Update

Nothing spectacular to talk about really, but I thought I could give an update on my television addiction. I've now been clean for 2 weeks, but I have read a few online articles related to certain shows, so I've got to watch myself there. I think it might also be negatively affecting my studying. I had my worst test this semester on Friday and it could be related to the lack of my stress relief, but I'm willing to suffer some unappealing grades in a pursuit to follow Jesus. I'm sure eventually I'll find a more fulfilling stress reliever. Maybe I could use running, I've done that before with some success. I just need to get myself into a good schedule. I'll keep working on this and get back to you with the results. On another note, the board to determine the army HPSP scholarship recipients is scheduled for Wednesday, so I'm trying to keep that in prayer, though I have trouble keeping from being distracted. I'm sure that whatever the result, I can trust that God will take care of me, it would just be less stressful for me right now if God were to provide this funding for my education. However, my good friend Ken is also hoping for the scholarship and though it would be nice if we could both receive it, it may be that only one of us (or possibly neither of us) will get it, and I will be alright if I don't receive the scholarship. God has never let me down yet, He's always there for me through life's disappointments. That said, prayer towards a goal that can be used for God's service is never a bad thing, so if you read this before Wednesday you could keep the decisions of the board members in prayer; that what they decide would be used to promote the proclamation of the gospel to all the world.

Boredom

Wow, how empty my life is without tv. So, knowing that I'm addicted to television I am trying to stop cold turkey (this is the only option that has a chance). I know that it's a huge waste of my time and I need to learn to be a better steward of what God has given me. Thus, what I should do is find projects that would please God in order to fill this time. However, I am having problems being motivated to do this. Instead I am rechecking my email and facebook constantly. I have also gotten up the motivation to go for a nice walk on this fine Kansas day, but that's really not very productive either. In fact, I walked to school, meant to pick up a glove so I could try to express some anal sacs and got so distracted organizing old tests that I completely forgot the glove. I have a real struggle keeping my mind on track long enough to remember what I'm doing (hope it's not a sign of things to come). Anyway, that's the biggest reason I'm posting right now, just to fill a void in time that I would normally spend on tv, but which I'm choosing not to. I think the biggest reason I am unwilling to do stuff is that the things which I should be doing all involve school, and I just hate doing things for school unless they are super interesting, of which none of the options are. Therefore, I will sit here at my computer bored for another hour or so until I work up the motivation to do something else. So much for becoming a good steward of my time.

The Creation of a Value System

It saddens me greatly that we have to go about making laws that should never have to be made in order to protect people who shouldn't need protecting. For example, child labor laws. Who would have ever thought that when this country was founded that children could become little better than slaves in their own families. What happened to the value of an education? In the early colonies, especially Pennsylvania, education was of utmost importance. Colonists wanted their children to be able to read the bible for themselves. Ironically, from our perspective in this age of separation of church and state, most early school houses also served as the community church. The education that children received in this setting was extremely bible based. This helped teach morals, obedience, and character. It is no wonder with the curriculum that is taught these days that children don't respect their parents. We tell them to question authority all the time, and we show them that what they want, no matter how awful, is truth for them, and so they are allowed to pursue it. Why do we teach skepticism to children, why do we lie to them? Our society could be a much more honest one if we didn't do this. Our children are not born good, they are born sinful. If we don't teach them proper morals the society will collapse upon itself because there will be no one willing to do for others, all instead working only to satisfy themselves. This brings about a problem, a society cannot function without some common moral values, therefore a basis in science has been substituted. While there is nothing inherently wrong with science, it was created by God, using a portion of God's creation as a substitute for Him will never work properly. Morality can not be procured from science, only from God.

Check out this link my cousin John discovered. http://www.senate.mo.gov/11info/pdf-bill/intro/SB222.pdf

It is just upsetting to think that we have to have laws determining the length of meal periods and that people would be willing to put children in harms way for monetary gain. What has this country come to? Where have our morals gone?

Did you know?

Our system of government was founded on the bible. The check and balance system, with its three components, the judicial, legislative, and executive branches, comes straight out of Isaiah 33:22 "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us."

