If Only…….

If only I did it that way……. If only I said it differently…….
I’m sure you’ve said these exact words before, trying to justify some of your actions.

You’ve let God become a teacher, a father who gives instructions and expects you to obey him, even though you can see the truth behind all what God is showing you, you still don’t connect with him!

God is not just a father that wants us to obey him, he wants to have communion with us, he looking for a sincere relationship! He is passionate about us, he demonstrated his immense Love on the cross.

The cross is a symbol of death not of faith, he became a man & died for our sins even the ones we will do. God took his wrath on Jesus to show he’s just, he treated him like one of us, he took our filth & our sin and the beauty of it is if we’re in Jesus we are included in him!

Jesus tasted death & it didn’t feel right, still doesn’t sink in right? God actually died and it looked like a king & father had given up his crown, reign and children. But after the 3rd day he rose again & we’re no longer under sin but under grace. He’s already said not guilty & the resurrection proves it.

So stop trying to pay your own debt or say only if I did it this way, God doesn’t even expect it, the resurrection is not just a stamp but it’s a guarantee. Jesus paid it all.

May we live in freedom as he has set us free.

WS: Dynamic Relationship

So here it goes,

You are not an accident of science or a cosmic mistake. Your life is not meaningless and your choices matter. You were created with a purpose. The Bible tells us that God made the universe and breathed life into the human race, and calls you to ‘know that the Lord is God’, and that ‘you are his’. (Psalm 100:3-4) God created you – just as he created all of us – to be caught up in a dynamic relationship with him at every level of your life: heart, soul and mind. That is your purpose: the dynamic relationship between you and your heavenly Father that impacts every level of your life. That’s what worship is.

Worship is central to your existence because the God who created you as an act of pure joy intends you to know his love and to love him in response. The Bible tells us that before the creation of the world God chose us to be in relationship with him, and that your very existence is to be for ‘the praise of his glory’ (Ephesians 1:6). Just as sin is described as not giving glory to God (Rom 1:18-25), our great rescue by Jesus will ultimately lead to the arrival of heaven, which is portrayed in terms of worship (Rev 4:11).

You live, breathe, move and love as expressions of God’s joy. You were made to know him, to connect with him, to follow him, to serve him and to enjoy the mind-blowing, heart-stirring fullness of this world he has created. In other words, you were created to worship. It’s deep in your spiritual DNA, in every encounter with God, is this sense of coming home – worship.

Everybody worships something. Whatever captivates your heart’s affection, your mind’s attention and your soul’s ambition, it effectively has your worship. The English word ‘worship’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon ‘weorthscipe’ which literally means to ascribe worth to something, and today we worship anything from rock stars to endorphin-exploding experiences.

Those things that you value, admire, love and enjoy most, are by definition objects of your affection. C.S. Lewis explains this really well, writing, “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

The Place I find Purpose

Worship is going on all around us in every possible form and style you could imagine, on earth and in heaven, today, right now just as it has been for thousands of years. Throughout the world and throughout history, wherever there is worship, there has always been a conversation going on about worship; from the Church Fathers wrestling with what worship should look like in the decades after Jesus, to the reformers asking what God requires of us in the light of Scripture. Today, this discussion is still as relevant as ever.

For the past couple of months I’ve spent some time thinking of why my life is so full of failures. Failures in relationships, job interviews and life in general. My entire existence is full of failures, but is that my purpose? Should I let that influence the way I worship?

Like me today you might be disillusioned with worship, tired of performance instead of praise, or burnt out by empty religion, or you may be afraid of the change that seems to be sweeping away all around you and uncertain of what you can bring? Or perhaps you are excited about growing in your worship but unsure how to build a firm foundation for a lifetime of authentic worship?
Whoever you are, whatever has led you to this moment, you start here with this simple yet all-important question: why is worship so important?

So as a worship leader I’ve set my self a challenge which is to help some very gifted & talented musicians I know in my church to be more worshippers.

So guess what my next posts will be about?

Effective Worship

Posts like this need to have clever hooks right up here in the first paragraph. They’re the bits that get pasted on walls and make you want to read more. Without something that sparkles, who’s going to click through to read whatever comes next?

Looks like I’ve blown it.

If you’ve got this far then well done. And thank you. And sorry – because I’ve not really got all that much for you. All I have is one thought on this piece of timeless wisdom that Paul delivers in Colossians 2:

‘In Christ you have been brought to fullness’ [verse 10]

In just eight words Paul absolutely nails it. He nails it for those of us living in fear, living in luxury, living in the past or living in denial. And he nails it for worship leaders too.

We all approach the task of leading people in sung worship with different experiences, different baggage, different backgrounds. And that’s OK. It’s even a good thing as it allows us to connect with a different range of people (most often those with similar experiences, baggage and backgrounds).

But sometimes we can be tempted to allow where we have come from to be the most important thing about our times of worship. We can be tempted to put our creativity front and centre, to mine the past for the brightest colours and boldest sounds.

Somehow that doesn’t seem quite enough.

Our songs, our sounds and our creativity should only ever be the tool that helps us worship – never the focus. For no matter how bright or bold our work, it will never be a match for the fulness in Christ that Paul reminds of.

That fulness of life is on offer to us all – whatever our background, whatever our past, whatever our style. The question is, what are we going to do with the life ahead of us? Are we going to live with self-imposed limits or are we going to live a life abandoned to Christ? Are we going to use our creativity to leave people in awe of God, to set them off in pursuit of our Maker, one step closer to the fulness that only Christ can offer?

Are we going to see our times of worship as the destination to arrive at, or the departure gate for the fullest life of all?

