The first 5 minutes after death

It must be rather amazing right? The first 5 minutes after death has got to be something so marvelous that nothing in our world can possibly come close to comparing.

An officer was describing the accomplishments he made during his life time career. The old man described skirmishes, battles, sieges, personal encounters, hairbreadth escapes, victories, and the anxieties and hope given to a man who was entrusted to command an army. People loved hearing his stories, and they often kept asking for more. Near the end of his stories, he would say, "I expect to see something much more remarkable than anything I have been describing." People did not usually catch his meaning, so he would give a bit more detail by saying, "I mean the first five minutes after death."

Henry Parry Liddon said it best... "'The first five minutes after death!' Surely the expression is worth remembering. This is a solemn thought for any man who has ever lived. Now let's employ for the moment when we are speaking of eternal standards of measurement which belong to time. It is at least conceivable that after a lapse of some thousands or tens of thousands of years, we will probably lose all sense of any succession of events; that existance will come to seem to be a never-ending present; an unbegun and unending now. I think it's conceivable that this is possible. But an even more starteling thought! Let's suppose that at the moment of our entrance on that new and wonderful world we will already think and feel as if we had always been there, or had at least been there for ages."

I think it's interesting, don't you?

Of course, you and I know that not every body gets into that "oh so wonderful world." For those who don't make it, there is another place for them. Let me just say this, The Bible never mentions a purgatory. I know a lot of Catholics disagree, but if you honestly believe that the Bible is the authentic word of God, then I suggest you please trust it, rather than the thoughts of men.

Oh yeah, and there's that 'other' place to consider as well. The place of eternal torment. I'll write a blog soon on why it makes sense for people to suffer this way. (Sounds crazy doesn't it?!) Don't worry, It'll make sense in the next blog.

If you want to know how to get to this wonderful place, then here's a link. Just click HERE. I know most of you will probably not read it, but the page will provide a ton of answered questions on the bottom if you are interested. Don't let the first 5 minutes after death be one of regret.

Girls are like apples???

My friend sent me a humorous message after he read my last blog. Hope you like it! :D

Girls

are like apples

on trees. The best ones

are at the top of the tree.

The boys don’t want to reach

for the good ones because they

are afraid of falling and getting hurt.

Instead, they just get the rotten apples

from the ground that aren’t as good,

but easy. So the apples at the top think

something is wrong with them, when in

reality, they’re amazing. They just

have to wait for the right boy to

come along, the one who’s

brave enough to

climb all

the way

to the top

of the tree.

My first (serious) look into courtship relationships...

Oh man... Here we go. Yet again someone provided me a source or two about "courtship relationships". Sometimes I cringe at the thought, but to be honest with you, I've been getting this nudge inside me saying, "Jorge, you ought to take this seriously. Just do your research, like you always do." Since it's Valentines Day, I figured, "Heck, why not. It's about time I seriously studied this anyways..."

I Googled, "What does Christian Courting look like?"

Apparently there is a different world out there that I seldom ventured. I felt like a foreigner walking through the landscape, taking in new information. It felt like I was rummaging through an old mans dusty trunk stored in some attic, looking for pieces of gold, hoping to find at least something useful. There were no hearts or gift cards. Rather, there were Bible passages. Bits and pieces were coming together forming this picture for me. I felt enlightened, and slightly burdened.

"This is a lot of stuff." That was my first thought. Then I wondered, "Why God? Why is does it seem so complicated? Can't a guy and a girl just get together and be in love, then stay committed together in marriage?"

As I continued, I found that there were specific reasons why such precautions had to exist in courtship relationships. Many of the hows and why's began disappearing as I found my answers. I felt like a child again, learning important truths. I could almost picture it. A Father guiding his son through a mucky marsh, telling him, "Step here", "Don't do that, you'll regret it", "Follow me", "Watch for my lead", "Do as I do."

It's strange that I'm learning all this now. Of all days, why now? Regardless, God has his reasons. I have followed God to this day, and He has never wronged me. In fact, I often find that when I look back, I can see how He had protected me from people, circumstances, and even myself. I find it amazing.

