What I think

Angels

2011-12-24T19:18:00.002-06:00

There are quite a bit of misconceptions about angels. Most of these we see in TV shows and movies. I want to separate truth from those misconceptions. First of all, Angels are NOT dead people. Many TV shows depict angels as people who have passed away and are trying to earn their wings somehow. The truth is angels are not, nor have they ever been human. They are unique creations. They are spiritual beings having no physical body. They can however take on any appearance that suits their purpose. In the bible we see them mostly being messengers for God. They announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds for example. God has also sent them to protect his people at times. Angels always obey God. They always point to God. They always give glory to God. An angel that does not is called a demon. Angels are not to be worshiped. No angel will ever seek worship. An "angel" that seeks worship is also a demon. You do not pray to an angel. There are a creation of God, not any sort of deity to be prayed to.
Lucifer was once an angel. He basically thought he deserved to sit on God's throne and was cast out of Heaven. 1/3 of the angels fell with him according to the Bible. One common misconception about Lucifer, also known as Satan, or the Devil, is that he is in Hell and rules it. He is not. Hell will be his final destination along with others who reject God, but he is not there now, nor does he, or will he ever rule it. He will be sent there to be punished like everyone else there. He has not yet been sent there. Those events are yet to come and are foretold in the book of revelation. Satan occupies the same space we do. The Bible calls him the prince of the power of the air. Meaning he is here with his demons tempting man and attempting to steer people away from God. Because he hates God he wants as many people to perish in Hell as possible. He also hates people because we are made in the image of God.

Unlike angels human beings can be redeemed. A demon can never be saved and become an angel again. However, Because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross paying for the sins of humanity we can be redeemed in the eyes of God. Humanity is he crown jewel of God's creation and we are the only beings he has provided this way of redemption to. We are created in the image of God, angels aren't. Even the angels can't be saved. That is how much God loved us. The next time you feel down about yourself remember that God loves you more than the angels and sent Jesus to die for you. If you turn to Him you will be saved.

Halloween

2011-11-01T12:08:00.001-05:00

There is a lot of arguing over whether or not a Christian should participate in Halloween. My opinion is that it depends on the condition of your heart. If you have Jesus in your heart then Halloween is just a fun time to put on a costume and eat candy regardless of what it means to pagans. Likewise if you don't have Jesus in your heart Christmas is just a time to put up a tree and exchange gifts regardless of the fact that to Christians it is the celebration of the birth if our Lord. So chill out, put on your costume and eat your candy. Simply doing so is not worshiping the devil.

My thoughts on the Trinity

2011-10-05T23:14:00.002-05:00

As a protestant Christian I do hold to the teaching that God is three in one. Not that there are three Gods, but that one God exists as three distinct persons. At first this might seem like alot to wrap your brain around. How can one anything exist as three? Some have so much difficulty with the teaching that they abandon it all together. Some try to explain it in various ways to make it easy to understand. I think of it as this way. The remarkable thing isn't that one God can exist as three distinct persons. The remarkable thing is that our infinite, limitless, all powerful God ONLY exists as three distinct persons. God is infinite. He can exist as any infinite number of distinct persons yet he reveals himself to man as only three. That's how I see it anyway.

An Absurd Observation

2011-10-05T22:22:00.004-05:00

I have recently, though I've head this said before, heard of someone make an observation which was quite absurd. This person made the observation that Jesus was not a Christian. This observation comes from a lack of understanding of who Jesus is, why he came and what it means to be a Christian. I will give several reasons to clarify why this observation is absurd.

First of all what is a Christian?
A Christian is someone who has repented of their sins and placed their faith in Jesus as Lord to save them. Through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross a Christian is forgiven of their sins. They have a personal relationship with God.

Who is Jesus?
Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. He is not a God/man hybrid. He is completely both. God is three in one. (I blog about that here) The three in one God consists of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus is God the son. Jesus is also called the Son of God. This is true because he was born of a virgin and had no human father. Like wise He often calls himself the Son of Man due to his humanity and human mother. God the father, through the Holy Spirit, conceived the baby Jesus. However, this was not the beginning of His existence. He is God, so Jesus existed before his birth as a man.

scripure:
John 1:1-5,14 ESV
¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Why did Jesus come? This one is simple. Jesus came to save that which was lost. That is, he came to save us. Who is lost? Everyone who does not know Jesus.

Scripture:
Luke 19:10 ESV
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost

Romans 3:23 ESV
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

This observation is usually made because Jesus observed old testament law and commandments. So it is often argued that Jesus was a Jew (by faith, not heritage). To accomplish his goal to save that which is lost Jesus had to become our substitution. Not only was his death on the cross our substitution to pay the sin debt we can not afford to pay ourselves(See "Why is Hell Forever?"), His life was also a substitution for our own sinful lives.
Jesus had NO sin.
(scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.)
This means he observed God's laws and commandments to the letter. When God looks at a Christian he sees no sin because of this, He just sees the perfect life of Christ. This is why Jesus observed God's laws and commandments. He came not only to die in our place, but to fulfill the law perfectly in our place, two things we can not do. So yes, Jesus DID practice what we would call Judaism.

So, because Jesus is God and not just a man who started a "religion" based on some new ideas, and has no sin, and has no need for salvation he has no need to BE a Christian. This makes the observation that Jesus was not a Christian rather absurd.

However, you are not Jesus. You do sin. You do have a need for the loving, open arms of Jesus. They are open for you always.

Prosperity?

2011-09-27T21:57:00.003-05:00

I had to write this blog because there is a growing movement in the modern church which is most dangerous. It is sometimes called the "prosperity gospel" or "word of faith" movement. I'm also going to pick on one leader in this movement because judging by the size of his flock he is leading many astray. Simply put this movement teaches that God wants believers to be wealthy. It teaches that the price Jesus paid on the cross not only brings spiritual, but material prosperity as well as physical healing. Leaders in this movement encourage believers to pray to the point of demanding that God give them financial success. You'll sometimes hear them say "name it and claim it". Some will even go as far as to say Jesus had a nice house, and was wealthy himself. They teach if you just have enough faith then your faith is a spiritual force that will cause you to obtain your wealth and healing. If you do not prosper you simply don't have enough faith.

Let me be perfectly clear. Jesus Christ did NOT die on the cross to give you a big house, an SUV, or designer clothes. Jesus Christ died to take the punishment for your sins so that you may be saved. If Christ died just so you could have THINGS then he paid much to high a price for your STUFF. Sure God chooses to bless some believers with more financially, some he chooses not to according to HIS purpose.

Now, I said I was going to pick on one of their leaders. That leader is Joel Osteen. He stands on his stage with his big smile and teaches exactly the false gospel I described before. Then, he gets on national TV, and when faced with the question that any truth teaching pastor should jump at the chance to answer YES! to, he waffles. Observe:

(by the way, here is the CORRECT answer from the bible:
(John 14:6) Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
(Acts 4:12) And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.)

He was even given more than one chance to say yes, and he did not. My wife use to watch him now and then. I watched him once, and the one time I watched him he altered the bible to fit his sermon. A good pastor will pick a scripture and expound on its meaning. This joker writes a feel good sermon and shoe horns the bible to fit it. I showed my wife the above video and she no longer watches him. Why should he want to say Jesus is the only way though? He wants people to buy his door stops he calls books. He doesn't want to offend anyone.

Be very careful. The bible gives a strong warning:

(Galatians 1:8-9)
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

This is the danger of the prosperity gospel. It's a feel good movement meant to fill seats and fill offering plates and sell books. But there is no substance to it.

This I proclaim with great importance! Jesus died on the cross to give you much more than a big house or a fancy car. He died on the cross so you could have a mansion in Heaven, not on earth. He died on the cross so that you may be clothed in HIS righteousness not designer clothes. Most of all he did it because he LOVES you! Trust in him, acknowledge that He alone is Lord, Repent of your sins and he WILL save you!

I wrote a blog in 2007 that fits this topic well:

http://super-hampster.blogspot.com/2007/04/parable-of-parachute.html

Things that don't work.

2011-09-16T16:00:00.001-05:00

Sometimes God lets things happen to show human beings that it won't work. As humans we gravitate on wanting to do things on our own. I believe that was what most of the Old Testiment was all about. God set up a system to where if they would obeyed His laws He would be their God and they would be his people. The problem with that is His standards are too high for us to acheive. This system of doing to gain favor with God does't work. He knew it wouldn't. He had to show us that so when He gave us a system of grace we'd get it. The same goes now for why I think God let Obama win in 2008. America had to see that liberalism doesn't work. Judging by all the elections since he took office I'm hopeful that we're getting the hint.

Thanks to those responsible for bin Laden's death

2011-05-08T00:08:00.001-05:00

Thank you Ronald Reagan for believing so much in and investing so much in special ops teams that made this victory possible today. Thank you George W. Bush for putting in place policies which gave us the intelligence necessary to find bin Laden's hiding place and having the courage to stand up and defend those policies when they weren't popular. Thank you President Obama for failing to end those policies so far even though you've been trying. Thank you for making the only decision any president in your situation could have possibly made. It wasn't gutsy, it was a no brainer. Thank you for riding the coat tails of these other great men and taking all the credit. We haven't forgotten how you tried to close Gitmo where this intel was acquired or tried to give miranda rights to terrorists captured on the battle field. Here's a hint, when you give them the "right to remain silent" they don't have to give you intel on where certain people are hiding. Had you been successful bin Laden may still be alive. And of coarse, thank you for the soldiers that actually put your life in danger to bring this evil man to justice. Not only to the team who actually did the job last Sunday, but also to all those who sacrificed their lives in battle, and time away from your families over the past 10 years.

