americans are all wrong

I met an American today, and he was a jerk. He was loud, rude and pretty much annoying in every way. I was so annoyed by him, that I've decided to just drop the whole "Declaration of Independence" thing. If Americans are all so annoying, why should I believe the same thing that they believe?

Yes, this is a stupid thing to say. I know that. But the same idea carries over into religion all the time. For example, "I don't believe in God. It's not like Christians are any different anyway."

That is stupid. Whatever I do, God is the same. God was here before me, and God is always going to be bigger than I am. So don't judge God based on my actions. If you should choose to use the logic written above, I can't stop you. But I can sure tell you that it's not a good idea.

Be smart. Use uncommon sense.

Skillet

In about 24 hours, I will surrounded by a very large crowd of people, who are all observing a group of people standing on a stage holding guitars. This group of people is known collectively as "Skillet." Skillet is classified as a Christian metal band, meaning that they like thick distortion on their guitars, play mostly in minor keys, and talk about Jesus in a positive light.

In the place where I live, many people consider this style of music to be evil. I am not one of them.

I have been writing this blog for a whole six months and still haven't said that. Realizing this, I am ashamed. So here is a list of things I haven't admitted:

1: I don't think that the King James Version of the Bible is the only correct one.

2: I don't like the song Peace Like A River, and in fact I don't like the majority of the hymns that I know.

3: I don't believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit died with the last of the apostles (in my defense, there is absolutely no biblical backing for this).

4: I don't think that it's wrong for a woman to wear pants.

5: I don't think it's wrong for a woman to speak in church.

6: I don't think that you're going to hell if you've been to a Catholic/Methodist/Church of Christ church.

That's all I can think of for now. If you've never heard any of these things said, good for you. If you believe any of these things. . .this is probably the wrong blog for you.

P.S. A little before I see Skillet, I'll see a band called Demon Hunter. I really wish I had thought of that name first so that I could use it for an acoustic/bluegrass band.

Update: I made an error. In no. 5 I missed the word "don't." I don't what I said I did think. This is what is called "the works of the foolish man," I guess.

Also, Skillet was great, Demon Hunter was. . .not as good. However, I would love them forever if they did a version of Peace Like a River.

random

For some reason, the word "random" has seized hold of our culture, and is refusing to let go. It is the adjective of the decade, the wonderful word used by everyone who is anyone. To be cool, you have to use the word "random."

Did I say use? I'm sorry, I meant overuse. Below is the above paragraph translated into the language of the modern American:

For some random reason, the word "random" has randomly grabbed our --no word exists for culture in this language. Maybe "universe"-- , and randomly won't let go. It's pretty much the most randomly awesome word, and all the cool people use it, in like, random ways. You've gotta randomly say "random" to be cool.

You may have noted that there is no word for "culture" in the language of the modern American. This is because the modern American doesn't understand that there could be more in this world than our culture. Therefore "culture" is synonymous with "everything that could possibly exist."

Anyway, back to random. "Random" means this: proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern.

Our entire world is random. Maybe that's why so many people like the word. Right now, everything is proceeding with no definite aim, reason or pattern. Since we love ourselves over God, we obsessively use words like "random," because that means that in everything we say we refer back to ourselves.

And that's why I do my very best to avoid using that word. Maybe tomorrow I'll describe my anger over obsessive use or misuse of the word "ironic."

an amazing thing

Every time that I learn something new about the Bible, it becomes just a little more astonishing and amazing to me. I just recently learned one of this things, and now you too will have a chance to learn this thing.

In the Jewish culture some 2,000 years ago, a boy at the age of twelve became a man. At this time, he was allowed to begin learning his father's business. For example, if his father was an ironsmith, he would begin learning how to work with metal. If his father was a carpenter, he would begin learning how to build tables. He would be about his father's business.

So from the age of twelve, he would start learning. When he turned thirty, he had the knowledge to begin his own trade. His father would take him around to those he worked with and those he was friends with. The father would introduce the son by saying, "this is my son, in whom I am well pleased."

If something sounded vaguely familiar in these paragraphs, it means you've probably heard two rather largely important stories in the Gospels. When Jesus was twelve, he and his family went to Jerusalem and visited the temple. On their way home, Mary and Joseph discovered that, in fact, Jesus was not with them. So they went back to Jerusalem and spent three days searching for him. When they found him, he was in the temple discussing theology with the priests.

When they asked him what he was doing, he said, "you should have known that I'd be about my Father's business." Hmmm. . .

When Jesus was thirty (remember that number?) he was baptized by John the Baptist. When this happened, the clouds opened up and a dove descended from the sky. And a voice said, "this is my son, in whom I am well pleased." Hmmm. . .

