Break The Mould : Rebecca Karitons

14:59 Forge 0 Comments





Don’t you just hate it when people expect you to be a certain person and conform to certain standards? I hear people at college and when I was at school take the mic out of people for the stupidest of things, like the way they worded a tweet or the way they say a certain thing or play a certain instrument, etc. Who said we have to do this a certain way? Who said we have to dress like that? Who said because we believe in a phenomenal, awe inspiring God we have to hate gays, be against everyone who does anything we don't believe in, and walk around speaking only language from the bible. WHO?! And yet nearly every single young person and adult continues to go around believing the thing that requires the least arguments and defending. Barely anybody has the balls to stand up for what they believe to be true and speak their mind. When I say that I don’t being harsh and nasty to people, but standing firm in your faith and staying integers when it isn’t comfortable.


What I've noticed in my short time at college is how easily people are influenced (me included) and I don't necessarily mean in a good way. Its amazing how easily people are manipulated by those their own age by of either flirting, or the 'offering of a bine (cigarette) ' etc. I feel like the odd one out standing watching a theater play. Now I’m not dissing the college I go to or the people in it because I absolutely love them all and they make every single day at college awesome and hilarious, they’re brilliant. But what I’m saying is that I hate this 'mould' I’m expected to fit as a teenager in this day and age, especially as a music student. The 'sex, drugs, alcohol, and all that other stuff is not me, I'm not one to go out partying every weekend and get drunk or have sex with random people all the time, or at all. Now I don't care if I get absolutely slated at college tomorrow for this, because I’m simply voicing my opinion and I’m allowed to. I'm doing something that many people have the opportunity to do, but take the easy route out of doing; because it's 'not what people do these days'.


I guess what I’m trying to say in the most easiest way to understand as possible is that you DO NOT have to smoke to be cool, have sex to be mature, wear loads of makeup to be considered attractive, flirt to get attention, and hate on people who disagree with what you believe. You have your own mind, your own opinions, your own talents, your own amazing quirky things, and you are loved to pieces by an amazing God who only wants the best for you. So please don't be a sheep. Be unconventional, but in the best way possible, and for the best reasons possible. Don't shut up sit down and be quiet. Stand up, speak up, and scream it as loud as possible.


I pray that this week God will give you the boldness to stay strong in your faith and when the awkward questions come and the peer pressure sets in you will not be phased but know that God is bigger that your situation and that he will reward you for your steadfast faith. I also pray that rather than fitting the mould, you would start to create a new mould of breaking the mould, so people would see through your way of doing life that you don’t have to fit in, but you can live different and live well. Amen.

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Don't Be Ashamed In Jesus' Name : Jonathan Crabtree

04:15 Forge 0 Comments



            Jesus is the name above every other name. He walked the oceans, healed the blind, cast out demons, made the lame walk, made the deaf hear, raised the dead and most of all he died on the cross for our sin, beat death at its own game and unlocked the gates of heaven so that anyone who calls on his name will be free from all their mistakes and have a place in eternal life. And yet after all he has done for us we deny him in our schools and work places just because we are scared of what people think. I know that we can make it less about Jesus and more about “church” or “our religion” but in actual fact by avoiding those questions about what you did at the weekend or where did you go on a Friday night we are denying Jesus and all he did in our lives.  Today if you are a Christian and your reading this blog then you are probably in one of three categories. Your ether in Denial, Deflection or Detention, Denial is what I have said before, you avoid talking about church and Jesus and very few people know you are a Christian. Deflection is the opposite end of the scale, everyone knows you are a Christian but you ram that into people, you are “holy” and “spiritual” about it and you deflect any arguments against God and Jesus and stand your ground to the upmost level. And detention is in the transition period between denial and a happy medium and it annoys the heck out of you. You want to speak out about god in your life, but you don’t have the courage to make a move or you feel restricted. Now you may be siting down reading this blog thinking, “I am none of those…” well I hate to say it, but your back into denial! No one is perfect and everyone could improve, the key is finding a happy medium between living a normal life, and living extra-ordinary in Gods power and in the confidence that you are everything that God says in his word.

            Now to get practical, If you are “In Denial” why haven’t you made a conscious decision to make a move in your school or workplace? I hate to be a prude, but it is clearly put it in revelation 3:15-16 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” If your not living for God your not living in the fullness of Gods glory and that’s that, it doesn’t make much of a difference to God if you are living in sin or living pure because his grace can cover it and he has the power to set you free from it, but if you aren’t living for him your not fulfilling your purpose. We often speak about our calling and what God has called us to do, but ultimately in the very beginning God made us for his pleasure and to worship him, so if we aren’t fulfilling that then how can we progress to bigger and higher things, and I’m sure you want that. If your struggling to motivate yourself, I can guarantee that you aren’t reading your bible daily, your not praying daily and your not worshiping daily. I know it sounds daunting to dedicate yourself to that much every day but Even a 10 second prayer, one note of worship and one bible passage is enough to do it and to keep your mind on him, and that will naturally increase as your thirst to know about him and to worship him increases.

