Photo of the week – get noticed

Posted on May 17, 2012 by John martin

Rapeseed. Some love it; others hate it. I have to say I fall more towards the love it but I know people who suffer with allergies and they hate the stuff.

Whatever you feel about it one thing is for sure, you can’t miss it!

The vibrant yellow against the surrounding green makes it less than subtle. In fact it has become so noticed that people are travelling from the Far East just to photograph it.

As I drove past this field the other day, it struck me just how much it stands out. It unashamedly shouts out what it is. There is no mistaking what it is…

Do I do that? Do I look obviously like a Christian to those around me. Do I stand out as being different so much that people notice it from the other side of my world?

I so often adopt the subtle approach when it comes to sharing my faith, but I have to be honest that is more about my hang-ups than about who God is calling me to be. It is far more comfortable for me to be subtle, come in under the radar and do something nice and then pray that God uses it…

We are called to be salt and light! Matthew 5:13-16 very clearly says that we are good for nothing if we don’t make a difference in the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden! Cannot be hidden! It must stand out; people should take notice.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not the bullhorn guy on the street corner scaring the old lady with her shopping. I am all for humble acts of service, but we have something that is far more important than just being nice to people.

We need to make sure that message is heard and that everything we say and do screams the love and saving power of Jesus Christ.

Photo by John Martin

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Photo of the week – underemployed?

Posted on May 11, 2012 by John martin

I heard a staggering statistic the other day, 24% of people in the UK feel underemployed. One in every four people you will meet today feel that they are worth more than their job makes them feel. That potentially means the one in every four people feel that their lives are not all that they had hope or even aspired for. You maybe one of those people.

It is interesting that we place such a high value on what we ‘do’. I remember being out with my wife at an event for her work, she is a teacher by the way (just incase you wanted to know what ‘she does’). She would introduce me as her husband, I would politely shake their hand and the first question I was then asked was “So… what do you do?”

What they were really asking was “what is your job”, “How do you make a living”. Since when did what ‘I do’ become all about where I work.

You see… the problem is that we focus more on what ‘we do’ than ‘who we are’.

I wonder if 24% of people would feel as underemployed if they looked at who they are rather than what they do.

Who are you? An office worker, a plumber, a factory worker, a taxi driver, a teacher, pastor, CEO, cleaner, builder, taxman, postman… or are you kind, loving, an influencer, positive, a leader, gracious, hard working… the list goes on.

The truth is you can be all of these things no matter what ‘you do’. Maybe if we looked at who we are no matter what we do, we would shut the door of feeling underemployed and open up and world of opportunities. Opportunities to help our colleagues, serve our employers, love our families and “be the change we want to see in the world”

Ephesians 2:10 says “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to do” God crafted you, he calls you and commissions you.

Maybe you feel underemployed today… maybe we need to re-look at what we are actually employed to do. You may have a job that you are required to do by your employers or maybe you don’t have a job and that is the problem, but in God’s economy your employment, or lack of, has Kingdom potential.

Potential to change lives and challenge society for the sake of the gospel.

Photo by John Martin

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Photo of the week – right time, right place

Posted on April 25, 2012 by John martin

We could have been born in anytime or any place. But for a reason God has you in this time and in this place.

Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

You are known by God, don’t just read those words, say it out loud “God knew me before He made me.” God has been with you all along. God chose you to enter the world at the precise moment of your birth because only you can do what God is calling you to do.

Jeremiah was appointed as a prophet to the nations before he was formed in the womb. God had a purpose for him before he even entered the world.

This is not unique to Jeremiah, Ephesians 2: 10, tells us that we were created “to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

You could have been born in a different country, in a different point in time, but you weren’t. You are who you are for a reason. Instead of fretting about what that reason is, instead go to the One who determines what we will do.

Spend time just being with God, “draw near to God and HE WILL draw near to you” (James 4:8). The more time I spend with my wife, the more I get to know her heart, her passions, a bond is formed. It is the same with God. There is no special formula or set prayer, it just takes time spent in relationship with the one who created, called and commissions you.

