Everybody likes getting a bit of recognition and applause.
The other day I was dissecting a human heart (as part of my medical school anatomy learning, not just for the banter!). I was the only guy in the group, and as it was somewhat messy and the girls didn’t want to get too hands on, I was left doing it all myself, holding this heart in my hand, cutting open the… Continue reading
This is one aimed just at the guys, but girls feel free to read along if you wish. And if there is interest I’ll try and get someone to do a similar article for you – leave a wee comment or get in touch in some other way if you would like such an article.
There are all sorts of expectations put on guys today to live a certain way going… Continue reading
[A guest post by All4God contributor Josh Duddy]
Clubbing; many of you may have no opinions on this, or see why you should. But I hope the brief train of thought which follows, shows you the importance of your decision making. It has become a thing of the times, and therefore something we must be careful of.
I sat in my room one winter’s night, troubled. I had heard stories of how… Continue reading
This is the first post from new All4God writer Josh Duddy. Before the main devotional, here’s a quick bit of info as to who he is: “Hey, my names Josh Duddy. I’m a first year physics student and loving every second of it. I could do with a few less assignments though, but 2 hour work days suit me well! I love sport and
Over the past month I have been playing a bit of pool. And usually losing (but that’s beside the point…). And it has struck me that the game of pool is a bit like evangelism. Confused? Read on!
First, for those of you who aren’t familiar with pool, it’s basically one of those sports invented by folk who aren’t very athletic, but don’t quite fall into the darts category of unfit… Continue reading
“Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed to shut out the light? Of course not! A light is placed on a stand, where its light will shine.” Mark 4:21
We are called to let the light of Jesus shine through our lives. We are commanded to be light to the darkness. But… Continue reading
Continuing our semi-regular look at how you can use everyday objects to help in the quest to live All4God. This time we are focusing on mobile phones (or cell phones for the Americans reading). If you are anything like me, your mobile is probably the one item you will have on your person most often. And it’s probably not a great sign that we find it easier to bring a… Continue reading
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.” Chronicles 7:14
This one verse from 2 Chronicles is so packed with application for our lives (It almost comes as a surprise to remember it is from the Old Testament -… Continue reading
I don’t know if you have ever tried journaling. It is a great tool you can use in your quiet times to help you grow in your relationship with God.
Journaling is essentially getting a notebook, and writing stuff in it – it could be prayers, it could be quotes you like, it could be your thoughts on a passage from the bible you’ve been reading. It could be noting down… Continue reading
{This is the first post by new All4God contributor Emma Swift}
To follow Jesus is to bear the burden of your generation; to fully love like he does is to suffer the sorrow and pain of those around us. This is a massive challenge especially for those of us who have grown up with pretty easy lives in our middle class towns. When we jump on board the crazy bandwagon that… Continue reading
“Taste and see that the Lord is good” Psalm 34:8
So the other day I was in Newcastle, Co. Down. (Being from Northern Ireland I should claim that our Newcastle is superior to the one in England, but given that it is one of those tacky seaside towns where everywhere is either a fast-food shop, a pub, an overpriced amusements arcade or an ice-cream shop, that would be a lie…)… Continue reading
{This is a follow up to the last article, If they have never heard. I’d recommend you read it first!}
“But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” Romans 10:14
We can have good intentions… Continue reading
“But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” Romans 10:14
We want our friends and family to be saved, right? As Christians we believe that all who haven’t put their trust in Jesus as Lord and
This is a declaration of what it looks like to live life all4God. It is a mission statement, an outline of our intent to the world.
