Pandemonium

Books I might Puchase

2009-01-14T12:49:00.003-05:00

If you have time, check out my Amazon wishlist of books, which is being changed on an almost daily basis. You may find something on there that you would buy yourself:

If you've already read any of these books, please let me know what you think about them.

Obama and Star Wars

2008-11-12T14:52:00.002-05:00

One of the best youtube videos I've seen all week:

But you'll want to go ahead and skip the part after the star wars video as it is kind of dry and a waste of time.

Why Believe in God?

2008-11-12T14:33:00.003-05:00

There's a new ad campaign out for the Christmas Holidays geared at making Humanists and Atheists feel less "alone" during a time of one of the largest worldwide yearly religious celebrations. An ad in the Washington, D.C. area will be run that says "why believe in God? Be good for goodness sake?". Read more about the article here

The ad itself is just like most postmodern thought: self-defeating. It says to be "good" but how is one to gauge what is "good" without some sort of objective moral standard? Codes of morality are drawn in every culture from some sort of religious convictions, not exclusive to Christianity of course.

At the creation of the world, God said that His work was "good" and set the standard that only He can name what is good, and what He creates is good. After the fall of man, only Christ was able to be "good" as a human and has since given us the ability to be "good" because of His goodness. If you don't believe any of that, you may follow a different religion, but if you follow no religion and claim to be Atheist, a question arises of how to determine what is "good".

Whenever man does "what is right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25) there is a departure from what is truly good - just look at the Garden of Eden. So to attempt to just be "good" based on one's own understanding of the world and speculation drawn from emotions evoked by one's worldview is to do exactly "what is right in one's own eyes".

Why do Atheists have problems with holidays? Because deep in their heart they know that there is something outside of them that holds answers unknown to all of mankind (Rom 1:18-21), and Holidays are a loud reminder of the truth they attempt to supress.

Freedom is slipping away...

2008-11-03T16:34:00.005-05:00

Some people say that homosexuality, if it is genetic, should "die out" naturally. After all, it would be difficult for homosexual people to pass on the gene, as it takes male and female to reproduce. Regardless of whether it will die out in the long run (which of course we know it won't - it's been around since the earliest history), we can see that public schools (your tax dollars at work) are encouraging children to "embrace gayness" in a whole new way.

Here are two examples:
1. The well-known "David Parker" story - a man is imprisoned and his child is beaten at school because of his stand against homosexuality.
2. Schools are making KINDERGARTEN students sign a "gay acceptance" commitment!

It is very good to teach children not to respond hatefully or violently to ANY person they encounter, as everyone should learn to respond to others in love. However, there is a major problem with what is happening in the public schools now.

The school is infringing upon the parents' rights to decide what and when to teach their children, as well as denying religious freedom to disagree with a lifestyle based on personal faith values. By deciding that a four to five year old child has to sign a document committing to not using "anti-homosexual" language says that this child is not allowed the FREEDOM OF SPEECH to express his opposition to homosexuality, should he hold such a view. Furthermore, a child that young has no view about homosexuality and shouldn't be taught such things.

This is child molestation, to teach a young and innocent 4 year old mind about sexual intercourse. He or she at that age is still grasping some vague concepts about life and food and words, and to plunge the young mind into the depths of sexuality is mental abuse. Even a child living with a homosexual couple is probably not seeing what takes place in the bedroom, and has no need to. Should the parents of these children decide to begin discussing matters of sex with their children is up to the parents, but absolutely is beyond the rights of the public school system.

This is a case where the tax payers' dollars are going to work against the tax payers' freedom. It's a shame that it would come to this, but to see a man imprisoned because he does not believe homosexuality is right is a sad picture of the communist direction our country is heading. To see a child beaten by his peers because his father does not condone homosexuality is no different than the days when a person was beaten for being homosexual. The news would actually cover the story if the child was beaten because his father was homosexual, and the case would not rest until there was retribution.

The Queer Bible Commentary (actual name)

2008-11-03T16:06:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine brought to my attention this Bible commentary, called the "Queer Bible Commentary" (official title). Amazon.com's description of the book includes the following:

Contributors draw on feminist, queer, deconstructionist, utopian theories, the social sciences and historical-critical discourses. The focus is both how reading from lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender perspectives affect the reading and interpretation of biblical texts

One thing worth noting - how one reads or interprets something does not directly affect the truthfulness of the sentences that are included therein. For example, if on a bright, sunny Wednesday, one reads the sentence "today it is raining" from a weather report written on a rainy Tuesday, he or she may think "hey this is wrong! It's not raining today!" But it does not mean that it did not rain Tuesday. The individual's worldview-influenced evaluation of the weather report does not affect the factual nature of the report itself, and the same should be applied to other readings. It does not matter what side of the issue you stand on - the fact is that the Bible has an intended meaning, it's not just a story book with some fun stuff and whacky, vague theories - it actually has an intended truth in each part. No one should approach it with the mentality that one reading is right for one person, but another completely opposing reading is right for the other. In other words, someone is right, and someone is wrong, and in order to receive a more accurate reading, it should always be read in context.

On a side note, the commentary is apparently from a day before the term "queer" was used most often in a derogatory sense, which is why a book that is very "PC" is also ironically very non-PC in its language.

NOT the AntiChrist

2008-10-14T10:09:00.002-05:00

This video, as well as the "messiah" one, has stirred a lot of controversy:

It's getting to be a really popular thing to call Obama the AntiChrist. Is he? It's doubtful for many reasons that he is actually the Antichrist. Just because Farrakhan called Obama the "Messiah" doesn't mean that THE Antichrist has come. Too many Christians just love to give each other chills talking about how 'he's HEEEEeerrrre" like a Poltergeist of some sort, because it brings attention to them and extremists always get followers because they speak as though they are so sure of what they are saying.

While many are certain that he is the Antichrist, there are several sites where one can go and find qualifications, based on REVELATION, to determine if this is true of Obama, and the result is that though he matches most of them, he does not match ALL of them (i.e. Dan 11:37 - "he does not regard the desire of women" - Obama is married to a woman). Let us remember that Jesus Christ fulfilled every single prophecy made in the Old Testament regarding His coming.

One statement I recently saw, made by a Christian and regarding Obama, said "already the spirit of the false one is here." Sounds ominous, right? But this statement is quite ignorant when considering that the "false one" has been here since the beginning of creation.

Now let us look at 1 John.
1:18 - As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.
5:19 - we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one

Obama's arrival is not the arrival of evil into the world. Obama may be AN antichrist (lowercase a), but is most likely not THE Antichrist, as he does not fit every qualification.

Remember, Christians have been for centuries pointing at people and screaming "Antichrist" (consider Nero, Hitler, Mussolini, Saddam Hussein, among many others) and have always been wrong.

All's Fair In WAR

2008-10-06T11:31:00.005-05:00

Mercer University News is at it again. This time, a poll was performed, analyzing the views on "white evangelical southerners" regarding whether torture of captured prisoners for information should be performed. See the Pole Here

The "Golden Rule" was used to incite a slanted response. The findings are that apparently, when reminded of the golden rule, white evangelical southerners are more likely to change their mind if they are in favor of use of torture.

The poll results in a complete waste of time, as determining whether the golden rule could sway opinions on the matter of torture in warfare is simply a gauge of the ignorance of the one being polled. Jesus quoted a rule that was around before His own incarnation, and was referring to our everyday interaction with each other as humans.

The poll overextended the realm of this rule's application by invoking people's opinions about warfare practices based on the golden rule. Consider the logic - if you would do to others as you'd like for them to do to you, then when you capture a prisoner, you should let them go immediately. After all, isn't that what you'd want them to do for you? Therefore, if we are going to follow the golden rule in warfare, when we capture prisoners, we should let them go. For that matter, when we get into a skirmish with a small faction of terrorists on a battle front, we should just let them kill us without shooting back and risking the lives of the terrorists - after all, isn't that what we'd want them to do for us?

Shawshank

2008-10-02T11:55:00.002-05:00

In the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, we see a character named "Red" who becomes institutionalized, meaning he is so used to being in prison that he doesn't know how to function outside of it. Sadly, this is a reality that many people face after being imprisoned. It's much like the way a bird may become so familiar with its cage, that the cage becomes a "Safe haven" and therefore the bird, when let go, comes back to the cage. After being let out of prison, people often will find ways to get themselves back in, because it's their safe haven and place where they have adapted to functioning.

I thought prisons, and perhaps hospitals or mental institutions were the limit to the occurence of institutionalization. However, a new locale has appeared on the news front as a place of institutionalization: the Courtroom. Lest we overlook this phenomenon, consider this news title:

"Jury in O.J. Trial to Hear Defense"
(see the real article if you actually care)

This is a news topic I have heard more than I can remember in my life. It began when I was in elementary school. Now, I'm about half the age I"ll be when I retire, and I'm still hearing about this. As soon as O.J.'s trial was completed, he found a way to get himself back into the courtroom. Clearly he is suffering from institutionalization.

Plus USC football (OJ's Team) is always overranked. They lost to unranked 1-2 Oregon State and are still in the top 10?!

Imagine if the Republicans did this...

2008-10-02T11:02:00.002-05:00

PART I.
Could you imagine the outcry that would come from the democratic party if the upcoming VP debate moderator had written a book entitled, "A Legacy of Security: Politics and POWs in the Age of McCain". Man that sounds like a great book. But if this legendary book had been written and the author was going to be the debate moderator... well, it's a moot point because the fact is that the debate commission NEVER would let such a person be the debate moderator, having a clear Republican slant.

However, we see this happening in reverse, and of course the debate commission turns their shoulder and looks the other way, as though it's no issue of concern that the moderator has a strong democratic slant. Gwen Ifill, the moderator, has written a book entitled "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama" to be released on INAUGURATION DAY.

See the news article

What the country needs is an accurate depiction of both candidates, democrat and republican, and in order to ensure that this takes place, an impartial moderator should be instated for the debate, not a fan of Obama who has written a book about him and the struggles of his race in politics.

This is also a clear publicity stunt for her book.

PART II.
Now imagine if the Republicans waited until next week and pulled John McCain for "health reasons" and replaced him conveniently with someone who is incredibly popular, like say... Rudy Giuliani. Obviously he's not popular enough to win the Republican vote, but he'd pull in some Dems. Hypothetically, though, say there WAS someone like that. The Democrats would be spitting and raging over the fact that the Republicans had a huge conspiracy to boost their votes since they were desparate.

Yet, my bet is that Biden will back out of the race due to "health issues" and Hillary will come in as a replacement, because the Democrats need some sort of a boost and though the media is working hard for them, it's still looking too close for comfort to someone who's been considered a "rock star" for the past year now.

Read more on this theory at snopes.

PART III.

Finally, could you imagine the news coverage if the Republicans put in a candidate that was not legally a citizen of the United States?! By now, everyone has heard about the possibility that Obama is not even a citizen, as the blog world exploded with discussion about this topic a while back. Yet, it's not mentioned very often in the media, and there is not a lot of news updating the status of this court case. Even a search for information on this topic yields little helpful results. The media would be all over this if it were McCain's citizenship in question, though.

Gay Boltz

2008-09-17T12:15:00.005-05:00

Not making fun of his "sound" - Ray Boltz actually came out of the closet and is now an admitted homosexual. Gay Ray. Gay Boltz. I'm sure the nicknames will continue for (g)a(y)ges.

Many of you remember Ray Boltz. In the late 80's/early 90's, he became really famous for a couple of hit "Christian" songs, "Thank You" and "Watch the Lamb". These were big songs and I remember, growing up in a Southern Baptist setting, hearing these played all over the place. I even saw a video where Boltz - mustache, mullet and all - was at a home group meeting with a bunch of elderly women and singing the words "Thank you, for giving to the Lord - I am a life that was changed". As he sang these words, tears dripped down from the old and gray eyes of the women listening. I thought to myself "HOW CHEESY!" (remember the word Cheesy got big in the 90s) - all Ray was doing was making of bunch of old Christian ladies cry by playing on their religious emotions. I've become a lot more understanding over the years, that many people are touched by that song, because in ministry, you never hear "Thank you" as much as you hear complaints and whining.

Now, years later, in a liberal, post-modern, and post-Christian culture; in a world where just about nothing is shocking any more, I found myself saddened and slightly even shocked by yet another famous Christian singer stepping outside the bounds of his self-proclaimed faith and defying what it stands for. No Christian is perfect, and we are all sinners who have been restored undeservedly by God's grace. However, while Christians often feel repentent, and try to be "better" when they are selfish, angry, violent, alcoholics, or addicts (among many other biblically defined "sinful" lifestyles), "Christians" such as Ray Boltz embrace homosexuality and advocate it loudly.

For a moment, let's look around the homosexuality issue. Consider the fact that Ray divorced his wife of over 30 years. Now ask yourself, if he did this for another woman, or a beastiality issue, or a sexual affair with a minor, what would become of his ministry? He would be publicly shamed and the media would show how yet another "Christian" is no different than the disgusting world around us. However, instead churches are applauding him for his openness about his sinful lifestyle. Sadly, he even flaunts it on the front of his website, talking about how he would not be "accepted" in many churches. Instead of being accepted into a Christ-loving church and coming to Christ just as he is and finding freedom to change and be who God made him to be, he goes to a church that pats him on the back for being "just as he is" and tells him to never change.

In his coming-out interview, Boltz mentioned "we all suffer with our humanity". Sadly, rather than "putting to death the flesh" as the Bible says, or being "crucified with Christ, and yet I live, not I but Christ who lives within me", Boltz has decided to embrace and remain shackled to the fallen flesh of humanity rather than transcend it through freedom in Christ. (the picture to the right is Ray Boltz, not Ricky Gervais)

Now I turn this back on the true Christian church: because of our shaming people for their sinfulness instead of embracing them and working with them to overcome it, we see churches sending homosexuals, unwed pregnant teens, and adulterous couples away, and where do they go? To churches that help them get abortions, divorces, and become proud of their homosexuality.

Mercer University Seeking Muslim Converts

2008-09-09T12:11:00.004-05:00

Mercer University, where I completed my undergraduate degree, has announced it will be bringing in a Muslim speaker from Egypt to "raise awareness" for Muslims, and to teach the students to have "respect and understanding" of Muslims.

Mercer was originally founded as a "Baptist" University, and for many years was affiliated with and supported by the Georgia Baptist Convention. Recently, the convention pulled support and disaffiliated when the University sponsored a GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgendered) "Coming Out Day", and the state-wide publicity upset the evangelical conservative community, many of whom had sent or were planning to send their children to attend the school. This move was a long-time coming event, and the University was well-prepared to face the removal of funds, having set up a tight connection with the ironically named "Cooperative" baptist fellowship, a branch of moderates/liberals that "seceded" from the conservative evangelical Southern Bapitst Convention.

