The tree of knowledge of good and evil

I had an epiphany the other week. It was about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I was meditating on it after a professor of mine taught us about it. I asked him what the point of the tree was. He said it was so that mankind had a choice.

The tree was created so that mankind had a choice? That did not sit well with the little John Calvin that lives inside of me. He is like my own Jiminy Cricket. He comes with a top-hat and everything. I filter all new ideas through his five points. That may be a little dangerous, but it has been flawless thus far.

I started thinking about what could have been the purpose of the tree. I tried using some logic. Here is what I came up with:

1. God is sinless, so He can create only sinless things. The tree was a sinless thing. In and of it self, it was a good thing. The knowledge of good and evil was a good thing.

2. The knowledge of good and evil was holy to God, but separate from man. How can that be? Think logically. Sexuality is holy to a married couple, but separate from the unwed. It is possible for something to be holy to one party, and holy from another.

3. The tree was a manifestation, or alter on earth to show man God's holiness. The way it was supposed to be: Man cultivated the garden, but never partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which was "in the middle of the garden (Gen 3:3)." Man always saw it, stood in awe of it, but never took the fruit. The fruit was a representation of the glory that God gets from knowing the knowledge of good and evil. Man was not to take that glory.
Think of ancient Israel. In the middle of the twelve traveling tribes was the tabernacle. While The Israelites did their ancient Jew thing every day, the cloud by day and the fire by night were manifestations of God's glory. No man (except for the priests at certain times) entered the tabernacle. It was holy to God, holy from man.
Think of the church. As Christian's follow God's will, they look to Christ as the manifestation of God. We all praise Him and love Him, but we do not try to share His glory. We recognize His lordship.
Think of the New Earth. After God destroys the world by letting go all of the atomic particles, there will be a new Jerusalem. The restored kingdom of God as well as Christ Jesus Himself will be the manifestation.

4. When Adam received the knowledge of good and evil, sin sprang up forth in him. The sin brought forth death. It was not as if God had to create a law, it was just simple theological biology. The knowledge of good and evil brings sin. Sin brings death. This is proven in Romans 7:9-11, "9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.

I could quite possibly be wrong, but it makes sense to me. Tell me where I could be wrong. Don't worry. I'm not much of an arguer these days. I'm simply a conversationalist. I don't want to fight with somebody I'm going to spend eternity with.

Truth is truth.

Today in my Christianity and Cultures class, my professor, Dr. Stephen J. Nichols, made an important point about Christianity and truth. He simply stated that it wouldn't matter if nobody believed in Christianity. It would still be true. Think about that for a minute. In our post-modern world where truth is non-existent and nothing can exist except for the perceived, Christianity stands alone.

An unbeliever in this now post-modern world believes that there is no truth. Or there might be truth, but it is simply impossible to find. I offer this argument in form of a dialogue.

Unbeliever: You cannot say that Christianity is truth.

Christian: Why not?

Unbeliever: There is no way to prove that anything is true, so therefore your belief is nothing more than faith, and is as credible as any other religion.

Christian: I see... do you drink water?

Unbeliever: Irrelevant much?

Christian: Just humor me. Do you drink water?

Unbeliever: Of course I do.

Christian: Why do you drink water?

Unbeliever: To stay alive.

Christian: What happens if you do not drink water?

Unbeliever: I'll die.

Christian: How do you know that?

Unbeliever: It's common knowledge. It's elementary, my dear Watson.

Christian: Have you ever died from not drinking?

Unbeliever: No...?

Christian: Have you ever known anyone who has died of thirst?

Unbeliever: I have heard of people who have died from thirst.

Christian: Did you know them personally?

Unbeliever: No.

Christian: So all you did was put your faith in article or newscast that claimed to be telling you the truth, even though you didn't know for sure?

Unbeliever: Yes... what does this have to do with the water?

Christian: What you are saying is that you put your life in the hands of knowledge of anatomy. You don't know anyone who's died from thirst, yet you put your faith in the science that tells you that you need to drink water, and you trust it with your life.

Unbeliever: Yes...?

Christian: So you believe the water theory completely by faith without personal evidence, or question. If you chose to not drink water, you will die. I agree. How do I know that I can agree? I have the faith to believe that the scientists and doctors are right. I do not know because I have never decided to give up water. But yet, I am convinced that it is truth. It is the exact same way with Christianity.

Truth is truth.

The harsh truth.

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

--Romans 8.

He is the counselor

If you don't mind, I'm going to get a little personal. You're all going to get a glimpse into the mind of Nick Garland. Not to worry, I won't show you the confusing stuff that doesn't make any sense. No, sir. That's just for me, myself, and I when I am really bored. No, I'm going to let you know my demons. Now I don't mean actual demons. I'm speaking to the concept of "demons in my mind." Sound crazy? Possibly.

My whole life, I've dealt with feelings of inadequacy. I have thoughts like, "You are so dumb... You're an idiot... You can't remember anything... Everybody knows you're dumb..." And you can imagine how those feelings have had an effect on me. I've never truly dealt with them, and so they have just continued to linger in my thoughts all these years.

Tonight at work, I had them come back to me. I was waiting on a lady, and I thought she said she wanted a pound and a third of sliced cheese. So I sliced her a little over a pound before she kindly stopped me and asked me, "Is that a third of a pound?" I then asked her if she had originally asked for a third of a pound and she sweetly said yes. Immediately the feelings of self-emotional-mutilation took over: "You can't remember anything... how can they say you're so smart when you're such an idiot." And so for the remainder of the night I was in a very fragile mood.

Well about five minutes before my shift was over, I heard a, "Nick, I need some help over here." So I walked over and a coworker of mine was showing me that a slicer's inner screws and such had fallen off. I would try to explain it to you but I think that would be too difficult. Not too difficult for you to understand, but too difficult for me to explain.

After a good ten minutes of confusing, body-contorting work, I worked out a strategy. With some pain, I was able to squeeze on the loose washer and I fixed the blooming thing. After I fixed it, I immediately felt a sense of overwhelming accomplishment. I then gave shouts of satisfaction as I strutted back to my machine.

Not a minute afterward, I realized that God had done that. You see, the Holy Spirit is our counselor. He knew I needed to realize that I can accomplish something. He set up the situation so that I could feel good about myself and a job well done. The demons went away for the night.

Realize that no matter how terrible the demons are in your head, the Holy Spirit is our counselor. Only He can be the One to truly bring your mind rest.

Uzi does it

I enjoy perusing through consignment shops. You make think they are for old ladies, but I happen to think they are for anyone who wants to save a few bucks on clothes.

