The God of Miracles?

When you read the bible its so crammed full of 'Gods wonders', the miraculous, God's spirit moving in a real and powerful way. PLUS it's written in a way that seems like this should be so obvious to everyone.

If anyone claims that kind of thing now, were all a little skeptical or were just a bit freaked out.

I wonder does God still work in miraculous ways that are as tangible as they seem in the bible?

That was a nice sermon

I heard a sermon the other day from a church in America and something that the Pastor said started to make me think a bit about behaviour in church. This Pastor mentioned that he was so surprised how many people will come up to him after a sermon to tell how much they enjoyed his sermon and how lovely it was. He was surprised because as a Pastor he is aiming to try and push peoples understanding and relationship with God.
Do we sit in church and just except that whatever the minister/preacher/pastor says is the truth and we have to agree with him/her? I know that this post is a conundrum because the theme came from something a pastor said but true... shouldn't we be trying to challenge one another in our faith?
What if the next time you heard something in a sermon or read something in the Bible that didn't make sense that you ask your minister about it or ask your small group leader about it. Sure they might not have the exact answer but they might have a thought or a new avenue that you hadn't possible registered.
Let us as brothers and sisters in Christ try to challenge and support each other in our growth with Christ because I promise you no one has all the answer not even your minister.
Grace and peace

What is God's opinion of Australia Army?

I have been reading 1 Kings lately and one thing you get a massive sense of is WAR. On almost ever page there some reference to a king going to war or a king being attacked by another king. This was a time of war, understandable, but that is a lot of war considering in 1 Kings alone there are 22 chapters. It continues on into 2 Kings as well. When King Solomon died he possessed one of the largest armies ever seen before as well as a massive slave labour force. Sure, he had a large kingdom that needed protection but one of God's commandments to David was not to possess a large army because if you trust in God he will protect you and defend you.
So while reading this book I suddenly began to think... what is God's opinion on Australia's Defense Force. In a report on the defense force website (http://www.defence.gov.au/minister/NelsonMintpl.cfm?CurrentId=5604) it states that "the Defence budget will grow from $12.6 billion in 2000-01 to $26.7 billion by 2015-16". $26.7 BILLION!!! That is a massive number.
Now don't get me wrong I understand that as a nation there should be focus on defense of one's home land. Sure got it. But $26.7 Billion??? On the save the children website that estimate that 11.6% of children in Australia live in poverty. For the moment forget about the children in Africa, this is 11.6% of children living in one of the wealthiest nations on earth.
God commissioned his people to care for each other especially those you needed extra care... in James 1:27 it states "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world". Is this what we are doing by having an army that will be worth over $25 Billion by 2015?
On the save the children website they state that $1 million dollars will feed 150 000 people.
Are we following God's request to love all his people to care for all his people?
Read 1 Kings 5-8 to just get a feel for how Solomon spent his money and how didn't care for his people by making them slaves.