Imagine Nation

A Word to the Unwise

2007-02-01T03:13:00.000-06:00

I went to a Billy Talent concert on Monday January 29th in Winnipeg and heard a band called Anti-Flag. Not only were they a shitty band in my opinion, but they were anti-George Bush. I have no problem with that however; I realized that when a shitty band wants to stay in the spotlight they have to find a niche. What better niche than being anti war!

Is George Bush evil? Inevitably he will be in the eyes of those who disagree with him, and for those people I would ask that they consider this. Had George Bush ignored these terrorist organizations (that may well be miles and miles from us) and ignored the threat that they pose not only to the US but to many other countries in the world, when the terrorists attacked on USA soil, who would the nation blame?

George W. Bush.

Was there weapons of mass destruction? Who cares? Did Saddam use hundreds of sprayer plains to kill 30,000 Kurds in the 1980’s. Your damn right he did, and for hate crimes like that he found himself at the end of a rope.

And for your information, a weapon of mass destruction can be as small as a bottle of Tylenol. The right virus in a bottle that small, if dumped into a water supply of a large city could kill everyone and anyone who drinks or even comes in contact with the water. And really, it’s not hard to hide a bottle of Tylenol somewhere in a huge country when you know that the weapons inspectors are on their way. But moving onward…

Is Saddam an evil dictator? You bet.

Was it our war? It had to be somebody’s.

Why??? Why did we start war over there? Everything was so peaceful in the USA?

Why? Because there are terrorists, not just Iraq terrorists, but global terrorists and with the technology and resources that are available to terrorist organizations today someone has to stand up and say

“Because you are a terrorist organization we will not allow you to have deadly weapons, nor will we tolerate your organization for hatred against peaceful mankind. Either disband or we will disarm you.”

That was and is the responsibility of the United Nations, however, they failed with regards to that task and President Bush picked up the slack and spoke out saying that our country will do its part to defend our earth against global terrorists. These terrorist organizations are formed by a united hatred for mankind and fueled by the evil intensions to cause harm to whomever they desire.

How do those in the spotlight try to sway you into believing that the fight against terrorism is pure evil?

Well… The band “Anti Flag” talks about A University professor who gave a lecture talking about how the war on terrorism is just an excuse by those in power to send the masses out to kill one another for the gain of the rich and powerful.

So… Is that statement true just because a university professor said it? Is he smarter than you?

No.

He may have more knowledge from books, but that makes him no more intelligent that you or I. Some teenagers are more intelligent that middle-aged people. Intelligence has nothing to do with age. Notice how the writer in the statement uses the phrase “kill each other” like the war is all about a president who likes to see killings to get rich and power. First of all its costing the US money and they gain no power from it. They freed Iraq and are handing their freedom back to them. Second “killing each other” is a statement given by a person whom I would label a simpleton. It implies that the specially trained soldiers sent over to destroy and bring down a terrorist organization are nothing more than a bunch of children in a useless schoolyard fight. That is disrespectful to the men and women that put their lives on the line to protect your country. For those of you who mock our soldiers I say have a little respect for those who allow you to keep your freedom, even when you mock there very purpose, they continue to protect your freedom you ignorant jack ass.

How else do those in the spotlight trick you?

Well with slogans like “Bush likes war”, “war is evil…”

Did you know that you have the freedom to live in a country that allows you your freedom of speech, the right to choose, and the right to live the way you want to live. How did your country maintain this freedom for YOU? It’s a 3 letter word. War. Our ancestors fought and some even died, they gave their lives to save this country to keep your freedom. Bush doesn’t like war or death any more than you or I do, but sometimes it is necessary to protect our freedom.

Rebel – Fight the authorities!!! My advice… make sure you have a good reason. If your reasoning is simply because “war is bad so Bush is bad”, that’s a pretty shallow view of the situation. It’s the simple minded people that come up with slogans like “war is bad so Bush is evil”. Obviously anyone who believes that the above statement is a relevant conclusion is not intelligent enough to realize that whether you agree or disagree with Bush, the situation is more complicated than just “War is bad so Bush is evil”.

Are you an idiot?

I hope not, so know what you believe and why even if you disagree with Bush. If you are going to speak out against something, you need to know the reasons why, otherwise you are just an ignorant lemming that will do what everyone else is doing.

Fight for something!!! – We all like to be on the side of something fighting for something or someone. Musicians these days are fighting Bush calling him a lover of war. However, Saddam killed literally thousands of people at the drop of a hat. He was such an evil man that he would stand on his front porch and shoot people for sport. Why not write songs that inspire us to stand up and fight for those people? Those people have been terrorized for years with no hope of peace or freedom. We only got a small taste with the 911 terrorism, and we were devastated, while entire countries have been ruled by terrorists and dictators for decades.

Is WAR evil? Maybe it’s not as evil as it is necessary to allow us to have all the freedoms that we enjoy. Consider that the “evil” lies in the hearts of the people who love evil and want to kill for pleasure.

Is it necessary? – After all, they weren’t over here bombing our buildings! Why is it any of our business?

Look at it this way, where there is an evil force in the world out to harm people, we need to step in and help if we can, not only for their benefit, but for ours as well. We are a human race, not an American race. If we let terrorism get out of hand, it may become more than we can handle in the future so we must handle it now. Terrorists don’t have any respect for any specific countries, not even their own. They send their own men to their death using them as suicide bombs and this is not to protect anything or anyone, but just because of their pure hatred and desire to kill.

