weird late night things...

I could put how bad work was... and how i feel like i caught a little cold as well... but that's not the case tonight... What happened after work was interesting... so i sorta figured out that i was really low in my paycheck so i went back and did the math and figured out that i didnt count the final 7 hours of my time... (big difference) ... after going back to the restaurant and getting it figured out.. i sat in my car to count up the money i had...

 all of a sudden, i heard a tapping on my glass... thinking it was boss wanting something i kinda *sighed and looked over and instead of my boss, it was some random guy... without a thought, i rolled down the window (which now that i think of it, was a terrible idea) and ask what he wanted (for all i knew, he could've just robbed me or had me at gunpoint) ... instead he asked if i had 5 dollars for.. something..... all i knew was the dude wasn't all there to begin with mentally-wise... he began to ramble on how i was a good person and yada yada until he mentioned God... of course.. i couldn't pass up the opportunity and asked him what he knew about God.... after some wacked out stuff... i started asking him if he believed in Jesus.... more wacked out things... i can tell i was going nowhere.. in the end, i tried to communicate the Gospel to him, and handed him a note of the Romans road and 5 dollars... silly me, couldn't find my tracts for some reason...

some thoughts afterwards while i was on my 20 minute drive home were if i should've tried harder.. after all.. i was tired and feeling a bit ill after work... the final answer was yes and no.. yes... i could've went through a little more with him... and no... because i did try my best with who it was... and even if i had went the whole way with the Gospel and such, how genuine would he be if all he wanted was 5 dollars... plus... like i said.. he wasn't all there to begin with.. and it wasnt just me not paying attention.. some of the things he said really didn't make any sense..

anyways... this sorta kinda answered a prayer i had this morning... to be more on fire for God... lately, i've been in a rut... just cruising by seminary, doing my daily thing... with that experience just now.. though weird, it reignited something that i need to be doing more....  also.. need to know where i put my tracts in my car to keep them handy....

i also realized why i have the job i have now... though the people have been absolutely uncouth (i get yelled at at least once per day) ... it's a good training to serve people that i detest..... (though dont think the complaining will stop.. i need something to make myself feel better after a negative person)

tomorrow morning (very early morning) is a habitat for humanities with my small group..... though i didn't go for the first one because of...reasons... i feel more inclined to go this time... mainly because now i know there will be people there to share Christ to... however, i'm not really feeling all that great at the moment... so if anyone is wondering where i was for it... i'm sorry, not feeling so hot...

also.. the other reason that i'm up is because my neighbor is singing.... very...very... poorly... the song he's singing now is "Glory to God"... i wonder if he actually is bringing glory (very mean shane...) .... also, on the bridge part "take my life and let it be, all for you and for your glory..." i feel inclined to replace "life" with "voice" (again... mean shane...)

The Jets Tebow Theory

Finally I can start writing for fun instead under stress (though I still need to do that in the very near future). Yesterday, ESPN and my twitter feed got blown up with Jets players throwing Tebow under the bus. A few even said he was the reason the team stunk... I'm sorry but when was the last time a player made a whole team horrible just by sitting on the bench aside from injury?

Now, don't get me wrong.... i'm not a tebow fan whatsoever.... i dislike tebowmania and i think Christians place him on an pedestal and worship him. Yep, Tebow is worshiped because he worships God.... somehow I don't think Christianity works like that... And his game...oh geez.... the defense bailed him out last year so much... all he did was make the clutch throws needed to win (HAHA.... steelers).. however, that is all that is needed to win games... and he won them... in an ugly fashion

Fast forward to the present... Tebow, benched, getting blamed for losses, for not playing.... something doesn't add up here... but the other thing is the Jets as an organization... The GM (Johnson?) stated that Tebow will not be traded or released... Rex Ryan continually stated that Sanchez is the starter..... which frankly i dont know how he could say that with a straight face... Tebow is promised snaps for the Wildcat offense.. and not seeing them... special teams? i dont remember seeing him on there either other than one play... so basically what Tebow is right now is a glorified bench warmer... why... what is the organization thinking?

Here's where the theory comes in... they aren't... they know what they're doing and they're doing a good job at it... and that is keeping Tebowmania from happening... Tebow on the Jets means that no other team can use him to beat the Jets... after all, Tebow lead the comeback drive and scored the game winning TD by himself against the Jets around this time last year and embarrassed them on Thursday night TV... Tebow on the Jets means no more Tebowmania, and no more Tebow beating the Jets...

And boy was this a sneaky plan... they know that there is no way that Tebow will demand a trade... he's too soft, he knows it will hurt his image... and the Jets are taking advantage of that.. However, the Jets aren't all at fault... Tebow definitely should've went to the Jags.... no QB.. and the desperate needs of fans would've single-handily attracted him there... (as a Titans fan, I constantly joke on how the Jags have no fans) However, he chose the Jets??!? (still confused about his logic here)

Tebow.... if you see this.. just demand the trade... put your image aside for just this once and yell "GET ME OUTTA HERE"... though it may hurt your image now, you will begin to inspire a lot more like you used to on the Broncos.... and when you inspire you'll start up the storm of tebowmania which furthers the gospel as a secondary action.... think of the greater good here... your image might be slightly damaged.. but who'll blame you... the Jets treated you like trash... you need to get out while you're young and still athletic... otherwise, you wont be as effective in the later years... since everyone loves a winner...

3 things in ending
Get out of the Jets
Start doing what you do best
and make me start disliking you again DAGNABIT!!!!!

personal thoughts of the elections

I must admit that I haven't been following the candidates and the debates as I should normally (job searching and schoolwork has definitely gotten in the way). If you must know my views, I lean a lot more to the right than the wrong.. err.. left (j/k).. reason being is because of the pro-choices, and support for homosexuality that most liberals support...along with socialism >< but that's another story... Though I was disappointed in the results, I really don't care..
For one, I believe that both have stupid religious stances... Romney is a Mormon, which is absolutely heretical... Obama is... well... I believe he's a Muslim, but that's what I think... my parents told me he goes to church, but going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than being in McDonalds makes you a Big Mac... so whichever is the lesser evil I guess....
What got me intrigued is the idolatry of the elections. The hope that one person can change the country. One person can give us what we need and will understand our views whether it's Obama or Romney... The second part are middle schoolers and high schoolers all of a sudden acting like they're class A politicians... I mean, what is this? when I was their age, I didn't care for the elections.... like at all.... why? because I can't make a difference...I was too busy with school and teenager stuff... and since when do you EVER win an argument on facebook or twitter... the best that can happen is a bunch of your friends gang up on the oddball out and they'll shut up in the end, making you feel better and watching your ego grow up to the size of Godzilla... because that's not arrogant at all...

