Giving thanks to the education system

It is good to see the education system work in our blessed country.  I am currently in the 18th grade and getting ready to graduate from school, while simultaneously gearing up for my long career, and I do mean long.  Our generation is not set to retire till 67 years, this is a system of our country that needs to be revamped.  How about we have a mid life break, at about 45 years old, before grandkids and when the kids are leaving the nest.  A break of about 2 years to do what we want, to travel, work on house projects, write a book, work with eskimos, work at an Italian vineyard, a time to really find ourselves, and gear up for that long push towards retirement and fragility. For me looking at working for 44 years is kind of depressing.  It makes me not want to get out of college.  To stop and enjoy the world, and see the world, see God's people all over the world, because I might not get a chance to do it again, at least in the good shape that I am in now.  Heres the thing does God want us all to get a job in the states and play it safe here until retirement comes.  To have 2 and a half kids, and become "Tamed" individuals?  What if I want to go be a wild man in the jungles of Africa for two years?  Can I do that with a wife and kids?  What if I want to go to the islands of the south pacific and tell people about jesus where all they knew before were inferior gods.  You see I am an American, I like my stuff, I like being taken care of, I like being about to ride in a decent car, life in a nice house and do fun things.  But as I look at the income figures my career may bring me, and when I look at houses that are for sale, or property that is for sale in the country.  And when I look at online catalogs of stuff, when I go to best buy and look at stuff, I find this longing in my heart that will never be satisfied.  Material possessions is a cancer in America that attacks everyone.  To be comfortable is Satans attack on Christs' last day people, at least the people I live around, and in my generation.  You see America is a great advantage for anybody, especially if you are a Christian, the wealth, and the education that we obtain in this country are rarely matched by other countries.  It is up to us as christian stewards to use it for God's glory.  And as far as technology?  We can buy a ticket to go to Africa for a thousand dollars, and get there in a day.  Hundreds of years ago people couldn't leave their continent, no matter how hard they tried!  And for us to be able to spread our wealth of knowledge, insight, and Christ's light to the rest of the world is becoming easy, and more common.  It is an exciting time in earth's history, and I don't want to miss it by figuring out what color should I paint my living room walls, or which type of dog should we get to compliment our other two.  I want to be a missionary in a foreign land, to be a minority.  I believe this will strengthen my faith and make me a better person for Christ to use to spread his gospel.  I believe that it is thanks to the Christian education system that I was brought up into that I am where I am today, and it is thanks to the system that I feel the way I feel about the world.  Oh yeah, and for those of you who thought I wasn't going to mention the president elect...............I am..............Obama.  There I mentioned him, now you can sleep peacefully tonight. Happy Thanksgiving my friends, may God speed your journey to find his plan for your life.  