Consider this also:

Bush had a choice, ignore the reality of the growth and gaining power of terrorism in Iraq and work on his career to increase his approval ratings, or go against the grain and stop this terrorist group before it gets so far out of hand that they become a global threat and go from country to country destroying lives and property. Those who have no respect for the human race need to be stopped.

Will it cost us?

Yes,

but what will it cost us later if we do nothing now?

This is your country, yes, but remember, this is your EARTH too, and we are going to have to protect it. If we have the means and the resources to protect it, then we have a responsibility to do just that.

Free as a Bird

2006-04-23T03:38:00.000-05:00

I keep asking God when he will take away my weakness. But in the Bible, Paul asked the same thing of God. I often wondered if Paul felt the same way I did. Obsessing about how and when it would go away, why it was still there when his desire for it to be gone was so strong. But Gods answer to Paul was that His (Gods) grace was sufficient. God’s grace covered Paul’s imperfections and that was all that Paul needed.

I was living my life day to day just like every other day, and I don’t know why God chose this certain time, but He chose this specific moment to show me a picture of an open door on a bird cage with a bird in it facing away from the door. I didn’t even have to ask what it meant, because I knew that I was that caged bird that had been given his freedom with that open door, yet I remained in the cage. Why? That answer was even clearer, it was because I could not see the open door; I was facing the wrong way. My freedom was all dependant on seeing that open door and understanding that I could fly out at any time.

What did that symbolize? Again, I knew right away, I had not been reading The Bible, which shows us the way to the open door of freedom. I cannot be free if I don’t see the door. The Bible brings the message of my freedom to leave the things that bind me in the cage and fly out that wide open door behind me. And what is so interesting about Gods Word, is that I can read the words and gain knowledge of the stories, but if I ask God to reveal Himself to me through His Word, I will then gain the wisdom and the understanding that comes to me if want it. God even told us to ask for wisdom in James chapter 1.

What I realize now is that freedom does not always have to be a big casting out of demons, or a service where everyone prays for a person in a circle and that person starts screaming, bawling and basically flipping and or flopping all over the place, but I always assumed that was how you gained your freedom. Now I am not judging those who have had such experiences. But what I am saying here is that freedom does not need a dramatic output to happen or to be real. Your freedom is here already. To understand how freedom works, well, you will have to read the Bible.

LK 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,

LK 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

I have but I know not what I have

2005-09-21T14:38:00.000-05:00

I was reading Courtney's blog this afternoon (for some reason I always felt ‘this’ and ‘afternoon’ should be combined into one word… no? oh well) and it grabbed me and pulled me into itself, if that makes any sense. Sometimes your brain and your heart need to work together. In this instance, my heart was telling my brain that something was very wrong. Its not the first time my heart has brought this to my brains attention. It was the issue of self image. I will be honest; this issue floats through my mind and heart on a daily basis because I know that one of the big things that is destroying people from the inside out is poor self image.

I found it interesting that Courtney would blog on this as today I was sitting in class and as I looked over and saw 2 different girls, thoughts came to me on how the one girl would probably do anything to look like the other girl, and the other girl dresses the way she does because she feels it makes her more desirable to the other sex, or it gives her power or for whatever reasons. Poor self image is what it comes down to. And Courtney is right; it is very real in guys too. We compare ourselves to each other too, wishing we were in better shape, wanting to be a better provider, and be a self made man able to solve any and all the world’s problems.

Who am I? Why am I worth anything? These are questions that I believe we subconsciously ask ourselves everyday. And for whatever reasons, I believe many of us answer "I don't know", and when we answer this to ourselves, doubt, like a poison begins to weave itself into who we think we are as people. The truth about who we are becomes distorted; the truth is covered up with lies that are seemingly believable.

Let’s get down to the reality. Life, growing up, and learning/discovering who we are is not always going to turn out perfect. My life growing up had its good times and it had its absolutely horrible times. I did things I am proud of and things I am not proud of. I hurt people and people hurt me. Why? I am not sure, maybe because we don’t live in a perfect world. But through all of that I had major blows to my self esteem and I had people who helped build my self esteem, which I am grateful for. But in this instance, the bad outweighed the good. And there is no fault owing to anyone, though maybe for the people who beat me up for most of my school life, but there is no fault for those who didn’t bring encouragement to me, though I do believe encouragement brings out the life in us. Everyone in life is dealt a hand, some are much worse than mine was, some were thousands better than mine. But my self esteem was built and deteriorated as I became who I am today.

It is the way of the world. This is how self esteem will continue in the natural world without the intervention of Christ in our lives, the hand you are dealt will determine your self esteem. Now Christ in our lives does not guarantee that we will live a life having a positive strong self image, but it can. A car can get you to where you want to go, but not if you don’t learn how to use it and then use it. Much like the tools Christ has given us. We need to learn how to use them and then actually use them. The Bible can be used to level off the leg of a wobbly coffee table, it can be used as rolling papers for whatever you choose to smoke, it can be used to learn how to read, it can be used as a guideline and a teaching tool for our lives and, it can be used to bring you into a realization of the presence of God. There are many uses for the Bible, some are blasphemic (I think I made a word), and others can change the very person that you are, it all depends on how you use it.

Open up your eyes – The Thief comes to steal kill and destroy.
1. If you don’t believe that you are in serious self esteem trouble.
2. If you believe it but don’t realize how true and powerful that statement is, you are in just as much trouble.
This is an incredible revelation in case you didn’t see it! You can’t know how to defeat your enemy if you don’t know anything about him. This is a war to which you have inside information that will help you to win.

