The Thoughts of AC

I Read a Book

2009-05-31T20:40:00.001-07:00

Today I finished reading the book Each for the Other by Bryan Chapell and I have to admit that it was an awesome book even though I have no girl in mind, so it was a little different. I learned a lot and even have new material to present when people challenge Christianity's treatment of women. An important thing for me to keep in mind is that when a wife is called to submit to her husband she is submitting to him as an example of her love for God. She is not submitting to the abuse that will take place in the relationship, which is something to consider. A lot of people think that Christianity belittles women by making them lower than their husbands, but it is very important to realize that man needed a helpmate so God created woman out of the rib of man. With the understanding that woman is a helpmate it is important that the husband does not belittle his wife. Women are supposed to be seen as an important part of the home, not just the one that cares for the kids while the husband is away. While women do usually have a better instinct for taking care of the kids this task falls just as much on the husband. I do not like to think that my father belittles my mother or discourages her from doing things freely. The husband can abuse his wife just as much by not letting her do things as he can by allowing her to do anything she wants. This goes the same with the husband, though, keeping in mind the ultimate purpose of a marriage, and that is to bring focus to God.
A few days ago someone told me that they value their other half as a parent, but have discouraged them from going on to get more education. I do not actually think that this fits with a Christian understanding of marriage. If someone is being looked at just for their parental abilities you are denying that person their true identity as a person of God. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but it just seems to me that allowing your spouse to be seen as more than just a parent will help them to discover their true identity as a Christian.

My Parents

2009-04-24T09:17:00.001-07:00

This past weekend one of my friends preached on 1 Samuel 8, which was my final text that I prepared a sermon on at WSC before I was excused from the Masters program. I was talking to him about this text and I remembered what my illustration for that text was. If you do not have a Bible near you 1 Samuel 8 is where Israel asks God to give them a king even though they have a very valient king and ruler in God. The middle section of this text reads as such: 6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

When I was young, as is the case with most kids, they think their parents are really bad people and they wish that they had different parents because they see what those other kids have. This was my illustration for the text. You have a child who sees what other kids have and wants to be a child of those parents, not recognizing that your own parents have given up so much for you. This illustration, following the text, lays out how much you have to give up if you want to be a child of another parent instead. Those other parents have their own flaws and in the text we see what the flaws of those other "parents" are. What you end up realizing is that your original parents are the people for you and you, hopefully, have a good relationship with them when you grow up.

From about the time I was 13 or 14 I realized how special my parents really were. They guarded me from so much stuff because they loved me so much. Sure, I didn't get my license on my 16th birthday, but instead got it the last week of July that year. I graduated from high school, I even graduated from college,twice, and without my parents urging I would have never started college in the first place. My parents are an encouragement to me. Neither one of them went beyond high school, but that didn't mean that their children shouldn't push themselves. My brother has a doctorate and my sister has a bachelors, along with me being somewhere in between having at least attempted masters studies. It took me a long time to actually realize my illustration, but I realized it. Just as we have a father in Heaven who gave up his Son to save us from all of our sins we have Earthly parents who give up so much for us, or at least my parents did and still do.

More of Me

2009-04-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

So, I had some brilliant thoughts but once I opened this page I forgot them.
Anyways, this past week went well. I had to switch over our email system and there was a threat that we could lose email for 48 to 72 hours. That is a lot of time when you are talking about some people that receive 50-100 messages per day. I am glad to report that the total downtime was 6 minutes. Yes, 6 minutes. I was excited about this because it means we lost very little.
This past weekend after updating all the computers on campus I went home and pretty much just vegged. I watched the movie "Dan in Real Life" and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was much more of a serious movie than a comedy. Perhaps it was just the mood that I was in. Saturday night I watched Disney's "The Kid" which is also a movie more made for families with small children than single 26 year old men. What can I say, I enjoy kids movies more than R-rated movies. I always have and I always will.
I found out on Sunday that one of my grandpa's sisters died, which means that that family has two remaining members, a sister in the San Francisco area and a step-brother in Kentucky.
I am going to a baseball game on Friday night in Lake Elsinore which should be fun. If you haven't realized it by now I could care less what two teams are playing a sport, if the tickets are cheap and I like the game they are playing I will go see it. This Friday I got seats in the first row right behind home plate, so I hope it is a good view. I have not sat there before, but it should be better for fireworks afterwords since they shoot the fireworks off from behind a building in left field.
Oh well, I will come up with more serious subjects to talk about.

The Things I Think About

2009-03-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

At the funeral for my grandfather the pastor made the comment and I heard it from many other people, that my grandfather was still so young when he died. He was 81 years old and had great-grandchildren. Yes, 81 is not equivalent to 100, but 81 is a lot closer to a full life than 18 is. Our years on this earth are numbered and there is nothing that we can actually do about it. I always tend to say "God will take us home when our work on this earth is done". When we have nothing further to prove on this earth it is our time to go home.

This brings me to my second thought, the wonder that we have with health food. I wonder what people 100 years ago worried about. Now we have people wanting to live forever on this earth so they are promoting food that is raised with no hormones or is allowed to eat whatever it wants. If we told people that lived 100 years ago that we were going to eat only organic would they just look at us like we were crazy? Of course, it is possible that they would not have to think about those things because there were no chemicals. I don't honestly know.

Like today on a lazy day, what did people used to do on days when they had nothing else to do? I have grown up with television, so I tend to turn to television when I get bored. But before television what did people do? Perhaps they actually talked to each other?

Am I actually saying that I want to live in a different time period? Not really, but I just wonder how things were different. For instance, yet again, we have the internet. The internet has changed how we do a lot of things. The internet puts us in direct contact with people all the way around the world in an instant. We can successfully find out news on the internet before people in those countries may know about it. This can be a problem, though, since there truly is no privacy anymore. Yet again, just something that I was thinking about.

An Update

2009-03-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that it has been two months since I updated my blog. The last post that I had was regarding the loss of my grandfather. Therefore, that is where this one will pick up from.
I went back to Illinois for the funeral. I knew that the time would be coming, so I was kind of anticipating it. I think it was really good for my mom to have all her children back home. It is always hard to lose people in life, but if you are surrounded by people you love and who love you I think the pain is lessened. The time at home was good, but was sad based on the circumstances.
The pastor at New Life has started a new series on the book of Hebrews. Some of the sermons hit me really hard and they don't hit other people at all. It is amazing that that can actually happen. With the College and Career group at NL we are going through The PeaceMaker still and it is causing me to do a lot of thinking. Do I really have a list of people that I am utterly trying to avoid at all costs? I tend to think not, but there are always those people that we don't consider that we have hurt. I will try to think harder about this in the future. This past week we went through a chapter about confronting your brother. It is interesting to see reactions when you confront someone because a lot of time they become standoffish. This should not be the behavior we are to take, though. If I have done something wrong I want someone to tell me. However, I guess, most people are not like this and they think that you are personally attacking them if you want to resolve an issue. I think it is just human nature.
The last thing that really comes to mind is what all surrounds the death of my grandpa. I have to applaud my mother for maintaining her composure through this all. She has done most of the cleaning out of the house but really has nothing to show for it. One day the rest of my family showed up and pretty much took everything they wanted, no matter if it was actually on their lists or not. I am realizing that greed reigns supreme in this world. I got a set of pots out of the deal, but that was it. My dad went to repair the garage door the other day and couldn't do it because all the ladders and all the tools were gone. We learned how much my grandpa's car collection (5 cars from the 50's and 60's) was worth and I was quite shocked. However, not all the cars are allowed to be sold because one of my aunts wants two of the cars. Message to people reading this blog: Word your will strongly to avoid having greed reign supreme!

He's Gone

2009-01-26T04:52:00.001-08:00

I received a phone call at exactly six pm on Sunday night from my mom telling me that my grandfather had died. I cannot really find it in me to shed tears. When I first found out that he was on hospice I cried a lot, but just thinking about all this, I can't really cry. One of his doctors wanted to put him on some medication so that he wouldn't have a stroke and die from that, but he had already been told that his cancer spread, so his response was "I am either going to die from the cancer or die from a stroke." He realized that his fight was over. He realized that God had determined his days were drawing to a close. I was not there in the last few days, but when I talked to my mom I could hear the pain that was going on. I could hear the immense pain and it didn't sound good.
Harry Zeilenga lived almost 82 years on this earth. It would have been his birthday in about two weeks. He was a solid believer in the truth of Jesus Christ, though, so I know where he is now. He wanted to go to his true home and now he is there. I rejoice!
I got to talk to him one last time a couple of weeks ago right after he got released from the hospital and he sounded like the same old grandpa. He asked me how the weather was and I told him that it was gorgeous out here. Then I told him that I would definitely miss him, but how I rejoiced knowing that he knew where he was going.
I would call my mom every single morning after this point just to find out how things were going. Some days were alright, but towards the end he grew restless. I could tell yesterday that it was probably going to be the day, just because it sounded so bad on the phone. My brother flew back on Saturday and took care of my grandpa for a few hours just so that my mom could have a little bit of a break. That means that I am the only grandchild not in Chicago, but I will soon be joining the family.
I always figured that I would be the one conducting this funeral service, but that is not to be. I cannot recall at the moment all the songs that are to be sung at this funeral, but I do recall the song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" which was penned by a young African American blues pianist after learning of the death of his wife and newborn son.
For some reason these lyrics just came to mind from the song "There Is a Redeemer":
When I stand in glory,
I will see his face,
And there Ill serve my king forever,
In that holy place.

Thank you oh my father,
For giving us your son,
And leaving your spirit,
til the work on earth is done.

Saturday Morning

2009-01-17T05:26:00.001-08:00

Well, the conference started last night and I got through it without receiving the phone call telling me that it was time to go home. For anyone that does not know, my grandpa was placed on hospice on Tuesday with the expectation that he would only live another 2 days to 2 weeks. It is a sad time, but at the same point he is ready. I talked to him on Wednesday and he honestly sounded like the same man. I expected to hear a weak, frail voice, but it was not there.

About the conference....
I was kept very busy last night with constantly updating the Westminster website. At one point someone came up to me and asked if I had been able to take a break when everyone else did and the answer was a resounding no. Maybe I just take too long to generate web content, but the time went by pretty fast. However, in the end it did get done and Dr. Clark really helped me out by getting all his thoughts down quickly so that I could post them.

We shall see what today brings....

Some Thoughts

2009-01-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

You know, I was sitting in church this morning wondering about some things. One of these is, if you are a Christian, what sets you apart from a humanist? If you hold to the Salvation Army motto and nothing else I would argue that there is nothing. Can you call yourself a Christian if you don't put Christ in your life?

I was also thinking about how people challenge the idea in the reformed community that women should not be pastors. I sum up all these arguments by simply saying all the arguments against it pretty much come down to: "it just isn't fair." It is not fair that women can't be pastors if they have the same gifts as men, supposedly. This, of course, is not coming from a Christian argument, but from people who don't claim to be Christians. Well, along those lines, I don't think that it is fair that I am not making $5 million dollars a year. I mean, why should I not be making that much money? Life just isn't fair, right? Why am I not playing professional baseball? There are some things in my life that I have come to accept. I have accepted that I am not going to ever weigh 120 lbs, unless I am like 5 feet tall. I think we all have things in life that we simply can't explain, so we should not walk around with a huge chip on our shoulders saying that "it is not fair."

Some of this is contained in the last post

2009-01-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

I got to go on vacation the third week of December. Most people would think that that is not very much fun, but I got to go home, so it was a great time. While I was home I noticed that I had very few, if any, health problems. Therefore I have decided that all my health issues besides the first problem were just stress related. In a way I guess it is hard to avoid stress, but with someone such as me it is even harder because I really do not do much besides work and watch television. I found that a lot of the time when I was hanging out with people I had no health problems either, so it is just something that I guess I have to go through. I look forward to the day when I actually have a family, but that could possibly be more stressful. Oh well, I have to live in this day and not think so far into the future. Westminster's conference is coming up this Friday and Saturday and I am responsible for a lot of the web stuff surrounding this event. It will give me more work and it will actually give me a day off, also, which, even though I just started back to work, will be much appreciated.
So, when I was back in Illinois it was pretty snowy, but I actually liked the snow. I only shoveled twice, but one of the times I actually shoveled more ice than snow and gave myself horrible blisters. Those have since gone away, so I am happy about that. I got to see my awesome nephew and adorable niece while I was home also. I had a great time overall and am sad that I couldn't stay. I guess, in a way, it was a good thing to get away because I really don't have that many friends in IL. Now, if we were talking about Iowa that would be a much different story, because I do have friends there to hang out with. I even hope that on day I can move there and have both Steve and Zach there also, but that almost seems like a huge longshot at the moment.
I got to Chicago on the 17th and left on the 27th. However, I didn't go both ways on planes. The ride back was actually on a train. It was a 43 hour long experience that I will probably never repeat. I did get to see with all the older people that couldn't make it up the stairs, since, somehow, I was able to get a ticket for lowel level seating, which I guess is more reserved than actually purchased. It was good to be a nice, quiet cabin for the trip though.
The reason that I had to come back so early was because Steve got married. I was an usher in this wedding, so I needed to be back by a certain date. Because of my desire to save money I took the train. Anyways, the wedding was awesome and I caused a few memories. One of these memories is actually captured on Facebook with me standing next to a waiter whose tray I actually knocked up in the air, but he caught the tray again. I can explain that story more in-depth if you really want it. So, after the wedding I got to hang out with some really cool people: Koop and Steph, Lana and Z and Kasey. It was fun to actually be able to hang out, since pretty much all the people I know right now are tied up in school work. We hung out in San Diego for a day, so that was pretty fun. It has been a week since the last of them left and I have been busy as ever.
Westminster will continue to keep me busy as long as I stay there, a blessing, but also, at times, a huge drawback, as there are many projects which I have simply dropped because I cannot handle them and the workload that gets put on me.
Oh, by the way, I am not necessarily whining, but more contemplating.

