The Virginia State Flag

State flags, perhaps, should have more meaning as so many across our Republic rise up in support of our long forgotten tenth Amendment. Recently I spent some time in Virginia. Upon taking a tour of the Capitol, I saw the Virginia state flag. I asked the guide what the latin ment, "Sic Semper Tyrannis". Tyrannis obviously tyranny. Semper obviously Always. Sic I came to find out means "Thus".

"Thus Always to Tyrants" is written along the bottom as Lady Virtue stands over the body of King George, whose crown is tossed to the side. Oh that we could be so bold!

As Franken's people disenfranchise our Men (Men, as in men and women. Mankind) in the military by trying to make their votes in the last election not count. As our brave Men suffer and toil to ensure the continuance of Free Peoples throughout the world. As Men throughout our Republic band together to stand up against the evil that is moving. As fools and wicked men move to corrupt freedom. As perverts move to change the meaning of marriage. As weak men move to steal from achievers via the police power of government.

"Thus Always to Tryants."

Just look at this picture and think about it.

This is my aunt and her grandchild. The statues are sitting outside of the Capitol Building in Richmond, Va. The little angel is sitting on the word finance.

What better to represent how our nation, and our children are being sold out for a bad fix?

If you click on the picture it should open to a larger, clearer version.

The Blessing of Barack Obama

I believe that everything that happens in the world is guided by God for the working together of His glory. So I must be consistent. The election of Barack Obama must be a great blessing.

God is glorified when His righteousness shines against wickedness. What is right shines when set against what is wrong. Never in the short history of my life have I seen Americans begin to rise up as they are now. It seems like I was born into a sleeping country. Our great nation has risen to the great challenges that have faced it. The threat of the Third Reich. Imperial Japan. The Tyranny of Monarch Britain. The aid of dozens of other free nations.

We've made mistakes. Allowing the War on Freedom and Decency wrought by amoral and foolish men and movements to persist. We have follied in becoming arrogant in believing our freedom could be sustained without our vigilance. We, in the name of tolerance, have allow the wicked to dictate what our inalienable rights our. We have allowed our Constitution to become defaced and spat upon by law after law that violated the legal course of our branches of Government.

This is why I am pointing everyone who cares about the future of our nation to the following site.

The 9-12 Project


I believe it is our duty to no longer remain quiet while our nation is corrupted by foolishness, depravity, and irresponsibility.

Please go to the site Meetup/WeSurroundThem. and find those in your area who are standing up.

I pray Wisdom, Justice, and Kindness would be your gift from Heaven. Peace.

What Kind of Man Are You?

I am currently reading through Thomas Paine's Common Sense. It is my hope to read the plethora of material written by our Founding Fathers. I am collecting reliable copies that I hope to understand thoroughly.

While traversing the pages of Common Sense I ran across the upcoming quote. To put it into context, the section of the book is discussing whether or not there could have been reconciliation with Britain. The conclusion given was in the negative. It was established that the government of Britain could not properly govern, nor was it in their interest to properly govern. The toll of taxes being taken out of America was more than could be tolerated.

The obviousness of the lack of Justice in the rule of Britain over the Colonies struck at the heart of those who loved Justice. Despite this, not every American wished for self-government. The following is a simple list of the traits of the men who wish for reconciliation. I wish to parallel this list to those who wish to re-form our Republic into something more European;

"Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offense, yet I am inclined to believe, that all those who espouse the doctrine of reconciliation, may be included within the following descriptions. Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men, who cannot see; prejudiced men, who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men, who think it better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this continent, than all the other three." Common Sense Thomas Paine

Interested Men. Not to be trusted. Could these not be people who have learned to suck on the public teet? Could these not be those who have a vested interest in the government spending money in a certain way as to profit that individual or a group they either represent or are a part of?

If we are to move into the future preoccupied with our current wealth, while forgetting the need for a firm foundation for the future, then we are all interested men.

These kind of men could best be illustrated in current trends of business. A certain CEO may take certain steps to make the appearance of profits shoot up at record rates. His pockets and golden parachute get lined. The natural and systemic result of this is the lack of foundation for future solvency.

