Unfortunately, I’m already sold. At 16, I found something so utterly desirable, so completely satisfying, that nothing would ever compare. Whatever experience, whether it’s sex, money or crazy drunken nights I’m given, I’ll never find anything better.

Jesus I freakin love you, nothing else compares, thankyou for finding me.

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Rom.5:3-4)

How’s rejoicing in your suffering going?

Pretty crap for me. I’ve spent most of the last 24 hours feeling very lost. The world kicked my ass, my idols were uncovered and the enemy unceasingly challenged me (1Peter 5:8) …I’m sure you get the point.

Honestly I would still be there apart from God, who (again) led me back to the cross.

When God died on the cross, it conquered death, despair and the failures of sinful people. My failures.

So now everything has changed.

From disgrace to amazing grace my suffering is NOT in vain, as he suffered for a purpose, we suffer for a purpose.

In his plan, he leads us to endurance…and character…and hope. So I rejoice in suffering, because God has me exactly where he wants me.
I am not self-sufficient. In my suffering and weakness I am led again and again to the cross, and he “restores my soul” (ps.23:3)

How’s rejoicing in your suffering going?

If you haven’t seen the news, around 30,000 students demonstrated because of cuts to funding, and tripled fees for UK students. This is history in the making, a massive change in our education system.

However this was clearly more than a protest. The footage shows hundreds of students going nuts.

Students making it clear who they blame.

Missiles, physical abuse, fist fights, bonfires, riot police, vandalism.

Why?

A majority agree the violence doesn’t even benefit students.

The bible says:

1. We are made in God’s image, this includes anger (Gen.1:26)

2. The world is fallen, broken, marred by Sin (Gen.3)

People, like God are sensitive to this world. Something has gone wrong. When millions of people are laden with years of crippling debt, they want to point a finger.

But the students got it wrong, the ‘authorities’ are not the cause, sin is. This world will never be equal, however hard we protest.

I love that God isn’t finished with our world.

Rev.21:1 says God is bringing a ‘New Heaven&New Earth’ this is exactly what the students are looking for. Equality, generosity, absolute prosperity and happiness will all exist in this new earth.

God will finish this.

It’s not been a fantastically fun few weeks.
My course seems determined to kill me. Mainly with work, then tried to explain that an ideal future career designing microprocessors is something wonderful.

Just so you know, it’s not.

I’d rather move to a hemp farm, wear tie-died clothes and try to pretend communism is still awesome.

Apart from that, I’m struggling with my identity a lot. I spent the last year obsessing with my successes and failures, letting them utterly define me. It definitely doesn’t feel right. This isn’t the life I wanted.

So then I watched this video, and something blew up in my head. When it comes down to it, what God says about you wins. Wins against anything else anyone ever said.

In Christ I am Redeemed, and made utterly valuable. My identity is a Christ-Follower before anything else.

So now I live, with the same successes and the same failures, knowing that life is often crap…but because of my identity, everything has changed.

what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” Ex. 3:13-14

So after a week spent away from technology, one of my first priorities was 3 hours of ‘web catchup’. The same thing happens every time: the reality of advertising drive takes me by surprise.

I mean they’re everywhere. Because of brilliant ideas like spotify, they’re even in my music. However there’s a point. All brilliant advertisers know, something is nothing until it is promoted.

And I was thinking: fortunately this isnt the same with God.

In Ps.90:2 it says:

Before the mountains were brought forth,

or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

He was before the beginning and he is better, faster and stronger than anything else on the market. And he certainly doesn’t need us to rep him. That’s just because we get to, he’s worth sharing.

dictionary.com defines poverty as:

The state or condition of having little or no money, goods or means of support…

Compared to the world’s majority, people reading this are minted beyond belief, however we all endure seasons of ‘apparent poverty’. And it hurts.

Paul relates. Speaking of the prosperity and poverty pendulum, he says

In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

(Phil.4:11-12 ESV)

What is this secret?

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

(Phil.4:19 ESV)

If God provides everything we need, why does he permit our poverty?

I found some reasons:

1. Poverty shows we aren’t in control.

2. Poverty reveals the ‘idols of the heart’…what we worship.

3. Poverty is humbling.

4. Poverty shows satisfaction in God is ‘In any and every circumstance’.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. – Mt.10:16

FINISHING a 3 part series on the career.

After hitting calling and family, I lastly want to share where God has led me concerning money wisdom.

Because lets be honest, you career choice will determine whether you’re rich or poor (or wherever inbetween). To sum up a lot of Bible teaching, Jesus doesn’t really care how much you make, more how you steward it. There are godly rich (the centurian) and godly poor (john the baptiser)

Here are some thoughts:

The church is always poor.

Playing the money game for Jesus.

Since when did Jesus say ‘I dont want you earning money‘?

Be a good steward, learn to give joyfully and sacrificially. Its very good for your heart (screw flora).

So in summary, is it so wrong to plan (by Gods grace) to be a godly steward of a lot?

I pray I find a career that earns a mint, so I can give more away. Just sayin.

I say family because te Bible is very clear the family you build and cultivate is important, Jesus was born into a family and the relationships within a local church should look like a family…you get it, God has a thing about them.

So if you’re presently at uni, you probably aren’t planning how to build a family. And neither are my course buddies, in fact when I told them, they clearly thought it was weird.

Legacy changes things.

But if you love Jesus, chances are you will eventually have offspring, and all your hopes and dreams will change. forever.

So when you look at a career, are you really thinking ‘How can I be an awesome parent to my children?’ or ‘How can I leave a family legacy of people who honor God?’

Investment Banking has one of the highest divorce-because-your-job-demanded-everything figures. I’m not gonna be that father.

So I’m making some decisions.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. – Mt.10:16

What will I spend the next 40 years of my life doing?

I’m wrestling with God over this, and beginning to see how huge it is.

Money,influence,family,skill,experience,heart are a few of the things that make it way confusing, and the world doesn’t help, so I’m writing about  3 wise things I think change everything.

#1: calling

We only worship God because he ‘called us out of darkness’ (1Pt.2:9) so it makes sense for the rest of our lives to be lived towards his calling.

A relationship with God also means pursuing the calling he nails our heart with. Oh and he nails.

For me this means I didn’t enter the army but was drawn towards the city of Manchester.

And how does this change my career? I follow Gods call to Manchester, unless he says otherwise I’m here to stay.

That means I reject London jobs

That means I reject offers from southern Engineering companies.

Stupid? I just trust God, I trust his call.

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. (Acts 17:23 ESV)

So by far, my recent favorite musical genera is atmospheric rock.

Check out Explosions in the Sky and God is an Astronaut. Sounds dumb? It’s awesome, shut your mouth. It began for me in Seattle, and makes me very happy.

WARNING: contains 8min long emotional rollercoasters. Depression may follow.

Anyway a bloke I live opposite is in an atmospheric rock band Killington Fall who have a song titled ‘To a God Unknown’ I think taken from the above verse from Acts. Athenians had set up an idol to an ‘unknown God’ because they weren’t sure they were worshipping the right God (they already had around 30)

Explosions in the Sky

The point is we haven’t changed much.

The unknown is a growing fascination in our culture, so Pauls’ “What therefore you worship as unknown, I proclaim to you” is still huge.

People were made with a desire to worship something/someone. This desire is satisfied entirely in Jesus.

This is why I love ccm:city‘s series on Corinthians, finding God in a desire for experience. The Greeks needed Jesus so do we.