hello readers,
apparently I should post again, so I will!
I am sitting here waiting for my Laundry to finish so I can put it away and go to bed.
anyways heres the latest. My Flag football season starts this monday! I am excited about that, it should be great. we play 15 games, mostly on mondays, and I am playing Cornerback.
I also started spring school, which has been ok. its a whole semester packed into 5 weeks of school. I had a group meeting today (a saturday!) at the Uni and it seems I have projects/assignments due about every week. midterms start the week after this week.
Also I started at TransCanada a few weeks ago. I am happy with the new job, and the people I am working with, which is important. right now I am working a few days a week.
hmm, what else?
oh I went to YC with my youth group last weekend, and it was awesome. of course I was really tired and sore after. sore from YC? yep thats right. I guess it was getting a few hours of sleep each night on a hard church basement floor, doing 100 pushups saturday night, and jumping and waving my arms etc for a bunch of concerts. the weekend was great, a few great concerts, a few dissapointing concerts and a few suprises. Relient K was a bit of a dissapointment, one of my favourite bands, maybe it was the sound in the arena, maybe I wasn't in the mood for Relient K, I think they played alot of thier slower songs though. the ones i knew were good though. Red was fun because some of the youth and I made up dances as we didn't know the songs. Thousand Foot Krutch was great as expected. Pillar wasn't great and niether was Grits. Family Force 5 was fun and NewWorldSon was probably the best (and suprise for me, I hadn't heard them before). Reggie Dabbs spoke and was great and the worship was alright (the songs I knew, or at least that we could see the lyrics for, were good...but that wasn't many unfortunatly). anyways it was a fun weekend as it always is.
Big news this past week was for my brother-in-law Ryan. He got a job as the Youth pastor at a church in lethbridge! the job search is over! I am happy for him and the family to get the job, but it will be sad with them leaving. It will be wierd not seeing them and the kids all the time, but it is a great opportunity for them. of course they need to find a place to live there now.
also, i bought Grey cup tickets this morning, for my dad and I. Grey cup 2009! whoooo. Go Stamps Go!
so some random thoughts....sometimes we try to fit God to terms so we can compare him or so that we can figure out who he is. God can't be put into a box. trying to put God into anything is like trying to put a backpack inside itself. you can try and try, but you just can't. there are many words we use to describe God, but a few words can't be used to define who God is. God is love as many say, but theres so much more to God. God is everywhere, everything, inside us. his Holy Spirit is inside us and flows out of us when we let him. Athiests try to prove God doesn't exist, how can they do that, aside from personal judgement and opinion. they even try and force their beliefs on others, that sounds alot like the thing they are fighting against. Often people try to fight against things either because they think it is wrong, or because they are scared it might be right and want to wipe it out so they don't have to worry it is right.
Jesus would tell us the only things harder then hate is love, and harder then war is peace. Love your neighbor as yourself, one of the biggest things Jesus stressed was love. Love. do you love yourself? What does that mean? maybe its that you care about yourself and want the best for yourself. Now even though you love yourself, you may not like yourself at times. how does that work? lets say you do something and immediately regret it, don't want to face the consequences, maybe you don't like yourself at that moment. "stupid me." but you still love yourself, you still want the best, that is why you are upset, you know you could do better etc. this works the same way with other people, or at least it should I guess (sometimes we need God's help to start to love even the most annoying people in our lives).
Think about the people you don't like, why don't you like them? because of something they did or they are doing. Maybe you still love them, not in a "love=marriage" sort of way, but in a way that means you care. You want the best for them, you see what they are doing and that they would be better off doing something different. sometimes I run across people who are difficult, I should care that they get better, not hate them for who they are. its like loving someone who beats thier kid. That person is hard to love, but think about it this way. You want the best for that person, you may not like thier actions ( I hope...), but you know they could be better off, and you hope they can change, you may do something, say something or pray for change, bottom line, you want the best in the situation. then again, maybe you don't always feel this way, you think the person should be hanged, shot, whatever. but think about that, should we lose hope in anyone, where do you draw the line...
heh. well there was some ranting for you. comment if you have any thoughts, i hope this at least got you thinking, whoever is reading this.
thanks for reading,
Adam
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
MAY update
Well it certainly has been awhile since I posted on here. So here we go.
lately I finished up my winter semester at U of C, doing well in all my classes. it was an easier semester than the fall semester, and less busy. Also I am done working at Nexen. my contract ran out at the end of April, and I have gotten a job at TransCanada Pipeline. awesome. I had an orientation yesterday and start work on Monday the 11th.
