The Creation Fallacy - Creation vs. Evolution

Jabin recently published a blog about the awesomeness of creation that we have experienced through this not so awesome snowfall! He got a reply from a newcomer to blogger world, Joecool, who wrote a blog called "The Creation Fallacy" - in response to Jabin's blog. There's been an ongoing discussion for the last week or so from people who seem to have just stumbled across his page. If anyone wnats to add to this discussion, or check out his views, its been interesting. It's good, as a christian, to challenge your thoughts and views with those of very much opposite views. I've got nothing on the issue of evolution except for what grade 11 science, and what Dr.Dino taught me! Anyways, check it out if you are interested!!

My Big Fat Golden Calf

i‧dol‧a‧try-[ahy-dol-uh-tree]

1. - the religious worship of idols.
2. - excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc.

I don't know about you, but when I see and or hear this word, I instinctivly think of definition #1 - religous worship of idols. And then I run the course of things like - TV, Internet, money - and every other typical answer.

But something I've learned recently, in the life of someone's other than my own, is that idolatry can be really good things, that we worship in a really bad, but often, unnoticed and misconceived way. This person (who I will leave unnamed), had an issue with wanting to get married. A perfectly wonderful thing (I'm married, its wonderful), but it became such an issue, that it consumed this person thoughts, it took over much of her personal/family life, and became, obviously, an idol. It's no longer that way for this person at all, and thankfully I've been able to learn from this before its too late!

I never realized it until recently, but I've totally done this in my own life. When we put something first and foremost in our life, whether it's a good thing or not, it is detrimental to ourselves, our relationships with others, and foremost, our relationship with God. Idols bring us to a place of complete selfishness, and we (well, if your like me) find any way possible to feed that idol - to attain what you want, regardless of circumstances around you, or what it might take to get what you want. From there, we can end of forfeiting our morals, standards, expectations, loyalty - etc. etc.

It's just messy.

So I challenge to you to evaluate your life. Maybe you need to lay down some of your dreams. And maybe not forever, but look at the priorities that God's set before you, and recognize those things that might hinder his plan.

Spa la la alone

I held a work spa at my house tonight. And nobody came...!
For anyone who doesn't know what I do, I am a consultant for a business called BeautiControl, and I do a mini at home spa, as well as selling skincare, makeup, and the spa products. Its a great business, and I'm excited to move forward with it, but there will always be shortfalls.

My immediate reaction was different than I exepected. I was watching the clock, waiting for someone to knock on the door..but by 10 till 8 I realized it was slightly hopeless, but I wasn't upset. I really want to do an at home business, and what I'm really aspiring to do is do aesthetics and combine it with BeautiControl. But its a process. I really know little about business. My dad is a business man, and he hasn't worked for anyone other than himself for the last 20 years. He's incredible at what he does, but apart from the odd thing I've learned from him (because I never really cared until recently), I know almost nothing.

Every successful business person (apart from a lucky few), have to overcome adversity to succeed. You don't learn to be better from being good, you learn from your mistakes. So I'll contrinue on this journey, and see where it takes me. As long as I stay on for the ride...

Enough is Never Enough

I was visiting my mom last Sunday, and we were talking over dinner about the ministry my mom and stepdad volunteer at, its at a church in Chilliwack, and my mom is incharge of the free clothing station, helping the homeless or those in dire need of warm clothes for a cold winter on the streets. The church has a thrift store that they pull some of the clothes they'll give away, but its not enough. She was telling us that one lady came in from outside wearing clothes that would not keep her dry and warm, but there was nothing left to give away, my mom later went to the woman and gave her her own jacket, telling her that she'd 'found something' for her to have. This really challenged me. My mom has a heart that loves nothing more than to give to others, but what does my heart look like? What does your heart look like?

I overheard a girl while I was working (at Bootlegger) the other day, and she said to her friend "I love this sweater! I think i need it!" and her friend replied "you DONT need it, you have SO many", to which she replied "Yeah, but only a couple that i actually WEAR!!" immediatly I start thinking - man, what a spoiled brat. And then I realized how many times I have tried to justify buying something. I have more clothes than I need, yet I never have enough. I buy one thing, and hate the last thing I bought. And they just keep piling up. And Im never satisifed. I never feel like I have enough, I always want the newest and hottest item.

Do you ever wonder why what you have is NEVER quite enough?