People are doing this, as I write, to our Republic. Instead of securing the freedom and security of this country, people are wanting to shove money at social problems that ought to find resolution in the virtue and charity and resolve of the people, not the foolish reallocation of wealth from one segment of society to the other.


Weak Men. They cannot see. There are people who think the current path this nation is on is wonderful. The strides being made away from the environment that encourages personal development to one that encourages perversity and sloth and slovenly attitudes are most disturbing. Some lack the fortitude to see not only where we are going, but where we are coming from. They lack the strength and will to endure hard times now in order to set an even firmer foundation for the future. These men have the inability to reason from any foundation.

These men could be illustrated by a man who wants a relationship with a woman who is clearly not good for him. She doesn't pay her bills. She is emotionally unstable. She is gluttonous, prideful, slothful, and selfish at every turn. But he wants love and is willing to sacrifice his own future just to have someone who says they love him.


Prejudiced Men. They will not see. These men have already decided that their knowledge and wisdom and preference ought to dictate the future of the Republic. Though they can reason, they only do so from faulty foundations. The future is forsaken for the now. The desire to offend none has forced them to offend the stability of the future and the past. They have the mind to see Reason, but their heart blinds them to it.

This trait of prejudiced-ness can be seen in demagogues. If someone is finding solace in being an adherent to a class of ideas they can give neither a reason nor a defense for, they have already ceased their struggle for betterment. It can be seen in a wife who is beat daily but find comfort in that her husband loves her enough to beat her. She want more than anything to find her identity and moral code in the marriage that she doesn't care if it kills her. No other foundation or form of rationality can convince her that the relationship is bad because it is all-important to defend that marriage.

Moderate Men. The cause of the most calamity. Seeking to get along at all costs, though their Foundation may be firm, and their Reason consistent, their hearts mirror the Prejudiced Man. They are capable of seeing and even acknowledging the way things should be, but they lack the Virtue to seek out these things.

I am surrounded by moderate men. Honestly, I feel bound to respect the others more than Moderate Men. Peace at any cost is not a philosophy that has served any nation. The fear of offending another person, another group of people, or another nation is noble at its core, but rotten when it overruns other virtues. When moderation takes over Justice and Charity it is the most rotten of options.

Moderate men worship nothing more than their peace with others. They are cowardly and think so little of Truth that their only truth is how they relate to others. They hold onto vapor and claim it as the ultimate paradigm.

Let us neither be weak nor prejudice nor interested nor moderate. Let us be strong in striving for what is best not only for us, but for posterity. Let us be discerning of all proposals and notions by Wisdom and by Reason. Let us not be beholden to inclinations that strip us of Reason and Foundation; neither confusing inclination with Foundation, nor Reason with the burden of emotional preference.
Let us be brave, not willing to steal from the future. Not willing remove the blindfold from Justice. Not willing to remove from our own hearts the determination to be better people seeking a better world, not by tyrannical government but by the challenging of ourselves by Truth through Reason and consistency.

Declaration

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government"

Governments, our government, is instituted to preserve these rights. That is a foundation of the frame of our government. It seems so simple, and almost impossible to screw up. I look at the apathy of the people of our country, so willing to sell our freedom for a false security, and I mourn. I look at the current course our leaders are leading us down and I am angered. Slowly but surely anger is winning out over the mourning process. How long, O America, can we continue to betray the blood of our forefathers and the wisdom of ages?

How hard is it, truly, to stand by this principle and see that this single precept ought to bind the consciences of our elected and appointed officials? How foolish can we be to follow so blindly someone because they sound good or tell us they will give us what we want.

Let us want Freedom!
Let us want Virtue!
Let us demand Justice and a hard return to our Republic!

We need to wake up

Dear American Public Part One

Dear American Public,

I come to you as a child of this great nation. My ancestors plowed the fields of Western Pennsylvania. They forged with much toil and sweat the steel that has build this country’s infrastructure. They have fought on foreign lands to preserve freedom and what is good. They have worked sun up and sun down to provide for their families. I am a Son of the American Revolution the revolution that gave birth to the greatest nation to ever grace the face of this earth.

