As 2004 draws to a close, people around the world stare in shocked awe at the devastation of the huge earthquake and Tsunami that rocked the world on Boxing Day. Surely, a loving God, many would argue, would not allow such horror to occur at any time of the year, let alone the day after so many have stopped to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
The Tsunami ripped through tourist resorts and native villages alike, sweeping away countless victims. Many of the dead were elderly or young children, who were unable to swim back to shore after being swept out to sea. The water chose its victims randomly, not sparing any one faith or culture from devastation. The news showed one mosque unharmed with its people dead on the sidewalk outside. A Gospel For Asia report told of the amazing survival of a whole Christian congregation:
"In one of our churches in Sri Lanka, our believers were spared even though their entire village was washed away," Brother K.P. explained. "At the time the wave hit, they were all in church, and their church building is located up in the mountains."
.. but at the same time the email reminded people that on the whole Christians were just as likely to be killed as others. How could God allow this tragedy to happen?
Perhaps, though, the role of God in this disaster should not be seen as 'cause', but as 'solution'. Although this world is corrupted, and terrible things happen for seemingly no reason, the Bible reminds us that in everything God can produce good results. Whereas a Tsunami could be seen as a bad thing (I doubt many people anywhere would see it as good) there can still be some good results that come out of it. By the 27th, one day after the Tsunami, Christian aid-workers were already rushing supplies, food etc in to the devestated regions, showing the love of God in the midst of the tragedy.
"In times like these, we know that God opens the hearts of those who suffer, and we pray that as our workers demonstrate God's love to them, many of them will come to know for the first time that real security comes only through Him,"Brother K.P. said.
The GFA email ends:
To help GFA bring help and hope to the tsunami victims, please go to
http://www.gfa.org/donate?DESIG=2520&motiv=WA4C-G1ER
And to help you pray for these suffering men, women, and children, we will be posting updates and photos from the disaster areas as they become available at http://www.gfa.org/urgent?motiv=WA4C-W9ER
Friday, December 31, 2004
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Settling down to play God
My brother went and brought Settlers 3 for $9.95 somewhere - a good deal I guess.
Anyhow, I don't usually play computer games (beacuse I am good at getting addicted to things) but, guess what? I played this!
And guess what else? Its addictive!
I've been pretty good really. In the last 3 days I have only played it 3 times. Thats only once a day....
(For how long you ask? Lets not go there....)
But, while playing God over these little computer minions, I realized what a bad job I was doing. Here I was, busy expanding my little virtual world east and west, thinking how smart I was to avoid confronting the enemy to the north early on, and I completely forgot about my little stonecutter. Suddenly, I have five building sites all asking me for stone, and there is no stone left! My little stonecutter keeps leaving me messages that complain about the lack of stone available, and I have to search for another quarry for him to work at.
On top of this, my latest guardtower is unoccupied because there are 'no soldiers in the area.' I try to help relieve this problem by sending a soldier over, but he doesn't want to go into the tower, so it continues to sit empty.
Meanwhile, to the north my spies have been discovered, and are quickly slaughtered by the blue hordes (that show up red on my map), and I realize that I have not yet discovered how to send my loyal troops into battle to save them (heck, I haven't even figured out how to get them into buildings). Subsequently, only one soldier answers my call to war, and valiantly enters the conflict against four blue/red enemies... he is soon dead as well.
Throughout all of this, I just keep thinking that I don't make a good God, and I am so glad I am not one.
I really respect God. I respect someone who, knowing everything, and knowing that we could choose not to follow Him, still loved us enough to not force us to. I respect someone who would give free will to us, even though we would complain about His lack of intervention from then on. I respect someone who gives us a paradise to live in, and then allows us to play with it, and destroy it, as much as we want.
It may seem like He isn't doing a good job, but as soon as you try to stop people doing evil, you take away their free will, and if you do that, you take away their humanity. God could have made a world of robots, emotionless and loyal to the end, but how would that being loving? A truly loving God would want the best for us, and would want us to choose for ourselves our own destiny, even if it is completely opposite to what He wanted.
I couldn't handle that power.
If I were God, I would have lost my patience and 'smited' me long ago.
Thank God I'm not!
Anyhow, I don't usually play computer games (beacuse I am good at getting addicted to things) but, guess what? I played this!
And guess what else? Its addictive!
I've been pretty good really. In the last 3 days I have only played it 3 times. Thats only once a day....
(For how long you ask? Lets not go there....)
But, while playing God over these little computer minions, I realized what a bad job I was doing. Here I was, busy expanding my little virtual world east and west, thinking how smart I was to avoid confronting the enemy to the north early on, and I completely forgot about my little stonecutter. Suddenly, I have five building sites all asking me for stone, and there is no stone left! My little stonecutter keeps leaving me messages that complain about the lack of stone available, and I have to search for another quarry for him to work at.
On top of this, my latest guardtower is unoccupied because there are 'no soldiers in the area.' I try to help relieve this problem by sending a soldier over, but he doesn't want to go into the tower, so it continues to sit empty.
Meanwhile, to the north my spies have been discovered, and are quickly slaughtered by the blue hordes (that show up red on my map), and I realize that I have not yet discovered how to send my loyal troops into battle to save them (heck, I haven't even figured out how to get them into buildings). Subsequently, only one soldier answers my call to war, and valiantly enters the conflict against four blue/red enemies... he is soon dead as well.
Throughout all of this, I just keep thinking that I don't make a good God, and I am so glad I am not one.
I really respect God. I respect someone who, knowing everything, and knowing that we could choose not to follow Him, still loved us enough to not force us to. I respect someone who would give free will to us, even though we would complain about His lack of intervention from then on. I respect someone who gives us a paradise to live in, and then allows us to play with it, and destroy it, as much as we want.
It may seem like He isn't doing a good job, but as soon as you try to stop people doing evil, you take away their free will, and if you do that, you take away their humanity. God could have made a world of robots, emotionless and loyal to the end, but how would that being loving? A truly loving God would want the best for us, and would want us to choose for ourselves our own destiny, even if it is completely opposite to what He wanted.
I couldn't handle that power.
If I were God, I would have lost my patience and 'smited' me long ago.
Thank God I'm not!
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Christmas Calculations
Today (according to my calculations) is Tuesday the 21st of December, 2004. That means there are precisely 4 days left until Christmas day.
I have a family consisting of four (including me) and I also have one girlfriend. Again, I can calculate these numbers, and come to the conclusion that I am to buy 4 presents in total in order to fulfil my minimum yearly Christmas present quota.
With 4 days left, it would be easy to assume that my Christmas shopping should be over, however, like others (particularly of the male species) I find myself having still two and a half presents left to buy.
I suppose thats not too bad. After all, that leaves me with approximately 1.6 days to find and purchase each remaining present.
However, given that there are roughly 4 million individuals in this country (New Zealand), and therefore it could be assumed that (dividing equally between the genders) there are 2 million males, if these 2 million males find themselves faced with a similar situation to myself, it may be quite difficult to find and purchase these presents in time.
