Russell Brand

Look here go to 2:30 and hear his views on God

interesting that even though he's a sex icon in the uk, is acquiring fame in the us, that russell brand recognises that there is something more out there than just fame and money. Eric clapton also mentions this in his self named book. a worthwhile read as is mr. brands 'booky wook'.

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300

Barcelona have messi. Man utd have Ronaldo. I have God.
awesome.

when i was looking at psalm 18 there was an amazing sense of God being on David's side. No matter who we face, if they're stronger than us, more gifted than us, if we have God on our side, then it doesn't really matter! Gideon comes to mind. the original 300
there were 32,000. 22,000 dropped out. God cut out a further 9,700. 300 men to fight a huge army.
and they won. why did God whittle them down? so he could have the glory. Judges 7: 5-6
You can a great blog of this over at the blogside

David has been the underdog for most of his life. he was the youngest sent out to tend the sheep. he was the underdog when he faced goliath. he was the underdog when saul chased him around the country. again he was the underdog when absalom tried top kill him. But God loves the underdog. He gets the glory.

I pray that God will always be on my side, no matter what problem i face. keep my feet on he ground and my eyes fixed on Him.

tc//Px

traffic lights

Isn't funny how on a traffic light green means go, but on a banana it means stop.
with a traffic light yellow means get ready to go, on a banana it means awww yea go baby.
red on the light means stop, but on a banana it means 'where the heck you get that red banana'.

blog my devotions later. going to mandarin palace for buffet all you can eat now. photo's to come.
viva
tc//Px

O.G.

i could only watch with mild horror, as Risse dealt with a Kaloe cross and with a sublime diving header that klinsmann would've been proud off, stuck the ball in the top corner.
of his own net.
nice.
I was a little bit sad after that. But it must've been divine inspiration, but i picked up John Andrews' book beyond mediocrity.
failure is not getting knocked down, it's not getting back up. is the paraphrase.

We all make mistakes, none of us are perfect, but its not what happens to us that defines who we are. its how we react to it.
its good to know that 'in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose'.

Psalm 16.
God is standing at your right hand. Like a soldier defending you. It might be time for you to get up and try again, knowing God is with you.
come on the 'pool

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Q. religion? A. Jedi

Something i found on Jesse Inman's blog. Revolutionary thinking.

Oil & Water

Psalm 15 gives us an insight into what it means to be a 'righteous' man. If you need an explanation for the psalm then i suggest you read the sermon on the mount given by Jesus (5:3 - 7:27). there is a strong correlation between both passages, and it is even suggested that this Psalm was the reading from which Jesus preached his famous sermon.

There are many challenges posed to us in the Psalm. none more so than the challenge to be blameless.
Blameless in v2 is a metaphor for the sacrificial system they had in OT times. when a ram was brought to the priest, they'd check it all over for any blemishes, then if they found none, they'd open him up. they'd check again for abnormalities, then if it was perfect they'd bring it as a sacrifice.

what a metaphor for our lives! God wants the righteous at His table, basically meaning the blameless ones!
This is not condemnation. God saw the need for a blameless sacrifice, since ultimately we couldn't bring one, so he sent his son Jesus to take our place. Jesus, at the sermon of the mount, was telling us that we need to be a step above the rest. not that we're disconnected from people but that we stay blameless. from what we say to the words we don't say, inside and out we are blameless before God so that we can sit with Him at his table.

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disconnect

I have to say that sometimes its hard to read the early psalms and try and grasp what is going in his world. in Psalm 14 while i was reading it, i saw that although it was a reflection on his current situation in life, it is also a reflection on our status as the human race pre-christ.

time for some encouragement. Sin is sin, and all sin is equal in the eyes of God. so whether we've committed little sins, or large sins, it disconnects us from God. of course the consequences of sin are quite different. but all this talk of 'sin'. what the heck is 'sin'. "an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law" apparantly.
I would go further. i would say sin is anything which brings us to a disconnect from God.

That is so broad, in fact almost too broad. but if you want to get all nitty and gritty, its the hard truth. Its a hard and long process but if we start pointing out the things that hold us back from God and begin to cut them out of our lives.

but the ultimate disconnection was fixed when Jesus came
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

fo cheezy. Jesus restored us to God. The only thing that disconnects us from God, is ourselves. Lets get movin'!
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breaking point

have you ever been pushed to the point of breaking? When you know you can't go own one step more and you can't run for one minute more...well here's some good news. God hears you.

His son went through the very same thing, in the garden of Gethsemane he asked God to take away this cup he had to drink from. Jesus even repeated his cry, he knew what it was to be human. God is not disconnected from the human race because Jesus went through things just as we did,'yet was without sin'. God hears us, because he has compassion.

