Thanksgiving again?

I know that with the exceptions of our American cousins to the South, Thanksgiving is now over with. However, as I mentioned awhile ago, I don't think that constitutes a reason to stop being thankful. In fact I would say that God has creatd us to worship, and part of that worship is in the being thankful for all things, according to our understanding of God; both who He is and what He has done.

I recently had a couple of days to consider these things while away from school, where I coud stop from the hectic schedule and life of seminary and consider just what God has done for me in my own life. Just the blessing of somewhere to go and some old friends to visit, and God's provision for the trip, was more than enough to get me thinking about how much praise and worship I don't give God simlpy because I fail to consider His workings in my life.

How often do things happen in our lives that are wonderful and we rejoice in them, but do not give God any glory; or we give Him jus enough glory to keep our conscience clear. We ought to be glorifying God in all things; if in rejoicing, then thank Him and praise Him that we have cause to rejoice; if in suffering, then knowing that our suffering is for a purpose.

God is good in allthings, how acn we possibly diminish that goodess to just one weekend a year to give thanks to Him? we can't, at least not if we are sincere. Let us worship and give thanks in all things.

God is good

Of course this goes without saying, but I have a reason for saying this. Please bear with me.

Here at TBS, the occasional opportunity arises to get out and see another little corner of the theological world. Some weeks ago, one such opportunity came across my path to go to Grand Rapids for a library dedication ceremony. For many reasons I jumped at the chance and eagerly accepted the invitation.
Yesterday brought the news that the trip had been cancelled, much to my great dismay and disappointment. Yet in the midst of this disappointment I find great joy. My work was going to be condensed for the entire week into three days, I had to find someone to replace me for a couple of duties, and I would be faced with the momentous decision of what books to buy and what books to leave (possibly a psyche shattering decision in itself).
Instead, I am now ahead (ok, caught up) in my work, I no longer have any of the burdens that had presented themselves, and the reasons for the trip being cancelled, which were wholly laudable reasons, can be addressed and taken care of.

My point is this; that even in times of extreme disappoinment and regret, God is every bit as active as He is at other times in our life. God is good, looking after not our wants, but our needs. What I wanted was to go to Grand Rapids, what I needed was to get ahead in my studies and have some time to relax (as though that ever happens!).
While I was so caught up in my own desires, I had failed to live by faith in regards to what was going on in my life; thank God for His grace in bringing me back to where I should have been the whole time.

God is good, and greatly to be praised.

part of our liberty...

As Christians, one of the terms that is frequently bandied about is "Christian liberty", but what we mean by it is often obscure. We often use teh term to excuse our behavior, or the lack thereof, but it is all too seldom that we use it to excuse that behavior that we should already be engaged in.

Realizing that this sounds more than a little cryptic right now, let me elaborate. We say "Christian liberty" so that we can either have an excuse to do something which we know we shouldn't, or to excuse us from doing something that we know that we should be doing. There is a problem with this attitude, but it is not my intention at this time to rebuke this anti-nomian sentiment. It is however my point hat we should intsead use Christian liberty as an encouragement to engage in those things which we ought to have a part in. Notably, it comes to mind, our involvement in our community and environment, both on a local and national, if not global, scale.

Driving in the car this morning, a comment was made about the presence of evangelicals in the US. I retorted, with an immediacy that precludes the truth of the situation in my mind, that there were evangelicals in Canada, but that the problem is that they are too busy trying to be good, quiet, polite Canadians to ever bother voicing an opinion.
Think about it, as Canadians, we grow up under the impressionthat quiet and polite is the way to go about everything, which is not a bad thing necessarily. We often chide our loud, arrogant cousins to the south, considering them to be rude and ill-mannered, while failing to recognise that at the very least they do not hesitate to share their opinion.
Not to warrant their attitudes, but their is something to be said sometimes about frankness, and the willingness to tell others when they are wrong, and there is certainly a place and manner to do this within the gentleness and humility that needs to accompany Christian conduct.

