Man, with his voice,

His acoustic guitars, his pianos,

His flutes, and his cellos,

Makes some of the most beautiful sounds i’ve ever heard in nature,

Along with the birds,

The wind in the trees,

And water moving over pebbles in the bed of a stream.

Lilith Pouia Copyright 11/24 2009

“I have to keep celebrating that I’m alive. I shouldn’t be here now. I’m on borrowed time”. These were the words spoken by Jayne before she sat down and told her story about how Individualised Budgets has changed her life, the life of her husband Mark and her wider family including her Mum.

Jayne’s life as a high energy career nurse was thrown into chaos at the age of 30 when she was diagnosed with cancer. She describes how treatment offered structure to her weeks following the original announcement and how she found a sense of purpose in simply trying to stay alive. “By finding structure and purpose something positive will merge” Jayne says. This model of chaos, structure, meaning and emergence has seen Jayne through eight years of fighting cancer and all the ups and downs that entails.

Jayne explains how time became her greatest commodity because no one could say how long she had left to live. Following her first round of treatment Jayne took a part-time job which allowed for flexibility and days away; days spent with Mark on an canal barge – “We like canal barging – it slows life down”. However, one afternoon Jayne was plunged back into chaos as she fractured her spine pushing the boat through a lock. The cancer had spread to her bones. At this point the nature of the problem had changed. It was was no longer an illness, but a disability. This was going to take away her independence and this was the one thing that scared her the most.

It was at this point that Jayne was offered Direct Payments, but this proved to be rigid and outside of her desire to regain independence – “I was trying not to be a disabled person. I didn’t want many of the installations that were being offered. I did need help though, especially with my food shopping, but the times were fixed and no matter what I had to be well on that prescribed day, but I wasn’t”. Outside of this chaos Jayne found meaning attending a local college to study art, but was soon hit with a real problem. She was reliant on other students to lift the wheelchair from her car – “you can’t describe how helpless it makes you feel”.

This is when Jayne was introduced to Individualised Budgets (IB) and she was able to purchase a floating chair and trailer for her car. “All of a sudden my life was transformed. I could go shopping on my own. I could get to and from college and also take part in local field trips. I felt independent again”. The IB payments also allowed Jayne to compartmentalise the six hours of support she was offered through Direct Payments. It was broken into different instances allowing Jayne to take the burden of cleaning the house from her busy Mum and instead spend quality time with her at the local swimming pool. “The IB budget has really allowed me to understand where I want to spend my time and what I want to spend it doing. In the end, this is not about having a service, it’s about having a life”.

Jayne does however state that there has been periods where she has been able to reduce the budget – “We are very conscious that this is not our money. I keep returning to the IB panel and asking if it’s okay to procure a particular service. There have even been instances where I have even been able to give money back”. Jayne now has support on a daily basis – a position that Jayne gave great consideration to – “This is the person I am going to choose to share the last parts of my life and it was important that I was able to make that choice”.

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The full report is now available. Please click on the link below to read the report or left-click and download.

Unpacking Service Transformation – Oldham In Control

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I came across this through 350.org.

I didn’t quite understand what the purpose was. I simply thought the kids were cute haha.

Then I checked their website:

http://charterforcompassion.org/

And came to this TED video, that explains it all.

I think it’s time that we move beyond the idea of toleration and move towards appreciation of the other.

I strongly suggests you watch the TED vid. I think it is very valuable. And then go back and watch the first video again. It’s the charter they came up with, in a video format.

I think the more you learn about religions, the more you realize that in essence, they are all very similar. At the core, they all call for a better humanity. Like she mentions, the idea of compassion… the golden rule of “Do not do unto others what you do not want them to do to you” is found, in different shape or form, in every religion or spiritual teaching.

Whoever you are, as long as you’re human, you cannot but agree wholeheartedly to this.

It’s just common sense.

I signed (affirmed) the charter. I do agree that this message needs to get across, massively… in an unbiased and nonsectarian way.

Because I say it again, and I’ll keep on saying it… We’re just one humanity.

Just got through reading the article about Darwin’s legacy: http://su.pr/21nK1n.

This question is asked: All things considered, do you believe Darwin was a great luminary in the path of human progress?

Answer from the article:

What has the theory of evolution done for the practical benefit of humanity? It’s helped our understanding of ourselves, yet compared to, say, the discovery of penicillin or the invention of the World Wide Web, I wonder why Darwin occupies this position at the pinnacle of esteem. I can only imagine he has been put there by a vast public relations exercise.

My answer: Absolutely nothing!

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Here is the study for Tuesday’s Group Bible Study. At the request of one of our students we are exploring the humanity and divinity of Christ. Many find I a mystery how Jesus could be 100% man and 100% God all at the same time. The math seems a little fuzzy there. A country gospel song I heard a while back explains it best I think. In the song Jesus in the temple visiting the teachers, who ask Him how old He is. In the song he answers, “On my mother’s side I am 12 years old. On my Father’s side I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.”

The Human Nature of Jesus

John 1:1-3, 14 —————————- Did Jesus really become flesh?

Hebrews 2:14-17 ——————————— Who was He made like?

Romans 1:1-3 —————— Who was one of His earthly ancestors?

Romans 8:3, 4 ——– What type of flesh did He take upon Himself?

1 John 4:3 ——————— What does the spirit of antichrist deny?

NOTE: The word flesh here always refers to fallen flesh. Never once

is it used in reference to unfallen, sinless flesh.

Philippians 2:5-7 ————- Who was Jesus made in the likeness of?

NOTE: The phrase “made Himself of no reputation” means literally

“emptied Himself.” When He became man, He emptied Himself of

His Godly powers to meet the Devil on the same ground we must meet

him on. These three powers were His omniscience (all knowing),

omnipotence (all powerful), and omnipresence (all present).

Mark 13:32 – Did Jesus still know all things while in His human form?

John 5:19, 30 ——— How only was He able to do the things He did?

John 8:28 ——————- How much was He able to do on His own?

Matthew 26:39, 42 - To Whom did He always keep His will submitted?

Revelation 3:21 ——————————– How are we to overcome?

James 4:7 ——————————– What are we called upon to do?

Here is a parting thought: On the cross Christ was completely man and completely God. While everyone was mocking and crucifying Him one man turned to Him and repented. Christ then used his divine right to forgive sin. He never used His divinity to save Himself, only to save others. He gave up all divine rights on the cross, save the right to forgive sinners.

Please click here for a Desire of Ages study on the divinity and humanity of Christ.

You may find more studies and devotionals at http://www.InLightOfTheCross.com

What it means to be “human” / Reflections on the film, 2012

The film 2012 offers some insightful dialogue and illustration on what it means to be a human being.  Moreover, my wife and I saw the film a few days ago and found it most entertaining, though the action sequences were often farfetched to the point of hysterics.  But again, there are some very insightful themes running through the film which I find that as a Christian, are especially relevant for my Christian brothers and sisters.

