outside the Western 'bubble'

Pakistan hangs 4 Muslims for gang-rape of Christian
Pakistan hangs four who gang-raped Christian girl
U.S. troops accused of killing Iraq family

The Church has to get our ass in gear and do the work Christ gave us to do. Things in this world have gotten out of hand. Daily stories like this are hidden all over the world in every corner, while the ones who don't experience this horror turn a blind eye. To be continued..................

..........................Time to step up to the plate.

Umm, are u joking?!!

Yesterday afternoon, by chance, I happened to look out my window to see THIS! OK, are you joking?!! This chic had a bloody dog in that baby carriage! And to make it even more ridiculous, the bloody dog was sitting like a kid?! Wow, it's a good thing I'm not a violent person, and it's a good thing I didn't have a rifle! Seriously though, the dog wouldn't last long on it's own anyway. I'd actually be having mercy on it, so some other random more painful act wouldn't befall it. Anyways, what a scene.....................(vomit)

Ok, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic? Maybe.......................

I was out at Mack's last night watching Ultimate Fight Night Live, and we were checking out the tv guide when an odd sounding movie title caught our eyes. JESUS CHRIST: VAMPIRE HUNTER. We had to check it out. It was one of those independant's (duh) made in Montreal (I think); extremly poorly made movie. It would only bear mere minutes of watching but the premise was amusing, if nothing else. Here is a summary from a wesite I found about it (I love how everything pertaining to Jesus is un-capitalized, while other non-important stuff demands capitals!):

The second coming is upon us, and Jesus (Phil Caracus) has returned to Earth. But before he can get down to the serious business of judging the living and the dead, he has to contend with an army of vampires that can walk in daylight.
Combining Kung-Fu action with biblical prophecy and a liberal dose of humour, the film teams the savior with Mexican wrestling hero El Santo (Jeff Moffet) against mythological horrors and science gone mad, and also manages to address contemporary sexual politics. And did we mention that it's a musical?

Are u joking?!! Has anyone of you actually seen this movie?! Here's a short review I also seen, on the same website:

This film is a very nice and veeery bizarre independant production. The son of God is fighting a horde of daywalking vampires (an acceptable explanation for this unusual ability is given during the movie), who are slaying the lesbian citizens of a Canadian small-town. A kung-fu fighting, sneaker wearing and not so bright son of the Lord, a punk priest in a studded leather jacket with a red-colored mohican, some song-and-dance numbers and several other oddities mix up to a highly entertaining offbeat cocktail. Far away from any mainstream production, and very amusing, it is in no way - despite it's title - anti-religious or blasphemous, and leaves you with a smile on your face!

Well, now I've seen it all.

A Coin, Sheep, and a Prodigal Son

Luke 15

Jesus was hanging out with people whom the religious leaders of the day didn't approve of. So they began to grumble and complain and gossip about it. The stories in Luke 15 is Jesus dealing with religious minded people, not Spirit led people. He confronts them with 3 stories about a coin (heathen), sheep (unbelievers), and a prodigal son (backsliders).

The Lost Coin
Characteristics of a lost coin:

1. it is "mindless", it cannot think on it's own.
2. it does not realize that it is a lost coin. Just as the heathen do not realize that they are lost. They do not have a witness of Jesus.
3. its out of it's control that it's lost. Really, it is the church's fault if there are people in this world who do not know about Jesus. It's our job to "go", preach, disciple, etc.
   
4. it's not willingly or didn't choose to be lost. There is no choice involved, cause one has to have options to have choice.
   
5. the lost coin is worth nothing until it's found. A coin only has value when you can spend it. A penny that has rolled under the bed is worth nothing unless it's found.

The Lost Sheep
Characteristics of lost sheep:

1. the sheep aren't that smart, but they are smarter than a coin. They have some understanding, but still, not that much.
   
2. they stray by accident, they don't intend to do it. They don't realize that where they are going is not the right way.
   
