Sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the different viewpoints in Christianity. I start wondering how we know what is right. I believe there is truth and that we can know it, so it is frustrating when it seems so fleeting and elusive.
Semantics are difficult, awkward, annoying and oh-so important. To ignore them would be disastrous. But, they also cause a lot of difficulty and division... even when the issue doesn't deserve it... even when both sides believe the same thing. I wish people understood each other as well as God understands us. H'm... wishful thinking indeed.
God uses people from all sorts of denominations and movements. Does God only use those who have their theology perfectly aligned? I certainly hope not and I don't believe so. Probably next to no one would be used by God in that case. (Or is that just pessimistic thinking?) What is important? I think the apostle Paul wrote something pretty good concerning this in his letter to a church in Ephesus.
"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance [patient self control; restraint and tolerance] to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:1-6
Seeking peace, harmony and truth. (Yes, I believe it is possible to have all three together). We have all been called to follow Christ and serve His purpose, looking down on no one, but loving everyone. This doesn't mean accepting everyone's beliefs... accepting every belief relegates your own beliefs to a confusing incoherency (kinda like that sentence)... but it means accepting every person as loved and called by God. Our goal should be to help each other in that endeavour...together...solidarity in seeking God and His purpose. I want everyone to seek truth together and never be convinced that we know everything. How do we do this? Just like Paul said, 'with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.' What does that look like? I'm not sure exactly, but I'd like to try and find out.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Kingdom of God
"We spread the kingdom of God when we make a covenant with god to live by his principles. We forsake all rebellion against him and receive his forgiveness through faith in his Son. We come alive. his Spirit can then fill us and make his Word a living thing. We begin to discover who the Living Word within the written Word is. Jesus works to make his principles part of our character. Our character, expressed through our words and actions, becomes the yeast in our society, wherever we are, influencing it for righteousness. This is the way God's kingdom comes and his will is done on earth as it is in heaven."
-Loren Cunningham in The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country
-Loren Cunningham in The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Science and Christians
After just learning I was a Christian someone asked me if he could try and disprove my faith. I told him to go for it. He focused on science. Obviously he was assuming (as many seem to do) that if science explains the progress and creation of new life that God will have to be lost and forgotten. I don't understand that thinking. If evolution and/or The Big Bang are proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt my God will still exist. If evolution and/or The Big Bang are proven wrong my God will still exist. Many Christians feel like they must disprove evolution to maintain a hold on their faith. Many non-Christians, especially those vehemently opposed to religion, think that proving evolution will negate any need or any reason to believe in a God.
... as if God were only Creator. He is Provider and Lover and Forgiver and Guide and Sustainer...and He is also Giver-of-life -- but He doesn't always work how we expect Him to. My God is bigger than science. He is bigger than the natural laws that control our universe. So why does science scare some Christians? Why does science pull Christians away from Christ? I honestly don't know.
"Christians need have no fear of engaging in the world of science, for we should have no fear of truth."
... as if God were only Creator. He is Provider and Lover and Forgiver and Guide and Sustainer...and He is also Giver-of-life -- but He doesn't always work how we expect Him to. My God is bigger than science. He is bigger than the natural laws that control our universe. So why does science scare some Christians? Why does science pull Christians away from Christ? I honestly don't know.
"Christians need have no fear of engaging in the world of science, for we should have no fear of truth."
-Ross Hastings
Friday, May 11, 2012
How to Milk a Cow as a Complete Novice
Well...
as some of you know I've graduated with my BSc in Biology from Ambrose
University and am now returned to the Fraser Valley to try my hand at
dairy farming.
And, well... seeing as how I've barely even set foot on a farm before, I thought it might be amusing to explore with you my findings and experiences as a complete novice dairy farmer. (*inserting disclaimer*: to all you of my friends who are farmers or much more familiar with farms... I'm sorry if I butcher my explanations, but bear with me and I'm sure I'll join you in laughing at myself in the months to come).
So... day one. I arrive about 10 minutes early and seek out the first person I can find to direct me to where I'm suppose to be. Turns out the person I find is the boss of the farm (I do not realize this until about an hour later when someone tells me). I tell him I'm looking for someone and he informs me that the person I'm seeking should be there shortly. The boss-man asks me if I'm still in school. I tell him I've graduated. He asks what I'm doing at this farm and I explain my desire to go on in agriculture and how I thought dairy farming would be a good beginning. He looks a little incredulous at me and informs me that I'll be getting dirty. I reply that I'm OK with that (boy, did I not realize how dirty I'd get!). It seems that he gives a figurative snort and says, "Well, as long as your eager." I realize at this point that he does not hold out much hope for me in surviving at the farm. I aimed to prove him wrong.
