Thought's about stuff

Typical Aussies

2010-02-19T13:47:00.001+13:00

World Famous Since Ages Ago

2010-02-19T13:40:00.001+13:00

Ninja Baby

2010-02-09T00:33:00.000+13:00

Religious Self-Profiling

2010-01-25T21:23:00.005+13:00

An interesting artical I found via "The Church of Facebook" blog, on religious self-profiling on social networking sites

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/january/20.14.html?start=1

The Bex and Lulu Show

2010-01-08T11:43:00.003+13:00

The first installment of "The Bex and Lulu Show" Act 1: Skimboarding.

Conversation between Santa and Jesus...????

2009-12-05T18:52:00.003+13:00

I wonder what kind of a conversations there would be if Santa and Jesus sat down over a hot cup of coco... hmmmm... I wonder...

Thoughts on Job

2009-11-30T22:08:00.005+13:00

Life presents a lot of interesting experiences. Ones we've place ourselves in because of the discussions we make, and ones in which we find circumstances and the acts of other people have placed us in. Sometimes that can be a place of disorientation and chaos, I know for me it is anyway. It can be hard to find that word of wisdom, or just someone who understand, even if only on a small scale. And then as followers of Jesus we can't help but ask the hard question of where is God in all of this? And does God really understand?
I couldn't help but turn to the book of Job. Now, in no way do any of my situations compare to that of what he went through, but what I have found is that the way in which he thinks and responds to the different views that his friends present to him as explanations to his plight, and his trying to understand where God is in all of this, incredibly engaging and thought provoking.
What stands out to me the most in Job's story is that he finds a raw, honest reality of communicating his thoughts on God's involvement, or there lack of. Not once does Job curse God for his plight, but rather he acknowledges the greatness of God, and that God is ultimately in control. I was deeply struck by chapter 9

1 Then Job replied:
2 "Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can a mortal be righteous before God?

3 Though one wished to dispute with him,
he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

4 His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

5 He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.

6 He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.

7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.

8 He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.

9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.

11 When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

12 If he snatches away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'

13 God does not restrain his anger;
even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

14 "How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?

15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

17 He would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.

18 He would not let me regain my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.

19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon him?

20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

21 "Although I am blameless,
I have no concern for myself;
I despise my own life.

22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'

23 When a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.

24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?

25 "My days are swifter than a runner;
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

26 They skim past like boats of papyrus,
like eagles swooping down on their prey.

27 If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression, and smile,'

28 I still dread all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29 Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?

30 Even if I washed myself with soap
and my hands with washing soda,

31 you would plunge me into a slime pit
so that even my clothes would detest me.

32 "He is not a man like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.

33 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,

34 someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

What a profound chapter! Job knows the despair he is in, a despair not of his own making. He speaks out what is on his heart, yet does not curse God, he knows that God is ultimately in control.
We can try to live a wonderful religious life. That doesn't mean that bad things won't happen to us or the people we love. What matters is the way we respond to those situations and ultimately God.

I know there have been times in which I have caused my own pain and despair, and times in which people have cause me pain and despair. However, I am grateful to Job's story because it means that I can communicate with the creator of the universe who I know to be majestic, deserving of respect and great honour, but in whom I can communicate honestly with about my life. Knowing that in light of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, God understands even though I may sometimes not.

Grown Up Digital

2009-07-31T11:04:00.001+12:00

True colours of Youth Ministry!!

2009-03-12T11:32:00.003+13:00

Ever wondered what It's like to be a youth pastor? Then check out these clips form the "Simply Youth Ministry Conference"

B-REX

Would You Rather...

2009-03-04T23:13:00.001+13:00

Would you rather... jump out of an aeroplane to go skydiving discovering half way down that your parachute won’t open which means you fall to your death, or... go underground caving where you had to swim underwater to the next air hole, discover that you couldn’t find it and you can’t go backwards, so you drown?

Exit Reality

2009-03-04T10:46:00.006+13:00

Ok, so I stole the title of this blog from an online community thingi that my buddy showed me one time. I think it's quite appropriate for what I've been thinking about in relation to online communities off and on now for a couple of weeks...