Think about it. If each of the 2 million males still shopping spent a minimum of twenty minutes shopping each per present (which is quite a stretch for some, such as myself), that adds up to a total of 40 million minutes of shopping left to do before Christmas!!!
This isn't that serious, as many males could do their shopping at the same time. However, if each male needs to take their presents through the checkout (lets say this takes 30 seconds per present) then this adds up to (2 million males, times 2.5 presents, times 30 seconds) 150 million seconds, or 2.5 million minutes of checkout time. As there are only (60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day) 1440 minutes each day, this reaches a maximum total of (1440 times 4) 5760 minutes remaining until Christmas (this doesn't seem very large, have I miscalculated??). This means that for all of the 2 million males to make it through the checkout in time, there needs to be at least 434.027(reoccuring) checkouts in operation 24 hours a day for the next four days!!!
And here I am sitting a a computer???!!!
Its so easy to stress yourself out at Christmas (I'm kind of stressing out after those calculations) but, in the end, its not the material possesions and gifts that make the difference (this is such an i-haven't-got-my-presents-yet thing to say). After all, Jesus reminds us that amassing treasures on earth is pointless, as 'moth and rust can destroy, and theives can break in and steal.' The true treasures are instead those that are stored in heaven, things you can take with you: your character, your honour, and maybe even your friends and family. They are what are really important.
The best Christmas gift, of course, was the first one given. 2004 years ago (or there abouts) Jesus came to earth, and was born as a baby, in order that 33 years later, he could die on a cross for our sins. At Christmas it is so easy to think of Jesus as a baby, and leave it at that. However, the most important moments of Jesus' life are not the first ones, but the last.
When Jesus cried out 'It is finished' and died, he gave us the best gift ever imaginable: freedom from the sin that tries to destroy us, and a gift of eternal life with him.
All we have to do it accept the gift.
All I have to do, is go and buy them!
I have a family consisting of four (including me) and I also have one girlfriend. Again, I can calculate these numbers, and come to the conclusion that I am to buy 4 presents in total in order to fulfil my minimum yearly Christmas present quota.
With 4 days left, it would be easy to assume that my Christmas shopping should be over, however, like others (particularly of the male species) I find myself having still two and a half presents left to buy.
I suppose thats not too bad. After all, that leaves me with approximately 1.6 days to find and purchase each remaining present.
However, given that there are roughly 4 million individuals in this country (New Zealand), and therefore it could be assumed that (dividing equally between the genders) there are 2 million males, if these 2 million males find themselves faced with a similar situation to myself, it may be quite difficult to find and purchase these presents in time.
Think about it. If each of the 2 million males still shopping spent a minimum of twenty minutes shopping each per present (which is quite a stretch for some, such as myself), that adds up to a total of 40 million minutes of shopping left to do before Christmas!!!
This isn't that serious, as many males could do their shopping at the same time. However, if each male needs to take their presents through the checkout (lets say this takes 30 seconds per present) then this adds up to (2 million males, times 2.5 presents, times 30 seconds) 150 million seconds, or 2.5 million minutes of checkout time. As there are only (60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day) 1440 minutes each day, this reaches a maximum total of (1440 times 4) 5760 minutes remaining until Christmas (this doesn't seem very large, have I miscalculated??). This means that for all of the 2 million males to make it through the checkout in time, there needs to be at least 434.027(reoccuring) checkouts in operation 24 hours a day for the next four days!!!
And here I am sitting a a computer???!!!
Its so easy to stress yourself out at Christmas (I'm kind of stressing out after those calculations) but, in the end, its not the material possesions and gifts that make the difference (this is such an i-haven't-got-my-presents-yet thing to say). After all, Jesus reminds us that amassing treasures on earth is pointless, as 'moth and rust can destroy, and theives can break in and steal.' The true treasures are instead those that are stored in heaven, things you can take with you: your character, your honour, and maybe even your friends and family. They are what are really important.
The best Christmas gift, of course, was the first one given. 2004 years ago (or there abouts) Jesus came to earth, and was born as a baby, in order that 33 years later, he could die on a cross for our sins. At Christmas it is so easy to think of Jesus as a baby, and leave it at that. However, the most important moments of Jesus' life are not the first ones, but the last.
When Jesus cried out 'It is finished' and died, he gave us the best gift ever imaginable: freedom from the sin that tries to destroy us, and a gift of eternal life with him.
All we have to do it accept the gift.
All I have to do, is go and buy them!
Friday, December 17, 2004
Suddenly, Agoraphobia sets in!
It may seem slightly silly, especially as I am publishing this on the www (world wide web - note the 'world wide' part in particular), but realizing that people may actually read my ramblings is quite an amazing thought.
My last post (was it 13 days ago already?) received a record number of replies for me... two.
And suddenly, I realise that there are actually people out there who may even read what I write!!!
Sure, two may not seem like a very big number, but its bigger than one, and its a lot bigger than zero, and the fact that one of them apparently lives in another country altogether allows my mind to run free with the thoughts that, just possibly, there are thousands of people around the world, each waiting with baited breath for my next post.... or not...
I've always wanted to write, and therefore, I suppose, wanted people to read what I've written, but its still weird when they do.
Why would they bother???!!!
But, if they do, what does this mean for me, the humble blogger named 'Lark'? If I have a possible audience, then what should I say to them? What words of wisdom should spill from my mouth?
My best answer for this is that I should just continue what I've been doing: writing as I am led, when I find the time, energy (and computer) to do so.
I know I'm not the perfect example of what a Christian should be (oh no!!) and I may still be young and unsure of many things in life, but the least I can do is be real.
Jesus led by example, he let his disciples see him on his good days (teaching etc), and his bad days (pleading with God to take away his burden), in his highs and his lows. He also called us to be witnesses for him.
We are called as Christians to be the light of the world, to make a difference to the darkness.
I have no idea how bright my light is, or how many people can see it, but I know that however much it glows, God can use it.
Maybe someday a non-Christian can get something out of this...
My last post (was it 13 days ago already?) received a record number of replies for me... two.
And suddenly, I realise that there are actually people out there who may even read what I write!!!
Sure, two may not seem like a very big number, but its bigger than one, and its a lot bigger than zero, and the fact that one of them apparently lives in another country altogether allows my mind to run free with the thoughts that, just possibly, there are thousands of people around the world, each waiting with baited breath for my next post.... or not...
I've always wanted to write, and therefore, I suppose, wanted people to read what I've written, but its still weird when they do.
Why would they bother???!!!
But, if they do, what does this mean for me, the humble blogger named 'Lark'? If I have a possible audience, then what should I say to them? What words of wisdom should spill from my mouth?
My best answer for this is that I should just continue what I've been doing: writing as I am led, when I find the time, energy (and computer) to do so.
I know I'm not the perfect example of what a Christian should be (oh no!!) and I may still be young and unsure of many things in life, but the least I can do is be real.