Sorry friends, but I put my faith in something that won't go back on their word once they run into a group of people called Congress... so what's the worse that will happen? seriously? give me the worse and I'll give you Jesus... 1 Peter 3 gives us a perfect example of suffering... and believe me, I know suffering.. having no job is not fun right now and Obama won't make it any better either.... I'm not materialistic whatsoever, but there are still things I need to pay for while I'm here...  I know suffering is no fun.. but the Bible states the Christians will suffer.... this is not some easy religion where you need to do more and try harder.. so why do we treat it like that? Why do we try to escape suffering? Are we really trying to cling to this world that isn't ours to begin with?
1 Peter 2 states that we need to submit to our government... oh and by the way, we should try praying for them too.... not just today after the elections are over... but daily... which i know nobody do... not praying for them in the past and whining about it now is the same as praying to God ONLY when you need something...
Anyways.. that's my rant.... I'm sure we'll all be alive tomorrow... and the next day, and the next week and the next year and the next election.... which them people will think the world will end again but it'll be there the following day.. unless Jesus comes back that is... but then again, it sounds like nobody wants him to come back since we put idols of Romney or Obama in our minds...

some of this might not make sense... it's really late anyways... but peace out

Heyyyyyyyyyyyy wealthy ladies.....Mitt, Mitt, Mitt, Mitt, Mitt Romney Style!

A look back on my summer marathon: part 4 CLBC Camp

Luckily I had a few days to rest before camp which was good since camp always drained a lot of energy because I need to keep up with the teenagers and I wouldn't be getting much sleep that week anyways...
Camp started on a Tuesday... and there were concerns of not being able to go because of the issue with the statewide power outages and people panicking and getting gas. However, when you know that God will provide... you just relax and go with the flow... We soon got on a big bus and headed to Cleveland, Tennessee... on the way there we stopped by a nice family restaurant (sorta like Bob Evans). Right when we came in, I heard a few people sitting there going "oh boy" since there were a lot of youths and probably thought we would be loud and disruptive and rude. However, the kids did well to prove them wrong and we got compliments on how well behaved they were...
We arrived (late) and ate dinner and proceeded towards worship... first days were usually chaotic since we didn't know where we would sit.... but we finally found seats.... in the nosebleed section...

I was mainly in charge of the Middle School boys and it was a huge change for me this year. The previous years I was only a chaperone, however with Brandon and Joyce being in different dorms since the high schoolers and middle schoolers were split, I was the main chaperone along with Anthony Woody. It was interesting how well I got along with Anthony since we were very different... He was usually spontaneous, a bit wild and odd at times while I was a little more serious but calm and relaxed as well... but we got along very well since we both respected each other and our differences in personality.

The main schedule went like this everyday for camp: Breakfast, Morning Worship, family group time, lunch, rec, free time, dinner, evening worship, church group time, back to the dorms, lights out

Day 2 I and two of the other chaperones finally met our family group... what family groups were, are groups that consisted of other churches and we were lucky this year to not get any of our youths... I thoroughly enjoyed my group... while they were easily distracted (like all middle schoolers are) they paid attention to the lessons and were attentive and asked questions. We bonded even more during rec time when I did a lot of different activities with them.

Day 3 consists of basically the same... we did a water day for rec and all my group did was stand around hoping to not get wet... safe to say... that i made sure that didnt happen...
An interesting thing that happened for the evening worship was a huge wind storm went through the city.... knocked down a few trees and a couple of electric lines as well.... oh, and the power went out during worship as well... but everything ended well...
During our church group time the kids prayed and one of them went under deep conviction and accepted Christ that night (WOO!)
Meanwhile back at the dorms, the boys were running up and down the hallways goofing off when suddenly someone from downstairs came up and started yelling at them to go to their rooms... while I wasn't pleased with how he did it... I figured I would be the better man (and Christian) and apologize and tell them to head to their rooms and to be quiet (and thus I would dub this man... Mr. Grumpy)

Day 4 was my last full day with the group... which meant that they got my "last day" message.... which I made up last year and eventually lead someone to accept Christ in the evening... which I did hope would be the case again... What I later found out was that someone rededicated her life to Christ which was awesome! On the way back from free time, I took a little break and stayed in my dorm... I then started to walk towards the bathroom at the end of the hall to discover that one of the students had left his door wide open with his key still in the lock... listening and checking in the bathroom, I figured out that they went ahead to dinner... Anthony also walked by since he'd just got out of the shower and noticed it too... we soon devised a plan to steal all their important stuff and put it in our rooms to teach them a little lesson...
When the kids came back, the two kids started panicking since their stuff was gone... I was doing a survey during the time and they ran into my room and told me the situation...(one stated: "I had a bunch of stuff including my cleats which was $75... everything they took is pretty much $150 and they better give it back!" in which i simply replied "not my problem... should've locked your door") I advised them to ask everyone on the floor including the people in the next hall... when they went over there, we finally put all their stuff back and went back to our rooms... next thing I heard was yelling and laughing and they realized that we got them and that they needed to lock their doors since not everyone there was a Christian.... afterwards, the kids teamed up with the other kids in the hall and started riding mattresses down the stairs... Mr Grumpy came out extremely upset and yelled at the kids and asked the chaperones for the name of the churches since we were "destroying school property".. The kids seemed shaken up but I ensured them that everything was fine and to just go to bed... I'm positive that any complaint Mr Grumpy had against our church was going to be ignored anyways...
(If you treat your fellow brothers in Christ like this, I hate to see how you treat the lost)

Day 5 we did a morning worship and left to go back home... A bit sad to see it end since this was the last event that I was going to do with CLBC for the summer.... but in the end, everything was for the glory of God and hopefully he was pleased with the work that was put in everywhere that I went...

PS. Brandon can do a good comedy routine with Sally and Shawn... his sock puppets...

A look back on my summer marathon: part 3 Indy Trip

To be honest, I wasn't really supposed to go on this trip, however, I think John or Brandon mentioned that one of the people groups that the team was going to be Asians and it was a huge population so I decided that it probably was a good idea to come along on the last minute.... Safe to say, probably wasn't the best idea since I didn't meet any Asians at all.... (but I told people about Jesus nonetheless)

Anyways, the trip up was a bit crowded... every seat was full which was a relief for me and we arrived and sort of rested for the night since we left in the afternoon and it was starting to get dark. The team divided into two, one to work at Emilo, a Spanish church plant, and one to work at a multi-housing site. Both would be involved in doing VBS. Our team was supposed to have "around 100 kids" however, when we got there, the only ones that came were another pastor's kids, which was extremely discouraging for our team. What sort of aggravated me even more was that the pastor that was in charge there didn't seem to be bothered nor surprised by it. oh and dont get me started on his son either...We then went door to door (which should've been done before we got there) and tried to get more kids out. Luckily we ran into some while walking around and invited them to come over, in which we did. As you can tell, I wasn't extremely impressed with the preparation this guy did and rarely spoke to him the entire week... Instead I sort of did my own thing for the week... which was going door to door, talking to people that were walking around the neighborhood and inviting them to VBS....
(NOTE: not complaining about this trip at all... just stating my experience... and to say the least, I did take a lot away from this trip that I know will be helpful in ministry later... mostly on what NOT to do... but helpful nonetheless... and this is the ending point where any negativity towards the dude stops)
After dinner, we went out to the park with some of Emilo's church and fellowship and played soccer with some of the people there. I myself felt a bit useless with the language barrier being there, but I finally found someone that spoke English and even though he claimed he was a Christian, I challenged him a little on his walk with God since he was out of church. 

