Friday, December 21, 2007

Death in the Mirror

This is an excerp from an article called "Death in the Mirror: Real Meaning in Life is to be Found Beyond Life" by Timothy K. Jones:

"Christian faith has always argued that meaning in life will be found beyond life...Despite the richness of this world, the New Testament reminds us that we are on our way to a reality even clearer and more substantial than we presently experience, 'Here we do not have an enduring city,' the writer of Hebrews wrote, 'but we are looking for the city to come' (Heb. 13:14). Or, as Paul put it, 'We look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen' (2 Cor. 4:16,18).

Indeed, we will never live fully if we think we can exhaust the meaning of the moment without reference to the longer stretch...We cannot live rightly until we aim past life. Eternity provides the only goal that makes the ultimate sense of each moment. Awareness of death, and of its opening to a life beyond, has not only framed how I look at life. It has also begun to work a change in how I walk through life. It has, in other words, brought not just new meaning to my moments, but changes to my behavior. As Samuel Johnson reportedly said, 'When a man knows he is going to be hanged in fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.' Our awareness of the transitoriness of this life, find, concentrates my priorities, helps me refashion my daily choices.

To know that life is not a destinationless journey helps me live more completely for a final good, an ultimate end...To know that 'we have such a hope,' as Paul says, makes us 'very bold' (2 Cor. 3:12). God's gracious assurance and promise of eternal care helps us 'incline to our proper center.' Our daily decisions become oriented around something more profound...A conviction about what lies beyond is giving me courage to live more fully and more faithfully...God can take even my frailty and mortality and invest it with eternal significance."

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Instruction

I believe GOD has an agenda. I believe this agenda is the only agenda that will allow Heaven to function. It's not that GOD is a tyrant, its just that His agenda is the only way things will and can work in Heaven. It's not a choice because there is no other way. So if there is only one way things can work, this must mean there are instructions.

This must mean its all in one instruction manual. As tough as life is, it would be seemingly impossible to try and figure out the truth from multiple books. How can the most important thing in our life not be written down for all to read under one cover? Each product I buy has the manual under one cover. It never tells me the intricate workings of the product, but it does tell me how to operate it. At work, if something isn't documented I get multiple stories. Along the way my experience can be misleading when I believe I have fixed the issue only to find out 5 hours later I had only band aided the problem.

Life is extremely complex. I'm bombarded with different philosophical ideas and perspectives each day. Even my closest co-workers disagree on ways of dealing with situations and how to fix the same issue. Ultimately how do we know we are living life the way we should? How do I really know? How do I judge what goes through my mind each day? What if my life is supposed to be different when it appears I am doing just fine? What if I'm not even supposed to be living my life the way I am? What if I'm supposed to be living my life for something else? What if I'm supposed to be living my life for someone else, so they can slowly change me into the person I was created to be? How can I know? I can only know if its written down, or the one who knows is somehow giving me the message in some form or another.

What happens if I need to change in order to be able to function correctly in Heaven? There has to be a process. There has to be a manual. There has to be an easy way to get the manual. I'm guessing its right in front of my face. When you purchase a product the creator makes sure the instructions are included with the product. Many of you believe we just came to be through the big bang and evolution theories. Well, I guess that would mean there couldn't possibly be a manual and that means you are on your own to do as you wish and will, it's just as simple as that. But what about those of us that believe we were created. Logic and common sense tell us that like a company including the instructions with its product, GOD would likely do the same, otherwise the product would have to be figured out how to use and repair. I guess thats simple with some products, but I've watched a professor get extremely frustrated trying to put together a diaper changing table and we even had the instructions. He had even already put it together before and from what I heard became extremely frustrated. We all can agree things get complicated when dealing with those seemingly easiest of tasks. What would happen if we had to reinvent the wheel each time building houses, cars, airplanes, computers, a magnetic particle separator. If a company created it there is always a manual. I believe GOD made man in His image. How could GOD not include the manual with the most complex product on earth?

If you believe GOD created us, then you have to believe he left us some instructions. Whatever we believe, we need to continually challenge and test its strength. One day we come to know the truth. What will you say when GOD says it was written down your whole life right in front of your face? You even had people tell you the truth, but you wouldn't listen for whatever reason. Will you be able to say I'm sorry I was wrong. What if GOD forgives you and says that isn't the problem that you decided to live your life the way you wanted, but that the problem is all your life He was trying to tell you that you needed to be a certain way at this moment in order for you to function correctly in Heaven. That as you dwelt on your physical and material well being throughout your whole life, the change He needed and tried to make in you was a spiritual birth that would slowly renew your mind on earth to prepare you and be ready for a life of eternity in Heaven. The Bible says man focuses on the outer appearance, but GOD focuses on the heart.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Typosquatting

I was a victim of typosquatting today as I typed in www.gmail.com. I'm not sure how I mispelled it, but I did and a typosqautter got me. Below is an explanation, if you haven't already been struck by this evil that is now among us on the internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typosquatting

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Team

My thought of the day came to me about what makes up a good team? The most talented team cannot win unless everyone works together. If a player doesn't function correctly in his position, the team eventually will suffer and the victory's are few. In many cases, the most talented players never win a World Series or a Super Bowl. Time and time again we see players who are focused on themselves spouting off to the media about how they aren't happy with other players, the coach, even how they want to be traded. It's everyone else's fault.

