Aisle Walker--The Controversy of Centuries

Hey, Soul Sisters!

(can we all say, creeperish?)

Project 9 was over an article about "Walking the Aisle". I'd never heard of an altar call before, except when a missionary or a pastor guest at chapel spoke about first coming to Christ--they usually mention feeling led to walk down the aisle. That is to say, I'd heard references to it before, but had never really known about it until now. 

Now that I think about it, the practice seems a bit narcissistic and prideful. I mean, I understand the whole bit about an outward sign of our convictions, but this has the same potential to be royally turned on its butt like baptism sort of has--being baptized in our church has sort of become a badge of honor that people must have before they are truly a follower of Christ. That doesn't necessarily mean that baptism is bad, just that sometimes our motives are messed up--to be part of the "in" crowd of Christians is a terrible motive for baptism.

Same thing with aisle calls--it's a good idea. We need to learn to show our faith, a trait that many people in the American church seem to be reluctant to do. Like Jesus said, a good tree will bear good fruit, and vise verse. If we're truly God's children, there should be nothing stopping every person in the room from getting up and confessing their sins. But we also have to be careful--motives are sometimes more important than the action. Let's not be Pharisees, shall we?

"I don't wanna be a Pharisee...I don't wanna be a Pharisee...cuz they're not fair, ya see...I don't wanna be a Pharisee..."

May we all be happy sheep,

--JesusFreak 

Grilled Cheesus: The Big Question

Howdy, folks!

Today's blog is about the Glee episode titled "Grilled Cheesus". I'll give you a moment to finish laughing.

......done?

Okay, let's continue.

Mr. M gave me some questions to answer about Glee. Let's see what he gave us--

--What do they think of my faith?
1. From what I can tell, the writers of Glee must have the opinion that Christianity is a guessing game--no one really knows what they're doing, they're just picking something that works.
2. Christians are divided amongst themselves, and are so different denominationally that they're not even sure if they've got it right.
3. Christ is something like a grilled cheese sandwich (if you couldn't get that from the title, I don't know what to say to you)--He's just a solution to your temporary problems, like a drug. Or a sandwich. I want a sandwich.

--Are they portraying it as accurate or innacurate? What parts are innacurate or accurate?
1. Way'ell, obviously (yes, yes, I made a viral video joke. Have a Double Rainbow Day to you as well) the guessing game bit is a little out of touch. If you believe in the three basic truths of Christianity (A. God is omnipotent and therefore created it all, B. Man is inherently sinful in nature, and C. God, who is absolutely holy in nature, sent His Son the Christ down to earth to teach us and die a torturous death, thereby bridging the existential gap between man and God.), then you've got it right. The stuff about baptism, confession, predestination...that's just outer fluff. Denominational breeding grounds, if you will. And not like Falls Creek.

2. Divided amongst themselves...sadly, yes, that is kind of true. I mean, you've almost got different "cliques" of people in the bigger church settings: you've got the sandy-haired, surfer dudes that are always volunteering for community service and are just really in tune with God and people, and on the other end of the spectrum you've got the straight-laced, no-nonsense people who were read from Leviticus for bedtime stories as a child. There's definitely lots of division amongst Christians.

3. Christ is just a temporary solution, like everything else in the world--totally false in the every regard. Obviously. Totally. Christ is a sacred, holy remedy to your spiritual needs. NOT just physical needs! Another thing that I think Glee was trying to portray was that Jesus is a magic genie that you talk to when your life kind of sucks, and that's it. This, of course, is wrong. Jesus is your friend (hahaha, three viral video jokes in one post. Is this real life?), and friends are born for adversity, yes, but the most disgusting type of friend in the world is one who leaves you when times are good. Jesus, of course, doesn't do this. We, however, have a nasty tendency towards it. When life gets good, we tend to forget about God, and then when things get bad again, we get mad at God for not doing His job. We need to work on that, collectively.

Okay, so I was thinking about converting my blog into video format. This, unfortunately, requires a camera, which I am debating about buying. Let me know if in the comments if you think this is a good idea or a bad idea. I'm also thinking about putting videos on Youtube that talk about similar stuff as what we're doing in Bible. Once again, just let me know in the comments.

Suillad, mellonamins!

--JesusFreak

I'd say he had a...mountaintop experience...*YEAAAAAAHHHHH*

Aloha, peoples!

Today's blog is going to be about the Sermon on the Mount. Now that I've said that, I'll give you a moment to laugh about the title of this blog. Okay, so now that you're done, I'll get started.

Matthew 6:19-24 deals with treasures in heaven. You've all heard the saying before, but I believe that repetition breeds redundancy. Regardless of this, I will break it down for you: what you have here is not going to last forever. What you have in heaven, however, is. Therefore, you should store up for an eternal life and not your earthly life.

What does this mean, this concept of storing up treasures? How does one accomplish this? Well, by spreading God's Word and following His commandments, of course!

Let me give you a hypothetical scenario: You're a captain in the Air Force Reserves with good pay, a sweet life, an awesome family, and no worries yet. (Yeah, I know it's not likely, but this is hypothetical, remember). One day, your boss comes in and says, "Major What's-his-face just retired, and there's a promotion position open for you. It means better pay, bigger house, and more power in the workplace. Oh, and there's only one downside--you have to move to Washington, you'll see your family about three times a year, excluding holidays, and your children will grow up without a father figure. Whaddaya say?"

