Confessions of a Shiftless Mind

This almost makes me want to cheer for Brazil.

Revealing the beautiful faith that Brazil has incorporated into the centre of its game, Bitter said, “So I am hoping that Brazil will win the World Cup. It is interesting that the prayer focus for Brazil team in the previous World Cup was not “God or Lord help us win the World Cup”, but their prayer was “Lord whichever team brings you the most glory, may they win the World Cup.”

I think that is the answer for every sports team or players who espouse a faith that God will bring them the win. God honors those who honor Him. He may not bless them with the win, but they will be blessed for bringing Glory to Him through sport.

Why would China do this?

Canoe seems baffled.

It seems bizarre that China, officially an atheist nation with 2-3% of the population claiming to be Christian, would ban a movie that only seems to be offending Christians. Their stated pretext of “to make room for homegrown filmmakers” seems very flimsy, as other western movies are premiering on schedule.

What could give here? Why would a state even more atheistic than the USA or Canada act that way? I would suggest that there may be more truth than the world would care to admit, to the rumours of the Christian population of China running much much more than 2-3%.

The official state maintains a line of 16 million, still a significant surge. However, when looked at as a portion of the population, that would be like the Jehovah’s Witnesses getting a movie banned nationwide in Canada. This article suggests the number may be closer to 80 million, and is growing so fast that by 2033, 1/3 of Chinese will be Christian.

If any of those numbers are true, this weird news article may be the first act on behalf of the burgeoning portion of China following Christ. It is difficult to imagine the behemoth of the east becoming the new force for global good… but China’s conscience is growing and may just change geopolitical events in ways completely unexpected.

We shall see.

Heh… I love a good sitcom. Sadly though, more and more they are becoming formulaic, which makes a good one hard to find.

I just read the other day about CTV bringing out a new series called “Alice, I Think”. It is based on a well-received series of books and centres on a family in Smithers, BC. Makes it the first Canadian-based anything that has piqued my interest in a while. While it looks funny and I might give it a watch, it suffers already from a problem that seems all too common in TV today. Continue Reading »

I had to repost this when I received it in my email. So many emotions come into play from sympathy for the children who lost their parents who died for their faith, to anger that these children are now orphans because people feel so much hate over beliefs, to joy at the blessing that VOM was able to give to these children means of transportation and protection from becoming martyrs themselves for their faith.

Martyrdom is the ultimate sacrifice we make for our faith. These children had to pay the price for their parents’ faith as well. How much more inhuman do murderers have to be to kill someone for their faith, then leave their children to live with that knowledge?

Say what you want about religions, the fact remains that if these children were the sons and daughters of martyrs of other faiths, they would right now be trained up to revenge or jihad. Only Christianity calls them to not just live and let live, but to forgive, and love those who hate and persecute them.

Continue Reading »

Blogging has been light… mostly due to busyness at work, though also in large part to do with preparing for my trip to Rwanda in a week plus a couple days.

Funny thing is I have 3 posts drafted, but incomplete so I haven’t posted them. Bad problem that.

In any case, thanks for sticking around. I am sure posting will become heavier once again… it always does. Usually accompanied by another redesign. Speaking of RedEnsign, make sure you check out Just Between Us Girls, who hosts the most recent Red Ensign Standard. Once again the originality of this group of bloggers shines through with a unique lens into the last 2 weeks of life amongst the Red Ensign Bloggers.