One time in Kentucky, I was looking through shirts in a consignment shop hoping to find a winner. After fingering through a few racks, a green t-shirt stuck out to me. I pulled back the t-shirts ahead of it, and there was a giant picture of an Uzi on the front. Now if you know me and my political views, you know my love of guns. I am a gun nut (or so I like to think). So you can imagine my reaction to the large caption underneath the picture. Three words:

"Uzi does it."

Perfect. This was the greatest thing I had ever seen. It spoke to me on so many levels. Needless to say, I bought it right away.

When I got back to my grandparents' house, my mom pointed out the fact that it was a size small. I did not even think to look at the size. The shirt was too cool for me to care. Well I tried it on. And let me tell you, I had tried on some small shirts in my day, but this one was tighter than Heidi Montag's face after a dip in the Arctic. I never put it on again.

Why did I buy that shirt? It told me exactly what I wanted to hear. It showed me exactly what I wanted to see. But even though it had a stirring message, it did not fit right.

I feel that too many Christians do the same thing with popular false prophets who call themselves teachers and preachers. If the preacher teaches a lesson that really speaks to us because of our own insecurities, we tend to buy it before checking the size. The next time you hear a compelling philosophy that seems to directly apply to your life, check the size to make sure it fits the gospel before you put it on only to be uncovered, embarrassed.

Fear Nothing

For those of you who don't know, I was once struck by lighting. And just to relieve the suspense: Yes, I survived. It wasn't a particularly dangerous situation, but enlightening nonetheless (Sorry. Couldn't resist). I was seventeen years old, and I was driving to Steph's house. Far off in the distance, I saw flashy charges lighting up the clear, daytime sky. I thought, "Wow. Hope that doesn't hit m..."

BANG!

Everything went bluish white and my car shut off. Luckily I was pulling to a stop anyway. My electronics turned off, but then they turned back on a few seconds later. My response was, "Hey. I was just hit by lightening." So I was a little uneasy, but not freaked out.

Though it didn't harm me, I still would rather that not happen again.

Tonight as I was driving home from Steph's house, I once again saw the lightening off in the distance. I was scared. I admit it. So kind of joking with God I said "God, if you spare me from this storm, I'll become a monk." Any history buffs? If you're not a history buff, that wouldn't make any sense. Sorry. I digress.

After "laughing it off," I prayed, "No really... will you keep me safe, Lord? I really don't want to be hit by lightening again seeing how I'm not stopping the car anytime soon. I don't want to lose control."

His response was humiliating:

"You want me to save you from this storm while you listen to that crap on the radio?"

I was instantly convicted. I turned the dial to WJTL, and was instantly uplifted. Positive song after positive song came on and I enjoyed them all. I started to forget about the storm. After some stupid girly pop song came on I began to contemplate the storm. I don't need to ask God to save me from the storm. He has told every lightening bolt where it should go. He is not fighting against the storm for me. He is directing it. I have nothing to fear. I then entered a worship that I had not felt in a long time.

Friends, storms in this life are not something to be saved from. They are authored by God. When we see lightening destroying the ground around us, remember it's God who is aiming it. We must trust Him to give us joy through it all, and remember that he is in control.

I wasn't allowed to watch Power Rangers.

It's bound to happen. Whenever you talk to people your own age, you reminisce about the past. For people my age, that's childhood. Because our childhood happened mostly in the 90's, we talk about Nickelodeon, the generator of all fun. Then of course we talk about the shows that we used to watch as a kid. The problem is, I can never reminisce about the TV shows, because I wasn't allowed to watch them. Just so you understand, here's how a typical conversation would go:

Friend: Do you remember X Men? I used to love that show!
Me: I wasn't allowed to watch X Men. I reenacted the violence one time at a wedding.
Friend: Really? How about Power Rangers?
Me: Nope. The monsters were too scary.
Friend: Garfield?
Me: Too sarcastic.
Friend: Rocco's Modern Life?
Me: Too gross.
Friend: Pokemon?
Me: Too addictive.
Friend: Ren and Stimpy?
Me: Are you kidding?
Friend: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Me: Too disrespectful.
Friend: BARNEY?
Me: Dinosaurs died in the flood (I'm just kidding about that one.)

As you can see, my parents barely allowed anything on the TV. Back then, it was annoying. But looking back on it now, I am thankful. Besides the fact that it taught me to not rely on television for all recreation, I learned discernment. I know what kinds of things I want to be running through my brain. So I thank my parents for their strictness. It was a blessing from God.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." --Paul, to the Philippians.

Until divorce do us part

Tonight on Hannity, I watched an interview Mr. Sean had with a CEO of a dating website. The controversy was that this website was for married people. Confused? It was a website for married people to hookup and have affairs to "fill the gaps that their marriages had." Disgusted, Hannity tried to pry into why he created the website (marketing infidelity). The man then gave a terrible argument that left it unclear whether or not he thought infidelity is wrong.

After the interview, I turned to my dad and said, "In about thirty years, they're going to play this footage to show how much of a 'bigot' Hannity is for being against infidelity."

It is a terrible thought, but it is true. When we talk about the sanctity of marriage, we are not simply talking about the importance of the relationship being heterosexual. We understand that the two have become one flesh, and they are to forsake all others. Christians agree with that, but for how much longer? We definitely see a liberal view on divorce growing in the church. Try looking for that in the church about fifty years ago.

Jesus Christ said that except for adultery, there is no reason for divorce. If you are married, you are married for life. There is absolutely no reason you can get a divorce if you are a Christian unless your spouse has cheated on you. But today, we see many Christians getting divorces because they had a falling out, they did not get along, or they "were just not in love anymore."

How much longer will it be until we find Christians justifying adultery? If they have already justified divorce, cheating is next. Sound terrible? Sure is. But like all trends, it is a slippery slope. We allow divorce (not to mention premarital sex), so adultery is just next on the list. I do not want to even think about what comes next.

Diet Sin

Most of you know that I work in a deli. And I hope that most of you understand that deli meat doesn't come straight from Athena's olive tree. That crap's terrible for you. Everything we sell is loaded with either fat, salt, or preservatives (oftentimes, all three). One of the funniest things that I experience at my job is when customers want to know the fat content on a certain meat. They ask to see the nutrition facts on the back to see if the sodium content is too high.

I've learned that all these people have been through terrible life circumstances like heart attacks or strokes. Their doctors have told them that they need to change their diets, or they will die.

Event though they can run away from death by simply choosing a healthier diet, they choose to simply find "healthy" ways to eat what they ate before. Let me tell you. It doesn't work.

After considering how ridiculous these people are, I've realized that there are Christians that are the same way with sin. Even though they were saved, they don't want to completely give up their old lifestyles. They claim, "all things in moderation," and feel that if they simply sin less, they are in the clear. That is not what the word "repent" means. Repent means to turn 180 degrees away from your past life and towards Christ.

