Many a time, it's those singular words that mean so much to a multitude of people. One word can potentially have a thousand definitions - for example, to us, God is the ultimate, everlasting authority in our lives, but to other people, God might be a deity, a Buddha, or, indeed, before I discovered Him, even Jose Mourinho (scarily enough). It's a case of words being subject to interpretation in all cases.
Hence the reason why I think 'change' can also fall into this category. In our everyday lives, when we speak of change, we often refer to receiving the remnants of the money that we regularly spend, or even giving away these remnants simply because they're a massive inconvenience. Most of us think in that manner as it is the most easily applicable theory. Many also see 'change' as a political slogan, such as that that US President-elect Barack Obama used in the recent White House elections, as well as that that the Malta Labour Party is currently promoting itself under. However, how many people have ever thought of the concept of change in terms of ourselves and our attitudes towards God and our faith? What can we do if the way how we perceive our relationship with the living Christ is stale, or if we feel distant from God?
The answer is simple: we have to pray. Through this, the following will happen, as listed in the Scripture:
The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. - 1 Samuel 10:6
One might easily state that it's simple to pray to the Lord: just say an Our Father, a Hail Mary and an occasional Glory Be, and everything is done and dusted. However, although God hears all prayers, no matter how short, quick or detailed they might be, I feel that there has to be a certain purpose within that prayer itself for it to be truly effective. One cannot pray just for the sake of praying, as that defeats the purpose of entering into communication with God in the first place. One might also argue that if his/her relationship with God is stale, or if they feel distant from God, then how can they take heed of such advice, i.e. simply to pray? Here, I believe that personal experiences from other people should also come into play - testimonies could be used to show that the power of prayer does indeed change people into different ones to the ones that they previously were.
The Bible also tells us that if we constantly sin, then it is also best that we change our ways, for there could be severe consequences:
Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom. - Jeremiah 13:16
No one is perfect in life, and, indeed, we all do sin, but we have to be man enough to realise that when we do so, we should own up and confess that that we did. If we don't, we will continue to stumble, as it states in Jeremiah, to the point where there literally will be no return. If we continue to sin but realise that it is too late to rectify that that we've done, then we will continue to fall into the abyss. However, this doesn't mean that the 'deep gloom' that we will pass through cannot be forgiven, for our God is an ever-forgiving God and an ever-loving God, and welcomes back everyone into His Kingdom with open arms, even though He doesn't need to. Therefore, this is another reason why we need to take the notion of change seriously, as otherwise, there is a real possibility that we will not end up in God's Kingdom at the end of the day, and that will definitely be the point of no return.
The notion of change is something that is therefore omnipresent. We have to subject ourselves to change in order to understand and appreciate the full glory of God, and perhaps, even more difficult than this, we have to be ready to subject ourselves to this change if we want to enter into a meaningful and blossoming relationship with the Father. The road towards salvation is never a straight path, but it is tight and twisty, narrow and often very bumpy. This is what models us into becoming good Christians.
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. - Matthew 7:13-14
God Bless You All!
Matti
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Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Where it All Stemmed From
The inspiration for this blog comes from a simple phrase - 'Thank you'.
Well, as I've written what is now around 6 blogs on this site (either I have, or haven't, or don't feel like counting the amount written!), I think it's finally time for me to give (part of) my testimony. It's taken me some time to actually get down to writing this, but I think that it should now be out in the open, once and for all.
In my previous blog, I wrote a few 'character profiles' for a select group of people who come to Y4J. As I mentioned, or more like as she mentioned(!!), I was requested to do this by Bettina and, over and above that, well, an angry mob of people who threatened to kill me if I didn't do so! (I joke). However, what I didn't mention was the fact that I placed my best friend Mark at the top of the list for a reason. It wasn't a case of favouritism - those who know me well know that I don't give preferential treatment to practically anyone (though I'm sure that it has happened in the past and will happen again, in some form, in the future). It wasn't a case of further proclaiming that Mark is my best friend. Indeed, that would be taking the easy way out, wouldn't it?
