The Power of 1

1 is the smallest whole number that has some sort of value. In mathematics the basic number set is called "Natural Numbers". Its first number is the number 1 because the way we count naturally is to go "1, 2, 3..." Notice, we do not start with 0. Why? Because 0 is nothing. 0 has no value whatsoever, unless you are dealing with integers but even then 0 has no value because it is neutral.

1...1...1.

Working at a Drop-In Centre for people who are homeless or living in poverty, I contemplate how I could have ended up like them. And I cannot help but think that any 1 "What if?" would land me there. For example, what if I turned to drugs instead of suicide to solve/hide my problems? What if I never told the guy that I liked him through a love letter the summer before? What if I did not decide to accept Christ at Acquire the Fire a year later?

The letter I mentioned above set the wheels in motion that lead to the event aty Acquire the Fire. Oh yeah! One insignificant love letter, just one, took me on the journey to accept Christ. And to think that almost 2000 years before that, one man dying on a cross "so that the world through Him might be saved" (Jn. 3:17-18ish). And almost 1billion people claim to be allied with that Man to this day (Ma=Jesus). Amazing, huh?

Face it, the number 1 is the most powerful number in the system of numbers. One choice, one event, one wrong turn and everything is changed probably forever. Even something as simple as one choice about whether you stop for coffee in the morning or not. For all you know, that choice kept you from being in a car crash.

Biblical example? One bad choice by Adam gave us this sinfallen, cursed world that is full of pain, death and suffering from a once original perfect creation that we currently live in. One choice by God to bring us back to Him caused Jesus, His Son, to be sacrificed for the sake of many. One choice by Joseph to be faithful to God no matter what saved the young Israelite nation from a famine. The one choice of Abram to trust God, changed his name into the founding father of my faith: Abraham.

Even the movie industry sees the power in this number. Star Wars: One choice to turn to the dark side cost Anakin Skywalker his identity, his wife, his twins because he never had a relationship with them, and his freedom from the inprisonment of the life support suit (aka Darth Vader suite). It also cost him is friendship with Obi Wan. Perhaps it was one bad choice on both sides, because maybe Obi Wan should have waited for Anakin to come to Coruscant instead of sneaking on the Padme's ship.

Spiderman: One choice by Peter Parke to not stop a criminal cost him and Aunt May Uncle Ben.

Real Life/Recent History: Did you know that Adolf Hitler wanted to become an artist at first? Yep, it's true. However, they chose to reject his application...One choice, and instead of being known as an artist, Hitler is known as a monster to the entire world. There is even no room for any mentioning of Hitler, Nazism, or any anti-semitism in Germany at all. All of that just because ONE college made ONE choice to reject ONE of their many applications...

Wow. The one choice is a powerful choice. To choose God over my own selfish desires, to choose sin over righteousness cost me everything, even if it is hard to choose. Remember my readers how powerful the number 1 is...

First Black President

So, the the votes are in and the verdict is that history was made with the first black man for president. It was a long, grueling and expensive campaign between the other potential candidate for the leader of his own party and and against his presidential opponent.

Well, my fellow 12th grade history classmate, you were right. The next US president was going to be a black man or a woman. Now the question I have to ask you is this: does the colour of the person's skin or their particular gender matter in politics? What good are either of those traits if they cannot run the country?

I know I am just speculating; however, economic times like these are what put political leaders to the test. Just like economics was the focus for the Canadian Federal Election last month, so too was it the focus of the American Federal Election. Now comes the question of whether or not the minority government in Canada and soon-to-be President Obama will step up to the plate and prove to be everything they promised in their campaigns and after the election? Or will we all go home and say, "Why didn't we stick with the white guy?"

Now, I am just speculating. But I'll say it again: it is not the colour of the skin or the gender of the person that makes the leader. Obama is the first black man to become the president of the United States... Lets hope that there is more to him than just the colour of his skin when het gets sworn in January 20, 2009.