An Update

2008-12-22T19:59:00.000-08:00

I have been on vacation since last week Wednesday. Yes, I took a whole week off from work before getting a full week off for Christmas. It is great to be back in Chicago, but the temperatures are a little frigid. In the little while since I last updated this site it seems like I have been very busy at work. I have managed to fix most of the computer issues so now I work non-stop on website work. In this time I have posted three huge projects on our website because we will be having accreditation meetings in February to make sure that Westminster is living up to the standards that we are supposed to.

For Thanksgiving I got to hang out with one of my roommates at his grandparents house, who happen to be the Schullers' of the Crystal Cathedral. It was great to hang out with that family and see the true character of Dr. Robert Schuller. I am sure that you have heard of the recent problems in that church, but the problems have nothing to do with the elder Dr. Schuller. He has taken all the pressure on himself, but he had nothing to do with the firing of his son from The Hour of Power program. Anyways, that should be enough for now. I hope to be more faithful in the future with updates.

What I Think

2008-11-06T15:06:00.001-08:00

I openly admit that I did not vote in the election. Do I have any right, therefore, to criticize those who were put into power over me? Not really, most people would say. Well, I am not going to criticize the elected officials. I, rather, want to criticize all these people who have gone off the deep end. Is Obama a Democrat? Yes he is. Will he necessarily get his ways on everything he promised in his campaign? Certainly not! We live in an age of politics where there are more promises lost than kept. Can he become our dictator? Of course not! Will Obama allow us to be attacked by terrorists? I sure hope not, but is it really just on him to protect us from terrorists? September 11 happened. I am pretty sure that George Bush didn't just allow terrorists into our country knowing they were terrorists. The truth has to be that we live in a society that overlooks a lot of things that it doesn't have to. There are Christians that voted for Barack Obama. (I do not want to argue with people about whether they are true Christians.) Just as I believe that church is a best fit mentality people elect a present on a best fit mentality, saying that whichever one agrees with more of my values is who I will elect. It just utterly shocks me all the truly negative comments that have come out of this election. Deal with things when they come people, not fearing what can be. As I was reminded of reading a blog today there has not been a president that was not biased one way or the other. I think it is just the community that I am a part of that sees a huge deal here. In a way I wish I would have been born a few years earlier so I could have gone through the same period of my life with a different president and see how people would have reacted. Barack is going to be our president and we have to respect that.

Some Thoughts

2008-09-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

I think a few weeks back I wrote that I would no longer talk about theology, but I find myself still engrossed in it since I do work for the seminary and also the fact that I do go to church.

As the IT Specialist at the seminary I am responsible for certain parts of our website and one such part of the website is our Faculty Reflections. In the reflection for October one of the professors recalls details of his trip to Africa over the summer and what he witnessed in Rwanda. I have to say that in reading it it deeply saddened me. I knew of the genocide in 1994, but I guess as a sheltered individual (I have never traveled outside of the US besides a week-long trip to Banff in Canada, which still does not really count as traveling outside the US) I have never thought about the deep consequences of all this. There was really no help for these people in the 100 days of utter bloodshed where allegiances were severed to gain absolutely nothing. The bloodshed brought no good on the country and it is still recovering from this terrible event. Then I think of the fact that there are so many loving people in this nation that got ripped apart and the fact that the true God is actually recognized by some of the people and I just marvel. I marvel at the fact that in that nation that has witnessed so much bad stuff that they are probably stronger in their faith than most people in the United States. We think it is tragic and turn our back on God when something minor happens in life. We turn our back when a parent dies (at an old age I might add in some cases) or when some disease is discovered in us. But, these people have gone through so much more and they still keep their faith. These people have lost most, if not all, of their support system and they still remain strong in the faith.

This brings me to my second thought. I went to a couple of debates on Sunday between a Muslim and a Christian. The second debate was on whether Mohammed was a true prophet. Now I will admit that there is a tendency to get angry when your belief system is absolutely crushed (who wouldn't!) but it just seemed to be overboard. This debate was supposed to center on that very important subject but it ended up being a bashing of Christianity by the Muslim man. Some topics which were brought up were things such as the fact that we should not allow strange people into our house (meaning orphans) or the fact that we should not allow those orphans to have the inheritence that the children of our loins shall receive. Now, I am not quite sure how that really proves or disproves that Mohammed was a true prophet, but it seems to me that this is quite an evil thing. Yes, this man would admit that we are to care for orphans, but somehow these children are cursed. I do not agree with this at all, but simply see it as our loving embrace of those less fortunate. Yes, all women are not capable of having children, but is this really a curse from God? Or, is it really a curse from God that a child's parents are not alive when that child is growing up? I guess I am really just seeing this from one side and I am sure that a Muslim could properly defend their view, but it just seems really harsh to me to not embrace those less fortunate.

More Wanderings

2008-09-01T14:19:00.001-07:00

You know, I continue to question what I am supposed to do in life. It seems like I am wired to help people in certain ways, but I wonder what this really means. Does it mean that I am supposed to teach? Does it mean that I am supposed to counsel people? What does it really mean?
A few years ago my parents told me that I had to go to school, but at that time I didn't want to go to school at all. I decided that computers were what was for me. That, I must admit, was simply driven by money. I was driven by the idea that I could make so much money and not have to worry about anything. Well, this was seriously a bad choice in my life. I went back to school after this because I felt a call to ministry. I got my bachelors degree in youth ministry. I, however, could not stop here and decided to go even further and get a masters degree so that I would be even more fit for ministry. However, this did not go so well, so now I find myself back in technology simply to make money to pay down my debt. I recognize that I am just digging myself deeper and deeper in debt. I do not so much enjoy what I do as view it as something that I have do in life. I was reading my old poetry last night and read how I wrote "if you are not having fun in your job why are you there?" So, I have to question why I am really here. I cannot give an honest answer. It is something that will take a lot of thought and prayer to really figure out. Do I actually see myself in Southern California for the rest of my life? Not at all! Do I really want to go back to school and build up even more debt? Not at all! Will I have to figure out something pretty soon? Probably. I need to do something productive with my life.
I recall what happened the last time that I was involved in technology. I ended up working for eight months full-time before I finally started to realize that I.T. in that way was simply not for me. There has to be more to life than what I am currently doing and I will spend some time trying to figure out what I need to do.

The Whirlwind of the Week

2008-08-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

So, there are quite a few things that I have been thinking about this past week.

First of all, I went to the doctor on Friday and now I need to get an ultrasound of my liver and kidneys to determine if there is anything wrong. I tend to think that there is something wrong physically, not something psychologically.

I went to a baseball game last night with a large group from Providence Christian College. It was pretty enjoyable overall and I definitely enjoyed the fireworks afterwards. I think that one of the most fun things to do in my life is to do just that, go to a baseball game and see fireworks.

This morning I realized one very harsh reality. I have witnessed the dying of two churches in my life. I cannot, however, say that the same thing happened in both churches. Whereas my church in South Holland simply died because so many member were advanced in years with no new members coming in, my church that I attended in San Diego is dying because there is no outreach and members are simply leaving. It makes me think about why people attend churches in the first place. Has church given into consumerism, or have people treated churches like they are simply another store to go to? Do we try to find the church that makes us feel the best and continue to shop around until we find that church? Or, do we find a church based on our ethnic background? Do we simply go to a historically Dutch church because we are Dutch? It is really interesting as I reflect upon that. I want to go to a church that makes me feel good, but at the same time tells me the truth. Yes, we always want good news, but it is like those conversations you have with coworkers or underlings. They always ask if you want the good news first or the bad news. Well, you know what, I want the bad news first, then the good news because it will stick with me better that way. If I know where I have been I can definitely be assured of the greatness of where I will go. We need churches that preach the good news while also telling us the bad news. If we ignore the bad news we will not really understand why the good news is really that good.

Considering Church

2008-08-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

I started going to a college and career group at the church that I currently go to. It is quite an interesting array of things and definitely reminds me of what I used to do back in Illinois. It is a great and wonderful thing. Ever since I moved out here I have felt like I was being drawn away from church (they say the devil goes after would-be and actual pastors the most). Now that I am free from having that label (rather sad about this at times) I feel that I can have better interaction with God's Word and it is always a joy to have fellow believers around me that share in this joy. This past week I met a guy named Wes who is very much on fire for the Lord. He, apparently, has been going to New Life for about a year now and has also visited other churches but has never found what he found at New Life. But, I consider it great joy to know that there are people out there who are actually brought to such a great church after growing up a non-believer. Most of the time you find these kinds of people in the starter churches (the ones that water down the gospel so much that they just tell you what you want to hear instead of the whole truth). Anyways, about the meeting: They finished up Jude this week and it was amazing. I studied Jude last summer because I figured on writing some sermons on it (that never happened) but I gained many great insights into this book. Jude is giving us such a great warning to be weary of the false teachers that surround us, telling us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear. If only the church followed this I would not be so bitter towards some churches.

I also recently ran across a post on revelife.com speaking of how someone went from a protestant church to the Catholic church because it was liturgical. This person then went on to speak of how the two churches are separated because the Protestant Church does not believe in liturgy. This greatly shocked me, since all liturgy is is the following of the same order every week for how the service is conducted. The outline in your bulletin (prelude, song, prayer, scripture reading, sermon) is the liturgy of the service. Therefore, does that mean that the Protestant church is supposed to be spontaneous and not follow any order at all? I am left to wonder.

This Past Week

2008-08-17T19:46:00.001-07:00

So, this past week I have been sick. Combined I took 10 hours of "compassion time" from work so that I could go to the ER and also go to the doctor. I had an EKG and a Chest x-ray to be told I have heart palpitations on Monday and then on Tuesday I was told that I had stomach flu. Anyways, that gave me a little bit of time to think and it made me very scared. I think this is the first time in my life where I have ever regretted anything that I have done. My combined student loans payments for a 25 year term are about the same as my rent payment per month, which absolutely freaks me out and makes me wonder if coming out to Southern California was a huge mistake in my life. I did definitely learn a lot at WSC, but it put me back $50,000 and I really have little to show for it besides the knowledge that I gained. Yes, there can be a price put on knowledge, but I do not have a degree for it. I think it was a mistake to say that I would keep going to WSC until I flunked out, which is what happened. Now I live from paycheck to paycheck, I guess, trusting that the Lord will provide for all my needs. It is a great thing to have this kind of trust, but it is also scary because many of us do not trust God as we should. Yes, I am not technically emptying my bank account every month paying bills, but having very little money does definitely scare me. We shall see what the future will hold for me.

Some Questions

2008-08-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

You know I heard some really awesome sermons today. But then I started to think. What about those people that cannot hear the awesome sermons? I have always been in these Dutch meccas so I have had solid, theological churches to go to. But, what about those people that are not in these meccas? Would you move to an area of the country even if you knew that you would not get fed spiritually in that area? It troubles my heart that some people will. Even in this very San Diego area there are people that are going to churches where they are not fed. The best church to go to could be 45 mins to an hour away and that troubles me. Do you just go to a church that does not fit your identity then? Do you just go to a close church just to say that you go to church?
We run into problems sometimes at churches. Hey, here is a joke for you. There was a rescue chopper that came to an island to rescue a man who had been stranded there for a long time. He was the only one on the island, but when the rescuers looked around they saw that there were three buildings there. So, they proceeded to ask the man what the three buildings were. The man pointed to the first building indicating that it was his house. He pointed to the second building and indicated that that was his church. He then pointed to the third building and indicated that that was the church that he used to belong to. Everyone, therefore, can run into problems with a church. I ran into problems when I was back in Illinois and left my original church. I, however, was lucky enough to find another church in the same town also preaching the good news of Jesus. Most people will not have this. Most people, through arguments and disagreements, will lose that true church identity. And I pray that those people may realize what is happening to them and they may go back to being spiritually fed the right way.

A Different Reflection

2008-07-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

You know, I have often written about the traditions that were carried on when I am younger and this is going to be no different. Some families cannot get everything that they want, such as those huge houses or million dollar cars. That is probably most of us. We cannot get everything that we want in life. If we did we would not know what life was really about. Life is about struggling at certain points and getting through these points. We surround ourselves with others that will, hopefully, help through the struggles along with being there through the happy things in life. However, I want to focus on my family again. My grandma on my mom's side died about 6 and a half years ago now. It was interesting how we would always go over to my grandparents' house for bread after Sunday church. My grandma would always make bread from scratch for this purpose and I always thought that this was such a great thing, such a treat. Yes, we had it every Sunday, but it was still a treat to have homemade bread. I have begun to make my own bread also and I view it as such a treat. The ingredients cost no more than $1.50 or $2 to make that bread, but it is still something special. I have never been one to cherish the huge things in life, but rather the small things. In those loafs of bread my grandma showed her caring nature and her love for all of us. It takes a few hours to make that bread, but it was always waiting for us on Sunday, meaning that she had enough foresight to realize what had to be done. Most families do not meet together like this every week. My family cannot really do this anymore since I am in California, my brother is in New Mexico and my sister is in Florida. However, we can show our love in little things that we do. Yeah, we all do not have the time to bake bread for those we care about, but there are other things that we can do in life for those around us. After my grandma died we still went over to the house for bread after church for a little while, but it soon got to be too hard for all of us to even go to the same church, so we rarely met for bread anymore. Why do I really even say this at all? Well, it is because as I reflect on what used to be I realize what will be in the future and what great LITTLE things I can do to leave memories.

