March Debrief

Well, blog-wise, March was a very good month. Most of the time I had enough posts written and scheduled for a week by Wednesday the week before, which is a good feeling. It's nice to keep up so well. During the last week I started to trail a little in that, though; I think I scheduled the last two posts by last Tuesday, but I still managed. So all in all, it was a good month. Hopefully I can keep it up in the future.

Interestingly, I found myself with a lot more to write about outside of the catechism series. This doesn't mean I neglected it; I'm trying to write at least one post about the catechism a week, if not more. But I thought of other things to write about as well, which I really enjoy because it's much easier to write posts when I don't have to do intensive study while writing; the text just flows out a lot better. But I want to keep up the series and not lose interest, so I'm thinking of trying to focus on it more this month.

Personally, I have a massive life update: I got hired for a new job last week! I start in the middle of this month. It'll be a new location, new schedule, and new line of work for me. I'm not entirely sure how this will impact my blog output yet though; I've managed to get into somewhat of a decent rhythm with my current schedule, which has enabled me to keep a regular level of blog writing. I may have to change the days or frequency of my updates; we'll just have to see how it works out.

So, here comes April!

February Debrief

Before I begin, don't worry; I don't plan on doing monthly debriefs forever. But since I've been trying to be more serious about blogging, I want to do a debrief each month just to summarize what's happened and how I feel the month went.

So, this month I started my series on The Baptist Catechism, which so far is going pretty well I think. It definitely gives me more ideas of what to write and, if I finish it (remember, no promises), will take me through several core doctrines of Christianity. The difficulty about it, as compared to other posts, is that I have to do some serious study while I write, which takes longer. With most posts, I already know what I want to write about before I write them; not so with this series. I don't have all the questions memorized. I don't necessarily know where writing about and analyzing the questions and answers in light of the Bible will take me. But it's been good to get into some focused personal study. I haven't done that a lot lately, and I've missed it.

So far we've gone through five questions in the past month; there are 118 in the catechism, just to give you an idea of how long this will probably take, especially since I only update three times a week and thus far have only averaged two questions a week. Not to mention that I'm sure I'll have to split some questions into multiple posts again, like last week. But hey, there's no rush, right?

As for keeping my schedule, I've still managed to do it somehow. There were plenty of times when I felt like I simply wouldn't be able to, but somehow I managed to write enough posts to make it through February. I don't plan to do more than three posts a week anytime soon; trust me, I've considered it. I even thought at one point that, if I keep up my Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule through February, maybe I'd add in Saturdays as well. Yeah, that's not happening.

Speaking of scheduling, however, I should remind you (since you probably know me in real life anyway) that I have a baby on the way. When the baby is born, I'm planning to take a hiatus for a week or two, maybe more. Maybe I'll have enough posts stocked up to keep things going for a little while, and maybe by the time those have been published I'll have been able to write more and there will be little to no gap. But we'll see what happens. I have priorities, and as important as this blog is to me, a lot of other things (like babies, for instance) take precedence over it.

Also, this month I finally wrote an About page! I've been dying to write one for a while now and I'm happy to say that it's up. Right now it's really a doctrinal distinctives page, but that's important; people should know what they're in for when they read my blog.

As for the future, we'll see what happens content-wise. I've considered writing some posts about books I'm reading, and if I feel so inclined I probably will at some point or another. But who knows? The catechism has taken up a lot of my writing time and focus to be honest; that's usually what comes to mind first when I think of what to write next. But, considering how long it is, that should give me plenty to write about if I really can't think of anything else.

Well, I think that's about it for February. Let's begin March! Although, you know, this is the second post this month since I thought Friday's post went well with the other posts last week...but yeah! Let's go, March!

Train Up Your Children

So I realized after I wrote this post that I referenced the wrong catechism! That is to say, I picked one catechism and started working on it before I discovered a more preferable one, known as Benjamin Keach's Catechism (also more commonly known as the Baptist Catechism). So I will actually be using that one in this series, though the other catechism seems to be a good one as well.