Here is a picture of Darth Vader. Lets also hope that Obama and Harper do not turn Canada and the U.S. of A. into the Galactic Empire!

The "Charismatic" Movement Part I: my Experiences

My exposure to Charismatic Churches began when I moved to a small town outside of Ottawa I started going to a church called River of Life Christian Fellowship. I went there because I thought it was non-Denominational and I was unsure about where I stood when it came to denominations. Boy, was I wrong!!!

River of Life Christian Fellowships (ROLCF) are all over the country and are a part of a sect (for lack of a better term) that are known as "Charismatic" Churches. Now I left that church to join another one. Why? I left because of the Charismatic stuff.

Now, I have been to two Charismatic Churches: The church mentioned above and a Pentecostal Church in the same town. I left them both for a couple of reasons. Now, I knew nothing of the Pentecostal movement before I went to them but I left without diving deeper either because I knew something wasn't right.

The reason why I left the first one was because I was 100% uncomfortable being there. That and an average service was 3 hours long! People shouting after receiving communion, and just lying on the floor and stuff was just caused me to back away. I would later find out that it was for a good reason.

You know why I love the Word of God? It is because God used it to save my life during the year of suicidal attempts, and because I understood what the foundation of my faith was. 

When I went to the Pentecostal Church, it was just to go to their youth group. At first it was focused on the Word of God and I learned a great deal of it in Grade 10. Even the Dream Convention they went to every year in TO was biblical. However, I noticed that the people were doing the exact same thing that the people at ROLCF were doing. At first I went with the flow. Then along comes grade 11.

So, during worship I started to raise my arms (which was extremely painful). I went up to the front and got my head touched. I went to the Dream Conference and everything...However, nothing happened. No falling down, speaking in tongues, no nothing. That and that concert seemed to focus on only one thing: charismatic gifts, not the Bible... Another thing was that speaker did do a good job of getting everyone all rallied up. Q: "What's the problem with getting a crowd rallied up?" A: "It'll believe everything you say".  

He also told "Wow" stories, like reading from a newspaper that had an ad for human body parts and a heart wrenching story about abortion. Don't get me wrong, I am very pro-life. However, these stories sounded to awful and emotional to be true. And worse, it showed how gullible I was! Worse, all I could care about was doing something else other than seeing my Mom on Mother's Day (which was the day I got back)!Luckily, my Mom brought me to my senses. 

Then along came my brother Ed, who also also has a blog site, and I discussed it with him. You know what he said? That sort of thing comes and goes. However, the Word of God has stood the test of time. 

I thought a lot about what he said and about that Convention. I realized that he was right. Things at youth group just went down hill,because of teh change in leadership and stuff but my love for God's Word grew stronger. That and that Convention pretty much killed my best friend's faith because nothing happened to her either!!

I left that youth group in grade 12 and divorced myself from the youth group scene all together. It was not jsut the charismatic stuff. I also did not like the other places where the youth were mostly just there to socialize and were not really interested in the biblical part of it at all. Was I annoyed? Oh Yeah!!! Makes me so glad that Bible College and post-secondary Christians in general are actually serious about their faith and do not just take it for granted!!

 

However to all of my Christian readers out there: Trust in the BIBLE!!!!!! Jesus said that God's Word, that was spoken by the Word (Jesus, c John 1:1), will never pass away. Bring everything under Scripture. If it is not in there, or it contradicts the Bible, then through whatever it is out!!

Part II will be written tomorrow.

Darth Vader Part II

So, yesterday I confessed my obsession and my Darth Vader picture count, which is about to grow soon now that I discover that there are new pictures on a Google that I must acquire.

Yeah, I know, I have over 1000 pictures already. All of them are from all the movies Darth Vader was in and I have pictures from one of the Star Wars games I own. But as a fan, I cannot just settle for what I have because that is the joy of being a fan and collecting. You always want the latest mechandise!!

So, today I am going to tell you about how I got obsessed with this particular Dark Lord of the Sith.

