And so ends the year that was 2016. Wow, what an absolutely crazy, busy, exciting year. Maybe not so much in regards to this blog, but more so in regards to my life. I had a few huge career moves, an actual move across the country, and some pretty big transitions. Even through it all, I held a pretty good pace putting new material up on this blog, finishing some tricky projects and posts. I finished the year with 37 new posts, a total of 3708 page views, and an average of around 20 views per posts.
Looking back over the year, I conquered getting through the whole Bible, around April, and really only started then to shift focus to reviews and a collection of thoughts. The issue is that my time to work on the blog is very slowly diminishing. Priority is starting to be placed on other areas, and because of that, the amount of free time I have to put into writing posts is fading away. However, I do still heavily enjoy the product of the blog, and therefore will still continue to put in the odd review and thoughts into words. My focus will mainly be on devotional thoughts here and there, with an emphasis on current affairs and Biblical basis.
I've really enjoyed the results of this blog that I see as an interesting style of ministry, and I'm excited to see what 2017 holds for me personally, and for For Whosoever. Hopefully you all tag along side me for the journey!
Tuesday 27 December 2016
Friday 23 December 2016
The Meaning of Advent
Right now we're in the midst of this thing called the Advent season. For Christians this is a very important time of the year. Many non-believers know the term, but have no clue what it means. They simply see this time as the holiday season or as Christmas. But, for Christians, the term Advent season adds a little extra weight to our holiday celebrations.
The Advent Season actually begins before Christmas. It's a time of usually three to four Sundays before Christmas, with different strands of Christians celebrating in different ways. Most times the Advent season is counted down through a lighting of a candle each Sunday, or through a countdown of each day. However, the Advent season is much more than just a countdown. It points to something much larger, it points to the bigger picture of the original Christmas Nativity story.
The word Advent actually comes from the Latin phrase adventus which means coming. It points to someone or something special coming or arriving soon. Originally, the term was first used to describe a period of preparation. This period of preparation was for the baptism of New Christians at the feast or festival of Epiphany in January celebrated throughout the 4th and 5th Century. Essentially, these New Christians spent 40 days praying and fasting for this celebration. Really, there wasn't actually any connection between adventus and Christmas - our Advent season. In the 6th century, the Romans were the first to put the two together, however for a very important reason that I'll point later. It was during the Middle Ages that people actually started to see the Advent season as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Now, that special reason that the Romans put the adventus season into December, and the celebration of Christmas wasn't actually the first coming of Jesus. It was the second coming of Jesus, as described by Christ Himself, and in detail in Revelation. This changes our whole perspective on the Christmas season. All of a sudden, instead of just worshipping the coming of Jesus as a baby, as the Saviour, as the Messiah, we need to start worshipping, and preparing for the coming of Jesus as the King, Ruler, Judge, and Lord of All. It adds a whole new dimension to the holiday.
All of a sudden, our perspective shifts from what has happened in the past (which is vitally important), to what will happen. The Advent season is a reminder that the work of God, the work of Christ, is by no means completed as of yet. There is still wondrous things to come. We can fully expect for Jesus to return, and do even more than He did during His first time on Earth.
So this Christmas, when you see the Nativity Scene, or as you stand singing Christmas carols, or even as you read through the Christmas story, remember that this is just another chapter of the story. This is a time to remember what God has done, and to remember His promises of what is to come.
The Advent Season actually begins before Christmas. It's a time of usually three to four Sundays before Christmas, with different strands of Christians celebrating in different ways. Most times the Advent season is counted down through a lighting of a candle each Sunday, or through a countdown of each day. However, the Advent season is much more than just a countdown. It points to something much larger, it points to the bigger picture of the original Christmas Nativity story.
The word Advent actually comes from the Latin phrase adventus which means coming. It points to someone or something special coming or arriving soon. Originally, the term was first used to describe a period of preparation. This period of preparation was for the baptism of New Christians at the feast or festival of Epiphany in January celebrated throughout the 4th and 5th Century. Essentially, these New Christians spent 40 days praying and fasting for this celebration. Really, there wasn't actually any connection between adventus and Christmas - our Advent season. In the 6th century, the Romans were the first to put the two together, however for a very important reason that I'll point later. It was during the Middle Ages that people actually started to see the Advent season as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Now, that special reason that the Romans put the adventus season into December, and the celebration of Christmas wasn't actually the first coming of Jesus. It was the second coming of Jesus, as described by Christ Himself, and in detail in Revelation. This changes our whole perspective on the Christmas season. All of a sudden, instead of just worshipping the coming of Jesus as a baby, as the Saviour, as the Messiah, we need to start worshipping, and preparing for the coming of Jesus as the King, Ruler, Judge, and Lord of All. It adds a whole new dimension to the holiday.