I've been thinking a lot about my upcoming fatherhood lately. That makes sense; Sarrah's due date is getting closer and closer all the time. A lot of what I've been thinking about is how we'll go about teaching our children the Bible. This thought has come to mind more and more as I read every day.

My daily Bible reading has taken me into Exodus. If you read it and remember it, you'll notice several times where God, after ordaining a feast or ritual of some kind, speaks of the Israelites telling their children what these feasts and rituals are for. One such example is Exodus 13:14: "And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery'" (see also Ex. 12:26, 27; Deut. 6:20-25). Then there is that famous verse that I'm pretty sure I hear quoted all the time when it comes to teaching children:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut. 6:4-9)

All this leads me to the conclusion that God is very concerned with the proper training and teaching of children. I guess that isn't a very groundbreaking realization; I hear pastors talking about the dad's duty to lead his children in the fear of the Lord all the time. It's just interesting to me that I keep on coming across this theme in my reading.

One way I've considered going about this is by using a catechism. We commonly associate catechisms with the Catholic Church, but there is a long tradition of catechisms in the Protestant church as well. I commonly hear about the Westminster Catechism, which is overall a very good catechism for Reformed folks; the only problem with it is that it teaches Infant Baptism, something I do not agree with.

So I decided to find a catechism that fits with the 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith, the basic doctrinal statement of Reformed Baptists (basically Reformed people who practice only Believer's Baptism and reject Infant Baptism, like me and my wife). I think I found what I'm looking for in the Baptist Catechism.

So I hope to go through this catechism in-depth. When I was reading through it it seemed to be pretty doctrinally sound and deep, yet simple. I also thought that a study of it may make a good blog series, and I'd certainly like to memorize and learn from it myself, so I think I'm gonna do it.

I make no promises that the series will be organized or complete. This will not be a teaching series; rather, it will be a series of my thoughts and considerations of the various questions of the catechism. I may or may not finish it, but I hope to. I will also write posts about other things, so this will not be consecutive, though I do intend to go in the order of the questions themselves.

I also want to add, as a disclaimer, that I am fully aware that catechisms are not on the level of authority as Scripture. Anyone who knows me will already know that. I just think it is a good summation of Christian doctrine, and a way for me and my family to learn it and apply it to our lives. It teaches the Gospel, the Ten Commandments, and The Lord's Prayer, all of which are essential for the Christian life. Without the Holy Spirit moving, however, it will not convert them. It will help them hear it and may lead to them accepting it as true, but it cannot, by its own power, bring them to trusting in Jesus for salvation. So I pray that the Holy Spirit will move through our teaching the Bible and this catechism to our children.

So join me in my quest to learn this catechism and figure out if it is good for teaching. We'll see what we learn along the way.

One Month Down

At the end of last year I decided to start writing on the blog more often again. Part of my reason for doing this was that I felt like, when I wasn't at work and Sarrah was, I'd be home alone wasting my time doing nothing. I pretty much stopped playing guitar for a while even. I had finished school. I was sort of lost on what I was supposed to do with my time off. When Sarrah was home, great. I could be a husband to her. But when she was gone and I was alone? I'd basically sit on my computer for hours on end wasting time doing nothing productive. So I realized that blogging was a way to prevent that. It's sort of a vocation that I don't get paid for but enjoy very much. Maybe it's not overly productive outside of my own sanity (i.e. maybe others don't get as much out of it as I do), but that's okay. If anything, it helps me to form my beliefs in a cohesive way so I know why I believe what I believe, and that's very important.