One cannot help but wonder though, since there are allegedly so many evangelical Christians in canada, why is it that we never, or at least ver seldom, hear from them? Is it that the media in Canada is so far gone that whatever voice we do have is utterly silenced outside of certain circles? Maybe, but this seems unlikely given that there is always some reporter or newspaper willing to listen to the evangelical perspective if only to take a shot at the government and established authorities. No; I would suggest it is because when something comes up, we either fail to stand united on an issue, or because we feel that things will go how they will go regardless of our imput.

By this point, if you are still reading, you're either wondering what my point is, or have already figured it out. We have a Christian liberty in this matter; in fact I would argue that we have a Christian duty in this matter; and that is to have a voice in the things that affect our country and cities. We as Christians have a duty to represent our faith in all things, not just in personal afairs or church life, but also politics and all aspects of life. This is not to say that we ought to take up arms and storm parliament, but that we ought to use the means that are available to try to affect change.

The time of sitting back as evangelicals and conservatives in Canada and simply complaining about what's going on must come to an end. If we do not start taking some action in this country, we are going to find things becoming a lot worse than they are now.

Thanksgiving...do we really?

Not that anyone reads this anyway, but if they did, they would notice that I've not posted for a few days. There is reason for that; I was home for thanksgiving. One of the things that seems to come up over thanksgiving is that we often fail to stop, except maybe before a meal, to give thanks to God for what He has done for us, and the truth is there is so much if we just stop to think about it.

So here's some of my list from just the past weekend.

I'm thankful for:
My friends Mark and Debby, and their children, who came down to
pick me up to go home for the weekend, and the time I was able
to spend with them later

The wedding of my friend Shawn and his new wife Theodora

My friends Andrew and Kara, who provided my lodgings and much of
my food over the weekend

Time spent with my family today

Time to share with some friends what's going on in our lives and
some moments of encouragement

God's provision for manty of my friends and myself just over
what He's done in the past weekend

The pastor of my home church, who has been a huge encouragement
to me

A safe return to school tonight and some quiet time with a few
friends, including the chance to buy Phil supper

And the list goes on, but let's face it, you have more important things to think about than what God has done for me; think about what He has done for you in the past year; the past month, probably even the past day or so there are things that should come to mind.

We have a holiday (holy day?) that we call thanksgiving; but how often do we stop to give thanks? And when we do, who is that thanks given to? Let us give thanks to God, and Him alone.

To God be all glory, honour and praise!

Things I'm thankful for: friends

As mentioned a blog or two ago, sometimes its good to stop and have a quiet time with the Lord. Sometimes as well its good to have quiet times with friends and find out what's really going on in the hearts and minds of those we care for.

One of the great blessings I enjoy is the way that God has surrounded me with friends. Not just any friends, but really supportive friends; the type that you can open up to and share what's going on in your life with, as well as have a good time with.

I had a really good discussion with one such friend this evening, and we both found out quite a bit about the other; although I think he found out more about me than I about him; and its just such a relief to be able to get things off my chest with someone I can trust.

Friends are just one more thing for which I am continually thankful to God. I hope and pray that we all take the time to evaluate our friendships and how much they mean to us, and that we would be constantly in prayer for those whom we care for.

God gives us so much every day to be thankful for; may we praise Him always and in all things.

Why the minority?

Have you ever noticed how our society tends to cater more to the minority than not? Some examples: gay marriage in Canada; the creationist ban in public schools in the U.S.; and the seemingly myriad other issues that continually pop up in the news almost every day (or so it seems).

Is it just because these minorities are more vocal than the rest of teh nation? Surveys during the same sex marriage debate i Canada showed that over 60% of Canadians were opposed to the bill that would legalize same sex unions, yet it passed. Now a similar stat is presumed over teaching of creationism alongside evolution. Yet despite the majority vote the government always seems to swing the other way.

