Doubling Talents

China, the tank man, and boy I love Frontline!

2007-06-12T16:27:00.000-05:00

What a whole host of irnoies we find in this life. Communism was suppossed to be a people's revolt/revolution, yet in China the working class lives in dire poverty. The people attempt to protest at Tinamen Square in 1989, yet their current college students know nothing of it. Additionally, their government recoreded 80,000 revolts among the peasant and working class. The commies squash them all.

But capitalism, which so many praise, is really no better. Various internet and information companies, Yahoo being one, currently aids the Chinese government in filtering and monitoring the people's interenet usage. These capitalistic companies are aiding in oppression so that they do not miss out on a huge market.

We love our power. We love our wealth. Niebuhr talks frequently about this, reminding us that there is an inherent flaw in us that no human social/political/economic system will ever fix.

So my question is, why haven't any enterprising hackers wrecked shop on China's internet filters?

Voting a morality

2007-06-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

For a while, I had been against voting ones morality. It seemed horribly unjust to force someone into something they did not agree with. If a woman does not think abortion is wrong, how can a conservative sect make the act illegal for her? I believed moral tyranny to be morally wrong, which is actually a moral ideal that I want by government to follow (oops, I just voted my morality).

Essentially, the core of every government is based on a value system, and with our Democratic system, things become difficult. My libertarian friends choose the values that make businesses most prosperous, because (to put it very roughly)that will make us a prosperous nation, and thus make us a prosperous people. My socialist friends desire that everyone receive a fair and equal treatment because (again, roughly) we often play against a stacked deck, thus they want the government to even things out.

What is most interesting is that these groups with radically different political ideas can have surprisingly similar moralities. The libertarians friends I speak of are not necessarily comfortable with the large wage disparity we find in corporate America, and I doubt that the socialist revel in idea of having an unproductive society because everyone sits around enjoying government handouts. What is one to do?

I have recently discovered Reinhold Niebuhr, a "towering figure of twentieth-century religious thought." Though I have only read a couple of essays thus far, the brief biography in this book (The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr) was interesting. His critics often considered him a pessimist because he continually knocked down various ideologies in both the theological and political realms. The editor of this book quickly pointed out that this wrecking-ball mentality was actually rooted in an optimism. In Christ, he had hopes for a better reality, and the system he saw were inadequate. I believe that this is what we need to realize. Many of us have hope for a better world, an improved world, but no system will completely suffice, there will always be a flaw (the source of these flaws is another topic altogether). This is no reason to despair.

Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a season for everything. A season for war, a season for peace, a season to plant and a season to uproot, and so on and so forth. The same holds true for our form of government. There is a time for the libertarian ideals, and a time for the socialist ones. There is no evolution, but only a continual flux. It is a balancing act, much like slacklining. Very rarely can one stand without having to move. Something will happen (whether a breeze or one's own muscle tremors)that will call for some sort of compensation, some sort of shift in body weight. Never is one still. So our government must never stand still, it must shift, or change directions. And there will be people who will talk about the dangers of shifting in one direction, but there will be dangers with any direction, and that is why we must always go back the opposite way. The awesome thing is that our democratic form of government allows for this balancing act.

In the Name of

2007-05-28T10:22:00.000-05:00

Invisible Children is an organization devoted to helping children soldiers in Africa caught up in a horrific war. I participated in one of their protest marches about a year or so ago, and something happened that turned me off to it. I forgot what it was, until after a recent email. The email consisted of various updates of the situation in Africa and to wrap things up, it thanked everyone for doing their work "in the name of humanity." I see this as very problematic. For one, I think Hitler, and other tyrants, could also claim his actions in the name of humanity, but he slaughtered people, as opposed to stopping slaughter. The existentialist ran into similar problems: each was looking for a new way to define humanity, and each came up with a different picture. Ultimately, humanity is too vague and too abstract of an idea, and what should be done in the name of humanity may lead to conflicting views. We do not know the platonic form of humanity.

That is one of the beautiful things about Christianity: we have a frame of reference. Someone can claim something in the name of Christ, and we can determine if they are indeed honoring his name. After reading the Gospels, killing one's neighbor, oppressing the poor, exploiting children in any way, are all obviously contrary to Christ's nature. Sure, conflicts arise between sects as to how this is lived out, but there is still an example to compare ourselves to. But in the name of humanity? Well...which human are we following?

Escape

2007-05-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

So...finally a new post. This semester was a hectic one, due to 18hrs of school, about 12hrs of work, two student organizations, not to mention graduation! Hopefully things will slow down for the summer, and I'll be disciplined enough to post regularly. A couple of friends suggest I do "words of parting wisdom" or something to that effect, but I can't really think of any at the current moment. I believe I had some about a week ago, but alas I have lost them. I'm going to bet that that momentary wisdom isn't too vital to life (or else we may be in trouble).

Anyways, I was talking to a friend earlier today (actually, 10min ago) and she was relating some of her student-teaching experiences. Her 11th grade english class had to read Into the Wild by John Krakauer. They did not enjoy it. I assumed it was because high school kids don't like to read. My friend pointed outthat it was due to the fact that they could not relate to the story.
Many of her students are fairly poor, and a large percentage of them have after school jobs to help make ends meet. They could not understand why a man would ditch all his possession and burn a wad of $100 bills then hitchhike across America. It's absurd. Foolishness.

The situation made me realize that we are all trying to escape. One group is trying to escape poverty. The problem of not having enough. Enough to eat. Enough to wear. Enough to live. The other has too much. And that over abundance is not satisfying. One is trying to climb the latter of success; the other is trying to leave it. I wonder how often we pass each other on this road.

And it's not just an escape from a current life. It is also a pursuit of something. Meaning, significance. Fulfillment? Whatever it is, apparently it is not found in the life of poverty (as evidenced by those trying to leave it), but neither is it found in wealth (for the same reasons as above). Maybe this is an incident of the "journey v. destination" cliche. It is not the pursuit that matters, rather it is that we are pursuing.

Doom's Day

2007-03-18T18:40:00.000-05:00

In my life, I have a fairly even mix of liberal and conservative friends. It drives me crazy. One side will give me a series of convincing arguments in regards to a particular issue, and I'll be firm in that until I talk to my other friends, who have their own convincing arguments. Choosing sides is very difficult. Will I forever be a fence-rider? Who knows.

Anyways, global warming (or "global climate change" if you're the GOP) keeps me in a perpetual tailspin. By and large, everyone believes it's occurance is a stone-cold fact, and it is a result of our abuse of fossil fuels and the carbon emissions they produce. Anyone who argues otherwise is not perceived in the most positive light. My problem is that those who call global warming a media myth have some convincing arguments.

I read in an issue of Time that Mars is actually experiencing a loss of glaciers. Considering that it doesn't have to worry about fossil fuels, the only thing that could be causing it is the Sun (which would logically effect us as well). According to Forbes, although the global temperature has increased by a degree over the past century, almost half of that occurred before 1940. Carbon emissions then were no where near the levels of today. What caused that change? Furthermore, a few centuries ago, the weather was actually warmer than it is today. And unfortunately for Al Gore, the programs that he used in his film to predict future weather patterns cannot even accurately predict past weather patterns.
(Now you can ask, "What are Forbes sources?" this is where I shrug my shoulders.)

So if all the above holds true, what's with all the hub-bub?

People need doomsday scenarios. The religious folk used to talk about the imminent second coming of Christ (in fact one of the reasons the Apostle Paul had to write his second letter to Thessalonica was to get them out of the doomsday train of thought), but since we as a culture traded in the supernatural for science, we no longer bought into the idea. Still, people need doomsday scenarios. So science gives us one -- global warming. The cool thing is, if we do the right deeds and make the right choices, we can save the world.

In all this, we get so concerned with the world, we forget about those who inhabit the world. Forget emissions, look what our desire for oil has done to people. Kuwait was invaded over a decade ago for it. Some argue that our present situation in Iraq has its roots in oil.National Geographic recently published an article on the horrible corruption and violence that takes place in Nigeria, and it's all rooted in oil.

So instead of falling for the environmental doomsday, lets talk about the humanitarian one.

In Regards to Sex and Violence (mostly the latter)

2007-03-04T00:04:00.000-06:00

God created man in His own image, in His own image, He created him; male and female He created them. --Genesis 1:27 NASB

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. --1 Cor 6:18-20 NIV

Violence defaces the image of God, and sensuality profanes the temple of God. -- Ravi Zacharias

I'm tired of Hollywood for several reasons. Actually, I'm just tired of our culture in general.
When I was in high school, a good friend of mine vented some frustration while we were working out. "So many people speak out against sexual lust in our culture, and how it's evil, but then they advocate how great Braveheart and Gladiator are despite the graphic violence." He pointed out an inconsistency. Sexual lust is quickly labeled as bad, but blood lust is perfectly acceptable.

I just finished watching the Departed. In the last few minutes of the movie, four people are shot point-blank in the head. I don't get it. Why was this a great movie? The violence seems to obscure any sort of greatness the plot twist had.

We wonder why we have such crime rates. A few years ago, we questioned why school shootings were becoming such a problem. But look at our culture! We glorify violence. We glorify blood shed. If we were truly concerned about humanity, about homicide, Hollywood wouldn't have had the incentive to make two sequels to SAW. We wouldn't see gratuitous violence as entertaining.

Jack Johnson says it better than I:
We only receive what we demand,
and if we want hell then hell's what we'll have

Christ cliamed that a man speaks from the overflow of his heart. And if man fills it with violence, what will his actions reflect?

Bartering is Better

2007-02-01T16:29:00.000-06:00

I have recently decided that this world would be a much better place if everyone bartered. Now, I know that this is a blanket statement, and as such, it is likely a foolish thing to say. Since I have acknowledged this fault, you are now obligated to read the rest of this post and examine my arguments, because obviously, I don't think it is a foolish thing to say (otherwise, I wouldn't have said it, hopefully).

Bartering forces us to take into account the other person's humanity. When we have to exchange goods, we have to acknowledge the needs of another. A student needs tutoring, I need food. I will give instruction, she will give me baked goods. But to realize these needs, we have to communicate and we have to know something about each others lives: she discovered that I am good at algebra, I learned that she is a great cook.

In contrast, money removes that relationship with relative ease. I don't need to know the needs of the checker at Target. I just need X amount of dollars to recieve the goods that I need (or want). The checkers bad day doesn't really effect me. She may sound a little gruff or frown at me, but ultimately I get my goods and am on my way (and probably rather quickly, depending on her mood). I am independent. I am alone.

Of course money is convienent: things move along faster so we have more time for other things, there is less (people) to deal with, etc. Of course, we must remember, much of today's technology was designed with convience in mind, and we are just as busy as we ever were, if not more so.

A friend pointed out to me that the masses will never be up for it. Money is convienent. More than that, it is also an easy way to show profit. And bartering would be very difficult to work out on a global scale.

No matter. Bartering is still the way to go, even if the world doesn't like it.

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire, or From Political to Financial Institution

2006-12-27T11:22:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading about the papacy of the middle ages in Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelly. According to Shelly, the 14th century marked a decline in the papacy because of the Great Schism – a time in which the Roman Catholic Church had two popes! How did this happen? In short, because men became power hungry and leaders of a heavenly kingdom desired prominence in an earthly one. Other horrible things transpired because of this greed for power – the inquisition, indulgences, and the crusades (some that even took place within Europe).

While I was learning a little church history my granddad suggested I read a Forbes article by Rich Karlgaard reviewing a biography of Walt Disney. Before getting into the review, Karlgaard mentions how difficult it is to find a good business book. As a side note he suggested Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Church. “Just substitute ‘business’ for ‘church’ and it is all there.” I was appalled to say the least.

I mention both these things because the American Church is looking dangerously like the world, just as the Roman Catholic Church did years ago. As evidence, I point to the Forbes article, and to a church’s children’s ministry having three plasma screen TVs. Another church having dirt bike stunts performed in their “sanctuary” provides another good example of how we have strayed (I don’t know if they really call it a sanctuary. “Stage” would be a more appropriate title, they are giving us a show).

These are just a few example among many, and all this reminds me of a sermon preached by a man named Roderick. If he preached weekly at our campus, I’m sure he would gain a huge following, only because he has a great gift of exposing hidden truths (or details?) in scripture.
A couple of months ago, he read about the temptations of Christ, in particular when Satan challenged Christ to cast himself from the temple rooftop (Matt 4:5-7). Roderick argues that there is more going on here then just testing the father. The temple is in the middle of a town. People are in a town. If Jesus jumped and survived unharmed, people would have quickly joined his ranks. But Jesus didn’t come to show off his powers. This is further evidenced by his refusal to perform signs for those who demanded them for proof of his claims (Matt 12:38, Mark 8:11, Luke 11:16). He often healed those who already believed in him or had faith in him. He didn’t come to entertain us or perform a show. He came for much more substantial reasons. To give us life.

Many churches have become well-run businesses with well-organized once a week shows, much advertising, and even borderline prosperity gospels. This makes me nervous to say the least. We must remember our roots – the early church had few wealthy people, and little attractiveness for the world. It was a social movement that was completely counter to the Roman culture. They trusted in God to provide, not the government, as everyone else did.

Today, we look exactly like our culture with all our concern for finances and for being glitzy and glamorous like Hollywood. The Graham family is in the middle of a huge feud right now because the oldest son wants to turn Billy Graham’s burial sight into a tourist attraction. Why? To raise money for the next generation of ministry! We are trusting too much in the world and its money. We need to turn back to a child-like faith and believe that it is God who provides for us, not supporters, not stock options, not paychecks, as everyone else believes.

I digress. The business model may be working for us right now, and some argue that makes it right, or at least okay. Remember, the papacy was effectively able to maintain territorial power for a period, but that does not make it right and time eventually showed how far off base it really was. I just wonder when the same is going to happen to the American Church.

Is it worth it?

2006-12-07T10:39:00.000-06:00

So my blogging has been intermittent lately, partly because of my busy schedule, but also because I question the value of blogging. It often appears an escape from actually engaging people. Instead of having interesting discussions face to face, we have written dialogues, faceless to faceless.
Of course, this isn't necessarily true. It seems by and large blogs are read by friends, or friends of friends, and some identity is there. Also, many friends may be separated by long distances, and thus blogging is the best way to keep in touch (and regardless of my attitudes to personal blogging, I love to read my friends').
Ultimately, I've decided that blogging is worth it. Why? Because I've been busy all this semester, and my time with friends is precious. The little time I have with them I want to spend learning about what is going on in their lives: relationships starting or ending, classes good or bad, new hobbies, etc.
Not everyone wants to talk about weightier issues, and sometimes it is hard to discern who those people are, and sometimes I waste my breath talking about spiritual things, or philosophical things.
Blogs can be an awkward confessional thing (my girlfriend just broke up with me, my pet Squibbles kicked the bucket, I ate the best chocolate fudge of my life, etc), but these blogs can be a great place to enter into the intellectual dialogue, which is what I want to do.
And most won't notice me. That doesn't matter. Maybe keeping this thing going will give me practice for the future, when I will have a larger audience. Maybe it'll help me better articulate my ideas, and maybe this will find those people who want to talk about weightier issues.
So you probably won't learn alot about me or the events of my life through this, but you will learn what I think about a lot things.

