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Apr 3

I was watching some videos on YouTube by TruthTank.com - and while I dont’ completely agree with some of their beliefs they have a strong heart for God. Some very interesting things on there.

But then I saw a link for a video questioning the very existence of God, and some links to their websites that very much encourage atheists to insult and beat down on any Christian of anyone who believes in God in general, whether its Christian, Mormon, Islamic or any other religion that believes in a god.

There was a forum where they encourage ‘discussion’ on your beliefs, and after reading through (and seeing 90% of the Christians [or even religious people] on there had no clue how to properly debate) I thought I would throw in my hat and see if I could be a reasonable voice. I’m pretty decent at forum debating.

But then my buddy Henrik sent me this verse:

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult. Whoever rebukes a wicked person incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or they will hate you. Rebuke a wise person and they will love you.
Proverbs 9:7-8 [NIV]

And I stopped in my tracks. I look at the verse (he just happened to have it in his clipboard from an earlier response to someone) and I decided: no point. These people are mocking God and the Word. They’re hopeless and have no real point. They’re squashing truly free thought by calling anyone who thinks other than themselves are delusional (yes, they literally said that).

I closed the browser, my heart no longer pounding in what I felt as ‘righteous anger’ and decided to ‘walk away’.

I mentioned how anytime you bring a verse to them from the Bible in response to their insults they would say (hypothetically) “you have no answers to our questions except for another lame answer from an archaic book” and Henrik sagely responded “They have no real answer, they just dig into their hat of unoriginal sarcasm ”

Henrik is smart.

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Date April 3rd, 2008 Filed in Spiritual No Comments »
Mar 6

I’ve been noticing a struggle in my heart and mind as of late. A great battle between being content and being envious.

Envy is pointed out in many placed in scripture as basically the downfall of a human.

“Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.” Job 5:2
“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30
“For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ” Mark 7:21-23

So the Bible doesn’t look kindly on the subject of envy. And it’s not a wonder. When you envy things you grow to hate what you have. If you have a new car, and someone has a nicer one - and you envy that and wish it your own - you grow to be discontent with the nice car you have. Being discontent and wishing you have what Joe Schmoe has is a huge downfall!

Not to sound all Yoda, but envy leads to jealousy. Jealousy leads to hate. Hate leads to anger. It’s a downward spiral from there. Depression. Suffering. Violence.

Rather than being envious of what other have I need to be content with what God has granted me. I may not have the highest paying job - but I have one of the best benefit packages! I may not have the best house - but it has possibility and I can work on it without fear of destroying something! I may not have the best car - but at least I’m not taking the bus to work every day!

Envy is the man slayer. I don’t want to be dead inside because I want something that I don’t have.

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Date March 6th, 2008 Filed in Spiritual 3 Comments »
Jan 30
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will reward you.

Proverbs 25:22-23.

Such a good book. Full of wisdom that even people who are naysayers of the Bible can appreciate.

But have you ever really tried to LIVE verses like these? You have someone in mind, I’m sure, who bugs the crap out of you. Always doing things to trip you up. You greatly dislike them. But here, in Proverbs, it says to be nice to them! EVEN THOUGH THEY SUCK!

But, I’ve learned something from a previous job. There was an employee who always seemed to try and make me look bad, or boss me around or just act like they where better than me. Rather than getting even, I tried my hardest to be nice, do things that would be considerate and just be friendly. It was more of a challenge to God and His Word than anything else.

“Ok God, here is a good opportunity to see if Your Word is correct!” I’m sure I said to myself.

A few months of this past. Not much change. But suddenly, almost out of the blue, we were laughing together! That person was going around to erands with me and defending me against others and being very friendly! I was amazing!

Of course, I didn’t stop being nice - but it shows that hey .. it does work for the most part. Give it a try. It won’t be an over night success - but mostly things that are don’t last anyway.

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Date January 30th, 2008 Filed in Spiritual No Comments »