Ran into snow today. The fortunate thing about typically getting to work 50 minutes early means that on days with bad weather I usually still make it on time. I’ve only been late to this job once by ten minutes and that was easy enough to make up on lunch break.

I’m keeping busy with lots of potential web projects. I’ve got MyTwitter that I’ve been working on and I’m also helping out with two other projects — one with my church and another one w/ some guys from Saturdays. It’s good times. Once I get a laptop I’ll be able to do even a little bit more hopefully, but this is still a hope and not quite reality.

Managed to sit in on a conversation regarding theology today. I know the term “Federal Vision” though I don’t have any grasp of the underlying theological concepts at this point. I intend to look at it more at some point, but that day is not today. Plus, due to either intellectual laziness or a more keen interest in other topics (punk rock, coding, etc.) I really am not all that interested. I’ll look into it a bit at some point though.

If I ever do read up on Federal Vision, these are the first resources I will check: Wikipedia: Federal Vision and Federal Vision and Theopedia: Federal Vision.

I can already hear you asking: yes, this is for real. No, I don’t think they’re trying for accuracy.

e.g. God = Ceiling Cat

John 3:16 -

“So liek teh Ceiling Cat lieks teh ppl lots and he sez ‘Oh hai I givez u me only kitteh and ifs u beleevs in him u wont evr diez no moar, k?”

Excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer (Teh Ceiling Cat Prayer) -

Giv us dis day our dalee cheezburger.
And furgiv us for makin yu a cookie, but eateding it.

Today, I held a baby in my arms. I was humming a classic musical tune — a march I am unable to name — and hopping around. The baby giggled and smiled.

I’ve met some of the older men in my church recently. The opportunity to hear even a few stories from somebody who has lived through everything from World War II through the Information Age is amazing.

Then there’s the darker angles. The villager from a poor region in Latin America (I don’t remember which country) — a man named Napoleon — who says, “A farmer without land is nothing.” Napoleon is a farmer and he owns no land.

Do you curse God and point out the inequities in the world? Do you scream and shout and beg someone to change the world, do you fight for peace, do you make demands upon people you can’t keep yourself?

I intend to do what I can. I won’t expect anything more from other people, and I expect less from most. Doing anything is better than doing nothing, and a single action is better than all the words in the world save the word that generates new action in hearts and lives.

John 1:1-5 —

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Motion City Soundtrack - L.G. FUAD:

…
I wanna know what it’s like to be awkward and innocent, not belligerent
I wanna know how it feels to be useful and pertinent and have common sense.. yeah
Let me in, let me in to the club, cuz I wanna belong
And I need to get strong, and if memory serves
I’m addicted to words and they’re useless
…

Sometimes I still want to go out and get slammed. Stephen King describes his alcoholism well in his book “On Writing.”

I had forgotten the trick of being straight–and out of shame.

Hemingway and Fitzgerald didn’t drink because they were creative, alienated, or morally weak. They drank because it’s what alkies are wired up to do. Creative people probably do run a greater risk of alcoholism and addiction than those in some other jobs, but so what? We all look pretty much the same when we’re puking in the gutter.

He writes of a friend:

“How much do you drink?” the counselor asked.
My friend looked at the counselor with disbelief. “All of it,” he said, as if that should have been self evident.

I can relate. As so kindly pointed out by generations of alcoholics and their kin, alcoholism doesn’t end when you put the bottle down. Now I’ve got to learn to put down the pizza, the television, the HIMYM and Scrubs, the music, the movies, the books, the news.

Heck, while I’m at it maybe I ought to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow him.

One of their most recent articles discusses the idea of “discipline of place” being a response to our highly transient, constantly evolving society and the sense of isolation it breeds.

David Darlington writes in “More on Isolation” the following:

By “discipline of place” I am referring to being bound to one’s local community by devotion and discipline regardless of what comes around. I am optimistic that if more people decided to value their local community and look to it for guidance and assistance in times of trouble, over big corporate or governmental bureaucracies, social capital would rebound. Though perhaps it might take serious local trauma plus a critical mass of people doing it for such a rediscovery to take place.

It’s an interesting idea, really. I realize I myself have a tendency to move from place to place and to seek new jobs when I tire of the one I have or the place I’m living.

Growing up, I lived all over the United States due to my father’s job in the military. Once he got out of the military, we bounced around to different cities in the same state looking for better jobs. During college, I stayed at the same school, but I spent each summer in different locations. Now that I’ve been out of college for two years in the same state, I’m looking to move on again.