Of course, the latter is invariably linked to what I'm going to say, but I believe that he is someone who has managed to change my life for the better. I'm saying this because Mark was the person who brought me, and hence introduced me, to Y4J. Unfortunately, I tried finding the message that he sent me, which was around two days prior to the Lenten talks, to no avail, as otherwise I would have quoted it here. However, it roughly stated that it was an invitation - directly to me - to attend these talks as they might be good for myself. At first, I was extremely dismissive of the message, and in fact I remember asking Mark why on earth he had bothered sending it to me, stating that he knew I wouldn't come because I wasn't into these things and that it was a waste of 5 Euro cents. He responded in a similar fashion to "We [at Y4J] were told to send this message to people who don't attend and maybe don't believe... Cu there" (loosely quoted).
To cut a long story short, I had nothing to do the following Monday evening, and decided to head off to these Lenten talks, simply to see what they were about. However, I first checked whether any of my friends were going - to be honest, I wouldn't have dared to go had I been alone. Initially, like everyone else, I'm presuming, I needed that support and that encouragement to keep on going to the talks and indeed, later on, even Y4J meetings. Now, 8 months down the road, I obviously don't need this assistance any longer as I'm confident that I'm doing the right thing, but primarily, I'm now confident in my faith. Such a confidence and such a belief was lacking back in February; I can't say that it's lacking now.
So as the first line of this blog states - The inspiration for this blog comes from a simple phrase - 'Thank you'. Yes, thank you to everyone for being by my side when I needed it the most; but more specifically, thank you to Mark for making me believe once again. Without that SMS that he sent, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I may have already told him this a few nights ago when online, in a rather random statement, but I felt that it needed to be made public.
To conclude, I chose two quotes - one from Romans and one from the great philosopher St. Augustine - to show us how even though we might drift away from the Lord, He is always willing to welcome us back with open arms.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." - St. Augustine
God Bless You All & Take Care,
Matti
Well, as I've written what is now around 6 blogs on this site (either I have, or haven't, or don't feel like counting the amount written!), I think it's finally time for me to give (part of) my testimony. It's taken me some time to actually get down to writing this, but I think that it should now be out in the open, once and for all.
In my previous blog, I wrote a few 'character profiles' for a select group of people who come to Y4J. As I mentioned, or more like as she mentioned(!!), I was requested to do this by Bettina and, over and above that, well, an angry mob of people who threatened to kill me if I didn't do so! (I joke). However, what I didn't mention was the fact that I placed my best friend Mark at the top of the list for a reason. It wasn't a case of favouritism - those who know me well know that I don't give preferential treatment to practically anyone (though I'm sure that it has happened in the past and will happen again, in some form, in the future). It wasn't a case of further proclaiming that Mark is my best friend. Indeed, that would be taking the easy way out, wouldn't it?
Of course, the latter is invariably linked to what I'm going to say, but I believe that he is someone who has managed to change my life for the better. I'm saying this because Mark was the person who brought me, and hence introduced me, to Y4J. Unfortunately, I tried finding the message that he sent me, which was around two days prior to the Lenten talks, to no avail, as otherwise I would have quoted it here. However, it roughly stated that it was an invitation - directly to me - to attend these talks as they might be good for myself. At first, I was extremely dismissive of the message, and in fact I remember asking Mark why on earth he had bothered sending it to me, stating that he knew I wouldn't come because I wasn't into these things and that it was a waste of 5 Euro cents. He responded in a similar fashion to "We [at Y4J] were told to send this message to people who don't attend and maybe don't believe... Cu there" (loosely quoted).
