It was a different world

If 1973 was like life on Mars, then 1983 (or whenever this was) wasn't any more different.

John 17

I gave the kids in youth group an assignment, one of many to start practicing how to study the Bible and have a devotional. I told them to give me a list of 10 ideas they learned from John 17, at least two of which are something they will apply to their lives. I gave it to them last week and none have done it yet. Well, since I'm the leader I might as well take the lead with it. And when I tell my students to do something quantifiable, I take the opportunity to do double the amount just to show it can be done.

John 17

When Jesus prayed, He lifted His eyes to heaven because He was having a conversation with God.
Jesus knew that His time has come to fulfill what He came to earth for.
The Father is glorified in the Son.
All power is given to the Son from the Father.
The Son has authority over all human beings.
The Father is the one who gives to the Son all who will have eternal life.
God chooses who He will save.
Salvation is given to those who believe in what He did.
Eternal life is knowing God the Father through God the Son.
God the Father and God the Son who He sent is the only true God.
Jesus glorified God on earth.
Glorifying God means giving attention to God, pointing to God, and reflecting God.
Jesus completed the task He was assigned to do.
Jesus knew exactly what He had to do because He was in line with God the Father.
Jesus first acknowledges the work of God the Father before asking for something.
Jesus showed He submitted to God the Father by being obedient all His life.
Jesus asked to be glorified with the Father once again.
Jesus existed before time began.
Jesus revealed who God truly is to the disciples.
God had given them to Jesus.
The disciples kept the word of God with them.
Having the word of God, the disciples were moved along by the Holy Spirit to write out what God told them.
The disciples walked with the Word of God as well.
The disciples know that God the Father gave them the Word Made Flesh.
Jesus gave the disciples the words God gave Him.
The disciples believed that God gave Him to them.
Jesus is the Truth.
Jesus intercedes for the disciples, not the world's system.
Jesus and God are one.
Jesus knew He was responsible to keep the disciples for God's purpose.

30 thoughts by verse 11, not bad. There are a lot of good stuff after that, but I'll just stop it there. Then I told them that they should include at least 2 ideas to practice, so here are 5:

I should always listen for God's leading.
Being obedient to what I already know is just as important as knowing a lot.
I have a responsibility to keep those I lead in God's name and not to lead them astray be it in word or action.
Knowing that God gave me those I'm now in charge of, I should constantly present them to God in prayer.
I need to be conscious of realizing the joy I have in Jesus and not allow my circumstances to change my attitude.

The Beginning of Wisdom

I heard that the Bible says "Fear not" 365 times. The idea was originally mentioned by Joyce Meyers and then popularized again in the movie Facing the Giants. Here's what I found, including variations. I listed the version and number of times it appears in that version:

Fear Not
KJV 63
NASB 4
NIV 1

Do not be afraid
KJV 0
NASB 46
NIV 65 (Don't be afraid 24)

Be not afraid
KJV 26
NASB 0
NIV 2

Do not fear
KJV 0
NASB 57
NIV 18 (Don't fear 1)

Fear God
KJV 10
NASB 18
NIV 12

Fear of the Lord
KJV 30
NASB 26
NIV 22

Fear the Lord
KJV 32
NASB 31
NIV 27

Apparently not anywhere close to 365. Was a nice idea. I guess I'll have to go back to the concept that if God says something once, He means it. I can rest on that. Time to look up all those references, though. I'll need a reminder every day of the year.

PMABM Newsletter #12

I'm sure you'll appreciate this video.

I'm doing Contact Flow with my instructor Matt Kovsky, co-author of the book Attackproof, which is required reading for Level 3. Contact Flow is the staple exercise in Guided Chaos, which helps you train every aspect of five major principles for effective self-defense: Body Unity, Looseness, Sensitivity, Balance, and Economy of Movement.

Study this video closely (or as closely as you can with this low-resolution garbage). Other than enjoying seeing me get pummeled, what can you learn from it? What do you see me doing wrong? What do you see Matt doing right? I made a ton of mistakes and I've learned a whole lot from watching this video. I've also learned a lot from watching Matt and seeing many of the Guided Chaos principles effortlessly expressed in his movement.

(Due to privacy issues, I had to take down the video, so I have posted an official Guided Chaos video instead to show what Contact Flow is like.)