I might be reaching out on a limb with this one, but I'm paralleling a sports team with Heaven. GOD is recruiting everyone to Heaven. He's looking for souls that will listen to the coach. He's looking for souls that want to play with His game plan. He's not looking for talent, or performance, but obedience. He needs the team to be one. He needs the team to enjoy, respect and love each other. And most importantly He needs everyone to want and do anything for the coach. He needs everyone to abandon themselves to the game plan, passionately believing and honestly loving that it is the best and the only way that everything will work out for the best.

Maybe I've gone way overboard with this one, but think about if your a coach, or owner of a company. Who do you want playing, or working for you? Isn't everything I just said exactly the same characteristics you would want in your team? Everyone thinks that creativity and individualism is destroyed by conformity, but conformity to a point, or a solid foundation has to be obtained in order for individualism and creativity to be able to exist in the first place, otherwise we just have chaos.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Battle of Wills

I constantly hear the phrase from people, "if GOD is all loving He will accept me for who I am because I'm an overall good person." It's your will vs GOD's will. Your will says GOD's will should accept your will and GOD's will says you should want and accept His will. We base ourstatement "if GOD is all loving He will accept me for who I am because I'm an overall good person" on the presumption that GOD's will wants and accepts our will. Everyone has their own will, we are constantly making decisions to allow our will, or let another's will impose on us. Marriage, work, family, the decision to purchase a product from another store, everyday interaction with people requires us to make a decision that will either go towards or against our will. So why does everyone think that GOD is going to say when we get to Heaven that we can just go ahead and fulfill our will any way that we shall please, or that its going to be a give and take relationship, or that we will just magically want, accept, and do His will? It seems to me that people think our life on earth is going to parallel eternity.

What does the Bible say in regards to how GOD is going to please us in Heaven? What does GOD say about what He wants us to do for Him? I've compiled some scripture below that I think is relevant:

Deuteronomy 13:18 "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him.

1Kings 11:33 For Solomon has abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh,the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my laws and regulations as his father, David, did.

2Ki 16:2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the LORD his God, as his ancestor David had done.

2Ki 17:9 The people of Israel had also secretly done many things that were not pleasing to the
LORD their God. They built pagan shrines for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest outpost to the largest walled city.

2Chronicles 14:2 For Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the LORD his God.

2Ch 31:20 In this way, King Hezekiah handled the distribution throughout all Judah, doing what was pleasing and good in the sight of the LORD his God.

Ro 12:2 - Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

Romans 15:16 - a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News and offer you up as a fragrant sacrifice to God so that you might be pure and pleasing to him by the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 11:5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying – "suddenly he disappeared because God took him." But before he was taken up, he was approved as pleasing to God.

Heb 13:16 - Don't forget to do good and to share what you have with those in need, for such sacrifices are very pleasing to God.

Heb 13:20 And now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, all that is pleasing to him. Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting covenant,signed with his blood. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 5:10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.

I searched the word pleasing in an online Bible. This is a sample of the 74 entries I found with the word pleasing and all 74 of them referred to pleasing GOD, not us. I understand we all believe in something a little different, but only one belief system can be correct. I write these posts to make people think. I hope I am not imposing my will against another, I am just writing posts like these to challenge the world's belief systems and also to strengthen, or reveal holes in my own. The older I get the more excited I am for my death. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking forward to it at all, its going to be the scariest moment of my life. I am so fearful of it, because I believe I will be in front of GOD reading word for word exactly everything I did in life. I am ashamed of so many things I have done, but I know GOD forgives me as long as I believe that His son Jesus Christ died for my sins/my wrongdoings against GOD's will.

I wonder why GOD created us to have such a hard time in figuring out His will for our life and even then when we do how hard it is to stay focused. Maybe because we are constantly seeking happiness through our own will and need to be disappointed, because only then do we look for something else. So this brings up the question why did GOD even create us to have a will if He is constantly disappointed with our decisions. I think GOD is looking for roommates who adore and truly love Him, and as we all know true love can't be forced. True love is wanting to do nothing for oneself and only wanting to please the one with whom your in love. I believe GOD needs and wants us to be in true love with Him. He's doing His best to gain our attention, to attract us, and most importantly can only hope for us to fall in true love with Him as He is already with us.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

A Third of the Angels

I posted this on March 22nd, 2007. Our feelings and desires have been on my mind lately. Just how does one's mind develop emotions; wants, feelings, desires. Are we destined to have those emotions from birth? Or through the events of our upbringing, what people did and said to us, and our decisions on what to pursue, did these things form our feelings and desires?

Lately, my thoughts just keep going back to what I wrote on March 22nd about having a roommate. I don't know anyone who would disagree about what I wrote. Let me know if you disagree........

"Ever since I read Revelations 12, I've been fascinated by verses 3 and 4 where it makes the reference of a third of the angels being kicked out of heaven. Throughout the Bible we read about a spiritual war going on between GOD and Satan. Some of us can agree that not all of our desires are born within ourselves, we know they can come from an outside source. I have always wrestled with which desires are inspired from Satan, which ones from GOD, and which ones from myself.

But what I want to comment on isn't which desires are coming from where, but the fact a third of the angels were kicked out of heaven. I still can't get over how the angels weren't content with Heaven, that they still wanted to what appears create or have there own way with doing things that went against GOD's sovereignty in His kingdom. Kind of reminds me of me at work wanting to do things my own way even though I was hired and am getting paid to do things works way.

