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You know sometimes we can just complicate things beyond belief. There are groups of Christians that believe different things about when the end of the world will be. Some believe that we will all be raptured up into Heaven. Others believe that we will go to Heaven when Jesus returns. Some people believe what Daniel is being told here has already happened and yet others believe that what Daniel is being told here is yet to happen. Does that matter? Daniel is told “Go about your business without fretting or worrying. Relax. When it’s all over, you will be on your feet to receive your reward.” And I think that is good advice for all of us. We could put it another way by saying “Don’t worry about arguing with other Christians about the in’s and outs of our faith. Do they believe that Jesus is Gods son, who died for us? Do they believe in God the Father, God The Son and God the Holy Spirit? Do they try and live by what they believe the Bible says? God knows their heart, God knows your heart, they and you will get the reward in Heaven.” We can agree with our Christian mates about the basics of what God has said; and then get on with the real Job of telling others what he has in store for all of us.

Author - Max Cross, Daniel | No Comments »

At this point in the prophecy to Daniel the dodgey king starts boasting how much better than God he is. It reminds me of some people’s attitudes towards God. It often seems that everyone has a right to believe what they want, unless you are a Christian. I have mates who are massively enthusiastic about the big bang theory. But if I raised the fact that I believe in a universe created by God, they would tell me that I had no right to spread that around. They would feel that telling everyone that there is no God is OK. But when I said Jesus was the one true way to God, they treated me like I was an intolerant maniac. So how does that effect what we do at college or school? Well in truth it doesn’t. It doesn’t affect your relationship with God one little bit. It does mean that you might want to be careful about what other people say. If people are boasting to you that you evolved from a bit of jelly but then Gods Bible is telling you that he created you; then you might want to look into the truth of the matter, rather than accepting other peoples boasts that they know more than God. If people are boasting to you that there is no God and you know different then maybe you can begin to understand that not everything you hear at college, see on the internet or watch on TV is true.

Author - Max Cross, Daniel | No Comments »

There seems to be so much violence in this prophesy that Daniel is receiving. Kings attacking and slaughtering people, time and time again. Has anything changed today or is there still extreme violence in our world? Obviously there are still brutal wars going on around the world, but how about a little closer to home? Is there violence in college? Is there violence in your school? Is there violence in you home? How should we as Christians react to violence? Firstly lets be real clear about this, if you are a victim of violence then you are going to need to be brave. You are going to need Gods help, and you are going to have to do something about it. I know that sounds daunting but pray to God and ask for his help and then ask someone else for help. If you are being hurt by someone ask a leader at Church, ask a leader at school, ask someone away from where you are being hurt to help you. But how do we react to others being hurt? Jesus told us that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest is to love one another. Well if we are to love one another then surely we cannot stand by and watch others suffer, without doing something. We must be very careful that we do not put ourselves in danger. We must pray to God for guidance, and then we must seek help from a leader away from the situation to stop the hurt. We were all put on this Earth by our creator God, and being hurt by someone else was not part of the deal.

Author - Max Cross, Daniel | No Comments »

We could forget that this is all a prophesy that Daniel is receiving as it seems so detailed, but that’s exactly what it is. It is a detailed prophesy of what is going to happen in Daniel’s and his peoples lives over the next few years. Wouldn’t you like detailed guidance from God like this? Would it be great if God would help you with the mundane things of life. Well the good news is God does. God wants to help you with the big things in life, but he is also interested in helping you with that essay. He wants to heal people of their diseases, but he also wants to, heal you of that toothache. Our God is the God of the big and the God of the small and the God of everything in-between. But of course for God to involve himself in the mundane parts of you life then you need to invite him. If you want to have a chat with one of your mates you probably don’t invite him with a formal printed invitation. “Dear Dave I formally invite you for a coke in the canteen at 12 o’clock RSVP.” That would be daft, you would give him a call and say “see you in the canteen at 12.” That’s how we need to be with God if we want him leading us in the same detail that he is providing Daniel with. We’re working on our essay, we say “Hey father thanks for your help in the past can you inspire me with this essay, please. Amen.” We have a toothache “ We say Lord please heal me of this niggling pain. Amen.” Yep our whole lives should be a constant chat to God, that would be great.

Author - Max Cross, Daniel | No Comments »

Kings come and kings go but what if you want to commit to a cause that is around for the long haul. Football teams come and football teams go but what happens to all the energy and commitment you put into a team that were flying high when they crash and burn. Film stars come and film stars go but how can you know that the star you are fan of will be around forever? Imagine committing to one of these kings in the passage. You commit your life to him, you are sold out and even go to war from him and then he gets trashed and is replaced by another king. That king then destroys you, throws you out of your home and leaves you with nothing. The same can happen to us when we commit to certain parts of our lives on this Earth. We commit to a band, change our style to fit them, buy all their stuff and go to all their concerts. We might spend every last penny we have buying their stuff and every last minute we have listening to their music. But what happens when they have enough dosh and break the band up? What are we left with? A Big fat nothing. That s why it is so reassuring to know that when we commit to the King of the universe every last piece of energy we put into worshipping Him is worthwhile. We know that what we do Jesus will be with us forever and he will not run away from us. We know that Jesus will be around tomorrow, because it tells us he will in the Bible. It says in Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Now that’s worth committing to.

Author - Max Cross, Daniel | No Comments »