Archive - April, 2010
Vote?
I noticed a site mentioned on twitter earlier – its called ‘vote match’
You enter which area of the UK you are located in, answer a few questions and highlight political issues you feel are the most important and it calculates which political party your expressed views are closest to.
My result came back as SDLP – Social Democratic & Labour Party.
Here’s the thing though, i’m not going to tell you who i vote for next thursday but i will tell you that i am trying to make an informed opinion before i do so – my vote will be based solely on party policy.
That may sound incredibly stupid to some people in other parts of our world – you may think im stating the obvious – but here in Northern Ireland a LOT of people will still vote with ‘religious allegiance’ in mind!
If i voted SDLP or anything outside of Unionism, i know people who would be deeply offended with me and may even question my faith – i kid you not!
Some of these people have actual reasons why they support hardline Unionism – those reasons range from informed opinions to bigotry – and some just follow the crowd like lemmings. The same can be said of all the parties!
Its time to get real though – Northern Ireland needs real politics and real politicians – its time to use your brain before you vote and give this country a chance!
If you are a in the North Antrim Constituency and want to know more about your local candidates and their policies, there is a Question Time being hosted in High Kirk Presbyterian Church on Friday 30th April at 7.30pm – this should be an opportunity to hear what the parties stand for & hopefully help you make an informed decision about who to vote for.
Hark the Herons…”Hark” indeed
I had planned to rant about how this indie album can appear on iTunes on both sides of the Atlantic on the same day and “major Christian releases” often do not – after one listen to this i decided to scrap the rant as a waste of mine & your time.
I was not sure if i would like this, i’m not really sure why i thought that.
From sneak previews that have appeared on facebook etc, i knew that Kalyn has a beautiful voice. I didn’t have to be told how fantastic a musician Glenn is so i should have known this would be great.
If you know me, you know i am a horribly critical music snob – i’m trying to work on that, i promise!
Heres the thing – If you are going to buy one album this week, i seriously reckon you need it to be this one.
Click the image for iTunes uk download
Mercy, Purity, Peacemaking…..
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy,
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”
The pronouncement by Jesus that these qualities are true of His disciples is a little hard for us to grasp – we end up trying to be merciful, trying to be pure in heart and trying to be peacemakers – or maybe not!
But Jesus didn’t say ‘Blessed are those who try really hard to be merciful and don’t worry too much if you can’t crack it.” He also didn’t say we could take it or leave it!!
As disciples – we still battle the sin within us BUT somehow we have come to believe or be tricked into thinking that its ok to ‘make a decision’ or ‘become a christian’ and not be changed by Jesus.
Have you experienced these things He speaks of? If not, what happens to the promises that end each Beatitude?
‘….for they shall receive mercy,
for they shall see God,
for they shall be called the sons of God.’
What are the alternatives to these things? If we don’t get mercy? If we don’t see God? If we don’t get called ‘sons’ or ‘daughters’ of God?
Judgement? Separation from God, hell? Not in God’s family?
In these 3 verses, i hope we saw the Gospel.
