Catholic Mass.

Three of us went to Catholic Mass this morning. My clothes smell of incense. I actually thought the incense smelled nice, though. I wonder if the Book of the Four Gospels thought so as well. It was well smothered.

We participated in as much as possible. We didn't pray to the saints or to Mary. I was the only one to bow to the altar on the way out (I was bowing to Jesus, in the direction of the altar?). I thought the whole thing in general was pretty good. It seems like it would be a nice place to go if I was Catholic. The people were nice.

There was much less of an emphasis on the transubstantiation of the Eucharist than I expected. It appears that they don't actually believe that the bread and wine physically change into the body and blood of Christ, they just change substance. Their physical appearance remains the same. I always thought that you took them, and then the priest transubstantiated them when they are already in your body.

The sermon was about community, but the priest threw the word "tradition" in as many times as humanly possible. The point of the sermon was that the members are in constant communion with each other, and with the deceased members of the church. A little sketchy, but his purpose was to build a sense of community within the body of believers, which, in itself, is a good thing.

It was quite clear, however, that his reasoning was not from the Bible. His only reason for most of the beliefs he stated was tradition. I heard the words "this is the oldest" far too many times to count.

The final result is that I'm a little bit less ignorant toward Catholicism, and I would say that they are good people honestly seeking the truth, yet, in my opinion, further away from it than I am. We'll find out when we get to heaven.

Next time Jon gets a break from his Sunday ministry we're going to try to find an Orthodox church. That should be equally thrilling.

A + B = C

A1= My school isn't on OSAP's list of approved schools, so I can't get my student loan.
A2= I don't have any money to pay for the missions trip God wants me to go on.
A3= The injections that keep me alive don't happen in Europe, so no doctor will give them to me.
A4= Homesickness.
A5= Lifelong personal issue.
A6= Problem that arose, but I can't discuss it because the outcome is secret.

B= Faith (Trust)

C1= OSAP has given me the forms to have my school fill out in order for the school to be approved for my student loan. The deadline for this form to be in was May, but for some strange reason OSAP is letting my school fill it out a tad bit late.
C2= More than enough money to pay for my missions trip was donated, from some expected sources, and some rather unexpected and clearly divinely ordained sources.
C3= My doctor over here just called for me to arrange an injection. Apparently it worked out.
C4= The great thing about small Bible Colleges is the sense of community which developes and kills the homesickness. Aside from the lack of Wendy's fries here. I don't think that homesickness will go away.
C5= The lifelong personal issue seems to have been mostly resolved, in a way that I couldn't explain without the word "God" no matter how much I tried to think like an atheist.
C6= Problem six was also solved by none other than the Creator himself.

I just got in to my room after having theological debates for about the last three hours with different people. They were perfect debates. There weren't any annoying epistemologies present, and there were enough doses of humour for no one to get frustrated. Just a bunch of theology students debating one of the best debate topics there is (yes, that's my wonderfully biased opinion).
As I got in my room, I sat on my bed and opened up my laptop. I read an e-mail, then turned on mediaplayer so I can have some music. Because I hadn't in a while, I put on the Christian Music playlist, which I usually ignore because it's full of bands that weren't good enough to write real music. However, the song that first played is one by a band that actually writes Christian music because Christ and his message is what they feel passionate about. The name of the song is "The Kingdom". My first thought was "Oh great. A band writing a song about one of the most difficult topics in Christian theology: the Kingdom of God." Naturally, I decided to listen to the lyrics so I can cynically criticize (not good, I know - I'm changing that). I was quite taken aback by how good the theology in the song iss. It pretty much culminates my entire essay on the Kingdom of Heaven (St. Matthew's unique title for the Kingdom of God - same thing though). I'm posting the lyrics because they're just so good. Of course, that could be my opinion because the Supertones are a Pentecostal band. However, when I first studied the Kingdom of Heaven I started with no understanding and used no Pentecostal sources. Anyway, here they are:

SUPERTONES The Kingdom Lyrics

I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is on the way, on the way
I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is here today, here today

I think I found it,
An inspiration
I can see a glorious nation

It's over there just above Zion
And it looks like Jerusalem

It's on the way, the date is set
It's here today, but not here yet
Can almost hear, can almost see
It's a banner caught upon the breeze
Upon it is a Lion...

