~ The Message of the Son ~

Comforting Words

2007-06-15T16:20:00.000-03:00

"But the Lord is the true God, the living God, the eternal king."
-Jeremiah 10:10

"Jesus said to her. "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will have life even if they die. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.""
-John 11:25-26

"God loved the world so much that he gave us his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life."
-John 3:16

"Brothers and sisters, think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and righ and pure and beautiful and respected."
-Phillippians 4:8

"If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things ahve gone: everthing is made new!"
-2 Corinthians 5:17

"Now you who are not Jewish are not foreigners or strangers any longer, but are citizens together with God's holy people. You belong to God's family."
-Ephesians 2:19

"You also are like living stones, so let yourselves be used to build a spiritual temple - to be holy priests who offer spiritual sacrifices to God. He will accept those sacrifices through Jesus Christ."
-1 Peter 2:5

"Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it."
-Hebrews 11:1

"God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but of a spirit of power and love and self-control."
-2 Timothy 1:7

Discover: Second Story

2007-04-09T15:43:00.000-03:00

I am slowly reading through the rest of the February Issue and I found another article that provoked some thought. It's The Discover Interview: Francis Collins (Interviewed by David Ewing Duncan). He is an American geneticist that is "raising eyebrowns by talking openly about his faith, as a true believer in stem cell research and as a devout Christian".
Here is a small excerpt from the piece (pages 44-47, 75.)
Duncan: A devoted Christian, Collins defends evolution and embryonic stem cell research. He dismisses religious extremists and scientist-atheists as equally shrill and believes that both sides push their beliefs on a public who prefers that science and religion remain separate.
Collins: "You use the tools of science to understand how nature works, but you also recognize that there are things outside of nature, namely God, for which the tools of science are not well designed to derive truth. The middle-ground position [between the view that there is only science and the idea that an intelligent being directs human affairs] is that there is more than one way to find truth, and a fully formed effort to try to answer the most imporant questions wouldn not limit you to the kidns of questions that science can answer, especially the eternal one: Why are we all here, anyway?"

Here is something that could be interesting for those who are unsure about their view on abortion:
Duncan: Do you believe that personhood begins at conception?
Collins: You mean, is that when we get a soul? Now we're into theology, and it's an area where science isn't really going to give you an answer. The only thing that science can say is that whatever line you draw between the fusion of sperm and eff and the birth of the baby is somewhat arbitrary. On the other hand, that doesn't prove that the soul exists right at the moment of fusion. Identical twins do not have the same soul, yet they started out as the same union of sperm and egg.

The issue of religion in today's society...
Duncan: Doesn't Scripture sometimes explicitly contradict science?
Collins: I don't find any troubling examples of that in the Bible, as long as you recognize that the point of Scripture was not to teach science.
Duncan: And yet people have been burned at the stake over this issue.
Collins: Before we start trashing religion, we should recognize that religion down through history has been misused by lots of people in terrible ways. But it's also done some profoundly good things. What has atheism done to help people? The worst examples of human carnage in the 20th century came from the atheist regimes of Stalin and mao. The principles of faith are generally altruistic, gentle, and loving. The problem is when someone takes those principles and twists them to suit their own purposes - that was the Inquistion, and that is the suicide bombers.

Thoughts, anyone?
Hannah.

Updated: Finally.

2007-04-05T19:54:00.000-03:00

I was reading Discover Magazine, a scientific journal today and I found an interesting article. I thought it might bring up some good discussion...
This is an excerpt from the February 2007 issue of Discover. The title of the article is Blinded By Science and is written by Bruno Maddox (presumably an atheist).

"For the record, I have even less patience now for the creationist agenda...because I now suspect that they don't really believe the falsehoods with which they are trying to flood the world. But at the same time I got the clear impression that they don't have any choice. I thought I was going to meet people who love God and therefore hate science. What I found instead were people who love God but who have at least a pretty serious crush on science as well, and thus find themselves in the...nightmare of waking up every day and trying to believe in both. They will - they must - spend their lives, and brains, trying to think of ways that patently false ideas can be made to seem, if not actually true, at least not quite so patently false. It is, I fear, a doomed exercise, but it's a heroic one as well, it pains me to admit.
...Day after day [creationist scientists] beat on, boats against the current of truth, borne back ceaselessly into being just completely, utterly wrong."

