Welcome to My Life

So, I thougt about it and then I realized, for all the talking I do about faith-like stuff (and that it is sooo ensconced in my poetry...), I have never actually talked about my faith before. My "testimony" as it is called in Christian-ese.

Christian-ese: What is almost a seperate language spoken by many old or long-time Christians which often confuse non-Christians or just plain-old everyone. (Or nobody, depending on the company/word...)

Mine is pretty much like most other people who grew up in a Christian home. Family who goes to church every sunday, family and friends of family who are involved in ministry, et al. A kind of ghetto some may say.

(Ghetto: While the word has many different implications for different people, the word is generally used to describe a segregated place)

Anyway, I became a Christian at the ripe-old age of four (...or mebbe it was five?) and that was it. In hindsight I realize that at that age I really didn't understand all that made up being a Christian. More than that, I also think that at the time my motivation for taking that step was more to please my parents than any real belief. In any case, my spiritual life remained more or less stagnent for a long time. Sure, I went to sunday school and all the mid-week classes and stuff, and I could talk the talk just as well as anyone else, but in my heart nothing really changed. I didn't get it, and I wouldn't get it until I hit the ground hard.

Ahh, yes. The Dark Ages (not the medieval ones, I just like the play on words). The dark years of my life. The years where I learned to wear masks and hats. Following the usual path for someone like me, I pretty much crashed and burned coming into adolesence. Grade six to grade eight, I was one messed up kid. But as bad as it was, it wasn't as bad as it could have been and it was definetly a place for God to start working in my life. In hindsight, it really is only by His grace that I am who and where I am today. If I had tried to do things on my own, who knows where I woud be? It is not as if I just decided that God suddenly wasn't there, just that I really didn't want to do things His way at the time.

So He decided to give me a smack upside the head. I don't know when it happened, but I just know that somehow I was turned in my path and started heading the other way, towards God. I was still pretty weak, but God knew how to help me get back to health. Somehow I managed to get on staff at Hope Valley, and God used that tremendously. He gave me a great trainer and great senior staff to work with. He also gave me most of the people I count as my best friends, people who are just so amazing. I'm not going to embarass anyone with names, but y'all know who you are. Thanx.

It was at camp that God showed me so much of where I was going wrong. During one of the devos., the guy who was speaking said something to the effect of "Sometimes people who were 'saved' at a really young age really aren't. They may not really understand what it is all about, what the cross is all about, and so are missing what being a Christian is all about." While I'm not sure I agree with all of that, it had a huge impact on how I thought and where I was. At that point I think something that was missing finally clicked. I don't know if that means that at that point I was actually saved or whatever, but I do know that at that point I really started to get it.

So where does that leave me now? At this blog, or at least the idea behind it. Philippians 3:14, from which comes the name of this blog etc, says, "I press onward towards to goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (NIV). I'm pressing forward, never being satisfied with where I am, and taking you along for the ride.

Michael
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Brother in Arms
Proverbs.17.17

As Long As There Are Exams...

...there will be prayer in school. At least, that is what several posters and bumper stickers I have seen claim.

I for one believe it.

With exams two days away (unless you are doing what I am supposed to be doing now and have to do in-class exams... o_0") prayer is definetly on the minds of many of the students at my school. Praying that they will get good grades on their exam, culmiating tasks, etc. Getting their priests to pray for their exams. Their is so much prayer in the air that we could be in Vatican City for all I know.

But in some ways it makes me sad.

Sad to think that we only reach out to God when we want something. When it serves our interests to reach out to Him. When we just want that little extra to supplement the studying we (*didn't as is often the case) do. How much more self serving can we get?
But at the same time, I can't be too condemning of that. That would be hypocritical. I know that I do the same some times, that I let my own selfishness come before God, and that it is something I will always struggle with. It is just a part of being human. But that doesn't give me excuse to do it knowingly.

So, where am I going with this? I have no clue, I really just rambled on.
Good luck with exams. I'll be praying for you, \o/.

Michael
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Brother in Arms
Proverbs.17.17

Tools pt.1

So, I have The Rebeultion as one of my quick links in the side bar there, but I don't think I have actually ever mentioned it. Oversight on my part.

I found The Rebelution recently while surfing then net, checked it out, delved deeper, do my usual checking for credibility thing. And since then it has become (or at least the forum has become) a primo spiritual resource for me.

