Creed-A poem by Steve Turner

This poem ties in well with the "Vanity" Blog post. One of the hardest hitting poems I have ever read.

Please Enjoy.

We believe in Marx, Freud, and Darwin.
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before during
and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy's OK
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything's getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated.
You can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in horoscopes,
UFO's and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha
Mohammed and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher although we think
his good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same,
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation sin heaven hell God and salvation.

We believe that after death comes The Nothing
because when you ask the dead what happens
they say Nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it's compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between
warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth
that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust. History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds.

-Steve Turner

Vanity

Vanity, vanity. All is vanity.

If you've ever read the book of Ecclesiastes, you know that it's probably the most depressing book in the bible, bar Job. It was written by Solomon, after he went after other gods, giving the throne to his son and retiring. He obviously underwent a conversion, repented. Meaning he realized how much he messed up. His wisdom finally came back to him.

He says all is vanity and grasping for the wind. Is that true?

Her name was Kiara. She was sixteen, and she was a high school student. She was in a car with four friends. One was nineteen and the rest were juveniles. The nineteen year old was going too fast and the street was wet. She drove right across the divider on the road, and into a tree at the entrance to an apartment complex.

Kiara was in the car. And she didn't have her seat belt on. From my house at 11 o clock P.M., I could hear the screams, the sirens, even the initial crash when the car hit the post. Of course, I didn't know what was happening.

I did the next day.

Today, I visited Kiara's Facebook page.

Posted pictures, on her page, had "Selfies" Of her and her friends. She had two lip piercings, ear piercings, nose piercings. Her dresses looked like oversized shirts, tight and barely stretching past her upper thighs. To be honest, she and her "Friends" Looked like exotic dancers. Of course, in our generation, that's no surprise. She followed Bob Marely, Beyonce, Backwoods Boys, and Drake. She had over one thousand friends. My mother is fifty one; she has 195. That is normal. This girl has OVER ONE THOUSAND, and that's just sad. She was sixteen. A "Popular Girl."

She wanted to fit in, to be accepted. And she was obviously playing the rebel in many ways, especially with no seat belt. Ooooh, bad girl.

Where is she now?

Dead.

Kiara is dead, one of her freinds is in critical, and the other three are badly injured.

All is vanity.

I see a world of hate and intolerance. A world where sodomy is encouraged. A world where even us "Christians" walk around with the "Populars" swearing, drinking, covering themselves with tatoos, and piercings. Wearing enough makeup to create a false center of gravity. Young Christian boys? booze, and I hate to say this, but many of them aren't even virgins anymore. That's insane. Girls? What inspires the tight pants, the cropped shorts? The makeup? You want to fit in, get a boyfriend, roll with the punches.

All is vanity.

 Believe me, being a blonde, homeschooled, sabbatarian, Irish German with the name "Shiloh" and is a Tea Party Republican, left handed, and a hardcore Christian isn't easy, and it never was, nor will it ever be. For goodness sake, my computer doesn't even recognize the words "Homeschooled" Or "Sabbatarian". Needless to say, friends are few and far between for this guy.

I don't mind much. I've never really cared what people thought about me, as long as I looked and smelled halfway decent and kept the sarcastic remarks to a minimum.

But I can still see the drive.

The Devil's greatest weapon is pride. You need pride first. Then pride needs to:

"He can't have that! I have to have it!" -Covetousness.

"If I have it, I'll look great. I need to look great or people with think I'm dumb, stupid, cray cray, (whatever is in my vernacular right now)" -Vanity.

"I'll never get it, and I feel terrible. I hate life. I'm forever alone." -Self pity.

"When I get this thing, it's gonna make me look SO GOOD in front of other people. I need to take good care of it. Make sure it has the place of honor." -Idolatry.

"If I have this, he/she will totally fall for me." -False representation.

Believe you me, I have experienced any and all of these emotions in my life before. In fact, I recently started a YouTube channel, and I have made it the center of my focus for the last three months, hence the lack of posts. I've come to grips with the fact that this is important. This should be much more important to me than that. So here I am.

What I'm trying to get at here is, especially in the Christian community, we need to stop pretending that life is Heaven on Earth. IT ISN'T. Unless, of course, you are Catholic. But that's not the point. The point is that life wasn't structured to be a cake walk. It is BOOT CAMP. SO SUCK IT UP! God wants us to be out there! Not just blending in! If we blend in, fit in, shape in, mold into society, what good does it do us? Believe in the Lord and you'll be saved, but picture it like this.