Time for Some Thinking

2008-07-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

You know, at this point in my life I honestly thought things would be different than they are. I figured myself to be married with a few kids, but this is not what God had in mind for me. I figured that I would be making tons of money and have almost no debt. It is funny because this is how I would have pictured myself. There was a time in life where I did simply think about money and how rich I could be. Instead, however, I have a lot of debt with payments soon to be starting. I cannot say that I am actually happy about where I am, but you know, there are times where I will look back and be very happy. I just got done watching Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and even a movie such as that can cause you to think deep. Here are these two guys who seem to be failures, but they are not failures. They become a great band in a few years, but now they seem hopeless. This can be our lives at times, but we get out of these times. Sure, I am in debt, but I know that there will be a time where I can look back and see how this has caused me to grow. God has greater things in mind for me. There is still someone out there for me, so this is my hope. I have many great strides to make in life still, apparently, so it is not my time to settle down. I have hope for this life because I know God has greater things in store for me than I can even ask or imagine. There was a time when I thought money drove life, but I realize that it doesn't. What drives my life is the idea that Christ has died for all my sins, so no matter how much I think life is screwed up I can be reminded that Christ paid for all that screw up. What really, do non-Christians have to look forward to? What they judge to be fun only lasts a short time, but the real "fun" is yet to come for all those who have been redeemed.

Another Reflection (03/07)

2008-07-12T22:27:00.002-07:00

Often times we hear people say the only things in life that are certain are death and taxes. But, what does death really mean if there is nothing after this world? What is the purpose of humans in the first place? We can look at things around us and find a purpose in most things, but there really is no purpose for man if there is nothing after this world. Christians see a purpose beyond this life, but Christians are no longer the majority. So, what does the world see in death? Nothing, they see the grave as the end. Sure you can influence people to think. Just look at L. Ron Hubbard. He got people to believe Scientology, but has it gotten him any further? Do we exist on this earth to do the most good for the most people? Isn't that relative though? Even if we do good there is someone out there that will do more good than you. So why do good in the first place? So that you don't die for doing evil? People may remember you for a little while after you die, but not for very long. So, why do good? If you know that no one is going to remember you would you still do as much good as you possibly could? But, then again, what is good? There is a series of questions which are nonsense. If you are a Christian you know why you exist in this world.
The other thing that simply makes no sense to me is to hear people say "oh, he/she settled, they could have done so much better." I see marriage as a committment and if you enter a marriage because you feel that you can do no better I find you depressing. Why would you marry someone if you find someone else out there? I don't think you can settle in marriage. But, wait, what does it mean to settle? Do you admit to your husband/wife that you settled? Obviously there has to be some love somewhere or else you would not have married the person in the first place. Get over it, people, you cannot possibly settle in marriage. It is a divine institution and there has to be feelings. Sure, some people don't marry the pretty/handsome people that you think they should, but that beauty fades. If I wake up next to someone who is ugly on the inside I have made a huge mistake in life. Sure, there has to be some kind of physical attraction, but it is what is inside that counts. If marriage had to fit into the shallow standards that so many people impose there would be such a lack of good people out there. Don't be shallow, realize that people marry because they like the people, not because they feel they can do no better.

Bonhoeffer

2008-07-12T22:27:00.001-07:00

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said "God is not to be seen, for if he were seen he would be nothing more than an idol." Well, I fully agree with this quote. If you think about it it is absolutely true. So many people in this world today will only believe in a god if that god is seen by them. Well, God is not seen this way. If he were seen this way he would be nothing more than a human, but God is so much greater than we can ever think or imagine. If He was seen that would make him much less and non-important. But God is very important. The Christian walk is concerned with following the ways that He has set out for us. If we do not follow these ways what is our life? If God shows himself to these doubters what would make them believe anyways? At that point God would not be worth believing anymore because these people are worshipping that image and as many people would conclude, God has no "image" because he is not seen by us in the terms that you are thinking. God is only seen in our understanding, not in our sight. And the understanding that we actually have is little at all.

Christianity is a Joke?

2008-07-12T22:22:00.002-07:00

Christianity is a Joke?
I do not want to go back in time to figure out how many times in my xangas I have actually either used "Christianity is a joke" as a title of a post or in some part of any of my posts, but I know that it is a lot. Do I really think that Christianity is a joke? Not at all. I consider it my work to further the truth of Christianity. Please do not take any of posts as me doubting Christianity, for this is not me. So what do I think today?
Christianity is a joke if you take it the way that some people do. Or maybe it is just church in general. Weekly church gatherings seem to build up for you right? I mean, if you go to church five weeks in a row is that enough that you can skip one week to go out fishing or just sleep in? You look around in church and say "hey, that person hasn't been in church for a few weeks, so I can afford to miss a week." Why are you thinking this way? Why does it matter what other people do? Don't you go to worship services to praise God? What is the focus for you? Do you go to church because you feel guilty? ?Maybe some is saying "your mother/ father really wants you to go to church" or "it would make your grandparents very happy if they saw you in church this week." But then aren't you really going just to please people? Do you think it really pleases God if you are going to church just to please other people?
And then this comment: Can any church really call themselves the "almost perfect" church? Is it actually possible? I once heard a comment from Jay Bakker (I understand that he is nowhere close to the type of thinking that I am supposed to support) that the church is for the sick people, not the healthy ones. Church is for those who realize that they are not good enough on their own. Yes, we are perfected in Christ, but no church can ever say that it is "almost perfect."

Christianity as a Cure for Boredom?

2008-07-12T22:22:00.001-07:00

Does Christianity really cure boredom? What is boredom, though? Is it really equated to meaninglessness? I do not believe that it is. Boredom in a general sense is finding life to be dull at a certain moment. Does Christianity make life fun? I do not really believe so. The Christian journey is a journey with its ups and downs. Can you be bored as a Christian? Yes you can. Does the world around us look at Christianity as boredom? I would guarantee that people around us look at us as boring because while they can engage in sexual promiscuity and all the other "fun" things we cannot do these things. It seems like the world would see us as boring. We can't have any "fun" after all. What would make someone go from having all that "fun" to the struggle that is the Christian life? Yes, everything apart from the worship and study of God is meaningless, but I don't see how boredom really equates to meaninglessness. In the worldly sense of the word, these are polar opposites.

A Reflection on Jean (Post from 01/08)

2008-07-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I spent some time in NW Iowa. While there I was informed of the passing of one of my dear friends, Jean Olthoff. Now I cannot mourn much because Jean was 80 years old, but it will still be a loss to the earthly community. She is with Jesus now, a wonderful and glorious thought. She seemingly had no health problems so her passing was very sudden. One minute she was vacuuming and the next minute she was gone from this world. An ordinary lady, but an extraordinary Christian. As I heard from Dr. Nederhood this morning at the funeral, she was a woman that would let you talk as much as you wanted to before she would give her response. But, really, it was not her response, it was a response from the Word of God. She studied the Bible so much that she knew exactly where to turn to offer you advice. Jean was a great Christian and she will definitely be missed. However, that is not the end of this blog. I said that she was one of my dear friends, but I have yet to say why. She lived in South Holland for most of those 80 years, but it was not until I was at my previous church that I first met Jean. She was always a shining light for the community. She didn't care what she had to do any day of the week, she would drop everything to help you in what you did. If every asked how she was doing you would get a fast response of "how are you doing?" and if it was a happy response she would echo it and say "I am just fine knowing that you are doing wonderfully." I remember my first ever visit that I went on as a pastoral intern was to Jean's house. I cannot recall that often that I actually had seen Jean in church before I had made this visit. You see, Jean was busy taking care of her husband Ralph who was in the beginning stages of dementia when I went to visit. We visited for about 3 hours and it was such a pleasant visit. This was the first time I really got to talk to Jean. Through the course of the summer I made many visits to many other people and as the summer was coming to a close I decided to make two more visits. The one visit was to my friend Tony (whom I wrote about roughly a year and a half ago on his passing) and the last visit that I made that summer was to Jean and Ralph. I could not attend Tony's funeral so Jean kindly sent me a card telling me about all the goings on in South Holland at that time. Four months later I learned that Ralph had become very sick. So, the first thing I did was go to the store in California and find a card that I could send to Jean. I found a great card and sent it along wishing them my best. It was not more than a day after I sent that card that Ralph died. I now had to send a sympathy card. However, after this card came a return card from Jean. It was a card wishing me well and telling me about all the blessings she now had knowing that Ralph was in a better place. I decided that even though I was no longer the intern at my church I would still call Jean up and go visit her. So, when I came home for Christmas time my first call was to her. We chatted for a long time and she had told me how she knew that her husband was going to die so she had rearranged the furniture in the living room to make it easier for the medics to get to him. Over the next six months we exchanged cards back and forth while we were away from each other. When I came home this past summer I learned that Jean had fallen and I immediately made a phone call to her. She welcomed me with open arms. She said that I could come over and talk with her, even though she was in some pain. This was Jean. This was a very caring lady. When I resumed school in the Fall there was another of Jean's cards waiting for me. Another one came soon after the wildfires telling me how much she had been praying for me. I feel a bit of guilt because I never found a card to send back to Jean in response to this card to let her know that her prayers were appreciated. On Christmas Day of 2007 I saw Jean in church with some of her family members. Apparently this was the first time she had been at Cottage Grove for a few weeks. So, after church I went up to Jean, got my usual hug and kiss greeting from her, and asked her where she had been. She told me that everything was alright and she would discuss that with me when we next met. We had to decided that we would meet the next week. However, Jean went to glory last week Friday, one week before we were supposed to meet together. I suppose that I will not find out where she had been, but I know where she will be. She will be with Jesus, where she always wanted to be. It was relayed to me that on Christmas night she told one of her sons that she wanted to go home while they were driving to her home. He quickly responded that they were almost home and she again said "I want to go home." It was not her earthly home that she was talking about, but that one beyond this world. Flipping through her Bible in preparation for the funeral her sons found a note that simply said "O Jesus, every day I wake to know that you are my Lord it brings joy to me. I long for that day when I am in your presence forever." This was Jean, always showing her Christian committment and her genuine joy that Jesus was in her life.

Central to Church?

2008-07-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

No doubt someone somewhere will take objection to this post. No doubt. I know for a fact that we should never structure where we go to church around the music that they have. Sure, a few years and still even today people are leaving churches because they sing out of a book instead of off a screen. Does the medium really matter? Some people say that they will not sing off a screen because they do not see the music that accompanies those lyrics. A church back home one uped these people by providing the musical notes along with the words. The other side of people do not want to sing from a hymnal because it either limits them in their "spontaneous worship of God" or it is just too heavy for them. But, I am convinced that as long as those songs are glorifying to God they are alright. The thing that I cannot stand for is people that go to a church because of the music that they have. Is music honestly that important? Does it matter whether those songs are played by an organ or by a guitar? I think not. What really matters to me is the preaching of the word. I would much rather go to a church that does not know how to sing than go to a church that does not know what the true Gospel is. Christ came to this Earth for a reason. It was not to make us monetarily rich, but to make us rich in spirit. You can read all the books you want about how to make yourself better, but if you are not sitting under the true Gospel you are not going to gain anything. Riches of this world are fleeting. Entertainment is fleeting, but the true Gospel will never leave. It stands forever.

Growing Up, A Reflection

2008-07-12T22:16:00.002-07:00

You know, it is always interesting what you remember from your childhood. For some there are a lot of things that they wish they could forget. For me they are things which I wish I could relive.
Living out in California I cannot be like I was back home in Illinois. My neighborhood back home was always a pleasant place. Out here in California there is really nothing that speaks to me as a neighborhood. The house that I live in is built on a hill, so the houses are not really next to each other, but up the hill from each other. I miss being able to talk to neighbors and do all the fun stuff that you do as a kid with the neighbors. I realize that I am 25 years old, but I think living in a neighborhood is part of what I want in life, even if I am too old now to do all those fun things anymore.
Then, of course, there are those little things in life. Growing up there was a hot meal every single night of the week. I recall very rarely going out to eat, but we did that every once in a while. The special treat on our birthdays when I was younger was we got to pick where we went (I think 9 times out of 10 it turned out to be Showbiz Pizza, which is now Chuck E. Cheese). When we got older we just got to pick our favorite meal and my parents would make that on our birthdays. Did this take much money at all? Not really. I would choose a nice homecooked meal over McDonalds any day. Sure we had relatively the same things every week, but it was still good. Then there are those Saturday mornings and Sunday nights. Growing up we always had a nice supper on Sunday nights, whether it was pizza, sub sandwiches, beef sandwiches or sausage/meatball sandwiches there was always something waiting on Sunday nights after church. Then of course there is the tradition that I have started out here on Saturday mornings: waffles. I cheat and use a box of mix, but I am pretty sure that my dad always made them from scratch. I don't recall having waffles every week back home, but it was enough that I certainly do remember them.
So, if you read somewhere or hear me say "I want to go home" or "I am thinking about running away" you now know what I want to run away to. I miss those times back home. I honestly wish that I could relive them.

My Greatest Fear

2008-07-12T22:16:00.001-07:00

My greatest fear in life is the fact of the sin that is over me. I see myself caught in the same sins all the time and it really depresses me. Satan wants me to think that these sins have condemned me, but these sins have done nothing to me, for I repent of them. I realize how much I have actually broken away from the perfect life. I realize how much things could be different, but alas I have still sinned. The mere fact that I have realized how evil I am, though, already tells me that I have been rescued. None of us will ever be perfect, but with Christ we are made perfect. What is my great fear? Apart from Christ it is the fear of death, but death has lost its sting and the grave has no victory over those who have been set free by Christ. I must admit that my prayer life is not what it once was. I remember in college I was told by the campus pastor that he went through times where he found it very difficult to pray so he would pray the prayers of saints that were recorded in a book of prayer. I am now finding it difficult to pray also. The amazing thing, though, is that God already knows what we need and we can actually pray things such as "give me words to speak." God will give us the words to pray to him and it is wonderful. Even sitting in silence works. I also recall that I have many times fallen asleep while praying. You are in God's presence at these times and it is so wonderful. It is at these times that you should realize that you are close to God. God, however, is never far away from us. In fact, God never changes where he is, we just try to get further away from him. At the times that we need God the most we are at fault, not him. We have run from where we should be and we need to turn back. So, my simple prayer is "Give me words to speak at those times when I find it so difficult to pray. I know that I am not what I should be, but I am nowhere close to what I could have been. Thank you Lord."

