Life, and all that comes with it

Sorry everybody.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:46:00 +0000

Open Letter of Apology to The World

Please bear with me, this is long overdue and there's lots of ground
to cover. I want to make sure that I get it all out. Not just for me,
but because I think you need to hear it. Maybe there are other
Christians out there as well that need to make apologies and will find
courage here. I appreciate your time, I know it's valuable.

Dear Members of the World,
I'm just a guy, nobody really. Son of a preacher. Years
and years of Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps, youth ski trips,
puppet shows - you name it. I'm not a bad
guy, I've been mostly behaving myself and everybody seems to like me.
I do some good stuff here and there.

But lately I've been trying to understand Jesus more and stuff I never
noticed before has really started to bug me. I've been taking a look
around and I'm having a hard time making sense of what it is we've
built here. So, it just seemed like, whether anybody else says it or
not, I need to take responsibility for the part I played and say what
I have to say.

Here we go ...

I know you think that Christians are a big bunch of hypocrites. We say
we're more "religious" and we're going to heaven and you're not, and
then we drive our big shiny cars with little fishies on the trunk and
cut you off in traffic as we race by the homeless guy on the corner.
We average just 2% of our money to church and charity, despite that we
say the Bible is the word of God and it says we're supposed to give
everything. On average, we buy just as many big screen TVs and bass
boats and fur coats and makeup and baseball cards and online porn as
anybody else. Maybe more. You've seen leader after leader end up in
jail or court or a sex scandal of one sort or another.

Well ... you're right. We're guilty of all of it. We've done it all.
And, I'm really sorry.

You see our cheesy TV shows and slick guys begging for money and you
get that there's something seriously sneaky and wrong here. A high-
pressure call for money so they can stay on the air? Were we supposed
to use Jesus as just another form of entertainment? Who do we think
we're kidding? Where's Jesus in all this? Aren't we supposed to rely
on him? Isn't He going to meet our needs if we're inside His will?

What happened to sacrifice and suffering and helping the poor? I'm
just sick about this. I mean, the church leaders, they're not all bad
guys, there are lots and lots of really hard-working well-meaning
folks who love and care and are meeting real needs in the community.
Some of them understand and love Jesus - but I'm just real sure those
pastors don't drive Bentley's, have multi-million dollar homes and
their own lear jets! I mean, what "god" are we worshipping? Money?
Ego? Power?

You see our massive shiny new buildings all over the place. Heck,
maybe we even kicked you out of your house so we could expand our
parking lots. You can't figure out why we need four different
Christian churches on four corners of the same intersection. We've got
playgrounds and bowling alleys and basketball leagues. We've got
Starbucks coffee in the sanctuary. We've got orchestras and giant
chandeliers and fountains out front. We've got bookstores full of
"jesus junk" with every imaginable style and flavor of religious knick-
knack. But where's Jesus? Is this what HE wanted?

Oh, sure, there are good folks all over and not every church is such a
mess, but Christians are the ones that say we're supposed to be "One
Body." So even the good ones are guilty of not putting a stop to it
sooner. We were supposed to keep each other in line and not tolerate
factions and dissensions and greed and idolatry and all this other bad
stuff. Man, we really blew it! We've got 33,000 denominations and most
of them won't talk to the other ones. We lose over $5 million a day to
fraud from "trusted" people inside the church! We spend 95% of all our
money on our own comforts and programs and happy family fun time shows
and we let 250 MILLION Christians in other countries live on the very
edge of starvation. Not to mention the billion or so that have never
even once heard of Jesus - or the homeless guy downtown we almost ran
over when we cut you off.

We're as guilty as we can be. All of us. Nobody is exempt. We should
have put a stop to it a lot sooner. But I can't apologize on behalf of
anyone else. This is about me.

I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going
as soon as you could. I know that you might even have been abused by
somebody in the church! Maybe we got you all fired up and then just
let you drift off like we didn't really care. Maybe you just don't fit
our "profile." You might have piercings and purple hair or tattoos or
been in jail -- and somewhere inside you just know that even if you
wanted to go to church one Sunday, it would not go well. I'm sorry for
that. Jesus loves you. He always hung out with the most unexpected
people. He had the biggest heart for the folks everybody else tried to
ignore. What have we done? We've told you to put on a sweater and some
loafers or you can't go to heaven. I just want to throw up.