Day 2 the number doubled (but when you had a low number... that's not hard) but it was a better day for everyone since we knew what to expect now. We did our usual thing, go door to door and invited more to come and that was pretty much our day in general. When we got back, we really just rested and be lazy (well most of the kids did... there was a variation of things for me to do that didn't involve a nap). In the evening, we went to downtown Indianapolis and saw some of the sites including Lucas Oil Stadium... home of the disgusting Indianapolis Colts... 

Day 3 the number doubled again and the VBS started to actually look like a VBS... There was also a block party planned that night so we advertised that to the kids as well. After going door to door and advertising a bit, I sat in on the VBS classes and was very pleased with how the CLBCers were connecting with the kids. After we were done, we went back and prepared for the evening.
The block part was huge to say the least... A lot of the neighborhood came over to see what was going on and it was a pretty big hit. The team pretty much mingled or tried to with everyone there... Oh, and the EvangeCubes are probably the easiest gateway to witness to someone... just sit down on the grass and start fiddling with it... before long, someone will ask what you're doing and voila... easy...
Afterwards, we started an Ultimate Frisbee game for the rest of the night and that was it for that day... safe to say we were tired...

Day 4 we went to the famous Indianapolis Zoo.... okay.. not so famous but it was alright... The Beijing Zoo definitely blew it out of the water. The dolphin show, although was cute, was slightly disappointing... However, I loved the dog show and some of the stunts that they did. The rest of the animals were interesting... but to say the least, I saw most of them 2 weeks before... however, hanging out with group made the zoo a lot more enjoyable... afterwards, we left for home on the same day and that was it for that trip

PS. Tug of War is a good activity with these kids... as is a foot race... and... Todd Morgan does really good SNL Harry Carey impersonations....

A look back on my summer marathon: part 2 Southern Baptist Convention

2 days after I got off the plane, I got back on another heading to New Orleans for the Southern Baptist Convention. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but I was excited since I always wanted to attend one of these meetings (you could even say it was on my bucket list). I was also signed up for a class that gave me 3 credit hours if I attended (and read books.. and wrote a huge report on it) Monday was the Pastor's Conference in where an array of very popular pastors ranging from Charles Stanley to David Platt and all of them delivered good sermons. The surprise preacher was Herb Reavis, whom Brandon was very excited to hear from. Safe to say, Reavis was just as good, if not better than the other popular preachers that preached that day. An important thing to note was that he preached right after David Platt. While the room was absolutely filled for Platt's sermon, it got cut in half when it was Reavis's turn to preach. Little did I know that this would be an ongoing issue that I would have a problem with for the week.

Tuesday through Thursday was when the whole business aspect of the SBC was discussed. The entire meeting was very interesting when they presented an issue and people on the floor had the opportunity to go up to the mics nearby to discuss the issue and why or why not they would vote for it to pass. A memorable moment was when a college student went up and instead of discussing the present case that was being discuss, he wanted to discuss something else (which was common among the people that went up). Right when he said he was a college student he got cut off before he could say another word (an embarrassing moment for him that he'll probably remember for the rest of his life.)

But the main entertainment during the meeting was a man called Richard Tribble. Not only was he a man that was a bit behind the times, but he was a extremely rude to the people on the panel, the president and pretty much everyone around him. I felt a bit insulted whenever he came up to the mic, and he wasn't even calling me out. Safe to say, he became the butt of the joke for the entire week... and he asked for it too.. I'm pretty sure he was up there to hear himself talk most of the time.... Something interesting to note was that he was a intern pastor for a church when I looked him up during the convention. A week later, when I wrote the paper, I looked him up again and found out that he's been replaced... hmmmm....

In the room beside where the convention was held was a huge room where books were sold by Lifeway and also tables and booths were assigned for Christian schools, seminaries and companies. While Brandon and I were around the Dallas Theological Seminary booth we heard a student ask "so.... where's Dallas Seminary at?" and the representative there had a stupefied look on his face and answered "...Dallas?"

The main event for the whole convention was Fred Luter being elected president of the Convention. The reason why this is so relevant was because he was the first African American to be nominated and ran unopposed. However, there were also plenty of other issues that were relevant that needed to be discussed as well such as the Sinner's Prayer and the name change of Southern Baptist. While I'm entitled to my opinion and it is my blog, I'll refrain from stating it because you can probably Google the subjects and be much more educated from it.

However, the mindset of the people at the convention really frustrated me. As stated above, Reavis only received half the audience that Platt did, and also, there was a IMB report where only probably a quarter of Platt's audience was there. I really can't figure out why people would like to hear the ideas of being giving up your life for God and being a missionary, but not put it in practice. At least attend the IMB meeting and listen to those that are the actual examples of what Platt preached...

Overall, the convention was pretty good and it was great hanging out with the pastors. Probably wouldn't attend another one since it cost a fortune to be there (and I don't have another class). But it was a nice experience in the end.

Closing note: Jet lag hit at times during the convention and I dozed off a few times. Wondered if anyone judged me for it.... are they in for a big surprise when God tells them where I was just at... :P

PS. No crying babies on the way there or back... streak breaks.. however, it still holds strong for "international plane trips"

A look back on my summer marathon: part 1 EA Trip

We set off for EA on the first day of June, stopping in NY, Canada, and finally in EA (Vern nearly crossed the Canadian border which might've been trouble for him... -.-) While in EA we would be working alongside of an English school in the area. When I say English school, keep in mind that this isn't a main school for the kids. It's sort of like an after school school that parents need to apply for and it's pretty prestigious. The main idea was that we'd go to the school to help, based on a previous team being there. However, the headmaster (we'll just call him Liu) had plans for us to do an English Festival. Liu basically watched over us the entire trip... from paying for our expenses there to driving us everywhere. The catch for Liu was that he was going to generate money from this, since the festivals would be in a central part of each town we would be at and it would compel the parents to sign their kids up for a pretty good fee. Our role was basically be ourselves, many of these people have never seen an American before, and we had a diverse team. Pseth (unlike PZone from pizza hut) was over 6ft tall and towered over everyone there. NaNa was an American kid, but was taller than most of them and was mostly the center of attention for teenage girls. Vern had white hair like Santa and Jan....et.. had blond hair... so everyone sorta stood out... which people would stare whenever we walked the street. (funny thing i liked to do was sorta step aside and stare at the group as well... whenever someone from the team asked what i was doing... i told them to be quiet since i was trying to blend it with everyone else). Anyways, we would generate a lot of attention wherever we went... especially the festival that Liu had for us to go to which was fine since this was our way to spread the good word. For the parents, it looks like the school is a very good school since they were willing to get Americans to come over and help. For us, we used this as a gateway to spread the good word to whomever was open to it.