            Now we move on to “Detention” because the remedy for this problem is the same, read the word and worship, but focus in on passages of scripture that talk about who you are in Christ and what he thinks of you. Put them on your wall and memories them, read them before you leave the house in the morning and reflect on them. Tell yourself, I am chosen, I am a prince/princess of the most high king, Jesus is with me every day, he knows how many hairs are on my head, he loves me in abundance, I am the apple of his eye, he loves me enough to go to the cross, have nails taken through his hands and feet and die so that we cold know each other! When you speech that truth over your life and you start to realize who you are in Christ you will soon find you aren’t shy any more and you just want to share it with the world and when you do people will see the worth that you have and the relationship you have with Jesus before you even open your mouth. That self worth and “Godfidence” will have a lasting impact on your friends and family and in allot of cases they will approach you asking about the love that you have for Jesus and that he has for you. The fact is that despite all that you might think, everyone is searching, they just don’t know what they are searching for, and it’s your job to let them know, Jesus is the answer to their problem so don’t be ashamed to speak about Jesus and the life changing power that you have experienced, because there is nothing to be ashamed about because 9 out of 10 times they want to know.

            Last but not least are the “Deflectors” to put yourself in this category takes some humbling, but in the nature of these type of people, backing down and admitting your wrong is a hard thing so if you have time, find a friend who you trust and ask them to be honest with you about the way you hold yourself when it comes to this subject. I know exactly how it is to be here, feeling obliged to defend God in everything you do and to stand up for what Gods word says in every situation when God really doesn’t need you doing that. We all know john 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” But we often forget the next verse where it says “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” You see we are not here to judge people, or to write them of there ways, everyone is entitled to live their life how they please, however we are called not to condemn the world, but to save it, to be a living example of how to live and to lead by example. The truth is God doesn’t need defending, I’m sure he can deal with a few misquoted verses from the bible or scientific theories that disprove his existence. He knows he is real and he knows how he made the universe, God in all his glory wont loose any self esteem or confidence because of a few petty words, so why should you defend him? Make your point, and stick to your beliefs, but don’t argue late into the night with people who are never going to have their minds changed. I mean whose life was ever turned around by facts and figures? The things that change lives are love, grace, mercy, and kindness. And you have all those things through Christ so it is a better use of your time to show love to that person and show them kindness despite your clash of beliefs. That will have a much larger effect than a simple argument.

            I know that this is quite a challenging message and it does take you right to the core of your thinking about sharing the love of Christ, but if you are feeling condemned by my words please let me set the record straight, as I said before I’m not here to condemn you, but to try and save you from your ways of thinking. The fact is every pastor, speaker, worship leader, evangelist and biblical teacher will have gone through at least two of these stages and I can say for myself I have been through all three and Jesus himself shows us that there is no shame in being in denial, or in detention, or in deflection. Just look at the life of peter, Jesus spends 3 years of his life with peter, and he even publicly among the disciples showed is support for Jesus, saying he would never deny him, and yet in the courtyard outside the court he denied him three times. I know we have all been there before with our Sunday face, putting on a show for everyone at church, letting them know everything is fine, but then life catches up on you and you get swept away with the fear of, what will happen if I speak out and let people know my faith. But when we do slip up, Gods grace is there to pick us back up and wipe the slate clean. Jesus goes back to peter after his death and meets him on the beach and gives him a chance to redeem himself, and we all have that chance daily because his mercy is new every day, so take the opportunity with both hands and make a change in your life!

            My prayer for you is that you would identify where your at and have the passion and fire inside of you to go forward and make those changes, not having to worry what is happening to your left and right, but to have your eyes fixed on God so that when people see you they see Gods reflection in your life. I pray you will be gifted with the confidence to not be afraid of what people will think of you but that you would go out and be bold in your faith, and in the knowledge that God is looking out for you, but also that you would know the limits of your conversation and not be so consumed with putting other people right that your love for them is blown out the window. Go out and spread gods love! Amen

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Love : Jonathan Crabtree

08:51 Forge 0 Comments


Today Im going to talk to you about love. Love is everywhere, its on your TV, its on the radio, it in every magazine and newspaper. There are self publicised articles reaching out to other females and males who might be looking for love. But love isn't even limited to a man and a woman, There is love for family, love for friends, love for your favourite spot in the park, or your favourite meal that you only ever get on birthdays or special occasions. Love is at the very heart of everything we do, wether we acknowledge it or not.