Him That Pisseth Against the Wall

The really funny part is that he's serious.

Goodbye, valiant watcher,

Mitchell

Sacrifice

It's been a few days since I've said anything, which is rare for me. However, even though it was my small and rather sad goal of having a post for every day of this month, I have so far come much closer to attaining the goal than I did in January. I imagine that the month that I actually attain the goal, someone in an office somewhere will shut it down and kick me off the internet.

I don't have much to say today. I have simply been reflecting upon this two-part thought:

1. God forbid human sacrifice in the Old Testament.

2. Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins (He also happened to be human).

What does this mean? If He was the sacrifice for our sins, He was a human sacrifice, which is sin in itself. I'm going to have to study this a little more, because I don't have an answer.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Fire

For the last 24 days, I have lived in a new house that I have never before lived in. This house has no central heat, and instead uses a wood-burning stove. This one stove actually keeps the house fairly warm--most of the time. The problem is, sometimes the fire goes out and is not noticed. So the house steadily loses its warmth, and house - heat = cold house.
But that has nothing to do with what I was actually planning to say. Actually I was going to talk about the fan on this stove.
About the fan on the stove: the wood-burning stove has a fan on it that blows heat out of the inside and into the outside. This means that the whole house is warm, not just the inside of the stove. Right in front of the stove, where the heat is constantly being blown out, it's really warm. So certain people (like me) enjoy standing a few feet in front of the stove, where heat is being poured out constantly.
But at some point, that person has to walk away from the stove to do something else. This person then becomes even colder than before, because he has been standing in a cloud of heat. So does that mean it's not good to stand in front of the stove? Because then I'm even worse than when I started.
My point is this: the stove in this picture represents God. The heat represents holiness, which is the thing I was talking about two days ago. Holiness is a good thing to have, just like heat. But like heat (in the house I live in), it can come from only one source. Holiness comes from God, heat comes from the stove.
I have two points I want to make. The first I mentioned already. When I step away from the stove and its warmth, I feel colder than I was before. I'm not really, but it certainly seems that way. Same with holiness. As soon as I step away from God, I seem to be worse than before, now that I've felt His glory.
So should I still strive for that holiness? I would say yes. If I had no warmth, I would eventually freeze to death. If I have no holiness, I'll eventually burn. Remember what I said about eternity? That's a long time to be sitting in Hell (whether the fire depicted throughout the Bible is literal or figurative, Hell will still not be fun by any stretch of the imagination.)
But that isn't the point that interests me the most. I might talk about that a little more later, but not now.
Here's what interests me: I can find warmth in other places. If I get in bed and pull the blanket over my head, it'll be warm. But it isn't nearly as warm as standing in front of the stove. And still, without the stove I'll eventually get cold again.
So the point is, we can find holiness elsewhere. But it isn't real holiness in that it's only a sort of morality. And again, it will eventually fade if the source isn't present. Cynicism is a powerful weapon against this fake holiness--people get jaded, and then decide that it isn't worth it to keep trying.
This is what's killing our planet. It isn't global warming or terrorism. It's false holiness. All religion is a failed attempt at creating holiness without God. Even Christianity, but only when it becomes so watered down that God is forgotten--sort of like our churches today. . . .
So what can we do about this? How do we turn the world around and start giving people real holiness?
Send them to the source. This could be rephrased with equal accuracy as "send them to Jesus."
That's all I have to say. I can't make you change, I can just make you aware that you need to. I hope that, if needed, you do change. I also hope that you can show others how to change.
Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Jesus Loves Me

This has nothing to do with the quartet of questions that I asked myself a few days ago. I just heard a song today, and I wanted to share it with all the three or four people reading this.
It goes like this:

Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong

I know this isn't a new song, and I also know that everyone who's ever been to Sunday School has heard it before. But recently, I came to a realization that greatly fascinates and enthralls me. It is commonly said that God loves us. Look at verses such as John 3:16 and Romans 8:38-39. Jesus loves me.
But until recently, I didn't realize how deeply He loves his people. I'm not sure how this thought came to me, but this was the thought: God would still love me if I cursed His name. God would still love me if I went around the world telling as many people that God doesn't exist.
Think about it: what if someone starting saying that you don't exist, just because he/she doesn't like you? That person would be hard to love.
Jesus loves me, and Jesus loves you. That's your inspirational message for today.
Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

It's been a while since I blogged last. This isn't my fault; I haven't forgotten. But I've been moving, and have not had internet access until a few minutes ago. There were a lot of things that I wanted to say over the last few weeks (or however long it's been), but I've forgotten them all. Sorry.
I just want to let you know: I'm still alive, and my brain is still working.
Goodbye, valiant reader
Mitchell