It seems like every year there is some new debatable issue on our campus. Last Year's controversy was whether or not Jesus could have sinned if he had chosen to do so. Some people believed he could not sin because he was 100% God, and God cannot sin. Still others viewed that Christ could have sinned because he was also 100% man while he was on this earth, and Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." Personally, I feel like Christ had the ability to sin if he wanted to, but he didn't...end of story. That was my junior year. My sophomore year's topic was a little less theological. What girl was going to date David Heffren? It seems unimportant, but all the girls on campus thought it was a big deal. David was even mentioned in a journal kept by one of the Girl's dorms and how he deserves some hot nice Christian girl (For more research on this topic see http://dheffren.blogspot.com/2008/11/bystander-effect.html). Unfortunately, David is still single and the debate rages on.
Now in my senior year, the campus is buzzing with the latest controversial topic...Pacifism. A few days ago in Chapel Terry Bowland, a New Testament/Evangelism Professor, spoke on a name of God found in Scripture. This name is not discussed very often. In fact, I had no clue what it meant. Lord Sabaoth. This name for God carries with it the meaning of Warrior or power. It is found mainly in the Old Testament, and it describes how the LORD is the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts, angel armies. Bowland's main thought of his sermon was that God is not a Pacifist. And no matter if you think war is good or Christians should or should not fight, you cannot disagree with the fact that God is not passive. God is going to unleash his wrath and anger against the evil in this world.
During Bowland's sermon, several students just got out of their seats and left. Terry Bowland is a great guy, and he has certain opinions that he isn't afraid to be made known. He let everyone know at the beginning of his sermon that he was not a pacifist and God was not either. He also said something along the lines of "Pinko fascist commies" in regards to pacifists. He was obviously joking and most people laughed it off. Along with his remark, Bowland also had a picture on the overhead of Jesus with a machine gun in hand. This apparently offended some people, and they hastily grabbed their backpacks and walked straight out of the chapel. I will admit that the picture was a little out of line, but Bowland did not mean anything wrong by it...he just wanted a couple of laughs.
I tell you all of this because people on this campus are making a big deal out of his sermon. Professors are writing blogs in response. Guys are in the dorms staying up late in the night debating whether or not pacifism is correct. Personally, I grew up in a very conservative home, so I have never questioned war. I always thought pacifism was for panzies who were picked last in dodgeball. Now the purpose of this blog is not to debate pacifism, because I'm sure there are other students who are doing that very thing. I just want to say that I think healthy debate is great, but it is wrong when disrespect enters the arena.
Many people got up in the middle of Terry Bowland's sermon and left. That equals disrespect. This man has two Master degrees and a Doctorate degree. He has done more things for the Kingdom than me, and he is more learned on the Bible than myself. Who am I to walk out on his sermon? I just want to say that I love everyone here at Ozark, even if we disagree on some issues. Some of the people who were outraged by Bowland's sermon also have no respect for the Government. These people bash the United States over and over again. And granted, the United States is not a holy nation that always follows the directives of God, but we are told to respect the government and its authority (Romans 13)
I guess it all comes down to this: We should obey the authority of our government as long as God remains the ultimate authority. The people who disagree with me...i still love them, and I don't think this issue is something that needs to divide the church. We already have enough problems as it is. So will this debate ever be settled? Probably not. But ladies there is one debate you can put an end to...and that is the David Heffren situation. You can do it. Please.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Philosophizing
I would not consider myself a philosopher. Philosophy simply means "love of wisdom," and this semester I am taking this class. I have learned about a lot about different philosophers, but what sticks out to me is that all of them are known for one of their sayings. They all have some thought-provoking idea that puts them on the map. So I started to think...I am almost done with one semester of philosophy. I need my saying. I need a thought-provoking idea. I need something that will boost me to the top of 21st century philosophy.
But first I just want to share with you the most famous philosophers and their popular sayings.
Socrates is famous for, "Know thyself" and "The Unexamined life is not worth living!" Both of these are pretty good. Straight forward and true. Oh and by the way, Socrates often when around in the nude speaking. He was just so carried away in this thoughts that he would forget to dress himself.
Rene Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." I guess this is pretty insightful because almost 400 years later, it is still being studied. But this comes from a guy who would habitually sleep-in until noon everyday. Then he would just lounge around and be lazy. When he finally had to start waking up in the morning (he started tutoring the Queen of Sweden), he got sick and died. Descartes was a pretty lazy dude. The way he came up with his famous line was by sitting in a Sauna! The guy just liked to think.