Let's say for a second that Mr. Rodriguez goes to heaven. Now, Mr. Rogriguez was a Christian, but he also did drugs, went out, smoked weed, and had numerous *Immoral* Relationships. He goes to heaven, and St. Peter says; "You made it! Let's check out your final score." So he pulls a meter and hooks it to Mr. R., and it reads; 100 points.

Mr. Peter frowns and says, "Mr. Rodriguez, please step through the gate, your name is on the building slate to the left." So he walks over and sees something resembling a Soviet Apartment Block. He goes to his room, and it's all pretty and stuff, and he sees a chest. So he opens it. It says; "Treasures stored in heaven" On it. Inside is a few gold coins.

Then, Mr. Ramirez, Mr. R.'s neighbor, goes to heaven a few months later.

Peter goes through the proceedings, and his score is: 10,000,000. Mr. Ramirez went to church every week, prayed all hte time and started a charity. He is directed to another part of the apartment block. It looks like a mansion with many rooms. He goes up to his floor, which is a beutiful home with furnishings and everything. It's huge.

He opens his chest, which is much, much large than Mr. Rodriguez's, and out onto the floor spills hundreds of gold coins.

Moral of the story: You do a little, you get a little. You do a lot, you get a lot.

It's obvious, really, that Joan of Arc, burned at stake, has to receive more than Mr. Rodriguez. That's where storing your treasures in heaven comes into play.

I hope I really drove this into the ground for you guys, and provided some encouragement for you. In the end, I hope that you remember that all IS vanity-except serving the Lord Jesus Christ. And, He accepts you just as you are, no strings attached.

How does it look?

Hey guys! SO I'm trying some new looks for my blog, and I want to know what you think. Should I

go back to the original, or keep this one? Comment on this post and let me know. Thanks a million!

What is love? Part One

What is love exactly?

Many people, including myself, either are, have been, or will be confused on this subject.

I never used to think about love a lot. Not because I didn't want to think about it (I wasn't the kind of kid that though that girls had cooties) but because I didn't think that it was relevant. Growing up to where I am now, a young teen, I thought, yes, my mother and father love me, and that is a natural part of life. Older folks got married, heaven knew why, and I knew someday I would too. But I didn't think much about it. What did it have to do with me? With my Christian walk?

Have you ever heard of the saying that "Love was what held Jesus on the cross"?

I realize now exactly what that means.

So we've all heard faith hope love, and the greatest of these is love (Hebrews). But WHY is love the greatest?

Well, let's begin at the beginning, shall we?

So at the beginning, before time and space and everything, there was this huge cloud of darkness that just kinda hung over the earth, which was at that time water. (Genesis 1:2) God came from heaven and said? (Sunday school students should now reply to their computer monitors or tablet screens "LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!") Then the world was light. And so on. And after seven days, God was like, "Okay, hard weeks work. Time for a nice, long nap." And so he did just that. He rested with a pina colada in hand watching the sun set over the world He had created. He said, "You know what? It IS good!" Another way to say that would be; "I love this job!"

And we all know what eventually happens.

But what happened before that?

God loves His angels. But he had a plan. So there is this guy Lucifer, right? And he is big man on campus. Michael, Gabriel, all the heavenly host got nothing on this guy, okay. He is numero uno.

But wait. He is actually numero dos. And he wants the top spot.

That's right. This Lucifer character has a truly diabolical plan. He gets one third of the angels on his side, and waits.

Then God says, "Hey Lou! I got this idea. So what I planned is I'm gonna make these things called humans to rule over this planet called earth in this universe I'm gonna make, and they are gonna be with me forever and be a little higher than the angels."

And Lucifer is like; "Higher than the angels? Did you just say HIGHER!?!"

So He goes along with this little plan according to sources such as Job, but then he decides that he is gonna blow this pop stand. So he rallies his armies, and fights God.

Fights. God.

Okay, can I just say, talk about a BONE HEADED IDEA!?!

So obviously he loses the war. And God makes a mockery of him and casts him down to the earth he made. Talk about ironic.

Then, in the form of a serpent, he messes everything up again. And then we get sin. Hooray.

