So, God's like BAM!!!

It's been a while very small amount of followers :) But today is a particularly good and encouraging day.

(Caves Beach, Swansea. Photograph, 2010, Alex Archer.)

Let me give some context. I'm currently in the library, sitting in my study period, not studying because its week 8 of the last term of my high schooled life, EVER! At the moment its mostly revision and the likes and i feel confident and composed towards my HSC. Things are going pretty sweet.

Today in particular has been particularly great though. Today is thursday, which mean Tim and i met at "Roma on Watts" for our regular chat and occasional bible reading sesh. Today we were sitting talking about a number of things when a man greeted us and asked if our day was blessed.

This man is not entirely a stranger, although i couldn't tell you his name as i don't know it... yet. A few weeks ago we were sitting and having our coffee and this excitable kid ran up to us and began talking to us. This kid was intense! But he was awesome, full of life and absolutely no pretences. A reasonably tall and business looking man wearing a suit watched us, it was his Dad. He came over and to be honest the man was a little intimidating (and had a very shiny head, but thats irrelevant). The man came over making sure his son wasn't peskering us. Before he could say anything, he looked on the table and enthusiastically and with some surprise enquired "Are you guys reading Bibles?"

We responded with a "we're supposed to be reading our Bibles, that's the purpose but we often just get carried away with the talking". He went on to describe our actions as "radical" and said how he'd never seen such young people so openly and actively going about their faith. We asked him if he believed and he explained how he was newly a Christian, recently baptised and attending Hillsong.

Today we saw that man again, only this time he didn't have his son with him.

He joined us and both Tim and i had a great conversation with him. He talked to us about his life and we discussed how the different circumstances of our lives affect our faith. For us, we're 18, young and as he described "finding meaning" which he compared to those of his generation "making meaning for themselves".

We asked about his family. He has a wife and two sons. The eldest is 11 and is currently battling with an agressive form of cancer that attacks flesh and bone. He's been battling with it since June last year, and the man informed us that his son had been on the brink on a few occassions. I can only try to imagine the emotion we didn't see, yet could feel through his words. His younger son he expressed his delight in. Full of life and just a joy. He didn't talk much about his wife, but i feel its something we should leave for him to bring up in his own time.

(Caves Beach, Swansea. Photograph, 2010, Alex Archer)

We asked about his profession. He explained that he is a self employed consultant. He specialises in helping people in businesses help themselves. He imparted his wisdom, explaining how business starters are usually very entrepreneurial and not always good with the pragmatics. He deals with HR, Human Resources, showing people how to lead from the back, pushing and directing as opposed to leading from the front, pulling which is less constructive. He used a really great analogy as well as shared with us some life experiences. He was in the army, a Platoon Seargeant or something of the like. Essentially he was responsible for a platoon. If he lead from the front of the platoon there's no time to inform his platoon of impending danger, he has to turn around and say heads up... when most gunfire lasts on average 45 seconds to 1 minute and 15 seconds, thats a short period of time, where lots of bullets are fired and it only takes one of those bullets for any one of those men to die.

It was especially great to hear how his performance in his job has not only been changed but improved by his new faith and justification in Christ. He's one who really understands people, and as he said its only now he really sees that God has really gifted him with that. Previously that skill has been so misplaced, but now its given purpose and he feels he can use it more affectively and to its full extent. He doesn't see them just with physical and psychological needs, but spiritual needs also. He also talked about before his justification, that he was self-proclaimed and full of pride, and its such a glorious thing to see how his entire life has been changed, and through sanctification is continuing to be changed.

By the end of the conversation, we were all very refreshed and encouraged by each other. He was amazed by our maturity and we were amazed by his openess to hear from his younger brothers. At the beginning of the conversation i encouraged him to find a small group to hold him accountable and help him progress in his faith, as in a church as large as hillsong its only too easy to come and go each week, not making any lifelong connections and melding into the masses. I pray he will find the support he needs to progress and support his faith. Unfortunately i had to leave for school and tim home to watch skins before CHS for the relay team.

We don't know this man's name, we don't know his age. We don't know where he lives or when we'll see him next. All we do no is that he is a true brother in Christ, and we look forward to the next time we meet with him to discuss the common good and encourage each other to continue to fight the good fight, and "set our sights Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2)

Needless to say, Tim and fist-bumped in excitement upon our leaving.

Shalom brothers and sisters!

It's time to begin, yes it's time!

