Seperation of Bible and brain...

Seperation of Bible and brain...


The efforts of the LU faculty to spur it’s students to vote in local elections this year not only proved to be effective, but of course timely and reasonable. Liberty desperately needed conservative officials to be elected so that the university could recover it’s long lost property rights, etc. From my perspective this is all well and good, however the seeming onslaught of political deliberation included convocation after convocation, is much to much.

My roomates were seemingly never happy with me this semester, (as far as I could tell) but one of them was particularly displeased with me when the two of us engaged in a discussion regarding politics, Liberty University convocation, and the dastardly alliance of the two via the 3 weekly meetings that take place at 10am sharp in the Vines Center. Although my political views do tend to lean ever so slightly in the same direction as those furnished by Liberty University, I am still dismayed that the LU faculty seeks to include the level of political deliberation that they do. I’d be lying if I said I felt as if my time was being wasted during these “convocations of political nature,” but instead, I feel as if God’s time is being wasted, and in more ways than one. Convocation, in my opinion, is supposed to emphasize fellowship, and JESUS… not republicanism. As I may have mentioned earlier, I can tolerate a convocation that attempts to get students involved in voting that will aid the University. I can even be supportive of a speaker who uses Biblical support to teach the student body as to how it might be considered Biblical to support particular conservative causes, in fact, I myself can think up several passages of scripture that would endorse “right side values.” Adversely, it is completely uncalled for, and not at all Christlike for a convocation speaker to utter profanities and refer to fellow Americans and people as “Liberal snobs” during his time on stage. Moreover, shouldn’t it be better if our time spent during convocation be dedicated solely to “Christ the King,” instead of “such and such the republican.” I suppose my bottom line is this: there will always be political disagreements amongst Christians; it doesn’t matter if you or I like it. The sad truth is that many, many, “Christians” are more eager to identify as a onservative,” or a “liberal” than they are to identify as a CHRIST FOLLOWER. Forget, yes I said FORGET the politics, let’s use our time in a way that is undoubtedly edifying for all the students at Liberty, regardless of their political ideals.

My best friend Josh White says it best; he claims that scripture reveals a need for men to rely on God, NOT a need to rely on politics, or politicians.



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So I have just recently stumbled across a rather saddening epiphany... after reading my Bible none-the-less! Haha... moreover, I ended up writing a poem about some difficult stuff I've been fighting through... ultimately the poem is about friendship, and was actually provoked by Proverbs 18:24. I intend to begin writing poetry again, as i used to write it often in high school; it's certainly something i enjoy... hopefully most attempts will be less gloomy than this:

"It's not our fault"

they're so descriptive, they won't cease to flow,
take me at my world, you'll never really know,

your disease puts me to sleep, it's never been this easy,
but what I'm saying is smoking gun, ignore, or look and believe me,

i'll tell you if you wish to know, i've never been a closed book,
i'll tell you where you can find me out, where you'd have to look,

i'm literally dehydrated, but still, I drown
i'd kill to trade, i covet to dawn your frown

i labored seven years, then i labored seven more,
i would work off each of your tears, i'd work every murderous chore,

drowning again, but not in your lament,
foolish to think, you might share the same torment,

he gave me a fake, he gave me a friend,
he fed me deception, he fed me a God send,

i can't see him, he is subtle, he is conniving,
he does not exist, i pretend that i cannot find where he is hiding,

i labored many days, then i labored many more,
he spat upon me this great haze, bolted and locked each door,

i was promised unity, i was promised life,
i was promised death, i was promised strife,

lonely isn't an adjective, lonely isn't a feeling,
lonely is a lifestyle, loneliness is reeling,

i am the wound, you are the salt,
no certainty remains, be certain it's not our fault,


Lastly, I'd just like to encourage anyone who is reading... Christian or non-christian to read Proverbs 18... it's a really remarkable chapter that yields so much wisdom. Visit biblegateway.com now before you forget!

Thank you so much for reading... whenever someone tells me they've been reading my blog it really means so much to me...

