Politics/faith/pledge/jongetcomments

For those of you who don't read this, I am commenting (sort of) on Jon's Blog. First of all why should politics and faith not be intermingled?? You, Jon, being a person of faith would seem like the type of person who would realize the necessity of your faith playing a role in your politics, esp if you were a polotician. I think it is a bonus to the Christian population, most times, when senator takes into consideration his faith and the faith of others when he is considering a nominee or a bill. My thoughts on abolishing the pledge is this... The United States of America was founded on Christian principles, alot of the writers of the constitution were clergy of some sort. And our nation is still a Christian nation. Here is what I think-- If you have a problem with saying "One Nation Under God" then move the freak out of the nation that is under God. We are under God, not under Allah, not under Muhhamad, and not the little man who sits on top of the big hill with all the wisdom. We are One nation, we are Under God. If you are offended of being in a nation under God.. Move out!! Mexico or Canada would probably suit you!! And btw, leave the Money that says "In God We Trust" here when you leave. If they are offended by the phrase Under God.. why don't they burn their money which says "In God We Trust".. or is that next.. getting that slogan off of money.. Give it up!! We are under God and if you come to our Christian Nation, you too should admit we are under God! If you are offended.. TOO BAD>. I'll get you a hankie and tell you it's alright.. I'm offended with the quality of the people moving in my neighborhood.. do you think I could have them kicked out? No because it's not about suppressing religion and Christians at that.. Do we suppress the Muslim religion.. NO.. because we'd get sued for discrimination... You people are crazy!

When all else fails.... BLOG IT!

You know how you have those things, where, if you think about them they start to annoy you because no one will 'really' give you an answer. Well this is one of those. No one wants to touch the subject. Why? idk! But I'm questioning, not accusing. They feel that I'm accusing them of being wrong even when I explain that I am questioning and discussing. Even those in the position to change it don't give satisfactory answers and most of the time resort to something related to the Bible and therefore created a non-arguable point. The question is------- "Why are all the school teachers from only 2 familys in our church when their have been other oppurtunities for others with a 'felt' calling"? Is there an answer other than some obvious assumptions. I have asked several who may be in the place to explain, and all have dodged it in some way. I am curious and concerned. Any explanations?

BTW< I am in no way condeming the leadership of our church/school. Just asking a question. I think that the people of our church congregation should ask more questions when they are on their mind and get rid of the old thought that we cannot express our thoughts and opinions. We do not expect those questioned to just change what we question, but it may cause them to think about it in a different way. that's all.

Who's fault is it anyway?

You ever notice how everytime there is a problem or something happens the first thing all the people do is spend alot of time trying to find out 'who's fault it is'? There may be a big disaster (Like the Gulf Coast) or a simple problem at work or at home. The first thing everyone wants to do is find out who's fault it is, like that is going to make it all better or something. We have this problem at work with our wonderful neighbors. Well actually it is with mosquitos but the mosquitos breed on our wonderful neighbor's property. Anyway I bring the problem to my boss quite often because the flying insects like me the best. And everytime my boss says things like, "It's probably because you throw food out in the trash can". or "It's you who attract them not us". And many more.. so finally I got enough of him and told him that "When there is a problem present, and all the people want to do is find someone to blame, it is clear that they have no intensions of fixing the problem, but only affixing blame". And then they are happy. So it's not like we care to fix the problem, it's just that if we can blame someone else, we are no longer responsible to care. It's like some of the politicians blaming the President for the natural disaster. duh! it's natural! That goes to show you how dumb some of our elected officials are I guess. Anyway, who cares who is to blame, if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem if you are involved.

Jon's Comments section today

First of all Jon, what are you doing buying a 1987 car from an auction none the less.?

A word of advice. Never buy a car that's been through the auction esp. an old one. The reason I say that is because I work on alot of cars that are going to the auction and the people taking them to the auction say "Just make it run enough to sell it." And taht's what I do for my customer. I know that the work I do will last until the car is sold and then the buyer is technically screwed. Does it bother my conscience? (what conscience?) JK. No, it doesnt becuase I do what my customer pays me to do. But anyway.. Unless you know and trust your used car dealer and he has a reputation for dealing only good cars. I'd keep away from auction cars. THere is a guy in my neighborhood that i'd recommend to anyone.. but it's a bit far from you. Anyway.. good luck with the Sebring.

