Kudos to the California State Supreme Court today. The high court voted 6-1 to uphold a voter initiative known as Proposition 8 that banned homosexual marriages in California.
You can read about the whole story here.
In a time when 5 states have already legalized homosexual marriage (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine - effective 9/1/09 and Vermont - effective 9/14/09), and all 5 of those decisions were made via state judicial action, it is nice to see that someone in the government still understands "We the people..."
The citizens of Iowa are already mobilizing a voter initiative of their own to overturn the state supreme court's decision regarding same-sex marriage. In a recent Gallop poll taken, approx. 60% of Iowans polled were against gay marriage.
Homosexual activists and special interest groups are fighting tooth and nail to keep any and all voter initiatives off the November ballots. And for good reason! The only way for them to legalize gay marriage in the first place was by circumventing the will of the people by using liberal judges to push through special interest rulings.
So, long story short...good job California! It's nice to see the land of fruits and nuts get something right for a change.
26 May 2009
11 May 2009
A confession
I am a hypocrite.
My words and my actions don't match up.
I have been fighting off this nagging guilty feeling for a while now, and tonight it got the best of me. The things I say are important to me, the things I say I believe and want to strive for...well, I don't do those things. I take the easy way out more times than not. I'm a coward when it comes to actually living out my faith.
I look at my brother, Erick, who refuses to call himself a Christian because he is not willing to submit to the lifestyle of a Christ-follower....and I am deeply convicted. I'm convicted because Erick and I are extremely similar in our behavior, in the words that come out of our mouth, in choices of entertainment and lots of other things. Erick is true to himself and his professed world view. However, I claim to be a follower of Christ. There are certain things that I can't hold against people who don't choose to follow Christ...and certain things that the Bible says we MUST hold against people who claim the name of Christ in their life.
I got drunk Saturday night. Excessively drunk. I am 25 years old, and I wasn't driving any vehicle that night, so I did nothing illegal. Yet, I feel terrible in my inner man because I know that I willingly disobeyed what the Bible commands me to do.
I have slipped into habits of vulgar and coarse talk. I now find expletives peppering my normal vocabulary. I would be mortified if my pastor heard these words out of my mouth, yet I'm OK with my friends and fraternity brothers who don't know Jesus hearing them. I am a hypocrite. I am why people don't go to church. I am why people aren't interested in Christ.
I am also completely heartbroken over this fact.
---
This is the point where my brother rolls his eyes and thinks "here we go again, another supposed revival..." because he's tired of my vacillation. I'm the guy Revelation 3 talks about who gets spit out of God's mouth.
What's my point, you ask? Why am I confessing this on a blog for all to see? Is this a "look at me" moment? No, I just wanted to be real. I wanted everyone to know that I recognize my sin and I am going to bow before the throne of God, beg forgiveness and strive for restoration to the man of God I desperately want to be.
I am searching for my life purpose. I don't know specifically what it is right now. Please pray for my restoration and for wisdom and guidance. I am a broken man in need of healing.
Praise God for His grace and mercy to me. I don't deserve any of it...
My words and my actions don't match up.
I have been fighting off this nagging guilty feeling for a while now, and tonight it got the best of me. The things I say are important to me, the things I say I believe and want to strive for...well, I don't do those things. I take the easy way out more times than not. I'm a coward when it comes to actually living out my faith.
I look at my brother, Erick, who refuses to call himself a Christian because he is not willing to submit to the lifestyle of a Christ-follower....and I am deeply convicted. I'm convicted because Erick and I are extremely similar in our behavior, in the words that come out of our mouth, in choices of entertainment and lots of other things. Erick is true to himself and his professed world view. However, I claim to be a follower of Christ. There are certain things that I can't hold against people who don't choose to follow Christ...and certain things that the Bible says we MUST hold against people who claim the name of Christ in their life.
I got drunk Saturday night. Excessively drunk. I am 25 years old, and I wasn't driving any vehicle that night, so I did nothing illegal. Yet, I feel terrible in my inner man because I know that I willingly disobeyed what the Bible commands me to do.