Woah

2008-07-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have not added anything to this blog in a really long time. I am pretty sure that no one ever reads this anyways. Hey, I didn't even know that I had this blog. Anyways, life seems good. I am still at the seminary, but not going to school, just working for them. It is a job, I guess, but definitely not where I see myself down the road. I really hope to move on to bigger and better things. I am spending this weekend in Iowa, going to a wedding of two really great friends who now live on the other side of the country from me. It was great to see them and also a few more old friends that I wish I still had close. In fact, it is weird to just be back in Iowa. I also envision myself moving back to the midwest where life is much better for me. I cannot deal so much with the hustle and bustle of California with drivers who drive crazy and people who flip you off. That is just not life for me. I hope when I meet that special someone they will truly embrace the midwest and not mind living there for the rest of their life. I still find comfort in the fact that places like this still exist. Yes, I am yearning for something that I have never really had before, but it just seems like a much better life for me. It seems like people are closer here. It seems like you actually have neighbors that you can socialize with. Maybe it is just a pipe-dream for me, but maybe it is not. Maybe it just depends where you are in life as to how you feel about friendships. Included in my gmail chat messages lately has been "Adam needs to find more friends closer to Escondido." Maybe, however, that should read "Adam needs to find more friends where friendship actually matters" and is not just a part of life. They say that you can tell a man by the company he keeps. But, honestly, what if he keeps no company? What if he feels like a stranger in a strange world? That is where I am now. I have great friends, no denying that, but there are in another part of the US, away from me. Am I depressed or whining? By no means, just reflecting and realizing how much certain people mean in my life.

Momma Told ME Not To Hate

2007-02-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

It was my birthday Sunday. This weekend has been filled with fun stuff. Friday night I went over to Koop and Steph's house to play Euchre and by 10 I was too tired to continue. I guess I will never be able to get anywhere close to Bussis' record of consecutive Euchre games. Saturday was a day where I had a lot of friends over. I, for some odd reason, decided to make my own Roast Beef, and while it was fun, it was very time consuming. Anyways, I had friends over and we ate dinner, watched part of a wrestling DVD that I got for my birthday then finished the night off with "The Prestige." Today I shall go to church and hang out with Koop, Steph and Lana afterwards. Yeehaw for me having friends.
But, on to what this blog is actually about. I just read a story on WSCAL's list about James Cameron unearthing the tomb of Jesus Christ. http://time-blog.com/middle_east/2007/02/jesus_tales_from_the_crypt.html#comments I seem to remember a few years ago people claiming to have discovered the tomb of James, brother of Jesus, somewhere. I wish that these people would make up their minds. In the article it says that James Cameron can prove via DNA tests that it is Jesus' tomb. If this is our Savior's tomb and there is a possibility of a DNA test that would mean that Christ never rose. But, wait a minute. I know that people are good at figuring out their family trees, but how are you going to get that good of a DNA makeup from a 2000 year old body? And how can you prove that it is actually Jesus Christ? I think it is an absolute shame to even claim that you found the body of Christ. Yes, you will outrage Christians and get more people on your side, but for what? So what if a tomb was found with ten bodies inside being the family of Jesua, there are probably millions of people with this family tree. I guarantee that somewhere out there there is another family living right now with Gerald, Annette, Eric, Beth and Adam as a family. But what does it prove?

What I Think

2007-02-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

I am starting to think that writing blogs is a waste of time.
This past weekend was an interesting one. I woke up at 1:30 Friday morning with the flu. Yeah, that is not too fun. Needless to say, that kept me out for one day, so Zach couldn't get any material on me being strange with the exchange students Friday night. Saturday was a better day. I still felt kind of sick, but nowhere near what I was like on Friday. Saturday night I got to hang out with friends from seminary and also some future seminarians. We saw "Breach," which was a great movie and then ended up at OTB, where I only managed to eat half a chicken quesadilla. Then we went to Starbucks and got coffee and talked more. This was where someone figured out what the Calvin guys have known all along, that they can make as many jokes about me as they want with little or no consequences. Is this a huge problem for me? Not really, but some people may say that I need to get more serious. Oh well, I will let it role off my back. Sunday I wore a suit for the second week and people thought that I was exhorting instead of Zach. That was quite odd. I mean, we do kind of look alike, but these people know both of us and Zach's name was listed in the bulletin, so there is no reason that anyone should think that. Plus, I am not even allowed to exhort yet, so that kind of makes it more difficult to make that jump. One day soon it will be the truth though, I will be able to exhort. Sunday night I played Euchre with Zach and Steve and one other guy from our church. It ended up that Steve and I were on a team and we won 2 out of 3. It was quite a good weekend overall, I guess. It is over now and it is now time to study.

Famous

2007-02-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

I think no one would be surprised to know that my favorite sport is baseball. But, what many do not realize is the reason that I like minor (or independent) league baseball more than the majors. You see, in an age where the Cubs can spend $300 million in an off season to bring in the best talent, I don't really care about talent. I care about the love of the game. Those guys out there making no more than $1000 a month have to be in it for the love of the game. I love the game of baseball, so I enjoy watching these guys. I don't care that much about being able to say that I met or got the autograph of that famous player. In the end does it really matter? Can saying that I have met this person really get me any further in life. Sure, saying that you know someone famous can get into that new trendy nightclub, but life is not a nightclub. In the end it does not matter if you know that famous person or if you simply know that next door neighbor. Everyone has a story to tell, and the most important story does not come through that famous person's autograph, but in the greatest book of all, the Bible. In the game of life knowing your next door neighbor and the famous player may be on different levels, but at the end of life neither of these will matter. That famous person's autograph may get you $1000 on ebay today, but tomorrow it may be just a cent. You see, in the end, that famous person becomes less famous and they are just like you and me. They are humans, not superhumans.

Justice, Again

2007-02-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

You know, my thoughts come up once again. I was reading about the humanists again last night. I don't understand what doing the most good actually will do. What does doing good get you if there is no afterlife? People are wicked by nature and there has to be a prize at the end, right? So, are these people trying to stay on earth as long as possible to do good, even though they will not be remembered for it? What really does it mean? Doing good, I guess, can be seen as what is good for the most people. But, do we actually know what is good for the most people? In the humanist mindset, or the postmodern mindset, isn't "good" relative? I am utterly confused. If there is no afterlife there is no reason for life in the first place. I do not believe that good works will put you in heaven, but I still try to do what is good in the eyes of the Lord. I fail miserably, but I keep trying. As for the humanists, they say that they want to not discriminate against anyone, but they discriminate against Christians and all other religions with a central figure. That is the ultimate discrimination, I think.

There is a Step Missing

2007-01-29T17:20:00.000-08:00

So last night I was watching this show on PBS. It was midnight and I should know that nothing good comes on after midnight. It was the series "In The Life." Well, I watched it and only saw part of it and there was a UMC pastor on there. I think she probably claimed herself as a victim, although I didn't see all of this story. What I didn't learn until a few minutes ago was that this show is put out by the LGBT community. This woman from the pulpit said "I am in a covenant relationship with another woman." Later on in the show she said "If someone asks me while I am being examined if I am a lesbian I would have said "yes." It turns out that that question was never raised when she was examined, but I would think that there has to be something in church bylaws against such a thing. Sure, I have not studied their church order, but isn't that something that has to be disclosed? The CRC says that you cannot be a practicing homosexual and hold church office. Maybe the UMC is not as clear on this? However, she did get removed from the pulpit because she was a practicing lesbian. It is just interesting what the "church" has become. I tend to think of ministry as a high calling and there are people in this high calling who defy even the denomination that they are a part of? Maybe I am making too much of this situation and possibly someone will say that any problem in any church that causes the pastor to leave or get deposed is equivalent.

No Comprende

2007-01-22T09:54:00.000-08:00

I just do not understand why people are so far out there when it comes to belief. Why is it so bad to believe that God exists? Even worse, where does the disposition come from? I have heard many people say that Christianity is horrible because of the people that are allowed in. Isn't that passing judgment? They look at people around them and it is as if people are walking around with this Christian tattoo on their foreheads. Let us not be like the hypocrites who stand on the corners when they pray. Maybe it is this attitude that nonbelievers want to attack. Maybe it is that people are boasting about their Christianity and they go out into the world and do something dumb. Well, we all do things for selfish motives. We all fall, too. If we did not there would be no need for a savior. Ted Haggard got himself into trouble. So, that must mean that all Christians have this problem, right? No, not really. Everyone makes mistakes in this world. That is called sin. However, people make judgments based on a few. Because Ted Haggard did this, Christianity must be wrong. But, this is a false assumption. Man is never clear of all temptation until he reaches the promised land. There are some sins that are more public than others and much more apparent. However, lying is just as much a sin as sexual immorality. There is no level to sin. It does not go 2 lies = 1 sexual immorality. Ultimately, what good does not following God give you? Are there some kind of limitations placed on you when you follow God? Is it as if all your fun is gone? Is having all your indescretions really that much fun? These provide temporary "fun." Yeah, Christianity is not perfect, but it doesn't have to be. It just has to bring forth the message of Christ in the right way. The men speaking God's Word are not perfect, so it is hard to say that Christianity is perfect.

This Hits Home

2007-01-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

THE CLOAK2 Kings 2:7-14 (http://www.BibleGateway.com/bible?passage=2+Kings+2:7-14)"[Elisha] picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah ...." 2 Kings 2:13
A cloak, a long, heavy, robe-like coat, was an Old Testament symbol of authority. For a prophet in Israel, it was a symbol of the power of God resting on him. When Elijah first met Elisha (1 Kings 19:19), he threw his cloak around him. I wonder what it was like to feel the weight of the anointing of the Spirit of God. When Elisha felt that, he left everything and followed Elijah.But now, with Elijah gone to heaven, Elisha must go on. Picking up the cloak that Elijah left behind, Elisha goes back the way they came, and he knows God is with him as the water of the Jordan River divides, just as it did for Elijah.Is there a follower of Jesus whom you admire? Often, for example, when an old Christian grandmother dies, her children and grandchildren will speak through tears and with deep warmth about her faith. They'll recall how she went to church every Sunday, loved the old hymns, read the Bible every day, prayed every morning and night, and stayed married to grandpa all those years. They'll speak of how her faith inspired them.But, sadly, in many such families the kids only come to church occasionally - and the grandkids, rarely. Though inspired by Grandma's life, they don't imitate it.Do you know any people who walk faithfully with the Lord? Follow their example. Pick up their cloak.
PRAYERFather, show me some examples I can follow. Give me the courage to be like them. Anoint me, Lord. Fill me with your Spirit to become like Jesus. In his name I pray. Amen.

Some Reflection

2007-01-14T07:39:00.000-08:00

You know, it is yet again a sad day. I realize just how precious life really is. I have told the story a few times about Tony and once I mentioned the couple that I went to visit this past summer. I spent a lot of time with both of these sets of people and now comes the news that the husband has died, leaving his wife to deal by herself. She is a very strong lady. I have said a few times before that she only cared how you felt and that would cheer her up. If you were doing fine then she was doing fine also. She had to care for her husband these last few years. Before my internship this summer I wondered if they still existed. I would see her in church every once in a while, but not on a regular basis. When I went to visit this past summer I found out why. It was because she cared about her husband so much and in his last years he had become not only disoriented but he fell often. She was always so afraid that he would fall and she would not be able to pick him back up. The only thing that I can think is "wow." She was a woman who could not weigh more than 120 pounds and she would pick her husband up off the ground and he had to be about 6'4". What a strong woman! But, what makes her even stronger is her faith in the Lord. Sure she could not make it to church every week because she cared about her husband, but she still recognized what God meant. She is a very strong Christian and I know that she realizes that her husband is in a much better place now. It is amazing what people like this can do to you. I am strong because I know that she is holding strong. She had to care for him for these last few years. She will be more lonely now, but she will also be able to go back to church, something that I know will strengthen her. She cares so much when so many others care very little. She realizes the precious gift that God has given to everyone who believes. Her faith is strong, if only all of us had that strong of faith. Her husband is now gone, but his memory stays with us. He was hospitable to me and he too was a guy who cared. When I visited them this summer he would talk of how he knew my grandfather. His mind was not all there, but the memories that he had were great memories.