I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is on the way, on the way
I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is here today, here today
Christ reigns now and don't forget that the kingdom is not yet!

It's getting closer
To fulfillment
But the kingdom began with the advent

He is reigning through his people
The first will be nothing compared to the sequel
No more war, no more crime, no more unemployment line!

And there is Christ upon His seat
Where mercy, truth and justice meet
And He will never falter...

I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is on the way, on the way
I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is here today, here today
Christ reigns now and don't forget that the kingdom is not yet!

And with one voice, we all will sing
(Yeah yeah yeah)
To the Prince of peace and King of kings
(Yeah yeah yeah)
His reign is everlasting
(Yeah yeah yeah)

I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is on the way, on the way
I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is here today, here today
I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is on the way, on the way
I tell you the truth when I say that the kingdom is here today, here today
Here today

I'm going to try to write myself into an understanding of an opinion I'm beginning to loathe. I'll begin with a quote from my history teacher.

"Wouldn't it be nice if Christians could form culture?
(pause)
Now, on to the Crusades."

I thought he gave us a wonderful rant. Going on about how culture is influencing Christianity, and instead it should be Christians who form the culture. It was appropriate that he taught us about the Crusades right after. I've heard lots of debate over whether or not there should be a Christian culture at all. Should we be a sub-culture, or a counter-culture? Should Christians be so diverse that there's no such thing as a Christian culture? These are good, appropriate questions. However, this paricular old man seems bent on the "glory days" when Christians formed the dominant culture. Today marks the second time he's mentioned how horrible it is that homosexuals no longer feel shame. "At least in the Victorian days they'd cover it up" he said. "I once watched a gameshow with a gay and a lesbian on it. They proudly proclaimed it without an ounce of shame."

He clearly stated that Christians should be the ones forming culture, and that non-Christians should feel shameful about their sin. Logically, he's suggesting that if Christianity were back to being the cultural norm, we could shame sinners into smartening up.

BULLSHIT!!!

*Ahem* sorry. I'm not even going to bother going through the countless Biblical commands for us not to judge anyone outside of the church. There's too many of them in any one book of the new Testament for me to fit them in one blog. I'm going to try to reason his point for a second here.
If Christians were living the way we are suppose to, the world would look at us and feel shameful for their sin.
That's probably his line of thought, but it's still a no go. What reason does a same-sex attracted man have to refrain from homosexuality if he's not Christian? Seeing a bunch of straight guys is not going to make him feel shame. When it boils down to it, there is no reason for people outside the church to feel shame, and shame is not the answer. I'm fully aware of what shame feels like, and it burns. One can argue that trace amounts of guilt are a positive aspect of having a conscience, but shame is not guilt.

Shame–noun
1. the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another: She was overcome with shame.

No matter what the method of causing shame, it is still exactly what the above states it is. Pain. It's not even constructive pain. It has no positive end. Guilt causes repentance. Shame causes suicide. Guilt is when an individual comes to a place of sorrow over one's own actions. It involves only one person. Shame is when an individual comes to a place of pain, due to other people's opinions.

Guilt–noun
2. a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.

In both of the above definitions, I have selected the definition referencing the emotion, as oppose to the states of being shamed or guilty. Both were taken from dictionary.com, without permission.

Usually I can argue the other side pretty well, but I can't think of a good reason why non-Christians should feel shame about things they don't even think are wrong. Nor do I see any reason for non-Christians to think that something is wrong, when Christian morality is usually the only reason Christians think it is wrong.
The Christian attitude toward EVERYONE OUTSIDE and INSIDE the church is LOVE. LOVE can cause GUILT, but not SHAME. The ONLY way Christians should come close to shaping culture is by pouring so much LOVE into it that people want to know what makes us different. That is the full extent of our influence on culture. We love, and when people ask, we share why we love. Jesus loves me, I love you.

