Who are we to say?

One thing I have been dealing with recently is judgement. On the one hand, judging believers and non-believers and holding them to my standard, and on the other hand judging God and the way he gives his gifts. Lets tackle one topic at a time.

First off judging people.

I have been reading in Romans over the last few weeks. I finally got into chapter two. There are times in the scripture when I read something and I know that God is real, because the scripture is directly speaking to me. As if it was written only for me in that moment. Romans 2:1-3 says,

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

²And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

³But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

The gist of this passage is that God is the only who can judge. Not only that but those who judge condem themselves. One could rephrase it to say, The ability to condem rightly fall on the supreme diety and he condems according to the truth. So if by judging we in turn condem our selves, we have been condemmed by the truth of the supreme deity, which is Jehovah Jirah, God our Father. This has been a major conviction because I sometimes have an inaccurate view of myself, as if I had something to offer on my own. When I am brought back to the fact that I am a worthless puke without the saving grace of Jesus Christ then I realize it is not my place to judge or place my standard on anyone. God, the only true and righteous judge will render his judgement in due time.

Secondly, I have been judging God on the basis in which he gives his gifts. I want to know why God gives me gifts, and not to others, and vice versa. Why does God give me wisdom and discernment in some situations and not to the people making the decisions. Why do people come to me to tell me their problems? Why do people want my opinion on things? Why do I have to live with lots of information about people I don't want to know? Why?

Well, the simple answer is to bring glory to himself. And the other realization that I have come to is that I should be grateful that God has given me anything, because I deserve nothing. I should have the attitude of Job, after everything he had was destroyed he had this response,

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship ²¹ and said:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,

and naked I will depart.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

may the name of the LORD be praised."

<> ²² In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

How dare we question God's good and perfect will in giving of his perfect gifts. We have only been given things to turn them back to praise. For as Job said, we brought nothing into this world and we will leave with nothing, may the name of the Lord be praised. This is why God gives us faith to believe, so that we might praise the Lord.

Anyways, there's a look into me life.

I'm outta here

P.S. School is over for the time being.

Blogging for the sake of it

This is pretty much just so I posted something.

I recently bought a new CD. Oh yeah edging my collection to about 212 cds. I think that's the right number. Anyways I thought I would do an album review of sorts.

The names Dexter Holland, Noodles and Greg "K" don't mean anything to probably any of you. Now for fans of a genre a of music known as Punk Rock, you might recognize these names as the remaining members of a band known as The Offspring. Theses punkers have been busy at work over the last couple years touring and creating this album. Even though it came out this summer it is still selling well and it is actually quite good. I have to say I am a little partial to The Offspring b/c they are one of my favorite punk bands and their album "Smash" is on my "Albums everyone should own" list. Just to give you a little insight into this album, this is the first Offspring album to have a song with only acoustic guitars, it is also the first Offspring album to be awarded the coveted "Parental Advisory" sticker. I am kidding about the coveted part. I have the "clean" version if you were wondering and you really can't tell because all the cussing is on one song. "Splinter" is probably the second best album by the Offspring. It has good mix of straight up punk songs like "Da Hui (explict)" and "Never Gonna Find Me," but also has the lighter side of punk. Tracks like "Hit That" and "Spare me the details (one cuss word)" are true to the "Pop-Punk" stylings of this decades. The album is spattered with Dexter's liberal, but conservative politics shine through the album. "Hit That" is all about our society's fixation on sex and how loose we are. It also condema parental irresponsibilty. "The Worst Hangover Ever" is all about drinking and the futility of that lifestyle.

All in all, musically this album is super, lyrically, it leaves room for improvment. The cussing is not necessary and the whole punk "anti-establishment" feeling is not wonderful. As believers we regard authority with respect rather than trying to enforce mob rule. But we cannot hold believers to this standard. SO whatever, I had fun posting this I hope you have fun reading it.

BTW I mentioned my "Albums everone should own" list. Here it is
TOP 5 Albums everyone should own:
1. Conspiracy #5, Third Day (by far the best album from one of the best bands ever)
2. Illuminate, The David Crowder Band
3. Human Clay, Creed
4. The Five Iron Frenzy Collection, Five Iron Frenzy (This is a made up collection that consists of all their albums. They would all qualify individually but listing them collectively is even more convincing. Their albums titles are, Upbeats and Beatdowns, Our Newest Album Ever, Quantity is Job 1 (EP), All the Hype Money can Buy, Electric Boogaloo, The End is Near/Here(This is their farewell album and depending on whether you bought it at their show or at a store the name changed.
5. Smash, The Offspring

Peace all, Don't get shot

-JJ, The Breadstickguy, Master of the Sauce

Some really funny stuff!!!!

Who would have thought that inanimate objects have a gender.  This is truly hilarious.







You may not know that many non-living things have a

gender. For example:



1) Ziploc Bags -- They are Male, because they hold

everything in, but you can see right through them.



2) Copiers -- They are Female, because once turned off, it

takes a while to warm them up again. It's an effective

reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but

can wreak havoc if the wrong buttons are pushed.