It'll probably take years for me to mostly understand all this. I know I'm not ready for any courting with a girl, and I definitely know that I can't support a family. The idea scares me a bit (but only because I am so far from being ready). But that's alright. The smartest thing to do now is grow in my relationship with Christ. I'll concentrate on that and let Him do the fine tuning on everything. Besides, He knows me better than anyone.

I'm not looking down on people when they decide to go about relationships the dating way. I've known some very happy people who didn't court and got married. What I'm saying is that I don't think that there is only one way. I'm simply choosing it because it seems like the most biblically grounded direction to me, so I'm going to take it. Some people who honestly love the Lord have been put in my path, informing me on "Christian Courtship", and I think I'm going to actually listen and take heart this time. Besides, what's the harm in learning?

Here's one article that I found that was really informative. There were some parts that made me chuckle because I could picture a large old Londoner with a top hat an and eye monocle speaking the very words in this article. Then when I got to the bottom, I coughed up the tea I was drinking. It read, "Written by Charles J. Clarke, London, 1947."

Ok, so maybe Charles J. Clarke was indeed a large old man from London with a top hat and an eye monocle... Either way, it was golden information that I agreed with.

There were some parts that made me grin. This specific portion discussed what a woman should be able to do by the time courtship was permissible:

"The use, of the work-basket is necessary too, as well as so many other aspects of home-making."

In today's world, most girls don't knit baskets, but I get his point.. But I get the point. If you want the link to his article, you'll find that I put it on the bottom of this blog.

I'm beginning to understand why some girls who are brought up this way are the way they are. I've met a few girls who pursue relationships with this approach (I'm not implying that I wanted anything with them), and now I'm suddenly realizing why they were so strange to me. Now it actually seems to make sense because of all this new information. Looking back, I can see where I accidentally and unintentionally over stepped the boundaries they probably placed. Now I feel like a mere school boy who just had an epiphany. If any girls I offended read this years later, then I apologize, lol! :)

Some things I learned:
- A successful courtship ends with either friendship or marriage, there are no regrets.

- What needs to be pointed out is that it is much more than `great fun'. It is one of the most serious issues of your life. During these critical months and years you are choosing your life-partner, and therefore, you are choosing your destiny. You yourself are choosing your own happiness or misery. You are choosing whether the rest of your life is to be lived in the heaven of perpetual `keeping in love' or, may be, in the hell of disharmony and perpetual friction. Other people are not choosing for you. You would be indignant if they attempted to. You insist that this is your choice. And so it is.

- Dating does not necessarily equal "Dirty" unless you make it so. Dictionary.com's definition is pretty vague. Since so many people have different ideas about what "dating" is, then the definition seems relative. For you, dating means "X". For me, it may mean "K". If you and your decided partner want to talk about such things, then make sure your definitions are understood.

There's a ton more I learned, but I know there's a mountain of information waiting for me. Looks like I have some reading to do.

http://www.worldspirituality.org/christian-courtship.html

So about Satan and his Demons...

We have... a supernatural enemy. Christians, we know that we are from God, and the whole world has been influenced by the evil one. People probably forget that:

He's beaten the lives out of innocent people. He desires to tempt the needy into sinning against themselves and against God. He's destroyed marriages and has sexually assaulted every individual that has ever lived. Starved billions of people, causing them to die in their own filth. He's misled young and old minds into his ways. He has raped the world and it's creation at the expense of his wicked ambitions, desiring the manipulation of God's good creation.



Now you may disagree with me, but it seems that the world has absolutely no defenses against the devil. What can politics, the voices of people, and the military do against a force that they cannot see? What about intellectuals, spiritualists, and philosophers? What can they do when an enemy as sharp as Satan comes at their door steps? Worst of all, how will these people recognize Satan or his demons when they come?

