the_james_kid's Journal

Currently Listening Secret Weapon By MxPx Secret Weapon see related     I was about to fall asleep and this thought passed my mind as I contemplated on something a friend said about gossip earlier today(or whoa…  it’s 1:16 am)  I guess it was technically yesterday.  Regardless I had to write it down or I’d forget, and wireless makes it possible.   When someone gossips to us it creates an artificial intimacy.  It’s like we feel closer to the person because they are sharing something with us that they haven’t with anyone else…  it’s attractive and actually feels good.  The problem is that like many other um… bad things, that artificial intimacy feels good, but we’re really being used to create division.  It’s nothing special to have someone gossip to you, but sometimes it feels special…  the truth is that if it is indeed gossip, you’re just the nearest ear to grab.  And you know, usually with gossip, everyone hears eventually so you feel stupid.   Oh well… just some midnight dwellings that made their way to my blog before fading into dream land.  Remember… it’s more profitable to discuss your favorite mustard brands with people than to gossip.  I like French’s…  how about you?   -James’   Reply?

Currently Listening Celebrate Mistakes By Number One Gun see related

Currently Listening Celebrate Mistakes By Number One Gun see related

    Man, when I’m about to fall asleep I get the best ideas for writing entries. I think it’s because I have the whole day to reflect on and my mind awakens and thinks all of these thoughts… very meaningful thoughts, but sometimes I wish it would shut up at night, because I want to sleep. So yeah, I usually come to this blog to write in the morning, because at college that’s the only time I have… the morning. And because my mind goes full-throttle at night, it doesn’t function well in the morning. It’s hard to get it running on all four cylinders(Actually mine is probably like, two cylinders.)

    Seriously, as I lay there in bed I start to think all in depth and stuff, and I’m all like “Tomorrow I’m gonna write about this!!” And then in the morning I can remember… but it’s not the same as at night, my mind is no longer interested in those kind of things… it can’t handle it and simply will not work. I get here and I can remember what I thought about, but I can’t write about it like I can at night, when my mind is alive. I just can’t generate the moment again… because the first time it happened it was spontaneous, and I was ready to post right then. But now? I could write about it, but it wouldn’t translate to anyone well because I would be trying to work my self up and get back into the thought process I was in. I simply can not do that, because it would be like an attempt to Copy and Paste thoughts… it won’t work.

    You know, how I just mentioned above, trying to “generate the moment again?” How often do we do that? I was thinking about when I led worship at the school prayer meetings at HD… for a while I was trying to emulate things that had worked before, but it just made things worse. We can’t think that way with God, He is the God of all Creativity, and He loves spontaneity, it’s a big part of His character if you read the Bible. There are some parts of traditions, and everyday life that have great meaning, and should always stay the same. How would you like it if you were having brain surgery and the doctors were like “Well, we don’t want to be religious or anything… so today we’re going to have a Bunny do the operation… and while we’re at it… we’ll replace the tongs with Chop Sticks!!” It wouldn’t make me comfortable.

