Tag: student

Posted on

Drunk

Don’t get me wrong, I do love a good alcoholic drink, but as I’ve got older I’d rather savour the taste of a good cider with friends than throwing it down my neck. Back in Freshers, the aim of a night out was to get completely drunk. The idea of spending money was all aimed on a night out at university. As the years have progressed, I don’t really go on many nights out. Getting drunk and having a hangover the next day doesn’t sound very appealing to me anymore.

For many of us, alcohol seems to be the solution of many problems. The amount of times I’ve heard or seen on social media, “I need a stiff drink after that,” or the act of having a full bottle of wine after a bad day at work, is not uncommon. Many, including myself in the past, have had a drink to take pain away, putting hope in a bottle rather than Jesus Himself.

A few weeks ago, was the Christian holiday of Pentecost. And for those who don’t know what happens on this day, it is a celebration of the Holy Spirit filling a room with a strong wind. When that strong wind had come, all the people in the room saw tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues and languages, just as the Spirit enabled them. The Holy Spirit is an amazing being and its really hard to explain, as it is the most indescribable thing to ever happen to you. I love Holy Spirit moments. When I speak to my friends who are not Christians, who ask questions, they can get behind Jesus – He is a man, a physical thing; they can sort of get behind there being a God – a divine being guiding you through your life; but when it comes to the Holy Spirit – they’re like “Woah, I’ve got to stop you there!” It’s a concept that many people can’t get there heads around.

Being Drunk On The Spirit

A lot of you are probably thinking right now, so where is this going? What’s the link between bad life decisions of being drunk and the filling of the Holy Spirit? Well, the Bible talks very strongly about this link in Ephesians 5:18:

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)

I find this Bible verse incredible. I feel like this verse is saying that you should feel the same high from the Holy Spirit as you do when you are drunk. Being in a room filled with tons of people, who are each filled with the Holy Spirit is an incredible sight and to someone from the outside looking in, you would presume that everyone is completely drunk. People supposedly speaking gobbledegook (tongues), collapsing on the floor, uncontrollable laughing and crying. I admit I have the gift of tongues, I’ve had it for about 6-7 months now and honestly, it’s so amazing. Personally, I’ve never felt anything that makes you so happy or takes all your pain away than a glass of the Holy Spirit and a bottle of Jesus.

There are parallels between the two; we tend to see being drunk as a bad thing and we really don’t want it to happen to us in church. But here, God want us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and feel the gifts that it can give us. But, compared to alcohol, the Spirit gives you no sickness, doesn’t cause you to make stupid decisions, doesn’t lead to crime and definitely doesn’t give you a hangover the morning after, instead it makes you feel relaxed and helps you to know that the presence of God is always there with you.

There’s always that feeling of alcohol being a want not a need. Instead we should be needing the Holy Spirit not wanting it. We shouldn’t be able to go through our week, without needing God to be with us. For a lot people, alcohol is what they worship, a mini god to them. It’s so easy to get hold of and it’s pretty cheap. But do you know what is easier to find, is completely accessible and absolutely free? The Holy Spirit. There for when you need Him, not as a last resort or a temporary want.

The Holy Spirit – Way Better Than a Cheap Night Out

Don’t Fear, Only Believe

Posted on

Conspiracy Theory or Not?

When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we ere asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. (Matthew 28:12-15)

I do love a good conspiracy theory. As I’m studying a postgraduate degree in criminal investigation, I’m very keen on having many hypothesis and theories when researching a case that has multiple conclusions, so that each can be eliminated to find the right answer. What about the events of 9/11 or the disappearance of Madeleine McCann? Does the Illuminati actually exist? The whole Flat Earth Theory? The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370? How about the one where Jesus’ body was stolen from the tomb?

The Bible itself contains the first mention of the Stolen Body myth. After the Resurrection, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb reported to the chief priests what had happened. The chief priests bribed them to say the body had been stolen while they slept.

Hide-and-Seek

Some people today still imagine that the disciples played a game of hide-and-seek with Jesus’ body. But a load of facts make this conspiracy theory impossible to believe. The stone, for example, that sealed the tomb wasn’t the kind of stone you can skip across a pond. According to textual information and the calculations of two Georgia Tech engineering professors, it might have been a five foot high circular stone weighing around two tons. When the tomb was first prepared, a team of labourers likely would have set the stone in place, using a wedge to keep the stone from rolling down a trench that sloped down to the opening of the tomb. When Jesus was buried, the wedge was removed and gravity did the rest, sealing the tomb so it could only be reopened by a gang of noisy, grunting, strong men. That’s why the women, on the way to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, wondered who could roll the stone away.

Mark 16:1-3 says,” When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

As well as this, the chief priests requested a detachment of soldiers from Pilate, the Roman governor, to guard the tomb. The Roman guard unit could have numbered as many as sixteen highly trained soldiers. Those who entertain the Stolen Body myth suppose that a scared little group of disciples confronted a guard of heavily armed, battle-trained soldiers. The disciples either overpowered the soldiers or snuck past them in their sleep to heave a two-ton stone up an incline without waking a single man. Then, so the theory goes, the disciples carted off Jesus’ body, hid it and – over the next several decades – endured torture, ridicule and martyrdom to spread what they knew to be a lie!

