Spiritual Hygiene



hygiene is GOOD!

I'm assuming that you, like most of the world, believe in personal hygiene right?! Washing your hands, taking showers, brushing your teeth, the whole parade. I mean, could you imagine living in a world that DIDN'T care about hygiene? Gross! Well, let me tell you a TRUE story, directly from the Bible, that gives us a deeper meaning behind personal hygiene, but most importantly, spiritual hygiene.

Matthew 15:1
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem saying,

Pause for a minute. Let's get our facts straight. Scribes were the authors or writers in Bible times. The scribes would copy scripture (the Old Testament) onto scrolls. Pharisees, on the other hand, were people who stuck to the old law of Moses and followed those laws to a "T". Both very religious groups of men. Correct? Correct. Now let's move on to verse 2.

Matthew 15:2
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.



the disciples didn't do this

Now the Pharisees and scribes are calling out Jesus' disciples. The disciples did not follow the customs of Moses, or any of the elders from the Old Testament, because they did not wash their hands before eating. The Pharisees and scribes didn't like that. Washing your hands before a meal was the proper, religious, law abiding thing to do. Just like nowadays it is the proper thing to do to take a shower or bath. Except washing hands also had a religious tie to it! Not obeying that law, was looked down upon, and scorned. Moving on to verse 3.

Matthew 15:3
But he (Jesus) answered and said unto them (the scribes and Pharisees), Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your traditions?



Oooohhh OUCH! The Pharisees and scribes always tried to ask Jesus questions to see if they could throw them off, but Jesus would answer their questions, and in return asked them questions he knew they could not answer. This time, Jesus was telling the scribes and Pharisees this: Why do you guys overstep and break the commandments of God by your traditions? The scribes and Pharisees had their own traditions that went against God's law! But because they thought they were so religious, it was alright for them to make their traditions just as important as God's.

Now you might be wondering, Hannah! where is this post going?! I'm just Bout there! Jesus went on to say this:

Matthew 15:8-9
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

their knowledge consumed them

The Pharisees and scribes were very religious men. They copied scripture, they were religious leaders, they knew the law from back to front and front to back. But they lacked something. Their heads were so full of knowledge that they didn't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They didn't even reconigze him as their Messiah. They thought they knew everything about God but they missed one vital, necessary part: God's Son. And as the Son stood right in front of them, their knowledge blinded them. They honored God with their lips, but they worshipped him in vain, because their doctrine was the commandments of men, not of God.

The next verses will get to the heart of what I'm trying to say.

Matthew 15:10-11, 18-20
And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear and understand: not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man.

I know you're saying, "WOAH! HANNAH! That's a lot to process!" Actually, it's pretty simple! I'll show you.

Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees, AND the multitude of people around him and told them to listen up, to hear, to make sure they understood what he was about to say. And what he said was this; they washed their hands back then before a meal because they didn't want anything unclean accidently entering their body. What Jesus said was whatever you put into your mouth does not defile a man. (The definition of defile according to Webster's is "to make filthy".) But the things that we think, and the things that come out of our mouth do defile us. Because of our sinful nature, our thoughts are full of lies, adulterous and murderous thoughts. We lie, we take God's name in vain, we make fun of people. The things that defile us, or make us filthy spiritually, don't come from eating something weird because we didn't wash our hands, they come from what we say and think. Jesus wanted the multitude, the scribes and Pharisees, and his disciples to know that it didn't matter if the disciples didn't wash their hands before a meal, what mattered was the sin nature of man.

So when we are washing our hands, or taking a shower, I want all of us to remember this Bible story, this life lesson. Not only should we keep ourselves clean, but we should keep the inside of us clean. If our inside is dirty and filthy, than we should clean it. Make it new and clean. Just think of it like this, if the outside of a glass was clean and fingerprint free and sparkling, but inside the glass there was spoiled milk, would anyone use that glass? No. The outside of us can't just be the only thing that's clean. We need to make sure that spiritually we are clean as well. Say kind words, do nice things, think good thoughts. And most importantly, open your eyes, wipe the dirt out of them, and see Jesus.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE. 

Is the Internet Really as Evil as Everyone Says?

