Shoutlouder

beyond words…

// July 19th, 2008 // 4 Comments » // Family, Inspiration

Here’s the obligatary ‘new dad’ post…

Last night – or is that early this morning – sometime just after 1am I found myself on my own with another woman! Of course – my dear wife was OK about it since the other woman was in fact our just born baby girl – Ania Maria Denham! Gosia had to nip off to somewhere for those things that have to be done with women not long after giving birth – and so I found myself having a beautiful moment with my lil’Annie as she snuggled into my arm.

I have to say – holding your new born baby in your arms is one of those moments that is truly beyond words… Nothing can really describe the feeling of holding a small life in your arms that somehow came from a little bit of DNA you produced, mixed with a little bit of DNA that my wife put together… and ‘hey presto’ we have a baby!

As I sat again holding her today it suddenly struck me – “I now have two amazing kids that were created through me…”

You see – in this season of unpacking who Jesus is – one of those moments of revelation in life are to realise that He’s the Creator. We’ve been made by Him and for Him… and it has to be one of the most beautiful acts of God in creation to create something that would in turn know the beauty of being a creator.

Through our children we discover a depth of understanding of God’s heart for his creation – the Father heart – because it’s only when you hold your creation in your hands that you can truly understand that love that would do anything, give anything, sacrifice anything to see this one small life flourish, live and be safe for evermore.

I have to thank Jesus tonight for giving me one of the greatest gifts He has given every single one of us – the gift of being able to partake in Creation itself…

unpacking…

// July 18th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Inspiration, Leadership

Right now I’m trying to unpack who Jesus really is in my life. Cause here’s the thing… you can get so long down the ‘Christian’ journey that before you know it you’re living off borrowed and ‘past-its-sell-by-date’ revelation. You’re experiences of God and everything that you’ve been taught start to get neatly packed away in the storage cupboard under the stairs, half-forgotten or left for a day when you’re doing some spring cleaning and suddenly remember you had it.

We often say that a key thing for any leader is to ‘keep it fresh’… but let me throw that a bit further and say that the real key to great church leadership is to ‘keep Jesus fresh’.

Matthew 16:13-16 tells of the conversation Jesus has with his disciples over ‘who’ the people say Jesus is. The answer comes back that they think he’s Elijah or one of the prophets. But Jesus doesn’t throw a wobbly and concern himself with a PR drive to make sure the people know who he really is – his real concern is with who his disciples recognise him to be – so he asks… “But who do YOU say I am?”

It’s at this point we get Peter’s great confession of faith as he declares Jesus to be the ‘Christ, the Son of the Living God’.

So WHO DO YOU SAY HE IS?

Who is Jesus right now to you? Is he the central doctrine of Christianity – or is he your personal Lord and Saviour? Is he the performer of incredible signs and wonders – or is he the one who can heal your arthritis? Is he the Kings of Kings and the Lord of Lords – or does he have the steering wheel of your life and you’re following where he’s leading…

See there is plenty of catch words and descripitive ways we can speak of Jesus – but unless there comes a transaction of revelation between heaven and your heart then they remain only adjectives of a theological faith – and not the revelation of a personal relationship with God.

So – it’s time for some unpacking – time to take Jesus out of the nice, pristine, carefully wrapped and ribboned boxes we put him in and allow him to rule and reign over our thoughts, actions and deeds.

It’s time to discover who YOU really say he is… cause right now you may need to know King Jesus, your sovereign ruler of all, or you may need to know the Prince of Peace – bringer of perfect peace in the midst of your storm. You may need to know the Healer, the Advocate, the Compassionate, the Liberator, the Saviour or the Son…

Jesus right now is your ALL in ALL… everything you ever needed, all you could ever want… so let’s not leave him between the pages of a theological dissertation or in the rhetoric of a carefully thought through message. Let’s allow the Truth himself to truly set us free! Get personal and start unpacking!