I just found out today that i am auditioning for the Delaware county youth orchestra. I have not prepared, because i was unaware of the audition date. I hate auditions to begin with anyway. So if you could just offer up a prayer on my behalf it would be great. Thank you.
Once again, for those of you who have challenged me on my last post, i have some good responses. I'll put them up later when i have more time to thoroughly think through them.
Just wanted to let everyone know i made it
Also, i am looking for some new ideas to blog on, so if you have any, let me know
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
If I was a teacher
To everyone who has challenged me, thank you, i'll get to answering them as soon as i can, but i will be busy for the rest of the day. I will hopefully be able t get to them tomorrow. Once again thanks
As everyone begins to head back to school the first day or so is always reserved for one thing, rules. These days are often the most boring and most useless days of the year. That's why, if i was a teacher, i would only have one rule, Love Each Other.
In reality, that is the only rule we need. Think about it, if we trully loved everyone else in the class room why would we need rules like "respect others and their property", or "don't be disruptive", or even "have all materials you need for class?" We wouldn't. Also, if i were to ever to be president i would only have one rule, and it would be the sae as my rule fo teachin. ;)
Listen, i'm asking for some audience participation in this one, if you think you can come up with a rule that doesn't relate back to love then let me know and i'll try and tell you how it relates. I bet you that no one can stump me, so give it a whirl, what do you have to lose.
From Evan
"School dress code"
My Response
that is a tuffy, and technically thats not a classroom rule but i'll give it a go anyway
School dress code is relatable back to love but its a stretch.
First of all i view the dress code as a means of making sure that no offensive material is in the classroom. Out of respect for other people is where the dress code comes from, and respect is definitely a thing of love.
Also, love is not just reserved for others. It should also be applied to yourself. If you truly love yourself then why are you going to dress yourself in a way tha does not comply to the dress code. Why do you need to expose your middriff, or why do you need to where your pants around your knees. In my opinion people just do these things because they want attention. If you truly loved yourself, then you would not be desperate for attention.
Well there's my attempt for that one, and i'll admit i was difficult, but i think i succeeded without too much of a stretch.
From Evan
"being on time"
My response
Being on time is a thing of respect. By being on time you are showing respect to your teacher, by making to extra effort to get around the school quickly. You are also respecting your classmates by leaving their learning undisturbed without interruptions of people coming in after the teaching has started.
Mikey G.
"If the rule is to love everyone then i can have my way with my girlfriend in the bathroom right"
My response
No. If you truly loved that person you would not make them hav sex out wedlock, because you would be afraid that you could be ruining their future marriage. Even if your girlfriend was willing, then you would not want to do it because your would know it would not be in your girfriend's best interest.
Also. Love includes loving yourself, and if you truly loved yourself you would not want to give yourself away until you are in a life-long relationship. And so would your girlfriend.
From Jeff
"the necessity to wear sneakers in some classes"
My Response
We are required to wear sneakers for our own well being. It is out of love for ourselves and the body that God has given us that we should wear sneakers in order to keep ourselves safe.
from Mikey, reffering to his preview question
"What if that's how we show our love"
My Response
First of all Mikey you have to realize that this would only work in an ideal world. Second, I perceive Love and Lust as two entirely separate things. I view Love as entirely emotional. Love has absolutely nothing to do with physical appearances, or actions. Lust on the other hand does. Lust tries to disguise itself as love, however it is always based off physical attraction. Can lust and love go hand in hand, yes, and in the pretext of marriage this is perfectly fine, but, my rule was that you have to love one another, not lust after one another.
To everything Mikey just said
No, an ideal world would not mean it was perfect in this case, nor would it mean that everone was christian, it would only mean that everyone understood what true love is.
To what Evan just said
If you loved yourself, then you would not skip class, causing you to increase your chances of failing a test. Also, if everyone loved everyone then there would be no need for a "no cell phones" rule durring free time.
An extended thank you to all
If my response does not satisfy you then let me know and i can try a different route.