Evil

2009-11-20T00:01:00.001-06:00

I ran into a conflict of logic recently. There are those who have decided that since God does not prevent an act of evil that resulted in the death of innocent people that He is not worthy to be believed in. Yet these same people believe in a "higher power". How is it logical to say since God did not prevent an act of evil you'll make up a "god" to believe in who also did not prevent the act of evil? Your "higher power" god didn't prevent the evil either. What makes this "higher power" better than the true God if, by your own standards, he should have prevented the evil?
However, the God who is God died on the cross to pay for your sins, your "higher power" god did not. The God who is God has mercy to forgive your sins, your "higher power" god does not since he is your invention and has no authority over sin. The God who is God has revealed himself in His word. Your "higher power" god is still a mystery, and will remain one because he is an idol. The God who is God spoke and the universe leaped in to existence. Your "higher power" god can't speak.

Which god has the upper hand?

Evil is not God's fault. Blaming God for evil is the same as blaming Chevy for your wreck when you decided to drive head on into a brick wall. Yeah they made the car, but you were warned that driving in to a wall would not end well. In the same way God warned mankind that sin was bad. God's original creation contained no sin, death, or evil. Because we disobeyed we introduced sin, death and evil into the world. Even when we were sinless and only had one rule to follow we couldn't get it right. God knew we'd sin, but he was willing to become a man and die to take the punishment. In a way, even though evil is not God's fault, he still took responsibility for it and died on the cross. He did so because despite the existence of evil He is a loving God who paid a price we could not afford on our own. Jesus, an innocent man, died a violent death on our behalf, because He is a loving God. Your anonymous "higher power" remains anonymous.

Facts about bible accuracy

2009-09-01T01:11:00.002-05:00

There are more than 24,000 partial and complete manuscripts of the New Testament.

There are also about 86,000 quotations from the early church fathers and several thousand Lectionaries.

While there are around 150,000 variations 99% hold no significant change whatsoever. Most are spelling errors, a missing word or letter, or a simple reversal of the order of two words, for example saying "Christ Jesus" Instead of Jesus Christ. In other words, no tenet of the Christian faith is at all effected by these variations. The fact that we have so many manuscripts makes the margin of doubt very low.

There is more manuscripts copied, with greater accuracy, than any secular ancient book. In fact the average gap between manuscripts of other ancient books, and their original writing is around 1000 years.

The New Testament has a fragment within 1 generation of it's original writing, whole books within 100 years of the original manuscript, most of the new testament within 200 years, and the entire new testament within 250 years of it's completion date.

There are, like I said before, 86,000 quotations of the New Testament from the early church fathers, as well as thousands of early church worship books which contain new testament quotes. We have so many quotes from the early church fathers that if we were to lose all manuscripts we could still reconstruct all but 11 verses of the New Testament from material written from between 150 to 200 years from the time of Christ.

Why has the Democratic party become the party of minorities?

2009-08-16T23:01:00.003-05:00

First and foremost I am NOT a racists. I think the whole notion that one group of people is superior to another because of a physical trait is ignorant and ridiculous.
I'm writing this because there seems to be a paradox in the political world. That paradox is that now days African-Americans and other minorities tend to vote Democrat, when historically the Republican party has been the ones to rally behind civil rights and really be on their side. Even the first African-American President is a Democrat. This is an historical paradox.
Abraham Lincoln, the president that freed the slaves, was a Republican. The first African-American Senator, Hiram Revels, was a Republican. The first African-American Congressman, Joseph Rainey, was a Republican. Martin Luther King was a Republican. It was Democrats that passed the Jim Crow laws. Democrats founded the KKK. Martin Luther king had to fight against Democrats who stood in the doorways of a schoolhouse and turned a firehose on African-Americans who were trying to get in to get an education. It was Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, who passed the Civil Rights act of 1957 and appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren that lead to the desegregation of schools. It was Republicans that added the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution giving African-Americans freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote. It was Democrat Woodrow Wilson who in 1912 kicked all African-Americans out of Federal Government jobs. In 1967 Democrat President Johnson, in anger, once referred to Dr. King as "That N!gg3r Preacher".
When one studies the history of this country one sees that it has been the Republicans, not the Democrats that have been on the side of freedom and equality for African-Americans and other minorities.
But, have times changed? Are the Republicans now the racists and not the Democrats? Not at all!
Republicans believe that everyone is created equal. Republicans of all races want African-Americans and other minorities to succeed in life because we know they are capable, intelligent human beings. We want to work next to them and live next to them. We want them to get educations, because we know they can. We want them to have good paying jobs that they can be proud of. Yes we want to them to earn a living and be respectable, because we know they can succeed.
Alternatively the Democrats want to give them handouts, tell them they can't do any better, and stick them in the corner of town that no one else wants to even pass through, let alone live. When you're in the corner of town that no one else wants, Democrats don't have to look at you.
Now tell me which is more racist?

Tech Advice: When bluetooth is greyed out on blackberry desktop manager

2009-06-12T12:36:00.001-05:00

If you have a usb bluetooth adapter with a third party driver then Blackbery Desktop manager does not support it. However there is a work around that will make it work.

1) install it as usual with the third party drivers

2) Go to device manager, look at the properties of your bluetooth adapter and click the details tab. You will need the device ID of your adapter. Highlight it and press CTRL-C to copy it. Paste it in to notepad. It will look similar to this:
USB\VID_1131&PID_1004\6&5419C4E&0&2

You only need this part of the device id:
USB\VID_1131&PID_1004
So, you can delete the rest.

3) Go to "c:/windows/inf/bth.inf" - It's there, it's just hidden.
open bth.inf in your notepad

There is a section in this file that looks like this:

;------------- Device section - Start -----------------------

[ALPS.NT.5.1]
ALPS Integrated Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044e&Pid_3005
Alps Bluetooth USB Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044e&Pid_3006

[Belkin.NT.5.1]
Belkin Bluetooth Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_050d&Pid_0081
Belkin Bluetooth Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_050d&Pid_0084
My Bluetooth Adapter= Bthusb, USB\VID_1131&PID_1004

[BrainBoxes.NT.5.1]
Brain Boxes USB Bluetooth Adapter BL-554= BthUsb, USB\Vid_05d1&Pid_0003

[Broadcom.NT.5.1]
Blutonium BCM2035 Bluetooth 2.4 GHz Single Chip Transceiver= BthUsb, USB\VID_0A5C&PID_200A
BCM2033 Bluetooth 2.4 GHz Single Chip Transceiver= BthUsb, USB\VID_0A5C&PID_200F

[Cambridge.NT.5.1]
Generic Bluetooth Radio= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0001
CSR Nanosira= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0003
CSR Nanosira WHQL Reference Radio= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0004
CSR Nanosira-Multimedia= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0005
CSR Nanosira-Multimedia WHQL Reference Radio= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0006

[Dell.NT.5.1]
Dell TrueMobile Bluetooth Module= BthUsb, USB\VID_413C&PID_8000
Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Module= BthUsb, USB\VID_413C&PID_8103

[FIC.NT.5.1]
FIC Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_05b1&Pid_1389

[GVC.NT.5.1]
GVC Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0525&Pid_a220

[HP.NT.5.1]
"HP USB BT Transceiver [1.2]"= BthUsb, USB\Vid_03F0&Pid_0C24

[IBM.NT.5.1]
Bluetooth UltraPort Module from IBM= BthUsb, USB\Vid_04BF&Pid_0317
IBM Integrated Bluetooth= BthUsb, USB\Vid_04BF&Pid_0318
IBM Integrated Bluetooth II= BthUsb, USB\Vid_1668&Pid_0441
IBM Integrated Bluetooth III= BthUsb, USB\Vid_1668&Pid_2441

[Microsoft.NT.5.1]
Microsoft Wireless Transceiver for Bluetooth= BthUsb, USB\Vid_045e&Pid_007e
Microsoft Wireless Transceiver for Bluetooth 2.0= BthUsb, USB\Vid_045e&Pid_009c

[Microsoft]
%BTH\MS_BTHBRB.DeviceDesc%= BthEnum, BTH\MS_BTHBRB

[MotionComputing.NT.5.1]
Motion Computing USB Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_10ab&Pid_1002

[SiliconWave.NT.5.1]
Silicon Wave Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0c10&Pid_0000&Rev_1350
Silicon Wave Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0c10&Pid_0000
USB Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_1310&Pid_0001

[Sony.NT.5.1]
USB Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044E&Pid_3002
USB Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044E&Pid_3003
Sony Bluetooth USB Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044E&Pid_3004
USB Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044E&Pid_3007

[TDK.NT.5.1]
TDK Bluetooth USB Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_04BF&Pid_0319
TDK Bluetooth USB Adaptor= BthUsb, USB\VID_04BF&PID_0320

[Toshiba.NT.5.1]
TOSHIBA Integrated Bluetooth= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0930&Pid_0502&Rev_1350
TOSHIBA Integrated Bluetooth 2= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0930&Pid_0505
TOSHIBA Integrated Bluetooth 3= BthUsb, USB\VID_0930&PID_0506
TOSHIBA Bluetooth Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0930&Pid_0507

[Zeevo.NT.5.1]
Zeevo Bluetooth Solution= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0b7a&Pid_07d0&Rev_0126
Zeevo Bluetooth Solution= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0b7a&Pid_07d0&Rev_0133

;------------- Device section - End -----------------------

You'll notice above that some of the text is in red. This is the line you should add to your bth.inf file, substituting the above device ID for your own.

4) Unplug your USB bluetooth adapter and uninstall the third party bluetooth software, then reboot your computer.

5) When your computer starts back up plug in your bluetooth adapter.
When it asks to search for a driver say no to searching online, and then search automatically. It should install drivers for your USB adapter automatically.

