I don't understand

Of all the things in this world. The one thing I don't understand the most is religion, or should I say, Christianity.

On my way to work today I somehow thought about this whole religion thing. Basically, why is it that religious people are so convinced that they're on their way to a better place? That they're just passing through this world to get to the next? Why?

I mean, if God (or whoever sent you down here) wanted you to be in Heaven (or abovementioned 'better place') wouldn't he have kept you there? Why would he send you down here, to this world full of temptation and sin, only to decide on your fate later? Whether you're going back into Heaven or you're doomed to eternal damnation... aka Hell.

Is that fair?

Is it fair to send a mere mortal down to a world full of everything good and bad only to see if they can make it? To see if they can jump the hurdles which are bound to be in their way only to judge them based on the decisions their brains (the ones that you gave them) thought to be right at the time??

I'm not questioning religion or Christianity in any way. I'm only questioning the logic behind this belief system.

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Getting closer to God [finding Jesus #3]

Interesting.

Came across this cartoon thingy just now.

It got me thinking.

Does believing in God actually bring you closer to Him and vice versa?

What about all those people who pray to Haile Selassie I, Nombkhubulwane, Budha, or any one of the hundreds of gods (and goddesses) worshipped by millions of Hindus worldwide (you know, the ones that, one way or another resemble elephants) and beleive that he/she is their 'God' or at least theirportal to God? Just like Christians believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the light to get to God.

What about them?

Who do they get closer to? Or do all this gods represent the Christian God in their chosen religions? Maybe. But then again, maybe not.

Wouldn't all these blasphemous questions all be resolved if someone (an Angel or something) came down and told the whole world that what we're doing is right or wrong. Maybe then all our worries and squabbles about the "right God", the "wrong God", this church that churh, will all be sorted and no one will feel that by going to a particular church where they pray in English or some foreign language instead of your own mother-tounge gets you closer to God.

Does it really make a matter who you beleive in? Or does what matter the simple fact that you beleive in something/someone you can't see or touch but can only 'feel'?

I don't have answers to these questions. I doubt anyone does. But I'm asking, just in case.

Selah!

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Prayer in the park [finding Jesus #2]

When was the last time you ever devoted any time out to just thank God (or
whoever it is you believe in) for all that he's given you and continues to give you on a daily basis?

I took this picture (while I was at the Civic Theatre in Johannesburg) of a man finding some time in his busy schedule to say a prayer. He was sitting in that position for well over thirty minutes.

And I got to thinking about the significance of just connecting with the most high for no particular reason. Just checking in. Just to let him know you're aware he exists. Not having to wait for tough times to come knocking before you feel the need to...

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The Devil is a very popoular brand!

I'm not too sure if I should capitalise the 'd' in 'devil', but anyways...

How come a large percentage of movies potraying the apocalypse always focus on the way it is most likely to go is the devil came to eath?

If Christianity is so popular, how come the only time you ever get to see some actor potraying Jesus H. Christ, is when he's getting whipped and dehumanised (aka the Passion)??

The only explanation I can come up with is that it's most probably blasphemous to act out how you think the world (usually New York or somewhere in the US) will turnout on the big day.

I mean there's movies ranging from The Devil's Advocate to End of Days etc. That basically play out the whole "End of the world as we know it" phenomenon. And yet there's only a handful of movies that focus solely on Jesus. And they're all more or less focusing on the same subject matter. i.e. Either Him being tortured (a la Passion of Christ), or on his way to getting tortured (). There's never anything new for the Jesus brand.

And considering Christianity is one of the most popular religions, right up there with Islam and all the others; it's kinda strange that one of the minority religions get more airplay.

Why is it that you get some brands aligning (for lack of a better word) their products (one way or another) to the devil or hell or somewhere close to there... (brands like Hell's Angels comes to mind)

Come to think of it...
There's a chilli sauce called "Hot as Hell" available at one South African
restaurant. And beleive me, it truly is hot. But I wouldn't go as far as
comparing it to Hell. Seeing as none of us actually know what hell tastes like.
Or even how hot it is...