As everyone begins to head back to school the first day or so is always reserved for one thing, rules. These days are often the most boring and most useless days of the year. That's why, if i was a teacher, i would only have one rule, Love Each Other.
In reality, that is the only rule we need. Think about it, if we trully loved everyone else in the class room why would we need rules like "respect others and their property", or "don't be disruptive", or even "have all materials you need for class?" We wouldn't. Also, if i were to ever to be president i would only have one rule, and it would be the sae as my rule fo teachin. ;)
Listen, i'm asking for some audience participation in this one, if you think you can come up with a rule that doesn't relate back to love then let me know and i'll try and tell you how it relates. I bet you that no one can stump me, so give it a whirl, what do you have to lose.
From Evan
"School dress code"
My Response
that is a tuffy, and technically thats not a classroom rule but i'll give it a go anyway
School dress code is relatable back to love but its a stretch.
First of all i view the dress code as a means of making sure that no offensive material is in the classroom. Out of respect for other people is where the dress code comes from, and respect is definitely a thing of love.
Also, love is not just reserved for others. It should also be applied to yourself. If you truly love yourself then why are you going to dress yourself in a way tha does not comply to the dress code. Why do you need to expose your middriff, or why do you need to where your pants around your knees. In my opinion people just do these things because they want attention. If you truly loved yourself, then you would not be desperate for attention.
Well there's my attempt for that one, and i'll admit i was difficult, but i think i succeeded without too much of a stretch.
From Evan
"being on time"
My response
Being on time is a thing of respect. By being on time you are showing respect to your teacher, by making to extra effort to get around the school quickly. You are also respecting your classmates by leaving their learning undisturbed without interruptions of people coming in after the teaching has started.
Mikey G.
"If the rule is to love everyone then i can have my way with my girlfriend in the bathroom right"
My response
No. If you truly loved that person you would not make them hav sex out wedlock, because you would be afraid that you could be ruining their future marriage. Even if your girlfriend was willing, then you would not want to do it because your would know it would not be in your girfriend's best interest.
Also. Love includes loving yourself, and if you truly loved yourself you would not want to give yourself away until you are in a life-long relationship. And so would your girlfriend.
From Jeff
"the necessity to wear sneakers in some classes"
My Response
We are required to wear sneakers for our own well being. It is out of love for ourselves and the body that God has given us that we should wear sneakers in order to keep ourselves safe.
from Mikey, reffering to his preview question
"What if that's how we show our love"
My Response
First of all Mikey you have to realize that this would only work in an ideal world. Second, I perceive Love and Lust as two entirely separate things. I view Love as entirely emotional. Love has absolutely nothing to do with physical appearances, or actions. Lust on the other hand does. Lust tries to disguise itself as love, however it is always based off physical attraction. Can lust and love go hand in hand, yes, and in the pretext of marriage this is perfectly fine, but, my rule was that you have to love one another, not lust after one another.
To everything Mikey just said
No, an ideal world would not mean it was perfect in this case, nor would it mean that everone was christian, it would only mean that everyone understood what true love is.
To what Evan just said
If you loved yourself, then you would not skip class, causing you to increase your chances of failing a test. Also, if everyone loved everyone then there would be no need for a "no cell phones" rule durring free time.
An extended thank you to all
If my response does not satisfy you then let me know and i can try a different route.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Your spiritual journey
Imagine a sledding trip. Imagine you just got to the top and start to slide down. Halfway down you fall of your sled and have three options; you can walk back up to the top, you can just get back on your sled and continue down, or you can just sit there. Now, imagine this hill as your siritual journey. The top is where you want to be, close to God. where you would be sledding at is where most of us spend much of our life. The bottom is a place we only reach once or twice a life time if we're lucky. Imagine this post to be you falling off of you sled.