On the basic level, the University's Islamic effort could be very positive - to teach the students to share a respect and compassion for a people of a certain faith, especially one which is not the "majority" faith of the University's demographic. However, what the University is doing is much different than simply an "awareness" project.

The school also intends to " infuse its curriculum with a greater emphasis on, and understanding of, the Muslim world." See the article

Ultimately, the school is allowing a well-known Muslim spokesperson to come "share their faith" with the school, and further, to demand that students learn about this faith in an academic setting. It can't hurt to learn about another faith, but when combined with the effects of removing the foundation of Christian faith from Christians by absolutely refuting the Bible's authority in the "Christianity" classes (I know from experience), what is developing is a grand effort to form a notable number of converts from Christianity to Islam.

Do In God We Trust?

2008-08-20T13:43:00.005-05:00

Apparently NBC is holding a poll of whether we should remove "in God we trust" from our currency. The "yes, remove the motto" vote says "because it is a violation of separation of church and state"(that's a whole different blog topic - sheesh) and the "no, leave the motto on there" vote is because "it reflects our heritage and historic tradition."

I wasn't sure how to vote. Eventually, I voted "no", but I don't agree with the reasoning. Why did the vote only allow you to say "yes, remove the motto" because of a "violation of separation of church and state"? The reason I would vote yes is:

1. Let's be honest with ourselves: do we as a country still trust in God?
2. If so, what "god" do we trust in? We are so PC in this country, it's almost a crime to share your faith.
3. We do NOT represent that motto, and therefore don't deserve to have it on our currency.

I say take the motto off. The motto should read "in God Almighty we once trusted". As a nation, we have fallen FAR from our roots. Taking "in God we trust" off the currency doesn't mean those who still trust Him trust any less, it simply means we are finally being honest with ourselves as a nation.

When we were founded, we were a small and weak country, and our trust was that the Great God of the world would bless us and help us to develop. Our money said "E Pluribus Unum" which is latin for something like "from many, One": A great sign of both unity and diversity, and in 1956, "in God we trust" became our nation's official motto, and we put it on our cotton money (before that it was only on coins). Perhaps in that era of our country, we DID trust in God (although, that is questionable because with the Baby Boomer generation, it was easy for people to act all "God trusting" because the country was thriving - it's much harder to trust when times are difficult).

Now we go around boasting about our military, economic, and political strength, and our trust is in our currency. When the US Dollar value declines, everyone panics. Just turn on the news for proof. If "in God we trusted," there wouldn't be any fear of the economic recession, we would simply look recession in the face and say "in God we trust" and in His sovereignty we WOULD trust.

... but instead we panic.

Obama's church in violation of federal law

2008-04-09T14:13:00.003-05:00

The IRS has banned any political endorsements from taking place in 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches and charities. This is not new.

"The prohibition against political campaign activity has been in effect for more than half a century and bars certain tax-exempt organizations from engaging on behalf of or in opposition to political candidates. However, these organizations can engage in advocating for or against issues" see full article

However, the pastor of Barak Obama's church can be seen clearly violating this law.

According to Revenue Ruling 2007-41 (26 CFR 1.501(c)(3)-1):
Even if a statement does not expressly tell an audience to vote for or against a specific candidate, an organization delivering the statement is at risk of violating the political campaign intervention prohibition if there is any message favoring or opposing a candidate. View PDF File

The article goes on to clarify that stating the candidate's name is such a violation. So it is legal, of course, to teach and proclaim religious sentiments that are potentially antagonistic to particular candidates as long as it is a blanket statement about beliefs and values, but when said candidate's name is mentioned, it is a violation. Will the IRS remove the tax-exempt status of Obama's church? If they do, we'll be sure to hear about it in the news.

The increased female use of porn

2008-04-08T11:16:00.001-05:00

There is an increasing number of women who are hooked on internet pornography.

Rich Tatum writes,

Our culture and what we spend our time thinking about are literally changing the way our brains are wired. As a result, women are getting rewired to be more visual and aggressive

For years women have been understood through psychological research and observation to be typically less visually stimulated than men. There have always been deviants from the norm, but what most likely is leading to an increase in the female population's pornography use are shows like "Sex and the City," "Desparate Housewives," "Lipstick Jungle," and "Gray's Anatomy," among many others. In these shows, affairs are glamorized, and the viewer finds him/herself cheering for the affair to take place, as they are presented the story from the perspective of the tempted spouse. This plants a seed of interest and acceptance of marital infidelity.

Concurrent to that, images of semi-nude and fully nude attractive young males have become much more commonplace in the media (especially in Abercrombie ads), most likely as a result of the homosexual revolution the country has been experiencing since the days of Ellen and her "outing." The BRAVO channel, the "Fab Five" and many other media endeavors that are not only gay-friendly but gay-endorsing have led to the "open-mindedness" of the country, and the blatant attack by the mainstream media upon traditionally Biblical values, specifically producing a complete misunderstanding of the picture painted of Christ as a male husband and the church as his female bride. His love for her drove him to ransom his life for hers, and in her wonder at his deep love for her, she is driven to follow him and respect him.

This progression away from Biblical values in our culture comes down to the simple fact that many people do not know Christ, and therefore we should not be surprised that this is happening. They do not understand him as the husband who cares for his wife, and washes her, and clothes her in white linen to present her spotless before the Holy King. Why do we expect the world to hold to Biblical standards when they do not value them? Rather, we as Christians must protect our lifestyles from conforming to worldly standards.

Tatum further writes,

it's not only through repeated exposure to sexual imagery on TV, in advertising, or online. The primary agent of this mental transformation is due to how we use our minds: what we spend our time thinking about, fantasizing about, and meditating on. Our brains and thoughts are molded by what we surf for, how we chat, and what we write. This negative transformation is the diametric opposite (and dramatic fulfillment) of the principles found in Romans 12:1-2:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

see the full article

Easter: Getting the Numbers Up

2008-02-14T12:16:00.006-05:00

Of all the marketing schemes I've seen for churches, this one is perhaps the most disheartening. A marketing company has produced a postcard that says "EASTER: It is all about you". The card is not a "gag", but an actual marketing scheme.

The most disturbing part is the text on the other side. It reads:

"The “Me Generation”, MySpace, iPods, Internet sites that instantly recognize your login and preferences—in this day and age the focus seems to be on Self. And, sometimes we question whether that’s a good thing. But, on an Easter long ago, even God made it all about you. Jesus came to earth out of a great love—for you. Join us this Easter at (Church Name) as we make it all about you—in the very best of ways." [blogger's note: if the picture does not show up, try clicking on the icon]

When our focus becomes about getting our "numbers up" in church, we become enslaved by a misdirected focus and no longer function as a church should. Jesus told us to "go into the world and make disciples" rather than to "go into the world and make huge churches," but with our focus on numbers we create "churches" that don't push sincere Christians to become better Christians each day, don't disciple and train new Christians on how to grow in their faith, and don't urge off-and-on visitors to commit to following Christ. This is a staple of the "religious" life of non-Christians who "do their time" each week by showing up and sitting in the back and watching what they mistakenly call "church." Our hearts should be breaking for those who go to this "church" each week and never are confronted with a loving and caring truth about their need for Christ and never are told the truth of an imminent hell for those who are not followers of Christ. What's even more disturbing is that they are robbed of the JOY of knowing their purpose in life - to worship and glorify their creator, as they are lied to by "pastors" and told that "it's all about you". These "pastors" are doing nothing more than putting sound insulation on the coffins of dead people.

"For you were dead in trespasses and sins...and were by nature children of wrath" and the reason God saves people is not all about them, but He saves "So that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace." (Eph 2:1,3,7) Sounds to me like it's all about God.

We were created to glorify God (Is 43:7)
Why do we exist?

The Civil War for a Guiness Record

2007-09-06T10:09:00.000-05:00

Maine claims to have the largest sand castle in the world... but so does South Carolina. Ed Jarrett from Casco, Maine, organized a group of 1500 people to build the world's biggest sand castle, and it got up to 31 feet 7 inches.

So how are they playing this up? Jarrett claims that Myrtle Beach's sand castle doesn't count because it broke the Guiness record guidelines, but the beach authorities explain that they had permission from Guiness due to special circumstances.

However, Jarrett is determined to nullify their sand castle's credibility in order to see his in the book. Here's the catch: Jarrett claims they were doing this to "raise money for children with life-threatening illnesses." However, his determination to see his record usurp Myrtle Beach's record unearths the question of true motive. Did he do this to raise money and awareness of "life-threatening illness" (that's pretty vague, considering that for a child, the flu could be life-threatening if not treated), or was it all about getting in the Guinness book of world records, and sick babies make for a convenient heart-string to pull?

There seems to be no information available as to the amount of money the project raised or to whom it was donated. Read more

On Being Engaged...

2007-07-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

Many of you single people out there see getting engaged as something that really will happen in your life, and can't wait for it to. But let me say this; as the day approaches, the older you are, the more... different being engaged is.

All of my life I was "that guy" who was everyone's third-, fifth- (any odd number-) wheel. I didn't mind, and neither did my friends. They just thought of me as the single guy who's still looking for that soul mate, especially as ALL of my best friends from Elementary School through Graduate school have gotten married (well not all of them from grad school because... well, seminary is a lonely place) and yet here I am still single at 27 years old. I really had become used to this lifestyle, even though I hadn't accepted the idea that I may never get married. And then it happened (read blog post below).

Actually, this all started when I was 25 and still in seminary, and I met Jeannine through our blogs. Maybe the blog world is the next online dating service? Anyway, things have led to this, and through all that I've been through in the past couple years, Jeannine has been there for me and encouraged me, and we've really grown together. I am truly in love and happy to be engaged, and although I can see all the ways that I disappointed myself with my imperfections on the day I proposed to her, I know that one way that I've really "appointed" myself (hmm... what's the opposite of "disappoint?")... I guess what I'm trying to say is that though I disappointed myself with the nervously-stuttered proposal, the end result is the greatest accomplishment that I could ever hope to achieve - finding the person with whom I will spend the rest of my life. And even that, I didn't do, but I have to thank God for doing because in the great big world of the internet, there's such a small chance that our blogs would cross paths without Divine intervention.

So if you're single and believe God has someone out there that He will lead you to one day, don't give up hope. Try starting a blog! On the other hand, enjoy being single, because although married people don't have to deal with the loneliness single people deal with, they also don't network NEARLY as well as singles do. At least that's the biggest complaint that I've heard from married people - single people spend a lot of time with a lot of different people, while married people spend all their time with themselves & their kids.

I'm Engaged! (my story)

2007-07-10T11:41:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest shocks about getting engaged is that you think as a single person that when you get engaged, everything changes. Maybe because I haven't been engaged all that long, I haven't had the opportunity to experience this phenomenon, but I honestly don't feel any different than I did before I was engaged, and I don't really think anything is going to change. A lot of people have told me to expect things to change, but I just dont see it yet.

So on to the story...

I had this whole date planned where we would go do all this fun stuff and end up on a dock that we like to visit sometimes, where things are very peaceful and since it's a private lake, there aren't people there to bother us. On the dock I would have a table set up for our to-go dinner of Olive Garden food (our first date) and roses/petals everywhere and lots of tea candles all over the place. There I would play "question" by Rhett Miller on my guitar after a "speech" and then propose to her. It would be amazing. However, things just don't ever work out for me the way I'd like for them to. After a 6 month severe draught in our state, it rained for a solid week up to the day I proposed and of course, on the day of the proposal. So the lake was out of the question.

My plan B was that I would ask her at my sister's place in Atlanta - so I left 4 dozen roses and 200 candles with her and she decorated and set up some awesome music and atmosphere for us. We arrived with the Olive Garden food and I thought the candles were burning the roses so I tried to move them and dumped over a huge vase of roses. However at this point we were already engaged.

An unexpected plan C had occurred. I had the day planned out leading up to the moment at dinner when I would propose, but some good advice from a friend told me that I would be too nervous to eat if I waited till dinner, and besides, we should get engaged somewhere that we can later go back and visit. So I picked her up for Chick-Fil-A breakfast, then drove to Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga and bought tickets for Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls. We got to the top of the mountain and there were people everywhere. It was lunchtime and we were having a picnic but I couldn't eat because all I could think about was the upcoming moment and how I wanted to get it right. Every time I looked at the spot where I wanted to propose (a lookout point called "Lover's Leap"), there were SO MANY people crowded around. When they would leave I would look to Jeannine but she was taking so long to eat that eventually people kept crowding back up. Finally she finished and we walked to the edge and I gave her a few gifts to go along with what I was saying (which I didn't get out at all) and then I proposed on one knee.

A man nearby was kind enough to take our picture and offer to email it to us - we had no idea and were really glad to have that moment on camera! But I never got to say what I wanted to. I had planned to explain to her that I have a desire to be the kind of husband that Christ is for his church, to protect her to the point of offering my own life if I need to (I gave her a cell phone car charger so she wouldn't be stranded with a dead battery), to pray for her always (I gave her a prayer journal I'd been working on while she was gone), and to be committed to her only for the rest of my life (proposal & ring). But I wanted so badly for it to be a surprise that I got nervous and didn't say all of it exactly right, worrying that she wouldn't be surprised when I popped the ring out (BAM!) and so I missed the depth of what I had planned to say. I never even got to tell her how I had planned to say it, but she didn't mind and accepted my lame proposal.

Now the funny and irritating thing is that girls always have to act like they weren't surprised, and even though Jeannine admits that it was a shock, most of her friends try to act like they absolutely knew it was coming and aren't surprised. What is the deal with girls? Why can't they act surprised? I have been hearing over and over "I knew what Jeannine was going to tell me when she called" and "I totally saw this coming" as a first reaction from her friends.

Anyway so that's my story, and Jeannine will probably eventually tell it from her angle. Already I'm surprised though, because everywhere we call is booked and has been for some time (reception venues) and we're engaged to married in a YEAR. Wouldn't you think that's enough time? Here's a picture of the ring I gave her on her finger (1.5ct diamond & white gold) - I got it at Shaneco and I recommend them to all.

