Facebook 2.3

Facebook sure put themselves in to some hot water lately. As a Facebook user, I was just as concerned about the issue as anyone. The problem came when the new Terms of Service at Facebook gave Facebook a license to use content as the please including producing derivative works of your content with no compensation to the poster. After a media backlash, Facebook of course retracted that part of their terms of service and has sent set up groups for users to voice their opinion on the proposed new policies. One little item that seems to be cause for concerns is section 2.3.

2.3 For content that is covered by intellectual property rights (like photos and videos), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, copy, publicly perform or display, distribute, modify, translate, and create derivative works of (“use”) any content you post on or in connection with Facebook. This license ends when you delete your content or your account.

There are a lot of problems here. Some frightening and more overt ones are the words “modify” and “distribute”. Now while the distribution in itself is not necessarily bad (as it gives Facebook the right to allow you to distribute content to your friends), it does not limit who and where the distribution can go. Modify is a horrific word to any content producer. This also does not list a limitation. Therefore, Facebook would have an unlimited license to edit and “modify” your content as they see fit. They would reserve the right “censor” the information on their site. There are many people, like me, who distribute their blog from a external source (like wordpress) and send it through their Facebook account. Is Facebook trying to claim that since I posted a copy of this on my Facebook account that now they own the whole blog?

Of course the worst phrase in this whole section is “create derivative works of”. So, if we continue to keep our Facebook accounts active, we have given them the right to publish and create movies, T.V. Shows and novels based on our information royalty free? Facebook better think twice before going through with that. Luckily, for now, we the users have been given a chance to voice our opinion. Hopefully section 2.3 will be revised, or, better yet, rescinded so as we can keep our work truly our work. 

If you worked hard on something, would you want someone else claiming it as your own? I didn’t think so! Even God warns us about claiming things that are His work as our own, but I digress.

Why Sin Is Spelled With A “U”

Selfishness. My continuing observations of the world around me centers on that one word. Yet, most of us deny that we are living a selfish lives. We have become desensitized by the things around us. Our society has worked incredibly hard to make us think that it’s not about us when really it is. My previous post talked about where our joy comes from. I’d like you to indulge me further on this.

There are people that are simply just miserable all the time. You may know some of these people. They are the ones who come home and never have a nice thing to say about their day. This person was doing that and this person was doing this. In my line of work, it could be “this kid is like this and this kid did that.” I’ve been guilty of this on occasion, but it’s becoming less and less frequent as I learn to seek my joy from Christ rather than the situations around me.

That’s where the title of this post comes into play. Have you noticed that every sin mentioned has to do with you? Before you take this as a personaly attack, let me explain. If we look at the Ten Commandments, we see that the first 4 Commandments deal with our relationship toward God.  Only one God, no idols, the sabbath, etc, teach us that God is first, holy, and deserving of our love and honor. Right there, it takes the focus off of us and puts it where it should be. The last of the commandments give us direction that will guide us in that same light.

“Do not steal” is more than just about taking something that doesn’t belong to you. It is synonymous with “Do not covet” as you probably wouldn’t have stolen the item if you hadn’t been coveting it in the first place.  This makes it about “you”, or, about “us” (which ironically is also spelled with a “u”). We begin to become jealous of the person who has this “thing” that we want and we are willing to do anything to get it. “Do not kill” and “do not lie” come into play here. Many will lie and cheat to get there way even if it hurts someone else or in extreme cases, kills. Our jealousy can even hurt people close to us when it comes to loyalty to our spouses.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ time spent a lot of time asking Jesus about why He wasn’t following specific rules. The Bible tells us that Jesus knew their hearts. I believe He knew that they were more focused on each individual law that the failed to miss the bigger picture. If we look at the commandments as a whole, we see that God’s perfect plan–God’s perfect order–has always been in play. We were designed to worship Him and center our lives around His plan and will for our lives. Thus, the Ten Commandments were not given just for a check list of things not to do, but rather a way to direct us away from an “us” centered life of sin into a righteous, free life in Him. It would seem to me however that many Christians to this day focus on the minor rules without looking at the big picture.

