My New Diet

Iv'e been told that it has been too long since I last blogged....so here you go!

The picture to the right shows my new diet. Until finals are over, I am living off of Mt. Dew and Starbucks....the only problem is that I am too old for the caffiene to do much anymore. Anyways, I'm in the middle of finals, and cannot wait for it to be over!!! And I cannot wait to go see Narnia friday night with a bunch of energetic, crazy young people!

"give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire..."

Reflections on the World and Media

tonight I turned on the TV for about 45 minutes, and started flipping through the channels...I came across the music video for Kelly Clarkson's "Because of you." The video depicts a little girl who is looking for love and affection from her father, and how he is too busy with business and comes home late, and eventually ends up leaving. Well i only watched about 45 seconds of the video and i started to cry to ball like a little baby. First it was "Jesus, let this never be me; I never want to do this to whoever my family will be;" and then that emotion was turned towards others, and I realized how many children in America face that everyday of their life... How many children in America grow up in broken homes, how many children grow up with such pain from not having the love of their father in their life. How many people do we encounter every day are hurting from the lack of love in their life, and how much can the little things we do change it...

I have a friend who used to work in the dietary section of a nursing home. One day he went into his current job and a new man had started and mentioned he came from the same nursing home and shared how many people at the home continually talked about my friend, and how he would run around hugging the residents and the staff, and the joy that he brought to that place. The man said to my friend, "I must have come right after you left, the way they talked about you." After comparing dates, they realized that my friend had left the nursing home more than 1 year and a half ago. It all goes to show that you never know how much of an impact the little things you do in life have on those around you.

The other things I saw on TV tonight was on C-SPAN. Michael Moore was giving a speech in his hometown, and he preached the Gospel. He talked about how the Priest at Mass that morning had shared out of Matthew 25:
25:31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' 41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45 "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." And then Michael Moore goes on to challenge us, saying "The ticket to heaven lies in the hands of the poor." Yes, he is a liberal; yes he is quite fanatic; yes, I do not agree with everything he says - much of it is far off; but HERE, he is right. Forget Democratic/Republican and Liberal/Conservative...What is the heart of God...I think that Michael Moore has it understood well; and he is the one trying to teach it to us. God sure does use the foolish things to confound the wise...I was dumbfounded, excited, and somewhat jealous. Maybe the kicker is regardless of personal agendas; God's heart is always for the down-and-out, the poor and the needy...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING :)

Tag on my last post

I just finished watching "Kingdom of Heaven" which is a really good movie. And I just wanted to tag on my last post about being a voicepiece for God. In the movie, men on both sides were continuously seen claiming "God wills it" to support their own agenda (in this case, propagating war against their enemy). But isn't that the very opposite of what it truly means to be a voice for God, speaking your own mind, especially in the name of God. So I guess to say is, there is such a high responsibility for speaking for God that cannot be forgotten or undermined. Because, we will be held responsible for the things we say/do not say; do/do not do. So maybe if nothing else, it's a reminder that every aspect of the Christian life may be the only God that people see; with how much care must we give that, and in fact, our everyday lives...and not in a burdensome way; but in a way, where we realize that our life is not our own to live as we choose anymore; but it solely to glorify God, and that includes a whole heck of a lot of hanging out, having fun, and relaxing; not just praying and going to church...

Speaking an Intelligent Christianity

tonight I had the great privelage of getting coffee with a good friend, that I haven't had a chance to really hang out with for a long time. I miss this friend, because he challenges me...In fact, I don't know many people that he doesn't challenge. I also miss him, because of the level of genuine thought that he brings to a discussion; i miss bouncing intellectual ideas about true christianity off of him. And along with that, he shared a need with me that I have heard a lot of lately. and that is to speak...
I think of the prophet of the Old Testament, Jeremiah, who spoke the words of God; amidst heavy persecution. He never wanted to speak for God and he paid heavily for it: he was put in jail, beaten, tortured, and was not allowed to take a wife and raise children (a very shameful thing in ancient Jewish society). There was a price for him to pay to speak the words of God; his will, his safety, his comfort. And what is "words of God" anyways? 90% of all biblical prophecy bringes the audience back to the Hebrew Covenant, specifically to seek Yahweh, and Yahweh alone. A true "word of God" should bring the listener back to a place of pursuing God. Are not each and everyone one of us called to bring light into the dark places, to help others pursue God. To me, that's what speaking the word of God really is; getting out of the way, so that all could be drawn to Christ....just some thoughts....