Time for a new yoke, and a new burden.

I remember when I was little, my mother and I would often drive through, or near, downtown San Diego. She would always take my friends and I to places like Sea World, or the beach, etc. Often times, while making these journeys we passed by what I then thought to be the ultra-magnificent, QUALCOMM STADIUM. Home of the San Diego Chargers and the San Diego Padres. As you can imagine, just about every time I passed by the stadium I became thoroughly enamored with the enormous apparatus. Each time I got the chance I made the giant stadium the absolute cneter of my attention. I was so fascinated with the stadium that I hardly ever noticed the small navy blue flags that sailed from the street lights surrounding the colossal ampitheatre. Each of the flags carried the same message; each of the flags read "keep the faith," as went the motto of the San Diego Padres. In the midst of what really was only a vast heap of concrete, I was left distracted and unable to ingest a much more imnportant sentiment of optimism and encouragement.

Recently I have experienced a similar phenomenon in life. I certainly would not contend that I am less susceptible to the drastic stresses and time constraints brought on by the beast of college, however I would contend that I am just as susceptible to miss-handling them as my peers. I have recently endureds one of the most time-consuming, exhausting, and burdening segments of my existence, and along the way I made some mistakes. These mistakes I speak of were not what I would consider grave mistakes but rather were mistakes that proved to be foul-ups that many might perform; yet they still prove to be costly. Somewhere along the way I made the giant concentration of concrete, rubble, and burden my focus; and this led me to the horrific"nip-it-in-the-bud" complex that I was diseased with up until a short time ago. I lost sight of many things, and found myself instead looking on my responsibilities as if they were the only thing I had ever known in life. Don't get me wrong, responsibility is a characteristic of the utmost importance for any human being, but what is vastly more important is a level head, and what is even more important than that is a level, and guarded heart which will remind you of another of our most important tasks in life . What I'm trying to say is, somewhere along the way I became so consumed with my responsibilities and burdens I forgot how to say no to myself and to others, and yes to God. But that is not all! Somewhere along the way, believe it or not, Daniel Deckard actually became so consumed with his newly acquired "nip-it-in-the-bud" / PERFECTIONIST philosphy that he made little time for God and even less time for the basic concept of thinking, and for "happy-mediums." Because I made no time for God, I was completely incapable of tackling even half of the things that I truly desired to accomplish on a daily basis, let alone all of the things I needed to settle! I fell into a vicous cycle of neglect, the neglect of the daily spiritual renewal I needed. I needed this daily spiritual renewal with God not just so that I could appease God, or fullfill my Christian duty comprised of scripture study and adoration, but rather because, when a Christian places God at the forefront of their lives, God places that Christian in a place of prosperity; a place where time overflows, a place where a Christian may endure a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light (Matthew 11:30). Finally, I realized, and began once again entering into a daily quiet time with God AT THE FOREFRONT OF MY DAY, IMMEDIATLEY AFTER I AROSE, WHEN I WAS HUNGRY AND WEARY, WHEN I HAD TO SACRIFICE MY OWN FLESHLY DESIRES TO SLEEP AND EAT IN ORDER TO CONCENTRATE ON GOD INSPIRED SCRIPTURE,AND TO FOCUS MY MIND IN PRAYER. Interestingly enough, after I entered into this non-vicous cycle, this cycle of peace, and poise, thanksgiving break rolled up on me like a limousine and ever since I've been luxuriously thinking on Jesus, family, friends, and football! All jokes aside though, whether you're a freshman, or a senior, a businessmen, or a pizza guy, I challenge you to deeply consider whats at the center (or forefront) of your attention, and of your day to day life. Do you have faith in your own self to overcome the responsibiliities and burdens of life, or do you cast that all aside for 15 minutes when you get out of your bed hungry and exhausted so that you can renew your relationship with God? If you're leaning on your own understanding of how things will unfold, lean again! Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." I can honestly say that I wasn't trusting the Lord with my time, but instead I was coveting the 15 minutes (or more) each day that I should have devoted to God, and because of it, I had a costly price of frustration and time-constraints to pay. What's worse is that on at least one occasion I took out my frustration on another person. Think about it! Could your lack of daily renewal be effecting others, or your relationship with others?! Yea sure the prayers of a righteuous man avail much blah blah... but your prayers can't avail much at all if you don't pray em'! And I still wish to contend that they may avail much more if you pray them on God's time rather than your own! God hears you when you sit down at your desk and ask hor his help and mercy when you're about to take a test, but God also hears your prayer and notices your sacrifice when you murmur your prayers in the morning when you really want to be sleeping!

