sound… ‘People of Glasgow… You need Jesus’ sort of stuff. The conversation lasted about 2 minutes. I was told I needed Jesus. When I said I had a personal relationship with Jesus I was told that I didn’t really, and should check myself off with a list of criteria on a billboard not far away. The man then assumed I went to a ‘modern church’ (his words, not mine) and proceeded to tell me how modern churches are of the devil and are demonic.

You can imagine how relieved I was to be walking away from this guy. I walked up to him to say ‘good job’ and encourage him, and walked away thinking ‘IDIOT’.

This makes me sick. Who is he to claim ‘100% sound doctrine’? That’s saying that whatever denomination he follows has the right doxology and everyone else is wrong! Not even that, he slates other churches and calls them demonic? He assumes because I’m young that I’m from a ‘modern church’ and says they’re of the devil?

I am weary of churches who claim to be right above all others. It’s not about who’s got it 100% all out perfect. What does this guy want? Brownie points? The ability to Lord his ‘correct’ doxology over all others?

I don’t look at the other churches in the West end of Glasgow and think… ‘They’re doing that WRONG’, or ‘They’re not true worshippers of God because of the particular way they worship’.

Churches need to stop being Individual churches and be part of THE CHURCH.

I just feel as if we as believers are part of the body of Christ. The body of Christ isn’t just one individual church. It’s all of them put together. So are we being ONE body?

Imagine if all the churches in Glasgow joined together and had joint aims and objectives. Imagine the HUGE impact God through ‘ONE BODY of believers’ could make on the city of Glasgow?

Another blog for another time…

When planning the last church retreat for Re:Hope, we had the words ‘Fully Now.’ as our flier title. That was the theme for the weekend. I’ve been thinking about it recently…

I hate the idea that I am not living for God as fully as a could be. I’m not following his plan completely. Know what I mean?

It usually bothers me when I have an amazing time worshipping God, and come away feeling great about everything. But then I think… this whole past week, have I even given God one minute?

I compare it to this:

Imagine you have a friend. This friend almost completely ignores you the majority of the time. All you want is to be close with this ‘friend’. There’s maybe one day (a Sunday for example) where you get their full attention. The rest of the week, you’re more of an afterthought, if thought of at all.

My point is… You can’t be the part time ‘Christian’. It doesn’t work. You can’t not read your bible, not commune with God, not spend time with Him all week, and then come Sunday give him your full attention and it’s all ‘fine and dandy’.

It’s insulting. You wouldn’t let a ‘friend’ treat you that way, because if they did… they wouldn’t exactly be a friend now, would they?

Stop treating God as an afterthought. Stop putting TV and MYSPACE before reading your bible and praying.

Start living for God fully now, you know… they way you feel on Sundays sometimes?

Get your priorities sorted.

Porn - whether that’s pictures, videos, etc - gives guy’s false expectations of what a relationship ‘looks like’. They somehow get the impression that once they’re in a relationship, or when they’re married - that’s how it’s going to be.

Porn makes guys think women are something that they’re not.

Pornography: the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction. (Webster)

This is where I turn the table. Chick flicks and romance novels/stories can and do “arouse a quick, intense emotional reaction”. It’s giving girls a false impression of what a relationship looks like, and how a guy is meant to be. It encourages you (girls that is) to dream of ‘that perfect guy’ and hope for ‘one just like him’.

Seriously… where do you get your idea of what a relationship should look like? (Guys too!). You can say your parents - but that’s a married relationship, not a dating or ‘going out’ relationship.

Guys have to be careful they don’t get unrealistic expectations in what a relationship is going to be like. Girls have to do the exact same.

Guys - stop watching porn for one. And don’t expect that your girlfriend or wife is going to be anything like the ‘pornstar’.

Girls - Be careful you’re not wanting something that doesn’t exist, or at least is very very rare. Life isn’t a fairytale. You’re never going to find a guy with no flaws, shortcomings, or insecurities.

Guard your hearts.

That’s right. After the morning service this past Sunday, we had an open discussion in the church on Worship (the music side of things, etc). This was open to everyone in the church… so I’ve no idea why not everyone came! (I mean… who doesn’t want to discuss worship?).