3. the sheep can't find their way back, they are dependant on a shepard to find them. The church is praying and "calling" in the unbelievers; this is ridiculous. If a child was "lost" in the woods, we would organize a search party and "act" on finding them. We wouldn't huddle together and ask God to bring the child back to us. Why is it so different in regards to evangelization?
   
4. the shepard has to lead them back, they have no ability to do it themselves. If lost, they will continue to stray further and further away from their true home.
   
5. if the shepard doesn't find the sheep, they will die. We are under an obligation to do the same thing for others as what God has done for us.

The Prodigal Son
The Lost Son, two differences:

1. the sheep and coin are not lost on purpose, but the son is. A backslider has willfully turned away and has chosen to go in an opposite direction.
   
2. someone looked for the coin and the sheep, not so with the son. There is no sense trying to "win back" a backslider, cause they know everything you have to say to them. They are from from ignorant in regards to Scripture, etc. The Father waits patiently for the son to return, never holding back His grace and mercy, but also, never taking away the son's right to make his own decision.

Poll of the Week returns

During the hockey playoffs, the 'poll of the week' took, somewhat, a vaction. But now it's back, but still not very creative. Weird. Anyways. Here's a good one for ya's. What's your favorite 'Pauline Epistle"? Or, for you scripturally challenged blog readers, your favorite letter from the Apostle Paul. Which one speaks to you the most, or whatever. If you don't have one, or don't know, or have never even read one, just pick one. And I threw 'Hebrews' in there just cause some say, "What if?" Personally, I kinda like Galatians; tis good to differentiate between the Law and Grace. But the letters to Timothy are right up there as well. OK guys, enjoy...........and vote.

John 1:29

Mary had a little Lamb,
His fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school each day,
T'wasn't even in the rule.
It made the children laugh and play,
To have a Lamb at school.

And then the rules all changed one day,
Illegal it became;
To bring the Lamb of God to school,
Or even speak His name!

Every day got worse and worse,
And days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh,
We heard gun shots and tears.

What must we do to stop the crime,
Thats in our schools today?
Lets let the Lamb come back to school,
And teach our kids to pray!

University Ave

Here is looking out my window at Harvest House down University Avenue here in Charlottetown. As you can see, it was a great day yesterday. Charlottetown in PEI's capital, with about 35,000 people. Unless you are retired, or an extremely boring person, you probably wouldn't like to 'live' here. Not a lot to do, ya know wat I'm sayin? I've lived in Charlottetown for about 5.5 yrs now, and have live at 5 different locations (Hillsboro St, Williams Ln, Newland Cres, Parkview Dr, and University Ave)!

I will only be at Harvest House another 2 mths. I gave Noel my notice on the 15th, so my days here are numbered. I also gave my 2 mths notice at the Upper Room soup kitchen; so as of August 15 I will be released from all my duties here on PEI. Shame, but not really! Then I hit the road, for St. Catherines. Yee haw!!

Prayer request: I would dearly love to visit a few friends in the States before hitting Ontario. Namely, Joy in California, Katherine in Detroit, and Ty in Seattle; (Celia in Mozambique would be sweet too, but not that plausible). Added finances are a requirement of this travel. I'd still like to do it though, despite the cost.

Sesame Street Aliens pt3

Here is Pt.3 of the (now) infamous Sesame Street Aliens. You have to watch Kermit & Co. for a couple of minutes before they enter, but it's well worth a gander. Why don't they make stuff like this anymore?! Why ain't it possible?

Love the Muslims

Interesting story about Abraham (Genesis 11-25). Isn't it? To understand anything about the Middle East; or Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, we need to have an understanding of who Abraham was, and what his relationship with God was. Lets look at some interesting facts:

3 Prophetic Lines Come From Abraham
1. The Messianic Line: Comes throught Isaac. Sarah, by faith, conceieved (Hebrews 11:11). God's Messianic Covenant is through Isaac (Genesis 17:18-21). This is the line through which salvation has come (Romans 11:25-26).
2. The Blessing Line to every ethnic group, tongue, and nation. Through Abraham all the blessings of God come on the gentile world that believes on Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:13-14, Genesis 12:1-3).
3. A Blessing Line to the Arab World: The Arab world is distinct because it comes from Abraham through Ishmael (Genesis 17:20), through Lot and his children (Moab and Amon), and through Esau. Esau is also a forefather to the Arab world, and a whole chapter is dedicated to his family tree (Genesis 36). Aaaand, once Sarah dies, Abraham remarries a woman named Keturah and has 6 more sons with her (Genesis 25:1-6). These 6 sons are also forefathers to what we know as the Arab world.