Exterminate All White People

2007-04-17T09:23:00.000-05:00

Hip hop artists in the past have often indulged in flaunting "cristal," a top-end champagne ($200 a bottle) in their rhymes. Rapping about "sipping on cris" along with mentioning various other forms of "ice" (diamonds etc.) and "bling" (various expensive materials from jewelry to chrome) has been a way of expressing that one lives "the good life" and is very wealthy. Jay-Z, however, eventually came to the point where he decided to boycott Cristal because the owner of the company said that all of the attention from the hip hop music was "unwelcome attention," and according to Jay-Z, this is a racist statement. See the article

In an interview with Harry Shearer (of The Simpsons) on MSNBC, Shearer was asked [regarding Imus' statement about the Rutgers Women's Basketball team], "why wasn't Don Imus protected under the free speech amendment?" His response was "we all have a right to stand on the street corner and say 'Bush is a criminal'...but if we have a constitutional right to have a show on MSNBC and CBS radio, I'm gonna see less Jeff Zucker in court, 'cause where's my show?"

Thank you Harry. Now please answer the question. See the interview

Imus was wrong in saying what he said. However, his statement didn't use a derogatory word about a particular race, and in fact there are caucasian girls on the Rutgers basketball team, so how could it be a racist statement? ANSWER: Because he's "white". He called some girls "hoes" and yet Snoop Dogg calls girls far worse things. For example, Snoop has a song called B****es Ain't Sh**, where he refers to girls as nothing but "hoes and tricks." Furthermore, Shearer's statement about abusing the media to make racially derogatory remarks should then be applied to B.E.T. Oh wait, did I just go there?

I sure did. When I was a junior in college, my friend and I were watching BET and there was a clip show of comedians from the past on a certain topic. The topic: how "white people are stupid". Each clip began with the statement "white people are so stupid that..."

Or what about Dr. Kamau Kambon, who said on CSpan that "we have to exterminate all white people off of the face of this planet... the problem on the planet is white people"? And he wasn't joking. Was he ever forced to apologize? No. See the video on youtube (you have to log in to view it because it's labeled as "adult content")

Malcolm X once said "maybe a long time ago you could've integrated the black masses into the white masses, but you've waited to long." hear him on realplayer A friend of mine at seminary (caucasian male) who is a hardcore fan of Malcolm X, told me that he honestly believes that the fact is, if you are white, you are born into a "racist system" and can't help but be racist. Black people, he said, can not be racist because they are the victims of racism. I asked him about myself, being that I have a Japanese mother and consider myself Asian American, and he said "it doesn't matter what you do in your life, you will always be racist because you look white." In conclusion, the color of my skin prevents me from the freedom of not being labeled "racist." In essence, what is racism? It is being "white."

How to commit adultery (do it like animals)

2007-03-21T11:09:00.000-05:00

In an MSN.com article today, Jardine Libaire explains that Americans need to essentially get over their problems with marital infidelity, and rather learn to embrace the experience, as other cultures do. She asks,

Why is the fallout here so brutal? In most other countries, an occasional affair is tolerated and even sanctioned (at least for men). Why do we Americans want to get caught, confess, cry?

She then compares us to animals, and looks at their rate of marital fidelity, explaining that they don't let their lives fall apart because of "infidelity". Then she goes on to tell the story of a man named Tiraq, who is from a different culture. Of Tiraq, she says,

he has maintained a relationship for eight years with a strong, professional woman he loves and respects—and he cheats on her all the time. "It bears no reflection on her," he assures me, and when I search his face, he looks guileless, earnest.

Furthermore, she glamourizes the unfaithful extramarital actions by telling a story of how it can be essentially consequence-free and exciting:

They flirted unapologetically throughout the evening. When she invited people to her place for late-night drinks, Henri stayed. Before they even kissed, he held up his finger. "You see I'm wearing this ring," he said. Anna said she did. "You know nothing will change," he continued. She answered that she did know that. "It was adult," Anna says. "It was respectful to me, in a way, and to his wife, to ask that, and to make that statement. The next morning, he was sweet and open. We hung out for hours. He didn't run in shame." Henri is the fairy-tale adulterer: European, sensual, guiltless.

My Response:
We will live in a state of delusion if we think that marital affairs carry no consequences. Getting married is to enter into a covenant with another person that expresses that this person will be the one and only person you are devoted to until death. Sex is a physical act of bonding with another person and is meant to reflect a much deeper connection than simply being physical. To diminish sex to simply a physical act of enjoying someone else's body, with full intentions of staying married to and loving someone else, is to reduce that person's body to nothing more than an object.

Regarding her view on animals as examples, how can someone who believes God created man in His image look to animals for moral codes, and how can someone who believes in evolution look to animals to learn how humans should structure their moral codes? There is no good reason why we should turn to animals to learn our ethics. Furthermore, how can animals have a "marital fidelity rate" at all, when they don't "get married"? Animals do not make commitments, nor do they have a concept of commitment. Their communication is primarily for survival and mating, not "relationship building." They don't share their deepest dreams and desires with each other.

In the end, people are always looking for ways to justify what they've done when they know they've done wrong. There is danger in telling people to go on and have affairs, and just enjoy it, and to have "open relationships" in their marriage. It's a selfish, hedonistic way of living, and in the end, people will get hurt.

read the full article

Homosexumals

2006-10-17T13:22:00.000-05:00

OSLO (Reuters) - The birds and the bees may be gay, according to the world's first museum exhibition about homosexuality among animals.

With documentation of gay or lesbian behavior among giraffes, penguins, parrots, beetles, whales and dozens of other creatures, the Oslo Natural History Museum concludes human homosexuality cannot be viewed as "unnatural". (link to article below)

Of course there has been a fairly noticeable uproar among the heterosexual community and those who value marriage, as a result of this news article, but I will not take the time to address this, because I do not want this post to turn into a large discussion on whether or not homosexuality is "natural." Obviously, animals do many things (such as mate in public, lick their own genitals, use the bathroom in public, murder and even eat their own), which humans do not accept nor do (without consequences), and we do not base our morals and standards of conduct on what we see animals doing. However, there is something kind of humorous in the way that the press has now equated gay people with penguins, giraffes, beetles, and whales.

NO, I would like to turn my attention to a much more overlooked part of the article:

One radical Christian said organizers of the exhibition -- partly funded by the Norwegian government -- should "burn in hell"

This is the most offensive part of this whole article to me, much more so than the opinion presented as fact that homosexuality is natural. If it was one "Christian," then why give all the Christians in the world this assocation by mentioning that this person identifies himself with Christianity? The slanted news media is trying to estrange the entire Christian population by assocating them with this ONE PERSON. They take a single individual and use him to paint a picture of "Christians." And since when does anyone in the media care what "one radical Christian" says? Any time a sports coach starts to mention anything about God in an ESPN interview, they cut him off immediately.

Furthermore, this article uses a typical fiction story structure to sway the minds of the masses:
The Protagonist: The gay community
The Antagonist: The Christian community (and anyone who agrees with them)
The Hero: The "gay" animals aka "Nature"

A new question: If a dog tries to mate with a stuffed animal, what is he? fluffosexual?

See The Article

My Trip to Louisville

2006-06-29T01:37:00.000-05:00

Whoa! They didn't cancel my blog due to neglect! That's amazing! Seriously, I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged. It really takes discipline to do this business, huh? I'm finally getting around to mentioning my trip which I took a month and a half ago.

Sometimes you just need a spiritual journey, a time to reconnect with a place where you once clearly and undoubtedly heard God's voice. I figured going to Louisville would be that for me. I was going to get away from everything and go out into nature and campout and pray. Have myself a real quest.

So you can imagine my surprise when Jeannine told me that she would be up for the weekend. After I drove for several hours and ALAS! I MADE IT to my old Kentucky home, my girlfriend pops in for a weekend visit via skytravel. Waterfront park was all I remembered it to be, and while we were up we went to a bluegrass festival long enough to have hot dogs and ice cream and hear Man of Constant Sorrow performed by a band with a 12 year old mandolin player. I was happy that I also got to revisit my Sunday school class and my wonderful sunday night friends.

I got to see my best friend from childhood and his wife, and they have a funny little dog. Or maybe it's a mouse/dog hybrid. I'm not sure. When I finally got home, the week had been full of fun and good times, but I realized that I had neglected the very thing I had gone up there to do. I hadn't taken the hours to spend in search of a life-changing revelation from God. But I had gotten exactly what I had hoped the end results would be - I revisited dear old friends, and found a time of spiritual renewal.

A Disgrace to Humanity

2006-05-13T09:04:00.000-05:00

A woman who claims to be a "Christian" appeared on Hannity & Colmes last month, to explain how AIDS, 9/11, and soldiers dying are a result of God's judgment on the world. Unfortunately, this woman does not appear to know anything of God's loving or forgiving nature, and when Hannity confronts the fallacies in her beliefs, she actually tells him that he is not a Christian! She and her people are the group that protests funerals of soldiers who have been killed defending the country. They have no respect for the dead or their mourning families.

She is so quick to point fingers at everything she can find to be a sin, and when Hannity asks what her sins are, she becomes violent, because clearly, she wants to throw stones at the whole country as though she is a perfect person. I am providing a link to this video with the warning that it will infuriate you, whether you are conservative or liberal, Christian or Non-Christian. She is so wrong and it's sad that people like this exist in our country. The one redeeming quality of this clip is that it's fun to hear Hannity & Colmes agreeing with each other that this woman is an idiot.

Click here to get mad

Why rain is overrated

2006-05-10T18:34:00.000-05:00

Ever noticed that "rain" is mentioned in about 1 in 4 songs, poems, stories, movies, etc? Why is that? It's SOOOO cliche, and yet people still incorporate rain into their art. I have a theory as to why it's so compelling and emotionally stimulating. Even as I type this on my laptop, my entire upstairs bedroom is shaking as the thunder booms outside, and the rain competes with the piano-driven music playing through my Ipod for who can be loudest.

Here's my theory of why people love the rain:

When we're still unborn, but our minds are very developed, and we rest inside our mothers' wombs, we feel the things she feels and sense many things she senses. In our place of safety, she communicates to us what is going on in the outside world as we're not ready for it on our own yet.

When we were in the womb and our mother would take a hot shower, the sound we heard was probably very similar to the sound of the rain. And as our dark and comfortable room heated up a little, we began to associate that sound with the feeling mother experienced - a calm, relaxing feeling.

After entering the world free of total dependence on mother's body, one thing our minds never disconnected was the subconscious association of the sound of rain outside the roof and the sound of prenatal safety and relaxation.
The fallacy in my theory is that it fails to explain why some people become severely depressed when it rains for an extended amount of time.

Don't do drugs

2006-04-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

Lorie recently asked in the comment section on my blog if Bradley really used to be "Coked-out." I believe that he can answer that for himself, but I would like to submit this picture for your consideration. It is from when he was my roommate at school.

All I did was drop my spoon while I was eating dinner and this was his reaction.

Idolatry: He thought of ME above all

2006-04-14T14:51:00.000-05:00

Michael W. Smith sings, Crucified, laid behind a stone, He lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a rose trampled on the ground, He took the fall, and thought of me above all.

More bothering to me than the fact that the lyrics to this song are so far from right is the fact that we sing it in WORSHIP at churches. Why are we singing that Jesus thought of ME above ALL? He surely didn't. He thought of God's glory. Jesus was driven to the cross and murdered there, but in dying, He felt love for those even who were murdering Him. He knew that this sacrifice was necessary for the salvation of the lost(Heb 9:16-18,22), yet at the same time, He thought of God through it all. Above all, He was serving His father; He knew that this is what God willed for Him to do. Even when Peter told Him not to let it happen, Jesus rebuked him - saying that Peter was focused on MAN'S rather than GOD's interests (Matt 16:22-23).

So yes, He thought of "me" above Himself, because had He wanted to, He could've used an enormous display of power and through some miracle stopped the crucifixion, but He didn't (Matt 26:52-53). He loves God most of all, and through this act knew that God would be shown to be a loving and merciful God, giving up the Human He most values, His only begotten Son, to death so that the veil of division between fallen mankind and pure holiness would be torn(Matt 27:50-51), and no longer would we need a "high priest" in the temple to go to the Holy of Holies for us, but being covered by the one and only High Priest(Heb 6:19-20), we can now enter the presence of God without certain death (Lev 16:2).

To sing, "He thought of ME above all" is to turn the worship inward, to say to yourself "I'm so valuable, I'm so lovely, I'm so irresistable that God's Son died for ME and I was in His thoughts ABOVE ALL!" If we sing this in the spirit of worship that Christ's love for humanity and obedience to God outweighed His own desire not to die, then yes, we worship a God whose Son is sinless and Who forgives and loves with ultimate grace. Otherwise, we are worshiping ourselves when we sing this song, which is idol worship, and we ourselves are the idols.

HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY!

1.) For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. Heb 9:16-18

2.)All things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Heb 9:22

3.) 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." 23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." Matt 16:22-23

4.) Then Jesus said* to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. 53 "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? Matt 26:52-53

5.)And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom Matt 27:50-51

6.) This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek Heb 6:19-20

7.) The LORD said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. Lev 16:2

The Easter Bunny is Dead

2006-04-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

Don't you get tired of hearing about alleged "Church Bulletin Bloopers?" Here are a list of some of the bloopers, supposedly, that have been in church bulletins. I honestly think that many if not all of these are made up.

1. The choir will meet at the Larsen house for fun and sinning.
2. Miss Charlene Mason, sang, "I Will Not Pass This Way Again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
3. The pastor would appreciate if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for pancake breakfast next Sunday morning
4. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.
5. The rosebud on the alter this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Rev. and Mrs. Julius Belzer.
6. Thursday at 5:00 PM there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers Club. All ladies wishing to be "Little Mothers" will meet with the Pastor in his study.
7. This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.
8. The eighth graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the church basement on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
9. Weight Watchers will meet at 7:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use the large double door at the side entrance.
10. Today's Sermon: HOW MUCH CAN A MAN DRINK? with hymns from a full choir.

Why would a church have someone place an egg on the altar? Are they not aware that the egg is a fertility image that was incorporated into pagan rituals, just as the rabbit is? Our use of them has nothing to do with the resurrection of Christ, but is proof of our syncretistic influence. Having a church Easter egg hunt is one thing, placing an egg on the altar during worship is another thing entirely.

Corpses on Display: Is "The Bodies" exhibit ethical?

2006-04-12T10:44:00.000-05:00

In Atlanta, an exhibit which displays flayed and mutilated human corpses, albeit very well preserved, is currently available for public viewing purposes. Last weekend I walked through the display, and felt very uncomfortable, as if what I was doing was wrong. It wasn't until I left the building that I began to wonder if it was ethical to be viewing a bunch of human corpses for entertainment.

One of the first and most noticeable aspects of the bodies is that they belonged to Asians, as some of them still have their face(or part of their face) attached to the skull. When I got outside, there were protesters, claiming that the Chinese communist government captured these people for practicing Falun Gong and as a result of religious oppression, their bodies are now on public display. Others believe that they may have been poor/homeless people who were powerless to deny the government the use of their body post-mortem. One thing that is certain is that the company that produces this display will not tell where they get the bodies from, or how they get them, and I am not able to find any information otherwise.

