365-10 #23 : "Alexr's Birthday"

365-10 #23, originally uploaded by Aldakila.

It's my eldest's Birthday - 18 years old Today...

His Last Birthday was hard...

...He's been home a few months now - but still its a challange for all those who care about him...

Prayers

- A xxx -

Hogmanay 2009

The blog below is from last Hogmanay - But has (somewhat bewilderlingly) been one of my most popular posts, having been viewed by someone every week of 2009.

Only one other has been more popular, which I shall post (in edited form) tomorrow. 


The sentiments of this post below still ring true - so Why Not?!


So, Blessings & Prayers for 2010 - from me to you. xxx

------

Its Hogmanay!!!

So Happy Ne'erday when it comes...

(Don't really see the point to New Year Celebrations - never really been all that comfortable with the logic of it even as a very young child - always seems maudlin & a feeble excuse to get drunk)

But still - I'll not spoil what is for some is a fab excuse for a big party / small family gathering or whatever life brings you...

Glasgow Hogmanay 2007/8 (Runrig just after 'the bells')



Edinburgh Hogmanay 2007/8 (Fireworks across city)




Some Fab Hogmanay TV from my Childhood...
(for Salvationists - the last 30/40seconds are very funny)



Though, finally I offer up, right now, prayers for those who want or need Gods Comfort & Grace, in whatever situation or 'celebration' you find yourself the Holy Spirit & God's blanket of love will surround you & warm you. You are never alone - God's there walking beside you & me

"Lang may yer lum reek"

Thought 2009/11: May God Bless You With Discomfort

This prayer is, apparently from a Franciscan Benediction:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Saw it online (as most things I do) at an excellent website, I've just recently saved to my Google Reader.

It has made be think - but how do you become empowered or even empower others , to act on these words?

For me, for now, I got to pray this one out for a while...

Not just for 'you' but for 'me' too...

"May God bless you & I with discomfort... May God bless all of us with discomfort..."

Thought 2009/7: We Are All Saints

Yes, we are.. All Saints (not the girl group - Silly!)

Your deeds in God's Name & in God's Image - As We Are ALL Made - don't need to be flashy or public. It can be as simple as a smile, a willing ear, or a shoulder to cry on.

If the deeds/actions are public or flashy, in my opinion, they should reflect on Jesus' example & NOT on you.
They should show you're following in Jesus' path not creating one of your own. Yes even food parcels, famine relief, or eradicating a disease!

You deserve the recognition no doubt about that, but only if its done in junior partnership with God... Only with acknowledgment to God in all steps along the way...

Something, we all should attempt to do & try to remember.

Anyhoo, the reason for this short rambling was inspired by this cartoon from ASBO Jesus:



Indeed Saints occupy all life!!

Easter Sunday - Bible

1 Peter 2:21-25 (The Message)

^21-25This is the kind of life you've been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived.

He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.



He never did one thing wrong, Not once said anything amiss.


They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back.


He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right.

He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way.

His wounds became your healing.

You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going.

Now you're named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.

Good Friday - Picture

Close-up Wooden Cross @ Erskine S.A, originally uploaded by Aldakila.

Thought 2009/5: Great Love

Following on from my previous thought is Corinthians 13 in its entirety allowing verses 6 & 7 to be seen in context There are 3 Translations here as I gleaned something different from each, I hope that you do too.

I feel that the words are not only speaking of our love for God, Christianity & our fellow men (human race in general) ; But also of our love for those individuals we come into contact with in our daily lives...


Wife, Husband, Daughter, Son Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Grandmother, Grandfather, Uncle, Aunt & so on...

Boss, Colleague, Customer, Coffee-Shop Assistant, Lunch Lady, Teacher, Janitor, Minister & I'm sure there are more you could think of...

Anyone who influences & impacts your life; Anyone whose life you impact & influence...

What about... Drunk, urine soaked, sweat oozing, vomit covered, blood caked, pus infected... Wait...No cant you imagine coming across anyone like this & loving them?

Let me help...
Drunk, urine soaked, sweat oozing, vomit covered, blood caked, pus infected...
Wife
Husband
Daughter
Son
Boyfriend
Girlfriend
Teacher
Minister
... They are someone important in someones life! Think About It...

Actions are more powerful than any beautiful eloquent words, so they say, true but... If the words aren't uttered with love they are nothing, if the actions aren't carried out in love they are nothing!

