Imagination Is Endless

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” - Albert Einstein

Go 24 Hours Without Complaining & See The Results

Seeds Of The Kingdom Matthew 13: 12-25/36-13

On Monday last week I spent time in a friends garden that is full of blooming flowers, plants and bushes. It isn’t a big garden but it is somewhere where I find a lot of peace and enjoy looking at the plants, flowers and bushes. The sights, colours, the floral displays are really outstanding, there was so much to see and to take in. It is also true to say that most of what is in this garden all came from individual seeds. 

Seeds often so small that when you drop them into the ground these disappear – yet if cared for not allowed to dry out – not over watered – heated right, they will germinate and grow. Then when fully grown into glorious flower there are seeds for the next year, But on the way to full growth there are plenty of opportunities for disaster, stunted grow, disease and damage, not all seeds or plants fulfil their full potential, 

The parable of the sower contains the realism of life. The kingdom of heaven can come into a person’s life through something as relatively tiny as a seed: a very small kindly action, 
A brief word of encouragement, 
An insight shared leading to a moment of seeing things differently. 

I have already suggested dangers that seeds face in growing. We might also keep in mind that seeds grow in their own time and space. 

Those of us who have children or grandchildren and encouraged them to plant seeds, know that they are soon digging them up to see how they are growing. Only time brings things to maturity. Similarly, the parables suggest, we cannot hurry the growth of the kingdom; after a seed has been sown people need time and, given that all that may go wrong, they need tender care and support. Development in faith, in a loving God, our neighbour and we it takes time 

This realism helps us to see the importance of patient support and pastoral care of people. Jesus began his ministry announcing that the kingdom of God was at hand. 

The kingdom was present in Jesus and was his gift to his followers then and to us in our time. But we only know too well in our own time that the kingdom is not yet complete – reasons all too obvious, rocky ground, weeds, seductive temptations, and difficulties have been present in plenty. 

We have seen and still see divisions in the church of Christ, through our selfish actions, misunderstandings, holding to certain dogmas and events in our church life sidetrack us from growing as the church of Christ. Thankfully within the Church of England after 20 years we now have Women Bishops “Alleluia!” But there still remain obstacles within the church that need to be tackled. 

If that were not enough the world around us is marred by situations like the awful tragedy that happen on Thursday when the plane carrying almost 300 people, aircrew, men, women, children and infants was shot down as it flew over Eastern Ukraine. None of those people had anything to do with the conflict. Some were going on holiday; some we know were scientist who was off to a conference to further the treatment of A.I.D’s. All innocent people. 

As I was watching the coverage of B.B.C news, a major military assault was being made by Israel on the Palestinians. We never seem to learn. 
Wars and injustice, petty nationalism, corruption, selfishness. It makes me realise that as followers of Jesus our progress has been slow over two thousand years towards giving expression to the kingdom of God on earth in all the range of our human life and affairs. Just as we need to be patient to watch our seeds grow, perhaps we need a longer perspective; Who can tell how long it might take for enough seeds to be shown and for there to be enough growth of love in human affairs? However long it takes we can affirm that Jesus is the gift of God for the world, given into the ordinary affairs of life day by day. We have to as Jesus said “Let our lights shine before people” each and everyday. To give them a glimpse of “Thy Kingdom Come”. 

Jesus’ prayer is that God’s kingdom will come on earth. The challenge to us is that we must not retreat inside our walls, but respond to his gift of himself with two commitments. 

The first commitment is to Jesus, to let the seed of his love grow in us as we seek to follow him more nearly and love him more dearly. ‘Dearly’ in that context does not mean only with affection, it means bearing the cost of following him, accepting that we may have to face our own rocky ground, our own weedy temptations, the crushing tread of opposition: our own Good Fridays. The trial of growth are not only what other experience, they are part of our experience too. 

The second commitment is to the world. It is the history of our own time that we shall be workers for the kingdom. If there are times of escape into the church they are given only so that we shall be renewed for our work in the world. 
As we leave Church after we are feed by his word and taken our communion our closing sentence of the Communion Service says, “ Go in peace to love and Serve the Lord.” 

