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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Friday, October 25, 2013
Songs can make a difference Sing and make
music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:19-20
Hearing
is good, but hearing music is better!
Yet not all music is positive nor has a positive influence on us, right?
Think of how the movies use music to set the
scene. Consider the dark, scary music for horror movies, light frivolous music for fun times, big orchestra themes for great
movies (think of the music in “Lord of the Rings”).
Our emotions are pulled and pushed by music and the lyrics
accompanying it.
I do believe God made us like him in this regard since man more than any other living being is very versatile at creating,
changing and appreciating music.
In offices everywhere I see people working with earplugs plugged into their current source of music.
Yet the verse quoted above is not quite talking
of that. Notice it says “Sing and make music from your heart”
This is an instruction not to LISTEN, but to MAKE.
It is not to be a passive participant, but
to be an active partaker.
Now I know many of us are self-conscious, probably because of some comment about our voice in the past. Perhaps that’s
why we are encouraged to make music from our heart. The quality of the sound is less impressive than the quality of the intent
of the sound. God hears our intent and that may be wonderful and beautiful, even if we have not really got the correct physical
attributes to replicate the sounds of our intent.
More than that, God wants us to sing out, even if we think our voices are not great.
For years
I did not sing because of an innocent comment by the lady of my life, my wife, who commented I was out of tune at a point. I know it was not malicious
but embarrassed I stopped singing completely. It then took years to wind-up the courage to sing out loud again. In fact it
was in releasing my heart to Jesus in our church services and singing out without thought
of anyone but our precious saviour that released me.
Then people turned around and suggested I should join the
choir! What a surprise!
Since then I have found
I can sing, and can lead others (but I still want my wife alongside to start in the right key and get me going).
Our hearts should be
released to honour our God in songs and silent music as well. I don’t know about you but as I think of heaven and God I sometimes can produce
via my thoughts incredible music that courses through my mind and body. Notes higher than the human voice with combinations
of instruments and rhythms that are just not really possible with our current equipment and voices.
This gives me confidence that
heaven’s music will be incredible.
Yet, probably the most wonderful music is the simple Christian songs that I have heard that I hum in my heart
as I go about my day.
How about you?
Do you have a favourite
set of tunes that you hum to yourself, or silently play in your heart as you approach our Lord’s day.
Try it today! You may be surprised how much
better the day goes!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Positively tiring…or not Ever get tired
of being positive?
Tired or being the perky, positive, smiling person in among the crowds of despondent negative people?
I
get that way sometimes!
Yet I know that a positive mind, focussed with the power of God produces positive and
fulfilling lives. That’s a fact I have checked over and over again.
I also know that negative living comes from
negative thoughts and minds filled with despondent, angry and moody thoughts.
Continually I remind myself that while alive we have a negative
weight trying to pull our thoughts down into the dregs of life and trying to take our physical lives with them with the ultimate
aim or causing us to lose the heavenly prize of eternal life with God. Evil likes company and eternity in pain is easier
to see if we think we can take many others into the same pain with us, (at least that’s I believe how Satan sees it!)
We need to fight these
evil influences to our thoughts and lives. We must never give up. We need to trust God and the grace shown by Jesus coming
to us.
We need to
remember the instruction…“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing
and perfect will.” Romans 12
If our computer becomes slow and bogged down with viruses, what do we do? Don’t we clean it up and
regenerate it?
If
our minds get slow and bogged down with negative thoughts, what do we do?
We reject every negative thought,
we focus on others rather than ourselves, we look for opportunities to give hug to those that need it instead of looking for
them for ourselves. Strangely when we hug that person who needs it, amidst their tears we may just experience God hugging
us back!
It can be
tiring to push forward in a positive manner, but it is the only way to truly bless ourselves, others, reach our potential
with minimal pain, and love God the way he deserves, our neighbours the way they need that love and ourselves the way God
intended.
