Empathy

Nobody deserves to be bullied. Yet, the bullying problem lies with our society as a whole. We have taught the youngest among us to be self-centered and created a lack of empathy. I observed this today. Kids don’t know what bullying is because adults don’t know how to recognize it. We’ve let the pendulum swing so far to one side that now everyone is shocked. I for one am not shocked in the slightest. The end result has come from the decisions as a collective people and did not happen over night. Why don’t people care? Why are their bullies? Because…We. Don’t. Care. Not really. We just want to be seen doing right in whatever is right in the moment. The truth is, we are all people. Even those that don’t agree with us. We contradict ourselves however when we teach people to stop bullying and get along and then out of the same mouth teach to take “an eye for an eye”. It doesn’t work like that. Be a peacemaker.

Fighting back.  Making your point. It all sounds great and noble…except when you consider what Christ went through. He didn’t do anything and yet, took the punishment. No arguing. No fighting back. That’s our example. Period. Blessed are the peacemakers.

Liberal Hypocrisy

Be amazed. Religious people aren’t the only hypocritical ones out there. The left can dish it out just as good. Only, if you criticize them for the double standard they hold, then you are closed minded. So, what liberal based issue do I find to be a double standard? It completely has to do with health care.

I have to commend our current first lady. She has been taken strides to educate young people on what it takes to have a healthy lifestyle. Those short Disney Channel spots with her actually have some valuable information. This however is about the point where the right cries about some kind of hidden agenda. Sorry to sound liberal here, but promoting healthier lifestyles is actually a good thing. I know there is a lot of information about where food comes from, what’s processed, etc, but that isn’t the point of this post. The point of this post is to expose hypocrisy at the surface value.

One of the things liberal america suggests is diverting funds in not only health care, but preventative care. This is the idea that if you spend money to educate people about healthier living, they are most likely to continue doing so and will have less need for actual health care as they will tend to be healthier. This suggests that we will save millions if not billions of dollars on health care. This is commendable and actually something I applaud.  Microsoft has used it’s Kinect to even help out in this matter in order to get kids to get active at least 60 minutes a day (and the kinect is a great device that helps with it…but that’s a talk for another post). The point is, preventative care actually DOES make sense.

So what is the hypocrisy? The hypocrisy lies in their idea of contraceptive coverage and abortion. To a liberal, it makes sense to pay for programs with educate people against lifestyles that would lead to health problem but it’s absurd to pay for programs which will educate people against pre-marital sex and promiscuity. This my friends, is a double standard. Hypocrisy, if you will. To me, it makes better sense to educate people against a promiscuous lifestyle since they will be less likely to need contraceptive care and abortions if they maintain this lifestyle. After all, if you aren’t having sex, you don’t have to worry about that “unwanted” pregnancy. This could save us countless dollars paying for contraceptive care and abortion costs. So I suggest preventative care for both situations. It will save us millions and save millions of lives. Teaching and encouraging healthy eating and exercise is commendable. But let’s do it across the board and not just for part of a larger issue. Tackle the whole thing.

**For those that need clarification: Preventative pregnancy care would be the teaching of abstinence. Doesn’t sound quite as ridiculous now, does it?

Of Death and Fair Taxes

All this talk about taxes and who pays their fair share had me thinking enough that it required a post. From Obama’s speech, to the presidential debates, to the main stream media, everyone is up over arms about fair taxes. All these people spew a lot of complicated mumbo jumbo designed for the specific purpose of confusing the masses and furthering a political agenda in which the government manages to take more from some and less from others. They have been successful so far in getting a pretty good amount of people to agree that the rich should be taxed at a higher rate than those less fortunate in the name of “fair”. But is it really fair?

Let me first point out that I am someone who make less than the official poverty line (even for a single person). I do not however consider myself in poverty (far from it). Even at this mediocre pay grade, I do not for one second think that anybody taxed more than someone else is a fair trade and here is why.

