Today I went to church and the message was on God. Yeah, funny idea, right? Preaching about God at church. That's what it was. I've been going to Sagebrush here in Albuquerque for the past couple of months. It's been a great experience for the most part. At first, I thought the pastor's jokes were lame... kind of a Larry the Cable Guy but with scripture verses. What I like the most out of my experiences with Sagebrush is that I am going with a friend. Our families have been meeting there almost every Sunday. It's a good thing.
Back to today's service--It was on God and how He's sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and that he loves us incredibly. We're starting the "Survival Kit" series this week. It's basically a teaching on the core foundation beliefs of the Christian faith. Today's question was "can you prove God's existence to an atheist?" Well, dang. That's a hard one.
Well, an atheist is an atheist because they have at least considered the idea of god or gods. You can't deny something that you've never considered. Some atheists, I'm sure, have thought long and hard about religion. What's proves God for me, though? The pastor today went over some of the most common analogies--The clock and other built things and compared them to the Universe and the human body. We can say that the human body and the Universe had no builder and that they just sorted out the way they sorted out of the period of 13.8 billion years.
I stand somewhere in the middle, I would say. Science allows us to search for answers to questions we have in nature. Science can answer many of our questions. I believe that God is right there in the midst of scientific explanations. Science gives us answers to origin of life and our Universe. The way these things come about make sense. There are rules that have to be followed in nature. The rules tell me that there's a Creator.
There's just so much more to life... I probably don't make a convincing case for God to any atheists.
There's more on my mind today, too. It was just a bad day overall. Our family was just completely out of sync. It was just a though day. I'm still trying to gather myself. Trying to get my anger under control.
What I'm trying to get sink in from the service today is God's love. Atheists think I'm crazy. Sometimes I feel like I'm crazy. But, I feel God's love.
09 November 2014
19 October 2014
Alone
I've got eye boogers, my glasses are dirty. It's hard to see right now. I've cleaned my glasses over and over and I've rubbed my eyes. I don't know what the heck is going on there. I need new glasses. I need some eye drops.
Completely not related to my vision issues right now, I want to talk about Hell. I'm just kidding. Well, sort of. I just read the chapter on Hell in The Problem With Pain by C.S. Lewis. Yeah, I'm still reading this book. It's taking me for fricking ever. In my defense, I'm stinking busy all the time. I work 10 hour days. I'm a dad and I'm a husband. I don't have time to read a book. Although, I'm making some time.
Time. I shouldn't have time to write in this ridiculously dumb block either. Lindsey is exhausted because she's pregnant, and she's a human, and humans become fatigued. Time is precious. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I were still single. I remember all the time I had when I was single. I did whatever the hell I wanted to do. I slept in. I stayed out late. But, I was so damn lonely. I was ALONE. That sucked. I remember going to bed alone and it was insanely quiet. Silence. I would shuffle around in bed and wished for someone to hold. I have that now... I hold Lindsey every night, and it's awesome.
We have times when we're not in sync with each other. Sure. But we love each other. We love each other so much that we made another human. I guess people that love each other make other humans. It's science. Now we're expecting our second human. The new human should emerge sometime in early May. May the 4th is the exact expectation date of human emergence.
Yeah. May the 4th. Star Wars Day. Our son's name is Luke. We thought it would be amusing if we had a daughter human and we named her Leia. Luke and Leia. I would just hope they never make out with each other.
Being where I am is so strange to me. I'm 31. I'm an adult. I've been an adult technically for 13 years. That's trippy to me. Just today, we were driving home to Albuquerque from Moriarty and I was reminiscing with Lindsey about high school. I grew up in Moriarty and I remember listening to DC Talk (yeah, I was one of those Chrisians) and doing my geometry homework in my room. That was 14 years ago. I don't feel that I should be 31 years old. I graduated high school. I went to university. I got a job. I got married. I'm a father. This all just happened. And here I am. I'm a home owner. I'm married. I'm a father. This is life. It's here.
