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.

PMABM Newsletter #10

Check out this video of Balintawak arnis training from the '70s. Any of it look familiar to you?

You can tell the teacher is the pudgy one (much like me) and the student is the one with the semi-afro looking hair. The teacher has better balance and evades when necessary while the student is all over the place. If I take video of you now (after we refresh our memory and review what we've learned so far) and then take video of you a year from now, assuming you train consistently, you will be pleasantly surprised to see the change in how you move and in what you do.

I'm looking forward to it.

And for those who want to see the Balintawak arnis I learned, here it is. This is only one aspect of Balintawak training. It's actually a very self-defense focused martial art, as demonstrated in the old video. The old masters didn't teach any of it as sport. They taught with the idea that someone was trying to kill you with a knife or a machete and you had to deal with it quickly.

In our veins

Given: men fight. Doesn't matter what kind of fight, be it intellectual or physical, there is a willingness in all men to do battle. Among the physical fighters, there are four kinds (and they aren't mutually exclusive): one is the brawler, who was most likely abused as a child and hasn't gotten over his daddy or mommy issues. The second is the one dimensional fighter, who only knows fighting and really never developed any other skill, or if he did, it doesn't pay for the bills and so he may fight for a living. The third is the trained fighter, who learned a fighting art, may professionally fight for a living, and is also well-versed in other skills. Then there's the fighter who comes from a warrior culture where fighting isn't just something they do - it's in their blood, it's part of who they are. Warrior culture isn't simple to define, but there are a number of characteristics:

1) The people group inhabit a strategic location that's been invaded and fought over for generations that a readiness for war has become part of their cultural makeup.
2) They have well-developed cultural fighting arts.
3) They are known for their tenacity in war.

In Filipino culture, all three parameters were satisfied in the past. Throughout their history, no matter how often they were beaten down, Filipinos always fought back. There were no less than 50 revolts from various tribes or groups against the Spanish during their 300 year domination over the archipelago. The last time Filipinos showed their warrior spirit was during World War II. With help from the Americans, the Filipinos fought hard to expel the Japanese and liberate prisoners of war. Much of that warrior spirit disappeared after World War II. These days, Filipinos are known for their other side: their hospitality, their fun-loving, peaceful nature. And they are also known for other skills like singing and dancing. The Muslim insurgencies in the southern Philippines are more about finances or simple terrorism, rather than a reflection of the warrior culture.

The only place the warrior culture lives on is in the martial arts community. After World War II, many of the surviving masters brought their knowledge to America. These days, the Filipino martial arts thrive, generally lumped under the names kali, escrima, or arnis. They were popularized by the Canete family, Bakbakan International, Dan Inosanto, and many others who have preserved the traditions of various family styles. Through these people and schools, the warrior culture is undergoing a resurgence. But instead of the unfocused brutality of the past, the new generation of the warrior culture will have a better perspective, a culture that won't perpetuate violence.  This is the generation of the peaceful warrior, who will use martial skills for the benefit and the protection of others, not just the protection of the immediate group.

Tribal Heritage

The History channel has an ongoing series called Gangland. After watching a few episodes, I was reminded how people are still very tribal in nature no matter how civilized the society. There's a running theme through these shows, a tendency for the disillusioned to identify with a group and, with that acceptance, the relinquishing of individualism in order to conform to that immediate group's culture, to be part of a family. In their need to conform to that family structure, the members will bypass their already fractured moral development to honor the group's simple moral code - survival and strength.

Is it any surprise?

Obama reneged on his tax cut promises? Shocking. And not many in the media are complaining. Not many people know about it either. If they do, they simply disregard it because change is more important. Change change change. Nothing but words. Talk about the Barack hypnotic effect. We'll see how this plays out, but things like this are expected. There will be a whole lot more like this in the next few years. Maybe in the next few months?

Zero on Zawahiri

I heard that someone responded to Al-Zawahiri's racist attacks against Obama? This person said Al-Qaeda have lost any moral authority to say anything after the recent racist epithet against the President-Elect. Wow, an American actually acknowledged that Al-Qaeda had any moral authority before this? They're a terrorist group! They have no moral authority or political credibility! If they insult Obama or Bush or any American, then so what? The only time anyone should listen to them is if they make death threats and they seem to like following through with those!

What I'd like to say to that so-called terrorist expert: Don't Americanize Al-Qaeda! Don't even acknowledge them by responding to their insults!

Those hypocrites!

In the gay rights debate, only one side is truly intolerant.

 

The Brave Catherine Vogt

Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo, The Chicago Tribune

From the Chicago Tribune, "Tolerance Fails T-Shirt Test" by John Kass, as pointed out by Michelle Malkin.

Intelligence Quotient

"I will bring this war to an end in 2009, so don't be confused." - Sen. Barack Obama responding to Billary Clinton's comments, March 2008

I wouldn't be surprised if Obama starts to change his anti-war tone in the next few months. After meeting with the CIA, the military, the DOD, and Bush, I can only imagine him getting hit with what's truly happening in the Middle East. At least he'll learn what the President knows and why Bush had to do what he had to do. During his term as Senator and during his campaign, Obama visited many countries, including those in the Middle East, but I would love to see the look on his face once he learns what's going on beneath the surface.

Electoral Craziness

My wife and I were talking about how the Electoral College worked. I needed to refresh my memory, since both of us were talking about something we haven't studied since 2000 and I was pretty sure we were both wrong on certain things.

So, here's a brief explanation:



No, seriously:

Too bad!

Darn, too bad McCain didn't win the election because it would've helped to weed out those who are ungrateful to be an American. If only the "exodus" idea in this article were true, it would've helped to solidify the number of real Americans in this country, and those who think they're too educated and progressive can go to their desired refuge (or cage). I prefer my freedoms, thank you very much.

Just because Obama won doesn't mean I should leave the US. I believe this is the most unique nation on Earth and I'm not about to hand it over to leaders who like to govern like the rest of the world's leaders. We can still change this country for the better after his term ends. One of my co-workers said, "It can't get any worse than what it is now." I beg to differ - this country has the potential to be brought to its knees with someone like Obama at the helm. The beauty of America is in its core ideals of liberty based on Judeo-Christian principles. If we keep to this core, America can get back to its feet after 2012. Most likely it will take a little more than four years to undo his damage, but there will come a day when government's tentacles will retract and we can get back to living like free Americans again.

I hope the voluntary weeding will begin by then as well.