Okay so the political slogan in the title hardly helps to grab attention but i'll be honest... that is one of my favourite advertisements of all time. I saw it again on the "Gruen Nation" an election edition of "The Gruen Transfer" that commentates how politicians have been and are being positioned in the media. I don't really wish to go on about the election in this post, mostly because i feel the direction of our country's government looks terribly bleak whether Labour or Liberal, Greens or Family First, Shooters' Party or even the Party Party. But hey, maybe i'll give the Fishers' Party a go!

Might i also begin by admitting my laziness. I haven't posted in, well, 7 months. Have i had nothing to say? Well nothing i could figure to put in words. Or maybe i had no time, all excuses aside i'm posting now.

"It's time". Well this is something that's been plaguing my mind a little bit. And you may wonder how i have time to talk about this at this very moment. 12:39pm on a friday afternoon. Shouldn't you be at school, Alex? And for those who are aware of my schooling timeline, "SHOULDN'T YOU BE STUDYING FOR TRIALS!!"

Well, yes... maybe.

I'm home, sick. Perfect timing. It gave me time to watch the movie "Pursuit of Happyness". I've always wanted to watch it, and finally i got the chance to. Not many, if any people read this so i'll admit i got a little emotional, but rightly so. This man, with his 5 year old, struggling just to eat, and have shelter every day. Something that i know i do myself, along with plenty of others i know. It really made me count my blessings.

(courtesy of Thomas Juggernaut after a discussion about what i wanted and how to get it..)

"Pursuit of Happyness." In the film its suggested that when ex-president Jefferson of the US said these words (albeit with the correct spelling), why did he select the word, "pursuit"? Is happiness something you can ever achieve or are we always just constantly trying to achieve it?

At the conclusion of the film i got to wondering about what I learnt at the end of it. English classes have had a severe impact on my life, clearly. So this man, gets to be a stock broker and everything will be alright for him and his son. So they finally have money. Money to buy what? Well obviously the next meal first and foremost, and then somewhere down the track somewhere to live. Then what? Well all the creature comforts of a "good" home, achieving a comfortable lifestyle.

All that is very well, but when exactly was this man Chris ever happy? He was happy before he had money just to be with his son. He was happy that he could enjoy time with his son, on the beach, without the noise of the city and not having to worry about anything, money inclusive. Burden-less.

It seems to me that it's not through "wanting" that he achieved happiness, but through the "not-wanting" that he did. What the heck do you mean, Alex? Well taking from the film he does not want money so much, but to not have to worry about money. He does not want money so much as he wants his child to grow up without being disadvantaged because of their financial situation.

Money is the end of a society. Take away money, what do you get? Without money, you don't need an education, because you don't need a job, because you don't need to pay for food or shelter. Take away money, and people share and are not competitive in some situations because there is no need to be ahead of the next person. There is nothing to feed the greed.

Okay, well let me move onto what that means for our relationship with God. I have a relationship with God, and in that relationship i know that He will provide what i need, when i need it. I don't need to want because of that fact. Do i still? yes, because ultimately i am still tempted by sinful desires that tell me to have "this next best thing" and only then will i be happy. In fact, I take most joy in my relationship with God through Christ because I feel a freedom in Him because He has cleansed me of all sin. I would like to not have to be worrying about the struggles in this life, or more importantly my salvation. By God's grace we no longer have to! Am i saying i won't struggle? No. Am i saying it's wrong to? No. What i am saying is live in the knowledge that Christ died for you, and that God is working for the good of His people always, in every situation. I have some bible references in my head but i won't write them down as i've forgotten where they're from but i'll end on this:

"I am happy, because by God's grace I do not have to want, but instead can be content that God will provide and forgive"

Amen?

(untitled, Photograph, 2009, Alex Archer)

In my head when i was thinking about all this stuff it was a little clearer, deeper and i know i've forgotten some stuff so please send any ideas this way. Peace!

IT was meant for more, YOU were meant for more, we ARE more!

It's been one of those nights where ive been particularly contemplative of human relations and such. i was having a chat to my good mate Juggernaut about how even in the holidays, one could be seeing their friends daily for weeks, and have every opportunity to continue to be around people and yet feel lonely still. In my mind this raised a few questions, the most prominent being this; How can individuals be together in their loneliness? How is it that a group of people can empathise, understand and share one another's loneliness, therefore finding some sense of place and yet still feel lonely.

