So I did a very brilliant thing on Friday. I decided to put my phone in my back pocket when I went out on the Mule (a four-wheeler/golf cart kind of vehicle) with a friend. Well, it didn't stay in my pocket. We went and looked that night while someone called it repeatedly, my friend went out and looked for it the next day... 2 or 3 times, I went out and looked for it one last time Saturday before it started to get dark. But we still didn't find it. :( This had happened before but we were able to find it the next morning because the alarms were going off. But with this phone I don't set the alarms to repeat, I just turn them on every night. And see, I was trying to be responsible and keep my phone with me in case my dad needed to contact me or something. Well, that plan backfired! I also left my phone in Belize when I was there for a mission trip, so apparently I am not good with phones.
Soooo... I'm looking at getting a new phone. Especially since it proceeded to rain Saturday night. :/ So even if we were to find my phone it would probably be dead. But I was needing a new phone anyways, so I just REALLY need one now. I'm hoping to get an iPhone, if I can convince my dad to get a data plan if I chip in a bit for it. But we'll see. And maybe I shouldn't get one if I'm so bad at losing phones. But I very rarely drop my phone, so at least I don't have to worry about that as much. Even so I'm still going to get an otter box or something like it because I know I will drop it if I have one as breakable as an iPhone.
So there's my life right now. haha! :P
Monday, November 12, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Politics :P
For the most part I try to avoid politics... like the plague. But for today I think I will break my unspoken rule and talk about politics... and how much I dislike them. :P
Here are my reasons for hating politics:
1) I can't stand arguments - To me it seems like so much of politics is just a bunch of mud-slinging and name-calling. I have never liked confrontation and it seems to me that when politics are involved it can get really nasty. I don't mind a bit of debate, as long as those involved can be mature about it and know when to leave it be. But I have seen far too many people get hurt and attacked through political debates on things like Facebook. I have a number of friends that frequently post political things on Facebook, some of them I agree with and some I don't. Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to an opinion and I'm happy for you if you feel comfortable posting it for the world to see. See here's the thing, when you are debating politics you are only defending your opinion. In areas such as religion, you are actually defending your faith and your God (or whatever you believe in). It is true that sometimes the two areas can overlap, such as in the case of abortion or gay marriage.
2) There are more important things to worry about - I kind of touched on this in my last point, but I just think too many times people get caught up in the little things. I think if people would focus on the heart of issues such as abortion and gay marriage, there would be less room for debate. Because if you believe in the Bible as I do, or have some other religious standpoint, the answer to things like that is really quite clear. It gets tricky when people try to interpret things differently though, and again, makes things complicate.
3) No one ever agrees with anyone else completely - This kind of relates to the reason above, but it just seems to me that there are so many issues that no one is ever going to completely agree with anyone else. There will always be at least one or two things that they don't agree on, and these things then tend to cause contention
4) I don't like politicians - In my opinion, most politicians are not really the greatest people. In order to get elected they often have to lie. Those that are actually honest are less likely to be elected. I guess I am kind of a blunt person, at least in my head I'm really blunt, I don't always say things because I would never want to hurt someone. But I really hate grey areas, it's either right or wrong, either black or white, and so on. Politicians have to be so vague when they are campaigning in order to appeal to the widest group possible. Now I do know of at least one politician that is pretty great. At least as far as I know. Obviously nobody is perfect. If we were we wouldn't need Christ.
5) They don't glorify God - All of the arguments over politics don't bring glory to God. And that is what we should be focusing on.
I Corinthians 10:31 - So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
This should be the theme of our lives. Before we do or way anything we should check whether it will bring glory to God. I will be the first to admit that I do things that don't glorify God all the time. But I pray that the Spirit convicts me of those things and I will do more things that do glorify God.
Here is a song that I really like and it puts it all so much more eloquently than I could. (I would also recommend Chris Rice as a really great artist.) And again, I want to emphasize that if you post political things, more power to you. Just understand that I will probably not ever get myself involved (even if I agree with you), and these are my reasons. If someone were to specifically ask my opinion on something I would likely tell them. I will stand up for my beliefs, but I don't like pointless bickering. So now I'll get off my soapbox! lol! I pray I didn't offend anyone, but I just wanted to speak my mind. God bless you all!