Think of someone you see every day. They really get on your nerves because they completely have no respect for your outlook on life. They joke about things around you that are completely irritating. You have to listen to their selection of music all day from their cubicle. You have asked them to turn it down, but they claim they can't hear it that low. They are loud and obnoxious. But even though they have all these traits that make you angry, they still aren't doing anything wrong in everyone's eyes at work. Some people actually enjoy the music, they enjoy the jokes and what is loud and obnoxious to you isn't loud and obnoxious to them. Basically its just a difference of opinion with this person, not what is right and what is wrong. But every day you feel a huge relief immediately when leaving their presence.

So I wonder would GOD kick a third of the angels out just because of personality conflict? One thing I just can't stop thinking about is that everyone I know eventually moves away from roommates that they are having a personality conflict with, its just a matter of time before one or the other can't take it anymore. So is GOD trying to groom us to be roommmates in Heaven?And from the way He created us and under the circumstances of what Adam and Eve did in the garden, the grooming has to be done through a relationship with Him on earth?

I know this all sounds completely ridiculous. But, man is made in GOD's image. There are many people I just don't get along with, but its just a personality confict, niether of us are right or wrong. Could I ever get along with that person as a roommate if either I or they never changed? Don't see how that would be possible. So how does one come to the conclusion that GOD needs to change for them, or put up with something that is completely annoying to Him in Heaven? I know many of you are saying GOD is completely above this petty analogy, GOD is love, love perseveres through all things. I agree completely, but no matter how much I go back and forth, a third of the angels were still kicked out of Heaven.

Reference: Angels are often referred to as "stars" and "sons of God" (Job 1:6, 2:1, Isa 14:12, Rev. 1:20, 9:1, 12:4,9)."

9 little ways to go green

  • Take your refrigerator's temperature... it should be between 37 and 40 degrees
  • Moving your fridge out of the sun, or away from a range can save you money and energy... any 1 degree temperature change above 70 degrees makes your fridge use 2.5 times more energy
  • Use your dishwasher... if you have one, especially an Energy Star one, it saves 5,000 gallons of water and roughly 230 hours each year!
  • Fix a leaky faucet and toilet
  • Change your shower head to one that uses less water ... for example 1.5 gallons per minute vs. one that fills a gallon in 20 seconds.
  • Put extra rugs in your entry way and USE them to wipe your feet -- this means less pathogens, cleaner air quality, and thus, less chemical cleaning and less frequent vacuuming.
  • Put a sweater on in the winter and keep your heat turned down
  • Use the sun to heat your home... open shades when it's sunny and close them when the sun sets
  • and, of course, use energy efficient light bulbs!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Edward O. Wilson

Last night I went to hear Edward O. Wilson speak at MSU. This man is considered to be one of the leading scientist in the world. He spoke on the urgency for us to come together and do something about the destruction of our planet. His focus was on informing the audience the details of science that at least have never been discussed to me from anyone:

  • Estimated by experts that only 10% of the species on earth have been found.
  • We have found 1.8 million species. In 1988 we had found 1.3.
  • In one human, the ratio of bacteria to every one cell in the body is 100 to 1.
  • There are 3 billion chemical based pairs that make up one human body and each body is unique.
The image “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Dna_basepairs.gif” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

If the human genome were a book it would span from New York to Dallas and within each inch, a hundred letters from each base pair would need to be read off! I was going to entitle this post mind boggling because those are the only words that come to me, it just doesn't seem possible that all of this could just come together from chance through evolution.

The fact that we are all unique. This means the 3 billion long line of code has to first evolve from chance and then takes on a mind of its own when it comes together to create each new baby.

500 different kinds of bacteria live in our mouth and throat which do a number of things including keeping pathogens out. How many are in the digestive system? There are 20,000 species of nematodes that have been found and an estimated 480,000 that are still waiting to be found. Edward said that it has been proven that certain species of nematodes populate certain regions and are believed to be all woven together somehow serving a purpose.

The main point of his speech was that there are so many things in this world that we don't know, and we are destroying them one by one as we build our civilization on earth. We must find ways to preserve the ecosystem or else we might be the next to go just like the latest species that has become extinct.

A friend of mine who also attended the lecture posted below on October 23rd:

http://adamandsara.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Why do bad people prosper?

For God to provide the general blessings of life only to the righteous would in effect be coercive in manipulating men's decision to strive for righteousness.

Why do the innocent suffer?

Evil exists because given the choice, men chose evil. Men also are responsible in their failure to release God to act through the means given them. These repeated choices for evil empower and authorize a corporate effect of evil into the world that spills over into the lives of the innocent.

We are all under a curse as a result of our sin and the sins of our forefathers, which we share in (Ex. 20:5; Num. 14:18; Dt. 7:9; Ezek. 18:14-20; Rom. 5:12, 18-19).

Why does evil exist?

This has been taken from an IBC 7/91 lecture at University of the Nations by Mel Hanna.

"In the book of Job, Satan charged God with coercing or buying Job's faithfulness through blessings--a charge which God defended Himself against (showing that it indeed would have been wrong for Him to have bought Job's obedience).

God is therefore limited in the degree to which He can interfere with the free will of man. God has limited Himself in this way, so that man can truly have free will. Free will in man is necessary in order for man to be able to love.

