The Echoing Green

The Story Of Our Lives


Tonight
our dreams are in our sights,
as we're lifted out of nowhere
with sunspots in our eyes,
we see the glory of our lives
our hearts are burning bright
as we're lifted out of nowhere
our songs all stay behind
to sing the story of our lives
This is the story of our lives


anything and everything is meaningless
when forever's waiting
we're captivesto this place... for now
so we take our hopes
and hold them away
chain them to the throes of yesterday
but the chains are getting tight...


Tonight
our dreams are in our sights,
as we're lifted out of nowhere
with sunspots in our eyes,
we see the glory of our lives
our hearts are burning bright
as we're lifted out of nowhere
our songs all stay behind
to sing the story of our lives


in this place
where lonlines is neverending
condescending
and leaves a bitter taste... for now
and our hearts weighed down
with nothing to say
as darkness steals our innocence away
but now we're seeing light...


Tonight
our dreams are in our sights,
as we're lifted out of nowhere
with sunspots in our eyes,
we see the glory of our lives
our hearts are burning bright
as we're lifted out of nowhere
our songs all stay behind
to sing the story of our lives


[The story of our, glory of our, story of our]
The story of our lives
[The story of our, glory of our, story of our]
The story of our lives
[The story of our, glory of our, story of our]
[The story of our, glory of our, story of our]


Tonight
our dreams are in our sights,
as we're lifted out of nowhere
with sunspots in our eyes,
we see the glory of our lives
our hearts are burning bright
as we're lifted out of nowhere
The pain all falls behind
Behold the glory of our lives


[The story of our, glory of our, story of our]
This is the story of our lives
[The story of our, glory of our, story of our]
Behold the glory of our lives
[The story of our, glory of our, story of our]
This is the story of our lives
[The story of our, glory of our, story of our]
Behold the glory of our lives
[The story of our, glory of our, story of our lives]
[The story of our, glory of our, story of our lives]
This is the story of our lives

Knowledge

So over the past few days I have been thinking about God and knowledge of God. The thing that I was always raised thinking is that no matter how hard we may try we can never know everything about God. Not only that but if we spend that next 1,000,000 years trying to learn about the simplest aspect of God at the end we will look back on everything that we have learned and everything that we still have to learn about that aspect and realize that we have learned the smallest possible fraction of what there is to know.

Over the past few days, in thinking about this nothing much has changed in my stance. But it has been reinforced slightly. The biggest reason that I am writing this down is because I am starting to forget some of the nuances of the argument and if I write it down (or at minimum begin to write it down) I will have a better chance of remembering. The second reason that I am writing this down is because this is a logical argument on why we can't know everything about God, so if I am at fault in any part of my logic I will most likely need other people to comment on where they believe I went wrong, so please comment if you find something.

One last thing before I start writing about knowledge, I do say that we can't know everything about God or even the slightest aspect of God but that is not to say that I don't think that we can know something of God and who He is. For instance we know that God is made up of three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but what I am going to argue is that we cannot know every fine detail about the trinity.

My thoughts on this subject come in two parts, first is that knowledge produces equality or at minimum a perceived equality, and the second is that knowledge presupposes boundaries by which you are able to have knowledge. both of those statements goes against some basic doctrine of the church, primarily that of omnipotence.

The first is that knowledge produces equality. To explain my point on this clearly I have to use three illustrations, the first is that of a magician and his audience. When you go to a magic show there is a mind set that goes with you, one that says I am going to be entertained and amazed. when you walk into the building and sit down you are saying (for that hour or so) that the magician is some how a little bit more then you, enough to pay to see the show and to sit and give him your attention. Most of the people in that building know that the tricks that the magician is doing are fake but they come to see him, however if the people suddenly know how the magician does his tricks, the magician no longer has a pull over the audience. There is no longer a reason to go to the show because there is nothing special about it, the magician has lost his power because the audience knows where his power comes from.

The second way that I would describe this is through that of an employee and an employer. think of a person who goes out and finds someone to be there assistant, then goes through the process of training them on the companies systems to the point that they can then do things one their own and teach them self how to do things. If years latter someone higher up then both of

them comes in and sees that the person who was hired is doing just as good of a job as the person who did the hiring, then he would probably promote the person to an equal position. If the person comes in and sees the person doing a better job then they would promote them to a higher position then the employer.

The third illustration could almost be made into another argument all together, but I think that it does a better job at helping this argument. This is the fact that knowledge is a created thing. We think of knowledge as something that just is, that God has knowledge of things, this way of thinking is wrong. In reality, what we call knowledge is something that God created for us, so that we may know Him and learn. If knowledge was outside of God then that would suggest that there was a world out side of God, one in which concepts lived and God takes part in the concepts. This would say that there is something that is completely on its own, it needs nothing from God. This would contradict John 1:1-3 which says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

Now the second argument is about boundaries. I believe that knowledge means that there are boundaries around something. If you can think about something and know what it is it means that you understand what boundaries apply to it. If you understand math that means that you understand that 2+2 is always 4 not 5, if you understand that every action has an equal and
opposite reaction then you understand some of the laws of physics. So if we can understand all of God that means that we would be able to understand the boundaries that apply to Him, the implications of which would be that God would have boundaries that apply to him and the would go directly against the omnipotence of God.

So if you have any thoughts please post a comment.

Opera and Software

Ok first I have to say that I am  sorry for not posting anything real in a while, I am trying to find more time but it seems like every time I sit down to write something I just feel to tiered to do write anything. But I digress, me complaining is not the point of this post, the point is to share three new software programs 
which I think are really cool and worth taking a look at. The first is a most for anyone who does a lot on the internet or works in programs that don't have or have poor spell 
check systems, its called Tinyspell. Tinyspell is a program that runs in the background all the time
while you are on the computer, any time you type something down it will run it through its dictionary and sound a little beep if you have spelt something wrong. When I say any time you type something I mean any time...if you search something on Google it will check your search...this can get a little annoying when you are typing a lot of Email addresses but the beep is easy to ignore. The second program is called WordWeb. This is a great dictionary/thesaurus. Like Tinyspell this program also runs in the background of your computer and when you highlight a word and plug in the command of your choosing it will pop up with the definition of the word. This is the program that I use any time I want a paper to use bigger words because when it pops up with the definition it also comes up with other words that can be used, that is how I make my papers go from a 6th grade writing level to a 10th grade level. The third and last program I want to highlight is a new web browser that I found. Recently Firefox has been doing some weird things, losing my bookmarks (by the way if anyone has blogs that they would like me to read would you please leave the link in the comments), the screen kept getting shaky, so this prompted me to look for another web browser, the first one to pop out at me was one that I had heard about when it first came out not to long ago called Opera. I have only had it for one day so far but it has definitely caught my attention. There isn't a lot for it yet but that's because there aren't a lot of
programmers using it yet, I think that if and when people start to use it there is the potential for it to over take Firefox and IE. Anyways, those are the programs that I have been
using the most over the last few weeks, if you try one let me know what you think.