Now your third party USB bluetooth adapter will be installed with the default Microsoft bluetooth software built in to windows instead of the third party software that came with it. You should now be able to use it with your blackberry.

Just a good man?

2009-03-06T16:33:00.001-06:00

There are alot of people out there in the world today who will tell you that Jesus was not God, was not the Son of God, but WAS a good man. I say that is absurd. Either Jesus is who He says He is, or Jesus was insane. Think about it. How many people in history who claimed to be God are considered good people? People who claim to be God, but aren't, are not good people. If someone claims to be God, they are either God, or they are lying either from mental instability, personal greed, or both. So, as a wise man once said, you don't have the option to just respect Jesus as a "good man". You either accept Him as God, who came to earth in the flesh and died in our place to take the punishment for our sins, or dismiss Him as a man who thought He was God. I for one have found that you can take Jesus at His word for who he is. I encourage others to do so also.

The Burger King Steakhouse Mushroom Swiss

2008-10-31T02:13:00.001-05:00

I sometimes go off topic with my blog. This is one of those times. I absolutely love Mushroom Swiss burgers. If they are at all offered at a burger place I'm eating at then it is what I get. So far Backyard Burgers and Hardee's are the best fast food Mushroom Swiss burgers I've tried. So naturally when Burger King had one I decided to try it. I don't know why. Burger King is NOT my favorite place to eat. But hey, it was a mushroom swiss, how bad could it be? I'm sorry to say it makes me gag just thinking about it. It was terrible. The meat patty was nasty. It was suppose to be an all Angus meat patty, but it tasted more like an all Anus meat patty. You couldn't even taste the mushrooms and swiss over the disgusting barbecue sauce they put on it. I didn't mind the french fried onions however.They would have been a nice touch to a decent mushroom swiss. It was by far the worst excuse for a mushroom swiss burger I've ever tried. And it was not exactly cheap. For what I payed for it I could have just gone to Backyard Burger and had a good mushroom swiss. Avoid Burger King's weak attempt at a mushroom swiss. It is quite simply a crap sandwich.

Reconcile

2008-08-17T21:21:00.000-05:00

Scripture:
Matthew 5:23 "So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

We all know we are to forgive those who wrong us. But did you know that if anyone has something against you it is up to YOU to attempt to reconcile? In the scripture Jesus says that if you are at the altar and you remember someone has something against you then you are to leave and take care of it. Jesus says don't even come to the altar to worship me if you know someone has something against you! That's pretty strong! Are you at odds with anyone? Do they think it's your fault? It doesn't matter! You are the one who should attempt to reconcile. No one can do it for you. Jesus doesn't say if you remember someone has something against you send your brother to talk to them, he says for you to go and reconcile. And, he says to do it before you even try to come worship him.

Arguments Creationists Shouldn't Use

2008-08-12T17:59:00.001-05:00

I see numerous forwards and bulletins from my fellow Christian friends we "shocking" evidence of creation. And while there is plenty of good solid evidence for it there is plenty so called evidences that should be avoided. Not only because it is not the truth, but also because any athiest in the know will pick them apart. Answers in Genesis was nice enough to compile these in an article. Click and read on:

Answers in Genesis: Arguments Creationists Shouldn't Use

Jesus is Alive

2008-02-27T02:22:00.000-06:00

It can be demonstrated that there is good evidence to conclude that Jesus did raise from the dead.

His deciples were absolutely sure this man was who he said he was, that is until he was arrested and put on a cross. At this point they not only were doubtful that Jesus was the son of God, but they feared for their lives. They feared that being associated with him would mean that they were next to die.

However, every one of Jesus's deciples died, or was exciled in the case of John, while preaching that Jesus was the Son of God. What would cause these men, who were too afraid for their lives to even associate with Jesus turn around and be willing to die for the message of Jesus? Something had to confirm to them that Jesus was the Son of God. They were expecting the Messiah to overthrow the Roman government and set up his kingdom, and yet after seeing Jesus arrested and crucified what could possibly convince them a dead man was in fact the Messiah? It's only reasonable to conclude that Jesus himself, alive and resurrected, standing before them would be enough to convince them he was the real thing.

It would not be reasonable to say that these men just made the whole thing up. Many people die for causes they believe in, but not many people would die for a story they knew they madeup.
One of them would have eventually cracked under the preasure. Only seeing the resurrected Jesus in the flesh would have motivated these men to go out and be willing to die to tell the world that Jesus is Lord!

Jesus is alive and waiting for you to repend and believe!

The Prodigal Son

2008-02-03T22:57:00.001-06:00

I thought I would follow the last blog, which was very stern, with a change of pace and write a blog concerning God's love. When most people think of God they think of an old man sitting on a throne without a smile on his face, waiting to smite sinners at every change he gets. This of course is not the picture Jesus painted for us. He painted a picture of a loving father waiting for his Child to come home. Read the following from Luke 15:

"11

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: "A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now before you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons."

Let's pause here to examine this further. This child wanted his father's inheritance now before his father was dead. In asking for it before his death it was as if he were telling his father, "I want your money and I'm tired of waiting for you to die. I wish you were dead now so I could have it but since you aren't I want it now." It was one of the most disrespectful things he could said to his father.

13 "A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything."

Let's pause here again. He wasted his riches on wild living. Literally he waste it on partying and prostitutes. He was so poor he got a job feeding pigs. For a Jew of this time period nothing was more degrading as pigs were unclean and they weren't even suppose to touch them. Yet he was so hungry he'd be glad to eat the leftovers from the pig's feed.

17 "When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant."'

20 "So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.'

Let's pause again. His father was a wealthy man who wore long robes. In order to run to his son he would have had to lift his robes. This would have been undignified of a man of his social standing. Yet when his son returned he was glad to do it! This is a beautiful picture of Jesus. Even though Jesus is God he hung on a cross for us which was surely something less than dignified for the God of the universe. Yet he was glad to do it! And he watches for us to come home to him like a father waiting.

22 "But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began.

When we come to the father after coming to our senses and coming to the cross God treats it as a time of celebration. He doesn't condemn you for what you did, he celebrates the fact that you've turned away from your sinful lifestyle to come to him. Even if you think you're the lowest of the low and there is no way God could ever love you, he loved you enough to send Jesus to die. And if you come to him he will welcome you with open arms and a smile on his face because he loves you. He'll lift up his robes and run to you!

Examine yourself

2008-01-25T01:17:00.000-06:00

How do you know you're saved? If you are not a Christian then this blog is not for you. But if you believe yourself to be saved then it is. Many will misunderstand.Some might get angry.And, forgive me in advance for not sugar coating it. And believe me when I say I'm preaching to myself as well.

It is important to ask yourself this question. The bible commands that we do:

2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith....."

And Jesus himself said that there would be many who would proclaim his name, but not be saved, and that you would know the true believers by their fruits:

Matthew 7 Beginning in verse 15:"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Look closely how Jesus speaks here. The lost man is repeating Lord twice when he speaks. In English if we want to emphasize something we say it louder, or put it in all caps, but the Hebrew style was to repeat it. So this was not only a man who believed he was saved, but he was putting emphasis on calling Jesus Lord. He was the type who was open and radical. In modern times he'd be the type to wear Christian t-shirts and have fish on his car. He was openly vocal about Jesus, and yet Jesus says he was lost.

So how do you know you are saved? Is it because you feel saved in your heart? What does scripture say about that?

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Does it just seem right?

Prov 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death

Is it because a preacher told you you were saved? Is it because you prayed a prayer and asked Jesus in your heart? And then, you looked around at all the other people sitting next to you in Church and you compared your life to theirs and when your life wasn't any worse than theirs you determined if they were saved you were ok too? What makes you think they're saved? Where in the bible does it say if you repeat a prayer after a preacher that you are automatically saved? Don't get your theology from a T-shirt or catchy song!

Praying a prayer does not save you. There are no magic words to get in to heaven. You are saved because when you prayed that prayer you repented and believed. Salvation only comes by faithin Jesus.

So how do you know that you are saved? Look above again at Matthew 7. Jesus says you'll be known by your fruit.A good tree can't produce thorns, and a thorn bush can't produce figs.

He says he who does the will of His father will be saved. Is this a message of salvation by works? NOT AT ALL! The one who does the will of the father does so as evidence of salvation, not to earn salvation. He doesn't do so by his own efforts but because when he met Jesus he was changed and was never the same. He was given a new nature and hates the things God hates. He walks the narrow path, and when he strays God snatches him back. When he sins he hates his own actions because God hates them. He cannot go astray and remain there because God won't let him. He repented, believed and continues to always because he is God's child.

Notice in Matthew 7 that the lost person uses many gifts of the spirit as evidence that he should be saved, but they were not. God never uses gifts as evidence, once again read the verse. You will be known by your fruit. So examine yourself and be sure your are in the faith. Don't compare yourself with others to determine your salvation, but to scripture instead. Your own church is full of people who come every week and sing praises to the Lord and believe their last breath here is their first breath with the Lord. But, sadly they are mistaken. Don't believe you were saved because a preacher told you you were after repeating a prayer but do so because when you prayed a prayer it reflected your repentant heart and you believed in the name of Jesus. You can KNOW you're saved. But KNOW you are saved for the right reasons!

Pro-life logic

2008-01-24T22:07:00.000-06:00

I want to start off by saying if you are a mother who has experienced abortion then this blog is not ment to belittle you. It's aimed at the people who lied to you and told you abortion was harmless and that the person growing inside you wasn't human. For you there is grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

I heard a logical approach to being pro-life on the radio the other day and I agree with it. It is logical to believe that the pro-life movement is the truth. To illustrate we take the 4 differences between an unborn fetus and a newborn baby and evaluate each one.
The first difference is size.
Is an unboard fetus smaller than a newborn baby? Yes it is. Does this make a fetus less than human? Of course not. There are alot of people who are shorter than me. They are not less than human. Size makes no difference in determining humanity. If it did any dwarf or young child could be considered less human than larger people.
So size can not logically be a factor in considering a fetus less than human.