So... What do you want to do. For most CCVers we are on our way down after all peaking with all the great camps this summer. Our bible reading is not as consistent as we would like it to be and our prayers are much more rare than we find desireable. We, like the sledder have three options. We can try and turn ourselves around, by resuming our daily times of devotion and returning to prayer, and walk back up to the top. We can just sit where we are and wonder what we should do, but not make a decision. Or we can let the world have its way, get back on our sled, and continue down to a place that we don't want to be. Though the ride may be fun the bottom is not a good place once you get there, and the trekk back to the top is long and hard. Many of us will choose the second choice, and just be content with sitting there. However, a select few will make the effort to return to the top where CIY and Escape first brought us to. Even fewer will get back on the sled of destruction and ride it all he way to the bottom
Which choice are you going to make?
So... What do you want to do. For most CCVers we are on our way down after all peaking with all the great camps this summer. Our bible reading is not as consistent as we would like it to be and our prayers are much more rare than we find desireable. We, like the sledder have three options. We can try and turn ourselves around, by resuming our daily times of devotion and returning to prayer, and walk back up to the top. We can just sit where we are and wonder what we should do, but not make a decision. Or we can let the world have its way, get back on our sled, and continue down to a place that we don't want to be. Though the ride may be fun the bottom is not a good place once you get there, and the trekk back to the top is long and hard. Many of us will choose the second choice, and just be content with sitting there. However, a select few will make the effort to return to the top where CIY and Escape first brought us to. Even fewer will get back on the sled of destruction and ride it all he way to the bottom
Which choice are you going to make?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
the Me Me Me and You You You society
I am totally disgusted with what has happened to humanity (mostly by what the Church has allowed to happen to humanity). What have we become that we defend things such as the sex trade and drugs. Since when has having no religion become a religion. Why is it that the only thing that sells any more is sex. Why is it that in a nation where we claim freedom of speech religion is slowly being pushd from our schools. Since when has it become acceptable to not say the pledge of allegiance because it has the word God in it. Why have we decided that we should punnish unborn children with their parents mistakes through abortion.
Anyway, now that my rant is done, on to the real topic of this post.
Society has lost its identity. We no longer know what we want to be. We're all about ourselves, but at he same time we're all about each other. We try to subbstitute lack of belief with belief. We are so worried about keeping everyone else happy that we no longer fight the fights that need to be fought.
So, how can we be all about ourselves and all about each other at the same time, well lets start with the all about ourselves part. This is pretty easy. Everything that people do these days is to make themselves happy. The pirmary focus and purpose to our life according to society is to go out and make as much money as we can. People go out and use drugs. Premarital sex is now considered ok. We feel no need to help others. We think its ok to put the consequences of our mistakes into our unborn children. We make a new religion that says that humans rule the earth because humans made themselves rule the earth through evolution. Nothing is about anyone else anymore. Its all gimme gimme gimme.
So if everything is about us how can anything be about anyone else. Again an easy answer to a tough question. Society has adapted itself to try and fit everyone. We try to remove all traces of religion from our schools just to keep everyone happy. We avoid even identifying people by their race. We're all about womens rights. We never hit our children. We give into our children.
Well then, where does this leave us? This leaves us with a generation that has no identity, a generation with no morals, and a generation that is lost. My generation no longer knows what to do. There is so much arguing about what should and shouldn't be happening that no one knows what is right anymore.
Is there anyway to fix this? I think there is, and I think its going to start with the Church. The Church needs to put its foot down on the parents so the parents put their feet down on their children. We need to remind ourselves that having sex out of wedlock is not good. We need to remember that morals are important, because without morals society becomes lost. Without morals true freedom prevails and according to Plato and his allegory of the cave, true freedom and absolute truth are scary. Without morals society regains the me me me part and trys to force the you you you into formalities.
Again i apologize for the lack of gramar, organization, clear thoughts, and spelling, but i'll be working on this more as i go along
Anyway, now that my rant is done, on to the real topic of this post.
Society has lost its identity. We no longer know what we want to be. We're all about ourselves, but at he same time we're all about each other. We try to subbstitute lack of belief with belief. We are so worried about keeping everyone else happy that we no longer fight the fights that need to be fought.
