What are the first things that come to mind when asked to describe a Christian?

I’ve asked this question of some friends of mine in recent weeks, the main things my friends have mentioned when answering is…

• A Christian is someone who is concerned with making people who don’t follow  their beliefs “See the light.”
• They thought that a Christian’s sole aim in life was to preach the word of God
• They thought a Christian didn’t swear, smoke, drink or have a good time.
• They thought that a Christian lived soley in the pages of the Holy Bible.
• The ability to quote of the tip of the tongue a bible verse or two.

Reading this blog would you be surprised to know that I am a Christian, I mean I attend Church regularly, twice on Sunday, and at least once a day in the week.

It may come as more of a suprise to people (as it did my friends) when they realised I could not quote a Bible verse of the cuff that was perfect for any conversation.

They were equally surprised to see me living like a “normal” person and not keep “harping” on about the life and glory of Jesus.

Christian Fanatics:

You know the type of person: Stephen Baldwin comes to mind in recent days with his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother here in the UK, maybe some people will feel me being overly harsh to this man for the strength of his beliefs. However, I whole-heartedly disagree with his approach in attempting “conversion” on innocent bystanders in that house.

His only aim was trying to force the word of God on his fellow housemates, when one fellow housemate challenged his opinion he retorted “I am speaking the word of the Lord!”

There you have my biggest problem, as a Christian we are meant to spread the word, I do that, without forcing scripture down peoples necks, trying to answer questions in a none biased way.

My personal journey to Christianity was through asking questions, discovering and also disagreeing.

I live my Faith with the principle of trying to answer peoples questions as openly as possible, without bias or judgement, if that person asking questions of my belief leads to them experiencing a deeper understanding of Christianity and then deciding to take the plunge in becoming a Christian then that’s fantastic.

The Difference

Being open to people’s questions, just listening, being calm, being focused, steady and friendly is the biggest “spreading of the word.”  When you choose to take on the Christian faith (More in a later article). It is essential in my opinion to stay stuck on the ground. Still living in the real world.

It’s very easy to get carried away with this new discovery of God, you can become a bit floaty, thinking that you are “saved by God” and now your living a clean blameless life and no matter what, you have Him on your side.

In reality it is not that simple, taking on the faith is hard work, it opens you up to ignorant ridicule, it forces you to examine your life choices and the attitudes towards life.

In my opinion God waits for you to acknowledge His call to you, and from then he works with you to attain what he has planned for you. There is a lot of changes (talking from experience) and you can easily get totally lost in your own thoughts. This is where I am eternally grateful to my/our Parish Priest, the support and space to learn and sometimes ask the silliest questions has formed up my faith.

It did me well to remember that God never drops you in the deep end, no matter how much you feel like your drowning in a new world, of consiense realisation and discovering new moral values. He never gives you more than you can handle. That’s not to say he doesn’t give you a challenge or two, I mean look at Haiti!!!

You may often hear how “God changed my life” type stories. This is totally true, however in my opinion God works within you! Not outside of you, I have apparently changed a lot since finding God, but I still haven’t lost my own original identity, instead I feel that my old self has been developed matured grown and definitely enhanced.

Where it can all go wrong

I know how easy it is to be a bit carried away with the discovery of Jesus, and it does take a bit of concentration to stay grounded. With this new faith you have taken on it can feel like a “God Rush” (I will dedicate a article to this as my next posting).

You can begin to feel a bit above other people, you can start being judgemental towards people who do not believe in your Religion and extremely close minded to others opinions.

This is what I personally call a “Jesus Freak” someone who will inhale the bible and live strictly within the scriptures, blindly believe in what the scriptures are saying and dare anyone challenge the word then they who dared are damned.

Where am I?

Well I love the Bible, I completely believe in God, and actively live in the faith, I do not want to preach to the none believers, I don’t want to impose my opinions and beliefs on anyone else. But I would love to preach to people who wish to listen, see there’s the difference! I want to walk the walk of Christian life with people who want to discover, support people who are searching.

I think Christianity is the never ending journey, there is no end, you only keep discovering, I am neither right nor wrong, I am not better than another person. I am no worse than anyone else.

I respect people for who they are, not what they believe in. If people feel my religion is a cause for personal insult then so be it, it is them with the problem! For those that want to ask questions I am only to willing to share a conversation, I don’t have the right answers but a conversation is also a great education for both of us.

A good friend of mine an atheist, said to me over a pint or two, “I don’t believe in your Religion, I don’t believe in your God, but through talking about it, I can see God does exist although I can’t follow I have a new respect.” For me that was the biggest compliment, and to you who said it and you know who you are Thank you.

Happy New Year!!

Well here it is early January 2010, a new decade, and another new beginning!

I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year, today in Britain we are covered in a layer of snow and have had a week of freezing temperatures, up North near Manchester where I currently live we have had a constant temperature of -2 oC to -8oC.

The weather people at the Met office in London are saying it is the coldest winter in Britain since 1987 and snow like this has been seen since 1976.  It always gets me though that as soon as it snows Britain seems to ground to an absolute stop.