But God loves us. And two thirds of the angels had enough sense to stay with Him, and now Michael sits in Lucifer's spot. And he is one good angel. According to Job, he wouldn't even accuse Lucifer (Now called Satan "The deceiver") Of wrong-doing in front of Father God! Talk about blameless! And Gabe helps too. Hes the mailman (Luke 1.) So God sits down and says that "Okay, I love these humans, so I have a plan." So He tries sacrifice and the old testament law.

It doesn't go well.

 All bets are off on the Law, so He says, "I am now gonna put my final plan into action, the plan I have had all along. Jesus, come look at this. You cool with this?" And Jesus, one with the Father says, "Sure. I know its gonna be hard. But I'll do it. That way, we can adopt these people into our forever family, and sacrifice wont be necessary!"

To imagine what it was like for Christ, use this analogy my pastor uses on occasion. With a few of my own special twists.

So you are you, and you play with Legos. And so let's say for the given purpose that Legos are alive, that they are humans. And you are you. A supreme being to them. Capable of wiping them out with your shoe. You can kill a Lego with your pinkie. But you love your little Lego people.

But then they turn around and say; "Go away. We don't need you."

So you send them little Lego prophet after little Lego prophet. And they kill them all right in front of you. And so finally you say: "Okay. I am going to become Lego. And I am going to go be a limited little Lego gut with a plastic head and non-bendable elbows, so that I can bring these people into my forever home. That's how much I love my creation."

And then, they kill you. And in your last moments, you say:

"Father, forgive them. They know not what they do."

And do you, when you resurrect, stomp all over them? You could, after all. They KILLED YOU.

But you extend them grace. And an invitation.

That's how much, in a nutshell, God loves us. US. His little Lego people.

When people ask me what God is. This is what I tell them.

"God is Love."

It's really as simple as that. Love is God. Love is from God. God is Love.

Your Permanent Home

My church recently bought its own property after renting space from other churches for almost 8 years.

We found a permanent home at last!

The property is about 8 acres of land, including a school, sanctuary, playground, wallball and basketball courts, tetherball, soccer field, housing and giant refrigerators we have no idea what to do with (not to mention the cafeteria, offices, and hallway space and a sound room the size of a small apartment). Nothing short of a miracle, for a small sabbatarian church of roughly 85 people. Despite several bumps in the road and a 2M price tag, we are finished with escrow and plan to move in to the building for our first service there on November 1st. Very exciting.

But that's not what I want to talk about.

I play a lot of online games such as Minecraft, and one day when on the said Minecraft the subject of religion came up with some online friends. Now if you know me, and even if you don't, you might have guessed by my previous posts that I KNOW what I believe and I KNOW why I believe it. I know why it's true. But many others, well, don't. I talked over the web with a Mormon, a Presbyterian, a Catholic, an agnostic, three Muslims and someone who believed in reincarnation.
And other than a few, most of them were very confused about what they believed.

Religion for some never crosses the mind, while for others it's something to actively avoid. Many people don't want to talk about it. Even strong Christians sometimes have nothing to go on other than "Jesus loves you" while that may be a great starting point, there are other things that need to be discussed. But what shocks me is that people don't know where they are going.

Even Christians of the highest degree sometimes have no concept of life after death. It's just not important to them. But it is, contrary to the popular belief, ESSENTIAL to our walk as Christians. Why am I a Christian? Because I love Jesus, yes, but also because I want to go to heaven. I want to live eternally with God. Without that hope of eternity, what is religion? Why serve God all your life when you could have been partying and doing really messed up things without eternal consequences? Heaven (And the opposite) Are abSOULutely CRUCIAL to our faith. Without it, we have nothing.

Now, I am not going to launch into a sermon with scripture references and quotes and hypotheses, again, this blog is designed to make you think. What do you think? About life after death? Take some time and think about it. Pray about it. Study the scriptures like I did. (It's extremely beneficial.) Find out what is true! Use supplemental material. Talk to your pastor or parent or even a friend. (Make sure it's a friend who knows what he or she is talking about! =-) ) Use your head and your heart. Search out the truth. You can even email me or comment on what you found personally. Get a discussion going! Find out where your permanent home will be in eternity.....!

On the subject of Polls...