Here's something interesting as well. Abraham had a large and varied family. Some of these Arabic descendants of Abraham actually travelled with Israel to Egypt. Jethro, Moses' father in law, was a Midianite. The Queen of Sheba and Ruth are two other descendants of Abraham in the Arabic line. Today, the Saudi people, the Yemenites, and the entire Arab world are Abraham's descendants. God gave a promise to Abraham that all his children would "keep the way of the Lord" (Genesis 18:19).

God gave 5 major revelations to Abraham, but the 2nd 3rd and 4th ones are key to this post. Revelation #2: Genesis 12:5-7 This is where God shows Abram the land of Canaan as his future land. This was quite a distance from Ur and Haran, a region south of Jerusalem very close to where Sodom and Gomorrah were located. Revelation #3: Genesis 13:14-18 This revelation includes more than Canaan, and it is the promise of God to provide land for all of Abrahams descendants (v.15). Notice God doesn't only care for Isaac and his descendants but for all of Abraham's children. Revelation #4: Genesis 15:1-21 Note v. 18. The promosed land for Abram is now much greater than the land of Canaan. Now there is clearly emerging a picture of two lands that God has promised to Abram: one is Canaan and the other is a much larger piece of land from Egypt to the River Euphrates. Interestingly, when Moses and Joshua come out of Egypt about 600 yrs later, they are only to conquer Canaan.

So what I'm saying is, that there has been a lot of racial profiling towards the Arabs by Christians, but if you look into it from a Scriptural perspective, there is much more to Arabs than meets the eye. Sure, much of Islam gets a bad rap, but then again, so does Christianity. OK, there's your topic. Talk amongst yourselves.

Stanley Cup Champions: Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina did it. They won the Stanley Cup. Congrats, I guess. I'm still pretty indifferent about it all. Hextall is retired, Philly was eliminated long ago, blah blah blah.

Taking home the Playoff MVP honors was goalie Cam Ward. Yeah, ok, I guess he did alright. Not bad. The most interesting thing about the entire night though, was the awesome rave Dave, Lindsay, Ryan, and I had about End-Time prophecy and the Book of Revelation. Good times, for believers anyways. Way to go Carolina, good job, or something......

stories from the field #7: Pemba

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So this is Pemba. (The clip is not the best of quality, but there are thousands of hut-like houses littered across this landscape.) Pemba is situated on the southeastern coast of Africa, in northern Mozambique, right on the Indian Ocean, sweet!! It is estimated that 50,000(?) people live in Pemba, but to come up with an accurate number is literally impossible. The two main religions in northern Mozambique are Islam and witchcraft, it is a much more pure form of witchcraft than our waterdowned version of it though; in Africa, it has power. I spent last summer in Pemba working with Iris Ministries. Iris has a children's center there as well as a Bible school for pastors, and just last year they inagurated a missions school as well. Life can be difficult in Pemba. Electricity is scarce, toilets are outdoor, running water is almost non-existent, people don't have enough to eat, malaria and AIDS run rampant; and few people around the globe do anything to help. I pray that this would change, and that the secular world would put the needed resources, finances, and manpower into helping these people who are so in need of that help. Anyway, go to a Pemba, get out of your comfort zone, spend some time with a child that has never been truly valued. In the end, it will truly be worth it.

This one's for Moe

OK Moe. Here you go. So far I have only found "alien" appearances 3 times. They are the total best though. Too much.

words from Peter Youngren

In our recent magazine, Celebrate 2006, I made the statement, “Some suggest that America has become gospel hardened. I don’t think so, America must hear the gospel.”

