A funny story

I was playing poker on Sunday afternoon with some fellow church members (plus guests) and we got onto gambling. This is a very normal topic in poker. Someone was trying to point out that, in the Bible, it says not to gamble. However, it doesn't. There are implicative verses that say things like "Don't get into debt", "Be sensible with what you have", and "whatever you do don't cause your brother to stumble into sin" (this saying that if your friend thinks it's wrong don't try and force them - they think it's a sin therefore they will believe they are sinning and that is not something you want somebody to do). I went on to say that the rule about gambling had come about with the Roman Catholic church and that this made people think strange things. I finished this rant (while winning a couple of hands in the process) with "But that's Catholics for you".

There was a guy sitting opposite me, playing quite well, seeing where I was bluffing and making me become short stacked. I had not seen him before and he was wearing a bright pink t-shirt. I didn't know what his name was so asked the girl sitting next to me. She said "Jack...Do you want to know something else...He's Catholic" and then another girl on the same table (who went on to knock me out) said "He's not just any Catholic but the head of the Catholic society."

You know when you're listening to your mp3 player/walkman, and your singing along and then someone walks past from behind that you haven't seen and you immediately shut up and pretend you were at home in bed? That's a bit what it was like. I tried to cope with it by laughing hysterically for about 5 minutes. Being a man that felt like a good apology, especially with the fact that I came 9th...I am male therefore a pretty bad loser. I say things like "I don't care, I play for the fun, and it's better than my run last term where I was last practically every time..."

I'm not prejudiced in any way.

this time of night is asking for it

I feel compelled to tell all you fellow readers that, whatever it is you cling to in life, is as temporary as the day that is drawing to a close. You can't get back to it, it's not coming back, and whatever you've done is too late to change. The decisions you make with what you have will shape your the short time you have on Earth and the future. I refer to these as separate things because if all there is the life we lead right now, what use is there in anything we choose to do or not do? If we had no purpose other than keeping the human race alive (which I don't believe because we are a selfish race where we create children for ourselves not for them in their own right) then why bother. Live and die. Dust to dust.

Clinging to the answers you have found may answer for now, but and foundations you may have placed will change, move, reform and reiterate that life is full of surprises. These foundations could be money, investments in property, people, books, occult, drugs, alcohol, sex, music, pain, pleasure or even thinking. But all of these have a tendency to change over time, whether minor in attributes, as how the occult can develop in how it deals with itself in the states new technology brings, or major attributes, as drugs continue to get more and more deadly, addictive, and useless. Why should you prepare a foundation for your own life in something of moveable ground? Does a building move if the foundations slide away?

No.

It collapses. What use is a building that when you begin to live in it, it loses it's balance and falls as a bird with weak wings? A person, who relies on the uncontrollable foundation of money, may be secure for a long time, but eventually something will have to give.

Remove these changeable foundations from your life and what are you left with? Maybe a base you feel cannot change...but it can. In the world we live in, change is the only constant; apart from the unchanging, unfathomable, indescribable love of God. He loves this world so much, that after looking at this world, seeing it was very good, after the fall of man where He curses women with immense pain during childbirth, and man with the hard toil of working for a living, cursing the nations with separate tongues, he constantly promised the nation of Israel that the kingdom would come again. This is all fact.

He loves this world beyond anything we can fathom, that He sent His only son (and this is equally incredible because surely any father would die for their son) as a perfect sacrifice according to His law. We have all broken the first commandment He gave us in love. "Do not worship idols/you shall not worship any God but me" But He wants to deliver us from that, so has given us the amazing sacrifice in our place. For the penalty of sin is death. We need atonement for our sins as the Jews did, by way of sacrificing a lamb or other clean beast, and God knew that ultimately He would have to send His lamb (Jesus Christ) to be the eternal sacrifice for all who love Him.

Let's take away the foundation we trust in, this will only lead to death. Let's put our trust in the foundation that doesn't move, and is so easy to find; The One Way that builds us up in the knowledge and love of God. Jesus came to die for us, and that any who put their trust in Him may not perish but have eternal life. This foundation is far better than any security we may feel in possessions, in money, in drugs, in people, in alcohol, in music, in sex, in spirituality. This foundation does not change. God puts it right there to give you the one thing that when all else fails, He remains.