However, Love has over the years been watered down in its purest form. We say we love fish and chips, in fact we say that we love our partner or loved ones, yet if we look to the bible the meaning of love is much stronger than any of these! It says in 1 corinthians 13 v4-7.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Who can say that when they talk about love, they amount to all that? No one, and yet this is the standard set to love on the bible! As hard as we could try we will never be able to amount to that in our love for people, we will always slip up, but the thing is god is no hypocrite. He amounts to all of those things in his love! Because it says in 1 John 4 v8 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Thats right, God is love, so when ever you see a characteristic of love in the bible, that is a characteristic of God! You can just substitute the two words, God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast... and it continues! Isn't it amazing to think that we have a God who is all of those things to us! 

However sometimes we can confuse God for our own version of him, we can still worship God, but we have given him human charactoristics and we dont have full faith in him to follow through. The fact is, if you cant trust god with your prayers you shouldnt stop praying, in that case you should increase your prayer, God is love, God always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres! He is never endingly sewing seed into your life and he will never let you down! If you have trouble beliving that then rather than taking yourself out the position where god can still work in your life through prayer, you need to increace it and give god a chance to proove his faithfullnes. God loves you more than you will ever know, and he wants the best for you, it says in Luke 11 v10, 

For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks.

If your not asking, your not going to recive. If your not seeking, your not going to find. If your not knocking the door isnt going to open. This aplys to your prayer. How do you expect God to suply for your need if you never ask! God holds the earth in his hands, the banks of heaven are in his controll, and the resecion dosent hit heaven! You have to ask god! God is your father and he loves you and wants the best for you, and he even knows what you want before you ask for it, but untill you do he is unlikly to suply it because when you give something to god there is no doubt he is in the final product of that. He wants to show you that he is your stedfast rock, and that he can be trusted. So even if you dont trust him back, give him somthing to show you.

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God Is My Metronome : Jake Fox

15:18 Forge 0 Comments



This is a blog post that a real good freind of mine wrote and I couldnt not share it! I hope it inspires you as much as It has me.
To read it in its natural habitat go to http://joshfox.org.uk/guest-post-god-is-my-metronome-jake-fox/
"For those who don’t know what a metronome is….Google it. Haha basically it’s a device used by musicians (mainly drummers, like me) to help keep them in time and playing at a steady beat. It provides a sharp clicking sound that can be set at different speeds so the band can follow it. Simples!
I got the idea for this preach the night after I had drummed at our weekly youth night (it was the first time I had used a metronome with a band, it was also a new experience for me because unlike the smaller stage I usually play on, each band member heard the rest of the band through earphones (rather than onstage monitors). So the morning after (in the shower to be precise), I was reflecting on how I had played, when God just threw this thought at me about how he plays a part in my life. This was the first time I had ever god speak to me and it was perfectly clear what he was putting across. So here goes…

1. Consistent

The whole point of a metronome is to keep a consistent/reliable beat for everyone to follow. If the timing of the device changed all the time it would be useless. It is the constant click that makes it reliable. This is such a picture of God because he is ALWAYS there, we rely on him throughout our lives just as we rely on the Click (metronome) to keep us going. In Isaiah 6:4 God is described as an ‘everlasting rock’, now this I love because if you’re looking for something to rely/stand on, an EVERLASTING ROCK is about as reliable as it gets. Not only is it ridiculously hard to break, but it’s there eternally. Just like God is for you. God is always there for you and he is your rock, your metronome which you can stand on because he is totally for you.
Now as a drummer I understand the role that I play. Now we may be the butt of every music joke however the band needs the drummer to keep in time, there is a degree of pressure that goes with this aswell. Total trust needs to be on the metronome because:Band follows drummer… drummer follows metronome. We can choose to put our trust in less consistent things in life but the fact is, it is only the metronome we can fully rely on to get us all the way through the song.

2. Tempo

Sometimes it’s hard to trust the metronome, as a learning drummer I still sometimes have to make sure I don’t naturally speed up or slow down. Just like this we can often find ourselves with our own ‘spiritual tempo’. When drumming I have found myself getting excited in the builds and started speeding up and not following the Click. The problem with this is that every song has a set tempo, and it is THAT tempo for a reason. By speeding up, we simply decrease the possible impact the song (our lives) could have. We speed up simply because of impatience. We feel “God, this should be happening faster than this. Why am I not to the next stage yet?”. God may be wanting you to stick to the tempo because you still have people to reach, friendships to make etc before you move onto the next stage in life. We assume that the ‘Long way round’ is the worst way round, when in fact God may need you to take a longer route because he knows that you have certain stuff to pick up along that journey e.g. wisdom, knowledge connections. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. The fact is, God knows what he’s doing. He’s not asking you to be patient and follow the tempo because he hasn’t thought of anything for you yet. He is ALL-KNOWING, he knows exactly where you need to be and what is going to happen.
On the flip side of this ‘tempo’ we can often find ourselves slowing down and becoming weary. The point here is that when we slow down, the metronome doesn’t. God carries on clicking and encouraging us: “C’mon keep going, I still love you, I’m still here for you, don’t give up.” He doesn’t slow down. He is not disappointed in us when we slow down, God doesn’t go “oh….I thought you would be able to do that…..erm ok…….guess I won’t bother“. He is still just as loud and just as consistent. He is the same God no matter how we are doing or where we are. He the God or our past, present and future. It is simply our choice on how prominent he is in our lives.