Breaking it down – Finding the truths in the scriptures takes time in learning how to think of all the possibilities in what God is saying to us, and not only that, a key element is asking God to reveal the truth in his word. Let’s look at the next part of this scripture – “But I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” Seems pretty basic and something I have always known. Jesus came to die on the cross for my sins so I could live life abundantly. Well yea, that’s the basics of it, but there are many truths in there. The one that gets me right in the heart today is this:

I am the “they” that Jesus died for.

It was his love for ME that brought him to death. And when I stop reading and I think for a second even, it makes me FEEL like I have a lot of worth. I FEEL valuable and that is important. The actions of my savior, the sacrifice to give me something I would other wise never have, makes me FEEL that I must be extremely special to Him. And that makes me think of a song that says “don’t you know I’ve always loved you, and I always will.” That makes me FEEL like God is speaking to me. I remember the encouragement given to me by different people and that makes me FEEL encouraged. Look at the chain of events that happened not just from reading Gods word, but from asking Him to show me what it is. We are emotional creatures and we need to feel love so we can know it. The Word backs it up as knowledge and something we can use as evidence, but I am beginning to understand that sometimes the words in the Bible are simply words until God reveals His love to us through The Holy Spirit so that we can experience the feeling of being loved. God is love on paper, but He is “love experienced” as well.

So that was a short lesson in not just reading Gods word, but also being in Gods word. Live and learn. But also in there, understand that bruised and beaten self esteems can be mended in powerful ways. God is the ultimate self esteem fix. It’s not a good idea to fixate or build our self esteem in another person like a husband or wife, I am sure it’s a cause of many divorces. Or even in an object. Everything on this earth is insufficient to build a self esteem in. Because everything on this earth will eventually let you down.

Hey in English please!!! – “Build a self esteem in God.” I hate it when preachers tell you something that sounds so profound, and it sounds so profound that you believe it without understanding it, and when you go home you have no idea how to do it because they neglected to mention about the process. They may as well have told you to learn the inner workings of the human anatomy (which I am doing right now).

I am no genius in France, but here is what I see, and I do want to explain it because I know that people have a hard time reading the scripture and getting something out of it. From that little scripture I read above, I began to feel and understand the love that Christ currently has for me, and that began to change the way I feel about myself. It came to me in a matter of seconds, the reality of his love. He began to transform me and my mind! Sometimes it takes longer, but the point is, the Bible is the input needed to build a proper foundational self esteem. Now perhaps you have trouble finding scripture to read everyday that will bring about change, maybe you have trouble getting to a deeper layer. I suggest you read the verse that I typed in this blog. Read it, see how I went a little deeper, then you try to go a little deeper. Ask God to take you a little deeper that the words on the page, because God is not trying to make this hard for you, but when we try a little we find A LOT of His truths. And once you are in the zone, it’s easier to stay there. You will see!
For more material on where to read go to church!!! Listen to the sermon take notes and practicing getting deeper there and at home later with your notes and the scriptures.

The deep is what is going to build you the self esteem that you were meant to have. The truth (Gods Word) uncovers the lies that are put into you through the outlets in this world.

Learning to swim in the deep end of Gods presence will create in you a desire to want more of Him for yourself.

God wouldn’t have given us His Word if He didn’t want us to read it and experience it.

Stealing gas is no longer petty Theft

2005-09-08T20:03:00.000-05:00

Ok you have heard 2 scams for getting the gas price lowered, so let’s examine them for a minute, and then I will give you my opinions.

Scam 1: You don’t buy gas on a day that is agreed upon by millions of idiots that did not think this through.
Outcome
Service stations make a pile of money the day before the “don’t buy gas day” (DBGD) and the next day they make less. Now the day after the “Don’t buy gas day” service stations are leveling off to normal gas purchasing. Therefore the war against high prices is not affected. In short, Gas companies lost nothing. What they didn’t make on the DBGD they make the day before or the day after.

Scam 2: You decided to not buy gas from a specific gas station.
Outcome
Well first of all if you live in a local town like me, you first of all just hurt the pocket book of your local gas station owner. For me, that would be Kurt and Christine who own the Petro Canada here in Virden. They are probably the friendliest people I know in the gas biz. They are always nice and make sure you get everything you need, so why would I want to hurt their business? Second, lets say you buy all your gas at Esso and you boycott Petro Canada and Shell for example. Gas companies still make money you weirdo and they still set the prices! They just sell more of it to the Esso. And try to think this through ok, do you think Kurt at the Petro Canada in Virden sets the price for gas? If he did he would keep it the same as the shell and the Esso. Petro Canada won’t go broke from 1 day of low sales.

Bottom line, we need fuel. I drive to school 45 minutes there and 45 minutes back everyday. Do you think I like gas at $1.19 a liter? No I hate it, but I cannot force the hand of the oil companies. If they want to charge more, they will charge more.

Solution
I believe this is one solution. Don’t buy gas for an entire year. If you refuse to buy gas for an entire year, the gas companies will be forced to do something. Of course this e-mail will need to reach millions of people who will agree with me and take action, and since the other 2 scams didn’t work they probably won’t have much faith in this scam. Yes I said scam.

This is a scam, this will not work, obviously no one can not buy gas for an entire year and I don’t want to try this idea because I want to support my local gas station.. We need fuel. Lets face it, there are those who care, and those who don’t care enough to do something, that means there are people who will buy gas and complain, and there are people who will create scams to fight gas companies, but in turn will still buy gas and complain on top of it all.

If anything, the more complaining we do, the more they raise the gas price. So please leave it alone or do something constructive. The real solution is to cut down on fuel if you can, and to use alternative fuel sources when possible. You can make diesel fuel out of cooking oil! In fact some cities are giving grants to start factories to make diesel fuel out of used cooking oil as an alternative source of low cost fuel. Not only this, but this cooking oil blend is cleaner and more efficient than regular diesel fuel.

