• "The Lord taketh pleasure in His people." --Psalm 149:4 There is no part of His people's interests which He does not consider...Charles Spurgeon.

That was just what I need right now.
 12:43 AM   •  ø 

• It's amazing how fast God answers your prayers, but you don't always realize it because he doesn't answer them in the way you wanted him too.
 11:40 AM   •  ø 

• Christina got me thinking on my way home tonight. Sometimes I forget how special my relationship is with my family, and just how much of a blessing they are -- all of them. My sister for example is my best friend. And what we've gone through both together and against each other has brought us from the deepest valleys to the greatest mountain tops. It could make me cry thinking about how easy it is to take her love for granted. I used to wonder how I would know when I was experiencing True Love. As a dumb kid I had mistaken so many different feelings for love that it was becoming less and less believable that it existed. But when I look around me, love is all I'm surrounded by. I used to think that the love for your Significant Other was different from that which you have for your family and closest friends. The truth of the matter is, that it isn't any different. Not if you truly love them. The only difference is how it's expressed. I didn't learn that until I had Ashley in my life, and thank God I didn't take that short blessed time for granted. But when I think about how much my Dad has sacrificed for our family, and how well we've all worked so hard to keep this family strong, and how many trials and tribulations we've experienced together (and believe me, we've had some rough ones), I can only attribute our success to God. There are so many families that don't make it as far as ours has, and it's a shame that we could ever take it for granted.

Thanks for sparking that thought Christina...you're awesome! I can't wait unitl you meet them all.
 1:50 AM   •  ø 

• Part of my moms job as a mail carrier requires her to knock on a customers door to clear up any discrepencies that may have been overlooked for too long. Yesterday my mom approached a customers door and before she even knocked she could hear a bunch of kids inside, so she knew someone was there. My ma knocked and rang the doorbell without any response, but insisted that she'd stand there until the sun went down before she walked away with the problem unresolved. Finally a little girl about 3 years old answered the door looking up at my mom with a disgruntled face and her hands on her hips. The little girl let out a deep sigh and said "My mom doesn't have any clothes on, so I guess I'm just gonna have to deal with this myself."

Last week my mom approached a door, and again she could hear a girl inside having a conversation. My mom rang the doorbell and the teenage girl became suddenly silent. Forever went by and the girl still didn't answer the door. My ma, being the stubborn woman that she is refused to leave. Suddenly the toilet flushed and the girl walked out of the room -- that had the door wide open. It turned out that the girl was having a conversation with the dog as she went. When she stepped out she said to my ma "Sorry, I was busy." My mom bust out laughing in this girls face and said "yeah, I noticed."

My ma. Ain't she great?
 8:51 PM   •  1 opinonated piece of What? 

• "God only, whose will and good pleasure is the sole rule of those works which outwardly are of Him, can never deviate in His actions, nor have any end attend or follow His acts NOT precisely by Him intended." John Owen, The Death of Death.

Whenever I contemplate the scriptures it's my understanding that Gods sovereignty is at the core of whatever doctrine is at hand. After all, it is Gods sovereignty that makes God God. And it's for that very reason when I read the above quote that a renewed sense of awe swept through my body as I got a refreshing perspective of how "in control" God is -- over all things. It's breath taking to consider the magnitude of what that means. From before the beginning of time God had his perfect and unchangeable heart set on a desired end, the moving cause for whose sake all things work for. Creation, the Cross, Judgement, and yes, even the Fall (which without there would not have been the later two). And that's just on the macro level. If you have any breath left in you after that, consider the fact Gods hand reaches even further down making even the smallest details of your life a means unto His end. If that isn't comforting to the soul, then I don't think the idea is sinking in. It's a fantastic reminder of what our chief end is, and where our true riches lay in wait for us.
 12:11 PM   •  ø 

• I'm taking suggestions on what color(s) to paint my room. Right now my favorite is brown and orange, much like this page.
 9:56 PM   •  13 opinonated pieces of What? 

• I'm reading The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, by Dr. C. E. W. Walther. Why he has two middle names is beyond me, but he makes some really excellent points which are always satisfying reminders of who we were outside of Christ, and who we are now that He has embraced us. But one thing stands out to me which I find uncomfortable. He references Luther (oh yeah, he's lutheran) an awful lot. But it's not just that Luther is so quotable that bugs me. It's that Walther builds Luther up a whole lot. I don't know....are all Lutherans like that?

 12:58 AM   •  2 opinonated pieces of What? 

• I think you're on the right track Trouble. Thanks not only to the media, but to the millions of idiots out there "sharing" bar scene stories (which are fabricated anyways), the normal Joe Schmoe has developed a fantasized sense of how to pick up on the ladies. Confidence is NOT walking up to a girl and saying "Damn baby, you gotta keg in your pants? Cuz if you do I'd sure like to tap that ass"

NO, this is not the way to do it people.