    So yeah, some traditions and Religious practices are great, and God ordained them. But I’m talking about things that God did not ever want to be Religious… but men have made Religious. Worship is such an amazing thing… prophetic praise and worship, intercession. They are all big words and people often associate things with them. They hear the word “Worship” and picture a bunch of people in a church with their hands lifted, or people singing, or maybe people clapping their hands… etc. They hear “Intercession” and they think of people laying on their faces, people shouting, people flopping around like fish(that freaks me out), and they picture other things too. The thing is, all of these things happen sometimes(Except the part about flopping around like fish… I hope that doesn’t happen in your church.) God moves in so many ways, but we narrow what He can do with tradition and often, fear. I wonder what the root of all man-made tradition is… I wonder who came up with the first church tradition that the Bible makes no mention of. Was it someone who saw God use something great a number of times, and thought “That must be the only thing God uses!!” Did they read about something God did in the Bible that worked amazing and think, “That’s what we need to do!” Maybe today while I’m eating lunch I should stand on a table in the cafeteria and take someones pizza and coke and make five-thousand of them to feed the 200 College students in there(you know it would take that many to feed them… they’re college kids!)
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Currently Listening Passion of the Christ: Songs (Original Songs Inspired by the Film) By Various Artists P.O.D.-So amazing see related   It snowed allot yesterday.  The one day I don’t have classes, the college shuts down!!  Oh well, it’s done and I certainly can’t change it.  Hey, tomorrow is my birthday so happy birthday to me!!  Since I never really have parties, my birthday has always been kind of a family thing, but in case anyone wants to come, Sunday after church my family is going Ice Skating in Masseena just because I want to… even if you all think it’s lame, it’s what I want to do.  Anyone who wants to come is welcome, because you just are.  And no, I don’t want you to bring a present…. you see, I don’t like that idea very much, I mean if you want to that’s great, but I don’t want to pressure anyone and don’t expect anyone(aside from family) to do so.  if I invite you it’s because I want to hang out with you, not a present… If that was all I wanted than I would invite a bunch of presents over to hang out on my birthday and go skating with them in Masseena… now, the idea of a bunch of inanimate objects skating with me is cool… and if anyone has any that can skate, bring them.  But I’d rather have you(as in anyone who reads this, Eskimo’s included) there than a present..  even if it can skate(which would be awesome!!) I have been taking a Behaviorology(The scientific study of how to interpret, understand and predict human behavior) class and it’s quite interesting.  I’ve found out that I’m quite observant already and most of the observations I have made concur with what I’m learning.  I’m quite interested in this field because I have always wondered why people do what they do and because of that I spend a lot of time watching people and seeing how they react to various situations…  fascinating.  What I already have begun to naturally do, I am now getting to do for college credits.  The other cool thing is that we are learning how to manipulate human behavior(and are told not to abuse this skill.)  What I don’t understand is why they teach us how to do it if we aren’t supposed to do it.  That would be like having a high-school class on how to cheat on your exams… and expecting nobody to do it.  Maybe I could manipulate the teacher into not making me take tests…. If I can do that, he should give me a really good grade!!  What?  All I’m doing is applying the learned principals. In parenting class I learned a new word, “food-satiated.”  It’s the scientific word for “Hungry,” now my question is… why do they teach us this in parenting class?  Are we gonna need to know this to be a better parent?  Next time my dad is like “I don’t know what to do with your younger siblings James!!  They won’t obey..”  I’ll be like, “Dad, if there’s one thing I learned in parenting skills class, it’s that you need to know what “food-satiated” means.  You need to know so you can food-satiate them on a regular basis.  Once they’re food-satiated enough, you can get them to do anything for food… including obey!!  So dad, just remember to get them food-satiated.” I have been thinking(what’s new?) lately.  I think that we as Christians often give off the wrong impression to unbelievers about why we do things.  I have a non-Christian friend who I know is reading this(webstats) and they told me recently, “All you Christians drive me nuts… you only want to be our friends so you can convert us.  If it weren’t for that you would never talk to us!!”  That got me thinking, is that the impression we give off?  I certainly hope not Continue Reading » Replies (Help me get to a hundred total comments for my birthday!!  I'm currently at 95 total)

Currently Listening Comatose By Skillet see related Posted in General, Theology, Funny, Food at 6:07 pm by bongchicken I think it’s kind of cool that my last entry caught the attention of Professionally Published author and journalist Denyse O’Leary. She referenced and linked to the fake interview in the last entry “Does Richard Dawkins exist?” I guess judging by the comments and E-mails that some of you didn’t quite get that… read it a few times and maybe you will. I’m not gonna spend a whole entry explaining one that I just wrote. Here’s the entry she wrote that referenced mine, it’s good stuff. But her new book… it’s a good one. You know, I guess I don’t have all that much to say today that would match my normal entry style… but I can say that lately I have been surprised by how connected the world is. It is cool… it would take too long to go into detail about it all, but basically it’s like I’m walking through a big spider-web and not realizing how many of the lines are connected. People all over who you never talk to have so much to say… and as well, they have things that they need. We can be a part of giving them what they need, and as well have the privilege of getting to take in some insight from them!! The only other thing that’s really sicking out to me lately is just how real the Spiritual World is. I spent all day yesterday just doing normal, natural things… fixing a friends computer, watching some TV, talking with a friend. I prayed and read my Bible at one point and even that I was doing from a very natural perspective. I was just thinking of it as “Yup, I’m reading my Bible and Praying.” It wasn’t until later when I got a call from a good friend in regards to the prayer meeting that I began to think about prayer and the fact that as Christians we are tapped into two realities… not in some freaky hyper-spiritual way, but in a very real Biblical sense. There is the Natural, and there is the Spiritual… we can only see feel and touch one of them. The other though, we as Christians have the privilege of being a part of and even affecting. Isn’t that cool? I need to look at prayer from a Biblical sense more often, rather than just thinking of it as something that I “do.” Yesterday me and Mike were goofing around in the church parking lot and trying to see who could slide the farthest(it was covered in Ice.) Needless to say, I was a little foolish and well…. I did at least slide the farthest, that’s good right? Well, yeah… I kind of seriously injured myself in the process and I am now in great pain because of it… Practical Life lessons 101, “There are Consequences for your Actions!!” Now… apply that Spiritually too(Because the Spiritual affects the Natural in the long run.) Never forget… someday you’re going to be dead, as in… you will no longer be alive. Or as the Cyber-Suite from “Star Kid” put it you will “Cease to Function.” Now, when that happens, what will matter? Only the things that will last longer than this world will really matter. One day this world we live in will “Cease to Function”, then what will matter? Only the moments spent with Him and living for Him. -James’ PS: now I’m hungry… in keeping with all of the smileys used in this entry I will add the following, “I am about to eat at Jrecks” -James’(again) Permalink  Replies

