New Beginnings

The deficit that our government faces is quite overwhelming, but not an excuse to throw our hands up and surrender. Hopefully with the new beginning of Congress there will be a sober heads and realistic elected officials who will for once in a very long time chose for America instead of for their re-electability. Here is a start, the New York Times has a Deficit Calculator called the Budget Puzzle. Here is an interactive look at decisions you could make to reduce our deficit if you were in charge of Congress. Very interesting and you have to make tough choices to balance the budget. Enlightening to say the least.

Is there a deficit of Truth? As Luke Skywalker is given his father's Lightsaber by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV), a decision, a way of life must be made by Luke constantly: Use the Lightsaber for Good or use it for Evil. If Luke fights for Good his Lightsaber will be identified as such. Drawing from this symbolism, we must fight for Good while acknowledging that the Dark Side will always be enticing us to convert. We must not give into the apparent pleasures of the power provided by the Dark Side.

Truth requires a lifestyle of decisions for Good and a discipline to battle the Dark Side that attempts to creep into one's life.

Ephesians 6:10-17 describes the fortress of Truth and the use of the Lightsaber of Truth - Scripture:

¹⁰ "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

C'ya
Eagle Driver
check 6

Why? - To Mature

For reasons other than "lashing out" for the pain one has felt as being caused by God, why do people hate Christianity?

I believe I understand why people characterize some Christians as 'jerks", but here in America why is Christianity so despised by so many?

Why do those who despise Christianity spend so much effort (especially in the academic field) "proving" Christianity as false?

Why is there a war between those who are Christians and those who are not?

Providence - God provides everything - creator of all
Necessity - There is no arbitrary (i.e., fate) then there must be an order (the best possible way)
Freedom - The best possible world means to be free means to be free to choose the wrong thing
Negativity - Choosing the wrong thing has harmful effects on us and those around
Maturity - Choosing to do the right response in the mist of negative stuff

Providence - 1 Cor. 4:7
Necessity - Eph. 2:8-9
Freedom - Gen. 3:21
Negativity - Matt. 8:5-13
Maturity - Phil. 4:6-8

Thoughts from afar!

Freedom of Thought

I am so thankful that we live in an age where so many ideas can be brought out through the internet. I am so thankful that I can read these ideas and then investigate the validity of the thought provoking concepts. I find this especially relevant in the discussion of Theology as I am quite interested in the subject - from The Gospel Coalition Blog to an atheistic blog of Unequally Yoked and everything in between. I find their philosophical and the Biblical questions fascinating and causes me to perform that all important activity, lost in much of our culture, that being to THINK. Much of what I read concerning the Bible falls into 4 categories:

1. Water Skiing approach - simple surface reading and then drawing life conclusions from the surface.

2. Snorkeling approach - searching just beyond the initial reading and then drawing life conclusions from the surface.

3. Scuba Diving approach - searching deeper into what we have read and beginning to ask the infamous "why" questions with a general comparison of Philosophical concepts and then drawing life conclusions from the surface.

4. Deep Sea Exploration approach - the result of unanswered questions from the Scuba Method and as the character of Morpheus in the first Matrix movie describes it as the "splinter of the mind". The questions drive us deeper and in this search we find the Answer of Life.

I am so thankful, and as the character Trinity of the movie Matrix says, "Be honest".

The scene that describes this quest for truth is where Trinity takes Neo to meet Morpheus:

The Matrix Scene from YouTube

C'ya
Eagle Driver
check 6