3) Tire -- Male, because it goes bald and it's often

over-inflated.



4) Hot Air Balloon -- Male, because, to get it to go

anywhere, you have to light a fire under it and, of

course, there's the hot air component.



5) Sponges -- Female, because they're soft, squeezable and

retain water.



6) Web Page -- Female, because it's always getting hit on.



7) Subway -- Male, because it uses the same old lines to

pick people up.



8) Hourglass -- Female, because over time, the weight can

shift to the bottom.



9) Hammer -- Male, because it hasn't changed much over the

last 5,000 years, but it's handy to have around.



10) Remote Control -- Female. Ha! You thought it'd be

Male. But consider this -- it gives a man pleasure, he'd

be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know the

right buttons to push, he keeps trying.

Point well taken

I have been thinking about my last post a lot lately. I was already feeling convicted for being a jerk in the post, even though you will prolly never meet the guy I was talking about. Raheel's comment really drove it home for me. Being offended by a person's comments is one thing, but ranting and raving about an "injustice" that has done is a entirely different. I have since removed my post because I left it was innappropriate to be published on the Internet. I also just wanna say thanks to Raheel for always watching out for my spiritual condition and not just letting things slide.

Sincerest Apologies to anyone I might have offended,

JJ

What the heck is going on?

That is what you may be asking me, mostly because I haven't blogged in like a month. Well I have some material now and am going to talk.

First off I would like to say, I love swing dancing and I don't care if you think it's homosexual, its fun. Second I would like to say "Team America: World Police," is a horribly offensive film and you should never see it. I saw and I am truly ashamed of it. Third I would like to dispell any rumors right now. For some reason I am continuing to be asked by people if I'm voting for Kerry. Each and every person asks me this because they heard somewhere that I'm anti-Bush. This is just not true. I think Bush has done a fantastic job, and will continue to do so in the next four years. Plus I can only imagine the chaos that will ensue if Kerry wins. But if our soverign God appoints John Kerry to the office of the president, I will render all due respect to the office of the president.

On an unrelated side note I would like to point out that John Kerry won three purple hearts in Vietnam.

The question that burns my buns right now, is what is "Christian Community?" And what role do we play in those "Christian Communities." Well, the answer to the first question I believe is, a group of Christians who share in fellowship with each other and God. Now questions about fellowship could be raised, but we won't because I don't wanna. The next burning question is, "What is our role in Christian Community?" I want to dodge this question and really just say my part on what is not our role. I would say that our role is not to desire relationships within the community that we do not have. Let me clarify,

On an unrelated side note, Dick Cheney's daughter is a lesbian.

What I mean by desiring relationships other than those we have really means, If we accept our God as soverign, and also that he is omnipotent, and always does exactly what brings him the most glory, then the relationships that we have with others within a Christian community are set up that way for God's most possible glory. Does this apply only to guy-gal relationships, no. In fact I would say that this is a totally seperate issue. I am not talking about guy-gal relationships at all. I am talking about our friendships and how we relate to each other. I would like to use an example from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He says in his book, Life Together,

"God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enter the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly. he stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of Christian community, as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure."

On an unrelated side not, Dan Rather is stupid.

OK, let me tell you what he is not saying first. I realize that you, reading this blog, have probably not read the entire book so the context could be fuzzy. He is not saying that having a dream about what your relationships with people could be wrong. What he is saying is that having an overwelming desire for your community to be a particular way without thanking God for what he has set up is wrong. For example, to push a hot button, "missions." Dietrich would argue that a desire for your entire community to have a single desire about missions, specifically your desire, and not thank God for what he has already set up is wrong. Politics applies too. It doesn't have to be just "spiritual issues." If we desire anything more than what God has given us and set up in his scripture then we are incorrect. THE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEBER IS THIS ALL GOES WITHOUT THANKING GOD FOR THE COMMUNITY WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN. There is nothing wrong with desiring a community to have a passion for something, but we have to remeber that God has set up our relationships and desires for his utmost glory and we should first and foremost, thank our soverign maker for giving us these relationships before we impress our own standards of what our community should be. So next time you wish people would lighten up and take a joke, or play less video games, or go on a short term mission, or care about politics, or "insert favorite issue here." Remember to thank God for what he has given you first.


On an unrelated side note, I am the coolest guy ever




JJ


P.S. The "unrelated side notes" are just that. Don't read into them

Its ok to be an idiot

Wow, just read this article on foxnews.com. Here is the link http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,131584,00.html go read it. Teaching is reaching new lows. Isn't getting an "F" supposed to communicate that you need to try harder? Why then would you try to make the blow land as softly as possible. If you get an "F" you need to step up and work harder, not be told, its ok to be an idiot. Of course in schools without standards what matters?

A the joys of school...and work....and life

Well all, I haven't blogged in a while, if you haven't noticed. If you have noticed, I apoligize for my inability to perform to your standards. Well anyways here a look into my life.

School is going well sofar. My classes are boring but not as boring as they could be. Infact they are actually fun and somewhat interesting. Let me tell all you non-comm majors. Dialetical Theory is soooooooo boring. Anyways, I'm enjoying life as of this far and I think this is going to be a good semester.

