You are a Motivational Speaker

Did you know that you are a motivational speaker? Well, now you do. It's true. Within each of us is the ability to MOTIVATE others.

I've just finished reading a book called 'When did you last see her?' from Lemony Snicket's series, 'All the Wrong Questions.' If you didn't know, it's a spin off series from the successful 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' books. 'All the Wrong Questions' stars the character Lemony Snicket as a child and the adventures that he undertook as a member of an incredibly secret and dangerous organisation. Towards the end of the book one of the characters, Cleo Knight, who is a scientist shares with everyone her experience of the treachery and evil deeds of an evil 'scientist' (if that's what he really is) called Dr Flammarion and his villainous master Hangfire. Here's an extract that I want to talk about from the book: 

"You're a monster," she said. It was an angry voice and a quiet voice, and it made me flinch. "You drugged my parents until they couldn't think straight," she said. "You destroyed the note I left for my parents and Zada and Zora. You vandalized my car and lured me into your clutches. You locked me down here and made me work on invisible ink so you could fill this clinic with children and continue your treachery. But that story is over now, Flammarion. You'll never get your hands on my formula, and I'll never rest until Stain'd-by-the-Sea is a proper town again." 

(All the Wrong Questions ch 12, pg 249 - 250.)

'An angry and quiet voice',  reminds me of righteous anger - recognizing that wrong has been done and the desire to sort things out righteously. Sometimes we can't keep our cool and that's okay. Righteous anger results in a burden to see what is right come to pass. I love it how the character Cleo Knight ends on a high note. She starts her speech by pointing out all that has happened and then ends with her dream - ends with what she is passionate about. I'll never rest until stained-by-the-sea is a proper town again.' I don't know what effect Cleo's speech had on the characters who were on her side in the story, but it surely motivated me! And just as this motivated me, each of us, I believe has a burden that we can use to motivate others. We don't have to think long and hard about it, but just share what we're passionate about with the people we see around us. 

Matthew 23 - 24 is an incredible example of the righteous anger that Jesus displays when speaking to the crowds and disciples. He speaks about the pharisees and teachers of religious law hypocrites. They talk the talk but discard the walk. And for a whole chapter Jesus talks about the religious leaders and the rebellion of Jerusalem until in chapter 24, he finishes on a high note with a vision... 'And he (Jesus) will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.' - Matthew 24 v 31. Jesus was working to this end... He had his eyes set on the vision - the end goal - seeing what is right come to pass. And earlier on in Matthew 7 v 28 it says that the crowds were amazed at Jesus' teaching. They were stirred. It motivated them. When we know Christ we have that same power. 'The same power that conquered the grave lives in me.' (Ephesians 1 v 19. ... Hillsong, 'You are Here'.) Christ has given us the same drive. The same righteous anger. The same desire to see things put right and for the Kingdom of God to prevail. Believe it. Discover it. Remind yourself of it. Be changed by it. The power of Christ in you. You ARE a motivational speaker and you can change your world.

Let's pray.

God, thank you for giving me your righteousness. Thank you for giving me a passion for what's right. I choose to use this passion to fight my vision. I will not rest until my town is a proper town again. I will not rest until I see my vision come to pass. Help me not to lose heart but to find new strength in the dawning of every new day, in Jesus' name, amen.

To finish with I'm going to ask a few questions. Hopefully these are 'All the Right Questions'. Lol. Spend some time mulling over these thoughts:

1. What dream have you got that you will never put to rest until you have fulfilled it?

2. What story do you need to put to death?

3. Who is your audience?

See you soon! For all those who are looking, keep searching. God Bless X 

[B.T: New Living Translation.]

The REAL You

Ever feel like your mind is a minefield? One minute you seem okay and the next minute you have a thought and *BOOM!* everything goes crazy and you do something stupid...