Say Million-billionaire John Doe pays 15% in taxes. Lets say Jane Doe, his secretary, also pays 15% in taxes (a reality in some cases, but bear with me). Looking at it this way, one might think that this is an unbalanced and unfair system. But we are looking at the wrong end of the percent. In reality, John Doe gets to keep 85% of what he made and Jane Doe gets to keep 85% of what she made. To me, that sounds perfectly fair. But, there is no news if it actually does look fair. Explain to me how it is fair that one person gets to keep 85% of what they worked for an another person gets to keep less? When you look at the numbers, John Doe is paying a higher AMOUNT in taxes than Jane Doe. Why? Well, 15% of his million-billion is more than the 15% of Jane Doe’s salary.

Let’s say I have 2 employees who are on different pay grades. I say “I’m going to take 15% from each of you”. Both think that this is a great plan. But then the first employee notices that the other’s check is higher. Suddenly, employee 1 decides that his tax rate should be lower or the others higher because he makes more money. So, I agree and give the higher paid employee a higher tax rate. He now pays 20% and the first employee pays still only 15%. Now, employee 1 gets to keep 85% of what is his and the second employee only gets to keep 80%. Still, employee 1 is not happy because employee 2′s check is still significantly higher. So, I lower employee 1′s rate to 10% and I leave the second one at 20%. Now, employee 1 has 90% to himself to enjoy while the other still only gets to keep 80%. I realize that I can’t afford to keep dropping Employee 1′s rate so now I decide to raise the rate on the second. So, he now has to pay 25% while employee 1 still pays only 10%. Now employee 2 is upset because he only gets to keep 75% of what he worked for. And I could go on and one. Employee 1 will still be upset because employee 2 is still making more money.

Tell me how this is fair. It isn’t. Everyone should be able to enjoy an equal ratio of what is theirs. Things are not free. You are not entitled to anything someone else worked for. Period.

 

World Changing: Epic Fail

Religion. It’s a topic that has been under some scrutiny in recent years. A recent video went viral titled “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus”. While I agree with most of what the video had to show, there are a few things that need some clarification. For example, Jesus did hold the feet of the religious to the fire but He was not against all religion. If we want to be world changers, we have to think differently about things we’ve come to take for granted.

Even as a boy, Jesus understood the importance of church attendance (Luke 2–in his day, the synagogue). He taught from there as well as listened and asked questions. He never condemned this form of religion. Matthew 4:23 says: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” So he did spend time in church so-to-speak. He did not however spend all his time there. We was AMONG the people, healing the sick. Christians today have done an excellent job surrounding themselves in a sub-culture while totally ignoring the need to be “among the people.” It kind of reminds me of the phrase: “If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.” This applies here. If you want to change the world, you have to get out of the church.

Let’s face reality. The church has failed in many aspects. It was never intended to be a place to “scare the hell out of you”. It’s not what God wants at all. He wants real people. People who want to follow Him because they love Him, not because they are afraid of eternal punishment. But that’s what the church is selling. They are selling “life insurance”, it’s its not working. I would call that an epic fail.

Furthermore, we are supposed to be helping the sick, the poor, and the needy. Yet, the loudest voice to denounce programs which help these people comes from the church. And what is the church doing about it? In a general sense, nothing. Yes, there are many churches who do answer the call and give everything without an agenda. It’s not the church’s job to play politics. It’s the church’s job to be Christ to the world and make disciples. Period.

Do I believe the western church has utterly failed in it’s message? Yes. It’s not about whether or not they are being relevant. Many are. Many do a good job putting on a show. But what it comes down to the “meat and potatoes” (as some friends of mine would put it), portions are rather meager. It’s easy to say we have a church full a believers. It’s harder to say the “d” word. Why? You don’t have to love to believe someone. But you do have to love them to want to be a disciple of theirs.

The Epic Fail continues in areas the church has decided are “high profile” sins. Today’s being the argument over whether gays should marry (or even be given equal status at all). The arrogance of the collective church to suggest that God is a respecter of person and sees one sin as less than another is sickening. The church dares decry that gays shouldn’t marry when they can’t even keep their own relationships in order?

