Passionate About...

...my faith, of course!

However like many thousands around the country today, I was passionate about football too. Don't worry folks, the main point of this post is NOT football!

Today was the last day of both the Scottish Premier League (SPL) season and the English Premiership (PL) season. In the SPL the title was up for grabs while in the PL the big issue was the fight to avoid relegation and in both leagues European places were still to be decided. With so much at stake for all clubs involved in any of these battles, tensions were running high. Players and supports alike showed great passion for their teams in their bid to help them get the required results.

How about you :

• What are you passionate about?
• Are you passionate about your faith?
• Are you passionate about God?

God wants us to be more passionate about Him, about your faith, about Jesus, than you are about anything else. Are you? If you are not, ask God to help you become more passionate in your faith, in Him.

The song "Passion" by Kutless expresses how passionate God is about us, every single one of us, and explains why we should be just as passionate about Him:

Within my mind's eye
Flickering from the past
Come images that terrify and calm
A paradox in me

Nail pierced hands they run with blood
A splitting brow forced by the thorns
His face is writhing with the pain yet it's comforting to me

He chose to give it all
Jesus endured the pain
Paying a debt I owed and created a paradox in me

Nail pierced hands they run with blood
A splitting brow forced by the thorns
His face is writhing with the pain yet it's comforting to me

And in my heart I know that you're the only one
Who could of came and died, a sacrifice
As your God's only son

Nail pierced hands they run with blood
A splitting brow forced by the thorns
His face is writhing with the pain yet it's comforting to me

You can find out more details about Kutless on their official site: http://www.kutless.com/

You can find out more details about the film "The Passion" that the clips in the above video are from, at it's official site: http://www.thepassionofthechrist.com/splash.htm

Remembrance

I did not have to look far for inspiration for today's post, as many of the headlines today remind us that today marks the 20th anniversary of the day when 96 football supporters lost their lives at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough.


Today many will spend time remembering the tragic events that unfolded on that fateful day in Hillsborough, in 1989 - those who were there, those who lost family members or friends, those associated with the clubs involved as well as all the rest of us who remember where we were and what we were doing when the news of the unfolding tragedy came through - I was sitting in my bedroom watching the snooker on the TV when there was a news flash to inform us what was happening. I still remember to this day the shocking scenes/pictures that came through from Hillsborough and the shock and disbelief I felt at what I was seeing/hearing.


I cannot comprehend what it was like for those who were at Hillsborough that day - all I was able to then when the news came through, and all I am able to do now is pray for those affected by the tragedy.

Today I ask that you remember in prayer those whose lives were affected by the Hillsborough tragedy. Those who were there and survived and those who lost loved ones still need our prayers - their physical pain may have gone, but their loss is still profound.

Remember the 96.

Remember those killed in the other football disasters where UK teams were involved:

Heysel...39 people lost their lives...

Bradford...56 people lost their lives...

Ibrox...66 people lost their lives...

Please remember them all.