Essay

I really should be writing my essay that is due tomorrow. Its a 2000 word essay on the openness of God.
I think I have ascertained what my problem with writing this essay is, my mind is somewhat preoccupied at the moment. Thus it is difficult to care much about this essay topic. Ah well, I shalt most likely still be writing at the late hours of tomorrow morning.
Wish me luck.

Star Wars

This is going to make me sound like an extreme geek, ah well c'est la vie.
After I had seen Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith a second time (I know major geek points especially since it was on the first weekend of showing) I was slightly depressed. Not because of the quality of the movie which I, in my humble ignorance, would rate on a par with the original trilogy but because of the ending. I know I am slightly bitter, cynical and twisted but the fact that evil won was dissappointing to such an extent that I strongly desired to see Episodes IV, V, and VI just to complete the experience. So to achieve this I present the possibility of doing the marathon (possibly spread over a few evenings) in the upcoming holidays. Now I, in my humble ignorance, know not when the Varsity holidays are (ie period) so would appreciate this info. Could people respond if they are interested and pass the plan on to others that may be interested.
Catch ya on the flip side,
J-Rod

Rollercoaster

I was planning on writing a post of joy because my best mate was down for the weekend and we had a really good time catching up. It's great because with my brother we form a triune of insanity and much fun is had. But also we talk about deep things and everything. I was enjoy catching up with him.
Further to this *cough* and I had talked today which is always so cool...
However, when I got to work today I learnt that my team leader had a heart attack this morning and isn't expected to make it through the night. So I think I will praise him. He is a good man, humble and soft spoken. He listens to the lifeguards and tries to make the job as comfortable for us as possible. He tries to make us into a working team and enjoy work as much as possible. He knows I am a Christian and why I loathed working on Sundays. He even accepted that I didn't want to attend the monthly staff trainings on Sunday because of church. He bent the rules so that I could switch one of my shifts because of my evening lecture on Wednesday. He is a good man.
In this time of sadness though I feel gutted that I never tried to tell him about the hope that exists within me. He now may never get a chance to hear the good news. I ask God that he pulls through the night just so he may come to know Him. If not then, I ask God for Him to forgive me for never doing this. I am going to try and make sure that this never happens again I don't want for anyone to be condemned if there is anything I can do about it. If I have done my all to teach them of this joy and hope that resides in me and they still reject God then that is better than if I had never tried.

The rollercoaster which is life.

Death to the West

I know not why but within me there arises a sense of disgust with the West. This is not the way we were meant to live. The truth of the universe doesn't lie within but without. We seek our after own gain at others expense. We destroy and do not create. With uncaring thoughtlessness we destroy the kosmos.
Jesus taught us that blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; why were they so blessed? If the history within Acts is accurate then they were blessed by the church. There were no poor in the church because those with gave to those without. There are recorded instances (within Roman descriptions of the church) of whenever the member of a church was hungry then the rest of the church went without food...in order to give it to them. And likewise with the rest of the beatitudes rather than being vague eschatological (end time) promises they might well be realised promises...through the church.
Yet I don't think that I see this in the church today. Rather than a community seeking salvation everyone is concerned with their own salvation (and as easy a ride as possible in this world). If the church is to be a living example of the kingdom no wonder the world has rejected the kingdom. We've got to stop thinking about the end for no one knows when it will come, whats the point of converting people because of the end of the world if they don't see the world end. The kingdom is not a future possibility but a present reality that exists and is witnessed to by the church and through the church. If we change the world as it exists around us for good then we have indeed brought heaven to earth. The kingdom of God is in our presence but are we within it. If we are in it then we should try to prove, through our words deeds and lives that this is the truth. We are called to witness to this good news.

MAGNIFY

Magnify was scheduled to appear on the Good Morning Show on TV1 this morning. They have been rescheduled to Wednesday the 18th of May at 9.00am. Make sure you check it out, or click here surf the Magnify website.