Philippians 4

I was reading about the Stoics, how they would seek an inner calm: "The Stoics did not seek to extinguish emotions, rather they sought to transform them by a resolute 'askēsis' which enables a person to develop clear judgment and inner calm."

This is different from the Bible's peace that passes understanding. Stoics used their own strength and understanding, but clear judgment is not just a highly developed reasoning skill, but reasoning based on what God says in His word. Inner calm is not emotional stability or a placid feeling concerning decisions, but a resting on the knowledge and the assurance that He's there and He's sovereign, and truly has all things in His control. Everything in life, people and circumstances, can make the soul unstable, frazzled, or uneasy, but there is a rest, a peace, when we bring to God all that make us anxious.

The Upstart

Would've been nice if this truly happened. In reality, Einstein didn't philosophize like this until at least in his teens, when he started his thought experiments, and by then he was more into reasoning out math and physics than God. It's still a good story and a good introduction to the discussion about God's existence.



And if I remember correctly, a typical teacher of that day would've given a student like that a verbal if not an actual smacking.

Hippie, diaper, halo Christ

A friend told me about Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church, how he is quite the controversial church leader. I looked him up on Wikipedia and this excellent quote was in the Criticism section:

"There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity." — Mark Driscoll, Relevant Magazine

I am now a big fan.

1 Kings 3

In 1 Kings, God asked Solomon in a dream what he wanted. Solomon responded by asking for wisdom in governing the nation. The response pleased God so much that He gave Solomon health and wealth as well, the things he didn't ask for.

That account made such an impression on me when I was younger. I thought back then, would I have asked for wisdom as well and not something that would just satisfy me temporarily? So ever since then, I asked for and prioritized wisdom and the pursuit of wisdom over most everything.

Pursuit and prioritizing is one thing, consistently living it out is another. That's been the toughest challenge. I gained a lot of knowledge in Bible school and college in such a short time that I came out of those institutions feeling like a small child trying to fit in his dad's large overalls. So now it's the issue of recalling and even relearning much of what I learned in the past and live it out with each decision I make. Tall order, but by God's grace, I can do this

Acts 15

Near the end of the chapter, Paul wanted to revisit the towns where he and Barnabas preached the Gospel. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, but Paul didn't want to bring him along because he abandoned them on a previous mission. Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement about it and they went their separate ways.

I like knowing that God is in my decision-making, even when there is a lot of conflict or even bitter disagreement between me and my brother or sister in Christ. Paul and Barnabas both thought they were right and the other wrong. God used both decisions and used it to glorify Himself. God uses any decision I make for His glory. He's also the one who prompted me to make such decisions, so I really shouldn't be surprised that He should take the credit. Now obviously, this doesn't mean that I can sin, that's all me and not Him. He merely places the decision before me and beckons me to do what pleases Him, even if it may disagree with a fellow believer. (I'm not about to get into a Sovereignty of God discussion here.) Even then, I know God works through our sin as well. Simply put, I should strive to be more like Jesus. My prayer is that I don't sin and that whatever I do or don't do will be pleasing to Him.

Ezra 3

He is good. His love to Israel endures forever.

Israel sinned as a nation for about 200 years before being taken and exiled by Assyria. Judah followed and even though they had more righteous kings, it was not enough to hold back the inevitable: God allowed Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and take its inhabitants. 70 years later, God placed it on a pagan king's heart to allow the Jews to go back to their land and rebuild the temple.

I'm thankful that God is forgiving. Even though He chose me for Him, the sin I commit on a daily basis is ever before me. The closer I get to God, the more I see the stains and I'm amazed by His mercy. I could easily have paid the consequences of my sin, and I have on some occasions, but He is good. He is just and merciful and I'm so thankful for His mercy. I won't ever be plucked out of His hand, because what I do or don't do has been covered by the Blood and I've been sealed for the day of redemption. I do have to seek Him constantly to live a life that glorifies Him.

Help me God to seek You daily, minute by minute. I don't want to displease You. I want You to take me and mold me. Conform me to You.

John 15

Obedience. Jesus, God the Son, was in complete obedience to God the Father. Obeying Jesus is obeying the Father. Obedience and Joy go hand in hand. He chose me, I obey, I bear fruit, and I become His disciple. He commands me, I obey, His joy remains in me and I will have complete joy or true fulfillment. His command: love one another. Simple statement, but one of the hardest principles to practice. By His grace, my fruit will remain.

