Does God Make Sense?

I've been reading a few people's blogs and on each of them my train of thought goes back to the question "Does God Make Sense?" It reminds me of Anthony the speaker at eastercamp from Neville street saying on Cambell Live about how Jesus' claim and the christians' claim was the most ridiculous statement ever. (Not in a bad way of course, but it sure is a crazy claim)

I don't believe God is supposed to make sense. This world we live in is an upside-down world. Logic is nothing. Things don't work out the way they seem. Putting faith in God requires you to step forward without looking and it's not easy because the world teaches otherwise.
It's like God and the Bible. The world says "let's see what we can make of this, let's see how it all works into what we think happens, and into the little facts we have" God says "The bible is like a maze of many dimensions, you can't ever comprehend it all, but don't worry because i've already shown you the source, the centre of the maze, the finish line. It's me."

In proverbs we're taught that to give our time, money and energy means we will recieve more than if we didn't. We're taught that to gain the whole world means nothing if we neglect the spiritual side of our lives. Having it all doesn't bring happiness.
We have to live a spirtually full life in order to have peace and prosperity here.
Peace solves disputes better than war.
The serman on the mount talks about “Blessed are those who are poor – in possessions and in spirit. Blessed are those who have suffered loss and are in mourning. Blessed are the meek, and those who are hungry and thirsty – for sustenance and for justice; for righteousness. Blessed are the innocent, and those with purity of heart. Blessed are those who seek and work for peace: shalom, wholeness, health, fullness of life for all.”
But hang on, the world says "blessed are the rich, the well off, the strong, the popular. Blessed are the good-looking - they get all the girls. Blessed are the powerful."
And most christians would certainlky argue that it is better to be strong in spirit than weak. yet, "blessed are those who are poor..in spirit"

Paul was hated by townspeople because he "turned the world upside-down" (acts 17 i think)

This world we live in is not as it seems. Have you ever been in a situation when people tell you the most logical thing to do and yet God tells you something else? I have, and you know what? His way turns out better. Why? Because God didn't intend us to understand the world, He intended us to have faith in Him. If everything made sense then what good would faith be?

Harvest Crusades

Greg Laurie is hosting the Harvest Crusades in New Zealand. It's where people go to listen to an Evangelist (Greg) talk about what it's like being a christian. Free entry. Gates open athe westpac trust centre at 6:30, tonight, tomorrow and Sunday.
Adelle has written a more detailed post on the Harvest Festival >here<

Post-Eastercamp

hmmm, i don't really have much to say but as Anna has dutifully pointed out, i haven't updated for a week!

I didn't feel such an emotional low when i got back from eastercamp this year. Not instantly anyway. But i feel especially this last week i have been feeling quite down. Maybe due to no longer being at eastercamp, maybe because there is so little to do these holidays. (other than assignments of course, and i've been putting them off)
I wanted to invite people to the Greg Laurie Harvest but no particular names have some to mind on who to invite. I don't really see my friends from school in the holidays (that's my fault really) and a lot of them are on holiday or just getting back from holiday. I think i'll ring someone today about it.

Those Christians

A Letter to Diognetus, possibly dating to second century.

This is a first hand account of what Christians were like back in the second century. I like it.

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country,
nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit
cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life
which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they
follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of
inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates
of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian
cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following
the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of
their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly
striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply
as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet
endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their
native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They
marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy
their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed.
They are in the flesh, but they do not live according to the flesh. They pass
their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the
prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They
love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned;
they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make
many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they
are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are
evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they
are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are
punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into
life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by
the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for
their hatred.

To sum up all in one word--what the soul is in the body, that are
Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of
the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world.
The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell
in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by
the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but
their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars
against it, though itself suffering no injury, because it is prevented
from enjoying pleasures; the world also hates the Christians, though in
nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul loves the flesh
that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians likewise love those
that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that
very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet
they are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul dwells in a
mortal tabernacle; and Christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible
[bodies], looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The
soul, when but ill-provided with food and drink, becomes better; in like
manner, the Christians, though subjected day by day to punishment, increase
the more in number. God has assigned them this illustrious position,
which it were unlawful for them to forsake.