To cut a long story short, I had nothing to do the following Monday evening, and decided to head off to these Lenten talks, simply to see what they were about. However, I first checked whether any of my friends were going - to be honest, I wouldn't have dared to go had I been alone. Initially, like everyone else, I'm presuming, I needed that support and that encouragement to keep on going to the talks and indeed, later on, even Y4J meetings. Now, 8 months down the road, I obviously don't need this assistance any longer as I'm confident that I'm doing the right thing, but primarily, I'm now confident in my faith. Such a confidence and such a belief was lacking back in February; I can't say that it's lacking now.
So as the first line of this blog states - The inspiration for this blog comes from a simple phrase - 'Thank you'. Yes, thank you to everyone for being by my side when I needed it the most; but more specifically, thank you to Mark for making me believe once again. Without that SMS that he sent, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I may have already told him this a few nights ago when online, in a rather random statement, but I felt that it needed to be made public.
To conclude, I chose two quotes - one from Romans and one from the great philosopher St. Augustine - to show us how even though we might drift away from the Lord, He is always willing to welcome us back with open arms.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." - St. Augustine
God Bless You All & Take Care,
Matti
Friday, September 12, 2008
Perfect Man (Under Construction)*
*Title shamelessly taken from Mark Galea's polo shirt bought from Soul Survivor
As I look back at a rather hectic beyond belief last week or so (and by golly gosh, how quickly it flew by), I have found some time to sit down, relax, and just write those thoughts that are flowing through my mind at the moment in time. Which, in all honesty, aren't too many and aren't too complex or philosophical either, but just worth writing down over here.
I saw this week as a challenge right from the word 'go'. It's only today that I've really had time to put my feet up and relax totally, and I suppose that it's a deserved rest to say the least. It's been a week full of temptation, a week full of running around from one point of the island to another (literally!), a week full of officiating tennis matches and a week of penning articles and speeches. Yes, it's been a very busy week by anyone's standards, let alone my own - and I can only help but wonder what it's going to be like as soon as I get back into the routine that I like to call University.
As I reflect on what's been going on, I took this opportunity to offer this rather challenging time to God yesterday afternoon. I realised that in the hype of everything, I didn't have time to just stop and stare, and just pray to Him. Now I know that in hindsight, one might say that if I'm making my time for everything else, then I should be able to dedicate at least a fraction of my time to God, but that simply hasn't been the case. Maybe, this week, it's a case of 'better late than never', and that from now on, I'll learn from my mistakes more. Well, I'm human, and judging on human nature, I won't learn a thing until something great affects me in some sort of negative way.
To put it into context, at last Monday's Y4J meeting, Tutzi told us that as soon as we wake up in the morning, we should kneel down besides our beds and just pray for a while. At that moment in time, I made that my challenge for the week - just to dedicate 2-3 minutes out of a grand total of 1,440 daily - to God. Needless to say, possibly due to my reckless nature or my urge to get on with things as soon as I get up in the morning, I failed to do this on Tuesday, Wednesday and till now, today (Friday) as well. I didn't pray as soon as I got up on Thursday, but did dedicate those specified two minutes to God in the afternoon, so while that is a partial failure, it in itself is not entire doom.
Which brings me to my talking point - why did I choose such a title for this blog? Well, I believe that we are all trying to attain the mantle of being a perfect man or perfect woman, irrespective of what we do. We try to be perfect in our own eyes and in the eyes of others and sometimes, this 'vision' does indeed work. For example, generally those who are in a relationship see their better half as the perfect match and perfect person for them (until something goes horribly wrong, that is). Our parents possibly see us as perfect too... albeit with plenty of imperfections. Therefore, this is the reason why this state of perfection is constantly under construction - we know that despite how good we all think we are, we have to work towards becoming truly perfect. Indeed, no matter how hard we work towards this ultimate goal, we - in all probability - will still not be able to achieve it.
I feel that God doesn't expect us to be perfect; far from it, actually. I think that our imperfections are a critical part of us and God acknowledges that, simply because through these imperfections we can grow and mature by means of experience. It is such experiences that lead us closer to Him. Perfect man? Perfect woman? Yes, but constantly under construction, till our demise, without a shadow of a doubt. And on a final note, it is perhaps when we leave this earth that we are, in God's eyes, truly perfect.