Another thing I noticed was "condensation" on some of the organs in the cases, which upon further reading I discovered could be a result of poor preservation techniques. Leakage.

What most disturbed me was that there were a lot of people who were clearly not there for education, but simply for entertainment, making sport of the dead bodies. Here I noticed people entertaining themselves by looking at the corpses, as I heard several times "eww sick look at that" from spectators. The corpses on display were once people who were born, grew up, had dreams, secret crushes, ambitions, and possibly a religion. Now they sit mutilated on display, and spectators celebrate this disrespect for humanity by paying $20 a piece to be "grossed out."

On the other hand, if one is participating for strictly educational purposes, I find nothing wrong with the concept of this exhibit.

Canon closed? : the Gospel of Judas Unearthed

2006-04-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

What would happen if some archaeologists unearthed an ancient text and authenticated it to have been written roughly 1700 years ago, and the text was written by a man claiming to be the disciple Judas? If his story reveals what seems to be truth about God and history, does it belong in the Bible?

Recently, archaeologists unearthed an ancient codec that they have managed to restore and believe was written by Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Supposedly, in this manuscript, Judas claims to have been asked to betray Jesus by Jesus Himself. A National Geographic special exposing this event will air on television Sunday night at 8:00 PM. It should be pretty interesting.

You can download the entire document in English or Greek, or just read more about all of this at this site. If you go read through it, you will probably think of it as a complete JOKE. It contradicts too many biblical doctrines that are supported throughout the Old and New Testaments. However, it does bring up the question as to the Canon's finality.

I would never put this in the canonical Bible mainly because, if nothing else, the gospels we have right now are verified through many different ancient copies that support and agree with each other. The "Gospel of Thomas" does not have the support that the other gospels do, and considering that this new "gospel of Judas" doesn't either, I think it is worthy of reading for curiosity if nothing else, but it shouldn't be placed in the canonical Bible. I woudn't even give it apocryphal status. Don't move over, Maccabees.

Throughout the years and through His divine inspiration, God has led us to the canon we have today. However, I haven't studied a lot of apologetics on why the canon is closed, so I am open to hearing input. For well-informed thoughts on the subject, visit www.thislamp.com .

West Nile Ninjas

2006-04-02T01:12:00.000-05:00

A group of expeditioners have found what they believe to be the source of the Nile River, and one of their group was killed by an indigenous tribe on the way. See the article

Where does the Nile come from? Who ever thinks about that stuff? Well, apparently a lot of people, since it's supposedly been a topic of debate since the mid 17th century. Someone should have just asked that country singer who calls herself the queen of deNile. Anyway, I wouldn't be suprised if this is made into a movie, based on a true story.

Only instead of indigenous tribesmen, the movie will have gigantic flesh-eating snakes, spiders that are about 6 feet long... and probably some mummies here or there. Ninja mummies.

Jewish Reggae

2006-02-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

Sounds a little strange, huh? Jewish reggae? Well, it's actually really cool, and I'm getting into it a lot. Matisyahu's a Hasidic Jew, which are the really devout Jews, and His lyrics can be appreciated by anyone in the Judeo-Christian realm, I'd say, though I can't understand a lot of them because he sings so fast sometimes.

Still, it's cool and you should check it out. Here's his site: Matisyahu The best song is "King Without a Crown" on the "Live at Stubb's" Album, which is totally different than the older album. He's going to be here in Atlanta on the 16th but unfortunately the tickets have long since sold out.

New Email Charges

2006-02-07T08:49:00.000-05:00

Let's hope that the Senate Commerce Committee can pull it off and ban internet marketers from finding a guaranteed spot in your email inbox. If you use AOL or Yahoo email, you are likely to soon see a wave of internet advertisements, because the two are going to be "selling spots in your inbox". They will charge a fraction of a cent per message to junkmailing companies, and the message will be guaranteed to go to your inbox, while other spam mail still is filtered to the junk box.

While AOL is posing the solution as a way to make sure legitimate e-mailers get through and to avoid identity theft schemes, the company also stands to make millions a year from the arrangement. read the whole article

If you use AOL or Yahoo mail, you should go ahead and switch to Hotmail or Google, probably google, because it most likely won't be long until Hotmail is also selling "in-box seats".

In other news, "a 'Half Penny' was worth one Half (1/2) of a Penny. So two farthings also make up half a penny. The last half penny for circulation was dated 1967." If you want to learn about halfpence, sixpence, farthings, and tanners, go here.

The Caricatures of Doom

2006-02-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

Many of you are aware by now that in Denmark, and then later in other countries, a cartoon that caricatured the prophet Mohammed was published in several newspapers. I haven't seen this cartoon firsthand, but I have seen overwhelming amounts of headlines during the aftermath. Several Muslims and Muslim groups have been responding to the offense, often violently.

It even got to the point where American embassies are seeing violent protests, even though no papers in America have even published the cartoon!
Anger that has been directed at European targets in recent days began to shift toward the U.S. on Monday, though American papers haven't published the offending cartoons. read this article

What is perhaps the most shocking to me of all of this is how unified so many Muslims seem to be about their feelings regarding this. It was an offense to them, an offense of catastrophic proportions. They have been responding with such violence that many have been killed already, and most people's reaction to this is probably one of understanding - that a deeply religious group has been offended on a deeply religious level.

So why is it that you see caricatures of Jesus all the time, an no one reacts violently to that? On Southpark, Jesus is portrayed in a comical way, and on the movie Dogma, He was "buddy Jesus". Several other types of media have portrayed Him in a sense that is comical and often disrespectful. Yet if Christians were to rise up and violently protest against these kind of portrayals of Jesus, they would be considered crazy or "dangerous religious fanatics".

I have to respect something about these Muslims: they take their religion very seriously. It is rooted deeply in their hearts, and they have great respect for Mohammed. In fact, most Muslims I know, though they do not believe in Jesus as savior, would never draw up a caricature of Him, because they still hold some sort of respect for Him. They must view Christians as some of the most faithless, insincere people when we do not protest the daily mockings and inaccurate caricature/portrayals of Christ, but rather some claiming to bear the name of "Christian" will even laugh along with T.V. shows and other media that ridicule Him.

To be a fish

2006-01-21T04:14:00.000-05:00

I don't recall if I've ever been to any aquariums in my life. I thought my sister's aquarium was the biggest thing ever because it holds 50 gallons and houses a mammoth beastly Jack Dempsey fish she calls Meyer. It had a twin named oscar that we ate about 7 years ago. Okay we didn't eat it, but it does make you think, what exactly is in a hot dog?

Anyway, Jeannine bought us season passes to the Georgia Aquarium, one of the biggest in the world, and so we've already been once, and it was pretty amazing. It's funny though, the strange people you run into when you go to a public place like that. This one guy acted like he was gonna hunt me down and kill me because he told me a full grown large squid could stuff its whole body through a hole the diameter of a pencil, and my response was "I'll believe that when i see it." I tried to walk away, but he started following me and Jeannine and defending this information. We walked away faster, he walked faster.

Note to self: when encountering creepy guy at Aquarium, distract him and run away.

So it was a nice place, and if you're in the Atlanta area, I recommend seeing the aquarium. But don't talk to anyone! Keep to yourself. The piranhas were pretty cool, I had to stick my whole head in the tank to bring you this picture, though.

Milky Milky riiiight

2006-01-17T23:01:00.000-05:00

I think the mayor of New Orleans was listening to that Blackeyed Peas song and thinking about milky milky Coco Puffs. It would be funny to reverse what he said today. First, here are his actual words:

It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans – the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans... This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. read the whole article here

And it sounds funny to turn it around and imagine a white guy saying it. Here's what it would be like:

[Setting: Salt Lake City is hit by a vicious disaster, and as the city begins recovering, the mayor hints that he's not thrilled that many of the jobs to rebuild the city are going to Latinos and blacks, many of whom did not live in Salt Lake before disaster struck.]

Mayor: It's time for us to rebuild Salt Lake City -- the one that should be a vanilla Salt Lake, he says. I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are, this city will be vanilla at the end of the day. This city will be a majority white city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have Salt Lake City any other way. It wouldn't be Salt Lake City." taken from an article by Linda Chavez that probably won't be up for long

Yes it's always interesting to turn the tables. Anyway, this is my new blog template, and I'm having the hardest time trying to figure out what to blog about these days, so bear with me as I try to get back into the blogging world.

Voicemail shortcuts

2005-12-29T23:04:00.000-05:00

Here's something little and seemingly insignificant that might help those of you who use cell phones:

When you call a friend and have to wait through hours of instructions/boring answer messages to leave a voicemail, here is the button to press to SKIP the instructions and greeting, so you can leave a message without costing yourself all those daytime minutes while you wait for the voicemailbox to finally beep...

Verizon - press * (Star)

Sprint/Nextel - press 1 (one)

Cingular - press 5 (five) - this one took me a few tries to figure out!

T-Mobile - press 1 (one) - sometimes, but sometimes this doesn't work. If anyone knows why, your information would be useful.

Another thing about cell phones: you pretty much are going to get about the same service with any company, so you have to pick based on customer service. I highly recommend against using Sprint, at all costs, because I've used 4 different cell phone providers and the worst customer service and pricing is with Sprint.

What company do you think is the worst?

Graduation from Southern Seminary

2005-12-12T20:03:00.000-05:00

I was trying not to think of anything but the steps I was taking as I walked across the stage of alumni chapel to accept my diploma. But in the back of my mind, I couldn't completely silence the nostalgic thoughts that were reminding me that an important season of my life has come to a close, and a new beginning is just around the corner. My girlfriend and family came up to see me walk, and some friends from around here stopped by also.

Friday night we saw the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, and I have to say that I really enjoyed that movie. I hope everyone goes to see it. It had to be one of the best movies I've ever seen. Hooray for disney.

Saturday the streets were backed up for miles near the mall exits. I couldn't figure out why, and then I remembered that it's that time of year when people forget about humanity and lose all sense of civilization because they want to get the best deals on some kind of materialistic possession. I watched as multiple cars had near-miss accidents and I cringed at the rudeness of the people everywhere.

Sunday I went to eat at the Cheesecake factory after church. It was pretty good, but if you go there, get the cheesecake and not any of the food, because the food's okay but not as good as the money it costs, and the cheesecake is phenomenal, though you pay about SEVEN BUCKS a piece. Yes, seven dollars, one piece. Sunday night I got to visit several of my friends that I will probably not see again for a LONG time. It was sad to have to say good-bye, and it was a reminder that we're constantly on the move and will make new friends throughout life that we don't get to keep around us. Change can be a good thing, but it can also be a very hard thing. This ends another chapter of my life, soon to begin a new one.

Does anyone kind of feel burnt out on blogging? It was actually nice to take a break for a while. If you haven't done that, I'd recommend taking about a week or two like I did, and not blog.

My life till now

2005-12-08T20:03:00.000-05:00

Okay I'm back. Wow I forgot I had a blog! I went home to turn 26, and on the preceding Friday, took Jeannine out to Cafe Istanbul in Atlanta, a Turkish restaurant, with my little sister and her husband, Jeannine's twin, and my little brother Jeff. It was a great time, but Turkish food comes in incredibly small portions. I say this as an American, though, who grew up always having a heaping plate of food, even though I was in a family with six children. It was fun, but the belly dancer made me a little uncomfortable. Why? It's part of their culture, right? I guess I kind of had this subconscious conviction that she was objectifying herself. Or at least the belly part of herself.

For my birthday, Jeannine completely restructured my blog! It looks really cool. What's different, you ask? Well, I havent started using my new template yet because she's still working on some technical issues, but I'm excited that soon you will all see what a genius she is, because my blog will be CUSTOMIZED.

I got back here and was overwhelmed with finals and last minute stuff, but now I'm done and will be leaving Kentucky and moving back to Georgia in a couple days. Ahhh.... home.

Mr. Miyagi is dead

2005-11-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

I told myself I wouldn't blog until after finals are over, this friday, but Mr. Miyagi died today. It truly is a black friday. Everyone who's as big of a Karate Kid I and II fan as myself understands why this is a sad ordeal. see the story

Another thing finally happened... I turned 104 tuesday, or at least it feels like it. It was my birthday, and I will post pictures and stories later. But I'm no longer the spring chicken I once was. Where does the time go?

I'll be back into blogging in a week. Come back and see me.

1st Grade topic: the "Birds and the Bees"

2005-11-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

A new ruling has taken exclusive rights away from parents to tell their children about sex. Some parents of children in the Palmdale School District in California recently tried to sue the school for administering a "psychological examination" in which they asked 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders about their thoughts & feelings about "touching my own private parts," "touching other people's private parts," "thinking about sex when I don't want to," and "having sex feelings in my body," among other sexually related topics.

I now refer you to Al Mohler's Blog:

The parents sued the School District contending that the right to "determine when and how their children are exposed to sexually explicit subject matter" is a fundamental due process right. They argued that, as the children's parents, they have a fundamental right "to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs." ...

[The judge disagreed. He determined that the right of parents to control the education of their children "does not extend beyond the threshold of the school door."]

Note carefully the final paragraph of Judge Reinhardt's decision: "In summary, we hold that there is no free-standing fundamental right of parents 'to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal religious values and beliefs' and that the inserted right is not encompassed by any other fundamental right. In doing so, we do not quarrel with the parents' right to inform and advise their children about the subject of sex as they see fit. We conclude only that the parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on that subject to their students in any forum or manner they select." ...

Embedded within those sentences are landmines of tremendous legal significance. The public schools are now declared to have a right to present matters of sexuality to students of any age "in any forum or manner they select." This sweeping statement represents one of the most devastating assaults upon parental rights ever encountered in our nation's history ...

This claim takes on an additional layer of concern when it is realized that these were seven, nine, and eleven year olds. The subject matter had nothing to do with human reproduction, science, or any direct education of the children. -see the full article

Before long, will the government be able to directly remove children from their parents, based simply on the fact that their parents are teaching them religious beliefs? Why not forcefully ship them all off to a school where they will all be brainwashed to think exactly alike? That's not much different than telling parents they no longer have the right to raise their children based on their religious values, but the school system does. Are we becoming a communist country? I forsee private schools becoming more and more popular in the future.