Politics, Politics, Politics

So this article, linked to below, shares of how the Iranian leaders are calling the Islmaic world to "wipe Israel off the map." The President of Iran said "Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury, (while) any (Islamic leader) who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-10-26-iran-israel_x.htm?csp=24

Now, look what happened in Israel on the same day:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-10-26-mideast-bombing_x.htm?csp=24

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson the problem is: "It appears the problem with these extremists is that they followed through on their violent declarations with violent actions." The bombing article continues to speak of how Iran has been trying to thwart the peace process. The President had stated the Gaza Strip pullout was simply a trick, and should basically be disregared; while the rest of the Muslim world has been rejoicing at this action, and seeing it as moving towards peace. "Iran has long supplied Islamic Jihad with support and training through proxies among Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, and Israel has accused that country of trying to scuttle the current truce." And guess which country has a Nuclear program: Iran. The United States and many others in the West say this program is aimed at acquiring weapons of mass destruction. Iran says the program is for generating electricity. Members of Iran's board have recently been at meetings whose purpose is to recuit suicide bombers to "target U.S. troops and Israelis." Iran has alos announced that they have fully developed solid fuel technolgoy for their missiles (making them much more accurate) combined with the ability for it travel up to 1200 miles; they are fully capable of delivering a nuclear war head to Israel and U.S. forces all throughout the Middle East.

Iv'e talked with a lot of people (both non-bible-reading and bible-reading ) lately, and many have voiced the same opinion: the end is near (because of the mass of natural disasters recently). And when you look at what's going with the struggle in Israel right now, it's easy to come to this conclusion. I just want to throw something out there, hasn't there always been natural disasters, and hasn't the nation of Israel always faced oppisition from it's very beginning. So I'm not claiming that the end of days are upon us; I would say that they are absolutely coming, and we defintily need to be prepared for them - and that should result in motivation, in a sense almost in that old teen favorite saying "carpe diem" - seize the day!

I jumped online tonight to find an article about Church Leadership for one of my classes. I was checking out Christianity Today's site, and this popped out at me: Purpose-Drive in Rwanda. I haven't read the whole thing yet, the Library closes in 15 minutes, but if you get a chance, READ IT! With the little I have read already, my jaw has been dropping...and my soul has been utterly motivated!

earthquakes

real quick..I just saw this on a news site, and couldn't take. there were 3 earthquakes today... 1 in California, none dead that iv'e heard of yet; 1 in Guatamala, between 1,400 - 3,000 dead; and in South Asia, 18,000 in Pakistan alone. click here for full story and pictures (as of 10/9/05 - 12:45 A.M.) Call it stupid, but for this moment, I feel like I can hear all those souls crying out as they died...almost wondering "is this it? this is the end? there had to have been so much more." And then my thoughts went to me (and probably you), and the state of blessing that we are have in America. I'm sitting here in a fully furnished kitchen, experiencing this through the screen on my laptop; with my cell phone sitting next to me, my car sitting outside the house, a latte in my hand, and a full stomach. And in the midst fo this; I keep getting this thought hammered through my head: "where would Jesus be right now?" or better yet, where is Jesus right now? I am convinced that He is right there in the midst of the utter agony and turmoil and sorrow; just trying to give His love to people. And here we sit, in our American prosperity (not dissing America, I am incredibly thankful to be here), whining and complaining about the stupidest, most miniscule things. And trust me, I'm at the front of this line. How much longer will it take for us to get over ourselves and our petty problems that pale in comparison to the rest of the world. Lord Jesus, help us to see as you see...