Out of courtesy, I am compelled to tell you to please vote on our monthly poll. This month's poll about going to church might be awkward, but it's designed to make you think. Please note that God still loves you whether or not you go to church, though I think He does prefer it. Remember, the poll answers are completely anonymous, so you're privacy is safe. Even I don't know who votes on these polls. You're secrets, if any, are safe. So please, take a minute to vote for your answer. The number of answers also tell me in part how popular this blog is, so please take a minute to vote. Thanks so much for you're time, and I hope this blog brings you joy and enlightenment!

A Close Call

Wow! That was close!

We had almost hit the lady walking behind us as we pulled out of the parking lot of Walmart. She
looked like she was in her 70's, signature white, curly, bobbed hair and a cranky expression. She had
walked out right in front of our car as we backed out of the space, if she hadn't been faster we would
have hit her accidentally as she was in our blind spot when she strode up. Walking in front of a 2 ton
steel object moving at a high velocity is never a great idea, but in California where I live it happens
all the time. I turned to my mom and asked her; "What makes people think they can do that? I mean I get the older teens that think they're pretty darn well invincible so they will walk in front of a collapsing building with a smug expression on their faces (Not many teens would do that, speaking as a teen myself, but some would) But I thought older folks from that Greatest Generation, as we call it in America, who had been raised in different times and standards, surely they would be smarter than that?"

My mom pointed out with her unconventional wisdom what many people fail to see.

People are just very self absorbed, she told me. Why? Well, because we practically live in a surreal world now. Video games make us the most epic, amazing God-like super hero with the most amazing tools and gripping action sequences.

Tell me, who has played Halo and done a firefight on legendary with 200x velocity over-shields and rocket launchers, or build an enormous skyscraper on Minecraft, or beat that last level of Batman or Call of Duty or Mario Kart or Kirby and not felt like they were invisible, all powerful, super amazing champions? But one problem. You turn it off...and you are just you. But some people don't like just you. So it carries. They want to act or be like somebody they think is special. Why do girls like bands like One Direction? Why do guys watch Lord of the Rings with such passion? Why do people kiss the ground that stars walk on, worshiping actors, teams, and personals of the silver screen with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns?

Well, mom didn't tell me why, but God did.

In a quiet corner of my room, I asked God, "Why do people idolize these guys so much? Why is the world so intent on elevating these mayors and gamers and autotuned popstars and then watching them fall, one by one, until they all get replaced by new, fresh ones?" And God said; (And I'm paraphrasing right now), "Well, you see, son, being adopted I know it may be hard for you to understand, but when I made you and your kin I put in them a special desire for me. So when human beings pull away from me, they end up with the need to fill that hole. So they fill it with junk, junk that is not of me. Or they fill it with things that are of me but are so distorted, or they are so focused on those things, such as praying or going to church every Sunday, that they lose focus of what's important, like family, friends, faith. ME. They all ultimately lose focus on ME."

And that made a lot of sense.

Now, we all lose focus on him sometimes, and we all need to pull back and say, "Whoa, hold on! This isn't right, is it?!?" Once in a while, (For me, once in an hour or so), But as long as we get back to that starting point, it's okay. We're forgiven. Does that mean we can just blow God off for a couple months and then run back expecting to be forgiven after we've made mistake after mistake and had our fun? OF COURSE NOT!!! Don't get me wrong, God will still fogive you, you just may not ever forgive yourself. Or worse, the people youv'e hurt won't forgive you. And that's not good at all.

In closing, just don't lose focus. Keep your eyes set on things above, not on earthly things! He will make you soar on wings like eagles. Just trust in Him, and don't turn into that lady we almost flattened in the parking lot. Most of all, be aware! Just because we are not of the world doesn't mean we don't need to be aware of what is going on around us. WE ARE in the world after all.

Just not of the world.

A trip to the Groomer's

THIS past week, my dog, Snuggles, got a haircut. It's summertime here in the U.S. and the weather on the west coast, where I live, is HOT. Humid too. And my dog looked like this:

Not good for a dog in the summer. Plus, he had knots and burrs and stuff in his fur. Very active usually equates to very messy in the world of dogs, and what do you know, our dog is VERY hyperactive. So we took him to the groomers to give him a shave.

 

Isn't he cute? Anyway, now he is bathed, clean, and very happy.

So, you ask, why would I care about your dog? I mean he's cute and all, but what does THAT have to do with my christian walk?

Boy, are you in for an interesting set of analogies!