I’ve been criticized for saying that. Do you believe America has heard the gospel? My point, if you read the whole article, was that people have heard a message preached of what they must do for God in order to please God. The gospel is the message that God is already pleased by what Jesus has done. By preaching what we must do, we create and foster an image of a “displeased God for whom we must perform in order that his displeasure will turn into pleasure”. Only a sufficient amount of prayer, giving, fasting, sacrifices, will get God to move. I contend that is contrary to gospel thinking. Now don’t misunderstand me, God wants us to pray, fast, sacrifice, give and work for Him but that comes after we have discovered the good news. Then the grace of what God has done for us becomes the empowering to get the job done.

The wayward stressful religion, where people have a bad conscience thinking, “I don’t love enough, I don’t have enough faith, I don’t witness enough, the situation is horrible in our country, we’re not good enough. This discredits the grace of Jesus Christ instead”.All the love, faith, righteousness, and power that I need is in me already in Christ.

Holy Spirit, open my eyes to more fully see the riches of what Christ has already done for me. What power, what excitement, in that joy we go forward and get the job done.

Blessings, Peter Youngren

O.K. Everyone, whatcha think bout this?

it's Thursday

Thursday is here and all it's done lately on PEI is rain, rain, rain. Kind of getting hard on the head. So is waiting out this summer. I feel like now, all I am doing here is waiting out this summer. Since all of my resources have to go strictly to my correspondance and my upcoming year, I don't have a lot of extra to pour into doing any productive ministry here. One thing I am learning is that it takes money to do anything at all. Wow, that's quite a revelation, ain't it! So I gave Noel my 2 months notice of leave at Harvest House, which means that my endeavour of being it's full time House Manager is almost at it's end. Seasons change, and this one is almost up as well. Everything in my life has seemed to slow to a crawl lately. It's almost surreal, like I'm in an eye of a storm or something; at least I hope I'm in the 'eye', and that things will explode again into busyness and such. The Fall will come and the season will change, and I will leave, and only God knows what comes next. This summer is a time of preparation, for this Fall, which is another season of preparation.........and on.......and on.....and on........till I step into what I was created to do..........soon enough.

Blast from the Past

I just had to post this. Here is the single most bestest thing from all of childhood. The Sesame Street Aliens. Anyone who remembers these guys will be struck by a powerful bout of reminiscence. Enjoy!!

"He" is NOT.........a crutch!

How broken can one be?

Chat Room Ministry

You know what's a funny thing to do? Go into the most random, off the wall inappropriate chat room you can find, and just start loving on people, just being all nice to them and stuff. It's hilarious. No one knows quite how to handle it. Tell them they are special, ask them what their plans are for the future, what the nicest thing anyone has ever done for them was, etc. They won't know how to handle you. Sure, you may get some explicit language thrown your way, but hey, you can handle it. Don't worry Christians, nothing will "get on you"!! It's a great mission field, the Internet. For the most part, an untapped resouce. I will relate the greatest testimony regarding this endeavour that I have been involved in (I will say this though, the good testimony's are few and far between):

A couple of years ago, i was down at Dude's, and we were doin some surfin. We were on some Christian chat rooms, but I quickly lost interest and wanted to go somewhere where the people were more transparent. I decided on the 'Satanism & Witchcraft' chat room (since I used to be quite involved in the occult, I can sort of relate). Now, I don't recommend all Christians to do this, but, well, why not? Maybe I do recommend it? Aren't we supposed to be lights in the darkness, afterall? Anyways, after about 40 minutes of getting totally cursed out and mocked, ridiculed, laughed at, etc I hooked this guy who pm'd me and wanted to know more about God and forgiveness, etc. I witnessed to this guy for about a bit more than an hour, ministering the fact of God's love for him, and about His forgiving plan of redemption, specifically in his case, and so on. This guy was completly broken and destroyed, this world had left him a hollow, empty shell. I left him with the prayer of salvation. He didn't say it right there, and I didn't ask him too. But he wanted it, so I gave him a rough estimate of something like he could say in regards to talking to God for the first time. I explained the heart was of importance, not the words. He thanked me, and we parted ways. I don't know where he is now, and I know some Christians would scold me for even entering into such a chatroom. Oh well, someday,........... we shall see.

coincidence?