Never has any nation in the history of the world done more for its own people. And not that it has done so by fiat of some bureaucrat, or the elected official seeking all that tempts men (glory, power, and indulgence), but by a mind set arising out of Christian charity (love that gives not to curry favor with the divine, or seek some cosmic karmic balance). Never has a nation fought as fervently to afford the peoples of other nations the same freedoms to embrace good or pursue their own paths. Our patriots have bled not for the sake only of their families, which itself is nobility of the highest order, but also for the families of the world. Never has any country generated such wealth and power and not used it solely for personal security and gain.

All of the most virtuous people and warriors of history can be summed up and embodied in what this nation was founded on and thrived on for over two centuries. The willingness of the warriors of ancient Sparta to find power in their death for family and country. The dedication and resolve to die for what is necessary of the samurai of Japan has been spelled out in the blood of the greatest generation on the shores of Europe. The best of the world’s warriors throughout history is seen most clear in those who fight even as I write this letter to you.

More than mere notion, the Founding Fathers fought and wrestled with ideas that would form the everyday lives of their descendants. They did not conceive to establish their bloodlines as the nation’s aristocracy. In highest form, they established a government of rules that are not to be moved lightly. They established a form of government that favored only those who were willing to sweat and to grow in mind and character. They did not do so calloused, thinking more highly of themselves than ought to have. Instead, they surveyed what they were seeking deliverance from. They consulted the wisdom of the ages. The conviction of ancient Israel that there should be a place where righteous people could find haven in a lawful land founded the bedrock of the house they were to build. The idealizations of Plato guided them to a Republic. The errors and corruptions of European feudalism tempered where power would lay. The intolerance of selfish men guided them to a freedom of religion for people. Reason itself taught them to not gravitate towards a confusion of rights, but of basic rights endowed by our Creator.

So in Reason and Charity and Blood we have been blessed in order to bless the world. It is light of a love of this reality that I now wish to bring shame upon the hearts of Americans who would forget this past. Those who would see the placenta left of the old world upon the growing body of American Nobility as a reason to discount that same nobility are ignorant and fools. They see bark on a tree and assume it un-nutritious while not seeing the ripe fruit that hangs before their noses. They see the worms eating of the fruit and assume the parasite must be born out of the substance of the tree itself. In utter foolishness they attempt to cut down the tree.

Any with a foundation from which Reason can accomplish anything other than the fulfillment of selfish desire can see basic truths. Stealing is wrong. Life is precious. Lest chaos reign and all freedom fall to the waste side, a certain form of government is necessary. Anarchists cannot see the wickedness of all mankind, but only of all those who would impede their desires.

At the current time the Children of Marx rise even while the violent Children of Mohammed ravage. This is a time when those who love the heritage of this nation, and even for those who love what is good, to rise out of their slumber allowed for a brief time by the blood of their Patriots. Anger is not sin when it is righteous. Let us rise up in righteous anger. Let us no longer see the world as it ought to be, but let us act as if the world could be the way it ought to be, importantly in the consistence of that, in order to show it what it could be. Marx communicates that it is acceptable to steal from one man and give to another if it is under the auspices of a benevolent government. Our Founding Fathers say that it is not acceptable, but that if government is maintaining justice then it is in face Just. This in that no man who is depriving another man of his property through theft or fraud ought to be able to stand in a Court of Law. Every social program that rises out of a stealing government is wealth redistribution on account of fraud. At bottom, a communist nation is not stealing using fraud, but out-right thievery. Those who would steal using the policing power of the government to acquire power are worse than Marx himself, in that they are lying either in maliciousness or ignorance as to the beginnings and ends of their intent. Marx is a reaction to an evil in the world. But because Marx has no solid foundation, he arrives where he justifies removing one evil with another evil. Thievery for thievery. And just as the anarchists, it is a matter of removing one wickedness that impedes its own wickedness. This is the Enemy that is ravaging the greatness once wrought; the Children of Marx have begun their spoil of the Children of the American Revolution.