Young people uniting
Standing as one
Working to advance the kingdom of God
To reach lives, to touch souls
Being a generation that seeks God’s face
Making the most of now
Making every second and every action count
Showing that what is important is “Faith expressing itself in love” (Gal 5v6)
Living all4God… Continue reading
Carpe Diem is one of the few Latin phrases that I know (Esperance being the other). And I thought it was one of those things that everyone knew, at least, until I wore a T-shirt that had Carpe Diem across the front of it while counselling at the Beaver Cross Christian teen camp in Albany. During the day I was wearing it loads of the campers came up to me… Continue reading
“We can do no great thing just small things with great love” – Mother Teresa
Earlier in the summer I spent at couple of weeks helping out as a counsellor at a Christian teen camp (Beaver Cross) in Albany, New York. Myself and on of the other counsellors, who shall be known as Cassie (seen as that is her name) developed a morning high-five routine – it involved a double high-five… Continue reading
It’s that time of year when thousands of people across the country start worrying about the exam results they are about to receive (as though worrying at this point will somehow change what has already been printed on the results sheet…)
Maybe you are waiting on A level results to see if you can get into uni, or GCSE results to see if you what you can do for A levels… Continue reading
Casting Crowns wrote a song ‘Stained Glass Masquerade’ about how, in general, Christians are very good at disguising how they are. We don’t like to admit our weakness, out of fear that others will look down on us. We live thinking we are the only one going through whatever we are going through, that no-one else could be struggling with the same things we are struggling
My best friend gave me the best advice He said each day’s a gift and not a given right
You might have heard Nickelback’s latest song, ‘If today was your last day’. Personally I am quite a fan. It is all about what you would do if you knew you wouldn’t have another chance at things and tomorrow was too late – would you make your mark, would you
Sometimes God speaks through unlikely sources. We expect to be spoken to at Church, during quite times, at the big youth events, but on a plane, listening to Snow Patrol? Not quite so expected.
But there I was, on a plane to Nice for some Halloween sun, re-reading Rachel’s Tears and listening to Snow Patrol’s Eyes Open album, and in particular the song “It’s beginning to get
On her song Legacy Nichole Nordeman poses the question “Will I leave a legacy, how will they remember me?”
I have just left my secondary school. And as is customary we embarked on a couple of end of school pranks to be remembered by: there was a guy/girl uniform switch which was pretty funny with all the guys in skirts and the girls in huge guys blazers (and I’m sure… Continue reading
There are parts of the Bible that it can be a real struggle to read through and get anything out of. Leviticus is a great example. Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading it as my daily Bible reading plan has instructed me to. And for much of it, I’m not going to lie, it was a real drag.
But 2nd Timothy says “all scripture is by… Continue reading
In 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul calls us to be Ambassadors of Christ. But what does that actually mean?
An ambassador for a country lives in a foreign country, showing everyone who lives there how amazing his home country is.
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.” 2 Corinthians 5:20
We are who people look to to see what Christianity is like. Our eternal home is in heaven… Continue reading
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.” Galatians 5v24
At Good Friday we traditionally reflect on the cross and the suffering Jesus underwent on it for us. On the cross he was “pierced for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53v5 TNIV) He has paid the penalty for us. And now we have a choice. We can… Continue reading
Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” … He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” … Then he came… Continue reading
An exploration of what living all for God is all about Continue reading
This is something i found in the book Rediscovering Church by Lynne and Bill Hybels. It is a monolouge by Dr Bob Moorehead called The Fellowship of the Unashamed.
I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit
Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has
been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let… Continue reading
The story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea is a Sunday School favourite, and one of those passages of the Old Testament that most of us don’t mind reading, coming as it does before the long lists of rules that can be such a drag to read. (But let’s not forget all scripture is God breathed….)