Talking about the inerrancy of scripture seems to be missing the point of scripture.
And facebook is really shallow.
More on those later. Okay, maybe just the first one.

Beautiful Collision

2006-11-13T23:09:00.000-06:00

So I haven't posted in a couple of months. I just realized I could have done something on Romania, but it's so long ago that I feel like I missed my window of opportunity. If you haven't heard about my trip, ask me about it (but don't say, "how was it?" That's awfully broad and vague).
It's been a constant struggle of keeping my head about water, but this semester has been very enjoyable. I've experienced first hand how vital the Christian community is. I am continually surrounded by those who would question the value of our great faith, but because of Christians around me, and more specifically those in the Philosophy department, I am continually reminded how beautifully sufficient the Gospel of Christ is. Truly, it is only him who can affect change in this world.

The world of philosophy and the world of my Christian faith are still somewhat separate, and I hope to see them collide in the future. But more importantly, there are many, smaller, collisions that are about to occur within the realm of Christianity at Texas State. I see it in the unity of prayer between BSM, Cru, FCA, and many other groups on campus.

And after a conversation, between the churched and unchurched Christians. That's right, unchurched Christians. I talked to a friend today who has been a Christian for four years, but he did not grow up in an "institutionalized church." He is a part of a home church that is networked with other home churches. It's much smaller yes, but he knows everyone in his community. I asked him how many people met at his home. He responded with, "All my friends." Great response. Who needs numbers anyways?
He mentioned another friend and I are actually the first "churched" people he has really interacted with, that bridges are now being built. This is extremely important, mainly b/c the two cultures are so drastically different. My Cru/church friends give me a strange look when I mention my friends situation, and it takes me a few minutes to fully explain where he is coming from. But this is all good. Hopefully I can be an ambassador between these two radically different cultures, so that we may unify to reach this world for His glory.

Crap. I hate blogs. I'm insufficient at writing. These few paragraphs do little justice to our conversation, to communicating the beauty of the Gospel my friend shared with me. The importance of small groups, of knowing the faults and strengths of those immediately around you so you can spur them on to know the Lord, as opposed to these mega-churches with hundreds of faceless people.

Rubber Meets the Road

2006-08-21T19:19:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, my summer has ended. Actually, it was all over a couple of days ago, even though class does not begin till Wednesday. I was beginning to get bored, but as things are picking up, I'm wishing for the boredom to come back.
We quickly forget so many things. San Marcos was a sleepy little town for several months, and now I find myself completely thrown off by the arrival of thousands of college students. It is no longer safe to ride my bike.
And as with every time frame of my life, I'm thinking back to the things I learned.

While I was taking the Greyhound back to Houston from New Orleans, a new friend said she could tell that I lived a "sheltered life." I was a little offended, afterall, I have read and heard stories of all the evils of the world. Obviously, this is completely different from experiencing life, and the reminders flew at me quickly. Death loomed and still looms at the door of some of my family and friends. Rules and laws that I thought would get me through life are shattered to pieces.

And questions rise to the surface. Why do we cling to the things that will destroy us?

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease: A Post on New Orleans

2006-07-24T13:12:00.000-05:00

First, excuse the old saying. But it is there because someone used it in reference to all the attention NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) was getting after Katrina in stark contrast with the affected cities in Mississippi. In other words, New Orleans has been getting help because it has been crying for it the loudest.

It irks me when people point this out, because they always sound exasperated, and act as if we should not worry about helping those in N.O. because they are not willing to help themselves. It doesn’t help that I’ve spent a total of about 3wks there doing relief work (who wants to be told that they shouldn’t have done what they did?).

True, there are political/economical/racial issues that brought NOLA to the forefront of the news. It is a major trading port after all.

But the people in that city are in need of help. About a third of the city lived in poverty, which means they probably didn’t have any money in the bank account before the storm. And when a storm takes away everything you own, where do you begin? It would be nice to rebuild your house on your own, but that is difficult when you have absolutely no money. There is also little time to rebuild, since one still needs a job to put food on the table for the family, and also to buy things to rebuild the house. It doesn’t help that it can take a full day of waiting in lines to get one building permit of the many that are required. Additionally, a few people still enjoy stealing in NOLA, so once you get all your building supplies together, they take everything during the night (one of our neighbors had his house broken into three times. The last time they stole all his interior doors and 1000+ pounds of granite. He’s now wiped out financially).

All the above and more aside, we should help those in need regardless of what they do. Is it right for us to set conditions on someone before we offer them charity (it is charity after all). If we call Christ our Lord, then we should also understand that he did not put conditions on us before granting salvation. He takes us as we are. As an outpouring of love, we should go and help rebuild.

The cool thing is that Christians are doing that. Many locals have mentioned that it is the Christians who have stayed for the long haul, who have put in sweat and blood to get NOLA back on its feet. His hands have reached out, and once the labor is done, hopefully His tongue will speak as well.

We Are Not Consistent

2006-06-06T13:38:00.000-05:00

So I'm going into my fourth week of work at the Aquareana Center, and it is awesome. I spend 99.9% of my time outdoors. I drive glass bottom boats and tell people how cool the San Marcos Springs are.
The place used to be an amusement park, but it went bankrupt. Now the university owns it and has turned it into a research and educational center. They love to talk about preserving the environment and saving endangered species, which is great, but it's made me realize something:

Very few people in America truly believe in Evolution. Evolution is about survival of the fittest. The one with the best genes wins. But we don't like that. We try to preserve endangered species and environments, and believe it is bad when they perish. We spend time, money, effort, and love trying to treat those with severe handicaps. If we practiced what we preached, we would let animals go extinct, we would not concern ourselves with those weaker than us.

Kids...don't try this at home

2006-05-03T20:15:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning after a good eight hours of sleep. But that freaken alarm clock -- it drives me nuts! So I thought I could turn it off with a remote. Reaching over to my desk, I scrounge around for something without getting up. I grab...my air-soft gun. Not even fully aware of what I'm doing, I wave the gun around and proceed to shoot my alarm clock, the bb ricocheting across the room. Then I fell back asleep. The buzzer then decided to drive Sam crazy.

I didn't realize how absurd the situation was until about an hour later. I think I need to stop watching 24.

Further news...I drove Josh's BMW because he had parked Sam in and left the house. By the way, it's a standard. I have driven a standard 3 times in my life. I stalled out 3 times today. Hmmm...

Driven

2006-04-30T16:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I have four papers to write over the next 8 days or so. Not the most fun thing to do. And I need to find away to avoid any and all distractions. Thus far I can only work in about fifteen minute spurts (I think 30 is the record). I haven't posted in awhile, due to the business of school work and also because I haven't had anything to write -- that is nothing solid. I find myself thinking through various matters but reaching no ultimate conclusion, and it seems that journey for answers should not be posted for all to see, or at least it should be done through an interpersonal dialogue and not a one-sided internet blog.

Last night I took [some] part in the Global Night Commute -- an event organized to draw intention to what some have called the "worst humanitarian crisis on the planet. " Children in Uganda must walk to the nearest towns every night to avoid the risk of kidnapping that is inherrent with living in the villages. Those who are kidnapped are forced to enter the ranks of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) under pain of death. Rather than going over all the details of the event (which I left early from b/c I have four papers to write), I want to share the thought that I was left with.

Mainly, I will never be able to do humanitarian work. Ever. Unless it is coupled with the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the people that organized the event gave a couple of "rousing" speeches telling us how beautiful we were because we were doing this and said never to forget the "sacrifices" the children in Uganda make every night (sacrifices? no. Not at all. Sacrifice serves a purpose. What these children experience is just plain, horrible, pointless suffering). As people whooped and cheered I asked myself, "why are we doing this?" Why do all these college students care? Helping faceless people half a world a way is easy, but will we help our neighbor down the street?

I know that we each have our own value systems, and in this democratic nation the nature of these systems is extremely diverse. Many may say the suffering must stop in Uganda, because life is valuable. Good, but what makes life valuable? Without the context of Christ, it is all worthless. These kids need more than safety, they need to know God. Why was I there last night? Why did I write letters to the president and one of our senators? Because Christ loves the little ones. He loves the poor and the oppressed and the invisible as much as the rich and famous. He left this earth nearly 2000 years ago and I don't know when he is coming back. Until he does, as one of his followers, I must advance that which is important to him.

Mockingbird

2006-03-30T11:07:00.000-06:00

I finally did. Conformed to the culture. Got a tattoo. It's a mockingbird on my right shoulder, about the size of a fist.

Okay, so not really (j/k mom). But if my love/obsession for Derek Webb's latest CD doesn't die out anytime soon, it may actually happen.

There are a number of Christian artist who have great lyrics, but unfortunately they don't know how to write good music. In a sense, this music becomes an "acquired taste." And these lyrics are also palatable. Challenging at times (such as Ross King), but are difficult to be construed as offensive.

Derek Webb blows this all out of the water. Mockingbird is not a CD I would carelessly recommend. Well yeah it is, because he sings about things that need to be talked about. Other artist, even with their challenging songs, keep everything within the Church. Webb on the other hand is pushing the church to go into the world. In a nutshell, he is an advocate for social justice. He questions why we live so well while "the least of these" are in poverty, going to bed hungry.
He reminds us that our enemies are people just like us. Our apathy and un-loving selves are laid out on the table for all to see.

Not all the songs are protest though, two songs written to his wife give the listener a brief but beautiful glimpse of his love for her.

And on top of that he can write good music! The guitar is simple but driven. The piano is poignant, adding a mood of melancholy to each song it is in. The bells...well the fact that it's there makes me excited.

I have had this CD for less than a week and I've lost count of how many times I have listened to it.
Buy a copy. Be affected. Then let me hitch a ride with you to the inner city.

Ambush!

2006-03-22T09:07:00.000-06:00

Josh Bronleewe turned 21 yesterday, leaving only Sam who is not of drinking age (which really doesn't matter, I think in the past month 6 beers have been consumed...maybe).
Josh was extremely paranoid the entire day, expecting people to come after him with air-soft guns. We would give him a patronizing laugh and tell him to relax.
His mom bought him a cookie cake, which Matt picked up from HEB. We let a few candles for Josh and sang happy birthday in our kitchen at a quarter to 7. His paranoia still had not subsided -- he had his air-soft tucked in his pants behind his back. Didn't do him much good.
As soon as we finished singing happy birthday, I pulled out his gun and took a few steps back. Josh looked at me, not fully comprehending why I did that, but before anything could be said, seven fully armed men busted through all three of our doors and began to unload their weapons on the birthday boy. He quickly made for the back, being chased by an al-Queda terrorist and dodging gun fire to the best of his ability
Josh attempted to get in his car and drive away, but we prevented him from backing up and opened his doors, forcing him to turn off the car and step out.
Did we get our 21 shots on him? At least. Best air-soft raid ever.

The Innocent

2006-03-19T22:25:00.000-06:00

I am fully recuperated from my week in New Orleans. I have no amazing/sensational stories to share (although others might), but that does not diminish the worth of the trip.
Hundreds of houses were gutted by thousands of college students in the span of a few days. It was good to use the health the Lord has blessed me with to serve those in need

One pervading sentiment was the lack of a feeling of accomplishment as we finished our work each day. Creating something, such as a house takes weeks if not months, but there is a certain level of satisfaction.
After a few hours of destroying the interior of a house, there was no satisfaction. It was tragic to see years of history thrown onto the street. All that remained at each work site was a skeleton of what used to be a home.

We were given mask to protect ourselves from various molds and dust and they worked great (once I learned how to properly put them on). But I have developed something of a cough due the moldy hotel we stayed at. To be fair, the word "bad" was stenciled on the door of our room, but we were eager to find a place to stay, so we ignored the small warning and dumped our stuff in the room. By the end of the first night, 3 of the 8 in our room had sore throats and stuffy noses. The price you may for a free, abandoned hotel room.

I was rather annoyed by the staff of the Grand Palace hotel -- they seemed to be really uptight with fire codes and what not, and didn't appear to know how to run the place, even though it wasn't fully operational. Come to find out, there was no staff at the hotel -- the owner simply told the construction team that was renovating the building to be in charge of things while we were there! And there were a few things that they needed to be up in arms about -- i.e fire extinguisher wars on the second floor (yes, very immature and irresponsible, but I kinda envy those perpertrators), but at the same time, things they perceived as foolish should not be looked down upon.

I have realized that only with Cru (or should I generalize to Christian?) students can you do the most childish things but still fully enjoy yourself. We play in neighborhood playgrounds till midnight. We play "signs," a game in which people sit around in a circle and make various hand gestures. During a fire drill at the hotel, dozens of college students played a game called "Sally Walker" for an hour. The premise of the game? Everyone stands around in a circle, clapping their hands and singing a chant, while one person dances around the inside of the circle until he or she switchs spots with another person. A school yard game that lasted for an hour.

One of the crew at Grand Palace told me we need to grow up real soon before the real world, but I cannot fully agree with that. There is something about these simple games that remind me of Jesus telling us that we need a child-like faith to enter his kingdom. Of course he did not say behave childishly, but there is an innocence in these games and in the joy of my friends that is difficult to find in this world.

I can't speak for every one, but I'd rather be with a group of "sally walker" players than a conference room full of corporate thugs.

Despair in the Church

2006-03-08T20:24:00.000-06:00

The great thing about the philosophy major is that I get to take classes called "Religion, Science, and the Quest for Meaning," in which we try to determine if religion and science are reconcilable, if they attempt to answer the same questions, and how this fits into discovering one's own sense of meaning. We are in the midst of reading Lewis and Freud, and because Lewis is a Christian, the faith often comes up.
It is interesting to discover how many people in my classes have a Christian background that they abandoned later in life. This past Tuesday, a couple of them mentioned how they felt burdened with sin while growing up in a Christian home. A cloud loomed over them, a demon of some sort was perpetually tripping them up. They continually found themselves in the midst of sin and they did not escape it until they left Christianity.
This is troubling for various reasons. One is that Lewis, the man we studied, had a joy-filled life. His companions had only good things to say about him once he came to call Christ savior. This burden that my friends described is foreign to me as well. Despite the darkness in the world, knowing my King brings incredible joy to the life, even in the troubling times.
The discussion held in my class shows the urgent need to evangelize to spread the joy and freedom found in Christ, not because we have an agenda or not just because "Bible says so," but because people are perishing underneath a heavy burden, and they are desperate for relief.

The Despairing Man

2006-02-12T14:48:00.000-06:00

I read through Ecclesiastes a week or so ago, and am going through it for a Bible Study, and the despair of Solomon leave me with many questions. His soul sought satisfaction in wisdom, in the sensual, in fortune, and found everything apart from the Lord as "meaningless, a chasing after the wind." If a man who knew God came to find life grievous, what does the atheist do? What defines his life and gives him direction?
I find God so necessary, that I'm finding it difficult right now to understand the atheist view. Without God, there is no culmination. Life leads no where, there is no ultimate goal, or at least one that is unforseeable and so far in some distant future that one will lose himself in it.
And who does the godless thank for the good things in life? Who receives credit for the sun set? For the rustling of the wind between tree leaves? What is love? We cannot be awe-inspired without the Lord. One could argue that chance/evolution should be credited with these things, and we should just appreciate these objects in and of themselves and not seek a higher being. But if we are all truly offspring of an evolutionary process, then we would have no such thing as aesthetics. We would define things as good or bad depending on their immediate usefulness. And a sunset is not useful. The mountain range is not useful. The crashing waves are not useful.
We must all worship something or thank something for the beautiful wonders we find in this life. If not God, what?