Note that while the film does not necessarily convey a Christian perspective towards history, I believe as I have inferred at the onset, that the film convey insights on how we ought to carry ourselves in moments of crises, let alone in the normal events of life for that matter. I thus hope that many Christians, as well as non-Christians, will watch this film in order to reflect on two themes I saw emerging through its plot, both of which I find highly relevant to the age we live in.

An apocalyptic parable on true humanity

Before I introduce these two themes, I should offer a few comments concerning the film’s apocalyptic genre and story line.  We can most benefit from the film by interpreting it as simply a parable— though a parable unfolding through a rather unimaginable and horrifying event concerning a cataclysmic reconfiguration of the earth’s crust, which results in the near extinction of human life.

To call the story a parable is to stress how the film depicts an imaginary event yet uses that event to convey, even if quite unintentionally, some very relevant lessons for real life.  When we do that, (and again, I am speaking here to my fellow Christians), then there is really no need to focus so much on dismissing the film’s value because of its apocalyptic premise derived from the Mayan Calendar, which presumably concludes that the world may end in the year 2012.

As a further qualification, it is also important to note that in the film, the world does not actually end.  The world does undergo a horrific cataclysm created by earth’s crust becoming for a moment in history, unstable.  This in turn results in a shifting of the continents and of the north and south poles, and further results in several cataclysmic and global-reaching tsunamis that reach all the way up to Mount Everest.  These tsunamis thus destroy most of the earth’s inhabitants, but in the end, a remnant of the human race survives.  Moreover, the floodwaters apparently recede, thus marking a new beginning in human history.  Hence, the story line roughly echoes the biblical story of Noah and the flood.

Now again, while this scenario may not wholly fall within the images of biblical apocalypticism, I do not find its portrayal of a cataclysmic upheaval capable of seriously threatening life on earth, as wholly impossible.  For I believe there is sufficient warrant to surmise that are a number of very possible scenarios also involving the most unmanageable, horrific and cataclysmic destruction which can very well erupt upon the earth and at any moment in human history.  We should also keep in mind that for most of history, the human race consisted of less than 200 million people around the globe.  Then during the Middle Ages, the Bubonic Plague had in fact wiped out millions of people in Europe and I believe in Northern and Central Asia.

With this mind, the film actually thus becomes deeply relevant to our postmodern age. This is because today we in fact do live in the face of very real and looming apocalyptic threats to our entire earthy existence.  This reality thus largely defines the setting that we commonly call the postmodern setting.  Postmodernity means to some extent that we have come to realise that there are definitive limitations to what extent modern science and human knowledge can insure our continued survival as a species upon the earth.  Modernity preached self-reliance and human ingenuity; it preached the message of self-interest at all costs.  However, if now live in an age marked by a deep sense of pessimism towards the future, our pessimism largely stems from realising that in ourselves, we can no longer be certain of anything concerning our future.

We should however also note that there is a more positive element to the postmodern situation.  This element is that we have come to recognise that the way forward may come, not from the things we have traditionally trusted in, but rather from the most unlikely places and people.  Hence, we should therefore be open to marginalised voices; voices that the majority or the most powerful, or most affluent, have too often marginalised for purposes beneficial to their own security.  So with reference to the film 2012, by the time the film ends, the future of humanity becomes located— in the continent of Africa.

As a Christian, I believe the Lord is coming to unite heaven and earth, which will bring about a full renewal of this world, resulting in its complete transformation into a new creation under His complete reign.  Yet I am aware that things can potentially become far worse for humanity before they get any better.  I have come to realise that if things do get far worse— and I believe they may well in fact eventually get far worse, even to the point of a global-reaching, cataclysmic and utterly complete ecological and financial breakdown, what we may find ourselves suffering under, are the consequences of our own human follies.

Yet in the event of such a possible scenario within human history, and within the possible history that all of us can very well enter into, I want to stress that we as Christians will be called upon to live a life that is counter to the ways of the world.  That will be a counter-culture way of life that is wholly expressed through an ethic fully manifesting the charity of Christ, hope is His soon coming, and certainty in the coming establishment of His kingdom upon the earth, which will culminate in the complete union of heaven and earth through the full coming of His kingdom; the kingdom of God.

The true nature of true humanity

Now I will introduce the two themes that I found so vividly illustrated in the film 2012, which together I believe reveal the true nature of true humanity.  This true nature of true humanity is therefore our true destiny and calling as human beings upon the face of the earth, both in this age and in the age to come.

The first theme we can discern in the film 2012 is this: The film provides us an epic yet also horrifyingly apocalyptic parable on, what it means to be a human being.  This theme first emerges early in the film when upon discovering the potentially impending doom facing humanity, two individuals reflect on how we might carry ourselves in a moment of life-threatening crisis.

More specifically, the film calls to imagine a moment of life-threatening crisis, where the crisis gives us a choice to act and can only act upon only one of two possible choices: the choice to save either our life— or the life of another human being.  Even more specifically, this is the moment of life-threatening crisis, when the crisis confronts a person with the choice to either save only one’s self or rather, to selflessly act without regard for ones own safety, if in doing so, one can possibly save a number of other human lives from certain doom.

In the moment of truth, how will we live?

As the movie 2012 moves towards its end, one of the two individuals, who at the beginning of the film engaged in the moral discussion that I just presented, comes face to face with a moment of truth.  It is a moment we all may at some point in the course of life encounter, where that moment asks us, “In this moment of truth, how will you live?”

What happens in the film is that a scenario develops which reminds me of that old humanistic “life boat” case study involving seven people lost at sea but with a lifeboat made for only five people.  The case study thus calls us to decide which five out of the seven people, should we allow into the lifeboat that is presumably capable of holding no more than five people.  The case study thus forces us to ask ourselves, which two people should we throw over board?  Since the boat has space for only five people, which two people should we together elect to leave behind? Who should live and who should die?

The “lifeboat” case study is one image that implicitly shapes the film’s story line, but so also does the biblical story of Noah’s arc and the flooding of the earth.  Therefore, as the movie reaches its climax, several mammoth “life-boats” are revealed, which had been built in preparation for the global flooding, each capable of saving perhaps hundreds of thousands of people from the floodwaters.  After the selected populations board the boats, there are however still thousands of others desperately seeking to board the ships.

But in midst of the ensuing tension, and hours before the tsunamis impact the ships, one of the chief architects of these mammoth lifeboats, fears that the ships cannot contain those remaining thousands waiting to board.  Therefore, in the moment of truth, this individual, fearful that the ships may not sustain everyone, seeks to close the gates from the masses still hoping to board the boats.

This individual reasons that only by closing the gates to the many still outside the boats, can the human race be preserved from compete destruction.  Note then that this individual has a grand vision, which he passionately believes in, and it is a vision for the preservation of the human race.  He then reasons that if preserving the human race involves making tough decisions as to who we should save and who we should not save, then let us made that decision, and let us limit the number of passengers into the lifeboats.

Yet then there is another man who also faces this moment of truth.  He is that man who earlier pondered, how shall we act in the true moment of truth?  How then shall we live?  How will we act in that moment where we might be called upon to selflessly act without regard for our own safety, if in doing so, we might possibly save the lives of countless other individuals besides our self?