Without Love We Are Empty & Soulless? Love for those we spend our life with, is no more important than our love for everything in our lives!

Love isn't just for celebrating & showing to those we want to spend our lives with on February 14th..

But is for Every Day of Every Year to Everyone?!

To paraphrase: "Just as a puppy isn't just for Christmas ... Love isn't just for Valentines!"


God asks, wants & demands of us to do everything with & in love following his example of actions & reading his words:


LOVE is...

(New International Version)

1 Corinthians 13

Love

¹If I speak in the tongues^a]">[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^b]">[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

(The Message)

1 Corinthians 13

The Way of Love

¹ If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. ²If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. ^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

^8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹²We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

(New Living Translation)

1 Corinthians 13

Love Is the Greatest

¹ If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;^a]">[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

⁸ Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages^b]">[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! ⁹ Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! ¹⁰ But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. ¹² Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.^c]">[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

...GOD is LOVE

Thought 2009/4: Love

The "Verse of the Day" from Bible Gateway was from 1 Corinthians 13: 6-7 & speaks of Love...

Having read several translations of the same verses (on the Bible Gateway site) I realised that:

Firstly - Love is so simple from God's perspective {looking outward perhaps} & as people we make it so complicated {maybe by looking inward at ourselves}

So really the word love has been hijacked & used in a way so that it suits each individuals singular purpose ~ my detailed thoughts on that are for another time, perhaps?


Secondly - I got something different from each translation I read - but all were leading to same message needing to be heard...


So I leave you with that-> Many Translations of the same message...




Love Is...

1 Corinthians 13:6-7

(New International Version)

⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

(New American Standard Bible)

⁶^A)">(A)does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but ^B)">(B)rejoices with the truth;

⁷^C)">(C)bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

(The Message)

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

(Amplified Bible)

⁶It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

⁷Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

(New Living Translation)

⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

(Contemporary English Version)

⁶Love rejoices in the truth,

but not in evil.

⁷Love is always supportive,

loyal, hopeful,

and trusting.

(New King James Version)

⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

(Worldwide English (New Testament))

⁶Love is not glad when people do wrong things. But it is always glad when they do right.

⁷Love forgives everything. Love is always trusting, and always hoping, and never gives up.

...God is Love

There are NO Words?

This blog, is probably the hardest thing I have ever publically written:

There are no words…

(This blog entry has evolved over the last 4hrs {I kept walking away from it!} as I have written it has gone from something that was mine –so I thought- into something bigger than me… It is – what it is) No apologies if it seems incoherent but, I make less sense than God!

My #1 Son is 17 today, almost to the minute as I begin writing this in fact!

He was born at fourteen minutes past one in the morning, on Thursday 23rd January 1992. When I saw him for the 1st time, well there are no words to describe the emotions & level of love, that I felt in those seconds & minutes that followed, for him & my then wife.

A lot of time has passed since then, a lot of life for him, & my 2 other children (his younger brother & sister) as well as me, has been lived since then. Not all of it good, not all of it easy, & some of it, more than children should have to witness or endure! Separation & divorce can be messy. There are no words to describe the pangs of pain I feel, when I, somewhat inevitably, look back over some of it.

The detail is unimportant & perhaps for some would be unfair/unpalatable to be aired so publically. The past is important, but only as a starting place for our future (for what is to come). We should learn from it & acknowledge it. But never carry it with us as ammunition or baggage. There are no words that could explain how hard that is to do sometimes. (Especially if, at the time, that is what is being done to you)

As a Dad, I haven’t always got it right & sometimes got it really badly wrong! (Especially in that “past”) But I can (mostly) accept that & (mostly) forgive myself. This is because my 3 weans (kids) have told me that its ok, there’s nothing to forgive & that I’m a good Dad really! (They’re teenagers!)

Ok, I realise I was going to go on & on trying to explain more, without giving details.

But that is firstly, fruitless & superfluous.

Secondly, completely impossible without being public & personal.

Thirdly, oh so, a BIG mistake!