Alex and Brett, 18, define a "rebelution" as being a "teen rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly world" (paraphrase, I think...). One of the best articles I have read recently is titled My First Shower Nearly Killed Me and it outlines the idea much better than I possibly could. They area also currently doing a "Modesty Survey," which I have a nice picture for, where girls ask questions about modesty and guys answer. The asking part is over, but if any guys still want to participate the option is still open.

If it seems that I am pushing this site, it is because I am. It is just a really great resource that I think everybody should check out at least once. So, go ahead and give it a shot ;)

Cheers!
Michael
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By the grace of GodJob.33.23-28

Interesting

Not life.

(╥_─)
School is really annoying right now... exams and stuff. Culminating tasks. Blah. English.
Blahx2.

However, as this is my first post of the new year, I shall look to the positive. As in, I had an awesome-possum holiday, full of friends, food, fun, food, friends, fire, friends, strangers, et al..
:D

EMOTICONS.

So, during my meanderings on the internet I came across a rather impressive article on emoticons and a rather impressive list OF emoticons. Including an emo EMOticon. I was happy. XD.

(///_V)

Anywho, I'm bored and procrastinating (which, concequently, is also a good song by Stellar Kart) so I had better actually get to work. Or listen to my mp3 player. Whichever comes first.

Cheers!

Michael

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By the Grace of God
JOB.33.23-28

Happy New Year!

Here we are: a brand new year. The old year dies and a new one is born from its ashes. The rollercoaster ride of 2006 is slowly pulling into the station and preparing for a new run in '07. Looking back, 2006 has been characterized for me by something my friend Pam said, "Failure is just a messy way of learning." Not to say that '06 was bad, I just learned a lot of hard lessons. I grew and changed so much over the last year. And I expect no less from '07. Learn and grow always.

May your new year be a blessed one, one of growth (even in the painful moments), of joy, of change.

Cheers!
Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Happy (Belated) Christmas!!!

"On the Twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me/Twelve drummers drumming/Eleven pipers piping... [and all the rest]"

We are finally (past) there! I hope everyone had a holly, jolly Christmas; I certainly did. Anywho, let me finish this off so we can be done with it. Eleven pipers piping... aka the eleven FAITHFUL (12 - Judas) apostles. And twelve? The twelve points of doctorine in the Apostles Creed.

This year I didn't ask for many gifts. Getting gifts is something that is slowly waning in my life... it is really tough now to come up with things to ask for... But over my lifetime I have recieved so many gifts it is not even funny. But most important to me are the gifts that I have that are not material. Like my family. What can I say about my crazy family? I swear, every Foster has inherited some sort of gene that makes them crazy and wierd and however else you want to describe it. But no matter how zany my family is, when we get together we always have a good time. They are so special to me, and are the greatest gift I have recieved.

And then there are my friends...and what can I say about them? Guys, you have made such a huge impact on my life in so many different ways... and I thank God every day for blessing me with your friendship. Even when the F-gene comes out and I go off the wall. ESPECIALLY when that happens, lol. I don't have words to say how much you guys mean to me.

So, now comes the end. Unless something huge comes up, I'm probably not going to update 'till the New Year. So, until then, God Bless and I'll cya on MSN.

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

The 10th Day...

"On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me/Ten lords a leaping/Nine ladies dancing/Eight maids a milking..."

Don't hate me because I miscounted again... I should actually be on day nine, but seeing as I probably won't be updating for a good while yet, this will work. Man is it annoying when this happens... lol.

Catchup mode: The eight maids a milking are a reference to something which Catholics take great pains to teach in grade nine religion, but apparently get a wrong/incomplete meaning out of... the Beatitudes. The nine ladies dancing... hmm, for any of you who have team led at or been to a camp where they sing "The Banana Song," you should be able to get this one. For the rest of you, you're missing out. The Banana song rocks. However, the line of particular concern for this post goes something like "The Fruit of the Spirit/ From love to self control...". Yes folks, the nine ladies dancing are the nine parts of the Fruit of the Spirit. Numeros dix, the ten lords a leaping have to do with a bearded old man standing on a mountain and talking to God. Though that really doesn't help much I suppose... that could have been a couple other people as well. However, everyone should be able to guess what ten has to do with. The Ten Commandments. Fun fun.

Merry Christmas!

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Wherefore on the Day of the Seventh...

"On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me/Seven swans a swimming..."

Day number seven...we seem to be going through these very swiftly.... Seven swans a swimming is not as obvious as many of the others have been. It makes reference to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. But I have no clue what those are exactly because there are over 20 odd listed in various places in the New Testament. FUN!

