10/04/2008

want to make ringtones from your music, but don't want to pay for it?

You can, really for free! Why pay when it is free?

Hint: Use freeware software like Audacity to open non-DRM and non -protected music files
then cut the part of the song you want
then export it as mp3
send it to your phone via email or bluetooth or cable hock-up

If the file is DRM or protected you still can do this put first you have to convert the file to a non-protected format
There are legal and illegal ways to do this
I will mention a legal way:
Purchase (or download the free trail version) of Sound Taxi.
*With the free version you can only convert the first minuet or two of each song, but for ringtones at the beginning of a song, this is fine!)

10/03/2008

alright rest of my life will be all about the taxation baby! thank you Congress! Here is your paycheck.

Alright! Here comes a life of paying rich old white males! (insert sarcasm!)

I just love taxation.

And I hate the band aide bill that just past today. $700M of my money. I will never get out of debt cause I have to pay for America's debt first hallelujah.

Honestly the bill is not going to fix anything, in fact it has potential to make things worse! we are giving over $700M to Wall Street to rich investors....

A. this is not helping anyone
B. It is not helping the local everyday economy, you and me
C. It is not addressing serious issues, the root of our real problems - housing, credit debt
D. It is not even a really good bill
E. It does not solve a problem, just temporary deals with symptoms
sure it looks great on paper but in real life it is not going to do anything except change how much money you give the sandbagging scum bags in Washington every year

Finally and here is the kicker....
guess why it was passed toda and NOT on Monday, MORE PORK

the bill this time has EVEN MORE $150 M of pork for those greeds in the House.........

here is to a life of taxation baby!

If we have the truth...

...we are we not using it?

Truth has power. The Word of God is a double edged sword, sharper than any other sword!

We are to be salt.

We are to be light.

God has given us the tools to succeed!

Why are we not transforming the world?

Why are we so afraid?

Let the Holy Spirit produce good fruit in your life!

That is my prayer today!

the tithe today

Recently I read a theory that the tithe is a Old Testament law that is not required. McConnilve says that it is not necessary for Christians to give ten percent of their earnings as specified in the Old Testament. According to his theory, it is completely up to the individual on the issue of giving money or not and how much money they should give.

I have heard opposite theories where Christians are required to give 10% at the least and the more they give the more they are blessed. And they relate to the story of J. C. Penny. when Penny opened his first story he started giving 10% to his church. And as he began making money he continued to give more and more money to his church, eventually he gave God 90% and he was living off 10% and as the story goes J.C. Penny was blessed and today, his stores are still profiting as a corporation.

Whether you think that the tithe law is is absolute or obsolete, I think we can agree:

The old covenant required 10 percent. The new covenant does not specify a percentage, and since we do not have a clear command from Scripture, we cannot press a command for a precise percentage. However, the new covenant admonishes people to give what they can, and tithing still provides an instructive comparison.
And God will bless you for completing your duty to give back what is his to Him.

10/02/2008

The Pushy Christian

This is a reflection and call to action about chapter 4 of UnChristian by David Kinnaman. This is a book every Christian should read, in my opinion. And I will soon have a reflection from each chapter up shortly.

This chapter is called "Get Saved!" It addresses the perception that Christians are insincere and concerned only with getting converts.

In today's post-modern mindset, the journey of life is stressed as more important that the destination. The process over the product! So with that said there is a lot of skeptism about any religion, far more about which religion is right!

Outsiders sometimes relate Christians to salesmen. Not only are outsiders skeptical about which message is correct, but they also question Christian motive and intention for sharing and being pushy about sharing the Gospel mesage.

Thinking about the reading, here are some thoughts that stick out about what is happening and what we should be doing:

Instead of converting the masses, focus on the relationships.

Don't do risky things. Be a good steward of the Gospel and remeber that how you choose to share the Gospel is as important as actaully doing it!

Respect people. Do not offend someone in order to share the Gospel!

The logical barrier is not the only one. In fact most people come to know Christ for emotional reasons, rather than logical ones. The point is let the Holy Spirit do the convincing and do not focus just on the logical reasonings.