Psalm 116:16

"Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of one of His saints"

Open your eyes; PEOPLE

I was reading the Sept/Oct 2005 edition of 'Children's Ministry' magazine today and came across this story.

Sandy's Penguin

Recently I sorted through an accumulation of ministry stuff-props, musical tapes, songbooks, etc. ........(skipping useless stuff).........Then I came across Sandy's penguin. Sandy had brought her stuffed penguin to church a few years ago for our "Super cool" VBS. It came to us with a badly damaged wing, so we used it as a prop out of the way where its damaged wing wasn't so noticeable. Years stuffed in the closet hadn't healed the wing; it still hung askew from the penguin's body. As I tossed the old penguin into the dumpster I wept-not for the penguin, but for Sandy. Little Sandy also came to us with a badly damaged wing. Make that a badly damaged heart. Not a week went by without a volunteer coming to me about a problem with Sandy. She was unruly, she was mean, and she was occasionally dangerously out of control. Yet at other times Sandy showed herself to be sweet, loving, and very intelligent.

For awhile we didn't know if Sandy's issues were chemical, emotional, dietary, or simply poor choices. I talked with Sandy's guardian and discovered that Sandy lived with relatives because her abusive father was gone (finally) and Sandy's mother was either high or looking for someone to make her feel good. She had no time for Sandy, and relatives finally took her in. They loved her, and they tried their best with her. But Sandy's scars were deep; her wing WA s almost completely torn off.

sands problems could-at least partially- be explained by her environment. But finding a solution wasn't easy. When she became a danger to other kids we had to ask some tough questions. We had to decide whether to keep trying to repair sands wing or to let someone else worry about her.

I didn't tell Sandy she couldn't come back, but I feel bad that I even thought about it. If a child can't feel welcome at church, something terribly wrong! Yes-there were serious safety issues for other children, but I think part of our job is to find a solution other than discarding a child as if she were a damaged toy.

Before we had to come to a decision about whether to let Sandy come back, the decision was taken from us. Her abusive father came into the picture with promises for mom, and one day they just packed Sandy in the back seat of their car and drove away. We never saw her again. Her penguin remained at church where it was eventually stored in a closet. I guess peace was restored to our children's ministry how we wished for just one more month of trouble from Sandy. How we longed for one more opportunity to say, "Sandy, I love you, But I can't allow you to do that."

Inevitably we have to throw things out or give them away. But we must do everything in our power to hold onto children-even if they're tattered, bruised and broken

That story made me think of stories that I hear come out of our church school. Now I support the school, trust me I do, but supporting and agreeing with everything that is done in it are different things. There are too many stories that come out of there that kids who are unruly get sent home or sent out of the room. They are treated as the source of the problem. Without much thought or action that would show that they think about where the source might be. Or why this child may be acting like this. Does he come from a broken home? Does she get abused at home? The teachers sometime neglect to remember that not every child grew up in a 'perfect' family as they did and not every child has a mother and father that love them unconditionaly. Not every child gets a kiss goodnight and a hug and a 'i love you' from their parents. They don't all get that pat on the back for a job well done when they are home. But our 'Christian' school could be that place that these kids change because they get that pat on the back, that hug that 'i love you'. We are a private school, we are still allowed to hug our students and tell them we love them or pat them on the back. It's time we started looking out for the well being of the students, especially the ones struggling, and less of the peaceful classrooms all the time. When I questioned a teacher once about why they would send a student home immediately if he was unruly or caused a problem, instead of taking him aside and talking to him in private. I was told that one student can't disrupt the whole class and therefore must be sent home (paraphrased). But if we send them home all the time instead of loving them and showing we care, how will he learn. They say "from home, from parents" ... well if the problem was neglect in the first place,, it's an endless cycle!!! I've heard teachers say that they don't like their job! or they wish they weren't there. And I've also heard other people say "I wish I could be a teacher, I feel it is my calling">.. What I can't understand is why are the ones who want out, in there. And how come the ones who feel called are not allowed in? All the teachers are family. Does that not seem fishy to anyone else? It's amazing that out of all the families in church only people from 2 families are called by God to become school teachers. But it must be that the ones in charge must get the message from God because others who have felt a strong calling were turned away without much explanation. Anyway. I feel that a big change would come to our church school would be if all the teachers would consider their teaching positions "A MINISTRY" instead of a job that they do not look fwd. to going to. I am not talking about all teachers. Just what I've heard over the years. It may only include 1 or 2. The kids need to learn in school but also be loved. Stop throwing the kids out like an unwanted toy. They are not discardable or replaceable. They are eternal.

