Ever notice how so many road signs have bad grammar? I mean come on
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Hello! It’s slowly
“Well Officer I thought that by speed limit you meant I had to go at LEAST 75. Your not really going to give me a ticket for going 90 are you?”
So if the pets are on a leash why are you warning me about them. I would hope the owner would be able to control a leashed animal.
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Now that was random.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LClOHUFUC5g&feature=dir
Dispite myself I found this quite amusing.
There’s been a lot of talk that the Republican’s don’t have a chance this presidential election. In-between switching control in both the house and the senate and an unpopular war, things aren’t looking so good for Republicans. However there maybe hope. People are beginning to wonder, “What in the world is the democratic agenda anyway?” They don’t really seam to have one. Democrat’s have barely any real agenda; all they can talk about is how bad Republicans are, but America is noticing this. According to the pew research centre, only 37% of Americans approve of the job Democrats have done since entering office. When the Republicans took control in 1995, 59% of American’s said that they kept their promises; today, only 40% of Americans think the Democrats have kept their promises. What are the democrat’s promises? Pull out of a war, but who know how. Raise taxes. Gravel at the U.N.’s feet. Force people to buy cars that get from 0-60 in two days [maybe, that’s if the wind is with them]. Now that the dems are in control people are going “ok, now what.” Republicans haven’t lost yet. It’s time to make a stand.
Today I came across a news article in the Washington Post talking about Rudy Giuliani’s [a 2008 republican presidential candidate] liberal stance on a “woman’s right to choose.” The author of this article seams to be very liberal and yet he makes an amazingly good point. Here is an exert from that article [read the whole article here]. The article is talking about Rudy at this point.
His argument comes down to this: “I hate abortion,” which is “morally wrong.” But “people ultimately have to make that choice. If a woman chooses that, that’s her choice, not mine. That’s her morality, not mine.”
But the question naturally arises: Why does Giuliani “hate” abortion? No one feels moral outrage about an appendectomy. Clearly he is implying his support for the Catholic belief that an innocent life is being taken. And here the problems begin.
How can the violation of a fundamental human right be viewed as a private matter? Not everything that is viewed as immoral should be illegal; there are no compelling public reasons to restrict adultery, for example, or to outlaw sodomy. But when morality demands respect for the rights of a human being, those protections become a matter of social justice, not just personal or religious preference
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All I can say is RIGHT ON. I don’t believe this author is pro-life, but at least he sees the idiocy of believing that it’s ok to kill a human. If you think about it, believing that killing a human is a personal choice is way scarier than believing that an abortion kills a bunch of cells.
English class is over!
My Wednesday English class is now over. Part of me is very exited that I’ll have more time, but part of me is very sad. I get VERY attached to ritual/routine. I have no idea why. I’m just very emotional that way. I’m also going to miss spending three plus hours with my friends every. However this will now give me time to study for the math placement test for college [a task I desperately need to do]. I hopefully will also have more time now to post on my blog [in case you haven’t noticed it’s been rather neglected lately.] Below is my last essay for English class. Because I was busy this week preparing for finals in English, it’s not my best.
Why You Should Plan Your Day
The Bible vividly describes our lives as a vapor that appears for a short while then vanishes. Clearly our time is valuable and should be used sagaciously. Planning your day allows you to spend your valued time productively, intelligently, and prudently. As you mature, you should schedule breaks in the middle of the day to alleviate stress and increase productivity. By planning ahead, you will be able to assign apropos time segments for these breaks. If practicing music is not important to you, you may wait until evening to pull out your instrument. However, you will not be able to practice after your younger siblings have gone to bed. Planning your day allows you to think of conflicts like this before it is too late to do anything about them. This is planning intelligently. Have you ever neglected to complete a particularly important task? You were probably not being prudent with your time. By planning ahead, you will be able to prudently decide what activities you need to finish and which ones you will not have time to accomplish. Planning your day allows you to productively, intelligently, and prudently spend your time.
Without the sun’s light, life could not exist; without the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we could not have eternal life nor could we be reflectors of God’s light. Having been veiled from us by the god of this age, God’s truth was disclosed when Jesus Christ shone his light through this world’s darkness and illuminated himself to us. Now that we are followers of the truth, others should see Christ being mirrored through us by our alertness and self control. As believers, our aim should no longer be to glorify ourselves by living lives of craftiness and disobedience to the Word of God, but our ambition should be to praise our Father in heaven by being reflectors of His light of truth. This truth is the knowledge of eternal life through Jesus Christ. We must always remember that we are only mirrors of God’s light; the light does not come from us but from God. Before we were saved, we were in utter darkness. Without Jesus now, we would still be trapped in darkness. God is the genuine, perfect, and necessary light of truth for whom we are reflectors.