Look, I know you're mad. And you have a right to be. We've done you
wrong for a LONG time now. There's some things about Jesus that people
need to hear, but we've buried a beautiful masterpiece under hundreds
of layers of soft pink latex paint. If you have a Bible handy, look up
Matthew 23. (If you don't, you can look it up here - www.BibleGateway.com
.) Find it? Read it carefully, the Pharisees were the "religious"
people of the day, the leaders of the faith. In this chapter Jesus
SEVEN times says how pitiful and wretched and cursed they are for what
they're doing to the people they're supposed to be leading. He even
calls them "white washed tombs of dead mens bones" and a "brood of
vipers"! I don't have time here, but read it and see if we're not
doing EVERY single one of those things. Jesus can't possibly be happy
about what we've done to you.

Sure, we like to kid ourselves and pretend everything is OK - but it's
not. We're hated. Now, please understand, Jesus was hated, too. But
that was because he said hard things and sometimes people don't like
hearing the Truth. And he promised we would be hated if we were like
him. But that's not why we're hated at the moment. We're hated right
now because we're a giant pack of lying hypocrites that say one thing
and do something else altogether. If we were hated because we were
like Jesus, that would be one thing, but that's not it at all. You see
right through our happy music and fluffy services and you can tell
there's something desperately wrong here. We're no different than
anybody else - except that we say we're better than you.

It was never supposed to be like this. Jesus asked us to care for the
widows and orphans, to feed the hungry, care for the sick, visit those
in prison, reach the lost. He wanted us to love our enemies and pray
for them. He cared about human justice and suffering, the lost and
lonely. But I don't think He would have marched on a picket line - He
had His mind on much bigger problems. He wanted us to focus on the
eternal things, not the everyday. He never once said to go into all
the world and build big buildings and divide up into factions and buy
Bentleys. Just the opposite! I get that you're mad at us and I think
you have a right to be, but please understand, you're mad at what
we've made under our own power, you're mad at "Churchianity." That's
different than Christ and what he wanted. Don't be mad at Jesus! This
mess wasn't His idea!

Look, I'm really sorry. I accept responsibility for my part in having
hurt you. But I'm committing to you all, dear Members of the World,
that I'm not going to do it any more. Not a single penny more. I'm not
going to put my faith in "Churchianity" or any leader or program or TV
show -- but in Christ Jesus and His salvation. That's when I was set
free and began to see that God wants and expects more of us than this.
And I'm not helping anybody that's not fully committed to the same
thing.

It took centuries to build this monster, so it's not like it's going
to just turn around overnight. But the times are changing and we're
way overdue for something new. Big bad things are happening - like the
tsunami in Asia - and I think more are coming. I don't want any more
time to go by without having said this. I'm sorry for all the time and
money I've wasted. But Jesus saves. Really. The church itself isn't
even the point. Jesus is the real deal. He lived and He died for my
sins and He rose again. He is who He said He was and He cares about me
- and you. He's our only hope. We need places you can go that will
only teach Jesus and will not be swayed or tempted or distracted by
anything else. God willing, that's coming.

Please don't think all Christians are just posers. Some of them really
mean it when they say they belong to Christ. The problem is mostly in
the West where we're all comfy and complacent and seem to like it that
way. The Christians in China and other places are deadly serious.
There's no room for anything but Jesus when you're on the run from the
government. They are dying every day for their faith and doing crazy
hard things because they're absolutely committed to Christ. These are
martyrs. People willing to crucify little pieces of themselves every
day to be more like Christ. People willing to set aside everything
they want to do what Christ wants. People willing to rot in prison or
take a beating or die if that's what it's going to take. People that
act in pure love and never back down. I'm not worthy to tie their
shoes. And there are some like that here, too, and I hope we can get a
lot more people to start living that way. It's way overdue.

If you're talking to someone and they tell you they're a Christian,
ask them if they're the kind of Christian that really means it all the
time or the kind that just means it on Sunday. The Bible says we'll
know them by their "fruits" - by the faith and purity and love in
their deeds and words. When you find one that proves Christ is in them
by how much they love you, ask them to tell you all about Jesus. If
you know one of those fearless martyrs that speaks nothing but pure,
clean, hard Truth - ask lots of questions. Truth is a lot more rare
than you would think. But don't settle for soft, fluffy and
comfortable anymore - that's not in the Bible.