So how has that gone? Now that it's been a month, I look back and see that things have gone pretty well. I've been trying to maintain a Monday-Wednesday-Friday updating schedule (I don't think I could do Monday through Friday again) and, surprisingly enough, I've managed to keep that up. There were a few times where I wasn't sure what I would write, and there have been plenty of times where I didn't know if I'd have the time to write a few blog posts to schedule (that's my secret: write the posts and schedule them to be published on the day I want them to be), but I was able to. There were times I'd be in town waiting for something for a few hours (like work meetings), so I could bring my iPad to Starbucks, open up Blogsy, and buckle down and write for a few hours until I needed to leave for my meeting. It's a good use of time and it gets me out of the house, both of which are great. Not only that, but my iPhone has the Blogger app, which enables me to write rough drafts of posts from pretty much anywhere. I can also, if I'm short on time, send quick drafts to Blogger with ideas for posts to write in the future. I'm all set.

So what's next? It's only been a month, but over the month I've published thirteen posts on various different things like apologetic issues, my Bible study observations, and the like. I think I'll just keep up what I've been doing: trying to stick to a MWF schedule and writing about what I'm thinking about. Tabletalk, books, and podcasts have all been great ways to obtain writing material, so I'll definitely stick with those. I've also really wanted to post recordings of a couple songs I've written, but I simply haven't had the time to record them. I may just post lyrics and commentary or something and perhaps post recordings in the future. We'll see.

Also, I'm not sure I've done the greatest job with keeping the jargon list up to date. When writing from my phone in particular, I don't tend to think about adding tooltips all that much. It's easiest to use my computer for such things. Hopefully, however, I'll get better at it. It's a new thing, so I've got to get used to it.

Here goes February!

Let's Make Things Easier

If you ever visit any Christian theological blogs or listen to certain podcasts, I'm sure you've noticed the technical jargon that they tend to use. Contrary to popular belief, this jargon isn't used for the purpose of confusing the masses and making the writers seem smarter than they actually are (that shouldn't be the reason, at least). In reality, people resort to this usage of jargon for precision's sake. It's much easier and more precise at times to use the word "apologetics" than it is to have to write out the definition each and every time.

The problem is that, most of the time, the terms remain undefined on the website. Not everyone who visits these sites has a PhD or has ever read or written something at the doctoral, masters, or even undergrad level. Not everyone who hears one of these weird terms that no one else uses knows exactly what it means. Or perhaps the authors defined the terms in previous posts two years ago and don't feel the need to define them again. But not everyone has the time to dive into two years of old posts to find the definition, especially if the author is someone who posts every day, or multiple times every day.

Although I don't want to imply that there's anything wrong with using these terms with my next statement, I'll say that I, too, am "guilty" of using these terms at times, honestly because I'm going for precision in what I say. But that doesn't mean that everyone who reads my blog knows what I'm saying, or even that I'm using the term correctly. What we need is some definition.

You may notice the top of my blog now has a page titled "The Jargon List." Yep, I'm going to start storing all the jargon I use right there for easy reference! Right now it's pretty short, but I realized when I first considered this idea that I could potentially just keep adding things before I post it and just never post it because I keep thinking of things to add. So I've decided just to stick with words I have used recently or do use often. I'll add any new terms in the future if they come up, or if I deem it necessary to do so.

In addition, you may notice the fun little dotted line under the word "apologetics" in the first paragraph. No, it's not a link. If you hover over it, you'll see a tooltip pop up. I've decided that, while the main page is a great idea for consistency and reference, not everyone will want to have to have two pages open to scroll through to understand my posts. So I've decided that, when a technical term comes up, I'll add the tooltip with the definition of the term so you can simply hover over it, see what it means, and continue reading. Yay for (hopeful) ease of use!

I hope this helps you all out. It'll help me for sure; it means I don't have to define a term in-post every single time I use it. I can define it once and then use tooltips later. That way, the flow of the post doesn't have to be interrupted by the need to define words, and you, the reader, can know what I mean by those terms. It's a great way to ensure original intent is preserved, and hopefully will help you understand me better.

DYF: The Law of Noncontradiction - My Thoughts

In this chapter, Dr. Sproul begins to talk about the law of noncontradiction, one of the logical rules that must be in place before we can know something. The most important idea is probably the idea of absolute vs. relative truth.