Let's also consider the fact that these beings are so powerful that they can influence things on a whole 'nother dimension. The supernatural (them) can influence the natural (us). It doesn't work the other way around. Our "natural" can't really do much of anything to the "supernatural." These "things" are waiting for an opportunity to vent their anger out on us. They desire to hurt us, to see us suffer in light of the cross, and they are always there, around us. It's like some invisible black beast looming over all of us, checking our every move, waiting for even the smallest sliver of room so that it can squeeze a finger into our lives. They hate us, they want to see us in pain. Their ultimate goal is to lead us away from the God of life. If you are saved, then I think it's safe to say that their goals change. Concerning a saved person, they will want to make you as ineffective as possible.

The Bible says', "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."
~1 Peter 5:8-9

Thankfully there is a loophole. God has blocked Satan and his demons to only go so far.

In the first chapter in the book of Job, Satan desires to hurt Job, a man God called righteous. You'll note that God allows Satan to hurt Job, however, God only allows Satan to go so far. God limits Satan's ability to do harm. In other words, there is no God Vs. Satan. From the very beginning Satan lost. Lucifer has always been in submission to God, even though he hates God.

As I've said, the world has absolutely no defense against this supernatural power of the devil. The only thing that is helpful is the Word of God. Jesus Christ, God, is the only force that holds everything together. With out God sustaining everything, you can only imagine the rampant destruction that Satan would inflict.

Satan rules, absolutely except where God's providence restrains him, everywhere. No body knows what mercy they are enjoying when the sun comes up.

Any comments or thoughts? Post below!

Naked wrestler nearly broke my bones!

I have a friend, let's call him Bruce, and he unintentionally taught me a lesson about anger. He was a big man as far as large muscular men go and he was with me on a missions trip. He's a great guy and he knows how to encourage people, plus he's funny. There was one particular thing he personally struggled with and I was able to learn about it first hand in a very scary way.

Little did I know, one of Bruce's pet peeves involved getting pranked upon. In all honesty, I think I was warned very early on when I got to know everybody. I guess I forgot somewhere down the road.

After a hot sweaty day at our job, Bruce and I talked about my lack of coolness. I was tense in those early weeks, and Bruce knew it. He suggested that I relax a little and loosen up. Since I knew he was right, I agreed. Later that afternoon while Bruce was in the shower, I decided to play a little trick on him. I was in that mode of relaxation, plus I wanted to let him know that I was fine.

I took a small cup and poured in cool water, filling it to the brim. Bruce's close friend curiously watched as I turned, walking slowly toward the bathroom toward Bruce. His eye brows shot up as he finally connected the dots. With a look of worry and warning in his eye's, he said in a distressed yet silent slow voice, "Noooo...!"

With a small mischievous smirk, I ignored his warning and silently approached the bathroom. As I turned the corner into the hallway, Bruce's friend again warned me, to which I once more ignored. As I turned into the bathroom, Bruce's friend tried one last attempt to save me from coming destruction. "Don't do it," he simply said.

"Don't do what?" said a voice from the bath tub. It really seemed like all things stopped. All I knew was that there was water showering down behind that curtain and my cup held hand raising above my head, toward Bruce. I calculated where Bruce's head might have been, and as soon as I said, "Heh,", I turned me hand to let cold water stream onto Bruce.

Unfortunately, only half of the water came out. All in one motion with brutal speed, Bruce's hand snatched the wrist hanging above his head, and with the other hand flung open the curtain. Before me was a raging man, with red blood shot eyes. I panicked, realizing the danger I had so foolishly put myself in. I wriggled my wrist free from Bruce's wet hand and ran out of the bathroom falling into the hallway. I was almost laughing because it's not every day where you see a naked man expose himself to you.

While struggling to get up from the floor, I witnessed a horrific sight. To my great regret and intense fear, Bruce jumped out of the tub onto both legs and bolted toward me in anger. This was the snap shot moment where I realized that there was a very angry, very big, very wet, very naked wrestler trying to run me down. If he got his hands on me, he could very well break some bones. In nightmarish panic, I ran through the kitchen into the living room with speed I didn't think I was capable of. As my hand touched the door knob to the world outside, I dared to glimpse back, in hopes that Bruce would not come raging at me. The only thing I witnessed and heard was a loud explosion in the kitchen. Papers were flying, chairs seemed to move on their own, and the fan on the table was bouncing on the floor by the refrigerator.