I have slipped into habits of vulgar and coarse talk. I now find expletives peppering my normal vocabulary. I would be mortified if my pastor heard these words out of my mouth, yet I'm OK with my friends and fraternity brothers who don't know Jesus hearing them. I am a hypocrite. I am why people don't go to church. I am why people aren't interested in Christ.
I am also completely heartbroken over this fact.
---
This is the point where my brother rolls his eyes and thinks "here we go again, another supposed revival..." because he's tired of my vacillation. I'm the guy Revelation 3 talks about who gets spit out of God's mouth.
What's my point, you ask? Why am I confessing this on a blog for all to see? Is this a "look at me" moment? No, I just wanted to be real. I wanted everyone to know that I recognize my sin and I am going to bow before the throne of God, beg forgiveness and strive for restoration to the man of God I desperately want to be.
I am searching for my life purpose. I don't know specifically what it is right now. Please pray for my restoration and for wisdom and guidance. I am a broken man in need of healing.
Praise God for His grace and mercy to me. I don't deserve any of it...
07 April 2009
The Global Warming Lie
Run for the hills! The polar ice caps are melting!! Oh no...the global temperature is rising!!! AHHHHHH.....
Hmm, somehow I don't buy it. Al Gore didn't invent the internet and "The Day After Tomorrow" is not ever going to happen.
The entire concept of global warming is a lie. Period. Stop. It is a fabrication conceived by extremist, alarmist, environmentalists who are violently anti-industry and have a vested interest in causing worldwide panic.
Thankfully, I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Martin Durkin, a british filmmaker, gathered nine scientists, experts in various relevant fields and made a documentary "The Great Global Warming Scandal".
"global warming "is a multibillion-dollar worldwide industry, created by fanatically anti-industrial environmentalists, supported by scientists peddling scare stories to chase funding, and propped up by compliant politicians and the media."
Durkin's research comes from an impressive roll-call of experts," including nine professors, who are experts in climatology, oceanography, meteorology, biogeography and paleoclimatology."
Hmm, does Al Gore have expertise in any of those fields? Nope.
NASA itself was caught manipulating climate data from the Goddard Institute in 2008. Who was in charge of that mess? Dr. James Hansen, a member of Al Gore's advisory team during the Clinton Administration.
Need a refresher course in history? This same James Hansen is responsible for starting the whole global warming scare in 1988, when he testified his baseless opinions before a Senate subcommittee.
This guy has been guilty of inflating temperature readings and publishing blatantly false data for over 20 years. He is also the centerpiece of Al Gore's Oscar-winning film "An Inconvenient Truth".
Look at trends over the last few centuries. Look at temperature readings in rural areas not affected by explosive population growth and urbanization. Don't buy into the fanatical alarmists who want to save the whales and the trees and could care less about the humans.
Anarctic ice growth is up 43% in many areas from where is was 30 years ago. Temperatures in rural areas are actually down in many places. Global warming isn't happening. If you think it is, dig your head out of the sand and look at the facts. Not the twisted, unfounded opinions of special-interest scientists and deviant politicians. The facts, people.
Here's some good places to start:
http://www.sitewave.net/news/s49p1831.htm
http://www.amlibpub.com/liberty_blog/2009/01/nasa-rigs-data-reports-false-global.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/1314806/Global-warming-claims-based-on-false-data.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/ipcc-scientists-caught-producing-false-data-to-push-global-warming.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L82mUy18PQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh1f6lgQNo0
Enjoy your day! Blessings...
Hmm, somehow I don't buy it. Al Gore didn't invent the internet and "The Day After Tomorrow" is not ever going to happen.
The entire concept of global warming is a lie. Period. Stop. It is a fabrication conceived by extremist, alarmist, environmentalists who are violently anti-industry and have a vested interest in causing worldwide panic.
Thankfully, I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Martin Durkin, a british filmmaker, gathered nine scientists, experts in various relevant fields and made a documentary "The Great Global Warming Scandal".
"global warming "is a multibillion-dollar worldwide industry, created by fanatically anti-industrial environmentalists, supported by scientists peddling scare stories to chase funding, and propped up by compliant politicians and the media."
Durkin's research comes from an impressive roll-call of experts," including nine professors, who are experts in climatology, oceanography, meteorology, biogeography and paleoclimatology."
Hmm, does Al Gore have expertise in any of those fields? Nope.
