For God so loved the world.

Web writing question: "22 percent of non-Christians have a positive view of Christians."

What can evangelicals/born-again Christians do to change the negative view that non-Christians have about them?

This is a tough question. Not because I don't know what to do, but because sometimes the answer feels like a lost cause, and as much as it has been discussed, it is another area where Christians can't agree.

I think all Christians can agree that Christianity was and is grounded on Love. God's love for us, and Jesus' sacrificial love. But I think what people see is the Christians who aren't grounded in love. They see the Christians who protest outside of abortion clinics and yell to the women and doctors that they're going to hell. They see the Christians who stand on the street yelling in people's faces that gay and lesbians are sinful and are going to hell if they don't repent right now. They see the Christians in churches who act "holier-than-thou" and are full of gossip and hypocrisy. They see the priests and preachers who fall into sinful acts.

What they don't see is the Christian, who out of love, befriends and cares for a woman debating an abortion and gives her the cons of her decision and talks with her through that decision. They don't see the Christians who invite their gay and lesbian friends to church and speak with them about Jesus not because they want to "win them over" but because they love their friends and want to share with them the most important thing in their life. They don't see the Christians in churches who outside of church love their neighbors, are a friendly face, and a great person to talk to. They don't see the pastors and preachers that are really living a life of what Jesus called them to be.

What people see is the Christians who are acting out of hate, not love. So in order for us to show ourselves in a better light, we need to be Light. Not darkness. We need to show love, and give people hope, not condemn them. after all, we're sinners just as much as everyone else. It's not ourselves, but Jesus Christ who makes us perfect.

Eating donuts in the Garden of Eden.

Web Writing question: What would life be like if Adam and Eve had not sinned?

The easiest explanation I've heard on this subject is: If Adam and Eve didn't sin, eventually someone else would.

I agree, but I'll explain. God wanted us to have free will. Without something opposite of him, we couldn't choose him, we'd be robots following him. So we have to be given the choice to do something wrong. Humans aren't perfect, so we aren't going to always choose the perfect thing, and we couldn't have been perfect forever. Also, God knows the outcome of the world. He knew we would sin, and his plan was to bring us to salvation through Jesus. Without someone eventually sinning, the story of Jesus couldn't have happened.

But if the question is: what would we be doing if we all still lived in the Garden of Eden? Then I would have to answer, sitting around eating cream-filled donuts and miraculously not getting fat.

Web Writing question of the week: Should Christians divorce their spouses? Why or why not? What does the Bible say about this?

I think one of the most important things I've learned about marriage is that it was created to be an earthly representation of what the marriage of Christ and the Church looks like.

There are a lot of verses about God hating divorce (Malachi 2:16), Jesus saying "let man not separate" (Matthew 19:6), and entire passages on it (1 Corinthians 7). With these, I think every Christian can safely say that we're not supposed to divorce, but there is an exception- sexual immorality- meaning adultery, unfaithfulness, prostitution, etc.

Some people see other exceptions for divorce, depending on who interprets what text. But let's give it some thought. Marriage is like Christ and the Church. Sure, we "commit adultery" against Christ all the time when we don't accept him and sin against him. But what if Christ divorced the Church? He wouldn't, because he never gives up on us.

And that's what I think Christians ought to be able to do. No marriage on earth is perfect, it can't be because of our sinful nature. But we can be like Christ and not give up on each other instead of looking to our own interpretations for means for divorce.

procrastinating.

This isn't for my web writing class, yet I find myself writing about another "Christian issue."

Any time I write a paper, I flip through some of my favorite books to get good quotes so it looks like I have cool sources. I'm now writing a paper for Astronomy, so I figured it was time to pull out the good ol' Mere Christianity. I must admit I'm a poser Christian. I've owned this book forever, and alas, I've never read the whole thing. But since I was writing about space and the universe and all that, I figured it was a good time as ever to read the chapter titled "Time and Beyond Time."

Of course this is one of those times where I'm least expecting it and God shows up and says "learn THIS about me!" and I learn a little bit more about my creator.

I guess since the majority of people who read this are Christians, you've probably already read this book/chapter and don't need me to talk about it because of course you already know. But it's one of those situations where I have to process it, and we all know I can't process anything without writing it down.

Anyway, the passage I'm talking about is this:

"God is not hurried along in the Time-stream of this universe any more than an author is hurried along in the imaginary time of his own novel. He has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man in the world."

I think if maybe I had put two and two together, I could've figured it out myself, however never as eloquently as that. But I knew these things about God: he's out of time and space, and He died for me individually.

