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Showing posts from October, 2012

Take me Down Lord.

Oh my pride which pours contempt on the ones you came to save, rescue me from presumption Lord less I fall like the storm the has killed so many. We are one in you Christ so look down upon the death that I face right now, and take me down, never to rise again. When we look at our sin we fail to recognise the damage we do to ourselves and the eternal damage we do to others. Part of being in a vertical church has been the cornerstone on all my pride being washed away until the next time I must go down. Take me down Lord that I might see the sun and embrace the Father who has created this disaster for reasons that I will never know. Take me down Lord that I may feel the heat of Christ's Love pouring once again in my soul, Oh take me down. Take us to the matt Lord, that we may feel your glorious resurrection, that we might be small and you might be large. OH TAKE ME DOWN LORD, for you are God and we are your children. It is the small who will rise and it is the arrogant that will fall,

You can't lose it.

Fire, fire, fire, yells the man in the little red coat as he takes a bottle of red wine and a biscuit out of his big red jacket. What are you doing says the woman he is with (who happens to be his wife!) "I'm starting a revolution," he says, then loudly slips into the back room never to be seen again. We all have times in our lives when someone is shouting death at us, and it happened to me tonight. I'm not happy that someone who hardly knows me, feels perfectly free to contradict something that I stake my life on. Actually thinking about it sort of makes me want to laugh because it is like a big bully with his pants around his ankles saying "come get me." Tonight was a great night the sense that I got to gather with my church family and lift high the Saviour that we claim as Lord. And I want to talk about just what that term means. You know Jesus as your Saviour, but can someone please tell me if that's all it takes to get to Heaven? I met someone tonig

Saved from Ministry.

We all like to be a blessing and if you are a person of faith I'm sure you have found great joy in actively practising out your faith possibly in a local church. I am all for the church, I go to one and many great people in history come from a Christian background. I'm not out on ministry in the church I'm all for it, especially during a time where most Christians are lazy and apathetic about their faith, which brings in question their authenticity, that for another time. I've heard it said somewhere that you will stand before God and give an account for your life in this space/time continuum and that is true for me and for you. As I write these words I am reminded that I am using a talent that God has given me to bless others, so I use this gift for His glory. I used to struggle with the idea that if you are saved that all of your gifts should be used in the church, but listening to a talk show recently, something that I always knew in my heart was solidified in my t

Music in the twenty first Century.

This blog could go on page after page after page because there is so much to say about the music industry that would probably be left unsaid. But since this is a blog, I am going to talk about it. Let me take you back to 1999 where things really were crazy. The buzz was really pop music, but you were uncool if you really liked that stuff. I think the latter part of my generation really realised that music was really dying a slow death in  the mid '90's. What was on the radio and what was slowly taking over was this drab, generic sooth my soul but not my mind, 2nd rate cheesy music, from second rate artist who really had much to say, but unfortunately too little time to say it. The result was a kind of music that only stimulated your senses, but lacked real time tell me like it is, talent. Music slowly died in the '90's with bands like Alanis Morrisette, Sarah McLaughlin, Lenny Kravitz, The Tragically Hip, Radio Head, Britney Spears, The Back Street Boys and America

The Wonderful World of micro-chips.

If you are a christian, then I'm sure you have heard the reports from some evangelicals that we are living in the end times and all this codifying is the mark of the beast. In Canada several years ago our debit cards were encoded with a micro chip and this lead me to seriously question the prophecies in the bible that talk about a one world order in the book of revelation and the mark of the beast being a form of identification that the whole population receives, in order to buy and sell. I am a firm believer in the book of revelation and bible prophecy, which lead me to study the exegesis of that famous verse in Revelation condemning all who receive the mark of the beast. This is how my thinking goes. When you become a christian you are sealed with the holy spirit. For those of you who have not yet been saved, this means that when you are born again the holy spirit (who is God) is given to you as a deposit guaranteeing your final redemption. Salvation is like a circle that canno

Recess time.