I think i may have realized it, or atleast part of it. Its because as humans we're not made to be satisfied by consuming, we're made to be satisfied by giving. No matter what aquire, we'll have that humanly craving to have more, but we will find so much more fufillment, and I believe, contentment, if we give more OF ourselves, than we take FOR ourselves.

So how do we find a medium?
Should we give a little? Give a lot? How about giving until it hurts? Or are we supposed to live in luxury, and maybe devote ourselves to one charity a lifetime?

What about Jesus? What about the demonstration of the church and community in Acts when they all gave of themselves so that ALL could be taken care of?

I'm really unsure of what that medium is. Looking at my own life, I might call myself a giving person. I care about the homeless, the poor. I see people on the streets, and my heart breaks for them. but not enough to do much about it. I've really done very little. But I want to do more.

My mom is collecting clothes, particularily jackets and sweatshirts, but anything will be great, as well as blankets, to keep the people on the streets warm and dry over the winter. If anyone has something in there closet they dont need. Or maybe its something in your closet you just bought and love - you can contact me or Jabin or drop it off at our apartment!

Any comments, ideas, thoughts, agreeing words, disagreeing arguments, whatever you've got, is welcomed!

Mad at Madonna?

Madonna Louise Ciccone - I bet nobody knew that was her full name! I didn't either until I googled it. It's actually Madonna Louise Vernonica Ciccone. Veronica was the name given to her after she was dedicated or something. Anyways - thats not what I'm here to talk about.

If you've been following the news lately, you would have heard about Madonna's infamous adoption 'scandal'. Madonna went to Malawi and adopted a baby, skipping the system procedures and cutting right to the chase. Its created an uproar, particularily among human rights activists, and especially among those who have been going through the adoption system slowly and painfully without success. Or atleast without the shorterm success that Madonna had.

So with this being said, there are two views on this. (And none of you may really care about this, but I think the issue itself brings up an interesting point) On one hand, Madonna was given STAR treatment, dodging rules and regulations, and getting what she wanted, when she wanted it, making those who don't have that ability, to feel as though they've been ripped off. Which they have. On the other hand, a child that needed a home, now has one. A child that maybe would have had a terrible life in Malawi, likely succumbing to starvation or Malayria...Is now able to live a comfortable, healthy life (whether or not we all think Madonna's the perfect scenario..really isn't the point).

In one sense, I feel for the family's who maybe can't have children, and have worked so hard to adopt, and then they see this happen, and it makes them angry. But on the otherhand, regardless of what we need and want, these children are desperate for a new life, and if one more child can be spared today - that seems of much greater importance to me.

Any thoughts?

Underoath

I was listening to Praise 106.5 today, and i listened to one song, and then another, and i could have sworn it was the same song 3 times in a row. And so i switched it back to the fox, and then the beat, as I muc h prefer to get pumped up on Eminem and Nelly Furtado...

Anyways, Jabin and I were driving tonight, and i think we were listening to 106.5...and I mentioned how I just dont enjoy listening to it, and out of it came an interesting discussion.
We talked about how Christian artists write all these songs, and we sing all these songs, about devoting our lives to God, and how we're passionate about him, and how we will read our bible everyday, and how he is our world, and our life...and we make all these promises to him that we dont even realize we're making??! I should really find the reference, and if someone knows it, please share it, but I know it says in the bible not to make an oath to God if you are not willing to keep it.

So the question I pose:
What does an oath qualify as, and if we are singing these songs, and vowing these things, and stating things about our Christian walk that might not even be true, is that right?? Or is there more to this that I just don't see?

"How Useful Thou Art"

The title of this blog is something I heard in the sermon at church
today. It was that sometimes we stop singing "How Great Thou
Art, And start singing " How useful Thou Art"...and I, am guilty.

I love those moments when you have a total revelation of God, and what he is doing in your life. For a while now I've been trying to figure out what is God's been trying to teach me through a certain obstacle thats been put in my way. Ive tried everything i know. Ive always been great at manipulation and getting just exactly what I want, when I want it. I've been bargaining with God for the past few months, trying to work a deal that benefits both of us, you know, playing it clean...but somehow he
hasn't taken me up on it....
I didn't really consciously realize I was doing this until today. Or atleast not to the degree I was doing it, but I realized that by doing this, I'm inhibiting God's blessing. I dont think it necessarily means that I'm missing out on a bargain...but I'm missing out on what God desires during this trial. I've always said , "I know God is putting me through this for a reason" But I never bothered to really seek out the reason, I just sought after the results I wanted.
So today at church, Pastor Jim preached this great sermon. you know when you hear those sermons, and you're like, WOW, that was for me. I tend to think that most of the time..but this one really hit me. i had this huge revelation of God. It pains him to see where I am at...the issues I'm going through..but more than that, my relationship. Don't get me wrong, I pray every day, but only really out of desperation and great need.