John 15

Just like the previous devotional entry, I picked a chapter full of precious jewels.

For this one, I focused on verse 15. He's made known to us all that the Father has taught him. There are no secrets with God. He won't speak deceit or lies. He is straightforward since He only speaks one language - truth. And so should I. I should first and foremost be upfront and honest with God. Then, one of the hardest, is that I should be honest with myself - I have to ask myself the tough questions, or else someone will do it for me: where am I faltering in my relationship with Jesus? What can I do to mend bad or strained relationships? Who can I build bridges with in order to share the Gospel? What can I do to contribute to the Body of Christ? What I can I do to provide for my family? How can I best represent Jesus?

I have to answer these and many other questions honestly and to change or grow to glorify God.

John 8

This was quite the debate between Jesus and the religious leaders. In the end, the religious leaders found whatever excuse they needed to try to get rid of Jesus. Verse 28 gets my attention, though: Jesus does nothing of himself, but only what the Father taught him and he isn't alone because Father God is there with him and Jesus only does what pleases the Father. Awesome challenge for me! If Jesus, God the Son, was so in line with the Father that he did nothing of himself, where does that leave me? I know I'm not in line with the Father in many areas of my life. I'm glad He allowed me the opportunity to believe in Jesus. Now it's all about consciously acknowledging God's presence and His involvement in ALL areas of my life.

Engkrateia

I began a program for myself that would allow me to practice self-discipline once again. It started in the physical aspect: I'm to do a progressive regime that would start slowly so my body can become accustomed to it, with each cycle matching the number of days with the number of reps. So that means, since yesterday was the first day, I did 10 push-ups, 10 squats, and one pull-up. Then the second day, today, I did 20 push-ups and 20 squats and two pull-ups. I'll do the same tomorrow. Then after that I'll do 30/30/3 three days in a row. Then I rest for a day. I start the day after that with four days worth of 40/40/4. I'll take one day rests until after the 60s, then I'll take two day rests after each cycle. After the 90s, I'll rest for two days, then I'll do the 100s, but this time, I will rest for one day after day 5. By the time this is all done, it'll be the end of October. I hope to be ripped by then.

And every day I will do 30 min cardio and 100 reps of any ab exercise. I'm thinking about adding a few more weight training routines as supplemental to all the exercise mentioned so far. I'm making all of this as manageable as possible while still challenging myself.

Likewise, with writing, even though I'm not to spend all my time blogging, as suggested by my wife, I would still like to log experiences and thoughts on a consistent basis. Doing so would allow me to think I'm doing something daily and consistently. I don't need to get overboard with writing, but at least I should write a little something on both of my blogs. I'm also on a program of writing what I learned in my devotionals to Em. Might as well write it in my 12th Letter blog.

I'm looking forward to developing more self-control and discipline because it will spill over into other areas of my life and the outcome will be quite beneficial to me and to others in my life.

Religion

There are only 5 references to the word "religion" in the Bible for the NIV

1. Acts 25:19
   Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.
   
   
2. Acts 26:5
   They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.
   
   
3. 1 Timothy 5:4
   But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
   
   
4. James 1:26
   If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
   
   
5. James 1:27
   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.
   
   

...and five for the KJV.

1. Acts 26:5
   Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
   
   
2. Galatians 1:13
   For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
   
   
3. Galatians 1:14
   And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
   
   
4. James 1:26
   If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
   
   
5. James 1:27
   Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
   
   

Most have negative connotations.

And for the word "religious," there are 6 references for the NIV

1. Amos 5:21
   "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
   
   
2. Amos 8:10
   I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
   
   
3. Acts 17:22
   Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
   
   
4. Colossians 2:16
   Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
   
   
5. Hebrews 10:11
   Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
   
   
6. James 1:26
   If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
   
   

...and 2 for the KJV.

1. Acts 13:43
   Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
   
   
2. James 1:26
   If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
   
   

Most have negative connotations as well.

What You Can Live Through

Mayor Barrett of Milwaukee fought off an attacker and was injured in the process. He was just leaving the Wisconsin State Fair with his family when an elderly woman called out for help from a man harassing her and her grandchild. Mayor Barrett stepped in to calm the man down and just when he took out his cell phone to call 911, the man attacked the mayor with a metal pipe. The mayor fought back by punching the attacker in the face and fracturing his hand in the process. The suspect ran off and the mayor was sent to the hospital, still conscious and conversational.