Those who arise in ignorance on the wrong side are what historic Marxist leaders call “Useful Idiots”. The greatest of the Sons of the American Revolution sought not to enlist the help of the ignorant, but enlisted the help of Reason and Education in order to rally those who would support the perpetuation of their cause. Those with a consistent Foundation and a persistent Reason find themselves arriving in support of this Great Heritage. If one is to resign himself to demagoguery and platitudes then it is best that he not partake in the course of human events, but rather relegate himself to attempting to establish a personal course that will lead to the benefit of those he loves. Dupes who would be stirred by melodic petitions of foolish leaders ought to find the virtue of ears that do not hear things that call on selfish desire.

Concurrently, those who would seek appeasement of the violent Children of Mohammed ought to seek wisdom in the annals of history. Those who are compelled by reason which rests upon unstable or twisted foundations can never be reasoned with. Reserving whether or not it was the intent of Mohammed to establish a violent religion, or if it is consistent with that religion, to another discussion, it is important to focus more on the problem which is before us. Those who would use violent means to establish their invasion of another sovereign nation ought to never be tolerated. It is the right of a nation to secure its borders and its laws. It is the duty of a nation to secure its people and its laws. It is the moral obligation, if within its capacity, of one nation who has a fellowship with another nation to come to the aid of those who would be under attack by an enemy group.

The people of the world have been pillaged and violated by the violent Children of Mohammed. Those who would harbor these violent children find themselves in a difficult position; of this there is no doubt. Nevertheless, those who harbor find themselves in the path of Justice. Justice, being blind, cannot see those who willingly place themselves in the path of Justice’s wrath. While prudence must always balance Justice’s hand, discernment cannot be confused with indecision. We cannot be indecisive as the Children. There is a time of sober debate, and there is a time for the execution of the decision. We cannot aid those who willingly give into the violence of the Children of Mohammed. We cannot stay our hand at the aid of those who would resist this violence.

Part Two coming soon.

My topknot is a cross

Watch this video and think about what it must have been like for this young samurai to have his topknot cut off by those in 'authority'.

The topknot was the symbol of the life willing to meet death in the name of the good of its fellow countrymen. While undoubtedly pride found its way into many a heart, there is a sort of raping that occurs here.

Watch the video, then read below.






There has been a raping of that which has not only held our nation (The United States of America) together, but moreso what has made it great.

In the name of tolerance and respectfulness, those who have lived to preserve this great nation, and those who have died, have sat by while the enemies rose from within.

Now those who support what is wicked in this world have lifted up those who embody the white washed image of socialism, and the enable-ment and exaltation of all that is wicked.

Here is the modern day equivalent of that top knot being cut off.



My hope being that those who would seek both for America to be great, and to be good would be inspired. I pray the end of the goodness and the greatness of this nation (bought in the Providence of the Almighty, and the blood of many patriots) would not come as we continue on in blindness. But that in much prayer we would seek the blessings of the unique combination of freedom and goodness affords.

Also, this should inspire us to not only honesty, kindness, and justice, but firmness in resolve to restore to this people the Republic once given us by men the likes the world has sparsely seen this century.

P.S. Another situation.

Dear Ben,

Dear Mr. Franklin,

Today I grieve the loss of our Republic. A woman once asked you, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" This, at the infancy of our great nation. And your reply was, "A republic, if you can keep it." I celebrate that our fathers, and your idealistic children, kept the Republic for two hundred years. Now I grieve at the loss of your toil.

We have been caught up in a movement that has caught mankind in its most carnal. We have moved in reaction, and ignored action. We have moved away from shadows of evil and found ourselves in the midst of wolves. We have sold our souls and the blood of two hundred years of patriots for a sense and empty promise of financial security and vacuous change.

I fear that if you were to walk about this nation, from sea to shining sea, that you would not recognize either the quality of people that comes out of a great Republic, nor the government that was meant to protect freedom that is moving inexorably towards the antithesis of freedom and responsibility. You said, "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." We have no longer a tyranny of an individual king, but a tyranny of democracy.