Bookends

2007-01-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

In my reflections over my winter break I began to think. In previous posts I referred to Tony and the other couple that I visited. These were bookends to my summer. Well, deaths that happened to these people were also bookends for my semester. Tony went right before classes started in the Fall and Ralph died right before finals were over for the Fall term. Well, with bookends there is a definite beginning and end. But, as I have learned, times goes on. We face things in our lives and we always say "Why God, he had so much left to do." But, when we step back and look, we realize that it was for the best. A few years ago I was given a choice at the school district. I was told that I would not maintain my job for longer than the summer. I could have easily lashed out at God and said "Why God, I have so much left to do." But, I didn't. I realized that God had bigger plans. After all, after I lost my job I got my bachelors degree in Youth Ministries and am currently studying for my MDiv. Did that bookend of my life mean the end of my life? It meant the end of a chapter of my life, but a new chapter began. Ultimately one day there will be no more chapters to be written. But, that last chapter will be the most glorious. That will be the best chapter, too. But, there are so many people in this world that have "great" chapters now, but will not have that greatest chapter and that is what causes my heart to be saddened. So many people want those "great" chapters to be now instead of later. It is true that as we age we lose more and more. By the time we are 30 we miss the things we were able to do when we were young. When we are 60 we can't move as well as we could at 30, and when we look at the world for the last time we aren't able to act like a kid anymore. These are chapters in our lives, but no matter what afflictions we have we can always be certain that the greatest chapter is still to follow. I am often reminded of my grandmother when I think of this. The woman lost both of her legs, but you know what? Her greatest chapter followed, the chapter that gave her all she ever needed, the great joy of being in the presence of her Savior. We can't bring back our deceased relatives and friends, but we can know that if they had a relationship with Christ they are in the greatest chapter of all. We lash out and tell God that people had so much left to do, but there effect on the world was great enough and we realize that these people are living their greatest chapter even though "they had so much left to do."

Confession

2006-12-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

It is really amazing what has entered into our churches. Whether it is complete tolerance for others, no matter what their religion stance is, or just an outright rejection of confessions. Do people realize what confessions really are? In our individualistic society we have our personal faiths. But, I have heard many people talk of how they have "no creed but Christ" or do not believe in confessions. Confessions and creeds lead to unity, after all, since you are confessing what you believe to others and to God. Why is it so hard to say that you have something in common with other people? Do you not believe that the Apostles Creed sums up your beliefs? Is the Catechism not really relevant to today? When I become a pastor I am supposed to affirm that I agree with what the confessions of my church say. However, these are not confessions that someone just simply made up off the top of their head. These are confessions and creeds that took a lot of effort to formulate. These are confessions that have stood the test of time. They serve as a uniting block. Forget about those who say "no creed but Christ." It cannot be true. If all you confess is Christ aren't you missing what is behind that? Aren't you missing Christ's work and all that he has done for us? Can you deny his virgin birth? I hope that you don't deny this. But, in this day and age churches are dropping their distinct beliefs so that they can get along with others. Our society is so individualistic that the church will drop everything that it believes in simply to get more people involved. "If you only listen to classical music, here is your service." "Oh, you only want praise music, here is your service." What happened to the true worship? Why is it not important anymore what the Bible really says? "Oh, you see an error in the Bible, okay, then don't believe it." There goes inerrancy. Christianity is bowing to liberalism. Sure, those churches are bringing a lot of people to their church, but is it really true worship? Have we given up on what the Bible actually says so that people feel better? In the last 50 years we have completely lost sight of what the Sabbath is. We go to worship when we want to, whether it is Saturday, Sunday or Wednesday, because it is most convenient for us. Why have we given into what the world thinks? Why do we allow ourselves to be run by the world? Last year my brother told me that it was easier to be a Christian in this world than it was to be anything else. Well, sure it is easier to be a "Christian." When you believe nothing at all it is so easy. But, true Christians believe a lot, and it is a lot to take in. It is not just "God works for the good of those that love him." It is also "cry with those who cry, weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice." Confessions should be important to Christians. They tell us that we believe what others have believed, and they help us confess the truth. Confessions unite us when others are telling us that we don't have to believe so much. I believe in the Confessions when so many others say that they are not relevant for today. When so many others say that they are flawed I know that they are true. This road is not an easy road to take, so the journey of a Christian is not easy.

I don't really get it

2006-12-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

There seems to be two ways to be a Christian. You either believe that you are the only one right or that everyone is right. This is a hard distinction to make. I think it is even harder on those who are trying to spread God's Word. I mean, how do you tell someone who disagrees with you theologically that they are wrong without really condemning them. Sure, the easiest thing to do is say "your beliefs are stupid and only mine are right." But then we miss so much of what it means to be Christians. We are united to Christ as his followers. Christ never told us the supreme denomination that exists. Hey, the URC has only been around for like 11 or 12 years now, that is a long time since Christ. The CRC has only been around for 149 years, so Christ couldn't have commanded people to go to that church either. (Sorry to the Presbyterians, but right now I just don't recall the years, other than early 30's and late 70's.) But besides this I think I have an even bigger problem with denominations that treat themselves as supreme. Take for example churches that list the denominations that are allowed to partake at their communion table. I am not talking about "if you are Reformed in doctrine you can partake" but an actual list of denominations like "if you are URC, OPC, blah, blah, blah you can partake." You can condemn a church as a false church all you want, but that does not mean that there are not true believers. The CRC continues to be put down by so many people, but that does not mean that there are not true believers. We are stubborn Dutchmen after all, and maybe the older people just didn't want to leave because it is the church that they grew up with. Sure there are a few churches that have gone off the deep end, but we are not a stew. Just because a few churches have gone off does not mean that the whole batch is ruined. The whole batch is not indeed ruined. The problem in our lives, though, is that we constantly want to tell people that they are wrong for their beliefs and instead of encouraging them to go to our church we completely turn them off from Christianity. Why is this? Because we are abrasive at what we do. I pray that we may see past this abrasiveness to gently nurse the flock and those we are trying to bring in the fold. If you want to shock people into Christianity just have them read the Tim LaHaye novels. That seems to work for a while. But wait, that is not how Christ got so many followers. Go shepherd the flock in a loving and tender way and stop worrying about condemning others.

Eternal Life

2006-11-27T12:11:00.000-08:00

I was watching House M.D. with Koop and Steph last night and the doctors were treating a nun. One of the doctors used to be in seminary, so he shared his favorite verse with the nun. It was 1 Peter 1:7, which says: "These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold- and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." The doctor was asked why he quit seminary and his response was because he could not handle the trials and did not truly believe. That is really sad. The man was training to be a servant of God and just could not feel God's blessing on him. We all go through trials and temptations in our lives, but we know that God is still there for us. God will not allow us to go through more than we can handle. However, we need to realize that he knows what we can handle better than we know what we can handle. God is always helping us along the way, even while we think Satan is kicking us down. God is not evil, but good. Sure, we still have those trials and temptations, but they are meant to make our faith stronger. If God is for us no one can possibly be against us. We are God's children and he cares about us deeply.

Very Sad

2006-11-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before, I belong to a yahoo group entitled "Defending Ellen G. White." Someone is about to say "why in the world do you belong to a SDA group?" I was invited and I did not refuse. But, I find something very sad in their understanding. As a Reformed Christian I believe that church is important. Many people will realize this, since I am studying to be a pastor. Well, someone on the SDA group sent an email out saying that they had not been in church in quite sometime. So, me being the crazy guy I am, sent an email saying how important it is to be a part of the corporate body and I get a response back that says this:
dear friend pastor Arnold says that returning to the fold (church) is not crucial to salvation, and in my dictonary one of the ways to define crucial is "decisive". i believe there is only One that is indeed crucial or desisive to my salvation and He is Jesus and Him crucified! yes of course the church of God is of vital imortance, however in this discussion i am seeking to see more clearly the priorities of the Good Shephard, and in this story it seems to me that a return to the fold is last on the list....here i believe i have, for myself, discoverd a process which i have previously failed to see.....there are, in my view, here at least three things that the good Shephard does in reclaiming the lost sheep to the flock (His church) (see Luke 15:3-7) 1:He seeks for the lost sheep untill He finds it. He does not first seek to fill the absence of one with many. now, though not yet returned to the fold, has not the lost sheep been found?2:He lifts up the found sheep. He does not first send it running back to the flock to recieve instruction and support from other sheep. can an immortal God/Jesus really trust any mortal human understanding to truely lift up the hearts of His Children? now, though not yet returned and in the context of being lifted up by a Savior, can this sheep still be truely seen as lost?3:He Himself carries the found, and lifted up, sheep back to the flock rejoicing. Who is it that does the carrying? Who is it that returns the found sheep to the fold? in the process of returning is the one who was lost, though seemingly missing from the chruch, still lost?in one of the companion parables of Luke 15 does the Father wait at the front door to greet His prodical son? He runs and meets him a great way off, throws His arms of Love around him and kisses him! Has the wandering one been accepted by the Father, and forgiven even before he reaches home (church)?where does Jesus say to condemn another for not attending church? He simply says to "Love one other"where does Jesus teach that anyone is lost based on what can be seen? He simply teaches "Love one another" and "judge not".where does Jesus instruct anyone to first seek the salvation of those, who by human standards, are perceieved as lost? He simply instructs each one to "Love one another", "Judge not", and "seek {{{ye}}} first the kingdom of God, and His (Jesus') rightiousness"only after these priorities have been meant does Jesus say "go ye into all the world and preach the gospel" i believe that, for the gospel to recieve the full power of the Spirit (the later rain) the priorities of Jesus must first be realized collectively within the hearts of ALL who would truely desire to see Him in His glory. therefore, it seems to me, that untill then everthing else is just practice. we are sort of like God's roadies setting up the equipment, testing it, and warming up the audiance before the main event which is the mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all the earth.

On My Soapbox

2006-10-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Once again I will go in my hole against some music. As pointed out to me yesterday, "We Bow Down" makes no sense. The words say we bow down and crown him the king. But what are we crowning him the king of? Now Jesus in no means is "stuck-up" but what can we really crown him? Some selfish crown by us does nothing. The Father has already crowned him King. Are we crowning him the king of our lives? Well, that doesn't make much sense because we are still sinners. We are sinners saved by grace, but we are still sinners. That crown does not really work because then you are attributing your sins to Christ. Christ did die for our sins, but basically you are telling the world that you are doing evil and Christ is helping you do evil. The ultimate crown for Jesus is the one given by the Father. Nothing that we can do will ever match up to that.
We live in an evil age where the Devil is tempting us every day. This is a fact. We have glory to look forward to, but until that day we have the devil looming over us. Most people repeat certain sins and everytime they do so the Devil looms over and says "haha, you did it again." At the same time the devil has provoked you to do it, so it is a double portion. We get coaxed into things all the time and the moment that it happens and we realize that we have done it we feel guilty about it. This is certainly the devil at work. But God looks down at us and says "don't worry my child, I sent MY son to take care of that. If you confess your wrong I am faithful to forgive you."
I have posted it many times before, but this stanza just hits me right now:
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,Even so, it is well with my soul.

Why?

2006-10-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered why people go to church. What really is the reasoning? Do they view it as some kind of penance? Like if they go to church X amount of times that guarantees that they will see God in Heaven? I feel that church just get stagnant for so many people. They say that they have to go to church but they are not really sure why. Is there actually a reason for you to go to church? We are supposed to gather as a covenant body, but when we gather are we really praising God? Sometimes I would challenge that. We will take for instance Dr. Clark's favorite song, "Shine, Jesus, Shine." What in that song actually is worshipful? We are telling Christ to start shining in this world. Isn't Christ already shining but we are diming him? Come on, that has to be it. Just looking over the lyrics again makes me sick. We are humans, prone to sin, and we are demanding that Christ do something? Christ already did something for us. He died for our sins and we are still saying that he needs to do more. (I am not admitting to a works principle here.) God will never take himself away from his people, but that is what this song is saying. It tells you that God has left and it begs for him to come back. This is not what worship should stand for. Worship is about singing praise to God telling him that we are not worthy and thanking him for choosing us. That is what it is all about, not self-centeredness. I have gone through ups and downs and the one thing that always remains is that Christ died for our sins and even if the devil tells us that we are not good enough Christ has made us good enough.
I was listening to Mulletman last night and he actually said that Moses had no identity because his earthly father provided him with nothing. He was talking about nothing but self-esteem. Mulletman insists this because in Exodus 3:11 Moses says "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Yes, it is wonderful if we know our earthly parents (I love mine) but we get self esteem, or should, because we know God and Christ. If we are replacing them with things of this world we do have nothing. It doesn't matter how good your parents tell you you are, you are nothing without knowing who the Savior is and why he did what he did. You cannot know your true identity if you don't know the Father's identity. Many people can tell you who you are, but it is only God who can tell you truly who you are.