Have a wonderful,
positive day!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
How do we choose “Godparents” I read the article “Prince George christening: profiles of the godparents” which explains that the Duke and Duchess
of Cambridge have named the godparents for their baby. This was in Britain’s Daily Telegraph
People named are Zara Tindall,
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, Oliver Baker (bottom row) Emilia Jardine-Paterson, Earl Grosvenor, Julia Samuel and William van Cutsem.
The names are
a list of who’s who and throughout the article the only time God is mentioned is in the descriptor “god”
parents.
Now no-one
alive can really say what the state of another’s relationship to God actually is, but did I notice the fact that the
purpose of their appointment to this position seems to be missed by the media. The true purpose is to assist the parent bring
the child up in the ways of “god” and in this case being the Anglican church, that’s the Christian God,
so the lack of reference to this makes one wonder if there is any true relationship with God going on at all in this group.
What
should God parents be doing?
Firstly, this is a denominational thing. Not all church denominations assign God parents, but
many do. It is a good thing, as new parents very rarely have parental training or are experienced in the ways of God and the
ways of bringing up children in the way God would want.
A church role for godparent is that the godparent would be with and around the child, and later
in life when they are confirmed as a follower of Jesus, the godparents could attest to the child's (now grown) relationship
with God and their ways of living out that relationship.
The person is chosen by the person to be sprinkled or baptised, or their parents. (This would be Kate and
William, in Prince Georges situation). Normally, the godparents must be over sixteen and leading a life in harmony with
God and they cannot be the parents.
This means that anyone who does not openly confess Jesus is Lord should be excluded, as should be someone not living
within the guidelines of the bible. Those following different faiths should also be excluded.
Those who revel in a non-biblical lifestyle
should also be. For example, an exotic dancer, or prostitute would not be a correct choice, even if they were Christian (yes,
Christians also fall down and get into things they shouldn’t and God still loves them!) A Godparents lifestyle should
reflect biblical values and beliefs.
The person needs to be a trustworthy witness to faith in Jesus, and one who will help the child receive
Jesus as their Lord.
They will teach the child the true love of God and mentor them
in loving others the way Jesus asked us to.
I'm not too sure Kate and William chose wisely!
That said, would you
qualify in this role?
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
A soft answer turns away wrath...  Joy is found in giving the right answer. And how good is a word spoken at the right time? Proverbs 15:23
The
right word at the right time in the right way brings about the right conclusion!
There are people who have a way of using words in difficult
circumstances in wonderful ways.
Their words just seem to reach out and calm the circumstances and even change what can be tough ugly circumstances into places
of reconciliation and acceptance.
When we are facing off with a rival we need to remember that God does not like conflict and that he in facts loves everyone who is
getting involved in that conflict. Prayer to quite our hearts is a good way to go. Then, we should let our minds reflect on
Jesus words “love your enemies”(Matthew 5:44) and then we should pray that Holy Spirit would inspire us to creatively
find words and possible solutions that would resolve the situation.
I was reading an article about negotiation a short while ago where a person put
three coins between rivals and suggested they find a way to split the money creatively without breaking up any of the coins.
Take a second to consider how this could be done. It’s not intuitive and when there are angry thoughts less so.
The real solution is each to
take one and then together to decide on where to donate the third.
When we are faced with questions, we should be looking for a solution
God would like us honoring. We should be looking for a just fair solution.
A good solution that does not favour one party over the other but favours all equally and at the same time
glorifies God.
We
do however need to answer! Being quiet and saying nothing is not what the bible recommends either ...
A gentle answer turns anger
away.
But mean words stir up anger.
2 The tongues of wise people use knowledge well.
But the mouths of foolish people pour out foolish words Proverbs 15:1&2
Let’s leave the mean hurtful words alone,
they are not good tools. We need to draw on all our knowledge and wisdom and build towards a positive solution.
Let’s consider that today
as we move into dealing with tough situations.
Have a wonderful day where God blesses your words!
Tue, October 22, 2013 | link
Monday, October 21, 2013
Evolution, the bible and humankind Evolution, the bible and humankind...
Yes, we will be looking at this “taboo”
Christian topic today...