It's just crazy to me. From the age of 18 to now, I've let time slip by. Time flies. It's true. Time keeps going. It's linear. We will never experience this moment ever again. This was talked about in the book I'm reading. In the chapter about Hell, C.S. Lewis addresses the problems people have with the idea of Hell. Eternity is a real problem with humans. We kind of have an idea, but not really. Time is what we know. I want to quote some of this chapter, if I may. In the chapter, Lewis describes all of the problems people have with the idea of Hell. Some of the problems he addresses are some of the problems I have. The main one is that of compassion and mercy. We as humans have compassion and mercy. I think a lot of us (as Americans especially) learn to ignore our compassion and mercy, but I think we're all born with it. So, with the compassion and mercy, if we're in Heaven and we know that there are other human souls suffering in Hell, wouldn't we feel really terrible? We feel really bad for those that are less fortunate than us now, what more would it be if we were in Heaven and we knew that there were those, even those that we care a lot about who are in Hell? I would feel super bad! And God, He has much more compassion and mercy than I do. Then I read this in the book. I'll quote it now...
"In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell, is itself a question: 'What are you asking God to do?' To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does."
This entire chapter on Hell has addressed a lot of questions about Hell that I have had. I next want to read Love Wins by Rob Bell. I know it's a little off of what Christians typically believe about the idea of Hell, but I want to see what Bell has to say. I guess it's really saying that God gets what He wants, and He wants all of us... An interesting read if anything. I'm still in this book, however. And I am excited to read these two final chapters. The next is about animal pain and the last is on Heaven.
Completely not related to my vision issues right now, I want to talk about Hell. I'm just kidding. Well, sort of. I just read the chapter on Hell in The Problem With Pain by C.S. Lewis. Yeah, I'm still reading this book. It's taking me for fricking ever. In my defense, I'm stinking busy all the time. I work 10 hour days. I'm a dad and I'm a husband. I don't have time to read a book. Although, I'm making some time.
Time. I shouldn't have time to write in this ridiculously dumb block either. Lindsey is exhausted because she's pregnant, and she's a human, and humans become fatigued. Time is precious. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I were still single. I remember all the time I had when I was single. I did whatever the hell I wanted to do. I slept in. I stayed out late. But, I was so damn lonely. I was ALONE. That sucked. I remember going to bed alone and it was insanely quiet. Silence. I would shuffle around in bed and wished for someone to hold. I have that now... I hold Lindsey every night, and it's awesome.
We have times when we're not in sync with each other. Sure. But we love each other. We love each other so much that we made another human. I guess people that love each other make other humans. It's science. Now we're expecting our second human. The new human should emerge sometime in early May. May the 4th is the exact expectation date of human emergence.
Yeah. May the 4th. Star Wars Day. Our son's name is Luke. We thought it would be amusing if we had a daughter human and we named her Leia. Luke and Leia. I would just hope they never make out with each other.
Being where I am is so strange to me. I'm 31. I'm an adult. I've been an adult technically for 13 years. That's trippy to me. Just today, we were driving home to Albuquerque from Moriarty and I was reminiscing with Lindsey about high school. I grew up in Moriarty and I remember listening to DC Talk (yeah, I was one of those Chrisians) and doing my geometry homework in my room. That was 14 years ago. I don't feel that I should be 31 years old. I graduated high school. I went to university. I got a job. I got married. I'm a father. This all just happened. And here I am. I'm a home owner. I'm married. I'm a father. This is life. It's here.
It's just crazy to me. From the age of 18 to now, I've let time slip by. Time flies. It's true. Time keeps going. It's linear. We will never experience this moment ever again. This was talked about in the book I'm reading. In the chapter about Hell, C.S. Lewis addresses the problems people have with the idea of Hell. Eternity is a real problem with humans. We kind of have an idea, but not really. Time is what we know. I want to quote some of this chapter, if I may. In the chapter, Lewis describes all of the problems people have with the idea of Hell. Some of the problems he addresses are some of the problems I have. The main one is that of compassion and mercy. We as humans have compassion and mercy. I think a lot of us (as Americans especially) learn to ignore our compassion and mercy, but I think we're all born with it. So, with the compassion and mercy, if we're in Heaven and we know that there are other human souls suffering in Hell, wouldn't we feel really terrible? We feel really bad for those that are less fortunate than us now, what more would it be if we were in Heaven and we knew that there were those, even those that we care a lot about who are in Hell? I would feel super bad! And God, He has much more compassion and mercy than I do. Then I read this in the book. I'll quote it now...