Comment Response: Exploring male/female Communication Values

2005-11-12T17:43:00.000-05:00

Kari, a commenter on my last post, pointed out the following:

I think... communication is more important to girls in general. It's who we are and how God made us. I can send out an email to a good girl friend and then one to a good guy friend and it will take the girl friend a day or two to respond whereas the guy may take about 2 weeks to respond. Keeping in touch is just not as important to most guys. Not that guys don't want to respond, they just don't give it the high importance that we females do...please let me know if I am wrong guys. But for us girls it means everything....if you're not communicating through blogs, emails, IM'ing, phone, in person then there is no friendship.And while commenting on a blog doesn't necessarily equate to friendship...it is a form of communication, which is probably the most vital part of a friendship/relationship for females.

My response was so long I decided to make this whole post about it. Basically, I've noticed in my life that often, females seem to be more relationship-oriented whereas males seem to be more task-oriented. In other words, girls often tend to be more "in touch with their emotions" and value friends whereas guys are often out trying to accomplish some kind of specific task, not usually as concerned with keeping old friends close.

This leads to men more effectively interacting when they are in-person or in actual physical closeness, rather than through alternate communications. This argument is horribly difficult to defend, because there are several cases of men who are good at keeping up letter-writing, emails, phone calls, chats, etc. In fact, I consider myself to be one of those men. However, I know that I have a harder time keeping in touch with my guy friends than I do with female friends. Other than Scott, the only responses I'm able to get from guy friends are usually when we're actually hanging out. I have a friend here at seminary that I never see, and that never answers his phone when I call, but whenever he runs into me, he invites me to go hang out with him.

Please keep in mind that I realize that my understanding includes a broad stereotype, and is NOT the absolute standard for human relations. I personally think that this stereotypical understanding comes from the fact that our society tells us growing up that as men we are to be "conquerers" and out accomplishing tasks whereas women are taught to value life and relationships more. I hate blaming things on "society" and hate when people brush problems off to "societal shortcomings," but let me offer you an example of what I'm saying. Last night I was thinking about how i've never been hunting, and that many of my guy friends would make fun of me for that, yet I don't know a lot of girls that go hunting. Therefore, it's as though my masculinity may be called into question, over such a simple thing.

How does all this relate to Kari's comment? Because I think that in a (perhaps ignorant, close-minded) way, it further considers this difference between men and women, this tendency for women to enjoy emailing, talking on the phone, keeping a "diary" and evaluating relationships more, while men are bad at responding to emails, don't like phone conversations, and don't often spend as much time discussing with their guy friends "what it was supposed to mean" when some girl said such and such. I hope that I don't sound like "Mr.Wild-at-heart" and I hope you all realize that I am saying all this from my presuppositions and that I don't believe that this is some absolute standard, I just think it tends to be a trend in gender stereotypes that is fairly accurate, given that there are always exceptions (the very fact that I've devoted already several posts to relationship-oriented topics proves to already weaken my argument).

In fact, I don't believe I've solved anything, but simply furthered the question. Blaming things on "society" is too weak. I need something more substantial. Readers: can you help me? Are girls more relational/relationship-centered than guys? Why are we guys better at communicating in person than we are on the phone and through emails?

Disclaimer: Please offer arguments that are fully void of attacking anyone's character or person, no matter how violently it attacks their argument itself. Any comments meant to slander another commenter will be removed.

Are there more girls in the blog world?

2005-11-10T00:39:00.000-05:00

Someone pointed out on a former comment post that there are quite a bit of girls that comment on my blog. This brought up a question to me: Are there more girls in the blog world, or are my posts and my blog simply just more "female friendly"? Granted, there are a couple posts that I have specifically addressed to female readers, and this was largely because of the fact that I realized that some girls occasionally read my blog. However, I submit to you that it's simply a fact that more females than males are internet savvy.

Here is my defense:
1. At my school, I have many more male than female friends, yet almost none of my male friends have blogs, whereas almost all of my female friends have blogs.
2. The comments on my female blogfriends posts are mostly from females, and the comments on my male blogfriends posts are also mostly from females.
3. The female "buddies" in my buddy list are online throughout the day, but the male buddies are almost never there.
4. Internet dating sites always exploit women in their ads. Why are they so relentlessly targeting men with their ads instead of women? My assumption is that they have enough women enrolled in their services already.

These are just a few arguments. Please note that these are generalizations, and I realize that there are always exceptions to generalizations, but I personally think this describes a majority truth.

Another thought: is the blog world becoming the next meeting grounds for singles? To test this theory, I will post this picture of me and my girlfriend to see if it affects the number of comments on my blog left by girls.

Now, this post is up for discussion, and I will be back to respond to comments on a regular basis, but I won't be able to post again for a few days because of my workload. Oh, and add me to your facebook friends group. I just signed up.

PS: For all those who didn't know, YES I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND. She's a really sweet girl, she encourages me to be a better Christian, and I know that I'm very blessed to have her in my life. Actually, Scott and Bradley are about the only two people I have told. This weekend when I was in Georgia I had the opportunity to meet her parents, who are really kind and very fun people. I don't normally write about my personal dating life on my blog, but there you have it.

Remembering the Civil War

2005-11-08T10:28:00.000-05:00

"I'm A Good Ol' Rebel" - this is the song the bluegrass band belted out as I stood by a tent near the reenactment site. "I hates the nasty eagle, with all his brag and fuss; but the lyin', thievin' Yankees - I hates' em wuss and wuss." - the band performing it was named "Un-reconstructed." Tents were lined up selling all kinds of civil war era products. There was even a tent where you could buy clothes from that time period, and apparently it was the thing to do, to get into character. There were many men and women who came to the reenactment dressed as though it were still that time period.

It's so funny how into this part of their heritage these people are. I actually must say that I've never in my adult life been to a civil war reenactment (I went as a child, I think, because my elementary school took us on a field trip). But Saturday, I sat there watching this, looking around at all the families and honestly wondered to myself what kind of people these are. Are they all "rednecks"? Are some of them simply just bored and didn't have much else to do? Are many of them, like myself, just curious about what exactly a Civil War reenactment entails, and therefore present simply as spectators trying to observe this part of a dying Southern Culture?

I watched the Dixie Flag flying back and forth as the rebel troops hollered and charged forward. The flag waved ceaselessly until the end of the battle. It made me sad, because so many people died, hoping that this flag would fly over their land as a separate country. It was pointed out to me that dying to protect the flag's flying over a land is exactly what the North was doing also. But it's not the same. When we [the U.S.] declared independence from Great Britain, many of their soldiers died trying to keep us from seceding, from splitting away from the Motherland, but they failed. The United States seceded, and this victory has led to the blessings of all the freedom we have today.

In the same way, the South was fighting for independence from the North, but didn't get it. So many deaths only led to continued Northern agression, such as Sherman's March:

"For thirty-six days that army moved through Georgia, with very little opposition, pillaging the countryside. It was a sort of military promenade, requiring very little military skill in the performance, and as little personal prowess, as well trained union troops were deployed against defenseless citizens."

It's sad how many lives were lost in vain. The war was not only about slavery. Call it the war of the Rebellion, or the war of the Northern agression, but anyone who's studied it knows that slavery was only a side issue, and Northern agression and Southern rebellion have still survived, even though the war is supposedly over. Whatever region you're from, I recommend going to a reenactment sometime, it's a great history lesson.

Pae Mor Munee (or read this and save $5)

2005-11-02T18:52:00.000-05:00

Don't buy the Chick-Fil-A calendar this year! This is a detailed list of what the coupons will get you: (with each coupon, you have to buy something, so ultimately you spend about $75 + tax and get about $15 back)

You Must Buy:
1. Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich
2. Fruit Cup
3. 4-piece strips
4. Any Combo
5. Cool Wrap
6. Any Sandwich
7. Chargrilled Chicken Salad
8. Any $20 purchase
9. 2007 Calendar
10. Nuggets Party Tray

This comes to about $75 before tax, not to mention that you've already spent $5 on the calendar at this point.

Here's what you get for "Free":
-Small Soup
-Bottle of Water
-Small Ice Cream
-4 Large drinks
-2 Chicken Salad Sandwiches
(cheapest sandwich on menu)
-2 Gallons of Tea

Notice that almost all of the "free" stuff is some type of liquid, which is the biggest markup in fast food. I like Chick-Fil-A, but I implore you, PLEASE do not buy the calendar this year.

Stress of Rumors

2005-11-02T11:32:00.000-05:00

Jessica Simpson and her husband, Nick Lachey (AKA "that guy married to Jessica Simpson") have been under a lot of pressure from the media to have problems. It's like everyone wants them to have major marital problems and perhaps even split up. WHY? Why can't everyone accept that they're married? Because our modern media world has no respect whatsoever for the permanence of marriage. Once a celebrity marriage gets old, everyone wants them to split up so that they can watch the drama of the celebrity marrying someone else.

This pressure has sent Simpson to a psychologist. It's nice that she's seeking help to work through her problems. What's alarming is that she told Teen People magazine, "I respect knowledge of the psyche. I would be a therapist if I weren't an entertainer."See Article

Now I actually find myself hoping that she doesn't leave the entertainment field. Could you imagine going to her for counseling?

Ghosts on Camera

2005-10-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

Last night I was photographing some decorated houses. I liked this house because it's original. Unlike traditional Halloween decorations, this one has an alien theme, and you can't tell, but the house is all wrapped in aluminum foil.

What's really interesting about this picture is that if you look closely, you can see that there were two ghosts standing in front of the house.

Happy Reformation Day!!

Girls we need your help PART 2

2005-10-29T16:21:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all of you ladies who commented on my previous post entitled "girls, we need your help." Your comments were much appreciated and very insightful. I've actually had guys come up and thank me for provoking this wisdom from you and also expressing what many of us have a hard time understanding. I was not speaking for myself only.

[Before I get further into this, I'd like to mention to any married readers that this is mainly an appeal towards single readers, and since I know many married couples, I'd love for you to please leave comments from an "off the market" point of view that you feel may be helpful. ]

A comment on the aforementioned post brought up the question: "how can women guard guys' hearts?" This question has been quite a topic in my life as I've seen many close male friends of mine get their hopes up and tell me all about girls that were giving them the "signs," only to see them downtrodden later and hopeless about dating. So let's start by defining what kind of girl typically finds herself in this situation. It is my theory that it is usually one of two types:

1. The type of girl that is so attention starved and needy for male presence that she leads guys on left and right, (most often, these are the "damsel in distress" girls who suddenly become helpless whenever a guy's around)
2. The kind of girl that is genuinely just friendly, but unintentionally draws guys in. It is this group of girls whom I now address...

**Please understand that, much like was discussed on the previous post, if a guy develops a crush on you, he will be most obvious, usually, because we guys just aren't as good at "giving hints" as we are about being straightforward. If he begins to give you any special attention that is atypical of how he treats other girls (i.e. offering to get you coffee or pick you up lunch, going out of his way to walk you somewhere, offering little acts of service, etc) then there is a good chance that he has some kind of hopes, not necessarily for marriage (don't freak out here) but at least to get to know you better, perhaps thinking it may lead to a relationship. Being aware of this, it's important that you don't think that because he's doing these things, that he's just "being nice." Most guys don't have time to waste being THAT "nice".

So how do you prevent yourself from the awkward situation of having to tell him you don't care about him that way? One obvious strategy is to read the "signs" he gives you, and if you feel like he's beginning to offer you his heart, don't accept it. I know too many guys who are just a big disappointment when it comes to guarding their own hearts, and they "fall in love with every girl who gives them the slightest bit of attention" (quote from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). You can't really help it when this kind of thing happens; that's more a matter of immaturity on the guy's part. You can, however, usually see it coming a mile away.

It is also important that you realize that not all (and probably not even most) guys are like this. There are those instances when a guy is simply a friend of yours, and the next thing you know, he has a crush on you. What's the best way to approach this? I offer to you a non-exhaustive list of a few steps that can be taken to prevent the breaking of hearts, and could be applied to almost any kind of guy, whether he be the hopeless romantic or the "just friend" turned accidental crush (this list may grow as I think of more).

Steps to prevent having to break a heart (for girls):
1. Don't spend time alone with the guy who's interested in you (if you're not interested in him), under ANY circumstance.
2. Don't be the one who invites him to do stuff with a group of people, (and especially not alone) - find someone else to do it.
3. If he starts to act like you two have a special bond - play it off as though he's being humorous.
4. Don't talk about relationships with him. DON'T!
5. Accept compliments with "thanks" and leave it. Nothing more.
6. If he offers to go out of his way to do nice things (special attention) for you, don't accept it.

Keep in mind that in being careful of your own actions, you are also protecting your integrity and image, because most guys aren't romantically attracted to a girl who has a lot of guys around her all the time. Another thing to keep in mind is that it's best to give the guy the benefit of the doubt if you're not sure whether he's interested. If he's being ambiguous, continue on as though nothing were different, or you may insult him by rejecting him when he hasn't made any advances. (**The reason for this precaution mentioned above)

Finally, it's not your job to guard a guy's heart. It's his own job. A guy who is no good at guarding his own heart is not able to be a good spiritual leader in a relationship. It's your job not to take it into your own hands.

Coming soon...

2005-10-29T05:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've almost finished this infamous "post" I've been working on, but it's way too late/early to decorate it and work on the aesthetics, so I'm going to take a nap.

Has anyone clicked on the "scary sounds" links in the previous post? Do you recognize it?

I actually have about 5 posts in draft form - will be publishing them soon hopefully. My little sister and her husband will be in town this weekend. I'm going to subject them to Elizabethtown.

Today the Dawgs play the Gators. Depending on the outcome, I will be either severely upset and need consolation, or incredibly happy.

Reformoween or Hallowmation Day?

2005-10-26T10:23:00.000-05:00

How do you celebrate Reformoween? I was never allowed to trick-or-treat growing up, because my mother told us that it was "celebrating the devil's birthday". It's da devil, Bobby Boucher!

So I was pretty sheltered. But looking back, it's probably for the better. Think about Halloween decorations. What is celebrated most during this time of year? What most stands out to me are all the images of death. Sure, there are the nostalgic memories (and I'm sure all of you can relate) of the smiley jack-o-lanterns and different cut-outs the teacher would pin up on the particleboard in elementary school, as well as other comforting images of Autumn. And then there's all those Peanuts cartoons and other Halloween movies/cartoons that take us back to the innocence of what was really not much more than "candy day" from a child's perspective.

Then there's the sadness of haunted houses. Each year, for the lofty price of about $12, roughly the gasoline cost of driving your car one mile down the road to Taco Bell, you can walk through a haunted house. I went last year to one called the "frightliner," a cruise boat at Waterfront dressed up like a haunted house, and was quite distraught at the celebration of death. Glorified in every room were images of human bodies being mangled, mutilated, and defamed in numerous dishonoring manners. Again I call to your attention that this is a celebration of the destruction of God's image (human bodies), an apalling thing to celebrate, all for the sake of trying to elicit a "scare" from the viewers.

