Video Worth Watching
Incredible patience and persistence
Author: grahamcommand
My walk with Jesus
Sometime ago I was asked by someone write an article for the church newsletter, it was suggested I write about my journey in life with God
As you will see I titled it my walk with Jesus, although it’s been more of a meander than a walk.
As to the straight and narrow path of my journey, all too often that straight path has been side tracked – twisted and diverted, sorry about that Lord I am just human with all our short comings.
The thing is Jesus and I go back a long way we grew up together – well kind of, I was told years ago I attended Sunday school although I have no memory of that
But I suppose some of the lessons must have sunk in, it wasn’t until I went to secondary school I began learn about God and creation with was taught through Bible readings
This may sound dated but in those days schools read passages of the Bible every morning at assembly, starting at the very beginning of creation with Genesis
I’m unsure of the length of time before they got to the New Testament and the stories of Jesus, but somehow it seemed as if I at least was being allowed to be present at His birth – through the power of imagination of course
Continuing to watch Him grow and mature later on into sinless man, experiencing with Him the trials and tribulations of His life, only to be restricted by my imagination to turn the spoken word into vivid images
I experience an intense feeling of sadness and anger and frustration, at the way His own disciples turn away from Him, and how such cruelty was inflicted on Him before He was taken from our world
But of course that thankfully was not the end of His story, even though His disciples failed to understand this and they didn’t even recognise Him until their eyes were opened
Although I considered myself a Christian and Jesus as a close friend, it wasn’t until much later on in my life I accepted Him as my Saviour; He still remains a true friend even when I am not
A friend who is always ready to listen and help me and advise me, with what most of the time must seem like so trivial matters to Him, yet He is patient and understanding
May God touch your hearts Bless you all, at least as much as God has blessed me
A Question of Faith
This is my update about a group of videos on YouTube, uploaded by a group of Atheists, who run a live phone in debate programme, and video them so they can get a wider audience watching
Who ask for believers to phone and have discussion about why they believe, and then proceed to try to make the believer seem silly or stupid or blinded by what they term fairy stories
Even going as far as stating the there is no proof that Jesus actually lived at all, and boldly claiming there is no heavily supreme god
They also question why the believer thinks the Bible is true and ask what proof the believer can offer
But when any believer say “it’s by faith I believe”, the Atheists disregard this by saying to the believer they need to wake up to reality
So why do I continue to watch these videos you may well ask, because those Atheist radio phone in programmes only serve to make me more determined to prove them wrong, even at times I can see valid arguments against religion as a whole
As there have been many occasions in history that Christianity has been used in a self-righteous way by a man’s vanity to be superior over of the races
Killing or enslaving many others in the name of Christ, although this was totally wrong and against Christ’s teaching, this was because of man’s inability to interpret capital God’s will
The Pharisees of the Old Testament often by adding to their own regulations which became burdensome to the people they were meant to be teaching
Pharisees well-known for this form of self-righteousness, Jesus frequently chastised them for almost completely turning away from the rules that there have been given by God
As to the remark by the atheists that Jesus was never born and the story of his birth history as another fairy story within the holy Bible which according to them is full of for fairy stories
Many are the atheist’s claim that the holy Bible has been proven to be wrong and it was written by nomadic tribes of a superstitious nature and therefore has no truth in it in
However this argument by the atheist’s falls short Internet the Bible is in two sections, the first being the Old Testament and the other the New Testament
New Testament was written by the apostles, including the devout zealous Jew, Paul who before he became a Christian put many of Christ’s followers to death until the day Jesus appeared to him until the day he would accept Christ as his saviour
As to the atheists statement that Jesus was never even born, and purely a fictional character they failed to provide any reason why stories of Jesus
Why would anyone produce such stories and include them in what was to become the New Testament of the Holly Bible book?
Furthermore if Jesus was not in life had never been born and lived and died on the cross or tree as explained in the gospels, then how is it possible that so many people’s lives have been transformed when it pray to Jesus coming to you, into their lives?