"In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell, is itself a question: 'What are you asking God to do?' To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does."
This entire chapter on Hell has addressed a lot of questions about Hell that I have had. I next want to read Love Wins by Rob Bell. I know it's a little off of what Christians typically believe about the idea of Hell, but I want to see what Bell has to say. I guess it's really saying that God gets what He wants, and He wants all of us... An interesting read if anything. I'm still in this book, however. And I am excited to read these two final chapters. The next is about animal pain and the last is on Heaven.
03 October 2014
Apple Juice
I love clicking by tapping. On my Chromebook, you have the choice of actually pressing down on the track pad and "clicking", or you can just tap the pad to "click". It's a simple pleasure, a pleasure still.
I'm not just writing about my Chromebook, but it was on my mind. I wanted to talk about sin--my sin. Now I forgot what exactly what it was about my sin that I was going to talk about. Now that I'm writing, my mind goes blank.
It's been a pretty crazy day. It started off with me receiving very little sleep last night. Today has been lagging, until now. I got some physical activity in and now my body's awake. Maybe that's what I was thinking about--my morning. Lindsey and I got angry with each other. We're not angry at each other any more, but tempers flared this morning. Luke had a cough last night and all three of us had very little rest as a result. We're better now. Luke's napping. I'm sitting here on my Chromebook...
I finally plucked those dang weeds out of my yard today. That's the physical activity I got in today. Plucking weeds is strenuous. Especially if you're as out of shape as I am. I'm glad I got those weeds plucked, though. My house was beginning to be the eye sore of the neighborhood, and my neighborhood is the eyesore of the city. I did some good yard work and killed four giant black widows in the process. One got away...
So, that's been my day so far. That and me thinking about dang smartphones. We're trapped. We're done. Smartphones are here and they have control. We have the fucking internet wherever we go. We're missing our lives as they pass in front of us. Look at me now. On the internet. It's bullshit. Sorry for the swear words, I just want to provide emphasis on what I'm saying. Plus, I don't think they're swear words when it's written, only when spoken. I've got some weird ideas, and that's one of them. Swear words are great at getting your attention. So, fucking smartphones. I went to Discount Tire Co. to get Lindsey's tire fixed. There were people in the waiting room--they weren't reading newspapers, or magazines, or discussing politics or religion. Nope. They were gazing at a 4" - 5.5" hd display. How many times a day can you check Facebook?!
I'm guilty, too. I stare at my damn phone sometimes and I snap out of my hypnosis and wonder what happened to the last 10 minutes. Turns out I read the same 8 tweets over and over. It's pretty dumb. It's our life, though. I'm going to stop writing in this blog now. I'm going to sip on some apple juice and I'm going to continue to read my book, The Problem of Pain by Clive S. Lewis. It's a good read. I've been at it or a few weeks now, chipping away at the book, soaking in some ideas.
I'm not just writing about my Chromebook, but it was on my mind. I wanted to talk about sin--my sin. Now I forgot what exactly what it was about my sin that I was going to talk about. Now that I'm writing, my mind goes blank.
It's been a pretty crazy day. It started off with me receiving very little sleep last night. Today has been lagging, until now. I got some physical activity in and now my body's awake. Maybe that's what I was thinking about--my morning. Lindsey and I got angry with each other. We're not angry at each other any more, but tempers flared this morning. Luke had a cough last night and all three of us had very little rest as a result. We're better now. Luke's napping. I'm sitting here on my Chromebook...