"Will you escape Dementions, or will you become trapped in torment for eternity as yet another one of its soulless prisoners? Admission is $12.95"
See all of the ridiculous "attractions" that center around Halloween here in Louisville

So for $12.95 you can find out if you'll lose your soul or not. Neat. I'm just glad it's not 13 whole dollars. That would just be too much.

Isn't there a reason that these images are considered "scary?" It bothers one's psyche because it's not the way we were created to exist. We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, not to celebrate the mutilation of His image which He's shared with us. It's amazing that people who whine about the bloody scenes in The Passion of the Christ (which are meant to represent the horror of sin's consequences) are the same people who go out and entertain themselves to the greater levels of gore and destruction at haunted houses.

This Halloween, let's make it about the reformation and liberation from the religious audacity of Papal rule. And if you're Catholic or "non-religious," I urge you to at least abstain from finding pleasure in human destruction.

Special Thanks to Jeannine for the sunset
Scary Sounds: Let Loose , Scary

Engagement Annoucement

2005-10-21T11:30:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to David and LeAnn on their engagement! He proposed to her at Lake Tuscaloosa in her home state of Alabama about a week ago. We wish them the best as they plan for their wedding and prepare for a married life of full time service to God. Currently, they have plans to move to Scotland after their wedding.

Red & Black and Disappointing All Over

2005-10-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

I'm so sad to report this, but I'm delaying our scheduled topic (to which I have been giving a great deal of thought) in order to address something terrible that Jeannine informed me about today. I want everyone to know how much it pains me to see the way so many women are allowing themselves to be mistreated and abused, selling their bodies for dollars.

Today, an article ran in UGA's newspaper, The Red & Black, concerning "strip clubs". The sad thing is that the article heavily promotes the use of these clubs and markets them as something wonderful that the general public is missing. Throughout the article, the author tries to normalize the frequenting of the clubs. He writes

the truth of the matter is that, from the standpoint of a guy with a girlfriend, going to a strip club is less about lusting after someone else and more about the visual enjoyment of what is, in reality, a pretty odd spectacle. There’s an interesting sense of camaraderie among friends who go to a strip club together, since you’re sharing such an absurd experience and saving each other the embarrassment of being that creepy guy who goes to the strip club alone.

Yeah... so now you're a group of eight creepy guys at a strip club together. It doesn't make it any better. Maybe these guys feel justified in their actions, but the bottom line is that they're promoting the exploitation of the women who work for the establishments. These women are selling their bodies for dollars at a time. A price is put on the image of God, a price that is disgracefully unworthy.

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:27

These women, these "image-bearers" of God, disgrace the One who gave them that image. And it's a two-way street. The guys who go there are fooling themselves into feeling fulfilled by an empty offering of flesh that will, like a drug, leave them even emptirer. A God-given desire for a meaningful relationship is distorted and the world's offering is a temporary fulfillment of carnal desires. As these anything-but-gentleman clubs present women in their humility, guys ogle them and make them into mere objects, dehumanizing them and viewing them as nothing more than "entertainment."

Because of a God-given desire to connect to another human being in a deep, committed, meaningful relationship, (Gen 2:18), sex has become something that is openly marketed. Respect for the opposite gender is being thrown out the window as women become more aware of men's inability to control their physical passions, and men continue to view women as nothing more than objects for entertainment.

They are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. Phil 3:18-19

This author has evidenced that he finds "glory in his shame" as he deems something that is truly unrespectable and shameworthy to be "quite an attraction" and "well worth the money." And so another tasteless journalist influences the minds of young college students at another state university.

For a more informed and different gender view on this topic, go to Jeannine's Site

To see an actual picture of the article, click here.

Girls, we need your help

2005-10-19T13:31:00.000-05:00

The other night I went to eat with some friends (before we went to see Elizabethtown) and a discussion came up about how guys compliment girls. Girls, we need your help...

Okay, so a basic characteristic that is common to most girls is starting to be understood; that they need to be reminded regularly that they are beautiful, sweet, kind, intelligent, etc, because of the fact that every day they are being bombarded by tv, magazines, and ads about the ways that they are "not good enough" or don't measure up to societal standards.

Now, here's the problem we encounter as men: As a godly man and desiring to be a good example to our female friends of how a gentleman should treat them and respect them, how are we to approach the whole complimenting aspect of our friendships?

See, this is where it gets tricky: we know that in order to "guard the hearts" of the girls we're friends with, we can't be too loose with compliments, because that will win them over, to an extent, and maybe even to a dangerous extent where they begin to have unexpected romantic feelings or whatever. So how do we, as guys, encourage and build up the self-esteem of the girls around us, expressing that we appreciate them, yet without them thinking we're doing that because of alterior motives?

How is a Christian man to compliment his female friends without sounding shallow or dishonest, yet in a way that doesn't lead them on?

Guys who believe they have something to add are welcome to comment as well.

Evening Flight

2005-10-18T06:15:00.000-05:00

Some of you already know this, but I had an interview this weekend at a church in Atlanta. I left Saturday evening and flew out of Atlanta. It was an awesome day: Florida LOST! Notre Dame, however, was robbed. So leaving Louisville, I had an amazing view of the moon over the city from my plane window, as at the time I was facing East.

When the plane turned around, there was a beautiful sunset just waiting on me. For those of you who know me, you know I'm a bit of a sucker for beautiful sunsets. This one was great. What a glorious creation. This sunset picture was taken over Nashville. Quite a populated city, as you can see from the photo.

Speaking of populated, it was dark when I arrived over Atlanta (see picture) and you can see how lit up the city is.

I got to my hotel room and there was a KING size bed waiting on me. It would only be cooler if there was a picture of "the king" from Burger King on the pillow. I can count the times I've had the opportunity to sleep on a king size bed, and that number doubled this weekend I think.

I had to jump on it before I took this picture, which is why it's not made. I've always had a twin bed, and I can tell you that as a single person there's really no need for a huge bed. I mean, seriously. Maybe those of you single people with huge beds can tell me why I'm wrong. This is up for discussion, but I personally just found the rest of the bed to be a big waste, to be honest.

Elizabethtown reviewed

2005-10-15T08:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I got to go see it last night. The settings of a movie can really affect an experience. First of all, I'm in Louisville, and most of the scenes were shot here in town, so as everyone saw the same old streets they drive on everyday suddenly lit up on the Big Screen, they all clapped and cheered. It was like seeing a home movie almost. Can I just say, one of my pet peeves is people who clap in a theater. The actors/director CAN'T HEAR YOU, stop applauding. Applause has to be given to someone.

Secondly, there was a huge girl behind us that kept trash talking the movie, making fun of Kirsten Dunst (calling her ugly and psycho etc - yes, the pot was calling the kettle black), and relentlessly snorting. Yes, snorting. It reminded me of the story of when Jesus sent a legion of demons into a herd of swine. She wouldn't stop cussing about the actors, story line, etc. She was just trying to get attention, but people didn't come to the theater to give her attention.

Aside from external factors, I also had my own biases influencing my experience. Having lived here for over 3 years, and knowing the town very well now, I have to say it was rather exciting to see my world from the point of view of someone who doesn't live here. Crowe really brought out a lot of the beauty of the area.

Concerning the movie: Kirsten Dunst, who I typically don't like (I think she's often overrated) did a great job with the Southern accent, really brought life to the character, and after the movie I'm a bigger fan of her now. Orlando Bloom also acted the character he was portraying well; a guy on a downward spiral after a big crash in his business.

I would almost say that this was the Garden State of the South, but I'm not going to because I actually think that as a story it upstaged Garden State, although Zach Braff did a much better job than Orlando Bloom. The soundtrack is, I think, my new most favorite soundtrack of all times in any movie. I'm going to have to go buy it.

I left the movie realizing that I was falling for the idealistic, overly romanticized fantasy of relationships that never really happens. Chick flicks don't do that to me because they're always so unrealistic, but I wouldn't classify this movie as a chick flick because there was too much depth in the storyline, and some of it's almost realistic (specifically when they're up all night talking on the phone - we've all been there). It definitely made my car a lot emptier and lonelier on the way home. However, I would recommend it to everyone.

Grade: A-

AMENDMENT: You may entirely disagree with me, because according to my cousin Sara and a couple of friends of mine, this movie wasn't that great, and I'm overcrediting it. Well, you make the decision and let me know what you thought. Like I said, I have a biased opinion.

Here's a funny site making fun of romance novels

Chili's Babyback... Metal Shards?

2005-10-13T22:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, a couple nights ago I went to Chili's with a buddy, and we were served a metal strip in our chips & salsa. I have included a picture of it. This is NOT A HAIR.

The manager came out and justified that such may be a result of the deep fryers stripping from the wear of time, but had I bitten into this, it might have scratched my 24k Gold tooth. Be cautious of what you are eating next time you dine out.

pre-Elizabethtown

2005-10-13T11:14:00.000-05:00

I really want to see Elizabethtown. It comes out tomorrow night. Anyone up for going?

Does anyone know where Elizabethtown (referred to as "E-town") is?

Elizabethtown is about 45 minutes south of where I am in Louisville, and they actually filmed some of the movie there. Now, I'm sure there's a good chance they make southerners look like a bunch of mentally challenged morons, but that's Hollywood for you (consider the similarities between a mentally challenged Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump and a southern Tom Hanks in The Green Mile).

Regardless, I really enjoy movies set in the South... I guess because the settings remind me of home, no matter how inaccurate the actors are at portraying actual people from there.

The worst fake southern accent in a major movie that I've EVER heard: Nicole Kidman in Cold Mountain, although I'm sure that some of you have probably seen worse. So where's the worst fake southern accent you've ever heard (in real life or on a movie)?

See this article about Elizabethtown. (Saturday I will edit/add to this post a review of what I thought of the movie.)

Saturday: See my review

What was your blankie?

2005-10-12T12:16:00.000-05:00

Growing up, my sister always had to have her "blankie" at night so she could go to sleep. Do you remember The Brave Little Toaster? Blankie was such a wuss. Anyway, she had it until she was in about late elementary school, I guess. Some people grow out of needing something to cuddle with, but some don't. Sara actually had a teddy bear she cuddled with, "Mr. Bear," until she was well into college. In fact, it was replaced by her husband, Scott, although I bet she secretly still takes naps with Mr. Bear when Scott's not around.

I never needed anything to sleep with. I found that I was always uncomfortable with anything more than a couple pillows. I did, when I was very young (before kindergarten), have a little stuffed otter that I'd gotten from Sea World, but I don't think that I ever kept it in the bed with me, because it would've woken me up, or at best ended up on the floor.

I have always had some kind of strange fascination with otters, though. Well, until I was at a high school prom and this weird guy named Mike got the brilliant idea that even though everyone was eating dinner, he should break the silence (which he misinterpreted as an "awkward silence") so he shouted "I'm an otter!" ... no response. Man... high school can make or break your self-esteem, and outbursts like that can cost you a lot of popularity (i.e. Howard Dean).

The next morning we told Uncle Philip (aka Beasley) about it, and he said, "well, what do you expect from a guy who is odder?" That Bease!

So what is it about holding something familiar that makes you sleep better as a child? And why is it that some people never grow out of this? Specifically, why is it that girls are not made fun of for having stuffed animals in bed with them, even when they're in college, but if a guy had a teddy bear at, say the age of 21, his college buddies would probably make fun of him relentlessly.

Well, either way, I'm glad for the differences. Maybe women get used to holding fuzzy teddy bears so that when they get older it will be more comfortable for them to have their arms around their fuzzy husbands when they're asleep.

Flesh vs Stone

2005-10-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

In an article by Dr. Zaroff, M.D., he describes the process of removing a dysfunctional valve from the circulatory system of an elderly jew. He describes the valve as one that is "made of stone," and the interesting thing is that he replaces it with that of a pig.

He writes
I would remove his old-as-he-was valve, which was like a locked door. I would replace it with a new one that would allow the blood to freely move from his heart to his body.

He describes the process
The heart is exposed. Then the disease, a talus. More rock than I would have guessed. I remove the valve of rock and suture in the pig valve. A nice fit, I think. Perfect for his heart.

This whole procedure reminds me of what is described in Ezekiel 36:26
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Screen Cleaner

2005-10-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

If you need the inside of your computer screen cleaned, use this Screen Cleaner; it's really effective and will get every last bit of dust out. You don't have to register or download any software, and it only takes a second.

The word for today:

24 For, "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, 25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER."
1 Peter 1:24-25 (NASB)

The dog isn't mine - this picture was emailed to me by a friend. Hope you are all having a great day. It's beautiful this time of year in Kentucky.

Victoria's Secret: The New Look

2005-10-07T10:29:00.000-05:00

In Amsterdam, where prostitution is legal, women stand in windows in red light districts and display their bodies in order to attract "business." These women are presenting their bodies as merely objects, and all for money.

Victoria's Secret has begun to simulate this already. They have a new display; it is no longer women in lingerie in posters but lifelike mannequins that decorate the store's window display. Here is a video link from msn.com to a news review of one of these displays. I didn't realize the severity of this problem until I went to Chick-fil-a in the mall and passed Victoria's Secret where sure enough, they have the same display. I was honestly appalled.

It's not simply that plastic figures are wearing the negligee, it's the positions they are in, and the fact that they are lifelike, with realistic faces. How does a company that spends so much time portraying women as nothing more than objects pull in so much business from women?

It's because of the men in our culture who have for so long placed women's worth on their bodies, and neglected their hearts. Again, like the show "Extreme Makeover" or "the Swan" where women are told they are not attractive, and made to feel that they were worthless until they were made "beautiful" by getting facial reconstruction, breast implants, lyposuction, and several other physical alterations, Victoria's Secret is portraying the idea that in order to be attractive to a man, a woman should sell her body. Remember the slogan on the commercials for Victoria's Secret: "What is sexy?" No longer is a woman's heart valued.

If men would become men and adore and cherish the women in their lives for their character and integrity, we would see a decline in this objectification of the female body, as well as an incline in the movement towards integrity in the women in our society.

In the words of Switchfoot:

Everyone's a lost romantic

Since our love became a kissing show

Everyone's a cassanova

Come and pass me the mistletoe

...

Every advertising antic

I've been a ways with a neon glow

War and love become pedantic

We wage love with a mistletoe

...

[sex], is easier to love

It's easier to lie

-Easier Than Love, from "Nothing is Sound"

***

Proverbs 7:10-27

Behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart... at every corner she lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face says to him, "... Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love. For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey; he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home." With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare, he does not know that it costs him his life... let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death."

