Tonight, as I was listening to a conversation some of my friends were having concerning alcohol, I thought of this "selective morality" concept. It is exactly what it sounds like: people who are ok abiding by the "rules" in one area of life, yet not willing to abide by the "rules" in other areas of sin that they enjoy.
We all do this to a degree, but I've been finding this particular area of "theology" particularly perplexing pertaining to witnessing to my friends. Like the conversation I witnessed tonight, about underage drinking. Statements like "Yeah, it was the worst decision I made in my life. I was throwing up all night" and "My parents can't tell me what to do. They try, but they don't really care if I go out drinking with my friends" make me get the shivers. I mean, these people are underage so they're breaking the law, but with little or no conviction.
Also, I overheard another conversation that sounded like this: "When you sleep with your boyfriend, does he sleep naked? I find it so annoying when they just walk around naked all the time."
Yeah, I just didn't know what to think about that. I mean these people seem really nice, and are really nice on the outside, but are selectively moral on the inside.
As I mentioned earlier, we all do this. That's why we need to be so careful. We have a tendancy to be a totally different person on Facebook than in person. When we're on the internet, we have the tendency to be "morally selective". People are cursing and talking about things that I never would hear them say back when I went to Christian school.
We have an obligation to Jesus to be all or none. He doesn't want us on the fence. He wants us to make a decision, yes or no for Jesus. That's what we all, saved and unsaved alike, to do. We are designed to have an innate desire to worship, just be sure you worship the right thing:
Jesus
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Kill the babies, kill the babies
This is a video blog entry about one of the problems in my sociology class. it's really disturbing as far as i'm concerned
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tolerance today, is king
It's amazing how the world changes. One day people tell you "There's so much pressure on you to conform to the world".
Then when you actually go out into the world, the world tells you "Tolerance! It doesn't matter who you are or what you think! Tolerance!"
Is there any way to fix this problem?
I think a lot of people who preach the first phrase are either speaking from experience of scare tactics. I'm not gonna discredit them completely, because there really are people who try to make you conform to whatever they want you to conform to.
But also, many of those people who are using the first phrase as scare tactics, generally are lie-ers. First off, if they're trying to scare you, they're not really giving you a choice. They're the ones that are very closed minded people. But you know what's a shame? Many of these people are in Christian circles. They are so concerned about "not looking like the world" or "not thinking like the world" or "don't give in to the world's style of music", that they're willing to take their eyes off of Jesus in order to accomplish their agenda.
Shame on them!
The truth is, there aren't really that many people out there trying to get you to think "their way". What is happening, though, is this:
"It's ok to believe what you believe, but just accept everyone else in the process"
This is a twisted form of tolerance. It's twisted because by attempting to be "tolerant", they are not tolerating those who aren't tolerant!
So technically, yes they are trying to get you to believe what they want you to believe, but tolerance isn't normally mentioned outside a religious context.
People just don't care what you look like, what music you listen to, etc...
This is what I'm referring to when i say "there's no pressure"
You can basically do what you want without anyone talking to you about it.
This is a problem though.
As a Christian, I don't really want to be "tolerant". To me, there IS a right way and a wrong way. I'm not going to "tolerate [or "allow"]" someone else to believe something other than Christ.
Why?
Because I don't want them to go to hell!
Does this mean I'm always upset with someone or angry at someone or not willing to talk to someone just because they don't believe in Jesus? NOOOOOOOO...
If that were the case, I wouldn't really be living a Christian life!
Therefore, tolerance is not something to be admired necessarily, rather, Jesus is to be desired. And to desire Jesus is to admire both bold/in your face while at the same time gentle and loving.
But please, don't sacrifice one or the other!
Then when you actually go out into the world, the world tells you "Tolerance! It doesn't matter who you are or what you think! Tolerance!"
Is there any way to fix this problem?
I think a lot of people who preach the first phrase are either speaking from experience of scare tactics. I'm not gonna discredit them completely, because there really are people who try to make you conform to whatever they want you to conform to.
But also, many of those people who are using the first phrase as scare tactics, generally are lie-ers. First off, if they're trying to scare you, they're not really giving you a choice. They're the ones that are very closed minded people. But you know what's a shame? Many of these people are in Christian circles. They are so concerned about "not looking like the world" or "not thinking like the world" or "don't give in to the world's style of music", that they're willing to take their eyes off of Jesus in order to accomplish their agenda.
Shame on them!
The truth is, there aren't really that many people out there trying to get you to think "their way". What is happening, though, is this:
"It's ok to believe what you believe, but just accept everyone else in the process"
This is a twisted form of tolerance. It's twisted because by attempting to be "tolerant", they are not tolerating those who aren't tolerant!
So technically, yes they are trying to get you to believe what they want you to believe, but tolerance isn't normally mentioned outside a religious context.
People just don't care what you look like, what music you listen to, etc...
This is what I'm referring to when i say "there's no pressure"
You can basically do what you want without anyone talking to you about it.
This is a problem though.
As a Christian, I don't really want to be "tolerant". To me, there IS a right way and a wrong way. I'm not going to "tolerate [or "allow"]" someone else to believe something other than Christ.
Why?
Because I don't want them to go to hell!
Does this mean I'm always upset with someone or angry at someone or not willing to talk to someone just because they don't believe in Jesus? NOOOOOOOO...
If that were the case, I wouldn't really be living a Christian life!
Therefore, tolerance is not something to be admired necessarily, rather, Jesus is to be desired. And to desire Jesus is to admire both bold/in your face while at the same time gentle and loving.
But please, don't sacrifice one or the other!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
to those falling asleep in the pew
Alright everyone, we have a problem. We got people all around us who are believing lies about Jesus and we're ok with that as Christians.
WWHHHHAAAAAATTTTT!!!???
Yeah that's right, you all heard me.
Last week in Sociology, we watched this movie called "Zeitgeist". We watched the first portion entitled "The Greatest Story Ever Told". This section was on religion. My professor prefaced the movie with, "I was talking to a Methodist minister, and he said all the facts presented in this movie are true."
So basically we got 40 people watching this movie, but now they're not just watching it like they normally would. Now they're watching it thinking everything presented in this movie is fact and truth.
This is the link for part 1 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ReohCr35U
I would encourage all of you to watch all three parts.
What you will find is a 20 minute string of mostly lies.
The individual who put out this video makes some pretty amazing claims about several religious historical figures. All you have to do is some research on any of these people in the movie and you will find most of the facts presented are falsities.
Now, I assume that by this point you have taken some time to watch these movies.
Now try to picture yourself in my shoes:
1: Possibly the only Christian in a room of 40+ people
2: The 40+ people thinking the movie is truth
3: the 40+ people laughing and mocking Jesus out loud as the movie progresses
This is a really hard situation to be in, but it happens.
I'm finding that when I'm vocal in class, stuff like this happens all the time, but most of us Christians just don't vocalize like we should.
Wouldn't it be amazing if the GCCS Senior class graduates with 3 of their class moving on to Camden County College. What if at least one of them gets my professor. What if that one person takes the stand that I am trying to take? I think that that will have an impact on my Professor b/c I just don't think he ever faces opposition that can actually defend their point!