I remind you of what Mr. Jefferson wrote, "“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.”

Also, of another Father, ""A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can exist only until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, always to be followed by a dictatorship."

From time to time the American people have acting in the inspiration of wisdom and virtue. Now we have sold the soul of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence for the hope of an unnamed, undefined Change. It is deplorable that so many think change for the sake of change is worth anything. Like a child playing in the streets for something new, we are bound to become a smear on the earth because we needed something different regardless the cost. We have crept this way for years since Hoover and FDR. Though some have fought the tide, as a man standing before a train yelling stop before it falls off a cliff, the time is swiftly approaching when that which made this country grand shall fade away and that which is detestable to those who love freedom and goodness shall rise from the ashes.

No longer shall the sweat of one's brow, the love of those around him, and the security of living in the greatest and freest nation be enough for those of this country, nay has it been for a while. But we have taken it upon ourselves to trust others to do what is best for us. We have taken to trusting government to accrue our wealth and security. We have taken money from those whose calluses bleed, and bodies did bleed to give it to those who did not deserve it, and to continue to rescue oppressed peoples in the world who do not desire saving.

I do pray to the Almighty that we would learn from the wisdom He did hand down to you and our other Fathers. I pray that we would turn from the decline before us. I pray that the might Judge would turn His mercies upon us once more and raise up those who would not betray what is good for what is convenient.

To you and those who bled and lost their lives to grant us this Republic, I beg your forgiveness.

May we learn from your wisdom,

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.
Benjamin Franklin, On the Price of Corn and Management of the Poor, November 1766

On Sifting

I have sifted through wheat and chaff; the origin, consistency, and fruit of ideas philosophies and notions. All that is good come from, or is found in its full form, in the spirituality of Christian Scripture.

It is not carnal, though its implications and applications stretch down into the material world and give rhythm and purpose, flavor and substance, to the stream life is embodied in.

It is not psychic, though its form and its power arrange in harmony with rationality and logic: emotion, fulfillment in and through meaning-purpose, intellectual stimulation. It provides both immovable foundation and dynamic spark; that which cycles life in all living things. Philosophic first cause is revealed. Logic finds its foothold free of shifting and humanistic presupposition so prone to the ebb and flow of its nature.

It is more than transcendent. It binds personal and unknowable, just as quantum theory and classic physics combine chaos and order by unknown means.

On Giving Up

My father told me, after I told him about my depression in years past, that he’d found in no religion is suicide considered acceptable. Save the Stoics, and then only in the most specific of situations, I have also found this to be true. The consternation comes into being when you don’t believe in a nebulous form of spirituality. How does Christianity, specifically the God of the bible, approach this subject?

Catholic dogma does not dictate what Scriptural teaching means. Nor does any other tradition of man. God speaks for Himself. So there are certain truths that Scripture does hold that may guide an individual into an understanding of God’s perspective on suicide.

Before I get into that, I believe it would behoove the situation to explain some of the things I have been feeling and thinking. The best description of this comes from a movie trailer that has recently been released. Towards the end of the superhero movie trailer The Watchmen the following is said, “The world will look up and shout save us. And I will whisper no.” We beg for man’s salvation and never stopped to ask if he is worthy of it.

While it has been years since I struggled with thoughts of ending my own life. The struggle recently has been all the more sinister though. It has been to give up on humanity. It can be so tiring and frustrating when it seems like you keep proclaiming the truth and so many people just ignore what you are saying. How long can you stand in front of a train barreling on before you get run over? How many times can you all your heart to be treated as a door mat?

This is where the doctrine of man’s depravity can begin to give a glimmer of hope for the heart that has begun to feel hopeless. The fact that man cannot save himself is part of the foundation that can allow a man who has become disaffection with mankind gain a Godly perspective. Only God is able to save and man cannot save himself. Salvation is God reaching into a heart of stone and turning it to a heart of flesh. That is the nature of biblical Christianity. Of course man is wicked. Of course man is deaf. That is his nature. He is unworthy of salvation. So much greater is the salvation God offers.

