Team....?

Team God or Team Satan? You decide. Sitting on the fence is NOT an option. You must decide, and you must decide NOW. God can come back at any second for the believers. Faking your way through church and putting on the motions won't do you any good. The only way to get into the kingdom of Heaven is to pray and accept God. At any time, God will come back for those who believe in him, while those who do not will be left here on earth. After the "Glorious Reappearing of Christ", as it's called, a seven year tribulation will begin. This time will be literally Hell on Earth. There will be judgements one after another to get the attention of non-believers. In order to not go through these "judgements", you need to accept God now. Don't wait. You could die any day and without God, you will be doomed to an eternity in Hell. I am not trying to scare you into accepting Christ. But I am warning you of the dangers of not accepting him.

Living in the Pain

Physical pain-it's something everyone will deal with at some time or another but that no one wants to deal with. While it can range from a paper cut to a broken back, it's still pain. For some of the more severe pains, you may feel like there isn't anything you can do to heal the pain. But God says he will watch over you, and protect you.

Psalm 121:7 -The LORD will keep you from all harm-He will watch over your life

For some, there is an emotional pain that follows, as you realize you won't be able to do something you loved to do for a few days, weeks, months, years, or the rest of your life. If you pray to God, He WILL help you and keep you looking towards Him. To trust in him is the best thing that you can do. There are other sports or activities you can learn to do in the time you can't do your normal activity. But the best thing is to give your problems to God and let Him show you what it is He has in plan for you.

No matter how hard it may seem in the moment, being on God's side is always the best thing.

Asking for Forgiveness-You, God, and Others.

What is forgiveness? Is it saying "it's ok" when someone says they're sorry? It is, but that is not all that forgiveness is. To forgive someone you must be willing to admit they made a mistake, and that no one is perfect. You have to move past the event and no longer hold it against them. This concept is not an easy thing to do, although forgiving someone else is far easier than forgiving yourself.

To forgive yourself, you must admit you have done wrong and that you aren't perfect. Many people like to believe they are perfect-I included-and not admit wrongs. While others will admit they did wrong and hold it against theirselves (once again, me included). You must not hold these bad things against yourself. They will ruin your life, and depress you. If God is forgiving you, why can't you forgive you? God is perfect, and yet he forgives us everyday.

For God to forgive us, we must ask him for forgiveness. This is telling Him you are sorry that you have sinned and you want to start again. But also, you must promise that you will not do this sin again. For most people, this is the hardest part. You can say you are sorry, you can sincerely mean it, you can want to start again, but you might not want to stop sinning. I have been in that predicament before, and it sucks! You have to know that God doesn't want you to sin, and that every single little (or big) sin that you commit hurts God. EVERY SINGLE ONE!

Our Generation's Problem

Everyone is so small minded, including me. We know the price of things, but not their value (Wilde). Why do we live in the squallidness of a community centered around nothing? Everything is filled with pettiness, with a thoughtlessness that has never been known. Only community, with no room for the individual. However, the individual can still show itself- if only for long enough to be mocked by the community. Pettiness is the problem with our generation, an inability to see beyond ourselves. In reading Huxley's Brave New World, I noticed how the people in both that and this society know nothing of value, only facts. Am I alone in this despairing smallmindedness? Does anybody understand the anguish, knowing that they have something to say that they want to change the world with, but not posessing the ability to say it? This is a call to those who understand to change the world. Lose yourself by realizing others, not for the sake of yourself!

Self Awareness

To be self aware is man's curse. That is, to be able to evaluate our place in the universe, and to despair because of that, is man's curse. We have the ability to think, but also the curse of knowing that none of our thoughts can be original. The despair of knowing things, but not being able to implement these things originally. A desire for creativity, but also a realization of my own originality. Who am I? No more than any man in the past.

The Synthesis

Can we have a unified theory of everything? Do we want such a theory? The universal answers for everything either lead to despair (existentialism, nihilism, etc.) or simple apathy towards such ideas as the particulars. The philosophies of the particulars such as aestheticism and romanticism are ignorant of thought, the universal. Although the latter philosophies seem to provide real meaning, they are really quite hollow and small minded. And due to the unoriginality of thought, we need not rewrite the past philosophies in modern ways. "Nothing new under the sun" is an adequate description of the world's thought for the past millenia. So with universal thought, that is, the unifying theory, in despair, and the particulars absolutely destroyed by the universal, where do we go? Our nature is to enjoy the particulars, but also to think of the universal. There must be a synthesis, that is, meaning in the moment, and a solution for the universal. Perhaps Christianity, if explored correctly, can lead to this. I have no doubt that it can. But in order to use this Christian universal, one must abandon oneself completely to the ideology. One cannot dabble in Christianity. It is an encompassing philosophy which will improve the way one thinks, but will also cause one to lose oneself. Abandonment, or despair. Perhaps another synthesis is possible, but I know of none. Hegel was wrong. There is an absolute, and we can't synthesize it further. Here we stand at the precipice, at the time to act. Do we take the leap, and abandon ourselves to no despair, but also no sin? That is your choice. Intellectually, of course, Christianity makes sense. However, when push comes to shove, can we do that which we commited to do? Can we have real faith, rather than a mere intellectual rationalization? I write this for myself, and for all like me. Dare to follow God. Dare to have real faith. Dare to suffer. What more is there? Die with Christ. Die to your sin. Die to your self.