Well, it all started in grade 6. My brother received the Star Wars trilogy for Christmas and we started to watch it. For Episode IV, no characters stood out to me but after I watched Episode V one did.

Now, by tradition, I always liked the good guy in a film. However, for some reason, I found myself drawn to the villain. Why? I don't know. All I know is that the villain started to stand out to me and I started to daydream about him. That's how I know I like a character by daydreaming about him.

The reason why Darth Vader is different from the rest is that this villain and the Bible saved my life. You see, in grade 7 I had a crush on a guy. Now, before this guy came along, I was teased and ignored by everyone. However, this guy was nice to me (or so I thought as I later found out). Now, because of my non-verbal learning disability I became obsessed with the guy and he dominated my daydreams (Darth Vader just got pushed aside). Unfortunately he did not return my feelings. Now his rejection was the breaking point after years of rejection from people. To make a long story short, I was in the hospital on 3 separate occasions for suicidal attempts.

Now, how did Darth Vader (a guy who is known for being a merciless killer) save my life? Well, the Bible saved my life by giving me a new will to live and a purpose. It also brought me salvation through Jesus Christ. But my thoughts about this guy got pretty...passionate. So, I cannot focus on Jeus in that way so I had to focus on something. So, I decided to replace the guy with Darth Vader. I basically decided that I had to become re-obsessed with Darth Vader by putting my energy into Jesus, Darth Vader and schoolwork. In the end it worked...

Why am I still obsessed since grade eight was 5-10 years ago? Well, Darth keeps me on the right track and focused, believe it or not. That and I am not interested in my sexuality outside of my head at all. That's right: I'm not attracted to guys, girls, cats, dogs, nothing!! And I like to keep it that way, because I think that for a person like me it is safer if I keep my sexuality inward and not outward. No, No, no more of it, I do not have time for that nonsense (well it is nonsense for me, not for other married couples).

And that is how I became obsessed with Darth Vader and why I still am obsessed with Darth Vader.

New Devotional Book and Stuff

So, I was at the library at Bible College looking for a third commentary on the Gospel of Matthew for my New Testament paper that I have to do. While I was looking I came a cross a devotional book called, "Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings".

Although I did not find the book, I was intrigued by this book because I have not read anything from some of my ancient brothers and sisters in Christ. It seemed very intriguing and it was based on Lectionary Cycle A, which is the Scripture Reading Cycle for Catholic and mainline churches. So, I decided to borrow it.

Well, I am liking it so far. It is set up so that I can do it at my own pace by doing it once a week or one reading section everyday of the week. What it includes is a Theme, Opening Prayer, Old Testament Reading, Response Psalm, New Testament Epistle (Letter), Gospel Reading, and a Closing Prayer. What they recommend is that you read the Opening prayer at the beginning then do a reading and then read the Psalm in response and then do the closing prayer.

It is an intriguing book and I look forward to reading the words of my siblings in Christ that came before me. However, I can only renew it twice so I will hopefull get my fill it during that time. However, if God wants me to continue I know He will find a way which is good because I have been neglecting my quiet time with Him.

Now, because a blog is like a diary, I may choose to do some of my devotional reflections on here. Why? Because I want you, my trusty reader, to get a sense of how God is using me and helping me to grow in my Christian faith. So, I think quiet time with Him and sharing a little bit of it would be very enjoyable.

Darth Vader Part I

Because I have now revealed that I like Darth Vader to you, I'd thought I'd explain it.

You know how I said that I have a nonverbal disability? Well one symptom of it is that I can be very obsessive. Darth Vader has been the latest, and the longest running one.

The first one was Spiderman. Then it was Draco, the Dragon from Dragon Heart. After that was Major Chip Hazard from Small Soldiers. And now it is Darth Vader from the Star Wars saga.

Let me clear up a few misconceptions. I like Darth Vader and not Anakin Skywalker. Just because they both come from the same body doesn't mean they are the same. The only similarities they had was in Ep. III, but other than that they are separate personas with different views on life.

