[meenaghk]

Originally Posted by beanie

meenaghk - my bro and sister in law have been living in Ballycastle for the past 2 months, but they are leaving on the 31st.

oooooooooh cool. b'castle is only about an hour away from me. its gorgeous down there. nice one

[snowboarderTim]

How's your throat Kez? Keep practicing that hacky, you're probably better at that than I'll ever be

Tim

[beanie]

Today, I’d like to encourage you with the sermon we had at my church this morning. I had a great morning at church. I got there early and was able to go to prayer meeting and I also meet another lady who goes that I hadn’t met before. The worship was really really good and for the first time ever, I think, in that church, I felt comfortable to move around and do what I felt. I realised last week that I don’t act myself sometimes when I’m at that church and I’m not sure why. God just emboldened me this morning, or something, cos I felt completely myself (which is usually pretty dorky!) and I like it. I think it shocked … one person who I talked too.

Life makes sense in the kingdom. You submit totally to God’s plan and you don’t have any idea what He’s gonna do, but it just feels so right and you have this indescribable peace. You try and explain all this to the world, to just give it up for God to do His thing, and they think you’re nuts. That is because they don’t have the Spirit in them and therefore can’t see things spiritually.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14

Just like a car was created to drive, but doesn’t fulfil it’s purpose as a car until it’s being driven, so are we created for the Kingdom but don’t fulfil our purpose until we live in its context.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep in the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19

US
Everything we are can be grouped into these 5 components:
- mental
- physical
- relational
- financial
- spiritual

Imagine for a tick that we are cars… with five wheels … and each wheel is one of those components. If one is flat or misaligned, we suffer. We crash or veer off the road or get stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere. They need to be balanced so that we travel well and get to our destination.

Relational
Relationships are important for several reasons:
-Building. You are in a relationship not for what you can get out of it, but for what you can put into it. It’s laying your life down for other people. It’s also about building together for eternity. We’ve got to give all we can to people around us, be an example for them to follow when we’re gone. (My pastor also made the point here about raising up godly children for the new generation.)

-Encouraging. It’s not always about being nice… It’s always about being honest and God says that we can and should correct and rebuke, in love, those who need it, for the common good.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

Financial
We’re never gonna be satisfied with our financial situation if we don’t have a Kingdom attitude towards it. Satisfaction is found in giving. God didn’t say to Abraham (or was it Moses?) that he would be blessed with stuff for himself… God said that He would bless him so he could in turn be a blessing to others. What you have is from God… be wise with it and use it for His glory.

Physical
We do need to keep healthy, eat good and sleep well to have sufficient energy to do God’s will. Yes, He will give you the strength to do stuff… He’ll also give you the strength to listen to your body and know how to treat it well. You’re body is not your own… Honour God with it.

Spiritual
Get to know him better reading the Word and walking in the Spirit. The knowledge of the Gospel affects your lifestyle and makes sense. You don’t get married to be in a relationship with someone and then not spend any time with them. You get married to deep the relationship… It’s the same with being a Christian. You don’t just become one and then not to anything to strengthen it – you put time and effort into it to make it better.

The more time we spend here in the spiritual, the more everything else makes sense and the stronger we are to stand up for what is right and good in the other areas – cos we know what God’s looking for and how He wants us to handle ourselves.

The secret of being content:
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13

Take the time to pray. Ask God if there are areas in your life where you aren’t viewing them through spiritual eyes… not using them for His purposes… Reclaim them for Him…



I’d like you guys to pray for me also. I went out with a guy, Mark, towards the end of last year, but broke up with him in January for… God-reasons. It wasn’t a nice break up. Messy actually, resulting in a lot of pain which took me some time to deal with. We haven’t talked much since but God’s been healing and growing both of us. Mark just rang when I was nearly at the end of typing all of this. It was the shock of my life and he asked if I wanted to go to the footy next Sunday afternoon. Not really thinking about it, I said yes… hullo – it’s the footy!! What’s the question?!

