TooManyFlowers

HAKUNA MUNGU KAMA WEWE

Here is a taste of the music we sing in African church….James was particularily good at this one……the Burundians LOVED it

THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU GOD-AMEN

THIS IS SO SIMILAR TO OUR AFRICAN MEETINGS……makes me smile

This weekend we are spending time with our dear African friends, ahhhhhhh sweet fellowship indeed!

This is just a favourite song of mine

Nothing spiritual just a good song…..it always lifts me!

Go U2

Nim’s Island is great too

The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There’s no room
No space to rent in this town

You’re out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you’re not moving anywhere

You thought you’d found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace

It’s a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away

You’re on the road
But you’ve got no destination
You’re in the mud
In the maze of her imagination

You love this town
Even if that doesn’t ring true
You’ve been all over
And it’s been all over you

It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
It’s a beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case

See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out

It was a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
Beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case

What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
Don’t need it now
Was a beautiful day

[youtube=

When I was in Baseco God began to speak to me about this beautiful reality from Malachi 3:3-4

Malachi 3:2-4 (New King James Version)

² “ But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
³ He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the LORD
An offering in righteousness.
⁴ “ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be pleasant to the LORD,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.

What an amazing reality that our God WILL do these things to us in His infinite love and gentleness

God IS

1. Like a Refiners Fire, making us beautiful like a golden ring or diamond

2. Like a Fullers Soap (or a launderers soap) I do not know about you but when you scrub clothes by hand they become magnificently clean!We too are made magnificently clean.

3. A Purifier of Silver, he promises to purify us!

4. A Purger of Gold and Silver, not only cleaned but purged with impurities rooted out and cast into the sea

Why would He do that???

It tells us in Verse 4……that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness……we offer back to Him the thing He created in us “Righteousness”…what a marvellous transaction, what a deal, what a joy

Just a little thought that I wanted to share with you….

Love Cath

The Story behind the hymn, the man who lost everything, his money, his livelihood then his family….how can a person survive??

With the majestic voices of  Guy Penrod (is  a Homeschooler  and has 8 children) David Phelps and the Gaither Band

Sheer magnificence of God, it is times of pressure and stress we need this assurance!! Well I do!

Here is Guy’s Family

Such a powerful annointing on this skit/drama……well worth 5 min of your time!!

You will be blessed

“When you have come to the edge of all the light you know and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught how to fly.” Patrick Overter

watch?v=UZNc-l86jdI]

It is a simple command to go……not an option

Keith Green said it in a nutshell (slightly paraphrased listen to the video for the rest)

“Go ye into all nations……..”

The world is not being won today coz we are not doing it, we are at fault………..noone else

You do not need a call to go to nations, you have already been called…..in fact you had better have a DEFINATE call from God to stay if you do not consider that you must GO!!

Controversial agreed but the Word is clear,

He commands us to go it is an exception if we stay.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2fmARpy0qU&hl=en&fs=1&]

I have just finished watching one of my favourite movies

AMAZING GRACE

I have finally captured some quotes that always impact me, but why does this movie stir me so?

William Wilberforce a Christian man, he was a man inspired and anointed by God to change his world, it cost him his health, his freedom, his money, his time, his reputation and nearly his life.

He had choices, even as a Christian, he could have become a Missionary, a Preacher or a Pastor…..but God wanted to use him where he found him and powerfully used William to change the political world and social world of England, the force of which we still feel today.

I have heard this hymn Amazing Grace played in almost every realm of society, Weddings, Funerals, Church, Memorials and Services. It has echoed around the Red Square in Moscow the humanistic capital of the world, why is this hymn and the story so powerful?   It transcends religion, politics, gender and time!

Why? God inspired this song and the fulfilment of His dream on earth through it, and the abolition of the  evil and demonic reign  and oppression of slavery. It is a powerful testimony that God is real and will free those who are in bondage.

William Wilberforce was a normal man, with a passion…. ignited, inspired and  sustained by God

My God,  give me passion to change my world permanently and leave an indelible  mark for you behind me.

Love Cathy

Some of my favourite quotes

On Wilberforce’s confession of his new found faith and subsequent confusion of roles to his servant, his servant said…

“  “It is a sad fate for a man to die too well known to everyone else, and still unknown to himself” Francis Bacon. I don’t just dust your books sir!!”

When Margaret and Wilberforce begin to talk, he is hesitant to share and express the extreme disappointment and despair over his continual rebuffs and failures to change the slave trade in Parliament. She said this to him…

” “Tell me about it…….[silence]……it seems to me if there is a bad taste in your mouth you spit it out!

You do not keep constantly swallowing it back.”  “

Billy (now the Prime Minister) is having a race with Wilberforce on the lawns of his grounds, begin to talk about the abolition of the slave trade…..he made these comments to Wilberforce……

“  “You were born for this Wilber……”

“Sometimes I feel giddy….” says Wilberforce.

