CalebGo Blog

Obamanation

2008-11-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

This upsets me.

Music.

2008-10-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

To be completely honest I didn’t want to write this post, but during the past few months I’ve felt the Lord urging me to talk about this. Some background first. God created mankind; we sinned, and incurred His holy wrath. We took the world with us (now disease entered, pain, sadness, etc). However, God still gives us certain common grace (if He didn’t, our societies’ over history would have torn each other to pieces in a way that no one could imagine, and natural disasters would destroy what’s left). Thus, it is due to God’s common grace toward to each of us (including those who have not accepted Jesus’ payment for their sins) that He allows us to keep living and enables any person can do “good works” (i.e. the kindnesses that fellow humans–even unsaved–give each other). God also endowed all of humankind (e.g. people building architectural wonders, inventing new things, writing, using the Arts). Music is included in this list. These gifts somehow (even coming from those who spurn God’s special grace) glorify God–even when used for personal fame and fortune. Thus, even if I listen to secular music, my soul can still glorify God and extol His greatness, but there can be two problems: the lyrics and my heart. 1) Lyrics do not necessarily glorify God–glorifying sin is one example of un-glorifying lyrics. When I hear these words of this type, I cannot glorify God because sin is being exemplified. Thus, this music is not good for my soul. 2) My heart: if I’m focusing too much of my attention on music (even “good” music) and not on God, then I have created an idol in my life that needs to go. So, even if the music is fine, I’M not fine because it’s not drawing me closer to God.

On a personal level, when it comes to listening to music I listen to practically everything: classical, jazz, rock, metal, rap. However, recently I’ve been evaluating my music determining a few things. First, why do I listen to the music I do? Second, how does the music affect me and make me feel when I listen to it? Third, is what I am listening to glorifying to God? If not, what are my reasons for listening to it music? I challenge you to ask yourselves these same questions. A few days ago I was going through my music library synching music to my mp3 player, when these thoughts came to mind. As I thought about the music I was listening to, and I came to realize that the music I was listening to was not something God would want me to listen to or support. A lot of today’s secular music is focused on profanity, sex, drugs, pimps, adultery, the list goes on. And sadly, most of the rap in my music library was filled with this.

If anyone has music consisting of things I’ve mentioned above, I ask you to take it before God because it’s not right. As Christians is it our responsibility to give all of our tastes, our likes and dislikes over to God. Romans 6:13 says

“Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”

Offer your whole self unto God. To offer means to give in to, to submit, and to surrender. Romans 12:1 speaks of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God. I believe this means that we should come to God in prayer and tell Him that we want to give ourselves unto Him. We choose to give Him our lives and surrender to Him by telling Him that we have decided to do so. You must decide that you want God to have you entirely and that you are willing for Him to be in charge of your life. Tell Him that you want Him to have you entirely. If there is any area of your life that you have not surrendered to Him, tell Him that it also is His to do with as He pleases. For me this area was music, I just recently I gave that part of my life over to him. Yet I know for myself, there are still things in my life I haven’t given fully to God yet, and it’s vital that I do. I also know that God may still address music again in the future. My heart needs to be willing to follow His leading

Moving back to the music subject, I would say that I believe music is inherently powerful. It affects people physiologically, psychologically, and spiritually. Now, that is not necessarily the same thing as saying music is inherently moral, or immoral. A gun is inherently powerful, but not inherently moral. The same gun can be used for good or for evil. Can the same thing be said of music?

My personal belief is that there is some music which produces no good and therefore I’m willing to call it inherently bad. I do think, however, that most types of music can be used for good effect, and for evil effect. I think the power of music is clearly visible in the Bible. Music is present in much of the ceremony and ritual God prescribes in the OT, David drove demons away by playing on his harp.

One thing I think the Bible has to say about all “Christian arts” is that to a Christian, all arts are Christian. What I mean by that is the Bible teaches us to do everything as unto the Lord. To see that we serve and glorify God in everything we do. A part of that is recognizing that even in the mundane everyday tasks we do, God is present. How much more so in our art when we pour our hearts and lives into it; so a piece of instrumental music, made by a Christian, is as much “Christian music” as a song about Jesus.

Now, in terms of the Contemporary Christian movement, I would say there are a good many solid-out, rock-solid bands and artists - ranging in style - that are worth listening to, especially when they are truly worshipping God with what they do (i.e., MercyMe, Casting Crowns, Stellar Kart etc.).