Please be on the lookout for new posts that I will mention in my facebook status!

Deep fly balls...

It’s certainly been awhile since I last updated. Perhaps it was procrastination that held me within its clutches?

Just a heads up... this post does have a "moral to the story" but you'll want to read it all the way through to fully comprehend what it is.

Anyhow… my family and I traveled to Cincinnati this summer to see the home town reds take on my beloved Chicago Cubs. Anyone who knows much about baseball knows that the cubs have not won a world series since 1908. It’s simply a well known fact amongst most baseball enthusiasts. Now, I’m no math major, but if my calculations are correct, that means that the cubs have not gone all the way in a “gazillionyears.” “Gazillionyears” being a new statistic thought up by baseball statisticians to help describe just how long it’s been since the cubs won a World Series title. On the way home I began thinking about the game. It may sound strange but the highlight of the game for me was when the cub’s best middle infielder, #2 shortstop Ryan Theriot, was put in the game in the top of the 9th inning to pinch hit. Lou Pinnela, the cubs manager, planned to give Theriot the day off because Theriot had played many games consecutively, but in the ninth inning with the cubs trailing 4 runs to 0, and Theriots replacement coming to the plate to lead off the inning, Pinnela saw fit to insert Theriot into the lineup in hopes that he would provide some spark. Theriot quickly fell behind in the count and was forced to protect the plate with 2 strikes against him. As it often occurs during a two strike count in major league baseball, Theriot used his tremendous bat speed, while exemplifying stellar plate discipline in order to foul off several pitches. He even let a pair of off speed pitches go by the plate for balls. (*For those of you who are not familiar with baseball, a “ball” is called by the umpire when a pitcher throws a pitch that does not pass through the “strike zone” of the batter; after four balls are called a “base on balls” occurs. This allows the batter to go to first base.) He had battled back from a 0-2 count in a critical at-bat by successfully fouling pitches off and into the stands, as only the best contact hitters in the game of baseball could have done, and now the count was even at 2-2. One may wonder, “what makes Theriots ability to merely hit foul balls so great”? Well, when a batsmen falls behind no balls to two strikes in an at-bat they are saddled with the responsibility of “protecting the plate” to prevent themselves from striking out, (striking out, has not once in the history of baseball helped a team achieve victory.) Due to Theriots persistence in the batter’s box he was likely to get a much more hittable pitch now with the count even at 2-2 rather than 0-2. ScottbEyre (the Reds pitcher) delivered, the ball sailed smoothly but quickly towards the plate, a fastball, around 89 mph, the pitch was elevated too high for any pitching coaches liking and was left over the inner half of the plate. Theriot swung on, the pitch hit well, very well, a deep fly ball. The pitch sailed and sailed towards the left center field fence, forcing Reds centerfielder and speed-demon Willy Tavares into an earnest sprint. Finally he began to gather his lower body as he slowed his pace, which in turn signaled to the fans that rather than a homerun, Theriot had merely slammed a deep fly ball to left center. Tavares secured the fly ball in his glove as Theriot’s at bat proved to be nothing more than a very loud out number one. The next two batters were retired easily and the cubs began their journey on to another city to battle a different team. On the way home, I couldn’t help but think about what it was that made Ryan Theriot so much different than many other baseball players, who seemed to be much more interested in taking huge swings, hitting the long ball, daydreaming while playing defense, and just plain showing off, rather than doing every single thing possible to help their team win, regardless of whether or not they had to lay out in order to catch a tailing line drive, lay down a sacrifice bunt to help advance a teammate to the next base, or lean into a inside fastball to draw a walk. While I was thinking these things I thought about the cubs left fielder. In his earliest years in the Majors he was heralded as a “five tool player” (a truly great “all around player”) but after receiving recognitions as one of the games top players, Soriano began playing careless defense and began to lengthen his swing sacrificing his ability to hit the ball consistently in hopes of hitting more homeruns. After Soriano’s inadvisable ego boost came a team change; a trade to the Chicago Cubs. Long Story short, as crazy as it may sound, I decided to pray for Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano. No can truly be content with that much apathy, and pride in their life. After I prayed I really felt God beginning to speak to me. As silly as it sounds I felt that God was pointing out the differences between players (and people) like Soriano and people like Ryan Theriot. I believe He was telling me that Soriano didn’t understand that it wasn’t all about him, that he didn’t understand that he was in position to be apart of something so much bigger than just a quest for personal glory; a pennant race. I thought about how Theriot had played, and I believe God began to speak to me again. I believe God was provoking me to think about how Theriot understood his small role in something that was so much larger than just himself. I thought about how hard he always battled in the batters box, if only to just foul off as many pitches as he could to wear down the opposing pitcher. I thought about how Ryan Theriot never took a play off, while players like Soriano stood with their hands on their hips, daydreaming about their next plate appearance. I pray that God helps me to never take a play off in life, to never stop battling. Ryan Theriot swung his heart out in the at-bat I mentioned previously, and ultimately he failed; but life is full of failure (thank God). Because life is full of failure should we just pretty much give up, or merely attempt to squeeze as much personal glory out of it as possible? I don’t think so, I think God wants us to keep fighting, even whilst we fail, because you never know when your efforts, although they may seemingly fall short, will ultimately wear down evil. If you’re reading this I challenge you to live life fervently, to speak and ACT OUT the love of Christ fervently, EVERY TIME you get the chance. Surely you’re aware that you are apart of something bigger than yourself, but are you aware of the power Christ has given you to wear down on all types of deception, all types of discouragement, and all types of hatred? We all are going to hit some deep fly balls that don’t clear the fence, but it’s the understanding that we are apart of something bigger, something eternal, that will keep us going. We all are going to take stands for Christ (I hope!) that don’t resonate with everyone who witnesses it, but sometimes, it’s the willingness to take the time to wear down evil that God will honor in the end.