An interesting thing that I have noticed, being a communication major with a focus on interpersonal relations I study relationships alot. Go figure. Most studies done in interpersonal relationships are done on dating and married relationships. One thing that I find interesting and relevant are the "stages of relationships." Basically there are 5 stages in relationships, beginning, escalating, stablizing, deescalting, and termination. The beginning stage is marked by inital dating and basically ends at the point where the couple calls themselves and is recognized as a dating couple. The next stage begins where the last one left off and ends at the point where the couple becomes a unified person. Basically they begin only identifiying themselves in conjunction with each other, and they refuse to do anything without each other. Statistics state that the faster that you reach the stablizing stage of your relationship, the more likely you are to break up and the relationship not in death. Now granted, sometimes a couple will be in the stablizing stage for 30 years before they break up but the stats are the same. The stablizing stage is where marriage and that jazz occurs.

Now for the interesting part, my example. For this example I will use three couple that I know that are or where dating. You may or may not know them but I have changed their names to protect the innocent, and maybe the not so innocent. Couple #1: This couple played the "game" for months before actually dating. They went back and forth on whether they wanted to date or not for such a long time that their friends had all but ruled out their relationship. They spent a lot of time in the beginning stage of their relationship, prolly about a month, before they really were regonized as a dating couple. They then took their time in the escalating stage and in my opinion are still in that stage, but they are nearning the end of it.

Couple 2: This couple moved relativly quickly through the beginning stage of their relationship. It took them about a month, maybe a bit more. They then were identified as a dating couple and are taking it easy in the escalating stage of their relationship. In my opinion they are taking their time in that stage, but are nearing the end of the stage.

Couple 3: This couple moves like greased lighting. I think they prolly spent about a week or two in the beginning stage or their relationship. THey are still in the escalting stage, but almost out. They already will almost never do anything without each other.

Now statistically speaking, couple 3 has a much greater chance of breaking up before death. Whether that is means divorce or just "breaking up" noone knows, but statistics are pretty accurate. Whereas, couple 1 is mostly likely going to get married and be married for the rest of their lives. Remember all this is based on statistics, but interesting to say the least.


Well everyone, have at it....comment away

School started....do you see me jumping for joy?

The answer is no. I extremely dislike school, so much that some may say I hate school. But there is an upside to it. THIS IS MY LAST FRICKING YEAR!!!!! OH YEAH!!!!! STICK THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT UNDERCLASSMEN!!! YOU SIT THERE AND WHINE....BOOFRICKEDYHOO!!!! I AM ALMOST DONE! Now that I have that out of the way, I would like to thank Jesus, my Mom and the other guys in the band for making this possible for all these years. I also want to thank all the fans of this band and everyone we have met over the years....oh wait....I didn't win the MTV Music Video award? Crap. Now what am I going to do? I can't simply "delete" the text above, or can I?(mischevious grin)(yes I can't spell. You would think that 16 years of school would have cured that, but they haven't.) So anyways school started and I am looking forward to learning lots of useless crap about how stupid people think this world works. I am also looking forward to infiltrating my godless campus with the message of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you believers are too.

Ok...now for the serious discussion of the week. What does "Honor thy father and mother," actually mean. Now for all of you who think sarcasam is still a novelty, I know it means to 'honor thy father and mother,' I'm not an idiot, or am I? The world may never know. Anywoo, does this passage mean that we obey our parents in every cercumstance, unless they ask us to sin, or does it mean merely respecting them and given heed to their warnings. What does scripture say about this? Well there is alot of scripture about the parent/child relationship but lets just focus on a couple of specfic passages, Exodus 20:12 and Ephesians 6:1-3. Exodus 20:12 says, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you." Ephesians 6:1-3 says "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.) HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH." These verses basically say the same thing. Honor your father and mother, but Eph. 6 gives us some insight as to what that looks like. It says that children should obey their parents. Now the real question is how does obeidience play into honoring. Because I can obey my mom by taking out the trash, while I'm cussing her out under my breath. I am obeying, but am I honoring? I would say no. So I think honor has more to do with the attitude in which we obey. So the question becomes, in which cases do I honor my parents. Obviously, not in ones where they ask you to sin, which I actually don't think happens. Honestly, when was the last time your parents told you sleep with someone outside of wedlock or to steal something?(Just to kname a few) I mean I could understand some of that if your parents are not believers, but if they are, this will never happen.

Here's a situation, you really like another Christian chick(or dude, depending on your giftedness) and you want to engage in a relationship with them that is "more than friends," and no, I don't mean friends and penpals. Here's the catch, your parents have met the person and they say to you, "This is not a good idea right now, in my opinion. But you are mature enough to make your own decisions and we support and love you either way." I this particular situation, what do you do? Do you "honor" your parents by not engaging in the relationship or can you have the relationship anyways. They didn't actually tell you not to, or even use an imperitive tense. So I don't see this as an obedience issue.

I want to hear your thoughts on this issue, and if your decision would change based on your gender.