From now on I'll be posting pictures in all of my blog posts from my Darth Vader collection. I have a lot and I want to show them off a bit. Do u want the proof? OK, because I keep an excel spread sheet of my collection!

Darth Vader Pictures

Total:1126

Ep III: 129
Ep IV: 189
Ep V: 634
Ep VI: 114
Empire at War Video Game: 26
Miscellaneous: 29

Calendar Photos: 5

I reveal more about this obsession later!!

Freewriting on the Old Testament Law

So, in my Old Testament I class at school the mid-term is going to be on Tuesday of next week. You must be wondering why I am blogging and not studying. Well my problem is that I want to prepare my self for the essay through by writing a practice essay. However, my mind is a blank as to where I should start so I think I'll do a little free writing for 10 minutes, Yikes! A long blog, I know but I am sure you have read longer!!

OK, so the potential essay questions is "Compare and contrast the legalistic and evangelical view of the law. Note: My prof. will be looking for the background and biblical basis and the points above."

What does evangelical mean? Well, evangelical is a term used by Christians that defines how certain church congregations put a lot of emphasis on the importance of a relationship with God and hold to the authority of Scripture. This is different from the "mainline" churches that hold more to the sacraments and ritualst like infant baptism.

What is the law? Well the Law refers to the Torah or the Pentateuch in the Bible. The Pentateuch is the first 5 books of the Bible that record the beginnings of the Earth; the entrance of sin, death and suffering into the world; and the beginnings of the nation of Israel. The latter half of the Book of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy contain the constitution of ancient Israel. This law describes how the nation can come to a holy God and live holy lives.

Now because this is a national constitution, there is a little of a legalistic approach to the law. However, because times of changed and Jesus has come to the world, cerain laws like animal sacrifices are no longer needed. This is because Jesus' sacrifice took care of sin once and for all, something that was foreshadowed by animal sacrifice in order to atone for sin.

In New Testament times, the Pharisees and religious leaders were taking a legalistic approach to the law that and were undermining its purpose. For example they were using it as a means to earn God's favor, when their Scriptures say that people already have it. Or they were telling the people to distance themselves from the Gentiles (non-Israelites) when Israel was called to be a light to all of the nations.

Now I'm sure you guys have seen people who take a legalistic view of the law and are most likely to steer clear from them. I cannot help but feel sorry for them. Why? Because the law viewed from a legalistic approach can be a very big burden to carry.

People who view the law legalisticly are basically trying to earn their salvation, or "salvation by works" according to evangelicals. Through this they can be very self-centered and judgmental. What this breeds is anger inside the individual and the person is inslaved by the rules. This kind of living is based on fear and can produce 0 self worth and low self-esteem. It also makes God seem very distant because no matter what we do we can never meet His standards on our own.

Now that I have listed the problems with the legalistic view of the law, how should an Evangelical Christian view it? Well, one of things the law does do is convict us of our sin. The law shows that on our own, we cannot live up to His standards. By doing that it points us to Christ because through Him we can come to God and be whole again. Just like Paul in Galatians 3:24 said, "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith."

The law also provides the guidelines for Christian living and Civil Law. Civil law Paul talks about in Romans 13-16 when he discusses how Christians should obey the laws of the government so that we can live peacefully. The only exception to that is if it disobeys God's Word, which are found in both the Old and the New Testaments. It also guides in everyday life because the law provides all the basics on what says in and what actions God says go against His character, which includes love and holiness.

Few, that's my 2cent speech!!! I like it but now how do I put it into an essay... That is an excellent question...

You know what is really annoying about technology? Is that it can be very impersonal. That goes from how people communicate to how we even fight wars.

What does technology have to do with Old Testament Law Codes? Nothing. But I'm moving on from that so no more questions about the change in subject!

My biggest peeve is e-mail because one little email be interpetted in so many different ways that what was originally intended as polite can cause someone to declare waron you and everyone has to brace themselves for the worst! It's similar when it comes to fighting wars. Before the saying was, "Don't fire until you see the whites of his eyes!" Now, if you see the whites of his or her eyes on the screen and your 1000s of kilometers away it doesn't matter because you can shoot anyway. Or drop a bomb on the person. Or insult them through the internet. Or through many other means.

