NHCF Blog

Two days ago, while working on my sermon for Sunday, I was listening to the soundtrack of the most recent Lion King movie. Now this soundtrack is especially meaningful to me because the original Lion King played a large role in my childhood. I don’t think it is possible to know how many times I watched it as a child and later as an adult. This is a movie that I know pretty much backwards and still unashamedly sing along to it (remembering most of the lyrics to the songs!)What blows my mind regarding the older, animated movies like The Lion King is the meaningful messages you discover as an adult that may have gone over your head when you were younger. While listening to one of the songs, I decided that I wanted to quickly watch the scene, in which this song played, from the original movie. I opened up YouTube and began the search to find what I was looking for and success! It was found! After watching it, I watched it again amazed at the biblical truth contained in the exchange between Simba and his dad Mufasa who had passed away: Mufasa: Simba . . .Simba: Father?Mufasa: Simba, you have forgotten me.Simba: No. How could I?Mufasa: You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba.               You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.Simba: How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be.Mufasa: Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king.Mufasa: Remember who you are.Now if you have never seen The Lion King before (the animated one, not the live-action one!) please stop what you’re doing and go watch it if you can (You won’t be disappointed – I promise!). At this point in the movie Simba was the rightful king of his father’s kingdom but was not living in a way that honoured that fact – he had become a shadow of his former self. I love Mufasa’s words, “You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become”As disciples of Jesus we are literally children of God. Take a look at Galatians 4:3-7:3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements of the world. 4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.When we forget the fact that we are a child of God I think that we can then in turn forget about God himself. And when we forget our true identity and who that identity is…

"Hi how are you? We haven't seen you at Church lately are things going okay?""Hi my friend, I really got a sense that I should call you, do you have some time to chat?""Okay everyone lets go round the group and share any highs or lows you've had during the week. How is your walk with the Lord going?""Hey man, how's that temper? I've been praying for you."I'm sure that, in our Christian journey, we have had similar questions asked of us or have asked the same kind of questions of others. There is a name for this kind of thing, accountability. Those of you who remember their days of being part of the youth group might recall the concept of an accountability partner. The idea of accountability is rooted in the Biblical concept of confession and, ultimately, love. "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working," (James 5:16)"Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ," (Galatians 6:1-2)The wisdom book of Ecclesiastes insightfully recognises the benefit of having another come alongside us to support one another:9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him — a threefold cord is not quickly broken.  (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)Many of us know the value of having someone holding us accountable in our daily walk and spiritual lives. Someone who can lovingly challenge us on our areas of sin, who can support us in times of struggle and who can motivate us to grow in Christlikeness. And it need not be one person, it could be a group of friends, a fellowship group, or fellow church members fulfilling this role to various degrees.The reason for me bringing up the topic of accountability is to remind of its importance especially now as many of us are isolated from each other during the lockdown. No one will know if you're not at Church on Sunday, or reading your Bible, or praying regularly. Both the stress and boredom of the lockdown can result in us turning back to and engaging in bad or sinful habits. It is therefore vital to establish some sort of accountability, even if you just have a prayer partner who you can contact or message if you are struggling. Heed the warning of Ecclesiastes 4:10 for those trying to go it alone: "For if they fall,…

I really love listening to music. I have an emotional connection to it in ways which my wife thinks is strange. I will often ask her to listen out for a tiny little change in a song or the moment an instrument comes in which I get really excited about! Music has made me cry more times than I can count but is also something I derive a lot of joy from. One of my favorite features of the music app Spotify is the Discover Weekly playlist where the app suggests music based on what you like. One day while listening to this playlist a song called Big Love, Small Moments by JJ Heller came on. As soon as it started I knew that this was an artist and style which I would enjoy and it has been a song which I have listened to numerous times since discovering it. The more I have listened to it the more I have become connected with the beautiful message it is communicating. This is a message I want to share with you today as it is applicable for the current situation we all find ourselves in. You can simply read the lyrics or listen along with the song below. Heartbeats only happen one at a time, one at a timeYou can't rush a moment so don't even try, don't even tryThere's a symphony you're missingIf you only listen you'll find...Big magic in the mundaneThe big picture in a small frameEverything is sacred when you take time to noticeBig love happens in the small momentsBig love happens in the small momentsThere's no use in chasing nickels and dimes, nickels and dimesRiches all around you, open your eyes, open your eyesYou can't buy the piece you're after so don't even try'Cause you'll find...Big magic in the mundaneThe big picture in a small frameEverything is sacred when you take time to noticeBig love happens in the small momentsBig love happens in the small momentsFeel the rain on your skin, feel my hand in your handYou can't do it all, so just do what you canFeel the rain on your skin, feel my hand in your handYou can't do it all, so just do what you canFeel the sun on your face (Feel the sun on your face)Bare feet on the ground (Feet on the ground)I know you'll see beautiful things if you look around, yeahJust look aroundAnd you'll findBig magic in the mundaneThe big picture in a small frameEverything is sacred when you take time to notice the...Big magic in the mundaneThe big picture in a small frameEverything is sacred when you take time to noticeBig love happens in the small momentsBig love happens in the small momentshttps://youtu.be/BXOCDCbBCqcMuch Love,Luke

In digging through some old papers today I came across a printed out copy of Psalm 119 that I had made a few years ago to reflect on the content of the psalm stanza by stanza. As you know it's a pretty long psalm so there we quite a few pages, and the majority of the pages were covered in hand written notes with my observations and reflections on each section. I was actually quite impressed with the amount that I had written on each page! Another thing I noticed was that I hadn't written notes for all the sections - looks like I'd lost motivation about two thirds of the way through. So maybe it's time to get going on that again...There was one other thing that I noticed - and this my focus for this blog post - at the top of the first page I had written the song title Here's My Heart Lord and jotted (Casting Crowns version) next to the title.  This brought me back to when I did this exercise of working through Psalm 119, it was during my sabbatical leave in 2018, and one of the things that God was teaching me about was the concept of meditating on His word. I had found myself asking, what does it mean to meditate on God's word? How do I do it? And one of the methods I had arrived at was to incorporate worship into my time of reflection on God's word. Before I'd read through and write notes on a stanza of the psalm each day, I'd play the song, Here's My Heart Lord, using the words to help me focus on the Lord and what He had to say to me. The song is a bit repetitive, but that actually works well as a meditation, the lyrics also remind you of the truth of who we are and what we have in Christ. Here's a section of the lyrics:Here's my heart Lord,Here's my heart Lord,Here's my heart Lord,Speak what is trueI am found, I am YoursI am loved, I'm made pureI have life, I can breatheI am healed, I am freeHere's my heart Lord,Speak what is trueHave you taken some time today to stop and turn your full attention towards the Lord? So often we go to Him with a whole lot to say from our side and we forget the importance of just sitting and listening to His voice as He speaks into our hearts. Let us recall and learn from the account of Mary and Martha as Jesus visited them:38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to…