So if you are a Christian and you are just taking diet sin or sinlite, maybe you should realize that Christ died that we would be slaves to righteousness.

Romans 6:18 "and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."

p.s. The NewChurch advertisement to the right is heresy. I do NOT endorse it.

Turn that thing off!

Both genders have one thing they really like. For girls, it's horses. For guys, it's video games. The problem is that how much they are into one or the other directly affects their attractiveness to the opposite sex. Guys don't typically like girls who are totally into horses, and girls don't like guys who are really into video games. Girls, don't get mad at me, but it's the truth. I can say these things because I'm really into video games, so that definitely takes away my attractiveness. Girls don't understand what's unattractive about horses, and guys don't understand what's unattractive about video games.

I cannot speak for the girls, but I think I understand why we as men are really into video games. There are three aspects that God put into all men, and video games help us excercise them.

First of all, we are geared to domination. When I play a video game, it's not about growing farms and annoying everyone on facebook about giving me a gift. It often involves an M4, a .44 magnum revolver, and a .50 caliber sniper rifle. I then use those tools to eliminate the other players. It's quite rewarding.

Second, we whole-heartedly respect our avatar. Playing with a character who never tires, never hungers, and who is always dependable is someone to look up to. We lose the sense of our avatar being simply digitized polygons, and they actually become a part of us. Typically, the characters are manly men whom we would like to be like.

Lastly, I think God gave men a sense of imagination. Over millennia, men used their imagination to create art, war, architecture, technology, and civilizations. We receive that as a little lad playing with a hook shaped twig that we called a machine gun. But in recent years, the imagination has been looked down on, and so the video game has become our satisfying stay. How sad that when a man has a dream his hopes are dashed by pessimists (often the people he loves most). If we can only return to the state of thinking in mid-1800's San Fransisco that failure is okay.

So ladies, if you want you're husband to put down the controller, first think about his imaginative needs. Give him ideas about creative models where he can exercise his right-brain. Don't nag him, just tell him he'd be really good at doing x or y. We like being empowered. We might even turn that thing off.

Blame it on the rain

I understand that for the next few days, we are going to have yucky weather. All you have to do is step outside for one minute, and you can be depressed the rest of the day. Rain always makes me avoid being outside. I hate feeling cold and wet. It does not hurt me at all, I just do not like it.

But there is one thing that the rain does for me. I realize that after the rain, the air will smell clean, and the grass will be a brilliant green. The earth itself will come alive.

Now if you have been following my blog, you have come to expect me to find a spiritual application in every situation. I will not let you down this time either.

Even though we are the church of God, we are still human. After a while, we lose our vigor, and seem to die. Our leaves turn brown, even though our roots stay strong. When God wants us to thrive again, he revives us by showering us with the Word. We may not like the harsh message He has for us, but we need it. It is cold, wet, and uncomfortable. But after a while, it feels good.

After the time of this revival, we are once again green and pure. We are alive again, ready to praise him with all we got.

It's agony, my dear friends

Have you ever felt grief over losing someone who is close to you? Have you ever felt torture for finding out that someone you love is about to die? Was the person sick? Was it unexpected? Whatever the case, it's agony my dear friends that you feel; or continue to feel.

But as you might expect, this feeling is ancient, for so is mankind. The feelings that are so closely associated with grief are perfectly represented in Acts 20. PAul is finishing his third missionary journey, and he is lead by the Spirit to return to Jerusalem. He does not expect the Jews to take him in as a friend, and neither do any of the brethren in Asia expect anything like that either.

Paul calls for the leaders in Ephesus. He gives a recap of his ministry, but he also makes a point that they will never see him again. This statement is obviously implies that he expects to die at the hand of the Jews in Jerusalem.

Now put yourself in the shoes of the Ephesian elders. The reason that you know Christ is because Paul evangelized to you. He was a spiritual father of yours. You are receiving news that your father is willingly martyring himself. He will die. You will never see him again in this world. He then commands you what to do as a shepherd when he is gone. How do you handle that?

So that is my question. How do you handle that?

Holy Spirit or Coincidence?

I have a silly little story for you. There's no climax, but hey. What do you want? I would like you to analyze the situation, and tell me if the end result was the Holy Spirit's doing, or just a coincidence. I will let all you common sense theologians discern for yourself.

Early this morning, I was getting ready for school. Right before I left, I felt something tell me to take an extra pair of pants with me. I thought this was weird, but I thought, "what the hey." So I went upstairs and looked for my comfy sweatpants. I couldn't find them and settled for my starchy sweatpants. When I opened my backpack to put them inside, my comfy sweatpants were already inside... creepy?

Well then I was off to school in my jeans. I had a pretty uneventful day until lunchtime. If anyone knows Angelo, they know him for his outgoing personality, and his ability to raise a ruckus. Well he was telling a story, and in true Angelo fashion, it ending in his laughing uncontrollably with his entire body. While flailing his arms, he managed to knock over a glass of milk. Low and behold that glass of milk fell right on my lap, drenching my right leg. He felt sorry, and I was mad for a split second. But then I remembered, "Oh wait, I have an extra pair of pants in my car (which never happens)." So I got them out of my car, and now I am typing this dry, warm, and comfy.

Now tell me my little theologians. Was that an act of the Holy Spirit, or was that just a stupid coincidence? I am not sure, so tell me what you think.

Wake Up San Francisco

This semester has demanded my getting up very early in the morning. I hated it at first, but now my body clock is set to get up at 5:45 AM... sort of. But anyway. For the past two days, I have taken advantage of breakfast time. I love drinking a cup of tea with honey after I gobble up my egg. And typical me, I sit there contemplating how I can effectively use my time that I am wasting as I passively sip the steaming drink. And like the true genius I am, I thought, "Oh. I can read my Bible."

For the past two days, I have been reading and contemplating 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I have questions about traditional eschatology, so I thought the Thessalonian epistles would be a good place to find answers. Though I have not come to any conclusions, I have been blessed otherwise. During my quiet time, I have learned to prayer better. I have been specific in my requests, and my praise has been more truthful. But just so you know, I am not patting myself on the back for any of it either. Because I have started my day off with contemplating the scriptures and talking to God, He has taught me how to properly be with Him, praise Him, love Him. He has given me more love to share with others, and so a direct application of that in my life is that I can feel myself loving Steph more.

I would encourage anyone to find a time day of day that cannot be interrupted, and just spend it with the Lord. You will learn so much, and your life and attitude will change.