Any way, I hope that you guys are disturbed at this point by the movie and the lack of Christians acting like Christians these days.
"This is a call, to the Faithful. With outstretched arms, to the faithless."- Inhale/Exhale
Please guys, talk with me about what we can be doing to change the world. The first century church did it, why can't we?
WWHHHHAAAAAATTTTT!!!???
Yeah that's right, you all heard me.
Last week in Sociology, we watched this movie called "Zeitgeist". We watched the first portion entitled "The Greatest Story Ever Told". This section was on religion. My professor prefaced the movie with, "I was talking to a Methodist minister, and he said all the facts presented in this movie are true."
So basically we got 40 people watching this movie, but now they're not just watching it like they normally would. Now they're watching it thinking everything presented in this movie is fact and truth.
This is the link for part 1 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ReohCr35U
I would encourage all of you to watch all three parts.
What you will find is a 20 minute string of mostly lies.
The individual who put out this video makes some pretty amazing claims about several religious historical figures. All you have to do is some research on any of these people in the movie and you will find most of the facts presented are falsities.
Now, I assume that by this point you have taken some time to watch these movies.
Now try to picture yourself in my shoes:
1: Possibly the only Christian in a room of 40+ people
2: The 40+ people thinking the movie is truth
3: the 40+ people laughing and mocking Jesus out loud as the movie progresses
This is a really hard situation to be in, but it happens.
I'm finding that when I'm vocal in class, stuff like this happens all the time, but most of us Christians just don't vocalize like we should.
Wouldn't it be amazing if the GCCS Senior class graduates with 3 of their class moving on to Camden County College. What if at least one of them gets my professor. What if that one person takes the stand that I am trying to take? I think that that will have an impact on my Professor b/c I just don't think he ever faces opposition that can actually defend their point!
Any way, I hope that you guys are disturbed at this point by the movie and the lack of Christians acting like Christians these days.
"This is a call, to the Faithful. With outstretched arms, to the faithless."- Inhale/Exhale
Please guys, talk with me about what we can be doing to change the world. The first century church did it, why can't we?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
I'm just going to take a moment to say "I love you" to my most amazing girlfriend ever! She's my favorite little darling i ever did see, and she's very precious to me!
These are some of the reasons I love her so much:
She loves me
She loves Jesus
She's sweet
She's kind
She's lovely
She's patient
She's respectable
She's got an interesting sense of style
She's got a lot of experience with kids
She's an amazing communicator
She's absolutely cootsie-boo
She puts up with my strange sense of humor
She laughs my favorite laughs of all time
She's a good and faithful friend
She's there for me
She never gets tired of saying "I love you too"
She likes hugs
She's super smart
She's amazing at art
She's great at make up
She changes her hair color all the time
She's never the same 2 days in a row
She's great with people
She thinks I'm cute
She sings real pretty
She's sophisticated and simple all at once
She's not afraid of surprising me sometimes
She's not afraid I'll hurt her
She trusts me
She's got a purple van
She loves her little Gumbo [hamster]
She makes Alfredo
She bakes awesome 3 layer chocolate/cheesecake cake
She goes green
She likes taking pictures [unfortunately her camera's broke right now :( ]
She's a night person
She cares about people
She likes my friends
She thinks like no one else thinks
She lights up my life
She's not afraid of leg warmers
She's easy to cherish
She's gonna be a good wife and I love my Hannah Jane Schweigart with all my heart. I'd do anything for her, including dying to save her.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.-John 15:13
And because of this verse, i can without a doubt say I love you!
Love w/all my heart,
Jesse Avery Gruber
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Love in the Garden
i'm just gonna make a couple comments on the Garden of Eden.
I think that many people, including myself, forget who God is. We don't see His might, power, and love in every act He does. I think that's a problem, for if God is not all of His attributes at all times, then is He God?
There's a statement that I'd agree with saying that "God is bound by His attributes." This is true, because every act God wills to come about, cannot contradict who He is at any given time.
SO, we'd live differently if we took the time to delve into some specific acts of God throughout Scripture just to see how many different attributes we can find!
This time we're gonna look at the act of God kicking Adam and Eve out of the Garden.
Love-
God's love is often not seen in acts where He is pouring judgement on someone or something, but it is indeed here in the Garden. Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--Gen 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
Gen 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. "
This right here is amazing, and often overlooked. This passage says that God kicked them out of the Garden of Eden. But this was not a punishment for them. it was protection for them.
You see, if God had allowed Adam and Eve to continue living in the Garden with their sinful state, they would still be able to eat of the tree of life. If they did that, they'd live on earth for eternity with the curse! No good at all.
So instead, God chose to remove them from the Garden. In doing so, He allowed them live their lives and die, rather than live in sinful bodies forever! Pretty cool huh? Especially since we know that God didn't just kick them out to die, He also made provision for them to reach heaven.
What a wonderful God we have!!
Hopefully i'll get to do more of these little blurbs cause there's just so much to write about i could sit here for hours!
Thanks for reading and drop me a facebook message letting me know what you thought!!!
I think that many people, including myself, forget who God is. We don't see His might, power, and love in every act He does. I think that's a problem, for if God is not all of His attributes at all times, then is He God?
There's a statement that I'd agree with saying that "God is bound by His attributes." This is true, because every act God wills to come about, cannot contradict who He is at any given time.
SO, we'd live differently if we took the time to delve into some specific acts of God throughout Scripture just to see how many different attributes we can find!
This time we're gonna look at the act of God kicking Adam and Eve out of the Garden.
Love-
God's love is often not seen in acts where He is pouring judgement on someone or something, but it is indeed here in the Garden. Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--Gen 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
Gen 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. "
This right here is amazing, and often overlooked. This passage says that God kicked them out of the Garden of Eden. But this was not a punishment for them. it was protection for them.
You see, if God had allowed Adam and Eve to continue living in the Garden with their sinful state, they would still be able to eat of the tree of life. If they did that, they'd live on earth for eternity with the curse! No good at all.
So instead, God chose to remove them from the Garden. In doing so, He allowed them live their lives and die, rather than live in sinful bodies forever! Pretty cool huh? Especially since we know that God didn't just kick them out to die, He also made provision for them to reach heaven.
What a wonderful God we have!!
Hopefully i'll get to do more of these little blurbs cause there's just so much to write about i could sit here for hours!
Thanks for reading and drop me a facebook message letting me know what you thought!!!
Friday, November 6, 2009
to my friends that are still interested in my sociology updates
well
i don't even know what to say.
it's amazing the power that a teacher has over the class. it kind of scares me. like today [11/6-09] we talked about religion. about half way through the class the girl next to me noticed i hadn't been putting in my input, but also noticed that i was definitely not buying in to anything he was saying. she looks at me and says, "so what do you think?"
i said, "he's got some really foolish arguments." and i laugh
she says, "yeah i'm dumb, i really don't know what's going on, but i believe what he's saying because i don't know the other side of the argument."
wow.
so i really felt bad for her so i started to get a little more involved, but also being very cautious due to the raised tension level in class.
so i picked started formulating little discussions in my head while he was talking about Jericho.
he said that God told Joshua to go in and kill all those in Jericho so that the Israelites could get the land.
so he got to a point where he asked me what i thought.
i asked, "did everyone in Jericho die when the Israelites conquered it?"
he said historically yes.
so i'm pausing trying to think of what history books even talk about this event, and he just skips on to another subject while i just look at him puzzled.
the truth is, everyone in Jericho didn't die.