Think about this, we all have homes, let’s say we cut energy costs in our homes to compensate for the fuel we put into our cars. For example, you can buy energy efficient appliances, turn off lights when you aren’t using them, get a digital thermometer system that keeps the house warmer/cooler when you are at work at heats up/cools down (depending winter or summer) just before you come home. Check your furnace filters and change them often to allow better air flow. Use plastic window coverings to prevent heat from escaping in the winter. Buy those energy efficient light bulbs. They run low power and they are really bright. A 20 watt bulb is like as bright as a 50 watt regular bulb.

There are even wind sources that you can buy right at your own Canadian tire that harness the power of the wind to create electricity. There are solar panels as well, and yes these are costly, but crunch some numbers, maybe consider taking a loan out for some energy efficient solutions, you never know, it may save you money in the long run and your monthly payments might be less than what you are paying now. You could even put Styrofoam underneath the siding on your house if you are considering doing some exterior renovations, again, its costly upfront, but remember you are making an investment. Geo Thermal is defiantly the way to go if you are building a new home, please look into it, it is not much more costly and it is incredibly efficient.

So consider that if you cut out cost somewhere else in your budget, you can make way for high fuel prices. Not that I agree with the high cost of fuel, but these are some solutions that work to keep you within your budget.

Alrighty then...

2005-07-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

Ok Kristin has broken me. It’s been a whiles since I last updated, and I have been away for a while. A lot has happened in the past while. Due to some of the eyes that will read this, I cannot, I will not get into some things that have happened. But some good things are happening. I am hoping I can get into school this fall. I want to take my bachelor of science in Psyc Nursing. Basically I will be a counselor in the hospital. I might work on my masters and then get my doctorate so I can be a doctor of mental health. My prayers are that I can get into some quick science courses so that I can get into this field. For those of you who think taking the hard courses in high school is useless because you will never use it... think again. Now come problematic areas for me. In high school I opted to take all the easy courses as I assumed I would never go to a college o university. Kind of the hippie mentality, fight the power!!! So now I need to get those courses!!! Frick!!! It will all work out.

Hmmm... What else, I have met some new friends, so that’s awesome. I am working on getting my book into stores, so far Coles is considering it. If you want a book please buy one!!!! Its really good and its only $10 plus $1.00 for shipping, you can pay by check, money order (which you buy at any post office), credit card, or you can even send cash in the mail (not highly recommended, but hey it’s an amazing book). Visit my website to pay by credit card or read my samples. www.tylerhay.com To pay by mail simply send a check, money order, or cash(if you dare) to Tyler Hay, Box 2585, Virden, MB R0M 2C0. Remember to send me your address so I can mail you the book. Yea this is shameless promotion, but it is a really good little book, and I know you will love it.

Oh I went to camp this last 2 weeks, awesome speakers, and awesome fellowship! I had a wonderful time and looking forward to next year.

God has been speaking to me about the power of asking Him for Joy, Wisdom and Faith and using them together. So I am working on a sermon, or blog or something. He has been opening my eyes to so many amazing things.

Missed ya all!

Ty

Follow Me

2005-07-09T02:32:00.000-05:00

Sometimes great minds think alike and one person speaking their mind makes all the difference.

Tonight I was chattin on my laptop to some friends, staying inside trying to keep cool. It was a good night, had some friends over and did some fun stuff. But Cal came home and both of us being the tech geeks that we are, he went upstairs on his computer and I was in the living room with my new laptop (by the way if you ever have a problem with a product and you can’t get anywhere with the company, contact the better business bureau, they get results, they got me a brand new laptop). Anyways, Cal and I were talking on MSN, he had just been to the lake to check it out, and he was telling me about it. And immediately I thought about going for a swim, it was late, and those are the best times. So he asked if I wanted to go, and that’s all it took. It was lots of fun, I mean, its hard to get into the water under your shoulders, but once you do, its is so worth it. It was so humid and it was perfect! When the lightening came we decided it might be best to head in. I had a great time, and yea it’s nothing really absolutely incredible, but you know something, it’s those little things that make life fun. So go and do them, I know I am going to do that one more often. And you should come with me!

Thank You

2005-06-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

I know I wrote a blog just yesterday, but I have more in my head and on my heart.

I love living on a kind of an "acreage" with my 2 brothers. Our house is awesome, we have a pool (thought is a little one) and even though it takes 2 hours to mow all the grass, I must say, it is beautiful. We are right on the edge of town, but it feels like the country more than anything.

I feel so thankful that we are able to live here. Its a beautiful spot, the house is big with lots of space, I have 4 tall windows in my bedroom that stretch down close to the floor right next to my bed, so when I wake up in the morning I can see the beauty that God has created. We pay almost nothing for rent, utilities are next to nothing, and on top of that we split it 3 ways and all 3 of us brothers get along basically all of the time. We have deer in our yard every few days and there are now 2 bunnies that I believe are living in our bushes. They are the cutest little guys you have ever seen and they came right up to the deck the other day. Maybe I will leave some carrots out for them?

So I have a lot to be thankful for today, so thank you God for animals in my yard, thanks for our awesome house, the huge yard and beautiful trees, for the big windows in my bedroom and thank you that it is nice, quiet and peaceful on our land!

What do you have to be thankful for today?

Dwell Put

2005-06-15T13:18:00.000-05:00

Man that is such a lame title, sorry, I couldn't think of anything clever. It was either that or "Sleep Dwell" or "D well is deep", yea they are all kind of lame.