Love requires a free will agent in order to exist. It cannot be coerced or programmed into a being and still be love. Man has to be able to chose evil for the choice to love to be meaningful.
God is love, and it is unthinkable that He would have created a world where love could not exist.

Why does evil exist? Because, given the choice to do good or to do evil, men with a free will continually choose evil.

When God acts in our lives, it is because He has been legitimately released to act. When we pray, we are releasing God to act. He can enter into our lives when we open the door for Him to enter. Our free will remains intact in those instances, because He is coming at our invitation.

Satan and his demons also must be released to act. They are released to interfere in our lives when we choose evil--when we seek after other gods, when we proclaim evil words, when we perform sinful acts, or acts against GOD's love.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Attitude

Yesterday was a bad day, i guess that's pretty evident. I often wonder if I'm pissing people off just as much as they are pissing me off? It's possible, but I don't think so, wow, what if I'm wrong about that, what if I am pissing people off just as much as they are pissing me off. What if they are blogging at this very moment about how much people piss them off and they are absolute angels and don't deserve such terrible treatment in the world. But they are the blind ones, not me. I'm the good one.

Hmmmm, "I'm the good one". This makes me think about some discussions I have gotten into with friends. The discussion is what makes one good, or bad. We end up comparing ourselves to some legalistic standard pulled out of our butts. And then we go on feeling good about ourselves for awhile until the conversation arises again. Since the conversation keeps coming up then we haven't justified our actions enough, because we can't, so we keep having to try and convince ourselves by tweaking that legalistic standard we pulled out of our butts.

The Bible says in Psalm 14:1-3 that not one of us is good. I guess you could take it as the author was speaking of a certain group of people from that time. But I ask you the question what group of people do you know today that are good? But just remember that legalistic standard you pulled out of your butt is from your butt.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Tired

I'm really tired today.

Work has really sucked lately. I feel like nobody cares around me, actually I don't feel, I know. And that attitude is slowly seaping into my work ethic. It's hard to care when everyone around you doesn't. It's hard to care when everyone around you says one thing and does the other.
So even though I'm really tired today and work sucks, it's pretty much all because of the people around me. So don't let everyone around you dictate your days. People suck. People always have been and always will. You just got to love them like GOD loves you every day. If you think GOD doesn't think you suck, think again. Just remember GOD doesn't care if you suck, if he did why would we still be here killing each other, raping each other, letting 1000's a day starve or die from bad drinking water, selling each other addictive drugs, ripping each other off for a good profit, well the list goes on.........did i mention I'm really tired today and work sucks.

Yeah, i'm kind of negative, but a friend once told me who I respect that I should let her be pissy and negative, because that's the way she is feeling and there's nothing wrong with that and I told her she was wrong. Now I understand what she was feeling and I was wrong.
So anywho, where am I going with this post. I think what I'm trying to say is, don't let the people around u dictate your attitude and motivation to make your surroundings a better place. Just remember to love people like GOD loves us.......blindly. Because if GOD didn't forgive us and watched everything we did in absolute horror, trust me this world would be like Sodom and Gomorrah in a second. All I have to say is I'm so grateful that he didn't finish what he started, because then I would of ceased to exist. So next time you are directly effected by people that suck just remember they and you are on borrowed time and GOD needs you to love those people and be the difference to those people in a world that doesn't care about anything but its own self indulgence.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Sport of Poverty

I consistantly find myself at www.espn.com every morning looking for news and highlight reels from the previous day. ESPN's front page gives in my opinion the best layout of the w.w.w. with top news stories and commentaries.

Lately I have been wishing that I had the motivation to seek out each morning like I do with ESPN on what is going on in the world of poverty, persecution and oppression around the world. It would be nice if there was a website like ESPN that sparked my interest so that I would go to it every morning.

Wouldn't it be great if our government chose to put billions of dollars into an organization that could produce information like ESPN on poverty, persecution and oppression around the world. I bet it would be more effective than putting the billions of dollars into the war in Iraq.

If you find a website or a group of websites that could feed my interest in poverty, persecution and oppression around the world like ESPN does for the sportsworld, please let me know....

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

ODRAM





On Sept. 9th at 6:30AM i began riding my bicycle attempting 151 miles in the ODRAM (One Day Ride Across Michigan) from Montague to Bay City. I previously had only ridden 117 miles in one day. Right around the 120 mile marker I noticed my buttocks started to ache something fierce. The last 10 miles sharp pains would catch my attention quite frequently. I finished at 7:22.

I promised our SAG that if he wanted to do the ODRAM next year I would join him, but otherwise I can't see any reason for putting myself through that again. My ODRAM riding partner did the 24 hour challenge in Grand Rapids. I never thought I would do the ODRAM. I have never even thought about doing the 24 hour challenge. It's now a thought.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

GOD's Likes & Dislikes

Since GOD has given us freewill His likes and dislikes will most likely be different than our own. Why would He want people liking something He dislikes? I don't understand this? I guess He just didn't want a bunch of GOD clones running around. What fun would that be? Although, if i was the creator of the human i sure wouldn't want them running around killing each other based on hate and selfish reasons. But i guess not even GOD can have His cake and eat it too. In time I believe we will all end up coming to find out the complete truth to every little detail of each of our existances. We'll have every one of our questions answered. Did Barry Bonds use steroids? What happened to Jimmy Hoffa? Was there an Atlantis? Was everything basically created from a pool of goop like evolution says?

