Oh well...I've been busy!

Hello...does anybody actually read this?..or am I indulging in my own therapy...getting it off my chest?
It's been months since I started this and I have avoided you little blog...okay, okay...I've been busy!

I was talking about a life of purpose...I think most people want one. Yes I know some people say 'I don't care' but in some ways I suspect those that say that are the ones who are most disillusioned with their place. Some say 'whatever' and the same probably applies to them. I may be wrong and I don't make any claims to be an expert but it is my general belief that most people want a life that has 'purpose'.
I do.
I want a purpose.
I already told you I am a Christian. Simply this means that I believe in Jesus Christ. You may consider this foolishness but I am not really that concerned about that...it is my choice and my choice is to believe.
Many would, at this point, say something like..."Oh, so you're religious". I want to make this point to you most strenuously I am NOT religious. Many people who know me in fact would consider me somewhat irreligious.
This is a hard thing to explain to you but maybe I will say this. It is my opinion that the religion we see displayed often in this world bears no resemblance to what Jesus intended. If you examine His life you will see a man who cared about people, He helped them, He healed them, He welcomed them, He didn't care what 'brand' they were, His sole and total focus was to show them acceptance and love...yep love. Love is an interesting word...so misconstrued and so misused...the love Jesus showed was so different...what was different about it? It was full to the brim with grace. What is this thing called grace? Grace I think can only be defined as unconditional and unmerited favour. Often the people Jesus came up against weren't particularly attractive from the point of view of those around but He accepted them anyway. Don't get me wrong He didn't like things that people did sometimes mainly because He had the capacity to see the damage they were doing to themselves and others but He was able to separate that from the person and accept the person. I think He was able to see the potential in them and so He accepted them on their potential.
I said that I wanted to be 'real'. This is real.
I wasn't always like this or believe this but more and more it is my belief that I have to be a person of grace.
I think I'll leave that there.
The last few months have been incredible for me. I have been establishing something that I believe has 'purpose' written over it. Ten years ago something happened to me that astounded me and since that time I have been on an incredible journey that grows step by step into PURPOSE.
Can I encourage everyone out there that purpose can be found. I have found it and I am now on the cusp of something that can only be described as great. Now the greatness is not necessarily for me personally. I have gone past the need for the greatness to be given to me...the greatness I see in the journey I am on is for others and I gladly hand it over. I will be satisfied in seeing the greatness fall on others...more another day.
Intrigued? I hope so.

Where did I come from?

So...a life of purpose?
A life that makes a difference in someone else's life.
I feel that this thought is very much counter to the world and the culture that we live in today...really culture is teaching us that we are most important and as long as I'm all right it doesn't really matter what anyone else is experiencing.
Of course we see this attitude challenged whenever we have a calamity whether it be a tsunami, floods or bushfires, whatever it might be we seem to be able to rise to that challenge and wipe aside the self-centred attitude. Australians generally are very good at rising to those challenges which I certainly applaud but for me I am challenged by what I can only describe as a call to rise outside myself and have a life devoted to making it better for someone else.
Sometimes I wonder where this comes from in me...I have never been a particularly compassionate person and often struggle with my feelings towards people that 'bug' me.
Lately it is my experience that I am confronted with people from all walks of life, young, old and everything in between, rich, poor and others and I have become more and more challenged about my attitude toward them.
The other aspect that is a great challenge to me is the subject of being a Christian and what this really means. I'm a Christian. I am constantly challenged by this.
You know 'Christianity' for centuries has been marketed by churches. The church, I don't care what brand you want to look at, has been effectively the sole trader in this thing called Christianity. Sadly, I think, the church has made a complete hash of it. They have taken something that had real purity and have added all sorts of stuff to it and this mish-mash has only resulted in confusion, and hurt, and mistrust.
Think about it...maybe it has happened to you...how many people down through the centuries have been burnt by the church (some literally!)? Man I could talk about this forever but better I think is to consider what this thing called 'Christianity' was meant to be.
It is in that consideration that the source of 'purpose' is to be found.
If I was to put it in one word that word would have to be 'real'.
I want to be real.
The dictionary describes real as 'true, not merely ostensible, nominal or apparent; genuine, not counterfeit, artificial or imitation; authentic'.
Yes that it is it genuine, authentic, true!
So next time we will think about what it is to be real.

To continue...

What exactly then is a life of purpose? That is a great question. Difficult to answer!
I suppose a life of purpose is different for everybody. Sadly for some in this world a life of purpose consists of scraping enough scraps from life just to survive and then for others perhaps it consists of wearing the right clothes (whatever that means!).
I was watching a movie with my daughter recently, it was called 'The Devil wears Prada'. It was a funny movie in a way but in another it grieved me to observe a world that considers billions of dollars spent on 'fashion' acceptable while millions go hungry. We live on a crazy mixed up planet don't you think?
Here in my country (Australia) we love our fireworks displays. New Years Eve, Australia Day, sporting events, you name it we punctuate these events by spending, no scrub that...we burn millions of dollars with fireworks. Every News Years Eve we have to out-do the previous year with the magnitude and splendour of our display and in the process we burn another X million dollars.
Man do we like to indulge ourselves in this world!
I'm sorry people but it is ludicrous. The absurdity of it is almost too great for me to bear.
Sadly I have never been able to make a lot of money; I have achieved little career wise...my older brother recently reminded me that I have achieved nothing...he likes to do that!
Back to a life of purpose...for me a life of purpose is one that makes a difference in someone else's life. Ideally that difference should be one that brings some level of improvement.
I'm a Christian, I'm proud to be a Christian but I am not religious! That probably doesn't make a lot of sense to many because 'church' throughout this world has done a lot down through the centuries to take Christianity and make it religious.
Well my belief is that Jesus Christ now wants to take back the 'christianity' He created and have it the way He envisaged it.
Jesus was an historical fact. I know that not all will agree with me but I believe His purpose was to recover me (and you) and draw me back from a life of no purpose into a life of purpose.
His message was about 'love your neighbour'. He even clearly defined who our neighbour was but maybe we'll save that for the next instalment.
So I don't want to give this world 'religion' but I want to be a vessel that makes a difference in this world.
That is a life of purpose for me!

In the beginning...

Blogs!? What are they?
The point is my sister has one and she is older than me so I guess that means I should have one too.
I read hers today and I was astounded at the unbelievable window it gave me into her life.
So this is my blog...this hopefully will be a window into my life...a life of purpose.
So over the next day or so I will gather together my thoughts and will begin...at the beginning.