And for those of you who noticed the blatant spelling errors, Yes I made them on purpose.


Until next time, don't get shot

JJ

No lives were lost, so I'll have to call this a victory.

New Jersey, 4 out of 168, and Creed?

Hello baseball fans!!!!

Welcome to the next exciting installment in my mostly boring and manical blog. Throughout this blog I have surreptitiously hidden special inside jokes and other connundrums for you to think uponst. So have fun!!!


Well, just saw the new idependent film, "Garden State." I have to say, artisticly this is probably one of the best films that I have seen in quite some time. This movie was well thought out and the story worked very well. The acting was also fantastic and the characters, however quirky they were, stood out as original and believable. I really enjoyed watching this movie. From a pure artistic sense it gets an "A." That being said, I cannot recommend the movie. Why you may ask? Well for starters, its rated "R." Now I am not an advocate of not watching "R" rated movies, some of my favorite movies are rated "R." What I am and advocate of is not recommending movies, e.g. giving approval to the general populace, to see a film with graphic sexual content, lots-o-drugs and "F-bombs." Also, this has to be one of the most depressing films I have seen ever. I would subtitle this movie, "An Adventure in Futilistic Fatalism, but Hey, That's Life." Not very appealing. I will give this movie one thing, it is totally consistent with the culture's worldview. This culture is post-modern and in my opinion the only logical conclusion you can reach within post-modernism is that life is only worth living for yourself. Also that you cannot break out of the box, you have to "play with the cards you've been delt." There is no hope for the future, there is only the here and now and me. You matter some, but only when I say so. Anywho, if you were planning on seeing it, and you are a mature audience then I won't stop you. But I won't advocate the movie either, even if I did like it a lot.


Now, some of you may be asking, "What does 4 out of 168 mean?" Well for those of you familiar with our time and dating system(the system by which we mark our days, not by which we go on "dates" whatever the heck those are anyways.), there are 168 hours in a week. I am speaking of 4 of them. My question, is something that you only do 4 hours a week even worth doing? That is 0.02381 of a week. Just over 2% of your week. Not since milk has 2% been ok with anybody. If you only put 2% of your effort into something most people would call that a waste. Why do I bring this up? Because 4 hours a week is all that is required of a person to belong to the group we call Axis. Now can we judge how worthy something is by the amount of time it takes to accomplish it? Yes and No. If something is only worth 2% of our week, is it worth the effort? By the numbers, no. Am I saying that Axis is totally devoid of anything useful? by no means, I have been edified by Tyler's teaching and by the fellowship many, many times. The question is why do 4-6 people show up on a friday nite to worship our Lord through prayer on a weekly basis, and 30 guys show up for a once a month meeting at 6AM one morning? Could it be that they show up because it costs something? Could it be that people are motivated to give their time to something that that is inconvient because for some crazy reason it will be better? I don't know, I'm just spitballing. But I have had some convos with people recently who ahve suggested that people are not willing to serve within Axis because its too easy to be a part of it. I think there might be some truth to that. In reality, I don't know, but comments are more than welcome.


On a lighter note, there is new band on the Alternative rock scene. Their name is Alter Bridge and they play rock music. The band consists of Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall, Scott Phillips and Myles Kennedy. Now to most of you these names mean nothing. But to any child of late '90's grunge/alternative those first three names ring a bell. They happen to be the names of the guitarist, bassist, and drummer for the now departed band Creed. Myles Kennedy sings, if you haven't guessed yet. Well I bought their CD out of sheer curiousity and discovered some things. Its quite good actually, very unoriginal but good nontheless. If you are a fan of Creed, they sound just like them. If fact they are them, minus the egotisticly manical, megalomanic Scott Stapp, the former voice and front man for Creed. No the lyrics aren't "spiritual" but the music is good and I like it. So if you are a fan of post-grunge alternative or just living in denial and waiting for Creed's new album, "One Day Remains," is an album worth checking out.


Thanks to all for the times we've shared. No lives were lost, so we'll have to call it a victory.

Peace all, don't get shot.

Breadstickguy, master of the Sauce!!!! A turtlenecked warrior until further notice.

Oh BTW, if you have been reading my b/c of a link from "Casey's Place" super, but I have a site of my own as well. Which my blog just happens to post to. www.breadstickguy.com Give it a visit. There is totally awesome stuff there!!!!

A Difference Between Men and Women

Here is something that I have observed, just one of the many differences between men and women.

Most Godly guys that I know, know their doctrine and spend the majority of their extra-biblical reading in books about doctrine or theological thought. We are amazed by people like Jonathan Edwards or RC Sproul. Knowledge is very important to the average Godly guy. On the other hand(and most of this is postulation so correct me if I'm wrong) the ladies tend to be more enthralled with just the scripture or a book on a more practical applicaiton of a principle. Example: The ladies seem to be able to read a verse like John 1:1 and just revel in the glory that God came incarnate to this planet. That he stepped down from his perfect, eternal glory and became a man for a time.

That being said, I'm open to suggestions.

Reprobation

This is more an attempt to facilitate a discussion about the topic rather than an actual blog. Post your comments on reprobation.