He loves you. He knows you, and no matter what you do he will never stop loving you, but until you put your full trust in the LORD you will be judged on what you didn't do (that is not giving your life back to Christ, and you should do this, it is the least you can do as he gave you life and has a purpose for you). It is so simple. God will not look on you when you die, on Earth, for all the wrong things you have done, asking for you to answer for your actions; you can receive the free gift of God the father’s amazing Grace! Jesus Christ will answer for your sins, if you only ask Him to take them away. His spirit will convict you of you sin and you will be considered clean.

Giving your life really is that, but that does not mean you will lose what you already have, but that you have let God in to use everything you have. Everything you have God has given you; and at any time God can take it away. By putting your faith in God that doesn’t mean life will be plain sailing. God wants you to grow in faith, and how can you do that unless the faith is tested? God will bear great fruit because everything happens for the good of those who love Him. There is the ultimate purpose. Grass withers and flowers fade but the Word of the LORD stands forever.

Is there any good reason why you cannot receive Jesus Christ into your heart right now? I say ‘good’, because if you want to continue to lead the lifestyle you do now…you will die, and go to hell. I have heard too many people say “I’m not ready, but one day”…why wait? What does tomorrow bring? Do you want to continue to rely on drugs? Or money? Sex? People? Yourself?

Are you willing to let go of your burdens and sins?

Are you willing to turn away and repent from your sins?

Are you willing to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour now?

Pray right now: Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you died for me, and rose again on the third day. I’m sorry I have put things as a replacement to the trust you ask of me. Please forgive me for everything I have done that has offended you in the past, and I pray that your spirit empower me right now to do the will you have for me. I pray my faith in you, from this moment, may remain strong. I belong to You now, LORD, no longer to this world nor to the enemy of my soul, I belong to You, and I am born again. In Your name; Amen!

Seek the one relationship you can trust.

Some questions to think about...

If you choke a smurf what colour does it turn?

How do you tell when you've run out of invisible ink?

If practice makes perfect, and nobody's perfect, why practice?

If swimming is so good for your figure, why are whales so fat?

If you are born again, do you get two belly buttons?

If you ate pasta and then antipasta would you still be hungry?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

And finally... If a tree falls down in a forest, do the other trees laugh at it?

Oh the mysteries of life...

Women

Women are weird. It's taken me so long to work out how to deal with them... But it's impossible. They have more signals than the variations sign language has regionally, and worldwide. How come every time a girl says "I'm fine" they're not? Why does "yes" mean "no" and "no" mean "no" but sometimes "yes, really" and sometimes "yes" means "yes" as well and "I don't know" sometimes means "no" (when you think it's "yes") and the rest of the time it's "yes" but because you thought she didn't really know and that for once she was telling the truth you upset a whole number of people for taking someone's word for once?!

The Bible isn't any help on women either. I thought maybe...Seeing as God created women and has written a lot on marriage and relationships in the Bible...There would be something he'd say about that kind of thing...But no! There is not one thing said about how women think. No examples, nothing. Plenty of examples about men and their mind sets and how they mess up, but the only stories about women are the prostitutes or the mothers. No one worth seeking after, really.

You tell them all of your concern about the fact that you can't understand them, and they say "but I can read you"...And that's just silly! Of course women can read men...Men are black and white. "Yes" really means "Yes", "no" really means "no", and "I don't know" probably means he hasn't understood the question. They will try and please a woman, and they will be mistoken for liking a girl a bit too much..."We should meet up" usually means "we should meet up"...Or "I'd quite like to get to know you better, you seem nice" not "I really like you and I'm going to ask you out for real so we can start dating, courting, and probably marry, but let's start with some food". If a man likes someone they usually avoid them until they're confident enough to tell them, and it's usually too late but they don't care because they don't have to worry about it any more!

It's been one of those weeks.