Re: Questioning my pastor

Thanks to CarrieNBecky for your comments on my last post. Since you took the time and interest to write your thoughts. I'd like you to consider this and see if you feel led to reply to this. So if your pastor felt convicted to teach about a women wearing a head covering.. how would you feel he should present/teach that? I'm just trying to get a feel to what you are saying.. because we may agree on that type of thing. What I mean is how things like that are presented. Also, My thing is (at this time in my life) if a pastor is on the pulpit teaching what the Lord has revealed to him, and it is different and contradicts what the Lord has revealed to another, who is right? Pastors are God's chosen, but are also not infallible. They are human, and humans are prone to make mistakes. That is my whole point. And if I were to ask "Where is the accountability?", the answer from them would be, "We are accountible to God". And if they give that kind of answer, who can aruge, even if we want to. They through in the word "God" and they got us. I'm not saying that we should argue with the pastors all the time.. BUT if something is taught a certain way, and we scratch our head in the wording or the teaching.... making a suggestion to,, have you considered this teaching.. and how this applies. to it.. It has just not been received well.. Making us feel as tho it is not welcome. Idk, Im still praying about it.

APOLOGY

I apologize for disabling comments on my previous post. But the reason was stated. And yes, Jon, one more reason not to have them. But not a good enough one for me unless I get overwhelmed with cheap advertising. Please post comments to my previous post on here. Thanks

Questioning the Pastor?!

Recenly I've been going through this thing where I am critical of my church and want to question my pastor. But to question him isn't the easiest thing to do. And for some reason I've been made to feel that it is wrong to question him. It was once said that we have no right to question him because he is inspired by God to preach the way he does. I'm not exactly arguing that. AND get this next part, it's important. I am not looking for answers because everyone says yes or no. What I am asking you for is scripture references that point me toward my answer. I've heard all the opinions of why and why not. What I want now is parts of the Bible that will point me toward the truth and my own decision on that issue. Please feel free to give me some material to read. Even if it is a link to another site.. I exhausted google with no results!!!

From Frustrated in Philly!

Ok, there was a problem (I think) someone posted a comment that was only a big long advertisement.. so I took the comments off this post in order to get rid of hte ad. But this following comment was there and it deserved to stay.

Carrie N Becky said...

Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

The Bereans were considered more noble because they, essentially, questioned what Paul said through examining the scriptures. What do you suppose they would have done had they found that he said was questionable? Proverbs 9:9 "Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning."
11:29 PM

Yeh, it's still in Romans

I don't know what it is, but lately I've been deep in the book of Romans and can't get out! This is like for once in my life the Bible is making complete sense! Should I be scared or concerned.. IDK but It's wonderful!! There is no real place to begin because it is one really big circle. So I'll start with Romans and then get to my point! And I promise I will get to my point eventually.

Romans 14: 7-9
"7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living."

No matter what I do or where I go, by the choices I make, I have an influence on someone else. There is nothing that we can do that is totally isolated from the world. Too much is closely knit that we cannot make choices that do not affect our Brother or Sister in someway. If we make wrong life choices our family will suffer the consequences, if we make right life choices our family will sigh a big sigh of relief (at least my family would) and so on. Even if we make the wrong choices in our own private world, at work, or out of our home, those choices affect us and in the same way we affect our family and friends. The only time we are isolated from other people is when we stand before the judgment seat of God. If we hear "Well done my good and faithful servant" we can look in front of us because we will see Jesus Rep'n for us. Ok, I know I already talked about this the other day, but I needed to reiterate it to make my point.

Romans 14: 10-12 "10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’”£
12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God."

