Adam White

I’ll be honest with you; I find reading my bible difficult and unless I am willing to sit down for an extended period of time and get into to some proper study with additional books for assistance I very rarely do it. With the new year I am hoping to get into some regular study time as I know it is nothing but help but I find that listening to people talk about the bible is a lot easier.

This is where my faith-based podcasts come in. I was first introduced to some preachers from around the world when I first started getting into God properly and haven’t stopped listening since.

I have dabbled with a number of different speakers over the years but below are the ones I listen to regularly and try and keep up to date with:

Andy Stanley (North Point Community Church)

http://www.northpoint.org/messages

Andy Stanley (along with the brilliant Louie Giglio) was the first preacher I listened to from another church. He heads up one of the largest churches in America and is a very gifted speaker. He is in his 40s and is very down to Earth in the way he speaks. I find the topics he covers excellent for new Christians and even though he is usually quite light on the doctrine I still find his talks excellent to listen to.

John Piper (Desiring God)

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/

I would describe John Piper as being at the opposite end of the spectrum to Andy Stanley. I first came across him when when I was still new to the Christian world and found him to be a little heavy and hard to listen to. Coming back to him years later I find him amazing. He seems to know so much about God and the bible and this shows in his very comprehensive messages. He is currently preaching his way through the book of John and has been for well over a year now. Full of doctrine and a definite pick for anyone that wants to learn more about their bible and God.

Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church)

http://www.marshillchurch.org/

Where would a list of preachers be without Mark Driscoll. A man who is still very young for a preacher in his late 30s he has an approach to God and the bible that just rubs off on any of his listeners. He is the only person I know who can bring humour and deep conviction to a message with ease. He is very tough and holds nothing back in his messages but talks with such love that you can’t help but be gripped. He has recently started a series with the aim to preach through every chapter of the book of Luke in 3 years. A stunning speaker and highly recommended to everyone.

Matt Chandler (The Village Church)

http://www.thevillagechurch.net/

I have only been listening to Matt Chandler for a little while and found him to be a very good speaker in the Mark Driscoll mould. Sadly, late last year, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour and understandingly hasn’t been speaking for a while. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and young family.

Mark Thornett, Nigel Howarth and Colin Thornton (Gateway Church Swindon)

http://gatewaychurchswindon.org.uk/audio/

And how can I complete a list of preaches without mentioning my own church? While I don’t listen to the online recording often as I usually listen to it first-hand I do recommend it to anyone in the Swindon area if they are interested in finding a local church or just getting an idea of what our church is like.

View the entire series

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Don’t you find that Christians make being a Christian more complicated than it is meant to be?

You don’t become a Christian by coming to church every Sunday without fail.

You don’t become a Christian by praying a “special prayer”.

The gospel can be summed up in one sentence. And it is in the most famous sentence in the entire bible…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

But what does this verse mean to us? It can be broken down into four easy to remember words:

“For God so LOVED the world” – Firstly God loved us. Before we did anything and even though we don’t deserve it He loved us unconditionally. No matter how far we wander from him and no matter how much we ignore him he loves us more than can be understood.

“That he GAVE his one and only Son” – In fact, he loved us so much that he gave us the thing that was most precious to him: His son. To restore the gulf that was between us and God he gave up his only son, he sent him into human history to live, suffer and die for nothing that he did wrong but for everything we ever did wrong.

“That whoever BELIEVES in him” – And all we have to do is believe. No special prayer. No clever ritual. Just believe. Put aside the issues we have created against God. Lay down our pride and our self-importance. Just believe that Jesus was who he said he was and that he died for us.

“Shall not perish but HAVE eternal life” – Then for that tiny step of faith we get to live forever in a place of absolute joy where all the negatives of this world are but a distant memory: Heaven.

Simple!

Then why do so many of us resist? Why do so many of us choose to ignore this simple invitation?

Each of us have our reasons (I did). I just hope and pray that your reasons are worth the risk you are taking. What if you ignore God’s invitation your entire life and then you miss the opportunity?

Have a chat to God tonight. Find a bible in your loft and dust it off. Look into this amazing invitation before it is too late.

It’s a decision I made even though it went against my better judgement but I don’t regret that decision for a second.

This was based on a message from Nothpoint Ministries‘ Go Fish! sermon series.

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“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:7 (ESV)

What does it mean that love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things?

This is most likely referring to our relationships with each other and how we should be. It means we should not give up on those we love; we should trust them; we should hope for the best and perservere through all things for the one we love.

Let’s perform a little role-play to better illustrate this point: Let’s imagine a situation where someone you love appears to have let you down. For example, you have asked them to come and pick you up from work in the evening. 30 minutes after they were due they still haven’t arrived.

What do you think? There is a gap here which your brain must fill.

You have two options: You can either think the best (there is heavy traffic and they can’t get to you or something really important has come up which they have no choice but to deal with) or you can think the worst (they have forgotten you or are putting less important things ahead of coming to get you).

Which one of these two extremes you choose to believe will heavily affect your relationship. One of them fills you with negativity and disrespect. The other fills you with peace and love.

Which of these two will you choose to fill the next gap you face? Will you choose to think the worst or will you choose to bear with them even though they are late, believe that there is a very good reason they are not there, hope that they will come and get you when they can and endure while you wait?

I know what I am going to try and do!