As for me and my house, we're really sorry. From now on, we're going
to serve the Lord, not "Churchianity." We're going to try to call
together as many of those martyrs as we can and start doing what
Christ wanted. If I run into you someday, please give me a chance to
shake your hand and apologize in person. I'm going to try harder from
now on, I promise. I think there are lots of others feeling the same
way, so don't be surprised if you start hearing stuff like this more
often.

Hey hey hey!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:45:00 +0000

It's been some crazy kind of spring this year! With all the people from out of state coming to our house, and all of the people that live in the state that come regularly, it's been really whacked-out! And now I'm sick. Sinus infection, big time!
:(
I hate it. Really really hate it.

On a big time positive side, I'm car shopping online, and I found a totally awesome one. Unfortunately, blogger is being retarded, so even if I really really really wanted to show you guys what it looked like, I couldn't. I just couldn't.

I got this from Brant. He's pretty much a genius...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:40:00 +0000

If Jesus Had a Blog...

Most people that I know read my blog read Brant's blog too, so this will probably just be a re-read for most of you. But, with any luck, maybe someone who doesn't read Brant's blog reads my blog, and will see this post.

We FINALLY got an internet cafe in Galilee. The ESSENES have DSL, and we're just getting dial-up. That should tell you something!

Anyway, I was hanging out with some religious leaders. They got on my case for not keeping their Favorite Rules (apparently, you HAVE to wash up before dinner, in accordance with scripture.) I told them religious leaders love to have rules to make everyone else feel inadequate. They "tithe", and stuff, but my Father doesn't care, because He's all about people having hearts for mercy, and justice, not the tithing rule.

Didn't fly very well. :0

Posted 12:36 p.m. in Category "Stuff I Was Talking About in Aramaic Today but Now I'm Typing in English"

12 Comments

----------------------------------------------

COMMENTS

Jesus, love ya, but I think you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater again, here. There's nothing wrong with tithing, there's a lot of scriptural precedent for it.

I "get" where you're coming from, a lot of the time, but this is a little too simplistic. I encourage you to continue to learn and study.

-- karifish777

I normally don't comment, but I had to come out of lurking here.

"karifish" is right, Jesus. It's easy to criticize and critique, but how exactly do we measure "mercy" and "justice"?

Maybe pray about this and talk to your pastor about it. Oh -- I forgot -- you don't HAVE a pastor! (I still remember that "brood of vipers" entry...)

-- chapterboy21

J -- I usually love your blog, and I appreciate the need for "love", here, but you're basically saying (am I clear on this) that it doesn't matter if I give money or not?

You go off on these guys, but they're following their convictions. I appreciate your emphasis on having a heart for mercy, but that's not the only issue. We need people to DO things that show their hearts, and tithing is part of that. I'm glad I tithe.

My dad is a pastor, and I showed him your blog. He said (no offense) you've probably got a thing with authority. Anyway, I don't think you do, but you tend to over-simplify things.

-- buckeyesgo02

Dude, what are you smoking?

Honestly I love some of the funny stuff you post here (that cartoon of Herod was over-the-top, though) but this is just wrong, I'm sorry. You are too reactionary against religious authority. God put those authorities in your life. Look it up in the Bible, the Word of God. (I know, I know, I caught your post about how YOU are the word. Didn't care for that, either.)

-- quiettimephil

OMG. I *love* this.

THANK YOU for posting this. I have felt like a loser for so long, like I can't keep up with all the rules and everything my church is asking me to do and I feel like a failure as a single mom. And you're saying you just want to see me love people!

I'm crying. Thank you.

-- karen83

J-Train -- Love the blog. Keep it comin' brother!

You do seem to lump all religious leaders together. I appreciate your point, but the fact is, there are LOTS of great religious leaders out there. You've got a little 'tude going on there, and you speak in big, blanket statements.

Yes, our religious system is messed. But we don't need to trash it. We need to reform it. Blasting our leaders doesn't help. We NEED great religious leaders. I just wish you'd acknowledge that.