One thing I really really don’t want happening is him trying to convince me that I should go back out with him or him thinking that because I said yes there’s a chance there, cos there’s not. None at all. (He tried to do that when we first broke up.) So, I dunno what I want you to pray exactly… Just that I’ll be honest and act right… or that nothing of the sort will come up at all. Pray as you feel led I guess…

[LoOpY_cHoOk]

Originally Posted by snowboarderTim

How's your throat Kez? Keep practicing that hacky, you're probably better at that than I'll ever be

Tim

Thanks Tim. yeah my throat's still not all that great - pretty sore, but i'm feeling generally better now.
I was just looking in your list of kewl people or whatever it is, and a saw Shredcheddar, and it reminded me of on the weekend... I went to this cheese factory on the way home from Adelaide to my home town Victor Harbor (bout an hour south of Adelaide - we went there for a camp a couple of weeks ago) with some ladies that picked me up in town (whole nother story there - I'll tell y'all some other time) who just thought, 'I feel like cheese, so let's go to the cheese factory' so we went, and they had some cheddar cheese there, and all I could think of at the time was this name, Shredcheddar, coz I'd seen it on here. eh... I thought it was funny...
KEz :0)

[beanie]

Today was a crack up. It's like I'm a walking freakazoid sometimes. I woke up and realised that the bus drivers were on strike today and I had a meeting with my pastor to attend. Well, I got a ride and he had a cappacino and I had a hot chocolate and we talked about me and what I did in the holidays and all the stuff that happened.

I rode the train with Ben and Kez to Tabor.
Smashed my face against the library door and got a fat lip. (It was another one of those situations where I beat myself up and it's pretty bad and painful, but my body doesn't show the proof of my adventures.) Everyone was like looking at me and gasping and commenting and stuff. I just laughed. It was funny. They never have the video tape going when I slaughter myself...

Lecture... that was kinda fun as well. The Lecturer, the american one, encouarged us to write notes around the class, so, in the second half, I started one, where you write a sentence and make a story. It didn't get very fun, but there's definitly some potential there.

Afterwards, Kez, Peedy and I walked in the rain to the train station. That was fun for me, but Kez didn't like getting wet. I dunno what Peedy thought. Once in the central train station, we left Peedy and went along our merry way. We found a shop that said "Le Bon Hotdog" and cos my nickname is Le Bon, I got a picture of me eating a hotdog next to the sign. Then we looked up and find that the whole cafe was called "Le Bon". Hoho.... It was funny anyways. A kodak moment.

Then my bag was vibrating and it was my phone, which was on silent. So I answered it and it was Jonthan. I then preceeded to walk around town with Kez - book a hair appointment and dropped off some film to be processed - with the phone glued to my ear. Then we caught the train back out to Kez's place and I've been here ever since. They had me for tea and now I'm using thier computer while they have quality family time around the TV.

I called Mark this morning to tell him where to pick me up from from the footy on sunday and it's going to be good! I'm so excited. I told mum and she even said that she would love to come to the footy - that shocked my socks off... she hates the footy! Ah well. These suprises come.

Right now, Kez has passed out (maybe that alcoholism thing wasn't a lie) in the beanbag and I'm about to scoot.

God is good and I love jumping in the puddles!

[snowboarderTim]

Originally Posted by LoOpY_cHoOk

they had some cheddar cheese there, and all I could think of at the time was this name, Shredcheddar, coz I'd seen it on here. eh... I thought it was funny...
KEz :0)

That's funny, the when the ladies at my church go on a retreat, they'll sometimes go to "Amish country" and they have a big cheese shop there... And they make "cheese runs" to buy cheese...

Tim

[snowboarderTim]

Originally Posted by beanie

Today was a crack up. It's like I'm a walking freakazoid sometimes.

As long as you didn't wear your underwear over your pants...

Originally Posted by beanie

Lecture... that was kinda fun as well. The Lecturer, the american one, encouarged us to write notes around the class, so, in the second half, I started one, where you write a sentence and make a story. It didn't get very fun, but there's definitly some potential there.

We should do that with pm's on cgr That could be fun, actually, lets just start a new thread in cpf and you're only allowed to post 1 sentance. Hmmm...