So, if you choose the Mo' Money path, you'll be doing a disservice to your family, but getting tons of dough. However, if you chose the Family Life, you'd be choosing to raise your family. The first way, the Mo' Money Path, leads to riches on earth, which will pass away. However, if you make the other choice, the Family Life, you'll be able to train up your children to do what's right, love on your wife, and generally be a good dad. So if Mo' Money leads to riches on earth, then the Family Life leads to riches in heaven.

Now, this isn't a blue pill, red pill moment. What I'm trying to say is that your choices affect how you will be rewarded in heaven. If you choose to be a slob and not work for others, your heavenly rewards will be little. If you work your heart out helping people, then your heavenly rewards will be great. Does this mean that our only motives for helping people should be selfish? No, that's not the point. The point is that unselfish sacrifice is repaid with eternal rewards.

Peace out, Phoenicians.

--JesusFreak

Is Anyone Else as Pump(kin)ed as I Am?

Halloween...a time of rotten teeth and gingivitis, of hyper children and cranky parents. A time when anybody who's masochistic enough to be driving on the night of the 31st deserves a Purple Heart for their trouble, and when every house in the neighborhood has orange, black, and purple adorning its lofty eaves, with a giant rubber spider and a Skeletor doll thrown in for good measure. When tempers are high (and in some cases, teenagers), caution is low, and three-foot-tall Power Rangers roam the streets with plastic jack-o-lanterns saying "trick-or-treat!"

Is it sinful if I'm one of those cynical jerks who would answer their cries with "trick" and douse them with a water hose?

Yeah. Probably.

But what's more "sinful" is when people try to turn little kids eating candy into a legal issue. Next thing you know, we're only going to allow our kids to trick-or-treat for candy that's been blessed by the Pope! (All I can say is that'll certainly get rid of any vampire costumes...)

Yes, I know, Halloween is historically a holiday with pagan backgrounds, and the general gist of it is kind of Satanic. I mean, making kids wear stupid flappy costumes symbolic of TV shows that they're either addicted to or have never seen before? And you tell me that's not evil! Pah! The nerve!

In the article, Mr. Hamm says, "How should Christians think about Halloween? Well...probably the same way we think about Christmas." A good point--of equally pagan backgrounds is the obviously Christian (and by that I intended sarcasm to be implied) holiday of Christmas. If you're celebrating Christmas because you're honoring the Roman god Sol Invictus, then you're missing the point. If, however, you're celebrating it because that's the day you remember Christ's birth on, then you're right on Target.

As an ending note, I think it's disturbing how the church spends so much sermon time and money on why we shouldn't participate in Halloween when in fact we have more important things to worry about. Like preventing Westborough Baptist Church from going to a gay pride parade and burning He-Man pinatas in Army uniforms. And stuff like that.

Peace, love, and Minecraft!

--JesusFreak

P.S. Oh, and by the way...

"Happy" Halloween.

Special Olympics Bowling, a.k.a, "The A Team"

Dear readers,

On Monday, I was privileged to go with my class to Oakwood Bowl as part of a volunteer service to help the Special Olympics Bowling teams. Things were very uncomfortable at first, but after the bowling began, things got a little more exciting. I found myself sitting forward in my seat sometimes, praying fervently that the bowler would get a strike. There was one guy named Richard Bernshaw who bowled fairly well and was extremely encouraging to his teammates. I can barely remember a time when Richard wasn't yelling encouragement to his friends as they began to bowl. Another man, whose last name was Grimes (I can't, for the life of me, remember his first name. Brain fart.) bowled over 100 every single game, and always tried to bowl his best. He would get really excited when he got a strike, almost crying with pleasure. My favorite part of that morning was watching him bowl two strikes in a row, because he became so happy. The thing that I learned the most from this experience was that these guys always tried their best, and they didn't let a bad game or a gutter ball get them down. They always came back, consistently having a positive attitude and encouraging their teammates while waiting for their turn. Such devotion to others and team spirit is something that I wish I could have.

Sincerely,

--JesusFreak

P.S. (and if you're disappointed by the blandness of this post, please forgive me--I'm feeling very understimulated at the moment. So just to make you happy {because I like to pretend I'm cool like that} here's a funny picture:

You are most welcome.)

Nerdfighters...ATTACK!!!!!

Greetings, Decepticons!

Today I'd like to draw your attention to the nerdfighting scene. Basically, these two brothers named Hank and John Green decided in 2007 to communicate via Youtube, by creating a channel called "vlogbrothers" and posting occasional videos. Their nerdy humor and love for the philisophical pursuits eventually landed them in the vast halls of internet fame. John Green is a prolific author who has written three books (An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and Looking For Alaska), and Hank Green is a very sciency/musical/HarryPotterFanboy person whose exploits include playing the guitar and singing on at least two albums of funny, nerdy songs. The followers of the vlogbrothers are called "nerdfighters", whose self-proclaimed goal is to "decrease world-suck", which is exactly what it sounds like: the collective bad stuff of the world.

Now obviously, the only way to truly decrease world-suck would be to spread the love of Jesus to people around the world, because ultimately all world-suck comes from Satan and the opposite of world-suck comes from God. But since the vlogbrothers aren't (from what I can garner) Christians, you won't hear a lot of that in their videos. And while it's true that doing little things like positive pranking and working for charities do affect the world-suck levels, we have to realise that it's not us doing the nerdfighting, it's God. Which is really cool, knowing that God is a nerdfighter, because that means we've won the war against world-suck inherently.