Don’t get me wrong. I love the church. I love my church. And not any church is perfect. But you should be alert to the subtle ways the enemy uses to steal away life. He doesn’t have to keep people out of church. He just has to keep the church from being effective. We need to mimic the life of Christ. We should be showing people love regardless. We should be forgiving and forgetting (this is hard even for me). After all, it’s what God does and it’s what he wants us to do. If we walk in His light and His love, He will give us the strength to come through it all. We need to see the world the way God does. The church needs to stop acting like pharisees and more like Christ.

More in this series to come.

A Victory!

SOPA and PIPA are dead (at least for now)! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46072484/ns/technology_and_science-security/#.TxmjDW_wt2A

That is all! Victory dance!!!

World Changing: An Introduction

So many people are trying to change things. The entertainment industry is trying to change the rules of the internet. Occupy Wallstreet protestors are trying to change the way of the free market. We, as humans, start wars over change. We decide we don’t like how something is going, we deploy troops and force it to change. I support and love our troops. They do things I know I could never do. They stand up when I know I would be to cowardice to do so. They deserve our respect whatever your feelings on our current war is. But none of these are a way to change the world for the better.

In this series of blogs which will have a category heading of “Changing the World”, we will explore both secular and Biblical methods to be world changers and also discover how strikingly similar and compatible both these contrasting views (at least in the mainstream sense) are. Just remember this: If you want to change the world, you have to step out of the church. This isn’t just the church building, but the Christian sub-culture in general. There are many other ways to be world changers by simply influencing those around you. We will follow Christ and his examples as well as other notable humans who made life better for others as they journeyed through life.

The Bible says pray without ceasing. It also says that only God can change hearts. Be praying now for God to show you ways to change the world around you.

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Like with any blog post, I w██████ ███████ ███████ ████████ ███████ ███████ ██████ █████████ ███████ ███████ ██████████ ███████████ ████ ████ ██████████ ████████████ ███████ ██████ █████ █████████ ████ ███████████ ███████████ █████████ █████ ██████ ███████ ███████ ██████████ ████████ █████ █████████ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ██████ ██████████ ██████████ ████████████████ █████████  ████ ███████  ████████ ███████ ████████  ████ ████████ ███████████ ███ ███ ████████ █████ing. 

Don’t like censorship? SAVE THE INTERNET! GET INVOLVED AND STOP SOPA/PIPA!

http://www.savetheinternet.com

http://www.americancensorship.org

http://www.stupid-america.com

-The █████████

What Would Jesus Say!?

I was watching the Daily Show on December 8th when I saw something that just totally blew me away (you can watch the 19 second clip here: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-8-2011/moment-of-zen—what-would-jesus-say-). Once you watch the clip, keep reading.

It’s shocking to me how people are so sure of what Jesus would do or say. Most people do so without really knowing (or caring) about what Jesus already said and who he was. The lady in the video proudly says: “…maybe he would say I miss hearing you say Merry Christmas.” Sorry, I don’t think Jesus would be pre-occupied with such a thing. Let’s forget for a second that Jesus was Jewish and that Christmas wouldn’t be in His vocabulary anyway.

What is wrong with Happy Holidays anyway? Well, from the Etymology Online Dictionary, we learn that the word “holiday” came from the Old English word “haligdæg” which basically means “holy day”. Thus, Happy Holidays can be translated to “Happy Holy Day”. With this little bit of enlightenment, it makes perfect sense to wish someone a Happy Holiday when referring to Christmas, Easter, or any other “Holy day” (the Old English use actually used haligdæg as the word for the Sabbath (used during approx. the 1500s).

To be honest, the word meaning doesn’t really matter and Jesus would probably agree as well. I for one think that Merry Christmas gets a little lost anyway. I remember a boycott campaign for Target back in 2006 because they used the phrase “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” in their advertising. While many of the Christian community might disagree, I am ok with it (I may not have been then, but I would be should it have happened today). Why such an absurd call to action? Do we really need a retailer such as Target or Walmart to justify our faith? These companies only say “Merry Christmas” because they want your money, plain and simple. The fact that they use Merry Christmas at all suggests that Christians spend a lot of money this time of year (and these retailers know this). So of course, they want to keep the spenders happy and wish you a Merry Christmas. They don’t care about Christ, they just want your money. Because of the meaning behind it, it really has no meaning at all.

