A Generation Gone

So last week my grandmother passed away. Though I still have a grandmother on my mom's side, but for the most part the children of the pioneers here in Manitoba are fast disappearing. The world is changing once again.

I spent allot of time with her when I was younger. She was my babysitter, she feed me supper every day after school.

It's funny how this world works. Death though painful and destructive creates new life. This cycle of life that keeps on going. At her funeral I could not help but feel happy. I know she is going to heaven and is enjoying life ever after with Jesus.

God lead us.
God bless us.
God be with us
God bring us to green pastures.

Non-Violent Action

So I am reading "I have a dream". The best part of the book for me is "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

Here are some of the things that stick out for me.

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.

We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with.

One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."

Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will.

Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.

Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators."' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated."

For modern day examples check out Christian Peacemaker Teams

God's Blessings

God has blessed me these day's and I don't know how I could every thank him.

I am so thankful for my girl friend and I am thankful for what God has also blessed me with what I believe is a good job.

I thank God for everything that he has given me.

God help us
God lead us
God give us grace
God be on our lives and speak through us

Catch Up

James 1:17 (The Message)
"So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven.. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle."

This is a verse I read recently. It strikes home these days when so many things for me are changing God doesn't change. He is always there and he is always the same.

Sorry about the long gap. I've been really busy these day's I had a large project due and it took most of my time.

God bless us
God lead us
God help us

Eastor

Today I had a discussion about the Eastor story, and I was struck by the way God works.

As Jesus was entering Jerusalem people were expecting him to take the leadership role. The human way of understanding victory.

But instead we see he was crucified, and all seemed to be lost. It seems that all could be done is to give him a proper burial.

Contrary to human understanding his death and resurrection was actually his victory.

I wonder how many times we are looking for the conquering victor, when rather God works in very different ways.

God lead us,
God bless us,
God be with us.

Ice Breaks into Water

I am amazed by you God,
We are small, and needy.
I need you God.

We have furnaces to keep out the cold.
We have lights to keep out the darkness.
We have entertainment to keep us occupied.

But the furnaces gives us a sense of security
the lights drown out the stars
and the entertainment makes us forget about sunsets

Not that stars and sunsets mean anything with you God.

Come let us desire God!
Come let us give thanks to God!
Come let us ask for grace from Jesus!
Come let us see in the light!

Oh God thank you for who you are,
Oh God thank you for your mercy,
Oh God lead us
Oh God touch us
Oh God bless us

It's Melting in Manitoba

Today I'm going to try to explain a simple concept. I saw some one trying to explain this before and I believe it's a good concept to learn. I call it the bath tub concept and it's simple.

Imagine you have a bath tub and you have water pouring in and also water going down the drain and so if you want to fill the bath tub you put more water in the bath tub then what goes down the drain. If you want to empty the bath tub you simple put less in the bath tub then what goes down the drain. Now you can temporarily stop putting water in the tub and the water in the tub will continue pouring out until you add more or the bath tub runs out.

I think this has many applications and the one people understand the best is money. The money that goes down the drain is the money you use to buy things and the money that you pour in is the money you make. If you don't make money you will slowly "drain" your resources until you can't pay for things anymore.

The real problem is when you start dealing with a bath tube that every one draws out of and puts into because people want to put in less and take out more which doesn't work for any extended periods of time i.e. goverments. So we pretend that we can just draw out and hope someone else will pay for it.

Now did I really write a blog about money, well that was not the intent. I planned to write it about service, and helping others. You see generally if people are generous to you, you are likely to be generous to other people. But if people arn't generous to you then you really arn't generous to others and so imagine peoples good will as a giant bath tub. This could also be the institutions we have to help people in need such as relief work, salvation army, MCC, Red Cross ... and the list goes on.

This bath tube you can choose to just drain from or you can add to and the level in the tub will change according to what you do. So we can just draw out and someone else will pay for it, or decided to put in and it could be that everyone is taking out.

Why? ... well everyone has their reasons but well for me it's because of my faith.

That seems like a bit of a stretch :(. Well for comical relief check out The Jolly Banker by Wilco on myspace.

Free Promotion for Reinstate

So yesterday one of my friends from high school said his band was playing in the city. So I decided to go and they were amazing.

So here's a promotion for Reinstate
http://www.myspace.com/reinstatemusic
Take a listen and buy some music from iTunes or buy the cd from them if you can.

According to the sound man they were f'n good. lol

So that's right I know the guy on the far right Dan. He's a solid guy!

A broken and a contrite heart

I find sometimes we try to be good,
Sometimes we try to follow moral rules.

But I find that God wants us to search out him,
not for any other reason than to wanting to be close to him.

If we try to be good, or follow moral rules to be acceptable or more "holy" it's not what God wants. God wants us to come to him in our broken state and say that we need him, not for any other reason but that we understand that we realize that we really do!

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart; these, O God, You will not despise.

I find I have to be careful is easy to get caught up in doing the right things because that's what is expected and not because we are servants of God.

So God I am broken before you
I am hungry for you
Have complete control over me
God bless us
God lead us

Another Reason Why Blogs May be Slow these Days

So I've been having fun with my new Beaver Creek guitar.

Hungry Falling On My Knees Chords by Kathryn Scott

Verse 1:
C                Am7
Hungry, I come to You
G            F
For I know You satisfy
C              Am7
I am empty, but   I know
G                 F
Your love does not run dry.
G       F/A
And so I wait for You,
G/B       F
So I wait for You.
Chorus:
C               Fmaj7
I'm falling on my knees,
C            Fmaj7
Offering all of me.
C                Fmaj7             C
Jesus, You're all this heart is living for.
Verse 2:
C                Am7
Broken, I run to You,
G             F
For Your arms are open wide;
C              Am7
I am weary, but I know
G                 F
Your touch restores my life.
G       F/A
And so I wait for You.
G/B        F
So I wait for You,
So I wait for You.

Chords Used:
C - 032010
Am7 - 002010
F - 133211 (bar)
F/A - X03211 (bar)
G/B - X20033
Fmaj7 - XX3210
G - 320003

God Bless Us
God Lead Us