Do the Helen Keller

A general question given by many atheists is, "How can you believe in a God you don't see?" To be completely honest, most of the time my answer is as general as the question: "By faith." But there is a lot to that faith, much more than I used to understand.

God is a spiritual being. You cannot experience Him via your five senses (even though I argued in a previous post that your emotion can be considered a sense). I cannot taste God, see Him, hear Him, etc. All I know about Him is what I glean from the scriptures, and the happenings in the world around me. Sometimes it is frustrating to have a relationship, and not get to sense Him as I could another friend.

But now I think I know a reason why God makes it impossible for us to sense Him physically.

God is the God of all men. Weak and strong, rich and poor. He has compassion on the able-bodied, as well as the handicapped. If God were tangible, I could experience Him through my senses. But a blind man would miss out. He could not see the awesome glory of God that I do. Someone who lost his limbs in battle would not be able to reach out and touch God. A deaf man could not hear God's voice. Only those who are physically capable would properly worship.

Now let us come back to reality. God cannot be touched, seen, or heard. But because God is not sensed, the handicapped man has the same opportunity for experiencing God as I do. God plays no favoritism.

If you still are not buying my argument, ask a blind man why he believes in God if he can not see him.

Whitey Syndrome

I love working out. I also love saving money. So, I go to Planet Fitness because I get to do both. Now, I am not very strong (or athletic, flexible, coordinated, etc.) so my best is not as great as most of the other muscle machines that go there. My lift is only a little over 100 pounds, and I have seen baseball bats bigger than my arms. I have been this way my whole life, so I have just accepted it. It does not bother me.

But every once in a while, it gets to me. One Thursday night, I was lifting weights in the back room of Planet Fitness. As I was struggling with 100 pounds, I looked around and watched all the superhuman, non-white people. I saw Ving Rhames and the guy from the Green Mile lifting the entire machines themselves. I saw Bruce Lee lift eight pounds for every pound of muscle he had on his body.

Then I looked at my own pasty white self and thought, "Why did I have to be white? I wish I was black. Then I could be stronger. Or at least Asian..."

At that moment, Colored People by DC Talk came on my ipod. I then realized that God was trying to tell me that he made me white for a reason. He purposely decided to make me a pasty white boy with no athletic ability to keep me humble. Well, it worked.

"I tip my hat to the colorful arrangement, 'cause I see the beauty in the tones of our skin.." May I remember these words lest I ever again come down with whitey syndrome.

School of Hard Knocks

Yesterday was Easter. We had a beautiful service at church. Shelly sang a beautiful song on a concept I never thought of before. My mom sang the song I have been listening to her practice all week. The pastor gave an exceptional gospel invitation. And how did I feel? As nervous as a fat guy on a tight rope. You see, I have a pastoral polity class that required me to observe a communion service. I hate the word observe. My pastor knew that, so he let me officiate half of it. I knew the words I had to say, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

I went up front when it was time for invitation. I am leading the singing during the month of April so it is my job to lead us all in two verses of "Just as I am." The easy part of leading singing is that I get to be on stage, towering over everyone else. It's easy to be in front of people when you get to look down at them.

Well when communion started, I had to get down off the stage. I have been going to the same church for nineteen years, and I never noticed the elevation shift from the back to the front of the church. The back of the church is higher than the front. I was standing in the front. So now, everyone was looking down at me. If I wasn't nervous enough before, I was definitely nervous enough now.

I had a simple job. Read verses from 1 Corinthians 11 and pray to God I don't mess up. My next job was to ask Eric to pray for the bread. When I asked him, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to ask him to bless the bread, thank God for it, or what. So my question came out, "Eric, would you mmslll rrrgggnnn."

With the smirks of everyone who was trying to listen, my humility grew.

Afterward, when I was assessing my failure, I realized that I was thankful for the experience. I was thankful that my pastor doesn't mind sharing the spotlight for a student. I'd rather mess up now as an intern than later as a pastor. The last thing I need is a lesson from the school of hard knocks.

The gospel + me

There are quite a few Christians where I work. They all come from different walks of life. They believe in all sorts of varying doctrines. Sometimes there is debate. I try to stay out of it, but sometimes it is just too hard not to join in. It is hard to hear bad theology and just let it go. Sometimes when I do not join in, they ask me for my view anyway.

This is the constant struggle that goes on when work is slow. But it is my life, and it is not too bad. I have learned how to come half-way with people, and I think that is how the apostle Paul must have been.

There is one thing we can agree on. The only way to Heaven is to believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a man, died, and rose again to pay our wages of death. The problem is expecting people to accept everything else we believe before they are saved.

For example, we might view homosexuality as wrong. We have good scripture to back that up in Romans 1:18-32, and 1 Corinthians 6:9. But it is not up to us to convince a person to change his life before accepting Christ. All that a person needs to go to Heaven is the gospel. If they are truly saved, Jesus will work the rest out; not you. We have the duty to instruct them after they are saved, but not before.

Does a person have to accept young earth theology to go to Heaven? Not at all. They are wrong, but it is not part of the gospel. Hopefully by the grace of God their eyes will be opened to the truth, but don't bring that along with you when you spread the gospel. Are you saving the people, or is Christ? If they believe in the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, they are saved. It is not up to you to make sure they like Bill Gaither first.

Who whacked Bigbird?

When I was a child, my mom used to warn me about drinking chocolate milk. Apparently, whenever someone in her family would drink chocolate milk, they would get a nose bleed. Therefore, whenever we ate at a restaurant, I had to get white milk, lest I get a nose bleed. Even at the age of four, I thought that her fear was ridiculous. Why would chocolate milk give me a nose bleed? It did not make sense to me then, and it does not make sense to me now.

Anyways. When I was young, I went to my aunts' houses for individual weeks at a time. They lived in Altoona, so I did not get to see them often. When I was there, they enjoyed spoiling me (who doesn't?). One time in particular, I was four years old, and I was spending the week at my aunt Jackie's house. One of my other aunts, Jeanie (Meme), owned a restaurant called Chilcoats (man I hope I spelled that right). My aunt Jackie decided to take us to Chilcoats for dinner. My mom was not there, so of course I ordered chocolate milk with my meal. Aunt Jackie thought nothing of it. It was so good. The brown concoction bubbled as I blew through the straw. It was the most indulgent experience I had experienced up until that point in my life.

Later that night, it was bedtime. I clutched hard onto my stuffed Bigbird who was my companion through all my nights. I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was confused if I was dreaming, or really seeing what I was seeing. Bigbird's throat was covered in blood. In fact, his whole body was stained with blood. As I looked around, the area all around me was covered in blood. I thought that someone killed Bigbird! I was so scared.

