Colour

God loves colour – he created it! Have you ever looked at the beauty of the tints and tones in a beautiful flower – God designed that! God is in to vibrant living colour – in fact we can discover much about God by taking notice of how he uses colour!

Indeed – not only does our creative God design his world with the most beautiful use of colour – but   colour is important to him for other reasons – for colour displays his character.

The first striking instance of this was when God commanded Moses to build the first Tabernacle in the wilderness – which was in fact a tent – a place where he could meet with men. God instructed Moses –

• “Make the Tabernacle from ten curtains of finely woven linen. (Linen is white) Decorate the curtains with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skilfully embroidered cherubim”. (Exodus 26)

Only a blind person could come near this tent without noticing these four colours –

• WHITE -  BLUE -  PURPLE -  SCARLET

And these four colours give us balanced picture of the character of God – a picture which is repeated again and again throughout the Bible.

I believe that one of the great mistakes of many churches is that they focus on one colour to the exclusion of the others – one of the results of which are the divisions, denominations and the plethora of churches we find in our world today. We will explore this in more detail later.

The fact is that these four colours represent different aspects of the character of God -

• Fine Linen, which is dull white, is normally the clothing, at least in the Middle East, of the common man.

• Purple is the colour associated, almost universally, with Kingship/Royalty.

• Scarlet, again almost universally – is the colour associated with sacrifice – for it is the colour of blood.

• Blue – is the colour of heaven – where God was supposed to live.

So these four colours – are chosen by God to represent the four main aspects of his character. He is -

• God over all

• King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Yet he is at one and the same time

• The suffering Servant

• The Man

As God we honour and worship him. As King we live under his authority and rule. As servant he meets our every need and provides for us all we require for life and for eternity and as Man he is the friend who is closer to us than a brother or sister – one who knows what it is like to live my life – to feel my pain and to know my suffering.

And I need to know God in each of these ways –if not my appreciation of him and my relationship with him will be incomplete.

Of course four colours – these four aspects are not enough to describe all God is – for his character is multi faceted – but in his own wisdom God gives us these four colours to help us understand him.

But these four colours also reveal a bigger principal seen throughout the Bible and it is the principal not only of four COLOURS – but the principal of FOUR.

For instance, and perhaps most strikingly, we have four gospels – each of which has a theme connected with these four COLOURS.

• Matthew – primarily views Jesus as a King who has come to set up His Kingdom.

• Mark – primarily views Jesus as the suffering servant of God who has come to offer himself as a sacrifice for men and women.

• Luke primarily views Jesus as the perfect man – an example for all to follow.

• John primarily views Jesus as the majestic, divine and holy Son of God.

Jesus also came for four main reasons –

• He came as a conquering King to invade the realm and territory of Satan in order to establish his Kingdom. In so doing he defeats (as a King) the power of darkness, evil and death.

• He came as a servant to seek lost humanity and lead them back to relationship with his Father – to bring them home. So we have pictures of him as the servant shepherd seeking for the lost sheep and when he finds them he carries them in his arms to the safety of the Fathers fold.

• He came also as a man – experiencing out pain, our joys, and our sorrows and at one and the same time demonstrated a life of perfect communion with his Father.

• And he came as God– to reveal to us the very heart of The Father – the human face of God if you like – in his unfailing love, grace, mercy and compassion.

And all of these meet the need of the human condition –

• He comes to me as my loving King – and in love I bow daily and acknowledge his Lordship in my life. I need a King.

• He comes to me as my servant, shepherd, and saviour – to sacrifice himself for me and to bring me back to the Father. I need a Servant/Saviour

• He comes to me as Friend – the one who is closer and more intimate than any human companion can ever be. I need a friend.

• And he comes to me as God of all creation – God of my life – the one I worship and adore. I need a God to worship.

But, as we said earlier, what has happened is that very often, Churches and individual Christians have focused on one colour – on one aspect of who God is – and as a result we have imbalanced and sometimes dysfunctional Churches and Christian lives. For instance –

Some churches emphasise the Kingly aspect of God and his Divine Authority. Their big emphasis is apostolic authority – strong leadership and the subservience and obedience of the people. This movement very often sing battle songs, talk about taking the land and major on spiritual warfare. Some of us experienced the fallout from what was called the “Heavy Shepherding Movement” – still prominent in some circles – where if you will not come under the authority of the leaders – you are rejected and ostracised. This is dysfunctional church. I think this is  probably the most destructive colour imbalance – because it is power based and very often becomes abusive.