How would one become a nerdfighter? To borrow from the popular philosopher's statement, "I think, therefore, I am," you wish, therefore, you are. Kind of like Christianity, you don't have to undergo any strenuous rituals or tests to become a nerdfighter. You just have to want to improve the world's situation. Much like Christianity, where the only qualifying factor is a love for Christ.

Oh, and by the way...



Nerdfighter salute. Which looks a lot like the bird, if done incorrectly.

*nerdfighter salute*

--JesusFreak

INFORMATION THAT YOU MUST KNOW TO CONTINUE SURVIVING!!!!!

Actually, the title of this post is both misleading and grammatically awkward, but

 I doubt that's going to increase your interest in what I have to say anyway... 

Salutations, fellow barn animals!

Since I have no real information to give, other than something which I'll mention for dramatic effect at the bottom of this post, I thought I'd look up random information and give it to you for free.

What a treat. I know, I know, Christmas came two months early.
Jane Austen's last words were "Nothing but death," in response to her sister, Cassandra, if there was anything she wanted. Ironic, yet somewhat fitting.

While on the subject of great literary figures, Edgar Allen Poe was thrown out of West Point for showing up for inspection in his birthday suit.

Did you know that The Jedi Church is actually a religion? It's based in New Zealand, and if you want more information, CLICK HERE to go to the website. I'm not joking.

There are two words in the English language that rhyme with orange: Blorenge and Gorringe. The Blorenge is a mountain in Wales, and Gorringe is a respectable British surname.

The Nazi Germans killed four million more Russians than they did Jews in WWII.

Field Marshall Rommel, the "Desert Fox", was in charge of the defense of Normandy's beaches from Allied invasion. On June 6th, D-Day, he was on leave in France celebrating his wife's birthday. He, and many other Nazi officers, believed that the Allies would invade at another place, and not for two weeks.

Boy, were they wrong.

General John Sedgwick of the Union spoke the most humorous phrase I think I've ever heard while leading his troops into battle: "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--", upon which he was shot by the enemy.

"Swanilda" is the name of a character in the ballet Coppelia. The name "Swanilda" actually means "battle swan".

The scientific name for the robin is turdus migratorius. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "bowel movement", eh?...

"Floccinaucinihipilification" is the declaration of something being useless or valueless. The irony in this is my reward for having to type that out.

Novercaphobia is the fear of your step-mother. Pogonophobia is the fear of beards. Scolionophobia is the fear of school.

The first time the letter "C" appears in the English spelling of a number is 1 octillion, or 10 to the 27th power.

And finally...

I have a new blog!

Yes, I have a new blog. It's got maybe three posts so far, but I thought I'd give it a shout out. Just type in www.houseofstrider.blogspot.com and you should get there pretty quick. And if any of you understand where House of Strider comes from, I welcome you, fellow nerds.

Peace out,

--JesusFreak

The Chapel Project

Greetings, O creatures great and small!

Today we're actually talking about what we've been listening to in chapel all week long: Andy Braner's apologetic message. In other words: why do you believe what you believe? A very good message, I will agree--young Christians ought to be able to defend their faith with absolute certainty against the world. And as Andy proved to us, the world is working like clockwork to defeat us and bring us away from God.

At first, I thought: yaaaaaayyyy, Spiritual Emphasis Week. When combined with homecoming, we're never going to get ANYTHING done in ANY class...whoopde-pancake-flippin-doo...
But as the week went on, despite the fact that everyone came to school dressed in their best not-school clothes, I kind of enjoyed this year's week. Not really as enlightening as last year's, but still pretty cool.

Here's the part that I found to be the most important (to me) of the whole week: Christians are supposed to be careful of our relationships. How, you might ask? Well, first off, we have to watch our relationship with God. As my dear Choir teacher says, "God isn't someone that you just pray to when a family member's sick or you need help on a test." In other words, we're not supposed to treat God as a magical genie who does whatever we want, whenever we want. God is completely in control, and you are not.

To reinforce my viewpoint of how insignificant we all are, here's a picture. This was taken by the Voyager spacecraft before it began to leave the Solar System. At the request of Carl Sagan, NASA told Voyager to take a picture of Earth from 3.8 BILLION MILES away.

This is what turned up:



If you don't get it, look closer at the first beam of light from the right. In the middle, you will see a tiny blue dot.

Here's a closer look:



That's how small we are in the infinite cosmos. THAT is an example of objective truth, or truth that has no influence from man's opinions.

When you realize something that huge, it begins to affect the way you think about life and how you treat people. Knowing that your actions, while they may seem significant here, have NO effect on the vast majority of the universe is a big shocker for some people. But when you think about it, Earth is kind of blessed. As illustrated here, even though Earth is, as a famous astronomer remarked upon viewing this photograph, "A mote of dust in a ray of sunlight", God thinks of us as more than just a speck of dust.

Think about it.

The universe is literally infinite (to our limited standards of knowledge), with limitless possibilities for life and fruition on planets too numerous to be counted, as paradoxical as that sounds, and of all the places for God to send His one and only Son to die the most horrible death for the salvation of a species, He sent Him HERE???

That must have caused some havoc in the angel labor union!