I'm going to be brave here and share a little secret (which will no longer be a little secret if I write about it), I'm a Trekkie, I know I know, but I can't help it. Anywho, I've been looking around on the net and I stumbled upon this new game that's currently in development - Star Trek Online - So I checked it out, and before the game has even been released there's already thousands of fans writing up on forums and forming fleets for this long anticipated MMOG (Massively multiplayer online game). This is not the only MMOG around, as most people will know, which is no longer confined to computer gaming, it now branches out to nearly all of the latest gaming consoles. What strikes me is how easy it is to become addicted to these games and "communities", It's incredible! thousands of people every day go online to play these games in this alternate reality where they can become anyone they want, and do practically anything they want. I remember watching my little brother play Runescape and seeing him get completely addicted to this online game. He would spend hours playing it, and even began dreaming about it. Anyways, that's a little side track. What really strikes me about these online games and communities that form around these games, or franchises like Star Trek, is the extent to which people will become involved in them, even emotionally involved. It's like a whole other life, universe, reality to which you can escape into and become a character who you imagine yourself to be if it was an actual real existence. You could be like some big wig business executive by day in the real world, who by night turns into a captain on a Klingon Warship fighting against the weaklings of the Federation to expand the mighty Klingon Empire, online. You'll just be waiting for him to turn up to work the next day barking out orders in Klingon to his employees, and telling them that the cubical will run red with their blood if they don't get that finance report to him before 5pm that day!

The interesting thing that I discovered last night when I was reading on forums about some of these fleets (STO - you join a Fleet that has something similar to a Naval ranking and running system for that community), is that people are genuinely attached to these online "communities", where they feel that they belong, a kind of belonging that they couldn't find offline. Now I sympathise with this, being a Trekkie myself and getting a lot of flack for it lol. Why wouldn't someone go online to find people that they can relate to about certain hobbies that are commonly looked upon as geekish in the real world. However, I feel a certain sadness as well, that there are real people in this world that find that they don't belong in this "real world" so they search for online communities that will offer that to them, and become slightly consumed by it, and in extreme cases, completely consumed by this alternate reality. I have to wonder if we've lost some of our ability to socialise face to face, and enjoy other peoples companie in real life (the physical life), and that for some it is eaiser to just "Exit Reality"...

Knowing God's thoughts...

2008-12-03T10:52:00.005+13:00

Well I was going to begin this blog by saying "so", but it seems I like to say that a lot, so I will just say "hey!" I got up rather early this morning, 9am, which by youth worker standards is like getting up at 6am for people with "real jobs". When I eventually role out of bed I try to make a point of doing a small devotion every morning, a habit I've just started getting into... I know, I know, you're thinking but you're like a pastor and stuff... lets just say I'm a little late in catching on to some things. Anywho, I have Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest", which is by far the best devotional book I've come across, short, sweet, challenging, focused on Jesus, and straight to the point.
Today's devo was 1 Corth 2:4, I like to read scripture in context so I read the whole chapter before reading what Ossy wrote. It talks about the Spirit of God knowing the mind of God, and that it can be really easy to talk about salvation as if it was some interesting topic that is fun to debate about, and present a good argument through which someone will be enlightened and saved. But Paul starts talking about the Holy Spirit revealing the reality of God's saving grace, and what that really means. What I find interesting is when he talks about the mystery of God's will, that only the Spirit of God knows God's mind, and Paul says that we who believe have been give the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that searches the mind of God! This means that I can know the mind of God because of the Holy Spirit. How trippie is that! The next thing then that I start thinking about is, how do I know what to do now... it's not like you can flick the Spirit on to audio and tune into Spirit FM 75.4 to get the next update on what God wants humanity to do!
But Paul, the good man that he was had an answer for that too. He says we have the mind of Christ (1 Corth 2:15). Well, now that I can understand. I look at the life of Christ in the Gospels, and I know instantly that this to is the mind of God. To live out a Christ like life, directed by the Spirit who helps me discern the will of God, because the Spirit is always searching God's mind.
Maybe I don't need to freak out that much about knowing God's thoughts... they're already made known to me through the Holy Spirit and the life of Christ. I don't have to be super smart and have awesome arguments all the time. It seems that the Holy Spirit is quite capable of letting people know what God it thinking. All that's required of me is to have faith and trust God.

pEaCE!

b-rex

So this is blogging

2008-12-02T18:52:00.000+13:00

So this is blogging... interesting... a friend of mine has a blog where he writes about stuff that he's thinking about, I guess it's a good way to get ya thoughts out without worrying about what people are thinking when your talking to them face to face. You don't have to worry about those disinterested vague looks on peoples faces as you try to explain why you thing something is awesome, or stink.... So I guess I'll give this a crack and see what happens.

peace!
b-rex