Falling for the seasons

Seasons really amaze me, and no season captures my attention more than fall.  We are currently in the peak part of the season for colors right now.  For those of you that maybe reading from a far off land like Korea.  The rain is about to blow them away though.  Why is life such a balancing act when we humans naturally favor consistency?  You know what I mean?  Maybe for some people it is not.  But for a melancholy chap like myself the emotional roller coaster is a little frustrating.  Sometimes I get just get a little down, some would call it mildly depressed.  But why?  Life is so good.  I think it is the change that has been occurring in my life and in my mind.  Stella is gone to Korea for 6 months, it is hard adjusting to the fact that she will be gone for 6 months!  It feels like it should be half over, but their are still 23 weeks left.   Also I am preparing my mind for the days after college.  In fact I am figuring out what I will do during those days after college, let alone what it will feel like.  For some people the biggest change in your life will be high school to college.  For others single to married, still others encounter a life changing experience when they enter retirement.  For me, I already feel the change of College to "THE WORLD".  My analogy for the change is This.  You are swimming in the ocean.  After just recently being taught how to swim while wading through the shallow depths of the ocean, you have your eyes fixed on a distant island that is full of happy people.  You think that it is a long way away, but you realize that the distance might be worth it, worth the success, and the accomplishment.  Also there is no fun to be had on the beach, as it is not a very pretty beach, and everyone you know has already left the beach, and is swimming toward the island.  And you trust your new found skill, but you are also fearful also that you might not be adequate.  Your hope is that if you fail to sustain yourself that your friends and family that are partaking on this journey as well are near you so that they can help you right the ship.  You are happy to realize that it is early in the day, and that although the Island is far, the morning reveals that the sun will guide your journey until the distance is conquered.  You wade in the water as far as you can, hesitant to take each step, but you do, without being able to see where you are stepping (the water is mucky, it is a beach on the gulf, probably somewhere in Alabama).  And then all of the sudden the the ocean shelf just drops off, the ocean floor is no longer capable of sustaining any of you above the water.  So you must use your new skill!  And that is entering into the workforce.  You can go back a little bit, maybe get another degree, practice your new skill a little more, and you will feel more equipped and feel more confident in your new skill.  Now what is interesting in this analogy is the sun.  It is there to guide you the whole way, what if you just don't want to swim to the island though?  Those who will take the sun for granted will not use the sun for its intended use; to get to that island, I call it the island of peace.  Because this island represents The fulfillment of God's plan for our lives.  Anyone who doesn't want to go there will reject the suns intended use.  And although they can do whatever they want to with the light, (Life, and Gods gifts he has given them), in the end of the day, when the sun goes down, the only safe place to be is the island of peace. Because anywhere else is infested with sharks, or man eating bears, depending on where you are at. Just kidding.  I really think this transition will be hard, and great for me at the same time.  I just thank God for the seasons.  He knows exactly how to humble me.  I came out of the church yesterday and I was just in awe of the colors.  The fall makes me feel two things to me.  It shows me the limitlessness to God's Beauty.  And it also shows me how small I am.  I don't know how, but I can sense those two things when I marvel at the most beautiful season of all; fall.

I want to comment on Barack Obama now.  Because some people are confused at why and how so many African Americans are saying that this is a huge victory for their people, since he is half black, and half white. Honestly for me, if I was black this would be a bittersweet victory.  But still a victory at that.  No but the answer is simple, most of them don't know he is half white, I am kidding.  But seriously, for anyone who understands the plight of the black man, they will understand that for them to see one of their own being elected into the highest office possible in a country that had suppressed their rights for so long is monumental!  This is similar to the declaration of independence.  Saying that hey you tyrants, you jerks, you once had us in your grasp so tight that we could hardly breathe, but now, you can't touch me.  Not to say that they are saying each caucasian is responsible for all their problems in the past.  This is a huge victory, one of the biggest victories that could actually happen.  Could they become the majority in America?  No.  How about make all of Washington of African American descent not possible.  But what gives them honor and power is the fact that one of theirs is president.  Why are the whites not claiming it?  Ok, who would savor the victory more?  A team that has won the superbowl 43 straight years, or the team who has never gotten close to the championship, and then wins it for the first time.  I am so happy for this.  Honestly, to have someone that is half white, half black, praises our differences and celebrates our diversity.  And it emphasizes a rich cultural diversity that cannot be matched by any other country.  

Oh one of my editors caught a mistake on my last article, apparently Obama is against free trade as well.

Electile dysfunction

Monday November 3rd 2008, on the eve of one of the most pivotal elections in America's history. Or some people would chose to believe.  Both would do an OK job in the White House.  McCain, is a grizzled veteran, who knows how to push across his own agenda in Washington.  He has a lot of experience that he thinks qualifies him to be president.  He might be sadly mistaken tomorrow, maybe, or maybe not.  Then you have Obama on the other end.  More controversial than George W. Bush ever was.  His accumulation of doubters, and jokes, might surpass W's record by the end of his first year in the White House, if he is voted in.  I have been astonished in these last few months, in how much propaganda this man has had to face.  Slander, all the Libel, nearly more racist remarks than Jackie Robinson had to face.  If the presidency is something that is simply given to someone because of what they have had to face in the past than Obama's endless smears will bypass McCain's 70 years in Washington any day.  I just want to run down all the things I have heard said about him in the last 6 months.  