.....sorry, I forgot. Sacrilege, and all that...

If we are so insignificant, yet also significant in God's eyes, then that should shape the way we act to people, and to God. No, not to be like the Pharisee who prayed to God saying, "Thanks, God. Thanks blessing me, unlike that tax collector over there." That's the kind of attitude that the devil wants you to have.

What the devil doesn't want you to say is, "Thanks, God. Now I'll show Your love to everyone else, as well." If you really understand how lucky we are to know God, and I mean REALLY UNDERSTAND, how much pride do you have to despise everyone around you by not telling them AND showing them about God's love?

Something to think about...

And now, I will leave you with this LINK to a video about THE GAME, in case anyone's still interested.

Peace, love, and Japanese Sprite!

--JesusFreak

Friends...Great. Mr. M Has a Grudge Against Me...

Hello, peoples.

I'm not really excited today, because of the assignment: friends. Thank you, Mr. M. Thanks for reminding me about the fact that I am becoming increasingly unpopular. You're a real life-saver. Except you're not round.

Several qualities I would like to have in a friend...well, for starters, they would probably need to be great masters in the art of unconditional love. That would be required, no doubt, since I'm probably going to remain a nerd for the rest of my life. This is also (thankfully) a very Christian quality, since God's love is unconditional. As I said in my previous post, Christians are supposed to be like Jesus, and Jesus was constantly going to the lowliest of society instead of those who had money and were important. *hint, hint*

Another important thing (we're assuming that they're Christian, of course) is intelligence: I don't enjoy hanging around with people who can't think for themselves. If you have a problem with forming your own opinions about something and standing by it, then I don't necessarily view you as a lesser person, but I'm going to have a much harder time relating to you. My reasoning for this is that (again, assuming the person is a Christian) to be like Christ, you have to be able to think deeply about things for yourself. Jesus knew what His purpose and message were, and He wasn't afraid to go mano a mano with the Pharisees and Sadducees about it. He even smacked down the devil in a 40 day long tempt-fest, all using verses from the Bible (click here for confirmation. Not the Catholic kind, sorry.)

Finally (although this isn't the only thing I look for), I want a friend to be someone who won't treat me like crap when I do something stupid. I'd like a friend that actually cares when I'm having a bad day, and will try to cheer me up. I'd also like someone who can laugh at everything, but can also be serious. If possible, I'd particularly like them to be deep, philosophical types. You know, the kind of person that sees beauty in everything and isn't afraid to say it, who will spend hours talking about anything from the meaning of life to the different kinds of food they've eaten, someone who'll listen if I need to talk about relationships, and has such a deep connection with God that they respond immediately to His call.

Oh, and can I have some fries with that order?

Something I need to change about myself...well, aside from listening more, I'd probably say that I'd need to be less of a dork. But unfortunately, that's who I am. So you're out of luck, all you hordes of people clamoring to be my friend.

*silence*

...speaking of being a hermit...

Friend outside of OBA...I don't really have any good friends outside of OBA. Then again, most of my "friends" IN OBA, I wouldn't classify as best buds. More like, "people-that-I-hang-around-with-to-make-myself-feel-accepted".

To close, I'd like to mention a thought I had today: When you worry about accomplishing something, it becomes a lot harder to do. If, however, you apply yourself without worry to the task, you will find that it becomes marginally easier than once thought.

Hope this helps in some way.

Have a Holly Jolly October,

--JesusFreak

Racism: The Art of Making Excuses

Hello, you huddling masses yearning to break free!

Okay, so since you ingrates refused to cooperate with my Q&A idea, the whole thing bombed. (I kid; only some of you are ingrates. Teehee) So instead, I think I'll actually do what was previously required of our class: to do a post about something we talked about in class. My choice? If you're not as cynical as me (ra, ra, Jessica), you will have totally missed the significance of the title; in which case, allow me to clarify: today's post is about racism.

I know, you're shocked. Hoo-raaaaaa.

"But Kyle," you exclaim, "we're racists! Why does this matter to us?"

Weeeeel, it kinda does. You see, we "Christians" pride ourselves in loving God, being like Jesus, and all that good schtuff. Yet in the same breath, most of us can say that we'd get kind of concerned if we saw a dude in a turban in the airport. But Jesus was not the sparkly-toothed blindingly white male model that we think of Him as today. No, sir. Jesus (Savior of the human race, mind you) was a middle-brown, sun-tanned, robe-wearing, weird-language speaking Arab. Yes, he was a criminal, since it was indeed a crime to proclaim yourself the Son of God in those days. In fact, I think that today it would still be frowned upon.

Point being, Jesus wasn't "perfect" in our eyes. Sure, He never sinned, was totally righteous, and blessed by God. But what does that matter? He'd been neglecting his Crest Whitening Strips! He never showered...ever! His diet consisted of non-FDA-approved salmon! He cursed out the Pharisees instead of kindly rebuking them (is anyone else remembering, 'what in the name of Me is going on here?')! Oh, the horror! Such unspeakable travesty upon the justice of Hollywood!

No offence, but please shut up.

That's right. Quit whining. If Jesus Christ, the Risen Savior, can put up with a little dirt in his sandals, then I guess you, the middle-class American, can as well. The proverbial 'dirt in sandals' being a slightly different skin color than another person.