I didn't care at that moment, I just wanted to run where I'd be safe. I flung open the door and ran down the flight of steps in three great jumps. Landing on the grass, I hyper-flexed my left knee. I wasn't able to get up, but at least I was safe. I laughed at my excitement as I realized that I practically brushed against death. Ha!

Bruce's friend cautiously walked down the same steps. He said, "Bruce is mad at you. You better go up and apologize." I remarked, "Sure, just gimmie a minute. I think I really busted my leg. I can't get up..." Slowly as a turtle knowing he'll finish his race, I got up and walked up those stairs, back into the building. I gently opened the door as to not startle Bruce. Thankfully, Bruce was not waiting for me. The house seemed Vacant. I looked at the clutter in the kitchen. Along with papers, chairs, and a broken fan, water from some pitcher had splashed onto everything, covering a good portion of the floor.

If I remember correctly, I think I called for Bruce, hoping (or not hoping) that he was around. Since I didn't hear a reply, I began cleaning the kitchen. First drying the water, then propping the chairs up, throwing away useless paper, and fixing the fan. At some point, Bruce quickly walked out of his room and went outside toward the back door. As I continued cleaning, I realized that he had tried to stop when he was running after me. Some of the water that was on the ground was actually from him. He slid from under his wet feet and flew into the kitchen table, cutting his ankle. He obviously didn't want to talk to me, so I genuinely felt bad for him. I feared that I had damaged the friendship we had built.

A young friendship must be nurtured, like a sapling. It needs to be cared for by both sun and water. If one of those two things are missing, the sapling will die. The same concept applies to all friendships. Both people must be involved for the friendship to grow! Friendships that last, even when friends are apart, are strong because the friendship was continuously fed and strengthened by both people. Personally, some of my closest friends are literally hundreds of miles away. A strong friendship, like a strong tree, can go longer with out the tending of water and sun. It's harder to sustain a sapling friendship, because it's a weak thing. It doesn't take much to kill it.

Later throughout the day, Bruce and I ignored each other. Like a coward, I texted him, asking, "Hey man, do you wanna talk?" He eventually said, "Yeah, but not through texting."So we met in his room. He apologized to me, saying that he over reacted. He said that he knew he told me that I needed to loosen up earlier that day. He knew I was just having a little fun. Bruce acknowledged that he didn't know what came over him. We both apologized, hugged it out and continued to be friends. No resentment, no anger, and no bitterness. We forgave each other on the spot.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
~James 1:19-20

Anger is something I struggle with, but it is contained in my self. I rarely let it out. Some of you ask, "How is that possible? Wouldn't you like, blow up or something?" Well, yes I would blow eventually. But that is rare because I let it out when I pray. If I'm seriously angry about something, I talk to God about it. There is something about talking to God that really calms me down. I let him take care of it and my heart feels lighter because of it. Like the passage above say's, you have to really try to hear the other person out, be careful with your words, and at all costs, try to control your anger.

Anger, if not contained in the right form, can take control of us. I was sure that if Bruce got his hands on me, then I would be in some terrible trouble. Thankfully the Lord looked after both of us. :)

If you have any comments, be sure the post!

If your brother sins against you (part 2)

The last time I talked to you guys, I told you that I had to confront a man based off of Matthew 18:15. I will break down the conversation, but I will not reveal his name. Instead I will use a fake one to protect his identity. :)

Mr. Turner had called me early in the morning, informing me of a heavy schedule he had before him for the rest of the week. He said that he would rather talk on the phone about this. Even though I don't like the idea, I accepted simply because he was generous enough to speak with me. The reason I don't like using phones for things like this is because both people cannot tell how one is reacting to each others' statements. But if a phone was the best I was given, then I would gladly take it.

