Save Searchers

Searchers cafe is apparently set to close at the end of February. For those if you who have never heard of Searchers, it is a small venue, just off Shaftbury Square, right in the heart of the city ran by Belfast City Mission.

Cafe by day, venue by night, this wee gem has been touching the lives people from Belfast for years, but the use of the venue is pending review, and they plan to close the cafe from the end of February. This place has been a long term place of refuge for the homeless, a few of whom I have had the priviledge to meet in my short experience of Searchers, and it would be a crying shame for them to lose such a place, where there has been great opportunities to cross the social divide.

If you feel called to act, please write a letter to David Kennedy, Belfast City Mission, 1st Floor Glengall Exchange, Belfast, BT12 5AB.

worship Part 3...

I have decided to complete my limited thoughts on posts I made some time ago on worship. Click here and here to see. They were in part inspired by a lack of worship music with meaningful lyrics, something I am still struggling with. One album I have enjoyed though has been Tim Hughes - Holding nothing back.

But then since when is worship music got anything to do with my tastes. In fact it's probably this very attitude that holds many back from truly engaging with God in traditional church services. Perhaps we should worry less about ourselves and ask the question "What did God get out of this service".

Another contentious issue in churches is the role of women in leadership but just for the fun of throwing it in the pot; one of the earliest references in scripture of someone "leading worship" was a woman - Miriam, Moses & Aaron's sister. See Exodus 15:20.

Most of these thoughts on worship have unfortunately revolved around music (probably because it seems the most obvious, and music can powerfully move a man's soul), but there is so much more. Romans 12 talks about using our bodies in worship.

"In view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship"

This about using our gifts for his glory, and not for our own purposes. This is picking up something for someone when they have dropped it, without ulterior motive. It's about living our lives in purity and with humility, this is how we worship every second of every day.

Why do we worship? Well Paul tells us just before that verse of God's greatness, then also states in view of His mercy, we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices. The word worship comes from the term worth-ship which broken down means "to be in the condition of worth". And that's exactly it, we worship for He is worthy!

The great thing is we are already worshippers. Man was made for worship. We all worship something whether it be God, another god, money, sex, possessions, golden cows, football teams. We have just lost our way a little. If only we could tap into some of that passion we can show at football matches for God's purposes.

On a more personal note, I have been going through a particularly hard time at the moment and it has been in this desert place I have felt God closest in my life. I think some of the purest worship we can give as humans, is to give God our all, even when we suffer, and I really hope I don't miss my opportunity to do that.

One other thing. I think worship is best done together.

new year, same saving grace

This is going to sound silly, and will only prove how little I understand the Gospel but every new years eve as the midnight hour approaches I become more and more anxious on the inside that trumpets will sound and Jesus will come back riding on the clouds.

A few things come to mind in particular. One: Why on this day more than others would Jesus return, didn't the Bible say it would be like "a thief in the night" and why aren't I just as anxious every other day of the year. Secondly, and more importantly, what am I anxious about? Surely I am saved and there is nothing to be worried about as paradise awaits me.

The truth is it seems that on this night I am made most aware of my need for God's grace, that I have no hope on my own, and I fear that there is some part of me that has stopped the fullness of God's grace in my life. But I am going to view this awareness of my need to God's saving grace as a good thing, and say that this is an attitude I need to have all year round. I need to realise that I am a sinful man of carnal nature, and am in desperate need of His grace every day. It would be a dangerous thing to get complacent about. So this is going to be my main resolution for this year.


Resolutions are a funny thing. They are tackled with renewed strength and determination with a new year. Is there any surprise then that we fail so often to keep these with such shaky motivations. It's often quoted that we need to live in God's strength, but in time I find we forget this and go back to doing it in our own. So my prayer is that we will always be aware of the need for His strength also.