 So for me this has always been a particularly personal question. I think it’s because my generation is known for worshipping this thing called “The Internet”, or maybe it’s because I spend a lot of time on the Internet. Consequently, when people say the Internet is evil, they are effectively judging how I spend my time. Don’t get me wrong. I’m fine with that, as long as they’re right. But one slight problem: They aren’t.

As in the Automobile is the Internet, ya get it huh huh huh??

 Maybe I’m being defensive. Honestly, I probably am. But hear me out on this one. What happens when you drink too much water? If you answered “Nothing! You can never drink too much water!” I’m afraid you’re mistaken. When you drink too much water, you develop some degree of hyponatremia, or dilution of the blood caused by overhydration. You’re probably saying “Oh, please. How many people actually have this problem?” Well, a 2005 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that close to one sixth of marathon runners will develop some degree of hyponatremia. The very thing that keeps you alive can kill you in large quantities. Now I am in no way claiming the internet is as important as water; that would be a rather ignorant assertion. So what am I saying?

Well, as you all know, I use to debate in High-school. I learned anything from me how important a tiny definition can be to how to spot the inherency in an argument. But one lesson will always stand out for me. There I was, in a Parliamentary round. I was writing a doodle on my flowpad (Legal Pad) when something clicked. In turn, I got up and gave one of the best speeches I have ever given. My partner (Adam Densmore) asked me where I got the inspiration to construct such a well-crafted argument. I dropped my flowpad, and the doodle on my flowpad said it all: A little guy standing on a teeter-totter holding a pole. On one end of the pole, there was a weight that said “War”. On the other end was a weight that said: Peace. From that point on, I approached every argument with this idea of balance.

I just found this picture amazing. Nuff said.

 But what does this have to do with anything? “I thought you were talking about the Internet and how it’s not evil.”  Hold on, I’m getting there. This idea of balance is important, because the Internet isn’t inherently evil. In fact, barring any religious and civil right movements, it was probably the best thing that happened to humanity. It has made information available at the click of the button (Remember information is power). But it’s a two sided coin. On the other side, it has ruined people’s lives-- Either because they didn’t respect the Internet’s extreme power, or they let the Internet consume their lives. Just like anything, if we don’t treat it with the right level of respect, or we become addicted it will ruin our lives.

 What a jumble of thoughts. What does this all mean? Well, I guess the point I’m trying to make is that the Internet isn’t what’s evil; rather, it’s our culture. Think about it! If we spent a healthy amount of time on the Internet, we wouldn’t have the problems we currently do. If we are careful with our information, we won’t have these issues. In the end, we should try to fix the problem by patching holes, not by destroying the ship.

You Suck! (And by the way, Jesus)

You suck.

No, seriously, you do.

But before you all start running to me with pitchforks and torches yelling to kill me as a monster that destroys good human’s self esteem, let me explain myself.

My good friend Colton wrote a post a while back about how each and every one of us is awesome. We were created perfectly. Each of us is an individual person that has specific traits that makes us really pretty darn awesome. This can pull us up out of our own self flagellations (big word for ya Gabe) and make us see ourselves for what we really are: a creation of an almighty God who knew what he was doing.

Mr. Awesome is right, but I’m going to talk about the flip side of that equation.

When we were created, we were perfect. The first two humans were put in a perfect garden in a perfect world with some perfect animals and perfect plants and everything was just peachy. But something came into that perfection that threw things out of whack and made us all into messed up jerks that can’t do a good thing to save our lives. Yeah, the perfection is still there, but there’s a wrench in the plans and now we are stuck. We have SIN in our lives, and there is nothing, no, nothing, we can do to stop it.

Since those first two humans let sin in, we’ve been stuck. We sin, and then we come up with a way to stop sinning, but it doesn’t work, so we make excuses for why it isn’t wrong, but when that messes up and doesn’t work either, we try to fix it again. It doesn’t work. Yeah, something is very obviously wrong with us humans. No matter how hard we try, we cannot achieve perfection, and that brings me back to the first point I made: you suck, and so do I.

But thank goodness we aren’t stuck there. Even though we suck, and we consistently screw things up and cause loads of problems for everyone else in the world, there is a solution. And we didn’t have anything to do with it. We didn’t earn it, we don’t deserve it, and we by golly can’t do anything to get it for ourselves.