Talking to friends of mine this past week has helped me to realize that many of life’s problems can be created, prolonged and eventually overcome with one word. Dwell. As humans we are constantly searching for answers, and with more answers come new questions. I think that when we can’t find the answers, our flow of trying to be complete is interrupted and we get stuck in areas because we need answers or we need to feel ok about what has affected us.

Dwell - To fasten one's attention. Don’t dwell on bad things! Easier said than done right? I mean, for example, your girlfriend leaves you. She says nothing, and you feel so hurt. And you dwell on why and possibly how can I make it work again? You dwell on the pain. So a quick solution to the problem - stop dwelling on those things. If we could do that at the drop of a hat I am sure we would. But we can’t. But something I have learned is that what you do dwell on will come to be most important in your brain.

I once talked to a married man about his marriage. He had been married just under 10 years. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the physical relationship with is wife. He explained how I didn’t understand because I was not married and didn’t even have a girlfriend. I said maybe I didn’t, but that I knew a few things about life. I asked him what he had done to romance his wife, to get her interested to win her heart. He looked puzzled at me. He said “we are already married; I don’t need to win her over.” I paused, looked him straight in the eye and said slowly “Yes, you do”. I said how often do you think about her during your day? How often do you think about what a perfect date for you and her would be, what would make a beautiful evening for you both? When did you last cook supper for you and the family and do the dishes? When did you even take her out last for supper, just you and her? He said life was really busy. I simply said to him, “When you put her on your mind, you will begin to love her and serve her more. And things might not feel exciting for you, but do it for her, you will learn to love and serve her, and eventually she will respond to you, then learn to do everyday things to show you love her, simple things” Finally after a while of talking with him, I said “Look man, you take that beautiful wife of yours out for a romantic evening. And be creative. Make it different, integrate things she likes into your evening, make it special, you are a smart man!” “Be a man and love your wife!!!” I don’t think he went away really inspired, and maybe even a little ticked at me for thinking I knew what I was talking about, but you know what? He did what I told him to anyways and I have never seen 2 people more in love. They have their problems, but I can see that they are now serving each other on a daily basis. And he is much happier not only in his physical relationship with his wife, but in all aspects of his marriage. It wasn't just the date that changed his marraige, he had to work at it, but now they are both very happy and are both working hard at it. He says they enjoy more time together talking, going on dates and just being together. And I am really happy for them!

Well that was a long story, but the truth is that when he put his mind on his wife, he began to realize the beautiful person that she was. It’s easy at first I assume, because young love is just that way and i believe that young love is a gift from God, but as you grow, servant hood needs to be key, if you serve each other form the start, it will be a habit to continue. And I think that maybe our relationship with God is like that. We enjoy our new love relationship with God, and as it matures, we lose touch with the basics. But if we try to dwell on God, even if it feels fake or that it is not working, we might find that what happens is that relationship is rebuilt and there is a “renewing of our minds”.

I know that when we dwell on things they become what is most important in our lives. When my fiancée left me 8 years ago, I spent 2 years dwelling. And not that all of that was wasted time, some of it was grieving time for what I had lost, I needed time to reflect as well. But not having closure and not being able to move on after some time has passed was like planting a “weed seed” in my mind. And that weed seed grows and chokes out the flowers and other beautiful things trying to grow in your mind.

I encourage you all to dwell on the beautiful things in life, Dwell on God. We don’t need to be robots and pretend that there are no disappointments, and life is perfect, I agree with Lynnel and Kristy-Anne as well, we do need to examine our lives, it is very important. I am so glad I get to read their blogs and I thank them for sharing their hearts, because one way I grow is from the wisdom of others, they always keep me thinking. This blog is something different I am not out to debate their points at all, I agree with them very much. I had a friend today who is having trouble with letting go of someone and the word “Dwell” has been on my mind these last few days, so I wanted to write my thoughts down. I’m not out to step on anyone’s toes, so I hope I don’t make anyone feel that way.

God Bless

Ty

She had no idea

2005-06-13T11:53:00.000-05:00

This was originally going to be a comment to Kristy-Anne's recent blog, but it was getting far too long. On Saturday morning I left my house, my 2 brothers still asleep and my cat roaming around. I was a beautiful sunny day. I was driving downtown towards the other side of town to head to mom and dads, I was going to borrow their long garden hose to fill up my pool, and as I drove along side the tracks, I saw a train sitting still which was very peculiar, as I drove closer to the crossing, I saw an ambulance and a fire truck. And as I drove further down the street, parallel to the tracks I saw a car, it was partially covered with a tarp. It was the car of someone I knew. She was a sweet old lady and I am not exactly sure what happened with regards to the details of the accident, but that day, she died. When I was a mechanic I had changed the oil on her car several times. I remember driving her home, to drop her off while I took the car back to the shop to change her oil. She would tell me how much she loved her grand children. She was quite excited that she had a grandson named Tyler, the same as me! She lived a ways out of town, so she would tell me all the stories she could about her grand children. I loved to listen to her, she was so sweet, and I love children very much so I really did enjoy her stories and got involved in the conversation. Her name was Gladys. She loved to go yard saleing on Saturdays, and I assume she was on her way to one that day. But she had no idea that her time here on earth was up. And reading Kristy-Anne's blog got me thinking, and I don't know when my time is up. None of us do. And I imagine most people involved in tragic accidents hardly get a chance to say Oops just before they die. Its so heartbreaking, no good byes, no closure. It was her time to go, and just like that she was taken. I pray for her family who will miss her so much. I pray the peace of God will bring comfort. And I take this opportunity to remember how precious life is and I reflect upon all the things I have and all the things God has done for me. And remember, its ok for things like this to affect us, even if we didn’t know the person well. It is one way we remember to value life and reflect upon our own lives.