Do I have the right to judge you? No, and the reason being is because I, just like everyone else, am a man/woman under judgment! It's like we go before God and are standing there and feel that we have the right to turn to our brother and say, "what the heck are you doing here?" or "Did you hear what """""""" did last night"? or "She won't come? But we are Christians and we feel it is ok to go, she's so self righteous!" You get my point. We cannot judge because we are the judged!

13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil."

Before I go on I must bring your attention to one word in those last verses. The word LOVE 1 Corinthians 13 tells it how it is and I'll quote to make my point more clear.

1Corinthians 13: 1-3 "1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

That pretty much tells us how important love is. And how many times to we take the oppurtunity to 'get back' at someone instead of loving them? We can't pass up to chance to get even so we skip the love part. But even when we do pass up the oppurtunity to get even and we choose to love instead of our natural instincts, Do we really remember at that time what love is? Love isn't just 'not getting back' at someone. Back to Corinthians...

1Corinthians 13: 4-7, "4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
"

Patient? Doesn't envy? Doesn't boast? ... forget the rest.. if that is what love is.. what is it that I have had when I thought I had love?? Ok, I'm half joking. But all joking aside. That is some pretty powerful guidelines to fal into if we want to truly love one another. And just think of the recipients of your love, they will be some lucky people to live in our presence when we have that kind of love in our hearts and it is sincere! Patient, Kind, does not envy, forgets wrongs right away, which means it also forgives instantly. Dang! Verse 7 "Always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres". That right there that are the attributes of a mom's love. Don't mean to go off the subject, but, my mom? That's her in verse 7. Many of my friends moms. She's right there in verse 7. I'm gonna keep that verse posted on my fridge if I am blessed enough to be a dad someday! Ok, to get back before I make a wrong turn and get lost>>> We stopped at the word love in Romans 14 verse 15. We have to live a life out of love. If we don't have love for our brother we have nothing. It is important to respect a brother or sister who may be weaker in the faith than we are. If we are totally comfortable in doing something and it does not defile our conscience that is well and good. But if we have a brother or sister who is weaker in the faith OR with different convictions than we do, AND we persuade or convince them to take part in or do the things that we are doing, I think we are wrong.

Mark 9:42 “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.