Not that the majority is always right, but when the difference is so obvious and the choice seems so simple, the numbers should only confirm the right thing. Nor is there anything wrong with being in the minority, but again the issue should not always be the numbers alone, but what is actually right in the situation.

If for example, the city of Toronto put forth a proposal to design and build a new park as a memorial to...whatever, and the majority of tax paying residents of Toronto were in favour of it, the sensible thing to do would be to go ahead with the park; not to listen to one person who has a problem.

Yet for some reason, when a similar situation arises and there is a "moral" or "religious" issue at stake as well, even if teh majority are still in favour, the one person (or percentile equivalent) tends to win out.

Now I'm not saying its the best system, though its the best we have, but doesn't democracy work on th eprinciple that the members of the government are elected to represent the concerns and issues of the people who voted for them? Is it not then a gross misrepresentation of that authority which has been given to them to simply ignore the concerns and requests of the people and listen to those who likely did not vote for the elected officials in the first place (if in fact they voted at all, a rare minority in canada it seems).

In days gone by, the way that troublemakers and rabble rousers were dealt with was either exile or execution (not that I either endorse or condone such action), but now it seems we just give in and hope they go away.

But enough of my complaining about it, the real issue is what is to be done about it? I strongly encourage those who actually read the posts on my site (that's right, both of you) to take a more active interest in what goes on in your country. In this information age all it often takes is an email or a phone call to make your opinion known. But the important thing is to be heard. We cannot stand idly by and allow our country to be dictated by everyone who has a problem with a tradition or law, yet slowly, that is exactly what is happening.

Be active and be aware.

Quiet Moments

This has been a busy week. And it's only Tuesday.

I know we all have those times when life goes by so fast that it seems like you do all that you can just to try and keep up and you still fall behind. Times when no matter what you do it seems like things pile up faster than you can possibly do them. This has been just such a week.

Homework, classes, fieldwork, social life (?) all pile up, one against the other and then all of a sudden I stop and consider; where is my time for God?
It all happens so suddenly that it catches me like a brick to the head, and stumbling I realize that the more I allow myself to be sidetracked by the other things in my life, the more I cannot catch up because I rely on myself, and not on God.
I would like to think that I am not that foolish; nor that arrogant to think that this is true, yet it seems to be.

I find that it is during these particularly chaotic times when we seem to have no time for God that we most need Him. Just as Martin Luther was always too busy NOT to pray, so I think we often find ourselves in situations where we would benefit greatly by taking a few minutes to quiet our hearts before the Lord.

What can we pray for during these times? What is your situation? Pray accordingly; but often it is good to remind ourselves that it is God who is in control, not us. A calm and peaceful spirit are probably good things to pray for as well, but by the time you've come to the point of realizing God is in control, hopefully there will be a sense of peace to accompany that realization as well.

I try to continually remind myself that no matter how bad things seem at times, God is still sovereign in all things, and has purposed all my struggles and trials out for a good that I probably can't even begin to imagine until it comes. My constant prayer is that in all things I would willfully glorify God. May this be the prayer on all our hearts.

May God richly bless each and every one who calls Him Lord.

Evolution versus Intelligent design versus Creation...*sigh*

Alright, so there's a whole lot on this "intelligent design equals creationism" debate going on, and on top of that there seems to be this lingering notion in the minds of some people that evolution at some point has actually been a real science.

First of all, intelligent design (ID) is not the same as creationism. However, the natural conclusion (at least from a Christian perspective) of ID is that God created the world (and everything else for that matter). As a matter of fact, many of the proponents of ID are not even confessing Christians; they are simply people who are fed up with the lack of evidence to evolution and the way that it is taught as though it were a fact based science.

Secondly, evolution is continually being touted as a real science, or at least a branch of one, when in fact it is little more than one theory based on another theory based on another theory. The little bit of science that has actually crept into evolution has more or less been theorized into it in order to add credibility to an otherwise unsupported context.
When the first fossils were found in the 19th century, it was seen by evolutionists as supporting of their theories; speculation and testing led to the theory that fossilization took place over millions of years. Yet not scientists have discovered that under the proper circumstances, fossilization can occur over a period of less than 50 years.