So, how can we be all about ourselves and all about each other at the same time, well lets start with the all about ourselves part. This is pretty easy. Everything that people do these days is to make themselves happy. The pirmary focus and purpose to our life according to society is to go out and make as much money as we can. People go out and use drugs. Premarital sex is now considered ok. We feel no need to help others. We think its ok to put the consequences of our mistakes into our unborn children. We make a new religion that says that humans rule the earth because humans made themselves rule the earth through evolution. Nothing is about anyone else anymore. Its all gimme gimme gimme.
So if everything is about us how can anything be about anyone else. Again an easy answer to a tough question. Society has adapted itself to try and fit everyone. We try to remove all traces of religion from our schools just to keep everyone happy. We avoid even identifying people by their race. We're all about womens rights. We never hit our children. We give into our children.
Well then, where does this leave us? This leaves us with a generation that has no identity, a generation with no morals, and a generation that is lost. My generation no longer knows what to do. There is so much arguing about what should and shouldn't be happening that no one knows what is right anymore.
Is there anyway to fix this? I think there is, and I think its going to start with the Church. The Church needs to put its foot down on the parents so the parents put their feet down on their children. We need to remind ourselves that having sex out of wedlock is not good. We need to remember that morals are important, because without morals society becomes lost. Without morals true freedom prevails and according to Plato and his allegory of the cave, true freedom and absolute truth are scary. Without morals society regains the me me me part and trys to force the you you you into formalities.
Again i apologize for the lack of gramar, organization, clear thoughts, and spelling, but i'll be working on this more as i go along
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A Child Called It
I do believe that everyone should read this book. Warning, may prove life changing and may cause many emotions
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Love
This was a research paper i wrote this past school year, not the best but it gets the point across.
A Foundation of Love
Everything can be related back to love, from self preservation, to reading, to love itself, to the death penalty. Absolutely everything is relatable to love, and in the Bible, that relationship is multiplied tenfold. Webster defines love as “Enthusiasm or fondness.” Within that definition family, nor intimacy, nor anything else usually associated with the word love is included. Webster’s definition points out that love can be felt between two males, or two females, or between two of anything without any deeper meaning behind it. It is saying that love is a “strong liking” not reserved to husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend. When one can grasp that love is more than love then it becomes amazingly clear how every last commandment, in fact, every last word, points to that if we all just loved one another then sin would be a thing of imagination. When the teachings and actions of Jesus Christ are examined closely, the foundation of love, on which they rest, is easily discovered.
There are instances in the bible where some may point and say, “That’s hatred, not love,” and yet still love rules. These instances are almost always found to be occurring in love when examined more closely however. The reason why apparent hatred is actually love is because in Christian doctrine there is a hierarchy of love. This hierarchy is ordered as love for god, love for others, and then love for self. The idea of a love hierarchy is described in Jesus’ teaching on being a disciple. He says “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison – your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even your own life” (New Living Translation, Luke. 14.26). According to this verse disciples are to love God so much that when they compare their love for God to their love for their friends and family it should seem as if they’re comparing the size of a bacteria to the size of the universe. That sets “love for God” over “love for others” and “love for self.” To place the other two kinds of love in order all one has to do is remember that one of the reoccurring themes in the bible is the need for humility, and lack of pride, and how the bible never cautions about over loving others unless it begins to exceed the love for God. One of the places where this hierarchy can be applied to, to discover the basis of love is the driving of the money lenders from the Temple. Mark describes the event saying “When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices” (11.15). According to Jesus, love for God should be greater than love for others, and so in this incident Jesus was demonstrating a love for God, not a hatred of others. Unfortunately not all Christians have understood this concept.
Another topic that could be debated over the statement that Christianity is love is the actions of those who call themselves Disciples of Christ. The first counter to this argument is that humans are exactly that, human, and are not perfect. They can misunderstand the teachings of Christ. For instance, the crusades were a misinterpretation of the call to spread God’s love. Those who thought up the crusades also inverted the hierarchy, placing their love for themselves over their love for others. They thought that the crusades would bring them profits. Leaders who called themselves Christians and yet preformed unchristian acts also normally were inverting those two parts of the hierarchy. Though followers of Christ often have preformed acts of hatred, the teachings of the bible are still calling for a foundation of love.
