Give me a break.

Today, President Elect Obama announced that Pastor Rick Warren would deliver the Invocation at his Inauguration on January 20th, 2009. This decision has sparked outrage from the gay and lesbian community because of Warren's views on gay rights and marriage and his support of Proposition 8. The Obama party made it clear when the choice of Warren was announced that Warren and Obama disagreed on the issue of homosexuality. Yet people are pissed. What's the big deal? People need to grow up.

First of all, President Obama, himself, said that he defined marriage as one man and one woman but I don't hear people complaining about that. Also, Obama has chosen a pastor who supports homosexuality and gay marriage to deliver the Benediction. There will even be a gay and lesbian band participating in the events but I don't see conservatives coming on CNN and whining about it.

Is there a double standard being set? I think so. Obama has said that he wants to unite the country and in order to do so he needs to include, both, people he agrees with and people he disagrees with. But now that he has chosen someone he disagrees with about homosexuality, its a bad choice. I don't see people throwing such a big hissy fit over the fact that Obama has picked REPUBLICANS for his cabinet. Come on people. If we want a united country, we have to accept the fact that we are going to disagree with people. But does that mean that we shouldn't associate with those people? NO.

I am almost certain that the people who are arguing/whining about the selection of Warren would consider themselves open minded and accepting people. But I think by their opposition to Warren, they are showing that they are open minded and accepting ONLY to the people who agree with them. That's hypocrisy.

I don't agree with President Obama on some things but I do agree with him on some. I personally think this is a great move towards unity, Obama extending his hand to a conservative evangelical pastor. It is a great thing that he is classy enough to associate and work with people whom he disagrees. That's called diversity and I thought that's one of the main things the gay and lesbian community wanted. Warren is not being sworn in that day, so give me a break.

P.S.- Don't take this as a complete blast on liberals. There are things I can blast conservatives for and probably will. As far as politics go, I'm neither republican or democrat. So please do not take this rant as a endorsement of one party over the other.

Silence = Hate. Wisdom from an atheist.

I was amazed by this video. When Penn (who is a famous magician and outspoken atheist) began to tell the story I thought he was going to bash this guy he spoke with but I was surprised at what he said.



I have to admit this was a bit of an eye opener for me. I had to ask myself this hard but important question that I will leave for you......

How much do you hate?

Hanging on Every Word

When it comes to Jesus, Christians believe that He is God. That He is Lord over all. That He lived a perfect/sinless life. With these being key beliefs about Jesus, I have noticed that many Christians, including myself, simply do not listen to everything Jesus said. We like to take the things we like to hear about love and peace and use them as common cliches. But when Jesus says something that is a little hard to swallow we start dissecting it and trying to figure out "what Jesus really meant to say." Or there is the problem of apathy towards the words of Christ. We hear or read something He said but don't understand it so we just forget about it and don't care instead of trying to understand that the Messiah meant. We listen to Jesus when we understand Him or like what He says but then tune Him out when the message is hard or we just don't understand.

Recently I have noticed that there is one group of people that ALWAYS listened to Jesus, the Pharisees. They couldn't stand Jesus. They believed He was demonic. They absolutely hated Him. They hated him because He told people that they were wrong. He embarrassed them. He challenged them. But they still listened to Him. They hung on every word He said because they hated Him. They listened carefully, in an attempt to trap Him in His words if He misspoke. They understood what Jesus meant when He used phrases like "I Am," and when He said that He had the power to forgive sins. They knew what "I Am" meant. They knew that only God had the power to forgive sins and when Jesus said that, He was referring to Himself as God. They listened to Jesus. They understood what He was saying and they murdered Him because of it.

If we call ourselves Christians, people who are trying to be like Christ. People who follow Christ. People who LOVE Christ. Shouldn't we listen and try to understand EVERYTHING He says? The Pharisees did and they HATED Him.

