Lent

12 02 2008

Jesus on Cross - LentIt’s a week into Lent now and following my decision to give up breakfast and evening snacks for 40 days, so far so good. Before becoming a Christian I did not really understand the true meaning of Lent; basically a second opportunity for those who had failed in their New Year’s resolutions to get it right this time was probably a fair estimate of my thoughts on the subject.  But trust me when I say that after a week of putting my faith in God to replace me with what I have chosen not to indulge in means that  I am fully signed up to Lent.

Definition of Lent:

“The 40 day period immediately preceding Easter Sunday. For the Christian Church, a time of preparation and repentance prior to the celebration of Easter.”

It was amazing when I did a search on a definition for Lent and realised that even the definitions out there on places like Wikipedia.or Google Definitions are not really showing the full picture. I am undertaking Lent as an opportunity to thank the Lord for being great and thanking him for providing us at times when we thought there was no way out, for instance debt. We did a tally up a little while ago and realised that we had 8 big debts outstanding. Putting this bluntly that equates to 8 sins in our life on a daily basis, and that’s before we have even got out of bed! So since the beginning of 2008 we have been putting our finances to God and asking him for both help and understanding in this period. Once again God has answered our prayers and helped us clear 6 of these sins in just 2 months. Thank you God. Amen.

One final thought about the period of Lent that definitions don’t discuss – During this period we should remember the fact that Jesus carried that cross in order for us to continue to sin today!





Blog Award

11 02 2008

I have entered the site into another blog award! To me it’s not about the winning, but an opportunity to compare how my site sits against other Christian websites. If you think the site is ok, why not give me a vote.

Click here to vot at the Bloggers Choice website.





Doing the maths for Easter!

8 02 2008

MathsHave you ever wondered why Easter never falls on the same day each year, well I think I may have found the mathmatical reason. If anyone can translate this then please feel free to comment back. Click here to find out more.





Earth at Night

29 01 2008

What a great picture this is, earth at night. Without doubt a good bit of Photoshop stitching but still quite thought provoking. My first reaction was to try and identify some of those dots which appeared in areas I did not even know existed!

My second thought was how much space this world actually has to offer us. God made this planet with different climates and terrains to suit everybody’s needs and desires, but looking at maps like this makes me realise how simple man can be. We build colonies around each other and fight for land with extortionate amounts of money, but when push comes to shove, we like our own little space. The two most saturate locations on the map are Japan and UK, and as super states with limited geographic space this is kind of understandable. But it goes to show how we depend on jobs, modern technology and companionship!

(Click on map to enlarge)

Eart at Night





Gifts of the Holy Spirit

26 01 2008

A Spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (2 Corinthians 12:8)

Holy Spirit GiftsSince my baptism I have been praying for the Holy Spirit to fall within me and provide me with the ability of speaking in tongues. I know you should be careful for what you pray for, but I feel that this ability would take me to the next stage of being a Christian and would also build a hotline directly to God. I found out the other day that there are actually nine gifts that can fall on you and they are grouped in three’s. I have referenced examples in brackets.

Gifts of Revelation

Wisdom (Proverbs 4:7)
Knowledge (2Kings 6:9)
Discerning of Spirits (1 John 4:1)

From what I can gather (and read), these three gifts have to be used carefully. They can effectively make or break a person’s spirit and change the course of life for them forever. The Word of Wisdom and Knowledge can be quite vague in their offering whereas Discerning of Spirits will normally focus on a particular individual.

Gifts of Power

Faith (Matthew 11:14)
Working of Miracles (Exodus 14:21)
Healing (Matthew 8:8)

To me the gift of Faith and Miracles are like trying to describe the difference between Power and Authority. There is a thin line between the two and without doubt can cause confusion.

Gifts of Inspiration

Prophecy (1Corinthians 14:3)
Speaking in Tongues (1Corinthians 14:2)
Interpretation of Tongues (Acts 2:4)

From developing an understanding of the nine different gifts, it has now broadened my knowledge and means that I will be praying for the ability to speak in Tongues, but also asking the Lord to provide any gifts he feels that will best suit me.

How about you, do you have any Holy Spirit gifts and how do you use them in your daily life?