For example the founder of the salvation army William Booth was stronger convinced that the word of god needed to be taken to those who needed the gospels taught to them and he went into the east end of London which was in those days unsuitable place to go preaching
As there were many vices were rife, also there was no compassion within that community
Even so he went ahead and preached frequently although there was great opposition to his and his speaking and all did not go well but he persisted
Overtime conversions to the faith began and grew, for many would transform from their worthless and pointless lives into more fulfilled and happier lives
Even in these present days, many lives have been totally transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, after accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour
When I was young and foolish, I never knew my heart
This is the first line of a song I wrote, which I mention further on in this article
I was brought up as a Christian, I was told by my mother I went to Sunday school even though I don’t remember that, but I do remember school ensembles
School in those days was where the Holy Bible was read aloud by the headmaster, I’m unsure how many other boys listen, but I found the stories fascinating and believable
This may have been due to my Sunday school lessons, I guess some of those must have stuck in my memory more than I thought
Later on in my youth, I also heard other stories about fictional people, who had become legends and touched my impressionable mind so they became my heroes
Sometimes later around the 1960s, I acquired an interest in science fiction and bought many “strange tales of the unexpected” comics
It would not be until many years later in my young adult life, I would become curious enough to start reading the Holy Bible and much later on after doing a scripture Bible study and decided to get baptised
I got to a point in my studying the “word” I could find passages for all kinds of situations without effort, but sadly my enthusiasm for reading and studying the Bible lost its appeal or I got too distracted
Perhaps as a result, even after a short while away from studying the Bible, I found even though I tried I no longer had that ability to find suitable passages
My one saving grace was the Hymns I had learnt from my school days, even though I really did not appreciate their power, which I will explain more about later on
Shamefully I grew further away from any worship or study, not even allowing myself time to pray and more importantly to listen for answers
This was a very dark time in my life, one that led me to experiment with things best left alone, that only gave fleeting pleasure, then emptiness inside
I found that giving into self-indulgences only dragged me further down into a dark depressive lonely place, void of hope love or joy
I’m unsure how long this period of time lasted, in my desperation I used a song I wrote as a prayer but that was more of a plea for help
Our heavenly father graciously listened and forgave and lifted me up
Even though I still allow myself to entertain strange thoughts and visit Agnostic discussion television programs that they recorded and uploaded to YouTube videos, which plant seeds of doubt in my mind, as they demand that callers provide proof that the Bible is true and what proof do we Christians have the there is a heavenly god
My response would now be, that I have no real proof, except my own experiences, for there have been many people in the past who have written songs of praise and Hymns
When sung they lift up our flagging spirits, and our hopes and fill us with a love so deep and perfect that it is proof enough for all Christian believers
No disbeliever or atheist or anyone else can rob us of this precious gift, if we don’t allow them too
Alternative History, what part of history will be yours?
Here I’m not talking about a “Back to the Future” type of thing, were one person altered another person present life by changing the past
Exploring history
Isn’t history something that you and I learned a school, about what happened in the past?
That’s the way I used to think of history, as events that happen long ago that included famous people
The inventions they created, the masterpieces they wrote or the music they composed became their legacy left to future generations
However, no matter how great the people of the past have been, history is more than dusty old books or events that happen way before we were born
We are all part of the present-day history, which may sound odd but once a day or month or year is gone it becomes part of the past or history
So in fact each day of your life that you have lived so far, becomes part of your own personal history
You may say “I’m not famous” or “There is nothing left for me to invent” or even “I’m not talented enough to create a masterpiece”
All of these are excuses for not even trying, “You never know what you can do until you try” quote from my late father
Even famous people from the probably have no idea or intention of becoming famous, while it’s true there have been many born with the ability to rise to genius, others struggled throughout their lives
Such as Vincent van Gogh who struggled in the early part of his life and didn’t become recognised as a great artist until after he died
As to the alternative history, I wondered what famous people might be like if they had been born, in our present days, would they have still become famous or faded into a mundane life
Would have Shakespeare have written such elegant masterpieces, if he had been born in a different time and country perhaps the words and phrases he used would be totally different
Well that is something will never know, as that historical figure was from the distant past
But how about the ongoing history, your history in the making?