Anyway, just a thought from a brother.

-- agape4U

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-- yourmedsnow2323434

I linked to your blog from your woodworking site. I had ordered a new wood pulpit, but now I'm going to cancel, now that I can see where your head is with regard to religious leaders and our system.

To be honest, I'm surprised you have a public platform in Christian ministry, and that you're still allowed to do it. I wonder if your audiences knew what you really thought...would you still have a job?

-- preachtheword9021

Yeah, let's all stop tithing. Let's stop obeying all the rules. There won't be any pastors, and we won't be able to pay the bills for our churches. Nice.

While I'm at it, I'll quit as worship pastor and give all my money to the poor. Why don't you quit ripping on everything and tell us how church government is SUPPOSED to work? You never detail that, you just rip, rip, rip.

-- jesusfreak777

Dude -- This story is CLASSIC.

This is why I try to link everyone to your blog. In fact, my church-planting site is all about trying to get people to believe what you're saying. You RULE, man.

I'm so totally with you on the establishment, too. The weird thing: Almost as soon as I get a new group of Jesus-blog-followers going, and then I try to recognize the mature SERVANTS among them, they all start ranking themselves, and jostling for position and attention. Unbe-freaking-lievable.

I write letters to them, telling them to quit putting rules on people, and then they make rules out of my letters. Hellooooo?

Anyway, I used to be one of those guys putting rules on people, trying to make things complex. Swet gig, that. THANKS -- seriously -- for putting me out of THAT job.

-- saul_call_me_paul23

Love the blog. I think you way over-simplify, and I don't think you're right on all this stuff. But if you are, I just wasted three years in seminary.

-- lutherules99192

i don't understand the tithe thing but i like yourblog and i read the thing about how kids rule and i liked that a lot

i like the little yellow flowers U made UR AWSOME

-- horsegirl1999

Wow, I didn't even have to ask nicely.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:47:00 +0000

About two days earlier, facebook disabled my account, claiming I was "spamming." So I sent them an e-mail. It was far from polite, and I don't think anyone there really enjoyed reading it, but they didn't seem to mind. (Well, for one, I'm surprised they even read it.) Anyway, they reactivated my account after reading about my situation with sending messages. So it's cool now, I guess. But still, I didn't even have to ask nicely, I thought for sure they'd hate me for that e-mail, but instead they did me a favor.

Thanks, geniuses!

Geniuses, I tell ya, geniuses!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 15:55:00 +0000

I'm talking about the geniuses who run the internet social utility called "facebook."
They are absolute geniuses. Because they know how to cut you off in a conversation with a friend that you can't see every day, and you have to use facebook to talk to them. If you want to keep your facebook account, don't send messages back to your friends, because if you do, they'll disable your account. and say you were "spamming."
What I don't understand is why they disabled my account and not my friend's too when they were sending messages just as often as I was. Thanks to these geniuses, I don't know when I'll see my facebook again. Why? Because these geniuses are idiots.

The great commision, and the battle that's already been won.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:04:00 +0000

I was reading a book called A Scandalous Freedom by Steven Brown when I read an excerpt from him that said, (and I'm paraphrasing) the battle has already been won by Jesus. What the author left out is our role after that. If the battle is already won, why are we still here? Then, as I was reading on, God reminded me of something not even in Steve Brown's text, but in His text, the Bible. He reminded me of the Great Commission. When Jesus commanded the apostles to make disciples of all men, I believe he was telling them to love. How else do you make disciples? There is no other way. So then I thought, if the battle is already won, then why are we making disciples? Has Jesus not won them over already? Well, the obvious answer is that not everyone has been won over by Jesus. So is the battle really won?
Yes.
The reason we're still here is we, as Christians, have been assigned a task out on the battlefield. Now that the enemy is defeated, it is our job to tend to the wounded. Those who were damaged by the original sin, and still need help getting to a doctor. There's only one doctor that can tend to their wounds, and that's Jesus. So our assignment is a recon mission. Out to find the wounded and bring them to Jesus. We aren't fighting anymore, we're healing. We're leading our wounded brothers back to the medic. All men are our brothers. We must tend to their wounds, and be sensitive to them. Those of you who understand this metaphor, thanks for reading.