As for the English Festivals it was basically a bunch of kids showing off what they learned in class, which included singing English songs and doing little games which we joined in on in front of the parents. Afterwards the team (excluding me) would be surrounded by people asking them to pose for them and try to talk to us in English.
One of the events that were a bit odd were kids doing a fashion show, which basically was kids doing a fashion show. (I made the comment that if this was the US... someone would be calling the cops). The catch was that a local clothing store probably struck a deal with Liu and they agreed to advertise their clothing at the event... which was probably already to going to be huge due to the advertisements around town and it being in a central area of the town. We eventually calculated it up and decided that Liu was making really good money off of these festivals... despite having to rent the stage, sound system and other small things, since we saw many people signing up for the schools right where we were. 




An important thing to note is that in the Chinese culture there in terms of this is that the host will pay for everything. While you may be able to state your case that "you shouldn't have" there isn't much to say since the host will do it anyways. One final note from me is: translating is HARD! It's one thing when I talk to someone since it's just a normal conversation (like when someone says dog. The brain won't go 狗->(english)dog->DOG, it goes 狗=DOG... when translating it goes 狗->DOG->(translate english) dog) ... so it takes a few steps before properly translating a word (now think how hard it is to do a sentence ;).... and it's even harder to do it the other way around). Even though it was challenging, it was a good learning experience for sure.


Flight took a total of around 30 hours... the flight from Canada to EA was around 16 if i remember correctly... My streak of crying babies continued as there was one a few rows behind me and one in front of me... What made it worse was there was something lodged in the headset jack so there was no way i could've watched a movie (well... i could watched it, but no sound would come out)... So 18 hours of either reading or listening to music. Sleeping for me wasn't an option due to it would already be night when we arrived. So as you may guess... pure... boredom.... and babies shrieking... sigh.. (but i did talk to the other members of the team)

Anyways, when we arrived we stopped in a major city close to our city of focus which was where our M also lived. We rested at a hotel (believe me we needed it after the flight) and went got up early to catch a bus to our city of focus. There, we met Liu who recognized me from last year and went on to our hotel from there (since the bus ride was around 4 hours). We ate a good dinner and decided to rest up for the coming week.

The second day we went to the Bamboo Sea with some of the teachers that we were going to work with and explored. The Bamboo Sea was a big tourist attraction for the area due to it's beautiful scenery and souvenirs. Most people bought souvenir from the place, since... most everything there was made of bamboo and everything was very unique. There was no doubt that we walked literally miles that day. Afterwards, we got dropped off at a park/plaza where we would be doing the festival that night. What's significant about the park is that you could see where two rivers would converge into the Yangtze River which is the longest river in Asia and 3rd longest in the world.

The third day we went to an old city a little bit from where we were staying where we would be having our second festival. The second festival came and went like the first one. However, since it was in a smaller part of the city, the crowd wasn't as big... However, it probably was a good turnout considering the amount of people in the city. In the evening we threw Pseth a big surprise birthday, since Pseth foolishly made me translate that he was turning a year older today to a child the previous day. The M, Na and I coordinated everything along with Liu on where it was at and when to buy the cake. To be honest, watching Pseth walk into that room was extremely entertaining.... sorta like watching a mouse walk into a trap.

The fourth day we went to another major English school that wasn't associated with Liu's schools. I'm betting money was probably exchanged under the table for us to be there, but nonetheless, we did most of our usual thing there and hung out with the kids and parents there. Since this was a smaller setting, we gave most of our giveaways there. One of the most interesting things about it was that they had a huge electronic scrolling billboard outside that faced the highway so anyone traveling could see it and our names were on it.  Later, we traveled a little more what seemed like the outskirts of the city. There was a "ski lift" up to where we would see a lot of Buddhist temples and also the highest point of the city where we could see everything. We PR over the city while Liu watched from afar. Later he said he was very touched to hear us do that. We later went to another park setting (keep in mind that these cities are big and that they have different sections to them) and did a festival there. We also noticed that they did sorta of a Chinese Zumba there and there were A LOT of them. We saw some doing it on the second day... but not as many people doing it here. Jan also joined it which was a bit entertaining. She later told me that it was good exercise (and she was tired from it)

The fifth day we rested a bit and went out to see a fellowship, there we kind of looked around and prayed over the place. It was very interesting to be inside a fellowship in EA where we were... We then went back to the hotel to rest for a bit and also to write cards to each teacher that was with us for the week and went onto our final site which was a walk away from where we stayed. With this being the biggest crowd, we pretty much pulled out all the stops in making it successful. Afterwards, we hung around with the people in the area. We also said our goodbyes to the teachers and gave them a card which had some very inspiring words inside. Afterwards, we ate dinner and went back to the hotel since we were leaving the next day.

The trip back was a bit of a pain... traffic was at a standstill for 4 hours and we needed to be back to see some work study students from last year. We later met up with them and ate and hung out with them. The following day we left on the plane to go to the capital city to do some touring... but to be honest... it would probably be better if you saw the pictures on Facebook instead of letting me describe it...

In the end, the trip was a great trip. We were very blessed not having rain every night considering almost every morning it rained... We are also PRing for Liu as he gradually understand our father's saving grace. He showed signs that he was interested, such as asking how i became an xtian and believing in one father. We also PR for the teachers as well, as they also wonder about if there is anything beyond this life.

I think that's it for this segment... part II coming tomorrow!

PS. Baby sat behind me and was viciously crying.... streak continues...

Death seems to stops time (The longest week ever)

When I entered the youth house today for sunday school, it hit me... just last week I taught the high schoolers. The reason I say this is because it seemed like a month ago since then.

It started just last Sunday, possibly one of the best days in a while. Guest taught the high schoolers, they were extremely engaging and open. One pulled me aside later and asked a few questions (I'm positive he's saved, just wanted to know some complex theology about predestination). Played basketball in the tournament and didn't do too bad. I was having an upbeat day. Suddenly, I received a text from my sister asking if I knew that 大伯父 (that's translated as big uncle, as in the oldest) died. Shock. All of a sudden my day did a 180 on me, and I was a bit upset with my parents not telling me. 

