webolog's posterous

webolog's posterous

Ian Ballinger  //  Hi there, and thank you for visiting Ebo's blog.
This blog is for sporadic, general musings I would like share with the world.
If you like what you read, why not check out my more frequent postings on my Twitter feed @Ebo_tweet
If you're partial to some sports discussion - by sports I mean cricket - check out my sister blog on Posterous - sportsmonkey.

All comments will be replied to on blogs and Twitter.

Nov 12 / 11:46am

Eat the word!

Let's have a look at our desparate need for spiritual food....

Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.
 
Isaiah 55:2
 
Isaiah is not speaking about physical food that doesn't contain nourishment. He is referring to food for our spirit; food that will sustain us for eternity; food that will bring us wisdom; food that is the very source of abundant life for those who eat it.


There are three stages to take note of, then we'll unpack the scriptures -

Seek - You have to go looking for the scriptures to nourish your life
Eat - You have to enjoy the taste of God's word (metaphorically speaking). Savour it.
Obey - Obedience to the word is the way to blessing in your life. Willful disobedience is a blockade to the riches and glory God has planned for us.


What does the word say?

Seek
Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will
grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment,
now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.
1 Peter 2:2-3

You search and investigate and pore over the Scriptures diligently, because you suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them.
And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me!
John 5:39

Now these Jews were better disposed and more noble than those in
Thessalonica, for they were entirely ready and accepted and welcomed the
message [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God]
with inclination of mind and eagerness, searching and examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Acts 17:11-12

Eat
When I discovered your words, I devoured them.
They are my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
Jeremiah 15:16

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psalm 119:103

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Job 23:12

Obey
Jesus says "But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice."
Luke 11:28

You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:12-14

Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.
Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my
own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.
John 14:23-24


Hungry?
We are truly blessed to have God's annointed message so readily available and accessible. These scriptures are for our application and not merely our understanding.

Faith without works is dead, and the works or action for everyone who has trusted in the shed blood of Christ for forgiveness of their sins and their eternal salvation, is to apply the word in our lives, for his glory.

I welcome all comments and would love to hear your thoughts.

God bless you.


Filed under  //  Bible   Jesus   Spiritual food   Word of God  
Oct 12 / 7:48am

Does Religion Ever Define a Person? - Response

As a daily Twitter user, I try to catch up on the blogs written by the people that I follow wherever I can. One such person Sarah C Robinson writes great sports blogs, with a witty and inciteful take on a vast variety of sports, that I very much enjoy reading.

Last month I came across a blog written by Sarah entitled - Does Religion Ever Define a Person?  which was not the usual musing I'd been used to from Sarah, yet as a Christian it certainly grabbed my attention.

So much so, after a few weeks of procrastination about 'should I, shouldn't I?', I am now here writing my response to the questions posed.

The first point I'd like to make is a distinction between the religious and the faithful. Many people say they are Christians but their lives are no different in anyway to a devout atheist. Nothing of what I am about to say is talking about those people. I am referring to Christians, who love Jesus and live their life in a way that shows they are what they say they are.

The second point is that this is not a preach. I took the blog questions as genuine, so I am replying in the same way.

 

Let's start with the big question of the blog - What defines a person?

I define myself by my faith and belief in God. I believe that we are all eternal beings and our temporary existence here is not to be the focus of my life. Therefore I put all earthly definitions after what I believe is my ultimate purpose - though my family and sports do get a mention in my profile as well.

Sarah says I feel like I have no right to discuss religion as she doesn't have a faith in one. I think everyone has the right to discuss what they're doing here, where they came from and where they're going.

On faith I would say that believers and non believers have it in equal measure. It takes a pretty big faith to say "when I die my life is just over".

 

Does displaying a world view on a Twitter make a difference?

I believe it does. Not to say anyone defining themselves as anything makes them someone to follow or not, but it does give an insight to what you might expect.

As a Christian, I love to be encouraged by the bible. If someone is a believer then you may or may not get outwardly Christian posts, but what I hope you could be sure of, is an assurance that the content is suitable for other Christians.

Like with anyone on Twitter not advertising a world view on the profile, it doesn't mean you will enjoy their posts anymore than anyone else's ramblings.

 

We all define ourselves by our goals and the things we focus our time and energy on. It may get us Twitter followers and it may offend people. That's all I've got to say about that.

 

Any thoughts or comments will be replied to. Thanks for reading.

 

Filed under  //  Faith   Religion   purpose   what defines a person  
May 1 / 1:51pm

Trust in God

Ephesians 3:20

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.


What does that mean?

Basically, trusting in him and receiving him in your life and in your heart, opens the door to a partnership with him, full of blessings that are beyond what you are able to think of.


I'm not a Christian, what do I need to do?

Anyone can receive God's free gift of salvation, by acknowledging that Jesus came to die for you on the cross and that he alone can forgive you of your sins that separate you from God.

If you truly believe that and haven't done anything about it, you can pray this simple prayer -
My heavenly Father, I come before you now to acknowledge you in my life. I have lived apart from you and your ways and for that I am sorry. I now turn away from my old ways. Please forgive me of my sins.
I thank you Jesus for dying on the cross to save me. I welcome you into my life and I offer my life to you.
Please help me, by the power of your spirit, to live according to your will and your ways forever more.
Amen


Then what?

Get a bible and get into the living word of God. Start by reading the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Tell someone - preferably someone who will be pleased. The sooner you can be encouraged in your faith, the quicker you will grow and the more your trust in God and faith can develop.

