School is

really hard

Music

Can I say that I'm tired of most Christian music?  In High School, I stood by these "Christian" artists and defended them.  You know, all those Jars of Clay, and Casting Crowns bands.  But, when you finish listening to the music, are you edified? Are you closer to God than you were when you started?  Have you had any revelations or inspired thoughts?  Have you lifted up the Lord in worship? Is God glorified in this music? Maybe I'm being a curmudgeon.  Maybe some of you are going to get all annoyed at this.   But, truth be told, what's the sense in this music.  What's the point of listening to music that neither lifts up the Lord, nor pushes us farther in our walk?  Artists like Robin Mark, Fernando Ortega and others who worship the Lord, they've got it right.  Because, if its not worship, and it doesn't have any other value than entertainment, how is it different from the music of the world?   You can get more moral lessons from Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle" than you can from "House of God" by Mercyme.  I hear most of the music now by these artists, and I just roll my eyes. They've got it wrong.  Not to mention it's utter tripe from a purely musical standpoint. I've taken to listening to folk music.  As those artists quietly sing about things like their childhood, or crowds in New York City,  I can't help but feel like I get more from them than I do from Jars of Clay.  Now some of these bands get it right every now and then. "I Can Only Imagine," is a wonderful, inspired song.  And, at least they don't glorify sin.   But really, for the most part, I just want to say that if you're an artist, and you want to go under the title of a Christian, then lets make music that really does work for the Kingdom of God.   

3/3/09

Happy square root day!

Before I Get Old.

For my grandma, our house amounts to little more than a cell.  Now, I know that it's a nice house; I'm certainly not implying it isn't, nor am I complaining.  But regardless of the size of house, any one person limited to 4 rooms, will begin to feel a little confined. She has been reduced to using a walker, to hobble around the small space.  The few times she leaves the house a week, must be done by wheelchair.  She has truly become both immobile, and nearly entirely dependent on those around her to assist her in the menial tasks she occupied herself with before the steady decline of her health and mental sharpness.  Which brings me to another issue she deals with daily: her ability to comprehend the events which take place within our home.  Not only is she confused by the new things which come in her life, she is also scared of them.  For example, we recently put in ramp in our garage, so she can get in and out, in her wheelchair.  She was instantly mortified of two very remote possibilities.  One, that she would fall off.  This may seem like a reasonable fear, but there was already a railing installed for that very reason.  Her fears were not allayed, until we put in a lower, completely superfluous, wooden bar.  Her second fear, was that no one would know how to use the ramp, when pushing her up and down it.  This, perhaps to me and you, seems like a bizarre fear.  It's a ramp.... What's to know?  Yet she was terrified, that whoever was pushing her, wouldn't know how to use it.  And it wasn't until several different people pushed used it, that she felt secure about that too.  She lives her life in constant fear, and worry.  No one in my family likes to tell her when we're sick, because she will not cease to fret about it, to an exasperating extent, until we are better. Now, it may seem a little like I'm picking on her.  But, I don't think so.  I'm explaining the state her life has come to, to reach a point.  She spends her nights watching game shows, and movies on the hallmark channel.  Her days are spent reading novels she can hardly follow, and watching Oprah give everyone a new car, prosecute abusive husbands, and spread her own spiritual doctrine (Now, if it seems like I'm picking on Oprah. I am.).  The small joy that does come to her life is with her great-grandchildren, I won't detract that from her.  But even so, in her weakened state, she can't pick them up, or play with them.  So, after reading that list, it's easy to understand that she doesn't like her life.  She repeatedly says, "Oh, I am so unhappy with how my life turned out." And, to me, "Jon, never let your life come to this."  She may be a confused, feeble old woman, but there is definitely something to take from this. Now, am I going to take her advice? No, of course not.  I have no control over what state my physical frame, and mental state will be when I am 91.  But what is there to learn from this? Well, I have reached three, maybe four, conclusions (depending on how you'd like to partition them).  One, that I have no desire to retire young.  I'd like to be as active, and useful as much as possible, as long as possible.  Two, I don't really ever want to be 91. I think that I'd like cap my life at 85 or less.  Three, I'd like to accomplish something by the time I am that age.  Not material things, or a great career.  Who cares about that stuff when you're relegated to only watching TV anyway?  Not a whole lot of good a great career does you then.  But as active, and useful for the Lord as is physically possible.  This constitutes any number of ways we can useful to the Lord.  From witnessing (which, as our Great Commission, is the greatest), to serving in the church, to volunteering at the academy.  I'd like to carve out a life that I can look back on, and think meant something.  Which, means living for myself as little as possible.  And finally, when I get to that point, I'd like to be able to turn my eyes from things temporal, to things eternal.  Having my life still wholly devoted to God. My grandma, even in a state where her end is so obviously imminent, and the harbingers of her death so frequent, is still obsessed with things so trite as "what the young girls are wearing now."  Her thoughts, and relative epiphanies, whittled down to, "Oh, look at that girls dress, isn't it cute?" And, "You should've seen Oprah today, she gave so and so many millions a school."  I'm sorry, but can I be so blunt as to say, "Who cares?"  I'd much rather be like my grandma on my fathers side, who died at a far younger age.  Her mind though crippled, and maimed by Alzheimer's, was able to look at my Aunt, and in a moment of supernatural clarity, say the thing which meant most to her, "He is coming."  And in this simple statement, said something of more worth than all my grandma, currently with us, has said to me. When we are old,  whether we have Alzheimer's, dementia, or are just simply blunted by the years, what remains is the kernel of our existence; what meant the most to us; who were in our innermost being.  Is it the modern fashions? Is it the cares of this world?  Or is it the work of God?  His agenda; His love; His mercy; His imminent return.  What will we have left?  I know what I want.  And, I know that our lives are merely a vapor.  So let's get busy, so when we are old, and when we are house-bound invalids, we have something worthwhile to look back on, and something to look forward to. 