A little background on my uncle. He's about 20 some years older than my dad and the oldest in the family. My family consists of 3 uncles, 3 aunts, (not counting my dad) and many cousins, and their spouses. He lived in Charleston WV and was my the only relative I had in WV. He was a microbiologist at CAMC hospital and two years ago he underwent double (or triple i can't remember) heart bypass surgery which basically changed his life, made him extremely weak and basically warped his mind. He was placed in hospice and later to the hospital when his kidneys were failing. He was later told that his organs were shutting down and only had a day to live. His last wish was to go to Taiwan to see everyone one last time. Due to some very careless communication, my aunts and cousin arrived too late to see him before he died.

Due to this, I had to quickly but carefully plan my week. The funeral were set at Thursday and Friday and I had relatives coming in on different days. I already had to work this week and had to call off due to an emergency. I also had to skip a class (which I rarely do). By Wednesday afternoon, I had everything packed and left. The drive up went by pretty fast due to one question that I couldn't get out of my head: Was 大伯父 saved? He didn't show a lot of signs those last two years but the surgery did a number on him physically and mentally. 

When I got home, I was greeted by my dog of course, but also by my two aunts who came from Taiwan. Thursday came and my cousin from my 3rd uncle came in from LA. We went straight to the funeral home to get ready for the viewing. While the slideshow was going on, there were several pictures that interested me. The black and white family photo of course was entertaining to see my dad and the rest of my aunts and uncles when they were young. But the one that I took notice was my uncle being baptized and another when he was holding a Bible in his hand right after. Of course, baptism is not a ticket into heaven. But it encouraged me. The viewing went on, we all wept over his body and did some Chinese rituals and sang Amazing Grace. In the end, we all said our last goodbye and took one last look at his body.

Friday came, along with the memorial service. My uncle's daughter and son both spoke of their father. But one thing that they spoke about that I never realized until now was that my uncle had a very forgiving heart. If someone wronged him, he would just let it go. The pastor also spoke about his determination to be at church while he was weakened. Others stood up and told of his kindness and sacrifice towards others. Very encouraging. But the one that got me was my dad's speech. Even though he doesn't speak English well and it was hard to understand him at times, he basically told of a hymn that he heard when 大伯父 was in his final hours. Softy and Tenderly Jesus is Calling. "Come home, Come home, ye who are weary come home; Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, Calling O sinner come home." Dad ended with his last words to his brother in Taiwanese. Even though nobody but a few understood it, we all kind of got a sense what he was saying.

I'm not God and I can't judge on where he is right now. But I'm pretty sure he's in a place with no more suffering and pain. A lot of my friends today at church asked me how my family was or if I was okay. I am truly thankful for friends that cares. And I gave them the same answer. "We'll all miss him, but he's in much better place now and I'm happy for him. But he will be missed."

Revelation 21:1-4 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

More Pledges! KLOVE!

I'm probably going to get a lot of flack on this.. but here goes.
NOTE.. if you dont want to read all of it... read the second half... the first half is an overview of klove and my snide remarks along with it..

KLOVE... our favorite, family friendly, Christian music radio station... established in 1982 in California, it soon launched into 440 stations across the U.S. (many thanks to wikipedia for the source)

However, in 2007, Mike Novak (aka, Mr. Krabs from Spongebob) took over as CEO of KLOVE... and from then on, it seems that every other season there seems to an abomination to mankind that is known as the pledge drive. (please don't quote me on this... KLOVE may have had pledge drives before 2007, but I vaguely remember first hearing about pledge drives around 07 or 08 while i was in college...)

the reason KLOVE has a pledge drive is because it is a listener supported radio station.. meaning that money that you donate help pays the bills and it also keeps advertisements off the air as icing on the cake...
While asking for money to help support a ministry of any sort is okay in my books.. Novak has turned this into a complete joke... (Novak might not be the one with the ideas.. but he is the responsible for going through with them)... Instead of doing this in a humble, quaint way... it's turned into a full blown circus... the DJs are acting (terribly) excited about getting to said goal with the sound effects of telephones going off in the background... They all sound stressed, chaotic, etc. and when they finally get a pledge from a sucker supporter, they act like Jesus just came back and Hallelujah He has risen indeed and all that sort..

Then at the end of the week, when the pledge drive is over and they (most likely) missed their goal (i think they actually hit it once or twice in the past).. Scrooge McDuck aka Mike Novak comes on every so often as the "commercial" and announces that they didn't meet the goal and what their plans are going forward... all this is in a disappointed tone with a hint of condescending... in other words... it sounds like he's saying to all the listeners "Hey all of you... you all screwed up" .. and to the chumps people that donated "why didn't you give more? you all are a bunch of screw ups as well"

But these examples aren't even what makes my skin crawl.. Here are 3 points on why the pledge drive is an utter joke

1) Literally begging for money - As I said before, asking for money for a ministry isn't bad... however, how they do it is in bad form... There's a difference between asking and begging; begging is asking over and over again with a sense of desperation while asking is once with a sense of wonder... it is asking if i hear it once in a while... it's begging when i get in my car and they're asking, i get out, get back in after a class and they're asking, get out and go to work, get in and they're asking, get back from bible study when it's nearly midnight and they're asking..

I'm literally writing this at 1:52 am and turned klove on and within 5 seconds i hear the word "pledge drive" ... i mean.. seriously.. are they hoping that somewhere, there's a midnight snacker that's going to his fridge in his underpants and go "huh.. im going to pledge to klove right now"

and here's the biggest kicker .. what happens if a lost person suddenly turns on klove (since that's what they're "biggest goal" seems to be).. they hear christians asking for money.. heyyy... that's a stereotype there... christians are after your money... /lost witness
seriously... chill out with saying pledge drive a gazillion times a day klove...

2) Twisting of Scripture ...this is seriously not a-okay with me... especially if they're doing it for their personal gain of trying to encourage givers...  I don't know if they do it now since I don't listen to them while they're doing their pledge drive.. not cool at all..

3) Song usage ..."After this next song, whoever pledges will win a CD pack" ... after this next song? You mean the song that is a prayer/story of a broken person/a cry out to Jesus... that song? KLOVE.. you're basically making a song that Steve Curtis Chapman wrote after his daughter died into a stopwatch to try to encourage someone to quickly donate money... anyone else see a problem with this??

well how would you propose to fix it then Shane? Well... I'm no expert in these type of things at all.. but I would suggest that you get rid of this whole "listener supported" junk and let some advertisements in... there are plenty of sponsors out there that would give money for some sort of airtime.. churches, Christian speakers... go for it... I don't know about you but when I hear "listener supportive" I don't go oooohhhh ahhhhhh..... I go "k" ... really it's not impressive to me at all and I don't get the hype of it all..

that's all folks

Hello again!