2 Cor 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

What an amazing verse. At first, it's our nature to despair at our weaknesses, and we try our best to improve, even asking God to take them away. What Paul is telling us here is that we are to be thankful for our weakness! For without them God can not use us, for there is no weakness in us that He can use to made strong, and be glorified. I think God chooses to use the weak, so that when He does amazing things through us, there can be no mistake that it was Him and not us!

Last year I made these resolutions: -

1/ To be closer to knowing what I'm doing when I graduate - I feel like I know this a bit better now. God has got me dreaming again. I have also taken a job with the Northern bank ~ i did not see that one coming!
2/ I want to be more bold in my faith - err, I'll let God be the judge of that one!
3/ And to stop biting my nails! - completely and utterly failed lol!

My other resolution this year is to do with small talk. I'm finding myself having less and less energy for small talk. It's great to greet one another affectionately, but why do we feel the need to follow the same monotonous protocol of asking the same questions and giving the usual responses. This is one of the many things I am also a hypocrite of, and so I (in God's strength of course!) will try to get better at. This has been in part the inspiration for changing my blog name from "scorah's small talk"!

Remember... "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. " ~Phil 4:13

beautiful mournes

Yesterday we spent a day dandering through the mourne mountains with some guys (and gals!) from our church. I've been finding great joy of late just spending time in the glorious nature God has provided for us here in NI. A lot of people will talk about the beauty of other places in the world that they have visited like there was nothing more beautiful to be beheld, and I'm sure there are other places of great pulchritude (<-- that one's for you norman!) but as the proverb Travis once wisely quoted goes... the grass always seems greener on the other side.

I think we have been truly blessed in this country with it's outstanding beauty, and in particularly the mournes. There is something mystifying about this places that's captures my heart and imagination. I can see myself doing a lot more exploring.

< - below is a picture of where we went yesterday Loughshannagh/Slieve Doan. One of the unsung heroes of the mournes. It has a wonderful view from the top overlooking most of 7 over 700m as well as lough shannagh and silent valley. There is also some fun rock climbing to be done on the top. If you have any other tips please let me know! - >

numbers can deceive.

I remember reading recently that there is more to averages than meets the eye. For example the GDP per capita in the UK and end of year 2007 was roughly £20,000. Which means the average amount of money each person earnt per year was £20,000. However how many people in the UK actually earn this? the answer is not many. When you take into account the over inflated (to put it politely!) salaries of a few fat cat millionaires, that number is only brought back down to size due to the many people living amongst us living under the poverty line.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we brought back the great Jewish tradition, the Year of the Jubilee, and evenly shared out all our wealth every fifty years regardless of whether you contributed five quid or five million. We would all be earning twenty grand a year! That'll soon sort out the credit crisis!

So the moral of the story is don't always believe in averages, if you did you might be led to believe that...

"Those with 2 feet have an above-average number of feet"

Crazyness.

fear

Some good quotes about fear

I was ice-skating with elevate last friday, and I discovered that the less I feared the fall, the faster I learnt and the more exhillerating was the ride. It lead me to some brainstorming thoughts about fear that I have been pondering recently...

If we give in to fear we will never reach the heights of our potential, in all God that has for us. We will not live life, nor life in it's fullest.

Fear is like a cancer that grabs a hold of our lives and starts infecting every aspect of it.

There is only one thing that should be feared and that is a holy fear for the Name above all names.

what does the God's word tell us to do ...

fear not

... 365 times.

hd projectorness

This is where my geeky side comes out. I recently bought an HD projector for a very reasonable amount of money. I have it on my wall at the moment covering 100inches. (picture below in comparison with a standard tv), without compromising any of the hd quality. It's been amazing to watch my favourite tv shows and have people round to play games on it, but I hope to give it some real purpose in the future.

Part of me feels quite bad about spending a significant sum of money on a luxury item like this. I guess at the time I viewed it as a bit of a Birthday/Christmas/Comfort present to myself. I justified it by saying I am working and saving hard this year, this was my one treat, but there really isnt any excuse is there!

Anyway, the Optoma HD700X comes highly recommended to anyone interested out there.