Questions Answered (Finally)

Online Community

Is it me or is anyone thinking of distancing themselves from the online community all together? I mean i used to be a huge myspace person, but anymore everytime i log on all i can think about is how much of a breeding ground it is for videos driven by women and young girl doing things that would give me a heart attack if as a father or just people who need to work. I remember the days when chat rooms 1st came out, it was sweet. I am from southern ohio so i can remember when we had this thing called MIRC and a chat room called the LOBBY. We would use it to talk to people we never though we ever would and hook up with desperate women, which in hindsight caused much more problems that solutions. But now it seems to have gotten worse.

I go on facebook, and it is about 95% cleaner than myspace, but yet still i find myself really not caring about any of it. I guess the question i have is, has the online community made us a global community overnight, or has it killed community all together?

Take shows like "To Catch A Predator". Now i will admit, i couldnt love this show more, it is both sad, scary and hillarious (when the guys say they just came to "talk"). But it is amazing how much a impersonal world has evolved into a world where you say seemingly say or do anything as long as you are in the friendly confines of your computer. And almost every time a guy gets caught he has seen the show before, but yet still does it, but why?

To me it is because we have created a new fantasy world like for the nerds (sorry if thats you) that play world of warcraft, or the people that find a mate on eHarmony (once again, sorry). You want to be something you are not, so you go the extra mile to make certain you are. The worst part to me is that parents still dont get it, that they just need to stop allowing computers to be in their child's bedroom and not out in the open so that they can be safely monitored. so you know, the question stands, is all of this a good thing?

Well yes and no. I love the net because of all of the information. to prepare a sermon or to learn what is going on in the world has never been easier to access. But we must be careful, otherwise we are only fooling ourselves.

Plus a new observation about myself when it comes to this, does anyone else think of To Catch A Predator when you see that a male adult friend has a IM or Yahoo screenname? I honestly do every single time. my fault i guess.

But anyway that is my take on the online community. I would love to here yours as well.

God and money....

I noticed something rather special today in my reading about Jesus time. We kind of dont pay much attention to Jesus' words at times because we sort of take them at face value until we finally realize that he meant something pretty great and we missed it. Take my wife's favorite passage from the Bible, this is Matthew 6:25-34.

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.


Now read that section one more time.


Okay see the thing about this is we always place this all of just the big worrying thing of those times, because after all, they were a bunch of people under Roman rule and they were a bunch of people who were among other things poor. But look at this part of it though. Read now the verse before this whole section, he says,


24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.


This section seems to really be inspired by money. And i know we both love and hate money. If you are like me and have very little, you dont love money so much, but you would like more. But here as Jesus says, we shouldnt let it be our slavemaster, it is after all, just cash. My challenge i suppose is just for you today to think about all of our finacial worries in this economy and think about how important it really is.

Should everything be Christian?

One of my favorite sites on the internet has been www.Godtube.com. Its a great site, it is basically Youtube, but with a big Christian side to it. I usually hate the idea of Christians taking something from the world and claiming it as their own, but when it come to things like youtube or myspace, i see it as a need. I think that myspace and youtube alot of time are a breeding ground for dirty web-cam videos or porn-spam messages, but with Godtube you get a sense that it doesnt have to be that way. It is all clean, Christ-centered spirituality, and i pretty entertaining too. I mean yes, you have have some horrible Michael W. Smith or Steven Curtis Chapman to contend with, but overall, it aint too bad.

But that brings up the question of the day though, should we have things like these? Well one thing i believe is that we should. Almost all the videos that appear on Godtube also appear on Youtube, so if you say the message is hidden from the world, it isnt. Also it is actually a web-site that you can go on and believers can actually converse without any creepy atheist or gnostic intervention. So yes i enjoy it.

One cool thing i got from it was that i found a great video of American Idol Season 7 contestant, Jason Castro, singing the K-Love favorite, "Clumsy", and it is great. I want it on his album. He is singing it at his church just before he left to be in the top 24. He actually is a great Christian kid with a deep faith, so i used to say his big smile was on the count of pot, now i believe it is because of Jesus, which is....better.

Anyways, i think Christians can claim anything they wish to as far as i am concerned, it is all art, and art is up to interpretation by the beholder, so you choose for yourself. i guess. Plus as the Bible says, all truth is God's truth, so i guess God can claim whatever he wants. Anyways, I tried to attach the video of Jason Castro singing, but it didnt work, i will try later,

Matt

Why Do A Blog?

I am starting yet another new blog, and i yet still not certain why i do it. Maybe its because alot of people here me preach every week, get taught in a Bible study, or they just hang out a bit with me, but still never get to here what is on my mind. Well i guess i will tell you in blog #1. Here is a list of who i am:

I am (in no particular order):

1. A usual republican, that has switched allegences to Barack Obama

2. A authentic Christ follower. Not a big fan of religion, but i love when people follow the one true God.

3. A non-authletic sports fan. I love baseball, basketball, football, but stink all all three equally.

4. A book lover. I am telling you, give me a Donald Miller, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Rick McKinley book and i am lost for days.

5. A lover of my job. There is NO job on earth i would rather have than be a minister at South Side. I LOVE preaching, teaching and helping change lives, would never change it for anything.

6. A family guy. i love my wife and daughter as much as i possibly could, and would die for either of them.

7. A sports gamer, only. Sorry, but i cant stand Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Mario, anything outside of sports games, its just my thing.

8. A dude on a diet. I have been dieting for going on a month, and i love it. I was 210lbs, now i am just under 200, and my goal is 175, cant wait to get back to you with good results.

9. A lover of good music, but a hater of pop music. The top 40 is why music has died. Give me an idie artist, and my interest will perk up.

10. A lover of T.V. I love alot of shows, dont watch too much because i am rarely home to get to, but i love shows like House, American Idol, Survivor, King of Queens, the Colbert Report and many many more.

So thats a basic, maybe you didnt know about me blog. I guess the answer to why blog is, why the heck not is a picture of Gretchen, my little girl, speaks for itself i think,

Up top is a picture of Gretchen, my little girl, at an Easter Egg hunt, thought it would make you happy,

Matt