Dear Friends and Family,
This summer God has provided the opportunity for me to work with children through week-long day-camps which are a ministry of C.E.F. [Child Evangelism Fellowship]. I first heard about C.E.F. approximately two and a half years ago when some of the youth from our church talked about the work they had done through five-day clubs that summer. Then last summer I went to a training camp to train to work in several five-day clubs. This summer I will be working in six day-camps. Unlike five-day clubs, the day camps last all day and are in churches. Most of the day-camps will be in Whatcom County, but one will be in Rockport [Skagit County].
From April 9-13 I worked with about nine other youth at a training day-camp which was like a rehearsal only we had actual children present. At the training camp, we got to see what we would be doing this summer but in a simpler format. During the day-camps children will hear Bible stories, eat snacks, complete crafts, learn to witness to other children [while hearing the basics of the gospel themselves], listen to Adventures in Odyssey [our theme this year], and play lots of games. At the camps, I will be in charge of helping a group of children complete these activities and I will also have the opportunity to occasionally teach the Bible story and memory verse.
Even though it’s not always easy, I really enjoy working with children. Christ told us that a child’s trusting spirit is an example of what our faith should look like. Because children are more open to the gospel, children’s ministry is one of the most effective ministry fields. I believe that the teen-age years of my life are a great opportunity to serve the Lord because I have fewer responsibilities to tie me down.
I would greatly appreciate your prayers this summer. Some things that I would cherish your prayers in are
1 Stamina to work the whole summer
2 Patience towards the kids and other workers
3 Guidance for situations that arise
4 Submissiveness to the Lord and to my leaders
Please also pray that God would teach me to completely rely on him.
Sincerely
Trevor Gustafson
Romans 12:11-12 (NIV) Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
“What would I do with starry crowns except to cast them at His Feet?”
This quote showcases the humility and obedience of the life of Mary Slessor. Mary not only wrote this quote, she lived by it. On countless occasions she sacrificed personal gain and comfort for the sake of the Gospel. While she was not martyred for her faith, Mary Constantly put her life on line to reach the remote tribes of Calabar Africa with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mary Slessor was a woman who set aside gain and laid her destiny at the feet of her God.
Because Mary was willing to trust him, God used Mary’s rough childhood to prepare her for the plans he had lying ahead. Mary was born 1848 to a poor, Scottish family who lived in a rough part of town. Marry’s father was a drunk and a gambler so at a young age Mary would have to work to support her family. As a child, Mary began to get into lots of trouble, but a concerned lady from Mary’s town told Mary about the punishment for sin and that there was a way she could be saved from that punishment. Mary chose to be saved and to accept Christ as her Lord. After that her life was never the same. Mary began to teach a Sunday school class in one of the most dangerous parts of town. One day after teaching, Mary was walking home when she was confronted by a gang of boys. The boys told Mary to get out of the area and stop teaching Sunday school. Then one of the boys took a piece of string that he had tied to a piece of led and began to swing it around his head. He came closer and closer to Mary, but Mary didn’t back down; She knew she could trust God. The boy came closer and closer until suddenly, “Whack,” the led hit Mary in the forehead causing her to bleed. However, Mary still didn’t turn and run; she just stood there. The boys were so amazed by Mary’s bravery that the next week they came to Mary’s Sunday school class and the boy who had hit Mary with the led accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. Sunday school was only a training ground for Mary for what God had in store. One Sunday as she was sitting in church, Mary heard a missionary speech about the work going on in Calabar, Africa. The missionary told about how these people desperately needed Jesus. He told about how the people there participated in witchcraft, cannibalism, and tribal warfare. At that moment, Mary felt God calling her to go to Calabar. After much prayer and preparation, Mary set sail for Calabar, but Calabar wasn’t going to be anything like Scotland. When describing Calabar, the captain of the ship that Mary was on told Mary, “sure tis no place for a proper young lady to be going”. “There’s no law or order there.” Mary wasn’t scared though. She knew that she could trust God in Calabar just like she could trust him when confronted by a gang of boys.