My mom picked me up that morning. I told her what happened, and she gave me a haughty eye. She asked me, "Did you drink chocolate milk?" I tucked my head in my chest, for I knew I had been defeated.

Momma's got a lot of wisdom that you should listen to. You may not understand why she tells you not to do things, but in the end, it does not matter. Momma knows best. Obey her, or you might wake up thinking, "Who whacked Bigbird?"

The motivation of Islam

This week at LBC, we have a had a chapel speaker who has told us a lot about Islam. Normally I do not go to chapel on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I could not miss this opportunity. I always find other religions intriguing. Not that I want to convert to them, but I like to know what they believe. It is interesting to know how the enemy has deceived the hearts of mankind.

Most people know the five pillars of Islam: the creed, alms giving, Hajj (journey to Mecca), fasting, and praying towards Mecca. The last one is the one I want to focus on.

Muslims pray five times a day. If they are in a Muslim country, they hear the call to prayer whenever it is time to pray. When I heard about their dedication, at first I was impressed with how zealous they are. They have it worked out that they will pray anywhere on a moment's notice. I thought to myself, "I don't think Christians even pray twice a day." I heard people asking, "If we have a greater motivation to pray, then why don't we?"

After thinking about it, I think I might disagree with the premise. I actually think Muslims as unsaved people have a more pressing motivation to pray. One reason is simply fear. The punishment for missing one prayer is 10,000 years in Hell before going to Paradise. What would your friends say if you openly disobeyed? Everyone would know that you obviously don't fear Allah, which is foolishness.

The second reason is spiritual dissatisfaction. Imagine a life that after every time you prayed, you did not feel the Holy Spirit answering your prayer. You felt like every time you prayed, you were praying to nothing. I think that a Muslim rigorously prays in hope that they will feel a spiritual satisfaction, for we understand that every person is lacking God and seeking his power to complete us. We would call that satisfaction a closeness to God, but according to the Muslim faith, Allah is not personal. He is a divine judge; not a Father Who loves you.

When you and I pray, we can have the assurance that God will satisfy us spiritually every time if we are worshiping in spirit and in truth. Satan has blinded the people of the world, and it is only through the power of the gospel that the scales will fall off. Let us march into this world holding the Word and the love of God as our divine weapons. Give the gospel. Destroy the enemy's hold. Let Jesus Christ reign.

Science vs. Christianity.... ?

Why do we as Christians feel that our fight is against science? Sure, they believe in old earth, we believe in young earth. That much is true, but that does not justify our hatred for scientific endeavors. If anything, science should be celebrated in the Christian world.

How many of you remember the periodic table of elements? Like me, you probably remember that it existed, but not much more than that. What I can remember is that each element had its own functions. When it comes down to it (as in the nitty-gritty functions of atoms), we know that God gave them their own functions. It is truly amazing.

Think of Noah's rainbow. When God said the rainbow was a promise, do you think that it came down from Heaven and angels were holding it up? Of course not. God had never sent rain before, but since the creation of the world he gave the properties to rain molecules and light molecules to create a rainbow. It's truly astounding.

When Jesus walked through the wall, he had a body. That means he supernaturally shifted the atoms in his body to miss all the atoms in wall.

Though I find botany truly boring, it definitely shows the true attention to detail our Father in Heaven meticulously holds to. From the parts of a cell to photosynthesis, God created it all. He planned it all from the beginning.

Finally, the human body is truly a work of a creative, scientific God. Every detail is met. We know this because if someone's body is not quite up to snuff, we call him handicapped.

Let us not fool ourselves with "Well the scientists say... so we know the truth must be opposite." Enjoy science. God created a world to observe.

And the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Proof for the supernatural

There are many experiences from HACC that have made a lasting impression on me. One such impression happened during my philosophy class. One of the students said that scientists are now saying that there are multiple dimensions to this world, or at least, more than previously thought. I brought this point up with my mentor at the time, Mike Pierce, and after humbly telling me we sense four dimensions instead of three (I described the world as having three dimensions), he told me that scientists have been thinking that for a while.

I could never really wrap my mind around this. I was completely bent out of shape trying to figure out how can there be more than 4 dimensions. Where do they fit?

This information came up again last semester in my life of Christ class. The professor said that scientists say that there are ten dimensions, and that whatever created them had to be outside of all of them.

Well I knew this was helping the argument for God, but I still could not wrap my mind around another 6 dimensions to this natural world.

After much contemplation, I think I have figured out where they fit. Think of a three dimensional box. You can measure the height, width, and depth. Now pinpoint a specific point inside the box. Remember high school math class? Go up 3, right 2, and in 4. Confused? Sorry. Not confused? Keep going.

Now zoom into that spot. When you zoomed in a million times, you will notice that spot is its own block with its own height, width, and depth. Do the same process a few more times. The tiny box you are now looking at is the natural world. It has space. But in order for anything to happen, there needs to be time, the fourth dimension. This dimension is the width of the box bigger than the natural world's block. The height is the spiritual realm. The other dimensions? I am not sure. But at least you now know how to measure them. Each set of three dimensions is its own box inside another box.

Would not anything outside of the natural world be scientifically classified as supernatural?

N'aked

Have you ever read the story of the fall of man, and wondered why Adam and Eve were ashamed of their nakedness? I have. But now I think I understand just why they were so ashamed of their newly realized nudity. Just keep in mind, I am only twenty years old, unmarried, and not even done with college. I could possibly be wrong.

Imagine a marriage that everything is out in the open. The trust between the two people is unparalleled. Whenever there is a temptation, the other knows about it. They feel complete intimacy every moment of every day, with no fear of ever getting hurt. Sound like your marriage? I did not think so. But this is what Adam and Eve had. They had the perfect marriage, because there was no sin to corrupt it.

Think a moment about your own marriage, and if you are not married, then just pretend. You have seen your spouse naked before, and it is no big thing. It is expected. There are moments of complete intimacy which nudity... kind of plays a big part. As a couple gets older, they start to loose their sense of personal boundaries and just do not care if their spouse sees them get out of the shower. But I do not care if they have been married fifty years, if the wife steps out to the kitchen, and her man is cooking eggs... au natural... she will be slightly shocked at this unexpected view. It is not a common place for a person to be open.

Now with that understanding, put yourself into the shoes of Adam and Eve. They had complete intimacy all the time, but when sin came, a whole new sense of distrust blew up within them. It was not the nakedness that was sin, it was the sin that made them embarrassed about their nakedness.

As a married couple grows closer to God, and further away from sin, their trust in each other will blossom, and they can feel loved and trusting to each other.

