God is good!
I haven't blogged for a while, but i am bloggin again today to tell that God is good.
Ive been on a interesting part of my journey, it hasn't been to hard, but i have spent alot of time without Jesus as my first priority. I've been thinking a lot about my future and what am i to do with my life?
I have also got caught up in things of my past that have led me to feel guilty and not recieve the full blessings of Christ. Today has only just started but God is good, you see i went to work like every other day and thought today won't be any different, but i put on some music and God started to talk to me, he was stirring something in my Spirit, he was calling me, he was asking me to live closer to him, he desired a relationship with me. How can he want that? I am a sinner, a slave to the world, yet he tells me of freedom, of love and acceptance, a love that forgot my sin and paid the price for my life upon that cross.
How can i not believe in him, he looks at me and loves me, he wants more of my life, he isn't out to condem me rather he wants whats best for my life. I was bought at a price and by his stripes i was healed! God wants me to enjoy a abundant life. A life full of his glory and full of his promise.
I was alone and empty without this saviour, i was nothing but dust until he told me my worth! and what am i worth, im worth the world! for he gave his life to set me free, i know longer have to be a slave to the world for now i am a slave to Christ.
A God that is above and beyond, the alpha and omega, the prince of peace, the bright and morning star, the great 'I AM', the history maker.
That is my God, and i choose to serve and honour him, for i was not first to choose him, rather he was first to choose me.
God is good!!!
Blessings
Ive been on a interesting part of my journey, it hasn't been to hard, but i have spent alot of time without Jesus as my first priority. I've been thinking a lot about my future and what am i to do with my life?
I have also got caught up in things of my past that have led me to feel guilty and not recieve the full blessings of Christ. Today has only just started but God is good, you see i went to work like every other day and thought today won't be any different, but i put on some music and God started to talk to me, he was stirring something in my Spirit, he was calling me, he was asking me to live closer to him, he desired a relationship with me. How can he want that? I am a sinner, a slave to the world, yet he tells me of freedom, of love and acceptance, a love that forgot my sin and paid the price for my life upon that cross.
How can i not believe in him, he looks at me and loves me, he wants more of my life, he isn't out to condem me rather he wants whats best for my life. I was bought at a price and by his stripes i was healed! God wants me to enjoy a abundant life. A life full of his glory and full of his promise.
I was alone and empty without this saviour, i was nothing but dust until he told me my worth! and what am i worth, im worth the world! for he gave his life to set me free, i know longer have to be a slave to the world for now i am a slave to Christ.
A God that is above and beyond, the alpha and omega, the prince of peace, the bright and morning star, the great 'I AM', the history maker.
That is my God, and i choose to serve and honour him, for i was not first to choose him, rather he was first to choose me.
God is good!!!
Blessings
posted by Evangelist for Christ at
3:27 PM
11 Comments:
I wanted to write a comment and blabber on about nothing as i usually do.. but im speechless.
All i have is smiles!
Bless ya xx
God is also the one who commanded mass slaughter and rape in the old testament. The one who almost destroyed the entire world by flood.
God is the one who will put you in Hell for eternity for believing the wrong stuff.
That's not good, that's evil. Shame on you for worshipping evil.
David,
Not sure if you are the same David from a couple of blogs ago. If not I apologise.
Your comments upset me - not because I disagree with you, but because they are symptomatic of the right wing 'ownership' of the bible. A lot of the public Christian discourse relating to the bible is in line with what you say. Unfortunately, the fundamentalists shout louder than those with something intelligent to say - which is a problem not just confined to religion. Sadly, you seem to have swallowed the hook and have bashed Jake as a result of it. That also saddens me.
For what its worth, I do disagree with you. Your understanding of the texts you cite is clearly positivist and fails to take into account any of the real issues. For example, how can someone in any location see a flood and then reason that the whole world is flooded? They can't - but your understanding of the text says that it happened. And that is just one thing that you have ignored.
So lay off Jake, because your insight is no greater than his, your bravado no grander.
Large Christian groups, like the creation science mob, interpret the Flood as a global event, and interpret Adam and Eve as real people who were fooled by a "real" talking snake.
