My spiritual journey

I have never been good at keeping a journal, but I have decided to start one today and will use this blog as my notebook to write entries, not likely on a daily basis as I am not that disciplined yet, but as often as I can. As we drove to Winnipeg this past weekend we were talking about God, and how he leads us, and directs our paths, and sometimes we don't see the whole picture until we look back and see what happened. Maybe this way I can look back at my journal and see how God moved to guide and direct me over the next few years.

Supreme courts decision to legalize gay marriage

It is not only amazing how time flies as you get older but also how times change and how quickly they change. It was interesting watching the online news on CNN last week when the early top stories in the morning were three separate terrorist attacks which soon became secondary stories after the supreme courts decision to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states. I was also amazed on Facebook the posts of rainbows or support, etc for the decision. You would think everyone was waiting for the announcement as it seems from all the posts on FB that more than half of the nation came out of the closet as gay. I thought about posting something to the contrary but decided against as all it would do is create arguments. You can't argue with a non Christian about what the Bible says. The Bible is for Christians, not for non Christians, so any argument you have against the decision will not even be seen as relevant to them.

As I thought more about the supreme courts decision to legalize gay marriage, I thought of Sodom and Gomorrah and how judgment for them will be easier than for us. I also thought, "Why are people so pro-gay". The only answer I could come up with is that now we have permission to sin. The Supreme Court says it is okay, we can do what we want to do, and it is legal.
At some point (and I am sure it will not be too far off) churches and pastors will be going to court because they will refuse to marry these people. There will always be that one person/couple who wants to pursue it right up to the supreme court that "it is their right to be married in a church", if only to make a statement, not that they care anything about God or the church. We are a society run by social media and whatever the majority sees as what should be allowed. The government, wanting the peoples votes, and the church, wanting the people in the pews, will unfortunately bend the rules or water down the Gospel in order for this to happen. What's next?
News flash to the future. July 30th, 2025, CNN reports Polygamy legalized in all 50 states. You can marry multiple partners, male, female or whatever. Next news flash ten years later, 2035, the Supreme Court says it is okay for pet lovers to marry their pets. I know you are thinking, "Now you are getting carried away". Well I guess we will wait and see, after all, look back even 30 years ago and see how far we have fallen to this day.

Time for a change

I started a new blog recently, an anonymous one, one where I can vent about things I believe in and have been thinking about, but know that if I published on here, I might lose friends because they don't agree with what I think. So for those, if there are any on here who follow this blog, I likely will not be posting here very much, if at all, as I just feel the need to be more open and honest about stuff, (kind of like I was when I first started blogging years ago.
I think what started all this was Facebook and social media in general. Honestly, society today seems to be run more by social media than what is actually deemed as wrong or right. We live in a more popularity society, and if you don't agree with that than we tend to be in the minority and are certainly told about it when we post in disagreement to others. It is a popularity contest.
So thanks for taking the time to read this blog.

• 
  

What you see, is not necessarily what you get!

As you can see I have posted two pictures in this blog entry, both taken less than 30 seconds apart and the first picture very much included in the second picture. If you look at the first one of the grass you would think that possibly I just took a picture by mistake as the camera was pointed down, however there is a purpose to this picture of grass. As I was in church this am I thought about how we (people in general) portray themselves to everyone else. If I sent you the above picture you would likely assume something like "Wow that is pretty amazing that there is no snow in Saskatchewan in mid March." However if I send you the below picture also you might think, "You were trying to trick me by sending only the first picture". 

We tend to be like this....maybe not intentionally tricking someone but only letting people see a small portion of who we really are, because if they saw all of us and what is really inside we might not have many friends. 

Take this as a reminder that what we see in people on the outside is very likely not everything they are on the inside. It is kind of sad that we can be more open with people we have never met than with people we have known a lifetime.

Really!!! That Matters!!!

Lately I have spent a lot of time thinking about the things we do and talk about, that, when you think about it, are so trivial and meaningless it makes me think we are no different than the Old Testament people of Israel who made their own gods to worship instead of God. A few things come to mind, and likely a few more will by the time I have finished this post...such as standing in line to be the first to watch the latest movie (and that gets you what?), or the way we pride ourselves in cheering for our sports team (sports has become such a big part of people's lives that God has been demoted to "when I have time"). We are now afraid to stand up for God for fear of being thought of as a self righteous looney. Christians are no longer respected for what they believe in. While most people are okay that we have an opinion, they do not want to hear us say "the Bible says".