The biblical teaching on the eternality of that salvation is also clear. He shall never leave nor forsake His elect. Nothing, life nor death nor man nor angel, can separate God’s chosen from His love. God’s character is that of faithfulness to those He has called. That is the breadth of His love. The depth is that He saved those who did not want Him. The saints shall persevere.

If our spirituality is God-centered, then we have no reason to abandon fellowship. If our spirituality is based of God’s good nature and not man’s then we have no reason to forsake those who God has claimed. We love them not for what they can do for us, but for what God has done for them.

We are commanded to continue in fellowship. We are commanded to love God and man. We are commanded to go into all the nations and proclaim the gospel, baptize, and disciple. Giving up is never an option. Seclusion has its place, but Christianity has not place for life long monks. Patience was never meant to exist with apathy, nor with complacency.

One last thought of suicide. God commands us not to commit murder. That is simple. Yet time and time again we are asked to give our lives up in many different fashions. Some in war (David’s best friend Jonathan). Some to proclaim the gospel (all but one of the apostles. So much for prosperity theology.) But never is it in self interest. Perhaps Saul’s suicide was out of self interest, but he had shown himself selfish time and time again. God rained down judgment for that. Murder is wrong. Suicide is wrong. (We will leave whether or not killing another in war is murder or not to another time.) It is admirable in no society. It is deplorable to God and man alike. Though, for a Christian it cannot change his eternal destiny.

LIfe.

LIfe in general.

Working in a brick factory is hard. My hands feel like someone implanted steel rods along each joint, trying to keep me from closing my hands. I'm working ten hour evenings until the weekend. 230-1230. But, I get a three day weekend.

It sure seems like God is opening two separate paths for me. The one is, I believe where my heart would be the most prone to following. To be a peacemaker. Probably spend the nest three months getting into shape. Join the army. Work on my Russian and maybe German. Get a degree in Psychology and maybe International Relations. It'd be one hell of a hard and harsh road. The second is what seems to be opening is business. It would be relatively easy to take my credits and take business classes and get a degree relatively easily. Within a year or two I could be using my word-craft to work on contracts or some such thing. I'm certain I could get a well paying job at the latter. The first is likely to be hard. I could likely be taking the martial arts classes I want within two years (Japanese Sword Training) with the later. The first would likely put such a thing on hold. I don't know what God wants of me.

I starting reading the Forgotten Trinity by Dr. James R. White. Awesome book. He states at the beginning of the book that it is not necessarily gauged as a apologetic book, though it does in one way or another serve that purpose. He states that his desire is to show people the love he has for the Trinity and to share that passion with those who wish to love God for who He is, not the way we would have him be. It's an amazing book so far. He begins by exploring the fact that God is otherly, or Holy. He proceeds in an exegesis of the prologue of John. Amazing.

My mother is nuts and my dad's getting old. Both make me sad.

I was hoping to get to Fl this weekend. That's not going to happen. That sucks.I miss my friends. And my books.

Sigh. Shall I surrender? Shall I live? Where, oh where, is my heart? Where, oh where, is my Father calling me?

Funny Video Blog on Racism

I love this thing.

My Dilemme

So, my heart is full of the dilemma-ness. First, my path in life. Without question I am where God has placed me, a thousand miles north of most of the people I love. That's fine. But it feels like I am being tested in a way that really makes me question whether the path I feel called to is what God really wants for me, or if it is just me wanting to do what I want to do.

I moved home because I never properly honored my father. He is definitely trying to convince me to take classes on electric or something practical. I feel like if I start going down that path is will take me farther away from the path I think I'm supposed to be going down. So I am torn between obeying God in honoring my father, and pursuing something I'm not sure if it is God's will or not.

Frustrating.



