It’s a jolly Holi Day!

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The Hindu festival of Holi (in Sanskrit: होली ) is currently being celebrated. This festival is known for its vibrant colours; and indeed it is also called the ‘festival of colours’ or the ‘festival of love’. The festival celebrates the end of winter and the start of spring and represents the triumph of good over evil. On this day hindus focus on the day as a time to have fun, celebrate, play, laugh, forget the wrongs of the past, forgive and repair broken relationships. It is also a time for people to give thanks for a good harvest.

The festival lasts for two days, starting on Sunday 12th March this year, and ending on Monday 13th of March.

After all of the fun flinging coloured powder and water at each other, people clean themselves up in the evening and go visit friends and family.

In reading up about Holi and its traditions and the stories associated with it, I couldn’t but help think of the scripture in Ecclesiastes 3, which states that “He [God] has also set eternity in the human heart“. When I look at other faiths from around the globe, and even some films that are being madetoday, I am aware of echoes and hints of the gospel that are being displayed. Hints and touches that show that God’s great story of redemption and love through His Son Jesus is in some way resonating in every human heart, even if they do not fully know or understand it.

Jesus is the one who overcame evil with good on the cross. Jesus is the one who saves us from the fires of judgement. It is through Jesus that we are forgiven and by His presence and power in our lives that we are able to forgive others. Jesus repaired the broken relationship that mankind had with God. And Jesus is God’s love in action. God’s love revealed.

In his book “The lion, witch and the wardrobe“, C.S. Lewis writes “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” In this allegory, Aslan represents Jesus; and Jesus takes away the death of winter to replace it with the celebration of new life, the celebration of spring.

As regards the festival of colour; what is more colourful than a rainbow?

In the story of Noah we have God promising to not flood the earth again, and for the rainbow to be the sign of God’s faithfulness to us. Also in the book of Revelation, when John sees the throne in heaven he describes the following “And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.” – Revelation 4:3. Jesus, the King of kings is encircled by a rainbow as He sits triumphant on His throne.

In fact, for us as Christians, the great celebration that we are looking forward to is when Christ returns, triumphant and takes us to be with Him. It is at this great harvest at the end of the age where we will be singing our praise and thanks to God for redeeming and delivering us. It will be a time where the past is forgotten. Indeed God Himself will wipe away every tear. It will be a time full of colour, love, forgiveness, restoration. All other celebrations, such as a wedding celebration, are but shadows of what is to come.

So on this day when many people around the world are celebrating Holi; let us celebrate our great Saviour, Redeemer, Lover, Forgiver, Friend and King – Jesus!

It’s all about Him and it will always be about Him!

Be blessed!

 

“There’s a wind a blowin’…”

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As Storm Doris hits the UK with it’s full force of gales and lashing rain; I couldn’t but think of the line from the David Ruis worship song ‘Sweet Wind‘ – “There’s a wind a blowin’…” Though the wind from Storm Doris is not as pleasant as the ‘sweet wind’ of God’s presence that David Ruis describes; I think the Psalmist in Psalm 29 accurately describes the power and majesty of our God; a power that immeasurably dwarfs the gusts and blows of the storm we are currently going through.

Indeed, when feeling buffeted and blown about by life’s troubles and turmoils, there is no safer haven than in the arms of the One at whose voice, the very wind and sea is stilled. It is safe with ‘Jesus, lover of my soul‘ that we can feel secure, knowing that He is stronger than the wind and the rain of life’s circumstances that can beat against our souls.

Thinking about this reminds me of another song that God used to help me through a difficult period of my life; Third Day’s ‘When the rain comes.‘ God spoke to me so clearly by saying that He would be with me every step of the way.

It is so great that because of Jesus, we now can come to God whenever and wherever with whatever is on our hearts.  The way is now open, it is a new and living way, through Jesus. God is with us now, and prayer (talking to God) is such an awesome privilege.

Especially when going through life’s storms.