It's been a while since I written here... actually probably more than a month or so since the last update was from Taiwan. Nothing much to write about really other than being an intern at CLBC and working with Andrew Leeper.... But I also been wondering if anyone would like to see me write about my trip to East Asia (not Taiwan..) ..I have my journal with me and some of it would obviously would be in code and a bit hard to read... but it was also a good experience as well.. If interested... please tell me (somehow)... because I'm not going to spend time writing about it if there is 0 views on them... I'll spend about a week or so with one post each day...
OR.... if you think it's a bad idea... you can also tell me as well

Have a good day!

It's almost over...

The message on Wednesday went better than I expected, though no kids came forward, I could tell by the looks of the kids that they had a lot to think about... Lesson was about Noah's absolute faith. It was a bit shaky, but so were my first lessons that I've ever taught so I was a bit relieved that it wasn't a total disaster.

I spoke again on Thursday to my English class, telling them to never give up on learning another language. There's been an obvious improvement in their English since I've been there, the tutor sessions have even bought a girl's score up from a 0 to an 80.

Today was sort of a last day for me. I'll be back in two weeks to say my final goodbye, but as far as working there, it's all finished... Even so, it didn't feel like it since it was Children's Day today and most of the students were with their parents. I was fortunate, however, to participate in their flea market they held at their school. Most of the children were extremely happy to see me walking around and participating in helping them raise money.

Tomorrow, I'll be visiting my grandparents' grave on my mother's side of the family for the first time. Not much to say there... This is the last place of the places that I needed to go...

I'll be on a second site starting Monday... if you want to know where, ask Seth or Brandon... But most people by now should know where it is....

too sleepy to think of anything else or to check grammar on this...

Till Next Time!

Oh right.. I have a blog...

There hasn't been too much going on since the last update...
Every week's about the same... Often going out after church to see where God leads me. Had a few good encounters... and a few blah ones...

The trip itself is starting to wind down... I'm teaching my first devotion in Chinese for the church on Tuesday and Wednesday, so pray that goes well and have people respond to it. Currently, I'm in the process of translating the message from English to Chinese at the moment, but I'm feeling a little bit stressed since I wrote quite a lot down.

Overall, my Chinese have improved on this trip... but not to where I want it to be though. I have started to pick up on a lot of what people say.... especially today's sermon when we had a guest speaker. I noticed he didn't open his Bible along with the rest of congregation and I noticed he talked a lot about himself and a seminary... so basically the lesson today was his testimony.. which I really didn't care about. But he did end with an invitation, so mixed feelings there.... Usually when someone doesn't even quote scripture to support what they're talking about.. I tune them out...

Anyways, that's it for now... I'm a bit too tired to think of anything new right now.... I kept waking up to the bugs biting me again.... stupid mosquitoes >_<

Till Next Time!

And on the 7th day he rested

Yep, noticed that I didn't capitalize "he" otherwise it would imply that I'm God... which I'm certainly not.. (infinitely times not.... maybe even more..)
Anyways, it has felt like a long time since I've last updated... more than a week I think... Last week I was exhausted... mainly because last Sunday I felt that I needed to get out more and decided to hang out with my family on my mom's side... Bad idea... no, not because I don't like them, but I've gotten into a schedule where I rest on Sundays.. basically stay in my room with the lights dimmed, watch tv/get on the computer/anything free... Basically resting up for the next week....

So to sum it all up, last week was a pretty much a bust... A little less patient and a little less willing to be social whenever I went out.... which I tried everyday which also wasn't a good idea since I was ready to collapse on Friday... Although I did interact with a few people in the beginning of the week... the Buddhist didn't count however, since he was doing a ritual which is rude to interrupt...so I gave him a track and money instead...

So currently, I'm resting up for the next week... Watching Toy Story and just taking it easy... Hope the weather's better this week so I can go out and play some hoops with the kids which is where I have the best opportunity to witness..

As for the Japan earthquake, Japan is 1400 miles away from Taiwan... so we were lucky not to get hit with anything. A tsunami alert was in effect on Friday when the earthquake hit, but nothing big fortunately came our way... However, with the nuclear plants in danger of melting down, there is a 10% chance of the radiation reaching us if it does... Small chance, weather is favorable if it does.... but pray that it doesn't... 10% isn't high but it's still a possibility....

Of course, pray for safety for the rest of the trip... anything can happen from here till when I leave... I experienced a small earthquake when I was in Taiwan the last time I came... so again... anything can happen...

Till Next Time!

I feel like I'm thinking like Pastor Brandon...

scary isn't it?
Well, not at his level of thinking currently, more like his first few years at Cross Lanes back in the day... when I was in high school... (has it really been that long?)
Anyways, I remember back in the day... (uh oh.. sign that I'm getting old) when Brandon was trying to use activities to witness and invite youth to church.. such as Halo or basketball or something fun of the sort..

Wednesdays are basketball days, where I take the older kids to the local school and play some hoops with them. I do notice how much more I talk (or shout out) at other kids that don't belong to a church, such as inviting random people to play or just being a lot more open by talking to them... but I do need to be careful since I do represent a church and I don't want to hurt a witness.. But it leaves a lot of opportunities that I've been looking for
There was this huge guy today as well  who was sitting by himself and I was extremely close to talking to him, unfortunately, there were also 10 people telling me to continue playing (which I'm still shooting myself in the foot)

Earlier today I went to get my Visa renewed so I can stay longer... Hard to believe that it's almost been 2 months... definitely over halfway right now... I'm surprised of how fast this trip has gone... Reading back, it seems to drag on and on... probably because I was suffering so much.. But as of now... the weeks are flying by... mostly I enjoy my schedule.. wake up, work out, go to church, go out different subway stops, exploring and having an open heart; go home, sleep... and repeat.. keeps the days busy

I realized recently that my delivery in the Gospel is pretty weak right now, so I bought business sized cards with Bible verses on them so I can use them to help... I can drop them into beggar's hands or just give them out wherever...Even though, I do need to start translating the Romans road as well.

Also been walking around after I get done with my projects at church, if I have the energy to do it... Trying to pace myself and not get burned out too quickly... I keep reading about missionaries being burned out too quickly and have it affect their ministry so I'm currently trying to prevent that.

too many I's, me's, and my's on this one... sorry about it.. I hate talking about myself, but I can't really think around them for this posts... perhaps because I'm exhausted because today was an extremely long day...grammar is also really off as well.. but I blame that on how little English I've been speaking nowadays..

I think that's enough for today...
Till Next Time!

