The world we live in today is just covered and inundated with all types of problems. This is a direct result of the sin that humans have brought into the world. God never meant for the world He created, Earth, to be the dangerous, uncertain place it is today. I believe that all, or at least, most, of the problems in today's world can be traced back to one shortcoming common in almost every single human being: selfishness. How many crimes are committed because a person wants something for themselves and is willing to do whatever it takes to get it? How many wars have been started throughout history because of selfishness and greed on the part of world leaders? I do not think this problem will go away any time soon; we are stuck with it until Jesus comes back and sets up His Kingdom on Earth. But if leaders today chose to act selflessly more often and not working for their own gain, many of the things that are wrong with this world would disappear. Wherever people start caring for others, sin has no place. And without sin, many problems would be eliminated. But in order for this change to take place, we must pray to God to get rid of our selfishness so we can act in a way that is pleasing to Him
Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Life
One of our journal questions asked us to finish this quote: "Life is like a..." To me, life is like a Japanese game show, you never know what's going to happen. Despite the slightly inappropriate nature of this quote, I think it is completely right. In my experience, life can change in a heartbeat. This doesn't just apply to my observations at school or at home, but in every area of life. In this broken world that we live in, one day people can love you, and the next they'll hate you. We will experience problems and troubles in our lives, but we will also have those great, incredible moments that we'll share with the special people we love and are closest to us. While life is full of uncertainty about the future, the one thing that is constant and remains the same is Jesus Christ. He is the rock we can depend on when everything else is shaking apart. While we may not know what will happen in life, God knows, and that's good enough for me.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Static/Dynamic Character
One of our journal questions in the past week or so posed this simple statement: If my life was a book or a movie, would I be a static character or a dynamic one? What do these words even mean? A static character is one who, over the course of the entire story, remains relatively unchanged from the events that take place. A dynamic character is one that does become changed as a result of everything he or she experiences. This character may learn something that affects their life, in a good way or a bad one. If I were in a movie or a book, I would consider myself a dynamic character.
I would hope that I have changed somewhat since I was a baby or a toddler, when I didn't know anything else other than to be selfish. My parents played a huge role in teaching me to be kind, to be compassionate, to care about others, even as a little kid, and their strong faith in Christ was the driving force behind this. As Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
After growing up a little bit, I started to find things out on my own, not just take whatever my parents said as fact. This included mundane things like choosing how late to stay up each night or when to do my homework. But the biggest thing that I wanted to decide on my own was whether or not I really believed in everything my parents, my pastor, and my school said about Jesus Christ and Christianity. I didn't really pay attention to making this decision until junior high, and I experienced Spiritual Emphasis Week for the first time. I began to wonder if there actually was something to this, and although I didn't make my final decision to follow Christ until much later, this started me on my lifelong walk with God. If this was a novel, I would consider the main character, me, as a very dynamic character. These are just a few examples of how I've changed, learned valuable lessons, matured, and grown throughout my life. I know that the book of my life isn't over yet, and there are still plenty of chapters left for this character to grow, experience new things, and mature even more.
I would hope that I have changed somewhat since I was a baby or a toddler, when I didn't know anything else other than to be selfish. My parents played a huge role in teaching me to be kind, to be compassionate, to care about others, even as a little kid, and their strong faith in Christ was the driving force behind this. As Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
After growing up a little bit, I started to find things out on my own, not just take whatever my parents said as fact. This included mundane things like choosing how late to stay up each night or when to do my homework. But the biggest thing that I wanted to decide on my own was whether or not I really believed in everything my parents, my pastor, and my school said about Jesus Christ and Christianity. I didn't really pay attention to making this decision until junior high, and I experienced Spiritual Emphasis Week for the first time. I began to wonder if there actually was something to this, and although I didn't make my final decision to follow Christ until much later, this started me on my lifelong walk with God. If this was a novel, I would consider the main character, me, as a very dynamic character. These are just a few examples of how I've changed, learned valuable lessons, matured, and grown throughout my life. I know that the book of my life isn't over yet, and there are still plenty of chapters left for this character to grow, experience new things, and mature even more.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
1st Day of Senior Year
My first day of 12th grade left me with mixed emotions. I was mostly happy to be able to see all of my friends again that I hadn't been able to see over the summer, and the fact that we knew it was the beginning of our last year in high school made it very exciting. On the other hand, I knew it would be a pain to get back in the flow of things with the everyday grind of school, and it made me sad to think that this was the last year I would get to spend in school together with the friends that I had known since kindergarten.
In spite of all this, my thoughts were mostly positive coming into this year. I figured I should make the most of every single day, not taking a single moment for granted, since I know that by graduation day, I will look back at this year and be amazed at how quickly it flew by. I have high hopes for this year, and I can't wait for what new memory every school day will bring.
In spite of all this, my thoughts were mostly positive coming into this year. I figured I should make the most of every single day, not taking a single moment for granted, since I know that by graduation day, I will look back at this year and be amazed at how quickly it flew by. I have high hopes for this year, and I can't wait for what new memory every school day will bring.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Earthquake
On February 27th, a massive earthquake struck Chile, killing at least 200 people and causing widespread damage. This comes within a few months of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. That earthquake was less powerful, but killed hundreds of thousands of people. I've heard many people claim that these are signs that we are in the end times. They see this as God punishing a group of people for their sins.
In the case of the Haitian earthquake, a well-known and controversial host of a Christian television show chalked this up as God punishing the Haitians because of the strong witchcraft and demonic activities located in Haiti. Obviously this stirred up a lot of criticism and outrage with the public. I'm not going to say whether he was right or not in making these statements, but it's my opinion that we shouldn't try to figure out why God allows this types of things to happen. Maybe God really was punishing a sinful nation, but how does someone proclaiming that idea and condemning an entire nation help further Christ's Kingdom? This doesn't exactly attract people to the Gospel message. I think some people have a desire to try to figure God out so that us humans can understand Him. But how can mere humans try to perceive the motives of the Almighty God and Creator of the universe? God has His own reasons for allowing something like this to occur. It's not our place to try to figure it out. All we're called to do is pray for the people suffering from this disaster and help them in any way we can.
In the case of the Haitian earthquake, a well-known and controversial host of a Christian television show chalked this up as God punishing the Haitians because of the strong witchcraft and demonic activities located in Haiti. Obviously this stirred up a lot of criticism and outrage with the public. I'm not going to say whether he was right or not in making these statements, but it's my opinion that we shouldn't try to figure out why God allows this types of things to happen. Maybe God really was punishing a sinful nation, but how does someone proclaiming that idea and condemning an entire nation help further Christ's Kingdom? This doesn't exactly attract people to the Gospel message. I think some people have a desire to try to figure God out so that us humans can understand Him. But how can mere humans try to perceive the motives of the Almighty God and Creator of the universe? God has His own reasons for allowing something like this to occur. It's not our place to try to figure it out. All we're called to do is pray for the people suffering from this disaster and help them in any way we can.
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