Now that's the way to defend your city!

The Spirit of the Age

Zeitgeist, the documentary, has a lot of problems. The following are some notes I took:

You don't have to be Christian to realize that Zeitgeist's first premise of the Horus/Jesus connection is inaccurate and over-simplified. If you've read ancient world myth, and I was a big fan of Egyptian, Roman, Greek, and Chinese myth, you will see that the director weaved his own ideas of mythical stories throughout the first section, making the common theme of a Messiah born of a Virgin more ancient and pagan, taking away the foundations of the miracles of Jesus.

The film's premise, most likely influenced by evolutionary thought-processes, states that Jesus is merely the hybridized, higher form of Horus. As the filmmaker explains the Horus myth, error alarms went off in my mind. Any reader of myth (or Stargate fan) would know that Horus is not the sun god, Ra is the sun god. And Set is not the god of the underworld, that would be Osiris. If you look at their heads, Horus is the sky god and is represented by the falcon and Set is the river god and is represented by the crocodile head. That myth of light and darkness clashing daily sounds more Meso-American, or even Babylonian, than it is Egyptian.

From the Christian worldview, it is a given that humans from the dawn of time have had this internal desire for a Savior and that there is this sense that a Savior will come. God even said how He will provide the Way to salvation to Adam and Eve, so as the human race grew and spread, every culture would have had an idea of a Savior. This is true for the Flood account, in that almost every culture will include a flood or some watery deluge as part of their origins stories.

Also, God said from the beginning that the heavenly bodies are to be used as more than just measuring devices: they are to give signs about events that are to unfold. I don't believe in astrology, that's another discussion, but I do believe that the heavenly bodies coincide with many major events that transpired in the Bible, even the arrival of the Messiah. To say that Biblical events are merely the result of an ancient writer's imagination using the stars, moon, and sun as his inspiration is myopia on the grandest scale. Archeology and various historical data are showing with each passing year the reliability of the Bible's historicity.

The quote from Justin Martyr was taken way out of context. What the filmmaker just passed off as cartoonish, that the Devil had the foresight to influence Christ's characteristics in the pagan world, was actually true. Justin believed that demons perpetrated the myths of sons of gods born to virgins after those demons found out what God was planning. God told the prophets hundreds of years before Christ's birth what to look for in the coming Messiah. No myth resembling Jesus' life occurred before 800 BC, which was around the time when the Israelite prophets were becoming a force in their world. Greek myth, for instance, didn't begin or wasn't solidified in that culture until around 800 BC. Most every myth that had any connection whatsoever to Jesus occurred after Jesus' resurrection, which includes the Mithraic myths also.

Wow, and he actually said that not one of the ancient writers in Jesus' time mentioned his existence in any detail and that Josephus had a discredited account of Jesus. Sadly, this documentary is just the rehashing of the outdated and poor scholarship of the Jesus Seminar and other modern research into discrediting the historical Jesus. Also, it's apparent that Joseph didn't read the Bible but parroted others who have used verses in the Bible to give proof of their ideas.

Each point he makes is done logically so it seems to make sense, but there is no credible scholarship and the research is shoddy, much like the child who can prove that Santa exists because he received presents with boxes labeled "from Santa."

The point of this film was to make people seek out the truth for themselves and not allow authority to think for you. For me, I was raised to question authority figures (not directly taught, but my mother told me many times that I was rebellious, so it follows...) which led me to question my beliefs in-depth when I was in college. Maybe it was my dad's influence as well, because he wrote against the Vietnam war and was almost kicked out of his college for it.  Either way, I became one who won't accept assertions at face value unless I've done my own digging. So to me, the point of this film was already a given and it freed me to question the film's assertions. I'm usually skeptical of what skeptics say.  I prefer the truth.  As a Christian I question everything, but I understand that there are absolutes and that those absolutes should be individually applied. As a Christian I listen to authority, but I also speak up when authority is wrong, no matter where it's from or who it is.

