WTF

A lot of the times, the Bible sounds like a load of jibberish to me, especially the Old Testament. For instance, in Genesis ch. 5, you can find a list of names: Adam, Sethkenan, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methusalah, Lamesh, Noah. If anyone, including me, were to read this list in the Bible, they would most likely skim through the names and move on to the next chapter, however, I have leaned that there is a reason to everything in the Bible.
If you look at the meanings of the names this is what it looks like:

• Adam~ MAN
• Seth~ APPOINTED
• Enosh~ MORTAL
• Kenan~ SORROW
• Mahalalel~ THE BLESSED GOD
• Jared~ SHALL COME DOWN
• Enoch~ PREACHING
• Methusalah~ HIS DEATH SHALL BRING
• Lamesh~ THE DISPAIRING
• Noah~ REST

This still doesn't look like anything, so let's add a couple words and a punctuation mark to the meanings.

• Adam~ MAN (was)
• Seth~ APPOINTED (for)
• Enosh~ MORTAL
• Kenan~ SORROW (, but)
• Mahalalel~ THE BLESSED GOD
• Jared~ SHALL COME DOWN
• Enoch~ PREACHING (that)
• Methusalah~ HIS DEATH SHALL BRING
• Lamesh~ THE DISPAIRING
• Noah~ REST

And there you have it: one of the first prophesies of Jesus' birth and death.

I had a Dream

Last night I had a very odd dream. It was one of those dreams where it leaves you confused and wondering. It might have just been due to my recent fatigue, but this dream is one I shall never forget for a long time.

In this dream, I was at church.

At Young Nak, there was a party

Now, at this party, I met this girl. We started talking, and it eventually carried on for quite a while.

What left me confused was that I kissed this girl, and I liked her.

Who was this girl?

December

I'm really going to hate December. I just have so much work piled on me I feel like I'm gonna go crazy. For some unbeknown reason, every single teacher, except for my band teacher (thank God for band class), decided to assign some kind of project or essay or reading assignment all at the end of December. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! There is something fishy about this and I plan on getting to the bottom of this. Isn't there at least one sensible teacher out there who is willing to sympathize with the pain that we are about to go through? Anyone?...

L for Love

Teenagers have this insatiable desire to date these days.

Maybe insatiable is too strong of a word, but there's a big trend growing these days: I find that more and more teenagers are dating these days. I am not saying that this is a bad thing. I have no problem with people dating the opposite sex. I am just stating what I see.

But the bigger question is "why"? Why is the population of dating teenagers ever increasing? Some say that it's because of peer pressure. Some say that they want to look "cool." Others simply say that hormones are the cause. Here's what I say. I don't have a PhD or doctorates in psychology or biology, but there is one thing I do know for a fact. Humans, everyone, have a craving for intimacy.

If I could say something that would be true for everyone, it would be that everyone has had the desire to be loved or give love. We have been built to love just as our heavenly Father does.Without love we are nothing. We don't function correctly when we do not love. I have seen people who have rejected love and have closed their hearts to others. Honestly, it was not a pretty sight. Sometimes, it scares me, but that's besides the point. 

I find that the problem with love is that it can easily be manipulated. If I said, "___name___, I love you so much" with the most sincere and honest tone, "name" would probably open their heart to me (that's so cute right?). Well, that's how easy it is. With one sentence, anyone can get into your heart and do anything I want with it. With one sentence, I have the potential to break you. Maybe I'm over-exaggerating. There would obviously be conditions that would have to be met before that could actually take place. I would obviously need to have some sort of relationship with "name."

This is why we need to be careful with love. Love a is highly sensitive topic. I believe that teens should not go into dating without firmly learning the dangers of love. You don't date because it is popular. Love is worth more than that.

Faith

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it? The same with people. For years I would have said that I had perfect confidence in B.R. Then came the moment when I had to decide whether I would or would not trust him with a really important secret. That threw quite a new light on what I called my 'confidence' in him. I discovered that there was no such thing. Only a real risk tests that reality of a belief.

Stuck

So today, I tried writing my UC Prompt 1 essay. I wrote about 1 1/2 paragraphs and then... BAM. I suddenly did not know what to write. I sat at my computer for around 30 minutes, gave up, watched t.v. to try to arouse some inspiration, came back to my computer, and continued this cycle for about 4 hours. I have not written a single sentence since. I honestly don't know what is wrong with me. It's driving me crazy. I know what my theme is, but I just can't think of the right words to type. I'm so worried now. If I continue this cycle, I'm not sure if I'm going to finish my essays in time. I feel like my brain is fried. Maybe I just need some sleep. By tomorrow, maybe I'll be able to think of something to write.

Christian Schlock

Christians have a strange tendency to try to baptize everything mundane and make it "Christian."

What if I told you I was my dream to open up a Christian coffee shop? "Jesus Java" I'd call it.
At Jesus Java, you'd be able to get Christian coffee: Salvation Sumatra, Anointed Arabica, and Faithful French Roast. You could get your favorite espresso drinks as well: Mind-of-Christ Mochas, Love-Your-Neighbor Lattes, and, if you weren't in the mood for coffee, you could always try our Charity Chai.
We'd also have our own line of Prayerful Pastries: Bible Bearclaws, Sin-free Cinnamon Rolls, Crucifixion Croissants and Doubting Thomas Donuts- just stick your finger through the hole and believe.
And for those prone to spilling, all of our coffee cups would be printed with "WARNING: NOT AS HOT AS THE LAKE OF FIRE, BUT PRETTY CLOSE."

Christians have a strange tendency to try to baptize everything mundane and make it "Christian." The impulse makes sense to a degree, bit it's ridiculous to a greater degree. Does stamping John 3:16 on a toothbrush make it a Christian toothbrush?
Granted, some of it is cute, innocent and possibly sweet, but there is also a real danger here.
Through this, we ghettoize Christianity. If the world's got something, we've got our own little version tailored perfectly for our cultural subgroup. So the answer is no. Printing John 3:16 on a product does not automatically make it good. By doing this, we produce little of merit and contribute zilch to the greater culture, and our influence- already whittled down to insignificance- dwindles further.