I’ve got talent for Jesus

Imagine that, for your birthday, your friends all get together and buy you this extremely 
nice, very expensive gift. They've all pitched in a little, and they've decided to give it to you 
during break time. The break bell whistles. As you rush out of class your friends all approach you,
singing & carrying this really great gift.

	You're stunned. Speechless. Caught off guard & caught in one of those emotional moments
when even crying feels right. Slowly you peel off the gift wrapping. As the present reveals itself, 
you get excited and overwhelmed. Before you is the one present your parents did'nt buy you. It's
the present mysteriously missing from your party on the weekend, and it's the one present you were
really hoping for.	

	The present is big but not heavy. It's easy to handle too. Caught up in the excitement of 
the moment, you stand, thank your friends, and begin to beat up each one of them with the new gift
they had given you. You smile as you whack each of them around. Giggling as the run away to escape 
your abuse.	

	You chase after them, down the corridors, swinging at them with every step. Almost like a 
'mother's room experience', they scream and run. You can't stop laughting. If you did that, wouldn't
you be an aweful person? What kind of friend would beat up his or her friends with a present? 
What kind of person would take a very good thing and use it for very bad purposes?

	Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you... .We have different gifts,
according to the grace given to us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to 
his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, 
let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is
leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.																																													- Romans 12: 3, 6-8

Spiritual gifts are like presents, and we often use them in all the wrong ways. When we're supposed
to use them for good, we sometimes use them to hurt others. No only has God given to us the amazing
gift of eternal life with Him, but He has also given us unique talents and abilities that we can use in 
a variety of ways. God also doesn't make us use the gifts He gives us in one certain way. He gives us
our gifts and talents and gives us free reign to use them however we choose.

Our talents & abilities are God’s gift to us,
What we do with it is our gift to Him.

The Flood

If there’s one thing we can agree on, it’s that the world’s no longer perfect. Perfection was lost when sin entered the world through our disobedience. Our sin brought forth a righteous judgement in the form of a world-wide flood approximately 4400 years ago. The earth we see today is riddled with signs of destruction some of which are mentioned below.

I need to state that we cannot prove anything in the past, that is something that hasn’t been observed, albeit creation, evolution any other philosophy. We can only observe the present and and try to make an idea fit of what happened in the past. The observation part involves science, making it fit perfectly into something involves much imagination.   Fortunately for the believers, we have the Word which is infallible, and the Word says quite a bit about the flood in the book of Genesis.

There was no rain prior to the flood (Gen 2:5)

The atmosphere of the world before the flood was very different from what it is today. From scripture we read that there was a layer of water above the atmosphere (Gen 1:6-7), of which could’ve been ice or water. This would create a very different living environment, which supported a wider variety of mammals, vertebrates and humans, so much so that they were gigantic (Gen 6:4). A layer of water above our atmosphere would also filter out UV radiation, maintain consistent environmental temperature and uniform light. Very different from the scorching, sunburning and possibly blinding sun we experience today.

Fountains of the deep broke open at the start of the flood (Gen 7:11, Gen 8:2)

The fountains of the deep are still visible on the planet today. The fault lines that encircle the globe are the remnants of where the fountains of the deep broke through the surface of the earth with immeasurable force. This flood theory is called the hydroplate theory and perfectly explains how the force of the fountains not only destroyed the water layer above the atmosphere but also cause enough rain for 40 days and bring forth enough water to flood the earth. Moreover it also explains the alignment of continent shores and mountain ranges to the fault lines and the ice age post-flood. For more information on the hydroplate theory, search for In the Beginning – Dr. Walt Brown, his book is free and online.

The whole earth was covered with water during the flood (Gen 7:19, Psa 106:11)

Covering the whole earth with water is still quite simple today. If all the mountains were laid flat and the ocean basins lifted, the earth would be covered with water more than 1 kilometre deep. At the end of the flood, mountains and ocean basins were formed, whereby the mountains lifted up and ocean basins sank down. Simply put, the places where the crust was thicker lifted, and where it’s thinner, sank down. The water ran off into the low areas over 10 months to form our current oceans (Gen 8:3-7). 