Tree Museums

2006-01-20T14:51:00.000-06:00

On the front page of Thursday's Austin American-Stateman, there was a large photo of students going on a "nature outing." The funny thing was, is that according to the caption, this took place at a ranch. Excuse me for being cyncial, but since when did a nature outing involve going to a large number of private fenced off acres that contained domesticated animals? The cows are not wild. Your are merely playing with some else's property. It seems for a tru nature outing, there should not be any tire tracks on the trail you're walking on.

Maybe we are just a few steps away from tree museums. Pay a person a dollar to take a walk through their private garden so that you can look at all the trees that the city razed to the ground. (Experts are predicting that by 2035 there will be no green space in Houston).

The New Verbal Crutch

2005-12-26T10:40:00.000-06:00

Imagine that I'm talking to a friend. His name is Ken. In this conversation, I am slightly at a loss as to what to say because I don't really talk to him all that much and other people are around, which is distracting, so I repeat his name quite frequently. "So Ken, I went to the grocery store, and Ken it was a safe trip...Ken....thanks for the cookies you sent, they were awesome. Ken this is a great day, and Ken come back and visit soon."
Slightly more obnoxious than using "um" and "like." Arguably. Unfortunately, this is the situation I find myself in when praying in a group of people. I'm not really focus, I'm self conscience around other people, and thus the name of our Holy God becomes a verbal crutch. The Jews held the name of God in such reverence that they would not say, and I say because I have nothing worthwhile to say.

No rest for winter break

2005-12-21T22:15:00.000-06:00

All right, so the title is a slight exageration, but the past couple of days have been a lot of work, mainly for my uncle, a shoes sellsman. But if I were to complain, I should be repeatedly kicked in the ribs: I get paid over eight bucks an hour, including lunch break, and he buys me lunch as well. If only all my highschool/summer jobs were as great as this.

I went to the mall for Christmas shopping the other day, and I remembered how much I hate those places. A flood of people who I don't know. Conversations, noise, food smell, etc is so overwhelming. I can't even imagine how a tribal missionary would feel after spending three years in Africa. Would probably leave the USA asap. And kiosk are "the worst." All these lonely sells people, trying to sell cell phone face plates and hair products. I feel like I should acknowledge them, but then they'll want to throw me their pitch about their product, so I avoid eye contact at all cost (sorry Sam).

I may not do the "five things" game, but I'll throw out some numbers.

Number of Kiosk people I avoided: 5
Number of Gifts bought a week before Christmas: 4
Number of pants/shorts torn b/c of slack lining: 3
Number of near near near death experiences: 2
Websight that I should avoid like the plauge: Facebook

Thoughts on Deep ecology.

2005-12-10T10:40:00.000-06:00

I recently wrote a paper covering the issue of environmental ethics. It came out very well on most accounts. My failure? Representing our Lord.

It’s not that I argued something against our faith, but I didn’t argue anything for it either. I actually never thought to until I was reviewing for the class final and read a small excerpt from the text concerning an idea entitled deep ecology. It goes as follows:

The intuition of biocentric equality is that all things in the biosphere have an equal right to live and blossom and to reach their own individual forms of unfolding and self-realization within the larger Self-realization…Aldo Leopold expressed this intuition when he said humans are “plain citizens” of the biotic community, not lord and master over all other species.

As soon as I read this, I realized how un-Christian this was and promptly slapped myself for not arguing against it. The problem with arguing a Christian ethic on this issue is the baggage that accompanies it, not because Christ did something wrong (how could that ever be construed?), or even the church, but because currently many people blame our present environmental state on Biblical teachings. Genesis 1:28 is often cited:

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

It is argued that because of this verse, our country wrecked havoc upon our natural resources. After all, we were mostly Christian at that time and if Scripture tells us to do something, by golly we will. Hopefully as Christians, we would follow the teachings of scripture; unfortunately this is not always the case. We often neglect to love our neighbor as ourselves or to turn the other cheek. But what about Genesis 1:28, how does the Christian defend this apparently anthropocentric view?

First of all, this verse is a command from God (since we are speaking of Christians who believe in the truth of scripture, it is appropriate to say this), so it is not human centered but God centered.

Secondly, it appears that when people shoot down this verse, they forget the full analogy being used. Yes this verse essentially turns men and women into kings and queens of the natural world, but it does not follow that this is a bad thing. We assume that Genesis 1:28 gives the right to a dictatorship, and so abuses will follow. It is forgotten that there is such a thing as a good ruler. We have had horrible presidents in our nation, but that does not mean that we should get rid of that seat of authority and place every on the same level. There are still the good presidents that bring our nation together.

Third, although humans may be given an elevated position in scripture, this does not remove value and worth from the rest of creation. After each day in the creation story, what was made is called good. After the last day, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Rather than giving a free reign on nature, scripture gives Christians a responsibility to take care of that which God loves.

It seems that a deep ecology could in some ways be problematic. If we are all “plain citizens of the biotic community” as Leopold argues, does that not avoid responsibility? The president or an ambassador of our nation has a much greater responsibility when interacting with other nations than a citizen does because of the power and knowledge that they hold. The chief of the police has a much greater responsibility to keep the streets safe for the same reason. Just because we call ourselves “plain citizens” does not mean nature will be more protected than if we have a lord and master mentality.

Giver of Good Gifts

2005-12-08T16:52:00.000-06:00

Luke 11:11- 13
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

I read this passage the other day and was struck by a realization. What would happen if we as believers prayed for His Spirit without ceasing? I questioned why I am in a continual rut of procrastination, and it is because I'm not relying on him. I take his gifts for granted, and depend on my own strength.
If only we would abandon our own strength for His power, that we would drop our petty pursuits and trivial things for his eternity! He has so much he wants to give to us. Why don't we receive it? We do not ask, we are content with where we are at. We are satisfied with our walk with the Lord, even though the Lord is filled with endless wonder and beauty.

I would love to end this with a verse describing his majesty, but my inadequacy again reveals itself in that I cannot think of any.

The Rut

2005-12-06T10:28:00.000-06:00

I continually find myself in the rut of procrastination. There have been very few times that I have not been rushed on a paper due to my bad timing. It usually works out in the end, but that is what is so frustrating -- if I can pull off a 90 procrastinating, what would I accomplish with effective planning?
Anyways, I just finished a term paper on Augustine's concept of the free will. A problem appears to arise when he states that a person can be enslaved to passions and desires. I concluded that the resolution to this is that free will can only exist in the context of knowing God:

Knowledge of God is the key here. In AugustineÂs world view, God is equivalent to truth and goodness. If one allows oneself to be taken into passions, one forgets the truth and goodness that is supposed to be followed. If one forgets what these goods are, he cannot truly make a free choice. At worst, he will know only evils to commit; at best his decisions will be aimless. With knowledge of God comes the knowledge of what is right and what is true to the ultimate form. Man will know how he is supposed to live. With knowing the correct way, one will be able to choose between what is right and what is deficient. Thus the apparent contradiction between free will and being enslaved by passions is resolved.

Counter arguments anyone?

I've also decided that I'm going to write various friends into my papers by use of analogy.

Black

2005-11-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

As sleep overtakes me I struggle to type this out, but I know if I don't write now this will never get done. While sojourning to San Marcos, Michael threw a question into the gust of wind that plagued Highway 290: Can people can truly know a person through his or her writing? As I sit here, I know that someone reading this blog alone could by no means know me, mostly because this site has become the proverbial soap box. My lighter, joking side would be completely missed. That being said, I want to lodge a brief complaint against American culture's treatment of Christmas.

It is incredibly sad that Christmas is being advertised a full week before Thanksgiving. Some find it comforting and nostalgic as the lights and music bring back memories from a childhood long ago. Although there is nothing wrong with this in and of itself, the historical significant of the holiday must be remembered; i.e. the birth of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately (unless you're a corporation) this is lost on the majority of the populace. No longer is this a season of celebration of the arrival of the Savior who came to free us from our sins, but a season of shameful materialism. The day after Thanksgiving is now know as Black Friday because of the plethora of sales, with shoppers to match. People are not loving their neighbor as themselves, as Christ taught, but instead the Holy Spirit is grieved by brawling and anger and rage (Eph 4:30-31) as people trample each other in efforts to be the first to buy the most trendy gift. When we should be celebrating God's glory and goodness and the freedom He has purchased for us, we have become slaves to rampant materialism.
What do I want for Christmas? I'm not sure, but I think supporting a missionary half-way across the world, a brother or sister in Christ with true needs, will echo across eternity in ways the X-Box 360 cannot.

No Better Sacrifice

2005-11-19T20:53:00.000-06:00

I cut myself with a razor sharp edge twice today. My back and shoulders are sore from lifting excessive weight. I am sleep deprived. An old -- but favorite -- shirt of mine is possibly ruined with blood stains. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Coal B (or army Coal) invited me out with some of his BYX brothers to help with a meat ministry called Pacto con Dios. This ministry takes deer that were killed at surrounding ranches (for population control) and grinds the meat into hamburger. They then go to inner-city areas, Mexico, or orphanages and provide much needed food. Pacto con Dios will also satisfy the people's spiritual need and share the Gospel.

Our job was to help butcher that meat so that it can be used to feed people. I learned how to cut along the bone to waste as little meat as possible (and lost a little of myself in the process), and I learned that deer are humongous creatures. I frequently had to lift up shoulders or hind quarters for rinsing, and they easily weighed over 45 lbs (explaining my physical exhaustion). When slicing and dicing and meat grinding became slightly monotonous, it was discovered that deer fat has similar qualities to gak and would stick to anything; is great for throwing at people (thus bloody clothing). The best is when you get it to stick in the middle of the person's back and they can't reach to remove it. What's the worst is when someone drops it down the back of your shirt .

It was grueling work, but not nearly as disgusting as people may think (it's like butchering a chicken, only slightly larger). The great thing about serving is that the difficulty of the task can be easily diminished with two factors: 1) the people you are with and 2) knowing the bigger picture.
We made 2000 lbs of grounded deer meat. Enough to feed about 2 orphanages for a year. The sacrifices we made were small in comparison to the blessings untold others will reap because of today.

Matthew 19:29
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

It's Worth It

2005-11-18T16:42:00.000-06:00

1 Cor 12:12. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

During the Worship night at Cru, I realized how well the Pirates Team (aka Cru Weekly Planning Meeting) exemplifies the above verse. The Lord has uniquely blessed all of us in such a way that something like the weekly meeting can happen. Not everyone can MC. Not everyone can run sound. Or lead worship. But certain individuals can, and when we come together to glorify the Lord, it is awesome and powerful. Sure, it's a lot of work, trying to get everyone on the same page, and planning planning planning. It is so worthwhile. There are many people who come in on Thursdays at 7:30, and leave immediately after it is over. Nothing to stress over or be concerned about. No responsibility. I do not envy them. They are not able to witness God's truth lived out. They miss His body doing His glorious work.

1 Thessalonians 4:1
Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

Christians in Philosophy

2005-11-12T10:48:00.000-06:00

I discovered yesterday why Christian Philosophy Professors are the bomb.

We are discussing the writings of Augustine in my Ancient Philosophy class, and my professor lectured on Augustine's concept of time. I don't won't to go into all the details (it was an hour long lecture), but it's amazing how this relates to God and foreknowledge (knowing things in advance).
People often object to the idea of foreknowledge, arguing that if God knows what we are going to do, then we do not have free will. My professor was able to show that this isn't the case with the help of the following example.

Let's determine the truth value of the following statement: At 1pm I will go climbing at Reimer's Ranch (it is 11am as I write this). According to those who object to foreknowledge, if this statement of the future is true, then I had no choice in the matter. I have to be at Reimer's at 1pm. If the statement is false, then I cannot be there. Again no free choice. The problem with this, my professor explained, is that we think the truth value of the statement influences the truth of the actual event, when in reality, it is the event itself that makes the statement true or false.

Also, God is outside the bounds of time in the same way that we are outside the timeline of a book we're reading. If we have read a book multiple times, we can look at the story as a whole and know when and where events fit in. In a similar way, God knows what is happening before we do it. He does not necessarily direct it all (although he certainly could), but we are simply informing him of our actions, and he is observing. We just don't know what we're about to.

Our professor also gave some really awesome analogies as to how God works through man's free will to accomplish His purpose, and went into more detail on time, but it was extremely awesome to have a philosophy prof talk about God for an hour.

Another Assignment

2005-10-19T20:49:00.000-05:00

Well, here follows a one page paper for another class. MW Rice’s class to be exact. This rising star endeavors to know the minds of this post-modernish generation, and thus asked me to write a one page paper that explains my thoughts in regards to the realm of relationships (with a potential significant other). Sure, I’ve written on this before, and the earlier material may prove better than this, but my ideas are continually evolving and so hopefully this will not sound rehearsed.

Without question, my biggest problem with relationships is urgency and immediacy that they are given, and the pressure that accompanies this urgency. When people discover I’m single, a warning is usually issued that follows these lines, “You better be quick, all the good girls will be taken if you wait till after college.” It is assumed that the purpose of [my] life is first and foremost to get married and have children. Although marriage and a family are good things, it is by no means our defining roles. First and foremost, we were made by God and for God. My concern should be advancing His glory. If that includes marriage, so be it.

Dating around, although potentially drama-prone and expensive, is not necessarily evil (unless you are Joe six-pack performing one night stands like there’s no tomorrow). What is burdensome is again, the pressure to do such things. Our generation has this mindset that the only way to find a spouse is through dating and knowing that person for a couple years beforehand to be on the safe side. We forget that dating is a recent phenomenon in our culture.

I could advocate courtship, but I have yet to hear an adequate explanation as to what it is. But I do know that the Lord is creative, and the way a couple finds each other will be unique to that them. I know of a couple who were friends for the longest time. After a few years, they finally realized they should get married. The man did not even buy her an engagement ring until her bridal shower, so that she would have something to show her friends. It has been objected that before dating, married couples were miserable. Maybe this was the case, but even with the large majority of people dating today, our divorce rate is at fifty-two percent. Apparently dating is not the solution to a “happily ever after” love story. We quickly forget that it is not the events leading up to marriage that matter so much as the events that follow. If a wife “submits to [her] husband as to the Lord,” and if a husband “loves [his] wife just as Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her,” than it doesn’t matter if they knew each other two years before marriage or only two weeks (Eph 5:22-26). With a mutual servant hearts and self-sacrificing love, there is no way that the marriage could end in divorce.