Last Minute

Ok So it is really last minute but I have to write a survey and compile my findings for an assignment, so I have written the survey but I need people to answer. So if you wouldn't mind to fill this short survey out and then send it to Gonzo4God@Yahoo.com it would help me out a lot. All of the answers in this will be kept confidential.

Name (Will be kept private): ____________________________

Age: _____

Sex: M/F _____

Education: ________________

Religious Orientation: __________________

Average House Hold Income (Please choose one): _____

A. $0-15,000

B. $15,001-25,000

C. 25,001-60,000

D. 60,001-100,000

E. 100,001-Higher

(Please choose one for each question)

1. Who is the dominant group that defines (or helps to define) values in America?

A. The Church

B. The State (Government and Law makers)

C. The Individual (People define values for themselves)

D. T.V.

E. Other (Please describe)_______________________

2. Do you believe that the views and values of other culture should influence the values of America? Y/N_______

Please explain your answer:

3. In your life who has helped you define your values the most?

A. Parents

B. Teacher(s)

C. Friends

D. Other (Please describe)_____________________

Please explain why and how that person has helped you to define your values:

Science is Hard so You Should Buy a Coke

This is how you can tell that I want to think less.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51866
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51865

Life

So I haven't posted in a while and I haven't been able to see a lot of my friends in a while, I apologize for that. So just a few things that are going on in my life. I got a job for a friend of my moms, it is working for a company called Discount Sanitation taking calls from angry customers and signing up new ones. I started school, like most people, last Wednesday and am taking Philosophy 101, Math 092 (the teacher didn't show up the first day of class), Sociology 101, and Anthropology 112. The last thing is Ruth comes out in 3 days. Looking back on this I didn't really have a whole lot to tell people so if you want to disregard this post and ask me all of these questions next time we see each other that would be fine.

Dropping Knowledge

On September 9, 2006, 112 of the world's most compelling thinkers, artists, writers, scientists, social entrepreneurs, philosophers and humanitarians from around the world will come together in Berlin, Germany, as guests of dropping knowledge.

Seated around an Olympic-sized round-table in historic Bebelplatz square, these inspiring individuals, renowned for their lasting creative or social contribution, will engage with 100 questions out of the thousands donated to dropping knowledge by the international public.

Using dropping knowledge's question-rating system, the public identified 500 questions as those most likely to initate open dialog on a social topic of most relevance to them. This group of questions will yield the final 100 Questions — representing a truly global sampling of cultures, themes and ideas — to be asked at the Table of Free Voices and beyond.

Myspace Bulletin

Usually I hate these but this myspace bulletin isn't half bad and I would agree with most of it.

FROM A GUYS POINT OF VIEW

We don't care if you're friends with other guys.

But when you're sitting next to us, and some random guy walks into the room and you jump up and tackle him, without even introducing us, yeah, it pisses us off.

It doesn't help if you sit there and talk to him for ten minutes without even acknowledging the fact that we're still there.

We don't care if a guy calls you, but at 2 in the morning we do get a little concerned. Nothing is that important at 2 a.m. that it can't wait till the morning.
____________________________________________________
Also, when we tell you you're pretty/ beautiful/ gorgeous/ cute/ stunning, we freaking mean it.

Don't tell us we're wrong.

We'll stop trying to convince you.

The sexiest thing about a girl is confidence.
____________________________________________________
Don't be mad when we hold the door open.
Take Advantage of the mood im in.

LET US PAY FOR YOU!

DON'T "FEEL BAD"

We enjoy doing it (Paying for you).

It's expected.

Smile and say "thank you."
____________________________________________________
You don't have to get dressed up for us.

If we're going out with you in the first place, you don't have to feel the need to wear the shortest skirt you have or put on every kind of makeup you own.

We like you for WHO you are and not WHAT you are.


____________________________________________________
Don't take everything we say seriously.

Sarcasm is a beautiful thing. See the beauty in it.

Don't get angry easily.
____________________________________________________
Stop using magazines/media as your Bible. (the bible is WAY better)

***Don't talk about how hott Morris Chesnutt, Brad Pitt, or Jesse McCartny is in front of us.

***It's boring, and we don't care.
You have girlfriends for that.
____________________________________________________
Whatever happened to the word "handsome"/"beautiful"

I'd be utterly stunned by a girl who greeted me with "Hey
handsome!" instead of "Hey baby/ stud/ cutie/ sexy" or whatever else you can think of.

____________________________________________________
Girls, I cannot stress this enough:
IF YOU AREN'T BEING TREATED RIGHT BY A GUY, DON'T WAIT FOR HIM TO CHANGE. DITCH HIS STUPID ASS, AND FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL TREAT YOU WITH UTTER RESPECT


Someone who will honor your morals.

Someone who will make you smile when you're at your lowest.

Someone who will care for you even when you make mistakes.

Someone who will love you, no matter how bad you make them feel.

Someone who will stop what theyre doing just to look you in the
eyes....and say "i love you" ...



....AND ACTUALLY MEAN IT!

Give the nice guys a chance!!!!!!

**************************************************
if a guy likes you.. dont tell him wait for me.. tell him how it is

the worst thing to feel is the girl u love telling u to wait.. then they never like u.. it breaks your heart

The Man

In the twilight of the morning he was born, a little baby boy full of possibilities. It was in this same twilight that the life that he would lead was mapped and crafted by an unknown and unseen deity. The boy grew and learned, he found a hunger and a desire to know more, one that would follow him his whole life. As the boy grew his parents took him to church, the church taught the boy about a god that would punish him if he didn't act just as they did and when the boy would ask questions the people at the church would ignore him and teach the propaganda that they would prop up as truth. The boy began to hate the days that he would be made to go to church and more then that the boy began to hate god.

Soon the boy grew and became adolescent and stopped going to church. He also started to hang out with other groups who enjoyed learning and finding out what and why others believed the way that they do. These people didn't say that there was only one way to go about finding spirituality but that everyone had to find their own way of spirituality. He not only started to look at his spiritual life but the boy kept learning, acquiring anything that he could get his hands on. At this point in his life he also met a girl who caught and kept his attention just as much as any book and the boy soon learned the joys that can be found in the opposite sex. The two of them made plans to be together forever, to grow old and die in each others arms.