Jesus was a man of extreme love, but he controlled his love in accordance with the hierarchy described in the bible. According to the author of the article on Christianity in The World’s Great Religions "(Christ) did not perform (miracles) to win followers, or to impress important people, but in compassion and in response to simple faith in Him" (269). The author states that Jesus did not perform miracles with an “agenda” but because he loved people. The bible confirms this when Christ heals two blind men, and sends them on their way, ordering them to tell no one (Matt. 10.27-29). If Jesus was using his miracles to create believers he would have told the men to shout their healing from the mountains, instead he says, “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Matt. 10.29). Another miracle worked by Jesus when he asks for discretion is the healing of a man with leprosy (Matt. 8.1-4). After working this miracle Jesus once again dismisses the man saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Matt. 8.4). Jesus did not only perform his miracles in secrecy, not seeking fame, he also performed them on people who Jews were not supposed to associate themselves with. One description where we see Jesus “hanging” with outsiders is in John chapter four. Jesus was traveling through Samaria he stopped by a well to rest. After sending his disciples to the nearby village to buy food a Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water. Jesus asks for the woman to draw him some water. The stranger was amazed at this because it was well known that Jews never associated themselves with Samaritans. Another surprising thing is that the woman was an obvious sinner, and outsider. This is known because she went to the well at midday, to avoid all the other women. Jesus himself told that he knew of her sins, telling her how many men she had slept with. In spite of all this, while the woman was drawing the water for Jesus he told her his message (John 4.1-42). He showed such compassion that he lowered himself to hang with sinners, so that they too could find the path to eternal life. Jesus even had a tax collector as a disciple in Levi (Matthew), and tax collectors where considered some of the most notorious sinners in Jesus’ time. One of the greatest acts of Christ is his sacrificing himself in order to cleanse the world of sin. He gave his life and allowed himself to be tortured because he loved humanity so much. However it was humanity that turned its back on Christ, humanity who performed the execution, and humanity who turned their back on their savior, and yet still he offered himself up without a fight (Matt. 26.47- Matt. 27.65). Sacrificing oneself for someone else is an incredible testament of love, and subjecting oneself to torture before hand for the same purpose is an even greater testament. Jesus not only acted out of love, but called on his followers to act in love too.
The teachings of Christ are immersed in love. In fact, one of the most well known teachings of Christianity is to love one’s enemies. Christ turns the old teaching of revenge on its head saying;
You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemies! But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be action as true children of your father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5.43-48).
Christ rejects all revenge saying that showing love and compassion to all is the only way to live. He goes on further to show how loving one’s enemies sets Christians apart. Christ even showed compassion to the ones who captured him, telling his disciples to not fight them, and before that Christ shows compassion to demons, allowing them to go into a herd of cattle, instead of returning them to hell. Another well known example where Christ teaches of love is the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish (Matt. 18.12-14).
In this parable the sheep are the followers of Christianity and the shepherd is Christ. When the one leaves the shepherd goes to find it, because each and every single person is deserving of God’s unending love, and even if it puts the group in danger all attempts should be made to save the lost one because of God’s love for everyone. Another commandment based on love is the commandment to not judge others. This is based on love because if someone truly loved someone else then there would be no need to judge them, because love makes them perfect, even if they are not. Christ himself tells us the base of all commandments is “do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Matt. 7.12). This asks everyone to show love to everyone, and Jesus says it is the foundation for all. It is also commanded that disciples of Christ should show their good deeds so that others may learn about Christ through them so they may be saved.
Works Cited
Holy Bible New Living Translation. South Korea: Tyndale Charitable Trust, 2004.
“Love.” Webster’s II New Riverside Desk Dictionary. Home and Office ed. 1988.