Tim

[LoOpY_cHoOk]

I would just like to say that I wasn't passed out last night, I was just tired and sleeping, because I'm not a great fan of those travel shows... That, and the fact that Bon had made me walk around the city for like, 2 hours, while she was talking to Jonathan. I even gave her a blankie to wrap around her when she was sitting outside my house on the phone, and I called her house and told them that she was going to have tea at my house, gave her my drink, and all she did was sit there and keep talking...! eh... Bon's not really that bad... really... I love her lots... I love you, Bon... *blows kiss*
When I got home last night, I was not only tired, my toes were hurting lots, well, just two on my right foot, actually. So I took my shoes and toe socks off and realised that I had a blister between my toes. BETWEEN my toes. You have no idea how much that hurts... O well... I'm sure I'll be able to walk properly again soon... I got to talk to Jonathan yesterday while Bon was booking her head in to be chopped up my a bunch of learners... did I say head, I meant hair... He seems pretty kewl. 'Jonno' - if you're listening, reading, whatever, you seem pretty kewl

Go the cheese

KEz :0)

[snowboarderTim]

Yeah, Jon's pretty cool I tried emailing him a few times when he had first went to BC, but I don't think they ever got through Sorry man....

Tim

[beanie]

Yesterday, in the hour of Biblical Studies lecture I did go to, they were talking about evolution and creation and … well, my mind wandered a bit! It came to my attention that in Genesis 2:21-22 where it talks about God creating Eve… Adam was asleep the whole time! He wasn’t even looking for a mate at the time she showed up! I think some people in this world need to take a leaf out of Adams book and spend some time sleeping, instead of keeping their eyes peeled for their spouse… your husband/wife will come when you are sleeping.

Well, I doubt they’ll simply rock up in your room one night and when you wake up you’ll just say, “Wowzees… marry me!” But what I mean is that some people spend so much time looking for that someone. God just wants you to follow Him and He promises to give you the rest. REST in Him and you’ll be blessed in abundance.

The Importance of Being Ready

This morning, in my devotions, I read Matthew 24:36-25:46. It was Jesus talking all about His return. I couldn’t miss the urgency in His voice as He said over and over again that we need to be ready. The people of the time must have been really dumb, cos He goes over it again and again, telling them a bunch of different scenarios about His coming.

I was drawn back to the ‘Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids’. The groom took his time and they all went to sleep waiting for him. When the cry was shouted that he was on his way, only half of them had been smart enough to have thought to bring along some extra oil to keep their lamp alight.

It’s just so important to be ready. If you were told that a famine was going to strike your country, you’d run to the shop and stock up on tins of Campbells’ tomato soup and Maggi’s 2 minute noodles. If you were told that there’s gonna be a flood, you’d gather some valuables and run to the top of a hill. It’s the same as us. We’ve been told that our King is on his way, so we’ve always got to be ready for His arrival.

I reckon that is why the bible stresses the point, several times over, that we should do our best to live in peace with everyone (as much as we are able). A scripture I was reminded of was: “don’t let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26). You never know when He’s gonna come, so make sure you aren’t wasting your days with harsh words or going to sleep with resentment. Always be ready for His coming – I want you to come with me.

------

Jonathan called me this morning. His older sister is in labour… well, she’d just started at 9:30 and it’s now 1:15pm, so she still could be. It’s her first baby. Just keep her and her husband and both their families in prayer.

I did get my hair cut and it’s like… all thin and whispy. It spikes up good though, which is rad. I’m going to grow it… not long, but longer than it is (Sure, sure… I always say that.) It only costed me $7.70! And tomorrow I’m gonna get some colour put in there… like, black or something (hoho) for only $14! Not too shabby!

Kez is a nice gal. (Pat on the head.) She did give me a blankie and her half drunken glass of cordial. She’ll keep. The blow kisses are still on their way up the hill to my place – the weather has been a bit tumultuous of late.

[snowboarderTim]

$7.70! what a deal Cool thing about being ready for the second coming :yup:

Tim

[beanie]

Well, it's 9:48am... Friday the 1st of August. Farout. Time flies.