It's been more than a week...

since my last update...
Even so, there isn't much to update on... Whenever I can I try to go other places and see how God uses me outside of the house and church. On the side note, it also keeps me away from the overprotected aunt that treats me like I'm 13 instead of 23...

Teaching ESL is the same.. Kids are forgetting their materials which isn't good. One thing I realize is that the teachers are much more strict and meaner. They don't hold back on their anger and will yell at the kids instilling fear in them to make them improve and not make the same mistakes again... I've also noticed that it works... unlike in the US where every assumes the kid is right and the teacher is wrong. Too much babying the children in the US where they need to be cuddled and protected.... where in Taiwan, if the teacher yells at you.. you screwed up and made yourself and your family look bad...

I've haven't had a really good night of sleep this week... Mosquitoes have been attacking me and waking me up constantly in the middle of the night.. Sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining but it does get on my nerves having to wake up at odd hours of the night..

Other than that... I have nothing new

Till Next Time!

LOL@sin!

I see this issue as a pretty big problem currently in pretty much everyone's life... This doesn't exclude Taiwan or any other country... but I always see this in the U.S. basically because of how much sin is overlooked due to how liberal people are.

The Bible states in Proverbs 14:9: "Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favor". To mock is to make fun of, to ridicule, to laugh at... basically to make light of something... We obviously know what sin is, but Satan makes it so oblivious sometimes that it is extremely hard to tell what is sin. I'm obviously not going to tell you what sin is since it pretty much explains itself...

This is a tough issue to tackle since I mock sin myself... But I have started to watch what I watch... One of the programs that I now refuse to watch is Family Guy, which is basically what all college students watched pretty religiously... After being convicted about it since it clearly mocks sin and everything else in general, I stopped watching it. I used to remember what time it comes on, but now, I could care less. However, it doesn't make it easier that all my friends were watching it as well and asked if I watched the newest episode or if I remember "that joke"... which promptly ends it, "sorry don't watch that junk"...

But I also find people starting to mock sins blatantly...  If they struggle with a sin, instead of confronting it, they mock it! They try to make light of their weakness instead of confessing that they actually do have a huge problem on their hands.

As an example, I'll use myself. I'll admit, I had a problem with patience before, it went away during the college years, but I have now begin to discover it's starting to rear it's ugly head again... I've been wanting to get stuff now instead of later.. such as emails, messages, or gifts that I've been meaning to buy for people back home. I find myself hurried, that it needs to be bought today... while I should not exhaust myself by going out of my way but instead pace myself and wait for another day where I wouldn't be as tired (how dumb right?)

That's me, taking a weakness by the handle and overcoming a potential sin (wearing myself out, quicker to anger when I'm tired could destroy my witness)
If I make light of my impatience, I not only lie to myself, but impatience is the opposite of the fruit of the spirit: patience. Impatience isn't necessarily a sin, but if left unchecked could definitely lead to some major problems...

I believe pride could potentially be the worse of this. Not only are you not going to admit that you're prideful because.. well... you're too proud to admit it, but if you mock it, it's even worse... You start making light of this sin.. never to actually confront it and in turn just making your pride grow thinking that you've conquered it, but instead made it worse.

I've noticed a lot of "You're going to hell!" quotes on Facebook these days.... I hate those with a passion.. "but why? it's the truth" .. sure it's true if the person isn't saved... but as Westboro Baptist Church shows it, that is the worse way to witness to someone. Not only that, but they and similar followers of their dirty scheme have ruined countless witnesses around the world... especially at my school... It shatters my heart that people have turned to atheism just to prove this particular group they think is Christian wrong.... The barrier that my campus ministry group and myself faced was set up by so called Christians with their main quote "You're going to hell!" I'm sorry, but every time I hear it, I see people actually going to hell because of that quote. It's not funny at all to me and you shouldn't find hell funny either. There are a lot of people that's going to go to hell because of it and here we are laughing about it... Doesn't sound like a wise Christian at all nor does it display love like a Christian should.

Also remember, by mocking one sin, you're mocking it all.  James 2:10 clearly states it: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." Basically, you're laughing at lust, lying, etc. And by that, you're laughing at the wife that was cheated on and the people that were hurt by embezzlement.

Now you know why laughing at sin is stupid? Sure it's not a sin, but it's completely unwise in the sense. Smart up, and worship God without being a complete fool!

The kids are killing me...

...not in a bad way.... but the older kids have taken a real liking of me.. mainly because I'm athletic which means they could go play basketball and I'm old enough to look after them without other kids wanting to mess with them...
The younger kids like how I'm involved with their games as well and always seemed amused that the teacher would join in on their fun..

otherwise.. it's been a tiring week.. mainly because the kids wore me out from running after them up and down the basketball court... I really cant believe that this week went by so fast... Guess the busyness sort of attested for that...

There isn't much to update... I'm finally into the rhythm of things right now..
I realize that I've been lacking pictures ever since Chinese New Year ended...  But I'll get some of me teaching ESL to the kids... It's not on my camera but someone else has them... I'm just glad someone got them for me...

EDITED: just read through the last blog and realize that there should be a little more updating...
well... my second ESL job has not called yet... dunno what's going on, but if it gets any later I don't think I could accept it because the time would be too short... Not that I'm complaining... I'm enjoying what I'm doing right now.. But hope that more opportunities presents itself regarding the lost..

Can't really think of anything else at the moment... My laptop is getting worked on right now... (finally!) my low powered netbook is not meant for some stuff that i want it to do...
Don't know what else to write about now... if you want to ask about something, leave a comment or send me an email... otherwise..
Till Next Time!

One Month Down...

Not much to update on... Just a normal week... did go looking around for miscellaneous items and things... My laptop has a hardware problem that needs to be fixed but I don't understand computer lingo in Chinese well enough to do anything effectively...

Today, I woke up late because my phone died and missed the second service of church (which i usually go to)... so I went to the third service... At the end of the service they did the Lord's Supper... Since I sat in the balcony today, I was one of the last ones to get to and yes... the Lord's Supper here is basically the same as it is in the US...

Today also marks a month since I've been here... and what a month it's been.. first part of it was conflicting blatant suffering over theological issues pertaining over a Pentacostal church and how they were misleading with information... but I'm at peace with it... they can worship how they like... it's between them and God.. if they want to embrace the health and wealth gospel, that's up to them... Who am I, not even a seminary student much less somebody nobody knows to tell them how or what they should do... plus it's better to leave things alone than start a conflict.. I didn't come here to start a fight, I came to serve... so more or less, I disconnected from that ministry, as I was so heavily convicted with it I couldn't sleep at night and started to plug into my parents' church..

second part of this trip is more or less showing others I'm a Christian, as I got more familiar with the streets, I started walking around more and being a little more outward than the average person... I also got a chance to teach sort of a children's camp at the church here English and incorporated the Gospel and stories of Jesus into my plans everyday...