Reverse Thoughts

2006-09-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

Reverse Thoughts
Last night at the Jasperse house we did sing two Psalms. Yes, I said Psalms. For a book of the Bible that was written over 2500 years ago (I realize that I am way off on the dating) it sure does ring relevant. Daphne pointed out that one of the songs that we sang tonight was the song that they sang on 9/11/01. The song is an arrangement of Psalm 46. The title of it is "God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength." So here I go to once again type out a song.
God is our refuge and our strength, Our ever present aid, And, therefore, though the earth remove, We will not be afraid; Though hills amidst the seas be cast, Though foaming waters roar, Yea,. though the mighty billows shake The mountains on the shore.
A river flows whose streams make glad the city of our God, The holy place where-in the Lord Most High has Hise abode; Since God is in the midst of her, Unmoved her walls shall stand, For God will be her early help, When trouble is at hand.
The nations raged, the kingdoms moved, But when His voice was heard The troubled earthg was stilled to peace Before His mighty word. The Lord of hosts is on our side, Our safety to secure; The God of Jacob is for us A refuge strong and sure.
O come, behold what wondrous works Jehovah's hand has wrought; Come, see what desolation great He on the earth has brought. To utmost ends of all the earth He causes war to cease; The weapons of the strong destroyed, He makes abiding peace.
Be still and know that I am God, O'er all exalted high; The subject nations of the earth My Name shall magnify. The Lord of hosts is on our side, Our safety to secure; The God of Jacob is for us A refuge strong and sure.
After looking at this it says that this song was arranged in 1871. That was 130 years before the destruction actually happened and it is relevant. Praise God that we have toppled the humanists in one respect: Never can it be said that the Bible is not relevant to our lives. (I am not saying that the Bible was written in 1871, only this arrangement of that Psalm was written in 1871.) If you want the actual text of Psalm 46 here it is in the ESV:
1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 6The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 8Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. 9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. 10"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" 11The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

My Summer

2006-08-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

So, I am finally sitting down and writing about the summer. I really did enjoy my summer assignment. I know that most people look at it as if you can't preach then it is not really anything. But, this summer really helped me to see what I want to do. I enjoyed visiting as many people as I did and meeting with the post high people, no matter if there was only two most of the time. Do I count only having two people as a big let down? Not really. Having two people allowed me to really focus on their needs and talk to them about these needs. I did enjoy visiting the elderly people of the congregation also. I would have to say, even though I got in trouble for it, I most enjoyed those visits with people that lasted over two hours. Sure, I need to work on time management and getting more done in a day, but I learned so much about some of those people. Take for example a man who I went to church with almost my entire life. When all was said and done I visited him for six hours this summer. You know how much I enjoyed that? More than anyone else will ever realize. You see, three days after my last visit with him he had a severe stroke. A week later he went on to glory. Those six hours that I spent with him helped me to see what he was all about. It helped me to see the real Tony. He lived in South Holland for all but three months of his life, the last three months, which were spent in a trailer park just south of South Holland. He was a real pal. All that I learned from him about South Holland will remain firmly implanted in my mind. I also think of the elderly couple that no longer can go to church for fear of falling. They have serving hearts and these people just mean so much. The woman is such a nice woman and she sure does care for others. She kept me up to date on Tony when he was in the hospital, even though I did visit twice in the week that he was there. These are just two examples of people that really encouraged me this summer. Any moment that I really got down on myself this summer I could call one of the elderly people up in the congregation and it would just cheer me up to see how strong their faith was. I never heard anyone complain, even though a lot of them were limited. Tony had three knee replacement surgeries, yet he still made sure that everyone around him was comfortable. The other woman that I refer to, Jean, if asked how she was would turn the question on you, and say that as long as you were doing well she was too. It brings me to tears to think about these people and think how much they truly mean to me, and how I tried to show them Christian love, only to return to seminary to find out that I may not be capable enough to bring Christ to others on a professional level. I have this heart for God's people but it is like my body doesn't want to do the studying that is required.

If God is not your father, you have nothing.

2006-08-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

We Pick and Choose What To Believe From Our Religions

So, I was reading this article this morning and it was very strange to me. There are couples getting married that are not of the same faith. Now, I am not talking about what some people call different faiths, as in Catholicism and Christianity, but rather Christianity and Buddhism. There is no justification with that. We are told not to be unequally yoked. If you are marrying a Buddhist you are being unequally yoked because they are not a believer. You can talk to me until you are blue in the face about how Catholics are unequally yoked with the Reformed folk, but that is a lost cause, so don't even try it. The woman in the first part of the article says that they (A Hindu and a Christian) are not strict in their dogma and they take the parts of each religion that they like. This sounds a lot like the early false church. If something is frightening it must not be true, right? I mean, after all, the God of the OT cannot be the God of the NT because there is a warm and fuzzy God in the NT, right? You are wrong again. Believers have to marry believers or you have lost what you are here for. I guess you can try and convert people, but if two people are strong on their beliefs it really is not going to work. I don't expect to wake up tomorrow morning to find my father being a CRC person. I also don't expect my mother to wake up tomorrow morning and discover that she wants to be Catholic.
Last night my mom told me things that were quite interesting. She was actually encouraged to go experience what other churches were about. She went to a Catholic church, a Lutheran church, and a few other churches when she was younger. You have to experience things to know that you don't agree with them. You can convey to others why you don't agree with their beliefs, but people can do the same thing to you. Be ready for that. But, if we are just strictly taking what we learn some place as the only truth we are suffering. If you have not really experienced it then you can't really talk about it. I have learned that history is written from four vantage points. Some vantage points are objective, some just make sure that whoever they are in support of actually wins. Do I accept all the stuff of the early church that is written down? Not really, but there are certain things that I hold as true. But in the times that we are living now there is so much difference that broad generalizations don't really work. For instance, to hit myself in the face, saying that all CRC's are in support of infant communion would be a broad generalization that is false.
But going back to the article, if your common thread is not faith in the same God, then you really have no common thread. Small town values mean absolutely nothing. We need to stop being such a pluralistic society. We really do. Instead of fighting denominations about their beliefs we need to focus on other religions. Islam is growing at an alarming rate and we are still stuck fighting against other denominations of Christianity.

Skit Guys Stuff

2006-07-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

One man says that Christianity is a joke. The other man says "when did Christianity become a joke." First man responds "when Christ's followers stopped acting like their Messiah and started doing their own thing." Have we really starting doing this? I would like to think that we have not, but we have started acting this way. We have people that don't even take time out of their busy week to stop for a day to glory in God. Church has turned into a worship hour where it is all about our feelings. When the service is done people go back to their normal lives. This really scares me. It honestly does. This turns Christianity into a joke. If I walk down the street and can't tell the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian haven't we lost something? If Christianity is just all about morality we have sunk. You can put on your show on Sunday and act all perfect and everything, but the church is very broken. The church is not for healthy people, but sick people. I posted my talk last week. If you read through it you would have realized that I made this point. God did not choose the strong, but the weak. If we are so strong then we have no need for a Savior, we have no need for Christ. We do all fall short of the glory, but we can at least try to differentiate ourselves in this world. We can at least try to be better than that person sitting next to us. Christianity did become a joke when we started slamming each other in favor of our own denominations. Is this really what God wants? If [insert denomination here] starts saying that they are the only ones in heaven is this acting Christ-like? I don't think so. Just read 1 Corinthians 1:12-15. We better not call ourselves followers of Paul! Who is a follower of Apollos? We better all be followers of Christ! There are true churches out there, but to say that a denomination is the true ones is wrong. There are churches in every denomination that are right, and those that are wrong. That is all there is to it.

2006-06-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

Why are so many people just comfortable with their faith? Does it not mean anything to see other people out there that need to understand? Why do we pass by people every day and just condemn them? We say stuff like "they are not good enough for our church." Oh, really!! Are you good enough for your own church then? You do understand that you still have a cloud of sin over you right? You do realize that you are not perfect, don't you? I guess maybe I just have a different perspective on things since I have been damned so many times by pastors or people that don't take a moment to look at me. Yes my dad is Catholic. Yes I was raised in the public school. Yes I still belong to the CRC. Am I damned to hell for all of these things? In some peoples' eyes I am, but you know, when the day is done, I can't control that my dad is Catholic, I can't control that I went to the public school, but I can control that I am in the CRC. Is the CRC becoming more liberal and more broadly evangelical? Of course they are, but denominations are human institutions, THEY ARE ALL FLAWED. I recognize the forgiveness that exists in God. No man is perfect save that of Jesus Christ. We all have problems in life. I don't believe that the church was created for the healthy people, but the sick. If we were healthy there would be no need for Jesus Christ. Then we get stuck in a funk of thinking that we cannot share God and Jesus Christ. We shut ourselves up into our little corners and never really act on it. Are we coming to the conclusion that the church should only exist in a little circle that we call our denominations? I sure hope not, but it looks that way.

How comfortable are you in your faith? Well, if you are comfortable, what would you do if someone walked up to you right now and asked you about it? What would you do? I find that so many people have no idea what they are doing. Some people I am actually scared to walk up to. It just seems like I walk up to some people and they really only care about God on Sundays. Only time that God is important is when they absolutely need him. Well, God doesn't turn his back on us even though we turn our back on him so many times. It is really sad. I wish that people did not do this. At what point did we end up stop caring about others and stop spreading the good news? At what point is it more important for us to be comfortable with our faith than to share it with others?

What About This?

2006-06-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

How long has the church only been for one type of people? I mean I know we have the whole Gentile/Jew thing of the Bible, but that was quite a while ago. When did church start becoming just who you are. Are only the Dutch people who are Christians saved? How about the Scottish? Or possibly the English? Nope, can't be the English anymore. Denominationalism is tearing the world apart. One of my friends in the CRC doesn't have a lick of Dutch blood in him. But the bigger problem is "When did Christianity stop being for all people and simply exist for the Caucasians or the Indians or the African Americans?" We criticize without realizing the truth. Chances are you do not have too much freedom when you go to a church. Yes, there are some churches that will allow you to get "caught up in the Spirit" and start saying stuff, but if you go to a church you are expected to act within their confines. You ask what in the world I am talking about? If anyone comes to Cottage Grove CRC they are expected to act a certain way. When is the last time that a gang came to church and started throwing up signs during church? You will not see people "lift their hands to heaven" at Cottage Grove. Is inviting new people into a church going to make you change a church? It better not. You can be inviting but at the same time maintain your standards. I mean, in one way your church may change in their ethnic makeup, but what bad is that? People besides the Dutch can contribute to a Dutch Reformed church. It is possible. Am I against denominationalism? Not really, but at a point I am. When we stop realizing that God is supreme and start treating the members of our denominations as the only ones going to heaven we have a problem. If God only wanted white people in Heaven there would be no reason for mission work.

Old Emails

2006-06-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

I was going back to old emails from my brother and reading the email compilation. It is amazing how off the wall some of the emails actually get. For instance, how is it possible to say that religion should have no part in government. Isn't religion a belief-system? What level headed person who is against abortion is going to go to Congress and vote for abortion? Your personal beliefs play into every decision that you make. Sure, we can't go as far as to say that one denomination is the only denomination that the US should have and arrest everyone that does not go to the church. But your belief-system fuels everything you do. We do live in a sinful world, but we recognize what is right and what is wrong.
And actually as I read more of the comments it is truly depressing what he says. I read a lot of stuff on post modernism this morning and everything just fits so perfectly in with that. "There is no supreme religion." "All religions are equal." He even says "in the end no one truly knows what is the correct religion." Do we not know what the supreme religion is? What is the right religion? I think I have dealt with similar issues in the past. My question to you is why is there more fighting between the URC and the CRC about who is right on things than there is with the Christian faith and false religions. Are we so wrapped up in ourselves that nothing else matters? I believe that the supreme religion is Christianity. But with all the backstage bickering that goes on inside of the Christian camps you would almost think that God singled out one denomination in the world and everyone else is damned to Hell. Why do we not present a better witness than we do? I mean, missionaries do an excellent job. But the people on the homefront are ridiculous. Why do we ridicule each others' theology instead of actually looking at the false religions?
Is there really evidence for Science? At what point can we just ignore the evidence? People have been ignoring the evidence for Christianity for a long time, even if it is arrived at through scientific means. Am I advocating science above religion? If you think so you better close this blog right now because you have no idea who I am. My brother said that with carbon dating scientists did investigations and then inferred equations. Can you actually infer stuff or do you have to believe in it first? What in the world am I saying, you ask. Well, I am saying that there are things in this world that you just take according to faith. You put your trust in something that you have never seen with your own eyes. Wouldn't this also involve God? We have never seen God but we put our trust that he actually exists. Why is this so hard to see? I don't really think that it is that hard to see.
He closes commenting that people should do good, not getting bogged down in whether it is in God's name or not. Well, faith without works is dead. Whatever good I do I do. I don't go out there proclaiming that God made me do it, but rather show my appreciation because God has caused me to live as long as I have. But, I do the good because God has caused me to regenerated so that I can see what should be done and do it.

My Summer

2006-05-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

So, I got a preliminary description of what I get to do this summer. Yeah, my seminary friends may not care that much since they are doing bigger and better things than me, but oh well. I will still enjoy what I am doing. The stuff that I am doing this summer is more of my focus in ministry as of right now anyways, so it will be fun. I get to do a post-high group, VBS, the regular pastoral care work, and assisting with a Pastors class (that would be the profession of faith class). I am now looking forward to it, especially since it is only a few days away. Woohoo.

Just Another Day

2006-05-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

So, I finished my only paper for the semester. Talking to my mother I realized just how negative I am. I spent 11 pages dissing Socinianism, with no hope in sight. Yes, I know that no one really knows what this is, but it is all good, no worries. Socinianism is unitarianism and in that they deny original sin. Does anyone care about this stuff? Probably not, so here is a quote from Fight Club:
Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. An entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact.

Q and A 80

2006-05-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, the issue of the day is about Q and A #80 of the Heidelberg Catechism. Some will know what I am talking about others will just need these simple words said: RC mass. Anyways, I was looking at the CRC Synod Agenda for 2006 and there were a ton of churches that either wanted this question changed or it to be taken out completely from the catechism. That makes me really scratch my head. If you are going to change the language of the answer or take it out of the catechism altogether why don't they just stop using the Heidelberg Catechism? Of course, it has been argued that the CRC isn't confessional anyways, so then that really would not make any difference. But, I am confessional and I know a few others who are confessional and we find no problem with Q and A #80. Is this Q & A not true? Is the CRC trying to be liked by many other denominations so they figure that they can not differentiate themselves from other churches? I will add in that my home church did write in protest of this and they say that there is no problem with the phrasing of the question and answer.

I am starting to wonder if I should continue to read the Synod agenda because it seems like it is causing me undue stress. What brings about that statement you ask? There are churches that want to have what turns out to be paedocommunion. That is kind of frustrating to me, but I guess other denominations have faced this problem in the past. I guess no matter what denomination I would serve in there would be problems, but it just seems to me like these are logical issues that should not even be thought about. But, I guess these people that are making these suggestions because they truly believe what they are saying. Is any denomination perfect? Not at all. Denominations are earthly inventions. We can expect no more.