But God know just about how much we can take, better than we know. like a plant sometimes you have to prune it for it to grow to its potential. Its the same with us, pruning is all about growing.
Psalm 13
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A Few Questions

1. How do you perform under pressure

TOAD- a tailless amphibian with a short stout body and short legs, typically having dry warty skin that can exude poison when intimidated. Has a swift tongue ready to seize upon others to destroy them. need any explanation?

2. Do you keep Promises when the heat is on?

When the heat is on, you feel like you've failed, where do you find strength and comfort. When David is running around the countryside being chased by Saul first, then by Absalom . When he was in sauls court he knew saul was planning something. When you're surrounded by adversity and challenge like david, your true colours come out. When you're under pressure, you find out where you put your trust, in yourself?in others?in God? David immersed himself in devotion to God, always seeking his voice, always searching his heart.

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'the untested leader is a liability'

Last-ability Vs Complexity

I was chatting with Tim (AKA the_hack) and some of the other guys earlier on, and we were discussing technology. Now I love technology, if i could afford the latest mac book air, i'd be there. but the old cliché came back to me (i know, i know) 'they don't make 'em like they used to'. Did i say that. i must be getting old, 22 going on 70. but it was analytical. There's a woman in our church who got a washing machine 2nd hand 30 years ago as wedding present. and it still works.
Now, Brian our assistant Pastor has no luck with anything electronic. He must really be a magnet, cause everything that comes near him stops working after a while. not his fault, really!

my theory is this. with the advancement of technology, we are swapping last-ability with complexity. The more complex things become, the more can go wrong.

So it is with you and me. We can get caught up in complexity and busyness, but if we don't plant our feet in firm foundation and beliefs, we'll get be overwhelmed.
I was reading Psalm 11 today, and David is going through turmoil with Saul on his tail. David had charisma and people on his side, but instead of fleeing or getting people on his side, he decided to wait on God.

lets keep our feet firmly planted in God. We need foundation before things get complex.

Just some thoughts.
tc//Px

captions? @ the_hack

just a little taste of what goes on in our office with the_hack
tc//Px

Collaborations....help needed!!!

some of you may have noticed for the opening song of seven we played Sleep now in the fire with one way Jesus. not something you'd expect. inspiration was listening to hills united's iheart revolution album, when in the middle of what the world will never take AC/DC's thunderstruck was coming through.

my question is what collaboration would you like to see next. we may even do it.
eg enter sandman/this is my desire. or something more creative.

tc//Px

Pride Kills

Pride is a killer.

Nearly 4 years ago i was leaving Galway (where i had a less-than-successful stint at college) to intern at Cornerstone. That same time, my dad was going to get baptised, and he asked me to play a song(Lord you have my heart, Martin Smith) for him at the service.
now i had been playing guitar and bass a lot with the worship team in a church in galway, and i actually fancied myself to be....incredible. well long story short, i went to the service, and my turn came to play the song. I got up, starting playing those silky chords, my fingers were just flowing with gracefullness and beauty, each note clear and soul penetrating. Then i began to sing, and i thought, somethings wrong. i continued to try to sing, but still something wasn't right. it wasn't until half a verse later i realised i was singing a different song to what i was playing! how it got in my head i don't know, were the lyrics of i surrender all. Apt i know. anyway i decided in good pentecostal fashion to start praying and praising out loud until i remembered the words. free worship if you will. i forgot to mention that i was in a baptist church. excellent. my pride was shot. that night i travelled to Derry to start work in cornerstone broken and disappointed. but thats where God needed me to be.

Pride stops you from hearing. it makes you think you know it all. God wants to speak to you, but how can he if your not able to listen? my prayer is this, always keep my ears open to you Lord. I guess that means, always keep my pride at bay. We've all made mistakes, all messed up and thats cool, we learn. but if mistakes come from a sense of comfort, ill-preparation, laziness, then we need to deal with the bigger issue.

Deal with your pride before God has to. He wants to talk to you.
Psalm 10
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foodage

There's a few places around that are top foodage.
but i haven't been anywhere (since S.Africa) that do food like the mill in dunfanaghy, co donegal.
whats your best?

tc//Px

David a prophet?

Potatoe Waffles for breakfast. incredible.

Just read through Psalm 9, man what a mind stretcher!
David puts his prophetic cap on and rocks out some end time prophecies.
Although the Psalm is filled with awesome imagery, there's two things which still stand out for me.

1. the Awesomeness of God
2. the Grace of Christ

It amazes me more and more when i think about God, even when i just look out my window at the see trees, sky and birds. God sang this world into creation.
even when we messed up, (God being God) had a plan.

It encourages me to think that God always had a plan for our lives. I know thats become cliched 'God has a plan for your life', but if you believe it, it does make a difference. it changes your perspective on life, of worry and of your dependence on God.