When life gives you lemons...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:07:00 +0000

Just thought I'd like to remind anyone who reads my blog and might be going through hard times about one of my favorite scripture verses:

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

If you're struggling, and you're down in the dumps, no matter how hard this may be for you to believe, please know that whatever you're going through is for God's purpose, and that His will for you is unmatched in how good it is for you. It may be hard. May seem impossible, but faith in God's promise to work all things together for you and His purpose will bring a way through the impossible. So remember, when life gives you lemons, God is making lemonade for sure.

Just thought someone out there needed that reminder.

Title

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:48:00 +0000

Blog Entry (a.k.a. post)

Easter Wellabration!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:01:00 +0000

Not much to be said about it. It was just like the new Year's Wellabration, except there were eggs flying in the air instead of fireworks. It was, once again loads of fun. We had egg relays and egg tosses, and kinda left the true meaning of Easter to be taught by the parents at home, because it was not time for Easter sermons, it was a time for Wellabration!
Hey-yeah!

Whew!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:32:00 +0000

I know it took forever, and the anxiety of anticipation was unbearable, but here are the pics from Disney World. Enjoy! One is sideways. No big deal. We went to all four parks, but we only have pics from Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios. Sorry.

About those pictures...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:33:00 +0000

They'll be here soon. As soon as I feel like installing the equipment needed to put them on the computer, since we bought some funny digital from Disney, our computer shut down the last time we tried to install it, it even had the blue screen of death, but no information seems to be lost, miraculously. Anyway, I don't really feel like posting anything else until I have the pictures, so if you ever really cared to read this blog in the first place, you're just going to have to cope until I get them ready. I'm sure you'll be miserable until then...

Hello everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:35:00 +0000

I'm back from Disney World, which hardly anyone knew I was even going there. But I was, and I did, for four days. And it rocked!! Pictures and more info soon. :)

Something about the phrase"plugged in" really bugs me.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:29:00 +0000

So, some who read this blog may know that I am not "plugged in" to any "real church" "program." Instead, me and a good forty to fifty people meet on Sundays as friends before God, and learn from eachother, and God's word. Mostly God's word, and how we daily experience the truths of His word in our lives. It's a beautiful scene every Sunday which was put together by God's beautiful scheme. Unfortunately, some people feel that it's not enough to be doing what we're doing every Sunday. They think we should be "plugged in" as if the Bible tells us to be "plugged in... or else." My older sister, a senior in high school was at a youth group she had enjoyed attending for about a year. There came a time (very recently) when she became interested in going on a mission trip to Jamaica with the youth group. Keep in mind that she does not attend the church. Because that's the thing that gave the youth pastor grounds to say, and these were the words, "No, you don't come to this church, you're not plugged in. I'm looking for people who will work well together as a team, but I don't see you as one of them. You don't attend this church."
What a shame! How wrong is that? In an effort to get her to attend "his church" this guy used something important to her, already a believer, as leverage. This is not how it should be! The dude is going to Jamaica to spread God's word, and he rejects the help of a sister in Christ because she is not "plugged in." I would dare anyone to justify his reasoning! Such a rejection is uncalled for! How can you turn away someone so willing to come with you? Just because she's not "plugged in?"

Pillar, For the Love of the Game...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:23:00 +0000

This will be THE album of the year in my book! Buy it like it. If you don't, you belong in a phyche ward. Deal with it. I don't care who you are, you should like it, because this will be THAT good. I mean it. Not that good, or That good, or even THat good, but THAT good. Get it, it rocks!!!!

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Human Target...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:23:00 +0000

So, that's what I was at lacrosse practice yesterday. Seriously, I might as well have been in goal. But, I wasnt'. I was outside the goal, playing defense, because that's the position I play. Then, I was probably hit from five to seven times. No, not by people, not by passes, but from shots. See, in lacrosse, shots are supposed to go somewhat towards the gaol. Well, that wasn't the case. I was the new goal. An interesting style. Most goals are about 6ft.x6ft. I'm about 6ft.x1ft. A much harder target to hit, but I wasn't missed.