Luce, Henry R., ed. The World’s Great Religions. New York: Time Incorporated, 1957.
Everything can be related back to love, from self preservation, to reading, to love itself, to the death penalty. Absolutely everything is relatable to love, and in the Bible, that relationship is multiplied tenfold. Webster defines love as “Enthusiasm or fondness.” Within that definition family, nor intimacy, nor anything else usually associated with the word love is included. Webster’s definition points out that love can be felt between two males, or two females, or between two of anything without any deeper meaning behind it. It is saying that love is a “strong liking” not reserved to husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend. When one can grasp that love is more than love then it becomes amazingly clear how every last commandment, in fact, every last word, points to that if we all just loved one another then sin would be a thing of imagination. When the teachings and actions of Jesus Christ are examined closely, the foundation of love, on which they rest, is easily discovered.
There are instances in the bible where some may point and say, “That’s hatred, not love,” and yet still love rules. These instances are almost always found to be occurring in love when examined more closely however. The reason why apparent hatred is actually love is because in Christian doctrine there is a hierarchy of love. This hierarchy is ordered as love for god, love for others, and then love for self. The idea of a love hierarchy is described in Jesus’ teaching on being a disciple. He says “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison – your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even your own life” (New Living Translation, Luke. 14.26). According to this verse disciples are to love God so much that when they compare their love for God to their love for their friends and family it should seem as if they’re comparing the size of a bacteria to the size of the universe. That sets “love for God” over “love for others” and “love for self.” To place the other two kinds of love in order all one has to do is remember that one of the reoccurring themes in the bible is the need for humility, and lack of pride, and how the bible never cautions about over loving others unless it begins to exceed the love for God. One of the places where this hierarchy can be applied to, to discover the basis of love is the driving of the money lenders from the Temple. Mark describes the event saying “When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices” (11.15). According to Jesus, love for God should be greater than love for others, and so in this incident Jesus was demonstrating a love for God, not a hatred of others. Unfortunately not all Christians have understood this concept.
Another topic that could be debated over the statement that Christianity is love is the actions of those who call themselves Disciples of Christ. The first counter to this argument is that humans are exactly that, human, and are not perfect. They can misunderstand the teachings of Christ. For instance, the crusades were a misinterpretation of the call to spread God’s love. Those who thought up the crusades also inverted the hierarchy, placing their love for themselves over their love for others. They thought that the crusades would bring them profits. Leaders who called themselves Christians and yet preformed unchristian acts also normally were inverting those two parts of the hierarchy. Though followers of Christ often have preformed acts of hatred, the teachings of the bible are still calling for a foundation of love.
Jesus was a man of extreme love, but he controlled his love in accordance with the hierarchy described in the bible. According to the author of the article on Christianity in The World’s Great Religions "(Christ) did not perform (miracles) to win followers, or to impress important people, but in compassion and in response to simple faith in Him" (269). The author states that Jesus did not perform miracles with an “agenda” but because he loved people. The bible confirms this when Christ heals two blind men, and sends them on their way, ordering them to tell no one (Matt. 10.27-29). If Jesus was using his miracles to create believers he would have told the men to shout their healing from the mountains, instead he says, “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Matt. 10.29). Another miracle worked by Jesus when he asks for discretion is the healing of a man with leprosy (Matt. 8.1-4). After working this miracle Jesus once again dismisses the man saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Matt. 8.4). Jesus did not only perform his miracles in secrecy, not seeking fame, he also performed them on people who Jews were not supposed to associate themselves with. One description where we see Jesus “hanging” with outsiders is in John chapter four. Jesus was traveling through Samaria he stopped by a well to rest. After sending his disciples to the nearby village to buy food a Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water. Jesus asks for the woman to draw him some water. The stranger was amazed at this because it was well known that Jews never associated themselves with Samaritans. Another surprising thing is that the woman was an obvious sinner, and outsider. This is known because she went to the well at midday, to avoid all the other women. Jesus himself told that he knew of her sins, telling her how many men she had slept with. In spite of all this, while the woman was drawing the water for Jesus he told her his message (John 4.1-42). He showed such compassion that he lowered himself to hang with sinners, so that they too could find the path to eternal life. Jesus even had a tax collector as a disciple in Levi (Matthew), and tax collectors where considered some of the most notorious sinners in Jesus’ time. One of the greatest acts of Christ is his sacrificing himself in order to cleanse the world of sin. He gave his life and allowed himself to be tortured because he loved humanity so much. However it was humanity that turned its back on Christ, humanity who performed the execution, and humanity who turned their back on their savior, and yet still he offered himself up without a fight (Matt. 26.47- Matt. 27.65). Sacrificing oneself for someone else is an incredible testament of love, and subjecting oneself to torture before hand for the same purpose is an even greater testament. Jesus not only acted out of love, but called on his followers to act in love too.
