my wkend @ alf

this past wkend was awesome... went to clarion for ALF. had some really good talks with many of my friends... i asked questions about satan and got some interesting and varying perspectives. Being able to hang and joke and love on people was so much fun.
church was also an amazing time. PK talked about letting go of guile, pain and hurt. It was an extremely moving sermon. after he was done speaking we were handed papers to write down things we needed to let go of, then the congregation, it seem like all of it, got in a line and took turns nailing them to a big wooden cross in the front of the church. i think we had 3 or 4 hammers. I was sitting in the first pew so i was able to watch as everyone came and nailed their burdens to the cross. It was the most beautiful thing i had seen in the longest time. 8 year olds and 88 year olds standing side by side lifting their burdens to Jesus. the pounding of the hammers on the nails was the most beautiful sound I had heard, the sweet release of all the weight people carried around. watching all those people, it seemed like the entire congregation, leaving their burdens on the cross. it was overwhelingly heart wrentching. I felt so much joy for the kingdom. It was amazing.
then at table talks we talked about reletivism. i love deep topic like this. we talked about ow there is reletivism in christianity and how there shouldn't be. i think we ended up with
relativism = disbelief in truth + belief in lies
if there is not absolute truth, then everything is a lie. my truth, would be your lie. there for everything is a lie.
if Jesus is the truth, and He is, then all opposing 'truths' are actually lies. i know... this is hard to explain in words, i was not an english major. but if you would like to talk about it sometime let me know, I'd love to get together... and for those of you too far away, i'd love to talk on the phone with you.
one other interesting point pk made was about the fruit in the gardenof eden... upon looking at the fruit it was pleasing to the eye and could be used for nurishment. there was nothing wrong with it... it was not rotting or poisoned... the only thing wrong with it was that God said NO! which got me thinking about things in my life that are perfectly fine, possible happening, but if God says NO then I shouldn't want it, or want to do it.
what is God saying NO to in your life... are you willing to be obedient?
I also read my 'blue like jazz' book (coughreaditcough) shortly after church and don was talking about christian relativism... ironic? maybe. it was about a time when he was asked to defend christianity on a radio station and he declined. when the host asked him why, his answer was that he could not defend something that had 10 different meanings to 10 different people. people interpret scriptures differently, some even twist them completely out of context. BUT he would defend Jesus Christ and the true gospel. Interesting...
sometimes i get so sick of being a christian and all the labels that come with it and the judgment and i just want to stop being a christain. however, i have never wanted to stop being a Christ follower. there is a differnce.

if you have never been told that God loves you, let me be the first.
Jesus Christ died for you because He loves you so much, yes i did use present tense on purpose. Jesus rose from the dead and is alive! He wants you to believe in Him so your sould can be saved and spend the rest of eternity in heaven.

John 3:16-21
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

again if you would like to talk about any of the above please let me know, i would love to try to better explain, or listen if you need/want to work somethings out.

well i think thats long enough for now... more later...