an update

My last post was about a girl who was assaulted. I am most happy to say that in the past weeks she has regained her confidence, and is who she once was. She has moved on and achieved some excellent goals, including Jazz awards etc.

My apologies guys, it has been far too long since I have updated this blog. One thing I want to touch on, ever so briefly, is the male idea of domination. This topic hits home fairly hard this week, as one of my friends was a victim to a males need to dominate. She is a nice looking girl, and well, she's got a shapely figure. This guy decided he wanted her, despite the fact that she is dating one of his friends, and tried to force himself upon her. She is usually the definition of confidence, but since then she has been changed. His sexual assault ruined her.

Now, as a male, I understand that we like to be in control, but what he did is wrong. Unfortunately that happens all the time, to differing degrees mind you, but none the less, it affects the girls in a strong way. All I ask guys, is that you back off a little on your need for domination, and allow the girl to have a say, have her way, etc.

9/11 I havn't forgotten

September 11, 2001, a day that went down in infamy. It is one of only a handful of days that’s gone on to change the world. America’s sense of invincibility was destroyed, her people terrified. Forever after, the sound of a jet flying too low would strike fear in our hearts. Yet as time has passed American’s seem to have forgotten those who were lost. Local papers write about the high school sports teams, what celebrity got a dui, and the ever important political bull, but not even a small chunk is devoted to 9/11. As an American I feel that there is something wrong with that. I was just a child at the time, and have no family bonds to what happened there, yet I still remember the fear I felt. I still remember the images from that day as if I were watching them on TV today. I can understand if our nation feels that we need to move on, I even agree with that, but I feel it is in humane to forget what happened that September day. Many people lost their lives because of a terrorist organization named Al-Qaida. Millions were terrified by their actions, between the attacks on the Twin Towers, and the Pentagon, and the attempted attack with United Airlines flight 93. Many more lives were lost when we went to war with Al-Qaida. Unfortunately people no longer realize why we are there. In the last nine years we have grown numb to the fact that we were attacked. The heightened security has become a norm for us, and we forget why it is there.

As an American I feel that we should remember what happened that day. It keeps us from getting to secure in our nation again, for once that happens we will be open to attack. It will also keep those who lost their lives, fresh in our memory. In all honesty 9/11 should be made a day of remembrance, similar to Veterans Day, or Memorial Day. It is one of the greatest tragedies to befall our nation, and the only way it could be worse would be if we were to forget it completely.

a possible view of hell

One thing that is fairly debated in religious communities is the idea of hell. The Bible is never real clear on what Hell is, it just paints it to be a place you don't want to be in. We never really had the idea of Hell as a burning inferno, before Dante wrote his story "The Divine Comedy". Before that the idea of Hell was that "I don't want to go there, Heaven is much much better." While that is an over-simplification, it kinda gives you the gist of what they thought.

My idea of what Hell could be is much less dramatic than Dante's. In the Bible, God and Satan are viewed as exact opposites. God created us, the devil tries to destroy us. God wants whats best for us, the devil tries to slight our needs. God loves us, the devil hates us. And if this train of thought were to continue on, Heaven is everlasting life. If that is the case, then Hell would be the opposite, or instant death. My view of Hell is that instead of having everlasting life, when we die thats it, we're snuffed out, we cease to exist. In my opinion this goes fairly well with other views of Hell. It is supposed to be our greatest fear, and for many, not existing is their greatest fear.

Their are many views of Hell to be certain. Stephen King feels that it is reenacting the same event over and over for eternity. For some Dante's view holds truth. One thing that is certain though, Hell is a place I most certainly don't want to end up in.

Almighty

Today I re-watched the movie, "Bruce Almighty". Before I was a Christian it was one of my favorite movies because Jim Carrey is one funny dude. But now that I am Christian, I have a new found respect for the movie. The director was able to take a religious topic and show it in a way that everyone can enjoy. But the most important thing is that it shows just how hard being God is.

For those of you who have not seen the movie, it is about a man who feels that God has wronged him. Because he feels so wronged, God decides to give him a unique privilege. God gives the man, named Bruce by the way, all of his powers. He can do anything he wants, short of altering free will, and telling anyone that he is God. Through the course of the movie, Bruce makes his life as good as possible, but ends up ruining the lives of most of Buffalo, as well as causing mass chaos all across the world.

One thing most people don't understand is that the thing that makes good movies truly good, is that they have a moral. The moral in this one, I believe, is that God is God. By that I don't mean the obvious that God is not a camel or something. I mean that God is the only entity that could possibly be capable of what He does. Bruce realizes this the hard way, as many have in the past. As science progresses, too many people use the knowledge we gain, to try to play God. In the past couple decades people have gotten worse about this. In some ways it has lead to good things. Our medicines have improved, so much so that we can bring people back from being dead for extended periods of time. But in many ways it is for the worse, and the side-effects are disastrous. Now, I'm not gonna go off on a tangent, like I almost did, but the movie really shows just how great the lord really is. Yet even that movie doesn't really do God justice.