Another philosopher is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He really isn't known for any popular proverb, but I just want to point out the ridiculous-ness of him. He is known for writing a book on child development titled Emile. However, this man never married, but he had tons and tons of illegitimate children. It was actually not uncommon when a baby was dropped off on the steps of the orphanage for the workers to say, "Looks like Rousseau is at it again." I just thinks its interesting that some much scholarship is given to a man who writes on raising children, but never wants to raise one himself.
Leibniz is a German philosophy who said that you need to have, "the best of all possible worlds." Sounds pleasant.
John Locke is known for his Tabula Rasa, "blank slate." Basically, a child is born with a completely blank slate in his or brain, and they learn through experiences imprinting on their minds.
The final philosopher is George Berkeley who said, "To be is to be perceived." This man is a Bishop of a church, but without meaning to he begins the notion of placing empiricism over rationalism. This leads to the view that the only knowledge possible is the knowledge of ourselves and our perceptions. There is no way of getting outside this. So here is a man, a Christian, who accidentally opens the door for criticism in the way the Bible is to be understood...not good.
All of these men are smart intelligent men. Some of them are lazy. Some of them prance around philosophizing in the nude. And still others innocently tear down the very thing they are trying to build up. So what can I provide to the world? Its really nothing on the scale of the men i mentioned above. I actually thought of this when I was in high school.
When you want to succeed, all you have succeeded to do is want.
Basically, if you want to succeed at something, go do it! Don't just want and yearn. You will never accomplish anything if you just think about it. If that is the case, you have actually only succeeded in thinking about doing something. You have to go out and do it!
But first I just want to share with you the most famous philosophers and their popular sayings.
Socrates is famous for, "Know thyself" and "The Unexamined life is not worth living!" Both of these are pretty good. Straight forward and true. Oh and by the way, Socrates often when around in the nude speaking. He was just so carried away in this thoughts that he would forget to dress himself.
Rene Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." I guess this is pretty insightful because almost 400 years later, it is still being studied. But this comes from a guy who would habitually sleep-in until noon everyday. Then he would just lounge around and be lazy. When he finally had to start waking up in the morning (he started tutoring the Queen of Sweden), he got sick and died. Descartes was a pretty lazy dude. The way he came up with his famous line was by sitting in a Sauna! The guy just liked to think.
Another philosopher is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He really isn't known for any popular proverb, but I just want to point out the ridiculous-ness of him. He is known for writing a book on child development titled Emile. However, this man never married, but he had tons and tons of illegitimate children. It was actually not uncommon when a baby was dropped off on the steps of the orphanage for the workers to say, "Looks like Rousseau is at it again." I just thinks its interesting that some much scholarship is given to a man who writes on raising children, but never wants to raise one himself.
Leibniz is a German philosophy who said that you need to have, "the best of all possible worlds." Sounds pleasant.
John Locke is known for his Tabula Rasa, "blank slate." Basically, a child is born with a completely blank slate in his or brain, and they learn through experiences imprinting on their minds.
The final philosopher is George Berkeley who said, "To be is to be perceived." This man is a Bishop of a church, but without meaning to he begins the notion of placing empiricism over rationalism. This leads to the view that the only knowledge possible is the knowledge of ourselves and our perceptions. There is no way of getting outside this. So here is a man, a Christian, who accidentally opens the door for criticism in the way the Bible is to be understood...not good.
All of these men are smart intelligent men. Some of them are lazy. Some of them prance around philosophizing in the nude. And still others innocently tear down the very thing they are trying to build up. So what can I provide to the world? Its really nothing on the scale of the men i mentioned above. I actually thought of this when I was in high school.
When you want to succeed, all you have succeeded to do is want.
Basically, if you want to succeed at something, go do it! Don't just want and yearn. You will never accomplish anything if you just think about it. If that is the case, you have actually only succeeded in thinking about doing something. You have to go out and do it!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Writing off Senioritis
Senioritis is not a fun thing. I remember when I was just about to graduate from high school, and I had a bad case of senioritis. I didn't want to do my homework or even be at school. Everything seemed so pointless because I already knew what I was doing after high school. I had already made up my mind that I was going to attend Ozark Christian College, and totally "checked out" by the time November hit my senior year.
Here I sit four years later, the same time of year, but a different situation. Next year I am not going to another school. To be really honest, I have NO clue what I am doing after I graduate in May, and it scares the poop out of me. I could either do a year-long internship somewhere (preferably out West), or take a youth ministry with a church. I could also just be a bum at my parents' house, but I've already done that for 18 years of my life. Basically, I'm freaking out!!!!
