Family Ties

There is no need to understand exactly how you are related

Just knowing that you are family is good enough 

Dinner with Mummy's aunt and cousin

When complete strangers can recognize the resemblance

You know your family blood lines are strong

On tour with the family

No distance is too wide to separate loved ones

Sometimes you just have to travel further than usual to see them

Family take over the hotel restaurant

Once the connection is made, it takes an effort to maintain it

But it is always worth the sacrifice

Trinidad, USA and Guyana connection :)

For every one that is getting older, new ones are being born

It's our responsibility to pass on the lessons learnt

The next generation!

You know the family ties are strong when you can't tell the difference

Between those who marry into the family and those who were born into it

Some of them had not seen each other for 50 years!

When you can get close to people who were complete strangers only 2 days before

You know it is because of a love that is connecting you

Taking in the sunrise on the beach

Our pockets may be emptier after our time spent together

But our hearts are fuller with the laughter and memories we shared

Reunion destination: Miami Beach

Celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ

At this time of the year, in the midst of the Easter Bonnet parades and Easter Egg hunts, those of us who are believers in Christ use every opportunity we have to share the message of the death and resurrection of Christ. This was the main focus at the closing session for Bible Club this term - that Jesus died to remove the sin that separated us from God, and demonstrated His victory over death by rising again after 3 days.

Hang the Jesus on the cross game

When sin entered the world through man's disobedience, our relationship with God was broken. The only way for us to be close to God once more was to remove the sin that separated us, and this could only be done through death. Jesus, who never sinned, took the punishment for our sins, so that we would not have to die (John 3:16)

Drama depicting Jesus' death

However, because Jesus is fully God, death could not keep Him in the grave. After paying the death price for our sins, He rose from the dead, defeating Satan's plan to keep us eternally separated from God. He remained on earth for 40 days, and then went back to heaven where He speaks to God on our behalf.

The women find the empty grave

Like Jesus, we too must die, but not a physical death. We must die spiritually to our old way of living, making decisions to please ourselves rather than to please God. We must also live, letting Christ be the center of our life, and reflecting Him in the way that we now live.

Skit demonstrating forgiveness by a victim of bullying

The children were challenged to stop living fake lives, according to the standards that society dictates, but to live authentic lives which are surrendered fully to God. They were given an opportunity to turn away from a life of sin, and invite God to take control of their lives, from the inside out.

Enjoying one of the games

Our prayer is that every young person who prayed that evening would truly be able to confess:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Living by truth

Two weekends ago my church's Young Adults Sunday School Class held a retreat under the theme "Experiencing Truth?" where we explored the implications of living according to experience rather than according to truth.

An example of living by experience rather than truth is as follows:

People allow the experience of suffering make them doubt that God is good, which is truth:
Psalm 136:1 - Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever.
We should never let circumstances take us off the path of truth.

Living based on experience is dangerous because experiences vary whereas truth remains constant regardless of external factors. Because truth is constant, living by truth makes us grounded, so we can withstand the storms of life. We should place a high priority on accumulating truth early in life, so that we would not be forced to rely on experiences due to an absence of truth.

Our being "blessed" in life is not determined by external factors (e.g. loving relationships, stable career, good home) but by the depth of our walk with God (Psalm 1:1) So we should not live our lives based on our experiences and feelings, but based on the truth of God's Word. Knowing what God's Word says will help us to live by truth, rather than being deceived based on our experiences.

We also contrasted truth and reality. Reality is based on what we experience, which varies from person to person. Truth does not change based on whether or not people accept it. The truth of the Word of God gives true freedom, and helps us move beyond the limitation of our present reality, enabling us to create a new reality. Miracles are examples of truth overcoming reality.

In Matthew 14:22-33, Peter recognised that Jesus had the power to make him walk on water. In spite of the realness of what he was experiencing (gravity), it was not the truth, since he was able to walk on water. We need to recognise that sometimes God is directing us to move outside of our experience, and we need to have the faith to obey. God is able to change our reality, but too often we give in to fear, focusing on what we are experiencing rather than truth. When we doubt, we are denying God's ability and His truth to sustain us. We need to trust in the truth of the One who sees the full picture, rather than focusing on what we cannot see, because many times, we cannot see further than the next step ahead.

Truth has no substitute. Truth is eternal. Truth supersedes human wisdom and reality. To some, the truth will not make sense, and may even be offensive. But as Christians, we have an individual responsibility to live by truth, not allowing reality to detract us from the truth; and we have a corporate responsibility to live by truth, because this impacts the lives of those around us.

Young Adults purposing to live by truth!