Friday 31 December 2010

McKenzie Confronts His Fears

Liten here: http://peterstanway.podomatic.com/entry/2010-12-31T07_41_12-08_00
The air was so humid that McKenzie's cheap off-the-shelf spectacles slid down the greasy slope of his aristocratic aquiline nose. Almost habitually and certainly
without thinking, he pushed them back up to the bridge where beads of sweat
formed between his furrowing eyebrows.
At any cost, McKenzie was determined to finish his paper that he would present
before the scientific intelligentsia at the World Summit for Unilateral Disarmament
in Sao Paulo, Brazil that afternoon.
For a moment he was distracted, was that a creak he heard on the well-worn
stairway outside of his shabby hotel room or was his fertile mind playing
tricks on him.....?
We’ve all been there, or have we? Is McKenzie so different from you and I? Under pressure, our anxiety levels rise and with that comes the accompanying psychosis….paranoia and irrational fear.
Let’s see what happens next….
McKenzie smiled inwardly, why was he anxious? His mind went back to the time when, as an eight year old boy, he woke up during the night struggling to make sense of the
worst technicolour nightmare he had ever had.
His pj’s were sticking to him with sweat, his eyes, like organ-stops, stared
wildly into the unyielding darkness that surrounded him. His heart was racing
so fast that it felt like it would burst out of his chest. Fear paralysed his
throat as he struggled to scream out, ‘Dad!’
‘What is it son?’. The strong, reassuring sound of his dad’s voice pierced the
darkness and dissolved McKenzie’s fears….
Lost, alone and gripped by fear, we all need to know that there is someone we can call out to for help. Who do you cry out to when fear overcomes you?
Jeremiah 33:3 tells us what God says in the bible, ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things
you do not know.’
When we are disorientated and perplexed, we need to hear a strong reassuring
voice that takes control of our situation, makes sense of our confusion and
encourages us with the promise of great things to come.
Liten here: http://peterstanway.podomatic.com/entry/2010-12-31T07_41_12-08_00

Monday 27 December 2010

New Age Deception

...This week we take a look at the divisiveness of deception and in particular the deception of New Age…..Follow this link to listen:
http://revmedia.podomatic.com/entry/2010-12-27T06_13_38-08_00
Welcome to the latest podcast from TheWayCM (thewaycm.com). This one is a collaboration between RevMedia (revmedianetwork.com) and TheWayCM. We are delighted that you are listening. Remember, if you subscribe (free) you will never miss and episode. This podcast is also broadcast on the RevMedia Radio Channel 2 on Monday and Wednesday at 1pm and 8pm Central Standard Time (that's 7 pm GMT (UK) Monday and Wednesday evenings and 2am GMT (UK) Tuesday and Thursday mornings). Follow this link to listen:
http://revmedia.podomatic.com/entry/2010-12-27T06_13_38-08_00

Sunday 26 December 2010

McKenzie Meets Seduction

McKenzie Meets Seduction: http://www.getthegist.net
The heavy rain beat steadily down on the cathedral steps turning the dust to mud and then washing it away. Spain in the rain – not what he was hoping for! McKenzie sat under the canopy of a café situated on one side of a very beautiful plaza and thoughtfully sipped his café con leche. Normally, he would have savoured this moment while indulging in his favourite pastime; people watching, but the cobbled plaza, now shiny and treacherous, was almost deserted.
McKenzie focussed on the drenched horse-drawn open carriage that waited in vain for tourists. Statuesque, the chestnut brown mare stood completely immobile seeming to enjoy this welcome respite and happily unaware of the unseasonably bad weather. Sun-beaten, the gypsy driver sat forlornly wrapped in a brightly coloured thin plastic poncho that caught the drips from his sodden stiff brimmed hat that, in turn, sheltered the permanent Ducados cigarette burning slowly between his sardonic silent lips.
Would she keep their appointment? Was he bothered? McKenzie had developed an inherent trust in God that gave him the confidence to believe that no matter what happened, everything would work out for the best. Was he bothered? Not at all. However, when Maria Lopez de las Flores appeared out of a narrow lane on the other side of the square, his heart did skip a beat. There was an air of elegance and sophistication like two sisters that accompanied Maria wherever she went.
McKenzie scrutinised every inch of her as she made her way towards him. Her jet-black hair tightly pulled back from her pale sculptured face. Her dark eyes like mysterious deep pools and her ever-so-slightly pouting red lips perfectly complimenting her crimson-red shawl meticulously draped from her pushed-back shoulders like a proud matador’s cape after the kill. She exuded confidence. He was going to have to tread very carefully with this one.
He stood to his feet as she approached. Maria locked her hazel eyes on McKenzie’s Arian-blue stare. She put out her hand for him to welcome her. Taking her fine black calf-skinned glove by the finger tips he bowed slowly to kiss the back of her delicately perfumed and stylishly covered hand.
‘Charmed’ said McKenzie, smiling broadly. ‘Thank you for coming’.
‘The pleasure is all mine’. Maria’s voice resonated from her diaphragm like a treasure that had been hidden until now. Her teeth sparkled although there was no sun. She radiated her own light.
‘Steady…’, mused McKenzie, convinced that Maria could read his thoughts…..
….With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose.… (Proverbs 7:21-22)
McKenzie Meets Seduction: http://www.getthegist.net
Stay up-to-date: http://thewaycmnews.weebly.com/

