Ok so I got all the political junk flushed out of my system during the last few months and I'm back with some fresh thoughts. Today I read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It's a wonderful (and wonderfully short) book that everyone needs to read it at least once. While the book's main point is about what happens with the lack of intellectualism, there is one point that I feel may have been overlooked. It came hard and blunt to me as I read through; at one point in the book the main characters wife has some guests over and he asks them to just chat (which is a rare thing in the book), one of the ladies starts to talk about her husband being sent off to war. She comments on how she's not worried about him and the main character's wife responds: "It's always someone else's husband dies, they say." I thought to myself as I read this how sad it is that this phrase is still relevant today and how prevalent the "someone else" society is. You hear it all the time; "someone else's kids wrecked and got killed","someone else's husband jump off a building today" everyone thinks of everyone else as someone else (confusing I know but I'm headed somewhere with this one). Our society is being depersonalized and dissocialized at every turn. We often forget that this someone else we hear of is someone just like us, and if we're not careful we lose contact with society and ourselves. We're all comfortable while someone else is going off to fight wars or someone else is grieving over a lost loved one but when we replace someone else with someone it becomes much more personal. Someone can be anyone even yourself.

I can believe I'm actually posting this but here goes. Before I start in I want to make sure that everyone knows exactly where I stand. I am against abortion 100%, I believe life starts at conception, and I believe abortion is taking an innocent life. However I do not think that we can outlaw it just yet. Yes we could all write our congressman and tell him to make a bill banning abortion. Yes all of us who do not support abortion could sign a petition and give it to washington and get them to pass a bill, but I still don't think we could get enough signatures. So here's my suggestion, don't do anything about outlawing abortion; instead offer an alternative to it.

Here's my humble suggestion: We simply increase the incentive to keep the baby. I know when you read incentive you think of money but it doesn't always have to be that. Incentive could be education; educate the mother on the dangers of abortion and also the joys of having a child. We could also up tax breaks for single mothers trying to raise a child by themselves. We shouldn't stop at the mother though. When could give more funding to foster homes and a adoptive parents. We could also educate the general public about adoption (which is a great option for couples that cannot have children). 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient). If we make it more convenient maybe they will keep the child (I'm not an idiot here I know no matter how convenient you make it but maybe we can up the percentage of people who keep the child).


Doing all this will push the number of abortions happening per year down. Once we get the numbers down to a negligible amount it will be a lot easier to pass a law to completely ban abortion. This is just an idea I am throwing on the table but it's better than wasting all our effort on bumper-stickers and protests that produce no results.

Well I just got back from Winter Youth Convention and all I have to say is "WOW!". I went and I was normal but I came out changed. I am no long satisfied with the status quo but I long for the extraordinary. I came out with the feeling that there is nothing that I can’t do, no wall that I can’t jump over, and no obstacle that can stand in my path. For the last 2 months all the preaching that I’ve heard has all centered around moving forward, not being satisfied with status quo, and reaching your full potential. It seems like that this conference was the cumulation of everything the icing on the cake so to speak. It’s tied all of the lose ends together, and given me a different outlook on my life. It’s no long about me but it’s about what can come from me; what I can do to help other people. My mind has also been changed use to when I sat down to write or speak to others, words and thoughts didn’t flow quite like I’d like them to. But even now as I’m writing this on the road my thoughts seem clearer, I have a definite direction, and a definite flow. So expect great things in the weeks to come...

Exodus 3:2 "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." People often look at this scripture and talk about Moses and the great calling on his life. What I really want look at is the bush. We all know that the bush was on fire but it wasn't being consumed. What happens when something is consumed by fire? It undergoes a dramatic change, it changes from it's original substance to another new substance. This bush however refused to undergo such a change. It had the fire but it refused to be consumed. This bush is much like some christians they want fire, but they refuse to let it consume them and change them; instead they stay the same. These people feel a little fire and think "Alright I've got some fire". What God really wants is for you to be consumed with the fire. He wants to totally change you from what you and may you into a new creature. Sure these people have fire but once they use it up it's gone and there is nothing to sustain them. There are other types of people though more like Jeremiah where it's like fire shut up in their bones. These are the people that have been consumed by God. Are we truly consumed by God or are we just on fire for God?

I hope everyone is enjoying reading my thoughts... They might not be much but I just want to make people think for a few minutes.