I think I'll be playing second fiddle starting this week... so I'll be seeing a different perspective of how to teach ESL...I'm also supposed to be getting a call this week to meet with the Taiwan Seminary about doing ESL there...

Overall, I'm satisfied with the work I've done so far... Not trying to puff myself up at all, but with all the conflict and suffering... I still managed to get back on my feet and still tell others about Jesus whether it was the kids or that American dude...

Yes, I'm a bit homesick but that's due to me being extremely lonely... nobody to really talk to.. sure there's my relatives... but I want to hear from my friends..

Well, there goes me whining again... gotta cut back on that
Till Next Tine!

Post-Chinese New Year

All the hoopla is finally over... Technically Chinese New Year isn't over, but all the family reunions are done and everyone in the house went back to work this week... including me... Today, I went to an ESL session where the kids got to learn from someone else. It was also a good experience for me as I saw things from a different perspective..

Kinda funny how my WVU Alumni hoodie works... it garners attention to Americans and it strikes up a good discussion... Someone this week asked me if I was from WVU and I told him I graduated there... He then asked if I was visiting and I told him that I was teaching ESL at a church which starts up the conversation about Jesus... Unfortunately he didn't show any interest but told me what I was doing was great... (not really the response I was looking for)... But I'm a bit relived that I'm not only conformed to a certain age group...

Felt a huge jolt of homesickness today... so I went to McDonalds... which didn't help.. I'm getting sick of that place... If anyone invites me to go to Rice Bowl OR McDonalds when I get back...they may not live to see the next day..

Not much to else to update
Till Next Time!

Tolerance

While looking through some news sites recently, I came across one of the major things that I disliked about Americans and that's how illogically ignorant they are. Most depend on their interpretation of God as non-existent because they don't understand His plans and methods of letting things happen. Therefore, they lean on their own understanding of God (see Prov. 3:5) and dub it contradictory to the Bible (which they haven't studied either) and come to the conclusion that God doesn't exist.

But through the past, the issue of tolerance is something Christians do not possess, especially towards homosexuals. I respectfully disagree with this statement; but of course, being a Christian I would naturally argue against that. So let me try to back it up.

Tolerance (n) - the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. One example off the top of my head is the hot summer days. I hate being hot, I hate sweating, and I hate the humidity most of all that makes me feel like I'm suffocating. I rather be cold than hot since I can warm up a lot faster than I can cool down. However, I can't help that it's hot in the summer, so I need to tolerate it by wearing less clothes.

"Well that definition just shows that Christians have no tolerance at all for gays". Not really... There is one church I can think of (and a few ones that names escape me right now) that are intolerant towards gays and that's Westboro. Westboro is famous with websites such as God Hates Fags, quotes such as "You're a sinner and you're going to hell."

But the reason why they get so much attention is because they are a negative source that the media loves to leech off. These "Christians" are also lawyers (I won't make the typical Christian lawyer joke) that have a lot of power and money and misuse it. They use that power and money and worm their way through the legal systems and do these rallies to promote hate. It naturally gets media attention and also provokes the victims. If the victims lay a hand on them, they get sued, which involves more money which gives them more opportunities to rally. A really devious plan indeed.

However, Westboro doesn't and shouldn't represent all Christians. Nor should they even be used as an example of Christians. If you look at some interviews questioning their actions, they anger quickly, tempers start to explode over the smallest, most trivial questions that even I can answer with ease, and they start cursing. Doesn't look like a typical Christian to me.

But most of your churches don't allow gays to have leadership over the church. Correct, but because they're living in constant sin and don't have the requirements met to lead people. Just like you're not going to hire someone that is physically handicapped to a packing and moving job. Why? Because heavy lifting is a requirement, and if the person is missing an arm or a leg, then it'd be awfully hard to lift lacking the physical ability to do so. So when a homosexual is teaching, what happens when he stumbles across Romans 1:18? So by allowing someone that to have leadership or even for a churchgoer to continuing living in a life of sin is a very unintelligent move. James 2:10-11 says that all sins are equal, so that means having a homosexual in a leadership position is the exact same thing like having a child molester or a current serial killer lead. Same goes with churchgoers, but those are easier to deal with because they don't hold a high position so they should be loved on like everyone else in church, if they don't agree... well.. just follow the steps of conflict between people.

I'll admit church members do not like homosexuality nor support it, but the ones that live an effective Christian life will not condemn you for it. If you tell them you're gay, one shouldn't immediately shout and preach at you, but should still love you for who you are. It's in the Bible, yet we do not condemn them for it. I have a few on facebook, but I do not provoke them in writing statues aimed towards them. That would be intolerant because I'm aiming my insults towards you. If I try to show you the Truth through love and not through condemnation, that's tolerance, because I'm treating you like anybody else and if you look at the definition above, I'm currently allowing your behavior to exist. That's being tolerant (plus living out Jesus' example of unconditional love)

Lastly, the intolerant people are the very people that claim Christians are intolerance. This next part is a little difficult to follow since it seems to go around in circles. But the intolerant people are clearly hating on Christians, not because of their love of God, but because of the lifestyle we live. Lifestyle. Yes, the same word we use for homosexuals behavior... their lifestyles. The people that claim we're intolerant and hates our lifestyle are NOW, by definition, intolerant. Yes, amazing how hypocrisy works. One of the jokers in my college class claims that he hates Christians and yet pride himself as the most tolerant person when it comes to accepting others. Hilarious

Yet this is what's becoming of the world. More and more Christians are being oppressed while pro-gay speeches and even most of anything that represents what people think of as anti-Christian is being praised. Yet this is the definition of tolerance. For Christians to be oppressed more and more and worldly ideas and the so-called Social Justice to be promoted is to be called tolerant.

I would also like to add about people denying God on top of hatred of Christians. But I don't think it really fits since it's just an empty insult to provoke Christians. Some may have basis, but others don't and just say it to provoke or otherwise discredit that there is one so they don't have to answer to what their conscience consider is wrong.

There isn't much to add, since we can't drop this image overnight. Westboro has unfortunately become the face of Christianity due to them having the word Baptist Church in their name and the media doing so much coverage of them. The only thing we can do is to prove them wrong by loving others unconditionally, just like Jesus done

PS. The rainbow flag used to be a flag for intolerance not for gays. (but it is currently now for gays)... So in ending, this is now a bit invalid after what's all said and done.

Till Next Time!

EDIT: I was doing quiet time today and it occurred to me that I don't think I made this clear. Should we tolerate sin? No, but we should tolerate the sinner. Hate the sin not the sinner is what I'm getting at. Sorry if I didn't make it clear.