This morning the staff were looking at this passage: "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you" (James 1:19-21).  We were talking about how sometimes there's no much noise in our lives and inside our heads, that we struggle to truly hear and respond to God's Word.  Notice in the passage it talks about speed - in order to be quick to listen to God, in other things we need to slow down. 

It reminds me of a book entitled "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry" (confession time: I sped read it... so clearly I've got a few problems in this area!).  Mark Comer warns: "Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day... people are just too busy to live emotionally healthy and spiritually rich and vibrant lives". 

I was particularly convicted by this reflection: "Think about it: What has the highest value in Christ's kingdom economy?  Easy: love!  Jesus made that crystal clear.  But love is painfully time consuming... Hurry and love are incompatible.  All my worst moments as a father, a husband, and a pastor, even as a human beings, are when I'm in a hurry - late for an appointment, behind on my unrealistic to do list, trying to cram too much into my day.  I ooze anger, tension, a critical nagging - the antitheses of love... There's a reason people talk about 'walking' with God, not 'running' with God.  It's because God is love".

So slow down for a few minutes to pray today:

• Give thanks to God that He sees you, knows you and loves you - He's not a Hamster Wheel God who tells us to get busy running - He's your Heavenly Father.
• Pray for the Good Friday service - a time to slow down, walk through the journey to the Cross, and celebrate the Lord's Supper.
• Pray for the seven people (Gilda, Hilal, Josh, Grace, Ralph, Janie and Hannah) getting baptised on Easter Sunday - for their testimonies to make a real impact on those who attend.
• Pray for the upcoming Christianity Explored course on the back of the Easter events and recent guest nights.