And then again, you find only a handful on the other end of the scale. There are relatively fewer brands who market themselves as being "affiliated" to God/Heaven/Jesus.
For some reason I can only think of one brand (Sweets from Heaven) in comparison to the afore mentioned "Hell brand".

Again, why are people more attracted to Hell than Heaven? Is it because we all have that devilish side that these brands seem to cater for? Is it becuase people thinks the Heaven brand if for sissies?

Right now I wish I had studied Marketing or Phsycology, to better understand exactly WTF!! (what the fuss)!

According to Google: Hell > Heaven

Hell = 350 million results
Heaven = 231 million results

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Finding Jesus...

...I just remembered this after saying "Lord knows" in the previous post...

Here goes nothing...



There's something that's been gnawing at my brain for ages now... I think I need to share it with y'all!

Why is it that when people are lying on their death beds or just found out they're dying from some desease, that they suddenly decide to find Jesus and get saved and what not.

You hear of people getting HIV/AIDS after sleeping around with tons of different sexual partners, without a care in the world, with Jesus not crossing their minds even for a second.
I don't understand how people can be so reckless with their lives knowing the dangers that lie out there. I have very little sympathy for people who don't protect themselves, get infected and all of a sudden want us to help save them.

I guess it only makes logical sense to turn to Christ when you're in trouble. But why not turn to him even before you get into trouble; while things are still going great, and you're healthy and all? Why should we cry with you when you can't take yourself to the loo and shit all over yourself? Why? Why is it that all of a sudden when you get infected you decide to preach to us about the dangers of HIV/AIDS? The same dangers were there long before you got yourself infected. If you didn't listen to those that came before you that tried to warn you, what makes you think the stuff you're saying is actually getting through to those like you (the you before you got infected)?

I've got nothing against people who decide to turn their lives around after something bad has happened to them, but what I'm against, is... waiting for something bad to happen to you before you do.

I've never really had anything bad happen to me. I've never been involved in drugs, I don't have a terminal desease, I'm not involved in any sort of crime. Does that mean I should wait for something drastic to happen before changing for the greater good? NO! I can do it anytime I want. I don't have to wait for test results to tell me that now is is the time.

I'm not a sait I'm still a sinner, and I know most of us are, and am not damning anyone for choosing to change their lives after realising the errors of their ways.

In the same breath, I'm not saying that when you give your life over to Christ you automatically stop being a sinner. Even if you might (wanna) appear Holier-than-thou in public, only you and your god know what you do behind closed doors. We've all heard of the seedy (no pun intended) things "holy" people do when no one's watching. The very same people who were the first to cast the stone; then when those things come out into the open, people are quick to say... "who would've thought?". Forgetting that before being Christian/spiritual beings/the Blessed ones, you are first and foremost, human. And making mistakes, whether you learn from them or not, is part and parcel of being human.

I would hate to be one of those people. I don't go to church. I don't pray everyday. I don't read the Bible. But I do ...(I know you've heard ths before)... believe in God and that through Him everything and anything is possible. As tempting as it is to blame Him when things go wrong and to praise Him when everything's peachy... I don't. I believe He gives each one of us a choice and it's up to us to choose what to do and what to make of those choices and decisions. I make use of every opportunity that comes my way (sometimes) and if it doesn't go my way, I know it's no-one's fault but my own. I made the wrong decision... if I were to wake up one day and to find out I was HIV positive, I wouldn't turn around and point a finger at God and say it's his fault I got infected. I wouldn't blame anyone but myself. I was the one who chose not to put a condom on. I'm the one who "didn't wanna break the mood", and put it in without thinking twice. So it's not a matter of how he's turned his back on me, it's all about choices.

I believe in everything I do (or don't do), I have/had a choice.

I have nothing against you if you choose to turn to God after having made wrong choices time and time again. I hope everything works out for you.

Everytime you fall, pick something up.

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