The next difference is level of development.
Is a fetus less developed than a newborn child? Yes it is. Does this make a fetus less than human? Not at all! A 4 year old child is less developed than a 14 year old. Is the 4 year old child less human than the 14 year old? Of course not. People are born with underdeveloped limbs and organs. Are they less human than someone who is born whole? Of course not. You continue to develope for a good part of your life outside the womb. Does this mean you aren't fully human until you stop? Not at all.
So, Level of development is not a logical factor in deciding if a fetus is less than human.

The next difference is environment.
The fetus is in the womb, while a newborn child is outside the womb. Does this make it less than human because it has not yet changed it's location? We change our location every day, going to work, getting in the car, going outside, coming inside. At no time does our change in location make us less than human. In that case does a 7 inch journey down the birth canal magically transform a non-human mass of flesh into a newborn person? Of course not.
Environment can not logically be a factor in deciding if a fetus is less than human.

The final difference is level of dependency.
A fetus is depended on it's mother's body and can not be seperated from it, while a newborn needs only milk and a diaper. Does this make it less than human? A newborn is more dependand than a 10 year old child. Is the newborn less than human? There are elderly, and severly injured people who depend on machines and medication, are they less than human? Is a person not a person when the person's body is no longer self sustaining? Of course not.
So level of dependency is not a logical factor in determining if a fetus is human.

Therefore, there is no logical reason to call a fetus less than human. And if the fetus can not be proven to be less than human, then killing it is murder.

Why did God make the tree?

2007-11-23T00:54:00.001-06:00

In the book of Genesis we read the following:
Genesis 2:8-17

8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Why did God, if He expected Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from the tree, did He put it there in the first place? This is a question sceptics and believers have asked since time began. The answer, however is not a hard concept. God put the tree in the garden to give mankind freedom of choice. God made us to love, but He also made us to love him back. But, what kind of love could we have for God if we had no other choice? True love requires a choice. Without the freedom of choice true love is rendered void. The type of love God requries is the type of love we all want, the love that loves Him when we don't have to. If there were no tree in the garden Adam and Eve would have had no choice but to love God. And that is not true love.

The Desires of your heart

2007-10-30T23:32:00.001-05:00

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

This is a very misunderstood and misused verse. But what exactly does it mean? If you were to ask a prosperity preacher what it means he'd probably tell you that God has an Escalade and a big house out there just for you. That of course is not what it means. It's much deeper than that. If you delight yourself in the LORD what will the desires of your heart be? They will be things pertaining to the LORD. Things pleasing to him. Your pleasure will be in him and he will give you the things your heart desires. Things such as, but not limited to, getting closer to him. Knowing him more intimately, Godly wisdom, etc.
But, If you delight yourself in the Lord, repent of your sins and surrender to Jesus as Lord he will give you the most important thing your heart (with the help of the Holy Spirit) desires. Eternal Salvation! And that is much more valuable than an Escalade!

Sin means man has to die.

2007-09-27T00:45:00.000-05:00

Since time began the big question has been asked. If God loves us why do people die? Does a loving God want mankind to suffer and die? Before sin man didn't suffer and die. There was no death. The truth is death is the very way God shows us his love and mercy.
In the book of Genesis God had this to say after man had first sinned:

Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

Why was it so important that Adam must not be allowed to eat from the tree of life and live forever? Does God not want Man to live forever? We know that's not true at all. A very well known verse, a verse even non-believers usually know by heart says otherwise.

John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

So why was it so important that man must not be allowed to eat this fruit that would cause him to live forever? Was it to punish man? Maybe partially, but not completely. There are other very important reasons! The first reason is that if man could not die then Jesus could not have died on the cross. God is not only a God of love but of justice. If Christ could not have died to take the penalty for the sins of man then man would have lived eternally in a state of sin that could never be justly penalized. This is something a just God could never allow. The second reason is that God does want us to live forever, but God does not want us depending on a piece of fruit to give us eternal life. Rather than have us live eternally in sin apart from Him, He wants us to live eternally in a relationship with Him and to depend on Him for our eternal life. What a truely lowley state we'd be in. Imagine the world as it is today with all it's problems. Now imagine it could never end. No one would ever die. Men like Hitler and Nero would still be alive today. Sure they would not be murderous, but still just as evil.
Instead God has allowed death to enter in to the world. And one day, those who enter in to eternal life by His plan will live in a world where there is once again no death. And it will be a world free of sin and evil.
So it was because of His grace and mercy God allowed death to exist, not in spite of it. And if you repent of your sins and ask Jesus to be your Lord and savior you will have eternal life HIS way.

The laws of science point to a creator

2007-07-31T19:34:00.000-05:00

The laws of science point to a creator.
Law #1 of Thermodynamics states that matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed.
Law #2 basically states that all matter and energy runs down. It wears out. It increases in Entropy and becomes useless.

Because of Law #2 we can logically assume the universe had a beginning. If it did not all matter and energy in the universe would have ran down eons ago and there would be nothing but useless energy and matter floating around the cosmos.

So, the Universe MUST have had a beginning, That which had a beginning requires a cause, but matter and energy can not be created.
Therefore the cause of the universe must have been able to defy the laws of Thermodynamics and create matter and energy.
Since we have never observed anything in the universe which can naturally create matter and energy the only logical conclusion would be that a deity powerful enough to call forth matter and energy from nothing exists and created the universe.

God himself requires no origin because he is not a physical being. Not being composed of matter he requires no beginning. Only that which has a beginning requires a cause. He has always existed. No matter what you believe something or someone has to have always existed. It is illogical based on the 2nd law of Thermodynamics to believe that the universe has always existed.

This argument is based on scientific fact. While you may find those who sit around trying to come up with ways something can come from nothing with no help from God you'll always find that their ideas are just that, Ideas. They can not be backed up with fact.

Science in the bible

2007-07-31T19:33:00.001-05:00

There is reference to a medical condition in the bible what would have gone unnoticed for the past 2000 years because until now it was not possible to know about it.
Read Mark 8:22-26
This passage tells of Jesus healing a blind man. When he first heals the blind man he says he can't see very clearly. That people look like trees walking. Now until modern times that didn't mean much. But, because of modern medical science we can infact repair the human eye and cure blindness. People who have never seen in their lives will have a condition known as Agnosia. This condition exists because the pathways in the brain have not grown to accommodate vision. Their brains have never "learned" to see.
When Jesus first healed this blind man he very briefly suffered from Agnosia. Then Jesus healed his Agnosia and the man could see clearly. It would have been impossible for Mark to have known about Agnosia when he wrote this account because 2000 years ago blindness could not be cured by medical science. The full meaning of this passage is only clear in modern times. This suggests that the bible is true.

Abortion

2007-05-12T19:40:00.001-05:00

Due to the graphic nature of the following images I've placed them in links.
Click the images at your own risk.
It's come to my attention lately that the Democrats in DC have been trying hard lately to make partial birth abortion legal. Well what are the facts we know about abortion?

At 24 days the baby's heart starts to beat.
At 6-7 Weeks brain waves are detected.
At 21 Weeks the child can live outside the womb, although it requires intensive care.

Etc. Etc.

If the Liberal left were to have their way a child in the womb could be put to death at any stage as long as the child has not yet exited the womb alive. Personally I find that barbaric.

This is what an aborted child looks like at 9 weeks. Mind you the baby's heart was beating and it had brain waves.
(Image) Aborted baby at 9 weeks

However, what the liberals want now is to reverse the ban on partial birth, or late trimester abortions. There are two major methods of performing this act. The first, which was developed during the Nazi's durring World War II, involves injecting the uterus with salt water poisoning the child. It's interesting to note that during this procedure the child struggles until it dies. The salt usually burns the skin causing a reddish appearance. This method is not widely used anymore due to the fact that sometimes the baby survives.
Here is what a dead baby looks like after it's been killed in this manner:
(Image) Dead baby aborted with Salt Poisoning.

But, The method commonly used, and outlawed, to abort late term pregnancy involves delivering the child up to its neck, cutting a hole in the baby's skull and sucking out its brain.

The method in which the following child was killed is unknown, but if the liberals were to have their way the following image would be perfectly legal:
(Image) Dead baby. Aborted at 7 months.

Here is an image explaining the procedure of partial birth abortion:
(Image) Explaining partial birth abortion. Notice the dead child in the last pane.

Take a good look at these pictures. Can you honestly look at these pictures and tell me that this is a good idea? That this should be legal? That a woman should have the right to do this to her own child? That the images above are NOT of human beings? That these babies were NOT murdered? Think twice next time you cast a vote. If you vote for a liberal than this could be what you're voting for.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

2007-04-22T16:10:00.000-05:00

A good question would be why God made other planets and did not put life on them. It's true what the Bible says in Psalm 19:1:

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.

So what do the planets declare about God? Sure their gravity keeps us in place but what else? They show us just how special the earth is! If the planets weren't there how long would it have taken for us to realize that the earth has to be a perfect distance from the sun? Or, that it has to be the right size, and have the correct gases in our atmosphere to support life?
If we were close like mercury we'd be too hot. If we were larger we'd have too much gravity. If we were smaller we might be like Mars.
Surely the heavens do proclaim the glory of God!

Why is Hell forever.