Ok, I went off on a tangent, back to GOD's likes and dislikes? So if I desire something and another human desires something and we fullfill those desires together not hurting anyone in the process, but ourselves, does that mean GOD is going to like/dislike that behavior? Or does He just not care whether He agrees/disagrees with something, He just accepts it for what it is, because He did give us freewill? But say GOD doesn't just accept it for what it is and either likes/dislikes every single little detail of our lives. If GOD doesn't like it, could He still think its ok, because He gave us a brain and freewill, He obviously didn't create us to be robots.

I highly doubt that GOD created the world to be a free for all anything goes type place.I can't imagine GOD wants/likes/agrees with starvation, disease, drug abuse, verbal/physical abuse, substance addiction, war, rape, murder, hate, etc. So does that mean GOD only cares about the big things and the little things are left up to us? But then how can one know all of this? GOD didn't leave a detailed instruction manual to follow. I guess because He didn't want us all to be robots, but if He had I bet the world would be a better place. But then you know not everyone would follow the instructions. Are the circles I'm going in with every paragraph completely frustrating you yet? It's an honor for me to have you still reading.

Finally, not much of one, but a conclusion.... In the end we die alone. Whether we believe in the afterlife or not, our existance will be determined according to the instructions/rules of the afterlife, not on our belief system. We just have to hope that our belief system matches up with the instructions/rules of the afterlife. From what I see there are a bunch of different instructions out there about the afterlife. But whether we believe in one, all, none, or even choose not to make a decison, we have a belief. Believing is such a beautiful thing, its the most free thing in this world. In the end its our deciding factor on our actions in life. In the end its the only thing that is purely our own decision. And how fitting that the most free thing in this world is the only thing we take and what I believe will be the deciding factor of our destiny/fate into the unknown.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Does Porn hurt a Marriage?

"One of the first things porn, or any lust for that matter does when we engage in it, is disconnect us from our wives, or any true intimacy for that matter. This happens because of two little words called guilt and shame. The Bible says that to even look at another woman with lust is adultery (Matt. 5:28). I believe this is because the same chemical and psychological processes are at work when we lust as when we actually have sex. One inescapable result of engaging in porn and lust is that a wall is immediately built between our wives and us; whether we feel it, acknowledge it or not. When this type of cheating continues, we quickly replace "intimacy" with "intensity" as our definition of what makes "good sex."



Since our wife's primary language of intimacy is relational, and we are disconnected, we are not able to connect in this manner. Further, because our primary language of intimacy is sexual and we are now in a spiral toward more and more intense sexual pleasure through porn and lust, a vicious cycle begins. We seek more and more "intense" sexual experiences--for which the internet is a perfect delivery mechanism for awhile--which we cannot get from our wives because we are disconnected from them emotionally and spiritually. The vast majority of men are not even aware this has happened. Disconnected becomes normal.

Congratulations... we are on our way toward sexual addiction.

As men we must be focused on sexual purity, not allowing any of our sexual energy be wasted on anyone but our wives. After all, the Bible tells us that our sexuality is first of all God's (Rom. 12:1), then our wife's (1 Cor. 7:4) and lastly ours. And we must be focused on meeting her needs for intimacy which are relational. For this is God's plan (Ecc. 9:9). As we do this, we will find that our sexual desire will redirect to our wives and grow significantly. It may take a month or two but it will happen. Try it. You may be surprised how well this works."

~Stuart Vogelman http://www.fatherville.com/Articles/Spiritual_Dads/Porn:_Does_It_Hurt_A_Marriage?/

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Desire

Our desire is unique. They are similar, but not one is exactly the same. Our desires motivate us in everyday decisions. Some desires are motivated by need, but most resolve around pleasure. I often wonder what GOD desires in His everyday decisions. I know from the Bible his two greatest desires for us are that we love him with all our strength, heart, mind, and soul. And his second greatest desire is that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

This seems logical. The first desire of GOD wanting us to have a relationship with Him, this helping us make the decisions GOD knows are best for us. The second desire, is that we love our neighbor meaning we want the best for them as we do for ourselves. I'm guessing GOD made these statements to hopefully steer people away from blowing themselves and others up with jets and bombs. And not retaliate with sending your neighbor halfway around the world to kill and be killed for freedom to.......love their neighbor. I realize there are alot of people not loving their neighbor around the world, but killing our neighbors because they aren't loving each other and us can't be the solution.

GOD wants us to desire what He desires. If we are all going to live peacefully together in Heaven, I'm sure GOD doesn't want the mayhem on earth to be a part of Heaven. GOD is love. The Bible says that we will be reborn into new bodies. I can only assume that this means not bringing one tendency that isn't love with us. I think if we did bring that one tendency it would be like a virus to our soul and Heaven.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Internet Filters: Part 2

The reason why I made this comment is that I'm helping start a group for men which helps support one's desire to stay away from pornography and deal with sexual addiction. We came
up with the idea of inputing around 200 sites in a filter allowing only those sites to be seen on any browser on the pc. If the user wanted additionaly sites added, they would have to contact me which I would do remotely.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Internet Filters

I just read a very disturbing government document by two senators regarding file sharing software. I lost the document and will try and find it tommorrow. I stumbled upon it and my search has come up in vain. On the top file sharing sofware Rape was #13 off the top 20 search words. #2 and #3 were porn and xxx.
The document also said that all of the net filters on the market except for one block file sharing software. That filter is Mcafee's Internet Guard dog which now I believe is called Internet Security Suite. Although it looks like the latest edition really bogs down windows xp. I'm not sure if there is a MAC or Linux version.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Hollywood

I was at work and had to listen to a woman keep commenting on different photos of Hollywood actresses. Negative comments about these actresses bodies. When she would speak about these women, a new emotion was born in me. It was a mixture of pain and hurt from that woman, and disgust and anger that she was judging these women by their appearance.