In the film Avengers Assemble, the avenger known as Hawkeye has had his mind poisoned by Loki, who is one of the gods of Asgard. Loki has invaded planet earth and wants to get his hands on the 'tesseract' which he plans to use to create a dimensional hole, bringing evil from an unknown world to wage war on earth. The beginning phase of Loki's plans involve polluting the minds of innocent scientists and soldiers using his sceptre. Using his sceptre, Loki gets Hawkeye to do his dirty work. Being lulled into a false sense of security, Hawkeye gets brainwashed and ends up turning against his own side ... Eventually Black Widow, another of the avengers catches up with Hawkeye and engages with him in combat in order to bring him back to his senses. Eventually she manages to whack his head against a metal bar - ouch - which fortunately brings the real Hawkeye round.

Hawkeye wakes up later on to find himself strapped to a doctor's bench with Black Widow watching over him. His mind is still cloudy but eventually, being strapped down, he manages to fight the torment and snaps out of it. He then opens up to Black Widow, sharing all that he went through while under Loki's control.

In Avengers Assemble, Hawkeye went through a process and in using some imagery from the film I want us to look at the process that we have to go through over and over at times in order for to discover the REAL you.

There are three common processes that we go through if we want to fight that lies and become the bold warriors that God wants us to be:

1. THE LIE. - We will most likely be aware of the lie. Although, in our minds the lie may not be a lie but will appear to be true. Deeply shaken by what has happened to him, Hawkeye describes his experience to Black Widow when he comes back to consciousness. He says, 'Do you know what it's like to have someone take over your mind, pull you out and put something else in?' Sometimes when we deal with sin or doubts or fear it can feel like these feelings have taken us over. And then Hawkeye says, 'Do you know what it's like to be unmade?' Sometimes it can feel like we have become someone else - that we are not our own anymore. But we can choose to say, 'No, this isn't me. I'm NOT unmade. The real me IS here. The real me will not be lost in the exaggerated lies that I have been exposed to...' When we believe the lies we'll do things that we never thought we'd do.

2. THE BLOW. - Another word for blow can be 'punched', 'hit' or 'knocked'. I love this imagery showing the process that Hawkeye goes through. When he awakes and sees Natasha (aka. Black Widow) and is isolated - strapped to the bench - he eventually snaps out of his trance. When Hawkeye inquires about how he broke through, Black Widow says to Clint (aka. Hawkeye), 'I hit you really hard on the head.' God knows how to get our attention and sometimes that's through hitting us round the head. In fact, every time that the devil is giving us gyp ask God to give you a good whack round the head. The Word of God - The BLOW, is stronger than the devil - The LIE. When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness, each time the devil made suggestions that seemed reasonably inoffensive, but each time Jesus replied with a command from God. “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’” - “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” - “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” (Luke 4.) The devil goes around with a couldn't care less attitude, but we as God's people know that boldly combating this with scripture gives us breakthrough. The BLOW is stronger than The LIE.

The next phase is the hard bit. - Persevering through the isolation.

3. THE RESTRAINT. - Before Hawkeye completely recovers he has to be strapped up or he would have caused havoc with his Loki - contaminated mind. He had to be restrained until his mind cleared. To be healed we need to be restrained or 'tied up' for a season... For us that's our private time of prayer, our devotion to the Word, our separation from unhealthy influences. If we don't then we'll run wild and do no one - especially our selves - any good. But when we've spent enough time in those places, praying, studying the word and separating ourselves from unhealthy influences, God says, 'Okay, you're ready - GO fight the good fight.' The key to persevering is to keep speaking scripture over your life - as Jesus did in Luke. Whenever The LIE tries to come back to you - speak The BLOW into action. My cousin encouraged me the other week when I was fighting the lie that I need to just spend some time in The Word. Get alone. Get before God. Get stuck into prayer. When we do this - when we strap ourselves to the doctor's bench and pray and read the Word, the devil will flee. 'So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.' - James 4 v 7. The restraint is necessary. To restrain yourself is to humble yourself before God. To restrain yourself is to resist the devil. Before you know it you'll be firing arrows at your targets in no time, on your guard, ready for anything. FIGHT! 