The primary argument for the law of noncontradiction in this chapter is that, without it, we have no way of knowing what is true or false, right or wrong (the moral relativists will love that). In Christianity in particular, without the law of noncontradiction, the entire Bible would be useless to us. If God commands us to do something, we can't disregard it. In the same way, if God commands us not to do something, we can't just go out and do it. That's a Biblical given. But, if the law of noncontradiction didn't exist, who's to say these are absolute commands? How do we know what God's commands are? How do we even know what He is like? Can Jesus have died and not died at the same time? When the Bible says He rose from the grave, could He have not risen from the grave? So we see the law of noncontradiction's necessity to our faith.

Now, the law of contradiction doesn't prove Christianity. All it does is give us a concept of how to think, how to view the world. It gives us a framework for understanding the universe. It's the law that states that I can't be both Sarrah's husband and not be her husband at the same time. To be both would be a clear contradiction. But without the law of noncontradiction, who's to say I can't do that? Or God can't not be God, or not fulfill His attributes. He is an absolute God and a God of absolutes.

This chapter also talks about the problems with relativism (believing something to be true or right for some people and not for others). Sproul also points out that one cannot be a consistent relativist, believing that all truth is relative. For one thing, the idea that all truth is relative (meaning there are no absolutes) is itself an absolute, and the whole idea behind relativism is that it denies absolutes. For it to not be an absolute, one would have to say that only some things are relative, which would mean that some other things are absolute. You see the dilemma? I suppose one could say that there are some relatives and some absolutes. But the fact remains that there are absolutes in our world.

This is also the law that allows us to make certain observations. Sproul gives the example of the phrase "All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore Socrates is mortal." Logic allows us to add this up and see this to be true. This kind of idea could be applied to a lot of things, like "Heights scare me; the Space Needle is very tall; therefore going on the Space Needle would scare me."

Sproul points out that logic in general wasn't invented by man. When he talks about Aristotle's ideas about logic, he is careful to point out that "Aristotle didn't invent logic; rather he defined it. He argued that logic is a necessary tool for human thinking and communication, as well as a means for us to comprehend the rational structure of the universe." Aristotle did, in fact, affirm the law of noncontradiction in his writing Metaphysics, saying that it is "impossible that contrary attributes should belong at the same time to the same subject" (IV.3.8). The reason it is important to note that Aristotle didn't invent logic is because, back in those times (and still today even), there are those that argued that Greek philosophy and what they called "Aristotelian logic" should never be used in conjunction with Christianity. At the time the use of such things was commonly intended to try to prove heresy, and of course it should never be used for that. But why can't logic be used to prove Christianity? Is our faith irrational? Is it based on a blind leap of faith? Some Christians would actually say so. But doesn't the Bible tell us that the one who says there is no God is a fool? (Psalm 14:1, 53:1) Wouldn't the fool be more apt to follow the "irrational" idea that there is a God? By saying Christianity is inherently irrational, we are calling all of the church a bunch of fools! But, Biblically, it is the non-Christians who are foolish, not the Christians.

All in all, this chapter had a lot to absorb. I had to think and re-think about it to grasp it, and that fact means I may not be able to simply write about each chapter every day. There are still three more laws to cover, and this I understand, this one I've always agreed with. So I may be a bit slower in continuing to write about this book, but I'll get it done.

Writing Through R.C. Sproul's "Defending Your Faith"

On Sunday night I bought Defending Your Faith by R.C. Sproul (hence the title). It's a book about apologetics, something that Dr. Sproul himself is well-known for. For those who don't know, apologetics is basically the practice of making a case to both defend and prove something. In the case of this book, that something is the Christian faith.

In this book, Dr. Sproul is concerned with multiple things:

1. Making a case for the existence of God and the authority of the Bible
2. Showing that Christianity, contrary to popular belief, is based on both faith and reason
3. Teaching the reader how to defend the faith

Before getting this book, I kind of thought it would be fun to blog my through it one chapter at a time. I figure it will help me absorb the information better, and Sproul argues that this book contains very important information. Plus, it would give me more to write about; that way, you, the reader, are kept happy.