How can someone with such knowledge turn such a blind eye to all the information - all the proof - of God and Jesus. How can a journalist and scientist blatantly refuse to acknowledge that maybe, somewhere, God does exist? Is it our fault as Christians that this man, Bruno Maddox, has not been saved?

What are your thoughts?
Hannah.

Bible Basics

2007-01-07T18:15:00.000-04:00

Recently my eyes were opened to something that was so shocking to me, I didn't even remember that it existed.
When I was younger, of course when people asked me my religion I said "Christian". I went to church with my grandfather every time I was in Moncton! It wasn't untill pretty recently in my life that I discovered an entire other world of religion.
So I decided to post about some "Bible Basics" to try to encourage some of those people who may be confused about their faith, or people who have never really discovered anything about the religion they were brought up in. Here goes.

The Bible is divided into two halves, one called the New Testament and the other called the Old Testament. The New Testament is all about Jesus and His time spent here on earth. The Old Testament (which we share with the Jewish faith) talks all about God and His amazing powers and feats.
The Bible is also divided into books. They can be short or long, with one or more chapters. Within a chapter is a verse.
Okay, this can get pretty confusing, so here's an example.
The first book of the Bible is called Genesis. If you wanted to know what Genesis said in its first chapter, and the first verse of that chapter (the first words in the Bible), then you would write it like this : Genesis 1:1
Genesis, chapter 2, verse 17 would be Genesis 2:17.

There are many different translations of the Bible. Since the Bible was written so long ago, no one spoke English. So we had to translate the Bible from these old languages. Many different people and groups have printed their own translations over the years. The "standard" old translation (it's also TC's favourite) is called King James Version (KJV). Some other popular ones are New International Version (NIV), New King James (NKJV), and The Message (that one can sometimes be considered controversial, as it is mostly paraphrased).
So here's an example of one verse in some different translations:
Jerimiah 10:10
New International Version:
But the LORD is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
The Message:
But God is the real thing—
the living God, the eternal King.
When he's angry, Earth shakes.
Yes, and the godless nations quake.
King James Version:
But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

As you can see, they all say the same thing in a slightly different way. The entire reasoning for different translations is to make it easier for people to understand and really comprehend what God is trying to tell them through scripture.
(Scripture is another way to say "the Bible")

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the first books in the New Testament. Collectively they are called the "Gospels". I would suggest that if you want to start reading the Bible that you start off with the gospels, then move on to a later book in the New Testament like Acts, Romans or Revelation. After you could try an Old Testament book like Genesis or Psalms.

If you have any questions, make sure you leave a comment and I will do my best to try to answer them, and if I can't I'll make sure to point you towards someone who can.
All the best in your Bible endeavours.
Hannah.

2007

2006-12-29T23:50:00.000-04:00

It's almost 2007 people. That means we have to post on here more. Maybe we need a little publicity on this. So more people will read it other than just Hannah and myself. After all, a sandbox of any kind puts a little pep in your step! I'll be talking you y'all later then!Bye!

Love Meags

Would You Rather...

2006-12-29T23:39:00.000-04:00

Hey all! I thought it was definatly time for an update, and I have the perfect opportunity to get everybody involved! (Okay, I'm usually not this perky, and I have no idea what is wrong with me.)

I just bought this book called "More Would You Rather...?" by Doug Fields. It sounds really interesting and I thought it would be fun. (And yes, I really did pay money for this book.)
Here's a little exerpt from the intro...

Some questions in this book will inspire candid comments about normally guarded feelings...launch into a deeper follow-up question. Don't let your students off the hook too easily. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions.

I thought I should post one or two "Would you rather?"s every few days and let everyone share their opinions. Don't forget to articulate why you chose each answer, and feel free to ask other people follow-up questions too. Some of these can get pretty deep, but a lot are just a bunch of fun.
Oh, and yeah, I'm gonna comment on my own post cause I love these questions! :)

No. 2:
Be kissed by your mom in public or yelled at by your dad in private?

No. 26:
Live during Jesus' time or be alive when Jesus returns?

Hannah

Special Music

2006-10-14T18:32:00.000-03:00


Eli Brayley and Miles Lewis of Open Air Outreach play "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood" at ESFW Baptist Church followed by Eli singing an original song of his called "All We Like Sheep" based on Isaiah 53.

