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