First up, I head out to the maze of gates and stalls to arrange the gates in such a way as to herd the cows towards the milking area. It's a complete puzzle and I get completely lost as my trainer-person (let's call him J) opens and closes gates and directs me to do the same. I stumble along with my mouth [probably] agape and do as he bids. Then, we begin tidyng up the cow beds and stepping in giant mud pies (*hint... not actually made of mud... nor edible like a pie)-yes I'm incredibly grateful for my $5 thrift store gum boots that do not leak! We prod the lazy cows that don't want to get up and manuever ourselves around the plodding animals.
I'm warned not to "hang out" around the rear ends of the cows since their defecation and mictorating may spew. This makes me nervous and suddenly all the cows are turning their rears toward me. But! I don't panic. Sure, being covered in poo is not all that appealing to me, but appearing agitated and grossed-out are less appealing and I try to put on a good face and dance around to the cows' sides as much as possible.
The beds are already elevated off the floor slightly and all the poop is scooped to the floor. There is a lot of poop. A lot. Tons. Everywhere. Yup.
So, once all the cows have been herded to the section before the milking station, gates are reclosed and opened and moved around and Heidi starts feeling dizzy from so many gates. She is sure she will somehow open the wrong one and send all the cows galavanting through the hay fields and along the road. Fortunately she only does what J tells her to.
Then comes the most confusing part, involving the walking up and down a hallway, pushing certain buttons and moving tubes here and there. To make it more stressful if the buttons and tubes aren't moved just right, in their correct timing, a extraordinarily loud alarm will sound (no it didn't go off while I was there... I just heard stories). I suppose that's fair... if it isn't done right we may end up sending the milk spewing sky-high and all over the rooms. I brought a notepad on my second day to get the order straight... I still think it'll take me a while to get.
Then... to the milking!! I actually found this part quite intriguing. The cattle are all herded, one by one into little stalls on this giant, turning, wheel-thing. You remember those old spinning things in playgrounds once-upon-a-time, that you'd climb on with your friends and dad would grab one of the bars and run around pushing you faster and faster until you were so dizzy and nauseated? It was sort of like that, but, it turned very slowly, carried about 50 cows and stood at about stomach-height.
There were these crazy, futuristic-looking things that acted like milk vacuums. You grabbed it, turned it on and stuffed them on the cow's udder. You did this over and over and over... and over... and over. Even when the cows lifted their leg and aimed their hooves at your eyes. Generally they were OK, though. The cows would start lifting their legs, alternating left and right, as if they were doing the pee-dance. You'd stuff the machine on and hurry to the next cow. There were about 200-some odd cows. After about 50 I began thinking that boss-man may have been right in doubting my ability to stick this through.
Seeing as how I was at hoof/leg level and the ground (where those hooves/legs walked) was generally littered with feces, the feces transfered to my arms and torso and pants and... well... yes, my face was not left out. Despite my belief that I have an iron stomach and am not easily disgusted, I was made a little queasy at moments.
I began wondering if the line of cows would ever end. At long last it did end. Wow, I thought... don't think I want to do that again.
Turns out that was only group one. There are two groups. So, back to opening and closing gates. At this point I gave up trying to understand the maze of paths and gates and just followed blindly as J directed me. We cleaned up beds again, herded cattle again and milked again. There were less than half the cows in group two as in group one, so it went a lot faster than I expected and then it was time for clean up. I understood completely then why milkers get paid so well. What a ton of hard work they have to do!
Again, there was a confusing walk up and down that hallway, pushing buttons and moving tubes. I declined trying to memorize what to do and just stumbled along, doing what I was told to. Then, we got to use hoses and spray all the poop and whatnot away. I enjoyed that part. I kind of wanted to start a water fight, but it was about 10:30pm and was a little too cold for it to be fun to be drenched. Laundry was taken to the washing machine and my clomping boots finally led me to my truck and I headed home.... exhausted.