That man speaks up and says, “What is the point of saving our self, if we think that in doing so we are preserving the human race, yet also in doing so, we are in fact acting less than human?”

That man then further argues, “What does it mean to be human?”  He continues by pleading what he believe is the nature of a true human society and culture.  He thus asks, “How can we even start a new society, a new culture, if our foundation consists of behaviours that are less than human?  How can we rebuild a truly human culture, if our founding actions involve no sense of costly yet selfless altruism, even to the extent of our laying down our lives for one another?”

That individual then concludes and challenges those already on the boat that we must take the risk of jeopardising all our lives, if in doing so— we might successfully save every other life from destruction.  Ultimately, we must do so for this reason: it is only in doing so, that we can live a life that is truly human.  If we cannot do so, we are in reality, living less than a human life.

True and false civility

Some years ago, the famous psychiatrist, Dr Scot Peck, wrote a book titled, A World Waiting to Be Born: The Search for Civility.  Peck begins his first chapter titled, “Something is Seriously Wrong,” by noting too many people, think of “civility” as simply being polite and observing proper etiquette.  Peck calls this assumption not only superficial but also horribly wrong.  For this reason Peck goes on to say that too often in our varied life settings, especially in the larger and formal organisation structures in which we work, we carry ourselves towards one another according to the secular techniques of manipulation and personal self interest.  As a result, Peck says, we fail to manifest “the glory of what it means to be human.”

Elsewhere in Peck’s book, he demonstrates how a common organisational culture that is trapped in this secular idea of polite civility, is illustrated when an organisation’s presumed identity is one of, “We’re the best in the business,” and its motto is thus “Quality at all costs.”

In contrast to this idea of civility as nothing more than politeness and following proper decorum, Peck therefore stresses that true “civility” refers to seeking the best interest of all people, regardless of the cost to one’s self.  Within this same discussion, Peck then draws attention to the biblical story of Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man, who was unwilling to part with his wealth.  Peck suggests that the story functions as a parable for all of us, and every time when we read the story or reflect on the story.

The point of the story about the rich young man who is unwilling to part with his wealth, is not that following Jesus means that Jesus wants you to necessarily let go of everything you possess and live in voluntary poverty in order that you may follow him.  Although, I would say for many of us, that may not be a bad idea!  But no.  The moral of the story is that Jesus oftentimes will come to us and ask us the question, “What are you really trusting in?  Where is your security, right now, in this moment?”

Jesus will ask us these questions because if our security is indeed in the things we possess, then how are we going to carry our self as a human being, when the moment of truth calls upon us to express our humanity?

Within this discussion, the mental psychiatrist Peck throws throw at us this observation: “Security can become an addiction, and there are many for whom enough is never enough.”  Peck goes on to say that his work in psychiatric care has convinced him that having wealth never fully satisfies the aching feeling of insecurity.  All their lives, the rich often find themselves caught up therefore, in an insatiable quest to heal this ache through the continued accumulation of wealth.

Peck notes that past statistics demonstrate that within the American setting, the wealthiest segments of the American population give away to charity a much smaller proportion of their income that do middle or working class people.  Hence, their proportional giving reveals “a telling commentary on the spiritual impoverishment of most who are financially rich.”  For similar reasons, another notable psychiatrist, Erich Fromm, realised from sheer experience in the profession of mental care, that, “The essential difference between the unhappy, neurotic type person and him of great joy is the difference between get and give.”

A truly human life therefore, is a life lived in utter selflessness towards other human beings.  A true human life is always lived in the presence of one another, and for the presence and existence of one another.  A true human life can only be lived in selfless action to one another.  This is the mark of true humanity.  Anything less, is less than human.  Anything less is to live not as a human being but to live like an animal.  This discussion thus clarifies what we should mean by the term secular humanism.

Real Christianity infers a true and biblical humanism. Christian humanism is a humanism that encourages and celebrates the true nature of true humanity.  It is founded upon a moral centre, because it is furthermore, founded upon a Person— who is the True Human.  Secular humanism however, is a humanism without the true moral centre, and thus no real moral centre.  It has no moral centre because it encourages and celebrates living only for one’s self without regard for others.  It encourages and celebrates living for one’s self especially when the well-being of your life is any way dependant upon the loss, deprivation or disregard for the best interest of another human being.

For the most part, the world we live in, in spite of its increasing nuance towards spirituality, operates by values reflecting not a true humanism but a secular humanism that really does enthrones “self” at the centre of all things.  That is why even Christian bookstores are filled with books with titles such as “How to Become a Better You,” or “How to Be all You are Meant to Be,” or, “How to Receive all You’re Supposed to Have!”  At the root of all these pseudo-Christian books is not the paradigm of true humanity but the subhuman paradigm of self-interest.  So deep is this false humanistic in the cultures that we live, that much of the current talk within Christian circles of becoming relevant to the day we live in, or of transforming the culture around us, is really quite ludicrous.

The forces that have constructed the macro economic systems of our world, the security systems and social systems we now live within through the processes of globalisation, have constructed these systems upon premises that seek the best interests of the few without concern for the many.  The proverbial lifeboat of the film 2012 is therefore indeed a proverbial analogy of our present world order.

Many of us are right now enjoying the privileges of life on a “boat,” to which untold millions are currently barred entry into, and thus face the prospect of becoming the first causalities of whatever repercussions may erupt upon the earth because of our follies.  Moreover, added to these follies is the folly resulting from keeping our eyes closed to the many.  We close our eyes to their existence, though one day we may painfully discover that all people are indeed interdependent.  When that day comes, we may then truly learn that “No man is an island,” for the same forces that have united much of the world together in economic affluence, has united that much of the world to frustrations of the greater numbers of people who lack access to our prosperity.

Self-denial, charity, sacrifice, and healing the world

This discussion illustrates how nothing less than a complete, radical and revolutionary subversion and undermining of the entire world order, can bring healing to the world.  If a Christian truly believes that he or she lives as salt and light in the world, then he or she must also see their role as a prophetic presence in the world.  This is a prophetic presence that consistently demonstrates values that are visibly counter to the values of the world, and at the same time positively point to a world that is waiting to be born.  The good news is that to fulfill this prophetic role in the world, one need only mature and thus behave as a human being— a true human being.

To fulfill this prophetic function of living a truly human life we must however confront a common though false presumption concerning the purpose of Christian life, and about the purpose of Jesus’ life, sufferings on the cross and resurrection from the dead.  This is the misunderstanding that the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ atonement, was to insure our eternal salvation and hence, that we get to go to heaven when we die.  Now to be sure, the securing of our eternal destiny is central to why Jesus came to live and die upon the earth.  It is central because it is we and not angels whom God has created as His image-bearers— It we whom He loves as His children, and it is we who are made to reflect His likeness.