Everyone has the power to affect other people’s lives within the present day, which later on will become history, so make your mark and become an important part of history
Not for vanity, but for the enduring sweetness of knowing you made a difference
What wondrous story can I write, what words can I use?
To kindle a fire of hope and joy with your hearts, what words of wisdom could I give – if wisdom has anything to do with years!
Then I should suitably wise, for many years have passed me by, in fleeting moments of time and here I am at the ripe old age of 67 even so I will not bemoan the fast passing of time
As with many others, there have been things I have done and regretted in the past and equally as many things left undone
While no one can alter the past or those thing they regret, we are still able to do those things left undone by starting them without further delay
By adopting the attitude of “never put of till tomorrow what you can do today” we can tackle everything undone as a new and exciting challenge
With this in mind I intend to make out a list of things I have left undone, and work through them one by one until I have achieved them all
I say this not to boast, but to encourage you to do the same as life needs to be lived to the fullest possible for you may never know what you can do unless you at least try
You may never know whose life you may touch and influence by what you do and say, and by enriching someone else’s life you add value to your own
While you may never rise to the dizzy heights of the famous or well renowned, you can always aim to exceptional, never settling for second best or mediocre
Allow yourself to grow beyond any limitations that you or others may have set up in your past, progress onwards and forwards into new adventures
Music I love Listening to
My favourite music has to be Praise and good old classic Hymns
It Is Well with My Soul, this always touches my heart and soul, not just because it’s beautiful, but I was also impressed by the writer of this piece
Who went through many testing traumatic events and yet wrote theses praise words to this wonderful Hymn
Down To The River To Pray
None Christian music I enjoy listening to
Bee Gees Massaxchusetts
Dolly Parton Jolene
Don McLean – Vincent ( Starry, Starry Night [youtube
Gilbert O’Sullivan – Alone Again
Carpenters -We’ve Only Just Begun
Terry Jacks Seasons In The Sun
Monkees – Daydream Believer
A Whiter Shade Of Pale – Procol Harum
Paul Potts “Nessun Dorma”
Creative thoughts & creativity
Creative Notions
People seem to have the misconception that only a select few are able to unleash a steady flow of creative genius.
That is not true at all, in fact, is, creativity is very much like a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to consistently give out great results.
If you don’t practice harnessing creative thinking, this skill may cease to exist, but keep exercising this skill and creative notions will soon come to you in a snap.
So how do you unleash your creative thinking? The first thing is to acquire and absorb as much knowledge as you can find. Read everything available, although factual information is best for building your knowledge
However, reading for pleasure may help to inspire you and keep your mind open to the infinite possibilities of the universe. The more you know, the more you’ll want to know, and the more your sense of wonder will be exercised. Prepare to be amazed at little facts that add a bit of colour to your life.
Focus on a creative activity every day, even doodling is a creative activity. for people who are just starting out to unleash a little bit of creative thinking in their lives, it is helpful and encouraging to have positive evidence, that you getting somewhere.
So why don’t you try something creative, maybe practice drawing for a couple of minutes each day or start using your unused camera and start snapping photos like crazy?
Keep a journal and make a point to write in it frequently, another cool idea is to write by describing something with your five senses, but try to avoid vague adjectives like “marvellous,” “amazing,” and “delicious.”
Before you know it, you’ll have built yourself a tiny portfolio, and you’ll be amazed at the growth you’ve undertaken after amassing all those works of art. Who knows, you might actually take to liking those things you do every day. Pretty soon those things will become an important part of your life
Think out of the box — or not? Sometimes, constraints are actually a good thing. Limitations discipline you to work within your means. It enables you to be more resourceful. Creative freedom is great, but limitations enforce discipline.