Only Noah, his family and 2 of each kind of animal survived (Gen 7:13, 23)

It’s very easy to achieve 7 billion people in 4400 years. 200 years ago there was only 1 billion people on earth and with the amount of famines, diseases and wars, we still see a steady steady growth in population. If we were to apply an evolutionist or uniformatarian timeline, which states that humans emerged 100,000 years ago and maintained a population of 10 million people up until 10,000 years ago, they would still have to bury 4 billion people in the upper layer of soil. However, archeologists have only managed to find approximately 4000 human fragments, none of which have been proven to be so called transitional species.

When we look at the fossil record for evidence of a flood we see that 95% of fossils are marine invertebrates like shellfish, 4.75% are plants and algae, 0.2375% are insects and 0.0125% are land vertebrates such as dinosaurs. 95% of all land mammal fossils were formed during the ice age at the time of the flood. The fossil record is not layers of different ages but can be perfectly explained through a worldwide cataclysmic flood.

There is much more evidence of God in nature, all of which are a lot more scientific in their observation and their calculation, but the real indestructible truth lies in the Word. I believe that knowledge of the flood and creation is beneficial, but it’s Jesus that brings salvation.  The flood is an example of the wrath of God that is currently being denied by secular science and Paul reveals that in Romans – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).

While the unrighteous may try to suppress the truth in nature, we as the upright children of God have a higher call to speak the truth in love and share the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who are lost and there’s no better time than the present.

 

Good food gone bad

In this day and age, there is unfortunately so much differing and often controversial information, regarding nutrition. Fad diets, poor quality ingredients as well as “wonder” pills and potions shrewdly marketed, all add to the confusion. It’s my desire to calm the chaos and share a few useful tips with you, throughout this article. Enjoy!

A catastrophic error that most people make with their nutrition plan is that they cook with foods that encourage fat accumulation, rather than support healthy fat burning. The less you cook with the following ingredients, the more positive your results will be along your journey to great health.

Vegetable Oil - Vegetable oil (such as sunflower oil) contains large amounts of trans-fatty acids – the “unhealthy” fats. Aren’t all fats “unhealthy” I hear you ask? The answer is, no. Most people think that to lose fat, you must eat little or no fat. This idea, unfortunately, is incorrect. You actually need to eat fat, to lose body fat, the key however is which fats should you eat (and in what quantities) and which should you avoid? Your body needs healthy fats, such as those found in almonds, avocadoes, salmon etc. for it to function. However, your body does not need the unhealthy alternatives such as those found in pastries, crisps and fast foods – all of these examples are made with vegetable oil, a big hindrance to one’s health. Avoid vegetable oils at all costs and even in your own cooking, substitute it with olive oil instead (even then, use sparingly).

Margarine - A MASSIVE no-no! The word “margarine” came from the Greek word for “pearl”, because the original version was hard, white and glossy. Margarine was created in the late 1860’s as a cheaper alternative to butter. As the years went on, chemists found ways to make it tastier and have a greater resemblance to butter by making it more yellow in appearance. Even though they’ve achieved this, most brands today contain excessive amounts of trans-fatty acids (the real bad- boys of the diet) which have been shown to increase cancer risks, promote inflammation as well as accelerate aging and degenerative changes in the tissues. If that’s not enough, margarine has also been shown to:

• Increase LDL (the ‘bad’ cholesterol) and decrease HDL (the ‘good’ cholesterol)
• Lower the quality of breast milk Decrease immune response

If that’s not enough to put you off of margarine, how about this one – margarine is but ONE molecule away from being plastic! Try this: purchase a block of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days, you will notice a couple of things:

- no flies, not even the annoying fruit flies will go anywhere near it- it will not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value – nothing will grow on it, not even tiny microorganisms. Why? Because margarine is nearly plastic!