NASA itself was caught manipulating climate data from the Goddard Institute in 2008. Who was in charge of that mess? Dr. James Hansen, a member of Al Gore's advisory team during the Clinton Administration.
Need a refresher course in history? This same James Hansen is responsible for starting the whole global warming scare in 1988, when he testified his baseless opinions before a Senate subcommittee.
This guy has been guilty of inflating temperature readings and publishing blatantly false data for over 20 years. He is also the centerpiece of Al Gore's Oscar-winning film "An Inconvenient Truth".
Look at trends over the last few centuries. Look at temperature readings in rural areas not affected by explosive population growth and urbanization. Don't buy into the fanatical alarmists who want to save the whales and the trees and could care less about the humans.
Anarctic ice growth is up 43% in many areas from where is was 30 years ago. Temperatures in rural areas are actually down in many places. Global warming isn't happening. If you think it is, dig your head out of the sand and look at the facts. Not the twisted, unfounded opinions of special-interest scientists and deviant politicians. The facts, people.
Here's some good places to start:
http://www.sitewave.net/news/s49p1831.htm
http://www.amlibpub.com/liberty_blog/2009/01/nasa-rigs-data-reports-false-global.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/1314806/Global-warming-claims-based-on-false-data.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/ipcc-scientists-caught-producing-false-data-to-push-global-warming.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L82mUy18PQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh1f6lgQNo0
Enjoy your day! Blessings...
06 March 2009
Feeling like myself again
When life becomes about me, satisfaction leaves quickly.
My only true joy comes when my eyes are where they belong.
It's not about me and it never has been. Wordy, contemplative introspection is therapeutic, but counter-productive to what needs to happen.
Today, I got over myself. Talk less, listen more. I'm going to do my best to live that out. You're welcome to join me and walk down life's path for a bit...or more.
To those who have been effected, I'm sorry for taking myself too seriously. My joy has returned, I'd like to share it with you...
My only true joy comes when my eyes are where they belong.
It's not about me and it never has been. Wordy, contemplative introspection is therapeutic, but counter-productive to what needs to happen.
Today, I got over myself. Talk less, listen more. I'm going to do my best to live that out. You're welcome to join me and walk down life's path for a bit...or more.
To those who have been effected, I'm sorry for taking myself too seriously. My joy has returned, I'd like to share it with you...
11 February 2009
My hope is built on nothing less...
Today the Senate voted 61-37 in favor of President Obama's $838 billion stimulus package. Now, I'm no economist and I'm pretty sure no one in Washington has called me asking for advice on how to fix the recession America has been experiencing since the early fall. However, I don't think many credentials at all are required to know that this spending package is a terrible idea. This baby is so laden with pork it would make a vegetarian cry for his collard greens.
A good analogy is that it's like the college student who doesn't have any money, so he borrows the maximum he can get on student loans...WAY more than he needs, and spends every penny of it buying a new car, an XBOX and fixing that leaky faucet in the apartment...the only problem is now he's in debt up to his eyeballs and has really screwed up his future. He just doesn't know it yet.
It's during times like these when seemingly everyone in the media, Washington and down at city hall want me to freak out that I am reminded where my foundation is. What a blessing it is to personally know the God who hand-picked the stars in the sky and intimately crafted everything my eyes have ever seen. During these uncertain times, my faith in Christ is more than enough to get me through. His faithfulness has never let me down. Praise Him.
Christians, let's not forget to pray for our leaders, both state, local and federal. Pray for wisdom and discernment as they try to navigate these waters and lead our nation back to financial stability. This is a wonderful time to be a strong witness to a lost and dying world.
Blessings...
A good analogy is that it's like the college student who doesn't have any money, so he borrows the maximum he can get on student loans...WAY more than he needs, and spends every penny of it buying a new car, an XBOX and fixing that leaky faucet in the apartment...the only problem is now he's in debt up to his eyeballs and has really screwed up his future. He just doesn't know it yet.
It's during times like these when seemingly everyone in the media, Washington and down at city hall want me to freak out that I am reminded where my foundation is. What a blessing it is to personally know the God who hand-picked the stars in the sky and intimately crafted everything my eyes have ever seen. During these uncertain times, my faith in Christ is more than enough to get me through. His faithfulness has never let me down. Praise Him.
