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Friday, December 30, 2011

Euro falls to 10-yr low vs yen, is it time for Christ in Europe?

Reuters is reporting “FOREX-Euro falls to 10-yr low vs yen, faces bleak 2012” on the eve of the New Year, and I am sure this is not the best time to be getting this news.

I was writing a little while back about “Corny debt situation! Why is Europe being blamed for the mess?” and I pointed out that while Europe is indicator of the problem, the real problem is the North American debt.

How can countries think they can run up huge debts, out of proportion to reality and get away with it?

If each of us wanted to run up more debt individually than we could earn in a year, and then asked for more cash, should the banks give it to us. No!

So why do we think countries can do this and get away with it?

What do we do?

Europe is only the focus because we have a global house of cards being built and now one side of the teetering structure is starting to fold.

We are trying to prop it up, but continuing to build instead of everyone starting to take cards off the top! In fact, we don't even WANT to!

Maybe Europe has the biggest issue because in Europe there are some of the highest debt per capita levels, but North America has much, much, more debt.

Looking at religious importance by country, we see the same countries where religious importance has declined, are those where debt is trending highest.

Europe was the center for Christianity to go out into the world a while back, now it is in a sorry state itself! No longer does the world look to Europe to tell us about the glory of Jesus and Christianity! Perhaps by changing this much of our situation could change?

North America is perhaps a little stronger in this area, but greed and materialism is stifling Christianity here too!

I am not much of a prophet, but I think we can see that God is allowing the evil tendrils of this greed, materialism and irresponsible behaviour to take root.

God clearly says in the bible, 1 Timothy 6:9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

So, what should we do?

There is a wonderful story Jesus told that speaks loudly to our times. It is focussed on forgiveness and this is the solution to the world’s problems. It goes like this. . .

Matthew 18:21 (NIRV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

   “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

  “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

    “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

    “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

    “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

    “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

   “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

We who are Christians need to forgive those who have screwed our countries up!

We need to pray like never before! Only by Christians getting together and praying for the world and then going out, refusing to make debt, cleaning up our own houses of materialism and greed, can we move our countries into sane healthy behaviour! Only then will a true change occur. Band aids will not help. First aid will not resolve the problem, we must remove the cancer!

We must repent of our material sin as nations, to really recover adequately. We need to pay down our debts, then put money back into our global economic circulation and endeavour to live within our means after doing this.

This is not a money problem, this is a heart and attitude problem!!!

As we move into 2012 let us look into changing hearts and attitudes of those around us for the better. Let’s reduce our personal, corporate, and national sin. Then we will be prosperous in true terms!

I wish everyone a wonderful 2012 of true life with Christ, who miraculously loves us, heals us, and moves us towards joy and an intriguing eternity with Him.

He can to bring in the Kingdom of God on Earth as well as in heaven, let’s do our little bit to help with that Kingdom of God on earth!

Fri, December 30, 2011 | link Comments

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Time travel, is it or isn’t it possible?

This year the question of whether it is possible to travel back in time came up again in a rather different way!

Someone smacked some particles together at close to the speed of light, and the particle that resulted from the high speed impact was measured as arriving before the light that would have come from that impact if the light could have been seen.

So in some strange way, it would have been possible to see the impact before it happened, if the measurements were all right!

The jury is still out on whether this is the case or not, but despite this, the observer was not traveling in time, only observing neutrons that could have been.

So is time travel possible? Can we get to places faster than the speed of light or not? Do we have to have these weird wormhole thingy’s or not?

This is a great conversation to have around the fire sipping a drink and enjoying the wait for New Year as others party in the background, but what type of evidence is there biblically for this type of event?

Amazingly we have some!

Here is the piece of writing that describes one such event, (Acts 8:27-40 NIRV).

An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. "Go south to the desert road," he said. "It's the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." So Philip started out. On his way he met an Ethiopian official. The man had an important position. He was in charge of all the wealth of Candace. She was the queen of Ethiopia. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship. On his way home he was sitting in his chariot. He was reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Holy Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot. Stay near it."