Three times I was hit, it was by the same kid. The first two times, I took it to the leg. It hurt. I didn't complain, but I was in pain. But when he had the ball the third time, and I saw him wind up for the shot, I turned around, knowing it would hit me. Sure enough, right on my left quadricep, the ball bruised on impact. Will I heal? Of course, what kind of a question is that? Will I start to dodge shots? Of course not! I'm still stupid enough to suffer for the sport I like. Will I shoot back at that kid the next time he shoots at me? Probably. Will I ever be a goalie? Well, I've got potential... sort of.

The game I've been waiting for

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:29:00 +0000

Okay, so this is the face of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, the third game in the greatest fighting game series ever, Super Smash Brothers. For those of you who know me, you know I'm not just good, but really good at the other two Smash Brothers games that came out in 1997 and then 2001. This, however, will be the ultimate, ultimate Smash Bros. game ever made. There's only one problem there has been with this game is the wait. It started out with a deadline of October 3rd of 2007. It was later pushed back to Dec. 3rd of 2007. At the time, no big deal, but then, even worse, it was pushed even further back! January 10th of 2008!!!! I was getting a little frustrated with the makers and other such nintendo-game-making-folk, because I had actually been saving some money and stuff. You know, I still have it, and a lot more (for a 16 yr. old, Publix pays a good amout of money, and when there's not all that much to spend it on, there's a lot to keep.) So, after it was January 1st, I thought, "Oh, yeah! Ten days 'till..." But, no! There were a couple more push backs of the deadline that the nintendo people thought were necessary. So, they said "Another month, February 10th." Still a lie. In the middle of January, they said "March 9th." Now, that is thankfully the official due date of the game in America, as it is already being sold in Japan starting today. *Whew!*
Now that I'm assured it will come out when they say it will, I now challenge anyone brave enough to step to me in any of the former two! Bring all your Smash Bros. skill and knowledge, and see if you can surpass mine!!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Former public-schooler's insight.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:03:00 +0000

You know, I'm finding a reason to learn while I'm doing this homeschool thing. Even math is becoming exciting to me. My reason? God wants me to explore His creation and learn about it so that I can function in it. It makes sense if you have any kind of theistic view that isn't atheism. So, I comfortably take my stand with my reason that I learn. Most of the books I read are Christ-centered, and give me motivation for doing work. It's sad though, because in public school, that's not quite the case.
What I discovered about public school is that, because there is no theistic belief, they have no reason to learn. I used to hear these words, verbatim, from many of my public school peers: "What's the point of learning this?"
Then the teacher says, "It will help you in college."
The student then asks "Why do we need it in college? I'm not aiming to: be a mathematician, scientist, author, travel to France etc..."
The conversation ends when the teacher says (no longer verbatim) "Just memorize it today, and regurgitate it tomorrow on the test so I can prove to my boss that I told you something he/she wanted me to."
What's the problem here? The kids aren't interested because they have no reason to be.
Me? I hate math. I struggle with it, and I'm terrible at grasping mathematical concepts, but I want to learn it. Why? Because the God who created it fascinates me, and so, math fascinates me. The public school kids, unless they, themselves are Christian, have no reason to learn it. Simply because even in highschool, they have a pretty good idea that if there is no god, and their lives are finite that they'll just end up going to college, being successful, maybe, then dying. Whether they acknowlege it or not, they know it's true. They have no reason to learn simply because the only reason to do so is no longer allowed in school. God is no longer allowed in school. It's sad, but true. What will fix it? Good question...

I just thought I'd like to ask...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:34:00 +0000

What does the word "free" mean to most people. Do you think that the "free" our forefathers died for is the same "free" that Jesus says we are? How many definitions of "free" are there? I'm pretty sure that there's only one in the dictionary, but I've had a few Christians tell me that I wasn't really that free. So, I don't get it. Is it possible to be half free? Does that make any sense? Here, this is what it looks like to me...

married woman: "Mom, good news, I'm pregnant!"

mother: "really? you're having a baby?"

married woman: "well, no, mom... Geeze, I'm not that pregnant."