Other branches of the church, in what are termed “Evangelical Circles” place an imbalanced emphasis on Jesus as Saviour – to the exclusion of everything else. He is Saviour of course – but he is more than that.

Yet others, major on Jesus as man and friend – on the sympathetic nature, love and mercy of God – to the exclusion of the fact he is righteous King with expected standards of behaviour in his Kingdom. The end result of this is – anything goes – because God is love – which of course he is – but he is more than that. And so we could go on.

Suffice to say – a balanced, healthy Church and Christian life require that we relate to God in all the aspects of his character and enjoy him in full Technicolor!

Steve Taylor

Cherish 09

Waking up on Thursday morning, bag packed and ready to go, I couldn’t imagine what lay ahead that day. I was going to my first ever Cherish women’s conference in Bradford with a bunch of lovely ladies from Skye. This annual event caters to around 2000 women and offers challenges and inspiration for those who want to know more about living for G0d. From what I had heard there would be music from Aysha Woods, talks from world renowned speakers such as Christine Cain and Diane Wilson as well as pamper sessions, lots of cake and plenty of craic. What I didn’t realise as I kissed my kids goodbye that morning, was that we’d miss the train at Inverness due to being held up by demonstrators from Invergordon who were against a new incinerator. We ended up driving all the way to Glasgow! (Thank you John.) Like a bad sit-com we ran out at random stations on the way only to see the train pulling away seconds ahead of us. You can imagine our shock when we finally arrived at Glasgow Central Station only to find that our train had been cancelled due to vandalism.

Catching a later train, we finally arrived in Bradford and made it to the opening night. Amongst the gaggle of glamorous girls the Skye contingency had made it, looking more wild west than city chic, but we had made it! We were so happy to be there and overwhelmed by the mass of the event and the attention to detail. The event’s theme ‘Urban Angels’ could be seen in every decoration and we felt a warm welcome from everyone from the car park attendants to the speakers on stage.

There was a true sense of the Holy Spirit at the event and so much to take in. The speakers seemed ‘normal’ and genuine and their messages spoke of the power of women for Christ, the influence that women have and their special place in God’s plan. Some men were allowed in too and entertained us with songs, sketches and plenty of participation from the ladies. In addition there were presentations on Human Trafficking and other causes which we hoped to raise money for on our return home. Of course we also managed to pack in curries, shopping and sunbathing as well as plenty of time to chat and chill.

Cherish passed too quickly, and as we enjoyed a fabulous curry on the Saturday night we couldn’t believe that we would be leaving the next day. Next year I hope to go to Cherish again and I’m sure there will be more lovely ladies joining us. Although next time, I’ll probably make sure that there are no plans for a new incinerator in Invergordon and leave an hour earlier than planned, just in case!

Dolina Munro

Stay Free (Podcast)

Freedom is one of those things that eludes millions of people in our world today – even if they are not physically in prison or under oppression. In our culture thousands are bound, among many other things, by addiction, troubled minds, religion and dissatisfaction. The Bible reveals very clearly just what true freedom means – and it might not be what you expect! This pod cast by Steve Taylor was recorded at XCEL Church on Sunday, 14^th June 2009. Click of the red link below to listen.

Stay Free

Born – (Podcast)

What on earth does it mean to be Born Again? Perhaps there has been no subject which has been more misunderstood in recent years than Jesus discussion with a religious leader of his generation regarding the New Birth. Many false notions abound in Christian circles regarding this theme.This message by Steve Taylor was recorded at XCEL Church on Sunday, 17th May 2009. Click on the red link below to listen.Click on the red link below to listen.

Born

Repeantance

Repentance is very often connected in our minds with warnings of judgement rather than the practical love of God expressed in his goodness towards us.

I have heard many dire warnings addressed to “sinners” as to the consequence of remaining in “sin”. However, I have heard relatively few which would suggest that the true cause of repentance is the goodness of God! Yet the Bible clearly indicates that it is the forbearance, longsuffering and vast treasure of God’s goodness, which are the real foundation of true repentance.

I believe we find two kinds of repentance in the Christian world today. One is fuelled by fear the other by love. One leads to a formal, master/servant relationship – the other to an intimate love/service relationship. One will do the minimum to placate God – the other can never do enough for the one who loves them passionately. One spends as little time as possible to – “give God his due”, the other longs to spend the whole of life in the presence of their Father King.