I was born and lived in Germany due to my fathers posting to Paderborn with the Army, over there in mainland Europe and most of the world, snow brings a different routine rather than a complete breakdown in public services as in Britain.

Still it is a lovely experience waking up to proper snow that crunches under your feet. It really feels like winter here at the moment, people enjoy it and stop complaining about not being able to get to work or on public transport. In this weather have fun if you can’t get somewhere then stay at home.

What on Earth:

It’s only January 7th 2010, and already I think I have stumbled upon the most pathetic craze since Pokemon!

It’s called the choking game amongst other things. It’s crazy,  basically it is literally what it is says, a kid or maybe 2 or three strangles them self until they pass out.

They say they get high from it, in fact it is simply that they are cutting off the oxygen to the brain and it can cause all kinds of problems like heart failure to stroke to epileptic fits!

I mean is life really that boring?? Whats worse is it’s all over youtube at the moment with friends filming the happenings as there friends or brothers or sisters go some way to killing themselves.

Honestly if you want to kill yourself for fun, then jump of a building on to a solid surface. Or play Russian Roulette.

No I am not making light of suicide but these kids don’t realise that they are simply killing themselves and may even cause brain damage!

I’d hate to see the youtube video when someone films their friend playing this game on to realise that in fact the friend is no longer on this earth.

But kids playing with their lives is not my concern am just giving my support to the people out there who are trying to stop people from doing this crazy pass time.

This year:

I’ve made a resolution this year, I am going to write more to this site, I’ve been really busy during 2009, but now things have settled down again in to some normal routine.

I’ve had a few emails recently asking me questions about Christianity, I am not a Priest but I will do my best to answer the questions to the best of my knowledge.

Of course there will be plenty more rants and raves coming during this year, and if you have any comments I love to read them and your emails to.

Happy New Year Everyone

Here’s a video of the New Years Eve fireworks in London this year enjoy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdU-YUSzkUI

Till next time….

I thought I’d add them here in what I call my perfect Soundtrack to life! You’ll find a mix of oldies and new ones to. Hope you enjoy it… Let me know what you think!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBbXKsKXyNU

A bit of Richie Havens singing A George Harrison Classic!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqh54rSzheg

Need I say more, damn I miss Smoking in a public place to, nice Smoke Holder!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKUBTX9kKEo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_FZVD5lsAw

A Couple of The Who Classics, well they always said I shared the same gene pool as Keith Moon!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZdDxFsopVs

This track runs for over 7 minutes on the Album but here is a version with the Original intro to!! The day when music was a powerful message giver!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dsz4dB6DuM

mmmmm

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_bvT-DGcWw

Oh What fun, the amount of information here is worthy of PH.D on it’s own!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C86oH5RwyJg

I grew up listening to this tune thanks to my Dad, it still brings back memories of British Army Barracks in Paderborn West Germany, long live BFBS! If by some odd occurance any REME from Barker Barracks ever see this, Good luck out there! From a “Padbrat” Circa 1980-87, for those who don’t know, it means I was born while in Paderborn whilst my Dad was posted there with the British Army.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8iZ8jIqrQo

Nothing Needs saying here!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkjWwz3kc3Q

Great Bass line on this makes it to me worthy of an Anthem!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxm-4AwtB5w

Damn this Tune is still Shit HOT!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1pMeyy__r0

Well we’re be back with Richie Havens, Here opening Woodstock, with Handsome Johnny and then moving into Freedom. This man is a total Legend!!!

To finish off here are some tracks from The Beatles and John Lennon solo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5gaIXI2Mn4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0usAtAh5y0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwVRzbgC7hc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a4RlRk_klI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkcRZSdc8us

www.youtube.com/watch?v=okd3hLlvvLw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZtQh5EIgWQ

You can’t beat the original

www.youtube.com/watch?v=erLZ-zW9Ti4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wynYMJwEPH8

Hope you enjoyed this blast from musical history?

Until Next Time……

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pjYGqPPMmA

There are just some things that are hard to understand, the video above is fast becoming a “Youtube” sensation, and maybe rightly so. For once someone within their rights to do so, has stood up to one Chav, and given the goon a bit of his own medicine.

A Chav is someone in my opinion who has taken the decision to be a social misfit, his job in life is to cause as much trouble as he possibly can! The reason I say this is that most are over the age of 16. So it can be scientifically argued that by that age they have formed a sense of society and what is excepted within it.

Psychologically a Chav is a choice and not a socio-environmental consequence.

Usually by the age of 6 we have a good foundation in what is right and what is wrong, we learn by watching and listening to our parents, teachers and those in authority.

Usually in our late teens we go through a rebellious stage, this is totally normal, scientifically the onslaught of hormones sends us into mood swings and the mind matures and reaches out to gain knowledge through this we make our own identity.

Of course we will fight against anything we feel does not agree with our thoughts on life and the society in which we live. This can be a testing time for parents as we often do the opposite to the “right way”! But ultimately we settle down again and move on and develop into unique human beings.