I was afraid, and still upset. Later that afternoon when I got the chance, I began telling Mr. Turner that I was glad that he was willing to listen to me. I started by letting him know that when I say these things, that I am probably at fault in one way or another. I thought it was wise to let him know that I was being vulnerable to him. The last thing you want to do is give the other person the impression that you want to verbally attack or hurt them. That's very dangerous because it only makes the situation worse.

He seemed understanding and we talked for the next twenty minutes about ourselves and our points of views. It was actually quite enlightening because I learned something about myself that I didn't know.

I can be too sensitive to certain things. I was surprised at this. It's not usual when a man you barely know tells you this. But I had to agree with him.

I started to realize that normally, when guys my age "attack", I don't let it bother me. But for some strange reason, which was beyond me, Mr. Turners comments had hurt me. Was it because those were comments coming from an older person that gave the comments a funny tone, or was it something else? Maybe since he was an older man, I expected better from him. But either way, he was right about me being a tad bit too sensitive on these offenses.

The nice thing was that he acknowledged some of his faults as well. He is aware that sometimes he can really say some things that might come off the wrong way. I'll just have to let things roll off my back when I talk with him. I won't consider it his fault. :)

I've begun to learn that Mr. Turner is one very interesting man. His ways are slightly different than the average person. His ways of handling things and some of his philosophies are (according to others), a little strange. But I find it intriguing in an interesting way. As far as I know, I don't plan on becoming close friends with him, but I won't stop talking to him every now and then either... He seems like a pretty sincere man and he's a valuable source of information when it comes to the Bible.

Now I want to make one thing clear to you guys. Going to someone based off of Matthew 18:15 doesn't mean, "Geez, I want to be best buds with this person." The actual point of this passage is to have reconciliation between you and the offender. If you two become best buds afterwords, then fine, let it happen. But as long as there is reconciliation between you and that person, then things are good.

Please note, Mr. Turner never apologized for some of the assumptions he made against me, and he made me feel like a wimp (Just a little bit hahaha), but quarreling over stupid little things like that isn't going to help the situation. So what if the offender forgot to apologize something? To me, he made his intentions clear enough for me to realize that he harbored no resentment toward me, and that's all that mattered. My intentions were not to argue and persuade him why I think he needs to "change". I'm not going to argue over the way he handles his family or anything like that. It would be pointless because I can't change his mind. That's ultimately something that the Lord will take care of. I don't need to worry about that. For all I know, he probably handles his family just fine. That is a matter that is simply non of my business.

In the end, I hold nothing against him. He seems very sincere and he's just looking out for his family. We both apologized for our actions and we both forgave each other. Now I don't fear seeing him and I wont think, "Oh Gosh, what's he gonna do this time?" between me and him, everything seems pretty good. :)

I don't care about the nit-picky little things. In fact, I'm convinced Satan will constantly bug me over these trivial issues. But I'll just remind myself that it's not that big of a deal. The last thing I need is for Satan to just confuse me over a small matter. There's no need to make a mountain out of a mole hill. :)

If your brother sins against you (Part 1)

The body of Christ truly is a beautiful thing. It's unity brought out some of the best and most memorable experiences I have ever had. A church that is united together through the strands of brothers and sisters following the Bible and enjoying God can hardly be looked at as a "dead church." Of course there is a bad side to the coin.

When people make mistakes against each other (and they will, eventually), the pain that is generated is magnified incredibly! The victim senses the severing of emotions, and it hurts! Some of my most troubling experiences have been in the context of the body of Christ. We live in a fallen world, and things like this happen. No matter what the attack, intentional or unintentional, Jesus places a specific command designed to create a healing and bonding process between the attacker and victim.

Before I continue, perhaps it would be good for you to understand one thing: These verses are among the most ignored in all of Christianity. These are the most broken commands, and the most over looked, simply because they challenge people to do something unthinkable. I personally hate conflict, which is why this is the hardest thing in the world for me to do. As far as difficulty for me, Evangelism is a cake walk compared to this.

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have^" gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."
~ Matthew 18:15-17

Needless to say, I don't think many Christians ever do this.