The teachings of Christ are immersed in love. In fact, one of the most well known teachings of Christianity is to love one’s enemies. Christ turns the old teaching of revenge on its head saying;
You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemies! But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be action as true children of your father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5.43-48).
Christ rejects all revenge saying that showing love and compassion to all is the only way to live. He goes on further to show how loving one’s enemies sets Christians apart. Christ even showed compassion to the ones who captured him, telling his disciples to not fight them, and before that Christ shows compassion to demons, allowing them to go into a herd of cattle, instead of returning them to hell. Another well known example where Christ teaches of love is the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish (Matt. 18.12-14).
In this parable the sheep are the followers of Christianity and the shepherd is Christ. When the one leaves the shepherd goes to find it, because each and every single person is deserving of God’s unending love, and even if it puts the group in danger all attempts should be made to save the lost one because of God’s love for everyone. Another commandment based on love is the commandment to not judge others. This is based on love because if someone truly loved someone else then there would be no need to judge them, because love makes them perfect, even if they are not. Christ himself tells us the base of all commandments is “do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Matt. 7.12). This asks everyone to show love to everyone, and Jesus says it is the foundation for all. It is also commanded that disciples of Christ should show their good deeds so that others may learn about Christ through them so they may be saved.
Works Cited
Holy Bible New Living Translation. South Korea: Tyndale Charitable Trust, 2004.
“Love.” Webster’s II New Riverside Desk Dictionary. Home and Office ed. 1988.
Luce, Henry R., ed. The World’s Great Religions. New York: Time Incorporated, 1957.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
a summer reflection
This summer has brought me through the best of times, and the worst of times. I have learned a lot about my self and strengthened many of my friendships. At points I have felt closer to God than I ever thought possible, while at others, farther. I took the trip of a lifetime to Europe with one of my best, and longest known friend. I have become more open and a lot more social. I have undertaken things more dificult than I could ever imagine all in the name of my faith. This was a summer of change.
This summer has also left me with many questions. The primary question is what am I to do with my life. I've spent my entire life and school career on a path to become a scientist, but is that really what I should be doing for the rest of my life? I have no clue. For a while I thought God might be calling me into ministry, but once again, I am no longer sure. Should I go into music? Should I go into ministry? Should I become a chemist? there has to be an answer somewhere out there and i just hope it comes soon, seeing as I need to start looking at colleges and will eventually need to pick my senior schedule.
Another question that has been thrown into my lap is how does one live a truly Christian lifestyle in a world that is so soft? (see Mike's Hard Lemonade) I mean, we can go through the motions, but the bible is quite clear on what we should be doing, and it seems like very few people are following it.
One thing that this summer has shown me is that I do have a limit. I've always been a person who loves to do the behind the scenes stuff, like set up and tear down. I never would have thought that i would ever loose this drive. Apparently i can. After returning from Europe i looked forward to going back to RIOT at CCV and seeing all my friends, and getting back to helping out, but when i saw the condition things where in i lost it. I just could not believe what had happened. I did minimal set up and then just wandered around the rest of the night. There was no desire in me to help any one at all. this lasted for about two weeks, but luckily my drive has returned. I just hope that it never leaves me again.