So you will probably be quite familiar with the whole exodus… Continue reading
Over the next few months we hope to have an ongoing series of articles looking at the book of 1st Corinthians in a bit of detail, and as something slightly different to the norm these articles will have reflection questions at the end of them for you to think about. [NB – we will also be doing articles on other themes too, it’s not going to be just 1st… Continue reading
An article from OpenDoors, challenging you to think a bt more about the persecuted Church
Reading Acts 4 today, I was struck by the vivid life and conviction of the little church in the early days after Pentecost. It’s a generalisation, but it seems that many among the Persecuted Church are closer to those early days than we are in all our comfort and freedom. How would you cope with prison?… Continue reading
Hillsong United just released a promo video for their forthcoming documentary ‘We’re all in this together’. And it’s a pretty hard hitting, challenging video, so I thought I’d share it with you, as it has a great message to it:
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Feel free to share your thoughts as comments!…
Accountability
James 5 “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed” (The Message)
When we sin we seem to have this culture of trying to keep it to ourselves, not letting anyone else know, putting on the mask of perfection. And inevitably this only results in us returning again and again to the same… Continue reading
[We have a bit of a thing for new writers at the moment here at All4God. ANd here's another one for you - David Gilkinson, a Christian guy from Lisburn, who as well as being passionate about serving God is on a gap year working at Exodus Lisburn (a Christian nightclub, drop in centre and discipleship organisation), and isn't bad on the rugby field either]
Happiness is an emotion… Continue reading
In Matthew 12:36-37 Jesus tells us: “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”
And it got me thinking. Do my words honour God? Will they acquit or condemn me? If we thought about the implication of these verses more would it change what we said to people… Continue reading
[Introducing another new contributor to the All4God website, Dean Swift, a 19 year old guy from Moira who is on fire for God right now, and incredibly passionate about fellowship and prayer, and about being truly open with fellow believers. And also a talented ukulele player...]
Hey Everyone! Have you ever thought there must be more to being a Christian than this and with that got frustrated? Well I know I… Continue reading
A few years ago it used to be fashionable to wear those ‘What would Jesus do?’ bracelets. But maybe the question we need to ask ourselves more these days is not what He would do, but where He would be doing it.
Because as Christians we have a tendency to form our little ‘holy-huddles’, seeking to avoid contact with all that is ‘unholy’. But as you read through the gospels Jesus… Continue reading
You may have heard or read the testimony of Rachel Scott. (She’s the girl from Rachel’s Tears). On April 20th 1999, two disillusioned young men went on a killing spree at her school, Columbine High School, Colorado. They held a gun to her head and asked if she believed in God. Knowing that if she answered yes she would be killed she replied “Yes, I believe in God.”… Continue reading
We like our comfort. You would be hard pressed to find someone who would rather sleep rough than in a five star hotel. Given the choice most people would rather live in a ‘safe’ country like the UK than war torn areas such as Iraq. We try to avoid situations that may bring conflict. Our society of political correctness does its best to cause no offence to anyone. If… Continue reading
You will probably be quite familiar with the Sunday School favourite story of Jesus walking on water, found in Matthew 14.
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them [the disciples were in a boat on the lake], walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear… Continue reading
Non-Christian friend. We’ve all got them, or at least we should. We should be striving to befriend the lost, especially those that society in general has rejected, and shower them with the love of Christ, shining out to them like ‘stars in the universe’ with God’s glory.
We may have non-Christian friends, but do we care about them? Truly, passionately care? Sure we care enough to spend time with them… Continue reading
Life can be a struggle sometimes. It can be hard to see where you are meant to go, what path you should be taking. Worry, doubt and fear can kick in. You may fail to see the point of where you are in life. You might be wondering how what you are going through will ever change.
But God has a plan for each of us – “plans for good and… Continue reading
In Acts 1 v 8 we hear Jesus’ commandment to his disciples just before he is taken to heaven through the ascension…
“Tell people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”
Jesus was telling his disciples to spread the Kingdom and tell of him in these places
On the All4God forum we run a weekly debate on the big issues facing Christians today. The current debate – Do you believe in a 7 Day Creation? Join the debate here. New debates up weekly. [NB Comments disabled to prevent the debate happening here as well]
West Ham football club fans have a song they often sing at matches in which they sing about blowing bubbles. I feel that as a church this is something we have been guilty of for far too long, and it is time to get out some pins and get bursting bubbles.
In John 17 Jesus prays for the church and in that pray he makes
1st Peter 2“The Living Stone and a Chosen People
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by human beings but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like
1 Peter 2v2-3: “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”
In the Casting crowns song ‘Somewhere in the middle’ they have a line “Deep water faith in the shallow end”. I believe that
Please picture the scene. A man and some friends are going on a trip for a weekend, and they all decide to spend a couple of nights camping in the mountains nearby. As they begin to near the summit, they come across a valley with a beautiful view. They look across and see rolling hills and misty lakes. As his friends stand and
Let’s say, for now, you are a football player. And every football team has their own uniform. Just the other day, you were promoted to play in a better team, a world-famous team, and you accept, of course! But now, you need to wear the new uniform. Walking onto the field wearing your old football uniform just isn’t right, you just don’t fit in.