Why am I yelling about this? Because I just went through a family feud that was based on e-mail and based on miscommunication through e-mail. Did I or any of the members insult anybody? No. Did we intend harm? No. Just one of us misread an email and then WHAM!! WWIII had begun...I cannot wait til e-mail and stuff can be not so impersonal and there will be no need for misinterpretation. It would be nice if verbal communication (What I say) is not the only thing I have in a conversation to work with. I am good with verbal and para-verbal (How I say it) communication but because of my non-verbal learning disability my non-verbal (body language) interpretation skills need some work. Although I think I am getting better at it though!

OK, I am done my rant...And to end, here is a little picture to express my anger about the impersonalness of email and technological superiority:

As quoted by Darth Vader, "I find your lack of faith disturbing!"

Yeah I'm a fan of Darth Vader. Why? Because if he told that he was disturbed by the miscommunincation that happens so often with email the people who invented it would quickly becoming up with ways to fix it!! Well, OK they already have through webcams and stuff but still b/c my computer's webcam lacks sound capturing devices I will have to find an alternative to it!!

OK, I'm done. Bye, bye!!

...Who am I saying good bye? No one in particular, so shut up and accept my politeness while it lasts!!

Episode 4 of Dragon's Den

Well today I watched Ep. 4 of Dragon's Den.
Definition:
Dragon's Den is a show on CBC television in Canada where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to corporate giants in Canada (one of them even owns Boston Pizza, yum!).

What I thought?
Not bad. It turns out that the girl I mentioned in a previous blog did get a deal from the Bret and Robert but it was for 75% of her business... I could not help but think WOW!

The average the dragons (aka the corporate giants) is about 50% for someone's business in exchange for their investment. 75% was really a lot to me, which did not seem fair because that lowered greatly that girl's say in business decisions. Luckily she did not accept her deal which was good, I think because it was crappy to say the least.

Don't you just hate it when you have to change something in the middle of writing something and then the computer just starts deleting the characters after it. Btw the way to correct it is by hitting the Ins button.

Where was I...Oh yeah the deal on Dragon's Den. Well they hinted that one of the Dragon's went back to her and decided to invest, and I'll find out who later in the season. I think it was the Dragoness, Arlene because in the episode she seemed interested but did not make an offer. But that's my bet on who is was, so I cannot wait to find out later this year!!!

Sermon's, Liberals et all

So, here I am sitting on my friend's bed "doing my homework". My friend is trying to write a sermon.

Please don't start snoring it is quite and interesting sermon. Why? Because she tells her audience in the introduction that we all love being right, and we hate being wrong. So, true!!

Me? I don't care if I'm right or wrong, unless it has to do with going to heaven when I die. B/c that would really be a crappy turnaround if I was downright wrong. But I'm not because Jesus says I'm not. Jesus cannot lie so He is always right. Unless some high school kids do a voice over on a video of Him, then the representation of Him is wrong.

Well Stephan Dion's party thinks he was completely wrong about how he ran the campaign. Yeah, just focusing on the carbon tax was a bad idea. I mean they did lose, like what, 19 seats this year? And now eyes turn to the US federal election.

I cannot keept track of the US election. I mean there are so many different elections for one federal campaign. You have to vote for the leaders of two parties and then vote for the party. I think in the provincial election last year in Ontario they gave us the option of changing the system. At the polls we could choose the party and the candidate. I was only 17 so I couldn`t vouch my opinion on it.

Man it is annoying when my keyboard keeps switching from US to Canadian French for no apparent reason! What is it with people and randomly singing "Sound of Music" songs at this school? Sigh, yes I can be very random in my discourses. You don't have to read u know!!!