So, starting Monday, I'm gonna blog my way through Defending Your Faith. The posts may not all be consecutive, meaning I'll probably still post other things on different topics now and again. And I'm not starting tomorrow because I already have tomorrow's old, dead dude quote queued up.

Speaking of which, does anyone like the old, dead dude quotes? So far the only comment I've heard about them is to stop because that particular reader doesn't want to read quotes; she wants to read what I have to say. So, any thoughts? If no one wants me to continue them, I'll stop.

Maintaining a Semi-Meaningful Blog

I don't know how many people will be interested in reading this, but I want to write it anyway.

I'm honestly surprised at how difficult it is to maintain this blog while school is in session. Mainly the hard thing is Bible studies, like the "Put On the New Self" series. I don't just know the passage. I always study while I write. I'm not someone who just knows Scripture and writes about it; I study in depth while I write posts so I can rightly present a passage, and so I personally know it.

That's a big thing for me. I originally started studying Colossians 3:1-17 simply because I wanted to. I hadn't intended on making it a blog series. I just suddenly wanted to share after starting. It's a personal activity that I want to share with anyone who will listen.

Frankly, it's been great so far. Going through a passage of Scripture is a great learning experience, and the possibility that people might read holds me accountable to not skip anything. I've been tempted, but I don't want to be called out later with, "Hey, you never said anything about X." So I want to be thorough. That said, I also know my posts can get complicated and difficult or weird and convoluted. So if there's any way I can make things more understandable, simpler, or anything, please let me know. I want people to be able to both read and understand.

Anyways, I intend to finish my current series. It's just time-consuming, so bear with me. You can subscribe to get e-mail notifications or RSS feeds on the right of this site, so if you want to be updated when I post, subscribe! The more the merrier!

Why I Write (Part 3.1415)

I'm not sure how many times I've written this post in the past (I used to have a MySpace blog), but it always manages to change every time. So, here it is (again)!

Why do I write? And why do I write the way I do? I know I post on this blog a lot. But there are several reasons behind it.

I love it

Writing is fun to me. It always has been. I've been a bit of a writer since my childhood when I would write (and illustrate) little books for my family. I remember I wrote a book for Grandpa about a magic screwdriver, based off of his massive amounts of tools and his having a workshop in the old house. With that screwdriver he invented things like the eight dollar bill and a time machine.

It's a Thinking Process

I tend to think more clearly when I write. You know those long Bible studies I write that no one reads? Those are the results of a thinking process during study. Rather than simply try to remember it all, I organize it by writing about it. Sometimes I find gaps in my thinking, or as I write I remember something related to what I'm writing that gives an even better perspective on things.

It's a Form of Ministry

Some of you may know that I'm not the best (or at least most comfortable) public speaker in the world. At least I don't think so. I think I'm actually more comfortable singing in public than speaking, because then at least I know what I'm going to say. But I like to share what I discover in Bible study or what I think about something. So, writing is my avenue for that. I want to help others grow and get closer to God, and this, I think, is the best way for me to do that.

And how I write depends on what I'm writing about I guess. In my more in-depth Bible studies, I try to be as careful as possible. I try to select the right words to convey meaning, and I try to let the Bible speak for itself rather than speak for it myself, which is why I quote so many Bible verses. I don't want to take too many steps without having a Biblical reason for doing so, because I don't want to convey something unbiblical. I usually have my ESVBible.org account open as well because it's a handy reference tool. I also try my hardest to not let those posts get muddied up in "theological-ese," or those ridiculously complicated sounding words that make life more difficult than it needs to be like "penal substitutionary atonement" or "missiology."

But in posts like this I tend to be more lighthearted, easygoing. I'm only speaking for myself here, not trying to interpret Scripture for people, so it's easier to just go with the flow of it. I tend to think people like these posts more than the Bible studies, but I don't really know.