This was based on a the last talk from Nothpoint Ministries‘ Staying In Love sermon series.

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There are different levels of love. You can have romantic love, love for friends and family love. But what does a love of God feel like?

I struggle with loving God. To me love is a warm fuzzy feeling you get deep inside. I might get this occasionally for God when things are going particularly well but it is intermittent and based on feelings.

I was listening to a talk by Andy Stanley today and he said something that really struck me: “Love is a verb, not a noun”. Basically, when we talk about love we talk about being in it or that we’ve found it. We talk about it as it is a something we get for someone.

What if we were to think about love as a verb; something we do?

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” – 1 John 4:7

What if, in order to understand what love really is, we need to do it first? Rather than waiting for the fuzzy feeling of love for someone before selflessly helping them why don’t we love them by selflessly helping.

I believe that this is what loving God is really all about.

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Andy broke this one down into two points Jesus made in Matthew chapter 6. The first one was about giving to the needy:

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:1-4

Obviously I can’t talk too much about this one as I’m not allowed to announce my giving “with trumpets” and posting the details of it on my blog would be announcing it with digital trumpets but what I can say is I’m a bit rubbish at doing this enough.

I am blessed to have a fantastic job, a car, a roof over my head and food in the fridge. There are others out there who have not got my blessings and I need to give more or my wealth out.

This is a real challenge but as this is what Jesus has asked me to do who am I to say no?

The second was about praying in private:

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:5-6

I will openly admit that I don’t do this. I will pray in bed last thing at night. I will pray on my walk to work in the morning. I have even prayed while cooking and washing up. But all of these times I am multi-tasking. I never just stop everything I am doing and give my time to God.

Andy said it right, money is not my most prized possesion; my time is. I am so busy with so many things that I try and fit so many things into my days. The last thing I think I should do is stop everything for 30 minutes and pray. However this is exactly what I should be doing.

I need to stop trying to squeeze prayer into my busy life, instead I should be trying to fit my busy life around prayer.

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I’m currently listening to a sermon series by Andy Stanley in which he is talking through the five things he believes God uses to grow our faith. I thought I would comment on my own experiences on each of these points.

The first point is Practical Teaching. By this Andy is talking about hearing the bible being taught in a new and practical way that makes a difference in your life.

When I first became a Christian I didn’t go to church. I took a few jabs at reading a bible but didn’t really hear any preaching. It wasn’t until I moved back to Swindon and after a couple of years started to attend my current church did I start to hear God’s word told in a way that really spoke to me. But it wasn’t my church’s speakers that did it, it was when I started listening to the preaches of Louie Giglio and Andy Stanley at some friends’ house.

These guys preached in a way that really spoke to me and taught me the bible in a fresh and entertaining way. They made a lasting impact on me and I still listen to Andy Stanley’s preaches today. Louie has moved on to youth work which is a shame but he occasionally pops up at North Point Community church with a fantastic sermon. I highly recommend them both.

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Lindsay has posted an interesting bible study on our needs and God’s riches on her website.

I think it is amazing how God seems to talk to us about something from so many places at the same time. My church preached on Sunday about God vs Gold and then last night I happened to listen to a couple of Northpoint sermons on money. And then today I read this bible study by my friend Lindsay saying almost the same thing again!

The challenge I feel God is setting for me is to re-evaluate what I am doing with my riches. God has given me all that I need and has blessed me with much more. But what should I do with the more? Should I be saving it for a rainy day like the rich man in Luke 12:13? According to Jesus no. We have this view that when God blesses us with extra it is for us when in fact it is for us to give to others.

The best explanation I have heard is to give first to God, then save and use the rest to live on. I feel challenged at the moment to work out what I need to live on and use the rest more wisely (i.e. no more DVDs that I don’t watch or books I never read) but to save some and use the rest for the glory of God. I also feel like I need to look at all the things I already have and work out how I can best leverage them for God (this could mean giving things away or maybe using them for a better purpose than gathering dust in my garage/loft).

When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount he clearly says we should store up riches in heaven and not on earth (Matthew 6:19). Am I being a good steward of things here on earth? I think I could do better as I am storing up too many things for myself.

A Spirit-led rethink is needed I think!

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Over the past couple of weeks I have been listening to some sermons and a couple of statements that were made have really jumped out and stuck with me…

The first was from Mark Driscoll when he was talking about how as Christians we are called to serve but we need to check our attitudes to why we serve:

We shouldn’t do things for God because we have to, we should do them because we get to!

I enjoy serving and helping people but I still look at it as something I am called to do by God when really I should look at it as something I get to do for God. Looking at it in that slightly different way makes the things I do more of a pleasure and less of a chore.

The second quote was from Andy Stanley and he was talking about what faith is. He gave a fantastic (biblical) definition based on Hebrews 11:

Faith is confidence that God is who he says he is and he’ll do what he has promised to do

Faith is not a power that we get and can grow in. It’s not the biblical version of the Force! It is simply believing in God and trusting that he will fulfill the promises he has made.

And finally this was attached to the bottom of an email I got sent the other week and went straight onto a Post-It note on my wall:

Happy moments – Praise God
Difficult moments – Seek God
Quiet moments – Worship God
Painful moments – Trust God
Every moment – Thank God

This stayed with me from the moment I read it as it is basically a very accurate guide to how to live your life!

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