Rahab was saved due to her [very little] service to the Lord.
God was kind to her because she hopped on His bandwagon, unlike the rest of Jericho.
amazingly she is also included in the line of Jesus if i'm not mistaken [see Matt. 1:5].
so i really wasn't able to speak into that one at all.
so they started talking about God being a bully when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. again he said that everyone was killed, so God wasn't gracious.
again, the Bible says that Abraham intercede for the cities many times. God in His graciousness decided to "barter" with Abraham as to the number of people willing to follow God. the number ended up at Lot.
so, again, God saved Lot, the only one that would've followed God.
this story shows us God knows the hearts of man including their intents.
but he never gave me a chance to speak.
so he gravitated to the issue of inequality of women.
he said that God thinks women are second to men and thus inequal.
he then quoted part of the passage including the "wives submit to your husbands" passage and left it there.
i [thinking of pastor phil's message on sunday concerning submission] immediately raised my hand and asked "does submission have anything to do with equality?"
he told me he didn't understand.
so i said that the phrase right after that says, "husbands love your wives"
and everyone started talking at once saying that that doesn't mean anything because husbands who beat their wives claim that they love them.
i said "yeah but are they showing it?"
everyone got quiet and Baron [my prof] switched subjects again.
so i never really got a chance to say anything that i would've considered profitable, but at this moment i'm sitting next to one of my friends that just talked to me about my opinion on all of this. so we just talked about Jesus.
yay.
one small victory as far as i'm concerned, but mayb God's got something bigger.
i hope so.
message me on facebook if you have any more thoughts or questions. i left out a lot of details. like this girl who was arguing for Christianity, but only spoke from what her pastor said, not about the Bible or any historical evidence. so yeah.
message me [with encouragement would be best!].
i don't even know what to say.
it's amazing the power that a teacher has over the class. it kind of scares me. like today [11/6-09] we talked about religion. about half way through the class the girl next to me noticed i hadn't been putting in my input, but also noticed that i was definitely not buying in to anything he was saying. she looks at me and says, "so what do you think?"
i said, "he's got some really foolish arguments." and i laugh
she says, "yeah i'm dumb, i really don't know what's going on, but i believe what he's saying because i don't know the other side of the argument."
wow.
so i really felt bad for her so i started to get a little more involved, but also being very cautious due to the raised tension level in class.
so i picked started formulating little discussions in my head while he was talking about Jericho.
he said that God told Joshua to go in and kill all those in Jericho so that the Israelites could get the land.
so he got to a point where he asked me what i thought.
i asked, "did everyone in Jericho die when the Israelites conquered it?"
he said historically yes.
so i'm pausing trying to think of what history books even talk about this event, and he just skips on to another subject while i just look at him puzzled.
the truth is, everyone in Jericho didn't die.
Rahab was saved due to her [very little] service to the Lord.
God was kind to her because she hopped on His bandwagon, unlike the rest of Jericho.
amazingly she is also included in the line of Jesus if i'm not mistaken [see Matt. 1:5].
so i really wasn't able to speak into that one at all.
so they started talking about God being a bully when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. again he said that everyone was killed, so God wasn't gracious.
again, the Bible says that Abraham intercede for the cities many times. God in His graciousness decided to "barter" with Abraham as to the number of people willing to follow God. the number ended up at Lot.
so, again, God saved Lot, the only one that would've followed God.
this story shows us God knows the hearts of man including their intents.
but he never gave me a chance to speak.
so he gravitated to the issue of inequality of women.
he said that God thinks women are second to men and thus inequal.
he then quoted part of the passage including the "wives submit to your husbands" passage and left it there.
i [thinking of pastor phil's message on sunday concerning submission] immediately raised my hand and asked "does submission have anything to do with equality?"
he told me he didn't understand.
so i said that the phrase right after that says, "husbands love your wives"
and everyone started talking at once saying that that doesn't mean anything because husbands who beat their wives claim that they love them.
i said "yeah but are they showing it?"
everyone got quiet and Baron [my prof] switched subjects again.
so i never really got a chance to say anything that i would've considered profitable, but at this moment i'm sitting next to one of my friends that just talked to me about my opinion on all of this. so we just talked about Jesus.
yay.
one small victory as far as i'm concerned, but mayb God's got something bigger.
i hope so.
message me on facebook if you have any more thoughts or questions. i left out a lot of details. like this girl who was arguing for Christianity, but only spoke from what her pastor said, not about the Bible or any historical evidence. so yeah.
message me [with encouragement would be best!].
Monday, November 2, 2009
To thank those who love Jesus, and to admonish those who don't
there are two kinds of people: those who love Jesus and those who don't. those who love Jesus do not have "unity" in mind per se. no, these Christians, as we are called, have one end all goal: to be like Jesus. to be honest, being like Jesus trumps all other desires. unity is not the end all goal. if unity is the only thing Christians strive for, then Christ is not where He needs to be.
see this picture?
these fountains are in unity. they are all coming from different angles at different times at different intensities, but you know what? they're in unity...and it's gorgeous.
unity doesn't call for agreement, it calls for humility.
Eph 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
Eph 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Eph 4:3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--
Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
i ask, what comes before the mention of unity? humility, gentleness, patience, and love. these things are followed by the pursuit of unity.
clearly there are guidelines as to how unity is to be brought about, but unfortunately we're all big wads of ego and want our own version of unity, not the "one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father." that Scripture calls for. we'd rather interject our thought's over God's; a very dangerous place to be.
humility is first and foremost. if we recognize ourselves as the authors of unity, we will provide a cicumstance for disunity and arrogance rather than humility.
this is where we are most likely to err, so i would encourage all in the quest for unity to first off seek humility in the life of Jesus and throughout the Scriptures. also remember that God is the author of order and unity, and that nothing will come about without Him making it go down.
see this picture?
these fountains are in unity. they are all coming from different angles at different times at different intensities, but you know what? they're in unity...and it's gorgeous.
unity doesn't call for agreement, it calls for humility.
Eph 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
Eph 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Eph 4:3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--
Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
i ask, what comes before the mention of unity? humility, gentleness, patience, and love. these things are followed by the pursuit of unity.
clearly there are guidelines as to how unity is to be brought about, but unfortunately we're all big wads of ego and want our own version of unity, not the "one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father." that Scripture calls for. we'd rather interject our thought's over God's; a very dangerous place to be.
humility is first and foremost. if we recognize ourselves as the authors of unity, we will provide a cicumstance for disunity and arrogance rather than humility.
this is where we are most likely to err, so i would encourage all in the quest for unity to first off seek humility in the life of Jesus and throughout the Scriptures. also remember that God is the author of order and unity, and that nothing will come about without Him making it go down.