***

Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

~If you have a minute, check out Bradley's Controversial Blog about sex~

Other relationship oriented posts: A Beautiful Heart, Attn: Young Singles, When Did We Grow Up

Big Brad Wolf

2005-10-05T00:25:00.000-05:00

I awoke to a THUD on the floor next to me. Apparently my roommate had once again rolled off of the top bunk instead of just getting up like a normal person.
“you alright?”
“Yeah, today’s gumbee some cause Big Brad Wolf today againsm…”

That was about all he said. Then he started eating his coffee. This was his first time ever having coffee. Said someone had told him that you’re supposed to eat it, because it’s a disgrace to God to mix it with water. Well, if there's anything I've learned in my time, it's to not question a sleepy man wearing tiger print.

He got a little spastic, and started looking all around the apartment saying “wheremy wheremy whermy whermy”? It was like he was seeing colors that haven’t been invented yet. This is what I look like when I go into guitar shops.

I tried to orient him by asking, “what do you have to do today, Bradley?” He started telling me all about his plans until 2007, but it only took him 45 seconds, so I handed him a guitar, thinking maybe he could get his energy out on it.

It got a little violent. He started screaming, “AND I THINK TO MYSELF, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD” - a song by Louis Armstrong.

The song took him about 7 seconds to play.

He didn’t like my critique of his musical abilities. Actually, I don’t think he understood me at all.
He said “youretalkingwaytooslowmakenosense!” then smashed the guitar.

I should have known better than to leave him alone. I came in and the room was ablaze, but he was sitting perfectly still. I was speechless. He just looked at me and said “What?” and blinked a couple times.

I turned to leave the room and heard the bookshelf tip over, felt a sharp punch in the kidney, and saw him running out of the room. I didn't get that on camera.

Moral of the story - roommates are awesome.

I'm gonna go have a waffle now.

The waffles are all over the floor.

Pompous Religious Leaders

2005-10-04T10:58:00.000-05:00

In 2001, when the towers fell, Jerry Falwell, backed by Pat Robertson said, "I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...I point the thing in their face and say you helped this happen." Since then, Falwell has apologized. But in the wake of Hurrican Katrina, we're seeing this happening still.

"There's been satanic worship. There's been sexual perversion," Graham said Monday in an appearance at Liberty University. "God is going to use that storm to bring revival. God has a plan. God has a purpose." This much gentler approach still has accusational implications. Implied in Graham's words is that New Orleans was more sinful than other places in the U.S. and is experiencing God's judgment. It may be possible that such is the case, but who are we to say that for sure? These leaders sit on their high horses and condemn places suffering from tragedy. What about the God-fearing, Christ-loving Christians in the New Orleans area that perished? What about New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary? Was God raining down judgment on them?

Job said it best:
I have heard many such things; sorry comforters are you all. Is there no limit to windy words? Or what plagues you that you answer? I, too, could speak like you, if I were in your place. I could compose words against you and shake my head at you. -Job 16:2-4

However, it is just as pompous and pretentious to deem yourself the authority on God's motives by giving an unauthorized promise that the disaster has nothing to do with God's judgment:"the Roman Catholic leader reassured the congregation that God did not cause the hurricane to punish evildoers." (see link above)

Everyone is going to such extremes! The hurricane is a result of the sinful nature of mankind. See the verse at the top of my blog: nature groans against itself in longing for restoration to God. However, the hurricane is not an indicator that New Orleans was the most sinful place or that God has some special purpose for New Orleans that He doesn't have for the rest of the United States, or more importantly, the rest of the WORLD.

Long ago, towers fell and killed some Galileans. Jesus said

Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish -Luke 13:2-3

The message: that we must all equally turn from our sins and to Christ, because judgment is coming, but applying the hurricane to an act of God's judgment on this city specifically is uncalled for. Any comments or divergent viewpoints are welcome, so long as they are mature, tasteful, and free of expletives. I reserve the right to censor comments, or remove inappropriate ones.

NOTE: Literally MINUTES after I posted this, CNN updated this article with new info that Graham part 2 has given the statment that he DOES NOT believe that this was an act of God's judgment. See how effective my blog is? The link will take you to the updated article. Thanks to Del Shaffer for catching that!

The Sudanese Genocide: A Brief Synopsis

2005-10-02T23:43:00.000-05:00

I was originally going to write a post reminiscing about the days of 12-minute worldwide news on Channel One in middle and high school, but then when I went to their website, I became aware of the genocide going on in Sudan. How is it possible that I wasn't even aware?!

Then it occurred to me that maybe some of you aren't aware either, so take this link to Channel One's website, and it will give you a very quick tutorial of what's going on. It won't take much of your time.

If you're already aware, take this link to see how much you know about gas consumption (a neat, quick quiz).

Please pray for Sudan. It breaks my heart to see that these people are being killed.

Invest in Disney?

2005-10-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

Legal Disclaimer: I have no stock investments in Disney, nor am I in any way a company owner or shareholder.

Throughout my life, I've thought of things I wish I could go back in time and tell my parents to invest in. Have you ever wished you could do that? For instance, back in the 80's I wished my parents would have invested in Gatorade and Nike, because at school I noticed that everybody who was anybody had a pair of Nike Air shoes, and you started seeing Gatorade everywhere, because for a while it was the only sports drink on the market. I also wish my parents could've invested in Coca-cola; think of all the people now who are related to someone who "has a bunch of coke stock" and is wealthy now. I personally know of quite a few of these people. If you look at the ring in the picture, you'll see "CocaCola" in the markings.

Then in 1997, Dell was released on the market. No one had heard of it, HP and Gateway were the big deal, if you weren't using Apple products. My econ teacher told me to invest in it. "Invest what?" I thought. Now look at Dell. Everyone I go to school with has one.

Now about Disney; Eisner has just been replaced, and a new CEO will be stepping in. His name is Iger (kinda like "Igor"). For you Southern Baptists, remember that there is no longer a boycott (although many of you might not have even realized that there was one to start with). Iger comes in trying to jumpstart Disney's business. Here's why it's probably a good idea to invest: On top of the fact that there will be a change in management, the stocks are at a low right now, and this is just before the release of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

For more about Disney's power transfer, see http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P131161.asp

I've been tagged!

2005-09-28T23:35:00.000-05:00

Man! This is like a chain email.
7 Things

...I plan (hope) to do before I die:
- Get my inventions patented
- Learn to floss with my toes in case my hands get cut off
- Learn to walk on my hands in case my toes get cut off
- Swim across the Atlantic
- Stop setting unattainable goals
- Count to seven

...I can do
- Play the guitar
- Be a friend
- Find the best places in any town to go out to eat
- Procrastinate and make good grades
- Have fun with almost anybody in the world
- Bore people to death with a blog post about myself
- Correctly spell the word "definitely" (most people spell it "definately")
- Count to eight

...I cannot do
- Hackey Sack
- Hold a grudge
- Hear a tree falling in the forest if no one's there to hear it
- Listen to Micheal Jackson
- Always be taken seriously
- Tie my shoes
- find a girl at Georgia tech's campus *(j/k, Becca)*

...that attract me to the opposite sex
- A kind heart & love for Christ and the Church
- Musical/Artistic abilities (including scrapbooking)
- Southern culture/raised in the south
- Likes college football (especially UGA)
- Long hair & nice fingernails
- A good sense of humor
- An understanding of reformed theology

...that I say most often
- "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"
- "I will never say the same thing twice"
- "Please don't tag me on your blog"
- "Bradley, stop breaking things"
- "60% of the time, it works every time"
- "What just happened?"

...celebrity crushes
- Kate Beckinsdale
- Heather Locklear
- Rachel McAdams
- Reese Witherspoon
- Charlize Theron (Sometimes- i.e. in "Italian Job" but NOT "monster")
- Jennifer Garner (I just wish I had time to watch Alias -Sara, can I borrow your dvds?)
- I had to strain to think of those...

I don't want anyone else to waste their time doing this.

Girls (or lack thereof) on Campus

2005-09-26T02:56:00.000-05:00

HA HA... This goes with my last post. My brother describes the situation on our campuses (mostly male students) best when he writes:

"I thought I saw a female the other day on Georgia Tech's campus (a very rare occurence), but it was probably an optical illusion, like a mirage or something. still, I told all of my friends, and we sounded the alarms, they're probably still searching the campus. Right now, I'm relying on God taking one of my ribs and creating a woman for me...cause that'd probably be easier for Him than finding a girl on georgia tech's campus."
- See Comment posting (by Jeff) on this blog, article "Attn: Young Singles"

Yes, Jeff, it's a strange dilemma indeed. As the old saying goes, "Nice guys always finish last." But the bottom line is that they finish in God's time (see Matthew 19:30). The picture is not seminary guys, it's Navy guys.

Boys and Learnin'

2005-09-26T02:05:00.000-05:00

Apparently guys don't like to study as much as girls. Or could it be that girls are more ambitious? I never would have guessed that there are that many more guys in schools than there are girls (I knew there was a slight difference), because I go to a school where guys are all I see. I would guess that there's about a 99% male ratio in my degree program. In fact, in my first two years here, there were only about 12 girls in all of my classes combined. So I forget how the real world works.

Currently, 135 women receive bachelor's degrees for every 100 men. That gender imbalance will widen in the coming years, according to a new report by the U.S. Dept Of Education...Nearly as many men are behind bars or on probation and parole (5 million) as are in college (7.3 million).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050923/cm_usatoday/biglackofmenoncampus

Why are there more women than men?

And then you have a disgusting thing happening on the "music scene"...

The "Cancer Dance" - We are soon going to be able to listen to a person's body being attacked by nature. Why would anyone want to enjoy the sound of degeneration and decay of human life? I would say that it's sick that people may find themselves in dance clubs celebrating the sound of an approaching death, but then that would be overlooking the fact that if they are in a dance club dancing, the chances are good that there are much worse things that they're "celebrating" such as adultery/cheating, drug use, murder, physical abuse, and the list of disgusting things could go on all day. Check it out...

British electronic music whizz Matthew Herbert is hoping to become the first musician ever to use the sound of cancer in a dance track..."My new record is going to be a disco record. So people might be out having a good time on a Saturday night but they might be dancing to a disco record and the beats are made from cancer," he smiles.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050924/od_afp/afpentertainmentmusicbritainfoodoffbeat_050924051705

He Smiles. I cringe.

Where I am

2005-09-26T00:05:00.000-05:00

All right, the seminary is giving us a fall break, so I'm taking it. I'm in West Palm Beach, FL. And yes, I brought my homework, because there's always down time, even on beach vacations. I don't know how often I'll be online this week, but hopefully a lot, so I'm going to try to post pictures of my week when I get home, but for now it's serious bloggin time.

Work at Hollister?

2005-09-23T21:45:00.000-05:00

When I was in college, I was really kind of oblivious to what goes on at Abercrombie & Fitch's headquarters (the objectification of women and men through their quarterlies and posters), so I went to work there. Yes, with a lot of my friends. I walked in the store, and they said, wanna work here? So I figured why not? I mean, I got a ton of clothes for less than everyone else who shopped there got them.

Then I got to grad school, and I realized that the Christian community had a BIG problem with them.

A week ago I went into Hollister (owned by Abercrombie) and was approached about the "manager trainee" program. I told the sweet girl (and she was really sweet) that I'll be moving back to Georgia soon (Lord willing), but I might consider working part time, as a "brand rep." I went in for an interview today, and it seems promising. I don't need the money, I just thought it'd be fun since I have a friend who works at AE and he gets to meet a lot of people, it's a great social network.

My dilemma: As a seminary student, would it be unethical for me to work for a company that my school is so violently opposed to?

I won't respond to your comments, unless to ask a question in response, because I just want everyone else's thoughts. And this photo is from A&F's site.

A Beautiful Heart

2005-09-22T22:46:00.000-05:00

The Goat: not one of the zoo's most beautiful animals, though it is one of the most docile and friendly animals on exhibit. You can actually go pet them. But which animal is deemed "beautiful?" Many would say the Tiger, or the Lion, or maybe even the "Liger," and yet you can't go near them; they're too dangerous.

Now I'd like to consider "reality makeover shows". Women are told that they are physically unacceptable, and the process of mechanically altering their appearance begins, with the end goal of manufacturing a sense of self-worth. SHAME ON US. How have we come to this point?

LOS ANGELES -- A woman is suing ABC's reality show "Extreme Makeover" for unspecified damages, alleging its decision to cancel her appearance contributed to her sister's suicide
http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=202238&GT1=6955

God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart -1 Samuel 16:7

We have forgotten (or just flat out don't believe) that God has created us in His image, and so we tell people that they need to have that image altered in order to be lovable, teaching them that their hearts are worthless. Now I think this lawsuit is a weak case, but barring the pending lawsuit, look at the bottom line of what happened: A woman is taken and made to have all of the pain of her heart exposed to the camera crews, then she blindly believes that it is because of her physical appearance that she was abused, and finally, she is sent home. Talk about traumatizing. Still, the worst of all of these shows was probably The Swan, whose marketing slogan was "which one of these ugly ducklings will become....the swan?" Not people, not living, breathing human beings, but "ugly ducklings."

People who love someone only because of their physical appearance do not love the person at all. If you know someone who is giving away their body before they are demanding that their heart be loved, please sit down with them and help them to reconsider what their doing. To quote the Counting Crows, "we all want someone beautiful. Man I wish I was beautiful." But what is beauty? We see with our eyes and make quick judgments, and attribute beauty to a spiteful, wicked heart, but deem "worthless" those people whose hearts God treasures and loves so dearly.

"The Max"

2005-09-22T02:24:00.000-05:00

Java (Louisville) - it's like "the Max" from saved by the bell, except without the awesome magician whose tie spins and makes funny noises. I fell in love with coffee shops when I was in middle school (in Georgia) and I went to visit my sister who'd just gone away to Liberty University (in Virginia). She took me to this place called "the Drowsy Poet" which she later told me wasn't even really the best coffee shop in town, but it was in walking distance. I had a coffee, listened to live music, and hung out with college students (I was an early developer, so I fit in okay) and it was the time of my life. I loved coffee already, but the atmosphere and the company were incomparable to anything I'd ever experienced. I learned what it meant to be a student.

There were no coffee shops in my "one horse town" growing up, so as soon as I got to Mercer University (in Macon, Ga) I looked for a good one, and even then they were very scarce. So I got to Seminary (Louisville, KY), and found this awesome coffee shop called Java. Finally, a place to go since "Jittery Joe's" and "Java Rocket" in Athens, where I would go hang with UGA friends. Oh by the way, if you're ever in Athens, I don't know if it's still in business but there's this place on Barnett Shoals called "the Cup" coffee, and they're amazing. Best Carrot cake ever, and they make a great frozen drink called the "frio".

