Unpolished musings

This is a beautiful song of gratitude to God. Produced by the Jesus Army. This video won the Best Christian Music Video award at the UK Christian Film Festival Awards (2015).

Sin is a hot-button topic for Christianity, in fact for many non-Christians it's what they associate Christianity with. Being a Christian is all about having to feel guilty about anything fun, right? For Christians freedom is an equally big topic, being a Christian isn't about the sin, it's about being free and the freedom Jesus brings. With such central subjects it's easy to have the wrong idea, even subconsciously, and it's vital that we have a right understanding. So sin and freedom are the topics of this post. Specifically, what is sin and what kind of freedom can Jesus bring to us. When Christians talk about sin it is almost inevitably in the context of some particular kind of behaviour. Is this a sin or is that a sin? We tend to think that if we could only stop sinning then we'd be right with God. We often debate the minutiae of sin; is entertainment a sin, what about drinking alcohol? And so on... Some acts are clearly sinful. If you stab someone then

“ To be is to do ”—Socrates “ To do is to be ”—Jean-Paul Sartre “ Do be do be do ”—Frank Sinatra I'm part of the Jesus Army in the UK, also known as the Jesus Fellowship. We recently had a leaders' meeting that was particularly serious; looking to face up to the mistakes of the past, finding repentance and healing. Discovering a new vision and identity together as a church has been a theme for us for a while now, particularly in light of prophecies about us finding a " second confidence, greater than the first ". My church, for all the failings of the past, was glorious in confidence in the early days. The leaders' meeting helped to crystallise my vision for our church: to be part of a people on fire for God and alive with his life. Below is what I wrote the day after the meeting. The atmosphere in the afternoon particularly was amazing. It's clear that we need a period of repentance and deep healing, within the leaders and the wider church, befor

Sexual purity in marriage is a challenging topic, and it would certainly be the bold person who proclaimed they were fully qualified to teach on it. Nonetheless I will attempt to say something useful. There is much more to be said and I will probably revisit this topic in the future. Hopefully this will be of interest, and possibly use, not just to those married but to celibates and singles too. Sexuality is a controversial topic and one that is difficult to discuss. Particularly in UK and US cultures it is a topic loaded with guilt and shame, making it virtually taboo. This view of sexuality as shameful is part of what causes us to misunderstand sexuality and prevents us from being all we can be. To be ashamed of sexuality is to be ashamed of who we are. Your sexuality, your existence as a sexual being, is merely the expression of your life force, your creative impulse and power, through a physical body. Being a "sexually released" person has nothing to do with how much

Wonderful words from our worship leader Stevo Scott , during the first session of our " Alive Weekend ". I couldn't have put it better myself, no really, I couldn't... I sense God asking us how much we want him to come. Pointing out our lethargy, our indifference. God is saying where are the thirsty ones, where are the ones who cry out day and night for my spirit to come. Where are the ones who are satisfied with nothing else. We're too satisfied. We're too distracted. Let's bring ourselves to God.Let's allow him to speak to us. Where are the ones who hunger for me says the Lord. Where are the ones who search for me says the Lord. Where are the ones who agonise over my church. God longs to pour out his life amongst us, to make us a light to the world. But he longs for us to want it enough to fight for it. To *push aside* everything else. He isn't a stingy God withholding his blessing, waiting us to find the right things to do. He longs o