I think I always have viewed God like I view a popular person. Like the good popular person. The one that knows everyone's names, even the nerds and unlikeables of the school. The one who is personally invested in everyone's lives, and everyone is willing to tell this person everything. Everyone wants to be their best friend. I viewed God as a large-scale popular person. He knows everyone's names and personal stories, he listens to everyone when they talk and I kinda waved off the fact that 6 billion people were his concern at every moment. He's God, He can do what He wants.

So I think I also always assumed that when Jesus died on the cross he ran through his mind everyone's name that will ever exist and what sins they committed and took them on himself. Which, to some extent is what He did, but I was thinking along the popular kid lines like if this kid was having a party, he'd quickly go through everyone's name and put it on the list. We all mattered, but it wasn't that personal.

But this author/not constrained by time illustration just blew that out of the water. "He does not have to deal with us in the mass." So I got to thinking. I'm an author. What if I wrote a book about someone? I was their creator, so I automatically knew everything about them. What if I invested my whole life into this one book and it took me a lifetime? It reminds me of Stranger Than Fiction. This author is writing about someone's life and when she realizes that it's a real person, she is so invested in him because she actually "knows" him, she can't kill him like she had planned. Also, she doesn't kill him because the man knows he's going to die, and accepts it, but ends up alive. What if the author had to die so that her character would live?

So, since God is out of time and space, and to really stretch this metaphor for all it's worth, I imagine him picking up a blank book and completely investing a lifetime or more to get to really know me by creating me and being my author. Just me and Him. To me, that makes Jesus dying for me extremely more personal. When Jesus died, He was spending that lifetime with me and reading all my flaws in the book and knowing that to save me, he would have to die. What a personal God we have.

faith vs. works

Web Writing Assignment Question: Do you think people can "earn" their way into heaven? Why or why not?

I feel like this is a good time to bust out John 14:6. The verse that has been used every time this argument comes up: "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

So what exactly do I believe that to mean? Well, I believe that no one can get to heaven unless they accept that Jesus is Lord, and that He died and rose again as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. We're too sinful to be able to make it to heaven on our own. We need something more than just good works, or Jesus dying for us would mean nothing. But I also believe that one can't be saved on faith alone. It's like what I wrote about for sanctification. It's two-fold.

I feel like when people truly grasp the meaning of what Jesus did for him or her, then he/she will do those good works not out of obligation, but out of love and service for their Lord.

James chapter 2 puts this pretty clearly. It says even the demons believe in God and shudder. So without works, there's nothing to account for a real faith. If a person's faith is true, he/she will have the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the compulsion to do good works for the Lord and His people. We are called to be like Jesus, and all Jesus did was sacrifice for people and serve others.

writhing about tithing

Web Writing discussion question 4:

Do you believe Christians should tithe? If so, at what level or percentage?

If you're so inclined to respond ... do you tithe?

Tithing originated in the Old Testament, under the law of God given to Moses. The Israelites were to give 10% of what they earned over to the Lord. This was one of the many laws. But as Jesus says in the New Testament, he didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Because the Israelites disobeyed God, by not following the law, they had to make a sacrifice. Then Jesus came and was THE sacrifice, so we wouldn't have to do that anymore. But, even though we are saved if we accept Jesus, we still don't go out killing people or deliberately sinning because of that. Therefore the things we should do ought to be applied as well.

Jesus doesn't mention tithing very often, he says something about the Pharisees should tithe as well as uphold justice, mercy, and faithfulness ( Matthew 23:23). Just by Jesus saying they should tithe as well as do these other things, I think that makes it pretty clear that as Christians we should be tithing. Even if Jesus had never mentioned tithing, I think it is important that Christians give back to God what He has given us, and we should willingly support the Church and the poor.

I feel like Christians who argue that they don't have to tithe really have the wrong heart and mindset, and they are making an excuse to keep their money.

However, I believe tithing doesn't always have to be money. For those of us who don't have a job or make any sort of money (me, because I'm a student without a job) my giving back has to be something else. I have clothes and a place to live, and hot meals available to me, and since I don't make money, my tithe could be giving my time to help the poor or something along those lines. As long as I'm giving back to God what he has given me.

With that being said, I'm admitting that I'm a hypocrite at the moment because I neither tithe money nor my time. And it is something that I'm going to have to check my heart and reevaluate some things.

Fall Festival

This week, the fall festival started in my hometown. Every year, my brother calls me and leaves a voicemail of an improv song about it. So I thought with my new technology, I'd make a small video out of his talent.