Jesus Christ, the son of God, came to save us, and when he did, we no longer had to worry that we would die because we suck. No, now we were saved, and there wasn’t anything we did for it. We were stuck down in the deep dark pit of sin and suckishness and then light broke through, and a hand reached out, and pulled us out into the light.

Throughout our failures, are foolishness, and our vanity, a just and mighty God who should shun us, who should throw us out into the darkness and leave us for everything we have done, has instead shown us grace, wonderful awesome grace, covering us in righteousness and pulling us out of the muck.

So take heart. Nothing you can do can save you.

But everything he does will. 

Politics: What's the Big Deal?

The word "politics" gets thrown around a lot. Our government is full of it, our news is full of it, even our normal every day conversations can get soaked with it. Why is it such a big deal?

Human beings are very complicated but they are also very simple to figure out. Your average person's goals are these: 1. Make money, 2. Be successful, and 3. Be important. People in politics can take this two ways: the good way, or the bad way. As you can tell, the good way is usually bypassed, and the bad way is well-trodden.

Tell me, what do you see in our government today? Corruption, cheating, lying, lack of human conscious...stupidity? Yup, I see that too. But there's a reason behind the madness.

Human's nowadays are caught up in themselves. When we have a goal we want to achieve, or we see something that will get us ahead in life, we will make sure we get it no matter what. It doesn't matter if we lie to get there. It doesn't matter if we cheat someone else to get there. Every single person going the wrong way in politics want one thing: power. Power is a dangerous force craved by people everywhere. The thing is, politicians already have a taste of that power. They all start out with at least a little bit of influence on other people. So when they get a taste of that power, they want and crave more. They cheat other people, and lie to other people, to gain money, power, and other things for themselves. Soon, some will be so driven by power that they start to lose their conscious. I'm not just saying that for dramatic effect. Unfortunately it's true. Everything they do is for their benefit. Not the benefit of the country, of the people they represent, of anyone. "Who cares if there is a major problem in our country. I need to finish my round of golf first."

The reason for our horrible politics is this: we don't care about people. If someone is walking down the same sidewalk we are, we will try to get as far away from them as possible all the while staring at our feet. If someone is in great need we will say sorry but do we truly care and mean it? Maybe we are thinking about the TV show we are missing because we are talking to this person in great need. We don't care about others. Therefore, we get people like that in our positions of leadership. 

There are two lessons you can learn here:

1. Care about people. Give people eye contact, a smile; go out of your way to make someone else comfortable. Care.

 

2. Make sure to support the politicians who are going the good way. The ones who care about our country, not themselves. The ones who believe in God, not in money. You'll see the difference in government if we have people like that in leadership. 

To close, I'd like to encourage you all to pray for our country. Pray for the people who lead. It doesn't matter if they're going the bad or good way. Just make sure to pray for our leaders and our country. That's the only way we will be able to get back on track, because the power of prayer is incredible.

 

 

What is REAL Success?

Why is it that in our culture we gauge success based on how well one is doing financially? Of course if that’s what success is then, ya know, it’s all good but, here’s the problem that's not success.

 Finally a post about REAL SUCCESS

 So, if you didn’t know, I use to debate in High-school and before we could debate or even discuss the topic we needed to define our terms or, in this case our words so, let’s define success. Here’s the common man definition or, what people think it means: “The fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame”. Here’s the actual definition: “The accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” Aim can be operationally defined as goal. So essentially success is fulfilling a goal which in theory is awesome. The problem begins when our goal is to make money.

Whether you realize it or not what you believe to be your goal dictates your actions. For instance if you believe your goal is to “Make money” well then you will do whatever it takes to fulfill said goal. And when you think about it that’s actually kinda scary we currently live in a world where everyone thinks your goal should be financial success and that’s one of the many issues with the status quo. Money has caused the destruction of friendships, families, and people’s entire lives. It has led to murder and even suicide in fact 89 people will take their life tomorrow and debt/money is a leading cause in that decision. We clearly see that money destroys us when we make it our goal.