Could I benefit from discipline of place? It would make it easier to maintain relationships. Not with the opposite-sex, though that would be a benefit, too — friendships would also qualify for this benefit. Deep friendships can be developed quickly when you bond over significant events or big discussions, but there must also be some long-term element to be acquired with time that can’t be developed any other way.

I think a large part of the reason I am constantly wanting to move on is fear. I’m afraid I’ll be stuck in the same place with the same sources of unhappiness in my life. I become convinced moving to a new place will help with this, but my problems will follow me. Sin migrates with the sinner if the sinner doesn’t let God’s grace do its thing.

Here follows the simplest definition of grace I can muster: an unwarranted, unearned, unmerited gift given without the expectation of future repayment.
As Yancey puts it, “…grace does not depend on what we have done for God but rather on what God has done for us.” (Yancey, 55)

In the context of Jesus’ teachings including such prominent parables as The Prodigal Son, the concept of grace shows through. If you’re not familiar with the parable, I would recommend reading it.

The most amazing part about grace comes when you realize it applies to you in your own life. No matter what horrible sin–be it sex, lust, pornography, lying, stealing, murder, hatred, etc.–God will forgive you.

1 John 1:8-10 (ESV): “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

He loves you in spite of any terrible thing you’ve done in your past, anything you’re doing in the present, and anything you will do in the future. (This is not to say that he wants you to continue in such a lifestyle.)

It gives me incredible relief to know I’m loved by God and cared about by God despite my numerous shortcomings and my failure to live a life free of mistakes. God loves you the same way.

According to Slate author Jane Smiley, Republicans “cultivate and exploit ignorance.” Really? I am _not_ ignorant about the issues and I don’t believe the 59 million people that voted for Bush are, either. In my own defense, I’ve read about most of the major issues in this election and I agree with most of Bush’s major agendas philosophically, not because he’s a Republican. I think it’s unfair to accuse 59 million people of ignorance because they disagree with you, and even more impossible to prove such an argument.

Her historical justification in the article doesn’t follow through, either. She broadly lumps the conservatives of the present together with conservatives of the past who, if looked at carefully, have many, many different social views. The “conservatives” of a century ago included many slave-owners and when she discusses the ignorance of conservatives he’s saying the past beliefs of “ignorance” are a precursor to the current ignorance.

Oh, and here’s another taste of what she has to say:

bq. Here is how ignorance works: First, they put the fear of God into you�if you don’t believe in the literal word of the Bible, you will burn in hell. Of course, the literal word of the Bible is tremendously contradictory, and so you must abdicate all critical thinking, and accept a simple but logical system of belief that is dangerous to question. A corollary to this point is that they make sure you understand that Satan resides in the toils and snares of complex thought and so it is best not try it.

Okay, Jake, Cora, Jesse, anybody else out there reading and fired up yet? Throw your best disagreements or inflammatory statements in the comments.

First of all, the Bible is not contradictory. Yes, over the past few thousand years, a few minor translation problems arise and we’ve lost the meaning of a couple Hebrew and Greek words. Oddly, however, these are minor errors and do not alter the overall content — the meaning and message — of the Bible. As far as contradictions themselves, I would challenge Jane to find ONE of any significance. She did not offer any in her article.

Secondly, it is ludicrous to claim that critical thinking must be avoided to believe in the Bible. I know numerous amounts of people who are highly critical in their manner of thinking who know the content of the Bible and believe it. Many great apologists in the last two-thousand years, including the apostle Paul, have argued their positions and beliefs quite logically, and many modern apologists also bring in historical, archeological, and other evidence to back their faith-driven beliefs. If you want one example, I recommend reading The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

She goes on to make claims that conservatives desire this ignorance so they can “do anything they [want].” She also, bluntly, says Christians have designed hell as a place for those who they “envy and resent” to go. Based on statements such as these, I wonder what kind of interaction, if any, she’s had with Christians. I also highly doubt if she’s ever read the Bible herself to see what exactly it says. If she did, she’d realize it hardly mandates a person doing whatever they want and it condemns envy and resent. Unfortunately, however, I would not be surprised if she is misinterpreting a cultural manifestation (perhaps Southern) as an example of what Christianity is supposed to be. As with all cultures, that of the South has its flaws and cannot be expected to represent all the truth and teachings of the Bible.