Chaos Theory Part 2

Guided Chaos training is the closest to fully realizing what Bruce Lee sought during his life. I say closest because I believe even Guided Chaos can be improved upon. My training in Guided Chaos allowed me to see way beyond the typical JKD practitioner. Instead of taking separate ideas and attempting to blend them, John Perkins took the idea that effective combat movement is the goal and not the blending of practical moves from different styles. The focus is on effective combative movement only limited by physical laws of motion and physiology. There is no need to memorize techniques, there are only the principles of movement and knowing how to use the body's weapons to incapacitate another person.

When I finally went to a Guided Chaos class and I put to practice what I only knew theoretically.

The closest I see to Guided Chaos in the JKD community is found in the Dog Brothers, Alive JKD, and . Outside JKD I can only see Systema and Krav Maga modern "formless" interpretations of traditional artsas the only

Inosanto's approach, Krav Maga, most MMA sports, and hybridized systems of traditional styles, all try to blend to achieve formlessness:
The method - they teach the essence of different styles and try to find the most practical way. The question they ask is, how can it be assimilated to suit you and to effectively incapacitate another body?
In Guided Chaos, formlessness is at the start:
The method - they teach how the body moves effectively in combat. The question they ask is, how can you use your body structure, and whatever weapons, with physical laws of motion to incapacitate another body?

And yet, even after all this, I feel like I'm sluggishly behind. I may have come to a martial arts enlightenment, but my training has been at an all time zero. I haven't trained as much as I've wanted these past six years. I've practiced a lot, I've also taught a lot. But my training has been few and far between, my progress has been stunted, not to mention feeling like a slob compared to how I was ten years ago.

Also he had a tendency to speak in Eastern mysticist terms, rather than give a straightforward explanation of his approach.

Some even think of JKD as a separate style itself, which is quite the opposite of Bruce Lee's philosophy.

Chaos Theory

Oh, my word, the beak and head seem to be the only parts outside of the egg. The rest of the body is still stuck inside. I'm talking about Jeet Kune Do at this point in its development.  The JKD teachers have the right idea, that JKD should be formless and yet assume all forms and that you have to be like water, my friend. But what they do in practice is still reminiscent of something from the 1970s. The JKD student still goes through a core curriculum through Jun Fan JKD, which they tend to be very dogmatic about.  Or a style sampler blend, like Inosanto's JKD Concepts.

JKD is the product of the marriage between Eastern martial tradition and Western practicality. Bruce Lee learned as much as he could from different martial arts. Likewise the modern JKD teacher provides the knowledge of different martial art approaches. The student then takes all these approaches and assimilates whatever works for his or her particular body type and personality. All good and well, but the progress is impaired when the student goes back to the partial, that is, they keep training the separate ideas.  The Jun Fan JKD people practice the core curriculum that Lee developed and then take in other styles to build on top of the core.  Or for the more enlightened, they strip away to the most essential of the core and the most essential of other styles.  And then the Inosanto approach, the core is practiced along with other styles.  For example, the typical training schedule for that kind of JKD school would be: MMA Mondays, Jun Fan JKD Tuesdays, BJJ Wednesdays, Muay Thai Thursdays, FMA Fridays, open-sparring Saturdays. It's almost as if breaking free of them and fusing all of them would be dishonorable to the traditions of the elders.


Inosanto teaches that there are common threads of movement in many styles, and he states on his web-page that "movement is universal, no one single style or system has it all." Good, I agree. Then I realized why he teaches styles separately when he continues saying, "students learn what works in a particular situation, against a particular opponent, and when another technique or series of techniques would be more practical and effective." He still focuses on particular techniques? He associates those techniques with particular situations? Wow, I had hoped he would be beyond this by now.


Bruce Lee had the right idea when he sought the "totality" in martial arts, the formless form, the ultimate to simple and functional. He did his best to bring together the principles of different styles and meld them into his own, but he died at the beginning of his journey.  His followers also have the right idea, to meld all the styles into a personal style and make it adaptable. But here's the catch: in the blending, they still conform to their training in separate systems, and even if they don't, they still answer a technique with a corresponding technique.

In a way, I'm glad I didn't fully complete my training in JKD. I had to end my training out of necessity, but by then, I was already questioning what I was learning. Why am I practicing the partial? Why is it that I'm practicing specific techniques?  Can I truly adapt to anything thrown at me?  It's good that JKD is more realistic and practical, but why is there so much emphasis on keeping the different styles separate rather than teaching what all of those styles have in common?  Why not work it all together into a person's particular body type in the very beginning rather than doing the traditional approach of finding the formless in the form?

