A Delightful Inheritance

(V838 Monocerotis - Dec 2002. NASA, ESA and STScl.)

Jeremiah 32 v 17: "Ah, Lord God! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you."

When looking at the universe surrounding us, it is easy to see God's spectacular power. Scientists are still trying to see an end to a continually expanding universe. What does that then say about a creator God whose greatness is unsearchable?
The picture above is V838 Monocerotis, a red supergiant star 20 000 light years away from earth. It flamed to 4 000 times its previous brightness in Jan 2002. This new brilliance however, soon faded and the star returned to something close to its previous brightness. The surrounding rings are called light echoes and are formed as light reflects off the nearby space dust. God's obvious power.

Despite displays like this of God's obvious power though, one of my big life questions has been this: Is God's greatness beneficial to me? Can I really trust in His willingness (in addition to His ability) to work things out to my good? In finding an answer, this is what I am learning...

I'm learning that the God who created Monocerotis the masterpiece, is actually not like it at all. He is not a variable star. He is called the Father of Lights but unlike those lights, He is constant and does not change. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

(Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300 - NASA, ESA & the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/Aura))

Psalm 16 v 5: The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

I've begun to look at galaxies as a picture of trust but also as a picture of life. Providence means that each event in my life, whether good or bad, is arranged like the stars against a black canvas. So instead of God intervening in my life through a dramatic miracle, He's working out His divine purposes for me through ordinary everyday events. And day by day, as I choose to trust, I can see that my life is not falling apart. On the contrary, the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places and I have a delightful inheritance!

(Eagle Nebula M16 - NASA, ESA & the Hubble Heritage Team(STScl/AURA))

Psalm 36 v 5: Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

(Interacting Spiral GalaxiesNGC 2207 & IC 2163 - NASA, ESA & the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl))

Jeremiah 9 V 23-24: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight.

(Jupiter with moons - NASA/ NSSDC)

Job 38 v 4 - 7: Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements - surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

(Earth - NASA/ NSSDC)

EN2010

I've just returned from an awesome conference in Manila. The event proved to be a time of refreshing and an exciting chance to meet Every Nation family from nations around the world with different accents and costumes, all coming together to worship the King of kings!

The first thing that struck me about the city of Manila is the incredible hospitality of the Filipino people. Everywhere we went were warm welcomes, friendly smiles and a willingness to do so much for visitors like me looking somewhat out of place.
The second thing that struck me, was the abundance of shopping malls. Manila is either a shopper's paradise where you find everything that you could possibly imagine you need, or it could be a shopper's nightmare, where too many options to choose from means that decisionmaking becomes a torturous affair!

And thirdly, let me not forget to mention the traffic on a rainy day!

The conference itself was like a banquet table set for God's children, with God himself inviting us to come and feast. It was a time to receive healing, establishment, victory and love - all from God's banquet table.It was also awesome to listen to stories about what God is busy doing in other countries - testimonies of His grace. An absolute highlight was the attempt to set a Guiness World Record for 'The Most Languages Performed in a Song'. Every Nation sang Amazing Grace in 50 different languages including English, Xhosa, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Arabic and Hawaiian.

Sian, Nobby and myself in our national costumes!

Ladies from the Philippines: Ana, Erianne, and Tim

Above is a picture of Selena and myself with the Real Life Foundation team. We stayed an extra week after the conference to train some members of this team at the Victory Pasig City church in Metro Manila. The vision for the Real Life Foundation is to honor God by serving the poor and improving their lives through educational assistance, leadership development and community service. This they achieve by providing financial assistance to selected students, coaching through a personal growth program, as well as training in practical skills and character development and providing emergency relief where necessary. It was encouraging to see the enthusiasm on the faces of the participants as they learnt more about God's story and how our lives fit inside the framework of His story. One participant said about the course: "It's an affirmation of what God put in my heart a long time ago. It brings focus to what I need to do now and maybe for the long haul. Also a great encouragement as we are starting our work and ministry in the community. It's like saying we are on the right track."

We also had the opportunity to prayer walk in Pasig City, the area immediately around the church and the Real Life centre. Pasig City is a vibrant, bustling place bursting with signs of vitality. As we prayed we sensed that God was already busy in this community, pulling down those things that are not from Him and breathing His new life into it.

And with every banquet there has to be dessert. Behold the Halo Halo!

Halo Halo means 'mix-mix', so what you see here is a blend of ice-cream, jelly, coconut pieces, custard, chickpeas, beans and crushed ice. A favourite dessert that I was told reflects the mixed heritage of Filipino culture.