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This
is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what
is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11:1-3
Out of nothing, our universe was created! There was a very big bang as God spoke the heavens into existence!
Everything we know comes from that event. Ourselves included since our bodies are made of molecules and atoms, and those were
not there before, molecules and atoms came into being through that event.
“In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the
waters.” Genesis 1:1
this supports
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made
out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11:1-3
We know that in 1650 a guy of the church of the time, Archbishop Usser published a timeline called the “Ussher
chronology” showing that creation occurred on the night preceding October the 24th 4004BC.
Even at this time this was not considered valid by many, and
only a minority agreed!
Then a few scientists tried working with the same thing and came up with similar but slightly different results. Names
like Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler being among them! This supported the idea! So it was science that gave Usser’s
words their weight!
It is important to realize that many famous scientists of the day agreed the universe was created by a
God.
This
agreement did not necessarily mean that they agreed with this timeline however.
Some of the scientists in this group included Copernicus,
Faraday, Galileo, Maxwell, Boyle, and Pascal.
The father of evolution was a guy called Darwin. His arguments claim to refute creation and the
6000years old earth theory.
The scientists say his theories said we evolved from the first
single cell organism and following a tree of life that had a trunk that diversified into branches (phyllum’s) and leaf’s(species).
His basic premise was that everything came from very small changes of the previous living thing(s), that these were
magnified over huge durations of time, being pruned by survival of the fittest.
As an aside, we need to understand that Darwin didn’t
know of DNA
A while ago I heard a radio evangelist venting
his opinion on those of us who may not believe the earth was created in six physical days.
He
even implied the only “true” Christians are those that believe the earth is built in six days.
He held up as proof
that death only came to the earth after Adam and Eve’s sin and pointed out that since the geological record
shows millions of dead creatures before man, that science is wrong and only the bible is right.
What’s your opinion?
Now let’s
look at bible facts since these are the important ones.
Genesis 1:26-31
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
26 Then God said, “Let
us make man in our likeness. Let them rule over the fish in the waters and the birds of the air. Let them rule over the livestock
and over the whole earth. Let them rule over all of the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created man in his
own likeness.
He created him in the likeness of God.
He
created them as male and female.
28 God blessed them. He said to them, “Have children and increase your numbers. Fill
the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the waters and the birds of the air. Rule over every living
creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I am giving you every plant on the face of the whole earth that bears
its own seeds. I am giving you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. All of them will be given to you for food.
30 “I am giving
every green plant to all of the land animals and the birds of the air for food. I am also giving the plants to all of the
creatures that move on the ground. I am giving them to every living thing that breathes.”
And
that’s exactly what happened.
31 God saw everything he had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was
morning. It was day six.
Let’s be very sure this was the SIXTH day!
Day is the word “YWM” and can also mean period.
Genesis 1:11-13
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
11 Then God said, “Let
the land produce plants. Let them bear their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that bear fruit with seeds
in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seeds.” And that’s exactly what happened.
12 The land produced plants.
Each kind of plant had its own kind of seeds. The land produced trees that bore fruit with seeds in it. Each kind of tree
had its own kind of seeds.
God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning. It was day three.
Let’s
agree vegetation occurs on the third day! Now how about looking at Genesis
Genesis 2:4-8
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Adam
and Eve
4 Here is the story of the heavens
and the earth when they were created.
The Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 At that time, bushes had
not appeared on the earth. Plants had not come up in the fields. The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth. And
there wasn’t any man to work the ground. 6 But streams came up from the earth. They watered the whole
surface of the ground.
7 Then the Lord God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground.
He breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.
8 The Lord God had planted a garden in the east. It
was in Eden. There he put the man he had formed.
Here THE BIBLE says man is formed before vegetation!
That is the THIRD day….
Does it say how long this took? No!
Notice the word is “FORMED”
….not “created” or “Finished forming”!
What conclusion must we arrive at based on what the bible says?
Does this not say
that …
Man started forming before
plants and the final creation was after plants!
Day Six was
the conclusion of creation of human beings…
…..but how long day Six is never discussed, is it?