I often hear women complain that men do not ask them out on enough dates. They enjoy going out and being treated to a dinner and a movie. Although I cannot speak for all men, I do not refrain from dating out of fear or expenses (but asking a girl out is nerve-racking). As I said earlier, the dating scene can be drama-prone and even heart breaking and I wish to avoid that. More importantly, I strongly believe that that is not how the Lord plans for me to find a wife (if I am to get married at all). I want to obey His will more than I want to please people (or least that’s how it should be).

*Now that this is in writing, I think this gives everyone the right to pound me into the ground if I go back on what I say.

The Self-sacrificing Lover of Self

2005-10-12T22:24:00.000-05:00

This is a paper I wrote for my Contemporary Moral Issues Class. I turned it in a class period late, which meant I lost ten points. My final grade, after the point deduction? 90! Better to turn a good paper in late, than a bad paper on time.
I haven't looked at this since I got it back a week ago. I would appreciate feed back. I want my writings to be accesible. If you feel completely lost reading this, it only proves a failure on my part to adequately communicate my ideas. Let me know what you think!

Among other things, Aristotle is known for writing the first book dealing entirely with ethical philosophy. In section nine of this book, Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle speaks of self-love and friendship, and argues that when friendship calls for sacrifice, whether it is wealth, a position of power, or ultimately one’s own life, a self-loving person will give up these things for the betterment of his friend. A self-lover sacrificing himself? This appears contradictory, but if one distinguishes between the good and bad self-lover, and the gains that accompany sacrifice, one will be able to fully understand why the virtuous self-lover would indeed make sacrifices for a friend.

To begin, one must distinguish between the bad lover of self (the selfish person) and the virtuous self-lover. Following in the footsteps of Aristotle, we will begin with the former. According to Aristotle the selfish person is one who rewards himself in the best way possible, mostly out of need to “gratify [his] appetites and in general [his] feelings and the non-rational part of the soul” (254, handout). His chief concern is not necessarily his personal well being or long term objectives, but rather satisfying his immediate desires. A high-profile drug dealer may be able to fit this description. The dealer is not concerned with others; after all he is selling a product that harms his customers. He is not concerned with reputation, since he is blatantly disobeying the law. Neither he is concerned with his future, since he does not set up a trust fund or invest in stock. What he desires is money to buy material goods to satisfy extravagant taste, such as a glamorous house or an expensive car. Aristotle agrees that “this type of self-lover, then, is justifiably reproached.”

The good self-lover may in fact have several amenities that the selfish man has, but the motivation and the way in which they are acquired are vastly different. As stated before, the selfish man (bad self-lover) seeks to satisfy temporary cravings, where as the “decent man” uses his rational mind to direct his course of action. He excels in “doing just or temperate actions or any others expressing the virtues.” An example of this is found in the book of Genesis with the patriarch Abraham. He was a man concerned with justice, as seen when he retrieves his nephew Lot from three powerful kings, but he also happened to be wealthy (Genesis 14). A person who acquires good things while living a virtuous life is not usually despised by the people around him.

When speaking of sacrifice, Aristotle claims that “the excellent person labours for his friends and for his native country, and will die for them if he must… For he will choose intense pleasure for a short time over mild pleasure for a long time.” Aristotle believes that sacrifice is more noble than any other virtue, and thus is worth doing above all else. Through sacrifice one “gains what is fine and so he rewards himself the greater good.” It is not explicitly stated what this “fine” thing is, but it is clearly more important than “honors and offices.” Although it is praiseworthy, it is different from honors and offices, because honors and offices are things that are bestowed upon men by men. Think of a newly crowned king. The peasants may cheer at his coronation, but their praise did not make him king. It was a title received independent of their response. In the same way, the “fine” is praised by other men, but not a gift from men.

First and foremost, an objection could be raised in regards to friendship. If a virtuous person is a self-lover, wouldn’t all friendships be of utility? We would seek others only because they can provide good council in times of need, or because they have a good work ethic to help achieve some higher end. Aristotle would say in response to this that in the best of friendships, the individuals’ concern is not just with themselves, but there is a mutual and acknowledged feeling of good will. One simply wishes the best for the other, at no advantage to himself.

Difficulties still arise with the idea of a self-lover giving up his own life for another. At first glance, shortening one’s life is not in the best of self interest. Upon further examination, it can be understood to be logical for a good self-lover to make sacrifices. Aristotle claimed that the good self-lover “gratifies the most controlling part of himself, obeying it in everything.” This means that the good self-lover values reason the most, and reason causes him to pursue virtuous action because of its intrinsic value. It can be argued that he may even allow his logic to follow Kantian manner of thought, asking what is most beneficial not only for himself, but for society around him, and thus establishing a sort of categorical imperative, and thus a line of principles to follow. The decent man is a lover of self in that he wants good for himself, but that does not imply that he desires good solely for himself. He desires the Good, of which he is only a part. If this answer is insufficient, or if it is argued that the good self-lover will not bother himself with Kantian logic, self-sacrifice would still be an act he would carry out if given the chance. Since sacrifice offers an award higher than honors and offices, and is something that cannot be bestowed by men, but only applauded by them, then it would make sense to aspire for this greatest good that transcends all else.

It is possible that conflict between friends could arise in a dire situation – which friend would be allowed to sacrifice? When considering the ultimate sacrifice, loss of life, usually the one who is the recipient of a longer life was in no position to give up his own life, since he would end up being the victim of a murder regardless of the presence of the friend. Thus he could not be bitter about his friend’s sacrifice, but only grateful. If it were lesser things, such as power, then there could be a series of sacrifices over a period of time. One friend gives up something in January, and the other performs the same action a few months later, in that way they both attain what is “fine” throughout the duration of the friendship.

It is conceivable that a serial killer abducts two friends, and threatens to kill only one of them, sparing the other, but the choice would be left in their hands, and both needed to agree to the decision. This would nullify the idea that only one person is in a position to sacrifice. Would this result in a Dumb and Dumber-esque situation, where the friends yell till their red in the face arguing over who will receive the bullet? According to Aristotle, no. A person may “sacrifice actions to his friends, since it may be finer to be responsible for his friend’s doing the action than to do it himself.” In other words, the man who ended up living would also gain some of what is fine by allowing his friend to achieve what is fine.

In conclusion, it is logical for a virtuous self-lover to give himself up for his friends when the need arises. Aristotle’s proposition of sacrifice can be daunting to unravel, but with intense investigation and serious though, one realizes that the good self-lover can indeed give things up for those around him. He is still concerned for himself in that he desires the highest of goods, yet this self-concern does not exclude his friends. Although Aristotle’s argument had been around for centuries, it still holds water and can still convince even the modern person the worth of loving self as well as the good that can be found in self-sacrifice.

Something fishy is going on here...

2005-10-03T16:02:00.000-05:00

I've realized how ridiculous I can be in regards to my walk with the Lord. In my conversations with people, I continually hold back. I refrain from mentioning the saving power of Jesus Christ to the friends that aren't believers -- or even from inviting them out to a bible study at my house.
One would believe I have something to lose by letting down my guard and being straight forward. In fact, if lived recklessly for Christ, I would in fact lose alot. Pride. Self-image. Credibility. Maybe even a few friends. But scripture give me no reason to fear.
Matthew 19: 29 says "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
So why the reluctance to truly live? It's a trust issue. As far as my senses are concerned, the weird look my neighbor gives me is far more real than the intangible, unseen will of my King.

How do I tare down this wall of fear and self-centeredness? It starts with the small things. Maybe I need to leave the continual comfort of my Christian friends and jump into the world feet first, ready for the painful, the frustrating, and the loss. Fellowship is not bad by any means, but there comes a point and time where I need to question where I spend my time, and right now itÂs not with the lost and sick, but only with the found and healthy.

Another Step Forward

2005-09-27T00:10:00.000-05:00

This semester seems to be the semester in which I am launched into the 21st century.

Not only have I begun to regularly use a dishwasher (which admittedly is more convienent than washing by hand), I bought a cell phone (which is admittedly more convienent than a land line).
To top it all off, I bought a laptop! My mooching days are just about over. No longer will I have to ask Sam or Josh if I can use their computer to type six page essays or to do french homework.
Ironically, the very thing that is supposed to be furthering my studies is actually detracting from them. The newness of the computer has yet to wear off, and I'm still fiddiling around with all these new options and back grounds. Oh well.

Is a car in my future? I hope I leave the country for an extended period of time before that happens. Till then, I owe many friends much gas money.

The Problem with Explosives

2005-09-20T18:16:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of the confessional blog, I'm making...well a confession.
Minesweeper is the most mindlessly addicting game currently in existence. Few know the way of Minesweeper and quickly lose interest. Not I! I tirelessly press forward as I try to clear through precarious mines that may turn my happy smiley face into a dead clown face. If you ever visit the ASB computer lab, check the minesweeper high scores, there is a good chance you'll see my name. I've probably saved about a dozen smiley faces in this dangerous practice, but countless more have gone into computer oblivian never to return. When will I cease my attempts at saving Smiley? Probably not until I'm in the jungles of a third world country. (You think I'm kidding.)

A Silent Journey

2005-09-14T16:23:00.000-05:00

I experienced a lonely bus ride this afternoon as I returned to Sagewood after a full day of school. The only audible sounds where the giant diesel engine of the bus, and the cracking and crashing that accompanies every bump and pot hole because the University refuses to install shocks so that its students can have an enjoyable commute.

Anyone who knows me is fully aware that I despise the over-stimulated aspect of our culture. Quiet: good. Rest: good. No cable TV: extremely good. What bothered me about this recent twenty-minute journey was that the bus was full of people. One young woman was standing at the front because no man (or should I say boy?) was bold enough or kind enough to offer his seat.

A full bus, yet we sat in silence. I attempted to read Plato’s dialogue, the Meno, to drown out my guilty conscience. “Say hello to the guy next to you. Ask the girl about her day.” My selfish self replies, why should I be the one to break the norm?

Why don’t we engage each other? Why are we content in our prison of isolation? I try to imagine this hollow tube of metal, this temporary dungeon, full of conversation, brimming with life and laughter. To meet five or six new people every day – that would be over stimulating. But we would be connected. There would a community, despite its brevity. It seems that we want the overwhelming noise, music, movies, anything to drown out the rest of the world. We don’t want the responsibility that comes with establishing relationships and bearing the burdens of others. Our hearts go out to victims of Katrina, but we become embittered when the disabled person makes our bus trip fifteen minutes longer. We want to be detached. Why else do I only know 4 of my 12 immediate neighbors?

So why should I be the one that breaks the norm? Because I call myself a Christ-follower. I do not rest content with what our culture believes to be good enough. There are people surrounding me who need the Gospel. How will they know of redemption if I am too detached/selfish/scared to open my mouth? So often I am more concerned with my self-image than I am about the glory of the Lord. It’s time to get my priorities straight.

Why Having Power Rocks

2005-08-29T23:52:00.000-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been somewhat hectic, bouncing between places of residence, spending eight hour days working on PAWs Preview, and after that finished, I helped organize and participated in some Cru events. It’s not until now that I can actually “catch a breather.”
One thing that I have taken from my PAWs Preview experience is that being in a position of power is pretty cool. One of my freshmen became separated from her section and still needed to get her computer account taken care of. Unfortunately, Den Pavonka was now waiting in line for the computers, exacerbating her condition. What did I do? I told her to follow me, brought her to the front of the line (cutting off twenty-four people in the process), and got her back where she needed to be. In another instance, a couple of freshmen were waiting for their friend to be dismissed from a discussion group so they could go to lunch. What did I do? I told my PAL her section was free to go. Ironically in all situations I was helping girls. Coincidence? YES! (I can see Grace’s disapproving face now :).
So telling people what to do and when to do it is pretty cool. At the same time, it comes with a lot of stress and responsibility. If my PALs didn’t know how to do their job, that’s pretty much my fault.

Anyway, as my philosophy classes get underway, maybe I’ll come up with some more compelling material. But this will have to do for now.

The First Day of Travel

2005-08-08T22:40:00.000-05:00

The following posts recount the days spent with Justin on his wedding weekend. I broke it down into three sections so that reading it would be slightly more bareable.

We began the road trip from Dallas to Destin at 4am Thursday morning. Jacob, the best man, and Justin, the groom, were the only ones allowed to drive the Civic. We picked up Jamie, another groomsman from Shreveport around 8am.

Much sleeping took place on my part, for better or for worse. One critical thing to know about my car naps is that my eyes are always half open, and my mouth is a gaping abyss. Jacob’s mom made some phenomenal brownies, and Jacob at one point decides to put one of these brownies in my mouth, which he quickly withdraws. After seeing I didn’t stir, he tag teams with Jamie, who is sitting next to me. Jamie then wedges the brownie in my mouth. I am now passed out with a brownie sticking out of my face. All three guys lose control of themselves when I proceed to eat the brownie in my sleep! Jamie and Justin said they almost peed their pants. I truly wished they had.

The next thing I know, I have the strangest sensation in my mouth. Is this…chocolate? I open my eyes and the first thing I see is Jacob turned facing me with a look of shock and wonder. He points to my shorts and I see the rest of the brownie resting in my lap. I could only respond by acknowledging how awesome they were to pull a stunt like that in my sleep.

While we were in Mississippi, we had somewhat of an accident. I was peacefully reading Desert Solitare by Edward Abbey, when I realized that I was flying in the air and my head cracked the ceiling. We had a blow out and ran against a concrete divide, which launched the car in the air. Jacob was driving, and Justin coolly told him to pull over to the right side of the road. We fully expected the car to be totaled, undrivable. Justin even told his dad such. But upon further examination, we found not a single scratch on the car. Only the front left tire and rim were damaged.
Excuse me while I step on a soap box: I don’t mind if people don’t pull over to help a stranded motorist, but pull over to the far lane for crying out loud! I don’t even want to think about how many cars almost knocked us down without a second thought.

We then went to the nearest Wal-Mart to get a new tire. This lasted for three hours. We watched a movie, read books, listened to music, ate dinner, and invented stupid games to entertain ourselves. To add insult to injury, after three hours of waiting, Justin attempted to make small talk with the mechanic.
Justin: Busy day today?
Mechanic: No, not really.

Need I say more? At least he gave us a joke for our time.
How do you know if someone is not from Mississippi? They marry someone with a different last name.

We arrived in Destin at 9pm, and Justin was given some drug or another that caused him to pass out fairly quickly. He and Jacob shared a bed, and while Jacob was talking to Trent, another groomsman, Justin grabbed Jacobs arm and kissed it twice. We determined that Justin was definitely ready to get married.

Josh's Arrival and a Few Failed Festivities

2005-08-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

Josh would definitely be nominated for the “Toughest Weekend” Award (ultimately he would lose out to Justin or Lucy, or their respective parents). While driving down from Branson, Missouri after two months of summer project, his beamer was barely able to make it Jacksonville, Mississippi. Because of one belt and two pulleys, his alternator, power steering, and water cooling system all stopped functioning. He made it to a Super 8 motel and then was towed to the nearest BMW dealership the next morning where the needed repairs were made. Josh arrived at the rehearsal dinner Friday night around 9pm.

