For every problem you face, God has already created the solution

Our pastor, Anton Homann, was preaching such an anointed message last night! The title of this post is a statement from his sermon:

For every problem you face, God has already created the solution.

It really struck me and Anton drew a great analogy for it from the book of Genesis:

When God created the world, He first made the ocean and then the fish, who would need the sea water to swim in. Just so He created the earth and the plants before He created the creatures who would need to live on the earth and eat the plants.

In this way God created the solution to the need before He created the situation for the need.

Whatever you're facing, whatever your need, know that God has the answer and the solution ready for just the moment you ask Him.

The Temple Together

There is value in the church.

There is protection in the church.

There is reward in the church.

We are the church.

1 Corinthians 3:10-17

Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have — Jesus Christ.

Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials — gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in (among) you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

What value do you place on the church?

Living Water

"I said 'Water', expecting the word would satisfy my thirst."
- mewithoutYou, My Exit, Unfair

We all need God, but just talking about Him or ticking the "Christian" box on forms isn't going to satisfy our hunger for Him.

We need to seek Him in His Word and in prayer.

Prayer is like turning on the tap to the only water that will satisfy your thirst for God.

Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”
- John 7:38


Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
- John 4:10


For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
- Luke 11:10

I can't get Tyler Clementi off my mind

In case you don't know, Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old university student committed suicide on 22 September. This was after his roommate posted footage on the internet of him making out with another man, resulting in great mockery.





What gets me is how hopeless and isolated Tyler must have felt - to jump off a bridge to his death. And even worse is some of the hate messages left on the Tyler Clementi Memorial Facebook page. A sample:

"God says very clearly that homosexuality and suicide are mortal sins. TONIGHT TYLER DINES IN HELL."

When there are many other things God defines as "mortal sins" as well and Jesus said no-one can judge another unless that person is blameless themself.


The point is that God loves us inspite of our sin. That He offers a life of freedom from sin. And that is the only hope any of us have.


What makes it worse is the episode of Glee that (coincidentally) aired a few days later, with Kurt Hummel declaring, "God’s kind of a jerk, isn’t he? I mean, he makes me gay, then has his followers going around telling me it’s something that I chose. As if someone would choose to be mocked every single day of their life."





People need to get an understanding of God's goodness.


I don't know how or why anyone is who they are and why we feel the things we do. But I do know that God's dreams for you are greater even than your own.


I know that He wants you to live a fulfilled life and that that comes from knowing Him.


God's followers disappoint Him all the time - probably more than those who don't follow Him. But He still loves us. Just like He loves you, no matter who you are, what you've done or what you feel.


If you're gay and think that God might be real, but don't know how to get the two to match up, talk to someone who's been there.


Trust me:


God is good. And He made you for Him to love you.

Winging It

I don’t know what God’s plan for my life is. Or at least not the whole plan. I can guess at certain elements it may include, considering the talents and environments I’ve been given. But right now I’m not even sure what the next step is.

Sometimes I wish that my Heavenly Father would just reveal it all to me – maybe in a nice visual flowplan, depicting exactly what’s going to take place and when and how I need to behave. At times it seems that would simplify everything and take all the pressure off trying to live off the cuff. After all, planning is biblical.

But when I’m honest with myself, I know that it’s to our benefit that God does not usually reveal His plans more than one step at a time.

If you knew what was coming, would it honestly relieve the pressure?

Wouldn’t you worry more about how to handle the situation that’s coming up? Wouldn’t you spend hours planning how to behave and agonising over whether you’re strong enough or skilled enough or godly enough to handle the circumstances successfully?

Matthew 6:34 says that one should not worry about tomorrow, as each day has enough worries of its own.

Right now I can certainly testify to the truth in that. With everything that’s going on today, I couldn’t handle the stress of trying to figure out how to cope with whatever’s coming in the next few months or weeks or even the next few days!

Living God’s plan one step at a time is certainly more exciting than being able to predict the end of the story. It is also comforting in a way, because you know that as long as you’re relying on God to reveal the plan, He’s always going to be around. When you don’t know what’s lurking around the corner you’re not likely to let go of God’s Hand and give Him the “Thanks, but I can take it from here” treatment.

More likely you’re going to be squeezing His fingers with all the might of your sweaty little hands and surreptitiously edging into the shelter of His empowering wings. As long as you’re there, you know you’ll always be safe, no matter where you go or what you face.

So I’ve learnt to plan my course, but let God direct my steps.

What is Love?

A friend of mine recently made a passing remark that went something like:

“Love is whatever it means to that person”

It was just a fleeting comment, made in response to some exasperation that kids as young as twelve were talking about the “love of their lives” and that people so young couldn’t really understand love. It didn’t pick up much conversation at the time, but it did get me thinking...

God’s Word says that He is love (1 John 4:8) and we all know that God is, well, MASSIVE. There are so many different aspects to Him that it’s certainly true there must be many different aspects to love and many different ways of showing love and expressing love.

There are, however, also many misconceptions and mistaken ideas about what love is, what it should feel like and how it should be demonstrated, that fall far short of God’s ideal. What love means to someone with such misconceptions is surely not a love to advocate and strive for?

The Word also explains that love remains after all and that love is the greatest of all things (1 Corinthians 13:13). Would it not be heartless to allow someone with a worldly, physical, materialistic view of love to continue believing that what they feel is the greatest thing of all? How disappointing! What hope is there when you believe something that fades and breaks and steals to be the greatest thing of all?

On the other hand, we are all human and imperfect ... what do we understand about love? How can we teach others about something that is too great for us ourselves to comprehend?

All that we can do is to share the source of our own hope and love – and to trust the Spirit that has begun a good work in us to infuse our words and actions with the same life that drew us to Him.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8