We like to think that we have forever to live, forever to find our dreams and try to make them happen and to a certain degree this is true. We obviously don't have forever to accomplish the things we most desire in life so that leaves us with an open question, will we ever find ultimate happiness or contentment. The answer is yes, (if you want it to be.) Life deals us with many screwballs, I am dealing with the baseball metaphor, and it is how we respond to these blips on the screen of our lives that will ultimately determine our legacy because if we are honest it is what we leave behind that matters most to us. Legacy is a great word to talk about because we are all looking for our meaning and purpose in life, but a serious question arises.."How long will we have to live here?" Legacy then doesn't become a life long series of events, but a segment of events as determined by God for how ever long you live. Could be 10 years, could be 15 years or it could be 21 years t

An inconvinient truth.

No this topic doesn't refer to Al Gore, that said, I would like to talk about hospitals and the counselling that most hospitals administer through a Chaplin. I am a regular person with regular thoughts, but when I feel overwhelmed I make my way to my local hospital where I find solace and guidance through the ministry of the Chaplaincy, more specifically the spiritual resources associated with that. Although I am no longer an out patient, I still feel a very strong connection to the time I spent as a patient back in 1999 and because I still struggle with those same issues, the community does have resources still available to me, albeit there is now red tape to cross over (in a metaphorical sense) if I still want to be a member of that community (which I am) but to participate in those other things that the hospital offers for people like me. I am a firm believer in the local church in times of crisis, but what the local church cannot offer in the same way as a hospital, is a bed

Judged, but not Convicted.

You know the drill, or maybe you don't. You are going on your way living life the best you know how and someone introduces a new set of rules, a new conviction that tells you if you don't do it their way they will make your life a living hell if they have not already. This person believes that they are right and you are wrong no matter what you say to them to convince them that you are a person of integrity, they seems to see things in you that are not just behaviour faults, but character deficiencies in their eyes. You are judged, but not convinced that their assessment of your character has been accurately diagnosed. In fact the bible tells believers not to judge another persons character, but the fruit of their lives not to condemn that person, but in order that that person might be saved. But this person isn't concerned about your own spiritual well being, at least they are giving an incredible example that the last thing they are concerned about is your faith. This p

Who is knocking at Your heart?

I have to admit, I'm usually not this happy and I really don't have the words to describe what I'm feeling right now, but if you have ever been without food for several days and someone offers you a cold drink and a meal you might understand the joy that God provides for those who's hearts are clean. I say that in a relative sense because we are all infected with the disease of sin, which was so clearly pointed out to me this Sunday afternoon as I visited a church which isn't my home church as I would of been left alone at home, while my parents celebrated thanksgiving by attending a service at their local church. My life hasn't been easy, nor ever it was, but it became more challenging but forgive me, more happy as I struggle with emotional issues which were the result of wrong choices I made in my early to mid twenties. I have a question that has never been answered and maybe by writing this I might see a little bit better why I always seem to feel less tha

Unbelief in a world of religion.

The first thought that comes to my mind is that REM song "Loosing my religion." I think that religion is an amazing topic to discuss because we live in a very superstitious and fascinated world, where people will make religious icons out of 'the fonz', 'homer simpson' and every American idol that winks at them. I believe we are living in an era of atheism, and the best that any moral man or woman can say is "I believe in a God." We used to say I believe in God but the Requiem of the culture is that He (God) is sleeping somewhere and has forgotten about His chosen people. That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight, loosing my religion and if somebody doesn't show me the way soon "I'm really going to lose it". Speculation is the death of hope, and the cross of Christ is foolishness to those who disbelieve. Send me your money the church says, that man you see preaching on the television. "Send me your seed fait

Democratic disciphering and Constitution Crisis.

I'm not a gentleman nor a scholar, and I have to give credit where credit is due and that would be to nobody. I understand that the USA is in a constitutional crisis and more than that there is a tremendous amount of let down where one democratic party seems to have all the answers, and one republican party is running on a dime and a dream. I don't pretend to understand all of the financial problems that this country is facing, so I believe I stand in good company with a man who happens to be a Governor, oh and a Mormon. If looks could kill I'd give the job to Mitt Romney, but the question that seems to be plaguing a confused public is can we live without Big Bird? I have some money saved up, maybe I can donate a couple hundred dollars to American PBS and start a big bird come back after Romney wins the election and cuts Sesame Street. I think we have more to reflect on. First lets ask a very simple question, who is eligible for the president of the United States? Too har