He is Middle eastern

He is a Muslim

He is a Terrorist

He is a member of Jihad

He is best friends with numerous terrorists

He is not born in the United States

He is a socialist

He is an Anarchist

He is the Anti Christ

He never salutes the flag

He will abolish the flag in America

He will abolish the Constitution

He threatened pastors not to talk bad about him or he will take away their Tax exemption

He hates America

He isn't really black

He is half white and half middle eastern not African

He is similar to Hitler

He is racist

Now can anyone be all of these things?  I don't know, I would like to think not.  Do you think that America and the powers that be would allow someone who is a terrorist, Someone who wants to abolish the constitution, Someone who isn't really born in America.  DOES ANYBODY HONESTLY THINK THE GOVERNMENT WOULD ALLOW SOMEONE TO BECOME PRESIDENT IF HE WAS NOT BORN IN AMERICA?  Come on people, I know you don't trust america right now because you don't have as much money to spend on nice things for yourself because we are in a hard spot.  But do you really think that the CIA and the FBI are not top notch?  Do you really think that they would let someone as high profile as him slip through the cracks? People have been going out of their minds during this election year.  I don't mind people simply saying I will vote for McCain because he is a better more qualified candidate.  But people aren't, especially in the Adventist Ghetto in which I live.  People are scared to have even a half black president! Well I am not afraid, because he will lower taxes for people who are really struggling, and he will get us out of Iraq pronto! Diplomacy, not military action is the key to make the world stop hating us!  McCain will stay the course, and keep our hands in everyone else's cookie jar.  There was a president in our history that faced much scrutiny, critics tore him up.  What he was doing at the time was not very popular, and many people wanted to kill him, in fact someone did.  His name was Abraham Lincoln, our greatest president that we have ever had.  Obama is not Lincoln, he is not fighting slavery, and he does not have a vast extent of the bible, in fact he is not christian, but Obama will be a President soon, and he will ride a Lama all the way to the White House. But all joking aside, it is important to vote.  I remember the first time I voted, I felt validated, I felt like I am finally an adult, I finally count!  Let me tell you, I will never miss another election day.  In fact I have bad dreams about missing election day, and my vote didn't count.   But in the words of some of our best presidents from the past, "ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!"  this one is especially for Obama haters "we have nothing to fear but fear itself".  Notice how it doesn't say, we have nothing to fear but Obama himself.  So go vote without fear folks, vote where your heart is, and vote for what you believe in, no matter he tries to persuade you.

Does God have a sense of humor?

This week has been a great week for focusing my life on christ.  I purchased a nice water bottle so that I can effectively measure on my way to drinking a gallon a day.  I went to bed by ten 3 times this week! And I have been working on ministry down town.  Although our bible study interest took a turn for the worst (sabbath sickness, which plagues many who want to ignore the truth), the future still looks bright for me and ministry. We went to New Life church down town, in hopes of taking a "less fortunate" family to church with us.  Although they didn't come we decided to go anyway.  Well what turned out nice and lovely at first, turned into me on my knees pleaing with God that if he would get me out of this church that I will never come to this place again.  Ok I don't mean to offend anyone who might be a member of an upbeat, culturally rich church, but for me to be there was like a fish out of water ready to be eaten!  This type of church is effective for many, many, many people, but not for me.  I learned that I am a lot older than I thought I was.  The early twenties that I am think I am in are different than the ones I am in.  I am not as adventurous as I thought I was, nor can I adapt as easy as one might think.  I am old fashioned and traditional to say the least.  But also I think that our average white American church needs to be energized a little don't get me wrong.  Saying amen, hallelujah, when the pastor makes a great point so that everyone in the congregation can hear is ok, if not needed. Contemporary music with guitars, and no drums is good as well.  I went to the Mark Finley meetings last night at Chattanooga church, and wow, that place was dead.  This guy was making life changing points, theology and philosophy that sent chills up my spine, and the most feedback I saw was some heads nod up and down like a bobble head!  I went from being the scared little quiet white boy to a near distraction in the course of an afternoon!  Although I was still tremendously blessed.  God certainly has a sense of humor to answer the rhetorical question proposed.  You see there is this homeless man that we used to make fun of that lived in Ooltewah growing up.  Not because we were cruel hearted don't get me wrong.  But he would drive an electric Wheel chair all over the town, even on Lee Highway as if he was a car!  But the funniest thing was, he is not disabled.  But he used it as a mode of transportation.  Oh, but God has a way to humble me like no one else.  You see at church I sat by him at potluck, I even had to take the aluminum foil of his baked potato for him.  It turns out he is pretty instrumental in witnessing to homeless people downtown, being homeless himself, and being a christian.  God gave me an important lesson.  That God can use anybody, and I shouldn't judge people based on how funny they look, or how useless they seem they are.