But in itself, this assumption is only a half-truth, and in itself, it makes for a very “self-centred” gospel.  It is the message of a gospel that men have not centred in the glory of God but rather in the glory of man apart from God.  Rick Warren therefore had it right when he titled the first chapter of his book titled, The Purpose Driven Life; with the title, “It all Starts with God.”  In that chapter, he moreover and rightly began the first sentence by saying, “It is not about you.”  Warren’s proposition illustrates how the primary purpose of Jesus’ atonement was far bigger than the redemption of humankind.  For even greater than to secure the redemption of humanity, is the greater purpose for which Jesus died for.  That greater purpose was to secure the glory of God.

Within the greater purpose of securing the glory of God, is that Jesus dies to reconcile all things— all things both heaven and earth, to Himself.  Jesus suffered and rose again that He might restore all things back together under His rightful reign.  So the Scripture says, “For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”  To this end, the entire purpose of God is to restore our humanity, that we might live as true human beings.  Moreover, the healing of the world involves our becoming more human; thus our becoming more humane.  To this end, God is at work to restore our humanity.

If we want to therefore carry our self in the world as a true human being— if we want to carry our self in a manner that is truly civil, we will never do so by calling attention to what we possess.  We can only show our true humanity through denying our self; and hence, by how easy it is for us to give it all away.  It is for this reason that in his Institutes of Religion, John Calvin devotes Book III to the Christian Life, and in chapter four, he summarises all of Christian life by this one phrase:  “self denial.”

By using that one phrase, “self denial,” as the most succulent description of a truly Christian lifestyle, Calvin chose to stick within a long tradition and a principle within that tradition, which every other leader of the Protestant Reformation also affirmed.  That is a tradition that thus remained connected to the best of Roman Catholic spirituality as illustrated in earlier works such as The Imitation of Christ and The Rule of St Benedict.

The tradition of self denial, which is in fact the true call of Jesus and the only call He gives any of us, when He calls us to Himself, is a tradition that stresses a central image of true humanity, which goes all the way back to the why the Gospels are in the Bible.  It is a tradition that rightly recognises that the Gospels are not provided for our intellectual assent to Jesus’ historical life, but rather foremost to grant us the one true guide on how we should live as human beings.

The Gospels are written to show us how to live— to actually imitate the life of Jesus.  That is why Jesus says, “Deny your self, and follow me.”  Moreover, God has made to some extent, the healing of the world dependent on weather or not we choose to follow Jesus.  For only in following Him can we begin truly living like human beings.

Within this context, we should thus realise that self denial is not something based on ideas of having to live with a “poverty mindset” or deny the very real and material nature of God’s blessings.  But rather, self denial is simply based on a true knowledge and comprehension of what it means to truly live like a human being.  When that knowledge is received, self denial becomes an act of calling and joyful vocation.  We begin joyfully denying our self because we have come to know that only here are living according to our high calling as real people upon the earth.  But to do that, requires our reception of a special kind of joy, and it is a joy that is freely received from the One who is humanity par excellence.

Jesus is humanity par excellence

I submit to you that there was a man who was truly human and remains the True Human, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the one who laid down his life for His friends.  He is the one who put Himself in harm’s way and suffered harm’s way for the preservation of the entire human race.  He did so because in doing so, he truly behaved and acted as a true human.  He acted as true as a human life can ever be.

Christians rightly confess and know Jesus as the image of God.  Even more so, we have come to know He is God in the flesh.  In Him, we see God, and by his behaviour, we see and know the true personality of God.  Yet I will here also remind us that in Jesus we see true humanity.  In Him we see what human life is designed to be.

This confession that Jesus is not only truly God but truly human, is true because after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus did not stop being human.  After he rose from the dead, He remained human.  This is why He rose from the dead with an indestructible though fully physical and material body.  Even now at this moment, Jesus reigns in heaven through His very real and physically material body.  Moreover, there will come a day when He will appear and like Thomas, we will see the nail scars in His hands.

The entire weight of these reflections rest upon a cardinal doctrine, which if we in any way undermine, we therein commit heresy concerning the person of Jesus.  This doctrine we must confess in order to lift up the name of Jesus over all things, is that He is truly God and He is truly human.  As the ancient creeds effectively established the concluding synthesis of the biblical story of Jesus’ coming, death and resurrection, Jesus is and will always be truly God and truly human.  In Him we see two distinct natures, the divine and human, clearly distinguishable, yet wholly different; undivided, yet inseparable.  He is and will always be, truly God and truly Human.

If we are to therefore truly worship Him as God, and if we are to preach Him fully lifted up in all His saving glory, we must also confess Him and preach Him in all His true Humanity.  For in Him we therefore also see who were born to be, if we are ever to become truly human.  He dies to restore our humanity.  When He lives in us, He works in us to restore our humanity, by setting us on a path of human restoration.

In Jesus Christ we see not only the potential of true human life, but even more so, a vision for a true human society and human culture.  We therefore also see a vision for a new humanity upon the face of the earth.  That is why the Scripture says that Jesus is the beginning of a new humanity.  He is the First Man of a new humanity.  He is therefore the true paradigm for a true human life and human existence.

When we look at Jesus, we therefore see what were born to be.  We were born to be like Jesus.  This is God’s true purpose for all human life; to become like Jesus.  This is why the ancients said, “God became man, so that man might become something like God.”  This again is why if we want to know what God is like, we should look at Jesus, for He is not only the true man, but in Him, we see who God is.  For God is love, and love acts without regard for one’s self but wholly for the sake of those outside our self.  For this reason, God created humankind in His image that we might reflect the likeness of God in how we live.  This is our true human calling.

The process of becoming human is the process of becoming like Jesus.  So complete is the process that He works upon us both from the inside and from the outside.  There is no antithesis between the two processes.  On one hand, he works within us, transforming us from the inside out.  On the other hand, He works outside us, presenting Himself to us as our Teacher and ourselves to Him as disciples called to follow Him.  Through both ways, the goal is the same: that we might live as human beings.  When that happens, we realise that self-denial is indeed not a method towards Christ-likeness, but rather simply the fruit of becoming human, and thus, of becoming like Christ.

Servant-leadership and the vocation of true humanity

In bringing these reflections to a closure, I will now draw attention to the second theme I find so poignantly illustrated in the film 2012; this is theme of true leadership.  Moreover, this theme of true leadership is what Jesus argued as, servant-leadership.

In the movie 2012, one of the chief architects of those mammoth lifeboats was something of what we might call, a visionary leader.  He had a grand vision and it was a vision for the preservation of the human race.  To some extent, we may argue that this man possessed a noble vision.  He believed his vision was for the greater good of humanity.

This man was also a practical leader.  He was a pragmatic leader as well, because He well knew that to be most effective and efficient, he had to make practical choices that may involve refraining from higher moral ideals.  Hence, he chose not to jeopardise the lives of the few by opening the boat to the many.

This man therefore chose to insure the security of the boat and the few in the boat, by choosing not to risk the security of the boat by opening the boat to so many others hoping to step into the security of the boat.  So in all these presumptions, we have a picture of practical, pragmatic and sometimes of visionary leadership.  But in view of the true humanity of Jesus, this is a way of leadership that is nonetheless, subhuman.