So Philip ran up to the chariot. He heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you're reading?" Philip asked.

  "How can I?" he said. "I need someone to explain it to me." So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

  Here is the part of Scripture the official was reading. It says,
   "He was led like a sheep to be killed.
      Just as lambs are silent while their wool is being cut off,
      he did not open his mouth.
When he was treated badly, he was refused a fair trial.
      Who can say anything about his children?
      His life was cut off from the earth." —(Isaiah 53:7,8)

  The official said to Philip, "Tell me, please. Who is the prophet talking about? Himself, or someone else?" Then Philip began with that same part of Scripture. He told him the good news about Jesus.

  As they traveled along the road, they came to some water. The official said, "Look! Here is water! Why shouldn't I be baptized?" He gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the official went down into the water. Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The official did not see him again. He went on his way full of joy. Philip was seen next at Azotus.

There is so much to this story! The man hadn’t found the answers in Jerusalem, was probably black, had been neutered and so was damaged goods, and a gentile! All that counted against him in those days I would think! Yet God chose him!

However, the piece we are interested in this time is the fact he moves over a number of miles quickly under Holy Spirits power having been “snatched” away. The word “harpadzo” for “suddenly took away” is perhaps best described “snatched”.

Miles in seconds or milliseconds!

Sounds like time travel to me!

Okay, so this second example is a bit more dubious as it doesn’t say he was physically moved, but he may have been. John experienced the following:[1]

I was on the island of Patmos because I taught God's word and what Jesus said. The Holy Spirit took complete control of me on the Lord's Day. I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet. 11 The voice said, "Write on a scroll what you see. Send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor. They are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

I turned around to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. In the middle of them was someone who looked "like a son of man."—(Daniel 7:13)

It goes onto explain how he sees the end of the world and the new Jerusalem coming into being.

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband

Definitely a future event, but perhaps it was a dream or vision? So perhaps it doesn’t count, but it could also have been time travel!

So perhaps, with Holy Spirit, time travel is possible?

Maybe it will take science a while to catch-up?

Until then let's enjoy the tales of long ago. The story of Phillip shows us that God loves non-Jews and Jews of all cultural groups and does not show favour to those that are more healthy or less healthy than others!

That’s good news! This news deserves to go out into the world today! Maybe we can get it out fast, but perhaps only at the speed of electrons :)

What do you think?

[1] Rev 1:9-13

Thu, December 29, 2011 | link Comments

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

It’s the season to rest and regenerate isn’t it, or is it?

The snow is drifting down from the heavens, but the sun is shining and the trees are covered with a lace of snow. The air is still and it is time to reflect and enjoy the peace of the season.

For some that is. . .

There is a mother who has ten children, but one of the ten was taken from her as a baby, placed into a adoption home and the mother has not seen her since.

How do you think that mother feels each Christmas as she enjoys the presence of the other nine?

Each year she would look for the one child that has been lost, plead with adoption agencies for information and each year she would pray fervently for the child to return.

Each year that same dull ache would arrive at Christmas time, detracting from the celebrations and urge her to renew her effort to find the lost child.

Then one Christmas, a stranger walks into her home, the stranger is her lost daughter.

Can you imagine the joy of this occasion?

Can you imagine the festivities and happiness of that Christmas!

There is a similar story in the bible told by Jesus. . .

"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. She will light a lamp and sweep the house. She will search carefully until she finds the coin. And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbours together. She will say, 'Be joyful with me. I have found my lost coin.'

"I tell you, it is the same in heaven. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who turns away from sin."[1]

I hope these stories help you see how much God loves us and wants us to return to him leaving the selfish, nasty and ignorant things we do that damage others, ourselves and our world behind!

Let’s return to God and regenerate in his glorious presence!

[1] Luke 15:8-10 NIRV

Wed, December 28, 2011 | link Comments

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Understanding the great consciousness!

We are different to animals and other living forms aren’t we?

We love our pets and some of us treat them almost as well as we would another human, but we know they are not the same us don’t we?

There is something different, but what is it?