Swearing

2006-10-03T18:24:00.000-03:00

OK so I was sitting in the middle of writing class listening to all of these songs with a lot of swearing in them when I thought why. Why on earth do these famous people all see to believe that they must swear. Why does anyone think they must swear? Why do it? What's the point? I'd like your comments on this one guys. Personally, I don't see a reason why people should.

And another thing!

What makes swearing wrong? Who said they were bad words? Who are they to decide? What makes words right or wrong? Is it their definition? Because a lot of swear words have synonims with the same meaning that we use as a replacement. Why do we feel the need to say words we know we're not supposed to? Oh man. Hurry up and comment will you!

Love Meagan

The First Official Debate topic of Fall

2006-09-28T18:41:00.000-03:00

OK so we've had a few interesting...starters. But this one is for real. You can deal with your issues later we need a topic! So I don't know if any of you have ever read any of the Old Testiment but I have (well some of it). I'm currently making my way through 2 Samuel if anyone wants to join me. In any case.

Katie suggested that we disscuss the death penalty. So. Do you think it's right?

I really don't know what to say about this one. They are murderers and certainly deserve the worst. However, we have a just and forgiving God who is all about second chances. Some of them truely deserve another chance, they did change. Others cause people to fear for their lives once they hear they've been realsed from jail.

Or what about life sentance. I certainly wouldn't want to spend the rest of my days in a jail. I think I'd rather get the death penalty. But maybe that's the point, they're supposed to suffer. After all, I said just God not just government.

Well I'm clearly torn. What do you think about all this? leave a comment will ya?

love and prayers
Meags

Words

2006-09-22T19:15:00.000-03:00

"Your body is also not yours, it's like you're renting it from God." -TC

I just was re-reading some of TCs old blogs, and this sentence just popped from the page for me. It is really true.
You are paying for your body by living your life for Jesus. But the thing is, you can't make "payments" (you can't just go to church every Sunday), you have to LIVE his life. You have to pay for your room on earth by living for him, spreading his word, and helping others to live for him.

TC, you need to get back to blogging! Just start typing and usually things just flow.
That's really all I wanted to share with you guys.

Hannah

New Year

2006-09-21T17:29:00.000-03:00

Ok guys, lets get crackin' (ive always wanted to say that) ok, lol, ANYWAYS. I have a debate topic. Actually, i lied, i have 2, and you can just pick one.

The death penalty. Should murderers be killed? I think the death penalty is stupid. The guy killed someone, and a year later they say to get rid of him. Just because he killed someone doesnt give us the right to kill him back.

Another thing. Does God have a will for EVERYONE? I mean, We do have free will as you know, but, whats the point in even trying because he knows what your going to choose anyway. And when he takes you off the earth is it because he just gave up on you?! Everybody says that you need to find God and look for oppourtunities and stuff, but he forces himself on other people's lives!

i really do confuse myself

Football and Witnessing

2006-09-16T18:07:00.000-03:00

So this may seem a little weird to those who don't know me, but most of my thoughts come from things that seem unrealated. And this thought came from football.

So I was watching football a few moments ago, and I just thought: When you go in to tackle someone, you never wait for them to come to you, you go to them. You go and use your energy, to get to them. You drive to see them.
Is it not the same way with God and Witnessing? I mean, you can't just wake up one morning and say: "Yeah, I'm a Christian so I suppose I better tell someone about Jesus today." That doesn't work! You must go and persue someone. You must strive to be like Jesus, to be Godly, to purify your thoughts, to live for Him. You have to work and work and work at that! And you still may not get very far, but if you go, everyday, and pursue Him, then you will grow closer in your relationship with God. Just like how everyday you practice tackling, you will get better and better at it. You may not choose the right decision in every game, but in the end, through it all, you get better and you improve. With God, if you try to get better, try to stop sinning, you will be closer to Him. You will be more like Jesus. However you can never be perfect (just like even though you're the best player on your team, you still mess up sometimes).
What I am trying to say is that you can't let the world come to you, you can't wait for opportunities. You must seek out the world and create your own opportunities in everyday of your life.

Comment?!
Hannah

Stregnth

2006-08-29T21:12:00.000-03:00

I got this off of another blog. Courtney was a counsellor at Medley a few years ago, and anyone who knows me will say that Medley is a big part of my life and that I love it there. Anyway, I really liked this and I thought it might inspire some discussion:

I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining.
I believe in love
even when I feel it not.
I believe in God
even when He is silent.