It’s like
You may know the Chris Tomlin song How Great is Our God. The one with the chorus that goes
“How great is our God, sing with me,
How great is our God, and all will see,
How great is our God”
But how will the dying, lost world see if we do all our singing in Churches
Most of the time, atheists won’t listen to the words we speak about God. We must spread God’s love by actions not words.
Imagine your father was the prime minister or the president of your country. Being his son/daughter, you represent him. When people walk past you, they recognise you as the son/daughter of someone powerful and famous. People expect you to live up to
Being a Christian is more than just the words. Being a Christian is more than just saying, “I believe” or “I have faith”. Being a Christian is knowing and believing, with all your mind, all your heart, and all your soul, that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Being a Christian is trusting and having faith in the fact that Jesus took our punishment from us, and
I listen to a bit of internet Christian radio, and there is a song that has been played quite a bit on one of the stations (WBGL) there I feel has a really powerful message, Little is Much by Downhere. It has this really powerful line “Little is much when God’s in it”. I think that that is something really important to think about.
Imagine a world where people are judged purely on what they have achieved
Where appearance, or fame, or social status don’t matter
Imagine a world where black and white could walk hand in hand without fear of attack
A world without ghettos
A world without ‘no-go’ zones
Imagine a world where place
A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. Matthew
It is said you can’t come close to God and not be changed. The way I look at it is like radiation heat transfer in Physics. As an object gets closer to a heat source it’ll absorb more heat. As we try to climb the mountain of the Lord(Psalm 24) we will get closer to His glory, and we’ll absorb
Acts 2 v 44-47 is a description of the actions of the church right back in the earliest days, just after Pentecost:
And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their… Continue reading
“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” Philippians 4v4
How’s that for a command? Be full of joy in the Lord. Not just when we feel good, or when we can see Him working in our lives, or when things are going our way, but always. He has done so much for us, and
Prayer is the spark for big things. It involves getting close to God, and results with our hearts being touched by him. Prayer unleashes huge potential as God fills us with ideas, guides us as to his will, shows us the issues on his heart and urges us to do something about it.
You might have heard the latest Matt Redman album “Beautiful News”. On it there is a song “If you know you are loved by the King” which has a line in the chorus “If you know you are loved by the King, then live for him, live for him, live for him.” As Christians we know we are loved by the King – (the Bible tells us
There is a real need for us as Christians not just to stand up for what we believe, but to stand out. The world judges us on what it sees, and if it looks at the church and just sees people living pretty similar lives to non-Christian, except with the odd wee bit of abstinence with drink, drug, sex etc, its not going to be convinced. It
Imagine a world where people are judged purely on what they have achieved
Where appearance, or fame, or social status don’t matter
Imagine a world where black and white could walk hand in hand without fear of attack
A world without ghettos
A world without ‘no-go’ zones
Imagine a world where place
True love is not a shiny red heart or a box of chocolates. True love is not expressed by the giving of a rose. True love is more than this. True love flows from the cross – the ultimate symbol of love. True love is not limited to those who love you. True is shown freely and selflessly to all. True love is willing to make sacrifices
When you hear the word ‘worship’ what do you immediately thing of? I’m guessing the image that’ll come into your head is of the typical Sunday morning church congregation singing hymns, or maybe a more youth orientated event like Summer Madness/Manafest.
And while singing is a part of worship, there is so, so much more to it than that. It’s a way of life.
You’ll probably be familiar with the Matt Redman song ‘The Heart of Worship’. I’m going to be using it to help explore just what is the heart of worship.
‘I’ll bring You more than a
You may be familiar with the idea that if you are a Christian you have been called by God, but what does that actually mean for us? What have we been called to, and how can we respond to that call? Continue reading