So I got in a little scuffle with an 800 year old national treasure. I thought we had been nice to it. Clive and I had been complimenting the building on how well the age-old concrete had kept the stones together. Maybe it heard us wrong or somthing. Or maybe it just didn't appreciate being mounted. Whatever the cause, the climax was rather tumultuous. I got about 5 feet up the wall when it decided to shed itself of excess stones. Perhaps it didn't intend to shed the stones that my weight was relying on. Humpty Dumpy Dyck went falling like a stick. He landed with a thud, too bad it wasn't mud. The ground below was stone. Oh grumble, oh moan. Now he walks with quite the limp, please don't call me wimp! It's alright, it's not broken. Just a alittle bruised, that old wall's token. I'll be better shortly, until then, not courtly. Farewell blog readers, don't assault charismatic leaders.

I'm going to Zimbabwe, and it's confirmed that I have enough money. PTL.

As most of you probably already know, I was suppose to be going on a missions trip to Pakistan in February. I really wanted to go on this trip, but I was nowhere near having the money. I can't even afford tuition as it stands. However, God told me to sign up for it and trust him for the money. So that's what I did. Now money is flying at me from all over, from the most unexpected of places. I needed about $2000, and it's beginning to look like I'll have more than that. God is good.
Strangely, the trip was cancelled. Only one person signed up for it, and that was me. Apparently, God has different plans for that money. We'll see what happens. The real problem here is that we were given a week to pick a trip, and a week more to pay for it. That means I had to start trying to get money for the trip before I even finished filling out the application form for it. That's kind of inevitable though since the trips are in February and flight prices are rising. They had to rush everything to make it as cheap as possible. However, it means that I'm now left with the last choice of trips because mine was cancelled. I'll probably wind up in Zimbabwe for the same price. Either that or South Africa. Wherever they can fit me in now. There's nothing to complain about there.
I'll have to go back to everyone who's given me money and ask if I'm allowed to use it for a different trip. This could cause a problem if anyone says no, and then I don't have enough money for this trip.
Oh well. It's in God's hands, and I haven't been given any reason not to trust him. It should be interesting.

The following is the script of a reconstructive drama, based on a true story.


Friday Night...

Simon: Hey Jordan, Nick's actually a pretty good rapper.

Jordan: Oh yeah?

Simon: Tell him Nick.

Nick: Yeah, I can pretty much rap about anything.

Simon: Really? Even Jordan's shoes?

Nick: Yup.

Simon: Bet you can't.

Nick: Yeah I can.

Simon: Fine, if you can make up a decent rap about Jordan's shoes by tomorrow night, I'll give them to you.

Jordan: Say what?

Simon: If Nick can rap about your shoes, he gets them for a day.

Jordan: Fine. Deal.

Well, here's the rap about Jordan's shoes, so eloquently composed and performed by the marvelous Captain Nick:

Writing a rap song
About a Canadian’s shoes
Want to hear cheers
Not hearing any boos

He wears his shoes
Everywhere he may tread
Loves ‘em so much
He even takes ‘em to bed

My shoes are on
The wrong way round
Dude that’s cause
They cost a pound
Yeah you bought them
In the lost and found

Pray
Pray
For a new pair
Someday

Hey man
Can you tie my laces
Got my feet
In the wrong places

His name is Jor-dan
But he can’t afford ‘em

A new pair
He doesn’t care

He loves ‘em
What about you
Even though
They smell of poo

Jordan from Ontario
Man those shoes
Have gotta go!

They’ve never been washed,
And a size too big
Sorry my friend
Just having a dig

Just having a laugh
But I’ve passed the test
No shoes for the day
Haha – all the best

We'd agreed that I could have them on Sunday for church. It was really wet Monday morning. I carried socks to chapel in my hands and stuck them on when I got there. The Dean appeared rather quizzical, mayhaps confuzzled. Eventually Clive gave me a pair of shoes. They actually fit, and because they were cheap he said I can keep them. Thanks Clive. And I don't want to hear any wise cracks about Clive's name. It's not that English!

Lesson learned: shoes are a valuable posession, and never understimate the powers of the Rappin Cap'in Nick. Yarr.