Today's Dream

And again, another night long, in depth saga emerges.

This time I was going 'to work' every day through treacherous traffic in a Merc of some sort. Very posh. There was me and this other guy, sometimes two. I do not know why. I seemed to be some sort of treacherous guard to the Queen in one of her grand churches. I remember that when I attended this major service I was in fact sneaking around and up to no good. I kept having to run and running was actually pretty difficult.

In the end, show downs began. My weapon of choice seemed to be a thick, black single hand gun which fires some sort of 'hold it down' heat ray that was quite thin, like a laser pointer. It could killl a man quickly and set on fire even hardwoods. It seemed to have some sort of viral properties as well, though I do not know why.

I was fleeing from this big palace/church building and the main guard by now seemed to know me. He was mocking me, saying stuff like 'well, look who it is...' and giving chase. I burn some furniture on the way out to stop them but they chased me anyway. I started to panic. As I ran towards the gates I realised that Scourge (a Transformer) was with me, and he seemed to be the same size as I, that being human. Either than or everything else was TF-size, which I doubt!

He was fighting like I was fighting. The funny thing is though that Cyclonus, who is almost always paired witht he notorious Scourge, was running alongside us and shooting AT US as far as I could make out, and was purple as usual but also disguised in some sort of suit, like guys wear. Not a tux but near enough. I had no idea why.

We hit someone with a viral beam and the main gaurd tried to 'put them out'. After which, for some reason we hit another viral guy with the antidote ray and made a run for it. The main guard was like 'Stop it all of you, don't destroy that evidence, we need the antidote!' However, before he could get it, other nearby guards had doused this guard in something else or other which ruined the whole thing and took away their evidence.

I remember the bonnet of my car was absolute massive, and we suffered some traffic issues trying to pull out. The seats were fat leather ones and more often than not, people were squashed in. Some guy kept having to ride shotgun in the middle of the two front seats!

One scene in this great big church was just incredible. The church itself seemed to go on and on and on forever, and my Grandma and some family members were visiting - I remember sandstones, dark woods, plexiplast boxes/cases with rich stuff in them. There was a lot to look at and the building where you entered was full of dark wood etc. We seemed to work there most of the time, and being late got you shouted at. Some stupid lady in a store section kept trying to get me to work on the 'stand' section and would threaten me if I refused. So I helped her out alittle bit just to keep my hand in. I do not know why. Maybe that was my main job but on the side I was a guard and even more on the side, I was a freaking traitor! Who knows. Anyway, the little shop was all dark wood surfaces in some posh lobby area on one of the floors.

I seemed to constantly be running into folk having a go at me or telling me to quickly get somewhere else.

There was some sort of device hidden in the car, some sort of stick. I do not know what it did but maybe it was a weapon.

That's about all I remember. The two TFs only showed up in the very end scene, when I was running for the main gates and it didn't look so good. I seemed to keep making it away but every time could then walk back in, until this key guard then saw me and he would see through whatever method I was using to get back in.

As soon as I saw Cyclonus and Scourge, on opposite sides of the same battle, I woke up, confused.

Another dream

I've been having these epic dreams of late. Space and city and out door scenes, this one had everything.

Butlins camps, me being a human at the start then switching to Transformer at some stage, finally as a furry beast rather Kur-like (from Gor) and shoving small ape-like children off an armoured wall (but deciding to spare the children). Rodimus somehow showed up and I was in some sort of ship which could pretty much levitate at will. People kept talking to me all the time and telling me stuff. I feel again as though I've lived - learned something somehow during this experience. Gone to some other place and fought a great war.

But I haven't. I was in my bed all along. Yet my mind thinks I did experience it. These dreams are getting longer (I will forgo getting up just to continue one) and more intense. I could write more but I was an idiot and went and did stuff after I got up, causing specifics to slip into my subconcious.

I remember Rodimus giving these orders to his ship as many ships left earth for somewhere else (at least I think it was earth). The giant trailer was tucking in all these side guns. There were many ships and I think my ship was secretly against Rodimus anyway.

The starting section of the dream was something about a holiday camp and taking responsibility. People kept talking to me, all the time voices were coming at me. People facing me and asking me stuff. I answered them and also just carried on with whatever I was doing. Someone made some sort of a fuss if they thought I did something wrong. I didn't seem to let it bother me.

That's all I remember.

When in there ...

There are some things only an electric guitar can say.

When the opera hits it's crescendo, after that the guitar follows with the full expression of it's raw power and overflowing, unbridled emotion.

Tonight I saw a moon with the clouds pulled back to show it there, and at the same time a coach of elderly people shuffle gradually off their steel fresian of a ride and into the old folks home.