2007-04-20T12:20:00.001-05:00

A very good question some people ask is why Hell is forever. They wonder why God can't just send them there for a little while and then let them out, or why their penalty has to be so harsh. In a previous blog we covered that when we sin, even a small sin, we aren't just being penalized for lying or stealing, but for disobeying the perfect word of God. God is infinite. God's word is infinite. Therefore, if we disobey his word then the penalty is infinite. Even though we are not infinite we still owe an infinite debt. Therefore we must pay for it infinitly. That is, forever. But the good news is that because Jesus IS God He was able to pay the infinite debt in your place once for all. The debt is payed in full by the only one able to pay an infinite debt. His love was willing to pay that debt! Come to him today, tell him you repent (turn away) from your sins and ask him to be your Lord (master) and Savior and to forgive your sins because He has payed the sin debt!

The parable of the parachute

2007-04-19T22:50:00.000-05:00

Kirk Cameron gets the credit for this one.

There was once a man on an air plane. A stewardess tells the man he needs to wear a parachute. When the man asks why she tells him that if he puts on the parachute it will make his flight better. The man doesn't understand why wearing a parachute will make his flight better but puts the parachute on anyway. He instantly realizes that he can't sit up straight in his seat. All the other passengers are laughing at him for wearing this parachute and the stewardess who told him about the parachute comes by and spills hot coffee all over him. Angry and bitter about the parachute the man stands up and yells, "I thought you said this would make my flight better!!??!!" and throws it off.

A few rows down another stewardess gives another man a parachute. She tells him that he needs to wear the parachute because the plane is going to crash and in any moment he will have to jump. The man puts on the parachute. Even though he can't sit up straight in his seat and all the other passengers laugh at him he clings to his parachute. Even after the stewardess spilled hot coffee all over him he still clung tightly to his parachute because he knew it was his only hope to survive the coming doom. In fact he was greatful for the parachute and looked forward to the end of his flight.

Many people become disapointed with the Christian life because they were told they needed Jesus because Jesus would make their life better but t, and surely he does give us abundant life! But, after they become saved they're faced with hard times or hateful church people who "spill hot coffee" on thier hearts. But, we do not become saved to get a better life. We do so to survive the fall. All of the apostles were either killed or exiled for their faith, but their joy came from knowing that Jesus loved them and saved them from the fall.

Why is sin such a big deal?

2007-04-17T22:10:00.001-05:00

First of all with all these blogs I don't want anyone to think that I'm setting myself up as a perfect sinless person. I'm not. Not by a long shot.

With that out of the way I'll get to the point! :)

I've derived this from something Paul Washer once said. To understand why sin is a big deal to God, even small sins one must understand the magnatude of sin.

God commanded the universe to exist out of nothingness. It obeyed him.
God commanded entire gallaxies to go where they should, and they went.
God commanded enormous stars where to hang in the heavens and they obeyed him.
God commanded mountains to rise and valleys to fall and they obeyed.
God commanded the ocean to stop and allow the dry land to appear. It obeyed him.

Then, God turned to man and said come to me and man said "NO!".
Mankind is the only creation that has ever disobeyed the word of God, the same word that created the universe. That is a big deal!

I'm not so bad. Why do I need Jesus?

2007-04-12T22:47:00.000-05:00

Alot of people think that they're good enough to go to heaven. They say that they're sins aren't so bad and that there are murderers or rapists who are much worse. Surely God would send me to heaven compared to them!

First of all we need to establish that yes, you are a sinner and deserve God's judgement. Let's take just the Ten Commandments as our standard. God's law is more than just the Ten Commandments, but we'll use it for our purposes. I will present the Commandments in question form so that you man use them as a mirror for yourself.
1. Have you ever lied? Probably. I have.
2. Have you ever stolen? Probably. All though I can't think of an example I probably have.
3. Have you ever commited adultery? Jesus said if you look at a woman to lust after her you have commited adultery in your heart. What man has not done this?
4.Have you ever coveted? Most people have looked at what their neighbor has and wished it belonged to them.
5. Have you ever taken God's name in vain? If you've used his name in any other manner other than talking to Him or about Him you have.

We've only covered half of the Commandments and so far we're probably 5 for 5. Get the picture? If we continue you'll have to admit that you have violated most if not all of the 10 commandments and one point. If God is a perfect judge he will give you the judgement you deserve.

But you might be saying to yourself, well yeah. I'm guilty. But I'm still not that bad. I mean, I'm not a rapist or murderer or anything. Well my illustration might seem crude but it's effective.

Above are 4 cups of water. Cup #1 is perfectly pure. Cup #2 has a tiny dingleberry in it. Cup #3 has a great big turd in it. Cup #4 is pure diarrhea. Which one do you want to drink out of? Cup #2 isn't as bad as 3 or 4. Why not accept it and drink out of it? You'd only want to drink out of #1. Even though #2 isn't so bad it's equally disgusting to you as 3 and 4. That's how God looks at sin. You are either #2,#3 or #4. There was only one person who ever qualified as #1. That was Jesus Christ.
God loved you so much that he sent Jesus to take the penalty for your sins on the cross. When Jesus died on the cross he took all your sins on himself.
So God took all your filth and poored it on Jesus. Like this:

Even though Christ was pure he became sin for you. So when you repent of your sins and ask Jesus in to your life as your Lord and Savior you take on his purity, just as he took on your filth. He payed your penalty.
In a court of law if you were found guilty of violating the law and the judge told you to pay the fine, and you didn't have the money what would you do? You'd go to jail. What if while you were being taken to your cell someone you didn't know had sold all they had and came in and offered to pay your fine? You'd be greatful and accept it! You'd live your live with gratitude for that person's sacrifice. That's what Jesus did. He gave all he had to pay your fine. Repent and turn away from your sins. Accept the gift Christ payed for on the cross. Acknoledge him as your Lord and Savior. He loves you and has provided a way for you to escape your penalty!

DNA points to a creator

2007-03-15T22:29:00.000-05:00

In the debate over origins there is no "proof" on either side because you can not test the past. However you can have evidence to point to your point of view. DNA Points to a creator. How? DNA contains information and is very complex. But it's not enough to simple say DNA has information and is complex. Anyone can randomly draw letters from a hat and eventually spell a word. But, That word is meaningless unless you speak english. Likewise the blueprints of DNA are useless unless they mean something. DNA has a "language". There are machinery in cells which know how to speak the language of DNA. They decode the blueprints in your DNA. However, The blueprints for building the machinery in your cells which read and decode DNA are encoded in your DNA. If you can't read the DNA then you can't build the machinery to read the DNA. To quote Answers in Genesis:

"DNA even contains the instructions to devise the cellular machinery to decode its instructions. Without a mechanism to decode the information, the DNA blueprint would be useless. Even if DNA had managed to evolve, as Egli believes, the decoding mechanism to read it would have had to evolve at precisely the same time. This scenario is impossible because the instructions for building the decoding unit are contained in the DNA itself."

So yes, DNA does show striking evidence for a creator.

NES Sound MOD

2006-09-27T13:10:00.000-05:00

I Modded a US NES machine to make the enhanced audio in some Japanese games audible. Here is a PDF explaining the whole project.

http://johnslife.tripod.com/NES_pin_article.pdf

Hooters

2006-06-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

Many of my fellow Christians think it's unbecoming to go to Hooters to eat. Well I decided to go, for my first time, and have decided it's no big deal depending on your struggles. While it's probably not going to become a regular place to eat for me it wasn't bad. The waitress outfits are no more revealing than a once piece bathing suit. If you've ever been to a public pool then you've seen more skin than at hooters. The waitresses in the advertisements are models. They do not depict an accurate image of the waitresses at the actual restaurant who are mostly skinny and flat chested. You see more butt cheek than you do "hooters" which is why I compare their outfits to one piece bathing suits. The food, while limited in variety, is very good. The wings are excellent and I tried the philly cheese steak. It was good. I also tried their crab legs, also excellent.

If you feel uncomfortable and blush at a public pool then Hooters will be a big deal for you. But, otherwise it's not a problem. Get your food to go if you feel the outfits inappropriate. Go for the wings. They're great!

Evolution

2006-03-10T01:21:00.000-06:00

I would like to take time to address the theory of Evolution. And by that I mean Atheistic evolution, not those who believe God guided it. I don't believe in that either, but for the time being I will only be speaking of the Godless kind. I've heard many people who believe that the theory of evolution is unquestionable and is undeniably fact. The fact of the mater is in order for something to be scientific fact it has to be able to be tested. Because evolution can not be tested it can never be a fact. That means that you, like those who believe in God, must accept it as faith. Many people believe it is fact because many of the concepts which are associated with evolution are facts. These include natural selection, Adaptation, mutations including beneficial ones, selective breeding, etc. These concepts in no way rely on evolution to be facts. It is important when talking about evolution to correctly define the word. Every change that occurs in a lifeform is not evolution. Life forms do change. As I've said before mutations do occur. Evolution can only occur when those mutations result in a gain of NEW genetic information. We do not observe this in nature. Never have. All mutations, including beneficial ones always result in a loss of genetic information, or a rearranging of existing information. Never is there any new information. There may be MORE information, but that doesn't mean the information is new. If you copy a document you have more information, but you don't have any new information.
In other words what is actually happening is that life is devolving, not evolving. The very word evolve means an upward trend.

How about an example of natural selection involving a loss of information? Sure!
I'll give you two, one involving a loss via a mutation, one involving selective breeding.
There is a bird on the galapagos island which via a mutation has lost the genetic information to have large wings capible of flight. This means the bird now has smaller wings and is now a terrific swimmer. Food became scarce and the birds that could swim survived on fish while the birds that flew died out.
Natural selection occured. a mutation involving a genetic loss occured. But Evolution did not occur.