A lot of Christians like to try to rationalize a person's actions. "Oh, they didn't mean it that way. That's not a sin so I don't need to talk to him about it..." Yet they begin to harbor up some sort of resentment against that Christian, weakening the church and Body of Christ.

Mark Roberts, a Pastor, said it pretty good, "I cannot tell you how many times I've seen a Christian sister hurt another sister inadvertently. The victim, though truly hurt, doesn't want to engage in awkward and risky confrontation, so she chooses instead to try to ignore the offense. But the hurt in her heart is real. So she ends up building a wall of resentment and protection between herself and the one who hurt her."

That's pretty dangerous. Even if your not sure if it's sin, you should at least talk to the person about what they did. Whether it was on purpose or not, their actions or words hurt your relationship with that person. If there was no relationship with that person, then consider the fact that resentment towards other people weakens the church.

As for myself, I have to talk to a certain person. My aim in conversing with this man is to build reconciliation between him and I. I don't want to resent him any longer, and I don't want his view of me to be misplaced in the wrong light. Who knows, maybe I hurt him somehow. I will ask when I meet him. I really want to follow what I believe, and even though the whole world say's , "Ignore him Jorge, your getting too confrontational. You'll only agitate those people more..."I will do it, simply because Jesus commands it.

I trust that Jesus will be with me, and I am hoping for reconciliation with that man. I'm doing this out of love, and I am not going to grind anything in my words. While there, I only hope God halts me before I say anything stupid. Things have been so misunderstood and now I have an opportunity to follow scripture and do things right for once. I will not bend and listen to the world in these matters of confrontation.

I did this to a friend a few years ago. She was incredibly thankful afterwords, and that even helped create a friendship that I really enjoyed. It was a rare friendship for the summer. For the next few weeks as I got to know her, I found that she had grown tremendously, and I enjoyed watching her grow. Jesus' words and teachings actually unfolded before me, and I loved seeing the results. It brought me and her incredible joy. To this day I still greatly respect her. :)

I had to do it again about a month ago, but I failed to do it right. The person had no idea what I wanted to talk with them about, so they became defensive. I should have told them it had to do with Matthew 18:15... maybe they would have actually listened... Believe it or not, the face-to-face conversation never happened. I made the mistake of doing it over email. That was a bad move on my part. I never knew if any reconciliation happened, nor do I know if the person ever read it. That's why Jesus said, "Go". He didn't say, "Send a letter" or anything like that. If I can go to the person in a face-to-face conversation, then it should happen.

So I'm going to "go" and confront this man, with humbleness and a sincere heart. Quite honestly I'm scared. He can literally destroy my life if he wanted to. Since I had a pretty bad run with a close person to him (which I will not share), he probably doesn't view me in the greatest light. If he wanted to, or if there was a bad misunderstanding, he can literally get a restraining order on me. That would destroy my future in Ministry, and it would haunt me for the rest of my entire life.

But

Since Jesus commands it, then I'll do it. I will lay down my future for Him and follow. I'm willing to sacrifice so much for the Unity of our church. I don't want to ignore it and then have it haunt me for the next few years. I will be a man of God and I will initiate if I have to. I just called him only yesterday to set up a time to meet him, and I found myself trembling. My chest was shaking. It's about time I start doing some pretty hard things. Jesus didn't die to have his church broken.

I'll update this when I speak with the man in part 2...

Tough Situations

I often find that there are times where I'm in a really tough spot. Sometimes people think ill of you, and you simply don't know why (and sometimes it's the other way around). Other times the circumstances are so overwhelming that you wonder, "How did it come to this?!"

Maybe you try to make things right, and when you make the attempt... well, it just ends up looking like a mess. Then you say, "Well... I tried."

If I wanted to, I could lazily look over my shoulder at the behemoths that taunt me. These problems come and go in groups for me. Some groups are bigger than others. These problems are weighing heavily on me and I'm not sure if I can continue trying to fix them all. In fact, I think I'd better throw in the towel. I can't fix everything with my own efforts. People will think what they want against me, but they'll never fully understand the whole story. I can't help them if they refuse to listen.