One of the plans that the two made together was to go to college together and learn about the world together, but soon it became apparent that she could no longer hold on to this position in the boys life and if she did the pressure would soon become to great and would lead to a greater tragedy then was already being portrayed in the relationship as it was. The boy was heart broken by this news and fell into a deep depression. The boy turned to anything in his reach, which more often then not was a bottle of Jack Daniel's. It was also at this time that he met Tim, Tim was a heavy drinker and could curse anyone under the table. He looked at Tim like he was hero and they became the best of friends. The two of them would laugh and at time cry in each others arms and soon the boy bounced back and became even more obsessed with knowledge to the point that it was running through his veins like blood.

The boy graduated with a degree in science and grew in stature and knowledge to the point that he could no longer be called a boy any longer but could be called nothing but a man. Him and Tim were still best of friend and he found another girl after college and had a family, a boy and a girl. One day the man took his family out to the store and while he was pumping gas he sent his wife into get some drink for them and the kids. It was clear and silent in that moment almost like the gods knew that something epic was about to happen and were holding there breath in wait for what ever it was going to be, and they wouldn't have to wait long to find out. The only thing that broke the silence to let you know something was wrong was the screeching from the tiers as the man drove around the corner of the gas station running from the police. The man hadn't even turned around and some how he already knew what had happened, he played it in his mind a thousand times before he lifted his head just in time to see his wife breath her last breath. In that moment it didn't matter who had done it, it didn't matter why they didn't, the only thing that mattered was that the man was there standing over his wife with two kids reduced to the boy that he was only a few years before.

It wasn't long before Tim was there to comfort his friend and morn the lose of his wife. Soon the funeral came and left with little lasting effects. Soon a routine came in to there life, get up, get the kids to school, go to work, pick the kids up, feed the kids, put them to bed, get drunk, go to bed and repeat. Tim watched as his friend waisted away, Time knew that he had to do something even if it was only for one night he had to do something. So Tim decided to go camping, he arranged to drop the kids off at their grandparents and went and bought a cooler full of alcohol and they were off to the great mountains of Nevada. It wasn't long before they had the fire going, it wasn't long before they got the conversation going and of course it wasn't the before they got the alcohol going. The sun had set before they started to talk about anything seriously. The man never wanted to learn what he would learn in the next minute or so but his life was already coursed and plotted.

Tim: Can I ask you a question?

Man: Tim how long have we known each other, you know with enough alcohol you can ask me anything (says as he take a large drink).

Tim: What were you think in those first few moments after your wifes death?

Man: (takes another big drink) I can remember everything about that moment, the smell of gas, the man next to me pumping gas into his big truck that screams “I have a small dick” and I can remember thinking simply...not now

Tim: Not now?

Man: Yeah!

Tim: Why were you thinking “not now”? Did you know that something like that was going to happen?

Man: Yeah I did. There has never been anything in my life that god has let me keep, as a child he took my innocence, in college he took away the love of my life it was only a matter of time before a prick like that would take away something else in my life.

Tim: So you believe that there's a God out there?

Man: Yep. I can't explain all of this without him, but you know that saying absolute power corrupts absolutely?

Tim: (nods his head yes)

Man: Well that's god!

Tim: Really...you think so?

Man: (stumbles as the alcohol becomes noticeable in his steps) Oh yeah...number one flucker god is.

Tim: (sits back in chair trying to get more out of the buzz) You know there are a lot of people who think that God is a merciful person.

Man: Their all fools. (stumbles to a tree to pee)

Tim: You know I follow God.

Man: (stops peeing and walks back with out zipping up) What was that? It sounded like you said you were a Christian?

Tim: I wouldn't say Christian but I do follow God and Jesus and all of that.

Man: Your an ass. Don't joke like that.

Tim: I'm not.

Man: You can't be, you curse, you drink.

Tim: So?

Man: (starts to walk to the car and gets about half way there and throws up)

Tim: Are you ok? (gets up and turn around to help)

Man: Don't talk to me. (walks off into the woods)

Tim would go after him that night and talk to him more about what it was that he believed in, it took and few more conversations like that before the man started to come to church with Tim, and soon after the kids started to come as well. As the man started to walk in God a weird thing started to happen, none of his problems went away, in fact they get much worse but for some reason it was ok. Another thing that happened was the man started to get the desire to learn again, a feeling the he hadn't felt since he lost his wife. Ten years later Tim would die from a heart attack at the age of forty five and the man was heart broken, but in this death God showed him everything that He had done through out the mans life.

It was a short twenty years latter and the man was about to die. He looked back on his life and brought his kids into his room to give them some last words of wisdom from all of the knowledge that he had gained over the years. It was this time that he would draw his last breath because it was this moment that was chosen for him from the time that he was born, there was never going to be a better time then this. The room was dark, what you would expect to be the setting of a death, there were machines pumping, and screens beeping. There was the smell of urine in the air and blood on the floor, the nurse was outside smoking. With a hug and a kiss he whispered this into his sons ear with almost poetic poise

"He lived his whole life learning only to reach the end of his life and realize that for all that he had learned he had learned nothing"

and it is in that realization that the man became complete and slipped into a peaceful rest.

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND - Grey Street

Oh look at how she listens

She says nothing of what she thinks
She just goes stumbling through her memories
Staring out on to Grey Street.
She thinks, "Hey, how did I come to this?"
I dream myself a thousand times around the world
But I can't get out of this place.
There's an emptiness inside her
And she'll do anything to fill it in
But all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart
How she wishes it was different
She prays to God most every night
And though she swears it doesn't listen
There's still a hope in her it might
She says "I pray But they fall on deaf ears,
am I supposed to take it on myself?
To get out of this place? "
There's lonliness inside her
And she'll do anything to fill it in
And though it's red blood bleeding from her now
It feels like cold blue ice in her heart
When all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart
There's a stranger speaks outside her door
Says take what you can from your dreams
Make them as real as anything
It'd take the work out of courage
But she says "Please
There's a crazy man that's creeping outside my door,
I live on the corner of Grey Street
And the end of the world. "
There's an emptiness inside her
And she'll do anything to fill it in
And though it's red blood bleeding from her now
It's more like cold blue ice in her heart
She feels like kicking out all the windows
And setting fire to this life
She could change everything about her
Using colors bold and bright
But all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart
It breaks her heart
To Grey

Creative Writing

He lived his whole life learning and acquiring information only to reach the end of his life and realize that for all that he had learned he had learned nothing, and it is in that realization that the man became complete.


I read that if the chances of something happening is 1/10 to the 30th power it is considered impossible, that is if something is
1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (called NONILLION)
it is considered nothing. To put that in perspective Bill Gates is reported to have 55 billion dollars which means that he has 5.5 trillion pennies, by these statistics Bill Gates should still be combing his couch cushions for change. Now to the point, we will search for all of eternity and, when we reach the last day of eternity, will look back on all of the knowledge that we have learned and gained about God and it won't even equal a 1 in a GOOGOL of what there is to learn about God, we will reach the end and learn that in reality we haven't really learned anything at all.