It was good. People got to talk about how they felt about the worship in the church. The got to suggest stuff, question stuff, encourage the team, etc.

Re:hope is made up from people from all different denominational backgrounds. Which sometimes, if your from a traditional background, and standing beside someone from a charasmatic background… you can end up feeling a little bit uncomfortable.

Church discussions are the way to go. It saves the leadership team, and worship team from having to guess about how people are feeling, what they need more teaching in, etc.

So now… having had the discussion… we know where there needs to be some explanation (i.e. what does raising your hands actually mean? Is there a point to the instumental part on the second set, or is it just show off time for the musicians?).

I think it’s important to have this sort of thing. Esecially if you’re at a church with lots of different backgrounds and/or a lot of new Christians. And not just discussing ‘worship’ necessarily.

It results in  everyone being on the same page. People being able to worship without worrying about that ‘thing’ the person next to them is doing, and people being able to worship without having to worry about freaking out the person next to them, etc, so on. People knowing that the ‘instrumental’ time is a chance for them to say what’s on their heart to God, without following the set lyrics of a song, etc.

That was a kind of ramble - no doubt will be editted later.

If you’re not sure what your congregation is thinking, or where they’re at… have a discussion with them.

(Who am I kidding - Saying that I wouldn’t blog over the Christmas Holidays? I’ve got more time than I know what to do with!)

Idolatry:  “the worship of a created object either made by human hands or created by God” rather than worship one would give to the true God. - Wikipedia

I journal. In one particular journal entry… I was really questioning where God ‘comes’ in my life. What is it that I put before God?

I see it clear-est(?) in people (and in myself) when they’re stressed/hurt/broken/angry/etc.

What does the alcoholic turn to before they turn to God? - Alcohol.

What does the drug addict turn to before they seek God? - Drugs

What does the self harmer resort to when the going gets tough? - Self harm

Who/what do you turn to before you seek God - your refuge?

I realize… that where alcohol, drugs, self harm, sex, porn, sin, computer games, etc (the list goes on and on) might potentially provide escape from whatever it is that is bothering whoever it is - it never lasts. It’s the easy way - and that’s not dealing with the problem.

This isn’t most definately is not the definition of ‘idolatry’ - but I certainly think it falls somewhere within that catagory.

The way it should be? God first, everything else second.

That pretty much applies to every single situation.

When it comes to escapism - what is that? Do you drown your sorrows in alcohol? What is that? Trying to make the ‘unbearable’ slightly more bearable?

Escape: “an inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy; “romantic novels were her escape from the stress of daily life”; “his alcohol problem was a form of escapism”.

You can’t bottle up your problems and expect them to disapear. And you can’t try and escape from it/them by hiding in something like alcoholism, drugs, self harm, etc. That doesn’t deal with it. It just creates baggage. And that effects who you are.

I have trust issues. I don’t tell anyone anything - not completely anyway. I tend to keep things that are bothering me to myself. I bottle it up. I lug the baggage around. It’s not the best way to do it.

I’ve learned that God is a refuge. You want to escape? You can do that in God. He’s our refuge in times of trouble. We can find shelter in him. But we need to turn to him first.

God First.

So… It’s Christmas eve. I’m at a friend’s house… and Christmas is nearly here!!!

Just a quick blog to say that I probably won’t (not that I have recently) blog over the holidays - however, that doesn’t mean I’ve disapeared or anything (sorry If your disapointed!).

So, have a quality Christmas - remember what it’s really about - and a happy new year!

Mark

Longing for how it used to be…

The early days of a relationship when it’s that warm fuzzy feeling?

Or the person who used to be the star athlete?

Or the group where they long for how it used to be?

How much energy do people use up, and time do they waste - wishing and longing for how things used to be? It’s not going to happen. We’re not the same person we were yesterday, or 5 years ago, and we never will be. And things are not how they were yesterday, today.

I believe part of moving forward with God, is leaving everything else to him. It’s part of giving yourself fully to Christ. How am I meant to grow in my relationship with God, and move further into it… if I’m holding onto something in the past - be that good or bad?

People can’t hold on to how things used to be, or to baggage, or to old sins, or past glories, or anything… and  expect to move forward.

If we’re still holding on to things in the past, or how things were… our arms aren’t free to embrace today.