Christians, let's not forget to pray for our leaders, both state, local and federal. Pray for wisdom and discernment as they try to navigate these waters and lead our nation back to financial stability. This is a wonderful time to be a strong witness to a lost and dying world.
Blessings...
08 February 2009
A blog for a comment
My friends, we are only as complicated as we make ourselves out to be. Pride and pretense have taken the place of genuine friendship and transparency. We all desperately want to find true love and acceptance in this world, but we are so rapt with fear and doubt brought on by our upbringing and our parent's fear and doubt and their parent's...well, you get the idea.
Society lies to us and we just take it. Society gives men the foolish and lazy idea to not be men, to not stand up and fill our role. Somewhere along the line we learned that taking the easy way out came with little consequence...or so it seems. It absolutely floors me to see how completely passive my gender can be. Don't get me wrong, I'm just as guilty more times than not...but this is my blog, so I get to think out loud for right now.
A personal example:
I spent some of this afternoon thinking about a set of events that has occurred in my life since this semester began in the middle of January. The past few weeks, I've been spending some quality with a pretty awesome lady friend of mine...known the gal for about 15 years. I don't really know what was different now, but something just clicked and I took a step that hopefully every single man will take at some point, I initiated contact. I asked her out for some coffee, and thankfully she accepted. Conversation flowed effortlessly and coffee went down as a success in my book. Another week went by and more time was spent with her, just little stuff...some studying here, an anti-superbowl party there, just some relaxed, fun stuff. I am starting to feel like I have a good feel for who she is, we are beginning to form the bonds of a true friendship. There is chemistry and some flirting back and forth, but it's all good. Another "coffee date" for lack of a better term, a movie night, and some bowling. All is well, right? Wrong.
That's right about the time when my gender, my environment and my society caught up to me and popped some stupid pills down my throat. I committed the same cardinal sin that almost every man commits sooner or later and it makes women want to pull their hair out. I over-complicated the whole ball of wax. Men have been doing it for years. (I can't speak for women, for obvious reasons, so I hope you'll forgive me.) I started thinking too much and got frustrated with myself, I started to playback all the stuff I'd said and done in the last 3 weeks and started picking out everything that I thought went "wrong"...Men do this all the time. Especially with women. Especially when a gem crosses our path and we recognize how important our actions, words and attitudes are. We clam up and stop listening to our source of truth and strength. I know I did.
Big mistake. I wasn't being a man. I certainly wasn't operating in the same God-given confidence that I spend most of my days residing inside. Normally, I am a very strong person...it's not because I myself possess any strength of any kind. Quite to the contrary. I am strong because I realize that I am supremely weak, and I defer all things possible to the One who possesses infinite amounts of all good things.
The complete lack of confidence, the fear and doubt that I experienced Friday was a result of attempting to operate under my own strength for a brief moment. I wasn't even myself anymore. Thankfully, the poor lass on the other end of the phone had the good sense to tell me to stop talking. I made things too complicated. You have very likely done the very same thing.
So guys, how do we stop this from happening? How do we avoid embarrassing, emasculating actions that make us feel weak and inadequate? How do we kick that sick feeling in our stomach that tells us we aren't good enough? How do we accurately represent ourselves to the Godly women in this world who are just looking for God's men to stand up? Cling to the only real strength in this world. Find your confidence and your identity in the One who gave you that Y chromosome. You are nothing, I am nothing. When I look in the mirror, if all I see is me...all I see is failure and inadequacy. You don't want that anymore than I do.
God's man is ready for anything. He's got his armor (Eph. 6) on and he is good to go. You want to kick that feeling that you can't make it, that you can't win the maiden and you can't slay the dragon...? Pick up your Sword (The Word of God) and let's go un-complicate some things.
Blessings...
---
P.S. - Let me just say that pursuing personal development for any sake other than the quest for holiness and the glory of Almighty God is a mistake. Trying to be more like Jesus to win the girl is a dangerous card to play. Check yourself. Get in the Word every day. Be a man.
