Standing Firm Ministries

19/03/2024

Sometimes it feels like there is a conflict between those Christians who are passionate about evangelism and those Christians who are passionate about the environment and justice issues. But for me I came to grow in faith as a teenager in large part because I saw the problems in the world around me and when I read the books of the prophets in the Old Testament time and time again calling on people to care for the poor and to right the wrongs of injustice I realized this God is as relevant today as he's ever been! The world needs God. I wanted to be part of bringing that change of building his Kingdom in the world seeing his values become our values to the benefit of everyone. Does your faith shoe itself in how you care for creation and the poor? [Excerpt from John Scott Radical Disciple]

16/03/2024

Quite a challenge from John Stott in Radical Disciple...Do we look like the Christ we proclaim?

15/03/2024

When things get overwhelming some advice from John Mark Comer...Slow down. Breathe. Come back to the moment. Receive the good as a gift. Accept the hard as a pathway to peace. Abide.

29/02/2024

One of my colleagues shared in our staff devotions about the importance of filling our minds with positive things throughout the day. She confessed she has a habit of checking the news multiple times a day and that the negativity in the press can really impact her. That's one of the reasons I've started to try and listen to Christian podcasts in the car rather than the radio. To fit in some positivity and inspiration. I found this one because I had listened to Jeff Bethke's podcast with John Mark Comer and this one 'The real life podcast' is by Jeff and his wife Alyssa. I've been following the 'Satisfied' series and it has raised some helpful questions about what to do with our unmet longings.

‎Religion & Spirituality · 2021

27/02/2024

Just finished reading this book 'The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry' by John Mark Comer. It has been really challenging and inspiring and I have already found myself putting into practice some of his suggestions. Well worth a read if you can

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: John Mark Comer (9781529308389): Free Delivery at Eden.co.uk

19/02/2024

Feelings can be deceiving...you know that old piece of advice 'to sleep on it' sometimes it's best to wait a while before we respond to a situation: to let the feeling pass. https://www.facebook.com/share/4xAGMLPW9BpbyDfD/

When emotions are high, wisdom is low. That's why with God’s help, we will determine our course of action before the moment of a decision!

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans." Proverbs 16:3

16/02/2024

I'm not good at reading a devotional every day...but one I dip into sometimes is Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, it gives a daily thought as if it were Jesus talking to you and then she references the scriptures that inspired the thought. Today made me smile because I've been looking into the issues caused by hurry in our lives and it starts by encouraging us to thank Jesus for the times we are forced to be still...sometimes we refuse to rest, to take a break then our body gets overloaded and we are made to stop as we get ill or injured. So I'm listening and working towards this goal to slow down and rest and in that time to be still in God's presence.

14/02/2024

I wonder how you are marking Lent this year? Are you giving anything up? Or are you worn out of failing and more in the 'giving up on giving up' camp? Sometimes I've given up chocolate, other times I've fasted from TV or social media. Other years I have tried to take something up - to follow a different devotional routine or read a specific book over the 40 days. I've had mixed success and often find I don't stick to what I planned for the whole 40 days! But what is the purpose of Lent anyway? A quick google search provides many different ideas around this Christian tradition on one hand we are remembering Jesus' fasting in the desert and temptation, one the other it is a preparation for the celebration of Easter. For some commentators it is about growing a deeper relationship with God through the act of fasting, others focus on the element of repentance and others on the self denial.

For me this year I want to grow closer to Jesus and so I'm going to try a mixed approach a bit more fasting, a bit more prayer, a bit less screen time!

10/02/2024

I really enjoy reading people's life stories...I came across this series 'Heroes of the faith' and I've read half a dozen of them!
David Livingstone's life is so different and yet many of his challenges and frustrations are so relatable! A man in a hurry, with a passion to achieve something for the kingdom. He was a missionary in South Africa in the 1850s and was desperate to share the gospel with indigenous tribes but found they were not very responsive. Impatient with the pace of developments he struck out on his own and pushed further than any European missionary had been. He struggled with the balance of his call and family life and was hampered by ill health. He was very human, he made mistakes and misjudgements. But his work opened up passages for trade and for others to go after him and Christianity was brought to the regions he preached in and millions were saved...but not in his lifetime...God's timing after all is not our timing! Overall it is an inspiring testimony to God's power to do the seemingly impossible...how could a Scottish lad who grew up in poverty working in a cotton mill end up across the globe, sponsored by the Prime minister Lord Palmerston, even meeting Queen Victoria?! His explorations inspired many others to follow in his footsteps. [Front cover of the book David Livingstone Explorer and Missionary].

09/02/2024

I feel like I've been a worrier all my life. Worrying comes naturally to me. I can worry about almost anything, the weather, if my car will make it through the next MOT, the financial outlook, about health, about what people think...really the list could go on forever! But In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught us not to worry. He said (and I paraphrase here) don't sweat the small stuff, what you are going to cook for dinner, whether the laundry is done etc. It was a call to get our priorities straight. Whilst it is good to have a clean house, clothes folded neatly in drawers and a home cooked meal on the table each night the reality is if I waited to get all this done BEFORE I spent time with God praying or reading my Bible then I probably wouldn't get round to it! So I've got to pick and choose and that is not always easy!
25 “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? 26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 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? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:28-33

08/02/2024

Do you feel technology has brought you closer to God or drawn you further away?

05/02/2024

Do you ever feel discouraged? Do you ever feel under attack? I know I have had seasons where I feel this way. God wants us to be open and honest with him, when we pray we don't have to pretend everything is ok we can share our concerns, but we need to know that God is our defender. Psalm 3:3 says "But you Lord are a shield around me, the one who lifts my head high." I love this image, it is comforting to imagine God surrounding me almost like a hug! And when I'm feeling overwhelmed and that I'm just not enough he reaches his hand out and gently touches my chin so that my eyes meet his and he is not angry or disappointed in me, but his eyes are full of love. [Image is a blue background with a circle containing the words of the verse)