To be continued...

What I cannot do

In my effort to live a life for God, I trip up more than I want. My sin is so ever clear to me as I move even closer to Him. Sometimes, I sin so much that I feel like I'm laying down an invisible wall, brick after brick, that separates me from Him. By His grace, that wall will never grow, no matter how often I add to it. At that point, I have to ask what Chambers asked: "Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do?" I cannot live for God without His grace and I can only live by His grace. Can I believe that He will make me more like Jesus, something I definitely cannot do?


The Staggering Question by J. Oswald Chambers

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He said to me, ’Son of man, can these bones live?’ —Ezekiel 37:3

Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer— "O Lord God, You know" ( Ezekiel 37:3 ). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, "Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done."

It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.

"Behold, O My people, I will open your graves . . ." ( Ezekiel 37:12 ). When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as you yourself could be without His grace. My "grave" has been opened by God and "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells" ( Romans 7:18 ). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.

God loves variety

Yesterday, I went to the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania convention for the Truth Project training seminar. During break time, I walked around the convention vendor booths to peruse what they had to offer. Ever since I met homeschooled students at WOLBI, I was convinced that homeschooling was an excellent option. Those kids were highly intelligent and well socialized, unlike the unfortunate stereotype that homeschooled kids have a narrow-minded and limited education and that they are socially inept. Now it's the issue of figuring out what I can do to prepare Em and myself to homeschool our child. My schedule right now in second shift can work, but we'll see what actions I need to take these next few years to make things work smoothly.

Walking around the convention, I was amused to see the great number of Mennonites. I knew there were going to be a good number of conservatively dressed Christian groups, but I should've expected that there would be upwards of 80% of the attendees to be of those groups. I was in the middle of Amish country in Harrisburg, so I should've expected it. I'm sure there were Independent and Fundamentalist Baptists as well, since about a dozen vendors were Baptist. There were also some normally dressed people and some hicks. I only saw a few who were tattooed and pierced, with a punk or gothic look (I'm sure a BJU rep was trying to witness to them).

That's the beauty of Christianity - our variety. We have an incredible amount of freedom to express our devotion to Jesus, be it the highly structured and regimented like the Mennonites and some Baptist groups, to the decentralized Brethren groups, to the often rowdy Charismatics. Variety is merely the result of individualized thought, even in those who are more uniform in their lifestyle and outlook. Anti-conformity or non-conformity is very Christian and Biblical in its origin. And to be precise, we are not to be conformed to this world, be it the evils of the flesh or the religious structures of man. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. By doing so, we are then conformed to Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the ultimate Non-conformist.

All in the mental

These past few months, I've been doing my best to keep up with my workouts and watching my caloric intake.  I want to look good for the summer, but this year, I just don't have the energy to keep up with what I eat, let alone do any exercising.  So when I read about the Gabriel Method, I was intrigued.  I did a little bit of research and found that the Method is mostly an exercise in mental control.  I acknowledge that the mental side of staying fit and healthy is important, I just never thought of it as the main aspect of reaching physical goals.  Some visualization, some mental reprogramming results in portion control and natural caloric expenditure through daily activity.  Basically the non-diet and exercise program to lose weight. 

No, I won't be buying the Gabriel Method book and related products any time soon.  But it is a good reminder that while I'm working on my physical, it is necessary to develop myself mentally, in the sense that I can change myself by reprogramming how I think about myself.  Success or failure is usually dependent on what the mind is trained for, anyway.  Might as well envision myself as cut, fit, and healthy.  Easier than doing a hundred push-ups or running 5 miles.

