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.

the internet

The internet is an astonishing and amazingly useful device. I don't know what I would do without it. I get most of my information of the internet. Most of my communication is through the internet. Most of my entertainment is found on the internet. So what would happen if the entire thing suddenly crashed and was gone?

I would have to learn to use the library. I would have to write letters. I would have to figure out how to read books that I had not just ordered/downloaded off of the internet.

If the internet were gone, a lot of things would go with it. Most of it is just small (or large) conveniences, but we've become very reliant on these conveniences.

For example, when you go to Wal-Mart and swipe your credit card, the information that is transferred from the card to the computer has to go through the internet. If the internet went down, that would be over.

Most of our money processes rely heavily on the internet. If the internet vanished tonight, the entire United States economy (what's left of it, anyway) would collapse into dust. The government would be lost for at least six months, trying to figure out how to communicate from sea to shining sea. Someone would probably figure out how to use snail mail, but that takes about 10,000 times longer to send a piece of information from New York to Los Angeles. And then it would take just as long to send a reply.

I could go on and on about how terrible it would be if the internet went out. But what if God decided to stop receiving prayers? How many people would notice? My estimate: twenty-two people. If I were a mutant, I could count that on one hand.

Well, the number may be a little higher, but the point is the same: Christians rely a lot more on the world (internet) than they do on God, who is a lot bigger and a lot safer than the internet. And with God, you don't need virus protection and you don't get spam.

P.S. To you ancient people who remember a time without the internet, is it like the equivalent of your libraries? What would you have done if someone burned down all your local libraries?

humility

I just went to Google Blogs and did a search for "Controlled Disorder." I found myself. It was cool.

I was very proud for a few seconds, until I realized that no one is ever going to do a search for such a random thing. After pondering this fact, I also realized that even if someone does find my blog, most likely he is going to immediately click the "back" button in his internet browser. So I am humble again.

Well, not really. To be humble is kind of hard (what an understatement). To be humble, I have to pretty much not think about myself at all. This means that if I think of myself even in derogatory terms (something I would never do), then I am still not humble. In fact, it's just as arrogant to think of myself as stupid as it is to think of myself as the smartest genius in the universe. This is simply because I am thinking about myself.

Arrogance is self-obsession. So to be obsessed with my supposed stupidity is to be arrogant.

So don't be arrogant. Think about someone else. Like me.

where is Heaven?

According to the Bible, Heaven and Hell are real places. They are where people go when they die. So what I'm wondering is, where are these places? Here are some ideas:

A: On another planet

B: In another universe

C: Heaven is a state of mind

What do you think? Is it one of these, or something else?

Confidential

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."

having nothing (part three)

So if we can't be free by having everything, the only option is to have nothing. This is nearly as hard to do--impossible, in fact, as long as we are alive. Life equals desire and possession. That's why Paul talks about dying to himself.

Basically, freedom comes when we admit that we are stuck in the perpetual mistake, and give it up.

But here's where the next big problem arises. Life is not entirely to blame for our captivity to sin. The imperfections of the body have ruined the soul as well. And so, to die to ourselves, it's the soul that has to die.

However, if a thing is dead, that doesn't mean it's free. It's just dead. It also has to be reborn. And so, the path to freedom is found in being reborn in to a new life, which is life in Christ.

And that is the end of my thoughts on freedom.