So let's say for a second that you, the Christian, is Snuggles, and Snuggles is you. So what happens?
You've grown, so has your coat. It seems like every time you get your paws wet, step in something you shouldn't your coat gets more and more matted! That's no fun. What's more, heat is here, and all this clumped-together baggage is making you very uncomfortable. You feel like a giant fluffy greaseball. Not fun. Time to go to the groomer (i.e. God). God takes you in, and you, being Snuggles, is kinda scared. What is He gonna find in there?

So after a thorough brushing, God gets into the nitty-gritty of your sins. As He digs deeper and deeper, you find that you feel lighter and lighter, freer and freer, and the baggage is gone! You feel alive, wonderful. And when you go home, you feel like a whole new dog (i.e. a whole new you.) You know that the fur will grow back, but for now, God has redeemed you and you are His once again.
What's this? A cut on your ear? Did God, the groomer, misfire? Well, yes and no. Sometimes it just takes a little clip, some pain and blood and tears, to get down to whats underneath and make you new again.


So I guess what I am trying to say is, you know, God loves you, and you love Him, but sometimes we do make mistakes, and sometimes I think we all need to visit the groomer more often. But even though it can be embarrassing or scary, God will make you all new again-every time.

A quick update/thank you

I just wanted to thank, really quickly, everyone who has read this blog so far. After flipping the switch on the site about a week ago, I've already had several hits from the United States, as well as other countries such as France, South Korea, Russia, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Germany. I'm praying that God will use this blog in amazing ways to spread his gospel to every corner of the earth.

I would also like to point out a few quick things I've added to the blog recently in order to make it an even better and more encouraging place. One is the monthly poll, which appears in the right hand column. Please take some time to let me know what you would decide! I'll be posting the results at the end of the poll, which I believe is set to end at the end of this month. Also, I've installed Google translate, located at the bottom of the homepage, which allows one to translate my blog into different languages. Also there is a Google+ button on the bottom and left columns, so make sure to give it a click and show your support. Thanks again for visiting godschosengeneration.blogspot.com, and I pray that my little blog will have a positive influence on your life today!

God is on your side-if you are on His

WHEN I was six, I started writing books, short stories, and "publishing" them amongst my family and friends. When I was a young and ambitious seven year old, I even wrote a book about dinosaurs (that was the astounding length of somewhere between six and ten pages long) and told my dad that I wanted to get it published! Of course, most young people have such crazy ambitions as these.

And then what happens?

Well, sometimes it's the parents that finally break the news to the kiddos that they aren't actually as good at writing books or riding bikes or braiding hair or doing makeup as they profess to be. Or sometimes the children simply lose faith in themselves and give up on all but the things that seem to actually be achievable-the modern worlds take on "growing up." But is there another way?
I'm thirteen now, and I have learned a lot (but still not enough) since I was seven. But even though my parents told me that that particular story wasn't "long" enough to publish, they never told me that I wasn't good at it. They told me there was some room for improvement (there always is), but they never told me I couldn't do it. In fact, they saw that I COULD do it and so they wanted to encourage that.

So now, again, I am thirteen and I am still writing my stories. I've actually published some eBook short stories on amazon.com, and I am writing still more. I'm doing it because I love doing it, I'm decent at it and most of all, I want to prove that anything is possible with Faith in God.

Consider David for example. The handsome, good looking shepherd guy in the gently rolling hills of picture perfect southern Israel. There is just one problem. The Philistines are attacking the northern garrisons again, and Israel has gone to war. But David, being young, and having a responsibility of taking care of the family livestock, has to stand by and watch his brothers go to war. But before that happens, Samuel comes, and out of all his brothers HE is anointed the future king of Israel. HIM. The SHEPHERD. The UNEDUCATED shepherd. I know how surprised I would be.