To state it plainly; If my conscience was clear while I was involved in an activity or at certain place, and my brother said "No way man, I can't do that and feel right about it". And I were to say "C'mon, man, there's nothing wrong with it, we all go there'. And so on and eventually convince him to go or take part, I would be better off with a millstone around my neck and in the ocean? Dude, I can swim but not under those cicumstances, that would suck! Oh, wait, I get it, if we cause our brother to fall, we are screwed pretty much!! But if we skip back to Romans 14, we understand that we are better off not doing those things in the first place if we know our friend/brother/sister is not comfortable with it. If we know that it is one of those things where it is neither right nor wrong in itself and we know our brother doesn't approve. We should completely abstain for the sake of our brother's conscience! I mean, heck, I would appreciate it if it were done in my regard. That'd be one cool friend. I think back to the many times that I was talked into doing things that I knew were wrong.. only thing was I didn't have much of a conscience then. Do I now? JK!
OK, now I get to the personal stuff. A few years ago (and I'm still getting to my point) I was at an aquaintances house and the fridge was stocked full of alcohol of some kind. We had a blast, spent 'several' hours there and when it was time to leave I fell down the steps and was willing to drive, but a friend stopped by and was a friend to me. To make my condition clear, I was 'wasted'. I am not proud of that, but need to say it to make a point. The next day at work, I could not concentrate on work for obvious reasons. I left early and when to the home of someone of whom I considered a friend. I told my story and in return I was belittled and made to feel like a fool and a failure. This person told me how alcohol has "never touched my lips in my life". And how they feel that "all my advice to you was wasted". etc. etc. By the time I left that house that day I felt like crap and a failure and worthless because I failed. I failed God and now I failed a friend who seemed to want nothing of me. Besides the issue of "Does alcohol have a place in a Christian's life?", I learned a lesson that day. No, the lesson wasn't 'don't ever drink again'. It was "DON'T EVER TREAT SOMEONE THE WAY YOU JUST GOT TREATED" !!!!!! That was my lesson. Now here is the conclusion. I was treated that way, not on purpose, but out of ignorance. That person whom I considered a friend had no idea of how to respond to the news they just heard. So they paniced and said what was on their mind without thinking. At the time I was double wounded. I had fallen the night before and in an attempt to get back up I called on a Christian Brother who, unintentionally, pushed me back down again. But I don't consider that experience all bad. Because of Romans 8:28 "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord.....". At the time did I love the Lord? I will always say yes, but my actions obviously speak otherwise. I learned that when someone comes to me with a problem, if I have experienced the same problem in my life, GREAT, I can now empathize with them and explain that I've been there and it sucks, let's work together and find the solution to this problem. And, if I've never been there, like this person was never in the place I was, do my best to explain that "I don't know what you are going through, but there IS forgiveness if you are willing to confess & forsake". Yeh, I know it's all words. But that is what I learned from that experience. To always try to 'protect' the faith of someone else. Protect it from discouragement, especially my own. And apply all those adjectives of love to that person if they choose to come to me with questions or problems. To be patient, kind, not to boast or get angry (or at least be slow at it).. The important thing is it's not about me, especially at that point, it's time to put my all into this person who respected me enough to come my way with something.
Now there is another point; I mentioned before the issue of "Does alcohol have a place in a Christian's life?" It will be controversial til the end of time. And i've heard all the arguements. I'm not looking for new excuses. If you drink with a clear conscience, great! If I drink with a clear conscience, great! But if I were to drink and the fact that a young Christian respected me and knew that I drank, caused them to think it is fine to do, but later became a drunkard and ended up with several DUI's. Would I then think it is still ok for me as a Christian to drink? We may think we are living in our own little world and only having influence on .... no one. But that is not true. There are many young people around most of us and they are heavily influenced by what we do and what we say. And if we take part in something they will automatically think it is cool, if not OK. This is just a warning to re-evaluate what is necessary in our life and what is just a potentially dangerous 'extra'. Did I answer the question of whether it has place in a Christian's life? No I did not, because at this point I don't know. I know for a fact that it would be better if we all stayed away from it, but we are all individuals. Just remember Romans 14. We ourselves and our actions are NEVER isolated to just ourselves. We have a responsibility to look out for our brother's conscience. We may have the Christian freedom to drink, but 'could' it hinder a brother or sister in their walk of faith or cause them to fall?? It may be ok for us, but is it ok for ALL Christians? If not, could be we a negative influence on them by participating? And we have an obligation to respect our weaker brother. We cannot do something as a Christian just because our coolest Christian friend does it and has no struggles with it. We cannot do something just to fit in with the rest of the group. We have an obligation to consider the well being and the conscience of our brother FIRST, and then our own! Man if only we could do that, what a great place we would live in !!!

Bad Christian !

One of my 13 blogs that I read daily is one called badchristian.com recently he wrote;

Honestly, badchristian.com started out of frustration. I felt--and still feel--like the contemporary institutional Church is more enamoured with a vision of its present righteousness than it is with encouraging people to be transformed AND then live truly transformational lives. Also, it frustrated me that the contemporary Church isn't much in the business of allowing questions (and especially not in the business of questioning answers.)

You can view his whole blog at BadChristian.com

My lesson from Romans

You ever have it where you are reading a certain part of the Bible and it exactly coincides with what you may be dealing with or someone else (who talks to you about it) is dealing with? Well it was intersting. I was recently talking to someone about some things they wanted to do. They called me and asked my opinion on somethings. And what they planned to do would have influence on young people and those young people could possibly look up to them. And I couldn't really articulate what I wanted to say or I couldn't be certain that what I was saying or wanted to say was right or correct. But the next morning when I picked up my Bible the marker was on Romans 14. That chapter was exactly what I was trying to portray. I spoke on the fact that it is impossible for us to be isolated in our life here on earth.. no matter what we do it will have an effect on someone somehow whether good or bad. The only time we could ever possibly be isolated would be when we stand before the judgment seat of God but then even at that point.. if we ran the race and faught the good fight we will have Jesus with us to rep for us. And then it spoke about judging people and that we cannot judge others because we ourselves are men under judgment. And the fact that we are responsible for our neighbors conscience in the way that we cannot do something that is neither right nor wrong if it defiles our neighbor's conscience. We cannot condone something that our neighbor thinks is wrong even if we think it right.. IF it is something that is neither right or wrong. .. .. .. .. .. William Barclay had this to say about it. And it made sense to me.