Bands that are allegedly Christian but do not make clear statements about God, I don’t think should be associated with that movement, but rather perceived as secular. That doesn’t make them bad; just that they don’t really fit the criteria. And well… a lot of Christian music doesn’t fit the correct criteria.

With that said, I’d like to move lightly into a genre of music, known as “Screamo’ or/other 'metal' with examination and study I’ve come to the belief that this sort of music culture is not honoring to God in anyway. (That does not mean it’s wrong to listen to) Usually then, people then ask me, “What’s wrong with it” I’m usually put in the position to defend my belief, however, now it’s your turn. I ask, “What’s right with it?”

Never Knew How Much I Kept To Myself

2008-10-16T16:58:00.001-07:00

As I approach the end of my fourth week in college, I was thinking about the new culture that I've been put in. I realized that I had been living in my Christian "bubble." Sure I talked to people who weren't Christians and I even had some non Christian friends but, for the most part, my life was around other Christians. I would talk to other Christians and live the Christian lifestyle.

Now that I am thrown back into the secular world and what they are taught, I have a renewed understanding of what is going on. I feel like my little "world" I had been living in was an artificial comfort zone created by my parents, friends, and leaders at my church. I had been so accustomed that when you talked to someone they would have a moral base, they wouldn't casually respond with swearing. I was separated from how most people my age have been growing up.

Now that I talk to dozens of people my age every day at school, I have come to realize how incredibly different our lifestyles have been. I feel as if I had been out-of-touch with culture without my knowing. Talking to my unsaved friends I now realize why people are so broken. Why they engage in the activities they do; I realize that these people are begging to hear about God.

I never thought that all these people have a true interest to talk about the meaning of life, why they are here, and that people actually care about them. Today the Gideons visited our college. All these college kids were sitting there with little green Bibles in their hands reading random verses. They were amazingly open to hearing what the verses meant and how it applies to them.

I had never thought that all these people actually wanted to hear the gospel. How long have I been sitting here while I was surrounded by people eager to discuss God? These people didn't appear yesterday and, I'm sure, realize their need for something more at the beginning of the quarter. In fact, as I look back, I see that I have been surrounded by people "asking" me to share God to them. Why had I not!?

I feel that, until recently, I hadn't realized how unsaved the unsaved really were. I had heard and talk to these people before, but I've never been in their lifestyle, gone into their houses, struggled with them, and talked about the issues of life with them until recently.

People are open for the gospel and my question for everyone is; are you just living your life? Or, are you actively pursuing the spreading of God's word. Are we trying to make God famous?

School, School, School

2008-09-24T12:42:00.001-07:00

This last Monday was my first day of school!!! College is a new experience for me and I thought I'd share what I've thought so far.

Here is my schedule:
5:50am - Both of my alarms go off in my room so I have to walk to two different locations to turn them off. Than I get ready to go to school.

6:30 - Leave the house for school

7:00 - Spanish 101 starts. This class is especially interesting since Spanish is the only language that is allowed to be spoken in the class.

8:00 - I make a quick run to the other side of the school to go to my math 104 class. I like the professor here. He's like it doesn't matter how you do your homework as long as I can see that you did it.

9:00 - And my English class. I %#^&# English! But this teacher is nice and she doesn't assign too much homework.

11:00 - VOLLEYBALL!!!!!!! It will start in about a month so I don't know what I think about it yet.

12:00 - Lunch :-)

1:00 - I study until I'm done than go home and complain about the day...

College is a really neat experience so far, but it still feels like school (and a lot more of it). It is nice only having THREE classes though!

Day at Fair

2008-09-15T21:12:00.001-07:00

Well I just got back from a long day at the Fair. I think that every time we go to the fair I bore my family by hanging out in the Hobby Hall and carrying on long conversations with random people. Fortunately with cell phones we no longer have to all be at the same spot in the Fair at the same time.

So after we got there I spent a long time looking at stuff in the Hobby Hall and talking to other beekeepers (who actually remembered me from last year).

I did manage to get a few pictures of some stuff we did at the fair. The quality may not be any good since they are from my cell.

We went to some country singers who same some classic songs. I don't know about the rest of my family but I had a blast! That guy had an amazing voice. I did feel kind of out of place, everyone around us was older than 60 and there I was sitting there. The other sad thing was he sang a song from the 40s and I knew it :-)

We also went and saw Roberto the Magnificent! I don't think the show is as good as it was when the Gentleman Jugglers were together but it is still one of the best juggling shows I have seen.

We than saw the Mutton Buston. This is where they put little kids (6 or under and less than 60 pounds) on the back of sheep and try to see how long they can stay on. It's kind of a weird thing watching a 4 year old cling on to the sheep for dear life and than fall and get stepped on by the sheep.