He lived his whole life learning and acquiring information only to reach the end of his life and realize that for all that he had learned he had learned nothing, and it is in that realization that the man became complete.

Death Be Not Proud by John Donne (1572-1631)

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Mobile Blogging

So the other day I got a little bored and was on blogger so I decided to make another blog. This time it is a mobile blog of pictures I take with my camera phone. There are already a few pictures up so take a look and start one of your own by clicking on the picture above.

http://thisismymobilelife.blogspot.com/

Pontificating About Or Around Midnight

This post is a tag on to the last post about listening and is my thoughts on why people are resistant to change. While thinking about change over the past few days the question that would come into my mind is what would people lose by accepting change and even changing themselves, as I pondered on that thought the scenario that I laid out in my last post (because that is the most prevalent in my life right now) and in the course of those thoughts one occurred to me that I had never thought of before. What could a person lose if they were to accept change and maybe even change themselves? The answer would be pride.

No matter what there is a lot of danger to a persons pride in changing. If a person changes there is a part of them that is admitting that there is a better way to do something and depending on the context even going as far as having to admit that they were wrong. But even worse is if the person does change and that change doesn't work then that person has to swallow his or her pride and say that the change was wrong. In the scenario that I put forward in the previous post the group would have been skeptical of any change in the person because it would upset the comfort and complacency that the group would have set up for themselves. If the person shows something in the others that they aren't comfortable with or not, in their own minds, ready to hear then they will be very resistant to what the person has to say and maybe at worst to the person.

But then again maybe not, I will be the first to say that there are holes in this theory. Please post and tell me what you think. If I am as consumed by these thoughts in the next week as I have been over the past few days you can count and another post or two.

Listening

I don't get why when you have something to say or you have a peace of knowledge about a subject people don't listen. Maybe that is to general, really it is people in general who are the most receptive to what you have to say but the people I am talking about are the people who are closest to you. These people are the people who should listen to you the most but instead these are the people who are most likely to make fun of what you say or worse disregard it all together.

It seems like anytime you have a group of people in any type of setting (family, friends, church) and one of the members of that group goes and changes in anyway and then returns the people in the group are resistant to the change that happened to the one who left. I don't understand why it is this way, The theory would be that if this situation happened that the group would want to learn from the one that left but instead it seems that the group would shun any change in the person and insist on the same old person. This seems counterproductive to me.

Good Question

I was on Yahoo answers tonight and came across a question that I thought was very intriguing. I know how I would answer (which some people already know) but I want to know how other people would answer and since I haven't put up a blog in a while I figured I would put it out here. The link to the question and some other peoples answers can be found Here otherwise just the question can be found below.

What were the evening and morning based on before the 4th day of creation?

How were they able to be distinguished if the sun wasn't created until the 4th day? Were they based on something other than the sun?

For all of Those Who Feel Like a Fuck Up

This is one of th best things I have read in a long time. The link to it it is http://www.myspace.com/towriteloveonherarms


TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS.
by jamie tworkowski

Pedro the Lion is loud in the speakers, and the city waits just outside our open windows. She sits and sings, legs crossed in the passenger seat, her pretty voice hiding in the volume. Music is a safe place and Pedro is her favorite. It hits me that she won't see this skyline for several weeks, and we will be without her. I lean forward, knowing this will be written, and I ask what she'd say if her story had an audience. She smiles. "Tell them to look up. Tell them to remember the stars."

I would rather write her a song, because songs don't wait to resolve, and because songs mean so much to her. Stories wait for endings, but songs are brave things bold enough to sing when all they know is darkness. These words, like most words, will be written next to midnight, between hurricane and harbor, as both claim to save her.

Renee is 19. When I meet her, cocaine is fresh in her system. She hasn't slept in 36 hours and she won't for another 24. It is a familiar blur of coke, pot, pills and alcohol. She has agreed to meet us, to listen and to let us pray. We ask Renee to come with us, to leave this broken night. She says she'll go to rehab tomorrow, but she isn't ready now. It is too great a change. We pray and say goodbye and it is hard to leave without her.

She has known such great pain; haunted dreams as a child, the near-constant presence of evil ever since. She has felt the touch of awful naked men, battled depression and addiction, and attempted suicide. Her arms remember razor blades, fifty scars that speak of self-inflicted wounds. Six hours after I meet her, she is feeling trapped, two groups of "friends" offering opposite ideas. Everyone is asleep. The sun is rising. She drinks long from a bottle of liquor, takes a razor blade from the table and locks herself in the bathroom. She cuts herself, using the blade to write "FUCK UP" large across her left forearm.

The nurse at the treatment center finds the wound several hours later. The center has no detox, names her too great a risk, and does not accept her. For the next five days, she is ours to love. We become her hospital and the possibility of healing fills our living room with life. It is unspoken and there are only a few of us, but we will be her church, the body of Christ coming alive to meet her needs, to write love on her arms.

She is full of contrast, more alive and closer to death than anyone I've known, like a Johnny Cash song or some theatre star. She owns attitude and humor beyond her 19 years. When she tells me her story, she is humble and quiet and kind, shaped by the pain of a hundred lifetimes. I sit privileged but breaking as she shares. Her life has been so dark yet there is some soft hope in her words, and on consecutive evenings, I watch the prettiest girls in the room tell her that she's beautiful. I think it's God reminding her.

I've never walked this road, but I decide that if we're going to run a five-day rehab, it is going to be the coolest in the country. It is going to be rock and roll. We start with the basics; lots of fun, too much Starbucks and way too many cigarettes.

Thursday night she is in the balcony for Band Marino, Orlando's finest. They are indie-folk-fabulous, a movement disguised as a circus. She loves them and she smiles when I point out the A&R man from Atlantic Europe, in town from London just to catch this show.

She is in good seats when the Magic beat the Sonics the next night, screaming like a lifelong fan with every Dwight Howard dunk. On the way home, we stop for more coffee and books, Blue Like Jazz and (Anne Lamott's) Travelling Mercies.

On Saturday, the Taste of Chaos tour is in town and I'm not even sure we can get in, but doors do open and minutes after parking, we are on stage for Thrice, one of her favorite bands. She stands ten feet from the drummer, smiling constantly. It is a bright moment there in the music, as light and rain collide above the stage. It feels like healing. It is certainly hope.

Sunday night is church and many gather after the service to pray for Renee, this her last night before entering rehab. Some are strangers but all are friends tonight. The prayers move from broken to bold, all encouraging. We're talking to God but I think as much, we're talking to her, telling her she's loved, saying she does not go alone. One among us knows her best. Ryan sits in the corner strumming an acoustic guitar, singing songs she's inspired.