Keep in mind a lot of people think they are "Christian" (becuase they live in America, their parents were, they went to church when they were young, or they truly have gotten off track...)
so be respectful of their pasts, get to know them. Talk through the issues. Where do they stand with Jesus Christ? Is it a shallow superfical belief or is there something really there?

Others have truly had a real expireince with the church. It might have been a negative expireince and they have left the church completely. They have formed conclusions are really skeptical of anything you are going to say. They were searching and did not find the truth or anything worthwhile at church. This should be a wake-up call to the church!
If we are missing these oppurtunities, then how well are we truly loving and sharing God's love?

It is time to stop living self-righteously as a church. Time to stop. Open up the doors to the outsiders and listen to them!

It should not be about a mere conversion, but about full transformation. Not just a "get out of Hell free," but discipleship and growth in lifestyle.

Think, Love, Listen.
Let outsiders think about the Gospel. Love them. Listen to them. Build a real relationship and not just a conversion. Make visible the invisible, God and his love!

Social justice...and politics

How does this relate to Dominion theology and what are the concerns (pros and cons?)
How does this relate to our political stance?
Should a conservative and/or liberal Christian work together for social justice?
How does fighting for social justice relate to post-modern society?

So if we are Christians fighting for social justice, does that make us extremists?
Do people have a reason for concern when they call us out for believing in Dominion theology?
Should we be followers of Dominion Theology?

I believe that we do not have to be extremists. I believe that we should not take an incredibly extreme belief in Dominion theology. Sure at one level we do have a responsibility to take care of the earth. God has in fact put man at the highest level and given us that responsibility.
But we do not have to try to rule the world through politics and we do not have to follow New World Order Conspiracies. We should not put all our eggs in one basket, especially if you are basing the own Dominion theology around one verse of the Bible. There is a healthy responsibility God has placed on man to rule over the earth and take care of it, but not necessarily force everyone into Christianity.

If we are fighting for social justice will we come across as liberal Christians? should we join the democratic party in order to get some of these social justices?

Forget politics. This should not be about politics. If you are conservative, liberal ,Democratic, or Republican - you can agree that we have a duty to fight for social justice, it is Biblical, not politial. We will not come across as 'liberal' Christians, if we are fighting for the right things and doing what is the right thing. For example, if we are fighting poverty, yes we give money and food to the poor, but (this is key) we also have the oppurtunity to share God's love and the Gospel message with the people we are ministering to. If we are "making the Main thing, the main thing," then we will not be fighting social injustice to fight social injustice, but we will be showing and telling God's love. Iti s about sharing the Gospel and fighting injustice. Not just one or the other. And the amazing thinkg is that we can work together on this! Calvinist, Arministist, Obama, McCain, anyone who truely claims to be a Christian! It is time to stop fighting about petty in0-church doctrines and truely live it out in the real world, with people who have never heard any doctrine!

How does this relate to our post-modern world?

Agian, we have to keep the Main Thing (Jesus Christ) the main thing. In a society of relativism, it seems likely that people will want us to join their campaigns for justice. And outsiders of Christianity might want to join our campaign for justice. Both of these situations are great. We can and should work with non-Christians in our fight for justice. But we cannot loose sight of what is most important, the Gospel. We as Christians do have a doctrine that we cannot forget about, that is the message of Christ's love for us at Calvary. We need to be clear that we believe in doing what is just but we also have to be clear about why we are doing it! That is to show God's love, to be God's light. Present the Gospel as well as minister for justice!

10/01/2008

Social justice...and church today

I wanted to continue the discussion from a post I made a week or two ago. I promised to open up some questions I left unanswered....here are some of those questions:

Does the NT also address social justice/issues the same way the Old Testament does?
How does this relate to us today in modern world?
Why should you care?
What social justices should we be concerned for/ fighting for?


The OT addresses social justice. I think that is clear in the Deuteronomic law as well as in the prophets. For example, caring for the poor and needy widows and children. Does the NT continue to address these topics?
Yes, indeed it does! Who did Jesus minister too? He lived among the poor.

Look at James:
"Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field" (1:9-10).

"But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like" (1:22-24).

"My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, 'Have a seat here, please,' while to the one who is poor you say, 'Stand there,' or 'Sit at my feet,' have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" (2:1-4).

