The Sustainance of Integrity

Well firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the 'Fath3r' readers out there!
It has been an extremely long time since I have written for my dear blog, and yes, it has felt like a piece of me has been missing. After a long year of grappling with new concepts, ideas and situations, I have chosen to come back and write more about our Father through any encouragements I may have, some bible study revelations as well as topics to make you really think about what life as a Christian really means.

On another day, I will share what has happened in these many months which stopped me from writing on here but for now I return with a challenge for us all. I'm calling it the 'Sustainance of Integrity', which sounds slightly more fancy then it is, however simply translated means the ability to keep your word or keep your promises. I want you to think of the many times that you have promised something to someone, to give them a call, to pray for them or even promised something to yourself - write a poem, read a book - and so often our words become void because we do not stick to what we say that we are going to do. Jesus said let our yes mean yes and our no mean no. There is no need to swear on your mother's life, or swear to God in order for you to move into action, our words ought to hold enough gravity to get us running in the race. So this is why I am today challenging you, that for a week, you keep track of all the things you promise to yourself, to God and to others and actually fulfill on these promises. See what greatness you can achieve when you stick by what you've said, and it doesn't have to be something tangible, it can just be the feeling you get when you've phoned a friend when you said you would or seeing the gratitude when you've met something that needed to be done. I will be joining in too and reporting back next Wednesday! So you have from today Wednesday 18th January 2012 until Wednesday 25th January to start sustaining your integrity and seeing the power you get by letting your yes mean yes and your no mean no.

With abundant love going to you all,

Jade Chanel x

Resilience...

Recently, I hit a low point. Looking at it, it appears futile, something that ought not to have affected me. But what it did do, was stop me from reading the Word, breathe short meaningless prayers with no true belief that anything would come to pass and to be honest my faith in God just waned. The reason for this sudden destruction of my belief was because the past came knocking at my door, and whilst I sought God to help me in the situation, He wasn't answering in my time, therefore my belief system said 'He's never going to answer - take things into your own hands' and let me tell you, that it was the most destructive thought ever! It became a barricade between God and I as my little human self believed I could take on supernatural powers and shape the outcome of the situation, but we all know that's an impossibility. And so from then on, I took a downward spiral, having negative thoughts about my existence, and to be real, thinking that if I died it would be a lot easier than facing up to the situation. I sounded (and felt) like a depressive Emo kid, but the rationality of God's word was missing, thus leaving the possibility of irrational thoughts.

I continued to try and take things into my control, but they only slipped further and further out of my control and I was left feeling more uncertain about the situation than when I started. Would I put it in God's hands? No. I believed I could still deal with it on my own. I was being fiercely stubborn, I didn't want anyone to meddle with my problem and a belief started that God would judge my situation just as man did. It was a vicious situation, perhaps a cycle, but it was only gnawing away at the cord between God and I.

I did start reading the Word again, but I still felt empty, there was just a lack of connection so to speak. But then what it took, strangely enough was a song, entitled 'Lord, How I love You' by Fred Hammond. I listened to it whilst getting ready for bed and what happened was it reminded me of feelings that I had when I was going through another 'rough patch' and then I looked at where I was now, and at the moment I fully understood what people meant when they say 'God has brought me a mighty long way' and when I say fully understood I mean I had experienced it myself. If God did that for me then, what is going to stop him from doing it now? It sounds so obvious now, but then again it is so easy to forget. Then I learnt a lesson about myself which is to be resilient in my faith.

I can't phrase this post in a fancy way, it's just raw experience and if there is anything you take from this, it's to remain resilient in your faith no matter what is thrown your way. Past, present, future situation, man, woman, child, don't let anything separate you from God's love.

"I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us." (Romans 8:38 - MSG)

So stand knowing that it is not by your might, but by the might of Jesus that you will pass through your situation, and in the meantime, keep on praising and never forget where God has brought your from because he will surely do it for you again.