A free economy, such as we have can only flourish if the people are of high moral character. As Benjamin Franklin put it, "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. ~ April 17, 1787." Virtue being: a trait that is morally excellent. So, as the basis for our free economy lies in moral behavior, likewise moral behavior has its foundations in the bible. As I eluded to in my last blog post, what has the atheist to pull morality from? And if from himself, and each man pulls together his own form of morality, who is to say whose morality is more correct? Thus each man will do what is best for himself, dragging down a free economy because each man is trying to take what he has not earned. Americans have learned that they can loot the piggy bank to pad their pockets and it is leading to the failure of government. Ben Franklin could see this eventuality from the country's creation, as he states, "I've lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing Proofs I see of this Truth - That God governs in the Affairs of Men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his Notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his Aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that except the Lord build the House they labor in vain who build it. I firmly believe this, - and I also believe that without his concurring Aid, we shall succeed in this political Building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our Projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a Reproach and Bye word down to future Ages." Our government was not set up so that a non-Christian leadership could be at the helm. When everyone is spending money on their own little pet projects, and no one is putting any money back into the system, it is no wonder that our nation is bankrupt. Morality in government flew out the door as early as the 1850s and the continued bad decisions of generations have finally caught up with us. There is no one particular president to blame, but rather a slow erosion of our nation's morality which has lead to our current debacle. The big problem is, without a foundation, such as the bible, the state has nowhere from which to pull its basis of good and evil, and a state with no moral compass is a very dangerous thing. 1 Peter 2: 16-17 tells us, "Submit to every human institution because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority, or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good." When the state is not representing good and evil for what they truly are then how can we expect true justice and good decision making? How can we, as Christians, submit to an authority which has no basis in God's Truth, and is thus promoting evil and punishing good?

In my estimation, and really who am I to jump to such conclusions, America will fall as a world power. (It would really only take such an event as a shut off of our oil imports.) What really saddens me is that after America falls, there will be no other country founded on Christian principles for the world to look to for an example. In this case it will be easy for the countries of the world to be led into darkness. But, such events as are prophesied in Revelations must take place, and so I see that such an occurrence is an inevitability. However, "we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those that are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28)

World View

Question: Why do so many people who cling to the theory of evolution seem to make such a concentrated effort to "go green"?

I have no problem with being environmentally conscious. In fact I think that God has set us as stewards of the earth (Genesis 1:26), so we have every responsibility to keep it healthy in order that it can serve further generations. In fact, God was very displeased with Jerusalem when they defiled the land which God had given them. Jeremiah 2:7 "I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but after you entered, you defiled My land; you made My inheritance detestable." As Christians we are called to serve God's will, which means caring for the people around us. (Mark 12:31 "Love your neighbor as yourself"; Matthew 25:40 "What you did for the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me"). It is important to remember Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lords and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord." Therefore when we destroy the earth we have God to answer to because we are destroying His property. Can we honestly call ourselves Christians if we are serving our fleshly desires in pursuit of material gain? Luke 16:13 "A man cannot be the slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't be slaves of both God and money." It is amazing to me how often "Christians," as men label themselves, can put their own personal interests (on earth no less), above God's. I recently made myself a sign to help me remember what is truly important, "success: putting God's will above your own." I think this is something that we need to really remind ourselves of on a daily basis, and to evaluate the reasons we are making the decisions we are, because Romans 14:23 says that "everything that is not from faith is sin." At this point I think I have made it clear that God expects us to use the earth and its resources wisely.

Now to get back to the original question. Why, when someone believes that the world has spent thousands of years evolving, does one think that man can bring about the destruction of the earth? To that end, why does he care, what is his inherent interest in saving the earth? On what grounds can he stake his claims? Where do his definitions of good and evil come from? Can there even be good and evil? In this too, why does he go on living; what is the purpose of life? What can possibly give life meaning if all that one is is the product of random mutation? You can't claim that you are trying to make the earth better. First, from where can you discern your definition of better? More to the point, you can truly only be adding to a faster destruction of the earth by continuing to live and consume its resources. To this point I ask, if there is no goal, and random evolution is occurring, why does it matter if the earth is destroyed and becomes void of life. Who would care? If it's not someone's creation then why do we strive so intently to see it succeed. If it happened once it can happen again. Moreover, if the evolution of man was a mistake in this random process, won't it work itself out? If man cannot be sustained on earth as it is, evolution will wipe us out and continue on in a different direction. I mean, if the earth had been around for billions of years I hardly believe one species could entirely destroy it within a few thousand. Once the earth could no longer sustain human life this species would die out, possibly with several other species; the earth would then go through a period of regeneration and new species would evolve. That's a legitimate supposition from an evolutionary perspective. So why are evolutionists working so hard to "make something of themselves" and "save" the earth?