After church our house fills with friends, there for a few more moments before goodbye. Everyone has some gift for her, some note or hug or piece of encouragement. She pulls me aside and tells me she would like to give me something. I smile surprised, wondering what it could be. We walk through the crowded living room, to the garage and her stuff.

She hands me her last razor blade, tells me it is the one she used to cut her arm and her last lines of cocaine five nights before. She's had it with her ever since, shares that tonight will be the hardest night and she shouldn't have it. I hold it carefully, thank her and know instantly that this moment, this gift, will stay with me. It hits me to wonder if this great feeling is what Christ knows when we surrender our broken hearts, when we trade death for life.

As we arrive at the treatment center, she finishes: "The stars are always there but we miss them in the dirt and clouds. We miss them in the storms. Tell them to remember hope. We have hope."

I have watched life come back to her, and it has been a privilege. When our time with her began, someone suggested shifts but that is the language of business. Love is something better. I have been challenged and changed, reminded that love is that simple answer to so many of our hardest questions. Don Miller says we're called to hold our hands against the wounds of a broken world, to stop the bleeding. I agree so greatly.

We often ask God to show up. We pray prayers of rescue. Perhaps God would ask us to be that rescue, to be His body, to move for things that matter. He is not invisible when we come alive. I might be simple but more and more, I believe God works in love, speaks in love, is revealed in our love. I have seen that this week and honestly, it has been simple: Take a broken girl, treat her like a famous princess, give her the best seats in the house. Buy her coffee and cigarettes for the coming down, books and bathroom things for the days ahead. Tell her something true when all she's known are lies. Tell her God loves her. Tell her about forgiveness, the possibility of freedom, tell her she was made to dance in white dresses. All these things are true.

We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home.

I have learned so much in one week with one brave girl. She is alive now, in the patience and safety of rehab, covered in marks of madness but choosing to believe that God makes things new, that He meant hope and healing in the stars. She would ask you to remember.

Simple Thought

I was watching TV tonight with my dad, we were watching a program on the possibility of parallel dimensions. While watching this program a thought entered into my mind, if we try to explain every mystery in the universe there won't be anymore mystery in the universe left. Now that I am looking at it written out it loses something in the translation from my mind to the page but it is a thought that has been with me ever since I watched the program. Maybe I will be able to put it in better words later.

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
Albert Einstein

ANCHOR & BRAILLE

The lead singer from Anberlin Stephen Christian is doing a side project called anchor & braille with producer Aaron Marsh (Copeland) do out in late spring 07. The three songs that are out right now are amazing. You can find different songs on Purevolume and Myspace and you can find the blog at The Modesty Writers Guild.

The Complete Man

So in the past few weeks I have been feeling incomplete in many areas of my life. I have felt that things were missing, something I could change and others I could not. In going through feeling this way I was also going through the Bible to see if/what it has to say on the matter. In going through the Bible and thinking back on the last few years I came to realize very quickly that, for me, there are a few things lacking in my life. The areas as I see them are Body, soul and mind.


I went very quickly from being able to provide for all of those adequately to not be able to provide for some areas, over providing in other areas and ignoring all together. But in the past few days I have tried to do what I can and I can really say that trying to fulfill some of these areas has helped me a lot, I only hope it can help someone else.

Scripture Used:
Matthew
11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

22:37-40 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, " All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Mark
12:29-31 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Acts
2:46-47 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

16:1-3 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

17:16-21 Paul at Athens
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

Romans
15:15-16 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians
14:24-25 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.

1 Timothy
5:23 No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
NASU

Best Anti-Drug ever

Generous Orthodoxy

In the past few weeks I have been reading a book by Brian D. McLaren called "Generous Orthodoxy". When I started reading this book I ad just finished reading one of his other books called "A New Kind Of Christian" and was very interested in reading this book, I have been wanting to read this book for about a year now.

Each chapter in the book explores a different aspect of the Christian life except for the first four chapters which tells the story of Brian's life and the first years of his Christian life. At first the book was very interesting and challenged me to think about my life and what I thought about the Christian life, but as the book went on it started to drag on and on. In the first few chapters it was a good look at the denominations inside the Christian faith and telling how well they show God.

In some of his criticisms of the Christian faith he would talk about a better Post-modern way of doing things but when I was reading it just sounded like it was replacing one modern way of thinking with another modern way of thinking. Really all the book sounded like was a Modern would view trying to sound like a Post-modern would view. I would suggest that with this book if you read, to read it at the same time as you read one of the Gospels.

Net-Neutrality Update

So to keep everyone updated on the Net-Neatrality issue today we lost the battle for the house. The blog from Save The Internet say it better:

Last night’s House vote against an amendment that would make Net Neutrality enforceable is the result of swarming lobbyists and a multi-million-dollar media campaign by telephone companies that want Congress to hand them control of the Internet.

The fight now moves to the Senate, where there is stronger bi-partisan support for a bill — put forth by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) — that would protect our Internet freedom from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.

There is more that they say, which you can read here if you would like.

Net-Neutrality

Net-Neutrality seems to be the big thing in politics these days. I didn't know what it was all about until I did a little research and found out for myself. There are some big companies (AT&T, Bellsouth, Comcast, Verizon, etc) that want to take control of the internet, once they have done that they will then split it into two tiers. One tier would be for the sites that would pay these companies to get there stuff on the internet and therefor get better speed and bandwidth, one the other hand, however, the companies and organizations the don't pay (or can't aford to pay) will be placed in the second tier, and they would receive slower bandwidth if they got any at all.

Now what all of that means is that any user based site, such as Myspace, Google, Blogger, You Tube, I-Tunes, just about anything that is not backed up by a huge company would be in grave danger of being subjected to dial-up speeds if they were lucky and got any speed at all. This is such a big deal that the Christian Coalition Has joined with Move on to protest the movement.

I personaly think that this bill is messed up (I have other words to discribe the way I feel but I think those are best left to myself). This is an attempt to take away basic freedoms from the people just to make some big companies bigger.

If you want to get involved then go to Move On or Save The Internet and call 202-224-3121 and make your voice known, for those who are in Tucson you can also call Jim Kolbe at 202-225-2542. Please do something or risk everything.

Romanian Gay Rights March

Today in Romania there was a gay rights march to protest against discrimination and legalization of same-sex marriages. There were protesters on both side, for and against gay rights, most of the people against this march were Christians, which is not surprising. What is surprising is that the demonstration turned violent (really not so much surprising as sad).

This is sad to me not because it shouldn't have been expected but because it should be expected. Looking at the comments about this incident on blogger it is clear that the image that Christians are portraying isn't good (especially to the gay community), the church has done a terrible job at loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:34-40), which is the second greatest commandment.