So, long story short,  Father Jesse wanted to send the Bros a care package, so David takes it over. When he gets there, he sees this guy who looks like hes been to the gym every day of his life, and is about as tall as a telephone pole, with 12 fingers and 12 toes, and a spear "The size of a weavers beam". That's like, what? Twelve feet? He could make Jew-kabobs out of the army of Israel! Slow roasted, cooked to perfection...Anyway, the Israelite are scared to death, (More like scared of death) and David looks up at this guy and he's like; "You kidding? This guys a pushover, though pushing him over might make another Grand Canyon. We've got GOD on OUR side! You really thing this guy can even hold a candle to him?" Now his brother knows how ambitious he is and sees that he's gonna go out there and wipe the grin off that giant's ugly mug. He knows that if the Philistines kill the "Champion of Israel", whoever they choose to go out, then the Philistines become the masters of Israel by agreement. So he blows up at David, like; "You fool! Who are you trying to kid? Your not gonna be anything special! SAUL, KING SAUL, is too scared to go out there. Who are you? Go home, kid. You don't belong." (Of course, that's the Message Version. ;-) ) But David goes out there not caring what his bro said. God is with him.

An interesting note, when David goes to the stream, he picks up five smooth stones. Does he think he's gonna miss? Maybe not. See, as we learn later, Goliath was one of FIVE brothers. FIVE stones. FIVE brothers. With the power of God, David was fully intending to kill each one of the five. (He didn't get the chance-his mighty men got to them first.) Another long story short, David kills the giant, marries the princess Michal, (Pronounced mee-HAL) Saul's lovely daughter, and after a few mishaps, becomes king.

So, if a little boy from the Israeli version of Kansas or Kentucky can beat the living daylights out of Goliath, what can you do with God's help? I can write books, play instruments, and aspire to do great things, and that's great for me, and I know God can help me do that if it's his will, but what can YOU do? What goals do you want to achieve? No matter how impossible it may seem, GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE IF YOU ARE ON HIS! Wow! I mean, that's great! Talk about employee benefits! He promised is that he would help us, guide us and protect us, if only we would trust in him. So what are you waiting for? Put your trust in the Lord of Lords today!

True independence

HERE in the United states, each and every year, we celebrate our independence and freedom from tyranny on July 4th, the date that the declaration of independence was signed and the Liberty bell first tolled deliverance from injustice, misrepresentation, and subjection. Other countries celebrate their independence as well, on days such as Cinco De Mayo (Mexico), Canada day (Canada), and Gwangbokjeol (South Korea).

But what does true independence really mean? And is it always a good thing?

This 4th of July, me and my family, along with some good friends, went to the local swimming pool to eat, play, swim, sing patriotic songs and watch some fireworks. We had a good time, the food was great, the fireworks were excellent, and the guest singers were amazing.
There was only one problem.

At about 7 PM, as the sun was going down, a small child, just 3 years old, drowned.

He died in the hospital two days later.

I ask that you pray for his family, but I also want to make a point. This kid had total independence. His parents were at the other side of the large pool, the lifeguards went off duty at five, and the worst part is, he was reportedly in a wrestling match with his brother, who was twice as old, big, and strong as him. I'm not going to point fingers, but seriously?

But of course, nothing like that could happen to you. Or so many people would tell you.

This happens all the time here in the United States, partially, I think, because we as a country feel ourselves immortal, because we lack sense of responsibility, because what little authority and responsibility we have left is being stripped from us and our parents by schools, media and the "All seeing eye" Of the government. They call this the land of the free-but most leave out the home of the brave. We are certainly free, and we are certainly brave. But maybe a little too brave.

People would tell us that the meaning of true bravery, of true independence is the right to do whatever we want, whenever we want it. But that's not what God says. The Bible says in Genesis 3 that we ate of the tree and were cast out of the garden. What happened there? And another common question, why was the tree even there in the first place?

Let me tell you. God put that tree in the Garden of Eden because He wanted us to have free will. The ability to make our own choices.  So God obviously wants us to have independence. But not too much. Independence can be a good thing, but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. So God, and later our government, set laws and governments in place to make sure that freedom was not inhibited, but given boundaries that we might comfortably spread our wings in without hurting yourself and/or others. But there are times when those boundaries become so tight that they do inhibit growth, change, and and independence, which is why our country is here in the first place.

Notice I use the word independence, not freedom. Freedom may be easier to say, but it's just not the right word to describe what I'm getting at here. See, when someone says that they are free, it means they are no longer subject to whatever they are free from. Independence is to be non-dependent on something. It means we still follow rules, we still take orders, we still behave like normal citizens. But we are not dependent on those laws, governments or orders to survive, to thrive. It's kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces are independent pieces, individual pieces. But they create, when assembled properly, a beautiful picture. But you can still just manage to make out the individual pieces, right? Because though they are independent, they can "Join hands" so to speak to create something better.
There are times when we are free, to speak, to have free media, and so forth. But those times are times when our basic independence GIVES us those freedoms-it's attached. But if you try to be free, no rules, no worries, than those freedoms will most likely be taken from you.