Friday, October 30, 2009
email to my soc prof about class discussion on abortion and abstinence
This is the email i just sent my sociology professor:
hello again. i just have a few observations/questions:
why are you for abortion when your mother was almost the victim? if the plan had succeeded, you would never have existed. so if the choice to abort means the life or death of an individual [such as yourself] why is it the end of all the world's poverty problems, which you seem to think it is.
also, i'm getting annoyed with you using the Bible incorrectly. just letting you know in the Mosaic law in the Old Testament of Scripture, it talks about divorce. back then, the Jewish men were leaving their wives for whatever reason they wanted to, and you're correct in saying that the women were left with nothing. if the man wasn't there, they'd have no income and no dignity. BUT God in His law to the Jewish people, made provision for these women who were being left with nothing. He allowed them to divorce their husbands thus rendering their honor in tact and giving them the right to remarry so they would have money to live. so stop twisting the truth, or at least don't use the Bible as a source if you really don't know what you're talking about.
also i think the "discussion" on abstinence was a little overboard. i was sitting there wondering if some of these people were arguing for birth control [which i'm not against in the context of marriage] because they want to live the life of promiscuity. also if you want less teen pregnancy, isn't abstinence the most effective way of birth control? if someone's going to teach abstinence, they shouldn't need to teach birth control as well. it defeats the purpose of abstinence! also, i've been abstinent for going on 4 years with my girlfriend, and i think you don't find me to be a "dumb christian". i actually do my research and i might just be the force to reckon with you.
i hope you don't find me disrespectful, i really just want you to speak what makes sense, and so far...it's not working out so well.
Jesse Gruber
I know, I know, it's really harsh, but at this point, it needs to be. I'm sick and tired of him making fun of Jesus so I'm gonna call him down on it...hard. I'm hoping maybe he'll start listening to me soon, but i realize it's not up to me what he thinks. I'm hoping God gets a hold of him before it's too late. drop me a comment or a facebook message on what you think about abortion and abstinence [sex before marriage]. Also lemme know if I'm wrong in what I did.
Thanks.
Let me know if you want more background of the class discussion on abstinence.
hello again. i just have a few observations/questions:
why are you for abortion when your mother was almost the victim? if the plan had succeeded, you would never have existed. so if the choice to abort means the life or death of an individual [such as yourself] why is it the end of all the world's poverty problems, which you seem to think it is.
also, i'm getting annoyed with you using the Bible incorrectly. just letting you know in the Mosaic law in the Old Testament of Scripture, it talks about divorce. back then, the Jewish men were leaving their wives for whatever reason they wanted to, and you're correct in saying that the women were left with nothing. if the man wasn't there, they'd have no income and no dignity. BUT God in His law to the Jewish people, made provision for these women who were being left with nothing. He allowed them to divorce their husbands thus rendering their honor in tact and giving them the right to remarry so they would have money to live. so stop twisting the truth, or at least don't use the Bible as a source if you really don't know what you're talking about.
also i think the "discussion" on abstinence was a little overboard. i was sitting there wondering if some of these people were arguing for birth control [which i'm not against in the context of marriage] because they want to live the life of promiscuity. also if you want less teen pregnancy, isn't abstinence the most effective way of birth control? if someone's going to teach abstinence, they shouldn't need to teach birth control as well. it defeats the purpose of abstinence! also, i've been abstinent for going on 4 years with my girlfriend, and i think you don't find me to be a "dumb christian". i actually do my research and i might just be the force to reckon with you.
i hope you don't find me disrespectful, i really just want you to speak what makes sense, and so far...it's not working out so well.
Jesse Gruber
I know, I know, it's really harsh, but at this point, it needs to be. I'm sick and tired of him making fun of Jesus so I'm gonna call him down on it...hard. I'm hoping maybe he'll start listening to me soon, but i realize it's not up to me what he thinks. I'm hoping God gets a hold of him before it's too late. drop me a comment or a facebook message on what you think about abortion and abstinence [sex before marriage]. Also lemme know if I'm wrong in what I did.
Thanks.
Let me know if you want more background of the class discussion on abstinence.
Friday, October 16, 2009
to all who are thinking of me and my convo with the sociology prof.
hello friends. thanks for thinking and praying of me. here's my recollection of my chat with the professor today.
well first off, he was half hour late. he forgot and was in the teacher lounge. i had to hunt him down so i didn't waste my morning.
but after i finally found him and we sat down he said, "so you have questions for me?"
to be honest i had already asked him some questions the class before [wednesday]. here they were [this is like a flashback so bear with me]
WEDNESDAY
he explained to the class this "amazing evolutionary discovery" whose name was Ardipithecus ramidus or "Ardi". he told the class that Ardi had an apposable thumb on her foot like an ape, but walked upright like a human. he then explained how through natural selection had weeded out this species over time. he then opened up for questions.
of course i raised my hand. i said "i don't understand, if Ardi could both walk upright and swing from trees, why did she get weeded out in natural selection. i mean, doesn't that seem like she had the best of both worlds? wouldn't these genes remain intact rather than choose one setting over the other?"
know what he said? he said, "i agree with you. i don't know. any more questions?"
so i raised my hand again. i said, "in the documentary the archaeologist who found her stated that he himself was surprised that they were able to piece her together. he said that some of her bones were so crushed it was simply luck that they were able to piece the puzzle back together." i then asked, "if Ardi's bones were so crushed that it took luck to piece them together, then how do we know they pieced them together accurately?"
know what he said? he said, "i'm not and anatomologist, i don't know. any other questions?"
so i raise my hand again and said, "the archaeologist also said that he thought to himself when they found the hip and foot bones 'maybe these two things are part of the same skeleton'. how did the archaeologists know the two pieces were to the same thing?"
know what he said? he said, "again i'm no archaeologist. i don't know. any other questions?"
so i raised my hand again and said, "aren't fossils made from from rapid sediment depositing on a living organism and thus preserving it for a long time? how can Ardi have died and been laying on the ground when she fossilized like the documentary said?"
know what he said? he said, "i don't know. any other questions?"
i raised my hand again and asked if a monopoly in an industry was detrimental to society. he said yes.
i was going to tell him today that the scientific community was a monopoly of evolutionists, but never had the chance.
also another questioned i should've asked but didn't cause i didn't think of it at the moment would've been "are these fossils available for other scientists to do research on them" because most times, they close these fossils off to society so that society has to accept what they say as truth.
TODAY
so he made the statement about questions to me and before i could answer he starts going into this long rant about how science and faith cannot mix. he claims that the Pharisees wrote the Bible [they didn't, they possibly made copies, but never autographs]. i asked him to find me contradictions in Scripture. he then started explaining to simpleton me how languages change and how we don't have the same Bible as it was in the original languages. [what i should've said at this point was "oh so you mean that it wasn't perfect in the original languages, but somehow there aren't any notable contradictions in Scripture today? but i didn't. didn't have time.]
he also claims that evolution is happening currently and we can observe it, even though he also admits that species aren't changing into anything new. basically he's talking about micro evolution which no one argues because it's observable. so nothing new there.
i then made a statement or two about entropy, which is a scientific law that states everything is moving from a state of order to disorder, from good to bad. i asked that isn't evolution in contradiction with scientific LAW if things evolve from less complex to more and more complex? he said it seems to, but that doesn't mean that it isn't science and that it's not valid.