The whole idea of this is that we shouldn’t need the Ten Commandments at all. We should be seeking after Christ and so willing to become like Him that our self won’t get in the way. Is your day or circumstance ultimately about you? Are you living your day expecting those around your to conform to your way of thinking? Do you expect people to act a certain way only to be disappointed because it didn’t go the way you had planned? If you answered yes to any of these, then you are hoping in things that will never make you content.

How do we find true contentment? We learn this in Philippians 4:8-9   “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever thingsare pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there isanything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” The peace of God is neverending. If we find our peace with Him, then Christians should be the most content and happy people on earth. If you feel free to read on in Philippians 4, you will read about all the trials Paul endured and yet still found peace and contentment.

I leave you with these words from The Message Paraphrased: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30

Patience Jedi

O.K., random title. I am in sort of a random mood. But, that spices things up a bit and makes the blog more spontaneous. This comes from being very relaxed. While most people are breathing a sigh of relief because it’s the weekend, I am relaxed because the day went so well.

Earlier in the week, I had a parent ask how I was able to stay so positive and cheerful dealing with all the students. My reply was it all depends on where  your joy comes from. While I’m not perfect everyday, I am finding it more and more fulfilling to cheerful in the midst of chaos rather than lash out and get angry. Actually, it keeps everything flowing more smoothly. When I am calm, the students are calmer. Calmer might sound like things are nice all the time. They really aren’t.

But, when things don’t go as planned, we are faced with a choice: Do we get upset about it or do we put it behind us? Many come home and vent in anger at the events of the day. This sends them on a downward spiral psychologically and emotionally as they begin to despair and think that nothing ever goes right. Without even meaning too or realizing it, they are in a constant state of frustration, anger, and despair. They feel like they are never happy and can never be happy.

There is good news however. We all have the power to choose how are attitude on life is going to be. Something I’ve always been taught from school, to work, to teaching is that attitude sets the stage for everything. “But Josh, you can’t be happy all the time.” Maybe not. But as a general rule, you can have joy in the midst of chaos. It all depends on your source of joy.

If your joy is dependant on the world around you and  things going as planned, then I’m sorry to tell you, you will be miserable more than you are happy or satisfied. If your joy comes from money and things, I can certainly guess how you would be miserable and depressed with all the news today about the economy. If you joy comes from others, what do you do when they let you down?

My joy comes from Christ. I know that He is perfect and already paid the ultimate price for me. There is no way He can let me down because He has already done everything I ever need Him to do. I am filled with joy knowing that through Him, I can do all things (see Philippians 4:13). I know that I don’t have to operate in my own strength.

Philippians 4:13 shows us that even when we don’t feel like we can handle a situation, even when it goes terribly wrong, even when things at work and home frustrate us, we can rest assured that God will give us the strength to take it on. With His help, we will still be able to find joy in the midst of our circumstances.

So, what is making you miserable? Is it something at work? A job its self? Do you feel as if you have never been happy? That nothing ever goes right? Perhaps your “treasure” is just in the wrong place?

Oh Father,

We are blessed to know that you are our strength, our shield, and our refuge. Thank you for sending Christ to be our deliverer from our sinful ways and thank you for giving us your Word to remind us that our joy comes from You and You alone. We ask that you help us remember this as we go day by day and tackle our daily “giants”.

We thank you and pray in Jesus’ Holy name,

Amen

I wish everyone the best weekend and hope you find “joy” in all you do.

In Christ,

Mr. Josh

Lost Behind The Water

It’s Been Awhile

Wow, it’s been awhile since I made a blog post. The main reason for that is because I locked myself out of my WordPress account. When I tried to recover my WordPress password, I discovered it was sending my reminder to an email address that is now defunct. So, this left me stuck “behind the waterfall” so-to-speak.

So, since everything is working again, I decided to change things up a little. Thus, I introduced a new design and added a new picture (the story behind the picture can be found on the FAQ page). I took a nice little trip to the Zoo today with family. The last time I was at the Zoo was in 2006 when we took the AVCS students to the San Diego Zoo. This Zoo was no San Diego, but it was nice and pleasant. I can’t say I was disappointed.

