i certainly have a habit of titling my posts with 'R' words huh? hehe
well this weekend has once again been a beneficial one in making my vital decision as to which church I'm going to stick to, once again i went to hopes church in the morning (hope is the friend i mentioned in my previous post, in case you didn't catch it) and i felt it quite warming. all though I'm one for big concerts and jump around to music i feel as though arise emphasises the music rather than a focus on god and i think link hutt city offers this better focal point on the lord, whilst waiting for time to pass before going to arise me and my wonderful mother decided to bring out ye ole photo albums.. now most teenagers get blush and all embarrassed with this but thanks to many awakenings this year i have managed to over come it and appreciate the aesthetic value to it, in fact it bought countless smiles to my face. i also must mention that in youth meeting (at link) we talked about Philippians 3:12 which i quite liked, now this post is mainly emphasising the point of approaches to preaching from a passage because all though we didn't preach on it at link, we addressed the passage and got a good understanding of it. now funnily enough our guest pastor at arise spoke on exactly the same passage, however sadly he didn't do a very good job on it (from my point of view) in fact he was quite a pessimist in some of the things he was talking about and only referred to the pas
sage a few times. the beauty of the bible is that it can be perceived in so many ways by so many different people and this certainly opened my heart to that point..
(i hate losing my train of thought) hmmmmm..
now on a semi related note i must mention that i have been getting some compliments from a few very genuine people as of lately, two people said that my writing (as presented to you on this page) is wonderful,fluent,easy to read and very interesting- this made me smile. later on Sunday after arise i went to a group called prayer's and pudding's this group is organised by my lovely friend Mava and was it was a pleasure to be there, the atmosphere was very open minded and genuine, and during this group meeting a good friend of mine said to me "y'know the more i get to know you the more i get to have a very deep respect for you" it took me by shock that he said as it was quite out of the blue, however it was a pleasant shock and i really was taken a back from words and only managed to say 'why thank you very much'. Later that very same night i was on the trade me message boards (taken quite a liking to them recently), of which i have met some interesting character's on here, one of which gave me my most humbling comment yet 'you have a very good eye for the disposition of truth within the bible and with this the holy ghost will work through you', before i go any further let me modestly mention that I'm not one to take compliments to the head and let it build my ego, i take them in with appreciation and reflect on what was said and how it is relevant to myself.
almost every day since the service last week at hopes church i have been having awakenings and the lord has been softening my heart to the reality of this world and what my part will play in it. I'm not expecting prophesies to unfold in front of me or for me to begin a preaching course at anytime, that is for the lord to decide, however i have been truly humbled in letting god take such a huge part in my life (hopefully one day i will be able to say that he is my life)
in total reflection of these past two weeks i am glad to say that my distance from the Lord has in total reality become a great distance less.
may he bless and nurture you all, thank you for reading.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Relaxing Awakening
this past sunday has yet been one of my best, i particiapated in two church services. the morning service i went to was of the old church of christ which i have many memories in, tis now called link hutt city church and is owned and operated by my friend hope's family, they invited me to their home for lunch and i took pleasure in accepting. they have a lovely house and lovely family. the night service (at arise) was wonderful and i really put all my energy into the worship which was quite refreshing in a way. it has now been a month since my baptism and i can certainly say that the devil has worked very hard to tempt me and at times suceeded, however i feel that this previous weekend has caused an awakening in me of which i need to follow through in. i ripped through 'the pursuit of god' within a few days of lapsed readings, at only 10 chapters and 120 pages i can safely say that it should be renamed as 'the christians handbook to living a righteous life' with small prayers following every chapter it has certainly helped to shape my way of living and my attitude into one that will be all for god. followed up with some research online of my own i have been quite enlightened these past few days and have a great joy in saying that i love everyday that i am on this earth for our universe is within the lord himself and every creation i see is one of god. this is a common concept for christians to apply but i think that rarely is it ever understood in full context. i think this would have to be the first time in my life that i have felt so.. honestly words can't describe it but i think in all honesty that i feel at ease with myself as a person, i feel so much more loving to everyone i encounter and i just feel so content with life and anything it wants to throw at me next.
this is more of a milestone post rather than providing insight to recent discoveries, i acknowledge i have had these sort of milestones before but when this one lasts 5 day's i am 99% assured this is going to last. i have written the preface today to what will someday be my autobiography, my goal is to a chapter every year which will ironically enough be based on that previous year, firstly i need to get the past 16 years done, this is a sure thing and it feels assuring to set myself such a goal and i tend to tackle it with all my soul.
only ten more days to go before the devil will stop trying so hard to tempt me away from the lord. i honestly don't know when i wil publish my first book however that is something to consider in th future, right now im living for the moment and in the moment for today is all we really have when it comes down to it, tommorow is the promise that was never made.
i finished 'the life of pi' a few days and i must take time here to recommend it to all. it is truely a masterpiece, it grips you and leaves you at the end thinking 'how simply beautiful'
i think that will be it for now.