Photo by John Martin

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Photo of the week – the simple things

Posted on April 17, 2012 by John martin
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It is amazing how we so often miss the simple things in life. How we take for granted those things that we see so often.

I was chatting with a good friend the other day who was telling me about a trip he and his daughter had made to the park…

The trip started out great, families were out enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, they played on the swings, feeding the ducks, and all was great.

Suddenly, however, my friend noticed that everyone had disappeared. They had been playing so much that they hadn’t even noticed the dark, ominous clouds gathering overhead.

In that moment, the heavens opened.

My friend and his daughter started to run as fast as they could, which is no easy thing for a two year old.

The pace was slowed even more when my friends daughter stopped to admire the rain falling, with a splash, into a puddle.

As my friend nearly swept his daughter up to carry her to the car, he was struck by the very fact that his daughter was probably seeing this for the first time.

We have seen rain fall, we have seen rain splash into a puddle, probably more times that we care to imagine, especially in the UK. But have you ever really stopped to LOOK at rain falling into a puddle.

This is not about rain… but what about all the other things we miss in life, those small miracles, prayers answered, the sun rising each day, let’s not even start of the amazing feats your body does every day just to keep you breathing!

How about we take a lesson from my friends two year old daughter, open your eyes today and see the wonder…

Ps 19:1-4
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Photo by John Martin

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Photo of the week – shine a light

Posted on March 16, 2012 by John martin

I was stood in one of the many churches in the city of Rome… to be totally honest there are soooo many churches with amazing altars, ceilings, floor, architecture that you do start to become a touch blasé and take for granted the splendor of a people worshipping God with their gifts and talents.

That is when the light dawned! That is exactly what happened… a beam of light shot through the window. Not a particularly ornate window, it was nothing special. But WOW!! It transformed the whole church.

This nondescript window made the gold on the altar shimmer, it may the paintings on the walls jump off the canvass, it made the stone on the floor look like it had been laid that morning. The place was transformed.

Aren’t we all called to be like that window? Perhaps we don’t feel particularly special. Perhaps we don’t feel as ornate as those around us.  Not as gifted, not that useful, not this or that… That does not mean God can’t use you!

The truth is, without that window I would have missed the splendor of that church in Rome.  It would have been like so many of my shopping experiences, walk in, walk around, walk out!

We are called to be that type of window to the world. Just like that window “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:16 (emphasis mine)

You can transform the world you find yourself in. You can shine a light into the dark places. It may not feel like you are doing much now, but just wait.

Like that window; If you are clean, in the right place, ready and useable then at the right time of day the light will shine straight through and transform all that can be seen.

Photo by John Martin

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Photo of the week – generosity

Posted on March 1, 2012 by John martin

One thing that has struck me above all else during my travels is the generosity of people who have so little.

I learnt a huge lesson from a boy I remember meeting who had very little. No shirt on his back. We didn’t speak the same language, we didn’t have the same colour skin, we didn’t even share the same faith…

Yet in the briefest of moments, we shared something that will stay with me forever.

As he looked at me and I at him, he then started to remove a small beaded bracelet from around his wrist. Once he had gotten it free he held out his hand and placed the beads into my hand, a gift.

This boy who had virtually nothing, decided that he wanted to give something away.

It amazes me that still I find things that ‘I must get…’

Don’t get me wrong, I am not condemning the need or want of things, or even rebuking those of us that live in privileged countries… but maybe God is trying to show us, through little boys like the one I met, that ‘Freely you have received, now freely give.’

I learnt something about prosperity that day. It is not so much what we have that matters but what we do with that which we have. What I am doing with my resources says infinitely more about my spiritual condition than does the fact that I have them.

Photo by John Martin

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Photo of the week – reach out

Posted on February 24, 2012 by John martin

I love art. It is just something that always stops me in my tracks. Sculpture, photography, paintings.

Last week I was stood staring at this painting for 40 minutes, which is no easy thing as it is 68 feet directly above!