We did see a whole lot more than this but I didn't get pictures of it. Such as the human cannon. That was incredible and I would totally do it. They put this man into a cannon and shot him around 180 feet!!! It looked like so much fun! I wonder how people get into that?

Honey Extracting

2008-09-09T21:55:00.001-07:00

The past two days I spent extracting honey from bees. On Monday I was helping my cousin extract her honey and on Tuesday my cousin helped me extract honey. This process was amazingly fun and we all got covered in a whole lot of honey!

We started at my cousin's house where we took the supers off of her two hives.
We didn't have a bee trap so we ended up blowing the bees out of the suppers with the shopvac.
When we had all of the frames cleared of bees we all moved into the shop where we started the actual extraction.
We have a decapping knife which gets really hot so it will melt the wax off of the tops of the honey. That way the honey will fly out when it gets spun in the extractor.
We finally got everything worked out and the performance went really well with my cousin Anna decapping the frames. My cousin Nathan turning the extractor, and myself moving the frames to their position and holding the extractor steady.
Everybody ended up working until we got what we were looking for...

The next day we moved to my friend's house and got my honey super off of the hive there, than we drove back to my house with them following to help.
And did pretty much the same thing except I had a few more honey supers
It's a little more crowded in our kitchen and I think that it will be really sticky for a very long time, but we were able to extract the honey.
What was cool was everyone got to help out in a bunch of different ways.

Than we bottled everything ending up with around 6 gallons of honey just from one hive!

Anyway I won't bore you any longer with going into detail on everything we did. I'll just say it was loads of fun and really messy. I think I'm going to go to bed and sleep for three days.

Can You Lose Your Salvation Part 2 /Eternal Security/Continuing Conversation(per can you lose your salvation)

2008-09-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hi, Brandon. Thanks for taking the time to read the blog and post comments! Notice that part 2 of this blog is not from the same author.

I appreciate you expressing your views. And also thank you for taking the time to excogitate this matter. To be a careful thinkers on issues such as these we must realize that some biblical texts aren’t always so clear cut. Careful study can lead to conclusions from these texts you mentioned, which do not necessitate the idea of losing your salvation.

I shall elaborate…
I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the field of Biblical Hermeneutics (the study of accurate Scriptural interpretation) which looks more deeply at passages when it seems to be giving some sort of contradictory teaching on some particular theology. I myself am far from an expert in Hermeneutics, but I do know for certain that there are many passages in the New Testament that argue for the position of eternal security. To consider a few passages that ‘seems' to support the “loosing salvation” belief. It creates problems because it offers contradictions with other doctrines and passages throughout God's word; including salvation by faith, the sin nature of man, and why Christ went to the cross to die for our sin in the first place. According to the Scriptures true children of God are forever saved and forever eternally secure.

Matthew 10:22 does not refer to losing your salvation, but rather enduring persecution and being faithful. Matthew 18:21-25 is a parable that illustrates the power of forgiveness. It is important to note that this parable is not about salvation, for salvation is wholly of grace and is unconditionally given. To make God’s forgiveness a temporary thing is to violate the very truth of Scripture (Rom.5:8; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:3-7). The parable deals with forgiveness between brothers not between lost sinner and God. The emphasis in this chapter is on brother forgiving brother (Matt.18:15, 21)

2 Peter 2:20-22. In verse 20 it mentions the possibility of reverting to old paganism having “escaped the corruptions of the world” through knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It s it possible, then, from this passage, for Christians to lose their salvation? Many would answer affirmatively on the basis of this and similar biblical texts (Heb 6:4-6; 10:26) But this verse asserts only that false teachers who have for a time escaped from worldly corruption through knowing Christ and then turn away from the light of the Christian faith are worse off than they were before knowing Christ . It uses no terminology affirming that they were Christians in reality (e.g. “Sons of God”, “Children,” “born again,” “regenerate,” “redeemed”). The NT makes a distinction between those who are in the churches and those who are regenerate. (2 Cor 13:5; 2 Tim 2:18-19; 1 John 3:7-8; 2:19: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us… but their going showed that one of them belonged to us”)

So when Peter says, “They are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning,” the reference is to lost apostate. Verse 21 underlines the seriousness of the apostasy. And in verse 22, Peter concludes his strong denunciation of the false teachers by citing two proverbs the first is a biblical one (Prov 26:11); the second is an extrabibical. Both dogs and pigs were considered vile by the Jews. So the false teachers are unclean and return to the pagan corruption. Significantly, Jesus used the designations “dogs and “pigs” in speaking of those opposed to God and his Word. So the “dog [that] returns to his vomit” or the sow that “is washed,” “washed itself,” portrays the person who has religious “profession” or outward change without a regenerating inner change that affects his nature. Such a person soon reverts to his true nature.