The Ego Has landed

2005-06-09T18:03:00.000-05:00

Ok basically i love every person on the planet. I just do. And sometimes, just every once in a while some people need a little foot-to-rear-end encouragement. Being that I am the king of all humility (insert audience laughter here), am currently wearing my lawn mowing shoes today and am not really afraid to get them dirty, and having read some comments in my brothers blog that indicated he was probably not a Christian, not to mention the judgmental attitudes that were directed towards him as a person, I would like to take this opportunity to shine the tip of my shoe and get my leg in full swing for some gentle encouragement.

Plank Eye - What a great name for a band! And basically it is my theory that we should all have this tattooed on our foreheads because every time we saw those words we would remember to examine our own lives first. And for all those who have a judgmental attitude, could you please stop having a judgmental attitude? Sounds like a stupid question to ask doesn’t it? Well once, I had someone who was stealing from me. So I left a note asking if he would stop stealing from me, and he did, so I was hoping it might work here too.

Salvation - I don’t need to go through the stories about what happened with my brother and comments made by others, my brother didn’t even do anything remotely wrong, he is a Christian, and a very encouraging one at that. I am not really angry, I am more hurt that some Christians keep judging other people’s walk with Christ. Let’s look at the facts. Jesus died on a cross so that we could have eternal life. Sin is paid for. Your sins will not cause you to go to hell, they will if you are not a Christian. If I swear before I get hit by a truck am I doomed to an eternity in hell? If so, what was Jesus death and resurrection all for? So then can someone who is a Christian doing a sinful thing go to heaven? Not looking for excuses to sin or anything, just getting a measure on the meter of Gods grace. I even put out the argument can a homosexual go to heaven? How far does God’s grace extend? If he believes in Christ will he see the Kingdom of Heaven? A person I know, who is well known for gossiping and slanderous acts with her tongue, which I have experienced first hand, once answered that question with these words “No way, if he was a Christian he wouldn’t live that kind of a lifestyle”. The word hypocrisy crossed my mind. Sometimes I wonder if we are too eager to turn some Christians into what we think they should be. Is that not the job of the Holy Spirit? We are to strive for perfection, but when one of us doesn’t appear to have it, he is seen as falling behind.

Encouragement, rebuke and nitpicking – I really think we have the wrong idea on the subject of rebuke, so I, having all the answers (audience applause and subtle laughter), will instruct you properly. No, just jokin, I am just giving my opinions on the issue. It seems to me that what is coming from some of us who wish to give correction, ends up turning into judgment. Correction always comes with prayer, and is in the context of brotherhood/sisterhood and love. I strongly believe correction comes out of a genuine love and concern for the other person’s life. Correction should come with the thought and consideration of the issues possibly causing pain or difficulties in that brother or sister’s life. If you are unsure of that person’s faith be careful, if we judge, we do nothing to bring them closer to Christ.

Wisdom is not knowledge, wisdom comes from God, and when you read your Bible, you will find that those who had wisdom also took lessons in humility. I encourage all of us to not throw the book at those whom you do not know. For example I know my brother Brodie well, I know his heart, I know some of his faults, I point out things he needs to work on and he listens to me, and he does the same for me and the reason this works is because he knows I love him and I care about his life. He knows I am not judgmental, I point out things because I care for him and I want to see him walk right with the Lord, I am not out to nitpick and I always encourage him in the things he does well and tell him of the things that I admire about him.

Furthermore, I would not do any correction in public for everyone to hear or read. It says in Gods word to go to your brother, not to attempt to show your wisdom, or to show that you think you are right in front of everyone by judging someone according to how you see Gods word or how you feel they should be living, not only does that make you look judgmental, but it makes Christians look judgmental. Judgment brings about destruction, but humility and gentleness towards those whom you are trying to reach will build bridges from them to God. If you are going to go to someone, be honest with yourself, you can say “I am going out of love and concern for my brother/sister”, but do you feel it in your heart?

I know I need to start writing things that are less serious, but this was on my heart today.

Shameless plug – check out my new book

www.freewebs.com/capturedimagination

The Heart and The Imagination

2005-06-04T02:00:00.000-05:00

Hi, just wanted to let you all know that I have just finished writing my very first book and it is called "The Heart and The Imagination". Its a great acomplishment for me. Its something I have always wanted to do. Right now the book material is at the printers and I should have them by the middle or end of next week if you are interested in getting a copy.

Thank you all for the encouragement while i was working to get this book finished. It was and is muchly appreciated.

I have a temperary Website if you wish to e-mail me about the book, order a book, or look at information about "The Heart and The Imagination".

www.freewebs.com/capturedimagination

Also feel free to check out my personal website

www.freewebs.com/tylerhay

God Bless

Tyler

Regretful

2005-05-01T00:50:00.000-05:00

Do you have any regrets? Of course you do. We have all done things we regret; things we did and can never change or didn't do and want to change. I have, and I’ll tell you, no matter how much you try or wish that it had never happened, the fact remains this it has happened or didn’t happen and always will remain unchangeable. Pretty straight forward right? "Yea tell us something we don't already know Tyler". Well the simple fact is that many of us have a hard time accepting events and choices that have passed. Some of us will never truly accept the reality of our choices.