Further lies and other grandiose generalizations lump conservatives, Christians, and residents of red states together as ignorant, cheating, misleading, nonsensical, soul-selling individuals.

Now, for the few liberal readers of my site, I have a question. Do you agree with these kinds of statements? Do you realize Jane Smiley and others who hold similar beliefs back the Democratic Party and influence many of their beliefs, social, and international agendas?

I found this article rather appauling in its verbal brutality and unveiled despise if not hatred towards conservatives and Christians. She titled the article “[w]hy Americans Hate Democrats.” I would like to ask, “Why does Jane Smiley hate everyone who disagrees with her so much?” Her closing statement in the article: “Whatever their short-term appeal, they are borne of hubris and hatred, and will destroy their purveyors in the end.” Oddly, given the tone of her words, it appears she would desire almost the same fate for her opposition.

I reread a large part of Joshua Harris’s book “Boy Meets Girl” today (during work — we couldn’t develop film because our machine was broken), and one of the chapters focuses on communication, rather than kissing, being the primary use of lips in a relationship (he’s all into the courtship terminology, but it applies all the same to any sort of boyfriend/girlfriend relationship).

So, the question is, what did I learn? I could recite the five principles he outlined, but I’ll tell you in a different form. This also includes other personal thoughts that may or may not be included or intended in what Harris says in the book.

To communicate affectively, one most realize that communication stems from what’s going on inside the heart. If bitterness and hatred exists within the heart, it’s gonna jump up and make itself known through the things a person says. If selfishness has its ugly grip holding tightly to the heart and sucking the life out of a person, then the person’s gonna have trouble being unselfish in words and actions.

In order to communicate, it’s necessary to listen. You can’t always talk. Note, however, that you cannot always listen. Sometimes talking must occur. Sometimes to let somebody know what’s really going on, you gotta be honest about who you are and tell ‘em what you’re thinking. Even tell them what you’re feeling — as frightening as that may be. It’s easy to be dishonest when you’re not talking about what’s really going on in your life by hiding on the inside. (I’m not saying tell everybody everything ’cause that’d just be stupid — it talks about that in Proverbs somewhere — I’m just saying sometimes people gotta open up and let others know what’s going on!)

Communication isn’t happening if there’s never any conflict. If you’re communicating what’s really going on to another person there’ll be conflict sometimes and it’s okay! You gotta learn from it, work through it, see what’s there, and address the _real_ problems instead of pretending they don’t exist.

Motive matters. Right things, right reasons, that whole concept. If It might be a great technique to speak with the tongues of men and angels, but if it’s being done for the wrong reasons it’ll end up hurting both people more in the long run than stuttering truthfulness.

Luebbe and Cora, this one’s for you! Guard your heart. Hmm… we’ve had this discussion before, I think. You know what I mean. Yeah, you know. You know!

Ok, sorry for the sidetrack. Mostly, I’m just typing this out to let y’all know what’s running around up in my head as I’m still trying to figure out what it’s telling me.

So the past few days have been better. I’ve spent some time reading the Bible, done a bit of homework, and talked to/hung out with friends.

I started working on a paper tonight about “Christianity and Slavery in Antebellum (Pre-Civil War) America”. I busted out five pages single spaced of a paper supposed to be 15 pages long. The only problem is that this is my appendix and not even central to the topic of the paper. I don’t care though! It’s basically the gospel boiled down to its guts and talking about Jesus. I’ve not had many opportunities for this kind of thing to fit into a paper, but I plan to include it in this one ’cause I believe it bears mention in explaining something about evangelical Christianity. I also plan to argue that a lot of the problems in social conflict surrounding the issue of slavery came from people manipulating chunks of Biblical text to suit their own purposes instead of accurately interpreting it in light of its context. It’ll be a fun paper. I only wish I had more time to work on it. Now that I’ve gotten started, I’d like to do more research into the Biblical arguements used in support of slavery and against it so I can better discuss any fallacies that appear. Alas, I’m not sure how much I’ll get into that, but I’ll look at what the Bible has to say as it is.

In another news… the rest of the semester will be hard, but the end is near. Less than three weeks in this semester. I’m honestly worried that I may not pass all of my classes. If that happens, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll be furious at myself, of course, and it will derail my plans if I have to take more classes.

I’m also not quite sure about my summer plans post-May. I’m worried about Jacksonville and a bit frustrated with the speed at which info about it is coming. Therefore, I’m wavering about still going. I want to, but I’m worried.

Anyway, I should get to sleep. G’night.