Jesus led by example, he let his disciples see him on his good days (teaching etc), and his bad days (pleading with God to take away his burden), in his highs and his lows. He also called us to be witnesses for him.
We are called as Christians to be the light of the world, to make a difference to the darkness.
I have no idea how bright my light is, or how many people can see it, but I know that however much it glows, God can use it.
Maybe someday a non-Christian can get something out of this...
Monday, December 06, 2004
Who have you court?
Marmaduke stared into her deep, brown eyes, his love for her reflected in his own. He offered her his hand, helped her from the carriage, and escorted her up the steps to her front door.
There he smiled warmly, bid her farewell, turned, and left.
She floated on a cloud for the rest of the day, remembering the look, the touch, and the smile.
Courting, eh?
Good old fashioned word.
It always seems to remind be a bit of the Pride-and-Predujice era that girls like so much (yes, I have seen P&P, although I haven't read the books). I quite like it too.
Call me weird, but courting has a nice feel to it, that modern dating with its kiss-me-quick attitude seems to miss. I don't like the word itself, it has that out-of-touch-with-reality feel to it, but the essence of it is good.
For example, nowadays people seem so quick to jump into the physical aspects of a relationship, and worry about how to physically please each other before they've even finished learning each others names.
'Courting' or whatever you call it, spends a lot more time building up the friendship between people, without the urgency of rushing into each others arms.
I also believe (and will stand by) the courting (and Christian) principle of not sleeping with anyone until you are married. When you sleep with someone, you are sharing with them on a more deeply emotional and spiritual level than any other possible act. If you don't end up with that person, you will have opened your soul to them for no reason. So many people are jumping from one bed to another, and feeling empty and worthless inside. I don't want that to happen to me.
Why all this about courting? Well, I've started, although we don't call it courting. We are sticking with the principles of taking it slow. In fact, for 40 weeks this year we simply worked on our friendship, without even 'dating'. Now we've just taken the step of trying to work out how we can date without damaging our friendship, and trying to keep ourselves pure while looking towards the possibility of marriage.
Its only the second time I have ever 'dated' and its her first.
I pray that God will uphold us and support us as we work on this relationship.
There he smiled warmly, bid her farewell, turned, and left.
She floated on a cloud for the rest of the day, remembering the look, the touch, and the smile.
Courting, eh?
Good old fashioned word.
It always seems to remind be a bit of the Pride-and-Predujice era that girls like so much (yes, I have seen P&P, although I haven't read the books). I quite like it too.
Call me weird, but courting has a nice feel to it, that modern dating with its kiss-me-quick attitude seems to miss. I don't like the word itself, it has that out-of-touch-with-reality feel to it, but the essence of it is good.
For example, nowadays people seem so quick to jump into the physical aspects of a relationship, and worry about how to physically please each other before they've even finished learning each others names.
'Courting' or whatever you call it, spends a lot more time building up the friendship between people, without the urgency of rushing into each others arms.
I also believe (and will stand by) the courting (and Christian) principle of not sleeping with anyone until you are married. When you sleep with someone, you are sharing with them on a more deeply emotional and spiritual level than any other possible act. If you don't end up with that person, you will have opened your soul to them for no reason. So many people are jumping from one bed to another, and feeling empty and worthless inside. I don't want that to happen to me.
Why all this about courting? Well, I've started, although we don't call it courting. We are sticking with the principles of taking it slow. In fact, for 40 weeks this year we simply worked on our friendship, without even 'dating'. Now we've just taken the step of trying to work out how we can date without damaging our friendship, and trying to keep ourselves pure while looking towards the possibility of marriage.
Its only the second time I have ever 'dated' and its her first.
I pray that God will uphold us and support us as we work on this relationship.
Recent Update, version 3.1 downloading now
Well, my course is over for the year, my computer is finally working again (this is the reason I haven't been posting much), and I'm working on a vineyard.
Joy.
Actually, I've been working on this vineyard all through the winter, helping hammer nails into posts for 5 to 6 hours a day, clipping little black clips onto wires, and even doing a bit of work with grapes!!! Now that my course is over for the year, the only difference is that I get to hammer, clip and 'grape' EVEN MORE!!!!
I'm not really a manual labour type person. However, ten dollars an hour (minus tax) is reasonable, and the job (especially through the winter) has the helpful aspect of being flexible in the hours I work. Because of this I am able to chose not to work on days that I have assignments due, or other important projects (such as cleaning my room or walking the dog).
And so life drags on....
My basic aim in life at the moment is to get through the next two years of my course, and then see where it takes me. I have been semi-promised a job at my church if I complete my course, but I'll have to wait and see for sure what I want to do.
This isn't going to be a deeply spiritual post, its just kind of getting you up to date on my life, and helping me relax for a while by blogging randomly. Thankyou Lord for random blogs.
Joy.
Actually, I've been working on this vineyard all through the winter, helping hammer nails into posts for 5 to 6 hours a day, clipping little black clips onto wires, and even doing a bit of work with grapes!!! Now that my course is over for the year, the only difference is that I get to hammer, clip and 'grape' EVEN MORE!!!!
I'm not really a manual labour type person. However, ten dollars an hour (minus tax) is reasonable, and the job (especially through the winter) has the helpful aspect of being flexible in the hours I work. Because of this I am able to chose not to work on days that I have assignments due, or other important projects (such as cleaning my room or walking the dog).
And so life drags on....
My basic aim in life at the moment is to get through the next two years of my course, and then see where it takes me. I have been semi-promised a job at my church if I complete my course, but I'll have to wait and see for sure what I want to do.
This isn't going to be a deeply spiritual post, its just kind of getting you up to date on my life, and helping me relax for a while by blogging randomly. Thankyou Lord for random blogs.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Creation Reflects the Creator
God is incredible. The bible talks about all of creation revealing his handiwork. A good example of this is at:
http://www.butterflyalphabet.com/bp1.htm
Through 24 years of work, a photogrpher found the entire alphabet, and all the numbers from 1-9 on the wings of butterflies. God drew them on.
In theory it could be explained through evolution, if you believed in that, but it still is amazing to see, and screams of a creator.
One butterfly wing photographed even has "Hi" written on it. Who said God doesn't speak to his creation.
As someone wrote using the butterfly wing alphabet: "All things finite reveal infinitude."
http://www.butterflyalphabet.com/bp1.htm
Through 24 years of work, a photogrpher found the entire alphabet, and all the numbers from 1-9 on the wings of butterflies. God drew them on.
In theory it could be explained through evolution, if you believed in that, but it still is amazing to see, and screams of a creator.
One butterfly wing photographed even has "Hi" written on it. Who said God doesn't speak to his creation.
As someone wrote using the butterfly wing alphabet: "All things finite reveal infinitude."
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
God's will: To walk or not to walk?
I'm writing this post on my home computer, proud that for once it is actually working...
Today is shaping up to be a good day. I was planning on spending my morning writing assignments for the Bible College course I do, but by 9 am I was finished! I was planning on working on the church newsletter, but there has been no articles received for it so far (which may or may not be a good thing...) so I am absolutely free! Its incredible.