God Bless You all!
Matti
As I look back at a rather hectic beyond belief last week or so (and by golly gosh, how quickly it flew by), I have found some time to sit down, relax, and just write those thoughts that are flowing through my mind at the moment in time. Which, in all honesty, aren't too many and aren't too complex or philosophical either, but just worth writing down over here.
I saw this week as a challenge right from the word 'go'. It's only today that I've really had time to put my feet up and relax totally, and I suppose that it's a deserved rest to say the least. It's been a week full of temptation, a week full of running around from one point of the island to another (literally!), a week full of officiating tennis matches and a week of penning articles and speeches. Yes, it's been a very busy week by anyone's standards, let alone my own - and I can only help but wonder what it's going to be like as soon as I get back into the routine that I like to call University.
As I reflect on what's been going on, I took this opportunity to offer this rather challenging time to God yesterday afternoon. I realised that in the hype of everything, I didn't have time to just stop and stare, and just pray to Him. Now I know that in hindsight, one might say that if I'm making my time for everything else, then I should be able to dedicate at least a fraction of my time to God, but that simply hasn't been the case. Maybe, this week, it's a case of 'better late than never', and that from now on, I'll learn from my mistakes more. Well, I'm human, and judging on human nature, I won't learn a thing until something great affects me in some sort of negative way.
To put it into context, at last Monday's Y4J meeting, Tutzi told us that as soon as we wake up in the morning, we should kneel down besides our beds and just pray for a while. At that moment in time, I made that my challenge for the week - just to dedicate 2-3 minutes out of a grand total of 1,440 daily - to God. Needless to say, possibly due to my reckless nature or my urge to get on with things as soon as I get up in the morning, I failed to do this on Tuesday, Wednesday and till now, today (Friday) as well. I didn't pray as soon as I got up on Thursday, but did dedicate those specified two minutes to God in the afternoon, so while that is a partial failure, it in itself is not entire doom.
Which brings me to my talking point - why did I choose such a title for this blog? Well, I believe that we are all trying to attain the mantle of being a perfect man or perfect woman, irrespective of what we do. We try to be perfect in our own eyes and in the eyes of others and sometimes, this 'vision' does indeed work. For example, generally those who are in a relationship see their better half as the perfect match and perfect person for them (until something goes horribly wrong, that is). Our parents possibly see us as perfect too... albeit with plenty of imperfections. Therefore, this is the reason why this state of perfection is constantly under construction - we know that despite how good we all think we are, we have to work towards becoming truly perfect. Indeed, no matter how hard we work towards this ultimate goal, we - in all probability - will still not be able to achieve it.
I feel that God doesn't expect us to be perfect; far from it, actually. I think that our imperfections are a critical part of us and God acknowledges that, simply because through these imperfections we can grow and mature by means of experience. It is such experiences that lead us closer to Him. Perfect man? Perfect woman? Yes, but constantly under construction, till our demise, without a shadow of a doubt. And on a final note, it is perhaps when we leave this earth that we are, in God's eyes, truly perfect.
God Bless You all!
Matti
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Yes We Can - The Politics of Faith
Before I start, I want to make this very very clear - I am not blogging about Barack Obama. As many of you know - I hope you do, let's put it this way - the slogan for the Democratic candidate's Presidential campaign is indeed these three words, three words that have a very strong meaning attached to them. Having said that though, inevitably, I will be making references here and there to Barack - there really is no option.
In Obama's various speeches, two things he said in particular have really struck me heavily - "Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity" and "[these are] three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea". The inevitable questions obviously follow - why have they struck me, and what meaning do these specific words have to me? Well, while thinking about it, I thought that these two phrases could really tie in with our faith... not just the Christian faith, actually, but to any worldwide existent faith. In as clear and concise a manner as possible, I will now try to explain what I mean by this.