As they start to walk on the grass Billy says ” Why is it you only feel the thorns on your feet when you STOP running?”

“Is that some heavy handed metaphorical advice from you Mr Pitt?”

“Yes, yes I suppose it is! You must keep going,  keep going fast….”  “

Wilberforce’s Prayer and Vision

“Africa, your suffering has been the theme that has engaged and arrested my heart.

Your sufferings no tongue can express, no language can impart…..

God has set before me two great objectives,

The suppression of the Slave Trade

and the reformation of society…………..”

Charles Fox addressing the British Parliament after the victory of the Abolition of Slavery Bill

“  “When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon…..Men of violence.

Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles…..Napoleon will arrive in great pomp and power, a man who has achieved the summit of earthly ambition.

Yet…..his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war.

William Wilberforce however will return home to his family and lay his head on his pillow and remember the slave trade is no more!”  “

Postscript/ trailer at the end of the movie

“William Wilberforce continued to battle injustice for the rest of his life. He transformed the hearts and the minds of his countrymen on education. healthcare and prison reform to accomplish his second great dream- of making a better world”

Truly it is Amazing Grace that He would use such frail and untrustworthy vessels to do His will on earth

If only we will believe He wants to do the same with us!

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Cv5P9H9qU

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass.

It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Author unknown

http://www.freedigitalphotos.n

This song was recommended to me from a friend….it fits perfectly with this thought
Praise You in the Storm
by
Casting Crowns
Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw

This song has been such blessing to me…..I get touched by God EVERYTIME I listen to it, makes me wanna take the leap of faith, come on lets go!!

Read the words then listen to the song, I guarantee a blessing

DIVE by Steve Curtis Chapman

The long-awaited rains have fallen hard upon the thirsty ground

Have carved their way to where the wild and rushing river can be found

And like the rains I have been carried here to where the river flows, yeah

My heart is racin’ and my knees are weak as I walk to the edge

I know there is no turning back once my feet have left the ledge

And in the rush I hear a voice, it’s telling me it’s time to Take the leap of faith

So here I go

I’m diving in

I’m going deep

In over my head I wanna be

Caught in the rush

Lost in the flow

In over my head I wanna go

The river’s deep The river’s wide

The river’s water is alive

So sink or swim I’m diving in

I’m diving in

There is a supernatural power in this mighty river’s flow

It can bring the dead to life, and it can fill an empty soul

And give a heart the only thing worth livin’ and worth dyin’ for, yeah

But we will never know the awesome power of the grace of God

Until we let ourselves get swept away into this holy flood

So if you’ll take my hand, we’ll close our eyes and count to three

And take the leap of faith

Come on let’s go

So here I go

I’m diving in

I’m going deep

In over my head I wanna be

Caught in the rush

Lost in the flow

In over my head I wanna go

The river’s deep The river’s wide

The river’s water is alive

So sink or swim I’m diving in

Steven Curtis Chapman’s comment on the song: This was inspired by a story Pastor Scotty Smith told during one of his sermons. He had an awesome fishing trip with fellow Pastor Scott Roley. They had gone trout fishing and found a stream that produced a day of fishing that was a dream come true. They were standing chest deep in this stream catching trout left and right and at the day’s end had caught 200 fish. It was just unbelievable. He said the interesting thing was all the people standing on the shore watching them. Nobody was catching fish from the shore because you had to be out in the deep water where the fish were. Scotty related this story to the Christian life by saying it’s not a spectator sport, it’s not something we just sit on the side, we’ve got to get deep into the living water to experience what it is. It’s dangerous, it’s scary, it’s frightening and it’s all those things but that’s where we are called to live our lives. I took that analogy and said I want to write that somehow and I started working on the song Dive. From there I began to think about how my kids and I go to Camp Kanacut every summer. We usually try to spend a couple of days afterwards going to Tablerock Lake and we climb up on the cliffs and jump off. We don’t actually dive; we’re not brave enough to do that yet. That whole experience is so much like what it is to follow Jesus Christ. If we’re really going to do it and really dive in deep to what it means to get lost and lose ourselves in the flow of the living water. It’s a scary thing, you stand there with your knees knocking, you’re excited, you’re speechless and you almost can’t catch your breath. Your heart’s racing and you know once you take that step there isn’t any turning back. It’s not like the cartoons where you can run in mid air and come back to the ledge. You know you’re committed and once you hit the water and go deep in the water you experience that sense of “Yes! I did it, I’m in!” All of those emotions and experiences are what I wanted to capture in this song.

GO TO THIS LINK ON YOUTUBE TO HEAR AND SEE THE SONG (Worth the visit, It is embedded there for copyright reasons but go to Youtube and search for Dive or copy this URL)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DEbi221h10