This is hilarious. I just got off Shawn Cuthill's website, and had to do a similiar post. This post is a continuation of my last post.

On June 6/o6 (the infamous 666 day), the Anaheim Angels destroyed the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 12-2. Hee hee hee, too funny. Don't believe me? Think I'm trying to spread my propaganda on the unsuspecting masses? Check it out. Here's the linescore: click. Whats even funnier is that the winning pitcher for the Angels, Santana, means a follower of St. Ann. While the losing pitcher from the Devil Rays, Kazmir, means destroyer of peace. It does beg the question..................Coincidence? ooorrrrr, does God have a greater sense of humour than is usually attributed to Him. There won't be a 'poll of the week', cause if you are a regular here to this blog, you already know the answer.

6/6/06 (Give me a break!)

Well, June 6/06 has come and gone and we're all only one day older. I had a few Christians ask me my thoughts regarding the infamous 666 calendar day, and everything about it annoyed me a bit. If that Satan fellow were any MORE defeated, we Christians wouldn't have any excuse AT ALL to talk about him. It seems to escape many people's notice that at least one of the early church manuscripts actually quote Revelation 13:18 's number of the beast as 616, not the more commonly known 666. Now the #666 IS likely more acurate, but still, January 6th came and went, as well as June 1st with not so much as one person batting an eyelash. Funny, how deception really is the only thing the devil is working with. Thats his only weapon. Like the sign above says, it's only OUT of Christ that we humans even have to worry about Satan. To us Christ has defeated him. And why get worked up about a defeated foe? It irritates me.

Having done exhaustive biblical studies on Lucifer and his fall, and having been quite involved in the occult in my day, and now fully trusting (not in anything I have done but) in what Christ has done, I wasn't too worried about June 6th. It was just another day............... I had something else to say, but now I can't remember. I really have to write my thoughts down before I post, cause I type with my two fingers at the rate of about 5 words per minute. Anyway, satan's defeated, what God has blessed cannot be cursed, Christ has already been glorified, and believer's are completed, in Him. Have a great June 7th everyone.

missionaryjosh blog (now even more user friendly)

I was getting upset with my sidebar. Even to the point of beating my computer in the head with a stick!!! My sidebar was hugely distorted, with the bulk of my links appearing way down at the bottom of my posts. Grrrr!!! And I couldn't figure out what was goin on cause it looked normal on my computer :(? Anyways, I went into the template and changed the sizes around and.........tah-dah! The new and improved sidebar, with everything where it should be and in order. Or, it better be. If you are seeing all my links etc on my sidebar (to the right) in perfect order, in the new and improved way, let me know. It's all about my guests, you know. Computers can be a super headache.

NBA Finals poll (for the Americans)

So all the Americans that are leaving comments on my blog are getting on my nerves enough for me to put an NBA Finals poll up. So here it is, you Yankees. Tha Dallas Mavericks have advanced to play the Miami Heat. Personally, my money would be on Shaq, Wade, and the Heat. I guess we'll find out though.

To be honest though, I could kinda care less. My team, the Philadelphia 76'ers have been out of the running long and ever ago, so, whatev. So there you go, Americans; take the poll to the right and tell me who you think will take home the (whatever it's even called?) trophy. But be warned, cause the mighty Toronto Raptors, who hail from the basketball powerhouse northern tundra, have the first pick in the draft. Takin the trophy home to Canada, yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.............or something to that effect.

Stanley Cup poll

Here it is. The Finals are set. It's the Western Conference Champions "Edmonton Oilers" vs the Eastern Conference Champions "Carolina Hurricanes". Take the Stanley Cup Finals poll located in the sidebar. Personally, I think the Oilers will be able to hold off Carolina to take the cup home to Canada. Really though, I could kinda care less since my team, the Philadelphia Flyers, were eliminated in the first round. Anyways, go Edmonton. The Cup truly does belong in Canada.