The Wise Words of Jesus (and why I need them so much) – part 4

Mark 10:43-45
But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as [...]

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The Wise Words of Jesus (and why I need them so much) – part 3

Mark 4:24
Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given – and you will receive even more.
This listening has added so much to my faith in the last few years.  For the first time I have been unafraid to really hear what God has for me without [...]

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The Wise Words of Jesus (and why I need them so much) – part 2

Mark 2:17
Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.
This little saying of Jesus gives me so much hope.  I know I’m not righteous – far from it.  I manage to stuff things up so much that [...]

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Toxic Churches

OK, I beat around the bush in my last post about a church’s vision statement.  This time, since they’ve plastered themselves across Youtube with a big banner at the bottom of the video with their web address, I might as well name them.  They seem proud enough of what they do to jump to their [...]

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The Wise Words of Jesus (and why I need them so much) – part 1

Matthew 6:34:
So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
I find it so easy to worry.  In fact, I have it down to a science.  In my recent game of job-switcheroo I managed to worry myself to the point where I didn’t sleep a full night [...]

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Another link…

A late one, but go check out Stephanie’s blog -
Stuff Christian Culture Likes, a blog devoted to the stuff christians like.
Among the “likes”:
- Success
- Catchphrases (bumper stickers, tees, etc)
- “Relevant” churches
- Believing America is a Christian Nation
- Worship teams
- Acting Happy
and my favourite:
- Chubby Bunny. That game every youth group in the world has [...]

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Some bloggy things…

…that I thought were worth a mention.
As you’ve probably already heard, Todd Bentley (he of Lakeland Revival/Florida Outpouring fame) has bitten the dust.  Big time, and in an extremely spectacular but sad fashion.  There are enough people who have weighed in with their opinions, so all I will say is this:
The whole thing saddens me.  Yes, [...]

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What can I do but sigh?

Breaking news here in Australia is that Mike Guglielmucci, who is a HUGE part of the Assemblies of God here, has been wilfuly deceiving everybody for TWO years.
For those non-Aussies, I have to explain.  The Guglielmucci family is a really big part of AOG leadership and Australian Christian Churches.  Mike’s father Danny has been involved [...]

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Disclaimer

According to Barb, among others I need to post a disclaimer on my site.  Here is her suggestion:
Beware all who land on this site. This site may enable you to see truth for the first time. Seeing truth may be just what you are looking for but you need to be careful. Once you have tasted truth [...]

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Oh. My. Dear. Lord.

While looking for some information on something today, I came across this.  I won’t link to the church’s website, because I know people will instantly stone me for touching the “anointed” - but here is the text.
A warning – this is a Vision Statement to end all Vision Statements.  Yes, it should be capitalised.  With contents like [...]

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An update…

I know some of you read this through your Google Readers, so in case you haven’t read the comments on the last post, I just thought I’d let you know I found a job!  Not the one I mentioned in the last post, although that was offered to me too.  I ended up having a [...]

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A bunch of stuff

Well.  Here I am in another week.  Still jobless, but I have another interview in a couple of hours.  A very weird thing though – look at the pic on this post (loving Google Street View).  The building on the left (the blue-grey one) is where I have the interview.  The building on the right [...]

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Time for a little light-heartedness

… after all the heavy posts I’ve written lately, so I thought I might do another Google search post!
Here are some of the search terms that have brought people to this corner of Blogdom lately:
“smashed pieces” – Did you knock over a china vase recently?  Naughty, naughty.
“lucaslabrador opinion christian” – no, PLEASE!, nobody take any [...]

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The Olympic Facade

Amongst the hype and excitement surrounding the Beijing Olympics there are some reports coming out of China that are disturbing to say the least.
Like the farce of the angelic singing child in the opening ceremonies, the religious freedoms being shown by the Chinese government during the games is just a pretty facade.
Inside the Olympic Village [...]

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Hymns Part 6 – Jesus is my boyfriend

<<  Back to Part 5
As promised, here is the last instalment.  This one’s not so much about hymns as about those awful, insipid songs that promote Jesus as the doting boyfriend, the product of a schoolgirl crush.  You know the ones – you could just as easily subsitute the word Jesus (if it’s even mentioned) for the name of your significant [...]

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Hymns Part 5 – Showers of Blessing

<< Back to Part 4                                                      Forward to Part 6 >>
One would think that somewhere in the Bible, God had described himself as a nice, hot shower ready to rain on the faithful.  Yes, there is one instance where God said he would send showers of blessing to Israel.  This was in the middle of a warning [...]

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Hymns Part 4 – The Grand Old Book and the Old Dear Faith

<< Back to Part 3                                                      Forward to Part 5 >>
Now, please don’t take this the wrong way.  I read the Bible, I love the Bible.  I think it contains the keys to discovering God through Christ.  I love the faith that I have, that has brought me this far.  I love that it’s the very same faith in Christ [...]

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Hymns Part 3 – The Self-rightous Elect

<< Back to Part 2                                                      Forward to Part 4 >>
I find it amazing how some hymn-writers held a false sense of holiness above all else.  Far from the grace described in Romans, these rather self-righteous words proclaim impossible levels of behaviour, exclude on the basis of actions, or lift the singer to a level where they feel that they’re above [...]

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Hymns Part 2 – This Weary World

<< Back to Part 1                                                      Forward to Part 3 >>
This world that God created, far from being a wondrous place, seems to have become a weary and tiring one.  Lots and lots of hymns pick up the refrain that thankfully we don’t have much longer in this dark and dreary place.
That bothers me a little, because although it is absolutely [...]

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More life stuff!

At the risk of this blog becoming a boring personal diary, I’d like to share some of the things that have happened in the past couple of weeks.  Mostly by way of apology to all the people I’ve been ignoring.
So.  First.  The week before last I was called into the meeting room at work with [...]

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