Reprobation being the just punishment of those not elect and having been given the imputed righteousness of Christ.

The Den of Iniquity, Early Mornings, and Good Movies

Turtlenecked Soldiers UNITE!!!!

Yo,

Yesterday Tom, Raheel and I are at the Den of Iniquity(DofI), aka Berean, and Tom and I were playing this really dumb game where we try to kick each other with our sandals by throwing them with our feets. This was quite an amuzing game and Tom was quite good at it. I on the other hand sucked bad. OK unrelated rabbit trail, the Chai Tea Latte I got from Starbucks today is really bad. Way too weak, I think the chick put too little chai in it, oh well, she's training. Ok back to the story, so Tom and I are basically throwing our sandals around in the store and I accidentally gave one of mine a little too much height. It flew like 7 feet in the air, over a rack of CDs and hit this lady right in the back of the head. OH MY GOSH IT WAS FRICKING HILARIOUS!!!!!! The lady was very calm, annoyed, but calm. I could bearly stop laughing long enough to apologize to her. She told me it was immature and I apologized profusly. Then we walked away and bust a gut! Oh man, it was funny!!!

So enough about my shoes, let me tell you one thing I hate. I hate early mornings. I had to open at Bux two days in a row last week, and it was truly no fun. Luckily, my manager said I probably won't be opening very often so I won't have to deal with it much. So that is cool. But opening was great too. I was done with work by 9am and had the rest of the day for me to screw around. So I slept until 2 or 3 pm wach day. It was super.

Speaking of things I hate, "The Village," and "The Manchurian Candidate," are not. I saw both of those movies on Friday and I liked both of them very much. I give the Manchurian Candidate an "A", and the Village a "B." The Village is a super cool movie, but there were some sucky things, that's why it gets a "B." Its probably the worst of the M. Night Shamalan movies, but those are some of the best movies ever made in my HUMBLE opinion. Anyways, go see both of them, they are good.

Well, Ta Ta For now,


Peace All, Don't get shot

God is not a Republican?

God Is Not A Republican
07/08/04
by Michael Janke

The Fourth of July holiday fell on a Sunday this year. Naturally, the service that I attended reflected a bit of that holiday spirit. The sanctuary was decorated in red, white and blue and a giant flag fell from the ceiling to the floor on the right side of the pulpit. It was all very celebratory. As the pastor began to speak, however, any nice thoughts about the birth of our country fell away to frustration and disillusionment. I walked out of that service feeling very strongly that I needed to say one thing.

God is not a Republican.

Before the majority of my reading audience immediately dismisses me, let me clarify something about myself. I am extremely conservative. I'm a registered Republican and on pretty much every issue out there I am going to fall on the conservative side. I am also a Christian. First and foremost that is the most defining part of my life.

However, contrary to popular belief, the Christian faith does not equal Republican politics. It never has. It never will. And anyone who says otherwise is just plain wrong.

It upsets me, therefore, when I hear preachers elevate their politics up to the level of the Gospel. It demeans the pulpit they stand behind. It demeans the Bible. It demeans the Christian faith. It demeans the church. It demeans what they say about God.

The sermon on the Fourth was so full of "RepubliChristian" nonsense that I honestly wanted to stand up and walk out. Since I am conservative it's not like I don't mind hearing talk about conservative ideals. But when a pastor stands behind the pulpit and spouts them off as if they were Gospel Truth and just as important - and identifying - as what the Bible actually talks about when it describes what being a Christian is, that is offensive to me.

How many conservatives roll their eyes when they hear Jesse Jackson referred to as a reverend? Jackson may well be a reverend, but he's so associated himself with liberal politics it is extremely hard for a conservative to disassociate anything he says from his politics. His pulpit has been used as a political platform so often that the two are no longer able to be distinguished from each other.

As I sat there I shuddered to think. What if there was someone with liberal political perspective in the room? What if that someone was searching and interested in learning more about God? This preacher was practically daring that someone to reject God and walk away. Because he was so busy equating Christianity with Republican values, he was gift-wrapping excuses for that someone to close their heart and mind. Why, in that setting, should a liberal person want to know more about God, if the preacher is telling them that to do so essentially also means that they have to change their political party affiliation? He has just put stumbling blocks in the way of seekers who come from a different background than him. He has re-enforced liberal stereotypes and gave the person a quick and easy way to reject Christianity.

Let's get this straight. Christianity is based on belief in Christ. God loved us all so much that He sent Jesus to die for us so that anyone who believes in Him doesn't have to perish but can have eternal life. Jesus, the only Son of God, died for our sins and on the third day rose again. We are saved by grace through faith in God, not by our works. God desires that we love him with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength, and that we love our neighbors as ourselves. That is Christianity. That is what the church is supposed to be about. That is the Gospel.

And that same Gospel is denigrated and minimized when preachers start equating their politics - whether they're conservative or liberal - with it. Tax cuts or tax hikes should never be talked about like they are determined by faith in God. Whether you vote or don't vote does not make you a Christian. Your stance on the war has no bearing on your relationship with God. A person on the left of the political spectrum will be just as welcomed into heaven as one on the right.