Likewise, the most brilliant minds in the world come to conclusions that debunk evolution using both mathematics and (currently accepted) scientific theory and yet it is disregarded. Even Albert Einstein said that he considered his statement concerning the universe having no end to have been one of the bigest mistakes of his life. Something he regretted for the rest of his life.
Now Stephen Hawking, the farthest thing from a God fearing man last I heard (which doesn't mean I'm done praying for him yet!), acknowledges that the earth and in fact the entire universe could not have come about as the result of a random chain of events, causing him to put forth an idea of ID.

Quite notably of course, is Michael Behe; author of "Darwin's Black Box", in which he refutes Darwinism from a biochemical perspective. His two strong points are irreducible complexity and thermodynamics. In irreducible complexty he uses the analogy of a mousetrap and how it cannot be broken down into a simpler yet slightly less efficient mousetrap, but requires all of its parts to work as one in order to function. I read a refutation (attempted?) of this argument the other night, and it was quite possibly the weakest argument I have ever heard, but at present I will not get into it here.

His second point is based on the 2nd law of thermodynamics, AKA the law of entropy, which states that all things over time become less complex, and eventually break down. Essentially, everything dies eventually, even systems and galaxies. This strongly contrasts the Darwinian view of simple systems becoming complex.

In case anyone cares about my view on things (not likely, I know); I hold to a very old and yet unrefuted (at least practically) view that is nonetheless considered extremely radical in this day and age. I maintain that God created the universe in 6 (six, not a typo) days, and that He rested on the 7th. Of course this view is not for everyone, as it tends to remove ones ability to devalue human life and hold a rather callous worldview. For so long as I believe that God created the universe, I also believe that He created mankind; and me personally as well, not to mention you and everyone else. As a result, I cannot help but look on people as God's creation; things to be cherished and valued as He values them and cherishes them. But this is a whole 'nother posting...

To be Christ Centred

Last post, I started talking (typing) about the Christian need to have a defined focus. Lately, I have been looking and thinking a lot about the focus that Paul had, particularly as he puts it in Philippians 1:21. Consider "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

This is not just a focus but a definition. Paul equates his life with Christ. To take this phrase literally is to say that life=Christ. This is also to say (since an equation must always be balanced) that to be in life=to be in Christ, or to not have life=to not have Christ.

How much do we as Christians actually tend to live our lives according to Christ? How many of us can actually say that our life is defined by Christ and what He has commanded and what He has done for us? I should be inclined to think that the reality is far fewer than we would like (myself included).

I have heard C.S. Lewis quoted (though I could not give a reference) as saying that "the devil's greatest feat is to convince 20th century amn that he does not exist." I would say that this acurately sums up Satan's great ploy for teh 20th century, but here in the 21st century he seems to have a different ploy; distraction. We have more things to occupy our time than any other generation in the history of the world. We have television, computers, movies, games, instant messaging, instant pictures, instant dinners; we have more things to do, and more time to do them than was ever imaginable before. Somehow in all of this, we do not have time, nor does it seem inclination, for God.

I do not have a problem with technology, or with any of the things mentioned above, so much as I have problems with the callous human hearts that become addicted to such contrivances (yes the irony of complaining about addiction to technology over the internet is not wasted on me!). The problem is that we no longer come home from work, eat supper withour families and then spend time reading God's word, or in prayer, or in teaching our children; instead we come home, eat in front of the tv, and then spend the rest of the evening either watching tv or in front of the computer. The issue is not what we do or don't do, but how we prioritize them.

Most of us have no idea what it is to be truly committed to Christ; to actually live a different life because of His role in our lives. My encouragement to all believers would be to strive daily to grow in our relationship with Him to the point where someday we can say as Paul that "for me to live is Christ."