We are not alone.

He is with us in the storm.

This coming Sunday 26th February we will be having our monthly prayer meeting at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA; 7-8pm.

We hope you can come and join us to pray for the work that God is doing in the lives of young people in North Wales.

Let’s not be discouraged by life’s storms, but let us meet together and talk with the great storm stiller, Jesus.

Be blessed!

 

“What is love?”

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I’m sure some people after reading the title of this blog post are singing out loud or at least in their heads the tune of the 1993 song ‘What is love?’ by Haddaway. But it is not the song that prompted this blog post, rather, it is because last night at ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening young person’s Bible study, we held a joint meeting with pupils of St David’s College in one of their halls.

The topic of the night, given that this Tuesday is Valentine’s day: February 14th, was ‘What is love?’

With so many songs written about love, like the Haddaway one, it must be something important to us, to humanity; but what is it? Why do we spend so much time, money and effort on this thing called love?

Our centre director Tim Gough gave a great short talk about what love is from a Christian perspective, after giving the young people time to discuss amongst themselves what they thought love was.

Some of the answers were, love for animals, love for food, love for family; but we still had no clarity on what love is.

So, we turned to the Bible, specifically John 3:16. Tim spoke of how God is the creator and originator of love. If we want to know what love is, and what it is all about, then we need to go to its inventor, its creator to find out what it really is.

As 1 John 4:8 says, ‘God is love‘. So everything that love truly is, God is; and “This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his one and only Son into the world so that we could have life through him. This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins.” – 1 John 4:9-10.

So this Valentine’s day with all of its roses, fluffy hearts and trinkets, remember what love truly is. God sending His only Son Jesus to die in our place on a cross. Let us say a big thank you to Him for His great love for us. If you want a love song for Valentine’s day; check out Matt Redman’s ‘This is how we know.” There is also an explanation of the background to the song here.

We hope you have a great Valentine’s day; and even if you do not receive a single card through the mail; don’t forget that the Creator of the Universe loves you.

Be Blessed!

Extreme Days!

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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” – Charles Dickens, a Tale of Two Cities.

I chose this quote for Charles Dicken’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ to open this blog post, because it seems like we are living in such a time today, where it seems to be the best of times and the worst of times.

There is so much upheaval and change happening around the globe that some people are in shock and dismay at what is going on; others are celebrating what seems to be the unsettling of the status quo.

These are indeed ‘extreme days‘. However, it is not as if the world has not gone through upheavals and changes that have shook people to their foundations. The whole of the Bible recounts times of great change and upheaval. Times where there are wars, changes in government, exiles, people fleeing persecution, people returning to their homelands, prejudices, intolerance, all manner of changes, cataclysmic events, the list goes on.

The constant through all of these events is God. He is our source of refuge. He is our source of strength. He is unchangeable and unwavering. He alone is trustworthy.

He alone is our Rock (Psalm 18).

As we trust in Him in these extreme days, we will not be shaken (Hebrews 12); but we can rest assured in His goodness and love. We know that there is a time for everything under heaven and that He makes all things beautiful in his time (Ecclesiastes 3).

Let us in these days, look to God. Lift our gaze above all the clamouring noise of the world around us, as see the One from whom our salvation comes (Psalm 121). Let us pray to Him for the nations and those in leadership. Let us pray that they would rule with wisdom and righteousness. But also, let us ask God how we can bring His love to the world around.

How can we manifest His kingdom in the world around us?

How can we bring God’s wisdom, light and hope to the world and lead them from unbelief and doubt into faith in the only true God and Saviour, Jesus Christ?

It starts with us on our knees before God almighty, asking for His help and strength.