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,' and yet you do not supply these bodily needs, what is the good of that?" (2:14-16).

"Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one who does not resist you" (5:1-6).



We should care about this because the Bible tells us to. Because we should follow Jesus' example. And because there are real issues of social justice that need to be dealt with today.

Here in America, we have it all. And we are well off!
And we are well aware of the issues at hand around the world.
We know that we are wealthy and we know that not everyone else in the world has all the luxuries and toys the we have.

God is calling us to not be complacent and to share our wealth with those in need world wide.

Complacency has a way of creeping up on us all. Those of us in America live our lives in comfort, free–for the most part–of concern for the rest of the world.
Just as in Amos' time, the scene in Israel during a time of prosperity (mid-8th century BC). On the surface, things probably looked great. Religious services were well attended. Unfortunately, God’s message wasn’t getting through. The heartfelt relationship to God had grown cold.

It is like that in America. This is why we should care and be concerned!

What issues can we deal with?

Criminal Justice Economic Justice Environmental Justice Health and Family Justice International Human Rights and Justice International Peace and Conflict Racial Justice
*disclaimer: I copied this list from http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/issues/index.php
And I do not agree with all their solutions listed in their hyperlinks....
The list is a great tool and for my use is to show you that Christians need to take a stand and put action to our words and God's Words!


I leave you with lyrics to Tree63 song "The Revolution":
Who will feed the hungry if we don’t?
There’s people losing their lives ‘cos we won’t
If we believe but we still do not follow
Then maybe we don’t believe

If we could only love this world like we’ve been loved
Then all the world would know what love is really made of
We live in plenty, there is more than enough
For what the world needs, but not for our greed

Another world is possible yeah
Another world is possible yeah
The revolution’s far from over – it’s not over, it’s not over

Once upon a time a small seed
Died in the soil and became a small tree
Now it’s a forest still growing silently
And waterless earth turns green

Another world…

Full stomachs and both parents
and a church that acts like it
really believes that the Good News
is is good news for everybody everywhere…

Intertestamental period: Silent Years

I want stress something that has been bothering me the past few months. It has bothered me primary because it was real to me. I essential was a part of the problem. I could say I was a victim, which is partly true, but I don't like to complain.

The problem is this: today's Christians are not studying the Bible in historical context enough. The root problem is probably deeper, today's Christians aren't studying the Word of God enough in general.

I wonder how many Christians under the age of 25 could correctly associate each book of the Bible with its general time frame in history (I'll even be nice and say: give or take a century.)

I hope I am wrong, but I think America's young Christians might be failing.

I say all that a I am finishing up my Intro to OT and NT classes this semester, I started them in the summer semester. No one had ever informed me about the Intertestamental period. I had been trained (and trained well) in Sunday school classes, generally about all the big names (Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon...I could even name some of the kings like Ahab, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, etc...and I knew about all the major prophets...In fact I even knew where all these names fit into history on a general basis.)

Then after the Babylonian exile and the return from exiles during the Persian rule....that is where the Sunday school lessons are not enough. (At least for me!) I did not really know what happened next in history. I have learned a lot in my intro to OT and NT classes!

All I knew was that the NT started and John the Baptist is preparing the Way for Jesus. Malichi was a nice bridge foreseeing John the Baptist and Jesus. But what about these silent years?

This "intertestamental period" is also known as the 400 silent years. History lessons of 8th Century till Christ's life and death are important, but a lot of times this time period is forgotten about. I think that it is forgotten, many times becuase it is not addressed in the Bible very much. And becuase nothing wirtten from this time period is in the Biblical canon. The story goes, "if it is not in the Bible then it must not be important."

I have a problem with this line of thinking for quite a few reasons. First it is addressed in the Bible. Second the Bible is ultimate truth, but there is truth outside of the Bible, history. The Bible lines up with history, furthermore showing God's soverighty. Finally, just becuase something is not mentioned/addressed in the Bible directly, does not mean something is not important.

The book from the Bible that helped me the most to look into this period is Daniel. Daniel is propbaly one of the most difficult reads, but it does address the "silent years" through prophetic visions! While they are hard to read and understand we can still glean a lot about history from them. What is wonderful is that the visions line up with real history!