Afterwards, considering that it was Justin’s last night as a single man, we grooms men planed some festivities, i.e. pranks to make Lucy laugh during their first night together (we’re horrible friends, I know). Here’s the story in narrative form:

There were nine men lounging in a room of the Holiday Inn Express. Although not particularly fancy, it was more than sufficient and greatly appreciated by the six college students who were able to spend a weekend in Destin, Florida for free. Six of the men in the room were groomsmen, two were just friends, and the ninth was the groom himself, Justin, who appeared to be working on “Thank You” notes of some sort.
An awkward and expectant silence filled the room. The Best Man, Jacob, losing his patience spoke a word of truth to the groom.
“Justin, there are two ways we can do this.”
“Do what?” Justin looks slightly confused.
“You can either cooperate, or you can be wrestled to the ground by eight guys. Take your shirt off.”
“What’s happening?” Justin asked a group of leering men he once considered friends.
“Just do it.”
Justin meekly obeyed. (The definition of meek should be noted: Power under control). The groom’s hairy chest and “happy highway” were fully exposed. Two of the groomsmen got Justin on his back and covered his face so he would be ignorant of what was occurring. Trent, groomsman and friend from Burleson clicked on the electric razor to begin shaving chest hair.
“YOU ARE NOT SHAVING MY CHEST!!!”
The meekness in Justin was gone. No one was prepared for the oncoming wrath of a man crossed. His rage can only be adequately described as that of a gorilla whose banana had been stolen. Once the towel fell from his eyes he grabbed the first thing he saw, which happened to be Jamie, a quiet and unassuming character who weighs in at 160lbs. After pitching Jamie five feet into three other guys, it was decided that the festivities were over.

Lucy, if you are reading this, realize that you are completely safe from any trouble maker with Justin as your husband.

The Wedding Day

2005-08-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

This was by far the most hectic day, and I wouldn’t expect anything different from a ceremony that begins the life of two people together until one of them dies.
It started off nice enough with breakfast made courtesy of Jerry at the reasonable hour of noon. Afterwards, Justin then thanked us all for being his groomsmen and coming down to Florida to share this experience with him.

It should be noted that Justin and Lucy wanted a beach wedding, and it had been raining for the past day and a half. But lo and behold, around 1pm, the clouds parted and the sun beamed through the sky. With a couple of hours of free time, we set out for the beach to play in the waves and sand.

The purple flag was raised, which represents “dangerous marine life.” Jacob and Jamie looked hopeful; they were bound and determined to catch and kill a shark. After all, some one was needed to protect innocent little girls and boys from being eaten by those ravenous beasts. I avoided the water for the most part, leaving the hunting to those two, and finding pleasure in burying Josh up to his neck in sand and abandoning him there. Ironically, he became the talking head that scared little girls and boys of the beach entirely.

Somehow Josh worked himself free, and he then joined Jacob and Jaime in the hunt for dangerous marine life. All they came across was a family of jelly fish which they tried to run aground. Unfortunately, Jeb, Tim, Lily, and Ursela, were better contenders than anticipated. Although Josh was unscathed, Jacob and Jamie received several painful rashes resembling the itchiness of fiberglass insulation.

Once we came in, Justin was in a panic to leave. He tried his best to rush Josh, since Josh was responsible for playing a couple of songs that evening. Josh was by far the most comical in his tux, though no fault of his own. The jacket ended up being an inch above his knees (compared to 3-4in on the rest of us). Justin’s panic was either unfounded, or succeeded in getting us to the needed destination well before the needed time.

Beach weddings typically start at 6pm, and under normal circumstances this is the time that most people vacate the beach. Due to the weather, this was not the case. People were so excited that the sun finally came out, that they stayed on the beach well past 7. This resulted in a huge audience for Justin and Lucy. In the middle of the ceremony, a drunk stopped about 10 feet behind the pastor and looked like he was about to ask the pastor what the entire hubbub was about. Fortunately for all involved, he thought better of it.

Jacob was in fine form. He was fully focused, and had both Lucy’s ring and the pay check for the minister, the two things that people were concerned about him forgetting. Once Justin kissed his bride and the recessional was finished, wedding pictures began. Almost immediately we realized how hot tuxes can be, and the pictures were cut somewhat short.

During the reception, it was decided that instead of going to Pensacola, Justin and Lucy would be staying at room114 (our room) for the night. We also learned that Justin’s family was locked out of their second floor condo. The following events will probably entitle four of us to the claim of “Best Grooms Men Ever.” You may call me bold and arrogant, but I’m not speaking only of myself, but of a group of astounding men.

After accepting our mission, the pastry relating the urgent message self-destructed, and we divided into two teams. Josh and I went to unlock the condo and retrieve the two hotel card keys, while Jamie and Jacob went directly to the Holiday Inn to convince the man behind the desk to give us another key, and if possible, clean the room.

Josh and I, being in the BMW, sped to the family’s weekend residence. A couple of astounding downshifts took place, and we even thought about illegally passing a sheriff on the shoulder. When we arrived, we hid among the shadows and bushes, waiting for the most opportune time to scale the wall onto the balcony. Not even James Bond himself could’ve been cooler. Once inside, we unlocked the doors and found the card keys. I switched out my tux shoes for the more reliable and versatile (and equally stylish) Chacos. We then raced for the hotel, doing at least one 180 degree turn and searched for our friends, expecting the worst.

You see, that room had been occupied by six guys for two nights. We refused room service on both mornings. Krispy Kreme donuts were on the floor, alongside wet towels, swimsuits, and dirty laundry. Beds had not been made. The bathroom was less than sanitary. A male stench pervaded the area than can only be known through experience, which those who have played sports would have much of. And we didn’t even know if our men were able to make into the room. The Bride and Groom could be arriving at any moment.

To our relief, Jamie had much experience working against secret police in various nations across the world (you think I’m kidding), and was able to use those tactics to gain access to our room, without the keys Josh and I had retrieved. Not only that, but when we arrived, the room was spotless. All the trash was thrown away. Dirty laundry was packed in each owner’s respective suit case and removed from the room. Jacob really balled up and cleaned the bathroom, toilet and all. Josh, with his Wolverine-like nose, picked up the smell of…roses. Jacob and Jamie sacrificed their boutonnières and used those petals to decorate the marriage bed.

All right, so some exaggeration just took place, but it makes a good story. We didn’t really think about the rose petals until a couple of hours after the fact (we’re going to be bitter about it for years to come). But Josh and I really did break into a second story condominium, and Jacob and Jamie really did get into that hotel room and clean it till it was spotless. We decided that our night could be the next BMW film or Fast and Furious 3 (Jacob was driving a two door Civic).

Justin and Lucy’s wedding definitely made the list of top 3 weekends of my life. I’ll have memories of this time for years to come. I quickly bonded with Justin’s other groomsmen, and realized that he has some of the best and most solid friends (I’ll probably be attending some of their weddings). I’m excited that Justin and Lucy have found each other, and it was a true blessing and honor to witness their wedding. I pray that their love for each other will continue to grow, and that the Lord will use them in amazing ways, both here and abroad.

Post a secret and hide in the garden

2005-07-25T20:47:00.000-05:00

One of the most intriguing blogs I have seen is one in which people anonymously send in their deepest, darkest secret (or just plain stupid, i.e: "I like the smell of my farts"). While contemplating if I had any secrets worth sending, I wondered why I would want to share something with a faceless crowd when my closet friends and family remain ignorant. The answer: I could "confess" this secret while being faceless myself.

Not to say that all secrets are sins or are deplorable, but the sheer weight of some thoughts may just thrust one deeper into the sands of silence. Anyways, this subject seems to be connected to
events of ancient times, more specifically, the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. So often, like Adam and Eve, we think we must cover ourselves and hide. Confess our sins or darkest thoughts? That might bring punishment. Let someone know our true longings and fears? But then we could be hurt. It's a risk, but we are lying to ourselves (or are being lied to) if we think the risk is not worth taking. If one pays attention to the Bible, it will become clear that we are designed for community, to live among others who truly know us. James tells us to "confess our sins to one another." This is something we should all strive to do, no matter how difficult.

A Tragedy in the American Church

2005-07-08T22:37:00.000-05:00

This summer, after much long-suffering I am finally able to indulge my new rock climbing habit by buying a membership at the local rock gym in hopes to better prepare myself for the real rock that is found all over the Texas hill country. While enjoying by Friday night climb, I came across something that tested my gag reflex as nothing has before. It wasn't someone breaking there tibula from a twenty foot fall or a difficult hold ripping an old callous off one of my chalked up fingers. What I saw was a flyer advertising a "Christian" event at the local water park. Not only is there going to be a $1000 prize giveaway this July 29, there will also be a battle of the bands "worship band" competition.

Fortunately, no one heard me wretching.

From a Christ-centered perspective, how do we justify making worship a competition? We can't. It's not about who is better at singing "Praise Adoni." Jesus criticized the Pharisees for such things. They were concerned only about the show of prayer, the show of tithing money. The pharisees were not concerned about God, but about what other men thought of them.
If we try to identify ourselves as the "best singer," "best writer," or best anything else, our lives will be a failure, for there will always be someone greater. I doubt that I will ever attain the status of any of the apostles, but I can't be concerned with my reputation or image. My main concern most be Christ, because in the end it is only Him who will be glorified.

I fear that we are so concerned with relating to the current generation that we will sacrifice anything -- even a clear presentation of the gospel. Our hunger for "coolness" is going to hinder the very work that God sent us here to do.

Suffering from Slight Exhaustion

2005-07-03T01:44:00.000-05:00

Well, night 2 with Michael and Matt is all well -- except for the wallet I lost. Don't worry Mom, it's undercontrol. I need some money for gas, so I'm going panhandeling Sunday afternoon! People are especially generous after a church service (or so I hope).

Other than that, Michael and I had some awesome adventures at the Old Mill, which is by far more dangerous than the Blanco River Tree. Running at break neck speed, I launched my body off of a precarious cliff about three times. It is somewhat important to note that I'm landing in a deep area of water that is only a few feet from some very beautiful, but very shallow rocks. I only hit bottom once, but it wasn't too bad. Only my left hand had to be bandaged (thanks for the insurance card mom).

We then took an adventurous hike with Sandy and Matt on Satan's Spine. A thoroughly sweaty ordeal with out too much excitement. We only had to outrun one State Trooper and an army of pyro-proned Boy Scouts.

What's on the agenda tomorrow? More cliff jumping hopefully. Apparently there is no max limit on the insurance card like there is on credit cards.

On a more serious note, while looking for my wallet, Matt and I had an enlightening discussion in regards to the condition of the Church. It seems that there are many flaws and shortcomings in the body of Christ, and I'm not talking about the trivial differences in worship or preaching style. But a bigger problem than this are the Christians who witness and experience these shortcomings and decide to leave the church. We must consider the implications of such things.

Where will you go when you leave the body? The Book of Acts testifies to the power of a Christ-centered and Christ-loving church. We are called to be His hands and feet to this world. Billions do not Christ. All suffer to some extent or another. How can one individual minister to such a big world? Furthermore, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6 that while we are fleeing from that which is evil, we must pursue that which is good. What is a Christian pursuing when he leaves the church? He may be able to say Jesus, but Christ, in his unsurpassing glory and goodness and truth is too much for one person to comprehend. We need to engage others and learn from them what they themselves learned from God. That type of interaction can only occur in community.

We must also examine who composes the Church: people. We all have our baggage; we all have our failures and the Church will reflect the people that comprise it. But all is not lost. Christ is with us. We are told that the same Spirit that rose Christ from the dead resides in us. Christ chose us to represent Him until he returns. Why? I do not know. Maybe to demonstrate His grace. A man lost in the deception of drugs may look at the life of Dan Reiter and think, "If God can save that guy, then maybe my case isn't so hopeless after all."

It's a late night, so I may not be completely coherent, but we must realize that we can't abandon the church -- technically we are the church. If we are dissatisfied we should not run away, but realize that the Church will always be flawed until the return of Christ. Till then we must rise up and help her minister to the lost.

An Overwhelming Torrent

2005-06-19T20:44:00.000-05:00

Since becoming a philosophy major, I have continually felt overwhelmed by wave upon wave of information, ideas, and beliefs. I read A New Kind of Christian and Blue Like Jazz and think, "This is truth! This is how we should live!" I converse with those older and wiser then me, deep thinkers who are appropriately in the field of philosophy and my mind is flooded with doubt that brings me to borderline madness and anguish; somehow, by the graces of God, I come back to Him although I never really left. I watch I Heart Hucabees and know that at least a hint of truth can be found there -- but where? I know that if God is God, then the truth of our existence, of Him, of our salvation is beyond the grasp of infinitesimal minds. But the atheist claims (and rightfully I believe) that that is begging the question.

My pastor this morning explained why the Old Testament prophets were so angry and frustrated, but still hopeful. The message was powerful and convicting, a call for true Christians to leave behind the apathy of wealth and comfort and serve the needy as Christ calls us to. Already a negative stereotype of Christians is being potrayed by the media -- watch Saved and I Heart Hucabees if you have any doubt, and it is far from flattering -- unthinking, blind, and detached from the world. Yet people like Pastor Dan, John Piper and others are bringing us back to the world that needs the salvation of Christ. I have a feeling that the Christian Church in America is going to end up much the same way as Texas State. A few years of less then reputable behavior will take decades to overcome.

So what am I trying to say in this scattered and uncolleceted post? David Crowder expresses it best:

I feel I'm drowning,
My arms are just too tired to swim
I feel I'm sinking
On my knees again

In the roar of Your waterfall
In the storm of You,
May You find me holding on,
May You find me true

Why the Supertones Rock!

2005-06-16T19:01:00.000-05:00

As of late, the Supertones have come underattack by a few friends. I have decided that it is my duty as an OC Supertones fan to defend their music, no matter what others may say and what friends may leave me because of what they perceive as horrendous musical taste (Corrie >:-( .

In Michael's comment section of the Daily Rice, I stated that the Supertones had amazing lyrics that give most Christian bands a run for their money. Alas, I gave no supporting evidence and Corrie attempted to disparage the band by quoting lyrics from the song "Chase the Sun," from the album Chase the Sun. What she fails to mention is that it is the worst track on that album, because of -- admittedly -- lyric quality and the fact that it takes on more of a rap vibe (ughh). For the first four years that I owned the CD, I made sure I skipped that track. The majority of my defense will be quoting other Supertone songs. It must be noted that this is a ska band, so although the lyrics can stand on their own, they are much more powerful in the context of an actual song. Since Corrie used the Chase the Sun album, I will do the same, although their first two albums (Adventures of and Strike Back) had equally good if not better lyrics.

Sometimes I think,
how can You love me?
My thoughts are so far from your own.
Why choose me Lord?
I'm a poor reflection.
Why use me to make yourself known?
-- Old Friend

Kids in universities
drowning in an ocean
of apostate philosophy
We need apologetic instruction
mental reconstruction,
Ignorance reduction...
...Wisdom and truth have been vandalized...
...Expose the lies
no matter how they're disguised
-- Grounded

I want to quote about five or six more songs, but I'm going to stop myself . So many Christian albums seem to be strictly "praise" songs that potray a Christian life as something that is relatively easy and rarely scratches the surface of real life or real issues (ie Reliant K). In contrast, the Supertones touch on just about every aspect of life -- about feeling inadequate (Old Friend), about the lack of unity in the Christian church (One Voice), and even the apathy of wealthy American Christians as our brothers and sisters die for the gospel (Health and Wealth). The song "In Between," addresses the struggle a Christian feels as he struggles to do good despite the sinful nature that resides in him. "Sure Shot" is about the desire to live a life to the fullest, a life that means something. Oh yeah, and all this is in one album. There are still two more that are truly great for all the same reasons.

