Currently Listening Stanley Climbfall By Lifehouse Wash see related

Tornado Video

Apparently, my tornado video is being shown on a lot of news/blog sites:

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/february062008/tenn_tornadoes_2-6-08.php

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/2008/02/devastating_storms_on_video.html

http://www.thisismereporting.com/view_video.php?viewkey=c5280214e0486b273a5f&page=1&viewtype=&category=mr

http://hamwx.blogspot.com/2008/02/25-608-amateur-video.html

10,000+ views on youtube and counting...

Currently Reading Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate By Jerry Bridges see related

The Respectable Sins

So, I was chunking some books on the shelves of the Christian Living section of LifeWay and noticed a book with a catchy title: "Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate". It had a interesting theme to it. That is, we get caught up with all the "major sins", (homosexuality, drinking, drugs, abortion, etc.) yet tolerate the "minor" sins (anger, selfishness, unthankfulness, etc.) I liked this angle the book had on sin, because I have pondered this myself. Nevertheless, I want to take this theme a step further into the more applicable realm of our lives.

What sins do we tolerate? That is, what sins does our generation (generation Y, currently from ages 13 to 28) seem to not care about committing? Yes, if I were to give a general description of sin, it would be pride, (the "it's all about me mentality)  but what specific sin do we commit with no guilt at all. You know, those sins that we would commit without even considering it to be sin or even second guess that sinful action as being wrong. (think seared conscience)

For guys, it would probably be lust. Yes, there are a few others that might make #1 on the tolerable sins list, but this one sticks out the most, because people seem to tolerate it as an everyday thing that is acceptable. We even defend it by making false presuppositions about it such as, "What is wrong with thinking a girl is pretty?". Yet, we fail to see that God views it as adultery, one of the 10 commandments. (Matthew 5:28) It is no marvel or wonder that God views it as adultery. After all, some of the outward manifestations of what seems to be harmless thoughts are masterbation and rape. Masterbation --that's an interesting one --you don't ever hear that one mentioned in church or even the most intimate conversations because it is one of those respectable sins. (every guy does it, so we will keep it quiet)

As for girls, I am not a girl (thankfully haha =])so I might not be able to nail down the #1 tolerable sin of girls of GEN Y, but I'm going to take a leap of faith and say it is lust too. Why? Because girls crave (lust for) attention on themselves. There are a few ways of doing this, but the prominent one out there is by the way they dress. These immodest fashions are the "norm" in the world, and if you want that guy you gotta dress in the "norm". Immodesty is an outward expressions of lust and our generation finds it perfectly acceptable. (every girl does it, so we sear our consciences concerning this sin and go on with our life of ungodliness) It's kind of funny how the the tolerable sins of guys and girls connect.

So,  by our actions, all of us want people to like us for what we are and not who we are. We say otherwise, but actions speak louder than words --read James. (specifically, James says our words are worthless) We are lovers of pleasure and not lovers of God.

In conclusion, live holy. Stop filtering/sorting sins around because it is all sin that is detestable to God. It doesn't matter if it is a big or little sin. It is wrong to be a homosexual. It is wrong to drink alcohol. It is wrong to lust. Think the thoughts of God and block out any kind of impure thought that comes your way.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

(2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Is your love for pleasure or for God?

Comments, critiques, and annotations are encouraged =]

Currently Listening The Face of Love By Sanctus Real see related

Was man created before or after the animals?

Reading through Genesis...came across this ancient contradiction. (brings back memories ^_^)

Before:

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

(Genesis 2:18-19)

After

And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

(Genesis 1:24-26)

So, which one is it? I submit to you that man was created after the animals were. Genesis 2:19? The contradiction isn't there --it happened in the past. This particular passage does not refer to the chronology concerning the creation of man and animal. Sorry, you can look at this critically like I did for a long time, but you can't come up with a contradiction if taken into context.

 People say that chapter 1 and chapter 2 of Genesis are two separate creation accounts that contradict each other. First, if this is true, then chapter two does a terrible job at creating the universe (leaves out a lot of things). Second, they are misguided in that they take these verses out of context. Take a look at the chapters in context. Chapter one builds up to the creation of man in God's image, (the climax of chapter one) and then tapers off with God taking a snooze. (end of chapter 1) Chapter two builds up to the story of the fall of man.(the climax and end of chapter 2) In conclusion, Genesis 1deals with the creation in a macroscopic way, while Genesis 2 takes a closer look at this creation in a microscopic way --each chapter having different purposes.

Good night =]

Currently Listening Popularity By Jonezetta see related

Genesis - oh boy

So, I am going through the Bible in a year with my college class and we always start with Genesis. To be honest, I haven't read much of the Old Testament in awhile, (other than the typical Psalms and Proverbs) but here I am giving Genesis a shot. I get through the first 9 chapters of Genesis....bad idea. My first thoughts are that this book reads like a fairy tale --crazy creation of the world, sons of god thinking that human girls are fine as a mug, a man putting 2 of every animal on the ark in order to save because the entire world is going to flood, etc. So, how can any of this be taken seriously, especially in the information age, right? Is Moses seriously just leading us on with these embellished stories?

Read a bit closer, and you will see that we can take this book seriously. Look at the genealogies --boring as a junt. However, these genealogies are important to the book of Genesis in that they portray Genesis as a historical account and not a collection of fables. I think Moses really wrote these things with a confidence that they are true. If you read it it from that angle, it becomes much more harmonious. Let me give you a few examples:

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created...

(Genesis 2:4)

This is the written account of Adam's line...

(Genesis 5:1) (the entire chapter is pretty much a genealogy)

This is the account of Noah...

(Genesis 6:9)

Records and accounts --the book of Genesis seems to be written as a historical account of the early events on earth to me. Yes, there are some crazy stories. Yes, some are hard to believe. Nevertheless, there is strong evidence from this book that Moses wrote this truthfully --he didn't write it like some bedtime story. This book kind of reminds me of the way Luke wrote his gospel. (maybe they are of the same linage or something)

If you look at all the other ancient documents, (ex. Epic of Gilgamesh) they are written more as a fairy tale than as a record of factual events. Have you read the Epic of Gilgamesh? (and I thought Genesis was bad)

In conclusion, Genesis reads like a historical record, so I think we can take it more seriously than a lot of people give it credit for. Yes, it is hard to believe in the supernatural things described in this book, but we got an amazing, supernatural God.

Currently Gaming Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle By Activision see related

A contemplating verse

First blog post of 2008 =]

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

(John 6:44)

This is a crazy saying of Jesus. It negates the stories you hear of people who "found God". It seems to me that God is the one who did the "finding".

Don't worry, I won't use the "C" word ^^        ....this time