Dad's day is coming!

I love Father's Day. It is that time of year when you get gifts from your kids that are just so precious. My kids are great at choosing me presents. I have had a Best Dad mug, a My Heart belongs to Daddy mug, men's moisturiser and some Batman pants amongst other things! Father's Day is great day to celebrate Fatherhood. We are living in a society where the role of the Father is being continuously eroded and undermined. More and more I hear and read about the fact that children and adults have never had a father present in their lives. I am reading a book on Winston Churchill at the moment. He wrote that he remembers only three significant conversations that he had with his dad in his lifetime. His dad died of a sexual disease at the age of forty five. Churchill said that as soon as his dad died he felt free from having to perform and prove himself to his Dad. Tragic. We can never underestimate the massive importance that fathers play in our lives. I sometimes watch World's Strictest Parents. It is about wild teenagers, who have turned completely rebellious and are then taken to a family in a different country for a week to sort them out. The parents of that family are very strict and lay down firm boundaries. Nearly every teenager who has been on that programme mark the moment that they became really rebellious when their parents split up and the dad left home. Now I know you can't blame everything on the father, but it is very significant. But when you think about it, satan has had a field day. Think about it: The main calling on Jesus was to reveal the Father to a people He wanted to include in His family. Now if the only way that you can relate to God as Father is through the relationship you have had with your own father, then satan will do all he can to give you a bad experience of that relationship! Most people I meet have no problems relating to Jesus and they can relate to God as being the Creator and the Almighty. But God as Father! That's when it becomes a bit more tricky. More and more people that I look after and pray with can identify their root problems being wrong identity, rejection, self worth, self-hating and many others and these often stem from a wrong view of who God is and who they are. I am passionate about my kids. No matter what they do I am proud of them and love them deeply. Now they haven't done anything to earn my love. If they were to do absolutely nothing for me, I would still love them the same. I love them because they are mine! It is the same with our Dad in heaven. But His love is far more powerful and pure and selfless than mine could ever be. If you are reading this as a believer or unbeliever then you need to get this - my Dad in Heaven loves you far beyond anything that you can possibly grasp or get your little head around. He loves you not based on what you do or don't do but based on the fact that He is Love and that's what He does. He is passionate about you. How passionate is He for you? So passionate that He sacrificed His own, very precious Son on the cross so that you could be adopted by Him and included into His awesome family. He wants to bring freedom to you. He wants to deal with stuff in your life that stops you seeing Him in all His Fatherliness. (Don't know if fatherliness is a proper word but hey-ho!). If you are reading this and you struggle with your identity as a son or daughter of our amazing Father in heaven then contact me at info@bethanycc.org.uk . To all you Dad's out there - You're GRRRREAT!

What is reality?

We are living in the age of 'Reality T.V.' What is the real life of Peter Andre, Katie Price, Kerry Katona and umpteen other so-called celebs? How do these people really live their lives? How do they really interact with their children? What is their favourite breakfast cereal in the morning? And do we really care? Television channels are showing us hours and hours of T.V. shows depicting what life is 'really like' in the lives of all sorts of people. So you can find out who kills rats and cleans overflowing drains, you can find out what goes on in Essex, you can find out what hairdressers use to cut hair...and the list goes on and on and on. I am sure we will see a show about which paint dries the fastest on your walls and they will call it 'Paint Drying on a Wall-watch.' It will probably be more exciting and more intelligent than most of the celebrity shows on at the moment!

But if they were to make a reality t.v. show about your life or my life what would it look like? I happen to love my life. I have a great wife and great kids. I love my job of leading Bethany Community Church, Harpenden. I love being part of a wider family who are stoked up about our glorious Dad in heaven. Life is pretty cool and I can't wait to see what happens next. But in the last week I have been challenged about what is reality! Now that sounds a bit weird coming from a church leader who should be convinced about what reality is. I'll try and explain.

The question I have to ask myself is this: "What is more real: what is in heaven or what is here on earth around me?" Well that is obvious - what is in heaven is by far more real than what is here. So when we look at Jesus we see a man who lived a life doing things that for us seemed unreal but they happened! He then teaches us a pattern for prayer. It wasn't a prayer that we are to recite at special occasions in a monotonous tone, but a teaching tool that reveals the heart of God. Part of the prayer is: "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it IS in heaven." He is teaching us to pray for the reality of what is in heaven to invade and permeate our seen reality and change things dramatically. So what is in heaven?

Life. Jesus raised the dead!
Health. Jesus healed the sick!
Abundant provision. Jesus turned hundreds of gallons of water into wine and fed thousands of people with five bread rolls and a couple of fish!
He found two coins in a fish's mouth.
Purity and holiness. Jesus freed the lepers from being unclean by healing them. He made the unclean woman with an issue of blood clean be healing her. He forgave the paralytic man, the man on the cross, the woman caught in adultery, Zaccheus... and the list goes on.
No demons. Jesus cast out thousands of demons from people's lives.
Jesus also walked on water, stopped a storm by his word, was transfigured and spoke to Abraham and Elijah on a mountain.

Can all this be a reality to us? Absolutely. So why aren't I seeing the reality of heaven invading every area of my life and the life of the church and its members? It is because I live seeing things with my earthly mind and not the mind of Christ.

1 Cor 2:9 - 12 is staggering. Look:

9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
And in verse 16b it says "But we have the mind of Christ."

In order for me to start seeing the reality of heaven invade everything area of my life I need to allow the Holy Spirit to change the way I think to the way Jesus thinks. If I have his mind I should start thinking his way and his way was his Father's way and his Father's way was all the things I mentioned earlier that Jesus did. The Father's will is to bring heaven to earth because it demonstrates His absolute love for us. Do you want a huge taste of heaven? Then ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind and you will be transformed to understand the will of our Father in heaven.
Soul II Soul once sang - "Back to life, back to reality." True life is pulling down the reality of heaven in prayer and seeing it invade all we do. There are exciting days ahead as we pursue the will of God in our lifetime.