For myself, I have played it safe most of my life. I have kept my mouth shut and realized that it was a good thing I did, I have avoided asking out a girl, I have let someone else do something first because I was a little unsure. I have always lived on the safe side of life. For the most part, I saved myself a lot of embarrassment, for which I thought I would be grateful... but you know what? I'm not.

I am not grateful at all. Because I missed out on those key spots where I was right, and I should have asked out that girl, and I should have jumped my bike over that ramp first. And I missed out on being humiliated and I know that sounds like a bad thing, but its not, because those are the things in life that we need to experience. Life, excitement, being the first to try something, asking out a girl who you are almost positive is going to call you a freak and scream. That is part of learning and growing.

But I haven’t been playing it safe these past few years. It’s something I have been learning. Life was meant to be enjoyed. Life is taking risks. Sometimes there are risks that aren't worth taking, but some are. And even when some aren't worth it, you do it anyways because it’s the excitement of life, it’s a risk. Now please don't go and ride your dirt bike off the top of a cliff just to take a risk. Considering that the consequences of that risk includes death, one might think twice about such an attempt.

I think you know what I am getting at. Over the past couple of years I have been taking more risks, they might be small to you, but coming from an extreme introvert (Yea I used to be so shy I would rarely talk to anyone) these steps have been growth for me. Like quitting a job when I had no other job to go to, Spending money helping the poor when I was poor myself, starting my own business, telling a girl how I feel when I didn’t know what was going to happen. Now I know that last one is hard for some of you, it’s hard for all of us, but it’s still worth it! Oh I am talking to you girls too, don't be afraid to tell a guy how u feel.

You see the thing about taking a risk, is it may not turn out the way you wanted it to, but you will grow and learn from it. That’s the beauty of life; we are allowed to make mistakes, its one way we learn to do new things. And keep in mind, it might turn out to be something better than what u had hoped for.

Let me tell you about one of my regrets. When I was 16, grade 11, there was this new girl in school, she was beautiful and she was a Christian. She seemed like such a sweet girl. I didn't say a whole lot to her but I thought she was pretty special from what I knew of her and the little bit that we talked. I wanted to ask her out but I was too chicken, so I never did because just about every guy in my grade had called and asked her out and she turned them down. So eventually, I ended up dating this other girl who wasn't a Christian, but she liked me anyways and I got into all sorts of trouble, and we ended up breaking up. My life was a mess.
Well one day my older sister was talking to this girl I had thought was so special. For some reason, she told that girl "You know my brother used to like you allot". Her response was "Why didn't he ask me out, I would have gone out with him". When my sister told me the story my jaw nearly hit the floor. I couldn't believe it!!! But she was with someone else by then and it was too late. (And yea, even if we had gotten together it might still have never worked out, but maybe it would have lasted for a long time)

I don't know how to describe the regret I felt at that very moment. I was quite bothered and I thought about that a lot, and all the heartache I could have avoided and all the possible happiness I could have had with her.

I use relationship examples because they are so powerful, but I hope you are getting my point. There is a time to play it safe, but sometimes it is our pride that keeps us from taking a risk, a risk that might bring you something really awesome. But don't be scared to step out. Martin Luther stepped out.

And so I will leave you with this bit of wisdom.

Sometimes it’s not the things in life that we do that we regret the most, but it is the things that we don't do.

Drawing a line in the sand

2005-04-24T03:56:00.000-05:00

Thank you for joining me in my second blog. You will find that lately and probably more often than not, my blogs will be sparse. Yes I have the ranting gene, but I choose not to use it to its full extent. I will leave that to my other siblings to whom I am indebted to for the hours of blog entertainment and wisdom.

Please be warned, that there is some rough language in this blog which may shock you coming from the mouth of Pastor Ty. But I feel sometimes it is the only way to get the point across. I don’t like to add it to my daily repertoire of language, and I have never used nor do I condone the use of the Lords name in vain. Now onto the topic at hand.

There comes a time in every person’s life where you bring things to an end. “Enough is enough, that’s it I have had it, no more of this sh*t!”

For you, I don’t know what that means or where it has happened, but for me, it has been an entire life change.

So many things have brought me to this place, questions, fears, insecurities, frustration, anger, hurt, jealousy and pain. Sometimes it feels like all those things are going to break you to the point that you can no longer go on.

All my life, in my eyes, the person of Tyler has been nothing but shy, afraid of basically anything, unintelligent, and very unattractive. Not that I needed any help feeling this way, but there were some key people who did things, to speed up the destruction of the person that I am. I could thank them each personally right here in this blog, but I am not going to do that, for a man reaps what he sows.

Getting the hell beat out of me on a daily or semi daily basis at school was certainly a challenge to overcome. Being tormented about my cystic acne, even by my one of my best friends. I am not asking for your sympathy, I am simply telling some of my life.

Sitting in class as the teacher would leave for 15 minutes at a time, 4 or 5 guys grab me and throw me around the classroom, and when they needed to make it more interesting, they let the little guy take shots at me, which triggered my self defense mechanism against him (the little guy) because I knew I could actually defend myself, but my self defense got me an even worse beating from the rest of them.

Being kicked, punched, thrown across the room, pushed over desks, thrown over fences, locked in bathrooms, hit with objects, having my personal things destroyed just for a laugh, mocked, robbed, laughed at and spit on was just about what it took for me to give up, but not quite. Until I discovered that church was not even safe, I sat in Gods house only to be swore at by another kid my age, (Please excuse the language) he sat behind me, leaned forward and told me I was the ugliest f*cking thing he had ever seen, and I shouldn’t bother showing my ugly f*cking face in public because no one wanted to see it. As I went home, I said nothing and I to tried to figure out a way to kill myself, because like I said, everyone draws a line in the sand at some point in their life.