2017, is also going to be an year of ‘extreme days‘ for the director of Llandudno Youth for Christ. This year he is going to be doing some extreme snowboarding, climbing a mammoth amount of mountain peaks, going rally driving and also performing an ‘extreme‘ feat to raise funds for the work of LLYFC (more details regarding this will be forthcoming in future blog posts – keep your eyes and ears peeled)

This is not the first time people have done something ‘extreme‘ to raise funds for the work we do at reaching young people with the good news of Jesus; in past years we have had a lady shave her hair off to raise money for what we do. Rev. Neil Kirkham, pastor at Gloddaeth United church in Llandudno swam a length of the Conwy river to raise funds for what we do.

It’s amazing to see what an amazing God can do through people who will step out in faith.

Let’s pray for the work that we are doing here, and when Tim does perform his ‘extreme‘ feat to raise funds for the work of LLYFC, let’s be ‘extremely‘ generous givers to support him.

Be blessed!

God is a listener!

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‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ – Jeremiah 33:3

At Llandudno Youth for Christ, we are currently working through a teaching series at our Sunday evening Bible study ‘Redefine‘; titled “God is…”

In this series, we are focussing on certain aspects of the nature and character of God; and how God call us to walk in His ways; and demonstrate more of His nature and character to those around us.

Last Sunday night, we looked at “God is a fighter“; how God fights for us; how He champions us and fights battles for us that we do not have the strength to win. The main passage we looked at was..“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” – Exodus 14:13-14. Here we see that God is going to do all of the fighting for the Israelites; all they had to do was be still and see God’s deliverance. Psalm 46 God says to us “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”(In fact the whole of Psalm 46 is a song of praise to God for His greatness, and well worth reading)

One of the best ways for us to ‘Be still and know..‘ is in prayer. In taking time to speak with God; to pour out our hearts to Him about what we are going through. To share with Him our hopes, dreams & struggles. To talk openly and honestly with this amazing all-powerful god, who knows us intimately and loves us unconditionally.

Prayer is us, stopping all that we are doing. Sometimes getting off the merry-go-round of life and all its busyness and making time to spend with our ‘Abba’ Father. He loves to hear us and listen to us. He is never to busy for us, or asleep, or unavailable. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” – 1 John 5:14-15 God enjoys listening to His children.

He also loves speaking to us. Giving us words of encouragement, love, rebuke, correction & peace. His is our number 1 ‘go-to’. He is our harbour in the storm. He is our all in all.

This coming Sunday night with the young people at Redefine, we will be looking at how God is a listener; and then putting that into practice by spending time with Him in prayer.

We will also be holding our monthly prayer meeting for all of the work we do a Llandudno Youth for Christ. This, just like our Redefine Bible study, will be held at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA. We will be meeting at 7pm for an hour to spend time with God talking with Him about all of our needs as a ministry that wants to see the lives of young people changed by the good news of Jesus.

We would love it if you could come along and join us in prayer to the God who listens. The God who hears. The God who responds to our whispers of faith.

We hope to see you here: Sunday 22nd January, 7pm at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre.

Be still and know….

All things new in 2017?

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‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,..‘ – Isaiah 43:19-20

Today, I had the great task of tidying up the offices of Llandudno Youth for Christ after the Christmas break. We have been away after Christmas for a fantastic week at the YFC UK National Conference in Manchester; and all of last week was spent catching up with admin; starting up the different projects we are involved in; and processing all of the great stuff God had inputted into the lives of the workers and volunteers at LLYFC.

So this Monday it was well past time to put away all of the Christmas decorations; party equipment; and other bits and bobs that had accumulated as they do in the office over December. And like the image above; if I’m honest it seemed like a herculean task.

However, by applying myself to the task and working through things slowly and methodically; I have brought the office space back into a semblance of neat and tidiness! Not perfected, but on its way; and definitely less stressful to try and work in without the clutter.

Getting rid of all of that stuff from last year; gives me more space to look forward to all the God has for us here at LLYFC in 2017.

Last night at our weekly Sunday evening youth Bible Study – Redefine; we had a lot of questions during our Q&A section that centred around Genesis: God’s book of beginnings. Thinking about that, it shows how the very first words in the Bible are ‘In the beginning God…’ God is always there right at the beginning of things, and He’s right there to help you begin anew. He is the great beginner!