Yet the other man, who I want to say was the true leader, argued that preservation of the human race is still not possible unless we seek to preserve the human race through and upon the high moral foundation of self-denial.  As earlier mentioned, this man who was the true leader, argued that a new world that is truly human cannot be rightly established unless such a world is founded upon actions involving genuine risks through the giving of our lives for one another.

This man who was the true leader, therefore sought to persuade those in the boat to risk their own secure future by taking the wild risk of opening the boat to all those outside the boat.  He called upon everyone in the boat to do so, even if in doing so, the boat might sink in the process of getting everyone into the boat.  He argued that failure to do that is to behave not as humans but as animals.  He therefore understood that true leadership is not about putting one’s personal interest before others, but about putting the interest of others before one’s own interest.  He understood that true leadership is always the laying down of our life for the common good.  He understood that true leadership is servant-leadership.

Jesus is not only the True Man but he is the true leader of the human race.  Jesus said that the rulers of this age love to be lord over others, but that is not true leadership.  True leadership is serving others.  Serving always has its penultimate and highest expression in the laying down of our life for one another.  That is what Jesus taught and it is what he modeled— not only to secure our redemption into restored humanity, but to grant us an example of true humanity.  He did this in the expectation that we would actually emulate as an act of our will, having had our will empowered by the Spirit of Christ who lives within us.

Jesus did not just give His life for us, but He modeled to us what it means to be a true human and how to live like a true human being.  It is not enough to even say, “I’ll let Jesus live through me.”  It is important to know that Jesus lives in you and that is where it all begins.  Then when He begins to live in you, you will always face choices every day, where circumstance call upon you to behave like Jesus.  That comes through an act of your will and obedience to His Word.  You can choose to disobey the Lord, even as a Christian.  For this reason, many Christians know the Lord, but actually disobey Him.  Such Christians the Bible calls, fleshy Christians; Christian who remain like spiritual babies.  However, there are times when we all disobey the Lord.  So you must choose to follow Jesus, observe how He lives, and starting acting like Him.  If you do, He will guide your steps and place your feet into His footsteps.

I have digressed here, but I am talking about servant leadership.  True leadership begins with laying down our life for others.  Any aspiration that begins with the preservation of one’s self is not true leadership.  That is a kind of leadership founded something less than a truly human life.

Some months ago, I was engaged in a discussion with a group about the nature of leadership.  In that discussion, someone suggested that there are many kinds of leadership, one of which is the idea of servant leadership, and another is what we might call visionary leadership, and that they are not the same.

Let me point out that for a Christian, there is only one valid kind of leadership, and that is servant leadership.  Any other kind of leadership model or style that fails to recognize Jesus’ model of servant leadership as the foundation, is a subhuman form of leadership.  In a truly biblical worldview, Jesus’ pattern of servant leadership and the concept of visionary leadership are not antithetical styles, but they are the same.  Having a vision for a world founded upon true justice where God’s righteousness and peace prevails requires nothing less than a great people who have discovered their true vocation as servant leaders.

Sometimes in life, there is a moment of truth, which will call on us to choose either the way of self-preservation or the way of self denial.  In the moment of truth, how will we live?  How will we live in the moment of truth, when Jesus comes to us and says let it all go?  How will we live in the moment of truth, when Jesus says let it all go and follow me?  How will live in the moment of truth, when in that moment we are called upon to either act without regard for our own security or even safety , if in doing so, we might secure the life and posterity of other individuals besides our self?

But the truth is that in an infinite number of small and unknown ways, the moment virtually always comes to us every day of our life.  Abraham was able to offer up Issac on Mount Moriah because his whole life revealed a pattern of hearing and responding to God’s call every day of his life.  Every day God calls us and every day we are given a choice to either obey or disobey the Word of God.  Make no mistake about it:  the New Testament does not shrink from describing Christian life according to the language of obedience and disobedience.  “Today, if you Hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”  And a moment of truth will come when you are also called up to the top of Mount Moriah.  And there maybe even several times or more when He will call you up to the top of Mount Moriah, and offer your life a living sacrifice.

The healing of both our selves and those, whom we might need to lay down our life for, will come through the way of self-denial.  So part of the good news is that our own healing— the healing of our soul, is found through simply living like a true human being.  The healing of our soul and the healing of the world, is only found through losing our selves in the saving of those not on the boat, but who also long for a new world waiting to be born.

Oh, tell me what you know

 about God and the world and the human soul

how so much can go wrong

and still there are songs . . .

–Sara Groves, “In the Girl There’s a Room”

When I started my car yesterday afternoon, the words of this song began to play and I began to cry. A woman I have known since fifth grade died on Sunday. We were the same age, past the youth of our twenties and yet not quite middle-aged, beyond adolescence and the prime childbearing years but not quite having hot flashes. Now she’ll never experience that.

So much goes wrong in this world: grief, suffering and tragedy abound in every life. People get cancer. Raped. Divorced. Cheated and swindled. Robbed. Die. Every soul, at some point in life, experiences a gut-wrenching pain. True, some people have more than their “fair” share but we all know pain.

Yet there are songs. . . .

C.S. Lewis wrote stories about an imaginary world of children and talking animals and magic and a lion who is not safe but always good. I read of the God who is both loving and fierce, good but not always safe, trustworthy and kicking me out of my comfortable middle class life.

Sara Groves writes a song that makes me think or cry or wonder. I hear a faint echo of the voice of the God who spoke creation into existence.

 My friend Brooke shares her poems about her work with the homeless and her heartbreak at running out of food at the soup kitchen. I think of the God who feeds me, spiritually and physically, and desires me to extend that same compassion to others.

 International Justice Mission fights slavery and sex trafficking across the globe, working to change laws and literally kicking down the doors of brothels to snatch children from those who use them for their perverse gratification. I am reminded of the God who is perfectly just, who is angered at injustice and will one day provide justice for all the victims of this atrocity. I am spurred to action.

 These are songs. These acts of beauty by fallible, fickle humans are a taste of heaven brought down to earth. They point to God, who never changes.

 Oh tell me what you know

about God and the world and the human soul . . .

During his sermon past Sunday, Dr. Bryan Chapell told a story of a woman at his church. She was battling cancer and the doctors had to switch her to different drugs. Lying in the hospital bed, she gazed at the list of new medications. So much change. Then she shouted, “My God does not change. I will not be moved, though the mountains fall into the sea, my God does not change.” Her faith pointed to God, a song of beauty amidst all that had gone wrong in her world.

 As I took sermon notes, my eyes filled with tears. That was the attitude my friend had as she was dying. I’ll share part of her last blog post, written on November 13^th:

 In October we were given the news that there was nothing medically that they could do and that the cancer had actually spread to my lungs and there are more spots on the liver. When we first got the news it was very shocking, but we prayed to our Father in Heaven that He would give us peace and comfort at this time. . . . Later that evening Aaron and I were in the hospital room talking and we both agreed with amazement that we had been given the peace and comfort we needed and asked the Lord for.