Tim Robbins said something very profound in the movie “The Shawshank Redemption”, he said “Get busy living or get busy dying”. And while he said it, someone else wrote it, so I give credit to whatever man or woman wrote that from his or her heart, but the fact remains that it touched me and probably thousands more to the realization that if you are sitting in a place of mediocrity, you need to make a change. Life is an action word, it is not a description of the force of our human bodies to function, it’s more than that. In that persons mind, death was as tragic as doing nothing. A singer name Clay Walker inspired me to live like he does, “I just want to live until I die”. Don’t get me wrong, I never want you to choose death, but you get the idea of how life is to be lived.

It’s inspiring and makes you feel good about yourself when you watch and listen to the actor say it, but there is a hard part. Because we don’t always feel like reaching for the sky, not even Tim Robbins nor the guy who wrote the line.

But here is what it takes;

it takes everything you got to fight everything that comes your way. You have to decide who and what is going to invade or be a part of your life.

I have to fight everything that told me I was ugly when I was growing up. Every hurt, every word spoken that deteriorated my self esteem in the past, I have to take by the throat and break its neck. Because the hurt doesn’t want to leave you alone, the trick is to never leave it alone. You overcome by walking tall.

When those hurts and pains grab you, and drags you into a room to fight,
you take a deep breath
and get your gloves up,
because one of you is going down with the beating of a lifetime
and it sure as hell isn’t going to be you!!!!

And there it is, your line in the sand.

Those things poke and kick and hit you enough until you give up or get tired of it and start fighting back That is where you get stronger and those things that get into your head and bother you get weaker. And let me tell you, when the weak get beaten, they get weaker, and they don’t want hang around as often.

And eventually you will find yourself in a place of bullying those emotions and the emotions of others. Those feelings of pain will be sleeping and you will kick open their door and say “wake up b*tch its almost time for your beating!”

The fight brings back the person you were meant to be. And the beauty is that once you start fighting you will never lose. Because even when you take a mind beating like I did today, where it feels like you are ready to give up, you won’t, because you will remember all the battles you have won.

I mean, they keep making Rocky movies! Just stay down!!!!! But he gets up every time. They keep making more movies!!! You got to really fight to win. You gotta want it!!!! I mean imagine if they made Canadian Rocky movies.

WHEN HE ISN’T PLAYING HOCKEY OR DRINKING CANADIAN BEER, ROCKY IS FIGHTING THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT!

ROCKY XXXV – Rocky writes an action packed letter telling Paul Martens to “take off” and includes his concerns about how the liberal government is a bunch of hosers eh?

That is not the type of ROCKY you need to be. We need to get the real gloves on and fight back.

And you need to remember you have family and friends that love you and want to help you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

And so I will leave you with this one piece of wisdom if I may.

If you never give up,

you will never lose.

God Bless

It bothers me

2005-04-01T02:41:00.000-06:00

I must thank my brother for his blogs. I lauged my fool head off, and he has inspired to to create my own style of rant through Blog.

Suicide or attempted, though many times can simply be a cry for attention (which i consider a cry for help), has come to me from young people who are finding that there is no hope. I do what I can to remind them that there is hope in Christ. I know 3 people from my hometown who have comitted suicide in less than a year, so in these times, a cry for attention is always a cry for help.

I guess in this blog I want you to be more aware of people's pain than anything. Its just something i am feeling tonight and I don't know why. This is more about those who are feeling that there is nothing left. I listen to Billy Talents album and i hear the pain of a boy who was tortured in the name of "Highschool Tradition" and it bothers me. It bothers me that no one was there to help that young man. "There's nothing to lose, when no one knows your name" Billy Talent. How could anyone in that position not feel this way?

Now to what else is bothering me

It bothers me that we have a moment of silence and a prayer in church for those lost lives in our hometown this past week through suicide or other causes, that we shed the tears and hold each other, and then head off to the church potluck.

It bothers me that certain music leaders (no one specific) weap and wail asking for "more of God", when the "more" comes when we do what He asked us to do and feed the poor, cloth the naked, bring the gospel.

It bothers me when well off Christians ask for "more" from God (you know, financially), and have no concern for those who have much less.

It bothers me that my former church has a Pastor that is more concerned about reputation than doing the will of the Father.

It bothers me that my former Pastor pushes those that struggle with particular sin back into hiding.

It bothers me that there is no reason we can't change, but we still don't.

It bothers me that 3 people have comitted suicide in the past year, and nothing has changed. I still see no outreach.

It bothers me that I have no church to invite those who do not yet believe in Jesus Christ.

It bothers me that some Christians give so called "unbelievers" leprosy status.

It bothers me that a young girl is doing Christianity on her own without the support of her family and no one seems to understand how hard that is for her.

It bothers me that I show up for every single youth event and church service, i pray, i organize, i teach, i love and i care, i give of my time and myself and all i get at board meetings is a general report on what I am doing wrong.

It bothers me that those who don't go to church think we huddle up in masses every Sunday and sing and pray in order to make heaven, thats not the part that bothers me, the part that bothers me is that we are ok with them thinking these things. I may be stepping out of line, but on the CARE BEAR CARING METER, the needle is sitting on "who gives a rats ass" (pardon the language) so here goes

It bothers me that maybe what they think of us is true.

Ouch, how was that? Tough to swallow? Hard to get down??? Yea well sometimes the truth is a peanutbutter and craker sandwich, so wash it down with a gallon of get over yourself and lets move on.

I think its time for me to stop. But you get an idea of what is on my heart and what is bothering me.