As for Job 1:21 it fully reads, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gives and takes away; may the name of the Lord be praised. Here is the attitude of Job in contrast to that in the Dialogue is one of supreme faith and total resignation to the sovereign will of God. Job did not understand why but believed that his trouble came from God “The Lord gives and takes away”. Job was ignorant of what had taken place in the divine council – that God allowed the Accuser to strike thus far. But Job was right; it was the Lord who had taken away. The use of the secondary means does not solve the problem of evil, nor is it the purpose of the Book of Job to solve this logical dilemma. In a very real sense, Job’s statement of trust in God went as far as he or any human can go into solving this mystery. When Job said, “May the name of the Lord be praised” , he was using the same word that Satan used in v.11 as an euphemism with opposite meaning. It stresses how the Accuser is foiled at this point. Instead of cursing God to his face, Job praised him.

This passage response is not me, it is quoted from another person online "Gal.5:1-5 is discussing believers who are trying to please God by adding the Law to their salvation. As we well know, this approach is doomed to a big failure. In Paul’s mind there are two opposing categories of approaching God - Law being one and Grace the other. The key to these verses is found in Chapter four where Paul writes this,

Now I say, as long as an heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive adoption as sons.

Here Paul demonstrates that he is talking about the way we relate to God. He doesn’t mean we will fall from salvation, but from a way of relating to God by grace (i.e. there’s absolutely nothing I can do to make up for my sins) to that of the Law or works (i.e. I must keep some rules in order to be still be considered for heaven.) When Paul says that a believer has “fallen from grace” (vs4), he is saying that the believer has fallen from the more perfect way of seeking God’s will in his life to a more base (and unreachable) way. It does not mean someone had salvation and now lost it. So this passage addresses the believers’ walk more than their eternal security. "

In Luke 12:41-46 Peter responds, in his accustomed role as a spokesman for the apostles, with a question about the extent of their responsibility (vs. .41). Jesus answers, as often, with a counter question (vs. .42.) Although he says elsewhere that exhortations to “watch” apply to everyone (Mark 13:37), in this case the parable that follows (vv.42-46) show that the apostles have a special responsibility. In the illustration the “manger” or “steward” is in charge of the “servants” is a “servant” himself (vs.43) this was a common situation in that first-century society. The passage teaches the importance of faithfulness in doing the will of the master. Verses 42-46 emphasize responsibility one has for those who have been placed under his leadership.

In the passage, 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 it is about poof of salvation. Paul had come to Corinth and preached the message of the Gospel, and their faith had transformed their lives. But an integral part of the Gospel message was the fact of Christ’s resurrection. After all, a dead Savior cannot save anybody. Paul’s readers had received the Word, trusted Christ, been saved, and were now standing on that Word as the assurance of their salvation. The fact that they were standing firm was proof that their faith was genuine and not empty.

1 John 1:7 says, “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His son cleanses us from all sin” Walk is used throughout the NT, especially in Paul’s letters, to describe the effect, not of justification, but of sanctification. Salvation is not only a change in ones legal status as divine righteousness is credited to ones account, but a change in behavior as actual righteousness is give to believers by the very indwelling presence of God’s Spirit Daily living of the Christian life is a Spirit-enabled walk.

In Hebrews 6: 4-5 we read
“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

This passage is speaking to the unsaved who have heard the truth and acknowledged it, but who have hesitated to embrace Christ. These Jews had been wondrously blessed by God's enlightenment, by association with His Holy Spirit, and tasting of His heavenly gifts, His Word, and His power. And still they did not believe. The passage of 6:1-8 could be summarized this way: “You had better come to Christ now, for if you fall away it will be impossible for you to come again to the point of repentance." They were at the best point for repentance - full knowledge. To fall back from that would be extremely fatal.

Many believe that this warning is addressed to Christians; also many interpreters hold that this passage teaches that salvation can be lost. If this interpretation were true, however, the passage would also teach that, once lost, salvation could never be regained. If, after being saved, a person lost his salvation, he would be damned forever. There would be no going back and forth, in and out of grace. But Christians are not being addressed, and it is the opportunity for receiving salvation, not salvation itself, that can be lost.