Then I realised, that my looking at that moon was momentary. It was hidden as I gazed back - then pulled clear once again, but only for a moment.

"What was that all about?" I cried. "You're making me look like a freak here..."

The skies raced. The air was cool but in no way unpleseant. I faced a night of chips, battered sausage (post beer), and mushing. I was pleased.

Recognising just the universe and He who sits in awesome Majesty great enough to speak to a complete fool in love with themself and with power, I walked on.

Here I sit, typing to you.

It's all about grace. The whole thing was actually about pleasing Grace. Think about it.

How well do you really know Grace anyway?

Big time proud

It's true to say that I have been very proud of late concerning my Big Man.

He is not only regularly training in an 'Indy Fed' now, but also wrestling in shows with them. UCW is their name and I myself have visited and been to training sessions to discover what it's like to work in a ring. It is something that I highly recommend to every backyarder out there as this truely does add to your experiences in wrestling and to your arsenal.

Originally commentating matches at pay-to-go shows which are recorded for VHS & DVD, Ken's now moved into full blown wrestling.

He has his face on the event poster for the upcoming and following pay-to-go shows, along with others.

Well done, Big Man!

Free

As of end of business Thursday 14th July 2005, I am no longer going into work in Bristol for Konami of Europe, though I am still getting paid for a few weeks more apparently.

Life can be odd at times.

Anyway, if that's good news for those of you out there who need me during the day time, throw up your hands and give me a 'hell yeah!'.

You will find me taking care of my people. Oh - and myself, too.

Until the next time.

The problem of Evil (why is there bad stuff in the world?)

There are many long and short answers to the Problem of Evil. One thing is for sure - it has been answered logically, from the Biblical perspective at least. That doesn't mean everyone is going to agree or feel inclined to accept that 'evil' is not a problem at all for adherents to the Bible. But certainly the cries of 'you can't answer this!' should stop. Here's my own thoughts on the topic:

Choices such as to do good or evil, are not creations (like creating an 'evil being'). A choice is bound in time and space and only occurs at the split second in which it occurs. The choice is the creation of only he or she or whatever had that choice. No one else is responsible. This is something certain people seem to not mentally grasp.

When God created His creation, He gave us choice to act according to our wishes. He gave us our own 'wills'. This is often called free will. The world that we are in also allows that free will to be used - there are no rules such as the 'justice zone' in Red Dwarf where evil you try to do to others will not happen to them, but will happen to you. If you could not use your free will, then it is not really free will at all, and in fact is useless.

There is no possible, logical way to both control beings and force them not to 'do evil', whilst allowing them to be their 'own man' and to have freedom of choice. If choice is not present, that is; if there is no possible way for me to commit a murder and kill you right now if I so choose to, then nobody is free, there is no choice, and we are no better than robots programmed by a programmer, to do only option A but never option B. Again; some people seem unwilling to accept this, but it is true and can be defined using logic chains.

If there is no option, then there IS no freedom. What's the point in being free to act in only one way.

You are only free to choose to do good (or not to do evil, to word it differently), if there is the possibility that you can and could choose to do evil (or not to do good).

Therefore, evil is not a problem, it is not even a creation. It is an option that created beings have, which makes them free and even human.

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Summary:God did not create evil, He created choice and sometimes choice gives birth to evil, and sometimes to good. Trying to lay the blame of 'evil acts' on God is like blaming your grandparents for producing their grand children, only on a far grander scale!

Sadly in the world, especially today with the increasing media and the increasing evil men do to each other (both of which I believe are happening), people who are not living according to the 'best fit' plan God laid out for us in the scriptures called The Bible are far from doing His will and this is called sin. This is anything which is outside the perfect will of God, and it causes death and suffering.

When we ask 'why do bad things happen in the world?' the answer is simple. Bad things are happening because of sin. In fact, the Bible actually explains this very frankly. It does have an answer which fits the shoe of what we see around us every day, but many don't want to think about the possibility that a) God is there b) he is sovreign (which means He rules) and c) that He's set a standard which we as His creation need to stand by as much as we can.

Also, consider this unappealing notion. If you don't consider God's word authoritive, or worse still don't consider God a reality, then in actual fact you have no right to call anyone or anything evil. Nothing is truely wrong or evil except in a subjective sense, unless there is an external law-giver. Internal rights and wrongs change socially all the time and therefore cannot be truely 'correct'. If one society considers killing acceptable to solve arguments, who are we so say they're wrong --- unless God already said it is wrong, in which case we have every right to say that it's wrong, because it's in His word (The Bible).