Try something new every day and let your experiences broaden your perspective, and explore a new district in your neighbourhood. Spend an afternoon in a museum that you have never been to before.
Talking to someone on the bus even if it’s only about the weather, is always a good subject to break the ice, be prepared to thrust yourself out of your comfort zone more and more each day your sense of adventure grows and so does your zest for life.
However you need to be considerate to others and not push yourself onto others who wish to remain quiet, you should always be willing to respect others’ privacy
Think about this, when was the last time you did something for the first time? If it’s been a while, I tell you, you’ve been missing out on a whole lot of experiences that could have added to your growth, emotionally, mentally, physically, or even spiritually.
If you are brave enough, why don’t you try bungee jumping? Not only will you learn, but you will also have plenty of stories to share, enabling you to practice your storytelling skills just as you don’t become a bore or sound like a know it all
Every creative thought was once deemed insanity by other “normal” people at one time or another. Luckily, that didn’t stop the creative geniuses from standing by them. The thing is, being normal confines people to think within limits. Creativity essentially breaks through barriers.
Which can include even the bizarre and the downright strange, it is important you should always be in control of your creative personality, so your creativity doesn’t get you detached from the real world completely.
I hope this article has inspired you to start thinking beyond your “limits.” If you follow these steps pretty soon you’ll be living a life full of interesting adventures.
Unleashing your creative thinking will bring about a new zest for living life.
Laughter a Joy onto the soul
In answer to a question about what is a laugh, Kenny Dodd once said “There are many layers of laughter, like a rainbow which starts with the brightest colour white.
The purest of laughter is that of young children
When you pass a school playground, you will their laughter which is just the simple joy of being alive
The sound of this laughter can lift your spirits and is a to your soul, the soul to that sacred home of pure being and all admirable emotions
Such as love – joy – compassion – kindness – thoughtfulness – consideration
There have been many times in my life when someone’s laughter has touched my soul and lifted me up from dark and troublesome times
When my heart had been heavily laden and my mind is also troubled, thankfully the sound of my wife’s laughter dispersed all the darkness
My wife is like Peter Pan, she never wants to grow up, at least in her mind and heart, for within the soul of us all lies the childlike joy that is expressed through the sound of laughter
What a dark and gloomy world this would be without love or the beautiful sound of laughter, for love and laughter have the power to defeat even the darkest and loneliest moments of life
Along with the innocence of childhood, those young children possess the ability to enjoy life just for the pleasure of being alive
Life without Religion
To begin with, allow me to explain I have been a Christian all of my life, and this year I will be 67 years old, I was christened as a baby at a local church, and later went there for Sunday school, although I have no memory of this
Later on, as a child, I attended a local school, where every morning pupils had to attend the morning assembly, where passages of the bible were read out by the headmaster
I was fascinated by these stories, perhaps this was due to my earlier Sunday school lesson and a vivid imagination
I was able to picture the scenes depicted in my mind, so those stories and the characters became as real to me as everyday people to the extent that I never doubted the truth of the bible
Time passed and soon I was leaving school and began looking for a job, a place of work which wasn’t easy as I had no idea what work I wanted to do
My only thought was I wanted to do something using my hands, which is what I told my carers officer, much to the amusement of other boys at school when I told them what I had said
I won’t bore you with the exact details of all the jobs I started, sufficient to say there where I didn’t last that long employed
For assorted reasons I was dismissed for being unsuitable or found myself unable to work in noisy environments
I suppose thinking back it was at that time when I began to forget my interest in bible stories and any belief I had acquired in my school days
Life goes on and time past more quickly than it seems to do, the next milestone in my life was to be when I got married to a young girl of 19 ten years young than myself
This event took place in Hall Green Methodist Church, as we had invited 150 guests and needed a church large enough to seat them all and it also had a hall for the reception afterwards
So it was on June 12th 1982 we were married and started our new life together in a small one-bedroom house locally, life was not a bed of roses far from it, as my new wife suffers from epileptic seizures