I've found that by moving forward until God tells you to stop, doing your best until you can do no more and then hand the rest to God, is a great way to live. God wants our best, so he can make it better!

tc//Px

Overcoming Giants

Wednesday night. Champions league. Adebyor has just equalised for arsenal, but they are going through on away goals. Gerrard Scores. Babel Scores. 4-2 liverpool. Sweetness. kings of europe.

moving on...
Sometimes we face obstacles that seem impossible. David’s facing Goliath, a pretty large dude, with a bigger mouth. but here’s something i never thought about before. King Saul was also a large dude. He was a head above everyone else. but he wasn’t going to fight goliath, even though he seemed to be the best candidate for the job.
how humiliating it must have been for him to have a little shepherd boy kill Goliath. relief at first, but i think he probably had some regret afterwards that he didn’t give it a go.

My question is Goliath was bigger than everyone, why was david the only one who stepped forward. the answer lies in Psalm 8.
"From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger".

God is in the business of using ordinary people with a servants heart. We have a God who is ’high above the earth’, so why should we be suprised that he can use the most ordinary of people to do the most extraordinary things.

Don’t be afraid of the obstacles in your way. with the grace of God, we can overcome them, just trust in our Lord who is high above the earth. If you want to know more about his splendour, just read Psalm 8. Incredible.
Love,Peace and rock and roll

Tc//Px

Honour is a boomerang

The explorers that went to australia first found the Aborigines had a strange hunting weapon. It was curved at around 90 degrees and was from 18-24 inches long, and what we call a boomerang. Funnily when you throw it (properly), it always comes back. i threw my parents one they got from australia, it got stuck in a huge bush and we’ve never seen it since. practice i guess.

there’s nothing worse than being accused of something you didn’t do. to know that you’re completely innocent but to be slandered and accused of serious things is sooo frustrating. I think we all have experienced that one at some stage. i was reading Psalm 7 today and David’s being accused of something (or things) he didn’t do, but basically his name is being slandered to the king (Saul at that time). Some dude called Cush was his accuser.
David knew his innocence though and said if i’ve done then God judge me, let my accusers charge me and convict me.

I’m going to be honest and say that i get frustrated with people sometimes. its not there fault, but its mine. I’m a work in progress, and I know that God is a righteous judge, and no matter what happens, we should do whatever is honourable. If we do that then we leave the messy judgemental stuff up to God. which by the way is probably best, because he knows everything.

Have grace in life, stand strong, be faithful, trust in God. the Cause is greater than the cost.
to sound a little like forrest gump: life is like a boomerang, "...you reap what you sow."
(galations 6:7)

tc//Px

From Broken to Breakthrough

How many times have we tried something, failed at it then given up. i’ve done it, as i’m sure a lot of us have, like making a decision to join the gym in the post christmas resolution stage, get to feb and then slowly give it up. more serious than that, there have been a few points in my life where i’ve reached the point of where I can’t do any more, or try any harder. A time where i’ve failed at doing things my way.

David in Psalm 6 finds himself reaping what he has sowed in life. He fell for a girl, send her husband to his death then married her on the sly. He finds himself broken and ill, his soul is being destroyed by his conscience and his body is stricken with sickness.

In all of his suffering he knows there is a reason behind it. God works with broken people. when we find ourselves vunerable and at the end of ourselves, thats when God begins to shine. When Peter denied Jesus 3 times, he became a broken man. with that broken man, Jesus gave him the position of tending to His sheep. We must always come to God from a position of dependence. to be the person he has made us to be, we must submit to him and allow him to break us and build us.

In life, we must always think that the cause must outweigh the cost. And it costs a whole lot to reach your potential in God, but the His cause will always be greater. in contrast often our cause is often eclipsed by the cost. God wants to see us grow in Him. so when we find ourselves in a position of brokenness, look to God for an opportunity to grow and learn and become the people He made us to be. rock, peace and love

tc//Px

thoughtful moments......The art of being broken (short)

I’ll do a longer blog later,just a thoughtful moment
Later with Jools Holland and bbc iplayer rock

Just reading about david in Psalm 6, and how he appears to be broken. but in his brokeness he sees the blessing, "O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath". at first look it looks like david is crying out for mercy, but at closer inspection we see that it he is asking God not rebuke him in ’anger’ or in ’wrath’.

its just like when we read in matthew 7:7, that God is not a Father who would give us bad gifts, but good ones. He’s a father who cares! So as any good father, he wants to see us grow.

So its simple, when we are broken by our various scenarios, God wants to use our brokeness to help us grow. there’s blessing in being broken, so next time your overlwhelmed, remember that "... in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." lets trust in God, and watch ourselves grow!

tc//Px

strength to carry the call

do you ever feel like you’re always running? overwhelmed? or maybe it feels like your just managing your life, and no more.