What is the difference between majority and a minority goverment? I guess it would mean the leading party may be in charge but they have to work with other parties. Huh...So what? Just because you have less than 155 seats, you are still the leader. Sigh, minority governments can be useless these days because none of the parties were willing to cooperate with one another. It was so sad and annoying!

Politics: The place where adults can act like children!!

Bye Bye

I can't watch Dragon's Den Until Tomorrow!!

You know what really sucks? There is a show that is on on Mondays on CBC at 8:00pm that I cannot watch until tomorrow online!!!

Why can't I watch it on TV? Because I do not have access to a TV with access to cable or sattellite :(. Sigh, to me that is not fair!

I did go ot their website though and get a preview of all of the pitches. I think one of them is flawed because pitch is a company that designs work clothes specifically to women. My problem? Well, I think Mark Works Warehouse already does just that, because they sell jeans and other clothes designed for the job market specifically. So, I think the people making the pitch stole their idea. I cannot wait to watch the episode tomorrow evening and see if they all agree with me!!!

Post 1: The Election

I'm sick of all of the blogs I made before. They became pointless and boring to me, except for the one about Halifax.

I think I will enjoy blogging now, because there is nothing like being completely anonymous on the web and so I can give out my opinions.

So, I got to vote for the first time on Tueday. First, I want to say I am proud for fulfilling my duties as a Canadian Citizen and as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Am I a Christian? Yes, I am and I am proud of it!!! It was easy for me to choose because I turned into the news of the world at large in grade 11.

OK, I voted Conservative. If I was old enough to vote during the last election I would have voted for them to. Why? Because there campaign was not just about bashing the liberal leader, but it was more about talking about what the Conservatives wanted to do and where they think the country should go. I was very impressed and I decided to vote for them the first chance I got.

I did vote for them in the end because I found that Stephen Harper and his party had a much better idea of how to run a country that has a capitalist economy. From researching the platforms of the parties I found that the NDP and Liberals wanted to hurt what our economy is primarly based on, which is private businesses. Both the carbon tax and the large business taxes that the Conservative's main rivals wanted to implement seemed to be what would scare corporations back into the U.S. or other Western countries. I found that out when I discovered that when the state government imposed a similar tax in California the businesses just said "To Hell" with the place and it was not until the tax was lifted that they came back.

My problem with the darn thing was that the Conservatives sank to the same place that the NDPs and the Liberals fell to last time. They just bashed the leaders of the other parites instead of telling Canadians what they wanted to do. This was the same for the ads, debates and news conferences and all. That was it!! What the hell is the point of only insulting the other parties. If I wanted to see that I could have turned on my television set and watched some of the cartoons. I know that these guys don't agree on issues, that's the why they are not in the same party, why can't they grow up and tell me what their vision of Canada is?

Well, almost all of them. I know what the PQs idea of Canada is: a country divided! The PQ should not even be a federal party! Countries like the US or Britain would never allow a party that was threatening to tear the country a part. But here we are, Canadians allowing just that. I think it is time we showed the separatists the door and made it clear that they have no place in Canada.

I know what you are thinking: what happened to free speech? Well to me, free speech is a right that has been heavily abused in Western Society. To that end I think that our government needs to crack down a lot more heavily. Here we have a party that is set on dividing Canada and only has ridings in one Province. The PQ does not belong on a Federal ballot, it belongs on a provincial ballot in Quebec. Actually no Separatist party should belong on any ballot because it is not for the country in fact it represents more a very selfish and bandaid solution to the tension that exitst between English and French Canada.

It is true that the English have made mistakes in the past when it comes to Quebec but I cannot condone how the French are responding by being stubborn and selfish.

But bah they won't listen to me, due to stubborness and I am only a second year post-secondary student. Why I am currently watching Dragon's Den and dream of a day when I can walk into a room and people will shut up so they can hear what I have to say. Just like what my mom gets at PMRA as a section head.

That's one joy of blogging, I can rant and complain and not care about what people think. But I won't get too insulting because They could be watching!!!!! (I don't know who "They" is but I know they're out there).

That tis it for tonight as I am getting hungry and tired.