This is hilariously ridiculous! I was reading an article this week about the research of a Harvard Law professor called Simon Greenleaf. He lectured for several years on how to break down testimony and to determine if a witness was lying. He said, “It was… impossible that [the disciples] could have persisted in affirming the truths they narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact.”

What Does This Means To Me?

As Easter Sunday is tomorrow where we remember Jesus’ resurrection, I find it incredible how one man can be raised from the dead. This cements itself in my mind that Jesus WAS and IS the Son of God, the reason for my existence and the purpose of my life. Like the first Christians who saw that open tomb with their very eyes, I can have complete confidence that my Christian faith is based on the solid, historical fact of the empty tomb and the risen Christ… and that is why I believe in the right answer!

Happy Easter!

dontfearonlybelieve

To check out my latest project, please visit dontfearonlybelieve.com

Posted on

Why I Would Never Choose Invisibility as my Superpower?

“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer–at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 

(Acts 3:1-3)

It may sound like a typical nerdy question when you ask someone, “If you could have any superpower you wanted, what would it be?” I’ve asked this question so many times to young adults as like an ice-breaker to get a conversation going. And the superpower that most of them have said is – INVISIBILITY. But why this superpower out of all them?

I had a careful think about this question this week after I watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy. And I came to a possible conclusion. No one can see you. You’re there but not there. You could be in the same room with someone, standing inches away from them and they would never realise it. If they wanted to, they could reach out and touch you – but why would they? They wouldn’t know you were there! You could do tons of random acts of kindness, but no one would see you and it would look like magic. But you could also abuse it… it would be very easy to rob a bank and be totally unnoticed.

In movies, invisibility is portrayed as this awesome superpower where the superhero can disappear to protect themselves from getting hurt, reappearing on the other side of the room completely unharmed. But imagine if that character was always invisible. How could they connect with anyone? How could they make friends? How could they live a happy life if no one could ever see them? The answer is they wouldn’t. The only reason this superpower is cool in films, is that it can be turned on and off whenever the superhero wants it to. It may be fun to not be seen every so often, but I assure you that a whole life of invisibility is no superpower at all.

To BE invisible in movies = POWER

To FEEL invisible in life = PAIN

What does the Bible say?

This blog post all stemmed from a Bible passage I had read last week, being Acts 3:1-3, which talked about an invisible beggar. Consider a few things about life for this man. He was lame; couldn’t walk or stand. What this really meant was he sat on the floor ever single day, begging for small change. All day. It also reminded me of a homeless person sat outside Sainsburys. Everyday tons of people walk past them and ignore them, not even offering them a smile, pretending that they don’t exist. A smile can do so much more than people realise. A person once taught me to never ignore a homeless person, they are still human beings. If you are asked for money and don’t have any, to acknowledge their presence, politely say no thanks and smile. In this passage, this guy was treated as invisible constantly.

I think many of us can relate to this beggar more than we think we do. We aren’t homeless or lame but we can feel invisible. Sometimes it can self-inflicted – we try to be invisible to cope with out own thoughts, feelings and emotions. But being invisible can leave us sad and upset. I know too well. I am quite a shy, introverted guy who likes to keep things to myself, avoiding confrontation. So staying invisible sometimes works for me. But being invisible all the time doesn’t. I have hid myself away in the past at the lowest points, thinking that it’s been the best for myself when really I had needed to be visible. A feeling of community when times have been tough.

How can I take off my cloak of invisibility?

What can I do? Why should I live as a visible person? Once we look up like the beggar did in Acts, we’ll be more sensitive to the people with their heads still down. We’ll get the opportunity to be like Peter and John and engage with the downcast. This is a whole life thing, whether you are in school or work, at the supermarket, or even walking down the street…And this is why I would never choose invisibility as my superpower!

Thanks

Don’t Fear, Only Believe

To check out my latest projects, please visit dontfearonlybelieve.wordpress.com

Posted on

Love is Patient, Love is Kind

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

Yesterday I was lying in bed, listening to my Spotify and the song, “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis came on. And normally I just let the music play, usually I have a good dance or sing, but in this moment, I felt like I was being called to listen closely to the words. The song is about homosexuality, which I will talk about in a future blog post. But, as the song came to the end, “Love is Patient, Love is Kind” were the words that were sang as the music faded out. These words reminded me of what my God is; patient and kind. But is also reminded me of the thing I struggle to show to those around me. It reminded me of the second most important lesson in the Bible, the underlying theme in a large amount of Jesus’ parables, the thing I wished the world would show – LOVE.

LOVE. Different from the love that you feel in romantic relationships. It’s such a hard word and it’s sometimes really hard to show love to people you don’t think you should show it to. People who have hurt you, made you angry or upset, annoyed and frustrated you. But Jesus’ second most important lesson was to love your neighbour as yourself. I have had to face this dilemma multiple times when something hasn’t gone how I have planned it, or someone has hurt me whether it be through a breakup, an argument between mates or just by someone who has not thought about their words before they say them. And still loving them after this has happened is definitely a challenge, honestly.