I find that in life I’m surrounded by enormous talent. I download my podcasts from willow creek, gary clarke, richard exley, rob bell too name a few, and although i’m inspired by their teaching, but naturally speaking the thought crossed my mind, will i ever be as good as them? the same happens when i read ministry books, i wonder will i ever have the wisdom and knowledge like these authors have?
even in out church office, the wealth of talent is amazing. From our Pastor to every member of staff there is so much talent that it can be intimidating if you look at it from a natural gifting point of view.

David finds himself in a similar yet incredibly more difficult situation. His rogue son Absalom is hunting him down trying to kill him and take his throne. Abs (as he shall be called from hence forth) was more handsome, charismatic, political and younger. he was a deceiver too. so with all those things, naturally speaking, no-one could stand a chance. But David knew one thing Abs didn’t.
the throne was God’s Throne. God had to appoint his king. David was God’s chosen king.
and David knew this.

to us that means that although we may look around us and be intimidated by the people who have the looks, charisma and talent. but the reality is that God has appointed a plan for you, which only you can fulfill. Break the intimidation and go forward knowing that if God has chosen you for this task, He is for you. We will have hard times in life and ministry, but push on knowing that no matter what anyone says or does, God is on your side. follow his dream for your life.

viva
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being adventurous

I just had a thought during my time of reflection in the think-room. What is it that God wants us to do? ground breaking, I know. I know He has given some of us visions and paths to take. even you that are on the path, what does God actually want you to do along the way?

three things keep popping into my head.
dependence
obedience
adventurous

There are things we dream about that aren’t even possible for us to imagine doing. or maybe we’ve lost the dream somewhere amidst the day-to-day administration of life and responsability. God has given us adventurous hearts. Maybe you want to go to south africa and work with AIDs orphans, maybe you want to make a difference in your city or town by feeding the homeless, maybe you want to preach/lead/worship. or maybe you want to bring christ into your workplace the testimony of your life. the simple fact is this:

He wants ordinary people to do extraordinary things for him.
its not really rocket science, but to do the things he’s put in your heart it means
1.stepping out
2.depending on him
God wants us to depend on Him on life. i’m not talking about being lazy and not working, I’m talking about his plan for your life. the dream he’s given you. to fulfill it you are so going to have to learn to depend on Him. but dependence isn’t easy.it means that you actually have to obey Him and his directions. the more we obey God, the more dependent we become on Him. natural cycle.

So bottom line. you want to be adventurous and step out for God. You know its definitly his call on your life. but your worried about how you’ll survive. obey his voice, depend on him. extraordinary things will happen.

viva la revolucion
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in-dependence

Isn’t It funny that the more we get [materially] in this life the more comfortable we get? i’m finding that the more stuff that i gather, the less dependance i have on God. I guess the less need i have the more i become independent. Well i’m not trying to say that i need to give all that stuff away to get closer to God again, but I need new perspective. Reading Psalm 4 this morning has really challenged me to depend on God, and not on my own strength.
In this psalm david is still running from Absolam, but he is content in knowing that God is on his side. the people around him are freakin’ out big time, "Many are asking, ’Who can show us any good?’,". But David’s faith is firmly set on God above. he sings that his trust in God right now is greater than others’ faith when they are in abundance of food and wine (v7). He has nothing in material but is rich in spiritual. he has an ’in’ dependence on God. He trusts ’in’ Him, has faith ’in’ Him, David is basically living ’in’ Him. It’s such incredible imagery that David is miles from his palace, out probably in a cave around a fire, writing a psalm of praise to God, while those around him are fretting and worrying. David knows God is on his side, and although surrounded by the armies of Absolam, has complete faith ’in’ God for his salvation.
it inspires perspective, and encourages me to trust and live ’in’ Him.
be in-dependent on God

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blogging devotions

I’ve decided as a discipline that i’m going to start blogging my devotions. thus giving a sort of accountability.

Psalm 3, a crazy sort of a psalm. David’s just spent the last 24 hours running from his son Absalom. who, by the way has got israel’s young army on his side. David’s got his thirty with him, the mighty warriors. but lets face the facts, he’s up against thousands. What is so different is that David knows that when he has no one else he has God.
"Many are saying of me, ’God will not deliver him’." Many have judged David, most probably about his colourful affairs of the past. But David knows differently. when you’re in God’s will, you know it. He restores your strength. He gives you hope. ultimately, (this is my favourite line) he breaks the teeth of the wicked. I don’t know if this actually ever happened. but it lends for good imagery.

So we see that all in all, no matter what people say of you, no matter what judgement they pass on you, Salvation belongs only to God. And, only God can give salvation.
next time i feel like i’m surrounded by life, i can be content in the knowledge that I belong to God, my salvation, he restores my soul, gives me strength. Jaw breaker.

tc//Px