liar... lunatic... no... LORD!

Before you read this... honestly think to yourself for 15 seconds about what it would be like if what you were supposed to devote yourself to was actually quite simple.

This summer I've realized how many friends I have who are searching, searching for truth. This summer I've realized how many of my friends are uncertain, uncertain about almost everything. Because of this I have been thinking alot about what it would be like to be in this situation myself. I've always had a Christian worldview, a scriptural perspective. If I were one these friends that I mentioned; would I desire set in stone proof that Christ is Lord? Would I at least require evidence that it is extremely likely? What would I believe in if I didn't confess Christ as Lord? I already live a life chock-full of sin, I'm already a huge hypocrit... how much more sin would there be in my life without Him? Would I live a life filled with peace, or a life filled with anguish and confusion?

C.S. Lewis, a phenomenal Christian author said it best, yet "He said it" without true precision. He said that if we don't make Christ Lord we make him a liar or a lunatic. I would contend that nearly all evolutionary scientists, atheists, muslims, and people of other faiths would confess that they believe a "man" named Jesus Christ once existed, and that he was a great moral teacher. There's just to much evidence (evidence accrued from secular work even) to deny it. But the theory that Christ was merely a great moral teacher that lied about being God doesn't pan out at all. Christ was not a great moral teacher if He Himself lied. His instruction to love your neighbor as yourself then meant nothing, His instruction to turn the other cheek, and to treat your neighbor as thyself then meant nothing. Besides, any man who knew full well that He would die an early, and agonizing death for the claim of His own deity should be considered a lunatic by default. In conclusion it is only reasonable to make Christ Lord, or lunatic. Not only am I unable to condemn a man who taught love, selflessness, and humility, to a status of lunacy but I am also unable to forget the blatent revelations of His own majesty that God has yielded unto me during my brief 19 year stint of life.