Jesus and the Kingdom

Firstly it is clear from even the briefest study of the synoptic gospels that the Kingdom of God is the central concept. In fact, Jesus’ entire earthly ministry in both word and deed, whether implicitly or explicitly, can be understood through this message. The very first words of Jesus’ ministry are “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” For the writers of the synoptics this is the message through which is the entirety of the good news. When Jesus sent out his twelve disciples he told them to “proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’” Throughout his entire life this is the message that Jesus proclaims ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’ and not once does he declare that the kingdom of God is here. In fact, he warns specifically against any such line of thought. However, Jesus also taught that the kingdom of God was breaking into the world. When Jesus was challenged about the authority by which he cast out demons he responded that “if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.”. The Gospel according to Luke records Jesus’ first message as, “’The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim the release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour…Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Further to this Jesus pointed to the fact that “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news brought to them” when he was queried as to whether he was the one to usher in the messianic kingdom. Finally, Jesus lived out what the kingdom of God should be like, “in fact, the reality of Jesus' new redeemed community was part of the Gospel of the kingdom”. Amongst Jesus' followers there were “prostitutes who had repented, tax collectors who had renounced oppression, disabled who had been healed, women who were no longer ostracized, poor who were no longer hungry, and revolutionaries who had forsaken violence”⁹. He did not discriminate against anyone who came to him.

I feel happy

Maybe more to come later...

The Death of Spontaneity

I am here mourning the passing of spontaneity. I remember back to first year and the random fun I used to get up to. My mates and I would organise something half an hour after it started. We would all descend on someones house and think nothing of staying up all night watching videos. We would go on midnight walks and discuss life the universe and everything. We decide to go to the movies and just go, without any planning or thought about what was showing. They were days of majesty and glory. I now look at my diary and realise that my life is pretty much planned for the next month. It is so boring. It seems the older we get the less time there is for this exuberence.

As the great Calvin and Hobbes said, 'Childhood is short; Maturity is forever.'

Scary

Your Birthdate: March 16

Your birth on the 16th day of the month gives a sense of loneliness and generally the desire to work alone. You are relatively inflexible, and insist on your being independent. You need a good deal of time to rest and to meditate. You are introspective and a little stubborn. Because of this, it may not be easy for you to maintain permanent relationships, but you probably will as you are very much into home and family. This birth day inclines to interests in the technical, the scientific, and to the religious or the unknown realm of spiritual explorations. The date gives you a tendency to seek unusual approaches and makes your style seem a little different and unique to those around you. Your intuition is aided by the day of your birth, but most of your actions are bedded in logic, responsibility, and the rational approach. You may be emotional, but have a hard time expressing these emotions. Because of this, there may be some difficulty in giving or receiving affection.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Scary how accurate this seems...

Motorcycle Diaries

I have just watched a movie called Motorcycle Diaries I very highly rate it. It shows the weakness of individualism and evangelsim without social action.

Bible College has the only existant copy in NZ and I'm able to borrow it if anyone wants to watch it sometime then drop me a line.

Sons of Korah

The Sons of Korah are playing these gigs this weekend. There may be a $5 cost but I am not certain.

Christchurch
Sat. 7th May, 7:30PM
Grace Vinyard
150 Ferry Rd, Waltham

Sun. 8th May, 7:00PM
St. Christophers Avonhead
244 Avonhead Rd, Avonhead

Also, The Motorcycle Diaries are showing tomorrow evening from 7-9pm at BCNZ if anyone is interested.

Amusing

The attempts [of worship] to be relevant are laughable: "I have overcome a fiercely anti-Catholic upbringing in order to attend Mass simply and solely to escape Protestant guitars. Why am I here? Who gave these nice Catholics guitars? Why are they not mumbling in Latin and performing superstitious rituals? What is the Pope thinking of?"

The blithe ignorance is frightening: "Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute?...On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does not one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares: they should lash us to the pews." Explorers unmindful of 'conditions' died. Why don't similarly prepared worshippers perish on the spot?

...if we want to go to the Land we must go with the People, even when they are playing banjos, singing stupid songs, and giving vacuous sermons...