Anyways, I wanted to list some resources that address the "silent years:"
Timeline
Pictoral resource
Summary text of period
More in-depht readings:
Ray Stedman
George Kirkpatrick

9/30/2008

Jacob i loved Esau I hated

When I first saw this in Romans 9, I was confused and struggled. How was it that God, who is love, hate someone?

When studying the Bible, it is crucially important to always study the context of a particular Bible verse or passage. In these instances, the Prophet Malachi and the Apostle Paul are using the name “Esau” to refer to the Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau. Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, Esau and Jacob. God chose Jacob (whom He later renamed Israel) to be the father of His chosen people, the Israelites. God rejected Esau (who was also called Edom), and did not choose him to be the father of His chosen people. Esau’s and his descendants, the Edomites, were in many ways blessed by God (Genesis 33:9; Genesis chapter 36).

So, considering the context, God loving Jacob and hating Esau has nothing to do with the human emotions of love and hate. It has everything to do with God choosing one man and his descendants and rejecting another man and his descendants. God choose Abraham out of all the men in the world. The Bible very well could say, “Abraham I loved, and every other man I hated.” God choose Abraham’s son Isaac instead of Abraham’s son Ishmael. The Bible very well could say, “Isaac I loved, and Ishmael I hated.”

Here is a note from the NEXT Bible : The context indicates this is technical covenant vocabulary in which “love” and “hate” are synonymous with “choose” and “reject” respectively (see Deut 7:8; Jer 31:3; Hos 3:1; 9:15; 11:1).

Romans chapter 9 makes it abundantly clear that loving Jacob and hating Esau was entirely related to which of them God chose. Hundreds of years after Jacob and Esau had died, the Israelites and Edomites became bitter enemies. The Edomites often aided Israel’s enemies in attacks on Israel. Esau’s descendants brought God’s curse on themselves. Genesis 27:29, “May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

Some sources:
http://www.gotquestions.org/Jacob-Esau-love-hate.html
http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=Mal+1:2-3
http://www.meguiar.addr.com/Jacob_Esau.htm

Justice and God

Some atheists use the injustice argument for atheism...
They will say that God cannot exist because there is no justice in the world, or if he does exist then he is some kind of sick, evil being who is cruel and unjust...(hence why they chose to be atheist, mostly do to spite and not real logic.)
may I ask where then did this sense of justice come from?

Justice and Morality are not from feelings or expectations
There is no sense to the idea that we all as humans should expect to be treated fair, and others to treat us as we treat them, without this idea of morality having a starting point.

The starting pointing is God. He puts order in the world. He created us to have a sense of morality and justice.

I believe that Justice and morality come from God. Assuming that everyone else has this since of justice and morality... where did it come form?...it came from God!

Read list:

CS LEWIS -Mere Christianity

DALE FINCHER - Living With Questions

9/29/2008

The real problem...

Overvalued housing around the USA.
Think about it, foreclosures, devaluing economy...

There is not any "bail out" plan that is going to solve anything. (Besides like I said in the previous post the bail out plan was a temporary fix that had absolutely nothing to do with the real issues and was NOT going to help the real sufferers, homeowners.)

What is the real issue? What will fix the problem? What is the foundational issues?

Over valued homes. Right now homes are over valued by 50% and greater in some areas.
Te problem was not that people could not afford the over priced homes, or at least not originally...you will see how overpriced housing affects everything else!

People were then getting loans to buy these really nice but over valued homes....

These loans were more debt.

So what is next?

2 things:
1. time. Just relax. It is inevitable, people are going to lose some money and it is not going to be pretty. Over time in the long haul we will be back to normal.
2. but first we must see the housing market change and adjust. Not too long ago, the housing market was the place to be! Homes that could have been built for $100K were being valued for $!M and more! The market was a boom and everyone and their brother was getting on board, greed cycled. Rich people at first were buying these nice homes. And eventually Mr. and Mrs. Jones were buying over valued homes, because even the cheaper homes that would have cost $10K to build were being marked up for $100K. Greed is a vicious cycle. Keeping up with the Joneses, anyone who was not selling homes (or winning the lottery) was taking out loans to afford thier homes.