Part of that beginning with God sometimes necessitates a letting go of all that has passed in order to move forward into what is ahead of us. Like me de-cluttering the office at the start of a new year. We sometimes need to de-clutter our life; get rid of all that is unnecessary and unneeded in order to focus on what is important and necessary in our lives.

At the beginning of 2017; what things do you need to let go of to move forward into God’s new thing?

What new thing is His asking you to see? What new thing is He asking you to step into?

Perhaps it is getting more involved in the work we do here at LLYFC and seeing young people impacted with the good news of Jesus?

If you feel God is asking you to come alongside us here; please drop us a line.

Thank You!

Out with the old and in with the new…

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“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:12-14

As we come to the last day of 2016; we look back on the past year; remembering all of its trials and tribulations, its victories, all of the fun that we’ve had and all of the challenges that we have overcome.

We can remember all of the blessings that God gave us.  We remember God’s faithfulness and how He has brought us safely to the end of another year.

But more than that, we look forward to 2017 with great expectation.

Expectation for the year ahead.

Expectation that God will once again show us His faithfulness.

Our Emmanuel – God with us; will still be with us in 2017.

What are your prayers for 2017?

What are you looking forward to?

Like the apostle Paul, are you pressing on to lay hold of all that God has in store for you in 2017?

We certainly will do in 2017; especially as we attend the Youth for Christ national conference in January. We look forward to a year of impacting young lives with the life changing message of Jesus. A year where we see God do amazing things in and through the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ. We also look forward to seeing so many people coming alongside us to engage with this ministry. Standing alongside us in 2017 in prayer; with finances and with voluntary support at our different events.

Thank you for all of your amazing support in 2016; and here’s looking forward to 2017.

Happy New Year!

“…on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

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“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Henry  Wadsworth Longfellow (written 1863)

This poem written by Longfellow during the American Civil War was in response to his oldest son being severely wounded at the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia. He felt great anguish about the war and wished for their to be peace between the Confederates and the Unionists.

This poem has since been put to music and performed by many artists, including Johnny Cash, Harry Belafonte and Elvis Presley. The band Casting Crowns have recorded a beautiful version. (See below).

This Christmas, for some people, like for Longfellow, the angels’ message of peace on earth (Luke 2:14) can seem to be a mockery of what they are experiencing. As the poem says, ‘for hate is strong and mocks the song, of peace on earth good will to men‘. For people, such as those suffering in the war in Syria, there seems to be no peace this Christmas, and yet we know that the message of the angels is true and trustworthy.

Even for people in homes around the UK, there can often be no peace at Christmas.  Their are family fights and despair that happens.  People are grieving lost loved ones. People are struggling to make ends meet, and it is very far from a merry Christmas for them.

The world is in a mess; and peace seems like a far, distant dream.

But it is into a world that has been polluted with sin that Jesus came.

He came to redeem and restore, to heal and to save.

In first century Israel, there were people despairing. There was oppression by the Romans. People were struggling to make ends meet. Into the mess and the muck of our sin polluted world, God stepped in and took on flesh; to bring us the only peace that lasts. Peace that can be found on a battlefield. Peace that can be experienced in the midst of despairing circumstances; and the only peace that is of eternal consequence.

Peace with God.

At Llandudno Youth for Christ; we pray that you will find this peace at Christmas.

Please continue to pray for the work that we do amongst young people in Llandudno and beyond. Pray that we will be able to help young people experience and discover God and His peace this Christmas.

Grace and peace to all of you this Christmas!

Little Saint Nick!

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“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” – James 1:17

Santa Claus, Sinterklaas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Pere Noel, St Nick, St Nicholas. These are the names that a certain character that is now highly associated with the period of Christmas is known by in different countries around the world.