On a more cheery note, God has also said in His Word that He is going to deal with evil-doers once and for all, and has set that time in stone. There will be a dealing with evil once and for all time, and until that time, God allows us the choice and the freedom to act, has given us His Word to guide our hearts & lives, and will not snuff out all evil doers straight away; which would mean every single last one of us (since God's Holy standard of what is evil is much higher than our standard).

Examining the Placebo argument against Christian healing ministry

A chat I had with a friend reminded me that I was due to write a short piece on this, so here goes:

There are several reasons why the placebo argument is not sufficiently sound nor all-encompassing to give confidence to one who holds it.

The placebo argument does not cover all instances of 'faith healing', for a start. There *are* reports of broken legs healing on the spot. These need to be found and more work needs to be done in this area. Dismissing it because it's not easy is not good testing or critical thought. It's easy to accept whatever bolsters your opinion already held.

It also does not take into account the differences between the various claims of healing, the term 'faith healing' shouldn't even really be used, since that term defines a very specific avenue of claims within a much broader spectrum of claims - straw men being disproven means nothing to believers in other claims and accounts.

There are some reports of studies being done that attempt to cover many types of healing, but no one who strongly objects to this argument seems to have been given access to the nature of the tests done and basically sat through them to ensure that the people 'being used' are not just ineffective. What you test and what you study directly effects the output of the study.

Example - Very few Christians live their lives at the level where by they are even remotely likly to experience a supernatural healing that is checkable (ie not happening at a totally random moment). Most people for example, don't like to pray for their sick friends. If you pulled ten Christians at random off the street in any city in the UK, I would be willing to bet that maybe one, but most likely NONE would actually have an active and genuine prayer life (not bed time 'please help me God'), be well into their Bible, seeing the miraculous on a regular basis and basically, able to be 'truely tested'. I have never heard of any named individual of any reputable standing in the Christian, God-healing world who CLAIMS these things, for example Colin Urquart (there are many others), or even someone like Paul Golf or myself being tested.

Why is this? Surely one would stop here first if you wanted to test the biggest claim in the 'healing world'? I know of no other healing group whose claims are as firm or as large as the born-again Christian claims. Fair ground old ladies with 'healing hands' have in comparison a much weaker argument and a far more 'airy fairy' status where by it really isn't checkable medically if they're doing anything. It's like the whole 'what about other culture's creation stories?' argument - show me a credible one that deserves or can stand up to testable, scientific investigation **as much** as the Bible's account and the evolutionism/long age theroys can, and I'll listen.

It seems at the end of the day that the few who are tested and then held up as proof, are NOT the people actually making the grand and proper claim! This is just another, grand looking and impressive-sounding straw man to try and discount the Christian accounts of healing by the power of God. It simply doesn't stand up to cross examination. It is in short - a 'position bolster' excercise.

[NB: The reason IMHO that many Christians are not seeing regular or repeatable miracles, is simple. They are not doing any of the things according to scripture you would do if you wanted that sort of lifestyle, like praying for your mates to get healed and expecting to see healings in your every day life].

You wouldn't do a study of people lifting free weights by testing gym users, you'd ensure these gym users actually ever USED free weighs first, and used them in the described, expected capacity. Users who just sat around on the free weights aren't much use to you.

If the placebo argument was also as proven as some proponents tote it to be, then we'd all be being shown this evidence and we'd be able, as a people, to cure and get rid of with reasonable efficiency, almost all neurological, pathological, chemical and many other types of sickness (paralysis etc). The only type some proponents do not include in this 'faith healing' theroy is physical alterations from normal health, such as broken or missing limbs, fractures or cracks to the bone, torn ligaments regrowing, change of physical appearence, etc.

So someone such as an atheist/agnostic who believed this theory would only have to go through the 'healing process', if it's scientifically pinned down and proven how it can happen, to get better from almost anything; things like hay fever, athsma, M.E, bad backs, headaches, all aches and pains, flu and colds, paranoias, phobias and fears, just about everything except death, broken limbs and physical ailments (which fall outside this theroy). In this case, why the hell aren't we/they lining up for this? It would drop the total sick people off work every day dramatically and improve the country's economy by drastic proportions.

Unless what you're saying is...it's actually alittle bit LESS proven and MORE complicated that that. Which is what I am saying.

In which case, statements such as 'This has been tested, we know it now. There's no need to consider supernatural miracles of this sort any more.' shouldn't be said, if they are not true - even to those who believe themselves they don't need to look any further into it. the fact that it's awefully convinient for one doesn't mean one should tote something that is inaccurate in substance and conclusion.

Dreams are weird

I mean they are, aren't they? They always are.