The message that day almost completely focused on the outward. Make America a "Christian nation" again. America needs to be more moral. America needs to do this; it needs to stop doing that. The emphasis was on outward action, with mention of inward change barely mentioned. And I have to ask, what is the point?

John Fischer, in his book, Fearless Faith, points out the overriding key to what I'm talking about here: when we're interacting with people who are not Christians, the key is not to make them act more like Christians, but to persuade them to consider Christ.

That's an important point, so read it again if you have to.

What good does it do to spend all of this time getting non-Christians to act more moral, be "better people" and be sympathetic to Christian lifestyles? Are we here simply to make the world a nice place to live? Making the world a nice place to live is not what is important, from an eternal perspective. Does an America (or whatever country you are from) that acts like a "Christian nation" in reality serve the Kingdom of God any better than a post-Christian America? No! Not if its people still do not know the Lord. Non-Christians who are moral and go to church a lot are no better off than non-Christians who are more blatant in their sinful nature. If there is no change on the inside, the outside moral and upright behavior is simply window dressing on a soul that is just as tarnished and in need of a Savior.

It might make we Christians feel better about ourselves and the world we're in to have the country feel more like the 50's again - all pro-family and Donna Reed-like. But 50's America was just as lost as the new millennium America - it simply hid it better. Victorian England was just as sinful and carnal as the England of today - sin is sin, whether you're lusting after a woman's uncovered ankle or a more private part of the body. Both people still need God just as much.

No. The goal of the church is not to have non-Christians act more "Christian." Our goal is to persuade them to consider, and ultimately accept, Christ. Enforcing outer change is pointless if they continue to live without Jesus as their Savior. That is why all of this talk about "turning America back to God" is really, well, just plain pointless, when if it is only in reference to laws, prayer in schools, and other such things. What matters is person-by-person relationships and individuals finding Jesus as their Savior.

It's not that Christians shouldn't be engaged in the political process. By all means, we should. It's our duty as citizens. But we cannot blindly believe that such things are actually where the real change takes place, or that politics and courts are where the real battle is to be fought and won. The first priority always has to remain spreading the true Gospel. A Gospel that is un-weighed by peripheral Republican, or Democrat, platform speeches.

God is not a Republican. God is not a Democrat. Faith in God does not equal conservatism or liberalism. Any preacher who tells you otherwise is out of line and needs to seriously stop and re-focus on what the message of the cross is actually about.

This guy has got some good points. Does the American Church valuve conservatism more than the Gospel? Do we place right-wing thinking on the same level with the Gospel? I know that this happend because I have expierenced this. And I believe that he has point, the church is so caught up with changing the outward morality of people rather than telling them the truth and allow God to change the inward morality. We have taken it upon ourselves to save non-believers by presenting the best arguements and providing solid logic. Apologetics has taken far too high a place in christian culture. We put more effort into convincing people that the Bible is true, than in loving them and sharing what God has given us as a tool. The inerrant truth of his word that cuts through the soul, seperating bones from the marrow. This is Micheal Janke's point.

Now on the other hand, I believe that a Bible based view of government and morality is conservative. Liberal views on abortion and homosexuality aren't just contra-Biblical, but anit-biblical. So I believe that if your faith in Christ truly affect you, your political view happen to fall on the conservative side. Just my tought

Peace all, Don't get shot

Chai Tea, A Killer Party, and DVD deals

This will probably be the shortest post yet. I really have nothing to complain about or inform you of. But this weekend was really awesome.

I rediscover Chai Tea this week at Starbucks. I forgot how good this stuff is. And what really makes it hit the spot is that I can get it free. Yeah oh Yeah. And what makes Chai even better is if you add just a bit of espresso...oh man its like a really really good tasting thing. (The phrase I want to use I can't for the sake of you, the reader. E-Mail me if you wanna know.) Yeah so anyways, if you like Pumpkin Pie and visit Starbucks, get yourself a Chai Tea Latte or Creme Frap. Yeah you'll like it.

Another cool thing is we had an awesome party at my place this weekend. Yeah on Sunday night, ny house was the place to be. It was truly a fun time, and I met some new people, and there was no booze. Just proves the point that booze isn't nessecary to have a good time. Although it does make some things more fun. But anyways we have a ton of leftover soda and I don't drink it, so it just sits there. Man I had a coke today and I realized that soda isn't that great. Coffee and Chai are soo much better.

I also just bought "The Whole Nine Yards," and "The Whole Ten Yards," on DVD. Yeah I got them for $20!!!! That's a great deal. Bestbuy.com if you wanna take advantage of this incredible deal. Those movies are serously some of the funniest movies I have ever seen. So if you haven't seen them, see them. THere is jsut one scene in "Nine" that you have to skip. But they are funny!!!!!


ANyways, I'm done talking now.

Oh and if you didn't know, this now posts to my new website. www.breadstickguy.com. Go visit!!!

Peace All, don't get shot.

The Bourne Supremacy, Oversleeping, and a new hair style.

