gifts, scales, shakes, balancing, mate, joy, might?

"I consider it heresy to speak of shaking, trembling, falling, dancing, clapping, shouting, and such actions as manifestations of the Holy Spirit. These are purely human reactions to the power of the Holy Spirit... There are far too many Christians who are satisfied with such emotional reactions and thus do not seek to grow in grace and become channels through whom the Holy Spirit may manifest his gifts for the edification of the Church." - David du Plessis

Have to say that I agree with him. Especially the bit about Christians going after the "human reactions" rather than God himself. We were talking about this in class last week...about the difference between more "traditional" denominations and more recent emerging denominations (or "non-denominations" as the case may be!). Richard told a wee joke about a guy from another denomination he had been talking to once. The guy said "the difference between us is that I believe in the Almighty and you believe in the Almatey!" It's so true though. There seems to be a scale by which churches are measured..and it's crucial (and perhaps even impossible?) to get the balance. I know my church is at the "Almighty" bit - and things are slowly moving the other way...slowly becoming more balanced. But for those churches at the "Almatey" end of things, the churches whom I suspect are chasing after the "human reactions" that aul Dave up there mentions...it's kinda dangerous and kindaaa not very healthy. Personally, I go by the old thing that my grandma always used to say to me (and, on occasion, still does say to me!) - JOY. J for Jesus - put Him first! O for Others - put them second! Y for Yourself - put yourself last on the list. I seriously believe that when we do this + really try to put it into practice, everything else (i.e. spiritual gifts) will just slot into place. Anyway, who knows. My spelling is a bit dodgy these days, and I always end up spelling JOY as YOJ...sometimes it's so bad that i just type a big silly Y. Anyway, now I'm waffling but I hope you get what I mean. :) let me know what you reckon.

Politics, God and us.

Politicians in this year's general election have really got it tough.

Being so close to somebody who is really into politics, I've only recently come to appreciate what a difficult job the Prime Minister's post must be. You've got the responsibility of the entire country resting on your shoulders, an entire workforce of MPs to manage and (most importantly in my opinion) family to love and provide for and take care of. Not to mention all the other things like making public appearances, always smiling for the camera (even when you feel crap) and having a reputation to uphold. It's no wonder Gordon Brown always looked so miserable.

Yes, the job has obvious perks too... but even so, all this seems pretty daunting to me... Especially having to make decisions and being blamed if it doesn't quite go as planned. That can happen to anybody - thing is though, we're allowed to cover up our mistakes. Ever wondered what it'd be like if our bad decisions were exposed for the whole world to see? The Prime Minister - or even any MP for that matter - does not have the cover-up luxury. People like having somebody to blame, and for the common citizen, people in charge are pretty easy targets.

Have we ever considered ourselves in the making of a country though?

There are three (main) things that should be considered when we ask this question. The first is this: what we have counts. Giving to local charities, community groups, etc (I believe) is an amazing way of contributing to society. Not just money either, but of time and effort and talents and gifts and even love! If there are no charities out there who support whatever your passion may be - go ahead and start something up! There is no reason at all for you to think you're too young, or too insignificant - even the smallest thing can make the biggest difference. Paying taxes and not abusing the welfare system is also another key (and pretty sensitive) issue. Don't take free money you aren't entitled to - if you've got a bad conscience about it then pray and ask God what the craic is. Usually, a bad conscience is the Holy Spirit stirring our hearts. Finding loopholes and taking money that isn't yours is, in essence, stealing from the poorest in our society who actually have a real urgent need for it.

The second issue is our power. Yes, we don't have much - but what we do have is pretty awesome. We are so blessed to live in a country where we have the freedom to choose our leaders. Use your vote wisely - don't judge by appearance or by what your friends think or even by the guy who comes knocking on your door. Read policies, compare them, see what you think. I know it's so cliched, but every vote really does count - especially in this election where a hung parliament has been predicted!

The third and most important issue is prayer. Throughout the Bible there are stories about leaders who have been spoken to by God and chosen by God and even taken down by God. We are urged to pray for our leaders. That's what I'm gonna urge you to do too :) it's something that we don't often think about - but it's of vital importance. With the election coming up, pray that God guides your choosing when you're voting - pray that whoever is chosen (on a local and national level) will be empowered to make wise decisions and lead effectively. Pray that God speaks to them!

Had to get this off my chest. It was on my heart. Feel free to comment :) God bless