But what I was getting at was how good looking people have been taught that they can get whatever they want, and they're better than the rest. They have the idea that their looks equal charm and that everyone likes them, and that any time they can't just grab whatever they want, they can use their looks to get it...because after all, looks equal charm. But lets not forget the nice people out there, because the media hasn't. The nice people out there are taught that all those good looking people are unattainable, and that the way we're supposed to treat them is like they're better than us. And suddenly you have two classes of people. The good looking ones, and the "average" ones. Everyone knows their place, and they live by it, and the next thing that happens is that hot chicks complain there aren't any nice guys out there, the nice guys complain that hot chicks don't pay any attention to them, and the jerks of the world just keep getting what they want. The jerks are the real winners here.

But then Hollywood turns around and tells us that "no no, hot chicks do have the same problems as anyone else. Look! Ashely Judd is having "normal" relationship problems in this movie" The truth of the matter is that they do have problems, they are human after all, but their problems aren't the same as an "average" chick. And why is that? Because they're not the only ones that have been brainwashed. It's like saying that a poor persons problems are the same as a rich persons. The fact of the matter is, they're not. Of course, if you wanted to categorize "problems" then I suppose everyone has the same problems. But to get a practical perspective on the issue, you've gotta break it down more and that's when you find where the real differences lay.

 5:10 PM   •  5 opinonated pieces of What? 

• What I don't like about movies such as Someone Like You is that they try and convince you that girls like Ashley Judd have the same kind of problems you'd expect an "average" girl to have. And lets face, it just ain't so. It ain't so NOT because these super good looking girls are any more special, or better than "average" girls, but because at an early stage of their lives they were treated differently (better) than "average" girls and it got into their brains that they ARE better. And we all know that THAT just ain't so either. The types of relationship problems that girls like that have are the kind where they're just always dating jerks. The solution to their problem is to stop that and start dating the nice guys. You see, it's all within their own control. Okay, so the nice guy isn't gonna be the one that always boldly walks up and has "game". So what? Are the super hot chicks too good for their own good that they can't approach the nice guy? I mean lets face it, a nice guy sure would appreciate that and after all it is a new millenium and that sort of thing IS welcomed.
 7:10 PM   •  5 opinonated pieces of What? 

• I want to extend this question out to anybody, but I'm really interested in what those of you who share the same theological convictions as I do have to say. This issue seems to be something that I've always struggled with, and while I have a feeling that it shouldn't be an issue at all, I just think it's something I've never learned to deal with (for whatever reason).

My problem is with handling the question "how is presbyterianism different than ______" (which the blank typically is a Calvary Chapel, or any "non-denominational" church of its likeness). You see, I know what the word Presbyterian means. But I get this nagging sub thought in my brain that tells me I answer this question just like Chris Levens fills out an application. I have a tendency to say too much, or simply say the wrong things, and while those things may in fact be related or true, I create an increasingly difficult situation. I find that instead of having a nice, polite, neat and tidy answer that satisfies everyone, I have to keep explaining mysef. And then after I explain myself, I have to explain my explanations even, and the next thing you know I'm confusing me. I'll even find myself bringing up things that I have no clue as to how I can explain it, but I've heard it once a long time ago and at some point I understood it enough to believe it. It always turns into a huge mess.

So, I'll welcome anyones response, but Johnny T., The Dane, and Troubles perspective is most welcomed.
 1:34 PM   •  3 opinonated pieces of What? 

• So I found some relief today. My Biology teacher sent around the grade sheet again, and mine still read 69.3%. But, I pulled out my calculator this time and added in all my extra credit (which wasn't on the sheet), and then dropped my lowest test grade out of the three I already took, and my grade zoomed up from a 69% to an 81%. In actuallity then, I have a projected grade of a B and not a D. That, my friends, is extremely encouraging.
 1:20 PM   •  ø 

• I'm not one to stick my nose in other peoples business *cough-cough*, but it's completely annoying when person A makes a stink about person B's conduct (read: language) on person C's private site. That should be person C's responsibility, if person C even cares to make it an issue.
 6:16 PM   •  1 opinonated piece of What? 

• Someone asked me how I was doing today. My initial answer was the typical patronizing one that everyone gives when asked how they're doing. Fine, I said. I was terribly sick last week, which turned into strep throat, and then found out that my Math teacher dropped me. I have a D in my Biology class, I threw out my back again, and my mom still hasn't refilled our cubboards. Our house is 1200 square feet bigger than our old one, and yet we still don't seem to have enough storage space for anything. We're still waiting for the phone guy to get here, so my whole family has rung up a bill on my cell phone. I haven't been able to check my email in a week, and the sabres aren't gonna make the playoffs. I feel fat, my hair is growing through the ugly stage, and my car is on it's last leg...still. What I realized is, if that is "fine", then I'd hate to be "not fine".
 5:04 PM   •  6 opinonated pieces of What?