Go……… Green!

Many people today have the mentality that “the grass is greener on the other side.” They look at others who appear to be more successful and think, Boy, they must be lucky. And then they look at their own circumstances and think, “If only…If only I had a better job. If only…my spouse was like so-and-so. If only…I had gone to college. If only…I had the opportunities that so-and-so had.” It’s easy for people to look around and think everyone else simply has it better.

I believe this kind of constant comparing will get you off course in life and keep you from God’s best. If we assume that other people just happen to have it better, it gives us an excuse to live in mediocrity. The truth is that the principles of God’s Word apply to every person. As believers we all have the same opportunity to receive blessing, peace, joy and victory.

I don’t personally believe the grass is greener on the other side; I believe the grass is greener where you water it. In other words, we have to tend to the things that are inside of us if we want to see our lives blossom and grow. If you want better relationships, you have to invest in the people around you. If you want a better job, you have to invest in your skill set to qualify for that promotion, and then go after it. We all have the capacity to come up higher.

God has given you tremendous opportunities, and that’s why you can’t focus on what everyone else has. If you do, you’ll miss out on what God has especially for you! It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from; it doesn’t matter where you are right now. If you’ll step out and be faithful with what is in your hand today, God will bless it and multiply it and take you places that you never dreamed.

Today, instead of focusing on what you don’t have, look inside at what you do have. Make the decision to cultivate the dry areas of your life. Begin to water and invest in the areas where you want to see change. As you tend to what the Lord has given you, I believe He’ll pour out His blessings and you’ll see your life flourish beyond anything you could have ever hoped or dreamed.

Plant your Tree

We are often advised that our success is personal, that it is just down to us. However, it can often be useful to compare yourself with someone who is doing the same thing as you. Someone you admire in the same field. Without that i feel i am self obsessed and frankly, it’s a very nice thought that you can measure success by your inner peace and calm, but want more than that. That mean I need to compare.

Now let’s get one thing clear. When I say compare i don’t mean compete. To compare yourself is to stand back and take an honest look at what you are doing in the same area. That other ice-cream van down the beach-how come there are always more people in his line? Is it because he is doing something better or is he simply slow at serving? See what i mean. This sort of thing helps you to ask questions about yourself that you might not think of otherwise. It helps make you better. Learn to be the observer. Don’t say anything like you normally do. Just see how others do it. I bet you learn something, make it habit to ask questions of yourself. Be humble enough to ask questions of others. Learn the art of being an observer and you will be surprised how much you see that you didn’t see before. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you know everything. Then you stop learning. “SUCCEED IN 2012”.
Success can be a strange feeling. The road to success will probably be full of rejection, pain, hard work as well as many other things. In the end, no matter how small it is. You will feel proud of yourself for getting past all of those obstacles and for stand still. Be aware that, as you move forward, it also keeps shifting. Success in one area often opens door in another. Money is a by- product of success. It is not the success itself.

For me, the ultimate key to success is to value your achievements, and to value the people around you-family and friends, workmates and the people you work for. Finally, i recently met up with a very rich friend of mine. All he could talk about was the trees he was planting. The money only made sense to him when he turned it into trees- Now isn’t that funny. Money is made out paper, which is made out of trees. He was returning his money to the trees where it all started. Good on him. If you want to be the biggest and the best, then good luck. But don’t turn your thirst into a boring quest for status. Go look at the trees. They will be here when you have gone.

Just let it go past

In order to move forward in life, we have to “let go of the past.” But have you ever wondered exactly how to do that? First, understand that we take hold of things in our minds with our thoughts. Our thoughts become words and actions that determine the direction of our lives. It’s that simple. If you want to choose a new direction for your life, you have to choose new thoughts. If you want to let go of the past, you have to quit thinking about it, quit talking about it, and quit reliving every negative experience.

Remember, forgiveness is for you. Letting go of bitterness is for you. Don’t let the past hold you back from your future any longer. Get past the past by choosing right thoughts.

Community

Tonight at my weekly meeting we discussed about “Why do we believe in God”?

For me the whole evening I was totally confused on why we would need all those info. But in the end it was a good question as it revealed areas in which we wouldn’t necessarily see God in.

As Christians we shouldn’t be ignorant or not liked to be confronted. This I believe challenged us tonight as there were lots of points being raised it and views we didn’t all agree on.

This makes CCM the community it is today. In all sincerity I love being part of this community.

For those who didn’t know:

                Did you know that “Dammit I’m Mad” spelled backwards is “Dammit I’m Mad?”

Summer? Oh wait we are in England

 

So this summer has been a little bit different. Lots of interesting things happening. A weekend to Hamburg to meet the entire German family, my sister engagement/traditional wedding, a new job role & new shop, riots, alwaysawake recording session & lots of bbq.

I’ve never experienced a summer like this. All i can say is next year will be even better.

This was definitely a season also with plenty of things to think about. My faith in God has been tested but He’s always faithful. I think i will write a bit more in my next posts.

So WATCH OUT!!!

 

BOOM!!

Dedicated to Michael Fasola

After a day of hard work I came back to the news that my childhood friend was gone.

We used to do everything together. We went to the same primary school, learnt how to play football together, got into trouble together. We also performed our power rangers duties together as he was the “Black Ranger”. Such great adventures.

Now I realised that after we both moved to 2 different countries we lost contact and just recently got back in touch. Too little time to plan too see each other again.

God gives and takes away. Am sure Gods plans for him was good. God makes all things work together for our good.

My heart now goes to the Fasola family especially his mum.

May your soul rest in peace Michael Tosin Ayinla Fasola!