But now, let's get back to our main topic: racism. If we Christians pride ourselves for being like Christ, then we can't let ourselves be prejudiced in any way against ANYONE else for ANY reason. Christ didn't come for those who everyone loves, right? He came for the ones that no one loves. Hence why he dined with tax collectors rather than Pharisees.

Mrs. Bennet is rolling in her non-existent grave, I'm sure.

James 2:5 says, "Listen, my beloved brothers: has God not chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love him?" Another verse, Matthew 19:24 "I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Pride, obviously, is impermissible in the kingdom of God.

Since we all technically come from Adam, can we even be racist? No, not really. If you want to be technical, the only racist people are those who discriminate against a certain type of animal. So--for instance--if you really hate pigeons...I'm sorry, but God doesn't love you.

...................
................
........................
..........jk, man, jeez...

As a last thought, I think it's kind of funny how Darwin's Evolution of Man poster (you know, the one with the six figures of an evolving man) shows the last three figures in this order: a black man, an Asian man, and a white man. Listen, Chuck, if you're going to put down a people group, make sure to do it to someone who you DON'T rely on for comfort. I mean, since you (Darwin) live in the nineteenth century, please keep in mind that you rely mainly on the black man to farm things for you, and the Asian man to make things that significantly increase your living style over that of the black man.

And now that I've fully stereotypified your innocent little minds, let's end on a happy note:

Thank you for not calling me bad names and accusing me of things that I haven't done.

Truly yours (until someone better shows up{namely Jesus}),

--JesusFreak

Something Old, Something New

God Bless America, and how the blarney is everyone doing today?


To start off, here's a funny picture:

Now that you're all bellowing with laughter, let's talk about something quite serious:

Social conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education are wishing to limit the mention of Islam in schoolbooks, warning against "a creeping Middle-Eastern influence in the nation's publishing industry". Apparently, a few anti-extraneous someones were slightly perturbed that earlier world history textbooks had mentioned and described Islam beliefs and practices more than Christian beliefs and practices. While this may be a problem of religious prejudice in textbooks, I think it's more likely because Islam actually requires more text to understand than Christianity.

While it is understandable that someone would get a little annoyed at the fact that Islam is mentioned more in an American textbook than Christianity, we have to be wary of people whose only goal is to make everything in our lives have political connotation to it. Then again, we also have to remember that there are some people who live off of the reactions people have to them yelling, "Everybody's out to get us!". These people are called conspiracy theorists. Some of them may have good motives, and what they say may be true...but since I'm leaving this dump we call Earth when I die to live in Heaven for an eternity, I really don't care too much.

My favorite part of this story was this statement in the Texas Board of Education's resolution: "State Board of Education will look to reject future prejudicial social studies submissions that continue to offend Texas law with respect to treatment of the world's major religious groups by significant inequalities of coverage space-wise and by demonizing or lionizing one or more of them over others."

Oh, the Texans...*chuckles*

Does this not directly contradict what the main purpose of this resolution is?

And now for the "something new" part of this post: I think that I will start doing official "Q&A Posts", where I take philosophical questions from my last post and give my best answer. I think I will start doing this tomorrow, so if you have any questions about God, life, or philosophy in general, please comment below and ask!

With kind regards to my fellow inmates in the House of Hormones,

--JesusFreak

P.S. Some more nerdy humor for you all:

Fatal Error 2035 just so happens to involve corrupted files. So, by this logic, Bill Gates died of brain problems. Go figure.

By the way, if you wanted to read the actual article that I sniped to get this post...

too bad.

Just kidding. CLICK ME!!!

Just Some Thoughts. Laugh If You Can.

Felicitations, Earthlings!

Today's post is just about something that I was thinking about today:

If you've ever had Mrs. Scott's Pre AP English class, you will be able to share my enthusiasm on this subject. (sarcasm was intended, if you were so blind as to miss it go screaming over your head) Today I was thinking about the myth of Castor and Pollux. For those of you who are so lucky UNlucky to have never picked up that cursed mythology book, let me explain: Castor and Pollux were two brothers in Ancient Greece who were loved by the gods. They loved each other like nothing else (a good example of philia, or brotherly love, to anyone who cares), but there was a huge problem. While they shared a mother, their fathers were different (wonderful job, Zeus. Despite being "omniscient", you still manage to botch everything). Thus, Pollux was immortal, yet Castor was not.

Now what's interesting is that according to legend, when Castor died, Pollux asked Zeus if he could share his immortality with his brother, sparing him from Hades and allowing them to be together again. This is another example of philia (again, I doubt anyone cares, I'm just throwing that in there), which is kind of important since in Greek mythology, family ties among immortals are known to be kind of thin.

I guess in this case WATER runs thicker than BLOOD, instead of...the...normal.....way...cuz, you see...

*awkward cricked chirping*

..*sigh* okay, fine...

Anyway, as I was thinking about this, I realized that here, in Greek mythology (of all places!) was a great example of how Christians should treat one another! How bizarre!

Then I got to thinking: if this is how far we could go to help our brothers in Christ, then how far should we (as guys) go to help our girlfriends/significant others? 

1 John 4:18 (KJV) says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." By the logic of this verse, we guys must be always ready to protect those we love.