We as believers in Christ never need to fear that we will lose our salvation. One cannot. The Bible is absolutely clear about that. Again here is the verse... Jesus said," My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall 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).

Paul is equally clear. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom.8:35,38-39)

"He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil1:6) We are "to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven," and we "are protected by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1: Pet 1:4-5)

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1: 6)

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:37)

For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

If the power of God cannot keep us, nothing is dependable or trustworthy or worth believing in. A Christian has no reason at any point in his life to believe that his salvation is or can be lost. If by Christ's death we can be saved, certainly by His life of power and intercession we can be kept saved (Rom.5:10).

It is unbelievers who are in danger of losing salvation - in the sense of losing the opportunity ever to receive it. The unbelieving Jews were in great danger, because of their spiritual immaturity and sluggishness, of turning back to Judaism and of never being able to repent and come to Christ. They would be lost forever, because they had rejected, at the most vital point in knowledge and conviction, and only the gospel that could save them. There is no other salvation message they could hear, no evidence of the truth of the gospel they had not seen.

These particular Jews here, had even heard the apostles preach and had seen them performs signs and wonders and miracles (Heb.2:4). They had been privileged to behold virtually all the manifestations of His saving Word and power that God could give. They had heard it all and seen it all. They had even accepted it all intellectually. Any who are so informed, so witnessed to, so blessed with every opportunity to know God's gospel, and who then turn their backs on it - for Judaism or anything else - are eternally lost.

They not only reject the gospel, but crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame They had either to go on to full knowledge of God through faith in Christ or else turn away from Him, to become apostate and be lost forever. There was no other alternative. This should also answer the passage regarding Hebrews 3:6-14. If not, let me know and I can explain further.

New Picture Server

2008-09-03T11:43:00.001-07:00

I was very frustrated with the picture server that Blogger provides. It makes all of my pictures really small and I am one of those that likes them big, I mean HUGE!!! So I have moved all of the pictures in my blog over to my own personal server. Hopefully this makes all of the pictures come in better.

I have uploaded some pictures of my girls as they go about their work making honey just for me to test out the new server.

I have one more hive in an offsite location making my grand total of 3 hives. It looks like my hive on the left is going to make me a lot of honey!!!

My Birthday and Last Week Of Vacation

2008-09-01T19:42:00.001-07:00

This blog is divided up into two parts. I will start with my birthday party with my friends and than will go on to my week of vacation.

A few of my friends and I went to my grandparent's lake property and all of us got burnt hanging out on the water trampoline.

And how can I have a party without my favorite food, CHEESECAKE!

Austin, the guy in the middle of this picture drank over 23 mountain dews that day!!!

Shortly after my birthday party we went to Cannon beach for a week.
Cannon Beach is known for its Haystack rock. That is just off of the shore.

There was a sand sculpting contest there and what do you think we made? A grave site with the name of one of the judges on it.

We also played a whole lot of pool and shuffle board.

Than we went on a hike that overlooked the ocean.

Than we went from there to the church retreat for Labor Day weekend.
We went on a hike that overlooked the lake that the retreat was on.

There were some great baptisms as well.

All together this made a great way to close up the summer!!!

My Birthday

2008-08-22T13:22:00.001-07:00

I was thinking maybe I should do a post to let you all know that I'm still alive and the blog is not dead. One of the last events of the summer for me is always my birthday (August 15th). It seems like right after my birthday is when everyone starts preparing everything for school.

I started the day off water skiing with my cousins. That was a whole lot of fun and I love to water ski!!!

After the slalom ski I went to knee boarding. This was the first time I had ever knee boarded and I really wanted to do a 360 my first time out.

I would upload the videos of me doing it (apparently I made one 360), but my flash encoder isn't working right now...

After that we hung out at my grandparent's lake property and ate hamburgers and cheesecake.

W.W.Y.D.

2008-08-05T10:11:00.000-07:00

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. -Provers 3:5-6

Many teens across American wear wristbands to school, churches, that say simply, W.W.J.D. The letter stands for a question: What would Jesus do? The point was to encourage young people, as they face tough decisions in their lives, to ask that very important question: What would Jesus do in this situation? That was a great idea! We should all follow advice on that wristband and ask ourselves what Jesus would do if he faced the same tough decisions we face. But through prayer, we can ask even a better question: W.W.Y.D. We can ask Jesus personally and directly, "What would you do in this situation?"