Here are my reasons for hating politics:
1) I can't stand arguments - To me it seems like so much of politics is just a bunch of mud-slinging and name-calling. I have never liked confrontation and it seems to me that when politics are involved it can get really nasty. I don't mind a bit of debate, as long as those involved can be mature about it and know when to leave it be. But I have seen far too many people get hurt and attacked through political debates on things like Facebook. I have a number of friends that frequently post political things on Facebook, some of them I agree with and some I don't. Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to an opinion and I'm happy for you if you feel comfortable posting it for the world to see. See here's the thing, when you are debating politics you are only defending your opinion. In areas such as religion, you are actually defending your faith and your God (or whatever you believe in). It is true that sometimes the two areas can overlap, such as in the case of abortion or gay marriage.
2) There are more important things to worry about - I kind of touched on this in my last point, but I just think too many times people get caught up in the little things. I think if people would focus on the heart of issues such as abortion and gay marriage, there would be less room for debate. Because if you believe in the Bible as I do, or have some other religious standpoint, the answer to things like that is really quite clear. It gets tricky when people try to interpret things differently though, and again, makes things complicate.
3) No one ever agrees with anyone else completely - This kind of relates to the reason above, but it just seems to me that there are so many issues that no one is ever going to completely agree with anyone else. There will always be at least one or two things that they don't agree on, and these things then tend to cause contention
4) I don't like politicians - In my opinion, most politicians are not really the greatest people. In order to get elected they often have to lie. Those that are actually honest are less likely to be elected. I guess I am kind of a blunt person, at least in my head I'm really blunt, I don't always say things because I would never want to hurt someone. But I really hate grey areas, it's either right or wrong, either black or white, and so on. Politicians have to be so vague when they are campaigning in order to appeal to the widest group possible. Now I do know of at least one politician that is pretty great. At least as far as I know. Obviously nobody is perfect. If we were we wouldn't need Christ.
5) They don't glorify God - All of the arguments over politics don't bring glory to God. And that is what we should be focusing on.
I Corinthians 10:31 - So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
This should be the theme of our lives. Before we do or way anything we should check whether it will bring glory to God. I will be the first to admit that I do things that don't glorify God all the time. But I pray that the Spirit convicts me of those things and I will do more things that do glorify God.
Here is a song that I really like and it puts it all so much more eloquently than I could. (I would also recommend Chris Rice as a really great artist.) And again, I want to emphasize that if you post political things, more power to you. Just understand that I will probably not ever get myself involved (even if I agree with you), and these are my reasons. If someone were to specifically ask my opinion on something I would likely tell them. I will stand up for my beliefs, but I don't like pointless bickering. So now I'll get off my soapbox! lol! I pray I didn't offend anyone, but I just wanted to speak my mind. God bless you all!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Fearing God
I was talking to a good friend of mine one time and the subject of fearing God came up. We both agreed that to us, some people have the wrong kind of fear for God. So here are my thoughts on the subject, after I did a little research.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom... - Psalm 111:10a
This is the verse that everyone quotes when we start talking about fearing God. But how many of us truly grasp what the psalmist is saying in this one verse. I think that too often people are under the impression that they should fear God in a cowering sort of way. Like a puppy flinching at a raised newspaper. But I don't believe that's the message here at all. While it's true we should be afraid if God ever decided to raise His hand against us, that shouldn't be the reason that we obey Him. We should obey Him because we love Him and we respect Him. We need to have a fearful respect, like you would have for any authority figure that you truly trusted. One passage that seemed to illustrate this concept was Nahum 1:2-6 (I won't put it here because it is so long). But what stood out to me even more was the note on this passage in my Scofield Study Bible - "The great ethical lesson of Nahum is that the character of God makes Him not only "slow to anger" (v. 3) and a refuge to those who trust Him (v. 7), but also one who "will not at all aquit the wicked" (v. 3). He can be "just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26), but only because His holy law has been vindicated in the cross." That basically sums it up to me. He despises our wickedness and our sins, but because of the cross our debt has been paid. We needn't fear His wrath when we fail - and we will fail. His wrath has already been poured out. When Christ took our sins upon Himself and died for us on the cross.