Anyways, I figured I'd write this post (again) for the sake of it. Enjoy your (insert day here)!

Know-It-Alls Know Nothing (Part 2)

I was planning on writing this the whole time. Yeah. This was absolutely my point from the beginning.

Okay, not really.

Sarrah lovingly pointed out to me something blatantly obvious that I completely forgot to mention.

With all those resources and fancy-shmancy things that are available, there is nothing, and no one, more important than the Holy Spirit teaching Christians as they read His Word. The Holy Spirit teaches and reveals to us what is meant when God says things in the Bible. As Sarrah said, we're taught by the same teacher as the "big guys" like Calvin and MacArthur. And that's totally Biblical, because Jesus said in John 6:45, "It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.'

As I continued to think about this, I realized how interesting an idea this was to dwell on. How exactly does He do it? I don't think it just "clicks" for most Christians. A lot of us read the Bible and aren't exactly certain of what it's saying in a given passage. I think it "clicks" more with people who have devoted their entire lives to study, who know the Bible and can quote many verses from memory. And I can confidently say that that's still the Holy Spirit guiding them because He is teaching them according to His Word. It's the principle of "Scripture interpreting Scripture" or "God's Word interpreting God's Word." God guides us to a right understanding of the Bible based on His Bible. At least that's how I think of it.

I also think that He guides us when we use other Bible study resources such as commentaries, concordances, etc. It's important to note that none of these things are the inspired Word of God. Only the Bible is. They are, however, an attempt to understand it and to teach it to others. And I think the Spirit helps us to discern whether these people and their resources are right or not based on His Word, the final authority in everything.

And when we listen to those people whose entire lives have been devoted to study, we can discern whether what they believe and teach is Biblical by measuring it with the standard of the Word of God. This doesn't negate a need for teachers; a good teacher of the Word, who studies all the time, can at times bring up an idea that the listener simply hadn't thought of, or perhaps teach about the cultural context that a passage of Scripture was originally written in, or maybe even teach about the historical meaning of a prophecy and how it was fulfilled (the last few chapters of Daniel come to mind). And I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit will prod an earnest, Bible-believing Christian and help them realize something they're listening to or reading in a book could be questionable.

This doesn't negate the necessity for the study of God's Word. If anything, it encourages it. How else will we know what God has to say to us if we don't study the very words, the absolutely authoritative and correct words, He has said to us? And how else can we know discern His will in a world full of ungodly, heretical wills and viewpoints without reading the words of His will?

It's also not an attempt to remove a supernatural aspect of the Spirit's guidance by saying that we need to study a book to understand. Of course there's a supernatural aspect, there's a Spirit who transcends all earthly reality guiding us to a right understanding of something we, by our own power, are completely unwilling to accept in the first place! But by His power, we do accept it. And He helps us recall, He reminds us of His words, He teaches them to us when we read and listen, and He guides us in our study to understand.

Know-It-Alls Know Nothing

I've come to realize something in the past few days. With all my talk about Bible study, and with all my ranting on this blog and quoting every verse and its brother to prove points that I pretend to know about, I probably come off as pompous. I probably seem like a know-it-all who actually thinks he knows it all.

I don't.

Or, on the flip-side, maybe I just come off like I just have a natural understanding of the Bible and can read any passage and tell you exactly what it means.

I can't.

I will not pretend to have some deep, deep understanding of the Bible or even a thorough knowledge of Bible verses. A great majority of the verses I quote I look up online to make sure I know where they come from, the context, and what exactly they say because I don't want to misquote them. That's good practice I think, because misquoting the Bible is a very bad thing to do. But I don't just know millions of verses and passages off the top of my head.

I also can't understand the Bible in an instant. A great majority of my understanding comes from having a concordance, a Bible dictionary, and especially an ESV Study Bible, complete with study notes written by much smarter men than I'll ever be to help me understand the Bible better.