All of a sudden, our perspective shifts from what has happened in the past (which is vitally important), to what will happen. The Advent season is a reminder that the work of God, the work of Christ, is by no means completed as of yet. There is still wondrous things to come. We can fully expect for Jesus to return, and do even more than He did during His first time on Earth.
So this Christmas, when you see the Nativity Scene, or as you stand singing Christmas carols, or even as you read through the Christmas story, remember that this is just another chapter of the story. This is a time to remember what God has done, and to remember His promises of what is to come.
Thursday 1 December 2016
Chasing God Moments
Perhaps the greatest thing to treasure in our lifetimes are so called "God Moments." These are the times in your life that you feel the closest to God. It's actually incredibly difficult to put into words exactly how that feels, or even the experiences that come from those moments. But whatever the situation, you come away feeling invigorated, motivated, passionate. For a lot of people, this may be a certain song that suddenly stirs something within their soul, or a certain piece of art that resonates with them, or perhaps the most popular, a ministry/mission event that completely changes their perspective. I know for myself personally, especially at the end of a weekend retreat spent solely surrounded by friends and fellow believers dedicated to learning more and more about God, you always come away feeling different.
The interesting thing about these God Moments is that sure they may get you off your feet and ready to go for the Lord, but that rarely lasts. It's almost like the fire burns out, the light vanishes. Until, another God Moment arrives, and all of a sudden, your energy reappears.
Really, our lives should not be like this at all. We should have that fire that continually burns, that passion for the Lord that drives us forward each and every day. There realistically shouldn't be a single moment in our lives from the moment we accept Jesus as our personal Saviour to the moment we join God in heaven where we are not passionately pursuing His mission, in whatever capacity that may look like for each different individual. But, the reality is, it isn't like that. Again, like so many other things in life, the problem is the curse of sin, the curse of our human nature.
We really don't understand the extent of the results of the curse of sin. Humankind has been drastically impacted by the curse, to the point where certain things are unavoidable, even though we claim that we can change things. WE CAN'T! I know it's cliche, but it's true, only God can. This rollercoaster of energy or focus, this wave of passion stems from the issue that it's within our nature to be distracted, to easily forget, to fall away from God. It's not like as soon as you accept Jesus into your heart, that your whole nature is completely fixed. It's not like that at all. Being a Christian takes work, real, hard, effort. We have to put all our focus on drawing closer to God. We have to understand that falling away from God is the easy path; we have to remember to continue to pursue what we've been called to.
On a related topic, Remembering the Gospel, Beau Hughes from the Village Church stated that there are a few ways we can tackle this problem. One is by putting constant reminders all around us. Whether it be sticky notes of Bible verses, or pictures of stunning creations, or quotes focused on the heart of the mission, really anything to remind us of our God Moments, and to keep the spark ignited. A second thing to do is to continue to chase God Moments. Search for times and places to draw closer to God, and continually revisit them. Don't limit yourself to simply having these times twice a year on your weekend retreats. Find ways and times to embrace these moments every week, even every day!
The interesting thing about these God Moments is that sure they may get you off your feet and ready to go for the Lord, but that rarely lasts. It's almost like the fire burns out, the light vanishes. Until, another God Moment arrives, and all of a sudden, your energy reappears.
Really, our lives should not be like this at all. We should have that fire that continually burns, that passion for the Lord that drives us forward each and every day. There realistically shouldn't be a single moment in our lives from the moment we accept Jesus as our personal Saviour to the moment we join God in heaven where we are not passionately pursuing His mission, in whatever capacity that may look like for each different individual. But, the reality is, it isn't like that. Again, like so many other things in life, the problem is the curse of sin, the curse of our human nature.
We really don't understand the extent of the results of the curse of sin. Humankind has been drastically impacted by the curse, to the point where certain things are unavoidable, even though we claim that we can change things. WE CAN'T! I know it's cliche, but it's true, only God can. This rollercoaster of energy or focus, this wave of passion stems from the issue that it's within our nature to be distracted, to easily forget, to fall away from God. It's not like as soon as you accept Jesus into your heart, that your whole nature is completely fixed. It's not like that at all. Being a Christian takes work, real, hard, effort. We have to put all our focus on drawing closer to God. We have to understand that falling away from God is the easy path; we have to remember to continue to pursue what we've been called to.
On a related topic, Remembering the Gospel, Beau Hughes from the Village Church stated that there are a few ways we can tackle this problem. One is by putting constant reminders all around us. Whether it be sticky notes of Bible verses, or pictures of stunning creations, or quotes focused on the heart of the mission, really anything to remind us of our God Moments, and to keep the spark ignited. A second thing to do is to continue to chase God Moments. Search for times and places to draw closer to God, and continually revisit them. Don't limit yourself to simply having these times twice a year on your weekend retreats. Find ways and times to embrace these moments every week, even every day!
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