I realized that this woman has probably gone through a lot of pain and hurt from this world judging her only on looks. Maybe many terrible men have used and abused her for sex and money, with absolutely no intentions of keeping any kind of relationship once they get tired of getting what they want. Maybe her girlfriends dumped her for in their opinion a better looking friend.

The dark side of her comments is that what the world has protruded on this woman has now come full circle and the very thing that she hates, she is now throwing at these magazines and possibly other people at work, home, or even friends.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:19.

Just imagine if the world judged on character instead of appearance.............

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Suffering

On June 3rd my daughter Jorai Mae passed away stillborn at 6 months. I just haven't found the words to fully express my sorrow over this tragedy. This morning I am scouring the net for information to help me better understand why Jorai didn't get a chance to live in this world.

"The universe is a soul making machine, and part of that process is learning, maturing, and growing through difficult and challenging and painful experiences. The point of our lives in this world isn't comfort, but training and preparation for eternity." - Lee Strobel

The universe is a soul making machine and Jorai just didn't have to go through the difficult, challenging, and painful experiences of life. I'd rather have GOD raise her up anyway :-). He will do a much better job than I.

Below is a sermon on why suffering has to be a part of life, it's long, but it gives me some understanding. I don't like it, but it makes sense. I still don't like it, but then if I were GOD and created the gears of the world, my system would of been based on pleasure not pain. From what I have seen and experienced in my lifetime, I have absolutely no faith in pleasure accomplishing anything worthwhile.

                  "THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING"

Why Does God Allow It?


INTRODUCTION

1. There is a question which is as old as the first tear, and as recent
as the lastest newscast:

"Why? Why does God allow suffering, sorrow, heartache, and death,
even among His own children?"


This question was asked by Job, and has been asked by every person
who has walked upon the face of the earth and who believes in God

I. SUFFERING KEEPS THIS WORLD FROM BECOMING TOO ATTRACTIVE

A. THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT WE ARE "PILGRIMS" AND "SOJOURNERS"...
1. This world is not truly our home
2. God has prepared something better for us
3. Consider the following passages: 1 Pe 2:11; He 13:14; 2 Co
5:1,5


B. IF THERE WAS NO SUFFERING...
1. No one would want to leave this temporary world
2. No one would desire the "eternal" home, and therefore prepare
themselves for it

C. BUT THE AFFAIRS OF THIS LIFE ARE SO ORDERED...
1. That the world soon loses its attraction
2. Most young people may want to live forever...
a. But by the time a man reaches his "three score and ten"
b. He begins to desire something better

II. SUFFERING CAN BRING OUT OUR BEST

A. THE MAN WHOSE WIFE WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED SAW THIS...
1. In the constant support by friends
2. In the preparation of food
3. In the financial support

B. WE SEE THIS OCCURING QUITE FREQUENTLY...
1. In times of natural disaster
2. When someone loses a house to fire, tornado, etc.
3. In times of terminal illness

C. THIS MAY BE ONE REASON WHY EARLY CHRISTIANS REJOICED IN THEIR
TRIALS...

1. They understood that tribulations could develop character
2. As Paul wrote in Ro 5:3-4

III. SUFFERING GIVES AN OCCASION TO SILENCE THE ENEMIES OF GOD

A. REMEMBER THE STORY OF JOB?
1. Satan wanted to prove God wrong about Job, that he served God
only because God had blessed him
2. But Job's patience under suffering silenced Satan!

B. LIKEWISE, GOD DESIRES THAT WE SILENCE "FOOLISH MEN" - 1 Pe 2:15
1. Who ridicule the teachings of Christ as foolishness
2. Who say we are Christians only for what good we can get out of
it

C. BY PATIENTLY ENDURING, OR DOING GOOD IN TIMES OF SUFFERING...
1. The value of being Christians really shines through
2. In the faith we have that sustains us in suffering, and in the
love we show towards those who suffer

IV. SUFFERING MAKES US APPRECIATIVE

A. WE ALL RECEIVE SO MANY GOOD THINGS IN THIS LIFE...
1. It is easy for us to become prone to take them for granted
2. Instead of receiving them with gratitude toward God

B. SUFFERING CAN HELP US APPRECIATE MORE FULLY...
1. Good health
2. Good friends, and a loving family
3. A good example of how suffering can make one appreciative is the
apostle Paul when he was in prison - cf. Ph 1:3-8

V. SUFFERING MAKES US MORE DEPENDENT UPON GOD

A. TOO OFTEN, WE THINK OURSELVES SELF-SUFFICIENT...
1. "But when a dozen of the most skilled men in their profession
tell you they have done all they can and it is completely out
of their hands..."
2. "...you suddenly realize how much you depend on God."