"Till on that cross, as Jesus died; The wrath of God, was satisfied; For every sin, on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ, I live." - In Christ Alone by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom... - Psalm 111:10a
This is the verse that everyone quotes when we start talking about fearing God. But how many of us truly grasp what the psalmist is saying in this one verse. I think that too often people are under the impression that they should fear God in a cowering sort of way. Like a puppy flinching at a raised newspaper. But I don't believe that's the message here at all. While it's true we should be afraid if God ever decided to raise His hand against us, that shouldn't be the reason that we obey Him. We should obey Him because we love Him and we respect Him. We need to have a fearful respect, like you would have for any authority figure that you truly trusted. One passage that seemed to illustrate this concept was Nahum 1:2-6 (I won't put it here because it is so long). But what stood out to me even more was the note on this passage in my Scofield Study Bible - "The great ethical lesson of Nahum is that the character of God makes Him not only "slow to anger" (v. 3) and a refuge to those who trust Him (v. 7), but also one who "will not at all aquit the wicked" (v. 3). He can be "just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26), but only because His holy law has been vindicated in the cross." That basically sums it up to me. He despises our wickedness and our sins, but because of the cross our debt has been paid. We needn't fear His wrath when we fail - and we will fail. His wrath has already been poured out. When Christ took our sins upon Himself and died for us on the cross.
"Till on that cross, as Jesus died; The wrath of God, was satisfied; For every sin, on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ, I live." - In Christ Alone by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, ear me, that this people may know that thou art the lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God. - I Kings 18:36-39
Our fear of God should lead us to
worship like this. We should be on our knees before the God of the universe
simply acknowledging His power and reign. He is the one true God, and
should be worshiped as such. Not with hearts held back or knees unbent. He
deserves our all.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Back to blogging... hopefully
Hey everyone! I hope all is well! This year has sure been a crazy one. But I'm hoping that I can start fitting in some blogging. School is crazy this semester and very stressful. The combination of biochemistry and genetics is not a good one. :P Especially when there are other classes that just keep me busy as well.
But other than school I have been pretty great! My menagerie keeps me on my toes, although it has thinned a little in the past year. I lost one goat this summer and I sold two goats last fall. So I'm down to 6 goats (3 big ones and 3 miniature ones), along with my Lucy Bug (Golden Retriever) and my cat Felicity. Plus my dad's cat and our family cat. I'm sure this many pets seems crazy to many people, but it is actually rather small compared with what it has been in the past.
In my spare time I have been cross-stitching, crocheting, and knitting. I kind of get into one and do it for a while and then switch to another one for a while. At the moment I have mostly been cross-stitching. I'll try to post some pics sometime soon.
I will also try to post some pictures of my Halloween costume this year. Being in college I don't trick-or-treat anymore but one of the college ministries in town has a gathering of college students every other week and the last one was right before Halloween so it was a costume theme. I dressed up as Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. I thought I looked pretty great! I read the books last fall and fell in love with them. The movie was good but not nearly as good as the book (are any?).
I think that's about all the news that's of any significance. My plan is to write some posts and schedule them to post automatically. That way I'm still posting even if I can't get on. ;) We still don't have internet at home, but hopefully that will be changed before too long. :/
Bye for now and God bless!
But other than school I have been pretty great! My menagerie keeps me on my toes, although it has thinned a little in the past year. I lost one goat this summer and I sold two goats last fall. So I'm down to 6 goats (3 big ones and 3 miniature ones), along with my Lucy Bug (Golden Retriever) and my cat Felicity. Plus my dad's cat and our family cat. I'm sure this many pets seems crazy to many people, but it is actually rather small compared with what it has been in the past.
In my spare time I have been cross-stitching, crocheting, and knitting. I kind of get into one and do it for a while and then switch to another one for a while. At the moment I have mostly been cross-stitching. I'll try to post some pics sometime soon.
I will also try to post some pictures of my Halloween costume this year. Being in college I don't trick-or-treat anymore but one of the college ministries in town has a gathering of college students every other week and the last one was right before Halloween so it was a costume theme. I dressed up as Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. I thought I looked pretty great! I read the books last fall and fell in love with them. The movie was good but not nearly as good as the book (are any?).
I think that's about all the news that's of any significance. My plan is to write some posts and schedule them to post automatically. That way I'm still posting even if I can't get on. ;) We still don't have internet at home, but hopefully that will be changed before too long. :/
Bye for now and God bless!
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