Those paragraphs are deleted & gone, as well as any obviously personal details. (before being published)

The long & the short of it becomes this then:

As a parent, it becomes hard to accept, as your children become more independent:

That a lot of the time you will be a bystander & a supporter standing on the sidelines, in their life. Now I can live with & adapt to that. But you also have to be, I think, sure in yourself (as a good parent) that in reaching that point that you’re now, in the majority a supporter/bystander, has come at the right age? For my parents I reckon it came when I was 18 (they might argue otherwise). But for every child & parent it will be different & in there lies my dilemma & possibly my reason for creating this blog entry…

I (as well as other family members & friends) haven’t really seen my #1 son, much since May 2008. He kind of (quite unexpectedly) drifted away. From then until now we have come across each other maybe on average 2 times a month (that’s about 16 times) Sometimes its been for seconds or minutes on a bus – sometimes its been for most of a day, like at parents on Christmas Day. Sometimes I know where he is staying (usually when he’s at his Mum’s) but most of the time no-one does & that is extremely hard.

I can understand, he feels he is ready to face this world alone & maybe, I concede, he is right. But not perhaps, if those who were important supporters (on whatever scale) in his life, before May last year are all now bystanders.

I don’t want to make this blog entry - inappropriate, publically humiliating & misguided – so I wont (& wouldn’t)

I have realised why this blog entry exists, because my eldest son is 17 today & that has made me think about this situation in a different way that, I perhaps have been avoiding. Its called giving it all to God (My biggest supporter). Something I now must do…

So, I want others to know that, I believe, everything in life happens for a reason. There are no coincidences only ‘God-instances’. I have faith & believe that God will be there in all the good & bad times of my life. But God is there acting in all our lives you just have to look to see his effect in your world (He’s your biggest supporter). That’s where faith comes in…

I have just remembered this: A handful of years ago, a man who I had only met a few days before (& haven’t seen since) came & sat beside me. He didn’t know much about me other than; We were on the same course, both went to church in The Salvation Army, & that he needed to talk to me! We had a long conversation (most of which I now don’t remember) at a point in the course when we had the afternoon off. So instead of spending a summers afternoon with his wife he spent it with me! But I needed it & God had told him so! Most of what he said that afternoon, has long since faded… But the line that lived with me was (is) “Let Go-Let God”. Easily said & with enough faith equally easily done…

I don’t always have enough faith (FYI! Christians are human!) so letting go of a struggle or hurt isn’t always 1st thing on the agenda all the time! Plus God gave everyone free-will, that can make things a bit complicated & messy at times! I suppose that’s what my #1 son is expressing at the moment – so as much as I don’t like his choices in life & the effect that has… I have got to trust God.

God is always there in my son’s life waiting for him to see that what he has planned out is nowhere as fantastic, compared to God’s life plan for him! That realisation for my son may come tomorrow, next year or never…

Let Go-Let God… Because I must! I cannot live my son’s life for him – that would be a massive mistake – he needs to find his way. I can be a supporter only if he wants me to be. So for now I remain a bystander to my precious precious son. I may not always be comfortable with that, but I don’t remain the only supporter. My family & friends are supporters too & will be there for him when/if he is ready. Above all that is his biggest supporter of all – God.

So… happy 17th Birthday to my #1 son (as in 1st born) & I pray you know that your supporters are here for you.. Thank you God for being there for him, even if perhaps your unwanted. I may worry about ‘my boy’ but hey I’m Dad… but I worry a lot less because God’s on my side & supporting me & my son (I wouldn’t want to be on the other team!)

Some people may think this blog entry to be misplaced & should have remained unwritten. Perhaps your right & your very entitled to that opinion. But I didn’t set out to write this, at all, or in the way it turned out…

It is-what it is. I don’t understand why – something had to be said & apparently its been said here. Take from it what you will. I ask for your prayers & understanding.

Trust me pressing publish for this blog entry is not taken easily or lightly at all ~ so be gentle?

Its now after 5 in the morning so I concede & retire for a few hours sleep…

~ A xxx ~

Thought 2009/3: Yes We Can...Have A Dream

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

-Martin Luther King jr (Washington DC 1963)

~

Expectations are High that 1 man can Change The World ~ President Obama is just that... A Man.
Man alone will NOT Change The World!!

Matthew 19:26....
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (NIV Bible)

"No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it." (The Message Bible)

These are just my thoughts, the potential is limitless, the level of change needed (In USA & around this Earth) is achievable ... The Excitement is almost palatable! Something indeed might be 'Blowing in the wind'; The world of politics globally might be about to shift on its axis for the better... How Great That Would Be!!

BUT all this, can be & will be, short lived if we look only to Obama & those like him (now & in the future) & even worse put them on a pedestal. A Throne of Possibilities is nothing with a man sitting on it...

God Already Has A Throne - He's at the Centre - Waiting...
Yes We Can... Have A Dream
With God at the Centre


!YES!
Even The Impossible Task Obama is being expected to do!!!