So what should our goal be? Ah, that question has plagued me for years especially in High-School. At the risk of sounding prideful, I think I figured out what our goal should be. Spoiler alert — Sesame Street was right all along. Your goal should be to follow your passion. My father use to race Sled Dogs and I am gonna be honest he didn’t make a lot of money, actually he barely made any at all. But that didn’t matter he was following his passion. Sure, he could have gotten a white collar job and made a lot of money but that wasn’t his goal; his goal was to do what he loved. Now, doing what you love isn’t easy but, if it is truly your passion that shouldn’t matter. Money shouldn’t be your goal cause, let’s be honest if you lose everything you are left with nothing to stand on. 

And you Thought I was Lying

Money is spent easier than it’s earned but, if your goal is your passion that can never be taken away from you. The current situation requires action so, I have to ask one more question. What are you gonna do? Sure it’s easy to hash-tag and, write about problems but, our situation demands action. So I gotta ask what’s your goal?

Why I HATE the Word "Very"

This Quote says it ALL!!!

 In the movie the Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays a phenomenal character named John Keating. Now, the debate continues on whether or not a person that was similar to John Keating actually existed but one thing is for certain, real or fictional, he nailed it when it came to using the word "very".  Oh, how I despise the word very. (Note: I could have said I really hate it which has turned into the first person equivalent of saying very which is grammatically incorrect but that subject is for another time) When you use that WORD you miss out on truly expressing yourself as a human. I mean isn't that partly what makes us human? The ability to express ourselves? When expressing yourself there are no shortcuts! 

                                                                                   

So why do we insist on taking these silly shortcuts? Well, really it's because we're lazy even I am guilty of using this word, very, and to be honest I realize that I stifled creativity and the very gift God gave me - to communicate. Right now I am doing something amazing, and only one species can do it. I am putting words onto a screen, and I am expressing complex thoughts to another person at the other end of this screen. How fantastic is that! I mean, how many creatures can do this? We, as Humans have a special gift, and it's time we stopped wasting our gift on these less than imaginative words like very. It's time we as a society realize how much harm we do when we use this word, very, or anything like it.

Blogger stops rambling and gets to the POINT

So How do We Fix this Problem?

 So, what are the ways to fix this nasty habit of ours. Well I can really only think of two ways, but I think they might go a long way in increasing your vocabulary, and the best part? You won't have to read a dictionary!

1. Use the Googles
 No joke this will be the best way to increase your vocabulary. Just Google (word) and thesaurus and bam!!! You will be using words like platitudinous in no time. (If you know what that word means go ahead and laugh)

2. Read a Book you Uncultured Swine
I met a kid who was extremely intelligent and you knew how smart he was as soon as he opened his mouth using big words like gratuitous to bombastic and even the occasional guffaw left his mouth. Needless to say super smart. So I asked him one day "How did you get so smart?". He replied "Well I read a lot of books." (He dumbed it down so I could understand him.)

                                                 Summary

So we talked and I really didn't say much, but I hope if  you learned one thing: It's that our ability to communicate is beautiful so why waste it on words like "Very".

Be Real. Be True. Be YOU.

So I have a nickname. My nickname is “Mr. Awesome”. Now I know what you’re thinking. “Wow that guy is prideful! He must think he’s hot stuff! And he calls himself a Christian!” But here’s the truth. I'm not called Mr. Awesome for anything I've done.  I'm called Mr. Awesome because of what God's done in me!  God made me awesome, and He made you awesome.  When God created you and me He made us the way He wanted us, and He does NOT make mistakes!!  My nickname is Mr. Awesome because I intend on being exactly how God made me. Perfect. I'm not going to change just to make friends or impress a girl or because people want me to.  I'm staying the way God made me. I’m original, and so are you!

  So, as Mr. Awesome I call everybody to be themselves, because that is the way God made you.  Don't change for anyone. If you love God and do his will your good.  You’re Awesome. I often say that people are like snowflakes, no two are the exact same. Don’t try to be like other people just because you think they are cooler than you. The fact is is that you are the coolest you there will ever be and no one else will ever be able to do you as good as you! So just remember this, Be Real. Be True. Be YOU.
 So what does this mean exactly? Well let’s break it down. Be Real: To be real means to not fake! A lot of people in this world are just fake. They act one way with you and then they act a totally different way with their family. They aren’t real! Nobody actually know what they’re like because nobody knows the real them.
 Next, Be True: Being true means you don’t lie. But not just to others, don’t lie to yourself! Be honest with yourself! To many people have lied to themselves telling themselves that they have to look this way to be cool or they have to act this way. Be true to yourself! Everything about you is perfect! Stop saying that it isn’t. People all across this world are going to put you down and say you’re not perfect or beautiful or cool so don’t you dare say that about yourself!
 And last but not least, Be YOU: this is what the whole post is about! Like I said, you’re the coolest you there is. So if people hate because of this, you'll always have me, Mr. Awesome, but more importantly you'll have God. Don’t give up. Don’t be someone else. Be YOU.