Day two: day two was better than day one. The moving gates made much more sense and the crazy button-pushing began to make more sense, too. The cows seemed more curious, too. "Hello, new person," they said, tentatively pushing their giant noses closer to take a sniff of me. One even licked my glove, but, seeing as how my glove was covered in spots of the cow's own excrement, I don't think she was too pleased with the taste. I managed to scratch one cow's head and another only seemed to want to stare at me and had no interest in relieving her over-sized udder at the milking machines while I stood behind her. I was much faster at the milking part and managed to sneak in some happy whistling. I think I'll survive. I think I'll show up that boss-man and in a few months he'll talk with me and say, "You know, I never thought you'd actually make it." and I'll say, "I know. Showed you, didn't I!? Ahahaha" Well, perhaps I won't say that exactly... but I'll probably be thinking that as I chuckle politely and say, "Ya, I had my doubts, too."
So, now after two four-hour shifts, I think my expectations of dairy farming are a little more realistic, I'm excited to see where this opportunity is going to take me and my deltoid, trapezius and bicep muscles have never been so sore in my life. Oh! and Grace, this is for you: I've come home each night wanting to shower and have done so. :P haha...ya, OK.
Well, signing off for now... and for all you non-farming folk, I hope this was enlightening and entertaining enough. :) And for all you folk.... hasta la vista!
And, well... seeing as how I've barely even set foot on a farm before, I thought it might be amusing to explore with you my findings and experiences as a complete novice dairy farmer. (*inserting disclaimer*: to all you of my friends who are farmers or much more familiar with farms... I'm sorry if I butcher my explanations, but bear with me and I'm sure I'll join you in laughing at myself in the months to come).
So... day one. I arrive about 10 minutes early and seek out the first person I can find to direct me to where I'm suppose to be. Turns out the person I find is the boss of the farm (I do not realize this until about an hour later when someone tells me). I tell him I'm looking for someone and he informs me that the person I'm seeking should be there shortly. The boss-man asks me if I'm still in school. I tell him I've graduated. He asks what I'm doing at this farm and I explain my desire to go on in agriculture and how I thought dairy farming would be a good beginning. He looks a little incredulous at me and informs me that I'll be getting dirty. I reply that I'm OK with that (boy, did I not realize how dirty I'd get!). It seems that he gives a figurative snort and says, "Well, as long as your eager." I realize at this point that he does not hold out much hope for me in surviving at the farm. I aimed to prove him wrong.
First up, I head out to the maze of gates and stalls to arrange the gates in such a way as to herd the cows towards the milking area. It's a complete puzzle and I get completely lost as my trainer-person (let's call him J) opens and closes gates and directs me to do the same. I stumble along with my mouth [probably] agape and do as he bids. Then, we begin tidyng up the cow beds and stepping in giant mud pies (*hint... not actually made of mud... nor edible like a pie)-yes I'm incredibly grateful for my $5 thrift store gum boots that do not leak! We prod the lazy cows that don't want to get up and manuever ourselves around the plodding animals.
I'm warned not to "hang out" around the rear ends of the cows since their defecation and mictorating may spew. This makes me nervous and suddenly all the cows are turning their rears toward me. But! I don't panic. Sure, being covered in poo is not all that appealing to me, but appearing agitated and grossed-out are less appealing and I try to put on a good face and dance around to the cows' sides as much as possible.
The beds are already elevated off the floor slightly and all the poop is scooped to the floor. There is a lot of poop. A lot. Tons. Everywhere. Yup.
So, once all the cows have been herded to the section before the milking station, gates are reclosed and opened and moved around and Heidi starts feeling dizzy from so many gates. She is sure she will somehow open the wrong one and send all the cows galavanting through the hay fields and along the road. Fortunately she only does what J tells her to.
Then comes the most confusing part, involving the walking up and down a hallway, pushing certain buttons and moving tubes here and there. To make it more stressful if the buttons and tubes aren't moved just right, in their correct timing, a extraordinarily loud alarm will sound (no it didn't go off while I was there... I just heard stories). I suppose that's fair... if it isn't done right we may end up sending the milk spewing sky-high and all over the rooms. I brought a notepad on my second day to get the order straight... I still think it'll take me a while to get.
Then... to the milking!! I actually found this part quite intriguing. The cattle are all herded, one by one into little stalls on this giant, turning, wheel-thing. You remember those old spinning things in playgrounds once-upon-a-time, that you'd climb on with your friends and dad would grab one of the bars and run around pushing you faster and faster until you were so dizzy and nauseated? It was sort of like that, but, it turned very slowly, carried about 50 cows and stood at about stomach-height.