Not a Christian Nation

What is a Judeo-Christian principle? What distinguishes it from Hindu or Muslim principles? Couldn't we identify some Muslo-Christian principles? Just a reminder, the greatest persecution of the early church came from the temple linked to Ceasar.
Pastor Jeff

From the blog article A Christian Mistake by Jim Wallis of Sojourners

"Those faith-inspired movements are disciplined by democracy, meaning they don’t expect to win just because they are “Christian.” They have to win the debates about what is best for the common good by convincing their fellow citizens...And that is best done by shaping the values narrative, as opposed to converting everyone to their particular brand of religion. Rather, they are always looking for allies around their moral causes, including people of other faiths or of no religion. The story of Christianity in America in the coming decades will be defined by a multicultural shift as well as a generational one. “New” evangelicals and Catholics, along with black, Hispanic, and Asian churches will now shape the agenda. But also included are the millions of Americans who say they are “spiritual but not religious,” finding homes in non-traditional churches, mega-churches that teach that true religion is found in care for “the least of these.” Making a real impact on the values and directions that a democracy will choose is, perhaps, a more exciting kind of influence than relying on the illusory and often disappointing hopes of cultural and political dominance."

And the rest of the article was crap!  I'm now accepting the idea that there is a great falling away from the faith, has been falling away since the '60s, but even more so now with so many in leadership positions who don't even acknowledge the exceptionalism and reliability of the Bible.  Or if they do, they seem to have an incomplete understanding that it makes me wonder where they got their Bible training.

Beacon in the Darkness

From 830pm to 930 pm on March 28, 88 countries and 4000 cities turned out the lights as a demonstration of concern to fight Global Warming.

I didn't.

My house was the brightest on the block. There were a few houses with a couple of lights on, but many turned off their lights around 8:30. I was watching a documentary with my family at that time and had to pause it so I could turn on all the lights in my house.

Many say that Earth Hour helped to save money and cut down costs. Of course it cut down costs, people turned out the lights! I'm into saving a few bucks on energy myself, which is why I turn on lights only when necessary. But to say that turning off lights will help bring down CO2 emissions is utter nonsense. There are those who have calculated that lighting a few candles during that hour created more CO2 than the energy used to turn on light bulbs. Whether or not it made a dent in the levels of CO2, the fact remains: humans are not contributing to global warming or climate change or whatever they call it these days. Every 50 years or so, a new group of scientists or a new study points to this or that to "confirm" a change in the environment. One of these days, I hope the majority opinion will finally accept the truth that these changes are natural and cyclical. Not holding my breath, of course.

Earth Hour only proved to me that there are way too many people who bought into the Gore sales pitch of human caused climate change.

Does anyone else think this Earth Hour business is hilarious?

Stuff I Like

Stumbled onto this blog while spell-checking: Stuff Christians Like. While reading the guy's entries, I was inspired to return to heightened playfulness in my writing, which leads to creativity. That's the stuff that allows people to read really long blog entries. I get turned off by articles that go for more than a few paragraphs, unless it's a subject I'm really interested in at the moment. But since I follow several blogs, I only have time for short entries. That's the reason my more serious blog, the 12th Letter, has on average two or three paragraphs. Most are only discussion starters - they're meant to be controversial, not comedic. But now that I've been reminded, I'm inspired to go the way of Glenn Beck: a fusion of entertainment and enlightenment.

This guy Prodigal Jon has written over 500 articles in two years! That's inspiring enough! But one article caught my attention, entitled Good enough for the church (Or God's Love Letter to Artists). Prodigal Jon wrote about the importance of the artists and craftsmen that God gifted for building the Tabernacle, so much so that they were second to the priests. Such a great reminder of what's important to God's heart. I remember reading that part of Exodus back in high school, that God assigned skilled artists and builders to create His Tabernacle, the precursor to the Temple. Back then, the only thing I could claim as my well-developed skill was art - illustrating, painting, sculpting, and calligraphy. So as a kid reading that, I thought, "Wow, God uses even the lowly artist." God didn't choose the strong, the intellectual elite, or even the politician - He chose the artist! Artists and builders are important to God's heart because His first act was in expressing Himself in the creation of this universe.

Two Cents Left

To conclude this discussion on legitimized spending sprees by the Obama administration, here's Mike Huckabee on naming this particular bill.

Isn't it ironic?

How stupid is it to close Guantanamo Bay? Obama will do a whole lot of back-pedaling.

"We ain't rich yet, but we will be because of Barack Obama!"