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Monday 20 December 2010

Hold On with Both Hands

Let's take a look at the dynamic Christian life - don't forget to hold on with both hands! - http://bit.ly/gzK9D5

Saturday 18 December 2010

McKenzie has an Encounter

McKenzie has an Encounter
McKenzie sat bolt upright his eyes as wide as organ-stops. He was completely conscious yet his dream continued in vivid technicolour. There, in front of him, was a man, an incredibly handsome man, who seemed to emanate a brilliant bright light. His shoulder length hair was illuminated to the ends making it look like there was a halo around his head.
The light, although powerful was not glary, it had a translucent effect that shimmered like a gossamer haze revealing the full spectrum of a magnificent rainbow arching around his unexpected visitor.
McKenzie felt elated; overwhelmed with joy. His guest’s face shone with a broad friendly smile full of perfect pearly-white teeth. His eyes creased with laughter-lines.
‘Peace be with you’, he said with a voice that sounded like a waterfall. A wash of peace, unlike anything McKenzie had ever felt, flooded over him.
‘I am your friend’. Instantly McKenzie felt his heart melt and absolute trust mixed with tremendous adulation gushed out of his innermost being. He had never felt such love for anyone or anything. McKenzie was transfixed.
‘I am with you always’ McKenzie heard as he watched his friend’s powerful arms open outwards. His gracious flowing movements created dark bands where they blocked his radiating light. A kaleidoscope of colours spilled over McKenzie’s upturned face. He knew that his new companion loved him enough to die for him. His heart beat so strongly that McKenzie thought it would burst. As he stared open-mouthed, his new best friend began to evaporate into the ethereal mist and to disappear into the atmosphere that was pregnant with his presence.
McKenzie continued to stare into the empty space that had been temporally filled by the most glorious being he had ever seen. His mind could make no sense of it, but inside – deep inside, he knew he need never fear anything ever again. The sound of silence enveloped him as he slowly lay back down; his heart was still thumping inside his chest.
‘Thank you’, he said out loud to his friend. McKenzie was so overwhelmed he thought he would explode with gratitude.
‘Thank you, McKenzie’, came the response, like a gentle whisper that carried him off into the most peaceful sleep he had ever known.
Matthew 28:20 says……“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Go to our website: http://www.getthegist.net

Friday 17 December 2010

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Hello Churches

Church bookshop? Interested in stocking 'Wee Boys from Glasgow Don’t Cry'? Attractive terms. Information: info@peterstanwaybooks.com

Monday 13 December 2010

McKenzie Goes Shopping

McKenzie pondered pensively on how best to avoid the inevitable. What a quandary! Online shopping was infested with dangerous predators of another kind. There was nothing else for it. He would stuff his ears with cotton wool, put on his bravest smile and, behind his clenched teeth, he would jolly-well grin and bear it….

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out onto yesterday’s snow that crunched gingerly under his shifting weight. He caught the first bus heading towards the city centre. His brain was as numbed, as the frozen monochrome landscape that underwhelmingly drifted past his almost opaque, dirty window. Cocooned in his own thoughts McKenzie’s introvert bubble was about to burst...

As soon as he entered the mall, the sound of Christmas musak grated on McKenzie’s jangled nerves. Every year it was the same old, same old. It was now official; McKenzie hated Wham and Slade!

It wasn’t that McKenzie disliked Christmas, he had mixed feelings about it, but he most assuredly despised the overt commercial exploitation of it. This was not some Dickensian ‘bah-humbug’, rather it was, plain and simply, McKenzie’s opinion based on his observations.

However, because of his feelings, McKenzie loathed Christmas shopping. He didn’t mind buying gifts for the people he loved but he detested being dragged into the bedlam that goes with it.

Matthew 1:23 says…..“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Stay up-to-date: http://thewaycmnews.weebly.com/

Saturday 11 December 2010

The Spacious Place

...Listen to the latest Rev Media Podcast, 'The Spacious Place'. ....We look at the wide-open place of our salvation, the spacious place where nothing is impossible for God: http://soc.li/arfJ0BL