At what point did it become ok for Christians to ignore those we were could to love by Jesus? When did violence become the way that we got our point across to the world? When where people taught to ignore the true issue at hand (sin) and instead turn our heads from the people forgetting about the hearts? Shunning people is not the way to show them love, we are called to be in relationship with people, that is the way that love is shown, it is the way God showed love to us and the way that we are called to show it to others.


Clashes mark Romanian gay pride


Scripture Used:
Matthew 22:34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 40 " On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
NASU

Videos and Podcasts

I have been online a lot in the past two weeks sense I got back from Colorado, in that time I have been getting caught up on recent events but when I am not doing that I am usually looking for new Firefox extensions or looking for good podcasts or videos. In the past few weeks I have found two podcasts that I have really enjoyed and two videos that made me pee my pants, literally here is a picture of my pants.

The first of the two podcasts I found because one of the people who did it sent me an invitation on Myspace but the videos made me laugh (even though they went suppose to do that) and really sparked my interest in it. Four Eyed Monsters is one of the best indie film projects I have seen in a long time. The film that the episodes in this podcast talk about is going to be shown here in Tucson and I plan on going to it at the end of June.

The second of the podcasts I found because these two people use to be on one of my favorite shows on G4 but left to go on a one year honeymoon. The first two episodes make it look like this will be really funny and intriguing. The podcast is called The Traveling Morans and there are two blogs from the two which are What He Says and What She Says.

As for that other two videos the first one is a comic that I saw over at one of Chris's friends house on Last Comic Standing and he made me want to go throw up with how funny he was. Josh Blue has a lot to over come, which you can see in his video but despite that fact he is still one of the funniest people I have seen on TV in a long time (granted I have been at a school that didn't allow us to watch TV for two years).

The last of the videos I found as a link on Burnside Writers Collective as the link of the moment. The link took me to YouTube to a video called Heat Vision and Jack, which has some familiar people in it.

I hope you laugh as much as I did watching these videos.

New Blog

So last night I was sitting up in bed after winning $15 at a poker game and couldn't stop thinking about things. One of the thoughts that came into my mind was about blogs and different things that you could do with them, one of the ideas that came into my mind was to do an online Bible study through the Gospels and that life of Christ. So this morning I started a new blog called Interpretations on a Life to come. So check it out and tell me what you think, I will start posting on there soon (most likely later today).

War, what is it good for.

In today's world of Christian religion there is a lot of arguments over a lot of things, women in ministry, gay rights, Calvinism, what translation to use, Post-modernity (one that I focus on a little to much), etc. As the church fights over all of these stupid little things we forget that these wars aren't much eternal value, if we start to place a persons salvation on whether or not they marry a woman or not we start to miss the point of the gospel (which is to love one another John 13:34-35). In our church culture we can start to war over these issues and fight for what ever side we take, but in doing so we can forget that there is a world out there, that there are people fighting a real war not one of these fake ones that we in the church have made up to satisfy our own desires. We can come up with all the theology we want to, but if it doesn't work in the world when a bullet is flying past your head then it isn't worth having. The last post on Richard Dahlstrom's blog reminded me that all the backbitting that goes on in the church is not a real war, this is a real war, real people, real family's, this is reality at it's worst and what people have to live with everyday.
Today is not a day of prayer or remembrance, it is not a day that we have been called to take a moment of silence. I am not asking that anyone do that, I am not asking that people forget about all the church politics, but just that you think of what is happening, the real wars that are going on, the fight and love for the souls of every person on earth. Don't take a special moment for these things take every moment for them...

Two UK soldiers killed in Basra
US 'winding up' Iraq deaths probe
Dozens die in fresh Iraq bombings
Israeli strike kills Gaza gunmen
Israel in Lebanon border 'truce'
Hamas militia returns to streets
Sri Lanka rebels 'shoot dead 12'
Three dead in Waziristan attacks
Maldives protest at court hearing
Sri Lanka foes 'agree to talks'
Explosives seized in Karachi raid
Landmark meeting for gay Lebanese
Aid flow begins for Java victims
Japan approves US troop shake-up
DR Congo peacekeepers 'missing'

This Sucks!!!

"The Ocean"

Am I alone in this?
Never a night where I can sleep myself till day.
We must try to figure it out, figure it out.
It won't be that easy.
We lost it somehow.

You come over unannounced.
Silence broken by your voice in the dark.
I need you here tonight
Just like the ocean needs the waves.

Oh, the night becomes the space that's somewhere in between
what I feel and what i'm told.
Sitting on the shoreline trying to figure it out, figure it out.
To find out the meaning and reach it somehow.

You come over unannounced.
Silence broken by your voice in the dark.
Ineed you here tonight
just like the ocean needs the wave.
Fall around me now,
like stars that shine and brighten the way.
Ineed you here tonight just like this night it needs the rain.

The season has changed.
The wind, it moves colder now, colder now.
The clouds are raised,
the rain it falls harder now, all around.

You come over unannounced.
Silence broken by your voice in the dark.
I need you here tonight,
Just like the ocean needs the waves.
Fall around me now,
like stars that shine and brighten the way.
I need you here tonight just like this night it needs the rain.
Over unannounced, silence broken by your voice in the dark.
I need you here tonight,
Just like the ocean needs the waves.

Just like the stars that fall around me now.

Some times Mae puts things into better words then I ever could.

Home

I am home!

Being in the world but not of it

The book of Acts is one of my favorite books of the Bible, here at Ravencrest I am working on my 5th time through the book in class. In class we started to go through chapters 16 and 17 with one of our guest lecturers this week, chapters 16 and 17 happen to be two of my favorite passages in the Bible, every time someone starts to talk about those chapters my ears perk up and I pay close attention to what they are saying (not that I don't usually, you don't have to worry about that mom). The reason that I love these chapters so much is because Paul in them deals with several different people groups that are coming to him from different backgrounds and beliefs, and Paul relates in different ways to them (1 Corinthians 9:19-23 see below).

As Paul is going through all of these areas he is speaking to people where they are in their walk, even to the point of not speaking the word in Asia (Acts 16:6). In 16:22-40 Paul and Silas are beaten and imprisoned, at this point most people (even Christians) would probably be complaining about the situation that they have found themselves in (for most people this is the point that they might start thinking that they have failed in what ever they were doing), but for Paul and Silas they start to sing and praise the Lord for what He is doing (v.25). It is this action that gets the attention of the people in the prison including the guard, then after this there is an earthquake which gets the attention of the guard even more and enables Paul to speak truth into his life right where he is in his journey.