All my Love

Jade Chanel x

Remembering The World: Brazil Mudslide and Australian Flooding

If you've all been watching the news, you will have seen the devastating natural disasters that have occured in Brazil and Australia. The impacts have been different due to the development of each area, but this doesn't stop the fact that lives have been lost, people have lost their houses and livelihoods and have been traumatized by what has happened. It is only apt that we remember each country in our prayers, for the safety of those who have been rescued, for God's comfort to surround those who have lost loved ones and just for restoration in these events.

Brazil
More than 420 people have now been killed by flooding and mudslides in south-eastern Brazil, officials say.
About 200 people have died in the town of Nova Friburgo, some 175 in Teresopolis and dozens more in Petropolis, media report. Thousands of people have been made homeless.
Rio de Janeiro Governor Sergio Cabral blamed local governments for allowing poor building and illegal occupations.
President Dilma Rousseff has toured damaged areas in Nova Friburgo.
She vowed that there would be "firm action" by the government.
Ms Rousseff was accompanied by Mr Cabral and other politicians and later left for a press conference in Rio, where she spoke of the "dramatic" scenes she had seen.
Expressing solidarity with the victims, she said: "The suffering of the people is very great."
Heavy rain fell early on Thursday as rescuers resumed their search but lightened during the day.
More than 800 rescuers are conducting searches and the Brazilian navy is sending a field hospital to the area.
Morgues in the affected towns were full, with churches and police stations receiving bodies.
Officials in Brazil's civil defence department have warned there could be hundreds more bodies yet to be recovered in Teresopolis alone, the Globo media organisation reported.
One area of Teresopolis, Campo Grande, remains cut off entirely and is yet to be reached by any rescuers. It is feared 150 people may be buried there.
The mayor of Teresopolis, Jorge Mario, said: "It's like an earthquake struck some areas. There are three or four neighbourhoods that were totally destroyed. There are hardly any houses standing there and all the roads and bridges are destroyed."


Australia
Devastating flood waters across the Australian state of Queensland may not recede for weeks, the state's Premier Anna Bligh has warned.
More than 20 towns in Queensland have been cut off or flooded, with more than 200,000 people affected.
Military aircraft are flying supplies into Rockhampton, which has been isolated by the still-rising waters.
The authorities have now confirmed three deaths caused by flood waters in the past few days.
Roads 'like lagoons' in flood-hit town
Ms Bligh has recalled ministers from holidays for crisis talks to plan the response to the flooding.
"Given the scale and size of this disaster, and the prospect that we will see waters sitting potentially for a couple of weeks, we will continue to have major issues to deal with throughout January," she said.
Her concern was echoed earlier by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, saying: "This is a major natural disaster and recovery will take a significant amount of time.
"The extent of flooding being experienced by Queensland is unprecedented and requires a national and united response."
Approximately 850,000 sq km have been affected, an area equivalent in size to France and Germany.
Australian Red Cross executive director Greg Goebel said there were seven evacuation centres currently operating, generally in town halls, gymnasiums or schools, and the army were flying in supplies.
"It is a major disaster, it's a heartbreak for many, many thousands of people and will certainly take an enormous amount of time to get their communities back to normality," he told the BBC.

*Both extracts taken from the BBC news website

All my love

Jade Chanel x

Actions speak louder than words

Having recently begun reading Matthew, I've come to notice something that seems key to living the Christian life, and that is simply us living. It may sound simple, but knowing our humanity it can become complicated. Let me explain:

In Matthew 8:1-4 (MSG) Jesus is met by a leper, who asks Jesus if he can be healed and Jesus does this. But what is key is that Jesus says do not go and speak about this all over the town, but to go quietly to the priest and present himself and give thankful expression to God. It was his cleansed and grateful life that would be a demonstration of his healing not his words. This resonated with me, as there are times when our words can be so empty and meaningless, because our lives don't demonstrate what we're saying.