3. In time with God

As a musician I love the sound of a tight band, not a note missed, everyone at the same beat, tempo and rhythm. Beautiful! So needless to say I can’t help but cringe when a bad is out of time, it just feels…..YUK. It’s like stroking a cat the wrong way. Now from this I just want to push the importance of having others around you so when you slip out of time, others are there to pull you back in. Your ‘band’ could be your friends, family etc. Have people there to challenge you to keep up, to say “C’mon this is the tempo! This is the pace you need to be at! Dont be a beat behind!” It’s like the US Rangers saying “Leave no one behind“. Except with this it’s: “Leave no one behind the beat, lets march this together as a symphony.” Develop an environment of a tight band that can encourage each other along. There is power in numbers.
Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”

4. Volume

God is not any louder to other people than he is to you. It is simply down to how available or how loud you are making him in your life. TURN THAT METRONOME UP! Think of it as a limbo bar, the higher the bar, the more of God you are allowing to come through under it. Just like if you make a metronome louder it is easier to follow! Highten your expectations. We can sometimes choose to turn down the Click because “were not feeling it, no motivation” etc, but the fact is we haven’t altered what the metronome does, it is still clicking away. By turning down we haven’t changed God, we have simply just altered how available we are making ourselves to God! So when we turn up, he is there STRAIGHT AWAY. He holds no grudge, his click is everlasting. It is already and always there when we choose to come back and follow it. God is on the end of the phone line, you don’t have to ring him and WAIT for him to pick up. He is already there, it’s just simply your choice to call him and listen to his Click & guidance. Make God louder in your life!

5. The Mix

You may have heard Musicians mention this phrase before and had no idea what it meant. It is simply how loud everything is in your ears, the levels of each sound and whether some are overpowering others. On the night when I was drumming using a metronome I had a really bad mix. I heard some stuff ridiculously loud, and other instruments were almost inaudible, this was naturally off-putting. After the meeting one of the worship team was giving me advice about playing when he said such a simple and yet powerful phrase: “Sometimes you need to cut stuff out your mix because it clutters what you need to hear“. What a statement for growing spiritually eh? Quite often we can find ourselves with so many different voices and opportunities in our head, It’s all about choosing the right one to listen to. It is your choice on what to turn up. For example when performing in a band environment we may want a nice sounding guitar cranked up in our mix because it sounds great. But is that going to get you all the way through the song? The Click will be there throughout whilst other instruments may only be there for certain parts and then they’re gone. Just like certain people will come into our lives and drop out but God is there through it all, clicking away. Too many sounds can hinder you from hearing the click. Prioritize the metronome in your life!

6. Plugging In

You ever been talking to someone with headphones on and realised mid speech that they can’t actually hear a word your saying?…..annoying right? What headphones do is they focus in on the sound we are plugged in to. Let’s choose to plug in to the metronome in our lives. When using a metronome everything plugs into it, because if it was just to play through its own speakers we would simply drown it out and lose the timing. However if you choose to plug in, other voices can be as loud as they want but your are still focused in on the all essential….Click. Notice how plugging in doesn’t stop other sounds from being in your environment, it simply puts the focus on what you have chosen to plug into. PLUG INTO GOD! So what is plugging in? Simply taking action on your relationship with God, volunteering at church, being part of a study group, digging into the Word, devoting time to prayer. Have a headphone conversation where you can talk about and share what you’re focusing on about God! Build on your relationship with God! Make that Click prominent!
Now just in closing, this concept of a Metronome has been a bit of revelation for me because I have struggled with how other people can be transformed from Drug Dealerto Preacher in a small matter of time, I have looked at these people numerous times and thought “Well where’s my miracle? Why is God not transforming me?” People that have grown up in church and in a church-going family may be able to relate to this. Now it’s taken some time, but I’ve realised that just because God’s power is great, it doesn’t mean his faithfulness isn’t. God doesn’t always work in the way you expect, in fact I bet he hardly ever does!
Dont let your account of God’s power underestimate his faithfulness.
He is still there encouraging you, challenging you, loving you,….as that beep, that click, that will never fade."
God Bless.
Jake Fox

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