Brooke Fraser

Tonight I had the privilege of seeing Brooke Fraser in concert. I went to the Atheneum Theatre in Melbourne with some friends and had a fantastic night. It was really refreshing to see an artist who is very real and candid on stage!

Brooke sings an amazing song called Albertine which she wrote after spending time in Rwanda. I find this song really moving as it tells the story of a person she met in Rwanda and how this has changed her.

Now that I have seen, I am responsible, faith without deeds is dead...

This song always brings me back to the compassionate and loving heart of Jesus - the one who loves me and calls me to love others...without limit...

Oh...and I want to marry Brooke Fraser. Brooke, if you read this... call me!

Encouraging and challenging words

I am taking on a bit of a challenge to read through the bible in roughly a year (I say roughly because I'm using an online reading plan which means that when I'm away from internet connectivity, I have to go back to my offline copy of the Bible... i.e. the book version hehe).

Anyway, I was reading through 1 Corinthians 4 this morning and was both encouraged and challenged by these words:
Verse 20 - For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God's power.

These words challenged me... do I talk lots about the Kingdom of God, about Jesus, about the Bible, whilst failing to live day-by-day by God's power? Sometimes the answer is yes. It's much easier to have lots of fancy talk, but to really rest in Christ and live by God's power is more challenging. It involves letting go of myself and my own desires and choosing to let God take the drivers seat. I think that when we are following Jesus, we constantly need to remember this - to daily let go of our own desires and live by God's power.

I was also reminded of the verse in James where it says "Do not merely listen to the word [of God], and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

Thankfully God is full of grace and promises to give us his Spirit to help us. So if you catch me speaking lots of fancy talk and not living by God's power... tell me to be quiet and take a minute to seek God to get things back in balance ;-)