Religion is not a dirty word

"It is not religion, it is a relationship." How many times have you heard this? To some extant, it is very true. Christianity is not based on a set of rules and practices to become "good." Christianity is about having a loving relationship with the Father. But does that mean that the very idea of associating Christianity and religion is wrong?

I have been thinking about this topic for some time now. Ever since I heard WJTL's war-cry when I was fourteen ("Visit notreligion.com"), I was an avid believer in crucifying the religion label on Christianity.

Just over two years ago, I read something in James that really changed my perspective. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27)." God himself talks about religion, and not in a negative light either. He paints religion as a wholesome practice that comes out of the relationship.

So let us connect the dots. We as Christians have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That relationship reveals itself through our lives by religion. The religion is an overflow, an uncontrollable act of obedience and duty that envelops our entire lives. It in no way implies the idea of "going through the motions." The religion is the obedience to God's law, and we cannot help but obey it religiously.

Psalm 119:34 says, "Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart." David was a man after God's own heart. He had a true relationship with Yahweh, and because he loved God, he religiously followed Him.

Let us be the same way. Yes, we know it is about a relationship, but let us not be afraid to say that Christianity is our religion. It is not a dirty word.

Making Ripples

When I was a child, I loved the beach. I loved building sand castles, looking for seashells, and eating all sorts of junk food out of a paper bag for lunch. Though it was a dreamland for me, there was one aspect that I did not care for--the ocean. My mom or dad would hold my hand as we would walk to the shoreline. We would stand where the sand began to feel wet, and wait for the water to wash up on our feet. When the ebb and flow of the great sea would blanket my feet, I would jump back with a yelp because the freezing temperatures were too much to take for a young boy like me. As I would look out into the distance, I saw large, mighty waves pummeling people who did not stand a chance against it. That was all I needed to see. I was done. I then would run back to the higher, dry part of the beach and continue constructing my sandcastle.

No castle was complete without a mote. So, my dad would get a bucket of water, and we would fill in the ditch we had just dug with water. Now this water was much different then the water I had just witnessed a few minutes ago. This water was calm, and even boring. Just to see the water move a little bit, I would put my finger in it, and watch the ripples form, with the epicenter being at my finger. Even when I pulled my finger out, the ripples continued from the same spot. those ripples did not scare me. For the most part, I expected them, and with great joy.

In the world today, we have the chance to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. But we have to understand, people are scared away by the waves. If all we are doing is pummeling them over and over again without gentleness or compassion, they will be terrified and run back to the beach to play with their sandcastles.

In my workplace, I have tried to make ripples. I cannot let the spiritual waters become stagnant, so I put my finger in to disturb the water slightly. The people see the ripples, and begin to investigate their origin. This is when they will seek God by asking me questions, and I can give them the honest truth with compassion and love.

We are not called to scare anyone away. We are called to make disciples and baptize, and that is only done by making ripples in the world.

My Perspective Is Eternal

This week at LBC, we hosted a missions conference. There were missionaries from all over the world who shared their vision, and hoped to recruit a few more harvesters for the field. Their stories were touching, and their passion was convicting.

One special session was devoted to agonizing over the lost. They called this session, "A Call To Anguish." During the hour, we watched a clip from the internet taken from a pastor's sermon. His sermon was also entitled, "A call to anguish." In the selection that we listened to, the pastor stated that passion is born from anguish, and we as Americans no longer anguish over the lost. There are 1600 people groups that have never even heard the gospel. We hear stats like that, shake our heads, say "that's terrible," and go back to the news.

"THAT.. SHOULD... NOT... BE!" -John Piper

Well I took the challenge to anguish. I knelt to pray, said, "My Father," and broke down. I completely lost it. My heart was in turmoil over the fact that there are people that have never known him, and probably never will. Families, fathers, mothers... children: all dying and going to hell.

After contemplating this truly inconvenient truth, I went to work. I started talking to the other man I work with, and realized that my mission field is right here.

The man I work with grew up in a Christian home, so he knows just about everything there is to know about Christianity. I asked him what his views are and he said that he does not care if God exists or not. So, I guess he would be labeled an apathetic agnostic.

I then got this vision of seeing him in Heaven, but not in the good sense. I was picturing death and hades giving up its dead, the damned bowing down, and then burning in the lake of fire. He was among the damned.

Brothers and sisters, my heart is bleeding for this man. I have never felt so much anguish and pain for one person before. Please, please I beg of you, pray for this man. Pray that Satan's darkness will be lifted from his heart, and the gospel will permeate his entire being. I do not want to worship in Heaven without him.

Y'all come back now, y'a hear?

Every summer, my family visits my grandparents in Kentucky. It is always a great time catching up, telling funny stories, and just relaxing in the relaxing pace of the South. One of our favorite pastimes is going to yard-sales. There is something that is so rewarding knowing that you are paying so much less for other people's junk than what they paid for it.

Our yard-saling adventures have taken us all over Marshall county, Kentucky. We have been to trailer parks, homes by the Kentucky lake, farms, and developments. There is one yard-sale that still sticks out to me.

We were following our map, my granddad as our navigator, into what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. This was the only place I have ever seen that actually marked its dirt roads with street-signs. After sliding our way through the muck that had to rival the jungles of Nicaragua, we came to a house with a sign that said, "yard-sale out back." We all stepped out of the car, careful to not step in any hidden animal feces and possible remains of beer cans. We headed to the back yard and there was a family of three, lackadaisically welcoming us to their sale. They had a few tables set up with the normal yard-sale items: Clothes from the '80s and computer games compatible with Windows '95. Placed behind the sale were cages with mutts and all sorts of other animals, like pet squirrels and jackalopes. The Father was smoking a cigarette as he leaned over and told his son, "He Bo, why don't you show them the boa?" Bo then brought out their snake and my fiance, Steph, pretended not to shriek as she hid behind me.

I then found a rack of books they had for sale. I looked through them until I found one that surprised me senseless, "Christian Counseling."

The wife saw that I was looking at it and said, "We used to be pastors."

They then went on to tell me that they used to be pastors in Tennessee. They explained their calling, and their call to leave. They gave me tips on how to minister, and how to not minister. They decided to give me whatever books I wanted for free.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. Never assume anything about anybody. They just might surprise you.

The Fear of God

A few of my close friends got into a debate yesterday over the topic of fearing God. This inspired me to write about some of my own views concerning fearing God.

The first issue is the need for pre-salvation fear of God. I cannot elaborate on this too much, because I believe that all that is required for salvation is faith and repentance. God saved me as a sinner of four years old. At that young age, I did not fear God. I knew He loved me, and I loved Him. I knew that I was a sinner destined for Hell, but I did not even understand that Hell was His judgment. Therefore, based on my own experience (for I do believe I was truly saved at four), I would say that you do not need a fear of God to be saved.