WHAT??? he's got more contradictions in that statement that politicians in the senate! i just stared at him.
he also went into some really weird directions like "Pontias Pilate's courtyard wasn't big enough to hold a large crowd" and weird stuff like that. basically stuff that didn't really have anything to do with anything.
he then mentioned that the Creationists say that men rode dinosaurs, and that those people talk flinstones not science. i said that i'm pretty sure they found dinosaur fossils and human fossils in the same layer of earth. he told me that i'm wrong. that i need to check my sources.
class was going to start, so i pulled out the movie Expelled by Ben Stein. i explained to him how the movies challenged evolutionary thinking with the Intelligent Design concept.
he refused to take the movie because he "doesn't like Stein's political views"
unbelievable right? i thought he was kidding so i handed it in his direction again. yeah he wasn't kidding, he didn't take it. i just stared at him, looked at the class, laughed in disbelief, and started to sit back down.
he told me he liked the conversation. he wants to have another one.
oh gosh. he basically said "yeah evolution defies scientific law, but it still is science."
i'm still trying to figure out in what setting we're going to talk again. hopefully in a class setting so all may see that he really doesn't have many pieces together [kinda like Ardi].
by the way a archaeologist just told me that the ending "pithecus" means "ape" in Latin.
i just thought that was kinda funny/ironic.
if you guys have any info for me that i can use, let me know, leave a comment or shoot me an email at: shrankaplooza@gmail.com
thanks all!!!!!
in Christ
Jesse
well first off, he was half hour late. he forgot and was in the teacher lounge. i had to hunt him down so i didn't waste my morning.
but after i finally found him and we sat down he said, "so you have questions for me?"
to be honest i had already asked him some questions the class before [wednesday]. here they were [this is like a flashback so bear with me]
WEDNESDAY
he explained to the class this "amazing evolutionary discovery" whose name was Ardipithecus ramidus or "Ardi". he told the class that Ardi had an apposable thumb on her foot like an ape, but walked upright like a human. he then explained how through natural selection had weeded out this species over time. he then opened up for questions.
of course i raised my hand. i said "i don't understand, if Ardi could both walk upright and swing from trees, why did she get weeded out in natural selection. i mean, doesn't that seem like she had the best of both worlds? wouldn't these genes remain intact rather than choose one setting over the other?"
know what he said? he said, "i agree with you. i don't know. any more questions?"
so i raised my hand again. i said, "in the documentary the archaeologist who found her stated that he himself was surprised that they were able to piece her together. he said that some of her bones were so crushed it was simply luck that they were able to piece the puzzle back together." i then asked, "if Ardi's bones were so crushed that it took luck to piece them together, then how do we know they pieced them together accurately?"
know what he said? he said, "i'm not and anatomologist, i don't know. any other questions?"
so i raise my hand again and said, "the archaeologist also said that he thought to himself when they found the hip and foot bones 'maybe these two things are part of the same skeleton'. how did the archaeologists know the two pieces were to the same thing?"
know what he said? he said, "again i'm no archaeologist. i don't know. any other questions?"
so i raised my hand again and said, "aren't fossils made from from rapid sediment depositing on a living organism and thus preserving it for a long time? how can Ardi have died and been laying on the ground when she fossilized like the documentary said?"
know what he said? he said, "i don't know. any other questions?"
i raised my hand again and asked if a monopoly in an industry was detrimental to society. he said yes.
i was going to tell him today that the scientific community was a monopoly of evolutionists, but never had the chance.
also another questioned i should've asked but didn't cause i didn't think of it at the moment would've been "are these fossils available for other scientists to do research on them" because most times, they close these fossils off to society so that society has to accept what they say as truth.
TODAY
so he made the statement about questions to me and before i could answer he starts going into this long rant about how science and faith cannot mix. he claims that the Pharisees wrote the Bible [they didn't, they possibly made copies, but never autographs]. i asked him to find me contradictions in Scripture. he then started explaining to simpleton me how languages change and how we don't have the same Bible as it was in the original languages. [what i should've said at this point was "oh so you mean that it wasn't perfect in the original languages, but somehow there aren't any notable contradictions in Scripture today? but i didn't. didn't have time.]
he also claims that evolution is happening currently and we can observe it, even though he also admits that species aren't changing into anything new. basically he's talking about micro evolution which no one argues because it's observable. so nothing new there.
i then made a statement or two about entropy, which is a scientific law that states everything is moving from a state of order to disorder, from good to bad. i asked that isn't evolution in contradiction with scientific LAW if things evolve from less complex to more and more complex? he said it seems to, but that doesn't mean that it isn't science and that it's not valid.
WHAT??? he's got more contradictions in that statement that politicians in the senate! i just stared at him.
he also went into some really weird directions like "Pontias Pilate's courtyard wasn't big enough to hold a large crowd" and weird stuff like that. basically stuff that didn't really have anything to do with anything.
he then mentioned that the Creationists say that men rode dinosaurs, and that those people talk flinstones not science. i said that i'm pretty sure they found dinosaur fossils and human fossils in the same layer of earth. he told me that i'm wrong. that i need to check my sources.
class was going to start, so i pulled out the movie Expelled by Ben Stein. i explained to him how the movies challenged evolutionary thinking with the Intelligent Design concept.
he refused to take the movie because he "doesn't like Stein's political views"
unbelievable right? i thought he was kidding so i handed it in his direction again. yeah he wasn't kidding, he didn't take it. i just stared at him, looked at the class, laughed in disbelief, and started to sit back down.
he told me he liked the conversation. he wants to have another one.
oh gosh. he basically said "yeah evolution defies scientific law, but it still is science."
i'm still trying to figure out in what setting we're going to talk again. hopefully in a class setting so all may see that he really doesn't have many pieces together [kinda like Ardi].
by the way a archaeologist just told me that the ending "pithecus" means "ape" in Latin.
i just thought that was kinda funny/ironic.
if you guys have any info for me that i can use, let me know, leave a comment or shoot me an email at: shrankaplooza@gmail.com
thanks all!!!!!
in Christ
Jesse
Monday, September 14, 2009
To Selfish People Like Me
I'm soooo selfish. I want what I want and that's the end of it. I manipulate everything and everyone to get what i want: my parents my girlfriend, my friends, my everything!
The good thing is: I don't feel so bad about it.
Everyone's going HUH?? right now.
Let me explain.
Without Jesus I'd be freaking out. I would think that everything i do wrong separates me more and more from heaven. That would totally stink cause no matter how hard i try, it always goes south. why? cause I'm selfish! Everyone's selfish. Whenever anyone does anything wrong it's selfish.
The reason I'm not flipping out is that Jesus reverses the curse. He says "Ya know what, I died to cover you being dumb. it's OK. i forgive you. You can come in [to heaven] now. Not because of what you did but because of what i did for you."
That's why I'm not flipping out: cause Jesus isn't flipping out at me. He's not yelling at me every time i do something wrong. He says, "i died for that one too! it's OK."
BUT!!!
Only if you trust that He's the only way to heaven.
See He's perfectly just, and because we all do crap all the time, He has to be fair and judge us. He can't let sin into heaven, so that means we have to go to hell.
BUT!!
There is good news. Trust Jesus and it'll be OK. you'll go to heaven because Jesus did the Great Exchange and substituted Himself for us. Instead of us dying, He died. Then He rose from the dead so that we may have life.