Easter Camp

I love Easter weekend. Why? Well for a start this is the weekend that we remember the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, faced a death more painful than anyone could possibly bear, and when death came a knocking he let it think it had him and then he showed it who he really was and what he was truly capable of. This is the weekend that the whole world changed. Jesus made a decision. A decision to look into your eyes and see the iniquities within, a decision to love you anyway, a decision to take those iniquities and cast them upon his own back, his own conscience, and face the consequences. This is a weekend that 1973 or so years ago changed the course of history. This is a weekend that today still changes the course of history. I saw hundreds of non-christians come to Christ this weekend. I saw the Spirit move within thousands of hearts openly and honestly offering their all to the King of Kings. That's another reason i love this weekend. How many people can say they have been turned to God through theological discussions, to debates of Creationism vs Evolution, or to finding flaws in the things science teaches us? It won't be many. But who can say they turned to God because of a spiritual experience they had with Him? That changes people, and Eastercamp gives those people that experience. I saw several people from Cashmere High School turn to God at Eastercamp and i intend to fulfill my role as prefect and more importantly as Child of God to make sure my brothers and sisters stick to it. To fight the struggles of the world, the peer pressure to give in to selfishness, the empty social lives that create so much pain. This weekend is a chance to start something at Cashmere that moves the lives of the students. This weekend brings me back to the basics. The best way to evangelise is to talk, and to live what you talk. Sure i don't find the living part so difficult, but i've been so wrapped up living the right way that i've forgotten i need to talk. As simple as "do you know Jesus loves you?" can change someone's life forever. Literally forever. This weekend has reminded me that it's not me who saves people, it's God, and if i don't stand on a mountain and sing his name then what faith do i have that He can change the hearts of those who hear my voice? This weekend does more, it speaks to me of the importance of the decisions i have to make. Am i willing to give up pride for my Lord? It's God or the world, no man can serve two masters.

Have i ever turned my head to things i know are wrong? Have i ever used my hands to do someone harm? Of course, are we not all guilty of that? I ceratinly am. Each one of those times i was faced with a decision, and i chose wrongly. How many more times do i have to face the consequences of my poor decisions before i decide to stop making them? Well i've decided now, and things at school will change. Because Eastercamp leaves no-one the same.

One thing Randall pointed out though, which i totally agree with, is that they haven't had someone go up on stage and say "Hey i'm a christian, i've grown up in a christian home and been a christian all my life, i've faced struggles and everyday i fight against the things the world forces at me. I've never turned away from God because everytime i've fallen Jesus has helped me back up again. I'm still fighting"
Everytime some goes on stage it's "i turned from God, and got into drugs, sex, etc, and then i realised it was empty, so i looked for answers and then i truly experienced God for the first time... bla bla bla."
That's all good, but if taht is all that we get told then that is what the standard becomes. And i will tell you i have often thought about leaving God for a few years because "i'll find him again later" and then i can truly experience him and apprieciate him more. Well that's wrong. I don't have to leave God to know Him and i shouldn't believe that i do. I know God now, and wouldn't give him up for the world.

God has a purpose for me in my life. I can decide to do one of two things. I can follow Him and do what i am predestined to do, or i can walk the 'other' way and live life for nothing. This is where it starts. This weekend has made it clear to me of my decision. Now i will choose.

The greatest need in the world is to save lost people. That is what we are called to do. That is what I am called to do. I liked the example of the evangelist who either caused a riot or a revival where he went. That is what we as Christians need to do. Get up and fight for what we believe in. We believe in saving the lost, clothing the poor, feeding the hungry. Let's get out there and do it.

Muhammad and Me

If anyone is wodering what this muhummad and me blog is about i will put the link here.

Be warned, a lot of bad language on comments. Also if you only have a short amount of time on the internet then perhaps it is not for you. Some of the posts have well over a hundred comments.
The blog is being shut down at the end of the month.