I finally plucked those dang weeds out of my yard today. That's the physical activity I got in today. Plucking weeds is strenuous. Especially if you're as out of shape as I am. I'm glad I got those weeds plucked, though. My house was beginning to be the eye sore of the neighborhood, and my neighborhood is the eyesore of the city. I did some good yard work and killed four giant black widows in the process. One got away...
So, that's been my day so far. That and me thinking about dang smartphones. We're trapped. We're done. Smartphones are here and they have control. We have the fucking internet wherever we go. We're missing our lives as they pass in front of us. Look at me now. On the internet. It's bullshit. Sorry for the swear words, I just want to provide emphasis on what I'm saying. Plus, I don't think they're swear words when it's written, only when spoken. I've got some weird ideas, and that's one of them. Swear words are great at getting your attention. So, fucking smartphones. I went to Discount Tire Co. to get Lindsey's tire fixed. There were people in the waiting room--they weren't reading newspapers, or magazines, or discussing politics or religion. Nope. They were gazing at a 4" - 5.5" hd display. How many times a day can you check Facebook?!
I'm guilty, too. I stare at my damn phone sometimes and I snap out of my hypnosis and wonder what happened to the last 10 minutes. Turns out I read the same 8 tweets over and over. It's pretty dumb. It's our life, though. I'm going to stop writing in this blog now. I'm going to sip on some apple juice and I'm going to continue to read my book, The Problem of Pain by Clive S. Lewis. It's a good read. I've been at it or a few weeks now, chipping away at the book, soaking in some ideas.
29 September 2014
Albuquerque Views
Albuquerque really is a beautiful city. I'm standing on the Westside and looking across the valley at a rain cloud. It's not raining where I am, but it's breezing and it smells like rain.
I love the fact that I can stand on this end of the city and see for miles. I can see Sandia Peak, the Manzano Mountains and just about every neighborhood on the east side. The views in Albuquerque are great.
26 September 2014
Facebook Blows
Lol. I logged in to Facebook and I lasted 3 minutes. I'm off it again. I won't speak of it again.
Relax
I'm sitting in my bed, relaxing. It's nice. Usually the times in early afternoon are used to do homework. I'm a thirty-year old fool that has homework. I decided to continue to drive toward my MBA. It's though online correspondence. It's not as cool as a "real" MBA, but I think it's still worth working for.
Anyway, I had some things to write about. I'm kind of distracted right now. I'm listening to the Bad Christian Podcast right now. I had to pause it. My thoughts were all over.
...paused.
Okay. So today. I'm relaxing. It feels nice to lay (lie?) down and just relax. I'm writing for fun and not for a paper on marketing strategies. My MBA classes aren't super hard, but they're time consuming. Time is something that I have the least of these days. Being a full time employee, husband and father, (and now Lindsey's preggers with our 2nd), time is precious. And man oh man, it feels good to be here relaxing. Bless my wife's heart, she's working right now, and she deserves this down time more than I do.
This weekend is starting off to be a good one. Today I went to my son's favorite spot in Albuquerque--the Rio Grande Zoo, which I guess they now call the ABQ BioPark Zoo. Luke loves this place. We checked out the polar bears, the seals, snakes, alligators, camels, giraffes, then we rode the train to the aquarium and hung out with some sea fish and sharks. It was a fun time.
Now, I'm relaxing and thinking about things. I'm thinking about politics. I'm thinking about religion. I'm thinking about science and culture. This is my time to think, when Luke is napping. My times with him during the day are times of learning. It's amazing watching him learn all these new things. What's really cool, also, is that I get to learn with him! Like this morning, I would read the info plaques to him about the animals in the exhibit, and I learn, too.