 How so much can go wrong . . .

 Yet she and her husband had peace and comfort even as they looked into hospice care. She wrote with a positive, joyful, assured attitude that pointed to the God she loves so much, the God who has wiped away her tears and given her a new body and a voice to praise him forever.

 And still there are songs . . .

Shawna’s blog: http://shawna-blessedbeyond.blogspot.com/

Full lyrics of Sara’s song: http://www.saragroves.com/lyrics/tellmewhatyouknow/inthegirltheresaroom/

To listen to Bryan Chapell’s sermon: www.southwood.org

In the biblical account of our fall from God, we were assigned to earn our bread by the sweat of our face. The sweat comes from our own energies, which is all we have left after losing our roots in God’s own life. But we relentlessly try to earn our bread by the sweat of someone else’s face, even when it might be easier to use our own strength. (Dallas Williard, the Divine Conspiracy, 23)

Israeli director Yoav Shamir has won the Best Documentary prize at the London Film Festival for Defamation, a film about the use of political use of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.

From the Defamation website:

“I first had the idea to make a film about anti-Semitism when my earlier work Checkpoint was released. In one of that film’s many reviews, I was called ‘the Israeli Mel Gibson,’ not because of my good looks, but because the views I had expressed, critical of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, indicated that I was anti-Semitic. The author of that review was Jewish himself.

At first I thought it was amusing. Being called an anti-Semite by an American Jewish reporter seemed completely farfetched. How could someone who chooses to live outside of Israel, who did not do military service like me, who did not lose a grandfather in the war like me, have the nerve to call me an anti-Semite?

Until then I had never considered the central role that anti-Semitism plays in our lives. Upon reflection I realized that it is a constant buzz, always in the background, always annoying. After a while, you simply get used to it. How often are we really disturbed by the hum of an electric fixture or the drone of passing cars? Anti-Semitism may follow us like a shadow, but then again, who really notices his shadow on a daily basis?

Once I did start noticing it, I realized that anti Semitism is actually a very popular topic in the Israeli discourse. Not a day goes by without at least one article in the newspaper mentioning ‘Nazis,’ ‘the Holocaust,’ or ‘anti-Semitism.’ Having never experienced anti-Semitism myself—the closest I came was being compared to Mel Gibson—I decided to learn something about the subject.”

Thanksgiving is coming up and there is so much to be thankful for. Life is inspiring.

When one gives thanks, one often wants to give back. I recently had the amazing opportunity to go to New Orleans and work on homes with Habitat for Humanity.

Co-sponsored by Cutco Cutlery and Vector Marketing, the group you’ll see in this video had such a good time doing good work. Not only did we help build four homes, we raised almost $10,000!

I hope you like this special JPB vlog.

In today’s JMC class, we listened to a very distinguished National Geographic editor and contributor, Carol Schwalbe, lecture about the past, present and future of the internet and media’s place in that cycle.
As she warned us, I had never heard of any of the internet’s pioneers- though they were smart and dedicated men all, and one even named part of the list of 100 living geniuses. I agree with her estimation that we have them all to thank for the endless information available to anyone with a computer. However, I believe much more focus should be placed on the technology gap that glaringly exists in the world.
While China has the most internet users of any country, its user count when compared with population is negligible. Many human beings lack sanitation, education, housing, clothing, rights, medical care – the list is endless in the suffering wrought into every letter of each word of want. the internet, for all the information and fun it provides, also offers the biggest escape from the horrors of reality yet.
Looking at pictures on a computer screen further develops the mentality of “me” and “them.” It breeds desensitivity, it breeds people who are not compassionate about the state of the world and the equality of all those who live in it. It also supports the mentality that clicking a button to sign a petition for children halfway across the world or donating a dollar online is their part; one-click, no more worries. In my opinion, changing the world starts with community service and charity, which is a hands on operation. While non-profit groups can and should harness the networking power of the internet, they should also view it with a weather eye on its ability to distract people.

“The sharp-edged technology of the NII can cut a number of ways: It can enlarge the domain of the commodifiers and controllers; it can serve the resistance to these forces; it can saturate us all, controlled and controllers alike, in a virtual alternative to the real world. Meanwhile, most of humanity will live and die deprived of the wonders of the NII, or indeed the joys of adequate nutrition, medical care, and housing. We would do well to regulate our enthusiasms accordingly – that is, to remember where love and mercy have their natural homes, in that same material world. Otherwise we will have built yet another pharaonic monument to wealth, avarice, and indifference. We will have proved the technophobes right. More to the point, we will have collaborated to neglect the suffering of the damned of the earth – our other selves – in order to entertain ourselves.”
Tom Maddox, in a 1994 article for Wilson Quarterly titled “The Cultural Consequences of the Information Superhighway”

Completely unrelated to my above comments but related to the internet:

“We’re going to have to look at information as though we’d never seen the stuff before … The economy of the future will be based on relationship rather than possession. It will be continuous rather than sequential. And finally, in the years to come, most human exchange will be virtual rather than physical, consisting not of stuff but the stuff of which dreams are made. Our future business will be conducted in a world made more of verbs than nouns.”
John Perry Barlow

I think this quote, though made years ago, is very insightful to the pace at which the world revolves at, and us little frail creatures are pushed and prodded to keep up with. Barlow’s “stuff of which dreams are made,” while pretty in though, carries a darker undertone of a mechinized world in which people are emotionless, merely functioning and never feeling.

Also, watch this Mad Max on the web video about media wars and civilian/computer news takeover.
Epic 2015

In closing, wrap your mind around this quote:
“The robots will re-create us any number of times, whereas the original version of our world exists, at most, only once. Therefore, statistically speaking, it’s much more likely we’re living in a vast simulation than in the original version. To me, the whole concept of reality is rather absurd. But while you’re inside the scenario, you can’t help but play by the rules. So we might as well pretend this is real – even though the chance things are as they seem is essentially negligible.”
-Hans Moravec, as quoted in a 1995 article in ‘Wired” titled “Superhumanism:”

All quotes courtesy of http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/150/1960.xhtml

Și nu, n-am de gând să mă avânt în hățișuri filosofico-metafizice, este vorba doar despre despre om privit ca membru în cadrul speciei sale, om ca ființă biologică. Mai precis, o interesantă serie de articole din LiveScience despre capacitățile fizice și mentale ale omului modern, precum și despre modalitățile de îmbunătățire a acestora:

• omul bionic și tehnologiile ce pot facilita acest deziderat: Bionic Humans: Top ten techonologies
• cât de repede putem alerga (și nu ca în Alice’s adventures in wonderlad): How fast can sprinters go?
• o ipotetică comparație între omul preistoric și atleții moderni: Cavemen vs Modern Human: Who would win olympic gold?
• ce ne face așa de speciali: Top ten things that make humans special
• ce am putea deveni în viitor, exercițiu de imaginație evolutivă: The future of evolution: what will we become?