The next example is hypethetical. Imagine a pack of dogs. Some dogs have long hair and some dogs have short hair. They migrate to a region and that region suddenly becomes cold. The short haired dogs die out and eventually only long haired dogs survive the cold. There was no mutation, but there was a loss in genetic information. Natural selection occured. Selective breeding occured. But there was no evolution to be found.

I know while reading this example after example has popped in to your mind that you believe is proof of evolution. First be careful that you've correctly defined evolution and that this is not proof of one of these other concepts. And know that no matter what that example is there is probably an evolution free explaination.

Some have said that blind fish in a cave are evidence of evolution. But these fish have lost the ability to see. Evidence of evolution would be an animal gaining an entire new organ with a completely new function that never existed before. There is no example of that. Even in humans the vestigial organ count has dwindled to zero. There are organs we can live without, but all organs have a function, however small it may be.

Why then, if evolution can be so easily doubted and questioned do a large population of the scientific community as well as the everyday joe believe it's a fact? I'd say the everyday joe has heard it so long that he has just obsorbed it in to his life. But the reason behind it's popularity all boils down to faith. Atheism is a religion. A religion, as defined by the random house dictionary, is a system of beliefs which pertain to the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. They accept it because it explains their religion. It makes those who don't wish to believe in a God feel like their being intellectual.

I myself am not an expert on this matter however. For that you'll have to go here.
Feel free to ask questions and use their search function. Chances are your question has been answered before. They're an organization I've come to trust above others.

The Middle East Conspiracy

2006-02-25T05:41:00.000-06:00

I, along with my beloved wife, propose a theory as to what is really happening in the middle east.
Some say it's all about oil. May I say for a moment that they are correct, but America is not the bad guy. Let me paint a picture for you. Let me spell out a scenario in your mind.

AGAIN I SAY, THIS SCENARIO IS PURELY FICTION. IT'S ONLY A CONSPIRACY THEORY.

Let's go back a few years to president Clinton. He gets on the phone with Saudi Arabia and makes a deal. He'll make sure no one will drill Alaska as long as they keep oil prices down so gas will be cheap. He'll simply pass an environmental bill making it too difficult. But, if they ever try to raise prices he'll simply get his all republican congress to pass a bill making it legal to drill there. They agree, and so therefore we are at the mercy of foreign oil. Then comes president Bush. Saudi Arabi reminds president Bush of the previous deal with President Clinton. Bush says no dice. America should not be at the mercy of foriegn oil and should be able to sustain itself. So he starts his plans to make America an oil independent country. Saudi Arabia was furious, but they would lose business if they retaliated with violence, so they call a meeting. A meeting including Suddam Hussien, Osama Bin Lauden, Iran and who knows who else. Saudi Arabia wants to hit us where it hurts but can not be linked to an attack for fear of losing our money. So their deal is made. Saddam Hussien will pay Osama Bin Lauden to plan the attack so it will not be linked to him, but first Saddam must send his nuclear material to Iran so it can be refined and will also not be linked to him. This is why we didn't find it in iraq! This is all to prepare for the master plan. And their master plan is?
To increase demand on gasoline by making Americans too afraid to fly. They will send their trained terrorists to hijack our own planes and crash them in to buildings. Now that American's are afraid to fly they will be driving everywhere, including very long trips, and Saudi Arabia can drive up oil prices. Not only will they be making more per barrel, but there will be a huge increase in demand. Saddam's incentive? The demand will be so high eventually we will need his oil too. But, unfortunatly for Saddam his part of the plan backfired.
The main jist of this theory is that all the middle eastern arab countries are working together. We are treating them as seperate when they are not. It's perfectly legit for us to be in Iraq. They WERE part of the problem. And in this theory they were central to the plan. Take them out and the whole plan falls apart. Now I know to some people you might as well say the Decepticons planned the whole thing before you expect them to believe this. But if you think with an open mind this theory is easily possible.

So I say the war is over oil, but, we aren't the bad guys. America's economy is dependent on oil. If things don't get shipped things don't get sold. If things don't get sold their prices go up. If their prices go up people will stop buying. And the cycle is endless. They used our dependency on their oil to their advantage. This is why President Bush wants us to no longer be at the mercy of foriegn oil. He does know things we don't.

Abortion is American Nazism

2005-11-29T13:59:00.000-06:00

Abortion is a modern day, American form of what Nazi Germany did to the Jews.
In both cases you have a group of people who are considered less than human by another group.
In both cases you have a holocaust involving the murder of millions of these innocent people.
In both cases it's perfectly legal.
In both cases you have medical experiments being performed on them while disregarding whether or not those experiments are lethal.
In both cases there are survivors who will tell you how horrible it is.
In both cases you have a group of innocent people dying because of what they are.
In both cases the victims are unable to defend themselves.

Most people will never say that they hate babies and want them all to die like the Nazis did with the Jews back then, but yet the actions against the unborn in this country are the same actions taken against the Jews when Nazis ruled Germany. And in both cases it is justified with the excuse that they are less than human. America is a great nation. Far too good to resort to barbaric Nazism. And this is why we need to end the American holocaust of abortion. Because, we are guilty of the same attrocities as Nazi Germany.

Time to rant.

2005-04-23T03:09:00.000-05:00

This is going to be somewhat of a change of pace for me, but I am going to rant about a television network. They've done nothing to morally or spiritually offend me, they're just doing something bone headed and it's aggravating. The network is UPN. I have not mentioned this before but I'm a big Star Trek Fan. UPN has decided to cancel Star Trek:Enterprise after only 4 seasons. I believe this move to be a big mistake. First there is massive fan support. There are fan organizations who raised over 3 million dollars and were willing to just give it to UPN if they'd just make a 5th season of Enterprise. Still they said no. This should speak volumes to the sponsors of UPN and Enterprise. If there are enough people watching Enterprise to rally this much support then this is defiantly the wrong show to cancel. People are seeing their commercials who will in a few weeks stop seeing their commercials. Why? Because Enterprise is the only show on UPN that they care about. It fits a somewhat different demographic then their usual programming so I for one only watch UPN for Enterprise. Once it's gone I doubt I'll be turning the channel there. Honestly I'm not going to bother turning off the satellite dish to see what's on UPN if I know it's not going to be Enterprise. They're about to see their viewer base decline rapidly. And the biggest injustice of them all? They're going to cancel a great show like Enterprise but they're going to air some stupid reality show staring Brittany Spears!!!!! What a bunch of garbage!! Someone at UPN has fallen asleep at the wheel. The least they could do is sell the rights to the SciFi Channel or Spike TV and let them continue the show to a 7th season.

Christians aren't better, just forgiven

2004-12-20T16:08:00.000-06:00

I've encountered those who believe that just because Christians believe in a standard of right and wrong and usually vote based on those standards as well as numerous other reasons that we believe we are better than other people. The truth is we are not. Now there may be some Christians out there that believe that, but they aren't immune to being wrong. When someone first accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior the first thing they must do is admit that they are a sinner. If you do not admit that you are a sinner then how are you going to ask to be forgiven of sin? We are still human beings. Human beings are imperfect. If the only thing keeping you from asking Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior and to forgive you of your sins is that you think christians believe themselves to be perfect and are never wrong and are too stuck up to follow then I'll tell you this, stop looking at us and start looking at the one we follow. He is perfect, we are not. We make mistakes just like everyone else and anyone who claims to be a Christian and believes to be perfect is totally wrong. A pastor of mine once said regarding our church, "If you are perfect you should leave because we'll just bring you down." The only thing that sets us apart from other human beings is the fact that we have asked Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior and forgive us of our sins and He has done just that.

Separation of Church and State

2004-12-20T09:54:00.000-06:00

During Christmas we hear many people replacing Merry Christmas with Happy Holidays or Seasons greetings, but why? Many would say the separation of Church and state has trickled down to the department stores and TV shows. After being for quite a while disturbed at the removal of Christmas from the Winter season and replaced with a generic holiday, and after listening to other opinions about the matter I decided to see for myself what the first amendment to the constitution actually said, after all, if it is vague and hard to interperate exactly what the founding fathers meant then it is understandable why people would be reluctant to recognize that this is indeed Christmas time. The first amendment reads as follows, exactly:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

I highlighted some parts for a reason because what I found was that the first amendment was not vague at all. It's written in plain English. The first word I put in red is "congress" and then "make no law". It says congress can make no laws recognizing any religion. I thought to myself, that only applies to congress. Could I be wrong to assume that since it plainly uses the word "congress"? So if it only applies to Congress passing religion into law then it does not apply to teachers displaying merry Christmas on their bulletin boards or the class pledging "one nation under God" in their pledge of allegiance. It does not apply to state governments and state court houses have every right to display the 10 commandments for what ever reason they may decide. It does no apply to the valedictorian of the highschool class thanking God for his/her achievements during the speech at graduation. It does not apply to the highschool football coach who praying before the big game. It doesn't apply to the President who is free to get on TV and pray for his nation. And it certainly does not apply to the sales associate at the mall who is forced to say Happy Holiday instead of Merry Christmas. As well it shouldn't, because then the next part I highlighted would be in violation, "prohibiting free exercise thereof". It also abridges the freedom of speech protected by this very amendment. And who would be offended by Christmas anyway? 98% of Americans claim to observe Christmas. 1% Observe Hanukkah , 1% claim atheism and less than 1% claim the be Muslim or other. Even though it is not by law America is a Christian nation. I see more clearly what they mean by the term "activist judges" because only someone with an agenda could take this clear, plain English amendment and distort it the way it has been distorted. It's time to leave teachers and state governments alone. They are not congress and them mentioning God is not them passing a law recognizing a religion.

