Are You Coming?

With World Youth Day growing Closer every day and the panic after the Equine Flu and delays in Site Preparations... The venue appears to back on trackto be ready for this huge event.

So are you coming to Randwick Race Course Australia for next years World Youth Day with Pope Benedict?

Where are travelling from and why is this so important?

When is a religion a Cult

Recently news reports have come out claiming a Religious group made contributions to the Australian Federal Government Election Campaign during the last election...

This is something which most Aussies find difficult to except. The seperation of Church and State has always been something taken for granted here. However these days the divide between the two is closing. Christian groups are becoming more and more of a tool to be used within the election campaign. The growing numbers of people involved in such groups is immense.

While eager to show the country what good Christian citizens, they are Australia is fast beginning to alienate a large selection of the community. Our politicians while having beliefs in what ever faith they choose should keep it at home and religion should not have a place in Government.....

With in Parliament we have Christians, Muslims, Buddist and people from many forms of religion the difference this time around is we are being told what their faiths are....

The group which made contributions to previous election campaign has the reputation of being somewhat of Cult.... A closed door Christian Group.... who puts fences around their churches, blackened windows on their car etc. It is very secretive.

Does a Politicans Personal religious faith sway your voting, does it matter?

So is this form of Secret Worship what defines a cult or is their more to it?

I ask you What are the differences between a Cult and a Religion?

True Friends wouldn't treat you this!

Resent times are leading more and more to the opinion people really don't really care..

Over the past few months I have seen a side of my friends and people in general which I am finding disturbing.....
When I and my friends were not working, we would help each other with odd jobs, talk, discuss issues of importance the climate, education, religion etc. No subject was left out.
As my friends have returned to the work force and the money started to roll in, I am seeing a side of them and friends of theirs which is sad.

My friend would come over for coffee, whine and complain about her partner and how lazy, thoughtless and generally unmotivated he was.... he liked not working, spending time with her and the children and the freedom to take his time, he would help out around town and always the first to a lend hand when need arose. She eventually nagged and bullied him and he is working again, which is a good thing, however she is still whinging and complaining about his lack of anything she can think off. So the other week I was over having coffee, feeling very down, business being slow was taking its toll on the mind, stress and worry and all things that go with it... so out of character I thought my turn to unload some of anxiety and try and feel better, get a little helpful advice etc....
This so called friend sat listened and said 'well if it is a loan you want I can lend it,', that is not what I was talking about, paying the bills was not the issue just feeling stressed and strung out...business is slow and clients not paying on time is...
then she says: "I am thinking of leaving my part-time job to spend time at home it is not as if we need money...." Hmmmm I am thinking so what part of this conversation did I miss, she goes on, "come inside and have a look at what I just bought a new sewing maching, coffee maker, and all this wonderful material to make curtains for the house" soon after with the temper building and the indignation rising we left....before I said something I shouldn't.

A few days later we were visiting again helping with a job, things had settled down and I had regained my normal temperment, she starts going on about her hubby spending money ...
"he went shopping and bought all this stuff, .... I am so cross with him...... he knows we are trying to save .......do you like the new tv table it was special..."
hmmmmm once again the little voice is banging in my head time to go time to leave, but the job wasn't finished and my partner was still helping her hubby, so I let the comments wash over me.....
about 15 minutes later.....

friends of theirs arrived to say Hi! What followed was a revelation to all of us..
The Friends arrive and are invited in for coffee, we were not,
they chatted for about 20 minutes, we were not introduced, nor we were not included in the conversation, in fact we were ignored totally and left outside,
their youngest child stopped playing with our child and went to see them and play with their kids and also ignored....
After about 25 minutes they were leaving, we heard them ask do you need a hand, to which the reply was oh no they can take care of it, but thanks for asking.... my partner just looked at me... they left....
I looked at my watch with blood boiling at being treated as hired help, servants even and told them we had to go it was getting late and I things to do.... they would have to finish themselves and then she proceded to get he purse and pay us for what had been a favour...... We told her it was required or wanted and we were leaving...

All the conversation with my friends seem to be about, how much money they can spend, how annoying each other are, and what useless thing they are planning to buy next, look at how wonderful we are....
They seem so self obsurbed and thoughtless in all respects.... is this the way the world is going?
To have a meaningful conversation is just chore their views have on everything subject become so materialistic and shallow it is hard to comprehend.
These days I keep to myself and really do not have the time or energy to waste on people like these, but it appears to be everywhere.
So tell me have you found the same experience in people you know, is the world changing or am I alone in thinking the world of Man has become a sad place.