Let me primarily tackle the first quote, as that seems to be the simpler of the two to decipher. While Barack is obviously making reference to the USA as being the land of opportunity and what not, I think that we have to see our faith as an opportunity - an opportunity to show that God's message is being transmitted to us and also, over and above that, an opportunity to get in touch with and subsequently get closer to God. The term "opportunity" can also be seen from the perspective of an 'outsider', someone who might not be a Christian but wants to become one. God's family is never complete, He always leaves the door open for new arrivals into the family, and hence there is always this opportunity to join His family and indeed, follow Him. Subsequently, this leads to prosperity - the more people become Christians and follow God, the more the Christian family will prosper. I feel that God is always looking for more people to follow Him, and the more people do so, the stronger our beliefs and our faith will become.
Now, for a focus on the second quote. Again, I see this as an expansion on the basis of prosperity of our faith. "Three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can" - God is always telling us that yes, we can indeed get closer to Him. He is always welcoming us, He wants us to feel close to Him because He is our principal refuge; He is with us through the good times and the bad. The significance of "coast to coast" and "sea to shining sea" is immense though. It means that we have a God who is not just there for us and us alone, but is there, present, from one end of a country to another and indeed from one sea to the next; essentially confirming that we have a God who cares for each and every person who He has placed on the face of this Earth. If God didn't love us or indeed care for us, then we wouldn't be here, simple as. In a totally different fashion to what one might find while taking public examinations such as O or A Levels, to God we are not just a number - we are all specific individuals, each with separate characteristics but more importantly, each with our own personal relationship with Him. This is what makes God so great.
I don't know if I've been clear in my argumentation but I've tried to bring out what I think about two quotes that personally really have a deep and thoughtful meaning.
God Bless You all!
Matti
In Obama's various speeches, two things he said in particular have really struck me heavily - "Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity" and "[these are] three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea". The inevitable questions obviously follow - why have they struck me, and what meaning do these specific words have to me? Well, while thinking about it, I thought that these two phrases could really tie in with our faith... not just the Christian faith, actually, but to any worldwide existent faith. In as clear and concise a manner as possible, I will now try to explain what I mean by this.
Let me primarily tackle the first quote, as that seems to be the simpler of the two to decipher. While Barack is obviously making reference to the USA as being the land of opportunity and what not, I think that we have to see our faith as an opportunity - an opportunity to show that God's message is being transmitted to us and also, over and above that, an opportunity to get in touch with and subsequently get closer to God. The term "opportunity" can also be seen from the perspective of an 'outsider', someone who might not be a Christian but wants to become one. God's family is never complete, He always leaves the door open for new arrivals into the family, and hence there is always this opportunity to join His family and indeed, follow Him. Subsequently, this leads to prosperity - the more people become Christians and follow God, the more the Christian family will prosper. I feel that God is always looking for more people to follow Him, and the more people do so, the stronger our beliefs and our faith will become.
Now, for a focus on the second quote. Again, I see this as an expansion on the basis of prosperity of our faith. "Three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can" - God is always telling us that yes, we can indeed get closer to Him. He is always welcoming us, He wants us to feel close to Him because He is our principal refuge; He is with us through the good times and the bad. The significance of "coast to coast" and "sea to shining sea" is immense though. It means that we have a God who is not just there for us and us alone, but is there, present, from one end of a country to another and indeed from one sea to the next; essentially confirming that we have a God who cares for each and every person who He has placed on the face of this Earth. If God didn't love us or indeed care for us, then we wouldn't be here, simple as. In a totally different fashion to what one might find while taking public examinations such as O or A Levels, to God we are not just a number - we are all specific individuals, each with separate characteristics but more importantly, each with our own personal relationship with Him. This is what makes God so great.
I don't know if I've been clear in my argumentation but I've tried to bring out what I think about two quotes that personally really have a deep and thoughtful meaning.
God Bless You all!
Matti
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