PS   Cred că e reconfortant să lăsăm puțin deoparte animalele politice de dâmbovița, ultradaptabile și cameleonice.

Just ran across this yesterday reading James 1:13 “… for God cannot be tempted with evil…” and then began to wonder… since Christ is God, how this could be reconciled with Matthew 4:1 when it says that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil”?

How does one reconcile the apparent contradiction between James 1:13 with Matthew 4:1? There are two elements to consider:

Divinity

Christ was completely divine. Mark 1:1 testifies to record “the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Claiming the title of “son” denoted essence, and family inheritance. A good example of this cultural truth is found in the story Ben-Hur. Ben-Hur is condemned to slavery in a Roman war galley. Eventually the ship sinks and he saves the life of the Roman general on board, who in return adopts Ben-Hur as his own son. This act legally accorded him all the rights and privileges associated with his adoptive father. Christ’s claim to be the Son of God is no different. Jesus is accorded all the rights and privileges of being God, sharing the same essence with Him. The reaction by the Pharisees confirms their understanding of Christ’s claim in Matthew 9:2-4,6 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?… know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Christ forgave the man’s sins, an act which is within the power of God since all sin is pardonable only by the maker of the universe. Since Christ was a physical manifestation of God in human form, holding a completely divine essence.  His divine nature could not be tempted by evil (James 1:13).  But He was also human…

Humanity

Christ was completely human. Matthew 1:23 says “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). He was physically born of a woman, and as a child was dependent on His parents.  Luke 1:80 records that Jesus as a “child grew and became strong in spirit,” just as all children normally do. He was subject to all the same elements we are.  Jesus sleeps in Matthew 8:24, eats and drinks in Matthew 26:26-27, bleeds in Luke 22:44, suffers bodily injury in Luke 22:63, and was subject to the a physical death in Luke 23:46. In all respects Christ lived a human life.  Hebrews 5:8 records “he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.” With the presence of sin all life suffers, and yet in Hebrews 4:15 “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” It is in respect to this element that I think we as humans have a hard time grasping. He was perfect. It was in His humanity that He was tempted. He was tried and pushed to His physical limits just as we are every day. The only difference  is that He overcame all obstacles to be perfectly obedient to the Father.

Synthesis

The issue centers on whether in His divinity Christ had it easier with a little supernatural help. The writer of Hebrews shows us that He did not have an easy out because of His divinity. His mission was to come and demonstrate what perfect obedience looked like. He was really tempted and He genuinely demonstrated obedience. He is the only man to do so. The answer to the question about the distinction between His two natures is in the temptation by Satan himself. Satan’s temptations are centered on Christ’s humanity in Matt 4:3 “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” touching on physical provision, or self-dependence. Matt 4:6 “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone” touches upon the issue of pride, or self-glorification.  Matt 4;8-9 “The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” touches upon the issue of possessions, or self-indulgence. Each of these issues is rooted in opposition to God with “self” supplanting God as the ultimate ruler in life. This is not  something that God could ever be tempted with because He is the the ultimate authority. Satan is, rather, directly attacking Christ’s humanity by seeking a weakness which might have set itself up against God rather than submitting to Him.

God cannot be tempted with evil. But men can be. Christ’s humanity was tempted, and so is ours.  But Christ overcame, and so can we. Temptation is an ever-present part of our human existence, always attempting to package sin as attractively as possible.  How I long for that day when all temptation will fall away. But until then, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 3:14

You know when people just don’t understand you? Like when you say something and they have a complete and utter blank look on their face? I mean, I feel like I get those thoughts, and most of the time people do not let me entirely say so I can get them to understand where I am coming from. This blog is part of that, since I guess, it takes a bit more time for me to explain myself to people, but most make an assumption after the first two sentences from me and then they pass judgment on my thought or idea.

I guess it’s a question of how I am mostly off in left field. More than likely after reading a few thoughts in these posts of mine you have come to that conclusion. And at this point it is starting to disintegrate into a quiet yet defiant frustration. I mean, I can say all I want at this point and it will get me nowhere.

This may appear that I am whining, but I guess it is in a sense. I just wish people would take a minute slow down and here me out. In fact, like my post the other day the world does need to slow down in general. But, to direct this back to what I was saying, I guess I have been feeling really misunderstood lately and that people cannot take me for me.

At this point, after writing this blog and reflecting a bit, I have to realize that I just don’t care. Let people be people and I have to stop being so sensitive. It’s a bit hard, since it’s even taking me a post to do this, but sometimes that’s what it takes. Though I think we can all take a little bit of this to heart in some form or fashion.

Thank you all for taking the time to hear me out and explain myself.

Tonight on my way home, I encountered my tube nemesis. I regularly encounter this rude gentleman on my way home – he gets on at Holborn and gets off at Liverpool Street, which is on my way home. He is aged around 50 years old I estimate, and I’ve never met someone as self-obsessed and openly maligned.

He will always persist in shoving people out of the way on the tube for his own personal gain and inconveniencing everyone at every possible account, wherever he can, however he can, to whoever he can – a reflection, he tells me angrily when I confront him (no one else will stand up for themselves), on his own life. He denotes proudly that selfishness is the only virtue that will get anyone anywhere, that it is the only way to live. How wrong he is. And how poorly this reflects on humanity.

If all humans thought as he did, they would speed up our species’ self destruct button, taking the rest of the ecosystem and the planet with it. If humans will not look out for each other, who will? Not a sky God keeping things ticking over from above – no. Humans have evolved to live differently from other animals, who collectively DO live selfishly in this manner in the animal kingdom in order to survive. Although it is often painted that way, human society does not have to reflect the animal kingdom in that sense. There is no one looking after us, no master plan in nature – merely what we have around us.

As one of the only fully self-aware species in a world faced with SO many global problems, it is alarming that people can be so extravagantly destructive of themselves and everyone around them. The way this man has lived his life – in a completely selfish manner as he so loudly proclaims – is a horrific example of this.

I’m no do-gooder. And certainly no preacher. I find no gratification in those things. But to encounter someone actively living such a destructive life like that just astounds me. He will consume and destroy, and no doubt his children too, until he dies, and leave behind a large footprint for those he’s selfishly passed his genes onto to suffer the consequences. Or maybe they will grow to assume his life stance, and also consume, have more children who’ll consume, and have more children…

So, he is my Tube Nemesis. Not in the sense that most people describe (i.e. “I always see X person and we always dash for the last seat!”) but in the sense that I cannot stand his ideals and aggressively destructive, intrusive, loudly offensive way of life. He is just one person. But how many more are just like him? I don’t  know.

I end this blog with a cynical video about the consequences of having children and being selfish. Pretty closely related to my encounter today, presented in a light hearted manner – but something I feel strongly about. And now, I return to my Management coursework for my adult learning class, feeling a little better after blogging this.

Many elements in history begot the fall of great civilizations.

Save for a cataclysmic global event, humanity goes on – beyond Rome, beyond Constantinople, and Damascus, and Peking, and on and on. There is always a dormant superpower that will transcend both embattled sides…. ‘Comes out stronger, brandishing its own brand of ideology as the next test/step for humanity.