I also listen to Grace To You a lot, which is a very great, Biblically sound radio program from the ministry of John MacArthur that I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn and get closer to God.

Not just that, but there are a lot of great commentaries and things available free to read online, or through apps, etc. I highly recommend Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible. Like I've said before, however, the internet is very iffy and full of a lot of heresy, so that requires a lot of care.

All of that to say this: I am a layperson who just wants to understand and to grow. All of the absurdly complicated things I write are the result of a layperson using ordinary Bible resources, the internet, and the teachings of much smarter and wiser men than I. I will never claim to know everything, and if I ever act like I do, I apologize, and please call me out on it.

New Blog Name?

So you're probably wondering why I changed my blog's name. Or not. Either way I'm gonna tell you.

I realized that this blog really isn't so much of a "story" per se. It's more a place where I post my thoughts and hope and try really hard to not be the 1 Timothy 1:6-7 guy.

Thus, a new blog name! I think it's appropriate too, because worshiping our Sovereign Lord is something I want to do every day, something I have to remind myself of every day, and absolutely essential for any Christian.

I also want to say that by "worship," I don't just mean music. Sure, music is one form of worship. But by worship, I mean our entire lives must be devoted to God! This is something I struggle with every day, so don't think I'm saying I've accomplished that. I don't think anyone in history except Jesus ever fully accomplished that. But yeah.

Also, for those of you who have this blog bookmarked (all 0 of you), you'll need to fix that. I changed the URL to reflect the new name and the old one doesn't work anymore.

http://worshippingasovereignlord.blogspot.com

For Sparta, and For the Sake of Blogging

So, I really don't know what on earth to blog about right now. I just know I haven't in a while and...well, I feel like writing something.

Today my friend Ryan gave a sermon at church about finding God's power in weakness. Why would God want to use incredibly weak people like us to do His extraordinary work? I wish I had taken some notes because then I could list the reasons he gave, but I find I need to truly, honestly let God do His work so that He gets the glory, not let God help me with my work so that I get the credit and I say, "God helped a little."

Ryan related a story to us from Acts 19:11-20. It's a funny story about how Paul, as well as aprons and laundry that had touched Paul's skin could heal wounds and cast out demons, but exorcists who were paid to do stuff like this were incapable of doing so. They tried to cast out a demon in Jesus' name, but the demon-possessed man overpowered them all and left them running away naked and bleeding. Imagine that. A bunch of naked people running out of a building. Kind of a funny thought.

Why did this happen? The exorcists were typically in witchcraft, sorcery, and making money. Jesus was an incantation to them, the next money-making thing. To Paul, He was a real person, the real God, Who deserved the credit for every good thing. I think I've been acting like the exorcists when I should be acting more like Paul. God should get credit, not me. I don't do diddly squat.

God should get credit for every good thing. For example, love.

Simply put, I love Sarrah. Is this because I'm some amazing, loving person? I don't know. But the way I see it is this: If God is Love, He enables us to love. So if we love, God should get credit for it. That's not to say that one who doesn't believe in God is incapable of love. Rather, love exists because of God, who is everywhere around us. If not for God, I'd probably hate the lot of you and tell you all to screw yourselves and jump off a bridge.

I've got no real idea why I'm writing any of this. It's probably pretty stupid actually. I just wanted to blog about something. So, here I am...blogging. Yep. Have a nice night, stay classy, and whatnot.

Adam the Cannibal is Not an Ideal Jedi

So, out of boredom I decided to take my infamous relationship rant and run it through Google Translator. I went from English to French to German to French and ended back at English. I got some amusing results.

---

So it was slow to kill me this week?

* Cough *

I would say that in my mind lately? What was the concept entirely, I mean that I am in my blog about this? Ah, yes ... Relations.

Hello! It may complain, but not another. Well, maybe. We will see where there are here.