I think that this is all still to do with my Renaissance. It says quite clearly in the Bible that God wants only the best for us, and that when we are walking in his will, He is able to get those results more.
Not that I'm perfect. Far from it! But, I feel like I'm making a better attempt at it than I have for a long time.
Its amazing that God can shape and control me, if I only choose to let Him.
I've always had issues with that before. Why would I want to give up what I want, and do what someone else wants, even if they are God? What if He wants something different to what I want?
But now, actually trying to do it, I have realised the truth. If you truly want to do right, and truly seek after God, then what He wants is what you want. There is no difference between the two.
Sure, He might change some of the things you thought you wanted, but you don't mind, because God only wants good for us, and all His changes will help us.
It reminds me of two very well known verses:
Romans 8:28 - For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes.
Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.
Walking in God's will is not only rewarding, but it feels amazing. :-) Give it a go.
Today is shaping up to be a good day. I was planning on spending my morning writing assignments for the Bible College course I do, but by 9 am I was finished! I was planning on working on the church newsletter, but there has been no articles received for it so far (which may or may not be a good thing...) so I am absolutely free! Its incredible.
I think that this is all still to do with my Renaissance. It says quite clearly in the Bible that God wants only the best for us, and that when we are walking in his will, He is able to get those results more.
Not that I'm perfect. Far from it! But, I feel like I'm making a better attempt at it than I have for a long time.
Its amazing that God can shape and control me, if I only choose to let Him.
I've always had issues with that before. Why would I want to give up what I want, and do what someone else wants, even if they are God? What if He wants something different to what I want?
But now, actually trying to do it, I have realised the truth. If you truly want to do right, and truly seek after God, then what He wants is what you want. There is no difference between the two.
Sure, He might change some of the things you thought you wanted, but you don't mind, because God only wants good for us, and all His changes will help us.
It reminds me of two very well known verses:
Romans 8:28 - For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes.
Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.
Walking in God's will is not only rewarding, but it feels amazing. :-) Give it a go.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Renaissance & Room Renovations....
Aaah, the Renaissance! Statues, Chapel ceilings, Michaelangelo…..
The idea of the Renaissance was to get back to the basics, back to the culture that had come before (in their case, back to Roman/Greek culture) and try and rebirth it.
Over the last few days, I have had a kind of Renaissance of my own. I have worked hard at rebirthing the relationship I had with God some time ago. As a result, I am feeling amazingly clean, and fresh in my life. I have tried (still working on this) to pray more – not dead prayers “O bless thy humble servant, O thou gracious Father” – but simply taking time to talk to my Father, and my Best Friend. I heard a preacher once talk about ‘Prayer-walking’, and I’ve been attempting to do that as well. Its certainly different to just walking, it adds a whole new dimension.
Third Day wrote a song once, which has been going around in my head for quite some time, and it seems to sum up my feelings:
Please take from me my life,
When I don’t have the strength to give it away to you, Jesus
Those words have been playing over and over continuously since some time yesterday. When God wants you to get a hold of something, he doesn’t let up until you do.
Slowly, I have been reshaping my life since returning from Fiji, and changing the way I relate to everything around me, and to God. Even my room has been rearranged, and the feel of it is changing, as I remove the things that are not longer important to me, and, somehow this is making it easier to think about God, not that its ‘Feng Shui’ or anything, but without a whole lot of junk around, its easier to focus on the simple things that otherwise you take for granted.
God has been speaking to me about reaching out more, in person not just online, and that is a big step for me. Working on recommitting my life more to God is the first step of preparing for this.
Have you thought about a Renaissance lately?
The idea of the Renaissance was to get back to the basics, back to the culture that had come before (in their case, back to Roman/Greek culture) and try and rebirth it.
Over the last few days, I have had a kind of Renaissance of my own. I have worked hard at rebirthing the relationship I had with God some time ago. As a result, I am feeling amazingly clean, and fresh in my life. I have tried (still working on this) to pray more – not dead prayers “O bless thy humble servant, O thou gracious Father” – but simply taking time to talk to my Father, and my Best Friend. I heard a preacher once talk about ‘Prayer-walking’, and I’ve been attempting to do that as well. Its certainly different to just walking, it adds a whole new dimension.
Third Day wrote a song once, which has been going around in my head for quite some time, and it seems to sum up my feelings:
Please take from me my life,
When I don’t have the strength to give it away to you, Jesus
Those words have been playing over and over continuously since some time yesterday. When God wants you to get a hold of something, he doesn’t let up until you do.
Slowly, I have been reshaping my life since returning from Fiji, and changing the way I relate to everything around me, and to God. Even my room has been rearranged, and the feel of it is changing, as I remove the things that are not longer important to me, and, somehow this is making it easier to think about God, not that its ‘Feng Shui’ or anything, but without a whole lot of junk around, its easier to focus on the simple things that otherwise you take for granted.
God has been speaking to me about reaching out more, in person not just online, and that is a big step for me. Working on recommitting my life more to God is the first step of preparing for this.
Have you thought about a Renaissance lately?
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
The Spookygirl Saga: Resolution
Well, its seems that my time with Spookygirl is over for good.
She has only called me once since Fiji, on the first day I arrived back, and in that call she told me she has moved.
I'm actually quite glad... :-)
She has only called me once since Fiji, on the first day I arrived back, and in that call she told me she has moved.
I'm actually quite glad... :-)
Fiji (what more can I say?)
I got back from Fiji just over a week ago (you may have noticed I wasn’t blogging – its because I wasn’t in reach of a computer…), and am still in awe of the experience.
We took a group of 20, including 13 youth, into Suva to do Children’s programmes and Christian outreach to the surrounding communities. We were planning on visiting maybe two schools, and performing an afternoon programme a day, but God had bigger plans than that!
In the end, our team performed at 6 schools, 3 prisons, and 3 church services, ran 8 puppet shows, 1 home group, 2 youth groups (an after school & an evening one), and were broadcast on Christian Radio 3 times (Harvest FM97). Our Dance team danced 12 times (and got sick of the dance by the end of it all), we sang our trademark Maori song (Kia Kaha) 11 times, handed out over 200 tracts, saw at least 3 salvations, and reached an audience of possibly 85,000 people!!! All this during the 7 days of mission work…. God is good!!
During that time, God challenged me again and again about reaching out to people, not only overseas, but in my home country. If Christians are called to be the light, we shouldn’t switch ourselves off. We should run all the time, and be visible to those around us. As a friend of mine said as well: the light can’t be seen as much if its surrounded by other lights all the time. The point of this is, that a Christian who only associates with other Christians isn’t being a very effective light at all.
It can be terrifying trying to reach out into the darkness, as we can’t see what is happening or what peoples response will be, but it is important to remember where the light that shines out of you comes from – Jesus, the light of the world.
To those of you reading who are Christians, I challenge you: stop living just as a light in the light, live as a light in the darkness as well.
