Song of the Week | The Rend Collective Experiment 'Second Chance'

I can't stop playing this song at the moment...

Song of the Week | Casting Crowns 'Jesus, Friend of Sinners'

This album was one of my awesome Christmas presents. We had the start of Christmas Day at our house, opening presents, going to church, before travelling over to family a couple of hours away. Before getting the album I had resisted listening to the tracks online as the band released them weekly via their Facebook page. I wanted to listen to it as an entire album. This was one of the tracks which really spoke to both me and Amy and I wanted to share it with you. He never picked perfect people, he's the friend of sinners. Amen!

Pass It On

Already this year I've had a couple of messages from people saying how they appreciate this blog, the posts I write are often relevant to their days and they enjoy the songs I select week on week. This got me thinking...

Sitting in church this morning I find it sometimes difficult to become a sponge, to gather teaching and then take it with me into my week. Even more so to perhaps remember stuff to say on here. When in sermons I listen and the words the preacher is saying trigger other ideas within in my brain about things I can delve further into or maybe discuss at house group. But walking out the door I so often forget those gems of ideas. A simple way of overcoming that - taking a pen and notebook into church with me.

I got the image of a canal this morning. With the locks being individual people passing the reading or word of the Lord on. That's on a one to one basis. It's great to take specific bits of information from church, whether it's about basic Christian teachings or an individual passage and pass it onto a friend. Why not be like the tower of champagne glasses though? Why can we not fill up on the Lord's word, his entire message, the 'good news' as people often call it, and then let it cascade down into other people, eventually filling up the lives of loads of others? Individual passages are fantastic, but the fact He is there, He can be in your life and wants to be walking beside you is what we should really be passing on.

Manage Your Time

I find it as hard as anybody to manage my time. I hit that snooze button until the very last minute, there's nothing more I love than sitting on the sofa on an evening and vegging out in front of the telly or wasting some time looking at things I don't need on the internet. But is that the best use of my time? What should I really be doing with those 24 hours in my day?

God has given us a limited amount of time on this earth to make a difference. Is my watching of the TV or looking at what new CDs to buy really making an impact? Probably not. But some things that I do, can indeed help others. What we all must do is describe ourselves and see if what we say actually happens in our lives. You might say that you are a family man, but do you spend enough time with your family? One thing I should do is make more time for my marriage, tell my wife that I love her more often and we should both find the time to do some bible study together.

I got up earlier the other day, as soon as the alarm went off. I showered and got ready for work, got the earlier train to work, had a productive day, which flew by. I got loads done, felt more awake and it was really beneficial. When I got home we had a nice tea, I had a relaxing bath and we even managed to find time to do some bible study!

There is no way of lengthening our day as we cannot function without a decent amount of sleep, but we can make the time we do use more effective. If we know the activities we are doing are for His grace, then we can forget what time it is, stop looking at the hands on the clock and instead, put our life into His hands.

Song of the Week | Aaron Keyes 'I Am Not The Same'

Just like last week when we had a track from a CD my wife chose from the closing down sale at Living Oasis, I also picked a CD off the shelf, asked to listen to it on the store headphones (track 1 didn't play) so I skipped on to this track and this was what I heard. I only had to hear about 2 bars of the song before I knew I was going to buy the album. I hope you enjoy this song by Aaron Keyes!

The Year Ahead

Have you ever seen the film 2012? Where John Cusack and fellow A-list Hollywood stars struggle to survive the end of the world. Quite the action blockbuster. However, whilst that is all special effect fiction, the New Year does often bring added pressure for people.

January blues, financial worries, other problems which seem to get blown out of proportion, it can be hard to give him your full trust. Setting out your stall with Him for the year ahead can often be difficult, delving deep into prayer when you have worrying thoughts in your mind. 

Take this passage from Proverbs 3 (The Message):

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.

And this one from 2 Thessalonians 3 (NLT):

May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. 

Fall into Christ, let him guide your way this year. He knows exactly what is best for you and whilst the lows might often seem lower than usual, the peaks of your life will be fantastic. Let Him be your guiding light. Your life won't be a disaster movie!

Song of the Week | Jason Upton & The Goodland Band 'Mountain of the Living God'

Me & the wife were taking a look through the CDs on offer as the last store of Living Oasis closed before Christmas. This was one of the albums that jumped off the shelf at Amy and this is one of our favourite tracks from the album. Unfortunately I couldn't find complete version of it online and this one cuts off before the end but there are a few live versions on YouTube too. Enjoy it :)

Book Suggestion | Dopple Ganger Chronicles

I am yet to delve into this book but wanted to share it with you incase you had any birthdays coming up this year to buy for. I purchased this before Christmas as my wife had seen it previously but we found it on offer. I am really into my comic books and graphic novels (as you no doubt have realised from previous blog posts) and Amy thought this might be perfect for me. Yes it's perhaps aimed at those younger than me however it looks great, and the reviews I've read seem to imply that people love the writing and illustrations equally, especially those who don't particularly find it easy to get into reading like myself. If you pick up a copy, enjoy, there are 2 a follow ups to the first book!

Roots Maneuver

I know, it's spelt differently to the musician, it's intentional. I wanted, a few days into this New Year, to bring you a short blog post on your roots and how you can maneuver and be firm with them this year to ensure tightness and closeness with our Lord.

We were on a lovely walk the other day before the 'dreaded' first day back at work after the Christmas break, the lakes were bursting their banks as there had been so much rain, the sun was out, and there was a rainbow - God does keep his promises!

Slightly up from the banks of the lake were some trees, with massive roots on show for all to see. They had firm roots, strong, even under though the soil around them had been eroded and they were open to the battering rain and being climbed up by kids. This all made me think that these trees have the strongest of roots and are firm in their standing. Just as we should be.

We all face trials, especially at the beginning of the New Year. It's seen as the 'long' month where money is perhaps tight, there is the pressure of going back to work, the adverts on the TV telling us we must lose weight or buy a new sofa, better ourselves. We even face the battering of other people telling us we are wrong, not just in our faith, but in our jobs and other roles in society. People often climb all over us, put things on our shoulders and it's often pretty difficult.

But if we have strong roots, firm foundations, in faith, with God, we can become the strongest of trees, the mightiest of oaks, and all in His name!

Song of the Week | Hillsong United 'Consuming Fire'

What better song to start the New Year with than this?!
Have a passion for His name all year, and every year!