In other news, life right now is really lazy. Things are winding down before Christmas. There are three more school days before we go on break, and one is a write off (Christmas assembly, one of the major highlights of the school year). Actually, today was a write off as well. My school ran Participaction, a day where we (the school populace) get out and do some good physical activity, or in the case of many students, go Christmas shopping. *shakes head* I suppose some might consider that physical activity, BUT... I went skating for the first tome this year/in a year. I get a massive blister, but other than that it was ama-za-zing fun!!! Skating rocks!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... I white Christmases ROCK!

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Day the 6th

"On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me/ Six geese a layin'..."

Six geese a layin'... bet you would have never guessed what this represents (unless you are a cheater and looked it up...lol). The six geese are the six days of creation. Not seven, six. Before you say I'm wacko, think about it. What did God do on the seventh day? He rested. SO, He only created for six days. Eh, eh... isn't that clever???

Only seven more days...

Mike

Day 5/War of the Words

"On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me/ Five golden rings.../four calling birds/ three French hens/ two turtle doves..."

So, if you do the math, you may be thinking to yourself "But wait, Mike started his count 6 days ago...why are we only on day five??" If you are thinking that, my head is screwed on properly, I just started my count a day early (and no one told me!!). So, today is actually the fifth day (depending on how you count...).

The gifts (in catch-up order): Two turtle doves are the old and new testaments; Three French hens are the three "Theological Values" (Faith, Hope and Charity), which I really don't understand... mebbe I'll Wiki it...; Four calling birds are the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; aaaaand the five golden rings are, to use some Christian terminology, the "Pentateuch," or for us normal people the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).

So things have been kinda crazy lately. I've really been struck by how much damage we do with our words. I know a couple of people who are practically at war with each other over a whole "he said, she said" issue. And it is driving me nuts, partially because it is over something totally meaningless and partially because there is nothing I can do about it. I find that when I get frustrated like that, writing helps. I actually wrote this a little while ago, but it really has a lot of meaning now. And yes, the title is a play on "The War of the Worlds." But no fear, Tom Cruise isn't in it ;D.

Oh the discord of argument A bitter melody, cold fire The breaking of the world On the tongue of humanity A scourge on the soul, A deep bite forced by unruly emotion Fighting as a release Deep pain, shallow irritation Personalities clashing The battlefield erupts in flame Bullets whizz overhead Spit off the tongues of the spiteful Dear Jesus, what have we done? You tell us to love To act as we would have on us Instead we dig trenches Lines in our brows that mar our face We cry out to You "Holy!" And tell You of our love We cry to our brothers curses And flail them with our words This is our hipocracy We need to find Your love

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

1st Day

"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me/ A partridge in a pear tree..."

Did you know that The Twelve Days of Christmas was created by Catholics to remind them of certain parts of their faith? Each number of gifts represents a different thing (note: the actual gift has nothing to do with it... just the number). So, as it IS only 12 days till Christmas, I'm going to feature a different gift from the song, as well as any other random thoughts/poems that come to mind :D.

(Note note: I am aware that this is in many ways considered to be mere legend. HOWEVER, the arguements against are not enough to dissuade the persuit of this topic.)

In the song, the part "my true love" refers to God the father. The first gift ("A partridge in a pear tree...") refers to Jesus. This is the easy one... :D

Ciao for now!
Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Exegit Monumentum Aere Perennius

Exegit Monumentum Aere Perennius

It stands tall and bright
Gleaming in the sun
A true testament
To all that they've done

It stands on a hill
For all to see
The e'er lasting monument
So great and free

But not of gold so bright
Nor iron thats strong
Is this statue made
But what lasts long

For the things of this world
Will perish in time
But what lives on is
More precious than rhyme

The love that was shown
Led a soul to the Lamb
And for that great act
So thankful I am

And 'tis in that thought
This tower is meant
A monument of souls
Lasting longer than time spent

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Weekend(ers)

So, this weekend was the weekend of birthday parties. I went to two of them, back to back. It was fun, albeit sometimes random... I love parties. I can't lie. There is something in the infectious-ly energetic and excited atmosphere that just makes me go nuts. I THRIVE on that kind of energy... but it is also that I just love hanging out with my friends. They are really one of the most important groups in my life.

Party no. 1: HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!