Hosea 3:1 (KJV) says, "Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of [her] friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine." Hosea was greatly dishonored by his wife being an adulteress, yet God told him to love her nonetheless. Just like God continued to show love to the Israelites after they regularly flipped Him off, He calls us guys to show the same devotion to our girls, even if they don't show the same devotion to us. I know, it's not what the world teaches, but remember: "If the world followed the philosophy, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth', then everybody would soon be eyeless and toothless.' " 


That didn't come from me. That was a quote from a fellow named Ghandi, who (by the way) turned away from Christianity because he was disrespected at the European church because he was Indian.


Just some food for thought...


Peace, love, and Yoshi Eggs!


--JesusFreak

Lyrical Study

Salutations, fellow barn animals!

Today's assignment from the enigmatic Mr. M is to do a lyrical study about our favorite song. My favorite song (at the moment) is Cornelius by the Newsboys. If you want the lyrics, you can find them !!HERE!!

So, this song is about there are, every now and again, some really righteous people in the world who don't stop for anything to do what's right. It references the Roman centurion Cornelius (obviously) that became a Christian and converted his whole family, which is really awesome.

Okay, so this song is cool because its lyrics remind me that we as Christians have to be ready to carry our cross, and even sometimes help others carry theirs.

My favorite line is the first verse:

"And every generation's got

The fearless few who can't be bought

They don't take polls, or look around

They act on truth, and then they stand their ground"

To me, that says that a really righteous person doesn't rely on the opinions of others to be their moral compass. A really righteous person is someone who listens to the Holy Spirit telling them what to do, then does it with the greatest of joy.

This isn't necessarily my favorite song. It always changes, but it usually comes back to this album, Thrive, from the Newsboys. 

Peace, love, and the courage to do what's right.

--JesusFreak

What I Look For in a Spouse

Greetings, citizens of madness!

Today's assignment from the enigmatic Mr. M was to explain the major characteristic that we look for in a spouse. It's kind of hard for me to narrow down to just one characteristic, because that feels kind of mean. So, even though I plan on remaining single, here's my best estimate.

(note: the order of these may not have any correspondence to their importance)

1. A deep and foremost relationship with Jesus Christ
2. The ability to form her own opinions and stand up for them accordingly
3. Wisdom
4. Intelligence
5. Purity
6. Love that sees through all faults (without this, she's probably not going to even date me)
7. A sense of humor
8. Wit
9. An interest in music
10. Courage
11. Self-lessness
12. Responsibility
13. An understanding of the Bible
14. Honor
15. Dignity
16. The ability to forgive
17. An appreciation for nerds (definitely a must)
18. And she would have to be God-Fearing

My basis for this comes from the examples that Jesus laid down for us (o.k., the nerd bit and the music part were my idea. but let's face it: without those added pieces, I'm sunk). While He was on earth, Jesus showed us how a true Christian person should behavior, both in word and action. It is from this standpoint that I try to base my expectations on a future spouse, though my judgment may be flawed.

Peace, love, and a Cupid with good aim,

--JesusFreak

Jews and Muslims COLLIDE!

Greetings from the great beyond, my friends!

Yes, the nature of the title would lead one to believe that there has been yet another fight between those of Jewish faith and/or descent and Muslim extremists. However, the story is quite different:

In Berwyn, Pennsylvania, the local Muslim community decided to build a mosque in the town. The only thing I would find overly interesting about this is the fact that they decided to build it very closely to a Jewish Synagogue and a Baptist church.*

If you're hearing a little voice in your head screaming, "THE END OF THE WORLD IS AT HAND!", don't worry; I do as well. Actually, that may mean it's cause for worry after all.

Moving on...

Despite what logic would dictate (the Muslim-Jew relationship has been reported to be on a rather...shaky standpoint), the community has not gotten all up-in-arms, tar-and-feather-the-tories kind of angry about this. In fact, the rabbi of the synagogue right next door stated that there is no bad blood between the Muslims and Jews. According to him, the Muslim community is kind and considerate to the Jews, even helping the Jewish people do things that they cannot normally do on the Sabbath.

Imagine that, Rev. Terry Jones! These heartless, cruel, savage, soul-lacking spawn-of-satan can be nice, considerate, and thoughtful. I hate to say it (actually, wait: I'm ecstatic about it), but that kind of makes a hole in your "Muslims-are-from-satan" theory.

Actually, if you think about it, any religion that is not Christianity is of the devil, so Rev. Jones is right on that part. But Jesus also says that we should " Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

Just a hunch from a high-school sophomore, but I doubt burning the holy book of a religious faith with which we are currently at war is the best way to make disciples of all the nations.

Reading this article made me think: if these "anti-Semitic, infidel-slaughtering terrorists" can be so nice as to help out their greatest enemy, then why are we, the all-loving Christians, constantly causing everyone trouble because of it?

Please, make an effort today to not be a troll, or a hater. Make an effort to be kind and considerate to anyone who needs it. Jesus says for us to "love your neighbor as yourself". Your neighbor is whoever you happen to meet today, not just the people you want to be nice to.

Peace, love, and common sense,

--JesusFreak

*www.news.yahoo.com/mosque_in_penn

Censorship: Feel Free to Say What We Want You to Say.

Felicitations, fellow ingrates!

Today I would like to talk about a concerning trend that seems to be sweeping the nation: censorship. People are getting up in arms about taking books out of public and school libraries for numerous reasons. Take for instance, "James and the Giant Peach", by Roald Dahl. According to these guys: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/the-11-most-surprising-ba_n_515381.html#s76413
the reasoning behind it is, quote, "obscenity and violence". Okay, I agree: there was some promoted aggressive feelings in the book. But quite frankly, my favorite part of that book was when the aunts were crushed by the runaway peach.