I pray that the blood of my friends (I consider literally anyone I know a friend in this regard) will not stain my hands now or ever.

I won't garner all of the peace, certainty, inexplicable guidance, and unabashed purpose that overflows in my life to myself.

Wisdom calls out in the streets, how much longer will you choose to evade it, and for how much longer will you choose to nurture new reasonings in order to justify this type of evasion? It doesn't matter what you have done, Christ still wants you. What if the "leap of faith," the leap from living a life filled with aimlesness, and uncertainty, to a life of purpose, isn't actually that scary but is rather a simple surrender?

I make each of the previous contentions as a sinner and hypocrit in need of Christ's unfailing love and mercy just as much as the next.

July 4th, 2009

Greetings people, and happy 4th!

Just got done seeing public enemies, had to pay 9.50 to see it... Anyways it was a pretty good movie, I recommend it (not sure I recommend spending 9.50 to see it though).

Seeing as its July 4th I think I should adress some sort of "political" issue so I've chosen to ramble on about the legalization of marijuana this time around and also on whether or not it should even be considered moral.

***Disclaimer*** Lest I further myself as a hyprocrite... I confess to smoking marijuana as recent as July 2008 (about one year ago), and yes I did it more than once, and yes...... I was way baked.

Moreover!

All to often potheads attempt to use Genesis 1:29 to justify their habit.

Gen 1:29 - And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Other versions end with the phrase, "and they (the plants of the earth) shall be used for food." Perhpas the potheads were to stoned at the time to have read the entire verse, which indicates that the plants should be used for food.... not for smoking. I suppose it would be hard to argue a "super-stoner" who contends that it is okay to eat marijuana because of what this verse says, but I myself have a hard time taking that contention seriously.

If weed smokers really wanted to justify their habit they would attempt to utilize the following verse - Psalms 104:14 "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man." Perhaps because the typical pot smoker is too lazy to truly locate this verse (haha get it), so they settle for the one in Genesis... located in the very front of the Bible.

I just thought I'd get that spiel over with as it is something that I consider to be rather heinous. I will begin by sharing what I believe to be the "devils advocate" stance against what is probably the typical Christian viewpoint. Not only does the Bible not say anything specifically that prohibits the use of marijuana but studies indicate that if marijuana were in fact legal, different crime and violence rates and/or statistics would drop drastically. Why would this not be a good thing by Biblical standards; afterall the Bible does condemn violence and crime. If marijuana were made legal it might even boost the economy a bit due to the fact that it would then become a taxable entity. According to more studies Marijuana is even less menacing than alcohol, and by a long shot. As far as whether or not marijuana is moral, we shouldn't forget that there exists an entire Christian "denomination" based around getting high, the rastafarian "sect." The rastafarians believe that marijuana is the herb described in the book of Revelation as a plant that will bring peace unto the nations. Marijuana is also used as a "supplement" before and during Bible studies, and times of worship within Rastafarian customs.

Now for my own thoughts on the whether or not marijuana should be considered moral and whether or not it should be legalized.