P.P.S. - To the ladies: Please demand that we act like men. So many of you refer to us as "boys"...but I don't want to be called a boy any more than the next guy. If you're tired of dealing with boys, then raise your standards. Wait for the men. The man worth having is most definitely worth waiting for. However, when you've got a keeper, don't be afraid to make a move! When a keeper sticks his neck out there to come after you, don't let him draw back a nub.
Just saying...
Society lies to us and we just take it. Society gives men the foolish and lazy idea to not be men, to not stand up and fill our role. Somewhere along the line we learned that taking the easy way out came with little consequence...or so it seems. It absolutely floors me to see how completely passive my gender can be. Don't get me wrong, I'm just as guilty more times than not...but this is my blog, so I get to think out loud for right now.
A personal example:
I spent some of this afternoon thinking about a set of events that has occurred in my life since this semester began in the middle of January. The past few weeks, I've been spending some quality with a pretty awesome lady friend of mine...known the gal for about 15 years. I don't really know what was different now, but something just clicked and I took a step that hopefully every single man will take at some point, I initiated contact. I asked her out for some coffee, and thankfully she accepted. Conversation flowed effortlessly and coffee went down as a success in my book. Another week went by and more time was spent with her, just little stuff...some studying here, an anti-superbowl party there, just some relaxed, fun stuff. I am starting to feel like I have a good feel for who she is, we are beginning to form the bonds of a true friendship. There is chemistry and some flirting back and forth, but it's all good. Another "coffee date" for lack of a better term, a movie night, and some bowling. All is well, right? Wrong.
That's right about the time when my gender, my environment and my society caught up to me and popped some stupid pills down my throat. I committed the same cardinal sin that almost every man commits sooner or later and it makes women want to pull their hair out. I over-complicated the whole ball of wax. Men have been doing it for years. (I can't speak for women, for obvious reasons, so I hope you'll forgive me.) I started thinking too much and got frustrated with myself, I started to playback all the stuff I'd said and done in the last 3 weeks and started picking out everything that I thought went "wrong"...Men do this all the time. Especially with women. Especially when a gem crosses our path and we recognize how important our actions, words and attitudes are. We clam up and stop listening to our source of truth and strength. I know I did.
Big mistake. I wasn't being a man. I certainly wasn't operating in the same God-given confidence that I spend most of my days residing inside. Normally, I am a very strong person...it's not because I myself possess any strength of any kind. Quite to the contrary. I am strong because I realize that I am supremely weak, and I defer all things possible to the One who possesses infinite amounts of all good things.
The complete lack of confidence, the fear and doubt that I experienced Friday was a result of attempting to operate under my own strength for a brief moment. I wasn't even myself anymore. Thankfully, the poor lass on the other end of the phone had the good sense to tell me to stop talking. I made things too complicated. You have very likely done the very same thing.
So guys, how do we stop this from happening? How do we avoid embarrassing, emasculating actions that make us feel weak and inadequate? How do we kick that sick feeling in our stomach that tells us we aren't good enough? How do we accurately represent ourselves to the Godly women in this world who are just looking for God's men to stand up? Cling to the only real strength in this world. Find your confidence and your identity in the One who gave you that Y chromosome. You are nothing, I am nothing. When I look in the mirror, if all I see is me...all I see is failure and inadequacy. You don't want that anymore than I do.
God's man is ready for anything. He's got his armor (Eph. 6) on and he is good to go. You want to kick that feeling that you can't make it, that you can't win the maiden and you can't slay the dragon...? Pick up your Sword (The Word of God) and let's go un-complicate some things.
Blessings...
---
P.S. - Let me just say that pursuing personal development for any sake other than the quest for holiness and the glory of Almighty God is a mistake. Trying to be more like Jesus to win the girl is a dangerous card to play. Check yourself. Get in the Word every day. Be a man.
P.P.S. - To the ladies: Please demand that we act like men. So many of you refer to us as "boys"...but I don't want to be called a boy any more than the next guy. If you're tired of dealing with boys, then raise your standards. Wait for the men. The man worth having is most definitely worth waiting for. However, when you've got a keeper, don't be afraid to make a move! When a keeper sticks his neck out there to come after you, don't let him draw back a nub.
Just saying...
I'm trying to not roll my eyes...