Cultural Anthropologist -vs- Pastor

2005-06-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday one of our church pastors gave an impassioned sermon on the Song of Solomon, which if you don't know, is the "scandalous" book of the Bible, since it's about the birds and the bees, if you catch my meaning.

During his sermon, while he was sharing some of his experiences of counseling married couples I began thinking about credibility. Why do we so often believe the pop psychologist before we believe the church pastor? As of recently, I haven't been too fond of Wild at Heart by John Eldridge due to the bold sweeping claims he makes in regards to manhood. I think: How does he know all that? Not all guys have the same undercurrents of thought, passion, etc. (FYI -- my biggest pet peeve is when people try to pigeon-hole me. I hate spiritual gift surveys!!!) But then I realize that Eldridge is a man who has counseled countless men and married couples for several years -- couldn't he have noticed a pattern in the problems and desires that all these people had?

Why do we believe the 30 or 40 something "experts" who have Ph Ds, and not our eighty something grandparents? I have also realized how tragic it is that people have to turn to books for wisdom and advice. I love reading, and we can learn much from a good book, but where is that community of support that we so desperately need in times of despair? And where is my JC Ryle? A man who has seen it all and is on his way out and not afraid to share his knowledge with the next generation, who will convict and challenge and encourage those who are my age to live a God-centered life?

And it Begins

2005-06-06T16:16:00.000-05:00

I spent my weekend in the Gainesville area to attend the wedding of one of my cousins, who is now Honeymooning in Spain with his lovely new bride. It was a good time to catch up with family, and since the bartender didn't check ID, to try a few beverages. Now before anyone freaks out, I didn't actually get my own drink, but as usual mooched off the the people around me. I tried about 3 different wines, and they were all horrible in my humble opinion. According to one of my many cousins, if you don't like wine, it's because you haven't found your kind. Whatever. I'm not spending money on a bottle of some substance that's going to repeatedly kick me in the back of the teeth and suck my mouth dry.

Today was the first day on the job working for Klein ISD and I can already tell that this will be the easiest job I will ever have. I arrived at 6:30 this morning to clock in, but because of "orientation," we didn't start until 7. After I was assigned to a regular hand, we drove around for two hours addressing maintenence request all over the district. This meant that for two to three hours we were in the car driving through bad traffic (which meant I made 14-21 dollars for riding in an air-conditioned vehicle). Once that was done we started wiring cable in an elementary school so that the students can have televised announcements. After two hours, we finished two rooms.With an hour left in the day, we went back to the office and sat on our butts. So after spending half of my eight hour work day on my butt, I came home pretty well rested.

Dan

Oh yeah, and I now have 60ppl in my family

The Things I've Got Going for Me

2005-06-02T12:46:00.000-05:00

The other night, a friend from high school invited a girl he knew from college to hang out with us. The following conversation is 100% true.

Glamorous Girl from Trinity: So, what's your major?

Me: philosophy.

GGfT: Have you had your mid-life crisis yet?

Me: Excuse me?

GGfT: A friend of mine is a philosophy major and he says that while studying existentialism, you question everything and feel extremely suicidal. But don't worry, it goes away after a while.

Me: Okay, thanks.

Needless to say, I'm really excited.

Goofy Foot

2005-05-30T14:12:00.000-05:00

I have determined, as of approximately 3pm yesterday, that Switchfoot is my new favorite band. Their predecessors, the OC Supertones, will always hold a special place in my heart. I mean, what other Ska band, or better -- Christian band, can claim to have the greatest lyrics of all time. They don't say that themselves, but if one was to pay attention to the things they said (especially in their earliest CDs), one couldn't help but get pumped up, or possibly convicted, or even encouraged. In one of their songs, they remind us all that we "need faith deeper than a t-shirt or a sticker," which rings so true in a culture that considers an instrument of death "trendy."

So why switch to Switchfoot? For one, although I lack a complete collection of Switchfoot, New Way to be Human is a pretty mellow CD and very enjoyable at the end of a long day. And despite Beautiful Letdown's fist track, Meant to Live, it is also relatively laid back musically.

The biggest reason for declaring this band as my favorite involves the lyrics. In both New Way to be Human and Beautiful Letdown one major theme seems to follow along the lines of their song "Meant to Live," we were all meant to live for something more than the materialism that Hollywood and MTV try to sell us, and although that "something more" is never given the name of God or Christ, if one knows this is a Christian band, it is a message pretty hard to miss.

New Way to be Human is my favorite CD (I've listened to it three times in the past 15hours) because there are songs that describe my worst fears as well as songs that declare my greatest hope and ambitions for this life.

"Company Car," describes a man who once had great dreams and ambitions, only to trade them for "that which is attainable/ Not what I'm looking for," the American rat race. I would hate to find myself twenty years from now living the American dream in (and of) comfort, because I know that the worth of selling out to Christ is far greater than anything that they show on Cribs or Pimp My Ride, even if it does mean sleeping in a ditch in some strange country or being beaten for my faith. As I stand at a crossroads, which are these few years at Texas State, I hope and pray that the decisions I make lead to the glorification of God, and not the attemted glorification of myself, for God is eternal, but as Switchfoot says, "all the riches of the kings end up in wills."

My favorite song (I'm slowly narrowing my scope, soon I'm going to pick my favorite verse, favorite line, and then favorite word that Switchfoot says) is by far "Amy's Song." At the end of my life if people can say of me what is said of Amy, then I know that I lived a life worth living and fought the good fight. I can't really say much more than that, you just need to listen to the song yourself.

Dan

PS -- the youth pastor at my church, Jason, pointed out how ridiculous storage places are. We have so much crap that we can't keep it all in our house, and so we rent a monthly shed to keep it somewhere. Why don't we sell all that excess stuff and give the money to -- those missionaries in India :). As Jason said, God blesses us with money and things, so that we may use that money and things to bring glory to His name. We should not seek satisfaction or fulfillment in those things.

PPS -- my favorite word is "You" w/ a capital Y. :)

American Missionaries: A Waste of Money?

2005-05-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan. It's a fairly easy read (I finished it in about six or so hours) and you can order a free copy at the Gospel for Asia website, gfa.org .

The author is a native-born Indian who now lives in Dallas, Texas. He has spent the past twenty-five years of his life informing Americans of his countrymen's desperate need to hear the Gospel. After being at CRU for two years and hanging out with Justin Tucker for five minutes, I wasn't surprised at Yohannan's claim. What grabbed my attention is the suggested method of reaching the millions of lost people in India -- native missionaries.

Native missionaries are, well, native to their land and are trying to establish churches among their own people group or tribal areas within their national boarders. Barriers that a Westerner might face (such as language and culture) are almost non-existent, and since they are already in the country they can perform the work of the Gospel without all the money an American missionary might need. According to Yohannan, an American missionary needs about 30,000 -40,000 dollars a year to support themselves. In comparison, the most a native missionary would need is $120 a month, or $1440 a year, but they can do fine on $30 a month, or $360 a year! Had I gone to India this summer, my airfare alone would've supported a native missionary for nearly four years!

Yohannan's objective in this book is convince American's that native missionaries are the new wave, and that Western missionaries, although not obsolete, are not as necessary as they once were. Over the course of 200pages, Yohannan successfully achieves this and leaves me with a question:

Why are some many American Christian organizations making such a big push for my generation to go overseas in light of Yohannan's information on the effectiveness of native missionaries? It seems that it is fruitless work to pay a group of people to travel America in efforts to convince people my age to do a work being carried out by others. Not only that, but after these traveling teams go through, it appears that no one's heart has changed. Of all my friends at Texas State and more specifically CRU, I only know of two people who are sold-out future missionaries, and Justin is the only man I know taking active steps to achieve that dream by going to the extra trouble of learning a difficult language that few will teach. If anyone else mentions mission work, a wistful expression overcomes their face, and they say, "Well, I would like to go to ____." And it ends there.

Furthermore, after these faint embers of missions cool to nothing but ashes, my generation is left with nothing practical. We are not told how we can advance God's work across the globe while we stay in San Marcos, Austin, College Station, or whatever college town we are in. We understand missions are good, but we don't see our roll. What we need is man like K.P. Yohannan to tell us how to support our brothers and sisters in Asia as they are beaten, starved, and stoned for the cause of Christ. If we stopped drinking Dr. Pepper and eating bags of chips, and instead opted for tap water and an apple, we would save at least two dollars a day. Over a period of a month, that is sixty dollars, enough to support two missionaries, so that they can better provide for their families, so that they can afford something as simple as a pair of shoes, or even a bicycle.

I'm tired of hearing college students complaining about their financial situation. Has anyone examined the way we live? Someone who lives on campus not only has a place to sleep everynight, we get two to three meals a day and we have a medical center. Gas prices are ridiculous, if we walked more often (hint hint -- CRU on Thursday nights), that extra money could go to missions. We say we need new clothes because what we have is old and slightly faded, but our brothers and sisters in India are wearing garments that "would not be fit for cleaning rags in America," according to Yohannan. We need to readjust our priorities and realize that CD we want, or that computer, isn't nearly as important as giving money to those who will share the Gospel with the untold millions in Asia.

Dan

It Was All Padme's Fault

2005-05-23T12:36:00.000-05:00

My brothers and I had a bonding moment this past Saturday when we watched Star Wars Episode III. We were half-expecting every ticket to be sold out till midnight when we arrived at 6:30, but surprisingly we obtained tickets for a 7:45 showing, and the theatre had empty seats!

Although the movie wasn't atrocious, it wasn't all the great either, with the exception of some hard core light saber fights. If there was ever a doubt in regards to the supremacy of Yoda, after Episode III it has been effectively decapitated (watch the movie and you'll know what I mean). Brent, my 17yr old bro, made the astute observation that women bring men to the dark side of the force. If Anakin hadn't felt the need to save his dearly beloved, he wouldn't have gone to the dark side to attain the supposed power over death. I'm speculating that this is the same reasoning Adam used in Eden when blaming Eve for the fall of humankind, so Brent's argument is completely sound and Biblical.

Dan

Epistemic Commonality or The Experiences We All Share

2005-05-19T13:52:00.000-05:00

Well, as of 3pm yesterday, I'm officially a dork (as if I wasn't one already). I spent about an hour or so of my afternoon revising a philosophy paper. Why am I wasting my time editing a paper I already turned in and made a 95 on? Well Michael (aka: great M-Rice) was reading that same paper about a week before school was out, and before finishing the first page, he carelessly tossed it to the side. Slightly perturbed, I picked it up and began reading. After reading the first half of the first page, I stuffed the paper into my backpack, disgusted by the writing. It was chock full of grammar errors (I'm glad this paper wasn't for an English class) and a whole lot of jargon that would not have made any sense outside of the fourteen people in my problem of evil class.

So yesterday I got this paper back out to see if I could improve on it, and I believe I did to an extent, but while rereading what I argued on epistemic situations (epistemology, in a few words, is the study of how we know things), I realized how strange it is that each individual has such drastically different beliefs. If we look at the average upper-middle class American, our experiences have many similarities. We have all had absolutely fantastic days, and absolutely horrible ones. We have all experienced love to some degree. Not necessarily romantically, but through family bonds or a close friendship.We have all -- or will eventually -- lose a loved one. I'm making some bold, sweeping claims, because we also have to bring in situations such as child abuse. But there is still a common human experience -- filled with both pain and joy. So how is it that there are so many different beliefs in regard to God? And not only are the number of various beliefs impressive, but the fact that these beliefs are well founded is astounding. One of the biggest things I learned in my problem of evil class is that atheist are not idiots. Although I never really felt that way in the first place, I never fully understood or respected their position until this semester. It appears that God has struck the perfect balance in regards to keeping the absolute certainty of His existence ambiguous so that we may all choose to freely worship Him or deny Him.

The Stay thus Far

2005-05-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm one day shy of being in Houston for a week. Sunday was a good day and gave me some hope for the upcoming months. It turns out that more people than I realized will be home, and thus I'll have somewhat of a social life; I'll probably be hanging out with my former youth pastor is in "retirement mode" at the age 30. He's in somewhat of a transition period, since him and his wife will be living in London three months from now.

Still haven't found a job, which means maybe I won't have a social life since I have no money to spend (this is the first time I can honestly say that). I've been trying to be somewhat productive by reading a couple of books, right now I'm working through Pilgrim's Progress, which is just as good the second time around as the first.

On a sidenote, went to the Houston Art Car parade last Saturday, and I'd have to say that Houston gave Austin a run for its money as far as weirdness goes. People from all walks of life attended the show, and it seemed that with all the art driving around on wheels, it was time for the hippies to come out. I saw one lady actually wearing a coconut bikini. There were some other guys who dressed up like aborigines, which means wearing extremely revealing shorts and covering oneself in white mud. Their car/motorcycle thingy was in the shape of a giant 10ft tall drum with a platform about half way up to walk around on. Who knew that such interesting people lived here? I thought this place was only filled with yuppies.

That's all for now, keep it real.

PS- MW Rice, I think you're the only one reading this, b/c you're the only person I told about the revival of the blog.

Easy Over Eggs are NOT Easy

2005-05-13T08:15:00.000-05:00

Well, this is my third day home from school, and it seems that I am just wasting my time. I've been switching between the computer, video games, and TV -- the top 3 evils in the world (not necessarily in that order). I actually read for about a half hour yesterday, and hopefully that time will quickly increase. My room is a disaster area to say the least. What was easily packed away in my itty bitty dorm room -- along with another person's stuff -- can barely fit in my own room. So right now it is an organized mess, although it's not that organized.

One of my greatest joys as this semester ended was that I would never have to eat at Harris again (unless some kind freshman wanted to give me meal swipes). Harris has become "the worst," to quote a friend. You can order an omelet with ham and cheese and they'll give you sausage and jalepenos. And the food there is generally crap. Needless to say, I was glad to say "Adios" to those cooks.
Typically, I get 2 easy over eggs for breakfast (best source of protein). Deciding this morning that I would like eggs once again, I proceeded to cook my own. Unfortunately, I popped both the yolks in the process and ended up with this brownish mass of semi-scrambled eggs. To top it all off, I set of the smoke detector, conveniently waking up my brother for high school. As I eat my eggs as I type this, I humbly realize that although the Harris cooks weren't the best, they are by far better than me (who on earth burns eggs?).

Foray into Philosophy

2005-05-06T13:06:00.000-05:00

As the semester draws to end, I realize I missed my blog and that it's time to bring it back (besides, all of ya'll are going to miss me during the summer, I've gotta keep you posted somehow).

This semester I've had some of the worst classes ever. I'm fortunate to get B's, not because they're hard, but because I have no motivation what-so-ever to study. But I've also had some of the best classes, more specifically: the Problem of Evil with Dr. Hutcheson.