Well, I've had conversations like that about freedom. "Oh, we're not that free." Well, I'd like to know how that's even possible. It seems nonsensical, illogical, and pretty unbiblical.
It's wrong. I believe that I am completely free in Christ, and if you think I'm going somewhere I shouldn't with this, well, too bad, I'm going there. You know, I am totally free to mess up even if I am saved. God will love me no less. I am completely free to sin, sin, sin, and God will love me no less. Do I want to? No, not particularly, but if God is truly as strong as we say He is, then He can hold on to us even if we sin. And Jesus' blood really makes that possible when He says we are free, He really means it. We can still choose, but seeing as if we're saved, we know that we are new creatures, and most likely, we have experienced God's UNCONDITIONAL love for us, which means, with God having given His new creatures the ability to understand and reflect that love, then we should want to reflect it because we enjoy it so much that we want other people to see it, and you know what's capital in God's love for us? He made us free. Completely and totally free of any bondage of anything of any control by anything or anyone. Free free free free free free free!!!! F-R- double E FREEEEE!!!!!
So, you know what that means? We're free to be His, and free to make mistakes and still be loved. We're free to love, free to dance, sing, laugh, and even sin. We're free in all things. And, even though we're free to sin, we are no longer bound to sin, but rather we are bound to a victory in Christ. This is the freedom He has given us. That's all freedom has ever meant. Our rights to choose as human beings do is what we have fought for, and what Jesus has already won.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:13:00 +0000

I found these awesome pics of objects in our solar system compared in size to stars and things visible from earth. These pictures are set to
scale, so you'll find a new understanding to the term "it's a small world," and also a new way to ask the question, "why did God choose us?"

Let the Wellabration Commence!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:40:00 +0000

This once-a-year, first-day-of-the-new-year celebration was held six days ago at Mike Bishop's house with all the festivities I could have hoped for on New Year's Eve. The glow of fireworks, and small, destructive children with sparklers. High-spirited adults with recently emptied wine glasses in front of them. The satisfying taste of sparkling cider, either grape or apple, deliciously sliding down the throats of those not old enough for wine. If you enter Shawn Bashor's man-cave, you'll find crazy men playing WWE on the XBox 360, beating the virtual crud out of each other. My friend Josh nearly blowing his ears out with bottle rockets that he didn't quite let go of in time, and concerned mothers gasping at his daring feats. A couple full rounds of "cops and robbers", arguing about whether the star in the middle of the sky was Mars or Jupiter, and wellabrating like no one else could dream of. Screams and shouts of delight rang from the Bishop's house like from no other house in Jupiter Florida, and the smiles on people's faces as they left the party proved that NOBODY wellabrates like we do.

I'm not so sure how to deal with this...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:18:00 +0000

Recently, I got into a pretty cool discussion with a girl I work with. (This post is kinda serious, so I won't take on the name Mr. Publix.) We were talking about God and things related, when my clumsy mouth stumbled on the law vs. grace thing, and how even though we do wrong, God is still okay with us if the blood of Jesus has covered us, and shown us the way to love Him and one another. Well, I didn't quite word it that way, but she took it the wrong way, and thinks I'm into the idea of total carnage and what not, and expecting God to let me into heaven covered in sin. As I was telling her of grace, she mentioned to me "God is a wrathful God, and He gave very strict guidelines."
Now, he did give strict guidelines, all of which were totally summed up in His two commandments, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind... the second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself."
Now, I was shocked, here is what surprised me, that she says God is such a wrathful God, yet he loves and commands us to love. She talked as if she had never seen the loving side of Him, or the full reason He died on the cross. I don't want to show it directly to her, because only God can open her eyes, but I'm going to tell her about it, in hopes that God uses me to open her eyes to His love. I just don't know how to tell her without her thinking I'm some kinda hippie liberal. *sigh*. I don't know... help, anyone?

On the night of the Sunday before the Sunday before Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 03:20:00 +0000