And one last thing.

We can be independent from everything but sin. Sin is everywhere, and the only way to rescue us from that is to put or trust in God. God and ONLY God can save us from sin. He can grant us that ultimate independence that can rescue us from the all pervading tyranny of the Devil. And with that independence comes freedom in Him, and the ultimate promise-eternity with the one who makes us free, who gives true independence. 

A CHOSEN GENERATION

As a thirteen year old boy living in the 21st century, I can see, as many of us can, the evil and corruption that men and women of my generation have to face. I believe that God is pressuring us to become a chosen generation, wholly devoted to Him. In my daily walk I strive to be more like Him so that I can be a part of that chosen generation. And I pray that through this blog, you will be inspired to try and be a part of that chosen generation!

It's a Fashion Statement (?)

DO you know anyone who wears their baggy pants around their thighs?

You probably do.

But do you know where that got started?

You probably don't.

Well, the surprising answer is, ironically, prison. According to a study done by Christian Pediatric Neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, PhD., the trend started in the walls of prison facilities in America. How? Well, prisoners have pants, of course, but they don't have belts. In the pasts, prisoners have used belts with their metal hooks as weapons during assaults and attempted escapes. Therefore, police now prohibit the use of belts by prisoners, and since the classic orange jumpsuits are not exactly the most comfortable (or tight) things, prisoners end up with their pants down (Pun intended.) Well, of course EVERYONE knows that the nicest, smartest people in the world are our very own American fashion designers, who decided to push the limit a bit by telling us to do the same. Of course, who would want to look (Or be in) a prison? So most average people don't know (including me until just recently) where this trend got started. But of course, the girls are much smarter than us boys, right?

Right?

Actually, the answer is no, because of what the fashion designers went for next. What they did was they took a bunch of girls that looked as if they had just been pulled out of a concentration camp, dressed them up and packed them off to L.A. They then proceeded to make these women, who are so skinny they might just be relatives to scarecrows, and proceeded to dress them up and parade them around as "Supermodels" telling women around the world that this, and ONLY this, is perfection. Then they proceeded to use this marvelous invention called Photoshop to enlarge, retract, stretch, slim, light, dark, and pretty much totally change the appearance of these girls so that they would look like they belonged in Olympus or something. And all the girls, of course, had to be "just like" these women who weren't even "just like" themselves.

Don't believe me? Then why has Target only just recently introduced their "Super-skinny" Section?"
Why has things like Anorexia and other eating disorders spiked dramatically in the last couple of decades? There ARE people with hyperactive metabolisms; God made them that way. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with them. But people who aren't built like that were made to be where they are, they were not made to be shopping in the "Super-skinny" section. God says that our bodies were made to be a "Temple of God" Because he dwells in us, so he tells us to keep it in shape. But what God didn't say was that "in shape" is being super ripped for guys, or super skinny for girls, or covered with tattoos or wearing "Barely There" Brand clothes in public. And I'm sure you've heard it all before, but GOD LOVES WHO YOU ARE! He loves that person you want to be like the way she is too, but there is only one you. He made you exactly like you are. So being ashamed of that is not a good thing. And yes, it's okay to lose weight, to exercise, to go on a diet on occasion (Emphasis on occasion). But not to a point where it becomes an obsession, your only focus.

One more thing.

Girls, don't go for the short shorts. It's fashion and all that, but all the people I see wearing them are so busy self consciously trying to pull them down, somehow magically stretch out the material, that they don't have time for much else. I'm not condemning all cropped shorts, only the ones that are so short that the bottom of the pockets hang out of them. Really. Anyways, guys, a struggle I see you face is trying to be all buff and ripped and cool when you're not meant to be buff and ripped (But everyone's cool in their own way.) Again, GOD LOVES YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE! Besides, those guys with abs on commercials and such are phonies. their doctored, just like for the girls. I'll include two links at the end to prove it to you.

In conclusion, and I know I sound like a broken record, but GOD LOVES YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE! He made you perfect, special, amazing. You were not made to be anything other than who you are.......



Supermodels transformed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKd8AlRpWXQ

Guy supermodels transformed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_I17cK1ltY