Love: This one simple thing is what the whole world is looking for. Some people say that they are looking for fun or for pleasure but I know that they are looking for love They're looking for someone to love them and accept them for who they are. I know this because I was once in their shoes just like many of you who are reading this were. I found someone to love me for who I am but I'm afraid that people are falling by the wayside because they think that no one loves them. The church is even falling away from their original duty, we are beginning to judge people as soon as we see them and walk on by. I can't tell you how many churches I've been to lately and I know if I would have walked in dressed like a goth or some guy that just came off the street no one would talk to me. I am tired of people walking by a crowd and picking out which ones they think would make good Christians; God loves everyone and we really need to show people this. Too long have we held to our disapproving looks and comments, too long we have sat and done nothing to help the people that really need our help. I have also noticed a lack of love in our churches that is very disturbing. I see people that go to church together and they don't even know each others names (preaching to myself here) and they don't fellowship together.

In the bible it says in Mark 12:28-31that Jesus was talking to his disciples and someone asked him what the greatest commandment was and he took no time to answer them "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord". Then he goes on to say something that most people overlook. In verse 31 he says: "And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself". In John 10:29 One of the teachers asked him who is his neighbor. Jesus then tells him the parable of the good samaritan (If you're not familar with this parable it can be found in John 10) and when he is finished he asks the teachers "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?" and the teacher replied "He that shewed mercy on him.". Being a neighbor is about loving someone just as they are just like you would want to be loved. How many of us can say that we actually do that? How many people can say that when they see someone that's having a hard time that make an effort to be a friend to them even though they were in the world. I know we should fellowship with people that are going to uplift us but where do the people of the world come in? Shouldn't we hang out with them to help them find the truth. I've heard too many Christians pride themselves on the fact that they don't have any "worldly" friends or they don't know people of the world... this is not something to take pride in rather it is something to be ashamed of. If we don't show these people love who is left to show them love? Satan, He will show them love. If we don't he will and lose another soul. This also applies to the church too, we need to love each other and help each other out. We need to be there to pull each other up when we need help. We need to hang out and fellowship with each other. When someone falls down we don't need to walk around talking about how they fell we need to go over help them brush the dirt off and help them to move forward.

Ok... Whew I had to get that off of my chest. I'm sorry if I have made anyone mad but I want you to set and think about this for a while. I know that this isn't the most thought out post ever but I just wanted to get a point across.

One last question: Should I keep the longer format? Or go back to my short concise posts

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. A lot of people would look over that and say faith with out works (meaning deeds) is dead. I would like submit to you that this scripture has two meanings. The greek word used for works here is ergon which can mean other things besides deeds. Ergon can also mean; that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking, taking action. So in other words faith without action is dead! We can have all the faith in the world and unless we say to the mountain "be thou removed" it's not going to move one inch. Unless we take action and speak it; it would never happen. Sometimes we just need to reach out by faith and take that first step. After we take that first step God will help us to make the next one and the next one.

"Judge not that ye be not judged" Such a small and often time disregarded statement. This is one of the few things people overlook in their everyday life. Sure we pray, we fast, and we read our bible but do we really look at people as people or do we judge them the moment we see them. Imagine with me for a second; imagine a man laying on the steps of the church curled up clutching a bottle of wiskey like it was his only hope. What would you do? Would you go inside and imediatly begin to talk about him? Would you call the police? Or would you just walk on by him and pay him no mind? How many people would stoop down, help him to his feet, help him the rest of the way into the church, and pray for him?  So many times we will pray and pray for God to send us someone to witness to and when he does we will walk right past them because we think they're in to bad a shape to help. They're not what your mind's eye calls Christian material. If you look deep down in yourself you used to be in just as bad a shape that they were in and if someone hadn't shown you love where would you be today? If I could just say one thing to all the christains it would be "The love of Christ is the most powerful wittnessing tool we could ever have". If you really want to show someone that God loves them, then love them yourself.

Ok I'm finally back from Youth Congress. I can't believe how fired up everyone is including myself. I thought we would go back to church and just fall right back into how it used to be. I was very surprised when I noticed the biggest change not in everyone else but in myself. My friend Jesse said it best when he said that it was easier to fast easier to pray easier to read the bible and easier to worship. Jerimiah really did say it the best when he said it's just like fire shut up in my bones, I really couldn't really help myself. I'm praying that this fire would continue and that we would start to see things happen in our community. We got some really good ideas on what we could do to help out our community while we were down there. I could go on and on about everything but I really can't put the rest into words. I want everyone to know whatever you're going through whatever you've done God really does love you.