But today i realized this : God is willing to go to extreme measures for us, He will take things as far as he needs to in order to get ahold of us. I think I always knew that..but I didn't realize that it hurts him more than it hurts us. He wants more than anything to have an intimate and personal relationship with me..but I wanted nothing but results. And because of that, I've been missing out on his blessing. So, I'm going to journey, and see where He takes me....

Good airtime

This issue is ongoing, and ongoing, and ongoing, and frankly, I have had about enough of it. I have one question - WHY is it that we are able to unite together with the ultimate determination on fighting the issue of gay rights and gay marriage etc etc. , but we can't bring ourselves together for the causes of Jesus. I'm not trying to sound heathenistic, my beliefs are the same as the rest, but I believe there are bigger things that I need to fight for. I caught the end of "The Hour" tonight, http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1107 and it was a Christian leader of some sort - I'm not sure of his religous background, discussing the impact the Christian leaders of all denominatinos are having in the fight against gay marriage. He boasted of how this issue has brought unity among Christians leaders in Canada - to Which George Strombolopolous replied - "why the issue of gay marriage, why not a bigger issue like poverty, or religous fighting?" The guy then says "sure, sounds great, maybe after this..." or something of the like. I was mad. I'll say it. I felt embarassed to be a Christian...Not ashamed to be a follower of Christ, but ashamed that those publicly and loudly representing what I believe, represent on such a shallow level. Perhaps I'm being too judgemental, or too liberal. But I just feel like the impact that these Christians leaders COULD have, is much bigger, and in the realm of all things, much more important. I know the media uses these people to exploit Christianity ...but maybe if we united in things like poverty and justice, and made enough noise and impact, we'd get some good airtime.

"Bloom where you are planted"

This slightly loserish sounding quote initially reminds me of a book I read in elementry school called "Leo the Late Bloomer". My former youth pastor always quoted it (The quote, not the book), I'm pretty sure it was a poster from his childhood in his bathroom or something - But recently its become a quote of importance to me. In my constant quest to figure out what life is about, and my unique purpose in it, I've gotten quite lost. I've always felt - as im sure so many others have - that I need to a have some great dream and fufill that dream. Well, eventually I got over that dream hype, and realized dreams can be big, and they can be small. And so I tried to figure out what it was I was going to do. What I was good at, what I'd enjoy in life...the usual young adult aged thing to do. But I was getting no where. And I've come to a point now, that I'm still not totally sure of what my life and 'dreams' might look like..but thats okay.

Right now I'm working part time in retail. And a lot of people, myself included, may think thats a pretty LAME job. i thought so up until recently. I was actually embarrassed to tell people where I worked. I felt like I hadn't really accomplished anything post-highschool.I wasn't in university getting a degree, I was working at Bootlegger. Recently I was challenged to find the purpose in my job...and in doing that, I've found more than one outlet in my work to bloom... Not only am I surrounded by girls that I can encourage and listen to and love...but I have customers that come in feeling awful, and leave feeling great..Who would ever thought you could minister while selling jeans? Sure I'm not preaching the gospel - but I get to make that 16 year old girl with low self esteem - feel like a million dollars...

Anyways, thats my word(s) for the day. no matter where we're at, what we're doing ... God wants to fufill his dream through us. Maybe its not so much about what we're dreaming , but what God's dreaming that we COULD be doing??! But we're missing out because we feel like we've got to find our purpose. Bloom where you're planted.

The first words are the worst..because you never know what they should be. it seems like i should have some profound entry statement into the world of blogging, but, alas, I don't.
So I'll say a bunch of cliches and dismiss myself until my second blog, in which I can say anything, because no one really places judgement on the second blog. Only the first for some reason..perhaps because I have the amateur blogger status and so all those bloggers before me are critically analyzing every word i say. Or maybe thats me...and maybe i'm just paranoid...
Maybe I'll just stop here and keep it simple.
That's all.

- A Postal