That's the point of Proverbs 3:5-6, which is one of my favorite and best-known passages in the Bible. It tells us to consult God when we face challenges and difficult decisions in our lives. The Bible teaches a very important truth: When we accept Christ as our savior, we become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) with a new, sinless nature inside. Jesus lives in us and gives us power to make right choices. Unfortunately, this side of heaven, we also still have the power to make wrong choices. In fact, if we trust ourselves to make good decisions rather than asking God what we should do, we often will always make the wrong choices. That's why it's cruical to consult God "in all your ways" rather than leaning "on your own understanding."

If we make a solid habit of asking God's advice before making important decisions, and if we follow that advice, he will give us lives that are truly worth living -- full of joy, accomplishment, and exciting challenges. He will keep us on the right track towards the goal he has set for us, which is what Provbers means when it says, "he will make your path straight." If we ask God what we should do, and then do what he says, we can't go wrong! Now usually I don't present questions and don't answer them, however, today I will.

These are questions to ask yourself, and answer them personally.

1. Why is it dangerous to rely on yourself when you face tough decisions rather than asking God's advice?

2. Since God doesn't answer aloud when you ask him for advice, what are some way he shows you what he wants you to do?

3. What decisions are you facing right now that you should ask God's advice about?

A Hike Up Lena Lake

2008-08-04T20:33:00.001-07:00

A few days ago my family, two of my cousins, and Daniel went on a hike to upper Lena Lake. This is a 14 mile (round trip) hike in which you gain 3,900 feet in elevation!

When we got up there some people (my cousins Anna and Nathan as well as my sister Rebekah) were crazy enough to go swimming in that FREEZING water. Remember that IS snow in the background in the above picture!

All in all it was a half-way decent hike (for my third time doing it). And you better believe how I felt afterward...

Amazing Car

2008-07-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

On the way to my grandparent's lake property I saw the most amazing car. I couldn't help but drive next to it and give my mom my cell phone telling her to start taking pictures.

The entire car is covered with five and a quarter inch floppy disks.

Dog Sense

2008-07-15T16:05:00.001-07:00

Lol, thought some people may enjoy this. =)

Have you ever heard that a dog "knows" when an earthquake is about to hit?

Have you ever heard that a dog can "sense" when a tornado is stirring up, even 20 miles away?

Do you remember hearing that before the December tsunami struck Southeast Asia, dogs started running frantically away from the seashore, at breakneck speed?

Do you know that dogs can detect cancer and other serious illnesses and danger of fire?

Somehow they always know when they can 'go for a ride' before you even ask, and how do those dogs and cats get home from hundreds of miles away?

I'm a firm believer that animals - and especially dogs - have keen insights into the Truth.

And you can't tell me that dogs can't sense a potentially terrible disaster well in advance.

Simply said, a dog just KNOWS when something isn't right .. . when impending doom is upon us . . they'll always try to warn us.... !!

Morality

2008-07-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

For many Christians, one greatest difficulties of telling the Gospel—or even just getting along with the world—is facing up to the admirable morality of the nonbelievers next door. As some say, “Work that into your theology.”

The typical naturalistic attempts to supply a why and how for morality, we’ve seen, come up short. But that doesn’t necessarily convince the people we talk with that God’s existence is the only satisfying explanation for objective morality. Atheists can be morally upright. People do construct fine ethical systems without God. Even so, we can point out, questions linger: “Why ought I to be moral at all?” “Why should I do the right thing if it doesn’t pay off?” “How did I get to be a moral being?” “Why do human beings have dignity and value?” At this point, we can argue that the God of theism offer solid grounding for moral obligation, accounting for number of facts that naturalism can’t explain.

We start by saying; there is not good reason to deny the general reliability of our most basic moral instincts. Humans intuitively know that certain objective moral values exist. For example, we know that kindness is a virtue and not a vice, that torturing babies is immoral, that child abuse is wrong, and that a person like Hitler or Stalin is morally repugnant. We know these things virtually without reflection, without thinking them through. While reason confirms the basic rightness of these intuitions, we don’t seem to know this by means of reason. And we regularly rely on these intuitions to make practical, everyday moral judgments. To deny such beliefs flies in the face of basic human knowledge and instincts.

If someone doubts these moral basics—someone, for example, who sees no ultimate distinction between a Hitler and a Mother Teresa – we can’t really hold a decent conversation about morality. Instead of trying to prove the evilness of evildoers, we should call into question that person’s mental health. Denying the objectivity of our moral intuitions is denying a deep part of our humanity, we can press the moral skeptic by making our point another way, we could say, “Most people would find themselves in confident disagreement with your attitude. Now, why is this? How would you explain it?