To those of you reading who are not Christians: If you feel like you are lost, without hope in life, or if you are feeling like you are missing something in life, it could be Jesus. He can give you life, and produce light within you. Trust Him!
We took a group of 20, including 13 youth, into Suva to do Children’s programmes and Christian outreach to the surrounding communities. We were planning on visiting maybe two schools, and performing an afternoon programme a day, but God had bigger plans than that!
In the end, our team performed at 6 schools, 3 prisons, and 3 church services, ran 8 puppet shows, 1 home group, 2 youth groups (an after school & an evening one), and were broadcast on Christian Radio 3 times (Harvest FM97). Our Dance team danced 12 times (and got sick of the dance by the end of it all), we sang our trademark Maori song (Kia Kaha) 11 times, handed out over 200 tracts, saw at least 3 salvations, and reached an audience of possibly 85,000 people!!! All this during the 7 days of mission work…. God is good!!
During that time, God challenged me again and again about reaching out to people, not only overseas, but in my home country. If Christians are called to be the light, we shouldn’t switch ourselves off. We should run all the time, and be visible to those around us. As a friend of mine said as well: the light can’t be seen as much if its surrounded by other lights all the time. The point of this is, that a Christian who only associates with other Christians isn’t being a very effective light at all.
It can be terrifying trying to reach out into the darkness, as we can’t see what is happening or what peoples response will be, but it is important to remember where the light that shines out of you comes from – Jesus, the light of the world.
To those of you reading who are Christians, I challenge you: stop living just as a light in the light, live as a light in the darkness as well.
To those of you reading who are not Christians: If you feel like you are lost, without hope in life, or if you are feeling like you are missing something in life, it could be Jesus. He can give you life, and produce light within you. Trust Him!
Friday, September 10, 2004
Back to Genesis (the beginning)
For many years my parents ran a historic guesthouse, and although they shifted a few years ago, they still own it. The people we got in to run it shifted out about a week ago, and in the interim between them leaving and the next people taking over, they have been caleld back to run it. I have volunteered to do both today and tomorrow.
Today has been really nice. Coming home, in a way, to this house I grew up in. There are of course many differences to the way I remember it, the most prominent probably being that everything seems so much smaller now.
But, its still my home, and I love it.
Thats how it is with God, really. Although we may choose to have nothing to do with Him, and even though we leave Him and go off into the world, we can still come back to Him years later and find a comforting sensation of Home.
The thing is, this world is no longer as perfect as it was. Coming back here has meant restoring things that have been run down, making things new. Pets have died, or grown old, trees have fallen, history has been lost...
...but when we come back to God we will find constancy. The Bible says "God is the same yesterday, today, and forever", and its so true. Whenever I'm feeling lost, or afraid, or whatever, I can turn to God and He will be my strength.
I hope that you can find this strength too.
Today has been really nice. Coming home, in a way, to this house I grew up in. There are of course many differences to the way I remember it, the most prominent probably being that everything seems so much smaller now.
But, its still my home, and I love it.
Thats how it is with God, really. Although we may choose to have nothing to do with Him, and even though we leave Him and go off into the world, we can still come back to Him years later and find a comforting sensation of Home.
The thing is, this world is no longer as perfect as it was. Coming back here has meant restoring things that have been run down, making things new. Pets have died, or grown old, trees have fallen, history has been lost...
...but when we come back to God we will find constancy. The Bible says "God is the same yesterday, today, and forever", and its so true. Whenever I'm feeling lost, or afraid, or whatever, I can turn to God and He will be my strength.
I hope that you can find this strength too.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
God is speaking, are you listening?
My last post talked about whether God speaks to you or not.
I believe that God does speak to us all the time, but sometimes we either aren’t listening, or we mishear what He is saying.
If you want to develop a good friendship with someone, it is important to spend time with them, to listen to them when they speak, and to talk back to them. All of these things help relationships to grow, rather than fizzle our and die.
The more time you spend with someone, the more you will remember what they look like, what they sound like, their general mannerisms…
It’s the same with God. The more time you spend with Him, either in prayer, or reading His words to us (the Bible) or in worship, or even just sitting quietly with Him, the more you will be able to discern what He is saying, how He is saying it…
I have been through a tough patch recently with God, where I wasn’t following Him as closely as I should have, and as a result, I had been forgetting what He sounded like, and couldn’t hear Him anymore.
Now that, with help from trusted friends, I am managing to come out of that patch, I have found God has started speaking in ways I can hear Him again.
Two days ago, God gave me a vision of a new project to try and focus on within the church I attend. I work there as an intern, and have been searching for something to work towards. Now that I am in the right place to hear from God again, I have been being spoken to, and I am so thankful.
Like I said last time, it doesn’t matter whether or not you believe in God, or are following Him closely, He can still speak into your life, or affect it in other ways, but it is a lot easier to hear Him when you are in a good relationship with Him.
That is one advantage ‘True’ Christians have, that other people may lack.
If you want to ask any questions for me to write a post about, just put a comment here and I will see what I can do.
I believe that God does speak to us all the time, but sometimes we either aren’t listening, or we mishear what He is saying.
If you want to develop a good friendship with someone, it is important to spend time with them, to listen to them when they speak, and to talk back to them. All of these things help relationships to grow, rather than fizzle our and die.
The more time you spend with someone, the more you will remember what they look like, what they sound like, their general mannerisms…
It’s the same with God. The more time you spend with Him, either in prayer, or reading His words to us (the Bible) or in worship, or even just sitting quietly with Him, the more you will be able to discern what He is saying, how He is saying it…
I have been through a tough patch recently with God, where I wasn’t following Him as closely as I should have, and as a result, I had been forgetting what He sounded like, and couldn’t hear Him anymore.
Now that, with help from trusted friends, I am managing to come out of that patch, I have found God has started speaking in ways I can hear Him again.
Two days ago, God gave me a vision of a new project to try and focus on within the church I attend. I work there as an intern, and have been searching for something to work towards. Now that I am in the right place to hear from God again, I have been being spoken to, and I am so thankful.
Like I said last time, it doesn’t matter whether or not you believe in God, or are following Him closely, He can still speak into your life, or affect it in other ways, but it is a lot easier to hear Him when you are in a good relationship with Him.
That is one advantage ‘True’ Christians have, that other people may lack.
If you want to ask any questions for me to write a post about, just put a comment here and I will see what I can do.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Words: Comments, Prophets, Rainy School Days, and a Dare
Yay, someone left a comment for me! How fun! That means at least one person has been reading what I’ve been writing, and has taken the time to write back.
Its always good when people take time out of their lives to speak into the lives of others, especially if God uses them to speak the right words at the right times. One of the things that has shown how real God is to me, is His use of prophecy and prophetic words at just the right time.
In our church, we have a few real ‘prophets’. This doesn’t mean they dress up in long, flowing robes and carry a staff with them that they turn into snakes whenever they are threatened, or that they eat wild locusts and honey, but it does mean that God reveals things to them, which they can share with others.