I guess what I'm trying, in a rather round about way, to say is that we don't give God the credit He deserves for the most part. When you next pray, don't just pray for your needs, but also pray a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord.

A cruel bit of reality

I heard a sad story today. This woman that I know is currently living in low income, raising her son on her own. Now, that isn't overly sad anymore, in-fact it's fairly common these days. What is sad is that she has a father in a nursing home just down the street from her. He is dwindling in health, I'm not sure what from, and they could lose him any day.

My mother and I were outside this evening, just catching up on how the day went, and this lady came over. She wanted to know whether or not she would be able to call my mom in the night to watch her son. He was exhibiting signs of West Nile Virus, and she wasn't sure if she should take him to the hospital. On top of this her father had another of his 'episodes' or a period where his health is even worse. They thought he was having a heart attack. I'm not sure what he really was suffering from.

Best as I can tell, this woman is over all a decent person. She is a little shy, but once you get to know her she is quite humorous. Of all the issues I have with religion, the terrible things that good people are put through, while the bad have prosperous situations, is number one. But for the first time when I heard a story like this, I didn't think that god was cruel, or nonexistent, but I thought that this woman needed my, and many other people's, prayers. I hope that when you read this you pray for this woman, and other people like her.

it's been awhile

I'm quite sorry my fellow Christians, for I have neglected this blog. Marching band has taken up the majority of my time, with my other band, and family filling up the rest of that time.

This summer I had a long battle with a relative of mine, where he was constantly trying to tempt me. Thankfully I was able to persevere, with the aide of the lord above. If any of you had problems that could only be solved by God, please feel free to share them.

Would just like to inform those of you who read this blog that it will be a while before I'll have the time and/or energy to add to this blog. It's not for lack of want, but marching band is soon to kick into high gear, and quite frankly it's hard work. As always feel free to share any comments you have on past entries, or any ideas for future ones, or heck, any experiences you've had.

Congregating

Well folks, I do believe I have figured out why meeting with fellow Christians is so important. After two months of battling with temptation on my own, the simple act of being around other Christians this morning was an amazing relief. I didn't ask them for any advice, or anything like that, but being with them made me feel safe. Being with a large group of people, who have the same beliefs as myself made it well worth the earliest morning I'd had in a long long time. Hearing my pastor give his lesson this morning brought a sense of safety back, and a sense of calm to my mind.

If any of you find yourselves needing a support group, church is an amazing place to receive that support, in an environment where you shouldn't feel pressured, and will feel safe from the temptations from the outside world, if only for a little while.

Simply a thesis

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted something, but I wanted to have this looked over by another person before I posted it on the web. Hope you enjoy!


I wish to start this article with some cold hard facts. I am not a theology major. I have never taken a theology class, and there is a fair chance I never will. I also do not have a major degree in Science. I have taken courses, but only through high school so far. This article is solely my opinion. It is my attempt at finding a way for the two seemingly opposite things to mesh.

Science gives us the idea of Evolution. Evolution was spawned from Charles Darwin, a scientist from long ago. Not only was he a scientist, but he also studied theology in seminary. Evolution is often a misunderstood entity among the religious society. Over time Evolution has become a bit of a joke to them. The accepted idea about Evolution is that man was once a monkey, over time became human, and if this continues could some day end up as a rattlesnake, or some other creature. For any of the scientific community reading this, it may sound as though I am exaggerating, but sadly this is the view that many young teens expressed at a youth group. For those of you who are less informed into what evolution is, it is the idea that things adapt to their environment over a period of time. This is evident in everyday life. Every year you have to get a different flu vaccine, but why is that? The answer is evolution. The traits of one strain of the flu that survives are passed on, and the ones that die, well, don’t. By the constant act of this there becomes a new strain of flu that is impervious to the old vaccine. This relates to everyone. If a simple strand of flu, which is basically protein covered DNA, can evolve, then anything can. This is also shown in humans. Now I want to make perfectly clear, this is in no way racist. The reason we have different colors of people is evolution. For example, in Africa, the people there spent a lot of time in the sun. Because of this, the people were introduced to high levels of radiation from the sun. When people tan, its not really because the sun is cooking our flesh or anything like that. It is our skin trying to protect us. A chemical comes into the skin, and acts like a natural sunscreen, protecting us a touch more from the suns harmful rays. Freckles are an example of this as well. Well, over time, the people in Africa started being born darker skinned, instead of tanning. In Europe they were in less sunny conditions, and therefore, just tanned instead of being darker skinned all year long. In Asian countries they also adapted to their environments, resulting in a perma-tan, and slanted eyes. Evolution is something we are affected by every day of our lives, whether you believe in it or not. It is basically adaptation over generations.

