God vs. Society

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday
Morning Commentary.

My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish.
And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful
lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't
feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't
think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact,
I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating
this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger
scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If
people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few
hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think
Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people
who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I
have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly
atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it
being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we
should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we
understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there
are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and
where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a
little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's
intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson
asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding
Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful
response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we
are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get
out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman
He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us
His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events..... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I
think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body
found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and
we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says
'Thou shalt not kill'; 'Thou shalt not steal,' and 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they
misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their self-esteem We said an expert should know what he's talking
about. And we said okay. (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide.)

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they
don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill
strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I
think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the
world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but
question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail
and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding
the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar
and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion
of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not
send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they
believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than
what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not, then just discard it . .. no
one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit
back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My best regards, honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein.

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Comment on this and let me know what you think. Do you agree or disagree?

On my own..?

So, today I realized something. Something, I probably should have gotten a long time ago.

For those of you who don't know, I'm in this program where you finish the last two years of high school while starting your first two years of college. But, it's at a community college.

I realized today that once I set off for the rest of college, which will be in about a year and a half, I won't have people helping me. No mom to help write your English papers, no tutor to re-teach you math. You might have your roomate and that's about it.

I realized today that I'll be all alone, expected by society to live and survive on my own. No money from Mom, no begging Dad to be part of your life. No friends to copy off of and study is going to have to become a regular thing.

Although I'm doing fine right now, studying has never been a part of my education. I guess it's time to start thinking about that, huh?
Well, I just wanted to write about what I've been thinking about all day.

Let me know what you're thinking about, too!

Human Trafficking.. It's real.

Just to warn you guys, this video is really upsetting, especially if you listen closely to the lyrics. I made this last year for my Communications class. We had to make a speech and a visual presentation on a problem going on world wide. The band is Take No Glory and the song is called Beautiful Slave.

My New Life

So, just today I discovered my old blog post. And when I say old.. I mean, really old. So many things in my life have changed since I last posted on here and I realized that I've gotten much better at writing since I've posted. This post is just an update on what's been going on in my life, so sorry if you get bored.

Since the last time I posted, I've turned 16.
I had a job, and then lost it because of this economy.
I was accepted to Burke Middle College and now I'm a freshman in college while being a junior in high school.
I've made new friends and lost a love.
I've become smarter about my money choices, and soon I'll be getting another job.
I have a new crush, someone who has been in my life since January and has become a great friend.
I failed a couple tests, made some bad grades, but in the end, I'm okay.
I've gone to summer camps and I've learned more about God.
I didn't get to go on the mission trip to Texas, but I'm planning on another one as I write.
I've even lost a little weight!

Now that you know what's been going on in my life, tell me what's been going on in yours. Let me know how your feeling, or what's been going on. I'd love to hear about you!

Huh?

It's been a while since I last posted, but I'm starting to think I just shouldn't post anymore. No one's been here and no one's reading this.. So, if you are reading this, please tell your friends about it. I would really appreciate it if someone at least read it! (:

Fire..music..college..photography..

As soon as I got up from playing the game that was suggested by a elementary school kid, my left wrist felt like it was on fire. I had no idea why or what had happened but I just ignored it as I sat through yet another amazing service.

Turns out the burning was just a sprain! Haha, who knew you could screw up your wrist at church?! Oh well.. I'm just kind of writing an update because I haven't done one for this week yet and I've already got lot's of things to write about.

Lately I've been visiting this site called quizilla (www.quizilla.com) a lot because it's got all these stories by other people, and a lot of them are really cute love stories and for some reason I like them...probably more than I should. Haha. But, they are so cool and only some of the stories are like that, so not just girls will like the website, guys would too. It's an awesome website, especially when your uber bored.

Well, today I went to work with my mom and if you don't know where she works already, she works at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. It's a really cool place and I plan on going to college here considering I know my way around it pretty well and I'm pretty much guaranteed a job, which is awesome! So, it got me thinking, where are my high school friends going to go after high school is over? I love them more than I love myself and I would definitely love to see them at my wedding, or a kid's birthday party, so I asked around. My friend Tyler has already figured out what he wants to do. He wants to go to UNCC (University of North Carolina, Charlotte) and become a doctor. Tyler's a close friend so I told him I would apply there just to see if I get in or not. I also got a reply from my best friend Mei. She's Asian (:. Anyway. She's told me that she would like to go to NC State but doesn't know exactly what she wants to be yet. I love the idea of having no clue what you want to. It's like life's a mystery, but I hope that God will help us on choosing a career that is the right one for us. I'm really into photography so I'm hoping that I can pursue a career in it because it's a big passion of mine.

So, I want to know. Where do you want to go to college? What do you want to do?

Also, I've been listening to all this new music lately. Like, I've listened to so much that I've doubled my iTunes music to 500 instead of 250. I love listening to new bands, because it's interesting to hear what other people to like to listen to and like to hear. So, if your commenting, tell me your favorite bands, and suggest some songs!

I've had some trouble getting people to look at this blog, so invite your friends to check it out. I'm planning on keeping up with this so once I graduate high school in two years, I can go back and look at what my 15 year old self wrote about.

Winter Jam 2010

So, this past weekend I went to winter jam with a friend of mine and her youth group. For those of you who have no idea what winter jam is, it's when a bunch of christian bands come together to host a concert that only cost's ten dollars. It's really pretty awesome considering how bad the economy is these days. Anyway, I had a really good time this year. There were several bands there, including Sidewalk Prophets, Tenth Avenue North, and Newsboys.

When my friend and I got there, it was about two hours before the doors opened. We stood out in the cold most of the time. We had some people stay and hold our spot while we went to the Starbuck's up the street from the arena. We actually met one of the guitarist for Tenth Avenue North there while we were standing in line.

After standing out in the cold for what seemed like forever, the doors finally opened after much screaming and ranting. Our seats were about 7 rows from the stage, which turned out to be cooler than I thought it would.

The concert started and I have to say it's the coolest one I've ever been to. We heard Tony Nolan speak, and if you haven't I suggest you do, and he did a awesome job like always. I realized where my walk with God was and that I wanted to do more than just read my bible and pray. I signed up to learn more information about mission trips and I'm in the process of being apart of a mission team who will be going to Dallas, Texas to help with the people there. The lady who told me about it told me that part of the mission trip was to go to an apartment and ask someone who lived there what they needed, once you know you go get the things and bring them back to you. Usually you tell them about your testimony and things you've gone through in live and just let them know God loves them.

I'm really excited about everything that's happening now, and I encourage you to go to a winter jam close to you if you can. It's tons of fun and can change someone's life. I know this from personal experience.

Thanks for reading my first post. I'll try to update about something weekly.