However in the case of a Chav:

He has decided that he is not going to conform, he likes nothing more than to try and stamp his authority over everybody else, he is usually around the age of 16-19 and has not grasped that if he shouts and swears and imposes his will on someone who is more inteligent than him he will be made to feel tiny.

So he responds by throwing his weight around, squaring up to you physically and attempting to intimidate the person he is trying to beat.

As you can see in this video, an adult in “mind” stands and tolerates the childish words, that make sense, he takes the constant goading for a fight, and then he finally breaks and gives the “Chav” a bit of a slap! Whats more the chav falls flat on his backside and then turns into some kind of invertebrate!

This is how the Chav lives his life, fighting then gets a bit of a tap and then crumples. Whats more while this video is in Circulation the Chav who got the slap is continually humiliated. I can imagine it now, while the goon brags about a fight he had last week, and how he put the bloke flat on the ground all his mates will look on youtube and other sites and see the real thing!

If you cant take the heat don’t sit on the cooker!

There is no help for a person who makes the conscious choice to live a life of going against the grain. They can not be rehabilitated, for that to happen they have to realise that there is a different option in life.

Where have the Police gone?

When I was young about the age of this yob, there were Police in your local community, they were like friends that you respected. A “Bobbie” would know you and your family and the rest of your community, and would come in for a cup of Tea and a natter.

A Policeman who knew a lot about what was happening in your area, someone who could have a bit of a laugh and joke with you.

I only got told off by our local Policeman once, as he knew me and all my family the humiliation of being told off for swearing in front of him, and he gave me a clip round the ear and ceremonially marched me off home, and talking to my Mum about my public outburst. That was fine but then you get told off by your parents and that’s worse. By the next day the neighbours had heard and you felt the size of an Ant.

All this without being arrested and issued with an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order), he made a note of my name though and the act of writing it in his little black note book for when he gets back to the station, but the fear of God in me!

Admittedly we were as it seems now a generation of quieter kids, we made our own entertainment, we didn’t spend a day on the Internet or playing games consoles. We actually played out in the rain as well as the Sun. We didn’t want to immediately claim for falling over in the street.

We ate as a family when possible, and if we didn’t like it we didn’t eat it simple! We didn’t have 2 main meals cooked one meal just for me and one for Mum and Dad. These were the days when your Dad gave you a smacked backside and that was that. No need for Social Services and fear of being accused of Child Abuse!

When I was 10 and gave Dad a mouthful of abuse, I was sent to bed without dinner! At worst a bit of sore backside and I NEVER did it again!

Now you get it where the kid will retaliate and attempt to give as good as he gets, not realizing he was the cause of it to begin with!

It’s a real Shame,

Today some people can’t make their own entertainment, that they would rather vegetate in front of a computer game rather than going out and playing football, rugby or cricket. I remember going out and cracking my head open once.. It hurt like hell, and meant My parents had to take me to hospital to get my head stitched back together. But it didn’t stop me going out 3 days later and getting a few grazes. It’s part of living!

Life today is all to soft. We claim insurance for falling over a hole and bleeding, we are scared of getting a bit wet. We throw food away for dropping it on the floor. When did people stop picking up the food and giving it a blow and eat it.

Is it any wonder the new generations immune systems are as weak as a feather in a force 9 gale??

By the way I am only approaching 30 years old.

Until next time……

Whats this all About?

Welcome to

Billboblaggins.com, I’m Bill (not a Hobbit and don’t live in Middle Earth). So why Blaggins… Well life is strange, things happen and mostly we don’t notice it. We are left then to have to work with life and sometimes we have to simply “Blag it”! This is a place just to spill my thoughts about anything and everything from what really irritates me or what really makes my mind tick.

What I hope to write about?

A bit of Celebrity Happenings

News Items

Politics

Religion

Music

TV and Media

Emotions and Psychology of life!

The list is endless and will change regularly, I hope to make a place for a bit of everything if you know what I mean?

Not just another pointless place to republish news articles!

No! What makes this site different in my opinion is that each and every article you see on this site will be written by me and will be MY view on what I see, and I admit now that my opinions are sometimes not very “PC” but they ARE honest. I have no intention of “Slagging people or subjects off. I simply like to share my views and hope I entertain you in the process?!?

The site is totally organic, I intend to begin writing and see where things lead. It will have some structure but it is not a sole focused “Niche” Site. Literally taking what life throws up in my face and writing about it, whether it be A massive Rant or venting my annoyance at something. It is all real.. A Trip into my Mind.

I write a “Niche” Blog over at Great Britains Past and Present and will continue to write to the two sites. Think of this site as a personal journal with a difference.. I will aim to update this site every day or two. I would love to hear your opinions on what I am writing whether you like it or hate it you can mail me through the Contact Page RSS is all up and running also there is an option to subscribe to my updates by email.  This service is provided by Google Feedburner and a link to that is at the top of the site.

And Finally…

I really hope you enjoy visiting, reading, there are many updates to come and hope you enjoy them all if you have any ideas for content please let me know and I will add them, eventually I would like to set up a “Guest Author” section the Worlds the Oyster as they say.

“The Mind is a weird thing lets see where it takes us.

Until The Next Time…..