Politically Incorrect

I just posted what will inevitably be an extremely unpopular and very long-winded status update on Facebook in regard to the recent Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage. I had been wanting to say something along these lines for some time in light of the onslaught of a complete lack of a moral compass we've been witnessing in America today, particularly recently with the media being so focused on Bruce Jenner's gender reassignment and the constant praise of him as being "brave" for doing it, and the absolute vilification of anyone saying anything conservative or religious. I'm so sick of the climate of political correctness and the lack of morality we see everywhere today. Maybe it's been this way for a long time and I'm just seeing the strength of it because of being back in school for the last year. Anyway, I thought it bore repeating: It doesn't matter to Christians whether gay marriage is legal or not. God is in charge of everything, period, regardless of what moral road America takes. Christians have been persecuted since the beginning of time, and not only is this a natural consequence of being a follower of Jesus (John 15:20 ..."since they persecuted Me, naturally they will persecute you"), we have it so much easier than Christians in the past. If you enjoy involved, intellectual books, read "America in Prophecy" by E.G. White, and consider the stories of Luther, Huss, Wesley, (I know I'm forgetting some names) etc, and their contemporaries - all the Christians who lived during the Reformation who dared to take a stand against the Pope, and many of whom met the same end as Christ. Knowing that God is sovereign over all, I'm not worried about what Obama or the Supreme Court says is okay. It's not their opinion that ultimately matters. But here IS what matters - we are at a crossroads in history, not because gay marriage has been legalized, but because it has become accepted, even encouraged, to commit hate crimes against Christians. We WILL be persecuted. It's a fact. But I refuse to stand back and allow sin - of any kind - to be shoved in my face and called "bravery" or something to celebrate without taking a stand. We are all entitled to our opinions, and if you have, for example, one of those "love wins" pictures on your profile, I'm not going to vilify you. Your page, your opinion - your choice whether to follow God to Heaven or the world to hell. And this won't make me popular, but I'm telling you right now, if you can't handle the fact that I think homosexuality and gay marriage are wrong (Romans 1) or that Bruce Jenner is anything but "brave" for calling himself a woman (Deuteronomy 22:5), you should probably just remove yourself from my friends list. I'm tired of being attacked for my beliefs, being told that I'm a bigot, that I'm hateful, that Christianity is archaic or just plain wrong - the list goes on and on. I don't hate people just because I disagree with them. Love is not silent. These so-called feel-good "churches" who think that the "Christian" thing to do is be accepting of sin are in just as dangerous territory as someone who doesn't go to church at all. It is not hateful to encourage someone to live right, just as it is not loving to encourage sin to avoid hurting someone's feelings. It is now more important than ever for Bible-believing Christians to take a stand. Jesus employed many tactics to get his message across, and he did not mince words with people like the hypocritical Pharisees. Because it's "cool" now to be liberal and "accepting", and higher education is turning impressionable kids into politically correct sheeple (not the good kind), we as Christians have an epidemic on our hands. Bottom line: read the Bible for yourself, and take it upon yourself to be the voice that speaks up even though it isn't politically correct or popular. The path to Heaven is narrow, and the world isn't on it. Luke 9:25 - "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"

College is expensive! How about $1,000, CenturyLink?