We see all of this worked out by way of practical illustration in the lives of the young men we find in Jesus parable, commonly referred to as the parable of the “Prodigal Son”.   However the story refers to two sons  – one religious and one a rebel. Both viewed their father from an economic point of view – one from whom they could benefit financially! One served his father by strict observance to the rules – while the other broke all the rules in the book and left home for the good life. The rebel eventually returned for economic reasons – intending to work as hard as he could to redeem himself. But his heart was broken by a kiss and the goodness of God brought him to the place of full repentance.

Full repentance involves restoration as well as turning (repenting). While the father in Jesus story rejoiced to see his wayward son returning, the most significant aspect of the story is that of restored relationship – a relationship in which the elder son, despite his religious commitment, refused to share.

ST

A Suffering God

“In all their suffering he also suffered”

(Isaiah 63: 9 – NLT

Suffering pain and affliction are not attributes we readily associate with God when we consider his transcendent majesty. Despite our experience of the Father Heart of God, in which he reveals his sympathetic nature, we may still have a nagging feeling that he is in some way detached from our suffering and pain. Yet Father God is revealed in this verse as one who not only sympathises with us in our suffering – but as one who suffers with us. How can this be?

Although there is a great mystery here, we see the outworking of this truth in the death of Jesus. God the Father was in Jesus the Son as he died, or as one biblical writer puts it – “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5: 19 – KJV). The Father suffered in the Son. In one sense God died two deaths! Many a father would die for his son – but in the death of Jesus both the Son and the Father suffered.

The pain of Jesus was the pain of the Father – just as the works of Jesus in his lifetime were the works of the Father.

So in our suffering He also suffers – I can not fully understand it – but my Daddy feels my pain, my loss, my brokenness, my disappointment, my emotion – what an amazing Father!

ST

Sheltered

“I sing for joy in the shadow of your protecting wings”

(Psalm 63: 7 NLT)

God reveals himself in both masculine and feminine terms.  Very early in the Bible he (The Most High) is described– “Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young”. In the very same verse the writer goes on to use masculine terms – “…. So he spreads his wings to take them in and carried them aloft on his pinions” (Deuteronomy 32: 8 NLT).

David who recognised in God both the masculine and feminine qualities that may have been lacking in his natural parents, later wrote – “I think how much you have helped me; I sing for joy in the shadow of your protecting wings” (Psalm 63: 7 NLT). He also wrote – “He will shield you with his wings. He will shelter you with his feathers. His faithful promises are your armour and protection” (Psalm 91: 4NLT).

Millions of people today long for safety and security. Anxiety and stress are the plagues of our generation. Yet the answers to these are not to be found in the might of armies, the latest security equipment, life insurance policies or medical science.

Our Father offers us the protection of his wings, a place where, like the writer of this Psalm, we can sing in the face of adversity. He longs to be our protection, our place of safety from the storms of life. His promises are our armour – but we have to run to him, trust him and rest by faith in his love and protection.

ST

Hillsong United – I Heart Revolution

From rwanda to capetown, buenos aires to mexico city, los angeles to toronto, london to budapest.. shanghai to sydney.. Hilsong United recorded almost every united worship service for the last 2 years.. Bottled just some of the moments and put them together for all who’d choose to hear.. The end result is the sound of a generation across the earth singing praise and worship to our God.. The sound of the nations joining as one in the same song.. They say – “”We’ve recorded a double album worth of songs old and new, and I have to say, it’s all about the people and the passion of their worship toward God.. It’s very live… A little rugged in places, but that’s the beauty of it – it’s not about “united” or even the songs.. It’s about the heart cry of a generation consumed with their Maker..”

Unfailaing Love

“So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.”

(John 1:14 – NLT)

The Apostle John reveals the heart of Jesus – Jesus reveals the heart of the Father. Many people have difficulty identifying with a father figure. Perhaps some have never known their father, or in knowing him, found him to be a stern, demanding or even abusive figure. Our experience of a human father, or lack of one, is, very often, reflected in our attitudes and relationship with our heavenly Father. Yet, if John was asked to sum up in one sentence his impression of Jesus, who is the human face of the Father (“the exact representation of his being”  – Hebrews 1:3 – NIV) he would say simply – “He is full of unfailing love and faithfulness”.

Regardless of the relationship we have had with our natural father, or our lack of one, God wants to reveal himself as the true Father who loves us passionately and promises never to fail us. Even the best earthly father cannot fully reflect the essence of love our Father in heaven feels and longs to express towards us. Once this truth is understood and experienced – nothing in the world will shake our confidence in Father’s love and faithfulness.

ST