because of chao yuans blog,
after spotting "blue like jazz" in a christian bookshop
ive taken the plunge
and well although ive not stumbled upon that amazing alluring passage abt love,
both the failing of our own fleshly love, and the all consuming, all giving, all taking love of God and how as christians we should emulate that love

but i think ive already been quite taken by the author
with his vulnerability
he's honest, and tries at depth while trying to make sense
and he's a CS Lewis fan

well,
he may not have insight like Lewis
but he tries
and thats important

and i found his recounting of how he messed up a date to watch romeo and juliet
by mentioning sacarstically they're dead to some girls who happened to comment how they wanted to experience love like R&J
maybe im a fatalist
but i think its very true his point
how we pursue love, expecting our worlds to change when we find love
but we will be disappointed by it
bitterly

well
of course death is a change too

mmm
he said something in mention
the point he was making was kind of how in sudnay school
they tend to teach "children stories" of noah and the animals and the garden of eden
without realising how much stout, and immense and "adult" christian truth is hidden there
i depraved and twisted mind picked up on this immediately
noah's story is an amazing tale on Gods faithfulness to the faithful

but they forget dont they
that its also a tale of Gods judgement on mankind
leading to genocide save a handful

they forget too
the faithfulness noah possessed
those whom we see express the like now
we label zealots and cult leaders

to build that boat, at a time when before that there had never been a storm of that kind
in the face of the probable scoffing and mocking cries

probably a suitable alliteration we see in some wierdoes who build nuclear fallout shelters for themselves in fear of the pending nuclear apocalypse

and we are an evil people
evil in inclination from birth

perhaps the relief we have is that God did promise noah no more floods of that type
that he would never again kill like that

strange they dont teach this side of the story in church
i mean sure, you can justify that God has the right to wipe out the evil
but people nowadays arent really accepting of any reason or ideal which justify large scale taking of life
too many misled reasoning and ideals have led to the holocaust and the mass murdering of babies

mmm

so rarely do they talk about the judgement of God
how his judgement is swift and terrible
how our God really is a terrible terrible being, and i mean this in all respect

now under a convenant of grace,
they so rarely talk abt judgement
about how because of all that God has done for us,
if we spit on His grace
even those from Sodom and Gomorrah are in better standing than us

yes yes
we dont preach on such stuff to prevent ourselves from sounding old fashioned, fundamentalistic and dogmatic
but it is true

was it right for God to kill all these people without giving them the choices and chances we get nowadays?

well that question is flawed
because we have no idea what kind of choices or chances and under what circumstances they lived in
the had the stories of adam and enoch didnt they?

but even if we are to answer that lousy question the answer is still yes
God has the right

it is not for us to call God unfair
because He is fair, not in our notions but beyond them
evil does deserve judgement
that He chose to show us such grace
yet we still spit on it

we cant shy away from his judgement and embrace his grace
then again we were doomed from the start
only through Him can we ever make sense of Him

no
im not interested really in revamping any childrens ministry
cos i dun have a better idea
although i think teaching kids they we are damned beyond correction
but grace equivocally exists is an attractive idea
although i think it'll give them nightmares
i think kids should learn from the start
that we live in an unfair world
and we are damned creatures all of us
more the sinners and mockers than noah
yet God went beyond Himself
and let us be like those animals which boarded the ark

a remnant that remains for Him
not by our merit
but because He chooses us
and yes, by all means remind them of His faithfulness His promises, His love and His provision
but not without the full picture
the terrible and loving God
not the benevolent and ever-pleasing grandfather


but i think im fumbling with faith again
what it is to me really
personally
not what some congregation has sold me for the past few years

im not, and have never been the kind who will kneel down on the altar and cry for a lost generation again and again
although i do feel such pangs once in awhile
they are far and in between

im not able to accept any doctrine or teaching wholesale without some misgivings
and i treat interpretations of the word exactly as they are interpretations

im probably not what they would call a healthy memeber of the congregation
and im no noah
i think identify more with those who mocked him

maybe the reason im still around is because i fear the raging waters

im not going to sit around and assume these misgivings will disappear with time
after i get used to things
or community some how assimilates my rough corners

i dun subscribe to a policy of submit just because
it works for mindless nuts like you
but not for everyone
show me something worthy of submitting to and i will
im not gonna be held hostage just because there are others
vulnerable ones
young ones

im gonna find my faith
not giving a damn about the rules of our religon anymore
to go find God where He may be found
no matter what people say
after its my faith im trying to find
not my face in front of You