By all means, separate your state from my church...

Once I really sat down and took an honest assesment of what "separation of church and state" meant, I had to agree with it. If that means taking "In God We Trust" off of the currency and no longer saying "Under God" in the pledge of allegiance, I have no qualms with that.

Here's why.

First of all, what does it matter in the grand scheme of things? Do you expect to use American currency in Heaven? Does it matter to the poor if the money they use to buy food has any mention of God on it? If you are fortunate enough to have the choice of using a dollar with "In God We Trust" or not, then it probably doesn't matter. Just remember that not everyone in this country is that fortunate, like the 1,600,000 or so homeless for instance.

So, why do I support "separation of church and state"? Because if God gets in the state, then the state will get into God. We don't have to look too far into our history to see that state funded, state supported, and ultimately state ran church is a horribly bad idea. When the fat king can simply create a church in order to have sex with (and kill) as many women as he pleases, the argument kind of wins itself from a Biblical standpoint. At least as far as I can see.

Now, I'm not naive. I realize that the state has benefits that work in favor of churches. Not being the leader of any church, I can't really speak to how beneficial they really are, if they're worth it, etc. I do know that the early church didn't seek government loans to feed the widows. As long as the government gives you their money to use, they will feel they have a voice in how it is used.

So, if the rumors are true that they want to take "In God We Trust" off of the currency...as long as it still spends the same, it makes no difference to me.

"We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction."

Douglas MacArther said that.

Today was the day I had to make a decision. It was not an easy decision to make, but I had to make it.

I decided not to go back to school right away. Maybe spring quarter...maybe next fall. Maybe never. After doing a lot of thinking about it, I realized that the effort involved wasn't worth it to me personally. It's just not where my head or heart is at.

I kept getting asked this one question; "what are you going for?" I noticed that I didn't have an answer for that. I started seeing a looming financial burden for something that I "kinda sorta" wanted to do. At the end of the day, it just didn't feel right.

So, the job search continues. The possibility of some photography work is on the horizon. All in all, things are good.

"reformating your hard drive"...

A lot has changed for me over the last several weeks. Some of it is great, some of it I'm still trying to wrap my mind around.

For starters, my Facebook status has changed from "Single" to "In a Relationship". Yay! That's the great part.

The part I'm still trying to wrap my mind around is school, work....the next phase if you will.

Last night I was really frustrated as I sat down and looked at the class schedule I set up at registration. I don't like it. It's all art classes, and I do not want to take art classes. I don't know what it is. I love art. Art class was always my favorite. But the thought of sitting in an art class, for some reason, makes me angry. So, I had some other classes that I wanted to take. They are, of course, all full at this point. My first time back at school will be filled with classes I have no interest in being a part of. Which just happens to be my problem with school during the first 12 years I was there.

I'm trying to figure out if some arbitrary victory like a degree is worth the personal sacrifice of things that are actually important to me...like my time and sanity. I'm leaning towards no. At the same time, I don't want to just give up on it without at least trying it first. At the same time, this is college we're talking about here. "Just giving it a shot" will put me in debt if I decide not to follow through with it.

Well, then do I get a job? Yeah. I'd like a job. I want to be able to take that pretty girl out for dinners more often as well as fund my photography habit. I'd like my photography habit to eventually fund the dinners with that pretty girl. Ah, but I don't want the next job to turn into the last job.

It's a lot of stuff. It's moments like these that I really pray for direction and wisdom. With priorities shifting, life moving forward, trying to fulfill desires I have and not neglect those around me...that's when I wonder why people look at me like I know what I'm doing.

The title of this post comes from something Eric said to me at the end of service today. He felt, and I agree, that this is a season where God is "reformatting your hard drive". A fresh start.

I want so badly for things to go well with whatever I attempt. As we enter the Advent season, I need to keep in the front of my thoughts that God is here...in these attempts.

An update...

My week thus far as been one of, we'll say, fluctuating feelings.

On the good days (like this one), I've felt that I can tackle things head on and come out successfully on the other side. On the other days (like any that weren't this one), I've felt unproductive and frustrated.

School, work, things happening in the church (all good)...there is just a lot of stuff going on in my world. Some of it I'm excited for, some of it I'm ready for, some of it I'm just not sure what I'm doing.