commas.

i've got a lot, of, work to do, but i have to say, something. i really, hate commas.  i use, them, like candy.  and, i really never know, if they, are right, or not.  but, ive learned, that i tend, to stick them in, where i would, put pauses, in my sentences.  now, i tend, to add, pauses,  in my sentences, for effect.  even, if it isnt, the right place, to put them. k, ive got to go, more coming soon.

btw, this, wasnt the post, that i was hinting, at, in my last post. but, it came to me, and i wanted to say something.

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An Apology

I apologize for the lack of activity, recently. I've been incredibly busy. School is a killer. Anyway, I do have a post buzzing around my head, and i'll write it here eventually.  so, stay tuned for future rants.... this will be a good one.

Science and Logic should know their bounds

People have often tried to disprove the existence of God logically. In fact, i've heard that it's quite easy to do.  I've also seen people trying to prove God's existence logically.  C.s. Lewis does a fantastic job of this in Mere Christianity.  It's really by far the best logical proof for God's existence, without using the Bible, that I have ever seen.  But can we really prove that God exists, logically?  Well, maybe.  I'd have to read into the debate far more carefully.  To be honest, if you can't, it doesnt much bother me.  Our beliefs are based on faith, which sorta suggests that God would have it such that He cannot be proved, or disproved, logically.  But I kinda wanted to take a look at the very idea of trying to do so.  From the vantage point of modern science, God is dismissed along with the rest of the supernatural forces in nature.  To them, believing in the supernatural is nonsensical.  I took a look at the meriam websters definition of supernatural, which states, "a departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature."  And I think that just about says it all. Science is concerned with discovering and  mapping out the laws of nature.  Anything beyond nature, is therefore not the concern of science.  But can science really dismiss the supernatural?  To do so puts experiments, and empirical evidence on a pedestal.  To say so, says that anything that does exist, must prove itself experimentally.  Anything that cannot be proven experimentally must not exist.  I reject this line of thinking.  Science cannot perform experiments on God. Science cannot stick God in a jar, or under a microscope. Science cannot observe His natural habitat.  To say that the notion of God is ridiculous, is to bound yourself by your experiences and this pathetic vantage point that our senses provide. Their logic is defined by their experiences.  They never saw God speak the world into existence. In fact they've never seen anything spoken into existence, ever (except maybe political parties).  They've never seen the supernatural.  They never saw the start of the earth. They've never heard God speak.  Of course they say that logically God doesnt exist.  Because God is outside their realm of experiences.  Their logic doesnt allow them to think about it.   It also says that they depend on the vantage point of their senses. If they had seen God speak the world into existence, they would confess God with their mouths.  But instead they speak of the supremacy of science, which has such obvious bounds.  it's like when God spoke to Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Tell Me, if you have understanding.  Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or Who stretched the line up on it?  To what were its foundations fastened?  Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"  It sounds like God is talking to the scientists of the world.  Science is bound by the limitations of our senses, and the instruments we can make.  So can science dismiss the supernatural?  Sure, once they make the omniscient instrument.  But since thats never gonna happen, I think science should stick to what they can see.  And stop making claims about what they can't........................  Psalm 19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.