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.
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