So what would Jesus say? What would He do? He would probably wonder why all this “shopping” was going on while people are starving. Giving and exchanging gifts is not a bad or evil thing to do. But if the question must be raised about what Christ would do, then we need to face reality. Billions of dollars are spent on things we don’t really need while real hurting people are dying of starvation by the millions. Would Jesus really be concerned about Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas? We need to stop putting words in Jesus mouth and just do what He already said to do.

Remember, if everything you do is to the Glory of the Lord, then Happy Holidays is just as fitting as Merry Christmas. I for one hope everyone has a very Happy Holiday season, whatever Holiday you choose to celebrate.

It’s Not Me, It’s Me!

Alright, so imagine my surprise when I learned that I have an apartment and cable in Colorado. The only time I’ve spent in Colorado was the 2 hrs I spent at the Denver Airport waiting to board a flight to San Diego. Identity theft can occur to anyone no matter how safe you think you might be. I for one monitor my credit constantly (and I have to give props to Bank of America Privacy Assist). If it had not been for BofA’s Privacy assist, I probably wouldn’t have caught it as quick as I did. Identity theft is a real problem and a real threat. But, it’s not something that I’ve let steal my joy. It has only made me view things in a new light.

For example, there is another one who is constantly trying to steal our identity through his lies. Satan constantly bombards us with thoughts that make us feel inadequate and not feel like we belong in Christ. I guess you could call him the ultimate identity thief. But he’s been at it far longer than anyone else has. He is sneaky. Whenever we stumble and fall, he’s there to accuse us and condemn us preventing us from drawing closer to the One we should be identifying with. Most often, his thievery is subtle and can even mask itself as “truth” when really it isn’t.

No matter what you have done and not matter how bad you think you are, you still have an identity. Whether you’ve been ill-treated by a church or by somebody else, your identity has not changed. God’s love is still there, drawing you to Him. Christ was our example. He showed us that we could identify with Him wherever we are in life. Whether we are a tax collector who takes a little extra for ourselves or an adulteress whom everyone is ready to “stone”, he showed us that we are still loved. He is still cares. And that there is nothing that can separate us from His love.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

Your true identity lies in Christ. Don’t let anybody steal that from you.

-The Anzanite

Who Steals Your Joy?

Have you ever noticed that when someone makes your mad, your day is miserable and the other person seems to be having the time of their life? That incident that made you mad has not just consumed you and has robbed you of access to a good day. In other words, that person has stolen your joy.

What can you do about it? Steal it back. Better yet, don’t let it be stolen. Jesus wanted us to walk in live and forgiveness. Forgiveness and love are synonymous with each other because you can’t truly love someone if you are holding a grudge. The example from the previous paragraph is proof that forgiveness must come first. Jesus said to forgive 70 times 7. This was not a command to keep a tally and then suddenly stop at 490. It was an illustration to show that love has no bounds. God’s love for example continues no matter what we have done and no matter how many times we screw up. It is so powerful that even though many would reject Him, He still sent His Son to die. He died for the worst person just as much as he died for the best. Yet, His love was greater than all that.

Someone steals our joy when we get offended and then refuse to forgive them in our hearts. Sure, we may be cordial to them after an ordeal, but we become bitter because inside, it’s still festering. We need to lay those things down. When people offend us, they go on with there day while we end up having a bad day that often leads us to have consecutive joyless days when we have to cross paths with that person again. Instead, we should have a joy rooted where is should be. Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” We must remain in His presence to have the fullness of joy. If our joy comes from our fellowship with Him, then it can’t be stolen. When we are in His presence, we have no problem forgiving because we see everyone the way God does. He looks past our imperfections and sees all of us as something to be cherished, loved, and worthy of mercy and grace. We should look at people in the same light and respond likewise.

-The Anzanite