Not properly dead

(non church-ppl may find this rather baffling!)

I remember once considering the notion of attending my own funeral (spiritually speaking), this came after reading Galatians 2 v 20 (I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that lives but Christ lives in me). On reading this, it became soul-food, and an instant aspiration... I was (and still am) desperate to get to that place where Galatians 2v20 is REAL in me. So i started considering planning, and then attending my own funeral. After a while, i encountered a problem.

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I was not actually dead.

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It is not possible (in good conscience) to bury somebody that is still living and breathing. So I had to plot my demise! and bwoi, there was quite a lot of killing to do. I started with the easiest. (every gamer knows you merk the little guys first, and sort out the boss once you have got to grips with the controls). So I managed to kill a few small foes just with plain and simple effort, and a quick blow to the head. After a while my growing desire to die, strengthed me in the killing spree and enabled me to defeat even stronger soldiers. However to ensure that i was properly dead, I needed to make sure that there was no escape, not like in them films where you think the baddy is dead, but then when your back is turned, he sits back up and shoots you in the back of the head. No. I must NOT be able to sit back up!

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Going back to the scripture, I realised crucifixion is the only way. After all, I am a follower of Jesus, and therefore i gotta go wherever HE WENT, and he went to the cross.

Now, have you ever tried crucifying yourself?

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Believe me, it is not easy. I mean, it is simple enough (although bloody and painful) to bash the 10" nail through your feet. It is even possible (although with some difficulty) to nail 1 of your hands to the cross, having to hold the nail in place with the very hand being crucified.

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However, once 2/3rds crucified you come to the realisation that you are now totally unable to get the 3rd nail in. You have no available limbs left. It is not possible to crucify your 1 free hand, with that same 1 free hand. No.

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At this point, it struck me. I had been doing the whole thing wrong from the beginning. I cannot singlehandedly crucify the flesh... the practicalities of working it out had taught me this the hard way, but common sence and clear spiritual insight should have lead me from the beginning, to ask The Holy Spirit to do it IN me, FOR me and THROUGH me!

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We do not wrestle against flesh and blood..... well, we DO... all the time, but wrestling the flesh does NOT bring the victory, as the power was never in the flesh, it was in the SIN itself, and I cannot conquer sin fully, that is (was) Jesus job!.

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I now realise that it is not about ME TRYING to die. It is about me asking the Holy Spirit to assist me in my dying, and to give me clear sight of the Hope and Life the other side of the funeral

I am good

It has been several years now that I have laid hold of the doctrine of sin... and the knowledge that there is NO GOOD MAN, and beyond that, that there is no good IN man either!. There is nothing I can do, in the flesh that is good (Gods sort of good, though man may call my actions 'good'). Therefore imagine how i felt, after months of being told by the fella in the pic below that i am 'above average' with a fitness score of 42-46 (what, i dont know)... yesterday, for the first time, i acheved a score of 50! following which... came the anouncement that I AM GOOD!

A Taste of Africa

This saturday, we held an event at church, in aid of The Samaritans Purse called 'A Taste of Africa'. It was a resounding success, with up to 100 in attendance (a real acheivement for a church of 30-40).

I must admit, in some ways i did feel out of my depth cooking things i had never attempted to cook before (giant snails, goats feet, and pepper soup). But apparently my pepper soup was banging! Thanks to all who attended, performed, and cooked for the event.

Rev Gaga

The pop music industry is one of the biggest enemies of the Gospel of Jesus, and revelations about Jay-Z, Rihanna and Beyonce have angered me for the last few years trusay. But now steps forward this candidate..

Lady Gaga!... Recently quoted as stating that her ambition is to bring homosexual culture to the mainstream, and to 'turn the world gay'. She is now being ordained as a minister, so that she will be able to conduct gay weddings live on stage during her concerts...

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Satan is truly roaring! truly seeking whom he may devour! How have these perversions become so popular and fashionable?

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Even so, COME LORD, and come quickly.

Scary Wildlife

On my way home from work yesterday i decided to pop into the scrubland area on Five Oaks Lane in Chigwell, to see if there were any of these...

..Whinchats, however i was stunned to walk round a large oak tree and be faced with this...
He was HUGE, horse sized, with massive antlers. He was less than 15m away from me, and stared me out. I was not sure whether to try and get closer to photograph him on the mobile, or RUN!...
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In the end, i backed away slowly!. It is a strange thing to be scared of a deer isn't it?
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by the way, there WERE Whinchats. (3 of em).
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Its funny how our reactions surprise us sometimes, I didnt think i would feel fear when faced with a STATIONARY deer... slightly less justified than the fear I felt when a similar sized deer came bounding towards me and Jonathan in the dark up a country lane on Mull (Scotland) last year.... It cleared the car by an inch... That fear was really intense... (a life flash b4 eyes moment), and this was a bit of a flashback moment...

Enlisted?

Church was HARD this sunday. Pastor Roger took a break out from the series on the armour, to look at the topic 'are you FIT to be in the army of the Lord?'. We considered that being saved, although guarenteeing your place in glory, is not enough to guarentee that you are enlisted in the army of the lord, and useful in battle here on earth!. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways and all that, and if you are gonna fight on the Lords side, we first have to leave the other side entirely... (No-one looking back etc). We concluded, that although there must be some faithful soldiers out there somewhere, we could only name dead ones... None of us could think of a single candidate who is out there fighting the fight, waving the banner of Jesus and causing havoc to the enemies camp here in the UK. This was a real challenge, we KNOW that that is what we are called to therefore we MUST throw of doublemindedness, self-seeking, and cowardice, and prepare for battle.

Slipped 3

A visit to Stans Gym last night proved disappointing as although i was still 'above average' I only got a score of 42 on the treadmill (compared to 45 last week). This must NOT happen again!. (At least I beat Jer'van, with an 'average' score of 40!)