Yesterday was another insane day. I am so not a fan of night lectures, cos I've been awake all day and alls I wanna do is go to bed! Is that so hard to undershtand?

Well, it was Ethics... with that American guy again. And yesterday he had another American friend take the first bit. I didn't hear a word he said! I sat at the back of the room with Kez, Kate and Ben and we just mucked around. I have no idea what we did, but the teacher ed students sitting in front of us weren't our fans, that's for sure! Nearing the end of the lecture, we decided we'd try and stay mute for the last 10 minutes. Well, that was fun. We wrote messages on paper and laughed our heads off. Ah, fun times.

Oh, did you know that Subway near my college is Budda-ethical? Yes sir. Ethics according to Budda mean that under no circumstance, not ever, are you allowed to have any fun. We were in Subway munging out on chocolate coated coffee beans and subs and drinks and the grumpy guy behind the counter, who couldn't have been older than 20, was constantly being rude and angry. I'm thinking that it's a worry to be so angry so young! Well, we got told off for ordering too fast and for laughing too loud. Blah, blah, blah. No fun! No smiling in that Subway. Nope.

Bridal College strikes again. Mike proposed to his girlfriend whilst flying in a hot air balloon the other week. Then, yesterday, for some stupid reason a guy from Teacher Ed I was talking to in the lecture break was pointing out all the guys he knew that were single and nice. Everyone has just got marriage and dating on the brain - it's like a cancer that eats away at anyone who walks into the college!

Jon's sister had a baby on the night of the 29th. A wee girl, 6lbs something... Elisa Rosalie. It was pretty exciting.

In just a second, me and Ben are going to Tabor for the photo thing, which should be some kind of fun. And I think I might smile for the occasion.

Hey Tim, guess what - there's this guy in my ethics class and he looks like you! Well, at least I think he looks like you...

And if the night before last wasn't cold enough, last night beat all! 2 nights ago I spent 2 hours shivering under my mountains of blankets and realised that I couldnt' sleep cos I was cold. So, I got up and put on tracky daks and a jumper and a beanie... then I was all snuggly and warm. Last night, I did the same, but I woke up at 12:03 (but I thought it might be around 3am) and had to get out and unzip my sleeping bag and put that on my bed as well! Farout - I was so warm and toasty, but I just looked like a little lump underneath a mountain of blankets. Why me? My body just has this complete inability to retain heat!

We're all toasty in the car and then we get out. Everyone says "gee, I'm nice and warm now"... but not Bonnie. Nope. Her knees are shaking and she's fruzzing again in 5 seconds.

Okay, I'll stop whinging! Bye.

[living for God]

i know how you feel about being cold when no one else is, i really do understand. It's getting cold here too

[snowboarderTim]

Originally Posted by beanie

Hey Tim, guess what - there's this guy in my ethics class and he looks like you! Well, at least I think he looks like you...

Take a picture of him Someone else who looks like me.... He must be pretty scary looking j/k

Yim (heck, I'll leave my name spelled wrong, since I've hit the wrong key like 3 times in a row :rollseyes

[Souldog18CA]

Originally Posted by beanie

Kez is a nice gal. (Pat on the head.) She did give me a blankie and her half drunken glass of cordial. She’ll keep. The blow kisses are still on their way up the hill to my place – the weather has been a bit tumultuous of late.

I thought the glass was half full......hmmm......


Thanks for the prayers Bon, my sister says hello! Elisa is doing great! Shes already growing! EEP! Kids are like..........hmm....kids! Ok, it was dumb, but I couldnt think of anything cooler to compare kids to that grow alot in a short time.


Hey Timmy, I never did get those emails from you....where ya been? Whats your email address? You know mine, I think. It is Souldog18ca@eudoramail.com


Say hello sometime! It'd be a great encouragement eh?

God Bless,
Jonathan

PS- Thanks for saying I'm nice Kez! It's good to know I'm not a TOTAL social outcast!

PPS- Bonnie, this is an el remindero about those phone cards your friend's BF uses, so it's not $50 everytime I call ya! Thank you!