If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist;

If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist;

If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer;

But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Saviour.

Source: Unknown

]]> http://pauseforthought.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/god-knew-our-greatest-need/feed/ 1 pauseforthought http://pauseforthought.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/jesus-youre-my-superhero/ http://pauseforthought.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/jesus-youre-my-superhero/#comments Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:31:53 +0000 pauseforthought http://pauseforthought.wordpress.com/?p=1092 ]]> On Monday at Messy Church our focus was heroes – specifically the heroes of the Bible and how we can all be superheroes for God as we respond to the command: Love God, love others.  We encouraged our young people to dress up in a hero costume and so we had – Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, we had Superman, Batman, various princesses, Captain Jack Sparrow, Mulan, SuperSmurff, Harry Potter, Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, to name but a few.  We had fun games, made crafts based on various stories of Bible heroes, heard the story of the greatest Superhero ever – God’s son Jesus, and shared a meal together at which over 90 were served … a great time was had by all.

But it was not always so.

Several years ago my family were going through a crisis:  my Father was diagnosed with cancer, so was my brother in law, and my niece … well my niece was born with it.  The whole family was so numb that all we could do was ‘stand still’.  We got angry at God; we got angry at the doctors who gave the diagnoses.  We wanted something done, and done immediately – by the doctors … by God.  We looked for answers and we looked for reasons.  The question that was continually asked of me was ‘well when things were good … was that when God was with you’ therefore, ‘now that things are bad … has He abandoned you?’  This was my ‘behind the closet door’ crisis.

Prayer was difficult, concentration more so.   But it was during this time of numbness, and going through the motions of everyday life, that I found myself singing the words of two songs:

“Father God, I wonder how I managed to exist without the knowledge of your parenthood and your loving care. But now I am your child I am adopted in your family, and I can never be alone ‘cause Father God, you’re there beside me’

And …

“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, your heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”

I sang those two songs as I drove up and down to Glasgow every weekend for months.   And through them, I was able to recognise once more that God was with me – that he had not abandoned, but was present.  And through this realisation I found comfort and the strength I needed to step forward into the unknown.

The future is unknown to us; but we do not go into it alone.   We can be certain that when we are going through the difficult times of life, God is always with us, we need never doubt his presence, even though we are numb to it at the time.  He keeps is word: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb 13:5) and he promises to give us power and strength along the way.

10th Anniversary of Ordination & Induction

This amazing cake was made by an amazingly talented member of our congregation, it marks the 10^th anniversary of my ordination and induction to Banchory-Ternan East.

Some anniversaries are ones of joy and celebration, while others, especially the anniversaries of tragedy, are particularly difficult.

When you say the ‘9/11’ people instantly know what you are talking about as they recall harrowing pictures of planes flying into the twin towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania.

So every year, as the anniversary of my ordination and induction comes around. I have mixed feelings: There is joy as I remember a special event in my life, but it is also tempered with a sense of sadness, because I also remember that there was another event that happened, which touched and shaped my ministry, and which touched and changed our world.

We pray for our world.

We pray that the fellowship of the church will stand as a sign of the possibility of barrier-breaking.

We pray for those who mourn and those who suffer – especially those who mark today an anniversary of loss.

We pray for peace.

And all God’s people said … Amen.

When Christ laid his life down for the world, He demonstrated what real love looked like.  It was a choice, beautiful beyond words. That’s the kind of love Circleslide sing about in their song, “Love Amazing”.

Japan - Earthquake and Tsunami 2011

A major earthquake and a tsunami hit Japan yesterday, and for those of us watching the news pictures beamed into our homes over these past 24 hours, horrific and terrifying though they are, we cannot really begin to fully comprehend what the people are going through, unless we’ve been there ourselves, like the people of New Zealand (Feb 2011), the people of Haiti (2010), the peoples of Indonesia/Sri Lanka/India (2004).   There is the unexpected and tragic loss of life, the devastation, the fear, the grief, the worry of what will happen next, both in the short and long term.   But even if we have never experienced the loss of everyone and everything we hold dear because of an earthquake or a tsunami, nevertheless, it breaks our hearts to see and to hear what is going on in that country, because we are reminded that they are people just like us, and just like us they have experienced the loss of loved ones, and there our common humanity connects us.

When tragedy like this happens it sort of stops you in your tracks and makes you more aware of what you have, especially the people in our lives whom we love and who are still with us.  It is perhaps also a timely reminder too that we should be telling them, more often than we do, just how much we love them and how special they are to us, because tragedy can strike at any time, and can take many forms.

So what can we do when something like this happens almost half way round the world?

The immediate response of many is to pray.   That was certainly my first thought, and that’s what I did yesterday.  But prayers were also shared today, because in the midst of a local funeral service I was conducting this morning, we took time to include in our prayers for others, the people of Japan.

 “We bring before you, Loving God, the people of Japan.

And as we wrestle now with our own grief …

we are reminded of all who have lost loved ones,

whose lives have been touched by this tragedy,

and who are overwhelmed by sorrow at this time.

We pray for them in their shock … hurt … and bewilderment.

We lift before you their feelings of numbness

and their aching hearts.

Reach out and encircle them in your loving arms.

Grant them the comfort you have promised to all who mourn,

your peace that passes understanding,

your light that reaches into the darkest places of life

and beyond … into the darkness of death.”

I hope the people of Japan are aware that at this moment in time they are being upheld in prayers all over the world.  And I hope you will add your prayers to mine, as together we add our prayers to the countless thousands that have been offered up over the past 24 hours.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Be satisfied with who you are; someone somewhere looks at your life with longing.

Be caring and loving towards the people you have in your life; someone somewhere is lonely.

Be thankful for friends who love you; someone somewhere has no-one who cares.

Be grateful when things are going well for you; someone somewhere is crying as if their heart will break.

Be gentle and compassionate with those you encounter; someone somewhere is carrying a deep hurt.

Be kind and considerate with strangers; someone somewhere needs to know they matter.

Matthew 12:7

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

I am going to try and post at least one image each day for all of 2011. That, hopefully, will be 365 days of the things I encounter through the lens of my new Lumix FZ100. It will probably be a mix of subject matter, but I may well develop a theme from time to time. The first photo was taken at the Weir in the grounds of Crathes Castle, near Banchory, on 1.1.11.

If you would like to see my photos you will find them at the following link …

http://2011inpictures.posterous.com/