So I was very excited for this birthday party, esp. seeing as I hadn’t seen/hung out with Emily in, oh, almost a year (if you don’t count maybe five minutes in the summer…). Note: it isn’t such a hot idea to not hang with people for that long. So it was very fun, tho a bit chaotic… and I showed up on time (aka a half hour late…). We made cookies, which was über fun and watched Tomb Raider (avert your eyes boys!!! lol Sarah). Certain people played “connect-the-freckles” on my arms (*cough cough Seana and Bethany, cough cough*), WHICH by the way took 20 minutes to get off… and I saved Seana from bigger people (again lol). It was just overall a blast. I love these guys and it is always fun to hang with them.

Party no. 2: HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!!!

I knew even before I showed up that this party was going to be a riot. And I wasn’t disappointed. From playing keep-it-up with a balloon (200 odd hits, and there were some intense saves due to challenging obstacles…) to punching bags (and punching Brocks) to some very cool conversations with Brock, it was F-U-N. And we played that most Canadian game in the most Canadian way possible: Road hockey in the dark with three hockey sticks, two goalie sticks, a broom and a rake. Oh yeah, is that dedication to the game or what?? That was quickly followed up with a game of basket ball (in which the Holy Cross bwoyz were flattened…lol) and then hot chocolate and marshmallows by the fire. We had some neat conversation there on the topic of religion. Brock was the only one there who wasn’t a Christian, but he had some very interesting things to say. It was good, and most importantly, it wasn’t a hostile, shove-our-faith-down-your-throat kind of talk. I can only hope that we in some way managed to plant some kind of seed.

I would post pics, but my camera is severely lacking in the department of batteries, so I don’t have any.

Ciao for now!

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Drowning

Pain hidden behind a mask of mirth
Unable to convey emotion
The truth behind the façade
Masked by twin mirrors that darken the view

Going through life like a zombie
Shallow relationships digging short in the well of life
Conditioned to hold back
Never trusting, never trusted

Consumed by a dream
The dream becomes reality
Reality the desire of the dreamer
A mind in chaos tortured by the dream

Succumbing to its pressure
Collapsing to its control
Reality calls, but the dreamer hears not
And turns to destructive friend the dream

Laboring through the vicious circle
Mind and emotions burned
The dreamer cries out for escape and healing
As he drowns under the dream

But suddenly loving arms enfold him
Pulling him up from the deadly waters
And in those arms release is found
As his Savior whispers “I love you”

And in that promise new ground is broken
A desert heart cracked
Revealing founts of life
Which flood the thirsty garden of the soul

And in that garden the dreamer walks
Hand in hand with those he loves
Forever in the embrace
Of the one who redeemed his life.

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

I Have A Dream...

Four simple words started a speech that changed the world. Said by a man that was out to change the world as he knew it. Changing the world is a goal often attributed to people who did great things, people who defied the box they lived in, who fought for freedom, truth, and the like. They are great people, Met by cheering crowds and adoring followers.

 

However, therein lies a problem. By putting these people up on a pedestal, we begin to think that there is no way we (the "normal" populace) can do the same. But when you really start to think about it, these people are "normal" to (note: normal is in quotes because who can say what normal really is?) I mean, who was Oprah way back when? A nobody. Bill Gates? He was (no offence Bill) just a tech geek with bad hygene. - (I would use Nelson Mandela, but he's special...) - Albert Einstein, George Washington, Chris Columbus, Lester Pearson, even Hitler in his own sick and twisted way... none of them were born any greater than any of us. They just took hold of a vision and ran with it. Some changed the world accidentally, some on purpose, and some in a way they weren’t aiming for. At the same time, the things they did were big enough to launch them into the limelight.

 

These well known “world changers” and their deeds aren’t unique. The world is changed every day, on a constant basis, but most of the time in ways that wouldn’t register on the Richter scale of world events. But those actions are like ripples on the water, or the beginning of a run of dominoes. Events can be set in motion that can get bigger and bigger as time goes on.

 

I heard a great example of this on The Rest of The Story with Paul Harvey a little while ago. Bear with me, as my memory is a little sketchy about all the details, but I’ll give you the rough outline. The story was about a young adult in the States who basically played chaperone for his friends. More importantly, he was a Christian. It came to pass that there was a tent revival in a nearby town (thus dating the story) and this guy (I forget his name, so I’ll call him Demetrius) decides to invite some of his friends to go. After much coercing, he manages to convince some of his friends to go. Well, one guy in particular goes and is totally affected and transformed by what he hears. Even in that, Demetrius has totally changed the world. But here is where the ripples come in to play. The guy’s name? You may recognize it, because it is the name of one of the biggest evangelists in Christendom today. Billy Graham. You want to talk world changing or what??!? And it was kicked off by the small action of Demetrius inviting his friend out. Wow.