There were these crazy, futuristic-looking things that acted like milk vacuums. You grabbed it, turned it on and stuffed them on the cow's udder. You did this over and over and over... and over... and over. Even when the cows lifted their leg and aimed their hooves at your eyes. Generally they were OK, though. The cows would start lifting their legs, alternating left and right, as if they were doing the pee-dance. You'd stuff the machine on and hurry to the next cow. There were about 200-some odd cows. After about 50 I began thinking that boss-man may have been right in doubting my ability to stick this through.
Seeing as how I was at hoof/leg level and the ground (where those hooves/legs walked) was generally littered with feces, the feces transfered to my arms and torso and pants and... well... yes, my face was not left out. Despite my belief that I have an iron stomach and am not easily disgusted, I was made a little queasy at moments.
I began wondering if the line of cows would ever end. At long last it did end. Wow, I thought... don't think I want to do that again.
Turns out that was only group one. There are two groups. So, back to opening and closing gates. At this point I gave up trying to understand the maze of paths and gates and just followed blindly as J directed me. We cleaned up beds again, herded cattle again and milked again. There were less than half the cows in group two as in group one, so it went a lot faster than I expected and then it was time for clean up. I understood completely then why milkers get paid so well. What a ton of hard work they have to do!
Again, there was a confusing walk up and down that hallway, pushing buttons and moving tubes. I declined trying to memorize what to do and just stumbled along, doing what I was told to. Then, we got to use hoses and spray all the poop and whatnot away. I enjoyed that part. I kind of wanted to start a water fight, but it was about 10:30pm and was a little too cold for it to be fun to be drenched. Laundry was taken to the washing machine and my clomping boots finally led me to my truck and I headed home.... exhausted.
Day two: day two was better than day one. The moving gates made much more sense and the crazy button-pushing began to make more sense, too. The cows seemed more curious, too. "Hello, new person," they said, tentatively pushing their giant noses closer to take a sniff of me. One even licked my glove, but, seeing as how my glove was covered in spots of the cow's own excrement, I don't think she was too pleased with the taste. I managed to scratch one cow's head and another only seemed to want to stare at me and had no interest in relieving her over-sized udder at the milking machines while I stood behind her. I was much faster at the milking part and managed to sneak in some happy whistling. I think I'll survive. I think I'll show up that boss-man and in a few months he'll talk with me and say, "You know, I never thought you'd actually make it." and I'll say, "I know. Showed you, didn't I!? Ahahaha" Well, perhaps I won't say that exactly... but I'll probably be thinking that as I chuckle politely and say, "Ya, I had my doubts, too."
So, now after two four-hour shifts, I think my expectations of dairy farming are a little more realistic, I'm excited to see where this opportunity is going to take me and my deltoid, trapezius and bicep muscles have never been so sore in my life. Oh! and Grace, this is for you: I've come home each night wanting to shower and have done so. :P haha...ya, OK.
Well, signing off for now... and for all you non-farming folk, I hope this was enlightening and entertaining enough. :) And for all you folk.... hasta la vista!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
a proverb
Proverbs 14:23 "All hard work brings a profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty." - a bit convicting. What am I going to do about the things I only talk about?
but mere talk leads only to poverty." - a bit convicting. What am I going to do about the things I only talk about?
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Suffer
-Why do You let things like Syria happen?
-What would you have me do?
-End it. Bring peace everywhere. Show Yourself above everything and everyone.
-That will happen when I establish my self as King
-Why not now? Why let the world continue to suffer?
-Wait a while longer
-Why is it better that we continue to wait? The longer we wait, the more people suffer horribly!
-You don't understand this
-No, I don't
-I have a plan
-Must not there be a plan where people don't suffer?
-That is the plan
-But, people are still suffering.
-Not for much longer
-But, they suffer now. I don't mean to oppose You, God. I trust You. But, I don't understand why You let all this suffering continue and it hurts me. How can You let us suffer so severely when You love us so much?
-Do you see my power?
-Sometimes
-You will see it even greater after these sufferings
-Wouldn't it be better to show less glory [perhaps] but end suffering sooner?
-No. Don't you see? My eyes well with tears, too, when I see my creation and my people suffer.
-But You let it continue.
-It's not time to end it.
-Why? Why is there no answer I can understand and accept?
-Do you think it would have been better had there been no choice to sin? That there had been no freedom to follow?
-I guess not. But, it's fallen into chaos!
-No. I am still in control. I will show myself in control.