More debt.

The real problem is not in Wall Street, but on Main Street. Banks closed (and sold to either Chase or Citi) and foreclosures were everywhere!!!!

Now Wall Street is seeing a tiny bit of what Main Street is feeling. Wall Street complains about this despite America's strong economy and still strong when you look at us on a "bad day" compared to the entire world.

Forget about Wall Street, start dealing with the real issues of over priced homes on Main Street. Give it time and dont worry too much. But DO NOT support bail out plans that only benifit Wall Street and politicians. Tell your politicians that you want a plan that benifits homeowners, not their own pocket books.

Bailout not wise....

If you have seen my recent statuses (or stati?) and posted items on Facebook, you are well aware of where I stand in light of this bailout plan.
I am agianst it. I think it is not wise. It is a fast "solution" to a problem that has develpoed over a long period of time, almost a decade.
First off, give me one good example of a time when a decade of decay was completely resolved and fixed in one week's time. This is not possible. I fear that after this "bail out," Congress will go back to their old ways. The will sign this bill and mark it off their TTD list. They will go back to continue spending money they don't have. Continue adding more tax money to their salary.
Second off, why are we putting so much hope in Congress!? They are the ones who put us in the hole and now we are asking them to solve the problem? NO. That is stupid! They have motives for their own benefit, they obviously are not representing us the people. If they were really representing us, we would not have been in the hole the first place! We need to elect people who have our agenda, force Congress to think through a solution that will actually work and give them TIME to do it, or allow a third party group to clean up the Congress.
Thirdly, I want to address the bailout plan...
Section A. It is a temporary fix. It is only addressing the smptoms of a bad economy and is not actually dealing with the fundamental economic issues that are really at hand and the root of all our problems.
Section B. The bail out, it more of a benifit to Wall Street and NOT a benifit to home owners. Agian, Congress have their own motives. They look good for "fixing" something from a national perspective, but really the members of their individual respective states are suffering. The home owners are still losing. Debt and finaincial crisis is still there and it is not going away.
Section C. Look at their soluion....they want more of our tax money. They are not sacrificing anything. They are getting more pork. They are still very secure as Congressmen. They are porking it up....porking up our tax money to fix a problem they created! I hate this!
Fourthly, I hate this becuase my generation is left victim. I am going to be paying for the mistakes of these white head old men long after tehy are dead and gone. Their solution demands my sacrifice but not thiers. They will rot and die and I will still be giving them money.
My generation, I pray learns to be NOTHING like these stupid selfish sandbagging greeds in the White House. This actually is a great oppurtunity for the younger, smarter generation of political leaders to step up and do the right thing, to represent the common folks and save America and its debt. But it also will be the hardest thing my generation has ever done. It will be a challenge and there will be the tempation for them to fall into the same mistakes and fall into the same pockets of greed and debt. But I have a high hopes for my generation. (for now.)

Personal religion and Public Politics

Trust in God rather than political measures. Leaders may think they can see what needs to be done in a situation, but in reality things are unfolding according to God’s purposes.

Read Eze. 11:19-20, 36:26.

Political programs are compatible with religion of the heart…they are not a private matters. It is a mistake to have no place for religion in public policy because the Old Testament text demands obedience from the heart as a people of God together. Formally organized side of religion can and ought to be part of a full response to God. Religious life is not separate from political organization.

9/28/2008

Free will or Soverign God in relation to righteous Prophets

In the Prophets there is a point at which God says “no more! That is it! I am going to punish you…I gave you the chance!"

There are times where the faithful and righteous followers of God intervened through prayer and God listened...God gave his people another chance.

Then there are times when God refuses to listen to even the righteous when the his people have broken the "threshold" (if it where). Then it is all God, no matter what the righteous followers do or say.

Of course the argument could go for or against either side...ultimately a Sovereign God is going to punish them eventually or ultimately the people were going to choice to sin and life a lifestyle of disobedience.

But I want to look at both sides of the argument and say that in the Sovereignty of God and in the responsibility of man –there is a balance! Through-out Scripture and in real life...

Sure Calvinists and Arminists can fight all they want but I want to look deeper and see that both sides have a point. Look at Scripture and see the balance.
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