It was a little behind, almost a year ago. I have a daughter to eat, but I had no idea what I have all the time. I was on the ground trying to improvise. Of course, it did not work. But it was after that date, that I am, I had no idea what I'm doing when it comes to encounters or relationships. More Joey, who was at the time, recently had a relationship with the girl, now his girlfriend, told me that the relationship ended, he decided that, to date, he been regarded as a God, which leads to a girl. I took it with a heart and decided I had to wait. Not only that, but I personally am ready to.

Then it's a year later. I have good and bad sides of love, of observing my friends incursions. It reminds me very, really. What will happen if I with the false?

Let me give you an example. I know a couple before he broke the two who were Christians. Everyone continuously for more ... hmm, how do I have this relationship .... Not necessarily sex, but also very close. One could say: "Well, it must stop." But sooner or later, it loops around the suspicion and places of residence was never produced. ... Finally finished five months after the fracture. Oh man.

Now, what I would do in this situation? I would say that I remain strong. But I also know that I am not always the role model for the force. As I said in the past, we never know really what we can, as long as we in the heat of the moment. Of course, you can always say: "I was, I'm never going back." But it is, if the devil is still trying, we have tested our resolve. And most of the time ... in fact all the time ... the only way to win, is God. It is the highest.

It is like it is tempting to me asking me if I am the punishment. This question has been in my mind for a long time, as it is? I mean, if we die and in heaven, the marriage is not really something, is not it? But the Bible, love and marriage is what God has for us. He has the woman, because man alone, is not it? And Paul said:

"Now, singles and widows I say: It is good for her to remain unmarried as I am. But if they do not themselves, they should marry, because it is better to marry than to burn with passion. "

- 1 Corinthians 7:8-9

Paul was single. Ie it has not been tempted to meat. So, is not married, was easy for him. This is not the case for the majority of the population.

At the same time, I reflected on the relations in general. Hmmm. Will I be a good friend? Me and a girl like me? The girls I liked in the past, for whatever reason, what I know. But why? I doubt that this is the guitar, I am not Alex Lifeson.
Many girls I know are in relationships with boys more and more about how nature is "the best guy ever" or "perfection in every sense." I do not think I'm in this type pressure. Not only that, but also difficult to imagine a girl on me. I saw things. Like a lot.

Yes, I trust in his own questions. It is another of my problems.

Here's a question for you: Is it a pity that I can think of reason not days almost all girls, I'm almost as far? It is clear that I will not go, or the girl. But I do not know if this is good reason, or if I just make excuses.

And since I love the random notes, I give you chance Notes: dreams. Recently, I had many dreams of the girl. It could simply be a kind of buried desires, which I do not even know about to meet a girl, playing with my mind, but what happens so often lately that I am left to wonder why.

Good first dream. I had this a few weeks ago, I think. I was in a water park. There was a rocket that can be. They launch into the sky. Now, a policeman came in all the arrogant and said it was illegal and dangerous. I took his arm and told him that I use for him. For some reason, he said that me and that is why I have been attacked. I was handcuffed to a park bench outside the police station (strange, is not it?). And I know a girl from the station, after it seems that food out of it. She sat beside me and there was for me. Time, she seemed nervous. I think we almost kissed, but I can not really remember. Bare in mind that this girl is someone that I did not once. I talk to him or to see. Weird.

Then a few nights ago, I had a dream in which I married another girl that I am not interested in. Curiously, I am also the minister. I am reminded of a sign, said: "May you now kiss the bride", as I kissed the bride. Can you imagine, the ministers are to your marriage?

Finally, for whatever reason, I'm in a classroom shirt. I sat at my table and another girl (I do not have to l ') told me I have to go tanning and that is why I really want something good or. This is not an environment (or at least I am not longer seen). But this dream was strange, because I also remember being here and Duck many of us begin to dance for any reason.

What's weird is it seriously that I am not a time as any at the moment. At least as far as I can tell, I do not.

Yes, I took quite Droned about it. Then God said, 'Hey, it's time for you on the spot ", or is it my mind playing tricks me?