Why hello all,

By all I mean the two people who read this blog. But hey the reason I blog is not so that people will read it. Its just really something to do late at nite so I don't get into trouble buying stuff on eBay. But I enjoy it, and I know you do too. Anyways you are probably wondering what I have been thinking about recently.

Tonite I saw the Bourne Supremacy. I will see it again. Not only because it was a really cool movie that was very intense and kept me guessing alot, but because I have a free ticket to go see it. So I will definetly go see it again. In fact, I would pay to see it again. Unlike so many movies that are made these days, this one was worth paying for. I really think that Matt Damon is a phenomonal actor. I can't think of a movie that I have seen that Matt Damon is in, that I haven't really liked. Granted some of his films with Kevin Smith were raunchy, but they were funny. Speaking of Kevin Smith and good actors, Ben Affleck is not one of them. He did Kevin Smith movies with Damon and he was good in that, he also did Good Will Hunting, but wasn't that great, tolerable, not great. Otherwise his stuff is crap. DareDevil and PayCheck were decent, but everything else that Affleck is in just sucks. It just plain inhales rapidly. You know, oh and speaking of bad actors, Kevin Costner is the worst of the whole lot. I have never seen a movie that Kevin Costner was in that I even remotely liked. Now before you say, "But Costner is in girly movies and girls like him." NEWFLASH - I know this makes me less of a man to say this, but I like some chick flicks. I have grown up with all women, cept me Dad, but I was mostly raised by women. I have watched their movies, and developed a taste for some of them. But Kevin Costner is still the one of the worst actors to ever defile the earth with his presense. Possibly the worst. Now before you go and say, "He is created in the image of God too!" I know, and when God made Kevin Costner he said, "I am going to create this guy and he is going to be a terrible actor, but still manage to make millions of dollars and capture the hearts of stupid people everywhere. Nuf said. BTW you can find that quote from God in 1st Hessitations 6. Look it up, its there.


Ok enought about movies. SO today I was also supposed to go to this meeting about how to create the "Starbucks Expierence." Yeah, besides the coffee tasting and eating free pastries, it was basically a waste of time. I understand why they do it and it does have some value, but I was still kinda bored the whole time. Anyways the point here is that I was late. I was very late. Like a half hour. Now this may not seem like a big deal if the class if like a hundred people and it runs for 4 hours. But it was like 7 and the paper I got said anyone more than 10 mins late will have to reschedule. So I wake up at 11:45, I'm supposed to be there at 12:00. Not a big deal, I just have to drive 25 miles in 15 mins right? NOt a problem. Yeah right, so I'm freaking out thinking that I am gonna get in serious trouble because I didn't make it to the class. But God was gracious and gave me a nice instructor who delayed class because they were goffing around talking. Plus he put this one lady in the class, she works at my Starbucks, is the most anal person I have ever, and does not shut up. People say I talk alot, this lady could literally talk the ears of a stone statue. Anyways about her analness, so we are making coffee to brew at Starbucks. We have to measure out .37 pounds of coffee and put it into filters ready to go. That is no problem. I grab the bag, pour out the bag till it gets close to .37 on the scale and then slowly add until it gets there. When the bag is empty so I can't pour anymore out, I pitch it and grab a new one. Because that's what I was told to do. This lady, sits there and pinches out every last grind of coffee out of the bag. I mean by taking like 30 extra seconds to do this I have almost made another batch. And its not just that. SHE IS SO ANAL RETENTIVE ABOUT DETAILS! And I'm ok with that, I'm probably gonna marry someone like that. What bugs me about her, is that she doesn't stop talking while she's doing this. I mean its ok to not explain why you do everylittlethingyoudotome! Oh well, she is really a nice person and possibly a Christian, but man I am glad I am not gonna be working with her and a regular basis.

Man do I ramble, BTW I also am experimenting with a new "do" for me hair. Its kinda emo, kinda too short right now to do what I want, but I like it. I'm gonna try it for a few days and see what I kinda vibes I get. So if you notice a slightly emo hairstyle on me, let me know your comments.

Also, you can comment on my blogs if you like. Just click the comments thing right beneath the blog entry.(I think???)

What I'm Listening to:
A Favor house Atlantic - Coheed and Cambria - Cool pop-punk band with some crazy lyrics. There is a line in this song that says, "Good eye, Sniper. You shoot and I'll run!" Weird :-)

Renegades - Rage Against the Machine - Fun song D/L it if you can

Bulls on Parade - Rage Against the Machine - All I need to say it "Oh Purple RAIN!" Ask Josh Stamm.

End Transmission(Album) - Snapcase - Yeah Screamo bands!!!!!


Peace All, Don't Get Shot

My New Job, Emergent Churches, and stick shift

Yo ALL!! What up my homies? Not much here.

Well I finished my first shift as a Barista at Starbucks. Yes, you heard me right, I said Starbucks. "Mr. Coffee-Bean-Is-Better-Than-Starbucks" works at Starbucks. Now for those of you who thought I was anti-Starbucks, let me explain. I was never anit-Starbucks, I am just pro-Coffee Bean, which I still am. I just think that Coffee Bean's coffee is better in general. This is a comparison of house brew vs house brew. French press doesn't count. Starbucks has great coffee, I just think that there is better stuff out there.