*sighs dramatically* Yet another piece of my childhood snatched away into the furnace...

Seriously, though: I can understand why parents would get quite distressed by this book: right off the bat, James' parents are mauled by a rampaging rhinoceros! You don't want your child to read garbage like that, do you? Pah! The nerve! Imagine that Dahl fellow, using his blasted creativity to write about a child in need! We can't let our children think that anything bad will happen in the world! Oh, the horror!

Face it, Mrs. McOverbearing, your kid is going to learn eventually that life isn't all cake and ice-cream. If it were, there wouldd be no creative need to include things like that in books!

And that's not even the worst of it...

If you haven't already heard of it in an English or History class, The Diary of a Young Girl, better known as the Diary of Anne Frank, was the diary of a young girl who lived in Amsterdam, right in the midst of the Holocaust. It is one of the greatest reminders of a time when (ironically) censorship extended beyond books, but to an entire people.

And now, it's being banned.

Please join me now in exclaiming to the heavens, "WHAT?????"

The Washington Post reported that a Virginian school system will no longer assign the book to their reading lists because of "sexually explicit material" and "homosexual themes". Other excerpts include, "details of her emerging sexual desires, and unflattering descriptions of her mother and other people living together." In actuality, they are only banning one version of the book, the edition published 50 years after her death in a Nazi death camp. The reason they are censoring it is for the same reasons listed here: the sexually explicit parts.


*bangs head against desk*


Come ON, people! Get it through your heads that this stuff ACTUALLY HAPPENS, and it needs to be taught to our kids. Unlike Dahl's book, which is pure fiction (yet delightfully entertaining for a young whippersnapper, might I add), the Diary of Anne Frank is real, hardcore, no-kidding fact. People actually went through that stuff. I think it's really incredible that in the midst of being persecuted like this, a 13-year-old  girl could find the time to keep a diary about all the little things, including "her emerging sexual desires". Imagine that: the normal things of life that any teenage girl would write about included in a memoir of a horrible atrocity. Banning The Diary of a Young Girl for being harsh about reality would be like banning Huckleberry Finn for...


...oh, yeah...


Peace, love, and a Communism-free farm,


--JesusFreak


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR2010012804001.html?hpid=sec-education

4 September

Salutations, fellow barn animals!

I woke up today to an absolutely GORGEOUS morning, one that I ruined for myself by mowing and getting all sweaty & grassy. But hey, at least it's not a billion degrees like it's been all summer long. I remember when summers used to be cool like today; when one could just go outside and bask in the awesomeness of it all, letting the beauty of God's creation just soak into one's skin...now it's all hot and dry during the summer, ruining everything.

But anyway, as I was contemplating the beauty of the morning, I realized just how lucky I am, to know that God decided to put me in THIS BODY at THIS TIME in THIS PLACE on THIS WORLD, and that all the rain and clouds and other atmospheric conditions that could have potentially ruined the day worked out so well that THIS MORNING felt TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

Just thought I'd share that with you guys. That is, if anyone's actually reading this. If you are, please give yourself a round of applause for being so cool.

May the (mass x acceleration) be with you,

--JesusFreak

"String Theory" Explained

Okay, so I can't even begin to understand this, but apparently, Stephen Hawking has (for the nth time) attempted to disprove the existence of God by scientific theory. Unfortunately for many people, the following text may be to big-worded and sciency for you to understand, so just bear with me please.

The main theory that Hawking is promoting is one called "string theory". The reality of it is extremely complex and irritating, but I will attempt to dumb it down for all of us:

1.All objects in our universe are composed of vibrating filaments (strings) and membranes (branes) of energy.

2.String theory attempts to reconcile general relativity (gravity) with quantum physics.

3.A new connection (called supersymmetry) exists between two fundamentally different types of particles, bosons and fermions.

4.Several extra (usually unobservable) dimensions to the universe must exist.

5. There are also other possible string theory features, depending on what theories prove to have merit in the future. Possibilities include:

A landscape of string theory solutions, allowing for possible parallel universes.

The holographic principle, which states how information in a space can relate to information on the surface of that space.

The anthropic principle, which states that scientists can use the fact that humanity exists as an explanation for certain physical properties of our universe.

Our universe could be “stuck” on a brane, allowing for new interpretations of string theory.

Notice how, on point 3, "supersymmetry" involves, as the name implies, symmetry. However, it says that this connection exists between two FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT things. Symmetry (and anything of the like) involves a pair in which one is the mirror image of the other.

Also, point 4: note the "several extra (usually unobservable) dimensions" quote. Wonder why it's called string THEORY? It's because they can't prove it. String theory counters the scientific method by openly stating that it cannot be tested; ergo, at least this particular part of string theory is already as faith-based as Christianity itself!

Furthermore, please direct yourself to the use of words such as 'could, might," ... apparently, these string theorists aren't as confident as they would appear...

In general, string theory is regarded as kind of out there by many scientists. It's a relatively new concept, very unusual to the scientific field. Ironically, it's known as the "theory of everything", since it's supposed to explain how everything came about. In other words, string theory (and M-Theory, which includes the string theory) are the scientific "New Age" attempt at making God more insubstantial than these "strings and branes".