Saw a little bit of the Image Awards. Many liberals in the crowd. Interesting how they celebrated Lincoln who was Republican and was not very well-liked during his administration, by both North and South. Lincoln helped to create the Republican party which was based on an abolitionist platform. He also helped to bring about legislation that eventually freed the slaves. Most black people now are Democrats who honor Lincoln and yet don't realize their roots of freedom in the Republican party. All they saw were Democrats John F. Kennedy, who asked for Civil Rights legislation, and Lyndon Johnson, who signed the Civil Rights Act to law in 1964. The public school system does not teach that Republicans made the necessary decisions that led up to the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the first in 1875 with Senators Charles Sumner and Benjamin Butler, then in the 1950s and '60s, led by Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen.  The Republicans and Democrats worked together to bring about this much needed legislation, but eventually, the Democrats were given credit for the work simply because it ended up on their desks!

I'm not a big fan of either party, but the Republicans are the closest to representing my views. Or at least they were, somehow they lost a big chunk of their spine and core during the Bush years.  The Republicans better start representing the conservatives again and truly bring back the "Party of Lincoln," instead of just going along with the popular trend or what can bring in the most votes.

PMABM Newsletter #11

In my effort to look for something from my work at TV-13 on Youtube, I found this video from TV-13 in Michigan:



Mariah Moore, the Eskrimadora. Also known as the American Valkyrie. One thing's sure, this ain't a fat lady singing. More like a young lady swinging - sticks and blades. She's now my new little hero. I don't know about you, but at that age, if my ribs broke in a sparring contest, I would've questioned why I was practicing martial arts. But she kept on going and even won a championship with broken ribs! If a 15 year old girl from the Midwest can take it, there's no reason why you can't.

After watching her videos, I've been motivated to get off my gluts and work on my skills. I'm also looking forward to teaching and coaching again. Did you get that part of the video, that she trains six days out of the week? I recently told Joe one of my motivational/perspective phrases: I'm not obsessed with martial arts, which is why I only train six days out of the week instead of seven. What I mean by perspective phrase is that I won't make martial arts such an obsession that people are left by the wayside and yet I should make the time to practice daily to seek mastery. Balance is the key to anything you do in life, even if you're only known as a martial arts expert, or whatever expert.

I wish I could train six days out of the week. I train as much as I can, though. To be good at anything, it takes a whole lot of conscious effort, discipline, and many, many trips outside of your comfort zone (and maybe even a depletion of funds). By doing so, you develop a good work ethic, which allows you to be good at what you do, which helps motivate your work habits and the cycle continues. You may get to the point that you even like the struggle, but even if you don't, it's best to make the conscious effort to get out and do something. That's my other motivational phrase I've been using recently: Do something, anything! Developing a good work ethic is what makes champions like Mariah.

This promotional video is a little cheesy, but it gets the point across. Mariah seems to be into the modern demo aspect of FMA as well. Watch some of the moves she makes. She does a different style of FMA, but do you recognize a few things?



Also, watch her training and competition videos when you get the chance.

Intro to Dating and Relationships with PD2

We were at the HUB for youth group. Pastor Deb (aka PD2) gave the lesson. Her youth group tends to be more activity based, so for the entire hour, we were playing a quiz style game while she gave the lesson on sexual purity. This was our introduction to our dating and relationship lessons for the next couple of months.

PD2 separated us all into three teams, Faith Alive youth group being on one team and most of her youth group split into two teams. She would get us to do a Bible drill style game and whoever read the verse first gets a question to answer. If they don't answer correctly, she moves on to the other teams. In the end we placed second after nearly an hour of playing. During that time, we went through several key principles:

Sex should be reserved for marriage.
Don't focus on the physical in the dating relationship.
Girls should wear modest clothing.
Guys should control themselves and be careful at what they look at.
Don't even kiss or make out because it will cause you to sin in one way or another.
Honor God by respecting the opposite sex.
Whoever you date could possibly be another's spouse in the future.
When you're tempted with sexual sin, FLEE!
Take a stand for sexual purity in this sex-obsessed world.

Near the end, PD2 handed out a box of chocolates for us to eat. A few of the pieces were bitten into. Then we checked the second layer and they too had pieces bitten into. By then, I realized it was a metaphor. She used the half eaten chocolate pieces as an illustration of what it's like when someone already has had sex before marriage. It was hard to think about eating the chocolate when someone else has eaten it already.

Got some change?

Obama presidency,
aka Clinton presidency part deux
aka Clinton's third term with a twist
aka Clinton administration redux

"Change is Good" video by Stuart Shepard to give a better explanation.