I could state an opinion to someone and say that I think homosexuality is wrong, but if I back it up with the Bible they see you as homophobic or racist. Nowadays, it is better to be seen as a person who saves the dogs or animals (really, its an animal), we don't need people to be saved, as people are seen as capable of saving themselves (not in the spiritual sense) We have moved to the extreme of giving animals more rights than people. I am not an animal hater or lover, to me it is an animal, and in no way even compares to the worst of people.
It is not up to me to save the world, that is God's responsibility, mine is to be obedient. Sometimes it feels I just need to vent, and this blog/journal seems the perfect place for it.

Time with God

An area where I have wanted to grow in my spiritual life is spending time with God and prayer time. I have never been good in this area, certainly one of my weak points in my walk. It has been only recently that I have felt God's calling me to spend more time with Him. My prayer time with God would often consist of praying for others, or maybe things I needed, but never really "felt" like it was doing anything in my life. It was a rare occasion when I can actually say, "God spoke to me during that prayer time and said...". More often than not I wanted to hear Him say something, but as I look back it was more likely me thinking something that I hoped God was telling me. There have been a couple of occasions in the last two months where God has spoken to me. In late January I applied for a job that had become available, and thought I would love to work there even though it would involve a move more than 6 hours away. I emailed my son the next day and told him that I had applied for the job. He called that night and told me of their plans to move back to Winnipeg in the spring of 2015. I then thought, "How can I move to take up a job and be 6 hours away from him and his wife and soon to be born baby". The next day I emailed my son back and said I have decided to withdraw my resume from the position, hoping I would find something closer and not have to make the bigger move. I woke early the next morning (nothing new there) with a strong sense of God saying, "Do not withdraw your resume until the date for the job posting comes due". I prayed that God would make me more content with the job that I had, but over the next two weeks I was more and more discontent with my job. I knew then that God wanted me to let my resume stand for the position and knew that if God wanted me to move then I would get the job. By the end of February I was offered the job and received all that I had hoped for that came with it. This past week God spoke to me again, in the middle of the night. I wake up in bed quite a bit during my sleep, tossing and turning before deciding whether or not to get out of bed, even if it 3:00. I woke up and was thinking about prayer, about when our home here would sell and where we would live next. The thought of fasting came to mind,(something I have not done more than once in the last 30 years) so I brushed it off for a few minutes as I thought about all that needed to happen in the next few days before starting the new job. Again, the thought of fasting came, and this time I paid attention and prayed that "If you want me to fast, let the word fast be in my reading today". I have been reading the Daily Bible, reading the Bible through in one year. Today's reading included Psalm 109, and near the end of today's reading was the word fasting. I have to tell you, I was hoping it was not there, because I enjoying eating. I knew that God wanted me to fast, I did not know why, but I fasted, and prayed, and read that day. The house is still for sale, and there are still lots of family and friends who do not know Christ, but it was that step of obedience I took, moving in the direction God wants me to be.

Back in Regina again

It has been a couple of years since my last blog post, and I thought what better time to start than now. A couple of weeks ago I finished my job at Niverville Collegiate, and while I do not miss the job I do miss many of the staff that I worked with and for, and I will not forget them. So much has happened in the last 5 years since we moved from Regina to Steinbach. The two life changing events were the passing of my first wife Marlene in 2011 and getting married to Carmen in 2013. I have grown spiritually in these last 5 years and even wiser, although I still can be a pain in the neck at times ;) (another of my endearing qualities) :0 This Monday I am starting at a job I had 5 years ago, working as Custodian at Living Hope Alliance Church, and I am looking forward to it, as I know it will be challenging and I am also looking forward to working with some of the same people that were there when I left. Today I am feeling the challenge of having a home that is still for sale in Niverville and finding a place where we will likely spend the next ten years. We have one in mind that if all goes well, we hope to have an offer in this week. While I may not blog daily come along for the ride. Look forward to your comments and questions.