Michelangelo’s brilliant painting of God and Adam in the Sistine Chapel, in the centre of  a whole room of his masterpieces, is breathtaking! The fresco took Michelangelo four years of intense labour. The physical demands of painting for hours looking up meant that he could eventually only read letters at arms length whilst holding them above his head.

What struck me the most about this painting which, if you have seen it you will appreciate, can get somewhat lost amongst the colour and imagery, it God’s intense desire to reach out to Adam.

Can you see God straining, the angels having to hold him as if he may fall if they don’t. God has an impeccable determination to reach out and to be with the person he has created.

And yet… having come that close, he allows enough space for Adam to make the choice, to make his move. Adam is almost lazy, his arm bent and not straining at all. Maybe he feels that God having come this far will come all the way… but no.

“For God so loved the world that he sent his only son, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:16 emphasis mine) God did all he had to do but we have to respond. We have to reach that last little bit, with faith, with fear, with doubt, with trust…

God is never that far away, but it does take a little bit of effort from us, we have to raise a finger and reach out to him.

Photo by John Martin

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Photo of the week – school… again!

Posted on February 9, 2012 by John martin

Did you ever complain about having to go to school?

I remember those cold winter mornings. The alarm clock ringing. I would stick my foot out of the bed covers, feeling the cold air battle against the warmth of my bed.

Some mornings I would even fain illness in a vague attempt to avoid those boring lessons. It never worked!

All these thoughts came flooding back when I went to visit a school in West Africa. If I was to be totally honest… I didn’t really want to go back to school.

The major difference with this Monday morning was seeing children so happy about being in school. These children are the privileged few who are able to go to school and have, what so many of us take for granted, an education.

It has made me think of how we can take so much of what we see as a basic human right, like a good education, for granted. It may not be an education we take for granted but maybe our family, our job, finances, health or even our faith.

Days like that one in West Africa are humbling and often help put things into perspective.

I don’t know about you but I need days like that one in West Africa more often than not. It is often when we are not expecting it, God can speak to us, teach us, take us deeper and open our eyes to something  or see the same thing from a fresh perspective.

Maybe this week, in the mundane, or even the things you don’t like doing, ask God to show up and reveal something new, a fresh perspective. It really is worth it.

Photo by John Martin

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Posted in Africa, Featured Photos from Travel, Life, Photos | 7 Comments

Photo of the week – ask not what your country can do for you

Posted on February 3, 2012 by John martin

I was tired. It had been a hot day. It wasn’t just the heat that was exhausting but also the dust, lack of water and above all the emotions that I had been dealing with when seeing poverty like I saw here.

I had just walked through a village with “houses”, if you can call them that, made of piles of mud. Houses made up of a single space that was both the kitchen and bedroom.

This was just one of the 93 villages that has this room for a hospital.

This room was the women’s ward. Sat alongside the men’s ward, with no partition for privacy. Along a dank corridor was the maturity ward and delivery room.

The rooms were damp, dark, dusty, dirty and desperate!

This hospital had been given no funding during 2011. The money may have been set aside but they never received it.

The women that work here, the nurses, midwives, administrators, 15 in total, are real heroes. Working in these conditions just trying to make a difference for the sick is no easy task.

The redeeming thing was as I stood there, stood alongside me were a family that are determined to see this community transformed.

It is people like this, people who are not grabbing the headlines, people who do not have all the financial backing of a wealthy company, people like this that are making a real difference.

I am reminded of the famous line given by JFK in his 1961 Inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”.

What can you do today for your country/town/neigbours/relatives/friends/enemies/ church/charity? It may not be as big as bringing transformation to a whole community but it is something and without something nothing happens…

Photo by John Martin

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Photo of the week – video special

Posted on January 24, 2012 by John martin

I really should start this weeks post with something of a disclaimer… The photo of the week is not really a photo but instead a video.

You may have read in previous posts of my trip to Kenya and the amazing work that has come out of some very generous giving, resulting in a community getting water for the first time.

Instead of me writing all that was achieved I will let this video show you.

For all those who gave, thank you! You really had made a difference in people’s lives!

Video by John Martin

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Posted in Africa, Relief, Video | 5 Comments