Many people consider
we are currently in day six, maybe, maybe not…How
God did it is not explained! The fact is however that God started this man before shrubs and field plants had started. i.e. in science times, it
was probably around 3.8 billion years ago that the process started.
Was this when the first DNA appeared on our earth? Probably!
Science would not disagree!
Was man being created from the dust of the earth.? Totally! We were built from stuff that is
around us still!
How was it done? I don’t have the faintest idea! Neither do the scientists! Nobody yet knows how life
originated, but it did originate, that we do know! Hey, we are here aren’t we?
Also the word for “formed” is the original Word:
יָצַר or the transliterated word “yatsar” which according to Strongs[3] means the following
Creator (1), devises (1), earthenware* (1), fashion (1), fashioned (1), fashioning (2), fashions (1), formed (20),
forming (2), forms (2), made (1), Maker (2), maker (4), ordained (1), planned (4), potter (9), potter's (7), potters (1).
Taking the cumulative meaning here, God like a potter, plans and fashions or creates
man! This also has an ongoing sense to it. One of “forming”. So, maybe it wasn’t a single instant
event activity but an ongoing one?
Now also notice that only AFTER man was created, God created Eden! NOT BEFORE!
Then the Lord God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of
the ground. He breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.
8 The Lord God had planted a garden in the east.
It was in Eden. There he put the man he had formed.
This ties in with modern man originating in Africa (the science explanation) and then migrating. God creates Eden and then once he has Eden
“There he put the man he had formed.”
Wow! God MOVED man into the garden! Man wasn’t there to begin with according to the BIBLE!
Notice how God
creates “them” not just “Adam” in chapter one of Genesis.
Both sexes are created in the first mention of creation.
The re-creation or second mention of creation is where we get the rib thing coming
out. We can’t say we understand this all, but one thing that is apparent, this second piece seems to be more flowery
and pictorial in discussion language.
It partially summaries the first but not fully, leaving out huge pieces. Then it explains how God inserts his “breath” in
man. That word “breath” is interesting as well. In other places the word is translated “soul”.
Could this be the point that mankind became GOD aware? When they met with God?
Perhaps this is where they first communicated with God? Could man have been first, and then the woman at
his side, his
mate second in knowing God?
It certainly makes sense. and fits the known facts, but there is so much supposition in this discussion
it’s almost as loose as the scientific theories around what happened at that time.
What does this mean to us?
- God can create out of nothing.
- God set into the bible all the information to enable us to link science and his message to us.
- God’s main message is that
- He created us,
- He connected with us,
- He loves us dearly.
- God is not so concerned about what we believe in how he creates as in how we treat each other
regarding those beliefs. Our lives to be honorable to him need to be respectful to those who also love him and who’s
faith also ties in with the bible but who perhaps interpret it slightly differently in small areas.
- The key aspect is that we believe Jesus lived, was the son of God, died for us, rose and is in heaven having left Holy
Spirit to be within and with us in all life events.
- In simple terms, the most
important aspect is to understand
John 3:16 (NIRV)
“God
loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.
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If you want to see a short blog describing a perspective on what I believe click here
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Rift in Evil
By Ken
X Briggs - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size:
6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. |
Credit cards are acceptable on sites having Ken's books: 
:)
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on XML Click here =>  to be told of new blogs
| Ken's book covers are displayed below. . . | |  This
suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly
hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help,
this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles
when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the
media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to
justice?
| | | | | To purchase Kiara's Pursuer ebook
@ $1.99 kindle version click here, To contact the author contact Author@KenXBriggs.com | | | | | | | | The town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman
to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy. A horrific mining accident results in Joshua
Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible
situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening?
What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to
the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused
young woman in the center of this plot? Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible
and invisible world shows opposing forces at work. Will there be a rift in evil? Will they be able to stop the
evil in time? | | - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect
Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size: 6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available
from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. Chapters | | | | |
| Frugal Eating Advice |
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| Good advice for students living on limited $'s. Click on the image! |
May you be blessed today!
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