Never has a class been a source of such extreme stress as this one. Over the course of the semester I had to write four 5pg papers in which I argued with professional philosophers. I knew I failed every paper when I turned it in. During Spring Break, I had nightmares about making a 20 on the paper I turned in the previous Friday (I'm not making that up). Yet I made 3 A's and a B in one of the hardest classes I will ever take. Dr. Hutcheson is by far the hardest professor in the philosophy department; one friend described him as the "litmus test": if you can pass him, you're set. I didn't just pass him -- I made an A!!! I'm dumbfounded to say the least. All my doubts about switching my major have been unfounded. I'm cut out for this stuff after all. Who knew I could argue so well? I didn't. In the upcoming weeks I think I'll design a blog for all my papers, in case anyone is interested in reading my papers (and/or has too much time on his/her hands).

I'm heading home this summer, which I have mixed feelings about, but I'll know it'll be alright. As one friend said, I'm not going to have many more opportunities to spend an extened period of time with my family.

One thing I'm uber excited about is living in a Sagewood duplex. If you haven't heard, it is party central at Texas State, and it's going to be an adventure (to say the least) as I'm exposed to this new kind of lifestyle (although not necessarily taking part in). I'm also taking 9hrs of philosophy classes, and I'm looking forward to getting to know other people with the same major (there is only 75 of us).

The long and short about my attitudes in life at the moment.
Till next time...
Dan Reiter

Rest in Peace

2005-03-02T21:17:00.000-06:00

So, this blog has come to an end. I've been so busy with school (next week I have 3-4 test, a paper, and a speech) and I'm starting get over my head in my philosophy class, and the many things I think and do throught out a day that I can post in blog, keep so busy that I can't make a blog. With that being said, rest in peace Doubling Talents. It was a good run.

There'll be no next time...
Dan Reiter

Busy, so busy

2005-02-15T13:35:00.000-06:00

I've realized that I haven't posted in nearly a month. Ironically, I can post more when there is less going on in my life, than when I actually have something that is blog worthy. It's been so long since my last post, I'm wondering if anyone is actually even going to read this one.
Yesterday, in my problem of evil class (in which I just failed a paper, I can feel it in my bones), we were presented with the question, "If, as the theist claim, God is perfectly good, and there was a time when only he existed, what drove him to create a world that would become less than good, less than morally perfect?" No one really had a suffecient answer. But upon further thought, I realized, it's part of the mystery of the Gospel that the apostle Paul so often talked about. We are told in Romans that "no one would die for a righteous man, although some may die for a good man, but Christ demonstrates his own love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ dies for us." Who can explain this love for a fallen creation, one that continually throws all of God's blessings back into his face? Even on the other side of eternity, we may not know the answer.

The Problem with Saying "Biblical"

2005-01-24T20:00:00.000-06:00

Today at the expense of the bold Sean Raybuck, we discovered the consequence of making reference to a religious text in the middle of a philosophy class.
Background: this is the Problem of Evil, which asks the question, “Is it reasonable to believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, and omni benevolent God (O3 God), in light of pointless/unjustifiable evil?” After two and a half days of lecture, we as students were able to begin what appears to be a semester long discussion. At one point Sean asked something to the effect of, “Where do we get the idea that it is an O3 God’s role to intervene when cases of evil arise, whether it is from a Biblical, historical, (and a couple more –cal) perspective?” (My apologies if I butchered what you actually said, Sean).
It seemed that the professor only addressed why we cannot refer to religious texts to solve the problem of evil, and made the case that God actually permitted/encouraged evil, using as evidence the flood in Genesis and the wars in which Israel was told by God to obliterate certain people groups. After a few minutes one student seemed to answer Sean’s question directly when he stated that it would be an O3 God’s duty to intervene in cases of evil. To be fair, the professor came around to pointing out instance in which God in the Bible did intervene in human affairs (parting of the Red Sea, the 10 Plagues, etc.). Sean and I talked after the class, and he said that this didn’t fully answer his question in relation to free will, and although God in certain cases did intervene, is that to be his typical role?
First I would like to respond to the professor’s claim that God of the Bible permitted/encouraged certain evils, such as the destruction of whole people groups. These “evils” were actually judgments, in which the people involved were guilty of their fate. With Sodom and Gomorrah, the people were so wicked that they would sexually assault any newcomers in the city. In other instances, the people groups were a warring people (such as those at Nineveh), conquering city after city, and exploiting those they defeated as best they could. So in essence, God was destroying evil, not perpetrating it.
As far as free will is concerned, I believe it is something that we as humans are given, but at the same time, I don’t know if we have the full ability to use it. The New Testament (since this isn’t philosophy class, I’m going to reference the BibleJ), describes non-Christians as being enslaved to sin, and even being blinded to what is good. It is also said that, “no one seeks to do good, not even one” (I apologize for the lack of references). In fact, Christ came to set us free from sin. So with this in mind, one could argue that we cannot do any good at all unless Christ comes into our lives and reveals to us what is good and gives us the strength to do that which is good. As a Christian, it is an interesting thought to realize that I probably need more grace than the non-believer, since I do know what is good and what is right and have the ability to choose, but still repeatedly decide to sin.

*As I was writing this, I realized there are a lot of ins and outs with the Problem of Evil that I’m not mentioning and which I may have to explain at a later date, or just discuss with you, my readers whenever we get the chance. Since my time is limited, I don’t really proof read these things, so I may have digressed from the main point. Leave me comments and let me know your own thought and opinions.

An Exciting First Day

2005-01-18T18:20:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm sitting in the apartment of my good friend, Justin Tucker, while a night class looms over my head (okay, I can't complain, it's Judo). I have to say my first day went very well. One professor didn't show up, due to jury duty, and my English Lit class appears to be fairly easy, considering all our tests will be objective. With out a doubt, the highlight was seeing all my friends within an hour time frame. Very few things compare to the excitment of seeing a friend, and shouting their name as they shout yours, and ask the standard "I haven't seen you in a few months" questions. Words fail. I have yet to see the great MW Rice, which I consider tragic.

I spent the past weekend on a PAWs Preview co-chair retreat. It was great getting to know everyone a little bit better, and has me excited about the upcoming semester (which will be extremely busy). Not only will PAWs preview be taking up my time, but I have CRU, which includes Journeymen and 242, 17hrs of school (6 of which require alot of reading), and volunteer stuff to do for my scholarship. It will be a good lesson in time management. Tomorrow my Problem of Evil class starts, and when I have time to make post in the upcoming semester, I'll probably be talking about this class.

Till Next time,
Dan

The Wonderful World of Luby's

2005-01-02T00:01:00.000-06:00

My Christmas break thus far has not seemed like a break. Between traveling to see family, and working odd hours, I seem to be going non-stop. I must say though, Luby's has been much more fun the second time around (the first being in high school). More of the employees are closer to my age (as opposed to being the youngest by at least ten years), and since I know my time here is short (have to be back January 13), I've just tried to enjoy myself.
My fellow co-workers are great people to get to know, and absolutely fascinating, mostly because they are from a completely different world than I am. We are not of the same race, social class, moral/religious beliefs, or even the same language! Our only common ground is our employment at Luby's, but that seems to be enough to share laughter and have the occasional serious discussion. I think no matter who we are, we have to have something in common with the people we hang out with, and although it often seems to divide into ethnicity and social class, it doesn't always have to be that way.

Till next time.... (hopefully not a couple of weeks)
Dan Reiter

So... That dating thing

2004-12-20T17:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, I read the infamous I Kissed Dating Goodbye a couple of days ago as I lougened around Josh's apartment. I have heard many people express distaste for this book, ironically most have never read it, they simply judge it by the title. In all honesty, I read only about 2/3 of the book, the beginning and end for two reasons: I was time limited and it seemed largely directed towards high school students and the writing was very simplistic, and most of his examples of "dating gone wrong" involved high schoolers. That's fine and all, but I'm a sophmore in college, I want to hear about people in their mid-20s.
I liked his overall message, it seemed the main point he was trying to make was that relationships with the opposite sex should not consume our life, that we should enjoy our time of singleness and use it to glorify the Lord as much as possible. My friend DJ once said a better title would be "I Kissed the Pursuit of Dating Goodbye," which in one sense is appropriate, but ultimately it would fall short, since Harris is without a doubt against dating. The alternative he gives has more of the appearance of courtship, in other words a serious relationship in which from the very beginning marriage is stated as the end goal. The very idea of that is very intimidating, but that is his point -- if we aren't that serious about relationships, we have no business being in one. I have to say I strongly agree with him on that point.

When Morning and Afternoon Blur

2004-12-18T15:40:00.000-06:00

Hello blogger fans,
I find myself in Bobcat Village, apartment number 13103, where I have spent 55 of the past 60 hours of my life. Whew, it's like a marathon. I've found myself keeping very strange sleep habits, with the intrusion of the PS2 video game Gladius, as well as the oppurtunity to observe my friends proceed through the recording process of of Josh's CD (due in Feburary). The first night I slept, I remember waking up to Matt (a good man from UTSA) and Josh walking through the door, and asking me to sleep in Justin's bedroom, as opposed to the living room couch, since they would be recording acoustic in the living room. I gladly stumbled away and fell asleep to sweet melodies. Last night, I stayed up till four with them, watching the process of recording electric guitar. After I went to lala land, they continued till 10am, finishing up electric for 10 songs.
Food has also been a rather interesting subject. I ate half a burrito on Thursday, that was it (not all that bad, considering I sat on my butt all day). Friday was slightly more nutritous, when in the afternoon I walked across the street for an amazing baked potatoe, and after ushering a graduation ceremony, I finished the night at Chile's, my first real meal since Tuesday. I have discovered my money supply from sold books is dwindeling though.

One advantage of all this is that I have found a good amount of time to read, and as the guys sleep till 3 in the afternoon, a lot of time to think. I have come upon a "chicken or the the egg" problem, similar to John Cusack's in High Fidelity. Do girls (and for that matter, all people), watch chick flicks because they are sentinmental, or are they sentimental because they watch chick flicks? This question came upon me as I remembered this past Thanksgiving break, in which I watched one of my favorite TV shows, Smallville. I enjoy this show mostly because of the relationship between Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. They have an uneasy friendship at best, with secrets kept on both sides. Lex is potrayed as a bad guy, trying to be good, trying to make the right decisions, and you hold out on him, hoping he will leave the dark side, but then he does something ever-so-often that crosses the line, and one is left on the edge of his/her seat, hoping against hope that he will become a good guy. Clark has also built up some romantic tension between a few of the female characters. With clever shots and sentimental music, one feels a sense of longing or nostalgia for relationships. This struck me over the break, because these were feelings I hadn't felt in quite some time.
And thus the chicken or the egg came to mind. I began thinking of some of my reallife experiences as friends I know get married or are on the road to marraige with a "special someone," and as I talk to them about their relationships, I have no sense of longing or envy, but rather joy for them as they experience the wonders of marriage. So I've come to the conclusion that "chick flicks" can potentially waken or increase emotions that don't really need to be drawn out.

I guess I should mention that at the same time that I had those thoughts, I was in the midst of reading I Kissed Dating Goodby by Joshua Harris :). More on that later.

Dan

A New CD and a Cell Phone on the Horizon

2004-12-12T18:40:00.000-06:00

Last Night I bought my first CD this month, and the second since july or so:Australia by Howie Day. I was a little reluctant to spend the $10 at first, b/c although I've enjoyed the few songs of his I have heard, but I didn't want to buy a CD just because a couple of friends of mine bought it. Michael convinced me to get it, and so far it's been an enjoyable purchase. My music collection is slowy (let's emphasize the slowly) growing.

Some good friends of mine particapted in some college shananigins down by the beautiful (and warm) San Marcos river, which I missed by a few minutes. The problem was that I arrived when they said to, but they got slowed down by technical difficulties, and since I did not have a cell phone, there was no way of us getting a hold of each other. I talked to Tucker afterwards, and he has me almost convinced to buy one. It all depends on that price though...

As I battle the technology of the 21st century,
Dan Reiter

A Beautiful Summer Day

2004-12-07T22:35:00.000-06:00

Today, dead day, is a day given to us college students so that we may study for upcoming finals. But do we? If only you could see my smile as I type this.

My day started off ten minutes till 10am, with a great couple of games of Ultimate Frisbee, (MW Rice, you were missed). Playing in broad daylight was a nice experience. A good number of us went to Harris to eat a harty meal, and afterwards, I had fully intended to study, but plans changed. I ditched my study buddy Josh Bronleewe for a trip to Devil's Backbone and a swim in the river with the persuasion of four lovely young ladies (Sandi, Meagan, Marisa, and Lauren) and my persistent roommate, Sam Hunt. In Sandi's words, "You won't remember a test years from now, but you will remember hanging out with your friends." True, but I do have good studying stories, you can ask Josh or Austin about it, or maybe I'll post about it later. Actually, probably not. I did have a great time, eight of us crammed in a Jeep Liberty going all across San Marcos and Hays County. And we did swim, and it was awesome, even more so when one realizes it is December 7th. Ya gotta love Texas.

Till next time,
Dan Reiter

Hello?

2004-12-06T17:46:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone, I hope finals are treating all my fellow college students well.

A small brief on the weekend: I went camping this weekend at Lady Bird Johnson and visited Enchanted Rock on the side. It was a good amount of fun, although slightly cold. I could probably write an entire post on this subject, but I thinkSean Raybuck (www.livejournal.com/users/seanraybuck) beat me to it.

The highlight of the past two days was a gift from my friend and roommate, Sam Hunt -- a "cell phone"! It has buttons that make noises and internet acces (although it is dial up, but I'll take what I can get). What really struck me is that everyone commented on my hatred of cell phones. I did accuse them of being the spawn of satan in an earlier post, but perhaps my words were too harsh. I don't really hate cell phones, but I can become frustrated with them, such as when people ignore me in favor of the person that just called them, and the idea of being roped into a two year contract where I have to pay $40-50 a month does not excite me (the money statement should keep most people from giving me a hard time, since their parents pay the bills, but alas it doesn't).So the big question -- will I ever get a cell phone. I don't really know. Hopefully, a few friends and I will all live in a house next fall, and depending on the cost of a house phone, I may have to crater to the demands of a high-tech society and purchase a cell phone.

As I try to remain in the stone age
-Dan Reiter

For these momentary, ligh affliction are producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. 2 Corinthians 4:17

The Problem with Saying Nietzsche part2

2004-12-01T18:22:00.000-06:00

Hello world. I hope everything is going well. You may notice the part 2 and ask, "where is part 1?" Well, it got deleted, because computers are really stupid. A half hour down the tube. But anyways, I'm going to make a second attempt, albeit, slightly abbreviated.

I find it funny that we Christians can get caught up in arms whenever some mentions a certain name (such as Nietzsche) or philosophy (such as existentialism). These names are instantly barraged by insults and why they are bad, without giving a full look to the person or idea.