Anyway, this place has rapidly become the most overpopulated seminary student hangout in the city. It's like, if you get some white lights and hang 'em from trees, then put a fireplace in the vicinity, you will never have competition for business again. Why are we drawn to white lights? Why does it feel so comfortable? My guess is that the intimacy of soft lighting always contrasts heavily against the normal lights of classrooms, offices, and other buildings where we work, and it makes us think of home.

Attn: Young Singles

2005-09-22T01:05:00.000-05:00

We've all been there before. You sit in front of an open window on an overcast day, listening to rain approaching. You drive through a mountain pass and see the most inspiring sunset over the valley. You stay up till the wee hours of the night blogging or journaling or... well, just staying up! And in the end, you crawl into your empty bed and wonder why you have no one to put your arms around.

Even grocery stores are always reminding us that we were meant to be part of a couple, in a lifelong relationship (Genesis 2:18). Just consider that you can never buy groceries for one, you have to buy enough to cook for at least two people.

I watched my little sister(best friend) get married this past summer. It was a beautiful wedding. It's really tough seeing the world move on around you and wondering if perhaps there was someone out there you missed. But in all honesty, when people would ask if it was hard for the 3 older siblings in my family to watch our younger sister get married, at least for me I could honestly say no, because being there, you get so caught up in the fun of friends and family gathering for a joyous occasion that you temporarily become numb to the pain of the single life. It's actually harder to go to weddings of people you're only semi-close to because those are the ones where you find yourself alone amidst a happy crowd focused on a happy couple, and in your mind you stand out more like a sore thumb than ever before.

It's in those alone times, though, that you want to get on a world-wide megaphone and say "where are you?!" and just know that you're going to hear a gentle voice through a screaming silence say, "I'm here" and the stress of wondering will all be over. But it doesnt happen that way. Rather, our heart cries out "where are you?!" and no one hears... no one but God. And who else wants our hearts more than God? No one. (Exodus 20:5) But believe me, I know what it feels like to sit and ask, will He reward my patience? Is He going to bring someone into my life? I'm 25, and I have several friends who've been married for years already.

My future wife is somewhere out there, I know she is. But I also know that as much as I long to be with her, our Creator longs to be with us so much more. Now to all of you married people, please appreciate what you have, know that you are SO blessed, and even when the "magic" seems to be gone from time to time, or even most of the time, just remember the days when you were alone, and be glad you're not there now. Appreciate the fact that if you get to go to an exotic island, tour Europe, ski in Colorado, or just stay up late and be silly, you don't have to do it alone.

The Bible: Textbook travesty?

2005-09-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

Probably not... but here's why I even wonder:
Can you really teach the Bible from absolutely no religious angle? That's what they're trying to bring into the public schools now. Everyone's gotta tiptoe around offending everyone else, so now, in order to "circumvent culture war," the Bible Literacy Project has invented a textbook to teach the Bible. How will it be taught? As simply a literary source, a writing that has "influenced" culture, no different than Shakespeare or J.K. Rowlings. What they're trying to create is a politically correct juxtaposition of the Bible and secular curriculum, and we all know how that'll end up. What will happen is that it will be closely and microscopically monitored by people who want to make sure that there is no Christianity being taught, and eventually they will deplete the entire meaning intended in the Bible.

I now draw your attention to quotes from a websites concerning this book:

It was written to respect, but not promote various faith perspectives. -http://www.bibleliteracy.org/Site/News/bibl_news050801_Distinctives.htm

The book... was designed to... teach about the Bible in public schools while not endorsing one religion's view and not offending people of faith... the book must not endorse any religious perspective. For example, it can't say that the story of Adam and Eve represents mankind's fall from grace. That's a Christian view. -http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/politics/12706340.htm

Yes, I'm a firm believer in the effectiveness of God's Word, but I question if we shouldn't keep this out of the school system, because there is a good possibility that it will make people lose the last little bit of respect they do have for the Bible. You can't teach that it's the infallible word of God if you are teaching it as simply a "non-religious literary work." The Bible unavoidably sets the standard of all Judeo-Christian religion. How then are you going to teach the Bible without teaching that there is a proper religious understanding? The answer is to teach it as indefinite in meaning, but God gave it to us so that we would be able to know Him better. Ultimately, however, this book must teach that the Bible is a work of humanity, not the word of God.

On the other hand, this book may usher in a huge revival among teenagers, who wouldn't have normally even glanced at the Bible a second time, and possibly parents, who might not even have a Bible in their home, who may see the textbook laying around. What do you think? Good or bad?

When did we grow up?

2005-09-21T01:20:00.000-05:00

Life really is like a passing vapor. We were kids just yesterday, sneaking notes to each other on the pews at church, or getting mad at those who were doing so because they weren't including us. I went to the wedding of some dear friends of mine this past summer, and there were two children there who just seemed oblivious to everything going on around them. How do you get back to that state of mind?

This picture was taken at Jiri and Cassey's wedding. I have seen several weddings this year, so you will inevitably see some more pictures from them. Jiri grew up in the Czek Republic and Cassey in the Southern part of the U.S. How weird that at one moment in time, Cassey was standing before God somewhere in Texas or Louisiana asking Him to save her, and Jiri at another point in time in a land far far away was asking God the same thing for himself, and their worlds connected in the "midwestern" U.S. last year. I had the privelege of being Jiri's friend as the two of them fell deeper in love and eventually got engaged, so I got to see the whole thing develop. Also, he helped me through one of the hardest heartbreaks of my life. Then I had the honor of being one of his groomsmen, and I got to go to Louisiana and meet Cassey's family, who are so easy to fall in love with. There's nothing like family.

Postmodernism isn't Postmodern

2005-09-20T23:43:00.000-05:00

I am currently being mentored by a doctoral (well, 2nd time post-graduate) student here who is teaching me the "defense against the dark arts" (for those of you who've read Harry Potter) - he's teaching me to defend Christianity, and to learn. Possibly the smartest guy I know.

AMENDMENT: after speaking with David, he has humbly requested that I downplay him because he does not feel that he should receive so much credit... what a humble guy! The most humble AND the smartest! Just kidding... seriously, he wanted me to remind everyone that he is a man just like every other Christian man, no more or less special. And that's important, that we remember we're all special. And if you ever have a chance to meet him, you'll see that he is the farthest from being one of these people that thinks they know everything, so don't let me give you that impression. Notice I said that he's teaching me to learn just as he is an example himself of someone who wants to learn.

I feel that I should take a minute to intellectually challenge my liberal friends. This afternoon, as David and I were discussing postmodernism, I realized that your postmodern leanings are neither post nor modern. Doesn't postmodernism pride itself on being "original" and not bound to any set standards? Yet, if we examine some ancient Greek writings we can see that this idea of "no absolute truths" is not new at all. In fact, there is Nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiates 1:9). Don't believe me? Consider 2000 years ago, that's TWO MILLENIUMS AGO. A man named Pilate asked Jesus himself, "what is truth?" (John 18:38 ESV). What is truth! That is the VERY question that I've been asked by many postmodernists.

Postmodern "thinkers" have this idea that their thoughts are new and cutting edge, but they've simply reverted back to a self-defeating way of thinking (consider: the only truth is that there are no truths; intolerance towards intolerance) that will collapse upon itself, and we can figure what will be the next big thing. Years ago, you had pluralism (jews, greeks, etc) and there was the Greek mythology and nobody knew what to believe. Then Jesus came along to the postmodern world. Paul addressed the Areopagus, where there were so many different "gods" that they even had a shrine to "an unknown god!" Talk about a people with no absolute truths! However, after the truth was brought by Christ and shared by Paul, there was a time of great tribulation for the Christians (consider the early church martyrs).

Okay this is kind of a vague posting, because the seminary internet is all running through a 28K modem I think, and I've already spent over 2 hours on this. Please leave a comment! Speaking of which, ninjas are cool, so you should check out this funny website: http://www.realultimatepower.net/ it is an interesting look into what it means to be a ninja.

Coffee Freak

2005-09-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

"Adums" - one day he's going to be a lumberjack. A lumberjack with a bad coffee addiction. And he'll probably be cutting down trees so that they can build more Starbucks businesses. He said he's going to die from Coffee. He's currently working on chemically engineering a way to carry around an I.V. pouch full of black coffee.

The nickname? Sometimes the Asian students call him that, but his name's really Jerry. I mean Adam. Oh yeah, and don't ever, under any circumstances, EVER, EVER, EVER interrupt him.

Shortly after this picture was taken, he fell asleep.

Starbucks and "the Agenda"

2005-09-20T15:48:00.000-05:00

"Let your yeses be yes and your nose be absurd" -Adam. He told me that he's afraid that he will meet a girl with a really absurd nose, and it will distract him from really getting to know her. He still lives in the glory days of being a "bariste" at Starbucks. Back then he could throw a football 200 yards.

Starbucks is all right, but why do people still go there when there are so many other better coffee shops in a city? I mean, it's like Britney Spears in a cd case with ... nevermind, I'm not even going to finish that one. It's like putting Parachutes by Coldplay in the cd player, and always leaving it on repeat on "Yellow."

By the way, there's an interesting article on Starbucks and the "gay agenda" at the Baptist Press website (picture borrowed from), and I'm not calling for a boycott, but I do think you should be aware of what you're supporting and celebrating. Read the article from yourself, in case you don't have time I'm including a photo of it. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=21387 The adult language is censored out.

What do you think?

My Roommate

2005-09-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

Beatboxing. It's a sort of "forgotten art form," and my roommate's really good at it. For those of you who don't know what beatboxing is, it is when you simulate drum sounds using only your mouth. Bradley (my roommate) could be a competitive beatboxer, if it was still 1987. The only side effect of this talent is that it makes you spit in your sleep a lot. At least you spit in rhythm though.

I'm posting a picture of Bradley and his newest church suit. He's proud of it. He traded in the money he was saving for rims to get this suit, and he's worn it to every interview he's been to for the past month. Keep up the good work Bradley, someone will hire you.

In The Beginning...

2005-09-20T12:20:00.000-05:00

That's right, creation fell apart. Sent into a spiraling disharmony, no longer perfect but slowly degenerating, like my lower back. I fell down the stairs yesterday... why? Because nature is trying to hurt me. Ever been stung by a wasp, bitten by a snake, stepped in something wet with your socks on? That's nature, reminding you that it's not in harmony with itself like it used to be. Look at the demolished city that was once our Cajun paradise...New Orleans is one of many tragic acts of nature, and will not be the last.

An article on MSNBC last night was titled, "'We think we're totally safe and we're not:' Like Aceh, Haiti, Sri Lanka, America learns power of a restless planet". I advise you to look at this article www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9207996/ It's a good reminder that we are in a world that is crying out for restoration. Another example that helps me prove this point is that as I tried to find a name for my blog, I tried almost EVERY word in the thesaurus relating to "disquiet, discord, mayhem, chaos, and restlessness" and ALL of them are taken by bloggers. Everyone's having their own pity party about their lives. It's all part of their own nature, crying out for restoration. Before the fall of man, we didn't have to die, but now we're all approaching death. We're degenerating, decaying, subject to the bondage of aging and decomposing, just like nature. Just look at the picture... a sudden raging storm sends a picnic crowd here at my school into a panic.

My Photography

2005-08-21T10:12:00.000-05:00

My cousin-in-law, Scott, is a great story-writer, and his wife (my cousin, Sara) is very skilled in poetry. They have a sister who is an artist and another sister who also writes, and a brother who is a muscian. I have tried all of these and just feel that I always come out lacking severely, because I compare myself to them and they are so much better. However, I love photography, because I feel that it's a way that I'm able to let others see through my eyes. Scott and Sara have always been encouraging to me to pursue any form of art that I feel passionate about or gifted in, but the fact is that I just feel way to inadequate at anything, because they are so artistic.

This is some of my photography. I don't have an SLR camera or any special equipment, just a plain old personal digital. I have never had any photography classes, but I hope that one day I will have the opportunity to develop this passion of mine.

Reformation Weekend 05

2005-08-21T02:13:00.000-05:00

My sister Jessica and her husband Brandon came up to visit this weekend, and I got to show them around Louisville. We had a blast, as you can see from the pictures below.

Col. Sanders (founder of KFC) - much older than his beloved

The Colonel is our homie

I want to study photography

Jess and Me next to the Largest bat in the world

The Largest bat in the world

Hard Rock Cafe of Louisville - I've never been inside one to this day

Ameroposican Eagle

Brandon, Jessica, and Myself at Waterfront Park

On the other side of the Ohio River is Indiana

Taken from Indiana - the other side of the River is Waterfront Park
(looks like a backdrop huh?)

Sunergos Coffee

2005-08-20T12:06:00.000-05:00

I was mighty thirsty

HELLO! I thought I ordered the large coffee!

Chad Lewis (Nashville bound), Jason Shaw, and Bradley Cochran

Jenny and me

Donnawonna and Piperball Z

This was right when they started, it actually got really crowded about 20 minutes later

Bradley's Debut

Fall Break 05

2005-08-19T11:04:00.000-05:00

I've decided to start downloading pictures but I'm setting them as old posts so that they don't take up the entire front page of my blog. If you've managed to find this, these are pictures of my trip to West Palm Beach over the fall break. It was a good week, and I had the opportunity to spend time with Adam's cousins, Elizabeth, Katy, and Anna Macy, who are part of the Macy kingdom. They were a lot of fun to hang out with, and Katy, if you see this, I hope you don't mind that I posted your pictures, I know you don't like them.

This is where Katy and Elizabeth work, it's called "Bizaare".

A Silhouetted tree at sunset

Katy and me at "Greenberry Coffee & Tea"

"BEACHFRONT AVENUE!!"
Where My Beaches at?!

A Beautiful Cathedral
Enter into His courts with praise
A Beautiful Dinner at Katy & Elizabeth's
Beth & Katy attack Adam because his belt is so horrid
And destroy the belt he's been addicted to since 1994.
Adam gets a new toy for being a good sport
A Cuban restaurant - mmm... good Cuban food
Me and Anna
Anna, Me, and Katy at City Place
City Place - where college students/young adults hang out
The Starbucks where Adam used to work
Katy and Anna
Adam and I guess me (something about this doesn't look like me)
Anna and Katy Macy - heirs to the establishment
Lots of fountains at City Place
Me in the City Place courtyard - too dark in the background. Oh well.
Another City Place fountain
The Intercoastal at night
Downtown area - lots of art and yes, fountains
We stayed up all night and were so tired - this was taken around 5AM.