Are You God Fearing?

This post is a bit of a question more than my usually statement type posts.

I want to know are YOU GOD FEARING?

Do you really fear God and why?


I have spoken to Priests and Ministers of various faiths and the one thing they all say in response to "tell me about God" is

God is all Seeing!

He is all knowing!

God cares deeply about each and everyone of us

God answers the prayers of those who ask

And He is a Merciful God

So when I ask them about themselves in their faith the response is:

We are God Fearing men and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ

So forgive my possibly silly if not even blasphemous questions, but tell me

If God is all seeing, all knowing , cares so much for each and everyone of us, answers the prayers of those who ask and is oh! so Merciful WHY are you afraid of them?

Why DO you follow the Teachings of Jesus, who regardless was a Man yes granted he was the son of God, but we are also taught through the Bible that we are all Gods children, and why are people of faith so quick to judge the opinions of those who choose to ask questions like these?

I happen to think God or Universal spirit what ever you call them, is more of an observer.
Yes! when an occasions arises and they/he are feeling generous, they/he do answer questions and prayers, but otherwise it must be like watching a multi channeled Television.
If you want to see a beautiful place look at the Jungles or the ice capped Poles, want to watch a soap opera look at the western world, want to see a war look at the middle east, if you want to watch suffering and hardship look at the starving masses and finally to see violence and suffering and things that would make your hair stand up on end look at Africa and the cradle of civilisation.
A God who cares and takes an active role in the lives of each and everyone of us would not allow this to happen to their loved ones, would you let it happen to your family.

It is a bit like, we are given free will and the ability to choose, the rest is up to us..... from time to time we are given a helping hand or a nudge in the direction God may wish us to take, but then it is left to us to use it or not......

What do you think?

Oh and yes I understanding some of you will say "oh you will Burn for this one!"

But I think God gave us this questioning mind to use and understand the world around us and would understand I am using what I was given to do that with....

Have you SEEN an Angel?

It doesn't seem to matter how old you are, what nationality or religious belief you have, you can see an Angel. Stories have been around for hundreds, if not thousands years regarding visitations of these winged beings. Some are beautiful and fill you with the most peaceful, inspiring feelings imagined, while others are nasty horrible creatures that give the viewer immense feelings of despire. I see this as the balance of good and bad, holy and evil etc....


But what is this about?

Why do people who have no apparent link to Christianity, see Angels? They are after all a representation of the Christian faith, or are they.

So many things we in Christian Society take for granted have their origins on old religions such as Paganism, Christmas and Easter to name two. Images and characters we commonly associate with the Bible also started in this old faith. Characters such as the Devil have for 2000 years been modeled on the image of the Green Man from ancients religions.

Demons such as the Incubus and Succubus have their origins in times well before Christianity.

One of the earliest mention of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerians king's list, ca. 2400, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu. It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams. Two other corresponding demons appear as well, Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally storm demons, but they eventually became regarded as night demons due to mistaken etymology.

These things were absorbed by early Christians in order to give local villagers, who followed the Old Ways, an easier transition to the new faith. Christmas and Easter where given their timings to fit the villagers feasts and festivals. The Gods and Goddesses of the old ways where given new Christian names and the images merged into the new faith in order to make it all so much less confusing for the average person.

But the Christan faith is not alone, through all religions you can see merging of the Old Ways into new faiths, Islamic, Judaism, Hindi, Buddhist, and all other mainstream religions. Even today with the emergence of new variations on the Christian faith such as Pentecostal Churches, How this works, The Bible or instruction manual is read and meanings taken and interpreted in a manner which suits the reader and the flock of followers.

Why is it then we expect only Christians to see Angels.

Winged beings have had a place in society since time began, heard of a fairy?, the only difference is the ability of the participant to explain what is was for example:

A child raised in a Christian home who sees a ghostly figure, with wings and a glowing light would say they saw an Angel, but a child raised in Paddock, herding Mountain Goats in the Himalayas seeing the same thing would have a completely different view, to them it could be the mountain spirit, a demon, an ancestor....

So are Angels merely the brain and eyes playing tricks?

Are they from some Parallel dimension?

Do they exist only in fantasy?

Do Angels exist?

Why do we Love them so Much?

Are they truly sent by God and if so why are they dismissed as fanciful and fake?

After all Millions of people believe in a God they have never seen why should Angels be dismissed after all they are supposed to be his messengers.....