So what?  That is the beauty of the democracy/capitalism dialectic. (albeit one hopes for their higher ideals, less ignorance, …)

I awake in the morning. What do I need today?

Surely, we are at the technological point where we can amplify both pain and pleasure on a mass scale.

Is there a better way for us to get where we want?

Can we grow to some level beyond this archaic game of life, and redefine this next level – not by the default of that which waits for the defeat of others, but – pro-actively embrace the gestalt, rather than replay again and again all the way to its own impending doom in times to come?

We love Humanity

The chain of tragedy is the most advance democracy is based on symbolism of war, hate and fear by celebrating crucifixion of hope. We American are consider to be the world leader with only fear of bombs and money not love and humanity. It is time for all world leaders with knowledge of investigation, studies and discoveries to examine their sympathetic nervous system to confirm that they are still human being.The unlimited power on humanity with technology of mass distraction cannot be useful to find small information of the round holy dance of nature, The last eclipse on Moon was in 2008 and the last eclipse of Sun will change ecological system of balance and chemistry of nature . it is time to educate our self about environment and realty of life.

The only way available for us to capture the essence of reality and to uncover the secrets of the world which is hiding in nature and fealty. Human faith can relay lead to the goal of grasping an objective reality by mean of knowledge and experiences once confused democracy is ready to give up material pleasure for mental health. The world problem that preoccupies people thoughts today is hate and fear each other which is deeply rooted in the distant time of human history. It has driven your forefathers into a long and nonsense struggle in the ideological and political fields and in the religious and culture barriers without investigating true human nature. Thus March 2008 came and gone and the crusade of crucifying is continues. Knowledge is the key to establish system of life, universe and the nature by debating or denying it for best democracy. The state of denial that is contributing pain in the chain of humanity is whenever some one tries to show whiteness of nature is not white enough to prove it.

The system of killing innocent human being for piece of land is not philosophically based on Abraham’s monotheistic faith. The only hope that is keeping saint human faith alive is the sound of ghunagroo from the angles of life who are sanding gust of smiles on innocent children. The battle will continue with no weapons other then our personal power with only one purpose that one day we will understand the reason of stars and time clock of eclipses.

We believe that one day God (Rab) will bless love of humanity to those who are unconscious of crucifixion of life in the name of war and terror on poor helpless people. The festival of life can be celebrated with wisdom of human faith knowledge once we realize that we are part of human family. Humanfealty advocates spiritual and moral principles on very high scales for the longest term in human history.

Human faith is Ajmal Mehdi and Adam Mehdi monotheistic faith of humanity and knows that God (Rab) is the creator and overseer of the universe at all the time and all matters. It is time to adopt true nature of humanity by educating innocent children in accordance with Divine affirmation of human faith. Blessing on Humanity from angels of Peace Ajmal Mahdi (Imam) and Adam Mahdi (Jesus Christ) the father and the son with Holy Spirit!

Saint Human Faith and Adam Mehdi ( Jesus Christ ) the father and son do not support culture of Atheism, Adulterer, Drinker’s, Smoker’s, Drug users , Money lover , Racist, Sexism, Assaulters, Murders, Thieves , Gamblers ,

IN GOD (Rab) WE TRUST WE HAVE FAITH IN HUMANITY (Rabi)

Minty Marrows

A beautiful animation

by Sam Yang (2008)

music by Amiel Zwier

“For: The Institue of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University, Essentials Green Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.”

I must first of all say I am thoroughly enjoying doing the Essentials Course in worship studies. I have found their materials so thought provoking and yet so balanced and mature. Definitely check the course out if you have a heart for worship!

Anyway back to what I wanted to say…In the church I grew up in there were often differing opinions on worship, and some pretty strong ones at that (I see those heads nodding ). One of them was on “cultural relevance” and “accessibility”, i.e. we were dealing with issues of how we make the “church” cool to other people and maybe even to ourselves because even though most “religious” people won’t admit it, they are bored out of their minds.

It sad to know that these “wars” still continue today, when really the problem isn’t with the other guy who wants to rock out or sing hymns. The problem was us all along. (swallowing bitter pill…). The way I see it the problem has never been should we sing hymns or not or should we sing the latest songs off the Worship Top 40, the problem is about who we are serving.

We all know that worship is about us (wait quick double take, what did he say?) At least that’s what we believe if we are honest with ourselves. Even us worship leaders make worship about us rather than first God and THEN others.

I think worship should be directed towards God but we should also be serving each other by choosing actions, meditations, prayers and songs that help others to connect with God. Far too often worship leaders under the banner of “cultural relevance” choose the songs they want to sing instead of the songs the community, in front of them needs to connect with God. As leaders we need to keep at the front of our minds the question “what is going to help these people connect with Jesus today?”

The other issue goes a little deeper. I have always found that in these churches where there are struggles in worship it is because choosing the right song has become the focus. It’s sort of like if you choose the right song (or my favourite song at the moment) then worship will be awesome, but if you don’t then worship will be rubbish.

That’s also not the point, I mean isn’t this about God and His presence? What God wants isn’t a song or sacrifice (depending on which Testament you choose to live in… jokes) he wants people who will come to Him in faith (Heb 11), He wants people who will worship in spirit and in truth (John 4) and He wants people who are humble (Psalm 51).

I once heard Graham Cooke say that as long as God’s presence is manifesting, that people are getting saved, that miracles are happening on a weekly basis and the poor are being looked after, you will always be relevant. Pretty powerful stuff hey. I think so often we hide behind “being culturally relevant” and choosing cool songs so we don’t have to own up to the fact that God left the building a long time ago.

As always I welcome any comments

The Great Wall of China

After reading Lindsay’s “China’s Three Gorges Dam,” I could not refrain myself from writing about one of the most important monuments in China’s history, The Great Wall of China. Because the Great Wall is not nearly as new as the Three Gorges Dam, it poses subtler questions about its effects on nature. It in fact is so old that it seems like a part of nature itself, much like how we consider the Stonehenge to be a part of nature. But in actuality, it is the product of the human hand, literally.

I cannot help to wonder how such a huge structure, over five thousand miles long, would have affected nature and its animals. How many habitats were destroyed with the construction of this unthinkably massive wall? Such questions inundate my mind, for I would never have thought that this revered structure, built to prevent destruction of humanity from war, ironically, could have caused major damage to nature. I am very surprised that I had never thought of this topic before, but then again, the Great Wall successfully shrouded itself with its blanket of grass and trees in order to blend into nature.

I wonder why there is always controversy about recent technological structures that could harm nature such as the Three Gorges Dam but not about things of the past such as the Great Wall. Is destroying nature with human technology a concept strictly limited to the present and the future? Why do we not talk about things of the distant past and their effects? Is it because humans were not harmful before, but are becoming increasingly so as we progress through time? And if this is true, how are we evolving so quickly? What are our outlooks for the future? I don’t know about you, but my mind is sufficiently blown.