Currently Listening With Abandon By Chasing Furies Thicker see related Does Richard Dawkins Exist? : ) Richard Dawkins. The man responsible for finding the dumbest Christians out there and parading them around in the secular media to make all Christians look stupid. But… does this, Richard Dawkins actually exist? Shocking new evidence has convinced scientist Doctor Johadahrahdah TommyRott(PhD.) otherwise. A photo of the alleged Dawkins(Real Scientists feel that this image was fabricated.) One of his alleged writings(how do we know it’s the original copy anyway?) Important to note that three different translations are out there. I haven’t read them but I bet they say different stuff. THE DAWKINS DELUSION Acknowledgements David Anderson, for his article, “Does Richard Dawkins Exist”, which inspired the idea for this radio play. (http://david.dw-perspective.org.uk/does-richard-dawkins-exist.html) The Ryan Tubridy Show; some of the arguments here are Dawkinianised versions of onesRichard Dawkins advanced against theism (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fnews/1727564/posts#Reply) And Richard Dawkins, of course. Richard: We’re privileged to have with us today Doctor Johadahrahdah Tommyrot who’s going to be talking to us about his latest book, “The Dawkins Delusion”. Thank you for joining us, Dr. Tommyrot, it’s a pleasure to speak to you again. Tommyrot: Thank you, Richard, it’s good to be here. Richard: Now, Doctor Tommyrot, you’re famous for declaring in no uncertain terms that you are not a believer in Richard Dawkins; you don’t think he really exists. Now why is that? Tommyrot: Well, nothing’s so simple Richard. You shouldn’t ask sensible people to believe in something unless you’ve got evidence for it. If there is a Dawkins, why hasn’t he shown himself to me? Richard: In your opinion, then, are people who believe in Richard Dawkins just a little bit dim? Tommyrot: Well, in a way I can understand the mistake: simple people pick up a handful of books claiming to be written by Dawkins, and since a Dawkins seems to be a sufficient account for how they got to be there, for the similarities in all the texts, and so on – they stick with commonsense and fallaciously conclude that this Dawkins (which they have never seen with their own eyes) actually exists. Richard: Of course, some people do claim to have seen Richard Dawkins, and even shaken his hand. Tommyrot: Yes, if you can believe them. Richard: You think they’re all lying? Tommyrot: I didn’t say that. Of course, there’s no shortage of liars in the world, and undoubtedly some people who claim to have had these ‘Richard Dawkins experiences’ are deliberately telling fairy stories, but, you know, the human brain is a very, very complicated thing… and conjuring up an imaginary Dawkins would be child’s play for it. Christopher Robin had Binker. I had the slimy custard man. I suspect that something very similar is happening with people who claim to have seen a Richard Dawkins, or heard his voice, or felt his touch. Richard: But the books aren’t evidence for the existence of Richard Dawkins either? Tommyrot: No, of course not! As a scientist, it is no answer to the problem of ‘where did this inane rubbish come from?’ to stick a label on it that says, “Richard Dawkins”. Each book is a simple re-arrangement of only 26 letters. Even a child should be able to see that, with a little random shuffling of vowels and consonants on a computer, one can arrive at all sorts of patterns like that. Working out how each letter got into the place that it did is the business of science. Claiming that Dawkins-did-it puts an end to an inquiry that promises to give us a full and satisfying explanation of how these books came to be, without the need for invoking a discredited Dawkins-of-the-gaps-type hypothesis. Continue reading & Reply »