Busy Weekend

Well for starters; Friday night, Jim, Sean and I went to Panera to "study." We all got a little work done, but then Jim had to cut Sean's hair for drill the next day. Then, Sunday was my sister, Christina's 19th birthday!!! So I drove down to New Haven to wish her a great birthday. We went to the church that her and the other YWAMer's are involved at; which was incredibly awesome (even though I fell asleep). It was so cool to see such freedom and creativity in their ministry and schooling; it energized and excited my heart! After that we had 2 birthday parties for Christina and had such an awesome time on her birthday!!!

No Excuse

I know that almost everyone has been posting about the effects that Huricane Katrina has had on the people of our nation. And I know that a lot of people have done something, and that is truly great. But here's the thing....how much can we do. Or better yet, how much more can I (a college student, struggling to find a job so that I can throw the school some money by Oct 1, so I don't get kicked out) . The purpose of this post is to give you (and I) no excuse.
For those that are quite daring in their passion for those in need, they can volunteer:
http://www.redcross.org/

For those that have some money to give (i'm getting ready to give again after I post this), you can give money, however little or large you have:
World Vision: http://domino-201.worldvision.org/worldvision/eappeal.nsf/egiftafaf?OpenForm&campaign=13151513&cmp=BAC-13151513
Salvation Army: http://katrina.salvationarmy.org/
The Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org

Or if you have an extra bed in your house, you can host a family:
http://openyourhome.com/

Or you can even help your church to host a family:
http://www.afa.net/adoptafamily/default.asp

And as a reference, there is a website up, helping people to locate their friends and families:]
http://www.refugeesunited.org

I don't know about you, but I know I have to do something
-james

The Beauty of Simplicity

The past few days Iv'e been bumming. I haven't been able to put my finger on it...till today. A friend asked me last night if I'd been reading my Bible and praying, and the answer was yes; but i still felt lacking. So today i went for a run/walk, mostly just to spend time with God. And then it hit me AGAIN. It's so easy to just read/pray and miss the whole point. God is so eager just to spend time with each of us, and we can miss that if we just read/pray and go on with our day. And I realized that i need to get this habit down now, because when school starts, it's going to be much more difficult to continue this simple love for God. It's easy to forget that God isn't impressed with how often we pray, read the bible, heal the sick and the lame, or even tell others about Jesus; but that He is impressed with a heart that is so turned to His. I love the idea of overflow; a heart that turns to God HAS to go do those things, but the difference is made in the overflow....the overflow of God's heart in ours

There is an Epidemic Raging....

There is an epidemic raging. It's nothing new, it's been this way for a LONG, LONG time. In this moment, I'm talking about hunger, world hunger. Drought and locusts have brought severe starvation to the people of western Africa. 3.6 million to be exact, 1/3 of which are children....1 million innocent children starving to death.

Now, forgive me, I know that if you are reading this, you are one of the people who actually cares about these issues and wants to change them. So I must give you mad props because you already care. But how far will caring take you? I'd love to hear how people are actively making a change for these kinds of issues (overseas and here in the U.S.A.), please stir all of us on to do something tangible about it!!!

Here is the complete article of this 1 current problem. The last phrase in the article is by a school teacher in the country of Niger. He talks about the vast destruction that this plague is producing, and this is his comment: "The world is generous. Our friends heard our cries. Do you think they will let us suffer when they are living comfortably?"I would say the answer, for the most part, is yes. Well, let's change that...May we not be the ones caught asking Jesus where he was hunger, thirsty, naked, homeless and in prison; while we actively do nothing to change the epidemic. Let's end this "stupid hunger," together!

My Other Blog

Here is the link to my old blog: www.xanga.com/jamesblonde008
It has many old posts, and will continue to be updated just as this one is; so check it out for others comments!