Okay, there is an overture to get the NLT as an officially recognized pew Bible. I just love this quote "Churches in all major denominations have purchased the NLT pew Bibles since its publication in 1996." This is according to the director of marketing for Tyndale, which is the publisher of the NLT. Well, wouldn't the company that is trying to get you to buy a book say that? But, anyways, what is up with just trying to fit in with everyone else? I think maybe we will see a "protestant" pope by 2050, going along with the guy who has correctly decided the name of every pope since 1977. But, of course, that is not really that many popes. Okay, I don't feel like getting into that right now.

7th Day Adventists

2006-05-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, for some insane reason I joined this Christian yahoo group. It is a Seventh Day Adventist group and it is evident that they don't think straight. These people post all sorts of things on Ellen White, who I must admit I have no clue about.
So, I sent these people an email in the group saying the following:
I find it almost laughable that I was invited to this group. Not only am I not a seventh-day adventist, but I am nowhere close. I don't believe in defending this woman who obviously was wrong, as prophesies are no longer used by God. I also in general do not believe that women hold offices in the church, and as such, Ellen White cannot be true. And last of all, why in the world does the woman need to be defended by you people if she is so good?
And in the digest today I get an email asking for diligent prayer because Satan is at work because 3 Angel Broadcasting Network was taken off Sky Angel. The network had a signal error. Yes, that may be Satan at work, but if you had good technology then it would not be a problem. So, is there really a "Christian" station that I actually agree with? Hmm, about the only thing that I can think of is public access channels back in South Holland and that is not a real station. Do I even know for a fact that 3ABN is a Christian network? I have no idea. So, I guess I could be wrong. But, the next time I pray I am not going to be praying for this network. Okay, later on in that same email it says "They (Sky Angel) is not even answering their 888 number, so call this long distance phone number so that you can get on them." Go read your Bible and stop worrying about watching Satellite Television.

My Beef

2006-05-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Sunday at SDCRC I noticed something that really bothered me. Let me start by saying that you can sing PW songs in worship as long as you have the right intentions. However, a lot of the PW songs sung have nothing to do with anything right. I mean, mindlessly repeating the same chorus over and over again is not right. I admit that God is great, but do you necessarily have to sing it five times in a row or tell everyone else to sing with you? Jesus did a great deed on the cross, taking the place of us, but When I Survey the Wondrous Cross is a song of reverence and The Wonderful Cross is just a mindless chorus. If you are going to sing the song sing it all as one song and be done with it, singing it all in the same way. You can rejoice that Christ did die for man on the cross, but when you emphasize the chorus over the verses or vice versa you are doing some kind of injustice."Oh the wonderful cross, the wonderful cross, bids me come and die and find that I may truly live. Oh the wonderful cross, the wonderful cross, all who gather here with grace draw near and bless your name." I just don't understand how that goes with " "When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died,My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.See from His head, His hands, His feet,Sorrow and love flow mingled down:Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,Or thorns compose so rich a crown?" Those just don't seem together because I want to jump up and down during the chorus and I want to stand very reverently during the verses. And, I want to challenge anyone who actually reads this to make me understand the "raising hands to heaven" when you are singing songs. I am pretty sure that most of these people don't understand what they are doing. Yes, it is great if you feel that you are getting closer to God by raising your hands, but when you are singing a personal song, which has NOTHING to do with God or Jesus, what are you actually doing? Do you raise your hands to heaven for Amazing Grace and O Lord Our God How Lovely? (You will not know that second song unless you have a focus on psalms in your church.) Be intentional in what you do. If you can prove the right intentionality for what you do in worship I am happy for you. But, so much worship anymore is just so shallow and is not God-centered. Okay, so maybe I don't give the best example. Just to throw a rod in things, would you raise your hands for both "This is my Father's World" and "Blessed Be Your Name"? Of course, maybe it is based on the instruments used for worship. But wait. There were people doing it for organ songs too.
When you read the Ten Commandments in church, hopefully you still do this, do you say that it is God's law of love? I admit that the Bible does show God's love to his people, but weren't the Ten Commandments given so that people lived properly? No human could keep these commandments perfectly so Christ had to be sent. That was love by God, since none could do it. However, these commandments are still given because man is sinful and prone to sin. However, at what point are the Ten Commandments just ignored? The Commandments used to be read to show how sinful humans really are. It seems like now they are just about saying "hey, these have to be read, but beyond that we have nothing to do with them." We have to admit that we are sinful. Total depravity does exist. Man's whole nature is corrupted by sin.

A combination of two crazy stories

2006-04-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

MIAMI (April 5) - The New Testament says that Jesus walked on water, but a Florida university professor believes there could be a less miraculous explanation -- he walked on a floating piece of ice.
Professor Doron Nof also theorized in the early 1990s that Moses's parting of the Red Sea had solid science behind it.
Nof, a professor of oceanography at Florida State University, said on Tuesday that his study found an unusual combination of water and atmospheric conditions in what is now northern Israel could have led to ice formation on the Sea of Galilee.
Nof used records of the Mediterranean Sea's surface temperatures and statistical models to examine the dynamics of the Sea of Galilee, which Israelis know now as Lake Kinneret.
The study found that a period of cooler temperatures in the area between 1,500 and 2,600 years ago could have included the decades in which Jesus lived.
A drop in temperature below freezing could have caused ice thick enough to support a human to form on the surface of the freshwater lake near the western shore, Nof said. It might have been nearly impossible for distant observers to see a piece of floating ice surrounded by water.
Nof said he offered his study -- published in the April edition of the Journal of Paleolimnology -- as a "possible explanation" for Jesus' walk on water.
"If you ask me if I believe someone walked on water, no, I don't," Nof said. "Maybe somebody walked on the ice, I don't know. I believe that something natural was there that explains it."
"We leave to others the question of whether or not our research explains the biblical account."
When he offered his theory 14 years ago that wind and sea conditions could explain the parting of the Red Sea, Nof said he received some hate mail, even though he noted that the idea could support the biblical description of the event.
And as his theory of Jesus' walk on ice began to circulate, he had more hate mail in his e-mail inbox.
"They asked me if I'm going to try next to explain the resurrection," he said. (To this I really say "You deserve a punch in the kidneys.")

NEW DELHI (April 4) - A textbook used at schools in the Indian state of Rajasthan compares housewives to donkeys, and suggests the animals make better companions as they complain less and are more loyal to their "masters," The Times of India reported Tuesday.
"A donkey is like a housewife ... In fact, the donkey is a shade better, for while the housewife may sometimes complain and walk off to her parents' home, you'll never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master," the newspaper reported, quoting a Hindi-language primer meant for 14-year-olds.
The book was approved by the state's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government but has sparked protests from the party's women's wing.
State education officials in Rajasthan, a western state known for its conservative attitude toward women, said people should not be upset by the comparison, the paper said.
"The comparison was made in good humor," state education official A.R. Khan was quoted as saying. "However, protests have been taken note of and the board is in the process of removing it (the reference)."

Many Muchen Meese (This post is in reverse order)

2006-04-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

How can people follow cults? It honestly does not make sense to me. Some will say that there is no such thing as the Trinity. They say the word "Trinity" is not used in the Bible. Well, this is true. But assuming that God just becomes different people at different times just seems wrong. In essence then, Jesus, when he is praying to the Father, is praying to emptiness. If God just became Jesus and stopped occupying the Heavens then those who were on Earth during Jesus had no one who heard their prayers.
Also, the Word (meaning Christ) was with God, the Creator in the beginning. It does not say that Christ was the same one as the Creator. Yeah, I know it gets confusing, but confusion is not a reason to stop believing something. Usually people don't stop baking when ingredients get confusing. Hmm, that is a horrible example. Sorry about that. Let's just say that we can't stop believing in something because it is confusing. We do not have three Gods, but one God in three persons.
I got an email from my sister this morning with the title "Raising Boys." One of the realizations in this email is that if you mix Clorox and Brake Fluid a lot of smoke erupts. As you read further down, at the bottom of the email it says "80 percent of men who read the email will mix the Clorox and Brake Fluid together." It is crazy how guys do stuff like that
Okay I can deal with people that will only sing Psalms, but not these people who want to read only the King James Version of the Bible? What is that about? This version of the Bible is dedicated to King James, duh. Every version of the Bible has a bias. Except, of course, for the original manuscripts. The Bible is infallible. I really think that the English version should show this, but it can't because we translate some words in different ways. Open up to almost any passage in two different translations and you will find different words. This is because we sometimes do not have exact equivalents to words that were used. That seems to me to be common sense. Then, someone pointed out that all Bibles except the KJV are copyrighted. Okay, so that just means that the people wanted to make sure that they were given credit for that translation. If you look at most Bibles it will say some society or foundation has the copyright. What is wrong with this? The name of it is also copyrighted. The name "New International Version" is a copyright. What is wrong with that? Nothing at all. You can copyright the title of a book. It is very ridiculous to base your case on something like this. "Oh, the KJV doesn't say copyright so it must be the best version to read." Hmm, seems like dumb logic to me.

So, I must admit that that JW book is now my bathroom reading. I find it very crazy, so that is the only time that I will read it. Anyways, this morning I read about the divine name, you know Jehovah. People will say that you could translate this also as Yahweh. I actually prefer Yahweh. Okay, the rational that they use for saying Jehovah instead of another name is a weird bit. They say that you would never have a best friend whose name you didn't know, so why would you "Jehovah" Lord or any other name. Then they go on to say that Jehovah means "I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be." That is their rendering of Ex. 3:14. Normal Bibles usually translate this "I AM WHO I AM." Okay, so my question coming off of that then is why could God not become human? If he shall prove to be what he shall prove to be. No man is born without sin. Therefore someone or thing greater than man must atone for our sins. This is the only way to account for Jesus Christ. God became human. Okay, so I just looked up in their Bible what Jer. 31:31-34 says and they always refer to Jehovah as concluding a covenant. Am I going to say that it is wrong to say this? Yes. That rendering just makes no sense. To conclude means to bring to an end or possibly to reach finality. The only thing is there is an old covenant and a new covenant. If both of these covenants are concluded then we are not under a covenant. If you want to go by the other definition the old covenant is finished, but the new covenant is not yet up. Therefore, this passage in Jeremiah really wouldn't make sense. But, hey, that is just me. I am sure that someone reads it differently than me.

Okay, so onto the open criticism. I am currently reading "Why True Christians Don't Use the Cross in Worship." Here is an exact quote, "The cross is pagan in origin." They also say that Christ was not hung on a cross, but rather on a stake. It was easier for pagan converts to understand Christ on the cross, so this symbol entered into Christianity in the Fourth Century. Apparently a torture stake is different from a cross. A torture stake consists of one beam, or something of the sort, since trees were not available everyone that the people went. But, how is it possible to be persecuted on anything but a tree? Can you drive nails through anything but wood? I doubt that they had plastic or metal back then. And how could you hammer stone into the ground? What in the world are they talking about? Sure we don't worship the cross. We recognize that Christ was crucified.
Okay, you knew eventually I would get to it. What of their translation of John 1:1? Well, as I have been informed by my very own friend, the greek grammar rules show that in the certain construct you cannot translate it differently than is translated in the NIV. To say that the word was a god, or as they put it "mighty one" is to deny Jesus Christ. They will acknowledge that Jesus was the Word, but that he was not God. However, we, as true believers, know that all earthly people have sinned and fallen short. They even recognize that Christ was BEGOTTEN of the Father. The word begotten means "of the same substance." Well, if Christ was of the same substance then he would have to be God. Wait, hold up, maybe I will do the "Universe of Yahweh" thing that my dad always talks about. (Just so you know, my dad is not a believer in this Universe of Yahweh, he just finds it ridiculous.) Well, anyways, okay begotten comes from beget. Well beget means the same thing in English as sire. Sire means a male ancestor. Hmm, maybe I haven't gone far enough back. Because to me a male ancestor would still mean that they are of the same substance. Therefore, I conclude that Jesus had to be of the same substance of the father. My father begot me. I am of the same substance as my father. Therefore, Jesus is of the same substance as his father, which would happen to be God the Father. Was Jesus a mighty one? Of course he was. He conquered death. Was he THE mighty one? Of course. But, he was and still is GOD. As far as is pointed out that Jesus doesn't know when the second coming is, it kind of lends itself to the same reasoning that Jesus had to learn. I mean, ultimately, Jesus wouldn't have had to learn because he could have had complete knowledge, since he was God. However, Jesus had to walk the way that we did and eat what we did and partake of what we partake in to be the atoning sacrifice.
Okay, the randomness is here again. If Jesus was not God why is there a New Testament? Doesn't the NT basically show us how Christ atoned for our sacrifices? How could a mere human die for others? That just doesn't make any sense. If he was not God he would have been filled with sin. It is impossible to understand Jesus as any less than God. Oh, and a thing to notice is that the JW's proof for others who translate it "a god" comes from a Mormon Bible and a Unitarian Source, along with a translation that no one has ever heard of, which is used by translators for tribal languages. I am not able to get more information on that. Alright, it is time for bed.
So, I was watching some kind of preview for a show called "God or the Girl." These men who were going to become catholic priests were tempted to drop that calling to follow a girl. One of the men admitted that it was a sin to kiss or hug his girlfriend. Okay, why does he have a girlfriend if he wants to become a priest? I have yet to understand why Catholic ministers have to be celibate. Someone told me that it was explained in one of my classes at seminary, but I must have missed it. At first I thought the rational was because Peter, assumed to be the first pope by the church, was not married. But this cannot be true because of Matthew 8:14.
So, anyways, back to this show. These men are supposed to choose between serving God or getting married. Does Paul not address this concern when he says that men can marry? God did institute marriage for "it is not good for man to be alone." Yes, I completely agree that above all our devotion is to be to God, but a reality show that tries to make you choose between God and a girl is a horrible thing.
One of the participants says this: "This was an opportunity that He put in my life and it was a huge struggle because if I did decide to go into the priesthood and I wanted to enter a seminary, yet this show portrays me and us in a scandalous way, then all of a sudden my diocese won't let me in the seminary and I've lost my call to the priesthood." I honestly do not believe that a bunch of priests can make a decision on whether you are called to the priesthood. No man can revoke your call to the priesthood. That is a horrible thing to say. I don't really know the Catholic church that well, but I would hope that that is not a possibility. As I look around this seminary there are guys in their 30's, 40's, and 50's just now studying to get into the ministry. The people in these clips are all in their 20's. It is possible that they don't have a call right now to this service, but it could happen in the future. And, if he is revoked by his diocese for the priesthood I am sure that in the future he could try again. Wow, this is really going on a slippery slope so I better stop.
In other news, my car got broken into the other day, and the only thing that could possibly be missing is my softball bat. That is the craziest thing ever. My laptop, obviously, is still intact. My car was made a mess of, but no real worries there. I just had a whole bunch of papers in the car. If I did have CD's they were quite possibly Christian CD's or sermons. I listen to really no other music on CD than those. Interesting, very interesting. What more can I ask for?
So, I got my first ever visit by a JW. I have to admit that it was a little strange. All she talked about was how the Bible is practical for our lives today. I am sorry, but any Christian group should try and say that. There was no specific talk about the JW's in this girl's speech. It really surprised me. Of course, I think she may have been a little bit scared when she found out that I was a seminary student. This girl could not have been more than 16. But, that begs the question of why she is going door to door on a Thursday instead of being in school. Maybe she was a little bit older, but there are more productive things for someone that age to do at 10 am. I now have some literature to read. I remember a few months ago I recieved a care package from my parents. One of the items of "care" was the two nicely packed Watchtower magazines with the note attached "Dad thought that you might get a laugh out of these."