We shall know we are doing the work of the kingdom when we see kingdom things happening: a person being healed; a child being fed who might have gone hungry had we not worked for or given to Christian Aid; a law being changed in response to our work with a pressure group to defend a person’s rights; a person being housed; an act of neighbourliness that gives joy where there might have been none; a campaign so that a persons living in a distant country will be treated with justice; a person being claimed by the Gospel. Our giving to charities that support and help those families in and around Ilkeston that need food banks to help them survive. 

It is through a thousand ordinary activities and acts and words of love in the world - seeds – that the kingdom will come. When Christians fail to express their commitment to Jesus in commitment in the world, we become as weeds to the work others are trying to do. So the kingdom is a process of transformation that required of us time and it will not be easy. We receive the kingdom from Jesus both as gift and a work. It is a new human society to which Jesus is committed and the explanation of the parable in verses 36-43 includes words of judgement that shows that this gift matters a great deal to him, 

Finally, the kingdom of God – thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (as we say week by week) – is what Jesus wants for us and for the world. 

So let us continue to let the seeds of our faith grow with his love and also realize that we to become the sower of the seeds of the kingdom to the world in which we are called to serve 
Amen..

Whatever You Want In Life It Starts As With Imagination & Dreams

Dreams and imagination are powerful things. Albert Einstein said that "imagination is more important than knowledge" We must always keep that passion high. The more passion we have the more successful we will become. So we must never lose sight of our dream. The most successful people in anything are those with big passions coming from their dreams.
In the early stages of setting up anything there are lots of things to do to make that a success. In the early years long hours have to be put in sometimes for little or no reward. But it is so important during this stage that the person(s) involved never loses the "big picture". We must never stop dreaming. We must always keep our passion high for our dream.
One only has to look at certain famous people and see that they were dreamers, people who dreamed and dreamed until they got to where they wished to go. People like; Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln; there was Michelangelo who could make the impossible possible in his painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he had to see the unseen as a visualization in his mind. Then there was Martin Luther King, who dreamed the impossible that there would be equality in American. America now has an African American President in President Obama. President Kennedy one day dreamed that a man would land on the moon. There are many more......
We need to dream. When we stop dreaming we stop living. Dreams can become a reality. But you have to keep on dreaming. My advice would be to you find a quite time each day and go through your dream. Write that dream down. For example what income do I want, what will I be wanting to do when the income comes in. Is it to leave full time employment or to increase income for a better lifestyle? The list will be different to everyone. Going through your list in your mind before you go to sleep is a great time to harness your dreams.
If you have watched the movie, "The Secret" it suggests that you have a dream board in your study or in your home somewhere. One needs to visualize dreams; that home, business, holiday whatever, believe you have received it and it will come in time. Walt Disney said, "All our dreams come true if we have the courage to pursue them."
So I would suggest never give up on your dreams. Manifest them and spend quality time each day thinking hard and imagining that your dreams have come true. The more you manifest and send out those power thoughts to the universe you will be awarded. This is something that successful people know about. It's also called visualization. Michael Phelps spoke about picturing himself winning every night before bed, he suggests "In order to effect true positive change in your experience, you must disregard how things are — as well as how others are seeing you — and give more of your attention to the way you prefer things to be”. 
I would suggest that you spend 15 minutes every day thinking hard about your goals, dreams and what you want from life. Daniel Goodman / Business Insider says that, "When you think a little thought of something that you want, through the Law of Attraction, that thought grows larger and larger, and more and more powerful," according to the book. So keep your thoughts positive.
In conclusion place your dreams alongside a definite action plan. Together these will be the building blocks for you to be a success. Furthermore the more passionate you are about your dreams and plan, others will see your enthusiasm. It will attract others to join you. I would suggest too that you follow what Walt Disney said, and I quote again, “All our dreams come true when we pursue them”.


Paul Waters

Don't Listen to Others Follow Your Heart

So many people run themselves down listening to other people's advice. One has to ask the question, "When you listen to others, what they are saying may not be in your interest but theirs. Henry Ford once said, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't you're right". Well the bankers thought the motor car wouldn't work and he had to go elsewhere to fund his enterprise. 

For Henry Ford sticking to what he thought paid off in the long run. Sometimes the choices we make might not turn out the way we wanted. But the best advice I give is follow your heart. Failure is when we do nothing at all. Some of the best discoveries have been made from mistakes. Life is a learning curve, so lets live it to the full, take chances and move forward.

Paul Waters

Forgive & Forget.