One prophet whom I have great respect for is a man named Glenn. He is a really neat, friendly guy, and gets amazing words just when they are needed. At one stage in my life, I had been searching for a purpose to aim for, and was struggling with the fact that I didn’t have any. After sharing a little at one of the night services at our church, Glenn and another prophetic guy, independently of each other, approached and gave me the same basic prophecy:
You are going to teach, preach, and evangelise.
Neat!
After that, God backed up that revelation by giving me a number of opportunities to do so in different areas to different audiences, and now I am training to be a full-time servant of God, by training through a Bible College course.
Its weird the way God speaks to some people.
I have a weird sense of humour (hopefully you have picked up on that already) and so for me God usually seems to speak in humorous ways. An example is one of the miracles He did in my life.
One April Fools morning, when I was still going to school, I had to go to the school early for a choir rehearsal (yep, I was in the choir!). Anyway, it was raining, and I was going to get wet, so I said “Oh well God. The rain is good. It helps things grow. If I’m going to get wet, thank you for the rain anyway.”
At that moment, God spoke into my head in a clear voice, clearer than He has most of the other times I have heard him. He spoke two words, two powerful words….
“April Fools.”
Then the rain stopped.
I have been able to use that story as part of my testimony many times, and no one can take that away from me – I know it happened!!! But still, its kind of weird.
God seems to speak to people in ways that fit to their personality. For me, it seems to be in funny ways, because I’m not actually a very serious person a lot of the time.
For you, He may speak in an entirely different way, but one thing is certain: God is speaking to you. You may not understand what He is saying, or how you hear His voice, but He is speaking. The trick is to learn how to hear God. This can be done by reading God’s Word (the Bible) and learning a bit of what it says, because God will never speak anything that is opposite to his Word, and just spending some time alone with God. Practise makes perfect.
Even if you’re not a Christian, this is something you could have a go with.
If you want to know whether or not God is real, as Him to reveal himself to you. Its simple. If He is real, He can reveal Himself and will, and if He is not, then there is no harm in asking. He may not reveal Himself through speaking, but He will reveal Himself somehow.
Give it a try.
Go on, I dare ya!
Its always good when people take time out of their lives to speak into the lives of others, especially if God uses them to speak the right words at the right times. One of the things that has shown how real God is to me, is His use of prophecy and prophetic words at just the right time.
In our church, we have a few real ‘prophets’. This doesn’t mean they dress up in long, flowing robes and carry a staff with them that they turn into snakes whenever they are threatened, or that they eat wild locusts and honey, but it does mean that God reveals things to them, which they can share with others.
One prophet whom I have great respect for is a man named Glenn. He is a really neat, friendly guy, and gets amazing words just when they are needed. At one stage in my life, I had been searching for a purpose to aim for, and was struggling with the fact that I didn’t have any. After sharing a little at one of the night services at our church, Glenn and another prophetic guy, independently of each other, approached and gave me the same basic prophecy:
You are going to teach, preach, and evangelise.
Neat!
After that, God backed up that revelation by giving me a number of opportunities to do so in different areas to different audiences, and now I am training to be a full-time servant of God, by training through a Bible College course.
Its weird the way God speaks to some people.
I have a weird sense of humour (hopefully you have picked up on that already) and so for me God usually seems to speak in humorous ways. An example is one of the miracles He did in my life.
One April Fools morning, when I was still going to school, I had to go to the school early for a choir rehearsal (yep, I was in the choir!). Anyway, it was raining, and I was going to get wet, so I said “Oh well God. The rain is good. It helps things grow. If I’m going to get wet, thank you for the rain anyway.”
At that moment, God spoke into my head in a clear voice, clearer than He has most of the other times I have heard him. He spoke two words, two powerful words….
“April Fools.”
Then the rain stopped.
I have been able to use that story as part of my testimony many times, and no one can take that away from me – I know it happened!!! But still, its kind of weird.
God seems to speak to people in ways that fit to their personality. For me, it seems to be in funny ways, because I’m not actually a very serious person a lot of the time.
For you, He may speak in an entirely different way, but one thing is certain: God is speaking to you. You may not understand what He is saying, or how you hear His voice, but He is speaking. The trick is to learn how to hear God. This can be done by reading God’s Word (the Bible) and learning a bit of what it says, because God will never speak anything that is opposite to his Word, and just spending some time alone with God. Practise makes perfect.
Even if you’re not a Christian, this is something you could have a go with.
If you want to know whether or not God is real, as Him to reveal himself to you. Its simple. If He is real, He can reveal Himself and will, and if He is not, then there is no harm in asking. He may not reveal Himself through speaking, but He will reveal Himself somehow.
Give it a try.
Go on, I dare ya!
Monday, September 06, 2004
Spookygirl and God
Christians witness in different ways. My mother is a 'confrontational evangelist' like Peter in the Bible. She has no trouble in telling people what they have done wrong and what they need to do to change. This is a very legitimate style of evangelism, but it's not mine.
I'm an 'intellectual evangelist' like Paul. This doesn't mean I am super-brainy... far from it... but I will reason with people and try an PROVE the existance of God, rather than just expect people to believe in him.
This has both good points and bad points.
As far as good points go, I can build a foundation to build faith on. If I could show you that God needs to exist, it will be a lot easier for you to believe in Him.
Bad points, though, include the fact that I don't see a lot of people come to God - in fact, I don't know of any so far. So, I've started trying to reason with Spookygirl today.
Hmmm...
It doesn't seem to be going very well so far. I think she has been drunk-slash-drugged for a long time, and doesn't seem to be able to reason very well. Our conversation went something like this....
L: So, do you believe in God?
S: Dunno, kind of yes and no.
L: What do you mean?
S: My parents told me not to...
L: But what do you believe in?
S: Everything.
L: Where did life come from?
S: My parents.
L: ...
I didn't get a lot further than that. I tried to ask about God and origins of life a few more times, but she is too vague in her beliefs to learn more about what is right and wrong with them. Its kind of frustrating.
I think for Spookygirl, God is going to have to give me a new evangelism style... perhaps a 'sledgehammer of truth' to drive some sense into her mind.
Sigh.
I'm an 'intellectual evangelist' like Paul. This doesn't mean I am super-brainy... far from it... but I will reason with people and try an PROVE the existance of God, rather than just expect people to believe in him.
This has both good points and bad points.
As far as good points go, I can build a foundation to build faith on. If I could show you that God needs to exist, it will be a lot easier for you to believe in Him.
Bad points, though, include the fact that I don't see a lot of people come to God - in fact, I don't know of any so far. So, I've started trying to reason with Spookygirl today.
Hmmm...
It doesn't seem to be going very well so far. I think she has been drunk-slash-drugged for a long time, and doesn't seem to be able to reason very well. Our conversation went something like this....
L: So, do you believe in God?
S: Dunno, kind of yes and no.
L: What do you mean?
S: My parents told me not to...
L: But what do you believe in?
S: Everything.