Although I knew in advance about the condition, it really didn’t prepare me for the struggle and heart ace of watching helplessly when my wife went into major fits, not to mention all the medication I had to get used to organizing for her
Sometime during our 1st year of marriage which was hard to deal with, a young couple came calling that belonged to the Jehovah’s witness group
I was desperate for the company at the time, even though I didn’t admit it even to myself, so I invited them in even though they immediately began preaching about serving the right god, I listen and replied when the occasion arose
Drawing on my past knowledge of the bible, I remember shaking at times unsure why though, they continued for many weeks to come until maybe someone in higher authority decided to send two other JW’s
These were two ladies in place of the married couple who came first, these ladies were pleasant enough but somehow I was unable to feel at ease in the same way as before in sharing my faith and ideas with them
To be continued
Moving day:
After only one year at the house where we had lived, my wife told me she was pregnant and since that house only had one bedroom we decided to move to a two-bedroom house
So we applied and fortunately, a suitable house was offered not too far away from the old one, that also meant it was the time we had any of those JW’s visiting us
Then on June the 9th 1983, our daughter was born and yet another change was to begin, due the medication my wife takes she either slept or had seizures as the medication didn’t always control the epilepsy
I had to take over the feeding and generally looking after our daughter, but she was worth any sacrifice
Sometime when we had settled into our new home and lifestyle, we found a local Congregational church where we attend Sunday services and allowed our daughter to go to Sunday school
Time moves on and years fled by and before we knew it, we were celebrating our 25th anniversary so took that opportunity to re-dedicate ourselves to each other and went through a second marriage service
The years fly past and I spend too much free time at my computer, catching up with friends on Facebook and watching videos on YouTube
This brings me to the title of this piece, as I was listening to Christian music and happened to glance at some of the comments and dared to respond to atheists complaining about the video being too long and boring
As if they would have watched it, however, I didn’t retaliate just merely asked why they bothered coming to a Christian praise video in the first place
I digress, while looking around my eye was caught by videos put up by an Atheists group who did live radio chats and recorded them in video format too so they could add them to their YouTube channel (subject or another posting)
Having watched a number of them, I came across a whole series of videos on Creationist v Evolution by AronRa, who turn out to be a good education scientific-minded man, with a wealth of knowledge on many subjects
But watching all 14 of them along with ongoing counter comments concerning my view on the praise video, took its toll and found myself becoming disheartened and disillusioned about my belief in god
Such was the power of the arguments against religion in general, but more so those who believed in the creation of everything by God, that many questions persisted in my mind late at night disturbing any chance of a peaceful sleep
The thing is I already knew some things about evolution, as I used to watch a T.V program called “The origin of species” and later on “The naked ape” but they never upset me or challenged my belief in creation by god
But Aron’s videos certainly did, perhaps it was because he was so knowledgeable about so many subjects with many I had not even heard of, or just his persistence in the production of so many videos hammering home the same message be it in a slightly altered version of the same material, plus other videos he uploaded in which he directly attacked the bible and belittle Jesus and the miracles he did
Whatever it was, the effect made me doubt my faith and I allowed myself to think of giving up believing in god giving up my faith and therefore my religion
I find it hard to put into mere words the emptiness and sadness I experienced during those dark days, but perhaps in a strange way Aron did me a favour because of him I had the opportunity to experience what my life would be like without religion without my faith
I doubt if any atheist would ever begin to know or care about the vast empty void, or the all-consuming bitterness a believer would endure if they turned away from god
Also atheist would ever begin to know what pure joy and love far beyond our human experience god give to us so freely, even though we could not expect it or imagine it even in our wildest thought
To all believers in the God of creation, hold fast to what you have and never give up, as God will never give up on you – God loves you in such a perfect way His love will fill all emptiness
storybookwriter 