We have the ability to investigate the truth in our existence don’t we? What animal can do that?

Many scientists would have us believe this comes from the building up of complex evolutionary structures until we developed brains that inquire this aspect.

What if they are simply basing their knowledge on a simple false premise?

What if that ultimate consciousness precedes all matter and what if matter in fact comprises of this consciousness?

Think I am crazy?

Well at least one scientist, the one who wrote a lot of American textbooks on quantum theory doesn’t think this is crazy!

He was a professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Oregon Institute for 32 years. He wrote the textbook many students use to gain knowledge of quantum theory! He believes that there is a conciousness that precedes all matter and has the equations and science to prove it (he thinks).

He may not be completely right, but his level of math and science knowledge make the arguments hard to refute and offer an alternative to the current way many people think. Let's be honest., most of us go with the flow, so its good to have a few people that go counter current to give us the possibility to switch our thinking isn't it?

Perhaps we need to take a look at some of the more complex Christian aspects that parallel his thinking.

Firstly who does God say he is?

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am. Here is what you must say to the Israelites. Tell them, 'I am has sent me to you.' "

“I am” is a deep statement and coupled with the next statements from the New Testament John 1:1,2 “In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” describe a consciousness that has never not been. The “I am” is of infinite lifespan, no birthing, no ending.

Deep?

I think so!

So this consciousness has always existed! We call this consciousness "God" and as Christians believe that God showed himself on Earth through Jesus. The term “word” being used in John 1:1 being a replacement for “Jesus” whom it describes in the rest of that portion of writing.

John 1:2&3 goes onto say; He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him.

Translated: "Jesus was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him."

Hummm! Even the fundamenals of nature????

What is the fundamental aspect of nature? Some would say the Higgs field demonstrated by the Higgs boson of which there is all that work being done in that Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.

However, I would argue the fundamental aspect of nature is life!

So far there is no evidence anywhere in any scientific field that adequately explains how life could originate, either on earth or in this universe!

Yet the bible says clearly, “Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people. The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not understood it.”

Hah! Say the critics, here the bible is talking of "spiritual life", not "physical life"!

So am I!

No scientists can explain the origin of either physical or spiritual life, but if spiritual life is valid and true, if man has connected with God during his existence, then we have to consider that the consciousness from which we have all come, is probably God himself, since we appear to have spiritual life available to us.

If this is true, then that ubiquitous consciousness that precedes our universe, would be the one that establishes the laws we are discovering. We do know that these natural laws build upon and reinforce each other and that they are elegantly tuned to support life.

The chemistry that keeps us going is not haphazard, but infinitely carefully controlled (hence the investigation into the Higgs Boson), and keeps us alive and living.

Physics supported by mathematics, explains much of our fundamental universe, even the planetary motions and the observed cosmological expansions.

Yet, we cannot prove that this amazing milieu of laws is not produced by God himself.

Isn’t it LOGICAL that it takes consciousness to order and build these aspects of the material world?

This same God provides this consciousness to us as men and women. The bible explains that humans got told by a negative entity, Satan, that by our human race decision of choice. . . “You will be able to tell the difference between good and evil. You will be like God."

At some point we moved to this point of understanding good and bad. With that we took our consciousness that we had already achieved, and started to assign moral value to the decisions. This choice moved us into self-awareness and this moved us into classifying others differently from ourselves.

Fundamentally we all know truth is right, and untruth is wrong, yet the scientists who follow materialism tell us this is simply the outcome of the atoms and electrons that make up our brain.

Perhaps, but that outcome if designed by God could be influenced at the quantum level by our spirits, and therefore be able to receive and flow with the consciousness of the universe.

If so, prayer would be able to have effect for believers and by aligning with God’s will in our requests, we are part of this revelation of truth.

So today, as we look into the big question of consciousness, let’s know it is not having it, that is the real question, but what we will do with it.

What are we going to do with this wonderful day God has given us? Use it effectively I hope and use it in a way to love others! That’s God's wish and should be ours also I think!

Tue, December 27, 2011 | link Comments

Monday, December 26, 2011

Does God still do Miracles?