Find a church - one you can connect with and understand the teaching. It doesn't have to be the first church you go to, or the closest one. Talk to the pastor, reverend or vicar about their plans and vision, and the roll of their church for the community. Then ask God to help you to discern the right place for you.

Be aware - making a step towards God and away from the world will make you a prime target for the enemy. Understanding how the enemy want to steal, kill and destroy by sowing seeds of doubt and lies concerning the eternal promises of God, will help you repel attacks. This in turn will help you to sink your roots deeper into God's word and help you grow stronger.
Do not think that faith in God will keep your from danger. It won't. It will however give you all the tools needed to overcome adversity.

Run a good race - the transforming of a life into the likeness of Christ takes a lifetime. There will be times of weakness and failure, that is a certainty. But believing in God doesn't mean being perfect. You have been saved by God's grace, not by your conduct or anything you have done. God's grace and loving forgiveness will be required your whole life.


Please don't let a lack of Christians around you be an excuse to stop you from talking about God or faith. If you have any questions, please ask.

Filed under  //  Christ   Faith   Forgiveness   God   Redemption   Salvation  
Dec 22 / 6:45am

Flash mobs - Still going strong

W'ebo'log #2 - 21/12/10

 

Do you remember flash mobs?

I thought they were a fad of yester year that had their '15 minutes' and disappeared.... I was completely wrong.

This week I have witnessed via a YouTube link, one of the latest triumphs of a flash mob. I haven't heard the term in a while, but they are apparently still going strong on a global scale, with different goals, using a varying demographic of participants, huge differences in size and inevitably, success. 

For those not in the know, a flash mob is a group of people that come together for a pre arranged event, usually using social media, in order to perform a random act, at specific time. 

When it's read like that, it can't help but sound pointless... I even imagine the kind of people that would be taking part, people with nothing to do with their days!! That however is ridiculous and judgmental. Shame on me.

This global trend has now been going - known as a flash mob - for over 7 years. What started out as a simple email, sent in order to mock the New York scene chasers, has turned in to an arts movement, accessible to everyone all over the world, either as a creator or a participant. 

There are websites dedicated to flash mob activity - http://ow.ly/1rYluS... dates, times and locations of forthcoming mobs and reports on mobs gone by. This truly is social media in action, coming together with artistic direction, with the hope of achieving an event so spontaneous and well organised, it leaves the surprised on lookers with a memory that lasts a lifetime.

It doesn't always work like that, in fact, it's probably fair to say it seldom does, but there are plenty of examples of mobs that have earned their place in the artistic social media history books (and if they don't exist someone should start writing them), for their inspired way of making people stop, look, listen and then ponder what just went on. Because of these infamous mobs, the trend grows, more people become inspired and new ideas get tried.

 

  

Flash_mob

 

 

Is it art?

Well that is a subjective thing. If you're of a certain mindset, then you will have a natural way of appreciating how someone has gone out of their way to organise a mass meeting of people and given them instructions to carry out, in order to brighten the day of others, or make people smile, or bemuse people. If you're not, then the same event would be a nuisance, a waste of time and effort, even offensive.

Even this wonderful example that touched my heart this week - the coming together of two choirs at a food court, with the sole intention of brightening everyone else’s' day - may have been found intrusive by someone who was there. I imagine that most however were amazed and enthralled.  

I hope you enjoy this short clip http://ow.ly/1rGrmF - Food court flash mob 13/11/10.

Please feel free to add any thoughts.

Until next time, I bid you adieu  :)

Filed under  //  Flash mob   art   artistic social media   social media   trend  
Dec 20 / 5:56pm

Frozen River Exe

(download)

Beautiful Exeter covered in snow.
Filed under  //  Exeter   River Exe  
Dec 16 / 10:32pm

The value of legacy – What are you working / living for?

W’Ebo’log 1 – 16/12/10

 

Boom – Ebo has entered the blogosphere!! I didn’t intend to start with such an emotive, deep and heavy topic, but here I am, and topic that has brought me here is this huge subject. Maybe it should be a book not a blog but I’m going to scratch the surface a little and then (hopefully) let the debate ensue…..

 

As a Christian, I try to read the Bible often. In my morning reading this week, I came across a passage in Ecclesiastes (Chapter 1 verses 9-11) that challenged me and my thinking, and left me wondering all day what people think. And here it is –

 

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we’re doing now.

 

So what are we doing here? Or maybe more importantly, what is motivating us to do what we’re doing here?

 

The claim that nothing will be remembered clearly has some short term exceptions, but for most of us, the product of our life’s work will be forgotten before we’re gone.

 

What about those targets you’re beating and the records you’re setting… are the awards and accolades the destination or the means to a greater end?

 

Maybe the notion of doing something new is not of interest anyway. But what about our so called legacy – the memories we leave people with, old colleagues, clients, relationships etc – surely there is something in us all that would like to be remembered fondly or in a positive way?

And maybe we don’t think of it as legacy, but along the journey of our lives, we all will have the opportunity to impact many people. How are you / going to be remembered? Is it important to you?

Mentor

So what is the value of legacy?

 

For me the value of legacy is not defined by its longevity, only by the quality and depth of connections made. I hopefully have many years left and I am going to make it my target to encourage, help and support as many people as I can.

 

I’m only 29 but already there have been two people in my life that have left a legacy. The names John Cameron and Shaun Callaghan won’t mean a lot to many people, but they certainly do to me, and will be forever remembered for the knowledge imparted on me and the time taken to help me grow.

 

I accept that my work won’t be talked about years after I’m gone, but if I can touch one life in a positive way I will be more than happy with that.

 

Thoughts please.

Filed under  //  Encourage   Grow   Legacy   Value