Religion gives us the idea of Intelligent Design. Details of Intelligent Design can be found in the Bible, particularly in the book of Genesis. What Intelligent Design boils down to is that God created the universe. In doing so, he created life, and created man from his own image. Please remember that, I will be returning to it. Now in Genesis it says that God created the world in seven days. While a super powerful entity like him could easily do it in seven Earth days, when he started Earth did not yet exist, for he had not yet made it. A day is merely a man made measure of time, that measures the amount of time it takes the earth to rotate 360 degrees on its axis. Before the Earth was made, there was no way to measure an earth day. Because of this, one day by God’s measure could be, thousands of years by ours. What I’m getting at is not that God is less powerful, but that time measurements are imperfect. Now if that is possible, then easily the millions of years of development we have discovered through science could be the seven days of God’s development, in a different form of measuring time. One thing the pro Intelligent Design community argues is the idea that we were made in the image of God. This is true; the bible states that god made us in his image. However, that may not necessarily mean his physical image. It is very possible that we were made in his mental image. It isn’t overly clear as to whether it meant we look like God, or if we are closer to how he thinks. God is proven again and again to be a compassionate being, and on an individual basis, most people are as well.

The idea of evolution can play in with this idea easily. God is an amazingly intelligent entity as well. It is more than possible that when He created us, He knew we would need to adapt to our environment, and give us the ability to do so.

Now I in no way want to seem like I am bashing the Bible, or religion, or any of this. I am merely stating my opinion on this and over time it is likely that this view will change. The main point of my writing this is to emphasis the fact that science and religion can in fact coincide. As a quote I heard on Ben Steins documentary, Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed, states, “I believe that science gives us one perspective on the world, and our religious insight gives us another perspective on the world, and by putting the two together, we will see more deeply and more truly."

a quick update

Well folks, I am very glad to say that so far my stategy is working nicely. My antagonist, if you will, seems to have decided to drop his determination on his ill intents. On top of this, every thing seems to be going very well. I hope that my advice was able to help you with your battles with temptation. If you have any input, within reason, please feel free to share. Thanks!

Temptation

Alright, I'm going to start off with a fairly large topic, but one that every single person on this earth will have to deal with. Temptation can come in many forms, from a friend suggesting something, to television, to radio, to your own mind. Currently my main form of temptation comes through my family. One particular member actually, but that's going to far lol. This member of my family seems to think that I need to "become a man" and well, we all know what that means. Now, we all hopefully know that what is implied, is sinful. And in my opinion, it is one of the worst sins. The plan introduced by my family member is that he is going to get me alone with just him, his friends, and one of the local, easy girls. Then they will introduce alcohol, get me drunk, and use my lowered inhibitions to their advantage. Why he is so bent on doing this is beyond me, but thankfully I have the ability to avoid this situation. I have a firm support group I can turn to, including my other family members, youth group, and most of, if not all of my friends. I also have reasons of my own for not doing this. The fact that it's sinful is just one of them. The rest include my love for my girlfriend, my desire to be pure for whomever I marry, and many others.

Unfortunately not everyone has a firm support group they can turn to. For those of you who do not have that group, there are several options for you. Church is an obvious one, but for some it is hard to feel truly comfortable in that environment, or comfortable to enough to share this battle of temptation. Another option is your church's youth group. If you don't know what that is, it is a group of teens who meet with one or more youth leaders. These are people who are willing to give you advice, support, in some cases shelter, and other forms of aid. On top of this they teach you the word of the lord, in an easy to understand manner. Hopefully you'll be able to attend this group, and maintain some sort of comfort level with your leaders, and fellow youths.

If this doesn't work, you can join in activities at your school. Some are notorious for pushing bad decisions on people, like football, but there are many that are there to aid people, or just make them comfortable. I am a member of my school's bands, book club, knowledge bowl, and science club. Now, I realize I just described the ultimate geek, but I am an ex football player, and still dabble in soccer, and play all varieties of sports with my friends. What I'm trying to show, is there are groups where you can find comfort. Most schools have christian based clubs. Join those. If you are an athlete there are clubs directly for the christian athlete.

All in all, there is no way to completely avoid temptation, but the thing that makes us good Christians is finding ways to deal with temptation, before it crushes us, or drags us into the dark road of sin.

A Little Insight on the Future of this Blog

I promise you one thing. I promise to keep this blog from becoming an "I art holier than thou" type entry, so long as you promise to read this with an open mind. In this blog I will share my insights, beliefs, and possible tips I have, and will gather throughout my life (or until I stop updating this blog). I have not always been of the Christian faith. In fact, I've only been a christian for a little over a year. Before that I was agnostic, meaning I did not believe anything that could not be proven to me. My mind was, and is still, completely run by science. Technically speaking, I am still agnostic. God showed himself to me, in a way I prefer to keep to myself. Not because it is some crazy thing that makes me sound nuts, but because it is a deeply personal event.

This blog is intended for people who are on the fence about religion, whose faith is weak, or who just want to know that somewhere out there, another christian is struggling just as much as they are. I hope that in some little way, this blog is able to help, or comfort someone in need of that comfort.