And now I'm thinking about FACEBOOK. AGAIN! Dang it, Facebook. I was in a discussion with my brother over Hangouts the other day about social media. I asked him to join Instagram so that he could see some of the pictures I post of his nephew. He protested saying that Instagram is full people's selfies and had no interest in joining. We went back and forth about Instagram and Facebook. They've both got their downsides, and it's about who you follow. I'm on Instagram, Google +, and Twitter for my own reasons. I like the photos people post on Instagram, it's mostly artistic. Google + has it's interesting things. And Twitter I go to for news and weather. What all these social media outlets don't have are my friends and family. I mean, I have some friends on Google +, but they aren't really active on the site. Instagram's the same.
The other night I made a big fuss about Facebook and how I hated it. I still do, but it's really just a way for all those people to vent. I can relate the way people act on Facebook to the way people act when they're driving in their car. People have a protective barrier between themselves and the world when they are in both things. People act likes jerks when they're in cars and say all sorts of things they would never dream of saying if they were face-to-face with that person. Facebook is the same way. We tell the truth. We probably disclose too much of our lives on our Facebook feed. That's fine. Our culture is naked in Facebook. We're all exposing our ideas and trying to work things out in our heads. So, I'm back on FACEBOOK. I'm back because even though I hate it, I know it's here to stay and I have a life that some people want to keep up to date with. Phone calls are a thing of the past. Facebook is here and this is how we communicate. I'll post photos of my son. I'll post photos of my day and what's on my mind.
Here's something that's on my mind... I was considering buying a car because the CD player broke in my car. It doesn't get more american than that! Geez! Maybe I should just camp out at an Apple store now for the next iPhone. It was dumb, I know. I love music, though. I listen to Static Radio a lot, but I also have a Google All Access subscription, so I want to be able to take advantage of that. I also want to be able to listen to my podcasts in the car as well. Buying a car wasn't the solution. I then considered buying a new car stereo. That was much more reasonable. I didn't do that either. I decided an accessory to my phone would hold the answer. I bought the Motorola Droid Roadster 2. It's Bluetooth and it has a built in FM transmitter. Perfect. And I don't have to worry about a car payment. Smart.
So, that's all for today. I was thinking about other things. But those things will have to wait in my brain until the next time I blog.
Back to my podcast.
Anyway, I had some things to write about. I'm kind of distracted right now. I'm listening to the Bad Christian Podcast right now. I had to pause it. My thoughts were all over.
...paused.
Okay. So today. I'm relaxing. It feels nice to lay (lie?) down and just relax. I'm writing for fun and not for a paper on marketing strategies. My MBA classes aren't super hard, but they're time consuming. Time is something that I have the least of these days. Being a full time employee, husband and father, (and now Lindsey's preggers with our 2nd), time is precious. And man oh man, it feels good to be here relaxing. Bless my wife's heart, she's working right now, and she deserves this down time more than I do.
This weekend is starting off to be a good one. Today I went to my son's favorite spot in Albuquerque--the Rio Grande Zoo, which I guess they now call the ABQ BioPark Zoo. Luke loves this place. We checked out the polar bears, the seals, snakes, alligators, camels, giraffes, then we rode the train to the aquarium and hung out with some sea fish and sharks. It was a fun time.
Now, I'm relaxing and thinking about things. I'm thinking about politics. I'm thinking about religion. I'm thinking about science and culture. This is my time to think, when Luke is napping. My times with him during the day are times of learning. It's amazing watching him learn all these new things. What's really cool, also, is that I get to learn with him! Like this morning, I would read the info plaques to him about the animals in the exhibit, and I learn, too.
And now I'm thinking about FACEBOOK. AGAIN! Dang it, Facebook. I was in a discussion with my brother over Hangouts the other day about social media. I asked him to join Instagram so that he could see some of the pictures I post of his nephew. He protested saying that Instagram is full people's selfies and had no interest in joining. We went back and forth about Instagram and Facebook. They've both got their downsides, and it's about who you follow. I'm on Instagram, Google +, and Twitter for my own reasons. I like the photos people post on Instagram, it's mostly artistic. Google + has it's interesting things. And Twitter I go to for news and weather. What all these social media outlets don't have are my friends and family. I mean, I have some friends on Google +, but they aren't really active on the site. Instagram's the same.