Just trust Him.
The good thing is: I don't feel so bad about it.
Everyone's going HUH?? right now.
Let me explain.
Without Jesus I'd be freaking out. I would think that everything i do wrong separates me more and more from heaven. That would totally stink cause no matter how hard i try, it always goes south. why? cause I'm selfish! Everyone's selfish. Whenever anyone does anything wrong it's selfish.
The reason I'm not flipping out is that Jesus reverses the curse. He says "Ya know what, I died to cover you being dumb. it's OK. i forgive you. You can come in [to heaven] now. Not because of what you did but because of what i did for you."
That's why I'm not flipping out: cause Jesus isn't flipping out at me. He's not yelling at me every time i do something wrong. He says, "i died for that one too! it's OK."
BUT!!!
Only if you trust that He's the only way to heaven.
See He's perfectly just, and because we all do crap all the time, He has to be fair and judge us. He can't let sin into heaven, so that means we have to go to hell.
BUT!!
There is good news. Trust Jesus and it'll be OK. you'll go to heaven because Jesus did the Great Exchange and substituted Himself for us. Instead of us dying, He died. Then He rose from the dead so that we may have life.
Just trust Him.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
To Those With No Absolute Truth
I recently had a conversation with some friends concerning absolute truth. This topic is becoming a hot one in not just Christian communities.
The pervasive belief today is this: everyone comes up with their own truth. Basically, no one's right, no one's wrong. everyone's going to heaven because hell is bad and we don't think about bad things cause bad feelings and we don't want that around. [sarcasm]
But seriously, this is a big deal. If there's no absolute truth, i'm telling you now: die. That's your greatest hope at this point.
BUT
The good news is there is absolute truth.
I'm going to be dogmatic about this. Dogmatic means that i'm willing to discuss [some would call it argue] this point.
God is absolute Truth.
Jesus is absolute Truth.
The Holy Spirit is absolute Truth.
Lots of people will say "That's just your opinion. That's just your faith. There's no way to tell if that's true or not."
To an extent, they're right. It is my faith. The question is, is it something worth putting my faith in. The answer is yes.
So much evidence puts Christianity in the position of greatest credibility. Maybe I'll blog about that later. But the point is, absolute truth is real because you shouldn't be alive if there's no way to know what's really true. Comment please!
The pervasive belief today is this: everyone comes up with their own truth. Basically, no one's right, no one's wrong. everyone's going to heaven because hell is bad and we don't think about bad things cause bad feelings and we don't want that around. [sarcasm]
But seriously, this is a big deal. If there's no absolute truth, i'm telling you now: die. That's your greatest hope at this point.
BUT
The good news is there is absolute truth.
I'm going to be dogmatic about this. Dogmatic means that i'm willing to discuss [some would call it argue] this point.
God is absolute Truth.
Jesus is absolute Truth.
The Holy Spirit is absolute Truth.
Lots of people will say "That's just your opinion. That's just your faith. There's no way to tell if that's true or not."
To an extent, they're right. It is my faith. The question is, is it something worth putting my faith in. The answer is yes.
So much evidence puts Christianity in the position of greatest credibility. Maybe I'll blog about that later. But the point is, absolute truth is real because you shouldn't be alive if there's no way to know what's really true. Comment please!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
To Teens
Just letting you know right off the bat, i feel very strongly about this topic. The issue i have is with people my age, and a little bit younger, concerning their parents.
Teens don't love their parents anymore. Most of us will blame it on our parents for not trying to understand. I know that's not the widespread problem. The main problem is that we are soooo confusing and not transparent at all. We try to hide our feelings, likes, dislikes, and desires from our parents because we believe they don't understand. THAT'S TERRIBLE! It's terrible for a few reasons:
1] We are supposed to honor and love our parents. I don't care where your moral compass is, the Bible says this.
2] We are not honoring our parents by being secretive.
3] By not honoring our parents, we are not honoring God.
4] God made us.
5] God loves us.
6]God, as Jesus, was killed...KILLED...for us and we don't treat our parents, and ultimately God, with respect.
Bottom line: We sin when we don't honor our parents.
So how do we honor our parents?
1] Love Jesus.
By loving Jesus, we open the door to limitless possibilities. Without Jesus, we cannot properly love and honor our parents.
2] Make an effort.
Now that your focus is on Jesus, try! Try to do stuff for your parents. Offer information to them. Actively tell them how school was, what your day was like, what girls/guys you're interested in. Just love them.
3] Do stuff.
Try to do stuff for your parents. Do your chores before they get up, or before they go to bed, just to let you know that you love them.
Please friends: love God, love others, love your parents!
Teens don't love their parents anymore. Most of us will blame it on our parents for not trying to understand. I know that's not the widespread problem. The main problem is that we are soooo confusing and not transparent at all. We try to hide our feelings, likes, dislikes, and desires from our parents because we believe they don't understand. THAT'S TERRIBLE! It's terrible for a few reasons:
1] We are supposed to honor and love our parents. I don't care where your moral compass is, the Bible says this.
2] We are not honoring our parents by being secretive.
3] By not honoring our parents, we are not honoring God.
4] God made us.
5] God loves us.
6]God, as Jesus, was killed...KILLED...for us and we don't treat our parents, and ultimately God, with respect.
Bottom line: We sin when we don't honor our parents.
So how do we honor our parents?
1] Love Jesus.
By loving Jesus, we open the door to limitless possibilities. Without Jesus, we cannot properly love and honor our parents.
2] Make an effort.
Now that your focus is on Jesus, try! Try to do stuff for your parents. Offer information to them. Actively tell them how school was, what your day was like, what girls/guys you're interested in. Just love them.
3] Do stuff.
Try to do stuff for your parents. Do your chores before they get up, or before they go to bed, just to let you know that you love them.
Please friends: love God, love others, love your parents!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
For Everyone- What's the real problem with society?
This blog is for all people everywhere in all walks of life. Young, old, it doesn't matter because everyone deals with it.
Problems.
Problems are everywhere involving everyone. This is a hard subject to talk about. Some people think they have no problems [probably because they themselves are the problem], others know they have problems and want to change. I'll tell you this right now: if you keep trying to be a good person, you'll never truly be a good person.
Let me explain.
Contrary to [very] popular belief, there is only one absolute truth. No "that's ok for you, but i'm getting to heaven this way, but we're both right so it doesn't really matter," type thing going on. Bottom line there has to be absolute truth or there would be no order. Man's attempt at absolute truth is government. The government sets up laws for people to follow. Some follow them [at least the big ones], others don't. It works ok, not perfect. In order to get to God we need perfect.
Therefore God is the absolute Truth [email me or comment if you have trouble with that reasoning: shrankaplooza@gmail.com]. What He says goes. You can't argue with Him; there is only one choice: to agree with Him. So no matter how hard you try to keep man's laws [which ends up looking kind of pathetic anyway] you can't be perfect like God. So we're in a predicament here. Some people do all the right things. It's true, there are people that look really good [morally] on the outside. What i'm saying is: it doesn't matter what's going on on the outside!