I've got a few things to tackle and pray through. Well, actually there are about five things. But I'm not going to spill everything out because that's personal. But what I can do is tell you things on a very vague level. This way, you can still pray for me if you wish.

-Family
-Friends
-Personal Life
-Schooling
-Ministry

I'll open up just a little bit about one of the five things. Today I will have to make some big steps being an older brother. This is something I was never very good at. But I have found it to be very gratifying when I reach out for my sisters. It's natural I guess. Our family was never really that close to begin with (at least that's what I think), but it still hurts when your family is being torn apart before your eyes.

Today I'm going to try to go out and spend some time with my sister's boyfriend. I'll ask him some questions that might put him on the spot. I'll probably even make him feel a little bit guilty... "So this home of yours...", "Do you really think this is best for my sister?", "If you really loved her, wouldn't you want her to be in a place that's safer?", etc.

But my aim is not to scare him or threaten him. Tactful in word, I need to some how enable him to understand the gravity and weightiness of the circumstances he's in. He's a 19 year old boy trying to make giant steps in a relationship with my sister. Now I think I'm beginning to understand how a father might feel when a young man attempts to see his daughter. It must be a scary feeling and I know a brother-sister and father-daughter relationship is not the same. I also know that those two groups share a certain bond that hurts when stretched or possibly breaks.

I'm praying that things go well tonight.

What exactly do you mean by the word "religion"?

Did you know that the Bible has it's own definition of religion? I bet you didn't know that, did ya?

So let's start off with "religion". What is it according to most people?

According to most, it's a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. Usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

(Paraphrase) A faith based belief that has rituals that you have to look at and observe and respect. It offers a "moral code" that the believers have to abide by.

Most people see this when they think about religion. But what is religion in accordance to the Bible? What does the Bible say about religion? Does it define it?

Yes! However, the Bible has a different definition! It's in the book of James:

"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
~James 1:26-27

According to scripture, there is such a thing as good religion. And good religion is three things:

-Keeping a rein on your tongue
-Looking after orphans and widows
-Keeping yourself from being polluted by the world

By these standards, I bet we're afwful at being religious since i rarely see people actually do these things. This is what religion should mean to us. Now let's be honest here. We've heard other Christians say, "Religion is Bad!" It honestly makes me cringe when I hear it. First off, I think we Christians need to recognize the original word and meaning of "religion", and then say, "Religion is great!" (In the context of James, of course!)

Then we can finally say, "The worlds definition of religion is a lie!" That would make me content.

I think of it this way. Which definition came first? I'd say that the Bible wins on this one because according to Etymologists (those who study the history of words), the earliest use of the current definition was 1200-1300 AD. The book of James was written around 49-50 AD. I think it's safe to say that the Bible's definition of "religion" was the first one, (unless of course there was a different one way before the Bible, but I don't know of it).

Of course, If I'm wrong, then please leave a comment and explain why. It's not a challenge, but a learning experience for me. I would most welcome that. :)

Well this is awkward....

Hello to you people! I think you'll like this because people naturally want to know what's going on in someones life. So follow me into the depths of my life!

...

Into the "depths of my life."

Well, It does sound rather vague, right? What can you possibly harvest from the depths of my life, my mind, and my experiences? Well, if nothing, then at least you can get to know me from reading these.

Anyways, this will be my official blog. You'll read things about interesting tid-bits and anomalies. Hopefully the only thing that won't be an anomaly will be my consistency in typing on this blog. I'm thinkin' once every 2-3 days, so don't expect any feed from me every hour of every day. It ain't gonna happen guys! I'm too busy for that! :P

As of now I'm just tinkering around with Blogger. It's a lot easier than I previously thought it would be. Hopefully you will enjoy blogging too, if you decide to go for it. At first I wanted to personalize my template (the layout), but I'm not tech savvy and I'm not a hacker by any means. I guess I'm not cut out for HTML.