Second, God’s character explains the objective moral value that logically precedes our having a moral sense. Although the nontheist may believe that objective moral values exist without reference to God, there is an ultimate question: What underlines those objective moral values?

Here is an opposing argument made by atheist Kai Nielsen. He admits that a objective moral obligation exists. Though he maintains that naturalism can’t account for this, he won’t concede that theism offers a better solution to the problem. He presents the following yet, interesting argument. Suppose a parent who believes in God “abandons” or “loses” his faith in God. Is that parent going to love his child less—or not at all – because his supposed “basis for objective morality” is apparently lost? Of course not, Nielsen asserts. A parent would still maintain that it is objectively right to love his child even if God doesn’t exist.

Nielsen offers other evidence to deny that God is necessary to explain the existence of objective morality. He says that when Christians, for example, make moral judgments about God’s act and commands or about the superb ethic of Jesus Christ on the Sermon on the Mount, that implies a standard of goodness independent on whether God exists. To make moral assessments about God’s action or Jesus’ teaching presupposes the existence of an objective morality.

While I’ll admit this is a persuasive argument, however, it is flawed. For some reason when I say something is “flawed” it gets me excited, I don’t know why. Anyways, his argument rests on a confusion of being and knowing. The normal sane person certainly knows—or at least acts as though he knows – that objective morality exists. But here is the crucial question: How did we get to be that way—moral beings who recognize right and wrong? We have to be moral being before we can know what is moral. An atheist might suggest that if all humans—both those who believe in God and those who don’t—have correct, objective sensibilities, that fact implies moral intuition isn’t somehow rooted in God.

Nielsen, as an atheist and materialist, seems hard-pressed to show how randomness and chance can make sense out of moral obligation or human dignity. Getting back to the parent-child relationship, we have to ask how ewe could show love and sacrifice when it conflicts with our natural self-interest. Why resist selfish interests for the sake of the children? As the philosopher George Mavrodes has argued, a solely materialist universe might produce in us feelings and beliefs of obligation—like the protection of our children or the survival of our species or subculture—but that’s a different matter from actually having such obligation we ought to carry out. It truly seems odd that objectives moral obligation could arise in such a world.

In the third place, the connection between objective moral values and God has to do with God’s personhood and ours. Christians see an unbreakable connection between objective morality and God. If objective moral values exist, as even atheists like Kai Nielsen believe, it seems plausible to argue that a personal, transcendent, perfect God is the source of and ground for morality. We resemble God—created as valuable persons by a personal Being, divinely endowed with conscience, with a capacity for morally significant relationships, and with certain objectively correct moral intuitions. We are moral being because we have been created in the image of a moral God. Even those who don’t believe in God possess an ingrained moral sense that corresponds in some measure to God’s moral sense.

This explains how an athiest can know the content of morality without acknowledging God's existence. For instance, we read in Amos 1 and 2 that God threatens judgement upon the neighbors of Judha and Israel. Why? Because they have flagrantly violated an objective moral law that they knew and should have obeyed. Sytria treated its enemies barbarously (1:3); Philistia, with utter inhumanity, sold whole communities into slavery (1:6); Tyre broke a pact and treated Edom treacherously (1:9). The citizen of such nation should have known better.

In Romans 2:14-15, we read, Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law [of Moses], do by nature things required by the law, they are law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

Scripture assumes that God has written this binding law on the hearts of people. Although the awareness of these objective standards is clouded by the Fall, a seared conscience, and social decline, this doesn’t mean people can’t form moral beliefs or act virtuously through God’s common grace to all.

Another indication that God is the basis for morality is the problem of evil. One of the most common objections to a nontheist’s belief in God is that evil exists—and that it exists in such vast measure. Why does God allow little countries to get hit again and again with disastrous tropic storms? Why does he let child molesters carry on their vile activities? Why would he permit large scale inhumanities to take place in an Auschwitz—or through the brutality of Soviet communism? Although those who raise this objection seldom realize it, the existence of evil and our grasp of the awfulness of evil cries out for an explanation. Even in a relativistic world, people are still struck with horror at human atrocities like genocide or gang rape. They get the distinct impression that evil really exists. Although the problems raised by evil are frequently marshaled against belief in God, an often-overlooked presupposition in the discussion of evil is God’s very existence.

What is evil? It isn’t simply chaos or pain or feeling bad. Real, objective evil is the lack or absence of goodness. That is, the presence of evil presupposes the existence of an objective moral standard that is being violated. If real evil exists, then an objective standard of goodness by which something is deemed evil must also exist. It is hard to see, given a naturalistic view of things, where this standard of goodness could come from if we are simply cosmic accidents produced by purely physical forces.