Processed Protein - Any type of processed protein such as deli meat will be filled with preservatives that only add toxic waste to your body and will prevent the natural process of fat loss from occurring. Instead, choose natural sources of protein such as lean chicken breasts, fish, red meat (with the fat cut off), eggs (with the yolk), milk (preferably fat-free) and various nuts such as almonds and pecans.

Cream - Cream is another cooking ingredient not worth giving your attention to, well not as often as we tend to at least. Not only is cream high in calories and fat, but it’s of the nasty saturated fat variety. While low-fat dairy products can be healthy on a diet plan, cream is not one of them.

White Flour - If there’s one whole category of foods that you should eliminate from your diet entirely, thereby making sure that you aren’t cooking or baking with it, it’s white flour! White flour is robbed of its natural nutrients and is only going to spike insulin levels, promoting high rates of fat gain. Shun this ingredient immediately!

Brown Sugar- It must be stated from the outset – brown sugar is NOT more healthy than white sugar! The brown sugar sold in shops is actually white granulated sugar with added molasses. Yes, brown sugar does contain more minerals than white sugar, however it is such a minute amount that one would need to eat a gigantic portion of brown sugar every day for that mineral content difference to be of any significance. The idea that there are greater health benefits in brown sugar as opposed to white sugar, is another common nutrition myth. Sugar is a big enemy on your hit-list of ingredients to eliminate. Sugar causes high’s and low’s, promotes strong food cravings, and will quickly cause the accumulation of body fat. Need I say more to convince you to cut back?

I hope these few tips have helped you. As the Word says in 3 John 1:2, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Best regards

Glyn Bradfield

The Law of Unity (Part 2)

In the previous article I spoke about the Law of Unity and the wonderful benefits that come as we operate together as one body.  When we do this the Bible speaks of commanded blessing (Ps 133), the fullness of Christ (the anointed one and His anointing) Ephesians 4:16, achieving great things (Gen. 11), and experiencing God’s best in every area of life etc. etc. The fullness of the Anointing is what we desire here at Life Church, but we also understand that because it is so precious even though it is for free, it does not come cheap.

The anointing is God’s ability on our ability. The anointing is the power of God. The anointing is the burden removing yoke, destroying power, and it is this power that even though it is for free there is a huge cost factor. Now that sounds like a contradiction, but Jesus paid every bit of the price so that we could experience God’s anointing.

When we look at Genesis 11 we see that it starts with the people who are in ONE accord having ONE language. When we look at Acts 2 we see how the people in ONE accord are given ONE language again, but this time from heaven. Isn’t it amazing that the first part or MEMBER of the body, the Holy Spirit seeks to control or have influence over is our tongue. With our tongues, James 3 tells us that we have an ability to be a perfect man, OR sadly even defile our whole body.  The word for defile is the Greek word “spiloo” which means to spoil or stain. Notice also that the tongue is set on fire by hell, or in other words the devil is able to spoil, stain or defile our lives by influencing our tongues and getting us to speak wrong. Now this is not only talking about our own natural bodies, but also the church body that we are part of.

When I look at it in the context of our church body I understand that God is telling us that we have to take what we say very, very seriously, especially with regards to Life Church. That’s why God has given us His Holy Spirit who is known as the Helper, so that we can speak accurately. There is no better way to pray, speak or talk but, with His help.

As we build life church together we all need to have ONE language, and there is no better way for us to do this than pray in tongues or our Spiritual/ heavenly language. God has given this to us so that we may not stumble in word and so as He builds Life Church we will not build in vain , we will not build contrary to His build, we won’t stain or spoil the building process.

As a church we do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit (WE WANT THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST) and when we look at Ephesians 4:30 that is exactly what is commanded. However the preceding verse speaks about us not speaking wrong. i.e.  Let no corrupt communication come out of your mouths……. Between verse 29 and 30 there is the conjunctive word ‘and’ linking the two verses and so we see that the way we can grieve the Holy Spirit is by talking wrong. Therefore the more we speak in line with the Holy Spirit the greater and the quicker  we build.

In conclusion, let’s be a church that speaks with ONE language, prays with ONE language and operates in the unity of the Spirit so that we can build great things for our great God.