You see there are so many people out there, who say they represent Jesus, and Jesus is their number one, but their lives beg to differ. I was one, who used to say 'Yep, Jesus is my Lord and Saviour, yeah He's number one in my life' but the words didn't match the reality, I just carried on living in a careless way, didn't read the bible, didn't seek to make my life any better. And I'm not saying that those who fully accept Jesus are without sin, but the real difference comes when you see those who are actively striving to become Christ-like in their everyday activities and those who say they accept Christ but are still doing the same thing as those who haven't. It is our actions that are a louder demonstration of our faith rather than our words. This idea matches up with the fact that we only have one mouth, there are times when we need to keep it shut.

Having realised this fact after reading Matthew 8, I then noticed that the way we live had been mentioned previously in Matthew. We are told to live out our God-created identity, live generously and graciously towards others, the way God lives towards us - Matthew 5:48 (MSG). It is all about the action and not the words, the generosity and the grace that we demonstrate will be an example of Jesus living within us, and that's when people will notice the difference. It's almost like seperating the wheat from the chaff. The chaff being those with all the talk but no grounding behind it and the wheat being those who might not say a lot but live out their God created identity. The road isn't always going to be easy, but Jesus says you're blessed when you're persecuted for his sake, so what will you be, the wheat or the chaff?

All my love

Jade Chanel x

In 2010 I...

Learnt to truly love God

Was baptised

Fell in love

have come to appreciate my family

Passed my A-Levels with great results

Went to Spain for the first time

have come to appreciate my friends

Developed a great appreciation for London

Met an awesome girl called Ola

Experienced a term at Loughborough University

Went to see Wicked

Met two cool people named April and Kevine

Overcame fear

Learnt how to forgive

Was hurt

cried

became independent

learnt to cook

Think about what you learnt, how you've grown and as I end 2010, truly fulfilled and happy, I hope God will bring me and you so much more in 2011!

My mind has changed...hello New Year!

So yesterday I had a mini rant about the fact that we don't need New Year's Resolutions, we need to make promises to ourselves continuously etc. However my mind has changed, and I've realised that new year's resolutions are helpful and often the time for reflection comes at the end of a year.

The end of a year helps us to look back over a vast time period and acknowledge how far God has brought us. David says in Psalms 63:6 (MSG) 'If I'm sleepless at midnight, I spend the hours in grateful reflection...' I urge you to think about your life from just January 2010 to the present day, and no matter how quickly the year may have felt to have gone - a lot has happened. No matter the rough patchs, failures or unhappiness that was encountered don't be ungrateful, because surely they have made you a stronger and wiser person, and probably strengthened your trust in and relationship with God. And let the good times, happiness and laughter serve as brilliant memories for you to take into 2011 and of course, more to be grateful to God for.

Tonight I thought about everything that has happened this year, and my first words were 'thank You Lord' because really I would not have made it without His grace. I wrote a list of the things that I wasn't happy with in 2010, and burned the list. It was like a metaphorical freedom and I just feel ready to go into the new year with an embracing attitude rather than a fighting mentality. I'm ready to keep praising, keep enjoying and to keep putting the devil in his place. Are you ready to do the same? My point of all this is to be grateful, no matter the circumstance, good or bad and persevere! Never give up, God will not give you more than you can bear.

So now I say, Happy New Year, apologies for my rant and make sure you enjoy 2011 no matter what it throws at you. Make the most of the good times and grow in the rough.

Love You all

Jade Chanel xx

The Music Industry today...

Now I know that this is a deep topic, and not something I know a lot about, but really is it me, or is the secular music industry getting darker and darker everyday? Like seriously? I mean I already knew and greatly disliked Jay-Z with his Illuminati business, which cancels out my appreciation of any of his signees or associates, namely Rihanna (despite her Bajan heritage), Willow Smith (I don't really care that she's 9...that's what it makes it more disturbing), Beyonce (Yes, I did once like her) and now Cher Lloyd (although I didn't appreciate her from day dot). But things are on a brand new level now and it's just deep.