The conversation moved onto something called "collective consciousness". I read an article on the net about it and it's something quite remarkable, that actually relates back to something i was talking about with polly during our Christmas Light night last week. Essentially researchers have been studying the actions of different people and animals in response to something else, when the two share a connection.

They tested using simultaneously running cameras, that a family pet, or more specifically a dog would get up and move to the front door of the house to await his owners return at the precise moment his or her master made the decision to return home. Another thing they looked into was that feeling of "being watched" by someone else. Using equipment they tested a subjects level of nervousness in a controlled environment when they weren't being watched and compared it to when in another room someone linked to the subject was watching them through a cctv camera. The results show that the subject was responsive when being watched. There's a whole stack of stuff like this and i encourage you to read the article for yourself:

http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j25/kenny.asp

Of course a dilemma is created. Could it be just chance that these events occur? Well there is an element of faith in everything. Which brings me back to my conversation with Polly. Basically I was explaining to her how i feel that in our humanness, our souls have the ability to communicate on a subconscious level. For instance, I've noticed people generally attract like people into their lives, it's just natural. But no matter where you go, you will always find the person you are most like. For instance going to a sydney region prefect meeting, a met some awesome people with similar personalities to myself. Furthermore these people moved towards me and i to them, coincidence? I think this could definately be in God's working. For Christians, we all share in the same Spirit of God, and so we have this supernatural and soulful connection. We often talk about being "One in Christ", and i find this to be more and more true as i meet more Christians. Regardless of who they are, we will always get along on some level because we share a connection in Christ.

One thing that really rung out to me in the article was,

"Bonded pairs—couples in a relationship—produced effects that were six times stronger than individuals. Like the remote viewing experiments, these results indicate that people with an emotional connection, when acting in concert, are more influential than individuals acting alone."

Isn't this just a beautiful concept for a relationship! Which leads me into my next topic.

I walked into the lounge-room tonight to find my mum watching the show "Californication". After watching several minutes it confirmed the views i already held about the show. It got me thinking though that what is the reason behind making such a show? I can't help but think the producers essentially sat down and asked themselves, "How selfish and impure can we make sex?" I confessed to mum that i found the show disgusting in every true sense of the word. I'm not disgusted by sex, dont get me wrong. Nor am i disgusted that people who are older than 40 "do it". What i am disgusted by is how sex has been taken out of context. The whole idea that we "do it" demonstrates this. Such a term is totally devoid of all sense of love and thought behind action, both things sex should not be.

("Popsicles Are Like Lust" artwork, 2009, Alex Archer)

God created sex as such a beautiful and pure and natural thing. It frustrates me when people shy away from it, when it is natural and not sinful, that is if done within God's parameters. Coming together as one body is such a beautiful thing! God created us with a sex drive in much the same way he created us to hunger so that we'll remember to eat. God made sex feel good in much the same way he made food taste good so that we'd enjoy it! God is so great to us and gives us so many blessings and sex is one of them. I love that. God created sex as a coming together as one body for those who are married in a unity with Christ. He made it feel good so that we'd desire it, and in the hope that we may be procreant. Hope fulfilled! Good planning God! It worked! But what disgusts me is that we are sinful, and so we become selfish when it comes to sex.

Selfishness is a horrible thing. It can permeate into our whole lives and in my opinion is one of the great things standing between us and God. If we are to die to ourselves and give our lives to God, how hard is that to do if we want to do things our way because we think we can benefit more from a self-driven life. Through this little happening with Californication, i think i was most disgusted at the fact that people are selfish in their actions, wanting everything to benefit themselves devoid of a commitment. Particularly in sex outside of marriage. I have an issue with people with "life partners" and "de facto relationships". Basically they are saying "I want all the privileges that come with marriage, minus the commitment. Why? Because commitment means giving away some of yourself. In other words, being selfish rather then selfless. If you truly love and care for someone enough to want to be with them as a "life partner" then how big is the step to marriage? If my future girlfriend then wife isn't committed enough to marry me, then why would i still want to spend my life with her and have kids with her?

How hopeless we are. We think we can do things for ourselves and that we know better than God. So we rebel. Where does it get us? I'm such a fool! I'm glad you know what you're doing God!

To conclude, SEX was meant for more, SINNERS were meant for more, CHRISTIANS do not need more, for we are more, for we are Christ. Amen?

I Heart Summer!!