Keep on fighting! See you soon.

[Bible Translation: NLT (New Living)]

Gracious Discernment - Knowing what is right and wrong but dealing with situations gracefully

The Issue

Sometimes we struggle to give people the benefit of the doubt ... if you know what I mean. Sometimes it can be easy to take a strong dislike to someone's morals and behaviours and ways of living. Generally there are two reasons for why we feel like this: We either (A) ... Genuinely feel that someone is behaving in an ungodly manner or (B) ... Find ourselves not liking someone's behaviour because we wouldn't do what they do. My first point is that an 'A' response would indicate a way of thinking that is in balance with the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and the welfare of other people. A 'B' response, however, can indicate a level of personal insecurity, poor self-esteem, or pride.

Addressing the 'B' response

Here are Three Quick Points to help you address insecurity, poor self-esteem and pride. (1.) Addressing Insecurity: When facing insecurities of any kind they are undoubtedly negative. The best way to deal with anything negative is to search for something positive. EVEN if you don't quite believe it, something you might need to do is change the negative beliefs that you have about yourself by replacing them with those positive beliefs. When on Photoshop, the art program on the computer, a handy tool that you can use to touch up photos is filter. You can add a different colour filter depending on the mood you want the photo to carry. People who are familiar with colour know that if you want your photo to be 'calm' then you place a blue filter over your photo. If you want 'warmth' you place an orange or yellow filter over your photo. For those dealing with insecurity, you need to do is place the 'positive' filter over your negative photo.  (2.) Addressing Poor self-esteem: 'It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me.' - Galatians 2 v 20. Christ is glorious. When He lives in you, you take on His identity. In Him, you are glorious. This is a very valid reason to believe in yourself. (3.) Addressing Pride: In the same way that the scripture above about our identity being in Christ allows us to believe in ourselves, it also humbles us. In all honesty, we cannot effectively help people when we are overflowing with pride. It can be the easiest trap to fall into pride, but when we discover the drastic results of pride (often through personal experience) it gets easier to avoid this pitfall. A well-known phrase... Pride comes before a fall. We must choose to recognise that God has given other people insight and wisdom, and not just us... Read some books. Watch some sermons. Discover the value that all people have.

Addressing the 'A' response

When we've dealt with our insecurities we can move on to how to deal with the way that we respond to discernment. It can be a trap to think that when we know we've been given discernment by God that it's our job to sort everything out in whatever way that pans out. When it comes to how someone responds to your insight, the WAY we deliver what we've received from God is just as important as what we actually say. For example, ranting at people does not make them happy.

Sometimes we judge people very harshly in our minds, saying 'Oh, because they say this or because they think that, or because they do the other, they mustn't be in a right place with God.' Maybe we're correct that this person has said something or done something in an 'ungodly' way, but sometimes we go about the way we respond to these people in a harsh way. (Maybe we even go as far as committing what seems to be the unforgivable sin. Ranting.) Somehow, a strange sense of humility creeps up on us when the person who we've got an issue with says something along the lines of, 'Jesus Christ is the only way to life and we all need the grace He brings', and when they say something like that, suddenly this person seems acceptable in our oh so spiritual eyes. The discernment we hold may be correct but our reactions can be abysmal. In our discomfort with the original issue - the thing that was said or done that we discerned was not right with God - we insensitively overlook all that is GOOD in that person.

So, we understand that people trip up, we discern whether things are wrong or right, but the most important thing we can do when we speak, react to and act on discernment in regard to others is to show grace.       

'Let those who are wise understand these things. (The wise will understand these things.*) Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.' - Hosea 14 v 9.
'Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.' - Colossians 4 v 6.