... me and my awesome group of Christian friends had a white elephant gift exchange. It started out incomprehensibly rowdy as we watched a ballgame that we never saw coming. That day, during the Dolphin's terrible season of '07, the Miami Dolphins.... won!!! They beat the Baltimore Ravens 22-16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't like the Dolphins all that much...
But the party erupted into such a glorious state of somewhat-mock celebration after Brant Hansen stood among an amazed crowd, and started a slow clap. Then, we ate! Dinner didn't last too long before we started the gift exchange.
It was ruthless, awful, as children under five years of age had the gifts adults coveted cruelly stripped from their hands. The Hansen family tearing each other apart over a stretchy, gooey frog-thing. I DESPERATELY attempted to sell off my five-episode classic collection of Little House on the Prairie to someone who didn't care so much about their gift. I finally found someone, and I got a pair of socks. Then, I traded the pair of socks for a plush Patrick Star from Spongebob. I later traded that for a collection of "create your own adventure" books. Score!!
The women quarreled over both a pink purse or a bag with fake tattoos and $5. Twinkies passed around the room, a squirrel-themed lamp switched consistently from reluctant hands, and two men, one being Brant, dressed in small girl's clothing.. Yes, don't worry, it was unfortunate that that was the gift they ended up with. Brant's said "GIRL POWER" and had pictures of Wonder Woman and other female super-heroines. The other one's said "Multi-talented."...
We had a blast over all, and I desperately wish I had pictures to share.

I haven't posted in a month, and this is what I came up with.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:57:00 +0000

Over many decades, the Grundles had no power over bread. Only recently have they come up with a contrivance to extinguish bread’s reign of power over the mid-south-northwest. It seemed impossible, but they had all grown tired of being slaves to bread. It was time to strike back… with a vengeance.

Was it love, or was it Fancy Feast ®? None of the Grundles knew for sure, but whatever it was, the bread’s vicious feline army was unstoppable, for the Grundles only had wet food, and that gave the army gas. The bread they fought was unleavened, and even more voracious than the kind that had flour. They commanded their cat army whit ruthlessness, and settled for nothing less than unleavened conquest.

The Grundles, however, came prepared this time, for they had flour, and flamethrowers, how they found these things was unclear to the bread, after all there was only one store you could buy those things from, and that was heavily guarded by the felines. Unless the Grundles had found a way past them, but that would require dry food, which was only attained from the pet store, which was heavily guarded by the unleavened bread.

The Grundles had penetrated the bread’s incomprehensible defenses, and now there was no stopping them. With flamethrowers in hand, and flour in pocket, the only thing the bread could think to do was to surrender and be leavened. All the evil reign of bread had come to an end. The Grundles had their victory. Hoo-ah!

God IS Love.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:12:00 +0000

I've been considering, and I have yet to bring scripture to my eyes that supports my ideas, but here they are, scripture-less.

I believe that when we're told that God is love that we're supposed to take it literally. That's what God is. When we feel love for our fellow man in the name of Jesus, we feel God Himself in that time. It's not that he just zaps us with love, but rather His Spirit, which is love, stirs ecstatically in our own spirit when we love one another. It is His overwhelming presence, of that love that is Jesus, that moves us to love in the first place. When we do what that call to love asks us, it's the ultimate gift that we could give to our Savior. God is love. Period. It's not just a metaphor. It's a complete truth. I believe that there is much more to God than love, but love is all we've seen of Him on earth. It's all He chooses to show us. It's all the glory that we can handle from Him in our state right now is love. It is Him, though. The presence of God is the presence of love, and vice versa. So "love"... Love. Capitol L. God, Love. All we've seen on earth is a result of His Love. It's a result of Him... duh! There is no form of good here on earth that is not a result of Love. Name one good thing that isn't a result of Love. If it's all resulted of love and it's all a result of God, it means that it is one in the same. It's making more and more sense as I live Love. I live God. I live as Jesus said. I try at least. It's love through Jesus that saves us. Love in Jesus' name, Love because of Jesus, Love is Jesus. I'm learning that that's what it means to be a man after God's own heart. We live as Him, as He is Love.
Peace Out! Love ya!

home schooling! :)

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 01:46:00 +0000

Yeah, so I'm doing that. My mom is teaching me and my friend Josh. I've looked at all the pro's and con's and it's definitely worth it!
The cool part is, I have 7 school days left until I just don't show up at school. After, we don't start classes until after December! It's gonna be great!
My opinion (if anyone cares), public education has so many cons that if someone has the opportunity to home school you, take advantage of that, and learn at home. You can research things for yourself, you can learn at your own pace, mull over things again and again until you finally understand a concept, you can really learn. I can't seem to do that in public schools. If people can learn in public school, if their mind works that way, awesome. Stay in public school. However, if your mind doesn't work in that way, and you have the opportunity for home schooling, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it!
It's good for you... :)
I'll get more sleep too.