Observations From Behind The Waterfall

As I look around, see the news, and realize how the world seems to be falling apart, I am still comforted to know that God is in control. The world is wondering “how” and “why” this has happened. I point to one simple verse. Hebrews 13:5 says: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave nor forsake you.”” So what does that have to do with anything?

As our economy continues to spiral out of control, I continue to hear about how we, as Americans, have been living above our means. While this is a big issue, the problem lies deeper. Why do we live above our needs? Because we covet. We must have the latest gadget, gizmo, T.V., video game, etc, etc. We look at our bank accounts and know we can’t afford it. So, we swipe our credit cards and say to ourselves “I’ll just pay for it later.” Boy, do we ever pay for it! Even if we meet our obligations and pay off what we bought, we end up paying so much more than the original cost in the first place thinks to interest.

Here lately, I’ve been struggling with the issue of tithing and what it means. I think tithing, especially in the New Testament, was never meant to be a ritualistic, legalistic, system. I think instead, it was to awaken ourselves to the fact that the things of God should come first. If the things of God come first, then we begine to understand His nature and the things He wants us to invest our time and money in. Once we realize this, then we are willing to give so much more than a meager 10%. He doesn’t want our 10% if it’s going to be an imposition to us. He wants EVERY aspect of our lives, including our money.

Once we become God centered, it goes beyond money. We don’t focus on the things we don’t have anymore and instead, begin to look at things that have eternal value. We start to love the things God does and as a result, are drawn to give our money to Him in ways that will advance His message and ultimately lead people in a relationship with Him.

If you feel burdened by tithing, I implore you to pray. Ask God to guide you in an understanding of what it really means. It’s not about the 10%. It’s about Him, His word, and His will.

I read this self-help book once that told me to find my center. Often times we mistakenly think we are our center. But God should be our center, not our center-left or center-right.

What is your center? Is it the stuff you can’t have or is it God? Are you content as Hebrews 13:5 suggests? Here is my prayer:

Dear Lord,

Help us to be content. Let us find our joy in you so that we go beyond mere content and truly find happiness in the awesomeness of your glory. Lord, help us to shed our selfish ways and invest the resources you blessed us with to further your message, your word, and your love to “all the nations”. We thank you for your perfect grace and mercy.

In Jesus’ Precious name,

Amen.

Narnia Update

Alright so it was reported over the weekend that Walden has found a new partner to continue with the Narnia Franchise. The new partner is none other than 20th Century Fox. These two companies have had a pretty good relationship thus far as many of Walden’s movies have been distributed through Fox’s Fox/Walden Brand.

20th Century Fox announced that the scheduled release date would be during the holiday season 2010. There is the fine print though. It seems Fox still wants a finalized script and price. All leads are looking positive though as far as this becoming a reality.

My prediction is that the Voyage of the Dawn Treador will set sail as announced in the 4th quarter of 2010, and I can’t wait to see it.

What If…?

What if…

…out of the 49 Million lives destroyed since Roe v. Wade there would have been:

-The one who would have found the cure to Cancer.

-The one who would have  found the cure to Aids.

-The one who would have solved the world’s poverty.

There are a lot of What If questions. Casting Crowns proposes another one. “What if His People Prayed?”

I give you another one: What if we simply followed the instructions of the two greatest commandments? What would the world be like? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength,” is easy to say. But what does it look like? God desires our love. He desires our hearts. He wants us to love Him–truly love Him. He has an uncondtional love. We were still sinners and He still died for us! That is a powerful thing. We must be willing to give him our time. Even I admit that I haven’t given Him the time He deserves. It is something I am working on. So, i am going to be blogging my adventure so-to-speak through the New Testament. I will be posting things God has shown me as I read through it. I’ll be starting with the Sermon On Mount in Matthew and letting you know where I am. That way, if you would like to post a comment and discuss something you learned, you can also.

The next commandment–love your neighbor as yourself–goes along with the first. We all love ourselves. Even those who say “I hate myself” have something that they love. Maybe you don’t love yourself directly, but you love yourself enough that you participate in somekind of selfish habit or activity that is either harmful to others, or, harmful to you and your relationship with God. If we truly want to love God, we must first learn what His kind of love means.

Like the Brandon Heath song, we must ask God to give us His eyes so we can see the world and most importantly, people, the way He does.

God Bless.

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