Don't abandon God when you suffer - when life doesn't seem to cooperate with you. He hasn't abandoned you. If life is uncontrollably difficult, turn to God for comfort instead of blaming Him and turning away... you won't find answers away from Him.
I still don't fully understand why people have to suffer - I think it's mainly because I don't want to accept any reason for the suffering of 'innocent' people. Such as young girls forced into prostitution or civilians killed by military bombings.
God has given us up to our own choices. Why? Would we rather He pulled the strings and forced us in one direction? Relationship cannot be formed in that scenario and none of us would choose that route. As much potential that we have for good, it seems we have even more for evil.
When will God say "Enough!"? When will He stop us? There's no going back, we've stepped off the cliff and slipped down the hill. 'Catch us, God! And when it's all over, take us home to be with You.'
-What would you have me do?
-End it. Bring peace everywhere. Show Yourself above everything and everyone.
-That will happen when I establish my self as King
-Why not now? Why let the world continue to suffer?
-Wait a while longer
-Why is it better that we continue to wait? The longer we wait, the more people suffer horribly!
-You don't understand this
-No, I don't
-I have a plan
-Must not there be a plan where people don't suffer?
-That is the plan
-But, people are still suffering.
-Not for much longer
-But, they suffer now. I don't mean to oppose You, God. I trust You. But, I don't understand why You let all this suffering continue and it hurts me. How can You let us suffer so severely when You love us so much?
-Do you see my power?
-Sometimes
-You will see it even greater after these sufferings
-Wouldn't it be better to show less glory [perhaps] but end suffering sooner?
-No. Don't you see? My eyes well with tears, too, when I see my creation and my people suffer.
-But You let it continue.
-It's not time to end it.
-Why? Why is there no answer I can understand and accept?
-Do you think it would have been better had there been no choice to sin? That there had been no freedom to follow?
-I guess not. But, it's fallen into chaos!
-No. I am still in control. I will show myself in control.
Don't abandon God when you suffer - when life doesn't seem to cooperate with you. He hasn't abandoned you. If life is uncontrollably difficult, turn to God for comfort instead of blaming Him and turning away... you won't find answers away from Him.
I still don't fully understand why people have to suffer - I think it's mainly because I don't want to accept any reason for the suffering of 'innocent' people. Such as young girls forced into prostitution or civilians killed by military bombings.
God has given us up to our own choices. Why? Would we rather He pulled the strings and forced us in one direction? Relationship cannot be formed in that scenario and none of us would choose that route. As much potential that we have for good, it seems we have even more for evil.
When will God say "Enough!"? When will He stop us? There's no going back, we've stepped off the cliff and slipped down the hill. 'Catch us, God! And when it's all over, take us home to be with You.'
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Praising in the Storm
I had a bit of a health scare the other day and the anxiety and physical pain from it are still continuing now. I was terrified because of the pain and increased anxiety, but the song "Praise You in this Storm" by Casting Crowns came to mind and I wanted to praise God in this storm. So, I pulled out the piano music and played and sang the song and the pain continued but the fear subsided. And I kept playing and singing praises to God.
I didn't know what was happening to me, but God did and He is always in control and I could praise Him for that... for being with me still and for loving me and for giving me fabulous friends to stick by me through the anxiety. It was a strange feeling. I was so filled with joy and I was in pain, but I was walking around my living room praising God and feeling amazing because God was being praised - even in the storm.
This sounds kind of crazy even to me writing this, but it was so cool! 1 Thess 5:18 "...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." I don't have to thank God for the pain, but I can thank God in the pain. I can thank Him for being sovereign and for being with me. Anyway, I just thought that experience was so fabulous and so amazing that I needed to share it with somebody... even if it's just with a blog post... heh. In the storm, praise God! He made you; He can take care of you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw
I didn't know what was happening to me, but God did and He is always in control and I could praise Him for that... for being with me still and for loving me and for giving me fabulous friends to stick by me through the anxiety. It was a strange feeling. I was so filled with joy and I was in pain, but I was walking around my living room praising God and feeling amazing because God was being praised - even in the storm.
This sounds kind of crazy even to me writing this, but it was so cool! 1 Thess 5:18 "...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." I don't have to thank God for the pain, but I can thank God in the pain. I can thank Him for being sovereign and for being with me. Anyway, I just thought that experience was so fabulous and so amazing that I needed to share it with somebody... even if it's just with a blog post... heh. In the storm, praise God! He made you; He can take care of you!
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