(written on a wall in a concentration camp)

Hannah

Gone?

2006-06-30T15:57:00.000-03:00

As some of you know, I will be away for the month of July, but I will still be on here a couple times a week! I know Meagan probably won't be on the computer at all this summer and most other people have lives, but for anyone who doesn't, I really want to keep this blog and discussions going.

Okay, this is a broad spectrum, but what do you think about how only Christians can get into heaven? Should we feel remorse for our non-Christian friends? Should we not have friends of other beliefs? I know it is our job to spread the word about the Messiah, but how do you know when you are overstepping the boundries? I have friends of many different beliefs, and they are strong and truly believe in their religion, so who am I to say that they're wrong, that Christianity is the only way to go?

1 John 2:23
"Whoever does not accept the Son does not have the father."

Hannah

New Topic

2006-06-09T16:34:00.000-03:00

Just to stick with the season...

What do you guys think about exam exemptions? Pro/Con, reasons, advice, does it even matter?

No one likes stale bread, so don't let this blog go stale or unused either!

Hannah

Moving on

2006-05-30T18:26:00.000-03:00

Shall we move on to another topic or are we going to kill this one more than we already have (if thats even possible). And TC, im sorry.

Complaints

2006-05-30T16:04:00.000-03:00

Before I start, TC, don't have yourself a bird that I'm posting, and don't delete this, if you please.

I have some complaints . So here goes: TC, who is (are) the administrator(s) for this blog?Because I think its highly unfair that you have the power to delete our posts and comments whenever you please but we can't, If this is for ALL of us, then I think we should be able to all be administrator too. Now, TC, don't be offended but I've heard that you come across to some as very controlling and some of the things you have said, particularly on a certain comment Hannah wrote strike me as offensive.

"But a "post!" think of it as something someone would want to read" you said that to Hannah, what the frig is that supposed to mean? I for one, love to read Hannah's posts, because they are deep and make me THINK, not to mention they are funny. Correct me if I'm wrong but It seems that you were saying that no one would want to read hannah's comment. Or anything she writes for that matter.

sorry if I offended anyone.

NEXT TOPIC!?!?!?!??!

2006-05-23T20:13:00.000-03:00

WHAT!??!?! NO! No next topic not yet! We haven't discussed this what so ever! Here is a post i did in March!
Check it out first!

-T

Well, this is a very popular topic lately! And well, what are the questions?

- Are they born this way?

- What is the Science on this topic...?

- Will homosexuals make it into the Kingdom of heaven?

- Can they overcome this?

Here in Romans (1:18-32), every answer to these questions are here.

(Romans 1:18-32 - But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth from them. For the truth about God is known to them instinctively, God has put this knowledge in their hearts. Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse { when they stand before God at judgment Day.} Yes they knew about him alright, but they wouldn't admitit or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care. And after awhile they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead. And then, instead of worshiping the glorious, ever living God, they took wood and stone and made idols for themselves, carving them to look like mere birds and animals and snakes and puny men. So God let them go ahead into every sort of sex sin, and do whatever they wanted to- yes, vile and sinful things with eachother's bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they prayed to the things God made, but wouldn't obey the blessed God who made these things. That is why God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even their women turned against God's natural plan for them and indulged in sex with each other. And then the men, instead of having a normal sex relationship with women, burned lust for eachother, men doing shameful things with other men and as a result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved. So it was that when they gave up and would not even acknowlege him, God gave them up to doing everything their evil minds could think of. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting, lying, bitterness and gossip. They were backbiters, hatters of God, insolent, proud braggarts, always thinking of new ways of sinning and continually being disobedient to their parents. They tried to misunderstand, broke their promises, and were heartless-without pitty. They were fully aware of God's death penalty for these crimes, yet they went right ahead and did them anyway, and encouraged others to do them too.)

Homosexuals are not born this way, when you are born you know the Truth about God because " he has put it in your heart at birth ". Obviously you don't just say, yeah what the hay, we just popped outta nowhere. You know there is a creator. And you know when you are doing something wrong, because you feel it. When you feel it, it is the Truth that was planted in you at birth telling you that what you are doing is wrong. That is why homosexuals don't "come out of the closet right away" they know what they are doing is wrong. And that they will be persecuted. And the worst part is that the same people who persecute them sin just as much. So what happens is they know what they are doing is wrong, and then they ignore the facts and tell themselves "they were born with it". This happens because if a lie is told so many times, you are bound to believe it. This is how Satan works. So they tell themselves " it would be so much easier if i wasn't Gay " But really you could be straght if you wanted to be. What they have done is decieved themselves from the truth. Like it says in verse 25 " Instead of believing what they knew was the Truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies."