Check two off the reading list

Over the last year or so I have found enjoyment in something that I have always hated....reading. Although, finishing books in a timely manner is something I have yet to accomplish. I recently finished the following two books and I highly recommend them
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Blue Like Jazz- I thought this was very thought provoking. Although, I don't agree with some of the things Donald Miller has to say, he made a lot of great points and his writing style makes the time fly as you read this book. Blue Like Jazz definitely makes you think the Christian faith in a new way.


Vintage Jesus- For anyone who wants to know more about Jesus, this is the book for you. In the book, Mark Driscoll tackles 12 commonly asked questions about Jesus. This book definitely made my adoration of Christ grow. Vintage Jesus is for believers and non-believers, anyone who wants to take a closer look at the man who split the calendar and has made the biggest impact on history.

Next on the list:

Growing Up While the World Grows Down

This past weekend I was blowing leaves into the woods next to my house. I kept looking at the woods and it dawned on me just how small they were. This stretch of trees used to be like a forest to me when I was younger. I would play in those woods all the time and it just seemed like I could get lost in there. These woods even contained my favorite climbing tree but it was chopped down years ago. Although, I'm sure that there is no way that tree would be able to hold me if it were still standing.

But these woods made me think about how the world and everything in it just seems to get smaller and smaller as I time goes by. I remember when I used to only come up to my mom's hip and I would look up at her and think, I'm never going to be that tall. Now, my mom looks up at me. There is also this cord that hangs down in our garage that you pull to manually control the garage door. This certain red cord used to seem so far out of reach. My friend John and I used to try to jump and touch it but we failed time after time. Now, this cord hits me on the head if I walk right under it. Another friend of mine, was telling me the other day that he was talking to a guy in one of his classes and the guy he had never met before ended up being the cousin of my girlfriend's room mate. He told me he never realized how the small the world was.

When you put things in perspective, its a small world after all. The older we get, the bigger we get, and the more experiences we have, the world gets smaller and smaller. However, this principle does not apply to God. The closer I get to Him and the more I learn about Him, He gets bigger and bigger. When I was younger and didn't know much about God and was far away from Him, God seemed so simple. He just seemed like this old man who sat in heaven and gave us these ten rules to live by and that's all folks. But the more I read about Him, my previous thoughts fade away and I get this clearer view of a God who is so Big, Powerful, Amazing, etc. that I can't help but be amazed by and worship.

Realizing how small I am and how small the world I live in is and then realizing how Big God is, I can't help but feel some what insignificant. Then I remember what He has done for us. He, being so big and powerful, stooped down to our level. He left His throne in heaven and came to this small blue dot in the universe to show us how much He loves us.

So as the woods next to my house seem to shrink with time, God is magnified as I draw closer to Him and by this I am amazed.

Advent Conspiracy

I thought this was pretty cool and self explanatory.

Stupidity in the Highest

If you are a Sports Center junkie like me or if you don't live under a rock, then you have probably heard about New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress and his recent display of stupidity. Plax was being escorted to the VIP section of a club this past weekend and on the way, he some how fumbled his gun and shot himself in the leg. Reminds me of a certain scene in that movie with Eminem, "8 Mile." However, his stupidity does not end with shooting himself. If I heard correctly, he used to have the correct permits to carry a concealed weapon but they expired and he did not renew them. So because he did not renew his concealed weapon licence, he now faces felony gun charges which, if convicted, will put him in prison for a minimum of three and a half years. Move over Michael Vick, here comes a cell mate. Good job Plaxico, maybe Santa will bring you a brain this year for Christmas.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is another example of what NOT to do with a gun.

Password changes and more things that contain crack.

Don't you hate when you have to change your password after a certain period of time and then you keep typing in your old password out of habit. Yeah, me too.

And as promised more things to add to the list of Things That Contain Crack......

• Cheerwine- Amazing. I hear they have Cheerwine milkshakes at the cookout in Salisbury, the birth place of Cheerwine. No not Cheerwine floats like they have everywhere, Cheerwine milkshakes. There's a difference.
• Queso Dip from Mexican Restaurants and the chips that go with it.
• Homemade Banana Pudding. That's why people don't make it all the time because they can't afford the crack to put in it.

That's all for now folks.