L: Where did life come from?
S: My parents.
L: ...
I didn't get a lot further than that. I tried to ask about God and origins of life a few more times, but she is too vague in her beliefs to learn more about what is right and wrong with them. Its kind of frustrating.
I think for Spookygirl, God is going to have to give me a new evangelism style... perhaps a 'sledgehammer of truth' to drive some sense into her mind.
Sigh.
The Continuing Tales of a Christian Guy and his Stalker
So, what do you do when you are constantly being called by some random spooky girl?!
I've been struggling with Spookygirl* for a week or so now. Its really scary. She has been calling me and txting me all times of the day and night, and talking about random nothings... she has even been drunk a few times when she has called. (*Not her real name)
I'm not handling it as well as I could, I guess. In all honesty I should say "Please stop calling me, you're freaking me out and I would prefer you to do something better with your time than waste it on me, because I'm not interested in you, my plans for the future do not include you, and I want to just get on with my life."
That would probably be the best thing for me, but it would not be the best thing for her. She knows I'm a Christian (in fact, she knows WAY too much about me!) and as far as it is scary and disturbing, I may be the only link with heaven she gets. I don't want to waste it.
On the other hand, so far I have just been listening to her random conversations and talking to her about them etc... so I'm kind of wasting my opportunities anyway.
The Bible talks about the ideal of 'loving your enemies'. I know what God did NOT have in mind with that commandment (eg. Oh, my enemy, how I love you, shall we go for a moonlit stroll on the beach followed by a candlelight supper......) but what does that mean for me and Spookygirl??? She seems to think that she is in some relationship type thing with me (which she is NOT) and although I have told her that I am not interested in her in that way, she still persists.
Aaaagh!!!!
Oh well, I'll try and figure it out before she calls next, and I know she will....
I'll update you on the situation as soon as I figure more out.
Lark.
I've been struggling with Spookygirl* for a week or so now. Its really scary. She has been calling me and txting me all times of the day and night, and talking about random nothings... she has even been drunk a few times when she has called. (*Not her real name)
I'm not handling it as well as I could, I guess. In all honesty I should say "Please stop calling me, you're freaking me out and I would prefer you to do something better with your time than waste it on me, because I'm not interested in you, my plans for the future do not include you, and I want to just get on with my life."
That would probably be the best thing for me, but it would not be the best thing for her. She knows I'm a Christian (in fact, she knows WAY too much about me!) and as far as it is scary and disturbing, I may be the only link with heaven she gets. I don't want to waste it.
On the other hand, so far I have just been listening to her random conversations and talking to her about them etc... so I'm kind of wasting my opportunities anyway.
The Bible talks about the ideal of 'loving your enemies'. I know what God did NOT have in mind with that commandment (eg. Oh, my enemy, how I love you, shall we go for a moonlit stroll on the beach followed by a candlelight supper......) but what does that mean for me and Spookygirl??? She seems to think that she is in some relationship type thing with me (which she is NOT) and although I have told her that I am not interested in her in that way, she still persists.
Aaaagh!!!!
Oh well, I'll try and figure it out before she calls next, and I know she will....
I'll update you on the situation as soon as I figure more out.
Lark.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Stalkers, 'Serious Sin,' and Such
Well, I’ve always wanted to be famous, and it seems as though that is starting to happen. Its official, I have my first stalker! Not exactly what I was hoping for in the way of fame, but it has to be said, it is a start… although a kind of creepy one.
In my last post I talked about the whole ‘hamburger’ parallel, that just being in a church doesn’t make you a Christian. This is a good example of that, where someone who came into the church to watch a Musical Drama, saw me and has obviously become obsessed with me in some way… she just got my phone number yesterday.
What’s even spookier is that she lives just across the road from me.
It seems that God is always testing me, trying to extend me further in my Christian walk. Jesus experienced something like this. He had a woman stalk him to the point of wiping his feet with her hair, and he managed to help her get a better life. Maybe I can do that too, although it’s worrying as well.
Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, something like this happens…
The last thing that God was working on me with was the mindset I had towards gays. This is another of those flavour things… there seem to be two sorts of Christian when it comes to gays: those that hate them and those that accept them without question. I actually believe Christians are called to be the third flavour in this point: We should accept them as people, care for them as friends, and still not agree with their choice of lifestyle. Sure, the Bible calls homosexuality a sin, but it also calls lying a sin, and lustful thoughts a sin, and we as Christians don’t expel liars and thinkers from the church. The thing that Christians have to learn is that there is no such thing as ‘Serious Sin,’ God sees all sin as equally wrong. So a liar is just as bad as a murderer, or a homosexual. We shouldn’t kick them out, but invite them in, and make our friendships with them. We shouldn’t accept their faults, but let God work on fixing them.
I heard an interview on the radio a few days ago that helped me realise this. A man who had been gay, came to church and was accepted in, then became a Christian, still while gay. After this, he was reading his bible and realised that it said that what he was doing was wrong in Gods eyes. He said to God “If you want me to get rid of this, you’re going to have to help me,” and then, working through a course called ‘Desert Springs’ he slowly came out of that life. If the Christians in that church had condemned him as a homosexual, he never would have found God. If they had told him that homosexuality wasn’t serious at all, he never would have changed.
The element that Christians are called to do in this area is love the person, but not agree with the sin.
After figuring this out over the last month, one of my good friends txt me and told me that he was gay. God prepared my heart to respond in a loving way, without damaging our friendship, but still telling him that I didn’t like his choice. He has accepted this, and I still have the foothold of friendship in his life. I can still be the Christian influence, helping him come to God, whereas if I had condemned him, he would have hated me, and if I had just accepted him, he would never realise that he needs to one day change. – God will do that, not me.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to post them here. I am going to set up an email address soon too, but haven’t organised one yet. Until next I write…
In my last post I talked about the whole ‘hamburger’ parallel, that just being in a church doesn’t make you a Christian. This is a good example of that, where someone who came into the church to watch a Musical Drama, saw me and has obviously become obsessed with me in some way… she just got my phone number yesterday.
What’s even spookier is that she lives just across the road from me.
It seems that God is always testing me, trying to extend me further in my Christian walk. Jesus experienced something like this. He had a woman stalk him to the point of wiping his feet with her hair, and he managed to help her get a better life. Maybe I can do that too, although it’s worrying as well.
Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, something like this happens…
The last thing that God was working on me with was the mindset I had towards gays. This is another of those flavour things… there seem to be two sorts of Christian when it comes to gays: those that hate them and those that accept them without question. I actually believe Christians are called to be the third flavour in this point: We should accept them as people, care for them as friends, and still not agree with their choice of lifestyle. Sure, the Bible calls homosexuality a sin, but it also calls lying a sin, and lustful thoughts a sin, and we as Christians don’t expel liars and thinkers from the church. The thing that Christians have to learn is that there is no such thing as ‘Serious Sin,’ God sees all sin as equally wrong. So a liar is just as bad as a murderer, or a homosexual. We shouldn’t kick them out, but invite them in, and make our friendships with them. We shouldn’t accept their faults, but let God work on fixing them.