When life gets hard, I retreat. I put walls up around my heart and I don’t want to let anyone in, especially if I know they’ll challenge me. Maybe it’s because I’m a tad introverted, or maybe it’s just because I’m afraid of anything unfamiliar or potentially messy, but I’m good at pushing away when I feel vulnerable. It can be easy to classify people (sometimes without even realising it) and therefore not love others truly as our neighbours. At these times, it can be easier to withdraw from community when times challenge us instead of building relationships with people who are different than us. If everyone had the same view as us, there would be no argument against it to challenge us, no open conversations.

“It’s not community until someone you don’t like shows up.”

I read this quote yesterday. This simple and powerful quote made me think hard. A lot of the time, it’s easy to want to extend love and mercy to the ones who seem needy and helpless, but it can be so much harder to extend that same love and mercy to the people you don’t see eye to eye with or don’t get on. You’ve got to think of it like this; if someone speaks up about their beliefs or opinions than look nothing like mine, I’m tempted to shut down or push back… but true community looks like pressing in and engaging them.

Sometimes “loving your neighbour” will mean loving those who have been the first to accuse, humiliate or abandon you. 1 John 4:12 puts it really clear one how to be the bigger person, to forgive and to carry on loving. It says, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” While loving other through heartache or anger, you will bridge a really scary (but conquerable) gap between pain and life.

If there is one thing I have learnt about His love is that it casts out fear. His love draws life. His love is life. God’s love is patient and kind. If He can extend that to me, then I can extend it to everyone else, most importantly those that have hurt me.

Thanks

Don’t Fear, Only Believe

Posted on

Poem: The Unravelling of a Christian Marriage

Marry the wrong person, everyday is Martyrs Day.
Marry a lazy person, everyday is Labour Day.
Marry a rich person everyday is New Year’s Day.
Marry an immature person, everyday would seem like Children’s Day.
Marry a cheater or liar, everyday will become April Fool’s Day.
And if you don’t get married, everyday is Independence Day!

Marriage is the only school where you get a certificate before you start.
It’s also a school where you will never graduate.
It’s a school without a break or a free period.
It’s a school where no one is allowed to drop out.
It’s a school you will have to attend everyday of your life.
It’s a school where there is no sick leave or holidays.
It’s a school founded by God on the foundation of love.
The walls are made out of trust.
The door made out of acceptance.
The windows made out of understanding
The furniture made out of blessings
The roof made out of faith.

Be reminded that God is the only Principal and you are a student,
Even in times of storms, don’t be unwise and run outside.
Keep in mind that, this school is the safest place to be.
Never go to sleep before completing your assignments for the day.
Never forget  to communicate with your classmate and with the Principal.
If you find out something about your classmate (spouse) that you do not appreciate.
Remember your classmate is also just a student, not a graduate.
God is not finished with him/her yet.
So take it as a challenge and work on it together.
Do not forget to study the Holy Book (the main textbook of this school).
Start each day with a sacred assembly and end it the same way.

Sometimes you will feel like not attending classes, yet you have to.
When tempted to quit find courage and continue.
Some tests and exams may be tough but remember,
the Principal knows how much you can bear and yet it’s a school better than any other.

It’s one of the best schools on earth;
joy, peace and happiness accompany each lesson of the day.

Different subjects are offered in this school, yet love is the major subject.
After all the years of theorising about it, now you have a chance to practice it.

To be loved is a good thing, but to love is the greatest privilege of them all.
Marriage is a place of love, so love your spouse.

Whether you’re married, engaged, or still single, we hope that you have found wisdom and encouragement in this poem about marriage.  

Posted on

Beaufort Court, Hammersmith, London

An award-winning estate which was constructed in 2003 using a semi-modular construction approach.

Traditional bathroom pods have a range of superstructure options including concrete and GRP. They are not usually integrated into the structure and are either craned or slid into place after construction. Typically, this involves redundancy in terms of floors and walls but this can be avoided by using structural pods. Traditional pods usually have a separate procurement process and when used in hotels and student accommodation have very defined service zones.

Beaufort Court consists of 65 houses and flats arranged in three blocks around a communal area. There are 19 shared ownership flats, which sell at £115,230 (2003 prices). The remaining houses and flats are social housing, key worker housing and part of a rough sleeper initiative. It was designed as a model of affordable housing. It is high density, energy efficient, and innovative in construction. Plans are generous, elevations are elegant, and excellent communal and parking facilities are provided. A light-guage steel panel system forms the main superstructure of the six-storey accommodation with an externally expressed hot rolled steel structure for the lift shafts and supporting the balconies. Lillee Road is the first UK housing project to use structural bathroom pods within such a framing system. They were chosen primarily because of the very tight spatial constraints of the building.

Client: Peabody Trust
Architect:  Feilden Clegg Bradley LLP
Structural Engineer:  Michael Barclay Partnership
Steel Frame Consultants:  Forge Llewellyn
Contractor: Rok Llewellyn
MMC Advisor: Mtech

 

As seen on