The Roe Effect

2004-11-17T12:10:00.000-06:00

A theory has recently come to my attention which is worth noting. Whether or not this theory is true remains to be seen, but it makes sence and is quite interesting. It's called the Roe Effect. Basically the idea is America is becoming more conservative over time because Liberals are more likely to have an abortion than Conservatives. Conservatives are more likely to birth thier babies and since a child's views usually match closely those of the parents, Conservatives are breeding faster. A very interesting concept! In fighting for the right to kill their own children were they also fighting for the right to kill future voters who would vote their way? Were they fighting to become extinct or endangered? It's certainly concept worth thinking about.

Comparing the fight to for a gay marriage ban against racism.

2004-11-10T13:30:00.000-06:00

Being racists is stupid because there is no way a person of any race can ever become anything else. That's what they are down to their DNA. And there's nothing wrong with it to begin with. Objecting to the lifestyle of a homosexual is a little different because a homosexual can become not homosexual. Homosexuality describes their actions, not their color or other physical characteristic. It's something they do that is unacceptable. They aren't a new race of people or a new gender. They are normal people of common race or gender who engage in a socially unacceptable behavior. That being said, hating them and thinking less of them and doing harm to them is also unacceptable behavior. This would be bigotry. Disagreeing with them and finding their behavior unacceptable is not. This could be said for any behavior. Disagreeing with someone's behavior does not make you a bigot. I disagree with heterosexuals having mindless, meaningless sex with multiple partners with not even a second thought of the consequences. Am I a bigot against them? No I'm not. But I'm not going to support their actions by giving them special legal treatment either. What happens when these heterosexuals want to marry everyone they've ever slept with? Will they go try to make it legal? Marriage is the foundation of our society. Not just marriage but the family. Mother, father, children. If we start adding Father, Father, children, or Mother, Mother children or even Mother, Mother, Father, Children to it we will be tampering with the foundation of our society. Just as you can't tear up the concrete foundation of your house and put down brick without your house falling in. Redefining marriage as anything, not just for homosexuals, but anything but one man and one woman is asking for problems. We're not even so concerned that it's the homosexuals who want to change it. If it were heterosexuals wanting polygamous marriages we'd still have a problem because it would be an attempt to redefine the foundation of our society. That is the family. I find the attitude of marriage in general to be rather deteriorating anyway. Not just from gays but everyone. The 50% divorce rate was mentioned before. I agree that's a problem. Marriage is a serious thing. It should be one man, One woman and there should be no, "well we'll just try it and if it doesn't work out we can divorce" attitude when it comes to it. It’s one man, one woman for life except in cases of abuse and cheating spouses. It's the attitude of marriage from everyone, not just those who want to let gays married, that has us up in arms. We want to return marriage to the serious, strong, life long, Man/Woman commitment that it should be. We aren't bigoted against homosexuals, we aren't bigoted against polygamists, we're not even bigoted against the man who wants to marry his sheep. We simply hold the institution of marriage in a high regard and consider it a serious and important part of society. The foundation of a family which is the foundation of society.

Moral Issues...

2004-11-05T13:15:00.000-06:00

I believe our founding fathers based our country on Christianity. I think if they could look forward in time and see the effect of putting into the constitution that the USA would not respect any religion would actually have on the country they would have been more clear about how they worded it. I think basically what they were trying to say was, America will not create a "Church of America" like England created a "Church of England" because such a church is easily corrupted by politicians. I don't believe they ever ment to restrict our rights as Christians or for moral values to be in dispute because of "seperation of church and state". I believe if you took any one of our founding fathers, brought him forward and time, and told him that gay marriage was in dispute and that it was legal for a mother to kill her baby before it is born he would either faint in shock or get so angry he couldn't speak clearly. This isn't the America they had in mind when they founded our nation.

The future energy source for automobiles.

2004-11-04T00:54:00.000-06:00

As an owner and lover of old cars I am not going to be quick to replace my internal combustion engine any time soon. I don't believe I'm alone in this. There are many who depend on them and who can't afford to replace them. There are also many who have fairly new vehicles they've invested a lot of money in. So while technologies like hydrogen fuel cells sound great, I just don't think they'll catch on fast enough. My solution? I think we need to shift towards a synthetic gasoline that will burn in an existing, unaltered gas engine. This is not impossible. The technology already exists. We just need to make it better. If we could make gasoline by synthetic means and make it cheaper, the price at the pump would go down and it would catch on quickly. I even see the potential for cheap high-octane fuel from this. I know I'm a conservative but you can't deny that some day the oil is going to run out and terrorists are going to make it hard to get it from them. Environmentalists are making it difficult to drill in Alaska, which would relieve the burden of foreign oil. This is a way people can keep their cars, for whatever reason they prefer and we can still make gasoline cheaper right here in America.

By the way, here's my old car :
Click Here

It's over

2004-11-03T13:30:00.000-06:00

I want to thank John Kerry for conceding to President Bush. While your past comments and actions have invoked alot of anger and personal offence on my part, I am relieved that at the last moment he chose to show an unusual glimmer of character in preventing another 2000 style recount. America is better off for it. Mr. Kerry you ran a tough race and were a worthy opponent. I appreciate your bowing out of this race in such a timely manner when it was clear you were not the winner.

President Bush. I am thrilled that you have been re-elected as President. I'm thankful that your strong leadership and Character will remain standing strong for our nation. Continue the fantastic job you are doing with holding the weight of the world on your shoulders. Hopefully this election will encourage you to know that the majority of us are still behind you. I can't think of anyone else's shoulders I'd rather have my world rest on. Even though I showed Kerry some respect in the last comment (he earned it by conceding) I'm glad it doesn't have to rest on his shoulders. I don't think he could handle the weight. Thank you for being a good president, and a good man. Welcome back to the whitehouse Mr. President. My prayers are with you!

The third and final debate

2004-10-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

I'll have to say this about John Kerry. Not only now am I personally offended by his comments but am discusted with him. His stance on homosexuality and abortion are just flat out liberal. Before I go any farther on the matter though I would like to clarify that I do not hate homosexuals. You will get no bashing from this blog. I don't believe anyone calling themsleves a Christian should hate homosexuals or anyone else for that matter. My God does not hate homosexuals and I don't believe we have any business hating anyone that God loves. It's not the person but the actions we do not like. This is the same stance God takes. He loved us enough in our sin to let Jesus die for us. That being said I will get back to Sen. Kerry's remarks. Mistaken remark #1, "we are all God's children". No we're not. It's true that God loves everyone equally, and Jesus died for everyone equally, however, to be called God's child you must have recieved salvation trough the blood of Jesus Christ. This is the Christian definition of a child of God. Mistaken remark #2, "Homosexuality is not a choice" I'm sorry but yes it is, in a way. It may very well be a very difficult choice to deny once you've made it. But it is a choice. In many cases homosexuality is usually the result of some sort of rejection from a respected father figure. Instead of receiving healthy male love from that father figure the homosexual has sexualized the need to for male love much like promiscuous women often do. Through Jesus Christ one can choose to reject it. Kerry said it was "the way God made them" in his speach but God will never put anything in your DNA which will cause you to sin. I'll give you a basis for why I think if you are a homosexual you can make the choice not to be. I know of a man, actually an old friend of my wife's, who was once a homosexual. He even performed in drag shows. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and stopped being homosexual. He then met and married an Ex-lesbian who had a similar experience and now they have several children. They even have a successful ministry for other Homosexuals who would like to know how they can have the same experience. Once you've made the choice to be homosexual it is a hard choice to say no to. But through the blood of Jesus you can choose to not be homosexual. The great thing about being an American is that you do have the choice. Although I support a protection on traditional marriage that does not alter my belief that as an American you have the right as a concenting adult to do anything you choose in private. Saying you don't have the choice to change your lifestyle limits you as an American and a human being. It limits you to the leve of an animal that has no choice but to follow an instinct. Of coarse you have the choice. And as an American you are free to excersize that choice. Remember the power of Christ in your life gives you freedom.

Iraq's non existing nuclear program

2004-10-13T15:46:00.000-05:00

First here is the story:
Link to Story

The story, which can be found on many other news sites around the world, claims that Iraq's nuclear equipment that can be used to make nuclear weapons is now missing. How can Iraq's nuclear equipment that can be used to make nuclear weapons be missing if they weren't suppose to have nuclear equipment which can be used to make nuclear weapons? How can stuff that never existed before the war now all of a sudden be missing? Theory? Yes I have one. Is it right? I don't know, but it makes sence. Iraq had this equipment before the war and the UN knew it was there. When we showed up to do our business the UN had to get out. Now mind you Saddam had 6 months to get rid of anything illegal. Durring that 6 months, and while we were there also, Saddam and his people dismantled the stuff and shipped it out. They already said some stuff has turned up in other countries. We do a check now guess what we find? No nuclear programs. They're missing because of Saddam and his followers. But they never existed so I suppose there's nothing to worry about!