Which Starbucks you ask? Ellsworth and Baseline. Its a super nice store and I have a really cool manager named Christy. Yeah I liked it. I filled out paperwork for like 2 hours and then made Frappucinnos and got a sugar high from drinking them. It should end up being a pretty cool job.

There is an interesting change going on at EVBC. Axis is moving to Friday nights. Yes, you heard me right, Axis on Friday nights. Why you may ask? Well our staff has been reading Erwin McManus recently and that is really why. McManus is the guy pretty much responsible for the Emergent church movement. If you aren't familiar with that let me summarize. In an attempt to become all things to all people the emergent church changes the way they "do church." They do it on a Friday or Saturday night and change the setting to a very "friendly" atmosphere. This in and of itself is not bad. What is bad is the tendency to become seeker sensitive in nature, catering to unbelievers by making the message weak and just focusing on making is non-threatening instead of the exposition of the work. This is really why Axis is changing. At least in my opinion. Am I worried about Axis becoming wishy-washy, no. But the concern still exists so I am going to meet with the staff and express it. This is kinda a controverstial topic in the church community right now so let the comments fly.

The real question is am I opposed to this move? The answer is no, providing the message is not tampered with. Also providing the staff steps up and utilizes the people in the ministy. If this goes down without some serious organization we will fall on our faces and reget ever being born. So there ya have it.

On an unrelated sidenote, I get to learn to drive stick today. So that will be fun.

Peace all, Don't get shot

I - Robot, Liberal thinking, and John Edwards

Welcome to my blog. I will use this site until I get a different on up. Please read on and enjoy.


So last night I'm bored out of my mind at home. I just spent the whole day looking for jobs around town. I must have turned in 50 applications. I swear if I have to write down my work history again I will shoot myself. I should just attach a resumé to all the apps so I don't have to. Well enough of that. Anyways so my buddy Casey calls me up and we decided to grab some food and catch a flick. Speaking of flicks I am going to re-open my movie review website. I will be posting new reviews as I see movies. Anyways we met up at the Stapley Bucks and moseyed on over to the "Mac Shack" as Casey so affectionatly calls it. I had some of the best Chicken Canneloni I have ever put in my mouth. It was wonderful. Anywho what was interesting about dinner was our convo. We discussed mostly politics. Now, Casey and I are both hard-core conservatives. Hannity and Limbaugh are probably our favorite political commentators. Our conversation drifted to the up and coming election. I have talked to a good many liberals and they all say the same thing. I don't care for John Kerry, but I HATE BUSH SO MUCH!!!!! Well I say to Mr. Liberal-Who-Hates-Bush-But-Doesn't-Like-Kerry-Either, VOTE FOR NADER!!! People will say that Nader stands no chance at winning, but I disagree. If everyone who belived in Nader's platform got out there and voted I think Nader would be fighting for the top spot. The problem with people who like Nader is they are all too busy saving whales and hugging trees to take 20mins on one day every four years to vote for the President of America. I say to you tree hugging liberal, "Nuke a gay whale for Jesus!" Anywho, I encourage all of you who don't like Kerry but hate Bush to vote for Nader, because a vote for Nader is still a vote against Bush.

So after dinner we headed over to the theater to see Anchorman, which is quite funny if you ask me, but on a whim decided to see the 12:01 showing of I-Robot instead. I have to say that I-Robot was a pleasant suprise. I went into the movie expecting a really crappy movie with crappy special effects and crappy acting. But I was wrong, good plot, great special effects, and the acting wasn't bad either. So read my review on it at MovieCenter and then go see it. So suddenly we had hours to kill so I called up my friend Tom Christie and the three of use chilled at Stapley bucks and In-n-Out until the movie. Good conversations. I enjoyed it alot. The thing that intrigued me most about I-Robot was the discourse about the will. How are decisions made? Could a Robot make good decisions? THis discourse brings me to my next subject, John Edwards.

I am reading a book by Edwards called Freedom of the Will, which is probably the most complicated book I have every read. I have been reading it for a few days, so far I think I'm on page 12. For those of you who do not know John Edwards, he was a puritan preacher around the time of the Great Awakening. He is argueably one of the greatest philisophical thinkers of all time. His work has convicted and encouraged sinners to a saving faith in Christ. I just learned of another person who just last night was driven to the cross by Edwards work. Anyways in his book Edwards takes then preface to apologize to everyone who is offended by the usage of the word Calvinist and Arminian. He states that he uses these words to save space in his lengthy disertation. The first actual section in the book in a definition of terms like, "the will" "desire" and "voltion." He defines exactly what he means by these words. I will not discuss his defs because you should read the book. Anyway the conclusion he reaches is the the will and desire are bound to each other. Therefore the will is most definetly not free. It is not bound to our nature, but to our desire, which is bound to our desire. The will chooses what ever it desires most. Therefore, sinners only choose sin etc. etc. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book and keeping you all updated with my gleanings.