The second dilemma. Martial arts training. There's a school about 15 minutes from my house. That's great. The problem is that the way they go about reacting to a situation of physical confrontation is completely different from the year of Shotokan training I have. I love Shototkan. The feel fits me. This new school is more of a mish-mash of a few different styles. So the question is do I travel twice as far to find a good Shotokan school, or go to this place? This place is good. The teacher seems really well trained and knows what he is doing. In addition to this, my heart is on learning the Japanese sword. All of those classes are an hour away. So much frustration.

A Man's Faith Pt. One

It is comfortable to let others lead. I think many situations need leadership. Scripture tells us that it is right,in various ways and commands,to submit to leadership. But what are the bounds of that submission?

A Christian cannot go so far as to give up there own vigorous pursuit of spiritual things. We can share each others burdens. This is a clear command of Scripture.

"Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves..." Romans 12:10-19

This is a beautiful part of what Christ brought. Christians are brothers in more than some nebulous spiritual way. Love it meant to work its way down into the crevasses of our everyday life. Material possession is mean to be nothing to a Christian. A deadened sense of materialism and a quickened sense of brotherly love are perfect companions. The only trouble is that a Christian can sometimes get wrapped not only in the pride of being a teacher or elder, but complimentarily in the position of a learner.

People are supposed to be learners, or disciples. Of this there is no doubt. But there is a chasm we often cross because it is more comfortable for us on the one side than the other. One side if fraught with danger, the other with safety. On the one side of the chasm there is the submission of one's spiritual life to a spiritual leader. A pastor, a discipler, and elder more experienced Christian is the perfect candidate for this position of exaltation. Yet, how unfair is that?

To lay one's spiritual growth on another human being is a lazy thing to do indeed. Yes, children need to be led and nurtured. Yes, there is a place and a gift of teachers within a body of believers. Concurrent with this, and a grand balance indeed , is what I now present to you.


"They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Matt 23:5-12

I am deeply grateful to God for the books of A.W. Tozer. In the introduction to one of his books he spoke of himself as a sign. He said that he was not the standard, but wished only to be a sign along the way pointing to God. I have begun through many trials to see the compulsion God puts in His children to seek Him. We can drench His fire in apathy and sooth our itching ears with as many teachers as we'd like. But until we see those God graces us with as teachers as signposts instead of pinnacles of spiritual success we may just be bound to only drinking the milk of their relationship with God, instead of being moved by the Fire that forged worlds.

Decisionism

Instead of declaring God as Lord, and the Bible as His word, some Christian gatherings try and put social pressure and make salvation a thing to just 'be accepted'.

Watch this video and tell me if this looks eerily similar to Christian youth confessions.

Today is a day.

So here I am. I am sitting in Starbucks writing on a blog no one is probably going to read. I am all right with that. I think I'm doing this more for me than anyone else. So there.

My life is kind of mediocre right now. I almost feel like I am in a purgatory right now. Even though I don't believe in purgatory.

I'm working 230-1030 this week. Next week I'm working 1030-630am. Ewh! But it may allow me to get out and see my Beller a few hours earlier. So that would be nice.

Various

" If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he can not imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

C.S. Lewis


From Chivalry by Leon Gautier

I. Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, and shalt observe all its directions.
II. Thou shalt defend the Church.
III. Thou shalt repect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them.
IV. Thou shalt love the country in the which thou wast born.
V. Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
VI. Thou shalt make war against the Infidel without cessation, and without mercy.
VII. Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of God.
VIII. Thou shalt never lie, and shall remain faithful to thy pledged word.
IX. Thou shalt be generous, and give largess to everyone.
X. Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