Mary was not afraid of stepping out of her comfort zone to reach people for Christ. Unlike other missionaries in Calabar, Mary changed her customs to fit the ways of the Calabarian people. She eat their food, wore their clothes, and lived in their houses. In-between going from village to village, Mary would see baby twins alongside the road. The babies had been abandoned because the villagers thought that having twins was bad luck. Mary would take these children and either find good homes for them or raise them herself. Even though she never married, Mary raised these children as her own. Mary was also a great peace maker. Whenever she heard that two tribes were going to war, she would run as fast as she could to go and try to convince the two chiefs to make peace. One time, a chief named Chief Njiri [Ninjuri] came into the village where Mary was. He and his men became drunk and then they started stabbing other people. Mary ran right up to chief Njiri, grabbed his arm, and told him, “Chief Njiri, you need to leave right now.” Amazingly that’s just what Chief Njiri did. He and his men filed right out of town. Mary did all her work for the Lord, but the government couldn’t help but notice what a great peacemaker Mary was. The governor, whose name was Claude MacDonald, told Mary, “I don’t know of anyone who does such a good job at making peace as you.” He then gave Mary a paid, official position as peacemaker for the region. The only reason Mary received this position though was because she did not let her fear of change or her fear for her life stop her from reaching people for Christ.
Mary never let her health get in the way of her ministry. Africa is a place with many diseases and viruses. Several times Mary became so sick that she had to return to England, but every time she went to England, she always returned to Calabar. One time while taking a long boat ride in the rain, Mary became so sick that she started talking nonsense, laughing hysterically, and was unable to recognize her friends. By the time the boat ride was over, Mary was unconscious. The other missionaries were very concerned for her. They sent her back to England where she became better. After getting well, Mary returned to Africa even though she knew she might face some deadly disease there. As Mary became older, it became more and more difficult for her to walk from village to village so she came up with come creative means of transportation. At first Mary tried biking, but pretty soon she wasn’t able to even do that. So she had her oldest daughter wheel her in a wheel chair. Mary also got around in a motorized boat that children in a Sunday school class in England had bough for her. These modes of transportation were far from comfortable. Every joint in Mary’s body would ache every time she would travel. Marry’s friends bought her a nice house and told her it was time for her to retire. However Mary refused. She staid and worked in Africa until her death in 1915. Even when every joint in her body ached, Mary still pressed on to tell people about Jesus. Mary was more concerned with people’s spiritual condition than with her own physical one.
Mary Slessor was a woman who set aside gain and laid her destiny at God’s feet. Mary allowed God to use her circumstances as a child to prepare her for missions work. Once a missionary, Mary went out of comfort zone to reach people for Christ even if it meant death. Mary put the condition of other’s hearts in front of the condition of her body. Like Mary we too should obey God instead of trying to gain passing earthly possessions.
The gore exposed at the ancient Roman Coliseums was disgusting. However what was worse was people actually enjoyed it. In ancient Roman days, gladiators were worshiped celebrities. During a game at the coliseum, one gladiator would wound an opponent and then ask the crowd or the emperor whether he should kill the competitor or spare his life. What does all of this have to do with anything today? A little TV show called American Idol. While there is no blood on American Idol, the similarities are still there. People love watching contestant’s hopes and dreams get dashed to pieces just as lives were torn apart in the ancient coliseum. One must only look at the title of the show to realize that these contestants are “worshiped” by millions of people. Additionally, the outcome of the show is based on the votes of the viewers, just as onlookers decided the fate of gladiators. It’s amazing to think that our civilization could still love to see lives torn apart, and worship those that make it just like in the days of ancient Rome. How far has our civilization really come from the barbaric practices of the Coliseum days?
Note-I have never watched a full episode of American Idol. Ever. I do not claim to be an expert on either American Idol or ancient Rome. However I have done some research and from what I see these comparisons do have grounds, but I may be stretching the comparison [at least a little].
While a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day to God, we as humans are constrained to twenty-four hours of day that God expects us to use wisely. As teenagers, much of our day is taken up with school, chores, and work that our parents require us to do. However, there is still time, as occasional as it may seem, to kickback and do our own thing. At this time of leisure, the teenager has a choice to make: what is he going to do with his time. There are three categories of ways to spend time: edificial, neutral, and sinful. Knowing that sin is wrong, Christian teenagers attempt to stay away from sin, but their alternative is usually playing computer, watching television, or playing with friends. While these things are not bad, they can distract from doing something superior when the opportunity arises. Teenagers should not get so caught up in having fun that they don’t study their bible, help around the house, and participate in ministries. Accomplishing so much in the three short years of ministry on earth, Jesus set an example of spending time on others instead of himself that should be our goal. Every Christian teenager knows not to sin, but sometimes he sins by his inaction to do something right.
Random collisions with my brain 