B. AT NO OTHER TIME...
1. Is one more likely to realize that we depend upon God for our
very breath!
2. As Paul proclaimed: "in Him we live and move and have our
being" - Ac 17:28

VI. SUFFERING HELPS PURIFY US

A. CONSIDER THE IMPORT OF TWO PASSAGES...
1. 1 Pe 1:6-7 - Suffering can be like fire purifying gold
2. Ja 1:2-5 - Maturity can be developed through trials

B. TO ILLUSTRATE HOW, CONSIDER THE MAN WHOSE WIFE WAS INJURED...
1. "Many times I searched my own life during these past six weeks
in order to confess my every failure and shortcoming to God..."
2. "I surely did not want my own sins to stand in the way of God
hearing my prayers for Jane..."
3. "It was absolutely necessary to be truthful with God and myself,
and I am a better man today than before."

VII. SUFFERING MAKES US SYMPATHETIC

A. PAUL WROTE OF THIS VALUE OF AFFLICTION...
1. To the church at Corinth, in his second epistle - 2 Co 1:3-4
2. It helps us to be better able to comfort others in their
affliction

B. WE MAY THINK WE CAN SYMPATHIZE WITH SOMEONE...
1. But until we have been there personally, there is no true
understanding of their hurt
2. Experiencing suffering...
a. Makes us more likely to "weep with those who weep" - Ro
12:15

b. Better enables us to serve others

VIII. SUFFERING TEACHES US HOW TO PRAY

A. WE ALL MAY BE A PRAYING PEOPLE...
1. We pray at the right times
2. We pray for the right things

B. BUT IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING WE LEARN HOW TO PRAY...
1. "Earnestly"
2. "Perseveringly"
3. "With groanings which cannot be uttered" (Ro 8:26)

C. AS OUR FRIEND SAID:
1. "I have been a praying man since I became a Christian. But
never like this."
2. "I have learned more about prayer in the past six weeks than
in the previous twenty years. My prayers will be different
for the rest of my life."

CONCLUSION

1. Can we begin to see why a RIGHTEOUS and MERCIFUL God would allow
suffering, even to the innocent?

2. If we look at suffering purely from MAN'S point of view, we will not
understand why suffering is permitted

3. But remember what God said through the prophet Isaiah:

8 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways
my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For [as] the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than
your thoughts. (Isaiah 55)


4. When we look at suffering from GOD'S point of view, from the viewpoint
of His plans for us in preparation of eternity, then we can begin to
appreciate why He would allow suffering to occur...

5. And never forget those words of Paul, which reminds us of God's never
failing love:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall]
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed
all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him
that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8)


Sunday, June 17, 2007

xB

I'm a fan of the Scion xB. The one thing I can't figure out is why Toyota decided for the 2007 version of the xB to beef up the engine and add 800 pounds. The actual size of the xB has only increased a few inches here and there. The new engine gets 28 hwy and 22 city and the previous 3 years of the xB's engine gets 34 hwy and 31 city.

I took a spin in the new xB and a friend of mine has one of the older versions. Inside both cars feel like the same size and the acceleration is comparable, besides who buys an xB for its 0-60 time.

So, why since in the last couple years, with the biggest gas spike in my lifetime, did Toyota feel like it needed to add 800 pounds and decrease the average mpg from 32.5 to 25. Let's see that's roughly 75 miles for a 10 gallon tank which is roughly an extra $7.00 a fill up, times that by a fill up a week, 52 per year and we have $364 extra. If you decide to have the car for 10 years, very unlikely, but lets just say and that's $3,640.

Why is this eating away at me, yes it's the money and also increases our dependence on foreign oil. But, what would give Toyota the idea that the consumer wants what's basically the same $15,000 car to cost us an extra $364 and rising a year? Somebody please leave me a comment if you have an answer.....

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Pornography Statistics

Here are some crazy statistics about pornography. Pornography statistics become outdated very quickly, especially in the Internet environment where numbers change daily. These statistics have been derived from a number of different reputable sources including Google, WordTracker, PBS, MSNBC, NRC, and Alexa research.

Size of the Industry
$57.0 billion world-wide - $12.0 billion US

Adult Videos
$20.0 billion

Escort Services
$11.0 billion

Magazines
$ 7.5 billion

Sex Clubs
$ 5.0 billion

Phone Sex
$ 4.5 billion

Cable & Pay Per View
$ 2.5 billion

Internet
$ 2.5 billion

CD-Rom
$ 1.5 billion

Novelties
$ 1.0 billion

Other
$ 1.5 billion

Porn revenue is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises.

US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC (6.2 billion)

Child pornography generates $3 billion annuallyInternet Porn Statistics

Pornographic websites 4.2 million (12% of total websites)

Pornographic pages 372 million

Daily pornographic search engine requests 68 million (25% of total search engine requests)

Daily pornographic emails2.5 billion (8% of total emails)

Average daily pornographic emails/user4.5 per Internet user

Monthly Pornographic downloads (Peer-to-peer) 1.5 billion (35% of all downloads)

Daily Gnutella "child pornography" requests 116 thousand

Websites offering illegal child pornography 100 thousand
Children's Exposure to Pornography


Sexual solicitations of youth made in chat rooms 89%

Youths who received sexual solicitation 20%

Worldwide visitors to pornographic web sites 72 million annually

Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography 11 years old

Largest consumer of Internet pornography12-17 age group

15-17 year olds having multiple hard-core exposures 80%

8-16 year olds having viewed porn online 90% (most while doing homework)