Theism answers questions that are problems for the naturalist: Why should we deem human being to be intrinsically valuable? Why should I sacrifice my brief life for another human being? Why should we take the moral point of view when it seriously conflicts with our own self-interest or does not satisfy us? Appealing to a social contract or pragmatic basis for acting morally doesn’t work. It tells us only that doing the right thing is, practically speaking, a good idea, but this hardly shows why we’re dutifully obligated to be moral. Rather, we act morally for moral reasons, because it is morally right to do so—just as we should believe the true thing because it is true. No further reason is needed. Nontheists can agree about such basic moral truths, but what are the grounds for these truths and human dignity?

Theism provides adequate answers to the question just raised. We ought to be moral because we have been made as moral being in the likeness of God, to whom we are also personally responsible as his creatures. Furthermore, knowing this God personally is the highest end of humans. When we are in right relationship with God, all other goods—which have also been created by God—find their proper place.

When we carry out our moral duties we approximate the character of the Creator, the ultimate Good, and function according to God’s design for us. We carry out the purposes for which we are made. We find self-sacrifice praise worthy because it fits these purposes and assume the intrinsic dignity of others. We experience guilt not simply because we have violated laws of the society or of the universe but because we have violated the ultimate Source of moral values—a personal God. And just as human relationships serve as motivation and basis for loyalty and obligation, so our having been created by God—and our relationship with him—serves as the source of ultimate obligations and one real basis for moral understanding of human relationships.

And to close this up, I’d like to give just a few pointers.

We should not confused our knowledge of ethical values (epistemology) with the basis for ethcis (ontology). While atheists may beleive in objective moral values, at issue is the fact that we are moral beings. The fact that we are made in God's image furnishes us with the basis for believing in objective morality and human value-- even if we reject God.

Our moral intuitions generallly reflect an objective moral order.

Most people believe in the intrinsic worth of human beings. Is more plausible explantion that we are nothing more than matter, or what we are made in God's likeness?

If people object to God's existence on the basis of evil, they are assuming that objective moral values exist. Evil presupposes a standard of goodness.

We can ask,"What kind of universe makes the best snese out of our moral intuitions, our sense of guilt, and our beliefe in the intrinsic value of persons-- naturalism or theism?"

What's Been Keeping Me Away From My Computer

2008-07-02T16:49:00.001-07:00

Summer is very busy, and this past week was no exception.
On Friday we went on a hike up Bandera Mountain.

There was even a bird feeding competition between Daniel and Aaron.

And on Saturday we went to the car races. The car races are always fun. We vote on two cars we think will win and are awarded points depending on how well the cars placed. I have this thing with every car I vote for either crashes or gets kicked out of the race. This time my uncle took my place having two of his cars catch fire in one race.

All In all I didn't to do bad. I got second to last place (this is pretty good for me).

Great Sermon - Paul Washer

2008-06-29T21:05:00.001-07:00

If you weren't at my church's Sunday night service than you really need to watch this video. Sure it's an hour long, but definitely worth it. This video will offend most of you and will convict all. Please, everyone has enough time to watch this. Just play it in the background while you are checking your email. This is definitely worth the watch.

Cousin's Birthday Party

2008-06-23T16:05:00.001-07:00

More summer activities, but this time it's my cousin's birthday party. After dinner, presents, and cake, a lot of us went outside to play some two-hand touch.

After some football we went and played 'round the table ping-pong.

All in all it was a really fun day and I got to see my cousins from San Diego!

Day at Ocean

2008-06-21T12:28:00.001-07:00

Well it's summer time and I just can't help post these things to show you why I seem to be hardly online anymore.

Yesterday we went to the Ocean. It was my family, my aunt, and Daniel.
When we got there, there a tree had fallen across the lot and so we all had to work to clean it up. Aaron got on the chainsaw, I took the weed eater, and my dad carried the parts of the tree that Aaron cut up to the wood pile. After a while Rebekah, Dan, Daniel, my mom, and my aunt came and helped us out.

The weather wasn't too bad, didn't start to get real cold until we were about to leave, but there was still not enough wind to really fly the kit.

For dinner we had Hobo Stew, which, if you've never had it, is basically hamburger, potato, onion, carrots, ketchup, and a bunch of seasoning wrapped up in aluminum foil and placed on the coals of the fire.

All in all it was a fairly fun day, I'm glad we don't go here too much though, it's a really long drive and I'm not that big on swimming in salt water.