Soon after this event Paul finds himself in Athens waiting for Timothy and Silas (17:16), while there his spirit was provoked in him towards the people there in Athens and because he was speaking the resurrection of Christ the people took interest. Then taking him to others to hear what he was saying Paul starts to talk about their culture, Paul starts to talk about where the people are in their lives. Paul says in verses 22-23 "So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you". What this tells me is that Paul knew peoples culture, a culture that had many different gods that they would worship. The people in this town would have had idols set up of all different types of gods, most of which would have been fertility gods in which the statues would have been depicting some kind of sexual act, most of these statues being in the place that Paul is speaking. Not only is he preaching in the midst but before this he says that he was walking through these statues and examining them, to the point of reading the inscription on them (for people who are getting tired of reading and see the large amount of scripture below don't worry I am starting to reach my point).

Now my point is this, if we are to go into all the world and make disciples, leading people to Christ how do we do that without knowing where people are coming from? We can get into this Christian sub-culture where we buy our Christian magazines and new papers that tell us where we can find a Christian plumber, and in doing so we create this self-insulating group so that we don't become like the world (not that reading or going to Christian themed things is bad in and of it self), we quote Philippians 4:8 in defense of this position of not knowing where people are coming from. When I was younger I was given the example that it is easier to be pulled down from a high position then it is to pull people up (that idea was true for my age which I didn't see at the time), I feel that the church still has this mind set even though we have grown up.

Romans 12:1 says "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect", so on the one side we are called to be set apart from the world and not to conform to it but if you fall to the other side (joining the self insulating sub-culture) you are guilty of the same thing, you become guilty of not conforming to the world but to the worlds idea of what the church is. Instead we should follow after Paul and understand where people are coming from, know something about the world that we live in, not just assume that the truth will simply expose the darkness, after all John 3:19-21 says "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light , for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light , and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light , so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God". The more we know about the culture the more able we are to expose it, after all culture may be able to run from the truth but it cannot run from it self.

Scriptures used:
Acts 16
1 The Macedonian Vision
Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. 5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

14 First Convert in Europe
A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.
16 It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans."

22 Paul and Silas Imprisoned
The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31 The Jailer Converted
They said, " Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, "Release those men." 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace." 37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out." 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

Acts 17
17:1 Paul at Thessalonica
Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, " This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women. 5 But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. 6 When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have upset the world have come here also; 7 and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." 8 They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. 9 And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them.

10 Paul at Berea
The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then immediately the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

16 Paul at Athens
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." 21(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

22 Sermon on Mars Hill
So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 " The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' 29 "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." 33 So Paul went out of their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23
19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

Philippians 4:8-9
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
NASU

My Teaching

So I said that I would put the teachings from my last few weeks up, so these are the subjects that have consumed my studies for the last few weeks. Some of the information is incomplete because these are just my teaching outlines and I don't put all of my information on them.

Post-modernism

this world view is the one that would most impact most of the people in this room. If you are a part of this age you will either be post-modern or know someone who is.

1. What is prime reality-the really real? There is a god but you chose your own way of getting to him or her. There is no wrong path to god there is only your path and my path.

2. What is the nature of external reality, that is the world around us? The world is a tool to find out how you will get to god and this only the beginning.

3. What is a human being? A human is here to serve others and to better themselves.

4. What happens to a person at death? You determine what happens to you when you die (by what ever way that you lived your life).

5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? It is possible to know things because we were created by something and that wants us to be able to think.

6. How do we know what is right and wrong? You determine what is right for yourself and there has to be mutual respect for each others point of views. What ever is right for you is right for you, and what ever is right for me is right for me.

7. What is the meaning of human history? History is a means to understanding. It can be used to learn how other once tried to reach god and to learn from them to better yourself and better the world around you.

Modernism

1. non-religious thoughts
2. religious thoughts

1. What is prime reality-the really real?

I. God cannot be proven by standard methods (math, science, etc) so he cannot be real or something that has anything to do with the world as it is.

II. We experience God through methods that are proven to be true.

2. What is the nature of external reality, that is the world around us? We experience the world around us through scientific and mathematical methods the have been proven to be true and impartial.

3. What is a human being?

I. A human is an animal that has developed over millions of years through a process of adaptation.

II. God created humans in 7 literal days.

4. What happens to a person at death?

I. At death a person ceases to exist.

II. A person enters into heaven and eternity.

5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?

· Intelligence is a asset that has been developed through adaptation.

· We were made in the image of God so therefor we posses characteristics of God which would include intelligence.

6. How do we know what is right and wrong?

I. Morals came about through the processes of adaptation and evolution as a mechanism to protect the development of the species.

II. Morals were imparted to us by God.

7. What is the meaning of human history?

I. Time is linear and moving forward. It is a method that can be used to prove or disprove elements.

II. History is used to show us the nature of reality and show us how we got to were we are.

Existentialism

Existentialism is a form of Modernism and has parts of Post-modernism in it

Basic Atheistic Existentialism

1. What is prime reality-the really real? The cosmos is composed of matter, but to human beings reality appears in two forms-subjective and objective.

● Subjective would be what the mind thinks, awareness, freedom. Objective would be the things of science and math.

2. What is the nature of external reality, that is the world around us? N/A

3. What is a human being? For human beings alone existence precedes essence; people make themselves who they are.

● So if a person acts one way that is the way that they are regardless of what they think on the inside. So if someone has cowardly thoughts but doesn't want to be a coward all they have to do is act bravely and they won't be a coward.

4. What happens to a person at death? Each person is totally free as regards their nature and destiny.

● A person determines who they are but not what happens at the end of themselves which is nothing.

5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? The highly wrought and tightly organized objective world stands over against human beings.

● If a person defines who they are in the subjective realm of life then the objective would would exist in direct opposition to that since you wouldn't be able to measure it

6. How do we know what is right and wrong? In full recognition of the absurdity of the objective world, the authentic person must create value.

● A person should create what they believe to be of value and through that create what they believe to right and wrong.

7. What is the meaning of human history? N/A

Basic Theistic Existentialism

1. What is prime reality-the really real? Human beings are personal beings who, when they come to full consciousness, find themselves in an alien universe; whether or not God exists is a tough question to be solved not by reason but by faith.

· This world view start with the fact that you are here and does not start with God at the center. So you start with yourself and upon self reflection you decide who and what God is.

2. What is the nature of external reality, that is the world around us? The personal is the valuable

· only what you yourself have experienced is worth anything. So a summary of a book simply will not do you must read the book yourself for it to be worth any thing

3. What is a human being? N/A

4. What happens to a person at death? N/A

5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? Knowledge is subjectivity; the whole truth is often paradoxical.

· Knowledge is something that is for you and in that way it is subjective and if you knew the whole truth it would contradict it self and would only be able to be resolved in the mind of God

6. How do we know what is right and wrong? N/A

7. What is the meaning of human history? History as a record of events is uncertain and unimportant, but history as a model or type or myth to be made present and lived is of supreme importance.

