the teachings of others that may lead us astray

There is a young couple who i know from my church, they have been married for a year and a bit and are about my age. The father of the girl is apart of the Seventh Day Adventist faith, and has used his influence to teach them the different beliefs of his faith. The guy has really taken these teachings to heart, i think partly because it suits him to go to church on saturdays as he works sundays, and hadn't been to a service in a long time, although i am sure there is more to it than that. It seems that in their search for what it is to truely follow christ that they have decided to go this way.

This has caused some different reactions in our church, from my point of view some have had a very reactionary aproach by attacking the beliefs of the SDA's causing the couple to defend their decisions and to some degree push them further away. While the guy has a bit of a stuborn nature anyway and to argue with him is not a good form of discussion, so it just makes him take even more of a stand and i think make it harder for them to ever come back to be fully apart of our church again. Meanwhile some just listen and ok the move to the SDA church not seeing the core differences between the faiths.

One of the hard parts in this is that generally the SDA church is considered and excepted as Christian, yet some of their beliefs have similarities with Mormons and Jehovahs Witnesses, who are clearly spoken of as sects by Christians. Then there is the case that the Uniting Church in recent years voted that homosexuals could be Ministers in their Churches which is not so in every other Christian Church denomination. This just throws into confusion for some, with all the slight differences between what would be called Christian denominations, who is in and who is out.

The fact is that we all interpret the scriptures in slightly different ways, and so do the different denominations and individual churches, but one thing i think sets some apart is the influence of claimed prophets who claim their teachings and writings are equal to or more important than the ones that make up what are the 66 books of the Holy Bible, which the Christian Church has used as the base of their teachings for centuries since it was put together to help the Christian Church fight off false teachings that were leading people away from the truth.

I pray that my friends would continue there journey in seeking faith, hope and love and find it always in the way, truth and life. May we all question our beliefs and ideas, and compare them with the 66 book Holy Bible the only authoritive source of truth and not simply the teachings of others that may lead us astray.

All My Tears

As I heard the sad news today that a young guy I knew from my old church in Sale passed on a couple nights ago after suffering from bone cancer for the past 4 or 5 years, i think he would have maybe been about 16, it brought me to ponder this question:
If i were to be diagnosed with a life threatening condition with a good likelyness of dying in the near future would i change the things i do? Do i believe the things i am doing with my time to be truly worth while and what i belive God wants me doing? Would i continue my TAFE course in Youth Work? Would i pray more? Would i continue my youth small group? Would the people i spend my time with change? Would i keep working in my job as long as i could? Would i blog more? Would i spend my money differently? Would i do some things that i don't normally? If yes what would they be? Would my future plans change?

Just so you know i am pretty sure he knew the Lord, his celebration service is this friday, he asked that people where appropriate clothes, ie not black, i like that idea.


When I go don't cry for me, in my Father's arms I'll be
The wounds this world left on my soul will all be healed and I'll be whole.
Sun and moon will be replaced with the light of Jesus' face
And I will not be ashamed, for my Savior knows my name

It don't matter where you bury me, I'll be home and I'll be free
It don't matter where I lay, All my tears be washed away.

Gold and silver blind the eye, temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven's store, come and drink and thirst no more

It don't matter where you bury me, I'l be home and I'll be free
It don't matter where I lay, All my tears be washed away

So weep not for me my friends, when my time below does end
For my life belongs to Him, who will raise the dead again.

It don't matter where you bury me, 'cause I'll be home and I'll be free.
It don't matter where I lay, all my tears be washed away

All My Tears by Jars Of Clay
From Good Monsters 2006

the most precious resource we have, water

'THERE will only be enough water in the Murray-Darling system for "critical urban supplies" in the coming year - and none for irrigation or the environment - unless there is heavy rain in the next six weeks.' By Mark Schliebs and wires April 19, 2007 10:33am news.com.au

Why is every city in Australia not on the tightest water restrictions possible? I have not seen the situation improve, everywhere the only thing that seems to happen is water restrictions get put up a level. Obviosly this is not working and the restriction levels need to be higher earlier so that the situation might be helped. Why are we still allowed to water our plants and lawns at all when all over the country there are farmers who can't water their crops and livestock? Why if the situation is so critical for farmers is the situation not critical for everyone else? While the people in the cities and suburbs and even the country town dwellers are whinging about the latest water restrictions, the farmers are working away hard trying to keep what they have left going, trying to feed the family and keep the banks off their backs. When will our city life politicians wake up to the reality that this is an emergency and trying to stay popular with the city people is much less important than saving what is left of the most precious resource we have, water.