For the Cause or Self?...

So I happen to catch this commercial or promo for a big concert for "climate concern", via television, web but also people will be attending this, lots of people. I find this absolutely ironic that people who are concerned for our changing climate would put on such an event that would use a ton of resources such as electricity, money and let's not forget the emissions that people driving there will be letting off. Just a question, since when is AL Gore an environmental expert and why is everyone willing to take what he has to say as the whole truth? He made a film, big deal. Since when is a film the whole truth, and not someones perception. Both sides can make great arguments.
I am all for keeping our world clean and being good stewards of our resources. I just thinks it's arrogant for us to think we know, for absolute that certain things are hurting our earth or to be absolute about anything concerning the earth. It's a bit like carbon dating, which by the way has flaws. Although the theory of radiocarbon dating is interesting, there are several inherent problems with the process. The first of these problems is the fact that the original ratio of carbon and radioactive carbon is unknown. The second problem is that the possibility of contamination of the sample over time is quite high. The older the sample the higher the probability of contamination. What this means is that using carbon dating to date very old samples is really quite impractical given our current level of knowledge and technological capabilities. So to are the arguments about car emissions. Why? A gallon of gasoline turns into 20 pounds of CO2. Average car drives 15,000 miles a year and gets 30 mpg (my estimates, might be a little high on the mpg estimate)15,000 miles /30mpg = 500 gallons of gasoline a year * 20 pounds = 10,000 lbs of CO2 a year. A cow produces up to 90kg of methane a year. Methane is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide 90 kg * 2.2 lb/kg = 200 lbs of methane * 20 = 4,000 lbs of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases. A car emits 2.5 times as much greenhouse gases as a cow. Amazing that a cow emits that much and yet gets very little talk in terms of environment impact.
Let's talk about those individuals putting these concerts on, and going on talk shows etc. I think we all know there is a need to get our use under control, if for nothing else, just to stop being so wasteful and self gratifying. I am all for going as natural, chemically free as possible, and trying to limit the amount of damage to our earth. If you want to make a difference, change the way you live and others will see and make changes. It's cheaper and it hold true credibility versus concerts and all the hype. But what is their real motive? If they really want to help, how about putting some of the millions they make and giving it ANONYMOUSLY to the cause or for further studies to use a more natural approach to energy or gas. I guess I don't see all of the people that stand up for these causes changing their lifestyles to support that which they say they support.
I guess my point is, if people truly have a heart to better things, they usually do it without looking for a pat on the back, for acknowledgment or for that matter the need for millions to know, " they support this cause". There are many ways to get out information to everyone to get them informed. It also isn't necessary to let them know who it's from. If the true intention is to get people educated, than educate. If the motive is to also elevate yourself I think that becomes evidently clear, as in this case. Just my opinion.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Just a thought...

Making your past a present reality

When I think back, my mind takes me back to a time when things seemed a lot simpler. Why does the past always seem less rushed, less materialistic, less everything but rich in memories? Maybe it's because we were young and lived with our own perception of what the world was. I mean when I was 5 years old my biggest concern was playing with Barbie dolls. When I became a teenager I was consumed with being an adult, making my own decisions and getting out on my own. Now that I'm on my own and have been for 18 years +, I long for the days of the less paced lifestyle. The time to sit and day dream of what the future holds. To put it plainly; just have a relaxed spirit. A spirit that can sit, think and ponder without the distraction of my mind rushing to the grocery list, the kids activities and let's not forget the guilt trips we take ourselves on daily.I say all this not in sadness, but in a posture of wanting to obtain this lifestyle again. Not to live in a memory, but to put my foot down and say, "No more!", I will not concede to what the world deems a successful person. The commercial that is and will be forever embedded in my brain is the one that shows a linen closet with neatly folded towels and then the camera pans out to a beautiful outside seashore and it says,"your kids won't remember the neatly folded towels in the linen closet..."
Just a thought...

When I think back, my mind takes me back to a time when things seemed a lot simpler. Why does the past always seem less rushed, less materialistic, less everything but rich in memories? Maybe it's because we were young and lived with our own perception of what the world was. I mean when I was 5 years old my biggest concern was playing with Barbie dolls. When I became a teenager I was consumed with being an adult, making my own decisions and getting out on my own. Now that I'm on my own and have been for 18 years +, I long for the days of the less paced lifestyle. The time to sit and day dream of what the future holds. To put it plainly; just have a relaxed spirit. A spirit that can sit, think and ponder without the distraction of my mind rushing to the grocery list, the kids activities and let's not forget the guilt trips we take ourselves on daily.I say all this not in sadness, but in a posture of wanting to obtain this lifestyle again. Not to live in a memory, but to put my foot down and say, "No more!", I will not concede to what the world deems a successful person. The commercial that is and will be forever embedded in my brain is the one that shows a linen closet with neatly folded towels and then the camera pans out to a beautiful outside seashore and it says,"your kids won't remember the neatly folded towels in the linen closet..."
Just a thought...

Living with the Spirit of Accusation....