The Bible says: "Man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart." We're not talking about a literal, beating heart. In Scripture, when it mentions the word "heart" in this context it's talking about DESIRES. Oh shoot, that gets just about all humans everywhere. No one has an excuse on this account, no matter how good they look on the outside. Somewhere along the line, they have thought something other than what God thinks. This is a problem. When someone is looking really good on the outside, it gets harder and harder to have correct desires. Why? Because it's fun to have people like you. When you do good things, people like you. So the question we all need to ask is:
WHY ARE WE DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING? IS IT SELFISH?
Honestly, most of the things we do is very selfish. God knows that and sent His son Jesus to die on the cross. When he died, he died for humanities sins. Everything we have ever done wrong was nailed into that cross Jesus died on. All we have to do is believe that Jesus lived a perfect life [one we can't live] died in place of us for our sin, and three days later, rose from the dead and left our sins in the grave, and you will be going to heaven.
Some of you are wondering how Jesus could rise from the dead. See there's something called the Trinity. The trinity is God in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus could raise himself from the dead because he was not just human, he was 100% God as well. Cool huh?
If you accept the work Jesus did on your behalf, let me know. If you did, you are now JUSTIFIED. This means God no longer looks at you and sees sin, He sees Jesus' perfect sacrifice. Great huh? Again if you have any questions or accepted Jesus' sacrifice let me know.
Problems.
Problems are everywhere involving everyone. This is a hard subject to talk about. Some people think they have no problems [probably because they themselves are the problem], others know they have problems and want to change. I'll tell you this right now: if you keep trying to be a good person, you'll never truly be a good person.
Let me explain.
Contrary to [very] popular belief, there is only one absolute truth. No "that's ok for you, but i'm getting to heaven this way, but we're both right so it doesn't really matter," type thing going on. Bottom line there has to be absolute truth or there would be no order. Man's attempt at absolute truth is government. The government sets up laws for people to follow. Some follow them [at least the big ones], others don't. It works ok, not perfect. In order to get to God we need perfect.
Therefore God is the absolute Truth [email me or comment if you have trouble with that reasoning: shrankaplooza@gmail.com]. What He says goes. You can't argue with Him; there is only one choice: to agree with Him. So no matter how hard you try to keep man's laws [which ends up looking kind of pathetic anyway] you can't be perfect like God. So we're in a predicament here. Some people do all the right things. It's true, there are people that look really good [morally] on the outside. What i'm saying is: it doesn't matter what's going on on the outside!
The Bible says: "Man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart." We're not talking about a literal, beating heart. In Scripture, when it mentions the word "heart" in this context it's talking about DESIRES. Oh shoot, that gets just about all humans everywhere. No one has an excuse on this account, no matter how good they look on the outside. Somewhere along the line, they have thought something other than what God thinks. This is a problem. When someone is looking really good on the outside, it gets harder and harder to have correct desires. Why? Because it's fun to have people like you. When you do good things, people like you. So the question we all need to ask is:
WHY ARE WE DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING? IS IT SELFISH?
Honestly, most of the things we do is very selfish. God knows that and sent His son Jesus to die on the cross. When he died, he died for humanities sins. Everything we have ever done wrong was nailed into that cross Jesus died on. All we have to do is believe that Jesus lived a perfect life [one we can't live] died in place of us for our sin, and three days later, rose from the dead and left our sins in the grave, and you will be going to heaven.
Some of you are wondering how Jesus could rise from the dead. See there's something called the Trinity. The trinity is God in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus could raise himself from the dead because he was not just human, he was 100% God as well. Cool huh?
If you accept the work Jesus did on your behalf, let me know. If you did, you are now JUSTIFIED. This means God no longer looks at you and sees sin, He sees Jesus' perfect sacrifice. Great huh? Again if you have any questions or accepted Jesus' sacrifice let me know.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
To My Co-Workers
Hello everyone at Bloomer's! I just signed up to blog so now i'm using it as often as possible! Yay for technology.
hopefully you all know me well enough by now that i can share this with you. so please if you have any questions email me at shrankaplooza@gmail.com or comment.
I have been praying a lot recently [I assume you all know Pop and I are Christians] and i have really been burdened for you guys. outside of church you all are my closest friends and i care about all of you equally. so hopefully you're reading this.
I just wanted to let you all know how and why i'm a Christian. [some of you may have heard this before but please keep reading].
All of you guys are different and probably have what's called "presuppositions". basically you all have your own different views on everything. By observation you all form different opinions on the same subject. this subject is Christianity.
When someone says "Christian," different things pop into each one of your heads. for some it's a Catholic relative, others it's a huge stone cathedral, others it's a church in your neighborhood. What i'm going to ask you to do is really tough: throw away your "presuppositions" concerning Christianity and go into this with a clean slate.
All of you have heard of Jesus Christ. for some He's a swear, others a Savior. For me He's a Savior. The world today is verfy corrupt and immoral. husbands beat their wives. Little girls get raped. No matter how hard that guy tries to, he can't get over his addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, whatever it may be. No one's perfect in our world, i think we all can agree. everyone has done something bad. from cheating on your husband to cheating on a test, we all have done wrong in some way, shape, or form.
Now apply that knowledge to the "eternal". Is heaven real? Is hell real? What happens when i die?
I assure you heaven and hell are very real places. one is the epitome of happiness, the other is the depths of pain and sorrow. Common sense says hell is bad, and heaven is good. so how do we get to heaven.
Christianity is different than Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, and every other religion in the world. in all of those religions you have to work your butt off to get to where God is in heaven. God is a perfect, loving judge. in order to get to where He is, you have to be perfect. Stink! we just said that no one is perfect. this presents a problem: how can we get to God if we're not perfect?
Remember Jesus from earlier? this is where He comes in. Jesus is God the Son. There are three parts to God: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. [we're not going to get into that now, though]. God the Father knows we are imperfect, but also longs for us to be with Him in heaven. So He sends His son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for all that we've done wrong. because of our wrong [sin] when we die we will go to hell forever. No good. but because Jesus died [brutally], was buried in a tomb, then rose from the dead [because He was God], if we believe in those facts we will be saved from hell to heaven. God will no longer look at you as sinful, but as one of His children. He loves you!!!
The Bible [God's love letter to man] says "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [master of your life] and believe in your heart he rose from the dead, you will be saved."
it's that easy!
Thanks for reading for such a long time. If you believe what i told you, send me and email or comment, or let me know at work.
love you guys!!!!
hopefully you all know me well enough by now that i can share this with you. so please if you have any questions email me at shrankaplooza@gmail.com or comment.
I have been praying a lot recently [I assume you all know Pop and I are Christians] and i have really been burdened for you guys. outside of church you all are my closest friends and i care about all of you equally. so hopefully you're reading this.
I just wanted to let you all know how and why i'm a Christian. [some of you may have heard this before but please keep reading].
All of you guys are different and probably have what's called "presuppositions". basically you all have your own different views on everything. By observation you all form different opinions on the same subject. this subject is Christianity.
When someone says "Christian," different things pop into each one of your heads. for some it's a Catholic relative, others it's a huge stone cathedral, others it's a church in your neighborhood. What i'm going to ask you to do is really tough: throw away your "presuppositions" concerning Christianity and go into this with a clean slate.