To add to everything else, the church I attend just finished up a sermon series titled "The Vow." They went through four different vows every married couple should be committed to fulfilling. For instance, the first vow was "God is my #1 and my spouse is my #2." There were three other vows, but this one is probably the most important. Without fulfilling this vow, the rest of them won't fall in line. I say all of this to say that I am as single as it gets! Out of the four weeks of this sermon series, I have been called out by the 2 different preachers about being single. Just today, the preached was talking about how he was friends with his wife for a year before they started to date, and he proceeded to say, "That means there is hope for all of you...that includes you Charlie Landis!"
It was actually pretty funny, and I love and respect the guy who said it. But it really got me thinking. I am graduating in a little over a semester, and I am single. There is NOTHING wrong with being single; in fact, I respect people who graduate from Ozark single. However, some churches won't hire a young youth minister who is single. I was joking about this with one of my friends the other day, and he said I should pretend to have a girlfriend who lives in Europe or something so that a church will hire me. I really don't blame churches for being careful who they hire, because there have been those instances where a young minister has succumb to Satan's lies and deception with someone in his ministry. I guess what I am trying to say that there are a lot of open-ended options in my life.
We all conclude different parts of our lives. There is that time in your life when you are about 5-years-old and you are done being a baby and you go to Kindergarten. When you turn 11, you are finally potty-trained. After your 13th birthday, you are now a teenager. Your 18th birthday brings about a new sense of freedom. But what about my life now that I am almost done with College? Shouldn't it mean that I have reached full maturity because I have my life planned out? David Heffren in his blog www.dheffren.blogspot.com, says, "maturity is something more than seemingly having life figured out." He goes on to explain that true maturity is found in wisdom and the proper application of knowledge. My friend makes a good point: maturation does not equal figuration. I do not have my entire life figured out, designed, and planned out.
I am writing the conclusion to my collegiate career, but I have not even began to start writing the introduction to the next section in my life. So what? I do not know what I am doing when I graduate. I do not have a girlfriend. But all I can do is be prepared to start writing. I am going to have a pen in hand ready to write a new chapter in the life of Charlie Landis...and you never know...this chapter could include a hot chick.
Here I sit four years later, the same time of year, but a different situation. Next year I am not going to another school. To be really honest, I have NO clue what I am doing after I graduate in May, and it scares the poop out of me. I could either do a year-long internship somewhere (preferably out West), or take a youth ministry with a church. I could also just be a bum at my parents' house, but I've already done that for 18 years of my life. Basically, I'm freaking out!!!!
To add to everything else, the church I attend just finished up a sermon series titled "The Vow." They went through four different vows every married couple should be committed to fulfilling. For instance, the first vow was "God is my #1 and my spouse is my #2." There were three other vows, but this one is probably the most important. Without fulfilling this vow, the rest of them won't fall in line. I say all of this to say that I am as single as it gets! Out of the four weeks of this sermon series, I have been called out by the 2 different preachers about being single. Just today, the preached was talking about how he was friends with his wife for a year before they started to date, and he proceeded to say, "That means there is hope for all of you...that includes you Charlie Landis!"
It was actually pretty funny, and I love and respect the guy who said it. But it really got me thinking. I am graduating in a little over a semester, and I am single. There is NOTHING wrong with being single; in fact, I respect people who graduate from Ozark single. However, some churches won't hire a young youth minister who is single. I was joking about this with one of my friends the other day, and he said I should pretend to have a girlfriend who lives in Europe or something so that a church will hire me. I really don't blame churches for being careful who they hire, because there have been those instances where a young minister has succumb to Satan's lies and deception with someone in his ministry. I guess what I am trying to say that there are a lot of open-ended options in my life.
We all conclude different parts of our lives. There is that time in your life when you are about 5-years-old and you are done being a baby and you go to Kindergarten. When you turn 11, you are finally potty-trained. After your 13th birthday, you are now a teenager. Your 18th birthday brings about a new sense of freedom. But what about my life now that I am almost done with College? Shouldn't it mean that I have reached full maturity because I have my life planned out? David Heffren in his blog www.dheffren.blogspot.com, says, "maturity is something more than seemingly having life figured out." He goes on to explain that true maturity is found in wisdom and the proper application of knowledge. My friend makes a good point: maturation does not equal figuration. I do not have my entire life figured out, designed, and planned out.
I am writing the conclusion to my collegiate career, but I have not even began to start writing the introduction to the next section in my life. So what? I do not know what I am doing when I graduate. I do not have a girlfriend. But all I can do is be prepared to start writing. I am going to have a pen in hand ready to write a new chapter in the life of Charlie Landis...and you never know...this chapter could include a hot chick.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Taking Off the Mask
Halloween is officially over. Sad day. Growing up, Halloween was always one of my favorite times of the year. For one day, I didn't have to be Charlie Landis. I could be Count Dracula, Superman, and ,regrettably so, a woman. I finally had a good reason to wear my mom's dress out of the house.....please see the sarcasm. But I really did enjoy dressing up in a costume, not to mention the free candy. I have inherited a lot of things from dad: large calves, brown eyes, a receding hair line, and a sweet tooth. Now you can understand why Halloween was so dear to my heart growing up.