I am also playing flag football this summer on a team with some friends from my church! I start my spring semester in a few weeks, it will last til the end of June.
One of my friends from Capernwray, who lives near Edmonton, came down and we hung out for a few hours on saturday, it was great to catch up!
hmm, what else...
I finished reading "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis, it is a great book, but it takes a while to get through as it is very deep and caused me to think alot as I read it. I would definitly reccomend it. Its nice to read while sitting on the train to/from school. I have also been occasionally listening to a podcast from Westside Kings church.
I have had many times in the last few months that I got to thinking about stuff that I shouldve written in here, but now I forget what most of them were. listening to podcasts, reading spiritual books, and sitting on transit for what seems like hours gets me to thinking often about life and spiritual things, which is defintely a good thing.
one thought from some podcasts was about science and religion. there is always a conflict with them it seems, but sometimes there shouldn't be. They are two ways of looking at things, or two different answers to the same question. One example was looking at a car. Science like the parts of the car that make it work the engine, parts etc, while religion is more like the map that is found in the glovebox. Its a map that you can follow, in different ways, and your not sure where it leads, and you don't have to follow it.
Maybe I should throw spirituality in there, because religion is often referred to as control etc, you can be 'religous' about things that may or may not be something God wants, like getting an oil change ever 5000km. it can be a good thing or bad thing. (well, I think changing your oil is a good thing to do, but you can be religous about it). As far as spirituality goes, I want to let the Holy Spirit within me have control. to let it slowly change me into the man God wants me to be. I would hope that things I do aren't just because I am religious.
One of my friends says sometimes in reference to me 'oh thats because he is religous', I'm not sure what to think of that. I would hope that things I do are because my heart and will, which are being transformed by God, want to; what I do for God shouldn't be just because that is what is what I am expected to do by religion or people around me. I do want to have an impact, but its like giving a dog a muzzle. Just controlling something, like sin, doesn't get rid of the desire or issue in the heart. if a dog wants to bite someone, putting a muzzle on it won't make it not want to. Whats wrong with just putting a muzzle on the dog? The dog will be miserable and is being forced to be good. The dog needs to change its will so that it won't have that desire.
Going back to a persons perspective, you can limit yourself from doing bad things, but if you still have that desire to do them, you won't be as happy as you could be. Can we change our will? not easily if at all, but I think God can. Jesus came and pointed to our hearts, the heart of the laws, the heart of what God wants. God wants us, completely, wants us to love him and to be with him.
So am I saying that we shouldn't try to limit our inner selfish desires? no, if we embrace our sinfulness, then basically we are saying to God, 'no, I don't want to change'. its a tough thing, and there is no line. we always seem to want to get as close to the line as we can with God/authority etc. how much can i drink before I am dishonouring to God? how far can I go with a girl? how selfish can I be? which religion is the right one? how much money do i HAVE to give to God? These are the kind of questions people ask, its sorta in our nature I guess.
It kind of goes back to the science and religion things. Maybe they are valid questions, for certain things. Science is for the concrete stuff, religion/spirituality maybe is more for thinking, discussing and hope. The bible isn't about finding more rules that we have to follow, but is open to having discussion about and thinking about the meaning behind what God wants us to get out of it. It's inspired by God, and we should look to God when reading it. It shouldn't be about listening to what someone we know says and not questioning it. It is up to you to think about what you believe and what you believe about God.