 

All this leads up to one question: How? How do we actually go about changing the world? I think in the end it all comes back to leadership. I’ve already written about leadership, so I won’t beat a dead horse (or bet on one…lol, Relient K). But I will say that leadership can really be broken down into setting an example and the kind of example you set. So, how do you change the world? Through the actions you make and the example you set. After that, the ripples are in God’s hands.

 

On Doctor Who the other night the Doctor stated that “every man has the ability to change the world. I totally believe that. I have a dream… to change the world.

 

Are you in?

 

Michael

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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

CHRISTMAS!!!

Who loves Christmas? I love Christmas!!! And as long as my computer avoids blowing up again, I'll get to keep talking about it! Snow seems to have this exciting Christmas-y affect on me (xcept for after Christmas, when it seems to have this very exciting snowboarding-y (lol) affect on me), and we have just recently had lots of SNWO!!! I'm so excited I can't even spell straight!!! YAY! Relient K's Relient Christmas has become a permanent part of my music playlist, tho I have to be careful who I play it around, aka "LOOK OUT! NON CHRISTMAS-Y FEELING PEOPLE APPROACHING!!!" Hehe... I'm actually so stoked, altho my wishlist is quite short... just some CD's actually. BUT SOME FREAKING SWEET CD's. aka, new Newsboys, Skillet, and a plethora of others. (I really like that word...plethora...). AND, Switchfoot's new CD come out on Boxing Day!!! *excited*
But I must remember to keep it all in context... losing sight of the real reason behind Christmas would be total anathema (I like that word too...). So, as we get closer, don't get so wrapped up in the decorations and trees and tinsel (I love it so) and lights and Santa that you forget about a little baby. In the words of Dr. Seuss's Grinch, "Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Michael

Computer woes

"If you ask me, the worst thing about PCs is that things go wrong more often than Ben Affleck makes bad career choices" - Kirk Steers, PC World

Ain't that the truth...

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

What's in a name?

There are two types of crisis that we tend to go through as humans, an identity crisis usually when we are in our teens and a mid-life crisis when we reach middle age. I never expected to go through either, but that could well have been a part of my teenage arrogance…lol. So maybe that is why my identity crisis took me by surprise. My anthropology (etc.) textbook says that an identity crisis has two questions attached to it: “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose in life?” Tough questions to answer indeed.

I have many names, depending on who you are. No, that does not mean that I change how I act depending on the company I am in, it just means that I have been introduced to certain people by different names. If you have grown up with me, I am most often called Michael or Mike. At camp, I am Flippy. Depending on my friends, you may get different names. I have a short list of people that can call me one particular name, but I won’t get into that…

But the point is, none of that makes me me. If I wrap myself up in my name, what happens when I get a label I don’t like? Do I let my labels control me? Does that make sense? If I move past that, who I am becomes based on my relationships, especially my greatest relationship, the one I have with Christ. Then, who I am becomes what He wants me to be.

Following that thread, figuring out my purpose becomes a little easier. If I let Christ direct who I am, then I already have several purposes to fulfill. The next step is figuring out how to work at these.

Michael

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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Terry Fox Run

DO IT FOR TERRY!!!
Ahh, how that rings in my ears...a day later. Yes, yesterday was the Terry Fox Run and IT WAS AWESOME!!! I had a blast of a time! It was great, our school raised $19,150 for the Run and the James Fund for Neuroblastoma. It's great... we are staying fairly consistent as a school, we raised about the same amount last year. Just another example of how a little goes a long way, how every bit we add can make a world of a difference.

It was also a great time to hang out with my friends from other schools. I love when I can get together with them and just hang out. It was funny, me and P-Biddy were just wandering around trying to find people when I got a brilliant idea: "Hey, if I yell out MARCO do you think they'll yell back POLO?" It was really just a stupid idea, I mean what are the odds, but we gave it a try and... shock! horror! People showed up!! I laughed about that for at least five minutes... :D. Anyway, it was a truly great time... friends find fun fast.


Michael
By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Emo Me...

EMO ME!!!!
My school is getting to me...


This picture makes me laugh.