Obama Election Win 2008



Text of I Have A Dream with Music



Entire I Have A Dream Speech (as shown on TV in 1963) 17+ mins long

Thought 2009/2: Relationship NOT Religion

CityWest Church (Austrailia), originally uploaded by Aldakila.

CityWest Church (Austrailia):

Love their credo -Relationship NOT Religion-

A move in the right direction I feel...

Looks like the right attitude for Christ-Followers
(More authentic/truthful than saying Christian?)

CityWest Church is not a building, not a religious gathering, not a platform for a man nor contained to a Sunday. We are a people who love Jesus, serve Him as we serve those in our culture, united by Him as a family and live life empowered to give away to the world what God has given us.

:How CityWest Church describe themselves on their Website

Now that's also something I can relate to desiring for all...

Thought 2009/1 Good Mantra?…

Thought for 5th December 2008: The Salvation Army @ Christmas

This Should be shown Everyday on every TV Channel-From Now until Day After Christmas....
Can't remember last time I saw The Salvation Army UK advertise on TV?
In Canada & USA they seem to all the time... Deeper Pockets & Better Resources perhaps...

Quick Halloween Thought

As Christians should we be marking Halloween?

....its a complicated one..
I remember looong discussion with my Officers (Salvation Army ministers) few years ago (they were English & very anti-Halloween {as per American traditions that have filtered over here}-reason why i saying that will become obvious)

I explained to them:
In Scotland "Guising" has long been a tradition dating back over 200yrs & comes with very different traditions than modern Halloween (which has it origins more in spirits & dark tales) Also 'Guisers' could also be found out & about on New Years Eve (Hogmany in Scotland) so it almost totally not about Hallow's Eve at all!

Read More...

http://www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow_halloween.htm

http://1st-halloweencraft.blogspot.com/2008/06/halloween-and-halloween-craft-guising.html



"Guising" was about children having fun & spending time with family & close friends (your neighbours mostly) I remember it being just that as a child...

I think if churches & christian families emphasise the fun & family side (Guising?) and don't show it as anything else (Halloween?) then children shouldn't need to feel their faith is excluding them from having fun!?
Not sure ministers totally agreed (but saw that many Scottish people saw it as something different from "Halloween" - All Hallow's Eve...)

WE had a "Light Party" instead that year - not sure that sent any obvious message to kids (except perhaps, as 1 of mine said at time, {they were early primary age} "if you're a Christian & go to church, Halloween is evil & we can't have fun!)"

Nuff said perhaps?

OOH sorry I ranted :-)

Jesus Liberation Template

Following on from my Blog "Essential Word on The Street" & the buzz I got from listening to the audiobook read by the author Rob Lacey. I wanted to find a excerpt to just show how much of a passionate revolutionary he was, but in absence of that I found this video of him reading a section from his book. (I think it certainly portrays his passion! As well as his bravery! If only most Christians were like him?!)






This 2nd video is a short interview Rob Lacey gave after The Street Bible (now The Word on The Street) was published. It gives just a small insight to his motivation & life story (including his battle with cancer, which he eventually lost in 2006).

As someone has said (probably many times) 'your story & my story are important' on helping everyone on their christian journey.
Its certainly part of the 'Jesus Revolution Template' of living & sharing your faith.

Which, I believe, Rob Lacey did exactly as God had intended....

In my post back on 2nd June I said I would comment on the photos I posted.

Well I've decided I'm not going to say anything really about the 'Blood & Fire' Flag photo - other than, it's a close up of a portion of our Erskine Salvation Army Corps Flag. To comment as I intended doesn't seem so appropriate as it did.
But feel free to comment instead.

The Second photo of an 'Empty Hall' is of Erskine Corps with the partition wall open, showing both the "Worship Hall" (to the front) & the "Small Hall" (to the rear).
Although I know the reality of this photo (as I took it) it struck me afterwards (& even now a year later) that it says so many things on numerous levels!

Does This Photo say? -

• wishful thinking?
• the raw reality of a Christian church in the 21st Century?
  
• a challenge for those Christians that do go here?
• if you build it they will come? (probably not!?)
  
• God saying I'm Here - Where are You?

I could go on (& almost did!) But I wont; I'm sure you could come up with more of your own - please do.

I don't have the answers, only the questions - perhaps that's how it should be?
I would suggest that the answers lies within all of us - But only if we're hearing them (seeking them) from God?