god bless
this is more of a milestone post rather than providing insight to recent discoveries, i acknowledge i have had these sort of milestones before but when this one lasts 5 day's i am 99% assured this is going to last. i have written the preface today to what will someday be my autobiography, my goal is to a chapter every year which will ironically enough be based on that previous year, firstly i need to get the past 16 years done, this is a sure thing and it feels assuring to set myself such a goal and i tend to tackle it with all my soul.
only ten more days to go before the devil will stop trying so hard to tempt me away from the lord. i honestly don't know when i wil publish my first book however that is something to consider in th future, right now im living for the moment and in the moment for today is all we really have when it comes down to it, tommorow is the promise that was never made.
i finished 'the life of pi' a few days and i must take time here to recommend it to all. it is truely a masterpiece, it grips you and leaves you at the end thinking 'how simply beautiful'
i think that will be it for now.
god bless
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Religionism
obviously not a word but after this post you will see how it relates.
in being only 78 pages into the book "the life of Pi" it already has my mind stricken with many questions and intriguing thoughts, the book is about a little Indian boy who takes on three religions, growing up as a Muslim taking on Christianity secondly and Hinduism thirdly, we are told in quite good detail in this book the spiritual experiences of this young boy which has led up to him being 15 years old and occupying three religions, he confidently quotes Gandhi (i wish i could at that age) 'all religions are true' in my knowledge Gandhi was a very knowledgeable man and one of the known few to reach 'enlightenment' spiritually so it is in our interest to not disregard this statement, Pi(full name being Piscine) then goes on to say to his father in reference to Hinduism and Christianity. "They both claim Abraham as theirs, Muslims say the God of the Hebrews and Christians is the same as the God of Muslims. They recognise David, Moses and Jesus as prophets" with this said i looked from my bench chair and observed the birds feeding on my freshly cut lawn and thought "as i commonly think and like to research on the fact that all living things are part of the same world and the same universe, can we also be a part of the same religion?, is Christianity, Muslim, Hinduism and Judaism all a derivation of some ultimate truth, just as Catholicism,anglicism and every denomination is in effect part of the same truth which is Christianity.
certainly without doubt the more i study these things the more i can connect and the more refreshing my mind feels as it comes to new enlightenment's, i have no doubt in the existence of God but what of religion? you will hear many Christians say 'I'm not in a religion I'm in a relationship" and personally that's the way i see it too, but we have as a society classified it as a religion, so what is the definition of religion? (here's where i tab browse wictionary!)
The original Latin term is religio which means a moral obligation or worship. Today in English we define it as
'Any system or institution which one engages with in order to foster a sense of meaning or relevance in relation to something greater than oneself.'
so here we are referring to it as a system or institution, both in effect the same thing and both imply that there are certain operations and styles to it, like for example rehabilitation; on top of this it is saying that the sole purpose of it is too find 'meaning or relevance' and furthermore it mentions a higher power something 'greater than oneself'
taking this into note i do indefinitely class myself as a christian but the point I'm raising here is whether god intended or not for different religions which in the whole hold faith through him but in turn they clash in some of their beliefs, obviously as genesis mentions to us god intended for a peaceful world with him ultimately acknowledged as the greater good and the alpha omega.
it is here where i might like to point out that religion is a man made wonder, however it holds the same attribute as gravity; it was always there, modern man simply gave it a name and put in context.
i myself believe in some sort of energy chakras and that our 'greater consciousness' has some divine connection with the planet and with God alone, in reading the above you may think i am questioning the beliefs of Christianity. This is not the case, quite stubbornly i have complete faith in the fact that Jesus walked the earth, was crucified, rose again and is ultimately our true saviour (along with the contributing 'must have' beliefs for Christianity) i am merely raising that point that religion is a man made object and ironically is subjective to ones opinion on the matter, therefore i think it is quite possibly completely call religion in itself a religion, a modern paradox yes however along the very lines that i find myself on at the moment it seems to make perfect sense, it may be appropriate to add here that every spiritual experience i have had has indeed been very intimate with my inner self and majoratively intimate with God. you may now be thinking about the minority that weren't with god so let me try to word this.
i have had many moments (mostly while indulging in nature) that have been ecstatically (see the definition of Ecstasy in wiktionary) enlightening and thought provoking, during which i was purely thinking of the wonder of nature in itself and how much we are missing out in everyday life because we are so hectic and self obsessed with our work, mans ability to spend so long studying, working and generally doing indoor activities will be the abomination of his sensitivity to natures wonders.
therefore i pledge to you, spend minimal time working and studying for every second you are indoors you miss out on the wonders of gods world that he intended for us to enjoy not neglect.
challenge yourself to open new doors every month or so, research on something you have no slightest clue on, whether it be on religion, the history of a country or even the life of someone you thought to be great (be it philosophers or even sports persons, who cares?)
be it the most struggling year of my life it has without a doubt been the most insightful and learning year of my life thus far.