The next issue is the definition of fear. The main argument is literal fear versus respect. I believe that the Bible does command us to literally fear God. Many people do not like to view God this way because they believe it takes away from his grace, mercy, and love. On the contrary, it leavens them all.

When I was a child, I had a healthy fear of my father. My father was not abusive in any way, but I knew that if I disobeyed him, a spanking was a'comin. I knew he loved me, and I loved him. I called him Daddy, and he called me Buddy. He loved me, but there was judgment when judgment was needed.

God is not a teddy-bear. He is the Almighty that destroy nations with a word, but He also decided to love you. May we never test God on this. God is like a bull dog that will break you to pieces, but He will use those pieces to create a masterpiece.

I would like to leave you with a personal experience of my own. There was a moment that I was being tempted to sin. My flesh and the temptation seemed to overpower my conscience. When the temptation was reaching its strongest, the thought of God's disappointment flashed through my mind. I thought, "I really do not care if God is going to be mad or not." As soon as I thought this, an overwhelming fear enveloped me because I realized what I had done. Was this fear simply from a respect for God? No. I know His true power, and the sin unto death is real. Let us not test the murky waters of God's wrath. He saved us, and we need to obey accordingly.

Keep the Faith

Faith is a word used in two major ways. The first is the idea of belief in the unseen. The second way is synonymous with religion. No matter how you use it, it always has the feeling of believing in something without doubt. This idea of faith goes beyond religion.

During the Age of Reason, many wise (yet, boring) philosophers spent their lives trying to understand truth. They wanted to logically create models for truth that could not be torn apart. One of the ideas that came out of this age is "cogito ergo sum: I think, therefore I am."

Cogito ergo sum is a doctrine of philosophy that goes a little something like this.

I cannot prove anything. I must doubt all that I experience. Everything that is happening to me could be an illusion, and I would have no way to argue that it is not. I must doubt everything. I doubt my sight, I doubt my feelings. Finally, when it comes down to it, all that is left is that I am thinking. When I doubt that I am thinking, I am still thinking. I am a thinking thing. I know that is truth.

With that philosophy, everything else in this universe is built on faith. I have the faith that my senses are not picking up an illusion, and my surroundings are real. Right now, I have the faith that I am at a computer, typing away and watching the letters appear on the screen. I do not know it for sure, but I do have the faith that it is happening. You have the faith that you are reading this. Now that you have faith that your senses are experiencing reality, you must have the faith that the information you are receiving is true.

All of history is believed on faith. None of us were there when Julius Caesar was assassinated, but we believe it without doubt, because we have faith in history. We have no choice but to believe it. Even scientific data must be believed by faith. Some of us have the faith to believe that we as humans are putting enough carbon dioxide into the air to melt the polar ice caps. Others (like myself) would first believe in the abominable snowman before accepting that bologna.

When someone says that you can only have faith that Jesus Christ rose again from the grave, make sure they understand that you have to have faith to believe anything. For reality itself is not simply accepted as truth without going through the soul's filter of faith.

Evangelogical

At my college, we have chapel three times a week. Luckily, being a commuter, I only have to go once a week. The infrequent attendance keeps chapel fresh for me. Everyone knows it is time to begin chapel when one of the Poorman sisters starts playing an instrument, and the rest of the band joins in. By the second song, people are really getting into the worship. As I look around, I see many people with their hands in the air, their eyes closed, and just praising God for all they are worth. I look at them and think, "This is really nice. I like to see people praising their creator." I think it is nice that they can get into the worshiping mood by listening to the music, because I am a musician and cannot.

You may be thinking, "Now hold up. That does not make any sense. You are trying to tell me that because you are a musician, the music does not move you?"

That is exactly what I am telling you.

As a musician, I understand the dirty little tricks that musicians play on peoples' psyches in order to make the listeners feel all bubbly and emotional inside. When I hear a song, I dissect the music, and it does not have the simple beauty that the other people are hearing. Picture Neo after he comes back to life in the Matrix. He sees everything in the code of the Matrix, as opposed to the illusion everyone else sees.

I find moments of worship in another way, a trusted way. When I am alone, I read the Bible. When I find a phrase that should be awesome to me, I contemplate it for a while. After I read it about a dozen times, key turns over the ignition in my soul, and I am overwhelmed by the truth that I am reading. Everything else fades away. My worship comes from reason. Sound boring? Sorry, but I guess I am not much of a romantic.

My Christianity is rooted in the word, and thinking about it intently. I worship God as an Evangelical that contemplates the word with logic. Therefore, I call my form of Christianity, Evangelogical.

If someone else has already coined this phrase, please tell me. I do not want to go on thinking that I came up with it if I have not.

Existence of God proven

The old version of proof for God's existence is the analogy of wind. You cannot see the wind, but you believe in it. This argument can hold up for some time, but eventually the other party will realize the apparent flaw in the analogy. Though you cannot see the wind, you can still experience it via touch. It is experienced by a sense. They would say that you cannot draw the analogy because a person cannot experience God by a sense (sight, taste, touch, hearing, smelling). I have thought about this for a while and thought of an argument to the opposing side's argument.

Man was created in God's image. That is one belief that is nearly a fundamental in the Christian world. The hard part is figuring out what it means. I have heard it said that we have emotion, and that separates us from the animal kingdom. The problem is, that animals also experience emotion. You know when your dog or cat is angry, scared, or happy. Science has even observed what seems to be "love" in chimps. Therefore, I do not believe that emotion is the quality that makes man an image bearer of the creator. What separates man from the animal kingdom is passion (worship), and unpredictable will.

If emotion is not a spiritual, image bearer act (though it can be fueled spiritually), it must be a physical phenomena. No doubt our emotions are light-years ahead of any other animal, but they still have their roots in the brain for the use of primal protection.

If a person is experiencing great trial in his life, he will be distraught. If his wife left him, he lost his job, and his home, it would seem that all hope is lost. But when that man has the emotion that everything is going to be all right, we call that 'God.' It is a spiritual, miraculous intervention from God Himself in the physical aspect of emotion. There is no way to disprove that it happened if it is a personal experience by the man.

Thus, God is experienced by the physical realm.

Psalm 119, Beth.

In my pastoral ministries classes, I have been given the task of finding something wrong with me, and making it right. The process is what Dr. Ayers calls, "character contract." This semester, I have decided to focus on purity. Now, purity does not simply mean sexual purity. Purity means freedom from sin's contamination. But for me, I do want the emphasis of my purity to be in the sexual area, because I am engaged, and would like to get married without bringing baggage into our new life. The first assignment I chose for myself was to write three-point sermon on the topic of purity. Enjoy.