Now I absolutely adore music, and there is no point in hiding that listening to purely Gospel music has been difficult. I mean there are times when I listen to songs that are not typically 'Christian', for example, I am a massive Coldplay fan and listen to a fair few other artists, and usually when someone posts a song on Facebook I tend to have a listen to see what's going on in the secular music world today. I've come to realise, I'm really NOT missing anything. This theory was confirmed after I watched the video for Kanye West's 'Monster' today, and seriously I have never seen anything so disturbing and grotesque in a music video ever. That's something I'd expect in a horror movie, and me, I hate horror movies! And I read someone's comment claiming the video was 'sick' but 'sick' as in good, not the original meaning of the word - which is what I would attribute to the video and perhaps the song in general. After having a brief conversation with my cousin, we confirmed the idea that the devil is rife in the music industry, and a lot of people are blinded by hype. He told me to watch Kanye West's video 'Power' which he said was worse than 'Monster' but after watching 'Monster' I definitely didn't want to watch something that was worse.

(I've put the videos on the page so you can make up your own minds, be aware, the above warning goes for all the videos to follow)

Also the lyrics, what are these people singing about? Literally a month or two ago, I kept seeing this Nicki Minaj song popping up, called 'Roman's Revenge' and the lyrics are 'I’m startin’ to feel like a dungeon dragon'....ermmm what is that supposed to mean? To me the lyrics sound really rubbish, yet this woman is selling records, and has got a lot of people claiming that their middle name is 'Minaj' on Facebook (something I find a little hilarious). Really I feel a bit fogey-ish wondering what the young people of today are listening to, but seriously...like a dungeon dragon? *sigh*

Be warned as well that the way artists talk about the opposite sex, can often be describing the role of God, something that I noticed in Alicia Keys' songs. Firstly in 'Teenage Love Affair' she says 'want you to be my first, my last, my ending and beginning.' Now I don't know what context she means this in, but Revelation 22:13 reads 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.' Also this isn't biblical but the song 'How Deeply I Need You' by Shekinah Glory says 'like the desert needs the rain, I need you' and Alicia Keys also says this but instead about a man. I guess this one is about personal choice really, if you don't have a faith you might want a man like the desert needs rain, but for me, I choose to need God that way not a man.


Furthermore, the sexual activity and innuendos nowadays, are just too much for my head and mind, anyone with a child or with young family members needs to be on guard. As per usual, I'm on Facebook, and I see a link to a video of Keri Hilson's new song, and I don't mind some of her songs, so I thought I'd listen, and low and behold I am confronted by a whole lot of explicit, vulgar language by someone usually soft and slightly suggestive but never so in your face. Her song entitled 'The Way You Love Me' - which may I point out, is the clean version of the title (substitute the word love for a word rhyming with 'luck') is just disgusting, really lacks any form of sophistication and commands no respect whatsoever. If you want to get the jist of the video you get it in this one phrase which I heard in a Youtube review of the song:

'Only a gynaecologist sees that much va-ja-jay'

Those who watch X Factor, will probably have seen Rihanna's somewhat 'raunchy' performance of 'What's My Name?' and whilst many loved it, some loathed it. I was hurting my bum on the fence, perhaps because I'd been exposed to Keri's video, I didn't find it that bad, but my closest friend was disgusted. We both came to the conclusion that our children would not be watching MTV, and after posting Keri's video on her Facebook wall (to emphasize how terrible it was), she had to delete it because it made her Facebook page look 'dirty' (her own words).

This has just been on my mind recently and I thought I'd share it and bring awareness to it. Remember this is my opinion so don't take it personally if you're a Minaj lover or West's greatest fan! Just insight for you to bear in mind and make up your own minds about the information.

Love you all,
Jade Chanel x