(Paradise, Tasmania. Photograph, 2006, Alex Archer)

Woop Woop!! So it's summer, and atm i'm both excited and disappointed.. excited because i have plenty of things i could be doing these holidays and disappointed because i havent done any of them yet. AND because i have not yet been to the beach. So what's happened so far?

Well on sunday (the 20th) we had our Chee Christmas dinner. It was fun and all, and it was really great to hang out with my cousins yet again, though it always is. However there were some missing which was a bit of a disappointment. it was freaking awesome when we had twelve of us in the loungeroom at the same time and we were playing Guitar Hero 5 together, which we bought that day. We've now got a drum kit, two guitars and a mic, so we can have a full band. its freaking awesome!!

Most unfortunately however, on Mum's side of the family there's been yet another two deaths around this time of year. My Great-Grandmother, Great Aunt Lil and Great aunt Ruby all died in December over the past few years, Aunty Lil most recently about 4 years ago or something like that. Then this year, Mum and Nan's cousins Bill and Lil Hatton. It's a real shame, they had just moved to Bowral a month before when Lil went into hospital. She died in hospital and then when looking in the obituaries we find out that her husband Bill died two days later. It got me thinking, could they have had such a strong marital connection that God chose to take them so close together and save Bill the pain of having to attend his wife's funeral? He works in mysterious ways.

Christmas is three days away and that will be good. I'm going to invite my family to come to church with me so prayers that they might come with opens hearts would be greatly appreciated :) Today my car's been taken off to get serviced which im extra excited about. I'm looking forward to having a nicely tightened car. I just wish i knew someone who'd respray it for free, unlikely, but if only. It's also in time for when i go to Forster. I'll be up there for two and a bit weeks AND much to my joy Tim and James will be joining me. I'll be driving up, possibly by myself, on the 9th or 10th and then mum and dad probably the 12th. Tim and James will then catch the train up and join me, ill pick them up from Taree.. FUN!!

ALSO Tim's family friends are Christians and one of them works at this Christian Conference Center. He invited me to this camp which goes from the 2nd to the 8th. It's a senior camp (years 11 ands 12) and its sorta directed towards training in leadership and stuff. Should be good, i dont know what to expect but i'm totally up for yet another opportunity to meet some nice Christian girls ;D amongst other things of course.

NEW YEARS EVE! We're all going over to Tom's again this year for a night filled with Pizza and Fireworks and Fellowship and stuff. Shall be great, last year was! Speaking of fellowship, on Wednesday, thats two days before Christmas, we're hopefully having a hangout with the MAC youth. We're all meeting at 7:30, heading to MAx Brenner to indulge ourselves in Chocolatey goodness and then driving through Davidson, St Ives and such looking at Christmas lights. I hope people can come, it will be fun.

So a lot to look forward to! And just as a treat, here's some Calvin Harris for you, because for the moment this song's kinda my Summer Anthem in a way. The beginnings hektik but the middle bit sucks a little.. STILL.. enjoy!

You know those times when you get that song stuck in your head?

Well for me, atm it's "Sometimes" by Miami Horror.. i've heard it on Triple J on numerous occasions and its just hypnotic for me. Checked out the video clip on Youtube and its amazing.. The dude in this is freaking lucky! Yet another one of those teenage moments i feel im missing out on.. ENJOY!!

The year to a close, adolescence fleeting..

So it's week 7 of the last term of school for the year. It's only a 9 week term so it's almost over. This being said, standing in the way of my current position and the coming holidays lies 4 assessment tasks, which is a major downer. My maths exam is tomorrow, and i think i'll be fine, or at least i hope so. Then on monday is my english speech (which i haven't started :S), thursday is my drama assessment, and friday is physics. Then somewhere in there is something society and culture related..

Today was orientation day however, which made for a good break from the norm. Had a bit of a moment today when i realized that these kids entering

year 7, some of them were born the year i started kindergarten. Made me realize how fast life actually goes. How much i love being a teenager, but it wont be for too much longer.

This being said, "Where the Wild Things Are" came out on Wednesday!!! I can't wait to see it, it looks like a beautiful movie.. with an awesome soundtrack too! This is "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire..

	The Arcade Fire - Wake Up .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

How I wish life could be full of Glee!

On last weeks episode the Glee club were jamming to "Ride With Me" and just watching it, it looked like so much fun and its stuff like that that i love about being a teenager, however it did lead me to think, when does stuff like that not become part of you life anymore? It's a tad mind boggling, but nevertheless, link it up!!

Peace!