The original point of view Science had on this was that you are born with it, it was a disfunction of the brain. And that was thought up in the 1800's. And as usual Science has proven itself wrong, and we now know that you are not born with it. It is impossible to be born with it. Here is a quote for ya :

{"Born gay." The idea that homosexuality is genetic, or at least biologically predetermined and unchangeable, has received a great amount of media coverage presenting it as "new scientific fact." What is often not known is that this "born gay" idea is not new, not proven, and frequently contradicted by what the researchers actually said. At least as far back as 1899, German researcher Magnus Hirschfeld regarded homosexuality as congenital - meaning, "born that way" - and he asked for legal equality based on this thinking.Now, a century later, the idea that homosexual persons are born that way has again received a great amount of media attention. As new research studies were published, the popular press presented these as evidence that people are "born gay" and that sexual orientation is therefore unchangable. What has been quietly happening, though, is that the "science" behind this idea is falling apart.}And here is the site, for anyone who wants a deeper look :http://www.newdirection.ca/a_biol.htm

And homosexuals will not be welcome in the kingdom of God because of what they have done, and the thoughts they have. (1 corinthians 6:9,10 - Don't you know that those doing such things have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals - will have no share in his Kingdom. Neither will theives or greedy people, drunkards, slanderers, or robbers.)

So as you see this is a sin, God did not make us to mate this way. If he did then males would have some ways to probuce children "the way women do". But he didn't so, it is wrong. And so only men and women should be together.

Homosexuality can be overcome. If you want to overcome it you sure can, but only with God's help. You fell into it without him so by nature you would try and get out of it yourself. But it is not wise to try that. It can only be overcome with God's help. (Matthew 7:7-9 - Ask, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If you will knock, the door will open. If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead?) So, if you want to overcome any sin " homosexuality" it is possible. But you need God's help. So ask and you will recieve.

" All things can be done through the father " - Jesus

So, it is very possible to overcome this. Don't fool yourself, homosexuals were not born with such a " condition ". They made themselves that way. And as Christians it is our duty to help them. So don't descriminate them, help them and pray for them. But also spread the word that this is a sin, because there are people who do not know it is a sin.

-T

P.S. - you can re-visit the original post on www.truth-for-youth.blogspot.com in the March Archives!

Next topic

2006-05-23T19:26:00.000-03:00

I have some suggestions for our next debate topic

1. The Death Penalty
2. Animal Testing

3. The pros and cons of MSN Messenger

4. Sex-Ed in schools.

5. Catholics and the added books to the Bible.

5. the difference between a cult and a religion

think on them!

Homosexuality

2006-05-23T19:20:00.000-03:00

Now...this is a very interesting subject. Personally, im completely opposed to homosexuality and i agree that it is a sin and God doesn't like it. I'm not afraid to be friends with Gays, though. I do feel uncomfortable around Lesbians though, naturally. But Is it truly bad to be friends with a gay person? And how do they become gay, is it all in their heads? a chemical imbalance? a psychological issue? same with bisexuals.

So.

2006-05-23T17:37:00.000-03:00

OK so since no one else is online at the moment, I'll start. So homosexuality is really quite an issue these days. It states very clearly in the bible that it's wrong. But I've talked to gay people before and they just can't help it, the same sex is what turns them on.

I wonder if what God means is that if you are Christian, you can only have "relations" with the oposite sex and it had to be once you're married.

Either way, why would gay people want to get married in a Christian church. For one thing, that religion is against what they practice. But then again, most people in the church practice something they know is wrong and they're still accepted. God doesn't turn his doors away from anyone. Oh, I think I'm confusing myself more than helping anything. I'll be back later

Love Meagan

The first

2006-05-23T17:21:00.000-03:00

OK so here's the first debate topic: Homosexuality.

Hey Guys

2006-05-19T21:40:00.000-03:00

I created a blog where we can debate random things that are happening in today's world. This blog was inspired by a recent discussion I had with TC. Have fun, don't get too angry. (Maybe just a little)

Love Meagan