Currently Listening Good Monsters By Jars of Clay Carry me see related

Posted in General at 3:58 pm by bongchicken

Christians…  what an interesting and often abused word.  People say “I’m a Christian” and you really have to wonder what it means.  I get angry(yes, I’m sorry but angry) when I see loud-mouthed Christians go around and shout what they believe in but then act just like the world.  I’m not talking about sin or struggling, I’m talking about hypocrisy.  Being a Christian is not going around saying “Oh well… I’ve been forgiven so I can do what ever I want.”  And it’s not about the other extreme of looking down at everyone because you no longer do what they do.

I invited some non-Christian friends to come hang out with me and some of my Christian friends once.  I was thinking it would be good for them to see that we are not aliens or anything.. you know, we do regular things and have lives.  We went to a few places and their conduct was just a horrible example.  My two non-Christian friends were turned off and said that they would not hang out with me again if those “Christians” were there.  Than they said “If they are supposed to be Christians, than I don’t see what the difference is between them and us.  They’re the biggest Hippocrates we’ve ever seen… and they want us to get ’saved’?”  you know, they were right.

I’m not saying that my Christian friends were not going to heaven or that God had not forgiven them, what I’m saying is that they were doing God a dis-service by claiming to represent Him.  Two problems, one was proud about how much he didn’t sin, and the other openly showed that he really didn’t care about his sin and just said “God will forgive” or “is it any of your business?” when they asked him something like “Aren’t you supposed to be a Christian?”  I was stuck in the middle of this and did not know what to do.

There seems to be a division sometimes between two groups of Christians…  some people call them the “Grace Christians” and the “Holiness Christians.”  There should not be any division, let alone one that is clearly portrayed in the Bible as two good things that both come from God for us and those we interact with.  You know, those labels mis-represent what Grace and Holiness are all about.  Grace is for when we mess up, for when we struggle with giving something up… or when we aren’t ready or can not give it up..  it’s for when we fall(Which is often.)  It is not for when we don’t care about something and want an excuse so we can do it.  Holiness is something that we should seek and really it is by Gods grace that we can live Holy lives…  it’s not a product of self-effort, although it is our responsibility to seek it, it has nothing to do with how good we are, it has everything to do with how good God is.

We can’t be proud of Holiness and we cannot abuse Grace…. and if we do, we would do God a great service by not proclaiming ourselves to be Christians.  People really need to see that we take sin seriously, but we aren’t perfect and that is why we need God in the first place..  yes, we can be open about the fact that we fall.  If we are struggling with a sin, we need Grace.  To deal with our sin, we need God’s Holiness in our lives.  You can’t have one without the other.  There is no such thing as “Holiness Christians” and “Grace Christians.”  There are Christians.  We should not try to divide ourselves into categories, we need to be an example of people who have both.

My two non-Christian friends were not offended by sinners… they were offended by Hippocrates.    I am a sinner saved by Gods grace who is living a Holy life by the grace of God… who among us is not a sinner?  I am not a sinner in the sense that I seek out sin and/or have not been redeemed from the power of it, but I am in the sense that I do struggle at times with sin.  But because it is no longer I who live, but He who lives within me, it does not have power over me and I have overcome.

He is all about Grace… He is all about Holiness.  You can’t have one without the other.  They should make a song…  Like the theme song to Love and Marriage.  you know, “Grace and Holiness, Grace and Holiness.  They go together like…” yeah I know it’s a lame idea, but it’s Ok.  God has grace for my Lameness.

-James’

Man, it is so cold today that my head hurt on the way to my last class. Walking across Campus for less than a minute and literally… my head really hurt… like it was being crushed. And my loungs hurt from the cold air so much that even a half hour into the class it still hurt to breath. But being inside… is so much better than being outside, insulation is a wonderfull idea, and so is heat. The only reason I would go outside other than to learn, would be to bring others inside to protect them from the cold. There is spiritual application there.. some of you can see it.