The Stoics used to teach that there were a great many things which they called indifferent. In themselves they were quite neutral, neither good nor bad. The stoics put it this way-it all depends by what handle you pick them up. Now that is profoundly true. To a student of art, a certain picture might be a work of art, to someone else an obscene drawing. To one group of people a discussion might be an interesting and stimulating experience, to someone else a succession of heresies, and even blasphemies. And amusement, a pleasure, a pastime might seem quite permissible but to another prohibited. More, there are pleasures that are quite harmless to one man, which can, in fact, be the ruin of another. The thing itself is neither clean nor unlcean; it's character is determined by the person who sees it or does it.
That is what Paul is getting at here. There are certain things that a man strong in the faith may see no harm in doing; but, if a person with a more narrow outlook saw him doing them, his conscious would be shocked; and if such a person were persuaded to do them himself his conscious would be outraged. We may take a very simple example. One man would genuinely see no harm in playing some outdoor game on Sunday, and he may be right; but another mans conscious is shocked at such a thing, and, if he were persuaded to take part in it, all the time he would have the haunting feeling that he were doing wrong.
Paul's advice is clear. It is a Christian duty to think of everything, not as it affects ourselves only, but also as it affects others. Note that Paul is not saying that we must always allow our conduct to be dictated by the views of others; there are matters which are essentially matters of principle, and in them a man must take his own way. But a great many things are neutral and indifferent; a great many things are neither in themselves good or bad; a great many things are not essential parts of life and conduct but belong to what we might call the extras of life. It is Paul's conviction that in regard to such things we have no right to give offense to the more scrupulous brother by doing them ourselves, or by persuading him to do them.
Life must be guided by the principle of love; and when it is, we will think, not so much of our right to do as we like as of our responsibilities ot others. We have no right distress another man's conscience in the things that do not really matter. Christian freedom must never be used as an excuse for rough riding over the genuine feelings of others. No pleasure is so important that it can justify bringing offense and grief, and even ruin to others. Augustine used to say that the whole Christian ethic could be summed up in a saying; "Love God, and do what you like". In a sense it is true; but Christianity consists of not only loving God; it consists of also loving our neighbor as ourselves.

My good friend

My friend and cousin Curt can only express and I can only offer hollow words!

I have all the answers!

I'm sitting hear listening to track 12 on Alice Deejay's cd. A song called "Everything Begins With An E". If you know the cd you'll know the track. But listening to it makes me feel like I have something missing in my life. It makes me feel like I should be sharing music like this with someone else. I am imagining words to the piano melody. And singing it to my gf or wife. Whatever she would be. And It makes me wonder what God has in store for me and 'when'. Do I really long for that, for a girl in my life, or am I not in the intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that I should be and this music is revealing to me that there is a void in my life and that it needs to be filled with something other than a girl. Because I know that if I am not fulfilled in Christ there is no one on earth that can fill the void that is left from that. I'd hum the song now, but you wouldn't hear me. But you know what, maybe it's just the song that I need to fill whatever it is that is empty. When I hear a song like this, and close my eyes, Everything that I deal with now, is gone, not a care in the world. idk. Maybe I'm just weird.

Read this (all ye FCG-ers)

I think it would be cool if you FCG-ers read THIS posted by my respected fellow blogger Brandon from MI. This post by Brandon may broaden ones views or maybe give some understanding to the "Jungle Section" as some call it. With alot of kids and noise.

April 26

If you know me, Please tell me if this is accurate to any extent. Thanks

Your Birthdate: April 26

Your birth on the 26th day of the month (8 energy) modifies your life by increasing your capability to function and succeed in the business world. In this environment you have the skills to work very well with others thanks to the 2 and 6 energies combining in this date. There is a marked increase in organizational, managerial, and administrative abilities. You are efficient and handle money very well. You're ambitious and energetic, while generally remaining cooperative and adaptable. You are conscientious and not afraid of responsibility. Generally sociable and diplomatic, you tend to use persuasion rather than force. You have a wonderful combination of being good at both the broad strokes and the fine detail; good at starting and continuing. This birthday is practical and realistic, often seeking material satisfaction.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Haha, check out this church

They definitely got their priorities striaght. But I'm sure they've never read the 91st Psalm! I wonder what they teach about in this church. "Carry a gun at all times and shoot if you think this person or their family could be a threat if they hated you and wanted to kill you someday in the future.. oh heck, just shoot everyone that way you are safe> Check out this awesomely crazy church!