I'm learning about existentialism in my philosophy class, and although I don't agree with everything it says, it definately has some worthwhile ideas, to say the least. I could talk about why I disagree with this philosophy, but that is really long and time consuming, so I'll present the good ideas. One that jumped out at me was existentialism's emphasis on responsibility. That's a message that our world could hear more of. We so often want to dodge the consequences of our actions, and it only brings about further frustration and problems. Last year I helped out with a church event at San Marcos First Baptist, and during the weekend I broke a student's laptop. I initially offered to help pay for it, but when I realized I couldn't afford it, I payed less than I said I would and made an excuse that through the blame more on the junior high student. This angered the mother (as it should have), and caused a lot of unnessecary grief and problems. In the end, I took responsibility for my actions, but from that point on, it made attending the church difficult and conversations with the youth minister became akward. My friend Ben Stuart said one of the great tragedies of the fall of man described in Genesis was when Adam blamed both Eve and God instead of taking responsibilty for eating the forbidden fruit.

All this to say, we need to be discerning when learning of other philosophies, but we should not be close minded, and we should not unreaonably discredit those who think differently than we do. When I declare that I'm a philosophy major, Christians often give me a look of concern, warning me that I may be pulled away from the faith. I love them for it -- that they are concerned about my spiritual well being and that they desire to gaurd their hearts against the things of this world, but I don't want to have dogmatic beliefs -- claiming things are true only because other people tell me to. C.S. Lewis, one of the most brilliant Christians of the 20th century refrenced philosophers and ancient writers as much as he did the Bible. I have a friend become a Christian in the same semester he was taking a philosophy class, and what he learned in philosophy actually reinforced his beliefs. I know that by beliefs will be challenged over the next couple of years, and I will struggle with doubt, but if the Bible is the living truth (which I believe it is), then this is also true: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." (John 10:27-29 emphasis mine).

Till next time,
Dan Reiter

Your Face!!!

2004-11-30T17:54:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,
I'm back again, and this time without the two week delay. Lastnight I discovered the adventure known as Face Book (www.thefacebook.com). I had some friends telling me about over Thanksgiving, and I quietly rolled my eyes, thinking how lame this website had to be, but last night, courtesy of my friend and roommate, Sam Hunt, I caught a great wave surfing this website (forgive me for the cheesy metaphor). I recognized a few friends on the site, so I created my own username and spent a solid hour listing who knows how many people as my friends. I definitely caught the bug. To everyone who has not been to the Face Book -- beware!! Before you know it, it may have sucked away a good portion of your life, chatting to old friends through a computer as opposed to hanging out in real life.

Now for my story, I don't know how long this is going to end up being, but I hope it entertains. Sit back and enjoy while I make everything up as I go.

Rugby Ball of Death

It was a beautiful starry night, a cool seventy-five degrees -- neither too hot or too cold. The perfect night for a CRU barbecue at Bobcat Village. About thirty or forty people made appearances through out the night. Their smiling, laughing faces somewhat blurry in my memory, as if in a dream. Jazz music floats around our ankles.
The tranquility of the night is shortly ended with a thud more felt than heard. Everyone looks around in confusion. Suddenly, a guy in a green Reliant K t-shirt shouts out, "It's a flying saucer!" I roll my eyes in annoyance, "Sam, give me a break."
"No, I'm serious!" We all look in the direction he's pointing, and twenty feet away, partially buried in the ground, is a... saucer. We reluctantly approach the disk as it emanated an intense heat.
"Does that say NASA?" asked a Caucasian male with an unusually dark tan.
"I think it is," I responded. "Is it an escape hatch?"
We all exchange looks of uncertainty.

[fade to black]

Hello Old Friend

2004-11-24T14:58:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone,

It's been a very long time since I've left a legitimate post on this blog. A lot has happened between now and then, and I don't think I could legitametly blog on it all and expect everyone to read it, so I must be selective (unfortunately).

My good friend Justin Tucker got back from India this past Monday, but to our dismay, he did not land in Austin, but Dallas. We (6 of us) had planned on welcoming him back from "Fat Camp" at the baggage claim, but that failed to happen, obviously. I wanted to mention that so you would understand what was going on when you walked into your apartment, Justin.

I'm home for the first time this semester, and I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping on my big double bed, and taking a shower in a clean bathroom, as opposed to a sink full of hair (I still don't know how that happens, I'm thinking one of by suitemates cuts his own hair). It's also good to catch up with the family and some old friends. One of these friends, Kurt, actually took me storm chasing last night. It wasn't very dangerous, the heavy rain storm was short lived, but the lightning was definately cool. I told him to call me when he chases his next tornado.

I've also had some very weird dreams recently. I'll start with the second, because it was more vague. The jist is, Sam (my roommate) and I were horseplaying, like always, and everyone was getting really angry at us because we would not stop for anything. They all deserted us, which is sad, but don't worry, it gets better. Some super bad guys came in and tried to take over the school (Texas State, of course). Because of our horseplay, Sam and I became hardcore wrestlers and had the ability to give lethal punches, so we made short work of the bad guys and saved our school and our friendships. I've entitled the first one Rugby Ball of Death and I plan on making it a minseries here on Doubling Talents, to give you, my readers something to come back to, and to give me motivation to consistently write.

Till next time...
Dan Reiter

The American Jesus is Mr. Nice Guy, he would never do anything to offend anyone. But not the real Jesus. He's a man, a warrior, and he's not afraid to get in people's faces.
Pastor David Walker, Alamo City Christian Fellowship, when preaching on Jesus driving out the people selling goods in the Temple. (These aren't his exact words, just a rough approximation)

Shout Out!

2004-11-08T15:47:00.000-06:00

Holla Marisa! The first one to ever leave a comment on my blog. Keep it real.

I'd also like to say what's up to Justin Tucker. If wasn't for him, who knows what kind of disaster area the kitchen of 13103 Bobcat Village would be. He also now has a blog, check it out: www.wantinghisreturn.blogspot.com

Till next time,
Dan Reiter

Sorry, but you won't be "Saved" from this rant.

2004-11-06T01:30:00.000-06:00

Well, here is a true rant. Brace yourself. I watched the movie Saved just now. I'll admit, it had its funny moments, but overall it is an extremely offensive movie. I don't understand how Christians can be entertained by such a movie. It goes against everything we believe. People throughout the movie justify their actions b/c Jesus "told them to," and say something is right because "God wouldn't give us these feelings if they were wrong." And "why would God make us so different if we are all supposed to be the same."

First of all, feelings are very shakey. Looking at decisions made in the past that seemed wrong, people may use the excuse "I did it in the heat of the moment." That is also why we have the faculty of reason, to help us determine what is right.

As far as the different/same thing, we can all be different people, but still have the same morals. I can see this when hanging out with my four closest friends. We are very different, some very extroverted, others more reserved. One is a great speaker, another a talented musician. We all call Christ our Lord and Savior and want to live a life of holiness as outlined in the Bible, but still, we are each our own person.

I realize that Christians are hypocritcal, and it's fine for that to be in a movie, but what about the Christians who seriously practice their faith and love others without passing judgement? This movie is not very even-handed; the "Christians" in this movie are potrayed as narrow-minded and unloving. This movie only gives bitter non-Christians more amunition to sling at us.

Why do Christians laugh at these movies that potray us so negatively? We don't have to laugh at every joke that the world laughs at. We can be serious in some things -- like our faith and our Lord. We don't have to laugh at Dogma, or Family Guy, or Saved. It's so frustrating that we laugh when these things will insult the truth of the Bible. The Bible, God, Christ, is our life, why do we join in when people insult these things?

Till next time...
Dan Reiter

I'm a Nerd

2004-11-05T13:50:00.000-06:00

It is official. I am a nerd. There is no avoiding it, and I wonder why I didn't realize it sooner. My first hint should have been Geometry in 10th grade. I was about to take a test, and I was very uncertain on the material, but right before class someone worked out a problem for me and it all clicked! I finished the test in fifteen minutes and I knew I aced it. I was pumped and excited, and then I got the test back -- 107!!! Man what a rush.

Four years later, I'm taking History 1320. For some reason, I don't do too well in this class. I'd be happy with a C, quite honestly. So I had a test today, which I studied for through out the week (I even missed Ultimate Frisbee, to my friends' dismay) and I was very nervous. But I walked into the classroom this morning very calmly (I'm so thankful that I don't typically have test anxiety). Our professor passed out the tests, and I began. Guess what? I nailed that sucker to the wall!!! I was 100% certain on 85% of the fill in the blank (if that makes any sense) and I owned up on that essay. Who knows about Truman and the Cold War??? I do baby!!! I won't get a grade for another week or two, but boy do I have an adrenaline rush. I think I'm going to go out and buy a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and some pocket protectors.

Till next time...
Dan Reiter

I'm so confused!

2004-11-02T18:15:00.000-06:00

Well, here's a post that I've been wanting to put up for some time, and have now decided to follow through. No, it's not about cars or college. It's, yes that's right, about girls! Now before you roll your eyes and close this window, stick with me for a few more lines. This isn't going to be the bitter rant about how girls are from the devil and guys should avoid them at all cost. In fact I'd like to say something to all those guys: Get over it! Sure, you've been hurt, but don't tell me you're completely innocent of hurting a girl. Yeesh. Actually, this post isn't so much about girls as it is to how guys act around girls (particularly the ones they like), which is to say very strangly. Men (as well as women) are fairly rational creatures capable of high levels of thought and can write books such as Liberty (Mill) or Miracles (C.S. Lewis). We can make good grades on test and do simple automotive maintence and get PhD, etc etc. As soon as a woman comes into the picture, all that goes out the window. I've heard guys say really stupid things in regards to girl (ie: "I could marry this girl," which sounds really nice, until a year later, he doesn't even want to talk to the girl). And nothing weakens the resolve of a guy more than a girl. He can say one thing in regards to his relationship one week and go completely against it the next week. I'd go into more specifics, but this is on the world wide web, so I'll refrain.
I guess the one thing to take from this is: girls if you want to hook up with a guy, you're going to need lots of patience, otherwise it's going to be a very frustrating. Of course, I've never really had a serious relationship, but anyways....

Another question that lingers in my mind is: why do girls want to marry us? We are probably one of the grossest creatures around. I have a few friends of mine who opened a bottle of hot sauce and left it out for two months! Their coffee and bread were also growing mold. When we're bored, we light farts for entertainment (okay, they're a minority, but still...). If a girl heard locker room stories, I'm sure she'd want to be a cloistered nun for the rest of her life.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I apologize if any of that sounded bitter, I'm mainly just confused.
Till next time...
Dan Reiter

Revelation 3:14-22

2004-11-01T21:24:00.000-06:00

I went to church last Sunday at Alamo City Fellowship in San Antonio (it's about a 40min drive) and it is well worth it (the drive I mean). Pastor David Walker preached on Revelation 3:14-22. There is a lot I could write on this (considering it was an hour long sermon), and maybe if I started taking notes I could do so, but what really stood out to me was his explanation of Rev. 3:20 : "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him and him with Me." Often, Christians will use this verse when sharing their faith and offering an explanation on how to accept Christ (I remember trying to memorize this verse for that purpose), but in the context of the passage, Christ was talking to the church, to the Christians! Christians can become so caught up in themselves, in having the good, easy life with the nice house and nice family that they forget Christ and the suffering he requires of us (Luke 14:33) and put Him to the outside. It was a very thought provoking and challenging message.

For the church-going crowd: do you ever notice the high school and junior high kids during the service and how many of them will constantly chatter and sometimes even get up and leave and then come back? I do, and it really, really bugs me. But at Alamoc City, a big Italian guy with the Mafia accent came up after Pastor David's sermon and called 'em out. (Imagine accent) "How can you teenagers disrespect Pastor like that? Gettin' up and walkin' 'round. How can you disrespect Pastor like that? You should be ashamed." If those weren't the exact words, it was pretty close. I don't think we get called out enough and it's always refreshing when it happens (okay, maybe I wouldn't feel the same if I was the one being called out, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't happen).

After rebuking the youth, he proceeded to pray for the pastor and asked others to do the same, and many men throughout the congregation stood and came to the front and laid hands on Pastor Walker. It was very emotional; never have I seen such love in a congregation like this one. It stirs me up now even as I think about it.

Thanks for reading Doubling Talents, I'm glad you could join me, and I always appreciate it when people leave comments on my blog.
Till next time...
Dan Reiter

"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."
Luke 14:33

I understand not only that I am something incomplete and dependent upon another, something aspiring indefinitely for greater and greater or better things, but also that the being on whom I depend has in himself all those greater things -- not merely indefinitely and potentially, but infinitely and actually, and thus that he is God.
Meditation Three: Concerning God, That He Exists Rene Descartes

Why I'm leaving Communciation Studies

2004-10-24T21:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I have a history test to study for, which I need to start doing, but I just finished attempting to study for Interpersonal Communications. I was reading the Conflict Management chapter and found an interesting bit of information. Apparently, a win-lose negotiator can use a bluff "to mislead their opponent, although there is research that suggest bluffing can backfire if your negotiation partner calls your bluff." They had to conduct research studies to find that out??? True, not everyone uses common sense in their communication, but this major's reading is so useless. Maybe if their was more skill practice. But anywho, I'm going to Philosophy, where my ideas and beliefs will be daily challenged by well articulated professors and fellow students who take this world somewhat more seriously,

Till next time...
Dan Reiter

Technology and Me

2004-10-21T15:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I have decided that I'm not a big fan of technology, technology feels the same way about me. This is my second attempt at this post, after the computer in the library froze up on me.
In my first attempt I bassically said that I have no technology. I have no car, no computer, and no cellphone. I do have a PDA, but you cannnot write papers on it, make calls, or drive it to HEB for groceries. It's a glorified Rolodex.

I also have an answering machine, and that was what this post originally was supposed to be about, but now the moment is gone. Just know that my message changes regularly, so call me often to catch the new wave. It is possible that somehow someday I will get a car, but I have to say, cell phones are from the devil. Okay, maybe not, but is it really necessary for people to get ahold of me 24/7? I don't think so. It'll also save you $360 - $840 a year. That's a lot of money. Buy a semesters worth of books for that. Anyways, that's my small soap box. Hope that you visit us again!

Till Next Time...
Dan

The First, implying that there will be a second, and then a third and so forth and so on

2004-10-20T15:55:00.000-05:00

Well, hello world, and welcome to Dan Reiter's first ever internet site.

As of recently I have been reading the blog of M.W. Rice, which is very entertaining and at times philosophical. It also came to my attention that our friend Sean Raybuck started his own online journal, and so I decided to join in on the fray. I cannot claim I will be as dedicated or intellectual or entertaining as the aforesaid names, but I would like to at least stimulate some thought in my readers'. The Sean, M.W., and I have contemplated having a "blog dialogs," in which we discuss and exchange our ideas through these online journals, so I'll provide a link to their respective journals in case this idea does come to life.

Sorry if this seems incredibly stiff and formal; I'm assuming if you're reading this, we know each other personally, so shoot me straight when you read/see something you don't like. Maybe as I ease myself into this new experience know as "blogging" my writing will become more vernacular, or maybe I'll become a stuffed shirt in my daily walk (let's hope not). A future post may include more personal info (my favorite food, where I go to school, etc) but as for now, I must depart.
Till next time...
Dan