There is a reported miracle that changed the world just under 2000 years ago.

A guy who killed others was heading out to do just that when God intervened.

This is the ancient report. . . Acts 9 in NIRV, the modern example follows. . .

¹ Meanwhile, Saul continued to oppose the Lord's followers. He said they would be put to death. He went to the high priest. ² He asked the priest for letters to the synagogues in Damascus. He wanted to find men and women who belonged to the Way of Jesus. The letters would allow him to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

³ On his journey, Saul approached Damascus. Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground. He heard a voice speak to him. "Saul! Saul!" the voice said. "Why are you opposing me?"

⁵ "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

"I am Jesus," he replied. "I am the one you are opposing. ⁶ Now get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you must do."

⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there. They weren't able to speak. They had heard the sound. But they didn't see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground. He opened his eyes, but he couldn't see. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind. He didn't eat or drink anything.

¹⁰ In Damascus there was a believer named Ananias. The Lord called out to him in a vision. "Ananias!" he said.

"Yes, Lord," he answered.

¹¹ The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street. Ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying. ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias. The man has come and placed his hands on him. Now he will be able to see again."

¹³ "Lord," Ananias answered, "I've heard many reports about this man. They say he has done great harm to God's people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Now he has come here to arrest all those who worship you. The chief priests have given him authority to do this." ¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias,

"Go! I have chosen this man to work for me. He will carry my name to those who aren't Jews and to their kings. He will bring my name to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for me."

¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. He placed his hands on Saul. "Brother Saul," he said, "you saw the Lord Jesus. He appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He has sent me so that you will be able to see again. You will be filled with the Holy Spirit."

¹⁸ Right away something like scales fell from Saul's eyes. And he could see again. He got up and was baptized. ¹⁹ After eating some food, he got his strength back.

Saul spent several days with the believers in Damascus. ²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues. He taught that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All who heard him were amazed. They asked, "Isn't he the man who caused great trouble in Jerusalem for those who worship Jesus? Hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" ²² But Saul grew more and more powerful. The Jews living in Damascus couldn't believe what was happening. Saul proved to them that Jesus is the Christ.

So, does this sort of thing still happen?

Soon a film is coming out called ““The Redemption of General Butt Naked”[1]

It is the life story of Joshua Milton Blahyi born September 30, 1971 in Liberia and he first became a tribal priest practicing human sacrifice, cannibalism and warlord in the First Liberian Civil war. He killed people openly for a spirit he calls the Devil. It is estimated he is responsible for having 20000 people killed.

Then in 1996, a blinding light with Jesus Christ appearing and telling him he had to repent or die marks a strange change in his life. From that moment on he renounced violence, made himself available to be judged by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission where he was amazed to be given amnesty.

He now goes around the country as an evangelist, preaching love forgiveness and the truth of Jesus Christ. A modern equivalent of the Saul /Paul conversion story!

Miracles can and do happen! However, the normal state of events is they are not everyday experiences until we are immersed in the power of God. It can take years to have an experience like the ones recounted and some never do.

Reality is Jesus put everything we needed to know into the minds and hearts of people who wrote our bible. We need to simply read it and then try to connect with our amazing God. Miracles follow as faith increases!

(Yes, I know those that are sceptical point out that faith is self-delusion but I want to point out one thing. . . it is no less delusional than saying God doesn’t exist when we look at the world around us. Science cannot even explain how life originated, so lets not hang our hat there either! God created science when he gave man the ability to think the way we do, man didn’t create God! Even if we think he did, the God that man creates is imaginery and can do nothing. It takes a real God to do miracles!)

Miracles follow as faith increases, a simple spiritual law!

Yet when comparing faith, hope and love, the most important is love.

Joshua Milton Blahyi took too long to find that out but when he did it changed him forever! How long will it take to change us and those around us that need love?

[1] http://www.christianpost.com/news/african-warlord-who-killed-20000-people-repents-now-christian-evangelist-65550/

Mon, December 26, 2011 | link Comments

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