Three Resolutions

Resolved, that the Church has lost its Biblical base, instead trying to make the message "relaevant," causing it to lose real relevance to the lost world. It has lost the substance which makes the Church important, and due to this, I call for consideration of a New Reformation.

Resolved, that although the Church in Livingston county, Michigan is currently strong, the loss of the youth's Christianity will weaken the Church substantially within the next forty years. This ought to be changed by those youth currently engaged in the Church culture who desire to have a ministry.

Resolved, that it is our duty as citizens of Heaven and children of God to reform the Church and sabotage the culture which has influenced us to the position we are in.

There Is Nothing New Under the Sun

Now, I am taking a cue from the book of Ecclesiastes in writing this- perhaps as the best way to showcase unoriginality. The history of thought is, if slightly varied, still rather basic. The Epicurean and Stoic philosophies of the Greeks eventually became our existentialist and romantic/ aesthetic philosophies. Another thing to note is the limitation of any philosophy. Man cannot be all, that is, free, happy, and meaningful. Existentialism takes away meaning. Aestheticism prevents meaning also, when logically carried through. Christianity limits freedom, although recognizes that such freedom is actually impossible. Perhaps that is why the religious answer makes so much sense to me, that is, that it is realistic enough to realize that freedom is only possible for God. I would like to paraphrase A.W. Tozer here, when he states in the "Knowledge of the Holy" that absolute freedom is impossible for two beings. Eventually, they will have to collide. I guess what I am trying to say is that only God can be original and truly unique. Only the spiritual can be original. That said, the temporal is not to be separated from the spiritual, and we should be free to mix our lives- in fact, we ought to allow our spiritual and temporal parts to mix.

Love?

Girls live for love and relationships, while guys live for goals and pleasure. Why is this? We were made differently and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Everyone must overcome issues in their genetic makeup, and if they can then their life can be better. I once heard a quote. It said that girls held their hearts like glass, and they were constantly broken. But guys throw their hearts around like footballs and it is never hurt. This is odd because usually something made of glass is held in more regard than something like a football. But in context, it is fully true. Why do girls continue to love when they know it will end in pain? The pain of love is inevitable. (Note: I am talking relationship love, not the Love of God). For most couples, heartbreak follows the ending of a relationship. Or there might be pain in the middle of the relationship. But either way, following a relationship there is pain. For the lucky few, a lifelong marriage follows. This also ends in pain, when one spouse passes away.

So what is the point of love? Why put yourself out there with the knowledge that you will get hurt? Sure some say they need to experience it once to understand, but then they never stop. I am personally in this cycle right now. I know that I don't have to give myself to a guy, for in the end he will break my heart, but he promises he won't and I know he is better than the last. I am unsure of if I really want to give myself to him. I don't want to get hurt, but I want the happiness that I know will, and is, coming from our relationship.

The happiness, the memories. These are the reasons we love. The memories and the joy are worth the pain. Each relationship is better than the last one, for we learn something about ourselves, become stronger, and learn what we want in a boyfriend/girlfriend. If we learn at least one thing in a relationship, it was worth it. I know what a relationship is like in which emotional pain is the only thing you feel for months at a time. But I learned more in that relationship than I did in a relationship where I was more of a just friends with my boyfriend, and we never worried about anything. You know what, I am not going to worry about the past or about my mistakes because every mistake has made me who I am today.

God has thrown me through various loops in my life already, and there are tons to come. Some of these tests I have passed with flying colors, others barely passed, some I have failed miserably. But God still loves me, and has forgiven me-erasing my transgressions from my record.

Carry Your Cross

Christianity is not an easy religion. It does not offer comfort, nor happiness. Peace, perhaps, but that is a necessary peace, so that one may rejoice in suffering. The early church fathers were often persecuted. Paul went to jail numerous times. There was much pain. They were forced to walk with a cross in hand, metaphorically speaking. They were forced like criminals going to execution. In America, we devalue the cross. To us, it is the empty cross. We're wrong in that. Nay, that emptiness represents that it is yet to be occupied. We are yet to die. Our suffering is not yet come. Never confuse the empty cross with the empty grave- the latter is far more beautiful. It represents a conquered death. The empty cross is a symbol of despair, until it is occupied. Then that cross becomes a real symbol of life. There is a peace in suffering, but there is real hope in death. We have nothing to fear while we suffer the cross- only while we carry it to our deaths for Christ.

Either Hope or Sanity

The world is a very harsh place to live. Two options are given to every man. To start from himself to find meaning, or to start from a superior being. Of course, one can always postulate that man is meaningless, hence the referred to sanity in my title. However, that view is inherently insane, once it is really considered. I guess all that I have to say is that which I have already said, time and time again. We must choose for ourselves where to find hope. No humanist, historical or modern, has ever really found a meaning inherent in man. Deism offers the same problem. OnlY the hope of Theism can sustain lasting hope. Modern humanism leads to existentialism, that or the most abject form of hedonism (which are not necessarily far apart). Stoicism only hurts the self. Without Deity, then, the "self is a relation which relates itself to itself," that is, an indescribable entity (Kierkegaard). A God gives man a place, which allows him to grow or wither, in relation to God. It allows a non-absurd job for man to do. Hope grants real meaning and purpose. This allows both the sanity of meaning with the hope of value, - the only philosophy to do so! And that is really a beautiful system to be a part of.