One day, I decided I was going to read the Bible. I quickly flipped to the Psalms, because I often overlook them. I generally avoid them, because I enjoy logical arguments--something for which Psalms is not exactly known. Ironically on many levels, my Bible flipped open to Psalms 119:9, which is the section of Beth, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The section starts out with a question, "How can a young man keep his way pure?"

I recognized a three-step process presented by the Psalmist.

In verses 9-11, David instructs the young man to learn scripture; to seek after the truth in it with all force and diligence.

In verses 12-14, David speaks of praise. The praise is done by simply singing God's grace, or even teaching others the amazing love in the Law. If David can rejoice reading Leviticus, what excuse do we have for not praising?

Finally he concludes with verses 15-16. These verses speak of meditation. It is meditation on the Word that truly uploads the livability into our lives.

When the steps are completed, the result is purity.

Just one more bite

I have always been the one to get seconds at dinner, and possibly thirds. It was a way of life for me. I simply enjoyed eating. I would eat a little of something, get full, and then continue to eat. Eat I would, without stopping. Obviously, I was not gorging myself on salads. Burgers, steaks, fries, and anything deep fried was my typical diet. Along with my guy-friends, we would hit up Burger King and we all would get the largest meal, because we were men. I would make fun of my brother for getting wraps at McDonald's because I thought that was "so gay."

Now with a few more years of life experience under my belt, I have come to some realizations. Gluttony is not a typical sermon topic, but it is always coupled in the Bible with drunkenness. And gluttony is more than a health issue, it is a pride issue.

As men, we say, "I am man. Get me red meat. I will not eat that salad." We men have a misguided mindset that says because we are the hunter-gatherers, we must fill our fleshly desires in food. I do not think women understand how humbling and humiliating it is for a man to simply choose a salad, or have low-fat meat. We feel gay. But God wants our bodies healthy, for they are the temples of the holy spirit.

I have laid out our feelings. We feel gay when we try to eat healthy foods. But that is a humbling experience that we need to do. We need to swallow our pride, along with the vegetables.

United States of Zion

There are few things that annoy me more than the phrase, "We are living in the end times." There is no way to know that. But some people think they know by one piece of evidence: the moral state of America.

It is no secret that evangelical Christians in America fall on the far right side of politics, as do I. We do this because we believe that morality lies in sanctity of life, and marriage. We should fight for the state of our country. It is our civil duty. But there is a problem when we start mixing our religion with our politics. We should always bring our religion into our politics, but we have now dragged our politics into our religion.

As Americans, we believe that the USA is the greatest country in the world. I agree. Therefore, we think we are the best at everything: Equal rights, money, power, and... religion. Somehow, we have crafted the idea that the church in America is the apex of Christendom, and that it is God's masterpiece. We see ourselves as the base for all Christianity. When Christianity spreads away from America, we think that the theology is weakened the farther it gets away from us.

Where did we go wrong? This nation is not Zion. The Roman empire was "Christian," and it is dead. The Byzantines, the English, the list goes on. They have all fallen, or at least fallen to sin. Did Jesus come back? No! God did not plan history as a preparation towards His America. We could be destroyed tomorrow and it would not stop God's plan.

Does your faith rely on the never-changing spirit of God, or the amount of Socialism in the USA? If America falls, and Jesus does not come back, will you still believe?

It is time we realize that the church does not start in Los Angeles and ends in Boston. Let us join the global effort and join our brothers and sisters in the one true church of God. Pray for our persecuted brothers in China, because that is where the true action is happening. And I am not saying all this to propose we crown the church in China as the next Zion. We just need to remember that God is not partial, even if you and I are.

Random, yet logical.

I am going to invite you to come with me on a journey. By the end, you might remember seeing tangerine trees, and marmalade skies. It is the journey that I call my own random-pointed logic. It may seem dazed and confused, but it is how I learn things. And this time, I learned something quite exceptional. Enjoy.

I took a class last semester called 'Romans.' No, this class was not a study on the history of the Roman empire. Rather, this class was on the Epistle of Romans, written by the apostle Paul. In chapter thirteen, Paul demands that the believers obey the government...even if the government is corrupt. My proffessor then answered the question that was on everybody's mind (no, not Obama health-care). He talked about the American revolution. It is often debated if our fore-fathers had the right to stand up against their king, and rebel. He said that the answer is really quite simple: They were not Christians. Their being nonbelievers takes them away from God's standards of living. They were instruments for God's bigger plan.

After pondering on this topic for a month or so, I realized that the union rebels were much like the pharaoh--God's tool to bring about good for his children. But then I thought, 'this simply goes back to the question I have been asking for years--Why did God not simply make everyone good? He then would not have to have vessels of wrath to save His children. They would all be His children.'

I had a friend my freshman year of college who was one year older than I was. He seemed to have it all together, but that one question was still bugging him. Why would God create a being that would sin and in-turn, be damned?

I believe I now have the answer. If God created a perfect human race that never sinned, then loving them would have been expected and easy. Creating a race He knew would reject Him, and still love them, is worth the glory that He demands.

Too simple for you? Sorry. It is the best I could do. My motto is, "Let simplicity reign."

So let us give Him the glory he deserves for loving a rejecting and sinful world. All of creation owes Him that, even the girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

The kid is good.

In my previous semester of college, I took an Old Testament History course with one of my favorite professors. I enjoy taking history classes because I am almost guaranteed to learn something that I did not already know. In one particular class, my professor explained the second commandment. The second commandment essentially says do not make any kind of image of anything and worship it--or more simply-put, no idols. I have always thought that this commandment had went along with the first commandment: "Thou shalt not have any other gods before me." My professor then explained that idol worship was not actually worship of an idol. People believed that gods were spirits, not statues made from wood. Instead, they felt that had to pray to the statue in order to have something to focus on. God did not want his people to worship him in that way, for there is nothing on earth that could possibly represent his glory. He wanted their worship to be spiritual.

Well then I did some contemplating for a few days and thought, "I wonder if we idolize the cross in the Christian church..."

Last Sunday, I gave a lesson to my youth group on the second commandment. I gave them the whole history, the application that King Hezekiah displayed when he broke the bronze snake when the people were worshiping it, and then asked them to think of possible idols in their own lives. Not even a moment later, the quiet, witty, and deceptively bright fourteen-year-old spoke up.

"The cross...?"

I was taken aback. This freshman in high school grasped in one minute the concept it took me a few days of which to grab a hold. With my mouth wide open, I stared at him for a minute before choking on my words,

"Yeah, good point."

Kids are smart. Let us never forget that. Though we try to teach them things, let us never make the lessons a one-way street.