There are different traditions associated with this figure in different countries, but most of them centre around him bringing gifts to ‘good’ children on Christmas Eve. This Santa Claus is said to live at the North Pole with his wife and a whole host of elves that make all of the toys that he distributes from his magical sack; whilst flying around the world on a sleigh pulled by magical reindeer that can fly.

Children write letters to him asking for gifts and leave milk and cookies for him to eat on Christmas Eve, and maybe a carrot or two for the reindeer.

Although, most of the above ideas of him riding across the sky, along with his depiction as a bearded, portly figure come from aspects of the Nordic figure of the chief god of the Asgardian myth, Odin, who is associated with the pagan midwinter event of Yule where he led the ‘Wild Hunt’, riding through the sky on him magic horse Sleipnir.

Other aspects of the mythos of Santa Claus come from the 1823 poem “A visit from St. Nicholas”, more popularly know as ‘Twas the the night before Christmas’. However, despite all of this; St Nicholas was a real, historical person.

He was the bishop of Myra in Asia Minor during the 4th Century. Myra no-longer exists as a place, but the remains of Myra can be found in the modern Turkish town of Demre.

St Nicholas is one of the saints who is revered for his life of faith and faithfulness to God by Christians from many different traditions around the world. He is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, pawnbrokers, brewers and children.

He was born in Patara, Lycia and as a youth he made a pilgrimage to Egypt and the area of Palestine. After his return he became the bishop of Myra and was imprisoned during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian. When Constantine became emperor and converted to Christianity he was released from prison and later was present at the Council of Nicaea. This was a very important council; the first ecumenical council. Here over 300 bishops convened to debate the nature of the trinity. The result of this meeting was very important and indeed we have the Nicene Creed as a result.

There is a tale of St Nicholas being so upset with another bishop’s views that he slapped him on the face. (To read the whole story click here.) St. Nicholas was passionate in his love for God and could not stand someone speaking lies and heresy about Jesus.

Other miracles and wonders are attributed to the life of this Christian, especially the tale of him giving gifts to save three unmarried women, or to bring relief to a famine struck area. This aspect of the saints life; his generosity and kindness has translated over to today’s Father Christmas; to Santa Claus.

However, unlike Santa Claus; St Nicholas always pointed people away from himself, to the only true Saviour of mankind; Jesus.

St Nicholas, would agree with me when I say that all good gifts come from Him, and at this time of Christmas, we should remember in all of our gift giving and receiving; to gladly receive God’s greatest gift given to us; His Son, Jesus.

Have a merry Christmas.

Paint it Black

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This Friday ‘Black Friday’ was unleashed!

Traditionally Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November). It has been regarded as the start of the Christmas shopping period in the USA since 1932. many shops open up early and offer promotional discounts.

This shopping trend is now not limited to the USA & Canada, but has crossed the pond and is now becoming part of our culture in the UK with deals not only in shops, but also online; after-all, who doesn’t love a good bargain?

However, the downside to this crazy shopping day is that it focusses us on getting, buying and having more stuff. As if our lives revolved around the accumulation of wealth. It’s quite ironic that this day marks the start of the ‘Christmas’ shopping period.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The celebration of God becoming man to live amongst us and die upon a cross to pay the price for all our sins. All our mess.

The King of Heaven came and humbled himself. He wasn’t born in a palace as the son of a King; but was born to a carpenter and his young wife and placed in an animal’s  feeding trough.

Black Friday gets us focussing on the wrong things; that’s why I chose the title ‘Paint it black’, like the Rolling Stones song which is about suffering from depression and seeing everything as black and somber despite it being jolly or happy.

Also, if our focus in life is to just get more stuff, that can lead to depression.

God has made us for relationship with Him, and everything in life is meant to flow out of that place.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:24-34.

The God who made everything; loves us more than we can imagine and wants us to cultivate and grow in a relationship with Him.

Let’s not get depressed by Black Friday, rather, let us look forward to Christmas and remember God coming to earth. Born as a baby. Born to save.