A final point, if it were all just a random occurrence what would be the point of studying it? There would be no patterns to discern. I think this is what truly screams there is a creator. As God said in Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands." And as a call to Christians to declare the works of God, Luke 19:40 "If they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out."

This really should be a different post, but I don't feel like making one right now:

On another note, as Christians, can we stop going around condemning those around us? Can't you see that that changes nothing and just breeds opposition? God is the judge and we are the sinners. Psalm 96:13 "The Lord is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth." Matthew 7:5 "Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Would you listen to someone you didn't respect as they yelled in your face? Doubtful! Let's walk a Christ-like life so that our audience has some reason to want to imitate us. For without Christ as their Savior they have no reason to turn from their sin. Pointing it out as such leads only to bitterness towards the church which is seen as "stuck-up" and condemning. Let that be the work of the Holy Spirit on their soul; the one who washes, regenerates, and renews us (Titus 3:5). "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8). "For the natural man does not welcome what comes from God's Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to know it since it is evaluated spiritually" (1 Corinthians 2:14).

I Believe:

There is one God

That He is Holy

That through Him there is absolute Truth

That He shows us His will through the Bible, His Holy Word

That the Word became flesh, His Son Jesus Christ

That we, as humans, are sinners and not worthy of God's love

That we need a Savior in order to be redeemed

That Christ came to this world to become a sacrifice that we could be reconciled to God

That God has promised eternity to those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ

That God rightly judges us for our sins

That Hell is a real place and that those who don't accept Jesus will spend eternity there as a just consequence for our sinful nature

That not all who claim to know Christ will enter heaven

That Christ not only died, but was risen, and ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God

That He is coming again to reign on earth and gather His church

Calculations

So, my brain can't help but want to calculate the probabilities around me so that I can make educated decisions about my life. If something crosses my mind to be calculated I can't stop thinking about it until I've run some type of analysis. One of my more anal characteristics is calculating grades and scores needed to attain a certain desired grade. Then, as with most aspects of my life I can't help sharing this information with the people around me no matter how much this information may be of no importance to them or in fact may even irritate them.
Tonight, a thought crossed my mind about my living expenses. I calculated just my living expenses, not taking into account my tuition bill which rings in at about $22,000 a semester. Beyond this I established that I've spent about $3500 in four months (though I will qualify that $720 was spent on a rabies vaccination). Calculating out for a wage that would be required to support this type of spending I would need to make about $8.50 an hour and work 40 hours a week. This was devastating! How can I, to whom so much has been given, consume so much of the pie myself? Where is my human charity when people in other countries are starving and would just be happy to have a small portion of what I have? How can I afford to spend money on luxuries when all humans are equal and yet we do not drink from the same cup?
What I can't control in my current situation is the rent and utility bills. The overhead for these expenses comes in at about $360/month currently. This puts the daily expenditures which cannot be avoided at about $12/day. This leaves me with $2060; $515/month; $17/day which is elective spending. The IRS sets as its national standard for one person households spending of $526/month which includes food, housekeeping supplies, apparel, personal care products and services. How can I be living so dangerously close to the governments expected spending allowance? A government that is in debt way beyond its means to recover is accurately predicting the amount of money that I use to live on. This is too much. I need to find a way to cut my spending dramatically.
Still there is only so much I can control. I have not gone out to eat once in my time in Manhattan, excluding my first meal with my mother and aunt when we pulled into town and the dinner that my pastor treated Sarah and I to a couple of weeks ago. Additionally, as a vet student I require certain books to learn and these are far from inexpensive. In fact, my total book expenditures for the fall semester totaled $500. Along with the rabies vaccine these necessary purchases took up a third of my total expenditures and 60% of my elective spending. Considering the other $840 I spent in the last four months I calculate that I spent $7/day on food, gas and other life necessities. Looking at this number in the country in which I live and considering that the IRS expects that one person households will spend close to $9/day on food alone I do not feel completely dismayed with this number, but I would still like to reduce it if possible.
My largest spending problem is that stemming from my schooling, which is very difficult to control. I could consider removing myself from this program in order that I could reduce my spending, but this would in the long run likely have a more negative effect, as I could potentially make a much greater difference in the world with this education. It all comes down to my willingness to sacrifice some of my need for frugality here for the hope that I will be better able to have a wider spread impact later. However, I hope this lavish living will not lead me to dismiss my conservative nature and that I would be ready to pick up my desired values when at all possible. The thing to remember is that this money will all have to be paid back with interest someday. SPEND WISELY!