· We don't know if history is true or not because we weren't able to experience it. But we can use the principles to teach us and learn from it.

Eastern Pantheistic Monism

1. What is prime reality-the really real? Atman is Brahman; that is, the soul of each and every human being is the Soul of the cosmos.

· Atman is the soul of every individual, Brahman is the soul of the Cosmos and the cosmos is God.

· the cosmos is in everything, separation is only an illusion.

2. What is the nature of external reality, that is the world around us? Some things are more one then others.

· Plant life is closer to being one the mineral life, animal life is closer then plant life and human life is closer then animal life. But even in human life some people can be closer to that oneness then other based on their understanding of oneness.

- Part 2: many (if not all) roads lead to the One.

· The eventual end of life is oneness

3. What is a human being? To realize one’s oneness with the cosmos is to pass beyond personality.

· Once you truly understand your oneness you will pass beyond the need to define your personality

4. Why is it possible to know anything at all? To realize one’s oneness with the cosmos is to pass beyond knowledge. The principle of non-contradiction does not apply where ultimate reality is concerned.

· Knowledge has no value once you become one but here while you try to find the oneness there are truths which are more valuable then other.

5. How do we know what is right and wrong? To realize one’s oneness with the cosmos is to pass beyond good and evil; the cosmos is perfect at every moment.

· There is a system in place that make sure that you don't hold someone back from doing wrong and the is karma

6. What happens to a person at death? Death is the end of individual, personal existence, but it changes nothing essential in an individual’s nature.

· A person just goes back around for another go of it

· maybe at some point pass beyond this world and become completely one with everything

7. What is the meaning of human history? To realize one’s oneness with the One is to pass beyond time. Time is unreal. History is cyclical.

· Time just goes around and around and around

There are different types of this world view but they are based on this basic frame.

Hinduism

Background:

• most Hindus refer to their religion as “sanatana dharma” one of many meanings is “eternal moral order”.
• Hinduism developed in 4000 BCE from an earlier religion called Vedic which contains many elements of Hinduism.
• In the 20^th century Hinduism was blended with Indian nationalism to become a political force.

God:

• Brahman is everything. The goal of every person is to reach a higher plain of existence.
• Women show Brahman's female characteristics.
• all of the gods of Hinduism or fake (like the Roman gods or like worshiping Hamlet or Sherlock Holmes), which is recognized by most Hindu scholars.

Shiva:

• Shiva is one of the gods that Hindus would worship and the reason that Hindus have the dot in the middle of their foreheads is because she is suppose to come back and destroy the earth except for the people who have dots on their body.

Reincarnation:

• the only way to pass beyond this world is to find spiritual enlightenment, if you do not you will be reincarnated.

- the way that you achieve this enlightenment is through Yoga.

· There are four main types of Yoga (good works, knowledge, devotion [relying on the gods to release them], and meditation).

- the measure of how enlightened you are is through your Karma.

Caste system:

• there are 4 main castes in Hinduism (Brahmins or priests, Kshatriyas or warriors and rulers, Vaisyas or merchants and farmers, Shudars or Laboring class), salvation is only available for the top 3 and the Shudars are considered the outcasts or untouchables.
• The Hindus believe that if you are part of the lower class it is because of past actions in a previous life.

Buddhism

Background:

• Buddhism has 400 million followers
• it was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha meaning “enlightened on” in the sixth century BCE
• the Buddha achieved enlightenment in 535 BCE
• before Buddha left he gathered together a group of people (the Sangha) to carry on his teachings on how to leave Reincarnation.

The 4 noble truths: the doctrine of Buddha

· Diagnosis: suffering is always present in life.

· Cause: Desire and craving cause suffering.

· Prognosis: desire and craving can be overcome and then reincarnation ends.

· Treatment: with an 8 fold path, broken up into 3 categories.

· Wisdom

· Right View

· Right Thought

· Right Speech

· Morality

· Right Action

· Right Livelihood

· Meditation

· Right Effort

· Right Mindfulness

· Right Contemplation

Taoism

Background:

• Taoism was founded in the 604BCE in China by Lao-Tze which means “old philosopher” or “old boy”, but his real name was Li-Uhr.
• IN 440 BCE Taoism was adopter as a state religion of China.
• It is pronounced Dowism
• Taoism currently has about 20 million followers
• 30,000 Taoists live in North America and 1,720 in Canada according to a 1991 Census
• It is primarily centered in Taiwan

god:

• Tao is not a person but a force, a principle
• “Tao” is basically indefinable. It has to be experienced. It “refers to a power which envelopes, surrounds and flows through all things, living and non-living. The Tao regulates natural processes and nourishes balance in the universe. It embodies the harmony of opposites (i.e. There would be no love without hate, no light without dark, no male without female.)”
• Tao translated means “the Path” and is the force that flows through all life and is the first cause of everything, the goal of everyone is to become one with the Tao

- The priesthood views the many gods as manifestations of the one Dao, "which could not be represented as an image or a particular thing." The concept of a personified deity is foreign to them, as is the concept of the creation of the universe. Thus, they do not pray as Christians do; there is no God to hear the prayers or to act upon them. They seek answers to life's problems through inner meditation and outer observation.

People:

• Taoists believe that everyone is basically good at heart and that everyone should be good to others because it will probably be reciprocated
• When a person is in perfect balance they will become a perfect human and will pass beyond this world

Yin Yang

• The yin yang was born 1,500 years before Taoism

Death:

• Each person, after death, wants to be an important ancestor...in their Heaven, where they can help the living...but there is Hell, like “Purgatory”, with 9 stages of punishments, each one governed by a demon king; and the prayers can help them to get out of there.

Two different ways to live:

For Confucius "human conduct" must be righteous, and the man's relation with God and the universe would take care of itself... for Lao-Tze, man must establish himself in harmony with the universal principle, with Tao, through his own Tao, and good human conduct will follow...
- Which way will be better to become a good person?... to try to be good, or to try to unite with God?...
For Christianity the way is to live in Christ and Christ in you... because all persons are essentially "selfish", we love ourselves, which is the opposite of the real "love"; but if Jesus is in you, then you are going to feed the hungry, help the sick or the one in need... but it is "not you", it is Christ "who lives in you" (Gal.2:20)... however, when Christ is in you, you do not become a "robot", you are still the only one responsible for yours actions, and you have to strive to be pure and good, living every minute of your life with faith in Jesus, who lives in you, without fear to nobody and to nothing... the greatest sin of a Christian is to do something without faith in Christ, trusting in himself or in money or in humanpower instead of trusting in Jesus Christ (Rom.14:23).