It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Often when our lives are in the dumps our relationship with God is better (and our blogging is too) but when things are going good our relationship with God sucks.

I need to grow a heart of thankfulness which calls out to God even when things are going my way.

yesterday or tomorrow?

I can’t seem to keep my mind on the task at hand. I’m reliving yesterday, last weekend, and every day before that. I’m also wondering what tomorrow may bring—is Saturday going to be awesome? I’m everywhere except today.

Today is just not as exciting as I thought yesterday was or tomorrow might be. But it’s far more real, devastatingly more important, and disappointingly fleeting.

So here’s to today, cheers.

To pill or not to pill, that is the question

By pill I'm talking about oral contraceptive pills.

I actually don't have to decide if I'm going to be on the pill or not, but many women do. Being a man, I've decided to tell women how to think. (that's a joke, calm down)

But really, I was reading this blog post by Jon Acuff and in it he talks about pastors who encourage people to go out and be fruitful and multiply. Well, the Catholic Church says you can't use condoms. I can't honestly see their issue with condoms, by that logic we shouldn't also wear seatbelts because that prevents God from taking our lives in a car crash if he wants to.

I have, though, always wondered about the pill. From the little I understood (and still understand) about how the pill works, it sounds like it doesn't prevent pregnancy but rather that it aborts pregnancy.

I found this very interesting article online. I don't know if everything it says is 100% true, if it's biased on it's view of the research, or anything but it seems relatively fair handed. Read it for yourself and decide (if a medical professional wants to weigh in, please do) But, from what I understand the article concludes that there are occurrences when the pill causes abortions occasionally because it still can allow occasional ovulation and conception but prevents implantation. The article seems to be more concerned with how often this happens than that it happens at all.

But based on this, and further research, I am against the use of the pill as the sole method of contraception. It seems to me that any chance (3% to 7%) of aborting a life is too much of a chance.

If you really gotta do the dirty deed, use a condom it's the sexy equivalent of a seatbelt.

Secular Humanism

I've never been the type of student to argue with professors, I usually just take their word on the subject and leave it as that. Even if I disagree with them I would never consider making a fuss about it. The only argument I've gotten into with a professor was with my Social Theory professor who is a self-proclaimed Secular Humanist.

Secular Humanism is the belief that there is no inherent moral or ethical code with which humanity has been imbued, but that by our reasoning and rationale we are compelled to moral action for the benefit of our lives.

Honestly, this is in my opinion the biggest philosophical turd that has ever been laid (at least since relativism...my blog could also be called anti-secular-humanism...but that wouldn't be as catchy). Nevermind the teleological considerations of a belief which is grounded upon the belief that there are no grounds for belief. It's just impractical.

People, as nice as they look on Amnesty International commercials, are a bunch of ruthless, debase scoundrels who will do whatever is within their power to pull themselves up at the cost of those around them. We ourselves are so clearly incapable of love, even hurting those closest to us. By what means do we expect to love the world? By our own efforts?

Bull shit.

"the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28

It is only by His example, His power, His redemption that we are able to love the world. "[the world] could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake." - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest (February 23, 2010)


Secular Humanism (n.) - Giant philosophical turd.

Why do we pray?

I often pray for wisdom and understanding but for my own end, so that I may have clarity and direction for my own edification. I forget that prayer is not to draw God closer to me but me closer to God.

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." -Colossians 1:9-14

Shut up

It's easy for me to remember the God of Elijah who brought down fire from the heavens but it's so easy for me to forget the God who, only verses later, appears to Elijah not in the wind, earthquake, or fire but in a gentle whisper.

So often I am searching for the God of the fire when God is present in my life as a whisper. I need only to quiet myself and realize that God is not distant but near.