WARNING!

(Hebrews 6 v 4-6)......For it is impossible for those who were once -enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, -if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

YIKES!!

The Victory

I heard an excellent illustration last weekend and said to myself...'I don't want to forget that example'. I thought the best way to remember the illustration was to post it here. I do occasionally read my own writing. You might think this to be very egotistical, but my thoughts are, ......'well at least someone reads my blog'!!

The example given is not used the same way the speaker used it. I have changed it around slightly to convey my point.

In 1982, Offaly won the Sam Maguire trophy and were crowned All Ireland Champions. This was a special time for the people of Offaly and sadly for them, they have not retained this trophy since then. If you ask any 15 year old from Offaly when their county last won the All Ireland final?, they will tell you that THEY beat Kerry in 1982 and became champions.

Now hold on!! How could they say this and identify with the event since they were not born yet and in fact would not be born for another 13 years? The fact that they were not present is not important. It was a proud day in their counties history and their county was victorious which is something that they can boast about.

In Romans 6, Paul is speaking about an event which happened over 2000 years ago. Just like the 15 year old from Offaly can identify with the great success and victory of his/her team in 1982, we today can identify with Christs great victory. Offaly defeated Kerry, but Christ defeated death.

The Offaly fans have not been able to do too much boasting in recent years as their victory was short lived. Christ was victorious 2000 years ago, and will have the victory forever and ever. He is always going to win, and that's where our confidence lies as we continue to put our faith and trust in Him.

Trouble ahead

Past experience of success, is no guarantee for the future!!

Do I believe this? Do you believe this? I say 'you' to make it sound like people actually read my blog!! This statement was made during my Hebrews class by my teacher, Dr. Arden Autry. Of course he wasn't thinking football when he said these words.... but I admittedly was. You see while the second part of my two part class on Hebrews and general epistles was about to start, Manchester United and Manchester City were also about to begin a two part series, which judging by their last meeting could indeed prove to be a titanic battle. For me, to miss this encounter definitely took some Devine intervention. Anyway my rewards are in Heaven and there are times when we will suffer for Christs name etc etc..... I guess the outcome of the match just enforces the point of this blog.

United are a big club, in fact in the last decade they have been the biggest club worldwide. Now I hear you sceptics and 'A.B.U.'S' say... "What about Madrid? Barca? etc.." and I say to you "Ah go 'way with that rubbish!!," United is a club with a long History, and in recent times particularly, a very successful History. This History makes the club Mighty and an unstoppable force!

Dr. Autry was discussing a different situation of course. He was referring to a passage in Psalm 95. This psalm is a reminder to Israel, that their fore Fathers had put God to the test and had gone astray in their hearts and therefore, they did not enter Gods rest. This was the same generation that had crossed the Red sea on dry land, had experienced Gods great provision by receiving water and Manna from Heaven and witnessed many other marvels and wonders. Regardless of all the success they had experienced in the past, they still did not enter the promised land. They had a perfect promise, but not a perfect fulfillment!

So, although I would argue the point, that Uniteds History of success would make them a strong outfit in the future. Sadly the reality is different and I would have to concede that they are not an unstoppable force and the future success of the club is most uncertain. (Of course it is certain to go into liquidation under the ownership of Glazier. For the good of the club, Get Him Out!!) There is nothing that this world can offer us, that is everlasting. Christ is faithful over Gods house as a Son and we are his house, if we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. This we can be certain of. Amen

Avatar - harmless or dangerous?

Its the highlight of the movie callander for '09 and people cant seem to get enough of it. So in light of what I heard today, I decided to make a couple of comments about the new 3D experience, Avatar.

In todays news, the Vatican have publicly critisiced the film Avatar, stating that it promotes the worship of nature.

This stance that the Catholic Church have taken is hilariously ludicrous and those guys in the Vatican, should 'get with the times'. Avatar is a harmless, well executed, extremely advanced film experience.

This was the view shared by most, if not all of my colleagues, and it disturbed me greatly.

It is true that the film offers a whole new experience in what is to become an advanced improvement in 3D technology, and these are indeed, positive steps forward in changing cinema for the future, however it is NOT harmless!!

As I pondered over the words of my work colleagues, and the statement from the Vatican, I thought about how liberal our society has become. If that same statement from the Catholic church in relation to a film promoting earthly worship was made 15 years ago, it would have been greeted with the utmost sincerity and concern. People would have listened and would not have scoffed. I was reminded of the constant struggles that the Israelites experienced with their worship of false Gods. Along with dedicating worship to Yaweh, they also worshiped fertility Gods such as Baal. Throughout the Old Testament the Israelites had to be reminded that they served a jealous God, and by Him, all things were made. Deuteronomy 6:4 says "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." This is the Jewish confession of faith and it is a statement of exclusitivity. The Lord our God is the only God and he is worthy of ALL our praises.

In the film Avatar, Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington gets introduced to this mystical world and gets drawn in by its attractions. What James Camron successfully achieves is a picture of a beautiful fantasy world, which is far greater than the real world, where creatures can come in unity to the 'Tree of Souls', offer prayers to 'Mo'at' (the earthly God) and she would answer them or keep them protected. In one particular scene, the tribe are under attack from the humans and our heroin Jake offers a prayer of help to the Tree God, and she answers his prayer by coming to their rescue, through the form of other wild creatures.

It is certainly very emotionally moving and gripping for an audience and this leads me to the conclusion that it is dangerous viewing. Our society today has come to except new age viewpoints and not just accept them, but rather embrace them. We as a church of believers in the One, true God and his son Jesus Christ need to stand with the Vatican and say that we do not find it acceptable to promote the disguised worship of false Gods, through the medium of Film and that as Christians, we will not be excited by the hype of James Camrons, Avatar.

Song for today

As a way of easing my way back into the world of blogging, I have taken the lazy option and posted a piece of music. You should unfortunately recognise the song, as its a well known Dance song by DJ Sammy, and a dodgy power ballad by Bryan Adams!! I much prefer this version.



Enjoy!!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3f58vjRGC8