Last night, I went to one of the small groups from our church. One of the things we talked about was being in daily conversation with God. I shared that being in a daily conversation was never a problem for me...but sharing everything I felt had been difficult. Could I really vent to God all the things I really felt? Especially when those things were in the form of "I don't like this" or "You need to change this situation" or "I don't know if I like this anymore". Can you say that? Is God, like, cool with that?

Yes. Yes, He is very cool with that. He wants you to have that kind of relationship. Read the Psalms. Are all of them praise? Read Job. Did he always trust God working things out? Our view of things is so limited, it's ridiculous. The moments when I do that kind of praying are the moments that, like Job, God reminds me "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand." (Job 38:4).

Okay, so this week was hit and miss. Next week, tomorrow for that matter, is full of possibilities. My life may not go like I think it ought to, but it will go the way it ought to.

May our God be praised in His knowledge
May our God be praised in His love
May our hearts sing of His mercy
May our feet walk in His ways

In all, through all
May our God be praised

"Throw the book at them!"...

Facebook that is. Ha! Yeah.

You may have noticed that the "content" (if that's a proper term for the random mumblings of a dork with a keyboard) is not being updated as frequently. It's because of Facebook. That thing is just terribly addicting.

Oh, but I and some friends of mine have taken it one step further. We talk on Facebook in the morning, meet at the coffee shop in the afternoon...and then we go home and talk more on Facebook.

It's pretty sweet!

Check it!...

I'm published!

I'm so excited I can't even think of what I should type...so I'll just post the link and let you go from there.

SPOKE(a)N(e) Magazine. Issue #11.

Why I'm not a "young earth creationist"...

On the way home from the conference, we all had a nice discussion about science and the Bible. Those, by the way, are two of my favorite subjects. The discussion reminded me of a topic that I've been on the fence about getting into here. Not because I don't think I should, but because it encompasses a lot of subjects and I know I won't be able to cover them all. So, with that said, I'm only going to concentrate on why I do not hold the belief that the Earth and all of its inhabitants were created in a literal week of 24 hour days.

My first problem with it is that the idea came from a "vision" Ellen G. White (founder of the Seventh-Day Adventists) had and wrote about in her book The Spirit of Prophecy. From there, it was picked up by Christians who played scientists on tv and they tried to adjust the scientific method to support that idea. This is bad science, and bad faith.

If you sit and actually read Genesis, you will find little conflict between the Biblical view and the scientific one. The Bible describes the act of creation as starting with light and then the land and being formed out of the water. Then plants are formed on the land. Then life is created in the water. Then it starts showing up on land. Then Man shows up. This is also the process that is upheld by our fossil and geological records.

Okay, that's all well and good. Science and God agree on the order things occurred. But why the "days" thing? This is, believe it or not, where relativity comes into play.

The theory of relativity is actually a catch all term for two theories*. "Special Relativity" and "General Relativity". You can read more about what all of that means elsewhere. The basic idea of "Special Relativity" is that light is a constant speed. In fact, light is the only constant in the universe. Our only frame of reference is light. Even the way we measure time is effected by the way we measure light. This brings up two interesting, insanely pre-Einstein verses in the Bible:

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." 2 Peter 3:8

and

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5

God is light...and time is relative to Him.

I don't know about you, but that blows my mind. It also blows out any preconceived notions I can have about how God created the world.

Could He have done it in one week? Sure. But if we also theologically believe that He cares for His creation and wants the best for them, I hardly think it would have been a rush job. Looking at it from an artists stand point, I see the act of creation as a craft. I can imagine God massaging the earth into form, not just slapping it together.

Science points me to God. I see God in the fact that electrons and atoms spin in the same way that planets go around the sun. To me, it takes God out of any kind of box I could possibly think of to contain Him. It sets Him above all kings and kingdoms.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9

*Theory: A scientific theory does not mean "it has not been proven". "Theory" in science does not equal "guess".

"In the sciences, theories are created after observation and testing. They are designed to rationally and clearly explain a phenomenon. For example, Isaac Newton came up with a theory about gravity in the 17th century, and the theory proved to be both testable and correct. Scientific theories are not quite the same thing as facts, but they are often very similar; scientists usually test their theories extensively before airing them, looking for obvious problems which could cause the theory to be challenged." From WiseGeek.