If you are a Christian and been around the church for any length of time, you have heard about "generational curses". If not, the term "generational curse" means that there are behaviors that seem to follow from say, your parents family to yours and from your parents family to theirs, etc. For example; your moms dad physically abused your mom, and your dad's dad physically abused his mom, etc. Most people want to stop that cycle as to not carry it to their family and into their kids family's. That is, if you are aware of the destructive behavior and sometimes the behavior isn't quite that overt. It may just be anger, which we can justify in our minds so we don't look at that as a destructive behavior. Their is a time for anger, but we are asked not to sin in the midst of our anger, and that can be hard to do.
During the church service yesterday, Tom was talking about, living with the spirit of accusation, something became more clear to me. I looked my generational stuff as an action that I needed to break, but it is a whole lot more than that. It is wanting to acknowledge, committing to prayer and putting before God the "Goliath" in my life or for most of us, the plural "Goliaths". You know in the bible that Goliath taunted and eventually wore down the his enemies. David on the other hand didn't listen to him and killed him with a stone.
So I guess what we need to keep in mind, if we want true freedom for ourselves and our families is this: Being open and trusting that our Lord will show us where the accusation in our lives began, when we came into agreement with the accusation. We then need to come against the accuser(satan) in our life with Gods truth, and when we finally do that our Lord will come and defend us and say to the enemy(satan), game over, you can no longer accuse because they know now the truth of who they are in Me.
I couldn't think of a better defense attorney than God.

Just a thought...

Standing Firm...

It says in the bible I believe about 35 times something pertaining to "standing firm". God doesn't seem all that interested in us..."taking ground". The bible does mention times when the Lord asks for us to take ground, but again He asks and has prepared the way for His plan to work for His Glory. I believe also out of His love and desire for the unsaved to know Him. It is in His mercy as well.
I think He is so interested in us standing firm, because in order to stand firm we need to trust in His truth and in Him. It is in these times that we have to get down on our knees and walk in His strength. It becomes, if you will, a battle between our flesh and His truth. For most of us, it is a battle of our head and heart. If you just have alot of head knowledge and haven't allowed to Lords love to permeate your heart, then often times we do, "what we think is right", not necessarily what Gods plan is. But in His great love for us, He understands our heart posture pertaining to our actions and that's where grace takes place.
So I ask you to go and spend some quiet time with the Lord and ask Him to bring about some revelation to these questions:
Is He asking you to stand firm or take ground? Are you in a spiritual battle? How can you bring glory to God in the midst of your situation?
I believe the Lord longs to have us hear Him and the bible says that we are to petition him endlessly until answered. So let's get persistent.

Just a thought....

Head versus Heart...

Something I read over the past few months really made me stop, think and to dig deeper. For those of us who believe in God the question becomes this, do we really believe that He is all powerful, all knowing, just and sovereign? A few months back I would've said without a doubt yes. And like so many other Christians who believe in our heads things about God to be true, we have yet to let it sink into our hearts. You know REALLY believe it. I was faced with my head versus heart a while back when the war started. Now before I continue, I don't care to debate the War in Iraq because I think one can make a case for either side. When the war started I was all for it. I mean, the oppressed people, living conditions that are far beyond what I can imagine and senseless killing of men,women and children. Who wouldn't want to go save the day and help those people. And the little I saw in India with the impoverished families, I had a tiny glimpse into what the conditions where there.
It wasn't until as of late that I read something by Brennan Manning that tugged at my heart. The questions raised in my mind and by others warranted some bible quest and a one on one with God. Some of the things raised were, do you ever notice that there are no wars in the New testament? I for one never noticed that. Then I wondered, why is that? Then reading the New testament over and over I realized that the emphasis is on prayer, letting go of pride, our agendas, loving others and understanding that He provided us power over our sin and our enemies. He shows us that it's not by our strength but by His strength. It's not by our grace but by His grace given to us.
So my quest led me to thinking not so much whether the war was right or wrong but did we as Christians miss a great opportunity to let our God's power be shown. What would it say to the world if the president of the United States of America went on national television and said, "We as a nation will be praying and fasting for Iraq so that our God can display His will and power, not ours." vengeance is His says the Lord. I kind of feel like God sat up there and was saying, "hey you guys, why don't you ask me to help. I mean I really have a great plan for all this that will bring about the gospel and will glorify me. I mean the whole world is watching, this is a great opportunity to spread the gospel to all the nations." And in sense I felt like we said, that's ok God we got it. You step aside and we'll handle it our way. Prayer is highly undervalued in the Christian world today and looking back also in my own life, but it's never to late to change that.

Just a thought.....

Rule of thumb for survival…

In any survival class one thing they teach is, “stay put” if you find that you’re lost. I find that is also the case, most times, in our Christian journey.
The idea behind staying put when you realize your lost is so that rescuers have a better chance of finding you. Think of it this way: If an ordinary business card represents the size of the search area within the first few hours, then a search mounted several hours later could be represented by an area the size of a newspaper!
How does this parallel with our Christian journey? In the scriptures the phrase,”stand firm” is said 35 times. In Matthew it is stated, “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”. And in Luke it is stated,” By standing firm you will gain life”. This seems really important to God. It seems to be relevant to our survival. It’s like He’s giving us a strategy to overcome life’s battles. When the enemy comes if we don’t stand firm, the ground that we’ve taken can be taken back from us. Again, I think it comes to the fact that it’s by God’s strength not ours and by His power not ours.
I can’t count how many times I felt Him telling me to wait, “stand firm Georgi”, but I didn’t listen. Instead I run ahead trying to find my way only to fall down the mountain side. I have learned in my 9 years in this journey not to take that path of certain death or injury, and be patient in waiting on the Lord for the next move. I’m not successful every time but more often, or at least I catch myself before falling down the mountain side. I just know God was sitting there saying, ‘wait Georgi, it’s dangerous. You don’t know the terrain like I do.” But in my immaturity and adolescence in the Lord I couldn’t hear or thought I could do it myself.
I say all this in part because it’s not a popular concept to not do anything, but if we would sit, process and stand firm more often, I would venture to say there would be less broken relationships including the one with ourselves.
Just a thought…