Anyways that was quite the rambling, congrats to you if you got through it. just some thoughts as I typed, I hope that maybe it got you thinking as you read it.
thanks for reading as always,
Adam
lately I finished up my winter semester at U of C, doing well in all my classes. it was an easier semester than the fall semester, and less busy. Also I am done working at Nexen. my contract ran out at the end of April, and I have gotten a job at TransCanada Pipeline. awesome. I had an orientation yesterday and start work on Monday the 11th.
I am also playing flag football this summer on a team with some friends from my church! I start my spring semester in a few weeks, it will last til the end of June.
One of my friends from Capernwray, who lives near Edmonton, came down and we hung out for a few hours on saturday, it was great to catch up!
hmm, what else...
I finished reading "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis, it is a great book, but it takes a while to get through as it is very deep and caused me to think alot as I read it. I would definitly reccomend it. Its nice to read while sitting on the train to/from school. I have also been occasionally listening to a podcast from Westside Kings church.
I have had many times in the last few months that I got to thinking about stuff that I shouldve written in here, but now I forget what most of them were. listening to podcasts, reading spiritual books, and sitting on transit for what seems like hours gets me to thinking often about life and spiritual things, which is defintely a good thing.
one thought from some podcasts was about science and religion. there is always a conflict with them it seems, but sometimes there shouldn't be. They are two ways of looking at things, or two different answers to the same question. One example was looking at a car. Science like the parts of the car that make it work the engine, parts etc, while religion is more like the map that is found in the glovebox. Its a map that you can follow, in different ways, and your not sure where it leads, and you don't have to follow it.
Maybe I should throw spirituality in there, because religion is often referred to as control etc, you can be 'religous' about things that may or may not be something God wants, like getting an oil change ever 5000km. it can be a good thing or bad thing. (well, I think changing your oil is a good thing to do, but you can be religous about it). As far as spirituality goes, I want to let the Holy Spirit within me have control. to let it slowly change me into the man God wants me to be. I would hope that things I do aren't just because I am religious.
One of my friends says sometimes in reference to me 'oh thats because he is religous', I'm not sure what to think of that. I would hope that things I do are because my heart and will, which are being transformed by God, want to; what I do for God shouldn't be just because that is what is what I am expected to do by religion or people around me. I do want to have an impact, but its like giving a dog a muzzle. Just controlling something, like sin, doesn't get rid of the desire or issue in the heart. if a dog wants to bite someone, putting a muzzle on it won't make it not want to. Whats wrong with just putting a muzzle on the dog? The dog will be miserable and is being forced to be good. The dog needs to change its will so that it won't have that desire.
Going back to a persons perspective, you can limit yourself from doing bad things, but if you still have that desire to do them, you won't be as happy as you could be. Can we change our will? not easily if at all, but I think God can. Jesus came and pointed to our hearts, the heart of the laws, the heart of what God wants. God wants us, completely, wants us to love him and to be with him.
So am I saying that we shouldn't try to limit our inner selfish desires? no, if we embrace our sinfulness, then basically we are saying to God, 'no, I don't want to change'. its a tough thing, and there is no line. we always seem to want to get as close to the line as we can with God/authority etc. how much can i drink before I am dishonouring to God? how far can I go with a girl? how selfish can I be? which religion is the right one? how much money do i HAVE to give to God? These are the kind of questions people ask, its sorta in our nature I guess.
It kind of goes back to the science and religion things. Maybe they are valid questions, for certain things. Science is for the concrete stuff, religion/spirituality maybe is more for thinking, discussing and hope. The bible isn't about finding more rules that we have to follow, but is open to having discussion about and thinking about the meaning behind what God wants us to get out of it. It's inspired by God, and we should look to God when reading it. It shouldn't be about listening to what someone we know says and not questioning it. It is up to you to think about what you believe and what you believe about God.
Anyways that was quite the rambling, congrats to you if you got through it. just some thoughts as I typed, I hope that maybe it got you thinking as you read it.
thanks for reading as always,
Adam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