When we read this in Bible, my first thought was that this sounds like something a desperate scientist would throw out as a final resort, a last-ditch effort in an argument he can't win. Hawking, being the absolute genius he is (no sarcasm intended), has probably gone his whole life without losing a scientific argument. But this one argument, this one of whether or not a God exists, has baffled him, so much so that he is relying on shaky science to support his claims.

Even though Hawking is an extremely smart person, he is putting his faith in flawed science here. I only hope that he finally realizes God's saving grace before his pride fully overtakes him.

Peace, love, and spayed/neutered pets,
--JesusFreak

2 of Sept.

Salutations, all you animals at the Funny Farm!

Today I picked up a copy of the National Geographic Magazine, whereupon I began reading an article on the destruction of the Madagascarian (yes, that's a word. I made it up) forests due to man's desire for wealth. A quote from the front page of the article: "The island's geographic isolation created a wonderland of biological richness. Now population pressures and political turmoil speed the plunder of its rosewood, minerals, and gems."

*gag*

Honestly, every time I read, hear, or watch something about "humans are bad, we should stop destroying the earth!", it makes me want to yell unkind words and harsh expletives.

A quote from Fox News, covering the hostage situation at the Discovery Channel building: "Lee is believed to have distributed a manifesto outside the Discovery building several weeks ago that called on the network to 'broadcast to the world their commitment to save the planet.''All programs on Discovery Health-TLC must stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants and the false heroics behind those actions,' the list of demands read."

You ingrates! Don't you realize that God GAVE us this world, and says in Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. AND LET THEM HAVE DOMINION OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA AND OVER THE BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS AND OVER THE LIVESTOCK AND OVER ALL THE EARTH AND OVER EVERY CREEPING THING THAT CREEPS ON THE EARTH.'"

Apparently, God WANTS us to use the earth, not let the animals rule over us. We as race have begun to place animals as more important than us. The scary thing is that if we do it enough, they eventually WILL be more important than us in society.

I close with a question: according to God, which is more important; the fetus of a bald eagle, or the fetus of a human?

Now, according to PETA, which is more important: a bald eagle egg, or a human fetus?

--JesusFreak

Satanic Group Books OKC Civic Center???

Yes, you heard it right! The "Church of the IV Majesties", claiming to be the "only legal satanic church in Oklahoma", has booked a small room of the OKC Civic Center for a public "exorcism". The purpose of this event is to "educate the public", according to James Hale (Lord High Master of the Infernal Council, for anyone who cares).

Now normally, I wouldn't care too much about this, except the whole thing seems to be getting everyone into a bit of a tizzy, as things tend to do on the internet. Opinions range from "we should ban them from the world" to "we should grant them their rights" (obviously, not everybody's opinions are as well worded. Or to the point).

To the people who want to kick the Satanists' everloving butts out of the Center: legally, you can't do anything except protest. So if it really means that much to you, you can go ahead and picket the place. Or set up your own booth, if you want. But I caution against it, since Mr. Hale has already stated a skewed view of Christians, and it would be unwise to encourage it.

To the people who are worried about Satanism growing because of this, let me first point out what the "exorcism" really is. Unlike traditional exorcisms, where the purpose is to remove an evil spirit (such as a demon), this exorcism is actually meant as a parody of the Roman Catholic exorcisms. In Satanism, the purpose of exorcisms are to remove the Holy Spirit from the body of a prospective acolyte.

Don't worry, you can't actually remove the Holy Spirit from the body of a follower of Christ. Jesus told us that once the Holy Spirit enters into us, it's not leaving. However, the purpose of the exorcism that Mr. Hale is performing (since the traditional purpose is all but useless) is probably to scam people into believing that Satan is a "friendly deity".

One more thing: what Hale is doing at the Center is nothing short of blasphemy. Even he stated that fact himself. I have one question for you, Mr. Hale: you stated that there is no God. You said that man created God, and that man can destroy God, therefore man IS God. So if what you're doing is blasphemy, then who are you blaspheming?

If you care to read the actual article from NewsOK, here's the link: http://www.newsok.com/satanic-group-to-hold-october-event-at-oklahoma-citys-civic-center/article/3490365?custom_click=lead_story_title

Hey, everybody! This post is mainly just to introduce me, so go ahead and put the excited face back into the back of your mind. I'm just a dude with a Bible grade to earn and a mind full of thoughts to express, and I'm really glad that I'm getting to spread God's word through the medium of the Interweb.

No, really. I'm smiling. Can't you tell?

*epic smileyface*

Anyway, I just want to set some goals for this blog:

1. It is my hope that people who are not members of my Bible class will eventually begin to ask me questions about my faith, questions that I will attempt to answer to the best of my ability.

2. Through this blog, I hope that my posts will make an impact in people's lives, providing them with an intelligent and thoughtful outlook on the Christian faith.

3. I hope that because of what little I manage to say through this blog that I can make the people who read it think of Christianity not only as a religion, but also as a way of living.

If anyone has any questions as of now about my faith, I will do my best to answer them! My first "real" post (for a grade in Bible class) will probably be up sometime on Thursday. Every now and again I will make a reference to "Mr. M". Mr. M. is an enigmatic acquaintance of mine, skilled in the sublime arts of benevolence and psychedelia. Don't worry about it, it's just a friend of mine.

Being now and forevermore at your complete discretion,

--JesusFreak