Stem Cell Research

2004-10-13T11:54:00.000-05:00

After the death of Christopher Reeves the subject of embryonic stem cell research has come up once again. May people believe that because pro-lifers are against it it means we don't care about the people who are ill or injured. This is not true. The information the political left are trying to feed you to get their vote is incorrect. Yes we believe that destroying an embryo for stem cells destroys a human life. But not just that, it destroys a human life in vein because embryonic stem cells do not work! They are known to cause tumors in lab rats and even humans who have been injected with them in other countries where the morality of it is not in question. Both embryos and adults die from this research.
Embryonic stem cells also suffer the same rejection from your body that an implanted organ does. Adult stem cells however show great promise and are not rejected because they come from you. They can be altered to form a wide variety of tissues. If stem cell research is to succeed it will be with Adult stem cells because they work. The political left is really playing up Christopher Reeves's death to promote this subject however do not let them fool you. Even with fully funded embryonic stem cell research Christopher Reeves outcome would have been no different because a cure would not have been found in time, or even worse a cure could have been attempted and he would have died of a tumor on his spinal cord. One person I'm rather disappointed in is Ronald Reagan Jr. The son of former, and now the late president Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan, Jr. supports embryonic stem cell research and is as liberal as they come. For Mr. Reagan I would have this message:

Mr. Reagan. Your father was one of the greatest presidents in American history. His memory is that of an honest and Godly man who led this nation proudly and who loved it more than anything. You however sir dishonor his name. You sir should legally change your name because you go against everything the name Ronald Reagan represents. I'm quite sure your father would not have wanted to live with a cure that costs someone else their life, and like Mr. Reeves this research would not have helped. Your father may have very well been given a brain tumor instead of a cure. Your father's illness was not just the dying away of brain cells but also a break in their connections. New brain cells would not have helped. You sir are a disappointment to the name Ronald Reagan.

Friends please don't let the political left fool you into thinking they are right on this matter. They're lying to you for your vote. An embryo put to death for its stem cells has died in vein because those stem cells will not cure any disease and the adult that receives them will most likely end up with a tumor and die also.

On a lighter, but frustrating note... My out of gas adventure!!

2004-10-12T15:40:00.000-05:00

I live about 50 miles from work. My wife gets payed every thursday and I get payed every other thursday which means thursday is a day of few funds until I get payed or get home that evening depending on the week. Well this thursday just so happened to be a week in which I got payed, however I do not get my pay check until I get to work. This left my pockets rather empty until then and unfortunatly so was my gas tank. On my way to work Thursday morning my car, a beautiful 1976 Chevy nova, Ran out of gas. It gets great gas mileage mind you because of it's manual transmission and 250 cubic inch inline 6 cylinder engine and 2.73 rear end, but unfortuantly great mileage only last so long and this morning my limit had been reached. I get out of the car and get my gas can out of the trunk and proceed to walk down the street. I had 1.41 on a pay pal debit card and I intended to use it. I only had about 20 miles to go and it would be a stretch but I could do it. As I walked a man in a truck stopped by me and asked me if I needed help. I gladly accepted and got in his truck. He drove me to the closest gas station (kinda glad for this because it was rather far) and I purchased my $1.40 worth of gas. We get back to my car and I get out of his truck. He reaches in the back of his truck and gets out a gas can of his own. Before I can stop him he is puting the liquid inside in my gas tank. He then makes a comment along the lines of, " This is chain saw gas, it's got oil in it, that one can isn't going to be enough." He also made such comments as, "It''ll probably run better and clean it out". Well the damage had been done so I poor my can in and he's off. I start my car and proceed to work. There's a problem. My car did not like his 2 cycle fuel/oil mix at all. It began bucking and surging and would not accelerate over 40mph. I immediatly blame the oil filled gas and proceed with work in the hopes that it will all burn out. Not too far from work now the car stops again. It won't start. My first thought was that it ran out of gas again. I walk to Walmart, which is not within walking distance and it has a gas station. I call work and have a co-worker bring me my pay check. I cash it there at Walmart and get some more gas in my can. We get back to my car and I put the gas in. There was another problem. It just didn't want to start. With some trying it would, but would not stay running long. I finally got it to move enough to get it to the side of the road and my co-worker drove me to work. After work me and another co worker go back to fix the car. After many trips to a near by auto-zone we managed to clean the burnt oil off of all the spark plugs and replace the fuel filter, which was seriously clogged with oil! We finally got done about 9:00 that night and my car runs great again. Moral of the story? Don't let strangers put 2 cycle mix in your gas tank.

Presidential Elections

2004-10-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

The time has come for our country to select a leader once again. We can either keep the one we have, or choose someone else. But that someone else is my concern. It is my opinion that John F. Kerry is not fit to lead our country, and that his running mate, John Edwards is far from qualified to be Vice President, let alone President if something should happen to Kerry. Kerry's own words prove he has no idea what is going on in the world. His record shows him to be wrong a majority of the time. And his attendence record is just horrible. I think after puting his foot in his mouth a few times our allies will not favor him either. He has already belittled the Iraqi prime minister in front of the whole world questioning his honesty which is no way to win allies. No he has said that we need to no defeat terror, but reduce it to an "acceptible nuisance". How few people have to die before terrorist is not a threat but rather an "acceptible nuisance"? What is the number we have to reduce the amount of innocent lives taken to before the pain felt by their families is not pain but rather just an "acceptible nuisance"? Terrorism is not nor will it ever be just an "acceptible nuisance". At what point do we say, "oh well it's just another terrorist. They'll get him?" If it is not completely stopped and if freedom and liberty is not put in its place then terror has the potential to hold the world in fear and agony. Terror threatens freedom. That's twice Mr. Kerry has stuck his foot in his mouth on this campain about Terror and Iraq. No amount of flip flopping will make us forget these ignorant and outragous statements that this man has made. This man isn't fit to lead a boy scout troup let alone the USA. Now about edwards. The man has no experience, has made the same lies and mistaken claims as Kerry and is right behind him in every flip flop there is to make. I fear for our nation if Kerry is somehow elected and then dies. If Edwards were to take office as our president we'd be in serious trouble.

First things First

2004-10-12T15:02:00.000-05:00

Even though this isn't my first blog it's the first blog with a specific topic. I am a Christian. What does that mean? It does not just mean I believe there is a God. It does not just mean I go to church. It does not just mean I believe what the bible says. It does not just mean I do what Christians are suppose to do. All that is fine, but it's just religion. It means that I have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I have received the gift of Salvation which Christ payed for on the Cross. Anyone who has seen Mel Gibson's new movie can understand how he payed for it. But why? What was the point of such violence? Well it all starts in the beginning. The good old book of Genesis. God made 2 people. Adam and Eve. The world he made was perfect. There was no violence or terrorism. No one ever died, not even the animals. Everyone and every thing was vegetarian even. At least that was the original plan. God had also created angels which are His messengers for the purpose of ministering to us. One of these angels, who was pretty high on the latter of importance, decided he was big stuff. He decided he deserved to be God. God had to kick him out of heaven. See Heaven is perfect, no sin exist in Heaven, so God had to remove the sin from heaven. This angel's name was Lucifer, otherwise known as Satan or the Devil. Lucifer was not thrilled with God's decision to kick him out. He decided in his hatred for God to get back at him. Back on earth Adam and Eve were enjoying the paradise that God had created for them. In that time God had only one rule. To break this rule was a sin. Do not eat of the tree in the center of the garden. That's it, The only sin that existed. Why did God put the tree there with such a command? To give us a choice. God wants us to choose Him and not be mindless followers. Lucifer, taking the form of a serpent decided to trick Eve into eating of this tree. He was successful and in turn she shared the fruit with Adam. This was the beginning of sin. And once sin entered the earth it caused a downward spiral. God had to take away the "no one ever dies" thing for man and beast. Why? It wasn't just for punishment. It was so he could redeem us from sin. See He had a plan for removing our sins from us. That plan was Jesus. Jesus is God in human flesh. Jesus came to earth born to a virgin named Mary. His great plan was to come to earth and be born as a man and die in our place to take the punishment for our sins on himself. When he died on the cross he stood in your place. He took your sins upon himself. After 3 days of death in a tomb Jesus rose from the dead and again taught his deciples and eventually ascended into heaven. If God had not taken away the "no one ever dies" thing, this plan could not take place because Jesus would not have been able to die. Not only that, but crucifixion would have never been invented. How do you make this plan count for you? For starters just ask! Go to God in prayer and ask him to be your Lord and to save you. Tell him you Repent of your sins, which means you are willing to reject your sin and turn away. Tell him you believe in Jesus and who he is. This will be the first prayer that God will hear from you! Come to him just as you are. Make no worries about not being good enough, it doesn't matter. Whatever you've done and whatever you're in to it has already been payed for on the cross. There is no surprising God. No one is too bad to be saved. Even Saddam or Osama bin Laden could be saved if they chose to be. Jesus even took the punishment for their sins. This is the beginning of your life with the Lord. There will be ups and downs but the Lord will always be there.

My first blog

2004-10-12T13:47:00.000-05:00

Even thought I am skilled in the ways of the modern computer when I first heard the word Blog I was like, So what, it's just a web page?! Then I began reading some and decided to give it a try. I have a set of opinions that I believe are correct and believe this is a good way for me to express them. First you should know that I am a Republican and a Christian. I am a republican because I am a Christian. I can not in good conscience vote for a Democrat if he supports the premature destruction of Life in the womb or the immoral marrying of people of the same sex. I therefore must align myself with the party that most closely, however imperfectly, aligns itself with my own Christian values. That would currently be the Republican party. It just seems to me that the Democratic party leaches on to every issue that is immoral, indecent and incorrect and tries it's hardest to take the wrong side of it. I believe it is my Christian duty to vote for a President, or Governor, or other elected official who will take my Christian beliefs with him to office. It is almost a sin to vote for a man who will counter good Christian morals while in office. It's up to us not to put our country in the hands of the ungodly and that is why I am a republican. Do I believe democrats can't be Christians? Not at all! The Democratic party wasn't always such a depraved haven for liberals as Zell Miller is living proof. I'm not just a bible thumping stiff shirt who hates people who disagree with me. Not at all. This is America. As a friend of mine once said, "You have the right to be wrong." I couldn't agree more. There's much more about me that you will learn over the course of this blog I'm sure. Like the pets I own, the car I drive, my wonderful wife whom I adore!