All for His Glory?

I was in my friend's room the other day, and we were talking how they were going to go to Sunday service for Palm Sunday (they're Catholic but don't go to church). Eventually we got into the discussion about the differences between protestants and catholics. Catholic bible had more books, they have a Pope, priests vs. pastors, etc. After a while, one guy in the room was just like "whatever, who cares about the differences- we're all worshiping the same God anyway". We all just responded with an unsure "yeaaaaah..." kind of thing.

This got me wondering about denominations and different religions. I know I've asked this before, but it does still make me wonder if different religions are just severe denominations. Like...if you REALLY think about it, the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and even the Islamic God are the same...in origin anyway. Everyone at least has the Old Testament in common. The very major differences come within the New Testament. I know that I'm Christian and the difference is that we're supposed to acknowledge and accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour. But I can't help but to wonder what all of this is for other religions (or denominations). I found it interesting how Islam scripture says that all who worship the same god (Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike) will be saved in the end. It's so easy to just write off everyone else sometimes because I know what the answer should be- sometimes I kind of wish I didn't have this Christian bias at hand. No, I'm not questioning my faith- I'm just not good at balancing academics and personal belief.

I don't really have a point. Just some food for thought.

We are God's Original Masterpiece

God. It's more than just a name, more than just a saying, more than just a bad habit. It's the Name above all names.

It's march break. i know you have 8 minutes and 50 seconds. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOIBnExlrw

So i got this link off of a friend of mine that i met from fellowship at waterloo. I really spoke to me. I hope you get it too. Comment away! :D

--Amy.

TC2010 Jr.

So I decided to blog after T.C. which was just an hour ago and this makes me feel like a critic but this year's T.C. wasn't as good to many people that did it last year. The problems about this TC was that there wasn't really a plot this year and many people were put in teams that aren't in the same church so there was a lot of shyness among the gr. 8's. The gr. 8s, because of this, were "out" or never began with spirit. But there were obviously benefits for this TC such as the food(which got better), the bible studies(learning even more about God than last year), the workshops(more interesting and not boring), and especially the worship service which had very new songs to learn. The rest of the TC was almost the same as last year's TC. Overall, I give this year's TC a "7." Pretty harsh right? Well, the best part to me was the bible study which was the hardest to understand but got the point of the passages. As I say when I do puzzles, "The most difficult things are unusually the most fun."

Billy L. :P
Didn't blog for 5 months till now

This is too much thinking for this late at night.

So I'm sitting here trying to brainstorm an outline for my anthropology essay comparing religions of the world. I'm comparing Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. I decided that one thing I could *easily* compare was the different styles of prayer. So I start my outline, and I'm thinking..."okay, Hinduism and Buddhism use images, etc; Muslims pray five times a day and have a set list of what to pray for; and Christianity....and Christianity..."

How do we pray? I could write that we pray before bedtime, we pray before meals, and that we pray on Sundays. I could write that we pray to give praise and ask for things. I could write that we pray because the Bible says so and that it's what we're taught "to develop a relationship with God". Since I started university, I've taken courses on almost all the major religions of the world- except Christianity. So now it's kind of funny to see the irony in all this. I can give you textbook answers about all the other religions. We're even taught about how people of those faiths feel about praying. So what am I supposed to do now? I could give a Sunday School answer on Christianity and regurgitate how we're supposed to feel about praying...but it feels really fake. I'm actually really glad that I've had the opportunity to learn about other religions because it has helped me reflect on my own faith.

Excuse me while I think aloud:

• Why is it such a chore sometimes for me to pray?
  
• Do I ask for too much? What happened to that 'praise' component of prayer?
  
• Prayer's supposed to bring one closer to the holy being- how is my relationship with God?
  
• Do I believe in prayer? Why do I pray? What is prayer to me?

I mean, we've been taught about prayer 2894723 times, but what does that REALLY mean to us? I hope all this makes sense. Basically, I know what the answer is on paper (and I'd probably need to write that since it's "academically unbiased" and stuff), but I WANT to know the biased (Christian) answer. So yeah- just some things to think about.

Also:
I was talking to my friend the other day- it was a pretty deep and heartfelt conversation. She's a person who believes in God, used to go to church, but has some doubts in Christians due to past experiences. She doesn't know if she should have the right to call herself "Christian". So all the time I was talking to her, I kept saying things like "oh yeah, maybe you should go to fellowship with someone else...maybe Sunday service would be good for you" etc. Then after a while, she was telling me about her Christian friend and how she felt encouraged and cared for just because he said "I'll pray for you". Honestly, that kind of made me feel shameful because it's so easy to say those 4 words, but I always think like...I don't want to be *that* kind of a Christian that intimidates people with my Christian-ness...it'd be awkward...etc. But yeah- it actually does help. And that's what the power of prayer can do.

You know what? I'm on a roll. I've actually been meaning to blog for a while.
So one of the things that I'm lent-ing is that I've been reading the Bible everyday for at least 10 minutes. Yeah, that's not a lot of time at all, but it's 10 more minutes than I've been doing for the past few years. Even then, I usually don't go past 15 minutes. I do hope I can keep this up because sometimes I'd pause and go "oh yeah- I forgot God did that! Wow, He's so amazing". Goood stuff.
On the other hand, I have another thing for lent going on. We'll keep it vague enough by saying that it was to give up something I shouldn't be doing, but is very hard to avoid in university. One of my "coping mechanisms" is by deeply thinking about what lent means and what it would mean if I "break it". I'm just gonna leave it at that. Bottom line- lenting this is harder than I thought I would be.

Sorry for the essay- I talk a lot when I'm stressed and pensive.

the book of eli

Hello :)

I'm not sure if any of you wanted the movie "the book of eli", but it's pretty much about this guy protecting this special book. The setting is.. i think 2030? or sometime in the future. It's basically how the world was all messed up and there was this bomb.. i think... and then a lot of people died, but those that survived have to wear sunglasses at night cause the sun's too bright or something. i think it's because the bomb exploded and it gave off a lot of light.. so their eyes are screwed now. haha, anyway, so there this other guy who's trying to look for THE book that eli has. He believes that will save him and it'll give order to the ruined world, and if he gets his hands on this book, everything will be okay. So he kills and battles and does everything he can do get it.

So guess what, the book is the bible! Pretty easy guess, eh. hahah, but yeah, throughout the movie, i was just thinking of how i view the bible. Is it something that you'd risk your life saving? Do you believe the power that it has? Or do you just leave it somewhere in your room and never bother to read it? What if you never got to read it anymore?

I think that's enough questions for now. If you have a chance.. go see the movie! haha, honestly, it was a crappy movie, but the message was.. good, i guess :)

--amy.