All of you have heard of Jesus Christ. for some He's a swear, others a Savior. For me He's a Savior. The world today is verfy corrupt and immoral. husbands beat their wives. Little girls get raped. No matter how hard that guy tries to, he can't get over his addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, whatever it may be. No one's perfect in our world, i think we all can agree. everyone has done something bad. from cheating on your husband to cheating on a test, we all have done wrong in some way, shape, or form.
Now apply that knowledge to the "eternal". Is heaven real? Is hell real? What happens when i die?
I assure you heaven and hell are very real places. one is the epitome of happiness, the other is the depths of pain and sorrow. Common sense says hell is bad, and heaven is good. so how do we get to heaven.
Christianity is different than Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, and every other religion in the world. in all of those religions you have to work your butt off to get to where God is in heaven. God is a perfect, loving judge. in order to get to where He is, you have to be perfect. Stink! we just said that no one is perfect. this presents a problem: how can we get to God if we're not perfect?
Remember Jesus from earlier? this is where He comes in. Jesus is God the Son. There are three parts to God: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. [we're not going to get into that now, though]. God the Father knows we are imperfect, but also longs for us to be with Him in heaven. So He sends His son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for all that we've done wrong. because of our wrong [sin] when we die we will go to hell forever. No good. but because Jesus died [brutally], was buried in a tomb, then rose from the dead [because He was God], if we believe in those facts we will be saved from hell to heaven. God will no longer look at you as sinful, but as one of His children. He loves you!!!
The Bible [God's love letter to man] says "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [master of your life] and believe in your heart he rose from the dead, you will be saved."
it's that easy!
Thanks for reading for such a long time. If you believe what i told you, send me and email or comment, or let me know at work.
love you guys!!!!
I'm new to this
Hey everyone. This is the very first time i've ever been interested in creating a blog. I thought they were really dumb. Whenever someone used the word "blog" i thought they were being dumb. But since the Frederic's child, Lilly, died and they invited my church to check their blog for updates and all that complicated stuff, it doesn't seem so bad. They've redeemed the blog for me. So let me help you understand what the heck my blog's going to be about. My hope is it'll keep my mind going for Jesus. Everyone uses computers now-a-days, so i'm going to try to give something practical and constructive to do. My hope is that it'll help keep some of "my" readers to keep accountable while surfing the web. We all need that, guys and girls. . . everyone.
There's bad stuff happening all around us. much of it includes us in some way, shape, or form. so how do we deal with that? so many "Christian" and "godly" people tell us that we need to be different. We need to be happy all the time because the world seems to be sad all the time. That's a lie. The people who speak out those things really aren't culturally relavent like the Bible calls us to be. I'm 18. I know the world doesn't need happy-go-lucky freaks screaming Jesus and chucking Bibles at them. They need people just like them. How do I know this? Because that's exactly what Jesus gave me. He didn't give me an unreachable goal. He gave me a friend; someone to relate to in a very intimate sort of way. He gave me an example to follow. Jesus didn't have fancy clothes like the Pharisees did. He was a poor guy from a hick town with a terrible reputation. Just like tons of people today.
People tell me "If i loved God i'd be rich, have nice things, be happy all the time, not listen to the music i listen to." Jesus wasn't like that. Very very few people have ever been in so much anguish that they've sweat drops of blood, but tons of people are in anguish. People lose their jobs. People are murdered. People study really hard, but fail the test. People have to go to their child's funeral. People are in hospitals. People get raped. People kill themselves. People have problems. Jesus is a great friend. Jesus was murdered. Jesus studied. Jesus went to funerals. Jesus visited the sick. Jesus helped the raped and the prostitutes. Jesus' friend killed himself. Jesus had problems.
Jesus was able to live through his day to day life because He saw the big picture. It's called God's plan. I just watched the movie "Knowing" which did communicate a "big picture" mentality. Unfortunately they threw aliens or whatever in there and really blurred it a lot, but at least they got the big picture: there's a plan and it's happening for a reason. You got raped, what now? Your dad died, what now? You have terminal cancer, what now? these things are part of a plan, they all happen for a reason, what now? How do you respond where you're at? Are you supposed to laugh at the fact someone died and say "It's ok, i'm a Christian, nothing truly 'bad' happens to me, so this must be a good thing! Yay!" No. You cry. You ask why. You say what now? Oftentimes you can't change your situation, but you do have the power to respond. For unbelievers and Christians alike, I will tell you now: RUN TO JESUS. He knows. He's been through it or worse. He can help you through the fog. He will rarely choose to take the fog away. How are you supposed to get stronger and grow [if you're a Christian], or how will you know how much He's willing to help you through it [if you're not a Christian]. Whoever's reading this, I love you. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Run to Him. If you have questions call my cell. if you think i'm wrong, call my cell. If you want to know Jesus, comment or email me at shrankaplooza@gmail.com
There's bad stuff happening all around us. much of it includes us in some way, shape, or form. so how do we deal with that? so many "Christian" and "godly" people tell us that we need to be different. We need to be happy all the time because the world seems to be sad all the time. That's a lie. The people who speak out those things really aren't culturally relavent like the Bible calls us to be. I'm 18. I know the world doesn't need happy-go-lucky freaks screaming Jesus and chucking Bibles at them. They need people just like them. How do I know this? Because that's exactly what Jesus gave me. He didn't give me an unreachable goal. He gave me a friend; someone to relate to in a very intimate sort of way. He gave me an example to follow. Jesus didn't have fancy clothes like the Pharisees did. He was a poor guy from a hick town with a terrible reputation. Just like tons of people today.
People tell me "If i loved God i'd be rich, have nice things, be happy all the time, not listen to the music i listen to." Jesus wasn't like that. Very very few people have ever been in so much anguish that they've sweat drops of blood, but tons of people are in anguish. People lose their jobs. People are murdered. People study really hard, but fail the test. People have to go to their child's funeral. People are in hospitals. People get raped. People kill themselves. People have problems. Jesus is a great friend. Jesus was murdered. Jesus studied. Jesus went to funerals. Jesus visited the sick. Jesus helped the raped and the prostitutes. Jesus' friend killed himself. Jesus had problems.
Jesus was able to live through his day to day life because He saw the big picture. It's called God's plan. I just watched the movie "Knowing" which did communicate a "big picture" mentality. Unfortunately they threw aliens or whatever in there and really blurred it a lot, but at least they got the big picture: there's a plan and it's happening for a reason. You got raped, what now? Your dad died, what now? You have terminal cancer, what now? these things are part of a plan, they all happen for a reason, what now? How do you respond where you're at? Are you supposed to laugh at the fact someone died and say "It's ok, i'm a Christian, nothing truly 'bad' happens to me, so this must be a good thing! Yay!" No. You cry. You ask why. You say what now? Oftentimes you can't change your situation, but you do have the power to respond. For unbelievers and Christians alike, I will tell you now: RUN TO JESUS. He knows. He's been through it or worse. He can help you through the fog. He will rarely choose to take the fog away. How are you supposed to get stronger and grow [if you're a Christian], or how will you know how much He's willing to help you through it [if you're not a Christian]. Whoever's reading this, I love you. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Run to Him. If you have questions call my cell. if you think i'm wrong, call my cell. If you want to know Jesus, comment or email me at shrankaplooza@gmail.com
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