The Secret To Life

Life. So much can be put into that one four letter word. Life can be crazy, beautiful, depressing, adventurous, and powerful in the small amount of time we live it. We can live long lives, filled to the brim with with memories; but we can also live short, unfulfilled lives that shouldn't have ended so abruptly. The scary thing is, we don't know which life we will lead, the long one, or the short one.

My best friend told me something super important a few months back. He told me to live life to the fullest because he didn't want me to regret anything on my death bed. Now, just to clarify, he didn't mean "YOLO!" There is a deeper meaning behind what he said.

First off, don't dwell in your mistakes. It does nothing but make you live in the bad moments and worry about what you could've done. Realize this: those desicions have already been made. They key is to not make them again. But seriously, don't dwell on your bad desicions because they will eat you alive. They will make it so your life is nothing but grief over what could've been or what you could've done.

The key to life is to dwell in the happy, fun-filled moments. The moments that make us smile. The moments that matter. Let go of what used to be, because in doing so, it will set you free.

Teenagers and adults alike, I know life sucks sometimes. I know I've had my fair share of bad. I've had so much trouble remembering to live life so I wont regret it on my death bed. My best friend knew that and he gently reminded me. Now I'm reminding you. Don't get caught up in your past mistakes! You're not done writing you life's story! Life is precious. Make sure you fill your life story, no matter how long or short, with things that matter. Move forward. The past is in the past. The mistakes you've made don't define you, they help build you. Don't dwell in thorns and poison, take time to enjoy the roses. Because "there's a blue sky just beyond the gray." :)

College!? What! Totally not Ready

IDK I just uhhhh what ummm say who???

In a culture where the only version of success is financial, that daring question all Moms and Grandmas and friends of Moms ask is “What are you gonna be when you grow up?” You stammer, you look at the ground, you take a deep breath and say “Well I’m taking some classes on nursing and have been thinking about Med school so, I’m leaning towards being a doctor, I guess.” Of course you’re lying; what you really wanna say, nay, shout to the world is IDK!!!!!!!!!! But our society deems that answer irresponsible, they say you’re lazy or you are what’s wrong with society. How dare you not know the answer to the question that will be what you do for the rest of your life!!!

 Don't Fix What Ain't Broken

 In a culture where as soon as you get out of high-school you must, without exception, go to College to get that gosh darn job. But, hey if the system isn’t broke why fix it right? Well, lets do some research; according to the College Board, bachelor’s degree tuition per year at private universities averaged $26,273 in 2009-2010; public university tuition was about $7,020. Multiply that out and you get $105,092 in total bachelor’s degree tuition at private school and $28,080 at public school. (College Surfing ) Needless to say that’s a lot of money. But, hey, its all good, just pick a job and you should be fine it’s not like you will change your mind, riiiight? Well according to NBC News 50 percent of College freshmen change majors twice during the College year. So yea maybe we do have a broken system, but how do we fix it?

Seriously half of you switch degrees TWICE!!!!

 Ohkay So What Now!?

 Well as someone who has no idea what I want to do I know one thing. Jumping into it with “a head first, no thinking, ask questions later” mentality would just make it worse. However I didn’t want to upset anyone I didn’t want to be that one kid moms whisper about and warn other moms to be careful or they’re kids will end up like so and so. But I did some research and found out, spoiler alert, I wasn’t the only one. In fact prestigious colleges are currently suggesting that kids take what is called a Gap Year. (For more info check out Fox News.)

 I think its about time we start asking why our nation is such a failure. The answer may be difficult or maybe it’s simple, I don’t know but, what I do know is that doing the same thing over and over again is defiantly not the answer. As the saying goes “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” or if you don’t agree with that one there’s always “Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.”Needless to say the current system is broken and something has to change.