Someone once said, "Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional." This year I went back to my roots of my childhood...I wore a costume for Halloween! There were many suggestions on the table of what I should be, but I ended up on being Tweety bird.
This isn't one of my proudest moments. I didn't even win "Best Costume." As you can see, I had a big Tweety Bird headpiece that engulfed my entire head. It would get really hot in there, so I would take it off and put it back on. As I was doing so, it got me to start thinking about something profound (and you know that doesn't happen very often).
The Greek word for "hypocrite" in the New Testament is hupokrites. During the 1st Century, this was a term used for an actor in a play. These people would put on masks to show their role in the production. They would often play multiple parts in the play, so they would have to switch out masks in order to convey another character. This is where we get the meaning of this word today. A hypocrite is simply a person who pretends to have a virtuous character. Basically, this kind of person pretends to have it all together, when in actuality he doesn't.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27-28. He says,
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."
Wow! Jesus unloads on the "virtuous" people of His day. The Pharisees were men who strictly followed the Law given by God, and they sought after righteousness. However, Jesus calls them out and calls them graves! Some graves nowadays are pretty nice. If you go to the cemetery in Topeka, Kansas, there is a fairly good size building that pretty marble. It has designs on the side, and the overall appearance of the grave is beautiful. Jesus says, "Yea...you guys look pretty on the outside, but on the inside you are like rotting corpses!" Ouch!
My last post I talked about the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting I attended, and I came to the conclusion that we all need to understand that we all do not have it right. This post is just piggy-backing off of the same idea. I know i can come off as if i have everything together, but the truth is I don't. I struggle with temptation. I sin. I fall time and time again in the daily struggle of overcoming my selfishness and pride. So what do I do? I put on this mask. My mask has a pretty smile to cover up my mistakes and a halo on the top to distract from my imperfection.
But its time to take of my mask and live an honest life that depicts the real Charlie Landis. I'm not saying that now I need to just let everyone know that I am this horrible guy, but I need to start living up to what my mask is showing. I must try to live a virtuous life, so that one day I will not have a need for any dumb mask to cover up my mistakes and selfishness.
Someone once said, "Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional." This year I went back to my roots of my childhood...I wore a costume for Halloween! There were many suggestions on the table of what I should be, but I ended up on being Tweety bird.
This isn't one of my proudest moments. I didn't even win "Best Costume." As you can see, I had a big Tweety Bird headpiece that engulfed my entire head. It would get really hot in there, so I would take it off and put it back on. As I was doing so, it got me to start thinking about something profound (and you know that doesn't happen very often).
The Greek word for "hypocrite" in the New Testament is hupokrites. During the 1st Century, this was a term used for an actor in a play. These people would put on masks to show their role in the production. They would often play multiple parts in the play, so they would have to switch out masks in order to convey another character. This is where we get the meaning of this word today. A hypocrite is simply a person who pretends to have a virtuous character. Basically, this kind of person pretends to have it all together, when in actuality he doesn't.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27-28. He says,
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."
Wow! Jesus unloads on the "virtuous" people of His day. The Pharisees were men who strictly followed the Law given by God, and they sought after righteousness. However, Jesus calls them out and calls them graves! Some graves nowadays are pretty nice. If you go to the cemetery in Topeka, Kansas, there is a fairly good size building that pretty marble. It has designs on the side, and the overall appearance of the grave is beautiful. Jesus says, "Yea...you guys look pretty on the outside, but on the inside you are like rotting corpses!" Ouch!
My last post I talked about the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting I attended, and I came to the conclusion that we all need to understand that we all do not have it right. This post is just piggy-backing off of the same idea. I know i can come off as if i have everything together, but the truth is I don't. I struggle with temptation. I sin. I fall time and time again in the daily struggle of overcoming my selfishness and pride. So what do I do? I put on this mask. My mask has a pretty smile to cover up my mistakes and a halo on the top to distract from my imperfection.
But its time to take of my mask and live an honest life that depicts the real Charlie Landis. I'm not saying that now I need to just let everyone know that I am this horrible guy, but I need to start living up to what my mask is showing. I must try to live a virtuous life, so that one day I will not have a need for any dumb mask to cover up my mistakes and selfishness.
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