This one was something to do with a huge deluge arriving. I wanted to write about it in my blog called 'living through the flood'. I was on breaking up stacks and trying to climb to ledges. Every boat we ended up on started to sink. The waters seem to keep rising....fear was in the heart of every man. People were making it and not making it. It was terrible.
The end of the dream was I found ina sunken bay, some bunting to claw my way along to get to a sunken wreck we were on earlier in the flooding. I found an under section on the hull and got it open. There was a key inside it and I frowned and took it. This was the key device to another locker somewhere else which we needed to get for some reason!

Able to make it to the boat on which this locker was, everyone was saying 'You're wasting time here, we can't find anything more on this boat'.

But I was able to find whatever it was we were seeking by not caring how stupid it looked or what others thought. I remember Paul and my parents were saved from the waters too. I don't recall seeing anyone else I know.

The original waters were deep and like a wave. After that the levels just carried on going up and up. At once point in the dream, I seemed to skip alittle back in time to 'recover one simple mistake' (Galaxy Quest?).

People were searching for their life and riches, choppers were trying to rescue people. At one point we had to leave behind a suitcase full of worldy things and take one item each from it because the chopper would not wait - there were others to save and there was no room for stuff in the helecopter.

A polite reminder of house status

I haven't needed to do this for a while, but some folk have been slipping, so can I politely remind all and sundry of the following, very basic 'rules' or status of my house:

1. It is open at any time to the truely needy or in trouble. If you need to rest or sleep the night, if you need food, council or water in an emergency, then come here. This house belongs to God I'm just the steward. Abuse of this openess however will be spotted and obviously NOT catered for.

2. Cursing, swearing, cussing - whatever you want to call it, are ALL unwelcome in my house. Crude language is included. Please keep it to yourself. It DOES offend me, even if I am too polite to say so.

3. There is NO smoking anywhere in my house. If you want to smoke outside, that's fine but please dispose responsibly of your ash/butts/packs, etc. Please also do not stand in the doorway or near a window as it may waft in and scent the curtains.

4. There is NO getting drunk in the house. You know your limits, please respect mine. Mine is you don't reach yours. This equally applies to turning UP wasted, that is a no no as well (unless you need prayer/ministry). I would personally prefer it if under 18s didn't drink whilst under my roof, but if you can do so in moderation, I am prepared to allow it. Also please do not take any alcoholic drinks without asking first - we're not exactly rolling in it :)

5. NO drugs, of ANY SORT, to be brought into or used in my house, anywhere. Including the garden. I do not want pot smoking in the garden either, if you want to do that, please go right out the front and do it way away from the house. The only exception to this rule is those here for ministry reasons, and even then if you have drugs I shall probably ask you to take a walk with me.

That's basically it. All else is smaller time stuff. This stuff however is really important.

We shall be strong

'In purpous and unity
Declaring aloud
Praise and glory
Wisdom and thanks
Honour and power and strength ...' --- Worship song

In the wake of the London bombing on 7/7/5, and as a Londoner (both by birth and by residence of some years), I can say that I am saddened, maddened and stung by what has been taken from a people who are metropolitan, cosmopolitan and tolerant in the real sense of the word. They live with eachother, they grow up side by side and they pilot the country admirably from the centre of our trade and commerce. London *is* a great city, in every sense of the word.

Yes of course it has it's share of issues; in places it's dirty, it's crowded and it's surely expensive. But that is because it's a capital city, and wherever that capital cityship fell in England, it was always going to be that way. England should not be divided north and south, for we're in this together. The bombs struck where these cowardly and sick men/women thought it would simply do the most harm, damage and spread the most fear.

Well, we are not afraid.
We are not divided.
We shall not hate a religious group because of the actions of demonically-driven men who THINK they are hearing off God (when God has clearly spoken of forgivness, love and unity in His Word), no matter whether we agree that Islam is true or it's not.

London can take it. England can take it. free persons can take it. Britain can and will take it.
And we will pilot the taking down of your ideology and the banishment of the demons that drive you.

Your way of life will fall, and ours will stand. There is still a spiritual heart in this place, and you shall not live to see the day that it falls, because there is a young generation who are standing up for what is right, what is true and that we are free, either in the REAL God Almighty, or free to reject Him/disbelieve in Him.

We are free to choose. You are in bondgage, and it is in that God-willing, you will both live and die.

May God judge you according to your submission to Him (and no...a demon doesn't count).

Don't do His bit for Him, you dolt

Things are a lot easier when we stop trying to fight God's battles for Him and simply let go and place Him in the right spot. Then He does everything.

I stopped trying to save Christianity long ago.

Now I'm just trying to BE Christianity.

I'm not chasing paradice. I'm into the now and I want to be real and realistic in the now.