Worship Trends

This was borrowed from THIS SITE because I found it interesting. They call it "5 recent trends in worship"

Styles and preferences in worship are a moving target. Once you think you've modernized they move again. This is the challenge to the baby boomers like me (and for early Xers). Boomers and early Xers inherited "revivalist remnant worship" from their parents. They examined it and pronounced it D.O.A. They wanted something more professional, more upbeat, more relevant, and, well, the term we preferred to use was more contemporary. That's it! So we launched "Contemporary Worship"-worship that was relevant to seekers and even people off the street. At least that's what we claimed to do. We imported a band, a "praise team" with a mic-a-piece (at first with large colored sponge heads) and we projected recent "praise choruses" on a large screen up front. We developed minute-by-minute schedules, spotlights, renamed the chancel/platform a "stage" and banished all "dead air" in our upbeat fast-paced brightly-lit services. We did this in most growing churches in the 1980s.



A HA! We had it now! We boomers had updated worship and had it the way we wanted it- "Contemporary worship." We were proud of our accomplishments, and the older folk who originally resisted us eventually shut up, died or moved to Florida. We had an atmosphere and musical style particularly suited to our boomer philosophy and tastes. We were satisfied. We had accomplished the revolution! Worship was what it was intended to be! We sat back and enjoyed our "contemporary worship."



The trouble with "contemporary" of course, is that by definition you can never achieve it. What does contemporary mean? Up to date this year? This week? Last night? What "contemporary" meant to most boomers was a 1980's style. The "radical contemporary worship revolution" was not an on-going revolution. Like most revolutionaries we got lazy once we took control. Boomers froze in the musical styles and tastes of the 1980s. Go ahead and see what we still sing... check the copyright dates-more than half of the songs are right out of the 1980's. Many of our boomer worship leaders now complain, "I can't find quality recent music," or, "I just don't connect with this new music." What they mean by this is that recent music doesn't fit their 1980's preferences. Like the Amish froze in the lifestyle of the 19th century, these worship leaders have frozen in the styles of the 1980's. Which is what makes it all so laughable. The students I work with weren't even in kindergarten when this "contemporary" style was introduced. Thus this curious result: most of my students consider our boomer contemporary worship "traditional worship!"



Among Evangelicals every generation seems compelled to make their worship styles reflect their generation's needs and tastes. So, along come the younger Xers and millennial generation who have been raised in "traditional" (that is, boomer) worship and they want to change things again! What is so amusing is how boomers have quickly become traditionalists-defending their own style of worship and resisting the innovations of the young. "If you want to do that-you'll just have to start your own church-you can't do that here."



Actually most boomer worship leaders don't have a clue about the most recent innovations. They are completely out of touch as they perpetuate their 1980's worship style, (with a few 1990's songs tossed in). Boomers have become just like the older folk whose style they overthrew. The revolutionaries became conservatives. And these boomers who now have a death grip on worship can't imagine why all the younger people can't settle down and worship their way-after all "worship isn't about styles anyway-let's just worship God" (meaning "worship God my way and quit trying to change things").



So, what are some of these recent trends the younger folk prefer (and many boomers are resist)?



1. Darkness.

Younger folk don't like boomer "bright light worship." They prefer covering up all the windows with black cloth and turning off most of the lights-leaving a dimly lit room. In this muted atmosphere you can't see the faces of the leaders or most other worshippers. It's a private atmosphere. And there will be candles. Lots of them. They'll light as many as 50 candles spreading them all over the sanctuary providing a flickering almost-spooky light for worship. Aghast, boomers say, "Why it's like a séance in there-it's too much like Devil-worship, I say."