When some people read the following Genesis translation, "I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish", they naturally think that "all" means all; that "everything on earth" means just that.
You see, Anthony, many people (including, even, some of the creation science variety), don't have a sophisticated theological academic background. They don't bring a liberal interpretation to these passages. They are not able to read the original Hebrew text. They are not well versed in the latest archeolgical findings that shed light on ancient culture.
They are merely relying on the illuminating presence of the Holy Spirit.
Are you saying God didn't mean what He said, that He's not a straight talking person? That He engages in double-speak?
David,
You seem very concerned with other peoples epistemology and how that relates to their interpretation of the text.
Of course faith develops through construction just as your cynicism does. It is naive to suggest this may happen another way. Perhaps you should focus on your own altruistic goals and applaud Jake for his desire for goodness. Is it not better that we all seek goodness whatever our particular constructs?
Thanks David - you have raised a great issue. It is in line with what I have said - that the fundo groups (like the creation science guys) have taken control of the way people perceive the bible. Their literalist interpretation is considered normative and as such, bible readers are considered crazy. I believe we need to read the bible with our eyes open, which does not seem to be a common practice. And we need to remember that the bible was not written by God, but by men. This is not liberal, but common sense, and does not deny the inspiration of the scriptures. Genesis is narrative, and as such makes a truth claim for its story world (as all narrative does). This is not congruent with 'absolute truth', or what we might term inerrancy. However, all narrative, as with all texts, is idologically driven. (I might also add, that all interpretation, mine included is ideologically driven) I understand that my education (which is based in Hebrew Bible) helps me to understand some of these issues. Nonetheless, there is much to observe for the reader who reads with their eyes open.
I feel like you may already know this David. Your caricature of the fundos suggests you are more open minded than you are letting on.
This blog is pure truth and i love it!
This comment has been removed by the author.
this blog is a dead as mine.... maybe it's time we resurrect?
Narrative and the Bible: "It's not, for a start, a list of rules, thought it contains many commandments of various sorts and in various contexts. Nor is it a compendium of true doctrines, though of course many parts of the Bible declare great truths about God, Jesus, the world and ourselves in no uncertain terms. Most of its constituent parts, and all of it when put together (whether in the Jewish canonical form or the Christian one), can best be described as story. This is a complicated and much-discussed theme, but there is nothing to be gained by ignoring it.
"The question is, How can a story be authoritative? If the commanding officer walks into the barrack-room and begins 'Once upon a time,' the soldiers are likely to be puzzled. If the secretary of the cycling club pins up a notice which, instead of listing times for outings, offers a short story, the members will not know when to turn up. At first sight, what we think of as 'authority' and what we know as 'story' do not readily fit together.
"But a moment's thought suggests that, at deeper levels, there is more to it than that. For a start, the commanding officer might well need to brief the soldiers about what has been going on over the past few weeks, so that they will understand the sensitivities and internal dynamics of the peace-keeping task they are now to undertake. The narrative will bring them up to date; now it will be their task to act out the next chapter in the ongoing saga. Or supposing the secretary of the club, having attempted unsuccessfully to make the members more conscious of safety procedures, decides to try a different tack, and puts up a notice consisting simply of a tragic story, without further comment, of a cyclist who ignored the rules and came to grief. In both cases we would understand that some kind of 'authority' was being exercised, and probably all the more effectively than through a simple list of commands.
"There are other ways, too, in which stories can wield the power to change the way people think and behave - in other words, can exercise power and/or authority...A familiar story told with a new twist in the tail jolts people into thinking differently about themselves and the world. A story told with pathos, humor or drama opens the imagination and invites readers and hearers to imagine themselves in similar situations, offering new insights about God an human beings which enable them then to order their own lives more wisely.
"All of these examples, and many more besides which one might easily think of, are ways in which the Bible does in fact work, does in fact exercise authority. This strongly suggests that for the Bible to have the effect it seems to be designed to have it will be necessary for the church to hear it as it is, not to chop it up in an effort to make it something else..."
- Bishop N.T. Wright, from The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture (Harper San Francisco, 2005), pp.25-27.
I'd just like to point out, Master Jake, that your last post was on in 2008 - poor effort jake, poor effort!!!
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