[Bible Translations: NLT (New Living), *The Voice Bible, NKJV (New King James)]

Essential Behavioural Patterns - A Church Building Chapter

Hiya folks, I went for a stroll today in the snow. (Isn't it deep!!!!!) I popped into a couple of shops to buy a few bits and bobs - some pins and paint - in preparation for this evening's youth activity : Source Room (our youth hideout) redecoration. One of our church attenders has already painted all the walls white so we're halfway there!! I decided to take a detour on the way home, getting some exercise ready for our trip to the Lake District in February. As I was walking I spent some time praying and thinking and God brought our church and our church needs to my heart. Three 'Essential Behavioural Patterns', as I've affectionately labelled them, came to mind. - Ones which I believe can change the course of your church life. So get your brain in gear, keep your eyes peeled, and turn your hearing aid up, cos this is a good one.

So, there are three essential behavioural patterns we can adopt, which will contribute to maintaining a consistently healthy church, and these are:

Receptiveness Generosity & Thankfulness

Receptiveness. The ability to receive. To 'Listen'. To 'Hear'. To 'Take in'. Nehemiah 8 v 3: '...He (Ezra) faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law...' Sometimes it can be hard for us to receive something that we're not used to receiving, we're used to SUBCONSCIOUSLY responding to things. Here we're talking about being intentionally receptive, or in other words, making an effort to learn something. It's important that we go away from our exciting times together, applying new behaviours to our lives, changing the way we do things based on a word that spoke to our hearts. Sometimes it just takes a little push from your side, a decision to hear your church leader(s) out. Receptiveness.

Generosity. The ability to be generous. To 'Give'. To 'Bring Something'. To 'Use What You Have'. 2 Corinthians 9 v 6: '...But I will say this to encourage your generosity: the one who plants little harvests little, and the one who plants plenty harvests plenty...' This is arguably the hardest thing for people to commit to. This could be for one of two reasons 1.) We think that the gift we have 'just isn't good enough.' or 2.) 'It's more appealing to be given something.' I want to offer you not just two, but THREE! very good reasons to be generous this Sunday. 1.) When you're generous people will want to be generous to you! 2.) You begin to feel your thoughts and actions lining up with Gods' when you actively pursue it. and 3.) There's an overwhelming sensation that you've done something good, making you generally happier with life! And if you're not convinced yet, try it out for yourself!


Thankfulness. The ability to be thankful. To 'Thank'. With joy, To 'Acknowledge Something Good'. To 'Speak Well Of Someone/thing'. Psalm 100 v 4: 'Go through His gates, giving praise. Offer Him your gratitude and praise His holy name.' Thankfulness is such a precious thing. It unquestionably brings us closer to the Father's heart. The majority of the way we behave throughout our daily lives depends on what we hear on a regular basis and this usually falls into the category of one of two strands A) What someone have said. or B) What we have said. Frequently, a combination of the two. Imagine how joyful we could be if we could bring thankfulness to God and to others in our church lives every week instead of complaining about a song someone has chosen in the morning or being annoyed at the inconsistent church attendance of Joe Bloggs.

Similarities you might have stumbled across as you have observed my description of the need for these behavioural patterns in church is that they all require something of us. They require time. They require commitment. They require a conscious decision to change. It's an active outward expression, enabling something to happen instead of allowing stuff to just go on as normal in your place of worship (or place for having a nap in some cases). The up side of all this (if for any reason you may see time, commitment, and change as negatives) is that when you personally apply these behaviours to the way you do church, over time your fellowship will become a place that is exciting. Every week that you spend together will become effortlessly fun, life changing for you, your church and your community, and God will be glorified.

The truth is that it doesn't really matter in which order you operate in these behaviours because God values them equally. He always wants us to be thankful because He gave His Son for us on the cross to die and rise again so that we may be brought to life. He always wants us to be receptive because God can speak to you through every thing that you see around you, and the chances are that if you make a conscious decision to listen He will speak! And He always wants you to be generous because God wants the people around you to be blessed and for you to know the joy that comes when you give in every situation 24/7.

God Bless and see you all soon, Ad :)

[B.T: The Voice Bible, New Living Translation]