Ok, sometimes I am really confused and frustrated by things that are outside of my control. This is one of those times. I just got finished reading an article on www.boundless.org on some stuff about relationships and marriage. It's mostly talking about how in our generation, people are hitting puberty faster than ever, but getting married later in life than ever before...and the kind of effect that this is having on the amount of pre-marital sex that is happening in the church now.
There's a big gap in the middle called adolescence...I'm pretty sure it's a 20th-century American creation. You've got a bunch of pseudo-adults running around wanting the privileges of adulthood while still living in Mom's house or on Mom's dollar. Guys aren't preparing themselves for marriage, fatherhood and adult life and no one in society is forcing them. I want to throw up my hands and slap some faces...
I really don't understand why my gender insists on living in the middle for so long. Maybe it's cause I hit the magic 25 mark and now I'm really starting to see the brevity of life, or maybe it's because it really is a problem.
I'm living life on purpose now, have been for a while. I'm not going out and looking for a wife, but I'm preparing myself to be the kind of man my future wife wants to marry. I love kids! I am looking forward with great anticipation for fatherhood someday. Obviously, there are many steps and phases of life between now and then, but when that day comes I will welcome it with open arms. So many guys I know are just not interested in even talking about that, and I don't understand why.
I have a lady friend who is convinced that men are more complicated than women. I've been trying to argue with her and explain my case, but the more I think about it, the more I agree with her. At least women carry their complications around in their purse and on their face. Men are pretty sneaky with our complications. You'll never see them until it counts, then they spring out like the Jack-in-the-box.
So what does all this mean? Is there something we as a Christian sub-culture can do to equip our young men to be intentional, to be consciously developing characteristics of biblical manhood, and to be preparing themselves to lead a wife and family someday soon? I think the answer is that those of us who are a bit older need to lead by example, and also take the effort to disciple those a bit behind us on life's journey. Certainly none of us are perfect, but living every day life for God's glory and purpose is easier if you're not alone. Just a thought...
Most of this post is just me thinking through my fingers and onto my computer screen, so I'm not sure if I can tie this up and put a bow on it. Let's just say that I am definitely looking forward to the post-college phases of life and every single step along the way.
The real challenge is finding the satisfaction and joy in the seconds, hours, days and months between now and then. I love a good challenge... ;-)
Blessings...
There's a big gap in the middle called adolescence...I'm pretty sure it's a 20th-century American creation. You've got a bunch of pseudo-adults running around wanting the privileges of adulthood while still living in Mom's house or on Mom's dollar. Guys aren't preparing themselves for marriage, fatherhood and adult life and no one in society is forcing them. I want to throw up my hands and slap some faces...
I really don't understand why my gender insists on living in the middle for so long. Maybe it's cause I hit the magic 25 mark and now I'm really starting to see the brevity of life, or maybe it's because it really is a problem.
I'm living life on purpose now, have been for a while. I'm not going out and looking for a wife, but I'm preparing myself to be the kind of man my future wife wants to marry. I love kids! I am looking forward with great anticipation for fatherhood someday. Obviously, there are many steps and phases of life between now and then, but when that day comes I will welcome it with open arms. So many guys I know are just not interested in even talking about that, and I don't understand why.
I have a lady friend who is convinced that men are more complicated than women. I've been trying to argue with her and explain my case, but the more I think about it, the more I agree with her. At least women carry their complications around in their purse and on their face. Men are pretty sneaky with our complications. You'll never see them until it counts, then they spring out like the Jack-in-the-box.
So what does all this mean? Is there something we as a Christian sub-culture can do to equip our young men to be intentional, to be consciously developing characteristics of biblical manhood, and to be preparing themselves to lead a wife and family someday soon? I think the answer is that those of us who are a bit older need to lead by example, and also take the effort to disciple those a bit behind us on life's journey. Certainly none of us are perfect, but living every day life for God's glory and purpose is easier if you're not alone. Just a thought...
Most of this post is just me thinking through my fingers and onto my computer screen, so I'm not sure if I can tie this up and put a bow on it. Let's just say that I am definitely looking forward to the post-college phases of life and every single step along the way.
The real challenge is finding the satisfaction and joy in the seconds, hours, days and months between now and then. I love a good challenge... ;-)
Blessings...
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