*no doubt i will be looking into Hinduism and what not about the basis of their beliefs*
God be with you all
*may as well leave you with a long sentence from the book that got me thinking*
'Words of divine consciousness: moral exaltation;lasting feelings of elevation, elation, joy; a quickening of the moral sense, which strikes one as more important than an intellectual understanding of things; an alignment of the universe along moral lines, not intellectual ones; a realisation that the founding principle of existence is what we call love, which works itself out sometimes not clearly, not cleanly, not immediately, nonetheless ineluctably. An intellect confounded yet a trusting sense of presence and of ultimate purpose'
in being only 78 pages into the book "the life of Pi" it already has my mind stricken with many questions and intriguing thoughts, the book is about a little Indian boy who takes on three religions, growing up as a Muslim taking on Christianity secondly and Hinduism thirdly, we are told in quite good detail in this book the spiritual experiences of this young boy which has led up to him being 15 years old and occupying three religions, he confidently quotes Gandhi (i wish i could at that age) 'all religions are true' in my knowledge Gandhi was a very knowledgeable man and one of the known few to reach 'enlightenment' spiritually so it is in our interest to not disregard this statement, Pi(full name being Piscine) then goes on to say to his father in reference to Hinduism and Christianity. "They both claim Abraham as theirs, Muslims say the God of the Hebrews and Christians is the same as the God of Muslims. They recognise David, Moses and Jesus as prophets" with this said i looked from my bench chair and observed the birds feeding on my freshly cut lawn and thought "as i commonly think and like to research on the fact that all living things are part of the same world and the same universe, can we also be a part of the same religion?, is Christianity, Muslim, Hinduism and Judaism all a derivation of some ultimate truth, just as Catholicism,anglicism and every denomination is in effect part of the same truth which is Christianity.
certainly without doubt the more i study these things the more i can connect and the more refreshing my mind feels as it comes to new enlightenment's, i have no doubt in the existence of God but what of religion? you will hear many Christians say 'I'm not in a religion I'm in a relationship" and personally that's the way i see it too, but we have as a society classified it as a religion, so what is the definition of religion? (here's where i tab browse wictionary!)
The original Latin term is religio which means a moral obligation or worship. Today in English we define it as
'Any system or institution which one engages with in order to foster a sense of meaning or relevance in relation to something greater than oneself.'
so here we are referring to it as a system or institution, both in effect the same thing and both imply that there are certain operations and styles to it, like for example rehabilitation; on top of this it is saying that the sole purpose of it is too find 'meaning or relevance' and furthermore it mentions a higher power something 'greater than oneself'
taking this into note i do indefinitely class myself as a christian but the point I'm raising here is whether god intended or not for different religions which in the whole hold faith through him but in turn they clash in some of their beliefs, obviously as genesis mentions to us god intended for a peaceful world with him ultimately acknowledged as the greater good and the alpha omega.
it is here where i might like to point out that religion is a man made wonder, however it holds the same attribute as gravity; it was always there, modern man simply gave it a name and put in context.
i myself believe in some sort of energy chakras and that our 'greater consciousness' has some divine connection with the planet and with God alone, in reading the above you may think i am questioning the beliefs of Christianity. This is not the case, quite stubbornly i have complete faith in the fact that Jesus walked the earth, was crucified, rose again and is ultimately our true saviour (along with the contributing 'must have' beliefs for Christianity) i am merely raising that point that religion is a man made object and ironically is subjective to ones opinion on the matter, therefore i think it is quite possibly completely call religion in itself a religion, a modern paradox yes however along the very lines that i find myself on at the moment it seems to make perfect sense, it may be appropriate to add here that every spiritual experience i have had has indeed been very intimate with my inner self and majoratively intimate with God. you may now be thinking about the minority that weren't with god so let me try to word this.
i have had many moments (mostly while indulging in nature) that have been ecstatically (see the definition of Ecstasy in wiktionary) enlightening and thought provoking, during which i was purely thinking of the wonder of nature in itself and how much we are missing out in everyday life because we are so hectic and self obsessed with our work, mans ability to spend so long studying, working and generally doing indoor activities will be the abomination of his sensitivity to natures wonders.
therefore i pledge to you, spend minimal time working and studying for every second you are indoors you miss out on the wonders of gods world that he intended for us to enjoy not neglect.
challenge yourself to open new doors every month or so, research on something you have no slightest clue on, whether it be on religion, the history of a country or even the life of someone you thought to be great (be it philosophers or even sports persons, who cares?)
be it the most struggling year of my life it has without a doubt been the most insightful and learning year of my life thus far.
*no doubt i will be looking into Hinduism and what not about the basis of their beliefs*
God be with you all
*may as well leave you with a long sentence from the book that got me thinking*
'Words of divine consciousness: moral exaltation;lasting feelings of elevation, elation, joy; a quickening of the moral sense, which strikes one as more important than an intellectual understanding of things; an alignment of the universe along moral lines, not intellectual ones; a realisation that the founding principle of existence is what we call love, which works itself out sometimes not clearly, not cleanly, not immediately, nonetheless ineluctably. An intellect confounded yet a trusting sense of presence and of ultimate purpose'
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