I also find you can get very frustrated when reading the comments because you have so much to argue about but there are 100 comments between the ones you want ot argue about and the end of the line where your comment will get posted.

again the link is http://muhammadandme.blogspot.com/

Wrong + Wrong = Right?

Is it ever ok to do wrong to do right?
If something is wrong and the only way to fix it is to do wrong, do you do it?
When Law restricts fixing right, do you break it?
Jesus told the pharasees that if a man were drowning on the sabboth then he should not be let to drown. The law was against doing any work on the sabboth, and that included the effort involved in helping someone out of water too deep.
So the question now is, is this verse saying that if it is wrong then the law should be changed to make it right and that way you are not breaking the law (and if the law is not changed then the man must drown), or is it saying that the law should be broken to save the man to whom the sabboth was made for?
And can this example be used with the pagan/secular laws of our society today that are considered wrong?

Evolution

found this site on the net. I totally agree with what this guy is saying. I've actually researched a little of the information on some of the dating methods and he is totally right in their unreliability.
Also see The Answers Book by Ken Ham, Jonathan Sarfati and Carl Wieland, and Refuting Evolution by Joanathan Sarfati and Ken Ham which both have a lot of very detailed points on the subject. The site is a bit shallow in it's depth but it makes the main points and is nicely set out.

Evolution

New Haircut

I went to the hairdresser today after school. I just sat down and told the lady to do it shorter (i don't know what i want, just cut it, and not too short - i'm not a skinhead) and the hairdresser (who is remarkable with memory) said "oh look it's your mum". And then mum walked through the door. Haircut on the same day. Coincidence? Well i certainly never mentioned anything to her about getting a haircut and she never said anything to me. Weird. Oh well i better post up the new do. It's just the same as the last one - unstyled, messy, verging on becoming an afro if it's given freedom to grow, except this haircut is shorter.
















Seriously, that is it. No it's not an old picture. But you know what? I like it, i don't like having really short hair cos it doesn't suit me at all, this is ok for me. (i wonder what it will be like tomorrow, haircutes never look the same as straight after a haircut)

Body before Blood

I have often wondered why Jesus broke the bread before He raised His glass of wine. As I sat in church for communion the question came to me again. Why did Jesus break bread first? Surely the bread represents His body and wine His blood. So if that is so, why do we gain His life before being washed clean of the old one? The answer is so obvious. When we enter into a relationship with Jesus we ask Him to full us, for Him to be a part of us and grow in us, and as He does, that we grow in Him and be a part of His body. But we do not have to be cleansed to ask Jesus to be our Saviour. Why? Because we can't possibly cleanse ourselves. We need His help to do that. So only by Eating the bread that fills the emptiness inside do we grow in spirit and allow Jesus' blood to flow through us and purge the darkness inside. I don't know why i didn't see it before. Now it makes perfect sense why He tore the bread first.

An interesting thought...

At youthtrain today an interesting question came to my mind.
We were talking about allowing a person to freely express an emotion. As a male i know that guys tend to harden up at a young age and refuse to cry when they feel hurt. This later leads to almost an inability to cry (unless of course watching chick flicks [inside joke]) and so males are not used to crying at all over emotions. Yes sometimes an extreme emotion will cause years of held up tears to stream out of one's eyes (i've yet to find my moment). In the world today, crying for a male is seen as a sign of weakness. Of course i totally disagree, i think crying demands the best of a man, the humility to expose himself entirely, the ability to be moved by emotions he is not afraid to express, or if he does fear his expression then to risk what he fears and cry anyway.

But the interesting question that came to mind was simply this:
Why is it that girls do not (or rarely ever do) cry infront of guys?

Crying is not seen as a weakness in girls in our society today. Girls aren't afraid to tell a male they have cried, but coming to actually crying infront of them is a totally different issue. Yes crying is still a way of exposing yourself, but why is it so easy to expose yourself to a good female friend but not a good male friend? Just a thought, just another of life's questions that comes without an answer.