2. Mellow.

Younger folk have largely discarded most of boomer upbeat "happy songs" and replaced them with a mellow mournful almost-blues style music. Triumphant praise choruses play a minor part in this style of worship. Sometimes called "meditative singing," this form of music provides a "sanctuary" or oasis environment in the hectic weekly schedule of the young. The tempo of these songs is often slowed to a crawl, and the tone is sad and mournful. It connects with the somber side of life. Such singing is soft and contemplative. Boomers complain, "It all feels so depressing-I expect worship to pick me up, not take me down."



3. Participation.

Younger folk really believe "worship is the act of the people." They despise performance, spotlights, and ego-tripping soloist-wannabe worship leaders. So how do they keep the worshippers eyes off the band and other worship leaders? They put them in the back, or at the side, and let the worship leader (sitting right in with everybody else) use a mic to start music and keep the tempo moving. Quickly these leaders let their voice die out so that the worshippers hear the collective singing of the entire audience, not the solo-with-accompaniment voice of the worship leader. It is an experience in corporate singing and corporate worship. What is left up front? The projected words on which to meditate, sometimes separate meaningful projected images to dwell on, and even meaningful objects to focus on-like the cross or other symbolic representation. Boomers react, "Nobody is in charge in there-if they'd put somebody in charge up front they could get this thing moving."



4. Singing as prayer.

Young folk see singing as a means of prayer. Boomers saw music primarily as a means of praise. Younger people see singing as a means of everything-praise, prayer and even preaching. Primarily singing is becoming prayer. It is corporate and personal devotions. The quote "He who sings prays twice" is popular among the young. Boomers had prayer too, but not as central to worship. For us boomers prayer is used as a means of getting people to quiet down or as a segue way to the next "set." Younger folk are making prayer the primary content of worship-through singing prayer that includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and even supplication.



5. Sensory.

Younger folk want to touch, taste, smell, and feel something in worship along with seeing and hearing. Worship is not something to watch or listen to for them-it is something to sense. Thus they hand out mementoes in worship-a thorn, a piece of string or a grape to hold during the service. They use scented candles hat make the place small like an ancient cathedral. They plan for symbolic actions-like walking to the front to stick the thorn they've been holding into a Styrofoam cross, or to drop the card on which they've written their sins onto metal plate to be burned. They do "stations of the cross" type moving about the room doing different actions at each location. They even are reintroducing frequent Communion, providing an action, touch and taste in one act. Boomers think all this moving around is too much trouble and say, "Why don't they just let me sit here and rest-why do they keep making me walk around or get in groups?"





What is driving these trends? New "bands" dedicated to worship, for sure. But also student movement like the huge ministry to "post moderns" at Graceland (Santa Cruz Bible Church) observed by Andrea Summers (See also Andrea's Andrea's response to this essay). Other influences--and perhaps most significant of all, is the world-wide Taizé student worship movement in Europe which is rapidly spreading and influencing student worship in America. An increasing number of US churches are now offering a Taizé service and young people are thronging to them.



There are, of course, other trends among the next generation's worship but these five seem most prominent now. So, what do you think? Will boomers are early Xers be able to absorb the best of millennial worship preferences? Or, do you agree with me-that to have this sort of worship the younger folk will folk have to start their own worship services? If they start their own worship services what will we call them? Hey, I've got an idea! Let's call it "contemporary worship!" Then we can rename our own services "Traditional worship?"

"WE" got it firgured out, Not you!

I get a kick out of these bloggers etc. (Myself included, just check my previous posts) that sound like they got it figured out. And that their political hero can't do anything wrong. My party is doing the greatest thing right now, is yours, I dont think so. One person, because they follow a certain party, can "repeat" all the logic they hear about a certain topic, put it all together from various sources and blog it like "Hey look what I thought up". So anyway, here's to the next biased political post I put on my blog! Don't worry, it's comin soon!

New Home for this stuff.

I am currently looking for a new home for the following stuff. So if you are interested in buying any of it. Let me know. THis is all stuff that I purchased recently and don't use or have a use for. Or stuff that I can no longer dedicate the time to maintain it.

1. 75 gallon aquarium complete setup. 18 months old.

2. 29 gallon aquarium complete setup. 18 months old.

3. 250GB iomega USB 2.0 external hard drive. 6 months old. 8 hours of use

4. USB hub. NEW

5. 128mb USB storage mini. NEW

6. Subwoofer system for car audio.

7. 13" Male Parachromis Dovii (wolf cichlid)