CRC?

2006-03-09T09:46:00.000-08:00

You might be Christian Reformed if...
you hear "tulip" and think "total depravity, unconditional election,..."
you visit another church and the second question you're asked is, "Are you related to...."
"voices" aren't something you hear, but read and write.
when you hear the word "King," you think of peppermints.
you can't think of any use for peppermints outside of church.
you know what a Psalter Hymnal is -- and why it's called that.
you think you go to a contemporary church because they use the new gray Psalter Hymnal.
you know someone who has left the CRC because of the new gray Psalter Hymnal.
you've heard of a guy named Dooyeweerd.
you think kids who go to public school are strange.
the biggest decision of your life is between Calvin and Dordt (or Trinity, or Redeemer, or King's).
you have at least one relative in an independent Reformed church.
you think RCA is a "liberal denomination," not a brand of electronic equipment.
a church picnic isn't the place to find Ms. or Mr. Right -- because everyone's related.
you get agitated and start looking at your watch when the minister says, "And my 4th point is...."
you're sure that 'klompen' is the Dutch word for 'shoe,' not someone's last name or the sound heard in church at the end of a service.
you know that Calvinism is not a daily habit of reading the comic strip, 'Calvin and Hobbes.'
you have your house fumigated because termites were found in your wife's souvenir wooden shoes.
you develop a craving for ham buns.
you know that on Sunday, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. are the times when church should begin.
churches are radical if their evening service starts at 5 p.m.
you became depressed when the Banner began to arrive in your mailbox every other week, instead of weekly.
you decided to form a study committee to add items to this list.
your study committee submitted a majority and minority report.
someone mentions Pastor John DeVries, and you have to ask which John DeVries that is.
you think copper wire was invented by two Dutchmen fighting over a penny.
you get a sun burn when you read under a lamp.
you consider 30°F in the winter is warm.
you take off your shoes before entering the house
your last name begins with "Van"
you think the Arminian flower is the daisy ("He loves me, He loves me not, He love me, ...")
you get excited at the thought of salted licorice
you don't think twice when someone mentions their Oma
you insist on singing the Dutch words to Ere Zig Gott
you have the comics from The Banner taped up on your door and actually laugh at them

Just Some Randomness

2006-03-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

For some reason in the shower this morning I started thinking about this. You have stations like KLOVE that supposedly play Christian music. But as any Dordt student that has taken GEN 200 Music will tell you there is no such thing as Christian music, just Christian lyrics. Alas, okay, Christian lyrics. I admit that there are some songs out there that do talk about God. But does that necessarily mean that these songs should be sung in church? By NO MEANS!!!! This week sometime during one of the Den Dulk Lectures we will be singing a fairly new song, "Here I Am, Lord." I will admit that this is a pretty good song and it is glorifying to God. But, if I ever hear of a church playing a song like "For the Moments I Feel Faint" during a service I will scream. This song is also known as "Never Underestimate my Jesus" by some illiterate people. It is just retarded some of the songs that people think should be sung during Worship time. Another song that comes to me is "When I Call on Jesus." This, I will admit, is an inspirational song, but I don't believe that it really has much to do with worship. Yes, I am pushing towards the Psalms. But there are still some good hymns out there also.
And then on KLOVE this morning I hear something about how we can protect the planet with God's help. Excuse me, but what in this world does this mean? Do you mean that you are doing everything by yourself right now and God is not helping you? Hmm, that sounds ignorant.
I learn new interesting things every day. Like today I learned about two guys that were fighting about transubstantiation. However much they actually fought about that, they both would affirm that there were only two sacraments. This was in the 7th Century. There was no Protestant church at that point. Hmm. There are some churches that only have one sacrament. But then, what does that really mean? I will never understand those churches. What is the purpose of believer baptism if communion doesn't come along with it? I am not bashing the baptist brethren at the seminary. Sure, I don't agree with believer baptism, but those churches that only have one sacrament practice believer baptism only. Yeah, if that didn't muddy the water for ya I don't know what would. The emergent church stuff is just garbage. Actually, I remember at Youth Specialties a few years ago that anyone could have the Lord's Supper. Now if that wasn't an interesting event I don't know what would be.
Okay, think about the name of the show: American Idol. Think about the title given to some people: Teen Idol. Why do people struggle to be these titles? Is it for that 15 minutes of fame? All the fame in the world won't bring any closer to anything that you can dream of. It is just impossible for me to understand these people. Yeah, I can sing, but that doesn't mean that I necessarily should go on national television and prove that I can sing. Is it so that these people can get record deals? Are you banking everything in your life on some little events that may get you a few years in the spotlight? What ever happened to all these past winners? Yeah, I am out of the mainstream so that may be easy to answer for you. American Idol? Come on. I will admit that these people can sing, but they are not my Idols. I tend to think more like Americans who are Idle. People should get real jobs. Am I saying that these people should do something besides sing? You beat your bottom dollar I am.

It's been a while

2006-01-12T18:55:00.000-08:00

So I read this article this morning about people suing a school district because the school district is teaching an ELECTIVE class on Intelligent Design. Why can't this issue just be left alone? Teaching ID as a theory doesn't even mean that it is true. It would just be another thing that could be taught in the schools. It says that life is too complex to exist on its own. There has to be a higher being that created things. This is a deistic idea though. This is meaning that someone did it and now it is left to people now. That doesn't even get at it being an ELECTIVE course. Can't you take a class on how the Bible is just a work of fiction at a regular university? Wouldn't that involve a seperation of church and state? You are going to a public university, paid for by tax dollars and you are allowed to take a class like that? Yes, it disproves the Bible, but at the same time you are allowing in a work that comes from a religious tradition. I just don't get it.
Our society continues to go further and further down the toilet every day. Some people just need to get a life.

Have you ever used the words vapid and shallow in the same sentence? Well, neither have I. I have no idea why that just came into my mind.
If you want something don't hold back. Go after it. You will never know how much it could have meant until after it could have been. I have friends getting married, or who are already married. The thoughts come into my mind as to what would have happened in life if I would have made the move instead of the people that they are with. But, then again, I look back to a previous relationship and see what could have been and I am glad that I am where I am. If I would be with that girl I would probably be married and be miserable. But, at the same time I could have been good. Whatever.
Yesterday is dead. Tomorrow hasn't arrived yet.I have just one day and I'm going to be happy in it- GROUCHO MARX -

So I get the CRC daily devotional delivered to my email every day. I finally read it just now. But, it was really good, so instead of an entry, I am just going to copy that here and let you reflect on it. Adam
"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16Some years ago a young man on his way to the funeral of a family member was killed in a car accident. A local newspaper quoted a state trooper as saying that the young man had been in "the wrong place at the wrong time." That comment raises an important question: Is the outcome of our lives in this new year just a matter of being at a certain place at a certain time? Is my life no more than a matter of chance or of making sure I don't take the wrong turn? Thank God that the outcome of my life is not determined by such things. Of course God does not want us to be careless or reckless. But when all is said and done, life is not a matter of chance, and whether I live or die this year is not determined by being in a certain place at a certain time. According to Psalm 139:16, the number of my days is carefully determined by God himself. The Lord Jesus says that not even a sparrow falls "to the ground apart from the will of [our] Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:29-30). With that assurance I can enter into a new year, travel when I have to, make plans, and do all sorts of things trusting that God is watching over me. God himself has determined the number of my days.

Speaking in Tongues?

2005-11-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this thing about speaking in tongues. What does it actually mean? To me it is the argument of baby. babble, booble. It sounds like gibberish. Speaking in tongues to me is speaking in a foreign language, like Spanish, or something. I am too tired to finish this blog, so here goes the copy and paste:
I can understand it as speaking another language. I definitely don't think that it is this understanding of what seems to be gibberish. If others can't understand you how is it worshipful? I understand speaking in tongues as speaking in a language. The very passage that says that the tongues must cease if no one is there to translate would seem to indicate that you are simply speaking another language than the normal language of the congregation. An example of my understanding would be speaking Spanish in an English congregation. Obviously if no one is there to translate the talking into English it would be useless. I don't think that speaking in tongues in the way that current denominations talk about it is actually the way that it is actually talked about in the Bible. If you are not talking in your native tongue then you are speaking in another tongue. Wow, I guess that makes my argument.

Good enough.

How is life explained?

2005-11-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

So, I have noticed something. I have become very against many things since starting at Westminster. I started making fun of Mulletman since coming out here and now I hate KLOVE. How impressive? Well, the station isn't on par with my theology at all. Mulletman never actually went to college, so how can he be a preacher? I guess to a certain extent God can grant you opportunities, but don't you need to learn some earthly skills to get by? I guess not!!!
In other news, my sister is due any day now. That should be fun considering that I am in SoCal and she is in Illinois. I am going to be an uncle for the first time. Yea me.
So, how is life explained? Is it a series of events that just happens to unfold in our lives? Some argue that everything can't be predetermined by God or there would be no purpose to life. Well, what is your purpose in life if God is not your purpose? You have no purpose, I hate to inform you. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

What is Man?

2005-11-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

What is man that we are mindful of him? Anyways, why did the church that I went to yesterday suck? That is the worst feeling ever. It just felt dead. It is times like those that make me wonder if I can actually last as a CRC pastor. Do you just give up after a while? I don't think so. I think that we just need to keep trying things in life. We can't give up until we finally see that glory. We should realize that life could be much worse for us. Listening to the crappiest station ever, KLOVE, makes me want to go through the radio and punch the djs in the mouth. They suck and they are preaching a completely untrue gospel. I don't think that KLOVE is God's mouthpiece. Why is giving to KLOVE supposed to be better than giving to the church? Church is fundamental in the Christian's life, not a radio station.

Some Interesting Comments

2005-11-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

I am reminded of the word pelupula which Reuben would always say for some reason. Anyways, my weekly post is upon us. It could be the same as xanga, but maybe it will be different.
So, I heard that the freshmen at Dordt are getting the TNIV. How completely unfortunate and what a waste of paper. Yes, we are dutch so we take handouts, but this Bible is so wrong. Gender neutralnis (I made up a word) is not acceptable in the Bible. There is a distinction that should be made. Looking at Zondervan's website it says that the same translators that did this did the NIV. Well, without taking away from the NIV, how can this be possible? The NIV specifically renders certain words male as to take away any doubt that women can do the task. And in this version it isn't rendered the same way? That would mean that these translators have changed their ways.
Life rules! Live on.

What is Life?

2005-11-03T15:34:00.000-08:00

What is life that we should be afraid of it? What is death that it should scare us away? Often people have said that dying is just a part of life. But is life just a part of dying? I mean, the short period that we actually exist on this earth. If you believe that the Earth is only like 4000 years old why is it that you live right now? Could it be possible that we exist in this moment in time for a reason? But what would that reason be? Is what you do in life now different than what you would be doing in any other period in time? I resolve that it has to be. There is no way that we could talk on these computers if we were in some other time period. Hey, we wouldn't have pencils until a few years ago. How did people actually live in earlier times? The answer is that they truly lived. We, in our pathetic lives, do nothing. We don't really live. We are a lazy society who seems to have everything at our fingertips. Did God really put us here at this very moment to sit in our "recliners?" I resolve that he did not.

The Initial Welcome

2005-10-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

Hey people. Is it time to go home yet? So. Cal is alright at times. School is pretty burdensome. Do you know the difference between locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary? How about between ectypal and arctypal knowledge? Welcome to my life.
Nothing ever lasts forever, I will get through it.

Initial Post (how original)

2005-10-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

So, yea, this is my first ever post on this site. I am still on xanga, but why not branch out? School is alright, but this whole education system is kind of wind. Do you understand the difference between ectypal and archtypal knowledge? Well, if you do do you want a cookie? I sure don't understand the difference, but maybe eventually I will understand. Or maybe you would rather take on locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary?
Anyways, yea, kind of strange, but it can be understood eventually.

Hey, I found the original post.