Older Blog

Friday, December 07, 2007

Bamb Yesterday I was walking through the mall. I was searching for this little celtic nativity scene I saw in the card shop last year. So I meandor in. Look everywhere. It's nowhere to be found. I have this absent look on my face. I can feel it. The lady behind the counter sees it too and asks me if I need any help. I tell her. She's says, "I know what you're talking about. Yeah. We didn't get that one in this year." So my quaint idea of this adition to the alter in my room was gone. Walking out, I see the 'long-haired hippie'. We talk for a while. He was looking at something for his boy for Christmas. So I left. Then it happened. I was caught. One of those island people in the mall caught me. I was struck by her unmistakably Hebrew accent. Also, I've always been a sucker for dark, straight black hair. She had both; the proverbial one-two punch. Proper mall knowledge dictates that if you value time and wallet that you avoid these people. The siding and gutter people are easy enough. "I don't own a house," and suddenly you are the least important person in the world. This time it was different. "I'm sure you have an important lady in your life." "No," was all I could say. All I could think of was relationship girls. Understandable in the face of ethnic beauty. "A mom? Sister?" Oh year. I'd kinda forgotten about them. Dang it. I looked as a dumb ox. She knew it. She sunk her fangs in. She asked for my had. Hers was soft; undoubtably from her countless dealings with the special lotion imported from Israel. She struggles to say Pennsylvania, just as I now struggle to spell it. It was to die for. Literally. If I'd died at that moment it would have not been devoid of a smile. She can see me looking away. I'm doing it because I'm weak right now. "I can see your uncomfortable." No. I'm too comfortable to be comfortable. The block she gives me is apparently a sander. She goes to town on my thumb. I'm putty in the soft yet assertive hands. My thumbnail, twenty-four hours later, is remarkedly shiny. It was made so in a matter of seconds. I know I need to go at this point. So I agree to buy one. She's taken aback that I'm ready even though I haven't seen her whole presentation, but she concedes. As she begins to tap on the touch screen register, a sure reason to notice I'm probably being heavily over charged, she whispers. She says it's Chanukkah, and they being a Jewish company, have a deal. My only thought, crap. Buy two more and get two others free. I grimace on the inside. I can say no to this. She whispers even softer, "Tell you what. Buy one more, and I'll give you another free. I'm whispering so he," motioning to I believe her older brother, "doesn't hear." So I ask how much. Eighty dollars. Here I am spending 80$ on hand lotion and nail files. Before I leave she gives me the rest of her presentation. Shows me how to clean the block and such. I finally gain my freedom, but at what cost?

Watching Girls Gone Wild

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Why I watch GirlsGoneWild So, there I was. Four O'clock in the morning. I am awakened by the arrival of a text message. In the course of all thoughts that early in the morning, it is an oddity to awaken. Rolling back over the retrieve a now lost dream state is one of the most tempting actions in the experience of life. Something in me sparked my days energy in that moment. So there I was, driven to no longer sleep. There I was. So, what are the courses of action that may be embarked upon? Continued respite? Bathroom? Snack? Tv? I choose T.v. A certain network consisting of an appropriate level of cartoons is always appealing. Late at night they show the stuff they don't want to show children. Abstract and sometime loose morals can be communicated on these shows. It is sometimes best that they are not on during the hours young people are supposed to be asleep. So I make my way into the study. T.v. turns on as I finish a reply on my phone. Astro boy is on. What a wonderfully simplistic cartoon created some time ago. Contrary to my normal state of mind, the show is not appealing to me. So I surf. What is on but man's favourite form of debauchery; Girls Gone Wild. It is at this point I would suggest any guy who ever sees this program throw a brick through his television at the first sign of the temptation to watch. The commercials are tantamount to pornography in and of themselves. So, I pause. This would be the second time I paused. I was quickly convicted and ran to change the channel. I found a show on MSNBC where they were interviewing murders. The sickest of the sick of mankind. It rang in my heart of deja vu. And it wasn't just that I've seen the infomercial before. I realized something. The same human cravings gone amiss that cause one to murder are of the same ilk as that which causes one to participate in the fleshly parties. A lack for a truer and transcendant law guides one into seeing only what may feel good. Into craving something that would either take away certain hurt. The hurt created by seeing the world for other than it is, and seeing history and future for other than they are. Without salvation, one may as well eat and drink and be merry. They have said in there heart, "There is no God" I mentioned that I'd seen it previously. Then also was there a a counterbalance to the commercial. It was an add to send money to starving children in Africa. Opposite offers. I wonder which stirred the heart more of others who were up that early being fed by the cable lines.