I heard an interview on the radio a few days ago that helped me realise this. A man who had been gay, came to church and was accepted in, then became a Christian, still while gay. After this, he was reading his bible and realised that it said that what he was doing was wrong in Gods eyes. He said to God “If you want me to get rid of this, you’re going to have to help me,” and then, working through a course called ‘Desert Springs’ he slowly came out of that life. If the Christians in that church had condemned him as a homosexual, he never would have found God. If they had told him that homosexuality wasn’t serious at all, he never would have changed.
The element that Christians are called to do in this area is love the person, but not agree with the sin.
After figuring this out over the last month, one of my good friends txt me and told me that he was gay. God prepared my heart to respond in a loving way, without damaging our friendship, but still telling him that I didn’t like his choice. He has accepted this, and I still have the foothold of friendship in his life. I can still be the Christian influence, helping him come to God, whereas if I had condemned him, he would have hated me, and if I had just accepted him, he would never realise that he needs to one day change. – God will do that, not me.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to post them here. I am going to set up an email address soon too, but haven’t organised one yet. Until next I write…
Monday, August 30, 2004
Christians vs Reality - Vanilla, Hamburgers, and Poisoned Water Supplies
Christians are weird.
Maybe it would be kind of prejudice for other people to say this, but, since I myself am a Christian, I think I have the right.
Let me explain a bit.
Christians are weird, because they don't seem to live in the real world a lot of the time. Have you ever been to a church service? They stand there, raising their hands in the air, worshipping an invisible God that most other people (except maybe Jews, Muslims, Mormons etc) don't even believe in, and they they claim that the rest of the world is in denial because they don't believe in Him too!
Weird, eh?
But, then again, I must be weird too, because I believe this as well. But, there are definately some things about 'Christians' that I do not believe.
Its never straight-forward, is it? If only there was one type of Christian, then we could classify them easily. You know, like with ice-cream, you know that vanilla will always taste like vanilla, or choc-banana like choc-banana. But, with Christians, it doesn't seem to be like that.
You hear someone say "I'm a Christian" but what does that mean?
Christian A might be one of those ones who wears scarves on their heads, doesn't drink any alcohol or smoke, spends hours a day reading the Bible, and never seems to have any fun.
Christian B might be a street preacher type, yelling at you as you pass that you're going to hell to burn forever.
Christian C might smile as you come in, say that "We accept you as you are" and not seem to believe in anything at all.
Christian D might be a punk-rocker....
Thats not vanilla! Thats more like 'lucky-dip.'
However, there are some ways to classify Christians. Sometimes, the easiest way to see something is from the inside, and I happen to be on the inside. The Bible (you know, that big fat book Christians read) talks about Christianity as being a body, and explains that there are different parts to the body.
So, Christian A might be a small-intestine, Christian B might be inflamed tonsils, Christian C might be an appendix, and Christian D might be a spleen, but they still might all be Christians.
Then again, there can also be people who call themselves Christians but aren't. Theres a well-known saying among some Christians that "Being in a garage doesn't make you a car" or "Being in McDonalds doesn't make you a hamburger." The basic point to this is that "Being in a church doesn't make you a Christian."
The main issue for Christians is that there are a lot of people out there claiming that they are Christians as well. Think about it. If you were a doctor, and somebody went around calling themselves a doctor while simutaneously killing patients left and right, and poisoning the towns water supply (any similarities to persons living or dead is entirely co-incidental) it might give doctors a bad name. Its the same for Christians.
We believe we have something good to offer the world, medicine of sorts, but there are so many people out there killing people, and poisoning their opinion of Christians that it is hard to reach everyone. They don't trust us.
Thats tragic. Imagine that you have a disease that is going to kill you, but that there is a doctor who has a proven cure for it, 100% effective. But, your local doctors have been so busy poisoning the water supply that you don't trust doctors at all, and you never go and see this doctor, and end up dying.
Don't mistrust all Christians just because the ones you have seen are not trustworthy.
Feel free to leave a note for me, and I'll try and answer any questions you might have. Failing that, wait a few days and I might write some more.
Maybe it would be kind of prejudice for other people to say this, but, since I myself am a Christian, I think I have the right.
Let me explain a bit.
Christians are weird, because they don't seem to live in the real world a lot of the time. Have you ever been to a church service? They stand there, raising their hands in the air, worshipping an invisible God that most other people (except maybe Jews, Muslims, Mormons etc) don't even believe in, and they they claim that the rest of the world is in denial because they don't believe in Him too!
Weird, eh?
But, then again, I must be weird too, because I believe this as well. But, there are definately some things about 'Christians' that I do not believe.
Its never straight-forward, is it? If only there was one type of Christian, then we could classify them easily. You know, like with ice-cream, you know that vanilla will always taste like vanilla, or choc-banana like choc-banana. But, with Christians, it doesn't seem to be like that.
You hear someone say "I'm a Christian" but what does that mean?
Christian A might be one of those ones who wears scarves on their heads, doesn't drink any alcohol or smoke, spends hours a day reading the Bible, and never seems to have any fun.
Christian B might be a street preacher type, yelling at you as you pass that you're going to hell to burn forever.
Christian C might smile as you come in, say that "We accept you as you are" and not seem to believe in anything at all.
Christian D might be a punk-rocker....
Thats not vanilla! Thats more like 'lucky-dip.'
However, there are some ways to classify Christians. Sometimes, the easiest way to see something is from the inside, and I happen to be on the inside. The Bible (you know, that big fat book Christians read) talks about Christianity as being a body, and explains that there are different parts to the body.
So, Christian A might be a small-intestine, Christian B might be inflamed tonsils, Christian C might be an appendix, and Christian D might be a spleen, but they still might all be Christians.
Then again, there can also be people who call themselves Christians but aren't. Theres a well-known saying among some Christians that "Being in a garage doesn't make you a car" or "Being in McDonalds doesn't make you a hamburger." The basic point to this is that "Being in a church doesn't make you a Christian."
The main issue for Christians is that there are a lot of people out there claiming that they are Christians as well. Think about it. If you were a doctor, and somebody went around calling themselves a doctor while simutaneously killing patients left and right, and poisoning the towns water supply (any similarities to persons living or dead is entirely co-incidental) it might give doctors a bad name. Its the same for Christians.
We believe we have something good to offer the world, medicine of sorts, but there are so many people out there killing people, and poisoning their opinion of Christians that it is hard to reach everyone. They don't trust us.
Thats tragic. Imagine that you have a disease that is going to kill you, but that there is a doctor who has a proven cure for it, 100% effective. But, your local doctors have been so busy poisoning the water supply that you don't trust doctors at all, and you never go and see this doctor, and end up dying.
Don't mistrust all Christians just because the ones you have seen are not trustworthy.
Feel free to leave a note for me, and I'll try and answer any questions you might have. Failing that, wait a few days and I might write some more.
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