The other night I made a big fuss about Facebook and how I hated it. I still do, but it's really just a way for all those people to vent. I can relate the way people act on Facebook to the way people act when they're driving in their car. People have a protective barrier between themselves and the world when they are in both things. People act likes jerks when they're in cars and say all sorts of things they would never dream of saying if they were face-to-face with that person. Facebook is the same way. We tell the truth. We probably disclose too much of our lives on our Facebook feed. That's fine. Our culture is naked in Facebook. We're all exposing our ideas and trying to work things out in our heads. So, I'm back on FACEBOOK. I'm back because even though I hate it, I know it's here to stay and I have a life that some people want to keep up to date with. Phone calls are a thing of the past. Facebook is here and this is how we communicate. I'll post photos of my son. I'll post photos of my day and what's on my mind.
Here's something that's on my mind... I was considering buying a car because the CD player broke in my car. It doesn't get more american than that! Geez! Maybe I should just camp out at an Apple store now for the next iPhone. It was dumb, I know. I love music, though. I listen to Static Radio a lot, but I also have a Google All Access subscription, so I want to be able to take advantage of that. I also want to be able to listen to my podcasts in the car as well. Buying a car wasn't the solution. I then considered buying a new car stereo. That was much more reasonable. I didn't do that either. I decided an accessory to my phone would hold the answer. I bought the Motorola Droid Roadster 2. It's Bluetooth and it has a built in FM transmitter. Perfect. And I don't have to worry about a car payment. Smart.
So, that's all for today. I was thinking about other things. But those things will have to wait in my brain until the next time I blog.
Back to my podcast.
22 September 2014
Facebook's Garbage
I can't sleep. I'm such a bullshit social mediaist. Stupid Facebook brings me back every time and I hate it. I go a couple of months without Facebook, then I get curious and log back in. It's so freaking dumb. I wast at least 10 minutes at a time when I log in, looking at people's political views, or religious views or complaints or whatever.
I'm the same. Look at me now. I'm typing a dang blog about how I hate Facebook. Anyway, I'm done. For now, I guess. I'll probably forget how I hate Facebook and then log back in, like an idiot.
Speaking of idiots. I am one. I started off my day wonderfully. I mean, my day wasn't bad overall, but I started off eating great. I had some whole grains and some dairy for breakfast. Some fruits and veggies for lunch. Then Rudy's Barbecue for dinner. Now, it's way past my bedtime, my mind is running a million miles per hour, and I can't stop farting. Freaking unhealthy food. Every meal tomorrow will be a healthy meal. If I remember, I'll post a screenshot of my Lose It app daily food intake. I've been using this app for years, but for some reason I've been getting fatter. I would say it's will power.
So, I think I've gotten all I need to get off my mind. I love you Blogger/Google +. There are some people here that might read my crap...and if you're hear you don't say anything. And if you do, it's about comics or geography, or science, or photography, or technology. I'm cool with that. I'm not cool with Facebook's garbage.
I'm the same. Look at me now. I'm typing a dang blog about how I hate Facebook. Anyway, I'm done. For now, I guess. I'll probably forget how I hate Facebook and then log back in, like an idiot.
Speaking of idiots. I am one. I started off my day wonderfully. I mean, my day wasn't bad overall, but I started off eating great. I had some whole grains and some dairy for breakfast. Some fruits and veggies for lunch. Then Rudy's Barbecue for dinner. Now, it's way past my bedtime, my mind is running a million miles per hour, and I can't stop farting. Freaking unhealthy food. Every meal tomorrow will be a healthy meal. If I remember, I'll post a screenshot of my Lose It app daily food intake. I've been using this app for years, but for some reason I've been getting fatter. I would say it's will power.
So, I think I've gotten all I need to get off my mind. I love you Blogger/Google +. There are some people here that might read my crap...and if you're hear you don't say anything. And if you do, it's about comics or geography, or science, or photography, or technology. I'm cool with that. I'm not cool with Facebook's garbage.
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