Alpha Course Beginnings

http://alphana.org/



The past couple of weeks the church I attend has been gearing up for "Alpha Course", which is basically a video series that answers some common questions Christians and non-Christians would naturally have during their progression either towards Christianity or away from Christianity.

The format is usually the same every meeting, our group meets on Sundays in the evening, the host family makes a main dish and everyone else in the group contributes a side dish and we gather around talking about our week and how things are going in our lives. I really like that idea because as I can be fairly anti-social at times, I do like the social aspect of it, most of the people are older and I tend to identify with older folks usually (there are a couple of younguns in the group). After a hearty dinner we will be watching a series of dvds that contain a fellow by the name Nicky Gumbel, he tackles some issues such as, "what happens after you die", "Who is Jesus", and "What relevance does the Bible have to our lives today".

Yesterdays dvd was about who Jesus was it was quite interesting, and they stated a bunch of evidence which I've long forgotten (my brain works on repetition surely and once is never enough for my piddley little brain). But they also were talking about how Jesus never claimed to be God, but was God. To be honest with you that confused the heck out of me. How is Jesus, God? Just like the Jews kept saying, isn't that blasphemous? I've always known Jesus as "the son of God". Is this not true? I mean I know Jesus was an immaculate conception, God made Mary pregnant with Jesus. But that doesn't MAKE him God does it?

Another question was raised as we were sitting around looking at each other in uncomfortable silence, "Am I satisfied with the description of Jesus as an incredible teacher of God and morals" or if someone came up to me and explained him to me in that light would I be satisfied. I piped up ( because no one was talking) I thought that was what he was. An incredible teacher of God and Morals. And then came the grumbles, well, I was told, that is the easy explanation and that would be the uneducated description of Jesus. In a way it made me feel bad for even answering. He was a great teacher and a fulfiller of prophets. But to the "Real Christians in the room" that wasn't enough.

It sort of put me off to the whole alpha group thing. Everyone seems so uncomfortable and unwilling to even say anything when questions are asked, but when I pipe up I felt like it was a bit dashed instead of explained.

We will see what next Alpha meeting holds, if it's more of the same, I might just not go. I surely can do research on my own and hash things out with my pastor.

Apple Pickin' Commentary

Let me first just say, between me and my friend we picked 80LBS of apples in less than an hour. I finally went apple picking, I haven't been for years and it's an activity that really welcomes fall in my mind. We went on the tractor you see behind me in that photo at the bottom that took us to the field where there were the trees we could pick from. Then we were on our own after that. Let me tell you, lugging those damn buckets was torture, even though we didn't have to lug them all the back to the building where we had to pay it was rough. After we laughed, and raped a few trees. We decided we needed to fill up our third bucket with delectable Golden Delicious. It was only a short walk from the building where we had to put our apples on the scale for weighing. So we lugged our buckets, grunting and groaning to the G.D. trees and filled that up in like 10 minutes. Surprisingly enough the trees weren't bare yet. Then it was the haul back to the building. We shared the lugging, my friend carried it half way , I the other half. It was murder on the ole arm sockets, that's for sure.

And thus begins Fall, baking, and everything apple for the next month.

Apple Pickin'

I heart peppers

Got all these peppers for 4 bucks at the farmers market. Lord knows I didn't grow them. Because as you may have seen stated in a previous comment, Mik and I would starve if we counted on me to do the growin'.

Movin' on up

Folks, I have been "blog rolled". I really AM movin' on up in the crazy blog universe. The kind fellow over at "The Secret Government Ego Project" (http://www.blog.dtkelly.net/) has been so kind to stick my blog up on his blog roller. At first I was a little anxious but I thought, what the heck maybe it'll muster a few more comments in my direction. It's always fun to see what people have to say. So break out the wine bottles people, we again, are almost famous.

Fun times in The United States of America

For the past week there have been two army guys stalking young men in the mall. They drive me crazy, it's like they are on a strategic military mission to recruit as many able bodied young men they can find. I think they've asked the friendly neighborhood gay guy like five times if he wanted to join. HELLO he's gay! But nonetheless, the act like two sharks circling their pray one will go around one way the other shark the opposite direction. I actually saw a guy looking completely uncomfortable trying to back away from the two and they just kept getting closer.

Every time a security guard walks past I am tempted to ask them if it's legal for them to be harassing innocent boys to enlist in the military. But I know it probably isn't because the mall more than likely considered public property.

It also makes me think, is the military so desperate that they have to harass people into enlisting? Are they getting too few people that come into the enlistment office on their own they have to take it to the streets. It also seems as if they target minorities, which makes me wonder are they using the fact that some of these people are uneducated and poor that they'd do anything to get out of the ghetto?

I seriously am glad I am not an American male right now. They don't harass me because the last thing they need is women in the military ( from their stand point at least). I just wonder when do you think it will get bad enough for the United States to reinstate the draft.

Fun times America, fun times.

Green Zone Secured.

Just a little update on my war against ter...umm rabbits.

There looks to have been multiple attempts from the bordering nations to infiltrate the Green Zone, but as of 3:30pm today the new security measures have withstood the onslaught and no incursions have been reported. Thus far the surge seems to be working, and conditions on the ground are improving as we speak.

I am committed, as is my garden to see this fight through to the end. I know and understand there will a lot of deaths, but it's a risk I'm prepared to take, for the freedom of all green, nutritious and delicious things growing in the ground.

They may be cute to some....

So, I finally got off my arse and made myself a vegie patch, and fenced off that entire corner of my property, because of the feral, scum sucking, blood thirsty, virulent and murderous little fluffy four legged marauders that invade not only my garden, but have also in the very recent past made a nice home underneath mine.

The fencing worked a treat...until they started digging from my yard into my neighbours, then mosey on along about 2 metres up the fence, then back under, into my so called "Green Zone".
So, today was the final straw. I dug a trench along the fence where they were entering the restricted area, rolled some wire mesh up with enough sticking up out of the ground to nail to the fence, and buried it.
Unless those little arseholes learn how to use wire cutters, they're going to be shit outta luck. It's been an hour, so far, so good.

Now, are they retarded or just spiteful? Can't they take a hint that they are not welcome to my radishes and baby carrots? Or am I going to have to start playing dirty, and give them a fatal dose of lead poisoning?

I know that last statement will garner some heat, because "they're soooooo cute". Try this, please. Type "rabbit plague" into Google image search. Not so cute and harmless eh? I personally fail to see anything remotely cute about the images that come up.
This is what happens when something that "breeds like rabbits" is let loose in a country where there are no natural predators.

They may be cute to some, what we hunters call "Bambi Syndrome", but to me, they're the bane of my life and the only lush greenery I have, and I WILL WIN THIS WAR!!!

I'm gettin' a digi cam!!

This is the camera I decided I was getting. I was going to go with a Kodak, but it seemed I always had to sacrifice one thing for another. Not very handy. But as soon as next week or so I should be gracing everyone with photos of things I deem acceptable for my blog. Yaaaaaaay.