In fact, if you forgive, its is easier to forget. That's the finding of a recent study which lends weight to the advice that it is best to do both. It seems that when you are a victim of a transgression, the best thing you can do is to forgive. If you do,you will be more likely to ignore the precise details of what happened, and you will be more able to move on more quickly. The ability to overcome your strong emotions against someone and also to quash the memory of something you want to ignore are both linked to the same mechanisms in your brain.

The research was done at the University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It also revealed that if you choose NOT to forgive, then the details of the scenario of the "crime" remain in your mind in greater detail. As one psychologist explained: "It is well established that to forgive others can have a positive benefit for an individual's physical and mental health. The ability to forget upsetting memories may provide an effective coping strategy that enables people to move on with their lives".


Paul Waters

Abundance Comes Through Thinking And Believing

Life on earth would dramatically change if we changed the way we think. Our thoughts are very powerful things. What we think is what we become. The Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament confirms this in Chapter 23 verse 7 “For as he thinks about he becomes”. Many centuries later Mahatma Gandhi says too, “A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes”. 

Abundance is all around us in everything and everyone? Life on earth would change dramatically if abundance was understood that it can come freely to those who have positive thoughts. It works in a very simple way. Thoughts are powerful things. The good news is that positive thoughts carry more energy than positive ones. 

There is only abundance, nothing else. Often people react to that statement with an outraged exclamation, "look at the poverty, sickness, war and violence"! Yes there is indeed an abundance of that. There is only abundance. Abundance comes as we express our thoughts in a clear way. To bring about abundance thoughts need to believed. This is why thinking and believing is so important, it is the energy that starts the whole thing into motion.

Listening

God made us to be relational people. We have a longing to be in relationship with others – friends, family members, others in the community.

The book of James may well be the earliest of the New Testament letters – written in the year A.D. 48. This letter was written by the brother of Jesus who became one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. James addressed the letter to Christians everywhere. He wrote it to teach Christians the practice of Christianity. He emphasizes that if we have a genuine faith, we will show it by acting like Christians. James gives practical advice on things like anger and quarrelling, showing favouritism, controlling the tongue, boasting, patience and prayer.

(Read James 1:19-27  "Everyone should be quick to listen; slow to speak."…

Next to a good relationship with God, that which can give us the most happiness or contentment is not wealth, not travel, not a Sony Plasma, High Definition, 50" television. Rather, it is a good relationship with someone – a friend, a spouse, a child, a parent. The converse is also true, that which can give us the most heartache and the most anxiety is not financial problems, not health difficulties, but a relationship that has become strained, or has turned sour. A good relationship with someone we care for is a treasure. Yet, maintaining healthy relationships is not easy

What can help us succeed in our relationships? The ability to listen. Your friendship, your marriage, your relationship with those you care about is built up through the art of listening. To listen is to love and to strengthen the connection.

God's Word comes to us today with the simple message: "Everyone should be quick to listen; slow to speak." We need to hear that message because, within our relationships, usually the instinct to talk is stronger than the instinct to listen.  We can all fall short of this and I have done this myself too.

In reminding us to be quick to listen, the Bible writer, James, may be hitting on an aspect of our sinful nature. Our egotist, selfish nature desires to be heard by others, to defend ourselves, rather than to listen to and to understand others.

Thankfully, if we look to Jesus we see he puts a lot importance on listening to others.  The story of Martha & Mary (Luke 10:38-42), he tells off Martha who is rushing around worrying about a meal.  He says to Mary who finds time to stop and listen to Jesus.  That she has done to best thing.  So as we look to Jesus he is there to help us to overcome our tendency to think more highly of ourselves than we ought and to desire to understand the other. To listen is to love and to strengthen the connection.

How does listening strengthen the connection? How does listening build up relationships?

1. Listening is a form of love. By listening, we put aside our agenda, we take a break from what we are doing, and we give our attention to the other. Listening requires selflessness and humility. It is a form of love, and love is good for relationships.

2. Listening shows you care. Listening shows you want to understand what the other person is experiencing, is feeling, and is thinking. When someone close to you senses that you are not really listening to what he or she has to say, that person is rightfully hurt. Not listening gives the message that he or she does not count, is not worth your time. Conversely, listening shows you care which in turn strengthens your relationships.   Listening shows the other person that he or she counts for something to you and so builds up your relationship.


Paul Waters