A quick author’s note, since this is not in the usual fashion of my blog posts, however sporadic they are – this is an entry for a scholarship from CenturyLink based on what the Internet has increased my awareness of. Hope you enjoy! Technology is a double-edged sword – as we have maximized our use of it, we have made our world smaller and smaller, allowing us to get things done faster and stay in touch with people better. It has many advantages to be sure – I can make a doctor’s appointment online, register for classes, buy a book with one click, research a topic by typing in a few words, email my mom to say hi even though she lives 1,000 miles away – but many pitfalls as well. How many times do we sit down to do homework and wake up from a reverie half an hour later to realize we’ve spent the time we allotted for homework looking at PostSecret and Facebook? Those are the benign ills technology can distract us with – what about the horror stories we hear of cyber bullying or the online communities where depressed youth encourage each other to express themselves by cutting? The quote “with great power, comes great responsibility” has been attributed to many possible different speakers in many possible different forms, but its sentiment is as true today in regards to technology as it was in any of its previous contexts. Technology has taught me the paradox of being a speck in the grand scheme of things, while holding the infinite power to influence others for good or for ill with however I choose to represent myself online. When I was younger, I saw technology as a way to promote myself, to get attention. “Look at ME, listen to what I have to say!” (We need look no further than the Selfie Stick to see what a prevalent attitude this is in today’s culture.) Every little thing that happened to me was fodder for a status update, often in the form of some cryptic plea for attention that insinuated something bad had happened, without saying what. I had no lightening bolt, “a-ha!” moment where my perspective suddenly changed, but I can probably pin it down to turning 30. (Another double-edged sword of technology: Facebook ensures I won’t forget someone’s birthday, whether or not it is someone I want to remember to wish a happy birthday to.) 30 loomed ahead of me for a few years, taunting me with its “over-the-hill” jokes and images of wrinkles (okay, more wrinkles) and other such old(er)-age rites of passage. Soon before it was upon me, though, I stopped being afraid of it and saw what a blessing each birthday is, and considered not only what kind of legacy I’ll leave when I’m gone, but what kind of impression I’m giving each day I’m here. Through the convenience and fun of technology, I post status updates, share interesting articles I read, and post pictures on Facebook. Even though I live far away from all of my family, they can see what goes on in my life and watch my children grow up – a privilege denied to anyone who lived away from their loved ones before the luxury of things like cell phones and Skype. I post pictures and get inspiration from others on Instagram when I see Bible verses and uplifting quotes superimposed over beautiful scenery, or the happy, smiling face of a loved one filling up my feed. Because of the realization that thanks to technology, I have an impact on everyone I see in cyberspace - whether it’s a fleeting impact or a lasting one – and it’s up to me whether that impact is good or bad. Technology has increased my awareness of my ability to make the world a better place even though I inhabit such a small corner of it. Thanks to the way technology advances, what seems like a small corner of the world isn’t really so small after all.

The tie between immunizations and worship

One of my projects for this year is to write a daily devotional book. One of the ones I wrote recently talks about a current hot-button issue, vaccination. Thought I'd share. February 2, 2015 Whether we should vaccinate our children or not has become a hot topic of debate, especially since the (now completely discredited) theory of a link between vaccines and autism. As I write this, measles outbreaks are popping up in several states and can be traced back to a short time period in Disneyland a few months ago. It is thought by many that measles is not a very serious disease, but you don’t have to look very far to see that isn’t true – just read the heartbreaking letter the author Roald Dahl wrote about losing his daughter Sophie to measles. I’ve heard many arguments about why people choose not to vaccinate their children, and I don’t agree with a single one of them. Not immunizing, contrary to the belief of anti-vaxers, does not provide those that are not vaccinated with “herd immunity”; it compromises the overall immunity of the herd. I look at the benefits of vaccines and the support of the scientific and medical communities and wonder why anyone would willfully choose to turn a blind eye to the facts, thereby compromising the health, possibly even the life, of their children and the children around them. It’s the same way with the Bible. It clearly spells out the will of God – how to live your life, how to have a relationship with Him (hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized), where to worship, how to worship – and wonder how anyone can pick and choose which verses to live by, or blatantly ignore what it teaches. If you’ve been riding the anti-vaccine bandwagon, for whatever reason, arm yourself with the facts and immunize your children. Don’t take that risk. Even more importantly, our eternal lives will be unending, and what we do with this life determines where we spend the next. Don’t take the risk of adopting a “do-what-feels-good, I-can-worship-anywhere-I-want” mentality about religion. God is not here to serve us, we are here to serve Him. The Bible is our vaccine against the devil and his schemes, and following it will ensure health for eternity.