While marijuana may be less harmful than alcohol, and while it may in fact "prevent" other crimes from happening, smoking, or even possessing substantial quantities of marijuana is a crime within itself. Scripture is crystal clear in regards to keeping the law. Scripture indicates that it is a must to keep the laws of your government so long as it does not directly contradict scripture. One must also ask themselves if they can truly glorify God while smoking marijuana. Although scripture does not directly condemn "getting high" it does condemn drunkeness, which can easily be compared to getting high. But just because scripture condemns something that is similar to being high, does not make it wrong in itself. Being high is wrong (in my opinion) because you become less of who God created you to be, and more of spiritless victim to autopilot, in the same way one would become if they were drunk. Don't soil your britches just yet potheads, I am not contending that smoking marijuana is wrong all together. God did create marijuana afterall, and it is a plant that grows out of the ground for goodness sakes (what could be more natural). I would contend that if marijuana were legal, that it would not be a sin for someone (including Christians) to smoke marijuana so long as they did not actually get high, just as it would be perfectly permissable for a Christian to enjoy small amounts of alcohol without getting drunk.

Should marijuana be legal? Yes, marijuana should be legalalized! Especially while alcohol is legal. Not only is it possible for somehow to "miraculously avoid killing, eating,raping, and pillaging babies while they're either slightly buzzed or extremely baked on marijuana" but is extremely likely that when someone gets buzzed or high they will mind their own frickin business.

Let us review my thoughts on mary jane.

-Ultimately smoking weed in and of itself would not be sin if it were legal, while getting high of marijuana would.

-Ultimately it is sin to smoke marijuana because it is illegal and scripture instructs us to confrom to the laws of our government.

-Marijuana should be legalized because a government has no right to tell a man or a woman what they can and cannot inhale into their lungs.

Finally my ramblings in regards to marijuana are done and I will leave you with a short description of what my next blog will entail and a song that I've recently been hooked on.
Next time I'm going to have my go on the issue of abortion (gasp). Lastly, be sure to check out a song called "All it takes for your dreams to come true" by A Skylit Drive.

Thanks a ton for reading! Feel free to go through the not so tedious process of registering with this website in order to respond to my post!

That's what he said...

So...

I'm going to be home alone for the next 3 weeks (as of today).

Possibly my favorite band (hit the lights) just came out with a new ep (extended play) and it sounds absolutely incredible. You need to check out songs such as "Coast to Coast," and "Pulse," they're way awesome.

Another one of my favorite bands (all time low) is releasing their new cd July 7th, and I am more excited than I was during the slo motion Megan Fox scene during the second transformers flick...

P.S. If you are a girl that is reading this, do not insinuate the whoreishness of Megan Fox just because she is a very pretty girl who just so happens to be pretty enought to have her own slo motion segment in a bigtime blockbuster movie. God made you the way you are, and the fact that thousands upon thousands of young men across the country behaved and will behave chauvinisticly when Megan Fox is displayed in a rather superficial manner up on the big screen does not change the fact God made you the way you are and simply wants you to take care of yourself and be happy with the fact that you don't look like everyone else. Wow, I didn't realize that spiel would be as long as it was... anyways... new all time low album... I am thoroughly excited for it.

I should be adopting this kitten I've been rambling about this weekend hopefully... which will likely exhaust my already miniscule aptitudes for responsibility seeing as my parents will be away and I will have to look after the kitten all by my lonesome.

Now for the slightly more weighty segment of this blog entry...

I know I've already made reference to the new transformers flick (which I highly reccomend), but a film that I found to be much more moving, and just as enjoyable, was a picture known only as "The Soloist." "The Soloist," (supposedly based on a true story) is a tale about a journalist, plagued by writers block, who meets a sensational violinist/cellist (cellist being a term used to describe one who excels at playing the cello) who is antogonized by a combination far worse than mere writers block. Jamie Fox plays a poverty stricken, schizophrenic who wanders the streets of Los Angeles playing his violin that furnishes only two strings. The struggling journalist and the perfectly content spirit of a thoroughly tortured soul, meet by chance near a statue just outside of the L.A. Times headquarters where adventure and inspiration ensue. Needless to say I not only recommend this movie but I insist that you see it!

Finally, I just wanted to mention, in case anyone out there wants to interact with my entries, that it takes little time to setup an acount with google.com. Once you have an account you can create your own blog, or perhaps just comment on mine. I suppose that is all for today... toodles!