7-17 year olds who would freely give out home address 29%

7-17 year olds who would freely give out email address 14%

Children's characters linked to thousands of porn links 26 (including Pokeman and Action Man)

Adult Internet Porn Statistics

Men admitting to accessing pornography at work 20%

US adults who regularly visit Internet pornography websites 40 million

Promise Keeper men who viewed pornography in last week 53%

Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home 47%

Adults admitting to Internet sexual addiction 10%

Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites 72% male - 28% female

Women and Pornography

13% of Women admit to accessing pornography at work

70% of women keep their cyber activities secret

17% of all women struggle with pornography addiction

Women, far more than men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs

Women favor chat rooms 2X more than men

1 of 3 visitors to all adult web sites are women

9.4 million women access adult web sites each month

Thursday, March 22, 2007

A Third of the Angels

Ever since I read Revelations 12, I've been fascinated by verses 3 and 4 where it makes the reference of a third of the angels being kicked out of heaven. Throughout the Bible we read about a spiritual war going on between GOD and Satan. Some of us can agree that not all of our desires are born within ourselves, we know they can come from an outside source. I have always wrestled with which desires are inspired from Satan, which ones from GOD, and which ones from myself.

But what I want to comment on isn't which desires are coming from where, but the fact a third of the angels were kicked out of heaven. I still can't get over how the angels weren't content with Heaven, that they still wanted to what appears create or have there own way with doing things that went against GOD's sovereignty in His kingdom. Kind of reminds me of me at work wanting to do things my own way even though I was hired and am getting paid to do things works way.

Think of someone you see every day. They really get on your nerves because they completely have no respect for your outlook on life. They joke about things around you that are completely irritating. You have to listen to their selection of music all day from their cubicle. You have asked them to turn it down, but they claim they can't hear it that low. They are loud and obnoxious. But even though they have all these traits that make you angry, they still aren't doing anything wrong in everyone's eyes at work. Some people actually enjoy the music, they enjoy the jokes and what is loud and obnoxious to you isn't loud and obnoxious to them. Basically its just a difference of opinion with this person, not what is right and what is wrong. But every day you feel a huge relief immediately when leaving their presence.

So I wonder would GOD kick a third of the angels out just because of personality conflict? One thing I just can't stop thinking about is that everyone I know eventually moves away from roommates that they are having a personality conflict with, its just a matter of time before one or the other can't take it anymore. So is GOD trying to groom us to be roommmates in Heaven?And from the way He created us and under the circumstances of what Adam and Eve did in the garden, the grooming has to be done through a relationship with Him on earth?

I know this all sounds completely ridiculous. But, man is made in GOD's image. There are many people I just don't get along with, but its just a personality confict, niether of us are right or wrong. Could I ever get along with that person as a roommate if either I or they never changed? Don't see how that would be possible. So how does one come to the conclusion that GOD needs to change for them, or put up with something that is completely annoying to Him in Heaven? I know many of you are saying GOD is completely above this petty analogy, GOD is love, love perseveres through all things. I agree completely, but no matter how much I go back and forth, a third of the angels were still kicked out of Heaven.

Reference: Angels are often referred to as "stars" and "sons of God" (Job 1:6, 2:1, Isa 14:12, Rev. 1:20, 9:1, 12:4,9).

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Habits

habit: 1. an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary: the habit of looking both ways before crossing the street.

A co-worker who has to say “Help Desk this is Kevin” all day said he recently said “Help Desk this is Kevin” when he was at home. I can remember a roommate who after every work day would come home make something to eat and then go watch tv until he fell asleep in the recliner. I have a habit of picking up peoples pens at work because I need something to write with, I have no memory of doing it, just at some point during the day realize I have a different pen in my hand. Same thing as leaving something somewhere and not remembering where I left it. How did I develop this habit of picking up something or leaving something behind and having no recollection of learning this action?

Notice in the definition how it says, “acquired”and also the word “involuntary”. How many habits have I acquired besides my little pen trick? What about watching television? The more I watch the longer i can sit and watch that tube for 3 hours and it seems like one hour. The less I watch tv, one hour feels like 3 hours. So the more I do something the less I think about it.

At what point do my habits turn into addiction? I guess if its a chemical addiction. Exactly what is a chemical addiction? Something the brain gets used to having and then can't get anymore. Can the brain produce it's own chemicals, or wire itself from something visual, or just in thought and then when it can't get its fix anymore could something similar happen like a chemical that enters from outside the body?

I've never thought much about habits. The thought that I am subconsciously developing
habits is a scary thing, unknowingly creating connections between neurons to assist with these habits is even more scary. I need a monitoring system to keep track of all the habits I'm subconsciously developing, and also point out which actions I'm already doing but don't realize its a habit.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

My money

I become extremely indecisive when it comes to spending money on big items. I become easily agitated when things don't go my way with those big items. Why don't I have a problem with the little items? money is security, the little items aren't going to break the bank.
I want my main concern to be where my money is going and what its supporting. What kind of salary and benefits is the worker getting that picked the orange in my fruit dish. The worker in China that made the shirt I'm wearing. The factory worker who killed the cow in my fridge. How can I know these things?
It's extremely difficult to track down all the people that are in the process of each product I purchase. Google will only take me so far, but the decision to try and make an educated guess is a start. It will be a constant fight to get information most companies don't want me to know. But hopefully in the not so distant future companies with the best worker compensation will prosper, and the other companies will be forced to follow suit, or else go out of business.