Another thing that i learned this summer is God puts the people who are in your life for a reason. I realized just how much i have to offer to many people out there, and have done my best to do so. It amazes me how many people have stories similar to mine, when i had gone through life thinking that i was the only one. For instance, at CCV's Escape camp for high schoolers thre was a time where the speaker, Jeffery Dean, called for people to step out for something or other. I don't remember what we were supposed to be stepping out for but i do know that i really had no reason to. The question didn't apply to me at all, or something like that, but for some reason i just got up and went. outside we eventually split into small groups where i talked to two people who's stories where very similar to mine. I was able to offer suggestions, and am just amazed at what happened.
Another thing i learned this summer is that the opposite gender is very distracting, and thats all i'll say about that for now.
The CIY conference this year was amazing. well, most of it any way. I had a great time, and at the end was changed forever twice. However, the beggining of the conference was not so great. I had no clue why i was at the conference and was feeling tarther from God than i had ever before. However, at the end, God and me had never been closer. This feeling even continued althroughout my trip to Europe and then climaxed after escape. I was reading my bible, and praying probably close to five or six times a day in ernest. I have come down a little from this Christian high but am still going strong.
for now thats all i'll write, sorry bout the lack of organization, although i don't even thinks anyone reads this blog but w/e
School starts in less than three weeks, ughh
I'm almost excited for band again
This summer has also left me with many questions. The primary question is what am I to do with my life. I've spent my entire life and school career on a path to become a scientist, but is that really what I should be doing for the rest of my life? I have no clue. For a while I thought God might be calling me into ministry, but once again, I am no longer sure. Should I go into music? Should I go into ministry? Should I become a chemist? there has to be an answer somewhere out there and i just hope it comes soon, seeing as I need to start looking at colleges and will eventually need to pick my senior schedule.
Another question that has been thrown into my lap is how does one live a truly Christian lifestyle in a world that is so soft? (see Mike's Hard Lemonade) I mean, we can go through the motions, but the bible is quite clear on what we should be doing, and it seems like very few people are following it.
One thing that this summer has shown me is that I do have a limit. I've always been a person who loves to do the behind the scenes stuff, like set up and tear down. I never would have thought that i would ever loose this drive. Apparently i can. After returning from Europe i looked forward to going back to RIOT at CCV and seeing all my friends, and getting back to helping out, but when i saw the condition things where in i lost it. I just could not believe what had happened. I did minimal set up and then just wandered around the rest of the night. There was no desire in me to help any one at all. this lasted for about two weeks, but luckily my drive has returned. I just hope that it never leaves me again.
Another thing that i learned this summer is God puts the people who are in your life for a reason. I realized just how much i have to offer to many people out there, and have done my best to do so. It amazes me how many people have stories similar to mine, when i had gone through life thinking that i was the only one. For instance, at CCV's Escape camp for high schoolers thre was a time where the speaker, Jeffery Dean, called for people to step out for something or other. I don't remember what we were supposed to be stepping out for but i do know that i really had no reason to. The question didn't apply to me at all, or something like that, but for some reason i just got up and went. outside we eventually split into small groups where i talked to two people who's stories where very similar to mine. I was able to offer suggestions, and am just amazed at what happened.
Another thing i learned this summer is that the opposite gender is very distracting, and thats all i'll say about that for now.
The CIY conference this year was amazing. well, most of it any way. I had a great time, and at the end was changed forever twice. However, the beggining of the conference was not so great. I had no clue why i was at the conference and was feeling tarther from God than i had ever before. However, at the end, God and me had never been closer. This feeling even continued althroughout my trip to Europe and then climaxed after escape. I was reading my bible, and praying probably close to five or six times a day in ernest. I have come down a little from this Christian high but am still going strong.
for now thats all i'll write, sorry bout the lack of organization, although i don't even thinks anyone reads this blog but w/e
School starts in less than three weeks, ughh
I'm almost excited for band again
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